Gold Standard of St. Patty Treats

Happy (almost) St. Patrick’s Day!

This year, I’m bringing a touch of golden luck o’ the Irish to the dinner table.  My inspiration? Every year my friends Mike and Lisa host an authentic Irish dinner, complete with brisket, potatoes, cabbage and maybe even an Irish spirit or two. Like many, I am only “Irish for a Day”, but that doesn’t stop me from celebrating!

Along with my gold-medal winning Irish Soda Bread (self-awarded, of course), I’ll be bringing these little pots of golden treats that I scrapped to share with my friends.

 
Fast and fun to create, this St. Patrick’s Day project is perfect for kids and beginning scrapbookers alike. Simply adorn metal pails with ribbons, chipboard cutouts and stickers. Then fill the pails with gold foil-wrapped chocolate or bubble gum coins.

 

They’re a wonderful host gift, a festive party favor, an easy centerpiece and are a great school giveaway. 

Try this project for yourself and add a touch o’ the green to your scrap-happy-go-lucky lives!

 

Your friend,

Mary (Go Braugh)

A Punch a Day Keeps the Boredom Away

Hello!

 

I was inspired for today’s post after a recent mad dash through my punch collection at home. I was looking for anything spring-related to make a quick card… a bunny, basket, egg, flower, anything!

 

So what did I find?  A heart punch and a single hole punch. Since I live alone, I can’t blame anyone but myself for my punches not being in the correct spot, but I do have my suspicions about my dog Oliver. Or maybe I lent them to my friend Betsy, who knows?

 

Either way, I had to be innovative and use what I had. From the heart punch, I created a basket and a bunny face, then used the hole punch to make a pastel, polka dot background.

This led me to think of other ways to use my most basic punches (once I find them, of course).

 

A circle, a heart and a scalloped circle can be combined in so many ways. It’s really fun to think of all the possibilities, and I thought I would share my favorite 25. Too see them, download my printable PDF.

 

With springtime on our heels, I thought I would also share a few of my favorite punched flower looks as well. Flowers are easy to create, easy to layer and make a big impact on any page or project. Just remember when it comes to flowers: a little floral goes a long way. 

 

Need more inspiration? Learn how to create this Family Flowers Finished Page and see how I used anything from brads to chipboard cutouts to buttons and petals to layer up a whole bouquet of fabulous floral embellishments.

 

Your friend,

 

Wild & Sassy, A Photo Frame Safari

I have only two words for this month’s project… Grrrrrrrl power!

 

Inspired by my friend Meg and her daughter, I created this super girly Animal Print Photo Frame. Meg can’t resist a nice bright animal print, and I thought this would look lovely in her house. Using layering techniques and bright animal prints, you can use this beginner-friendly project to release your inner scrapbooking animal.

 
Tips & Tricks

 

•  Balance color and design by using the same colors on each page, just in different ways. Match the teal background to the teal ribbon on the opposite side.

 

•  Make your own “animal tracks” with some coordinating finger paint and your little one’s “paw” print. It’s an easy and only slightly messy way to involve your child and personalize your project. I photocopied the finished handprint for a more polished look.

 

•  Create your own layered flowers using printed paper petals with an animal print brad as the center. Attach them through the frame with the brad, or adhere them with GlueDots®.

 

Find full instructions and a list of supplies here.

Next week I’ll show some more paper layering ideas using punches. You won’t want to miss it!

 

Your friend,

 

CHA Recap

 

My friends and I recently made our yearly “girls only” trip to the Craft and Hobby Association (CHA) Trade Show, held in beautiful Anaheim, California. To sum it up, the CHA is the world’s largest craft show. So basically I was in seventh heaven!

 

There were about 12,000 in attendance as hundreds of crafters, hobbyists and artists showed off all the newest and best innovations and trends for 2010.  Here are some of the highlights. 

 

Hot Themes for 2010:

 

•  Vintage

•  Victorian

•  Bikes

•  Animal prints

•  Robots

•  Going green

•  World travel

•  Birds

•  Owls

•  Elephants

•  Cupcakes

 

What craft trends can we expect to see in the upcoming year? Look for fabric art, felt crafts, paper banners and anything that sparkles. That’s right…bling is back and better than ever!

 

Here’s just a small taste of the new trends I’ll be blogging about soon, so stay tuned and come along for the ride!

 

Your friend,

  

 

Love is in the Air

I’ve got big plans for Valentine’s Day this year. My valentine is sure to give me lots of slobbery kisses, cuddling…he may even sit on my lap. Of course my valentine is my little puppy Oliver. Here is little Oli at a recent “Bring Your Dog to Work Day”. He’s definitely one of those so-ugly-he’s-cute kind of dogs, but he is very loving and affectionate.

 

And while I don’t give him cards (he tends to just eat thoughtful paper sentiments), I do have a whole day of visiting the dog park and watching movies planned for our Valentine celebration.

 

As far as human valentines go, I’ve created a few cards to hand out. Because no matter their age, everyone loves to see valentines in their mailboxes!

 
 

The first is a simple red card stamped with the new Ribbons, Stitches & Lace clear stamp set. Then I attached “love” chipboard letters using GlueDots®.

 

The next card was another quick-create. I stamped lips on a red card, added rickrack and chipboard cutouts and a quick “Roses are red” poem on the inside.

 

Finally, I scrapped a “Key to my Heart” card for that special someone. Simply layering printed papers is a quick way to whip up any card.

 

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone!

 

Your friend,

 

Organizational Fairy Tale

Hi Friends!

 

This is the last of my organizational blog series. We’ve organized, sorted, stacked, labeled and whipped our scrap supplies into shape to create a crafter’s fairy tale creative space. Let’s go out with a bang and take on ribbon, embellishments and stickers.

 

Ribbon, Ribbon the Wall

 

It’s no secret, I’m a ribbon enthusiast. After you’ve made an entire scrapbook with ribbon motifs, I think it’s safe to call yourself a fan. The best way I’ve found to house my massive ribbon collection is through a three-pronged attack, because generally speaking, there are three types of ribbon: on a spool, on a card and scraps.

 

For ribbons on spools, I highly recommend storing them on dowels. For those of us with wall space, a wall organizer is the way to go. Those of us with shelf space can pick up a few ribbon boxes. There are dowels included to keep the ribbon on the inside and they dispense nicely. I like to pin or tape the edges of my ribbon down to keep them looking nice and clean.

  
 
The best way I’ve found to store ribbons on cards is to single-hole punch the top of the card and grab a binder ring. This keeps everything together and they’re super easy to sort.

 

Of course for ribbon scraps, you need something you can see through. Anything from a repurposed glass jar to a plastic bag will work a-okay. I also like to clip all my scraps together using a binder clip with a magnetic back. I can stick all my scraps to a magnetic bulletin board and keep them in my line of sight.

 

Once Upon an Embellishment

 

Try any of these quick fixes to store brads, buttons, beads and embellishments:

 

•  Baby food jars/containers

•  Bottles with lids

•  Canning jars

•  Hardware storage drawers

•  Jewelry box

•  Make-up cases

•  Plastic organizers

•  Spice jars/rack

•  Tackle box

 

Off to Sticker-Sticker Land

 

Let’s face it, we’ve all got mountains of stickers to store. They are an inexpensive way to quickly add color and pizzazz, plus they are available in nearly any motif known to man (or crafter). I prefer to sort stickers into two categories:

  

1. The out-of-this-world, just-had-to-have-them, super cute ones

2. The rest of them that were on the sticker sheet I just bought

 

For the first group, anything from file folders to coupon organizers to accordion files will work wonderfully to store stickers, rub-ons and chipboard punch out sheets you plan to use for upcoming projects. As long as it’s acid-free and easy to store, you’re in business.

 

As for the rest of the stickers I just can’t part with, but am not currently using, a binder is the best answer. You can three-hole punch sticker sheets or sort them into clear plastic sheet protectors. Don’t forget the tabbed index dividers to label and quickly page through to find just the right sticker.

 

Keep on fighting the good fight against disorganization and you too can have a story book craft room!

 

Your friend,

 

Organizing the Paper Trail

Nothing says “I’m one super duper organized crafting maven” quite like a person’s paper collection. Here’s why: it takes real dedication to organize individual sheets of paper. Not only do you have to sort them, you also need somewhere to store the sheets once you have them sorted. 

But with a little bit of time and the right tools, you too can be a super duper organized crafter. No more bent corners on 12 x 12 papers or searching through a stack to find just the right color of aquamarine. Plus, you’ll know what you have when it’s time to shop for new projects.

Steps to Scrapbooking Paper Organization:

1.  Organize

First organize by color, then organize by theme. Here is my collection of paper packs, organized into 15 assorted themes like seasons, holidays and celebrations. When I’m sorting, I find it easier to gather old paper boxes, lay them on a table and start to organize. A rubber fingertip can really come in handy during a big sort, too!

 2.  Gather Containers

Containers must be acid-free, so plastic and wood are our friends. Containers can be open, closed, vertical or horizontal. In my opinion, upright storage works best for paper packs, vertical works best for individual sheets of paper and boxes are perfect for scraps and special paper you want to set aside for projects. Just be sure to find something that will fit within your workspace and budget.

    

3.  Label

Labeling your containers can be a time saver. Download these adorable printable labels here: color labels, theme labels and blank labels. I created them in teal, this year’s hot color. Just print, cut and Glue Dot®!

               
                      Color Labels                          Theme Labels                              Blank Labels

4.  Maintain

Keeping your large collection of scrapbooking paper organized doesn’t have to be an everyday chore. Include a “To Be Sorted” bin, a “Scrap” section and a “Donate” area that can be gone through on a rainy day.

Next week I’m going to give some tips and tricks for organizing ribbons and embellishments – you won’t want to miss it! 

Your friend,

 

Stamp Revamp

Dearest Friends,

As I sit here thinking about stamp storage, I can’t help but think back to a simpler time… when stamps were all wooden and no one had ever heard of Glue Dots®. It was the 90s when I discovered the scrapbooking staple wooden stamps. I grew up on the rubber images glued to thick pieces of lightly stained wood. Between those and patterned scissors, my crafting arsenal was complete.

Well baby, we’ve come a long way!

Wood stamps, while they still have their place, can be a hassle to store. Which is why, for the most part, I’ve moved on to the clear stamp.  Last week I promised to show you my collection and here it is…

How many stamps, all alphabetized by category, would you say I have here? 500 maybe? Try over five thousand.  I have collected over 5,000 stamps that I have housed in three 3-ring binders. One of the best parts about clear stamp sets is that they are three-hole punched and on reusable 81/2” x 11” sheets, so they fit perfectly in binders.

 
  

This is the Lace Clear Stamp Set, as it’s shown on the website as well as what it looks like housed in a binder.

For the stamp collector who likes to add a little flair to her organization, I suggest the DYO Chipboard Binder. It’s large enough to perfectly fit sheets of clear stamps, plus you can jazz it up anyway you want. Here I combined lace cardstock with letters I created using the Animal Print Clear Stamp Set. 

  

And for those of us who are still rockin’ the wood stamp look, hinged storage boxes are the way to go. They are lightweight and easy to assemble, plus they have labels on the front so you can quickly find just the right stamp for the occasion.

Next week we’ll be talking more organization!

Your friend,

 

A New Year's Resolution

Hello scrapbookers!

 

I hope this message finds you all well after your New Year’s celebrations. I know I was certainly tired after the late New Year’s Eve night, but of course I wasn’t too tired to make several clichéd resolutions for 2010. In addition to vowing to exercise more, spend more time with friends and family and not put off holiday shopping until the last second, I also vowed to get organized. Perhaps it was watching too many episodes of home improvement shows over the long weekend, but I am ready to get rid of old stuff, organize the new stuff and finally take the big plunge…I am going to organize my home craft room.

 

At work, I am a testament to good organization. I have bins of ribbons, my markers all have lids and are stored upside down and my stamps are alphabetized by category. But at home, things are a different story. So if you’re like me and you could use a little help, I highly recommend the new Store in Style® pieces for the desktop unit and the corner shelf. They were designed by the Oriental Trading® scrapbooking team, and are truly simple to assemble.

The shelves are adjustable and tall enough to fit even a We R Memory Keepers® Crop-A-Dile II Big Bite! This is the corner unit outside my desk, shown with the Store In Style® All-In-One storage box and drawer set.

 

  

So start tackling those organizational resolutions and pick up a few of these Store in Style® pieces. Next week I’ll give you some tips and tricks for storing stamps and I may even show off my alphabetized stamp collection!

 

Your friend,

Holly Jolly Wishes

Hello My Dear Scrapbooking Friends!


As 2009 winds down, I wanted to take a moment to wish you all a very safe and merry holiday season. 

Looking for some last minute handmade gift ideas? Whip up these ornaments in two shakes of a reindeer's tail!

 

 

Instructions:

• Decorate small metal tins with ribbon, chipboard pieces and flocked stickers.  

• Fill with scrapbooking embellishments, small gifts, flocking and glitter or photos.

• Add a ribbon hanger and it's ready to give.


After a holiday hiatus, I'm going to come back in the new year happier and scrappier than ever! This week my team and I are beginning to scrap new projects for our upcoming catalogs, blog postings and more.  I can’t wait to share what we come up with.


May your new year be full of fabulous creations, wonderful inspirations and everlasting dedication to this art form that we call scrapbooking.


Your very merry friend,