Valentine's Day Cards

Valentine's Day Cards from BoBunny Love Letters

With Valentine’s Day nearly here, now is the time to get your Valentine’s Day cards made.  ScrapbooksPlus has some great papers for your projects. 

I especially loved BoBunny’s Love Letters line.  It has pinks and turquoises and just makes you happy to look at.  For my Valentine’s Day card, I used the Airmail paper, which has stamps on one side that are ohh so cute and the Love Letters, which has fun stripes.  I made a standard-sized horizontal card with these two papers.  For the trim and a handmade envelope, I used BoBunny Island Mist Vintage.  This turquoise-mottled paper (with gold polka dots on one side) made an envelope that popped, especially when I added a little trim and hearts from Love Letters.  (If you haven't checked out this line of paper, I encourage you to do so.  Similar to the BoBunny dots, this paper comes in a variety of colors  -- all vintage and all with gold dots on one side -- that can be used with all kinds of paper.  I love the browns and blues.)

I also made a little matchbook using the same papers as the card.  I added a Valentine's Day message so it could serve as a unique card. 

Stop by ScrapbooksPlus and check these out.  I am not sure that the picture does them justice.  While you’re there, you can get the supplies you need to make these.  You can also check out other Valentine's Day papers, such as Basic Grey's True Love, which includes little mini bottle caps!

ScrapbooksPlus will be offering a class to make these three items plus a Valentine’s Day exploding box.  Not only will you make these great items, but you’ll learn how to use a scoring board.  So whether you want to make t hese items or to learn how to use a scoring board, sign up now as space is limited by calling ScrapbooksPlus at 703.263.9503.  The class will be held on Saturday, February 9, 2013 from 10:30am – 2:30pm for a cost of $45.  I hope to see you there!   

Exploding Box & Cards

Most people love to get handmade cards and gifts. I think it is especially nice for Valentine's Day.  On Saturday, February 9th Scrapbooks-Plus will offer a class in which you'll make four Valentine-themed items using a scoring board and BoBunny’s Love Letters line. 

You’ll make an exploding box that would be a great Valentines gift for one of your loves – grandmother, mother, daugter, husband.  It looks like a box but when you open it up out pops all kinds of spaces that are decorated.  You can add messages and pictures specific to the receipient. You could even include a gift card in one of the pockets.  If you have a child away at school one of these with gift cards would be most welcome. 

In addition, we’ll make a newly popular “matchbook,” which can serve the same purpose as a card, but is oh so cute. 

 A card and matching envelope will complete our projects. 

Although these projects are great and reason enough to take a class, but the real purpose of making these is to learn about a scoring board.  After making these item, you can decide whether this is a tool you need in your papercrafting tool box.  Whatever you decide, you’ll have completed some projects, learned how to make some new items and had a fun afternoon. 

This class is part of a series I'm teaching to share new tools and techniques so that we are continuing to expand our papercrafting skills.  I always feel that I make better decisions when I get to use somehting before I buy it and you'll definately gain that experience with this class.  And you'll have a lot of fun!

The class is on February 9, 2013  from 10:30am – 2:30pm with a cost of $45.   The items are on display at the store if you'd like to look at them up close.   To sign up stop by or call Scrapbooks Plus at

703-263-9503.   Space is limited.

Displaying Travel Photos with BoBunny Snowy Day

The BoBunny Snowy Day line was designed and great for winter photos of all types and lots of the items include snowflakes, mittens and winter messages, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t great for other photos.  I loved the rich colors and was eager to use the papers, but I didn’t have winter photos of any type.  I did have lots of travel photos.  I decided that the blues, browns and golds would be perfect for a day in Briare, France, a lovely city on the Loire River. 

BoBunny has a wonderful line of dots and solids that cooridinate well with specific lines.   I used  the Slate Dot and Plum Dot in this layout.  The solid side of the Plum Dots was perfect for my pictures.  For Trim on top and bottom, I used the Slate Dot and punched it.  The Snowy Day Stripes had colors that I loved and only a couple of stripes related to snow so I just used this paper as accents and didn’t use the “snow” lines.  Some of the tags were without snowy messages so I used these.  When taken out of the “snowy” situation, the snowflakes on brads and papers, look like designs or the sun. 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

As with many of my travel layouts, I was challenged as I had lots of pictures I wanted to use and quite frankly I thought journaling would take away from the beauty of the layout.  My solution – hidden journaling.   The tab on the left with a brad is actually the pull for a long piece of paper that contains the story of this day.  Result:  The memories are preserved and the beauty of the pictures isn't  marred by text.  

As usual with BoBunny, this line has great chipboard, brads, buttons and jewels.  I couldn’t use them all in this layout, but I sure wanted to.  So if you ignored this month’s line because you didn’t think you had snow pictures, I encourage you to head to ScrapbooksPlus and check out these papers. 

BoBunny Snowy Day Line

The Design Team used BoBunny’s Snowy Day line to create its January projects.  As the name conveys, the papers, journaling blocks, tags and embellishements have a snow theme.  Lots of snowflakes, mittens and snow sayings, such as "let it snow."   Typical of BoBunny, the line includes brads, cute buttons,  jewels, die cuts and chipboard shapes. 

The rich hues of blues,  browns, plums and golds provide great backgrounds for winter pictures. The Design Team added some of the BoBunny cooridinating solid papers with dots on the reverse side.  Slate Dots, Plum Dots and Curry Dots papers go especially well with the Snowy Day line  

Although the papers are perfect for snow pictures, the color combination is great for other pictures as well.  As an example of the versatility,  I made two layouts of travel pictures, without any snow in them.  Many of the prints work for a variety of pictures. 

I can’t wait to see what the Design Team has made with this versatile line.  You can check out the Design Team’s projects at ScrapbooksPlus.  Feel free to take pictures of those that give you ideas for your layouts.  While you're there you can pick up the supplies you’ll need to make some great layouts. Or you can sign up for one of January's crops and usethe Design Team Wall for ideas create your own layouts. 

Thanks A Bunch Card

Although we all love receiving cards,  we just don’t send them often enough.  Wen I first saw, the Mason (or if you prefer Ball) Jar stamp with the message “thanks a bunch” I knew I wanted to make a thank you card with a bunch of flowers.  The BoBunny Alora line of paper made this easy.  

I used the Alora Stitches paper to make the card base.  (This meant the inside is polka dots of various colors with a cute flourish in the corner if you cut it out just so.)  I cut a rectangle slightly smaller than the rectamge; from the red side of Alora Wish.  I cut a square of four flowers from Alora Cut Outs.  

I stamped the Mason jar with VersaMark and embossed with Stampendous shabby green embossing powder.  (This embossing powder is great as it has different types of flakes so you get a much more interesting texture than with solid embossing powder.  It comes in several colors so check it out at Scrapbooks Plus.)  To add a little more, I used an Inkssentials Embossing pen and the same embossing powder to make the centers of the flowers match the jar.  (To use the pen, you simply highlight the area you want embossed and then emboss as usual.  You can emboss writing or use to outline as I did.)   I stamped the message in the jar with black ink.  I tied a ribbon around the top of the card.

 On the inside I affixed a rectangle of Alora Dimples to make it easier to include a message and added a couple of flowers from the Alora Combo Stickers.

Make a Wish!

With the Alora paper, it is about as easy to make a page as to make a wish.   I chose the Alora Stitches' polka dots for an a family birthday layout.  I cut a strip that said “Make a Wish” from Alora Wish for my title and inked the strip and the background with Barn Door Distress Ink.  After affixing the strip to the background, I added two horizontal  (3 ½” x 5”) and a vertical (5 x 3 ½”) photos in a grid-type layout.   All that remainded was to add a few embellishments and journaling.  I used the “Love” and “Wish” boxes from the Alora Cutouts for Journaling.  I added the date under the title with Alora Tiny Type Stickers.  I used a couple of flowers from the Alora Combo Stickers.  Strips of jewels frame the top of the photos and large jewels dot the “I” in the title and form the center of the circle.  That’s all there is to it!

Using the Alora Line to Make A Thank You Book

I warned you last month that after I found out how great it was to make a book with coordinated papers and embellishments that my altered item might be a book every month.  Two months doesn’t always make, but the BoBunny Alora line had such cute items I couldn’t resist making a book as a thank you gift.  My aunt included three extra Moms, who weren’t going to be with their children on Mother’s Day,  in the celebration that she was having with her kids.   A book with some pictures of each Mom seemed a great way to say thank you.

And since this was a thank you for inviting us to her home, a house was the perfect shape.   I made the book with a house die that is available for you to use at ScrapbooksPlus.  It is just the right size for a book.  I made both covers from chipboard and then covered them with Alora papers.  One thing I love about making your own book shape rather than using a purchased one is that you can cut the papers to cover the pages with the same die.  Oh so easy!  For the inside pages, I simply glued two pages together.  Even though the Alora papers are double-sided, I still glued them together as I didn’t think a single-sheet was quite sturdy enough.  Another alternative is to make a chipboard base for each page.  This would make your book much more durable.  (One thing I would do differently is to cut off the edge of the roof on the side that I am binding together for the book as it catches.  If you just use your trimmer to cut that side straight the pages will turn easier.  I plan on doing this when I pick mine up.)  

I encourage you to take a look at the larger dies available at ScrapbooksPlus for you to use.  You can use them while you’re at a crop at no charge.  During non-crop hours, use of the room and all the tools (including dies) is free if you spend $5.00 .  You can buy the chipboard you need at the store.  Another advantage of cutting your book at the store is you only buy what you need.

I punched holes for the ribbon to hold the book together with my Crop-a-dile and inserted We R Memory Keepers Eyelets.  Not only do they keep the holes from ripping, but they add a bling.   The turquoise ribbon that I used to hold the book together is a bit shimmery as well.

On the front and back cover, I stamped “thanks a bunch” and a heart inside a jar with a stamp available at Scrapbooks Plus.  (The stamp includes some other cute items you can include inside the jar.)   On the back cover, I wrote below the jar what the “thanks” was for with a pen, making the book like a thank you card.  I decorated the covers and pages using letters, borders and designs from ComboStickers, Tiny Type Cardstock Stickers, Alora Brads and Alora Jewels.  The Alora Jewels are practical because they include rhinestones and pearls in a variety of sizes. I love using them for flower centers.  On one page, I used a flower border sticker and put a jewel inside every flower.  I found two more  great ribbons at ScrapbooksPlus to use as accents in the book.   And I cut out Alora papers in a variety of shapes to add to the pages and serve as photo mats.  I especially like the alarm clock and fan cut with the Tim Holtz Movers & Shapers dies.

I think my aunt is going to like this a lot better than the usual thank you note. 

And as I’ve discovered, if you simply buy paper and embellishments from the same line, you can make a book quickly.   You can choose from pre-made shapes of chipboard and cover them with paper, make your own shapes as I did or simply use a square or rectangle shape.  Whatever shape you choose,  I’m confident the recipient will be happy.

Mother's Day Layout with Recipes

I created a 2-page layout to capture a special Mother’s Day that I spent with my aunt and several other mothers.  It was a potluck where everyone brought something so I thought it would be nice to include a picture of all the mothers along with the  recipes for the item each brought.  

The background is Alora Squiggles  I chose one of the less busy backfounds since I was going to have so many pictures.  I used one of the Cut Outs to make a frame for the title.  I cut off the two outer frames so it would fit my page better and used the Combo Stickers for the title.

A holder for each person’s recipe was made from Alora Wish and affixed to the background with  1/8” Wondertape so the recipe cards would fit and the tape would hold as the cards are pulled in and out.  I made the recipe cards by cutting rectangles from Blue Alora Dimples and  cutting the top with the Sizzix Tim Holtz on the Edge File Folder die.  (This die is great to make all kinds of file folders of any size you want.)   Each recipe can then be printed on white paper and glued to the recipe card. 

I put a picture of a Mom on each recipe holder and their name (made with a labelmaker) on each recipe card.  Some of the pictures were made with a circle punch and a slightly larger circle punch made the photo mat.  To call attention to the hostess I used a chipboard frame for her picture.  Each recipe holder was decorated  with a variety of Alora items – chipboard, stickers, brads, journaling cards and jewels.  I also used three different Bazzill Half the Edge strips.  These come in a package of 2 each of 10 different designs in a variety of colors.

I think with this page I'll remember the special day that my aunt hosted so that all the mothers she knew had a special Mother's Day.

Memories Make & Take

Make & Take April 25th

Create a beautiful  layout to showcase those wonderful family or travel memories with this year's Make and Take.

When I say the new BoBunny Weekend Market line I fell in love with it.  I especially loved the tiny charms—a sewing machine, globe, camera, key and fan.  I was thinking of a variety of different things I could use them for.  A card for my seamstress sister with the sewing machine.  A page for my travel pictues with the globe.  I had at least one idea for every charm.  

Instead, I designed this week's Make and Take using all five charms.  Combining the charms, lace and the BoBunny papers created a antique looking page that is great for family, travel or even food memories.  

It is designed with room for pictures of a variety of sizes since if you’re like me, my older pictures aren’t always a standard size.  And even if they are, I sometimes want to cut something out of the picture.  With matching stickers, buttons and diecuts, making an interesting page is easy as can be.  The free element is a card with a Tim Holtz Jalopy cut out. 

Head to ScrapbooksPlus for everything you need to make this page.  Buy a couple of extra pieces of paper and use the leftovers to create another great layout. 

Basic Grey Papers & Flowers for Special Memory

I had a special picture of my cousins from our annual family reunion.  As with all pictures with a lot of people, it is hard to know what to do with them.  I know from trying to sort out old pictures of my Mom’s that it is important to name the people because even though today we may be able to identify them all, 50 years from now people will say who is that?

Rather than simply putting boring labels at the bottom, I decided to put each person’s name on a flower stem. (The stems were cut from Oxford Deans List. The person’s name was written on it with a pen.)  I then used flowers (made in a variety of ways) to identify to which family each person belonged and where in the picture they are.  Let me explain.

My sister and I are flowers made from Tim Holtz Sizzix Tattered Flower die cut from Basic Grey paper.   (Both flowers are the same; the die contains four flowers.)  My Uncle Dick’s kids are also represented by flowers made using the Tim Holtz Sizzix Tattered Flower die, but I used a different paper and flower.   All my Aunt Joann’s kids are all Bazzill Paper Flowers 1.5 Primula French Vanilla.  (These flowers are great and ScrapbooksPlus has them in  lots of fun colors and different sizes.) My Aunt Marilyn’s kids are all blue BoBunny buttons and Uncle Tom’s are tan BoBunny Buttons.   (Smaller buttons the centers of  the flowers.)  I tied a knot in each of the buttons with blue sewing floss.  The flowers are placed vertically and horizontally to correspond to where the person is in the picture.  For example, my cousin Tommy is in the back row and the furthest to the left so his flower is one of the tallest and on the left side of the page.

I also used symbolism to enhance the meaning of the page.   For example, the #19 represents the total number of cousins.  It is from the Pink Paislee Daily Junque Mini Note & Label set, which contains 43 embellishments.  l  also used two cards from this set on the right side to provide balance.  In the upper right, I used a Kaisercraft Wood Flourishes leave to  provide two leaves to represent the two cousins who are no longer with us.  

This page was a lot of fun to make and will provide special memoires for years to come.

Making Holiday Tags with Oxford Paper

I know it is only September but if we are going to hand make things for the holidays now is the time to do it so we have time to enjoy the holidays.   I liked the Oxford paper, but didn’t have any  school related pictures to scrap.  The burgundy and green colors made me think of Christmas so I made extra large tags.  These could be used in several ways --  for those really big boxes that a small tag just doesn’t do the trick, on cards or as decorations.  Another thing I love about making your own tags is that you can mix and match what you have and they all coordinate.

Reindeer

I cut the tag and a cooridinating shadow tag with the Cricut using Oxford paper.   Christmas needs a little shine in my view so I spritzed both the tag and shadow tag with Sun Sisters Glimmer Mist.  I cut a tree and painted it with Dirty Martini Glimmer Glam.   Using plain cardstock I cut out a reindeer and a star for the top of the tree..  I embossed it three times with gold embossing powder.  I added BoBunny Zoology Jewels for eye and collar.  You could also use jewels or buttons to decorate the tree. Tie with a ribbon and you are done.  You could make several of these in no time at all.

Snowman

The approach was similar to the reindeer tag except I used Silver Glimmer Mist on the tag, shadow and the snowman.  I  left the tree plain.  I embossed the snowman’s hat.  The eyes and buttons same from the Bo Bunny Jewel set.  The Bo Bunny Father Christmas buttons would also be great.  There are hearts in the set that would be adorable on a snowman.  Again, add a ribbon and you are done.  Scrapbooks Plus has a great supply of ribbon. 

Since I’m in France now, I may decide to carry the French theme all the way to Christmas and make some holiday tags with the Eiffel Tower!  Another idea is to add a picture of that special person.  That’s the advantage of making your own tags – they can be uniquely yours.

Using Big Letters – Beautiful Bermuda

The extra large chipboard letters at Scrapbooks Plus attracted my interest every time I went in the store. (They are available in cream, burgundy and black for only 69 cents.) So as Designer of the Month, I included a letter in the kit to see some ways to use the letters.

I originally planned to use my “B” for a family page but as I worked on my projects a new idea arose. The pink side of the Perky paper reminded me of the pink Bermuda sand and the pictures I had not scrapped from a trip to Bermuda. As I looked at my pictures, “Beautiful Bermuda” popped into my head and I had a title and a use for my “B.” To go with the theme and the colors of the page, I sprayed the “B” with Cadillac Pink Glimmer Mist making it a solid, shinny pink. To make it more interesting, I used the green vines from the Vicki B. rubon set to add accents. This also brings together the pink with the green background. The “Beautiful” above the “B” and “Bermuda” below came from the Vicki B. Sticker set.

I placed the pictures in a grid on a photomat made from Perky paper (pink side) and added a frame from Bazzillion paper (brown side). Some pictures are on each side of the 2-page layout. This didn’t provide enough attention to the pictures so I added a corner accent in each corner created from the rubon set. The flowers in the center are also from the Vicki B. rubon set. They are placed so that each is partially on both pages and draw your eye to the center of the picture display. Tape the pages together on reverse side with painter’s tape to assure that they don’t move while you work and apply the rubons as usual. Once affixed you can simply pull the pages apart and the rubons separate with the design fitting together perfectly when you place the pages together. I love this trick!

To add a little more design, I covered a chipboard flourish with Bazzillion paper (brown side) and also cut two smaller flourishes ones from the same paper. (The dies for these are available in the crop room.) To add interest, I sprayed the flourishes with Decadence Chalkboard. The effect of this is hard to see in the picture but when you look at the page directly it adds a benefit.

Without the “B” this page would not be nearly as attractive. Check out the letters. You can use all kinds of scrapbooking techniques on them to make them fit your page. How else can you add this kind of focus on a page for only 69 cents?

Paradise by Esther

Aloha. The Bo Bunny papers are so colorful and exciting with the stars and red patterns that they were meant for the page map. Some of the motifs reminded me of the hibiscus and Hawaii. For this layout, I chose a solid blue Bazzill as the base with three & 3/4" x 12" of Avocado green from the BoBunny green dots page adhered 1/2" above the bottom. The gray textured paper was added to the right using 3" x 10" under the title. I overlapped a portion of the other side of Picnic at the bottom with a concave circle line. That way the colorful flowers and stars were shown.

The pictures were mounted to show the red stripe and the flowers on the Picnic pattern and corners rounded with the Chomper Corner Rounder. Block Party Picnic was used to obtain the flower that was adhered to chipboard with a white center and copper Stickles. Also two orchids by Prima were attached with the acrylic worded base allowing the colors to show.

Stickers: Mrs. Grossman's (Hawaiian shirt, thongs & lei) and the Block Party letters & Honolulu by Stamping Station. A red and white circle of a star design was added from the sticker sheet. A transparency was printed and cut for the journaling. It is anchored under the other elements at top and the thongs at bottom. This was a fun page that highlighted a fun memory of Honolulu. Aloha until my next entry.

Happy Birthday Mickey by Esther

Bo Bunny's Sophie line is great for design. However, the black cardstock was a bit challenging for me. Then I remembered that I had saved pictures from long ago with a lot of black because they were also a challenge. This single page layout was inspired by the black cardstock with the flowers in the corner. I used about a third of the sheet at the bottom of the layout. The pictures were taken at night in Disneyland at a parade celebrating Mickey Mouse's 50th birthday.

Aqua cardstock was used to bring out the flowers. The Chomper was used on the corners of the cropped pictures. The dark pictures were made to stand out by having the black designed paper behind them. Then lighter tones of tan & aqua behind them gave a background to highlight them on the layout.

The title and journaling were printed on photo paper and attached using red American Crafts brads. In Word or Publisher use the title word art to get the shaped title. Mickey is tossing yellow, black & red stars up to the title.

A Place for Everything - Scrap Oranization by Loretta Cooper

One of my grandmother's (many) cliches... "A place for everything, and everything in it's place". This is the first essential rule of organization. And it was an absolute necessity for my grandmother, as she never threw out anything.

In this, she unwittingly taught me the second essential rule of organization: Be willing to part with anything you 1.) don't use 2.) don't like 3.) can't remember why you bought it in the first place.

One of the things I've observed about scrappers as a group is that we are all collectors. It's part of the hobby. It's a little impulsive and and little obsessive... and frankly, that's why we love it. But it's also very easy to get overwhelmed or frustrated if you can't put your hands on "the stuff" you need when you finally carve out those few moments to play.


For this blog, I'd like to invite you into my scrapping space-- a small extra bedroom upstairs -- and show you some of my organizing tips. As you can see, I use every inch of space. I added the little daybed because somebody is always coming in to chat. ( It's the perfect resting place. Stiff as a board so nobody stays too long! )


My workspace is a standing workdesk I found at Ikea eons ago. I am certain they have much nicer things now, but I'm afraid to look.

Underneath and to both sides storage of the things I use the most... cutters, inks, distressing tools.

Good lighting is important too! This room has two huge windows. But I scrap a lot at night-- and I am really particular about color, so I have three lights in this room -- the two you see here and another on the opposite side of the space.



Above the work space I have a magnetic bulletin board also covered in tools and a few published projects that inspired me.

Again, I try to keep the tools and materials I use most within arms reach. If I have to take even a few steps away, I get distracted...

Storing supplies get's complicated.
I used to keep all my paper, sorted by color in paper racks. I've pretty much abandoned that. It got too complicated trying to figure out where all those multi-colored prints should go.




Now my card stock stays sorted in racks and most of my paper is is sorted by manufacturer in these very cool paper bins.

I have discovered I really like this system. Even though I can't see it all, it's fun to flip through the files and discover all those wonderful prints.


I have several of these bins. One with only holiday or special event papers (Christmas, Halloween, Summer, Fall) Another holds project categories (Sports, Travel, Family, etc.)

In the second closet I keep all the other goodies separated into drawers.
Brads, snaps, flowers, chipboard ... Basically anything that can be used to embellish a page lives in here. This is also where punches and circle cutters live.

And finally, there's the computer center. I've only recently moved my old laptop up here.

I use my computer a lot (unloading and retouching photos- printing out journaling -- you know.) Running up and down the stairs to the desktop was really cutting into all that good "scrapping karma" I had going. I also moved my good Cannon Printer and my wide body scanner up here too.

And in case you're wondering ... that big thing full of stickers is called a scraprack. It's a new addition to my organizational system. The jury is still out on it's usefulness for me. Let's say I like it a lot "in theory".

I'd love to hear (and see) how other scrappers are organizing their loot! A well organized stash means there is that much more room for more!

Happy Scrapping!
Loretta

Red Birthday Letters Needed by Esther

This was a fun challenge to use the birthday theme in red. The kit contained the Doodlebug Design & KI Memories Shimmer Papers that were mostly pink. Also, the Bo Bunny "It's My Party" papers in the kit which were red, yellow, blue and green. The American Crafts Thickers were pink. Since the clothing worn in the picture was red, I made the chipboard letters red using a rubber stamp ink & glitter powder. The first try with a red Staz-on ink only made the letters a dull reddish-pink. But a red glitter with the heat gun made the glitter shine. The Tiara glitter stickers were too cute to waste. Try changing the look of the letters you have, if a different color is desired.

See the Design Team Wall at Scrapbooks Plus for the red glitter letters and other creative ideas. Did you enter the Challenge this month?

Details, Details, Details...an Apology...& a Project!

First, let me say how happy we are that we are already getting such a great response to our new Design Team Monthly Challenge.

Second, let me apologize for not being as prepared as I should have been! I know that some of our excited blog followers have already hit the store in search of the new papers only to be disappointed that they were not yet out for purchase. Let me explain that the DT traditionally has a get together where we switch out our projects on "The Wall" and we also put out all the elements of that month's kit at the same time. For July, we chose to get together at 6pm on the 1st, so you early bird shoppers beat us to the store! I promise to be better next month about letting you know exactly when the new papers will be available!

Third, I have more specific information that I hope will answer any questions that have come up about the challenge: We have not assembled a kit. Instead, you are able to look over all of the materials that we had in our DT kit, and then choose which items you would like to purchase to create your project. Some of you may fall in love with the pretty pastels in the Cupcake line from Doodle Bug, while others may gravitate to the bold primaries in the BoBunny papers OR the shimmer & glitter of the KI papers. Let me tell you that Leah gave us so many great birthday-themed papers to choose from that there is something for everyone!

Remember when your project is ready, just leave a comment on Leah's post where she reveals the July Kit and tell us where we can go and see your creative genius! (OR you can email a picture of your project to debbie@scrapbooks-plus.com ) The winner will be awarded a Scrapbooks Plus gift certificate and the layout will be featured on our blog! (If you want to review the rules, this link will take you to my original post inviting you to play along!)

And finally, let me share something I made using this month's kit!

The papers all have a birthday theme, so I decided to make party hats - actually, party visors. (Many thanks to my models, Erin and Adrianna.)

Basically, I bought a .99 foam visor and used it as a pattern.

I used a circle punch (about 3/4" diameter) to create a scalloped border.

Then I inked the edge of the cupcake paper from Doodlebug before I adhered it to the top.

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I used my crop-o-dile to punch holes through all layers and set some eyelets, then I threaded beading elastic through the holes and used square knots to tie it off.

I think it turned out pretty cute!

It was so fun and easy I decided to make another one with the BoBunny papers - but this one has a little twist - it is also an invitation!

The BoBunny paper is actually very sturdy, double-sided cardstock, so it did not need to be lined. I created the fancy edge by adhering some red ric-rac (I used Glossy Accents as a glue because it happened to be handy and it worked great!)

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But where is the invitation? Well, the medallion on the center of the visor is actually a flap that opens to reveal the details. How did I make it? Easy...

I folded a double thickness of cardstock and placed it on top of the cutting die, but left one edge peeking out - see it at the bottom?

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After cutting you can see that edge is flat.

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When you open it, you can see how it is connected at that point.

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Then I decorated the front with a "Party!" sticker from BoBunny and added party details to the inside. Red line tape holds it on the front of the visor and a brad and a photo turn holds the flap closed.

I plan on making some of these up to use as invitations to a Jimmy Buffet party later this summer! I know they are a little big to mail, but if one of these showed up on your desk or your doorstep, wouldn't you just have to come?!?!?

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Party On, Dude! (tell me somebody gets that film reference from one of my favorite movies...)

I hope to see you around the store and I look forward to seeing what you can create! Have fun with the Challenge! Susie

Gift Bag by Esther

How about a gift bag to match the card for a special friend?






Most of us probably make cards. But do we take time to decorate the gift bag? Start with a gift bag in the desired color. This one was a metallic gold, I used patterned paper to shape with a flexible ruler for the swirls. ScrapBooks Plus has the bendable ruler by Bo Bunny that can be used to mark the shape of the bent ruler. After marking the curves, I used a craft knife (Fiskars has a good one the your index finger fits into) to cut along the curves. The pieces were moved around to get the desired effect & glued to a solid cardstock. A gold marker was used to show the curves. I cut the rectangle to fit the bag front.

Once the shaped paper pieces are glued to the gift bag, you can decorate it with markers, ribbon, lace, pearls,& stickers, etc. Use contrasting colors and patterns for interest. The yellow flowers pop on the aqua tones of the paper. Double-sided tape is good for this project because the bag will get a lot of movement. Add a tag & ribbon on the handle.



Now the bag becomes a part of the gift. Add tissue inside with the gift. I made a card to match that is on display at ScrapBooks Plus. Let me know if you make a gift bag to go with a card?

There's No Place Like Home

This little HOME word album had been talking to me long before the Bo Bunny DT kits were ready for pick up. I had seen a similar album done in the Abbey Road paper line and just had to create one for myself in honor of the eleventh anniversary our house. What a long way it's come since the barren, red clay yard and bare, builder-white walls of April 1998!

The key to making this (and other similar books) sing is all the detailed cutting. I cut at least forty flowers, vines, leaves and other elements from the paper's patterned to achieve this effect. Frankly, not a lot of embellishments were purchased for this book - the decorative touches are mostly achieved through inking, layering and pop dotting the handcut items. Add a little ribbon and a few buttons and you are set. I know a couple of people at the store have told me that they have been making their own book from this sample. Just let me know via this blog, and I'll gladly leave the book at the store after the wall changes out on June 1 for a little while longer if you need it to finish your own "HOME" book.