A Month of ABC's - Zz

Hi there!

Today I get to conclude GCD Studios alphabet month with the letter Z, and what better way to represent Z than with the super trendy zig zag.

First up I have a card to share where I made my own zig zag.

Supplies:
Cardstock: (white) Georgia-Pacific, (brown) Bazzill, Patterned Paper: (Floral Field, Tiny Floral Border, Strawberry Jam, Country Bloom from the Country Charm collection) GCD Studios, Stamps: JustRite, Ink: ColorBox, Dies: (Standard Circles SM, Standard Circles LG, Classic Ric Rac) Spellbinders Paper Arts
Size: 4.25"x5.5"

I used a zig zag border die, you could also use a punch, to cut strips from multiple pieces of patterned paper, matched them up and adhered them to a piece of scrap paper, leaving the bottom strip hanging of the edge. Then I trimmed the top and sides, matted it on a piece of dark cardstock and added it to my card. I really like the contrast of hard and soft, so to soften this card up I added a sentiment in a circle and a sweet flower cut from some Country Charm patterned paper.

Next up I have the easiest way to spice up a project with a little zig zag, cut it from some patterned paper.

Supplies: 
Cardstock: (white) Georgia-Pacific, Patterned Paper:  (Flora Field from the Country Charm collection), (Posies from the Splendor collection), (Amber's Avenue from the Oh Happy Day collection) GCD Studios, Buttons & thread: We R Memory Keepers, Thickers: American Crafts, Muslin from stash
Size: 4.25"x5.5"

Since Chevrons and zig zags are so popular right now it's not difficult to find papers sporting the pattern, like this pretty piece I used from the Oh Happy Day collection. Just trim it and add it! Again I added some florals to soften this up a bit as well as a Piece of muslin for texture...which, of course, I trimmed with pinking shears...more zig zag!!!

Are you diggin' the zig zag?

A Month of ABC's - Yy

Hey everyone, Julie here!  Just wanted to take a quick second to say Happy Birthday to my sweet 11 year old!  I think YOU are all the things described on this layout:  Lovely, Strong, Delightful, Confident, Respectable and Brilliant!!  I love you!!

Okay, I actually created this layout to scrap my daughter's first day of fourth grade but it just so happened that the post fell on her Birthday!  More reason to celebrate!

The bright, yet warm colors of the Country Charm style work so well as we say good-bye to summer and welcome fall.  I absolutely adore the Country Bloom pattern and I wanted it to be one of the focuses on my layout.  To create interest and keep but keep it subtle, I added texture to cardstock using an M-bossibilities folder which was large enough to cover the entire piece of cardstock on the left side of my layout.

To create my embellishments, I used flower die templates and cut out the centers of the strawberries and other pattern paper.  Then I layered them and used a foam dot to adhere them to the layout.

I used a butterfly die cut out coordinating pattern which came straight from the flowers in the Country Bloom paper.  Then I cut out a flourish for the base of them.

I hope you've been inspired by this simple, yet bold layout.  I know that I've been inspired by this amazing young lady who is growing up right before my eyes!

 

Supplies:  Country Charm – Paper:  Farm Field Strip #1506, Strawberry Jam #1510, Handycraft #1508, Cherry Pie #1504, Country Bloom#1505 Other:  Spellbinders Dies, American Crafts Stickers, Want2Scrap Pearls

A Month of ABC's - Xx

Hi!  It's Amanda again!  (for the last time this week, I promise!)  The Country Charm collection comes with a variety of bright and cheery polka dot prints on the "B" sides.  I got to thinking that these dots would be perfect as a cross stitching guide, so I gave it a go.

I thought I would make a piece of trendy embroidery hoop art to give as a gift.  While I stitched a heart on my project, cross stitching lends itself to a variety of simple designs, making it easy to make a customized gift.  

I first printed the sentiment on the paper and then pierced the holes with a paper piercer.  Stitching the heart only took a few minutes.  I went with a not-too-Valentiney color scheme so it could be hung in the house year-round.

And what would an embroidery hoop be without a fun bow on the top? 

Here are a few tips to make light work of your cross stitching:

• Sketch your design on a piece of scrap paper first.  You may say, "Duh", but I managed to screw up a few times.  
• Trim the paper so the dots run vertically and horizontally.
• Trim paper to 8.5"x11" so it will run through your printer.
• Pierce holes on the dots where you will stitch. 
• Adhere inner hoop to back of your paper and trim excess paper with a craft knife.

Have fun stitching! 

Supplies: 

From the Country Charm collection: Vintage Wallpaper 1514; embroidery floss (DMC); 6" embroidery hoop, grosgrain ribbon

A Month of ABC's - Ww

W is for words.  Lately, one of the "word" trends I have been seeing a lot of is people using their die cutting machine to create word titles and phrases, and using the negative shapes on their pages.  I decided to give this a go using my Cricut and Sure Cuts A Lot 2 software.

For my words, I chose some of the nicknames that we have for my little guy.  I typed each name and then welded the letters together.  Then I added an arrow shape over each set of words and cut them on my machine.

To help my words stand out a bit more, I decided the outline them with a black pen.

I fussy cut some of the stars from the Super Star paper (from the Country Charm line) and scattered them on the page.  Little strips of yellow paper that I tore and crumpled kinda look like Washi (another "W" word!).

How do you use WORDS on your page???

Supplies:
Splendor "Sunswept" 1684
Flower Child "Peacock" 1646
Bonjour "Paris Je t'aime" 1541
Country Charm "Super Star" 1511
Country Charm "Weekend Fun" 1515
Other: alphas-American Crafts, stencil-Crafters workshop,spray mist-Studio Calico, paint, thread,

A Month of ABC's - Vv

Hello, GCD Studios fans it's Leslie here today sharing the letter "V" for Vellum! ( I feel a bit like a character on Sesame Street! How fun!) I'm so happy vellum is making a come back!  I think it was the arrival of goodies in cute little glycine envelopes that got the ball rolling in the vellum resurgence. (That's just my theory and who knows if that's true.) ;)  What I know for sure is that my scrapbooks of many "older" pages that include vellum and I know I loved teaching a vellum class back in the day because vellum done right is a very pretty thing.  Obviously, as with anything it can always be overdone, but there are instances when vellum is the perfect embellishment for you page. Here's the page I created to share with you today.

As you can see, I used vellum in two places. Once to create the rays of the sun and the other to create a pocket for one of my photos. I began my layout, as I almost always do by layering my photos and cardstock on the page.  Once I had a feel for where everything was going to go I moved the cardstock to my spray box and dappled a bit of "sunshine" with some mist. (Here's a tip: before I move the elements off my page for misting or ink spotting, I snap a photo of the layout with my iPhone. That way I know where I had everything!) To make my rays, I had to think back to art class and realized that using a vanishing point would give the rays a bit of perspective. Here's how I did it.

Now, here's the thing you've got to consider about vellum. Using glue or dots with vellum is just ugly. The most attractive way to adhere vellum is to sew, or use brads, eyelets, buttons, or generally anything that inherently attaches one thing to another is great.  Or you can hide adhesive under other elements.  I chose to use my favorite, stitching. Here's a close up of the rays sewn in place. Vellum is also perfect for pockets.  Being able to see through the pocket invites the reader to take a peak inside.  I often tuck multiple things in pockets, like brochures or ticket stubs.  You can also create a little window to highlight a certain part of the photo, if you'd like.

To create my own "library pocket" I cut a rectangle a little larger than my photo.  I took a circle punch and cut more than half of a circle in the "top" edge and used a corner rounder to punched like so...

Now that I have a fresh stash of vellum in my studio, I know I'll be creating lots of these semi-transparent embellishments for my pages. :) Here's another look at the layout. Now go and create your own vellum beauty!

Supplies: Patterned Paper: GCD Studios Country Charm, Splendor Collections & Cosmo Cricket, Stickers: Making Memories, Cosmo Cricket, Letters: Studio Calico, October Afternoon & Dear Lizzy, Brads: Basic Grey, Paper Clip: Amy Tangerine, Mists: Maya Roads Cream Metallic and Studio Calico Sunshine.

A Month of ABC's - Uu

Happy Tuesday to you!  Amanda here and today I have the letter Uu. To celebrate the letter, I have a fun post about "Useful crafts around the house". I'm excited to share this fun idea for jazzing up an old can.  If you are like me, you can never have too many pencil cups.  I have them scattered all around my house, each stuffed to the brim with pencils, pens, screwdrivers, scissors, etc., because I never know when and where I may need a certain item.  (You should see my purse.  YIKES!)  Recently, scissors have begun to take over my craft room, so I repurposed an old hot chocolate tin to help reign in my scissor stash.

I love this sweet cherry print from the Country Charm collection!  Paired with gingham and rick rack, this can just screams country chic.  Plus, I think it's pretty darn cute.  

I die cut a pair of cherries and applied Glossy Accents to give them some dimension.  They look yummy enough to eat! 

Perfect for my scissors! 

Be sure to stop by later this week for more crafty goodness! 

Supplies: 

From the Country Charm collection: Cherry Pie 1504, Picnic Blanket 1509; red and green cardstock (Bazzill Card Shoppe), brown cardstock (American Crafts), rick rack, Glossy Accents, Silhouette Cameo

A Month of ABC's - Ss

Hi!  Amanda here with you today.  If I had to pick a favorite season, I would pick fall because it is not too hot, not too cold, and all you need is a light jacket.  :)  Seriously though, I love the cooler weather and, unlike spring, it is not wrought with weeds.  Urgh. 

I am a sucker for creating scenes on a card and just couldn't resist stamping and fussy cutting a tiny apple orchard. 

I made the tire swing from a real rubber LEGO tire.  It is not often I have a stroke of crafty genius, but I'll take the credit for this one.  :)

I stamped and fussy cut the apples from the Cherry Pie print.  The little apple stamp fit perfectly on the cherries.  Don't they look delish?  And although subtle, I stamped a houndstooth background with watermark ink. 

This window card was inspired by a canvas wall hanging I saw on Pinterest. 

After stamping the tree and leaves, I free-hand cut the curtains and punched the valance and layered each with foam squares.  I added some jute twine for tie-backs and I was done!  

Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies:

From the Country Charm collection: Sweet Floral 1512, Tiny Floral Border 1513, Picnic Blanket 1509, Superstar 1511, Cherry Pie 1504; kraft (The Paper Co.); Home Sweet Home stamp set, houndstooth background stamp (Market Street Stamps); apple and sentiment stamps (Paper Smooches); ink (ColorBox); jute twine (May Arts)

A Month of ABC - Rr

Hi there!

Today's letter is R as in ruffles and I'd like to share a simple way to dress up a store bought bucket or basket by adding some paper ruffles.

1. Start with a plain basket or bucket. I used this blue tin I picked up from Target for $1.

2. Cut a strip of patterned paper and loosen it up by wrapping it around a dowel, pencil, paintbrush or similar item several times. This breaks dow the grain of the paper making it easier to manipulate.

3. Add adhesive to the outside of your bucket (or basket) and begin folding the paper into irregular pleats as you adhere it.

4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 with a second piece of patterned paper.

5. Cover top edge with a strip of burlap and set aside.

6. Cut a 1" strip of patterned paper, loosen it as in step 2  and gather with your fingers along one edge.

7. Flatten and adhere to a small scrap of paper to form a rosette.

8. Tie a bow with a strip of burlap and top with rosette and button.

9. Adhere to the bow to your project to finish it up.

Supplies:
Patterned Papers: (Vintage Wallpaper, Strawberry Jam, Picnic Basket from the Country Charm collection) GCD Studios,  Wooden Button: American Crafts, Crochet thread (red) Coats & Clark, Burlap: remnant from fabric store, Bucket: Target

I filled my finished bucket with goodies for my son to take to his new teacher: a fresh apple from our tree, homemade apple butter and some premium pencils to say hello!

So what do you think? Will you give this easy technique a try?

Have a great day everyone!

A Month of ABC's - Qq

Here you go, I shrunk the images down to no larger than 600px wide. That should work. Here's the new code:

 

 One of my favourite techniques is to make paper quilt cards. You can make them out of any decorative paper, even scraps! Which makes them both practical and fun. I'm sharing two quilted cards with you today that will hopefully inspire you to make some of your own.

 

 First up is my go-to quilt card. I simply take 1" squares of a favourite patterned paper. Here I'm using GCD Studio's Country Charm collection. I lay the squares out on my table top and play with the arrangement until I'm satisfied with it, then adhere them to a scrap of cardstock. After that, I use my paper piercer to pierce a border around the paper quilt. Then complete the faux-stitch look by connecting the dots with a marker or pen from my stash.

 

 Here's a better visual step-by-step for any of you that might be interested. I hope you can see a little more clearly what I mean! [GCD Studios Country Charm #1505, #1515]

 

 My second card uses much smaller squares- these are only 1/2" in size. And instead of a random arrangement of patterns, I laid these out like an actual quilt. If you search the internet or Pinterest for quilts, you will find thousands to inspire you.

 

I wanted the paper quilt to take center stage on this card, so I cut it out and popped it up on dimensionals. Then kept the rest of my design simple. You can play around with the patterns and combinations to make some really beautiful paper quilts. Have fun with them! [GCD Studios Country Charm #1509, #1510, #1511]