We R Memory Keepers - The Cinch

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

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!!

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

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

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!!!!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!!

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!!!