American Crafts Studio Blog

I'm Grateful For Week

This month in the United States we celebrate Thanksgiving. To kick of this joyous holiday we're having an "I'm Grateful For" week. You'll see layouts, cards, and projects all featuring things the creator is grateful for. Enjoy!

Amy Heller starts us off with this lovely layout and card:

So Thankful by Amy Heller

Supplies: Jacob Paper (35568) - Chap, Cameron Paper (35570) - Chap, Oh Happy Grey Paper (35565) - Amy Tangerine, Rose Avenue Paper (35551) - Amy Tangerine, Decorative Shapes (77259) - Bits, Paper Leaves (77258) - House, Enjoy (89417) - Ribbon, Lovely Straw (53243) - Thickers, Fabric Brads (85562) - Elements, Plastic Buttons (85569) - Elements, Decorative Tags (77260) - Bits, Decorative Tabs (77261) - Bits

Giving Thanks and Thanks Cards by Amy Heller

Supplies: Autumn Hollow Paper (35520) - Nightfall, Halloween Night Paper (35507) - Nightfall, Sign on the Dotted Paper (35553) - Amy Tangerine, Autumn (42205) - Remarks Books, Scarecrow (42207) - Remarks, Harvest (89409) - Premium Ribbon, Fall Foliage Paper (35526) - Nightfall, Fall Colors Paper (35527) - Nightfall, You're Golden Fabric Paper (35563) - Amy Tangerine, Fabric Brads (85562) - Elements, Enjoy (89417) - Premium Ribbon, Paper Leaves (77258) - House, Lovely Straw (53243) - Thickers

What are YOU thankful for? Leave a comment on this post and let us know for a chance to win these fabric brads:

We'll announce the randomly selected winner on Friday morning. Good luck!

The fun continues tomorrow with another great layout and card!

Halloween Projects by Jenny Chesnick

Congratulations to the randomly selected winner of the Nightfall line, Ashley N Newell:

It was so fun to read about what you're going to dress up as this year! Make sure to take lots of pictures to scrapbook!

Jenny Chesnick finishes off Halloween week with a layout and card:

Spooky 2 by Jenny Chesnick

Supplies: October Night Paper (35514) - Nightfall, Night Watch Paper (35508) - Nightfall, Elm Vanilla (53216) - Thickers, Halloween (42204) - Remarks Books, Basic Chalkboard Labels (42208) - Remarks, Jack-O-Lantern (42206) - Remarks Dimensional Stickers, White M (62112) - Galaxy Marker, Dimensional Dots (61709) - This to That

Trick or Treat Card by Jenny Chesnick

Supplies: Good Night Chalkboard Paper (35516) - Nightfall, Halloween (42204) - Remarks Books, Jack-O-Lantern (42206) - Remarks Dimensional Stickers, Dimensional Dots (61709) - This To That

Have a wonderful weekend! Next week we'll be delving into the month of thanks with an I'm Grateful For... week!

Halloween Cards by Cindy Stevens

This trio of cute'n'spooky cards was made by Cindy Stevens:

Boo! Card by Cindy Stevens

Supplies: Geyser (71469) - Cardstock, Decorative Tags (77256) - Bits, Moonlit Night Paper (35510) - Nightfall, Pumpkin Patch (78054) - Details, Daydreams Plastic Buttons (85573) - Elements, Harvest (89409) - Ribbon
 

Happy Halloween Card by Cindy Stevens

Supplies: Geyser (71469) - Cardstock, Good Night Paper (35516) - Nightfall, Jack-O-Lantern (42206) - Remarks
 

Halloween Card by Cindy Stevens

Supplies: Geyser (71469) - Cardstock, Autumn Gathering Paper (35524) - Nightfall, Spells (72015) - Delights, Halloween (42204) - Remarks

The last Halloween projects will be featured tomorrow! Have a great day!

Halloween Week Guest Deisgner: Lisa Kisch

The Guest Designer for Halloween week is Lisa Kisch!

Lisa lives in Toronto, Canada, with her husband and her two little girls. She works as a stage actress and singer, but loves staying at home with her kids just as much! She loves documenting everyday life through scrapbooking. Little moments that would otherwise be forgotten are her passion! Lisa loves photography and learns more about using her camera every day. She is a very slow scrapper, but occasionally challenges herself to complete several layouts in an evening.

How did you get started scrapbooking? I started scrapbooking with a Scrapbooks 101 class at my local scrapbook store, soon after my wedding in 2003. Although it took me two years to complete that album - I never looked back!

What is your favorite American Crafts product? Oh, Thickers, of course! I can never get enough!

Me and You by Lisa Kisch

No matter what I do in my life, I know it always comes back to my husband and my kids. This layout is an expression of that! I cut tags to match the size of the Garden Cafe tags, to create a tone on tone background for my layout.

Supplies: Autumn Cider Paper (35519) - Nightfall, Decorartive Tags (77256) - Bits, Night Watch Paper (35508) - Nightfall, Garden Cafe Ribbon (89416) - Ribbon, Eclair Strawberry (53225) - Thickers, Eclair Cucumber (53226) - Thickers, Savor (42210) - Remarks Books

The Sparkly Witch by Lisa Kisch

I would never had considered using a black piece of paper for the background, but the whimsical dotted border on this piece of Nightfall paper changed my mind! It made the perfect background for my sparkly witch. If you look closely, you can see that I printed my journaling on the twill Nightfall ribbon. To do this I printed my journaling, affixed the ribbon on top, then ran it through my printer again!

Supplies: Night Owl Paper (35518) - Nightfall, Autumn Gathering Paper (35524) - Nightfall, Garden Cafe Ribbon (89416) - Ribbon, All Together (42219) - Flair, Night Watch Paper (35508) - Nightfall, Maple Pineapple (53221) - Thickers, Spells (72015) - Delights, Eclair Cucumber (53226) - Thickers, Pumpkin Patch (78054) - Details

Halloween Card by Lisa Kisch

When I saw the "Fall Foliage" paper with its orange grid it seemed perfectly suited for a grid card. It was so easy to just fill those spaces with squares of patterned paper and a "Delight" in the centre!

Supplies: Fall Foliage Paper (35526) - Nightfall, Night Watch Paper (35508) - Nightfall, Nightlight Paper (35517) - Nightfall, Autumn Hollow Paper (35520) - Nightfall, Spells (72015) - Delights, Elm Geyser (53217) - Thickers

Halloween Treat Bag by Lisa Kisch

Here's a little treat bag to hang on someone's door. Maybe it's for a teacher or the babysitter! I used a wine cork from my junk drawer to add polka dots to a plain paper bag and cut fringe into my circle embellishment to give it a little texture.

Supplies: Night Watch Paper (35508) - Nightfall, Fall Foliage Paper (35526) - Nightfall, Pumpkin Patch (78054) - Details, Autumn Gathering Paper (35524) - Nightfall, Garden Cafe Ribbon (89416) - Ribbon

 

Find Lisa here to see even more of her fabulous creations:

Blog: lisakisch.typepad.com

Twitter: @lisakisch

Pinterest: pinterest.com/lisatoronto

Halloween Tutorial by Leah Farquharson

Leah Farquharson is going to show us in a step-by-step photo tutorial how to make these perfect Halloween treat bags!

Halloween Treat Bags by Leah Farquharson

Supplies: Fall Fun Paper (35528) - Nightfall, Spooky Night (59148) - Stamps, Hardcover Aquatic (53238) - Thickers, Ruthie (59138) - Stamps, Harvest (89409) - Premium Ribbon, Mustard (59515) - Pigment Ink, Clay (59513) - Pigment Ink, Black (59500) - Pigment Ink, Aqua (59504) - Pigment Ink, Zap! Heat Tool (90502) - Stamping, Sunrise Black (53177) - Thickers, Tent (59141) - Stamps; Other supplies: 1/2 yard natural linen fabric, sharp scissors, sewing machine, coordinating thread

1) Gather your supplies.

2) Cut 6 strips of fabric 14" long by 4" wide.

3) Stamp your chosen images on the treat bags about 4" down from the top. Be sure to place a piece of chipboard underneath your fabric, just in case the ink seeps through.

 

4) Heat set your ink with your heat tool, or allow to air dry.

5) Fold the fabric over lengthwise, with the image that you stamped on the inside. 

6) Stitch a 1/4" seam up both sides.

7) Open the bottom edge of the bag, and stitch across your seam to create a triangle.

8) Turn the bag right side out, fill with treats, and tie closed with ribbon!

 

Bonus project - check out at this scary and sweet sign Leah made that you can re-create in minutes!:

We have another fabulous guest designer coming up tomorrow!

Halloween Week

The countdown to Halloween has begun! In just one week from today the happy haunting will begin! This week we're going to focus more on this holiday and inspire you to get your photos scrapped asap! Leslie Ashe and Piradee Talvanna each have a card and layout to showcase today!

Spooky? by Leslie Ashe

Supplies: Black Cardstock (71082) – AC Cardstock, October Night Paper (35514) – Nightfall, Fall Foliage Paper (35526) – Nightfall, Goodnight Paper (35516) – Nightfall, Spooky (70071) – Flair, Thanks (70072) – Flair, Plastic Buttons (85561) – Elements, Spells (72015) – Delights, Scarecrow (42207) – Remarks, Halloween (42204) – Remarks Books, Basic Chalkboard Labels (42208) – Remarks, Harvest Ribbon (89409) – Premium Ribbon, Vanilla Elm (53216) – Thickers, Dot Glue Runner (61713) – This To That Adhesive, Dimensional Dots (61709) – This To That Adhesive

Happy Halloween Card by Leslie Ashe

Supplies: Starry Night Paper (35515) – Nightfall, Spooky Night (59148) – Stamps, Brown Sugar (27139) – Zing!, Plastic Buttons (85561) – Elements, Halloween (42204) – Remarks Books, Jack-O-Lantern (42206) – Remarks, Basic Chalkboard Labels (42208) – Remarks, Harvest Ribbon (89409) – Premium Ribbon, Dot Glue Runner (61713) – This To That Adhesive, Dimensional Dots (61709) – This To That Adhesive

 

 

Witching Hour Decor by Piradee Talvanna

Supplies: Black (71082) - Cardstock, Nitght Watch Paper (35508) - Nightfall, Autumn Gathering Paper (35524) - Nightfall, Fall Leaves Paper (35530) - Nightfall, Night Light Paper (35517) - Nightfall, Plastic Buttons (85561) - Elements, Spells (72015) - Delights, Halloween (42204) - Remarks, Jack-O-Lantern (42206) - Remarks, Maple Pineapple (53221) - Thickers, Fantastic White (53110) - Thickers, Dimensional Tabs (61710) - This To That, Dot Glue Runner (61713) - This To That

All Hallows' Eve Card by Piradee Talvanna

Supplies: Black (71082) - Cardstock, Starry Night Paper (35515) - Nightfall, Fall Leaves Paper (35530) - Nightfall, Plastic Buttons (85561) - Elements, Pumpkin Patch (78054) - Details, Jack-O-Lantern (42206) - Remarks, Harvest (89409) - Ribbon, Dot Glue Runner (61713) - This To That

 

For your chance to win the Nightfall line, let us know in a comment on this post by Friday October 28th 2011 what you plan to dress up as for Halloween? We'll randomly select one winner and announce them with the Friday morning post!

Tomorrow we're going to have the spookiest tutorial on the block! See you then!

Halloween Party by Mandy Koeppen

Mandy Koeppen created this eerie Halloween party to wrap up Halloween Projects week!

 

Halloween Party by Mandy Koeppen

Supplies: Sunflower (58291) - Ribbon, Leaf (58272) - Ribbon, Black Ric Rak (58313) - Ribbon, Nightfall Assorted Buttons (85561) - Elements, Halloween Night Paper (35507) - Nightfall, Jack-O-Lantern (42206) - Remarks, Spells (72015) - Delights, Harvest (89409) - Ribbon, Dot Runner (61721) - This to That, Autumn Night Paper (35512) - Nightfall, Night Crawler Paper (35509) - Nightfall, Here and There Paper (35562) - Amy Tangerine, October Night Paper (35514) - Nightfall, Night Witch Paper (35508)- Nightfall, Thanks (70072) - Flair, Oh Happy Grey Paper (35565) - Amy Tangerine, Fall Leaves Paper (35530) - Nightfall, Midnight Moon Paper (35511) - Nightfall, Halloween (42204) - Remarks, Fancy Black (53114) - Thickers, Black (71082) - Cardstock

We hope you've found some things throughout this past week that you want to incorporate into your Halloween decor, traditions, and more!

Halloween Project by Jamie Harper

Jamie Harper made today's bewitching project!

Halloween Decor by Jamie Harper

Supplies: Autumn Gathering Paper (35524) - Nightfall, Spice (72016) - Delights, Autumn (42205) - Remarks Books, Halloween (42204) - Remarks Books; Other: Pumpkin wall hanging

One final Halloween project will be shown tomorrow to wrap up this festive week!

Halloween Advent Calendar by Heidi Sonboul

This totally cute Halloween advent calendar step-by-step tutorial is brought to you by Heidi Sonboul!

 

Halloween Advent Calendar by Heidi Sonboul

Supplies: Fall Harvest Paper (35526), Autumn Harvest Paper (35523), Autumn Cider Paper (35519), Autumn Gathering Paper (35524), Starry Night paper (35515) - Nightfall, Daisy's Diner Paper (35539) - Garden Cafe, Harvest (89409) - Premium Ribbon, Elm Vanilla (53216) - Thickers, Thanks (70072) - Flair, All Together (42219) - Remarks; Other supplies: Mod Podge, 2 screws, 2 small hooks, canvas

 

You'll need to pick out about 5-6 patterned papers to create the patch work on the canvas.

I sew on my layouts all the time and so the stitching on this next part will add texture in a fun conventional way. Change numbers depending on the month.

Make sure to take your time when sewing everything together. Getting your dates out of order can be a big ol' burn. 


And here it is all finished!
 

I let my boys have a go at it and they loved it!

 
I hope you enjoyed this fun altered project that will serve a good purpose in your home!

 

Come back tomorrow for another Halloween project you won't want to miss!

Halloween Tutorial by Corrie Jones

We're going to learn how to create this cute goodie bag with a step-by-step tutorial by Corrie Jones!

Treat Bag by Corrie Jones

Supplies: Stone (71079) - Cardstock, Fall Moon Paper (35525) - Nightfall, Halloween Night Paper (35507) - Nightfall, Midnight Moon Paper (35511) - Nightfall, Jack-O-Lantern (42206) - Remarks, Basic Chalkboard Labels (42208) - Remarks, Black (58313) - Specialty Ribbon, Dimensional Dots (61709) - This to That





Step 1: Cut an 8x8 piece of lightweight cardstock. Now get ready for a little origami!



Step 2: Fold the paper into a triangle.



Step 3: Fold one corner to the opposite side.



Step 4: Fold the top over and glue it lightly to keep it in place.



Step 5: Turn the paper over and repeat the last fold with the other side.



Step 6: Now you have your cup for your base!



Step 7: Use your cup as a guide and cut out from the black chalkboard paper a shape just larger than your cup.



Step 8: Choose your favorite Halloween paper from the Nightfall line and mat it on your black base.



Step 9: Fussy cut clouds or other shapes from the Nightfall papers for decoration.



Step 10: Start layering your decorations with foam dots.



Step 11: Don't forget about those dimensional stickers!



Step 12: Attach ribbon for a handle to your cup. Don't worry if you can see the attachers, these will be covered up.



Step 13: Adhere your decorated piece securely to the cup.



Step 14: Add a personalized name tag, fill with treats, and display them until the kiddos can no longer wait! 

Thanks for the great tutorial Corrie - what a fun idea! Another project is up to bat tomorrow!