Beyond Daffy

If Daffy the Duck is the first thing that pops into your mind when you think of ducks, I'd like to introduce you to some cool varieties of ducks we have in Central Illinois.  I didn't take the pictures on my layout, but I did see them all on a recent nature field trip.  From top to bottom are the Green Winged Teal, the American Wigeon, the Hooded Merganser (my favorite), and the Wood Duck.  This was the first time I had seen a couple of these, so it was pretty exciting.

I playfully titled this layout Duck Duck Merganser after the children's game Duck Duck Goose.  The paper and embies are from BoBunny and the letters are American Crafts, all found at the Scrapbooking Studio.

Simple Stories

I am a huge fan of the Simple Stories brand. The graphical nature of the design really appeals to me and it is so versatile.  The Scrapbooking Studio always carries a great selection of Simple Stories items.

Below are a card and a layout I made with the "Documented" line.  On the layout, I used the stickers to make a collage effect about the Sugar Grove Nature Center (at Funk's Grove).  At some point, I will add journaling on the postcard in the lower left hand corner. 

 

I also made a simple little wedding card by trimming out a design off one of the papers and adding the little man and woman stickers off the same sticker sheet. 

Couple of notes on the design: 

• I sewed some tulle to the front of the card to dress it up a little. 
• Then I pop dotted the scroll shaped paper to raise it a little off the card.
• And finally I outlined the man and woman in black marker to give them a little more oomph. 

Life is like a bicycle

"Life is like a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving." Albert Einstein

Apparently May is National Bicycle Month.  I am not a bicycler myself, but wanted to pay homage to the month by sharing a bicycle card I had made a while back.  The bicycles were cut on my Cricut.

Also, there are some cute bicycle images in the new Simple Stories line (see lower right hand corner of this page for an example).

Trinkets, Charms and Chains

For my altered project for The Scrapbooking Studio this month, I made a super cute necklace!  Don't you just love the clever way the gals at the store came up with to display it?

Here are the supplies I used to create the necklace.  All found at the store!  (Thank you to Bobbi for leading me to the Tim Holtz chain.)

Totally bumming . . .

I found out yesterday that Scrapbooks etc. magazine is closing up shop.  I've been a subscriber for years and once even had the opportunity to visit their offices and meet the (now former) editor of the magazine (Melissa Inman, on the right).

Apparently the industry is surprised by this move.  Read more about it at Scrapbook Update.

And also a follow up article on the publishing industry itself.

For the birds

 

Super cute bird products highlighted over on the Scrapbook Trends blog today. I love that birds are still popping up in scrapbooking. Chirp chirp!

Hey Cupcake!

On the cover of the April Scrapbooks etc., are a plateful of colorful baker's twine cupcakes.  After seeing this, I just has to try one of my own.

 

The picture is kind of dark, but here is my cute little cupcake. (Actually it's not so little, it's kind of a jumbo cupcake.) 

I didn't take pictures of all the steps, but here is what I did:

1) Get a Styrofoam ball (I happened to have one on hand and it was kind of a large one, which is why my cupcake ended up jumbo). 

2) Cover Styrofoam ball with double stick tape (or redline tape would work well too).

3) Pop in a movie and settle in on the couch, because wrapping the twine takes a while.

4) Starting at the top, wrap twine around ball (about 3/4ths of the way down).

5) Create liner. It wouldn't fit in a standard cupcake liner, so I made my own by scoring and accordion folding some paper.  To make it taper at the bottom, I taped together every other pleat at the bottom.

6) Dig a small whole into the top with a craft knife for the candle.  Roll a piece of paper into a tube and stick into hole.  (In retrospect, I wish I had done a fatter tube, because the candle looks a little out of proportion.)  Cut pompon off of trim to use as the flame, attached to top of candle.

7) Push brads into top to create a sprinkle effect.

8) Set the cupcake into the liner to see if you've put the twine on far enough so that the Styrofoam doesn't show.  If not far enough, continue applying twine.  Also at this point you can see if you're going to have to cut the bottom off your Styrofoam ball if it sticks out of the bottom of your liner.

9) Once you're sure that your cupcake is ready: Put quick dry adhesive around the inside of the liner (about a quarter of the way up from the bottom) and carefully set the cupcake into the liner. Arrange cupcake so the candle is going straight up and then lightly, but firmly, press the liner against the cupcake to adhere.

All supplies, except the yellow pompon are from the Follow Your Heart line which can be found at The Scrapbooking Studio.