Search
Navigation
Blogroll
Free Updates
|
 Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Have you heard?
It's that time of year again!!! The Memory Makers Masters 2010 contest rules have been posted! You have until the drop dead date of August 22, 2009, to get your entries done and submitted. This year is a little different than previous years. One thing is that entries must be submitted online (a plus, I think). If you have any inclination to enter any contest, this is the one to do! Contests are a great way to step outside the box a little bit and challenge yourself to really produce fabulous work. Sure, there's pressure to make your work just "perfect;" however, enjoying this kind of contest process is very thrilling. So, save those favorite layouts (you only have to submit FOUR!!) and, closer to the middle of August, send 'em in! Speaking of the MMM contest, here's a layout that was part of my '08 RU entry... This was a fun one (very KISS) that I put together in literally 15 minutes. Ever flow? This was flowing. It is still one of my favorite layouts and makes me smile every time I look at it... Part of the fun of digital is to be able to make digital elements look "real." Here, i layered the ribbons/strings to overlap around the tag and frame. Credits: Jackie Eckles Summer Rains paper (www.littledreamerdesings.com), Michelle Coleman Sparkle Flowers; Chasing Rainbows sticker; Urban Color clip; Beautiful Journey yarn; Antique Garden slide; Nostalgia hanging tags; (www.littledreamerdesigns.com), Amy Martin Tiny Beaded Bit; Wrapped Tag (www.the-lilypad.com), Jen Patrick Backward Staples, Brigit Graph alphas (www.catscrap.com), Font - Classical
Amy Martin
Wednesday, March 25, 2009 9:59:42 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00) 
|
|
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Newspaper Flowers
Easter will be here before we know it. So, I decided to create a card today that highlights some fun spring colors.
I wanted to create my flowers, so I decided to get out Glimmer Mists and a flower punch. I thought it would be fun to make the flowers from newspaper. As I was doing this I noticed a photo of crocuses in the newspaper. This gave me the idea for my color combo. Purple and yellow are such springy colors. I misted the flowers and once they were dry, I ironed them with a cool, dry iron.
Next, I punched the same flower from cardboard and used that as a mask. I spritzed the yellow background paper with Rum Raisin and Sherbet mist.
Finally, I pulled it all together to create this card. It's so hard to capture in a photo the shimmer that the Glimmer Mist gives the card. But, it has a great sheen to it.
Thanks for stopping by! Have a great day.~Anabelle
Anabelle O’Malley
Tuesday, March 24, 2009 6:12:36 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
|
|
Monday, March 23, 2009
25 Random things.
My fellow Daisy Diva Meghan Dymock posted a great layout challenge last week. She was inspired by the Facebook requests floating around to create a layout with a list of 25 random things about herself. I loved the idea and thought I would do a layout listing the first 25 things that popped into my head.
So if you want to do a fun quick layout about YOU (and let's face it we need to have more of those in our albums) grab a recent photo of yourself and list the first 25 things that pop into your head!
Have a great week everyone!
Supplies: Paper, Creative Cafe, Hambly and October Afternoon. Overlay, Prima. Rub-on, Dream Street. Chipboard letters, American Crafts.
Christine Drumheller
Monday, March 23, 2009 1:48:43 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
|
|
Friday, March 20, 2009
CHUNKY BOOKS
It is no secret. I love making books! Tall ones, little ones, and chunky ones. I think the chunky ones are my favorite right now. My plan is to make a bunch of these little cuties. The Backyard Collection from American Crafts is adorable and each patterned paper will make a perfect cover. (I ran out of my supply of Crafty Board. That is what I use to construct most of my books. I am impatiently awaiting my new supply to arrive:) Each book will measure 3" x 3" and be about 1" thick. A fun size to hold or display.  Some fun ideas to try: 1. Make up a couple chunky books and give to a new mom. It can be a quick way to record memories of her new arrival. Each page can include a small photo and a few lines of journaling. 2. Make one for each member of your family. Add photos and notes throughout the month, or even the year. Display in a common room where anyone can pick one up and flip through. 3. What about your pets? There is something about this little size that would make a perfect tribute to a beloved furry friend (or feathered, gilled, or scaled if your will!) The cover can be embellished to resemble your cat's or dog's collar. Or...if you have a new goldfish, embellish the cover with a clear page pebble to resemble water. A few additional crystals or bling will help enhance that theme as well. I hope you enjoyed this project. And thank you for letting me share this passion! Kim (Crafty Board by WorldWin Papers, All Other Supplies by American Crafts)
*** EDITED - Hi, everyone! Thank you so much for all of your comments. I will put together a tutorial for making this little chunky book and post on Saturday, 3/28 later in the evening. :) ~Kim ***
Kim Frantz
Friday, March 20, 2009 10:34:04 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
|
|
Back to Basics...
I love making simple layouts that still have a little kick to them. As with KISS, that is my general rule to scrapbooking. As a mother of two, I have to squeeze scrapbooking in between sleeping, working, mommy duties, household chores, etc... I want to still enjoy this craft so that means not stressing about it. :) It is easy to do this with great scrapbooking supplies like, American Crafts. I love them, always have.... below is a layout I made about a visit to the White House about a week before President Obama was sworn in as our 44th president. The city was so electric and I wanted to remember that feeling.
Have a wonderful and happy weekend. Oh.... and HAPPY SPRING!
All products are American Crafts except for the following:
Cardstock: Bazzil;lLabel: Paper Source;Paint: Making Memories;Stars: Jenni Bowlin
Veronica Jennings
Friday, March 20, 2009 12:53:56 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
|
|
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Still keeping it simple
Hi there!
I am still working on getting my running pictures scrapped.
Remember the basic design from this post??
Well I am on a roll and I am still using it!
And still knocking out layouts in about an hour.
The basic design that I used previously was like this:
- 8.5x11 sized paper on a 12x12 paper
- 1 picture (vertical or horizontal)
-Border running under/across picture with a larger, fun embellishment at one end
-Journaling block on right side of layout
Here is a layout using that same basic design but I have changed it a bit.
I did not use an 8.5x11 paper and I have used more than 1 picture.
{and I could have cropped my pictures to fit more and still stick with the same basic design!}
{All supplies are American Crafts. Die cut stars are Sizzix.}
Thanks for looking and have a great day!
gretchen
Gretchen McElveen
Thursday, March 19, 2009 9:36:24 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
|
|
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Keeping it Simple, Digital Style
Who says that simple things have to be only done in the paper world? There are many, many different ways to keep things simple -- can be simple in design, can be simple in colors, can be simple in number of elements, can be simple in number of photos... What other simple things can you think of? Here's a "simple" digital layout that turned out to be, again, one of my recent favorites! It is simple in many ways, something that made the entire layout take less than 15minutes (maybe a record!) to complete. There is only one photo, a couple of complimentary colors that were picked from the photo, as well as very simple journaling. The title is also a wordart png file (png means that the file has a transparent background when added in an imaged editing program so it can be easily layered on top of other elements), so that was a simple addition.
Credits: Kristin Rice Fresh papers, elements (afterfivedesings), Karly Dudley Handwritten Time wordart (afterfivedesigns), Amy Hutchinson Scuffy Stitches; Sticky Strips (afterfivedeisngs), Kate Hadfield staple (the-lilypad), Font - Last Words What simple things can you do? We'd love to see 'em. Post a link in a comment to share!
Amy Martin
Wednesday, March 18, 2009 9:09:12 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
|
|
Fringe Benefits
Melissa Blair
Wednesday, March 18, 2009 10:10:54 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
|
|
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
The Grid
Happy Saint Patrick's Day!! I love this holiday for the sole reason that it is celebrated on the verge of Spring! Once we hit March 17, beautiful Spring is right around the corner.
I decided that I wanted to do a KISS layout this week, too. If you know me, you know that keeping it simple isn't usually my norm. BUT, I thought I'd try. I've been wanting to try a page with a grid layout for some time. So, I thought these American Crafts papers would be perfect to do that. I love so many of them, but didn't want to overwhelm the page with too many patterns. So, I chose the smaller brown patterned paper for the background and cut the larger patterns into squares for the grid. I added some solids and smaller patterns for balance. Then, all I had to do was add pictures and the embellishments. And I was done! It took me a bit longer than an hour to do it because I added the stitching, but if I hadn't done that, it would have been much shorter!
I just love the colors of these new American Crafts papers, Thickers, rubons and Flair!
Thanks for stopping by and have a great day! ~Anabelle
Anabelle O’Malley
Tuesday, March 17, 2009 5:00:46 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
|
|
Monday, March 16, 2009
Yeah! Bright colors!
I love this new American Crafts line because of all the beautiful vibrant colors. One of my favorite color combinations is red and pink, so when I saw the stripes in Amber's shirt I new the AC line would work perfectly with this picture. The idea for the title came from the cute little chick flair embellishment.
Have a great week! Christine
Supplies: all supplies are American Crafts except for the cardstock -Bazzill. Chipboard frame-Lil' Davis.
Christine Drumheller
Monday, March 16, 2009 5:33:51 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
|
|
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Fabric + American Crafts = Fun!
Happy Sunday everyone! The weather here in Georgia, up until Saturday, has been absolutely gorgeous - so Spring like. Unfortunately the past couple of days have been wet, cold and dreary. So yucky in fact that it made me want to get into my scrap room and make something in Spring time colors. Something to cheer me up on such a blah day! So, I pulled out the American Crafts and some fabric and went to work! I ended up making a little door hanger for Addy's room. I found this wooden plaque at the dollar store and picked it up figuring I would make something out of it sooner or later!
I misted some Tattered Angels onto the background color and while it was drying I set to work cutting out the circles for my flowers. I topped them off with some of the adorable new American Crafts flair and used foam pop dots to create some dimension. I used my Martha Stewart leaf punch to create the leaves, used some strips of American Crafts patterned paper for the stems and viola - cute little flowers!
Supplies Used: American Crafts Patterned Paper, Basic Grey Patterned Paper, American Crafts Flair Embellishments, Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist, Scotch Photo Stickers, Xyron Create A Sticker Adhesive, Martha Stewart Punch, Gems, Fabric.
Jaime Warren
Sunday, March 15, 2009 9:04:20 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
|
|
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Flowers from Circle Punches
 I love making my punches work double duty for me. I want to show you how to turn these circle punches into a simple flower with just a snip of the scissors. Here I am using the American Crafts Backyard Line.  Cut a bunch of circles out of your pattern paper. I cut varying circle sizes.  Cut little triangles out of the circle towards the center. I usually do about 5 triangles to make 5 petals.  Now you have cute little flowers to decorate your page.  Here is what I did with my little flowers. Love stitching them down in various spots on my page. I also added some flair to the center of the flowers and combined some thicker letters to create my title. Supplies: Cardstock (Bazzill basics); Flair (American Crafts); Inks (Tattered Angels); Letters (American Crafts); Paints (Making Memories); Pattern Paper (American Crafts); Pen (Stampin' Up!); Punches (EK Success, Fiskars, Martha Stewart, Marvy); Rub-Ons (American Crafts); Stickers (American Crafts)Love, Always....
Ronda Palazzari
Saturday, March 14, 2009 8:35:53 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
|
|
|