Chattering Robin's

Festive Friday - Blog Hop #5

2012-03-08T21:00:00.003-08:00

For this weeks Holiday card, I was instantly drawn to this beautiful paper from The Robins Nest.
It's called Glitter Admiral Fleur. Just stunning to look at, so much pretty details and lovely glitter. This made me dream of a celestial card, so you can see how it went well with this Elegant Angels stamp from Stampendous. Then a bottle of Cotton Candy dews completed the Angels heavenly glow!
Thank you for coming to look at my card this week.
Please continue on the hop to Cheryl Lindsay or if you'd like to start at the beginning, Terri Sproul is the place to be! Have fun and look for some blog candy along the way!
~Michelle Frae Cummings

Page Map Challenge

2012-03-08T00:00:00.001-08:00

By Amanda Marks

Welcome to the first Page Map Challenge!

Robin’s Nest Page Map Challenge:

The Page Map Challenge is a monthly challenge starting on the second Thursday of month and will last for one month.  The winner will be announced the Sunday after the new challenge is announced.  All winners will be notified by email and the winner will be announced on the Chattering Robin’s Blog and The Robin’s Nest Facebook Page.  Entering into the contest you are giving the Robin’s Nest the right to use your project to promote the challenge on their blog and other Social Media sites.

Create your own page using the Page Map(s) – the page map can be incorporated vertical or horizontal in the layout.  Any products can be used but if you use Robin’s Nest Papers or embellishments you will get bonus entries.

HOW TO ENTER:

Add your layout to the inlinkz tool.  If you have a blog grab our button and add it to your blog post.  A blog is not a requirement for this Challenge, you can use FlickR or any other Social Media Site to enter.

The winner will receive a $25 Gift Certificate to The Robin’s Nest On-Line Store!

<center><a href="http://www.robinsnest-scrap.com/"><img src="http://i662.photobucket.com/albums/uu345/ajsarts/th_logolarge.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" /></a></center> 

 Click on the Page to download your page map - 8 1/2" x 11"

12"x12" Layout

Materials:
Dew Drops
Glitter Cream Animal Print
Glitter Brown Animal Print
Glitter Letters
Purple Cows® Spring Punch It to create the squares

Home Again

2012-03-07T06:29:00.006-08:00

Hi Everyone, 2 weeks off, and here is the surprize I was talking about. We went to Ethiopia for our Humanitarian work, and decided to stop in Egypt on the way home for a few days. It certainly was amazing, and "Ancient" Egypt still there, intact, for the world to see thier civilization. We loved everyday of the 4 days we were there, Cairo, Giza, Alexandria. Not only were pyramids, the Sphinx, and the food great, but to see the mummy of Ramses ll, I was in awe, his face and hair all still intact. They knew how to do things we can't even duplicate today.

I can't wait to scrapbook these pictures. Ok, I will confess, I have't even scrapbooked Germany yet. But now that the scrapbook room is organized this adventure of catching up will begin. I admit, we have been gone so much that the 40 days in our house seem like nothing. Time evaporates. Each time I arrive home, the cleaning process goes into full swing, dusting, vaccuming, laundry, just catching up from being gone. I never realized it would take me so long to get back into the swing of things. Maybe if I stayed home longer I could get more done. At least today the jet lag has gotten better, and I slept to 5 this morning. That is progress.

Photos are in abundance in my computer and camera, so off to the printer they will go soon so the vigil of creating Germany and Egypt books will be in full swing.

Today is a special day for our family. Jer and Tara are having their new boy Weston. We hope all goes well with the delivery. And of course that means more photos for Grandma to share. There isn't anything more exciting than adding to our family tree.

I have been sorting The Robin's Nest papers and putting them into new groupings to create new layouts for sale on the website. It has been a blast to combine my designs with Rachel's designs. I created an Easter Layout that is so cute. It is so simple, yet it feels so elegant. The papers used are Bunny, yellow glitter dot, and bunny border. The carrots are made from the orange crackle cs and olive fleur. And of course we cannot forget dew drops, the "e" is covered in them creating its own pop. They and the carrots make the whole layout. This layout is for sale on the website. Getting ready for Easter, is a blast, and spring around the corner. We missed most of the snow while we were in Africa, and I am starting to see flowers peeping through the ground. That is a whole other project, my flower beds. They have been negleted for the last 2 years. Another project coming up to keep me going. Mmmmm, thought when we got home from Africa 3 months ago, there would be time to retire and relax. Not even close yet.

Enjoy your day, Enjoy your life, Enjoy the season.

Until next time. Robin

"WHO'S" Ready for Spring? Owl Sachet

2012-03-06T00:00:00.001-08:00

I'M READY FOR SPRING! Welcome to my Robin's Nest post.
My favorite part of spring is the returning of my feathered friends, having my morning coffee outside and letting them entertain me with their aerial dances and antics around the bird feeders.
We haven't had an owl in a while, but they certainly seem to be trendy in fashion and design this spring, so I've created a cute but useful accessory for the home.

An Owl Sachet to freshen drawers or hang as an air freshener and ornament.

ROBIN'S NEST SUPPLIES:
Shocking Pink Sorbet Glitter Cardstock- Tummy section
Water Color Honeycomb (can be found on the back side of Distressed Honeycomb and has the words BOO in various fonts) - Nose, pupils in eyes from dots in "Boo" letters
Autumn Leaf Card stock- Back body, wings and large eye circles
Glitter Pink Crackle (back side) Front body
Chocolate velvet ribbon (trimmed)

Other Supplies:
white card stock, batting, scented pellets, sewing machine & thread
Punches: 1 1/4" circle, 1" circle

1. Use my photo to create a basic pattern, cut out all pieces as identified above. Specific papers listed above name the body parts.

2. Glue the front of the owl together.

3. If you want a hanger, cut a 3.5" piece of brown velvet ribbon and tape to the inside of the back owl shape. Tape well below where you will be sewing to avoid gumming up your needle.

4. Cut a piece of batting approximately 1/4" smaller than your basic shape.
This one was a little too large, I trimmed it again.

5. Pour about 1 - 2 tablespoons of your scented wax pellets into the center of the batting. If you are using potpourri or another scented source, you may not need or want the batting. I wanted it to be puffy and soft instead of lumpy.

6. Hold the top layer into place, keeping everything aligned and sew a single stitch around the edge.

Thank you for visiting the Robin's Nest Blog "Chattering Robins" , come back often for more project ideas and inspiration.

Happy Spring!
Becky Conley

Princess Papers, Pearl Dew Drops and Flowers

2012-03-02T20:42:00.001-08:00

My little girl is a huge fan of anything feminine. Pinks, Purples, glitter and jewels, a mini me I suppose. She loves to get dressed up in her many princess costumes and usually smiles ear to ear when she does. This rare photo had me questioning my little princess and I thought it was truly perfect to scrap.

Hey there everyone, Erika Taylor here today to share with you a layout I created using some beautiful Princess papers from The Robins Nest. For this layout I used Plum Fleur and Glitter Black and White Border Swirl papers.I painted the Border Swirl papers with Tattered Angels Glimmer Glaze and Glimmer Mist. The glaze works as a resits which I love. I created a pink peony made from the pink flower pack and added a few of the stickers from the Daughter Sticker pack.

I also added a fussy cut Princess border and a bunch of Champagne Dew Drops to add interest to the distressed layout.

When my daughter saw the layout she turned and hugged me and said "It's beautiful mommy, how did you know I wanted that?" That was enough for me hehe. Here is the entire layout. I hope you enjoy it as much as my daughter and I.

Take a moment and check out the beautiful Fleur and Castle of Santa Maria da Feira collections. Perfect for the princess in all of us. Thank you so much for stopping by today. I hope that all of our readers in the Tennessee,Ohio, Kansas, Georgia regions are safe and I hope that all of you are having a great weekend.

until next time
Toodles
Erika Taylor

A Pretty Up-Cycled Vase

2012-03-02T00:16:00.001-08:00

One day I was searching for some pretty vases to hold flowers. I wanted something that held quite a bit with out tipping over as some vases threaten to do. Then I went for my stash of jars. I keep some under the sink to catch bacon grease or grow indoor plants. This one had a label still attached. No bother, since I knew I'd cover it up soon. I measured the jar as to where I wanted to put my paper.

Then I used my paper trimmer to accurately cut a rectangle piece of Green Leaves paper, and applied generous strips of double stick tape to the back.

I attached the paper to the jar carefully and held tight for a few minutes for a good hold. Then I went through my loose Dew and Diamond drops I keep in a bag. These are often left over from a project and never quite make it back into their containers, so I collect them in a bag for random use.

When the light hits the jar, the gems sparkle like so. Very pretty!

Here is another quick vase I made using a pasta sauce jar and Glitter Purple Flower cardstock. Because the cardstock was thicker, I doubled up on the tape and after wrapping the paper around the jar, added some tacky glue to the end piece before securing it. Then I put two thick rubber bands (the kind you get from a bunch of broccoli) and put one near the top and one near the bottom to hold the paper in place while the tape/glue set.

Michelle Frae Cummings

Heart Sliceform Card

2012-02-29T21:01:00.000-08:00

I have been fascinated with these honeycomb forms since I was a child. It was the next thing to magic the way they collapsed flat and just as easily returned to their shaped form. It was only recently that I discovered these fun creations had a name—sliceforms.

I found the pattern for this solid sliceform heart on the Extreme Cards and Papercrafting blog. I imported the PDF file into Make-the-Cut where I cleaned up and refined the file. These pictures show the front and top views of the sliceform.

I wanted to incorporate the heart sliceform into a greeting card, so I also designed the card base and liner in MTC. All the card pieces were cut with my Zing electronic cutter.

The card base was cut from plain white cardstock. The front of the card was cut from Robin’s Nest Glitter Gold Chipboard. The sliceform and inside liner were cut from Robin’s Nest Pink Bourdeaux Vellum.

The sliceform was suspended in the card front frame with fishing line. Dew Drops were added to the front of the card for accent. I think this makes a stunning card!!

You can see more of my projects on my blog at the Create & Craft website.

Carole

Princess mini altered frame

2012-02-28T21:00:00.001-08:00

Hello,my dear Robin's Nest friends! Irit is here and this time it's all about fairy tales project.
I decided to make this very small (4*4'') double sided photo display with all Robin's Nest pinks and Princess items and my dear daughters old photos.
So here is the cover, made with Glitter Pink on Pink Swirl cardstock, Princess borders, the Castle from Princess Chipboards , Crown clip from Royal Clippies set and also a title from Princess words and some clear pink Dew drops from the very same Princess kit.
I also added some blue button just for an interest.

Now the frame is opened and can be displayed.

Same Glitter Pink on Pink cardstock for one side, Princess Words titles, inked a bit with brown ink, very same Princess Borders, Robin's Nest pink ribbon, Princess Cardstock on another side and I used those crowns from Princess Chipboards over the photo with dew drops added. Another clipie from Princess Clippies set was just perfect here.
And now for the back side: Glitter Spring Stripe cardstock,Princess border again, some dew drops, antoher title from Princess kit.

Small , girly and lovely fast project to make.
Want to make a similar project? All products are in our Robin's Nest shop!
Happy Spring , my dear friends!

Hello from me

2012-02-27T21:00:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone! I've been thinking a lot the past few months about friends...ones that I've had in the past and ones that I have right now. I am so thankful for all of them. Honestly, I'm not good about taking the time just to pick up the phone and tell them "hi." One thing I would like to begin doing is to at least send them a card once in a while to say it so I started by creating this card. I love the products from The Robin's Nest so much that I had to use them to create this. Would you join me and tell someone hello today that you know? It's amazing how much better someone's day can be just by this simple, kind word.

Robin's Nest Products Used:
Fresh Mowed Grass Dew Drops
Dew Dew Glue
Glitter Letters
Glitter Chipboard
Getaway Glitter Swirl Cardstock

Disney With The Robin's Nest

2012-02-26T22:01:00.000-08:00

Hope everyone had a GREAT weekend and is ready for another fun tray. I have done a few of these and other than the two multi opening I am LOVING the 6 opening trays. I like the open space and used this one as a memory box for my first ever trip to a Disney property. I started with the tray from McGuffey Woodworking. Their website does not have a shopping cart but for more information just contact them. The trays are solid wood and are unfinished for you to collage, paint, stain or cover with whatever medium you choose. Check out their News & Event Page for upcoming events. Look at the Gallery for the custom furniture they have built.

This is the raw tray. I then took a bunch of decorative napkins and separated the layers so it was one ply. Using Perfect Paper Adhesive from USArtQuest I did some collage the frame area. The back comes off the tray for easier application.

I then cut paper to fit the areas. These will be the backdrop for my photos! The papers from The Robin's Nest were perfect. There were some bright colors and interesting patterns and I loved how they made great mats for the photos!

Look how beautiful those colors are! I love the butterflies. I then picked out the photos I wanted to use. I had over 500 photos to choose from thanks to my good friend Laura Drahozal! I got to experience my first Disney trip with her and Georgia Sommers! They were old pros at this Disney stuff!

So with the photo selected and my Disney ticket to add I started placing what I wanted where I wanted. This was also fun because I looked all through the photos again and remembered the GREAT fun. I got all the photos placed and attached.

You can see I have added some Dew Drops to this piece. I also popped some photos up higher, used some papers to make like a pocket and just had fun with this. And now for a closer look at some of the areas!

In this I have Rapunzel flat and Tinkerbell popped up and added a Dew Drop or Tear Drop on the corners. The next is the fun Disney Castle and again used Dew Drops but also created a flower out of the tear shaped Dew Drops! I also made a little bed of Mini Dew Drops under the castle!

I loved the carousel! It was so pretty and fun and the very pale lavender Tear Drops were perfect for the top of the carousel!

One of the BEST and most BEAUTIFUL things I have ever seen is the World of Color water and light show. I used the Dew Drops to show the slope in the paper. It looks like the hill on the roller coaster in the background of the show.

AGAIN: The entire project

I have had so much fun creating this memory box and hope you all have enjoyed the project as well! Have a GREAT week and happy creating!

Kristi

Festive Friday - Blog Hop #4

2012-02-23T21:00:00.000-08:00

This is my 4th Christmas Card creation for this hop using The Robins Nest product!

In making this card, I used:

Olive Fleur double sided paper

Christmas Swirls Glitter cardstock

Ornament Mini Dews

Fiskars tree punch, Fiskars decorative border punch, music sheet paper and a black pen.

As you can see, its so easy to do and so festive!

Thanks for coming by to see my card! Please continue on to Cheryl Lindsay for more Holiday inspiration!
~ Michelle Frae Cummings

Washington Cherry Tree

2012-02-22T22:00:00.000-08:00

By Amanda Marks

I know I am a day late on Washington's Birthday (trust me my daughter reminded me several times that I needed to post this on the 22nd NOT the 23rd.) This was a fun, easy project that takes 30 minutes and is a great children's project!

Materials:
Tree Template
Cereal Box
The Robin's Nest Stencil Green Paper on Linen Card Stock
The Robin's Nest Brown Zebra Stripe
Red Dew Drops
Light Green Tear Drops
3D Crystal Lacquer
Scissors
Meadow Green Bic® Mark-it™
Woodsy Brown Bic® Mark-it™

Trace Template (mine came from the book: "The Craft Book for Children: Sticks & Stones & Ice Cream Cones")

Trace the tree onto the cereal box. Two trees will be needed in order for the tree to the stand.

Cut out the trees

Test to see if the tree stands.

Trace the trees onto the paper (you will need four bushes and four trunks). Glue the paper onto the cereal boxes, add ink onto edges to hide the cardboard.

Add Dew Drops to look like cherries.

The project was extremely easy and fun. My daughter made her own version on President's Day without Robin's Nest Papers and Dew Drops (I'm a big meanie, I know!)

Quilted Paper Wall Art with Becky Conley

2012-02-21T00:00:00.000-08:00

Welcome all you crafty peeps! Today I've created a Paper Quilting Wall Art piece using many of the lovely Robin's Nest papers. It's quite breath-taking in person with all those lovely glitter papers.

ROBIN'S NEST SUPPLIES:
Discovery Girl Glitter Card stock
Glitter Gold on Creme Swirl Card stock
Glitter Pink on Pink Swirl Card stock
Glitter Silver Hearts Card stock
Glitter Wedding Swirl Card stock.
Red Glitter Paisley Card Stock.

Other Supplies:
Adhesive, Sewing machine with red and gold thread, 14 x 17" art drawing paper.

I actually only used about 1/2 sheet of each card stock except the Red Glitter Paisley Card Stock
for the heart motif.

1. Cut 2 1/2" strips and 3" strips from each paper, then cut them into thirds making them 2.5 x 4" and 3 x 4".
2. Using the art drawing paper as the base, place the pieces of card stock rectangles randomly and adhere. Use only a small amount of glue in the center of the pieces. You don't want to have to sew through adhesive :o)
3. If you are certain about the placement of your large heart, do not worry about empty spaces in the center. Work from the edges into the center. Let the adhesive dry completely.
4. Using red thread on zig zag stitch, sew along the edges where the rectangles meet mimicking a patch quilt pattern. Again, you know the center area will be covered with the large heart so don't worry about center areas not sewn completely.
5. Fold the Red Glitter Paisley Card Stock. in half and cut a large heart, as large as possible. Using the scraps, cut splashes. Large one is 3 3/4" x 1 1/4" and the two small ones are 2 3/4" x 1".
6. Glue the heart and splashes into place, using only a small amount of adhesive in the center.
7. Using gold metallic thread, sew around the heart and splashes.
8. Frame and display!

Thank you so much for stopping by the blog, I hope you enjoyed this project and it inspires you to give paper quilting a try.

Cheers!
Becky

Regency Collection and Grandpa

2012-02-18T12:10:00.000-08:00

When I was a little girl, I didn't get to know my grandparents very well for they lived across the ocean and that in itself made it difficult. Now with children of our own, I feel blessed that our children get to know their grandparents.

Hello everyone, Erika Taylor here today to share with you a layout I created using the Regency collection from The Robins Nest. As soon as I saw this collection in The Robin's Nest store, I knew I had to have it. The rich combinations of burgundies and golds are just magnificent. For this layout I used a few of the Regency papers including Glitter Gold on Cream Swirl, Glitter Vanilla Wedding and Red Lion.

I also used the Regency Mini Dew Drops and Helmar Gemstone glue to create a little dimension on the page. Here is a close up for you. I love how the Minis ended up very free form.

Next I fussy cut some of the Glitter Gold on Cream Swirl paper and used the oval Chipboard Shapes piece for one of my favorite rub-ons from The Robin's Nest in the Viva Rub-on Pack. I finished it up with 3 of the Regency Robin's Nest Paper Clips and a Glitter Gold Journaling piece.

And there you have it. A layout of my Dad and my daughter. Memories like these are special, so use some beautiful papers to preserve them. I'd love to know what your favorite Robin's Nest papers are. Take a moment and leave me a comment today.

Thanks so much for stopping by. Until next time

Toodles
Erika Taylor

An Altered Clock

2012-02-17T23:56:00.000-08:00

I have been wanting a clock for the craft room, as I often try and estimate time by the number of songs on my MP3 player and get up and down trying to make sure I am not late. So, when I saw a clock on clearance at Hobby Lobby, I snapped it right up! But as you can see from the original photo below, it was pink. My craft room is blue, green and white, so I got out some beautiful paper from The Robin's Nest and made it my own.
I started by carefully taking apart my clock with a screw driver. If you alter a clock with glass, be sure to place this on a flat surface so you don't break it! I then cut my circle using my Cricut. If you have a digital cutter and software, you will find this is the best method to make sure you accurately cut the correct circle size and the place the center of the circle for the hands of the clock. I also used this to make sure my clock face numbers were placed perfectly! If you alter a clock by hand, make a map for the placement of your numbers before you cover the original face!
To help disguise the cut I made for slipping the circle over the clock hands (mine were NOT removable), I used an X-acto knife and cut along the edge of one of the tree trunks on the clock. See photo below. A scissors will make this cut visible, so use a craft knife if you have one!

I added some of The Robin's Nest Black Starfish paper (plain side to the edges of the clock face) to hide the black plastic and the green coordinates perfectly with my craft room color scheme! I loved the starfish motifs on the other side, so I used my Cricut and my DS software to cut in free spaces and I will use the starfish in another project! I cut the swirl using a free SVG I found via Pinterest (please find the link in the supply list below). I actually cut one swirl and hand cut it into three pieces to use on my clock. I added The Robin's Nest Fr Mowed Grass Dew Drops to embellish the swirls.

I cut the blue velvet rolled roses using the My Favorite Things, Rolled Rose Die. There are some things, the digital cutters won't cut. So, dies are wonderful for cutting specialty fabrics like velvet! The blue and white leaves and flowers are actually from a vintage bracelet my cousin gave me. I love to use vintage costume jewelry on my crafts! I use the Fr Mowed Dew Drops in the center of the flowers. The punched leaves are a Creative Memories punch.
Supply List
The Robin's Nest Blue Glitter Trees Paper
The Robin's Nest Black Starfish Paper (Green paper leaves, swirl & edge of clock face)
The Robin's Nest Fr Mowed Grass Dew Drops
Clock
Ashland blue poinsettias (Michaels)
My Favorite Things Rolled Rose Die
White Pom Pom trim
Vintage Jewelry (white and blue leaves and flowers)
Buttons
SVG flourish by My Time to Create
X-acto knife
Cricut and software (optional)
Songbird Cricut cartridge (for numbers, optional)
SCAL 2 (to cut the SVG swirl, optional)
Creative Memories leaf punch
Hot Glue gun & glue sticks

Butterfly Tiara and Cupcake liner

2012-02-16T22:47:00.000-08:00

February 13th was my Birthday. :) It was a weekend - long celebration of crafting and a party on the day before. I made delicious cupcakes with butterfly's, of course! This cupcake liner was for my special Birthday cupcake. I used a Cricut Cartridge that does over 50 cupcake liners with matching toppers. The one above was made to mimic the tiara I made and wore at CHA. I used Silver Dew Drops, Blue Tear Drops, and Blue Mini-Dews.

Here are the cupcakes I made for everyone else. Same cartridge. For the toppers, I used a Sizzix butterfly die, a Martha Stewart butterfly punch, and a Swiss dots cuttle bug embossing folder. The cupcakes were lemon with raspberry jam in the center, topped with homemade whipped cream and dusted with powdered sugar. They were delishes! I want to make the recipe one more time before I share it, but I'll be sure to do that soon! :)

For this Tiara that I made and wore at CHA, I ran The Robins Nest Glittered Chipboard through my big shot with the sizzix butterfly dies. I sandwiched heavy gauge galvanized wire inbetween the butterflies with strong tacky glue. I wrapped the tail end of the wire around the base of a blank tiara and then added beads and crystal hearts. I accented the butterflies with glitter glue, silver, white and pink dews and purple diamonds.

Here I am wearing it at CHA. And rthen I wore it again at my Birthday party. I just love it!
Feel free to stop by my blog for CHA re-caps. :)

Exploding Pyramid Box

2012-02-15T21:00:00.000-08:00

I love to present gifts that are beautifully wrapped and decorated. The gorgeous Robin's Nest papers and embellishment are just the ticket for creating this striking exploding pyramid box.

For this exploding pyramid box I chose Robin's Nest Purple Flower and Glitter Purple Daisy and Swirl on Lavender papers.

I cut and scored each of the layers.

Next, I cut the excess away on each layer resulting in a four-pointed star.

I marked the center of each layer, pierced the mark, and joined the layers with a decorative brad. I added a square of decorative paper on the bottom to cover the back side of the brad.

Using the Crop-a-dile, I set an eyelet in the top point of each of the triangles in the outer layer. These eyelets added strength for threading the fine ribbon through the holes.

The last step was to adorn and embellish the outside of the pyramid box with Dew Drops. I used Men's, Daughter, and Champagne.

Now all I need is a special occasion to tuck a gift into this special presentation box.

You can see more projects on my Create & Craft blog.

Carole

No Snow

2012-02-14T11:12:00.000-08:00

Utah is usually so full of snow in the winter. This year however, we have so little. Maybe this is so I can get used to the cold. It is such a change from living in Africa for 2 years. I was planning on taking time to adjust, but since it has been so warm, it has been a breeze. I have to say though that I do miss the snow. I took my "Let it Snow" glitter sign down from the top of the fireplace already, it really isn't going to be a really cold winter here. Sighhhhhh.

So, how is the weather where you are. Is it warm? Californina was nice, not hot, just nice. Sun, breeze, flowers, green trees. Utah - bare trees, brown lawns, cool days. Are you having rain, snow, falling hearts? It is Valentines season.

We leave tomorrow again for Ethiopia. Will be there for a few weeks, and a surprize at the end. I'll share that with you when we get back.

Well for now, enjoy your weather, sun, snow, rain. Whatever it is, love it. Embrace it, and just be happy! Happy Valentines Day!

Celebration of Mardi Gras

2012-02-13T21:00:00.000-08:00

I have always been fascinated with Mardi Gras. I like the bright colors, some of the traditions, the parades, the little shops of the French Quarter and the masquerade balls. Recently, I was reading about some of the symbols of Mardi Gras. The traditional colors for it are green, gold and purple which mean Faith, Power and Justice. The masks and beads are another fun tradition. The royalty of the krewes and the king of Mardi Gras is represented by the crown. I thought it would be fun to do an invitation to Mardi Gras representing some of the symbols from it. What added more to the fun was that The Robin's Nest carries the papers and embellishments to do it. This is a picture of what I created. Doesn't it put you in the party mood? Remember Mardi Gras is next Tues., February 21st so have some fun and create a party of your own using products from The Robin's Nest!

Robin's Nest Products Used:

Glitter Masks
Little Girl Crown Glittered Paper (the crowns were cut from this paper)
Plum Fleur Paper
Dew Stackables
Diamond Stackables
Fiesta Dew Drops
Dew Dew Glue

CHA Page with The Robin's Nest

2012-02-12T21:01:00.000-08:00

I am the first to let you know that I am not a huge scrapbooker. I use the papers and supplies in altered art, cards, paper crafts etc. I took some fun photos at CHA and thought I would use some of the cool papers from The Robins Nest to show them off!

I love black and white! I printed my photos of me with some fun friends and also wonderful and creative folks at CHA. I had 5 photos and matted them on solid black card stock from WorldWin. I also cut a 4 1/2 X 4 1/2 black and silver square and put in the center of the white and black paper with flourishes. I attached all the photos where I wanted them then the fun began!

Next I added some additional flourishes with a Dreamweaver Stencil. I used Black Matte paste and then added Crystal Glitter over it for more sparkle.

The flowers were covered with Perfect Paper Adhesive (PPA) from USArtQuest the dusted with Crystal Glitter. I added the Dew Drops in Black in all the centers of the flowers and added more glitter!

In the swirls of the stencil flourishes I added a white Dew Drop!

Just a closer look!
And now the finished page...

CHA is great for catching up with folks you only see a couple times a year! I am glad for facebook and email to keep up with all of them throughout the year!

Happy creating and don't forget to stop back Thursday for the Dreamweaver blog post!
Kristi

Time flies when you scrap with Robin's Nest

2012-02-11T21:00:00.001-08:00

Hello, dear Robin's Nest friends! Irit is here with my new January post.
My new post today is all about using " whatever you got" and make a nice page with it. And here is a story . I got a small shipment of goodies from Robin's Nest- all green. Lot of paper, stickers, rub ons- but everything in green. So I challenged myself to scrap a page with most possible number of products from this shipment and I think I made it!

Here is a supply list:
Brown Herringbone cardstock, Hunter Green with glitter cardstock, Clover border paper, Gateaway stripe paper, Daisy stripe Rain Forrest paper, Woodsy, Birds and Switzerland stickers,Dragonflies and Time Rub- ons, Green ribbon, Men Dew Drops, Green glitter journaling tag, White alphabet.
And now to work:
1. Cut your Herringbone cardstock to 11*11'', round corners, distress it a bit with sand paper block and glue to your green glitter basic cardstock. Hand cut the borders from Clover Border paper and arrange it on the top and on the bottom as shown.
2. Make two circles from the same paper, use the backside and adhere the circles as shown. Trim the edges and glue the left edge on the left upper side.
3. Glue your photo over the circles. Add 2 strips from Gateaway and Daisy papers as shown over and under the photo.
4. Now the fun begins: add stickers, rub- ons, ribbon, dew drops and be a bit crazy. I added some rub-ons over the photo, a clock over the ribbon etc. Add your title and as white was too bright, I covered it a bit with distressed glitter. Add 3d glaze over the bird sticker and some over the trees for more texture and interest. Write your journalling.

And the last thing: don't afraid to alter thing: alter rub-ons, letters, stickers, paper. Sometimes less is more, sometimes- more is what you need.
See you again in two weeks with my new projects!
Irit

Robin Nest at CHA with Charity Wings

2012-02-11T06:00:00.000-08:00

At CHA this year, we did a wonderful thing with Charity Wings with a live video stream from the show. We also filmed the post and here it is...hope you enjoy

I made this video from home to show the mini book for you guys..

Thanks for stopping by here again. I hope you love Robin Nest papers as much as I do.

Terri Sproul - please stop by blog and see other of my video from CHA.

Great Display Piece for Less

2012-02-10T23:56:00.000-08:00

If you saw my last post for The Robin's Nest, you saw the 3 dimensional flowers and noticed that I hang my 3 dimensional pages on the wall. I have a Creative Memories Display board on which I display my 3 dimensional pages. It is hung near my home computer, so that I can store all those many secret passwords for the websites I visit. We got another computer for Christmas and I wanted to make my own. So, I got to thinking how can I make it on a budget and today I'm sharing my idea.
Supplies
12 x 12 canvases (two)
The Robin's Nest Fleur Green Olive Paper
The Robin's Nest Black and White Holly (Red side)
The Robin's Getaway Paper
The Robin's Nest Black Journaling
The Robin's Nest Germany Stickers
Modge Podge
Small Brass Hinges (2)
Ribbon
Foam Tape
I started with two 12 x 12 canvases from Michaels. I got a two pack on sale for $4.00. I chose to make the front plain but chose The Robin's Nest Fleur Paper because I wanted something that looked beautiful, even if I was not displaying a page at all times. I hope to make a page for each season and swap them out. Here is how my Valentine's Day season page looks in the frame. I used The Robin's Nest Black Journaling cut in half as a photo corner, and matted them on the red side of The Robin's Nest Black and White Holly.

I used The Robin's Nest Getaway, more of the Black and White Holly's (red side) on the inside of the frame, so that it would look nice when it is opened to retrieve the contents inside. The ribbons help to retain slips of paper with my computer passwords and other paper clutter. The stripe on the inside of the frames and on the outside edges is from The Robin's Nest Fleur as well. I used the sticker from The Robin's Nest Germany set. I loved the color with the other papers, I speak German and have visited there so it fit so well. You can see how both sides look together when the hinge is attached in the third photo below.
To the side of the two canvases I added the brass hinges. Here's a tip to a help you add those teeny tiny nails and not hurt yourself: use an awl to mark where you want them to start and then hold them in place with your paper crafting or sewing tweezers until they are started. It kept me from some colorful language!
If you make a similar piece, be sure to make a note about the finished dimensions of the page that will fit in your frame. With my photo corners, the finished page that fits in my frame is 11" x 11". I will also make template, so that for future pages I don't cover my title with the photo corners of the display piece. I love this look for less, made with The Robin's Nest for less than $15.00!

Festive Friday - Blog Hop #3

2012-02-09T22:29:00.000-08:00

Welcome back to Festive Friday! This is my 3rd Christmas creation to share with you. I truly meant for this to be a card...but my imagination got away with me and it became a oversized ornament instead! Don't you just love it?
To make this, I used Olive Fleur double sided paper, Red Glitter Paisley cardstock, Red,Gold,Silver metallic dew drops in a bottle. Red trim, and champagne stickles, pre cision scissors and tacky glue.

Begin by drawing by hand or using a die to make 3 different sizes of circles onto the plain side of a cereal box, or something of that thickness. Do this twice.

Fold one set of the circles in half. The your draw petals as I did here.

Cut out your petals, these are your tracing templates.

Trace them onto the back side of your papers and cut out. You should have 16 petals of each size.

Satrt by glueing the petals tips onto its cooridinating circle as shown.

Take four more petals and evenly add them in the spaces.

4 more at a time until you have evenly glued all the petals down.

Add detail with your stickles and dew drops. There are approxmately 260 georgeous dews in each bottle!

Set your flowers aside for the stickles and adheared dew drops to set.

Then layer them one top of each other with tacky glue and tape some trim on the back to hang

Thank you for coming to view my craft! Please visit the rest of the ladies in the hop for more Festive creations!
Next on the list, if you have been following the blog, is Cheryl Lindsay.

12"x12" Layout with Page Map - Glitter Copper Butterflies

2012-02-09T00:00:00.000-08:00

By Amanda Marks

I usually scrapbook 8 1/2"x11" but I only started doing this last year when my daughter entered school. Everything before 2010 is still 12"x12". When I received the Robin's Nest Copper Glitter Paper, I knew at least for the first project I couldn't bring myself to cut it up because it is so beautiful. I found some photos of my daughter in her hat and decided to scrapbook those photos with this amazing paper.

Materials:
Robin's Nest Glitter Copper Butterflies (12"x12")
The Paper Company Purple Passion
Tim Holtz Distress Ink - Dusty Concord
Lutradur®
Glue
White Ribbon 1/4" and 1/2"
Scissors
Copper Mica Powder
Bic® Mark-it™
Dew Drops (8 tear, 4 mini dew drops (Belgian Chocolate), and 3 original dew drops)
Micron 03 Black Pen
Hat Embellishment:
Amazing Mold Putty
Delight™ Modeling Clay
Fondant Roller
Purple Craft Paint
Hat similar to "The Hat"

Page Map for a 12"x12" Layout - Click Photo to Download

The hat being molded in Amazing Mold Putty

Delight™ clay placed in the mold. Allow to dry for 24 hours, cut out a hat shape and paint. Add Ribbon and Dew Drop for flower.

Lutradur® Letters being covered in Copper Mica Powder

The Finished Layout:

Robin's flower box

2012-02-08T06:34:00.000-08:00

Hello Robin's Nest Bloggers,

Flowers are one of my favorite things ever. I love their smell, I love thier shapes, I love their colors. What a treat for the beauty of our world we have on this earth - FLOWERS. I remember reading a quote years ago, "As far as I can remember, flowers have been my constant companion." I feel this way too, they just are so friendly. They just bring me joy.

I finally have a photo for you of this wonderful box with the lid covered in flowers that I made!

Irit was my inspiration on making this box. She made such a fabulous garden of flowers, and I had never made my own flowers before, so decided it was time to try.

It is so fun what you can create from a punch, or die, spray bottle filled with water, colored mini stamp pads, and paper. I am a bit partial to pinks and reds, but there are yellows and greens in there too.

You punch your flowers out first. I just used several flower punch shapes, and dies. Smaller sized flowers in the middle and larger sizes underneath. I used different shapes together too. They did not have to be the same shape of flower for the layers. Each punched flower was distressed with ink around the edges. I used different shades of pink, red, and brick stamp pads. Then I layered them on top of each other and poked a hole in the middle of all of them, then attached about 7 of them together with a brad, some have more layers, it just depends on how big you want your flower to be. Experiment! Then sprayed the paper with my water. The next thing was so easy, I just started pulling each layer of paper, up with my fingers to create the flower, scrunch the paper to a 3-d form. Layer by layer. Sometimes, I would spray a little more water. You can also spray the flower shapes before you attach them together, but I found it was easier for me to attach the unsprayed flowers first.

Each flower was set aside to dry in the 3-d shape. After the flower is dried, I then attached a dew drop at the center over the top of the brad, some flowers I attached 3 dew drops over the top of the brad. Then I glued them on the top of the box with liquid glue, a glue gun would work too.

The flowers on the box only took me about an hour and a half to create, and glue on the box. And it was my first time making them, pulling out the supplies and finding just the right paper colors is all included in this hour. Why pay so much for those flowers on the market when they are so easy and fast to make. You can make them with your extra scraps of paper, we all have a box of these saved somewhere in our supplies, those extras that weren't used on layouts, or just not big enough for the layout we had been working on. Great use for Scraps.

For the leaves, I used the same idea, only they were not layered, just punched, distressed, sprayed, scrunched, dried, then attached.

Robin's Nest papers used:

Green stencil, hunter green glitter dot, kiwi sorbet for leaves. (I also used a die cut swirl with the Kiwi Sorbet and brown glitter dot)

Yellow glitter dot, Honeycomb fleur, pink glitter dot, summer pink glitter dot, red glitter chipboard for flowers, and just white plain paper.

I also added punched birds from a Martha punch from glitter brown chipboard. Have to have a Robin in there somewhere!

I attached several colors and sizes of dew drops, and tear drops to the tops of the flowers and leaves.

The box is covered in Classified paper, the top of the box in the new brown glitter leopard and brown classic swirl cardstock.

I think you could make a supply of flowers for your pages fast by just having extra flowers punched and ready in your drawers in all different colors. Then just glue to your page, keep a supply close! This will be my next project, just making a supply of flowers in different shapes and sizes to have stored in my supply box.

There is a big trend right now to use flowers on your pages. Try it, I'd love to know what you think.

What a great idea, and money saving project for the future pages I will create.

What a fun project. I was so excited that it was soooo easy.

Thanks Irit for the inspiration.

Until next week!

Robin

ALL GIRL Scrapbook Page: Becky Conley

2012-02-07T00:00:00.000-08:00

Hello and welcome! I am back from CHA, full of inspiration and excited about all of the new products. Now, I can share this layout I made for the show using two of my favorite Robin's Nest products: Gorgeous Papers and Dew Drops.

ROBIN'S NEST SUPPLIES:
Glitter Pink on Gold Daisies: Daisy Gold / Daisy Stripe Gold paper,
Pink Coral Mini Dews

Other Supplies:
Light and bright pink card stock scraps
Makins Clay: brown, white, red
Art Foil: Copper
Flower Punches (2 sizes), Heart Punch (1")
Manilla tag, Pink embroidery thread
Flourish stamps (Mine :o)
Floral Frenzy Rollograph Stamp by Clearsnap
Brown and bright pink ribbon
Eco-ArtBoard 1 3/4" squares (3)
Brown and bright pink ink pad
Cricut Plantin Schoolbook font
The Best Glue Ever! ScraPerfect

1. Use a circle template to cut 11" half circle, ink edges and adhere to the background paper. Ink edges of background paper. The Glitter Pink on Gold Daisies paper is striped on the back side which was used for the circle. Adhere the ribbon where the half circle ends.

2. Mix the red and white clay together in equal parts to make a nice deep pink, roll to slightly larger than 1/8 thick. Ultimate Clay Machine setting #4. Roll the Floral Frenzy stamp over the clay, pushing to create an impression. Create 3 complete blocks. Let dry. Rub bright pink ink pad over the high spots and let dry completely, cut into squares. Use the excess clay to punch small hearts (7 needed). Ink the hearts with bright pink ink pad.

3. Ink 3 pieces of Eco-ArtBoard with brown ink, heat set to dry completely. Apply The Best Glue Ever! free-hand in a floral motif that mimics the flowers on the background paper, let dry until completely clear and tacky. Apply copper Art Foil. Layer large and small flower punches in light and dark pink card stock, glue Pink Coral Mini Dews to the centers. Arrange the Eco-ArtBoard squares and stamped clay squares to create a border as shown.

4. Stamp pink card stock with bright pink ink pad and flourish stamps. Cut out the title and hand cut random large hearts approx 2" and slightly smaller to create the large flower shown. Bend and crinkle the petals for dimension, ink the edges brown and glue into place. Add the layer of clay hearts, adhere punchies to the center and embellish with Pink Coral Mini Dews.

5. Attach the photo using glue on the sides and bottom only to create the pocket for the journaling tag. Ink edges of the tag with brown ink, embellish with punched clay hearts as shown. Embellish the centers of the daisies on the background paper with Pink Coral Mini Dews.

Thank you for stopping by the Chattering Robins blog, come back often for many great project ideas and inspiration.

Cheers!
Becky Conley

Parisian Minis and Classified Papers

2012-02-04T11:07:00.000-08:00

Have you seen the new Classified collection from The Robins Nest. It is full of beautiful patterns, blacks and white and is so versatile. Hey there everyone, Erika Taylor here today to share with you a layout I created using the Glitter Black and White Border Swirl, Gold Paisley on Black and Parisian Mini Dew Drops.

Firstly, I misted the entire sheet of Glitter Black and White Swirl with Glimmer Mist. Then I added white pen to some of the swirls for a really great look. The Paisleys were cut out and adhered with Helmar 450 Quick Dry Adhesive to really make sure they are not going anywhere.

Here are a few photos for you

Here is a wonderful close up of the Gold Paisley Papers. This is becoming a top favorite of mine. It also comes in Silver too!!!

Here you can really see the fussy cutting and the swirls I created with the Parisian Mini Dew Drops

The Robins Nest papers really work beautifully with mists and paints and I love how this one turned out. Take a look at some of the new items at The Robins Nest and try your hand at altering papers today. Thanks so much for stopping in. I hope I've given you a little inspiration.
Until next time

Toodles
Erika Taylor

Italy Mini Travel Journal

2012-02-03T00:32:00.000-08:00

Here is a book I made to be displayed in The Robins Nest booth at CHA!

The base of the book is made from Manila folders.

Throughout this book I Incorporated the following from The Robins Nest line:

Glitter embossed Journal Cards.

Glitter black and white Fleur.

Red Paisley.

Rebellious red glitter chipboard.

* Please click on any photo for a close up! *

Diamond Dews.

Textured stamp, inks, vintage inspired trip and findings, a bind it all and rings, paper clips, lined paper, border and tab punch.

Discovery Girl rubons.

Italy stickers.

Glitter black and white Swirl

Gold on black Paisley.

Maps of Italy taken from a old atlas, stapler,and brads to fold over pockets and hold in place.

Glitter black and white Swirl.

Wild heart die cuts.

Plenty of spaces to add a photo.

France stickers.

Lined journal pages to write memories abroad.

Pockets to tuck away souvenirs.

Brown on Brown glitter rope.

I used a crop-a-dile to punch holes both front and back. Then I used part of a elastic hair band to make the clasp from the back and attached a button to the front.
I finished off the book by gilding the edges with a gold leafing pen.

Thanks for coming by to see my book!

~ Michelle Frae Cummings

3D Ornament

2012-02-01T21:01:00.000-08:00

I've had a long-time fascination with origami. I love the looks of all those intricate folds, but, truth be told, I'm just not patient enough to do all the folding required to create an origami piece. That's why I loved this project so much!! It has that intricate look of origami, but none of the folding!!

You'll need 12 of the flower shapes for each ball. Each of the shapes is identical and has a slit at the base of each "petal" for joining. You can vary the size of the ball by adjusting the size of the flower shape.

I used my Zing electronic cutting machine to cut these 12 shapes from Robin's Nest Glitter Teal Daisy cardstock.

Robin's Nest cardstock is the ideal paper for this project because it is sturdy enough to maintain its shape, but flexible enough to allow accurate positioning of the pieces.

Begin by piercing the center of one of the flower shapes to accommodate a thread, fine wire, or ribbon for hanging. I chose to use transparent fishing line. You can see that I secured the knotted line on the reverse side of the piece with hot glue.

Begin to assemble your 3D ball by interlocking the slits at the base of each petal. Be patient. Gentle flex the cardstock to avoid creasing and folding. I added the piece with my hanger last so I wouldn't have to contend with the hanger being in the way during the assembly process.

I'm tickled with the results. These could be used in so many ways: massed in a crystal bowl for a table centerpiece; filled with treats for a child's party; suspended at varying levels for a mobile; a grouping of different sized 3D balls for an interesting display.

There are several patterns available online. If you can't locate one, email me and I'll be glad to share the SVG file that I used.

Carole

CHA Tuesday Morning

2012-01-31T06:45:00.000-08:00

So I forgot to bring the camera down to the cafe this morning, sorry.
It was a great day yesterday. We connected with many companies that will become feature artists or companies/guest companies during the year. I am so excited for this. We have product that connects with thiers in wonderful ways.
Talking to old friends has been wonderful for me, after 2 years in Africa. I can see such a huge change in the industry. The big companies are no longer focusing on scrapbooking, but other crafts instead. This is nice for the smaller companies like us. We love to bring you wonderful designs, and new looks.
Flowers of course are a huge hit, and have been for a while. Spellbinders has some wonderful dies that create the base for your flowers. It is so fun to use thier dies with our papers, and their dies also cut through our glittered chipboard. I made a wonderful top of a box full of flowers using thier dies and large punches. I promise to post this later.
Probably the greatest need I see in the industry after 2 years of being gone, is the need to go back to the basics. Simple layouts, simple looks, simple papers. We carry these items. Not many companies do anymore. There are those layouts that are so full of "stuff" you wonder where the picture is and what it really is we are trying to accomplish on a page. The photo is the most important thing on the page, next to the journaling information about life, and feelings. Those are the real reasons we scrapbook!
We will be posting journaling books made with our journaling tags, with pics attached it brings your feeling and photos together for your children and extended family member to read about you and them.
We love to continue to show those simple layouts and needs. On our website there are small books and layout kits that fill these needs. They are for sale, and we will continue to add to these layouts for you the consumer to be able to purchase and complete pages in no time.
This morning gives me time to reflect on these things, the love I have for my family and the need I always feel about putting into my pages "history" as you might say about them.
We love sharing these ideas with you too. Keep plugging away at this beautiful hobby. We are creating great history books for our children and grand children, and thier children. This is the only way they will remember the wonderful times in thier lives with and without you.
Hugs to all of you today,

Robin

My Black and White Love

2012-01-30T21:00:00.001-08:00

Hello, my dear Robin's Nest friends! This is Irit here again and this time with my non traditional Valentine project.
Sometimes I am just in love with some colors or designs and this post is all about it. I am in love with Black and White (also I don't craft a lot in those colors, but my outfits are mostly B/W), and I am also very much in love with Tando Creative mini chipboard printers trays. And this time I combined both my loves ti make this altered project for you to see.

Product list:
Robin's Nest products: Black glitter cardstock, Glitter Black and White Border swirls , Glitter Black and White Animal print, Glitter White on White , Very Black Glitter Chipboard, Dew drops Black, White, Silver collection, Pearl White Diamond Dews, White Alphabet
Tando creative tray and all small chipboards
Creative Inspirations Paint embossing powders and paints
Prima flowers, Black Alphas and lace
You don't need a tutorial to make this project, just to cut all possible B/W Robin's Nest cardstock and to arrange them under the chipboard frame. Then embellish each section with whatever you fancy: stamped vintage images, small covered chipboards, flowers, lace, metals. I even painted small spools into black and white , covered the bird with some sparkle glitter, die cut black chipboard swirls, covered the sewing machine with black embossing powder and made this heat embossed frame.
Dew drops in black and white are just perfect for this project! Make shapes with them, add them over the frame or swirls. you can go a bit crazy here, but remember that it's a very small (6*6'') item, so there is no space for big items to use.

Now you have a perfect Valentine gift in those non traditional colors.
Hope you like this project and see you again in two weeks
IRIT

CHA Monday Morning

2012-01-30T07:03:00.000-08:00

Good Morning Bloggers,
Yesterday was an amaising day! Here is our booth. We are upfront showing our Classified line, all in black and white. Then back farther you can see the other lines on thier boards. We are "ON TOUR" so each line comes from a different country. Love it. So does everyone else.

Soo Exciting!

I appologize I didn't get all of the photos on the blog yesterday. I am still a little old school, have an iphone, but don't know yet how to get the photos from it to here, will learn that when I get home. So have been waiting to get the photos off my camera. We didn't get back to the hotel until after 8, and then I was so tired Rachel brought dinner to the room. Mmmm, I must be getting old.

Here is the display on the end of our booth showing ideas using our products. Thanks to our design team this has turned out soo wonderful. Thank you for all your hard work. You can see that we have used papers to show how to do scrapbooking pages as well as boxes, books, paint cans, and memory boxes.

We started the day with Teri in our booth with Charity Wings filming a cute book she made using our new Classified line. Clock paper and Classfied sticker and chipboard tags, and she showed the NEW paper clips, you will love these!!

You can see this on Charity Wings blog and web site.

Last for this morning, I want to share from the Zimbabwe line, the world paper, and travel stickers. I love this paper, one of my favorite, oh, goodness, they all seem to be favorites, but this is the world paper!

This is my favorite layout I did for the show using our new world paper, and new stickers. I will post how to later, just tell me if you really want to know how to do this.

We have a line of stickers that matches chipboard die cuts, so they can be teamed together to make great layers on your pages, and be used on thier own as well. Isn't Rachel so cute!

Well, good-bye for this morning. We are off to another day at the show!

Robin

CHA Sunday

2012-01-29T07:44:00.000-08:00

We are set up and ready to go. The booth looks so fun with Michelle and Teri here, there will be make and takes today in the booth. Cute luggage tag to attach to your handcarry bag. I will post a photo today.
It will be fun to tell you the products ordered the most. So far the Classified line hits the mark, and everyone loves black and white. We have the cutest dew drop display which we will post today too.
It is fun and exciting to see old friends and meet new ones. That is my favorite thing to do when I come to show. There are no better friends that we have than the ones here. Over all the 10 years we have come to show, I am so very impressed with the Scrapbooking and Stamping store owners. This has to be the friendliest industry in the world, where friends stay friends forever. I just talked to one of these friends this last week. Tammy, my very special friend will always be just that. Her store is closed, and she is living a new adventure, even though scrapbooking is one of her favs of the day. But after all these years, we still hold our friendship close. She has been to my home and Dana and I to hers. We have a bond, kindred spirits for sure, that will last forever, and we met right here at CHA years ago.
We know that as the show opens today we will meet you again and hug and enjoy a catch-up. We will also meet new people too, we can't wait to form those new friendships too. Come by, we want to see you!
Well, I'm ready to put on my Robin's Nest shirt, and off to the show we go!

Happy Scrapbooking!

Robin

Wild About You Wall Decor

2012-01-27T23:56:00.000-08:00

Sometimes it's great to scrap something that you can display on the wall and include all sorts of bulky embellishments and goodies! I just finished up this page which I
will hang on the wall and had a lot of fun with it!
I started by making my rolled roses. Both roses were made with paper printed on my Cricut Imagine. The large rose was cut with the CTMH Art Philosophy Cartridge and the small rose with My Favorite things mini rolled rose die. I made another mini rolled rose with the same die out of felt in hot pink and inked the edges in red to give it some depth.
The base page is The Robin's Nest Lobster paper. I actually wanted a Valentine's day paper and thought that the lobsters look like lips! On that I added The Robin's Nest Animal stripe paper. I used the Martha Stewart Loop Border punch on The Robin's Nest Red Paisley paper to make a border stripe at the bottom of the zebra mat. I also used the Robin's Nest Velvet Ribbon at the top of the white stripe at the bottom. And can you see the quote? It says, "There's no place I'd rather be, than with you." Isn't it perfect for a Valentine's day page or card?! It's from the Robin's Nest Time Flies Rubon. v
I also used the small swirl by the small rose from this rubon set. For the large rubon, I used The Robin's Nest Viva la France rubon.The leaves near the large rose are Creative Memories punch and near the small rose the EK Success Dahlia Border punch was used. I added some of The Robin's Nest Dew Drops after Still and in the center of my roses. I am just crazy for the Fairy Dust Dew drops. The pearlized silver ones are so fab!

Supply List
The Robin's Nest Lobster paper (black and glitter red background)
The Robin's Nest Glitter Animal Stripe
The Robin's Nest Fairy Dust Dew Drops (after Still)
The Robin's Nest Primary Dew Drops (center of flowers)
The Robin's Nest Time Flies Rubon
The Robin's Nest Viva la France Rubon
The Robin's Nest Ribbon Velvet Ribbon
The Robin's Nest Red Paisley paper (at the bottom of the zebra stripe mat)
Felt
My Favorite Things Mini Rolled Rose die
Martha Stewart Loop Border punch (under Zebra mat)
EK Success Dahlia Border Punch (leaves for small rose)
Cricut Imagine and Imagine More Cartridge (patterned paper on Rose)
Cricut, Close to My Heart Art Philosophy Cartridge (Large Rolled rose)
Close To My Heart Chipboard Alphas (S)
Anna Griffin Peyton Collection Chipboard Letters (black letters)
White Heart Doily Target
Making Memories Sheer Frame Flower Black
White Card Stock
Red Card Stock
Black Card Stock
K & Company Glitter Letters (Wild)
Creative Memories Leaf punch

Festive Friday- Blog Hop #2

2012-01-26T23:39:00.000-08:00

Welcome back for the 2nd Christmas card of the year!

For this creation, I kept things simple. I used Black and

White Fleur de-li, Glitter White on White, Red Swirl Glitter,

and Blue Dew Drops from the Hydrangea bottle.

I also used a heart scalloped punch, circle scalloped punch, red and black ink,

and chipboard letters from a $1 bin.

Thanks for coming by!

Please visit the rest of the artist to see their creations and check out some blog candy!

~ Michelle Frae Cummings

Double Scrapbook Layout with Page Maps

2012-01-26T00:00:00.000-08:00

By Amanda Marks

Welcome to my second Robin's Nest Design Team Post. Today I will be sharing a double scrapbook layout - I did Page Maps for both 8 1/2" x 11" and 12" x 12".

Materials:
2 Brown Pieces of Card Stock (Mine is The Paper Company Natural Pack)
1 Sheet of Orange Crackle from The Robin's Nest
Scrap White Card Stock
Scissors
Craft Knife
Glue (Herma Glue Dots and Zig Memory System® 2 Way Glue)
Brown Ribbon
Dew Drops - I used Brown and Yellow
Favorite Font (I used Pablo - You can download it here)
Bic® Mark-Its™ (Sunset Orange and Woodsy Brown)
Zig Memory System® Millennium 05 Red Pen (For Journaling)
Antique Linen Tim Holtz® Distress Stain
Spiced Marmalade Tim Holtz® Distress Ink™
Walnut Stain Tim Holtz® Distress Ink™
Ridge Scissors

Page Maps - click on the photos to download PDF Page Map:

8 1/2" x 11" Page 1

12"x12" - Page 1

8 1/2"x11" - Page 2 Outside

8 1/2""x11" - Page 2 Inside

12" x 12" - Page 2

My pages (my daughter loves them!)

Notes about the pages: The Journaling Sections are white card stock cut out with Ridge Scissors. Antique Linen Stain applied to the full space, the Spice Marmalade was rubbed around the edges and very thin layer of Walnut Stain was also applied to the edges.

The Title was typed into Word and printed out, colored with Bic® Mark-its™ and cut out with an Exacto (Craft) Knife.

The ribbon was applied with the Zig 2 Way Glue (I got it from my grandma - no spool so I don't have a name brand I used).

I personally like to handwrite my journaling because it makes it a tad more personal.

The Tie that Binds- Glitter Papers

2012-01-24T20:53:00.000-08:00

Valentines Day is just around the corner and what better way to celebrate than with a little GLITTER!!! Hey there everyone, Erika Taylor here today to share with you a Valentines card I created using some amazing papers from The Robins Nest.

For this card I selected Teal Glitter Card Stock, Glitter Cream Animal Print and Red on Red Rope papers. I'm adore the combination of creams, whites, reds and teal here. With that hint of black for contrast. To add a little bling to the card, I used Metallic Red Dew Drops. I love how well the glitter papers adhere together using Helmar 450 Quick Dry Adhesive. The Dew Drops are adhered using Helmar Gemstone Glue.

And now for the full card. I love how that little Metallic Dew Drop makes the perfect "O".

Perhaps a little unconventional for a Valentines card color wise, but I know that my husband is going to love it.

Thanks so very much for stopping by today. Don't forget, if you are attending CHA this coming week, stop by The Robins Nest at booth #1656

Until next time
Toodles
Erika Taylor

Treasure Chest of Dreams

2012-01-23T21:00:00.000-08:00

There are only a few more days before Winter CHA (Craft and Hobby Association) where all of the new crafting supplies we use and love each year are first revealed to the craft world and it has always been a dream of mine to be able go or to have some of my design work there to share with everyone. This year thanks to The Robin's Nest some of my projects are there! The theme for the booth is "travel" so I used the fabulous papers and embellishments from The Robin's Nest to create this treasure chest. It will be on display in the Robin's Nest booth (Booth #1656) so if you are going to CHA this weekend be sure to stop by and check it out and check out all the wonderful creations of the amazing Robin's Nest design team. If you can't go to CHA be sure to check out the projects of the team here on the Chattering Robin's Blog. It's just as exciting as being there!

Robin's Nest Products Used on the Treasure Chest of Dreams:

Olive Fleur on Linen Cardstock

Cotton Candy Dew Drops

Maple Leaf Dew Drops

Dew Dew Glue

Robin's Nest Shadow Box

2012-01-22T21:01:00.000-08:00

Well this is my second installment as Design Team Member for The Robin's Nest. I wanted to do something other than a scrapbook or card so this is what I came up. This project will be on display at CHA in The Robin's Nest booth #1656. Hope you come by to check it out along with my first project! Let's get started. I start with a blank box by McGuffey Woodworking. I really like these boxes because the back comes off so you can design on a flat surface.

Next I decide which way I want to use the box. For this project I turned it so the three small openings are in the upper right hand corner. Then I use a pencil to trace all the grid marks. This allows me to have a guide. You can go a little over the lines and they are covered by the dividers! No curling paper or pieces coming up! Now I find all the papers I want to use and cut them to size.

Then I glue them in place. I place the grid over the top just to make sure I have cut everything correctly.

I like how it looks so I remove the grid and start to decorate the sections. I start with some stickers and great rub-ons. They work really well and get a wonderful image. Afterwards I add a touch of glitter.

Next I went to the trusty Tear Drops and made some very colorful and dimensional flowers.

I just continued to add embellishments until all panels are filled. I will go through them so you can see what I did in each one.
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I used a Peacock Feather stencil from Dreamweaver with Blue Glossy Paste. On the next on is a paper flower. I added glitter on the feather and the flower.

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Rub-ons were used for the words and the dragonflies. I added glitter to the vines of the paper and to the dragonfly wings. I used Diamond Glaze from Judikins to do this. In the 3 small boxes I used Glossy accents and diamond shape Tear Drops to make the designs. I added a round Tear Drop in the centers.

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I loved this western theme paper and had a couple of stickers I used to give it a layered look.

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The top portion is the flowers I made and the horses are from Dreamweaver. I embossed them with Black Glossy Paste. I sprinkled a little bit of glitter over the horses and added some black Dew Drops just for fun. The black paste holds them in place. Otherwise I used Glossy Accents as my adhesive.

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Again, I had some epoxy stickers in my stash and used them. The leaves are some outline stickers in copper.

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The top is a sticker and made it look attached with Dew Drops. I did add Diamond Glaze over the sticker for dimension. The leaf is just applied and I added some random "bling" just for fun.

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More bling, a flower, a rub-on & Tear Drop for the grouping of three. For the panel with the stag, I cut out the tree sticker then used the stag stencil from Dreamweaver Stencils in Copper Embossing Paste.

And the finished box....

I hope you have enjoyed this post! Happy Creating...

Kristi

A Wild & Sassy - Scrapbox!

2012-01-19T21:00:00.000-08:00

This, my dear friends, is a scrapbox. Fun to make and fun to give. It's a "mini-book" contained in itself. Eons ago, when I first started selling my hand made crafts, I sold these. I called them "exploding" scrapboxes, because that's what they are! You see before you a little gift and when you take off the lid, it "explodes" with color and personality, waiting to be adorned with precious memories.

This particular box is just one of my creations for The Robins Nest, booth #1656 at CHA! I will be there Sunday, January 29th 11:00am- 4:00pm. If you are going to be at the show, please come by and say Hi!

The following materials were used to make this box.

Glitter Cream Animal print

Glitter Black and White Animal print

Silver Glitter Leopard print

Obsidian Diamond Dews

Black card stock, black ribbon, eyelet setter, 2 medium eyelets, 8 brads, Paper Trimmer with score blade, scissors, adhesive, decorative border punch, glitter glue, background stamp, pink and black ink.

* * * * * * * *

Lets get started shall we?

Choose a 12 x 12 sheet to be your outside and set aside.
Choose a 12 X 12 sheet to be the middle section and cut to a 10 ½ " x 10 ½ " square.
Choose a 12 X 12 sheet to be the inner most section and cut to a 9" x 9" square.

*Tip- Double sided papers work best, but you can always cover up blank spots with background stamps like I did.

Score the 12 x 12 square at 4" from all edges, creating 9 squares.
Score the 10 ½ x 10 ½ square at 3 ½" from all edges, creating 9 squares.
Score the 9 x 9 square at 3" from all edges, creating 9 squares.

With your scissors cut off the corner squares, on each sheet leaving the middle square and one square on each side of the middle.

*Tip- If you want to create pockets, only cut 1 side of square, and fold on score line into a pocket. Save cut squares for photo mounts on the saved squares. Alternate designs for a nice effect.

Fold the score lines on each sheet creating the inside of a box look
Place middle sized box on the out side of the smallest and the largest on the out side of the middle. (Like stacking the boxes)
Adhere the middle squares (only!) to each other (Stacking them).

*Tip- The animal print papers are just right for inking, so sassy! Add any punched borders and stamped backgrounds while you fit the smaller squares into the larger ones.

Cut your last sheet of cardstock down to 8 ½ x 8 ½

Score it 1" and 2 1/8 " from all edges, creating a 3 1/4" x 3 1/4" square in the center.

With your scissors cut on the top and bottom (only) 2 1/8 " lines down to the 2 1/8 " lines from the side.

Fold all scored lines and pinch the corner score toward the inside of the lid.
*Tip- Secure the corners of the lid with brads, staples or adhesive.

Place the lid on the box. A perfect fit!
Keep the lid on the box and mark 1/2" down from the bottom lid with a pencil on both sides. Take off lid and carefully punch and set hole with a eyelet setter. Tie and knot your ribbon from the inside so it can loop around the box like a big bow on a a pretty present. Fill squares with photos, recipes, or favorite sayings. Add a ornament or extra gift inside the center and suprise a friend or family member.

To see some of my "past" scrapboxes, please visit here.
If you have any questions in making your own, feel free to contact me here.

~ Michelle Frae Cummings

Reclaimed Trinket Chest

2012-01-18T21:01:00.000-08:00

I love searching for hidden treasures in antique and thrift shops. I found this little gem at our local Goodwill shop. As you can see, it was a little worse for the wear. But, I saw potential

I wanted to paint any areas that would be exposed and not covered with paper a dark midnight blue. But, alas, I didn’t have the right color paint. Joanna, my DIL, to the rescue!! She had the perfect shade of nail polish–and it worked great. You can see the nice shiny finish on the top edge of the finished trinket chest.

The next step in the transformation was measuring and cutting the Belgian Chocolate Glitter cardstock and Brilliant Brown Glitter chipboard. Then I repaired the sad, broken drawer and glued the papers in place.

While waiting for the glue to dry, I searched through my stash of beads to find something to use in place of the original drawer pulls. The beaded pulls were glued in place using Glossy Accents.

All the edges were lightly distressed by running the edge of a scissor blade along the corners. These distressed edges were inked with Chestnut Roan fluid chalk ink by ColorBox.

I'm very pleased with the results, and now I have the sweetest ever little trinket box to grace my workspace.

Robin's Nest papers used:

Belgian Chocolate Glitter cardstock
Brilliant Brown Glitter chipboard

You can see more project on my Create & Craft blog.

Carole

Love Scrapbooking

2012-01-18T18:08:00.000-08:00

I logged on 3 times today waiting for the new post. Ok, Hello Robin, it's my turn to post. Serously, you would think I would know what day it is today. I finished my last task today for the CHA booth. I have been arduously working on the displays for the booth since Christmas, does that mean that designing isn't fast or I'm just slow. Not sure which it is but, I am excited to be working on pages with the new products. I am so excited for the new products to show. I especially love the Classified line. I have never been a black and white person with clothing, but over the last 2 years black became a part of my wardrobe, so it must be rubbing off. There are such cute things to go with the papers, new stickers, paper clips to die for, and rinestone ribbon. You will love it.
The other thing I really love from the Robin's Nest line is the glitter chipboard. It comes in 6x6 squares, and is perfect to run through the die cut machines with out having to cut it first. It makes such a cute addition to the pages we make, the die cuts, but also if you use the entire square and cut a cute edge on it, it helps the pictures pop. Try it, you will fall in love for sure.
I just signed on Pintrest this week. Wow, what a great place to find ideas. Who needs to go shopping for the things you need. You can find it, pin it, and go back to you personal pins, and use the ideas over and over again. Awesome. I am a believer, especially since I live in a small town and the variety of stores in a small town isn't quite there. I found so many things I loved right away. What a great site. I have pinned some of the designers ideas on there too, and within minutes they were being repined by others who saw them. Sooo Cool. Valentines is coming close, so I am posting this layout with our Hears paper and stripe. All our product lines have a classic that goes with it, so here is Classic red swirl on this page, with glitter chipboard die cuts in heart shapes. Dew drops are the finishing touch. This is Becca Ann one of our grandaughers.
We look forward to sharing more and more with you of the new products we have created. Most of them have already been put on the web site. I know the site is a bit hard to manuver, we ask to be patient with us on it, currently we are working with a web designer to make it better and easier.

Happy Scrapbooking,

Robin

Mini Album w/ Becky Conley

2012-01-16T20:53:00.000-08:00

Hey all you crafty peeps! This week I created a mini album with some gorgeous Robin's Nest papers. It's simple but yet so pretty when you see the gorgeous papers in person. I started with a board book from Kaiser Craft.

Robin's Nest Supplies:
Brown on Brown glitter snowflake
Glitter Daisy Honeycomb
Glitter Reindeer stripe
Belgian Chocolate Glitter
Brown on Brown Fleur
Brown Dew Drops
Brown Velvet Ribbon

First, I cut the Belgian Chocolate Glitter to the size of the cover, then painted with acrylic brown and bronze. The recessed area is filled with a heart that is a wood shape I covered with dimensional blue paint, I accented the empty areas with Brown Dew Drops and then filled in with golden mini beads.

The bindings are tied with Brown Velvet Ribbon and some brown gross grain ribbon. The overall size is 6.5 x 7".

I used many Robin's Nest papers to create pages inside.

Thank you so much for stopping the Chattering Robin's blog, please become a follower for project ideas and crafty inspiration!

Cheers!
Becky

My glitter garden

2012-01-14T21:00:00.000-08:00

Hello, my dear Robin's Nest friends ! Irit is here again with my first post during my second term on this fantastic team.

This time I decided to show you how you can make your own glitter garden, using Robin's Nest most gorgeous glitter cardstocks and glitter chipboards.

The base of this project is this cheap acrylic frame and I actually covered it with home die cut flowers and leaves.

Products used here:

Acrylic frame

Robin's Nest products:

Glitter Chipboards:red, lime green, pink, yellow

Glitter cardstock: Glitter White on white swirl, Glitter Pink on pink swirl, Classic roses, Cindy Lou Srtipe
Dew drops: Sun Shower, B/W and Silver

Other products: Sizziz flower and leaves dies, EK Success flower and leaves punches

Chipboard butterfly (A2Z Scraplets)

Creative Inspiration Paints: Mellow Yellow, Sunshine, Rustic Red, Evergreen, Citrus

Fancy Pants swirl and flowers stamps

Staz-on white ink

How I did it:

1. Stamp some flowers and swirls with Staz- On over acrylic frame top. As you can see only the small portions of it are seen after I covered it with all flowers and leaves.

2. Die cut and punch lots and lot of flowers, leaves and swirls from all papers and glitter chipboards. Use dies to cut your glitter chipboards and punches for cardstock and paper, as chipboards are too thick for punches. Assemble your flowers and begin to glue them over the frame. First glue the swirls, then some big flowers, then add leaves and small flowers and try to make it to look as a random collection.

3. Glue dew drops as your flower centers: make a small center flowers over the big flowers and add just one drop over the small ones. Add Tear drops as your leaves over the small leave branches.

4. Now for the painting. As the glitter was too bright, I decided to soften it with a bit of water colors, so I added some light paint layer over the chipboard flowers. The white glitter cardstock was just perfect for resist painting, so I painted over the white flowers and then cleaned the paint from the glitter parts using a baby wipes.

Finally I added this chipboard huge butterfly, painted and glitter covered and my shiny garden was done.

And a finished project

You can do the similar project too: just go to Robin's Nest shop, pick some glitter products and Dew Drops and give yourself a freedom to be a bit crazy.
See you in two weeks with another glittery project.
Irit

Trendy Red, White & Black Christmas Page

2012-01-13T23:56:00.000-08:00

Every year I look forward to receiving my families photo Christmas cards. This year, everyone had black and white in their cards. The Robin's Nest was perfect for this trendy card! I started with a base page of Black and White Holly and fussy cut some of the white detail to slip my photo behind. Fussy cutting is a great way to highlight beautiful paper and hold your photos in place. I matted my photo card on Red Paisley and used the Martha Stewart Skyland Snowflake border punch along one side. On the opposite side of the red photo mat, I tucked a Stampin Up paper doily that has been in the stash since 1999.
I cut the snowflake with Rebellious Red Glitter Card stock using my Cricut When It's Cold Outside cartridge, a deep cut blade and housing, with a multi cut of two. Try using a printed paper with angular pattern or snowflake pattern to make a rosette and you'll love the effects. Here I used, Red Snowflakes (shown below).
I just made sure to place the top edge of the snow flake pattern near the top edge of my Tim Holtz Rosette die when cutting. The effect is another snowflake when the rosette is finished! In the center I placed a flower sequin from Micheals and Fairy Dust dew drop in the center of the flower. The swirl is by Prima Marketing.
Supply List:
The Robin's Nest Black & White Holly Paper
The Robin's Nest Red Paisley Paper
The Robin's Nest Red Snowflake Paper
The Robin's Nest Rebellious Red Glitter Card stock
The Robin's Nest Fairy Dust Dew Drops
Cricut When It's Cold Outside Cartridge (red glitter snowflake)
Tim Holtz Rosette Die
Prima Marketing Glitter swirl
Stampin' Up White paper doily
Martha Steward Skyward Snowflake Border Punch

Festive Friday - Blog Hop #1

2012-01-12T21:00:00.000-08:00

1st Christmas card of the year for this hop. So excited!

My Name is Michelle Frae Cummings and I post here,

on the Robins Nest every Friday-

So welcome!

I hope to inspire you to create amazing things using The Robins Nest items!

For this card I used a simple rosette made from crepe paper,

dipped the ruffle edges in glitter and adorned it with bells,

tiara stickles and Jade Diamond Dew Drops.

Then I glued the rosette onto Christmas Swirl Glitter.

Lastly, I wrote "Noel" onto a piece of black cardstock

with a silver sharpie and accented the letters with tiara stickles.

Ta da! I love it! So pretty!

Please visit the rest of the blog hop participants below and prepare to be amazed!

The Office

2012-01-12T07:20:00.001-08:00

Hello Friends,
I have counted the number of days that we have phsically been in our home and today marks number 14 in 2 years, 2 1/2 months. My day to post on the blog was yesterday, and I appologize to our design team member for posting today, a day late. I spent yesterday working in the office trying to clean and move back in. After 2 years anything and everything that didn't have a place was put there, plus that many years of dust.
I decided that it was so needed so I can exisit in it again. Each book was dusted with care, and each shelf cleaned of all the little things not needed anymore. I love to collect sayings, and they have been eliminated from the shelves too. I need to make a cute book to store all those fun and meaningful sayings.
The world of electronics has bypassed us in the last 2 years. Yesterday we added a wireless printer, so we can print from other rooms in our house, our iphones, and wherever else we happen to be. Love this new change. Electronics has changed drastically from days in Ethiopia. Iphones, and Ipads have taken over, Ethiopians are still using numbered phones, where you touch the number 3 times to get the right letter for texting. I must say, here is much better, I like checking email on my phone.
As I cleaned I found treasures in the office that have great meaning to me. A photo of Rebecca, our daughter who passed away at 2 months old, Rachel's twin sister, the only framed photo we have of her. Also a photo of our son Josh in his army gear, who is on his third tour in Afghanistan right now. His wife Robyn gave this to us, his photo is surrouned by the words "Under God's Protection", and the American flag. I believe he is.
After all this cleaning I filled colorful drawers with pads of paper, pencils, crayons, scissors, cutters, and other treasures for the grandkids to use and be creative with. I can't wait to show them, they love to create. My things change over time.
I powered up the Scrapbook Central we purchased for our store, and printed a picture, and it was as though it didn't sit for 2 years. For those who are new to us, we owned a 5,000 square foot craft store before our mission. We sold the building 3 years ago and closed the store, so we could go on with a new adventure in our lives, which ended up being 2 years of Humanitiarian work in Ethiopia.
I spent the last week in the Salt Lake office working with Rachel on the CHA Booth. Thanks for the projects from the past design team members. They are being put to good use!
Now I am ready to work. Office organized and intact, I now feel more organized and intact. I feel like home is home again, I can work and play there all at the same time. Again, I appologize for posting a day late.
Now for the scrapbook room, well...that is another day.

Happy Scrapbooking, Creating, and loving life.

Robin

Robin

Creating an Eco-Friendly Frame

2012-01-12T00:00:00.000-08:00

By Amanda Marks

Welcome to my first Robin's Nest Design Team Post, I thought long and hard about what I wanted to do for this post. I decided to make my husband a frame for his desk at work (a Princess Frame as my daughter calls it). I started construction of the frame on my Web Cast - Who Are You Calling Crafty? LIVE! I embedded the whole show (it is an hour) so if you don't feel like watching I completely understand. I also have a downloadable direction sheet on how to make your own recycled CD Frame.

Materials:
Old CD/DVD
Tim Holtz - Tonic Scissors
Glitter Pink on Pink Swirl - Robin's Nest Paper
Ruby Red Diamond Dew Drops
Clear Dew Drops
Foam Core
Acetate
Glue
Metal Tape
Ribbon
Flamingo Pink Bic® Mark-It Marker

Click photo to download directions

Take scissors and straighten out the arm so it stands by itself. I added Metal Tape around the outside of the frame, this was to give it a more finished look. I took a Bic® Mark-It and colored the Metal Tape Pink and added ribbon to the outside of the frame and inside circle of the frame. I added Dew Drops (my daughter calls it Princess Bling!) in a pattern to draw attention to the center photo.

Now my husband has a framed photo of the princess for his desk at work! Also since it was made from recycled materials no harm if something happens to it.

Pretty in Pink

2012-01-09T21:00:00.000-08:00

This is a fun card I created using the gorgeous glittery pink papers from The Robin's Nest. It's perfect for a little girl's birthday card, an invitation to a birthday party or a baby shower or even make it into a Valentine's Day card just by adding a few pink hearts. Use it as a baby announcement to let everyone know that there is a new baby girl in the family. The Glitter Pink Journaling piece allows you to write or stamp your message in order to customize your announcement to fit your card's theme. Who wouldn't love receiving this cute "pinked" out card with a special party invitation or a special announcement in it?

Robin's Nest Products Used:

Glitter Pink Journaling

Glitter Pink on Pink Swirl

Practically Pink Glitter Chipboard

Shocking Pink Sorbet Glitter Cardstock

Dew Stackables

Dew Dew Glue

Can't Create Without Passion-

2012-01-08T21:53:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone and welcome to the Robins Nest blog today. I'm Erika Taylor and I'm very excited to be a part of the Design Team for the next while sharing my creations using The Robins Nest products.

I have loved those little Dew Drops since I first saw them and after using them for a while now, I've learned that you can make almost anything with them. From Spiders to flowers, Flourishes to Christmas Stockings and everything in between.

Today I'm sharing with you a card created using some beautiful The Robins Nest Papers to boot. Did you KNOW that The Robins Nest has papers? Well consider yourself well informed now hehe.

The first photo shows how easy it is to substitute pearls or rhinestones for those wonderful Dew Drops. I created a perfect little line using a ruler to make sure. I use Helmar Gemstone Glue for all of my Dew Drop applications. I used the mini Pink Dew Drops here

Next you can use the little Tear Dew Drops to create beautiful little flowers. I love this shade of turquoise that comes in the Tear Dew Drop Stack.

For the card itself, I've used a few of my favorite The Robins Nest Papers. Perhaps an odd pairing, but I think it works so wonderfully well.The background is the beautiful Classic Glitter Swirl in pink. This pattern comes in quite a few colors and is just perfect for that little bit of glitter. I also used the Glitter Blue Animal print and Silver Fleur de Li papers. I love this combination of pinks, teals and blacks. Very purdy indeed. So here is the finished card

When created a project whether a card, layout or altered piece, don't be afraid to mix papers up that you wouldn't regularly pair together. Sometimes the outcome can be wonderful.

Well, that is it for me today. Make sure you let me know what you think of my first The Robins Nest project and what types of projects you'd like to see from me in the future using The Robins Nest products.

Until Next time
Toodles
Erika Taylor

Altered Tag Album

2012-01-06T21:00:00.000-08:00

Hello and welcome to Chattering Robins! I am Kristi Parker Van Doren and this is my first post for The Robin's Nest. I am very excited to be part of this team. So let's get started.

First, let me say I got a great big bag of goodies with which to design.

So I had a great batch of paper, Rub-ons, stickers, net, dew drops and tear drops. I decided I was going to do an accordion fold box/book.

Start by picking the papers to cover the accordion part of the project. The edges were covered with ink. The color does not matter too much at this point as a good part will be covered with paper and other ink. Cut the papers to fit on the tags. For interest various pieces of card stock were applied to the folds of each section.

At this point some texture was added in various areas using crackle paint. Two different colors were used to add some depth. At this point all the areas were sanded and distressed then ink applied.

Now the fun begins! I did a light wash of white on the entire box. It looks very antiqued just after the paint. Then various papers were applied to the box top. The paper is torn to give rough edges and then the metal corners were now added.

After this point I didn't take step by step photos. The lid was completed using The Flourish Stencil by Dreamweaver. Where all of the swirls of the stencil were a Dew Drop was added in various colors. Since the the flourish was done using embossing paste the Dew Drops were easy to apply. Some glitter was also used. The lid was finished by adding a piece of ribbon and 3 flowers.
Now let's look at the accordion fold mini album. We have it all covered in the papers. The cover was a great place to start. Using the rub-ons the clock face was added. Part of the clock was cut apart and then popped up. The clock hands were accented with the diamond shape Dew Drops. Double sided tape was applied to the top of the front tag and net added. Then glitter was applied to the still exposed tape. More rub-ons and stickers were applied and finally the flower added.

Then it was time to pick photos. Since the theme was "Time Flies" Photos of my boys at different stages were used. Ribbon from the box cover was used through out the album with rub-ons, stickers, flowers and Dew Drops being added as accents.

So this is my project! I hope you all enjoyed and I will see you again in a couple of weeks! Make sure and check out all the design team members personal blogs and look on here for their turn at posting!

Happy Creating...Kristi

The Robins Nest - Best of 2011

2012-01-06T00:01:00.000-08:00

For my first post of 2012, I wanted to highlight some of The Robins Nest "creations" on this blog for 2011.

I hope you enjoy what I put together for you, (sorry it's so long)- it was really hard to pick from so many AMAZING creations!

Enjoy!

Pretty little Bird house and Card - tutorial

Butterfly's are free - mixed media album

Scraps of Darkness guest designer

Thanks Giving- Paper Bag mini book

OK, That's it! Here's to a Creative and Fun 2012!

Happy new Year!

~ Michelle Frae Cummings

Wine Glass Shade

2012-01-04T21:01:00.000-08:00

Robin’s Nest papers are so elegant!! When I first saw this gorgeous paper I just knew I had to use it to make a wine glass shade. There’s nothing like candlelight to add the right ambiance to transform an ordinary meal into a memorable experience. And wine glass lamps are just the ticket.

I used my Gazelle BossKut to cut out the shade pattern. Also, I inked the top and bottom edges with Colorbox Chestnut Road Fluid Chalk ink.

On the reverse side of the shade, I marked every inch and used my Crop-a-dile to punch 1/8″ holes around the bottom edge. Next, I used a quick drying liquid adhesive to join the ends of the shade.

When that was complete dry I adhered Diamond Dew Drops along the bottom edge of the shade, spaced between the punched holes.

I love the play of light through the holes and twinkling of the Dew Drops!! Impossible for me to capture on film with my limited photographic skills, but take my work for it–it’s really neat. Here’s the finished project, ready for a romantic dinner

Supplies used: Robin’s Nest Gold Glitter on Creme Swirl paper; Robin’s Nest Dove Dray Diamond Dew Drops; Scotch Quick Dry Adhesive; Colorbos Chestnut Roan Fluid Chalk Inkpad

FYI: Safety always first--only use a battery operated tea light, no live flames.

You can see more of my projects on the Create & Craft site.

New Trends - "ON TOUR"

2012-01-04T14:47:00.000-08:00

The last few days we have been working on the CHA Booth. We are so excited to be "ON TOUR". Some of the new product line has been put on our web-site. New stickers, paper clips, flowers, dew drops, and more. Rachel and I are having a blast working on pulling the entire look together for the booth. The new products are looking so good, and the travel look is awesome. I can't wait to be finished to show you this wonderful look, and how to incorporate that "ON TOUR" look with your everyday life.
With the amount of traveling we have been doing, Dana and I, we have seen trends all over Europe, America, and Africa. What has completely surprized me, is how the African prints are incorporated into almost everything. Candles, shoes, tables, books, children's clothing and bedroom designs, and the list goes on. It is so cool. We will share with you how this look is so cute with your scrapbook pages, home decor, and more.
We have a new team of designers for the blog, they start this week posting thier designs and ideas. We are excited to see each designers' touch on everything. Remember being "ON TOUR" is for your everyday life.

Watch, enjoy, believe, and be inspired by our new look!

Robin

Life's about the Journey by Becky Conley

2012-01-03T00:00:00.000-08:00

Woohoo! Happy New Year! Welcome to my first post for Robin's Nest for 2012!
I'm honored to be back for another term with this team! Loving the new products!

ROBIN'S NEST SUPPLIES:
Belgian Chocolate Glitter Card Stock
Clouds Card Stock
Golden Berry Dew Drops
Brown Velvet Ribbon
Black on white Journaling Block

Other Supplies:
3 antique copper mini brads
Transparency film
PC & printer for title
Distress ink: Old Paper & Vintage Photo (Ranger)

Directions:
1. Cut the Belgian Chocolate Glitter Card Stock one inch from the top and bottom, leaving 1" on both sides. Cut from corner to corner to meet the first cut that is 1" from edge of paper to create flaps, score and accordion fold as shown. Secure with a mini brad. Glue to background paper Clouds Card Stock.
2. Print the title on transparency film. Adhere the photo and title block to the background. Glue only the sides and bottom of the photo to create a pocket for the Black on white Journaling Block Tag.
3. Distress the Black on white Journaling Block tag with ink, attach Brown Velvet Ribbon with a mini brad and tuck behind the photo.
4. Apply adhesive to create flourishes, place Golden Berry Dew Drops.

Thank you for visiting the Robin's Nest Blog, become a follower and never miss a post for more inspiration and project ideas.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Becky

Christmas Greetings Lay Out

2011-12-29T23:47:00.000-08:00

I really love how well this layout turned out!

The Robins Nest papers work so well together that I feel like I'm looking through frosted glass into a wintery scene outside!

I used the following from The Robins Nest:

Glitter Red Rope

Glitter Black and White Pine Tree

Glitter Snow Covered Trees

Silver Glitter Journal Cards

Christmas Greetings Clippies

Silver and Red Dew Drops

Red Velvet Ribbon

Threading water border punch

Holly leaf hand punch

Tiara stickles

Thanks for coming by to see my end of the year creation, here's to a even more creative 2012!

~ Michelle Frae Cummings

All seasons calendar

2011-12-28T21:00:00.000-08:00

Hello, dear Robin's Nest friends! This is my final project for my first Robin's Nest DT term, but as I stay

on the team, you will see me again for the next term too. So this final project was done for Robin's Nest DT call and posted in my private blog, but not here and I think that it can be a fine and fast last second craft for the new 2012 - so here it is for you with a quick tutorial too.

Product list:

20*20 bookboard piece- also you can use a thick chipboard too.

Robin's Nest cardstocks: Glitter Snowflake Stripe, Glitter Pink on Pink Swirl, Glitter White on white swirl, Glitter Leaf, Cindy Lou Stripe

Robin's Nest Dew Drops: Spring Bloom, Flame, Sunflower Seeds, Wild Flower

Tando Creative chipboard frame

Maya Road chipboard bare trees

Maya Road chipboard Seasons words

AC chipboard Thickers (fall letters and 2012)

Ranger Crackled Glossy Accent

Ranger Tea Die Distress Ink

Clear embossing UTEE

Elle's Studio Calendar tags

J. Bowlin pin
Heat gun

Now for the quick tutorial for this project

1. Cut four 4*4'' pieces from all 4 cardstocks and glue them from the left upper corner- Winter to right upper for Spring to right lower for Summer and Fall as the last one.

2. Cover your frame with a bit of distress ink , add UTEE and heat with your heat gun. Cut a piece of white glitter cardstock and adhere under the frame. Glue your frame in the middle.

3. Cover all seasons words with the same ink and add 3d crackled glaze, let it dry. Do the same with 2012 and Fall letters as those are separates. Let them dry and then adhere as shown. Add a calendar tags in the middle with a pin.

4. Cover 4 bare trees with Glitter, let them dry. Adhere them as shown, still bare. Now take your Dew drops and begin to play with them as your leaves. No leaves for Winter. Some light ones for Spring. Lot of reds for Summer and some brownish for Fall, add some of those under the tree too as they are falling leaves.

Use Spring Bloom Dew Drops for Spring

Use Sunflowers Seeds and Flame Dew Drops for Summer

Use Wild Flowers Dew Drops for Fall

5. Add a huge magnet or some hanger and your 2012 calendar is done.

See how easy it is to make with those gorgeous Robin's Nest products!

Want to make a similar project? All you need is here- in Robin's Nest shop

And now a very HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL OF US!

Christmas 2011 at home

2011-12-28T12:05:00.000-08:00

What a nice treat it is to finally be HOME! Sleeping in my own bed has been the greatest, and sleeping through the night too. On the 21st of December we went to see Christmas lights with our grandkids. It was pure joy. This photo here is taken at the Gateway Mall in Salt Lake City, with Becca Ann and Aliyah. We met the Grinch and his helpers handing out candy canes there, snowflakes in lights and this Christmas tree behind us that changed its look constantly. Then off to Temple Square, a great historical site in Salt Lake City to visit the Nativity and Millions of lights. Deseret Book across the street from Temple Square had a magical faux bakery, baking gingerbread cookies, conveyer belt moving the cookings, a faux oven with a glowing fire, and candies in jars moving like gears, around in a circle. It was magical for the grandkids, and litte 2 year old Kaydence just couldn't keep her eyes off of it. Employees handed out gingerbread cookies to everyone visiting the bakery. It was such a fun evening. It is fun to be back, to enjoy the wonderful things of our country, but especially to celebrate Christmas with our family again.
The evening closed with snowflakes falling from the sky, I knew for sure with magic like this I was back home. I love the snow and the changing seasons of Utah. Bundling up in coats, gloves, and hats is just fun again.
This week, now we get ready to celebrate in the New Year 2012. Wow, seems like at one time that was a year so far away, and now it is just a few days away. As I reflect on the last year, the larger part with us living in Ethiopia, I know and feel the joys of having family close again, and friends who love us. I think of the things I need to change in my life, and resolve to be a better person, mother, friend, and companion. I know we all reflect on our own lives and think of the things we need to change for the New Year.
We are making some changes with The Robin's Nest this year as well. Watch for these changes during the year from papers, to new stickers, and a new website. We are also sponsoring page layouts for sale, and book kits, all available on line. We know you will love these changes, love the new kits, and products.
I hope for you the best of all things, and the happiest of all New Years ever to all of you.

Robin

Warm Winter Decorations

2011-12-26T21:00:00.000-08:00

Now that the holidays are over and it's time to take down the Christmas decorations the winter dull drums seem to set in, but there's no reason you have to take down all of the decoations! Celebrate the winter with these warm winter mittens hanging on the line to dry. They can add a very festive touch to the coldest of winter days.

Robin's Nest Products Used:

Natural Twine
White Snow Glitter Cardstock
Glitter Irridescent on Blue Swirl Paper
Maple Leaf Dew Drops

A Page, A Card & a Rock Collection Box

2011-12-23T23:56:00.000-08:00

So much to share today! Since it's Christmas Eve, I am sharing a Christmas page and card that I made for a blog hop earlier this month on my own blog. You can find the Christmas Page in

formation HERE and the Christmas Card information HERE.

Along with the Christmas items, I'm sharing an idea for an Advent calendar, in case you didn't finish yours before the holiday! Use the advent calendar to make a rock collection box! And finally, I'll share how to make fabulous titles with Word Art from Microsoft Word!

Last year I purchased the Kaisercraft Advent Calendar and I finally finished it using beautiful papers from The Robin's Nest! This time instead of an Advent Calendar, I made a box for my boys rock collection!

Every summer we visit Lake Michigan and the boys are always finding fossils and other rocks. If you make the Kaisercraft Advent Calendar I recommend you visit the Merly Impressions Blog HERE as the instructions on the Kaisercraft site were not helpful or detailed. I painted the box with acrylic paint and allowed it to dry. I used the assembly instructions found in the tutorial at the link above. For the drawer boxes you can find a list of all the beautiful Robin's Nest papers and embellishments at the bottom of this post.

Using The Robin's Nest Glitter Sea Shore paper I created the background for the inside square in the box. I trimmed off the glittered print at the bottom and trimmed the plain teal portion at the top, so that it measured 8 1/2" wide to fit through my printer. It is so trendy right now to have text and book like backgrounds on your pages. So, I found an image on the internet; for free, of the Great Lakes and printed it onto the top portion of the Glitter Sea Shore paper. Be sure to make a test print on scrap paper first if you use this technique!

To make the title I used the Word Art in Microsoft Word. Here's how:

1) Open Microsoft Word and an empty document

2) Click on the Insert Tab at the Top of the screen.

3) Click on the Word Art Icon on the right hand sideChose the Word Art you want to use by clicking on it. I wanted a word that was wider at the beginning and end of the word and narrow in the middle.

4) Chose the font you want and type your Text in the dialog box that appears and click OK. The picture above is how mine looked.

5) Drag to resize as desired.

6) Print out this file if you have NO digital software that works with a cutter, for those of you with a cutter and software, skip to step 8

7) Temporarily adhere your printout to the paper you want to use and hand cut. Remove your temporary print out.

8) If you have a cutter with digital software such as SCAL, Make the The Cut or other, Hit the Print Screen button.

9) Open Paint software

10) Paste your screen print into the new paint document and save as a JPG image

11) Open your digitial cutter software and covert the JPG to the format used my your digital cutter. For SCAL2, this is click on the File menu and click Trace Image. Click Browse and select the photo you saved in step 10. Make any adjustments, such as welding and now you have your title! For the cursive font that says "Lakes" and "Finds" I used the Opposites Attract Cricut Cartridge and my Cricut DS software to weld the letters.

This box is great because you can place the bigger rocks on the shelf as pictured and limit your kids to smaller rocks to fit in the drawers. The Robin's Nest papers were perfect for a masculine box that even a Mom could love for her home decor!

Supplies Used
The Robin's Nest Glitter Sea Shore Paper (center of box)

The Robin's Nest Calamity Jane Stripe (Stripe mat for title & on drawers)

The Robin's Nest Glitter Witch Accessories Paper (Chocolate Brown ships wheel, drawers & title)

The Robin's Nest Veranda Love/Stripe Paper

The Robin's Nest Brown on Brown Rope paper (drawers)

The Robin's Nest Fishing Rubons

The Robin's Nest Velvet Ribbon

The Robin's Nest Belgian Chocolate Boy Rubon

The Robin's Nest Live Bright Rubon

Making Memories Ribbon

Vintage button

Microsoft Word Software

SCAL or other cutting software (optional)

Ribbon (not sure as it has been in the stash for sooo long)

Art Glitter (on Dragonfly)

Shining Star Christmas Tree Topper

2011-12-23T01:11:00.000-08:00

Happy Holidays! I hope you are having a wonderful time with family and friends!

Here is a Christmas Tree topper you can make using the beautiful paper and dew drops from

The Robins Nest.

Materials and Supplies used:

Red Swirl Glitter card stock
Glitter White on White card stock
Ruby Red diamonds
Solid White dew drops
Tiara stickles (glitter glue)
Tombo glue
Big Bite crop-a-dile or a eyelet setter
Stapler
regular scissors, fringe scissors, a pen, scoring tool and a plate (for tracing)

Turn your Red Swirl Glitter over and trace a large circle using a dinner plate. Cut this out and then trace the same circle onto the back of the Glitter White on White.

Draw a large star. Make it a little smaller than the circle. Cut this out.

Mark the center of the star with the pen and then score from the center dot to the tips of each star point.

For the fringe, sketch a border on the back side of Red Swirl Glitter. This helps you to keep a straight and even fringe. When using the fringe scissors you'll find that if you cut like I did in the photo, the fringe is straight, but if you cut the fringe from the inside of the scissors, the cuts twist. Neat huh?

Use your crop-a-dile or eyelet setting tool to punch holes in no particular pattern all over the star. Then fold the star at the scored lines to "primp" it up a bit. Decide where you want the opening of your star to be and then apply a thin line of glue along the edges, except at the opening.

Place your star onto your red fringed background. Secure the corners before you pinch the sides to make sure the stars creases hold. Then use your stapler to secure the stars edges.

Add your dew drops and accent them with the glitter glue, then outline the star with the same, (covering up the staples) and set to dry completely.

I put a few lights around the top of the tree so they could glow through the holes I punched.
This is Dyllan's bedside tree, he decorated it himself. :)

So that's it. I hope I have inspired you to try something new and creative.

Have a very Merry Christmas! ~ Michelle Frae Cummings

Convention Journal by Becky Conley

2011-12-20T00:00:00.000-08:00

Welcome to my final Robin's Nest post for 2011! (more coming next year :o) I'm very excited to have been chosen for another term on the Robin's Nest Design Team!! Woohoo!

I'll be heading to California in Januray for the Winter Craft and Hobby Association (CHA) Show where I will be meeting and mingling. So, I created this Convention Journal to be my assistant in keeping all of my new contacts organized.

ROBIN'S NEST SUPPLIES:
Calamity Jane Stripe card stock
Glitter Pine Trees double sided card stock (back side is Just for Boys Stripe)
Brown Fish Net
Live Brightly rub on flourish
Country blue mesh fabric

Miscellaneous supplies:
3L clear pockets
fibers, plastic leaves,
shells, flat shell, mica,
art glitter
charms: sand dollar and moon w/ star
dolphin wall paper cut out
rubber snake, sea glass
5.5 x 8.5 chipboard (2)
RubiCoil binding machine and coil
balsa wood, dowel and acrylic paint to make buoys.
left over wood flourish (Kaiser Craft)
left over shell die cut (Spellbinders)

I adhered the Calamity Jane Stripe to the outside cover of the chip board and Glitter Pine Trees card stock to the inside covers with the Just for Boys Stripe side up. Then I punched them with the RubiCoil and decorated the front of the book as shown. I added glitter to areas where glue was showing (around net edges, wood flourish and among the shells)

There are 15 pages of printed card stock (both sides = 30) inside with a clear pocket on each to hold a business card from new contacts. 20 sheets of plain white paper and 20 sheets of lined paper. After the cover completely dried, I assembled with the coil binding.

HERE'S A GREAT TIP when binding: some how, my paper wasn't loaded correctly for this punch and the holes go off the page. OH NO, don't throw it away!

ANOTHER AWESOME use for Duck Tape!!
Cut a strip of duck tape approx 1", place half on the front side then fold over to the back side and re-punch!

VIOLA! GOOD AS NEW.

If you are going to a convention and need one of these journals, please contact me for a quote and details.

Thank you for stopping by today, please visit the Robin's Nest Blog: Chattering Robins for more inspiration and project ideas.