New Papers, Limited Edition Tim Holtz Inks and Mailing Tags

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A fun Halloween Project....

Halloween is one of my favorite times of the year.  I love the season, the leaves, the ghouls and goblins, and especially decorating....I love anything that I can make involving Halloween especially that I can make in no time.

Last year, we got some paper mache witch hats in here at the store.  Let me tell you....I love paper mache...It's probably one of the most versatile surfaces out there!  You can decoupage, paint, spray, spritz, cut, ink, and glue on this stuff and it holds up....really well in fact.  It's a blank canvas and it's amazing how two people can start with the same item and have two totally different results....

Jen's is the orange hat.  She painted the brim of the hat black and the top orange.  Then, taking a spider stamp and black ink, she stamped little spiders all over the top of the hat.  Cutting a round circle out of patterned paper, she decoupaged it onto the brim.  She then hand cut a witch out of another sheet of patterned paper and 'pop-dotted' it on the hat.  Then, Jen finished the hat off with some prima flowers.  Pretty cool huh?



The purple hat was painted purple with acrylic paint and then were inked with a black archival ink by Ranger. Then I took a Tim Holtz stamp and stamped a little texture around the brim with the same black ink.  This stamp gave the hat an 'aged' look.  After stamping was completed, I spritzed the whole hat with gold Perfect Pearls Mist to give it a little shimmer and dried it with a heat embossing gun.  (And don't worry...The archival ink won't run or bleed after it is wet.)  Then, I took some Prima ribbon and wrapped it around the bottom of the hat.  I then glue the same type of Prima flowers from Jen's hat to mine.  Finally, I inked a Tim Holtz ticket and stuck it in the hat with a memo pin.  Voila!

Both of these hats took less than an hour to complete and they are also an easy project to do with the kiddos!  The hats come in two sizes a 6" and the 12" that was used in the above projects!

Happy Scrappin'

What is a crop?

What is a crop?  We get asked this from time to time. 

Crop.....definition: a collection or group of persons or things appearing or occurring together.  In this case, a fabulous gathering of scrapbookers (and from time to time, cardmakers) who want to join together and complete their projects....

Personally, I find crops refreshing....It's nice to hang out with a wonderful group of women (and sometimes men) that have a common interest.  Picture working on a layout and having a case of "scrapper's block".  It happens to the newbie and the seasoned scrapper alike.  Normally, I would grab a magazine or hop online to see if I can get my creative mojo going again...But, if you are at a crop, you have an advantage....Because no two scrappers scrap alike, you can get all kinds of fresh ideas and techniques in one night.  It's no odd occurrence to see scrappers walk around the table and browse the projects, asking questions about techniques and design....What a great way to get rid of a case of scrapper's block!!  We've even had crop attendees do mini demos!  And another advantage: you are at a scrapbook store.  Run out of glue or need a different color of paper?  No worries...It's all right there at your fingertips!  And the best thing, you even get a little discount at our crops!  How cool is that?!

Crops also are a place to get away from daily life for just a bit...a place to take a breather...Come work on scrapbooks, cards, sort pictures and supplies, or just come for the chatting and friendship....In all the crops I have hosted, I have met some wonderful, dear people, who I am honored to consider dear friends...

We always have a blast at the crop. We play games (sometimes silly), eat good food, win prizes, and laugh....It's always an absolute blast!!  There's definitely never a dull moment!!  :)



For all you ghouls and goblins out there, our annual Halloween Crop is coming up Saturday, October 15 from 3-11pm.  It's always a blast to see everyone show up in their favorite costumes. Last year, we had a cow, the wolf from Lil Red Riding Hood, a pair of salt and pepper shakers, and Flo, from Progressive.  The year before we had witches, cats, and Bella from Twilight (whom I portrayed, but was mistaken for Howard Stern...LOL. And looking at the picture on the 'Wall of Fame' at the store, I definitely look more like Howard Stern...hehe)  We'll have a prize for best costume and of course, prizes for games, good food, and great friends....

So come join us for the Halloween Crop on October 15!  Can't make it then?  Be sure to keep checking the e-mails for the dates of the next crop!

Happy Scrappin!

Featured project

Sorry we have been missing the past few months....It's been a crazy (good kind of crazy) summer!!  We're going to start posting more inspirational projects on here, like the one by Sherrie below.

We just love this layout done earlier this year by Design Team Member Sherrie.  She used Pink Paislee papers, a Prima vine, and one of our fave embellishments: Thickers.  The butterfly in the top left hand corner was cut out of some of the left over paper. 

For this and more inspiring layouts, be sure to stay tuned to this blog.

Happy scrappin!

Storing Ribbon

Ribbon...easy to store when it's on the spool, but what do you do when you have a yard or so left?

I have a large ribbon bag with probably 100-150 different ribbons in it.  The ribbon bag is made of a clear vinyl-like material with holes punched it so the ribbon can be threaded through.  The majority of the ribbon stays inside the bag and a little sample is outside for you to see.  The best thing about this purse is that it will 'smash' down in to bags.  My ribbon bag is always the last thing I pack in my rolling tote, it always goes on top and is always smashed, but the bag holds up well and the ribbon is protected.

But what if you're not a ribbon person or you want to keep the ribbon handy at your work table?  I recently bought about 7 different colors of the same ribbon to use on a current project.  I wanted it handy, yet organized.  At the store here, we carry these craft doll pins.  I took each of my ribbons and wrapped them each around their own pins and threw them in a basket on my table.  Easy and inexpensive because I bought a dozen of these for less than a dollar!!  And when you run out of the ribbon that is on the pin, you can recycle it and use it again!!  How cool is that?!?!


Happy Scrappin'!

Easy Breezy Cards

Since I'm heading to London next summer on vacation, I need some extra funding. I have quite the stash of paper and stamps, ink and embellishments, so I decided, with a little prodding by Laura, to start making some cards to sell at the fall and winter craft shows. 

Now, the utter idea of me selling my crafts scares me...why you may ask?  I am always unsure of my color choices...I'm never good at seeing if this blue looks good with that green....and don't get me started on pink.....I don't use pink normally because I don't like pink... (Actually, not liking pink isn't correct.  Hate is a little better description of my feelings about the color pink. LOL) I've recently discovered the wonderful little stacks of paper, in both 6x6 and 8x8 sizes.  Lots of companies like Basicgrey, Bo Bunny, Webster's Pages, Graphic 45, and many more are packaging their collections on a smaller scale, for both scrappers and cardmakers.  

What a wonderful idea!  So to assist me in my color matching abilities, I've bought these smaller-scale collections of papers..  It's great for the non color coordinating sort, such as myself, because all the papers in the packs coordinate.  So your battle with picking the right green to go with that blue is already won.  Then, it's just a matter of picking the right cardstock and embellishment if desired.  Easy breezy and also a great way to use all the collection instead of just one or two sheets.  I've gone through one stack and I would guess that I used about 95% of the pack and made 18 cards.  And not a single one is alike, which I love!!  Not too shabby I'd say.

Try this at Christmas.  It's a sure fire way to make Christmas cardmaking less stressful!

Happy Scrappin'!

Oh...and while I'm at it...  Congrats and Best Wishes to my coworker and friend Laura who is gettin'

hitched tomorrow!!  Hugs!