DIY Friday #7: Paper Bow

Can you believe it has been 7 weeks since I have started doing DIY Friday's? Man, time flies! Last week I had some extra strips from making the paper snowman that were accordion folded laying around and I went to pick them up to put away until later when I happen to notice that it can make this really cute bow! I personally think this would look really cute on a Christmas card {or a baby card!} as well as on Christmas scrapbook pages!

Here is the bow I will show you how to make:

Step 1: Cut 1 strip 1x7

Step 2: Do the accordion fold technique

Step 3: Fold your strip in half (both ways)after you have finished accordion folding

Step 4: After you fold them both ways adhere the center area so the bow sticks

Step 5: Cut a 1/4x3" strip and wrap it around the center

See you next Friday! <3

New 12x12 Scrapbook Sketches Book--- Coming Soon!

Well, I finally made the announcement that you all have been waiting for! Earlier today on my facebook page I announced that I will be coming out with a Scrapbooking 12x12 Sketch Book!! I cant give all the details away just yet so this is just a teaser ;) but for now I can tell you this book contains sketches for both single and double page layouts, be sure to keep checking back as I will be announcing more in the several up-coming weeks.

If you like sketches, you will LOVE this book!

DIY Friday #6: Paper Snowman

So this DIY Friday actually comes to you from a happy accident! Ohhh how I love happy accidents! See, originally I was planning on showing you how to make what I call the accordion flower and I was making a couple testing out the different sizes, as I had them laying together I realized that this has the possibility of looking like a snowman! So I went along with my thought and BAM! Snowman! Actually, it turned out to be a little more of a snowwoman, same difference!

Here she is, the lovely snowwoman:

Step 1: Cut 3 strips of white paper, 1x7, 1.5x8.5 and 2x11. Then start accordion folding

Step 2: Continue to accordion fold until all 3 of your strips look like this

Step 3: Scrunch your fold all the way and then fold it in half:

Step 4: Take the 2 edges that come together when folded and adhere them together

Step 5: Unfold back out

Step 6: Then fold to the opposite side

Step 7: Adhere both the sides that you folded together and adhere the center as well

Step 8: Adhere them together smallest to largest, then start adding your embellishments

Step 9: Finish decorating your snowman and you are finished!

Hope you like this weeks DIY Friday, it was a ton of fun making this one!! I look forward to making more and adding different embellishment to see how they turn out, if you make one share it with me I would love to see how it turns out! I don't know how I can top it next week for DIY Friday but surely I will think of something ;) Be sure to check back!

Have a Merry Christmas!!!

Blitsy (DEEP DISCOUNTS): Reminder

Hey everyone ;)

I just wanted to remind you all in case you forgot, or perhaps missed my last post about Blitsy! Blitsy is a new company similar to groupons offering new deals 3 days a week at deep discounts. I've seen Tattered Angels mists, TONS of Tim Holtz items such as stickles, distress inks and lots lots more, 7 Gypsies, Xyron and many other companies. If you would like to see for yourself (who wouldn't???) do yourself a favor and click here and sign on up to start seeing these amazing deals!

Great Christmas Gift Idea: Cookie Cookbook Album

Each year I make a Christmas Cookie Recipe Book for one of my friends who loves to bake. American Crafts has these wonderful little 6x6 albums for just $5, which is not only an AMAZING price but perfect size!! They have coordinating 12x12 papers that when cut down each piece gets you 4 pages in this cute little book =)

To complete this book I simple google holiday recipes and then after I find a recipe I like go to google image and "borrow" one of the best looking photos to use with it. Lol! I am very much the eater, not the baker so google is my best friend for this little project!

Now on to the cook book:



I make the front page look like a gift, cute right???

There are 5 days left until Christmas, surely you can whip a few out for some family members, right?? Lol. Well, at least you can hit up your local scrapbook store and grab up what they have and start working on it for next year and have those gifts done!

American Crafts has these wonderful $5 6x6 albums in several different themes, be sure to check them all out... they really do make the perfect gift!

KOTMC: January 2012 Sneak Peek

It's that time! Time to reveal the "Sneak Peek" for January 2012 Kit Of The Month Club for Scrap Happy in Tiffin, Ohio. This time I am showing you a 12x12 Double page spread, there are also 2 additional single pages to this kit as well. The January KOTMC is using the absolutely beautiful BoBunny Snowfall Collection and contains material to complete a total of 4 12x12 pages along with instructions and photos. These kits will be available at Scrap Happy no later than January 1st, 2012 {Well, I am sure more like the 2nd this month considering the Holiday} so be sure to stop in and check out the rest of the pages =) For more information regarding the KOTMC click here.

And here it is, a sample of one of the layouts in January's kit:



Look at those colors, aren't they amazing??? I really had so much fun working with this KOTMC kit, the papers are ALL sparkly and not that I ever need an excuse to use sparkle but with snow pictures the sparkle will be so beautiful! If you are not a member of the KOTMC but want to sign up {you can always ask the hubby to sign you up too, great Christmas gift} contact Susie or an employee at Scrap Happy here.

DIY Friday #5: Make A Butterfly Out Of Flowers

Is it just me or did Friday roll around really fast this week? I think it might have something to do with the fact that Christmas is just around the corner and I still have a LOT of shopping to do!!! Lol.



Well so far for the first 4 DIY Friday's I have shown you how to make flowers, this week I decided to change it up (just a little bit, haha) and show you how to take flowers you have and make them into cute little butterflies! I thought it'd be cute to make a congrats card for a newly born baby using the DIY Butterflies.



Here is the card I made:




Step 1: Pick out your flower, it must be a 5 petal flower and the rounder the petals the better for transforming it into a beautiful butterfly!



Step 2: Take the top petal and fold it in toward the bottom of the flower






Step 3: You can either leave the petal folded in or cut it off at this point, up to you, but if you are going to use wire and make antenna's you may want to leave the top of the flower attached for the extra layering ;)




Step 4: Last add the bling, or centering of your choice (perfect pearls or stickles makes a create center also).

Last add this cute little guy to your project!

To make this card I used products from the Simple Stories line Baby Steps!
Be sure to stop back next Friday to check out a new DIY idea =)

Echo Park: A Boys Life

One thing I know is true and that is it is always hard to find boy scrapbook items (other than when they are first born!). Well, Echo Park has come out with "A Boy's Life" line and it is adorable! There are tons of patterns in the collection that work very well with boys of all ages. Click Here to view the whole collection.
**Side note, as always (it seems) I can totally see some very cute Disney pages that could be made with this.... hmmmmbbbb..... can you see it, can ya, can ya? ;)

CHA 2012 Winter: Sneak Peeks!!

It's getting to be that time already! Time for all of our beloved store owners to head off into the land of glitz and glam and see all the new, beautiful, sparkly lines all the vendors have to offer. CHA opens to retailers Jan 29, 2012 about a month and a half away and companies have been starting to leak information on what they will be offering at this upcoming event. How exciting!! So this is what I have found so far on what we have to look forward to......


Graphic 45: Tropical Travelogue

A beautiful travel line that is amazing for those beach vacations or summer parties. I LOVE the colors in this line!! To see all of the papers and embellishment sheets from this line Click Here.

Websters Pages: Clean & Simple

The bitter cold winter has not even hit us yet {at least here in Ohio} and this line from Websters pages has me thinking of spring time and warmth... I think I'll be staring at this collection and drinking hot chocolate during the snowy days pretending it's spring. =)

I like this line for the reason it's name states, the simplicity in some of the patterns. It is great to have a few simple patterns so it does not overwhelm your photos but at the same time you are getting that pattern so it helps everything pop! For more information on this line and to see some page samples Click Here.








Pink Paislee: Spring Jubilee

Ahhh Pink Paislee does it again, out with another stunning collection with their Spring Jubilee line. Who doesn't love a line with flowers, butterflies, music notes and birds??? To check out more information on this line Click Here .

Be sure to check back at a later date for more sneak peeks, I just love checking out what will be coming out and seeing all of the "must haves"!

DIY Friday #4: Poinsettia Flower

Finally, it's Friday!! And to top it off I have yet another Do It Yourself flower technique =) this time I am showing you how to make a Poinsettia out of paper. You all can think Sybrina for requesting this particular flower, I just love it when I get requests ;)

Also, with it being the holiday season and Christmas just around the corner makes it the perfect time for making Poinsettia's.

Ok, so here is the Poinsettia you have been so patiently awaiting:

(I made this at the last minute, last night so you can place your petals in a more beautiful fashion and mess around with them to spread a little more... I was making this in a bit of a hurry)



Step 1: Cut 3 strips of paper 1.5x4:





Step 2: Then fold all 3 of your strips vertically (so it's now 1.5x2)

Step 3: Then fold them horizontally

Step 4: Take your scissors and cut curved from the bottom right to the top left

Step 5: Open your folds, your petal should now look like this:

Step 6: Then fold your petal in half (if using a pattern you will want the pattern you want to show to be on the inside of the fold):

Step 7: Then fold the top of each side to the bottom where the crease it so it looks like this:

Step 8: Then fold your piece in half and it will look like this: Once you have you petals how you want them use a glue dot between the fold to hold it in place

Step 9: Once you have all your petals folded like this punch a 1" circle:

Step 10: Then adhere all of your petals onto your circle:

Step 11: Last add your center! I used my pearl pen to make a center for this flower, I didn't have time to let it dry completely but I will be going over the center again to make it look like 5 pearls are in the center of the flower (what I love about this liquid pearl is that you can color over it with copic markers after it dries!!!)

To make your Poinsettia even more beautiful ink the creases with a deep red or use a deep red stickles to add some extra shiny bling!

Also, head on over to Tiffany's blog, she made a b-e-a-utiful Poinsettia out of felt and has the DIY steps on how to make her felt Poinsettia ;)

New Scrapbook Store- Lancaster, Ohio

Good morning! It's always a good morning when there is news of a new scrapbook store around! Scrapbooks 2 Cherish is the newest store to hit the block and this time it is in Lancaster, Ohio... exciting! The lack of scrapbook stores in this part of town makes all of us people south/east of Columbus so so happy =)

Updated 12/7/11- I am now updating with exact location for Scrapbooks 2 Cherish:
It is located at The shops at Ety & Fair.
Address: 2243 W. Fair Ave. Lancaster, OH 431303
Phone #: 740-681-1991

From my understanding they have been open for a couple of weeks, their Grand Opening was last weekend so they are already up & running and opened for business! So be sure to stop by and check out this new store!

Designs By Ashley Rock Facebook Page

Happy Monday everybody! I have a few big announcements coming up soon that I think you all will love ;) (sorry I cant tell you yet, I am sorry for the tease!!) But because of the things coming up soon I decided it was time to make a new facebook company page for Designs By Ashley Rock. If you want to stay up to date and have a facebook page please go to my new page and "like" it by clicking the like button on the top of the page, just click here or go to facebook.com/DesignsByAshleyRock

Thanks & I promise I will update you all as soon as I possibly can!

DIY Friday: Felt Flower #3

Today's DIY Friday comes to you from Tiffany Henderson at I Am My Design. Most of you I am sure know, but for those who don't, Tiffany is one of my BFF's, since the 6th grade actually when my parents tricked me into going to catholic school by making me think they wanted me to go to a certain Columbus public school, I had 2 options and made the rebellious choice of the Catholic school or at least thought that I was making the rebellious choice, haha {true story}.

Anyway, Tiffany and I have been BFF's since 6th grade and "when we grew up" ended up working together at my moms shop Pizazz It! Scrapbooks. (To check out her blog click here), now that Pizazz It has closed {thanks to a certain big business wanting our exact store location and forcing us out when there were plenty of other open spots they could of had, JustSayin} we are putting out brains together and coming up with our own "business plan"--- you will want keep up with our blogs and/or Pizazz It's e-mail blast {click here and then click on join mailing list to sign up} to stay up to date as things progress, we are hoping to be putting our "plans" together beginning of 2012 {just keep an eye out}.

Oh yeah, back to DIY Friday--- how did I get that off topic? So, as I was trying to say--- I was on vacation all last week {DISNEY!} and thought for sure when I got back into town I would be able to put together a DIY Friday post but I have been slacking since I got back {my excuse is because I was sick.... though I have been feeling better since Monday lol} so I am presenting you with a DIY Friday from my partner in crime Tiffany, she made this wonderful tutorial and used it in this blog post. I love it, and it works great with paper too, though the felt is so much more beautiful!

Try it out yourself! And if you do a post using the flower be sure to hook me up with a link so I can view it too and see how you used this lovely flower! {I can totally see this flower looking amazing with materials on a shirt, or a barrette or on a head band.... so many options beyond scrapbooking/card making!!} Happy Friday Everyone!