ZOMBIE SWAP 2021

 Always nervous, always pushing my creavite boundaries - Val's Annual Zombie Swap - the most fun any Halloween / Zombie lover can ever have!

This year's theme - MAD MEN - with the focus on cocktails and a 50 /60's vibe!  Create a zombie and some "tuck in's" with a vintage cocktail vibe -- my swap partner created  TRUE ZOMBIE ART!!

THIS! IS WHAT I RECEIVED!!

This FACE!!! I cannot get over the detail!

She is beautifully articulated - the clothing is SPOT ON! I can literally put her in any pose!!

Those flair leg lace pants and voluminous sleeves - yes!

Love me some CROWN! and love the detail on this custom bottle!

The clothing!  SO GOOD!!

Tuck in's??

I could not be more excited about this addition to my Zombie collection!

October / 2021

FREE Printable Checklist for Crops and Retreats!

Because I love to share things that work for me....

How did I finally get so organized after years of forgetting important supplies for my crops - - like white cardstock? -- I created this crop and retreat packing checklist!

Simply right click and save this image to your desktop and print for yourself!

I've even included a blank column to list items that I wish I had brought, and those I really don't need after all. I am all about compact packing - one trip from the car to the crop space! Hope this helps you and I would love your ideas on items I may have missed or any suggestions on how this form can be made better - it's a work in progress. Thanks for stopping by today!

Shelly

Kid's Craft Table for Birthday Parties!

 Hello and welcome! Shelly with you today sharing how to create an easy and fun craft table for a kid's party!

I recently hosted a craft table for a party of 8 year olds (11 of them!).  It was crazy, chaotic and a total blast!  Make it easy on yourself, "kit" your projects and provide Dew Drops - perfect for any craft project and easy for little hands and fingers to pick up and apply!

The party was Barbie themed, but it is also close to Christmas, so I did a combination Barbie/Christmas ornament craft.

Let's start by looking at my table set up:

GATHER:

Supplies:

• Flat wood ornaments (Amazon)
• Twine for hanging
• Paint (to make a base color)
• Dew Drops of all shapes/sizes
• sequins
• Die Cuts
• Colored Markers
• Clear Drying Glue (buy 1oz bottles from Dollar Store - 1 bottle for every 2-3 kids!)
• Cheap Paper Plates
• Cup Cake Liners
• Clear Treat Bags

Optional:

• Stencils
• Inks
• Pom Poms
• Glitter Glue

SET UP:

• Flat wood ornaments purchased from Amazon were given a base color of pink or white.
• The birthday party had a Barbie theme - so I wanted to incorporate a Barbie themed Christmas ornament and created some custom Barbie die cuts to use

• Wood ornaments were then put into clear treat bags (1 each of pink / white) along with two tied loops of twine for hanging.
• 
  
• *designer's note - the clear treat bag made it easy to distribute ornament "kit" and gave the kids a bag to tote their finished ornaments home.
• 
  
• A six foot table covered with a plastic table cloth accommodated 12 crafters - no chairs - keep them standing and focused!
• 
  
• I placed 6 paper plates on each side of table with the ornament kit bags.
• 
  
• I then poured different colors and shapes of  Dew Drops into cupcake liners and placed a Dew Drop filled cupcake liner on each plate.

• 
  
• Additional cupcake liners with sequins and buttons were placed in the center of the table

Directions:

• LET THE KIDS GO WILD! 
• 
  
• There is no wrong or right - let them do as little or as much as they want
• 
  
• and let them be as messy as they want - ART IS MESSY!

Without any direction at all, kids used the different Dew Drops in creative ways!

and don't be afraid to be part of the party!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Shelly

Romantic Canvas Embellishment

 Hello and welcome - Shelly with you today sharing my latest project using Creative Canvas and Dew Drops.

The Creative Canvas line is so versatile - I will use this piece to embellish a scrapbook page.  You can use paints, inks, chalks and even pens on the canvas - then finish with Dew Drops.

Let's see the process.....

Gather your supplies:

-Creative Canvas

-Dew Drops

-Sharpie Markers

-Clear Drying Glue

-Distressing Tool

-Scissors

Make it:

Use Sharpies to color your canvas

Fussy cut image and distress edges

Attached Dew Drops in different shapes, sizes and colors

Thanks for stopping by the blog today - have a creative week!

Shelly

Altered Recipe Card with a FABULOUS breakfast casserole!

 Hello and welcome.  Shelly with you today, sharing an altered recipe card.

My niece recently got married.  For her bridal shower, guests were asked to fill out a provided recipe card for the bride - I decided to go a little above and beyond a simple handwritten recipe (and now she wants me to do all her recipe cards - lol!)

Gather Your Supplies:

• Large Clear Dew Drops
• Large Yellow Dew Drops
• Water Dew Drops
• "What's Cooking" Paper Collection from PhotoPlay
• Small Black Alpha Stickers
• Pre-Printed Recipe Card

Make It:  

• Cover front and back of card with patterned paper and cardstock (I used white cardstock on the back)
• Optional - a little machine stitching

• Next, either hand write or use computer to type up your recipe
• Add machine stitching if desired, ink edges
• Add recipe title with alpha stickers
• Add cardstock sticker using dimensional foam tape for dimension (I used the Perfect Crafting Pouch to "deactivate" sticker first to make it easier to work with)
• I added an Index Sticker from the paper collection to the top of card - I used a small piece of cardstock cut from the branding strip of my patterned paper to cover a word on the index sticker that did not apply to my recipe

No project is complete without adding Dew Drops as the finishing touch - they add color, dimension and just a bit magic

And finally, since this was a gift, I signed & added a sticker to the back of the card.

Thanks for stopping by the blog today - have a creative week!

Shelly

How to Make Easy Scrapbook Embellishments from Product Packaging

 I LOVE good product packaging.  In fact, I have been known to buy things based SOLELY on good packaging.

So today, I show you how to make your favorite product packaging into fun, funky (and CHEAP) scrapbook and card embellishments!

Supplies:

• Best Glue Ever
• No Clog Writing Cap
• Tiny Embellishment Bottles
• Product packaging
• Corrugated Box Pieces

Let’s get started….

I recently purchased some perfume with the most amazing box (and don’t get me started on the bottle design!)

• I started by cutting out all of the elements I wanted to use from the box.

• Ink the edges – use same color as design or brown / black for contrast – whichever calls to your design aesthetic
• Next I added some “bling” to some of the pieces, using Tiny Embellishments
• Rub some BGE on your piece….. Sprinkle … tap ….. let dry
• Finally I adhered pieces of corrugated cardboard with Best Glue Ever (and the No Clog Writing Cap!) to the back of my pieces (thank you, Penny Arnold for such a great tip!) so that they will be dimensional when  added  to cards and layouts.

• To finish, place your new embellishments on a piece of scrap cardstock and cover with plastic wrap to hold in place.

Now you have some amazing, one-of-a-kind embellishments to add to cards and layouts!

Thanks for stopping by the blog today!

Shelly

One Fish, Two Fish, Undead Blue Fish (Val's Annual Zombie Swap 2020 - Dr. Seuss Zombies!)

 It's a wrap on Val's 2020 Zombie Swap - this year's theme was Dr. Seuss - so much fun and rather challenging me!  But I present to you.... One Fish, Two Fish, Undead Blue Fish!

A rotting, undead fish sitting on his pile of victims!  I used glitter and sequins for scales, and his fangs actually glow in the dark!

Details:

Part of my process creating him:

My zombies are usually on the "cute" side, but I think Undead Blue Fish definitely came out on the "creepy" side - and I am liking it!

I had a love / hate relationship with this project - but once I added the glitter & sequins - - I fell in love!  It is always hard to send my little zombie children off to their new home - hoping my swap partner, Clare loves him!

And remember!  Val's Swaps are open to the public - and not just zombie swaps!  Val hosts the best handmade Christmas Ornament Swap every year - - check it out here:

Yarnigras Swapper Spot

Thanks for stopping by today! 

Have a creative week!

Shelly