Tutorial Tuesday-Quick Napkin Rings

Alright, how about another super quick project? I found this awesome clear transparency "paper" from Hambly Prints (I love Hambly Prints!) and thought it would look really fallish with an orange background. Is fallish a word? Anyway, here are the directions:

Cut a 12" long, 1 1/2" wide strip of the orange paper. Cut in half and this will be the base for two napkin rings.
Cut a 12" long, 1" wide strip of the transparency paper. Cut this one in half as well.

From here, you can make the more modern one, or the one with the ribbon.

Modern: Wrap around and staple. All done!

Ribbon: Set two eyelets about 1/4" inside of the ends. Tie with a coordinating ribbon. Done!

These will make great, simple party decorations. Use Halloween paper, or bold geometric paper for a birthday! If your napkins are patterned, try using a colored vellum... that way you get a little of the pattern showing through.
Happy Crafting!

Tutorial Page Updated

I just updated the Tutorial Page today with some more fun Halloween projects from last year. So be sure to check out the following projects:

Quick & Easy Accent Pillows

Halloween Wall Art (I used some papers that were available last year, these can easily be substituted out, depending on the look you want.)

Tutorial Tuesday-Embellished Candles

I can't believe it's time for Tutorial Tuesday already! This week's project will only take you about 1 minute. Yep, only one minute! For this project you'll need the following:

Candles (Any color will work. Since the embellishments are NOT flame proof it doesn't matter too much what they smell like because we're not going to light them. Mine are peppermint, leftover from projects last Christmas.)

Halloween/Fall themed ribbon

Scotch Transfer Tape (The red Tacky tape will work too.)

Now, cut a ribbon piece slightly longer than the circumference of your candle, put tape on the back, and tape the ribbon onto the candle. Done.
Hint: Try layering different widths of coordinated ribbon for a different look. This one has a wider black ribbon, with a smaller purple ribbon on top.
This ribbon was from Michael's. The ribbon in their $1 bin is the perfect length to make 1 or 2 of these candles. These would make great little I'm Thinking of You gifts for neighbors and co-workers as well! Happy Crafting!

Quick Glitter Card

It's been a while since I featured a card so here's a quick one for you:
How did I get that fun green glitter accent you ask? I found this awesome tape at the craft store! It's CLEAR mounting tape. It's as strong as the foam mounting tape, but clear instead!
To make the card I cut a overhead transparency in half, cut a piece of white cardstock slightly smaller, and ran the paper through the Cuttlebug to give it a little dotted texture. Isn't it cute! Then, just run a stripe of the clear tape up the front of the card, sprinkle on glitter, and your glitter border is done. It's that simple.
Stamp the border and "Thanks" sentiment from the Borders and Corners stamp set, cut out, adhere, and you're done!
I LOVE how the glitter has a transparent feel to it, since it's adhered to a clear backing! Happy Crafting! I've got another quick Halloween project for Tutorial Tuesday! See you then!

Tutorial: Fabric Pumpkins

Ok, so I think I'm ready for fall, and in a pumpkin mood.... So here's today's tutorial!

Fabric Pumpkins


These ones will last you just as long as the pumpkin pets in the previous post, and are a little more lightweight. :) You'll need these three PDF's:

Pattern: Panel

Pattern: Stem

Tutorial Instructions

The finished size is about 7" around (not including the stem.)

You can enlarge the patterns to make different sized pumpkins. I'm working on one about twice as large and will post a separate pattern for that one very shortly. The larger one will also have a fabric stem as opposed to a felted wool stem. (Thanks to my friend Celia for letting me borrow some felt from her stash!!) Leave me a comment if you use it. I'd love to see what everyone creates! Happy crafting!


Updated: I added a new pumpkin stem pattern in a new post. There are two patterns. One is for a more straight stem that involves no blanket stitch, and the other is for a felt one that is a little more straight. Find the new post here.

Pet Pumpkin Rocks

So my husband and I carved our pumpkins a little early. :) Why you wonder? Because these are our little Pet Pumpkin Rocks and they will last until Halloween!


See that one in the back there? The one with the vampire teeth? His name is Edward. :)

So these are SUPER easy to make. You know me, I keep my projects short and simple. The longest time for this one is waiting for the paint to dry.

Here's what you need:

1 can each Orange and Green Spray paint
Various sizes and shapes medium sized rocks for the pumpkins
Smaller rocks for the stems
Sharpie Permanent Marker
E6000 adhesive

To get started, wash and scrub your rocks well and let them dry. Then paint them their respective colors. (This was the hardest part...waiting for them to dry!)


After they are dry, use your Sharpie to "carve" the pumpkins. It's ok if your rocks aren't perfectly round. Just use their shape to inspire your carvings. The pixelated face is one my husband did, see how the rock is almost a rectangle. And the happy toothy grin on the one next to it was done on a different side of the rock.


(To keep it as realistic as possible you can also use a yellow paint pen and make sure that the shapes you use are actually ones that you would carve.) Then use the E6000 adhesive to add the stems to your pet pumpkins and you're finished. If you're putting these outside, spray a clear coat of finish to protect your carving.

If you make your own I'd love to post a link here for others to enjoy. Just let me know when you post the picture and I'll link it right up!

And... here's a sneak peek of the tutorial for Tuesday! Enjoy!

Come for a free Make and Take!!!

Short notice, but this Saturday night at the Local Scrapbook Store, Scrappin' Bunnies, I'll be hosting a FREE make and take! We'll be getting you started early on holiday gifts. So if you live in the area I'd LOVE to see you there. Here's the specifics!

Where: Scrappin' Bunnies
400 N. Central Expressway
Suite 108
McKinney, Texas 75070
(Exit 40A from Hwy 75- Louisiana/Virginia
Street Exit. East side of 75 behind CiCi's)

When: Saturday, August 30 @ 7PM and again at 9PM!

Hope to see you there!

Every Other Tuesday-Quick Sketchbook

So this one is super easy to whip up! Gather the following items:

1 sheet of colored/patterned cardstock for the outside
5 sheets of cardstock, or more if you use plain printer paper (just remember your stapler will have to go through them!)
coordinating ribbon

Cut the following:
(2) 4" x 8" pieces for the outside of the notebook
(10) 3 7/8" x 7 7/8" for the inside

Now, just stack everything together and staple on the left-hand side. I then covered the staples with a piece of ribbon.
You can embellish the cover however you want. Try a monogram, embossed stamp, felt stickers, or anything else you'd like.
For mine, I used two strips of 8" long paper, one is 1" wide and the patterned paper is 3/4" wide.

Yep, really easy! Hope you like it!

(Also, I'm just about finished with an awesome autumn themed tutorial. So, dust off your sewing machines and prepare for some cute fall home decor items!)

Every Other Tuesday

So, how about a tutorial AND template for the first Every Other Tuesday event? Here is a little envelope template to get you started: You can download it be clicking here. (You'll need Adobe Acrobat Reader to download it.)

Here's a quick tutorial on how to put it together:

The template will print out onto one piece of letter sized paper. For this project I printed it directly onto the back of the patterned paper. You could also print it, cut it out, and use it as a template. Whatever works best for you. :)

Below I've got the envelope and alternate flap cut out and scored on the dashed lines.

Fold the sides in, and adhere.
Fold the bottom flap up and adhere that too.

Adhere the coordinating paper flap on top of the flap. Now we'll add the brad fasteners. Just make a pencil mark about 1/2" from either side of the bottom of the flap. (See mine below:)
Place the brads into the holes you marked. Then cut a piece of embroidery floss 10" long. Tie it around one of the brads and wrap around the brads.

This envelope will hold an index sized card note, or recipe card. It would also work great for a journaling holder on a scrapbook page! Enjoy!

I'd LOVE it if you let me know what you make with it!


Now, since this is also a tutorial there's a giveaway! Yippee! Just leave me a comment with a joke or short funny story. Let's get each other laughing! I'll pick a random comment on Thursday night, August 14th. The prize will be as follows:
One package of the brads used to make the envelope. Don't worry if you don't live close. If you win I'll send you the brads for free!


Can't wait to hear your jokes/funny stories!

Announcing...

I am SUPER excited to share with you the talents of:

Kristina Werner!

She is an extrenely talented designer! For the months of August and September she will be showing us some awesome ways to use the Schlosser Designs Stamp Sets. Head on over to her blog and see for yourself the graphic designs of Kristina. You can see one here that she's already done. Kristina graciously answered a few questions for me. (Hope they weren't too cheesy, but I can't claim that I'm a professional journalist by any means!)

Besides making completely awesome cards and paper projects, what do you like to do in your spare time?

I love to read, but mostly silly entertaining things. Nothing too serious. And I also keep up with WAY too many television shows. I suppose you could say that I love anything with a good story, whether it be a good book or a even a television show.

Is there one particular moment that sparked your interest for cards and papercrafting?

Actually, I remember the exact thing I was looking at. :) Being that I work in the scrapbooking industry as a graphic designer I was pretty familiar with what was out there, but had never felt the urge to create anything myself. Then, I saw something that just made me what to create everything! It was a scrapbooking page by Laura Kurz. I was just so fascinated by it. It was this exact page...
http://www.twopeasinabucket.com/pg.asp?cmd=display&layout_id=616170

Where do you look for your inspiration?

I tend to get inspiration directly from the products. I've always loved patterns and colors, so I just try to arrange them in a way that looks cool to me. :)

What is your favorite quote?

"Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." -Dr. Seuss

This is one of her projects that she wanted to share:

Outside of Starbook
Starbook when opened

You can find her post about this book here. There's downloadable instructions at the end of the post. I told you she was awesome! Welcome Kristina!

Ready to commit!

Ok, so I was waiting for things to calm down a bit around here but I'm ready...

On August 12th I'll be starting a new feature on my blog:

EVERY OTHER Tuesday

Check back every other Tuesday because I'll either be offering a new template, or showing you a new project tutorial. I've already got the first few planned out, and I'm warning you, they're way fun!

(Just a reminder: Every time I feature a tutorial with downloadable instructions, I do a giveaway. To enter is simple: Read the instructions in the post to see what to comment about and leave me a comment. Usually the giveaway prize will be a product needed to complete the featured project. I'm so excited! I love giveaways!)

I'd love to do it every Tuesday, but with the new stamp sets being designed I didn't want to disappoint and try for every Tuesday without being able to keep it up. I'll still be doing other posts throughout the week so you'll see me more than just Every Other Tuesday. :)

Can't wait to see you for the first installment of Every Other Tuesday on August 12th!

Card Ideas coming in...

Check out this blog: KWerner Design. She's one of my favorite card crafters out there! She has lovely challenges and videos every week! For her last challenge, she used one of my sets to make a card that is way cute! I have more on her later... hint, hint...

On another note, Sorry it's been a little while since the last post. I'm working on a few more fun things for the store...like new stamp sets just in time for the Holidays! I'm super excited! And a few new project templates to upload for free!

So, as I'm deciding what types of things to post on the blog, are there any suggestions, or things that you're dying to see? More free templates, tutorials, both, something else all together? Let me know because I really want to make sure that I'm posting things that everyone wants to see!

Happy 100th Post!

Ok, so I promised something big...

I hope you like it! I put together a book for you!

It's the Project Recipe Book!

I would have loved to have this book when I was first starting out with card making. It can be really hard to come up with different layouts for your cards. It's all black and white layouts which make it easier to add colors to your projects.

Lots of times I'll look at a card and decide I don't like it. Being the designer I am, I then ask myself why I didn't like it. It's usually that the colors they used are not my favorite. When I look at it again I like the layout, just not the paper they used. So, this is why this book is very simple to use. Just find the layout you like and add your own colors. This book has 40 different layouts that are easy to do. It will also tell you whether the layout will work for a scrapbook, card, or both. Here's a sample image from the book, with my notes to explain. Click on it to make it larger to read.
It's a nice handy size of 5 1/2" x 4 1/4". And it's spiral bound so it will actually stay open when you're working on your projects. It's in the store now and it's $10. :)

Post #99

So, I tried to post earlier, and then a little later...and blogger was having issues with uploading pictures. And now it uploaded my picture rotated the wrong way... Just one of THOSE days I guess. On to the project:

Today I did a little gift for a few friend's birthdays today. I made a little fabric basket,

and some homemade granola to go inside. (Click on the items to find the recipes/tutorials.)

I made a simple treat bag topper to package the granola. I hope they like it! I do sell the treat bags in my store. They are a great size for homemade goodies!

Post #98

I'm calling this one a Tent Card. It's also really easy to make. For the "tent" base cut one piece of paper 4 1/4" x 4 3/4". Fold it in half so you get a folded piece that's 4 3/4" x 2 1/8". For the stand up part I cut a piece of paper 4 3/4" x 3 1/2". Stamp or embellish whatever you'd like on it. I used the stamp set Hey Cupcake. All the words are separate so you can stack them, put them in a line, or skew them like I did for this card. When you're done, just adhere the bottom 1/3 of the embellished piece to the folded tent piece and stand up. You can unfold the tent piece and write inside. This would also make great place holders for a wedding party! Or if you're having a dinner party, try printing out the menu and attaching it to the folded tent piece.