Scrapbooking Retreat

I have just spent the most awesome weekend away at The St John of God Retreat Centre in Safety Bay, a ministry of the Sisters of St John of God on Dusty Attic's first ever retreat! But don't let the venue fool you, we had a lot of frivolity, fun, late nights ah umm early mornings more the like and the occasional slip of the tongue. The accommodation, surrounds and food was just divine. Although not often an emotional person I came away feeling blessed and thankful for sharing such an amazing weekend with truly beautiful people, rekindled two very special friendships and met the most amazing women - can not wait for the next one! What I need now is to catch up on some Zzzzz...

I managed to take a little time out and walked the Labyrinth and took in the beautiful serene surroundings!

A midst the laughter, fun and shenanigans I did manage one layout - the Dusty Attic sketch challenge, I rotated the sketch slightly anti clockwise.

Friends

My gorgeous dd and her BFF the night of the One Direction concert where they got to feel like stars and ride to the concert in style in a Limo :)

Thanks so much for stopping by to check out my latest project, please pop back soon. Have a wonderful week and don't forget to get your scrap on! xx

 

Shabby Chic Tussy Mussy

I want to share with you today an unusal project. It's always fun thinking outside the square and playing with ideas. I wanted something different to give as a gift and have played with this idea before and the papers from Webster's are so delicious I thought they would look pretty as a Tussy Mussy :)

 

A Tussy Mussy is a beautifully decorated cone shape filled with gifts. Made from paper unlike in the earlier day when material Tussy Mussys were so popular. During the English Gregorian period (1714-1760), pestilence was rampant and indoor plumbing was not. Elegant ladies would often carry small bouquets of fragrant herbs and flowers to fend off noxious odours. Also known as nosegays, tussy mussies remained popular through the Victorian era.

Let's get started.

 

Wbster's Pages - A Christms Story - Holiday Decor

Either free hand or using a template cut a cone from your chosen patterned paper. Make a 5cm edge down one side and fold. Use decortive edge scissors or border punch to make a pretty edge if you have no lace or trim. Can be made in any size, if you don't have a template cut your cardstock into a square and either remove the top by cutting to give you a straight top edge or even leave it and use when decorating your edge. I cut mine as I like the look of the lace around inside and out :) Carefully roll the cone, can be a bit tricky. If you are having trouble try rolling around a thick piece of dowl or something similar to help curl and adhere using hot glue gun or strong double sided tape.

 

Now for the fun part, decorating!

Kaisercraft - Paper Booms - Ruby

May Arts - Faux Suede with Ruffle Trim - Red

Tim Holtz idea-ology - Adornments - Christmas

Melissa Fraces - Trinkets & Baubles

Mini Rose Lace Trim from my stash

Beaded Trim from my stash 

Pearl Strips from my stash

 

 Attach ribbon for hanging. I tied a knot but you can use almost any method for securing the ribbon.

 

Using bot the beaded trim and mini rosette ribbon glue around the edge.

 

Using hot glue gun as you need a strong adhesive, position you applique, blossoms, tulle, charm and binding.

 

I used some extra lace as it needed a contrasting colour to break it up a little.

 

Add a charm and stick pin.

To finish off I made an angel using gems and jewelry findings. Secured these to a jewelry pin and added a large bead, again using your hot glue gun, slip the sharft into the bottom of the cone.

 
Use your Tussy Mussy for Christmas, Easter, Baby Shower, Birthdays, Halloween or any occassion you like :) Fill with gifts like make-up for a teenager or singlet, bibs & socks for an expectant Mum, Lollies or chocolates. Hope you enjoyed this tutorial and I have inspired you to get creative.

Make sure you check back regularly to see what wonderful projects are coming up.

Joyeux Noel Card

Hello, Today I want to share a card with you. Graphic 45 is just so beautiful, I love creating with the rich colours and design. Here I have made a card using the fabulous Twelve Days of Christmas - Joyeux Noel, some blossoms, lace and ribbon.

Products Used:

G45 - Twelve Days of Christmas - Joyeux Noel
G45 - Twelve Days of Christmas - Chipboard
Kaisercraft - Paper Blooms - Ruby
May Arts - Faux Suede with Ruffle Trim - Red

Cut G45 Joyeux Noel reverse to the standard card size of 6 1/4 in x 4in. Turn over and cut a 2in strip of the rose floral and use MS Vintage Floral and punch border. Ink edges with TH Victoria Velvet. Using double sided tape or glue, place strip along bottom. Take a G45 chipboard piece and adhere with pop dots to centre.

 

Tie red Faux Suede ribbon in a bow, fold small piece of lace in half, glue ribbon on top and place red blossom in the centre. Add mini tag, handmade hat pin and a twist tie. Place in top left corner. (apologies for my work mat, it's well used lol)

Finish with small piece of tulle tied and placed behind a small white blossom.

Thank you for stopping by Today, hope you enjoyed this small post. Enjoy the rest of your week xx

Pink Paisley Exploding Box

Hi there, Today I am sharing with you a fun gift idea I made last year. Explosion Boxes have been around for ages but are such nice gifts. If you don't want to give a card for an occassion why not make an explosion box. 

Firstly you will need to gather your supplies. Keeping your papers from the same range is helpful to coordinate colours as it is already done for you but not a necessity as you can mix and match foral, printed or use plain card stock. I recommend choosing a heavy cardstock for the outer layer of your box, double sided is always nice but single side will work too and if you don't like the plain showing you can use stamps to embellish.

What is needed:

2 x 12x12 sturdy card stock (Outer box and lid)
2 x 12x12 patterned paper or card in coordinating colours
Scraps of coodinating paper, ebellishments or photos if you wish
Paper Trimmer or Craft Knife
Ruler
Adhesive or double sided tape
Bone Scorer or some form or making crisp creasing

Step One
For my Explosion Box I used Pink Paislee - Hope Chest Collection from my Wild ABout Scrap DT Kit. Using a ruler and pencil softly mark your chosen outer layer into nine 4in squares, should resemble a tictactoe board :)

Step Two
Using your trimmer or craft knife cut out the four corners leaving your 12x12 resembling a cross. Score the inner markings of the centre square, this will help form the walls of your box. Remember to remove all your pencil lines. Ink edges if desired.

Step Three
Cut your second 12x12 chosen paper to measure 10 1/2in x 10 1/2in, repeat step one but marking your squares at 3 1/2 intervals this time, again resembling a tictactoe board only smaller. Cut the four corners as before so it resembles a cross. Score along the middle square lines forming the inner walls of your box.

Step Four
Cut your third or centre piece of paper to meaure 9 in x 9 in, repeat step one but mark your squares at 3 in intervals this time, cutting the corners as you have previously done before. Score as before. Remember to remove your pencil lines. Ink edges if you wish.

Your project should now look like this. I inked all edges with TH Vintage Photo Distress Ink

Step Five
Using your chosen cardstock for top/lid cut a 6in square. Mark a 1in border and cut only the bottom right vertical, turning clockwise and doing each corner. Score remaining markings so you are able to fold the little flaps to form the lid.

Step Six
Using double sided tape or adhesive, secure the tabs on the inside to form you lid, making sure the corners are square. Ink the edges.

Embellishing Inside

You can embellish and decorate however you wish, keep it simple or make it elaborate. Your inside layers can have flowers, photos, quotes, rubons and journaling added. Using pop dots or scrap dots you can add 3-demensional which looks great. Cut or punch edges for something different.

I used a mixture of Prima Chipboard stickers, Kaiser Die-cuts, MS Butterfly punch and border punch, flowers, twine, rubons and say it with pearls.

 Closer look!

Embellish Lid

 

Using a range of products Pink Paislee - Hope Chest Burlap Butterflies

Petaloo -Darjeeling - Mini Pearl Daisies - Pistachio

Prima - Life Time - Mini Rose Stems

Bunting - handmade from scraps

Burlap Flower - handmade

Small Floral Doily

Seam Binding

Charm

Lace

 

Added lace around lid and secure a charm.

From scraps I made a banner, inked edges and adhered to a strand of burlap.

I created a burlap flower and added a resin flower centre.

 

Place doily and guaze before arranging flowers and buds, I added the burlap butterfly to the stem of a flower after I curled the wire to give it the 'flight effect'. 

 

Close - up!

 

Side View

Thanks for stopping by, hope you like this tutorial and it inspires you to create some speical gifts for family and friends. Don't forget to pop back soon to see some more wonderful projects.

Recycled Tree

We all have loads of scrapbooking magazines stashed away somewhere, ever wondered what you could do with them! Recycle - reuse comes to mind. These fun book trees are so much fun to make and you can involve the kids. It's actually where I got the idea from. I remember my kids doing it when in primary school a few years back.

The size of the finished tree will depend on the size of your magazine and number of pages. You may have to join two magazines together if you like the folded edges close together when fanned out.

First step is to open the cover (this will be discarded later) and take the first page and fold it diagonally to the centre as shown above.

Next fold again towards the centre onto itself a second time as shown above.

The pointed bit at the bottom now needs to be folded up and this fold forms the base of each page. Making sure you score each fold to help avoid it unfolding.

Now you have the hang of it, turn the page and start over and continue until all pages resemble the first. Once done, gently remove the cover and fan out to form your tree.

Top with a 5 pointed Origami Star using scrapbooking paper. As long as you start with a square you can make any size you wish. Lots of you-tube videos and instructions for these on the web. These also make great ornaments hung from your Christmas Tree :)

Now if you wish to go one step further you could paint, ink or embellish your tree with buttons or sequins. Add some sparkle with distress stickles or kindyglitz.

Add some curling ribbon in Christmas or desired colours and your done!

Discarded paper novels look great made into trees too!

Hope you like this alternative recycled Christmas Tree. I think its cute :)

It's starting to look a lot like Christmas. Our tree is up, our lights are up and we look like the Gingerbread house. Love it! Enjoy the festive season, it's a wonderful time of year xx

More Christmas Ornaments

Handmade ornaments are so easy and add a really nice touch to your Christmas Tree or many other occassions. These paper ornaments are so quick and easy you could even get the kids to help your or make their own. Again a great creative way to use up your scraps, I used the scrapbook paper leftovers from my previous ornament!

Paper Christmas Ornaments

You will need scrapbooking paper in Christmas theme, brads, tiny hole punch and a ruler.

Cut your paper into strips of 1/2in width (length can vary on the size you would like - mine are in 4in and 5in lengths)

Using a tiny hole punch, punch holes in both ends of your strips of paper and place your brad.

This next bit can be a bit tricky but trust me it does work out :)

Starting with the bottom strip twist it out to begin forming your 'ball'. Then continue twisting each individual strip from the bottom until you are happy with the look and you are done!

Aren't they just cute?

Alternatively you can use ribbon but this is a lot more fiddly and time consuming but well worth it. Tie a know in the end of your ribbon then thread through your punched hole. Then with the first strip start threading on continuously pushing down the ribbon to form a semi circle fanning out as you go along. I love them!

If you don't want to hang them on your tree they will look awesome arranged in a ball as a table centre piece! or maybe string them together to create a garland. Play and create :)