TAG! You're it!

Tags - 3 Ways

We all have them in our stash.... tags. It's one of those versatile items that is a must have. You can use them for journaling, framing pictures, making cute ornaments for holiday trees... they even come from the paper companies pre-designed.

Today I'm going to show you how to use up that tag supply - 3 ways.

1.
Here is a super easy way to use a pre-designed tag. This is an old Making Memories tag. I simply tied a bow to the hole on the tag, used some small MM Alpha letters to say Thank You, and attached a photo corner to finish it off. Quick easy card when you are in a hurry.


2.
The second way I used tags was on my layout - Epcot, Around the World in a Day. These are just plain office tags. I had 2 different sizes, the smaller was 1-7/8" x 3-3/4" and the larger was 2-5/8" x 5-1/4". I placed the tags on the layout using them as an embellishment. The light off white color of the tag was a nice contrast to the dark color of the Making Memories Dark Blue Varnished Passport paper. They also helped my pictures stand out a bit more. On the bottom tag I used it to document the date, again using the Making Memories tiny alphas in black. (love these letters!) I also used the MM Passport chipboard letters that are in the same color as the tags for my lower title.


3.
The third way I used tags was to make a tag mini book of quotes about friends. It's a nice quick project using up things from your scrapbook stash and makes a great gift!

I used 5 plain office tags. First I inked the edges. Attached some paper and embellishments, and a quote on each inside page that I printed off of my computer. I attached the mini tag book together with a pretty bow. That's it. Simple easy tag mini.



Inside pages:


And there you have it! Tags 3 Ways. I hope this inspired you to break out those tags and play.

Chris

Need to replenish your supply of cards?

If you're like me, you have a small stash of cards ready to send out for various occasions. This is a great way to use up some leftover scrap supplies, and at the same time, have a great card ready when needed for any occasion - one that will usually be much more cherished and appreciated than a card that is store-bought.


But I don't get into "card-making mode" as often as I would like, and as a result, sometimes my stash starts to run low. Especially of the most often needed ones, like Happy Birthday. So, here is a great way to give yourself a push to beef up your card stash! Sit down and go on a mini-cardmaking binge! Grab some scraps from a favorite line, coordinating cardstock, a few of your favorite tools, and your stamps or stickers (or even use your computer for the sentiments). You'll find that you can whip up a number of gorgeous, coordinated cards in no time at all!

For my own private cardmaking party, I pulled out scraps from three awesome lines that I worked with over the past month: My Mind's Eye Penny Lane - Free Bird, Pebbles Inc. Downtown, and 3 Bugs in a Rug Snips and Snails. I just love all of these lines, and had some great scraps available after making pages with them. I then pulled out one piece of cardstock that coordinated with each line. Of course, depending on how many scraps you have and how many cards you want to make, you could pull multiple sheets of cardstock to match each line. I picked an orange for the Pebbles Inc, and two different shades of green for the other two.



Next, I wanted to work on the cards sort of assembly-line style, so I cut all of my card bases from the cardstock. Since I made all of mine quarter-fold cards, I got 2 cards per 12x12 sheet of cardstock, with some pieces left over that I could use on the cards, if needed. Alternatively, you could get one quarter-fold card plus one 5x6.5 card from a 12x12 piece of cardstock, or two 6x6 cards with no leftover. (Remember though that a 6x6 card requires additional postage if sent via US Mail!).

And now the fun begins! I just went at it, basically doing the cards two at a time - working with each line separately. Cutting, tearing, inking, punching my paper to create a design that I liked on the card base. I added my paper to all six card bases first, and then came back and did all the sentiments at one time. This worked out great and made the process very easy, quick and efficient! I managed to pull out some of those stamps that I just had to have (LOL) but hadn't used yet. After adding the sentiments, I went back and did one last "final touches" pass of all 6 cards. For me, that mostly meant adding brads because I just love 'em! But it could be brads, flowers, buttons - whatever you like!

When I was finished, I had a nice assortment of cards to add to my stash! Here they are.

My Mind's Eye:



3 Bugs:

Pebbles Inc:

This was a great way to spend a couple of hours at my scrap table, replenish my cards supply, take a little diversion from making layouts, and juice up the mojo! I'd love to see what you come up with on your card-making binge, so have at it!

- Debbie

March Design Team Reveal - SPRING!

We're feeling "springy" over at AllyScraps! Spring weather, spring pictures and lots of awesome spring products to highlight. We all created a special spring themed layout, and we can't wait to share them with you... here they are.

Raechelle
Rae's layout is SO colorful and the title really captures my attention. Love the letters in different colors! I'm going to have to try that. She used American Crafts Vinyl thickers for the title, super cute. This paper is the perfect spring paper, it's the My Mind's Eye Bloom and Grow collection, fun cut out flowers too. Thanks for sharing Rae, and awesome job.



Chris
Chris did a super cute Easter layout layout too. She also used vinyl American Crafts thickers in the poolside font. And the adorable Imaginisce Twitterpated paper and embellishment line to highlight her photos. Love the design and fun spring look! Awesome job Chris.



Morag
I really enjoy Morag's super cool use of handcut embellies and shaped paper. They really make this sweet picture of her son pop off the page. She used the really pretty Scribble Scrabble Evelyn papers and die cuts for her cute page. The alphabet is fun and glittery, American Crafts thickers of course. So pretty Morag, thanks for sharing!




Debbie
Debbie used Pebbles Inc.'s Hometown Collection for her spring layout. Aren't these planting pictures of her family the very best? I love the interaction between the boys and their Dad. The design is really cool, love the fun edges, and the super cool stamping. Love your layout Debbie.



Dana
My layout captures one of our favorite family traditions, Marissa's Easter basket hunt. I love the Easter Line from Pebbles Inc. fun colors, pretty patterns, and super stickers. They helped me put together a simple layout, that really shows the season, and the happiness on Marissa's face. Thanks for taking a look.



Well, I hope you've found some inspiration from our Spring layout! Thanks for stopping by, happy Spring!

~ Dana

Ribbon storage idea

Do you have an over abundance of ribbon? Do you struggle with creative and space saving ways to store it? Do you forget what you have on hand? If you answered yes to any of these, then you my friend are in luck. I found an inexpensive and easy way to store my ribbon, where I can see what I have and it doesn't take up precious storage space on my shelves. I'll be honest, at first when I tried this I wasn't sure if I was going to like it, however after having it up for a week and being able to quickly look through my ribbon, I have come to really like having it hanging beside my work space. What used to take several minutes, now takes just seconds and I am not left with a mess of ribbon to clean up.

What you need:

-an embroidery hoop (I used a large one that I had on hand, but any size will do. If you have a lot of long ribbon strips, then I suggest using a large hoop.)

- 4 pieces of twine (or ribbon) about 12" in length (depending on how high or low you want this to hang you will need to adjust the length accordingly)

- your long ribbon strips

- about an hour of time

How to:

This is very simple. All you need to do is tie each piece of 12" twine onto the emroidery hoop in 4 equal spaces. If you view it like a clock they would tie at 12, 3, 6 and 9.

Once you have tied them all to the hoop, gather them all at the top and tie into a knot, forming a loop in which to hang it by. Once this is done, hang it and tie the ribbon pieces over the hoop by looping them through so you can easily remove them. (I did mine according to pattern and style.)

That's it. :)

Friday's Purrrfect Project

TGIF! How about something to do over the weekend?

If you are like me, then you have a whole collection of gorgeous ribbons and trimmings. They come in a whole variety of textures and colours and they can add that perfect finishing touch to a project.

So this week's prompt is to combine ribbons into your project. You can make anything as long as it is not a tradtional scrapbook page. For example a tags, cards, home decor, mini book anything goes!

This week, the team have come up with some cracking samples (as always).

Firstly, Vee has made this fabulous bra card! She's even included a shopping tag which says "Thanks for your Support" complete with price and barcode.



I love the flower detail and the ribbon threaded through the straps and trimming around the cups. Such a novel card, who knows where she gets her fantastic ideas from?!



Rae has really gone to town with some ribbon left overs making some stunning picture frames.



I love the colours and striking embellishments. She has managed to pull together the bright colours and patterns pefectly.



I have taken a cheese triangle box (which was just asking to be altered) and created a mini-album.



Using circle pages, they have been joined together with ribbons for a super-easy accordian album.



As we celebrate Mother's Day this weekend in the UK, it would make an excellent gift with a matching card.



So why not get out your ribbons this week to make a project? We'd love to see what you can do, so don't forget to upload to the gallery.

Thanks for dropping in

Morag & The Purrrfect Projects Team x