How to Create a Birthday Card for the Football Fanatic in your Life…

Everyone has that one family member that really LOVES football.  (maybe it’s you?)

Here’s a card I created for Craft Ideas magazine’s Fall Issue.  (page 69)

A fun football themed birthday card for young and old.

Football Birthday Card 6376

How to make a Football Birthday Card…

Made with papers and stickers from Paper House Productions sports collections.

Supplies Used:

  • P-2058 MVP Tags 12” Double Sided Scrapbook Paper (Paper House Productions)
  • P-2060 All Star 12” Double Sided Scrapbook Paper (Paper House Productions)
  • P-2056 Footballs 12” Double Sided Scrapbook Paper (Paper House Productions)
  • STCX-1010 Football 12” Cardstock Stickers
  • Brown Cardstock
  • Black Cardstock
  • 3D Foam Mounting Squares
  • Double Sided Tape Runner
  • Paper Cutter
  • Scissors

Directions:

  1. Make a 4 1/4″ x 5 1/2″ top-fold card from brown cardstock.
  2. Cut a 4” strip of the green football sidelines border sticker and adhere to the bottom of the MVP tag.  Cut 3 ¾” x 5” panel  from  “All Star” scrapbook paper and adhere MVP tag off-centered as shown.  Adhere All Star panel onto 4″ x 5 1/4″ black cardstock panel.  Adhere all layers onto card front.
  3. Embellish card with letters and football stickers as shown. For added dimension, adhere “Go Team Go” sticker with 3D foam mounting squares.

Football Birthday Card Inside 6378On the inside of the card:

Cut a 3 ¾” x 5” piece of “Footballs” scrapbook paper. Layer it onto a 4” x 5 ¼” piece of black cardstock and adhere it in the inside of the card. Embellish with stickers.

 

craft-ideas-fall-2016

Make sure to check out Craft Ideas Magazine for Craft Ideas for Every Occasion, Every Skill Level.

 

DIY Canvas: What the World needs now…

What the world needs now canvas 9097

A Quick and Easy DIY canvas and a throw back to the 1960’s.

What the World needs now canvas 9121

Song Trivia:

The song “What the World needs Now is Love” was first recorded in 1965…

and was written by Hal Davis with the music composed by Burt Bacharach.

What the world needs now canvas and letters 9059

To make a canvas you’ll need…

  • 8″ x 10″ white canvas
  • Iron Embroidered Letters from Joy SA
  • Blue Acrylic Paint
  • Paintbrush
  • Water
  • Craft Adhesive
  • Clean Soft Rag or White Paper Towel

painted canvas 9073

Directions:

  • Using watered down acrylic paint I created a light watercolor wash on the canvas.
  • To create the cloudy look, I dabbed the painting, while the background was still wet, with a clean towel to remove portions of the paint.
  • After the canvas has fully dried, arrange letters on canvas.
  • Draw light pencil marks on the canvas to keep your lines straight.
  • Adhere to canvas with adhesive.

What the world needs now canvas 9090

This canvas was created for and sponsored by Joy SA.

Do you love to sit and color?

Remember when you were young and you could sit for hours and just color?

Did you know that you still can?

With the New Coloring Cards from Paper House Productions you can relax, unplug,

unwind, sit and color and have a fun card to give away.

Cat Coloring Card

Or leave the card uncolored for a card and gift in one.

When I color, I like using Prismacolor colored pencils when I color instead of regular school colored

pencils because the lead is softer and it colors smoother.

Cat Coloring Card 9935

You can see the entire collection here.

This card was created for and sponsored by Paper House Productions.

 

This sweet little guy loves his cars.

Warren Loves Cars

My grandson Warren loves his cars.

And…it’s not uncommon at any given time to see him walking around with 2 or 3 cars in his hands.

His favorite being Lighting Mc Queen from the movies Cars.

He’s so cute when he’s looking for a particular one.

“It’s red with blue wheels and it has a spider web on it.”

You mean the Spiderman car?  “Yeah”

Warren layout close up

So… for Warren’s layout I decided to use cute cars puffy stickers from Paper House Studios.

making the roads 9904

For my layout, I started with an 8 1/2″ X 11″ piece of black cardstock and drew my road lines using

a ruler and a pale grey colored pencil.

Paper House Production Products Used:

This layout was created for and sponsored by Paper House Production.

 

How to Mist and Stencil a Mixed Media Pillow

Home Pillow for Joy 6602

I enjoy making pillows.

Especially when it’s a quick and easy “no sew” pillow with a twist.

How about a little misting and stenciling with Tattered Angels Glimmer Mists?

Home Pillow for Joy Project Supplies Close Up 5805

I started my project off with a 12″ plain canvas pillow cover, versatile check stencil (see end of post),

Tattered Angels Glimmer Mists and large iron-on embroidered letters from Joy.

masking the stencil 5818

Using removable painter’s tape, I taped the stencil onto the canvas.

I wanted my pillow to have a subtle background so I lightly sprayed with Tattered Angels

Crushed Shells Glimmer Mist.

Because the pillow is decorative, I’m not worried about the spray being washable.

Home 5820

I used large Iron-on letters from Joy to spell out the word “Home”.

Spraying the letters5824

To customize the plain white letters, I sprayed them with Coffee Shop Glimmer Mist for contrast.

ironing 6395

Allow the letters to fully dry before arranging onto the pillow.  Cover the letters with a cotton cloth

and iron for about 30 seconds.  I ironed it again from the back of the fabric for another 30 seconds.

Burlap Flower

I added an old button to the center of a burlap flower from Canvas Corp Brands

and glued it onto the corner of my pillow with Fabri Tac Glue.

I used a 12″ pillow form from Fairfield World to stuff the pillow.


Deco Art DECADS.20 Americana Decor Stencil Versatile Checks*

 

This project was created for the Creating with Joy Blog and was sponsored by Canvas Corp Brands, Deco Arts, Fairfield World, Beacon Adhesives and Joy SA.

*This post uses affiliate links.

I actually made it to the ocean this year.

Myrtle Beach Layout 09768

Going to the Ocean is one of my favorite things to do…

and it had been three long years since we last visited.

It was long over due.  The beach was calling.

Long daily walks on the beach, soaking up the sun, ocean breezes, good food, reading and relaxing.

It was hard to come back.  I needed another week.  (I need another week!)

Jim and Sue 9530 - Copy

During our week there, we allowed our teen-age son to visit and stay with his best friend who lives

an hour away from where we were staying.  Giving him those few days to re-connect also gave

my husband and I a few days to re-connect as well.

Charleston Collage

After we picked him up we headed to Charleston for the day.

Charleston is one of the most beautiful and one my all time favorite cities.

Charleston 9440

Charleston is steeped in history and gorgeous homes.

I enjoy walking along the harbor, taking pictures and checking out the architecture.

Sweetgrass Baskets

Another favorite is visiting the Market Place where I am always fascinated by the Sweetgrass Baskets,

a true Charleston tradition.   (I’ve invested in a few baskets over the years.)

The baskets may seem a little pricey, but, when you consider the tedious hours of labor that goes into

each one, they’re probably underpriced.

Myrtle Beach

Luckily, we had a few more beautiful days of sunshine together before heading home.

It’s never enough time for me.

(If you’d like you can read last year’s post about not going to the beach here.)

Myrtle Beach Layout 9752

I created my beach layout using Paper House Productions

At the Beach Paper Crafting Kit and the New Beach Mixed Card Pack.

I layered three different patterned papers to mimic the color of the water on the horizon line

and the feel of the sandy beach.

Beach Life Close Up 9781

I love the New Beach Mixed Cards, the pack comes with a variety of pictures, overlays and frames.

(I added thin 3-D foam mounting squares to the back of the frame before attaching it to the picture.)

The Myrtle Beach Sticker (for decorating your phone) was found at a local beach shop.

 

Here is a list of the Paper House Productions products used:

My beach layout was created for and sponsored by Paper House Productions.

Remembering Birthdays 7gypsies Style

Remembering Birthdays 7gypsies style

A Clever and Creative Way to Remember Birthdays.

I come from a large and always expanding close knit family.  With all that family,

there’s a lot of birthdays to remember.  As a solution, I decided to make a small desk

top monthly reminder with a funky vintage vibe.

months 9141

I started with these cute little Heirloom Calendar Months that come on one 12″ x 12″

sheet of paper.  You can cut them up and add them to your journals, fold them to make

a mini calendar or birthday book or cut the month artwork to make your own daily or

monthly journal.  Each month features a little piece of art and you can color them to

match your style and journal theme.

Sideview 9156

I used the Heirloom Months along with a variety of Tags, Printed Paper and Ephemera

from Canvas Corp Brands Seven Gypsies Collections.

top of the frame 9163

The base for my Birthday Reminder is a 4″ x 6″ clear craft frame from Deflecto Craft Solutions.

I drilled two holes in the top of the craft frame to hold the antique silver binder rings and

gather everything together.

months 9177

This project was created for and sponsored by Canvas Corp Brands and Deflecto Craft Solutions.

I would cross the Ocean for You…

Cross the Ocean Card 9050

When ever I see a Lighthouse, I think of my sweet Mom.

Mom loved all things Lighthouses.

Knick knack’s, postcards, t-shirts, sweatshirts, you name it.

Card Dimension 9035

And… she’d cross the ocean for you.  She was that kind of Mom.

Card Supplies9011

My Mom was also a card maker and loved using stamps and stickers to make her cards.

Isn’t it great that the supplies we use as Scrapbookers are perfect for creating Quick and Simple cards.

Powdering the sticker 9015

One tip that Mom and I learned at a Mrs. Grossman’s class (back in the 90’s) was…

to make a sticker non-sticky, apply baby powder on the back of the sticker with a paint brush.

My favorite tip for making dimensional cards.

I would cross the ocean card 9021

For this card I used the Nautical Collection from Paper House Productions.

Paper House KTSP-1029E Nautical Paper Crafting Kit, 12″ by 12″, Multicolor**

 

This card was created for and sponsored by Paper House Productions.

**This post uses Amazon Affliate Links.

How to Create a Relaxing Sunset Pillow

How to create a Relaxing Sunset Pillow 9318

There’s something about a beautiful sunset that always stops me in my tracks.

No matter how many I’ve seen, I still marvel at all the vibrant, beautiful colors.

How to make a Relaxing Sunset Pillow Collage

After all the fun we had making the Patriotic Tied Dyed Shirts for the 4th of July…

I decided to create a color wash dyed pillow with the colors you might see during a beautiful sunset.

With the help of my 2 year old Grandson this is how we made the pillow:

  1. We used the Rainbow Tie Dye Kit from Tulip that comes with pre-measured squirt bottles.  All you need to do is add water to the bottles and shake to mix.
  2. Squirt dye onto 12″ canvas pillow square one color at a time starting at the top.
  3. Dip medium/large paintbrush into water and brush the dye to spread the color.
  4. Continue with the others colors until canvas pillow square is covered.
  5. Note:  When using a helper who’s only 2 1/2 things can get really wet.  (he had fun)
  6. Cover dyed fabric with plastic wrap to keep damp.
  7. Let set for 6-8 hours or longer for intense colors.  (we waited around 2 hours)
  8. Rinse well with water until excess dye is removed.
  9. Fill washer to “large load” setting with hottest water suitable for fabric and a small amount of laundry soap.  Wash and dry separately.  (Wash separately for the first few washes.)
  10. Iron the canvas pillow square to get out excess wrinkles.
  11. To add the word “relax”, I used iron-on embroidered letters from Joy.  It’s quick and easy – just preheat your iron to the cotton setting, cover the letters with a cotton cloth and iron for about 30 seconds.  I ironed it again from the back of the fabric for another 30 seconds.
  12. Stuff pillow with a 12″ pillow form.


Tulip One-Step 5 Color Tie-Dye Kits Rainbow*   (affiliate link)

Relaxing Sunset pillow 9321

*Disclaimer:  This post uses ads and affiliate links.  If you choose to make a purchase using one of the links, I receive a small commission (at no additional cost to you) that helps offset the costs of maintaining this blog.  Thanks for your support!

Father’s Day Pool Party Layout

Pool Party Layout 8924

A few weeks ago, on Father’s Day, I invited everyone over for a BBQ Pool Party.

There were 30 of us in all.

It was fun, loud and a little bit crazy.  (Just like this layout.)

Thanks to the week before being warm and sunny, the pool was perfect for swimming.

No chattering teeth or blue lips this year!

Pool Party Layout 8873

For my Pool Party Layout I used the following from Paper House Productions:

Pool Party Layout 8897

This layout was created for and sponsored by Paper House Productions.