Saturday, October 31, 2009

BOO! HAPPY HALLOWEEN



Don't be afraid of ghouls and goblins; The Dynamic Duo is on the job! 

This is another layout from the Fiskateers Scrap Lift A Thon.  It was a very fun and frugal layout, too, because the supply list was short!  Here's what I used:  4 Recollections eyelets, Lion Brand Fancy Fur, cardstock (black and rust) from the Paper Studio, Tombow tape runner and a few All Night Media pop dots. 

Everything else is from MS PowerPoint.  Yes, that includes the patterned paper blocks, the bat emblem in the corner, the journaling block and the title oval.  Searching MS PowerPoint for the backgrounds and clip art proved to be efficient as well.  I don't have any Halloween themed paper in my stash and worked on this layout fairly late at night.  It took me about 15 mintues to find and print all the images on one sheet of white card stock.  I used my Fiskars 12 inch desktop trimmer to cut out the blocks and my #5 microtip scissors to hand cut the oval shapes.  I used a Making Memories eyelet setter.

I encourage you to investigate everything the internet and your existing programs have to offer--might come in handy late one night!

If your heading out to do the Monster Mash this evening or have alternative plans: have fun, stay safe and take care.  And thanks for visiting the blog!

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

BUMMER!

Welcome back to Traveling Down a Crafty Road!  I have a scrapbook page of my adorable, littlest nephew to share today.  This layout was originally a part of the Scrap lift a thon on the Fiskateers site.  Our nephew, Colton, is the star and he's 5 years old.  He's also not a happy camper!  The journaling is straight from Facebook and reads--"Lesa:  What's up with Colton?  He looks so sad!  Terri:  He wanted them to throw more candy! . . .Colton, Lincoln Highway Days Parade, Nevada, IA  8/29/09".  He is soooooo cute!



Supplies include patterned paper from The Paper Studio by Hobby Lobby, black ink Zig writer, DMC embroidery floss, Making Memories and Colorbok chipboard letters, sandpaper, Fiskars 12" desktop trimmer, Fiskars fingertip craft knife.  Photograph of Colton courtesy of Leanne Farrington.
A little tip for you:  I hand embroidered/sewed the running stitch border.  To make the stitches even, I placed a ruler along the edge of the paper and pierced holes with my needle at even intervals before sewing with floss.

Thanks a bunch for visiting.  I love your comments and read them all.  Please stop by again--LTL

Monday, October 26, 2009

ATC's

Good morning!  Ghosts and ghouls, and probably a few princesses, pirates and super heros will be haunting my street at the end of the week.  In the fun spirit of the holiday, I have a few of my recent ATC's to share.

All Hallow's Jazz




Supplies:  Wausau Paper Gold shimmery card stock, DCWV black textured cardstock sprayed with homemade glittery mist (gold PearlX in hairspray sealed with Krylon matte sealer), Fiskars Threading Water border punch, hand pieced top hat made with DCWV black textured cardstock and orange Stickles, Fiskars 12 inch desk top trimmer, Fiskars #5 Microtip scissors, Fiskars He Said She Said squeeze punch, skeleton image from the Internet, Tombo tape runner, All Night Media pop dots and Fiskars glue dots.  The cane is a toothpick painted with a black Sharpie marker.

Kona




Supplies:  Bazzill magenta textured card stock, Fiskars 12 inch desk top trimmer, Fiskars scalloped decorative scissors, ColorBox Petal Point pigment ink, Lion Brand yarn, Tombo tape runner, Fiskars glue dots and All Night Media pop dots.  The kitty photograph courtesy of Sylvia Brown.

Crow 




Supplies:  DCWV black textured cardstock sprayed with homemade glittery mist (see All Hallow's Eve ATC), hand cut images from the Internet, Stampabilities black pigment ink, Fiskars 12 inch desktop trimmer, Fiskars #5 microtip scissors, Tombo tape runner and All Night Media pop dots. 

These three were really fun to make.  Now I need to stock up on treats, and try not to eat them all, before the big event!

Thank you for visiting Traveling Down a Crafty Road!  Have a creative day!

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

A CONTEST & BLOOMING LACE

Not my contest, but Purple Cows contest!  My friend and fellow Fiskateer, Cristal Hobbs aka Pinky is on the Purple Cows Design Team and alerted me to the huge giveaway that they are having.  Find out more on Pinky's blog http://blueyecicle.blogspot.com/ or the Purple Cows blog sadiepurplecow.blogspot.com/.  As a DT member, Pinky has a chance to win $2000 in cash!!!  Please become a Purple Cow blog follower or a fan on their Facebook Fan Page and tell them Pinky sent you!  Plus, if you follow thru with a project you could win a big time Purple Cows product prize package--4 runners up ($1000 value prize) and a grand prize winner ($5000 value prize).  Now that's a cool contest!  Oh and Pinky has some blog candy to encourage you, too.  Thanks bunches!

Now for a little something crafty.  I'm participating in a homemade flower embellishment swap.  I decided to make ribbon flowers but saw a 50% off sale on seam and hem tape at the fabric store.  I can't resist a bargain so decided to try lace hem facing and this is how they turned out.



I used Wrights 2 inch hem facing and each flower is about 1/2 yard in length.  I basted along one one side.  Then I gathered and tied the thread ends off so it made a circle.  I punched 1 inch card stock circles to put on the back to provide a good spot to add adhesive.  Then I sewed the button to the front, thru the card on the back, with embroidery floss.  The buttons are from La Mode, La Petite, and Blumenthal Lansing.  I think these would look really neat as a pin, sewn onto bedroom throw pillows or on a gift or trinket box.

Thanks so much for dropping in!  Would love to know what kind of flower embellishments you make so leave a comment!



Tuesday, October 20, 2009

AN AUTUMN WREATH & A NEW TOOL

Look what I made for my front porch!



Well, actually we have a front stoop and I hung the wreath on the side wall because it was pretty, and stationary.  I purchased the grapevine wreath, flowers, leaves, and ribbon at Michael's (on sale or with a coupon, Yaaaay!)  The flowers and leaves are hot glued and the bow and streamers are attached with a pipe cleaner.  I also made a hanger for the back with another pipecleaner and hung the wreath from a nail (in the wood trim above the rock) with fishing line.  Here's a closer view.




The hardest part of this project was hanging it because I didn't measure my fishing line first and our smallest ladder  is 8 feet tall!  That ladder doesn't fit on the porch the right way so I felt, and probably looked, like a monkey. 

Making the wreath was a snap because I used my new Fiskars Floral Stem Cutter.  No more wire cutters for me!  That baby cut the floral "bushes" apart with little to no effort.  The individual stems cut like paper.  So much so, I started cutting bunches of 4 or 5 at a time and it was easy!  I did have to adjust some of the leaves to get the stems thru the cutting slot but that was no biggy.  The stem cutter is a table top model, cuts up to 1/2 inch diameter stems, and is covered by the Fiskars limited lifetime warranty.     
NOTE:  I was a lucky monkey and one of a few that "won" this fabulous tool on the Fiskateers site.  My only reward for giving a positive review is the good feeling I get by sharing a great idea with my fellow crafters.   

Hope you enjoyed my wreath!  Happy crafting to you!

Sunday, October 18, 2009

THE SUN DID COME OUT & I'M BACK!

Lil' Orphan Annie promised that the sun would come out tomorrow and it did!  After a wet, soggy, gloomy week, we had the most glorious sunshiny day!  It was a bit cool--appropriate for the season but a bit abrupt!  The weather gurus are promising a little warm up for the week so autumn shouldn't pass us by completely!

I had high hopes of photographing the crafts I had worked on during the gloomy days but I frittered this day away!  Maybe I was just crazy from the sunlight!  It was pretty childish of me but who doesn't like reverting to childhood every now and again?  I am trying out lighting alternatives in the scrap room, though, and shot these cards this evening.



At the beginning of the month we celebrated World Card Making Day.  I made these and a few others to send to Scrapbook Royalty's Cards for Troops campaign.  Please consider joining us in this endeavor.  Scrapbook Royalty will receive cards until November 1st--time is short!  You can check out the details on their blog:  http://scrapbookroyalty.blogspot.com/2009/10/cards-for-troops-update.html
Please keep in mind that the inside of the cards are blank (or have a smallish sentiment) so the soldiers serving us can send their loved ones at home a little note or message of their own.  The whole purpose behind Cards for Troops is to provide an avenue for the troops to send their greetings.

Supplies used include EK Success heart punch, Fiskars All a Flutter punch, Fiskars 12 inch Desktop Trimmer and scraps from the scrap bin.

For those of you who would like to send your personal greetings and thanks to our troops, well, I've been doing a little research and am having a hard time (I know, I can't believe it!).  The best advise I've heard or found so far has been from my own Fiska Sister, Lisa Simpson.  She suggested, after seeing a recruiter on the street and asking--contact your local recruitment office and ask for a name and address.  If you google, "sending thanks to US troops overseas", you will find lots of options to send on line messsages.  Not so personal but still a worthwhile endeavor.

Thank you for visiting Travelingdownacraftyroad@blogspot.com. Send cards or a message if you feel moved to do so.  I have a backlog of crafty items made during the gloomy days to share with you so check back in often.  Leave a comment and sign the guest book at the bottom of the page if you haven't done so, too!

 

Monday, October 12, 2009

FISKATEERS!

Hello, everyone!
It's raining here and I have several craft projects to post--but I want to get good photos of them so stay tuned!  Love the rain after our drought but I think I'm growing gills!  I've got cards, my ATC box, layouts and a sewing thing to post when the weather cooperates for photos. Think the weather is breaking tomorrow.
In the interim, I thought I would share a photo of me at the Fiskars 360 Celebration!  Yes,  Fiskars has been in business for 360 years!  Can you believe that?  Fiskars started in Fiskars, Finland 360 years ago in the steel business.  Their return policy and customer service has no equal in my opinion or knowledge.



It was an honor to attend the Fiskars 360 Birthday Celebration at Epcot in Orlando.  I got to meet a bunch of  my on line friends, all the Lead Fiskateers and some of the home office Fiskars folks.  I met Maxine from WV and watched as she was crowned FOY of 2009 (Fiskateer of the Year for 2009!  YaaaaaaaaY Maxine!).  All I can add is that it was fabulous and it was hot and humid while running around the park doing Scavenger Hunt.  BTW my hair gets a bit wavy/curly in those conditions.

Fiskateers are brand ambassadors for Fiskars products--paper crafing, gardening, sewing, jewelry or floral. If  I didn't list a crafty item (like ceramics, knitting, crotchet, etc.), I didn't do it on purpose because all crafts are represented on Fiskateers.com.

Come join in the fun!  We have a fun, and short, on line crop scheduled for 10/17/09 for Breast Cancer Awarness.  Click the Fiskateer blinkie on the left or go to http://www.fiskateers.com/  and follow the instructions. 
I would love to see and welcome you as a new Fiskateer!

Thursday, October 8, 2009

SO YOU WANNA SCRAPBOOK?

Recently, I've had several conversations with folks interested in scrapbooking but they've never done it.  They want to know the how and why I got into it and what they need to get started.

About six or seven years ago, I attended a home party type crop to benefit a charity.  I created one 12 x 12 page with a 5 x 7 photo, 2 balloon stickers and a metallic gold pen that night.  I was hooked!  I went to Michael's armed with coupons and credit card the very next weekend.  I picked up some mini albums, two cardstock value packs, a package of pens in fall colors and some Thanksgiving stickers.  I was going to knock out a few Christmas gifts!  I got started on them but all of it ended up in a box where it sat until 2007.  I got the box back out and completed those books for Christmas 2007 and have been scrapping ever since.  Scrapping makes me happy!

I started with scissors, pencil, ruler and the few items previously mentioned.  I then added more consumables and a trimmer.  Then I added some decorative scissors and punches and more consumables and a better trimmer and I really could go on and on.  BUT, I'm pretty sure I could go back to the scissors and ruler and make a decent layout.




This is one of my earliest 12 x 12 layouts.  (Not THE earliest because I don't know what happened to the one with the balloons!)  The title and the sand dollar (MS Office clip art) were printed on vellum.  I used a small set of nesting bowls to draw a circle around the sand dollar and the gray card stock mat and cut them out by hand.  I used a pair of deckle edged scissors to cut the title.  The photo, from our 2007 vacation on the lovely island of St Kitts, is triple matted and the journaling was done with a white Sakura gel pen.

How did you get started down your scrappy road and what was in your little kit bag?  I would love to know so please add to the comments.  Thanks so much!  Have a wonderfully creative day!

Saturday, October 3, 2009

MEET THE COFFEE CATS!

Starbucks, Kona and Java came to live with us about 11 years ago.  They got their names when Kona found a coffee bean under the kitchen sideboard and started batting it around.  The vet's office called them the coffee cats on their first visit and they've been the coffee cats ever since.



I put together the layout of my fur babies for a weekly scrap lift challenge that I've been participating in with the Fiskateers.  Cat photography credit goes to our fabulous cat sitter and professional pet photographer, Sylvia Brown.  She is wonderful and life without Sylvia would be difficult for our little family.

I wanted to use coffee themed embellishments but I didn't have any!  What's a scrappy crafter to do?  Make them yourself!  The coffee bean border came first.  This is what I used:





No, this is not a medical tool, ha ha!  This is a stamping tool.  I cut a piece of fun foam into an oval.  I then bent the oval in two and cut a shallow slit down the middle, taking care not to cut it into two, separate pieces.  In order to work with such a small stamp, I stuck it on a craft stick with a mini glue dot.  I practiced a bit on scrap paper.  By varying the amount of ink and pressure, I made the solid and split side coffee bean images with the same foam stamp.  I used Anna Griffin chocolate pigment ink.

The little hearts on the right side are paper scraps stuck to some Dollar Store stickers.  I cut them out and adhered them sticker image down.

The cups are homemade paper piecings.  I found some images that I liked on the Web and copied them to MS Power Point.  Then I resized them, printed them and created the different pieces.  I would share the templates but I sort of destroyed them in the process of creating!  The rising steam tendrils were created with Autumn Leaves Flourishes stamps and white Stampendous pigment ink.  Please note that I printed the photos on matte photo paper to make sure that my pigment ink would work.

Other than scraps of cardstock and bits of patterned paper, I used one sheet of DCWV textured cardstock for the background, Making Memories Alpha Stickers (CATS), Heidi Grace Satin Letter Stickers from the Harvest Row line (Java), Cloud 9 Rub On Alphas, Outdoor line, (Kona), a black Zig writer and a Marvy Uchida gold opaque pen for Java's cup doodle.  This was a frugal layout!

Today is World Card Making Day and I have a scrap table with a few new cards in process.  Hope you are making cards today, too!  Scrapbook Royalty is accepting cards for their Cards for Troops campaign until November 1.  If you would like to help, details are on their site (link is on this blog to your right).

Thanks for looking--and meeting my kitties!  Have a wonderful weekend!


Friday, October 2, 2009

EXCITING NEWS!

Hi, everybody!  Take a look at my sidebar.  Notice anything different?  Right!  Scrapbook News and Review, an online, subscription only magazine, has chosen to publish two of my Artist Trading Cards in their October issue!  I'm over the top excited and bouncing off the walls!  I love this magazine!

Thanks for stopping by!  I'll have crafty stuff tomorrow so please come back.  Enjoy the weekend!