Before we get to this week's challenge, let's take a look at what you all did last week and congratulate our lucky random winner: Janet Lebeau. To try and become a lucky, random winner yourself, please read on!

Nikki Blair pulled out some Garden Variety from our winter release in 2010. It's still fun, bright and perfect for spring.

Jan Garber went all the way back to our first-ever Cosmo Cricket release. This is Storytime from 2006. I can't tell you how in love I was with that sky paper when it came out. It's great to see it again!

Mandi used our second most popular line ever, Early Bird from 2009. (Our most popular line ever to date is Wanted.) Don't you love the randomness of this!

Lisa Sumpter made a card with Twenty-Three from 2012. Wait just a second, how can something from 2012 be in our "Somethine Old" challenge? Well, those chipboard pieces on the front are from so long ago that she can't even remember when she got them. Way to use them up Lisa!

I don't think KimberlyRae Ford even knows about our challenge, but she posted this project to our facebook fan page and it's so cute that I wanted to share it with you. She used Material Girl from 2010.

Janet Lebeau used a spinner card from 2009 (I think). I wish I still had some of these, they were so fun, especiall for making album covers with.

Patricia Moussatche posted this double page layout to our fanpage lamenting the fact that she was a week behind on our element challenge. Well, what she didn't know is that she was right on time with our Something Old challenge using Snorkel from 2009.

Lowri McNabb used Circa 1934 from 2010. It's a little over a year old, but her take on it is so fabulous!

Irit Shalom pulled out our third most popular line ever Mr. Campy from 2008. I think part of this is a digital layout (it's the paint spots that are giving me that feel). If true, this would be our first digi-scrap challenge entry ever.


Kayla Dupont used Salt Air from 2011. Doesn't she look fabulous in that photo? I guess a cruise is what I really need!

My sister-in-law Tami Comstock used a layout featuring Haunted from 2008. Not only is the product from a few years back, the layout kind of is too. Tami started it when Haunted first came out and got inspired to finish it up for this challenge by adding last year's Jack-O-Lantern photos.... although I noticed she still has some journaling to do.

If you weren't inspired to use up some of your older projects with this challenge, may I suggest another idea. Get together with some of your friends to exchange your oldies. It's amazing how someone else can have a vision for something you just don't see yourself using... besides it's super fun to have a scrap-swap party!

For this week's challenge, let's use some banners. They've been a trend for quite a while now. Make them for titles on layouts, embellishements on cards, out of paper or fabric for your home, etc. Show us your ideas. Inspire us with your talents.

Simply create a project featuring a banner or bunting, take a pic, put said pic on the internet and post a link to it in the comments on this blog post. You can also post it to our fanpage or email it to me directly julie at cosmocricket dot com. Whatever option you choose please, oh pretty please, put Banners and Buntings challenge in the subject line or description so I can find it. On that note, if I ever forget a project please let me know ASAP so that I can correct myself!

Thanks, you guys are the best!!!

We will play this week for a Baby Jane mini deck and stacked stickers. (As always it will be a random winner.) Good luck everyone!

This unexpected Saturday blog entry was made possible by the lovely Tracie Clairborne. Tracie sent me the following cards and they are so cute that I just had to share them with you all.

She used our Tea for Two Mini Deck to make each of these. She was on a roll and actually created 12 of each design, for a total of 36 cards, from the one deck. She now has plenty of cards on hand for short notice. I wish I were so organized!








To see more of Tracie's work, check out her blog, My Happy Life. Hey, we all love our blog traffic right!

Have a beautiful weekend my friends.

I love making these type of projects. They are deceptively easy to do, but don't worry, we won't tell your friends. 

Today I'll show you exactly how to make the flower vase collage, but the techniques for all of them are mostly the same. And, if you have any questions about anything, just ask!

To start, I needed a flower. I used my sewing pattern tissue paper, cutting a 1.5" strip and ruffling it onto a 1" Gluber starting from the outside edge and working in. (Ignore the big flower, it is not used in this project.)

For my "canvas" I am using a 2" by 7" scrap of wood. I used Gesso to cover it. Then I gathered my supplies. I do this just by focusing on colors. I picked out a green background and varying shades of yellows, looking for lights and darks. This is a great project for scraps!

Once your gesso-ed wood is dry, trace it onto a piece of type paper. We'll design our collage right on the type paper and use it for our template too.

I purposely wanted my vase to be a bit "skiwampus" so that it would have more visual interest and a folk art feel. Once you're happy with the drawing of your shape (hearts, butterflies, etc are all easy things to start with) cut it out.

Next, take your papers, cut scraps and stick them to the paper until it's covered. I put lights on one side and darks on the other to create an illusion of shading. I'll enhance the shading with Distress Inks later on.

It's completely optional, but you can stitch the seems if you like. I think it's cute, but I don't always take the time to do this.

Then just flip everything over and trim the excess.

Now you want to think about the background that your pieced shape will sit upon. I tore a piece of green patterned cardstock and used Liquitex Acrylic medium to glue it down. To do this, just paint it onto the backside of the paper, press that to your surface and then paint over the top too.

On a separate note, this medium is what I use to seal paper before painting on top of it. If you've ever tried to paint on paper and haven't been happy with the results give it a try!

Distress your background by sanding off any edges you don't want and layering up coats of ink to make everything good and dirty.

With the background finished, it's time to add our pieced vase. I used the same technique for this as I did for the background. The Liquitex will hold all the loose threads and everything. It's super-awesome! Use more Distress Ink to add any shading or antiquing that you think your piece needs.

Then you'll need to paint a stem. I used a dab of acrylic craft paint. Don't be afraid here, we are only talking about a simple 1/2" line. You can do it! If you're super afraid and you don't mind a black stem, just use a pen.

Then peel and stick your Gluber flower in place. I also added one of our new Tiny Text stickers because I like sentiments! I coated those with Liquitex too for the brushed texture that looks so nice with a little more Distress Ink over the top.

That's all there is to it! If you decide to give this a try, send us a pic or post to our facebook fan page. We'd love to see your projects!

 

Today, for Thrift Thursday, we'll go from this, a 25¢ sewing pattern found at my thrift store (and yes, I really did sew that top in peach striped fabric for my seventh grade sewing class.):

To these, and I won't be running out of tissue paper anytime soon!





I have to tell you, after making these projects, I am even more in love with sewing pattern tissue paper than I thought I would ever be! Let's discuss just some of the fun stuff you can do with it should we?

Using a 1" Gluber and a strip of our paper, I made this pretty little flower in a matter of minutes. This is so easy and the tissue paper ruffles in the loveliest way!

In fact, I loved it so much I wanted to make a big flower too. I used a 2" Gluber for this one. I wanted to change the color, but my spritzing inks are packed up at the moment. I improvised with watercolor.

Do you ever have trouble designing over busier patterns? Sometimes I do because if the background is busy, it seems to compete too much with the photo. Well, a great technique is to use sewing tissue paper to mute the backgroud design. (Don't worry, I'll be teaching step by steps of all these projects in the next couple days).

For the gift box, I used some tissue paper ruffles to dress up the top. They are much easier to work with than paper ruffles and are light and airy which I really love! I also love that for 25¢ I got enough tissue paper to stuff dozens of gift bags. I think it's especially perfect for giving crafty gifts to crafty friends!

On the tag to go with my new bag, I used the tissue paper to make my apron skirt. This is just another ruffle made with a much wider strip.

If you like these projects, stay tuned. I took step by step photos as I made each one and I'll be teaching you exactly how to do them yourselves. We'll start tomorrow with my flower vase collage. Out of all the projects, it's my personal favorite. I think it would make a perfect Mother's Day gift, don't you?

Join us tomorrow for Thrifty Thursday to see what we do with today's thrift store finds.

The sewing pattern cost a total of 25¢! Can you believe that. There is a ton of tissue paper in one pattern so that is quite the deal. And those letters... sometimes I can't believe my luck. It's true, I will only be able to spell a few words, but matrices are cool and the box itself is awesome! I have an idea for it too, but for tomorrow we'll focus on the sewing pattern. Be sure to check back!

 

I was going to get a project done over the weekend to join the fabulous projects below, but alas, Eric woke up Saturday with his knee locked at about 80 degrees and couldn't walk. Do you know how much more work a stuck in bed man is than an out and about man?

We are waiting for a donor femur part (that sounds better than donor bone, which I always mix up and say bonor done by accident) to fix Eric's knee. It's been about 5 weeks, but at 6' 6" a femur the right size is hard to come by. Cross your fingers that he gets one soon!

Ok, now onto your projects. I have to hurry before the man upstairs is calling my name again.

Lisa Sumpter used Twenty-Three and the new Element Deck on this cute greeting card. Don't  you love the stitched x's?!?!?

Hold on Eric, I'll be right there......

Next up, Laura made a fun garden layout with Early Bird. I just noticed some flowers on my strawberry plants and I'm super excited!


Cynthia B. shared a great card using Circa 1934 on her flicker page. It is right's protected and I can't share it here, so follow the link to see it.

Almost done Eric. I'm hurrying!

I love this layout by Janet Lebeau. The vintage photo is perfect with Social Club. What a handsome guy.

Irit Shalom did another fabulous layout this week, this time featuring Garden Variety. I am seeing a trend here with the stitched x's.

 Savi Ostrozny made this hip layout about herself using a new element tag from Twenty Three and some of the labels from one of the papers Eric designed. Isn't this a fun one!

 Another great layout comes to us from Monique Liedtke. Tea for Two is perfect for this one.

One more second Eric.... really.... I promise!

Lowri McNabb couldn't get a project done in time for the challenge, but one from the past is a great example of using element cards. I wanted to share it with you all just for inpsiration.

This week, it's spring clean time! Don't worry, I'm not going to make you clean out your stash. Instead, you just have to find on really old item. Something you loved enough to buy, but now that it has sat for years, you feel like you should just toss... except you can't because you paid cold, hard cash for it. You challenge, should you dare to take it, is to use this oldie and make it into a goodie! Come on, you can do it and you'll feel great about yourself once you have!!

Upload your projects to our facebook fanpage, anywhere else with a link in the comments here or email them to me julie at cosmocricket dot com. Please include Something Old Challenge in the subject line. Thanks!

Eric, here I come to save the day.
Don't you worry, I'm on my way.

(Please let the hospital call soon!)

Sorry, I got sidetracked with Eric and forgot our winner. Ooops!

Congratulations to Savi Ostrozny. Savi has played with us a lot and I knew she would win one of these times. Savi, send your info to julie at cosmocricket dot com and I'll see to it that you get your prize. 

I can't keep track of anything with Eric calling my name. We need a prize for next week's random winner. How about the Twenty Three papers and Stacked Stickers! OK, I think that's all. 

UPDATED AGAIN (this really isn't my day!). Izzy Anderson made these sweet cards with Tea For Two. I saw them when she posted them last week, but somehow they were lost this morning. Never fear, when I realized two were missing, I emailed Izzy and she re-sent them for us all. Thanks Izzy. They are super cute!

 

We have had some great entries for our element challenge so far that I'm excited to show on Monday. If you haven't played along with us yet, I'm here to inspire you.

I personally love our elements. I use them on almost every project I do. In fact, I love them so much that sometimes I get a bit carried away. Ok, maybe more than a bit.

One of my favorite element layouts is this one I did for my Grandma.

Since I used almost an entire sheet of elements, I thought it may spark some ideas for your element projects. So, I made a sketch from it (yes, my sketches come after my layouts are made). Please enjoy!

 Have a great weekend everyone. I hope you all have fun plans!

I use a lot of pre-folded card bases that come with envelopes, but I rarely use the envelopes. Do you have this problem?

Needless to say, I have stacks of card-sized envelopes sitting around. Everytime I see them, I feel a twinge of guilt for being wasteful. So, I decided to play around with one yesterday and came up with this.

(I apologize for the dark photo, but spring in Providence, Utah is less than sunny.)

I'm really excited about it for three reasons. First, it will give me a use for my envelopes, second I can put little treasures like gift certificates, movie passes, etc into the card and third it uses an element card and qualifies for our element challenge. (Don't worry, I won't enter myself into the prize drawing.)

If you would like to make one, simply fold your envelope backwards, add a rectangle of cardstock to the flap for the back of your card, decorate the front and voilà an instant pocket card. 

I have a big butt and I cannot lie
You other mothers can't deny
Four pregnancies
Did something to me
Increased my family and my pant size.

So, as always, I am trying to pare down my pear figure. And, as always, my top half has responded really well to my healthy eating and exercise.

I have lost enough weight that Kate and I may be able to swap swimsuit tops, although she and Abby could fit into one of my bottoms at the same time and still have room for a friend.

I have lost enough weight that when I take Abby shopping for her training bra, I may have to see if there's a cute one for me. If there isn't, I'm going to start a campaign for Victoria's Secret to make an "Act of God" Miracle Bra because their current miralce isn't that miraculous anymore!

I have lost enough weight that my face looks like it has been deflated. 

Despite these milestones, my lower half is still filling out sizes twice as big as my upper half.

I think my left cheek resides in a different zip code than my right cheek.

And, I keep having to replace my workout pants when they get thin where my thighs rub together, but I guess that's an OK trade off, since I'm saving tons of money not buying sports bras anymore. Yep, at this point, I can go for a run without a bra at all and nobody would notice... unless it was really cold! (TMI, TMI, I'm sorry.)

So, what's a pear to do? Since I already eat super healthy and exercise I was at a loss. That is until I started reading and learning about standing. For anyone that doesn't know, sitting is bad for you and now-a-days, we sit a lot!!! I love to design, but to do that I always had to sit at my desk. After I started reading research on sitting and how bad it is for you, I told Eric I wanted a standing desk. 

I was using the IKEA Galant desk. Did you know you can extend the angled legs with that desk up to 36"? That still wasn't quite tall enough for me and so I went to the local WalMart (don't worry, I changed out of my thin yoga pants and put on a bra) and found some bed risers. I put my desk on the risers and now have a 42" high monstrosity that is perfect. I will have to adjust some shelves and find a way to hide all the computer cords.

According to anecdotal reports, I can now expect to burn an extra 400-500 calories per day. I am hoping that since all the fat on my upper bod seems to be gone that those calories will have to come from my lower half. Wish me and my cheeks the best of luck!!!

  

Today I'm going to share some of my odds and ends. We'll start with the odds:

One very odd thing about me is that I can't tell the difference between cars of the same color. That's right, Honda Civic, Ford Taurus, Toyota Camry, etc. If they are all red, they are the same to me! Unfortunately I drive a white Honda Odyssey and there are a lot of white vans on the road. Needless to say I lose my car in the parking lot, A LOT and have been known to peek in windows to recognize it. True story! And this from a girl that can spot a one point type leading error a mile away and tell you the name of fonts by looking at them.

Now for an end (and no, it won't be about my behind):

I've been waiting months and months to see the following images! I haven't seen the fabric in real life yet, but I hope you like the way it is looking as much as I do!!!



My sister, Emily Bailey, happens to love my Odds and Ends too. Look at this darling quilt pattern she is planning for the line. Have you ever seen anything so cute in your life?

Before we get to your great projects, I have to ask, "Who didn't cross their fingers?"

I think I remember asking you all to keep your fingers crossed the home inspection in Austin would go well. Just for future reference, in case I wasn't clear the first time, by "well" I meant no tree roots in the plumbing. Come June 1, Eric and I could be homeless which will be an exciting adventure, don't you think? Maybe our next challenge on the blog will be to find us a home, or make one out of chipboard and paper. Hmmm, I'll have to think on that!

Until then, enjoy this weeks projects.
Heather Landry used Salt Air to make a pretty summertime layout. I love how she used the splash chipboard shapes as leaf accents around her flowers (that looks like a Gluber flower to me). I am crocheting a rug with Salt Air right now and can I tell you that the color combinations are my favorite... maybe of any line ever!

Irit Shalome made a beautiful layout about herself. I really like all the layering going on here.

I want my kids to have some pages about me in their scrapbooks, you know reminding them about all my sacrifices as their mother so I can continue to guilt them from the grave.... just kidding! But really, I do think pages about ourselves are important for our kids to have. Maybe we'll make a challenge in the future to inspire us all to get this done. 

Lowri McNabb used some paper and chipboard from The Boyfriend to make a hip, teen-room switch-plate cover. I love this idea!

Janet Lebeau chronicles the beauty of spring with Early bird chipboard on textured cardstock. My tulips aren't even close to blooming yet... sigh.

Michele Duffy managed to sqeeze in some time for a cute layout about her toddler. I have so many photos of my kids just like this and even more art projects. So I have to ask Michele, what do you do with all the art projects little ones create? 
 
Savi Ostrovny went above and beyond this week with two darling projects. The first is a journal for a-friend-of-a-friend featuring Eric's happy veggie illustrations. The second is a hilarious birthday card. We love the "what's up, chicken butt" phrase at our house!


Laurel Seabrook used Tea for Two on this pretty card. I love this line and this card!


And, last but not least, Ashley Nguyen Newell used Pixilicious for a bright and girly spring card. This one is so sweet and somehow she found ribbon to match perfectly!
Our random winner for the chipboard challenge is Michele Duffy. Congratulations Michele, please send your info to julie at cosmocricket dot com with Chipboard Challenge Winner in the title and I'll make sure you get your Washi Tape.

This week, let's play with Cosmo Cricket elements. Our elements started out at as cut-apart paper sheets years ago. Then they made their way to printed fabrics and now they are even available in decks shaped like tags. Use any or all of the above on your project this week. It's fun, it's inspiring and you could win one each of the four new Element Decks. Simple create your project, post it online somewhere and link it in the comments here, or put it on our facebook page or email it to me julie at cosmocricket dot com. Either way, please put Element Challenge in the title and we'll make sure you are entered. Thanks!

Here's to a happy, crafty, springy week my friends!

I think we all fell in love with this project when we saw it.

Now we owe a very special thanks to Donna Budzynski for teaching us how she makes these fabulous, stitched paper purses! Donna made a second one and while she did, created a step by step, free, downloadable tutorial for you all.
Please let her know how much you appreciate her for this. Especially since she did it while recovering from a broken rib (yep, Donna is the friend that I thought was pulling my leg on April Fools). We love you Donna, thanks for taking the time to do this for us!!!
Download Donna's Paper Purse Instructions

We'll start with the winners. As always, we have some really great projects from friends to share with you. If you haven't played along with us on a challenge, you should. Playing is fun and fun is good!

Yoshie Nakagaki used Baby Jane for her adorable card.

Izzy B Anderson used Clementine paper, stitching along all the squares. I have used this technique with this same paper. I love it... it always turns out cute!

Janet Lebeau made a layout with DeLovely. Notice the pretty stitched lettering she made for the title.

Laurel Seabrook came up with a completely different look using Baby Jane by emphasizing the blues and yellows. Isn't that bunny precious!

I shouldn't have favorites, but Savi Ostrovny's quilting of the white fabric to a card backgroung is so pretty in my opinion. I especially love it with the dark accents from Social Club.

Mandi Holmes used lots of stitching on her Father's Day card made with Salt Air. I really like the stitching down the left hand side!

Last, but not least, Donna made a new stitched purse with Twenty-Three. And if you love it, you'll want to check in tomorrow because she has given in to our begging and pleading and made a tutorial for us all.

Our lucky random winner for our Sweet Stitches challenge is, Izzy B Anderson. Izzy please send your info to julie at cosmocricket dot com with Sweet Stitches Winner in the titel and I'll make sure you get your chipboard.

Our next challenge, we will call our "I Hoard Chipboard Challenge" and if you fit this description, it will be perfect for you! Dec out some fabulous projects with Cosmo Cricket chipboard, post them on our facebook fanpage, online with a link here in the comments or email them to me, julie at cosmocricket dot com. Please include "chipboard challenge" in the subject line. We will enter each participant into a random drawing for one pack of each of our new Washi Tape skus.

The good news about April fools day is that I "get" a lot of people. The bad news is that I am so on guard, that when a friend really breaks a rib, I don't believer her until days later.

The good news about losing ten pounds is that I can fit into smaller clothing. The bad news is that the smaller clothing is a bra, not pants.

The good news is that it is spring break. The bad news is that it is snowing.

The good news is that the CHAS lines are almost wrapped up. The bad news is I'll have to keep them secret for months.

The good news about this blog entry is that it is done. The bad news is that I don't have any pretty projects to share today. Sorry!

Happy Friday anyway! 

1. A Super-Cute friendship tag by Donna. I love how she combined the Tea for Two papers with the Baby Jane chipboard!

2. Hunger Games. Have you seen it? Ethan is a huge fan of all the books and so Eric and I took him to the matinee the other day. It was riveting! I, for some reason, was entirely too emotional the day we saw it and cried several times. But, I love a great heroine and Katniss fills that role perfectly!

3. We have put an offer on a house in Austin. Here's some pics. I fly out for the home inspection this week. What do you think?





 

Eric Comstock is not a man of many words, but he is a man of many pictures. Enjoy some of his fun art today. It always brings a smile to my face!

We had several of you mention you would like a challenge to use stitching in a project. Well, I'm here to make that happen.

If you haven't ever sewn on paper before, don't worry. Here is a video tutorial from a previous blog post that will answer any questions you may have... even what to do if your thread breaks (which mine does while filming). If you want to sew on fabric, we'd love that too. Just use accent stitching in your project.

Play along with us this week and you could win one of the chipboards from each of the four newly released CHAW lines (Evangeline, Tea for Two, Twenty Three and Baby Jane). All you need to do is complete a project with stitching accents and let us know about it. You can either post it online and put a link in a comment on this post, post it to our facebook fanpage or email it to me, julie at cosmocricket dot com. Whichever method you use, please put Sweet Stitches Challenge in the title or comment so I don't lose it! We will pick a random winner Monday morning.

Here is a project from Donna to inspire us.

How was your April Fools Day?

Eric and I both fell for a trick at Cafe Ibis. I honestly don't know what we were thinking... I'm blaming it on the early hour and fact we hadn't had our coffee yet. You see, Cafe Ibis is known to serve primarily vegetarian, vegan and gluten free menu items. Let's just say you can't get a burger and fries there EVER! But for some reason a new sign saying they "now had bacon" got Eric and I ordering it.

They had a great laugh at our expense! And, so did we!!

OK, we have three winners for the Gingher 4" embroidery scissors. If you are not one of them, but would like a really great, sharp pair of little scissors I highly recommend them. (I am not paid to endorse them and bought my own pair with my own money.)

Congratulations go to:
Annette Crain
Nicole Doiron
Pam Spradlin

Ladies, please send your information to julie at cosmocricket dot come with Gingher Winner in the subject line of the email. I'll forward it onto Stephenie who will see to it you get your scissors.

We also have some fun Chevron Challenge projects to feature today.

Savi Ostrozny used punched pieces to make her chevrons. I love the dimension and stiching with this!

Heather Adams made a clean and beautiful card with DeLovely. This one totally pops against that white background.

And Michelle Duffy made a two page, multiple photo layout with Togetherness. Michelle had done this project before the challenge, but it's so cute I had to share it with you all.

The lucky, random winner from this challenge is Heather Adams. Heather, please send me your info (julie at cosmocricket dot com) and I'll see you get your Tea for Two papers and chipboard.

Today, I'm taking ideas for a new challenge. Hey, won't you help a girl out?!?! Give me a great idea and we'll post a new challenge tomorrow.

Happy Monday everyone!

Hey, I'm here. I wasn't joking! Watch the video to find out how you could win my favorite tool, a pair of 4" Gingher embroidery scissors!