Coloring Book Mini Album for the Birthday Girl

Today at the Mansion, I am sharing a birthday gift I made for sweet Ariana who will be turning 4 on April 3rd.  She is always peeking around the corner when I am browsing through all of my digi images.  Her soft, sweet, little voice always asks "can you make me a picture to color mommy?"

This gave me an idea . . . why not make her very own coloring book with some of the

girly images she loves so much.

I started with Medium Chipboard and printed out 8 images

from various artists:

Meljen Designs

Whoopsi Daisy

The Paper Shelter

Crafty Sentiments

and

Beary Dust Stamps

I printed 4 images to one page, leaving the images to measure 4 1/4 by 5 1/2 after being cut.  This gave me the opportunity to cut my chipboard a bit larger so that the coloring pages fit inside comfortably.

I used a hole punch to cut 5 holes across the top of the front and back covers to be able to feed ribbon through later.  

I then covered the  chipboard with some dp I received from my Blend 

Cindy at cre8ivecindy.  I really liked the cream color for the front and the flower print for the back. 

After picking out some coordinating embellishments and a fun stamp by Unity Stamp Co., it was all coming together beautifully.

The pink sticker has a cute little sentiment that I felt was fitting for my sweetheart.  

It says, "i just love you plain and simple".  This left room for me to add

some alphas to place her name in the center.

This tag and the red flower next to it are from a set called

Lickety Splits by Imaginisce.

I added a punched butterfly from my BFF Teresa. 

By the way, Teresa is the New Blog on the Block 

and can be found at skybluepink creations.  Pop over and say hello.  

I got the pink lace out of my stash and pleated it along the bottom and then added a satin olive green bow to offset all the pastel colors.  

 I tied some other ribbons from my stash to the top for added flair, and put the coloring pages inside.

It is all complete.

I am super excited to give this to her on her birthday!

Thanks for stopping by the Mansion!

Keep Crafting

:O)
Jessica

Do it yourself embossing mat

I got this great tip from one of my scrapbook groups...

I needed a mat that I could use my embossing gun with and I ran across one I could make.  First I used very heavy/thick chipboard.   This one was the back part of an embellishment pack.

Next take some aluminum foil (I used name brand).  Cut the size of the board plus a little extra for folding.

Then I folding the foil around the cardstock, like I was wrapping a present.  I taped the flaps down on the back side.

Now I have a great embossing board. 

I think the reflective foil helps the powder/gun heat up faster and I don't have to worry about burning my fingers or my table.  I also use a wood skewer/tooth pick to help hold my paper in place so it didn't blow away.  

Useful Tip with Luisa - Project Life/Journaling Station

Hello Divas,
Luisa here... This time am sharing a tip that has been working wonders for me, since I decided to adopt it.
As you know am an "organization junkie" and always trying to find the best way to organize myself and my stuff (maybe I create 50% and organize 50%, lol...). 

Well I have been reading about having "work stations" for the different tasks that as crafters we do, like: stamping, die cutting, etc.  I don't have a big scrapbook room, actually my bedroom is 65% sb room and 35% bedroom, lol...). So I decided to create mini stations for some of the most specific tasks I do, which are: Journaling, Project Life and Embellishments.
I already shared my Project Life little tote, which is the one I carry with me to the living room to create and enjoy my family at the same time.


Today am sharing my JOURNALING / PROJECT LIFE Station!
This one sits in my night table, besides my lamp.  I place it here, because I want to be able to use stuff from it when am writing in my Diary, Weightloss Journal and Inspiration Journal.  If am working in Project Life pages, I can simply move it to my desk.


It all started with this organization box from Walmart ($8 dlls) with dividers.

Plus some journalind materials, such as Smash Products (post- its, flags, tape, journalind books), some general office supplies like labels in different sizes and shapes) some index cards and other fun stuff I found.



And this is the end result:

For now, this has been working wonders for me.  But I know myself and am getting addicted to Project Life and my supplies stash has been growing pretty fast...


What about you?  How you store your supplies?
What you think about creating stations or as me mini-stations?

Hugs and blessings,

Project Life Pages with Luisa (playing catching up)!

Hello Divas,
Luisa here saying a big hello to all of you.
Well, it's time to share what I have been working on lately.
On December I decided to finally catch-up with my backlog of pictures and decided to use the Becky Higgins "Project Life" scrapbooking approach to catch up.  Of course I had to do it "my way".

Project Life main idea is to use divided page protectors to insert different sizes of photos.  Well, instead I choosed a photo album (Recollections, normally $24.99, paid $15 at Michales w/40% discount).
These type of albums have inserts for 3 horizontal and 2 vertical 4x6 photos.

Here is my very first page with photos of 2007:

What I did was the following:
1) Gather all photos from all places (yes I had photos in 3 different boxes since they were sorted by family member and events.
2) I sorted them by year.  I did separate some pictures that I still want to create normal scrapbook layouts.
3) I started then to insert them in the first album in chronological order of course.

What I found is that 2007 was the year I scrapped the most pictures from that same year and I had very few pictures.
From 2008 I found quite a bunch of pictures and back then I used to take hundreds of pictures of one event.   i.e We went to Viejas Casino and took 175 pictures and printed them all!  I picked some to create layouts with them and the majority were slip into the photo album inserts.

2009 was not much different from 2008, but the pictures are from more events and less photos per event.

Do you notice the evalution I have been experiencing?


Here are some pictures of 2008:

I included a HISTORY journaling block to each year at the begining.  What's in this journaling blocks:
Were we live at
How old we were
School grades
Where we work
Major events of that year

In 2008 I also started to take more selfportraits and this are some of the pictures that never got into a layout.

For this project am using many digital products.  Like journaling blocks and tags.  This pages are not going to be bulky, so I will use lots of flat stickers (shapes and alphas), diecuts, digital images, post-it notes and index cards (my latest discovery!  There are some that are 4x6 and they fit perfectly into the album inserts.

An extra bonus is that am able to use my fave paper collections and scraps for this project.  Am planning to use a different paper collection for each month!

I have a tote where I store all the supplies am using for these albums.  With my tote, my album and a folder with printables; am ready to scrap in the living room with my family, here it is:

Top view!

Side view!

And these are the latest acquisitions I have made for my Project Life Project....


There you go, this is what I am up to lately!


What are you working on currently?


Hugs and blessings,

Paper Piecing Tutorial

Today at the Mansion, I am sharing a video tutorial 

on a quick and simple

way to use your stamps

and 

paper piecing.

For the paper piecing, I used a flower stamp from  The Ippity set - Now & Always.

I really love the flourishes in this set.

My sentiment is from the Unity 03/10 KOM  - Rockin' It Unity Style

Here is the video

Short and Sweet

(still working on perfecting the video

options on my camera, so thank

you for your patience)

Here are a few still pictures of the process

 Here you see the paper products I used:

Recollections aqua card stock

Purple texture paper by Momenta

core'dinations border strips (lavendar for sentiment)

core'dinations core Impressions by Stacy Julian - Happy Colors Collection

green file folder and aqua flower

 Techniques used:

Sanding

Tearing

Paper Piecing

Distressing

Stamping

 Ribbon, Rhinestone, and mini flower buttons all from my stash

I hope you have enjoyed today's short video and 

welcome you to visit us 

each and every day!

So happy to have you visit Divas!!!

Keep Crafting 

:O) 

Jessica

12 Days of Xmas Blog Hop - Day 4

Welcome to the 12 Days of Christmas Blog Hop  
~ CS Divas’ Mansion Style ~
DAY 4

  

This hop will take place December 1^st through December 12^th and will be full of wonderful ideas and inspiration to get you well on your way of creating all of those beautiful Christmas projects on your to-do lists. 

Now, if you just stumbled upon this hop, you are in the right place to start from the beginning.  There will be one project posted each day and each day will be hosted by a different Diva DT member.

This is an awesome way to get a lot of your Christmas cards and scrapbook layouts finished, home decorations completed,and maybe even be inspired to create something using a new technique that you have never tried. 

There will be a wide array of projects, and of course, some fabulous Blog Candy along the way.  

Here is a little sneak peak of today's featured DT Diva Project
Day 4
Luisa

be sure to visit Luisa's Day 4 Post 12 Days of Xmas BH Day 4 by Luisa!


GRAND PRIZE
~~~SPONSORS~~~
We have been honored to have a few sponsors offer some wonderful prizes for this hop.  

First, let us introduce Julie K to the Mansion.  
Julie K has a wonderful blog at A Little Bit of Bling.  She has recently just opened her new store, 3 Girl JAM, where she sells her gorgeous hand-dyed crinkle ribbon.  
Stop by her blog and her store to see her creations, talent, and wonderful products.

BIO:  We are a small family oriented company ran by me (Julie) and my two daughters (Avery and Mackenzie).  We are 3 girls dedicated to bringing you a high quality hand-dyed ribbon that you will enjoy crafting with- as much as we do!  We'd love to hear your comments and suggestions, so please stop by our site at http://3girljam.blogspot.com/

3 Girl JAM is offering one lucky Grand Prize Winner:
6 bundles of her Hand-Dyed Crinkle Ribbon (that's 12 colors and 48 yards of ribbon)

Next, let us introduce Teri to the Mansion. 
Teri is the fabulous artist behind the Delicious Doodles Official Blog, Delicious Doodles Challenges (every Friday) and the Delicious Doodles Shop where you can see all of her gorgeous and unique Digital Stamps.  
And now, some of her images are available in Rubber Stamps at Sweet Pea Stamps.  

BIO: Delicious Doodles is a relatively young company with myself, Teri, as the Sole Trader. I have doodled and sketched all of my life, but only started selling my images in the Autumn of 2009.

I design and hand/mouse-draw all of the images that are sold in the DeliciousDoodles Shop. Some are cutesie animals, some are sketched flowers, there are a few men's images, some fantasy items and also some 'darker' images featuring Vampires, skulls and Gothic stuff, something for everyone! 

Delicious Doodles also has its own Challenges on blogger and a shop blog page featuring inspiration from the Design Team.

And now you can find my images at Sweet Pea Stamps as Rubber Stamps too!

I hope you enjoy using your Delicious Doodles images! 

Hugs,

Teri xx

Teri is offering one lucky Grand Prize Winner:
4 Digi Images 
~ 
Customer Choice

To be eligible for the fabulous Grand Prizes, you must follow these steps:

1 – Become a follower of the Creative Scrapbooking Divas blog, leave a comment on THIS POST stating you are a follower (earns 1 ticket).

2 – Like our FB page HERE, then leave a comment on FB stating you are a fan. (earns 1 ticket)

3 – Stop by each of the DT Divas’ blogs in the hop lineup and leave a comment at EACH STOP (One DT Diva's Blog per day) (Earns 1 ticket per day)

4 - Be sure to stop back at the CSDivas Mansion to link your project(s)  using Mr. Linky in each day post. (earns 2 tickets per project - 2 Tickets/Each Day = a total of 24 chances to win)

Our Tour List:
http://creativescrapbookingdivas.blogspot.com/  YOU ARE HERE

Day 1, Day 5, Day 9
Jessica- Jessica's Craft Shaque http://jessicascraftshaque.blogspot.com/ 
Day 2. Day 6, Day 10
Michelle – Michelle’s Happy Scrappy Place http://michelleshappyscrappyplace.blogspot.com/  
Day 3, Day 7, Day 11
Sandy - ScrapBook Blessings http://www.scrapbookblessings.blogspot.com/ 
Day 4, Day 8, Day 12

Luisa - Creative Designs by Luisa http://www.creativedesignsbyluisa.com/

Each Day we will publish a post with the link to that day DT Diva and her project!  Just make sure to come visit us every day and hop around...

WINNERS:
- Due date to submit your projects is Thursday December 14th.
- We will have 3 winners! ( 1 from 3 Girls Jam, 1 from Delicious Doodles and 1 from CSDivas).
- Winners will be announced on Saturday December 17th. Here at the CSDivas Blog!
One extra enticing note:

DT Diva Jessica will be offering a surprise BLOG CANDY GIVEAWAY for one person who shares the blog hop button on their sidebar from now until the end of the Hop!!! 

Just be sure to grab the button (up top), place it in your sidebar, and leave a comment on THIS POST for a chance at the surprise candy. 

One lucky winner will be chosen via random generator on December 13th!

Welcome to the 12 Days of Christmas Blog Hop ~ CS Divas’ Mansion Style

Welcome to the 12 Days of Christmas Blog Hop  
~ CS Divas’ Mansion Style ~
DAY 1

  

This hop will take place December 1^st through December 12^th and will be full of wonderful ideas and inspiration to get you well on your way of creating all of those beautiful Christmas projects on your to-do lists. 

Now, if you just stumbled upon this hop, you are in the right place to start from the beginning.  There will be one project posted each day and each day will be hosted by a different Diva DT member.

This is an awesome way to get a lot of your Christmas cards and scrapbook layouts finished, home decorations completed,and maybe even be inspired to create something using a new technique that you have never tried. 

There will be a wide array of projects, and of course, some fabulous Blog Candy along the way.  

Here is a little sneak peak of today's featured DT Diva Project
Day 1
Jessica

be sure to visit Jessica's Day 1 Post ~HERE~


GRAND PRIZE
~~~SPONSORS~~~
We have been honored to have a few sponsors offer some wonderful prizes for this hop.  

First, let us introduce Julie K to the Mansion.  
Julie K has a wonderful blog at A Little Bit of Bling.  She has recently just opened her new store, 3 Girl JAM, where she sells her gorgeous hand-dyed crinkle ribbon.  
Stop by her blog and her store to see her creations, talent, and wonderful products.

BIO:  We are a small family oriented company ran by me (Julie) and my two daughters (Avery and Mackenzie).  We are 3 girls dedicated to bringing you a high quality hand-dyed ribbon that you will enjoy crafting with- as much as we do!  We'd love to hear your comments and suggestions, so please stop by our site at http://3girljam.blogspot.com/

3 Girl JAM is offering one lucky Grand Prize Winner:
6 bundles of her Hand-Dyed Crinkle Ribbon (that's 12 colors and 48 yards of ribbon)

Next, let us introduce Teri to the Mansion. 
Teri is the fabulous artist behind the Delicious Doodles Official Blog, Delicious Doodles Challenges (every Friday) and the Delicious Doodles Shop where you can see all of her gorgeous and unique Digital Stamps.  
And now, some of her images are available in Rubber Stamps at Sweet Pea Stamps.  

BIO: Delicious Doodles is a relatively young company with myself, Teri, as the Sole Trader. I have doodled and sketched all of my life, but only started selling my images in the Autumn of 2009.

I design and hand/mouse-draw all of the images that are sold in the DeliciousDoodles Shop. Some are cutesie animals, some are sketched flowers, there are a few men's images, some fantasy items and also some 'darker' images featuring Vampires, skulls and Gothic stuff, something for everyone! 

Delicious Doodles also has its own Challenges on blogger and a shop blog page featuring inspiration from the Design Team.

And now you can find my images at Sweet Pea Stamps as Rubber Stamps too!

I hope you enjoy using your Delicious Doodles images! 

Hugs,

Teri xx

Teri is offering one lucky Grand Prize Winner:
4 Digi Images 
~ 
Customer Choice

To be eligible for the fabulous Grand Prizes, you must follow these steps:

1 – Become a follower of the Creative Scrapbooking Divas blog, leave a comment on THIS POST stating you are a follower (earns 1 ticket).

2 – Like our FB page HERE, then leave a comment on FB stating you are a fan. (earns 1 ticket)

3 – Stop by each of the DT Divas’ blogs in the hop lineup and leave a comment at EACH STOP (One DT Diva's Blog per day) (Earns 1 ticket per day)

4 - Be sure to stop back at the CSDivas Mansion to link your project(s)  using Mr. Linky in each day post. (earns 2 tickets per project - 2 Tickets/Each Day = a total of 24 chances to win)

Our Tour List:
http://creativescrapbookingdivas.blogspot.com/  YOU ARE HERE

Day 1, Day 5, Day 9
Jessica- Jessica's Craft Shaque http://jessicascraftshaque.blogspot.com/ 
Day 2. Day 6, Day 10
Michelle – Michelle’s Happy Scrappy Place http://michelleshappyscrappyplace.blogspot.com/  
Day 3, Day 7, Day 11
Sandy - ScrapBook Blessings http://www.scrapbookblessings.blogspot.com/ 
Day 4, Day 8, Day 12

Luisa - Creative Designs by Luisa http://www.creativedesignsbyluisa.com/

Each Day we will publish a post with the link to that day DT Diva and her project!  Just make sure to come visit us every day and hop around...

WINNERS:
- Due date to submit your projects is Thursday December 14th.
- We will have 3 winners! ( 1 from 3 Girls Jam, 1 from Delicious Doodles and 1 from CSDivas).
- Winners will be announced on Saturday December 17th. Here at the CSDivas Blog!
One extra enticing note:

DT Diva Jessica will be offering a surprise BLOG CANDY GIVEAWAY for one person who shares the blog hop button on their sidebar from now until the end of the Hop!!! 

Just be sure to grab the button (up top), place it in your sidebar, and leave a comment on THIS POST for a chance at the surprise candy. 

One lucky winner will be chosen via random generator on December 13th!

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Gotta love some freebies

Here are a couple of great resources for us Divas to play with, everything from tutorials, templets, techniques, digitals and everything else in between...

Free Printable Scrapbooking

Scrapbook Scrapbook

All Things Scrapbooking

All Crafts

Take some time and check them out, let me know if there is a site out there that use glean your Diva inspiration (other than here, I mean, lol!!!) We can get a running list :D

Easy Peezy Picture Frames

Hello to all our Divalicious Followers and Divalicious New Friends!!!

Welcome to another Thursday Post her at the Mansion.  Today I am sharing an easy step-by-step tutorial on how to dress up a picture frame for an easy peezy holiday decoration.

With Halloween soon approaching, I have a lot of planning to do for the upcoming party.  It will be a mixture of Adults and Children, so I want some "spooky" and some "friendly ghost-type" decorations.  Of course, I have plenty of store bought ones, but a Paper Crafter's Party would never be the same without some Handmade Goodness, right?!?!?

I gathered all the supplies I would need :
Frames (amount and size is up to you)
Designer paper (cut at 3 3/4" x 3 3/4")-this size will vary dependent on your frame size of course
ClipArt images (skulls, ghosts, Happy Halloween, pumpkins)
Pop dots
Sizzix and embossing folder (I chose a swirl pattern)
Assortment of Ribbon
Scissors
Other Embellishments (as desired)

So, I started with a set of small picture frames I picked up (very cheap at Target) that came in black, purple, and pink.  I only used the Purple and Black (I may still add the other one, if I can spray paint a coat of black or orange on it).

I cut the patterned paper to fit inside.   Then I embossed the small squares (black and white circle print paper) using my Darice-swirl folder. 

I then fussy cut around the spooky images (I chose the skull and HH images, but am keeping the ghosts for later...mu ah ah ah).  I then applied a few small pop dots to the back of the images to give them a bit a dimension inside the frame. 

 I added a bow on each corner of each frame, choosing an opposite color for some extra ummmph!

This project literally only took about 15 minutes to complete.  Very simple, but a great party table decoration, I think.  Thanks for stopping by the Mansion....

And, don't forget to join in on the Monthly challenges ending tomorrow:
Michelle Sanchez, our September GDT Diva, is hosting the 3D Holiday Projects Challenge HERE! 

and
DT Diva Pammie Kay, is hosting the Black, White, and READ all over Challenge HERE!

We are so happy to have you joining us, and be sure to stop back each day for tips, ideas, and inspiration that is OFF THE CHARTS!!

Tutorial: Upcycled Cereal Box Covers

Want a new way to upcycle your cereal box cardboard, and make cute notebooks at the same time? Here's a simple quick tut for you!
First, gather your cereal box of choice, notebook, trimmer with ruler, pen or pencil, and sharp craft scissors. Next, measure your cover and transfer the measurements to your cereal box cover with pen or pencil. Decide if you want to punch the edges for a spiral binding, or leave the edge as is and glue down only. Finally, carefully cut your cereal box and glue it to the cover, covering with mod podge or spray sealant to make it more durable. Voila! Trendy _and_ green living.







{covers by Mushki; see blog link below for credits}

here are some more cereal box tutorial links:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Recycled-Cereal-Box-Notebook/
http://happyhomemakerredux.blogspot.com/2011/07/cereal-box-notebook-cover.html
http://mushkiloves.blogspot.com/2011/08/cereal-box-notebooks.html