A tiny bit of Paris ...

One of the trade show booths I worked on this year showcased a Parisian Boutique theme and I made two mini Eiffel Towers for it (I shared the other one earlier in the month). The towers stand at about 3 feet. Remember my swooning over Cuttlebug embossing folders in a previous post. This project is a big reason why I shout their merits from the hill tops. Because the pieces to this tower were so large, they could not be run through a Big Shot. So after trying everything I could think of from using a rolling pin to smacking an embossing folder with a meat tenderizer I went old school and used a stylus and a Sizzix texture plate to do the embossing by hand. It took forever and was much like shooting in the dark as I could not see the texture plate and was primarily embossing by feel on very thick metallic cardstock.

The butterflies were cut from metallic vellum with a Stampin' UP! die and the bling is from Michael's Reminisce line.

Thanks for looking,

CarrieAnne

A Balancing Act ...

Here is the second set of hat boxes I mentioned in my last post. I actually have these out in my home as Christmas decorations now. I like the incorporation of the pink, as a not so traditional Christmas color.

The top green box is embellished with Quickutz flourish die cuts and a few highlighting bits of bling. The red cardstock on the lid is heavy weight 110lb that comes embossed with columns on it.

The middle pink box incorporates a variety of heart punches in several sizes and shapes. The rows of white pearls and the individual pink pearls are from Michael's Reminisce line.

As in the previous set of stacking boxes the bottom box is my favorite. I once again used the red column embossed cardstock for the lid, but this time added a strip of smooth red embossed with the Cuttlebug Pin dot folder. The flowers were cut with the Cricut and I added different sized red bling bits for the centers. I really liked the contrast of the pink on the red for the flowers.

I am torn as to whether or not to gift these little guys or hang on to them with the rationalization that they could be used for Valentine's Day decor. Choices, choices!

Thanks for looking,

CarrieAnne

Box on top of Box on top of Box

Today and tomorrow I will be sharing with you the last of my trade show projects for this year. This is the first of two stacks of hat boxes that I made. The boxes were your run of the mill paper mache containers from Michaels. Because the larger containers could not be covered in 12x12 sheets I used parent sheet cuts to prevent myself from having to deal with messy seams. Parent sheets are extra large cuts of paper (the size the mills cut before chopping it down to 12x12 for retail) and they are super fun to work with as they expand your options considerably.
The top white box is really a combination of punches that I cut and pieced to make the art deco flourish. I used a scallop punch for the lid border strip and then used the same punch again to get the tiny circles in tan for the flourish embellishment.

The middle mettallic blue box is covered in 3/4 inch ovals I cut with my Cricut and a paper bow I made using two strips of paper.

The bottom pink box is my favorite. I actually used the spiral ornament die from Sizzix to make the rolled flowers. It was a super quick method for making so many and making them somewhat uniform in size. I ran the spirals through the Cuttlebug in a flourish embossing folder and then inked them for a bit of interest. I punched a number of five petal flowers out and cut them apart for the green leaves. The pattern on the pink portion of the box was created by crossing 1/8 pink strips. I used the canvas textured side of the cardstock for the base of the bottom box and the smooth side of the paper for the strips for added contrast. I then glued the pearls on by hand.

On all of the hatboxes I used a combination of red line tape and Beacon Adhesives to get everything to stay together.

Now that the boxes are done their trade show duties I think I will fill them with something yummy and give them to the girls' teachers for holiday gifts with a nice ribbon and bow on top.

Thanks for looking,

CarrieAnne

Bigger is Better ...

The only thing I love more than a shaped card, is a jumbo shaped card. I came across some very large envelopes (8x8) and had been wondering what I could do with them. This gift card (pun intended :) is 7 3/4 x 6 1/4 and is perfect for such a large envelope. I traced the shadow layer onto folded black cardstock to create the card with a hinge at the top.

I designed it for The Pink Stamper's challenge this week. We were to use 2 shades of blue, 2 shades of pink, and black in one project. The gift package stack is from the Winter Frolic Cricut Cartridge. I used a combination of piercing, embossing, inking, and punches to create the embellishments. The holly is created by my cutting and grouping individual pearls with leaf punches. The light blue package is dry embossed with the Cuttlebug Victorian folder. The white stripes on the dark blue package were dry embossed with the Cuttlebug Pindot folder. The "Happy Holidays" stamp is from Stampin' UP!

We have been having dreadful weather so I ran outside to snap a photo really quick and noticed a piece of scrap paper in the image! How frustrating and now its pouring again, perhaps I can get a better image later.

Thanks for looking,

CarrieAnne

Zero Calorie Ribbon Candy

In finishing my holiday decorations I needed a little something extra for my buffet table. A bit of ribbon candy in a crystal candy dish would be perfect, but I faced one little problem. Since having the baby I have been working really hard at getting my not-so J.Lo posterior back and a big bowl of ribbon candy tempting me every time I rounded the corner was not going to help me reach my skinny jeans goals. Zero calorie paper ribbon candy, however posed absolutely no threat.

My love for metallic cardstock is once again apparent as I cut several different colors into two inch strips. I then ran two rows of red line tape on each side of the carstock and covered the tape in coordinating microglitter from Stampendous. To get the true ribbon candy shape I then sprayed the paper with water (the glitter doesn't come off) and folded it back and forth. I placed the folded paper between two heavy soup cans and let the paper dry over night. This wetting and drying process does a pretty good job of creating the right shape, but a few glue dots were used on particularly rebellious pieces. These also make great Christmas tree decorations when you thread a string through the middle, and they are a great craft for the kids (minus the glitter if you aren't feeling overly vacuumy).

Thanks for looking,

CarrieAnne

Tickling the Ivories ...

This is a picture of our youngest daughter Maddie (about 15 months in this shot) at our local children's museum. What is neat about this photo is that she heard the music coming from the piano first and was obviously trying to follow it. When the child who had been "playing" the music stopped Maddie was visibly confused and began trying other things to replicate the sound. She actually ran into the piano accidentally and this "bumping" created the noise she was looking for. It was practically impossible to get her to stop pounding this little piano to death afterward.

This is a simple and quick layout I made from an older sketch at The Scrappiest's blog. I have found in my newborn induced sleep deprived state that sketch's sure do help jump start the creativity. The paper is a mix of Stampin' UP! and Crate. The tile embellishments are Chatterbox. I added a paper pierced border around the circles and the baubles and buttons are miscellaneous items from my stash. For some reason I normally find layouts with circles a bit intimidating so I was glad to try something a bit out of my comfort zone.

Thanks for looking!

CarrieAnne

From our House to Yours ...

This is a Christmas Card I made for my uncle. The inside reads "From our House to Yours, Happy Holidays." As the snowman is made with a Martha Stewart punch that I cut apart and embellished, I am entering the card in two challenges that require punches. The challenge at Paper Pretties and the one at Totally Paper Crafts.

The scalloped circle base of the card and the white inner circle were made with Nestabilities. I then used my piercer to create the border around the white circle and a Cuttlebug Embossing folder to add the pindots.

The house is from the Jolly Holidays Cricut Lite Cartridge. I added details like the curtains (I used the Martha Stewart Hydrangea punch and cut the flowers apart) and the door knob which were not on the cartridge. The patterned paper is from Stampin' UP and the chunky glitter I used to replicate snow is JoAnn Essentials. The little snowman is a Martha Stewart punch and I added the hat, buttons, arms and scarf to jazz him up a bit.

Our goal is to get some family photos taken tomorrow so hopefully I will have some new pictures to scrap next week of holiday happiness. Though with 4 kids under 8 there is a strong likelihood the photos could reveal holiday snarkiness as well. Any tips on how to get all four kids to smile with their eyes open at the same time?

Thanks for looking and have a great weekend!

CarrieAnne

Grass ... its whats for Dinner

I had these pictures of my second oldest daughter developed over a year ago. They have just been sitting on my scrap table saying - scrap me, scrap me (for blackmail in the future if nothing else). This week's sketch from Sketchy Thursdays motivated me to get them on a page and safely into an album.

When we lived in the Netherlands, Bella was fascinated by how really, really bright the vegetation was. Every time I put her down at a park or in our back yard she went right to eating the grass. It didn't seem to matter what I did or how many times I cleaned her hands off. As soon as I stepped back to take a picture, the grass went right back in her mouth.

I consoled myself by seeing it as her fascination with the world around her. Though she has stopped treating the environment as her own personal snack pantry, she is still amazed by vibrancy, color and nature - and I LOVE that about her.

The patterned paper is Stampin' UP!, the pearls are Reminisce, the buttons and ribbon are from my stash. The mist is from Tattered Angels and is their Starfish color. The title is made from a Crate Paper "Lillian" alphabet.

I made the toad stools by cutting apart and layering the Toadstool on the Cindy Loo Cartridge. I used the border function and then manipulated the shapes to get the layered affect I wanted. I used a Crafter's Workshop template to guide my piercing and embossed the trunks of the mushrooms with the Victorian folder from Cuttlebug. I think inked them with Versamark.

Thanks for looking,

CarrieAnne

Cardmaking with Scraps

Before I clean up from making a scrapbook page I normally try to squeeze a card out from the scraps. Often times I even mimic the newly created page's layout so that the card comes together super quick.

Here is a little note card I made for a friend of mine with a new baby, using the remnants from Reid's layout a few weeks ago. Sorry for the shadows in the picture, the weather has been dreadful outside and I had to take the photo indoors.

Thanks for looking,

CarrieAnne

Puresonally...

If your holiday season is anything like mine, it passes by in a blur and only weeks after it is over do you realize that it is gone. Between the new baby and spreading holiday cheer, my poor craft room has been missing me. I have a pile of projects from trade shows this year that I have not yet posted so I thought I would use my December posts to do so.

I am not sure if it is considered proper etiquette or not to admit it, but I love this little blue clutch. I made the pattern from scratch, sketching and cutting out different mock ups until I achieved the right size and dimension. After I cut the blue cardstock out, I lined it with Basic Grey patterned paper and then wet the entire template pretty thoroughly with a spray bottle of water. I then clipped the top together with large binder clips and let it dry overnight to achieve the overall shape and rounded bottom a real clutch bag would have.

The chandelier is from the Home Decor Cricut cartridge. The picture does not show it well, but it is cut from a very pretty glossy white 110 pound cardstock. I individually glued the bling bits on with Beacon Adhesive. The silver "frame" of the purse and clasps are from metallic silver cardstock and the purse actually opens and closes by manipulating the jeweled brads.

The sides consist of accordion folded pleats that prevent anything from falling out and I think I could easily fit a few dollars, a lipstick and a mirror it in with no worries. I am hoping for an opportunity to use it in real life, because it is just so darn cute in person.

Thanks for looking,

CarrieAnne

Our Little Baby Boy

Here are some of the first pictures of little Reid (he is only two days old here). There was beautiful light streaming in my bedroom window after bringing him home from his first well baby check up. I placed the car seat on my hope chest and got a few sweet pictures of him sleeping.

I used this sketch over at Sketchy Thursdays to whip together this layout quickly (as I have rediscovered - scrapbooking time never seems to make the baby's to due list!)

It was very surreal putting together a little boy's layout for the first time. After 8 years of pink frilly princesses, I wasn't quite sure where to start. The paper is a combination of Upsy Daisy Designs and K & Company. The little elephants were so cute I had to cut them out and mount them on pop dots. The flowers are Prima, the trim, button and pearls are from my scrap bin.

Thanks for looking,

CarrieAnne

Papercrafting Consignment Sale starts on Monday!

Two posts in one day - it is a record! I just wanted to take a minute to invite any of my friends and blog readers who might be in my area to my semi-annual paper crafting consignment sale which begins on Monday. The shopping is fabulous and meeting new scrappers is also great.

Here is the info:

The Savvy Scrapper Scrapbooking (Paper Crafting) Consignment Sale

Dates: Monday, November 8th - Tuesday, November 9th

Open to the Public:
Monday: 9pm-11pm
Tuesday: 8:30am - 7pm

Half Off Sale: Tuesday: 8-10pm

Location:
Mountain View Community Center
3400 Sandy Plains Road
Marietta, GA 30066


Come and Shop one of the largest scrapbooking, rubber stamping and paper crafting consignment sales in the Southeast. Our inventory includes over 10,000 items at clearance like prices from 50+ consignors.

From die cutting machines like the Cricut to Stampin' UP! stamps and Creative Memories' Albums the Savvy Scrapper sells anything and everything scrapbooking, rubber stamping and paper crafting related.

Payment:
Cash and Check (with valid photo ID) will be accepted.

NO CREDIT OR DEBIT CARDS!

Many items will be reduced 50 percent on Tuesday Evening.
All sales are final. No returns!

Restrictions: Due to the Delicate Nature of the Items being sold, children are not permitted at the sale. No strollers - infants in front packs or slings only.

CONTACT INFORMATION:
Contact name: CarrieAnne DeLoach
Phone: 678-993-5028
Email: thesavvyscrapperconsignmentsale@live.com

A blustery day ...

In the past few days, our dreamy Indian Summer has most definitely subsided into a blustery 100 Acre Woods like Fall. The swirling leaves and drizzle has reminded me of the the daily rain and grayness we experienced when we lived in Rotterdam, Netherlands. We lived there without a car and with a fridge the size of a happy meal box. Everyday my two girls and I would brave the weather to visit the cheese shop, bread store, butcher and grocer. I often felt that Bella (who was only 7 months at the time) thought we were nuts braving that weather for our daily essentials. I took this picture of her incredulity one day before heading out and thought this week was a great time to do something with it.

I love a layout with clean lines and detailed journaling. For this 8x8 I used Imaginisce Papers and a JoAnn Essentials metal phrase for the Title.

The lady with the baby carriage is a die cut I embellished from the Cricut New Arrivals cartridge. Some paint on the edges of the photo, the buckle, the love charm, and the background paper add depth, while I created dimension by paper piercing the dotted circles in the strip backing the title.

Thanks for looking and Stay Warm!

CarrieAnne

And We are Back ....

I know I said I was going to post a layout with our newest addition as my first project "back," but after the wonderful outpouring of love and kindness from our friends and family I thought I should make some thank you cards and post those first.

These are 3x3 cards which are super cute and easy to make, as well as, being perfect for using up the overflowing box of scraps which haunts my workspace. When making a bunch of the same item, I like being able to mix up the color palette and using scraps is perfect for this.

The bird and branch are an adorable Stampin' UP! punch. I used the Spellbinders' Nestabilities long scallop rectangle for the folding card portion and a Stampin' UP! stamp for the "so grateful for" expression. The Victorian Scroll Cuttlebug folder was then used to emboss the blue base. These came together super quick which was nice, because I had over 50 to make.

So my goal for Monday is a layout of Reid in his first few days!

Thanks for looking,
CarrieAnne

We interrupt your regularly scheduled project post to announce ....

I hate to be a party pooper, but I will be taking a short break from posting projects as I gave birth to a beautiful baby boy on Wednesday, September 22nd!

I hope to do a layout or two with his first photos soon.

Have a great weekend,

CarrieAnne

Family Traditions

My father was huge on family traditions growing up (enter Fiddler on the Roof soundtrack here). Whether it was having custard pie for breakfast on holidays (which included his birthday :) or hanging up Christmas ornaments in a certain order - tradition was important. As a military family that moved around a lot it centered us and helped us to build strong bonds that my siblings and I still enjoy to this day.

In my married family, the Florida Gators (especially the football team - Tebow we miss you!) are a BIG deal. So each year my husband and I dress ourselves and the kids up in our Gator gear and head to a local park to take a family photo. We than take a nature walk and treat the kids to a special snack.

I love pulling out the photos and comparing them from year to year, especially as we add new family members.

I decided to scrap last year's photo for Harmonie's monthly sketch challenge. The product used is primarily Pebbles, with a bit of Chatterbox and miscellaneous stash thrown in.

The polka dot on the blue mat is done with the Swiss Dot Cuttlebug Embossing folder. I then just sanded the top a bit to get the white core of the patterned paper to show through. For those who don't want to invest in spendy two toned papers - this is a cheap fix, especially when you use remnants from your scrap box.

Thanks for looking,

CarrieAnne

Box inside of box, inside of box.

When I was a little girl my dad brought me back a set of stacking dolls from one of his many trips. I still have them to this day, and now my own girls marvel at how fun it is to open the ever tinier little dolls in the set.

Stacking dolls or matryoshkas as I learned they are called in Russian (the things Google can teach you) are also becoming quite the hit in the paper crafting world. Hero Arts, Stampin' UP!, Buzz and Bloom, and Cricut have all come out with nesting doll themed products in the past year or so.

I made this set of cards from a coloring page in one of my girl's craft stash. I simply traced the outline, and then increased or decreased the size to get the three I needed. I then used circle, heart and flower punches to add details or just sketched pieces and cut them out. Cuttlebug folders were used to add depth and interest as was Jenni Bowlin paper, pinking shears, and a paper piercer, which was used to pierce the outline around each doll.

Thanks for looking,

CarrieAnne

Whoo Loves You?

Even though my blog has only been up and running for a month or so, it is probably obvious to you by now that I LOVE shaped cards. I have had the two Disney Princess Cartridges in my possession for quite some time now, but had failed to do anything with them (Horrible - I know). So I decided that I would either have to use them or sell them at my semi-annual scrapbooking consignment sale (My personal rule is if it doesn't a least get shuffled around the scrap space once year - out the door it goes).

When I saw this cute little owl in the Sleeping Beauty section it was instant inspiration (and relief - my hoarding instinct was thrilled that I could rationalize holding onto these carts for another year!)

The "Happily Ever After" Cartridge, does not have a card making feature, so I cut the owl once and then traced it onto folded brown cardstock so the card opens from left to right. I then just cut the owl out by hand. I ran the original single layer owl through the Cuttlebug with a herringbone designed folder and cut out different sections to add dimension and depth. The stomach is created from rows of a Stampin' UP! border punch, punched from Basic Grey's "Urban Prairie Paper." The heart was cut from an old school original's Sizzix die and run through the Cuttlebug in the Swiss Dot folder.

The interior of the eyes are blue dew drops that I obtained from the Robin's Nest. Their baubles come in a variety of amazing sizes, shapes, and colors so if you are looking for something a bit different check them out.

Thanks for looking,

CarrieAnne

Tweet Heart

I know it is not a newly released product, but I love Basic Grey's "Urban Prairie" Collection and just had to share this project I made earlier in the year. I cut the two love birds out a number of times from BG's "Meadow" Patterned Paper and then layered them with glue dots for dimension. The heart inside the cage and the cage itself were cut with the Cricut. The heart is connected to the birds with adhesive and the heart is connected to the cage with a bead laden hat pin.

It is hard to see in the photo but the white paper is 110 pound white glossy which adds the structure this type of project really needs in order to be free standing and durable.

As the side view shot shows, the cage is cut and layered 6 times, with the center portion of bars removed except for the first and last layers so the birds had somewhere to hang. I plan on using this for a Valentine's Day decoration as like it to much to giveaway!

Thanks for looking,

CarrieAnne

Nothing, but Blue Skies

I am almost done scrapping our pictures from LAST year's family vacation. This means there is little hope for this year's photos with a new baby and what I am sure to be innumerable rolls of pictures of his tiny cuteness just days away. My girls are sitting on top of Stone Mountain here in Northern Georgia or rather Bella and Victoria are hopelessly attempting to keep Maddie from running off Stone Mountain while they pose for this photo.

I enjoy "fussy cutting" or cutting out shapes, images and designs from patterned paper. Lots of times when I am watching my favorite show (Yes, that would be Bones - for those who know me best) I cut out designs to be used on future layouts and cards. I hand cut all of the flowers and vines multiple times from 7Gypsies paper and then layered and adhered them with a variety of adhesives to add dimension. The fabric covered brad is also 7Gypsies, and the rub-on title from My Mind's Eye. The Birds are actually transparent stickers from Glitz Designs that I backed with transparency first and then trimmed around so they too could be popped up with a dimensional glue without risk of sticking to the page awkwardly.

In order to have it appear as though the birds in the upper left and right are actually flying I cut their wings off and reapplied them with the transparency as reinforcement behind them to add structure.

Thanks for looking,

CarrieAnne

Flutter bye-bye

The warm fragrances and temperatures of Summer are rapidly fading here in Northern Georgia. I have - through no efforts of my own - a beautiful array of hydrangeas and impatiens in my front yard and they attract the most amazing butterflies. I thought I would share this card that celebrates the last visages of spring - before we enter the Fall rainy season.

As a Northerner by birth and heritage, I refer to this time as Monsoon season, I never knew prior to moving here that the South could get so much icky, weather!

This butterfly shaped card is hinged at the top and was cut with my Cricut using the "A Child's Year" cartridge. This is one of my favorite cartridges and I find new uses for it each week. The butterfly was than embossed with a Cuttlebug flourish folder and my Big Shot.

The sentiment is from Crafty Secrets (I love their clear Vintage stamps - their images are amazing), the patterned paper is BoBunny, the pebbles are Stamping Bella and the hat pin and other various items are either embellishments I made myself or from the scrap bin.

The brown flower is actually made from a 5 petal punch in which the petals are overlapped and the bottom snipped off to provide a flat surface to apply a glue dot. I then sprayed the cardstock lightly with water to make the paper malleable and rolled the petals back with a stylus. I repeated the process for the inner flower made of patterned paper, but did not cover as many petals in the overlapping step.

Thanks for looking,

CarrieAnne

Backpack, Backpack

Okay, perhaps it was not kind of me to get that heinous refrain from Dora the Explorer roaming around in your head. One of the things I looked forward to the most each new school year was shopping for new school supplies with my parents, especially for that cool new backpack.

I designed this backpack to be life sized (to fit my 5 year old). In order to do so I had to work with a parent sheet of paper. These are jumbo sheets 26x40 inches that can sometimes be found in art stores, but most certainly can be ordered directly from paper mills. These added inches allow you to do so much more with 3dimensional art.

I used a variety of QuicKutz dies to do the flourishes, and the Stampin' UP! Flutterby embosslit for the butterflies. I also embossed the side pockets by hand using a Stampin'UP! textured plate and the border is a Stampin' UP! punch. The tiny dots are the negative circles punched out from the scalloped border. I think I counted over 500 used on this project. They, and the flourishes were glued on with Beacon Adhesive's Zip Dry and a toothpick. It took hours and hours to get those puppies on there! I wanted it to be extra special for a CHA booth though, and now I can gift it to one of the girls' teachers at the end of the year.

The front flap also opens and closes with the aid of a magnet and the rear back straps are also embellished with butterflies and scallops. I really loved this combination of colors and think I will try to do a layout with yellow, green and white in it soon.

Thanks for looking,

CarrieAnne