Tape Tricks

Anyone up for a little tape trick?

In the Very Virginia kit there is a whole roll of masking tape and a bottle of Antique Silver Maya Mist (among other super fantastic stuff) and I finally had a chance to play with it today.



Start with all these items from the kit and toss in some VersaMark, clear embossing powder, acrylic block, and heat gun.



Unroll about 16" of tape and tear it from the roll. Lay it down, sticky side up, and coat with baby powder or corn starch.



Turn the tape back over. Choose a stamp from the set and mount it on an acrylic block. Stamp in VersaMark along the top of the tape.



Sprinkle clear embossing powder over the stamped VersaMark and shake off the excess.



Use a heat gun to set the embossing powder.



Lay the tape inside your color catcher and spray it with the Maya Mist. Rub off the excess.



This is what you'll end up with - all the mist comes off of the stamped area.



Sew a straight stitch down the side and ruffle as you go.



After the tape is ruffled, lay a piece of the glitter ribbon over the top and run another straight stitch to secure the two pieces together.



And voila!

Merry Christmas!!!

December Daily Continued!

Here's a few more pages from my December Daily.



That's right, peeps! I got married!!



Minimoon in Avila Beach.



Lots of Christmas planning and crafting.



The tree!!



Just another "everyday" day at Casa Kvilhaug.

That's all for now!
xoxo
Britt

Gettin' a Head Start!

Right about this time every year I always get a little frazzled with all of the different projects I want to get done in time for Christmas, and I forget about all the other projects I want to get done for myself. So this year I decided to tackle one of those projects ahead of time so that when the New Year chimes in, I'm not left standing there saying, "ah crap. I forgot to make a calendar." Because, as we all know, that would be the end of life as we know it.

Here's some little vignettes of the calendar I made for 2011:



Gotta love what a few pop dots and a little bit of Stickles can do for chipboard letters!



Sassafras made my day with these too-cute little layered flowers! Gotta have em all!!



It's amazing to me what my sewing machine can do. It's like the little engine that could sometimes.



Again with the chipboard alphabets. My new favorite love are the uh-may-zing products by Viva Decor. They make the most awesome paint pens and creams for covering all kinds of surfaces. Here I used their Inka Gold to cover those pink Cosmo alphas, then I used their Glitter Liner to add some dots. I can't say enough how much I love those guys!

So how 'bout it? Is everyone keeping up with all their projects? Getting behind? Waaaaaay ahead of schedule?

No matter where you are on your holiday list, I hope you're all having a super wonderful amazing Holiday Season!!

XOXO
Britt

My December Daily

What? How can I possibly make a December Daily without the Bedford Falls kit? I know, I thought the same thing. But, if you flip back through your Office Party kit, you will find a ton of product that is just perfect for not only your December Daily, but lots of other holiday projects as well.

Here's mine so far:



I started making the basics of the album a while back. I didn't want to bind anything together permanently because I like the idea of using daily found items that have meaning. For example: a coffee sleeve as a page base or ticket stubs or god forbid, a parking ticket from the dreaded mall cop.

I punched holes through the covers (7Gypsies) and am holding the book together with rings for the time being. BUT it will get bound with twine when it's all finished.




December 1st



December 2nd

We'll see if I can keep up with the days - tomorrow and Saturday will be good ones! Tomorrow is my bachelorette day with the girls and Saturday I get married!! YAY!!

Be sure to check in on the message board - we love seeing what you make!

Gift It

I've been thinking a lot about what to get my family and friends for Christmas this year, and I'm sure you're all having these thoughts as well. Let's face it, we're all trying to be careful right now - maybe cutting back on the number of gifts your giving each receiver, or choosing names from a hat (our extended family has always done this) or maybe you want to give everybody just a little something with that kind of "specialness" you just can't get in a store.

I've decided to give a few people scrapbooks filled with semi-pre-made layouts all ready for the finishing touches to be made.

Here is an example of the kind of page I'm talking about using the Dear Diary kit. You'll notice I've borrowed a couple of cuties from Noel!



See how I've left some blank spots? That's where the receiver can do her own journaling or add any other additional photos or mementos. You could also just make up layouts without any photos at all. This is perfect for the busy mom or the sister-in-law who wants to scrapbook, but just never finds the time. This way you can share your creativity with your loved-ones and also help them out in the the nostalgia department!



You may be thinking, "Who has time for that!?" but I can promise you it goes so much faster than scrapping your own photos. Follow a sketch. Make a few of the exact same page for multiple people. Use the same sketch for every page, using different color themes.



This is also a great way of using up your scraps and leftover kit contents. If you've used those burlap alphas to death on your pages, you can still use them all up on a gift. You won't have to look at them anymore, but you won't have wasted them either (that's always my goal).

You can do a simple album with maybe 12 pages in it for each month of the year. Or do a calendar using the same principle. When the year is over, they can just cut down each page and make it into an album.

There are LOTS of gift ideas to keep your holiday craftiness fun, inexpensive, and always appreciated over at the message board. Come pay us a visit!

Happy scrapping!

xoxo
Britt

Home Town

One of my very favorite things about the Dear Diary Kit so far has been the Making Memories embellie. I ripped it apart, and used the ribbon on the layout below, to back the title.



It was the perfect color to make it pop just enough.

Then I used the metal part in the layout below. I made this layout using the Inspired Blueprints Sketch #59. I am so not a sketch person usually, and circles are a real stretch for me, but I had lots of fun stepping outside my scrappy bubble to try something new!



See how I made a little flower with the metal part? I just layered a button on top of it, then cut the flippy flappy parts off of the Basic Grey brad and glued that right to the center of the button. It gives it some nice depth, and then I added some leaves that I trimmed out from the Pyrus paper in the kit.



So how about it? Find an embellie that you've been hoarding and make it into something else! Rip it up, pull it apart, and show us a new way to use it!

Can't wait to see what you create!
Happy Monday!
xoxo
Britt

An All-Nighter!!

That's right! I stayed up all night and I must say that it all started with this little vixen of a kit. I couldn't wait to dig in, and here's what I came up with.



Gotta love that punnum! Loving that Jenni Bowlin paint dauber, too. Never made my own patterned paper before. And I'm likin' it!!



Layered a corrugate button, Restoration stickers, Pyrus brad, and those cuter than cute Jillibean pins! I tried to add some extra texture and depth to the photo by brushing the dauber over it. It just makes it look a little fuzzy around the edges, so your eye is drawn into the center.



Of course, there's lots of stitching and lots of vintage photo distress ink in there, too! It just wouldn't be a "me" layout without those!

True Blue

Happy Monday everybody! Man, what a great weekend - it's the first truly rainy, overcasty, get-nothing-much-accomplished, cuddle-on-the-couch-and-watch-movies, with a hot cup of apple cider kind of weekend we've had so far here, and I have to say it was PERFECT!

Today over at the challenge blog we're starting this new, "Shades of the Same" challenge. You can use whatever you want, but it has to be based on ONE color. I chose blue, since I had so much to work with from the Office Party and Sweet Sue kits.



I decided not to use a photo, but instead grabbed this invitation for a friend's house-warming party, which just happened to have the perfect color blue outline. Totally coincidental... No planning there.... Nope...



I don't usually do the whole "hidden journaling" thing, but I had a hand-written note from my friend that I just had to have with it, so I made a little pocket and attached some blue tulle to it.



I cut the lace tape from Basic Grey in half and ran it lengthwise across the page. This creates the illusion of another layer in there and helps to anchor the center strip to the page.



Alright, now go take a look at what the other girls came up with and don't forget to post your layout in the gallery! Can't wait to see what you come up with!

xoxo
Britt

Just a little something...

This is a fun little project to do with the kiddies. I used a fresh pack of Hambly rubons (which are the best rubons, by the way) and a black bracelet from DIY Bangle. The best part about this little project though, is that you can let the kiddies use all your leftover rubons laying around.



Find the rubons you want to use. Cut them into manageable sizes.



Stick them onto the bracelet and rub them into place.



Burnish all the way around the bracelet to make sure it is good and stuck, and then you can coat it with a clear varnish such as Glossy Accents or Diamond Glaze.

That's all folks! Have fun playing!

Shades of Gray

Over at the challenge blog we've got a great new challenge for you to join in on called Time Capsule. It's all about all the norms of 2010 - home price, gas price, average commute, who's the most popular movie star? Or on a more personal note, how are you doing this year? What's life like for you?



Materials Used: Anna Griffin Esmerelda paper; Girls' Paperie Alpha Stickers; American Crafts Lullaby Thickers in Charcoal; Jenni Bowlin Butterfly Stickers in Black, Chalkboard Alpha Stickers in Black, Label Stickers in Red Dots; Want 2 Scrap Black Pearls; Making Memories Tiny Alphas Black on White; Best Creation Small Foam Squares.



This challenge will serve as a great reminder in years to come about what 2010 held/represented for you. SO hop on over to the challenge blog and check it out!

Spooky Treats!

I was in a Halloweenie kind of mood this weekend, so I thought I'd sit down and make up some cute little decorations and three hours later, this is what I got. And I like it okay, but I mean, do you ever have one of those days that you just can't get anything right? Like you're ready for the scrappy genius gods to bless you, and they say NO! Well, it is the most frustrating thing EVER!



Though I must say, I do love how our dying grape arbor made just about the most perfectest little background ever.

This little treat bag is made from a Creative Imaginations lunch bag, which I must say I never really understood. I mean, it's just a lunch bag right? WRONG! It's a super duper strong, thick paper, stands up to anything lunch bag. So, I covered it in Heebie Jeebies paper from We R Memory Keepers and added some rubons and chipboard from Bo Bunny. I cut slits in the folds down the top of the bag about two inches, folded them over, and edged punched them with a Martha punch and then slapped on that cute little Trick or Treat tag from WRMK. I finished it off with some sheer black ribbon to hold the top closed. I'm thinking it will be great for packaging up neighborhood BOO gifts or as a party gift with some creepy feeling goodies inside.

So back to the subject of mojo-less-ness (yes, that is officially a word now!) and all it's brain-frying trappings. What do you do when you find yourself in this little quandry? What get's you going again?