Fun little Notepad (Helmar Adhesives and preferred partners)

Sorry it's been quiet on here for a bit, been really busy creating but mostly things to be revealed in August. Today I do have a share though...

The Helmar DT received a generous parcel of Faber-Castell and Robin's Nest products to play with. I had this little plain white die cut notepad (from the Michael's Crafts dollar bin). I started to play with the PITT pastel pencils, Art Grip Aquarelle watercolor pencils and PITT marker pens and big brushes, really late one night. At the end of playing, I "washed" the entire thing by lightly brushing it over with water and a paintbrush so the colors would blend.

Then, the next day, in real light... I realized it needed some sheen so I took a pink Gelato and smeared it on my finger and rubbed the entire surface. 

Here is a look at some of the Faber Castell products I used:

 I also added some punched butterflies and Dew Drops from the Robin's Nest. I used Helmar Gemstone Glue to add the drops since that glue doesn't make the acrylic look cloudy and gives a REALLY strong hold.

I used some of the off-white and clear beads from the Fairy Dust Dew Drops set.

Well there you have it - a little late night experiment turned into a wonderful notepad for my daughter. She loves to draw and stamp while I craft so I thought she'd really like her own little art booklet.

OK, I don't usually post things like this but it's too good not to pass up. Ingvild Bolme is doing a massive Prima Giveaway on her blog to celebrate her new blog design. Look at that gorgeous mountain of goodness!!! Just spreading the word :)

Swirlydoos July Kit Reveal/Blog Hop

Welcome to Swirlydoos' July "Paper Dolls"

Kit Reveal and Blog Hop Block Party!

If you came here from Pion Design's blog, then you are on the right track. If not, go back to Swirlydoos' blog and start from there. We have some amazing projects for you to see today! This July "Paper Dolls" kit is really packed with beautiful goodies, featuring Kaisercraft's Lakehouse collection with a mix of Pion Design papers.

For my first project, I made a display layout for my daughter's room. I added some beautiful 2Crafty chipboard and a doily from my stash. I love the Prima resin birdbath in this kit and the divine flower add-on is a must have!
Just click on all images below to enlarge.

Here is a close-up of the ornate dragonfly chipppy:

Here is a close-up of the blooms and the parisian border:

For my second project I only added a Dusty Attic chipboard clock and a bit of bling - everything else is from the main kit and flower add-on. The title is actually created from the excess strip you cut off the edge of the Kaiser paper!

Here is a close-up of the cluster under the picture:

For my third project, I made a new display for my mantle (I do this every season). I layered 2 of the Pion papers. The chipboard, doily and ribbon are from my stash. The Kaiser sentiment paper is so beautiful in this kit and the little Petaloo butterflies are such a cute touch!

Here is a close-up of the heavenly Prima flower in the middle of my bow:

I used the beautiful July kit sketch for my mantle display:

For my last project, I altered a plain pink headband with some trim and flowers from the kit. My daughter adores headbands and I love making them for her!

Well, I still have plenty of supplies to create yet another layout so I will be working on that soon! These kits are really packed and a great value!  My projects are made with 80% kit contents from the main kit and the flower add-on. 

You have until midnight, eastern time, on Monday, July 9th to complete the hop. Winners will be announced on the Swirlydoos Blog on July 10th. In order to qualify to win here is what you need to do:

1: Visit all of the blogs and leave a comment on each. This way we know you were there. Become a follower if you're not already. Take your time. There are REALLY beautiful things to see along the way.

2: Before you leave each blog, look for the “special” words and write it down. Once you have visited all the blogs and collected all the special words, they will create a QUESTION.

3: Finally, go back to the Swirlydoos blog and leave a comment letting us know how much fun you had, tell us the QUESTION that was created with all of the special words collected, and THEN ANSWER it! Can't wait to hear from you.

My special word is : DID

The party continues over at Angelica's blog. Have fun!

Please note: I used my favorite Helmar adhesives (Premium craft glue for paper, 450 Quick dry for embellishments and Zapdots to add dimension) on all of these projects. The brand new USA site is www.helmarusa.com and the Aussie site is www.helmar.com.au.

2Crafty Chipboard Now Available

I just loaded 20 of my favorite 2Crafty chipboard styles (that you will soon be seeing on my designs) into my Etsy Shop. I also replenished my Dusty Attic stock with a bit of my personal stash (brand new - unopened packages). This is all I will have listed until about the end of September.

Here is a peek at some of the 2Crafty styles I listed...

Now... take a look at the BRAND NEW sentiment releases I want to order next time:

OUAS July Challenge Reveal (Meg's Garden/Helmar)

Today is my first reveal post for the Once Upon a Sketch (OUAS) challenge site! I used beautiful papers from Meg's Garden "Forget me not 2" collection as well as some gorgeous lace, flowers and velvet leaves from her store. I adore the soothing colors in this beautiful paper collection.

This is one of my favorite wedding day pictures, taken right after the ceremony. The OUAS theme this month is FRIEND. The journaling on the back reads "On December 1st, 2011, we vowed to be best friends for life and we still are". Hubby and I really are best friends... we were even room-mates in school 16 years ago (so we truly don't know how to live apart!).

Here is a close-up of the pretty embellishments. The Dusty Attic Chipboard is from my shop. I used Helmar Premium glue for all the paper layers and the 450 Quick dry glue to hold all the embellishments (really great for heavy embellies like the resin shutters).

And here is the OUAS sketch this month. Be sure to check out the blog for fantastic inspiration from the new design team as well as all the challenge details... GORGEOUS prizes to be won too - there are so many great sponsors!

Wine Bottles Teacher Gift (Pion Design, Green Tara, Helmar, Epiphany)

Today I am sharing a little project I did using the gorgeous Grandma's School Book collection from Pion Design. This was a fantastic collection to use to alter wine bottles to give to my son's teacher as a thank you gift. I used the Helmar July inspiration challenge and 450 glue (holds anything really nicely to glass) for this project. I also added some beautiful Green Tara trims and flowers to compliment these papers. I used an Epiphany Crafts tool (they were so sweet to send me the "25 round" tool and sample product for making these) to create the pretty epoxy charms out of the Pion papers. June 25 to July 7th is our manufacturer cross promotion with Epiphany and Helmar - make sure to check out the Helmar blog for all the awesome project ideas using these great epoxy tools!

Aren't the Pion paper graphics in this collection just so precious and perfect for a teacher gift?

Here is a close-up of the Green Tara Flowers and trim too.

Don't forget to check out Helmar's July Inspiration Challenge and play along for a chance to win some gluey goodness!

Hello Summer, Goodbye Freedom

Today is officially the LAST full school day before summer break. I run before and after school childcare but in the summer I have 5-7 kiddos all day, except for my August vacation. Therefore, my online time really suffers because I can only scrap at night after the kids go to bed instead of catching up with all my scrappy friends in the galleries and forums. And like most people, we are gone having some summer fun on the weekends. Anyways, just didn't want anyone thinking I am ignoring you this summer - just busy that's all!

BTW - this is NOT ME, but it is the new little number I got (@ sears.ca). I am in love with the classic little vintage/retro swimsuits this year! Now, to get that body I had in my 20's (not happening after 3 kids!). Actually... this suit is pretty flattering considering I'm 37. This model is super tall so for us shorties, the skirt covers a little more, LOL.

Well, I'm off to do groceries and cram as much housework into today as possible (yuck!).

Hey, I just noticed my blog is almost at 1,000 followers (WOW)... time to think of a celebration giveaway!

My Dad, My Hero (Swirlydoos/Helmar)

Well, this is my final project using the awesome June Swirlydoos "Antiquities" kit (featuring the Bo Bunny Weekend Market collection) - I just love all the fun sticker tags that coordinate with this kit!

This is my hubby and our first born. To this day... his daddy really is his hero. Can you believe I've had that Martha Stewart heart border punch since it arrived in my Christmas stocking and this is the first layout I've used it on? Shame on me! I put this layout together using Helmar Premium Craft Glue for the paper layers (all distressed with my Zutter distrezz-it-all).

I glued the Dusty Attic chipboard (from my shop) and gorgeous Kaisercraft flowers on with the Helmar 450 quick dry and the Acid free glue for the picture.

I used the Helmar foam ZapDots to give the titles some dimension.

My July Swirlydoos DT kit just arrived this week and gotta get cracking on it!

2Crafty Chipboard Design Team

I can share some exciting news... I've been invited to the 2Crafty Design Team!  Let me just say how very SWEET the owner Vanessa was with the invitation.  As you know I design for a couple of companies and we are often asked to design with a variety of sponsored products for cross-promotions including chipboard so... since I can't contribute as a full DT member she was willing to put me as a guest designer!  Now that's a "good egg".  A big thank you for making this work Vanessa (and Di - our DT Coordinator :)

Here is the AWESOME new DT line-up
(notice 2 Canucks on the team? hee, hee :)

Vicky Alberto – Canada (Guest Designer)

Linda Eggleton – Australia (Design Team Member)

Kelly Foster – USA (Design Team Member)

Marilia Lopes – Brazil (Design Team Member)

 Leonie Neal-Dawson – Australia (Design Team Member)

Elena Olinevich – Belarus (Design Team Member)

Keren Tamir - Canada (Design Team Member)

Chantal Vendenberg- Australia (Design Team Member)

RETURNING DT MEMBERS

Di Garling – Australia (Design Team Coordinator)

Fiona Johnson – Australia (Team Member)

Check out the 2Crafty Blog for all DT member blog links!

I couldn't resist placing a little order for my Etsy shop for some beautiful sentiment chipboard pieces and GORGEOUS swirl and lace-type chippy borders. They are on their way to me right now ladies!

NEW Dusty Attic Now Available!

I re-stocked my Etsy shop early this morning (http://www.etsy.com/shop/vickyalberto) with Dusty Attic chipboard. I had listed over 100 styles - including some of the newest pieces from the May release and the most popular items. In just a few hours my stock has drastically depleted. Since summer is typically a "low" scrappy season, I only brought in a few of each style.

More Dusty Attic to come in the Fall... and VERY soon I will be carrying 2Crafty chipboard too - double the scrappy pleasure! My shipment should arrive in a few weeks.

BTW - the new Dusty Attic releases are all mixed in my shop and not sure why because that's not how I loaded them (they are supposed to appear first) but Etsy scrambled them. This is the second time this has happened to me - maybe a setting I need to fix?

Garden Girl Layout (Meg's Garden/ Green Tara/ Helmar)

I had this cute close-up shot of my daughter as a toddler but hated the background so I fussy cut her out and created a garden scene for her to sit in. Oh where to start... I used a mix of papers beautiful floral papers from Meg's Garden (Garden of Blue Flowers and Le Belle Jardin and French Garden collections) and started to pile on chipboard, flowers, trim, a doily, pearl bling (yup basically the kitchen sink, LOL). I think I have nearly 25 Green Tara buds and flowers on this one!

Here is a close-up of my "garden" - purple gardenias, pink cherry blossoms, red rose buds and a beautiful large pink velvet rose.

The background was glued with a Helmar adhesive runner and all of the flowers and chipboard were glued with Helmar 450 quick dry glue - clear and acid free! This stuff is seriously a little miracle in a bottle, LOL. The butterfly is also raised using Helmar's Zapdots.

Helmar's June 15th Blog Hop

Welcome to the Helmar "Happy Fathers Day" Hop!

Today we are so excited to share with you a variety of fantastic masculine projects. We've put our Helmar arsenal to good use and want to share with you some inspiration for those last minute Fathers Day gifts.

If you have been following along, you should have hopped here from Cindy Royal's blog. If not, hop on back to the Helmar Blog and enjoy. Make sure to leave comments along the way, because we will have prizes up for grabs. And if the man in your life is super lucky, we may even send him a Helmar prize pack too.

My project today is something you can actually create with your kids - homemade tinted bath salts for HIM. Men like relaxing baths too! For this project I used my June Swirlydoos "antiquities" kit (featuring Bo Bunny products) and a recycled glass Kraft brand jam jar (plus some SUPER Helmar glue - see details below). BTW - I think this is the first project I've ever done without using flowers, LOL!

Close-up of the card glued together using Helmar's Craft and Hobby PVA Glue.

Close-up of the jar decor glued using Helmar's 450 Quick Dry glue.

Bath salt recipe (mix together very well):

2 cups epsom salts

1/2 cup coarse salt or sea salt

A few drops of food colouring (I used 3 drops of blue)

A few drops of essential oil (optional - for aromatherapy)

Thanks so much for stopping by. Now hop on over to Jess-Kinderstampo's blog where you are sure to find more Fathers Day inspiration. If you get lost along the way, below you will find the links for the order of the hop.

Helmar
Lisa Wilkinson
JJ Sobey
Cindy Royal
Vicky Alberto (ME!)
Jess-Kinderstampo
Cheryl Walker
Amy Lassiter
Rae Cooper
Jen Erickson
Katie Nolan Denham
Carisa Zglobicki
Michelle Wallace
Julie Tucker-Wolek
Erika Taylor