scrapbook on your wall

I don't mean that you should literally turn your wall into a scrapbook page, but pretty close. Keep reading to see the project we'll be making at my May 28th class.

Yesterday I mentioned that now is a great time to become a demonstrators because new demonstrators can register for Convention on Tuesday. Great, you say, but what's so special about Convention? Well, Convention, just like all the other Stampin' up! events, is a great place to pick up loads of inspiration and creative ideas that will keep you stampin' all year long! I just looked over my notes from last Convention and I haven't had time to use half of the ideas I picked up there. So for a busy demonstrator or for a hobbyist who wants to see the latest and greatest trend and projects, this treasure trove of creative ideas is priceless!

One of the trends we were introduced to at last Convention was using stamping in home decor. This idea was reinforced in January at our Leadership meeting, where we were shown this adorable scrapbook wall hanging made with our new small On Board Book Basics. I filed this idea for future use, and now can happily offer it to you in a month that features a fantastic special on all of our chipboard products and is the month in which we are supposed to celebrate scrapbooking.

While I loved the project shown to us at Leadership, I wanted to create something a little brighter and perhaps a bit more unisex. So I decided to use the Summer Picnic Double Sided Designer Series Paper from the Occasions mini catalog. Here is my final result. No pictures yet (I guess I always leave the hardest part for last) but you can get the idea where they will go from the placement of the mats.

I used a whole bunch of different accessories to decorate the panels, from jumbo eyelets, to chipboard, to build-a-brads to a wide a variety of ribbons. I really like the way it turned out. It's just a perfect thing to hang during the summer months that really don't have too many decorative occasions of their own.

Since this is a wall hanging for my home, I made it "couple" themed. So read in order, the captions say "you and me, happy together, just because." At class participants will have access to these and all my other stamps, so they will be able to use whatever theme best suits their needs. This Summer Picnic designer paper is so versatile, both on the sides I chose to feature and the reverse sides, that it will go with just about any theme.

Here is a close-up shot of the first panel. Here I used a stamp from the Text and Texture set (stamped in versamark and heat embossed with white embossing powder), some old olive poly twill ribbon and bashful blue striped ribbon, circle punches, pewter jumbo eyelets, chipboard discs and build a brads. In retrospect I might have skipped the build a brads which, using the designer paper I chose, reminded Bill of eyeballs. At class participants will be able to alter the design and skip the build-a-brads entirely or use them in a different manner.

This is a photo of the second panel. The sentiment (heat embossed in white) is from the Happy Everything set. I went light on the accessories for this page, using only a bit of the twill old olive ribbon from the Jersey ribbon originals assortment. The bashful blue mat (purposely cut in funky angles) if popped up on dimensionals.
And here is the last panel. I heat embossed another sentiment from the Text and Texture set, used some red zig-zag stitched ribbon from the Jersey ribbon originals assortment as a boarder between the designer papers, used some pieces from the On Board Accent assortment covered with more Summer Picnic designer paper as both accents and the main mat for the photo, added some punched stars and more striped ribbon and yet another ribbon from the jersey ribbon originals assortment. I attached the chipboard tag to the base with pop-up glue dots to accommodate the thickness of the various ribbons.

So there you go -- the May chipboard scrapbook home decor class project. If you would like to make this project be sure to register and pay the $20 class fee by May 16. The class will take place on may 28, 6:30-8:30 in Itasca. Please note that due to the nature of chipboard assortments, not everyone will be able to duplicate this project exactly. However, there will be plenty of chipboard for everyone to be able to personalize their projects! And, as I mentioned before, all of my stamps will be available to help with the personalization as well.