Its Halloween Season!

 I can’t believe it’s October already! This year is just going by super fast. Have you decided what you want to be for Halloween yet?

Next week is already time our yearly community fall festival. I will be a volunteer again this year. It’s mostly for the kids but it’s fun to see them in all their costumes and we will be showing them a great time. Lots of games and candy to be had.
My friend Cheryl and I made these cute mini witch’s hats to attach to headbands so we can wear them at the festival.


 My camera phone didn’t do these justice but you can still see how adorable they are.

I also took some time to complete a Halloween mini book I started last year and set aside. I tend to do this a lot so I made it my mission to complete old projects this year. I took Amy Tan’s class “Get Your Creative Juices Flowing” at Big Picture, where she taught how to make mini books like her Daybooks.
Here are a few pics of my Halloween mini book. 



This was a fun and easy book to create and I used up some Halloween paper and embellishments I had in my stash.  Most of the papers were Little Yellow Bicycle. The Fence, spider and Spooky were cut with the Cricut. I can’t remember who made the journaling cards and the embellishments where from Fancy Pants, K&Co, etc.  (Don’t remember who made all of the items.) 

Well, I hope you have a Safe and Happy Halloween and get lots of candy!
Cat

Using up my old stash.

I was just popping in to say hello and share a couple of cards I made this week.  I hope everyone had a nice summer, labor day and an easy back to school week.  

This summer, I have been very project focused.  This year I was determined to go back to some old projects I never finished and complete them.  So far, I've completed 4 projects that have been laying around for quite a while. (Yay!)  And it was fun combining those old supplies with newer embellishments and paper.  

Anyway, these cards were made using the WRMK Elegant paper collection.  I also found some old Prima flowers from the Got Flowers? collection that were a perfect match for this paper.  If you are a loyal reader you know that I love combining old with new and these little flowers are probably 5 years old now.  Yet, I still have a ton of them and I don't want to get rid of them.  So how many jars of old Prima flowers do you still have in your collection?

The little pearls are actually made using the Viva Decor Pearl pen in Sunny Yellow.  The chipboard tag is also old and unknown now.  The stamps are KI Memories and the Hello sticker font is also from an old card making kit by Lisa Bearnson and Becky Higgings.   

I've been working on busting through my stash lately so you will see more projects that combine old and new soon.   

Are there any supplies you own that aren't "in style" anymore but you just can't seem to get rid of it? I have a bunch, like the foam stamps.  I still love the designs but just don't think to use them.  Please share some of your tips for using up your stash with me. 

All I ever see in scrapbooking and cardmaking blogs is new, new, new. And I can no longer justify (to myself) purchasing the huge amounts of scrapbooking supplies I used to.  It just seems like such a waste sometimes.

So, until next time...happy stash-busting!

Cat 

Another Magazine Bites the Dust

Well, Scrapbooks Etc. announced on Wednesday that they are shutting down production and August will be their last release.  
This saddens me because it was the only scrapbook subscription I had left.  
I let my Creating Keepsakes subscription lapse back in February because I was irritated by all their cutbacks and lack of inspiring new ideas. It just wasn't worth the money anymore.  
For more information, you can visit this article on Scrapbook Update.  They also have another article about the print industry and how it's affecting the scrapbooking and crafting magazines.
I left this comment to express how I feel about this news:

They say the cost of publishing is too much, but I just don’t see it. I would think publishing a scrapbooking magazine is way cheaper than it is for lots of other magazines in the market. I mean, aren’t they just taking pictures of pages that are submitted to them? It’s not like they have to find an exotic location, a model/s and a first rate photographer (plus assistants and other artists) like fashion and beauty magazines do. They also don’t have top notch writers writing in depth articles. Most have very little creative writing in them. It’s mostly instructional writing which is pretty easy.
And anything they use to create for an editorial is usually donated by manufacturers.

Why can’t they continue to publish digitally? Scrapbooks and Cards Today does it and it’s free!
I’m sad to see my favorite scrap magazine shut down but I’m mad at them for not trying harder even if just out of loyalty to its many readers. It’s easy for a big CEO to bring down the ax but they forget that it leaves a sour taste in all our mouths and that taste never goes away.

What do I care about any new publications they release now? (Insert expletive here) them! From now on I’ll use my dollars towards new supplies. I was also burned by Scrapbook Answers, Simple Scrapbooks, PaperKuts, Memory Makers and now, Scraps Etc. But that’s it, I’m done! No more magazines for me.

So, how does this news affect you?  Are you a current subscriber to Scrapbooks Etc.?


Cat

Happy Mother's Day!

Glitter Mother's Day Graphics

Hope your Mother's Day is a special one!

Wow! I've been neglecting my little blog, haven't I? I will be back with more ideas and projects to share very soon.

Cat

Happy New Year 2012!

I hope everyone has a prosperous and wonderful year! It’s time to have some fun again. Yeah!
Oh Lordy! How did this happen? Again!!  My scrap room is a total disaster right now after all the Christmas crafting I did.  Just look…

I don’t understand how I can make such a mess when I  work on Christmas crafts. Every year I do the same thing.  I pull out my Christmas crate and just keep digging things out.  Nothing goes back in – just out.   So, it’s a new year and now, I need to dig in and do some reorganizing of this epic mess. 
For some reason the new year always makes me want to reorganize and just get rid of stuff.  Everywhere. Don’t know why that is.  I guess I just like to de-clutter and start the year off fresh. Today, I already got rid of some unused things from my pantry and did some deep cleaning.  Now, I’m going to tackle this scrap mess.  Wish me luck!
So how do you typically begin the new year?
Cat

More Christmas Cards

Just wanted to share some more Christmas Cards I made this year.  This were made with a hodge podge of supplies I had on hand.  Dazzles from HOTP, cards from the Michael’s $1 bin, ribbon, my own white shimmer mist (mixed perfect pearls with water, alcohol, and a little white acrylic paint), etc.  I hope you like them!

These HOTP dazzles are so cute!  After I made these cards, I didn’t want to give them away.  LOL!
Merry Christmas!
Cat

Christmas Projects at The Little Blue House

The Little Blue House is our local paper crafting studio.  They have beautiful projects you can create every season and I wanted to share some of the neat things I made at the House this season.
A glittered and blinged up washer necklace.  I’m going to make more of these.  They were lots of fun, Simple and make a great gift.















A cute magnetic post it note holder.  Adorable right?

A lovely lollipop flower.

               

And many more little gifts. 

We also made a gorgeous Origami Christmas Tree Canvas. All with our own supply stash!

 

Here’s a couple of close ups

These projects were great fun to make. So support your local scrap store and sign up for one of their classes today!
Have a great holiday! 
Cat
Linky Parties

Merry Tags for Blocks

As promised, here’s a look at my Christmas blocks. 

I made these with the Cricut Alphabet font (love this font!) and Winter Frolic for the snowman and ornament shapes. These were so easy to make I was done in a few of hours. See my original altered blocks post for more information and a video tutorial on making the blocks.
I cut the letters in Real Dial Size to better control the size proportion to the ornament.  I also cut the shadows so that the letters would stand out.  Then I gave them some texture with an embossing folder. 
Here’s a look at a couple of close ups.











I kept it simple this time and only added glitter to the snowman.  
So simple and so cute.  These are the times I love my Cricut and love not having to hunt down images online.
Hopefully, my seasonal blocks inspired you this year.  I’m thinking of making a set for the new year and then cycling through the ones I already made this year come spring.
I have a couple more projects to share this season so stay tuned!

  Cat

Last Minute Christmas Cards

Hello! I’m back and I have some quick and easy Christmas card ideas you can make by this weekend! Yes you can do this!
One uses the Cricut, the second uses stamping and the third one uses stickers.
The first simple card idea involves the Cricut.

In order to make these cards fast it’s best to use premade blank cards. You can get them at Michaels with your 40% off coupon. 
First, find some holiday word art from any cartridge. Here I’m using Joys of the Season from the Wrap It Up cartridge.  Use fancy paper like foiled or glittered paper so it looks special.
Then find a background diecut and cut it so it fits your card.  (I used the Spring Holiday Cards cart for this background). Emboss it with an embossing folder.  Ink your embossed diecut and adhere it to your card.  You can pop dot it if you wish to create a 3D effect. 
Then add another background diecut for your word art and cut it to size.  I used  Spellbinders Nestabilities Labels One die for this one.
Add your word art and tie a little twine if you wish to add a cute embellishment. 
Now, you can leave it like this or mist it with some clear shimmer spray to give the entire card a little sparkle. And voila, you are done! 
The second card was created with one stamp and fancy foiled paper.

Cut your fancy patterned paper to fit card.  Trim with matching ric rac ribbon.  Stamp your image and you can either emboss or glitter it for a little shine.  Use a corner punch and that’s it!  Another quick and easy card.  Stamps are from $1 Micheals bin – ornaments and Close to My Heart –Joy. I’ve had these for a few years so I don’t know if they are still available.  The paper is from Hobby Lobby – I got these on clearance last year.  May still be around this year.
The final card is super simple also and uses stickers.

These cute stickers I picked up at Michael’s for 79 cents!   They are epoxy holographic stickers. How cute is this!  All I did here was cut a couple of pieces of paper and adhered them together and then wrapped the ribbon around it.  I created the knot on the ribbon before I adhered it to the card.
Then I used my 1 1/2 inch scalloped punch and my 1 inch round punch.  Layered the punches together and attached the stickers.  For the greeting I used two stamps.  A snowflake stamp with a light colored ink and then stamped the greeting over that.  No embossing or anything fancy.  These cards are done!
I hope these samples help you get those cards completed.  Remember to keep the cards simple and without too many 3D embellishments so they go through the mail intact.
Stay tuned as I’ll be posting my holiday tags in the next few days. Super simple and super cute also.
Cat
 

Important Announcement & DIY Deco Tape

Hi everyone. Today I wanted to announce that I went ahead and changed this blog’s (URL) address to http://scrapbites.blogspot.com.  Please note the change in your readers (http://ohkianex.blogspot.com is NO longer active). 

This change not only better reflects the content of the blog but also reflects the title. When I started this blog, I didn’t plan on focusing so much on my crafting and yet, it took over.  Thanks for sticking with me even though I’m not a regular poster. 

Now, on to today’s DIY project. Deco Tape.  I’ve seen some bloggers create their own out of masking tape but mine is made from this stuff called Hinging tape by Lineco. I found it at Hobby Lobby on clearance but I believe it’s available online.  Anyway, it’s got a nice fabric-ky texture and is slightly transparent.  And you get 150 ft or 50 yards of the stuff.  It’s also easy to tear and acid-free! So feel free to use in your scrapbooks.

Okay, so on to my finished deco tape.  I colored them with permanent markers (Bics and Sharpies) and stamped them with ink and white paint. 

Now, I have a nice assortment of tapes to use and without having to pay $8 a roll for the stuff. And I still have more than half the roll left!I can also make them as needed, but for now I can use and play with these.

So have you tried making your own deco tape? If not, then get started. It’s quite a relaxing project.

Cat 

 

 

Boo! Frame

Today I wanted to share a cute Halloween frame I made. 

This little art piece was based on a project I learned about at the Little Blue House, the float art frames. 
My twist was that I used tiny beads(not micro) instead of buttons an I used a Cricut die cut for the tree and grass.  You can use the die cut just as a guideline for your buttons or beads but I wanted to keep the tree base so I attached the die cut to the glass. Then I adhered the beads on top with Glossy Accents.


Here’s a close- up of the beads:

 

Well, I loved making that one so much that I made another on but used bits of paper to fill in the larger frame.

Try these and come up with your own artwork.  Just think of the possibilities for Christmas. Gift giving ideas too!

Thanks for stopping by!

Cat

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