Painted Petal & Nana's Kids Stacks

*To be entered in our weekly stack giveaways, leave a comment on each blog post throughout the week. Leave me a comment each time you share our blog post on Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest! Winners will be chosen at random from comments from the entire week combined. 

4 entries per post per person*

Happy Monday! I hope everyone had a great weekend. I feel like I blinked and my weekend was gone! Don't you just hate it when that happens?! Saturday was a quiet day...I did some crafting, made some strawberry jam, cleaned a little and got to finally see "The Lucky One" at the theatre. Not my favorite movie, save your money and MAYBE see it for $1 from RedBox ;) I think I may be getting too old for those sappy love stories, but I did enjoy to book!!! I hope your weekend was wonderful :)

Thank you to all of the Stack-a-holic entries that we received this month! I am going to go through them today and post the Top 10 pages and cards on Wednesday. Friday I will post May's challenge...yes MAY I can't believe it's here. And tomorrow, will be a fun announcement...trying out a new kind of challenge! You will love it, so check the blog tomorrow for those details. 

I wanted to share a couple more gorgeous scrapbook layouts to show you today. This first one uses the Painted Petals Stack which is at Michaels right now. I love the colors in this stack, that aqua is so hot right now! And this stack has a wonderful watercolor feel to it. It's beautiful! 

I love the flowers and butterflies that we cut out from this stack. And the sewing machine stitching to add to the butterflies, adorable!

This layout uses an oldie but goodie, "Nana's Kids" Stack. This is a stack that will never go out of style in opinion. The animals are so cute and the colors and so fun. 

All of those fun little guys are from the Nana's Kids Box of Chipboard. So cute :)

I love being inspired by gorgeous layouts! Makes me want to stop what I am doing and get out my own books and scrap :) 

I have a couple winners from last week's blog comments! That is the way to get entered into our weekly stack giveaways so keep those comments coming! I love reading all of your feedback. If you are chosen, please email me at erinmadsen@diecutsinc.com and I will get your stacks right out to you!

Congrats to:

Princess Judy PalmerApr 27, 2012 11:53 AM

What a sweet, sweet story. Foxy knew she's found the right home. My rescue cat did that to me. I found him, cleaned him up, and started a search for a home. He was rude and surly to potential adoptive parents so I told my hubby we'd just have to keep him. He immediately became a gentle, sweet, soul. He just wanted to stay with us.

AND

SaraBugApr 28, 2012 09:37 AM

Thanks for the coupon.

Have a wonderful day!! Be sure to stop by tomorrow and see our big, fun news!

DCWV Deals Coupon

Coupon anyone?!

www.dcwvdeals.com

Expires 4/30 so get shopping this weekend!

Hello Spring Plate Decoration

**I will still be picking weekly giveaway winners on Mondays from comments on posts throughout the week. I just won't be putting the disclaimer at the top of every post ;) Keep those comments coming!

TGIF! This was such a quick week! I will take it :) Thank you for all of your sweet comments and emails you sent about Foxy! I am amazed how many of you have your own rescue dogs! I personally think it's the only way to go now. You are all so sweet.

I wanted to share a fun project that you can display in your home. I made mine for Spring but you could really do it for any holiday or occasion!

I bought a $3 cheap-o plate from Walmart. This would be fun with an old family keepsake plate or even a garage sale find! Then I used my cutting machine to do two large circles to fit perfectly inside the plate. Just measure your own plate for your dimensions. And I used my trust Scor-Tape to stick it down.

Then I just decorated the plate with circle punches, embellishments and a banner title. I used the Blossoms & Butterflies Stack and embellishment that has been around forever but I still love it! 

I think you could really use your imagination and use this concept for so many different themes! It's just so happy to look at :) 

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend! Back on Monday! And I am SUPER EXCITED for May 1st to get here so I can tell you some big news you will be excited to hear!

Meet Foxy Madsen

**I will still be picking weekly giveaway winners on Mondays from comments on posts throughout the week. I just won't be putting the disclaimer at the top of every post ;) Keep those comments coming!

Ok, you asked for it! So here is my post all about Foxy Madsen, our rescue Border Collie :) 

Well. We weren't really looking for a dog. The boys had been asking for a puppy for a while...come on what little boy doesn't ask! We were thinking about getting a Yorkie or a small lap dog. And I mean "thinking about it!" 

My husband ran outside REALLY late like 1am or something to make sure our 4 wheeler was put away. He found a cold, wet doggy on our porch! She was so nice and since it was winter, we put her in our garage overnight thinking we would look for her owners in the morning. She had a pink collar on and was SO NICE we knew someone was looking for her. So morning comes and I take a picture and send it to everyone in town. I even put it on our towns Facebook group page. No one knew this doggy! In the meantime our boys fell in love with her and named "HIM" Fox. I would let her go during the days hoping that she would go home but every night she turned up on our porch. This went on for several days. The city ended up picking her up since she was getting other dogs in the neighborhood wound up. We though about Fox all weekend and decided we'd call the city on Monday and see if she had been claimed by her owners.

Well on Sunday night her picture popped up on our states Dog Rescue Group Facebook page! They named her "Peyton" and were looking for a home for her. I called them immediately and started the adoption papers. We were so excited! Well there was some miscommunication and our city ended up adopting out the dog to another family in town. We were SO SAD but figured there was nothing we could do about it. 

1 week later...guess who shows up on our porch! Fox! She had a new collar on but she was the same sweet doggy. We kept her over the weekend in our backyard til we could call the city and find out who adopted her. Turns out, she ran away from their house and came back to us!! Everyone invovlved agreed that the dog picked her home and she picked US! So Fox, who we had to convince the boys is a GIRL, turned into Foxy :) 

 

In this picture, my little guy looked at me and said, "We look alike don't we Mom." Too cute!! 

She is the happiest thing and hasn't given us any grief at all! Oh except for chewing up one of my Toms . But I quickly forgave her :) The city thinks that the family probably moved and just left her behind. I am a firm believer that rescue dogs KNOW that they are rescued and are always wanting to show how much they love their new family. She is a dream dog for our family and we love her so much! People who are not "dog people" have told me they are "Foxy people" :) Including my parents who fell in love over a weekend visit!

A little piece of my life. We are happy and grateful that we can benefit from the the love that Foxy has to give!!! 

Thanks for stopping by! I will be back on Friday with another great project :)

CHA Tutorial: Birds of Paradise Flowers

**I will still be picking weekly giveaway winners on Mondays from comments on posts throughout the week. I just won't be putting the disclaimer at the top of every post ;) Keep those comments coming!

Welcome back to the DCWV Diary! I hope everyone is having a great week. I love getting home from a trip and having things calm down a bit. Clean up my offices, catch up on emails and computer work. Just breath! I was in the office yesterday and peeked in to find CHA SUMMER 2012 booth in full swing! I am so excited for the theme....I think I will be smiling the entire week :) :) :) You will have to wait to see what we are up to! Speaking of CHA booths...

I have another tutorial to share with you today! Do you remember the back wall of our CHA booth where our meeting rooms are? 

I love how it turned out, it really does look like a tropical garden! Made out of paper of course :)

Today's tutorial is for these beautiful Birds of Paradise flowers. Sometimes I just don't know how the girls come up with these things! You could make some of these flowers and put them in a vase on your table for spring! You would for sure impress everyone :)

Bird of Paradise Flower

Supplies & Tools:

·      DCWV 12”X12” TAJ MAHAL STACK

·      DCWV 12”x12” SHIMMER CARDSTOCK STACK

·      DCWV BIRD OF PARADISE FLOWER TEMPLATE

·      BLUE MOON BEADS—LARGE PURPLE ROUND BEAD

·      BEADING WIRE

·      PAPER PIERCER

·      PAPER CRAFTING ADHESIVE (INCLUDING HOT GLUE)

·      SCISSORS

·      PENCIL

Directions:

1.    PRINT AND CUT OUT THE DCWV BIRD OF PARADISE FLOWER TEMPLATE PIECES.

2.    SELECT 2 COORDINATING SOLIDS (2 SHEETS OF 1 AND 1 SHEET OF THE OTHER) FROM THE 12”X12” SHIMMER CARDSTOCK STACK AND 1 PRINT FROM THE 12”X12” TAJ MAHAL STACK. 

3.    TRACE THE 1ST 2 PIECES OF THE TEMPLATE ONTO THE BACK OF THE FIRST SOLID; CUT OUT. FOLD THE 1ST PIECE ALONG THE SCORE LINES TO CREATE THE BODY OF THE FLOWER.  FOLD THE BACK ENDS IN AND ADHERE IN PLACE TO CREATE A POCKET. SET THE 2ND PIECE ASIDE FOR LATER.

4.    TAKE THE DUPLICATE SHEET OF CARDSTOCK USED IN STEP 3 AND ROLL IT INTO A TUBE.  SECURE THE END WITH STRONG ADHESIVE.  USING THE IMAGE AS A REFERENCE, ADHERE THE PIECES FROM STEP 3 IN PLACE ON TOP, USING THE SMALLER PIECE TO BRIDGE THE GAP BETWEEN THE TUBE AND THE POCKET. 

5.    TRACE THE NEXT 3 PIECES FROM THE TEMPLATE ONTO THE BACK OF THE 2ND COLOR; CUT OUT.  CREATE A TIGHT POCKET FOR THE BEAD WITH THE 2ND AND 3RD PIECE.  ADHERE THE BEAD IN THE CENTER OF THESE 2 PIECES.  ADHERE THIS SET TO THE TOP OF THE LARGER PIECE FROM STEP 4.  FOLD THE 1ST PIECE ALONG THE SCORE LINE AND ADD THIS TO YOUR GROUPING WITH THE POINTED PIECE RUNNING PARALLEL TO THE POCKET.

6.    TAKE THE LAST 4 PIECES FROM THE TEMPLATE AND TRACE THEM ONTO THE BACK OF THE PRINTED PIECE, TRACING 3 OF THEM TWICE.  CUT OUT. CURL THEM BACK WITH YOUR PENCIL.  USING THE IMAGE AS A REFERENCE, ADHERE THESE IN PLACE AS DESIRED.  

Have a wonderful day! Tomorrow will be my FOXY post for those who want to know how in the world we ended up with a rescue dog :)

Lemon Flower Quote Book

*To be entered in our weekly stack giveaways, leave a comment on each blog post throughout the week. Leave me a comment each time you share our blog post on Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest! Winners will be chosen at random from comments from the entire week combined. 

4 entries per post per person*

Hey everyone!! Sorry I haven't posted in a few days, you probably remember that I was out of town filming some TV segments and the automatic posting on Blogger is not working for me right now! But that's ok, if that's the only problem in my work life right now I'd say I was ok ;) Everything went GREAT in Ohio and Texas! There are lots of little details to remember when packing for these kinds of trips and I am proud to say I didn't forget anything :) Mission accomplished! 

DCWV Founder Nancy Hill traveled with me to Ohio to film the PBS show, Scrapbook Soup. We had so much fun being just the 2 of us. It reminded of my of some of our first trips together when I first started in 2004. We had some good TLC time and our segments went great. Nancy has been doing these kinds of filmings forEVER and is ready to "pass the baton" over to me. I have big shoes to fill as I have admired Nancy for years as she shines on camera. But I am honored and excited for the new challenge!

Then I headed down to Dallas to see my friends at Michaels! And when I say friends I really mean friends. They are such a great group of people. Jo Pearson and I filmed some web-i-sodes and the projects I took are adorable! They will be on Michaels website in May for National Scrapbooking Month. I will make sure to send you a link when I see them.

WATCH NOW!

And I am excited for you to see the Michaels Craft Masters episode where I was a judge! I think it turned out great and as you can guess, it was SO fun filming. If you haven't heard, TLC is launching a new show VERY SIMILAR to this called Craft Wars which will air in June! Tori Spelling is the host and Micahels Jo Pearson is a judge on it. Jo gave me the scoop on the show and it sounds like it will be SO FUN to watch! And I had to hear all about Tori too :) Sounds like she's a doll!! So watch for that :)

Today's project came from a blog fan, Sue Kosec from Dallas. She emailed me these photos and I just loved the project! She graciously allowed me to share the photos with you on here because I loved how she used the Lemon Flower Stack. Thank you, Sue! When you look at this box, you really have no idea what is inside!

This was a gift she made for a friend for her birthday. She used the Lemon Flower paper to make little pages and flowers and she added quotes on the pages. 

Love this flower. Doesn't our glitter paper look awesome?!

I love how she added a few silk flowers into the book. Just to mix it up a bit ;)

Thank you, Sue, for letting me share your wonderful project! 

I have a couple winners from last week! Email me your address and I will send you some NEW paper goodies :) erinmadsen@diecutsinc.com

Congrats too:

Miriam PrantnerApr 17, 2012 09:35 AM

Great layouts! The first one is so sweet, and I love the flowers on the second!

AND

StefanieHApr 18, 2012 06:38 AM

I love both layouts, i love nana's nursery stack and i love the circle flower. 

                                                                     ThanksStefanieH

Have a wonderful day! I'll be back here on Wednesday :)

Nana's Nursery & Shimmer Stack Pages

*To be entered in our weekly stack giveaways, leave a comment on each blog post throughout the week. Leave me a comment each time you share our blog post on Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest! Winners will be chosen at random from comments from the entire week combined. 

4 entries per post per person*

Hello there! I promise I had AMAZING, grand intentions about posting this yesterday. I had the post allll ready to go and when I hit "Publish"....uh yeah don't know what happened! But the post was not there and I was too annoyed to re do it all lol! But today is a new day and I am ready to sit down and do it again! 

Yesterday was busy. DCWV office, eyelash appointment, nail appointment...all this effort to look cute for the camera ;) I am off to film for the rest of the week so today is "pack-catch up on email day". But I am excited to head off and see my friends in Ohio & Texas. 

Since I posted my family picture last week, I have been getting email wondering about how we got our rescue dog, Foxy! Well....my co-workers can vouch on this, it is QUITE an amazing story which deserves it's own post. So look for that as soon as I get home from my trip. 

Gotta share this picture tho-my 5 year old looked at me and said, "We look alike, don't we Mom." I died and had to take a picture. He was dead serious!! Foxy is an angel doggy and we love her!

I have a couple gorgeous pages to show you today. This first one uses the "Nana's Nursery Baby Girl Stack. This cute stack has been out for a few years and I still see it pop up on projects all of the time. I love how classy it is. The colors and patterns are pretty timeless! I love it when our stacks stand the test of time and are still great YEARS after they are out. Not all companies can say that in my opinion.

Darling pinwheel....

Adorable rosette. I love this page...if only I had a cute little girl of my own to put on this page ;)

This fun page uses the Shimmer Stack which is our shimmery, smooth cardstock. I wish you could see this page in person, the photo doesn't give the shimmer paper it's rightful justice :)

I love these flowers. They are just circles that are scored around the edges and folded to give them that slight demision. So easy, break out those circle punches!

We have 2 winners from last week's blog posts! Don't forget to keep the conversation going and take a minute to write a blog comment. I love reading ALL of them and I promise I do!! Email me your address and I will get your prizes sent out to you {erinmadsen@diecutsinc.com}

Congrats to:

WendyApr 14, 2012 06:39 PM

Those cookies are to beautiful to eat! LOVE the stack that inspired them!

AND

KimberliApr 9, 2012 01:07 PM

Beautiful family! Love those LOs, the sun rays on the superman page are awesome!

 Thanks for stopping by! Have a wonderful day :)

Chateau Lavender Inspiration

*To be entered in our weekly stack giveaways, leave a comment on each blog post throughout the week. Leave me a comment each time you share our blog post on Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest! Winners will be chosen at random from comments from the entire week combined. 

4 entries per post per person*

Happy Friday the 13th! 

Yes, I am aware of what day today is because I have a 7 year old who thinks it's awesome :) Makes me laugh so hard because I thought it was so cool when I was little too! I remember walking to school looking for black cats or SOMETHING that would make the day significant! Oh to be a kid again! I hope none of you have any kind of misfortune today...and that includes no scary men in masks with a hockey stick ;)

I think most of you have seen this beautiful stack of ours, Chateau Lavender, which has been out for a few months. I have seen many pages, cards and albums using the gorgeous paper. But I was not prepared to see these!! 

These are COOKIES! I cant believe it! Maybe because I am good with making things with paper but decorating cakes and cookies is for sure not one of my talents. Amy over at Arty McGoo is a big DCWV paper fan but had not seen the Chateau Lavender Stack yet. When I showed her, of course she loved it. 

 

I love seeing all of the talents that you hold! I think part of keeping our own creativity alive is seeing all of the things that people around us can do. That's probably why I love Pinterest so much! I love the creative love that we all share, I really do!

Thank you, Amy, for letting me share your talent with my blogging friends! I just don't think I could eat one of those works of art, it would be a sin!

Have a fabulous weekend!!

CHA Spotlight: Peacock

*To be entered in our weekly stack giveaways, leave a comment on each blog post throughout the week. Leave me a comment each time you share our blog post on Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest! Winners will be chosen at random from comments from the entire week combined. 

4 entries per post per person*

Hello! Thanks for stopping by the blog today! You will be glad that you did, I promise. Things around here are busy, busy! Next week I am off to Cleveland & Dallas and am preparing several projects for both stops. I will be filming some segments in Cleveland for Scrapbook Soup, which is the scrapbooking show on PBS. The ladies there are so great, it should be a fun day with them. Then the next day I go to Dallas to film some fun stuff for Michaels. And we all know how much I love my friends at M's :) And I hear the incredibly talented Jo Pearson is celebrating her 25th Anniversary with Michaels this month! Amazing! Maybe one day they will say that about me at DCWV ;)

Today we get to spotlight the one and only Peacock from our CHA booth! So many of you have been asking how to make this! I can tell you a few things and then I can give you the template for the feathers. The gorgeous peacock feather has endless opportunities when it comes to crafting!

The form for the bird was made with paper mache and then covered in wiring. That makes a great base for covering with paper. 

The head and body is covered in small circles that are snipped and glued to make a very slight cone shape. That gives the body and head the dimension of the bird.

The body is covered in feathers and beads! The feathers are glittered around the edges which really makes them pop. Here are some more detailed instructions on how to make the feathers along with a template. My little boy walked in and said, "Is that bird made with paper?!" Even he was amazed ;)

Peacock Feather Tutorial

Supplies & Tools

·      DCWV 12”X12” BRIGHTS CARDSTOCK STACK

·      DCWV 12”X12” ROYAL GARDEN STACK

·      DCWV PEACOCK FEATHER TEMPLATE

·      BLUE MOON BEADS—LARGE GLASS FEATHER PENNANTS, GREEN ROUND BEADS

·      BEADING WIRE

·      PAPER PIERCER

·      PAPER CRAFTING ADHESIVE

·      GLITTER

·      SCISSORS

·      PENCIL

Directions

1.    PRINT AND CUT OUT THE DCWV PEACOCK FEATHER TEMPLATE.  TRACE THIS ONTO THE BACK OF YOUR DESIRED SOLID.  CUT OUT.

2.    TAKE YOUR ROYAL GARDEN STACK AND CUT OUT A LARGE TEARDROP SHAPE (THIS WILL GO IN BODY OF FEATHER).  ADHERE IN PLACE.

3.    ROLL EDGES OF FEATHER BACK TO GIVE SHAPE AND DIMENSION.  ADD GLITTER AROUND OUTSIDE OF THE FEATHER.  SET ASIDE TO DRY.

4.    WHILE GLITTER IS DRYING, CUT A 10” SECTION OF BEADING WIRE.  ATTACH LARGE GLASS PENDANT TO ONE END OF THE WIRE.  TAKE GREEN BEADS AND THREAD THEM ON NEXT, MAKING A 6” LONG SECTION. 

5.    ONCE GLITTER IS DRY, ATTACH BEADS TO TOP OF FEATHER (USE PAPER PIERCER TO POKE HOLE AND HIDE BARE WIRE BEHIND PAPER).

6.    REPEAT AS DESIRED. 

Have a wonderful day!!