{crafty} SMBiGBlogHop GOALS

Welcome back! We are so happy to have you back for the December edition of our Social [Media] Butterflies blog hop! This month we are heading in to the new year with a hop dedicated to GOALS. 

You should have come here from Shay's blog, if not head back to the Social Media Butterflies home base to start from the beginning.

For the last couple of years I have picked a word for One Little Word but never really kept it at the forefront of my life for that year. I really want to change that for 2013 so I decided to create a canvas to hang that can be a daily reminder. My word, my goal, is to be INTENTIONAL. To do things with purpose and reason in every facet of my life. From the way I spend my time, to how I spend money, from devotionals to grocery shopping. Yes, grocery shopping! It's gotten out of hand as of late...

Thanks for looking! Be sure to hop along for a lot of great crafty inspiration!

Trisha

Shay 

Amanda 

UP NEXT -->Jenny

Kristin

Suz

Corinne

{crafty} SMB HoliDAYS

I'm up on the Social Media Butterflies blog today with an Advent Calendar! Be sure to check it out, along with all the other HoliDAY projects this month!

{crafty} Holiday SMBiGBlogHop

Welcome back! We are so happy to have you back for the November edition of our Social [Media] Butterflies blog hop! This month we are spreading Christmas Cheer with a Holiday Hop. In the weeks to follow check back with us as we each share various Holiday projects from December Daily to Home Decor.

You should have come here from Shay's blog, if not head back to the Social Media Butterflies home base to start from the beginning.

My layout is the start of the Holiday season for me, using pictures of our newly put up decorations in the house. It's definitely beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

SUPPLIES USED:
Mister Huey's Plum Thumb and Gold
Crate Paper Sleigh Ride Washi Stickers
Chic Tags
Background paper from SC Crack the Whip
Echo Park Season's Greetings
Charcoal POW 
Silhouette Cameo
Stamps from Scrapperin


Be sure to hop along for a lot of great layout inspiration!
Suz
Monica
Corinne
Shay 
Amanda 

UP NEXT -->Jenny
Kristin
Ellie
Mary Pat
Trisha

{flashy} Photo Share

I have a couple of frames in the house that I have been thinking of swapping out with new pictures. I had a few in mind already but as I was looking back at my pictures, I realized I totally neglected my camera this year. I am terrible about capturing everyday moments from anything other than my phone, and on my phone they usually stay.

Since I am going through my small collection of photos I thought a blog share was in order. It's been a while for that too! Some of my favorites from this year...A few from Cambodia

look at those feet! these kids live in the dirt, it was rare to see any wearing shoes

this little girl was so precious

one of the nicer homes we saw in the villages

I snapped this from the van as we drove by on our way to a village

I just adore this picture! Taken at Remember Nhu.


Back at home, a few macro shots.

and of course some Instagram pics

Pike's Market in Seattle

Space Needle, of course

View form the Space Needle

A nearby park where I run...when I run

And most recently, on the road to a friends house on a beautiful fall morning

{crafty} Studio l2e Winner!

Thank you for joining me on this Social [Media] Butterflies Blog Hop. If you haven't already stopped by the other blogs on this hop, please do! The giveaway for the Silhouette download card is still open until Sunday!

 And be sure to come back next month when we do this all over again!

The winner of the stamp set from Studio l2e is Rachel!

Congrats Rachel! Please email me at mandab.dej@gmail.com with your mailing address.

{crafty} Cut it Up SMBiGBlogHop

Welcome back! We are so happy to have you back for the October edition of our Social [Media] Butterflies blog hop! This month the girls are going to be bringing you a Carve It Up theme--- using our Silhouettes, Cricuts, fussy-cutting, punching, exact-o knife-- our designs will all have a unique cut up piece to it!

You should have come here from Suz's blog, if not head back to the Social Media Butterflies home base to start from the beginning.

I have only had my Silhouette Cameo for about two months, so when the assignment came to do some cutting I knew I had to break it out and play! I am loving both the machine and the software and feel like before long it will become a staple in my every day creating and not just a "project" machine like the Cricut was for me. 

Originally I had decided to do a mixed media project, cutting my letters out to use on an 8x10 canvas. After removing all the letter pieces though I looked at my negative and decided to use it as a mask instead. I mixed some paint, added in a bit of modeling paste and slathered it on. I love the texture and depth it added to my canvas. I have just begun dabbling in mixed media and it is so much fun to get messy...as long as I have plenty of baby wipes near by!

When I cut my letters out I happened to stick a full sheet of 12x12 cardstock down. When I finished using it as a mask I was hit with another little bit of inspiration and decided to let it dry and use it as a base for a layout. 

I will say, it didn't quite turn out as I had planned but I still love the idea itself. One I will have to try again. I used pieces from Studio Calico's Central High kit, adding the map print behind the letters and as a border. I pulled in another Cameo cut with an SC studio file as a base for my layering. 

So there you have it! 1 cut, two projects! Be sure to keep hopping and check out all the great projects this month. And check out the giveaways below!

Shay http://sbookinshay29.blogspot.com/

Suz http://livealifeextraordinary.blogspot.com/

YOU ARE HERE ----> Amanda http://www.somethingsorta.blogspot.com/

NEXT UP -----> Trisha http://www.trisha-grace.blogspot.com/

Corinne http://corinnesmilovici.blogspot.com/

Angel http://kindlelover.blogspot.com/

Jenny http://mycreativelife29.blogspot.com/

Monica http://monicalifeasme.blogspot.com/

Patricia http://harmonyhealthandfaith.blogspot.com/

How about a giveaway? Or better yet how about TWO!?

1st Giveaway - $10 Silhouette download card

~How to Enter~

Comment on any of the blogs or link up with a Carve It Up themed layout on our home page to win a $10 Silhouette Studio gift card :] Each comment will gain you an entry! Giveaway closes Sunday Nov 4th

2nd Giveaway - Newly designed stamp set from Studio l2e
~How to Enter~
"like" Studio l2e's page on FB and let her know I sent you then come back here and comment that you have done so.
For a second entry, become a follower of my blog and leave a separate comment below!
This giveaway will close Wednesday at midnight Pacific, winner will be posted Thursday.

How awesome would these be for Project Life?

Happy blog hopping, and make sure to come back next month on the 29th for our next hop!

{crafty} Christmas Subway Art

I am not a big holiday decorator. I can pin images all day long of mantel displays, wreaths for the front door, vignettes, you name it, but they rarely make their way in to my home. Don't get me wrong; I think they are gorgeous and am in awe of the decorating ability of others. I, however, am incredibly indecisive when it comes to decorating my own home. And when I do make a decision on what I want I tend to want to DIY and it ends up added to a long list of other projects to eventually be done at some future point in time yet to be determined.

Christmas is a little different. I love everything about Christmas and do enjoy breaking out the decorations the day after Thanksgiving and having a little fun with it. I decided I wanted to make a Christmas countdown this year and took to my Silhouette Cameo to see what I could do. I have enjoyed doing a little subway art lately so I created a 12x24 Christmas subway art file and cut it in vinyl using standard Christmas colors and chalkboard vinyl for the ornament. Since I would want to re-use this every year I had a sheet of 1/4" MDF cut down in to 12x24 sections and painted them white. I applied the vinyl over the top, stapled on some ribbon and now it is ready to hang and count down the big day!

I was so excited about this project that I decided to make several for my Etsy shop as well!

{crafty} August Social Media Blog Hop

Welcome back! We are so happy to have you back for the August edition of our Social [Media] Butterflies blog hop! This month we thought we would change it up and have a two part challenge for our members. Not only will we be taking inspiration from one of our members, but we will be using this color palette:

This month I took inspiration from Suz Mannecke. I love a good layout of repetitious circles and this one is no exception. The title of her page also inspired me to finally start scrapbooking pictures from my trip to Cambodia earlier this year. Telling myself that a smile is universal is one thing that helped me through when I struggled with the language barrier.

Inspiration piece by Suz Mannecke

I have been wanting to try a color challenge for a while now and this pallete was a fun one. This blue woodgrain paper has been screaming to me every time I go through my paper. I mixed a couple Studio Calico kits here with a few pieces from Echo Park Everyday Eclectic. I wanted to bring more circles to the layout in a more subtle way so I stamped a Tim Holtz grunge stamp and embossed with clear powder just to add a little sheen. I added little bits of the yellow/orange color with the camera veneer, twine, washi and the embossed heart. This is such a special picture to me and I am so glad I have been able to scrap it. I am definitely inspired to create more layouts with the pictures from this trip!

We hope you enjoy our projects this month, and have a giveaway for a lucky blog hopper-- one of our own Social Butterflies is opening a SHOP! We are so excited for Kristin && would LOVE to show you some of the goodies you'll soon be able to purchase [store opens September 1st]

Introducing: Rukristin Papercrafts: The Shop! Offering trendy & quirky handmade memory-keeping supplies. Find her shop here: rukristin.bigcartel.com Before it opens, we are giving away Two Brand New Sets of Journaling Cards: 'Days of the Week' and 'Boy + Girl'. All you have to do is comment, follow or tweet using the hashtag #SMBiGbloghop, letting us know which of those you do-- the more of the hop you complete, the more chances you have :] Chances will end Saturday, September 1st at noon, and will be released later that day! Good luck!

Melissa P / click click 

Ellie 

Angel / akochmcelroy

Suz / SuzMannecke

Patricia 

Erika / erikabardo

Trisha / trishacakes24

------> YOU ARE HERE Amanda / mandadej 

Mary Pat <------ NEXT STOP

Sabrina / vixendeity

Shay / sbookinshay29 

Kristin / rukristin

{crafty} Winners announced!

Head on over to Shay's blog to find out which two lucky ladies won bags full of CHA goodness! And don't forget to join us on the 29th this month for another fabulous round of inspired projects!

{crafty} July's Social Media Blog Hop

If you joined us last month you know that this blog hop was inspired by the connections made through social media. Each person participating will create a new project that was inspired by one of the others on the team. That inspiration can come from an IG pic, a quote they posted, something I saw on their blog, online galleries, whatever I choose!  This month however is a little different! Inspiration is flooding the scrapbooking world right now with Summer CHA just recently coming to a close. Join us as we share what inspired us from CHA and the projects that resulted. The tweets and instagram photos were pouring in during CHA and the new product coming out is simply gorgeous! Studio Calico, My Minds Eye, October Afternoon, Crate Paper. SO. MUCH. GOODNESS.

"Be Happy" by Tina Walker

This layout for My Minds Eye caught my attention. I love the color palette and the overall design of the page. One thing I noticed on this layout and really as a recurring theme at CHA is instant pictures! Everywhere you look you see polaroid images, instagram pictures, cell phone pictures, photo booth strips. It is most definitely a trend right now, and a fun one at that.

For my layout I loosely based the design on my inspiration piece but I really wanted to play up the Instagram factor. I used wood veneer polaroid frames colored with Copics and used a hashtag to start off my title. I love how this layout came together for me! Green and purple has always been a favorite color combination of mine, throw in a little grey and I'm in love! I think most people would use a title like this for layouts of scenery and flowers, but to me this is just as beautiful :-) You can't really tell in these pictures but Mt. Ranier is actually in the background of the Seattle skyline. It had been many years since the last time I got to enjoy the view from the Space Needle and this day in particular happened to be a gorgeous one with clear skies. A beautiful day indeed!

Want to join in the fun?  Scraplift any of the projects you see, go back here and link up your project to the main post. You never know what prizes might be handed out along the way :-)  Would you like a chance to win a goodie bag FILLED with awesomeness from CHA? There are several ways to enter!

• Tweet about the blog hop, tell us your favorite project using the hashtag #SMBiGbloghop  
• Leave me a comment telling me what your favorite product from CHA is.
• Follow my blog and leave a seperate comment letting me know you did.
• And continue hopping! You gain another entry for each other blog you comment on!

The giveaway will close at Midnight EST on Wednesday and winners will be announced Thursday on Shay's blog

Welcome Post [On Shay's Blog]
Suz / SuzMannecke

Sabrina / vixendeity

Erika / erikabardo

Angel / akochmcelroy

Kristin / rukristin

Margrethe / margrethe_

Amanda / mandadej  <------YOU ARE HERE

Shay / sbookinshay29 <------NEXT STOP

Monica / MonicaB

Mary Pat / click click

Caz / cazhancock

Melissa / click click

Trisha / trishacakes

{crafty} Shop Favorites

I was going through both my Etsy shop and Facebook page looking back at some older items I have made to sell. Since many of them I have not shared on my blog I thought I would do a large share of some of my favorite projects I have made!

This one will probably have to be at the top of my list. This came as a special request on Etsy. The buyer had asked for a Shabby Chic/Vintage set of letters to spell her daughters name. I will be honest, I was a bit terrified! I had never done anything in that style and was afraid it wouldn't be my best work. It turns out I had a blast making them and absolutely love how they came together. I hand stitched the papers together and made the rosettes myself as well, which was a new technique for me.



 I absolutely ADORE Crate Paper and this altered frame came together fairly quick. I love when layerying embellishments just flows easily. 




 






This was one of the first frames I ever altered. It seems to be so difficult to come by cute boy stuff, and I am guilty of not doing it too often myself. Having a boy and only ever scrapbooking a boy I find it really easy to get carried away with more girly items. I had a lot of fun with this one using stamps, rub-ons, and felt. 




I had SO much fun creating this collection of 10x10 floating frames using both Crate Paper and My Minds Eye that happened to coordinate beautifully! A little vinyl cut from my Cricut and it was a done deal!

Somewhat newer to my Etsy shop are these distressed canvases. These can be pretty time consuming, but it is always fun to see what it will look like when it's done. All the photographs are taken by myself and then transferred from paper to canvas. I love that the transfers are imperfect and never quite the same from one to the next.

Thank you for looking! I would love to hear what kind of handmade home decor items you enjoy!

{crafty} Blog Hop Winner

Thank you for joining me on this Social [Media] Butterflies Blog Hop. We had a lot of fun putting it together and being inspired by each other. If you haven't already stopped by the other blogs on this hop, please do! Many giveaways are still open with prizes from Freckled Fawn, Persnickety Prints, Elle's Studio and more!

 And be sure to come back next month when we do this all over again!

On to our winner...

Lucky number 6!

PatriciaJune 30, 2012 12:27 PM

I'm a new follower! thanks for the chance!

Congratulations Patricia! Please email me at somethingsortacrafty@gmail.com with your address and your package will be on its way. 

{crafty} Social Media Blog Hop

Today I'm taking part in a new monthly blog hop!

This blog hop was inspired by the connections made through social media. Each person participating will create a new project that was inspired by one of the others on the team. That inspiration can come from an IG pic, a quote they posted, something I saw on their blog, Studio Calico gallery, whatever I choose!

If you happened upon my blog by chance, head over to the first stop on our hop today at Shay's blog. There are many prizes up for grabs along the way so be sure to visit everybody!

This month I found my inspiration from Caz's "pool buddies" layout. 

I loved the misting and clusters on the layout but what inspired me even more was the little "oh happy day" banner across the pictures. I instantly thought of the gospel song and how upbeat and joyous it is.

I knew the bright sunny colors from Studio Calico's So Cal kit would be a great way to bring that joy in to my project. I had been wanting to alter a printer tray for quite some time, so this was really a fun project for me!

The white chevron pattern is Mister Huey's Opaque white and chevron mask. I just recently discovered Mister Huey's and I do believe an obsession has been born. LOVE them!

Blog Hop List:

Welcome, by Shay http://sbookinshay29.blogspot.com/ sbookinshay29
Margrethe http://onelifedocumented.com/ margrethe_ 
Melissa http://www.melissapriest.com/ click click
Amanda http://somethingsorta.blogspot.com/ mandadej  <-- YOU ARE HERE!


NEXT STOP --> Caz http://www.cazhancock.com/ cazhancock


Erika http://erikabardo.wordpress.com/ erikabardo
Kristin http://rukristin.blogspot.com/ rukristin
Monica http://monicalifeasme.blogspot.com/ MonicaB
Angela http://kindlelover.blogspot.com/ akochmcelroy
Suz http://livealifeextraordinary.blogspot.com/ SuzMannecke

All of our Instagram usernames are listed after the blog URLs, unless stated otherwise.

And I do believe I mentioned prizes? I have a collection of thickers and washi to give away! You can earn 3 entries by following my blog, "like" my facebook page and commenting on this post. Please leave a seperate comment for each one. Be sure to leave your email address in a comment so I can get a hold of the winner. Giveaway will close at 9pm Pacific on June 30th and I will use random.org to pick a winner!

{crafty} Word Art Canvas

Word art seems to be everywhere these days, and I love it! From the simple tone on tone quotes to the distressed reclaimed wood lists, it all makes a statement. I wanted to get in on this word art action but being a scrapbooker at heart I couldn't bare to do it without having fun with some gorgeous paper and embellishments.

 I saw this quote planted over a serene image on Pinterest and it is one I kept coming back to. I knew it would be perfect for canvas. When SCTNow asked me if I would donate a piece for an art auction at one of their events I knew it had to be this quote. And even better when I found Studio Calico, who puts together AMAZING collections of scrapbooking products, I knew exactly what I was going to use to make my idea come to life.



I couldn't be happier with how this turned out! So much so that I was sad to see it leave my house. I couldn't think of a better reason to give it away though. If anybody is in the Portland Oregon area please come out to SCTNow's Freedom Flicks event on June 30th. There will be a documentary on trafficking, food, drinks, panel discussion and a silent art auction.