Archives for April 2015

Awesome Teachers Layout

Apr

Hi, Renee here today sharing a layout of my girls’ teachers. We have been so blessed with absolutely amazing teachers ever since the girls started Kindergarten. This year is no exception. No doubt these girls adore their teachers and vice versa. Teachers do so much for their classrooms, and we appreciate all they do.

I was inspired by this circle print I found on Pinterest.

Sort of Circles, Open edition giclee print

I used the Home Grown collection simply because these teachers help my children grow everyday, not only as students but as people. The wonderful words on the Family Rules and Busy Bees patterned papers also apply to my girls’ lives at school.

I started with the Flower Garden and Nature Walk patterned papers because green and blue are their school colors. Perfect. I layered these two papers and trimmed about a ½ inch off of the green paper for the blue to show just a bit at the top and bottom.

I punched out a variety of patterned papers into circles along with my photos. My photos measure 3½” and my other circles measure 2″ and 3″.

I arranged my circles on the page and adhered them down.

I added part of my title using these pretty coral foam Thickers.

I finished off my title using the “awesome” Puffy Phrase Sticker.

I added embellishments and hand stitching on my page.

I stamped a bit of journaling and my page is done. Love it! I also stamped the year “2014-2015” on the page after I stamped each grade and classroom i.d. which I kept private.

Supplies:
Home Grown Flower Garden (732801)
Home Grown Foliage (732803)
Home Grown Home Sweet Home (732804)
Home Grown Partly Cloudy (732805)
Home Grown Nature Walk (732806)
Home Grown Family (732808)
Home Grown Quilt (732809)
Home Grown Front Yard (732810)
Home Grown Icon & Phrase Stickers (732812)
Home Grown Puffy Stickers, Bees (732814)
Home Grown Dimensional Flowers (732815)
Home Grown Ivy Thickers, Coral (732822)
Cottage Living Puffy Phrase Stickers (732791)
From Me to You Roller Stamp (732278)
American Crafts This To That Adhesive Runner, Strips .313″ x 8.75 yd (61712)
American Crafts This To That Dimensional Dots (61709)

Teacher Appreciation Card Set

Apr

3 Comments

Hi friends! It’s Wendy Sue here today, sharing the cards my boys will be giving to their school teachers to remind them how much we appreciate them! I always like to create cards in sets of two or three, and considering the fact that I needed two cards, this seemed very do-able. And then I remembered that the cards couldn’t be too feminine OR too masculine – as one of my boys has a “Mr.” for a teacher, and the other has a “Mrs.” Still, I wanted to use a similar design for both cards. I was inspired by a piece of patterned paper to create these cards for the teachers:

Teacher Appreciation Cards by @wendysuea for @pebblesinc with the "Home Grown" and "Happy Day" collections

Do you know which paper inspired me? Yep, the “Pick Me Up” paper from the Happy Day collection!

My Silhouette Cameo came in handy as I was able to find and download a cup shape that matched the cups on the paper. I used various papers from the Happy Day and the Homegrown collections to cut the pieces for the cups – one for the main cup, one for the wrap, and one for the lid. I made sure to use more feminine colors and patterns for one, and more masculine colors and patterns for the other. Here’s a look at the pieces for the “Mr.” card, before I pieced them together:

Then I trimmed down the “thanks” piece from the “Thinking of You” paper, cut it into a banner shape and added it to the wrap as well.

The “Ivy” foam letter thickers were perfect for adding words to the cup wrap:

Next, I attached the wrap to the cup with foam adhesive squares:

Teacher Appreciation Cards by @wendysuea for @pebblesinc with the "Home Grown" and "Happy Day" collections

To finish up the cup, I added some stickers and a bow around the lid. And I placed the completed cup on a piece of coordinating paper and then attached the entire thing on the front of an A2 sized card.

But wait, there’s MORE!
I used my handy dandy 3×4 punch to create a coordinating pocket for the inside of the card. Remember to add adhesive along the left, bottom, and right edges – but leave the top open!

Add additional thickers and/or sentiments to the pocket and tuck in a gift card!

That’s it – two teacher cards – similar but different. But both will be sent with much love and appreciation for all of the things they do for my boys!

Be sure to let the teachers in your life know how much they are appreciated too!

Supplies:
Happy Day “Thinking of You” Patterned Paper
Happy Day “Pick Me Up” Patterned Paper
Happy Day “Wood Fire Pizza” Patterned Paper
Happy Day “Icons & Phrases” Stickers
Home Grown “Flower Garden” Patterned Paper
Home Grown “Foliage” Patterned Paper
Home Grown “Home Sweet Home” Patterned Paper
Home Grown “Partly Cloudy” Patterned Paper
Home Grown “Nature Walk” Patterned Paper
Home Grown “Family Rules” Patterned Paper
Ivy Vanilla/Foam Thickers
Ivy Coral/Foam Thickers
This to That Foam Adhesive
This to That Adhesive Dispenser
White Cardstock
3×4 Picture Punch
Paper Trimmer
Twine/Jute

Teacher’s Gift Box with Bow Tutorial

Apr

4 Comments

It’s Mendi here today with a quick and easy gift idea for the special teachers in your child’s life. I love creating handmade gifts for my own kid’s teachers and I thought the Wooden Recipe Box from Pebbles Homemade collection was the perfect object to alter for this fun present.

I think personalizing gifts with the Teacher’s name is always a nice touch and it was easy to achieve this using the darling foam thickers from the Homegrown collection. I adore mixing my fonts and THIS cutting file was the perfect way to achieve this. I think it’s pretty cool that it covers all the acronyms you might need.

The colors in Pebbles Homegrown collection are a perfect fit for a school themed project. I love how well the colors compliment the school supplies that I added to my box and it’s a wonderful bonus that a basic box like this is able to serve so many different purposes from a recipe box to a phone/address box to a basic container to hold a multitude of different office supplies.

To embellish my gift box I created a simple 3-D bow using a tool you might already have in your stash: The Envelope Punch Board by We R Memory Keepers! I have included simple instructions below with a step-by-step picture tutorial.

Step 1: Cut (2) 6″ x 1″ strips. Line up the strip at the 3-inch mark on the punch board and punch notches from both sides of each strip.

Step 2: Adhere two sides of bow (wrong sides together) with liquid adhesive. This acts as a lining for your bow as well as adding stiffness to maintain it’s shape.

(Note: You can also reverse step 1 & 2 punching out the center after the 2 strips are adhered together).

Step 3: Line up the center of the bow at the 3-inch mark, punching each side on both ends.

Step 4: Gently curl each end toward the center. I used a pencil to gently curl it.

Step 5: Adhere the ends in the center with a bit of liquid adhesive or hot glue. I chose to staple the center afterwards for extra stability.

Step 6: Cut a 4.25″ x 1″ strip for the ribbon tails. Center the strip in the punch and notch each end as shown.

Step 7: Line the strip at the 2-1/8″ mark and notch each side of the ribbon tail in the center.

Step 8: Add liquid adhesive or hot glue to center of bow and adhere bow portion to ribbon tail.

Step 9: Thread twine through button using an embroidery needle, add a bit of glue to center of button and wrap button & twine around center of bow, knotting on the back.

Step 10: Use finished 3-D bow to embellish your favorite DIY or Home Decor project.

I hope I’ve inspired you to try this quick and easy gift! The 3-D paper bows are so much fun to make!

Supplies:
Homegrown Flower Garden Patterned Paper
Homegrown Home Sweet Home Patterned Paper
Homegrown Partly Cloudy Patterned Paper
Homegrown Coral Foam Thickers Alpha Stickers
Homegrown Ephemera Flowers Pieces
Homegrown Bees Puffy Stickers
Homegrown Layered Flowers
Homemade Wooden Recipe Box
We R Memory Keepers Envelope Punch Board

Floral Home Decor

Apr

2 Comments

Hello everyone, Eva Pizarro here bringing you a quick tutorial for a home decor project.

Ever since we got married, my husband and I have always loved Friday evenings. For us it’s the perfect time of the week and the beginning of two long days of fun and relaxation. This quick home decor piece reminds us of that special moment of the week. To make it, I cut the phrase “Venerdí sera” – that means “Friday evening” in Italian – using my die cut machine and the special gold paper from the Cottage Living collection. Then I sketched a heart with a pencil.

I covered my heart with the chipboard flowers from the Home Grown collection. Start with the larger ones first and then layer the small ones and the leaves.

When you have decided on an arrangement, use some liquid glue to hold everything in place. Erase any traces of pencil and enjoy your decoration!

I loved how it turn out! Simple and quick, and it is perfect for my family room!

I hope you like it! have a great week!
Eva

Supplies
Home Grown “Ephemera Flowers” Chips (732820)
Cottage Living Gold Foil Accent (732773)

Alphabet Masks and Spray Mist

Apr

Leave a Comment

Hello everybody, Becki here. I’m excited to share with you a layout I created using a combination of the HomeMade collection and the Cottage Living collection. Ever since the Cottage Living collection landed on my doorstep I’ve wanted to use the alphabet mask set. I decided that I would put them to good use with the bottle of gold spray mist. I wanted to take a little bit different approach with the spray mist though, instead of spraying it I painted it on with a paint brush.

Let me tell you, I love these alphabet mask stickers. They worked like a charm and were so easy to use. I painted over the top of them with the gold spray mist.

I was a little bit worried that they would stick to my paper and tear it when I peeled them off but that was not the case. They came off beautifully. The best part about these masks is that you can use them over and over again!

While I was waiting for the background paper of my layout to dry I started putting together a block of patterned paper that would hold my photo and subtitle.

I started by adding the gray striped paper and then I added a full sheet of paper from the Cottage Living collection 6×6 paper pad. I cut the “keep life simple” phrase from 3×4 journaling cards. I did trim a 1/4 of an inch of each side of the cards so it would fit inside the tag.

After my title was dry I stitched down the Thickers and added my patterned paper block to the background paper. I almost always machine stitch my Thickers onto my layouts. I like making sure they will stay put when my kids look through their albums.

At this point my layout is almost finished. I trimmed the edges of my background paper so I could mat it on a larger piece of teal patterned paper. I wanted to add another splash of teal to match the patterned paper under the photo. I also added my journaling under the title with a grey pen.