Saturday, March 31, 2012

Birth of the Easter Bunny

Who knew that the Easter bunny was hatched from an egg?! Well, at least that's how this vintage image depicts it.  I'm loving these "Vintage Easter" cardstock stickers from Karen Foster Designs. They make whipping up beautiful Easter cards a breeze.


A Couple Details:
  • I kept the color palette very neutral with just a touch of gold and violet. The Easter bunny is framed with a ring of flowers stamp from Glitz Design, popped up with foam tape and accented with Rock Candy Distress Stickles. I also used violet and gold metallic markers to add touches of colors to the floral frame.
  • These gold outline stickers were a recent purchase. I used Alcohol Inks to tone down the bright gold and antique them a bit. I also used a metallic marker to bring the accent color down to the bottom lacy border.
  • Creamy hydrangea blossoms with violet glass beads centers and hand-dyed seam binding form a little bouquet accent.

Supplies:
Cardstock: Stampin’ Up! ‘Naturals Ivory’
Patterned Paper:  My Mind’s Eye Lost & Found Two ‘Blush’
Stamps: Glitz Design ‘Beautiful Dreamer’
Inks: Distress Ink ‘Old Paper’, ‘Frayed Burlap’; StazOn ‘Timber Brown’; American Crafts metallic marker ‘Violet’; EK Success Zig Writer ‘Gold’; Alcohol Ink ‘Mushroom’, ‘Silver Mixative’, ‘Caramel’, ‘Blending Solution’
Embellishments: Karen Foster Design cardstock stickers ‘Vintage Easter’; Prima flowers; Hug Snug seam binding; Starform outline stickers; velvet ribbon; glass beads; Distress Stickles ‘Rock Candy’
Tools:  Foam and felt ink blenders; heat gun; 3M foam tape; Wondertape; Glossy Accents; scallop scissors

Friday, March 30, 2012

Free Digi Friday: Easter Basket

Just a little more than a week to go until Easter, but the bunny delivered this basket early...just for you!  Happy crafting!

**EDITED**
Friday Free Digis are free for one week. This digital stamp is now available for purchase. To order, go to the side bar, enter the stamp name shown below and click 'buy now' to pay via Pay Pal.
Cost: $2.00
Stamp Name: Easter Basket
I will email you the file within 24 hours of receiving payment.

Have you *liked* the ScrapaliciousUSA Facebook page yet?  Be sure to get on over there so that you can be entered to win a Spellbinders Grand Calibur.  Tell all your friends...the sooner we get to 1000 Fans, the sooner someone wins!  Please tell them Victoria sent you.

Oh!  And stop over at the Scrapalicious USA store, too.  Enter promotional code Clearance15% at checkout for additional savings. Since most of the products at Scrapalicious USA are already 25% off suggested retail...add this and that's a whopping 40% savings. WOW!

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

A Tickled Pink Easter

"Easter" is our new challenge theme at Scrapalicious USA.  I had a blast creating this Happy Easter card with paper and chipboard from My Mind's Eye "Tickled Pink" line.  The colors and images are just so fresh and so fun...they scream 'springtime'!  I know, I know...me?...in love with paper from My Mind's Eye?...SHOCKING!  J


A Few Details:
  • Loving these Tickled Pink chipboard accents!  They're even self adhesive...bonus!  For the greeting, I "strung" the polka dot banner chips on brown and white baker's twine, then used the Stampin' Up! Alphabits stamp and a 1/4" circle punch to spell out "easter".  "Happy" is handwritten in white Glaze pen.
  • I made the birdie "sing" by adding a few music notes in white Glaze pen.
  • The layered up flowers and chipboard accents needed a little something, so I decided to add some doodled petals, again in white Glaze pen, for even more whimsy.

The whimsy and color palette of this card makes me happy every time I look at it!  I hope you take the chance to play along with our Easter theme...you could win a $10 gift certificate to the Scrapalicious USA store!


Supplies:

Cardstock: Papertrey Ink ‘Spring Moss’; Stampin’ Up! ‘Confetti White’, ‘Pretty in Pink’
Stamps: SU! ‘Alphabits’
Inks: StazOn ‘Timber Brown’; Glaze pen ‘White’; SU! Stampin’ Write ‘Positively Pink’
Embellishments: PTI baker’s twine; JoAnn Essentials flower; Prima flower
Tools:  SU! punch ‘¼” circle’; Zots

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Happy Hunting

A touch of Spring is in the air and the Easter bunny is on his way!  This week's theme over at Card A Day Blog is...you guessed it...Easter!


I loved hunting for Easter eggs as a kid.  Now understand, in mid-Michigan, it's usually too cold (sometimes snow) on Easter to hide the eggs in the yard...in fact I have no memories of doing so.  My mom (uh, I mean the Easter bunny!) would hide the eggs throughout the first floor of our house.  And these were REAL eggs.  Hard-boiled and hand-dyed REAL eggs.  The prize was finding the eggs, not money and candy inside plastic eggs.  These kids today...so spoiled!  J

Okay, now that I sound like a cranky elderly woman, let's get on with the card...

The Details:
  • A little dimension was achieved by layering a smaller piece of matching cardstock onto the card base.  Photo corners also add some dimension.
  • The subtle background was created by stamping the "Thoughts From the Past" Unity stamp vertically, twice, in white pigment ink, then embossing with clear powder.  This created an interesting effect...some areas look like a watermark and some look like milk glass.  Overall I like the effect, but truth be told, it's not what I expected.
  • Dear followers, I actually got out my sewing machine and stitched on this card!!  Can you believe it?  It's even pretty straight and I didn't completely chew up my paper.  I think I'll start doing this more often.  J
  • That gorgeous nest image is from The Graphics Fairy.  It's the same one I used on the Little Pink Houses, but you actually get full credit for it here.
  • Loving this pink pom pom trim!  I saw it at Archivers and had to purchase it...as if I needed more ribbon!  (Seriously, it's a sickness...I may have to change the name of the blog to Ribbon Squirrel if I keep this up.)
  • And finally, the "Happy Hunting" cardstock sticker was given a border of Old Paper Distress Stickles and the eggs were accented with various colors of Stickles.


Supplies:
Cardstock:
Papertrey Ink ‘Sweet Blush’
Image:
The Graphics Fairy
Stamps: Unity ‘Thoughts from the Past”
Inks: Stampin’ Up! craft ‘White’; Distress Ink ‘Old Paper’, ‘Tattered Rose’; Distress Stain ‘Victorian Velvet’
Embellishments: K&C music border; Karen Foster Designs cardstock sticker ‘Vintage Easter’; Distress Stickles ‘Old Paper’, ‘Frayed Burlap’, ‘Rock Candy’; Stickles ‘Patina’; American crafts ribbon; photo corners; Zing embossing powder ‘Clear’; Martha Stewart glitter ‘Crystal Fine’
Tools:  sewing machine; foam ink blending tool; heat gun; Wondertape

Monday, March 19, 2012

Spring Clover Spice Tin

You may remember the altered spice tin I posted last summer.  Well, I had another empty tin in the stash...a bit smaller this time...and transformed it into this mini spring clover tin.  It currently resides under a cloche in my dining room.  The rectangle shape of spice tins is easy to cover with decorative paper and the small size makes for a quick project.


A Few Details:
  • The paper I used is from a 6x6 pad and the spice tin was a little over 3" high.  To make sure I had enough paper to go all the way around and have nice, neat edges, I used tissue tape on the top and bottom edges. 
  • More My Mind's Eye paper transforms the functional into the decorative.  I liked the "dry goods" text...thought it was very appropriate for an altered spice tin!  Some lace and buttons soften things up.
  • This beautiful clover bouquet is from The Graphics Fairy.  I printed it on white paper, layered in onto cardboard and moss cardstock, colored it, then fussy cut.  
  • I cut a piece of floral foam to fit the tin, adding a few pebbles to the bottom of the tin for weight balance before adding the floral foam.  The clover bouquet is glued to a craft stick and stuck into the floral foam.  For extra security, I added some glue to the craft stick before I shoved it into the foam.  Reindeer moss covers the floral foam and a few springs of silk greenery help fill out the "floral" arrangement and camouflage the back of the clover bouquet.

This will be pretty decor from St. Patrick's Day through Easter.

Challenges:
The Graphics Fairy:  Brag Monday
Inspiration Emporium: Go Green
Simon Says Stamp: Simon Says "A Bit O' Green"
Craft Room Challenge: Some Shabby Vintage
Shopping Our Stash: Challenge #43 - Food / Beverage


Supplies:
Cardstock: Stampin’ Up! ‘Mellow Moss’
Patterned Paper:  My Mind’s Eye Lost & Found Two ‘Rosy’
Image: The Graphics Fairy
Inks: Distress Ink ‘Frayed Burlap’, ‘Old Paper’; Martha Stewart craft markers
Embellishments: Reindeer moss; Darice greenery; Close to My Heart buttons; lace; Papertrey Ink rustic button twine; Tim Holtz tissue tape ‘Nostalgic’
Tools:  Glossy Accents; craft stick; floral foam; pebbles; foam ink blender; wire
Misc: Spice tin; recycled cereal box

Saturday, March 17, 2012

Lucky Banner

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I realized a few weeks ago that I don't have much in the way of St. Patrick's Day decor, so I whipped up this simple banner to hang in my living room.  If you have an electronic cutter, this goes together very quickly and can be displayed in no time.


Just A Few Details:
  • I used my Cricut and Sure-Cuts-A-Lot (SCAL) program to cut five tags from recycled cereal boxes, and five tags from decorative paper.  These are approximately 2-3/4" wide by 4-1/4" high.
  • Using "Stonecross" font, I cut "LUCKY" from light green cardstock, then cut the shadows from black cardstock to really make the letters stand out from the vintage image backgrounds I'd be using.  The green letters were given a layer of Crystal Stickles before layering onto the black.
  • The vintage St. Patrick's Day images are from Vintage Holiday Crafts and were sized to fit the tags with a narrow border around each side.  I rounded the corners and inked the edges with Distress Inks.
  • Finally, the tags were tied onto green gardening twine with green satin ribbon for hanging.
Easy peasy!

Challenges:
Party Time Tuesdays: PTT59 - Monochromatic
Take a Word: Green
Inspiration Emporium: Go Green
Simon Says Stamp: Simon Says "A Bit O' Green"
Decorate to Celebrate: Challenge #20 - St. Patrick's Day Party


Supplies:
Cardstock: Papertrey Ink 'Spring Moss'; Stampin' Up! 'Basic Black'
Image: Vintage Holiday Crafts
Font: Stonecross
Inks: Distress Ink ‘Old Paper’, ‘Peeled Paint’, ‘Crushed Olive’
Embellishments: Gardening twine; ribbon; Stickles ‘Crystal’
Tools:  Foam ink blender; 3M spray adhesive; ink jet printer; Fiskars corner rounder punch; hole punch; Cricut Expression; Sure-Cuts-A-Lot (SCAL)

Friday, March 16, 2012

Free Digi Friday: I'm Not Irish, But...

Dorinda, this one's for you!

Just in time for the big party day, today's free digi is a modification of last week's "Kiss Me, I'm Irish" word art.  I rearranged it just a tad for so that those of you who don't have Irish blood get kissed, too. J
**EDITED**
Friday Free Digis are free for one week. This digital stamp is now available for purchase. To order, go to the side bar, enter the stamp name shown below and click 'buy now' to pay via Pay Pal.
Cost: $2.00
Stamp Name: I'm Not Irish
I will email you the file within 24 hours of receiving payment.


Have you *liked* the ScrapaliciousUSA Facebook page yet?  Be sure to get on over there so that you can be entered to win a Spellbinders Grand Calibur.  Tell all your friends...the sooner we get to 1000 Fans, the sooner someone wins!  Please tell them Victoria sent you.

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

A Cut Above: Family Tag

The new challenge at the Scrapalicious blog is "A Cut Above".  For this theme, we had to use a diecut somewhere on our project.  I created this "Family" tag with lots of yummy papers and stamps, an edger punch, and a cool chipboard key.

Now, envision a rustic farmhouse that's been in the family for generations.  Its walls covered in faded floral wallpaper, an old ladder-back chair with worn upholstery sits in the corner.  The doors still have the old locks that use rusty skeleton keys.  The daily regimen of a farmer's family...Sunday-church, Monday-wash, Tuesday-ironing... can you see it?


A Couple Details:
  • I played with some of my favorite My Mind's Eye Lost & Found papers again on this tag...they are just so pretty!
  • The stamps are also MME...this time from the Stella and Rose "Memories" collection.
  • The first diecut I used was the EK Success "donut chain" edger punch.  I actually used it in three different ways on this tag:
      • Way #1 - standard border, but off course, I also had to dig out the sewing machine and run a stitch down the center for that extra "something".  Please don't judge the quality of the sewing (or lack thereof)...that craft is my mom's forte, not mine!
      • Way #2 - once I covered the tag with patterned paper, the hole at the top looked boring, so I decided to liven it up by punching a short length of donut chain from the plaid paper used at the bottom.  I trimmed a single donut from the chain and used it as a reinforcer. 
      • Way #3 - an eyelet effect on the bottom of the tag.  With only 1/2 of the donut chain showing, it creates a pretty scallop design.  I can see using this a lot! I also ran a stitch along the bottom edge.
  • The other diecut I used is this wonderful chipboard key from Bazzill.  They come in three great designs / sizes.  To accomplish the rusty distressed finish, I used Distress Stains, Snow Cap Adirondack Paint Dabber, and Rock Candy Distress Crackle Paint.
I hope you take the chance to play along with us...you could win a $10 gift certificate to the Scrapalicious USA store!

Supplies
Cardstock: Stampin’ Up! ‘Sage Shadow’; kraft tag
Patterned Paper: My Mind’s Eye Lost & Found ‘Market Street’ 6x6 pad
Inks: Distress Ink ‘Old Paper’; Distress Stain ‘Old Paper’, ‘Brushed Corduroy’, ‘Pumice Stone’, ‘Bundled Sage’; Adirondack Paint Dabber ‘Snow Cap’; Alcohol Ink ‘Latte’, ‘Blending Solution’; StazOn ‘Timber Brown’; SU! classic ‘Cameo Coral’; SU! craft ‘Cameo Coral’, ‘Close to Cocoa’
Embellishments: Zing embossing powder ‘Clear’; Hug Snug seam binding ‘Ivory’; lace; ribbon; Papertrey Ink rustic button twine; buttons; Crackle Accents; Distress Crackle Paint ‘Rock Candy’
Tools:  Foam and felt ink blenders; sewing machine; water pen; scallop scissors; foam tape; Tim Holtz paper distresser; Wondertape