We Are 3 - Watermelon

This month at We Are 3, we are celebrating Summer. What's my favorite summer treat? That's a no brainer - and a fun way to celebrate that treat is with We Are 3's new release Watermelon. I added a computer-generated sentiment to the patterned paper. Then I cut out individual watermelons from the same pattern, adding them and some black tear-shaped dew drops to a contrasting pattern from the Watermelon collection.

December Release - We Are 3

Today I'm posting a new design for We Are 3.

For this card, I used We Are 3's Rainbow Gingham, Scents of Christmas (Retired), and Stackable Flowers - Amaryllis.  I am thrilled with the deep colors of the precolored flowers.

  

Start Your Week with the Featured Stamper

Each week Splitcoast Stampers shares the work of an amazing papercrafter with us - I was Featured Stamper #476.  They inspire us weekly as we CASE one of their projects.  This card is casing Featured Stamper #511 - it's a simple case, but I hope it brings a smile to your face.

A Simple Card with a Featured Stamper

Splitcoast Stampers is known for its most incredible projects!  Sundays, they feature a member and others are invited to CASE her work...I had the pleasure of being featured in March - this is such a fun way to gather inspiration!  Anybody can join - visit Splitcoast Stampers so you can try this fun idea yourself!  Yes, Sundays are fun days, for sure!  This simple card cases a couple simple cards this week's Featured Stamper created.

Football Escape

Football is a great season to scrapbook. Temperatures are cooling, schools are in session. It is time to follow the local football team on Friday nights. No matter when you turn on the television, you always have a game to watch.

This Football Escape layout is just right to highlight those times my grandson is rooting for his favorite team.  I wish I could share the layout with his picture - but he is wearing a shirt that says "IT'S ALL ABOUT ME AND STEELERS FOOTBALL."  With Mom from Pittsburgh and Dad from Michigan - I'm looking forward to a picture of him with a Lions shirt for the opposite page.  This collection of football die cuts come from Deviant Art, Sports Business Digest, Clipart Hut, and Little Scraps of Heaven.

The layout was inspired by The Robin's Nest Monthly Challenge. A bit of a stretch from Bev's gorgeous nautical sketch, but I do enjoy it when I have a totally different topic to scrap and am inspired by certain elements - in this case the collection of related items at the bottom.

Robin's Nest Inspires Me

Hello, Everyone

Today I'm here to share with you a layout inspired by The Robin's Nest Sketch Challenge - designed by Bev Code.

I just can't stop loving everything Bev creates!  In this design, I am particularly pleased with how she used very simple mixed media.  I'm always in a hurry to get my projects completed and don't care to take time to pull out mixed media.  But this was an easy sketch to follow - and my muddy paint splashes on the top are just perfect for the images I will add to capture the day my grandson spent playing in water - and later in mud.

I am happy to have finally pulled out my paints - I just might have to pull out the other side to this layout and add some spots and splashes on that to match!

The hearts I used (in lieu of flowers on the sketch) are from Blue Valentine by Digital Creations.  Acrylics paints are used for texture (a Pearlized Medium, Country Tan, and Metallic Yellow Gold).

I'm using some of my favorite papers from Doodlebug Designs, American Craft, Bo Bunny, and Scrapbook Customs.  I'm using these papers as the base for my grandson's entire scrapbook.

Now Bev's inspiration did not get me to pull out the needle and thread!  Instead I used the diamond border that I am using throughout the scrapbook.

Bev had provided me with fun inspiration - thank you, for that, Bev!  I had a great time in my craft room playing with this layout.

Christmas Inspiration

Hi, Everyone! Hoping your weekend went well, and that this week will be even better!

Have been working on Christmas cards.  Today's highlights rub-ons from The Robin's Nest.

Quick & Easy Christmas Card

I LOVE Christmas - so I decided to share yet another Christmas card.  I hope you enjoy it!  

Vintage Postcards

Start cards for Christmas with this pretty vintage postcard from Tsunami Rose Designs.

Christmas Collection

Happy Spring! It's an exciting time of year! Tomorrow's temps expected to be in the 90s! So what better time than to dig into your scraps and begin some Christmas cards?!? Here are a few I recently made while trying to whittle down my scrap pile.

Simple Card Boot Camp

Morning, All!

These cards were SUPER fast!  Flower dies such as this Delicate Aster from Heartfelt Creations make it easy to mass produce - no inking really necessary.  Cut lots of flowers from various papers - takes only a few minutes.  Then dig into your scraps and assemble simple cards - made more elegant with the Delicate Asters and Dew Drops from The Robin's Nest.  Enjoy!

Hello, St. Patrick - You Rock!

Kind of modern, funky card today.  St. Patrick's Day card - I used Classic Glitter cardstock from the Robin's Nest, as well as tags and images from Graphic 45's Place in Time Collection.

Viva Rub-Ons

Viva Rub-Ons (The Robin's Nest) are another classic addition to the way you embellish cards. Today's card uses two Viva Rub-Ons. My card from Friday's Blog used three Viva Rub-Ons.

Life is Good - Rub It On

Morning, all!

Once again I'm using scraps as a jumping off point for today's card.  I had leftover rub-ons from The Robin's Nest that I used on plain cardstock.  A little different style for me....but enjoyed putting them together.

Cupcake Frog

I've been working on replenishing my inventory with new birthday cards...so using one of the new cupcake digis was in order - today I chose Cupcake Frog. Everyone will absolutely love receiving a birthday card with this adorable character.

I'm continuing my learning process of filling in digi stamps using Photoshop. This image sports using some texture (cupcake wrapper) and shading (frosting), as well as background highlighting. Don't ask me yet how to do this - I'm still just pressing keys until I get what I want. 

Here is a close-up of the colored digi frog.

Glitter Crackle with Graphic 45

Hi all! For this week’s Friday card, I went back to hit my scrap pile. I chose some Glitter Crackle from The Robin's Nest and paired it with leftover graphic images from Graphic 45's Place in Time collection.

Enjoy!

Squid Doodle

Hi Everyone,

It's great to be joining the 2 Cute Ink Design Team today. I'm bringing a slightly different style to the digital stamps - glitter! Today's post features Squid Doodle - a digi stamp that can be incorporated into any occasion. If you want to see how to glitter the digi stamps, you can see step-by-step instructions by clicking here. 

Supplies I used for this card:

• Squid Doodle Digi Stamp - Sized to 2.4" x 5.3" (2 Cute  Ink)
• Glitter
• Kensington Park (Glitter Ritz)
• Selection of transparent, blues, gold, & bronze (Tree House Studio)
• Cardstock
• Cream - 8-1/2" x 5-1/2"
• Sour Apple Classic Glitter - 3-1/2" x 5-1/2" (The Robin's Nest)
• Blue Glitter Crackle - 3" x 5-1/4" and two strips 1-1/4" x 5-1/4" (The Robin's Nest)
• Lavender Classic Glitter - 3" x 5-1/4" (The Robin's Nest)
• Border Punch (Martha Stewart)
• Cutting Files
• Vintage Tab Frame - 3.4" x 5.3" (SVG Cuts)

Here are some close-ups of the glittered squid.

Have a great week; we'll see you right back here next Monday.

Scraps to Treasures - Happy Birthday Blog Hop

Hi Everyone,

It's great to be back with all of you this Saturday for another Scraps to Treasures Blog Hop. Today's hop features many more timeless projects using scraps with one major theme - birthdays! And make sure you hit all the blogs, because Robin has a giveaway! One lucky follower will receive a Scrappy Goodie Mix! It will have several different scrappy items with a value of about $20!!! To be entered for this awesome Blog Candy you MUST leave a comment on EACH blog in the hop. If you become a new follower you will earn an added entry. Please leave a comment that you became a follower.

If you are passionate about stamping or scrapbooking, and love the play with scraps, Click here to join us for next month's hop - the hop on September 21 will feature altered items.

It has been my mission for months now to use only scraps in my projects. And I'm proud to say, I've been fairly successful. Made one group of cards with a new paper pack - but everything else is coming from scraps - with my pile FINALLY, albeit slowly, dwindling down. All the images in my cards today are left over from Graphic 45 Place in Time projects. Since I had lots left over with birthday images, I made more than one card.

Have a great weekend, and we'll see you right back here next month for the Altered-Items Blog Hop.

Your next stop is Paula.  Here is the entire line up in case you become lost.

Robin S. - http://scrapandchat.blogspot.com/ 
Pam - http://www.scrappletree.com/
Camille - http://shortonideasaz.blogspot.com/
Paula - http://preciouspagesbypaula.blogspot.com/
Lissa Marie - www.somanycrafts.com
Lucy - http://love2createitall.com/
Lynda - http://memoriesintyme.blogspot.com/

Snowflake Owl - 2 Cute Ink

I fell in love with the free digital stamp 2 Cute Ink was sharing this weekend -  Owl Doodle shared in Saturday's post.   I shared my card on the 2 Cute Ink Facebook Page, and Heidi the artist asked if I would use the same technique with some of her new digital stamps.  You know me...anything to be able to showcase my work!  

So Heidi sent me her latest digital stamp - Snowflake Owl - and as soon as I saw it, I saw cool, ice blue!

Here is my card - and step-by-step instructions below!  If you find yourself using this technique with digital stamps, please send me a link to your page in my comments....would love to see what you do!

Supplies Used

• Snowflake Owl - Digital Stamp (2 Cute Ink)
• White Cardstock - 1 sheet for cutting owl, 8-1/2" x 5-1/2" for card base
• Robin's Egg Blue Classic Glitter Cardstock (The Robin's Nest)
• Double-Sided Adhesive (Elizabeth Craft Designs)
• Glitter - Glitter Ritz (Elizabeth Craft Designs) 
• Real Teal
• Robin's Egg Blue
• Ice Blue
• Sky Blue
• Mystique
• Cool Highlights
• Warm Highlits
• Border Punch - Apron Lace (Fiskars)

Two-sided Adhesive - on white cardstock - on cutting mat

Instructions

I just purchased a Sizzix eClip to replace my Cricut machine.  For those of you with Cricuts and Sure Cuts a Lot, the steps are almost identical.  You will only need to play with your pressure and/or blade depth on the Cricut.

First I placed a 6" x 6" piece of double-sided adhesive on a piece of white cardstock - leaving the protective cover on the top.

On the electronic cutter, Trace the digital stamp image.  Break apart the image.  I moved the solid owl image to its own layer.  So my screen looked like this:   

To cut, I set the Pressure to 3.  This cuts through the protective covering of the adhesive....but not through the cardstock.

Carefully remove protective covering over outline only

Next, I "hid" the layer with the detailed image, and displayed the solid owl image.  I set the cutter to cut two times - with a Pressure of 6.  This will cut through both the adhesive and cardstock.  See completed cut image to the right (excuse the messy glitter-catcher cardstock beneath).  You can see the detail cuts on the image's protective covering.

Cover with glitter; brush off excess

Using tweezers, I peel off the protective covering for the areas I want to glitter in each color.  I like to begin with the outline.  The way 2 Cut Ink's images are designed, it provides a nice "outline" as such.  I begin with glittering the outline...which makes it easier to find all the detailed pieces.  

I complete those same steps for each different glitter color.  You can see, once the outline is glittered, the rest of the pieces are easy to see.  Use tweezers to remove the pieces you want for each color.  You can see by the pics, that I am generous when covering with glitter.  All excess goes back in the jar, so no need to be skimpy.  For each color, remove protective covering, cover with glitter, brush off excess.  Repeat.

Generously cover with glitter

Rub off excess glitter (rub hard to get a smooth look

Shake off excess glitter

The next time I use this image, I will probably make the owl's belly white - my snowflakes aren't showing well with the little variance in blue colors.  With a white belly, blue snowflakes would really stand out (live and learn).

For this particular card, I did not resize the image.  However, the snowflakes were too small to cut easily, so I did enlarge them...then used the same technique to glitter.

A 4-1/4" x 5-1/2" piece of Robin's Egg Blue Classic Glitter cardstock provides the card front.  I used a border punch on both sides of a strip of Robin's Egg Blue Classic Glitter cardstock, ran it through the Xyron (upside down), and covered it with a combination of Cool and Warm Highlight glitter to provide a blue on blue effect.

I popped up the owl....and glued on glittered snowflakes.

If this inspires you to use this technique, please leave me your link in the comments....I would enjoy seeing your creation.  Keep an eye on 2 Cute Ink - I'm looking forward to more creations (I see Sea Creatures in my future!)

Burnished Velvet Kick

Help....got my hands on some great freebies and have become absolutely hooked on covering them with glitter!  2 Cute Ink and Miss Kate Cuttables have some fabulous freebies out there...I just had to see these in glitter.  So I've been playing with my new eClips which I am loving for how it handles detail.  It handles these files super well....cutting the detail on cardstock covered with two-sided adhesive paper...then a couple multi cuts for the final cut.  Cover with a fine glitter (Glitter Ritz is my favorite).  Loving them!!!!!

2 Cute Ink

Miss Kate Cuttables 

Miss Kate Cuttables

Miss Kate Cuttables

Miss Kate Cuttables