Dot & Whimsy

Getting in gear for Father's Day, we showcased a "masculine" theme this week at 

I took these photos on our last trip to the lake.  My boys love tossing the football wherever 

they go and the lake is no exception.  I just kept waiting for it to go into the water!  

My middle son, Zach, dabbles at quarterback and here he was practicing his throw.

For the layout I used a combination of "Take Note" and "Boys Only" Collections.  

My absolute favorite Doodlebug Alpha Stickers?  You see them here: Teensy Type & Party Banner!

I used a 2" square punch to the different papers and used them as a border. 

Punch-outs from "Boys Only" made this layout quick and easy to put together!  

And I'm not sure how far I'll get, but I was pretty excited to learn that I made it as

a finalist in the May Arts Ribbonista Design Team search :)  

Aside from loving May Arts' ribbon, I'd like the opportunity to push myself to find new

and unusual ways to use ribbons and trims.  This is my first non-paper design team that I've tried

out for and I'm really excited to be considered :)  The team will be announced July 29th.

Here is the link in case you'd like to see all who made it as finalists!

Hope you all have a happy weekend!

I'm going to step away from cards and paper projects today and share a sweet muslin bag
 that I embellished with embroidery and felt accents from Curtsey Boutique.

I started out with the idea of using this as a bag to put my everyday (ok, cheap!) jewelry into

when traveling (now I just toss earrings and bracelets into my make-up bag).  But this turned out too cute to stuff into an overnight bag...I now have it sitting out in my scraproom just as you see it :)
This was so simple to make with products at the ready from Curtsey Boutique...let's get started:

You will need: 4X6 muslin bag, a permanent marking pen, embroidery needle and baker's twine
I love all kinds of baker's twine, but at Curtsey Boutique you will find a 4 ply trim that they get exclusively from their local bakery shop!  It's not too bulky and perfect for embroidering.

Using your fine-tip marker (I used a Zig .05 tip) draw out your letter onto the muslin.
You could also trace a shape or letter if you're not comfortable drawing your own.

Thread needle with approximately 24" of twine.  Make a small knot in the end and begin your first
stitch at one end of the letter.  I made my stitches about 1/8" long and just used your basic straight stitch.

 When you get to the end of the letter and are ready to tie-off the twine, turn the bag inside out
and secure the twine into a knot.  I had also thought about stitching in a soft lining of satin, which would
make a nice landing for jewelry or other trinkets that may poke through the muslin.

Voila!  I'm thinking ahead to Christmas and possibly stitching some trees, candy canes or
snowflakes onto these...you can also dye these muslin bags...I'll try that next and share it with y'all :)

I decorated around the monogram with two yellow canary felt flowers and a butterfly pin,
also from Curstey Boutique.  I took a green felt flower and cut it apart to create the leaves.

That's all for my little tutorial today!  I hope you like it and give it a try!

Hello!  I have a *WINNER* to announce from last week's 

Once again, the prize:

And the winner is........................

Little Yellow Bicycle is teaming up with Faber-Castell this week...

today is day #2 and I'm up!

It's natural for a father and son to bond over subjects such as baseball, fishing and cars

...but there's something extra special between a daddy and his daughter!  

Being a daddy's girl myself, I can sense and appreciate the bond of my daughter and her elder prince :)  

I was so happy to see the Strong Collection from Authentique Paper come on the scene...
it's handsome, rugged and filled with amazing quotes and sentiments for boys and men of all ages. 

 I thought it the perfect backdrop for this photo of the last Daddy-Daughter Dance that these two attended:

Going with the 'circle' theme that I found in the Circles & Scallops Die Cut Paper,
 I cut a circle in half and then placed them at each side of the photo.  To those I added
various punch-out circles and even used a small round punch to cut of the centers of some.

 Create layers with Die Cut Mini Notes, Titles & Phrases and Hinges & Tabs...
there's so much to choose from in this collection...the hardest part is deciding just what to use!

 After the paper layering and title placement I start adding on the different embellishments and of

 course a little hand-stitching and machine-stitching.  I like to work in clusters of three around my
 photo(s) and carry those same elements throughout the page.  Textures like wood veneer, burlap, corrugated paper and canvas would make a perfect compliment to Strong.  

And don't forget Father's Day coming up soon...Strong has plenty of fantastic elements 

for creating those handmade Father's Day cards!

Have a wonderful, wonderful weekend!

We had quite the fun challenge for "Cards on Thursdays" at Bella Blvd today:

So here is what I came up with...I really had to find the out-of-the-box zone on this one LOL

For this card I was inspired by the party hat shape on the Cute Cuts paper. 

To begin, I set out folding a bill into a triangle shape that best matched the size of the party hat. 

 Next, I cut slits into the background paper and inserted the bottom two points through them. 

 I attached the Cute Cuts hat to the background paper and then tied the folded money in place 

with a ribbon bow. The hippo cut-out was then added over the party hat motif with foam dots.  

 Supplies: Birthday Girl: Party Dress, Sugar Rush, Dancing Queen, Cute Cuts, Alpha+Bits Stickers; Button Market: Masculine Mix; Sophisticates: Miniatures Card Sentiments

My mom's birthday is coming up, so I crafted this card with her in mind! 

 She's very hard to buy for, so a gift card is always a good idea. I started out by using 

my die-cut circles to cut a 5" circle from a green paper, a 4" circle from a plain green cardstock 

and then a 3.25" circle from a red paper. I folded the largest circle in half and cut along the mark. 

Next, I machine-stitched around the bottom edge to form a pocket. 

The other two circles halves were layered on top and then embellished.

 Supplies:Christmas Wishes: Christmas Love; Freestyle Sophisticates: Freestyle Pickle Juice, Freestyle Cotton Candy; High Five Alphabet Stickers: Pink-Red; Flirty: Label Additions Stickers; Crochet Flowers: Poppy

I really loved this challenge and look forward to trying other types of 

money/gift card holders to my card designs in the future :)

Thanks for visiting!

Happy Thursday!  It's time for some Unity Inspiration today!

As with most every Thursday, you can expect new stamp releases and great promotions:

Don’t forget to leave a comment on all the participating blogs. 

 Three random comments from various blogs (including this one) will be chosen to receive a 

$20 gift certificate from Unity Stamp Co.  

My card today features the newest "Layers of Life" Stamp Set, Paper Hearts.

This compilation of red rubber is perfect for mixed media lovers and scrapbookers, as well 

as card and tag makers!

I distressed the post card image even more by embossing with a swiss dot folder, 

distressing with brown ink and then spritzing lightly with walnut.

For the butterfly, I used three different Dew Drops and then blended the colors with a dauber.

The row of hearts were stamped and then cut out and applied with foam dots.  

Patterned papers & sticker by Authentique; Flowers by Petaloo

For today's hop I have a cute Summer Tag Mini Album that I created with 

Lily Bee's Pinwheel Collection  Kit and chipboard album, both from Scrapbooker's Emporium

I love little tag albums to use as a brag book or to highlight an event such as a 

1st birthday, vacation or other occasion.  They're just the right size for wallet-sized photos

or use the pages for journaling!

I have a sweet packet of goodies to giveaway!  I've compiled a kit of pinks and yellows and call it

Contents: 2 yards satin ribbon- 1 card of hot pink twine- Bella Blvd Birthday Stamp- Bella Blvd Hot Pink Chevron Designer Tape- 2 yellow dyed paper doilies- Cheery Lynn Lace Corner Dies- 2 vellum sacks- 2 yellow star stick pins- Pink bow paper clip- Yellow Paper Bow- an assortment of sequins and candy dot embellishments

1- Leave a comment on this post

2- Be a follower of this blog

That's it!

**Drawing will be held on Tuesday, June 11th**

There will be more giveaways along the way, so GOOD LUCK :)

I hope that you thoroughly enjoy the newest magazine and the blogs of inspiration!

Thanks for visiting and being a fan of PaperHaus Magazine!

I love glitter.  But I really love glitter that stays put as with Pink Paislee’s Luxe Glitter Alphabets! 

 Have you ever looked at a pack of letters and see them take on different shapes?

  Maybe cut them in half and create a whole new look?  I’ve done that today with a set of the 

Luxe Gold Glitter Alphabets…the O’s and the Q’s to be exact!

 For this card I made a beautiful glittery gold border by cutting the letters in half and then applying them to the edge of the Hope Chest Journal Card.  To hide where the pieces join together, I simply added an adhesive rhinestone.

 To add just a bit more sparkle, I lined up a couple of Hope Chest’s Burlap Butterflies and the top portion of a butterfly clip.  The shine from the Luxe Gold Chevron paper lends a subtle shimmer...

just the right amount of pizazz!

For the next card I went with a lot more shimmer than glitter.  I highlighted the Portfolio Puffy Glitter Alphas on this card, along with the Luxe Heart Placemat that I cut down to size.

 After determining the size of the placemat, I punched out different patterns of paper from the Secret Crush papers and attached them to the backs of the heart openings.

 And who said Secret Crush was just for Valentine’s Day?  Professing love should be used any day of the year :)  I die-cut a banner and then lined up the Puffy Alphabet Stickers on the top.  A silvery arrow to the side adds just the shine to complete the card.

 For a really ‘polished’ look, I sanded around the edges of the placement…this also helped to hide the areas where the chipboard was cut apart.  Layer with even more  hearts and stickers if you like!

If you're into digital creations then you'll love the gorgeous ideas shared by 

Pink Paislee's new Digi Team!  Visit the blog to find out more:

I'll be back shortly as we get geared up for today's Paper Haus Blog Hop!

I've had this "Paradise" layout done for awhile and couldn't wait to share it with you!

is a palette of blues, warm yellows, hexagons, chevron and bicycles.

Authentique Paper has teamed up with Paper Haus Magazine and will be having a 

GIVEAWAY of this beautiful collection...head over to the blog to leave a comment :)

You can also find this Collection Kit at Scrabooker's Emporium at Etsy!

 

These pictures were taken on our Spring Break Cruise before we headed to the see the ruins.

To the background paper, I layed a doily-shaped mask (by Christy Tomlinson/Pink Paislee) 

over it and then distressed with a scruffy brown ink pad. 

Again, don't forget to stop by the Authentique Blog and leave a comment so you 

can be in the drawing for this beautiful collection :)

Have a wonderful week!