Going Green: Crochet Produce & Gift Bags

I'm going to start to showcase some more of my crafts that don't always involve paper, stamps, or beads. And, this week I'm going to provide you all with some environmentally friendly ideas! To kick it off, here's my latest obsession, Crochet Produce Bags!

I've whipped up a bunch of these for myself and for gifts! Every time we go out shopping with our lime green bags, we get tons of attention and I can't even begin to count the number of people that I've directed to the instructions! I've consistently managed to make one bag during a single dvd viewing (including bonus features) and have made others while walking around in Boston or riding the subway and train during our day trips this month! Also, they make great gift wrap bags! You can see them here holding sets of ALSB pages that we're giving as gifts! (Think Down to Earth, Hometown, Farmer's Market, Salsa, etc!)

I absolutely adore this "donate what you can" Crochet Grocery Bag Pattern By Haley Waxberg (proceeds help pay for a woman's reconstructive surgery). It's a simple combination of single crochet, chain, and slip stitches to create a wonderfully stretchy netted produce/shopping bag.

I altered the pattern, just a little, in between the increasing rows, I did one less row than called for and did 12-14 of the ch5 rows as the main body.. also, I thickened my straps a little and used 100% cotton by Lily and by Bernat.

By The Seashore Crafter Classic ATCs

To show you a little recent creation... here are two ATCs that I made using the new FFC Crafter Classic Remix By The Seashore Unmounted Stamps!



Club Scrap: By The Seashore Crafter Classic 2008 - UM Stamp Remix; Body and Soul 5/08 - Light Green; Varsity 6/05 - Green;
Ranger: Adirondack Dye Inks - Latte, Lemonade, Mushroom, Willow; Distress Inks - Antique Linen, Frayed Burlap, Peeled Paint;
Technique Junkies: February/March 2008 - Reinker Splash Technique;
Manila Tags;
Multigenerational Stamping;



Stay tuned and I'll have some new sample creations using the latest Crafter Classic Kits posted! Vibrant Polynesian and elegant Orient also come with the full array of papers, photo mattes, and 12x12 printed cut out along with a separate, newly created sheet of UM Stamps!

Beaded Charm Bracelet

I've been so busy playing with the kids and amassing a huge stack of layouts that I need to scan! But, I've also been making jewelry! I'm in one jewelry swap that ships at the end of the month, then another charm swap to trade at the Club Scrap September Main Retreat, and making plenty of pieces for gifts!

Here is a bracelet that I made for myself using the Club Scrap Rhapsody 3/07 beads with Blue Moon findings!

Summer Camp Layouts

Club Scrap still has the Camp Yah-Hey-And-So PSL Challenges running at clubscrapchat.com with plenty of prizes and challenges to jump start your creativity! This week I've been busy making a lot of "before and after" layouts but haven't had time to scan them! So, instead I'll share a few more camping layouts!







Club Scrap: Road Trip 3/05 - Peach Print, Green 8.5x11 Print, Peach Plain, Green Plain, Blue Plain, JR Cut Outs, Design Classic Yellow Print on Mosaic Twist Lemon;
Cuttlebug: Stop Sign;
Zig: Memory Writer - Denim;



Club Scrap: Pad 'O Blocks 2008 -
8.5x2.75 Inches Neutral; Collections 6/06 - Saddle Brown Plain; Pets 2003 - Horse Print;
Scrapbook Takeout: Harvest Feast 10/07 - 7 Gypsies Tag Corners; 7 Gypsies Romantique Label Sticker Book;
Heidi Grace: Punchboard Embossed Shapes - Wild Daisy Rd. #12-71187 | 27991_10;
Offray: Dashes, Dots, & Checks - 369360;

To create a hidden journaling pocket, I lifted my photo up from the matte by layering up 1/4" wide strips of coordinating cardstock scraps to create walls for the journal tag and supports for the other end of the photograph. I prefer using matching color papers or even fibers to pop my elements up over the bright white (or sometimes black) of foam mounting squares, plus the sides aren't sticky! :)

Christmas in July! 9 Layouts and a Sale!

I was secretly saving these recent layouts to post in July as a Christmas in July post...


Club Scrap: PSL Scramble 2008 - ALSB #25; A Study In Red 1/08 - Black Plain, Grey Print, Red Print, Black Tag, Dark Red Tag, Mini Brads;


Club Scrap: Musical Interlude - 12/05 Maroon Print, Ivory Print; Poetic 9/03 - 8.5x11 Green Print;
Scrapbook Takeout: Celebrations 11/07 - Basic Grey Undressed Chipboard Holiday, Prima Poinsettias & Stars Mix, Heidi Swapp Cargo Ribbon;

Part of my birthday party tradition was that the overnight guests went over to Salem for the ice cream smorgasbord and took photos with Santa at the little mall there!


Apple Barrel: Acrylic Paints - Black;
Club Scrap: A Study in Red 1/08 - Plain Black; A Very Groovy Christmas 2007 - Red Print, Stencil; Salsa 11/03 - White Plain;
Provo Craft: Cuttlebug - 3x3 Funky Circles Frame;
Ranger: Adirondack Paint Dabbers - Clover, Lettuce, Silver;
Scrapbook Takeout: Celebrations 11/07 - Basic Grey Undressed Chipboard Holiday;
Zig: Millenium - Pure Black;


Club Scrap: Retreat 2007 - ALSB & Fibers; Poetic - 9/03 Brown Print; Work Bench 8/05 - Green Embossed Plain; Rhapsody 3/07 - Rust Plain; Bridges 2/08 - Brown Tag, Stickers;
Scrapbook Takeout: Harvest Feast 10/07 - 7 Gypsies Zanzibar Brad;
Zig: Chocolate Memory Writer;

For my 9th birthday, all the girls stayed overnight after decorating a float and the next morning we donned traditional clothing from all over the world to ride on a Unicef float sponsored by my parents' store!


Club Scrap: PSL Scramble ALSB 2008 #5; A Study in Red 1/08 - Red Plain; Be Still 9/07 - Brown Plain, Brown Tag, Title Strip; Culinary 3/04 - Olive 8.5x11 Print, Evergreen 12/03 - Handmade Green Plain;
Ranger: Adirondack Dye Ink - Ginger;

Each year, my daughters' Brownie troop creates a themed holiday wreath to donate within town. This year their gingerbread cookie wreaths went to the Senior Center!


Apple Barrel: Acrylic Paints - Black;
Club Scrap: Bridges 2/08 - Stonewash Plain; A Study in Red 1/08 - Plain Black; Culinary 3/04 - Olive Plain; Poetic 9/02 - Creative Imaginations Tagwear Rub Ons; Art Deco 9/02 - Plum 8.5x11 Print, Architecture Overlay Stencil;
Ranger: Inkssentials - White Pen;
Scrapbook Takeout: Adventures in Altering 8/07 - Chipboard Numbers;
Zig: Millenium - Pure Black;


Club Scrap: A Study in Red 1/08 - CS02, CS07, Fibr05, Xtra36; Sparkle 12/07 - CS09;
Adobe Photoshop: Drop Shadows; Blending Mode - Multiply; Altered Hues & Levels; Inverted Colors;
Scan of my Sofa Fabric;






Club Scrap: PSL Scramble 2008 - ALSB #3 and 4; Hannukah 2006 - Sky Print; Varsity 6/05 - Blue Plain; Evergreen 12/03 - Green 8.5x11 Print, Stickers, Plum Plain;
Ranger: Adirondack Dye Ink Pad - Denim;

Beaded and Wired Mini Book: By The Seashore Crafter Classic UM Stamps

I just could not wait! I had to get my fingers all inked up and attack that By The Seashore Crafter Classic Remix UM stamp sheet! So, since the Matrix 7/08 Sr ScrapRap (the newsletter that comes with each monthly membership kit, and available on its own) shows a gorgeous CS Wired Book Project, I decided to run with that pattern and made a mini book!



I moved a little bit away from the design in the ScrapRap and skipped the hardcover, for now ;) I also used POPs (Pound of Paper, basically you can order these to come iwth your monthly kit, containing 1 pound of papers from the kit cut into small sizes, typically 3"x5", 4"x6", and 5"x7" but sometimes you get other sizes as well!) that I had on hand using the same solid papers that the By The Seashore Crafter Classic prints are on.

This mini book uses all of the stamps from the brand new FFC Crafter Exclusive By The Seashore UM Remix. I did add the overlapping retro-rectangles from the Matrix Stencil to one page, but otherwise all images come from this stamp sheet! I LOVE the the dashed semi-circle and know that I'll be using it will all manner of other stamps!



Club Scrap: By The Seashore Crafter Classic 2008 - UM Stamp Remix; Matrix 7/08 - Stencil; Body and Soul 5/08 - Light Green; Serengeti 11/07 - Light Teal, Dark Teal; Varsity 6/05 - Green; Assorted Beads; Waxed Linen Thread;
Ranger: Adirondack Dye Inks - Aqua, Bottle, Juniper, Latte, Lemonade, Mushroom, Pool, Willow; Distress Inks - Antique Linen, Frayed Burlap, Peeled Paint;
Technique Junkies: February/March 2008 - Reinker Splash Technique;
Manilla Tags;

By The Seashore: The newest Crafter Classic!

I am so excited about the new FFC Exclusive kits! I made up the full ALSB for the new By The Seashore Crafter Classic Kit (a remix of the very extinct July 2003 kit, but on new papers and with new designs based upon the original artwork) to use as a gift... but now I also need to make myself a full batch of the ALSB pages and have another kit for freestyle scrapping! What else can a gal from coastal New England do?

Not only does this kit come with the same 20 sheets and 12 photo mattes that other Crafter Classics Deluxe kits have, but it also comes with a full 12x12 sheet of cut outs with great phrases and artwork! The prefect fit for 10 gorgeous ALSB pages! AND there is a full sheet of unmounted stamps available as well, full of images and sayings! Soon I'll post some cards or a mini book using the stamps, so that you can see them all! :)

The only thing added to the pages is my Ranger Vintage Photo Distress Ink Pad! Enjoy!

Carnival ALSB Kit - 6 Fun Summertime Layouts!

Getting back into the swing of things and running around with Summer fun has been keeping me busy!

In the spirit of the Summer and to show you another great new FFC Exclusive ALSB Kit (perfect for a Summer Workshop!) I'm sharing my layouts using the Carnival FFC Exclusive ALSB Kit :) I doubled up working on them with some challenges going on at Club Scrap Chat's Camp Ya-Hey-n-So (Wisconsinisms in the title, they only kind of translate to my language!), so you'll see some recycled items in a few of them! You may recognize some of the papers from past kits as this ALSB Kit includes papers from County Fair 7/04, To You With Love 2/04, Extra! Extra! 6/04, Bridges 2/08, and more, plus the stencil from County Fair!







Club Scrap: Carnival FFC Exclusive ALSB Kit - ALSB #1 & 2, Dark Blue Plain, Red Plain, Light Blue 8.5x11 Print, Translucent 8.5x11 Print;
Cuttlebug - Paisley Dies;
Ranger: Inkssentials - White Opaque Pen;
Sizzix: Sizzlits - Boxed Brush Alphabet; Recycled Items: Cookie Box and Aluminum Can;

I just love this ALSB design and have used it in so many other ways! It's great for anywhere from 1 to 4 photos per page, or more if you wanted! I could have squeezed more in, but I think this gave a good overview ;) Right after my brother was married, we gathered his new stepchildren, neice, and my kids, plus older family and headed over to Salem Willows. At first we ate together then had the kids play games for a long time, but as everyone was ready to head out we stopped in one of the other arcades where they had a ton of 1 cent through 10 cent machines from long gone eras when it was a honeymoon destination! We made Chris and Stephanie take every possible love test and photo booth pictures before they ran off for a mini-honeymoon without the kids! Then, my girls had to take the love tests, luckily getting all sweet and innocent results.. but I must say that my husband and I scored higher than all the other couples on each test we took ;)


Here are a few examples of the same ALSB instructions used with my own mix of papers and assorted numbers of photos! Please, click on them to see them larger in their own blog article!











Club Scrap: Carnival FFC Exclusive ALSB Kit - ALSB #3 & 4, Light Green Print, Dark Green Print, Red Plain, Newsprint 8.5x11 Translucent Print;
Sizzix: Sizzlits - Boxed Brush Alphabet; Originals - Tickets;
Recycled Items: Cookie Box and Aluminum Can;


The newsprint on this layout is really perfect for our photos! It was during this Twin Day at Coney Island that my girls wound up having two separate photos run in newspapers, one in a local NYC paper and the other nationally! They also had many other newspaper and magazine photographers taking their photos, including one by the clown trash can in the second smallest photo of my layout!



Club Scrap: Carnival FFC Exclusive ALSB - Cream Print, Dark Green Print, Red Print, Stencil;
Design Originals: Tim Holtz Distressables and Doo-Dads - 0753 Toy Blocks;
Ranger: Inkssentials - Opaque White Pen;


I am not sure why I *needed* to take so many photos of this adorable little ferris wheel, but it sure worked out great for this layout! This is the first year that I let my kids split up at the school's annual Fun Fair and they had a blast going on all the rides with their friends!



Club Scrap: Bridges 2/08 - Cream Print; Workbench 8/05 - Dark Green Print; County Fair 7/04 - Red Print, Stencil;
Design Originals: Tim Holtz Distressables and Doo-Dads - 0753 Toy Blocks;
Ranger: Inkssentials - Opaque White Pen;


I am not sure who took each photo during this trip to 6 Flags with my friends Shakira and Vernell (two of the three co-owners at Scrapbook Takeout along with Vernell's sister, Francine)... I basically could only ride the Ferris Wheel and Merry Go Round with my heart problems, but I sent them on all of the fastest rides and held their bags while taking tons of photos with their cameras! I must admit that I rotated this layout since I had so many more landscape photos to include. But how great is the gridded green paper for journaling?? I can't write in a straight line to save my life, but this certainly helps!