March - Apron Strings

3.0.0
The Dish
March, 2011
March. Already. Time to start looking for signs of Spring. Hmmm . . . . nope, not there. Not over here, either. Nope. Nothing. Not
a blade of green grass, a fuzzy tree bud, not even a tiny, barely-poking-through crocus. Not yet. The time “springing” forward,
Leprechaun day and Mardi Gras are about the only signs that the seasons are, or should be, getting ready to change. Oh well, there’s
plenty of Spring in the March kits.
No flowers in my yard but there are plenty in the Bella Blvd Sunny Happy Skies and Basic Grey’s Hopscotch. One is bright colors and
the other is softer shades – both are utterly adorable. Zoo trip, Circus, Carnival, Petting Zoo, even a trip to the movies will be great
photos to pair with Imaginisce’s Animal Crackers line (check out the adorable altered paint can using Animal Crackers.) Celebrate
home and all that it has to offer with We R Memory Keepers’ Family Keepsakes papers (the names of the papers are the characters
from “Little House on the Prairie.”) Boys, toys, sports and even Disney more will find a home with the Echo Park Little Boy line.
Don’t let the name fool you, it’s as versatile as they come.
Apron Strings Blog
Over on the Blog this month we’re celebrating Apron Strings’ Sixth Birthday. Lots of fun. Lots of challenges. Lots of prizes.
Come by, check it out, have a slice of cake and play along.
www.apronstringsdesigns.blogspot.com
Apron Strings on Twitter
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Have you come by to “Like” Apron Strings? 200 followers and counting. Can 300 be made by the end of March?
Come follow and see. http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Apron-Strings-Monthly-Kit-Club/171792232857488?v=wall
March’s Recipe Card Layouts:
Get your creative juices cooking with examples of this month’s Recipe Card, created by Becky Fleck. To see more of Becky’s
great sketches go to: www.PageMaps.com
“Boy at Play” by Amy Crockett
“Five” by Jennifer Halleck
“Epcot” by Maria Swiatkowski
“Aquarium” by Anet Tietjen
March’s Complete Recipes
Refer to examples for placement.
“When Daddy Comes Home” created by Amy Crockett
We R Memory Keepers Family Keepsake – Smaller than a Breadbox
Photo: (4) 3 x 5”
This layout is based on a Sketchy Thursdays sketch: http://sketchythursdays.blogspot.com/
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Cut patterned paper #1 to 7 x 8” and round the corners.
Cut patterned paper #2 to 2 x 10 ¾” and round the corners on one end.
Loop two pieces of ribbon and adhere to the back of the 7 x 8” piece of paper.
Adhere the 7 x 8” piece near the center right side of the background cardstock; about an 1” in from the right and about 2
½” down from the top. Doodle a line around this piece, if desired.
Adhere the 2 x 10 ¾” strip flush against the right side, overlapping the 7 x 8” block, about 1” up from the bottom edge
of the 7 x 8” block.
Use four 3 x 5 inch photos and stagger them down the right side of the layout, overlapping slightly.
Adhere a title to the left of the photos.
Use two brads as accents on the left side of the 2 x 10 ¾” strip of patterned paper.
“Challenger” by Jennifer Halleck
We R Memory Keepers Family Keepsakes – Smaller than a Breadbox
Photo sizes: (2) 4 x 6”; (1) 5 x 7”; (8) 3 ¾ x 3 ¾”
Page 1 (Left Side), pocket page:
1. Cut two strips of the red checked paper 8 x 1 ¼” and 8 x 1”. Scallop the wider piece.
2. Cut one piece of the green paper 8 x 6”
3. Cut one piece of twill to 8”.
4. Adhere 8 x 6” paper block, gluing only the bottom and sides, to the bottom right corner of the paper, to create a pocket.
5. Adhere two 4 x 6 photos along the left edge, slightly overlapping the pocket.
6. Adhere the red checked strip across the top of the page, to the right of the top photo.
7. To attach the scalloped red strip, I used a scrap piece of paper between the green and red checked piece. Attach twill
over seem to cover.
8. Attach journaling circle, with a brad, at the intersection of the photos.
9. For the flower I used a circle cutter on the Paisley paper (found on the reverse side) and centered on a canvas flower.
Letters were not included in the kit.
Page 2 (Right Side):
1. Cut the yellow paper in thirds, 4” wide.
2. Cut two strips from the red checked, also 4” wide.
3. Weave the red and yellow papers together on the top and bottom leaving the middle blank.
4. Cut a piece of paper from the green 4” square and attached it to the center. Attach brads at the corners.
5. Adhere photos in a grid, leaving the middle slot blank.
6. Adhere title to center block. I traced and cut out a parentheses sign.
Letters were not included in the kit.
“Monster High” by Maria Swiatkowski
Basic Grey Hopscotch – Bigger than a Breadbox
Photos: (1) 4 x 3”; (1) 3 x 3”
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Use a piece of the cream cardstock as the base.
Cut a 6x9” piece of the blue floral Basic Grey paper. Round the edges.
Cut 4x10” piece of the yellow floral Basic Grey paper.
Punch a large scalloped border from the brown and pink swirl Basic Grey paper. (TIP: If you don’t have a large
scalloped punch, use a medium sized circle punch to punch circles.)
Punch a small scalloped border from the pink floral paper.
Adhere the blue floral paper to the cardstock, about an 1” from the left side. Leave a larger margin to the right side of
the paper, as shown.
Adhere the scalloped borders to the yellow floral paper and adhere this block, centered on the blue floral block, about an
1” from the right side of the cardstock base.
Adhere photos to the yellow floral paper.
Punch a journaling spot (I used a bracket shaped punch) and slide just under the right edge of the photo for journaling.
Slide one of the cream tags under the bottom edge of the yellow floral papers.
Add chipboard pieces as shown in the photo.
Add title. (I used Chestnut Thickers from a previous kit; the Doodlebug Loopy Brown letter stickers would work as well.)
“The Rock Club” by Anet Tietjen
Echo Park Little Boy – Bigger than a Breadbox
Photo sizes: (1) 4 x 4”; (2) 4 x 6”; (2) 3 x 4” (could be subbed for (1) 4 x 6”)
This layout is based on an Allison Davis sketch: http://www.sketchsupport.com/
1. Cut (2) Patterned Paper strips (Diagonal paper shown) to 12 x 1” and adhere about ½” from the bottom of the cardstock
base.
2. Cut (7) Patterned Paper squares to 3 x 3" and adhere above the 12 x 1” strip. Adhere Bracket Journaling card where the
8th 3 x 3” block would be.
3. Cut (2) Patterned Paper strips to 12 x ¼” (Diagonal is shown) and adhere above the 3 x 3” blocks
4. Adhere photos – starting at the left side, 4x4, 4x6, 3x4 stacked one on top of the other and finally the 4x6
5. Adhere title above the left-side page photos.
6. Hand cut stars and apply them to the page with pop-dots. One group is on the right-side page, off the bottom corner of
the top 3x4” photo, another is between the 2nd and 3rd 3x3 blocks on the left-side page and the final is off the bottom
right corner of the 4x6 photo on the right-side page. Grouping them together give them more weight on the page.
TIP: Get more photos on your layout by substituting photos for the 3 x 3" patterned paper squares
All Year Cheer Card Kit
Melanie Holzwarth,
The March Sous Chef,
has created 7 cards this month. You’ll get complete color instructions with your
kit. You can see two of Melanie’s creations below. To see and make all of her cards get your March All Year Cheer Card Kit.
Smaller than a Breadbox
Created by Amy Crockett
Tips:
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Use spiral clips to add accents to photos (“Boy at Play” sketch layout)
Attach the Maya Road Sheer Journaling Ticket with staples (“Boy at Play” sketch layout)
Use gems as flower centers (“Little Miss Sunshine” above)
Brads make great dots on i’s, j’s and as punctuation. (“Little Miss Sunshine” above)
Created by Jennifer Halleck
Tips:
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I copied the logo of Challenger Sports in my “Challenger” title (Complete Recipe layout.)
Instead of weaving the paper, you could cut squares to create the same effect (“Challenger” layout.)
For the Missouri title I painted the Pressed Petal letters (not included in kit). They were too bright so I used a Tim
Holtz Distress Ink to darken them to match the colors of the layout.
I used a technique from the last Scrapbooks Etc. magazine to create the pleated flowers (“Missouri” layout above.)
Bigger Than a Breadbox
Created by Maria Swiatkowski
Tips
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Use the sketch provided as a source of inspiration for another
layout. I eliminated the circle and the round photos, but used the
way the patterned paper is arranged for my “2010 Dinos” layout
(above).
Cut your rub-ons in half to get more use out of them (“February”
layout above).
I used the Apple Green Maya Mist (available on the Apron Strings
website) to spray some chipboard. You can also remove the
sprayer from the bottle and give cardstock a splattered look by
tapping the stem and dripping the mist. (“February” layout)
 I like to punch shapes from patterned paper, but they can sometimes get
lost in a layout. Use the cream tags to give your punched shapes a
neutral base. (“February” layout)
 Write your journaling on bottom sheet of the Basic Grey transparency set
– it’s easier than writing on the transparency itself.
 Sometimes patterned paper disappears when layered – give patterned
paper a defined edge by inking them. I tend to use the same colors over
and over again for inking – a chalk or distress brown or black ink.
Created by Anet Tietjen
Tip: You can "censor" part of your photo with a nice piece of patterned paper if there is something that you need to hide. I did
this on the “Wake Up Sleepy-head” (above) layout because my daughter did not want her booty showing for everyone to see.
Table Scraps
Don’t forget that scraps make quick cards, tags, accents or altered items in just a few minutes. So before you clear off your
workspace, take a second and use your scraps before you toss them.
Created by Amy Crockett
Created by Anet Tietjen
Created by Jennifer Halleck
Created by Maria Swiatkowski
Sneak a Taste of Next Month’s Kits
April’s Smaller than a Breadbox features:
We R Memory Keepers Peep (double-sided), My Little Shoebox Home Tweet Home (double-sided) & My Mind’s eye Stella &
Rose (double-sided)
April’s Bigger than a Breadbox features:
Jillibean-Soup Blossom Soup (double-sided) & American Crafts Hello Sunshine
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