OA Sketch

Hey everyone!  It's been a while.  I've been busy with family, work, holiday things, etc., and I sort of forgot about my blog.  Oh well, that's what happens around this time of year...

I stopped by today to share a card that I made using a sketch done by Vivian Masket for the October Afternoon blog.  Here is the sketch:

Here is my take on it:

I had a lot of fun with this sketch.  I tried to stay pretty true to the layout/design, but I did move a thing or two around to fit the product/space. I used the trees in place of the photo blocks. I used the heart, the sticker and button, and the snowman in place of the circle embellishments. And I added some stitching in place of the journaling.  

This week October Afternoon is teaming up with Glue Arts, and they are giving away a Holiday Style collection kit along with a Glue Arts Embellishment Kit.  All you have to do is leave a comment HERE for a chance to win.  (Do it soon though, because the winner will be posted Christmas Eve.)  Good luck!

Thanks so much for stopping by today.  I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas!

Pink Paislee's Winter Wonderland Event

Hey everyone!  It is Day 9 of the Winter Wonderland Event on the Pink Paislee blog (which is my day.  ;) )  I made a couple of cards using the new Snow Day collection, and I decided to go with a circle theme.  

I shared some tips on sewing around circles, and you can see them HERE.  And make sure to leave a comment over on the Pink Paislee blog for a chance to win one of the daily prize packs.

That's all for me tonight.  Thanks so much for stopping by!     

Random Crafts of Kindness

Hey everyone!  During the holiday season, many people use crafting as a way of expressing love and gratitude, and we want to help spread the crafting cheer. As you get in the spirit of giving this holiday, Cricut is kicking off an exciting program that celebrates all of the ways people craft for others. Random Crafts of Kindness is a program focused on all the inspirational crafting happening around us.

On their Facebook page, www.facebook.com/OfficialCricut, you’ll see lots of examples of how others are crafting for kindness. 

I thought it would be fun to make some hot cocoa treat bags to hand out to friends and family this year.  Who doesn't love a yummy cup of hot chocolate during the holidays?!?

I started with small brown paper sacks I got at the craft store.  I embossed the bags with my Cuttlebug and Snow Dots embossing folder.  The bags were a little longer than the embossing folder, so I trimmed the ends with some pinking shears. 

I cut out the tag at using my Cricut Expression 2 and Cricut Art Philosophy (from Close to My Heart) cartridge.  I then cut out the hot cocoa shapes using my Cricut Expression and Winter Frolic cartridge.  I used the new Holiday Style collection from October Afternoon.

I added the stamped sentiment and heart (Cornish Heritage Farms - Heart Warmers stamp set) and layered them on top of the die-cuts.  I attached the tag to the bag with some baker's twine. 

 I then added some hot cocoa packets, candy canes, marshmallows, and a little white crinkle shred to finish.

I thought it would be a fun way to share a little happiness this holiday season.

We hope this inspires you to submit your own random craft of kindness in the Random Crafts of Kindness Facebook contest – your entry could win you the new Cricut Expression® 2 machine! Voters can win, too: they’re giving away one Cuttlebug™ to a random voter each week!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Pink Paislee Winter Wonderland Event

 
Hey everyone!  Just wanted to share with you all that Pink Paislee is having a Winter Wonderland Event over on the Pink Paislee blog everyday December 1st – December 12th.  There will be all different types of holiday projects featuring the new Snow Day collection to help get you inspired this holiday season:  layouts, cards, ornaments, wreaths and so much more.

Each day there will be a new project from the creative team that includes step by step tips and tricks so you can create along with us.  There will also be FREE printables and daily blog giveaways with secret scrappy gift boxes filled to the brim! (Wow that is 12 total prize packs….hint hint!)

It started today, so make sure to head on over now.  You won't want to miss it!

Ohhhh...  and one other little bit of info, Pink Paislee is having a Design Team call right now for the 2012 term.  You can find out about it HERE.  Pink Paislee is a WONDERFUL team to be a part of, so if you love their products and love creating, it would definitely be worth trying out for.  The call ends December 18th, so don't delay!  ;)

Hope you all have a wonderful evening!

Getting Frosty with Sprinklers

Hey everyone!  Thought I would stop by and share a project I did for the October Afternoon blog yesterday.

I created some frosted glass ornaments using Paper Doily Sprinklers mist and some clear glass ornaments.  

It was a pretty quick and easy project and so perfect for the holidays.  I also used the new Holiday Style collection to finish decorating them.

You can see my tutorial on how to recreate these ornaments HERE on the OA blog.

Well, that's it for me today.  Thanks so much for stopping by!  

OA Sketch

Hey everyone!  Hope you have been having a great holiday.  It has been busy, busy, busy here. 


This week on the October Afternoon blog, I got to play along with Lexi Bridges' sketch.  She decided to use a magazine ad as sketch inspiration. 

Here is the ad:

I really wanted to make a card for this.  Because cards have less space to work with, I decided to choose just one element (the banner) from the ad to focus on. 

Here is what I came up with:

I used the new Farmhouse collection:  Patterned Paper, Journal Cards, Label Stickers, Miscellany, Flower Sack die-cuts, and Sprinklers.

I just love the mix of yellow, gray, and brown in this collection.  Such a gorgeous color combo!

You can take a look here to see Lexi's wonderful take on the sketch. 

That is it for me.  Hope you all have a great rest of the weekend.  Thanks so much for stopping by! 

Pink Paislee + Core'dinations Blog Hop

Hey everyone! All this week on the Pink Paislee blog, the design team will be showcasing projects that combine the Core’dinations cardstock patterns with Pink Paislee papers and embellishments! Did you know Core’dinations makes cardstock to match Pink Paislee lines?  It is called the Modern Prints collection and the colors and patterns are a must have this season!

Be sure to read the bottom of this blog post to find out all the ways you can enter to win some prizes this week as we team up with the design team over at Core-dinations to host this fun Blog Hop Party!

For today’s post, I created some Thanksgiving paper cone favors that would be perfect for giving to guests.



To create the cone, I started with an 8″ square piece of Core’dinations embossed cardstock.  I rolled the cardstock into a cone shape, and I adhered the edge.

I created a festive topper by cutting out pumpkin and leaf shapes with my Cricut Expression and Create a Critter cartridge.  I inked and distress the die-cuts and added some machine stitching for detail.




I then stamped an image from the Amber Road stamp set and cut it out.  I then layered the die-cuts, stamped image, and ribbon, and I adhered them to the cardstock cone.



I finished by added a little crinkle shred and candy.

Products used:

• Core’dinations Core Impressions Pack
• Nantucket – Jumbo Shrimp 00525
• Nantucket – Ribbon Trims 00536
• Sweetness – Love Letters 00378
• Twilight – Dusk 00217
• Amber Road – Postcards 00206
• Amber Road – Impressions Stamps 00213

If you left off the sewing, this could be a pretty quick and easy project.  And you could easily adjust the size to fit whatever type of goodie you wanted to add to the paper cone.

Now, for the chance to win:

There are 3 ways to win cool stuff from Pink Paislee and Core’dinations

1. COMMENT ON PINK PAISLEE BLOG ALL WEEK LONG! Just leave a comment on the Pink Paislee blog all week long for your chance to win a cardstock pack and some extra papers + embellishments from Pink Paislee!  Two winners will be chosen at random and those winners will be announced on Saturday November 19th. (And yes, it is okay to leave comments everyday. :) )

2. SPREAD THE WORD ABOUT THE BLOG HOP ON FACEBOOK! Go to the Pink Paislee Facebook Wall and share the Blog Hop Announcement wall post with your friends.  Just click the little “share” button and post this on your very own personal page for another BONUS chance to win!  You MUST click the share button from our page or we won’t know you actually shared it!

3. VISIT OUR FRIENDS AT CORE’DINATIONS! Hop over to the blog at Core’dinations for even more chances to win!  Details can be found on their blog!

I hope you enjoyed today’s project.  Thanks so much for stopping by today, and be sure to stop by each day this week for more cardstock inspiration!

Good Luck!

Creating with Cricut: Thankful

Hey everyone!  Today, I posted a project on the Pink Paislee blog.  My assignment was to create a Thanksgiving/Autumn project using my Cricut Expression machine.  I decided to make a home decor piece. 

 I repainted an old picture frame and added some patterned paper for the background.  I cut out the pumpkin shape using my Cricut Expression, Pumpkin Carving cartridge, and some Mistables patterned paper that I colored with Mister Huey's mist in Pumpkin Spice.  I added some inked Wood Shop Wood Chip letters over the pumpkin shape for the sentiment.

 I then cut out some leaf shapes using my Cricut Expression and Create a Critter cartridge, inked them with multiple ink pads, and machine stitched the veins.

I added a bow, button, and tag to finish it up. 

You can see a list of the products I used here. 

Hope you enjoyed today's project.  Have a great weekend, and thanks so much for stopping by!

OA 5+ Photo Challenge

Last week, it was my turn to come up with a challenge on the October Afternoon blog.  Now a lot of you know me as a card maker.  Cards are my favorite things to create, and they are what I am most comfortable creating.  I do layouts, mini albums, and altered project too, but not nearly as much.  When I was thinking about what kind of challenge to post, I really thought about what would be challenging to me.  The first thing that came to mind was layouts.  While I do like to take photos, I am not great about doing it.  I take a couple here and there, but for the most part I always forget to take my camera with me wherever I go.  I never seem to have enough photos to put together a story on my pages, so I stick to one or two photo layouts.  Maybe three photos if I am lucky.  So my challenge was to create a 5+ photo layout.

And here is what I came up with:

I really had to dig through my photos to find a day that I took a lot of pictures. 

I kept my design simple to really focus on the photos.  (I think this is the most photos I have ever used on one page.  LOL)  I love the Print Multiple Photos feature on Photoshop Elements.  It prints all of my photos at one time, and has multiple sizes to choose from.  I printed out all of my photos in two sizes, and then mixed and matched them.

And I created some fun, little pumpkins to spruce up my title and play on the theme.

Collections used:  5 & Dime, Rocket Age, Campfire, Farm Fresh, Fly a Kite

If you get a chance to play along with this challenge, make sure to upload your finished layout to the OA Flicker Gallery.  We love to see what you all create using OA products!


Hope you have a safe and Happy Halloween!  Thanks for stopping by!

Pink Paislee Digital Products at JessicaSprague.com

JessicaSprague.com Announces Partnership with Pink Paislee
Pink Paislee to offer their digital products exclusively at JessicaSprague.com beginning November 14, 2011.
Apex, NC (PRWEB) November 01, 2011 — Leading internet digital scrapbooking education website JessicaSprague.com has added Pink Paislee to their team of exclusive designers who offer digital scrapbooking supplies to customers.
Established in January of 2008, Pink Paislee is a family owned business based outside of Kansas City, MO. They are known throughout the world for their original designs and strong attention to detail. They pride themselves in developing products that blend design and function to make scrapbooking and paper crafting easier.
According to Jessica Sprague, owner of JessicaSprague.com, Pink Paislee is a leader in the field of both hybrid and paper crafting.
“Pink Paislee is one of the foremost companies in the scrapbooking industry, in terms of both style and popularity. We are thrilled that they’ve made the decision to partner with us.” Rebecca Cross, owner of Pink Paislee, agrees. “We have been interested in joining the digital scrapbook market ever since we opened our doors in 2008. Almost every week we hear from customers who are interested in purchasing our patterns in a digital format, so being able to make this announcement public is very exciting for us!”
Choosing to partner with Jessica Sprague was an easy choice for the company. “When we explored options for selling our designs in other digital shops, we knew right away that Jessica Sprague and her team were a perfect fit for us. They have a dedicated group of team members who handle all service inquiries, technical support, marketing and sales and as an added bonus, they also connect us with an amazing group of creative team members that will create project samples to help us market our collections to new users.,” says Cross.
Not only was the team at JessicaSprague.com important in their decision, but the overall ideaology of the website was key. Cross says of JessicaSprague.com, “At JessicaSprauge.com it isn’t just about selling product and that philosophy is very important to us. They work very hard to educate the consumer through online classes and workshops so that anyone who is interested in learning more about this amazing digital creation process has the chance to get everything they need in one location.”
Customers can expect to find paper packs, element packs, sticker packs, digital brushes, quickpages and more in the coming months. Some will be new and exclusive digital products while others will be developed from previous paper collections. Pink Paislee’s digital shop at JessicaSprague.com will open on November 14th.
For digital scrapbooking classes, digital printable scrapbooking supplies, and free tutorials, visit JessicaSprague.com.

About JessicaSprague.com:
JessicaSprague.com is the leading website offering online classes and products for digital crafters. Founded in 2006 by world-renowned crafter, scrapbooker, instructor and author Jessica Sprague, JessicaSprague.com provides professionally designed, video-based online classes in Photoshop and Photoshop Elements for customers interested in learning about digital scrapbooking, photo editing, mouse-and-paper crafting, and more.
The site’s mission is to provide instruction, inspiration, and products to help people grow their skills, beautify their lives, and enhance their relationships with the people that matter most to them. The Web site’s offerings include digital scrapbooking paper, digital brushes, digital element packs, lesson packs, weekly tutorials, and online classes in digital scrapbooking, mouse-and-papercrafting, photo editing, and more.