Mother Nature Visits Ike's World Challenge Blog

Today, I created my DT project for Ike's World Challenge Blog. While the challenges are ANYTHING GOES, there is (almost) always an OPTIONAL theme, and this fortnight the challenge is Nature.

I was stumped for inspiration on the optional theme of nature until I was browsing the store at Ike's Art and found these fun animal silhouettes. The set is called African Animal Silhouettes. I thought they would make perfect "pages" for a child's picture book.

Each letter represents an animal. Unfortunately, I can't finish my picture book for my newest grandson, Jonny. I have to wait until Ike draws more animals for me to use!

I did manage to use six of the eight animal silhouettes in the set. But that's okay, my grandson is only 18 months old, so I have time. His second birthday is in August.

After choosing my background papers, I printed and then laminated each image, making sure to round the corners so my little man won't cut himself on the sharp corners.

I then hole-punched the corner of each so that I can string them all on a large jump ring. I'll tie on colorful fibers and ribbons as I create more pages. It has to be large as there are 26 letters in the alphabet!! LOL

For now, my little Fox is guarding the pages I was able to finish. Until I get more images to play with, why don't you join the newest challenge at Ike's World Challenge Blog for your chance to win free digis from the store?? I can't wait to see what you create!

Challenges I am Entering:

Artistic Inspirations - Anything Goes

CAS on Sunday - Critters

Corrosive Challenges - Anything Goes

AllSorts - Anything Goes

Crafty Friends - Anything Goes

Less Is More - Alphabet

My Time to Craft - Anything BUT a Card

Alphabet Challenges - Y is for You Choose

Simply Papercraft - Anything Goes

Sweet Dreams

The Path of Positivity challenge blog offers a new theme this month--DREAMS. My DT project is a mini album...well, actually, it's the cover of a new mini album I am making!

I got to play with products from Scribble and Scrap. They have awesome digi paper packs, vintage photo sheets and images.
I printed out two papers from the Elegance Paper Pack #1 to create my base. I also printed out a photo from the Vintage Photo Sheet #1. Isn't that photo of the little girls' tea party adorable? It focuses on the dreams little girls have of their lives and their futures. And using the photo sheets from Scribble and Scrap is a lot easier than searching through musty old photos at antique stores!
The rest of my album cover consisted of looking through my collection of cast-off jewelry, leftover paper pieces and lace. I used Tim Holtz' Distress Inks to age my photo and paper doily, and added a little bling with sequins. I found some netting to tie the album covers and pages together and I have a new/old place in which to scrap (or paint or journal). I finished it off with the title "Sweet Dreams Are Made of These."
I am also playing in the new Anything Goes Challenge from Scribble &Scrap.

So, while surfing one of my favorite inspiration sites, Pinterest, I found a cute parody of the Eurhythmics song "Sweet Dreams Are Made of These" on Pinterest and thought it would be perfect to share along with  the Path of Positivity theme of DREAMS.
Sing it with me, peeps:

Sweet dreams are made of CHEESE

Who am I to diss a BRIE?

I CHEDDAR the world and the FETA CHEESE

Every body's looking for STILTON...

Now if that hasn't put you on the floor rolling with laughter, at least it put a smile on your face, right?

And just to show you how much I love all you crafters out there, here's the first recipe in my notebook:

Cheesy Bacon Monkey Bread

2 tubes Pillsbury rolls (regular)

1 jar Cheez Whiz

2 TBSP butter

1/2 lb bacon, cooked & crumbled

1. Melt CheezWhiz & butter together in microwave. Stir until smooth. 

2. Pour into greased loaf pan

3. Cut up biscuits into quarters and place on top of melted cheese.

4. Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes.

5. Place a serving plate over the cooked loaf and invert. 

6. Remove pan, allowing melted cheese to drip and spread over loaf.

7. Add crumbled bacon and serve.

You can slice this after it cools a bit, but my family just likes to tear off the "bumps" of bread.

Now that I have whet your appetite, here are the delicious details of the Path of Positivity challenge this month. Please note the changes starting this month:

• For Challenge 16, prizes will be the following:
• £15 voucher from Scribble and Scrap, for the post or project that the DT deems most inspiring of the bunch.
• Three digital images from Ike's Art for a person chosen in a random draw based on all entrants.
• One digital image from Creative Bug Digital Stamps for each person chosen as a DT Delight.
• There will also be:
• One digital designer paper from Décosse's Dynamite Doodles for one lucky voter who leaves a comment.
• One digital sentiment for every single person who enters the challenge. 

Be Calm and Read On

You can't miss them. Those little posters that read "Keep calm and..."
They're all over Facebook and Pinterest and now they're on my blog!

I made a purse album for my teen daughter. She is in college, looking for a job and scholarships, and is dealing with a lot of issues. She does get anxious easily, so I made her a little Keep Calm album to flip through when she gets stressed or just plain needs a laugh.

I surfed around Pinterest, pulling these little tidbits of fun and then printing them on cardstock. Before I put them together on a jump ring, I laminated them so it would last.

She's going to keep it in her overstuffed backpack, so I had to keep the embellishments down to the bare minimum--a bow tied with two pieces of organza ribbon.

She loves it.  How do I know?  She gave me a big hug!! Now that's the kind of payment I like when I create!

Mini Tag Book Challenge

I joined a Facebok group called The Craft hole on Facebook, and from the get-go was challenged to step out of my comfort zone with a new (to me) project-a mini tag book!
Yes, I had never made one before.

This is my cover.  We were given a youtube tutorial to follow, with a margin of personal tweaking allowed.  Most tag books I've seen are bound together at the "other" end.  I like that this one is bound at the sides.

I was gifted with a handful of beautiful patterned papers that lent themselves wonderfully to flowers and fairies, which run amok in my tag book.

The dimensions are roughly 4x6, and we were asked to use six pieces of paper in our books

Each mini layout as the pages are turned has at least one pocket in which the tags are nestled.  My tag on the left hides a sentiment that reads:  There is no greater treasure than a good friend.

I recently received a package from a very good crafting friend, Holley, filled with charms of all kinds, and the tag handle uses one of these charms.

The fence is cut from the Creative Memories punch system, and the sentiment grow is a Cricut cut.  If you look closely at the flower on the right, you can almost see a face stamped on it.  That's a QKD stamp, and I've used more throughout the book.

I have lately been dabbling in mixed media, so the next set of pages showcases a paper doily, ripped designer napkin, inking, acrylic paint, another QKD stamp, all held together with a bit of Mod podge and finished off with a couple K&Co chipboard stickers.


Turning the page, I used a couple images on them.  In fact, two of my favorites, both from QKD.  On the left is Blue Haired Fairy, and on the right is Just Breathe.

The Tim Holtz Idea-ology metal charm reads:
Reality has limits, Imagination is boundless.

I agree!

I printed the digi Just Breathe in three different sizes and after coloring them, I fussy cut them out and layered them on the page.   My sentiment fits the page perfectly: Earth laughs in flowers.

Almost done, thanks for hanging in there! LOL
A small handmade journal is tucked in the pocket.


And we finally come to the last set of pages!

Just a couple quotes from the Quote Garden about fairies and flowers, the perfect ending to my challenge project.

I hope you liked it, and are inspired to try one yourself!