Wednesday, April 28, 2010

From Tag to Tag

Did you ever notice how many tags you get on one shirt?
I have been hoarding clothing tags for a while now waiting to decide what I wanted to create with them...here is the tag I used for this project:


I added some paper, pop dots, (Unity) stamps and ribbon... and this shirt tag has been transformed into a festive birthday tag:





Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Blog Hop Winners!!

Thanks again to everyone who joined us on our earth Day Blog Hop!! I put all of your names into a bowl and had my kids pull out the names of the eight winners...


Drum roll please...........


The awesome Digi Shack $5.00 gift card goes to... Stef H (Glitterbabe)!!
Stef H (Glitterbabe) said...
jennifer! this is gorgeous and awesome! i absolutely love it!!!
and that blog announcement is fabulous too!
April 22, 2010 10:27 AM

Four adorable Meljen stamps will go to....Loretta!
Loretta said...
Wow you sure did a great job on all items especially using the mouse foam for letters
April 23, 2010 3:00 AM


Whimsy Haven's $15 gift certificate will be going to... Sian!
Sian said...

Wow, that's a really inspirational post Alexa. Lots of lovely ideas and beautiful layouts (I really love the bubble wrap one especially)
9:46 AM

Fred She Said Digital Designs wonderful $20 gift card goes to... craftymom205!
craftymom205 said...
Great projects. Your son did a great job with his.
April 22, 2010 9:45 AM

Digital Delights wonderful $10 gift card goes to...Rinne!
RiNNE said...

Beautiful cards with amazing recycled elements!
11:19 PM


KLM Designs' festive Carl the Clown stamp set is going to... Rachel !
Rachel said...

awesome projects, love your journal!!!
hugs,
Rachel
April 23, 2010 8:04 AM

Green Field Paper Company's generous sampling goes to... Dani!
Dani said-
I love this blog!! I love recycling things in my crafting anyways, and this blog really has given me some great ideas!

April 24, 2010 11:42 AM

And Nashville Wraps will send this beautiful sampling of ribbon, gift bags, tissue paper, gourmet boxes, Chinese take-out boxes, gift wrap, cello bags and organza bags to... Stephanie Zito!
Stephanie Zito said...
Oh my goodness!!! My jaw dropped as I saw all of your projects! Absolutely gorgeous work! Wow!!! Love the vintage and shabby chic feel to everything! Have a wonderful day!
April 22, 2010 5:13 PM


Congratulations to All!! Winners, please email voice@tanyamsmith.com so I can get your info to our sponsors and you can get your prizes!

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Earth Day Blog Hop (Day Four)

Welcome to the last day of our Earth Day Blog Hop!!
Thanks so much for joining us!



Earth Day can be every day!
We would like to thank our sponsors for their support of this event: Thank you Green Field Paper Company, Nashville Wraps, The Digi Shack, Meljen Designs, Whimsy Haven , Fred She Said Digital Stamps, KLM Designs and Digital Delights. Please check out each of their websites and let them know you found out about them through Create It Green.


We hope that we have inspired you to re-think your crafting (and recycle in it). Remember that we have monthly challenges posted on the 15th of the month to give jump start. We would love for you to join us!!

Just in case you have not followed the hop, please start here. Remember to leave comments along your journey so you have a chance at winning one of our amazing prizes! Winners will be announced on Tuesday, April 27th.

Saturday, April 24, 2010

Re-using paper bags

Hi Everyone!

I hope you are enjoying our blog hop! If you haven't already, scroll down to find out all the details of the hop & how you can win some fantastic prizes from our sponsors and get some freebies!

Today I wanted to share a few ideas on how to re-use your paper bags. Lot's of stores use paper instead of plastic now which is great!

First I made a little treat bag. I sprayed the bag with mist to add some colour and then added a simple journalling spot with an embellishment on. This is a great idea for a kids party, you could easily add the child's names to the tag or have colour coordinating bags for boys & girls. And it's so quick & simple! It would be great for Halloween too.


The monthly kit club I subscribe to comes in large paper bags. These are ideal for wrapping gifts, you could create your own patterned paper by stamping on to the bag directly.


Here I've re-used the bags to send items in the post. I've used decorative masking tape to mark off an area for the address (I've erased this out for confidentiality purposes) and to seal the package. Just make sure you add some bubble wrap and/or sturdy cardboard to the package if you are sending something that will bend or get easily damaged.

On this last bag I created some simple flowers using some journalling spots, pleating some decorative masking tape & adding buttons, which turns it into a gift bag. If you have a paper bag with a store logo on which covers most of the bag, then you can easily cover it using some patterned paper and adding some embellishments.




I hope this has left you inspired to try up-cycling your paper bags. If you haven't followed along the hop yet then my blog is your first stop. Have fun!

Alexa

Friday, April 23, 2010

Earth Day Blog Hop (Day 2) Another Freebie


Wendy of Digital Delights created this precious image for our Earth Day Blog Hop! She wanted us to share it with you. It is only available here at Create it-Green... so right click and enjoy!



Earth Day Blog Hop DAY 2

Welcome to Create it Green’s Earth Day Blog Hop ---- Day 2!! Thanks so much for stopping by!! Don't forget to leave a comment on each blog on the hop for the chance to win one of our amazing prizes from our super generous sponsors!!!

Faye Here! Hi all! I have what I think is an awesome tutorial for you all today. I am going to show you how to make really fun paper blossoms.


STEP 1: Find paper with fun images or patterns like from a magazine... my favorite are fashion magazines like such. This is from Aprils Glamour Magazine. I liked the pattern of the bottom bag.


STEP 2: Collect materials... tear out the images you like from your magazines, old books, really anything you want. Pick two or more that go together and grab some tulle that coordinates... oh and don't forget the brad.

STEP 3: Cut circles... these do not have to be perfect circles (personally I just wing it). With the magazine paper I cut with shape scissors to give the flower edge. Depending on how many paper images you are using for each flower the circles need to be different sizes. Once they are cut you should fold them and roll their edges between your fingers. This will help give the flowers dimension.

STEP 4: The tulle I cut multiple circles, usually 5-10 and the sizes can vary. Don't throw away the remnants of the tulle... we are going to use that too!

I have laid out almost every thing you need right here. STEP 5: Layer and layer... starting with the largest circle begin layering the materials. I usually put a tulle layer between each layer of paper again for dimension. When using the tulle, I like to off set the center slightly of each piece of tulle to mimic petals.

STEP 6: Putting it together... take the left over tulle scraps and roll them between the palms of your hands until you have a little poof ball. Take your brad (I make glitter brads by taking office supply gold brads dipping them in glue and then glitter) and push it through the center of your poof ball. The nice thing about tulle is that it already had holes and is easy to maneuver through.

Now you are going to push the brad through the center of the layered flower you created. Some of you may prefer punching a hole in the paper before this step and that is fine but if you are like me, you can just push the brad through the paper as you go. Secure the brad on the back and you have a flower!

STEP 7: Add flare... first think I do is bend up the paper around the brad to give shape and then I turn each layer of paper slightly to off set the paper bends. Again this adds that dimension. Adding the feathers or maybe even leaves would just be an extra kick to this fabulous flower

Now hopefully I did not make it sound harder than it really is. It is a great use of paper that you would otherwise get rid of. I actually made a paper flower out of a magazine article that featured a friend of mine. I didn't want to throw the article away but I had no other use for it. I was able to cut the paper just right that the center flower had her name featured and then I used that flower on a scrapbook page about her.

When you visit my blog later you might notice this exact flower is part of the blog hop prize I am giving out.

This blog hop will run from today, April 22nd until Sunday, April 26th, midnight PST. We will be drawing for winners on April 27.

Thanks for stopping by. You are now off to check out Alexa's blog! Have fun and see you soon!!!

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Earth Day Blog Hop Freebie


Melissa of Meljen Designs created this adorable stamp for our Earth Day Blog Hop. She wanted us to share it with you so you can create with it too! Enjoy!!

 


Earth Day Blog Hop (day one)

Welcome to Create it Green’s Earth Day Blog Hop!!
Thanks so much for joining us!


Over the next four days we hope to inspire you to re-think your crafting to include some recycling. There will be new posts here over the next four days so be sure to follow us so you don't miss anything!!

We are pleased to introduce eight wonderful sponsors for this hop! Each has donated an amazing prize to help inspire you to join in the fun! All you have to do to be entered in the drawing is follow the hop and comment on each blog post. Be sure to comment here too!! Winners will be announced on April 27th!

After the Blog Hop, you might want to check out earthday.net. Their site has a pretty extensive listing of (global) Earth Day events. Right now, they are trying to generate a billion acts of green- you can scroll through and get ideas of changes you can make to be more "green". Little changes can make a big difference!

Check back later today for an adorable Earth Day freebie from Meljen Designs!

Your first stop for Earth Day Inspiration is the ever so creative Alexa!


A look at some prizes...

Our Earth Day Blog Hop has some amazing and generous sponsors!! Here are the prizes that you might win at the end of our Hop:


The Digi Shack will send one lucky winner a $5.00 gift card!



Meljen Designs will let another lucky winner choose four adorable stamps!



Whimsy Haven has generously donated a $15 gift certificate!


Fred She Said Digital Designs will be giving one happy winner a $20 gift card for their fabulous store!



Digital Delights will be giving another winner a $10 gift card!




KLM designs will send one lucky winner this adorable Carl the Clown stamp set:




Green Field Paper Company has generously offered to send a sampling of 5 sheets of Grow A Note plantable paper, 1 sketch book, 1 package of watercolor paper and a denim and junk mail note set to another lucky winner!


And Nashville Wraps will send this beautiful sampling of ribbon, gift bags, tissue paper, gourmet boxes, Chinese take-out boxes, gift wrap, cello bags and organza bags to one lucky winner. The best part is it comes with our fun new Hot Dots Reusable Tote Bag.This is a $200 value! Many are from our Green Way® brand of eco-friendly products.



But the only way you can win any of these amazing prizes is by commenting on each post on the Hop!!

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Earth Day Sneak Peek

Hello everyone!
Are you ready for the Hop?
The "Create It - Green" Design Team would like to share with you a little Peek at some of the projects and fun we have in store for you.

Beginning tomorrow the 22ND of April through the 26Th.
You will find many projects and inspiration to help you in your quest to Go Green with your Craft Projects.

Hope to see you here !


Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Earth Day Carnival!

Are you all excited about the Earth Day Blog Hop CIG will be hosting shortly?! I know I am!


While you gear up for the festivities, how about submitting your Earth Day related crafty projects to the Craft Critique Earth Day Blog Carnival?! Whether it celebrates this great planet, uses recycled materials, or is just earth friendly we want to see it! If you use paper, fabric, yarn, food, jewelry... whatever you've got to show off and share, submit it! Take a look at the post listed above to get all the details for submitting. You have until Tuesday, April 20th at 6pm Central time to submit, so hurry!! This is a great way to share all your eco-friendly craft projects (while getting traffic to your blogs), and learning some new tricks as well!
Hope to see you in the line up!

Thursday, April 15, 2010

APRIL Challenge Reveal!

The challenge is...

ANYTHING GOES as long as it has a "green" item (recycled item) on it!

Layout Team creations  
Alexa Gill
I used the inside of some envelopes for my page, you know the ones you get your bank statement and junk main in? Well some of them have really nice patterns on the inside! I cut some circles in my cardstock and then glued parts of the envelopes to the back of my page to show through the holes.  
I used an old piece of cardboard, some string, 2 old tickets and a small pc. of a library date slip.  
The brown and white felt is recycled from a felt purse my friend made me a couple years back.  She is not a "crafty" person by nature so I hated to part with it but I rarely used it.  While I was putting it in the get rid of pile, I realized I could reuse the felt myself.  Add some buttons and thread and presto, I give you felt flowers.   

Kandi Phillips
How many of you have missing pieces to a puzzle? In my case, we got puzzles in a kids meal, so I swiped the pieces (since they probably would have ended up in the garbage!) and painted them for my layout. Looking around the house for unwanted or unused items for your scrapbooks is a great way to go green, and add fun details to your pages! One fun thing to note - Before the paint was dry I shot it with my heat gun. The heat caused the white to do a cool crackle look, and the black to bubble, which was a really cool look too!

Card Team creations  
Victoria Warren-Mears
I used recycled kids magazine from my sons religious ed class.
A scrap of music from the program that was written by the pianist.
Recycled ribbon from a gift I received recently.

Altered Art Team creations
Jean Marie Pennington

The Basket I found at a local Goodwill Store for 50 cents.Material is upcycled from an Upholstry Fabric Sample Album.The buttons are from a tin of buttons that once belonged to my G.G. Aunt Alice.I used a soft foam block that came as packaging in a box. wooden skewers from my kichen and hemp rope for the stems.Topped off with some Spanish Moss

Ali MacDonald
I altered a standing 4x6" picture frame I bought from the odds and ends bin at the local Frenchy's (a second-hand store-- you may even have them there! they are all over NS and a few in NB too!)!
  
We would LOVE to see you try this challenge!!! Please let us know if you are inspired to create it GREEN!!!!! 

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Announcing Our Earth Day Blog Hop

Happy Earth Month! I'm sure you all know that Earth Day is coming up. Well, what you may not know is that this year is the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day! Sounds like a perfect occasion for an Earth Day Blog Hop here at Create it Green! Two weeks from today, April 22nd, 8am PST to April 25th midnight PST, join us for inspiration, ideas and prizes!

Our design team is busy crafting with custom digital stamps, handmade recycled papers and who knows what else... you'll have to follow the hop to find out!!

Our Earth Day Blog Hop has caught the attention of some wonderful, creative "green" sponsors including Green Field Paper Company, Nashville Wraps,  KLM Designs, Digital Delights, Whimsy Haven, The Digi Shack, Meljen Designs, and Fred She Said.

We will tell you more about each of our generous sponsors (and the amazing prizes) as the hop comes closer!!

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Crafty Spring Cleaning

Hi everyone! My younger sister Laci uploaded a video today that is perfect to share on CIG! I was so inspired by it that I thought I'd share it here for all of our GREEN followers. Laci shows how to make a "dryer sheet" and a swiffer cloth out of yarn scraps. Here's what Laci had to say, followed by her video!


This week I show how the dreaded Spring cleaning can be fun and crafty!

First, my fantastic cleaning gloves were inspired by the leading cleaning experts from BBC's "How Clean Is Your House?", Kim Woodburn and Aggie MacKenzie!

I am constantly trying to think of ways to save money and of course reduce waste. Here I take scrap yarn to make two easy projects that will reduce cost and waste!

1. Crochet your favorite stitch into any size "sheet" and spray with water and liquid fabric softener (4:1). I used cotton yarn and it works like a charm!

2. Here is an amazing pattern by Linda Permann for a crocheted sweeper cloth (Swiffer, Libmann, etc): http://blog.craftzine.com/archive/2010/03/craft_pattern_crocheted_revers.html



What fun and green ideas, right?! I am definitely feeling the urge to Spring Clean now! Love having a crafty family! ;)

Friday, April 2, 2010

Egg dye cups and Tags



Egg dye cups make great little gifts when planted with small herbs. We used water with our dye tablets (some say to use vinegar or lemon juice) and then rinsed the containers out well. The herbs will stay in these until they get bigger and are ready to plant in the herb garden.
I used some letter stickers I had to mark the cups with the names of the herbs.
My sister and I dyed tags with the egg dye. We had lots of small white and manila tags just lying around. This was a technique I learned from Michelle Ward's blog. It was fun and we ended up with some beautiful, spring-colored tags!!