Cardabilities Sketch Challenge with Lilybee Designs Patterned Paper

It is reveal day at the Cardabilities blog and we have a wonderful sketch to get you crafting for this week's challenge too, I hope you join us!

The Sketch

The Card

 

I love the patterns and purple colors included in Lilybee Design's Picket Fence collection, so for this card I paired a few different patterns for the background and flower with clean white and light purple cardstock to create this card.  I created the flower using a Sizzix Die and stamped the leaves using Papertrey Ink's Turning a New Leaf stamp and die cut set.  The sentiment was stamped from the Mega Mixed Messages set (also Papertrey Ink) and the Spellbinders die cut stamped with a coordinating Waltzing Mouse stamp in Certainly Celery by Stampin' Up.  Purple and white ribbon from Really Reasonable Ribbons contrasted nicely with the patterned papers for this any occasion card. 

 

I'm looking foward to seeing what you create with this fabulous sketch and can't wait to see you over at the Cardabilities blog!

Guest Designer Call for Kraft Outlet and The Kraft Journal

Kraft Outlet is a leading online vendor for Brown Kraft Labels, Kraft Paper, Cardstock and so much more. The Kraft Journal is the official challenge blog for Kraft Outlet and we are looking for talented Guest Designers to fill positions in October, November and December.  Selected Guest Designers will receive $25.00 worth of product from Kraft Outlet (you choose the product) and will use that product (along with anything from your stash you want to add) to create one challenge themed project for each weekly challenge during the month they are scheduled to Guest Design for The Kraft Journal. Depending on how many weeks are in the month the Designer will provide at least four but no more than five projects for the given month they are selected to be a Guest Designer.  Guest Designers, headshots, bio and link to their blog will be posted on The Kraft Journal blog and their projects posted during the challenge week and they are asked to post their completed projects on their personal blogs as well. Designers will recieved detailed information regarding the requirements of their position after they are selected and prior to agreeing to complete a Guest Designer position at The Kraft Journal. Due to time constraints with regarding to shipping product to our Guest Designers, applicants must reside in the United States.

To apply for a Guest Designer position for Kraft Outlet and The Kraft Journal blog, please send an email to Team Leader Beth Moore: bethcat at sbcglobal dot net, with the following information:

1. Your headshot and a short bio that includes a link to your blog (if chosen we'll use this info to introduce you on the blog)
2. A short paragraph telling us why you'd like to Guest Design for Kraft Outlet.
3. Photographs of two cards, layouts or altered projects that features the use of Kraft cardstock and/or products that are available from Kraft Outlet and that show your style and best work. (please note that product you use on these projects DOES NOT have to be purchased from Kraft Outlet!)
4. Please also indicate if you have ever participated in our challenges, are a follower of the blog, The Kraft Journal or "Like" Kraft Outlet on Facebook or Twitter.

Deadline for submissions is September 9, 2011 and selected Designers will be contacted via email.

To learn more about The Kraft Journal weekly blog line-up visit this link.

To see all the scheduled challenges though December visit this link.
To see this post on The Kraft Journal blog visit this link.

Prize Give Away: Spread the Word about Kraft Outlet and The Kraft Journal

We want you to spread the word about Kraft Outlet and The Kraft Journal and in doing so, you can win our awesome Inspiration Play Pack valued at over $35!

Win this Inspiration Play Pack Valued at $35.00!

The Kraft Outlet Play Pack comes with 10 yards each of the red and brown baker’s twine, an assortment of 50 of  the plain and grungy tags, an 8 sheet assortment of our cardstock and text weight papers, an 8 envelope assortment, one sheet of kraft labels, a set of our vintage dictionary pages, 1 yard of black twill tape and a CD full of 100 graphics and backgrounds.

To enter to win this fabulous prize package, do one or more of the

following options listed below and leave a comment over at The Kraft Journal for each thing you do. We'll select a winner from all the entries on Monday September 5 and announce our winner on Tuesday September 6! 

Here's what you can do to spread the word and enter to win the Inspiration Play Pack from Kraft Outlet! Be sure to leave us a separate comment at The Kraft Journal post right here,  for each thing you do for extra chances to win this random drawing!

Follow The Kraft Journal.

Put Our Button On Your Blog (see our sidebar for button).

Write a Post on Your Blog about this Give Away.

Follow Kraft Outlet and The Kraft Journal on Twitter at this link.

Like Kraft Outlet on Facebook at this link.

Thank you for spreading the word about Kraft Outlet and The Kraft Journal, we're looking forward to giving away this fantastic prize package!

GCD Studios: Save Time and Money on your Next Craft Projects

Like many papercrafters, I have two passions with regard to this hobby, making projects with paper and collecting supplies to make those projects. Most papercrafters will tell you that part of the hobby is buying the supplies and as much as we may enjoy spending all that time and money making our selections and purchases, I've gotten to a point where I have so many supplies to choose from when I sit down to craft that it's often more time consuming to choose the supplies for any one project than it is to actually make the project itself!

If you've been in that same situation before, then I've got an idea that I hope may inspire you in a way that will allow you to save both time and money on your next papercraft projects. For me, the warm summer months find me spending a lot more time outside enjoying my family and engaging in summer activities, so when I do find time to craft I don't want to spend a lot of precious minutes sorting through my supplies, I just want to craft and staying focused is key!

I maintain that focus by first choosing a theme, like the End of Summer one I used for these projects, an inspiration photograph like the one above, and most importantly, select a limited set of supplies (that's what saves both time and money!).

The ONLY supplies I used to create my projects included: Patterned paper from GCD Studio's The Great Outdoors Collection by Heather Tozzi, specifically Picnic Table (that matches the red in the inspiration photo) and S'mores (that loosely matches the brown in the photograph), as well as cardstock in two shades of blue and the lighter brown from the color combination and white. Other supplies included the Vintage Picnic stamp set by Papertrey Ink, Vintage Picnic Basket die, one border punch, inks in coffee and black, watercolor pencils to color the images, one rectangle and one scalloped rectangle dies by Spellbinders, as well as red ribbon and red and white Baker's Twine. That was all the supplies I used to create all three of the cards I'm showing you today.

Once you've selected your supplies vow to yourself that you will not go back to your stash to choose anything new for your projects (that's the time saving part!). Believe it or not, it is still possible to create a variety of projects that can be both fun and fabulous, using only the supplies you have chosen and a bit of imagination too!

The next time you are in your craft room, try challenging yourself to use a set number of supplies along with your favorite selection of GCD Studios patterned papers to save time and money when creating your next papercraft projects... it's also a great way to use up your stash!

Children Themed Photo Inspiration

Photo Credit Garrendeny Lane

I created this card a while back using the photo below as inspiration... I just never shared the card before now...


Beth Moore

I focused on the pale green and blues in the inspiration photograph and opted to create a Baby card using Prima Marketing 6 x 6 patterned paper from the Jack & Jill Collection. I first created a 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 inch card base from Vintage Cream cardstock (Papertrey Ink) and layered that with a patterned paper cut to 4 x 5 1/4. Using a Spellbinders die, I cut a coordinating piece of patterned paper and layered that under a die cut circle that I printed a sentiment on from my computer.  To complete the project I added ivory ribbon and trim and added pearls from Bo Bunny.

Cardabilities Sketch Challenge: Back to School Card

It is reveal day at the Cardabilities blog and we have a wonderful sketch to get you crafting for this week's challenge too, I hope you join us!

The Sketch

The Card

The "window" on this week's sketch inspired me to get out this darling "Learn" Bingo Card that I've had in my stash for well over a year now.  I paired the card with coordinating patterned papers from October Afternoon's Report Card Collection and completed the card with a flower creating using a Sizzix die that I also bought some time ago but had yet to try.  True Black cardstock and Ribbon and Stampers Select White cardstock from Papertrey Ink were also used on this fun card that reminds us that is almost "Back to School" time!  I just know this sketch will inspire you to create something wonderful and look forward to seeing what you submit for this week's Cardabilities Sketch Challenge!

GCD Studios: Sweet Treat Bag Topper Tutorial with the Cricut

I love kids, GCD Studio's darling Fun House Collection, and my Cricut....and kids love sweets, so it seems only natural to combine all of those elements to create a uber-adorable Sweet Treat Bag Topper with my Cricut to make a darling little bag of treats for a child that features Fun House Collection Stickers and patterned paper.

To create a Sweet Treat Bag Topper, you'll need a selection of your favorite Fun House Collection paper and stickers, your Cricut, the Winter Woodland cartridge, white cardstock, ribbon, a five inch wide clear treat bag, adhesive, a scoring tool and a hole punch or ribbon hole punch.

With the Shadow feature selected on your Cricut cut two snowflakes (page 35 of the Winter Woodland booklet) at 5 inches. Cut one of the snowflakes from white cardstock and one from Fun House Collection patterned paper. I chose to use "The World's Greatest" for this project, because of the fun patterns and colors.

Adhere the patterned paper snowflake to the white cardstock.

Make a score mark down the center of the snowflake.

Fold the snowflake in half with the patterned paper on the outside as shown.

Embellish the treat bag with a darling sticker from the Funhouse Collection.

Fill the bag with assorted sweet treats and then place the snowflake over the top of the bag and punch with a ribbon punch. (Alternately you may punch two holes close to each other with a hole punch.)

Thread the ribbon through the holes so that both ends are positioned on the front of the bag.

Tie the ribbon into a bow and you have a quick and easy, yet very adorable gift to present to a child! :-)

For an extra special gift you can also add a card made from matching Funhouse Collection patterned paper that includes a gift card holder cut using the Plantin Schoolbook cartridge. I cut the envelope using the Tall Ball feature at 3 3/4 inches, the perfect size to hold a gift card.

A Perfect Combination: August 2011 Page Maps and Imaginisce

I recently had the honor to create a layout featuring Imaginisce products for Becky Fleck's Page Maps August 2011 sketch releases.  You can see all the sketches, as well as how this month's Page Maps were used by a number of different Designers including me by clicking this link right here!

Becky issued each Designer with a different sketch.... here's the amazing 12 x 12 Page Map I had the chance to work with...

... the irony for me about having this opportunity to work with one of Becky's sketches before its' official publication is that I very often use Page Maps as a jumping off point when I create my layouts anyhow (in fact I have printed out so many PDF's from her past Maps that I may be infringing on some copyright rules for all I know... (not really but it does sound more dramatic to say so, the Page Maps are actually free to download at Becky's website).  At any rate, having the chance to get a jump on a new sketch that had yet to be seen by the general papercrafting public was a real thrill for me!

Here is my take on the inspiring 12 x 12 August 2011 Page Map by Becky Fleck...

I used the Little Cutie collection by Imaginisce for my patterned paper and paired it with some bright lime green cardstock that I had in my stash from Discount Cardstock back when I was designing for Better Living Through Scrapbooking.  Purple gingham ribbon (purchased through Really Reasonable Ribbons) and flowers die cut from Judy's Blooms by Cheery Lynn Designs, as well as the fun polka dot chipboard alpha stickers completed this project... that by the way, features three most darling photographs of my middle daughter Cait with her dog Remi (back when she was but a pup... Remi, not Cait).

Thank you Becky Fleck and Imaginisce for giving me this opportunity to work directly with Page Maps for August!