Family Mini Album

I really love mini albums. I don't make them often enough, but when I do...it's always fun and I wish I made them more often! Posh Designs has 12x12 chipboard sheets that make awesome mini albums. I used my paper trimmer to cut 1 12x12 piece into 6 4x6 pieces. Those 4x6 pieces became the base for my mini album.

I also love all the prima flowers that Posh Designs carries!! Here is a big Fiesta Flower that I used on the cover.


I used a 6x6 paper pad by Nikki Sivils called My Sweet Cherry Pie. The colors were perfect for what I wanted to make. I also like to keep a theme going throughout my mini albums. They are much easier to put together for me that way. I decided the left side of the album I was going to use the Tree Paper from the paper pad and would contain a photo of a family member. The other right side of the album would be journaling about that person and some of the other fun patterned paper in the My Sweet Cherry Pie collection. Here are a few pages from the album.





I kept the design the same on both sides of the album. This made it very easy to put together! I used mod podge to adhere the paper to the chipboard pages, and then it all came together very quickly. So...if you are afraid or intimidated by mini albums...don't be! By following a simple design plan, you can put together a wonderful mini album in a short amount of time.

Happy Crafting!!!

Mara

Not Just for Christmas...

Happy New Year! I hope you all had a great holiday with your friends and family. Now that the holidays are over, you don't have to put that Christmas paper away for another year. Chrismtas paper is so versatile these days, you can probably use some to make everyday layouts!!

For this layout, I used the North Pole collection by Crate Paper. Yes, some of the paper is very holiday themed, but some are not! I sought out the colors I wanted to use for this layout that were not overly christmasy. The blues and greys worked well for this photo.


I also used some wonderful Prima Fiesta flowers from the Posh Store. These blooms are sooo pretty!!


I hope i've showed you to look at your supplies in a different way. Take another look at your holiday paper to see what you can use it for!!

Happy crafting everyone!!

Mara

Just a Quickie

Hi Everyone!!! Here is a quick card I created from the North Pole Collection Kit by Crate Paper. I love all the punchouts that come with Crate Paper collections. Perfect for putting together a quick card when you need it!!

I cut descending shapes from my Cricut and added the christmas tree as a focal point for my card. A holiday sentiment bracketed by two jewels rounds out the card. Easy peasy!!

Happy Crafting!!
Mara

Quick and Easy Treat Cones

Are you ready for the holidays??? Do you need a few more gift ideas? I have a super easy treat cone that comes together in minutes! All you need is your favorite holiday papers. I used the North Pole Collection by Crate Paper.

1. Cut a circle, any size. The ones I will show are 8 inch circles.
2. Use really sticky adhesive, and apply it to one side of the circle.
3. Fold the circle until it forms a cone. Press the adhesive and hold for a few seconds to make sure it really sticks.
4. Embellish the outside as you wish.
5. Add some tasty homeade treats to a treat bag and fill your cone!!

A super fun way to present a homeade treat! Or if you don't have time to bake, take a store bought treat and repackage it with your homeade treat cone. For this one, I bought chocolate and caramel covered peanut butter pretzels and repackaged them in a treat cone.

You could make really small cones using small circles for just a few truffles, or large cones for bigger treats. You could even use these as place settings or goodie bags at a birthday party!! The possibilities are endless!

Happy holiday crafting everyone!!!

Mara

Thank You Card Set

Hi Everyone!! I like to have a few gift sets of thank you cards together so I can use them for hostesses gifts during the holidays. They are really easy to put together and such a thoughtful gift! Plus, you know you have lots of scraps that you are saving to use someday...well, today is the day!!

I used THIS template to make a mini pizza box, the perfect size for small 3x3 thank you cards. I decorated the outside with some We R Memory Keeper scraps, DCWV cardstock, ribbon and a prima flower.

The belly band slides off and the box opens up to reveal 6 little thank you cards.

These sweet little cards are decorated with a bird cut from the patterned paper, a thank you sentiment and some jewels!

This would make a nice hostess gift for those last minute holiday parties!! Hope you are enjoying your holiday season so far... Happy Crafting!!!

Mara

Homemade Notepad Gift Idea

Are you making homeade gifts this year for Christmas? Have you thought about what you might make?? Altered notebooks and notepads are always a big hit and would make a great stocking stuffer!! Grab yourself a notebook or notepad at your local office supply store and some scrapbooking supplies and you are ready to get started!

I used a template to cut out the cardstock for my notepad. I scored and folded the cardstock in half, with a little spine for the notepad. I attached the notepad using really sticky tape, embellished the outside and tied it with a ribbon! I love the big bling flower, really add an eyecatching detail.
Here is the inside. Mine has a little pocket to tuck in receipts or business cards or other post-its.

This would make a great stocking stuffer, gift for a neighbor or co-worker, or a holiday planner for yourself. So pick up a notebook to alter the next time you are out and check out the Posh Store for all sorts of goodies for embellishing!!

Happy Craftin' -- Mara

Supply List: Half Notepad, Cardstock: DCWV Patterned Paper: WRMK Whiteout collection Bling: KaiserCraft Alphas Stickers: My Little Shoebox Ribbon and Buttons

Got Flowers??

Flowers are one of the most versatile and fun scrapping embellishment!!! They come in all colors, shapes, sizes, and textures. They can be mixed and matched and paired with almost anything. Have you see the Prima Flowers that are in the Posh Store?? There are so many to choose from!

Here is a layout I completed using lots of fun flowers from the store!

I love the sugar coated Primas, so sparkley!!

They are the perfect size, not too big and not too small. Add some bling or opaline swirls and you get a great match.

If you haven't already checked out the flowers AND the bling in the Posh Store, you must!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Kraft
Patterned Paper: WRMK Nonesense/Whiteout Collection
Flowers: Prima Sugar Coated, Kaisercraft Rhinestone Blossoms, BoBunny
Bling: Basic Grey Opaline Swirls, Bazzil Basics Adhesive Jewels, Basic Grey Bling Swirls
Ribbon: WRMK Flocked Lace
Alphas: MLS mini alphabet letters, Basic Grey chipboard letters

Thanks for stopping by!!

Altered Tin and Mini Album

I've had this tin forever, I can't even remember where I got it. But I remember loving it and I finally had a great plan for it!! This is an album for my little sister, who will soon be moving across the country. I scanned a bunch of old photos of the two of us for this album. But first...I had to alter the outside of the tin!

I loved the Basic Grey Opaline swirls. I took it apart, so it would fit the space on my tin and sorta pieced it back together!

I cut squares of cardstock, followed by slightly smaller squares of patterned paper for the inside album. I used the WRMK Whiteout/Nonesense collection because I just love the bright, fun colors!

The inside album is very simple and plain. The tin isn't that thick so there was really no room for embellishments (since I had so many photos I wanted to include!). I like how all the pages look all fanned out!

I wrote on the back of each page what the year was and where we are in the photo. It will be fun to look back in 10, 15, 20 years at all the moments we've shared together! My kids also had a great time looking through it, the couldn't believe that little baby was their Aunt!!

Thanks for checking out my mini album!! It was so much fun to go back through photos and preserve them all in one place. Because that's what scrapping is all about!!

Supplies:
Cardstock: DCWV
Patterned Paper: WRMK Whiteout/Nonesense Collection
Alphas: WRMK Whiteout/Nonesense Collection
Pearl Flourish: Basic Grey Opaline Swirl
Flowers: Bo Bunny
Others: Ric Rac, Newsprint Flower

Lots of Layers!

I love using lots of layers on my layouts. Layering paper, embellishments, and titles is a great way to add some texture and dimension to your layout. Here is one example of layering lots of fun patterned paper.

I punched circles of cardstock and patterned paper, crumbled them up, inked them and layered them to make these fun flowers!

I also layered some stick pins behind a Cricut cut butterfly to create a fun coordinating embellishment.
Thanks for taking a peek!!! Hope to see some of your layered layouts in our gallery very soon!!!

Supplies used:
Paper: We R Memory Keepers Whiteout-Nonsense collection
Cardstock: DCWV textured cardstock
Alphas: We R Memory Keepers Whiteout-Nonesense collection
Buttons: Papertrey Ink
Twine: misc
Stickpins: Making Memories
Ribbon: Offray
Pen: Signo Uniball

Mara

Clear Cards

Hi Everyone!! I want to show you a fun, unique card that is super easy to make and makes a big impact! I started with a transparency, which you can get at your local office supply store. You might even have some in your scrapping stash. Cut it to standard card size (5.5 x 4.25), score it and fold it. The fun thing with transparent cards is you can decorate the inside as well as the outside.

I took a piece of patterned paper from the We R Memory Keepers Whiteout Nonesense collection, cut it to fit and adhered it to the inside of my clear card.

I then used my trusty scissors to cut some really fun branch and bird embellies from the WRMK collection to embellish the outside.

I stamped my sentiment with white ink, which i'm still not super good at!! It's really neat how you can see the inside through the outside of the clear card. Fun!!

You can add a little journal spot inside when you are ready to send the card for your message. I hope you will give a transparent card a try!!

Supplies:
We R Memory Keepers Whiteout Nonesense paper collection
White ink
Transparency Sheet

I hope you give a transparent card a try sometime!!

Mara