April Farmer's Market

                                      Challenge!

We love our Farmer's Market collection so we'd love to see you create a project using our Farmer's Market collection for one or all three of the categories listed below.

Layout- Create a 12x12 layout of any theme with our Farmer's Market collection utilizing the paper, cardstock stickers, acrylic stamps, glitter letters or mini alphas.

Card- Create a card of any theme with our Farmer's Market collection utilizing the paper, cardstock stickers, acrylic stamps, glitter letters or mini alphas.

Stamping- Create a stamped project of your choice with our Farmer's Market acrylic stamps and coordinating collection.

The winner of the layout category will win $50.00 in MLS product from a collection of their choice.

The card and stamped project winners will win $25.00 in MLS product from a collection of their choice!!

We look forward to your submissions!

April's Guest Designer:

Nichol Magouirk 

We are so honored to have Nichol joining us all month long at the My Little Shoebox blog. Here's her bio and a peek at one of her layouts being posted on our blog this month.

Bio:

Nichol Magouirk, a 2003 Creating Keepsakes Hall of Famer and 2004 BHG Scrapbooks, Etc. Creative Team member, has been scrapbooking and stamping for thirteen years. During that time, Nichol has been published in many different scrapbooking publications and idea books and has contributed to several manufacturer's design teams. Currently, her work can be found monthly at Two Peas in a Bucket where she is a Garden Girl. She is thrilled to be teaching another free year-long class at Two Peas in 2011 called "Scrapbook Stamping" that focuses on what else but stamping in your scrapbook and a weekly layout + how-to video feature, From Start to Finish that shows the creation of a scrapbook layout from start to finish. Nichol also regularly updates her blog (www.nicholmagouirk.typepad.com) with new projects and how-to videos. She is passionate about scrapbooking and card making and hardly a day goes by where she doesn't create something. Nichol's favorite techniques are die cutting (with her Silhouette) and stamping.

Nichol resides in Kansas with her husband of fourteen years, Chad, and their three children, Brenden (11), Payton (10) and Ethan (5).

Snowflake flower tutorial by Pattie

Saw this cute "snowflake" and thought that it would translate really well with My Little Shoebox's lines of paper.  This is a really easy embellishment to make and is super cute on layouts, projects and even cards (just use smaller punches).  Hope you have as much making this as I did =D

Here's the supply list:

MLS papers (Home Tweet Home), cardstock for stamping, MLS stamps (I used Home Tweet Home), XL Scalloped Square punch by Fiskars, 2" scalloped circle punch, 1 �" scalloped circle punch, copic markers (to color in stamped image), tacky glue, extra strong liquid glue (like glossy accents or even a glue gun), ink for stamping and ink for edging your paper, candy gem baubles by Prima, foam squares, scissors.

Step 1:  punch out 12 scalloped squares, 1- 2" scalloped circles, and 1- 1 �" circle from a coordinating paper.   Ink the edges of all of your scalloped squares and the 1 � " circle.  

Step 2:  pinch one corner of each a square.  Repeat with each square. 

Step 3:  roll the square into a cone shape.  Glue the edges together with really strong glue.  Repeat with the other 11 squares.

Step 4:  Cover the 2" circle with tacky glue.  Start placing the cones on the circle.  It seems like you won't be able to fit all of your cones on this circle, but they do!  It's a little tight and you'll have to squeeze them in.  The nice thing about using the tacky glue is that it'll take a few minutes to dry and this gives plenty of time to re-arrange the cones.

Step 5: Stamp and color in your image (copic markers are awesome, but you can use whatever you have).  I really love using versa-mark inks when stamping.  It seems to give me really clean stamped images.  Cut out the bird. 

Step 6: Use a really strong adhesive (glossy accents or even a glue gun) to adhere the bead bauble to the center of the flower.  I used a foam square to pop the birdie onto the 1 �" circle that I had punched out in the beginning.  I then used 2 foam squares stacked to stick my circle onto the center of the flower.

Here is the finished flower

I'd love to see your take on these flowers with MLS papers. Share them with us on our Facebook page here.

Pattie