My Other Creations: TV Quote Tribute

This week's Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge theme is, "in the middle."  The first thing I thought of was a TV show I enjoy called, The Middle.  I don't spend a lot of time watching TV, but when I do need to veg, I might as do it with an entertaining show! TV characters say some of the greatest lines ever, so why not feature some quotes on an interchangeable board?  I started it off with one from Leverage:

I used a TV die-namics die from My Favorite Things and glued just the frame of the TV to my background, leaving the far side unglued.  This allows me to be able to switch quotes in and out, depending on my mood.  I attached a circular pull tab to each quote, which I can easily slide in and out of the TV frame.

Since our theme is "in the middle," I was sure to include some quotes from the Heck family!  I've also been enjoying using Project Life and other journaling cards for uses besides pocket scrapbooking (though I love that, too).  For this piece, I used a Project Life floral card and a Prima Epiphany card to build up my background layers.

While I made a mini quote board, I got to thinking that TV quotes would be great on cards to friends!  Just Google a quote from a friend's favorite show, stick in on the front of the card and wah-la!  You have a personalized card that's probably way more entertaining than a traditional greeting card sentiment.

It was fun to be inspired by The Middle and these fabulous products, which you can find at Simon Says Stamp:

My Favorite Things Television Die	Sizzix Big Shot Machine	Lifestyle Crafts Genius Ultimate Platform System	Becky Higgins Project Life Enjoy Life Kit	Kaiser Kaleidoscope Paper 6.5 x 6.5	Prima Ephiphany 4 x 6 Journaling Cards	1" Circle Punch--EK Success
Ranger Archival Jet Black Ink Pad	Peacock Feathers - Distress Ink	Squeezed Lemonade - Distress Ink	Timber Brown StazOn

This theme is quite intriguing, so I can't wait to see how you interpret it!  Upload your clever creations to the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog for your chance to win a $50 gift voucher to Simon Says Stamp.

My Other Creations: Pastry Banner

This week's Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge theme is, "A is for....."  Maybe I was hungry when I started brainstorming, but A was for Appetite for me.  I was craving something sweet and flaky and frosted and fattening, so I paid homage to pastry with this little banner:

 

I could picture this adorning a table or a tiered cake stand to highlight that perfect...ah-hem....store-bought cake or cupcake collection (baking- not a forte of mine).

This wasn't too hard to make because I incorporated some great little journaling cards from Melissa Frances' Sweet Life set and that did half of the work for me.  Note to self: continue to investigate alternate uses for journaling cards, which are fabulous!  

 
I cut some banners using the Little B Pennant die (fishtail flags) and My Favorite Things' Jumbo Party Hat die (triangle pennants).  I also used the My Favorite Things donut die to create the donut embellishments.

 

I punched out some circles, folded them in half and glued them to each other with the yarn in between for an added bit of dimension.  I attached all the pieces to a fabric strip, added some fabric scrap ribbons, flowers and some cute little bows make with Tim Holtz's paper string.

Unfortunately, making this banner only made me crave a donut more and not less, so it's off to the bakery I go!  And speaking of worthwhile shopping, I got these fantastic banner supplies from Simon Says Stamp:

Little B Designer Cutting Die Pennants	My Favorite Things Donut Die-namics	Sizzix Big Shot Machine	Lifestyle Crafts Genius Ultimate Platform System	Kaisercraft Blue Bay 6x6 Paper	American Crafts Dear Lizzie Serendipity 6x6 Paper	American Crafts Shimelle 6x6 Paper
Echo Park Happy Days 6x6 Paper	My Mind′s Eye Dwell 6x6 Paper	1" Circle Punch--EK Success	Idea-ology Paper String	Timber Brown StazOn	Walnut Stain - Distress Ink

Surely you will come up with some ever-so-clever A projects!  Upload them to the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog so we can bask in your creativity.  You'll also be automatically entered in the Simon Says Stamp drawing for a $50 store voucher.  Can't wait to see what you make!

My Other Creations: Pastel Notebook

This week's challenge at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog is to embrace pastels!  Love the shabby-chic look you get with them and this is the perfect time of year to think of the soft colors of Easter.  I created a notebook for my project with a subtly-colored cover:

I started out with a Journal Kit from We R Memory Keepers that comes with pages, spiral wire for binding, and a cover.  You need a Cinch tool to assemble it, but I love how all it leaves for you to do is to spiff it up.  So I went with some paper from Prima's Free Spirit collection as my cover base.  I used a Layered Bead stencil and Distress Ink in Spun Sugar, Shabby Shutters and Cracked Pistachio to make some faded circles in the background.

Next I added some die strips that I cut with the Moroccan Tiles die and smudged with Spun Sugar and Tumbled Glass Distress Ink.

You know I'm a fabric-a-holic, so I grabbed the Tattered Florals die and cut out some fabric flowers to layer onto my cover.  The trick to getting dies to cut through fabric is to add a piece of cardstock to the die "sandwich" so that there's enough pressure to cut through fabric.  My die sandwich went as follows: bottom plate, die, fabric, cardstock, top plate.  Worked great!  You'll notice, too, that I used not just the flower shapes, but also the square "frames" that I cut the flowers out of.

I whipped out some white acylic paint and stamped on some reverse polka dots using Dina Wakley's Textures stamp, then smudged more white paint here and there.  Love the look of using paint with stamps, but I always have to clean my stamps pronto so the paint isn't stuck there for life (kind of obsessive about keeping my stamps as "mint" as possible).

I'm really loving the Scribbles die, so I cut out a few circular scribbles using Prima's Lifetime paper and added them to the side.

The Serendipity paper stack has a piece of patterned paper consisting of a bunch of words, so I cut some of the words out and used them on the cover and on the tabs of my journal.  I also smeared more Distress Ink here and there with a sponge.

I glued my creation onto my journal chipboard cover, then bound the whole thing together with the Cinch.  The kit includes four pocket/divider pages, which I always attach tabs to.  I made the tabs using We R's tab punch and paper from both Shimelle and Serendipity.

You can never have too many notebooks (says the former English teacher) and I thoroughly enjoyed this week's pastel theme.

Here are the materials I used, which you can find at Simon Says Stamp:

Prima Free Spirit Paper- A4 Size	The Crafter′s Workshop MINI LAYERED BEADS 6 x 6 Template	Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad CRACKED PISTACHIO	Shabby Shutters - Distress Ink	Tim Holtz Distress Spun Sugar Ink Pad	Mixed Media Sponges Bars	Sizzix Bigz Die - Tattered Florals
Sizzix Big Shot Machine	My Favorite Things Moroccan Tile Border Die Trio	My Favorite Things Scribbles Die	Prima Lifetime Paper	Dina Wakley Ranger WHITE Media Heavy Body Acrylic Paints	Dina Wakley Textures Cling Stamps	Fiskars Acrylic Blocks
Cinch - We R Memory Keepers	File Tab Punch-We R Memory Keepers	American Crafts Dear Lizzie Serendipity 6x6 Paper	American Crafts Shimelle 6x6 Paper	Distress Ink Tumbled Glass	Squeezed Lemonade - Distress Ink

 
I know  you're feelin' the pastel vibes this week, so show us your creations!  Upload your pastel pieces to the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog so that we can see the clever things you've been up to and so that you'll be automatically entered into the Simon Says Stamp drawing for a $50 store voucher!