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Wednesday, December 14, 2011

It's Official!!!

I can now announce publicly that I am on the Design Team for SP and Company stamps!!!!
My first design team! Yay me.

Here's Samantha's official blog post:

think I will begin posting for them in February. I'll keep you posted.
If you're not already a fan hop on over and follow her blog and let her know I sent ya. They are also on facebook. She makes great clear photopolymer stamps that are produced right here in the USA. Lots of great images and fonts, plus cut files, and other crafty goodies too (paper, twine, die cuts).

I'm gonna be honest and say that I am sooo intimidated by some of the other designers. They are so good. People that I follow and "know" are on the team. Gulp. Let's hope I can hold my own with them.

I'm so excited. But I'm off to put the kids to bed and check on the sick hubby.
:  )

Saturday, December 10, 2011

The winner is...

I finally drew a winner for the Card Organizer!
It was comment #3..

Heather!

Heather, email your address and I'll get it sent out to you.
Congrats!

Friday, December 2, 2011

SS, FWF, a tutorial, and a giveaway!

Projects #36-40
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Guess what? I'm a guest blogger at Scrapbook Steals.com today!! EEEK. I have been following/shopping/stalking them for so long. Today's steal is The Cinch binding tool and I got to make a few projects for them. It's a REALLY awesome deal and I would be buying this if I didn't already have it! But I did scoop up some more binding wires though!

Here's what I made:

Today I'll walk you through the middle book which is a Card Organizer. Stay tuned for the others coming up on my blog soon.


So if you're a fan of SS you know that Kristy loves for us to "send joy" by making and mailing cards. Well, sometimes I make cards way beforehand and this is a great way to store them and NOT forget who it's for! Here's what I used:
My Cinch binder, a binding wire, an old Cheerios box (for the cover), 6 sheets of double-sided 12x12 patterned paper, paper for the cover, and a scoring tool.


First, score the paper in half at 6 inches.
Then, turn the paper 90 degrees and score again at the 8-inch mark.

 Fold and crease at the 8-inch mark.

Then fold back the page on the 6-inch mark.
 Repeat this for the other 5 pages.

 For the cover I cut out 2 6"x8" pieces from the box and covered it with kraft cardstock. You could probably just use the cardstock but I wanted it to be sturdier since I thought it would get a bit of use. I used a spray adhesive to attach my cardstock to the cover.

And for the calendar part I created these charts in Word and glued to each pocket. The month is stamped with Unity's Here's the Ticket stamp set. Now just write down all birthdays, anniversaries, and holidays for the month so you can remember to send out the love. Mine is empty for a reason - you'll see why at the end of the post. : )

 The folds of each page will go on the outside like this:
(Instructions for binding are at the end of the post)

 Now you have a page and pocket for each month and no more excuses for forgetting someone's special day!

The postage stamps are from Unity's All Seasons set (September Kit of the Month).
I hand-cut the pennants and stamped them with Unity's Carnivale Alpha stamp set.



BINDING INSTRUCTIONS
(photos are from one of the journals, not the organizer)

Step 1 - Insert your paper into the machine and press the handle down to punch.

Step 2 - If your paper is longer than 6 inches you'll then need to slide the guide out and move the paper all the way to the left. Press down the black alignment peg on the side to hold the papers in place . Pull out the first peg after the end of the paper. In this case it is peg 5. Press the handle again to complete the punching. Pull up the alignment peg and push back the peg.
 Step 3 - Repeat the above steps for your cover.

 Step 4 - Place the binding wire on the hooks to the right of the machine. Place sheets onto hooks, followed by the front cover, and then the back cover. Placing the back cover on top will help to hide the seam of the wire when you are done.

 Step 5 - Remove the wire and pages and place them at the back of the machine under the cinching bar. Make sure you set the dial with the correct wire size. The opening of the wire should be against the machine. Slowly press down the handle to close the wires. Slide the book and repeat if the book is longer than the cinching bar.

Step 6 - Snip off any remaining wire. And you just made a book!

Thanks for stopping by from ScrapbookSteals and/or for hopping along on Unity's Friends with Flair blog hop!

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Did you like the card organizer? Would you like to win it?? That's why all my dates are empty - because I was saving it for one of you! Click HERE to enter to win it. (U.S. and Canada residents only) or go down to the previous post.
: )

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Supply List:
MME Ooh La La paper and tag
SU Crumb Cake cardstock
WRMK Cinch, binding wire (1")
Unity All Seasons, Carnivale Alpha, and Here's the Ticket stamp sets
Studio G alpha stamps
Divine Twine
Tim Holts Distress Inks - Wild Honey, Ripe Persimmon, Crushed Olive, Tumbled Glass, Old Paper
SU Early Espresso ink pad
Versamark Watermark ink
Cricut Straight from the Nest cartridge (tree)

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Oh - and I should say that this is not my design. I've seen it made out in blogland before. I first learned it from my former SU director Tara Bazata. I'm sorry I forgot to put this credit in when I first posted!

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Giveaway!

I'm giving away this card organizer that I made!

The book is 6"x8" and has a calendar and pocket on each of 12 pages to store and organize greeting cards. The cards in the photographs are NOT included. I am just giving away the organizer.

All you have to do is be one of my followers and leave a comment on this post by next Friday, December 9th at 9:00 PM Mountain time. I'll draw a random winner (US and Canada residents only) and post here!

A tutorial for this book will be available on my blog tomorrow morning.

Good luck!

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

And the winners are....

I'm so sorry for my delay in posting the giveaway winners for Jinky's ebook. I caught a virus and spent Friday - Sunday in bed. Catch up time on Monday and now I'm back to normal! Whew.

So there are three winners....

1st place winner of the 2nd Edition e-book is...
Beth

2nd place winner of the 1st Edition e-book is...
Heather

3rd place winner of their choice of 6 tutorials is...
Denise


Congratulations! I will pass along this info to Jinky and I think she will contact you for your email address to send you your e-book or tutorials. Thanks for playing.

Friday, November 18, 2011

Peace and Joy

Project #35 of 100
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I stamped the Worn Music background stamp on white cardstock, then aged it with Antique Linen and Vintage Photo inks. Then I stamped Peace & Joy from Unity and aged it as well, distressed the edges, and mounted on black cardstock.

Inspiration is from the following challenges:


* Unity Stamp Company Challenge Let it Snow which is to use snow, snowmen, snowflakes, christmas trees.. anything to do about this coming winter season.

And I got to use my new Helmar liquid scrap dots finally! There's dimension to the card without any unsightly white foam. : )
Can you tell? It looks like I didn't zoom in close enough and I'm too lazy to go back and fix it : \


Also, I think the card needs another color. I'm thinking pink. I thought about putting some Spun Sugar Stickles onn the flourishes on the tree. What do you think? It needs something. Maybe some rhinestones? Let me know if you have suggestions.


This is also my Friends with Flair post for Unity. So hop on over and join the blog hop for some easy prizes! Just comment on blogs to win!

1 Christmas card down, too many to go

Supplies used:
Unity Stamps: Worn Music, Peace & Joy
Ink: Tim Holtz Distress inks in Vintage Photo and Antique Linen; StazOn in Jet Black; SU marker  in Old Olive
Ribbon: 7gypsies seam binding
Helmar Liquid Scrap Dots

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And don't forget to enter my giveaway to win a free e-book tutorial that will teach you to create wonderful gift boxes and more! Today is the last day. Click here or see the post below. You don't need an electronic die cutter to use this.

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Giveaway time!

I'm hosting a giveaway for Jinky over at Jinky's Crafts. She designs some really great 3D craft projects such as gift boxes, cards, exploding cards/invites, and so much more. 


She has made this great Twelve Days of Christmas Tutorial E-Book (includes everything you see in the pic above). I have last year's edition and there are so many great things to make! I'm excited to get this 2nd edition also!

What better way to package all your gifts than in boxes you made yourself!
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Here's what you can win:

First Prize :  FREE  12 Days of Christmas E-Book (2nd Edition)
2nd Prize: FREE  12 Days of Christmas E-Book (Revised 1st Edition)
3rd Prize: FREE 6  Tutorials  from the 12 Days of Christmas (your choice)
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What do you have to do to win?

1. Be a follower of Jinky's Crafts Blog  and..

2. Post on your blog or put on your blog sidebar a picture of one of the Jinky's Crafts giveaway on your blog or facebook page and link it back to Jinky'sCrafts 12 Days of Christmas E-Book.  and...


3. Leave a Facebook comment on the Jinky'sCrafts 12 Days of Christmas E-Book page . Just tell what is your favorite project among the 12 projects. 
**Make sure you scroll all the way down to find the facebook comments at the bottom of the page**


Once you have done this, simply leave one comment with the link to your blog or facebook page below on this post.
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I will pick the winners and announce them on Friday, November 18th at 8:00 PM Mountain time. Make sure you come back to check!


Check out her page for the tutorial if you have any questions or want to see the projects.

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Also, if you like giveaways, you might want to become a follower of my blog. I've been feeling very grateful during this month of Thanksgiving for all the readers I have. So... I might just be having my own giveaway for my followers coming up soon. Just sayin'  ; )

Saturday, November 12, 2011

Tame Your Rebel Week 1

M is for Manual. Who knew?? Okay, I did know that much. But not too much more. About my camera that is. I am thoroughly embarrassed to say that I have had my camera almost two years now and I haven't read my manual nor managed to take a photo outside of the Auto setting. It's sad, but true.

I've tried looking online for fun blogs or tutorials to help but they either want a ton of money or are already too advanced for me.

But.....today I learned that Tiffany from Making the World Cuter has a series on her photography blog that just might be what I'm looking for. She's teaching us how to use our Canon Rebel or other DSLR properly. THANKS, Tiffany!!

It turns out I happen to have a Canon Rebel XSI. Perfect.
never mind the dirty lens and the even dirtier bathroom mirror.

Her first assignment of Tame Your Rebel (as she calls it!) is to find a landscape and to turn the dial to Manual and use the shutter dial to adjust the exposure. I didn't even know what that dial was for. I kid you not. No idea. I excitedly ran outside and shot a few frames, mostly of the kids, and ran back in. I guess I could have tried harder but I was just too excited!

So here are my unedited, straight from the camera photos I took. Well, I compressed them so they wouldn't take days to upload, but other than that they are unedited:

 

So....nothing spectacular, but I am loving the exposure. And I love even more that I know how to use that dial!!

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

You Make Me Happy

Here's a QUICK card I make to meet the deadline at a NEW challenge blog.
It's at Woodgrain Mustache and it's a color challenge!

 It's a dark and dreary day here in Colorado so the colors in my photos are a little weird.
Plus, I smeared a little on my stamping. I'm soo sad!

Here's what the colors are supposed to look like:

I fussy cut the flowers from some American Crafts paper. I can't remember the name of the collection, but the aqua-colored paper is from the same pack. I used my Crop-a-dile to set those eyelets and laced it with some twine.

Supplies:
Stampin Up Crumb Cake cardstock
American Crafts paper
Twinery Twine - Mandarin and Maraschino
Stampin Up Early Espresso ink
Unity Stamp CO - "a pocket full of" stamp set
WRMK eyelets

Saturday, October 29, 2011

An old Autumn project

Here's a project I made last year and never posted. I'll post it now since I have been too busy to make anything this year!
I found this old wreath last year with most of the decorations fallen off.

So I grabbed some paper in autumn colors and cut out all these leaf shapes on my Cricut.
I then inked all the vein lines, sprayed the whole leaf with glimmer mist, and crumpled the leaf while damp to give it some dimension.
See what a difference it makes?

Here they are all after being inked up.
 And here's what my hand looked like!!


 The last thing I did was glitter up some chipboard pieces and then hot glued everything on.
 The final wreath on my door: