Monday Make It Challenge{on a Tuesday}: Pantry Subway Art

This weeks Monday Make It challenge comes to you on a Tuesday.  {Monday holidays always throw me off}  The challenge is to make something for your kitchen.  It can be decor or something to help organize or some kind of storage...your pick!
Here is mine:
The Silhouette Online Store has subway art for everything...chores, coffee, cocktails and even Black Friday...but nothing for pantry.  I wanted to put something on my pantry door, and I wanted that something to be subway art.  So I made it myself.  It was easier than I thought (except for the installation but I'll get to that).
I downloaded some random kitchen utensil designs and opened the Design Studio (sorry about not having pictures).  Then I just added words to a 8.5 x 10 space.  I used varying fonts and sizes, filling in empty spaces with pictures of kitchen-y items. 
Learn from my lesson...save it BEFORE cutting it.  My netbook froze up after cutting out the design while I was peeling away the vinyl not needed.  I can't reprint this one ever again.... :(
Installation is usually pretty easy with vinyl appliques.   But I was doomed from the get go.  I had a touch of vertigo last night.  As a result I had a little problem getting it straight.  I was able to peel it away a few times (thank goodness) and readjust.  I think this is what caused the sticking problem I was having afterwards...or lack of sticking I should say.  It was tedious...but I got it all adhered.  The whisk was a...you know what!
All in all..VERY happy with the result.  My husband pointed out that I used the exact font the Nutella company uses on their packaging.  I would love to say that was intentional, but it was a happy coincidence.
What do you think??  Pretty awesome, huh?




We have some yummy stuff in the pantry!

Working on a whole calendar memo system using chalkboard vinyl, but I ran out of chalkboard vinyl and need to get some chalk pens....so that will be for a later post.  Thanks for looking!

Monday Make It....{Re}Purposed Binder

This weeks Monday Challenge is to re-purpose an item that was headed to the trash or recyle bin. 

I had a small binder I was going to throw away.  It was sticky and had scribbled pen marks on it.  I decided to turn it into an address book.  Ideally I would love all my phone numbers and addresses to be stored in my cellphone...but that always ends up biting me in the you know where.  They never seem to transfer to a new phone...and I end up having to start over.  Solution: a permanent copy for our kitchen bookshelf.

originally was going to make a calendar...went a different way instead

First you need to cut apart your binder.  This is actually pretty easy to do using an exacto knife or a pair of scissors. 

slice on the seams

Next get to strippin'.  The binder!  Take all the plastic off the binder pieces.  Trickiest part is under the binder clips...use an exacto knife to slide in there and slice from the fastener to the edge.  You should be able to tear the piece off now.


Nekkid as my friend Fairymo would say.

 I have a favorite pair of jeans that had holes in the knees.  I turned them into shorts and saved the legs.  This is what I wanted to use to cover my binder.  Enter Modge Podge (cuz I can't sew very well).  ***To add a little structure to the seams I first adhered the three pieces to a piece of cardstock. (Just at the spine and part of the front and back cover). 

Cut straight much???

I covered the insides with pieces of jean too...in hind sight I should have used the clean cut fabric interfacing and my silhouette for a nicer edge...oh well...live and learn.
Ta da........love it!  Had to include the tear that came with the jeans because those tears are expensive!

That hole added about 10 bucks to the cost of these jeans.

Rest of the book was finished with some For the Record papers and cardstock stickers by Echo Park.  Dividers are a Silhouette download that I resized for my needs.  I also included a page at the very beginning for web addresses too.  Easy Peasy.  Gonna be tearing off the ugly plastic covers on all my binders now!

web addresses page

cardstock dividers reinforced with pretty paper.

Thanks for looking...leave a link in the comments if you have a repurposed item to share.

Monday Make It Challenge

I am challenging my scrappy friends on facebook and all my blog followers to a Monday Make It Challenge.

Make a notebook.  Alter an existing one....make one from scratch...whatever gets you motivated.

Here is mine with a quickie how to.  Pretty happy with the finished product.

Started with a pre-binded chunk of plain paper (had this in my "keep it and maybe I'll use it" pile), a few sheets of Quite Contrary Paper from MME (love this paper as I have a bit of an owl obsession happening), really nice fabric (donated to me by my awesome friend Sharon M.), a 12 x 12 piece of black chipboard and some fabric interfacing for the Silhouette.

supplies...minus the various adhesives I used

First I did some measuring so see how much I would need to cut off so that the paper would fit nicely in the about to be chipboard cover.

measure twice, cut once or eyeball it and cross your fingers

It turned out to be the perfect width, so all I had to do was cut off some length and score it in the middle to create a spine.

be careful not to cut all the the way thru

 Then I covered the inside (minus the spine) and the outside (minus the spine).

hoot

love, love this paper almost hated to cut it

Now for the spine...I ironed the fabric to the Silhouette interfacing and stuck it on a cutting mat.  Then I took FOREVER picking just the right shape for the front side...downloaded a bunch of non-relevant shapes...organized the newly added shapes....  After all that I ended up with a pretty basic shape for the spine.  I am so good at getting side tracked.

stuff is awesome

should have ironed that crease....

12 hours later.......

awesome!

Adhering it to the spine was a fun challenge.  I had used up all my double-sided-super-sticky-adhesive.  So with a mixture of glue dots and Diamond glaze....I got that thing to stick!
All that was left was embellishing and sticking the bunch of paper on the inside (another challenge that involved a lot of different mediums).

binder clip to hold it shut...wish it was brown

inside pocket for....stuff

finished notebook!

cute little bookmark I made with leftover fabric, chipboard and an owl sticker.

contest winner!

this is my first time blogging from my phone. i am down with pneumonia. for some reason any attempt at capitalizing takes me to the address bar...so you will have to forgive the bad grammar. anywho...i wanted to congratulate sharon on winning the 31 days of march contest. she was the only one to complete all of the challenges. guess she wanted that mini attacher bad. thanks to everyone that attempted to play. i have a fun contest coming up in a few weeks so look for that. congrats again to sharon...

License Plate "purse"

Here is my take on another of the 31 days of March Contest challenges

6) Make a purse (these instructions use playing cards…but you can use heavy cardstock and instead of laminating it…cover with contact paper or clear packing tape: http://www.craftbits.com/project/playing-cards-purse

I used some Little Yellow Bicycle paper: Fresh Print Traveler - Plates. I cut out the plates so they would all be the same size. I then used a tanish brown colored duct tape to adhere it all. It was fun. I think next time I will first adhere the cardstock to cardboard for extra stability. I have all my paints and brushes in it.

I have it on good authority that someone has actually completed ALL the challenges. I have only seen one link on the main post. Don't forget to link your pictures HERE.

31 Days of March Contest

Posting a day early to give you all a head start...so have at it.
What you have to do is complete as many of the challenges as you can by March 31st. The person that completes the most will win an AWESOME prize!!! In the event that more than one person completes the same amount of challenges...I will pick a random winner from those people using THE FRUIT MACHINE.I hope you will all try to participate! These will be quickie challenges...and who knows...you may have a ton of fun!!Look what you can win!!!
Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher...let me tell you...I have one and it is awesome!!! You WANT to win this!!

1) Create a mini coaster book:
http://nicholeheady.typepad.com/capture_the_moment/2007/11/vsbn-coster-min.html
2) Make a layered flower (using any type of flower you want)
3) Alter a piece of chipboard
4) Make your own beads: http://nicholeheady.typepad.com/capture_the_moment/2008/08/introducing-rem.html
5) Make an all in one pocket card: http://nicholeheady.typepad.com/capture_the_moment/files/all_in_one_pocket_card_template.pdf
6) Make a purse (these instructions use playing cards…but you can use heavy cardstock and instead of laminating it…cover with contact paper or clear packing tape: http://www.craftbits.com/project/playing-cards-purse
7) Alter a clothespin (spring one or old fashion)
8) Make a treat box: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/tutorials/treat_box/
9) Make a circle card (or just a circle for a layout) based on the card shown here (7th one down): http://impressrubberstamps.com/ideas/ideas_eyelets.html (I used a brad...I suck at eyelets!!)
10) Make a fabric flower (can use paper if you do not have fabric): http://lisapace.com/2009/05/15/fabric-flower/
11) Alter clear buttons: Place Glossy Accents onto the back of one clear button, place button onto selected paper, push button down to help remove air bubbles that may occur, let glossy accents set for about 5 min. Now that the Glossy Accents has set, using scissors cut out each button. Using a paper piercer poke through the button holes.
12) Make an inchie
13) Use this sketch for a card, layout or tag: http://mojomonday.blogspot.com/2010/02/mojo-monday-127.html
14) Make a ransom note using leftover letter stickers (can be journaling, does not have to be a ransom demand!!!LOL)
15) Stamp an image and color it in.
16) Finish something you have been meaning to complete (scrap/craft related) show before and after pics.
17) Make a keychain…use anything you want!
18) Stamp something using this crayon resist technique: http://elf-creations.blogspot.com/search/label/crayon%20resist%20technique
19) Alter an old dvd/cd
20) Make something using NO embellish (ie: brads, eyelets, flowers…etc)
21) Alter an empty can (from soup, beans….)
22) Create a card, layout or tag with stitching
23) Distress a 3 x 3 pieces of cardstock and use it on a tag, lo or card
24) Make a paper book mark: http://tipjunkie.ning.com/profiles/blogs/project-of-the-week-stamped (you don’t have to make the card…)
25) Make a pleated paper ribbon (if you can’t stitch it that is okay…): http://scrapbooking.about.com/od/layouts/ig/Folded-Paper-Ribbon-/Folded-Paper-Step-by-Step.htm
26) Make a paper pieced bug of your choice
27) Create something with buttons…here is some inspiration: http://www.scrapbooksetc.com/crafts/gift-ideas/cute-button-projects/?page=1
28) Use something you have made form above on a card, layout or tag
29) Use your favorite lyrics on a card, layout or tag
30) Make your own patterned paper using stamps and plain cardstock
31) You win something extra if you complete ALL the challenges!!!

Simply Scrapping Challenge

I did my first challenge over at Simply Scrapping. It is a montly challenge and week 1 is Get Sketchy. This is the sketch we had to use:

And here is my take on it. I am pretty happy with the outcome. I just found the challenge the other day...so I had to work quickly. The deadline is tonight. And since I was sure the boys would not let me work on it today, I did it last night while Daddy put Jake to bed. All in all I like the way it turned out.

It feels good to be scrapping again, and it is nice to have another page done for Josh's album.

Boy did I have a BIG belly!!

Don't forget...there is still time to leave a comment on my blog candy post for a chance to win!!!

I think you're COOL

I am hosting a Ice Cream Challenge in a scrapbook group I am in on Cafemom. The challenge is to create anything with an Ice Cream Theme. So for fun I did this card. I am actually pretty psyched at how cute it came out. So it got me thinking...why not host the same challenge here?

Here is the deal...

Post an Ice Cream Themed creation (sky is the limit) by February 6th...and I will pick one at random to send a COOL surprise to! Just put a link in your comment where we can see it...or if you can't do that, you can email it to me...I will post here!

You can do anything you want as long as it has an Ice Cream Theme.

So I scream...you scream...we all scream...FOR ICE CREAM!!!

Have Fun...can't wait to see what everyone creates.