Birthday Sundae

This birthday card was a lot of fun to do.  The image is from the Yummy Imagine cartridge and the fun loopy background is a Martha Stewart punch around the page set.  I used one of my old stamps that says Happy Birthday for the background and of course some Imaginisce bling.
Here is the inside verse in case the pic isn't clear:

  A Cake and Ice Cream Birthday Treat

Make Your Birthday Extra Sweet!

Spread Your Wings

I really love the artwork on the Imagine More cartridge.  There are so many possibilities and different ways to use each one.  The Spread Your Wings cut is one of my favorites.  I made an easy card with it that can be used to congratulate someone who may be getting a new job or going to school or going through any kind of change in life that holds the promise of better things to come.

Out of Bounds

It's hard to believe how quickly this past week flew by!  It's been a busy one again.  Work as usual but also some fun stuff.  Did some shopping at Papercrafting Pro and was very happy with the prices and how quickly they ship.  Imagine carts were only $40, full size NEW regular carts for $25 - $27 and new solutions carts for $16.  Those are Black Friday prices so I went ahead and ordered several.  Now, if Walmart reduces the price of the Lite carts on BF, I'll be a happy scrapper for sure.  : )
I made a few more Imagine cards this week but haven't taken pics yet.  Will do that tomorrow or the next day and get them posted here.
For today, I just want to share a quick digital picture I did last night using the newly released Photoshop Elements 9.  There is a technique called Out of Bounds that I like to do but it can be time consuming.  The idea is to take a regular picture and make it look like and object or person is coming out of the frame.  Elements 9 now has a guided edit that makes it so much easier to do.  Just a few quick clicks creates these fun little photos and they are sure to get a reaction from the people you show them to.

My son Chris and Addison sliding down a slide at the park.

Hope you enjoyed looking and be sure to stop back soon.  I'll be getting the new Imagine cards posted as soon as possible. 

Making Square Envelopes

I found a blog today called She's Crafty that has a good tutorial on making your own square envelopes.  Maybe it belongs to one of you?  I thought the information might come in handy for Imagine users.  Since we can not manipulate rectangle shapes to fit a 5 1/2 x 4 1/4 card front yet, I have been making a lot of square cards lately.   This very informative blog shows how to make a 3", 4" and 5" envelope.  Here's the link:
http://whatabunchofcraft.blogspot.com/2010/06/making-square-envelopes-with-martha.html
If you have the Martha Stuart Score Board, there are directions for making a 6 inch square envelope included.
I know they're not all that hard to do and some people don't even use a template, but it helps me to have some sort of a guide or reference.
If anyone does know how to create a rectangle to fit an A2 card on the Imagine.....please let me know!

You're Tweet!

Today was a lazy day where I couldn't stand the thought of housework or laundry so I holed up in my craft room and played with the Imagine.  I liked the little birdie on the banner from the Best Friends cartridge that said "You're Tweet" so printed and cut that out. This past week I've been digging through and trying to use up a lot of my scraps because they are getting out of hand.  I found a piece of brown and pink circle pattern paper that matched the birdie pretty well.  The bird is actually more on the pink-ish side than what it appears in the photo.  I used my Janome Sew Mini to sew the scrap onto the card front.  The paper is so pretty and the pattern is busy enough that I thought it looked just fine without adding any more to the front.  However, because the front didn't have a strong focal point, I wanted to add a bold image to the inside and chose one from the Three Birds on Parade cartridge.  It was so much fun to use the patterns and color pallet from the Imagine cartridges with the regular cartridges.  I tried several combinations and each one really gives the image a different look altogether.  Ultimately, I decided to just keep it simple and chose solid colors for the bird and a small scrap of matching accent paper to mat the sentiment.

It took awhile to finish this card only because it was so much fun playing around with all the possibilities.  Sometimes I think having so many scrap supplies and tools actually causes decision paralysis.  Lol!

Thank you for looking and please come back again soon!

Flickering Tea Light Treat Bag

With Halloween just a few days away, I really enjoyed creating this little treat bag that lights up for the CC Blog contest.  It was fairly easy to make and one of the few times the finished project ended up looking just as I had envisioned it. 
The bag is from page 75 on the Mini Monsters cartridge .  It is cut at 8.5 inches and required the 12 x 24 mat.  Hide contour was used to eliminate a few unnecessary inner cuts.  I scored all of the  marks but did not fold the bag. The front, back and sides of the bag were measured and then I cut decorative paper about 1/2 inch smaller for each of the four sections.  I adhered the decorative paper with my ATG and added faux stitching along the zig zag top with a white pen.
Next, the pumpkin was cut at 4.75 inches with a matching shadow.  The eyes, nose and mouth were outlined with a black sharpie and then a white pen was used for highlights.  The shadow needed to be trimmed to allow light to shine through, so I took an exacto knife and cut away the middle leaving just a rim of the shadow.  The rim/shadow was then glued to the back of the pumpkin.  Taking a sheet of vellum, I used the direct to paper method and applied straw colored Tim Holtz Distress Ink.  It is slow drying and I was impatient, so used a heat gun to quick dry.  Trimmed the vellum to fit the back of the pumpkin and then adhered with quick dry glue.
I used the ATG to assemble and adhere the bag together.  The inside was lined with aluminum foil so it would help to reflect more light and make the tea candles appear brighter.  I just set the two battery operated flickering tea candles inside and then created a removable "shelf" about 4 1/2 inches high.  The shelf just loosely sits inside and serves as a raised bottom which allows the lights to shine through the vellum underneath and still provides support for the shred and candy on top.

Unfortunately, the picture doesn't demonstrate how the lights inside flicker and make the pumpkin appear to be lit up.  This picture was taken on the night setting on my camera and does at least show the glow coming from the face cut outs.

 

This pic was taken fully lit and just shows the true colors of the bag.  

Wishing you all a safe and and Happy Halloween! 

Digital Delights

A few years ago I purchased Photoshop Elements 7 at my local Costco and it included a bonus CD called Learn Digital Scrapbooking.  My purpose in buying PSE7 was mainly to use it as a photo editor to enhance my pictures that I use for traditional scrapping.  I had never given any thought to trying digital because I figured it would be too complicated.
One quiet evening I decided to take a look at the bonus CD and was surprised at how well it was done.  The instructor, Linda Sattgast, gave step by step instructions for both PC and Mac users that were clear and easy to follow.  Before long, I was able to create digital layouts on my own and I've been hooked ever since.
The thing I like best is that it's economical.  Scrapping Kits are usually around the $5 range and have several papers and elements that can be used over and over again.  You'll never run out of your favorite paper again!!  Colors and patterns can be changed to suit your needs.   Many blogs offer free kits as well.  I also like the freedom that comes with knowing that any mistakes I make are so easy to correct.  Just a click of two of the undo button and my project is free of any scrapping blunders without ruining an expensive sheet of paper.
If you've ever considered digital scrapping I would highly recommend checking out Scrapper's Guide website and take a look at some of Linda's tutorials.  Some are free and some you pay for.  There is a  weekly email you can sign up for that offers free lessons.  I also joined the Premier membership which includes 4 video lessons , a newsletter, a digital kit and a pre-designed book of quick pages to download  each month for the price of $35 per year.

Here is the link to Scrapper's Guide: http://www.scrappersguide.com/ 

This is one of my first digital layouts made when Addison was about 9 months old.  It is made from a kit by my favorite designer Irene Alexeeva.  It was inspired by a quick page created by her and I just added a few of my own touches and the most important element....Addy!!   If you like dreamy, ethereal artwork then you will love Irene's kits.  You can visit her blog and if you like what you see she has links to her online store from there:  http://irenealexeeva.blogspot.com/2010_10_01_archive.html

Another layout inspired by Irene Alexeeva's kits.  I believe this one was a sample I saw on her website and I duplicated it.

I have some more pics to share but it's getting late so will have to continue another day.  Thanks for stopping by and have a scrap happy day!