She scrapped, she did!

I almost can't believe it....I scrapped again - after a seven month break!

As soon as I finished my greeting card the other day I had to get stuck in and create a layout, just to see if the creative spark is still there.

First I started with the textures and after die cutting my title from some corrugated cardboard, I distressed the letters with ink and mists. Oh, the joy to get my fingers all sticky and grungy again :)

Needless to say I simply had to have one of my beloved butterflies plonked somewhere on the layout, right?

My black outlining still worked a treat as well which gave the die cut some added dimension.

The layout itself was created for the recent {Donna Salazar Girlie Grunge Challenge} and was also inspired by the sketch of DT member Mistra. My non-scrapbook items are the bits of punchinella tucked underneath the paper and bits cut from my English dictionary (you can see one line with the explanation of the word "rejoice" to the right of the butterfly)

Of all my old scrapbook supplies I kept all my Donna Salazar stuff because I am still a massive fan of her and her products - pretty much everything else had been given away but not Donna's products, no siree.

So, you wanna see the complete layout?

It is not 100% up to the standard I would like it to be, but I am nevertheless pleased with how it turned out.

**click on image to enlarge the view**

Materials used:

Papers: Donna Salazar for GCD Studios

Cardboard: Donna Salazar for Zutter

Inks/Mist: Donna Salazar for Clearsnap Inc

Die Cuts: Donna Salazar for Spellbinders

Donna Salazar Nov II

Below post went live on the Donna Salazar Design Blog earlier today, with a step-by-step tutorial on how to make you average tissue paper box look like a luxury item. And if you are still on the look for an easy Christmas present, this would definitely fit the bill.


I have tissue boxes all over the place, in my craft room on my desk in the office and on my bedside table, but they do look cheap. So, dressing up your tissue box to work with the colour scheme of specific rooms is really rewarding. And the good thing is that you can re-use the cover.

** click on any of the images to enlarge/sharpen their view **

tutorial first seen on: Splitcoaster Stampers


First you will need to measure the sides of your box, which are generally square but of course mine had to have different sizes sides...Total width of my box came to 21cm's plus I added a further 1cm for a fold-over strip. If you want your cover fit tightly over your box, you will need to stick closely to the original measurements, but if you prefer it to be a little loose, just add a millimetre or two to each measurement.
You will need to pieces of paper of the same size:

Mark with pencil where you will need to score for the width of  each side, for my example I scored at 10 cm, 11cm and 1cm. On the 1cm strip you want to place double-sided adhesive along the length and join this with the back of the longer side:

I previously inked all edges before joining the two parts, but this is not necessary - it can easily be done after you have joined the sides:

At this stage I would try if the cover fits you box to enable you to make alterations if needed.

You will then need to measure the top of the box and cut out a square, adding at least 1cm on each side (this is depending on your preference) and score accordingly

You will need to measure now where your opening should go and marks this on the inside of the lid. To be honest, I eye-balled where I wanted to cut the oval.

You can use any shape or form for the opening, for example Spellbinder's Classic Ovals SM.

Now you will need to turn your top cover into a proper lid by adding corner. I know that some people like to cut the corners but I prefer to score them diagonally and pinch them inwards. You will need to glue the pinched section together and afterwards to the side.

At this stage I would try again of the lid fits snugly on top of your tissue box cover.

Perfect!
You can either glue the lid onto the cover or just leave it as is - as long as you do not adhere it to the original tissue box, you will be able to pull the cover off once the tissues are gone and decorate your next box with it.
Now, we come to the best part - embellishing :)
First I cut for strips using the border die from Spellbinder's Creative Book Pages Two and adhered them to the sides of the lid. I further embellished the border with self adhesive pearls from Want2Scrap.

Of course, I could not help adding a few butterflies along the way, using Spellbinder's Wonderful Wings dies from Donna's collections.

So, there you go a fantastic way to dress up your tissue box, either for yourself or made as a gift.
I am lso entering this into the fantastic linking party over at Passionately Artistic

Products used

• Papers: Donna Salazar for GCD Studios - Peachy Dream -  Spring in Bloom, In Bloom - Spring in Bloom, Pretty in Purple - Spring in Bloom
• Mists: Donna Salazar for Clearsnap - Smooch Spritz in  Caramel Latte, Pralines and Cream, 
• Inks: Clearsnap Cat's Eye Chalk - Chestnut Roan, Dark Brown
• Dies: Donna Salazar for Spellbinders - Wonderful Wings, Creative Bookpages Two, 
• Pearls: Want2Scrap
• Corrugated Board: Zutter

Other products: 
Pens: Zig Millenium pen in black
Adhesive: Helmar, Scrapbook Adhesives

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Handmade Holidays Blog Hop

Welcome to the Handmade Holidays Blog Hop!!!

Calling all crafters! We’ve gathered designers from some of our favourite manufacturers to show you ways to create something from the heart this holiday season. This 3 day Hop includes over 60 stops with inspiration brimming from every corner. Explore all thoughtful and frugal handmade gifts you could make for the holidays, all in one place on this Hop!

To sweeten the Hop, we’re offering a gift for you! For every comment you leave on the blogs in the Hop, you’ll be entered to win a prize pack from one of the participating manufacturer sponsors!

Donna Salazar Design's is giving away this beautiful package:
**Winner MUST be in the US. We are very sorry but international entries can not be accepted for this particular prize due to its weight of the Zutter tool**

Visit the list of blogs below and leave a comment on each by Nov 7, 2011 at 11:59 PM PST. Each day we will be sharing a brand new list of blogs with brand new projects for you to explore, be inspired by, and create from! 

Clearsnap – http://clearsnap.blogspot.com
Spellbinders  http://www.spellbinderspaperarts.com/Community/Blog.aspx
Hampton Art - http://blog.hamptonart.com/
Zutter – http://binditall.blogspot.com/
Graphic45 – http://g45papers.typepad.com/
Donna Salazar Designs – http://donnasalazar.typepad.com/
The Twinery - http://www.thetwineryblog.com/
Authentique Paper http://authentiquepaper.blogspot.com/
Glue Arts - http://gluearts.blogspot.com/
Jan Hennings – Glue Arts http://papercraftpleasures.blogspot.com/
Kim Sonksen – Donna Salazar Designs  - YOU ARE HERE, RIGHT NOW
Jamie Harper – Hampton Art www.jamieharper.typepad.com
Jenny Suchin – The Twinery http://www.suchins.blogspot.com/
Heather Conklin– Authentique Paper  http://goldiecar.blogspot.com/
Gloria Stengel- Graphic 45 http://gloriascraps.blogspot.com/
Christine Emberson - Spellbinders http://hope-chances.blogspot.com/
Julie Overby – Spellbinders http://joverby.blogspot.com/
Mary Dawn Quirindongo – Clearsnap http://mypinkmexico.blogspot.com/
Lea Sanders – Zutter http://leasanders.wordpress.com/
Tara Orr – Graphic45 http://eachmoment-onlyonce.blogspot.com/
Patti Milazzo – Glue Arts -  http://pattimilazzo.blogspot.com/
Emily Lanham – Authentique Paper http://createserendipity.blogspot.com/
Jessy  Christopher – Donna Salazar Designs - www.teacherjessy.blogspot.com

Cheers to creating gifts from the heart this holiday season!
 Happy Hopping

Before you start off on your hop, would you like to see what I have whipped up for ya?

What about this lil’ fella brightening up your home or to be given as a small gift?

You can leave it as is or fill it with some candy, small gifts (maybe a voucher?) or whaterver else you can think of.

So, how did I do it?

First gather a sheet of 12 x 12 double sided paper. It is not essential that both sides have a pattern but you can be so much more creative with it if it does. I chose the “Do You See” paper from Donna Salazar’s 

Weathered Winter line 

As I wanted my ball to be fairly small, I decided to cut the paper in half so I was left with two sheets of the size 6 x 12 – for one ball one of these pieces is sufficient.

Now you will need to cut the sheet into individual pieces, making sure that the length of each strip is 6”. The width depends on personal preference and I decided to go with 1” wide paper strips.

I decided that I wanted to showcase both sides of the paper in alternating strips and I wanted to add some wintery-kind of texture to them. First I sprayed them all with Vanilla Smooch Spritz by Clearsnap Inc and sprinkled some white embossing powder randomly into the still wet Smooch Spritz.

The edges were then inked with Cat's Eye Chalk Ink in chestnut roan

 Isn't the effect marvellous? It turned out so much better than I anticipated.

Now you will need to gather your strips and punch a whole on both ends of each strip - I find it easiest when you place them all on top of each other and use the Zutter Hole Punch and Hammer, that way you can be sure that the holes are all in the same area.

Now you can secure the top on bottom with the aid of some Zutter Rivets. They snap together so easy and hold the strips together perfectly.

But how do you get this array of strips into a ball? Well, you will have to fan them out and the easiest way to achieve this is to bend the strips with one hand like this:

With your other hand you will be able to fan out each strip, you can start from the inside out or vice versa and your ball should start to look like so:

Once you have finished arranging the strips you can think about how to decorate the outside of the ball.

I hand-cut a small tag from one of the Artistic Papers of Donna Salazar Designs and stamped it with a holiday image, using various Cat's eye chalk inks. From the "Weathered Mosaics" paper I cut a sentiment mosaic into smaller tag and attached this to the stamped tag

Finally I cut some leaves from the fabulous 8 x 8 Spring In Bloom papers pad of Donna Salazar Designs and added some Fairy Dust Glitter in Sugar Shimmer by Donna Salazar for Clearsnap to the edge for an added "frosty" look.

There you have it - a quick decorative ball, which can be used to house small gifts.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and don't forget to leave a comment on all hop stops in order to be in with a chance to win some FABULOUS prizes (just in time for the holidays :)))

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