Weekend Whimsy: National Craft Month Party

Many of you know that I am a rabid Fiskateer.  At the beginning of March, we Fiskateers were challenged to throw a party to celebrate National Craft Month.  The party needed to have a theme, there had to be at least 5 guests, and there had to be crafting.  The best party, as judged by three photos, would win fabulous prizes.  I LOVE theme parties and used to host a lot of them, but haven't since Trevor was born.  The Fiskateer challenge was just the motivation I needed!

I checked the calendar- the best date was only 10 days later.  Not much time to throw together a winning party, but I was determined to make it work.  After much debate, I decided on a theme- 50's Soda Shoppe.  I own a poodle skirt and saddle shoes from my days as a ballroom dancer (I'll tell you more about that someday!) and I figured my friends could wear capris, sweater sets, and ponytails and totally fit the theme.  Food was easy- ice cream sundaes and root beer floats.  I bought some 1950's candy and gum as well. 

Growing up, I attended several weddings with my parents, and my mom never failed to express her shock at the extravagant meals at the various receptions.  At her wedding in 1970, they served nuts and mints.  She claims that in the 50's and 60's (and apparently 1970 as well), no one served food at weddings.  To be a good hostess, you just put out nuts and mints.  The same was true for parties.  I'm not sure if she's correct, but I didn't want to risk being a bad 1950's hostess, so I served nuts and mints.

   
For decorations, I dug out a hula hoop, some fuzzy dice, and an extra pair of saddle shoes (of course I own two pairs of saddle shoes!), then raided my parents' record collection.  I decided on the typical black/pink/turquoise 50's color scheme, with some Fiskars orange thrown in!

I have fabulous friends, who in turn have fabulous husbands who babysat the kids so we could have this party.  One husband went above and beyond.  Carl Sciortino is an amazing artist who creates custom railings and other metal work.  In his spare time, he "whipped up" a jukebox facade for my party.  I hid my CD player behind it and the effect was awesome.

 
The most difficult part was selecting what crafts to do during the party.  There were 8 of us- some are crafters, some are scrapbookers, and one claims to have no crafting ability at all. (Hi Courteney!)  I wanted the crafts to not only fit the theme, but be easy enough for everyone but not boring for anyone.  And because my husband had been laid off and I'm a stay-at-home mom, I was determined not to spend any money on craft supplies.  A tall order!

Fortunately, I have a well-stocked craft room.  Our first craft was rhinestone monogram "pins" for our sweaters.  Next we made carnations using kleenex, which apparently everyone did in the 50's.  For our final craft, we made roses using toilet paper, which my mom says they made to decorate for school parties.  The crafts all fit the theme, were fun, were easy (except the rose!) and I didn't spend a penny on craft supplies, so mission (mostly) accomplished!

Here's the whole group showing off our rhinestone monograms and carnations!

After all the crafting was done, we broke out the hula hoops.  I could still keep the hoop up for a long time, but I'm sad to say that I was sore the next day!

My National Craft Month party was a great success.  My guests and I all had lots of fun, which was my ultimate goal.  But better still, my party won the contest!  Thanks to Fiskars for the inspiration and the prizes.  Celebrating National Craft Month with a party is definitely going to be an annual tradition for me!

Flamingo Four: Fancy Pants Aged Florals

We're back with one of our favorite columns.... Flamingo Five Four!!  You aren't imagining things... we talked, plotted, went back and forth.... finally deciding that we wanted to give this feature a fresh face with our new guest design team so we changed it to Flamingo Four!  The only change?  Four people, four products.... everything else is the same.  Are you ready to see this month's Flamingo Four?!

April's Flamingo Four items are:

1. and 2. Two sheets of Fancy Pants Aged Florals collection patterned papers

3. Kaisercraft Pearls - White Strips

4. A grab bag of white Prima E-Line flowers

All items available at Flamingo Scraps (limited quantities on hand!). We all started with these supplies and the instructions to make something using all four items. Any other items could be added to complete the project.



Are you ready to see what we made?!

Janie's take:

Other Supplies: Maya Road Canvas Dressform

I began by cutting alot of mini circles from the papers then I cut the circles in half. I then flared the ends of the half circles to give a curl and dimension to my project. I started attaching every half circle seperately in a pattern that I thought looked good. I took the Kaisercraft pearls and strung them on a diagonal on the dressform. Next, I sprayed the dressform and the prima flowers with Copper Glimmer Mist and attached the flowers to the dress with a generic orange brad. Thank you for allowing me to show you this project today I had so much fun with and I hope I inspired you to try something new as well!

Sara's take:

My photos were from a photo booth my son and I visited on our 'Date Day'. I used one sheet of the Fancy Pants Aged Florals paper as my back ground and the second sheet as my light green strip that I decorated up with a border punch. I used some of the 12-inch pearl strips to accent the ends of pattered paper. Lastly, I took glimmer mist to some of the great white prima flowers and add blingy middles to them. This was a fun challenge for me, it really pushed me outside my box!

Suzanne's take:

Other Supplies:  Sizzix dies -- tag, large daisies, butterfly and firefly; pearls edged ribbon, Old Lace Glimmer Mist, Pink Cat's Eye Ink, pop dots, misc. Happy Easter sticker

I inked the edges of all paper pieces and Prima flowers with pink ink, layered the sizzix daisies and Prima flowers with pop dots for dimension, pop dotted the butterfly and dragonfly, used Prima flowers to fill in around the diecuts, used pearls in centers of Prima flowers and for spines of butterfly and dragonfly, misted the finished tag with Old Lace Glimmer Mist and tied on the ribbon!

Amanda's take:

As we rapidly approach the ten year mark together this fall, this mini album documents our first five years my husband and I spent together. It's a quick picture story of our travels, our celebrations, our marriage, in just one small little mini! If you'd like to see a picture of each page, you can check it out on my blog.  I used the patterned paper, along with the other patterns in the collection, to cover my chipboard album.  For embellishments, I used my distress inks to cover chipboard pieces, and various laces, ribbons, and trims.  On back cover, some Prima flowers and a few pearls in the center was the perfect finish to my mini album!

So here we are at the end of another Flamingo Five Four and we hope you enjoyed it! Please come back and join us on the 15th of next month to see what we made with a new batch of four goodies from Flamingo Scraps! We hope that we have inspired you and we'd love to see what you make if you do, so please stop by and share it with us!

Did you win?!

If you are......

than you are our lucky No Housework Day Blog Hop winner!! :)

Please send an e-mail to flamingoscraps at yahoo dot com with your address to claim your prize!!

Guest DT Janie Boots: Scrapfest

Happy Tuesday everyone.  I had a very busy and fun weekend.  Here in Ontario, Canada this past weekend April 8th and April 9th we had Scrapfest... Yippee!  I love Scrapfest.  I have been going since 2008. This year was extra special for me. Not only did I get to meet Jodi and Jared the owners of Fancy Pants, but I also got to bring my three little boys along. Oh boy, let me tell you did they ever have a fun time.

Andrew, Brian and Christopher were so excited to go to Scrapfest, they were super stoked to do make and takes. So being the good mom that I am, I arrived at Scrapfest on Saturday morning as the doors opened at 9 am to make sure we avoided lines so the boys could do the make and takes.

They were able to make a candy holder, a scissors holder, and the owner of Scrapfest gave them each their own pair of decorative scissors. Andrew decided his would have pink fun fur on his holder, Brian went for the a silver and blackprint, and Christopher went with the leopard print and then added foam stickers.

They also got to make a flower pin and tags. The boys had a fabulous time. As for me, I'm sure you are wondering... no I did not do any make and takes I did my class and shopping the night before so I was good to go. I had more fun watching the boys and taking pics on Saturday.

The boys are already asking me if I will take them next year to Scrapfest. I told them they will have to be really good.

When I got home after Scrapfest you won't believe it, I had to create two more make and takes for the boys to do I actually let them touch my stickles and my copics... OMG!! Right?! Well they were good and they made me some really cute things.

Thanks for letting me share my weekend with you!

Weekend Whimsy: Angry Birds!

Note:  If you are here for Thursday's National No Housework Day Blog Hop.... please go here!!

I'm totally addicted.  Love it!  Even better?  My nephew loves it too and asks his Grandma (my Mom) to let him play it on her phone! :)  So imagine my happy shock when I found Couture Crochet & Crafts by KT's etsy store:

Awesome!!  Of course, I totally got one for my nephew!

At this point, my husband thinks I'm crazy.  He hasn't played yet, so he doesn't get how absolutely awesome a find this hat is!  The kid will love it!  My parents came to visit last weekend, so I sent this bad boy back to my nephew with instructions to my Mom to tell him his auntie sent it to him and guess what... he loved it!  I wasn't suprised. :)

He even  called me to tell me thank you! ;) ha!  And he wears it everywhere.  I can't believe he's going to be three next month.  Or that my niece is already trying to roll over.  Where does time go?!

I digress.  Angry birds!  Anyone planning on going to see Rio when it hits the theater?!  In the meantime, I thought I'd share this hilarious spoof on Angry Birds:



I love it -- so funny!!  So do tell... are you an Angry Birds addict fan?!  :)

Layout: Almost Four

Note:  If you are here for yesterday's National No Housework Day Blog Hop.... please go here!!

Remember all those Cosmo Cricket 1934 layouts a few weeks ago?  Well, I finally finished another one that's been sitting on my desk since then!

From Flamingo Scraps: Cosmo Cricket 1934 patterned papers; Prima eline flowers, flowers, eline bling & bling swirls

Other supplies: Bazzill cardstock; black lace (unknown); Making Memories cheeky glitter alphabets; black fine point Sharpie; Font is Script12 BT; sewing machine + thread

Just click on it if you want to see it bigger!  And here's a close-up of the gorgeous Primas:

Guest DT Sara Zenger: Maya Road Bottle Caps

Note:  If you are here for today's National No Housework Day Blog Hop.... please go here!!

Today I want to share with you a little project I made to be displayed in my home. We all love our pictures and scrapbook them but I also like to put mine out for display. Since I LOVE to be crafty an ordinary frame just won’t do!

I used a Mega Bottle Cap from Maya Road (which you can get right here at Flamingo Scraps!) to showcase my son’s photo. I cut some back ground paper for the inside of the bottle cap and then cut the photo a little smaller and give it some dimension with pop-dots.

Then I went to my new favorite paper collection, Toy Boy by Crate Paper (which Flamingo Scraps has in stock!!!) and use the paper collection and its coordinating die cuts to give it a fun look. I also added a large chipboard circle to the back of the bottle cap to prop it up nicely on a plate holder.

This was really easy to make and boy would be make a great gift for the Holidays!

Enjoy!

More of Sara's work can be found here on her blog!!

Happy National No Housework Day!!

Housework? What's housework?!  We know not what that word means around here. :)

Just ask my Scarlet:

Yep.  We definitely can get behind this holiday here at Flamingo Scraps!!  So in honor of this fabulous holiday, we have a couple of layouts and projects to share with ya today....

Product details here.

You can't argue with Suzanne's cat!!!!!  No housework for her today -- can't cook, can't clean, can't wash dishes!!!!  She'll be scrapping instead!!!!!  So will Cindy, since she's got the cutest cleaning crew in town to do the housework for her....

From Flamingo Scraps: Stickles

Other Supplies: Bazzill cardstock, Scenic Route patterned paper, Heidi Swapp letters, BasicGrey chipboard, Folk Art paint, American Crafts pen

And finally, what better way to celebrate than with this fabulous hard working bottle of dawn?

Well....
I should clarify....
I meant to say with Tonya's fabulous bottle of dawn!

From Flamingo Scraps:  Prima (patterened paper, say it in pearls and lace, mini roses), Distress Inks
Other Supplies: Acrylic Paint, Crackle Medium, Seam Binding in Cream & Brown, Cameo, Feathers, Cork

Yep.  I want THIS altered bottle of dish soap!

Don't you?!  Well guess what... it can be YOURS!!!  Along with these fabulous Maya Road goodies from our store:

All you have to do is leave us a comment on this blog post telling us how you'll be celebrating No Housework Day!!  And then go hop along to your next stop....

Scrapbook Abundance!!!

If you missed a stop or are just getting started, you can go to If it's Groovy to start at the beginning -- you won't want to miss your chance for some great giveaways and challenges along the way!! 

And if this is your first time to Flamingo Scraps, please visit here for info about how to get connected to us!!

Re-facing Lace & Trims

Lace comes in so many varieties, textures, and colors. It makes an awesome accent on Scrapbook pages, cards and altered objects, and is a great way to soften a project, or frill it up.

Flamingo has a yummy selection of cotton laces and trims. Use your Glimmer Mists, Maya Mists, and Distress Inks to recolor them to match your projects. Once you heat set them, the color will stay forever.

This White Venice Lace Galloon Rosebuds from Cheep Trims is available in the store.

By using a paint brush with Hula Hoop & Pink Taffy Glimmer Mists, I had more control of the color, and created a total different look.

Synthetic trim and lace can also be recolored with alcohol inks or staz-ons.   Check back tomorrow for not one but two posts; Sara's first Guest Design Team post and a fun blog hop - we can't wait!

Guest DT Janie Boots: 1st Birthday

From Flamingo Scraps: Thickers, Tim Holtz Distress Inks

Other: Imaginisce patterned papers, embellishments & I-Rock; misc ribbons; white gel pen

This is a layout of my youngest son on his first birthday; I just love first birthdays. The babies are so cute when you hand them their cake to eat and yes, that is exactly what I do I make 2 cakes one for the baby specifically and one for the rest of us. Well after having his cake it's a tradition my husband started that each one of the 3 boys had their heads shaved as a first birthday thing.. No idea why I think he just doesn't like the hair long. I really love the picture in the upper right hand corner, Christopher looks like he got caught doing something he shouldn't have.  As you can see from the photos, Christopher enjoyed his cake I think he wore more of it than anything and so did my carpet.

To assemble this layout, I took my patterned paper and tore it around the edges and then I inked it up using my Vintage Photo and Antique Linen Tim Holtz Distress inks.  After I distressed and inked everything up I started assembling my layout.

Once I was done layering my photos, I used some Green Thickers for the title and I outlined them in black marker to make them stand out more. I faux stitched around the edge with a white gel pen to give my layout a sewn look.

I really enjoyed sharing this layout with you today, and I hope I inspired some creativity. Have fun and always let you creativity soar....

Weekend Whimsy: Planning for a Scrappy Vacation (or Crop!)

As our annual weekend crop is coming up quickly... I had a moment of panic when I hit the one month countdown mark earlier this wee.... I have nothing ready, no kits packed!  So I thought I'd document my yearly struggle to plan ahead in enough time, pack efficiently and not take an overweight bag with me again!  Where to begin with this, but at the beginning....

April/May 2007, Fairplay, Colorado:

In short, I over packed....  By a LOT. :)

But it was a productive, insanely fun weekend, so totally worth it!  Evidence?

April/May 2008, Union Pier, Michigan:

I overpacked.  No photos of that this time, but I will say that I was charged a $50 overweight fee for my luggage... ai yi yi!

And I bought so much at Becky's local scrapbook store... well... I ended up bringing home a new scrappy tote and checking a second bag.  I lucked out on the way home and the United Airlines staff took pity on my barely over the limit re-packed suitcases and didn't charge me the $50 overweight fee. whew.  But I did have to pay for a second bag so.... my lack of planning ahead, packing and, well, scrappy shopping got me again!

April/May 2009, Aptos, California:

This was a little different because I was co-hosting the crop!  We rented a beach house, made all the food and I literally packed up half my scraproom to the beach house....

 

It was a completely unproductive scrappy weekend for me, I got no sleep, but I had a great time!  Best part of the weekend?  It convinced me that I didn't need to bring much of anything with me in order to scrapbook and have fun! 

April/May 2010, St. Augustine, Florida:

I packed much better this time.  Too much still, but very productive.  Didn't help that we were in the vicinity of Flamingo Scraps and Suzanne & Susan were our fabulous hostesses... because they brought me a box of goodies from the store!!  Again, I had to ship a box home... this time I even had put some pajamas in the box home!  oops!  I also ended up running out of pictures.  And while I did have some with me on a thumb drive, it resulted in lost time going to the drug store to print them...

This April/May?  The return to Union Pier, Michigan!  I'm so excited I cannot wait!  Which leads me back to the beginning....

Lessons I have learned from all this?

• I need to pack some kits.
• I need to have all my pictures ready.
• I need to have my pages planned.
• I do not need to go to Hobby Lobby.  Note to girls: do not take me there.  Even if I beg you! :)

So, I've started down this path and next Saturday, I will show you what I am doing to prepare myself for this annual scrappy weekend getaway... and share with you a few great resources that will help me to pack!

Do you have any that I need to check out?  Any hints, tips that can help prepare for a crop or a weekend scrappy retreat?  Please share, as I am mid-pack and looking for help... clearly I need it!!! :)

Getting to Know Janie & Sara!!

Please join us in welcoming our April Guest Design Team -- Janie and Sara!!   Janie will be here on Tuesdays and Sara will be here on Thursdays this month.   So we asked them both to answer a few questions so we could all get to know them a little better...

Hi there my name is Janie, I am a mother of 5 boys ages 23 years all the way down to 6 years old. I am married to my best friend Thomas, who supports me unconditionally. I am also the mom to 3 furbabies - my cats. Muffassa is my oldest cat - he is 17 years old and still acts like a kitten. Then we have Pudgey and Sugar, both girls are going on 11 years old. I currently reside in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada, but I was born in Baltimore, Maryland. My favourite movie of all time is Gone With the Wind, favourite Children's movie is How to Train Your Dragon. I am currently a stay at home mom.

Why do you scrapbook?
I scrapbook because I find it theraputic, also I do it to chronicle my family's history so no one will ever forget.

What is the one scrappy item you just can't live without?
Hmm. I would have to say my Bazzill, I always have to have Bazzill on hand.

If you were a crayon, what color would you be?
Peacock Blue :)

Do you like your handwriting and do you use it on your layouts?
I like my hand writing and yes I do use it on my layouts

What is your favorite item in the Flamingo Scraps store today?
My favourite item in the store right now is Maya Road Wooden Bingo Motifs Markers - they look very interesting!

More of Janie's work can be seen here on her blog!

My name is Sara Zenger and I live in Northern NY with my husband and our 7 yr old son. I work full time managing a convenient store and spend my free time cooking, camping, working out, scrapbooking, being with friends and family.

Why do you scrapbook?
I scrapbook because I never want to forget everyday life. I love scrapbooking pictures of an ordinary day rather than a holiday.

What is the one scrappy item you just can't live without?
I could not live with out my 3D Foam Tape!!! This is a must for me! I love giving my layouts dimension.

If you were a crayon, what color would you be?
I would be purple! I love that color even though I dont wear it or decorate with it.

Do you like your handwriting and do you use it on your layouts?
I dont mind my hand writing. I do like to hand write my journaling so that someday my son will be able to say ' my mom wrote that'. And he will be sure to know its mine because I am bad speller!

What is your favorite item in the Flamingo Scraps store today?
I am in love with the new Toy Box collection from Crate Paper!

More of Sara's work can be seen here on her blog!

Please join us this month to see their fabulous work... we can't wait!!


And happy April Fool's Day!  Did you pull any fun pranks today?! :)