Write. Click. Scrapbook.

WCS/Ella Publishing Spring Cross-Training Day 6

Silly, sweet, spunky, adorable, funny, lovable.....how do you describe the people and events in your life? Using adjectives, or descriptive words, can be a great way to choose a title or even journaling. You can use a list of adjectives to describe one person, or how about one adjective to describe each of several people on a single layout? I have yet to run out of ways to describe Kieran, it seems like every day I find another word that applies to him. One that always works though is "sweet"

Celeste also used the same word on this digital page

If you're a bit stumped for journaling, especially on a portrait page, how about using a list of adjectives like Amy did here?

The tags and words act not just as journaling, but also as a design element.

Monika also used a variety of adjectives to describe her daughter but she made a 4"x4" minibook, with one description to a page.

 You can see more here

Angie took another approach and used one word to describe all the men in her life

Adjectives aren't just for personality traits either as Celeste shows here

And sometimes we need to higlight those less, uh, sweet traits of our loved ones

I find that adjectives are also great for doing All About Me pages

Now head on over to see what today's expert, Angie has in store for you on the Ella blog.

WORKOUT REWARD

What would a good workout be without a reward? You've worked hard thinking about what adjectives best describe your loved ones!  Good for you! Wipe the sweat from your brow, take a deep breath or two, and head on over to the Ella store and drop this eBook in your cart.

Use the code SPRTEXTTRKS to save $1 on Text Tricks for Scrapbookers by Margaret Scarbrough & Sara Winnick. Code expires May 15, 2011.

Don't forget to participate in the challenges going on at Ella Publishing through May 7th...fun to be had and prizes to be won...you don't have to be registered in the class to be eligible.

Thanks for joining me today. Tomorrow is a rest day! Hooray! But make sure to come back on Monday for even more cross training from the WCS/ELLA team.

WCS/Ella Publishing Spring Cross-Training Day 5

Welcome back to Spring Cross-Training! It's all about inpsiration today, in the form of scraplifting from ads. If you read any magazines or newspapers you have in your hands a great source for layout inspiration. Print ads especially can spark ideas for layouts in numerous ways: design, colour, titles and journaling to name a few. I asked Paula to share some of her ad inspired layouts with us, as for over two years she led an Ad Inspiration challenge on a popular scrapbooking message board.

 

Using this ad

Paula created this page about her family's love of reading

As you can see she drew design elements like the circles and the swirled subtitle directly from the ad.

She also sent along this ad and the layout it inspired

You can clearly see where the inspiration led her. I decided to take a stab at using the same ad, since I loved the circle elements. While Paula's page is digital, mine is hybrid.

I found a layered digital template that already came with circle shapes. To the template I added the blue cardstock and my photos, then printed and cut out the framed photos.

Finally I sent along the third ad that Paula sent to Amy.

Here is Paula's take

You can see that she used the layout of the frames as her inspiration for this page.

Amy created a paper layout. She was inspired by the typesetting design as well as the general layout of the ad.

Did you notice that for this third ad both Paula and Amy made 12x12 pages even though the ad is letter size? It doesn't matter what size you scrap, or whether you are a digital, hybrid or paper scrapper. The design elements from an ad can be translated to suit your page.

And some great news just in! Paula will be starting up the Ad Inspiration Challenge again, this time on her blog. It all begins next Monday, May 2nd so mark your calendars.

WORKOUT REWARD

What would a good workout be without a reward? You've worked hard plucking that inspiration from an ad and translating it to a page!  Good for you! Wipe the sweat from your brow, take a deep breath or two, and head on over to the Ella store and drop this eBook in your cart.

Use the code SPRINGSKETCHES to save $1 on Stretch Your Sketches by Donna Januzzi. Code expires May 15, 2011.

Don't forget to participate in the challenges going on at Ella Publishing through May 7th...fun to be had and prizes to be won...you don't have to be registered in the class to be eligible.

Thanks for joining me today. Come back tomorrow, yes tomorrow, for even more!

and the giveaway goes to . . .

Thank you all for participating in our giveaway.  As we read through your strengths and weaknesses we were reminded what an amazing orchestra of personality we create when we come together. Filling in the spaces of one another, together we can create such a terrific whole.

Our lucky number this week belongs to

Kelly, please shoot us an email to writeclickscrapbook at gmail dot com with your mailing address and we will get you your goodies!!

Francine is back with more crunches, I mean craft-letics, shortly!!

WCS/Ella Publishing Spring Cross-Training Day 4

Good morning and welcome back! What, surely you didn't think you'd have the day off just because it's give.away.day? With all the great momentum you got with Monika, we've got to keep on going!

Today we're talking about finishing touches: specifically distressing. I know all the clean and simple scrappers are probably shuddering right now, but never fear, there are varying degrees of distressing and today Celeste and I will show you how.

In my early days of scrapping I went through a major distressing phase where no product or layout was safe from the attack. Luckily I eventually learned that I could use distressing in subtler ways to finish things off. Here are some tools and methods you can use to add a distressed look to your work

1. Edge distressor tool

2. Ink, specifically Distress Inks

3. Sanding

4. Scissors

5. Digital brushes

6. Predistressed products aka cheating!

On this quite messy page Celeste used a distressing tool as well as simply tearing the papers

I think we can all agree that if Celeste can do distressing, then we all can! As she herself said "If you know my style at all, you know I'm all about clean, straight lines. Here i tried to rough up the edges of the papers a bit - tearing some and using a distress tool on the others. Nothing is perfectly straight playing off the messy face in the photo!"

In my experience I found a pair of scissors to work very well for distressing. Open them up and run the cutting edge of one blade along the edge of your paper. The degree of distressing will depend on how hard you press while moving the blade.

 In the layout above I used my scissors on both the kraft background and the green photo mat. When I moved the blade lightly I got a rough edge, when I moved it with more pressure I actually got torn bits in the paper.

I did the same on this page, but just on the edge of the paper flower

Celeste goes one better and used her fingernails to rough up the edges of the polka dot paper on this page.

Inking and sanding are other great ways to give a grungy look. Here I used both on this page to form a sort of "photo mat"

The cardstock here is by Core'Dinations and made for sanding. They come with a white or contrasting core that shows through nicely when the top layer is sanded off. You can use regular sandpaper or a tool like these files from BasicGrey. Once sanded I then ran my ink pad directly over the paper.

Here's another layout showing inking techniques used on the paper edges as well as to "age" the white flower embellishments

However if you don't want to get messy you can also get distressing effects using either predistressed products like the papers on this page

or do it digitally using distressed look papers or a distressing brush

Now you can to pop on over to the Ella blog to see what today's expert, Tammy Tutterow, has in store for you.

WORKOUT REWARD

What would a good workout be without a reward? You've worked hard sanding that paper and now your fingers are all inky too!  Good for you! Wipe the sweat from your brow, take a deep breath or two, and head on over to the Ella store and drop this eBook in your cart.

Use the code HAPPYDESIGN tosave $1 on Design Workshop by Lisa Dickinson. Code expires May 15, 2011.

Don't forget to participate in the challenges going on at Ella Publishing through May 7th...fun to be had and prizes to be won...you don't have to be registered in the class to be eligible.

Thanks for joining me today! I'll be back tomorrow with even more training.

give.away.day.

This week we are concentrating on building our skills. So far, Monika has helped up to think about embracing our signature style, strengthening our one sentence journaling, and getting good photographs. But what would any of this be without some cool product? Because as much as the papers, stickers, and embellishments are not necessary, they sure are fun, aren't they?

This week our
is some of our favorite lovelies that we hope will make your workout week much more fun. And it's calorie free!!

If you would like to be considered for today's giveaway, please leave us a comment telling us your greatest strength and also the area you feel is your weakspot. Comments will remain open until 8:00 pm PST and one lucky number will be chosen at random and posted tomorrow. Please remember it is your resopnsiblity to claim your lucky number by emailing us at writelickscrapbook at gmail dot com before midnight Saturday!

And even though it's give.away.day. we can't take a day off!! Francine will be up shortly with today's training exercise!!

WCS/Ella Publishing Spring Cross-Training Day 3

Glad to have you back for my third and last day hosting for our Spring Training event. Tomorrow, you'll be greeted by another Write. Click. Scrapbook. team member that is also an Ella Publishing Friend, so please do drop in to have a peek!

{In the town where I went to college, there was a small restaurant called Dew Drop Inn and I loved that name!}

It's not a stretch for me to say that I take A LOT of photos. I'm not going to say too many because each and every one of them holds a memory for me. Of those photos, I get giddy when I'm able to snap a pic that captures the essence of my subject's personality...an expression, a love, a bond with another person.

For today's Spring Training exercises, members of our team are sharing Personality Pages -- layouts and photos that capture personality.

For those of you participating in the Spring Training 2011 event at Ella Publishing, you already know that from today through May 7th, one of four expert coaches will be have an exclusive video featuring coached training exercises {watch for 10 minutes, "exercise" for 10 minutes}. Today, you'll be coached by Kelly Willette in "getting the shot." I'm all about tips and suggestions for better photos, how about you?

 

PHOTOGRAPHY: Getting the Shot

Just like scrapbooking, sometimes "the perfect shot" is not the one that is perfectly composed, but rather the one that perfectly captures something. Let's look at a few "perfect shots" from some of our team.

LISA

When you think of a perfect beach photo, you might envision a peaceful smile, a golden glow of light from the setting sun. But look how Lisa's photo is perfect in how it perfectly captures one of her daughter's traits. Then Lisa makes effective use of font styles, sizes and colors to further complement her daughter's colorful personality.

 

CELESTE

Do you have a spouse or child that poses every.single.time. you try to take their picture? While sometimes it can be frustrating, why not go with it? After all, the picture with the pose will perfectly tell the story of their need to ham it up. Add some journaling that matches wits with the photos humor, and you have a perfect layout. Just like Celeste.

 

DONNA

Perfect kids shots are rarely perfectly posed. While we love those, too, the ones that cause us to reflect later are more often the ones that help to remind us of the little things.

Says Donna, "This photo certainly captures his personality.  Playing with a car while wearing his engineer's cap - backwards of course - with his tongue sticking out - of course!  He is so playful and silly and just always on the go.  He most definitely makes us laugh every day." This will definitely be a photo that is cherished as time goes by.

 

EMILY

Emily reminds us here to not forget to capture the photos that help to explain our similarities or differences. Emily's photo is not just filled with personality, but also a personality trait she and her son share. Cute.

 

MONIKA

Have you ever looked at a photo and said, "That is vintage ___."? I know you know what I mean. This is another kind of photo perfection to me. Look at this sweet picture of my now 19-year old son Zach. This is truly Vintage Zach...not just the outfit, but also the look: this one always told me that he was proud and happy and content.

 

Don't forget to pop back to Ella Publishing to learn more tricks and tips from Kelly Willette! She is a master of the everyday photo and will help you look at your photos with a brand new eye. And because you have worked so hard, we have another reward for you...

 

WORKOUT REWARD

What would a good workout be without a reward? You've worked hard to get the shot that counts and now you have photos to create a personality layout. Good for you! Wipe the sweat from your brow, take a deep breath or two, and head on over to the Ella store and drop this eBook in your cart.

Use the code PHOTOTRICKS for $1.00 off the EllaPublishing eBook 40 Top Tips for Better Photos by Rebecca Cooper. Code expires May 15, 2011.

Don't forget to participate in the challenges going on at Ella Publishing through May 7th...fun to be had and prizes to be won...you don't have to be registered in the class to be eligible.

Thank you for joining me for our third day of cross(blog)-training! Have Fun and Scrap On!

 

WCS/Ella Publishing Spring Cross-Training Day 2

Day Two of Spring Training...are you rested up from your exercise yesterday? Hope so, because for our workout today, we'll be featuring journaling. Single sentence journaling to be so much more specific.

Don't run away, come back. Although journaling tends to make people shudder and shake, I have rounded up some of my Write. Click. Scrapbook. teammates to share how they approach the topic. And after taking a look at how they rock a layout featuring single-sentence journaling you'll wonder why you ever shied away.

For those of you participating in the Spring Training 2011 event at Ella Publishing, you already know that from today through May 7th, one of four expert coaches will be have an exclusive video featuring coached training exercises {watch for 10 minutes, "exercise" for 10 minutes}. Here's a link to Day Two with your coach, Angie Lucas.

 

 

JOURNALING: Single-Sentence Journaling

WENDY

Title: Playing Mommy

Journaling: Even as a child I wanted to grow up and become a mother -- to a real baby not just a doll.

In the photo you can almost see my Christmas loot, said Wendy, which included a baby carriage and baby doll.

KAREN

Title: Critical Thinking and Discipline and Intellectual Curiosity

Journaling: I know it's frustrating to work instead of play but I think discipline starts at a young age and these 3 things will serve you well at school and in life my son.

JODY    

I just had to include two layouts by Jody, because I think it's so awesome that her daughter is a Cancer Warrior {she beat it twice!} and that she managed to squeeze in a layout about her life as a loving wife to a man she has known for 33 years. And she did it so well, too!

Title: She's Done

Journaling:  After 6 grueling months of chemotherapy, you are finally done and that is definitely something to smile about!

Title: Still My Type

Journaling: It's been over 33 years since the day we met, and you are still my type.

MONIKA

And here, my Title is my Journaling: This is why Wednesday's with Nana are so special.

 

WORKOUT REWARD

What would a good workout be without a reward? You have worked hard to flex your journaling muscles and then you went the extra mile by rocking the title. Good for you!! Wipe the sweat from your brow, take a deep breath or two, and head on over to the Ella store and drop this eBook in your cart.

Use the code HAPPYJOURNAL for $1.00 off the EllaPublishing eBook Journaling that Matters co-authored by Angie Lucas and Kelly Jeppson, who happen to be crazy-talented Write. Click. Scrapbook. teammates! Code expires May 15, 2011.

Don't forget to participate in the challenges going on at Ella Publishing through May 7th...fun to be had and prizes to be won...you don't have to be registered in the class to be eligible.

Thank you for joining me for our second day of cross(blog)-training! Have Fun and Scrap On!

WCS/Ella Publishing Spring Cross-Training

Welcome to all our Write. Click. Scrapbook. friends as well as to our visitors from Ella Publishing. I imagine there are a lot of you that are regular readers to both blogs, right? Guess what? Same thing here, I am a huge fan of both blogs {duh!}. I'm Monika Wright and I am a Design Team member for Write. Click. Scrapbook. as well as Ella Publishing. I know, I know-how lucky is that? I pinch myself quite often wondering how I got so darn lucky.

For those of you participating in the Spring Training 2011 event at Ella Publishing, you already know that from today through May 7th, one of four expert coaches will be have an exclusive video featuring coached training exercises {watch for 10 minutes, "exercise" for 10 minutes}.

 

Two of those four expert coaches just happen to be Angie Lucas and Wendy Smedley, members of the Write. Click. Scrapbook. team and the scrapbooking superstars behind Ella Publishing. It's just getting better and better, isn't it! Before I introduce today's Spring Training exercise topic, I invite you to pop on over to Ella's blog join your Coach today, Wendy Smedley as she opens up the Craftnasium! Go now, I'll wait! 

Welcome back! So today's topic is inspiration. Let's get started!!

 

INSPIRATION:  Embrace Your Signature Style

 

MONIKA

Summing up my signature style is difficult, as I feel that it's only been in the last six months that I've realized what elements I like working with and have stuck with them. I know for certain, that my "go-to" way to tell our story is by way of mini album, where I include details, stories and experiences in my own handwriting using interesting and unusual journaling spots. I am so much more comfortable telling my story in a small format and I treat each page as a mini work of heart. I like layers, but I like them simple. {How's that for an oxymoron?}

My current crushes include kraft, vintage book pages and sewing and I used those elements to document our 2011 Date Night adventures.

 

ANGIE

Here's how Ella Publishing Co. Founder, President and CEO Angie Lucas describes her signature style:

Usually multi-photo; fairly linear; colorful; story-based; includes prominent, handwritten journaling; organized; often relies on coordinated product lines.

 

CELESTE

Celeste Smith describes her signature style in this way:

I would define my style as consistently clean, classic and modern. I tend to use geometric shapes, angular lines, and bold colors. My pages are not overly embellished and always include journaling. I love mixing patterns and colors. As you can see, this page is uncluttered with very few embellishments and uses geometric shapes. The layout feels clean because I left plenty of white space for the eye to rest. I used plenty of patterns and colors here.

 

KAREN

Karen Grunberg describes her signature style like this:

I don't know that there's a word that you can use to describe my style. If I had to use one word, I would pick "meaningful." I know that "clean" is probably what most others would pick but, for me, the most important part of the layout is the story and a lot of the design choices I make are related to that priority. For example, I tend to favor long titles because it's a great way to summarize the main point of my journaling and I figure that even if you only read my title, you'd still know why I made this page. I also favor multiple, series photos. This, too, is my way of enhancing the story by demonstrating it using sequential photos to give you the feeling of motion. You can almost see the story playing out on my page. And, most obviously, I hand-journal on every page.

Of course, there are other recurring design decisions I make on my pages just because I like them. For example, given the chance, I exclusively use 12x12 white cardstock backgrounds because I love how it makes everything else on my page pop out more. I prefer bright and happy colors. I often put elements on the edges of my layout because I want to draw your eyes back to my focal points. I tend to use a lot of punches and strongly favor butterflies and hearts. And I always use stitching on my layouts partially because it's the best adhesive and partly because I love the texture and imperfection it adds.

Here's a page that's a perfect example of all of the above. It's a white 12x12 background, with 4 sequential photos, a long title, bright colors, hand journaling, butterflies, hearts, embellished edges, and stitching.

 

AMY

Amy Sorenson has this to say about her signature style:

In one hyphenated phrase, my style can be summed up like this: word-based. For me, the best part of scrapbooking is writing journaling, so my layouts reflect that. All of them have a title and journaling and the majority have some sort of word embellishment as well. I use products (a mix of old with new) and colors as added layers to the story I am trying to tell. My journaling is usually printed so I can fit more words on the layout, and I like to play with the formatting as well.

 

ELIZABETH

And from Elizabeth Dillow, Write. Click. Scrapbook. co-founder and Ella Publishing eBook author:

+ I love using photographs that capture personality somehow. I love scrapbooking one photo, I love scrapbooking multiple photos--as long as they tell a story somehow, I'm happy.
+ I love art and illustration, and love incorporating little touches of art on my pages. 
+ I also love straight lines very much. 98% of my pages are based on straight lines. 
+ I love, love patterned paper but never use very much at a time. I can make a single sheet of 12 x 12 paper last for years. I used two of my favorite diminishing pieces on this page--the orange polka-dot (not sure where it came from) and my beloved K&Co Danny O paper, which is my all-time favorite line. It's very arty. And incorporates lots of straight lines. : ) 
+ My all time favorite rub-ons are the ones I used for the date (they're from Autumn Leaves). I have four sheets of them that I've stretched out for years, and I don't know what I'll do when they're gone, I love them so.
+ When I was teaching a class in Colorado Springs last year, one of the women who attended observed that my pages often contain a "love kiss" to my subject in the form of a little note. I had never thought about it that way, but looking over my pages--she was absolutely right. I almost always direct my journaling to the person I'm scrapbooking about; while I can be very wordy on some pages, I do love that inclusion of a little reflection about my subject. It seems just enough to me--the thing I want most from my pages is to convey how much I love my family and friends--now and in the future.

So you can see that there are as many signature styles out there as there are scrapbookers. Take a moment and see if you can define your own style. Then work to feel confident in how you present your story and scrap a layout today!

WORKOUT REWARD

What would a good workout be without a reward? You have worked hard to define your style and then you went the extra mile by creating a layout incorporating those signature elements. Good for you!! Wipe the sweat from your brow, take a deep breath or two, and head on over to the Ella store and drop this eBook in your cart.

Use the code HAPPYSPRING for $1.00 off the EllaPublishing eBook 20 Simple Secrets of Happy Scrapbookers co-authored by Stacy Julian and Lain Ehmann. Code expires May 15, 2011.

Thank you for joining me for our first day of cross(blog)-training! Have Fun and Scrap On!

Happy Easter

 

Organizing My Thoughts (Stop Laughing.)

This is me getting organized.

I have a heap of different projects to share today and as per my usual M.O. they are kind of all over the place. 

But I'm okay with it, if you are.

I figure you're getting used to me.

Let's get to it, shall we?

I thought we could start in the Mudroom.

I'm going to call this montage "The Dumping Ground":

Also, Bella's stomping grounds.

Bella is our pooch. 

She's kinda sheddy, not all that smart, and totally neurotic. 

But we still love her.

This is usually what I have to work around in my scrapbook room:

And you people with cats think you have it tough when kitty wants to sit on your keyboard.

Here's a layout I did a while ago of Bella wearing J's clothes:

Instead of college funds in our house we have "Future Therapy Funds" (and a swear jar).

Anyway, back to the mudroom, remember, this is me being organized in my thoughts.

I hate things on my counters and things that don't have a place to live.

I didn't want a big bag of dogfood (the forest green bag completely clashes with our house decor) just laying around crappin' up the place.

So I used a big empty dog treat container (Costco).  Bella was very happy to help me empty the container.

She likes food quite a lot. 

Something else she and the husband have in common.

So I decorated the front and top with some patterned paper and punched a couple of holes in the lid and threaded some ribbon through to act as a handle.

The other idea I had (after someone (husband) put wet boots in the cabinets we have and ruined the bottom of the slide out drawers) was to use patterned paper to frouf up the place (frouf: meaning to spiff).

I just took 2 pieces of 12x12 paper, pieced them together and taped the seams on the backside. I have since found a large roll of clear sticky vinyl at the Walmart that I'm going to try and laminate the pieces of paper with (I'll let you know how that goes.  Me + large sticky anything = fiasco written all over it).

I still had some thrift store scores left over so I used this shadow box (I shared the before photo in the previous post), painted it black and made the inside using some little scrapbook tokens that I've had probably since the early 2000's).

It's hard to see, but the tokens have a fire hydrant on them (though I've never seen a dog in real life use a fire hydrant as a bathroom.  Weird.) a bone and the word "woof".

You can see them better here:

And the quote I chose was because of the previous photo of Bella on her back in my scrapbook room. 

She is a shameless hussy. 

My friend tells me it's all learned in the home, but I plead the fifth.

I hung her leash and the poop bags from it. 

That way my kids will ALWAYS know where the poop bags are and can't plead ignorance (all learned in the home...I'm starting to see what she means).

The quote I printed on photo paper and adhered it to a piece of wood that I had painted black and I put the hooks on afterwards.  I also used a bit of black craft paint to touch up the screws as they were silver instead of black.  Dollar store screws, I tell ya.

..............................................................

Chapter Two:  Bathrooms and Laundry Rooms: No One is Going to Get Punched in the Face

I made these pieces a couple of years ago using an AMAZING tutorial that Linda Barber had online.  It showed you how to iron on freezer paper to the back of muslin type fabric and then run it through your printer.  Or something like that.  I kind of forget.  But it was brilliant!  Linda is awesome.

I wrapped them around a couple of dollar store canvases I had laying around:

My wrapping technique leaves quite a bit to be desired. 

I don't know if any of you eagle eyes noticed, but that is a remote control on that stack of towels and yes we do have a tv in the bathroom.

If it were up to cable-guy, we'd have one in every room of the house, and I fought him like crazy (crazy being the operative word, a TV in the bathroom? Really?) but I have to admit, I really like to take baths and now I can totally get my reality on while soaking in a big soapy tub of water. Sometimes crazy is as crazy does.

And this is the other stuff I have in my laundry room.

And by stuff I mean thing:

I downloaded a font that had the laundry symbols and put it on a digital paper in PSE and printed.  Another cheapo frame jazzed up with Heirloom white.  I found (pilfered) a piece of velcro from the garage and hung the frame on the old washboard.

...........................................

Chapter Three:  Short and Sweet.  Well, short.

Here is the other piece of the metal tiered cake rack I promised I would share today:

Way better for my necessities and bedtime stuff. 

And yes, that's dental floss. 

And yes, I floss my teeth in bed. 

And yes, I know many people think that's gross.

But my dental hygienist thinks it's awesome.

Well, I didn't tell her about the "in bed part" but I know she's proud that I'm getting the job done at all.

...........................................

Chapter Four: Some Random Stuff (Organized-schmorganized)

The reason I like spray paint so much is that I don't have to clean (let dry by accident and then throw away) brushes.  Imagine my delight when I found chalkboard paint in spray form. 

Back to my 50 centsing ways, little plate at the thrift store, what?  You guessed it.  50 cents.

I used my gluegun (who I hate because she burns me and makes a mess on my floor, but sometimes I have to take the whole no pain, no gain thing to heart and plug her in) to glue the little Making Memories clip on and then wrapped a piece of chalk with patterned paper (I scalloped the edge first), strung it up with twine and capped it off with a decorative brad that I used my good (why do I do that?) scissors to nip the prongs off of.

Wheeeeeeeeeee!

That's me jumping on the Keep Calm bandwagon.

This is for our trailer.

I adhered it to a piece of chipboard and used some Tim Holz clips on a canvas, so I can remove it when the next bossy trend comes along telling me what to do.

I know I tease my family and joke about them, but they're okay.

I'm pretty sure I'll keep them.

I made this one in a similar way to the butterfly one I shared earlier this week. 

MDF.

Patterned paper.

Cardstock.

The only difference is I glued these little knobs (heh heh) to it and then strung the baker's twiner across them and used little clothespins (dollar store) to attach some photos, a tag and a metal flower.

Bob. 

Dad. 

You know the story.

...............................................

Chapter Five: Recycling Bags and Stuff

Three things that have brought me a small amount of joy:

1. Starbucks sugar free vanilla syrup (with a free kraft bag!)

2. The most awesome of watches from the most awesome of husbands who really DOES read all those "if you're looking for a present to buy me, check this out" links that I email him (with a free kraft box!)

3. Scrapbook paper.  KI Orange Peel White mostly (can you guess what goes here?  Free bag!)

All these free bags go into a big tub in my room for future use. 

Here's what I did today (also I had a lot of free butterflies from the murder flutter I cut earlier this week):

The butterfly garland was super easy:

Fold over and punch small hole through back butterfly:

Adhere butterflies together with pop dots between their wings (no adhesive on the body part).

String them together (I used more of the baker's twine.  It's my binge today.)

Add to bag in whatever way pleases you.

Just a note - on the large bag, I folded the top over, pushed a large brad through a punched brown circle and then through the top layer of the folded part.  Then I glued a tiny magnet under the folded part and this holds the top shut.

Here's my free box.

I used more of the old book that I made the nest stuff out of and used this tutorial to make the bow:

And here's another idea for gift bags - I made these for Valentine's day for my boys.  I have about 400 lunchbags (remember when paper bag mini books were trending?  Yah.  Me too.)

 And, now I shall close the curtain on this week.

Thank you for joining me, I hope you got inspired to make something.  Or at the very least gather up some of your 50 centses and hit a thrift store to see what kind of treasures you can find.

Overton out.