Holy Crazy Batman!!!

I tell you what....I haven't been this crazy busy in such a long time! National Scrapbook Day (weekend) was InSaNe!!! I have never blown out sooo many projects in such a small amount of time. But you know what??? It was a BLAST and I would do it again!

Today, I'm reflecting on the past year I have been on the Design Team for CropChocolate.com. This has been such a wonderful time for me as a person and a crafter. I have made some AMAZING friends there and have learned so many different techniques. In a week, we will know who will be on the new Design Team....I'm excited and nervous at the same time. Yes, I tried out again....and YES I hope I make it but if I don't....WOW what a party it has been and an experience I will NEVER forget!

So....Over the next few days, I'm going to "reflect" on some projects that really helped me branch out as a crafter. I have several of my favorite projects posted on www.cropchocolate.com but I'm going to post them here so everyone can see them. I will also be working on getting the links to the tutorials posted in the next week so you can try the techniques out if desired.

If you have a favorite project that I have done and would like for me to post it here, just leave a comment below and I'll get it going for you! Thanks and watch for some fun projects!

Michele

Happy National Scrapbook Day!!!

WOW....It's been a crazy few months. Not only have I neglected my blog (oops...sorry!) but there have been soooo many weddings we have been a part of. In December, my niece, Becca, got married to a wonderful young man. Boy were we busy trying to do all that a wedding planner does on a teeny tiny budget. At the end, it worked out beautifully and I even had some time to do some crafty things for them.

I wanted to do something with their "colors", something fun I like to do and something that compliment this couple.

Those of you who know me well, know that I LOVE making flowers. I'm always looking for new and fun techniques!! I decided to use my "Flower Shoppe" Cricut cartridge and make some roses for my altered project. After some fun with my Tim Holtz Distressing Stains, here are the finished flowers.

Butterflies are another thing I love making. Of course I had to make at least ONE. Here's how it turned out.

Personally, I think anything with flowers should have a butterfly, right???

I love to alter things and I think frames are my favorite. Once I made the flowers and butterfly, and assembled the picture, this is how it turned out.

I love these two and love how this turned out. It compliments them both very nicely. :)

Crop Chocolate's Blog Hop

I'm so glad you stopped by! I am the 6th stop in CropChocolate's blog hop. If you are following the links in order, then you will have just left DeeDee's blog. {Isn't she amazing???} If you didn't start at the beginning, then you need to go to The Crop and start there so you don't miss a thing.

If you aren't familiar with what CropChocolate is, it is a Deal A Day website that sells scrapbooking supplies at SWEET deals. If you have a sweet tooth for scrapbooking supplies, then CropChocolate is the place for you!

This blog hop is special as we are hopping along with the lovely folks at WeScrap. Click on the link to get to their online crop forum.  They will be giving away 4 sets of $25 CropCredits donated by CC on Feb. 1. CropChocolate will be giving away 2 kits of the winner's choosing, donated by WeScrap!

In order to win one of the kits, all blog hoppers will need to leave a comment on The Crop after going to each of our blogs.  Two random winners will be announced on The Crop on February 1st. Fun, huh????

Now that all of the "business" is taken care of...here's my project for the blog hop. I call these lovely ladies my "2012 Valentines Day Royalty".

The Queen and her attendants

The Queen

Crop Chocolate products I used for this project:
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Tim Holtz Distressing Ink Pad
Making Memories ribbon
Echo Park "Yours Truly" paper

Non-Crop Chocolate products I used for this project:
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Wood balls for the heads
miscellaneous paper for hair and dress
flowers from Hobby Lobby
craft sticks
miscellaneous ribbons and buttons

These girls were so much fun to make!!! Browse through my blog and if there is anything you are interested in, please let me know! If you aren't already following my blog, please click "follow" on the side bar... I would love to have you!!!

Now, it's time for you to move on to our next designer, Paula Irvine's blog, I know you are going to love her work! Happy Hopping!!!

Michele (aka Craft-a-holic Queen)

Another post!

Two days in a row! Wow!!! Here's a couple of cards I made for the Valentine's season. I used Lime Twist twine and paper from the Lost and Found collection. I also used Glitter Thickers, miscellaneous paper scraps, buttons and ribbon. I hope you like them as much as I do. :D



I'm now going to get ready to put things together for CropChocolate's blog hop! Can't wait, can't wait!!!

It's a new year.....

....And I need to spend more time on my blogs and keep them current!!!

The more and more I spend time crafting, I'm seeing that I love to make more than just cards. Some of the challenges we are given really get me thinking and I have really been happy with the things I have created. Today, I'm going to post just a few items I have made along with the tutorial videos. Let me know if you have any questions or better yet.....suggestions on techniques you would like to see used. The more suggestions, the better!!!!

Thanks!

Michele

The challenge was to make some sort of album. This album is made from envelopes from my card stash.



I wanted to do something that would allow the pages to be decorated AND have tags incorporated in the design.

I loved making this cute little album!



Something I have never done before......

Many of you may relate to what I'm about to say......When I get bored, I like to shop. Most of the time, I "intend" on just window shopping but there are times when I actually buy something that I most likely will not use right away. Case in point............about a year ago, I bought a wood burning tool, brought it home and put it away in a locked case so wandering hands wouldn't get to it.

When Amber with Crop Chocolate gave us the challenge for August to do something that we had never done before, guess what popped into my head??? Yup! I pulled out that wood burner and started to play. Number one thing I loved....the wood I purchased at Hobby Lobby smells SOOO good when it's burned!!! I know....silly huh??? Still, I loved it and that's that! ;)

Anyways....I was a little nervous about how it would go over since it's really not using a lot of Crop Chocolate product so I showed a few friends and they LOVED it and said, "Michele...you need to use that!!!" So...I did! I really love how it turned out! Here's a pic of it...

It's such a fun technique and I don't know if it's ever been used for something like this. I would like to think "not" until now... ;)

In addition to this cute little ghost, I made a little companion piece that will also be displayed for Halloween. Here it is.

I have also made some cute teddy bear ones and they were purchased as soon as they were made. I'm now thinking of other things I can do using this technique so I can sell them. Watch close...I may have something that you may like...  ;) If there is something I haven't posted but would like me to make for you, PLEASE let me know and I'll get it going! I'm always up for more projects!!!!

1st Official Crop Chocolate Blog Hop

Hello my friends! Thanks for joining me for Crop Chocolate's very 1st Blog Hop! YAY!!!! Yes..I'm sooo excited! This Blog Hop is to celebrate Crop Chocolate's first and SUPER AWESOME 2011-2012 Design Team which I'm soo excited to be a part of! Here is a list of our super talented ladies:


bethd488 - Beth
corriew - Corrie
Craft-a-holic Queen - Michele :)
cricutica - Paula
D2 - DeeDee
ScrappyCanuck - Karen
Moon - Jenn
JeepMama - Paula
runzalot81 - Alissa
LMissCrafter - Jamie




 (Imagine confetti, streamers and balloons all over the place...this is a BIG deal!!!)


For those of you who do not know what CropChocolate.com is, it's a deal a day website that sells WONDERFUL crafty products and SUPER SWEET prices. The people who run it are pretty "sweet" too! ;)


I am the 4th stop on the blog hop. If you started here first, you need to go to the beginning which is Crop Chocolate's website. From there you will be able to follow the hop in order. :)

My project that I made for our blog hop is a decorative accordian album. The paper that was used is Bo Bunny's Gabrielle collection. I simply LOVE this paper! 


Here's some easy (I hope...lol) instructions on how to make this fun album:

I used an accordian album that I have had laying around for some time. I believe I bought it from Close To My Heart. I cut 8 pieces of paper to be 6 1/4" x 6 1/4" and used tacky glue to glue the paper to the album. (Since the front and the back of tmy book are slightly larger than the pages, it was helpful to have that additional 1/4". On the other sheets, I trimmed them down as needed.)

I used about 24" of twine and wrapped it around the left side of the front of the album and tied a little knot to hold it together. I also put a medium sized glue dot under the center of the twine to keep it secure.

I added embellishments to the other pages as I wanted using labels from the paper collection, Thickers, etc.  If you want to learn how to make the flowers I put on my album, you can go to my friend and fellow crafty queen, Chocolate Miwa's challenge she did for Crop Chocolate (and also see her ADORABLE project too!). :D If you want to just watch her video, click here.

 I used a couple of labels from the collection, Thickers "Daydream" letter stickers, Basic Grey Glazed Brads, My Mind's Eye Lime Twist twine and My Mind's Eye Paper Reverie tape...all purchased from Crop Chocolate!

I hope you like my project! Feel free to "follow" my blog to see any past and upcoming projects that I post. If you click here, you will be taken to the next blog in our blog hop which belongs to "cricutica" (Paula I.).

I hope you have a wonderful time "hopping" today! Make sure to leave a comment on each blog so you can be entered for some "sweet" prizes!