Scrapbook Place First Ever Blog hop is ON

“Welcome to the first Scrapbook Place Blog Hop! If you arrived here from Linda’s blog, you are on the right track ~ if you just happened on my blog, please head back to Lindsy’s blog, ,which is the first stop on our hop.”
Lindsy http://scrappygiraffelayouts.blogspot.com/
Now to my special Birthday Hop Project. This special Birthday Treat Package was introduced to me by my special friend, Sandi Dufern, one of the craftiest crafters I know, and a good soul to boot. Not only did she show me the many different ways I could use a simple four-pack carton of Starbucks Frappe bottles, but brought in boxes of washed bottles to start me on my frenzied way. And the bonus is drinking these delish drinks before washing and stripping the labels off the empties--yum!

Once your bottles are dry, you can cover the carton with patterned papers of your choice. I reinforced the bottom with extra cardboard before covering so that the heavier treats that go into the bottles are supported.
Embellish to your heart's content, both the carton and each bottle. Make sure the embellishments on the bottles don't get in the way of pulling them out of the carton.
While I loved to embellish my Treat Package for my sister's birthday, the best part was filling each bottle with her fave treats (you know a whole bag of Hershey's Kisses won't fit into the bottle so...)
These bottles make wonderful gifts for a teacher, filled with paper clips, stickers, and treats; for a school nurse, with bandaids and alcohol wipes, etc; for your favorite handyman, filled with nails, screws, washers and such. The list is endless on how you can fill these bottles and to whom you can gift them!
Just don't drink too many frappes in one sitting!!
Now on with the hopping. Before jumping to Annette's blog
Annette http://annettesfunstuff.blogspot.com/
, don't forget to leave a comment here! Somewhere in your journey, one lucky person who leaves a comment on each blog will win some blog candy! Good luck and happy hopping!

Upcoming Blog Hop and New Triangle Card

Hey, crafters, I am so excited to be part of Scrapbook Place’s very FIRST BLOG HOP! Everyone is spotlighting birthday creations, so you can get some great new ideas and techniques along the way. What could be better than that? Well, how about a prize drawing? Visitors who leave a comment at each blog during the hop will get a chance to win a crafting prize in a random drawing. All you have to do is start at Lindsy’s blog http://scrappygiraffelayouts.blogspot.com/ on January 27th at 6 am central. Check out her project, leave a comment and hop on over to the next blog on the tour! Couldn’t be simpler, and think of the fun you’ll have along the way!

Here’s a little project to get you in the mood while you wait for the HOP to begin on the 27th:





This is my first attempt at a triangle card. It’s constructed of three 4x4 pieces of cardstock papers and a lot of embellishing. I found the instructions at www.stampowl.blogspot.com.
I used textured cardstock from We R Memory Keepers for the card base and for framing my Copic-colored images. I drew in stitches around the perimeter of each side with a Sakura White gel pen.
It’s smaller than I expected, and didn’t turn out the way I think it’s supposed to, so back to the drawing board with this one!
Don't forget to check out Scrapbook Place's FIRST EVER BLOG HOP this Thursday starting at 6 am Central!

Don't Remember Where you put your Recipe Clippings?

My boss thinks I am a magician with paper. She brought into work a Recipe Clippings Organizer Book that she had purchased from Current years ago. It is one of her favorite things to have on hand when she has time to flip through mags for recipes and such. She wanted a sturdier one, and thought that if anyone she knew could make one, it was me.
So I accepted her challenge, and made a prototype of the book. Above is pictured the cover. There are twelve pages altogether to stash recipes inside the pockets. The last page can be used to list favorites.
I think all of us have recipes torn out of magazines and filed...well, somewhere, to try at a later date. This book is cool, and I had fun making it. The secret? Use file folders! My boss liked the prototype so much, she gave me all her double-sided, designer folders to make books for herself, her daughters, her mom, as well as me and another co-worker!
The project uses 7 file folders altogether, with approx. the top 3 inches cut off. Then it's a matter of folding up the pockets and folding the folder to make a two-sided page. Six of those, bound between another file folder cut in half and used for the covers, and you have a nifty organizer for your clippings!
Gotta love it!!

New Year, New Goals, New Art

1-1-11...What a great year to start fresh. New ideas, new techniques, new goals, new achievements, new friends, new work, new...everything! Looking back to the past year, I am glad I tried to keep track of every day of the year. I didn't finish off the year, life got busy and my camera broke; but it's great to look back at 2010 and remember and say, "Oh, yeah, I did that" or "I saw that" or "I went there". It's great to live in the moment, but it's even better to have a reminder of those moments!
So how did my 2010 resolutions fare? I surpassed my goal of handmade cards, but didn't quite reach my goal for layouts scrapped. Many personal and private reasons for this, mosty of them good. So I am not disappointed, merely motivated to look ahead to another year of challenges.
My new resolutions for 2011? Simplify, organize, and live in the moment.
Meanwhile, I have already started creating again. Besides the valentine's card above, I've been commissioned to make some Recipe Clippings Organizers. I'm making a template book to work off of, and will post soonest. Maybe I can try my hand a t a tutorial for it, as well!
So, Happy New Year, and good luck to all!