Challenge #6 - Last addition 04/02/08

This past week just seemed to fly! Don't forget, you can always come back and do the older challenges and I'll get them added! The archive on the right will also show the last date that each challenge has had an addition to it so you can see if there's any new inspiration.

For this week, we're heading back in Making Memories history to the early "Details" era. Remember the excitement when the first Details line came out? All those metal embellishments we swooned over and collected. And then Details 2 came out. And we bought more metal. And more, lol! So this week, let's try to use some of them - the plaques, the eyelet charms, ribbon buckles, frames, corners, etc. The really old stuff, now, no fair cheating and using any of their newer products! If it's not that pewter color, it's not old enough! I know full well how much of this stuff I have hanging around...I'd be willing to bet I'm not the only one! I know a lot of it always seemed so heavy for a layout, but let me tell you, as I was pulling out some of this for the photo, I got pretty excited about using it on something altered though!!! Alright, ladies, let's see what you can do with these types of metal oldies but goodies!!!

Deb N mentioned in her blog that this is a 15 minute card! And gorgeous - I love how the metal frame doesn't even look the same when the center is covered with that flower!

Alana used lots of the older Making Memories metal products in this adorable two-page 6x6 layout! I LOVE how cute the little tags look peeking out from behind the photo!

Aimeslee made this adorable birthday card for this challenge. She used the really old frames to frame a metal diecut that she added her own color to - definitely a fun idea!

Published with a challenge item!

Wow - I totally forgot all about this!! I had a project picked up for the Layout Blueprints 2 book that is finally almost ready to release. I just went to the website to see the preview and my project is in the preview AND...I used Magic Mesh, lol! Even funnier - same color as I used on two of the items I did for the challenge a few weeks ago!

Anyone else getting any of our challenge products published yet? This is how we can bring them back, after all! :) Be sure to let us know if you do! I can always pull your projects from the blog for this too, if needed!

Challenge #5 - last addition 03/25/08

Well, we've been at it for a full month now - anyone making any headway in their stash yet? I have to admit, it's been a lot of fun playing with some of my older, forgotten products. Reaching back to the days when I first became a supply addict (does this count as a 12-step program?) and remembering why I love paper crafting!

One of my first addictions, personally, was punches. Oh but not just any punch, I had to have all the oddball shapes and specialty punches! Admit it, you have some too! The moose (hello, I've never seen a moose - I live in Central Illinois. We have cows), the baby buggy, the frog...you get the picture. I remember pre-ordering constantly to make sure I had the brand new ones when they first hit. There was a really good online store that I just can't remember the name of but she always had every punch under the sun and always had the new ones first. I was in awe, lol! And remember swapping punches? You'd stay up all night punching a thousand of those darned frogs (to get some use out of the punch, lol) and make up 20 little baggies, send them in and get 20 little baggies of various other punchies you'd never find a use for...yea. I recently came across my punchie collection and gave my son a BOX full of them - he's in heaven, lol! That's where this picture came from - I just grabbed a handful. I have a house full of extra kids and really wish I'd done this post last night when there wasn't so much commotion!



So this week let's pull some of those out. Some, like me, may need to "borrow" them back from their kids, but let's use those specialty shape punches. No fair using your squares and circles and flowers that are still commonly used (unless you're going to create...drumroll, please...punchart! Remember that?). Pull out your earliest punches and have some fun! Let's see who can use the funkiest old punches! Sharks and snails, anyone?

Deb N has created an adorable card using the tulip punch from EK - I'm pretty sure that was in the original set of Paper Shapers so this little cutie is super old! And Deb has managed to make it look so fresh and fun that I might have to go steal mine back from my kiddo...

Stef made this gorgeous wreath card with a Martha Stewart punch. Which I now must have. Darn it, Stef! I have the old fern punch though, which is close. It was actually originally sold through the Martha Stewart website, if I remember correctly! Years before she got into the scrapbook arena.

Aimeslee has two more ATC's for us this week...look! The frog I mentioned, lol! I am really starting to fall in love with ATC's now too - cute little creative expressions about basically a blurb of life! I REALLY have to try these! But first I need to go hunt down some lilac bushes to see if they're in bloom here yet - those are my favorite!!

Challenge #4 - last addition 03/20/08

Happy Friday, everyone! Just a quick note to be sure to go back and browse the earlier challenges - we've had some new additions to inspire you!

For this week, we're going to work with those bottlecaps! Several companies came out with decorated bottle caps back in "the day" - Li'l Davis Designs, EK Success, and let's not forget all the cute colored ones that Design Originals did! For those of you who have purged them from your scrapbooking stash...hey, it's a great excuse to go have a beer, right? I even found a tutorial here for making them digitally! And of course, they ARE still available!

Fair warning - if you dump them out like this, feline household members WILL be excited...I think mine took off with one or two.

I really had forgotten just how versatile these are until I was browsing around looking for info to link for inspiration. For the basics (in case you've forgotten), here are instructions for flattening them. Here is a great page on stamping on them. I love that they mention using a hammer to texturize them - anyone have a Tim Holtz hammer to test an update to that technique? Speaking of Tim, don't forget alcohol inks do spectacular things with bottle caps! Here is another page with ideas for using them - love the closure idea!

All right - let's see what you can all do!! Link me in the comments or in an email and I'll add them to the post for everyone's inspiration! Check back often to see what everyone else is doing to bring back bottle caps!

Pauline was the first to finish this challenge (welcome!) this week and look! Bonus points for using a zipper too! Very cute!

Here's an altered wood frame from me. I seem to have forgotten any technique I used to have for flattening these buggers but I think I should have probably been doing it on the floor instead of my table (I had a mat to protect the table but the bounce was too much, I think).

Aimeslee has some more ATC's for us this week! If you check her blog she also has pics of the process of squashing bottlecaps with the original Sizzix machine (with the sandwich "recipe" too!). I especially just LOVE the sunflower one with the sun stamped into the bottlecap!

Aimeslee also tested the Crop-A-Dile on her bottlecaps and not only did it work, but she found a USE for the bottlecaps in attaching ribbons to her card box to make a handle! How cute is that (not to mention inspiring since I'm playing with making Easter baskets at the moment, lol!)

Challenge #3 - last addition 3/13/08

Ok. I've been trying to type this up for 20 minutes to have it ready for the morning but got totally sucked into Celebrity Apprentice. LOL - sorry for the hijack but I was laughing so hard I actually cried. Did Omarosa seriously try to OUT Piers Morgan as her defense as to how he beat her soooo badly? Blogger needs an eye-rolling smiley to insert here! Too funny! Piers kissing Trace Adkins on the cheek was even funnier (even though Trace didn't get it at ALL, lol)!

Sorry - hijack over! On to the next challenge. Now I KNOW everyone can join in on this one! We're going to dig into those FIBERS next! Come on, I know I wasn't the only one who lived at Fibers By the Yard until I figured out they were just specialty yarns. Remember swapping fibers? You'd go out and buy a skein of eyelash yarn and cut up a yard for each person in the swap and STILL have 3/4 of a skein left... Now you can get that same yarn on clearance at Michael's and Hobby Lobby for about a dollar.



And no, this isn't my stash...this is an Ebay auction you missed, lol! Went for over $30 so someone out there is still using fibers, they just aren't that "must have" item they used to be and could be again if we can bring it back!

FBTY may be gone, but there IS still a similar online store around! Yikes - I still HAVE a few of their collections, lol! On the Fringe.

Here is a page they have with ways to use fibers. Hehe - and sketches that look like "I" drew them! I just knew I had talent! Still need that eyeroll smiley!

Here is another page about using fibers (aside from scarf-making, which I also dabbled in as a way to try to whittle down my stash...).

I was hunting around for links to share and somehow came across an oldie but a goodie that I had forgotten ALL about - anyone else remember the Provo Craft "Hug Club"? The origin of hybrid scrapping!!! Sigh - those were the days! How come I could print those off and use them over and over (now, I said I used them, not that it looked good...) and yet now the thought of hybrid just freezes me up completely? Sorry for yet another hijack, lol, but this just made me smile. I doubt enough people were ever into these enough that it would be a challenge (maybe a part of a challenge though, hmmm) but I wanted to reminisce and you guys actually GET that, lol!

So let's get out those fibers, ladies! We're coming up on Easter - maybe we could fall back on the old kids' craft of dipping them in a glue and water mix and covering a balloon with them to create yarn eggs...surely we could find some ways to embellish those further with all of our supplies...



Stef joined us this week and took care of two challenges at once with this adorable card! I know ribbon has replaced fibers as the "go to" item, but this combination of fibers reminds me why I always loved fibers better! Soft and pretty and more...organic, I guess is the word I'm looking for, than ribbon!



Deb N combined this challenge with a "kitty" challenge from another blog and ended up with a card that I think MY cat would love to play with, lol! I love the fibers with chipboard and even more hanging off of the metal tab! I just gotta say it again - ribbon just doesn't have the same appeal to me! Look how prettily the yarns cascade!



Aimeslee has REALLY been raiding her stash of fibers!! Tons of ATC's and cards with nice soft touches of fibers! And I'm just loving all the Irish themes for St. Patrick's Day!!