May 23 - Wax Seal Tags

I was going through a bunch of my old scrapbooking supplies a few days ago getting ready for a garage sale, and came across some silver wax sticks and a metal seal maker (is that what they are called???) :). I had never used it after I had bought it years ago but just couldn't make myself sell it.

So I played with it today! I had the BEST time making fun little tags and everything else I could think of to add some snowflake seals to. Granted it is almost June, and far from snow. But I'm still scrapbooking my winter photos, so I figured why not!

Wax Seal Tags

Ingredients:

• Metallic blue paper (Unknown)
• Silver wax (unknown)
• Snowflake sealer (unknown)
• Pearl centers (Kaiser)
• Eyelets and Crop-a-dile (We R Memory Keepers)
• Silver elastic cording (Stampin' Up!)
• Tag Punch (Stampin' Up!)
• Lighter or Matches
  

Instructions:

1- Punch your tag out of the metallic paper. You won't be able to punch after you set your seal because the seal won't fit into the punch, so make sure you punch first.
2- With your lighter or a match light the wick in your wax stick just like you would a candle. Hold it sideways over the paper you want to add your seal on and let it drip a few times until it looks big enough for the seal you are making.
3- Blow out the wick and set the seal maker on your hot wax. It will dry and set almost instantly and you can remove the seal setter from the wax.
4- Punch a hole in the top of your tag and add your eyelet. String your elastic through it.
5- Add a small pearl or other embellishment to the center.

May 22 - Mirrors

Oh I wish, I wish, I WISH I could keep everything I make - but my house is just not big enough. If I could I would keep this mirror that I made today for the upcoming craft show I'm exhibiting at - I LOVE this color blue (teal?) with brown, the colors look so gorgeous together.

I had the BEST time decorating mirrors today and hopefully will have quite a few done by the time the craft show gets here. This one will probably go up on Etsy tomorrow as well - too tired to add it tonight. :)

Mirror

Ingredients:

• Wood Mirror (Kaiser)
• Patterned Paper (A2Z Essentials)
• Paper flowers (Prima)
• Rhinestones (Unknown)
• Manila Paint (Making Memories)
• Mod Podge
• Zots (Therm O Web)
  

Instructions:

1- Take the mirror out from the back of the frame and paint the front and sides of the frame with the manila paint. May take a few coats to get it the shade you want.

2- Cut 2" strips of your patterned paper. Trim the two side pieces to fit or slightly overlap the top and bottom pieces.

3- "Paint" the backs of the strips with Mod Podge and press onto the frame. Allow to dry.

4- Using the Zots adhere the flowers to the frame and the rhinestones to the middle of the flowers.

5- Hang and enjoy!

May 21 - Friends Mini Clear Album

Well, yesterday was my birthday and it was a crazy day by all means so I'm posting yesterday's post a bit late.

I LOVE these little clear mini albums from Pageframe Designs. I did this one for a Stampin' Up! class that I'm doing in June - the class is only $25, and includes the album, set of rub-ons and a white signo pen - everything to make this album -->

If you're not local but would still like the class kit with instructions please just send me an e-mail at holly.vandyne@gmail.com and I can ship you the complete kit with full instructions. Or if you ARE local and would be interested in taking the class, send me an e-mail as well and I will get you the date and details.

I won't be including instructions on this page for obvious reasons (they'll be in the kit) but it does make a gorgeous album for you, a friend, your children and their friends - whoever! And you can't see as well in the photo, but there is an elastic band with pearls and beads that wraps around from the back and keeps the album closed.

Hope you all had a great Wednesday!

May 20 - Envelope Album

Yep, you read it right. I'm cheating to get caught up. I finally realized that I just don't have enough time to do enough projects to get back to posting every day, so I'm skipping ahead to today (so sorry about that!) SO...
it's May 20th, and I have a fun new project I've been working on!

I've been creating some envelope albums (or journals if you choose it to be) and they are FUN, let me tell you. The one to the right has 4 envelopes that I'm going to use to hold my photos when I go to crops - I NEVER have a great way to transport those things, but now I do! (YAY!)

I have one available in the etsy store, and will be adding a few more colors, styles, etc. in the next few days - these are fun to mix in with pages made out of anything!

Envelope Album

Ingredients:

• Envelopes in any size or color (or mix them up - GET CREATIVE!)
• Bind-it-All
• Crochet Flower (Fancy Pants)
• Fancy Brad
• Rhinestones (Prima)
• Rubons (Basic Grey)
• Transparencies (My Minds Eye & Hambly)
• Scalloped Circle sticker (Stampin' Up! - retired)
• Pearls (Kaiser)
• Zots (Therm O Web)
  

Instructions:

1- Using your Bind-It-All bind your 4 envelopes together, with the flaps to the front of the book.
2- Decorate your the front flap using the bling, pearls, brad and a flower
3- Add your photo and the sticker frame
4- Layer your transparencies and adhere with Zots
5- Rub on your rub-on letters
6- Add your pearls
7- Open up the envelopes and fill them up!

May 8 - Summer Bike Ride Page

I'm WAY overdue on a scrapbook page for the blog! So here it goes - now I feel better. LOL I LOVE this lace cardstock by KI Memories - it rocks my world. :) Love flipping it over to have two different colors to use - well, the uber-thrifty part of me loves it anyway. And I love seeing my little cuties on their little bikes on the bike trail - we spend a lot of our summer there.

Summer Bike Ride Page

Ingredients:

• Patterned Paper (Fancy Pants Designs)
• Lace Cardstock (KI Memories)
• Rubons and Bling (Heidi Swapp)
• Felt flowers, Brads and Bookplate (Stampin' Up!)
• Pink Rhinestones (unknown)

Instructions:

1- Mat your main focal photo on the lace cardstock and cut it out with scissors to trim around the circles and keep them complete.
2- Add the rubons and bookplate to the focal photo and add the rhinestone oval over the part of the photo you want to draw the eye to (in this case it is Miss Audrey).
3- Mount two 4x6 photos at the bottom right hand side of the page.
4- Flip your lace cardstock over and cut it out to fit the remaining 4x6 slot on the left.
5- Print your journaling on matching cardstock and cut it out and adhere it as strips.
6- Add your felt flowers with the brads and add your rhinestones to the holes across the top and bottom of the journaling.

May 7 - Embossed Alphabet Tickets

Yep, I'm still trying to fill up my craft show booth. I absolutely love how these embossed ticket alphabets turned out - I've done them in a bunch of colors and have them folded, clipped, and displayed in silver buckets so I'm hoping everyone else likes them as much as I do. I hope to scrap something with them this weekend to display them in use in the booth. If you'd like some and won't be at the show you can find them on my Etsy store here. I hope to get more colors done tomorrow - I think I have every ticket color known to man now. :) And I can't believe I went over 5 years without using my heat gun - it's attached to my hip this week, hopefully I don't burn myself! HA!

Embossed Alphabet Tickets

Ingredients:

• Blank ticket roll
• Versamark ink
• "Schoolbook Serif" Alphabet Set
• White embossing powder
• Heat gun

Instructions:

1- Roll off a large strip of tickets - I did 26 tickets (one for each alpha letter)
2- Stamp each letter on each ticket using the Versamark ink
3- Add your powder to each ticket/letter and tap the excess back into the jar
4- Using your heat gun heat each letter/ticket until your powder turns glossy.

This project is easy, but it does take a while since you are doing 26 letters - but they look SO COOL when they are done!

May 6 - Love Tag

This is a pretty large clear tag using the new silver Damask pattern from Pageframe Designs. Fun to just give away as is or use on a scrapbook page.

Love Tag

Ingredients:

• Damask Patterned Tag (Pageframe Designs)
• Cheeky Board Clip (Making Memories)
• Bling (Heidi Swapp)
• Stazon ink
• Bookplate (Stampin' Up!)
• Glitter Flower (Prima)
• Pink Glitter Paper (Not sure!)
  
• Crop-A-Dile
  

Instructions:

1- Cut a rectangle from the glitter cardstock to fit the back of the tag. Clip it on.
2- Add your rhinestone strips along the top and bottom of the pink. Attach these to the front.
3- Add your rhinestone red heart.
4- Stamp your "love" along the top of the heart.
5- Hold your bookplate where you want it to be set and mark it by putting a pen in each side hole. Put bookplate aside and punch a small hole over the ones you just drew using the small hole punch in your crop-a-dile. Using the brads adhere your bookplate.
6- Using zots adhere a rhinestone in the center of your glitter flower, then adhere the flower in the center of your bookplate.
7- Tie a ribbon in the top hole of your tag.

May 5 - Mom Card

One more card I had to make was for Mother's Day. Again, all ingredients are Stampin' Up! except the pink rhinestones.

Mom Card

Ingredients:

• Designer Series Paper
• 5-Petal Flower Punch
• "In The Spotlight" Stamp Set (retired)
• "Schoolbook Serif" Alpha Stamp Set
  
• Stampin' Dimensionals
• Versamark ink
  
• White embossing powder
• Heat gun
• "Close To Cocoa" ink

Instructions:

1- Fold your card in half.
2- Stamp your dotted line stamp on the top and bottom of the card.
3- Stamp your 5-petal flower in the Versamark ink, then on your paper.
4- Add your white embossing powder over the stamped image and tap the excess powder back into the jar.
5- With your heat tool heat the image until the powder on the image glosses over.
6- After it cools off punch the image out with your 5-petal flower punch.
7- Add your center bling and add stampin' dimensionals to the back of each flower.
8- Stamp your "MOM" in the center of the card, then attach your flowers.

May 4 - Celebrate Baby Card

Yay! I'm going to be an aunt again and I couldn't be more excited. :) I made this card this weekend for my sister-in-law Brittany and brother-in-law Jeff.

Had fun playing with my scalloped circle punch from Stampin' up! as I always do, and this time decided to try a little something different so I took my Crop-A-Dile and punched some smaller holes in each of the scallops. I love how it turned out - so fun! All ingredients on this one are from Stampin' up! except the border strip.

Celebrate Baby Card

Ingredients:

• Designer Series Paper
• "Always Artichoke" ink
• Scalloped Circle Punch
• Crop-A-Dile
• White Eyelet border strip (Doodlebug Designs)
• "Wonderful Words" Stamp Set
• "Lovely Labels" Stamp Set
• Stampin' Dimensionals
  

Instructions:

1- Fold your card, then stamp your "celebrate" greeting on the left side of the card.
2- Add your border to the right side.
3- Stamp your baby circle on white cardstock, then punch it out with your scalloped circle punch.
4- With the small hole punch on your Crop-A-Dile punch small holes on each of the scallops.
5- Adhere it over the center of the border strip with a Stampin' Dimensionals to give it a 3D look.

May 3 - Glittery Butterflies

My girls are in a butterfly stage - especially with there being so many flying around here this spring. They chase them every chance they get.

I LOVE these clear butterflies from Pageframe Designs, I think this particular butterfly shape is discontinued but they have another similar one that is just as cute.

Glittery Butterflies

Ingredients:

• Clear Butterflies (Pageframe Designs)
• Glitter Flowers (Prima)
• Bling Swirls (Prima)
• White Signo Pen (Stampin' Up!)
• Pearls (Kaiser)

Instructions:

1- Peel the protective coating off of each side of your clear shape.
2- Add your white dots around the border of the front.
3- Add your swirl bling.
4- Using a glue dot add your pearl to the center of your flower, then the flower to your butterfly.

May 2 - Feature Friday - Crop-A-Dile

It's time for another Feature Friday! Today's is a tool that I never thought I would ever want. I waited years to actually buy one. But once I did I couldn't figure out how I ever lived without it!

It's the CROP-A-DILE!

Yeah, it does look a little intimidating - I think most of us girls are intimidated by big metal tools. And I can't believe how many people I have in my classes who when we go to use them on a project say "Oh, I have one of these but I've been too scared to use it." Oh, fear NOT brave ladies! Just get a few eyelets out and try it! I think the biggest mistake I've seen people make is they try using the eyelet setter at the head and middle of the tool to punch their holes. Won't work. :) The two different sized hole punchers are at the sides of the tool. Just slide whatever you want to punch in there and try it out. This amazing tool will punch through just about anything. Paper, metal, chipboard, some acrylic, whatever you feel that you need a hole in! Then just add your eyelet in the hole and set it with the middle part by squeezing the tool. It's that easy. Here is an acrylic Pageframe flower shape that I used to make a card out of with the Crop A Dile. Let your fear turn into an addiction!

Clear Flower Card

Ingredients:

• Clear Acrylic Flower (Pageframe Designs)
• Crop-A-Dile and silver eyelets (Stampin' Up!)
  
• Pink Paper Flowers (Prima)
• Rubon (Upsy Daisy Designs)
• Rhinestone Heart (Me & My Big Ideas)

Instructions:

1- Add your rubon to the center of the flower and then apply your rhinestone heart.
2- Hold the flower where you want it over each petal and then using the large hole punch on your Crop-a-Dile punch a hole in each "petal" through the pink flower and the acrylic.
3- Insert your eyelet through the hole you just punched in the flower and the acrylic and set it using the top of the Crop-A-Dile.
4- Send to someone special!

May 1 - Baby Note Cards

Oh I love sweet little note cards. These are a 3x3 size and perfect to just stick in with a gift or add to a gift bag! I'm making a ton of these for the craft show I'm doing which is only about a month away - YIKES!

Baby Note Cards

Ingredients:

• Patterned Paper (Stampin' Up!, retired)
• White Cardstock
• White scalloped border (Doodlebug Designs)
• "Lovely Labels" Stamp Set (Stampin' Up!)
  
• Sage Shadow ink (Stampin' Up!)
• Scalloped Punch (Stampin' Up!)
• Mini half pearls (Kaiser Crafts)
  

Instructions:

1- Cut your double sided 12"x12" patterned paper into 3"x6" strips. You will get 8 perfectly sized pieces (or cards!) from one 12"x12" sheet of paper.
2- Stamp your image on the white cardstock and stamp it out using the scalloped circle stamp.
3- Add your mini half pearls to the top and bottom of the image.
4- Measure how much of your border you need and cut them to size (mine went a little over so I didn't cut off the circles).
5- First adhere your border, then your scalloped circle to the front of the card.
6- Cut a slightly smaller square of white cardstock (I do 2-3/4"x2-3/4") and mount to the inside for your greeting.

April 30 - Polka Dotted Clear Album

Well, after I got SO close to getting caught up last Saturday my ever-flaking wireless network decided to take a permanent holiday. So it took me a few days to get it back up and running - but it IS back up and running. So I have much more to post and will be doing so through the night tonight. Here's to catching up in style! :)

I did this album for the Pageframes booth at CHA and absolutely loved doing it - SO fun! Just got it back today (thanks Kim!) and I had forgotten how much I loved it.

Polka Dotted Clear Album

Ingredients:

• Clear Patterned Album (Pageframe Designs)
• Square Patterned Scalloped Frame Shape (Pageframe Designs)
  
• Chipboard Letters (American Crafts)
• Ribbon (Fancy Pants Designs)
• Seal Rubon (Upsy Daisy Designs)
• White Pen (Sharpie)
• Rubon Letters (Heidi Swapp)
• Zots & Super Tape (Therm O Web)
  

Instructions:

1- Its kind of hard to see in the photo, but the cover has a label shape cut out of it. You can cut through this stuff with a Sizzix machine like BUTTER! :) On the inside cover I mounted a small patterned scalloped square frame shape with some mini Zots.
2- On the cover I put some small dots around a few of the large dots with my white paint pen. Then I added my seal rub-on over one of the larger circles. Then added the chipboard letters.
3- On the second page I added the ribbon to show through at the bottom under my title to help the title stand out more. Then I added more dots on the top and bottom. I adhered the ribbon with Super tape and it wraps around both the front and back of the page so it wouldn't look bad in the back.
4- I added my photos on the second page to show through the window opening on the cover. It took some creative cropping and arranging, but I finally got it to look OK.
5- Then decorate the rest of your pages (I used the same elements, along with pink vellum and rubon letters).

April 29 - Chipboard Flower Embellishment

I love chipboard, just don't use it a whole lot. But I made a chipboard set for the craft show last night that I think turned out pretty fun so I thought I would post one of the pieces on here.

Chipboard Flower Embellishment

Ingredients:

• Chipboard flower (Fancy Pants Designs)
• Paint (Making Memories)
• Rubon (Kaiser Crafts)
• Pearls (Kaiser Crafts)
• Patterned Paper (Stampin' Up!)
• Scallop Punch (Stampin' Up!)
  
• Clear Flower (Heidi Swapp)

Instructions:

1- Paint your chipboard flower, green for the stem and vanilla for the flower.
2- After it dries add your rubon to the stem and then your green pearls.
3- With a Zot attach your clear flower to the back top right of your chipboard flower, then punch a scalloped circle from your patterned paper and attach that to the back of your clear flower.
4- Put a small pearl on each clear petal that still shows through and on the chipboard flower where the center of the flowers behind would be.

April 28 - Greeting Tickets

I found this huge roll of fushia blank tickets at Flower Factory and have had the FUNNEST time decorating them!

I did this set using the "A Little Birdie Told Me" stamp set from Stampin' Up! - wasn't sure when I bought it how much I would actually use it, but I do love it!

These tickets make a fun addition to scrapbook pages or cards - or just to stick in an envelope tucked in a card - whatever you feel like doing with them! They're just fun!

Greeting Tickets

Ingredients:

• Blank Tickets
• "A Little Birdie Told Me" Stamp Set (Stampin' Up!)
• Black ink (Stampin' Up!)
• Bird Rubons (Hambly Screenprints)

Instructions:

1- Tear off 7 sets of 3 tickets.
2- In the first ticket of each strip stamp your "A Little Birdie Told Me..." image.
3- Apply one or more bird rubons to the center tickets on each strip.
4- Stamp the greeting stamp on the last ticket in the strip.

April 27 - Hodgepodge Flowers

By now I'm sure it is no secret that I love flowers. You kind of have to with 2 girls. You would think I would have a green thumb - well, nothing could be further than the truth. When we first bought this house when we were getting married I got SO EXCITED that I would finally have somewhere to plant flowers. So I ran out and bought a whole bag of tulip bulbs. Ran home and planted them.

They never came up. I was crushed.

About a year later I found out that there is actually a top and a bottom to a tulip bulb, and I must have planted all or most of them upside down without knowing it. HA HA! So that was pretty much it for me planting things.

Did these for the Etsy store and the craft show I'm doing - I hope to have bags and bags of fun embellishments for sale there in some baskets so I'm creating like mad.

Hodgepodge Flowers

Ingredients:

• Felt flower (Stampin' Up!)
• Clear plastic flower (Heidi Swapp)
• Paper flower (Prima)
• Crystal and Silver bead (no idea) :)
• Zots (Therm O Web)
  

Instructions:
1- Using your zots just stack your flowers on top of each other. Small zots work best for the middle bead and the paper flower, and then use a large sized zot to adhere the plastic flower to the felt so it will hold into place well.

April 26 - Mini Notebook

I absolutely LOVE these mini notebooks that I got from Target in the office supply section. I went there today to pick up a few more and they didn't have them anymore (sniff, sniff) but I decorated this one last night to populate the craft show booth and Etsy store so I thought I would post it.

Mini Notebook

Ingredients:

• Mini Notebook (Target)
• Big Green Ribbon (Anna Griffin)
• Little Yellow Ribbon (Fancy Pants Designs)
• Bird Rubons (Hambly Screenprints)
• Wordfetti Words (Making Memories)
• Super Tape (Therm O Web)

Instructions:

1- Put a strip of wide Super Tape down the front and inside of the left side of the front cover. Adhere your large ribbon onto that.
2- Take a strip of thin Super Tape and line it down the center of the large ribbon. Adhere your yellow ribbon to that.
3- Add your wordfetti stickers.
4- Adhere your rubons and you are done!

April 25 - Tatoo Kits

I'm going to start a new feature for the blog called Feature Friday! So each Friday I will feature one of my favorite Stampin' Up! items and how to use them or a project (or more) using the featured product.

Since I'm behind I'm posting Friday's project almost a week late but I'm playing catch up today and have every intention of posting a new Feature Friday tomorrow.

Today's Featured Item are the kids Tattoo Kits that Stampin' Up! has. My girls have SO much fun with these - you will hardly ever see me walking around without a butterfly, or a crown on my hand. Audrey has become a proud tattoo artist and tries to tattoo every moving thing in the house. And she's so good at it too.

How they work is so easy for kids. The kit comes with a black kids (washable) ink pad and the clear tattoo stamps. There is a boy kit and a girl kit. Then it also comes with 5 colored markers to color in the stamped images. The great thing is that they are totally safe and wash off in about a day (or less if you're in the water a lot). Audrey is modeling her watermelon tattoo from this morning. These kits make FABULOUS teacher gifts - I'm going to get Audrey's preschool teacher one of each set for an end-of-year gift. At $13.95 for each kit, you really can't beat it - we've definitely got our money's worth with this! Just let me know if you want to order them and I can help you out!

Kids Tattoos

Ingredients:

• Tattoo Kit (Stampin' Up!)

Instructions:

1- Ink up your tattoo stamp with the kids ink pad included in the kit.
2- Stamp it on the back of your hand or arm.
3- Use the markers to color in your image and give it just a minute to dry.