Sunday Prepping! (ScrapbookSteals Sketch)

While the subject of this layout isn't exciting, or interesting, or even beautiful, it's what happens on a weekly basis. I try to keep organized. It's the thought that counts, right? I simplified this layout, layering all of the extra patterns, and made sure to pull colors that were located in the set of my favorite markers. All of the paper and embellishments are from my October Shop Your Stash kit that I created. 

I totally changed this sketch up, but I'm really pleased with the results. The sketch is the Gardenia #7 from ScrapbookSteals.com.

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Hooray For Sweaters, Boots & Pumpkins

There are some things that make me smile. My warm boots on a crisp fall day is one of these things. I really loved this Instagram picture of my Uggs and a couple of pumpkins that we carved for Halloween. I really loved how the orange pops against the grey of my house steps. I started with this wonderful stitched heart in the Silhouette Online Store. I stretched out the heart so that it would span the entire 12x12 space, and used a ton of bright and fabulous patterns paired with a simplistic background.

The wonderful title is actually the Happy Harvest Printable from Life Love Paper I also added a few alphas for some extra pop, and pulled in the orange in a wonderful triangle of interest. LOVE! Pin It

It Hurts... Photographing and Scrapbooking Unhappy Events

How do you photograph a situation that you really don't want to? Photograph a beautiful detail. One small, probably insignificant element that can sum up the entire story without oversharing. I really feel that this photo, with the journaling does just that. Papers and elements are from my October Shop Your Stash kit.

I altered the PageMaps November 2014 sketch HERE and changed up a few things. I really wanted to focus on the one photograph, print the journaling with my Silhouette, and then really play with a few Silhouette cuts.

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Return to Bloggerland...

I'll admit, I've been a horrible blogger. I haven't shared much since the year started. Sorry! Life has gotten in the way. I actually have been creating, but have been doing so in kind of a vacuum.  I just haven't been sharing. So, I've actually snapped pics of the ten (so far!) layouts that I have created since last November/December... And I'm going to share them about three or four a week. Once they are all shared, I'm going to go through my stash and do a giveaway. Just for fun. So, here's my return to sharing once again. For this first project, I used my November Shop Your Stash Kit (list of contents on the original post).

This was actually a really great sketch by my friend Brenda Smith for ScrapbookSteals' Mid-Week Mojo's. She's pretty fantastic. You should really check her out. I kind of love this picture. It's my classroom on the last day of school. I had actually vowed not to return until September started... And for once in my life, actually kept that vow. I really needed summer. So did my girls. Here's the sketch if you'd like. Enjoy!

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Creating Gift Bags with Xyron!

Good morning! I wanted to share with you a fun tutorial on making gift bags using a few of my favorite Xyron products, the Xyron Double Sided Tape, Xyron 1.5" Sticker Maker and the Xyron 3" Sticker Maker. I absolutely adore my Xyron 9" Creative Station, but my purple, sparkly X will forever hold a special place in my heart. I really love the Double Sided Tape, the 1.5" Sticker Maker and my 3" Sticker Maker, because I can toss them in a bag and go crafting with them easily. I love portable, but effective products.

 

 

I started with paper from a giant roll of kraft paper that I bought a few years ago. In short, you are going to wrap a box as if it was a present, but only on one side. To keep everything clean, I used the Xyron Double-Sided Tape. This makes all of your seams beautiful and crisp. Place your box on the paper (even an inside out paper bag will work!), tape one edge before you fold the paper over the box. Make sure that you only tape the paper to the paper (the box will come out when you are done).

Once the paper essentially makes a tube around the box, crease all of the edges. This will make your bag look more professional when you slip the box out. Then fold the edges in, and use your Double-Sided Tape to tape the bottom of the bag shut.

Here's how the box looks while it's in the bag.

Once you take out the box, you can re-crease the edges of the bag, to make it look more professional if you want. Then, cut off the bag to get the desired height. To reinforce the top of the bag, I folded the top edge down into the bag, and sealed it with more of the Double-Sided Tape.

To reinforce the bottom of the bag, take some scratch cardstock, cut it to the size of the bag, and use your Xyron 3" Sticker Maker to attach it to the inside.

I then took the top of the bag and punched holes in it with the Teresa Collins Chipboard Punch.

And then strung the bag with some leftover ribbon pieces.

For decoration, I took some pieces of paper that had previously been die cut from another project, and ran those through my Xyron 1.5" Sticker Maker and the Xyron 3" Sticker Maker. Doing so turned those fun die cuts into stickers that I simply adhered to the bag.

Using my Xyron products turned those fun die cuts into stickers that I simply adhered to the bag.

I even made a fun little tag to match! (See my die cut storage using the Xyron 9" Laminate Magnet Refill! Here's the link for that tutorial!

Doesn't this just make the cutest bag? And you can totally use up some of those scraps that you have lying around!

I made a second bag, and let my little girl play with some old chipboard pieces that weren't sticky anymore. My solution, run those cute die cuts through the Xyron 1.5" Sticker Maker and the Xyron 3" Sticker Maker. Now something that could have been tossed out is usable once again. 

These little bags make great bags for birthday presents or small gifts. Plus, because you can use any box, you can size your bag to your present.

Products Used: 

Xyron Double Sided Tape, Xyron 1.5" Sticker Maker, Xyron 3" Sticker Maker, Xyron Laminate Magnet Refill,  kraft paper, Authentique Lucky Collection, Basic Grey chipboard

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AUTHENTIQUE PAPER: Valentine's Card and Post Box with "Crush"

Hello! Today on the AUTHENTIQUE BLOG I am sharing a fun set of cards with a cute Valentine's post box that I designed. I used the 9" Creative Station to easily create the mailbox.

Supplies Used:

Authentique Paper: Crush Collection (Darling, Frilly, Herald, Sweet, 6x6 Bundle, Authentic Life Cards, Components 6x12 Cardstock Accents, Card Making Stack)

Other Supplies: paper mailbox, Xyron 9" Creative Station, buttons, flower brad, twine (Twinery-Maraschino), word paperclip (Freckled Fawn), dimensional adhesive, Wink of Stella Clear glitter brush

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Stamp Organization Using Xyron Laminate Magnet Refills

I have to say that one of my late night obsessions is watching stamp videos from Jennifer McQuire and Kristina Werner. They have some amazing technique videos, and I love watching their projects come together. One of my goals for next year is to get myself a bit more organized so that I'm not trying to look for the products that I want for my projects. This includes stamp organization. I grabbed most of my inspiration from Jennifer McQuire's stamp organization post HERE. She has an amazing system that works for my growing collections of clear stamps and manual dies.

I followed Jennifer McQuire's whole system (minus the fridge container... I used a basket instead) for her stamp storage. However, the floating metal dies were driving me nuts. So I pulled out my Xyron 9" Creative Station and tossed in the Laminate Magnet Refill.

To start, I cut down some cardstock to fit in the envelopes and fit the dies that I wanted to store. It really doesn't matter what color or style, you won't see this anyway.

Run those through your Xyron Creative Station, then cut the edges down to the size of the paper.

Place your metal dies on the magnet side of the sheet, and place inside your envelopes as if they were the clear stamps. For my stamps with matching dies, I placed the dies on the back of the envelope.

This even works with the leftover strips and smaller die sets.

I will admit, that once I did this, I realized that I could have saved a few steps by just running and entire sheet of 8.5x11" cardstock through my Xyron using the Laminate Magnet Refill. I then, would have cut that into sized pieces as I went. Hope this helps keep your matching dies more organized!

Products Used:
Xyron 9" Creative Station, Xyron Laminate Magnet Refill, Target Room Essentials Branch Weave Small Bin, Avery Elle Stamp and Die Storage Pockets, Brother P-Touch Label Maker, white cardstock Pin It