December Guest Designer - Susan Alton!

We are so pleased to have Susan Alton (LadyMissSusan) as a guest designer for the month of December, here at AllyScraps. She prepared this super cool tutorial on how to make stiched ribbon flowers... here's Susan!

If you can thread a needle and do a whip stitch then you can make this ribbon flower!

1. Start with piece of ribbon, thread, needle and scissors.

2. Cut ribbon to 6"-10" depending on width of ribbon and desired size of flower. Thread needle and knot thread on end..(thread doesn't need to match exactly as you won't really see it.)

3. Fold ribbon in a zig-zag or pleating pattern.

4. Push needle thru all layers of the ribbon and pull until you know it hits the end.

5. Turn needle back thru all layers of the ribbon again. (If you would like a looser flower this step is not necessary.)

6. Pull ends around to touch, loosening pleats along the way.

7. Pull thread and needle to the back of flower.

8. Whip stitch the two ends together, knotting at end and cutting off thread

9. Your ribbon flower. You can add a button to the flower or possibly an old piece of jewelry as I did on this layout.

Thanks so much Susan, beautiful layout and cool project!

Gina Johnson - December Guest Design Team Member!!

We are so pleased to have Gina Johnson as one of our special guest designers at AllyScraps for the month of December! And, even more excited to post her really cool altoid tin mini album tutorial for you all to see! Thanks Gina, this is SO cute! Here's Gina project....

Altered Altoid Mini Album
I love making these for gifts for so many different reasons! They’re small and don’t take long, they’re easy to personalize for whoever you’re making it for and they can stand a lot of beating. That last fact is really important if you’re making it for a grandma or someone who is going to throw it in their purse and take it everywhere!
OK, to start off you’re going to need a piece of cardstock 10 5/8" x 3 ½", a Altoid tin, scraps of patterned paper, Modge Podge, and acrylic paint and embellishments (if desired.)
To start off I painted the top of my tin with white acrylic paint. If you don’t want to do this you can also just wrap a ribbon around the exposed edge after you're done with everything else. It’s ok if the top is streaky because you’re going to cover it anyway, I was mainly painting it to get the edge covered since it didn’t match my patterned paper.

To decorate the top of the tin I cut a piece of Imaginisce Fairest of Them All paper to 3 3/4" x 2 3/8" and glued it down. Don’t be too worried about gluing it well as we’re going to be sealing it with Modge Podge.

Next I inked the edges and then adhered the RollerRink Glitter Thickers. I ended up overlapping them because the name I wanted to use was too long otherwise. Because I overlapped the letters I knew I wanted a VERY thick coat of Modge Podge so that the letters would be secure no matter how roughly this was treated.

Now that your tin is done set it aside to dry and we can get started on the album. Once you have your cardstock cut, you’re going to score it at 2 1/8", 4 ¼", 6 3/8", and 8 ½".

After you’ve got it all scored, accordion fold it and use your bone folder or fingernail to make sure the creases are all crisp.

Your next step is to round the corners (that’s one Patti will love! ;)) I find it easiest to hold two pages together and round the corners that way.

That’s it! You’re ready to decorate your album as desired. I used more of the Imaginisce Fairest of Them All line for this little mini. I also used some Fancy Pants stamps from the Daily Grind line. Also, a little tip, to make this easier to remove from the tin, add a little ribbon to the bottom page and always tuck it up so its sticking out on the top when you put it in the tin, then you can just pull on it and the whole album comes out. And here’s my finished album. I made this for the mom of the little girl I babysit occasionally.

Thanks for looking! Gina

Christmas Countdown Offer

Wow, can you believe it is only 20 days until Christmas?!!

Shop online at Ally Scraps and enjoy some great specials, we have several items specially priced, check them out here. These would make great Christmas gifts! All online orders placed tonight and tomorrow will recieve a $10.00 gift certificate good on your next Ally Scraps order!.


I'll leave you with some inspiration using some of the products that we have on special offer.



Have a great weekend

Cathy

P.S.
Remember shipping is still only $4.95 on all order shipped within the U.S.

Check out our message board

November DT reveal!

Our November Design Team reveal is a Manufacturer feature. My Mind's Eye is one of the Design Team's most favorite lines of paper and embellishments! Good for boy pages, girl pages and holiday pages... My Mind's Eye has paper perfect for any layout! We hope you love what we came up with, and are inspired to work with some My Mind's Eye yourself. Thanks for taking a look.

Trish

Trish's page is a true example of girlie FUN! I love the super design, the way she used the die cut and the cool stitching! Trish used the My Mind's Eye Dreamy 2 - Delightful line for her page. Awesome job Trish!

Kary
Kary's 2 page layout is such an awesome BOY page... LOVE the fun color combination with a touch of black, the awesome title and the pictures that really tell a story! Kary used the My Mind's Eye Dreamy 2 - Brilliant line of papers for her layout. Super project Kary!

Dana

I just love these pictures of my two daughters first thing one Christmas morning... really shows the JOY they felt right at that moment! I used the My Mind's Eye Be Merry line of papers for my layout. I love the colors of this paper, the fun patterns and the die cuts too!

Debbie
Speaking of JOY, these pictures of Debbie's son are so happy! Love the look of triumph on his face, and I love the way the simple lines of her layouts really highlight the photos! The circles and the paper layering are awesome too. Debbie used the My Mind's Eye Dreamy 2 - Brilliant papers for her page and the colors are just perfect for her page! Cool 2 page layout Debbie!

Morag

Morag used her My Mind's Eye line of paper to make a Halloween layout, love how her non-themed papers highlight the theme of her pictures. And, love how the simple design of her page really make the pictures stand out. I also really enjoy how Morag mixed up the My Mind's Eye Dreamy 2 paper lines for her page. Beautiful layout Morag!

Thanks so much for taking a look at our November DT reveal, see you next month!

~ Dana

Sweet Gifts on a Shoestring Budget!

The holiday season is approaching!

Time to make those lists and check them twice!

There are lots of people to remember, huh? and given the economy, funds are probably tight.

You might think about scaling back... or you might get inventive!

Looking around my scraproom I found I have lots of things that I could repurpose for making cost friendly gifts! -

That plastic packaging that my favorite embellishments come is the first thing I thought of; I have a ton and I know you do too! These have a variety of repurposing possibilities.

In this project I used the packaging from Bo Bunny Stick em Up embellishments and MME's Be Merry collection (http://www.allyscraps.com/SearchResults.asp?Search=My+Minds+Eye+Be+Merry&Search.x=33&Search.y=19) to make a treat container.



It makes a cute, simple and yet sweet gift to remember coworkers and neighbors! (maybe even your postman/woman or your children's classmates!)

I also used similiar packaging from Chatterbox's Artsy-licious embellishments to make an ornament for the tree. (and I only used scraps on this one!)

These are perfect for Grandparents, or any other member of your family!

The next thing I remembered is that I have a stash of old holiday cards! I cannot bear to throw them away, but do I really need to save them? probably not... These old holiday cards are the perfect source of inspiration and Christmas card embellishments! -

On the card below, I cut the Santa out of an old Christmas card and combined it with some scraps for a cute, cheap Christmas card that I can send to a friend or attach to a gift!

So, while times may be tough this holiday season, there is no reason to cross anyone off your list! You have a wealth of gift possibilities, that some might consider trash, right in your scraproom! With a little imagination you can give simple gifts that are full of thought and love... and not break your budget! (afterall, it is most important to remember it is the thought that really counts during the holidays, not the size of the gift!)...

Have fun creating

xoxo

Trish

All the Latest from the Store & Special Offer

We just added the cutest line of Christmas papers from K & Company, we also have new Bo Bunny Kits, these make great gifts! I have had several requests for acrylic albums so check out the new ones from Clear Scraps. There have also been quite a few 12x12 albums added.

While you are here be sure to check out the newest Sassafras Lass.



and a really cute line from Die Cuts With a View. We have also added additional colors of Stickles , these are great for altered and Christmas projects.



Place an order of $40.00 or more before shipping and recieve this awesome Sled and Reindeer kit free! There is no product code to enter, we will include it with your order. This offer expires Saturday November 22nd.

As always, priority shipping within the US is only $4.95.

Have a great day.

Cathy

Don't forget to check out the message board.

Get creative with your matching embellishments!

Do you ever have find yourself wanting to use embellishments that go with a particular paper line, but not sure how to make them fit into your page design? Don't be afraid to modify or customize those journaling cards, chipboard pieces, transparencies and other coordinating embellishments to fit your needs!

For my page "the little things" featuring the gorgeous Fancy Pants Daily Grind line, I really wanted to take advantage of the great variety of coordinated embellishments available in the line! But I customized some of the items to make them work better with my overall design plan.



The "little things" quote on the strips paper was a perfect fit for the page, and even gave me the inspiration for my title.



But the wavy shape of it - while very cool - didn't fit my plan for the overall page design. Problem solved: I cut out the quote strip, following the "wave" shape, and then cut it apart word by word to adhere onto the large circle highlighting the focal point photo. Not only does it work better with the page design, but it also ties into the other journaling on the page, which I did with journaling strips.

Next, I turned to the great journaling cards sheet.



How cool is it to get these TWELVE great journaling cards for the same price as a piece of paper?? And like all the paper in this line, the sheet is double-sided and has a great pattern on the back, too! I loved the "these are the moments" card and it was perfect, as-is, to tuck under the corner of my main paper/photo block. But I wanted to give it a little bit more "oomph", and at the same time, add some interest and dimension to the page. So I found that cute little chipboard circle with the heart among the load of chipboard embellies included in the Daily Grind Chipboard Shapes pack:



I placed it over the circle "flower" on the card and let it hang off the edge a bit - it looks like it was made to go there!

Finally, I really liked the card on the journaling sheet with the brackets and the combined dots and grid pattern, and wanted to incorporate it into my title. But rather than use it as-is, I used my circle cutter to cut a circle shape from it, and layered it behind the paper block and title work. I think this provided a better balance to the other circles on the page, and kept the top of the design from feeling too "heavy".

So don't be afraid to get creative with those coordinated embellishments! Use them however you see fit!

- Debbie

A fun little technique for you to try

on your next card or layout--

Every girl loves flowers, and I'm going to show you a really fun way too make 3 dimensional flowers for your pages.

You're going to need:

Circle hole punches of various sizes (I used three for my flowers)
edge distressor
ink
2-sided patterned paper (I used three different patterns from Sassafrass Lass)
buttons or brads for the flower centers
A thin stick (I used the end of a watercolor paintbrush)

Sassafrass Lass has the cutest line called Woodland Whimsy. I used three different papers for my flowers from this line, and another for the flower stems and leaves.



Cut three different sized circles from your patterned paper--For larger flowers, you would want to use a bigger circle punch, or hand cut circles from your paper.


Using your edge distressor, work your way around the circle making the edges rough. After all three circles are done, ink the edges with the ink pad.




After you've distressed and inked the circles, take the end of the paintbrush and place it in the middle of the circle. Wrap the circle around the stick so that it looks like this:



Unwrap the balls of crumpled paper and layer them on top of one another--add a brad or button to the center, and you now have a lovely 3-Dimensional flower to add to your layouts or cards!!



I used this technique for my layout, "My Sassy Girls"--






Happy Scrapping!!!

~~Kary

Seasonal Challenge

Has fall arrived with you?

It certainly has here! The trees are covered with golden leaves and I want nothing more than to snuggle in warm and cosy at home.

This week I've set a challenge - Scrap the Season. Create a layout that reflects the season's colours or something warm and cosy. You could create a layout about the season itself, may be what you like about the fall, or perhaps a Halloween layout. There are gorgeous papers from Prima, My Mind's Eye and K&CO perfect for the season in the store now. There's a whole section for the Fall here.

So the challenge is simple, create a layout using fall colours OR about halloween. Include something 'fuzzy' or cosy on your layout like velvet, flock or fabric.


We had fun this Halloween at a local Children's farm. I love my DD's stripey legs!

These are the gorgeous papers from Prima. They are gorgeous on both sides - I wish I had bought 2 of each. I adore the cute little owls.

I hand cut the moon from a couple of circles and 'stamped' the background with acrylic paint and buble wrap. A little glitter on top for a little sparkle.



The glitter chipboard is from My Mind's Eye - they are just so sparkly in real life and the glitter stays stuck!



So why not join in on the challenge. More details can be found here on the forum. Just upload to the gallery and link on the chat thread to be entered into the monthly prize draw for a Gift Certificate!

Enjoy the season and wrap up warm!

Morag x