Shannon's Tool Garland Challenge

Recently Shannon, the Fiskars Community Manager, posted a challenge on the Fiskateer blog to create a Tool Garland. I always enjoy these challenges and thought that this one would be fun. Unfortunately I didn't have a lot of time to do this so it wasn't as full as I would have liked it to be. I do plan on adding more tools to my garland.

I used to do a lot of paper piecing when I first started scrapping and I really enjoyed it. Not having a lot of money to buy embellishments when I first started scrapbooking, paper piecing became a great way for me to decorate my layouts. I really enjoyed it but over the last couple of years I have drifted away from it.

For this challenge, I thought that I would try to recreate some of my favorite Fiskars tools by paper piecing. I first traced out a template for each tool onto white cardstock, cut them out and then pieced it back together trying to keep in mind the right colors for each item. Here's what I ended up with:In the past I have done other challenges where I have paper pieced tools. Here's one that I did where we had the template for a girl & had to dress her and add some tools. This was what I came up with for that challenge.Check out her little drill, scissors & squeeze punch.

This last one is a layout that I did where I paper pieced my scissors that were given to me by Fiskars when I joined the Fiskateers. If you are interested in joining the Fiskateers and joining in on some of these fun challenges just go to http://www.fiskateers.com/, click on "How to join" and email Cheryl, Angela, Rebecca or Tami. Hope to see you on the message board. Have a great day!

Here's an Oldie...Twist Paper Basket

During the Orange Blog Hop, I showed you a flower that I made by punching out scalloped circles from the Twist Paper.I have tons of it left over from when I used to make baskets using Twist Paper. Here's a side view of a basket that I made using twist paper.These baskets were made by weaving twist paper around a grocery bag that was lined with heavy cardboard, then batting with a material liner. They were really soft inside. The handle was braided twist paper & then it was finished off with a bow. I made quite a few of these and sold them.

Of course my cat (now deceased) loved to sleep in it. She would squish herself into it & all you'd see was her head & that's where she'd sleep.

Does anyone have any other uses for leftover twist paper besides a cat bed, I mean basket?? lol

Have a great day! TFL

Fiskateer Orange Blog Hop Winner

Sorry it took me a little longer than planned but the winner of my Fiskateer Orange Blog Hop RAK is….

Drum Roll Please…….

Betsy said...
I love the bee hive basket so cute!!
Friday, September 10, 2010 1:09:00 PM

Please contact me Betsy & I’ll ship your prize out to you.

Thank you everyone for your kind comments & for a great Blog Hop.

Merlene's Craftateers Challenge.

Merlene, Fiskateer #1166 posted a challenge on the Fiskateer Message Board for a Craft a teers Challenge. Her challenge is for the other things the Fiskateers like to do besides scrapbook pages, and cards. After all we are a crafting community of many diverse interests, and nationalities.

This challenge is open to any type of crafting that you like to do. It can be quilting, sewing, painting, weaving, mixed media, home decor, (we all love to try those cute home decor things for the holidays), basically anything that you love to do.

At one time I used to make baskets out of Twist Paper & sold them, then I got into Tole Painting and sold most of what I did. Now I'm pretty much stuck on card making, scrapbooking and creating mini albums. But when I saw this challenge, I thought that I'd try something new. Awhile ago, I saw this Pop Can Ring bracelet on an etsy site & it's supposed to be similiar to one that was worn by Kristen Stewart/Bella Swan (Twilight). Anyways I thought that I'd see if I could make one. I have to make the next one a bit longer as this one turned out smaller than I'd hoped.P.S. The "hand/wrist" modeling this bracelet is not a real hand, it's one that I'd bought for Halloween. Looks pretty real though.

Fiskateer Online Crop September 10th & 11th

Not only did I participate in this past weekends Fiskateers Orange Blog Hop, I also took time to participate in the Online Crop hosted by Rebecca. As always, Rebecca put together an awesome online crop. She had 15 fun challenges for us to do. Unfortunately I didn’t get all of the challenges done as I was worn out from all the blog hopping I did too. lol Surprising enough, I did manage to do 12 of the 15 challenges.

Challenge #1 - Let's get warmed up!
For this challenge we were to create a card, a scrapbook page or a tag using a Fiskars tool. Post a pic in your gallery along with a description that tells us why you chose that tool!I chose my favorite Fiskars Border Punch “Threading Waters” to use on this card. I like the simplicity of this punch as well as the touch of elegance. You can't really see in the photo but her wings & the little hearts are covered in Dazzling Diamonds & boy do the glitter.

Challenge #2 - Git 'er done for the Holidays!
For this challenge we were to pick one of the upcoming holidays - Halloween (I know it's technically not a holiday), Thanksgiving, or Christmas. Make three or more cards for that holiday!I ended up picking both Halloween & Christmas and did 2 cards for each occasion. I used my CC Design stamps for both cards.

Challenge #3, 4 & 11 I didn’t have time to do.


Challenge #5, 6, 7, 10 & 12 did not require you to make anything. You just followed the instructions on the post to enter the draw.


Challenge #8 Turquoise & Brown
This challenge was to make a scrapbook page, a home decor item or a card using the colors turquoise and brown.I used my Magnolia stamp & made a card. I just love this color combo.

Challenge #9 Do you have a theme song? Craft it!
Do you have a song that you consider your own? Or is there one that you could listen to over and over and over again? Why not craft it? Make a scrapbook page about it, make a card that relates to it somehow, or even create a home decor piece that is somehow tied to the song.Here's the side view of the basket:I really don’t have a “theme” song but as I was making this Witch Hat Basket, the song Witchy Woman kept going through my head. I figured it would be perfect for this basket & challenge. lol

Challenge #13 UFP Completion!
Since the last one seemed to spark a lot of folks to get things done, I'm rolling out another UFP challenge! For those of you that don't know, a UFP is an UnFinished Project. You know, those projects that have been laying around half-done for weeks, months, even years maybe! Take a picture of your project in its unfinished state and post it in your gallery by 9/11/10 at 11 pm EDT. Then, you will have until 9/30/10 at 10 pm EDT to post a picture of the finished project in your gallery.I have so many UFP’s that need to be done but this one is one that caught my attention. I’ve been meaning to do this one since I cut the tree out some time ago. Now that it’s posted here I hope to finish it. I’ll have to dig out some more UFP’s for another time. You'll have to come back to see the finished layout now.

Challenge #14 - Get Scrap Happy
Use your scraps to create a card, layout or altered item!This one was pretty easy. I used my scraps from Challenge #2 and made another Halloween card.

Challenge #15 Me and My....(fill in the blank)
Show some Fiskars love! Post a picture of you and your very favorite Fiskars tool in your gallery.This was an easy one with the exception of my not having just one favorite Fiskars tool, I have several favorite Fiskars tools. See my new Fiskars “In Stitches” Border Punch…I won it during the July Online Crop.

This was definately a crafty weekend for me. I think I finally have my Mojo back. I'll be posting the winner to my blog RAK later today I hope.

Thanks for looking & have a great day!

RAK is now CLOSED

My weekend Fiskateer Orange Blog Hop RAK is now closed & I will be drawing a winner as well as posting a picture of the prize later today I hope. Thanks for all who visited my blog during the blog hop & those who left comments. Thanks for making this first Fiskateer Orange Blog Hop such a huge success.

Fiskateers Orange Blog Hop

Welcome to the Fiskateers Orange Blog Hop. If you came here from Stayce Dewid Fiskateer #2985 Blog (http://www.staycedewid.com) your in the right place. If you accidentally stumbled onto my blog and would like to start at the beginning, you can do so by going to http://fiskateers.com/blog/. (For some reason my links aren't working this morning but if you copy & paste them into your browser, they'll take you to the next blog. I apologise for the inconvenience.)

Let the fun begin….

Twist Paper FlowerI got to thinking that my post isn't very orange so I thought that I'd better add something "orange" to it. I'm into my "flower making" phase right now. I love creating different types of flowers & got to thinking that I have so much of this "twist paper" left over from my basket making days that I should be able to create something with it. So I untwisted some of this paper, flattened it out & inserted it into the scalloped circle punch. I punched out 4 flowers, added a button that I stitched on and viola...a twist paper flower. Now I know what to do with all my left over twist paper.

Accordion File FolderDeciding to get involved with the Fiskateer Orange Blog Hop has motivated me into trying some projects that I’ve wanted to do for sometime. My first project is an Accordion File Folder that Susan Dean had done on the Magnolia blog. I thought that it was such a cute project that I even taught this to my card group this week. I plan on using the little pockets to store my extra Magnolia images but they could also be used to insert gift cards, tags or even some little embellishments & then give it to a new scrapbooker. The little flower is made from pipe cleaners.

Memory KeeperThe next project on my list is a “Memory Keeper”. This idea came from GinaK. This envelope is for keeping your photo’s in until you are ready to scrap them. Also included is journaling cards to write all the important information on. Then when you’re ready to scrap the pictures you also have the journaling ready too. This Memory Keeper is for my son’s girlfriend who recently came back from a Mission trip to the Dominican Republic. According to my son, she’s been talking about getting into scrapbooking now (insert evil laugh). Since I gave her the Twilight Mini Album for her birthday she is now talking more & more about it. She showed me her photo’s when she came back & she has some beautiful pictures. I thought that this memory keeper would be perfect for her Dominican pictures. I hope that she likes it too.

I used the Fiskars “Boundry Waters” border punch on the bottom of the envelope. These colors remind me of summer & would be perfect for vacation photo’s. This envelope is also the perfect size for cards too. You could probably get 3 or 4 cards plus envelopes inside it & give as a gift.

Bee Hive BasketThe next project is one that I did just for fun. It’s a Bee Hive Basket. I used the Fiskars Apron Lace border punch to create the handle on it and the Oval & Oval Again Squeeze Punch to create the opening to the hive. The bee’s are Stampin Up that have been colored & glittered. You could fill this basket full of sweets & give it to your “Honey”.

Well I hope that you’ve enjoyed seeing these projects and if you leave me a comment I'm sure that I can put together some little RAK that you could win. (I'll post a picture of the prize that you could win later today). I’m off to do some blog hopping of my own now as well as take part in the Fiskateer Online Crop today & tomorrow. Stop by again as I'm sure that I'll have some new projects, etc to post from the Fiskateers Online Crop.

Since I am the last blog on the list, you can start over or catch up on any blogs you may have missed by going to http://fiskateers.com/blog/. While you’re there, why not join us in the Online Crop.

Fiskateers Orange Blog Hop

Get ready to see orange & do some hopping with the Fiskateers. On September 10th & 11th the Fiskateers are having an Orange Blog Hop. The blog hop will start at the original Fiskateer blog (http://www.fiskateers.com/blog/) from there you will follow the links to other Fiskateer blogs from around the world. There will be so many interesting craft projects to see & inspire you. You might even find some giveaways along the way.

If your not already a Fiskateer, it's never too late to join. You can join the Fiskateers by following this link (http://www.fiskateers.com/). Rebecca one of our fabulous leads will also be hosting an Online Crop on September 10th & 11th that you won't want to miss. Great challenges, fun, prizes and maybe even on online chat.

Don't forget to mark your calendars for September 10th & 11th and remember the Blog Hop will start the morning of the 10th on the Fiskateers Blog. Hope to see you there.