Dot & Whimsy

Hello and a Happy Saturday!  

As promised, I have a quick video of my January Memory Dex System by Heidi Swapp

I purchased the dies and card holder at Amazon.com 

The papers, stickers and embellishments are all older collections from my stash. 

I mixed-and-matched pieces from Authentique Paper, Echo Park, Carta Bella & DCWV

and it turned out quite beautifully!

I will be sharing a video of the February and March cards soon!
I have also shared this on my YOU TUBE CHANNEL, where you can actually see
the video a bit better :)
Have a wonderful weekend!

Hello, hello!

I've enjoyed the last couple of days, just piddlin' around

in the craft room coming up with some cute creations for my 

shop on Etsy!

These are fun wall-hanging/ornament/altered art pieces:

Most of these feature some oldie, but goody papers from Authentique Paper and

dies from Echo Park Paper!  Loads of detail and sweet accents.

Come and take a look!

Hello, friends!  I've whipped up a couple of beauteous winter cards 

using the non-winter theme, Type Set from

The winter sky presents many colors. 

 While preparing for the fun challenge of “winter cards” with the “Typeset Collection”

 I was truly inspired by the horizon-like colors of orangey-pink, aqua and corn silk blue 

found in many of the papers and stickers!  I pulled out these colors and set to task.

  My first stop: the Silhouette Design Store and cutting files from Basic Grey!

 For the first card, “Snow: The Best Day Ever”, I used the Christmas Tree cutting file.

  From the solid aqua and striped 6X6 papers, I cut two aqua trees to measure

 2.5”H and a single striped tree to measure 3”H.  I prepared the A2 card base with

 a mat of the navy 6X6 paper.

 Next, I used the Spellbinders Label Fourteen Dies to cut the two mats that measure

 3.5”W and 4.5”W.  The two were layered together with foam adhesive.  The trees

 were overlapped with the striped tree added on top with foam adhesive. 

 A couple of stickers, alpha stickers and flair completed the card!

 The second card, “Hello Winter” uses a couple of fun Silhouette shapes.  

The “hello” was found as a part of the “Hello Sunshine” cutting file; the word sunshine

 was simply omitted before cutting.  I made the word larger, by adding a shadow.

 To spell out “winter”, I used the banner sticker (shown above) and covered the letters

 up with the Typeset Epoxy Letter Stickers…the perfect fit!

After preparing the A2 card base, I cut a piece of the 6X6 orange dot paper to 3.5” X 5.5”.

 I used the large die from the Spellbinders Snowflake Pendant Die Set to die-cut the 

snowflake shape from the top of the paper.  The paper was then layered onto a piece

 of woodgrain paper found in the Paper Pad.  The bottom of the orange dot paper was

 die-cut with the Spellbinders Curved Borders Scallop die and then attached to 

the striped paper mat with foam adhesive.

The snowflake border was also found at Silhouette. It was cut from the same solid 

aqua paper (as the trees in the first card) to measure 4”W.  It was glittered with clear

 glitter and then embellished with small, aqua Candy Dots.

 I hope that you're inspired to try a non-winter theme, throw in a few of your own

die cuts or cutting files to create your own unique cards!

See more ideas on the Basic Grey Blog!

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.

Welcome to Day #2 of the November Releases from

Today we have the "Beautiful Blizzard" Stamp Set

I stamped the various snowflakes onto the greyish blue paper with Electric Purple
Neon Pigment Ink by Tsukineko.  Before the ink dried (it's very creamy, so it
takes a few minutes to dry without a heat gun) I sprinkled on some iridescent glitter.
I also went back with a glue pen and highlighted some of the areas of the
snowflakes and sprinkled on extra glitter.
The centers were adorned with glittery Sprinkles enamel dots by Doodlebug Design.

Would you like to win “Beautiful Blizzard”?
This set will be given away to TWO lucky winners! 

Here's how to win: 

Comment on the NND blog and Design Team and Guest blogs (see list below)!  

Two winners will be chosen at random from the collective blogs release posts.

 Make sure to check out each of their blogs and comment for your chance to win.

 You will not know which blog has been chosen so the more you comment on 

the better your chances are of winning!  

You have until Tuesday, November 11th at 9pm CDT to comment 

  -- winners will be announced on the blog post on Wednesday, November 12th. 

Newton's Nook Designs
Taheerah Atchia
Lydia Brooke
Larissa Heskett
Samantha Mann
Crafty Math-Chick
Shellye McDaniel
Jess Moyer
Stephanie Muzzulin
Danielle Pandeline
Tessa Wise
 Donna Mikasa (Guest Designer)

Enjoy the hop! 

Welcome to Day #1 of the November Releases from

Today we have the "Winter Tails" Stamp Set

I stamped Winston onto solid white cardstock, colored with watercolor pencils

 and glittered the snowball with iridescent glitter.  The 'hills' were cut from 

Authentique Paper's Cozy Collection with templates by Kiwi Lane.  

I also stamped the snowy hills with Tuxedo Black ink and highlighted 

just under the stamping with white marble glitter.

Would you like to win “Winter Tails”?
This set will be given away to TWO lucky winners! 

Here's how to win: 

Comment on the NND blog and Design Team and Guest blogs (see list below)!  

Two winners will be chosen at random from the collective blogs release posts.

 Make sure to check out each of their blogs and comment for your chance to win.

 You will not know which blog has been chosen so the more you comment on 

the better your chances are of winning!  

You have until Tuesday, November 11th at 9pm CDT to comment 

  -- winners will be announced on the blog post on Wednesday, November 12th. 

Newton's Nook Designs
Taheerah Atchia
Lydia Brooke
Larissa Heskett
Samantha Mann
Crafty Math-Chick
Shellye McDaniel
Jess Moyer
Stephanie Muzzulin
Danielle Pandeline
Tessa Wise
 Donna Mikasa (Guest Designer)

Enjoy the hop! 

Happy Friday!

I had my stack of felt out this week while working on 

some other projects; the thought came to me that a garland

of die-cut mittens would look so cute hung across a window or even

tied onto a large gift package:

For the mittens, I used the potholder die from the Apron Card Finisher Set.  

The dies also create a little hash pattern across the mitten, which really gives

all of the detail that's needed.  I took a length of baker's twine and glued the 

mittens onto the strand with fabric glue.  

Here is a (not-so-good, rainy day) photo of it hanging up in my craft room along

with some other handmade garlands :)  A strand this long took roughly 30 minutes to make.

Visit Top Dog Dies to see all of their exclusive dies + dies by other leading manufacturers!

 Welcome to the Winter Frolic 12 Days Of Christmas Blog Hop

We are celebrating the release of the Winter Issue of PaperHaus Magazine and also 

inspiring each day with wonderful holiday projects, giveaways and inspiration! 

**Our blog hop will run from December 1st to December 12th**

 Be sure to stop and leave a comment each day to win some fabulous prizes by our lovely sponsors!

Here is the blog list for today's hop:

My project for today was inspired by a new set of snowflake molds

by WOW! Embossing.  After watching a couple of tutorials, I decided that adding

push-pins to the backs of the resin would make a cute gift to put in my daughter's stocking!

She has quite a collection of cute push-pins for her corkboard and she will love these :)

 As you can see, I also made up pins using layered buttons and die-cut corrugated snowflakes.

I assembled my supplies from WOW!: Melt-It Powder; Pastel Blue Embossing Powder; Mold

This is such a cool concept...and if you've never experienced WOW! products, be sure

to check out their website and see if it's for you!  

Pie tin, spoon, heat gun and a clothes pin or oven mitt

The ratio that I used for my Blue Snowflakes was 4:1 (melting powder to embossing powder)

1- Mix the two together in your tin

(create a 'spout' at one side so that you can pour the melted resin into the molds)

 2- Place heat gun under the tin and heat for approximately 2 minutes or until the powder has

been melted;  be sure to hold the tin with a clothes pin or pot holder...it gets pretty warm!

 3- Pour melted resin into each mold.

 4- Press push-pins into the mold and allow to set. 

5- Gently peel the mold away from the resin and you're done!

Again, there are some great tutorials on their YouTube Channel

I created a little banner to go along with my pins:

Banner die by Sizzix and sticker letters by Doodlebug Design.

As you can see, I've used the Blue Snowflake pins to hold up the banner :)

For the black button/snowflake pins, I simply used an epoxy glue when adding the push pin

to the back.  I found the corkboard (all ready in the pretty frame!) at Kirkland's.

I also added some faux burlap bows (by May Arts Ribbon) to the top sides of the frame...

I love how it ties in with the natural look of the corkboard!

That's all that I have to share today...thanks so much for stopping by and participating

in the PaperHaus Blog Hop... your next stop is the AUTHENTIQUE PAPER BLOG

Welcome to Day #1 of the 

This will be a week long event with only a few stops each day.

Be sure to stop by the May Arts Blog to begin

**Two spools of ribbon and adhesives will be given away to a lucky commentor**

I haven't had the chance to use this sweet winter collection by Carta Bella,

so I thought making a card for the hop would be the perfect opportunity.

And if you've followed my blog for any length of time, you know how much

I all ready love and adore Scrapbook Adhesives!

I use their foam square adhesives like they're going out of style tomorrow :)

I cut the hexagon paper out around the design and then adhered it to the 

snowflake paper with foam square adhesive.  

After applying a length of the border sticker (again, with foam adhesive), I took a strip of

Crafty Power Tape and attached it just above the border.  With its super high tack, this

tape is made for holding items, such as ribbon, in place.

I looped the checkered ribbon by tucking and folding in a haphazard-fashion...just go with

the flow...whatever you think looks pretty :)  Just press onto the tape and you'll have

no worries about it coming up from its position.

I took a small piece of the Crafty Power Tape, doubled it and then used it to attach 

each of the buttons in place.  Done!

Enjoy and thank you for being a part of this fun hop!