Sunday, August 19, 2012

SP & Company Guest DT Call


Hello again! I've got another project I'm entering for the SP & Company's Guest DT call. Details for her challenge are below.


Calling all guest designers!!!

We want YOU to try out to be our next guest designer. Guest designers will have the opportunity to work alongside the SP Design Team for one month. Guest designer will receive TWO newly released stamp sets (one upon acceptance and one upon completion of all guest designer duties). The guest designer will join us for the monthly blog hop, have a bio & introduction post, and have 3 additional guest blog posts/projects to go on the SP Stamps Blog for their design month. 

Got what it takes?? Then enter below! All you need to do is make one newly created project (can be any paper craft item) showing off the color YELLOW & showcasing your creative use of stamps. You DO NOT have to use SP & Company Stamps on your creation if you don't have any yet; we just want to see your best work with any stamps! Enter a direct link to your creation in the linky widget below.


International designers may apply! You MUST have a blog for this position. Entries are due by August 31st at midnight EST. Please no more than 3 entries per person for this contest. Good luck everyone!!

You can enter here! WISH ME LUCK!!!



Here is my second entry to the guest DT call. I wanted to make a quick mini album from one of our many zoo trips. This was quick and easy to do considering it used just ONE sheet of 12x12 cardstock. When I saw the yellow challenge color, I knew the paper I wanted to use. I love it. 

Then I just cropped the photos and printed them out at home and backed them with various cardstock. This is a great way to use a lot of photos in one tiny album.

I took mutiple shots to try to show all the elements and details. I hope you love it and that it inspires you to make a truly "mini" mini of your own. :)


 














SP & Company Guest DT Call

Hey everyone! I got crafty again :) This time, it's for the SP & Company's Guest DT call. Details for her challenge are below.


Calling all guest designers!!!

We want YOU to try out to be our next guest designer. Guest designers will have the opportunity to work alongside the SP Design Team for one month. Guest designer will receive TWO newly released stamp sets (one upon acceptance and one upon completion of all guest designer duties). The guest designer will join us for the monthly blog hop, have a bio & introduction post, and have 3 additional guest blog posts/projects to go on the SP Stamps Blog for their design month. 

Got what it takes?? Then enter below! All you need to do is make one newly created project (can be any paper craft item) showing off the color YELLOW & showcasing your creative use of stamps. You DO NOT have to use SP & Company Stamps on your creation if you don't have any yet; we just want to see your best work with any stamps! Enter a direct link to your creation in the linky widget below.

International designers may apply! You MUST have a blog for this position. Entries are due by August 31st at midnight EST. Please no more than 3 entries per person for this contest. Good luck everyone!!

You can enter here! WISH ME LUCK!!!

Here is my first entry to her call, my summer 2012 layout. I chose two recent photos of both my kids from this summer that I loved. I used the Journal This set for this layout. Worked PERFECTLY! I also used the Pretty Pennants for the top banner I created. I also used pops of yellow throughout the layout with the flowers, button, twine, and cardstock. I love this layout, hope you do too! I would love to hear your comments :) Thanks for looking!



Friday, August 17, 2012

Front Porch Friday!




TGIF blog friends :) Today is not only the best day of the week, but today, it's FRONT PORCH FRIDAY! I'll be explaining in a little detail one of the projects I had created with my Front Porch Kits, Just Add Water. Hope you have a little time...

Miss Tracy loves us all to use our supplies in a way that's creative, but also innovative including using the packaging of items, the box it came in, etc. So, I took the shipping box and did just that. I loved how this came out. I'm talking about my pinwheel decoration, "Celebrate Sunshine."


For the actual holder of the pinwheels, I cut apart the shipping box! I envisioned an old fashioned popcorn type box, so I used good ol' Google and found a site that had the dimensions of the box and I made a simple template out of my sketch book paper and taped it together. I then laid it down on the box and traced around it, cut it out with my scissors and Xacto knife (to score the panels) and folded it up from there!

I used Scotch tape to tape each side up and then began to cover it all with paper, thin wood and glitter! The seams of the box weren't exactly flush just due to the nature of it being corrugated cardboard, so I used the pretty aqua trim and some adhesive up the sides to cover it.

For the pinwheels, I just cut squares out of different papers, cut them halfway up and secured in the center with a cluster of glue dots. Then I adorned each center with different items within the kit-beads, tulle, ribbon, and then I just crammed the stick behind that all and pressed into the glue dot.

Now to get the pinwheels to remain upright all the time, I cut another small square of the cardboard box and simply used my Big Bite Crop-O-Dile to punch holes in various spots in the piece and I stuck it down inside the box. Then I stuck the pinwheels in each of the holes and had them at varying heights so you could see each one of them at a quick glance :)

I wanted to mimic them being stuck in the sand, so I used some tan cardstock from the kit and tore pieces and crumpled them up and stuck them carefully in the top.

This cute little summer project could be dressed up for any holiday, party (think centerpieces!), shower, you name it. I love that it sits right on my table in my entryway at home. Everyone that comes in has commented on it.

I hope this inspires you to think "outside the box" with your next project. Don't throw that stuff out-put it to good and practical use!!

If you want to get your hands on this kit, please visit The Little Blue House Blog to order. And don't forget to "splash around" the other DT members blogs as well for their fun Front Porch Friday posts!





Tuesday, July 31, 2012

FULL REVEAL DAY for Front Porch Kits Just Add Water!



Happy Tuesday! Today is the day I get to reveal each of the projects I created from the contents of the Just Add Water kit from Front Porch Kits. I had fun creating each of these projects and I truly hope they inspire you when you receive your kit and wonder, hmm, what do I make?

Let's dive in ;)

PROJECT #1: CELEBRATE SUNSHINE ARRANGEMENT
This was by far my most favorite project I've ever made in all honesty...I made the popcorn inspired holder out of the shipping box! I looked up measurements of a traditional popcorn box and drew a template on paper and laid that on top of the cardboard box. I traced it and cut it out with an Exacto and then scissors. I scored it with the Exacto and a ruler just slightly so it would bend, but not cut (thanks to a dull blade! Keep them around for this reason!!) and then folded up the sided and just used good ol' Scotch tape to hold it together.

I covered the sides with patterned paper in the kit and this awesome thin wood piece for the other two sides. I stamped a hibiscus on it with a coordinating blue/aqua ink. Since the nature of cardboard is not perfect, I covered up the "seams' of the box with this fun aqua fiber that was in the kit. I love it!

I had a little area at the top of the box that wasn't exactly perfect so I busted out the glitter! Who could not LOVE glitter?

I made 6 pinwheels to insert into this box and stuffed in some crumpled up cardstock (to resemble sand) to fill in the area around the pinwheels. I've placed a closeup of the pinwheels on the colored wooden sticks. How fab are those?!

The little "celebrate sunshine" is stamped on a piece of beautiful white almost sheer fabric that I backed with the thin wood to give it stability. I added the pink glassy shell piece for added color and hey, it's shiny and pretty!


This was so fun to make and it's festive and summery! I could see this sitting on my desk at work to put a little warmth there ;)












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PROJECT #2: CORINTH CANAL LAYOUT

Seeing the colors in this kit made me think of my vacation back in 2000 to Greece. All the colors in the sea were really matching all the items I pulled from the kit for this layout. I generally scrap 8.5x11 so I made this page that size since it's in my comfort zone! 

On the large "postcard" type tag (which is fabulous and huge to journal on! LOVE.), I used Wikipedia to jot down some facts about the canal and the size of the canal. It was truly stunning to see in person since the boat that they use for tours down the canal is so close to either side, you wonder if it's going to fit. It really is a tight squeeze. And the water in the canal is gorgeous. A photo cannot do justice to the actual colors you will see in Greece. Just breathtaking. I cannot wait to go back.


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PROJECT #3: LIFE IS A BEACH MINI ALBUM
I adore mini albums! They're like my signature thing to do. Ask anyone ;) So this one is NO exception. A fun front and back cover spelling out the word PLAY in a chipboard cutout and then rounded corner base pages inside all put together with large jump rings. I had fun covering this and adding little details here and there with all the items.


Now, I only showcased a few interior pages. There are a lot more, but I wanted to just highlight a few. 


And I realize this album is really a blank slate considering there aren't any photos or journaling. Reason being I haven't had time to take the kids to a local beach around here. Life gets hectic as we all know but with having a full time job, part time photography passion, crafting and just home things to do, it hasn't happened yet. BUT I have an awesome album for when we do go to the beach and I can come home, scale down and print out the photos to stick in there and add some journaling and it will be complete. 

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PROJECT #4: NOT SO BLANK CANVAS
This is one FUN item!!! A canvas bag. Blank slate. :) 

I chose to take a hexagon mask and use my Mister Huey's sprays (I definitely need more of these in allllll colors) and sprayed away. I did use a simple cardstock rectangle to mask out the area I wanted to add the flowers and butterflies with. 

I took this bad boy outside, did my spraying and came back in and cut out some flowers out of the various fabrics included in the kit with some Papertrey dies and the butterflies are out of some gorgeous ribbon in the kit. I layered that all on with some fabric glue. I decided the butterflies needed a smidge more embellishing, so I took some of the pretty green leaf stones in the kit and used those for the "bodies" and blue thin fiber/floss type stuff from the kit and used that for the antennae. 

To finish off the bag, I used some glossy lacquer for glue under the beautiful blue beads that were in the kit. I even have some left over after all this!! I love the look of this bag and I can't wait to actually use it to tote my lunch bag and my read of the day to work. 

I hope you've all enjoyed the projects I've created and that they inspire you to use the supplies in non-traditional ways. And by all means, USE THE SHIPPING BOX! There are so many possibilities with that alone. Happy crafting!!!!!













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I really hope you enjoyed all my projects as much as I enjoyed making them. I hope that you go and order this kit, Just Add Water TODAY! It's fantastic!!!! And the possibilities are endless :)

The Front Porch Inspiration Gallery is also live TODAY! Visit http://thelittlebluehouseblog.blogspot.com/ to see!

Please visit the rest of the Front Porch Kits design team as well to see their reveals...
Danielle Wycough

Monday, July 30, 2012

Front Porch Kits Just Add Water...Final Sneak Peek



My last sneak peek from Front Porch Kits newest creation- JUST ADD WATER. Be ready for the full reveal tomorrow!!!!!!!!



The details for the kit:
To place your pre-order, simply stop by or call the Little Blue House in Keller, TX. If you aren't local, you may order your kit online at www.thelittlebluehouseonline.com NOW. Stop back by my blog tomorrow for another sneak!

Here is my SNEAK PEEK #4...


Check back tomorrow on everyone's blogs for full reveal tomorrow! I can't wait to show you all the items I've made and I can't wait to see what the other gals have done with it as well.

Front Porch Kits Design Team Gals:

I'd love for you to leave me a comment with what you think the above item is! Thanks for stopping by! :)

Sunday, July 29, 2012

Front Porch Kits Just Add Water SNEAK PEEK #3


Hey blog friends! I'm back again with another sneak peek from Front Porch Kits newest creation- JUST ADD WATER. Kick back and wonder about all the goodies included with the kit with the sneak peek of the day.



The details for the kit:
To place your pre-order, simply stop by or call the Little Blue House in Keller, TX. If you aren't local, you may order your kit online at www.thelittlebluehouseonline.com NOW. Stop back by my blog tomorrow for another sneak!

Here is my SNEAK PEEK #3...



Keep checking back with all the design team gals blogs for sneak peeks every day until the full reveal on Tuesday! I can't wait to show you all the items I've made and I can't wait to see what the other gals have done with it as well.

Front Porch Kits Design Team Gals:

I'd love for you to leave me a comment with what you think the above item is! Thanks for stopping by! :)

Saturday, July 28, 2012

New Front Porch Kit-Just Add Water Sneak Peek #1 & #2

Hello my lovely followers! Summer is in full swing and I wanted to let you know about the amazing new kit from Front Porch Kits called JUST ADD WATER. So many options out there with this kit. LOTS of fun things to use...alter...scrap with.



The details for the kit:
Pre-orders are being taken NOW and the full reveal of the kit will be Tuesday, July 31! To place your pre-order, simply stop by or call the Little Blue House in Keller, TX. If you aren't local, you may order your kit online at www.thelittlebluehouseonline.com as of Saturday, July 28th. Stop back by my blog tomorrow for another sneak!

Here is my SNEAK PEEK #1...


and here's my SNEAK PEEK #2


Keep checking back with all the design team gals blogs for sneak peeks every day until the full reveal on Tuesday! I can't wait to show you all the items I've made and I can't wait to see what the other gals have done with it as well.

Front Porch Kits Design Team Gals:

I'd love for you to leave me a comment with what you think the above item is! Thanks for stopping by! :)

Friday, June 8, 2012

Ideas Behind the Project–Front Porch Kits: Sew Artsy


Welcome back! :) Hope you're enjoying the projects I've posted. 

This is a different post to show you what the inspiration was behind one of my projects for The Little Blue House's Front Porch Kits–Sew Artsy. I'm telling you about the mini Pinterest album I created.



Everyone is addicted to Pinterest, right? It's not just me, surely. 

When I go shopping for clothing, it's not one of my favorite things to do in all honesty. I thought maybe if I had a little book I could toss in my purse, it would help me to pull together outfits quickly while out shopping. So I went through my one board on Pinterest and decided to download the images and resize them to fit in a little album.

I actually created a simple 4"x6" file in InDesign and divided it into 4, so each photo is 2"x3" which makes great use of the expensive 4"x6" photo paper and gives you a quick little look at an outfit. I then printed them out on photo paper and trimmed them down. 




The great thing about this album is that swapping out the outfits for each season is really easy! I still need to print out my summer outfits so insert into there, toss it in my purse (within a plastic baggie of course as to not ruin my cute little embellies!) and shop!


It's a great way to actually do something with the items you've pinned. I would love to do this for recipes, fun things for my kids, activities, photography poses I love, etc. You can really do this mini type book for anything!
Do you have a question about any part of my project? I'd love to answer anything for you!! And thanks again for peeking into my thought process behind this mini album. Hope you enjoyed it.

HURRY! Head over and order this kit, Sew Artsy TODAY! Not. Many. Left.

You can visit The Front Porch Inspiration Gallery at http://thelittlebluehouseblog.blogspot.com/

Please visit the rest of the Front Porch Kits design team as well to see their ideas behind their projects...

Friday, May 25, 2012

Front Porch Kit "Sew Artsy" Featured on Scrap Scene!


The Sew Arsty Front Porch Kit is featured today on Scrap Scene! Place your orders soon for this amazing kit! Just check out all the items that are "sew" amazing. 
Click to enlarge image and see all the goodies that will arrive in your kit! Possibilities are endless!


The Little Blue House is “Sew” proud to present our newest Front Porch Kit…”Sew” Artsy! This unique kit is a wonderful blend of fabulous papers, fun embellies, tons of textiles and charming, one-of-a-kind vintage treasures! It is truly bursting at the seams with creative possibilities! It features a bright, cheerful color palette, perfect for creating happy projects and preserving happy memories! When you purchase your “Sew” Artsy kit you will also receive a “Sew” Artsy BluePrint Guide. This Guide will include step-by-step instructions on how to create 7 unique projects from your kit AND if you still are seeking even more inspiration!!!!…Look no further than our “Sew” Artsy Inspiration Gallery and prepare to be AmAzeD and InSpiReD!!! Our Front Porch Design Team is “Sew” talented…be sure to check it out! Because of the unique nature of some of the items in this kit, it will only be available while supplies last. So don’t delay, order your “Sew” Artsy kit today to ensure that it makes its way from our Front Porch to yours. Stay true to your passion—Keep Creating! 
Here's the link to the feature on Scrap Scene:

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