One of the Best Altering Books on The Market...

I would have to say that this title belongs to a book by Madeline Arendt called "Altered Art for the First Time." It comes in a hardback. I first saw this book in my local library and knew that this was a book I needed and wanted in my craft book collection. She has so many clever ways to "re-use" and alter every day items. I will post a few of her pics from her book. They are her projects and the book includes directions. This is a 5 star book. The ISBN# is: 1-4027-1655-9. She alters tags, flash cards, books, mint boxes, matchbooks, dictionary's and much more. You won't be disappointed by this book.

115th Posting Blog Candy Give-A-Way

To celebrate my 115th posting, I have decided to do a blog candy Give-A-Way of some items that I created. All you need to do to win is post a comment on this blog posting for the give-a-way. You will be receiving a bag of cut flowers, a yellow polka dot bikini embellishment, oven mitt and cookie's embellishment, turtle and ladybug embellishments, dragonfly punch embellies, ballerina dress and poem embellishment and assembled paper flowers. Enjoy! I will draw a winner on Sept. 30, 2010! Good Luck!

Altered Toilet Paper Gift Card Holder

It seems to me that there is always an abundance of empty toilet paper rolls and paper towel rolls, and I hate just throwing them away. So, I was needing a gift card holder one day to give to a family friend. I decided to try my hand at making one. I pressed a toilet paper roll down flat which fit a gift card perfectly. I distressed the TP roll and punched holes on one end and threaded a twine rope through and tied little knots on either end. I attached a piece of scrap cardstock all the way around it with a glue gun. I took a bunch of my old postage stamps and scanned them in a row to resemble a border. I printed it out and cut out the row of stamps and distressed the edges with some Cat's Eye Distressing Chalk. I printed out one of my favorite quotes out onto a cream cardstock which I distressed again. I used a blue paperclip to close the top but make it easy enough to open. The reciever of the gift card said that she loved the holder almost as much as the gift card.

Twilight Altered Gift Box and Goodies

I hosted a Twilight SS (Special Sister) 1 month Shoebox swap, where you alter a notebook, alter a shoebox, make some bookmarks, add at least $20 of Twilight goodies, favorite adhesive, ribbon, stickles and other things and I had 2 partners: Cathie and Claudia. One of my fellow swap members sent a box to another and her daughter sent a box to the other's daughter. I felt terrible when I heard that she (my dear new friend LauraH. and her daughter) did not recieve anything back. So, I contacted Laura and said that I would make a box for her daughter and be a sort of "Angel" to her. I was going to alter a shoebox, but found a really neat shiny gift box that I altered. I bought Laura's daughter a Hallmark Edward and Bella Christmas Ornament, Twi Stickers, Twi Pens Assortment, and several more goodies. I altered the top of the box, sides and the bottom. I hope she truly enjoys the box. I enjoyed creating something for someone who loves the series as much as I and to be able to give something to someone who deserves it.

Altered Alice In Wonderland Remember Rabbit Photo Album

Recently, I purchased some Vintage-looking Alice in Wonderland Stamps and I wanted to play around with them. I decided to take the Rabbit "You are Invited" stamp and place it onto white cardstock which I cut to size to place where one would normally place a photo. I spray painted some brass brads with silver spray paint. I used some glue dots to adhere the purple cardstock onto the photo album. I glued the "remember" ribbon onto the front of the album. Using a sharp tool, I poked 2 holes on either side of the word "remember" to insert the spray painted brads. I found a little heart charm and glued it with a hot glue gun onto the corner of the rabbit framed area. I used a vintage button and a cloth prima flower and glued it to the corner of the album and used a paper photo corner for the other side. This is one of my favorite altered albums and I think that I gave the Rabbit new life along with the album.

We Wear Many Hats Scrapbook Page

As we go through life, we wear many hats and they sort of shape the character that we become. I had pictures taken of my 3 sons and each wore a hat they picked out. My youngest son still enjoys to put anything that fits on his head and he becomes a space hero, a cowboy, a rock and much more. Capturing the memories of childhood is so important and as one ages they will start to understnad the many hats we wear.

Twilight Fire and Ice 8"x8" Recipe Page Swap

About a month ago, I joined a swap on the Cricut Messageboard hosted by DonnaS. and the theme was from the Movie and Book Series: Twilight. I have to admit that this was one of my all-time favorite book series and never in my life did I think a book series would influence my life as much as this series did. The guidelines of the swap was that it needed to be on a 8"x8" piece of cardstock. One side needed to be: Fire (aka Jacob Black) and the other: Ice (aka Edward Cullen). The recipe for fire is one of my favorites for Chicken Enchiladas, and the recipe for Ice was First Love Chocolate Mousse. I truly enjoyed doing this swap. Donna will be binding the recipe book with a BIA (bind-it-all). The swap officially closes on Sept. 15, 2010 and I can't wait to post pics for you to see. Enjoy!

Life is Good Childhood Scrapbook Page

A few years ago, I recieved several childhood photos from my mom with my brother and I. Several of the photos are on polaroids which I took them to Sam's Club and had them turned into 4"x6" pictures, not only to save the disappearing images but to make copies for my siblings, parents and others. I loved seeing this photo of my brother and I sleeping. Life was good back then, and worry free.

Shabby Chic Distressed Scrapbook Pages

If you came to my house, you would see that my design is definately "shabby chic." I love older things and what can be done to give that object some new life. I have applied that same concept to my scrapbooking. Some pages are a little more "girly" or feminine, but I love the charm of yesteryear. My normal scrapbooking style is 1-2 pictures per 12"x12" page that way it seems to give the attention to detail for that specific picture.

Great Grandma's Childhood Scrapbook Page

A few years ago, I decided to create a special scrapbook for my in-law's 35th Wedding Anniversary. Almost 8 months before the Anniversary, I typed up a letter for family members, friends, and co-workers, to send in copies of pictures they wanted included, letters of memories with my in-laws, grandchildren's artwork, and much more. I got a huge response which ended up in 4 scrapbooks each with about 50 pages. It was a wonderful experience to thumb through the many older photos. My husband's grandma Rita, sent in a picture of her as a little girl. I loved the photo so much that I knew this picture commanded a certain attention to details. I used glittered chipboard for the letters in her name, a scrapbook page from DCWV Once Upon A Time 12"x12" paper stack. I used paper flowers from that line along with some sparkly bling. I used some square brads for her last name. I think this has to be one of my all time favorite scrapbook pages. I not only made this copy for my in-laws, I made one for my own book so that my children could see childhood photos of their great-grandmother.

Know Where You Are Going 2 Page Scrapbook Map Layout

I purchased a DCWV PhotoMat 12"x12" paper which included all sorts of paper designs. One of the pages was of a vintage looking map of the world. I tore parts of the map to created the 2 page layout. I found paper Kraft photo corners to give the page a little more rustic and aged look. I added some images and flower primas to add some dimension to the pages. I plan on using these 2 pages for my step-dad's Navy Scrapbook.

Soft Muted Heritage Themed Scrapbook Pages

Before I knew there was a "term" for the type of scrapbooking I truly enjoyed doing what I learned was "Heritage scrapbooking." Basically I would create pages and LO's that would be for older childhood photos, pages for grandparents, and other older memories. I like the soft muted tones that often are found in older pictures, inks, and from a time when life seemed easier and more peaceful.