Runs with Scraps...

Princess Rozlin Elizabeth: 3 Months Old

2012-01-26T12:50:00.000-05:00

Just wanted to pop in quick and share a precious photograph I took of my granddaughter (aka Princess Roz)... she's three months old now, and sweet as can be if I do say so myself!

Rozlin Elizabeth: Taken January 22, 2012

Thursday Trigger at the Kraft Journal: Fish Outta Water Birthday Cards

2012-01-26T06:00:00.001-05:00

This week is our "Tie It Up" challenge at The Kraft Journal and we're looking forward to seeing what you create! The link to the current challenge is located in the upper right hand of The Kraft Journal sidebar and you can also find it by clicking here. You'll find some totally fabulous inspiration for the current challenge from our Design Team at that link as well!

This past weekend we celebrated my middle daughter's 22nd birthday and so I finally forced myself into creating some cards... I call these my "fish outta water" birthday cards because that's what I have felt like since I combined my office and craft room into one area of our home. Since the move, I've been unable to locate essentials like my glue gun, die cuts, plates for my Big Shot and in addition to that, the lighting in this new area for photography is horrendous to say the least. Never the less, I am also a cheapskate and refuse to pay $3.50 each for a birthday card when I have supplies to create them myself (even if I have yet to find them all since the move!) and my daughters balk at the idea of getting anything other than handmade card from mom too! :-)

With that said, I created two quick and easy birthday cards that feature a 4 1/4 by 5 1/2 base created from Kraft Outlet's Brown Kraft Cover Weight Cardstock and lined the inside of each card with a piece of 4 x 5 1/4 Light Kraft Cover Weight Cardstock which I stamped with a birthday sentiment (inside photograph of cards not shown due to lighting issues). I tied up one of the cards (shown right) with Twill Tying Tape and used Kraft Outlet's Small Manila Shipping Tags tied up with string to create a focal point for each "Happy Birthday" sentiment. JBS Stick Pins in Pewter adorn the card on the left. Also featured on these cards are October Afternoon's "Sidewalk" patterned paper and Chipboard Stickers. Pink ribbon from Really Reasonable Ribbons, My Minds Eye Fine and Dandy "True Blue Bling", Ranger Archival Ink "Coffee", Papertrey Ink Stamps "Birthday Basics" and "Birthday Inside and Out".
Join us at The Kraft Journal for this week's "Tie it Up" challenge today!

Coloring Canines...

2012-01-06T15:50:00.002-05:00

By the title of this post you may be under the impression that I am going to talk about "coloring" canines... as in using Copics or color pencils --- but nope, not the case at all. Instead, I am sharing this...

...a post about my youngest daughter's dog Heidi. Heidi is laying on MY dining room table...and I don't care whether she intended to be coloring with that color book and crayons left by my grandsons.... DOGS do NOT belong on dining room tables... WE ALL KNOW THAT, am I right??!! Then, why pray tell...doesn't SHE!!! LOL.

The Kraft Journal: Favorite Project of 2011 Challenge

2011-12-22T06:00:00.001-05:00

Beth Moore: Favorite Project of 2011

For today's Thursday Trigger post over at The Kraft Journal, I want to share with you my favorite Kraft Outlet project from 2011 and I hope this will inspire you to join our challenge this week. It's simple to join, just follow the Current Challenge link located in the upper righthand of our sidebar and link up your past favorite project from 2011 that also featured Kraft cardstock or products you purchased from Kraft Outlet.

My favorite past project was this decorated Lunch Bag Kraft CD Sleeve that created a fun and pretty way to store a CD filled with some of my favorite Summer 2011 photographs. Other products from Kraft Outlet that I used include: a Round Metal Edge White Tag from the Designer's Special Natural Tag Collection that I first spritzed with coffee colored mist and then stamped with the word "Remember", Blue and White Baker's Twine, Tim Holtz Film Strip Ribbon that matches my photograph storage theme for this project, and a die cut tag that I stamped with the word "Summer" and attached at the top of the sleeve. I cut the index tab from Lunch Bag Kraft Cardstock with the idea that I'll decorate more of these sleeves to store my photo CDs by season and once I put them all in a box, it will help me locate whatever CD I may wish to find later.

Remember, there is still plenty of time for you to join our Favorite Project of 2011 challenge. You can find the link to our current challenge in the upper right corner of our sidebar at The Kraft Journal blog or click here. We can't wait to see what your favorite project of 2011 was!

Relaxing before the Holidays...

2011-12-21T05:36:00.000-05:00

While the rest of us have been scurrying around getting ready for the holidays, my new granddaughter Rozlin has been doing a lot of this...

Princess Rozlin Fast Asleep

and some of this...

Princes Rozlin with Momma

and a whole lotta cooing and even smiling...but do you think I can even get one photograph of THAT??!!! Ah well, there is bound to be a moment when she smiles AND I have the camera at the ready too...right?

Hope your holiday preparations are going well...and that you've found some time to relax too, I know Rozlin is! :-)

Merry Christmas Elves

2011-12-20T07:20:00.001-05:00

Merry Christmas Elves: Jack and Seth

A couple of weeks ago, my grandsons donned these darling santa hats (bought for them by my mother, aka "Granny") to help us decorate the Christmas tree we put up in our basement family room. I've been so busy since that day, I didn't have time to share this photograph...until now! By the way, I have NO IDEA why both the boys decided to cross their arms for this picture - ha!

These two guys (and my new granddaughter as well) have kept me VERY busy over the past several months (the reason my blog has been pretty quiet). But I'm hoping after the holidays to get more crafting done (in my new office/craft room), and spend more time sharing what I'm creating here at Runs With Scraps as well.

For now, I hope all of you have some little Christmas Elves in your life... as they sure make the holidays special!

Happy Holidays!

The Kraft Journal: Gift Card Holder Tutorial

2011-12-14T06:00:00.003-05:00

Over at The Kraft Journal it's time for our weekly Kraft Outlet product tutorial. However, before I get started with it, I'd like to apologize in advance for the less than perfect lighting in the following photographs. I just recently moved my craft space and have not yet worked out the lighting.

Despite the poor lighting issues, today I'm going to show you how to quickly create a "no frills" gift card holder (perfect for those last minute gifts)... this gift card holder can also easily be embellished to create a more elaborate card as well.

No-Frills Gift Card Holder with Belly Band

With that said, to create today's "no frills" gift card holder you'll need the following supplies:

Brown Kraft Cover Weight Cardstock cut to 4 1/4 x 11 inches
Brown Kraft Cover Weight Cardstock cut to 1 1/4 x 7 inches
Twill Tying Tape
Patterned Paper cut to 2 3/4 x 4 inches
Stamp Set(s) of choice (I used Papertrey Ink "2008 Holiday Tag Collection" and Hero Arts "Merry Christmas Tree" set)
Adhesive
Ink

You'll also need the following tools:

Stampin Up Large Window Punch
1" Circle Punch
1 3/4 Circle Punch (to cut out stamped tag)
Scoreboard/Scoring Tool

Start the project by inking all edges of cardstock and patterned paper, which is much easier than waiting until the card was completed like I did here!

Score the 4 1/4 x 11 inch cardstock at 3", 5 1/2" and 8".

Fold into an "M".

On the third panel from the left apply adhesive as shown above. (This will create the pocket for the gift card)

Fold the cardstock together to adhere the adhesive creating a "T". The center panel will be the pocket of for the gift card. The top of the "T" will be the front and back of the card.

Working on the center of the card, use the Word Window punch to cut along the top (leaving a small section on each end that is not cut) that will create the opening to the gift card pocket as shown below.

Using your 1 inch circle punch, cut a half circle from the center of the gift card holder pocket slot to create a tab.

The gift card pocket should look like this...

and the gift card slides into the pocket as shown below.

Embellish gift card as desired or continue to follow the instructions below to recreate this gift card holder with belly band shown in this tutorial.

Stamp a sentiment on the front of the gift card holder pocket.

Adhere patterned paper to card front and use the 1 1/4 x 7 inch strip of Kraft cardstock to create belly band.

Fold band of cardstock around outside of card.

Turn card over and use adhesive to adhere band around card.

Wrap Twill Tying Tape around belly band, tie into bow or knot and trim edges.

Stamp tag onto scrap piece of Kraft cardstock and punch out with 1 3/4 inch hole punch.

Adhere to belly band under knot of bow.

While there are a lot of photographs with this tutorial it actually is a project that comes together very quickly and again, there are many options for adding embellishments to really make your gift card holder unique.

Remember, there is still time to enter our challenge this week over at The Kraft Journal. For all the details and to link your project click on our Current Challenge link located on the upper righthand of the Kraft Journal sidebar!

Happy Krafting!

Introducing My New Granddaughter: Rozlin Elizabeth

2011-10-22T10:19:00.000-04:00

My very precious granddaughter Rozlin Elizabeth was born on Friday October 21, 2011 at 7:44 in the morning. She weighed in at a very healthy and respectable 8 pounds 9 ounces and is a long-legged 20 and a half inches long. Mother and baby are doing fantastic and I am well... pleased as punch!

Have a Hoot at The Kraft Journal Give Away

2011-10-06T16:41:00.000-04:00

We want you to "Have a Hoot" at The Kraft Journal and the more the merrier we say! So, spread the word about Kraft Outlet and The Kraft Journal and in doing so, you can win a $20.00 Gift Voucher from Kraft Outlet! Now that's a hoot!

To enter to win this fabulous prize, do one or more of the

following options listed below and leave a comment at this post over at The Kraft Journal for each thing you do. We'll select a winner from all the entries on Monday October 31 and announce our winner on Tuesday November 1!

Here's what you can do to spread the word and enter to win a $20.00 store voucher from Kraft Outlet! Be sure to leave us a separate comment for each thing you do for extra chances to win this random drawing!

Follow The Kraft Journal.

Put Our Button On Your Blog (see our sidebar for button).

Write a Post on Your Blog about this Give Away.

Follow Kraft Outlet and The Kraft Journal on Twitter at this link.

Like Kraft Outlet on Facebook at this link.

Thank you for spreading the word about Kraft Outlet and The Kraft Journal, we're looking forward to giving away this fantastic prize! Go here to enter to win!!

Product Tutorials wanted for Kraft Outlet Tutorial Segments

2011-09-23T10:37:00.000-04:00

During the month of December we want to feature you on our Watch Us Wednesday tutorial segments here at The Kraft Journal!

If you would like your tutorial to be considered for one of our Watch Us Wednesday over at The Kraft Journal (Kraft Outlet's official blog) posts then simply create a project tutorial that features at least one product you've purchased from Kraft Outlet. Then send an email to Design Team Leader Beth Moore (bethcat at sbcglobal dot net), with a product photograph and link to the tutorial you posted on your blog or video you posted on You Tube and you may be selected as one of our Featured Artists on Watch Us Wednesday in December! We can't wait to see what you create!

Happy Krafting!

Happening at The Kraft Journal and Kraft Outlet Welcome Fall Challenge

2011-09-22T08:36:00.000-04:00

Guest Designer Debbie Carriere

For this week’s “Welcome Fall” challenge over at The Kraft Journal (the official blog for Kraft Outlet) our September Guest Designer Debbie Carriere created a fall themed card and bakery bag duo. For the card, she used both Brown Kraft Cover Weight cardstock and Light Kraft Cover Weight cardstock for the background and as mats for the patterned paper panels and sentiment. The pennants are Jenni Bowlin Chipboard Flag Pieces covered with patterned paper, and topped with some brown pearls. Debbie distressed all the elements of the card with Tim Holtz Distress Ink – Walnut. To decorate the bakery bag, Debbie random stamped leaves and acorns on a Small Kraft Coffee Bag with Window and added a tag. For more details and pictures, vist her blog.

Learn more about our current challenge and link up your "Welcome Fall" themed project by clicking on our Current Challenge link located in the top right of our sidebar over at The Kraft Journal!

Kraft Outlet Product Tutorials Wanted for The Kraft Journal Blog!

2011-09-16T14:18:00.000-04:00

Have you created a tutorial that showcases products you've purchased from Kraft Outlet? If so, we'd love to feature you in one of our future Watch Us Wednesday tutorial segments of The Kraft Journal blog. To be considered send an email to DT Leader Beth Moore (bethcat at sbcglobal dot net), with a product photograph and link to the tutorial and you may be selected as one of our Featured Artists on Watch Us Wednesday!

Cardabilities Sketch Challenge: Vintage Clean and Simple

2011-09-15T06:00:00.001-04:00

It is reveal day at the Cardabilities blog and we have a wonderful sketch to get you crafting for this week's challenge too, I hope you join us!

The Sketch

The Card

This week's sketch inspired me to create this quick and simple card that features vintage patterned paper and cardstock in hues of red, pink and yellow. I also finally broke out a previously unused Waltzing Mouse stamp set that coordinates with the Spellbinders die I cut from white cardstock for the focal point and sentiment on this card. Butterflies cut with Martha Stewart's Royal Butterfly punch and topped with pearls finish off this sweet little card.

I'm looking foward to seeing what you create with this fabulous sketch and can't wait to see you over at the Cardabilities blog!

Happy Fall with Cheery Lynn Designs Dimensional Leaves Dies

2011-09-06T03:00:00.002-04:00

I have to admit, that I am no where near wanting summer here in the United States to be over but like it or not Fall is upon us and it is indeed time to start working on our fall papercraft projects, so for today's post I created this Happy Fall card featuring Cheery Lynn Designs Dimensional Leaves.

To create this monochromatic card, I paired Vintage Cream cardstock with Kraft. I started by creating a 4 1/4 by 5 1/2 top fold card with Kraft cardstock and layered it with cream cardstock. On top of that I added a layer of Kraft cardstock that I first embossed with the Lattice Circle Frame plate using an embossing stack with my Big Shot. I then cut Dimensional Leaves and an Acorn using dies from both the Dimensional Large Leaves #2 and the Dimensional Small Leaves #2 and stamped the "Happy Fall" sentiment right onto the focal leaf. Vintage Cream ribbon and brown pearls were added as a finishing touch.

Cardabilities Sketch Challenge with Lilybee Designs Patterned Paper

2011-08-30T06:00:00.001-04:00

It is reveal day at the Cardabilities blog and we have a wonderful sketch to get you crafting for this week's challenge too, I hope you join us!

The Sketch

The Card

I love the patterns and purple colors included in Lilybee Design's Picket Fence collection, so for this card I paired a few different patterns for the background and flower with clean white and light purple cardstock to create this card. I created the flower using a Sizzix Die and stamped the leaves using Papertrey Ink's Turning a New Leaf stamp and die cut set. The sentiment was stamped from the Mega Mixed Messages set (also Papertrey Ink) and the Spellbinders die cut stamped with a coordinating Waltzing Mouse stamp in Certainly Celery by Stampin' Up. Purple and white ribbon from Really Reasonable Ribbons contrasted nicely with the patterned papers for this any occasion card.

I'm looking foward to seeing what you create with this fabulous sketch and can't wait to see you over at the Cardabilities blog!

Guest Designer Call for Kraft Outlet and The Kraft Journal

2011-08-27T09:23:00.001-04:00

Kraft Outlet is a leading online vendor for Brown Kraft Labels, Kraft Paper, Cardstock and so much more. The Kraft Journal is the official challenge blog for Kraft Outlet and we are looking for talented Guest Designers to fill positions in October, November and December. Selected Guest Designers will receive $25.00 worth of product from Kraft Outlet (you choose the product) and will use that product (along with anything from your stash you want to add) to create one challenge themed project for each weekly challenge during the month they are scheduled to Guest Design for The Kraft Journal. Depending on how many weeks are in the month the Designer will provide at least four but no more than five projects for the given month they are selected to be a Guest Designer. Guest Designers, headshots, bio and link to their blog will be posted on The Kraft Journal blog and their projects posted during the challenge week and they are asked to post their completed projects on their personal blogs as well. Designers will recieved detailed information regarding the requirements of their position after they are selected and prior to agreeing to complete a Guest Designer position at The Kraft Journal. Due to time constraints with regarding to shipping product to our Guest Designers, applicants must reside in the United States.

Your headshot and a short bio that includes a link to your blog (if chosen we'll use this info to introduce you on the blog)
A short paragraph telling us why you'd like to Guest Design for Kraft Outlet.
Photographs of two cards, layouts or altered projects that features the use of Kraft cardstock and/or products that are available from Kraft Outlet and that show your style and best work. (please note that product you use on these projects DOES NOT have to be purchased from Kraft Outlet!)
Please also indicate if you have ever participated in our challenges, are a follower of the blog, The Kraft Journal or "Like" Kraft Outlet on Facebook or Twitter.

Prize Give Away: Spread the Word about Kraft Outlet and The Kraft Journal

2011-08-26T06:00:00.000-04:00

We want you to spread the word about Kraft Outlet and The Kraft Journal and in doing so, you can win our awesome Inspiration Play Pack valued at over $35!

Win this Inspiration Play Pack Valued at $35.00!

The Kraft Outlet Play Pack comes with 10 yards each of the red and brown baker’s twine, an assortment of 50 of the plain and grungy tags, an 8 sheet assortment of our cardstock and text weight papers, an 8 envelope assortment, one sheet of kraft labels, a set of our vintage dictionary pages, 1 yard of black twill tape and a CD full of 100 graphics and backgrounds.

To enter to win this fabulous prize package, do one or more of the

following options listed below and leave a comment over at The Kraft Journal for each thing you do. We'll select a winner from all the entries on Monday September 5 and announce our winner on Tuesday September 6!

Here's what you can do to spread the word and enter to win the Inspiration Play Pack from Kraft Outlet! Be sure to leave us a separate comment at The Kraft Journal post right here, for each thing you do for extra chances to win this random drawing!

Follow The Kraft Journal.

Put Our Button On Your Blog (see our sidebar for button).

Write a Post on Your Blog about this Give Away.

Follow Kraft Outlet and The Kraft Journal on Twitter at this link.

Like Kraft Outlet on Facebook at this link.

Thank you for spreading the word about Kraft Outlet and The Kraft Journal, we're looking forward to giving away this fantastic prize package!

GCD Studios: Save Time and Money on your Next Craft Projects

2011-08-19T06:00:00.003-04:00

Like many papercrafters, I have two passions with regard to this hobby, making projects with paper and collecting supplies to make those projects. Most papercrafters will tell you that part of the hobby is buying the supplies and as much as we may enjoy spending all that time and money making our selections and purchases, I've gotten to a point where I have so many supplies to choose from when I sit down to craft that it's often more time consuming to choose the supplies for any one project than it is to actually make the project itself!

If you've been in that same situation before, then I've got an idea that I hope may inspire you in a way that will allow you to save both time and money on your next papercraft projects. For me, the warm summer months find me spending a lot more time outside enjoying my family and engaging in summer activities, so when I do find time to craft I don't want to spend a lot of precious minutes sorting through my supplies, I just want to craft and staying focused is key!

I maintain that focus by first choosing a theme, like the End of Summer one I used for these projects, an inspiration photograph like the one above, and most importantly, select a limited set of supplies (that's what saves both time and money!).

The ONLY supplies I used to create my projects included: Patterned paper from GCD Studio's The Great Outdoors Collection by Heather Tozzi, specifically Picnic Table (that matches the red in the inspiration photo) and S'mores (that loosely matches the brown in the photograph), as well as cardstock in two shades of blue and the lighter brown from the color combination and white. Other supplies included the Vintage Picnic stamp set by Papertrey Ink, Vintage Picnic Basket die, one border punch, inks in coffee and black, watercolor pencils to color the images, one rectangle and one scalloped rectangle dies by Spellbinders, as well as red ribbon and red and white Baker's Twine. That was all the supplies I used to create all three of the cards I'm showing you today.

Once you've selected your supplies vow to yourself that you will not go back to your stash to choose anything new for your projects (that's the time saving part!). Believe it or not, it is still possible to create a variety of projects that can be both fun and fabulous, using only the supplies you have chosen and a bit of imagination too!

The next time you are in your craft room, try challenging yourself to use a set number of supplies along with your favorite selection of GCD Studios patterned papers to save time and money when creating your next papercraft projects... it's also a great way to use up your stash!

Children Themed Photo Inspiration

2011-08-17T03:30:00.001-04:00

Photo Credit Garrendeny Lane

I created this card a while back using the photo below as inspiration... I just never shared the card before now...

Beth Moore

I focused on the pale green and blues in the inspiration photograph and opted to create a Baby card using Prima Marketing 6 x 6 patterned paper from the Jack & Jill Collection. I first created a 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 inch card base from Vintage Cream cardstock (Papertrey Ink) and layered that with a patterned paper cut to 4 x 5 1/4. Using a Spellbinders die, I cut a coordinating piece of patterned paper and layered that under a die cut circle that I printed a sentiment on from my computer. To complete the project I added ivory ribbon and trim and added pearls from Bo Bunny.

Cardabilities Sketch Challenge: Back to School Card

2011-08-15T06:00:00.005-04:00

It is reveal day at the Cardabilities blog and we have a wonderful sketch to get you crafting for this week's challenge too, I hope you join us!

The Sketch

The Card

The "window" on this week's sketch inspired me to get out this darling "Learn" Bingo Card that I've had in my stash for well over a year now. I paired the card with coordinating patterned papers from October Afternoon's Report Card Collection and completed the card with a flower creating using a Sizzix die that I also bought some time ago but had yet to try. True Black cardstock and Ribbon and Stampers Select White cardstock from Papertrey Ink were also used on this fun card that reminds us that is almost "Back to School" time! I just know this sketch will inspire you to create something wonderful and look forward to seeing what you submit for this week's Cardabilities Sketch Challenge!

GCD Studios: Sweet Treat Bag Topper Tutorial with the Cricut

2011-08-09T06:00:00.000-04:00

I love kids, GCD Studio's darling Fun House Collection, and my Cricut....and kids love sweets, so it seems only natural to combine all of those elements to create a uber-adorable Sweet Treat Bag Topper with my Cricut to make a darling little bag of treats for a child that features Fun House Collection Stickers and patterned paper.

To create a Sweet Treat Bag Topper, you'll need a selection of your favorite Fun House Collection paper and stickers, your Cricut, the Winter Woodland cartridge, white cardstock, ribbon, a five inch wide clear treat bag, adhesive, a scoring tool and a hole punch or ribbon hole punch.

With the Shadow feature selected on your Cricut cut two snowflakes (page 35 of the Winter Woodland booklet) at 5 inches. Cut one of the snowflakes from white cardstock and one from Fun House Collection patterned paper. I chose to use "The World's Greatest" for this project, because of the fun patterns and colors.

Adhere the patterned paper snowflake to the white cardstock.

Make a score mark down the center of the snowflake.

Fold the snowflake in half with the patterned paper on the outside as shown.

Embellish the treat bag with a darling sticker from the Funhouse Collection.

Fill the bag with assorted sweet treats and then place the snowflake over the top of the bag and punch with a ribbon punch. (Alternately you may punch two holes close to each other with a hole punch.)

Thread the ribbon through the holes so that both ends are positioned on the front of the bag.

Tie the ribbon into a bow and you have a quick and easy, yet very adorable gift to present to a child! :-)

For an extra special gift you can also add a card made from matching Funhouse Collection patterned paper that includes a gift card holder cut using the Plantin Schoolbook cartridge. I cut the envelope using the Tall Ball feature at 3 3/4 inches, the perfect size to hold a gift card.

A Perfect Combination: August 2011 Page Maps and Imaginisce

2011-08-08T21:17:00.000-04:00

I recently had the honor to create a layout featuring Imaginisce products for Becky Fleck's Page Maps August 2011 sketch releases. You can see all the sketches, as well as how this month's Page Maps were used by a number of different Designers including me by clicking this link right here!

Becky issued each Designer with a different sketch.... here's the amazing 12 x 12 Page Map I had the chance to work with...

... the irony for me about having this opportunity to work with one of Becky's sketches before its' official publication is that I very often use Page Maps as a jumping off point when I create my layouts anyhow (in fact I have printed out so many PDF's from her past Maps that I may be infringing on some copyright rules for all I know... (not really but it does sound more dramatic to say so, the Page Maps are actually free to download at Becky's website). At any rate, having the chance to get a jump on a new sketch that had yet to be seen by the general papercrafting public was a real thrill for me!

Here is my take on the inspiring 12 x 12 August 2011 Page Map by Becky Fleck...

I used the Little Cutie collection by Imaginisce for my patterned paper and paired it with some bright lime green cardstock that I had in my stash from Discount Cardstock back when I was designing for Better Living Through Scrapbooking. Purple gingham ribbon (purchased through Really Reasonable Ribbons) and flowers die cut from Judy's Blooms by Cheery Lynn Designs, as well as the fun polka dot chipboard alpha stickers completed this project... that by the way, features three most darling photographs of my middle daughter Cait with her dog Remi (back when she was but a pup... Remi, not Cait).

Thank you Becky Fleck and Imaginisce for giving me this opportunity to work directly with Page Maps for August!

Bedroom Remodel: Hardwood Floors

2011-07-31T13:36:00.000-04:00

You'd never know that the paint on our bedroom walls is actually a very pretty aqua...for some reason it looks VERY blue in photographs...none the less, this morning we got up early and started the flooring in the Master Bedroom... it's coming along well, although Mr. Runs With Scraps says

it would be going along much faster if the floor tool thingie (my word not his) would stop jamming. I have no idea why I feel it necessary to take photos of each little process these last couple of days, perhaps because in the past couple of years we've not ever gotten this much done in just a matter of 48 hours.... not with this project anyhow!

Master Bed and Bath Remodel: Lots of Progress Today

2011-07-30T20:47:00.000-04:00

Yay! We are making progress indeed! The floors in the closet and bathroom are in .... the tub is set...

...don't get me wrong however. Just because I no longer have a tub and vanity sitting in my bedroom doesn't mean there isn't still lots to do. I mean LOTS. Electrical switches and lights...

are being installed as I speak (errr..write)....and there is trim left to put up, as well as lots of paint touch-ups, more plumbing to be done too...the list goes on and on, but at least now it is actually starting to look like a bathroom, even if it doesn't quite work like one yet! :-)

Master Bed and Bath Remodel: Hardwood Floors Installation

2011-07-30T09:08:00.000-04:00

It's official... the installation of the hardwood floors in our Master Bath and Walk-in closet (that is connected to the bathroom) has begun. The closet is also connected to a small space where our water heater is located (you can see it behind the guys in the above photo), an accordion-style door will separate that unsightly mess from the closet after the floor is installed).

We've already had a couple of set-backs (par for the course really) which we decided to simply ~~cry~~ laugh-off... Thankfully we started the install in our closet (a great place to practice) and now that we've figured out what we are doing, we have high hopes that the bathroom will be loads easier to cope with :-).

Unfortunately I have to leave for the day (which means the guys will be unsupervised most of the day...eeekkk), but perhaps by the time I return I'll have an entire floor installed in the space...we shall see!

Cardabilities Sketch Challenge and Reveal

2011-07-30T03:00:00.003-04:00

Today is reveal day at the Cardabilities blog and we have another wonderful sketch by Karan Gerber to get you crafting for this week's challenge too, I hope you join us!

The Sketch

The Card

Admittedly, I got a just a tad carried away with this sketch because I ended up adding some extra elements to make the card work for me. I started by selecting a piece of pattened paper from Cosmo Cricut Mini Deck "Up Cycle" and paired it with True Black cardstock from Papertrey Ink to make this unisex birthday card. This was a chance for me to finally use some Maya Road Bingo Motif pieces that I've had in my stash for I don't know how long to add "flowers" to the leaves. Also used to create this card were stamps and dies from Papertrey Ink, "Ad Sense" and "Turning a New Leaf" as well as their True Black Swiss Dots ribbon. I used the Stampin Up Window Word punch for the small sentiment by the bow and the ink used was Memento "Tuxedo Black".

Master Bed and Beth Remodel: The Latest in the Never Ending Saga...

2011-07-29T07:27:00.002-04:00

Some of you may remember the last time I posted about our Master Bed and Bathroom remodel project right here, back on July 13 (way back when I thought we'd have a lot more done than we actually do...which has been SO TYPICAL for this project).... at any rate, we have seen progress (just not nearly as much progress as I would hope). The last time I showed off bathroom it looked like this....

Since then we have finished the drywall (what a NIGHTMARE) and I have painted and the trim is up (although it has not been caulked yet or the paint touched up).

To the right of this area in the bathroom is a short wall that provides some privacy for where the toilet will be installed and where the double shower is located (the doorway you see to the right is where our walk-in closet is located in the bathroom.

We've also finished the walk-in closet, hung up all the closet organizers dealies and yesterday we purchased the hardwood flooring that will be laid in the bathroom and eventually the bedroom as well...

We needed six boxes of the flooring for the bathroom (for a total on hardwood alone of $360.00) and my sweetie came home last night with 8 boxes for only $300.00 because he bought four boxes that were damaged for a DEEPLY discounted price (yay!).... of course, we still have to buy more of the same flooring for the bedroom (but first things first!) and the insulation stuff we needed to put under the hardwood (to help with noise reduction from the basement family room that is almost directly under our bedroom) was yet another $100.00, but we are getting there...................................S...L....O.....W.....L....Y. :-)

I have also been busy painting accessories, shelves and furniture for the space, but I'll save those pictures for later (when I actually take them!).

My bathtub....and the double vanity are STILL sitting in my bedroom... grrrr, but I think there is a light at the end of the tunnel, really I do! :-)

My Memories Giveaway Winner!

2011-07-29T06:38:00.000-04:00

I was recently provided with an AMAZING opportunity to use and review the My Memories Suite version 2 software designed for digital scrapbooking. My Memories is a complete digital scrapbooking solution that provides a powerful set of creative tools and multiple sharing options that no other software can offer, for instance, you can even add AUDIO AND VIDEO to your layouts and other projects! Its intuitive workspace and enhanced time-saving features are perfect for a beginner to build an entire album in minutes, or to empower the design pro to build a scrapbook album masterpiece.

With My Memories Suite you can even create and share professionally printed and bound calendars, send greeting cards to all your friends, make posters or trading cards for your child's sports team, post a movie of your scrapbook on your Facebook page-all with the click of a button. If you are serious about creating the ultimate scrapbook that preserves and shares your memories with a serious amount of "wow" factor, then My Memories Suite is the one-stop solution for you!

Now, My Memories is giving one of my readers their very own copy of the My Memories Suite Digital Scrapbooking Software Version 2.0! It's a $39.97 value for FREE! The winner was chosen from entries received earlier this week by Random.Org (see below) and the winner is... Tracy MacDonald! I'll be contacting Tracy today via email on how she can download her new software from My Memories!

I just know you will be delighted with My Memories, so if you didn't win but still want the program for yourself, ... you can use this special coupon code to purchase a copy of the My Memories Suite for $10.00 off the retail price. My Memories loves my followers so much that the coupon is good indefinitely!

Your special coupon code to instantly receive $10.00 off the My Memories Suite is: STMMMS8380

BIG Giveaway: My Memories Suite Version 2 Software!

2011-07-28T06:00:00.001-04:00

With My Memories Suite you can even create and share professionally printed and bound calendars, send greeting cards to all your friends, make posters or trading cards for your child's sports team, post a movie of your scrapbook on your Facebook page-all with the click of a button. If you are serious about creating the ultimate scrapbook that preserves and shares your memories with a serious amount of "wow" factor, then My Memories Suite is the one-stop solution for you!

I'm still in the middle of my bathroom re-model project (yes, STILL!) and haven't had as much time as I would like to try all the great features included in the My Memories Suite.... but I did have the two minutes that I needed to create this quick and cute layout of my youngest daughter. Now just imagine how totally adorable it would be to add audio or even video to this page, or create an entire album just of that pretty face that was surely .... Meant for the Bright Lights!

Now, My Memories wants to give one of my amazing readers their very own copy of the My Memories Suite Digital Scrapbooking Software Version 2.0! It's a $39.97 value for FREE!

To Enter, it's simple: Just visit the My Memories website, check out their digital scrapbooking kits, and leave a comment with the name of your favorite kit or layout!

For Extra Entries (Leave a comment for each one you do):

Like My Memories Suite on Facebook

Follow My Memories Suite on Twitter

Consider becoming a follower of Runs With Scraps (but it's not required to win!)

(Of course, if you already do any of these things, that counts too! So please leave a comment. :)

This giveaway will end on Thursday (July 28) at 11:00pm, and I'll announce the winner on Friday!

But Wait!!

I just know you will be delighted with My Memories, so if you just can't wait to find out if you won ... you can use a special coupon code to purchase a copy of the My Memories Suite for $10.00 off the retail price. My Memories loves my followers so much that the coupon is good indefinitely!

Your special coupon code to instantly receive $10.00 off the My Memories Suite is: STMMMS8380

To enter the giveaway for your own FREE copy of the My Memories Suite, follow the directions I included in this post and leave your comments below. You have until Thursday July 28 at 11:00 p.m., Eastern Time to enter and I'll announce the lucky winner on Friday! Good Luck!

Papercraft Star: Anything Goes Challenge

2011-07-27T03:30:00.001-04:00

This week the challenge at Papercraft Star is the BEST EVAH... 'cause you can do whatever you want! That's right the challenge this week is "Anything Goes" and we say anything...we mean ANYTHING (well, okay no naughty stuff, but other than that...just go for it!).

With that said... for this challenge I wanted to do something BIG and BOLD so I chose some bright colors, Papertrey Ink Pure Poppy and Hawaiian Shores cardstock matched perfectly with this Crate Paper polka-dot pattern, add a extra large sentiment, and some ribbon, lace and a couple of Glam Rocks from Imaginisce and ta-da, one BIG and BOLD card was born.

You've got plenty of time to get your own project for this challenge completed too and we hope you do! You can find the link to our current challenge in the upper right corner on the sidebar of the blog! We can't wait to see what you create!

Imaginisce: Christmas in July with Santa's Little Helper Collection

2011-07-26T06:00:00.002-04:00

Ho, Ho, Ho... it's Christmas in July time at Imaginisce and we're having a very festive week celebrating the release of our Christmas collection 'Santa's Little Helper'.

Our design team elves have been busy creating lots of goodies in Santa's workshop and over at the Imaginisce blog you can take a peek at what's been going on in the North Pole... and get in on all the fun giveaways that are happening there as well!

Here's what I have been working...

Card with Gift Card Holder

I used the Plantin Schoolbook cartridge and my Cricut to create the gift card holder that I attached to the outside of this card. I cut the envelope at 3 3/4 inches with the Tall Ball feature selected...which makes perfect little holes to tie the envelope closed with a sweet little ribbon bow.

Card Featuring Snag 'Em Stamps from Santa's Little Helper Collection

This card features the darling little reindeer stamp from the Imaginisce Santa's Little Helper Collection. He's colored with watercolor pencils and a few Imaginisce Glitter Rocks embellish the card for some Christmas bling.

Clean and Simple Christmas Tag

This clean and simple Christmas tag was cut with Spellbinders dies and highlighted with a Waltzing Mouse coordinating stamp set. The Christmas tree is another Snag 'Em Stamp from Santa's Little Helper collection by Imaginisce and is embossed with Pink Zing! and highlight with Imaginisce Crystal Hot Rocks.

Now get on your sleigh and head on over to the Imaginisce blog for more winter fun with Imaginisce and Little Santas Helper collection!

Garden Gate Thank You Card with Cheery Lynn Designs

2011-07-23T03:00:00.001-04:00

Cheery Lynn Designs Rectangle Card-Makers Stackers Nesting Dies paired with Scalloped Rectangle Card-Makers Stackers Nesting Dies create the perfect backdrop for this sweet and simple Thank You card.

For a bit of rustic charm, I cut Kraft cardstock with the darling little Garden Gate die and wrapped it up into a bow with pink and white Baker's Twine that coordinated perfectly with the pastel colors in my patterned paper. I wanted the sentiment to really stand out as the focal point for this card, so I chose to stamp in onto cream cardstock cut with one of the larger French Flair Classic Large Stackers Nesting Dies from the set and popped it up with dimensional foam to really make it stand out against the garden gate. I love the gorgeous embossed border that is created when cutting with the French Flair Classic Large Stackers Nesting Dies, especially if you use the "Cuttlehug" Large Metal Adapter Plate. With my Big Shot, I've found that if I use the metal adapter plate in my stack it alleviates the need to first cut and then emboss and instead does it with one easy step with most dies.

Be sure to visit the Cheery Lynn Designs blog each and every day for more inspiration using Cheery Lynn Designs Magical Dies!

Thursday Trigger for Kraft Outlet's My Favorite Things Challenge

2011-07-21T06:00:00.001-04:00

This week as part of our "My Favorite Things" challenge, our entire Kraft Outlet Design Team is highlighting Kraft Outlet's Lunch Bag Kraft CD Sleeves. If you use the CD Sleeve in ANY of your projects submitted in July and/or August, you'll receive an extra entry into our random $15.00 Kraft Outlet Store Voucher drawing for those months, so buy some Lunch Bag Kraft CD Sleeves today and enter your projects in July and August for extra chances to win... we can't wait to see what you create using this fantastic product!

For this week's challenge I decorated a Lunch Bag Kraft CD Sleeve to create a fun and pretty way to store a CD filled with some of my favorite Summer 2011 photographs. Other products from Kraft Outlet that I used include: a Round Metal Edge White Tag from the Designer's Special Natural Tag Collection that I first spritzed with coffee colored mist and then stamped with the word "Remember", Blue and White Baker's Twine, Tim Holtz Film Strip Ribbon that matches my photograph storage theme for this project, and a die cut tag that I stamped with the word "Summer" and attached at the top of the sleeve. I cut the index tab from Lunch Bag Kraft Cardstock with the idea that I'll decorate more of these sleeves to store my photo CDs by season and once I put them all in a box, it will help me locate whatever CD I may wish to find later.

There is still plenty of time for you to join our My Favorite Things challenge. You can find the link to our current challenge in the upper right corner of our sidebar at The Kraft Journal blog. We can't wait to see what you create!

GCD Studios: Using Color Combinations to Inspire Your Scrapbook Layouts

2011-07-19T06:00:00.005-04:00

Sometimes finding inspiration for your next layout is simply a matter of looking at a pleasing photograph and using it to create a color combination that will spark your creative energies. I loved the bright and refreshing yellow and green in this picture combined with the muted grays and pink.

To get started, I printed the photograph and selected cardstock that coordinated with the colors in the photo then went to work selecting patterned paper from GCD Studios that matched, to create this "The Sister Bond" layout of my oldest and middle daughters.

I paired a pale gray cardstock background with patterned paper from the GCD Studios, Melody Ross Homespun Chic Collection "Vintage Birdie" with smaller cuts of the Melody Ross Soul Food Collection in "Soul Daisies" and "Soulful" to create this ultra-girlie layout. Die cut flowers from pink and green cardstock that coordinated beautifully with the patterned paper topped with rhinestones were set in the classic triangle on the layout to help move your eyes around the page. The double-matting in light and dark grey for the photograph highlights it on the page.

The raw chipboard title sets ontop of a die cut scalloped oval in yellow topped with soft gray cardstock that was also used for the journaling strips. A simple green and cream sticker is tucked under the photograph to date the picture and a rhinestone added to the center of the letter "O" finished the project.

Other Supplies Used:
Cardstock: Papertrey Ink: "Sweet Blush", "New Leaf", "Soft Stone", "Smokey Shadow" and 12 x 12 sheet of Bazzil cardstock for the base.
Embellishments: Rhinestones: Kaisercraft: "Split Pea", October Afternoon: "Thrift Shop Stickers"
Dies: Cheery Lynn Designs "Judy's Blooms", "Oval Stackers"
Other Tools: EK Success: Border Punch "Deco Scallop"

For more inspiration, tips and tricks using GCD Studios products visit the blog today!

Celebrate with Cheery Lynn Designs Dies

2011-07-17T03:00:00.003-04:00

For today's "Celebrate" card, I paired Cheery Lynn Designs Rectangle Card-Makers Stackers Nesting Dies cut from coordinating patterned paper with Scalloped Rectangle Card-Makers Stackers Nesting Dies to create a cheerful backdrop for for the pennant banner and flower.

To create the banner, I layered die cuts from the Pennant Die cut from cream cardstock and patterned paper and adhered them to the cardfront. As a focal point, I added a flower cut from yellow and green cardstock using Judy's Blooms die. Finally, I added a stamped sentiment onto cream cardstock cut using the Large Silver Stackers Nesting Dies.

More examples of how I used the perfectly sized Card-Makers Stackers Nesting Dies to create pretty and professional-looking projects are here, here and here.

Cardabilities Sketch Challenge and Reveal

2011-07-15T03:00:00.048-04:00

I'm just delighted to share my first project as a member of the fun and amazing Cardabilities Design Team! Today is reveal day at the Cardabilities blog and we have a wonderful sketch to get you crafting for this week's challenge too, I hope you join us!

The Sketch

The Card

Aqua Mist and Pure Poppy (Papertrey Ink) are at the top of my favorite color combinations list so when I found these patterns papers in the Cosmo Cricut Odds and Ends patterned paper collection I knew I wanted to combine several pieces of the patterned paper that featured these colors with the cardstock to create this bright and cheerful card. Other supplies I used to create this card include the Border Carnival Die from Cheery Lynn Designs, JBS Antique Stick pins ordered from Kraft Outlet, Red Seam Binding from Really Reasonable Ribbons, Red Riding Hood Red ink from Stampin' Up, and Stamps from Waltzing Mouse's Rescue Remdies cut using Spellbinders Labels 4.

...and the Master Bed and Bath Saga Continues.

2011-07-13T07:55:00.000-04:00

Our Master Bed/Bath renovation is one of those projects that most days feels like it will NEVER (never - ever - ever) end. I can't even begin to list the things that have gotten in the way of this project since it began some three years (yes THREE years) ago. From the whole pay-as-you go kinda budget, to design changes, design errors, and just life in general... it has certainly felt like there was no end in sight... until now. I can see it... we are FINALLY starting to really get somewhere. I seriously almost cried when I took this picture (even the installation of the shower unit some six months ago didn't make me feel as excited as seeing this...

The tile work for our ~~swimming pool~~ tub is almost complete... and it looks like if everything continues to go well the rest of this week, I might be painting before the weekend is through!

As for the master bedroom... the paint is on the walls.... the crown molding and window trim is up too...

the room still needs flooring, paint around the windows and the doors installed to both the bedroom itself and the bathroom... but we can actually sleep in our bed now (as long as you don't mind all the construction stuff and drywall dust).

I am also in the middle of re-doing this dresser to go into the space. It's a big heavy Ethan Allen dresser that my mother found at GoodWill and I am painting white to match the cottage/beachy feel that we are trying to (ever so slowly) create for our Master Bed/Bath retreat. I am also painting an entertainment cabinet of sorts that will temporarily be in the space to hold our television and serve as extra storage until we can find just the right piece to replace it... There are also wooden shelves to be painted for a kind of king size headboard thingie I am working on...as well as more sanding and some closet planning that I need to get done.... but, it is finally starting to come together... I think :-)

Because Mr. Runs With Scraps has been working extra hours each and every week on his real job and thus has had no real time to devote to this project, we've actually hired a young man who has been working with me to move things forward. Paying for labor is certainly using up some of the budget...but it also has moved the project along. Josiah (the guy we've hired to assist) has also provided some much-needed comic relief for me in the last few days... that alone is worth the money! :-)

Live for Today with Cheery Lynn Designs

2011-07-09T03:30:00.001-04:00

I paired Cheery Lynn Designs Rectangle Card-Makers Stackers Nesting Dies cut from smokey black and cream cardstock with daisies cut from patterned paper using the Darling Daisies die to create this elegant and inspirational card with matching envelope.

The perfectly sized and beautifully embossed edge that is achieved by using Cheery Lynn Designs Card-Makers Stackers Nesting Dies is featured on the Vintage Cream cardstock that the sentiment is stamped on, as well as the Smokey Shadow cardstock that backs the sentiment. These dies help make professional looking cards so quick and easy that they are a must-have item for all card makers no matter what your skill level may be.

To highlight both the sentiment and the envelope, I cut daisies from the Cheery Lynn Designs Darling Daisies die and adhered black rhinestones to each for added glamour. Gently folding each petal of the daises together adds extra dimension to the flowers on this project.

More examples of how I used the perfectly sized Card-Makers Stackers Nesting Dies to create pretty and professional-looking projects are here, here and here.

Supplies Used for this Project:

Cardstock: Papertrey Ink: “Smokey Shadow”, “Vintage Cream”

Patterned Paper: Sassafras: “Ellie’s Tale” Wee Bundle

Stamps: Papertrey Ink: “Through the Trees”

Ink: Tsukineko Memento Ink: “Tuxedo Black”

Embellishments: Imaginisce: Hot Pack Compact “Black”

Dies: Cheery Lynn Designs: “Card-Makers Stackers Nesting Dies” and "Darling Daisies"

Other Tools: Sizzix: Big Shot Die Cut Machine, Imaginisce: I-Rock Tool and dimensional foam tape.

Recharging the Batteries at Lake Michigan...

2011-07-08T03:00:00.001-04:00

Today I have a whole different kinda Saturday Special over at The Kraft Journal, than our followers are used to because I'm off with my honey doing a bit of this...

In fact, I pre-scheduled this post because we left on Thursday and headed up to the shores of Lake Michigan to spend four glorious days away from computers, phones, televisions and even grandchildren (GASP) to camp, fish, and boat with another couple... just to get back to nature a bit, recharge our batteries and spend some time with just grown-ups.

Never fear though, for those of you who follow us at The Kraft Journal, we will be right back on track as early as Sunday ('cause I pre-scheduled that post too...ah the wonders of modern technology) and we'll have a whole new challenge for you on Monday as well! Hope to see you over at The Kraft Journal then!

Thursday Trigger for The Kraft Journal: Patriotic/Americana Challenge

2011-07-07T03:00:00.003-04:00

Many of our followers over at The Kraft Journal must have enjoyed the long 4th of July weekend and are continuing to reap the benefits of the mostly mild summer months we are enjoying around the United States because it's been pretty quite around the blog lately (here to for that matter)! I can only hope that the quiet means you've all been soaking up some much needed sunshine and relaxation away from the computer ... but now it's time to come back and play along with us this week for this fun challenge... am I right??!! :-)

Even though our "Patriotic/Americana" Challenge at The Kraft Journal is more than half over, that doesn't mean that there isn't still plenty of time to join us...'cause there is!! All the details regarding this challenge are available by clicking on our Current Challenge link that is located in the top right sidebar of our blog. You have until this Sunday at 6:00 p.m., Eastern Time to enter for a chance to win prizes and adorable blog buttons too!

To create this Patriotic card, I started with a 6 x 6 inch square top-fold card made from Light Kraft Coverweight Cardstock and rounded the corners. I then layered that with a 5 3/4 x 5 3/4 inch piece of
Lunch Bag Kraft Cardstock, rounded the corners of that and then added a layer of patterned paper to create the card base. I used the same layering of Light Kraft Coverweight Cardstock, Lunch Bag Kraft Cardstock and coordinating patterned paper to create a base for white ribbon and tied it into a bow. I topped the bow with JBS Antique Stick Pins and a red button tied up with Blue Baker's Twine. Yet another layer of die cut Light Kraft Coverweight Cardstock and Lunch Bag Kraft Cardstock is the base for my stamped and Copic Maker colored image of a vintage picnic basket complete with stars and a flag, perfect for the 4th of July. A stamped sentiment on white cardstock cut with a banner die completed the project. These details are also available at The Kraft Journal blog. Now it's your turn...and we can't wait to see what you create!

Papercraft Star: Garrendeny Lane Photo Inspiration Challenge

2011-07-06T03:30:00.000-04:00

The challenge at Papercraft Star this weeks starts with a luscious photograph from Garrendeny Lane and we hope ends with a project you create that was inspired by this fun photograph too!

Photo Credit: Garrendeny Lane

To create my project for this reveal I started with an Orange Zest 5 1/2 x 4 1/4 cardbase and added layers of patterned paper from Crate Paper's Emma Shoppe Collection 6 x 6 paper pad. Orange Zest Ribbon topped with a purple button from my stash (inspired by the purple flowers in the photo) finished this quick and easy, but oh so Orange and Zesty card! :-)

I hope you join me by entering this Papercraft Star photo inspiration challenge. You can learn all the details and enter your project by clicking on the Current Challenge link located in the upper right sidebar of the Papercraft Star blog!

GCD Studios: Happy 4th of July!

2011-07-04T02:00:00.001-04:00

Nothing says "Summer" to me more than camping and the 4th of July, so when GCD Studios asked the Design Team to create Summer-themed projects, it seemed only natural to combine a project that included a 4th of July theme with fun and "campy" designer papers like that of The Great Outdoors Collection by Heather Tozzi.

For this projected I used three fun red, white, blue and gray designs from The Great Outdoors Collection including "Happy Camper", "Picnic Table" and "Bandana" (even the names of the paper say "camping-fun" don't they?!).

I totally love the grid lines and gray hues on of the reverse-side of "Happy Camper" and featured that color by using a scallop circle die cut of that patterned paper behind the image I stamped onto white cardstock. To further play up the gray hues, I then stamped the stars and flag basket topper with black ink and heat-embossed it with silver embossing powder and rubbed gray chalk around the bottom of the basket to ground the image on the circle die cut. A little blue chalk rubbed around the top of the image gives the feeling of a "wide-open" summer-sky. I colored the basket with my Copic Markers in earth-tones and used a light hand on the flag with some pretty Spica Glitter Pens in red and blue.

Instructions to recreate this card:

Create a 5 1/2 by 4 1/4 card base from white cardstock.
Cut piece of red and white patterned paper "Picnic Table", border punch, wrap with Baker’s Twine and tie twine into bow; adhere to card base.
Cut piece of "Picnic Table" red patterned paper and adhere to card front.
Cut piece of blue and white patterned paper "Bandana" and adhere to card front.
Die cut circle from white cardstock stamp image; heat emboss and color.
Stamp image again on cardstock, color flag, cut out and adhere to colored image with dimensional foam adhesive.
Die cut scallop circle from "Happy Camper" patterned paper; adhere to back of stamped image circle and adhere to card front with dimensional foam adhesive.
Die cut banner from white cardstock, stamp with sentiment and adhere to card.
Adhere Glam Rocks with I-Rock tool.

Supplies Used:
Patterned Paper: GCD Studios: The Great Outdoors Collection, “Happy Camper”, “Picnic Table”, “Bandana”
Cardstock: Papertrey Ink “Stampers Select White”
Stamps: Papertrey Ink “Vintage Picnic” (image and sentiment)
Ink: Memento “Tuxedo Black”, Stampin’ Up “Real Red”
Fiber: Kraft Outler “Blue Baker’s Twine
Embellishments: Imaginisce: Glam Rocks “Masculine”
Dies: Spellbinders: Standard Circles Large and Scallop Circles Large, Papertrey Ink: “Double Banners”,
Other Tools: Imaginisce: I-Rock tool, EK Success Dotted Lace Border Punch, Pop Dots, Ranger: Embossing Powder "Silver", Copic: Copic Sketch Markers and Spica Glitter Pens and blue and gray chalk from my stash.

For more inspiration using GCD Studios products, visit the blog today!

GCD Studios: Stamping with Paint on Scrapbook Layouts

2011-07-02T06:00:00.143-04:00

Acrylic Paint Stamping

You can achieve a whole new look on your scrapbook layouts with just a bit of acrylic paint and stamps from your collection. To get started stamping on your layouts, you'll need acrylic paint in the color(s) of your choice and one or two (or more!) of your favorite stamps. Test drive your stamp and paint on scrap paper before stamping on your layout, just to make sure the image stamps as you expect it.

Keep in mind when selecting stamps to use with paint, that it's best to choose stamps that do not have a lot of detail as paint does not transfer as clearly as ink. Also, when stamping letters, like I did for the title on this layout, use clear stamps or a stamp alignment tool to ensure your letter positioning is accurate.

Apply Paint with a Paint Dabber or Paint Brush

First apply a layer of paint onto your stamp using either a paint brush or a Paint Dabber as I did here. A Paint Dabber will create a more uneven look than what you can achieve with a paint brush... I happened to like the uneven distribution of paint created from the Paint Dabber as well as the fact that I didn't have to clean a paint brush when I was finished!

Stamp onto Your Project and Heat Set with a Heat Gun

Stamp the image onto your layout and then dry and set the paint with your heat gun to greatly reduce drying time.

You can use this stamp with paint technique to add both embellishments and titles to your next papercraft project like I did for this layout.

"Home Wrecker" Layout by Beth Moore

I really like the rustic results that paint and stamps achieved on this "Home Wrecker" layout that features the youngest addition to our furry family members.

GCD Studios supplies used to create this layout include, Material Girls Collection, "It's in the Bag", "Kiss and Make-up", and "Sugar and Spice," as well as The Little Lovebirds Lace Cut from the Sweet Surrender Collection.

Other Supplies:
Paint: Jenni bowlin Acrylic Paint Dabber "Chewing Gum"
Stamps: Jillibean Soup "Home Tweet" and KI Memories "Alphabet Stamps", Papertrey Ink: 2009 Autumn Tags
Cardstock: Bazzill: "Kraft", Papertrey Ink: "Vintage Cream"
Ink: Stampin' Up: "Regal Rose"
Embellishments: Pebbles Candydots: "Brown" and decorative tape from my stash
Other Supplies: Scallop and Circle Punches and Fiskars Top Crest Border Punch

To get other great tips, tricks and techniques visit the GCD Studios blog today!

Enjoy the Moment with Cheery Lynn Designs

2011-07-02T03:00:00.002-04:00

I'm excited to share my project with you today because it combines some of my most favorite basic (must-have) dies from Cheery Lynn Designs as well as one of my favorite color combinations... Lemon Yellow and Gray! This project features die cuts from Rectangle Card-Makers Stackers Nesting Dies, French Flair Dies, the Dotted Swiss Embossing Plate, and a cut from the Pair of Ferns die. (I apologize in advance that the embossing is difficult to detect in this photograph - but it is there on the large piece of yellow cardstock!)

To recreate this card...

Create a 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 inch card base from gray cardstock.
Cut a piece of yellow cardstock to 4 x 5 1/4 inches, emboss with Dotted Swiss Embossing Plate and adhere to card front.
Die cut piece of patterned papper using Rectangle Card-Makers Stackers Nesting Dies and adhere to a piece of gray cut from the next larger size Rectangle Card-Makers Stackers Nesting die; adhere to card front with dimensional foam tape.
Die cut Pair of Ferns from smokey black cardstock and adhere one fern to card front (save the other for another project).
Die cut piece of gray cardstock from French Flare die and stamp with sentiment then adhere to a piece of yellow cardstock cut from the next larger French Flare die; adhere to card front with dimensional foam tape.
Adhere Imaginisce Hot Rock with I-Rock Tool.

Hope you Enjoyed this Cheery Lynn Designs Moment....and be sure to stop back in at the Cheery Lynn Designs blog every day for more inspiration from the Cheery Lynn Designs Design Team!

GCD Studios July Kit Give-Away

2011-07-01T20:56:00.000-04:00

This is going to be an exciting month at GCD Studios, because this month GCD will start a new kit give-away. Each month GCD Studios will offer a kit that two Guest Designers and one Design Team member will work with and all GCD readers (like you!) will have a chance to win that kit! How exciting is that??!!

Over at the GCD Studios blog, you'll find a link to each give-away every month. All you need to do to enter is play along with that month's challenge (all the info you need will be found at the link). The link will look similar to the one I have shown below and will be located in the righthand sidebar of the blog... click here to follow the link now and get entered to win!

Thursday Trigger: The Kraft Journal: "Something Old/Something New" Challenge

2011-06-30T06:00:00.003-04:00

Our "Something Old/Something New" Challenge at The Kraft Journal is in full swing and there is still plenty of time to join us. All the details regarding this challenge are available by clicking on our Current Challenge link that is located in the top right sidebar of our blog. You have until this Sunday at 6:00 p.m., Eastern Time to enter for a chance to win prizes and adorable blog buttons too!

To create this Sympathy card for our Something Old/Something New challenge, I combined a sentiment stamp (Through the Trees by PTI) that I have had for well over a year (and had yet to use) with one of my new Parisian Accents Spellbinders dies.

I started by creating a 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 inch base card from Buff Ivory Cardstock. I then border punched white cardstock and adhered it to the front of the card. On top of that I layered Lunch Bag Kraft Cardstock and patterned paper. I also die cut Lunch Bag Kraft Cardstock and white cardstock and layered it to create the focal point for the card, as well as a pretty place to stamp my sentiment for this clean and simple card.

Imaginisce Happy Harvest Release Party

2011-06-28T06:52:00.002-04:00

It might be summertime here in the United States...but at Imaginisce this week, it's Happy Harvest Time! I hope you hurry on over there to join in the Happy Harvest Release Party festivities... catch a glimpse of all the great projects created with the Happy Harvest products by our dedicated Design Team and get in on a chance to win some outstanding prizes too!

The "Simple Joys" chipboard sticker from the Happy Fall Chipboard Sticker set was a perfect piece to use as the focal point for this simple and elegant card. I paired Autumn Splendor patterned paper with Hawaiian Shores cardstock that I embossed with the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder on a Dark Chocolate cardbase. A Dark Chocolate ribbon finished the project. For fun I submitted this card into the CAS-ual Friday "Getting Edgy" challenge.

A Rustic Cream cardstock base is the backdrop for this Happy Fall card that features the adorable Owl from the Fall Friends Icon Die Cuts set. I border punched Terra Cotta tile cardstock and layered it with Dark Chocolate for a backdrop to a piece of Dancing Leaves patterned paper. Die cut Scalloped and Silver Stackers Ovals (Cheery Lynn Designs) formed a base for the Owl to perch upon. For added detail I topped the card with a Terra Cotta Tile ribbon, a Tim Holtz Note pin and added a leaf from the Fall Friends Icon Die Cut set to the pin top. For some bling I adhered Glitter Hot Rocks with my Imaginisce I-Rock tool.

To see more fabulous projects using the new Happy Harvest Collection, head on over to the Imaginisce Blog and join the Happy Harvest Release Party going on all week long!

Thursday Trigger: The Kraft Journal "Welcome Summer" Challenge

2011-06-23T06:00:00.002-04:00

Our "Welcome Summer" Challenge at The Kraft Journal is in full swing and there is still plenty of time to join us. All the details regarding this challenge are available by clicking on our Current Challenge link that is located in the top right sidebar of our blog. You have until this Sunday at 6:00 p.m., Eastern Time to enter for a chance to win prizes and adorable blog buttons too!

For this "Welcome Summer" challenge I created a card featuring a fun summer sentiment that I found online. I printed the sentiment using two different fonts onto Lunch Bag Kraft Cardstock that I layered with "Salt Air" patterned paper by Cosmo Cricket. I also created a flower from Lunch Bag Kraft Cardstock by punching out three scalloped circles, spritzing them with glitter mist and layering them with a Salt Air doily as a finishing touch. Lunch Bag Kraft Cardstock from Kraft Outlet is the perfect weight and texture to make handmade embellishments...this paper is a Papercrafter's must-have staple!

I've entered this card into these fun challenges:
Anything Goes Challenge Blog: Here Comes Summer
The Paper Variety: It's Summer
The Paper Shelter: Fun in the Sun
Fab 'n Funky: Summer Loving

Bright and Sunny Wishes for a Belated Birthday with Cheery Lynn Designs

2011-06-23T03:30:00.000-04:00

Today I want to share with you, a bright and cheeryful Belated Birthday card featuring dies from Cheery Lynn Designs. It seemed only fitting to create a "sunny" card given that it is Summer here where I'm at (always happy news when you live in Michigan!).

To create this project you'll need these Cheery Lynn Designs dies, the Lattice 1 Die/Embossing Plate, Judy's Blooms and Rectangle Card-Makers Stackers Nesting Dies.

Instructions:

Create a 41/4 x 5 1/2 inch card base from yellow cardstock.
Die cut piece of blue cardstock using the Lattice 1 die and adhere to card base.
Die cut piece of patterned paper from Rectangle Card-Makers Stackers Nesting Dies and adhere to piece of yellow cardstock cut from one size larger Rectangle Card-Makers Stackers Nesting Dies; adhere to card front.
Die cut Judy's Blooms from both yellow and blue cardstock, assemble flower and adhere to card front.
Cut banner from yellow cardstock, stamp with sentiment, score ends of banner to fold in as shown on card and adhere with dimensional foam tape.
Adhere rhinestone to flower.

Hope you have a bright and sunny day and don't forget to visit the Cheery Lynn Designs blog again for more inspiration from the Cheery Lynn Designs Design Team!

Papercraft Star's First Anniversary Blog Hop Sponsored by Tradefish Designs!

2011-06-19T06:00:00.026-04:00

Welcome to Papercraft Star's First Anniversary Blog Hop sponsored by Tradefish Designs. In celebration of our First Anniversary and in honor of Father's Day as well, our theme for this Papercraft Star Hop is "For The Men We Love". You should have arrived to my blog from my pal Regan's blog. If you didn't, I suggest you start at the beginning over at Papercraft Star so you don't miss a single stop on the hop... go here now to start. (I'll wait :-) )

Our Design Team has created some fabulous projects that feature stamps from Tradefish Designs, a company devoted to creating stamps with masculine themes, imagery and sentiments. We are especially happy to partner with TradeFish Designs for our Anniversary Hop as both the company and stamp designs are owned by our very own Cecilia Stephens too! We have a fabulous prize for our Blog Hop randomly selected winner as well; the entire May 2011 Release Bundle of Tradefish Designs Stamps
(a $55.00 value!).... to qualify for the prize do the following:

Be a follower of Papercraft Star.

Be a follower of Tradefish Designs.

Leave a comment at every stop along the hop.

You have the entire week, June 19 through June 25, 2011 to participate in the hop and leave all your comments (that's plenty of time to visit all the stops along the way!!) Here is the list of the hop stops - just in case you get lost...

Papercraft Star

Jan

Kim

Regan

Beth (You are HERE!)

Tradefish Designs

Papercraft Star

I created this fun card using masculine stamps from our sponsor, Tradefish Designs. There has been a real niche open to stamps that are specifically designed for the men in our lives and I can't tell you how excited I am to have an opportunity to showcase these new stamps in the projects I have created this month for Papercraft Star.

Now, with regard to the hop...don't forget to leave a comment at every stop and to qualify for the great prize from Tradefish Designs, you must be a follower of both Papercraft Star and TradeFish Designs too!

Your next stop on the hop is TradeFish Designs

I've also entered this card into these fun challenges...

Wags and Whiskers: One for the Boys

Glitter Geeks: Male/Father's Day

Secret Crafter: Something From Around the House

Simply Stamped: You've Got Male

Paper Creator's Crafts: One for the Men

Bugaboo Stamps: It's a Man's World

New Border Carnival from Cheery Lynn Designs

2011-06-18T03:30:00.009-04:00

This week we are showcasing the newest Cheery Lynn Designs dies officially released on June 15 and for my card today I am giving top billing to the new Border Carnival die that just makes me swoon (and I bet it will do the same to you as well!). I am not afraid to say that this is my new FAVORITE... look at the beautiful detail on this border! It is so beautiful in fact that I wanted it to be featured on this card, so I left things very simple.

Important Note: This border dies comes packaged on a piece of cardboard and I have a little secret for you... if you go ahead and leave the die attached to the cardboard and then add a Cuttlehug to your stack as well... it will cut like BUTTER... seriously all those little pieces from the intricate details will simply fall out when you pull the die from the paper.

Instructions:

Create a 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 inch top fold card from dark blue cardstock.
Cut a piece of patterned paper to 4 x 5 1/4 and adhere to card base.
Die cut two Border Carnivals from white cardstock, trim to size and adhere to card front.
Die cut Silver Stackers Oval Nesting Die from white cardstock and stamp with sentiment.
Die cut Scalloped Oval Nesting Die from dark blue cardstock and adhere to back of sentiment oval; pop up on card with dimensional adhesive.
Adhere Glam Rocks with I-Rock tool.

That's all for today, but be sure to visit the Cheery Lynn Designs blog every day for more inspiration from the Cheery Lynn Designs team!

GCD Studios June Technique: Define Your Style and Pinwheel Tutorial

2011-06-17T05:36:00.002-04:00

I am always envious of scrapbookers who can immediately respond to the question, "What is your scrapbooking style?" Despite the fact that I started scrapbooking way back when you only had some cardstock and a few stickers to choose from, and now with all the great patterned paper and embellishments choices we have available... I do believe I am still struggling a bit with what my "style" really is...

BUT... when faced with this month's GCD Studios Technique project to "Define Your Style", I found myself pulling out a pile of my favorite layouts from the past and taking some time to really study them. (I recommend this for anyone who is still trying to find their own style!!) I discovered that... from what I can tell, I have a tendency toward a more Classic-Clean style. That's not to say that I don't make an effort to jazz things up a bit now and then, because once in a while I do (although it doesn't come naturally by ANY means)... Still, for the most part the layouts I create and feel most pleased with are very similar to what I have to share with you here today. Which is good... since that's what this month's technique is all about... defining your own style!

I started this layout with a 12 x 12 sheet of Kraft cardstock and paired that with both the front and back sides of "Trick Pony" from the Fun House Collection by Tina Higgins, that complimented the main colors in the photographs (especially my grandson's bright orange shirt). For additional interest, I added chipboard flags and topped my handmade pinwheels with elements from the FunHouse Collection Chipboard Shapes.

With my computer and printer, I typed up a journal block onto Spring Rain cardstock (Papertrey Ink) and cut it out using Tim Holtz Alterations "Tags and Bookplates" die. The finished size of the tag is just slightly larger than three inches wide and I cropped my photos with my trimmer to three inches so that all four elements would fit across the 12 x 12 page. I then placed all my elements onto the page....and...ta-da, one Classic-Clean layout... am I right?

Now before you run off to take a look at your own layouts to determine your style (you are going to do that, right?)... I want to show you how I created the cute little pinwheels I used on this layout. The directions are quick and so easy too!

Simply start with a square piece of two-sided patterned paper. For my large pinwheels at the bottom of the layout I used 2 x 2 inch pieces and for the smaller pinwheels I used 1 1/2 x 1 1/2 inch pieces.

Fold your square into a triangle two times as shown.

Unfold the paper so that you can see the "X".

With scissors, cut each one of the lines almost to the center.

Place a small dab of glue on the center of the paper and fold one corner of each of the cut sides toward the center allowing the glue to hold each piece firmly.

Add an embellishment of your choice to the center of the pinwheel to hide the glue and then apply to your project! Note: I stick the end of a pencil into each one of the loops to fluff them up a bit after the glue has dried completely.

That's all there is to it... and by the way, "what's your scrapbook style?"

Thursday Trigger: The Kraft Journal Father's Day Challenge

2011-06-16T06:00:00.002-04:00

Our "Father's Day" Challenge at The Kraft Journal is in full swing and there is still plenty of time to join us. All the details regarding this challenge are available by clicking on our Current Challenge link that is located in the top right sidebar of our blog. You have until this Sunday at 6:00 p.m., Eastern Time to enter for a chance to win prizes and adorable blog buttons too!

This card features another image from The Vintage Workshop's Father's Day Collection and it pairs perfectly with Brown Kraft Coverweight Cardstock and Buff Ivory Cardstock from the Kraft Outlet that I layered with patterned paper. The sentiment is a stamp from Papertrey Ink. Twine, a button and Tim Holtz Note Pins completed the front of the card.

I finished the inside of the card with Buff Ivory Cardstock, more patterned paper and added a decorated Buff Ivory envelope to complete the project.

Papercraft Star and Cheery Lynn Designs New Release Dies

2011-06-15T05:30:00.000-04:00

This week at Papercraft Star we have a challenge that I hope will inspire you to join us! All month long, our Design Team has been sponsored by Tradefish Designs and we are running dual challenges at the blog.

I played along with the Design Team all this month in order to help the team feature projects created using our June Design Team sponsor, Tradefish Design's stamps and in an effort to showcase the fun and versatility of these stamps as well. I think there has been a real niche open in the papercrafting world for masculine stamps like those designed and produced by Tradefish Designs and I am thrilled to be a part of showcasing this new product to papercrafters. I used the letters S.T.A.R to inspire me when I created this card. I used, S - "stamps', T - "Twine", A - "Alphas" and R - "Ribbon" to complete the project and I can't wait to see what you use for inspiration to create your own...

and today, in addition to the new challenge over at Papercraft Star, we've got some exciting new dies from Cheery Lynn Designs being showcased today at the Cheery Lynn Designs blog! To see the newly released dies for June and all the Designer projects using these magical dies, visit the blog today!

More Selective Embossing with Cheery Lynn Designs

2011-06-11T03:30:00.002-04:00

A few weeks ago I showed you a new technique that I learned to selectively emboss your card front using Cheery Lynn Designs Embossing Plates, and Card-Maker's Stackers.I loved the technique so much that I wanted to do yet another card for you today using this same technique. For this card, I used the Fleur de lis and Card-Maker's Stackers Rectangles to create my Selective Embossed card front. This card also features the Scalloped Diamonds Border, Sweet Williams and the leaves from Judy's Blooms.

To recreate this card:

Selective Emboss the front of a 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 inch card made from white cardstock. (See Tutorial)
Die cut border and adhere to side of card as shown (trim as needed to fit).
Die cut Sweet Williams from light and dark purple cardstock and adhere together.
Die cut leaves from green cardstock using Judy's Blooms die and adhere to cardfront.
Adhere flower to leaves on card front and adhere pearl to flower.
Stamp sentiment.

Thanks so much for stopping by the blog today and remember to visit the Cheery Lynn Designs blog each and every day of the week for more inspiration from the Cheery Lynn Designs Design Team!

Papercraft Star Executive Team Reveal: Cheery Lynn Designs and Jillibean Soup

2011-06-10T03:30:00.006-04:00

Our current challenge at Papercraft Star is another fabulous sketch from Liz Chidester and we want you to use her sketch as inspiration to create any project your crafty-heart desires and then enter it for a chance to be selected as our next Papercraft Star! You'll find the link to our challenge with the details and the place to enter your project in the upper right hand of the sidebar of our blog.

Remember that this month we are challenging you to use our weekly theme as a dual challenge. You can decide to either create a project using just our theme... or put a masculine twist to our theme and enter that project, or both for two chances to win prizes or be voted as our next Papercraft Star... now, how fun is that?!.

On Wednesday, I used this sketch along with stamps from Tradefish Designs to create a masculine project and today I am using just the sketch. To create my project, I started with some bright and cheerful patterned paper from the new Jillibean Soup, Blossom Soup on White Collection mini papers. I layered patterned paper onto Red Poppy and Lemon Tart cardstock from Papertrey Ink. Added some Lemon Tart Ribbon, a stamped sentiment and a flower die cut using Cheery Lynn Designs Judy's Blossoms flower die.

Beth Moore

Other supplies I used to create this card include Red Riding Hood Red ink from Stampin' Up, Tuxedo Black Ink from Memento, a green brad (Basic Grey) as well as the Scalloped Oval and Silver Oval Stackers from Cheery Lynn Designs.

There is still plenty of time to join our challenge here at Papercraft Star and we can't wait to see what you create!

Thursday Trigger at The Kraft Journal: It's a Guy Thing Challenge

2011-06-09T06:00:00.003-04:00

Our "It's a Guy Thing" Challenge at The Kraft Journal is in full swing and there is still plenty of time to join us. All the details regarding this challenge are available by clicking on our Current Challenge link that is located in the top right sidebar of our blog. You have until this Sunday at 6:00 p.m., Eastern Time to enter for a chance to win prizes and adorable blog buttons too!

For this "Father" card I started with a digital image that I purchased from The Vintage Workshop, this is actually one image from their Father's Day collection (you'll see another image next week for our Father's Day challenge).

To create this card I layered patterned paper and Buff Ivory Cardstock on a black 5 1/2 x 4 1/4 top-fold card base. I matted the digital image to match that I also printed on Buff Ivory Cardstock. I "aged" three tags from the Designers Special Natural Tag Assortment with mist and Tim Holtz Antique Linen Re-Inker ink. A gray brad from my stash and Black Twill Tying Tape finished the project.

GCD Studios: May Technique: Using White Space as a Design Element

2011-06-08T20:41:00.000-04:00

I recently had the pleasure of taking a "Back to the Basics" Layout a Day (LOAD) class led by Lain Ehmann. One of the challenges was to create a scrapbook page that utilized white space. Lain explained that white space is defined as, the empty spaces in a design and that it is not always white, but rather the empty parts of the page that lack graphics or text in a layout. She went on to say that, "Space should be treated like a design element on your page, just like the title, the journaling, your photo… don’t just think about, it, make room for it! Let your other page elements BREATHE."

I love that she then went on to say that it wasn't until she'd become more comfortable with scrapbooking that she was less likely to cover the entire sheet of cardstock with something." For myself, I've only recently been "playing" with the idea of "white space" in my scrapbook layouts, so I was delighted when I learned the technique we would use on our May GCD Studios Design Team projects was this very technique...White Space!

Using White Space

Now remember, I said that I'm pretty new at using this whole "white space" thing, so I opted to literally use white cardstock as my "white space" (I'm original like that... ha). I started by printing my journaling out (using my word processing program) on a 12 x 12 sheet of cardstock and cutting it down to fit the space I wanted as the "white space" in this layout. I then paired the white cardstock with patterned paper from two different and delightful GCD Studios collections.

The foundation for the layout and the patterned paper mat under the photograph are "Sunday Morning" and "Chocolate Bunnies" from the Youthful Eggsuberance Collection (who says you can't use Easter-themed papers for more than just Easter, right?!!) and for added interest, I used bits of "Test Your Luck" and "The World's Greatest" from the Fun House Collection. With the exception of the simple banner (created with a triangle punch) at the top left of the page, I chose to group the photo and other elements together to create the white space in this layout.

I have to admit, I'm starting to feel a bit more comfortable with this whole "white space" technique, next time I might even try creating it with something other than white cardstock.... because, I'm daring like that... kinda.

Papercraft Star Sketch with Dual Challenge...

2011-06-08T06:00:00.007-04:00

I used the Liz Chidester sketch that you can see at Papercraft Star this week to create two projects... one you'll see later this week for our Executive Team Reveal on Friday as well as this one today, using stamps from our June Design Team Sponsor, Tradefish Designs. I used the Tradefish Designs, "TV Time" stamps and flipped the sketch on its' side to create this masculine card as part of our dual challenges this month. Just as a reminder, you can use our theme this week to create any project of your choosing, or use it to create a masculine project like the one I created here.

GCD Studios May Theme: Mother's Day

2011-06-07T09:36:00.000-04:00

Mother's Day was last month's theme assignment for the GCD Studios Design Team members and I'm now delighted to finally share one of the first projects I created since my recent selection to this fabulous group!

I created my card using Soft Stone cardstock (by Papertrey Ink) that perfectly compliments the delicate "Sweetie" glitter patterned paper from the Sweet Surrender Collection by Tina Higgins shown on this card.

The pretty little buttons I used to embellishment the die cut circle are also from the Sweet Surrender collection. I loved how the buttons are threaded onto the cardboard they are packaged with and decided to simply trim around each one to keep the thread intact. This meant there was no need to root around on my craft desk to find my reading glasses to thread my own needle and the cardboard backing was the perfect place to dab on a bit of hot glue to attach them to my card too! Bonus!

To recreate this card:

Create a 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 inch cardbase from Soft Stone cardstock.
Cut piece of "Sweetie" patterned paper 4 x 5 1/4 and adhere to cardbase.
With word processing program print "Happy Mother's Day" using "French Script" font onto Soft Stone cardstock; die cut into circle and adhere to card front.
Die cut border from Soft Stone cardstock and adhere to card front.
Wrap card front with white ribbon and tie into bow;trim ends of bow.
Adhere pre-threaded buttons.

Other supplies used to create this card:
Ribbon: Papertrey Ink: "Soft Snow"
Dies: Spellbinders: "Standard Circles, Large" and "Parisian Accents" border.
Cardstock: Papertrey Ink: "Soft Stone"
Other tools: computer, printer, and Big Shot die cut machine

Gratitude Card with Cheery Lynn Designs

2011-06-04T03:30:00.004-04:00

Today I have a quick and easy card... that's filled with COLOR and cute flowers too from the Cheery Lynn Designs May release, Darling Daisies. I also used the Small Oval Classic Silver Stackers Nesting Dies, the Scalloped Oval Nesting Dies and the Scalloped Diamonds Border.

To recreate this card...

Create a 5 1/2 x 4 1/4 top fold card from yellow cardstock.
Cut a piece of patterned paper 5 1/4 x 4 and adhere to card front.
Die cut a piece of coordinating patterned paper using the Scalloped Diamonds Border die; adhere to card front.
Die cut Darling Daisies from patterned paper and green cardstock, assemble and adhere to card.
Die cut Silver Stacker Oval from white cardstock and stamp with sentiment; adhere to yellow cardstock die cut using the Scalloped Oval and pop up on card with adhesive foam.
Die cut and adhere Darling Daisies to Ovals as shown.
Adhere rhinestones to Daisies.

Remember to stop back at the Cheery Lynn Designs blog every day for more inspiration using Cheery Lynn Designs Dies and Embossing Plates!

GCD Studios Assignment: Pile on the Layers/Handmade Embellishment

2011-06-03T21:03:00.000-04:00

One of the first GCD Studios Design Team 2011/12 assignments was to create a project that incorporated a handmade embellishment with lots of layers. I've just been looking for an excuse to scrap a photo I took of my oldest grandson Jack with his mother (my middle daughter; Cait) on her twenty-first birthday back in January, but the color of Caitlin's shirt was posing a bit of a challenge for me to find just the right patterned paper to use on the layout. I loved the bright colors of the photograph and didn't want to change the photo into a black and white or sepia-toned photo like I might normally do in cases such as these. At any rate, when I recently recieved my GCD Studios Design Team supplies and saw the bright patterns featured in the Homespun Chic Collection by Melody Ross, I knew this would be the perfect collection to use when creating a layout that featured this photograph.

I matted the photograph on deep royal blue cardstock (from American Crafts Winter Collection) that coordinated well with the blue tones found in the Homespun Mod flocked patterned paper I added at the center of the layout and matted that onto a piece of Petit Blossoms paper. I also added a small strip of the reverse side of the Homespun Mod paper and layered a row of tiny pearls on top of that, to the right of the photograph, because this layout was all about layering. I used large pieces of the reverse side of Homespun Garden paper on both sides of the layout to create interest and balance. A tag from the blue cardstock and glittered alphabet letters on white cardstock made the title pop on the page. I printed a quote from Agatha Christie onto white cardstock that I cut into strips and layered onto the patterned paper. Handmade pearl-topped flowers, a brad from the Melody Ross Homespun Collection, Homespun Brad set, stamped leaves and Parisian Accents (Spellbinders) cut from the blue cardstock completed this layered project.

I used Die-namics (My Favorite Things Stamps) Rolled Rose and Rolled Flower dies to create the handmade flowers from blue cardstock. Other supplies included: Certainly Celery Ink from Stampin' Up, Turning a New Leaf die and stamp set and a tag die by Papertrey Ink, Pearls from Hero Arts and Pink Paislee "Sweetness" Glitter Alphabet Stickers. The Raspberry Fizz ribbon used on the tag is also from Papertrey Ink and tied together with Pink and White Baker's Twine purchased at Really Reasonable Ribbons.

Papercraft Star Photo Inspiration Challenge and Dual Masculine Challenge

2011-06-01T06:00:00.004-04:00

For the entire month of June our Design Team at Papercraft Star is being sponsored by Tradefish Designs , a company devoted to creating stamps with masculine themes, imagery and sentiments.

In recognition of these masculine stamps we are holding DUAL CHALLENGES all month long. As a participant in our challenges you can choose to create a project using the current challenge theme as it is written or take it a step further and use the challenge theme to create a masculine project, or you can even choose to enter two projects, one for the regular challenge and one for the challenge with a masculine twist.

As a special gift to the winner of each week's challenge, Tradefish Designs will award one stamp set (selected by the winner) to our top Papercraft Star too, so we hope you join us all month long.

For our inspiration this week, we have a photograph from Amy Atlas Events (above) and we are asking participants to use this photograph to inspire Anniversary or Wedding projects or use it to create a masculine project (or both).

I was inspired to participate in the dual challenge this month and used the inspiration photograph to create this "Grandpa" card that features stamps by our Design Team sponsor, Tradefish Designs. I chose to basically ignore the Anniversary or Wedding restriction of our challenge this week, in order to create a masculine card because... I just had to use this week's gorgeous photo as inspiration for a Father's Day card that I planned for my grandson Jack to give to his grandfather.

I hope our participants in the challenges this month at Papercraft Star take advantage of our dual challenges for each week and feel free to step outside the box to create masculine projects using our themes for inspiration.

The Kraft Journal Memorial Day Challenge

2011-05-30T06:00:00.002-04:00

Our Memorial Day Challenge at The Kraft Journal is in full swing and there plenty of time to join us. All the details regarding this challenge are available by clicking on our Current Challenge link that is located in the top right sidebar of our blog. You have until this Sunday at 6:00 p.m., Eastern Time to enter for a chance to win prizes and adorable blog buttons too!

Before I share my project with you today, I wanted to share this you, first. USMemorialDay.Org says that since the late 50's on the Thursday before Memorial Day, the 1,200 soldiers of the 3d U.S. Infantry place small American flags at each of the more than 260,000 gravestones at Arlington National Cemetery and guard the graves for 24 hours to ensure the flags remain standing. They go on to say that with few exceptions (like the one above) traditional observance of Memorial day has diminished over the years. Many Americans nowadays have forgotten the meaning and traditions of Memorial Day. At many cemeteries, the graves of the fallen are increasingly ignored, neglected. Most people no longer remember the proper flag etiquette for the day. While there are towns and cities that still hold Memorial Day parades, many have not held a parade in decades. Some people think the day is for honoring any and all dead, and not just those fallen in service to our country.across the United States. However, to help re-educate and remind Americans of the true meaning of Memorial Day, the "National Moment of Remembrance" resolution was passed on Dec 2000 which asks that at 3 p.m. local time, for all Americans "To voluntarily and informally observe in their own way a Moment of remembrance and respect, pausing from whatever they are doing for a moment of silence or listening to 'Taps."

As a Veteran of the United States Army, I wanted to take the time to share that information with you today, as well as create a card that I felt best shows the traditional observance of Memorial Day by including an image I found at The Vintage Workshop.

I created this card from Brown Kraft Coverweight Cardstock cut into a 5 1/2 x 4 1/4 side-fold card and layered it with Buff Ivory Cardstock cut to 5 1/4 x 4 inches and adhere pattened paper on top of that cut to 5 x 3 3/4 inches. I wrapped the card with 7 Gypsies Victoria Seam Binding in cream and royal blue. A button tied with red and white Baker's Twine and Antique Jenni Bowlin Stick Pins top the bow. I printed the digital image/sentiment that I felt conveys the true meaning of this holiday onto Buff Ivory Cardstock to finish the card. A Buff Ivory envelope adorned with patterned paper completes the project.

I hope you find time to create a Memorial Day inspired project this week and share it with us at The Kraft Journal!

Selective Embossing with Cheery Lynn Designs Embossing Plates and Dies

2011-05-28T03:00:00.002-04:00

Before I get started with today's post, I just want to remind you that the

Cheery Lynn Designs Butterfly Challenge, ends June 4th

Okay, so with that said, a few weeks ago I saw this great tutorial by Erin Lincoln where she selectively embossed part of her card front. After watching her tutorial, I thought I'd give the technique a try with my Cheery Lynn Designs Dotted Swiss Embossing Plate and one of the small Rectangle Card-Maker Stackers dies.

I started with a 4 1/2 x 5 1/2 inch top-fold card and slid the top over the embossing plate and laid it down on my die cut machine like shown below (using an emboss stack). I then laid the Card-Makers Stackers Rectangle die down CUT SIDE UP (please, please make sure it is CUT SIDE UP so you don't ruin your embossing plate!!!). Position the second die (CUT SIDE UP) where you want it to show up on your card front.

Then you are simply going to fold down the top of the card like so...

Then lay the embossing pad over that, finish your embossing stack and run it through your machine. After which you'll have a finished card front like this...

Ta-da! Now you have the perfect place to stamp your sentiment... and add a beautiful Cheery Lynn Designs flower like the one I created here using the newly released Judy's Blooms.

I know I am going to use this technique again and again! I'd love to hear if you try this on your next project... and if you do, please leave a comment with a link to your project so I can check it out!

Don't forget to visit the Cheery Lynn Designs blog every day for more inspiration using your Cheery Lynn Designs dies and embossing plates!

2011-05-26T06:00:00.004-04:00

This week's challenge theme at The Kraft Journal is Clean and Simple and you still have time to join us too! Simply create a project using either Kraft cardstock or products from Kraft Outlet and link it up before this Sunday at 6:00 p.m., Eastern time. You can find the link to our current challenge in the upper right hand of our sidebar.

I've really been into using purple on my paper craft projects lately, so when I sat down to create this Clean and Simple card, I decided to pair the yummy Brown Kraft Cover Weight Cardstock from Kraft Outlet with some pretty purple stamped flowers...

You've still got until this Sunday at 6:00 p.m., Eastern Time to enter our Clean and Simple challenge at The Kraft Journal for a chance to win a Kraft Outlet store voucher, our Top Three Button Award or even a Featured Artist spot right here at The Kraft Journal! Simply create a CAS project that features Kraft cardstock or products purchased from Kraft Outlet and link them up to our challenge. You'll find the link to our current challenge in the upper right side of our sidebar!

We can't wait to see what you create!

My Reason to Relay: American Cancer Society's Relay for Life of Ionia

2011-05-25T21:35:00.000-04:00

I am participating in the American Cancer Society’s Relay For Life because I want to make a meaningful difference in the fight against cancer and I need your support!

Almost everyone has been touched by cancer, either through their own personal battle or through someone they love.

Please join my team or make a donation at my personal Relay for Life page to help the American Cancer Society create a world with less cancer and more birthdays. Together, we can help make sure that cancer never steals another year of anyone’s life!

Every day, the American Cancer Society is helping us stay well by preventing cancer or finding it at its earliest, most treatable stages. They assist families in finding the best resources to help their friend or loved one deal with a diagnosis and their journey to get well. The American Cancer Society is also rallying communities (like ours!) through events like Relay For Life, to fight back and find cures for this disease.

Please Make a Donation to Support My Walk in the Relay for Life of Ionia by Clicking Here!

CAS: Jillibean Soup, Cheery Lynn Designs and Imaginisce Bling

2011-05-25T09:53:00.001-04:00

Last night I had a chance to sit down and create a pile of cards for up-coming Design Team assignments that I wanted to get completed before I leave on my vacation to Kristina's on June 1. While I was at that, I decided to use some yummy Jillibean Soup scraps to create a Clean and Simple Card with bling for the current challenge at CAS-ual Fridays. They are only on their 3rd challenge and already have lots of followers and tons of participation over there... if you haven't had a chance to check them out... you really should...their Design Team is a talented group and the CAS inspiration is well.... inspiring! :-)

For the life of me, I can't remember the name of the 6 x 6 paper pack that this Jillibean Soup line is from...but it's newly released....and so ADORABLE! For my bling, I added Imaginisce Glam Rocks to the Scalloped edge (Large Scallop die from Papertrey Ink). Also included on this card is Pure Poppy ribbon, cardstock and Stamps from Papertrey Ink as well as the Classic Scallop Oval die and Silver Nesting Oval Die from Cheery Lynn Designs.

After I took this photo and downloaded to edit I realized that the sentiment is just a hair out of focus...but I wasn't about to schlep myself back down into my craft room to take another photo... one of these days, I'm gonna set that place up so that my main computer is right where I'm crafting...

I also entered this card into these other fun and fabulous challenges... hope you join me!

Crafting for All Seasons: Anything Goes
Crafts and Me Challenges: Gems and Pearls
Penny's Paper-Crafty Challenge Blog: Here Comes Summer

Imaginisce Happy Camper Release Party

2011-05-23T02:01:00.084-04:00

We're having a PARTY over at the Imaginisce blog all week long to celebrate the official release of Imaginisce's newest collection, "Happy Camper".... just in time for camping season... YAY!

As with all of our Release Parties...there is going to be lots of Inspiration from the entire Design Team...

and lots of Prizes too!

I do believe that Happy Camper is my new favorite Imaginisce Collection and I had so much fun putting together these projects for our Release Party too!

I started by creating this layout that features "Raider" one of the eleven Raccoons that stayed at our rehab facility last spring/summer until he was old enough to be released.

I paired "Don't Feed the Bears" patterned paper with a scalloped piece of "Thermal Jammies" and created buttons with my I-Top tool using "Tree Hugger" paper. I further embellished the layout with Camp Critter Icon Die Cuts and added some bling to the stars and moon with my I-Rock Tool and Glam Rocks.

I had so much fun creating that layout that I decided I had to create another one too...

I started this layout, the same as the first, with a Kraft Cardstock base, then I added Tree Hugger patterned paper across the center and topped it with a Top Crest Border punched Fresh Air pattern. I used that same pattern to create buttons with my I-Top tool as well to emphasize the green velvet ribbon I used to feminine-up the layout a bit. A jounral tag, Take a Hike Chipboard Stickers and Camp Critter Die cuts coupled with some Glam Rocks helped complete the layout.

For my final project, I decided to create this "Bear Necessities" Bi-Fold Card... the so cute canvas Bear from the S'more Canvas Sticker pack brought out the "Jungle Book" song in me...

Above, the card is picuted closed and features the "Fresh Air" pattern from the Happy Camper Collection.

For the final touch to the inside of the card I added white cardstock and Snag "Em Stamps "Tree Hugger" Stamp. Ah but there is so much MORE INSPIRATION to be found over at the Imaginisce Blog... so hop over there right now why don't ya and get in on the "Happy Camper" Release Party!

Exotic Butterfly Challenge at Cheery Lynn Designs with BIG Prizes too!

2011-05-22T03:30:00.002-04:00

How would you like to have a chance to win either a $50.00 or $25.00 gift certificate to spend at the Cheery Lynn Designs store? Well...here is your chance! All you have to do is head on over to the Cheery Lynn Designs blog today and get in on the Exotic Butterfly Challenge!

There you will find all the details about our Exotic Butterfly Challenge as well as inspiration from the entire Cheery Lynn Designs Design Team too. To inspire you to get in on this great opportunity to win, I created this card (you'll see it over at the CLD blog too).

This card showcases two of the Small Exotic Butterfly dies as well as the new Fanciful Flourish die (one of my new favorites!). The card also features Glam Rocks from Imaginisce as well!

Now what are you waiting for? Get on over to the Cheery Lynn Designs and enter your project for a chance to win BIG! :-)

Thinking of you and Exotic Butterflies too...

2011-05-21T03:30:00.002-04:00

All week long the Design Team at Cheery Lynn Designs has showcased the newly released Exotic Butterfly dies. I just had an opportunity to look back through the designs featured this week and I have to say that I am totally AMAZED at the projects created by the other members of the Design Team, from the adorable Butterfly Magnets created by Tanisha to the gorgeous decorated frame by our Design Team Leader Sandy... well, I can't imagine that you all haven't already hopped on over to the Cheery Lynn Designs store to buy up some of these perfectly yummy dies! Kianel used them for masks right here to make beautiful background paper, Liz made this most adorable layout that features a butterfly net and Irit showcased the butterflies beautifully using her vintage style for both a card and a layout right here. I can hardly wait to see what Jeannie will create as well. (Note: I prescheduled my post, so Jeannie's isn't actually up yet, but I'm betting she rocked the butterfly dies as well.)

Tomorrow will be a BIG EXOTIC BUTTERFLY day at the Cheery Lynn Designs blog too... and you are NOT going to want to miss it, so be sure to take some time to visit us some time during your day (our big event involves a prize too!).

For my project this week, I chose to showcase a couple of the Small Exotic Butterflies (the perfect size for cards and other smaller-scale projects) along with the new Fanciful Flourish and Heart Chain Border. I also used two of the Large Oval Scallop Nesting dies and two of the Large Silver Stackers Nesting Dies, as well as the Damask Embossing plate to complete this project.

That's all for today... and don't forget to visit again tomorrow for our big event over at the Cheery Lynn Designs Blog!

Friday's Executive Team Reveal at Papercraft Star

2011-05-20T03:30:00.002-04:00

For this week's challenge at Papercraft Star we've got another fabulous sketch from Liz Chidester. Her sketches never cease to inspire me and I was excited to get working on this particular sketch. (In fact, I actually created this card for this reveal way back in early April!)... I was on a creative roll for a couple of days creating cards for up-coming challenges that I was assigned and because I was really lovin' on the Crate Paper Neighborhood Collection papers that week... it's no accident that the last two cards I've shared over the past two months featured that patterned paper...and today's card does too!

I'm a BIG fan (I know, I know, I said it before) of using scrapbook page sketches to create my cards, so that's what I've created for today's reveal. (that and as much as I do love to scrapbook... I'm even more fond of making cards...thus the reason that I have PILES UPON PILES of them taking up space in my craftroom storage drawers!).

I used one of my favorite patterns from the Crate Paper Neighborhood Collection to create this card (I used some of this same paper on my April 8, Executive Team reveal too)...because I just love that cat...too cute. (Despite the fact that Kristna swears it is a dog!!) :-).

Supplies that I used to create this card include: Thickers (sentiment), Silver gel pen (to highlight the sentiment), Enchanted Evening cardstock and ribbon as well as White cardstock by Papertrey Ink. The button and patterned paper are by Crate Paper.

Don't forget that you still have PLENTY of time to link your project to the current challenge at Papercraft Star, you'll find the link in the upper left sidebar of the Papercraft Star blog. We're looking forward to seeing your projects inspired by this fun sketch!

Thursday Trigger for Kraft Outlet: Stand and Salute Challenge

2011-05-19T06:00:00.012-04:00

This week's challenge theme at The Kraft Journal is Stand and Salute in honor of Armed Forces Day on Saturday May 21, and you still have time to join us too! Simply create a project using either Kraft cardstock or products from Kraft Outlet and link it up before Sunday at 6:00 p.m., Eastern time. You can find the link to our current challenge in the upper right hand of our sidebar.

The card I created for this challenge is in honor of all the Service Men and Women who help to ensure our freedom each and every day...they are indeed "My Hero".

Kraft Outlet products featured in this card include: Brown Kraft Cover Weight Cardstock, Blue Baker's Twine, Red Baker's Twine and 7 Gypsies Victoria Seam Binding in white.

To recreate this card:

Create a 4 ¼ x 5 ½ top fold card with Kraft cardstock; ink edges.
Die cut piece of patterned paper with scallop die and adhere to piece of coordinating patterned paper that is cut at 4 x 5 ¼ inch; wrap with blue ribbon and adhere to card front.
Die cut tag from Kraft cardstock, ink edges and adhere scrap piece of red cardstock on back of tag; thread with ribbon, tie twine into bow and adhere to card front.
Die cut banner from white cardstock and stamp sentiments; adhere to card front.
Adhere gems on bow and large star.

Supplies Used:

Cardstock: Papertrey Ink: “Stampers Select White”,“Pure Poppy”, Kraft Outlet: “Brown Kraft Cover Weight” Patterned Paper: Lily Bee Design: “Picket Fence” 6 x 6 Tiny Tablet.

Fiber: Papertrey Ink: Twill Tap 3/8 inch “Blueberry Sky”, Kraft Outlet: Baker’s Twine: “Blue”, “Red”, 7 Gypsies: Victoria Seam Binding: "White"

Dies: Papertrey Ink: “Double-Ended Banners”, “Large Scallop”, Provocraft: Cricut Stand and Salute Cartridge. Embellishments: Imaginisce: Glam Rocks “Metallic Pearl”.

Stamps: Papertrey Ink: “Ad Sense”

Ink: Ranger: Stampin’ Up: Classic Stampin’ Pad “Real Red”.

Other Tools: Provocraft: Cricut Expression Tabletop Die Cut Machine, Imaginisce: I-Rock Tool

I am entering this card into these awesome challenges... hope you join me!

Crafts and Me: Anything Goes with Option of Using Kraft
The Paper Variety: Star Studded Challenge
Truly Scrumptious: Anything Goes
Die Cutting Divas: Masculine Cuts
That's Kraft Thursday: Use Kraft Cardstock

Published in the Cricut Magazine... almost.

2011-05-17T06:00:00.002-04:00

Cricut Cartridge Featured: Batman: The Brave and The Bold

I actually created this layout of my very own Super Hero: John, for a men's Cricut Magazine layout call and was thrilled when it was selected for publication in the June/July 2011 issue of that magazine... alas, there ended up be some licensing issues with the Batman images and Northridge Publishing was then unable to publish it. Never the less, I can still share my project here with you today!!

To create this layout I used my Cricut Expression, my Gypsy (to size things accurately to fit the layout), Batman: The Brave and The Bold Cricut Cartridge and American Crafts Cardstock in white, blue and yellow.

The journal text reads: My Super Hero may not be Batman or even Superman, but he is... just slightly faster than a speeding turtle. Able to leap tall piles of dirty laundry in a single bound. More powerful than a roll of duct tape. And able to make our family feel love, happy and safe.

Love Birds Card with DarkRoomDoor Stamps

2011-05-16T08:09:00.001-04:00

Earlier this year I purchased a couple of different set of DarkRoomDoor Stamps and since then I've been thinking up ways to use them because I am so totally in love the quality of the stamped images... I mean look at those birds!

To Create This Card:

Distress and Ink all edges except patterned paper.
Make card from cardstock 5 ½ x 4 ¼.
Cut rectangle of cardstock (aqua) 5 ¼ x 4.
Cut rectangle of patterned paper (5 x 3 ¾) and adhere to aqua cardstock.
Die cut aqua sentiment label, stamp sentiment and adhere to patterned paper rectangle to make card front.
Wrap ribbon around card front and adhere to card base.
Stamp image on cardstock and die cut; adhere to card front with foam tape.
Cut piece of ribbon and trim edges.
Thread twine through ribbon, place ribbon on top of button and tie onto button with twine.
Tie twine into bow and adhere to ribbon.

Supplies Used:

Cardstock: Papertrey Ink: “Aqua Mist”, “Vintage Cream”.

Patterned Paper: My Mind’s Eye: Fine and Dandy “True Blue” 6 x 6 paper pad.

Stamps: Darkroomdoor: Essentials 6 Collection “Love Birds"

Ink: Ranger: Archival Ink “Coffee”,

Fiber: Papertrey Ink: Grosgrain Ribbon “Dark Chocolate”, Twine (purchased at Walmart).

Other tools: Papertrey Ink: Vintage Button “Fine Linen”, Spellbinders Nestabilities “Labels 1” and Rectangle, Distressing Tool

I'm submitting this card to the following fun challenges and hope you join me!

CAS-ual Fridays: Buttons and Twine

One Stitch At A Time: Anything Goes

Easy Craft Project Challenges: Pastels

Crafty Creations: Anything Goes

Fab n' Funky: Buttons and Bows

Wedding Card Made Easy with Cheery Lynn Designs

2011-05-14T03:30:00.002-04:00

The wedding season is just around the corner so I thought it would be fun to show you how you can create a Tuxedo inspired card for the Bride and Groom with ease when you use Cheery Lynn Designs Dies and Embossing plates.

To create this card you'll need the following supplies: Black and White cardstock, Crystal Gems (mine are are Imaginisce Hot Rocks from the Crystal Compact), a Corner Chomper, the newly released Cheery Lynn Designs Pair of Ferns die and the Cheery Lynn Designs XL Dotted Swiss Embossing Plate (I know the dots are hard to see in this photo but they are there in all their glory I was just having issue balancing the white in Photoshop!) as well as the second to the largest CardMakers Stackers Nesting dies. You'll also need, black ribbon (also hard to see due to the light issues), a sentiment stamp (mine is from Papertrey Ink's Big and Bold Sentiments) and black ink (I used Memento in Tuxedo Black).

Featured Die: Newly Released Pair of Ferns

Create a 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 cardbase from white cardstock.
Cut a piece of white cardstock with the second to largest CardMakers Stackers Nesting dies and emboss with Dotted Swiss XL Embossing plate; trim corners with Corner Chomper.
Cut a piece of black cardstock 4 x 5 1/2 and adhere to back of embossed white cardstock; wrap bottom of piece with black ribbon and adhere to cardbase.
With black cardstock die cut Pair of Ferns die with die cut machine two times, discard one die cut and trim one shorter than the other two.
Arrange Fern die cuts off center on front of card as shown and adhere to card as shown.
Stamp sentiment on white cardstock with black ink and trim two corners with Corner Chomper; adhere on top of black ribbon.
Add Crystal Hot Rocks with Imaginisce I-Rock tool.

You can see more examples of some Clean and Simple cards I created using Cheery Lynn Designs dies right here and here, and you can see new inspiration examples from our entire Cheery Lynn Designs Design Team each and every day by visiting the Cheery Lynn Designs blog.

Buttons and Bows Challenge at The Kraft Journal

2011-05-12T03:30:00.005-04:00

Our challenge this week at The Kraft Journal is "Buttons and Bows" and you've got until this Sunday May 15 at 6:00 p.m., Eastern Time to join us! We've got some great project ideas featuring Kraft cardstock, as well as products from Kraft Outlet by our talented design team. You can find them and our challenge at the link located in out top righthand sidebar over at The Kraft Journal blog.

I have to admit that while I adore buttons on papercraft projects, I never really end up using them very often on my cards, so for this challenge I went seeking some inspiration. This card was inspired by a card I saw a few weeks ago in the recent issue of CardMaker magazine (and I'm sorry, but I loaned that issue out to a friend of mine who is trying her hand at making cards so I don't have the Designer's name or page number handy...but you'll know it if you see it for sure as she used the die cuts in this same way!).

I started this card by creating a 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 inch cardbase using Buff Ivory Cover Weight cardstock, I just adore the texture and visual grain of this rich paper! I die cut the flower shapes from a piece of patterned paper and then tied up red buttons with Kraft Outlet's Brown Kraft Baker's Twine and added it to the center of each card. For extra pizzaz, I added a Glitter Rock on top of each bow with my Imaginisce I-Rock tool. I finished the project by embellishing a Buff Ivory A2 envelope with a matching flower.

We'd love to see how our "Buttons and Bows" challenge inspires you and hope you join us by linking your project up to play along. You can find the link to our current challenge at the top right hand sidebar of The Kraft Journal blog.

Imaginisce Flower Power Party

2011-05-09T12:28:00.001-04:00

This week at Imaginisce we're introducing our new range of Roly Rosies and Posies that are making their way out into the retail world.

All this week we are going to showcase the new collection of Roly flowers at the Imaginisce blog with fabulous projects from our design team along with lots of lovely give-aways too.

I had so much fun creating my first project with the Roly Rosies in both Warm and Neutral Colours. Additional items needed to create this project include: a styrofoam ball, flower picks, green cardstock (for leaves), tulle, decorative stick pins, a clay pot, pink ribbon and white paint.

Here's a close up...

My second project is a simple card with one of the new Fabric Roly Posies using an embossing technique and Cheery Lynn Designs dies.

To see all the projects by the Imaginisce Design Team for our Flower Power Party and to get in on the fantastic give-aways...visit the Imaginisce Blog today!

Combine Die Cuts to Create a Whole New Look

2011-05-07T03:30:00.002-04:00

As if Cheery Lynn Designs weren't already versatile enough, I just wanted to show you today how it is possible to combine Cheery Lynn Designs Dies to create a whole new die cut for your next papercraft project. I love how combining the dies makes it possible to get a whole new look (which means lots more designing power for your buck ...and you just gotta love that!).

For this project, I paired two newly released dies from Cheery Lynn's Designs to create a floral centerpiece that really stands out. First, I die cut the Fanciful Flourish die from Ripe Avocado cardstock. The die looks like this...

Fanciful Flourish

Even on its' own, this die cut is gorgeous... but I really envisioned my project with layers of flowers too, so I chose the newly released Darling Daisies die cut that looks like this...

Darling Daisies

Then I die cut several pieces of Red Poppy cardstock so that I had a nice little pile of various sizes of red flowers (for this project I chose not to use the stems from the die, because I wanted to add them to the Fanciful Flourish cut). I created double layers with the flower cuts and adhered them together. Then I added a little gem to the center of each flower (with the I-Rock and a few Hot Rocks), so that I could end up with a finished project that looks like this.

Fanciful Flourish combined with Darling Daisies Die Cuts

Creating this card got me pondering other ways to combine Cheery Lynn Designs dies to create different looks using the same dies... in fact, I'd love to see examples of how you combined your dies to create a new die cut, and when you do, why not leave a comment over at Cheery Lynn Designs blog for your project so we can visit your blog (or gallery) to see what you created too!

Thanks so much for stopping by today and don't forget to visit the Cheery Lynn Designs blog every day for more inspiration from our Design Team at the Cheery Lynn Designs blog.

Don't forget that one lucky person leaving comments on every post at the Cheery Lynn Designs Blog Sunday May 1 through Sunday May 8, will win a $25 shopping spree at Cheery Lynn Designs.

My Latest Rescue: Trixie and Her Kittens...

2011-05-06T00:28:00.000-04:00

Okay....so no one in their right mind needs seven cats, and no one even remotely sane has seven cats and then rescues six more UNLESS...

A pregnant kittie shows up in your yard from out of the woods every day (and eats the dog food you put out for the Raccoon Rehab group you had the summer before...who still happen to "come home" to eat every night) and then subsequently gives birth to a pile of kittens under your grandson's wading pool that is flipped over and stored not far from my grandson's outside play equipment.

After finding said kittens in this spot I made up an outside area all cozy and nice for the kittens (in a SAFER spot in the yard)... which mommie-kitty (that I have since named Trixie) promptly hated. She moved the kittens...but not before leaving three of the them to nearly freeze to death in the night. I took those three and with the handy-dandy blow-dryer and some kitten formula brought them back to life and over the next several days waited in the yard with the kittens until Trixie came up to take them back (it took two days but she got all three). The next day I discovered where she was hiding all five of them, yet again (down in the woods under a decaying tree) ...but this time I was smart enough to leave them alone....and simply feed Trixie several times a day (and try to get her to "like" me).

After several days of this and temps that were going to drop down to the 30's.... I decided to make my move. I have since captured Trixie... and her five kittens. They are now ...SAFE, warm, well-fed and living in my basement walk-in closet (away from the other animals and people activity).... and I can sleep at night knowing the kittens aren't freezing to death or getting rained on.... they are now just getting very FAT! :-) Trixie, once very skinny... is now getting fat as well and has decided she's pretty dang happy too (little does she know once these kittens are weaned she has a trip to the vet in her future to prevent any further off spring)... I'm thinking Trixie is really liking being a "house" cat too... and while she might not look thrilled here (I think the flash of my camera surprised her)... she is actually very friendly and is loving the easy life (although she does make me bring her food dish to her when she's nursing the kittens. Bless her heart :-).

Mother's Day Card for Kraft Outlet's Thursday Trigger

2011-05-05T03:30:00.006-04:00

Our challenge this week at The Kraft Journal is "Mother's Day" and you've still got some time to finish up those last minute projects for Mom and join us in the fun this week! We've got some lovely project ideas featuring Kraft cardstock, as well as products from Kraft Outlet by our talented design team. You can find them and our challenge at the link located in out top righthand sidebar at The Kraft Journal blog.

To create this card for my mom, I started with a Kraft Outlet, Kraft Blank Notecard (they come with matching envelopes) and patterned paper from Webster's Pages. I then stamped a Card Sleeve Envelope with several stamps from the TweetyJill Journey to France stamp collection. I love these deeply etched stamps and inked them up with Very Vanilla Ink (Stampin' Up) so the stamped images would show well on the Kraft.

I created the embellished tag for the inside of the Card Sleeve from a #2 Manila Tag from the Designs Special Natural Tag Collection, and removed the string which I replaced with ribbon to match the card.

The floral trim is from Webster's Pages, the pearls by Hero Arts and the Lemon Tart ribbon is from Papertrey Ink. The "Mother" sentiment stamp and stamped fern is also Papertrey Ink and the florish is cut from Fancy Flourishes Spellbinders dies.

Remember, there's still time to join us for our Mother's Day Challenge so head over to The Kraft Journal to enter your project today... can't wait to see what you create!

Note: I've entered this card into these fantastic challenges...hope you join me!

Creative Card Crew: For Mom
The Sisterhood of Crafters: Mother's Day Theme
Clear it Out Tuesday: Ribbon/Trim
Party Time Tuesday: Mother's Day Cards
Tuesday Throwdown: Morther Day Cards
Happyleigh Scrappin' Challenge: Mother's, etc.

Imaginisce Monthly Challenge: Create a Masculine Project with Snag "Em Stamps

2011-05-03T14:10:00.003-04:00

I'm a couple days behind on this post...but not too late for you to join in the fun because it's that time once again! A new month is upon us which means a new challenge is at the Imaginisce blog as well. This month we want to challenge you to: create a masculine themed layout/card/project, use one of our Snag'Em Stamps from any Imaginisce collection and use at least 75% of Imaginisce product too. Our challenge winner will receive a complete i-top package valued at $75, OR or a range of popular collections for the same value amount.

In case you didn't know, Imaginisce creates Snag 'Em stamps for every collection and they are perfectly sized for your papercraft projects...not to mention the fact that they are also perfectly sized for your pocket book too (in other words...they are very inexpensive!).

I created two masculine cards for this challenge... both meant for the man in your life; one fun, one a bit more on the serious side.

This card features a Snag 'Em Stamp from the Little Cutie Boy Collection, I simply masked the "It's a Boy" sentiment that is under the sailboad to create this card meant for my guy! :-)

Snag 'Em Stamp Featured: "It's a Boy"

This second card features the "Dragon" Snag 'Em Stamp from the Enchanted Collection. I colored him with my Copics and created the sentiment on my computer. The paper is from the Animal Crackers Collection. Both cards also feature Glam Rocks that I adhered to the cards with my I-Rock tool too!

Featured Snag 'Em Stamp: "Dragon" from Enchanted Collection

Now to link up your own project, or to check out all the other projects from the Imaginisce Design Team go to this link now!!

Note: I've also entered the Sailboat Stamped Card into these fabulous and fun challenges...hope you join me!
The Crazy Challenge: Male Card

Bunny Zoe's Crafts: One for the Boys
Make it Monday: Anything Goes
Polly Craft Challenge: Anything Goes
Stamping Scrapping Challenge Central: Anything Goes
Stamps R Us Challenge: For the Men in Our Lives
Woodware USA: Blue, Brown and Yellow Color Combo

Spring Release Event at Cheery Lynn Designs and a Give Away too!

2011-05-01T03:07:00.001-04:00

It's May Day and we're celebrating at the Cheery Lynn Designs blog with a huge Spring Release of dies that I think you're going to absolutely love! As part of the celebration, all of the Designers at Cheery Lynn Designs got together for one big post over at the Cheery Lynn Designs blog that includes inspirational projects we created featuring the newly released dies and a give-away as well! Here's a peek at the project I created for this event...

Spring Release Event at Cheery Lynn Designs

This card features two of the new releases including the Ribbon Eyelet Border and Judy's Blooms. To recreate this card you'll also need the smallest Scalloped Oval Little Stackers Nesting Die and the smallest Oval Classic Large Silver Stackers Nesting Die, cardstock, ribbon, stamps and Imaginisce Hot Rocks.

Create a 5 1/2 x 4 1/4 inch top fold card base from yellow cardstock.
Cut a 5 1/4 x 4 inch from blue cardstock and a 5 inch x 3 3/4 inch piece of patterned paper adhere together and to front of card base.
Die cut Ribbon Eyelet Border from green cardstock; weave with blue ribbon and adhere to card front.
Adhere Hot Rocks with I-Rock tool; tie bow and adhere to ribbon.
Die cut Judy's Blooms from green cardstock, discard blooms and adhere leaves to card front.
Die cut Judy's Blooms from yellow cardstock, discard leaves.
Die cut Judy's Blooms from cream cardstock, discards leaves.
Assemble cream and cardstock blooms and adhere to leaves on card front as shown.
Adhere Hot Rock with I-Rock tool to center of bloom.
Die cut scalloped oval from blue cardstock with Scalloped Oval Little Stackers Nesting Dies and adhere to card front.
With the smallest Silver Stackers Oval die, die cut piece of yellow cardstock, stamp with sentiment and flowers and adhere to navy oval on card front.

I hope you have a chance to hop on over to the Cheery Lynn Designs blog today to see all the inspiration the designers created using the newly released Spring dies... and to get in on the giveaway as well. By the way, you'll see the new Spring dies used every day this week at the blog...so be sure to visit often!

Note: I've also entered this card into these fabulous challenges.. I hope you join in the fun and enter your projects too!

Crafty Calendar Challenge: April Showers bring forth May Flowers
Crafts for Eternity: Anything Goes
Fairy Fun Fridays: April Showers Bring May Flowers
Just Add Ink: Just add a flower
Wags and Whiskers: Use Die or Punch
Inspire Me Fridays: Anything Goes

Cheery Lynn Designs: A Masculine Card

2011-04-30T03:30:00.003-04:00

Can you believe that it is the last day of April already... spring is in full swing where I am at in Michigan (finally!) and that alone makes me feel so happy... but add to that the chance for me to stop in at the Cheery Lynn Designs blog to share another card I created using Cheery Lynn Dies and I'd say life is pretty darn good right about now (not to mention the fact that it is also SATURDAY..yay!).

When I was putting together my thoughts about what I wanted to create today, I decided it was high time we tackled another masculine card. I don't know about you, but for me, creating cards for men is far more challenging than creating cards intended for a female recipient.

For today's card you'll need a set of three stamps that are small enough to use together (these are DarkRoom Door stamps), a sentiment stamp, some Core'dinations cardstock, (I used Irish Mint from the Chocolate Box Collection), the Core'dinations Sand-It Gadget, the second, third and fourth dies from the Rectangle Cheery Lynn Designs Card-Maker's Stackers collection, Cheery Lynn Designs Lattice 1 die, Rustic White cardstock, ribbon (mine are from Papertrey Ink) and Baker's Twine (from Kraft Outlet). You will also need, ink (I used Ranger Archival in Coffee), The Stampin Up Word Window punch and your favorite tabletop die cut machine.

Here's how to recreate this masculine card:

Create 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 card base from Rustic White cardstock
Cut a piece of Irish Mint cardstock to 4 x 5 1/4; emboss with Lattice 1 die and lightly sand to achieve the worn look.
With the fourth die from the CardMaker's Stackers Rectangle die, die cut piece of Rustic White cardstock and adhere to embossed Irish Mint Cardstock; wrap with ribbon and Baker's Twine and adhere to card base.
With the second die from the CardMaker's Stackers Rectangle die, die cut piece of Rustic white cardstock and stamp images as shown.
With the third die from the CardMaker's Stackers Rectangle die, die cut piece of Irish Mint cardstock and adhere to back of stamped cardstock; adhere to card front with Pop Dots to add dimension.
Stamp sentiment on piece of Rustic White Cardstock cut out with Stampin' Up Word Window Punch and adhere to card front as shown.

Cheery Lynn Designs CardMaker's Stackers dies make it so easy to create perfectly spaced layers with a cleanly embossed edge for your cards and other papercraft projects as well. More examples of how I've used the CardMaker's Stackers dies for cardmaking are here, here, and here . Other examples of how I used the Lattice 1 die are here.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend and be sure to stop in at the Cheery Lynn Designs blog every day for more inspiration from the entire Cheery Lynn Designs Design Team!

Clear Scraps an Imaginisce: Fit for a Princess

2011-04-29T05:55:00.001-04:00

(please note, this is my second post today, if you are looking for my

Papercraft Star Executive Team Reveal it can be found right here.)

We have been enjoying a bit of a product swap with Imaginisce sending over a bundle of i-rocks and bling for their designers to work with and in return Clear Scraps sent us a wonderful package of clear acrylic albums in all shapes and sizes.

In honor of today's Royal Wedding, over at Imaginisce we've put a "Royal Twist" on our projects today and are showing off a bunch of the mini albums we created like this mini album that I made for my two young nieces who will be celebrating a double-birthday Tea Party in May. (This explains why you won't see any photos or journaling yet, because the event hasn't taken place!)... but I'll share the pages that I have ready for the additions their mommy will make after the party. Here's the cover...

and some of the inside pages...

I used the Imaginisce Enchanted Collection of patterned paper and die cuts throughout the entire album.

Imaginisce Pop Up Posies, the I-Rock and Crystals from the Hot Rock Compact got lots of use too. Not to mention die cuts from Spellbinders coupled with Waltzing Mouse stamps.

The doily cut is from Cheery Lynn Designs and felt from Papertrey Ink. I used my Cricut along with the Once Upon a Princess and Doodlecharms cartridges to create frames and the sweet teapot cuts and title on the front page of the album too.

I'm looking forward to seeing some darling photos of my nieces and their friends adorning this album for sure! :-)

In keeping with the Royal Wedding theme there is also a special Clear Scraps mini album giveaway at Imaginisce as well....so head on over there and get in on the Royal party! :-)

Executive Team Reveal for Papercraft Star - One Photo...Two Cards

2011-04-29T03:30:00.002-04:00

If you are regular follower of Papercraft Star, then you know that we announce our challenges (listed on the menu under the Challenge link over at the Papercraft Star blog) WAY ahead of time (right now, without looking I know we have all of our challenges listed through at least June or July if my memory serves me correctly). I tell you this for two reasons... the first, because we want you to know that they are there to give you a head start of creating your projects for our challenges..., the second reason I mention it is because of this...

This week's inspiration photograph I found and put into our list of challenges some time back in late 2010, so you can imagine that I was pretty surprised when over at Imaginisce (as part of their 2011 Design Team) our February challenge was.... this EXACT same photograph! (Gosh, but it's a small CRAFTY world, huh? lol). At any rate, I created a project with Imaginisce products for that challenge using this same photo as the inspiration.... here's the project I created WAY back in February...

Now, I loved this inspiration photo back then... and I still love it today. But what I wanted to show you is that even the same Designer can use the same photo inspiration piece and end up with a couple of very different cards (but hey, I think you probably knew that already, am I right?). With that said... if you happened to have created something for that challenge at the Imaginisce blog back in February, we'd love it if you also added it to your post of the project you make for this challenge... so we can see both of them! (Only link your current project though so we don't get confused come voting time!).

Anyhow, to make a long story...well, longer...I've been really lovin' on my pad of Crate Paper's Neighborhood Collection paper pack (that was showcased at Winter CHA)... and so when I was gearing up to create a card for this particular challenge, I started flipping through that pad of paper when suddenly a pattern from that collection really spoke to me...just as this inspiration photo does too!

I loved this particular pattern so much that I didn't want to cover it up with any other patterns so I simply opted to add a button, twine and a sweet little Spellbinder's florish. I also added my current favorite color and font style Thickers to the card for the sentiment and the little dots I added to the flourish. The cardstock is from Stampin' Up.

I hope you are as inspired by this week's photo challenge as I have been... twice now! :-) Remember, you've still got plenty of time to join us this week. You'll find the link to our current challenge in the top left sidebar at Papercraft Star...and we can't wait to see what you create!

Heart of Haiti Mother's Day Post Series: A Woman Who Helped You

2011-04-28T08:32:00.000-04:00

I bet you've heard that saying (typically attributed to an African Proverb), "It takes a village to raise a child". Well my "village" growing up was a strong group of independent women, led by my mother. She is the second born in a family of seven siblings ... five of which are women. My mother had a close relationship with all of her sisters while I was growing up, and as a only child my aunts were subsequently an important part of my life; each of them playing an important role in shaping my development from a young girl into a strong and confident woman. I will be forever grateful to these five women for their part in my life, and the help and support they gave me while I was growing up and I am reminded each Mother's Day of their significant contributions to my life as a woman and want to take this moment to thank them and honor them as part of my "village".

Having said that, I am also inclined to write this... aside from all the wonderful and valuable life lessons that my mother and aunts taught me growing up, there was one lesson that become valuable only after I had my own children (all three of which are girls) and that is that among sisters, as close and loving as they may be, drama is never in short supply. Watching the relationships between my aunts gave me, an only child to my mother, a bird's eye view of the "sister-relationship". As I write these words a quote by Linda Sunshine comes to mind, " If you don't understand how a woman could both love her sister dearly and want to wring her neck at the same time, then you were probably an only child." This statement, by Linda Sunshine, though intended to make us laugh (I assume) could not be more true and finer words never said in my opinion. So, if not for my experience with the relationship of my mother and her sisters, I would have surely spent the last 2 and a half decades filled with anxiety and perhaps just be dazed and confused on a daily basis about the dynamics of the sister-relationship between my own daughters. So although there may have been more important ways that my mother and aunts assisted me through the years, this one thing among them has helped me immeasurably with my own daughters... just knowing that while they may want to wring each other's necks sometimes...they do still really love each other dearly. ahhhh! :-)

So whether the important woman who helped you is your mother, your aunt, your sister or friend, Mother’s Day is the perfect time to honor them and I am thrilled to have the opportunity to write this post for the Heart of Haiti Mother’s Day series.

Through a partnership with Macy’s and their Shop For A Better World' initiative, Heart of Haiti offers artisan-crafted decorative arts and jewelry for sale. All income derived from sales of the products on the Heart of Haiti site enhances an artisan’s family’s nutrition, educates children, and brings access to health care and dignity.

To view the Shop for a Better World / Heart Of Haiti collection in it's entirety (including just added items for Spring and Mother's Day), visit this link. This is also the perfect time to purchase Mother's Day gifts and more from Heart of Haiti, and when you do, use this special discount code: CLEVERGIRLS to receive 15% off Heart of Haiti and Rwanda Path to Peace products. The discount code is valid May 3 through May 8.

*I was selected for this very special “CleverHaiti” opportunity by Clever Girls Collective, which endorses Blog With Integrity. All opinions are my own.

May Day's Thursday Trigger

2011-04-28T03:30:00.002-04:00

Our May Day Challenge at The Kraft Journal is in full swing and I've got a May Day theme-inspired card to show you today... but before I do and just in case you missed our posts earlier this week, I want to tell you that our Design Team created a number of projects that I hope will give you just the incentive you need to get out your paper and glue so you can play along with us for this challenge! You can see our Design Team Reveal and link your project up at this post right here, and you can stop in and watch this week's whimsical pinwheel tutorial presented by Audrey Pettit right here.

Why not pick up our new blog button while you are here too for a chance to win a $10.00 Kraft Outlet gift certificate... you can read more about how to enter to win right here.

For this Thursday Trigger post I created a card that, while it isn't actually in celebration of the holiday... it is inspired by the month of May... or my take on it at any rate.

May Day Challenge

This card actually didn't end up at all like I first envisioned or planned for that matter. When I started this project, I printed a pretty little digital image of a May Day bouquet that I planned to use as the centerpiece to the design... but after a whole lotta fiddlin' around I finally realized that the image just wasn't working for me at all... BUT it did inspire me to use some pretty patterned papers (Webster's Pages) that I paired with Buff Ivory Coverweight cardstock used as accent paper for the trim, the stamped backdrop and the stamped leaves too. I layered everything onto a Kraft Blank Notecard and even stamped the envelope to match. As for the finished card, while not what I first envisioned, once finished I felt it reflected what the month of May means to me....although I have to admit that while I can't recall ever seeing a butterfly flit about my yard this time of year (this IS Michigan)... they somehow landed on this May Day card... perhaps just a happy accident. :-)

Other supplies I used to create this card include: Ink: Stampin' Up, Pearls and Crystals: Bo Bunny, Dies: Spellbinders and Papertrey Ink (leaves), Stamps: Papertrey Ink (Sentiment and Leaves) and Waltzing Mouse. Stampin Up Word Window Punch, Martha Stewart Royal Butterfly Punch, Seam Binding: May Arts

Remember, you have until Sunday, 6:00 p.m., Eastern time to enter your project in The Kraft Journal May Day Challenge.... and we can't wait to see what you create!

Note: I've entered this card into these fun and fabulous challenges... hope you join me!
Simon Says Stamp: Anything Goes
Stampavie and more... Pearls
Party Time Tuesday: Anything Goes
Craft Your Passion: Layers
Make it Monday: Anything Goes

Imaginisce I-Rock Accessories Add Glamour

2011-04-26T18:09:00.000-04:00

The Imaginisce I-Rock Accessories Release Party is still in full swing over at the Imaginisce blog... our party continues through tomorrow and winners of the amazing I-Rock accessories prizes will be announced later in the week too.

One of the things I loved in this release was how easy the new accessories make it to add glamour to your projects... like using these fabulous stencils for instance...

For my second project I used the Bracket & Border Stencil to create my card and the Large Flourish Stencil to create the matching canvas mini gift bag.

I love the look of the new Black Glam Rocks on this white cardstock and with the aid of the stencils adding flourish with the Glam Rocks in these pretty patterns is a snap! I simply laid the stencil on my project, made tiny pencil marks inside each hole, removed the stencil and applied the Glam Rocks with my I-Rock tool. My only regret is that I didn't use all black on the canvas bag (canvas bag available for purchase at Kraft Outlet).

Okay now you gotta get a move on over to the Imaginisce blog and check out all the other beautiful projects the Design Team came up with for today's post...and don't forget to get in on the giveaways too!

Imaginisce - The New Bling - Day One Release Party

2011-04-25T21:49:00.001-04:00

Hey, what are you doing here at my blog when you could be over at Imaginisce for the new I-Rock accessories release party??! The entire Imaginisce Design Team has been busy creating up a storm with all the latest in bling accessories for your I-Rock tool that are hitting stores soon (maybe right this moment even)!

Okay but wait... before you head on over to the Imaginisce blog to get in on the party and since you are here already, I created a couple of projects I'm tickled pink to share with you. The first one features some of the new Glitter Hot Rocks in a fun and sparkly orange hue that pairs perfectly with the Imaginisce Berrylicious Collection. That said, I found a sweet little tutorial over at Chic' n Scratch (back in 2010 sometime)....and because we all need a little "purse" to carry our gum around in... I thought it was high time I created this little number...

The Velcro used to hold the flap of this little purse closed is hidden by the layered scallop that I created by first die cutting a small Spellbinder's scalloped circle from white cardstock. I then cut a slightly smaller scalloped circle from orange cardstock and stamped it with the Snag 'Em Stamps - Circle Frame from the Garden Party collection. Then I broke out my I-Rock tool and went to work heat-setting those yummy Glitter Hot Rock on each little scallop... and topped that off with a small white circle that I stamped and added another Hot Rock to for the dot of the "j". (for the record, my grandsons loved this project...even after I told them it was a "purse" and despite the fact that they have recently been on a "we hate girl stuff" kick).

Okay now, I don't want to keep you from the party any longer so I'll share my other project tomorrow... but until then, I do hope you hop on over to the Imaginisce blog (right now!!) and join us for a chance to win a prize package just filled to the brim with all the new I-Rock accessories! Bling-Bling!