Paper rosettes are all the rage right now.  I’m going to show you an easy way to make your own. 

Here is a list of the supplies you’ll need:

Sizzix Big Shot, Scallop Circle #2 Sizzix Die, Simply Scored Scoring Tool, Designer Series Paper, Sticky Strip, Stampin’ Dimensionals, and any embellishment you would like to use.

1)  cut two pieces of Designer Series Paper to 4″ x 4″

2)  from these two pieces of paper, die-cut two scallop circles from the Circle Scallop #2 die.  (You will end up with part of the smaller scallop circle, too.  Save these pieces!  I’m going to show you a project you can make with them later in the week.)

3)  using the Simply Scored Scoring Tool, follow these steps:

4)  after you have scored both circles, follow these steps:

I was contacted by a new client to make invitations for her son’s first Holy Communion.  Big challenge for me…I realized that I don’t have any religious paraphernalia in my papercrafting supplies.

I always love to take on a new challenge.  I wanted to make sure the card was appropriate for a little boy.  Several of the crucifix stamps that I could find were either too intricate or had lots of flowers and vines on them.

I decided to use a punch to create a cross and print the words “First Holy Communion” instead of trying to find the right stamps.

Here is the final result:

I used the Modern Label punch and put it on top of a thin strip of cardstock. That’s all it took to create the cross. Easy, easy, easy.

I just completed a job for a client who requested “fun” and “different” invitations for a baby shower.  She didn’t want the printed ones that you can order online.  (Woo hoo!)

I emailed her a couple of choices.  The first sample started out just being a “onesie” card, but I thought it needed to be more than that.  I cut the onesie into two pieces.  That way I was able to get two cards from one “onesie” (are you confused yet?!) and there would be more room inside the invitation for the wording.

I also sent her this old stand-by as another choice:

She suggested onesies and a clothesline, so I came up with this, and it was the winner!

So fun to make! 

I have always wanted a “Wizard of Oz” Christmas tree.  (It seems fitting, since I have Wizard of Oz bank checks, a Wizard of Oz wrist watch, a Dorothy key chain, a ruby slipper pillow, the Wizard of Oz Barbie collection, the Wizard of Oz trivia game….you get the idea.)

A few years ago, McDonald’s came out with Madame Alexander Wizard of Oz Happy Meal toys.  I went C.R.A.Z.Y. driving around to all of the McDonald’s within a 15 mile radius to make sure that I obtained the entire collection.  I even had the people get the box of toys and search through to make sure they had the specific toy I needed for the collection.  SCORE!  I was able to collect all of them.   Fortunately, at the time, I could just buy the toy for about $1.00 each.  I didn’t have to eat a dozen Happy Meals.  I was so thrilled to have them all.

And then this happened:

NOTHING!  Yes, you guessed it.  They sat in a bag on my shelf for almost four years.  I couldn’t bring myself to take them out of the packages.  Then one day the idea popped into my mind to make them into Christmas tree ornaments.  I remember seeing a gorgeous Wizard of Oz tree about twenty years ago while I was modeling in Bloomingdale’s.  Oh, how I coveted that tree with those precious ornaments.  I have thought about that tree so many times over the years.

When the theme for this weeks’ “So You Think You’re Crafty” competition came around, “Children’s Literature,” I knew immediately that I wanted to do something about my favorite story/movie.  Ta dah!  That’s how it all came together.  Now I have the ornaments for my very own Wizard of Oz tree.  Best part?  It was sooo easy!

Supplies:

Happy Meal Toys, candle, matches, pliers, paper clip, tea cup hooks, ribbon

First, heat the end of a paper clip by holding it in the candle’s flame

Second, use the heated paper clip to carefully melt a hole into the top of the toy

Third, repeat the process, but this time heat a tea cup hook

Finally, insert the hook into the paper clip hole and turn until secure.

That’s all there is to it!

Here is an example of where I placed all of the hooks in case you also happen to have these particular toys laying around your house, doing nothing.

I decided to convert a balsa wood box into a make-up case to store all of those lip glosses and cheap eye shadows that little girls get as gifts and stocking-stuffers.  I wish I would have thought of this when my girls were little.  I HATED finding all of those little pieces of “make-up and lip gloss” all over the place.  The lids always fell off and the make-up always got gooey and gross.