DT Challenge: What Christmas Card Are YOU Sending?

I took the easy way out...nothing handmade, but I do love this picture!!

DT Challenge: What Christmas Card Are YOU Sending?

Hey Design Team Members... I know it's busy right now, but I hope you've at least been working on your Christmas cards!

I've seen the BEAUTIFUL cards that are in the contest at Paper Pals (and on display for you to vote on just behind the counter), and it makes me wonder what cards YOU are sending out!

So my challenge to you is to post a pic of what you're sending this year. Did you go all out and make the best cards ever? Is yours in the contest? (If it is, don't post it until the contest is done!) Did you run out of time and/or creativity and are simply sending a photo card? That's fine too!

Mine is a combo of both. You've seen it in a previous post, but I'm providing a new photo of the fully completed project that was printed by Kinkos-- they did a lovely job! Included in my card is a link to my family's blog where people can check out some "year in review" posts throughout the holiday season.


This is your chance to post something that you're already working on. Let's see it!

Cookie Sheet Advent Calendar

Just had to share this amazing cookie sheet advent calendar Shawna made for a class this month. It did not make it onto the Paper Pals blog - so I thought I would do a show & share on the DT blog!

Time to think about Christmas...

Gifts... Cards...

Here's a post that should help you with both!

Using the Memory Mixer software available at Paper Pals, I created a great gift as well as the christmas card I'm sending out this year.

Memory Mixer offers some premade templates for various uses, so I chose a christmas "album" designed by Jackie Eckles. I created it as a 6x6 (you can make it to be any square size) and made it a one-sided accordian album for display on a bookshelf or mantle. This was SO SIMPLE-- I just plugged in photos, printed it out and put it together! This is definitely something easy to create and send to relatives or friends as a personalized gift.

The card I created from scratch using some digital elements from a kit by Michelle Coleman called "Wonderful". It wasn't a christmas kit, but it was fun to challenge myself to make it work for the holidays. I also added a glittery "ornament" as the O in Joy and some embroidery floss making my cards hybrid versus just digital. My favorite part of this card is that I get to share so many different photos of my family on it. No one else will have one like it!

Hopefully these ideas will help inspire you as you begin working on your holiday projects!

New Kimberly Polson for Fiskers...

This new line by Kimberly Polson for Fiskers is so beautiful!

While I focused primarily on the flocked/butterfly paper, the brown/blue harlequin paper is simple and gorgeous as well! This whole line is so versatile!

Special techniques used here include:

Stickles, stickles and more stickles (this product is one of my new favorites)
Use distressing ink or chalk to tone down the color on ribbon (the brown/blue ribbon was too bright for the paper until I distressed it).
Pop Dots - (I love the dimension they provide to any layout or card)
Circle punch (an old tool, dusted off and used again :)
Cover chipboard letters (or anything else) with paper for a "perfectly matched" look)

Enjoy!

Enchanted Autumn line...

This is the coolest paper...the new "Enchanted Autumn" line from Reminisce! It has all the perfect colors for your fall layouts, plus coordinating stickers...love it!! It was perfect for the new pictures of my very favorite subject to scrapbook....they truly are "5 wishes come true!"

Creating Your Family Legacy with Pebbles Inc. Paper

This paper from Pebbles Inc. is absolutely beautiful. It is the perfect paper to work on all those heritage pages that you have or make beautiful cards to send to those loved ones on anniversaries or for the up coming holidays. I kept the layouts very simple as to bring highlight to the photos and journaling that tells about who they are and why they are so special. So don't hesitate get into Paper Pals and get some of this paper before it is all sold out.

Holiday Home Decor!

I wanted to make something cool from my scrap club kit from Paper Pals. The large letters are monogram letters colored with ranger Mahogany ink. For the smaller letters I used the red Thickers that are at the store right now. I used my ink to darken them up and then I covered all the letters with my Judi kins Diamond glaze covering them not only makes them shine but it keeps the ink on the foam letters and thickens up the paper monograms. Make sure you give things covered in the diamond glaze time to dry before working with them. I inked up a tree and a candy cane Bazzill chip and used them to decorate. The little holly leaves are made from the sparkly Bazzill paper and Hero arts gems colored red. I tied it all together with a really cute red ribbon that was on the Paper Pals ribbon rack and hung it up. Thanks for looking!

Crafty Secrets Chipboard Houses!

I was so excited to get one of these cute little chipboard houses. They have little window shutters, a door and many other pieces to embellish the house. I wanted to make a little Christmas house with the new My Minds Eye Christmas papers and die cut sheet. Covering the house was simple because it lays out flat. You can decorate the inside of the house also and use it like a little album or do like I did and make a little scene inside. I inked up the edges and then used some Hero Arts gems colored red to decorate. I used Hero Arts mini pearls colored red to make a little door wreath. Then I used some Stickles around the edges and on top of the windows and doors to look like a little dusting of snow. I closed up the house with some ribbon on the side. You can do that even if you want to use it as an album, just tie a bow instead of a knot. On mine I cut out an opening for the window and used a small piece of acrylic that you can get at Paper Pals to make a clear window. Stop in and you can see the little tree and Kitten inside. My daughter made another one for our home. It is a great kids craft! Have fun!
Malinda

Skull Boy from Kaiser Kraft!

Challenge--"What Have You Done for {Me} Lately?"

I am working on a "birthday" album for Landen's 3rd birthday...something I have attempted to do for each of my grandchildren's birthdays. I am a little behind, and being # 5 Landen is way overdue for his birthday album!!! :0) (Please excuse the fuzzy pictures!)

Challenge--"What Have You Done for {Me} Lately?"

(Anyone singing the "classic" J.J. tune now???)

So, Design Team... I know you love spending a lot of time on projects specifically for Paper Pals, but what have you done for yourselves lately?

Here's an easy challenge. Post a pic of something creative you've been doing outside of your DT projects.

I'm sharing a photo of a bunch of layouts I just did at my favorite scrap getaway held each year at the Palouse Divide.You can get a better look at each individual layout on my personal blog, Mom-E-Memoirs.

These are "all paper" layouts... not digital or even hybrid! That's unusual for me. My goal for the layouts was to mix in some fun new product finds with old scrapping supplies I've had for a long time and just want to use up.

What have you done? Share, please!

At the County Fair

Did you catch some good photos at your favorite carnival or fair this year? I sure did... and I couldn't wait to scrap them! And Reminisce created the perfect paper and stickers for you to create some great pages to remember your visit this year. The vivid colors of the line just SCREAM "carnival" and "fun"!

I built two layouts of my kids enjoying the NW Washington Fair-- our favorite! I used the Reminisce paper (it was two sided--words and stripes) and stickers, and added Bazzill cardstock and chipboard, pom pon ribbon and rick rack from the store. To add a little more creativity, I did some stitching, added some fabric and buttons, and did a little painting on the photos and photo mats too.


Anyone for a funnel cake and a spin on the Tilt-A-Whirl? Mmmmm....

Super Sweet, not at all Spooky Halloween papers

There is no need to be spooked by a little pattern paper and funky colors for Halloween! You really must hurry to the store before all the Halloween paper is gone and check out the options.

This line, from My Mind's Eye was fantastic to work with. The accompanying sheet of cardstock tags and borders made these pages and cards come together really quickly. Be sure to think outside the box...some Halloween embellishments lend very well to general fall themed projects, cards and pages and vice-versa.

Here's to a photo-laden Halloween and many fabulous projects afterward to prove it!
Anita

As you can tell, I used transparencies...again...yes...I just love this technique for journaling and titles. Also, the really small photos on the Halloween through the years layout are from the photo "kiosk" at Rite Aid...you can choose the collage feature and print several photos on one 4 x 6...perfect for pages and projects like this!

Mr. Campy loves camping

Creating with the Mr Campy Line from Cosmo Cricket was breath taking like so many of those camping trips that we all venture on during the summer months. I chose this time to make an altered project along with a layout and cards because I thought it would be fun to take this scrap booking line along with us on those future camping trips. For the altered project I went to the Dollar Store and got a puzzle box and made it in to a First Aid Kit box. I inked around the edges and used the rub-ons that go along with the line of paper. For my layout this is an original, for those of you that know me I love to scrap lift from lots of different places but this time I couldn't find anything that I loved so I decided to go it alone and do a Nikki original. I used a title strip for the sheet of Mr Campy's Striptease and the journaling box is from the sheet of Mr. Campy's Journaling Cards, which both sheets are very easy to use. I added some more of the rub-ons and some twill around the plaid strip of paper and Wow it was done and looks good. For my cards I loved the rub-ons in the pack so decided to find more that would work on the cards that I made. What an awesome line to play and create with.

Love is In the Air

This Paper from Pebbles Etc. was so easy to use. The pink and red is the perfect fit for all your Valentine and Sweetheart pictures. It also makes some of the cutest cards to give out during the Valentine holiday. To embellish the layout and cards I used some of Jolee's boutique stickers, ribbon from the store, and a Bazzill flower with a pink brad.

Mmm... More Memory Mixer!

Most of my papercrafting is inspired by others... I "scraplift" an idea here or an idea there... but this time I decided to pretty much duplicate a layout from Creating Keepsakes magazine that was created by Elizabeth Karchner. (She's brilliant-- check out her blog to see more of her creations!)


The main difference? Elizabeth made her layout mostly by traditional paper scrapping. I did a majority of my layout by creating it digitally in Memory Mixer. Here's a photo of the digital page alone:


Then I added some fun traditional embellishments (Bazzill brads and cardstock, pattern paper scraps, pop dots). Those really made the page come alive with texture, color and style. Here's the final product:


It was fun to try and make a digital layout look so much like a traditionally created page. Would you have known it's a Memory Mixers page?

Memory Mixer Creations

Here are a couple of unrelated projects... one of cards I made and one of a digital layout.

The Harvest cards are hybrid... mostly using Paper Pals products (My Minds Eye patterned paper, Bazzill cardstocks, transparency, brads, circle punch and twine) but adding in just a touch of digital by printing a photo and text on transparency. Memory Mixer is simple enough to use for those of you interested in sticking to mostly paper scrapping with the occasional digital element.

The 8 1/2 by 11 layout is all digital-- created entirely in Memory Mixer. I used elements that come with the program: a light colored background paper, photo frame, flourishes... Then I used fonts that were already on my computer (Fabulous 50s and CK Curly Girl) and photos that I took. Memory Mixer gave me the option of printing a photo as a background with journaling on top-- which is a big draw for digital scrapping. I think the digital page turned out great "as is", but could also have more embellishments added with products from the store.

You can use this software to create your paper projects with as much or as little computer generated pieces as you want!

Let it snow

If you have been scrapbooking for very long you can probably look through your books and find trends in your techniques. You know, the paper tearing phase, the eyelet phase, the brad phase, the black-and-white phase, the bling-n-ink phase. You get the idea. Some of these things become part of your personal style, some don't.

I've been in an ink phase for quite a while now.

When I first started using ink in my scrapbooking, my hands were always covered with different colors that would not wash off. Friends and even total strangers would come up and say, "What is wrong with your hands?" like I had some sort of contagious disease and they might need to grab their kids and run. I thought that with time I would learn how to use the ink without getting it all over myself. I was wrong. I still get it all over my hands. So if you see me with normal, clean hands, you better tell me to get busy because I probably am not scrapbooking or paper crafting enough.

One of my favorite inking tools is the Ranger Inkssentials blending tool. The package says it gives better control of your ink -- "no more inky fingers!" which might be true for you, but totally isn't for me -- but even though I still get ink all over myself, I don't know how I ever lived without it. It has foam pads that stick on with Velcro, and they work great to blend and apply ink. I keep one pad for each different color. It's so easy and fun to use that I ink random things just to be inking. (Paper, gems, my craft table, my fingers, my sleeves, the floor, the cat...)

That's how this snow sign came about. Karen showed me the cute little Bazzill snowflake chips, and I thought, hey...I could ink those!

The Bazzill chips are white, textured on one side, and they take ink very well. I added lots of sparkles to them and then hung them on wire I had beaded with seed beads. I spiraled the wire to give it a little bounce. The Bazzill chips also come in trees, candy canes and light bulbs. There is also a very cute little gingerbread chipboard house at the store that is calling out my name!

I wanted my project to feel wintry so I used lots of cool blue ink, white paint, blue Bazzill card stock, and one of the newer Bazzill Just-the-Edge borders. I put gems and Hero Arts pearls randomly on the sign around the letters to look like ice or glittery little snowflakes. I really like the way the pearls look, and I love how they can be colored with Copic markers (and the gems can, too).

One thing I thought about but didn't do -- though it could look really cool -- is to use some Stickels to make a little "snow" on the sign.

For the lettering, I used various chipboard and Thickers brand letters. They are all painted white and have Broken China colored Ranger ink on them to add some depth. The "W "is from the Tim Holtz line of grunge board, which is really cool to work with because it is completely flexible and you can paint, ink, or sand it. Each box is full of several different fonts and sizes. If you haven't seen the grunge board yet you should really check it out. I'm sure there are more ways to use it than I have discovered -- if you have a fun technique you use on it, leave me a comment, I'd love to hear!

~Malinda

Halloween Banner

Thank you Shawna and Karen for letting me make this banner. I love the way it turned out. I love all the new Halloween papers so much that I bought some for my circle book that was on the blog last week. Two things that I am really into right now are the color orange (you might have noticed), and shiny things (perhaps I was a raccoon in a former life?). I got to use both on this fun banner.

I used Rangers crackle paint in dried marigold on the letters to spell the word BOO. It was the first time I have used the paint and I really liked the way it turned out. After it was dry I used Rangers spiced marmalade ink and covered the letters with it. This makes the cracks get darker and show up better and it doesn't really change the color of the paint.

After covering the chipboard pennants I glued down the letters and then I used Judikins Diamond Glaze on top of the letters to give them lots of shine and dimension. Then of course, I added lots of Gems that I colored with my Copic markers. I really like these markers, they are alcohol based and you can blend colors and color on things like transparencies and gems! I glued some ribbon along the top of the pennants with glue lines and tied them all together with some cute ribbon.

You can find everything you need to make one of these at Paper Pals. And if you go in to check the back side of this banner you will find a bonus! I had so much fun and so many cute things left over that I decorated both sides. And still I had plenty left over things to keep making things.

Have fun with the Holiday papers, they make them cuter every year.

Cleary Fun! Hambly Transparencies & Rubons!

Deb rocked the Hambly transparencies by making an awesome mini album that incorporates paint, Hambly chandelier rub-ons, and several of the Hambly Transparencies! The theme of her album is about being a mom and the journaling inside is sure to touch your heart!

Deb's second project is this stunning layout that is built with a transparency as the base page (so it is really clear and not white as it shows in the photo), additional transparency layers, ghost shapes, grungeboard, and more paint!

My Mind's Eye...Christmas is coming!

The new line from My Mind's Eye is so versatile and whimsical! The paper really had me thinking. Dig up some old or extra photos and enjoy the creative process combined with reminiscing about times gone by....it really won't hurt anything if you scrap out of order will it? So my challenge to you is to have fun with scrapping Christmas and winter...whenever you feel like it!

I was able to make 3 layouts and 3 cards each reflecting a different "vibe" that the paper can so easily help to convey.

First, the gorgeous snowflake paper...yes, in a lovely sage green. I love the feel of the elements on this page with the paper...



















Next, a "blue Christmas"...anyone who knows me knows how very much I love blue... so, you'll have to stop by the store to see the "fine print" on this page. I printed the photos on a transparency to convey the idea that these memories are faint, fuzzy, fleeting (these photos are from 3+ years ago).



















I used traditional "red/green" for my "Remember" Christmas page. This line comes wtih a sheet of die cut elements that make putting together pages like these a snap. It was really fun digging up some old photos and reflecting on them in a new way...

Finally, the cards...with the elements left after the pages, I was able to create 3 (and there could've been more, but alas, I should've been sleeping:), fun and fresh cards.

















Tricks and Techniques used:

*print photos and journaling on transparency
*paint chipboard letters and then coat with Diamond Glaze
*cut the tiny strip from the end of the paper (where "My Mind's Eye" is printed) and use it for yet another page element
*use Diamond Glaze to accent parts of an element and sprinkle with glitter (on the snowflake card)


You'll love this line...give it a try!
Anita

Curious about Hybrid Scrapping?

Well, Paper Pals has everything you need to try it out!

The store has Memory Mixer software available-- a user friendly and inspirational program to get you started into digital/hybrid scrapbooking. The program is super easy to use PLUS it has oodles of papers and embellishements already built in!

Here's what I created with the software as my page base:

















After I had a "basic" page, I decided to spice it up a little w/ some embellishments and paper from the store. I used some "My Minds Eye" halloween paper, Bazzill chipboard, brads, Memory Makers rub ons, paint, and from my "home collection" (i.e. rag bin)a hem from a pair of denim pants. Here's the final product:



















Keep your eye out for more hybrid pages from me... Memory Mixer software is addicting!