Photo Carousel

I'm back to share the photo carousel I made for the web show this past weekend.  There were some technical difficulties with the recording, so I don't have a link to the show for you.  However, I do have some photos of the finished project with some deets on how I plan to use this little diddy this year.  Here we go!

This project was created almost exclusively with the contents of this kit from Scrapbook Heaven:

There are still a few left in the store, and at $29.99, it is a great deal.  I still have papers and lots of ribbon left over.

We start off with the wooden ribbon spool holder from Prima and some binder rings from the office supply store.  The ones I used are 1 1/2" in diameter and allow for plenty of space to add pages throughout the year.

I designed this project to hold favorite photos of 2011 and to record special moments of the year.  

So I started off creating divider pages for each month of the year:

 

Just typed up the months on the 'puter and punched them with a variety of punches = super easy tabs.  The numbers are punched from a clock die cut included in the kit.

Close-ups of the divider pages:

I did add a couple of flowers from my stash (6, 9, 12 above), but the kit comes with some fab patterned flowers (like 1 and 11), and some die cut flowers so you can create your own paper flowers (seen in 3, 5 and 10).  The butterfly and border punches are Martha Stewart. And for some reason the polka-dot ribbon is photographing red; it's actually hot pink.  Okie dokie, moving on...

I used some of the patterned paper to cut pages for the album.  All of the pages measure 3 3/4" tall so that they clear the top knob of the carousel.  And most of the pages are 2 3/4" wide, not counting the tabs.  But a few of the pages I extended to 3 1/4" and border punched (like the one above).  I really like how there's a lot of variety peeking out from the edge of the album as it spins.  

Am I boring you to tears yet?!

One of my favorite things in this kit is a sheet of KI Memories die cut paper.  I chopped up this 12x12 sheet and spray glued it to acrylic packaging (any kind of thick, flat acrylic packaging that everything seems to be wrapped in these days)  cut to 2 3/4" x 3 3/4".  In retrospect, I wish I had cut these a little wider so they could peek out too.  

We're almost done, just one more part.

 

Since not everything throughout the year will fit so neat and tidy on these small pages, I decided to make some pocket pages.  These are super easy:

1. Cut paper to 4" tall x 6" long.
2. Score along the 6" side at 1/4"
3. Make two scores going the short way at 1/2" and 3 1/4"
4. OK, here's where I think I should have taken some pics of the process: cut away two of the bottom flaps (the tiny 1/2" by 1/4" one and the second long one--1/4" by 2 3/4".
5. Punch a notch in the top center of one of the sections (this is purely optional, but take it from me: do this before you adhere)
6. Adhere with the flaps on the inside (I just like the nice finished look this gives).  

The kit comes with some fun punch out labels and tags like the one shown above.  I used these like tabs on the pocket pages, and will use these for mini versions of "day-in-the-life" "week-in-the-life" projects.

Whew, I'm done!  Thanks for sticking through this project to the end with me.  Oh wait, one more thing, geesh.

Top the whole thing off with the ginormous fabric flower included in the kit and embellish it with a handmade paper flower.

 Isn't that purty?!

Thanks again for reading, and who knows, maybe I'll be sharing some shots of this project as the year goes on.

Happy Creating!

Floral Bib Necklace

The other night I watched Marion Smith's Bib necklace tutorial and was totally drooling.  Could something so gorgeous really be that easy.  Well, guess, what?  It was (almost). A trip to 2 craft stores (sans kiddos!) and only one burn from the hot glue gun later and voila:

I am so in love with this!  A huge thank you to Marion for inspiring me.  And hey, check out Lolly Chops' gorgeous teal one.  Now go watch the vid, get yourself some yummy Prima, and whip one up for yourself!

Crochet Project: i-Pod Cozies

This weekend I had a crochet epiphany of sorts when I realized that you can crochet in the round by joining with a slip stitch into the chain closest to your beginning knot.  These kinds of things excite me.  Whipped up these two little i-pod cozies for my boys (they made the yarn selections).

This one is nice and padded and fits snuggly:

And this one, not so much.  I'll probably remake it for him.

But this whole crochet in the round concept opens up a bunch of possibilities for necklaces, bracelets, headbands, cuffs,

So here's what you do: leave a tail of yarn and chain a string of stitches double the length of what you need.  Without twisting the chain slip stitch into the very first chain farthest from the hook (sheesh, wish I had a pic of this).  Now crochet around this loop however you would like.  I used single crochets on both, but added two rounds of double crochet to create stripes on the orange one.  To finish, use the tail of yarn to sew up the bottom of the pouch.
 
If you make one, I would love to see!

Butterfly Projects

You know how deeply in love I am with these butterflies, so it's no surprise they are popping up on little projects everywhere:

I'll never pull this headband off in public, but it's fun for a little photo shoot!

A jumbo clippie bookmark

Accent on a laptop sleeve. This is actually made from a pillow sham. Hope I can make another one and share the step-by-step with you.

Camera Strap

Making one of these has been on my list of things to do for quite a while. I finally found some coordinating fabric that I loved and moved it to the top of my list for last night. Thanks to the fantastic tutorial over at Cluck, Cluck, Sew I whipped this pretty up in no time.
I adjusted the pattern ever so slightly, cutting the fabric to 28" rather than 26". I was thinking that I would not need the fusible fleece padding, then at the last minute (and a quick trip to JoAnn's) I added it. It's definitely better with it, not only for comfort, but also for overall look and quality. Out of 1/4 yard of fabric, I was able to cut enough for three straps. I would like to try one that is nearly the length of my whole strap to try to cover up some of the unattractive plasticware used in adjusting the strap length. I will definitely be making a whole slew of these--great for presents.

Here's a close up which was about all I could get once I slipped it onto my strap.

Now I can cross that off the list of things to do!

Sketch Book

I hit Target today to see what kind of post-Valentine deals I could snag (I have a thing for hitting the 50% off sales that always follow holidays). I was hoping they would still have some of the vinyl placemats (that I had already picked up for full-price) on sale so I would not feel so guilty when I hacked them to bits. Lucky me found them barely out of sight on a top shelf. Brought them home and set the boys up with something to do and set to work creating this:

I thought I would be able to cut through the vinyl with my rotary cutter and quilting mat--not so much. So I had to resort to marking a line with a pen and cutting by hand--yikes! I cleaned up the edges a bit with my Purple Cow trimmer (oh how I love that trimmer). I alternated the inside pages between a heavy-weight watercolor paper (so I can use inks, pens, and paints) and graph paper which I love for drafting sketches so you can draw to scale. A quick punch with the Bind-it-All, and poof, a handmade journal that's durable enough to be tossed into a bag and carted everywhere inspiration may strike. Oh yeah, the front and back covers are made with the placemat, in case that wasn't clear.

Fat Free Cupcakes

This little confection was so much fun to make and looks good enough to eat.

Here are the specs--

The Stuff: two patterned papers, paper crimper, styrofoam ball (mine is 2 1/2"), three circle punches: 1 3/8", 1 1/4", 1", glue gun

The How:

1. Cut a strip of patterned paper 1 1/4" x 9" and run through crimper to form cupcake wrapper.
2. Use glue gun to fix this to the bottom third of the 2 1/2" ball.
3. Punch circles in three different sizes: start with largest circle on the bottom and glue gun the top of each circle to the styrofoam ball slightly overlapping the side edges as you go (gluing just the top allows the rest of the circle to flair out for dimension).
4. For the next layer, use the middle-sized circle. For the top layers use the small circle.
5. Top with a pompom cherry if desired.

You could whip a batch of these up faster than the real deal. Try using different sized styrofoam balls being careful to adjust your strip and circle sizes to keep the proportions. Wouldn't these be cute on a tiered centerpiece? Or as placecards at a Valentine soiree? Try cooking some up next time you're feeling crafty.

Add this to the To Do list

Just found these cute cupcakes on Jamie Waters' blog (from Bella Blvd.'s CHA booth).


I feel another project coming on: various sized circles, some glitter, paper crimped strip. Hmmm, what could be inside? A styrofoam ball perhaps.