Handmade Holidays Blog Hop - Day 1 WELCOME!

Zutter and Bind-it-All are excited to be part of the Handmade Holiday Blog Hop!  Welcome! We are thrilled to be among these wonderful designers and manufacturers -  to share ideas to create homemade, heart-felt crafts this holiday season. This three-day Hop includes over 60 stops with inspiration brimming from every corner. Explore thoughtful gifts and decor you can make for the holidays, all bundled together on one big wonderful Hop!

To sweeten things up, we’re offering a chance at a gift for you! For every comment you leave on the blogs in the Hop, you’ll be entered to win a prize pack from one of the participating manufacturer sponsors!

Zutter will be awarding a Distrezz-it-All to one lucky participant!

PLUS we will draw extra winners from entries on the blogs of the Zutter Zisters who are part of this hop!   So check out these ladies on their blog days for a chance for an extra fun-something!

Lynne Forsythe – Zutter - Today!

Fleur Smith - Zutter - Today!

Lea Sanders - Zutter - Tomorrow Nov 5

Nan Paturzo - Zutter - Sunday Nov 6

Visit the list of blogs below - including this blog today! - and leave a comment.   on each by Nov 7, 2011 at 11:59 PM PST. Each day we will be sharing a brand new list of blogs with brand new projects for you to explore, be inspired by, and create from!

Clearsnap
Spellbinders
Hampton Art
Zutter
Graphic45
Donna Salazar Designs
The Twinery
Authentique Paper
Glue Arts
Sherry Cheever – Graphic45
Claire Towle– Hampton Art
Emily Leiphart- The Twinery
Andrea Budjack – Glue Arts
Lesley Langdon – Spellbinders
Daniela Dobson – Clearsnap
Natasha Naranjo Aguirre – Donna Salazar Designs
Lisa Day – Glue Arts
Lynne Forsythe – Zutter
Jennifer Priest- Clearsnap
Tifany DeGough – Authentique Paper
Holly Simoni – Spellbinders
Fleur Smith - Zutter
Stephanie Johnson- The Twinery
Robyn Weatherspoon – Clearsnap

Visit and leave a comment on each of the above blogs by Nov 7, 2011 at 11:59 PM PST. 

Let’s start off the handmade fun with these fun décor pieces.  These are super easy to make and can be designed for any occasion.  We used the large Scor-it-All scoring board to create pleated folds on 4”X8” patterned paper.  Make your crafting easy and start with some pre-cut 8”X 8” paper.  The nice thing about paper pads like this is that you don’t have to fret about finding coordinating papers and colors. They all go together! By the way, I am using my "old school" Scor-it-All - which simply means, before they were made pink!  The current Scor-it-All boards are pink to match the Bind-it-All and Dreamkuts!  I am sort of true to my long time tools!  ;)

For each “rosette” we used four 4”X 8” strips, scored accordion style at ½” increments.  What does accordion style mean?  It means make a score, then flip the paper over and score at the next ½” increment.  That way the folds will flip over in the opposite direction with each fold.  Use a strong, fast drying liquid adhesive and adhere the ends together, then flip the whole strip around in a circular fashion (when the adhesive is nice and dry).  You’ll want to have a circle (or in this case, a scalloped circle) on hand to adhere to the top of the rosette to keep it from popping up.  Then use some relatively lightweight, but firm “paper weights” to hold it down while it dries!  We like to let ours dry for a good long time, and then finish the embellishing. 

Note, you can punch the edges of the paper before you score to add a nice trim to the rosette.  Or, try the Zutter Distrezz-it-all  for a nice ruffled look.  Use ClearSnap chalk or ink to add definition to the edges, and embellish away!  We adhered our rosettes to thin dowels and used them for a holiday centerpiece.  You can make them smaller or bigger, depending on your mood – but always use the Scor-it-All for clean, crisp, professional scores and folds!

Tune in to Nan’s blog on Sunday to see how she incorporates a smaller version of these rosettes into another Zutter-fied homemade project! 

If you have read this far, then you now know that we have a special-double-secret giveaway just for this blog and the die hards who have read all the way through! Leave a comment here and be part of a random drawing for a Scor-it-All Mini Scoring Board and Envelope Template!  We will draw a random name from all comments left on Wednesday, November 9!  Domestic U.S. entries only.  Happy Scoring!

Come back tomorrow for more ideas with the Zutter Scor-it-All and other Zutter tools!  Happy hopping!