Christmas Countdown (Pion Design and Scrap That! DT)

With both the Canadian and USA thanksgiving celebrations all done, it's officially the countdown to Christmas now. This year, I decided to give a KaiserCraft advent calendar a try with my gorgeous Pion Design papers (Waiting For Santa 2 Collection). Scrap That! is selling these calendars for only $20 (and also $20 for the Pion paper collection if you want that too). There is still time for you to join in the first of our Christmas / Holiday challenges!

Scrap That! Advent Calendar Challenge:
THE RULES ARE......THERE ARE NO RULES! You are only limited by your imagination and whatever supplies and papers you have to complete your advent calendar. Any theme, any style, any purpose. Heck - it doesn't even have to be Christmas themed. Why not make a cute storage box for beads, or jewelry? Final deadline for all entries is Dec 15th. but if your project is finished before then please email a photo of it to us!

Once all entries are in, the Design Team will each choose their favorite calendar project. Then Scrap That! MEMBERS will vote for their favorite!  The winner will receive a fabulous GRAND PRIZE PACKAGE loaded with scrappy goodness. Email all entries to info@scrapthat.ca (please resize to 500 pixels) please write Scrap That! ADVENT CALENDAR CONTEST as the subject.

We only have TWO advent calendars left, so hurry and order your KaiserCraft Advent Calendar so you can get started... and watch for more details and photos of all the prizes and there will be some incredible goodies to be won!  Email: Lori at friends@scrapthat.ca to order yours today.

OK, so on to the calendar that I made.

It took me/hubby 6-7 hours to complete (spread over 4 days). My husband helped by using a palm sander on the interlocking edges and he spray painted the frame pieces for me, plus both sides of the boxes. Then the next day, I assembled the frame and he gave it one more light mist of paint while I covered the front of the boxes, filed the edges and glued the boxes together. Hubby proceeded to watch football after all his "hard work" on this project, LOL.

On day 3 of this project, I "antiqued" the edges of the boxes with gold liquid pearls and an eye-shadow sponge applicator. The insides are nicely finished as well as the sides of the boxes with the dark brown spray paint. Since I had covered only the front of the boxes, before glueing together I could easily file the paper edges and ink them too for a rustic look. Most people cover the entire box with paper and double sided tape but I wanted an antique "brass" looking finish on the edges so I took the long road in doing these little boxes. On this day, I also used white crackle paint on the numbers and once dry, rubbed a bit of the gold liquid pearls on them to better show the cracks.

On day 4, I made the middle "layout". I didn't permanently glue it in so that I am able to change it later on if I want a different look. I am holding on to an extra set of these Pion papers for this reason. The title is a Dusty Attic piece that I inked with burgundy chalk ink and topped with distress Stickles. The bling is ZVA but... I completely reconstructed it to "fit" how I wanted it to. The pretty berry and poinsettia embellies are from Michaels - in their Christmas section.

It seemed to be the never ending project but my kids LOVE it -  so it was worth the time spent. I still need to spray mod podge the boxes to help preserve them from wear and tear - never ending, LOL!

I really do like how it turned out... but how can you go wrong with these gorgeous Pion Papers? BTW, the color palette inspiration for this project was based on an older TCR palette #77. I adore that inspiration site!

The kiddos are really looking forward to finding treats in the calendar each day :)

6-inch collection release

I hope all my friends in the USA had a great Thanksgiving yesterday! Here 's a little post to let you know that since Pion Design's Studio of Memories collection has been so popular, they have just released the collection in 6x6 size. This is perfect for all the card and mini album makers out there! It is such a beautiful, timeless collection. More Pion Design creations to be revealed from me next week too so stay tuned!

Happy "black" Friday!

Live Laugh Love (Green Tara)

I have been waiting a long time to scrap this photo then... when I saw these gorgeous Glitz Design papers in my November Scrap That! kit... and combined them with a generous amount of Green Tara embellies, I knew I finally had the right things to compliment this picture. This is a photo of my first son and I, the day after he was born. I was still really pale after an emergency c-section (with a lot of blood lost - he was nice and pink though, LOL). There is so much Green Tara goodness on this layout (product descriptions below). The papers and embellies were truly worth waiting for to scrap this picture. I am in love with the thick white lace and silk flowers with crystals on this layout!

Here is a close-up of my favorite Green Tara crystal flowers and awesome silver mesh ribbon. Aren't the pearl sprays and white lace divine too?

Lace, 3.8cm White (under picture)
CODE: L2862W

20cm Silver/Pearl Spray (around flower cluster)
CODE: XP0616

Silk Flowers with Swarovski Crystal Centres. 3cm White (used 5)
CODE: SDWhL

3mm Bead Garland, Silver (to dangle tag)
CODE: RBY06S

38mm Mesh Silver (around flower cluster)
CODE: RB6734S

Self Adhesive Xmas Trees 27mm 10m Roll Silver (cut tips and used as leaves)
CODE: RB717S

Thanks for stopping by!

Paper house treat box (with instructions)

My inspiration for this treat box came from cupcake boxes that I saw on Amazon.com made by Meri Meri. Then, I remembered seeing people doing birdhouse boxes using milk carton style dies or downloadable files (many companies make these) last Spring. Since it is a simple box concept, I decided to make my own "template" so I could share the instructions with you (see below)... and without the need to spend a dime.

I used the gorgeous Pion Design Waiting for Santa papers and some amazing Green Tara Christmas embellies (supply list below) to create this. In addition to the instructions provided below, I added a hanging gift tag (using a scallop circle and hole punch), a second roof layer (deco scissored edges) and glued part of the striped paper to make the window trim. I also snipped the roof edges on an angle.

Green Tara embellies:
Self Adhesive Xmas Trees 27mm 10m Roll Silver (cut off 2)
CODE: RB717S
Wire Star 3cm Red Pack of 5 (use 1)
CODE: WS177R
3mm Bead Garland, Silver (to trim the window and hand the tag and star)
CODE: RBY06S
3mm Bead Garland, Red (cut up and decorate trees)
CODE: RBY06R
9mm Shimmer Threaded ribbon, Red 20m (2 strips for the chimney)
CODE: RB6737R

Here are the instructions (click on it to enlarge). I don't own a score board yet (on my Christmas wish list) so I just measured and folded on the edge of my paper cutter. I kept the dimensions as easy as possible for a 12x12 sheet. This can actually be made with one sheet of double sided paper if you'd like. It is a good size to fill with treats and stands about 5 inches tall.

Thanks for stopping by today!

DON'T FORGET!

Paper crafting can be much more than cards and layouts. It is my turn to host the monthly Scrap That! challenge for Nov. My challenge to you this month is to create a new, never before posted, OTP (off the page) project. With the biggest gift giving season just around the corner, it's time to see all those beautiful handmade presents and decorations. You do NOT need to be a kit subscriber to participate - this challenge is open to anyone.

If you want to enter to win the Dance in Sunshine Collection Prize Package (generously provided by the Glitz Girls), then do so by posting your project entry to this forum THREAD (and our main gallery too) by Nov 22nd. Good luck everyone!

Pion Design - Look What's Coming...

Here is a sneak of the new manly collection that is coming soon by Pion Design - "For Father". This will finally help me get scrapping all those boy and man photos I've been meaning to.

Scrap That! NOV Challenge and Prize

Paper crafting can be much more than cards and layouts. It is my turn to host the monthly Scrap That! challenge for Nov. My challenge to you this month is to create a new, never before posted, OTP (off the page) project. With the biggest gift giving season just around the corner, it's time to see all those beautiful handmade presents and decorations. You do NOT need to be a kit subscriber to participate - this challenge is open to anyone.

If you want to enter to win the Dance in Sunshine Collection Prize Package (generously provided by the Glitz Girls), then do so by posting your project entry to this forum THREAD (and our main gallery too) by Nov 22nd. You can enter as many times as you like and again, you do NOT need to be a kit subscriber to participate.  The more entries, the more chances you have to win. Good luck everyone!

Some ideas are altered items (like frames and jars), folded paper creations (like handmade treat boxes and gift bags), Christmas decorations (like ball ornaments and wreaths), teacher gifts, etc. Again, anything goes for this challenge as long as it is a newly created project... so unleash you creativity!

My First Green Tara DT Post

Happy Halloween!
For my fist Green Tara post I am sharing this Halloween mask I made for my daughter this week. I simply used a child's black fabric (dollar store) mask and embellished it with the silver Green Tara products. It was a simple 15 minute project that made my 3 year old very happy. Since taking her to Cirque de Soleil she's been all over the mask thing, especially now with Halloween too.



Here is a close-up of the wonderful embellies. I just love pearl sprays and silk flowers with crystals.


Green Tara Products used :
Silk Flowers with Swarovski Crystal Centres
20cm Silver / Pearl Spray
Metal Swirls
Self Adhesive Trim-Metalic Silver
3mm Bead Garland-Silver

Thanks for stopping by today!

Scrap That! NOV Kit Reveal/Blog Hop

If you have just arrived here from Shona’s blog you are in the correct place! If not, head back to the Scrap That! blog for the blog hop order and links. This is your last stop today so let's dig right in!

Today I’m going to share with you my projects using the oh so elegant, Scrap That! November “Putting on the Glitz” Kit, featuring the Glitz Design Vintage Blue Paper Collection combined with a few of MME's Lost and Found papers.

For my first design "love", I used the gorgeous Dusty Attic birdcage and flowers in the main kit to create a romantic page of my hubby and I the day before our wedding at sunset (Dec. 1st - in the Bahamas) almost 10 years ago! I added a white doily and Green Tara trim to the kit contents to add more soft texture to this page. The mix of papers in this kit are just so perfect.


A simple coat of Tim Holtz crackle white paint and soft brown chalk ink (Prima ink is in the kit!) to finish the chipboard...


This layout was also based on the fantastic kit sketch by Robin Shakoor, I just flipped it.

For my second layout, "the wait" - yup me a few days before delivering my first born. My hubby insisted on snapping a picture so this is me freshly out of the shower, without a drop of makeup and damp hair, LOL. I'm glad he made me take it. Since yellow is my favorite color (pink is my second), this layout is soooooo me. I added a doily, pretty Green Tara lace and Dusty Attic chipboard from my stash to compliment the super gorgeous flower and bling in the kit. Again, I just love the mix of paper collections in this kit.

I used this pretty sketch as inspiration:


Here is a close up of the Prima flower I used - so glam! These will be a special purchase for this kit, stay tuned.

Lastly, I did an off the page project. My kids bug me to dress-up every Halloween so I made myself a mask using the kit's navy cardstock and my MME paper scraps from the last layout. With a bit of string pearls and a few craft feathers, I was able to use the kit contents (and my deco scissors) to make a simple mask (but took a whole lot of time to create, LOL).

I used Stickles and diamond dust to coat every inch of the plain cardstock. It really sparkles in sunlight.

Here is a peek at the main kit:

Here is a peek at the add-on:

As you can see, I have many more goodies left over to play with and a few sheets of paper... so I am working on another layout right now :)

Thank you for stopping by! Do not forget my secret word, it is CREATIONS (the final word to complete the secret sentence). Email the sentence to friends@scrapthat.ca. All correct entries will be entered into a draw for the Dusty Attic Prize Pack.

Just to remind you of the 5 ways and FIVE PRZES you can win:

STEP 1: First of all, you will need to visit all EIGHT blogs and leave a comment on each blog :) Take your time!! Our designers have beautiful blogs :) **This is important so we know you have been to all the blogs **. (Please note: Dusty Attic does not have a blog but just follow the link leave a comment on the forum thread in their community.) There will be a randomly drawn comment winner from each blog, and one of those lucky ladies will be selected to win a fabulous package of Prima! How easy is that?

STEP 2: Once you’ve done that, you’ll need to swing by our * facebook page, and LIKE us, and then head over to our *social community* and become a MEMBER. Once you’ve done that you will be eligible to win a Scrap That! store gift certificate. All qualifying entries will also be entered into a draw for the PRIZE, of a FULL Scrap That! Paper Crafting Kit!

STEP 3: If you want to enter to win the Grand Prize of a Glitz Prize Package generously provided by the Glitz Girls, then head over to our COMMUNITY for details on our monthly challenge. The challenge will run from Oct 28th to Nov 22nd so you have LOTS of time to post your creations. You can enter as many times as you like. You do not need to be a subscriber to participate. The more entries, the more chances you have to win!

STEP 4: Who doesn’t LOVE some Dusty Attic? Who wouldn’t want to win some Dusty Attic?
Then, while you are hopping, you will want to be looking for the “special” word on each blog. Once you have visited all the blogs and collected all the special words, they will create a sentence. Email the sentence to friends@scrapthat.ca. All correct entries will be entered into a draw for the Dusty Attic Prize Pack.

STEP 5: Finally, if you post our blinkie on your blog you will be entered to win a Scrap That! Store Gift Certificate - super easy right? Just post a link to your blog on the Scrap That! Blog so we can come visit :)

If you got lost along the way, here is the blog rotation list:

Scrap That! - http://scrapthatchat.blogspot.com/

Dusty Attic - http://dustyattic.ning.com/

Glitz Design - http://glitzitnow.blogspot.com/

Karen- http://agirlsscrapobsession.blogspot.com/

Lisa - http://kaye2222.blogspot.com/

Robin - http://robinshakoor.blogspot.com/

Shona - http://suchawonderfulmess.blogspot.com/

Vicky - you are here (and done!)

We hope you all had good fun hopping with us today, thank you so much for playing along! Watch the Scrap That! newsletter on November 21st to see if you are one of the lucky winners!

Only two days until...

The Scrap That! November kit reveal takes place this Friday, Oct. 28th.


Please join us this weekend for the November "Putting on the Glitz" kit blog hop. We have FIVE terrific prizes up for grabs, and we promise you a ton of inspiration and some beautiful blogs. The fun all starts on Friday Oct. 28^th at 10 am MST at http://www.scrapthatchat.blogspot.com

5 AMAZING PRIZES THIS MONTH:

A Dusty Attic Prize Pack generously provided by owner Jennifer Hedger

A Glitz Design Prize Pack generously provided by the Glitz Girls

A Scrap That! Paper Crafting Kit

A Scrap That! Store Gift Certificate

A Package of Prima

Now, we are excited to share with you our sneak peek for this month from the design team creations! This kit is divine - sheer elegance for Fall.

Step by Step Layout Tutorial

I am posting a step by step on how I made my "That is Love" layout with the very gorgeous Oct. Bella Rosa kit, featuring the Prima Romantique papers.

Some people find the romantic/vintage style intimidating to create. The key is layers. I like structure and distressing. I do admire all those heavily torn, painted and deeply shabby layouts with masking and all sorts of bits and pieces... but that's not my style. So, I keep the lines a little "cleaner". Let's get started!

1. Cut off 1/2 inch off the patterned paper (save the strips for later), heavily distress the edges (I used my Zutter) and adhere to plain cardstock.

2. Cut a large circle (8-9 inches) out of the coordinating floral paper, a 5.5 x 7.5 rectangle out of the soft yellow paper (you want the floral vine print to be at one narrow end of the rectangle). I rounded the corners.

3. Hand distress everything, including your strips and start layering. Glue the circle first, then the strips (leave the last half inch of these without adhesive) and then the photo mat and your picture.

 4. Slightly roll the strip ends and adhere half of a Prima lace/bling band to the bottom of the picture.

5. Use green chalk ink on your sweet pea chipboard (also available in my shop) and cut it into 3 pieces to form around the inside of the circle.

6. Make some lace flowers using Robin's awesome video tutorial or my no sew lace flowers.

 7. Add a butterfly to the corner.

8. Add your title and you're already done (you can also journal on the back).

Since the main paper has such a pretty border, I accented with more floral paper in the middle but then broke it up with the wide yellow photo mat to give focus to the picture. All the shapes flow and the page looks "filled-in" but there isn't anything truly complicated about this layout. The paper does most of the romantic/vintage "look" for you. Thanks for joining me today and I hope you give my style a go either with these papers or any other. I can think of many beautiful papers this design would go well with :)

117 Dusty Attic Styles!

It is like Christmas came early!!! New Dusty Attic chipboard has been listed in my shop at http://www.etsy.com/shop/vickyalberto. As of right this second I have 117 styles to choose from in various quantities (ranging from 1-6 of each style). There was a glitch uploading so the Christmas and Halloween is all mixed in there (was all supposed to be listed on the first page - sorry!). I do have some of the larger frames too not listed in my shop due to oversized shipping  - just convo me :)

Happy Shopping!

Scrap That! Reveal and Blog hop

Welcome to the Scrap That! October "Bella Rosa" kit reveal and blog hop. If you have arrived from Shona's blog you are in the right place and this is your last stop today. This hop officially ends on Sunday at midnight MST. This kit features the Prima Romantique and Creative Imaginations (IOD) Ddevotion papers. OK, now let's dig right in to this reveal!

My first layout "That is Love" is of my two youngest last summer playing in the shade. I just LOVE these Prima papers! Only the background cardstock is from my stash on this, everything else was in the kit - including the new sweet pea border DA chipboard!

Here I made some flowers using the technique item Glubers and lace and added the Kaiser flowers are centres.

Design Tip: Simply use my no sew lace flower tutorial, minus the messy glue to make these flowers.

My second layout "caress" was taken on the day we brought my daughter home. Such a tender sibling moment. Again, I just LOVE these Prima papers and the gorgeous flowers in this kit. The background cardstock was from my stash and the doilies were featured in last month's kit. Isn't the Prima lace/bling divine?

Design Tip: Simply use two tones of green chalk ink on the chipboard for an easy vine (I cut mine in 3 pieces).

This was TCR palette I used as inspiration for this layout:

... and guess what? Thanks to Lori for letting me post it two days early, it got featured at TCR - chosen by Solange Marques (she's SOOO talented!)

For my last layout "Bubbles", I wanted to show that you can easily use this kit for a boy layout. I added dark orange cardstock and DA chipboard from my stash on this one, along with the berries in the middle of the flower. I just loved the Prima branch/vine in the kit, so perfect for a fall layout. This layout has a mix of the perfectly paired Prima and CI papers.

Design Tip: Make a distressed flower using my vintage style flower technique and flower punches/dies instead of circles - I used 3 large and 2 medium.

Here is the gorgeous kit sketch I used designed by our very own DT member Robin Shakoor.

Here is a peek at the kit (the DA border will be added to the kit too!):

Here is a peek at the yummy add-on:

**Remember, that there are THREE prizes to win, and THREE ways for you to enter.

1. First of all, you will need to visit all EIGHT blogs and leave a comment on each blog :) **This is important so we know you have been to all the blogs **.  (Please note:  Dusty Attic does not have a blog but just follow the link leave a comment on the forum thread in their community.)  Dusty Attic will choose a comment winner from their forum.

2. If you want to enter to win the Grand Prize of a Scrap That! Paper Crafting Kit, then head over to our NING COMMUNITY for details on our monthly challenge.  The challenge will run from Oct 10th to 24th, so you have LOTS of time to post your creations.  You can enter as many times as you like.  You do not need to be a subscriber to participate.  The more entries, the more chances you have to win!

3. Finally, if you post our blinkie on your blog you will be entered to win a Scrap That! Store Gift Certificate - super easy right?  Just post a link to your blog on the Scrap That! Blog so we can come visit :).


We hope you all had good fun hopping with us today, thank you so much for playing along!  Watch the Scrap That! newsletter on October 22nd to see if you are one of the lucky winners!


Blog rotation in case you got lost:
Scrap That! - http://scrapthatchat.blogspot.com

Dusty Attic - http://dustyattic.ning.com

Jeni O’Connor - http://jocmomentsoftime.blogspot.com

Karen- http://agirlsscrapobsession.blogspot.com

Lisa - http://kaye2222.blogspot.com

Robin - http://robinshakoor.blogspot.com

Shona - http://suchawonderfulmess.blogspot.com

Vicky - YOU ARE DONE!

3 WINNERS - Dusty Attic Chipboard

It's finally time to announce the 3 winners from my Dusty Attic Giveaway...

WINNER # 1 - Congrats to Theresa who won the Creative Scrappers draw (here is her entry http://scrappyartcrafters.blogspot.com/2011/09/lifes-full-of-happiness.html). This will be coming your way in the mail Theresa...

WINNER #2 - Congrats to Patricia Grace who won the random draw from my shop's September orders. This will be coming your way...

WINNER #3 - Congrats to follower Renee for the random blog candy draw:

 Renee VanEpps said...
Hi Vicky! My fave DA in your Etsy store is "Wrought Iron Decal DA0574" Thanks for another awesome giveaway, I shared on my blog @ http://luvthisscrap.blogspot.com/2011/09/vicky-from-simply-papers-blog-candy.html And I'm already a follower! Have a great day!!

Renee please e-mail me (vickya@shaw.ca) your address so I can send you this...

Thanks again to everyone for playing along with Creative Scrappers, ordering chipboard from my Etsy and for your continued support on my blog (your comments always overwhelm me!). To the three winners, enjoy the goodies and please share what you create - can't wait to see!

BTW - Halloween and Christmas chipboard should be arriving and listed in my shop in just over a week and I will be restocking too (only 20 listings in there right now - you guys bought it ALL last month, LOL!)

Scrap That! OCT Sneak

Please join us for our "Bella Rosa"kit reveal and blog hop starting on Friday. We have FOUR terrific prizes up for grabs this month and this kit is REALLY gorgeous (just as great as last month!). We also have an amazing guest designer - Jeni O'Connor, who is joining in the fun.

It all starts on Friday Oct. 7th at 10 am MST - see you then!