Button/Embellishment Storage

I have been trying to make my scrapbooking supplies more mobile... so that I can scrapbook someplace other than in my craft room. I have always used these divided containers for my button and embellishment storage.

But they drive me crazy!!! I stick them in my craft bag and all the buttons slide around and get mixed up. So, I put my thinking cap on and came up with a solution!!! I cut a piece of chipboard the size of the lid. Then I cut a piece of batting the same size. Then I cut a piece of fabric about 1" larger around all sides. I then simply hot glued it together and glued it inside the lid of the box. Ta da!!! It totally works!!! No more sliding around and mixing up of buttons. It is a tight squeeze to close it, but that's okay!!!

To hide the back side of the chipboard, I cut a piece of fabric and modpodged it on the front. Then I modpodged a border of scrapbook paper around the edge and stamped acrylic paint to label what was inside. I'm sure I could have decorated and embellished the outside a little better, but oh well!!! The important thing is that it is totally functional and solves the problem of everything getting mixed up inside!!!

-Anisa

Chipboard Album

As mentioned, I am in a crafting rut right now. So, I've kind of halted all projects until something comes up. However, with the school year coming to an end, I thought I would put together a mini album for my 4 year old's first year of preschool. I had purchased this chipboard album at a garage sale for $1 and I had an 8x8 paper pad of some fun paper that I wanted to use up. My little boy was out of town for a week staying with his cousin so I thought I'd get it done for him while he was gone.

I used the biggest Zig glue pen that they make to adhere the paper, photos and all embellishments to the album. I used Maya Mists, paint, rub-ons, etc. It turned out cute! He loves it and I'm glad he's home from his cousins. -Anisa

Scrapbooking Again!!!

So, I had to get a job about 5 months ago. The job is dumb.... I answer phone calls for people who call in to buy stuff from infomercials. But, I get to work from home in my PJ's in my craft room. I can't complain too much. So, for the past couple of months I have been spending my time at work getting ready for the boutique. I have to admit I made everything for the boutique while I was at work. I can even sew on slow nights.

So, after the boutique was over, I found myself a little bored. I haven't quite come up with any projects for myself... yet. So, I decided to catch up on a little scrapbooking.

This layout is a 11x8.5 of my two boys and their "bling" necklaces my dad gave them.

This layout is a 6x6 of my baby at 16 months.

We do have a blog where we post our layouts occasionally. It's called Twiddle Scraps. I may be posting some of my other layouts there, so check it out!!!

Happy Birthday to me!

I am soooo excited for the Get Down with Scrapbooking Crop this weekend because Cami bought me Maya Mists for my birthday!!! I have been wanting some Maya Mists for awhile. Maggie Holmes is one of my favorite scrapbookers and my old neighbor. I love her stuff and lately she has been using the mists a lot. So, I was super excited when Cami gave them to me for my birthday!!!

Here are a few layouts that I have done with the mists. I have plans for a lot more!!! And I get to scrapbook for two days!!!

Attention: Crafters!

We at Twiddle-Thumbs get to be part of a great event happening in January called "Get Down with Scrapbooking." Its an annual crop that benefits the Utah Down Syndrome Foundation. Not only is it a great way to crop the night away, but there are endless chances to give to this wonderful charity. Registration for the event (January 22nd-23rd) will open very soon.

(that's Anisa and me on the far right)

In the mean time, we wanted to give you crafters, our readers, out there the opportunity to donate something fun and wonderful to the event. Whatever you make, what ever you do, can be used as a silent auction or raffle item to bring more money to the UDSF. If you are interested in donating a hand-crafted item, email us at twiddlethumbs@rocketmail.com and we'll give you the information you need to do so. You'll also receive a bit of advertising for your Etsy shop or business. All the proceeds go to the Foundation.

(just some of the amazing and fun prizes from last year)

Thanks for reading through this and for reading our blog!

Cami, Angie, and Anisa

Seed Beads

We didn't receive any seed bead projects from our readers this month, but we hope you'll join us in next months' challenge! Below are some beautiful items I found on http://www.etsy.com/ (complete with link to seller) that use seed bead in wonderful ways. Seller's link here Seller's link here Seller's link here Seller's link here

I began using seed beads on a canvas bag I've been embroidering and I used them on this scrapbook page about my daughter's newly-discovered love of beading.

Hey, speaking of scrapbooking...

Did you notice our new links section (to the right) that puts blogs for specific craft types in to various categories? Well, under the Scrapbook and Photography Inspiration is a link to Twiddle-Scraps. Click on it (or here) and you'll be transported to a gallery of our personal scrapbook pages that you can scroll through for ideas on scrapbooking your own photos and memories. Check it out!

Pre-school Mini Album

I don't know about this whole year-round school thing. For most kids on most tracks, school started today. My oldest will be in Kindergarten so he starts a week late. So, for the craft blog, I thought I'd post a mini album that I made for his last year of Pre-school. I had been wanting to do a mixed media mini album for awhile and this gave me the perfect opportunity.

I used my Cricut to cut out a template of the shape that I wanted the album to be. Then I simply traced the shape on acrylic, felt, chipboard and cardstock to make my pages.

My front page was acrylic with just a title and a few simple embellishments. Then I did a few pages of different type of products. I used quite a bit of stitching on the pages... and of course my favorite thing right now is gathered ribbon that is stitched on.

It turned out really cute and my little boy loves it!!!

To view the complete album visit our Flickr site.

-Anisa

Filling in the Blanks

One thing the 3 of us here have in common is a shared passion for scrapbooking. I'm not great at getting the journaling done on every page, but I love that I can have it as a source to give more depth to the pictures. There are little things that don't always make the pages of the family album, though, especially for me being the mom. I hardly ever get out from behind the camera, and subsequently the focus remains largely on my kids. Blogging has helped me some. I get quick funny little things or thoughts written, share a favorite recipe etc. But, I want more. My kids will want more. If not them, then probably their kids. I found some great helps from Creating Keepsakes personality-Becky Higgins. She's got some great "fill in the blank" pages on her website for both teens and adults. (Click here.) It's a great way to round out the family history portions of scrapbooking. I also snuck some pictures of these layouts my cousin did of our Grandma M. and some of her most popular recipes. Another fun addition to a family book! (Thanks Marlene!)

Can't NOT scrapbook

A week of crafting would not be complete without the chance to scrapbook.... if I have a break from the kids, I can't NOT scrapbook. So, I thought I'd post a few of my layouts that I did. I wish I would have been able to get a lot more done, but I had a little helper that kept me from doing everything that I wanted to do!!!

My Latest Scrapbook Project

I am a chronological scrapbooker. This essentially means that I have a large binders in which to put a record of my family's life. It also means that there is no real end to the project that is scrapbooking. That is precisely why this mini-album of my trip to New York was so much fun to make! I made it for my husband for Father's Day. This was the first visit to New York for both of us. I started with a post-bound album from the Target dollar aisle. It already had a 'window' in the cover and I applied Making Memories rub-ons for "New York." Cover page.

The paper used throughout the book is from an 8x8 Cosmo Cricket Paper Pad called "Hello Sunshine." It included a several of the sayings I used here.

There's still some journaling to complete, but I want my husband's help. Husbands are not easy to pin down for crafting time.

When I ran out of pages in the album, I just cut some creme colored cardstock to size, punched holes, unscrewed the posts and added the pages. On the final page, I used put a photo on the back cover to utilize all available space. Most photos were 4x6 but I did have a few printed as 5x7s.

I think cropping my photos first helped make this a really quick project and using items I already had on hand (I only bought my photo prints) made it very inexpensive.

The best part? My husband loves it. That quick turn around from the experience to the recorded memories really worked for him (I made it within two weeks of returning from New York). He's taken it on all his recent business trips to show his co-workers and it's going with him this very day to Seattle. He's having dinner with his sisters and wanted to show them too.

--C

Contest Announcements!!

First, we have our winner for Anisa's "Scrapbook A Page" contest.

Drum roll please.................................................................................and the winner is:

comment #6

CINDY!!!!

Email us at twiddlethumbs@rocketmail.com with your info and we'll get you your prize.

Next, the moment we've all been waiting for. We've selected our top 3 finalists for our Scraptastic Contest. Remember to vote for your favorite page. Voting will end in one week.

In no particular order, here are the top 3 finalists:

Shauna:

Emily:

Melody:

Polls are in the right column. Time to rock the vote!