Hello, Diana here just to show you these 3”X3” Valentine Cards.

This paper from Pink Paislee does not have a Valentine theme, but all the pink tones look cute and the punch out Heart makes the perfect embellishment.

To get that glittery look on the hearts I dabbed a small amount of Stickles on them, and with my finger rubbed it around the punch out shape.

Two sets of these 4 mini cards will be part of the giveaways we’ll be offering for our Create a Heart for Hope- Charity Challenge. Come back and visit us in a few days for a chance to win them.

See you soon!

=Di

And the Winner is....

We had a tough time picking the winner for this challenge, all the entries were so awesome!! We also want to thank each and every one of you that took part and helped us spread the word about adopting animals and introduced us to your fuzzy family members:) From Cori's three little kitties, Fiona, Rory and Aoife to Celeste's kitty Saffron that has a printer bed. We also met Andrea's friend Willow Meana, Deb's cat Fancy Jane and Jean's pup Bandit. It looks like in the end, the cat's won this battle but we will plan a rematch soon :)

And now our winners!

We couldn't pick just one and wanted to pick them all but Deb's Mini album about dear Fancy Jane and Jean's Layout on sweet Bandit took the honors. We will split the award of $30 and donate $15.00 in each of your names to SPCA International and you both will be getting some healthy snacks and pet themed scrappy supplies sent out soon. Please send us your mailing information to thescrappytree@hotmail.com.

If you would like to see more from our contestants, visit their awesome blogs, galleries and shops below:

1. Cori- Owns Peace Baby! Batiks and you can visit her Etsy store here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/peacebabybatiks and her Scrapbook.com gallery here; http://www.scrapbook.com/galleries/338625.html

2. Celeste's beautiful blog is here; http://celestebrodnik.blogspot.com/

3. Andre's blog, Scrapality (great name) can be seen here; http://www.scrapality.com/2011/01/santa-cutie.html and her Scrapbook.com gallery is here; http://www.scrapbook.com/galleries/578817.html

and

Deb @ Paper Turtle- http://paperturtle.blogspot.com/



and

Jean @ Pages in Time- http://pagesintime.blogspot.com/



Thanks again to all of you who continue to support us and play along, see you next time!

Welcome to January's Art Journal... Saturday?

Yep, this month's prompt is coming to you a day late as we wanted to focus yesterday on our charity auction! See this post for more information - there are some great handmade gifts available in our eBay shop, so support Save The Children's Haiti Relief and get yourself a beautiful handmade item at the same time :)

Now on with the art journaling! This month I'm really thinking a lot about what we're working on at the moment at The Scrappy Tree, which is Valentine's and our projects over the coming weeks to raise money for Save The Children, and I got to thinking, the one word that was really jumping out at me was 'gift'. With Valentine's on the way, many of us are already thinking about gifts for our loved ones; of course with our projects this month we are hoping to combine that with giving a gift to those in need.

For this month's page, journal about a gift in your life, maybe something important that you have given to someone, or a treasured possession that someone has given to you. You might even want to journal about a cause that's important to you. You could use 'gift' as your title word, or perhaps journal about what the act of giving means to you.

Feel free to share your page with us at the Art Journal Friday group at The Scrappy Tree Community, or even just visit to share some love :) happy weekend!

Gayle xx

EBay Auction is now open!

Hi again everyone :)

I'm happy to inform you the eBay auction is up and running, to see all the items up for auction so far, visit; http://myworld.ebay.com/tst-scrappytree/

Remember we have more items coming from all over, so keep watching and if you would like to donate, we will adding items through Feb. 14th,so there is still lots of time to show your support. Email us at thescrappytree@hotmail.com, with details about your project, a few pictures and when it will be available and we will send you an address to ship it to.

Reminder: All net proceeds will go to Save the Children via eBay giving works.

Some of my favorites so far are below;


This cool Embellished Felt Heart was donated by Susan Dupre , you can see more of her lovely work here; http://www.scrappysusandupre.com/



This amazing hand-dyed T-shirt was donated by Cori at Peace Baby! Batiks, her Etsy store with lots of other adorable options is here; http://www.etsy.com/shop/peacebabybatiks


Perhaps our funkiest item and what I plan to bid on, this colorful canvas bag was created and donated by Jennie @ http://www.theartisticstamper.blogspot.com/



The item that makes me the proudest, this beautiful oil heart on canvas was painted by my daughter Dyanna. Isn't she awesome!



Perhaps the best story of all, our neighbor Bradshaw (age 9) came over and saw all of my heart projects and asked what they were for. After I informed him that they were to raise money for the children of Haiti, he got a smile on his face, left abruptly and came back three hours later with this awesome chalk and colored pencil drawing of a heart :) Isn't he the Best!


That's all for now...

* Due to our auction update, Gayle will be posting her Art Journal Friday prompt tomorrow, so please come back for that. And don't forget our promised giveaways, they will start on Feb. 1st :)

Have a wonderful Friday and a relaxing weekend.

Kristin xx

We Heart Haiti...

Hi Everyone, I am happy to announce yet another Charity Challenge The Scrappy Tree is sponsoring. It has several elements to it and hopefully one of them speak to you and encourage you to take part.

We are working to support Save the Children- Haiti Relief and in turn, hope to get you thinking about what you can do.



On January 12, 2010 Haiti suffered from one of the worst natural disasters ever and they continue to suffer. Save the Children, among many other organizations, has vowed to help them through this difficult time and bring Hope to Haiti...but they can only do it with continued support from those of us more fortunate.

The Scrappy Tree has designed three ways to encourage you to participate and help.

First up, for sale on our Etsy.com store, our Paper Hearts for Hope-Candy Grams. For $5.00 (USD), we will ship to anyone, in the US or the UK,and it will include your message, inside a felt heart envelope with heart shaped card and valentine sucker enclosed.




Next, we will be auctioning off a wide variety of items created and donated by our friends in the craft world. We think there will be something for everyone, so please stop by and check it out and please help us spread the word. Below are a few sneak peeks;



Mini AlbumFelt Heart embellishment

12 x 12 painted and embellished canvas

Gem and Foil Heart bracelet

Hand-Dyed Toddler T-shirt


Canvas Wall Hanging

Heart Embellished Wood Frame

And there are many more coming, we are just getting started! New items will be added January 27th and continue to be added until Valentines Day.

Visit the Auction here; http://myworld.ebay.com/tst-scrappytree/



Lastly, and perhaps the most fun for you all, is our Create A Heart Challenge.

In typical Scrappy Tree fashion, we don't want to hinder your creative flare, so create a Heart Project, of ANY KIND and upload it here to submit Or to our Scrappy Community site, under, Challenge for Charity Group. The contest will close February 13th at 10:00pm PST.

Now the awesome prizes: First The Scrappy Tree will donate $50 dollars in your name to Save the Children- Haiti Relief.

Next, we will brag about you a lot :) But wait, there's more...

And Charee and Diane over at Graphic 45 have generously pulled together some of their awesome product to shower on the winner, see the pics below:





There are two 12 x 12 Pattern paper stacks, a cool envelope mini journal book and some of the coolest new embellishments, chipboard buttons, graphic 45 style paper flowers and beautiful ribbons and lace.

We also have some really fun and wonderful giveaways to share, so make sure you become a follower, stop in here often and find and follow us on Facebook and Twitter, where other giveaways will be offered.

*Please note, all net proceeds from all three above events will be donated to Save the Children- Haiti Relief.

~If you would like to donate your Heart project for the auction, please contact us via email at thescrappytree@hotmail.com, with your name, and details of your project, including size, color,etc. and attach a few pictures.


Thank you for your support.

Kristinxx

New Year's Resolutions

So have you forgotten yours already? ;) I spotted this wonderful hybrid project class by Jessica Sprague, which I loved as an idea to help you keep your resolutions in mind over the year - the class gives easy print-outs for you to make your own tag book to keep track of your New Year's resolutions...



Well, I downloaded the class and loved the idea so much I decided to have a go at making my own :)

Using Basic Grey's Boxer patterned paper and number stickers I decorated 14 small green and black tags, one for each month and one each for the front and back covers. I wanted to keep a theme running throughout the book so decided to decorate using two alternate designs through the tag book.

I used the Cricut Storybook cartridge to cut cream journalling spots for the green pages, and punched patterned corners on the red paper to embellish the black pages.

I have taken photos of the book before writing my resolutions inside because I don't want to spoil the surprise! The other Scrappy Tree girls are sharing the fun and will be taking it in turns every month over the year to come to share their take on this idea, plus one of their twelve resolutions for that month. So here is my first resolution:-

I will... live healthy 90% of the time; move my body and eat well.

I find that I can very much be an all or nothing kind of person when it comes to my health - either I am entirely preoccupied with going to the gym and following my diet or I am utterly neglectful of it! This year I will be getting married in September, and while I know that nobody is perfect (hence the 10% of leeway ;) ) I resolve to make a commitment to myself to be good to my body MOST of the time. Girls, if you're anything like me it will be a relief not to beat yourself up for neglecting your health and wellbeing, so let's give ourselves the occasional break but on the whole make this year a good year for treating ourselves well :)

Feel free to share your thoughts either here or at The Scrappy Tree community, I know that this will be one that is a big issue for many of us :)

Gayle xx

Twinchies

If you are like me, you like to do something crafty everyday but you may not have the time to do a layout, altered project, etc. Well, twinchies are something I like to do on those busy days. I still get to be crafty but there's not a large time commitment!

Last night my girls and I worked on a few after dinner. I'd like to share them with you today!
I used vintage music paper, a Prima, a Hero Arts Gemstone, a Cosmo Cricket Sticker, a Crafty Secrets stamp and boom! Done!!


My daughter Debbie got some fun little EK Success stickers that she shared with me for the following twinchie:

My two daughters made the following twinchies! It was a fun night!

So, if you are looking for a quick project for yourself or a project for the kids, go ahead and give twinchies a try! :)

Mini Album Tutorial: "Favorite 2010 Moments"

Hello and welcome to my Mini Album Tutorial, this will be a monthly segment that I’ll be posting every third Wednesday, sign up at our Scrappy Community http://thescrappytree.ning.com/group/dianasmonthlyminialbumtutorial so you can post photos of your creations and to get a head start on the supply list.

Lets start. The theme of the album is Favorite 2010 Moments, I selected photos from events I enjoyed more during this past year and separated them by month.



Today’s mini is made using a 9” X 7” 3 Ring Binder, to dress it up I made a cover using Canvas Fabric

Album Cover
Cut your fabric to measure 28” X 11”.
If you are using a different size of binder open it up as shown in the picture, measure 1” on the top and 1” on the bottom, for the sides measure the right side of the binder starting from the end of the binder clip, deduct ½” so your fold wont be to close to the binder clip, this is your final measurement, make sure your binder is open when you cut the left side this is to have both folds in an equal size.
If you are new at sewing like me, I recommend that you mark the binders shape on the fabric so you’ll know exactly where to stitch.

Stitch a ½” fold on both side edges, this will be the only stitching that will show on your cover.
Now you are going to sew the sides of your cover, reverse the folds and sew each of the 4 edges.

To avoid making the cover too bulky cut a diagonal piece of fabric on each edge, make sure you do not cut to close to the folded part.

Reverse your Cover and put it on the binder to make sure it fits.

And now it is time to make the cover pretty, I picked a simple embroidery using a Bazzill Basics Border Template, layered paper and stickers from Sassafrass Lass Indie Girl collection, added some doilies, ribbon and a cute Donna Downey Bird shape.

Don’t be afraid to embellish, add trinkets like this metal Life pin and the Maya Road Crystal Pins. Using different fonts for the title adds a nice and fun touch to the cover.

Lets move on to the inside of the album, I used craft cardstock. Cut thirteen 7.5” X 5” pieces, punch the holes in the measurement shown here. To give reinforcement I put a piece of Pink Paislee’s Artisan Tape on the sides where the holes are punched, another way to reinforce it is adding an extra piece of pattern paper. Have your Distress tool on hand, you’ll be using it a lot, start by distressing the sides of your 13 pages.

For the decoration of the Right side page cut one 5” X 4” and two 5” X 2.5” in different matching patterns (top row), distress the edges with your tool and then to add an extra distressing look fold the edges towards you, just little folds (bottom row), you will do this with all the paper pieces. You’ll need 12 sets of these, and an additional 12 sets for your Left pages of one 5” X 4” and one 2” X 2.5”

Right Pages,
This is where your photos will got. Before adding the paper I sprayed Glimmer Mist on each of the pages.
Once you have all your pieces it is time to layer them on your pages, start with one of the 5” X 2.5” then add on top the 5” X 4”, before you add the second 5” X 2.5” stick some folded lace, trim or ribbon to the back, and to be able to tuck more embellishments do not add glue to that end side of the paper. To add more texture I put an extra piece of the cute borders that come with the Sassafrass paper, another option is to use border punch pieces.

Left Pages,
This is where your journaling will go, I used Manila tags but of course you can make your own tags using cardstock paper, the edges are distressed and inked using chalk ink, I used a stamp I have with journaling lines, if you do not have a similar stamp just use a ruler and a marker, trying to make the lines look imperfect, just for fun I stamped an extra image on ea tag, the sheer month titles are from Maya Road.
Time to layer, start adding your 5” X 4”, before you stick the tag, add a piece of ribbon and the 2” X 2.5” behind it.

Here are my March and October pages, they still need the journaling.

And here is a close up of how I tucked some flowers under the piece of paper and added some banners to embellish.

The Album is Complete

I hope you liked this tutorial, and will be able to make your own using this theme or any other theme you like. I would love to see what you make, so make sure you upload photos to our Community

Next months Theme: Tips on how to make a Quick Mini Album, see you then.

=Diana

Corner Bookmarks

I love to read and one day while checking out the resources at Splitcoast Stampers, I stumbled across a tutorial for corner bookmarks. I have loved making them ever since and have even listed some in my etsy shop.


I started making my bookmark by cutting cream cardstock 3 inches by 3 inches. The tutorial link above walks you through making a different sized bookmark. You can make whatever size you'd like however. Just play around and see what you like best! You will need to mark the half way point on three sides of your square.

Then you need to score the flaps of your corner bookmark, lining up two of your halfway point marks on the diagonal. Then fold the scored parts back. You will be making a little triangle out of cardstock to glue on the flaps to secure your corner bookmark.

To make the triangle piece that covered my flaps, I cut a piece of cardstock 2 inches by 2 inches. Then I cut the piece and ended up with two triangles. One will be needed for the back of each bookmark.

Once cut, I glued the triangle piece on top of the flaps, making the corner bookmark secure.

Next is the fun part.....decorating! I cut a piece of patterned paper 3 inches by 3 inches, glued on, and then I cut off the excess.

By cutting the excess, my patterned paper is now the shape of the entire bookmark. You would not have to do this. This was my personal preference.

Then I layered more paper and an embellishment and it is complete!!

I made a set of 4 for my etsy shop. I like to give these in a set as a gift for a reader.

The final bookmarks:

I hope you enjoy trying to make your own corner bookmarks!

~Julie