Blog Hop {My Craft Channel SuperFans}

The Introduction:

If you are hopping along with us today: You should have come here from My Craft Channel's blog. If you did, you are in the right place! Welcome!
If you aren't already a follower, I'd love to have you follow my blog!

If you are one of my regular readers: Thanks for coming back! I love having you! Please join along in the hop - you can start at My Craft Channel's blog.

The Prize:
My Craft Channel is giving away a Black Ice Kit from Imaginisce.

The Details:
Leave a comment on each blog along the hop.
Blog comments close on Friday, September 6th at 11:59pm (Eastern). The winner will be announced on Monday, September 9th - so be sure to check back on the My Craft Channel blog to see if you’ve won.

The Hop Order:

My Craft Channel 

>>>Tifany DeGough with special guest Midge Hammon<<<

Abigail Stoops

Michelle Price with special guest Peggy Monroe

Andrea West

Sheila Lonergan with special guest Priscilla Joseph

The Project:

My project was inspired by two episodes from Heidi Swapp's show on My Craft Channel - the Flip Chart episode and the Cascading Pages episode.

I followed the directions Heidi gave in the Flip Chart episode to create my album base. I used a cereal box and covered it in patterned paper from Imaginisce. (The cereal box allowed me to have a bigger album - this is 6" wide x 7 1/2" tall.)

To make my pages I used Heidi's tip to cut the cascading pages for my album, then I added in a few off-cuts to give it a bit more variety. 

Everything here is made with the Black Ice kit from Imaginisce - I kept it all black and white with the pops of color coming from my photos. I added a few Glam Rocks to my cover page with the iRock...I love how it sets them so quickly and easily!

Once I had the flip chart base covered and my pages cut, I punched and bound them all together with my Cinch. Then I added a bow to the front (a combination of May Arts silk ribbons and The Twinery's Charcoal twine) to finish it off.

I love the finished product and think it makes a great addition to our home decor...and our memory keeping. 

Before you move on to the next stop on the hop...today I've got a special guest on my blog - another SuperFan, Midge Hammon. Here's is Midge giving us information about her project:

Welcome to the My Craft Channel SuperFans 2013 blog hop! I’m Midge Hammon and I can’t wait to show you the beautiful project I made using some of the products and papers given to us by Imaginisce. The papers are gorgeous and the tools and bling so cool!

Our challenge was to choose a show from My Craft Channel and, using Imaginisce, make our version and/or try the techniques from the show. Well, I love Heidi Swapp and look forward to her show every week. Her summer, 2013 episode 3 was calling my name! If you've seen it, you know what I'm talking about.

Heidi taught us how to create cascading pages for an album using her heart wooden album. I just happened to have one in my Heidi stash. To start, I used black velvet Color Shine to cover the wood. It’s amazing how well it works on a variety of surfaces. I adhered the papers to the wood, leaving a 1/8th inch border. Then, following the instructions in Heidi’s video, I cut the papers to create the cascading effect. I wanted to make mine a little different, so every other page is an inch narrower. I really like the change. Corners were rounded and each page was distressed with the Quick Quotes Power Puff chalking ink ‘Coal Miner’. It works well with the Color Shine. The last bit of business I needed to do was punch the holes in the pages and put them back in the book. I used the holes in the wood as my guide, stacked several pages together, and punched the holes with my We R Memory Keepers hole punch. It made short business of that chore!

After cutting out the heart center, I was able to play with the I*magicut ribbon cutter and sealer and the I*rock heat-setting tool, both from Imaginisce. They are awesome! The I*magicut cuts and seals the ribbon in less than a second. And you don’t have to wait a long time for the tool to heat up. Depending on the style you like on the ends of your ribbons, you can position it in the I*magicut so that it will make the appropriate cut for you.

The I*rock made the task of setting the hot rocks bling a cinch. They are the perfect touch to the sweet picture of my great-niece. Place the bling where you’d like it, hold the I*rock on top of it for a few seconds, and it’s set. I finished the page with a butterfly and crystal flowers from Mon Ami Gabby, wrapped the flowers in a ‘bow vase’, and added the word ‘love’ from Heidi Swapp’s word stickers.

All I had left to do after that was to fill the pages with pictures of Gabby’s first birthday party and dress-up the pages. I had the best time using Heidi Swapp’s products! The butterfly and heart embellishments were sprayed with Sweet Cherry Color Shine. Glitter bow ties, disco arrows, tags, clear tabs, word stickers, and banners rounded out the project. A little pink and white twine was tied around a few pages along with the addition of the pink ribbon and my book was complete! I tried not to go crazy with embellishments as I have a tendency to do, because I wanted the pictures to be the center of attention and, let’s face it, Gabby will want to look at it often. I want to avoid her removing anything that might be in the way of her admiring herself. We all know how little ones are!

Now that my project is complete, I can display it. It looks great on the mantle! I hope you’ll give it a try!

Thanks for stopping by today - enjoy the rest of the hop!

The Next Stop:

Abigail Stoops' blog

Supplies for Tifany's Flip Chart Mini Album:
Patterned Paper: Imaginisce (Black Ice);
Twine: The Twinery (Charcoal);
Ribbon: May Arts (Silk - Black, White);
Tools: Imaginisce (iRock, Glam Rocks); Fiskars (Trimmer, Scissors, Scalloped Sentiment Border Punch); Scor-Pal (Scoring Board);
Other: (Paper Doilies);

Book Review :: A Woman's Guide To Hearing God's Voice by Leighann McCoy

A Woman's Guide To Hearing God's Voice by Leighann McCoy

A Woman's Guide To Hearing God's Voice is a very easy book to read with some wonderful encouragement to help you find "direction and peace through the struggles of life".

I did find the title to be misleading - the author only really dives into a "guide" on the topic of hearing God's voice in the first and last chapters of the book. The author does mention that the main way to hear God is through his word, and the remainder of the book seems to be more related to the sub-title: Finding Direction and Peace Through the Struggles of Life. The author visits examples in the Bible (and also in the lives of the author and her family/friends) showing how God is with us in our struggles.

I found the book to be a beautiful reminder that God is with us (and for us) in life...even in the hard times. There are many great examples that the author provides that show that God is always working for our good (even if at times it doesn't feel that way).

I think this book would be encouraging for anyone who is dealing with struggles in their life. (And although it is titled "A Woman's Guide", there are only a few parts in it where it is specifically directed to women, and I think it would be helpful for men or women.)

This book is great for personal use and is also easily adapted for group use: each chapter in the book ends with some things to think about/do (Personal Reflection), questions for use in a group setting (Discussion Questions), and a verse to help you remember the chapter (Treasure Verse).

If you are specifically looking for a guide to hearing God's voice, I don't think this book would be your best bet...but for anyone else who deals with struggles, wants to see how God is with us, and needs encouragement - I believe this book will be beneficial to you.

FTC Declaration: The publisher has provided me with a complimentary copy of this book or advanced reading copy through Bethany House. This does not change the fact that I will give my honest opinion in my reviews.

Inspired by Pinterest {The Twinery}

The Twinery is at it again with another great challenge...and this one is a perfect one to inspire you to do something with those hundreds (or maybe thousands) of pins you have on your Pinterest boards.

For my project, I took inspiration from this pin on Pinterest that shows how to create a gift bag from a newspaper:

{Source}

Instead of using newspaper, I decided to try another medium - a manila file folder. I thought a file folder would be nice and sturdy for a gift bag and it would also be a clean slate for one of my favorite things to pair with twine...mists. 

I started by scoring the folder to create 3" and 4 1/2" panels, a 1 1/4" flap for the rim of the bag, and a 2" flap for the bottom of the bag. I didn't trim my folder down height-wise, just length-wise in order to create a rectangle (trimming off the tab areas of the folder).

{Tip: You can easily adjust the measurements of your bag to create a custom fit for your gift.}

At this point (before assembling your bag) you will want to decorate your bag with mists, stamps, washi tape...whatever your crafty heart desires. I chose a few colors of mists to create a nice gradient effect on the bag.

I then used The Twinery's Solid Caribbean twine to create a handle:

And voila! 

A sturdy, custom-made gift bag!

You can find all the details about how to join in on The Twinery's Inspired By Pinterest Challenge here.

And if inspiration isn't enough to make you want to join in...how about this Solid Twine Sampler Pack?

I can't wait to see what you create for this challenge!

Supplies:
Folder: Smead (Manila File Folder);
Twine: The Twinery (Solid Caribbean);
Mists: Heidi Swapp (Color Shine - Mustard, Mint Green, Teal);
Tools: Fiskars (Trimmer, Scissors); Scor-Pal (Scoring Board);

I'm a cover girl!

For me, this really is Christmas in July (okay...August)!
I am beyond thrilled to have one of my projects featured on the front cover of the newest special issue from Paper Crafts Magazine - Holiday Card & More: Volume 8.

It was very exciting for me to receive my JOY Tag back and get a little sneak peek at the issue a couple days ago.

This issue should be hitting the stores near you starting today...be sure to pick one up and get a jump on all those holiday projects!

Thanks for stopping by - have a great day!

Love U Mini Album

Today I wanted to share with you the cover of a mini album I created. I haven't added any pictures to the inside of the book yet, but I had a lot of fun doing the cover.

For this album I cut my own covers from chipboard, then covered it with a vintage ledger paper and some various embellishments. The houndstooth on the bottom is fabric (FabRips from American Crafts) - it's the first time I've used FabRips and I love how easy it is to work with! It's already sticky on the back, so the pleating was simple to do. I cut some various patterned papers for the pages inside and bound it all together with my Cinch. 

Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies: 
Embellishments: Vintage (Mini Playing Card, Sunshine Candy Co. Paper); Recollections (Peach Flower); Seam Binding; American Crafts (FabRips); Studio Calico (Wood Veneer Hearts, Grid Label); Maya Road (Envelope);
Stamps: Market Street Stamps (Believing Butterfly); 
Ink: Ranger (Archival - Jet Black);
Other: Canvas; Chipboard;
Tools: Fiskars (Trimmer, Scissors); We R Memory Keepers (Cinch Binding Tool, Cinch Binding Wires);