Here’s looking at you, kid.

  Happy Halloween!!  

 

I’ve been waiting to share this project with you for so long!  I have a circle of crafty friends and we’re located all over North America.  We keep in touch on Facebook mostly and every so often we have a Secret gift exchange.  It’s like a Secret Santa, but we do it for other holidays or for no reason at all.  I haven’t been able to participate in all of them, but we decided to have a Fall gift exchange.  We were allowed to choose if we preferred a Halloween item, or a Fall item.

I will admit, I’m not the biggest Halloween fan.  I love seeing my little Godson dressed up, but I’m not one to go to a Halloween party.  I had a project in mind for a Fall gift, but I was nervous about getting someone who wanted a Halloween item because I didn’t have any ideas!

 

 

As fate would have it, my Secret Sister requested a Halloween item.  I was up to the challenge!  Cue Pinterest!  Well, indirectly Pinterest.  I’ve avoided signing up for the site, even though I’m extremely interested since I already spend so much time online.  I was hopping through some stamp blogs for inspiration or another project and went to i {heart} to stamp for some inspiration.  Jen Del Muro is so uber talented, it’s just awesome!  I found her post from her adventures on Pinterest and her frame. 

I knew I had to case this frame!  I decided to add more space in between the eyes, and I excluded the banner she had created.  Even thought it’s for Halloween, I wanted to keep the frame less-holiday specific.

I picked up a wooden frame and covered it with black card stock.  I used a nail file to smooth all the edges flush with the edge of the frame.  Then I glued  down all those googley-eyes. 

 

  I created the flower with some green and black glitter ribbon (read: glitter everywhere) by cutting straight pieces, arranging them in a star pattern and then folding them into the middle and gluing them down.  I found a lime green paper flower, and then a giant black flat-backed rhinestone.   I sprayed the glitter ribbon with sealant so that the glitter would stop ‘spreading’.   I glued down the flower eh, voila! 

 

The best thing about this frame is the sound it makes when you shake it…all those googly eyes, moving about…it’s creepy and hilarious all at once!

 

If you celebrate Halloween, enjoy! Be safe, and have fun! 

And if you don’t celebrate Halloween, at least it’s a good TV night ;)

Happy Halloween!

 

 

 

Technorati Tags: Halloween,altered photo frame,Pinterest,I {heart} to stamp,A Paper Buffet

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Birthday greetings (and a penguin sweater)

My  mom requested some (masculine) birthday cards for some upcoming family birthdays, and luckily I had just bought some gorgeous paper.  I had picked up some Simple Stories Elementary paper (Spelling Bee #1207 and Smarty Pants #1205) for a thank you card, but had enough for some birthday cards.

I chose a variation of  Mojo Monday sketch and made two cards using this great paper.  Both cards were made on Night of Navy cardstock, with Old Olive card stock as mats.  Each edge was distressed with Crumb Cake ink.

 

I bought the little shipping tags last spring, and completely forgot about them.  But it worked really well on this sketch. 

The second card used the same paper, but flipped some of the paper (thank goodness for double sided paper), and this time I used a label and a button instead of a tag.

 

You probably thought the bit about ‘penguin sweaters’ in my title was a joke, but, sadly, it’s not.     There was an oil spill off the coast of New Zealand and it has affected some Little Blue Penguins.  A yarn store, Skeins, a yarn store in New Zealand is collecting Penguin PJs to be forwarded on to help the penguins.  The penguin sweaters will prevent the penguins from preening their oily feathers and ingest the oil.

The pattern was posted on the  Skeins newsletter.  There was an update on the blog and the Wildlife centre doesn’t need any more sweaters, but you can still send them in as there is another rescue centre that has asked for the surplus. 

I’ve started a sweater and I’ll send it down once it’s finished, here’s a snapshot (from my mobile, sorry for the bad lighting) of the first part.

I’ll have some more projects to share with you this week, and some new holiday items to add to the store- make sure you check out the A Paper Buffet’s Facebook page and grab a coupon to save 10% on any purchase until Oct 31st (limit one per customer). 

Happy Monday!

Technorati Tags: birthday cards,handmade greeting cards,A Paper Buffet on Facebook,Simple Stories paper,Penguin Sweater

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Cinnamon Scones

 

  I love anything cinnamon.  When my mom and I went to NYC in 2007, I had a cinnamon scone at a Starbucks in the airport.  I have thought about that scone ever since.  I had looked over the years for cinnamon scone recipes, but could never find one.  Evidently, I was looking in all the wrong places.

I recently found a recipe on The Pioneer Woman, and had planned to make them when I went to visit my parents for Thanksgiving (I know, they should’ve been pumpkin scones given the holiday. As I said, I love anything cinnamon).  Wouldn’t you know, we couldn’t find cinnamon chips up there?  I had some at home in the pantry, but didn’t bring them because I thought I could buy more up there.

So I had to prolong my wait and yesterday morning I whipped up a batch.  The recipe is simple, but the dough is very crumbly.  I think mine was too crumbly.  I decided to make mini scones, so I piled the dough into a rectangle.  I put too much cream in the topping, and it was like a paste, as opposed to a crumble.  As I painted the topping on the dough I couldn’t help but laugh.

 

I managed to transfer the crumbly scones to the baking tray and popped them in the oven.  They smelled delicious, and even though they weren’t as perfect looking as Ree’s, I was very happy with the results. Even better than the one I had at the Starbucks in the airport (crazy point of reference, I know).   I picked the nicest scone I could find to show you.

These are perfect with a cup of coffee, tea, when you walk by the kitchen.

Thank you Pioneer Woman, for ending my search for the cinnamon scone.

Happy Sunday!

 

Technorati Tags: Cinnamon scones,The Pioneer Woman,A Paper Buffet

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Happy World Card Making Day!

I’ve been saving this card to share with you, and today, as World Card Making day, is perfect timing.  A cousin of my dad’s is getting remarried this weekend, and they are honeymooning in Hawaii.  My mom asked for a wedding card for them with a Hawaiian theme, and since the wedding was going to be casual, not too fussy.  I was completely stumped!  I searched the net for inspiration and found it after some hunting, sourcing the right paper and a few paper cuts.  Here’s a hint…origami!

 

Isn’t this THE cutest card!!

 

I folded some patterned paper into Hawaiian shirts!!

I started with the Groom’s shirt.  I took a few practice sheets (I used computer paper to practice to get the folds right, it’s about 20lb weight paper).  Then I had to find a patterned paper that 1) looked Hawaiian and 2) wasn’t too thick that I couldn’t fold it.

 

I think it’ll take some more practice to get pattern placement, but I’m thrilled with how it turned out.  I cut a bow tie from some teal paper, and the colours of the card base were worked around the grooms shirt.

 

 

 

 

For the bride I wanted something a bit more bride-ish.  I found some ivory patterned paper that was just the right thickness and folded a second Hawaiian shirt.  I added a string of adhesive pearls.  I found some netting in a craft box, that was probably the wrapping of a wedding favour and created a tiny veil.

 

 

 

I wanted the shirts to be the main focus of the card, so I kept the rest of the card quite simple.

I see so much potential for the Hawaiian shirt- the perfect thing for Father’s day or birthday cards for Dad.  You will be seeing more of the Hawaiian shirt!

 

I’ll be enjoying a football game and a weekend with friends as it’s my University Homecoming, so I won’t be making any cards today- but YOU can!  Get crafty!

 

Happy World Card Making Day!!

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