So Happy Scrappin'

Patriotic Mini Album For ScrapbookPal.Com Design Team

2011-06-01T00:11:00.002-06:00

This month the wonderful folks over at ScrapbookPal.com sent me Viva Decor Pearl Pens in all sorts of colors and my favorite adhesive Scor-Tape!! I had decided I wanted to do a paper bag mini album this month and was so excited to be able to use my new Viva Decor Pens.

Project by Tammy White

I started with 3 - 12 3/8" x 6 1/8" paper bags and folded them in half. I then inked all of the edges with Vintage Photo Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad. I then took 2 - 11" x 5 1/4" inch lunch bags and folded them in thirds and inked those edges too.

I used the K&Co Americana 12 x 12 paper pack for my papers. I cut 10 pages at about 6" x 6" and distressed the edges using the Tim Holtz Distressing Tool and inked the edges with the Vintage Photo Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad. I cut photos mats out of the same paper at 4" x 4" and 3" x 3" and distressed those the same way. I attached the papers to the paper bags using Scor-Tape.

For the front and back covers, I cut chipboard at approximately 6 1/8" tall x 6 3/8" long. I painted the chipboard navy blue. I used the paper from the Americana pack with the flag on it for the front and back. I distressed them the same way as the interior papers and attached to the chipboard with the Scor-Tape. I attached the first paper bag to the inside front cover and the last paper bag to the inside back cover with the Scor-Tape.

The letters spelling out "America" are from one of the papers in the pack which I hand cut and then attached to tags I made from the left over papers. The "A, M and E" are small tags measuring 4" long x 2" tall. The "I, C and A" are 11" long x 5 1/2" wide made with solid color cardstock folded in half. The "R" is not a tag and is just attached to the back inside cover with Scor-Tape.

I used my Crop-A-Dile II Big Bite to punch holes in the pages and covers and then used jute twine to attach all of the pages together. I also cut a small piece of Tim Holtz Grunge Paper and attached it with the Scor-Tape to the inside edges of the covers.

As you can see in the pictures, I used the Viva Decor pearl pens throughout the pages to add texture and dimension and then embellished with adhesive rhinestones, tickets, and mini flowers. I used a Gold Viva Decor Pearl Pen to color in the bell I cut at 2 1/4" from the Independence Day Cricut Cartridge. I used a Silver Viva Decor Pearl Pen to write "And Proud of It".

I hope you enjoyed this mini album and that I've inspired you to make one of your own!

Fairy House Mini Album with Graphic 45 Paper

2011-05-25T00:04:00.000-06:00

Laura Denison over at FollowingThePaperTrail, created this incredible Fairy House mini album using the new Graphic 45 Once Upon a Springtime 8x8 paper stack. I fell in love with it and bought the instructions so I could make it.

You can buy the instructions on Laura's site at http://www.followthepapertrailwithlaura.com/store/hexagon-box-mini-album. I would suggest you also watch her Ustream videos (there are 3) associated with this project as some of the instructions are not as detailed as I needed them in the pdf and the video is a great supplement.

Note: Since taking the pictures, I inked the edges of the photo cards inside the house.

The top of the house lifts off to reveal the mini album inside.

Ready For Summer BBQ's - ScrapbookPal.Com Design Team Post

2011-05-17T04:39:00.000-06:00

Somehow the end of the school year is upon us which means grilling is about to become a near daily thing around our house. I am always jealous of people who have cute items out at their BBQs so I decided to make some cute things for my own BBQs using the new Luau Solutions Cricut Cartridge I received from ScrapbookPal.com.

Project by Tammy White

I have several of the off-brand Crystal Lite type of containers that I have been saving for a project, knowing they would one day come in handy!! I simply covered the containers in solid color cardstock using Scor-Tape to attach the paper to the container.

I then cut the 3 shapes (and their single layer) at 5" and attached to the cardstock with Pop Up Glue Dots. I used Green, Tea Dye and Yellow Stickles Glitter Glue on a couple of the shapes to give them some dimension. FYI - the tiki wrap around shape, last button on bottom row of keypad, it does not have a layer. Also to make sure it would fit my container, I used Cricut Design Studio and stretched it to approximately 8.75" long by 5.7" and then cut the hanger off the top.

Because the containers are rather tall, I put a paper towel at the bottom of the ones I used for the spoons and forks. If you are going on a picnic, the plastic utensils fit great inside these containers and you can put the lids on to keep them clean. You could also put napkins inside one of the containers.

I hope you have a wonderful summer!!

Time to Organize - New Resolution

2011-05-03T22:56:00.000-06:00

Now that I am back from my 5 day crop (swarm to you cricuteers) in La Porte, IN, I am wanting to get my new craft room organized before I get all my stuff unpacked so that I can just put it in it's proper place. I've been watching some craft related organization videos and reading some articles over at The ScrapRack blog and they have put me in an organizing mood. I am not affiliated with the ScrapRack in any shape or form (I don't own one either), but the principles can still be applied without purchasing the system.

So I started with my paper stacks/theme packs tonight. Once I sorted them out, I counted them and found that I have 97 paper stacks/theme packs!! This does not include the individual loose sheets or my solid color cardstock packs. I am sure I will find a few more stacks as I start moving stuff around but I was kind of (mildly) shocked that I have so many. If I were to stack them all together, I am pretty sure I would have a stack higher than I am tall (5'6"). My new resolution is to not buy any more paper stacks (unless they are Graphic 45 stacks - I just can't give those up) for the rest of the year. I'm trying to be reasonable in my resolution, I will not succeed if I say never, but I MIGHT succeed if I say no more for the next 8 months. That sounds like forever too, maybe I better go with until the kids start back to school in August...

I was happy to find that in all those stacks, I only had 2 duplicates and 1 of those was sent to me in a swap after I had already purchased it. I'm going to put the duplicates in a box of stuff I'm collecting for my mom who has very few craft supplies. That qualifies as purging right???!!

Crud, I just found another paper stack - that makes 98! I better stop counting!

Wish You Were Here - ScrapbookPal.com Design Team Post

2011-05-01T04:41:00.002-06:00

This month I received the cute Luau Limited Edition Cricut Cartridge from ScrapbookPal.com. The cart is on sale for $23.99 right now so don't miss your chance to own this adorable cart!

I am at a 5 day crop this week and was feeling a little sassy when planning my project. I hope you get a giggle out of it.

Project by Tammy White

Using the Luau cartridge, I cut the bar (3rd row, 4th button) at 4" and the layer (4th row, 4th button). I ran the thatch roof through my Cuttlebug with the Distress Stripes Embossing Folder and then used a Colorbox Fluid Chalk Cat's Eye Inkpad in Toffee to highlight the texture. I used Dried Marigold and Antique Bronze Distress Stickles and Cinnamon Stickles to highlight the items on the bar. For the sand, I handcut some tan paper and then stamped the "sand" with a Stampin' Up stamp using the Antique Linen Distress Inkpad. I used the brush end of a Tombow Dual Brush Pen in Chocolate to write "He He He" on the bottom corner of the "sand" strip. I used Pop Up Glue Dots on the bar and the palm fronds to give some dimension to the card.

Using the Life's A Beach cart, I cut the Palm Tree at 3" and then used Cinnamon Stickles on the tree trunk and brush end of a Tombow Dual Brush Pen in Light Green on the edges of the palm fronds.

I used the Fiskars Border Punch Threading Water on the edge of my card stock and the same patterned paper I used for the base of the bar. I adhered these to a green cardstock.

For the sentiment, I wrote it using the brush end of a Tombow Dual Brush Pen in Chocolate and then used Cinnamon Stickles over it.

That's all there is to it. A nice and easy card for you try.

Happy Mother's Day Card

2011-04-30T10:39:00.000-06:00

I felt so excited that I was able to make nice masculine Father's Day cards for my dad and my father-in-law, based on Mojo Monday sketches, that I thought I would try another sketch for a Mother's Day card. I liked sketch #184 and was inspired by a card posted by one of the Mojo Monday designers, Sarah Bigelow (blog link here). Here are cards for my mother and mother-in-law, I just hope I get them in the mail so they can enjoy them.

The paper is from the K&Company Cut N' Paste paper pack which is one of my favorites. The stamp set is an old Stampin' Up! set.

Happy Father's Day Card

2011-04-29T13:41:00.003-06:00

While at my crop in La Porte, Indiana, I made this Father's Day card. I used a sketch for the first ever!! The sketch was from Mojo Monday (#188). I used the Sense of Time stamp, Decorative Label Punch, and Scallop Border Punch from Stampin' Up!. The scallop circle was cut using my Classic Scallop Circle Large Nestibilities and the "W" metal is a Tim Holtz Philosophy Tag.

If you guys ever get the chance, I HIGHLY recommend Michelle's Memory Loft in La Porte, IN for a crop if you are in the Illinois, Indiana, Ohio (or in our case Colorado) area. It was worth the 16 hour drive (each way). Truly a great location!!

It's a BABY

2011-04-28T09:10:00.001-06:00

I am in La Porte, Indiana at "The Loft" for a 5 day crop. We are having a blast and I actually completed 2 projects on the first partial day!!!

Here is the first project - I have a friend who is pregnant and due in mid-July. I made this for her shower which is May 21st. She does not want to know the sex of the baby so she is decorating the room in brown and light green with elephants. I used the elephant from the Holiday Cakes Cricut Cartridge and the rest of the animals are from Create a Critter. I hope she likes it!

ScrapbookPal.com Blog Hop

2011-04-22T06:24:00.005-06:00

Are you ready for Spring?? I know I am although we've had a very mild winter here in Colorado. The tulips and daffodils are just starting to come and the grass is getting green so it is the perfect time for the ScrapbookPal Flower Power Blog Hop!!

For your chance to win a free Cricut Cartridge from ScrapbookPal.com, you will need to hop along to each blog and leave comments along the way and then return to the ScrapbookPal blog to become a follower and leave a final comment for a chance to win a Cartridge of their choice. You also get a 2nd entry by "liking" ScrapbookPal's facebook page and leaving a comment there. See the ScrapbookPal blog (first and last links below) for more details.

For the blog hop, I made this magnetic bulletin board. More photos and instructions for my bulletin board project appears below the blog hop links.

Blog Hop Links - Be sure to visit each blog and leave a comment at each. Then stop back by the ScrapbookPal blog and leave a comment when you finish. Those who visit all of the designers blogs will be entered into a drawing for a free cartridge!

ScrapbookPal Blog (http://scrapbookpal.blogspot.com/)
Amy Crockett (http://www.scrappingmommy.com/)
Tomi Ann Hill (http://tomiannie.blogspot.com/)
Cheryl Walker (http://sweeetdesignsbycheryl.blogspot.com/)
Leah Cornelius(http://paperblossoms.blogspot.com/)
Jamie Cripps (http://jamielanedesigns.blogspot.com/)
Crystal Butler (http://crystalscraftycreations.blogspot.com/)
Tammy White YOU ARE HERE!
ScrapbookPal Blog (http://www.scrapbookpal.blogspot.com/)

I made a magnetic bulletin board using a 12 x 16 blank painter's canvas, metal roof flashing, a cork sheet and inexpensive magnets from Michael's. You would never know it from looking that it is magnetic would you??

I took some left over roof flashing (you can buy small rolls at your local hardware store) and cut it to fit the left side (approx 12" tall by 10" wide) of my bulletin board using tin snips. Be careful because the cut edges are sharp. I adhered the flashing to the front of a 12 x 16 painter's canvas. I used E6000 adhesive and some clamps until the adhesive was dry. Then I took a 12 x 12 piece of designer paper and wrapped it around the back of the canvas. I used 1/4" Scor-Tape along the edges of the flashing to hold the paper down on the front side. This is one of my favorite tape adhesives! If you have not tried it, I highly suggest your order a roll or two or three from ScrapbookPal and try it. I adhered the paper on the back of the canvas with Tombow Mono Aqua glue. Because the 12 x 12 paper won't cover the whole canvas and have room to wrap around, I wrapped it around the left and bottom edges only. I trimmed the corners so I had a nice looking edge. I used black satin ribbon to create the diamond shapes on the right side using the Tombow adhesive to adhere them. My ribbon sections are about 2.5" apart. I used Craft Glue Dots under each intersection/cross point of the ribbon to hold it in place. I then added a rhinestone at each intersection for some bling. On the left side, I cut another piece of coordinating designer paper to about 7.5" wide by 12" tall. I again used the Scor-Tape to hold the paper in place and wrapped the edges around the right and bottom sides. Again adhering the back with Tombow Mono Aqua Adhesive. I tried to keep these edges nice and even so the back would look almost as nice as the front. I cut a piece of cork I purchased on a roll approximately 5" wide by 10" tall. I adhered this with the E6000 adhesive and used small clamps on the edge to hold it down until dried.

Because the bulletin board is longer than my 12x12 paper, for the top I used a striped paper to help cover the seam which I then cover with a ribbon anyway. I cut 2 pieces at approximately 3.5" wide. I wrapped them over the top and around the edges and then trimmed away the excess paper. Before attaching the top paper to the canvas I cut some circles on my Cricut and then ran them through my Cuttlebug with the the Swiss Dots Embossing Folder. I lined these up and then adhered them to the back side of the paper. I then adhered the paper to the canvas. To cover us the seams I used a ribbon. I made 3 small flowers using the Paisley cartridge on my Cricut. I cut 3 scalloped circles at 1.5" (Doll1 Button Icon, p. 66) using Real Dial Size on white cardstock and then 3 scalloped circles at 1" (same button) on pink. I spritzed the cuts with water and crumpled them up. I unfolded them and then began to shape the flowers. I used my emobssing heat gun and dried the flowers shaping as I went. Using chalk (or a blender pen and ink pad work great too), I colored the edges of the white cardstock. I then layered the flowers and used the Tombo Adhesive to hold them together. I then spritzed the flowers with Dazzling Diamond Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist. I adhered them to the ribbon using the Tombow Adhesive but glue dots or hot glue work great too.

For the magnets, I purchased the $1 packages of glass magnets at Michaels. Using an exacto knife to loosen the glue, I peeled off the magnet and removed the paper (very easy to do). I cut small circles out of my matching designer paper to fit under the glass piece of the magnet. Using Matte or Glossy Accents, I lightly smeared some on the back of the glass piece and then placed the paper under the glass. Once dried I used more of the Matte or Glossy Accents to attach the magnet onto the back of the glass again sandwiching the designer paper in between.

I hope you enjoyed this project and try it for yourself. Thank you for joining us for the ScrapbookPal Flower Power Blog Hop.

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun - ScrapbookPal Design Team

2011-04-17T05:09:00.002-06:00

This month I received 2 of the Pink by Design stamp sets from the wonderful people at ScrapbookPal.com. These 2 particular stamp sets (Girls Just Wanna Have Fun and Shopaholic) had to be made with me in mind!! The sayings are perfect for so many cards but this time I wanted to do a layout and again PERFECT!!

My best friend, another friend, my daughter and I went to the Mayan Riviera in Mexico last Spring Break. The trip happened to fall over St. Patrick's Day so we all had to have green drinks, in the case of the pictures below, it was the Grasshopper. I thought about journaling on this page (something I rarely do) but you know the saying...What happens in Mexico, stays in Mexico!!

Layout by Tammy

This layout took a lot more time in planning and thinking than it did in actual work. Isn't that the truth for most layouts??!!

Using my Spellbinder Classic Scalloped Circles Large Nestabilities (on sale now at ScrapbookPal.com for only $19.99), I cut out out the pictures using the 3rd largest circle in my Cuttlebug. I then cut the frames with the 2nd largest circle. I inked the edges of the frames using a ColorBox Fluid Chalk Cat's Eye in Sour Apple inkpad. I adhered my pictures to the frames using my GlueGlider Pro (one of my all-time favorite adhesives). I used Pop Up Glue Dots behind the picture frames to make them stand off the page.

I cut "Mexico 2010" on a dark green cardstock at 1.5" using the Don Juan Cricut Cartridge. Then using my Signo Uni-ball White Gel Impact Pen, I added some doodle dots to the letters and numbers. I used Tombow Mono Aqua Adhesive to adhere the letters.

I selected several of the phrases from both the Girls Just Wanna Have Fun and Shopaholic Stamp Sets by Pink by Design and stamped them on white cardstock using the ColorBox Fluid Chalk Cat's Eye in Sour Apple. I cut the sayings out by hand and adhered to the page using my GlueGlider Pro. I stamped the "Well behaved women" saying on white cardstock and cut it out using my Stampin' UP punch. I inked the edges with the Sour Applie Cat's Eye. I also punched out a couple a frames in dark green cardstock and cut the frames in half and used pop up glue dots between the layers for dimension.

For the lace on the left side, I took a length of lace from my stash and using a needle and thread I gathered the lace. I used Craft Glue Dots to hold the lace in place. I added some roses from my stash on top of the lace also using the glue dots.

I added some rhinestone stickers and gems to the page for the finishing touch.

A New Technique I Came Up With - Grungeboard and UTEE

2011-04-07T10:06:00.001-06:00

Here is a technique I came up with last night. I won't say that I am the first person to ever do this, but I have not seen videos or tutorials specifically for it so I did come up with it myself. This is a technique that is a combination of other techniques I have seen on youtube videos and blogs, I just combined them into a new technique. I have taken some photos of the steps I did along the way and hope these are helpful.

Here are the supplies I used:
Grungeboard or chipboard shapes
Versamark Ink Pad
Pearl Ex or Perfect Pearls Powder
UTEE Clear Embossing Enamel
Coffee Filter
Non-stick Craft Mat
Paint Brush (soft bristles)
Tweezers
Embossing Heat Gun

The first part of this technique was inspired by a tutorial at SwirlyDoos.

Make sure you are using your non-stick craft mat for this project. Not only will you be able to easily remove the powder residue and the UTEE, but it is also heat resistant. To clean the powder and UTEE of my mat, first I used some water which took some of it off, then 409 which took a little more. The think that worked best was to make sure the UTEE was totally cooled off and then spray the mat with Stampin' Up Stampin' Mist Stamp Cleaner and a paper towel. With minimal elbow grease it came right off.

Step 1: I covered the front of the grungeboard or chipboard shapes very well in Versamark ink.

Step 2: Using a paintbrush I applied Pearl Ex powder to the front of the shape. For this project I used "Super Bronze" color. You can also use multiple colors as you will see in some pictures below. The Pearl Ex goes a long way so just dip the edge of your brush in the pot and spread it on the shape. Once covered, I used the paintbrush to remove any extra powder.

Step 3: Once covered, stamp the Versamark ink over the front of the shape again. Some powder will likely come off onto your ink pad so I use one of my older ink pads for this portion of the project.

Step 4: Place the object in the coffee filter and cover with UTEE.

Step 5: Shake off the extra UTEE and use an Embossing Heat Gun to heat the UTEE until it fully melts. Use your tweezers to hold the shape in place so it does not move around. I find that if I turn on my heat gun and let it heat up for 20-30 seconds before using it on my project I get much better results.

Repeat Steps 3-5 at least twice more until you have a nice smooth finish on your shape. I found that if I was not heating the UTEE enough and was having trouble getting the smooth finish, that I could use the heat gun to heat the UTEE more and then it would even out.

Optional Step 6: For a few of my pieces, I wanted a antiqued or distress look to the shape, so once the UTEE was smooth and while still fairly warm, I put the shape in my freezer for about 20 minutes or so. Once cold, I removed the shape and then bent the shape (this works best on grungeboard), until the UTEE cracked (do this many times). Then I used a ColorBox Fluid Chalk Cat's Eye Inkpad - Blackberry on the edges of the shape and rubbed it over the top to fill in some of the cracks. I hope you can see the cracks in the picture below. I got the idea for the "Cracked Glass" technique from InkStains blog.

Here are the results of this technique. I found that Perfect Pearls works just as well for this technique. You can see one a few of the flower and large scroll where I used multiple colors of Pearl Ex and Perfect Pearls.

Make Margaritas - Scrapbookpal.com Design Team Post

2011-04-02T16:06:00.001-06:00

This month I received 2 sets of Pink By Design Stamp sets from ScrapbookPal.com. These stamps have the cutest sayings!! I am definitely going to be ordering more of these sets which are a steal at $14.99 plus free shipping with a $25 order!! The set I used for the card below is "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" and the Life's A Beach Cricut Cartridge.

Project by Tammy White

Using the Life Is A Beach Cricut Cartridge, I cut the Palm Tree (p. 40) and the fronds layer at 4.5". I adhered the fronds to the base and then I cut the fronds again and used Pop-up Glue Dots between to give some dimension. I then covered the frond on the left with Peeled Paint Distress Stickles and the right frond with Shabby Shutters Distress Stickles. I used Antique Bronze Distress Stickles on the tree base.

I cut the chair (p. 81) at 2" once on a dark gray for shadow and then again on white. I used a Tombow Dual Brush Pen - Sand 992 to highlight the slats and edges of the chair on the white layer. I used Pop-up Glue Dots between the gray and white layer for dimension.

I cut the Sun at 2" and then trimmed it to fit in the corner of the card and covered it with Yellow Stickles.

Adhere blue card stock cut at 6.5" x 5" to the front of your card base. I used some old wall paper samples for the sand layer which I hand cut and adhered to the bottom of the card. Adhere the palm tree, chair and sun to the front of the card. I stamped the sentiment with a Colorbox Fluid Chalk Cat's Eye Inkpad in Blackbird.

Faux Glassine Flowers

2011-03-24T20:05:00.000-06:00

I was blog surfing one night and found a blog where someone had made her own version of what I thought she called Glassine flowers. I have been unable to find the blog since but if you know who it is, please let me know so that I can give her proper credit for this idea. I know that Tim Holtz has come out with glassine paper. I have not seen it yet and don't think this is exactly the same idea. I could not find the blog to make sure I followed the steps exactly but it is pretty close if not.

I used the plastic packaging that my cricut carts come in and the Tim Holtz Tattered Florals Sizzix Die to cut out the flowers. I did the same on double-sided designer paper. I found that sometimes it was hard to distinguish the layers so for the purple ones, I cut the flowers again on a cream paper and used Tim Holtz Dusty Concord Distress Ink Pad on the edges and center. For the blue flowers, I used Vintage Photo Distress Ink Pad on a couple of the layers. I also used my Cricut to cut out some leaves on a green cardstock.

Then I applied glossy accents with my finger (don't want it too thick) to the back of the plastic packaging and then put it on top of the same cut on the designer paper or the green cardstock for the flowers and lined it up. Once it dried for a few minutes, I used my embossing heat gun to heat up the plastic until it began to adhere to the cardstock. I then used my fingers and my paper piercer to round the petals and form the shape of the flower. I shaped the individual flowers and then applied glossy accents between the flower layers to make them stick together. Then I used the heat gun again to make the flowers and leaves shape around each other a little better. Then I added a little more glossy accents to the very center flower and added a bead or pearl for the center.

Don't Eat the Grass - Scrapbookpal Design Team Post

2011-03-17T04:19:00.006-06:00

I have another new FAVORITE Cricut Cartridge! This time it is Nate's ABCs. I am just loving all the new carts that Cricut is coming out with. If you want great deals on carts (and free shipping on orders of only $25) be sure to check out ScrapbookPal's store!!!

When I saw this cute Don't Eat the Grass cut on the cartridge, I knew exactly the photos I wanted to use from our camping trip in the Big Horn Mountains of Wyoming in the Summer of 2009.

Project by Tammy White

Using Nate's ABCs Cricut Cartridge, I cut the goat and layers (p. 63) at 5.5" tall and assembled and adhered all of the pieces together using Tombow Mono Aqua glue. I did the same for the smaller goat cut at 3.5" tall using the Font 2 button. Once assembled, I used my Signo Uni-Ball White Impact Gel Pen to doodle some dots randomly on the goats. If you have not used the Signo Uni-Ball White Gel Pen, buy it now! I have tried many white pens and this one is the BEST!

Next I trimmed my photos and matted them on a dark brown cardstock allowing 1/4" of brown showing on each side. Then again I used my Signo Uni-Ball White Gel Pen to add dots to each corner of the photo mat.

I had a sheet of paper with a photo of grass that I used as my background. I adhered this to a sheet of green cardstock to make it more sturdy. I applied Tombow Mono Adhesive tape to the back of the 2 photos mats in the corner and placed them. Then I applied Pop Up Glue Dots to the back of the goats and the center photo mat. Once I placed the center photo mat, I added the goats.

This was a quick and simple layout but with the cuts from the Nate's ABCs cartridge it turned out really cute.

I'm Pulling For You - ScrapbookPal.com Design Team Post

2011-03-01T04:00:00.002-07:00

I just love this new Nate's ABCs Cricut Cartridge!! It is soooo cute! My first idea was to do a layout of my boys and our dog but then a friend gave me the idea for what I actually created. I hope you enjoy it!!

Project by Tammy White

I cut the shadow of Nate (Shift Phrase Button - p. 52) at 8" tall on a medium weight chipboard so that he could stand up. Then I cut the main image on brown cardstock, trimmed off the grass and wagon and adhered it to the chipboard. I cut the remaining layers on pattern paper and adhered them to the brown cardstock.

I cut the sides of the wagon (Layer 2) twice using Real Dial Size at 6" on red cardstock. I trimmed off the handle. I ran those through my Cuttlebug using the Swiss Dots embossing folder. Then I made a box measuring 5.75" x 2.5" wide x 2" tall from red cardstock and adhered the wagon sides to it with foam pop dots.

To make the wheels I cut 4 circles at 1.5" on medium weight chipboard and again on black cardstock. I cut 4 circles at .75" on silver and adhered the layers together. You need the chipboard or the wheels will collapse when you add the candy. You could also use large buttons for the wheels.

I used my Crop-A-Dile II Big Bite and punched a hole (1/8") on the front center of the wagon. I used a small piece of ribbon and looped it around his hand and then used a brad to attach the ribbon to the wagon so it appears that Nate is pulling it.

I hand cut the grassy area so that I would have something in which to make Nate stand up. I took a piece of the leftover chipboard and formed a right triangle and glued it to the back of his leg and to the grass. I used a brad through the grass to ensure it stayed in place. I applied some bling to the dog's collar and a blue gem as Nate's eye.

I typed the saying "I'm Pulling for You" in Word using Word Art on white cardstock. I hand cut it out and used black ink on the edges. I used foam pop up dots to apply the saying to the sides of the wagon and then filled it with candy.

Stick Pins for GIBBS Happy Mail

2011-02-25T18:48:00.000-07:00

I am in a swap I am hosting called GIBBS Happy Mail. My partner wanted stickpins and cards so that is what I made for her. Here are a few pictures of the stickpins. Once I got started making them I just could not stop! I'm sure I will look back in a few months and say "wow those are so plain" but for now I really like them!

Birthday Card for My Daughter

2011-02-21T12:56:00.000-07:00

Here is a card I made for my daughter who turned 19 today. I went into my craft room intending to make a card with cowboy boots on it, but this is what resulted instead. The patterned paper is K&C Amy Butler Faded China stack. The punch and stamp are from Stampin' Up! I made the flower using the Tim Holtz Tattered Flowers die and the ribbon is from my stash. I made the stick pin and used it on her card because it was one of my favorites.

Bee Mine Using Spring Holiday Cards Cartridge

2011-02-17T00:09:00.000-07:00

I received the Spring Holiday Cards Cricut Cartridge from ScrapbookPal.com this month. At first I did not think there was much to this cartridge, but the more I played with it the more I realized how much I could do with it. I started this card for my daughter and then realized that it would not post until after Valentines Day, but it turned out so cute and looked like Spring that I just had to share anyway.

Using the Spring Holiday Cards Cricut Cartridge, I cut the Bee Mine (1st row, 6th button) on black and red cardstock at 5.5" tall (note because the pieces are sized to work proportionally with the shapes, the actual cut was only 3.25" tall). The red cardstock came embossed with little hearts so it was perfect for this project. I used scissors to trim the bug off the red piece of cardstock and then using Tombow Mono Aqua Liquid Adhesive, I layered the red on top of the black cardstock. Then I used a scrap piece of yellow cardstock for his body and eyes and a scrap piece of white glitter paper for his wings. I used my Zig 2-way Glue Pen for these small pieces. I used a scrap piece of blue glitter stock to go behind the Bee Mine. Once I layered these on to the back of the black piece of cardstock, I put used a scrap piece of white cardstock for the background.

I cut the top note shape (3rd row, 6th button) at 4.5" tall using the real dial size on Tantalizing Turquoise (Stampin' Up). I cut the shape in half, then trimmed off the center points so they would not show from the back side. I put one-half of the shape on one end of the bee layers and then the other half on the opposite end. If you could see the back side you would see that there is about 1" between the 2 pieces. I used the Signo Uniball White Gel Pen to doodle in some sew lines around the edge. This is the ABSOLUTE best white pen I have used. If you don't have one, order it today from ScrapbookPal.com. You might as well stock up on a few other items too while you are at it because you get free shipping with only $25 in merchandise!!

I cut a piece of Tangerine Tango (Stampin' Up) 6" wide by 8.5" long and then scored it down the middle at 4.25" and folded it to make a card. Using the Signo Uniball White Gel Pen again, I doodled little dots around the edge of the card front and then used a punch along the edge of a scrap piece of designer paper and adhered that to the bottom of the card. I had some green tulle left over from another project so I scrunched it up and then applied pop-dots to the back of the blue top note die and adhered to the front of the card with the tulle in between it. I added some flowers and some pearl embellishments to the front to finish it off.

I hope everyone had a very nice Valentines Day!!

ScrapbookPal Give-Away

2011-02-10T19:13:00.001-07:00

Help ScrapbookPal.com reach 2,000 followers and you could win a cricut cartridge! Click here and become a fan now!!!

Exciting News!

2011-02-03T22:27:00.000-07:00

I just got a comment in on the card I made with Paper Lace (see January 22nd post) that indicates that my card will be featured on tomorrow's edition of Fantabulous Friday on the Fantabulous Cricut blog! How exciting and I am very honored. Thank you Tanya for this honor!!

Stampin' Up Valentine's Day Card

2011-02-02T20:44:00.000-07:00

My Stampin' Up upline Becky is hosting a Valentine swap. You make 1 valentine and send it to your assigned person. The only rule was that it had to totally be made from Stampin' Up stuff. I hope Allyson likes this card!

Cute As A Bug - 12 x 12 Layout for ScrapbookPal Design Team

2011-02-01T02:00:00.003-07:00

I received the Spring Holiday Cards cartridge this month from ScrapbookPal.com. I have been wanting to do a 12 x 12 single page layout using one of my favorite pictures of my daughter when she was about 16 months old. I saw the Cute As A Bug card and finally I knew what I was going to do.

I cut the Cute as a Bug card (p. ) twice, once on black and once on an off-white cardstock at 3.5". I hand cut off the bug from the off-white cardstock and then layered them together. I handcut a small piece of red cardstock and put behind the bug body. I used a pink ink pad to apply some color to the off white cardstock. The paper is from Doodlebug Design. I applied some pearls and mulberry paper flowers. You could also use Color Me Crazy flowers that you could color to match your theme colors.

And the Winner Is....

2011-01-31T01:13:00.000-07:00

The winner of the Robotz Cricut Cartridge and companion folders is Lisa of Lisa's Paper Butterflies. CONGRATULATIONS LISA!!!

ScrapbookPal Blog Hop - January 28 - 30

2011-01-28T07:00:00.005-07:00

Join us this weekend for the ScrapbookPal.com Design Team Blog Hop! Starting January 28th through 30th, participate in the hop and you are eligible to win a Cricut cartridge of your choice (including the newest releases) from the in stock cartridges at ScrapbookPal.com!!

Here is your chance to win another Cricut Cartridge. Read the bottom of this post to find out how you can win the Robotz Cartridge and Robotz Companion Folders from me personally.

Here's how to play:
Start at the ScrapbookPal.com blog and become a follower (if you aren't already). Visit each of the design team blogs below and leave a comment on their blog in their post regarding the blog hop. When you've done this on all the blogs, go to the ScrapbookPal.com blog, leave a comment UNDER THIS POST stating that you have completed the hop. You can also become a follower of each of the designer's blogs but it is not a requirement to win.

ScrapbookPal (http://scrapbookpal.blogspot.com/)
TomiAnn (http://tomiannie.blogspot.com/)
Tammy (http://theeventqueen.blogspot.com/)
Amy (http://www.scrappingmommy.com/)
Cheryl (http://sweeetdesignsbycheryl.blogspot.com/)
Jamie (http://jamielanedesigns.blogspot.com/)
Crystal (http://crystalscraftycreations.blogspot.com/)
Leah (http://paperblossoms.blogspot.com/)
ScrapbookPal (http://scrapbookpal.blogspot.com/)

You have until 11:59 PM MST on Sunday January 30th to participate and get your name in the drawing to win a Cricut cartridge of your choice from ScrapbookPal.com. Have fun!!

Here is the project I created using the new Disney Classics Cricut Cartridge. I just love this cart!! Brings back so many wonderful memories of going to Disney World in Florida when I was kid and a more recent trip with my wonderful sister-in-law who is also my best-est friend!!

In hopes of another trip soon, I have decided to create a Disney Autograph/Photograph 8x8 album. I want to have it done so that this album is ready to go by the time we have a trip planned. Here is the first page which is a Alice In Wonderland page. I cut Alice at 6". Some of the pieces were very small (the eyes and lips especially) so I used a white opaque pen, markers and rhinestones in place of them. Stay tuned to my blog as I will post more photos of this album as I complete the pages.

Here is your chance to win the Robotz Cricut Cartridge and the Companion Folders. IT'S OFFICIAL - 100 FOLLOWERS!! PARTY! This means I will be giving away the Robotz cartridge and matching companion folders after the blog hop ends!!

The cartridge was used twice for Design Team Projects. To win the cartridge, you must be a follower of my blog. Once I reach 100 followers, I will do a drawing of all my followers and then contact the winner so I can ship the cartridge. I will also include the Robotz Companion Folders if I reach 100 followers by the end of the Valentine's Day blog hop (11:59 pm Sunday, Jan 30. That's it! Just become a follower to win!!

Join us for the ScrapbookPal Valentine's Day Blog Hop

2011-01-26T05:53:00.002-07:00

Paper Lace Card for Collector's Cut Challenge

2011-01-22T13:25:00.002-07:00

For Challenge #2 over at The Collector's Cut, I drew the Paper Lace Cartridge. It is a brand new cartridge I just added to my collection and it is an AWESOME cart! I made 2 of the same card (I usually never think far enough ahead to cut things twice). One I'm sending to a friend who recently lost her husband. I hope it lifts her spirits a bit.

Apples of My Eye - Layout for Scrapbook Pal Design Team

2011-01-17T04:29:00.000-07:00

Have you set any crafting/scrapping resolutions/goals for the new year? I set 2 crafting/scrapping goals. Goal #1 is to start working on my Ancestry album. Goal 2 is to start working on my family albums. I've gotten started on both goals and this week's post helps me with Goal #2. Something about the Country Life Cricut Cartridge just makes me think of apples so my 2nd layout using this cart has an apple theme and this one focuses around my kids who are The Apples of My Eye. They would probably argue that the dog should have been on this page and they would have been right!

I hope you enjoy this layout!

This is how I made this 2-page layout, feel free to change it up to suit your needs and style.

Ingredients:
Country Life Cricut Cartridge
2-3 Sheets 12x12 Brown Cardstock (3rd sheet can be 8.5 x 11)
2 Sheets 12x12 Red Plaid Cardstock
1 Sheet Red Cardstock
1 Sheet ivory/tan Cardstock
1 Sheet green cardstock
1 Sheet navy blue Cardstock
Sakura Glaze Pen - White
Rhinestones
ATG or Other Roll Adhesive
Tim Holtz Ionic Craft Pick/Paper Piercer
Thin twine or string
Pop Up Glue Dots

Instructions:
On your Cricut, using the Country Life Cartridge, cut 3 apples (p. 53) at 5" including the layers. The base layer is brown which is the stem of the apple and the seeds on the right side apple. This is kind of hard to see in the handbook if your eyes are bad like mine.

Press Shift Font, then spell out the letters to make the words "the apples of my eye" at 2" and cut on navy blue card stock. Press Shift Banner and the next to last button on the bottom row and cut 8 on red and 8 on green cardstock. This banner shape (scalloped triangle) actually appears several times on the cartridge so feel free to use a different button. Alternate the letters "The Apples of My Eye" on to the red and green scalloped triangles and adhere. Using the Ionic Paper Piercer, punch very small holes in the upper corners of the banner pieces. Cut 2 pieces of string approximately 15" long. Run strings through holes to form assembled banner (you will actually have 2 banners, one with The Apples and the other with Of My Eye). Apply pop up glue dots to the back of each triangle.

Cut 3 - 3.5 x 1.25" rectangles out of brown cardstock. Cut 3 - 3.25 x 1 rectangles out of navy blue cardstock. Adhere navy blue rectangle on top of brown rectangle, centered for even margins. Write names of children and birthdates on each using a white Sakura Glaze Pen.

Trim the red plaid cardstock to 11x11. Adhere to brown cardstock, centering on paper for even margins.
Add the banner to the top of each page. Place apples as desired, be sure to leave room for the brown/blue rectangles, and adhere both. For a little pop, I added a rhinestone swirl on the left page. I also used the white Sakura Glaze Pen to add some doodle dots to the apples and leaves.

To make the pictures fit on the apples, I cut the red apple layer just slightly smaller and then used it to trace out the shape onto my pictures and then I handcut them and adhered to the apple on the left.

Birthday Card for My Daddy and Collector's Cut Post

2011-01-15T21:15:00.000-07:00

My dad's birthday is coming up on the 19th so I wanted to make a card for him. I also need to use the Sentimentals cart that I pulled last week for the Collector's Cut, so this card kills 2 birds with one stone. I hope you like this card! Be sure to stop by the Collector's Cut blog so you can see more projects made for their first challenge.

I Confess - I'm A Collector!!

2011-01-05T00:22:00.000-07:00

Yep it's confession time! I'm a collector of Cricut Cartridges and paper stacks, oh and stickles, and embellishments, and stamps, oh and ribbon too. I probably have enough paper to wallpaper my entire house and probably yours too!! I have so many embellishments but never seem to have what I want or need when I'm in the middle of a project so I go buy more only to find out that I already had those very same embellishments in a drawer.

So how many Cricut cartridges have you purchased or been given that you've never really used. I'm sad to say that of my now 67 carts (gasp!!) a large number fall into that category. So many of these cartridges I wanted so bad, had a project in mind for them even, yet once they arrived I was just too busy to use them. So I am playing along with the gals over at The Collector's Cut blog and am going to start using my carts more often. The challenge is simple: USE YOUR CRICUT CARTRIDGES!! Basically you select a cartridge (I wrote all mine down on popsicle sticks and will then draw one from a jar) and use it for a project, layout, card, home decor, whatever you want, just use it. Then post photos on your blog (or facebook) if you have one. Once you have used that cartridge, then you draw another from the jar. For me, most likely if I draw a font cartridge I will draw another cartridge to work with too.

I'm hoping that not only will I use my cartridges more often, I will also build up a stack of general all occasion, birthday and even Christmas cards and tags. This should help me use up some of my paper and ribbon in the process. Wish me luck!!

Down on the Farm Layout for ScrapbookPal.com Design Team

2011-01-01T04:26:00.000-07:00

This week's post is really about making do with what you have. I am enjoying the holidays in Missouri this year, with my parents and my in-laws. I've been having a wonderful time visiting with family and friends but there hasn't been much time for crafting. This week's project was particularly challenging because while my mom does have a cricut she has basically no supplies so I had to work with what she had. I finally found some coordinating papers and came up with this cute Down on the Farm layout using the new Country Life Cricut Cartridge. I have to tell you, this could be one of my favorite new cartridges! I seem to say that about all the cartridges I get, but this one is just even more adorable!! It is also on sale right now at ScrapbookPal.com for $29.99!!

I found 2 -12x12 matching light blue sheets of cardstock for the base. I then found 1 - 12x12 sheet of red cardstock and some bits and pieces of other colors. When I found the apple cardstock, I knew exactly what I was going to do for this project. I had to be very careful not to make any mistakes as I did not have much paper to work with.

Using the Country Life Cricut Cartridge, I cut the barn (p 58) at 6.5" tall including all the layers and then cut extra fence layers at the same height on brown. If I had access to all my supplies, I would have used a brown Color Box Cat's Eye on the edges of the barn and then used a White Sakura Gelly Roll Pen to make doodle dots on the barn, hills and photo mats. For the hills, I used a green textured cardstock and handcut the hills. If I would have had access to a Warm Green Color Box Fluid Chalk Cat's Eye, I would have rubbed it on the edges of the hills to make them stand out and then used Pop Up Glue Dots on the the middle hill.

I cut the words Down on the Farm (p.58 using Phrase Button and Shift Phrase) at 2" on white, then cut the words Down Farm on green at 3". Normally you would not change the size, but I liked the look it gave me so I cut out "on the" from the welded phrase and used them separately. The windmill (p 63) was cut at 6" on a light gray cardstock and then I used a silver metallic marker to color it in to make it look more like metal.

I cut 2 photo mats on the red cardstock at 4" and 2 at 3". Then I cut 2 mats on the apple cardstock at 3.75" and 2 at 2.75" I adhered the apple mats to the red mats using a Scrapbook Adhesives EZ Tape Runner. I then used the tape runner and a liquid glue to adhere all of the parts to the blue base cardstock.

Happy Holidays!

2010-12-28T21:43:00.000-07:00

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Boxing Day, Happy Kwanzaa, or whatever holiday you may celebrate. I had a very wonderful Christmas in Missouri with my parents and am now at my in-laws (which is a good thing as I have great in-laws) until the weekend. I got 4 of the Wal-Mart Lite Cricut Cartridges for Christmas and can't wait to get home to play with them. I also got a mandolin which I am even more excited about. I have not played a musical instrument since the 5th grade and man is it obvious! But I'm trying anyway!!

I got the Country Life Cartridge from ScrapbookPal.com for my January DT projects and I have to tell you that it is one CA-UTE cartridge. I can't wait until you see the layout I created with it. For once it does not have any hidden picture mats!

Well just wanted to wish everyone safe and Happy Holidays!! Catch you in the new year!

Christmas Village for ScrapbookPal.com Design Team

2010-12-17T04:47:00.001-07:00

This new Christmas Village Cricut Cartridge is just so cute! I am going to be traveling for the holidays and did not want to pull out all of my decorations since I would not be home to enjoy them so this cart came in handy. I now have a village that will be much easier to pack away after the holidays. The picture quality isn't great because the village is too big to fit into my photo box so I apologize for that. I hope you enjoy it!

Using the new seasonal Christmas Village Cricut Cartridge I got from ScrapbookPal.com, I cut the 5 buildings (first 5 buttons on top row of the keypad) at 11.5" on designer cardstock. Using Design Studio, I used "hide contours" to hide the cut lines for the doors and windows and cut the houses again on black (no lights on) and yellow (lights on). The benefit to this is that it made the houses much more sturdy. I then hand cut out some solid cardstock to make the shutters and doors. I added some premade embellishments I had left over from other projects. I used Liquid Applique (heated with heat gun) on the roof tops to give the appearance of snow.

I cut the Christmas tree (3rd row, 3rd button) at 11.5" on dark green cardstock twice and then layer the 2 pieces together to give it more stability. I then handcut the trunk area in brown but you could easily recut on your Cricut and just trim to use only the trunk. I also hand cut the star on metallic gold paper. I used rhinestones and Liquid Applique (heated with glue gun) to decorate.

The carolers and ice skaters (2nd row, buttons 5-10) at 3" on black cardstock. I decided to leave these plain as a contrast to the buildings.

The fence (4th row, 8th button) was cut at 2" using the Real Dial Size button. The fence is one of the few pieces that is actually sized proportionately. So if you don't use the Real Dial Size button, you have to cut it at 7" to get a fence that was about 2" high otherwise you get a fence that is about 1/2" tall. Again, I applied Liquid Applique (heated with heat gun) to the top of the fence.

The snowman (3rd row, 2nd button) was cut at 5" on white cardstock. I used Black Diamond and Orange Peel Stickles and Vintage Photo Distress Stickles to embellish him.

This really is a pretty easy project to do with lots of impact because of it's size. It only took me 2-3 hours to complete this project.

My First Blog Award - Stylish Blogger Award

2010-12-14T21:19:00.002-07:00

I am so very stinkin' excited!! I received my very first Blog Award today! Hugh thanks and hugs to Angela from My Paper Passion for giving me the Stylish Blogger Award! So very sweet of her! THANK YOU Angela!!!

Now that I have this, I need to do 4 things:
1). Thank and link back to the person who awarded me
2). Share 8 things about myself
3). Pay it forward to 8 bloggers that I have recently discovered
4). Contact those bloggers and tell them about their awards

OK, here are 8 things I will share about myself

I am a wife and mother.
I have a beautiful 18 year old daughter who is attending the Aveda Institute in Denver. She is just starting the 2nd of 9 phases but I'm proof positive that when it comes to foils she does an incredible job! She is loving Aveda and I'm so proud of how well she is doing!!
I have twin 9 year old sons who are in the 4th grade. They are just the sweetest, most polite kids (I know I might be a little biased).
I own a meeting planning and online registration company and get to work out of my home.
I am getting a mandolin for Christmas and can't wait to start practicing!! My poor neighbors!!
I am passionate about genealogy (family history research) and have been doing that for about 10 years.
Genealogy led me into my love of paper crafts! I had planned on doing my ancestry albums when I first got my Cricut 2 years ago and haven't done one yet! I can't stop crafting long enough to get started.
My resolutions for 2011 are to officially start my Ancestry albums and to practice on the mandolin every day.

I’m going to pay this award forward to some special Bloggers that inspire me every day. This was so hard because there are so many talented people out there but here are some of my favorites in no particular order:

Peachy at Peachy Paper Crafts

Jessica at From J's Corner

Jen at Young's Scrapping

Lisa at Bug Junkie

Teresa at Enjoy the VA Sunshine

Linda at The Funkie Junkie

Denise at Starlight Scrapper

Amy at Scrapping Mommy

I hope that you can check out all of these blogs to see for yourself why I like them!

Painted Item for Partner in Swap

2010-12-12T18:31:00.000-07:00

Here is the item I made for my partner in my swap on the Cricut.com messageboard. The theme for this day was "Painted Item" so I painted a paper mache box that looked like a book, added some gold accents to look like pages (sorry did not get a photo of that side) and then I mod podged my favorite Graphic 45 paper (Christmas Past Deluxe) to the front. My thought for this was that she could keep pictures, mementos or cards she has received in the box. I hope she likes it!!

Tags I Made for My Swap Partner

2010-12-12T18:27:00.000-07:00

Here are some tags I made for my swap partner on the Cricut.com messageboard. She really likes mice so the mice ones are digis that I just added some stickles and ribbon too. The others are ones I made.

I hope you enjoy them!

ScrapbookPal Blog Hop - Win a Cricut Cartridge!!

2010-12-03T05:43:00.009-07:00

It's time for the ScrapbookPal.com Design Team Blog Hop! Participate in the hop and you are eligible to win a Cricut cartridge of your choice (including the newest releases) from the in stock cartridges at ScrapbookPal.com!!

Here's how to play:
Start at the ScrapbookPal.com blog and become a follower (if you aren't already). Visit each of the design team blogs below and leave a comment on their blog in their post regarding the blog hop. When you've done this on all the blogs, go to the ScrapbookPal.com blog, leave a comment UNDER THE BLOG HOP POST stating that you have completed the hop. You can also become a follower of each of the designer's blogs but it is not a requirement to win. I hope you will consider becoming a follower of my blog.

ScrapbookPal Blog
Jamie Cripps
Crystal Butler
Amy Crockett
Tammy White (You are here)
Leah Cornelius (Your next stop)
Tomi Ann Hill
Cheryl Walker
ScrapbookPal Blog

You have until 11:59 PM MST on Sunday December 5th to participate and get your name in the drawing to win a Cricut cartridge of your choice from ScrapbookPal.com. Have fun!!

My post for the Blog Hop is a banner I created for a friend who LOVES mice. We are talking over the moon for mice (not real ones though). So I thought she would get a kick out of a banner of mice!! I apologize for the coloring in some of the pictures. The banner is too long to fit in my photo box so I had to take it in the hall on the carpet. Instructions are provided below the pictures. Click on a picture to enlarge.

Add some close ups:

I cut the mouse and layers (p. 37) from Create A Critter Cricut cartridge at 5.5" and assembled the layers. Then I cut the Santa Hat and the layer (p. 47) from Joys of the Season cartridge at 3". I used Design Studio to cut the shirt (p. 50) from Everyday Paper Dolls cartridge at 1.25" using the Real Dial Size and then stretched it to fit across the belly of the mouse. I adhered the hat and the shirt to the mice and then used Thickers Alphabet Stickers to spell out "Merry Chrismouse". Then just embellished with stickles, Liquid Applique, brads, rhinestones, Colorbox Fluid chalk cat's eye ink pads on the edges, Doodlebug Designs Crushed Velvet Flock (I used Lady Bug and Lily White), and a little pink chalk to create cheekbones. I used my Crop A Dile II Big Bite to add the large eyelets for the holes for the ribbon so the hats would not tear. If I had enough matching eyelets, I would have done 2 eyelets in each hat to help the mice lay flat. I may have to go back and add these before I mail it!! I hope you enjoy.

Be sure to leave a comment IN THIS POST and then continue on to the next designer in the blog hop. When done, be sure to go back to the Scrapbookpal blog and post a comment. Be sure to provide an email address so they can contact you if you win!! Good Luck!!

Caroling Stair Step Card with Christmas Village Cartridge - ScrapbookPal Design Team

2010-12-01T05:00:00.000-07:00

I love the new Christmas Village Cartridge I received from ScrapbookPal.com in our Design Team package this month. I also love Stair Step cards and thought it would be fun to use with the silhouettes on this cartridge.

Ingredients:

Christmas Village Cricut Cartridge

Navy Blue Cardstock

Black Cardstock

Forest Green Cardstock

Scrap of Brown Cardstock

Scrap of Yellow Cardstock

White Cardstock
Top Boss Embossing Inkpads Full Size -Clear

Zing Embossing Powder - Silver Metallic Finish

Snow-Tex

Diamond Dust

7.5" Navy Blue Ribbon
ColorBox MetaleXtra Pigment Cat's Eye Inkpad - Pearl Gray

Glue Dots

Recipe:

Cut white cardstock at 6.5"wide. You need 1 piece at approximately 1.25" tall, another at 1.5" tall and another at 2" tall. Tear the top edges to give uneven appearance similar to what you might get from real snow. Apply thick layer of Snow-Tex over the entire front of each piece. Sprinkle Diamond Dust on the Snow-Tex to give it some sparkle and shine.

Cut navy blue cardstock at 10.5" x 6.5" and another piece at 5.5" x 6.5". Score the 10.5" x 6.5" navy cardstock at the following measurements: 1.25", 2.5", 4.5", 6", and 8.25". Fold in a double "Z" shape (see picture below).

On the 5.5" x 6.5" navy cardstock, stamp with background stamp (I used a star background stamp) using the clear embossing ink pad. Pour Zing Silver Metallic Finish embossing powder of the card stock and then shake off the excess powder. Pour excess back into jar. Use embossing gun to heat embossing powder til it turns shiny silver.

Using the Christmas Village Cricut Cartridge, cut 3-4 buildings (row 1 on keypad) at 3" on black cardstock. Adhere 3 of the buildings together to form a row of houses. Then adhere scrap yellow cardstock behind the windows to make it appear as if there are lights on in the houses. Apply Snowtex along the roof lines of the houses. Cut 3 caroler silhouettes (row 2) at 3.5" on black cardstock. Highlight edges of the carolers withColorBox MetaleXtra Pigment Cat's Eye Inkpad - Pearl Gray. Cut 1 tree (row 3) at 3.5" and another at 3.75" on forest green cardstock. Hand cut a small piece of brown cardstock to serve as the tree trunk for each tree and adhere. Apply Snowtex along the edges of the trees.

Adhere the stamped navy cardstock to the last "front" of the Z fold. Only apply adhesive to the lower 2". Determine how much of the buildings you want to show and adhere them to the back of the card then adhere the 2" Snow-tex covered strip. Make sure that you cannot see the edge of the buildings behind the snow Determine how much of the Carolers you want visible behind the snow and adhere them to the middle Z. Then adhere the 1.5" Snow-Tex covered strip. Adhere the trees to the front of the strip using a liquid adhesive. Adhere the 1.25" Snow-Tex covered strip to the front Z-fold.

Wrap the navy blue ribbon around the front of the first Z fold (over the Snow-Tex strip) and adhere with glue dots to the back. Cut out a shape (I used the Decorative Label Punch from Stampin Up) in Navy Blue. Stamp Christmas greeting (I used "Oh Christmas Tree" from TPC Studios Christmas Greeting Clear Stamp set) on embossing ink pad and then cover with Zing Silver Metallic Finish Embossing Powder. Use embossing heat gun to heat powder until it turns shiny silver. Rub edge of punched/cut shape with ColorBox MetaleXtra Pigment Cat's Eye Inkpad - Pearl Gray and adhere to ribbon with glue dots.

Because this gets to be a rather heavy card with all the Snow-Tex, I cut some short strips of cardstock (about 2" by .5") and folded and adhered on the backside of the Z folds to keep the card from sliding down (see picture below).

ScapbookPal Blog Hop - December 3 - 5

2010-11-27T07:58:00.000-07:00

Join us December 3 - 5 for the ScrapbookPal.com Design Team Blog Hop! Participate in the hop and you are eligible to win a Cricut cartridge of your choice (including the newest releases) from ScrapbookPal.com!!

Here's how to play:
Start at the ScrapbookPal.com blog, become a follower. Visit each of the design team blogs below and leave a comment on their blog in their post regarding the blog hop. When you've done this on all the blogs, go to the ScrapbookPal.com blog, leave a comment stating that you have completed the hop. You can also become a follower of each of the designer's blogs but it is not a requirement to win.

Here are the blogs you will be visiting:
ScrapbookPal Blog (http://www.scrapbookpal.blogspot.com/)
Jamie Cripps (http://jamielanedesigns.blogspot.com/)
Rowena Valentine (http://www.creativegenealogyscrapbooking.com/)
Crystal Butler (http://crystalscraftycreations.blogspot.com/)
Amy Crockett (http://www.scrappingmommy.com/)
Tammy White (http://theeventqueen.blogspot.com/)
Leah Cornelius(http://paperblossoms.blogspot.com/)
Tomi Ann Hill (http://tomiannie.blogspot.com/)
Cheryl Walker (http://sweeetdesignsbycheryl.blogspot.com/)
ScrapbookPal Blog (http://www.scrapbookpal.blogspot.com/)

Christmas Tree

2010-11-18T10:46:00.000-07:00

Warning - Daphne if you are reading this, close this window now!! Do NOT Look!!!!!

After my success with the wreath (see post immediately below this one), I thought I would try this method on the paper mache cone tree shape you can get at Michael's or Hobby Lobby. I used the 10" cone. I did cut these papers at 1/4" wide. I don't think 1/2" wide would have worked well on this size project.

Christmas Wreath

2010-11-18T10:39:00.001-07:00

Warning - Daphne if you are reading this, close this window immediately! Do NOT look!!!

Here is a wreath I made for my partner in the swap I am hosting on the Cricut.com message board. Here is a link to the tutorial for this wreath. I made one change, I used 1/2" strips rather than 1/4" and glad I did. I used hot glue and came away with several burns but it was worth it for the way it turned out.

I am heading out of town for a couple days but on Sunday I will try to do a video tutorial on the wreath. If I can't get a video to work, I will at least do a photo tutorial. I actually just packed the cardstock and my paper cutter to go with me so I can cut and roll the strips while in my hotel room.

Christmas Layout using Joys of the Season

2010-11-14T17:07:00.000-07:00

This is a layout I created for the ScrapbookPal.com design team. I just love the Joys of the Season cartridge I got from ScrapbookPal! I also seem to have a thing for layouts with hidden tags for photos as this is the 2nd one in 2 months that I've created this way. This post is pretty photo intensive but I wanted to share all the details.

This is the 2 page layout - the silver star is metal and does not bend to put in the book. Oops! Can you tell how often I scrapbook??!!

The Left Side - note the gold string at the edge of the tree

The Window lifts up to reveal 2 photo mats

The top of the window sill pulls up to reveal a photo mat tag

Remember the gold string? It pulls out to reveal an ornament tag

The ornament tag opens to reveal more places for photos

And the large blue present with the silver ribbon...

Pulls open to reveal photo mats

The Right Side - note the gold string at the edge of the tree...

Pulls out to reveal a blue star ornament tag...

With room for more photos

See the candle on top of the fire place? Pull it out...

To reveal another photo mat tag

Use 2 12" x 12" pieces of green cardstock as your base for your pages. Select 2 designer papers to serve as your wall paper cutting them at 11 7/8" wide x 6.25" tall and adhere to your green cardstock leaving no green paper showing on the interior edges of your layout meaning that you will have the green cardstock showing only on the top, bottom and left edge of the left page and the top, bottom and right edge of the right page. I used wallpaper from wallpaper sample books which adds a very nice texture. Adhere a ribbon over the seams to hide them.

Using the Joys of the Season cartridge, I cut the Christmas Tree using the Shadow Button (CrsmsTre Shadow - p. 59) at 11.5". Then I took my paper cutter and cut the tree down the middle. Using the D'vine Swirls Embossing folder and my Cuttlebug, I embossed both pieces of the tree. Because it is so tall, I had to run it through 3 times lining up the edges as best I could to emboss the whole tree. I then cut a piece of brown cardstock about 2" x 3" for the tree trunk and then cut it in half. This will mostly be covered by your presents. Apply Pop-Up Glue Dots to the back of the tree, allowing plenty of room for your ornaments to slide in from the sides. Adhere right up to the interior edges of the pages (see photo 1 above).

I cut 2 Ornaments (using Shift and Ornament Button p. 79) at 3.75" on a metallic cardstock. For the pink ornament, I cut the Bulb1 (using Shift and Ornament Button p. 62) and then ran it face down through my 5" Xyron Sticker maker and then applied glitter to it. For the blue ornament, I cut the Star (Angel with Shift p. 53) at 2.5". Adhere to the front of your ornaments. To make the interior photo mats, using Design Studio software I flipped the image and recut on the same metallic cardstock. If you don't have Design Studio, put your paper face down on the mat and then cut out the image. This will help ensure the mats match up when you put it inside your original cut. If you use double-sided paper you will skip the step of making the interior photo mats. Score the ornaments down the middle and fold in half. Adhere the photo mats inside your ornaments. Tie gold cording to the holes in the top of the ornaments. Slide under the tree.

For the ornaments on the tree, I cut ornaments in a variety of sizes on the metallic cardstock and then adhered them to the tree randomly. For the top of the tree, my metal star obviously is not going to work in an album so cut a star in silver metallic cardstock and cut in half and apply to each side of the tree. Note to self, metal does not bend!!

The Soldier (p. 58) was cut at 5.5" on skin tone paper, and then the layers on red and black (Soldier using Layers Button) - do not change the size. Adhere the layers together. Cut the bear (same page just use Shift) at 4.5" on brown and then his face parts on tan (using Shift and Layers Button) without changing the size. I ran the bear face down through my 5" Xyron and then flocked him with brown flock. I also ran the face through my Xyron face down and applied tan flock. Adhere the layers together. Adhere to left page of layout.

For the presents (p. 56), I cut Gift1 and Gift2 (using Shift) at 1.5" and 2.25" on the metallic cardstock I used for the ornaments. Then cut the ribbon (Gift1 using Layers Button) on the metallic cardstock and adhered to the presents. For the Present with the photo mat, I welded 2 of Gift1 (using Shift) together and cut at 2.25". Then I flipped the images and cut the photo mat. Adhere the layers together. To keep the photo mat closed, I added a small velcro dot to each side. Place a scrap of red fabric to the bottom of the tree on each side to serve as your tree skirt and then place the presents on top of the tree skirt. Use Pop-Up Glue Dots to raise some of the presents up and give dimension to your layout. I also used a few chipboard presents I had from another project for more color.

For the fireplace (p.55), I used Design Studio to make it 6.75" wide by 5.5" tall. I cut the base on dark brown and then used darker brown ink and ran it along the edges and then heavily over the mantle area. I cut the inside layer (using Layer Button) on metallic black cardstock and then again in brown for the wood and yellow for the fire. If you have Design Studio, you can use the Hide Contour feature so you aren't wasting paper. Run a red ink pad over the edges of the yellow cardstock to make it appear more like fire. Adhere the layers together. For the background of the fire pit area, I had a scrap piece of red crackled-looking paper and used a black ink pad to make it appear like soot and glued it to the back of the fireplace. Use Pop-Up Glue dots only along the left, right and bottom edges of the fireplace and adhere to the right page of your layout. Remember that you will be sliding a photo mat behind the fireplace so you need to keep the top and center free of adhesives.

Cut the candle twice (Fireplace using Shift p.55) on red cardstock at 1.75". Cut the layers (using Shift and Layers Button) in green and silver cardstock. Apply the layers. Because the holly berries cut so small at this size I used Christmas Red Stickles for the berries. For the hidden tag, cut a tag that will fit behind your fireplace when it is glued down. My tag was 5" x 5". Then using a designer paper, cut a photo mat to fit on the tag. I used a Ticket Punch corner chomper to give detail to my mat and then adhere together. Now you are going to attach the photo mat to your candle. Take a matching scrap piece of paper (about 1" wide and 2" long) and fold in half. Adhere it to the photo mat on both the front and back side using a good adhesive. Place additional adhesive on both sides of this tag. Take the candle and add pop-up glue dots to the back of one. Place the candles so that the scrap piece of tag is sticking in between the 2 candle layers and adhere together. This way you can use the candle to pull up the photo mat.

Cut the wreath (Wreather 1 using Shift p. 66) on green cardstock at 2.75" and use Christmas Red Stickles to make the holly berries. Adhere above the fireplace. Cut 3 stockings (p. 54) on red at 2" and then the layer (using Layer button) on white. I ran these pieces face down through my Xyron 150 Sticker Maker and then applied red and white flock to the appropriate pieces. Adhere the layers and then adhere to fireplace. Use rhinestones to create a garland between the stockings.

For the window, I took a piece of white paper approx 4" wide by 3.75" tall and cut out 4 squares to make it appear like the window had 4 panes. I used a Stampin' Up paper punch on the bottom of the window sill to give it decoration. For the "outside", I took a piece of dark blue paper cut slightly less than 4" by 7.5" and scored it across the middle. Then using a Sakura Stardust Gelly Roll pen I made stars on the front of the folded piece of paper. I made the illusion of snow by tearing a scrap piece of white paper and then applying Icicle Stickles (let dry!). Adhere the white "snow" to the bottom of the front of the dark blue paper and then adhere both to the back of the window frame. Now your window should flip up to reveal the photo mats. Cut designer paper to make photos mats and adhere to the dark blue paper. For the hidden tag, take a piece of white paper approximately 4" wide x 3.75" long and use the same paper punch on the top to make it match the bottom of the window. Cut designer paper to fit the photo mat (below the punch area - see picture above). You are going to use pop up glue dots to attach the window to your layout so you will need to trim the side of your photo mat approximately .75" on each side so it can slide in. Don't trim it all the way up though, you want the top to be the same length as the window. For added stability, I used a scrap piece of white paper and the punch to make another piece of the window border and trimmed it to fit and adhered it over the first piece being sure to line them up.

Add embellishments like rhinestones to your tree and wherever else you desire. This layout did take some time but most of it was spent in figuring out what I wanted to do rather than actually doing it!

I hope you enjoy it!

Stamping Up! Special Sign Up Offer!!!!

2010-11-14T11:00:00.000-07:00

The promotion we’ve been waiting for is finally here! Stampin’ Up! has announced that starting Monday (tomorrow), November 15^th, you can sign up to be a demonstrator for only $87.50!!! That is 50% off!! Half price!! The regular price is $175 and the starter kit value is $310. Plus it is customizable and you can choose exactly what you want to receive! I have attached the promotion flyer, the Standard Starter Kit form and the Digital Starter kit form so you can see exactly what you get. And finally, the Starter Kit ships FREE…no shipping costs!

This is a great time to get a new business started. With the upcoming holidays, the stamping and sharing opportunities are easy!

IT is also THE PERFECT OPPORTUNITY FOR A HOBBY STAMPER! The starter kit is not only a fantastic savings, it includes the benefits and discounts of being a Stampin' Up! demonstrator with no obligation to sell.

LOVE THE IDEA OF STAMPIN' UP! AS A BUSINESS? Based on my experience and success, I'm ready to personally help you design a business plan and develop your Stampin' Up! career.

Here are a few details:

Available Nov. 15 thru Nov. 30!

Take 30% off your first $150 Stampin' Up! product order (placed w/in 45 days).
Save 20% on all other orders
Pre-order from the 2011 Occasions Mini and Sale-A-Bration catalogs starting Dec. 1.
Sale-A-Bration is around the corner and free stamp set opportunities multiply!
Enjoy tons of learning tools, including video tutorials on the Stampin' Up! demo site.
Sign up on line and enjoy instant benefits (starting Nov. 15^th). Go to http://tammywhite.stampinup.net Click on Start Your Own Business, and the password is Tammysdemo or contact me at tammy@iplanitmeetings.com.

IT'S GOOD TO KNOW: There's no penalty to drop and you keep the kit and everything you purchased at a discount! You'll enjoy full demonstrator privileges thru March 31, 2011. To remain active beyond March 31, 2011, $300 in product sales is required.

ScrapbookPal Design Team Blog Hop - Save the Dates

2010-11-08T23:41:00.000-07:00

SAVE THE DATES - ScrapbookPal.com will be hosting a blog hop on December 3-5 featuring projects created by the Design Team. There will be a prize for participating in the hop - a Cricut Cartridge of your choice!! So put the dates on your calendar and come back December 3 - 5 to see all the wonderful creations!! See you then!!

In The Mood

2010-11-08T23:38:00.000-07:00

I am so in the mood for Christmas this year. Not for the snow and the cold weather, we are having an awesome fall with unseasonably warm temps and beautiful days, but just for decorating, making cards, and the like. So you may notice that I have changed my blog background (again) and it is a Winter Theme. I am fighting the urge (and my husband if I tried) to pull out the Christmas decorations, I just don't know that I can wait until Thanksgiving!!! Anyone else in the mood this year??

Joys of the Season Polar Bear Card - ScrapbookPal Design Team Post

2010-11-01T06:00:00.004-06:00

ScrapbookPal.com sent me the Joys of the Season Cricut Cart for November. It is one of my favorite holiday carts and the polar bear is one of my favorite cuts. Here is the card I made using the bear. I hope you enjoy it!

Ingredients:
Joys of the Season Cricut Cartridge
Blue cardstock
White cardstock
Snowflake stamp
Light Blue ink pad
Waterfall and Icicle Stickles
Swiss Dots Cuttlebug A2 Embossing Folder
Labels One Nestabilites Die Set (Largest label)
Rhinestones
Adhesive
Pop-Up Glue Dots
Scor-Pal
Xyron 150 Sticker Maker

Recipe:
Cut blue cardstock 5" tall by 12" wide. Score at 3" and 9" using Scor-Pal. This becomes the base of your card.
Cut 2 pieces of white cardstock 4 7/8" tall x 2 7/8" wide. Adhere to front panels of card leaving about 1/16" of blue showing on all sides. Randomly stamp icicles in blue on the cardstock. Use Waterfall Stickles to highlight a couple of the icicles. Let dry!
Using the largest nestability from the Labels 1 Die Set, cut 1 on blue cardstock. Apply thin line of Icicle stickles around edge. Let dry!!
Cut Polar Bear Shadow (p.52) at 2.5" on blue. Also cut the scarf (Polar Bear Layers) on blue. Don't change the size.
Cut Polar Bear at 2.5" on white. Emboss in Cuttlebug using Swiss Dots Embossing Folder.
Adhere white bear to the shadow bear and then add scarf. What is a polar bear without bling, add 3 diamond rhinestones to his scarf.
Using pop-up glue dots, adhere bear to the blue nestability label. Using pop-up glue dots. adhere this to just the left side of the card. This will allow the card to open from the right side.
Cut Merry Christmas (p. 75) at 2.5" on white. Run through your Xyron X to make into a sticker and apply to inside middle section of the card. For some bling, use Icicle Stickles on the letters and LET DRY!!

Another Club Ruby Project - Candy/Desk Organizer

2010-10-30T17:37:00.000-06:00

Here is another project I made for Club Ruby as a guest designer. It is a Candy Holder or a Desk Organizer using Graphic 45 Alice in Wonderland Hallow'een paper. Incredible paper!! I can only share 1 picture with you on my blog so you will have to come over to the Club Ruby site for more.

Halloween Banner for Above Rubies Studio

2010-10-30T17:34:00.001-06:00

Here is a Halloween Banner I made as a guest designer for Club Ruby, part of Above Rubies Studio, using the Graphic 45 Alice in Wonderland paper. I absolutely LOVE this paper!! I cut the tombstone bases from the Happy Hauntings cart. Come on over to Club Ruby and find out more about this sensational club!!

Frankenstein Halloween Card

2010-10-30T17:23:00.001-06:00

Here is another card we made in my card class earlier this week just in time for Halloween. This little Frankenstein is sooooo cute! This was made using the Stampin' Up Top Note Die (p. 207 of the Idea Book). He was very easy to put together and was CASE'd (Copy And Share Everything) from another demonstrator. I will be posting photos of the other cards we made in the next couple of days.

Elements of Style Card

2010-10-30T17:20:00.001-06:00

It has been a while since I have made any posts that are not related to the ScrapbookPal.com design team. I was buried in the planning of a conference for 1,200 people for the last 2 months and have not had much time to craft. Now that the conference is over hopefully you will see a lot more of me!! Here is a card I made for a card class I did for the City of Longmont earlier this week. This is a pretty simple card, but very elegant. I CASE'd this from another Stampin' Up demo, it is not an original creation from me.

This was made using the Stampin' Up Elements of Style stamp (p. 133 of the 2010 Idea Book) and black and Old Olive classic inks (p. 166) and black and white card stock. If you are interested in placing an order for any Stampin' Up items, please email me at ComeStamp@gmail.com. If you are interested in attending one of my card classes, the next ones will be Holiday cards and will be held November 17th and December 8th in Longmont, Colorado. The cost is $25 and you get 12 cards (3 each of 4 designs). Contact me if you are interested in signing up and I can direct you to the correct website to do that!

Happy Hauntings - 3 D Haunted House for ScrapbookPal.com

2010-10-17T05:02:00.001-06:00

I just love the new Happy Hauntings Cricut Cartridge that I got from ScrapbookPal.com as part of their design team! I thought I'd be brave and attempt the 3D Haunted House and expected a real test of my patience, but it was much easier to put together than I expected. The key is to NOT change the dial size once you determine what size you want to cut at!

Using the Cricut Happy Hauntings Cartridge, I cut my haunted house (Pages 73 and 74) at 10.5" on black 12 x 24 cardstock using the 12 x 24 Cricut Cutting Mat. There are several cuts for the house using the various icon buttons and shift button. Make sure you get all of the pieces. I used a pack by The Paper Studio, but the cardstock seemed a little thin so I suggest checking out the cricut branded 12x24 cardstock. I used DesignStudio to maximize the usage of my paper. With Design Studio I was able to rotate the cuts and used 6 sheets of black cardstock whereas it would have taken 8 without it.

Rather than use yellow cardstock for the windows, I used vellum and then put 2 flameless tealight candles in the house. You can't tell in the pictures but it is a cool effect. I also cut a couple of shadows of a head and a cat and put behind the vellum. At night you can see these shadows through the vellum.

To make the house appear old, I used Adirondack Metallics Acrylic Paint Dabber in Silver and lightly dragged it over the cardstock to give it silver streaks. Don't make the same mistake I did - apply the paint dabber before assembling the house. It would have been much easier!

For the Chimney, I used 3 colors of Ranger Distress Crackle Paint (Fired Brick, Peeled Paint and Vintage Photo) and just applied those in spots all over the chimney. Then I took black paint and dry brushed it over the paint to make it look old.

Once assembled, I used Viva Decor Yellow-Green 3D Glitter Gel on the roof. I used my Martha Stewart Drippy Goo Punch and then coated them in the glitter gel before adhering to the roof (you can see this in the 2nd picture above). You can also use Stickles to achieve a similar look.

I cut some designer paper and applied it to the tower and one side of the roof for some additional color. I used Ranger Stickles in Orange Peel and Purple to decorate the porch and balcony railings. I cut a couple of ghosts from the Happy Hauntings cart and glued them on to appear as if they were coming through the windows. For the doors into the house, I painted them with Smooch Pearlized Accent Ink in Plum Twist. You can't see them very well in the pictures but this is really cool stuff. Very pearly and applies like nail polish.

I cut a couple of tombstones (2 of each) from the same cart and used the Adirondack Silver Paint Dabber again to color them and then used a black sharpie to add text. Then I adhered them together with Pop-Up Glue Dots to give them dimension.

Happy Hauntings Card for Scrapbookpal.com

2010-10-01T01:37:00.001-06:00

I am so in the Halloween mood this year so when I got the Happy Hauntings cart this month I was so excited to start making cuts from it. I hope you enjoy this little card.

Ingredients:
Happy Hauntings Cricut Cartridge
Orange 8.5 x 11 cardstock
Black cardstock
Yellow cardstock
Purple cardstock
Holographic Embossing Powder
Embossing Inkpad
Piece of clear packing from embellishments/stickers
Embossing Heat Gun

Recipe:
Using Design Studio, cut the 3DFrame (p.68) on black cardstock at a 5.142 height x 4.742 width. Now you need to weld the Shift 3DFrame with the 3DFrame Layer 1. These were sized at 5.245 height x 4.768 width, slightly overlapped and cut on orange cardstock. Once cut, score/fold down the middle of the card. In Design Studio, delete the 3DFrame Layer 1 and cut the Shift 3DFrame by itself on orange cardstock.

Cover the black 3DFrame with embossing ink pad and sprinkle holographic embossing powder over entire cut. Shake excess off and pour back into the jar and add lid before turning on your embossing heat gun!! Heat the embossing powder until it becomes holographic/shiny. Adhere with Tombow Liquid Adhesive to the top of the welded Shift 3D Frame.

Cut the Witch at 2" on black cardstock. Sandwich her between 2 layers of the clear packaging and glue down the edges. Glue this sandwich on the backside of the 3DFrame (inside front of the card). Glue the extra Shift 3DFrame you cut earlier to the backside of the front of the card so that the witch is sandwiched between the 2 layers.

Cut 2 of Frame 9 Shift Layer 1 (p.46 - Spiders) at 1" on black cardstock. Stack one on top of another with a Pop Up glue dot in between. Do this with the other 2 and then adhere to the front of the card.

Cut Dracula Phrase (p.28 - BOO!) at 1" on purple cardstock. Cute Dracula Shift Phrase at same size for shadow on black. Layer and glue.

Cut 2 of Bat1 (p.48) at 1" on black cardstock. Cut yellow circle at 3.5" (I did this free handed but there are many carts with a circle). Adhere the yellow circle to the inside back of the card making sure that no edges are visible from the front of the framed oval. Adhere the 2 bats and word BOO! where desired.

Robotz Card for ScrapbookPal.com Design Team

2010-09-02T16:31:00.000-06:00

I was soooo excited to receive the Robotz Cartridge this month and was even more excited when I saw that my package included the Cuttlebug Companion Embossing Folders that matched!! I made this cute little birthday card and hope you enjoy it.

Ingredients:
Cricut Robotz Cartridge
Cuttlebug Companion Embossing Folder - Robotz (I used the lighting design folder)
Blue inkpad
Glue Glider Pro
Xyron
5" x 6.5" card base
Pop Up Glue Dots

Cardstock:
Black
Silver
Blue
Yellow (1 piece measuring 5" x 6.5" and small scrap)
Lime Green
White

Recipe:

Using the 5" x 6.5" yellow cardstock, run it through the cuttlebug using the lightning design embossing folder. You will have to move the folder down the paper and line it up with the design you just embossed, running it through the Cuttlebug again to get the design on all of the paper.

(This is the first time through the cuttlebug)

(This is the 2nd time through the Cuttlebug to emboss the right side)

Ink the edges with the blue inkpad. Adhere to your card base using Glue Glider Pro.

Cut Robot1 (p. 28) at 4.5" on silver (arms, legs, etc.). Do not change size setting for rest of the robot cuts.
Cut Shift Robot1 on blue (face and center circle)
Cut Layer 1 on lime green (base of shoes, antenna and hand cover)
Cut Shift Layer 1 on yellow (hands and front of shoes)
Cut Layer 2 on white (eyes)
Cut Shift Layer 2 on black (shadow)

Adhere the layers of the robot. I prefer to use my Xyron to get a nice adhesive layer. Refer to the booklet to determine what pieces go where.

Adhere Pop-up Glue Dots to the back of the fully assembled robot and attach to the front of the yellow base.

Using Design Studio, I cut the letters Happy Birthday at approx .875" tall on blue. I used my Xyron again to apply adhesive to the back. Apply to yellow base.

I think this card is so cute I am going to make it again in pink for a little girl. This time with stickles and glitter!!

ScrapbooPal.com Blog Hop

2010-08-20T01:38:00.000-06:00

It's time for the ScrapbookPal.com Design Team Blog Hop! Participate in the hop and you are eligible to win a Cricut cartridge of your choice (including the newest releases) from ScrapbookPal.com!!

Here's how to play:
Start at the ScrapbookPal.com blog, become a follower. Visit each of the design team blogs below and leave a comment on their blog in their post regarding the blog hop. When you've done this on all the blogs, go to the ScrapbookPal.com blog, leave a comment stating that you have completed the hop. You can also become a follower of each of the designer's blogs but it is not a requirement to win.

ScrapbookPal Blog (http://www.scrapbookpal.blogspot.com/)
Jamie Cripps (http://jamielanedesigns.blogspot.com/)
Rowena Valentine (http://www.creativegenealogyscrapbooking.com/)
Crystal Butler (http://crystalscraftycreations.blogspot.com/)
Amy Crockett (http://www.scrappingmommy.com/)
Tammy White (http://theeventqueen.blogspot.com/)
Leah Cornelius(http://paperblossoms.blogspot.com/)
Tomi Ann Hill (http://tomiannie.blogspot.com/)
Cheryl Walker (http://sweeetdesignsbycheryl.blogspot.com/)
ScrapbookPal Blog (http://www.scrapbookpal.blogspot.com/)

If you haven't been keeping up with the ScrapbookPal.com blog, you have been missing out on some incredible creations by my fellow design team members. These women are soooo creative and I get so many great ideas from them. I am sure you will too.

While you are at it, don't forget to visit ScrapbookPal.com's website where you will find incredible deals on everything in the store. And best of all, you get free shipping with just $25 in purchases! I am placing my order this week for the Toy Story Cartridge!! It is available on pre-order now and should be shipping around the end of August.

Halloween Layout Using Freshly Picked for ScrapbookPal.com Design Team

2010-08-16T09:43:00.001-06:00

I was so excited when I received the Freshly Picked cartridge for my ScrapbookPal.com Design Team and immediately thought of gardens and spring time and all the cute things I could make with the cartridge. But when I started my LO, I wanted to do something different with the cartridge. I mean who looks at the Freshly Picked cartridge and thinks "Halloween"? I guess I do!

Recipe:
Freshly Picked Cricut Cartridge
Cindy Loo Cricut Cartridge (or any cartridge with scrolls/flourishes)
Songbird Cricut Cartridge (or any font cartridge)
Plantin Schoolbook Cricut Cartridge (or any cartridge with tags)
1 sheet each of 8.5 x 11 orange cardstock in 3 shades
1 sheet each of 8.5 x 11 green cardstock in 3 shades
1 sheet 8.5 x 11 yellow cardstock
1 sheet 8.5 x 11 white or brown cardstock
1 sheet 12 x 12 dark purple cardstock
1 sheet 12 x 12 green cardstock
1 sheet 12 x 12 black cardstock
Stickles in Purple, Lime Green, Orange Peel
Brown ink pad (if using white cardstock for fence)
Markers in Brown, terracotta, medium orange, and a medium green (I used Stampin' Up markers: Early Expresso, Cajun Craze, Tangerine Tango, Old Olive
PopUp Glue Dots
Tombow Liquid Mono Adhesive
Tombow Mono Adhesive Runner

Instructions:
Cut purple cardstock to 5.5 x 11.5.
Cut one end of green cardstock in a wavy pattern to form "rolling hills". Then cut green cardstock to 7.5 tall by 11.5 long.
Cut 6.5" circle from yellow cardstock.

Using Freshly Picked Cartridge, cut pumpkins in variety of sizes on all 3 colors of orange cardstock. Cut out 1 - 3.5" pumpkin on 2 shades of orange. Layer these 2 cuts using pop up glue dots. This will become your center pumpkin on the layout.
In total, I cut approx 60 pumpkins in sizes of .75", 1" and 1.5". Layer some of the pumpkins using pop up glue dots. For the tags, I created 2 layered pumpkins by layering 2 of the 1.5" pumpkins in 2 shades each with pop up glue dots. Set these 2 pumpkins aside.
Cut the leaf layers in .75", 1" and 1.5" and then adhere to pumpkins with Tombow Mono Adhesive. Cut out extra leaves for layering on the vines.

Using the Cindy Loo cartridge, cut scrolls/flourishes on the 3 shades of green cardstock. These will become vines.
Add dimension to your pumpkins and leaves with markers and stickles.

Using Tombow Mono Adhesive Liquid or Runner, adhere the large layered pumpkin in the approximate center of the green cardstock. Then adhere some of the pumpkins and and vines and leaves to the green cardstock in a random pattern. You don't have to glue down all of the vine edges because it just gives more dimension to the page when they stick up. When you have a nice base layer of pumpkins and vines, adhere the layered pumpkins on top along with more vines and leaves.

Using Freshly Picked cartridge, cut out the fence at approx. 1.25" and the gate at approx 1.5" on white or brown cardstock. I cut mine on white and then used dark brown ink and markers to give the fence a woodgrain look.
Add pop dots to the fence and gate and place them on the bottom portion of the green cardstock.

Using Design Studio and the Songbird cartridge, I cut "The Great" at 1" on leftover purple cardstock, "Caper" at 1" on green cardstock, and "Pumpkin" at 2" on the bright orange cardstock and welded the words together before cutting.
Use purple stickles on "The Great", lime green stickles on "Caper", and orange peel stickles on Pumpkin. Let dry!!

Adhere the 5.5" tall purple cardstock to the black 12" x 12" cardstock with Tombow Mono adhesive tape runner allowing for 1/4" margin on top and sides.
Adhere the yellow circle on top of the purple cardstock. I wanted only 3/4 of the moon showing so the rest will be hidden behind the green cardstock.
Adhere the green 7.5" tall cardstock to the black 12" x 12" cardstock, allowing 1/4" margin on sides and bottom, with your adhesive tape runner, only using the runner on the sides and bottom of the green cardstock. Do not apply adhesive at the top or center of the green cardstock or else your tags won't be able to slip behind it.
Using Plantin Schoolbook, cut 2 tags at approximately 2.5" wide by 4.5" long on purple cardstock. Glue the 2 layered pumpkins you set aside to the top of the tags. Slip the tags behind the green cardstock. By using layered pumpkins, you don't have to worry about the tags sliding down behind the green cardstock.

Adhere the words "The Great Pumpkin Caper" on to the moon.

After I took photos, I decided to add a mat to the tags so I placed a yellow rectangle of cardstock on each tag.

Wedding Card from Freshly Picked Cartridge

2010-08-01T00:28:00.004-06:00

My cart for the month of August for the ScrapbookPal.com Design Team was Freshly Picked! I was sooooo excited to get this cart!! I hope you like the card!

Ingredients:
Purple Textured Cardstock
White Cardstock
Black Cardstock
Green Cardstock
Red Cardstock
Coordinating Ribbon
Glittered Fern Pick
Color Box Fluid Chalk Cat's Eye Inkpad - Warm Violet
Nestabilities Die Set - Classic Scallop Oval, Large
Stickles - Stardust
Stickles - Christmas Red
Pop Up Glue Dots
Tombo Mono Adhesive - Liquid Glue
Tombo Tape Runner
Craft Glue Dots
ScorPal Score Board
Cuttlebug Embossing Folder
Cuttlebug Embossing Machine or Sizzix Embossing Machine

Recipe:
Using Freshly Picked Cartridge, cut Gazebo (p.47) at 2.25" on white cardstock.
Do not change size and Cut Gazebo, Shift Layer 2/Shadow on black.
Cut Gazebo, Layers on green.
Cut Gazebo, Shift Layers on lighter green.
Cut Gazebo, Shift Layers on red.

Apply Stardust Stickes to white layer of gazebo. Apply Christmas Red Stickles to the red flowers. Let dry. Adhere layers together using Tombo Mono Liquid Ahesive.

Cut purple cardstock to 8" x 5.5". Score in the middle at 4" using ScorPal.
Cut white cardstock to 3.75" x 5.25". I used an embossed paper from a wedding stack but you could also use a Cuttlebug embossing folder and run through your Cuttlebug or Sizzix. Adhere the white card stock to the purple cardstock using Tombo Tape Runner.

Use the largest oval in the Nestabilities Classic Scallop Ovals set and run through Cuttlebug/Sizzix using scrap of the purple cardstock. Use the next to largest oval and run through Cuttlebug/Sizzix using scrap of the white cardstock. Using the purple cat's eye ink pad, ink the edges of both scallop ovals and the card layers. Then apply Stardust stickles to the edges of the scallop ovals. Let dry. Adhere white scallop oval to purple oval using pop up glue dots.

Tie ribbon around the card and create a bow. Adhere the glittered fern pick using glue dots. Adhere purple/white ovals over the ferns using glue dots. Adhere gazebo on top of white oval using Pop Up Glue Dots.

Candy Holder/Desk Organizer

2010-07-18T13:22:00.003-06:00

Here is a project I created for my GIBBS swap partner, Denni, on the Cricut.com messageboard. This could be a desk organizer, candy holder, marker holder, etc. I picked up a project pack of my most favored Graphic 45 Domestic Goddess line from a scrapbooking store in Warsaw, MO and this was one of the project ideas they had listed. If I find an online tutorial for this project I will post a link.

I really like the way it turned out and hope she likes it just as much!!

Countdown to Kindergarten with Cindy Loo Cart

2010-07-17T03:00:00.002-06:00

This is my Cindy Loo Project entry for the www.scrapbookpal.com Design Team. Be sure to visit the Design Team blog for more fabulous projects and cards from some incredible designers!!

I made this Countdown to Kindergarten Cookie Sheet for a friend who's daughter will be starting Kindergarten this fall. The Cindy Loo cartridge is so perfect for this project. I hope my friend and her daughter will love it as much as I enjoyed making it for her.

Ingredients:
Cindy Loo Cricut Cartridge
1 15 x 10 Cookie Sheet
1 piece each of 5 colors of cardstock
1 piece 12 x 12 Designer cardstock
1 piece 6 x 12 Designer cardstock
Various coordinating scrap pieces of Designer cardstock/paper
1 piece chipboard approx 8 x 10 (back of paper stacks works well too)
30 small magnets
Scallop edge punch
Gesso (optional)
Yes Paste or Mod Podge
Pop Up Glue Dots
Tombo Mono Aqua Adhesive
Coordinating ribbon (wide enough to cover edge of cookie sheet and serve as hanger)
Stickles to coordinate with cardstock
Sakura Gelly Roll Pen - Stardust
Embellishments like Buttons, Flowers, Skittles, Stickles, Ribbon

Recipe:
From Cindy Loo Cart:
Cut 30 of Doily1 Shadow on chipboard at 1.25" tall
Cut 6 of Doily1 Shadow from each color of cardstock (total of 30) at 1.25" tall
Cut numbers 1-30 using Font Layer button from coordinating scrap pieces of DSP. (Using DesignStudio, I cut at a height of .650". If you do not use DesignStudio, cut at .75" tall)
Cut your choice of images/flourishes with appropriate layers from cartridge in varying heights (My tallest was the tree at 1.5" tall).
Cut letters "Countdown to" using Font Layer button on 1 sheet of cardstock. (Using DesignStudio, I cut at at height of approx. .863. Without DesignStudio cut at approx 1").
Cut letters "Kindergarten" using Font Layer button on 1 sheet of cardstock. (Using Design Studio, I cut at height of approx. 1.391". Without DesignStudio cut at 1.5").

Using Tombo Mono Adhesive, adhere the cardstock cuts of Doily1 to the chipboard cuts making sure to match edges as much as possible. Using coordinating stickles, outline the edges of each square.
Using Tombo Mono Adhesive, assemble and adhere the layers of images/florishes. Use stickles, gelly roll pens, markers etc to decorate and add dimension to cuts. Adhere to Doily1 squares.
Using Pop Up Glue Dots, adhere the numbers 1-30 to the Doily1 squares. Use gelly roll pens, Sakura White Souffle Pen, buttons, flowers, etc to decorate squares.
Adhere magnets to the back of the squares using hot glue or Glossy Accents. Do not use glue dots as the magnets are more likely to separate from the paper when removed from the cookie sheet.

Use coordinating stickles and outline letters "Countdown to Kindergarten".

Optional Step:
Apply Gesso to backside of cookie sheet. I do this to help the paper adhere as Gesso gives it some texture. Let dry.

Lay 12 x 12 Designer cardstock on cookie sheet and determine how much overhang is needed to be able to fold over on sides and touch or nearly touch the flange, cut off leftover. Fold paper over edge of tray. I used my ScorPal to create straight fold lines. You do not have to be perfect as you will use ribbon to cover edges.

Apply mod podge or Yes Paste (my preference) to back of DSP and adhere to cookie sheet being sure to smooth out any bubbles.

Cut 6" x 12 Designer cardstock in half to create 2 - 3" x 12" strips. Use scallop edge punch along 1 long edge of both pieces. Place on cookie sheet with scallop edge facing in and determine how much overhang is needed to fold over the edge. I used my Scor-Pal and scored along long side (opposite of scallop edge) of each piece of cardstock to make a nice fold. I also used the ScorPal for the side edges too.

Apply mod podge or Yes Paste to back of each piece of cardstock. Adhere the strips to top and bottom of the cookie sheet. Fold the edges of one side under the other to make nice corner creases.

Use stickles to decorate the scalloped edges of the designer cardstock. Apply adhesive to the back of the ribbon and apply ribbon along the edge of the cookie sheet to give nice finish to edges.

Use Crop-A-Dile Big Bite to punch 2 holes along top edge flange for ribbon to serve as the hanger. Add ribbon and secure with brads, eyelets, adhesive or simply tie a knot on each side.

Adhere buttons to side of tray on top of ribbon using glue dots or liquid adhesive. Decorate front of cookie sheet with flowers, brads, ribbon, skittle, etc. The sky's the limit.

Sneak Peek for GIBBS Swap Project

2010-07-12T18:51:00.000-06:00

Here is a sneak peek to my Cookie Sheet countdown calendar project using the Cindy Loo cartridge. My GIBBS swap partner, Denni, will receive this hopefully next week!! I hope she and her daughter enjoy it!! I will post more pictures on the 17th so be sure to check back!!

ScrapbookPal.com Design Team - Card Project for June

2010-07-01T05:00:00.001-06:00

This is the card I submitted for the ScrapbookPal.com Design Team blog. I received the Cindy Loo cartridge which is the exact cart I was hoping to receive. New projects will be posted about every 2 days so follow their blog and keep watching for unique and beautiful creations by all of the design team members!!

Ingredients:
Cindy Loo Cartridge
Doodlebug Bon Bon Crushed Velvet Flock
Tan Flock
ColorBox Fluid Chalk Cat’s Eye Inkpad – Dark Brown
ColorBox Fluid Chalk Cat’s Eye Inkpad - Blackbird
Glue Glider Pro and Permatac Adhesive
Tombow Mono Aqua Adhesive
Lime Green Stickles
Green Stickles
Pearls
Pop Up Glue Dots
Xyron Sticker Machine
Ribbon
Cardstock:
    Shiny Silver
    Dark Green
    Light Green
    Dark Brown
    Light Tan/Brown
Cricut DesignStudio Software

Instructions:
Using the Cindy Loo cartridge -
     Cut Doily2 (page 69) at 5” on shiny silver, a dark green, light green, and dark brown.
     Cut Deer (page 61) at 2.75” on light tan/brown twice.
     Cut Squirrel (page 61) at 1.5” on dark brown twice.
     Cut a circle at 4.25” (I used Plantin Schoolbook)

     On the shiny silver paper trim along inside edge of circle cutting out the trees and animals.
     On the light green paper, trim out the center tree.
     On the dark brown, trim out the trees trunks/bases.

Use Tombow Mono Aqua to:
    Adhere the light blue circle to the back of the dark green paper
    Adhere the tree trunks to the dark green paper
    Adhere 1 deer and 1 squirrel to the dark green paper
    Adhere the silver doily to the front of the dark green paper covering the feet of the animals

Use Pop Up Glue Dots to:
Adhere the light green trees to the center trees
    Adhere 1 deer and 1 squirrel on top of the ones you glued down

- Run the last deer and squirrel face down through Xyron Sticker Machine
- Apply dark brown flock to the front last deer and use Dark Brown Cat’s Eye to ink all of the edges
- Use Pop Up Glue Dots and adhere it to the top of the 2nd deer
- Apply tan flock to the front of the last squirrel and use Blackbird Cat’s Eye inkpad to ink all of the edges
- Use a black marker to drawn in the tail and head shape
- Use Pop Up Glue Dots to adhere it to the top of the 2nd squirrel
- Add pearls between each scallop and smaller pearls to the light green tree.
- Outline the dark green trees with green stickles and the light green trees with lime green stickles.
- Tie a thin ribbon around the neck of the deer and then add small black pearls for the eyes of both the deer and squirrel.

Using Design Studio, weld 2 of Doily2 together overlapping about 1/2 inch. Use the Hide Contour feature to hide the interior cuts for the card base on both. Attach the finished card front to the welded doily with the Glue Glider Pro Permatac.

Another Day - Another Look For My Blog

2010-06-23T22:53:00.000-06:00

If you've been visiting my site in the last week or 2 you might have noticed my blog has looked different on several occasions. I have had so much trouble deciding on a look for my blog lately but I think I have finally found it thanks to my friends Jessica and Tracy. Jessica found the cutest backgrounds here and then when Tracy updated her blog it reminded me that I just loved Jessica's blog look too. I think this one is going to stay around for a while. I'm finally happy with it.

Stamping Up Marker Club - Join Us Now!

2010-06-18T06:39:00.000-06:00

Cost: $35 (plus actual shipping to you)
Term: 4 months (July - November) - Must participate in all 4 months

Details:
You will get all 38 of the Many Marvelous Markers including the carrying case. (The case is only available to those purchasing the entire set of markers at once OR if you join the club). Markers are dual-tip, a fine tip for details and writing and a brush tip for wider color applications. They are acid-free, waterbased dye ink. The horizontal storage case keeps both tips evenly inked.

You will also receive the new 2010/2011 Stampin' UP! Idea Book/Catalog for free in July.

Here is what you will get when it is your turn as Hostess:

Marker Case
Set of 5 In Color Markers
1 Set of Markets (8 neutrals or 10 Regals, Subtles or Brights)
Level 1 Hostess Set from the 2010/2011 Stampin' Up! Idea book and Catalog or available mini
Minimum of $15 worth of additional merchandise

Here is what you will get each month that you are not the hostess:

1 Set of Markers (8 neutrals or 10 Regals, Subtles or Brights)

By the end of the Club you will have all 43 markers, Marker Case, a Level 1 Hostess gift and $15 worth of merchandise!

Orders and payment for additional items are to be turned in by the 18th of the month. All orders will be delivered to me and then shipped to you. If you wish, I can hold your markers and combine shipping to reduce costs.

You may collect additional orders or use your own order to reach higher levels of Hostess Plans for additional FREE Merchandise. Or you can book your own workshop in the same month that you are the Club Hostess to further increase your Hostess Benefits! Shipping for additional orders is not included in the monthly marker club cost.

Payment is via PayPal or check. If you wish to pay by check please make sure it is to me by the 13th of the month.

Please send me an email to ComeStamp@gmail.com if you are interested in joining my club!!

Card Submitted for Jen Young's Challenge

2010-06-18T01:38:00.000-06:00

My friend Jen Young is hosting a sketch challenge each week on her blog. This is the first week of the challenge and it is for a card. Here is the card I submitted, I hope you like it:

Father's Day Card for my Father-In-Law

2010-06-17T21:04:00.001-06:00

Here is my final Father's Day card. I made this one for my father-in-law. I am very lucky to have not only wonderful parents but also wonderful in-laws! I hope he likes his card!!

Father's Day Card for My Daddy

2010-06-17T13:36:00.000-06:00

My dad loves to play golf so when I saw this image in my Graphic 45 Proper Gentleman pack I knew it was going on a card for him. I think it speaks volumes when you use your FAVORITE paper for others!! LOL!

Father's Day Card for My Husband

2010-06-17T10:00:00.002-06:00

So last weekend I was at the monthly day-long swarm/crop I host and actually finished 4 cards and a circle pop-up album while I was there. Here is the card I made for my wonderful husband for Father's Day. The paper is from Graphic 45 which is my new all time favorite paper!!

The Front

The Inside - Sentiment is not in here yet

The Back - Added some stamp looking images from another page in the pack

Mother's Day Card

2010-06-17T00:40:00.000-06:00

Ok, I know, I know this is late, but I have an excuse. This card is for my mother-in-law who was gone with her husband most of May and into June traveling in Europe. I did not want to overfill their mailbox you know!! Ok poor excuse. But anyway the card is done and I just love it. I hope you to do!!

Happy Anniversary Above Rubies Studio!

2010-06-10T11:37:00.000-06:00

My friend Megan is celebrating her first anniversary of her Above Rubies Studio blog but the twist is that YOU can win the prizes!! She is giving away prizes for 10 days so head on over to Above Rubies Studio and post on her blog for your chance to win!!

Graduation Banner - Take 2

2010-06-02T15:14:00.001-06:00

So I have these wonderful friends on the Cricut.com message board and in my Skype group who are some of the most fantastic crafters I've ever met. So today I was looking at the banner I posted earlier and thought "hmmm what would they do to this banner?" So I said "Self, Jen would say add bling" so I added bling, and then I thought butterflies cause she uses a lot of butterflies. Then I said "Self, Jessica would say add doodle dots and doodle stitching", so I added some of that. Then I said "Self, Kimi would say you aren't done chick, add more". So I added more, more embellishments, more pearls and then even more embellishments. Finally, I think I can say I'm pretty happy with this banner because it is a lot more like my DD, a bit of randomness in a whole lot of beauty . I hope you like it in "Take 2".

Graduation Banner

2010-06-02T11:29:00.002-06:00

I made a Graduation Banner for my daughter who is graduating from high school on Saturday. We are holding a party for her that evening and I'll hang up the banner for the party. I will add a ribbon or thick twine to the ends to hang it up. I might also add a graduation cap to the blank tag in-between the words.

The paper is K&Co. Blue Awning. The letters are Chip Chatter (Tall) from Pressed Petals that I glittered. The ribbon and buttons are just random pieces from my stash. I hope you like it!

Added: June 19th - I finally found the link to the blog that had a tutorial for the banner. Atomic Butterfly makes some BEAUTIFUL banners and I wanted to make sure that I give credit to her for her work.

More About Stampin UP Last Chance List and 2010-2011 Idea Book

2010-06-01T01:49:00.000-06:00

I have pdfs of all the Last Chance items that are available. Items are in limited quantity and will go quickly. Some of the "accessories" inks, ribbon, cardstock, etc. are even on sale for 25-50% off. If you are interested in seeing the lists, email me at ComeStamp@gmail.com and I will send you the pdfs. Unfortunately I cannot post pdfs on this site.

If you would like to preorder the 2010-2011 Idea Book/Catalog please let me know no later than June 15th. Catalogs will be $8 and includes shipping. Place an order with me over $50 you will qualify for a free catalog. You can place your order 24 hours a day at www.tammywhite.stampinup.net.

Stampin UP Last Chance List Now Available

2010-06-01T00:20:00.000-06:00

The 2010/2011 Stampin UP Idea Book/Catalog will be coming out July 1st. In preparation for the many new products being added to the SU family, many of the current stamp sets, products and colors will be retiring. The Last Chance List is now available. If you would like to place an order for anything on the Last Chance List you may do so on my SU website at www.tammywhite.stampinup.net, click Shop Now and then Last Chance on the left side of the page.

We R Memory Keepers - The Cinch

2010-05-29T20:05:00.001-06:00

Have you seen the lastest binding tool? The Cinch by We R Memory Keepers looks to be the next hot tool in the papercrafting world. I know it is on my wish list. ScrapbookPal.com has it on sale right now for $93.99 with free shipping!! I don't know that I have the willpower to wait!!

ScrapbookPal.com Design Team Officially Announced

2010-05-29T00:39:00.003-06:00

ScrapbookPal.com has officially announced their first ever Design Team. I've added links to all the blogs of the amazingly talented women to the right side of my blog. Be sure to visit their blogs and congratulate them on their accomplishment!! A big thank you to DT member Crystal Butler who first published the links to all our blogs. I don't know how she found them so fast but it sure made it easier for me!!

We should receive our first shipment next week and I can't wait to see what is in the package. In the meantime, be sure to visit ScrapbookPal.com to view their wonderful selection of products. In addition you get free shipping on orders of $25 or more!

Watch the ScrapbookPal.com blog where we will post our wonderful creations!!

WONDERFUL NEWS RECEIVED TODAY!!

2010-05-21T23:57:00.000-06:00

I received most wonderful news today. For those of you who saw my tutorial on HVAC flowers, you might have noticed that the post was also part of an application to the ScrapbookPal.com Design Team. Welllllllllll, I received an email today notifying me that I MADE THE DESIGN TEAM!! I am soooooo excited if you could not tell! Still awaiting a few more details, like when we start, but can't wait to get started and share my projects with you.

Back From Branson Cricut Swarm/Crop

2010-05-20T08:37:00.000-06:00

I'm back from the cricut swarm/crop retreat I hosted in Branson, MO this last week. We had a great time and I thought I'd share a few photos. We rented a BEAUTIFUL cabin and just had a terrific time. We are already planning for next year's swarm/crop!!

This first photo is our group shot - there were 13 of us.
The second photo is of our group in the scrapbooking aisle at Tuesday Morning. You can be sure the employees were wondering what in the world they had in that aisle that caused 11 of us to rush it!!

Thank you Kathy Orta

2010-05-09T12:01:00.001-06:00

THANK YOU KATHY ORTA!!!

For those of you who missed Kathy Orta's Ustream feed on her wonderful Mother's Day Mini Album, you can check it out HERE. I wanted to give a huge shout out and thank you to Kathy for her kind comments about the GIBBS swap I host on the Cricut messageboard. GIBBS (stands for Girls I'm Broke Box Swap) Round 2 is just finishing up and many of the photos on my blog are items I created for my partner. There are hundreds of photos from Round 2 staring HERE. Round 3 just started a couple of weeks ago and we will have some incredible project photos showing up there in June. Here is a link to Round 3 if you want to follow us.

New Cricut Cartridges!!!!

2010-05-09T11:11:00.001-06:00

4 NEW Cricut Cartridges will be released in mid-June according to Custom Crops who is already taking pre-orders.

The new carts are Cindy Loo (my personal fav already), Mini Monsters, Wall Decor (I want this one too), Freshly Picked. Here are some images of the carts:

Thinking of You Card

2010-05-07T08:16:00.001-06:00

I had 4 friends in the last week who all needed a Thinking of You card so I came up with with design and assembly lined it. Here is the card I came up with. Please leave me a comment if you like it!

Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder

2010-05-06T11:06:00.000-06:00

I'm just the posting Queen today. Trying to catch up as I've been so busy the last couple of months that I've not been able to post as much as I would like.

This is another project I did for my partner in the GIBBS swap. This was an extra for Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder day. I ended up coming up with another project for that theme so she got both. This is a double-page layout using the Walk in My Garden cartridge and is scraplifted from a kit created by Monique Griffith.

Halloween PopUp Circle Album

2010-05-06T10:45:00.000-06:00

Here is a cute little Halloween Album I did for my partner in the GIBBS (Round 2) swap on the Cricut.com messageboard. I cut the circles from Plantin Schoolbook. I embossed several of the papers in my Cuttlebug. I hope you enjoy it!

These photos were taken before I made my photo light box and got a new camera so please forgive the lighting.

Calendar Project Using Designers Calendar Cartridge

2010-05-06T10:40:00.001-06:00

Here is a project I did for my partner in the GIBBS Round 2 swap on the Cricut.com messageboard. I used the Designers Calendar cartridge and a beautiful K&CO Cut N Paste Designer Paper pack. I will show you about half of the months so as to not bore you completely!!!

ScrapbookPal.com Design Team Entry - HVAC Flowers

2010-04-30T22:51:00.002-06:00

I didn't know I was going to get so many requests for the tutorial for the HVAC flowers. So here it is! This is also a blog post entry for the ScrapbookPal Design Team. Wish me luck!

Post a comment and let me know if you liked this tutorial. I hope you will find it helpful!!

Sorry some of the photos are so dark, they were taken at 3 am and I had not made my photo light box (oh that could be another tutorial, but suffice it to say I made my own photo light box so I could take better photos. And it works!) so some of these photos are pre-photo box and some are post-photo box that I retook after I made the box.

My Finished Flowers:

Items I Used:

*HVAC Tape (1.88”-2.5”) - picture of the tape I bought at end of post

8.5. x 11” White cardstock

Diecut flowers from George Cricut cart cut at 2” and 3”

D'vine Swirls Cuttlebug Embossing Folder

Alcohol Inks(4 colors per flower)

Tim Holtz/Adirondack Alcohol Ink Applicator and 1 piece of Applicator Felt

Tombow Liquid Adhesive

Button

Cut strips of the HVAC Tape long enough to cover the white cardstock. I used about 5 strips. Make sure to overlap the sections and press tape down well so alcohol ink does not cause a line of ink in the seam. The tape does not need to be perfectly smooth on the cardstock so don’t worry about bubbles.

This is what the cardstock looks like when totally covered:

Cut one 2” flower and two 3” flowers. I used the George cart and cut out the flower with SHIFT ON in the 4^th row, 9^th button.

Run the flowers through the cuttlebug using the divine swirls A2 embossing folder. You can chose any embossing folder you want of course.

Add 1-2 drops of each color of alcohol ink to each petal of the flowers. Do this quickly before the ink dries. I used 4 different colors per flower – a terra cotta/caramel color, a blue, a green and a cranberry/plum.

Using the alcohol ink applicator with the felt attached, pounce the applicator up and down (and twist as you go) over the entire flower until silver foil is covered in ink. On a couple of the flowers I then added a couple more drops of one of the brighter color inks and pounced again.

This is what my flowers looks like after pouncing:

Using a pencil, pen, paper piercer or other small rounded object, roll the flower petals down slightly.

Place liquid adhesive around the center hole of one of the 3” flowers and put the other 3” flower on top rotating the flower so that so you can see the petals of the flower below. Then add liquid adhesive to the top of that flower and put the 2” flower on top again rotating so petals below are visible. Add a glue dot or more liquid adhesive and add a button to the top of the flower. You could use a brad, bling, etc. instead of a button.

My finished flowers:

*HVAC Tape is a silver foil tape that can be purchased at Home Depot and Lowes in the area where they have the heating/AC stuff. Make sure the tape does not have printing on it. The only tape at my store without printing on it was made by Shurtape and was 1.88” wide which works just fine. The tape has a liner on the underside that you remove to get to the sticky part.

HVAC Flowers

2010-04-30T16:00:00.001-06:00

Here are a few pictures of some flowers I made with HVAC tape. Yep you "heard" me right!! I used the George cart, HVAC tape, a piece of cardstock, alcohol inks and a button for the final touch. I am working on writing up a tutorial for you now.

Stampin' Up Color Renovation

2010-04-07T23:37:00.007-06:00

I'm sure many of you have heard THE most exciting announcement ever from Stampin' Up! this week. They are renovating the color line-up and the new colors are simply fabulous!!! Stampin' Up! is updating their color palette with some of the great colors that are so trendy now.

Stampin' Up! is releasing 5 BRAND NEW COLORS and bringing back 10 of the retired In Colors!! On July 1st with the release of the new Idea Book & Catalog, this will be how the color collections look.

5 NEW COLORS on the chart above are:
Marina Mist, Daffodil Delight, Cherry Cobbler, Cajun Craze and Early Espresso

10 returning IN COLORS on the chart above are:
Baja Breeze, Melon Mambo, Pink Pirouette, Rich Razzleberry, Riding Hood Red, River Rock, Soft Suede, Tangerine Tango and Wild Wasabi.

Remember you have 3 months to stock up on these colors if you can't live without them. They won't be going away until the end of June.

Current colors that will retire in June are:
Glorious Green, Green Galore, Gable Green, Yoyo Yellow, Only Orange, Pink Passion, Pixie Pink, Orchid Opulence, Lovely Lilac, Brilliant Blue, Close to Cocoa, Creamy Caramel, Really Rust, Ruby Red, Cameo Coral, Summer Sun, Bordering Blue, Brocade Blue, Ballet Blue, Taken with Teal, Handsome Hunter, Pale Plum, Blush Blossom (the marker will still be available), Apricot Appeal, Barely Banana, Mellow Moss, Sage Shadow, Almost Amethyst, Lavender Lace, Basic Brown, Going Gray.

So those of you who like to make paper dolls had better stock up on Blush Blossom paper before the end of June!

April Fools Joke - Confidential Information

2010-04-04T23:25:00.003-06:00

In case you haven't already heard, the Confidential Information from Above Rubies Studio was an April Fool's Joke, however everything in there is true and really happening. Head on over to Above Rubies Studio for more information.

CONFIDENTIAL - Information on Club Ruby and More!!

2010-04-01T00:41:00.007-06:00

TOP SECRET!!!! SHHHHH!!!

I'm not supposed to tell you, but as some of you may know, I will be a guest designer for Above Rubies Studio in the near future. Megan provided those of us on the Design Team with some confidential information about upcoming events and the new Club Ruby, but she also accidentally posted it on her blog. So if you want to know more about Club Ruby and some of the happenings over at Above Rubies Studio, click here before she realizes her mistake and removes the post!! I just wanted to let all my friends know about this but let's keep it to ourselves!!!

Game Board Purse

2010-03-28T11:23:00.004-06:00

Here is a game board purse I made for my partner in a swap on the Cricut.com messageboard. I hope she loves it as much as I do. This is made from an old game (The Game of Life) and a cigar box purse I picked up at Ms for $3.99 less my 40% off coupon. I painted the entire box black and then cut out the game board to fit and glued it on. I think it is soooo cute!!!

The Front of the Purse

The Back

The Sides are the same

Close up of front

Closeup of bottom. I used the cars for the feet and glued a car and people on each side of the purse.

So what do you think?? I'd love to hear your comments!!

I'm Now a Stampin' Up Demonstrator

2010-03-10T20:42:00.002-07:00

I just joined Stampin' Up as an independent demonstrator. If you are interested in ordering any of their wonderful products please go to my demonstrator website at http://tammywhite.stampinup.net. You can place your order online or you can contact me if you need any assistance at MyStampinUpRep@gmail.com.

Altered Tin

2010-03-07T14:01:00.004-07:00

Here is an altered tin I made for my partner in my swap on the Cricut messageboard. The paper is actually wallpaper from a wallpaper book I got from my local paint and wallpaper store. Hmmm how many times can I use the word wallpaper ina sentence. Apparently at least 3!! The roses are made from the same wallpaper. The tin was formerly the tin that Doubletree Hotel's Chocolate Chip cookies in. . Sorry to say that my partner will not be getting any of those because they were delicious!!

This is the top of the tin.

Close up of the roses

Here's Your Chance to Win Blog Candy!!

2010-03-02T10:29:00.002-07:00

My friend, Jen, is giving away blog candy to celebrate being selected for the Above Rubies Studio Design Team. Click here and follow the rules for your chance to win!! Congrats Jen!!!!

Above Rubies Studio - Guest Designer

2010-03-01T23:05:00.005-07:00

I am so excited to report that I have been selected to be a guest designer in Club Rubies on Above Rubies Studio. When I find out more information I'll be sure to share.

Paperbag Album

2010-03-01T13:57:00.006-07:00

Here is a sneak peek of a paperbag album I created for my partner in a swap on the Cricut Messageboard. Inside the album I will create 2 fan charts of her and her husband's ancestors.

This is the first thing you see when you open the album. On the right side, behind the ribbon, will open into more sections as you will see in the following pictures.

This is where I will insert the fan charts of her ancestors. This side will be her side of the family.

And this side will be of her husband's side of the family.

This is the back of the album.