Category Archives: Heartwarming Vintage

Halloween Photo Flip Album Tutorial

Crafty Secrets September Linky Challenge and Blog Hop: Halloween Photo Flip Album Tutorial

Hello, Friends!  It’s the first Monday in September and that means it is time for the Crafty Secrets Linky Challenge and Blog Hop.  We have a frightfully fun theme this month: Too Cute to Spook!  You can visit the Crafty Secrets BLOG to see sneak peeks from our Spook-tacular Design Team with links to all their fabulous Halloween projects and tutorials.  If you should choose to play along with us this month, we even have FREE DIGITAL DOWNLOADS for you to use in your projects.  And what’s a Blog Hop without prizes?  One lucky participant is going to win a $25 shopping spree to the Crafty Secrets online store! Sound like fun?  Well, it is!  So let’s get this Blog Hop on the road!

Halloween Photo Flip Album Tutorial

Kathy by Design for Crafty Secrets This is a photo heavy post with a step out tutorial, so you might want to grab a cuppa and a snack before we begin.

This Halloween Photo Flip Album is a design I adapted from my buddy Gloria Stengel’s blog.  Here’s a peeky at the inside:

CS September 2015 Linky 06The album measures 5″ wide, x 8.5″ tall, with a 1″ spine.  It has a side pocket for holding tags or photos and 8  double-sided 4×4 photo mounts.  It’s a great place to store your Halloween party photos and can be adapted for any occasion.

All the papers I used are from the Crafty Secrets Digital Jumbo Vintage Halloween Kit.  This kit is loaded to the gills with amazing papers, ephemera, templates, frames and printable images.  I  use some of the papers in this kit all year long, and I highly recommend it.  I also added in a few little images from the Halloween Vintage Scraps, which are now available in digital format. I also used a few bits and pieces from our Vintage Halloween Images and Journal Notes Booklet.

In addition to the above items, you will also need:

  • Two sheets of medium weight chipboard cut to measure 4.75″ x 8.25″
  • One strip of medium weight chipboard cut to measure 3/4″ x 8.25″
  • Three sheets of 12″ x 12″ black cardstock
  • Art Institute Dries Clear Adhesive OR 1/4″ Scor-Tape or other strong adhesive
  • Foam adhesive
  • Ultra Thick Embossing Powder (UTEE)
  • Versamark Embossing Ink Pad
  • Black soot Stickles
  • Black Satin Ribbon and orange ribbon scraps
  • Petaloo Flower
  • Felt leaves
  • Spellbinder’s Large Standard Circle Die
  • Spellbinder’s Magnificent Circles Die
  • Cajun Craze Cardstock from Stampin’ Up or other dark orange cardstock (two sheets/8.5″ x 11″)
  • Black Soot Distress Ink
  • 1/2″ wide Scor-tape
  • Heat tool
  • 1/2″ corner rounder tool

To begin, you will need to print off the following items from the Jumbo Vintage Halloween Kit.  Print papers at 8.5″ x 11″ unless otherwise noted.

  • Book Covers (print TWO at 5″ x 7″)
  • Black and White Check paper
  • Halloween Talk (Print 8.5x 11 inches in a LANDSCAPE orientation)
  • Halloween Diamonds
  • Orange/Black Diamond  (Print TWO)
  • Black Check
  • Black Damask
  • Black and Orange Stars
  • Green Stripe
  • Halloween Diamonds
  • Orange Script
  • Washi Tape
  • Masquerade (print ONE at 4″ x 4″)
  • Night Scene (print ONE at 4″ x 4″)
  • Orange Music (print ONE at 4″ x 4″)
  • Scor-Pal or other scoring tool
Creating the Halloween Photo Flip Album Base
  • Trim one sheet of black cardstock to measure 12″ wide by 10″ tall.
  • From the long side, score from left to right at 0.5″, 5.5″, 6.5″, 11.5″ .
  • Turn 90 degrees (the 10″ side) and score the top at .75″ and on the bottom at 9.25″
  • Crease all the folds, then trim the corners as seen in the photo below.
  • Tutorial CS Sept Linky 02Glue the pre-cut chipboard pieces onto the back side of your paper, as seen here, being sure to leave a little break on either side of the spine so that your album will open and close with ease.
  • Add glue or Scor-tape along the edges as seen here.

Tutorial CS Sept Linky 03Fold the top and bottom edges of the black cardstock over the top and bottom edges of the chipboard.

Tutorial CS Sept Linky 04Fold the sides in to create a mitered corner.  This is the inside of your book.

  • Tutorial CS Sept Linky 05Trim the Halloween Talk paper to measure 10.5″ x 8″
  • Ink the edges with Black Soot Distress Ink. Center and glue on the inside of your book cover, making sure to crease on either side of the spine.
  • Cut two panels of Orange and Black Diamonds paper to measure 4.5″ x 8″.  Mat onto slightly larger Cajun Craze cardstock, trim and stitch around the edges if desired. One piece is your front cover, and one is your back.  But do not adhere yet!
  • Cut one strip of Orange and Black Diamonds Paper to measure 7/8″ x 8″.  Mat onto slightly larger Cajun Craze cardstock. This is your spine.
  • Add brads to top and bottom of the spine.  Glue onto the spine of your album cover.
  • Cut 24″ of 1″ wide black satin ribbon.
  • Laying your album face up on your work surface, add 1/2″ wide Scor-Tape from side to side at the midway point of your album.  Center the black satin ribbon on this adhesive strip and burnish to secure.  (See photo below)
  • Glue the front and back covers into place.

Tutorial CS Sept Linky 06This is what your album should look like at this point.  Now, to embellish the cover.

Creating the Halloween Photo Flip Album Cover Embellishment
  • Ink the edges of one of the 5″ x 7″ book covers with Black Soot Distress Ink and mat on to slightly larger black cardstock.
  • Fussy cut the medallion from the other book cover.  Use a Spellbinder’s Circle die to cut the pumpkin center from the middle of the medallion.
  • Tap the fussy cut medallion and the die cut circle with Versamark ink.  Sprinkle with UTEE and heat emboss.  Repeat to create an epoxy finish on both items.
  • Use the Spellbinder’s Magnificent Circles Die to create a medallion backing for the die cut circle. Glue together, and add a brad to the center if you desire. I coated the black medallion with Black Soot Stickles.
  • Place the epoxy medallion over the matted book cover using foam adhesive to secure.
  • Place a double layer of foam adhesive on the back of the circle piece and glue in place.
  • Create a black satin bow and use a glue gun to secure to the right hand side of the book cover.  Add a flower on top.

CS September 2015 Linky 03The cover design will look like this.

CS September 2015 Linky 04And here is what the cover looks like from the back.  Spook-tacular!

Creating the inside of the album

To create the side pocket:

  • Cut a 5″ x 6″ rectangle from black cardstock
  • Measure 1.5″ from the left hand top edge and make a mark.
  • From the right hand bottom edge, measure up 2.5″ and make a mark.
  • Use a ruler to draw a diagonal line between these two marks and trim off the resulting corner piece.
  • Cut a 4.25″ x 5.25″ rectangle from the Halloween Diamonds Paper.  Trim the corner as you did above.  Mat onto the black cardstock.
  • Score 1/2 inch along the left side and the bottom.
  • Crease and miter the corners.
  • Glue the flap on the left and the flap on the bottom into the left hand page of your album.
  • Decorate the pocket as desired and fill with tags that are cut from the Halloween Vintage Scraps.

pocket page

CS September 2015 Linky 07Creating the Flip Album Pages

Create a base for your flip album as follows:

  • Cut a 4″ x 7 3/4″ panel of black cardstock and cover with a slightly smaller piece of the Halloween Diamonds paper.  Center this and glue down on the left hand side of the page. This is where you will mount your flip pages.

Cut:

  • 8 squares of black cardstock to measure 4″ wide by 4.5″ tall
  • Score the top of each square 1/2″ from the top to form a 4″ square
  • Round the two bottom corners of each square with a 1/2″ corner rounder tool
  • Cut 16 squares from designer paper to measure 3 7/8″ .
  • Round the bottom corners
  • Ink the edges with Black Soot.
  • Glue onto the fronts and backs of the black rectangles, being sure that the patterns are right side up.
Assembling the flip pages:
  • CS September 2015 Linky 08Stack all the pages in order on your desk so that the 1/2″ fold line is folded behind each square.
  • Pick up your first page, and starting at the very top, apply glue to the scored and folded tab.
  • Line it up straight, and glue down so that it forms a “hinge” .  See the photo above.
  • Take the next page, and lining the “hinge” up at the bottom edge of the previous hinge, glue into place. Do not overlap the edge of the previous hinge, or your pages won’t flip open properly.
  • Continue until all 8 squares are glued down as shown.

CS September 2015 Linky 10

To create a journaling pocket, cut a postcard from the Halloween Vintage scraps and glue down the side and bottom edges, leaving the top edge open.  Insert a journaling tag from the Halloween Image booklet into the pocket.

CS September 2015 Linky 11Add little tags or word phrases to decorate your photo mount pages.

CS September 2015 Linky 12You can also decorate with small printed images from the Vintage Scraps.

CS September 2015 Linky 13I cut strips of washi tape paper  to cover the black hinges in my album, but that is not required.

CS September 2015 Linky 14Mix and match your patterns to keep things interesting.

CS September 2015 Linky 15The final page shows the Halloween Diamond paper from the  4″ x 8″ panel.  Neat and tidy!

CS September 2015 Linky 01

Well, if you are still with me, give yourself a pat on the back!  That was a long tutorial, I know…but I think you will have loads of fun building this little flip album.

Now, go visit the rest of the girls on the hop:

Kathy Clement, DT Leader  (You are here)
Darlene Pavlick
Diane Hover
Ginny Nemchak
Melody Clement
Michele Kovack
Sheila Rumney
Teresa Horner

Visit the Crafty Secrets BLOG for all the deets on joining the Crafty Secrets Linky challenge and to download your fun free images!

Thanks for hopping by!

Cheerio,

kathy

Sew Decorative Pocket Gift Card

Crafty Secrets Sew Decorative Pocket Gift Card

Hello, Friends!

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend with a little time for creativity thrown in.  It’s so hot and humid here in North Carolina that I have only been venturing outside to water my herbs and check the mail.  The rest of the time I’ve been holed up in my studio.  I’ve been creating, as well as doing some cleaning and organizing.  As usual, I ran across some goodies that I’d forgotten about.  This time, I was lazily browsing my Crafty Secrets Sew Decorative CD when I ran across some darling papers and ephemera that got my creative mojo flowing overtime.  Before I knew it, I was at my desk designing this Sew Decorative Pocket Gift Card that I think you are really going to love.

Kathy by Design/Crafty Secrets Sewing Pocket 03The thing that grabbed me was the amazing button card with the scalloped edge.  The whole project grew from that one item.  I printed it, cut it out, inked the edges with Vintage Photo Ink and then sewed some of my vintage pearl buttons along one section.

Kathy by Design/Crafty Secrets Sewing Pocket 01The papers are all from the CD.  I spritzed both the button paper on the left and the dress form paper on the right with a little mist to distress and age them a bit.  I die cut the pretty lace patterned paper with my Tim Holtz On the Edge Die (sewing) then inked it and backed it with rosy colored cardstock.  It adds such a fun layered element to the gift pocket.  The fancy bow is made with 7/8″ white organza and then topped with a second bow tied with coral pink satin in a delicate shell pattern.

Crafty Secrets Sewing Pocket 02The layers were stitched together and then the real fun began: embellishing!  I created the little sentiment sign by layering it over the stitched tag that comes on the CD.  Then I added the little button heart from the ephemera file.  This is so easy and so fun to do, and trust me…if I can do it, anyone can do it!

Crafty Secrets Sewing Pocket 04I broke out another one of Tim’s dies (Mini Sewing Room Set) to die cut the dress form and spool.  Each one was cut twice: once from heavy chipboard and again with designer paper.  Then they were glued together, inked and decorated.  Do you see that rosy measuring tape?  Oh, how I love it!  I wound it around my spool, topped it with the cute metal sewing machine charm and then cut a fishtail banner end.  Isn’t it fun???

Crafty Secrets Sewing Pocket 05I wanted the card to serve as a gift all by itself.  I’ve been seeing all these pocket page gift cards, and got my inspiration for the  inside of the card from that. To make the pocket, I cut an 8.5″ x 11″ piece of heavy cardstock to measure 7″ wide x 11 inches tall,  I scored it on the long side at 5″, folded it (this makes a 7″ x 5″ card base) and then scored the 1″ overhang and folded it up into the interior of the card.  Before gluing the left and right hand sides, I lined it with more of the pretty lace paper from the CD.  Then I lined this 1″ flap with the sewing ad paper and went to work cutting out a bunch of tickets and tags from the ephemera page.  I created the sentiment tag with another paper from the CD (I told you this CD is LOADED!) and then hand wrote my sentiment onto it.  Easy peasy!

Crafty Secrets Sewing Pocket 06 I used loads of ribbon scraps and decorated each of the tags.  Some have been wrapped with ivory burlap string, some have been wrapped with soft lime juice grosgrain ribbon, on some, I punched holes and inserted some fancy stick pins.  Other tags were turned into button cards.  I’m telling you, friends, this CD is a paper playground!

Crafty Secrets Sewing Pocket 07Here’s a look at all the cutie pie tags…and I only used a small portion of the ones that come on the CD!

Crafty Secrets Sewing Pocket 08And the card interior is still cute, even with all the tags taken out.  You could also tuck in a gift card to a friend’s favorite craft store or fabric store, or a gift card to a tea room or restaurant.  The whole point is, the card is the gift…and isn’t that fun?

I hope this Sew Decorative Pocket Gift card has inspired you to take a look at the Crafty Secrets Sew Decorative CD.  I barely scratched the surface on all the gorgeous sewing papers, ephemera, tags, png files and vintage goodness that it contains.  It’s the perfect remedy for the summer doldrums, and a great way to make beautiful, personal gifts for friends.

Thanks for stopping by!

Cheerio,

kathy

This card is available for purchase in my ETSY shop.

Vintage Wooden File Folder Beach Journal

Crafty Secrets July Blog Hop & Challenge: Vintage Wooden File Folder Beach Journal

Hello, Friends!

It’s Summertime! It’s the time of year to kick back, relax and enjoy life.  Maybe you pile in the car and take a trip to the beach, you might go for a hike in the mountains or camp out under the stars. Maybe you play in the pool, or sit in the shade and sip lemonade.  However you celebrate summer, share it with us in a card, mini album, layout, canvas or altered art project that shares what you love about this sizzling season we call summer.  My favorite thing about summer is …you guessed it…the beach!  So I’ve created a very vintage Woodned File Folder Beach Journal to share with you today.  I also have some great tips for using product packaging, inking up a great background and creating a collage that works.  Let’s get started!

Kathy by Design/Crafty Secrets July Blog Hop and ChallengeI used so many of my favorite products from Crafty Secrets in this Wooden File Folder Beach Journal.  If you haven’t seen our mini wooden file folders, you might want to check them out.  Measuring just 4.5″ x 6’25” they are tiny, but mighty!  Here, I’ve added layers of paint, stencils and crackle medium to the wooden cover base, then topped it with gorgeous goodies.  Here a list of what you’ll need to create this album:

Crafty Secrets July Blog Hop and Challenge01On the cover, I began by using a cosmetic sponge to add a light coat of Tumbled Glass Distress Paint to the album front cover.  The cosmetic sponge puts down a nice smooth coat.  Dry it, then add another coat.  When that is dry, put a dime sized puddle of Cracked Pistachio Distress Paint onto a non-porous surface. Spritz it very lightly with water.  Tap an old toothbrush into the puddle, and then starting at the bottom of the album cover, brush the toothbrush from the bottom upward.  Repeat until you’ve added a sort of wood grain look to the entire cover.  Repeat with the Picket Fence Distress Paint.  When it’s dry, sponge on some Vintage Photo Distress INK randomly to create a worn wood look.  The painted areas will resist the Distress ink and you’ll have a great beachy cover.  Use the Picket Fence Distress Crackle and a stencil to add even more texure, if desired.

Crafty Secrets July Blog Hop and Challenge02When creating a collage cover, like this one, I keep several things in mind.

  1. Choose a color palette that works well together.  I’ve used shades of teal, brown and cream here.  This creates a sense of harmony.  I chose these colors based on the colors in my focal image.  To reinforce that, I matted my focal image in shades of teal, and sponged the edges with Vintage Photo Distress Ink.
  2. Have ONE focal image, and choose other elements to SUPPORT the main image.  You don’t want your eye to be wandering around a composition looking for a place to rest.  I have a lot of layers and elements here, but your eye immediately goes to the image of the boy and girl on the beach.  At least I hope it does! It is the dominant image, and all the other elements enhance it.
  3.  Group elements together in a way that causes the eye to naturally move through the entire piece.  You do this by clustering your elements together.  In this collage, my eye grabs onto the focal image first, then it is drawn to the cluster of flowers in the upper left corner, from there, it sees the post card layer, then moves down to the tiny post card, and back to the focal image where it picks up on the cluster of flowers in the lower right hand corner.  Then it sees the little calendar banner, the shells and back to the focal.  The eye naturally grabs the focal in the beginning, middle and end.  Nothing is placed in such a way to draw the eye away from the focal or to compete with the focal.
  4. Unify elements or layers with matting.  I’ve matted all the major paper elements with the same shades of teal paper.  I started with my base layer, which is a journaling spot from the Summertime booklet.  Same thing for the sentiment banner.
  5. A good test is to close your eyes for a minute or two, and then open them.  What do you see first?  If it’s not the focal image, you need to move things around.  Or, walk out of the room and come back again.  What do you see first.  How does your eye move across the page?  It takes some practice, but it is so worth the time and effort!

Lesson over…now let’s just look at the pretty pages!

Crafty Secrets July Blog Hop and Challenge04The wooden file folder album comes with the binding rings and manila page dividers. I used paper from the Typography CD to line the front and back covers.  The little bitty bags make great tag pockets.  The backgrounds are inked with Tumbled Glass, Salty Ocean and Mermaid Lagoon, then sprayed lightly with water.  Then I sponged in Vintage Photo Ink and sprayed again. To add depth and texture, I stamped over the background with the same color inks.

Crafty Secrets July Blog Hop and Challenge07I left lots of room for photos or notes or recipes or to do lists.  I added heavy cardstock pages at the front and back of each section for added strength.  I just cut up ivory paper for the pages. I’m not sure where I got these little charms.  I found them in my box of beachy goodies.

Crafty Secrets July Blog Hop and Challenge08The images in the Summertime booklet are some of my favorites.  I matted this bathing beauty with a bit of product packaging that the flowers came on.  I liked the shape and the color was a good match.  Why throw it away?

Crafty Secrets July Blog Hop and Challenge09The background here is stenciled.  I just sponged the darker ink over the background.  The lighthouse is from Travel & Adventure Vintage Scraps.  I love the quote!

Crafty Secrets July Blog Hop and Challenge10Fussy cutting around an image can make it come to life, as with the Souvenir sign.  The burlap helps to ground the page.  These flowers weren’t quite the right shade of blue, so I inked them with Mermaid Lagoon.  Much better!

Crafty Secrets July Blog Hop and Challenge11Another great image from the Summertime Journal!  Now you know why I love that booklet so much!

Crafty Secrets July Blog Hop and Challenge12Here, I used the inked flowers to frame my image.  The manila folder was dry embossed with a Spellbinder folder.  And I used product packaging underneath.

Crafty Secrets July Blog Hop and Challenge13This is also product packaging.  I just trimmed it up and rounded the corners.  Waste not, want not.

Crafty Secrets July Blog Hop and Challenge14Inside the back cover, Another little place to stuff memories or souvenirs.

Crafty Secrets July Blog Hop and Challenge15The back is covered in burlap that I inked up to create an aged appearance.  I tied on pretty ribbons, and that, as they say is that.

Whew!  Long post!  Sorry about that, but I hope you picked up a tip here and there that might be of use to you somewhere along the way.

Now, hop along and see what the rest of the team has prepared for you.  And be sure to visit the Crafty Secrets Blog for all the guidelines and PRIZE information for this challenge. You’ll also find a free digital image and paper that you can use to create your entry for this fun challenge.  You don’t have to follow the theme, but it’s always fun if you do.

Elizabeth is unable to join us this month.

Darlene ♥ Diane ♥ Ginny ♥ Melody ♥ Michele ♥ Shantaie ♥ Sheila ♥ Teresa

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I’d love to hear what you think about this Vintage Wooden File Folder Beach Journal tutorial.  Did you learn anything new?

Cheerio,

kathy

 

 

Honey Do List Memo Pad

Honey Do List Memo Pad for Crafty Secrets June Linky Party

Hello, Friends!  It’s time for the Crafty Secrets June Linky Party.  The theme this month is “Let’s Hear it for the Boys!”  The design team was challenged to create a project for the guys in our lives:  precious baby boys to dear old Dad, wise and loving granddad and all ages in between!  I chose to create a Honey Do List Memo Pad using images from the Creating With Vintage Typography CD.

Crafty Secrets June 2015 Linky08We have a saying in our house: “If it’s not written down, it won’t happen.”  I keep a magnetic pad on the side of my fridge so I can write down things I need to do, stuff I need to buy from the grocery store, people I need to call and anything else that needs to be jotted down quickly.  It’s a great system, except for one thing.  Very often, when I go to reach for my list pad…it’s missing!  Seems that dear hubby needs a pad of his own to keep track of his own lists.  So, out of my kind and loving heart,  “ahem” I created him his very own Honey Do List Memo Pad.  And, I am going to share a step out tutorial with you here, just in case you have a list bandit in your house, too!

Crafty Secrets June 2015 LinkyFirst, I gathered my materials.  I printed out all my papers and ephemera from the Creating with Vintage Typography CD.  Here’s a list of  the items I used from that CD;

  • Red ABC blocks sized to .75″ x .75″
  • Home plans paper sized to 8″ square
  • Ledger Swirls Paper sized to 8″ square
  • Rulers 56sized to 8″ square
  • Telegraph page: I cropped the Postal Telegraph Image, sized it to 2.5″ x 3.25

I started out with a basic steno notebook that I had in my stash.  I use these to write down my notes as I create projects.  It helps me to remember what I used and makes writing a tutorial like this much easier!

Crafty Secrets June 2015 Linky01jpgI cut a strip of the ruler paper and inked it up with Vintage Photo Distress Ink and whatever red ink was on my sponge applicator.  This was glued onto the base of the notepad.

Crafty Secrets June 2015 Linky02I trimmed the Ledger Swirl paper to fit the notebook, leaving a little red margin all the way around the edges.  Then, the edges were distressed and inked.  I also sponged the paper, matted it onto black cardstock and  then glued it down.

Crafty Secrets June 2015 Linky03I cropped out the images from the house plans paper, matted them on black cardstock and then matted the main image onto red burlap.  The edges of the burlap were fringed and trimmed.  This was attached to the cover with foam adhesive.  The other images were tucked beneath the focal, as you can see here. (Ignore the paper clips and twine in the upper right hand corner.  I changed my mind as I worked, but had already taken the photo.  Oops!)

Crafty Secrets June 2015 Linky04The house silhouette from the House Plans Paper was fussy cut, inked, colored and then layered over the House Plans.  I used glue on the black strip, and small foam adhesive dots on the cut side to add dimension.

Crafty Secrets June 2015 Linky05The Postal Telegraph Image was matted on black cardstock and attached with foam dots.

Crafty Secrets June 2015 Linky06The red block letters were arranged and then attached with foam adhesive dots.

Crafty Secrets June 2015 Linky07I added a strip of Midnight Waves Ribbon  across the top of the notebook and tied a simple square knot.  The ends of the ribbon are frayed.  I used Glossy Accents to attach my little tools.

Crafty Secrets June 2015 Linky09Finally, I inserted red brads in the center of some gears and attached them with foam adhesive.  I punched out some tiny tags from the ruler paper and tied them onto the square knot bow with Natural Burlap String.  I added a sharpened pencil to the top of the Honey Do List memo pad.  Can you find the red paper clips?  I like this arrangement much better…how about you?

Crafty Secrets June 2015 Linky10Here’s a detail shot, because I know you all like to see the details!

Crafty Secrets June 2015 Linky11This is a quick and easy project, one that is both fun and practical.  It’s also very adaptable.  You could make these for any theme…and who doesn’t like a list pad???

The rest of the design team created some amazing projects, and I know you’ll be inspired when you pop by their blogs for a visit.
Darlene ♥ Diane ♥ Ginny ♥ Melody ♥  Shantaie ♥ Sheila ♥ Teresa

Be sure to visit the Crafty Secrets Blog and link up your own Crafty Secrets creation so that you can be eligible to win this month’s fabulous prize!  I’ll be popping by to pay you a visit and I can’t wait to see what you make!

Thanks for stopping by!

Cheerio,

kathy

Crafty Secrets Farm Chicks Blog Hop

Crafty Secrets Farm Chicks Blog Hop: Here a Chick, There a Chick, Everywhere a Chick, Chick!

Hello, Friends!  What a fun day I have for you today!  I’m taking part in the Crafty Secrets Farm Chicks Blog Hop along with the rest of the crazy creative designers on the Crafty Secrets Team.  Each design team member has used the new Farm Chicks Digital Art Stamps, or the new Digital Chicken Farm Print paper…or both to create a fabulous chicken themed project to inspire and delight you!   If you are coming here from the Crafty Secrets BLOG, then you are right on track. If not, you can go back to the Crafty Secrets Blog and follow the links.

I’ve created a gift ensemble that is really something to crow about.  This card, gift tag and gift box has a great country feel with it’s red and black color palette and wonderful rooster images.  Can you imagine how much fun it would be to find this grouping on your birthday breakfast plate?

Crafty Secrets Farm Chicks Blog Hop 03The card is made with a 5″ x 7″ black card base.  I cropped the corners with a punch, then used the black random text paper from the Vintage Typography CD to build my base layer.  I printed out the red and white check paper from Creating with Vintage Patterns CD and matted it on black paper.  I sized the tag from Farm Chicks and then layered the chicken wire stamp over that.  The wonderful rooster image was sized, printed colored and inked then treated with UTEE to give it an epoxy finish.  I added bits and bobs from my stash to create a card that’s as fresh as a country breeze.

Crafty Secrets Farm Chicks Blog Hop 04The inside of the card has a fun tag that I built digitally with the chicken wire and border stamps from the collection.  My cute pig sticker is from the Office Altered Sticker Pack, which is on sale for 99 cents in the online store. I’ve used these stickers throughout this project.

Crafty Secrets Farm Chicks Blog Hop 05I had a ball with the rooster image, as you can see here!  I stitched this one onto a tag that I printed from the collection.  I really gussied it up with loads of gingham ribbons in red and black,  burlap string and some cosmos and sweetheart blossoms.

Crafty Secrets Farm Chicks Blog Hop 06The tag opens up to reveal another little tag that uses the cheeky singing rooster from the stamp set.  All the sentiments are included in the stamp set…which is loaded with 40 different images!

Crafty Secrets Farm Chicks Blog Hop 09I used kraft cardstock to build my little candy box.  You can find the tutorial for that HERE.  I printed out the fancy French Chickens, fussy cut them and covered them with UTEE.  When the embossing powder cooled, I gently bent the label to crack the epoxy finish, then inked it with Vintage photo ink to make it look like old, cracked glass.  I added more stickers, a little black key, burlap, twine and flowers to decorate the top of the box.

Crafty Secrets Farm Chicks Blog Hop 08I used more of that great red and white check paper matted on black cardstock to cover the sides of my box, then added a drawer pull and a little word scrap from my stash to finish it.

Crafty Secrets Farm Chicks Blog Hop 10The inside is filled with candy, but it could easily hold a watch, tickets to a ball game, a gift card, or any small item that you wanted to present in a fun way.  The image inside the lid is from the Garden Creative Scraps, which are also on sale.

Every great blog hop needs a prize, and one lucky winner will receive their very own set of the Farm Chicks Digital Art Stamps and the digital Chicken Farm Paper, too. To win, simply visit every blog listed below and leave a nice comment.  Then, finish up this hop on the Crafty Secrets BLOG and let us know that you’ve visited all the blogs and left a comment.  The winner will be randomly chosen from one of the blog comments on one of the designer’s blogs.  How fun is that?

From here, you should strut on over to visit Darlene’s fabulous blog.  She has a wonderful project to share with you, and the next link on the hop!

Thanks for hoppin’!

Cheerio,

kathy