Advent Calendar.........

One thing I remember as a child , was my advent calendar. I couldn't wait to start this tradition with my son, so two years ago I bought him a lego advent calendar. This year I altered a Starbucks advent calendar with the new Love Elsie Noel collection and put each lego set in the drawers........I cannot wait for him to wake up and see it tomorrow.

FYI Starbucks has these advent calendars on sale for $10.

A Place For Santa's Picture..........

I was feeling a little crafty the other day and made this to put my son's picture with Santa in. I used the new Carolee Creations Christmas collection and altered Creative Imaginations large clothes pin. I also used KI Memories new die cut paper, its great to tie ribbon through the holes. Then I embossed with Autumn Leaves Rhonna Farrer's Christmas Swirl stamps.

Some New Fun Christmas Decorations I've Been Working On

I got this idea from the new idea book by Carolee's Creations. I used big cardboard letters instead of the wooden ones in the book - but I love how it turned out. I used mostly Carolee's Creations paper, but I supplemented with some other that I had on hand. Some rub ons, ribbon and a little ornament and it was done.


Then I saw this tree that Carolyn was working on and I knew I had to make one for my table this year. My tablescape is very whimsical - all bright green and red - and I knew it would be perfect. It is also made by Carolee's Creations. I think I started out making it JUST like the one in the book...but once I painted it green....I just made it with what I had on hand. What I love about this project is that mine doesn't look like Carolyn's and the next person's wouldn't look like mine.


Finally, I wanted to show you these ornaments. I saw them on a blog today and wanted to try them. I SO wish I had a collection of double sided papers - but they still turned out ok with what I had in my stash. BUT I AM going to get a few double sided papers all from one collection and make some more and hang them at the Inn in the croproom. Yea! Another trip to the Crafty Scrapper for paper.

Susie

Holiday Hours

Thought we should put a note on here about extended hours during the holidays: We will be open from now until Christmas on Sundays from 1:00 to 5:00-ish. Don't forget that on Friday nights we are here until Midnight. Send your husbands or come on in and shop with us. There are several gift items displayed to give to the scrapper or to be made by the scrapper!!

Festival of Trees

We wanted to share our tree this year that was donated to the "Festival of Trees".
This is our 3rd year donating a tree, I love seeing all the different decorated trees that are donated by various business and organizations throughout the Waxahachie community and are auctioned off with the proceeds benefiting the Education Foundation.





THESE ADORABLE BIRD ORNAMENTS WILL BE OUR NEXT "HAPPY HOUR PROJECT"
NOVEMBER 23RD 6-8PM

Gift Ideas

I wanted to share the two projects I worked on for the Design Team. First is a cool wood frame that I painted and altered, perfect for a family gift. I used the Cosmo Cricket holiday line. But my favorite touch was the Making Memories gold glaze.

The other project is a teacher gift, I used one of the new Maya Roads clear albums and the Junkits school line. I love doing teacher gifts using pictures from the kids Fall Party. I also used the new KI lace paper, this is the coolest stuff ever.

Heidi

The Stockings Were Hung...

Lots of ideas for this one little book. Perhaps one of the ideas used in here will spur you on to create something of your own. This little book would be great as individual stocking ornaments, a great garland of stockings, or as a little book of memories.

I tried to use several types of papers and styles to give multiple ideas. Check it out at the store. Link your projects with this book to the post here.....or email them to the store.

Book for Joy

Thought I'd share with you what I did with this neat Prima Book. The front cover is embossed and then the pages & back cover are flat. I used some paints on the front along with some chalk ink to get the texture to stand out. A piece of old music with a Daisy D rub on is in the center. I went ahead and covered the whole thing with ModPodge just to seal the paper better. There are several styles of embossing on these cute books at the store. It measures about 6 x 6 inches. I went ahead and used notebook rings with ribbons to hold the book together. There are several other ways to do this as well.

Even though this is not your typical Christmas paper, I made the book about Christmas. I used the song "Christmas Is..." for the wording. A couple of other quotes are on pages too. I have seen so many neat books by others with a song or a quote as the wording. The paper is a mixture of papers, but mainly is K and Co. Safflower Line of paper.

I also had fun spraying Glimmer Mist on some of the pages to keep the white paper from standing out too much. Be sure to check it out. Annette had made some tags using this with different techniques, which I need to try, but it was fun just to tint paper too.

For embellishments I used a lot of different things...old stuff I had collected, Creative Cafe tags, Daisy D rub ons and stickers. Although there are embellishments on the pages, it could still hold some favorite pictures. Of course, it is at the store to touch and look at in person. Would love to see what you do with the book. Link you pictures in the comments if you do one of them!

And the winner is.......................Debbie Jones!

One of our locate real estate agents with Keller Williams wanted to do a drawing in our store. The winner won this AMM tote filled with goodies.

Do you think Debbie was excited?

Some Fun November Design Team Projects

Well, I have been busy - like Santa - creating some fun projects for the store. First of all, I made this chipboard house. I really did enjoy it....until I got to the steps. Well, I guess I should have looked at the picture before I wadded the steps up and threw them away.........the directions stumped. But once I saw the picture and looked at the directions, I sooo could have done it. But alas, the steps were a bit too worn by the time I unwadded them. So I made my own step for the front of the house. Hope the other chipboard houses in the neighborhood will be OK with my makeshift steps. You know how zoning laws are ! Oh well, there goes the chipboard neighborhood.

My next project was this great little recipe tin. I think I see a theme starting - cool cool Christmas colors. It is such a simple project...but I loved making it and I love how it turned out. Probably took me all of an hour to make.

I haven't filled it up with recipes...I think I would rather scrapbook than cook. No wait...I KNOW I would rather scrapbook than cook.

Next I worked on this adorable envelope and tag mini book. I started out making one JUST like one in the Carolee's Creations book, but within five minutes, I had paper flying and a whole new take on it. So I love mine...and I love the one in the book too. I think you could do so much with this concept. I can't wait to make another one. Be sure to come by the store and see ALL of the great projects and the wonderful new papers and embellishments.

I made some ornaments too - so be sure to come by and see them.

Susie

Great Christmas Ideas........

Check out this magnetic board I made. I used Basic Greys Mellow papers, Fancy Pants felt cut-outs (I love this), the Love Elise Jack & Abbey chipboard letters and Maya Roads "NEW" chipboard birds. These are great to make for Christmas presents

Happy Hour at The Crafty Scrapper

Friday was our first "Happy Hour", we had several people come by to make the mini thankful tag book, snack on some sweets and have a nice glass of wine. Everyone was excited about the upcoming projects and the idea of purchasing single items. The cafe is open to shop during business hours and we will have "Happy Hour" every Friday night 6-8pm



Got to love Annette's smile and creativity............



This weeks project is this adorable Give Thanks Banner, hang it on the mantel for the Holidays. We will begin at 6pm - 8pm or until supplies last and cost is $9. So come join in on the fun....

The Holly Jolly Tree: Another Fun Project

This is another kit from Carolee's Creations. By kit I mean cut out wood pieces-well MDF to be exact. The MDF is nice and smooth and takes minimal sanding to be ready to work with. This kit comes with the tree base, trunk and 5 bowers. To complete this, I just picked 5 green-ish papers. It would be lots of fun to do in about any color really. I used mod podge to glue the paper on and to cover the paper. It really does not need the mod podge over the top of the paper, but I was on a roll. To paint the tree I used a dark brown paint and then used Tim Holtz crackle paint over the top. (that is separate experiment that I will share another time).

I used hot glue to put the pieces together and also to put little clothespins on the 'limbs' to hold pictures. If there is any advice I need to give it is about the clothespins. Since I used mod podge over the paper, the hot glue did not stick very well. My recommendation is to a) not use the mod podge over the paper or b) stick the clothespins on while the mod podge is wet-it would hold it better I think. Of course, there is nothing that says clothespins are a must, it is just what they suggested.

I used some stickles on the star. I added some buttons and a little bit of ribbon for decoration, but I stayed pretty light on the decorations. This is a great project and allows a lot of room for customization! Better pick yours up--not many are left.

Card Swap #3

Well, what do you think? Here is a picture of cards from the swap. As always, there are a lot of interpretations of the template and many unique and creative designs. From the use of a Sam's card for an embellishment to old patterns to coloring of cute stamps and cut outs, the group was inventive. So many beautiful cards. Some cards for fall, for Christmas and some for everyday use.

Want to be in the next swap? Here is all you do. Make 10 cards using the template below as your guide. Bring your cards to the store by the due date. The next swap is due December 6, 2007, and you will get cards and a thank you for playing gift back on December 10, 2007.

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

I thought I'd show you the Rudolph that I made the other day using the Carolee Creations pre-cut wood kit. It took very little to complete the look; some paint (cream colored) 2 sheets of paper (Carolee's), little scraps of white and black card stock, a piece of sandpaper, 4 - 6 bells, a few little snips of ribbon, some floral wire, a larger ribbon piece and mod podge. I could have used a chenille stick (pipe cleaner) too, but didn't have one at the time. I would have used two screws to put him together, but didn't have any handy, so did hot glue-which is what they used too I think. I made him as close to the example the company gave as possible--not my usual way of doing these, but wanted him to look like the pictures.

He is pretty cute. He is large. His face is about 10 inches tall, then his antlers are another 8 inches or so on top. He would be great to hang on a door as is, or put him in a wreath. Very inexpensive for a gift too-I thought. The example is at the store along with more kits for you to create your own variation of Rudolph.

Puppy Dog Layout

A few weeks ago, Annette and Carolyn challenged me to create a 12x12 scrapbook page. While some of you will think nothing of creating a 12x12 layout, for me this was a BIG deal. This was my first 12x12 layout, EVER! I'm primarily a card maker and churn out an altered item now and then. But scrapbook pages, especially 12x12 pages, were uncharted territory for me, until now. (So, don't snicker too loudly when you see my page!)

I used new paper and rub-ons by SEI to create this page. I like the double-sided papers -- they're a bit heavier, and give the page more substance.

I pulled out the ol' sewing machine for this layout as well. The pups in the photo are my own Miss Daisy and Mister Farley. They really are the BEST of friends.

You can see this layout in the shop, along with many others created by fellow design team members!

Grand Opening of the "Creative Cafe Happy Hour

OK, we've told you about it, but NOW you have to come see it for yourself! Its so YUMMY, I promise you will want to touch the buttons and the many rows of chipboard, felt, etc. You will feel like a kid in a candy store! IT'S HOT, HOT HOT!
Join us for our first ever Creative Cafe Art Bar "Happy Hour" this Friday November 9th from 6-8pm. We will offer exclusive projects created by the designers of Creative Cafe that will be created right at our very own Art Bar! The project cost will vary depending on the project - anywhere from $1 - $10. Participants in the weekly happy hours will receive a special Creative Cafe Club Card. It features a coffee cup for each happy hour workshop you attend that will get punched. When you fill your card, you get one happy hour workshop free!

This weeks project is the "Thankful Mini Tag Book" cost will be $3. We will also have lite snacks and coffee. Here is a sneak peek of the project:


Annette and I will have several projects on display for the upcoming "Happy Hours", so come by and check out our new candy store! Also the store has been transformed into a Christmas Wonderland! Wait until you see all the new Christmas collections and Christmas projects the design team have done, its a great place to get ideas. I will post pictures throughout this week.

Super Baby Book

This is a great idea for a baby gift. This little family album/baby book was done with a stock 8 x 8 album. The front was easily embellished with a cute ribbon and a tag stamped with the baby's name (since it was known).

Each of the paper sleeves then has a little folded page inside of it. When the page is in the book, you see the tab for the insert and the actual page that was done for the book. The insert can be just a 8 x 8 size paper, or could be a folded page if you wanted.


For instance, this first page shown is an adorable layout for a first photo, tucked behind it (and pulled out for showing here) is another page that could have journaling, other photos or cards perhaps that the mother wanted to save for the baby.

Notice that this one is a folded page, so when opened up it reveals another area for words, journaling, photos or whatever you as the designer wants to put there.
This is a view of the book, looking at the tops of the pages with all the tabs showing. Notice each one in this book is a month. 1 month, 2 months, etc.
And then just a few of the layouts that again are hiding a great insert behind them.

Hope that gives you some ideas for a book you might need to do!