On Trend: Chalkboard

One of the fun trends in the paper crafting world right now is...Chalkboard.  You can achieve this look with black cardstock and white chalk or paint or ink.  But there are many companies that are incorporating this technique into their papers, stickers and embellishments these days!

 

We hope you enjoy what the Design Team created for you today!  Make sure to pin the projects if you love them and leave some love for the designers on their blogs!  We love to hear from our readers!

Practical Scrapper Wendi Robinson used some Crate chalkboard paper and embellies along with using a white pen to write on the black cardstock.

 

Practical Scrapper Charity used paper from Kaiser Craft and Recollections to make this "Just Because" card.

Practical Scrapper Mary Pat used some Core'dinations cardstock and scored and sanded it. She then stamped and heat embossed various sentiments.

Practical Scrapper Cathy used a collection from Elle's Studio and a white chalk marker from Zig to create the Hexagons along with some Marshmallow Glimmer Mist!

Practical Scrapper Marcia Dehn-Nix used Chalkboard from We R Memory Keepers for this layout.

Practical Scrapper Karen chose to mimic the chalkboard look by sanding Core'dinations paper and adding a few smudges to give the appearance of chalk dust haze.

Practical Scrapper Lisa used Basic Grey's Fresh Cut collection and the chalk sentiments from Studio Calico to document her focus this month for her One Word 2014: Choose album.

Practical Scrapper Charissa used a chalkboard cards from Studio Calico and some Fancy Pants Chalk Tape to add interest to her page about her little princess.

 

 

Practical Scrapper Kim Ryden used a Chalkboard sticker by Pebbles on this fun "Hello, hi" card.

 

Birthday Inspiration

Today is my son's first birthday!  So as I prepared the schedule for this month, I had to make today a birthday inspiration day!  We've got a diverse set of layouts today to highlight all the fun of birthdays!

Practical Scrapper Christine created this layout with her favorite pictures from her daughter's birthday party and then created a life project style spread to cover all the highlights and fun!

Practical Scrapper Wendi Robinson used the Crate birthday line for this page of her lil one on her first birthday

Practical Scrapper Mary Pat used Imaginisce

Practical Scrapper Krissy used an old Bella Blvd for her daughters 2md Birthday!

  Practical Scrapper Cathy used a Heidi Swapp folder to add even more photos of Addie's special day to this layout.

Practical Srappers Julie used colorful papers from Simple Stories.

Practical Scrapper Malika used Chic Tags birthday line for her layout.

Here Comes the Sunshine

Are you loving all the sunshine diecuts and summery papers that are out but need a little inspiration to figure out how to use them?  Well, look no further!  Our On Trend team will have you walking on sunshine in no time at all.  No matter whether it is raining or dreary outside, you can always create a bright sunshiney day on your layouts - just like our Practical Scrappers have done!

 

Practical Scrapper Wendi Robinson used a sunshine paper and divided it up across the page.

Practical Scrapper Julie C. used a sun sticker from the collection "I heart Summer" from Fancy Pants.  She also chose a title with the word "Sunshine".

Practical Scrapper Cathy used Echo Park's Beautiful Life to create this layout with lots of layers, including a layer of the sun's rays peeking out above the top corner of her photo and embellishments.

 

Practical Scrapper Mary Pat used a Snag Em Sun stamp from Imaginisce on her summer layout.

Practical Scrapper Marcia Dehn-Nix used Quick Quotes Just Because to decorate this Dog House Mini from Want 2 Scrap.

 

Practical Scrapper Claude used a fun sunshine diecut for her layout.

Practical Scrapper Lanette used a sunshine-y title and other sun accents on this layout.

Practical Scrapper Malika Kelly cut a sun into the background of her layout and added some hand stitching on top.

Fun Gift Card Holders

Hi Everyone,
Mary Pat here with you today to bring you some fun ways to wrap up your gift cards and money.  I don't know about you but I have so much fun wrapping up my presents.  It is all about the presentation of the gift.  I know it is easier to stick the money or gift card in an envelope but I love to wrap it up all pretty and nice!   So I went hunting in the Silhouette online store and found some really fun gift boxes from Lori Whitlock.  All of these boxes fit a regular size gift card.

For my gift boxes I broke out the new Holiday collection Once Upon a Christmas by Yellow Bicycle.  I love this paper because it is VERY sturdy and holds up really well.  Here is a look at all the gift under my little tree.

 Here are some close ups at the boxes and the bows!

I like to give cash to some people as a gift and again it is all about the presentation.  Here I found the money holder image at the Silhouette store and cut it out with heavy cardstock and then decorated them in a festive manner.  For these I used the Moxxie Party Around The Pole collection.

Thanks so much for stopping by today.  I hope you got some fun ideas on how to use up your supplies and wrap up some presents for your friends and family!

Have a wonderful and crafty day!

mp

**Designer projects are not always linked in our posts, but you can always find their blogs in our sidebar or in the staff tab**

Home Decor Halloween Wreath

Hi Everyone,
Practical Scrapper Mary Pat here with you today and I have a home decor Halloween wreath to share with you.  This is a wonderful and very easy way to used up all your Halloween scraps that you might have.  I made a Bat Wreath.

To make this fun wreath I bought a grapevine wreath at a local hobby store and some fun ribbon.  I then used my Silhouette and found a very cute and easy bat die cut image. I am sure if you have a Cricut you will be able to find a similar image.    I then cut  out close to 50 bats in different pattern paper.  I used the All Hallow's Eve collection from Moxxie  Using my glue gun I randomly glued my bats to the wreath. Yes, I went through 3 glue sticks on this baby!  I wanted to make sure that the bats weren't going to fly away! LOL!!  I totally don't want bats in my house!   I then added a large bow at the bottom of the wreath.  This wreath is on my mantle for the holiday.

As a side project, you can cut out the extra Bats and a give them to your kids and they can make a little crafty project as it gets closer to Halloween.  I don't know about you but my kids LOVE to craft with me!

Thanks so much for stopping by today.  I hope you enjoyed my wreath.  Have a wonderful and crafty day!
mp


**Designer projects are not always linked in our posts, but you can always find their blogs in our sidebar or in the staff tab**

1O Things You Can Do With: Eyelets

Last week we tackled the dreaded loose glitter and this week we are back with another supply that many of us struggle to use: eyelets!  Our designers have got some fabulous ideas today on how to use some of those eyelets up, imagine how surprised everyone will be when they see you using this oft neglected supply!

1. Create bubbles for a fish.

Practical Scrapper Kerri used her eyelets to create the bubbles leading to her sentiment on her fishbowl card.  Don't just think fish though...you could do bath bubbles, outside bubbles...think of the fun!

2. Use them to bind and create handles on your mini albums.

You cannot see them, but Practical Scrapper Kerri used eyelets and wire to create the handle on this mini album.  She then dressed up the handle with some tulle and ribbon to disguise the wire.

3. Use them to anchor embellishments.

Practical Scrapper Mary Pat uses them to randomly place embellishments on a page.

4. Make wheel rims and wheels for your vehicles.
Practical Scrapper Erin dresses up the trucks on this card using products from Momenta with eyelets and brads.

5.  Use eyelets to make a corset or other item to lace
Practical Scrapper Jayma uses them to tie a corset on a Bridal Shower card.

6. Use them to decorate the center of circles or flowers.
Practical Scrapper Audrey added dimension to her layout using brads and eyelets on flat circles..


7. Arrange them in a pattern to create a small grid, thread some twine and use them as a photo corner or accent.
We can't show you the whole layout here because it's being used by a manufacturer later but Practical Scrapper Audrey. gave us a sneak preview of another neat way she used eyelets!

8. Add eyelets to the top of tags
Practical Scrapper Christine created her own tags and then added eyelets to them before tying bows around them and using the tags as an anchor for her title.

9.  Use eyelets in the corners of a rectangle to create a frame.
Practical Scrapper Christine used green eyelets in the corners of her brown rectangle.  She then threaded white embroidery floss thru those to create a unique border.

 1O.  Use them to create a swirl or trail
Practical Scrapper Alumni Jenny Titus created her ladybug trail with black eyelets, especially standing out on the green paper.

**Designer projects are not always linked in our posts, but you can always find their blogs in our sidebar or in the staff tab**

Machine Stitching on Cards

Good Monday morning fellow scrappers! Today we're featuring Cards with machine stitching. I love the added texture that machine sewing adds to a project. I sometimes break out the machine for a layout, but realized that I don't often think to do it for cards.  Whether you choose a straight, zig zag or decorative stitch,it's a simple thing to do, and really makes an impact.

Check out these beautiful examples: 

Practical Scrapper Caz used her sewing machine to sew on all the layers she used in the card

Practical Scrapper Mary Pat Siehl used the sewing machine to sew around the edges of the card and around the heart.

Practical Scrapper Cathy used her sewing machine to add a decorative border stitch on both cards!

**Designer projects are not always linked in our posts, but you can always find their blogs in our sidebar or in the staff tab**

Home Decor with Mary Pat

 Hi Everyone,
Practical Scrapper Mary Pat  here to show you a new way to use an old picture frame and turn it into a fun home decor piece. 

I don't know about you but I have a ton of picture frames that are going unused at my house.  Whenever I see a good sale I always pick up a couple.  Did you know that the glass on the frame makes a perfect dry erase board?  So knowing this I gathered up my Nikki Sivils, Scrapbooker Messages collection.  This line is perfect to create a fun message board for the family. 

Start with a piece of thin 8x10 piece of chipboard.  Cover and embellish it as you like.  Just be sure to leave a big enough space in the middle so that you can write your messages.  The embellishments need to be flat so that it fits behind the glass.  I added a bit of sewing and cut my title using an old typewriter font on my Silhouette.  

I originally made The Siehl Family Message Board to write our busy schedule for the weekends.  It seems like with 2 boys we are always heading some place.  So my idea was to write and coordinate our schedules so that everyone could see; however, within a couple a weeks the message board took a totally different turn.  I leave the house for work at 5:45 a.m. and this is obviously before the boys wake up.  My 3 year old was having a difficult time not seeing me in the morning.  So I started to write "Good Morning Messages" to the boys.  My oldest son is just learning to read and he would read the message to his little brother.  So now the Siehl Family Message Board is a permanent fixture on our kitchen table.  I get to "talk" to  the boys every morning now and everyone is happy!

Thanks so much for stopping by today.  I hope you have a wonderful and crafty day!
-mp



**Designer projects are not always linked in our posts, but you can always find their blogs in our sidebar or in the staff tab**

Cloudy with a chance of Cards!

I love to use clouds as an embellishment on my cards and layouts.  Since it has been about a year since we last featured them, I thought it was time to share some projects with them again.  Today you'll get to see cards with fussy cut clouds, embellished clouds, and more....perfect for the cloudy days we often see in April!

Practical Scrapper Christine featuring Momenta goodies

Practical Scrapper Mary Pat 

Practical Scrapper Caz Hancock

Practical Scrapper Christa

Practical Scrapper Cathy

Practical Scrapper Ulrika

Practical Scrapper Laura