liveSPACE

...hanging vase

hi everyone!  hannah, the assistant, here for another guest posting.  here in california the weather is getting cooler but it’s still pleasantly warm in the daytime.

today we’re going to make a hanging vase that could hold flowers from any arbor or tree to nicely decorate an early al fresco lunch.  if you happen to live where it’s already too cold these hanging vases could still make a nice addition to a dining table or mantle.  we’ll decoupage or paper-mâché mambi paper together to create our vase.  very simple, easy, and affordable.  this is a great project to do with the kids. 

materials:
Kay’s Autumn Specialty Cardstock pad (PXT-09), cut in to strips
balloons, i’m using water balloons
glue, i’d recommend a tacky glue
paintbrush
styrofoam cup
plastic container
water

instructions:
1. if you’ll be working indoors be sure to cover any table tops with newspaper.

2. blow up your balloons, as many as you need. choose a few different papers from Kay’s Autumn Specialty Cardstock pad.  cut in to strips, 1/2-1” wide.

3. in your plastic container put good dollop of glue and maybe 1Tb amount of water.  we’re working with cardstock which is on the thicker side.  the water will be there to keep the glue damp and soften the water however we’ll be working mostly with the glue directly. 

4.start by layering strips of paper in an X pattern on the bottom of the balloon.  we want to make sure the bottom of our vase will be sturdy.  use your paintbrush to brush glue directly on the balloon and then place your strip on the glue and apply more glue on top of the paper.  drip your paintbrush in water if the glue dries too quickly or if the paper is too stiff.  be very generous with the glue!

5. once the bottom has a good infrastructure start to layering your strips around the ballon being sure to overlap over the previous layer of paper.

6. cover the balloon as much as you’d like (i stopped a few inches from the top) put it in a styrofoam cup to dry.  use any type of cup that you can dispose and won’t stick to the glue.  let it dry until the glue has dried.  the time will vary depending on how many layers of paper you’ve glued.  i dried mine overnight. 

7. once the glue has dried pop the balloon and discard.  if it’s still damp inside the paper shell let it dry some more, opening side up.

8. once completely dry punch holes on the side and knot string on either side of punched holes.  tie small bouquets to place inside the vase.

***9. if you’ll be using the vases inside the rounded bottom will pose a problem.  simply cut the bottom of the vase using an xacto knife.  use a small votive candle holder to hold your flowers but slip the vase to hide your candle holder.*** 

...hello fall

to say goodbye to summer my team and i ventured down to the beach for a farewell. i wonder sometimes if they think that i am crazy. oh, well. i asked them to write a message to their future selves and we placed the messages in a bottle and sent it out into the ocean.

it's now fall (november)... my favorite time of year. it's cold but not unbearable. you can wear sweaters. the air is crisp and fresh. boots and scarves are welcomed. i don't need to get a pedicure regularly. you can drink things like warm apple cider and pumpkin spice lattes. you can eat apple pies (a la mode of course, hagan daaz vanilla). it's also my birthday month. and, if your birthday is in november you know what i mean. and if you know me, you know i celebrate all month long. i give myself little presents each day that are meaningful to me. yesterday i had lunch with serena. we have been having the same conversation for 2 weeks now via voice mail. how sad is that! so, that was definitely a great birthday month gift. what is your favorite month and why?

 

your friends and family are the most important, ok should be the most important people in your lives. and even though sometimes the drama and the OMG moments get to be too much. they are still apart of you. so cherish every moment and don't let the petty stuff get to you

...a spook-tacular haunted house birthday card

hannah, the assistant here for another guest posting.  don't you just love fall?  i love the change in weather, the colors, and pumpkin everything!  pumpkin spice lattes, pumpkin cheesecake, pumpkin spice muffins, i love it all! 

here at the MAMBI art department we love birthdays and we try to make a special card for our birthday people.  one such birthday baby is tonya.  she's one of our wonderful graphic artists and her birthday happens to fall on october 31st!  how cool is that?

since her birthday is especially unique we decided to make a spook-tacular haunted house birthday card with a surprise inside when she opens it.  this is an adaptation of renée's original box template (which you can find under "project sheets" to the right). 

materials:
for top of box:
4 – sheets of the same patterned paper from MAMBI's Bright Coordinates paper pad, cut to 8" x 8"
black and white cardstock for ghosts and house details
white pencil/pen
follow lid template

for bottom of box:
4 – sheets of the same patterned paper from MAMBI's Bright Coordinates paper pad, cut to 8" x 12"
black cardstock for doors and windows
follow bottom template

inside box:
strips of coordinating pattern or color paper to write messages on,
tape runner

instructions:
1. assemble box lid and bottom according to templates provided above. 

2. cut house roof-top from black cardstock and adhere to lid of box.  cut out ghosts from white cardstock and color in eyes. adhere to roof-top in a spooky way.  take black cardstock scraps and make a little door and windows for the bottom of the box. use your white pencil/pen to draw in details.

3. take your strips of paper (we xyroned two different patterns back to back) and write your birthday messages but leaving 1/2" at one end of the strip blank so you can adhere the strips to the inside of the box lid.  this is great if you have a lot of people signing one card or have a lot of things to say.  fold your strips of paper in an accordion style so the strips will fit inside the box and will tumble open when the lid is lifted off.  you'll want to fold before your adhere strips to the lid. 

4. if you have empty areas you can add a spooky ghost to the strips to fill in the area. 

hope you are inspired to make a handmade card for your next birthday friend and that you have a safe and fun halloween.  happy halloween!

...the winner is!

the winner of this week's giveaway is lorraine m.!  she'll be receiving a taste of our A Kid Like Me™ Christmas collection.  here's what lorraine loves about christmas:

So much fun being a kid and believing in the magic of Christmas! The anticipation and the presents! That looks like a wonderful collection!

congratulations and please email me your street address.  thanks to everyone for leaving a comment and have a safe halloween weekend!

...mambi monday's - giveaway

hello everyone.  if you find yourself walking down the aisles of costco you'll notice that it's already christmas in october.  halloween hasn't even passed yet and we've got holiday cheer up to our ears.  but i'm not complaining because i love christmas. 

today we have a mambi giveaway with selected products from our A Kid Like Me™ Christmas collection.  no matter how old (or young!) you are christmas can be a magical time of the year.  please leave a comment about why you think "it's fun to be a kid like me™ at christmas time" and one winner on friday will be announced to receive a taste of christmas in october.  good luck!

... meet frank

 

everyone hannah the assistant here, long time no post!  can you believe it?  summer has ended and fall is on our doorstep. 

today i’d like to share a project that builds upon the box template that renée shared a while back.  it’s using our awesome ‘Bright Coordinates’ paper pad.  this huge stack of paper is a great go-to pad for basic colors in some awesome patterns.  we’ll be making a frankenstein box that puts us in the mood for halloween. 

supplies:

8 pieces of green paper from the MAMBI ‘Bright Coordinates’ paper pad
12x12” black paper
scrap paper in pink and ivory
scissors
tape
distressing ink + sponge

instructions:

step 1
follow the box template provided.  make two sets of the bottom using green sheets from the pad.  you don’t want to make a top and bottom because we want the halves to sit on top of each other.

step 2
next use the bottom edge of one of your box halves to trace on to your 12x12” black paper.  this will become the hair. 

draw a jagged pattern around the square shape to create the hairline for frank.

step 3
cut along the jagged lines.  score along the traced box shape.  fold down firmly along your score lines making sure the pencil marks are hidden inside.  we want the hair to lay flat on the green box so cut in towards the corners of the scored box, hair to scored box. 

 

use tape runner along the inside edges of the box and attach to the top half of your box.  tape the hair down on all four sides and you might find that you’ll need to cut off more of the hair around the corners of the box.

step 4
tape your two box halves together creating a hinge.  i used white tape so it’s easier to see better but you could also xyron a strip of paper or use clear tape. 

step 5
create the face features using your scrap paper and inking the edges to create depth.  only attach your features to the appropriate box half so frank’s mouth can still open.

 

there you go! 

...a little self reflection

sometimes we need some space and some time to just simply be. if you know anything about me, you know that's a hard lesson for me to learn. so the next time you are feeling like you want to get your mind off of the world and just listen to your thoughts or tune everything out you must visit the lake shrine temple in pacific palisades, ca. it is literally a diamond in the rough. it was dedicated by Paramahansa Yogananda in 1950 and is still impeccable. the grounds include a court that honors the 5 principal religions of the world. it is said that some of Mahatma Gandhi's ashes are enshrined there. and, the temple itself resides on a hilltop that overlooks the lake.

...the winner is

congratulations Nitasha J. you are the lucky winner this week. please email me your street address. after you've received your winnings don't forget to tell me what your favorite sassy product is by sending me an email or commenting on this post.

the giveaway: the entire sassy collection

...a sassy giveaway

ok, so this has got to be the longest it's ever taken me to do a post. i wanted to post this giveaway last week. but, for one reason or another i couldn't get my act together. but, i did a couple of things that i can be proud of so it's not so bad afterall.

 

if you haven't seen our new collection in JoAnn's, then let me be the first to introduce you to sassy. it's bright and fun with a dash of dark gray and black. personally, i LOVE it. it's simply sassy. i know normally i would want to make a card but, for some reason it reminds me of paper lanterns. now, this is not my original idea but, it definitely has the renée spin on it.

my project:

...............................................................................

my tip:
for the insert of the lantern i used a transparency from our black and white specialty pad with transparency (PXT-08). i also used a battery operated votive and a piece of chipboard for the base.

..............................................................................

the giveaway: the entire sassy collection

the catch:
i will pick one winner on friday evening. tell me what have you procrastinated about in the last week and what did you do instead that thing you were really supposed to be doing. after you've recieved you winnings tell me what your favorite product is by sending me an email.

...oh my, it tastes like a smootie

so, we got a lot of awesome presents for our wedding and, i love them all. i did get one of-the-wall thing that i'm not sure what we should do with it. however, the one present that i use everyday is my cuisinart smart stick. please note that i said it's mine. i'm not sure if i'm going to share this one with michael. wow! i have to admit that i love breakfast but i never have the time to eat it and never have the time to make it. besides, i can't eat early in the morning. so, since i got this smart stick i've been making smoothies for breakfast. yum! it takes me less that 10 minutes and in some weird way is fun. and, i can make it early put it in the refrigerator and have it whenever i want; not something you can do with an egg white omelet. i mean, i'm look forward to making these things. so, this morning hannah & i brought in some fruit, yogurt, juice, milk, mason jars (that's how i like to drink my smoothie) and our smart sticks and we made smoothies. they were so good, paige thought they tasted like smoothies. LOL! she's so cute.

don't forget to live creatively and have a safe holiday weekend.