Home is Where Your Heart Is...

HI everyone! Just a quickie to direct you over to The Hybrid Chick blog today for a tutorial using shrink plastic!   It's just as fun as you remember it from childhood.  If you have a moment, please check it out.

Have a great day!

The icing on the cake at The Hybrid Chick

Hi sweet blog friends! I have a diaper cake confection to share today! I have been dreaming of making my first diaper cake for a couple of weeks now. My cousin's baby shower is almost here and it was time to put some more handmade ideas to work! Perhaps you'll remember the invite and the gift box I shared before using the monkey from the My Cute Stamps Circus Animals set?

All the details on the cute square box gift topper are in my tutorial over at the hybrid chick. I'd love it if you checked it out! The box template is from Kelleigh Ratzlaff over at the digichick and BONUS Kelleigh has her whole store on sale for 30% off right now. Go go go! :)

This was an incredibly easy project and I would totally do it again. SO fun!

Thanks for stopping by, I'm so glad you shared your day with me!

Supplies:

Template: Perfectly Square by Kelleigh Ratzlaff at the digichick boutique
Designer Paper: Paper Daydream original ;) using Microsoft Word

Stamps: My Cute Stamps

Cardstock: Papertrey and Georgia Pacific

Cricut Cartridge: Base Camp

Punches: EK Success, CM and SU

Ink: Papertrey

Pens: Zig scroll and brush

Other: pinking sheers, felt, ribbon, hemp twine, diapers (i used a box of 96 size 1 pampers and had about 30 leftover), receiving blankets, rubber bands

Gift Tags Galore at the Hybrid Chick

EDITED to add: The link below currently does not take you to my tutorial :( Skip it for now and I will update with a link as soon as everything is straightened out. thanks!

Hey friends! Back today with some uber quick but gorgeous gift tags thanks to the amazing images in Mari Koegelenberg's kit, Morrocan Sunset at the Digichick Boutique.

I'd love it if you checked out my tutorial at The Hybrid Chick blog. You'll find all the details over there on how to create these lovely tags .

Thanks so much for stopping by today. Have a wonderful day!

Paper Flower Tussy Mussy...you "mussy"-n't miss it :)

Hey friends! Just a quickie to say I am honored to be the project of the day over at The Hybrid Chick. I crafted up a paper flower tussy mussy for a friend's wedding shower that turned out just as I pictured it in my head. Love when that happens, don't you? Also, this project started with a child's party hat template from Kelleigh Ratzlaff's August Grab Bag over at the Digichick Boutique. With a few changes, this party hat went from juvenile to uptown style!

The above picture is just one of my photo shoot leftovers that I felt like posting because it's sooooo romantic with the low lights. Just giving myself a little photography love...ignore me ;)

So I'd love it if you'd shoot on over to the Hybrid chick blog and check out my project in step by step format, with hints and tips along the way...and then I'd REALLY love it if you gave something like this a try and shared it with me. And also check out all of the super talented creative team projects...they are sure to get your mojo flowing. Thanks so much for stopping by! See you at the Hybrid Chick :)

Get {organized} with a hybrid homework clipboard

Hey friends! Happy friday! I love a friday...especially on a school week! Yep! My girls went back to school this week....now we....er... THEY are in Kindergarten and 3rd grade. Eeek! That went by fast. Back to school means back to homework and schedules galore and in order to not lose our minds, we need a place to keep it all. Enter the homework clipboards, one for each girl. I have written up a tutorial over at the Hybrid Chick website in case you would like to make something like this for yourself or for your kids. I hope you'll check it out. You can find the tutorial {here}.

Since I have two girls, I went all crazy with an adorable digi kit from Pri Rocha called Three Birds PLUS lots of girly bling, ribbon, and flowers. I wanted to steer the moms of boys to the totally awesome superhero kit by Amy Sumrall called Comical . It's got all the KA-BLAM! a boy could need to get his school thing on!

Oh and just so you could get a visual on my end of school fridge...here is the evidence! Mamma Mia, it needed a makeover BAD! It looked how I feel sometimes when I get overloaded with "stuff"....mismatched, things trailing and falling off, a walking catch all of just in case we need it things, you know how it is LOL! Now that's not always a bad thing...it's just a little overwhelming at times and the fix for my fridge was simple. Picture it now with nothing but the pink memo sheet made by my oldest in first grade for my running list of groceries. *sigh* my fridge can breathe again and so can I. tee hee :)

Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope you have a wonderful friday and a fab weekend!!

You're WILD, baby!

Hey y'all...a little something new from me over at The Hybrid Chick. I'd love it if you would check out my tutorial for this sweet little baby project. It's a little on the wild side ;)

It's a baby shower at The Hybrid Chick!

Please visit the Hybrid Chick and check out my first tutorial for this fun altered baby gift :) You'll find all the details in my post over there and stay tuned for the next two weeks for lots of great baby gift ideas. Also, tons of great giveaways for this celebration including my ornament. Leave a comment on my post at the Hybrid Chick to be eligible and get an extra entry for blogging, twittering, or posting on facebook and linking to the Hybrid Chick. Good Luck!

Oh Happy Day...a bride's {just in case} kit

Greetings! I have something new and FUN to share today. I recently shared that I was asked by Kelleigh Ratzlaff to be a part of her creative team working with her super cute digital templates. Being the DOLL that she is, she referred lil ol me to Nicole Seitler, who runs the Digi Chick Boutique, and told Nicole "we have to have Dana at the THC". Being the digi know not-so-much that I am, I asked Kelleigh "what is THC?" . Wellllll, THC stands for The Hybrid Chick. It's a brand new arm of the Digi Chick and it's a place especially for those of us who like to use and try digital elements but GOTTA still play with the actual paper, scissors and glue. There are great tutorials at the Hybrid Chick contributed by the creative team as well as contests and giveaways. Guess who is now also a part of the Hybrid Chick team? I know! Can you believe it?! By the way, there is a spot on the sidebar over at THC where you can submit your work for creative team consideration and there is a darling digi paper set to download for FREE also on the sidebar of the site. No excuse not to try it out right? Ch-ch-ch-ch-Check it out!

OK, now on to the project. Oh happy day indeed! I broke open a freshly downloaded digi kit from Mira Designs called Happy Land. It is packed full of fun papers and elements but I have to say the houndstooth paper alone was worth the price of admission for me LOL! I have a small addiction to houndstooth these days and now I own it in digital format so I can shrink it, grow it, re-color it and print it forever and ever! And just a quick reminder, I am not a user of any program fancier than Microsoft Word for my hybrid projects so it's pretty easy to get the basics from your kit.

For my project, I chose Kelleigh's super cute hexagon box template. A quick download and I was ready to go. I opened the line image of the template in Word and started playing. I first enlarged the template to the very edges of my paper. This causes the template to be a bit too long for an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of paper but that was ok since I wanted to make some alterations anyway. I wanted to make the top a lipped piece versus one that tucks inside. So I printed the top at full size and then printed the bottom a tiny bit smaller to enable the on and off the top was going to need. I printed off the two sections onto copy paper as well as printing out a full sheet of houndstooth paper. While my printer will accept cardstock, I don't like cut and fold lines printed on my project so I opt to print the template on a seperate sheet, staple it to my printed paper and then cut out the two sheets at the same time. Before I cut out the bottom of the box template, I scored 1/4" score lines vertically on a sheet of SU! shiny cardstock. Then same procedure, staple the template and cut. Kelleigh includes a how to assemble with each template complete with photos to help you along. I scored according to the template and adhered everything together. Here she is! A sweet little box for a very special friend of mine who is getting married in a month. I decided I would fill this box with tiny emergency items that she just might need, just in case, on her big day. This is a great shot of how I chose to finish off my box. I wanted this box to be sturdy enough that she can toss it in with her stuff that day. I decided a few reinforcements were justified and made a simple box liner by cutting, 1/4" scoring and punching a decorative edge along a piece of pink cardstock. The liner was 2" x 12", then edger punched. It's not quite enough to cover all six sides so I cut one more piece to finish of the last section. I also added top edge tabs to the bottom of the box so that instead of cut edges, they are now folded and adhered tabs...again for the reinforcement factor. A close up of the note I wrote inside the box for my friend. This was done in Word again using a text box and adding the bracket and rounded corner box shapes. I printed this over a scrap of the houndstooth I had left over. A couple of notes on the photo below....the "happy day" elements are part of the Happy Land digi Kit and were simply re sized and printed on a scrap of white cardstock through Word. The accordian flower is a 1 " x 11" strip of shiny white cardstock scored at 1/4" and accordian folded. The edges were glittered with antique silver glitter from Martha Stewert. And the lime green vellum....actually white vellum run through the sizzix with the swiss dots embossing folder and then colored on the back side with a lime colored brush pen. Head on over to the cupcake project to see more with colored and dry embossed vellum. Some of the goodies I have inside the box. I shopped the travel aisle for some things, an emergency kit for others and also added an emergency "something blue" for luck :) Again, scraps pf the houndstooth are great for repackaging loose items. A small discussion on the box closure. Again, keeping in mind I wanted this box to be able to survive the rigors of the big day, I opted for a magnet closure flap. If you have ever wondered why Basic Grey sells magnets....when you try them out and hear the "snap" when they find each other, you will know. The one downside is the adhesive...it's no match for the pull of the magnets. Thanks to some crafty techniques shared by my friend Elise, we found that the magnet works best when encased, or taped down when it's out of site. Check out her FABULOUS interactive card with the yummiest clear star clasp that you have ever seen using these magnets {here}. For my clasp, I punched two half inch circles from the scored white paper. I also punched a strip of the houndstooth and pulled out a tiny silver brad and a gem. The gem was tinted with alcohol ink to match. The Basic Grey magnet is sandwiched between circle and houndstooth tab and circle, all glued with Scotch quick dry liquid adhesive. For the lid hinge, I simply adhered a strip of scored white cardstock to the inside back section of the lid to the outside back of the box and made a crease at the fold. And FINALLY, one last shot to show how much class a bit of scoring gives plain cardstock. I love the ridges in the shiny white cardstock. Seems very "boutique" to me.

Oh and don't forget, FINAL chance to leave a comment for my blog candy for 3 gift certificate winners to Kelleigh's store. Check out the post {here}. Don't miss out and good luck!

Thanks so much for stopping by. I appreciate you sharing your time with me!

Supplies:

Digital Template: Hexagon box by Kelleigh Ratzlaff

Digital Kit: Happy Land by Mira Designs

Cardstock: Georgia Pacific and Stampin Up!

vellum: unknown

embossing folder: cuttlebug

punches: stampin up!

scallop scissors: fiskars

glitter: martha stewert

chipboard heart: MM

paint: delta

alcohol ink: ranger celery

magnet: basic grey

scor pal

Other: ribbon, craft gem, tulle, spray adhesive, small silver brad