Easy Peasy Corner Critter Bookmarks

Hi everyone!  I'm here today with a super quick craft that you can do with or for your kids! With the start of school approaching,  I thought they might enjoy having a fun bookmark or two to get them excited about reading!  (Even though my homeschooling days are long over, I guess I'm still a homeschool mom at heart!) 

These are really quick and easy to make (especially if you use thin origami paper rather than heavier designer paper) and they're as cute as can be.  You can come up with all sorts of ideas for critters, and make them as simple or as ornate as you like!  They would even be a fun make-and-take party favor.  

First up is a quirky bat with big wings, little ears, and fangs.  His eyes are the smaller sized eye brads that come 12 to a pack in two sizes.  I attached them before making the final folds, so the ends are enclosed and won't get in the way as the bookmark moves on and off the page.  I kept my design super simple, but if you were making this for an older child you could bling it up with some sticky-backed pearl strips to accent the folds of the wings.

Next up is a frog.  A couple of circle dies or punches really make the larger sized eye brads stand out on the printed paper.  Again, the ends of the brads are enclosed to keep the inside smooth and to hopefully also discourage tiny fingers from fiddling with them!

You can find the video tutorial for folding the origami shape here and more ideas for cute critters here.   Have fun, and have a great school year!

Smile!

I love playing with watercolors, and particularly love the look of bright, clean colors blended together!  It just makes me happy! That look and feeling is what inspired today's project.  

I used my zig markers, a stamping block, a water spray mister and some watercolor paper to achieve the look, then added a die-cut sentiment (MFT), a fussy-cut stamped image (Recollections) and lots of enamel dots in matching colors ( orange, pink, and yellow) with a pop of black. Makes me think of seeing spots after the camera FLASH!

Hope you have a great week!

A Shell in Your Pocket!

Hello friends!  I hope you're having a great week!  Here in the U.S. we had a long three-day weekend to commemorate the 4th of July, and in Florida the Summer heat was ON!  We celebrated with friends, taking a day trip down to St. Augustine which included a boat tour from the city marina to the St. Augustine Lighthouse on Anastasia Island.  It was beautiful!

That trip inspired a simple Summer card with some colorful shell ribbon and a trio of shell brads that go perfectly with a beachy sentiment and some fun octopus and mermaid designer paper.  I'm playing along with the Retro Rubber Challenge #42 to use brads and a stamp that's at least a year old (Melanie Muenchinger's Gifts from the Sea, released April 2010 from Gina K Designs).

In my last Eyelet Outlet post, I shared a two-page layout from our trip to Italy using EZ Laser designs and Eyelet Outlet products. Today, in addition to my card, I'm sharing the remaining three pages documenting our trip.

I typically use coordinating prints of designer scrapbook papers in my scrapbooking, but with over 1000 pictures from this trip, I wanted to use every available space for photographs, which meant narrowing it down to about 40!

Since the music was the inspiration for the trip, I used strips of pearls to emphasize the notes on the Music Notes layout.  I love how elegant it looks.

These two layouts are Template #13 and Mosaic 6.  I added a Selfie brad, and an iPhone brad to accent a couple of the photos of my son and me with our chorale friends.

 
There was one really short but wide photo from the Colosseum...a Colosseum brad there helps identify the subject in the scene since it is not the traditional facade shot taken from the outside.

One of the photos from St. Peter's Square had a cool reflection of Matthew's face on Susan's computer screen, so I added a vintage hand brad to point that out just for fun.  

I love these layouts so much!  I hope you've enjoyed them too! The photos are a mixture of scenes from Venice, Lucca, Siena, Florence, and Rome, and they bring back such wonderful memories of a trip that I'll cherish for a lifetime!