Dreams Do Come True and Blog Award Thanks!!

Happy Saturday and last day of March, everyone!! I had this post all ready to go yesterday and when I opened the draft this morning, it was completely empty!! The title was fine but no post whatsoever...grrr, how frustrating. I don't have any idea what happened...if it is linked to the new Blogger upgrade, which I'm not fond of yet. I was going to schedule all of my posts for next week when I'm gone, but now I'm afraid to...I don't want to do all that work only to have them disappear again :( Has this happened to anyone else??

I  have a card to enter into Diana's 3 x 3 Thankful Thursday challenge. (Okay, my card possibly measures 3.25 x 3.25 with the scalloped edges...I hope it still counts!!). I want to sincerely thank Beate for instructions on how to make a shaped card using Spellbinders!! I love this method...so much easier than what I was doing!! I used my favorite Pink Paislee paper from the Butterfly Collection. The base is the largest Spellbinders Lacy Square. I cut a Classic Square and sewed it to the Lacy Square.

Using the colors from Diana's card as inspiration, I used Shabby Shutters Distress Ink to bring out the green in the paper, Tumbled Glass to bring out the blue and Wild Honey for the yellow. The shape in the middle is from Spellbinders Parisian Accents and I cut a Standard Circle in the same size to stamp "Dreams do come true" from K Andrew Designs newest stamp set, Of Mice & Lil Men. I know I say this about all of her stamps but this one is my favorite!! Click HERE to purchase your own set :) I popped it up with foam tape for dimension, and the butterfly as well. Both the butterfly on the front and...

the one on the inside are the smallest of Spellbinders Nested Butterflies.

BLOG AWARD THANKS

I am always so honored when one of my friends thinks of me for a blog award!! It means so much to me :) I hope you will visit each of their blogs...not only are they fabulous friends, but each and every one is incredibly talented and so creative!! You will not be disappointed!!

Versatile Blogger

 Thank you so much to (in the order it was received):

Amy of Redheaded Crafter

Kenzie of Krafty Hugzz 

Georgiana of Carson's Creations

Diana of DL.ART

Sherrie of Sherrie Scraps With Passion

Karen of Kaleidoscopic Sparkles

Green Blend Award

Thank you so much to Colin of Crimson Cricut

Kreativ Blogger Award

Thank you so much to Shirl of Creations by Shirl

The Butterfly Award 

Thank you so much to Karen of Kaleidoscopic Sparkles

All of these awards have instructions to post things about yourself. I had it all typed up, as well as who I was giving these to and it is all gone. It really makes me want to cry. I don't have time to compile the lists again before I go, so I will do that when I get back. I am giving all four awards to the the wonderful friends above, so I will go ahead and do that and then include the others when I return:

Amy of Redheaded Crafter 

Colin of Crimson Cricut

Diana of DL.ART

Georgiana of Carson's Creations 

Karen of Kaleidoscopic Sparkles

Kenzie of Krafty Hugzz 

Sherrie of Sherrie Scraps With Passion

Shirl of Creations by Shirl

Thanks so much for stopping by!! I apologize again for not being able to visit you for a while but I will when I get back :)

Woof You!!

Happy Thursday, everyone!! I hope you are having a great week!! I have a puppy bag to enter into a few challenges today. I made this for my niece, who adores dogs. She's 10 and volunteers at a rescue shelter...a future vet we hope :) This puppy looks a little like her dog, Lady.

I used Spellbinders Grand Nestabilities Labels 23 for the foundation of the bag. The solid paper is from Core'dinations, the brown checked paper is from My Mind's Eye Lost and Found 2 Rosy Stack, and the tan polka dot paper is from My Mind's Eye Lost and Found 2 Blush stack. To make the box in the middle, I used a piece of 10 1/2" x 6 1/2" paper, and scored the 10 1/2" side at 4 1/2" and 6"; and the 6 1/2" side at 1 1/2" and 5".

I wanted it to look like the puppy was inside a picture frame, so I used Spellbinders Deckled Rectangles. Once the rectangle cut, I used the paper the rectangle was cut from and trimmed the edges and then popped it up with foam tape for a little dimension. I lightly inked the outside of the frame with Tim Holtz Walnut Distress ink and then darker on the deckled rectangle. the adorable puppy is from Four-Legged Friends (the cart I am giving away...click HERE to enter!!) cut at 4". I attached all of his layers with foam tape and added googly eyes.

The tag is a Spellbinders Nestabilities Label 10, inked with Walnut Distress Ink. The heart is a charm I picked up at Hobby Lobby. "Woof you" is from K Andrew Designs All About Animals stamp set:

Click HERE to purchase your own set or to see her entire fabulous line of stamps!!

I'm entering the bag in the following challenges:

1. Cooking With Cricut Challenge #79 - Make Me Laugh (funny quote, poem or saying)
2. Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Blog Challenge # - Out Like a Lamb (gentle animal)
3. Made Especially For You - Distress Ink

Thanks so much for stopping by!! I will have another post on Saturday so I can thank some friends for blog awards before I leave for a week-long vacation at the ocean. I have a few posts scheduled while I am gone, but I won't be able to stop by and see all of your amazing projects. I promise to catch up when I get back :)

Getting Cricky Tuesday Tutorial

FOR MY BLOGAVERSARY GIVEAWAY, CLICK HERE!!

Hi everyone and happy Tuesday!! I hope you are having a great week!! I have a tutorial today on how to make a Spellbinder's purse that I am also sharing at Getting Cricky!! Some of you might remember the purse I made for Amy Jo's Birthday Bash Blog Hop in February...this tutorial will explain how to make one like it :)

I first saw this purse on the Spellbinders blog HERE and just loved it. I didn't have the same dies to make their version, so I had to alter it to fit what I had on hand. Once you understand the basics of the purse, it is easy to adjust the measurements to fit any die cuts that you have available.

SUPPLIES:

- Spellbinders Grand Nestabilities Labels 23
- Spellbinders Grand Nestabilities Labels 4
- Spellbinders Nestabilities Labels 4
- Spellbinders Grand Calibur
- Paper
- Adhesive
- Flower Shoppe cartridge, or any decorative flower
- Circle Punch
- Crop-a-Dile or hole punch
- 20 gauge wire
- Beads
- K Andrew Designs stamps

1) Cut two sets of the largest three shapes from Grand Nestabilities Labels 23…this will be the base
2) Cut the largest three shapes from Grand Nestabilities Labels 4...this will be the top of the purse
3) Cut the largest three shapes from Nestabilities Labels 4...this will be the tag

4) Adhere the three layers together for the front and back panels

5) Cut at least 1/2" off the top of each panel so you have a flat surface. I cut them down so that the panels are 5” each

6) Using a large circle punch, punch a half-circle on the front panel of the purse

7) Cut a piece of paper 10” x 8”
8) On the 10” side, score at 4 1/4" and 5 3/4"…you want a 1 1/2" section in the middle
9) On the 8” side, score at 1 1/2" and 6 1/2"
10) Fold along all of the score lines
11) Cut the center score lines on both sides

12) Fold into a box and adhere sides together

13) Adhere to the piece that has the punched half-circle

14) Punch a circle in the box to match the base

15) Adhere back panel to box

16) On the top panel, score 3/4" inches from the center in each direction. The 1 1/2" will be the width of the purse

17) Decide where you want the handles to go and punch a hole on either side of the middle section. I punched 1” from either side

18) Attach eyelets

19) Add a handle. I used 20 gauge wire and beads, but you could also use ribbon
20) For beaded handle: cut 1 foot strip of 20 gauge wire, string beads in a pattern you like, attach to purse. I used a bead on the inside and wrapped wire around it to hold it in place

21) Adhere top flap to purse using strong adhesive

22) Mark where other side of the magnetic snap will go and attach to base of purse

23) Time to decorate!!

24) Kristal's Fashionable Friends stamp set is perfect for this!! I used "You've got purse-onality"

25) Add a flower to cover the magnetic closure. I used Flower Shoppe and added blue rhinestones, but you could use any flower or even buttons and ribbon

And the finished purse!!

Here's the one I made for Amy Jo's Birthday Bash Blog Hop. I had a question from someone who didn't have Spellbinders, asking if the purse could be made with a Cricut and it definitely can!!

I created this purse with Elegant Edges. The construction is basically the same but the measurements are different. There are already so many pictures, I won't include them but here are the key measurements needed to make the purse using Elegant Edges. This one is taller because I wanted the bird cut-out included.

BASE OF PURSE – Page 56
1) Cut two of the shadow at 8.25 x 6.75
2) Cut two of the shift at 8.25 x 6.05
3) Cut two of the shift at 7.60 x 5.60
4) Cut 1” off the top of each panel so you have a flat surface

TOP OF PURSE – Page 25
1) Cut the shadow at 9.75 x 6.25
2) Cut the shift at 9.75 x 5.80
3) Cut the shift at 9.00 x 5.20

TAG – Page 25
1) Cut the shadow at 3 x 1.73
2) Cut the shadow at 2.60 x 1.50
3) Cut the shadow at 2.20 x 1.27

BOX
1) Cut paper at 12 x 9.5
2) Score 12 side at 5.25 and 6.75
3) Score 9.5 side at 1.50 and 7

I hope you enjoyed the purse tutorial!! If you make one, please stop by and let me know...I'd love to see it!! Thanks so much for stopping by and have a great day :)

Spellbinders Purse Tutorial

Reprinted From Getting Cricky

Hi everyone and happy Tuesday!! I hope you are having a great week!! It's Lisa from A Mermaid's Crafts here today to share a tutorial with you on how to make a Spellbinder's purse!! I first saw this purse on the Spellbinders blog HERE and just loved it. I didn't have the same dies to make their version, so I had to alter it to fit what I had on hand. Once you understand the basics of the purse, it's easy to adjust the measurements to fit any die cuts that you have available.

SUPPLIES:

- Spellbinders Grand Nestabilities Labels 23

- Spellbinders Grand Nestabilities Labels 4

- Spellbinders Nestabilities Labels 4

- Spellbinders Grand Calibur

- Paper

- Adhesive

- Flower Shoppe cartridge, or any decorative flower

- Large circle punch

- Crop-a-Dile or hole punch

- 20 gauge wire

- Beads

- Magnetic closure

- Ribbon

- K Andrew Designs stamps

1) Cut two sets of the largest three shapes from Grand Nestabilities Labels 23…this will be the base

2) Cut the largest three shapes from Grand Nestabilities Labels 4...this will be the top of the purse

3) Cut the largest three shapes from Nestabilities Labels 4...this will be the tag

4) Adhere the three layers together for the front and back panels

5) Cut at least 1/2" off the top of each base panel so you have a flat surface. I cut them down so that the sides are 5” each

6) Using a large circle punch, punch a little less than a half-circle on the front panel

7) Cut a piece of cardstock 10” x 8”

8) On the 10” side, score at 4 1/4" and 5 3/4"…you want a 1 1/2" section in the middle

9) On the 8” side, score at 1 1/2" and 6 1/2"

10) Fold along all of the score lines

11) Cut the center score lines on both sides

12) Fold into a box and adhere sides together

13) Adhere to the piece with the punched half-circle

14) Punch to match the base

15) Adhere back panel to box

16) On the top panel, score 3/4" inches from the center in each direction. The 1 1/2" will be the width of the purse...matching the width of the box we just created

17) Decide where you want the handles to go and punch a hole on either side of the middle section. I punched 1” from either side

18) Attach eyelets

19) Add a handle. I used 20 gauge wire and beads, but you could also use ribbon

20) For beaded handle: cut 1 foot strip of 20 gauge wire, string beads in a pattern you like, attach to purse. I used a bead on the inside and wrapped wire around it to hold it in place

21) Adhere top flap to purse using strong adhesive

22) Mark where other side of the magnetic snap will go so that it lines up with the one we added to the top flap and attach to base of purse

23) Time to decorate!!

24) Kristal's Fashionable Friends stamp set is perfect for this!! I used "You've got purse-onality" :)

25) Add a flower to cover the magnetic closure. I used Flower Shoppe and added blue rhinestones, but you could use any flower or even buttons and ribbon

And the finished purse!!

Here's another example using the same dies. I had a question from someone who didn't have Spellbinders, asking if the purse could be made with a Cricut and it definitely can!!

I created this purse with Elegant Edges. The construction is basically the same but the measurements are different. There are already so many pictures, I won't include them but here are the key measurements needed to make the purse using Elegant Edges. This one is taller because I wanted the bird cut-out included.

BASE OF PURSE – Page 56

1) Cut two of the shadow at 8.25 x 6.75

2) Cut two of the shift at 8.25 x 6.05

3) Cut two of the shift at 7.60 x 5.60

4) Cut 1” off the top of each panel so you have a flat surface

TOP OF PURSE – Page 25

1) Cut the shadow at 9.75 x 6.25

2) Cut the shift at 9.75 x 5.80

3) Cut the shift at 9.00 x 5.20

TAG – Page 25

1) Cut the shadow at 3 x 1.73

2) Cut the shadow at 2.60 x 1.50

3) Cut the shadow at 2.20 x 1.27

BOX

1) Cut paper at 12 x 9.5

2) Score 12 side at 5.25 and 6.75

3) Score 9.5 side at 1.50 and 7

I hope you enjoyed the purse tutorial!! If you make one, please stop by my blog (indymermaid.blogspot.com) and let me know...I'd love to see it!! And please be sure to enter my one year blogaversary giveaway while you are there :)