Nancy's Creative Space

Do It With Twine Contest

noreply@blogger.com (Nancy) — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 17:13:00 +0000

I entered A Cherry On Top's Do It With Twine Contest today. Wish me luck- I could win $100 in product! I created a page with as many different ways to use twine as I could think of that would look good together. I first made the base border with two panels that I punched using an Anna Griffin punch and then laced the two together with twine. I then cut a variety of die cuts from Spellbinders and Memory Box and did spirelli with some and laced others. What do you think?

Quiet Before the Chaos - Mosaic Moments Challenge

noreply@blogger.com (Nancy) — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 20:53:00 +0000

Our second Mosaic Moments challenge for February was to use Lotus (mint green) grid paper, page pattern #19, and either ribbon/string, hand journaling or one of the free downloads available on Snap n Crop. I chose to use one of the free downloads because it fit my pictures perfectly - the download includes several different sizes of journaling blocks that are made to fit the mosaic grid papers, and then had several titles- "In the Quiet Moments" was just perfect. I had these pictures we took early Christmas morning before the grandkids woke up - everything is so quiet, and beautiful....then the chaos begins - paper and ribbons flying, noise noise noise and joy - which is just as beautiful!

February Technique Challenge - Ghost Stamping

noreply@blogger.com (Nancy) — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 10:00:00 +0000

Many of you may be familiar with emboss-resist technique. This is similar. If you are not familiar with emboss-resist, you stamp a design using a watermark ink (like Versamark), and emboss it with a powder to match your background - in this case, white.

You then color over your embossed design with ink of your choice - chalk inks, Distress inks, pigment inks work fine. If you use dye-based ink you will just need to work quickly, and you may not get as smooth results.

Ghost-stamping is similar, but gives you a more subtle result. Use a pigment ink to match your background (white) and use a heat gun to be sure it is thoroughly dry. Then color your background as before. See the difference (below)?

Using these two makes a very interesting card. Here is an example:

You can also use this technique to make backgrounds. It is a little tricky, though, to be able to see where you have stamped...you can see in my example below that the designs are not exactly evenly stamped...

Let's see what you can come up with! I'd love to see your experiments!

Valentines

noreply@blogger.com (Nancy) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 21:07:00 +0000

I will wish everyone a Happy Valentine's Day now as I do most of my work on weekends! Here are a couple of creations I made this year:

The first I made for my husband (shhhh - don't tell him!) using a new die from Memory Box called LaRue Heart. I LOVE this die! I got a little sloppy with the glue, though, so I added a lot of liquid pearls to hide the oopsies (I am the MASTER of happy accidents...)

The second I made as part of a sketch challenge on the Paper Wishes Message Board and I will send this one to my mother. I used the Nona's Garden paper pack, and a label from the gold Color Me papers, chalked the background of the label, and used green Smooch for the leaves.

I Need to Learn to Follow Directions!

noreply@blogger.com (Nancy) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 22:10:00 +0000

Boy did I waste some time this past weekend! I went to my monthly crop at Stamp and Scrap Nest in Simsbury, and was planning to complete both of my assignments for Mosaic Moments for February during the crop. Well, you know how things go - you get to talking with your friends....I finished my first layout and realized - oh no! It was supposed to use 2 1/8" squares as the main feature on the layout, and I hadn't used one single square of that size! I didn't have duplicate pictures with me, so I was going to have to wait until I got back home to print out new ones and start over! And, of course, I couldn't have figured this out before I had cut out all the little flowers from another patterned paper and stacked them three deep for embellishments, and added scrollwork from a sheet of stickers!

Anyway, I thought you might enjoy seeing both layouts - I always enjoy seeing different ways of using the same supplies and pictures. I had to change the title because I now had less space for it (plus, I wasn't sure I would have enough of the letter stickers to spell out the same title, anyway!) And in the second one I had a little extra space to put some journaling. Fortunately, I still had enough paper to make some of the same embellishments.

They both are okay, but I still prefer the first one!

Just For Fun

noreply@blogger.com (Nancy) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 22:58:00 +0000

I have a couple of items to share with you this week that are just for fun - no challenges, no design team work - just me having fun with all my goodies!

The first is a card I made for a friend who is sick. I had made this butterfly in my parchment craft class and had never turned it into a finished product, so I thought it would be nice for this card. The stamp is from SweetStamps.com. Check out their site!

The second is a layout I did this weekend at a crop. This is my sweetie-pie, Cicero asleep in my arms. Isn't he a cutie?

October Storm

noreply@blogger.com (Nancy) — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 17:17:00 +0000

I wanted to make sure I documented the awful storm we had here in Connecticut before I forgot all the details. It was one of the most challenging experiences I've been through. So, when the next Mosaic Moments challenge came up, it seemed like a good opportunity for this layout.

Our challenge was to use Page Pattern 29, with Mist colored grid paper (a light blue), and to incorporate one of the following: felt or fleece, clear stamps, or one of the free downloads from Mosaic Moments. I decided to use white felt on my layout.

I actually used one of the clear stamps from Mosaic Moments as the design for my embroidered snowflakes on felt. I tried stamping the felt, and it worked alright, but I felt it showed too much of the ink after the embroidery was done, so I did the remainder freehand.

I had a hard time finding a background paper that looked the way I wanted it to. So I went to my favorite fallback - Hot Off The Press Color Me papers. These are papers that have an embossed design on them, that you color with your own ink pads and the design remains in place after coloring. I used a light pink, a light blue and a purple color to bring out the colors in the photo:

I also had a LOT of journaling about this experience, as well as some other pictures I wanted to include, but not necessarily show them on the main page. So I decided to duplicate the page pattern and make a two page layout, with a mini-album attached to the second page:

Here is the journaling in full:

Saturday, October 29, 2011
The weather report called for snow, but when did we ever really get snow in October? I had a crop planned for that day at Stamp and Scrap Nest. I figured I’d go and then come home after lunch. It wasn’t supposed to start snowing until early evening.

We were about half-way through lunch, and someone said “Look outside!” Darn if it wasn’t snowing – and not just flurries! It was really coming down! I live about 45 minutes away from the store, so I was already worried about getting home. I started packing as fast as I could!
The drive home was scary. I guess the cities didn’t really think it was going to snow either because the roads weren’t treated at all. It was okay until I got to the big hill on Country Club Road. Someone had decided to stop right in the middle of the road (either giving up, or using a cell phone, probably), but that really created a dangerous situation for those of us at the top of the hill trying to get around them. We were slipping and sliding all over the place!

I finally got home, my nerves about as frazzled as they ever get. I hadn’t been home fifteen minutes when the power went out.
Fortunately, it was early enough in the day, that it was still light out. We got upstairs and started pulling out the oil lamps and flashlights, and made sandwiches for dinner.

I have sleep apnea, so I use a bi-PAP machine, and I also use oxygen. Without power, I have neither. I have a large emergency tank that will work about 8 hours at 2 liters. I tried sleeping upright in the recliner with my emergency oxygen. I was able to sleep a little, but not much.
I heard a loud thump in the night. I thought at first Tony might have tripped and fallen in the dark so I called out to him. He was okay and he had heard the thump too. It was too dark to see what had caused it. We figured maybe the cats had knocked something over, and we’d wait until daylight to see what. Fairly early the next morning Tony called out “I found out what made that noise last night – part of the tree in the front yard fell on the car!”

We thought surely the power would come back on some time the next day. It didn’t. Or the next. On Monday, we heard a report on our battery-powered radio that we could be without power for a week!!! I just lost it. I was cold. I was miserable. I was hungry. I couldn’t breathe well. At that point we decided we needed to look for either a hotel room, or get a generator. None of the hotels that were open took pets, and I couldn’t leave my cats behind to freeze. It was already down to 50 degrees in the house, and getting colder.

One thing about times like this – you find out who your friends are, and who your good neighbors are! Jim and Sue Pelletier from across the street were wonderful in helping us. They came over to check on us just to be sure we were okay. They told us if they needed us to just shine a light in the window and they would come over. They came over on Monday with a power saw to help get the branches off of the car.

Our life-line during the first few days was our cell phone and a battery-operated radio. At first the cell phone started dying and we weren’t sure what we were going to do, but then Tony remembered we had a car charger!

After the first day or so, we found ourselves changing our routine. We had no television, internet or phone. During the day, we could read or do crafts, but at night you couldn’t see to do much. We started going to bed around 6:00! I started a simple afghan that I could work pretty much by feel, instead of having to see it. I finished the whole thing in about 2 days!

Tony went to Lowe’s to check into a generator. Neither of us knew much about them or how much they cost! Lowe’s didn’t have one but they said they were getting a shipment in the next day. On Tuesday, Tony stood in line for an hour to get the generator – they were passing out numbers and he was #19. It cost over $800! That of course, doesn’t include the gas to run it! We were desperate, though, so he got it, and a couple of space heaters.

Jim and Sue were helpful again in helping us get the generator going – turns out he has the exact same model. What a relief! It took a while for the heat to get going. We put one space heater in the bathroom and one in the family room. Believe me, going from 50 degrees up to 60 is like night and day!

The next thing after getting warm and having a little light, was food. We had pretty much been living off of crackers, potato chips, trail mix and one can of Spam. With no place to store food, you couldn’t keep anything perishable.

There were no grocery stores open the first few days – they had no power either. They couldn’t store produce or meat. The ATMs weren’t working. That was a real problem in the beginning – the stores that were open weren’t taking debit cards and neither were gas stations. And you couldn’t get cash, because you needed to use your debit card to get it!

I believe it was Tuesday or Wednesday when we decided we had to get some hot food and got in the car and just drove until we found something. Nothing in Bristol was open, so we headed to Plainville. We found Applebee’s open – that smart manager had gotten himself a huge generator! They apologized for the limited menu, and we told them it didn’t matter one bit to us- they could have had one item and it would have been wonderful to have a hot meal!

Tony got a little toaster oven that would be easier to run off the generator than the large stove. After he was able to find a grocery store open, he bought a small roast and we had our first home-cooked hot meal in days – it was delicious!

Our insurance company, USAA, was WONDERFUL. They gave us $500 to replace the food we had to throw away. They covered the damage to the car, and paid for removal of debris from the yard.

The power finally came back on about 6:30pm on Saturday, November 5. What a joy! I felt like dancing! This was an experience like none I’d ever had before (and hope to never have again!) I forgot to mention that Halloween trick or treat was cancelled in our area- it was just too dangerous for the kids to be out with downed lines.

What I learned:
• During a trial like this, friends, family, and neighbors are everything!
• You can find new ways to do things.
• While there are some people out there who push to the front of the line, or take advantage of the situation, for the most part, people come together and help each other.
• How much I appreciate my husband – I don’t know what I would have done without him.

Stamp Pad Storage To Die For!!

noreply@blogger.com (Nancy) — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 17:07:00 +0000

I'm in love. I got my new stamp pad storage unit and I absolutely love it. I have room for all my pads - VersaMark, Ranger Distress Inks, Little Stampin' Up! Stampin Spots, Chalk Inks, and it also holds my Stickles, Liquid Pearls, reinkers, and Copic markers! I made a series of little drawers to hold my watercolors, Memento Dew Dr0ps and Perfect Pearls. It's big, but it holds EVERYTHING. And there's room on top to store my Cuttlebug!

Here's where you can get yours! http://www.stampinthings.com/ink-pad-organizer.html. Sue is wonderful to work with too.

If you'd like a copy of the pattern for the drawers, just send me your email address.

Winter Wonders - First Mosaic Moments Assignment!

noreply@blogger.com (Nancy) — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 18:47:00 +0000

Our first assignment for the Mosaic Moments Design Team was a photo challenge to create a layout showing the five things that mean winter to us.

I included:
- a pot of stew (we make stew usually once a week in the winter time. It's warm plus it makes great low-fat lunches!
- coats - I hate having to put on a coat whenever I go outside. When it's time to wear a coat, it's winter!
- a thermostat - In the winter my husband and I have a constant battle with the thermostat. He's always cold and he will turn the downstairs thermostat on 80 degrees if I don't keep an eye on it! Then the upstairs will be stifling!
- a plow pushing snow out of our driveway
- and finally, a Christmas tree. A big part of winter is Christmas - getting ready for Christmas and then putting everything away for another year.

The pictures I chose gave me a bit of a challenge. Three of them went together well, with kind of pink and gray tones, but two of them had red in them. I could have printed them in black and white, but I didn't want to. So, I decided to just make my background rather neutral. I added pictures of ice-laden branches around the picture of the Christmas tree to bring out the frozen theme, plus add more of the gray/pink hues.

I used one of the snowflake stamps from the collection of goodies Mosaic Moments gave us for my border pieces, and hand-cut around them, finishing with a rhinestone in the middle.

I made a special treatment with the title. I first cut the letters out of gray metallic cardstock (Wausau). I then painted the top halves with Moonlight Smooch.

I then added a little Viva Decor pearl pen to the bottoms of the letters.

Finally I topped them with Polar White Flower Soft. That didn't give me quite the look I wanted, so I added a little Faux Snow.

Hope you like it!
Nancy

Mosaic Moments Design Team

noreply@blogger.com (Nancy) — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 18:26:00 +0000

I just got word that I made the Mosaic Moments Design Team! Woohoo! So, you'll be seeing a lot more mosaic work from me on this blog! I'm most muchly mosaic happy!

Learning New Things!

noreply@blogger.com (Nancy) — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 20:03:00 +0000

I'm taking an online class at My Creative Classroom on parchment craft. I've been trying to learn on my own, have bought a couple of books and some basic supplies. I'm hoping I'll get some good technique tips in this class. I already heave learned a few things about getting a more even look when dry embossing. Here are a few of my projects so far:

Mosaic Magic

noreply@blogger.com (Nancy) — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 22:00:00 +0000

I am applying for the Mosaic Moments Design Team and realized I haven't posted any mosaic work in a while. So - here are a few faves! This is a technique I come back to time and time again. Sure, it takes a little while to complete a layout, but they're SO awesome when you do one!

Welcome to the Paper Wishes World Card Making Day Blog Hop!

noreply@blogger.com (Nancy) — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 09:00:00 +0000

Welcome to the Paper Wishes (http://www.paperwishes.com/?ptpsalt) BLOG HOP - we are so glad you are here to help us celebrate World Card Making Day! Some card making day trivia for you:
• Today, card making is a worldwide hobby, especially popular in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
• 1 in 6 U.S. households participates in making cards
• 86% of scrapbookers also create handmade cards
• 92% of paper crafters create cards more than any other type of project

Be sure to check out all the blogs in this blog hop, as well as visit the Paper Wishes message board (http://forum.paperwishes.com//) as there are tons of things going on there today, all sponsored by Paper Wishes, with loads and loads of great prize packages! You don’t want to miss a chance to win!
This blog hop gives you TWO ways to win!!!

First – leave a comment on ALL THE BLOGS and a random drawing will be done to choose the winner, who will get a prize package from Paper Wishes.
Second – play H.O.T.P. (Hot Off The Press) bingo with us.
• Visit each blogger on the blog hop to find their bingo square. (Make a note of the blog name for each square too!)

• Click on this link to find the official BINGO CARD (http://forum.paperwishes.com/showthread.php?p=32493#post32493). (If you aren’t a member of the Paper Wishes message board yet, you are not only missing loads of fun but you may need to register to access the bingo card!)

• To win, you will need to make a bingo (4 squares in a row, horizontal, vertical or diagonal) by doing what it shows in each square. There are some free squares; there are some where you just have to post something specific on the message board, and there are some that tell you to use something. Where it tells you to USE something, that means to make a project (any kind of papercrafting project – a card, an ATC, a bookmark, a tag, etc.) with the item listed in that square.

• When you have your BINGO ready, follow these directions:
o Go to the Paper Wishes Message Board and click on “post reply” on THIS THREAD (http://forum.paperwishes.com/showthread.php?t=2297).
o In your reply tell us the four squares you are using for your bingo.
o Tell us the square number AND the name of the blog for any squares you are using that were mentioned on a blog.
o Post the items for each square in your reply, including a picture of the project you made for any square with directions to USE something.

• We will randomly select a winner from all the correct bingo entries! Be sure that we have either your blog address or your email so that we know how to contact you if you are a winner!!!

• Your bingo must be posted to the Paper Wishes message board not later than midnight U.S. eastern time Sunday, October 2 to be eligible for the prize drawing!

The BINGO SQUARE FOR THIS BLOG IS: T10

Here are all the participating blogs for this blog hop:

Nancy (http://www.nancyscreativespace.blogspot.com/)
Penny (http://www.pennydouph.blogspot.com/)
Michelle (http://preciousthoughtscards.blogspot.com/)
Robin (http://redrobinlane-rgcarr.blogspot.com/)
Patti (http://pattiscards.blogspot.com/)
Cheryl (http://cheringpapermemories.blogspot.com/)
Sam (http://unteachablepig.blogspot.com/)

So on with the fun – it doesn’t matter where you start the blog hop, just see where you are on the list above and make sure you visit them all and leave some sweetness behind!

Here is my project for the day. I used paper from the Roses in Harmony pack and the white lace doily scrapbooking Dazzles. The stamp on the outside is from Stampin' Up! The sentiment inside is from the Card Greetings and Sentiments CD. This is a card I will be featuring in a challenge in October on Paper Wishes - watch the Message Board for Guest Challenges - it's coming up soon! When it is posted, you can learn how to make this card.

Get ready for Christmas cookie baking!

noreply@blogger.com (Nancy) — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 16:38:00 +0000

Want to participate in a cookie recipe exchange? Come join us on the Paper Wishes Message Board. Sign up by Saturday 10/1 and you have until 10/31 to get your cards completed. You will need to sign up for the message board to respond to the post - but it's free and it's easy!

Here's the link to the main forum site to sign up:
http://forum.paperwishes.com/

Then, here is the info on the cookie recipe swap:
http://forum.paperwishes.com/showthread.php?t=2290

Fun Day of Activities Planned for World Card Making Day October 1

noreply@blogger.com (Nancy) — Sat, 24 Sep 2011 20:30:00 +0000

We are planning a fun day on the Paper Wishes Message Board for World Card Making Day on Saturday, October 1. You don't want to miss it. And there are going to be a LOT of prizes! It doesn't cost anything to be a member of the Message Board - just sign on - go HERE.

Here are just a few of the things we have planned. Everything is around a cooking/food theme this year:

a blog hop with prizes for leaving comments as well as HOTP bingo

cooking trivia questions

a scavenger hunt

"Make a Cake" contest - anything but a card

"What's for Supper" contest - cards

a cookie recipe exchange

a cooking/food scrapbook layout contest

Come join the fun!

I'm Featured in a Sketch Challenge for Operation Write Home!

noreply@blogger.com (Nancy) — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 21:14:00 +0000

A few cards I created from an assigned sketch will be featured this Sunday (September 25) on the Operation Write Home blog! This time I made three versions to show how you can adapt a sketch to fit either your theme or the supplies that you have on hand. Join in the fun and see what you can create from this sketch! Just go to the Stars and Stamps blog on Sunday.

I hope you will be inspired to create some cards to send to Operation Write Home! It's a great organization bringing a needed service to our troops. You can have fun and contribute at the same time! For more information go to: http://operationwritehome.org/

Here are the cards I created:

This first one is the most straightforward. I used the exact measurements and only added the flowers and stamped on the top panel.

This next one I just inked the edges of two of the panels, added ribbon to one, and added bracket embellishments. Same sketch but it looks different! I even used similar colors!

This last one I changed a little more. I turned it on its side (landscape), and then, instead of the third panel, I added the "thanks" diecut.

Most of my supplies were from the Paper Wishes Citrus Creative Pack.

Welcome OWH Cardmakers!

noreply@blogger.com (Nancy) — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 12:10:00 +0000

I haven't posted much lately due to illness, but I did want to send a greeting to all of the Operation Write Home cardmakers visiting my blog this week! OWH is featuring my tutorial on pleating. So welcome folks - I hope you come back - subscribe to my blog to receive future tutorials. You're doing great work for our service folks!

Like It Love It Gotta Have It Technique for June - Pleating

noreply@blogger.com (Nancy) — Sun, 22 May 2011 19:25:00 +0000

This month we're going to explore pleating! I love the work that Anna Griffin does - and she does it so well. Below are my less-than-Anna-perfect attempts!

For the first one, I scored 1/2" then 1/4" on four pieces of paper 12" x 1" and made my folds:

Then I placed the four pieces just under the edges of my sentiment, making sure I had pleats exending past the edges on all four sides.

Then I cut the corners at a 45% angle to mitre the corners.

I then added the panel to my card, and added a few embellishments (which are great if one of your corners doesn't come out quite right!)

For the next card, I decided to do box pleats - I scored 1" then 1/4" then 1" then 1/4".

And folded like so:

I then added the strip to my card background.

I added a few border strips and a strip of Dazzles.

And here is the finished card:

Try this!

Like it - add a simple pleated border on a card or layout

Love it - try box pleats

Gotta have it - add layers of pleating and layers of borders for all kinds of interesting looks!

Like It Love It Gotta Have It Challenge for May: Black on Black

noreply@blogger.com (Nancy) — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 19:24:00 +0000

This month I'm putting a Paper Wishes spin on a technique I learned from Nathalie Metivier of Magenta. She teaches this easy technique using black embossing on black cardstock. I decided to see how black Dazzles would work and it worked like a charm! This looks nice as well using white Dazzles on white cardstock.

First, select the Dazzles you want to use and place them on your cardstock:

Then, just begin to put spots of color in different areas. I like to use the metallic and pearlescent water colors by ArtQuest. You can try this with Twinkling H20s, or Smooch too.

Now start with another color:

Continue with a third color if desired. You don't want to go too crazy with too many different colors! You'll want to blend the edges where the colors meet one another so the effect is smooth.

Here's another example where I colored in only the image, not the background:

Another Mosaic

noreply@blogger.com (Nancy) — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 16:29:00 +0000

I just realized I didn't include the Jamestown layout in my last post! This is the one that was a challenge on Paper Wishes to cut out a center image and then use mosaic for the background:

Mosaic Scrapbook Pages To Share

noreply@blogger.com (Nancy) — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 17:28:00 +0000

I've been doing a lot of mosaic work lately - I bought a bunch of page kits on Black Friday and over the past couple of crops, I've used up most of them! I also had a challenge on the Paper Wishes Message Board to try cutting out an image and using mosaic for the background so I did that on one of these (the Jamestown one). Hope you like these - just posting some recent work to share with Family and Friends...
If you want to learn more about mosaic scrapbooking, click the Tammi Potter or Snap 'n' Crop icons on the right-side of my blog!

Like It Love It Gotta Have It Challenge for April - Weaving

noreply@blogger.com (Nancy) — Sat, 19 Mar 2011 18:12:00 +0000

This month I decided to play with weaving a little. It's something I haven't done in years. I probably got introduced to this when I was in Junior Girl Scouts and we made our sit-upons - anyone else do that? Remember weaving the newspaper? This is the same thing, except with MUCH prettier paper!

First, I made a card background, weaving normally, but with 4 different patterned papers - I think the finished product came out great. You'll see in a bit that not all my playing turned out quite as nice! (I like to publish the good and the bad - how else do you learn?! :) )

Next I decided to vary the widths of the papers - I alternated 1/4" and 1/2" strips. But I learned something - Doing this you end up with stripes instead of a checkerboard! But you do still get interesting texture. To get checkerboard you'd have to put all one color on the base and weave with all one other color. (Lesson learned!)

Next I cut the strips with curves - I learned this in a class I took with Peg Napier on altered books. It makes a really interesting effect - it's really bold in black and white (or other strongly contrasting colors). I decided to try it here with more muted tones. I like the way it came out.

Here's a closeup...

And finally, I covered a shape with weaving. The heart shape was a little challenging because at the top you can't really carry a piece all the way across - you have to use two smaller strips. But I really like the way it came out in the end.

Note on all of these that instead of doing the weaving and just cutting the ends off at the edge of the base, I actually folded the ends over and taped them on the back - I think it makes for a much neater, finished look.

See what you can come up with this month!

Like It - try regular weaving on a square or rectangle
Love It - try using curved strips
Gotta Have It - cover a shape!

The Original Scrapbox Giveaway!

noreply@blogger.com (Nancy) — Sat, 19 Mar 2011 17:24:00 +0000

The Original Scrapbox is having a giveaway for National Craft Month! I'm posting this on my blog to get a point! I would really like to have the Workbox. Check it out:
http://http://www.facebook.com/TheOriginalScrapbox

Like It Love It Gotta Have It Project for March - Rosettes

noreply@blogger.com (Nancy) — Sat, 19 Feb 2011 17:06:00 +0000

I've seen a lot of rosettes lately on projects, but I had never tried making one myself until last month. I thought it would be a good project to share with you for our challenge this month. You can experiment with different sizes of rosettes, and different papers, border punches, and you can even weave ribbon into the edge! Here's how you do it:

Start by cutting a strip of paper - I used strips 1 1/2 inches wide by 12 inches long, but you can experiment with different sizes. Notice on one of the strips I tried using a border punch....

Next, make accordion folds the entire length of the strip - I folded at about every 1/4 inch. Now for those folks who really feel the need to be precise, you can mark your strip every 1/4 inch, but I just estimated. You know who you are! :)

Put a piece of STRONG tape on one end.

Then join the two ends.

It's going to stick up - not to worry! We'll make it flat in a minute! To do this we need to make a base - I just punched out a circle from a punch I had handy. You can cut a random little piece of paper -it doesn't matter what kind or color, because we're going to cover it up. Put glue on the base - I used a wet glue. A tacky glue would probably work fine too.

Then press the rosette onto the base and hold it until the glue is set. I found I needed to put something on top of it - it can take a while. Actually, one of my punches worked good to put on top - the accordion pleats make it strong enough tht the punch doesn't smoosh it.

There you have it! Now for the fun - finding something to put in the center and making variations of the basic rosette! Try different kinds of paper - don't be afraid to try stipes! Look below - I tried stripes in both directions:

And then I tried lacing ribbon through the edges of one (do the lacing before you put the strip into a circle):

Here is the one done with a border punch:

And finally, pick a topper for your rosette. You can use all kinds of things - small flowers, brads, buttons, and small die-cuts!

Let's see what you can come up with:

Like it: Just try making a rosette - any paper, any topper
Love it: Try a punched border
Gotta have it: try lacing the ribbon through the edge!

A Page to Share

noreply@blogger.com (Nancy) — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 02:39:00 +0000

Paper Wishes is having a mini-contest on Facebook for pet projects. I posted this layout featuring one of my favorite pictures of Nikko. She was laying in the sun in our sunroom and this one of her looking back at me I just fell in love with! I used their Vintage Roses paper pack - the green just highlighted the color of Nikko's eyes!