Typealyzer

*Gasp!* Another post?! I know, two days in a row is quite amazing on my part. I had to share what I just discovered! I was scrolling through blogs...while I'm supposed to be working (sshhh don't tell!) and I came across a blogger who used this Typealyzer website. You enter your blog address and it analyzes your personality type. I'm trying this out on both of my blogs.
This one was pretty close to accurate:

ESFP - The Performers

The entertaining and friendly type. They are especially attuned to pleasure and beauty and like to fill their surroundings with soft fabrics, bright colors and sweet smells. They live in the present moment and don´t like to plan ahead - they are always in risk of exhausting themselves.

The enjoy work that makes them able to help other people in a concrete and visible way. They tend to avoid conflicts and rarely initiate confrontation - qualities that can make it hard for them in management positions.

According to Meyer's Briggs my real personality is an ENFP, so pretty darn close!
Try it out on your blog and see how it turns out. Maybe as a blogger you're someone completely different!

Its A Very Merry Christmas!

The holiday season is upon us! Since I haven't posted in some time, you know I've been busy! This time of year is hard to squeeze in scrappin, but I thought I'd share some of my Christmas crafts!

See that wreath on the tree? I used my star shaped cake pan, set an empty cool whip container in the center. Scattered fresh cranberries in the pan and filled with water. I froze it and then hung outside with ribbon. An inexpensive holiday touch to our otherwise bare backyard.

This is my homemade holiday kissing ball. I chose to forgo the traditional mistletoe for this beauty. Shopping sales at Michael's allowed me to buy several pearl picks for about 17 cents a piece. A little glue and styrofoam ball, and viola! Pucker up baby!

My end table was little a little bare, so I took some holiday theme paper and cut into varying size circles. I took wooden spools and painted them red and green. Fitted with a 3/4 inch dowel, I stacked it all together with a little hot glue and now we have a table top tree! All for about $5 in materials.

These were just some extra ornaments hung with thread in front of my window. Clever hey?

What can I say, I'm addicted to Michaels. When I saw these glittery poinsettias I had to make a wreath for our door!

Here is our cozy dining room. I scored some holiday wall decals at Border's on sale. Paired with extra ornaments and a poinsettia and our boring dining area was transformed into a warm holiday dinner setting!

All is merry and bright in our living room! Notice the "wreaths" on the window...those are decorative ceiling mounts! I picked them up for $5-$7 a piece at Menards. A little craft paint and some ribbon, and we have some unique wreaths!

As you can see I've been a busy little elf!

I hope everyone has been having a wonderful holiday season!

Merry Christmas! See you next year!

Blossoms

This is another layout I created during my scrapbooking weekend. I had the brown floral paper but was having a tough time deciding what to do with it. Its hard to tell from the photo, but its quite glittery. I decided to "wing it" and hand cut the paper into a frame. I used a razor blade and freely cut it into a frame.
You can also faintly see on the pink cardstock I did some masking. I used my Cricut and Storybook cartridge to cut a circular design that was similar to cherry blossoms. I used that cut image as a mask.
The white and pink frame around the photo is actually the backside of the chocolate/frame paper. Those adorable branches and blossoms are dimensional stickers from Jolee's.
It was fun to make! I was nervous about it. This is a photo I really love of David and I. I wanted the layout to be just perfect. I've procrastinated doing for some time now. I'm glad I waited, I love the way it turned out!

Brand New House

It has been a couple of months since I have had time to do any scrappin, and let me tell you, I've missed it! I have missed out on it for good reason though....I bought my first house! David and I moved in on August 20th. We have been crazy busy painting, decorating, and general house stuff. This weekend I was able to do some scrapbooking, when a few girlfriends came to visit for just that purpose. Below is a layout I did about our new home. We took that photo on closing day, as proud new home owners! The original owners left us several house keys, so I thought it would be fun to use one of them on my page.
The paper is from My Little Shoebox, and that awesome die cut is from one of my favorite websites to shop, Scrapyourtrip.com
Over the next few days I'll post more of my scrap weekend accomplishments. Hopefully now I'll find more time to get back to my hobbies!

Sunflower Tutorial

As promised, here is a simple tutorial for making an awesome paper sunflower. You can vary the size, but I find that if you get much smaller than this it becomes hard to fold.

To get started you will need paper cut into 2 inch thick strips. Four of them should be 4.5 inches tall, and four should be 5.5 inches tall.

You will need double sided tape (or glue dots work well too) and ink. Its also helpful to have a bone folder or a scoring tool.

Step One:

Cut your paper into 2 inch thick strips. Four of them 4.5 inches tall, four of them 5.5 inches tall.

Step Two:

Score, or fold each strip down the middle.

Step Three:

Using the middle fold as a guide, fold the corners in to the center.

Step Four:

Fold the side edges into the center, again using the middle fold as a guide.

Your folds should look like this:

Complete these steps with each strip:

Step Five: Take out your double sided tape and tape the folds down in the middle.

Step Six: Ink the edges of each strip.

Step Seven:

Separate the 4.5 inch strips and the 5.5 inch strips. Taking the 5.5 inch strips and using your double sided tape, create an X.

Step 8:

Take one of the remaining strips and tape down across your X shape.

Step Nine:

Repeat, but this time across your shape.

Step Ten:

Repeat with the 4 smaller strips.

Step Eleven:

Place a piece of double sided tape in center of larger flower. Lay smaller flower on top of it, slightly staggered.

Step Twelve:

Cup the flower in your hand. Press into the center with your thumb to create dimension.

Step Thirteen:

Cut a circle to put in the center.

Cut a 5.5 inch tall strip of green paper and complete the folds like the "petals".
Step Fourteen:

Again using the double sided tape, angle the green strip on bottom of flower to create leaves.

Viola! You have a beautiful paper sunflower! I put names on the center circle and used mine as place settings. It also makes a beautiful addition to your scrapbook pages or cards. Try it! You'll love it!

Big Things Happening...

Its been awhile since I've posted. Life has been crazy! I am full of exciting news today!
I bought a house!! I closed on August 20th, and since then have been in a whirlwind of chaos. There has been no time for scrappin these days!
David and I are very excited to be our new place. It is our first house. I wonder how I ever had all this stuff in a one bedroom apartment!
Here we are on Closing Day. Proud new homeowners!

Next big news....I got published!!! A few of my layouts were featured in the online publication Scrapstreet Magazine! You can check me out in the Discovery Drive section. This online magazine is full of great ideas! Each month they feature a new scrapper, and this month its ME! WOO HOO!
With news like this, I hope you'll forgive me for not posting in awhile!
Stay tuned, coming soon is a tutorial on paper sunflowers....you don't want to miss it!

Stampin!

Are you a stamper? Have you tried to incorporate stamping into your paper craft projects? If not, now is the time to start experimenting! My sweet friend Lisa has a spectacular blog where she debuts Stampin Up! products as well as shows off her incredible stamping and paper craft talent!

Lisa has also given her seal of approval! Lisa likes my style! Woo hoo!

Thank you Lisa!!! So I too am spreading the blog love. The rules for this award are as follows:

1. By accepting this award you recognize the giver "Likes Your Style!"

2. You agree to display this award proudly on your site, and include a post linking back to the giver.

3. And because there are so many bloggers out there whose style you like, you will share this award with them....however many that may be.

With that said, I nominate these fabulous ladies:

Jessie

Melissa

Lisa shows off her excellent stamping talent, and this weekend I decided to try stamping myself. I've dabbled with it some, but I used it quite a bit on this layout. The title and clear flowers are stamped. I tried my hand at Stazon ink on acetate and loved the results! How fun! I cant believe I didn't try this sooner!

If you haven't tried to incorporate stamping in your layouts yet, you should try it! You'll be amazed at the wide world of possibilities it can open up!

New & Changing

Its been awhile since I've been able to post. Life has been crazy busy and I haven't been able to scrap as much as I'd like. I've decided to take on cake decorating as a side business. I've created a new blog just for my cakes! Check it out: http://fairytalefrosting.blogspot.com
Don't worry, I'll be posting here for all my crafting fun! Speaking of which, check out my latest layout! This photo is from my last trip to Scotland. The blonde is my Scottish friend Lorna. We met in 2001 when I studied abroad in her home town. We've been friends ever since. Here we are having a pint at our old hang out, Masons!

I tried a few techniques on this one. Check out my tutorial on making a Paper Rose for the center rose. I also made the blue flowers from felt. I painstakingly stitched detail and pearls into the circle, and finished off with dimensional paint and stickles! The details took quite a bit of time, but I love the end result!

Hunting Vampires at a Wedding

It's been a busy weekend, and its only Saturday morning! I had a lot of decorating to do yesterday. First up was a Hunter themed cake. A friend had me do a cake for his son's birthday. He's really into hunting. The camo fondant was extremely challenging. The cake had more flaws than I would have liked, but the guys loved it and that's all that matters!

My friend Kelly also had a birthday this week. We are both big fans of the Twilight series, so I made her a cake based on the 4 book covers. This was also my first attempt at stacking a cake. It was easier than I thought! Whew!
The top tier is chocolate cake and the bottom is carrot cake. Delicious!

Last project is Bride and Groom cupcakes. I cant take all the credit for this idea, I was inspired by another cake decorator on cakecentral.com. We are attending a wedding later today and these little cakes are part of our gift to the happy couple. I had a lot of fun making these and love how they turned out! Its hard to tell in the picture, but the bride's dress has luster dust on it making it all shimmery. I love them!

Its been a fun decorating weekend!

Stars and Stripes

I am heading to Milwaukee today to celebrate the 4th with friends at the lakefront. Before I go, I wanted to show off my Stars & Stripes Cake!! I tried adding pudding to this recipe and the cake came out amazing and held the shape great! When we cut into it this weekend it is layered with red and blue cake and white frosting filling! Its patriotic in every way!



Hope everyone has a GREAT holiday weekend!

Me...Unzipped

I am in love with the 7 Gypsies "Gypsy Market" collection! I bought the papers and was so excited, and then a creative roadblock hit. The paper was so beautiful, what would I do with it? What if it didn't turn out as amazing as I had hoped? So I mulled it over for weeks. I was wandering around Michaels, when it hit me....a jean zipper! This, is where it lead me:
I tore the paper and then stitched in the zipper, put the photo in place and backed it up with another piece of patterned paper. The embellishments are mostly Tim Holtz. I used a Tim Holst mask in the corner, as well as grunge board key and lock. The key and lock are distressed with Perfect Pearls Aged Patina. The green rose is hand made (see my Paper Rose Tutorial!). The title is Cricuit Stone Script. The florishes are also Cricut, Storybook. I used Heidi Swapp Clock Stamps in the corner, and some Prima Flowers alongside the one I made. The journal box was distressed with Walnut Stain, Tea Stain, and Firebrick Distress Inks.
A lot of time and effort went into this page, and I am so pleased with how it turned out!
Try a zipper on your next page!

Fairy Wonderland

This weekend I had a good friend visit for her birthday. I made her a special birthday card, she loves butterflies!

I also made her a Fairy Wonderland cake! Its my current favorite combo of French Vanilla Cake with Almond filling. It was quite challenging to make, but I love how it turned out!

Here is a view from the top:

A little pink fairy welcoming you to her humble home!

This was so much fun, I can't wait for the next cake challenge!!

Just Call Me Betty....

I am having a GREAT time baking and decorating cakes!! This week I made two birthday cakes for some co-workers. This one is my Pink Stripe Birthday Cake. Its marble cake, filled with vanilla buttercream, and covered in vanilla fondant.

Here is a close up!

My second cake is based on an inside joke with a co-worker regarding the nickname "Sunshine". He loved it!

The cake is marble again, with vanilla buttercream, and vanilla fondant. The sun is white chocolate. It was so much fun to make!

I even added a few chocolate clouds.

I've decided I officially love working with fondant! The possibilities are endless!

Puppies at the Beach

This weekend I took a break from scrapping and instead did some baking! My friend Heather is in charge of bringing the dessert to her sister's tropical themed bridal shower. She came over and we experimented with an idea. Beach Cupcakes!!

We made coconut cupcakes with vanilla frosting. We also used almond buttercream for the flowers.

Don't they look delicious?! They were fun to make and tasted great too. They are going to be a hit at the bridal shower!!

I wanted to try to make some puppy cakes that I saw in a book. Heather agreed to help with that too. While we waited for the next batch to bake, we indulged in a little wine. How perfect is this.....Cupcake Wine?!

Life doesn't get any more perfect that a beach cupcake washed down with a glass of Sauvignon Blanc "Cupcake" wine!
Once the new batch was cool, we got to work on these little cuties!!

Here is a close up....don't you just want to pet him?

And of course, it wouldn't be complete without a little puppy love....

We had a blast making these!

This week I start another Wilton Course. This time I'm taking the Fondant class! So stay tuned for more culinary creations!