Christmas Train {bella blvd}

Yesterday on the Bella Blvd blog, I shared this fun Christmas train. And yes, I'll admit I sang the songs from Polar Express pretty much the entire time I was making this. 

For this week's project, I wanted to make something that would highlight the whimsy in the Christmas Cheer collection, and I think this accomplished it. The deer and penguin look so happy riding around with Santa in his train.

It would be fun to use this for a holiday decoration or even for giving a small gift. A gift card, small lotion or even jewelry would fit in the back of the train.

The studio file for this train can be found here, in case you would also like it.

Supplies: Christmas Cheer (Pattern paper: Christmas Crew, Jingle All The Way, Reindeer Games, Making Spirits Bright, Borders Christmas Cheer), Chipboard Icons, Trinkets

Thanks for stopping here today to see my festive train project!

Christmas ornament {fancy pants & tombow}

Today on the Fancy Pants Designs blog I'm sharing an ornament project for our swap week with Tombow. I used Tombow adhesive along with the little trees that are a part of the Fancy Pants Designs Oh Deer! collection.

Because I was sticking a wooden-based tree to a plastic round ornament, the Tombow Xtreme permanent adhesive was the best choice. It applied a layer of super sticky adhesive to the base of the tree, which worked much better than a wet glue would have.

After applying the adhesive, I used long-nosed pliers to drop the tree into the ornament. Then, one of my handy Tombow markers worked well to help straighten and position the tree.

Once the trees were all inside the ornament, I used the packaging from my Tombow adhesive to make a little funnel for pouring the glittery fake snow into the ornament.

Thanks for stopping by here today to see my ornament!

Thanksgiving centerpiece {fancy pants}

Today on the Fancy Pants Designs blog I am sharing some tips for assembling a pilgrim hat centerpiece for your Thanksgiving dinner. 

Thanksgiving is a time for family and friends. When you gather around the dinner table this year, impress your guests with a handmade centerpiece. I made a pilgrim hat using a Silhouette file and a variety of papers from Fancy Pants Designs. It was fun to make and my son is thrilled that we have this piece to show off for the holiday.

Stop by the Fancy Pants blog to see my tips for this project.

If you are celebrating this week, have a wonderful holiday filled with laughter and good times.

Fancy Pants Designs collections used: True Friend, Burlap and Bouquets, Everyday Circus, Foil Paper

BOO Banner {samantha walker}

Need to make a banner for Halloween? The Samantha Walker Spook 31 font is perfect for making a customized Halloween banner with any word you need. 

Check out the Samantha Walker blog today to see a tutorial on how I used my Cameo to cut this banner.

Here is a snapshot of the lettering in the Spook 31 font. I am just smitten with it — what a perfect font for anything Halloween!

Thanks for dropping by to see my banner!

Samantha Walker Creative Crafters Team Blog Hop {fall}

Welcome to the Samantha Walker Creative Crafters Team Blog Hop! You should have come to my blog from Cristal (Pinky) Hobbs' blog. To catch all of the fun from the beginning, visit Samantha Walker's blog first.

This month's lucky winner will receive Spellbinders Fall Splendor Grand Impressabilities. 

...and be eligible for the free SVG/Silhouette file for this month. Be sure to look extra closely at Step #4 below to learn how you can get this FREE SVG and Silhouette Studio file:

To enter, just leave a comment on Samantha's blog during Wednesday 9/10 until Sunday 9/14. The winner will be announced on Samantha's Facebook page on Monday 9/15.

For additional entries:

1. Receive an additional entry for commenting on each of the other blogs in the blog hop.
2. Go here and follow Samantha Walker's blog. 
3. Follow her on Facebook.

4. Sign up for an e-mail subscription to Samantha's blog and you will automatically receive a link to a free SVG cutting file that you can download and use on your personal electronic cutter. If you are already a subscriber, just enter in your information in the secure form on Samantha's blog!  The free files will be e-mailed early next week!

To receive the additional entries and get the free files, mention in your comment on Samantha's blog that you have done so! 

Now for this month's theme: Fall

For this month's theme, I made a fall wreath for my front door. It's hard to tell in the picture, but the pumpkin is cut from gold glittered card stock. It looks a little silver in the picture, but it is really a rich buttery gold color. It really pops against the raw texture of the burlap twine on the wreath base.

I also added a die-cut dotted line down the center of the larger leaves cut from yellow card stock and glittered paper in a rusty brown color. It added great dimension to the leaves.

Supplies: Pop-Up Autumn Leaves, Pop-up Maple Leaves, Jack o' Lantern  by Samantha Walker

Keep hopping along with us for more summer inspiration! Your next stop on the hop is Cathy Harper— click on the image below to keep on hopping!

Thanks for hopping along with us this month! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Hello Autumn {bella blvd}

Today on the Bella Blvd blog I am sharing this fun 8x8 shadow box with a Hello Autumn scene. I couldn't resist the urge to use the chipboard owls in their Thanksgiving costumes. 

For a dimensional look, I propped the owls up on little white pieces of card stock and put them forward in the box instead of on the background. 

A bright yellow feather to frame off the tag helps the title to stand out from the busy background paper. 

Stop by the Bella Blvd blog today and all week long to see projects from the team as we work with the new collections.

Supplies: Hello Autumn (Pattern paper: Gatherings, Time to Rake, Day Dream), Chipboard Icons, Paper Pieces Die Cuts. Feathers: Bell Pepper. Ciao Chip: Amorie Alpha (Guacamole).

ThermOWeb week {fancy pants}

This week, the gals over at the Fancy Pants blog are sharing work using ThermOWeb adhesives with Fancy Pants collections. 

The best test for any adhesive is a multi-texture project. Can you get paper to stick to canvas? To burlap? With they hold well when layered? Well, ThermOWeb worked great for my burlap twine wreath with paper detailing! I so am pleased with how it turned out.

To make this wreath, I started with a flat circle wreath you can find at nearly every craft store. I then used the iCraft Adhesive in the 1/2 inch size to hold the burlap twine onto the wreath. I placed it in strips all along the one side of the wreath, allowing it to hold the twine in place better than if I had no
adhesive or even a wet-apply adhesive.

Once the twine was wrapped around, I cut some flowers from Me-ology collection papers using a studio file from Lori Whitlock and my Cameo. I used three different sizes and three different patterned papers to add dimension and texture to the layering.

To apply the flowers to the wreath, I used the ZOTS 3D singles. They worked wonderfully! And they are forgiving, too, so I was able to move flowers around and change my mind as I worked without fear of ruining the project.

I then began to add in some of the die cut pieces from the Me-ology collection. In some places, I used the Sticky Tape Runner when I didn't want the dimension of the ZOTS 3D, like with the buttons or the flair.

The best part is that this wreath has been hanging on my door for a week or so now, with a dog and boy running in and out and nothing has fallen off. I'd say that the project was a success with a test like that!

Fancy Pants Designs collection used: Me-ology

Home décor for mom {fancy pants}

Hello! Mother's Day is this Sunday, and the team at Fancy Pants is celebrating moms all week. For this week's home decor post on the Fancy Pants blog, I shared this mom print I made, the decorated frame and a little altered jar filled with vintage threads.  

I made this “God made mothers…” print and you can download the PNG file HERE. The pink colors match the As You Wish collection very well. If you didn’t want to frame it, it could be resized and print as a card for your pocket page layouts.

I framed the print in a rustic wood frame and added chipboard, tag and die cut pieces from As You Wish to decorate the outside edges of the frame.

I also had a jar of pink and orange vintage threads that I’ve been meaning to do a little bit more with. I hot-glued twine around the center of the jar and then decorated it with a heart I fussy cut from one of the brag cards. I then finished it off with faux white stitched lines and a chipboard button. 

If you were interested in using the Mother’s Day print as a cut on your Silhouette, you can also download the studio file.

Happy Mother’s Day to all of the mommies out there!

Supplies: Fancy Pants (As You Wish)

Summertime Memories - Part 2 {adornit}

My Designer Spotlight with AdornIt has come to an end this week. I'm so happy with the four projects I made using the Summertime Memories collection. With winter hanging around as long as it did, it was a relief to work with such bright and summery images. 

Using their chalkboard banner kit, I made this fun summer banner for the front entrance of my home. 

The bike is one of my favorite embellishments in this collection, so I made sure to put it front and center on my banner.

With the fun pieces I had left over from making the layout, card and banner, I made this 2x3 tag mini album. Just a little something fun to hang onto that shares some photos from last summer. 

This is the front of all of the tags…

… and this is the back of all of the tags. 

Thanks for stopping here today to see my projects for AdornIt! 

You could win the AdornIt Summertime Memories collection by leaving comments on the AdornIt blog posts that share my work. Scoot on over to the blog now and leave some comments — the winner could be you!

Spring wreath

Last year I made a rag wreath by tying small strips of muslin over and over again on a wire wreath base. I love the look of the muslin for spring, so I dug it out of storage and gave it a refresher with some canvas flowers, pastel eggs and of course a birdie — in this case, an owl. 

I had the most fun buying the new pieces for this season's wreath — I was with Sara at the Hobby Lobby next to Audrey's house. I have to admit that when I look at this now, it reminds me of our fun girls weekend. 

Do you make a wreath for every season? Link yours in my comments section — I'd love to stop by your blog and see what you make.

To see the wreath Sara made, check out her blog today!

Anchored since 2004

Many of you that have read my blog for awhile or follow me on Facebook know that I love anchors. Heck, I even have one tattooed on my arm — so I better like 'em! 

I have been meaning to hang a picture in this space in my living room for awhile now, but I like to look for just the right piece when I add things to my home. Even if it takes more than a year, as it did in this case. 

To make this, I used three coats of chalkboard paint to cover what was previously on the wooden tray. Then I cut a 7" wide x 11.5" high anchor on my Cameo from a Silhouette studio file. I cut it out of light gray vinyl, not white. I felt like the light gray went better with the chalkboard paint and was a little more muted. 

To cut the "est. 2004," I typed it out in the Silhouette software with the font Blackjack and then applied a Weld on the word "est" so that it would be all one piece. The "est. 2004" is our wedding date. I chose that over our move-in date for the house, but you could use any important date if you choose to make one similar to this.

The whole process took two days because of drying times on the paint. I love how it turned out and it really helps tie the space together. As much as I love the snowman and snowflake candles, I am already plotting a more spring-like decor for next month. 

Thanks for hanging out here today! 

Guess who loves you?!

I'm continuing with my Valentine's Day celebration that I started yesterday. Today I'm sharing an easel I decorated using the Jillibean Soup Hearty Healthy collection. I had a lot of good pieces left over after I made the layout from yesterday, so I decorated this chalkboard/whiteboard easel I picked up at JoAnn Fabrics. 

For Valentine's Day, I'll leave little notes on the board for my son. He'll get little treats and goodies leading up to the day.

It's hard to tell here (I just couldn't get a good picture of it) but the fox heart is on a spring, so when my son moves the easel or takes his notes off the board, it bounces. He thought it was pretty fun.

And don't laugh, but we have a Valentine's Day tree. I just can't stand to lose the soft glow from the Christmas tree when it is still so miserable outside, so here is our tabletop silver tree decorated with a love bug, pink glitter and silver bulbs.  

I hope you are enjoying my week of love. Thanks for stopping by here today! 

Counting Down to Christmas {imaginisce}

It's December, and that means Imaginisce is counting down to the Christmas holiday. Each designer on the team is taking a day all to themselves to show off inspiring holiday projects to get you in the mood to start humming those holiday songs (if you haven't been already!).

I used the brand new Colors of Christmas collection from Imaginisce to alter this frame and glass jar. The colors of this collection go perfectly with the decorations in my house, so I love how these turned out. 

This frame was easy to altered. I took out the glass in the front of the frame and then made a little display of layered die cuts and sticker stackers. 

For the jar, I cut a few pieces of patterned paper to first decorate the jar, then I added the dimension to the front of the jar with die cuts and a sticker stacker. A touch of bling makes this jar sparkle! The old fashioned candy canes seemed like the perfect touch. Tied off with a ribbon from May Arts, and this gift is ready to go. 

Not ready to part with it? It would make a great little addition to a holiday display, too.

Thanks for stopping to see my holiday inspiration. It's getting that much closer to Christmas! Stop by the Imaginisce blog all month to see amazing Christmas inspiration.

Supplies: Imaginisce: Colors of Christmas (Vintage Ornaments, Holiday Wishes, Bling, Sticker Stacker, Christmas Phrases, Christmas Journaling Die Cuts, Christmas Icon Die Cuts)