My Cards and Tags: Thankful Card

I can't believe that Thanksgiving is next week!!  Since I wouldn't know the first thing about what to do with a turkey, I will leave that to my brilliant culinary mother and contribute in a different way: by making some "Thankful" cards!  I thought these would be a fun memento to give out to family members.  On the inside, I've written what I'm thankful for about that family member.

I used pretty much every brand of paper known to man for this card, namely Authentique, Cosmo Cricket, We R Memory Keepers, Recollections, Simple Stories, My Mind's Eye and Basic Grey.

For the 3D flowers, I used a Sizzix flower die and I used Prima flowers behind the 3D flowers.  I also added some yarn from Crystal Palace behind the flowers.

The "thankful" sentiment was made using alphabet letter stamps from Studio G.  The big and little letter T's were already printed on the patterned paper, so I just cut them out and stamped "thankful" underneath it.

The initial inspiration for this card came from the first ever Monthly Monday Challenge issued by the Scrapbook USA Expo.  Have you read through the challenge yet?  Submit a project, card, etc., based on the word "thankful" and you could win some sweet prizes!  Check out the challenge here!

My Other Creations: Idea Book

My good friend Amber (who's also my crafting compadre) gave me a notebook that is PERFECT for storing all sorts of pictures, clippings, thoughts and ideas (an unofficial "SMASH" book style of sorts).  It's a Brag Book made by Fancy Pants (love that company) that includes 50 journaling pages, 15 2-slot clear photo sleeves and 15 pocket pages to stash stuff in.  Very heavy duty as well as versatile.  It came with a plain brown cover that you can embellish or leave as is.  This weekend I decided to give the cover a little "oomph" and add some colorful division tabs as well.

The classy lady on the front is one that I cut out from a piece of patterned paper produced by our beloved Tim Holtz.  The Bingo card is vintage and was found at a thrift store.

Other paper brands I used include We R Memory Keepers (pale green chevron stripes), Recollections (brown polka dots), Graphic 45 (blue pattern behind the "brilliant" sentiment and also used at the top of the page), Simple Stories (diagonal stripes and floral print) as well as My Mind's Eye (blue wood background page).  The "brilliant" word is from a light bulb stamp set by Maya Road and I used a large scallop border punch by EK Success.

The different idea categories of my book now include ideas for home decor, ideas for craft projects, new things I want to investigate/buy, ideas for writing, and quotes that I like.  Good stuff and a kudos to my friend Amber for once again giving me a gift that keeps on giving!

Tutorials: Make Paper Pine Cones from 3D Flower Dies

Hey there loyal readers!  Today I bring you the handmade paper pine cone!!  How did this all come about, you ask?  I went on a walk yesterday afternoon, saw a cute little pine cone in my path and started thinking about how I could make a dimensional pine cone out of paper to adorn either Fall or Christmas gifts.  I know of at least one very cool die out there that already makes 3D pine cones (thank you, Tim Holtz!), but I didn't have one.  What I did have was a 3D flower die from Sizzix.  So here's how I turned a 3D flower into the pine cone you see on this embellished tin:

Start by cutting out two identical 3D flower spirals from the die of your choice (Sizzix, Lifestyle Crafts, Cricut and Spellbinders all have these spiral-flower designs).

I used DCWV paper because it's sturdy and both sides are colored so you don't have to worry about a back and front.  Next, roll the flowers into their 3D shape, starting from the outside in.  Remember my earlier tip about using a quilling tool to do this!  It makes life so much easier!

You now have two spiral flowers rolled.  You are going to stick these together to form your pine cone.

Because you're going to stick one flower into the other, cut out the center of one of the flowers so that you'll have room to insert the other flower into it.  The one that you cut will form the top of your pine cone.

Use hot glue or the adhesive of your choice to glue the two flowers together.

Once they're glued together, use needle-nose pliers to pull and elongate the bottom flower into a more narrow pine cone shape. 

Wah-la!  The last thing I did was to rub black ink across the pine cone (especially the edges) to give it a little more distinction and to blot out the white core of the paper.

So there you have it!  An adorable pine cone just ready and waiting to be put on the perfect gift!  For my little tin, I used paper from My Mind's Eye as the background and used fabric, tulle and lace to add accents at the top of the pine cone.  I used alphabet stamps for the sentiment.

The great thing about pine cones is their versatility.  You could add glitter to make it more festive or "frost" the edges with white for a winter look. The possibilities are endless and I enjoyed how these cute little pine cones turned out.

Tutorials: Gratitude Garland

Greetings!  You have arrived at the blog of Andrea Ockey Parr and may I offer you a hearty welcome!  I'm a long-time crafter and an avid literary nerd, but I've only recently tried my hand at blogging.  So thanks for checking out my little corner of the online universe!  I'm also thrilled to be a member of the Scrapbook USA Expo Design Team and am thoroughly impressed with the skills of my teammates.

If you've stumbled onto this Blog Hop by accident, then it's your lucky day!  Here are the details: Between now (Monday, November 5th) and Wednesday (November 7th) at midnight, visit each of our blogs (listed below) and leave a comment. Each time you comment on one of our blogs you will be entered to win 2 of DCWV’s brand spankin’ new Christmas 4X5 pads!!

A chance at a crafty prize?  NICE!  And with Christmas just around the corner these would certainly come in handy!!  So using our math skills (warning!  Mine are minimal), that means that if you comment on each of our blogs, as well as the Scrapbook USA Expo blog, you will be entered eight times!!  Now I'm no statistics expert, but that sounds mighty better than zero entries!  Woo hoo!

Without further ado, here is my Blog Hop Project!

We are now fully entrenched in my favorite time of the year!  The highlights?  Being able to drink hot chocolate without looking like a weirdo (I down the stuff ALL YEAR, which draws some looks in mid-July), wearing power boots and snuggly sweaters, seeing the changing leaves, getting giddy about Santy Claus's impending visit, spending time with family and friends, eating yummy food (thanks, mom!) and reflecting on our many blessings.  What's not to love about Fall?

To get myself into thankful mode, I put together this Gratitude Garland:

Since the holiday season can get a tad busier than I'd like (we all know THAT feeling), I wanted to make something that was fast and easy, but still meaningful.  I decided to make paper leaves listing some of my greatest joys and blessings and I attached them to a store-bought garland.  And if you want to go even lower stress, just stamp words on store-bought leaves!  It doesn't get any more time-saving than that!

The paper I used to make these leaves is from the "Autumn Melody" collection by DCWV.  I cut out some leaf shapes using the Cricut "Accent Essentials" cartridge, then stamped something I was grateful for on each leaf using alphabet stamps.  I inked and distressed the edges of the leaves and crinkled them and folded them to give them some added dimension.  Then I glued them to the garland and put the pumpkin in the middle.

This project is low-stress and is a great visual reminder to slow down and cherish what's truly important.  It would also be fun to do as a family activity with each family member writing down some things they're grateful for on the leaves.

So whether you use this garland as a circular centerpiece, or weave it in between some Fall-colored candles, you can bet that it will not only look good, but it will also be a good reminder of all the things there are to be grateful for!

I hope that you enjoy my blog and that you love hoppin' on to these others, too:

Andrea (Hey! You're already here!)

Heather

Ange

Tomi Anne

Wendi

Kassi

Jennifer
Scrapbook USA Expo 

My Other Creations: Memory Box

Greetings fellow revelers of Fall!  Are we already getting giddy about the holidays??  I know I am!  And this year I wanted to create something handmade that was pretty to look at, but also had the POW of emotional impact.  The result?  This memory box!

So what's the theory of a "memory box" and how did I create it?  I wanted to make something for my mom, who has filled my life with gifts from her talented sewing hands.  She made me beautiful clothes while I was growing up, she sewed a quilt for me when I got married, and she kept my dolls stylin' when I was a kid by surprising me with new outfits for them.  She is so talented in any sort of handwork and I wanted to honor her for that.  So I put together some notions and fabric to fill the inside of the box:

On these items, I wrote some of my favorite sewing-related memories of her (stamped onto the cloth that unrolls from the spools, written on the back of the button packages, etc.).

Next, I included this nifty recordable card from  Picture that Sound.  It's a company that makes cards which you can embellish and record a message onto.  You get 20 seconds of recording time to leave just the right sentiment for your loved one.

The card started out like this:

(Front and back views-- you can decorate either side)

And I made it into this.  My mom will just push the "play" button on the back to hear my message.

Adding a personalized message instantly makes any gift more memorable!  So with the notes written to my mom on the sewing notions and a card with a recorded message, I'm hoping she'll see just how much I love and cherish the beautiful things she's made me over the years.

For this project, I used paper, stickers and embellishments from "The Sweetest Thing" collection from My Mind's Eye.  Always LOVE pretty much anything that MME cranks out!  I also used stick pins from Maya Road and flowers from Prima, some of my other favorite brands.

So if you're struggling to know what to give someone this year, try a memory box filled with things they love, and reasons why you love them, too! 

My Cards and Tags: Fly

You know I'm a fabric fiend, so I thought I'd post a picture of this bird card I recently made.  I stamped the bird image, then sewed around it with my machine, shaded it with ink, then added a crown that I cut from a piece of patterned fabric.  I also used a text stamp to help add dimension to the background.

This card is especially meaningful to me because one of the background fabric pieces I used came from a box that was lovingly assembled by my grandma.  She was a quilter and had several boxes of patterned and solid fabric arranged by color and often cut into quilt block triangles and squares; just waiting for her talented hands.  That means a lot to me.  Creativity, after all, is not an isolated gift-- it's something that can tie us to our past and can keep us connected to those we love the very most.  Whenever I incorporate my grandma or mother's fabric or lace, I feel closer to them and have a deep gratitude for the bond we share as we try, throughout our lives, to make things more beautiful.

Tutorials: Easy Halloween Treat

With Halloween upon us, here's a quick and easy treat that involves only THREE (count 'em, THREE) ingredients (cause that's just how I roll when it comes to culinary matters):

Ready for this highly complex recipe?  Here goes!  Take a package of Vanilla-flavored CandiQuik and melt it in its own handy microwaveable tray (side note: they're not kidding when they say to only increase the microwave time by 15 second increments until melting consistency is achieved.  I learned this the hard way one year).

Open some Oreo cookies and dip them into the melted CandiQuik.

Put the cookies down on wax paper then throw on some Halloween sprinkles before the CandiQuik dries.  That's it!  You're done!

For those of you who still may struggle like I do in the kitchen, here's an exciting action shot right after the cookies have been sprinkled.  What you're making should sort of resemble this in some way.

I've yet to meet anyone who doesn't like this treat and it's so quick and easy to do.  I went with a purple and green theme, but you could also incorporate orange and use the Halloween edition Oreo's with orange-colored creme centers.

I bought two packages of plain Oreo's (not Double Stuff) and one package of CandiQuik.  I had a little bit of CandiQuik left over after dipping all the cookies (approximately 90 cookies total).  I bought the CandiQuick and Oreo's at Target and got the sprinkles at Target, Michael's and JoAnn's.

Since the point of this post is "easy" Halloween treats, you can simply put these in cellophane bags when they're done and tie them with Halloween-colored yarn or ribbon.

If you have the time, these also look very cute in paper boxes with tissue paper, coffin boxes, upside down witch hat cones, or ceramic cauldron bowls that you can pick up at the dollar stores on occasion.  No matter how you package them, they'll get eaten up pretty quick and you'll be the hero for bringing something with sprinkles to the party!

My Other Creations: Sewing Tin

Sewing and I have had a love/hate relationship.  I'll spare you the gory details, but let's just say that in junior high, sewing class ruined my nerd-driven perfect GPA.  Why?  I bombed my final project which was one of those silk-backed floral vests that were all the rage in the late 80's.  Remember those things??  Wow!  I still can't look back at those vests without bitterness.  Despite my wonderful mother's sewing skills and teaching attempts, I just couldn't make sense of patterns.  They seemed like a cruel mix of math and hieroglyphics.  Failure, failure.  To this day, patterns and I don't mix.

But I still have a fascination/obsession with fabric.  LOVE IT and only realized in the past several years that you can totally incorporate fabric and sewing into your projects even if you're not a traditional, pattern-using seamstress.  I've at last found peace and balance and have learned that when it comes to sewing, I'm fine as long as I don't know what I'm doing or what I'm supposed to be doing (if that makes sense).

So here's a little tin I made to honor the art of sewing: whether you staunchly follow those mysterious symbols on the tissue paper or not.  It's just a reminder to me that the beauty of most creative endeavors is all about interpretation and execution.  It's about individualism!  If you don't follow a pattern, sew on!  If you do follow a pattern, I admire you!  There's room enough for all of us, no matter our methods, to create amazing things!

My Cards and Tags: Christmas Cards

October 1st and guess what treasure came in the mail today?  The Oct/Nov/Dec issue of The Stampers' Sampler!  And whoa Nelly!  Guess whose Christmas card made the cover??  Great joy and rejoicings!  It's mine!  Pretty sweet surprise.  Here's a visual:

And hey- here's another one of my cards that's inside this issue in the Christmas section:

My Other Creations: Halloween Bracelets

Today I wore my favorite Fall boots and my hand is cramped from gripping the needle-nose pliers.  You know what that combo means!  You got it!  It's that wonderful time of year when I make my Halloween jewelry!  LOVE IT!

So here are some of the Halloween bracelets I've made this year.  I make all the beads myself from Polymer clay.  I prefer Sculpey brand and then I coat the beads to give them that "glassy" look.  If you like the look of these eyeballs, try making some!  They're totally doable. 

Behold the Monster Bracelet (featuring monster eyeballs and a bat):

And here's the always-classy Eyeball Bracelet:

Are they not cute?  These eyeballs are so versatile and you can use them in endless projects.  They are truly "eye-catching" (ha, ha.  Pun intended, although due to its cheesiness, it probably shouldn't have been).