Dot & Whimsy

Xyron and Chibitronics

are teaming up for a week-long blog hop featuring

them amazing products!

If you're unfamiliar with Chibitronics, they

are the makers of these cool things called "Chibi Lights"

Stop by their blog and check out their products, as well as

their design team's projects for the hop!

At first glance, my project may not appear too "illuminating", but it is.

I started with the set of Paper Smooches Giddy Bugs Clear Stamps

 and Prismacolor Assorted Pencils

It looks all cute, yet ordinary so far...let's turn off the lights and see what we get:

Now he's lit like a true lightning bug (or firefly, whichever you prefer)

should be! With Chibi Lights, you can give light to just about anything!

The science is in just a few products: conductive foil tape, LED circuit sticker, binder clip

ad 3V coin cell battery.  I made a backing piece for the firefly to sit on by cutting

a circle of paper and then adding the conductive tape and circuit sticker to it.

  You will notice that I also drew a circle around the coin battery twice...this is for placing the + and - sides against and then clipping in place with the binder clip.  Once the battery connects with the ends of the foil tape, the light springs to life!

Next, I punched a large hole into the top paper, just under the bug's "bottom".  

The hole was lined up with the circuit light on the bottom paper.  

I used the Xyron 3" Sticker Maker

for attaching all of the bugs to their presumptive spots.  

I also used strips of foam and ran them through the Sticker Maker to create

some dimension between the two layered pieces on the scallop circle.

Again, don't forget to stop by the Chibitronics Blog and Xyron Facebook Page

and take a gander at all of the pretty things!

Berry basket displays make a world of fun that can be added 

to an end-table or shelf...sort of like a snow globe, but without the glass!

I have this cute piece that was shared over at the

 

Pulp berry baskets are very popular right now, so they’re pretty easy to find at craft stores, 

flea markets or a farmer’s supply.  Today I have chosen a dark turquoisey/aqua 

colored basket, a couple of wooden trees that I found at Hobby Lobby, some craft paint 

and stencils from the “Hello Winter” Collection.

The trees were painted with a leaf green acrylic paint and allowed to dry thoroughly.  

Next, I used the Mini Dot Stencil, the Snowflakes #2 Stencil, white acrylic paint and

 a sponge brush to apply the stenciled design to each tree.  You will want to use a 

‘dry brush’ type of method with the stencils, so be sure to tap out any excess 

paint before dabbing over the stencil.

 After the stenciled areas were dry, enamel dots, stickers, chipboard stickers and/or

 Designer Brads were used to decorate the fronts.  A sturdy paper straw was glued

 to the back of each star and set aside.

 A piece of floral foam was cut so that it would fit down into the basket.  Next, a thick

 coating of pearlized modeling cream was slathered on top of the foam , sprinkled

 with clear glitter and then allowed to completely dry.  You can also use a textured 

snow or cotton batting for covering the foam!

 While allowing the foam to dry, the chipboard polar bear was glued to the front of a

 paper straw and his cheek was embellished with a pink enamel dot. 

The straws were cut to the desired lengths and then inserted into the foam. 

 Use a dab of glue around the bottom of the straws to secure them in place.

 To the front of the basket, the “Hello Winter” scrolled sentiment from the  

Ephemera Pack was added with glue dots.

 The Comfy Sweater Paper was cut into 1/8” strips.  The strips were then crimped with

 a paper crimper and used as a basket filler around the edge of the floral foam.

 Add more trees, more chipboard pieces or even try stenciling the basket to create your own unique display!  This is also an easy project for the kids to help along with.

**Don't forget to sign-up for the PageMaps U Card Class Giveaway**

has two new, beautiful collections up for your perusal today 

and a chance at winning the collections for your very own!

With "South Pacific", I created a 3-D 12X12 photo frame featuring the

"Map of the World" paper from the collection, along with some ephemera pieces and stickers.

I machine-stitched along the latitude lines and then added a few hand-stitched

X's to give texture.  I clustered the embellishments with foam adhesive and then

added Candy Dots to all of the places that I would like to travel to some day!

And here is a quick card showcasing the gorgeous colors and

artwork that can be found:

For your chance to *WIN-IT* just visit the blog post --here-- and leave a comment

no later than Monday, March 9th

"Tea Garden" inspired this whimsical and shabby-chic styled banner.

I started with a scalloped chipboard banner set by Maya Road, and painted it black:

I used various dies to craft the rolled flowers, hearts and leaves...they're

perfect for layering!  Adding to the element of black, I incorporated some of

the black chalkboard wood veneers from the Evergreen Collection.

And finally, one of my very favorite cards, ever!  That bird is the sweetest!

For your chance to *WIN-IT* just visit the blog post --here-- and leave a comment

no later than Monday, March 9th

Thanks for stopping by and GOOD LUCK at *winning-it*!

...and she's made herself right at home.

She left her hat on Sydnee's chair, kicked off her boots by the door

and parked her broom next to the sofa.

She's a veritable slob; leaving her stuff laying about...and I have PROOF!

Okay, I will lighten up on our guest a little bit.  

She did commission me to fix up her pointy hat for a challenge at the

And there were some rules:  use the "Trick or Treat" Collection, crochet hearts & feathers.

Anything coned shaped can be a little intimidating to decorate, 

especially if you are planning on doing it with paper!

 For this witch's hat, I started with a malleable template

 (I used two sheets of notebook paper taped together; a heavy tissue paper would also work). 

After getting the correct pattern for the top of the hat, I traced it onto a 12 X 13 sheet of paper.

 

 I wanted the brim of the hat to blend in well with the design, so I added about a half of an inch

 to the bottom of the cone design and then snipped the paper so that it would fold neatly

 around the cone-shape. A band of colorful crochet hearts was added, 

along with two black feathers and a cute layered embellishment. 

I trimmed out the edge of the hat in baker's twine and then topped with a glittered styrofoam ball.

 Here is a list of the supplies that I used to make Witch's dream of a fabulous hat come true!

She stopped by to visit a few others from the Bella Blvd Design Team...

check out the blog to see what they've done for her!

Off to make some popcorn balls, just in case she comes back by 

for the wart remover she left on the windowsill...