LollyChops

I need help!!! ...grunge-y, swirl-y, flower-y or circle-y?

I was a frantic crafter this weekend (working my little baby bunny procrastinator fingers off on MomChops birthday present (her birthday was Saturday...  HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOMCHOPS!!!)).

I was not able to get her present done in time for her birthday dinner Sunday evening (but I did manage to bring her bits and pieces to peep at).

The present presentation went something like this...  "Hey Mom...  look what I almost made you...  now give it back so I can finish it!"  She is used to this kind of thing from me so she took it all in stride!!

The pic of the craft table is all I have to share of it since it's still a work in progress!

As I was prepping the pic I noticed something that got me a inquisitive personal email last week.  The person asked if I was drinking a GIGANTIC glass of wine as I was crafting (a glass with reddish liquid has showed up several times in my craft table pics).

Let me assure you folks..  it's just cranberry juice mixed with water.  I like to drink a ton of water and I find that I can get loads more in if I have a little juice with it.  Cranberry is my juice of choice so that's all it is!  Don't worry...  I am not sitting there sipping on a 64 ounce trough of wine as I am punching butterflies and glittering cardboard!  hehehe...  honest!

Are ya ready to vote??
Sew...  since there are no tutorials to share today I have something I need your help with!  I am redesigning my blog right now and I want to see if you guys will help me pick out the bits and pieces as I get them ready!  Think of it as an interactive redesign!  I need you to chime in and help me pull this thing together!

The parts I am going to be re-doing are:  image treatments, background and header (the header is going to be the hardest part because I am making it instead of just designing it on the computer).

Today I will be sharing a few image treatment options.  Let's jump right in!!

Option 1 - Grungy Borders

This one is kinda grungy with a little butterfly thrown in.
I can change up the butterfly with other stuff whenever I want.
I kinda like that.

Option 2 - Swirly Border

Rounded corners with some swirls and a leaf.
I am thinking I can change out the leaf too (like the butterfly one from above).

Option 3 - Flower Corner

This one is just a regular flower corner with LC.com up on the top right side.

Option 4 - Circle Frame

I am not sure this one is gonna fly...  but I sure do like the idea of having a page full of circle pictures!!!
I can change up the colors and make the circles in different sizes.
It's not out of the running completely - but I think it might be harder to pull off.

So there they are... are you more of a grunge kind of girl or are you all about the circles??

Can you pretty please leave me comment and let me know which one is your favorite!?!  If you don't like any of them that's ok!  Just tell me to get back to it and come up with something else or you'll never talk to me again (that would work...  trust me)!

I'll share the winner from this voting bonanza AND the background image options AND a real tutorial AND a pic of MomChops finished birthday present next Monday... (it's totally going to be action packed next week)!!!

P.S. + O.M.T. = Big Thanks
To thank you for helping me out with the redesign I made up a download and print freebie of the "pie addict" badges.  You can wear them when you attend your next Pie Eaters Anonymous (PEA) meeting (or you can give them to your friends who are in denial about their pie addiction).

If you send me a pic of yourself, your friends, your pets, or your craft projects wearing a badge - I'll post them!!  Us pie addicts need to stick together!

P.S.S.T. xoxoxoxoxoxoxo's!

The Tiny Twitters Teal Townhouse

Firstly I want to thank you guys for goat loads of super sweet comments last week (I am still working on responding to all of them)!!!!  I always get kinda worried about doing such long posts and rambling on and on and you all made me feel loads better about my verbosity.

Completely random side note:  I was feeling all clever pants and thought I made up a new word just now (seeing as how you can tack an "ity" or a "ousness" or a "ular" or a "tastic" on to any word and VIOLA you have a new word (examples as follows:  Dogtacity, Dogtastic, Dogtacular, Dogulousness, etc...)... so it turns out "verbosity" a real word (who knew?!?!).  The definition is as follows:  Using or containing a great and usually an excessive number of words; wordy.)!  If I could give a definition a hug - I totally would!  Who me?  WORDY!! hehe... that just made me smile so I had to share.

Sew... MomChops came over yesterday to help me get my Mod Podge act in gear (you can read all about Mod Podge HERE).  I was supposed to do all this craft room stuff Saturday and I ended up goofing off all day with RonChops instead (we had a Halloween party to go to that night and I made mummy dogs.  I am seriously bummed that I did not get a picture of them cause they were totally cute and GOOD.  You can see the recipe HERE).

MomChops basically saved the day and acted as my helper/model/moral support (with some assistance from the GrandDogs of course)!

As I am typing this I am trying to figure out if I am going to share all 42 of the pictures I prepped for this post...  or spare you the horror.  Oh wait...  I did ask you guys last week if all this picture excess AND verbosity thing was ok and you pretty much said it was...  soooooooooooooooo

YOU ASKED FOR IT!
(WOO HOO!)

Let's get started with a little song first...
(with mad dance moves courtesy of CharlotteChops)

You put your right foot in, you put your right foot out...
You put your right foot in and you shake it all about...

You do the holey pokey and you turn yourself around...

That's what it's all about!!!

LEFT FOOT!

Just kidding...
(I just wanted to see if I could stick that song in your head)
HUG

I am going to be Mod Podging some brown paper craft boxes and shapes today (with fabric and paper).

Since it's kinda hard to completely cover the boxes perfectly with paper - I like to paint them first!
(remember that the parts that are left peeping through are the color of your paint)

The reason I paint the boxes for the fabric application is because the fabric colors will look deeper and more opaque if you start with a lighter painted base...(white works really well)

Get some acrylic craft paint in a color of your choice.  I like to use this stuff HERE.

If your hands don't look like this when you have painted 2 coats of paint onto 9 boxes...
...then you need to loosen up a little...

.seriously.

So I started a little bird house last week (you can see it at the bottom of this post HERE)... and decided that I did not like the colors of the bird roof.
So I yanked it off!
As I was yanking - I thought the little grouping of birds all stuck together looked kinda nice so I saved it and took a picture.
I am pretty sure I am going to do something with this... maybe a little framed something... I dunno yet.
I just knew that I had to share it with you guys cause I thought it looked sweet.

(you still singing???)

....you do the hooooh-oh-oh-key pokey...

that's better

Once I had the old bird roof off I decided I wanted to Mod Podge the base of the house with some...

wait for it....

TEAL fabric!!!
(totally not like me at all is it?)

I cut my TEAL fabric into small (fabulously TEAL) strips.

I generously applied some Mod Podge to the house...

...and then laid down a strip of TEAL fabric...
...and generously applied some Mod Podge over it...
(repeat till the whole thing is covered in fabric)

Podger Tips:  I snipped slits on the edges when I needed to round a corner or Podge over a bird hole like this one...

I also folded the edges when I was Podging the bottom...
...(it's so tidy I feel a tiny bit proud)...

Once I had the whole house Podged I started punching birds.
I used the Martha Stewart bird punch!
(I looked and I cannot find it anywhere online...  but I have seen it at Michaels and Walmart).

That's a WHOLE lotta birds!
Possibly a flock even.

I applied some roller glue (like this stuff HERE) to the back of each bird...

Get your roofing gun and roofing nails out...
Don your super crafty roofing tool belt...

...and you just layer them all over the roof of the house.

It's real real easy!
It's rooftastic!
and rooftacular!
...and full of roofulousness!
(see what I mean about the whole making up words thing)

Bird Roofing Tip:  To make it so that the heads of the birds are all facing the front...
You simply punch on the opposite side of the paper.
It took me a while to figured that one out!

YAY for Bird Shingles!

That's what it's all about!

RIGHT FOOT!

...and the Birds Eye View Too...  of course!
Note:  In case you are wondering why one side is mostly teal and the other side has some color mixed in...
It's cause I decided the totally teal side was just too totally teal.
Shocking as it may seem there is such a thing as too much teal (maybe).

To decorate the house I used a few things I had in my craft stash
(everything I used was in teal cause I was feeling bad about adding other colors into the roof).
It's called roofers regret.

I love you teal.
(please forgive me for doubting your coolness)

I turned my mega strip of TEAL ric rac into a sticker using my Xyron thingy and wrapped it around the base of the house.

I also added some teal and (shhhhhh...don't tell the teal) green flowers I made.
I placed these on the sides and back of the house.

I started to paint the eaves of the roof with glitter and paint.
I am not loving it.
Yet.

I am not done with the house but he's pretty close.
I'll share another pic of him as soon as he's completely done up!
Sometimes the decorating genes shut down and I have to move on to something else.
Does that ever happen to you guys???

So a little break before the next Podgy Project...

I decided to reorganize my inspiration/cool stuff/favorite stuff cork board on Saturday
(which is yet another reason I did not get any crafts done)

This is what it looked like before.
I think there were about 4 - 5 layers of stuff on it.
As I was unearthing things...
I was ohh-ing and ahh-ing over stuff I had forgotten about!

There was so much stuff...
I could not even lay it all out in one layer on my mega huge table....


Ahhhh....  MUCH better.
I filed loads of things away in my binders
(I have inspiration binders I'll have to show you guys some day)

...I hung up some new stuff and re-exposed some old stuff!

These are some HUGS from my friend Leigh!
(thanks again Leigh!!!)

Thus ends that break...  let's get back to crafts!!

This paper Podging demonstration is brought to you with the help of my MomChops!

Since your sides are all painted...
You do not need to perfectly measure the paper pieces to fit over the sides of your boxes.
I kinda like the paint showing through the edges.

This is MomChops measuring the box.
She has mad measuring skillz!
Goooo MomChops!

Here are the 4 colors we picked for our first box.
You have a large piece for the sides and a smaller piece for the sides of the lid.
I forgot to include a pic of the paper we chose for the top.

You do the same thing as you would do for the fabric.
Podge the painted box generously....

Stick the TEAL paper to the newly Podged section...
smooth it down
...and PODGE right over it!

Dog Cuteness Break
(just cause)
CharlotteChops was minding her Crafty P's and Q's and DogChops came in to give her a little kiss.

Schmooooooooooch

..and then DogChops proceeded to sit on CharlotteChops leg...
...just cause...

Back to Podging!

RonChops brought us some snacks for craft room fortification.
(I loves me some RonChops)
I would have given him a little kiss but MomChops was cracking the Mod Podge whip!

I am telling you folks.
MomChops was on a Mod Podge Mission!

Behold the SPEED!
wrrrrrrrrrrr!

I know I have shared this one before...
But it got dark before I could get pics of the finished boxes!
(daylight savings time crept up on me)
(can you believe it... after all that and she's not going to show the finished boxes)

Boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo Lolly!

I just wanted to share one last thing (as idea of what you can do with this box)!

I know this is typically a wine box.
But I thought it would be cute to make it into a gift box sans wine.

My thought is that you can put a couple of skeins of yarn in there...

With a crochet needle and a simple 1 - 2 skein pattern (printed up cute - of course)...
and VOLIA...you have a little present you can give to someone crafty!!
You can see a few 1 - 2 skein yarn patterns HERE, HERE and HERE.

I'll share a picture of the finished boxes next Monday AND...

I have a little craft room mobile project for next next week that I seriously cannot wait to share (I cannot even share any sneaky peaks cause it's just too exciting)!!

That's all I gots for today!

I hope everyone had a safe and fun Halloween!  I'll be back later this week (so keep your eyeballs peeled)!  I am redesigning my blog right now and I am going to start posting some of the new elements (picture treatments, backgrounds and header options)!  I need you guys to help me pick everything out!

P.S.S.T.  You do the hooooh-oh-oh-key pokey!  ...and that's what it's all about!

(so were you singing along with me this whole time or did I lose you in the fray???)

I'd like to buy an owl please...

I shared a sneaky peepy of this little fella two weeks ago and am finally getting around to getting the tutorial done (I believe I made some far fetched promise of posting him "later this week").  ahem.  Let me esplaine LollyTime (entering the twilight zone - and no I am not talking about that hunka hunka burning Edward either (if you need me to explain this reference let me know...).

The LollyChops Space Time Vortex Explained
It goes something like this...  "later this week" could mean later that week or say even maybe later this week sometime next year.  I have invented my own special concept of time.  I hope that helps bring you one step closer to understanding the madness that is my brain and I hope you can forgive me if it takes me a little time to get some stuff done/mailed/completed, etc...

Sew...  now that I have got that confession off my chest let's move on to owls!

I am not sure these fellas translate well to photos but I am hoping you get the gist of how totally sweet they are!  I am really trying to keep my posts shorter so I am just going to jump right into the tutorial!

Start with a bunch of fabric.
Sizzix disclaimer:  I used my Sizzix for this project BUT you don't need one.
All I used it for was to cut circles...
...and once you have those done you need the free template I have at the bottom of this post to do the rest.

I cut the circles using my Circles #2 die (you can see it HERE).
I am showing you this because I have run into 6 people within the past 2 weeks who ALL have a Sizzix and never knew that it cut fabric!!!
That's the only reason I even bought one...  the whole paper cutting thing was just kinda "ehhhh..." for me.
When I found out the other stuff you could cut...  I ran out bought one the very next day.

Here are about 4 pieces of fabric run through the Sizzix.
I have run as many as 8 at time (it's so easy it's scary).
So let's review.
You can cut 8 fabric pieces in perfect shapes in about 15 seconds (this is how I do my butterflies en mass).
If you don't have done...birthdays and holidays are a good time to see if you wrangle one out of your special someone...

Oh and I have seen them on craigslist and ebay too.  For CHEAP.

Once you have a few 2.5 inch circles cut...

...or in my case a few hundred 2.5 inch circles cut out...

Start putting your stacks together.
For the owls you are going to want to alternate between lighter and darker fabrics.
This helps the wing sections stand out a little bit nicer.
You can do just two fabrics or 8 different ones.
It's entirely up to you.

Once you have 8 - 2.5 inch fabric circles stacked together.
FLIP THEM OVER!
Then grab template #2 (you can download it from the bottom of this page)
Trace it over the back of the circles and then sew down both lines.
The circles will kinda look like a baseball or something at this point.

Once you are done you will need template #3.
Trace that over your newly sewn piece.
The cut along those lines.

Note:  The blue fella on the left is all cut out and the green guy in the middle just has the trace lines drawn on him.  The guy on the right has template #3 over the top of him all ready to be traced.

Once you have everything sewn and cut out it's time to flip him back over to the front side and start cutting out the wing sections.
The best way I can describe this is to cut off the top layer and then proceed to cut out each layer underneath a little longer than the one you just cut.
Follow the curve of the baseball lines you just sewed.

Your completely cut out owl will look something like this.
I saved the little pieces so you could see what in the heck I am talking out.

If I have lost you at this point...  go eat some pie.
That always helps me when my brain starts to ache from a confusin' tutorial.

Here is Mr. Owl trying on some eyes (I took about 6 pictures of all of the different eye combinations I tried but for the sake of trying to keep this post short I decided to spare you that agony).

He looks so plain.
So un-smooshed.
So zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

We gotta remedy that!

Ahhhh..  MUCH better!
Give those fellas a little smooshy love (rumple them up good now).

If they look a little too crazy when you are done, give them a little haircut.
It gives them that sophisticated grunge look that everyone pays big bucks for.
...or was that popular back in 1990?

Nirvana Owls anyone?

Anyhoot...

So you wanna attach these to clothing...??
Well you can only do that if you make them removable (cause if you wash them they are gonna fall apart)...  So that means a snap or a button is needed right?!?!?!

SEW... it's time to bust out your mad sewing skills (if you don't have any just call 800-Mom-Chops) 

If MomChops is unavailable here is what you do instead..

Oh and just a note:  Calling her at 1am with a "how so I sew a button hole" sewing emergency is NOT advisable...  Trust Lolly ok.

So in those dire situations you need yourself a sewing machine mascot!

RonChops did not fit on top of the sewing machine so I had to settle for something else...
This little crochet mouse did the trick!

Before you sew all of your circles together you are going to want to sew a button hole to the back piece of your circle stack.

See the sewing machine manual back there in the picture.

SAVED.THE.DAY.
Who knew directions actually worked?

Ta Da!  My first button hole EVER!!!!

I should be nominated for an award or something.
I was so proud I ran to show RonChops.
He was not nearly impressed with me as I was with myself.

Here is a little owl family.
The blue guy and light blue gal were done with all the same fabric (they were made before I figured out the whole alternating colors thing)!

Here are a couple more.

Here is one buttoned on to a little baby dress.
I sewed a cute red button onto the dress...  so if you don't want to button the owl to it you still have a cute little button in it's place!

pssst...you can do the button hole thing with the butterflies too!

...and lastly...here is just some random stuff I wanted to share with you guys...

I got some cheap fabric shelf organizers at Tuesday Morning this past weekend (I love organization stuff BIG TIME).
It's made it MUCH easier to get to my paints and glitter.
Previously I had them all jumbled on the shelf and I would have to paw through everything to get to the one I wanted.  Now I can pull out the shelf and put it on my craft table to paw through.

...and another set of organizers. I got these for my Stickles, alcohol inks, regular inks and refills.
Ahhh...  It's soooo much easier to get to everything!

I personally love seeing stuff like this so I hope it's not boring you to pieces.

Random Saturday morning 1am dog shots.
The dogs hang out with me when I craft.  Pretty much the entire time.
If you squint you will see they have formed the letter "L"...  or was that the bleary eyed 1am squint that made me think they formed an "L' shape.
I just dunno anymore.

I went to another "studio session" at Anthologies this past Friday night.  This is a little sneaky peepy of one of the projects for the post next Monday (it's a yarn project gift box!!!)!  I am WAY excited about it!  Get out your mod podge for this one!

Oh and... I met three girls there last time I went and we arranged to meet up again this past Friday (we were all squealing like long lost friends when we got there...  it was funny).

We are all going back again in two weeks and we have brought 4 more girls into the fold (I figure we'll take over the entire studio session night before too long)!  I can hardly wait!  I think we do as much talking as we do creating!  It's a really super fun time!
If you are in the DFW, TX area and want to join us just let me know!  I'll adopt you!

Lastly (for real this time)
This is another in-progress sneaky peepy of the Mod Podge post for next Monday.

It's got birds!  ...and it's a house!  So what is it????

It's a bird house with a bird punch shingle roof!!!! 
AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
I am over-the-top-excited about this project!  I seriously cannot wait to see how it comes out!

So for the project today... you can get the PDF template needed to make the owls by clicking on the image below!

...and if you have any questions let me know!

But before we part... 
I just have one question for you guys.  Do you want to see more random stuff, more tutorials, less tutorials, less writing (I am working on that...really I am), just finished projects (cause I have loads of projects in the works but I cannot post them all cause doing the tutorials takes a little more time and prep).  What can I do to make your LollyChops visit better is what I am asking.  I would really love to know (honest to peanuts)!

 

P.S.  xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo's

Cliff House Pottery Studio - 2009

Whew...  I am one tired out Lolly!  The pottery workshop is fun but it really wears you out (in a good way...  honest)!  I just wanted to share a few hundred pics (almost kidding about the hundred part) from my family pottery weekend!

This past Thursday my AuntChops (MomChops older sister), CousinChops (AuntChops daughter) and my sister (SisterChops) all flew into town!  We had signed up for a 3 day pottery workshop together at Cliff House Studio (with PamChops and RaymondChops and IsabelChops)!  Besides the fabulous teacher, amazing food and Isabel the pottery dog - my favorite thing about this workshop is that it's small.  So it was just us and no strangers (cause the teacher and her hubs are almost like family).

If you have been hanging around these parts for the past few months you might remember that we had a family pottery weekend scheduled a few months ago and did not get to go because of some unforeseen health issues (little stuff like quadruple bypass open heart surgery, gall bladder surgery and almost knee surgery)!  Fortunately everyone recovered and we were able to reschedule to this past weekend!  I went on my own last year and shared my adventures in this post HERE, HERE and HERE. 

So here we go!  Below is a little picture + commentary sharsie of our weekend!

How each day began...

Every morning as you drive into the studio grounds you are met with this furry baby!
This is Isabel.
She's fur-roucious.

See what I mean.
I think she was on the brink of taking off my hand here.
That collar is the only thing keeping her at bay.
Well... that and the dog treats I might have been sneaking her every morning.
shhhh don't tell on me ok!

We started off the morning of the first day with a tour of Raymond's glass studio.
Pam (our teacher) is the potter and Raymond (the chef) is the glass blower.

SisterChops was pretty darn excited about the glass studio.

Here is some of Raymond's beautiful work.
CousinChops went home with several pieces similar to this!

This is a pic of some of the color rod chunks Raymond uses when he throws glass.
These three are my very most favorite colors EVER and they just happened to be hanging out with each other!
It's color karma.
I so would love a piece made with these colors.

I think Isabel is giving me the eye here.

Yep.
That's the eye all right.

As we got started throwing our first pots Pam demonstrated the hippy-hippy shake pottery dance.
I tried it and my clay lump literally jumped onto the wheel and threw itself (see it sitting there).
I would have continued with this method but I threw my back out and actually had to throw the pots myself.
Total bummer.

So after we had thrown one pot each it was time for lunch.
Soooo tasty.
Raymond does all the cooking for the workshop.
I think his last name might be "Lagasse" but I cannot be sure.
He has some chef jeans in there somewhere.
The food was so good we were all ready to steal him away from Pam.
The Raymond-napping plans are actually in the works.
Not.Even.Kidding. 

After lunch some of us had to pug clay.
...and some of us stood back and took pics of the rest of us pugging away.
I don't know who that slacker could be do you????

Some of us got a little carried away with the whole "initial your bat" thing.
ahem...  I have no idea who "LC" could be.
Nonewhatsoever.

These are SisterChops pots.
She did GREAT for her first time throwing ever!!!


So during the workshop if you were good Pam would give you a treat.
But you had to be really really good.
...and covered in fur.
...and like bacon flavor.
A lot.


Oh and you had to lay down and bust out some some really sweet close-your-eyes-and-look-like-a-little-baby-bunny moves too.
...and then and only then would you get the treat.

I tried it but failed on the whole covered in fur thing.
Such a shame cause I really loves me some bacon.

On day two our pots were so lonely that we decided that they needed to take in the spectacular view.
So what did we do while they were soaking in the sunshine?


We had lunch of course.
Pottery schmottery.
We were living for lunch at this point.
Noon could not have come fast enough.

Isabel guarded the door to make sure we did not enter before lunch was ready.
You think I am kidding.
If you had tasted the food you would have been living for lunch too.
Trust Lolly.


After lunch we cleaned our newly thrown pots.

 
...it took a lot of concentration.

A lot a lot.

I am talking some serious concentration here folks.

...so some of us decided to take one for the team and get a nap in.

What a trooper.

I am pretty sure PamChops is telling AuntChops about how she cleans 400 million pots in a month and that she really loves it.
Judging from the angel of AuntChops head I am thinking she's not buying it.

Isabel isn't buying it either.
This is her "don't buy that line from PamChops and don't even think about going back in for seconds lady" look.
I feared for my hand.

On day three we were greeted with lovely bisque fired pots.
mmmmm bisque.
Is it lunch time yet???

We admired our pots.

We glazed our pots.

..and...

You guessed it.

We had lunch.

Of course.


Let me rephrase that.
...we ALL had lunch.
No dog left behind.
That's motto of this pottery studio!

Here is a batch of some seriously hot pots.


This is CousinChops debating on the whole sticking the tongs into the fire to grab a pot thing.
Her face says it all.
Oh YAY!  Only 2,000 degrees????
Noooo problem!

We are just about done at this point.
I liked this shot of the flames licking out of the kiln!

This is pretty much the last step.

We are cleaning the pots and adding some finishing secret touches!

These are some of my pots at home all safe and sound.

The two on the left I bought from Pam and the three little fellas on the right are mine.
I think they look smashing together on the mantel!

I will be getting a picture of all of us together from Pam sometime soon (and will post it)!  When we were doing the group shot I kinda forgot to hand over my camera (like a giant worn out from a long pottery weekend dork).

I hope you have enjoyed these pics.  I sure did have a nice time and I hope you'll consider doing something like this too!  It's pretty amazing to walk in on a Friday morning and walk out Sunday with an arm load of beautiful pots you made yourself!  It feels pretty fantastic!

October HUGS everyone!

P.S.  Big HUGS to Pam and Raymond for making our weekend extra special.  They are truly amazing people.

What did you do this past weekend????

Here is a little sneak peak of what I did with my mom, sister, aunt and cousin!

 

I'll share more about our Cliff House Pottery 3 day workshop tomorrow and the fabric Owl later this week!

Smooshy Stack Trees!

I think you guys have been rubbing off on me (which totally explains my new multiple personality disorder).  I got bit by the Christmas bug a tad early this year.  I know some of you crazies ladies have been counting down the days till Christmas since Dec 26, 2008 (you know you have...  you can't fool me) but that's not normally me!  My Christmas frenzy doesn't usually start until it's MUCH closer to November!

So when I was making smooshy stack butterflies last week I busted out a smooshy stack tree too and had another *POOF* moment (only this time I managed to knock over a giant jar of green buttons during this *POOF* moment...  me thinks I am going to be finding green buttons in my craft room for the rest of my life).  I can think of about a trillion uses for these trees - this just happens to be my take on them. 

Oh and guess what!!!!!!

YOU DON'T NEED A SIZZIX!!!!!! (see...  I do have a heart)

The Back Story (I should just stop typing and start making videos of all this nonsense - honestly)
I bought a 3 holed picture frame at Malwart a few months ago with the intention of using it for another butterfly project (like this one HERE).  In case you didn't know...  I hoard picture frames with 3D mat-boards...  I use them for EVERYTHING).  This might explain the world wide 3D mat-board picture frame shortage (totally not even kidding). 

So anyway... I have this minuscule attention span thing going on (it's not obvious is it???)... Once I do one or two or three of a project I usually never do it again (3 is enough right...?). 

So that frame got put into the craft closet with all of it's siblings and cousins and second cousins and third cousins twice removed, etc... (it's like Arkansas in there...honest).  I kept bringing that little fella out time after time thinking that I had the perfect project for it and it just never set right.

UNTIL NOW...
Once I saw those smooshy stack trees I knew I wanted to make a set to go in that frame!  I was over-the-top excited when I saw that they fit in there rather nicely.

On to the project!
Below is a list of some of what I used and a few links to where you can find stuff like it:

Materials:
- 3D mat-board photo frame (you can get these almost anywhere...  Lolly's Craft Closet Emporium of Frames with 3D Mat-boards will open for business in 2012 - with the largest selection ON THE PLANET)
- Moda Fabric Charm Pack - Tula Pink - Flutterby (this pack has 40 squares that are 5x5 each).  I used 8 of them for this project.  You can get one of these hard to find charm packs HERE.
- Patterned paper (I used a Bo Bunny paper with a nice soft tealish wash)
- Snowflake stamps (available HERE)
- Ink (I used a teal color box ink)
- Pearl gems (like these HERE and HERE)
- Glitter chipboard letters (available HERE)

Let's get started (and sorry about the picture quality...  I made this at night and this was the best I could do)!

The charm packs of moda fabrics are 5x5 inches and come with a chipboard back...
I used the chipboard back of the pack to make two triangles to use as templates.
I have a download and print pattern at the end of this post that you can use to make your own tree triangles (but really it's pretty easy).

From a single 5x5 inch piece of fabric you can make 4 trees.  2 larger ones and 2 smaller ones.

If you cut your material carefully (assuming you are using a charm pack)...
you will use almost every single piece of fabric for this project...
which is fine by me since charm fabric is usually completely fabulous).

Instead of alternating a single pattern with another pattern I just grabbed 8 different fabrics and stacked them one on top of the other.
I did try to alternate darker patterns with lighter ones just to give some dimension to the finished tree.

Once you have them all stacked up sew a line down the middle of the triangle fabric stack.
The one of the right is just after I have sewn it up (the pinking edge is how the fabric comes in the charm pack...  I left it as is cause I thought it was cute).
The one on the left has been roughed up in my hands.  I simply smoosh it into a ball and roll it around like I am trying to keep my hands warm (you know what I mean right????).
You want the edges frayed a little (if they get too frayed you can trim them up) and you want the fabric wrinkly too.

This is one place where wrinkly is GOOD in material!

I left this one un-smooshed so I could show you how I did the cuts.
But just to let you know, you can either make the cuts before or after the smooshing.
It's a personal preference.

So to make the cuts...  take really really sharp scissors (they are going through 8 layers of fabric)...  and start making little triangle cuts into the sides (I like to start at the bottom).
Work your way up making the triangles smaller and smaller as you get toward the top.

This is what the finished tree should look like (again this one is un-smooshed).


Here are two of the smaller trees side by side (the one on the right is smooshed and un-cut and the one on the left is smooshed and cut).
I like the smaller trees because they came out kinda slanted.
Sew sew cuties!

I laid one of the larger trees on a piece of patterned paper
...and placed my mat-board over it to see how it looked...
...and nearly fell asleep cause it was so boring.
Sew...

I busted out my snowflake stamps and teal ink and stamped the peanuts out of the patterned paper
(you'll be happy to know that the peanuts came out of the paper just fine)
(honest to peanuts)

Once I had the background all stamped up I got some super sticky 3D glue squares and stuck them to the back of the fabric trees.
I simply glued them to the patterned paper in each hole of the picture frame.
I used glitter chipboard exclamations points and cut them down to tree trunk shapes and stuck them under the trees to make little glitter trunks
(does the phrase "glitter trunks" make you laugh too or is that just me??)

GLITTER TRUNKS!!!!
(hahahahah... ok moving on)

 

Any-hoot...  here everything is in the process of being laid out.
I used some of the same glitter chipboard to write "Joy" into the middle hole of the picture frame.
Completely original I know.
Snort.


Closer shot of the almost finished project.

Ta da!
I love the little leaney tree in the middle.
He looks like he may have had just a little too much egg nog!

I had some tiny pearl gems in teals and reds and I used them in the center of each snowflake.
I am seriously in love with those silly pearl gems
(but not enough to make them my new boyfriend... he's below).
Swoooooon.

You can see the lovely stacks of the fabric in the trees!
I love how they are all rough and tumble-y looking


This is a super easy project that you can knock out in just a few hours!
You can change out the "scenes" by season.  Sooo....

I am also working on a spring scene and a fall scene (I had better get moving on the fall once since it's getting so late in the season) and some other themes which I'll be sharing SOON!  I am making this project for MomChops for her birthday in November (it's ok to spoil the surprise cause I showed it to her yesterday)!  I'll share each scene with you guys as well as the steps I took to create them as I get them done!

On other craft fronts...
A new store opened in my area last weekend called Anthologies!  I am way over-the-top excited about this place!  They have tons of classes and studio sessions on an almost daily basis.  Everyone in there is super friendly and helpful and the array of crafty goodness is enough to make you fall over (I think they have a craft resuscitation cart near the door...  it's that fabulous!!!).  I went in on opening day and drug MomChops back the very next afternoon!  As I was walking around on that second day a few employees said...  "oh! you're back..."  Let me tell you.  That's NOT a good sign.

I went to a studio session there past Friday (up above is a little picture of my workspace from that night)!  I basically got to hang out with a ton of scrapbook chicks who use the same materials I use in all my craft projects for 6 solid hours!  I was kinda worried that I would get bored and have to leave early but before I knew it the 6 hours was up and it was time to pack up!  I didn't know a soul there but everyone was wonderful and I made loads of new friends!  I am going back in two weeks for another session!  YAY!

And lastly...  that little teal fella over there is hoot I'll be showing you how to make next Monday!  He's my new boyfriend (the pie could only last so long).  He's super easy and again...  NO SIZZIX!  It's just cutting and sewing.  I can hardly wait to show you!  I am also going to share ways you can easily add and remove these smooshy stack creations to/from your clothing (since the edges are not sealed you cannot leave them hanging out like that or they will get pulverized in the wash).  Keep your eyeballs peeled for that next Monday too!

Life Made Creations!
I have been making just about every shape I can think of using that stack-n-sew method all week long (I am a TAD obsessed with this new smooshy stack thing)!  I'll share all of my ideas next Monday as well BUT in the meantime I just had to share this... I got a HUGE laugh from Michelle of Life Made Creations!  She got so excited about the butterflies from last week that she literally stopped what she was doing and ran and made some right away!  AND...  then she made more and then again even more!  You can see her posts and MULTITUDE of projects on them HERE, HERE AND HERE!  I am just cracking up that someone else got as excited about this as I did!  If you have projects you have made this past week using this same method send me the links and I'll post them all!

You can get the Smooshy Stack Tree pattern in PDF format below!

Have a souper week you guys!!!

 

P.S.  The winner from the giveaway is Amyks (no blog listed so I'll just send you a little notification email Amy)!  I'll have another giveaway SOON!

P.S.S.T. One more time (real loud)!!!    GLITTER TRUNKS!!!!!! (it's almost as funny as good pie hugs...  almost).

Fabric stash buster project (plus a little turkey hiney too)!

I was going to start this post off with a rousing "Raise your hand if you like pie!" shout... because I have pie on the hips...  errrummm... I mean brain... but let's not go there again.

Time to bust through some fabric...
A while back I shared a few pics of some stacked chiffon and taffeta flowers I made.  You can see them HERE.  I am seriously in love with them... not a RonChops of kind love - but the kind where if they blew me a kiss I would blush feverishly and blow them one right back.

I was making up a massive batch of those lovely flowers as part of my giveaway goodies from two weeks ago and I got to thinking about how to apply that same principle to other shapes (still following the stack-em-up and fray/curl/distress the edges methodology) and POOF... I had a brainstorm (I dunno about you, but it's always a piece of pie that makes these moments happen for me... try it sometime and let me know how it goes). 

Enter the butterfly (we'll get to the turkey hiney part of the post later)
I used my Stampin' Up! Sizzix butterfly die again (if you don't have one I am giving you a little template at the end of this post so you can trace and cut out your own).  The thing I really love about that Sizzix contraption is that you can use it for more than just paper.  I have cut cork, felt and paper with that sucker!  It's the coolest thing since a slice of hot pie (ok well maybe not).

The How Tew...
Below are the steps I took to make that little fella you see up there at the top!

You start with your shapes.

I used 4 butterflies in two contrasting colors in regular cotton fabric.

This next step is EXTREMELY complex.

It takes careful calculations
(you will need to use some of those math symbols that make your eyeballs hurt)

It's so scientific that you might need a protractor.

...and a handmade pocket protector.

...in a color coordinating fabric (of course).

So you ready?

You squish the fabric like it's a bug!
SMOOSH

Viola...  the project is complete and you can go have your pie now.

Kidding (about the being done part...  not the pie).
Keep eating.

Smooth them all out
(as much as you are going to want to...  do not iron them)

Wait...  I was kidding about that part too.

You can iron them if you want.

But...

Only if they are all squished up.
Ironing them while they are all squished up helps you to get some really fancy creases.

Think of them as Vogue creases.

The whole ironing thing is not required.
Honest to peanuts.
I say that phrase a lot and I am not entirely sure how honest peanuts really are.
But they seem like they would be honest to me.
Don't you think?

I digress.

I know I showed this step already.
I forgot to include the rest of the directions before I went off on my little tangent.

You smooth them out a little AND stack them up.
Alternate your colors.
If you have 4 of each color and you want one of them to be on the top...
...start with the OTHER color as the first one on the bottom.
Ca-peach?

Next...  you call MomChops and get her to help you with the sewing.
She can be reached at 1-800-MOM-CHOPS (24 hours a day - 7 days a week).

If the line is busy or if she's hanging out with DadChops...
Sew those puppies together yourself and have more pie.

I just sewed up and down them a few times.
I am not sure if that's legal but it seemed to work for me.

Can I get an A-HEM!

Look at the beauty that is that line!
My sewing skillz are so mad...
...that it makes me happy!

After completing this amazing line of sewing accomplishment...

I KNOW I am ready to move on to sewing my own clothes now.
Right?!?!?!?!?!

enter the cone of cricket silence

 

ok so maybe not

So where were we...
oh yeah... I made a Christmas Tree using the same methodology too!
(I actually can branch out of butterflies every now and again...see!)

I'll share more on that little tree feller closer to the holidays.

Sew then I sewed a little button to the center of each one.
It was easy.
No MomChops required.

I am sew ready to make my own clothes now.

I swears.

Time for our regularly scheduled LollyChops reality check
Now that I have fooled myself into thinking that I can actually sew...me thinks it's time for a giveaway!

A giveaway you say?
I am feeling a little sneaky about this one.  If you made it this far down the longest post ever (and you are actually reading this) AND you have confidence in my abilities to make my own clothes (after my amazing sewing feats from above it's a sure thing)...  give me a "howdee lollee" in the comments and I'll pick one of ya's to send this little butterfly cork board feller too (I have used "feller" twice in the same post...  I'm fixin' to be gettin' my Texan on).  I mean seriously...  I can't keep all the stuff I make.  It's piling up in the craft room!!  I'll pick someone by next Sunday evenin' and announce the winner on Monday (this is one of them laid back giveaways)).

But wait...  there's MORE!
Last week Tricia from Hippie Family asked me if I could make some of those pie tags with turkeys on them (for more of a Fall theme).  I thought that sounded like a terrific idea so I made up one more batch of pie tags to go with the pies from Our Best Bites.  You can get all the details on how to make mini pies in a jar HERE and see the other tags I made to go with them HERE.

Get the turkey hiney tags by clicking on the image below:

But wait...  there's even more (I told you this was the longest post ever)
I also made up some little butterfly shapes so you can print, cut and trace your own butterflies!

They have some tendrils and pokey parts on them - but you can cut them down to be real simple shapes.

Enlarge or shrink them as needed!

Get the butterfly shapes by clicking on the image below:

Last little bit...  and then you can go take your naps!

Some of the flowers I made using the same method as the butterfly squishy stacks!
I just used circles in different sizes.
I seriously loves them.
(these are going to the onion giveaway winners)

AND LASTLY...
This is what the craft room looked like after I was done crafting all day long.
It looks like someone took a blender to my fabric stash!

I circled a little CharlotteChops dog fur mound in the picture.
She deposits about 42 of these per room.
Daily.
She was having a slow shed day evidently.

I am off to clean up the craft room now!
I hope you guys have a terrific week!

P.S.  Give me some time to get over the whole "good pie hugs" thing.  I literally laugh myself silly every time I even think about it. 

P.S.S.T.  Good pie hugs & kisses.  xoxoxo (hahahahahahahaha... ok sorry)

O.M.T.  Kaye from Miss Print left me a little peep about a contest that Sew, Mama, Sew! is having.  It's  a little Scrap Buster contest that's going on now through Oct. 23.  You can read all about it HERE... I decided to enter this little project into it!  We'll see what happens.  There are a TON of amazing projects already submitted!  Make sure you go check them out!

Confessions of a pie addict...

I have a confession that I must confess to you all (seeing as how that's the nature of a confession it only makes sense really).  It's serious and very well...  confessionesque (as in filled with hair pulling, tears, drama, more tears and of course... a fork)!  A fork you say?!?!

Yep.  It rips me in half to admit it... but it's true.

I love pie.

So lovely, so flaky, so achye breaky.  So pie-ish.

When Sara and Kate from Our Best Bites contacted me to help them out with some tags for a pie post... you had better believe that I jumped at the chance to bust out some download and print freebies related to pie.  We are not talking about any regular pie here folks.  We are talking about a fast as you please whip-up of a hoard of pies to store in your freezer for a personal-sized-pie-per-day extravaganza!!!

What if I don't want to hoard mini pies Lolly?
Wait...  you don't?  Hmmmmmm.  I guess we can still be friends. <Maybe> 

Sew I guess the other great thing about these pies is that they are are pies you can give away (let me get a Kleenex real quick cause pies you can gift brings a tear to my eye).

These are pretty little personal sized pies to be shared with those you cherish the most (if you need someone to cherish - I'll be happy to volunteer).  These little fellas would make terrific house warming gifts or perhaps small somethings you can bring to a holiday party (or you can whip up a batch of 12 and keep them all for yourself).  I know that goes back to the whole pie hoarding thing again...  but I can't help myself.

I made up 7 different tags you can use with your pies.  Some are labeled for specific flavored pies (apple, cherry and blueberry)...  and some have a space where you can write your own flavor.  The last set is just a little pair for gifting with two labels.  One has a "To" & "From" written and in and the other the how to cook-em-up instructions.

Before we dive into the crust of the matter...  I have to make a little blog format disclaimer.

Blog Format Disclaimer:  I seem to be having some serious issues with my blog platform so my image placement is about to get really wild.  Not roller coaster wild.  Just images all stacked on top of each other because something is going wrong with Typepad wild (which is not nearly as much fun as roller coaster wild).

Now back to our regularly scheduled pie post.

The sacrifices I make for the blog...
In order to test drive the tags I was forced to make up a few "test pilot pies" so I could ensure that the tags were gonna work (it really broke my heart... let me tell you).

Lisa and Sara have LOADS of tips and recipes for these little guys so I am not going to get into it (you have to head over to their place if you want to get to the heart of the matter)...  I'll just share a few pics from when I put them together (again sorry for the picture format here folks).

I cut out a circle 6 inches in diameter and that seemed to do the trick for getting just the right amount of crust into the little jar.  I kinda folded it into a flower and tucked it inside and then pressed the sides down.

I used the lid (the one that sits on top of the jar not the one you screw down) to cut out a pie top.  I then used some mini cookie cutters to create a little vent hole.

Note:  The lovely brownish orbital globs in the pie jars above is canned cherries packed in water that I turned into pie filling with the addition of a little sugar and cornstarch.  Keeping plain ole canned cherries in the pantry makes for a pie filling you can whip up yourself that's not too sweet (I find that the ready made cherry pie filling is a little too sweet and thick for my taste).

This is a little pic of the tag with the cooking instructions and the to/from tag.  You stack them like a sammich.  1) Lid with the rubbery ring goes on the jar (to seal it).  2) Then the cooking directions tag gets placed on that lid.  3) Then a piece of fabric (to make a little jar skirt).  4) Then goes the metal band that you screw on. 5)  ...and lastly you use some super sticky tape to glue the to/from tag in the center of the fabric.

So here is the side view (I love making little jar skirts...  I even do layered ones sometimes).  If you want to do a layered one - cut a 6 inch in diameter circle for the top layer and a 7 inch in diameter circle for the under layer.  I find that sheer fabrics or tulle work best for the under layer.  It's thin enough that you can still screw the lid on with two layers of fabric.

...and the top view.  I think that solid colored fabric sets the tags apart a little bit better than a print.  But that's just me thinking.

As with all of my tags...  you can use any 2.5 inch circle punch to punch these tags quick and easy...or you can cut them out.  I have the Marvy pink circle punch - so that's what I usually use.  If you like the scallop tags in this set - the Marvy pink scallop punch works perfectly with that one as well.

Is pie the only thing going on today Lolly?
Heck no!  So while I was busy working on pie tag graphics, making pies and taking pie post pics...  MomChops was busy too (she came over Sunday morning and we had breakfast and then got to work)!  I sent her a link on Friday to a little pillow that was featured over on Pink Chalk Studio!  I figured her pattern would make the perfect craft room chair pillow!  SEW...  "Super Fabulous MomChops" (her new official title) whipped up some honorary pie post pillows!  You can grab the free pattern to make your own totally cool pillow HERE!!!  Just a tiny note:  MomChops was threatening the sewing machine when she was in the gathering phase of the pillow making process.  We almost did not have any pie post pillows.  It was touch and go there for a while...  but a little piece of pie cleared the air and set the craft room karma back on track.  Whew.

You can download ALL of the tags in one MEGA file below.  I was going to break them up but I think it's better to knock them all out with one big ole download (when I say big I mean BIG...  have a little patience...  it's gonna take a sec...  remember... it's 7 whole pages of tags)!

Now for the exciting part of the pie post (as if that pie post pillow were not exciting enough)!
It's time to play NAME THAT SHAPE shape shape shape!  I made up a little pie crust leftovers jelly tart for RonChops (he was a real trooper through out the whole pie making day).  I think it kinda looks like a trout.  What do you think?

Enough with the pie, pillows and bad puns!  Bring on the winners!
Ok now for the REALLY exciting part of the pie post.  It's time to announce the winners of the cookbook and LollyChops craft craziness giveaway!

The randonly chosen winners and their oniony comments are below: 

Neen - Neen's Been Scrappin
"Mmmmm onion chip cookies.....
At least no one would EVER get the flu if they ate this way... fluless and friendless."

Lindsay - Brooklyne's Chaos
"Cry Baby [pureed onion baby food]"

Rebecca - Roots & Wings, Co.
"How about onion ice cream? Cry Me A River (you know, because they make some people cry...?). Ummm, An Onion A Day Keeps The Doctor Away? I don't know what these would actually be recipes for, but as long as they included onions it would be fine, right? I love onions. I swear I do. Ask my daughter...she...doesn't! Ah, it's fun teaching her to cook because she's finding out how many things I actually put onions in that she wasn't aware of...hee hee hee. French Onion Soup sounds really delicious right now."

April - The Tottles
"grilled steak of onion with a side of scalloped onions"

Congrats to the winners!  I'll be in touch with you guys tonight to get your addresses!

I'll be back later this week with the other butterfly project (and I have another giveaway coming soon too)!

P.S.  Make sure you head on over to Our Best Bites to learn all about how to make these little fellas!

P.S.S.T.  Here's pie in yer eye (xoxoxox)!

An Onion a Day Giveaway...

Bust out the hankies!
Picture this... every single day for an entire year...  all the onions your heart desires.  You could make onion pie, onion soup, onion sammiches, grilled onions with a side of onion sauce, onions with gently simmered onions, onion soufflé, onion cupcakes, onion jam, onion pesto, stuffed onions with thinly sliced onions, onion rings (mmmmm... onion rings), onion cake with the ever popular onion frosting (with dried onion sprinkles)...  oh the wonders of the onion.

Fortunately for you and your loved ones... I am just horseying around.  I actually don't have any onions to give away...  but what I DO have is a sweet little cookbook written by a very nice lady named Bunny Crumpacker.  I was contacted by St. Martins Press and asked if I wanted to check it out and possibly host a teeny tiny little giveaway (involving absolutely NO real onions...  just a lovely book filled with tips and tricks for the first time cook).  The book is called "How to Slice an Onion" and I have 4 whole copies to bestow upon you.

Now I love a good giveaway as much as the next person, but I decided that it would be TONS-MORE-FUNS if I added in some extra stuff.  Sew...  I am going to get busy in the craft room and make up 4 different packages to send along with the cook books.  It could be anything...  jewelry, 395,245 punched butterflies in teals, whites and browns, crafty somethings featured on my blog, hammies, heidis, hedgies, hanks... hoot knows!

How do I enter?
All you have to do to enter is play along with me and come up with a silly name for a nothing but onions recipe (kinda like the silly stuff I made up above).

I'll randomly pick 4 winners from the lot-of-yeahs and send each one of you a prize package filled with loads of weird-lollyness (and the sweet cookbook too).  I swears it's gonna be funsies and don't worry if all of you come up with the exact same onion recipe names.  Just have fun with it!

The contest is open to anyone - anywhere in the whole entire planet and will close on Sunday at 8PM CST Sept  27.  I'll announce the winners on Monday morning.

Onion HUGS with a side of tears!

P.S. I am going to feature all those lovely projects you guys sent me next week.  The time just peeled away from me (onion pun intended).

P.S.S.T.  I am gonna need a few volunteers to help me with some download and print projects I have coming up (think of it as a LollyChops Design Team).  If you are into scrapbooking, paper crafts and making homemade gifts... grab your lasso and get ready to join in the fun.  I'll announce more next week!  xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

The Butterfly Project II

Brace yourselves girls... this is gonna be a long winded-one (wait... who said that???).  I am not only sharing the butterfly project pictured here... I am also sharing the process of how it all came together (plus I have a download and print freebie at the bottom too).  So it's an action packed post filled with drama, excitement and free stuff.  All we need are cupcakes and we'll be set!

Supplies for this project:
- 12 butter cream iced vanilla cupcakes (you'll need them for fortification... cupcakes just make craft projects go smoother)
- Card stock paper in your choice of colors (if you don't have card stock that's ok...  I used a mix of regular paper and card stock)

- 1/4 inch thick cork tile (big enough to be a backing for your craft ring.  I used a 12 inch ring so a 12 inch tile worked perfectly).  You can get cork tiles at arts and craft stores and office supply stores as well.
- Floral Craft Ring (seen HERE - I got mine at Michaels in the floral section - which by the way is where the inspiration for this project came from.  You can see the project that started it all HERE!)
- Craft paint (I really like the "Folk Art" brand but I also use Making Memories and CRAFT paints as well)
- 3D Foam dots, squares, rolling glue tape, etc...  if it makes stuff stick together and has some dimension - use it)
- Butterfly punches (I used 3 Martha Stewart Punches 2 of which can be seen HERE and HERE (I am so glad they are FINALLY available on line)... and I also used a Sizzix Butterfly Die from Stampin' Up for the larger butterflies).  I could not find the monarch Martha Stew. punch on line but I got mine at Michaels (and I would not be surprised if Walmart had it as well).

- Foam brush, sponge, or paint brush
- Piece of cardboard or art board large enough to be the backing behind the whole thing
- Super strong glue - I used E6000 (it's smelly stuff but it works like a pack of rabid sweaty man-muscles.... mmm man-muscles)
- Ribbon (wide enough to cover up the uglies on the side of your ring)

See...  that's not so bad right?  I kinda consider this a stash buster project.  The only thing I had to go out and get was the craft ring and that only cost me $1.99.  Of course I then proceeded to purchase 6 of them in all 3 sizes cause I got way over excited thinking about all the cool things I was gonna do with them - but I'll save those ideas for another time!

Let's get started shall we?!?
If you are OCD like me you'll need to lay out all your stuff first in order to get your crafty fanny organized.  DogChops usually supervises this phase of the projects so things don't get too uptight in the craft room (she's giving me the evil eyeball here cause I was turning all of the bottles around and moving things out of the way so I could photograph them).

4 hours later...
Once you have all of your butterflies punched out (keep in mind that I punched out enough butterflies for 30 people to make this project 4 times over)...  you will want to take a little break and have a cupcake.

Getting your foundation started...
I used a pen to trace around the floral craft ring onto the cork tile and cardboard.  I then used my rotary cutter to cut the shape out (you could use an x-acto knife too).  I cut just a little inside the line so I would be sure that the ring would completely cover the cork tile and cardboard once it was placed over it.

I glued the cork tile and cardboard together using E6000 glue and then set them aside to dry (while they were drying I had another cupcake).

I then busted out my paints and got together some cardboard scraps that I could paint on so I could play around with different color combinations and effects.  I knew I did not want something plain and flat and I also wanted to make sure I had enough of a contrast as a backdrop for the butterflies (which were gonna be teal).

The process of getting the colors nailed down pretty much took me an entire evening (I ran out of cupcakes and had to get more for the next day).  I agonize over color choices (you guys are already well aware of me and my color picking-ickings) so I thought it would be fun to share that whole process so you can see what a goof I am.

First I tried a red background with teal twisty swirls over the top.

The butterflies got lost on the teal.

Then I tried a teal background with red twisty swirls over the top.
The butterflies got lost on the red this time.

Then I went hog wild and tried orange and teal.
hmmmm
Let's keep this one just between us girls ok?
I'll never tell if you won't.

So guess what color I ended up with...

Go ahead. Guess.

BEIGE!

Hello?

Guys?

Anyone out there?

**chirp chirp**

**chirp chirp**

**chirp chirp**

I am KIDDING!  Seriously.  I went with white instead.  hahahaha.  You still love me anyway right?

I painted the base solid white (2 coats) and then did the twisty swirls over the top in pearlized white.  It looks pretty good as the backdrop for all those lovely butterflies.  Trust Lolly.

I used Folk Art (by Plaid) Wicker White (901) and Metallic Pearl White (659).  They are just your basic acrylic paints and they dry really really fast (but not so fast that you don't have time for a bite or three of cupcake of course)!

To get the whole twisty swirls effect over the top you are going to need to get a sponge and squeeze the ends to a point (pictured here).  I used this little sea sponge that I have had for decades and it works pretty good.  You basically just dunk, dab and swirl.  Repeat after me.  Dunk. Dab. Swirl.  Keep doing that over the entire surface (smoothing the drippy edges as you go) and you will have a pretty nice swirly effect going.

Once you have your paints applied (and they are good and dry)...it's time to figure out how you are going to lay out your butterflies (don't forget to eat a cupcake).

I tend to punch way more than I am actually going to use because I like to have lots of choices (in case I decide to repeat a few several times or just stick with one or two basics).  You don't have to do this.  You can simply punch what you need and lay them out as you are going along.

I picked through my entire paper stash and plucked out every single piece that was in the teal family.  I never knew I had so much teal paper.  It's a little spooky to be honest.

I actually ended up doing two projects for this post (in case you are wondering why things are about to suddenly start changing on you).  I lost 98% of my pictures so I had to do another project in a rush!  I was seriously freaking out (which is when I took a little break and ...had my 6th cupcake).

Lay all of your butterflies about and get them kinda loosely placed where you think you might want them (they never stay there but a girl can dream right?).

Break out the 3D adhesives...
Start sticking them down on your painted ring kinda in the middle of the project base (which is a circle so just pick a side and start there).  I work my way up and down from the initial one as I go (that helps to keep things more fluid).  Basically...  one butterfly on top and then another one on the bottom.  Keep that up and it will look a little better than if you had started at the top and worked your way down (just trust me cause I tried it this way at first and it was not as nice).

I alternate between gluing them flat to the base and stacking them with foam squares and dots between 1 - 2 foam pieces high.  I was even sticking smaller butterflies on top of the wings of the larger ones to help keep things interesting.

There is nothing scientific about this process at all (unless you are trying to figure out how many calories you are burning vs the ratio of cupcakes you have eaten (which you are prolly not going to want to know anyway so it's best to just keep on gluing butterflies down and have another cupcake).

Once you have them all glued down to the ring down you are going to want to glue the ring to the cork/cardboard base you made earlier.  It should be dry enough at this point.  I again used E6000 stinky super glue.  Just remember not to glop it on too thick or it will squeeze through the sides and show up on your cork board face (I speak from experience here ladies).

Excited yet???
I was ready to hang this puppy up on the wall at this point and then I noticed that it had some rather ugly sides.  So I decided that we needed a nice ribbon border to help cover up the uglies.

It took me a few tries to get just the right width of ribbon (that actually matched with my projects).

When you have your ribbon picked out (go with too short rather than too tall) you will want to glue it to the sides a small section at a time (rolling the cork board as you go but no to the point that you moosh you butterflies that are poking out the sides).  It's not going to be perfect but that's ok.  It's FAR better than the ugly sides you have going on now.  Trust Lolly.  I used my hot glue gun on the first one and E6000 on the second one.  The hot glue gun made things too lumpy for my taste.

See those little buttons to cover peeping there... (I warned you this was a long post didn't I).
I used my beloved buttons to cover to cover up the holes in the floral craft ring.  You can read a post I did on how to make them HERE (it's pretty old so watch your step (we are talking my second post EVER folks.  Old. Potatoes.)).

I left the shank on the ones I used to cover up the holes in the ring and then I made another 6 into matching thumb tacks for the cork board part of it.  I had some teal fabric that matched with the butterflies perfectly!

So there you have it!
If you are me and you lost your pictures you now have TWO butterfly cork boards.  You can give one away and keep the other one (the all teal one went to MomChops and the teal and brown one is going to I dunno who...YET).  That's pretty nice.

I'll have to share how to get the ribbon hanger on the back in another post.  I ran out of daylight to take all of those pics again and it's def worth sharing as it took me several tries to get the placement right so the little fella did not hang all wobbly!!

So what about the download and print freebie Lolly?
I cobbled together a little butterfly note card from a stock butterfly and my little swirly party invites from Cupcake Week.  You can see them in the pic way way up at the top (and you can download them below).

So lastly...  thanks sooooo much for all of your lovely and thoughtful suggestions on my bathroom color conundrum.  I have a decision made and I'll be sharing the results SOON (and not it's not boring snoring...  I swears)!

...and lastly (for real this time).  I was contacted by a publisher to do a review of a cute little cookbook that just came out.  They sent me 4 copies to giveaway so we'll be doing that Wednesday!  Keep your eyeballs peeled!

The third butterfly project will be shared next Monday (along with a mega giveaway)!  I hope you'll be back!

More hugs than you can stand!

P.S. Speaking of giveaways... head on over to Mod Podge Rocks cause Amy's having a killer giveaway (this is your chance to get your mitts on loads of awesome Mod Podge that you've never tried and always wanted to).  Tell her Lolly sent ya and beat those hundreds of other people out of the way of that Mod Podge girls!!!  GO GO GO!

P.S.S.T.  In case you are wondering what the first butterfly project was...  you can check it out HERE.  It almost made me famous.  Almost.