Southern Breezes

HAPPY 4th OF JULY!!!

DH and I are on a mission today  - to try and locate those really neat, old timey "sparklers" that everyone should wave around and draw circles in the air with on July 4th.  The ones that are a staple for passing time with in your own backyard (or the neighbors) while waiting for the "official" town fireworks to begin.  The ones you try to write your full name with before it fizzles out, or more importantly, before the other kids get their names finished. The only thing better than those silver goodies were the ones that sparkled in color! Wow!! Technology is amazing <lol>

Much to my dismay we were informed that sparklers are outlawed in this state!!!  Sparklers??? Outlawed?? Tell me it ain't so! Firecrackers, yes, but sparklers?? I did some searching online and found how to make my own sparklers.  Did I mention how amazing modern technology is <hee, hee>  Guess I could take that route if all else fails **wink, wink** 

I still can't believe sparkelrs are outlawed in this state!! Granted, you can burn your hand if you grab the wire either while the sparkler is sparkling or immediately after  it fizzles out, BUT, if you aren't old enough, or capable enough to understand this concept then please give your sparklers to someone who is.  And to those who ARE old enough, and capable enough to understand this, then for goodness sake DO NOT give sparklers to those previously mentioned!! Give them to those of us who still remember how fun and magical sparklers can be and are willing to brave the hazards of playing with them.  And if we happen to burn ourselves?? Then, well, we have no one to blame but ourselves.

I'll step down from my soapbox now -  we have to get on the road in search of sparklers. <big grin>

While you're enjoying family and friends, the parties, picnics, fireworks or however you celebrate Independence Day, keep an eye out for those items used in some way other than they were intended and be sure to get a picture!  That picture will come in handy for this Saturday's Scrapbook Cafe Challenge, which is going to be "Mother is the Necessity of Invention" - are you curious?? Drop by here at 8 P.M.  to get the rest of the details!!

Have a wonderful 4th of July and a fantastic holiday weekend, with or without sparklers!! 

Mini Pocket Scrapbook challenge....

It's Thursday so that means it's time to reveal who won the Scrapbook Cafe's Saturday Night Challenge!!  The last challenge was designedy Robyn Mozeika, the Scrapbook Cafe's Guest Designer for July. 

Robyn's challenge was to create a Mini Pocket Scrapbook.  Somehow I did manage to play along with Robyn's challenge, even though the last three days I have spent way too much time with "the other man in my life" - which, in my case, means my doctor <LOL>.  At least Wednesday's procedure included some very good drugs that kept me in la-la land until the evening. 

 

I used paper from the Fancy Pants "Celebrate" line to make the basic mini book. The tags were cut with the Cricut Expression using the Plantin Schoolbook cartridge and Bazzill Basic card stock.  Rub-ons from Dasiy Ds; Kaiser paper flowers; Basic Grey button and silver brad from stash; ribbon from stash and mini metal flower tabs from Making Memories.

Now let's check out the entries....

Corina

Shelia

Colleen

And the winner is....Corina!!! Congratulations!!!

Now the job of deciding who will be the next Scrapbook Cafe Guest Designer is facing the Senior Design Team members! Believe me, this is not going to be an easy task!  Watch for that announcement next week!

This coming weekend will be a busy, busy holiday weekend for everyone so the Scrapbook Cafe Saturday Night Challenge is  going to be simple and fun. Be here Saturday night at 8 P.M. for all the details!!

Sneak Peek

If anyone is interested in learning how to use those really nifty, neat Nestabilities, I will be teaching a class on Sunday, July 20, at the Scrapbook Cafe.  The class will consist of making 5 different cards, using 5 different sets of Nesties.  Should be lots of fun!

Today I thought I'd show you a tiny little peek at one of the cards we will be making....

This card can be made as either a photo holder, as shown here, or as an invitation or announcement card. 

Papers for this card are from the new Basic Grey Euphoria line - absolutely gorgeous papers!!! A "must have" for any BG lover!

The photo for this card is cut 3.5 x 3.5. These are great little cards for yourself or to give as gifts to grandparents or friends.

The class kit includes all the papers needed for the cards, plus ribbons and embellishments. 

If you are interested in taking the class, please stop by the Scrapbook Cafe, or contact Angela, to register.

**Don't forget - you have until tonight to get your entry submitted for the Saturday Night Challenge.  Be sure to post a link to your entry in the comment section of this blog and then check back tomorrow to see who the winner is!**

My "spark"

Heather's "spark" for last Friday was to make something red, and blue.  This was a little treat box I have been wanting to decorate for a long time but never managed to get around to doing it.

Recognize the box Heather??  It was part of one of our  Cocoa Dasiy kits from a few months ago.  Gotta love those kits!!! SO much cool stuff in them!! I f you haven't checked them out you need to :)

The box was covered with paper from a 2002 pack of Amerciana papers by Provo Craft. 2002!!! I didn't even know it was hiding among my goodies!  I rediscovered it while reorganizing my crafty space last week! <lol>  It was amazing what all I found **wink, wink**  Anyway, I covered the sides of the bottom and the top of the lid with the same navy blue paper with white stars. After sanding the edges of both, I decided to leave them the way they were - I liked the "simple" look of it. 

Next, I took pieces of three different red and white ribbons,  folded in half, then secured them with a red metal star brad.  This was then adhered to the top of the star lid.  It's a very simple little box, but I like it. 

 Sometimes you just need to make something simple.

I wanted a little bit of sparkle on the box so I added some "fireworks" with a Sakura silver glitter pen.

 

So there's my "spark"!!

Supplies include: Provo Craft American paper; ribbon and brad from stash; Sakura silver glitter pen.

**Hope you guys have been working on the Saturday Night Challenge <wink>.  You still have lots of time to get it finished and posted to the comment section on this blog.  Deadline is Wednesday evening with the winner being posted Thursday. "

Scrapbook Cafe Saturday Night Challenge #18

Tonight we are doing our very first Saturday Night Challenge created by our very first Guest Designer, Robyn Mozeika. 

Robyn lives in the northern part of NJ with her husband, three children and their pet dog.  Besides being kept busy with all the activities centered around her family, Robyn is also an active member of her church and is a Girl Scout leader.  And she still finds time to scrap!!!  She said her newest "addiction" has become these Saturday Night Challenges! Are we ever glad of that!! <lol>  She has done such amazing and inspirational work with practically every challenge we have posted over the past few months.

Robyn's challenge for tonight is a mini pocket scrapbook. 

Supplies needed for tonight's challenge are: 1 sheet 12x12" double-sided patterned paper; 1 piece of solid white paper (6"x 2 1/8"); adhesive; 1 -1/4 inch circle punch; stapler; and embellishments of your choice.

Here are some pictures of tonight's challenge.......

 

 

Please visit Robyn's website for more pictures and a complete tutorial for tonight's challenge. 

Thanks Robyn for a great challenge!!

Once you have your project completed post a link in the comment section of this blog or send it to me via email. 

The deadline for this challenge is Wednesday and the name of the winner will be posted on Thursday.  Good luck to everyone!! Can't wait to see all the neat entries.  As always, ANYONE, ANYWHERE can play and everyone who participates has a chance to become our next Guest Designer!

 

 

 

Shiver Me Timbers...

Today is the day for my grand nephew's pirate themed birthday party!  Since we weren't  able to be there I can't wait to see the pictures. Hope he has a fabtastic time!!

On Wednesday I posted a Pirate mini album that I had made so my niece can scrap his birthday party.  So what is a mini album without the coordinating birthday card ! <lol>

The base card is Stampin Up! card stock and the other papers and letters are left over pieces from the Rusty Pickle album kit from the Scrapbook Cafe.  The pirate ship and skull and cross bones were cut with the Disney "Ahoy Matey" die from Provo Craft. I was a little "iffy" about trying that die in the Sizzix Big Shot, but it worked just fine. The edges of the torn paper and the pirate ship were distressed with Tim Holtz's Walnut Distress Ink. 

Supplies include: Stampin Up! Chocolate Chip, Basic Black and off white paper; Rusty Pickle pirate themed papers and letters; Tim Holtz's Walnut Distress Ink.

Be sure to join us tonight at 8 p.m. for the Scrapbook Cafe Saturday Night Challenge - this will be  a challenge created by our Guest Designer of the Month, Robyn!

A*Muse*A*Palooza challenge

If you haven't checked out the fun and games at the a*muse*a*palooza blog you really should. There's lots of fun and games and challenges going on over the next couple of weeks! 

This fun challenge was posted by Geeta, a certifed A Muse instructor.

Her challenge was to make a pocket card....

• Create a square (4.25x4.25) or 4-bar (3.5x5) pocket card
  
• The card must feature at least one (1) A Muse stamp image

I just realized I must still be in my "red, white and blue mode" <lol>

I used Rusty Pickle paper from the Scrapbook Cafe for the red print background. This red square was cut 4.25 x 4.25 and then adhered to a cream colored base card. The edges were then distressed with Versa Magic's Chesnut Roan ink.

The pocket was made from a scrap piece of blue paper on which I "stitched" the lines with Sakura white gel ink. Two mini brass brads were placed on the upper corners of the pocket. The pocket was also distressed with the Chestnut Roan ink. 

After stamping the sentiment on the pocket I used pop dots to adhere the pocket to the base card for a dimensional look. The two tags inside the pocket were cut using the Cricut Expression and the Plantin Schoolbook cartridge. One tag is 3 1/2 inches and the other is 4 inches.  They are tied with white dotted sheer red ribbon and solid blue grograin ribbon.  The final touch on the tags was also to distress them with the Chestnut Roan ink.

Thanks Geeta for a fun challenge!!

Supplies include: Stampin Up! cream colored paper and white craft ink; Rusty Pickle red print paper; A Muse sentiment stamp; Sakura white gel ink; miscellaneous ribbon, blue paper and mini brads.

Hooray for the Red, White & Blue!!

The Scrapbook Cafe's Saturday Night challenge was to make a project using red, white and blue. This project could be anything - a card, a layout, an alterable or any amazing idea you might come up with <lol>

This was the sample project......

 

Here are the entries for this challenge.  Please visit their blogs to check out their red, white and blue creations!!

Nora Anne

Robyn

Shelia

The winner is......Shelia! Wow! She really stepped this challenge up with so many different items!!  Pinwheels, garlands, coasters, napkin rings and cute little umbrellas for those tall cool drinks!! Congratulations, Shelia - way to go!! 

This Saturday Night's challenge will come to us compliments of our current Guest Designer, Robyn.  Be sure to stop by at 8 p.m. Saturday night to see what Robyn has created!  I think you're going to enjoy it **wink, wink**

Also, an order for special request Nestabilities will be placed next week.  If there are any items you need that are NOT currently in stock at the Scrapbook Cafe please let me know by Monday, June 30.  Thanks!!!

Ahoy Matey!!!

My youngest grand nephew will be having his third birthday this month.  When his mother, my niece, told me the party was going to have a "Pirate" theme I decided to make a mini album for her to add birthday photos to.

The papers and embellishments are all from a Rusty Pickle kit that I purchased at the Scrapbook Cafe.  The inside pages are 6x6 papers from Zutter.  The covers were cut from basic heavy weight chipboard.  After covering the front of the album, I used the Martha Stewart circle cutter to cut a 3 inch circle from the front cover. I then placed the front over the paper for the inside of the cover and cut a matching circle from that.  On the backside of the cover  I adhered a square of clear acrylic paper.  Once this was in place I added the inside paper to the cover. 

The inside cover and facing page were covered with the same paper.  A few embellishments were added.  Throughout the album I tore the edges on the embellishments and then distressed them and the pages with Versa Magic's Chestnut Roan ink.

The circle on the front cover will allow a picture of the birthday boy to be seen when the album is closed.

The corners of these embellishments were left unglued so the corner of a picture can be slid underneath.

 

More pages, more fun embellishments. 

The page on the right side is actually a small black manila folder that holds two large tags for journaling.

The back side of the folder and the facing page.

The right page is three large tags that are glued "end over end" to form a page

The page on the left is the back side of the tags...the lower two thirds of the tags are covered with paper.

And finally...the last two pages. So there you have my grand nephew's Pirate mini album!!

The last step was to punch holes in the covers and pages and add rings.  The holes were punched  with the Crop-a-dile Big Bite.

I hope his my niece enjoys the album and I hope my grand nephew has a super great birthday party!!

Supplies include: Rusty Pickle papers and embellishments; Zutter 6x6 album pages; basic heavy weight chipboard. If you're interested in them, the Rusty Pickle kits are still available at the Scrapbook Cafe.

Today is the final day to get your entry in for the Scapbook Cafe's Saturday Night Challenge!!  The winner will be announced tomorrow!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.......

As I said earlier, I worked with red, white and blue all weekend <LOL>  I had a few left over pieces of the Doodlebug Sugar paper and wanted to use them, plus a new Sizzix die, so this is the result. 

First, I cut the white scalloped oval and then the blue regular oval using the Nestabilities dies and the sugar paper. Over the weekend someone asked me which were Nesties are my favorites and these are the two I like best. They work so well together regardless of the theme of the card or layout.

The snowman was cut using a the Sizzix snowman die - he is SO stinkin' cute! Even the teeny tiny snowflakes were cut with the die. 

The snowman body was cut from Stampin Up! shimmery white paper, the scarf is red Doodlebug Sugar paper.  His buttons, arms  and nose were colored with Stampin Up! markers. With the shiny red scarf and his little twig arms up in the air catching snowflakes - don't you just love him?!?!  Makes me want to run out and play in the snow !! Ok, maybe the heat HAS affected me<lol>  But I LOVE snow!!! Always have, always will.

The snowman was adhered to the blue oval, which was glued to the white oval and then they were glued to the base card made of Stampin Up! red card stock.  Add some ribbon, a sentiment, and voila' - simple, super quick card. 

Supplies include: Stampin Up! red card stock, Only Orange, Basic Black and Chocolate Chip markers; Doodlebug Designs red, white and blue Sugar paper; ribbon from stash.

Tomorrow is the last day to get your entry in for this week's Scrapbook Cafe's Saturday Night Challenge!!! Don't get left out of the fun!  You could be the winner!!