Scrapbook Expo Inspiration

 













Scrapbook Expo was held in February at the Gaylord Texan Resort in Grapevine, Texas.  The vendors were great to allow me to take pictures so I'll share all the goodies I found as well as highlights from the crops and classes.  Today I'll start with the Melissa Frances booth.  Beautiful shades of pastels and whites made all her displays so dreamy and romantic.  Loved the simple layout above but the 3-tiered fru fru wall hanging blew me away. 






































The final wall art below has a mini album behind the picture frame.  It is tied closed with the bow.  How cool is that???   

 Next stop is Jenni Bowlin's booth for the cutest mini cigar box diorama you've ever seen!
 

Sweet Sorbet Debut and Scrapbook Expo Preview

Please let it be Spring!!!  There are 10 robins grazing on my front lawn in the snow!!!  I have yellow jonquils blooming and the high today won't be above freezing.  And I live in the south!!!  I am officially declaring it Spring in my scrap room and bringing out the Sweet Sorbet papers for some inspiration!  I made this sweet flowery card for a make and take at my local Leland Deer Creek Garden Club meeting this week.  I am honored to be asked to present a program on scrap booking so will load up lots of goodies to show and have prepared party favors and card kits to spark their interest.  I always enjoy getting to share paper crafting in hopes of finding a new crafter.  Would this card inspire you to start some spring scrapping?

 For a quick party favor, I decorated miniature envelopes made with Stampin' Up's new envelope maker.  It has a Ghiradelli chocolate square tucked inside.  I made 30 of these and they are all different.  They are decorated from embellishments I punched or had in my stash.  If you need instructions for making the file folders, just leave a comment and I'll post them.  I CASEd  (copy and share everything) the idea from Mary Fish's Stampin' Pretty website.  She has a great 1 Minute to WOW video that shows you how.   

Scrapbook Expo in Grapevine, Texas was A-MAZING and I am anxious to post all the great ideas I got from both vendors and classes.  Here's a sneak peak from the Melissa Frances booth.  This was one of 3 panels in a wall hanging.   More deliciousness to come!!              ... Lynda

Love Is In the Air with SU Hearts A Flutter

Celebrate the ones you love with a heart themed banner using SU Hearts a Flutter Framelit Die and the "love" from the Expressions Framelit Die.  I used a  5 x 7 white card base and covered it with  Real Red cardstock then polka dot designer paper from the Christmas pack.  A white doily gave it texture with a triple string of baker's twine to hold the banner.  Shapes from Hearts A Flutter were cut from the new Spring Catalog Designer Stack and decorated with a brad, pearls, and fabric flower.  A touch of blue ribbon completes the look.  Perfect for a special Valentine or to tell someone how special they are!  Happy Valentine's Day!

Christmas Party Time with SU Tags

These girls know how to party!!!  We  had a blast being silly, exchanging ornaments, EATING, and making Christmas tags at the Scrap Club party Friday night.  I will have to get Suzie's recipe for Cranberry/Pecan/White Chocolate Clusters - a big hit!  We feasted on fruit salad, chocolate covered strawberries, pork loin, sausages, brownies, onion dip, and so many more treats!  We shared stories of our adventures and worked together - ahem! to create four gift tags for those special people that appreciate a handmade tag!
The first tag came from Becky Roberts at Inking Idaho.  She actually sells tutorials for 12 Designs for the Twelve Days of Christmas so I splurged on a little extra holiday inspiration!  Check out her her website at www.inkingidaho.com.  I used some retired tinsel trim to tie the chevron ribbon instead of baker's twine.  I especially like the way she used two circle punches to cut a ring for the ribbon to tie on to.  It uses the Festive Flurry stamp and punch.



 
 
The red "Oh What Fun" tag is actually a gift card holder.  The template also came from Becky Roberts at Inking Idaho.    I used the embossing folder to create an oval frame that perfectly fits the large oval punch for the sentiment. 
    I just had to have a Santa Claus in the mix so he peeks out from the top of a snowflake on a very quick and simple tag.  Oh what fun!                         Supplies are available at www.lyndafalconer.stampinup.net 
or email me at lyndafalconer57@gmail.com for more information.


Snow Flake Tag:  Festive Flurry Framelits Dies Item #132193, Festive Flurry Stamp Set Item #131781, Frosted Finishes Embellishment Item #132150, Sentiment from Embellished Events Item #126497
Oh What Fun Gift Card Holder:  Christmas Messages stamp Item #131790, Textured Impressions Designer Frames Item #123130
Santa Claus:  Santa's List stamp set Item #131811, Festive Flurry Framelits Dies Item #132193, 1.5 and 1.25 inch circle punches



Let It Snow!!!

Just had to share two pics from our hotel window in St. Louis last week during the snow.  Most snow was south of the city as we found out on our trip home!!  The city was beautiful with the perfect dusting! We had time to tour the Westward Expansion Museum in the court house and saw the courtroom where the Dred Scott case was tried.  Beautiful architecture and woodwork.  They were going to have a period Christmas dance with people in costume the day after we left.  That would have been fun to learn to dance the minuet or whatever they did in those days!

Today's post gives 2 ideas for what to do with those reverse images left when you cut out the Expressions Framelit

die.  I just couldn't throw away what was left from the Merry so made some quick and oh so fun cards from them.  Would love to know what you've done!

Quick Christmas Cards and Tags with SU

It's soooooo good to be home in my warm and cozy scrap room!  I spent a harrowing 13 hours yesterday trying to get home from St. Louis with my hubby!  Five hours were spent trapped in a traffic jam (mostly trucks) on I-55 in Southern Missouri then later in Arkansas because of truck accidents!  Those boys just won't slow down!!!  5 hours!!!! just sitting on the road!  Got to be a little scary once it started getting dark but the 2nd wreck was finally cleared and we made it home safe about 10:00 PM.  Don't care to do that again!  So grateful it was just us in the car - not kids or grandkids!  Also grateful we were not involved in the accidents! 

On a lighter note - it's almost Christmas!!!  Can't wait to finish decorating and get treats made for our scrap group - they'll be here Friday for our Christmas party.  I'll share pics here as soon as I get everything ready.  For now - here are some quick cards I made with leftovers.  I'm sure you'll recognize the pieces.  The elf legs  idea is  from a You Tube video and made from the Top Note Die Cut - (Stampin' Up). That mischievous elf keeps turning upside down! Enjoy!  

Prize for Sharing!

Giant presents at Fashion Mall in Las Vegas Circa 2007

Crafter Inspired Blog is almost to 1,000 views!  I know that seems small to some of you, but I just have to celebrate this milestone!  Starting a blog isn't easy and I am so grateful to all of you who have taken this journey with me!  Soooooo.... I'm offering a great prize to a random follower when I get the 1,000th view.  How do you enter?  Sign up to follow my blog, share my link with your friends on facebook or twitter (www.crafterinspired.blogspot.com), then leave a comment on my blog between now and view #1,000!  I'll randomly draw a comment and post the winner.  Be watching to see if you're getting an early Christmas present!  Ho, ho, ho!!!!  Don't you just love presents????

Had 10 lovely ladies over for chili and Christmas card making last Friday.  We had a blast and as usual, I overplanned so we worked until almost 10 pm!  We made 2 cards and a tag, all inspired by my pinterest searches.  Not sure what the protocol is for borrowing inspiration so let me know if I step on any toes!  The Santa tag was adapted from one by Jenn Tinline at www.stampwithjenn.com.  I love the way she used half the apothecary punch (Stampin' Up) for Santa's beard.  Materials used and how to get them are posted below. 

 The second card looked soooo "Delta" - must be the burlap - quite the rage in Mississippi!  It was designed by Canadian Maggie Patterson at www.ilovepapercrafts.com and I didn't change a thing. This was quick and easy so could be reproduced in mass for your family card.  Maggie does simple, beautiful cards that would be great for a beginning card maker.  She even has her own cardmaking book!  Check out her website if you get a chance.

So who's going to win???  I promise the prize will be worth your while!!!  I'd love to hear suggestions for my blog - also need to know what camera to get - still taking pictures from my iphone and I'm not happy with the clarity online.  Look forward to hearing from you!

Lynda aka Lynderclause

Order supplies at www.lyndafalconer.stampinup.net

Santa Tag supplies:
Apothecary Accents Framelit  Item #127003 
Real Red Cardstock Item #102482 
Black Cardstock  Item #121045 
Glimmer Paper - Champagne  Item #127885
Christmas Tagables Photopolymer Stamp Set  Item # 134623 
Classic Stampin Pad - Real Red  Item #126949
1/8 " Taffeta Ribbon - Black Item #119261
Red striped ribbon is retired. 

Burlap Ribbon Card supplies:
Beautifully Baroque Embossing Folder  Item #130917
Christmas Collectibles Ornament Punch and Stamp Bundle  Item #133283
1 3/4" Burlap Ribbon  Item #132140
Linen Thread Item #104199
Large Pearl Basic Jewels Item #125577
Christmas Tagables Photopolymer Stamp Set Item # 134623 
Medium Envelopes  - Crumb Cake  Item  #107297
Cardstock - Crumb Cake  Item #120953
Cardstock - Cherry Cobbler  Item #119685