I love Pop-Ups!

I've always had a thing for pop-ups or any kind of card or book that has things that move, flip, fold open, etc.  I've also always had a thing for Halloween! Maybe it's because I was born in October...or because I loved candy as a kid...I don't know...but the decorations and the colors of Halloween have always appealed to me.  So to prove that I actually do use some of the craft supplies that I buy...and to justify buying more...I pulled out all of the Halloween dies that I have purchased from Sizzix with the intent to make pop-up Halloween cards.  Of course, once I pulled them out I knew that in order to use all of them I'd have to make an awful lot of Halloween cards !!!  That's when I realized that the best way to use them...all in one project...was to create a Halloween pop-up book!  So here's what I came up with...

For the pop-ups I used several different Sizzix dies designed by Karen Burniston.  I had to be creative and alter the pop-up to suit my needs since I made the book first and then had to design the pop-ups to fit the pages!  Kind of backwards, I know, but that's how I work sometimes!  The only frustrating part of the process was having to leave the project unfinished and go to my day job!  It took several weekends to complete but I'm really pleased with the way it turned out.

Here are the supplies that I used:

Sizzix Dies- Karen Burniston Pop-up Bigz 3-D Scallop Circle, 3-D Bat, 3-D Spider & Spiderweb, 3-D Pull Tag Frame; Tim Holtz Alterations Gothic Boo, Candlelight Fright, Pumpkin Jack, Rickety House, Bewitching Hour, Branch Tree, mini Bat & Skull set, mini Cat & Raven set, Silly Jack-O-Lantern set, Scary Jack-O-Lantern set, Vintage Market strip, Cobwebs texture fades; Sizzix Bigz Ghosts #3; Bigz Sweet w/Skull; Bigz Treat Bag & Candy; Originals Witch Hat, broom & shoes; Originals Fence; Originals RIP & Tombstone; Bat strip; Candy strip; Sizzlit Skeleton; Sizzlit Graveyard Set.  Paper- Authentique, Fancy Pants Design, Pink Paislee, My Mind’s Eye, Making Memories, SEI, Cloud9 Design, Reminisce, Echo Park Paper, Karen Foster, Doodlebug Design, Recollections, Coredinations.  Stamps-Tim Holtz Stamper’s Anonymous; Stampabarbara; Pink Paislee;  Catslife Press; Technique Tuesday; Martha Stewart.  Stickers- Little Yellow Bicycle, The Girls’ Paperie, K & Company, Martha Stewart.  Punches- Marvy Uchida.  Miscellaneous- Ranger Stickles, Scrappy Glue, Yes paste, Maya Road bingo number, 7 Gypsies cable rings, We R Memory Keepers Crop-a-dile Big Bite.

What to do with all of those Sizzix Movers and Shapers

As I said in my profile I have more craft supplies than I can ever use in my lifetime.  Those supplies include a Sizzix Big Shot machine AND a Tim Holtz Vagabond machine, both of which I love!  Along with the machines I have LOTS of dies including Movers and Shapers which I've been trying to figure out how to store so they are more accessible.  I was shopping recently in one of my favorite stores, Ballard Designs, and found a magnetic bulletin board covered in Parisian script fabric.  I thought it would be the perfect solution until I realized that the board was magnetic and the little holders weren't magnets but pieces of steel.  Magnets won't stick to a magnetic board but it gave me an idea to make my own board.

I went to my local home improvement store to look for a piece of sheet metal.  The only two options were a roll or sheet of steel flashing. I opted for the sheet of steel flashing...being unsure of how I'd be able to flatten out a piece from the roll.  Be very careful handling the flashing.  It's EXTREMELY sharp on the edges...I cut my hand before I had even left the store!  Cutting the flashing wasn't an easy job...I had to get help (Thanks, TBG!)...you basically have to measure out the size piece you want and then use a cutting knife to score the lines over and over...and over and over...and over and over...until you get to the point that you can break off the piece!

I wanted my board to hang down the side of the steel shelving where I store all of my Sizzix dies so my board is 11 inches by 24 inches.  Once the steel is cut all you have to do is decide what you want to cover it with.  I opted for a scrapbook paper collage and I used 7 Gypsies Conservatory paper.  I cut out pieces in various sizes and ran them through a Xyron machine to apply permanent adhesive to the back.  Then I applied them to the steel piece wrapping about a half inch of each piece around the edge and onto the back to cover up the sharp edges.

I used a Crop-a-dile to punch two holes at the top for hanging and then used a heavy gauge wire to attach it to the top rack of my shelf.  Below are pics of the process and the finished project:

I'm very happy with the way this turned out!  It was super simple and a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon while watching a movie.

The Collector

So much for posting this a week later!  I've been really busy lately.  Below are pictures of The Collector.  I made this for my dear friend, Carol.  She carries a stack of index cards with her wherever she goes for recording notes, thoughts and other information she wants to refer back to.  I hoped she would be able to write some of those things in this book which was inspired by the Debby Schuh class I mentioned in my previous post. I used similar folds and papers and the 7 Gypsies 97% complete stickers titled The Collector. The pockets and folds are full of 7 Gypsies journaling tags and Tim Holtz journaling tickets.  On the back of the tags and tickets I stamped inspirational sayings.  I hope you like it as much as she did!

My Peacekeeper

I recently took a class at a local scrapbook store, Whimsodoodle, with Debby Schuh.  She is a wonderful person and if you ever have a chance to take a class from her you should!  The title of the class was The Peacekeeper.  It started with a 7 Gypsies receipt holder decorated with 7 Gypsies papers, tags, stickers and rub-ons.  We also created a small keepsake book full of pages, made with different folds, to hold library pockets, tags, envelopes and Tim Holtz Ideaology journaling tickets onto which we can write and tuck away wishes, worries and personal thoughts.  Below are pictures of my finished project:

I wish the pictures were better but I'm still working on finding the right location and lighting for taking blog pictures.  I really enjoyed putting this project together and I truly admire Debby's attention to detail.  It inspired me to put together a similar book as a gift for a good friend of mine for Mother's Day.  I can't post it until next week, after I've given it to her, so check back next Sunday for The Collector.

Happy Easter!

On this day of rebirth and renewal I thought it would be fitting to share some photos that my mother sent me.  Yesterday we noticed that there was a bird's nest in the tree on her front porch.  She was able to get a look inside the nest and this is what she found...

Aren't they wonderful?!  I hope you are able to find a miracle in your little corner of the world!