File Folder Swap

So, you may remember the File Folder I received a bit ago: File Folder Swap
This is my complete File Folder:

Among the possible Themes for the Folder, my partner made a request for a Christmas Tracking folder. Some of the things she was wanting were a way to list the gifts she has bought, gifts to buy, and a place to keep the receipts. I loved this idea and decided that would be the theme.
The front of the folder. I used Graphic 45 paper (I know my partner said she loved them but wasn't currently "into" them, but this time of year has a limited selected of Christmas papers, plus these did match what I had in mind.) The Santa image is from a punch out page, layered onto a red damask background. I used Prima flowers that I glittered with Stickles from Ranger. The flourishes are made with iron-on rhinestones that I hand placed and glued. I also used the Stickles to randomly accent a few of the designs on the background. All edges throughout the entire folder were inked with Cat's Eye Chalk ink in Dark Brown and roughed up with a cardboard nail file.A slightly different view as I open the folder. I didn't use a lot of dimension on the folder since she will probably keep this nearby or use it frequently.

This is the inside. Again, Graphic 45 paper for the two greens. But I also used Bazill paper. I needed lined paper and found this beautiful Family Page, that I cut up for the lines, and used the blank back side for the solid color. I also randomly glittered with the Stickles on the backgrounds again and inked the edging with Cat's Eye Chalk in dark brown.
I did not put any titling on the folder or the pockets or the pages because everyone is different. Personally, I would use this to list the gifts I needed to buy and the gifts I've bought; BUT my partner may have a different need as she listed a few things she would like to track, such as her Christmas Cards. So I decided not to title them so she could personalize it to her needs.

Now.

Here is where my projects becomes "Different"
I made an expanding folder out of the last two folds. She had mentioned wanting to keep her receipts and after playing with my prototype for a while I realized if I made all the folds just like the first two, the receipts tend to slide out of the top. I hate losing my receipts, or dropping them and having to resort them. So I thought that it would be nice to have a more secure way to keep them.
I cut the parts of the folder off that would have been pockets on the last two folds. The lining and sides are BoBunny paper. I cut a section of the paper out and accordion folded it then attached it to the folder underneath the lining. To ensure that the receipts would stay in the pocket, I attached three small circles of Velcro to the top of the opening. Those receipts aren't going anywhere now!
This is the back of the Folder. This is paper from Cloud 9 Design. Again, some random Stickles for accenting.
This is the back inside of the folder. This paper is from Graphic 45 again. And again, random Stickles for accent.

Like I said, it is different. I really hope that my swap partner likes this!
I know that I will be making one of these for myself as I love having the receipts together with my list and this would be nice to set up on a shelf for each year.
Thanks for visiting!
I hope you like it as well.

Border Flowers

I'm still working on more flowers for the flower swap in which I'm participating.
This time I wanted something a little different.

So what can you do with this:

tacky glue
Martha Stewart border punch
Liquid Glass
little Prima flowers

First: Start by using the Martha Stewart border punch to create this lovely border


Second: Trim away portion of the border, as you like, to create a floral vine


Third: Using the larger of the little Prima flowers, adhere to the punch on top of the flowers already there


Repeat with alternating colors


Fourth: using the smaller of the little Prima flowers, adhere them by layering them, again alternating colors


Finish by adhering small rhinestones to the centers


All five finished floral vines:

You can also use Stickles or Skittles or any other bling of your choice.

Since there were 6 flowers on each vine, this was going to be my third submission for the swap, but it just wasn't enough. Come back tomorrow to see what I made to go with this vine, and soon I'll post a picture of each finished flower set for the swap.

My Goofball!

My daughter has so much personality and is so full of life. I call her a "Goofball" quite frequently because she can be so fun and goofy. I recently printed a small stack of pictures of her posing and being silly, so I have selected a few that I will be scrapping over the next few weeks.


This layout is a stretch for me for many reasons:
First - I don't like pink. I'm not saying I don't care for pink, I'm saying I don't. like. pink. period.
Second - I made a girly page. I'm generally not a girly type of person, so this is definitely not my normal style.
Third - I combined many different layers and techniques.


I used the Martha Stewart Punch Around the Page Ribbon Loop punchfor a border on the pink paper. The title is cut from the Cuttin Up cartridge, although the heart comes from the Doodlecharms cartridge.
The scalloped circle is from the Mini Monograms cartridge. Prima flowers (discontinued) with colored skittle centers and stickled petals.


This closeup shows some of the rhinestones I used. They were a halloween clearance item a Michaels that I got for about 25 cents. I also used Hot Fix rhinestones on the humps of the scallop for additional bling.


I wanted a little dimension on the page to make the page flow visually so I used popdots to raise up the heart, "G", "F", and "A" and shifted some of the flowers for height variations.



This is a closeup of the heart. I layered three hearts of paper and topped them with an embossed heart from the plastic cut from the clamshells in which the Cricut cartridges are packed. I believe this is the Cuttlebug embossing folder "Swiss Dots".

This will also be entered into a Cricut Circle Blog Challenge for this week which require a Love Note, embossing, heart, and 2+ Cricut cuts.


Thanks for looking and I hope you enjoyed!

Be Mine

I don't care for strawberries, so the traditional chocolate covered strawberry is not something I wish to receive for Valentine's Day. However, I heard mention of a delicious concoction called strawberry marshmallows, and vaguely remember someone mentioning that they had dipped them in chocolate. Sounds yummy!
Unfortunately I don't like most of the candy chocolate coating and I didn't have any of my good stuff in the pantry. So, quick thinker that I am, I grabbed a can of chocolate frosting and proceded to create my own version. They are delicious!




I used standard popsicle sticks and inserted them into the marshmallows (easy!), then stirred up the frosting so that it was more fluid and stuck the marshmallow into the frosting and twisted until I was happy with the amount of frosting on the marshmallow.




Then I arranged them in a cute glass jar with tissue paper to keep them secure.
The Label is created with the Cricut Machine and the Fabulous Finds and Songbird cartridges. Three ovals were cut from Fabulous Finds in chocolate and pink paper from Bazzil. The title was cut in white for both the shadow and the script. I colored the shadow with CTMH ink Hollyhock and layered. The flower is from Prima and the stone center is from a pack of cell phone bling that I had left over from another project.

Now, what shall I do with this project?

First layout in a Looonnnggg Time!

This is a layout I created after being inspired by a gallery of another scrapbooker. There are a few special things about this layout.
1 - This is my beautiful daughter
2 - This is being submitted to the Circle Blog weekly contest
3 - This is the first layout I have done in 2-3 years!
4 - This is not my typical style
5 - This is now my typical style

I used a printed paper from the Wild Saffron paper pack by K & Company, Prima flowers with Skittle centers and stickled petals, heat-set adhesive rhinestones, and Home Decor cartridge which came with my Cricut Expression machine. All the rhinestones don't fully show in the photograph, but they are lovely in person. From the HD cartridge, I cut several of the flourished to help layer and embellish the printed paper.

I truly, truly enjoyed making this layout. I have been unable to scrapbook pictures for a very long time and I finally feel unblocked! Hopefully, this is a sign of things to come. I have already printed several more pictures that I want to scrap.


(psst, no my scrap room isn't finished yet...)