Creating in my new town!

So I finally had a chance to create something with real paper this week, and I am so excited about it!  I am planning my first workshop/open crop here in my new town to get together with fellow scrappers and hopefully meet some new ones and this is the project I planned.  Now, keep in mind that I kept it really simple as all of my scrapbooking supplies are still boxed up (remember, no craft room...yet) so I had no stamps, no ink, no embossing powder, etc. to work with.  I placed a small order when the latest Autumn/Winter Idea Book was released and received some inspiration from page 38 for my first project in my new town!  Using the following items...

Mix 'n Mingle Album
Simple Alphabet Dimensional Elements
Liquid Glass
Glitz Star Dust
Hemp
Finishing Files
Bitty Sparkles
paper sampler
...I created the following: 

And on the other side...

Here is a close-up of some of the letters...you can't see it very well in these pics, but for the WINTER side I used the Stardust Glitz Gel on the letters to make them sparkly and accented them with 3 Bitty Sparkles

For the THANKS side I covered the letters with paper, finished them off with the Finishing Files, covered with Liquid Glass and tied with a bit of Hemp.

With the leftover paper, letters, and mix 'n mingle pages, I created this coaster frame.  I think I like the way this mini project turned out better than my original project!  One side is for Halloween - if I want I can add a small picure to the right side:

I was going to use the actual letter 'O' but thought the insides to the letters looked so much cuter when I turned them into eyes!  I also covered the eyes with Liquid Glass to really make them pop.  And as much as I hate spiders, I just love this little guy...can anyone guess how I made him?

I was wanting to make a spider out of a black brad and some black wire like I have done before, but all that stuff is packed who knows where, so I had to improvise.  I had a big pack of Black Waxy Flax in my available stash, so I took a leftover jump ring from the Mix 'n Mingle Album and wrapped the waxy flax around that to create my body - I also used the waxy flax to create the legs.  I finished him off with a couple of Bitty Brads for the eyes!  I love that you can really play with and shape the waxy flax to get the look you want - he'll probably get smashed when I pack him up and put away the Halloween decorations, but he'll shape right back up next year!

Then this is the other side of the same coaster frame - this one is for Christmas.  I left room to add a picture to the left side of this project as well.  I added a Dimensional Element Ornament for the 'O' in JOY - used Liquid Glass to fill the ornament and cover the holly berries, and added some Opaque Gems to finish it off.

I've also been brainstorming other words you can use to create these fun signs - here is what I have come up with so far, but I'd love to hear any other ideas!  There are 8 pages to the Mix 'n Mingle Album, so you can use any word with up to 8 letters...I still have lots of letters left over from my original project, plus by using different papers you can really customize this project to whatever theme you want!  Another fun idea would be to do a family's last name, or a kid's name.

THANKFUL

BROTHERS

FRIENDS

SISTERS

BLESSED

JOYFUL

FAMILY

THANKS

WINTER

SUMMER

SPRING

BEWARE

BLISS

HAPPY

SMILE

PEACE

FALL

LOVE

HOME

HOPE

BABY

GIRL

CUTE (thanks Mom!)

JOY

BOO

BOY

***

Thanks for looking!