On My Window Sill

It all started one March morning with the mourning dove coo, the sound of fluttering wings and twigs banging on my window and I knew spring was near. And a few days later, on my window sill was a nest with two eggs! I spied on them like a National Geographic bird watcher, peeking at them every morning and night. One morning, mama mourning dove actually flew away from the nest momentarily and that's when I had the rare chance to sneak this photo of the eggs.

Inspired by a few challenges this weekend, I finally got around to scrapping about it:

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Used: My Little Shoebox pattern papers, stamp, alpha stickers; Bazzill Basics cardstock; 2000 Plus custom stamp kit

When I saw the My Little Shoebox March sketch challenge, I knew it was perfect to feature one of my rarest spring sightings as the story. The sketch works out perfectly with how the quadrants lend to the look of a window with curtains. The embellishment cluster in the sketch is also a perfect place for me to show a whimsical re-creation of the birds building their happy, loving nest. It reminds me of this one scene in Cinderella where two birdies help tie a bow in her hair.

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I created the nest embellishment out of an old French-English dictionary page inspired by Cartwheels in My Mind weekend challenge where Cheryl challenged her readers to use a page torn from a book on at least 2 different projects in 2 ways. (My second project using a torn book page to come later this week, so stay tuned!) I then stitched the nest to the page with embroidery floss. I loved the way the nest turned out. Below's a little tutorial to make your own if you like it too! The eggs were hand cut to shape and dipped in glitter.

I also clipped out definitions for 'naissance' and 'nature' and hand-stitched it to the layout:

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Between handwriting my journaling or stamping it, I definitely appreciated Nichol Magouirk's Two Peas in a Bucket April scrapbook stamping challenge to stamp it. Stamped journaling: "My neighbors, two mourning doves, laid two eggs!" I absolutely love this custom stamp kit from Staples that's perfect for stamping two sizes of journaling. The shape of the journaling area was hand-cut using Fiskars fingertip knife, using a remnant diecut sheet as the shape template. The curtain trimming was created by cutting this EK Success Parisian border punch. Also used the same punch for the roof.

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And to wrap up this post, I have a very simple tutorial to making your own nest embellishment!

Step 1, all you need is a sharp pair of craft scissors and a strip of paper you want to use to make your nest. (The longer your strip, the fuller the nest.)
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Step 2, take the strip and snip off the opposing corners and make diagonal cuts along the top side of the strip leaving the paper intact to the bottom:
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Step 3, fold the strip into a zig zag pattern like so:
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And voila! You've got your self a nice nest embellishment:
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So whaddaya think? I hope you like!

Until the next post!
- KRAFTY pearl

Happy Friday!

A very happy Friday it is! How cool is this!? Two Peas in a Bucket gave me a shout out in their most recent weekly newsletter. Thanks for making my week, Two Peas! Woweee! (I know it's not a big deal to most, but it's very cool to a newbie like me!)

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Thanks, bestie, for pointing it out to me!

To end the week off, here's another layout. Equal parts tribute and thanks to my parents for being here for me 'every step of the way' using some of my favorite My Little Shoebox designs. My parents are my everyday inspiration and heroes, so this is for them:

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Used: My Little Shoebox pattern papers, diecuts, stamps; Adirondack pigment ink; DMC embroidery floss; Reflections by Michael's pearl and rhinestone accents; Tim Holtz distress inks

Here's a closer look: I love journaling spot diecuts and diecuts in general because you can create so much with them. Here I cut out the journaling area to create a sunny flower frame around my photo:

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I also love creating my own backgrounds by stamping and masking, and I can't get enough of these tabbed alpha stickers:

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Thanks for looking! Until my next post!
-KRAFTY pearl

I ♥ Pockets! Don't you?

From envelopes to business card pocket page protectors, I love all kinds of pockets! I especially love to use them in layouts to organize and tuck in bits and pieces of journaling, photos, etc., like this:

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Used in this layout: Old business card pocket sheet (similar to this) cut in half; My Little Shoebox bird stamp, pattern papers; Stampin' up roller numbers stamp; Martha Stewart heart all over the page punch; EK Success border and heart punches; Adirondack pigment inks; Stickles; basic letter stamp set (love this one from Staples); 3D Dots; transparency; watercolor

Here's a closer look:

Hand cut pennants from cute My Little Shoebox pattern paper stitched together with embroidery floss and adhered to layout with 3D Dots:

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Punched hearts folded in half and secured with embroidery floss; LOVE the Martha Stewart heart all over the page punch! Used it to punch a 'window' backed by a pigment ink stamped transparency:

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Hand cut label shape by tracing MLS cardstock label remnant used as template; Stickle glittered embellishment to highlight the date of 5/7:

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Hand stitched details to secure page protector to cardstock; watercolored stamped MLS bird image:

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Don't you just love pockets too!?

P.S. I'm now on Two Peas in a Bucket, Scrapbook.com, and Flickr!

- KRAFTY pearl

My Little Shoebox & Two Peas!

I love My Little Shoebox papers so I was happy to learn that Two Peas is running a MLS challenge and I thought, why not give the challenge a try! The Harmony collection reminded me of my small Momiji doll collection and inspired to create this layout, 'my sweet momiji collection'.

blog 1 - my sweet momiji full layout

Used in this layout: My Little Shoebox papers, cardstock, tag, and alphabet stickers. Martha Stewart punches and glitter. Fiskars trimmer and fingertip detail knife. Offray ribbon from Michael's.

Here's a closer look: I added glitter to the MLS tag to give it a pop of shimmer and dimension.

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By cutting down the height of some of the alphabet stickers, I gave it a less contrived and rigid look. I used Martha Stewart punches (love them) to create border strips and took the heart remnants to create a trail of hearts.

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By stamping a polka dot background in a light pigment ink, I subtly lightened and added dimension to the paper. I also hand cut clouds and trimmed with light glitter.

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So whaddaya think?

P.S. For too long, I have put off posting and sharing my layouts, so one of my goals for 2011 is just to share some of my work and ideas with the friends, family and other craft lovers like me, starting with this blog and my Two Peas gallery.

- KRAFTY pearl