A Christmas dollhouse!

I love dolls and dollhouses!  If I wasn't so wrapped up in my scrap art, I would work on the large dollhouse that I got for Christmas about 10 years ago just before scrapbooking took over my life!  Needless, to say, the dollhouse sits in the corner and is nothing but a shell.  I have furniture and fixtures for it, but I'd rather play with scissors and paper!

Now, this Prima dollhouse is just what I needed.  Its small enough that I could have fun turning it into a Christmas home.  I used Graphic 45's Twelve Days of Christmas for my decor and for Valentina's dresses.  Her Christmas dress is trimmed with Glistening Snow-Tex to mimic white fur.  Of course, Valentina has a poodle!   I've added some Petaloo and Manor House flowers and a vintage seam binding bow to finish it off.

Thanks for stopping by and visiting Valentina's Christmas house!

Another Swirlydoos November KOM layout.

We had a fun guessing game at Swirlydoos this month.  Everyone on the design team scrapped this photo that was provided to us by Peggy.  It is such a gorgeous gorgeous photo!  The moment I saw it, I wanted to scrap it.  Only 4 of our members were able to match the correct layout with the designer.

All the papers and collectibles on this layout is from the November kit featuring Kaisercraft's Rustic Harmony.  I used a some stamps, masks and Texturez molding paste from my stash on the background.

I really love these Prima flowers that came in the add on!

More creations with the November Swirlydoos Kit Club Beloved Kit

The November kit has been a favorite for me!  I love the color palette of the featured papers, Kaisercraft's Rustic Harmony.  It appeals to my love of vintage scrapping!

This layout features one of my favorite subjects, sometimes not so sweet Tisha!  Peggy and the girls gave Tisha a nickname when they visited me back in September, Me-Me.  Why Me-Me?  Well 'cause in Tisha's mind, it's all about me.  She insists on being the center of attention and will joyfully push poor Noodle out of the way so that she is getting all the petting and treats!

I wanted to add some sparkle to my layout so I dabbled a bit of paint and Stickles on the Kaiseercraft roses that came in the flower add on and then nestled the flowers in a vine from the Swirlydoos Boutique  to create my floral cluster.  This vines are just leaves and are perfect for creating your own cluster.  There are 5 different but similar vines in the store, you really need some of these!  ;-)

These letters came in the embellishment add on and I just inked over them a tad and then outlined the edges with a gold Sharpie pen.

For this layout I used a really vintage photo from my husband's side of the family.  I used some borders from the sticker sheet in the main kit on the edges of my layout and layered some texture from my stash underneath.  I used Art Anthology's Stone Effects in Sandstone to do some stenciling in the background.

The brown flowers are from a previous kit and the others are from my stash.

That's a Creative Embellishments swirl  underneath the photo embossed with Shimmerz EnamelZ Molten Metal embossing powder, both from my stash.

And last, a simple layered card.  I used some Core'dinations cardstock for the card.  Then I layered on the green floral paper that I diecut with a Spellbinder's die, added a tag, a sentiment sticker, a few embellies and all done!

Thanks for taking the time to visit my blog!  I sincerely appreciate it!   If you are not a Swirlydoos Kit Clubsubscriber, please consider it so that you never miss any of our beautifully coordinated kits. Please visit Swirlydoos Kit Club and click on Join Our Club on the left side bar. Be sure to mention my name, Maggi, when you subscribe because you will receive a 10% discount on your first kit AND a coupon for 30% off an entire purchase in the Swirlydoos store. Your Swirlydoos store purchases are always shipped free when shipped along with your monthly kit. Swirlydoos also maintains a Forum where everyone can share their work, tell stories and have a ton of fun! We have monthly challenges too so please come and join us!

Gift idea! An Altered Prima Birdhouse picture holder.

Hi there all you sweet swirly savages!!  It's a beautiful sunny day here in eastern NC and I've been busy getting ready for the coming holidays,  making gifts and such.  I also like to make things for myself, and here's a project that I recently finished that I did just for me!

This is a Prima birdhouse that I altered using the Swirlydoos Kit Club November kit and a few bits and pieces from my stash.  This is the perfect way to preserve a cherished picture and makes a delightful gift!

Here's a step by step video that I did for Swirlydoos Kit Club on how I altered this.

There are lots of great alterable projects in the store.  

Here's the Prima birdhouse.

I love this Prima clock!!

How about this photo carousel?  It's a perfect keepsake for parents or grandparents.

Here's a great gift idea for a scrappy friend.  Just imagine how fun it would be to load up all those little bottles and jars of mist, paint, paste, etc onto this set of spinning shelves.

AND, you seriously NEED these gorgeous Prima Winthrop flowers for whatever projects you are working on.  There a 5 different colors in the store.  I am in love with these vines, definitely one of my favorites!!

I created this project for the Swirlydoos Design Team.  If you are not a Swirlydoos Kit Club subscriber, please consider it so that you never miss any of our beautifully coordinated kits. Please visit Swirlydoos Kit Club and click on Join Our Club on the left side bar. Be sure to mention my name, Maggi, when you subscribe because you will receive a 10% discount on your first kit AND a coupon for 30% off an entire purchase in the Swirlydoos store. Your Swirlydoos store purchases are always shipped free when shipped along with your monthly kit. Swirlydoos also maintains a Forum where everyone can share their work, tell stories and have a ton of fun! We have monthly challenges too so please come and join us!

Now you need to swing by the Swirlydoos Boutique and peruse the selection ofalterable gift ideas.  Then pick up some fabulous flowers and other embellishments to gussy up your selection.  And then you'll have two great things: 1) An afternoon of fun altering your project and 2) a fabulous gift when you're done!

Bow-it-all tutorial

One of my dear friends gave me a Zutter Bow-it-All and I love it!  I must confess it took some time to figure out how to use it, as I think the instructions that come with it are really bad, but, I am a person who refuses to give up!   When my best scrappy friends came to visit for a long weekend I showed them how to use it and they insisted that I make a video for them so here it is.

If you have any questions, leave me a comment.  I filmed this from the backside as that's where all the "action" is.  There are other videos on You Tube that you watch for a front side view.

Here are a couple of things  with bows made with the Bow-it-All.

Treat Jar - Here's a great gift idea for a furfriend!

Here's a great gift for a dog loving friend or for the dog(s)!  And you could change it up and turn it into a cat gift too.  I've used Graphic 45's Raining Cats & Dogs again!  I can't seem to get enough of that gorgeous wonderful paper!!!

I made this from a mayonaise jar, it was easy to do and doesn't take long to make.  You could easily set up a production line and make several at one time.

Enjoy!

Add caption

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies List:

Wide mouth mayonnaise jar and lid

White gesso

Mists

Krylon fixatif of similar product

Mod Podge or similar

Graphic 45 Raining Cats and Dogs Paper Collection

Flowers, ribbons, tags, etc. of your choice for embellishing

Swirlydoos Kit Club November Kit Reveal!

Welcome to:

Swirlydoos Kit Club 

November Scrapbook Kit Reveal!
We are not having a blog hop this month, but there will still be ways to win some prizes and, of course, beautiful projects to see from our talented design team!  Go to the Swirlydoos blog to find out how you can win some fabulous prizes by pinning our posts, projects, videos and kit pics!  Make sure you have LIKED & FOLLOWED Swirlydoos on Facebook!!!

Swirlydoos is proud to bring you our beautiful November collection:

Beloved

And check out these coordinating add ons that perfectly compliment our November scrapbook kit!

Are you a subscriber? If so, your kit is on it's way! If not, check out the Swirlydoos store to see if there are any November kits or add ons in the store!

***All of our monthly scrapbook kits are available in our store while supplies last!***

Has it sold out? - become a subscriber and not only will you never miss a kit again, but you'll also pay less for your monthly scrapbook kits!
*Mention this blog hop and save 10% on your first kit*

We have some absolutely beautiful scrapbook projects for you to see today!

This month, designer Kim challenged the design team to use this picture on a layout.

And, we are challenging YOU to figure out which
 designer made each layout! 

Here is a link to the contest

Can you guess which one is mine? 

Our kits always include a fabulous sketch and this is the layout I created with it.  I used Euphoria from Kaisercraft's Rustic Harmony for my base page and added cards from the collection as well as a circle cut from Unity.  Everything on this page except from a couple small flowers came in the kit and addons.  I just adore the butterflies that our very own Angelica made for our kit!

I used my WRMK Lucky 8 Frilly Lace punch to cut the large circle (it's a paper in the collection but did not come in our kits) and then I backed that with a large doily.  I cut a smaller circle from Tranquil and then used the rest of Tranquil as my base.  I adhered the large circle  and doily to the base paper and then glued the smaller circle to that. The green thread you see running around the doily came in the main kit as did those gorgeous Prima flowers!!  I added the leaf vine from my stash and some small flowers from previous kits.  I then painted on some opaline Izink around the edges, on the flowers and just here and there.  The awesome mail box and post are from the embellishments addon.

The photo is of my husband's parents.  His father was killed in the Korean War in 1951 and it is sad that his Mom never really got over it.  She did remarry but these days she mostly talks about him and wonders how things would have been had he not been killed.  So I chose the verse in the upper corner sort of as a nod to fate, you never know when life will be snatched away so I think it's so important to live each day as if it's your last.

Comment on my blog for a chance to win a fabulous prize! See the Swirlydoos blog for details! 

Be sure to check out projects from the rest of the design team here:

Angelica http://angelicascrappenings.blogspot.com/
Debbie http://debsherman.blogspot.com/
Helena http://willeascrappar.blogspot.com/
Jamie http://jamiedoughertydesigns.blogspot.com/
Kim www.droopidog.typepad.com

Limor http://chicscrapbookdesigns.blogspot.com/
Maggi http://scraptravelbark.blogspot.com/
Maja http://stokk-eyovine.blogspot.com/
Paulien http://paulienvandenbosch.blogspot.com/
Rae http://scrappingfancy.blogspot.com/

If you are not a Swirlydoos Kit Club subscriber, please consider it so that you never miss any of our beautifully coordinated kits. Please visit Swirlydoos Kit Club and click on Join Our Club on the left side bar. Be sure to mention my name, Maggi, when you subscribe because you will receive a 10% discount on your first kit AND a coupon for 30% off an entire purchase in the Swirlydoos store. Your Swirlydoos store purchases are always shipped free when shipped along with your monthly kit. Swirlydoos also maintains a Forum where everyone can share their work, tell stories and have a ton of fun! We have monthly challenges too so please come and join us!

Thanks so much for stopping by!