I’m not sure what a tisket or tasket is but I always liked that little rhyme, and definitely LOVE what comes in Easter baskets. This is a two part blog. Instructions for the basket may be found at the Sizzix blog. And here is where you find out how to make the ribbon rose and egg.

To make the egg, you will need a STYROFOAM brand egg, some variegated chenille yarn in bright Easter colors, a small embossing tool, crochet hook or pointed bamboo skewer and Zip-Dry Paper Glue. Cut a piece of yarn about a foot long. Cover about a square inch of the egg with glue and working quickly, start making circles of yarn. Use the pointy object to push the yarn into place. When the yarn ends, push the end into the egg. Start another circle nearby and repeat until the egg is full of circles. Then take the yarn and start filling in the empty space with yarn. That’s it! So easy and looks so pretty!

On to the ribbon rose… For this you will need about 12″- 15″ of wired ribbon. I like the ombre ribbon that fades from one color to another. Holding the ribbon piece in the middle, start gathering the ribbon from each side into the middle, leaving the wires exposed at either end. I went to a cool ribbon outlet last week and my ribbon rose instructor gave this tip. Take one end of the wire, grab a little section of the ribbon and just start twirling it around. The rest of the piece will follow. Adjust the ribbon as you go, making it looser if you would like an open rose and tighter for a closed flower. If you’d like a rosebud, just use a small piece of ribbon and make the same way, keeping the ribbon tight. When you get to the end, twist the remaining wire around the piece you have been twirling, and there you have a beautiful ribbon rose! I took my scalloped Fiskars and cut some free form leaves and glued them behind the rose. Felt would work well too, but the fleece was out for another project.

Hope you will join me for the Sizzix ScoreBoard Blog Hop which starts this Wednesday. I have been getting sneak peeks from some of the designers and oh MY! They are fantastic! Please stop by and prepare to be blown away. The designer whose project gets the most comments will win a new Sizzix ScoreBoard die and some lucky person who comments on one of the participating blogs will win a die from the first collection of ScoreBoards, so make sure you leave a comment and vote on your favorite project! Thanks for stopping by…

I hope you will be able to stop by and see my 10 minute segment on the show tomorrow. I’ll be demoing some of my newest ScoreBoard dies and showing tips and techniques for working with them. Also more information on the upcoming blog hop featuring the dies.

Next, a shout out to Sarah Moore at Craft Critique. The site offers daily product reviews on craft products and tools. Right now there is a Blog Carnival going on where you can see tons of fun spring projects listed on the different designers’ blogs. One of the projects is mine.

Also thanks to Stephanie Girard who writes a great column on Recycled CraftGossip. Go there to find lots of great inspiring ideas using recycled materials.

I am so excited that Stefanie will be one of our guest designers on the upcoming Sizzix ScoreBoards Blog Hop starting March 31! Check back- lots of surprises in store…including prizes! Be ready to pick your favorite project…

Last, the trip to the Offray Ribbon Outlet was great. The nice lady there taught me how to make a ribbon rose with wired ribbon- now I am a rose-making fiend- so much fun! Will post photos of purchases (and maybe some roses) later this week…

Happy St. Patrick’s Day to all who are (or wish they were) Irish! Here’s a little project that I did for the Sizzix blog on Monday. The featured technique involves sewing on matboard- see post for further info.

In other news, I will be a featured guest on the interactive web TV show “Cool2Craft” on Monday, March 22 at noon EST. To view, click here. You will be able to see and hear the guests, participate on a live chat and if you have a webcam, come on and ask questions. A very cool prize will be given (courtesy of Sizzix) at the end of the show so please stop by!

Here’s a fun Mason jar I found somewhere in my travels. Painted the letters with Plaid’s Gallery Glass to make the writing and shamrock stand out a little more. Doesn’t everyone need a storage jar for your tiny Styrofoam balls? I needed a white background to show the wording and those were sitting close by. And they do look kinda cute in there…

Go GREEN!

Last week I had the pleasure of an overnight road trip to Pennsylvania with my friends Marla and Amy. Marla owns Glory Be, a beautiful shop in Occoquan, VA specializing in high country and primitive furniture, home accents and gifts. Amy creates beautiful stained glass nightlights and other pieces. We all love a good deal and always enjoy finding new places to explore and poke around in. One of our favorite places to go is an auction house called Yingling’s in Gettysburg. We were quite disturbed to find that it had closed but luckily asked in one of the stops along the way and they told us it had been relocated to a fire station down the road. We were able to find it. There were three auctions going on at once, it was very crowded and smelled funny. Amy took one look and said NOPE and went out in the car for a nap. I left Marla surveying the main room and wandered off to where they were selling box lots for a quarter and fifty cents. Is there something wrong with me? I LOVE the thrill of the bidding (and yes, it’s a pretty quick thrill when the bidding is a quarter and over in about ten seconds) and anticipation of finding out what could be contained in this box under the working(?) VCR, four doll sized straw hats and junky plastic tablecloth? As usual, I was not disappointed. When I unpacked it later that night, I found an antique atlas dating back to the late 1800’s which will be great for some collage ideas I’ve been wanting to try, four pretty little white milk glass vases that I am currently collecting, three silver bowls which polished up great and assorted other items which have since been assimilated.

My favorite find of the trip though, was a small green child’s size hutch I found in an antique mall. Although I justified desiring it by claiming that Trinity could play with it when she came to visit, I totally knew it was because I just loved it. The price was $75 which is more than I usually would consider but Marla asked if they’d take $50 and they said OK which was all I needed to hear and the deal was done. I am looking for just the right place to put it and am cnsidering using it on my desk with paper clips, rubber bands and pens inside. I know I will look at it and be happy and remember the fun trip with my friends.

Here’s a photo of an art case that I designed for my calligraphy samples when I was teaching a class. The glossy paper I was using was great for using on my demo board in class. However the problem with glossy paper is that it is very slippery and sometimes hard to handle. So I designed a case for it that it fit the paper perfectly and kept it contained. It’s basically a big rectangle with score lines where the folds are.

You will need:
a piece of matboard for your project (this is 18″ x 27″)
scrap foamboard strips equal to length of sides and depth of fold
ribbon
magnet pieces
craft knife
metal straightedge
tape gun

1. Cut matboard to size of desired folio. Score to create bends where box will fold. Use craft knife to cut down about halfway through the matboard to make a clean score line. Make sure you score on the RIGHT side of the project.
2. Fold box into folder shape.
3. Measure and cut strips of foamboard and layer to create sides to the folder. Adhere layers to each other with tape gun. Adhere to sides of folio.
4. Cut slits in sides to allow ribbon through. Thread ribbon around box and tie in front.
5. Adhere magnets to folder flap and front.
6. Punch two holes with Crop-a-dile on top of folder. Add eyelets if desired. Thread ribbon through for handle and knot.
7. Insert artwork and take it in style!

It would be very easy to go to town embellishing this, but I loved the pattern and colors of the matboard and didn’t want to add too much. Plus I probably decided to make this about 10 minutes before class! Hope you can use this idea to create your own art case.

A super quick post here. I have three daughters and they are constantly buying hair care products and tools. The other day I was working on a project and needed to iron some ribbon that had gotten wrinkled. Do I hear laughing? Hey, who told that I have not ironed a piece of clothing in 5 years?

ANYway, I remembered that my youngest daughter had gotten a super duper straightener at the mall at Christmas and left her old one in her bathroom. It occurred to me to use that to de-wrinkle the ribbon instead of taking out the iron! And what do you know, it worked! I would imagine all straighteners are different so you may have to play around with the heat settings and also take into account the material you are working with (i.e. silk vs. cotton). Now I keep it here in my studio with the rest of my tool arsenal: the heat gun, glue gun, and power screwdriver, ready for the next craft adventure. OK, that’s all folks!

Yesterday, my friend Lorine and I took a mini-road trip out to the Eastern shore of Maryland to visit our friends, Tiffany Windsor and Candace Liccione. What a treat! Candace has a beautiful home overlooking the Wye River and the day began with some creative talk by a warm fire. Then we sat down to a delicious meal of quiche and salad followed by yummy warm apple cake. After MORE creative chat, we headed over to Candace’s studio- the ultimate in crafting heaven! There were beautiful projects all over the walls including mosaics, jewelry, wall hangings, frames, you name it… Jars of colorful embellishments lined the walls and windows-tiles, beads, charms. Another nook was dedicated to tea and various herbal items. Several work tables were set up for classes and workshops. I found it difficult to stop looking around surrounded by all of the cool stuff.

Over tea, we discussed the state of the craft industry, where we see our talents and goals fitting in and shared ideas and fellowship. We got on the road and talked the whole way home about our visit- such a great day. Thanks to our creative friends, for sharing your time with us!

The weather dudes are in their glory. Last night I was very disturbed to find that the storm coverage preempted “Shark Tank”, my new favorite show. I am not and never will be a weather channel watcher- the weather basically does what ever it wants and you just have to deal it. But this snow is worthy of writing about.

My job is to take a broom and whack as much snow as I can off the trees and bushes in the yard so they don’t break from the weight of it. I went out at 1:00 and came in at 1:40 encrusted with snow and tired from trying to make my way around to the various vegetation that needed attention. I don’t like to wear hats. This is a problem when you are standing under a tree poking the branch that is laden with 50 pounds of snow, hence “encrusted” 🙂 I still like snow. For lunch, we had grilled cheese with a side of Spaghettios and mini-meatballs. It’s that kind of day.

Word has come down that taxes must be completed ASAP so last night I assembled the paperwork, spread it out on a table in the family room and busily started making notations and piles of receipts. When the CFO fell asleep on the couch, I came downstairs and got started on several really cool projects. The fun thing is they are a little different than what I normally make. Stay tuned- will share some when they are finished.

Stay warm and cozy wherever you are!