Spring Bonus

For many of us living in cold climates, it's been a long and very bitter winter. But the snow is melting, and spring is just around the corner. So, we decided to feature a special springtime collection of cards to herald the early arrival of blue skies and warmer weather. Bravo is the first of 8 that we will present to you here!

Enjoy!



Bravo
Designed by Michele Boyer

The graceful curve of this ballerina’s dress was stamped several times, then colored and layered for maximum effect, adding both dimension and sweet appeal.

Materials
Prism Cardstock in Crabapple Light
My Favorite Things
• Cardstock in White
• Jolinne Collection Stamp Set – Sweet Spring
Memory Box Gossamer Collection Patterned paper in dark pink pint, dark pink with white polka dot, green print, and light pink print
Tsukineko Memento Ink pad in Tuxedo Black
Copic Markers Sketch Markers
Ribbon in 3/8"-wide satin pink and 5/8"-wide white
Mini paper clip
Creative Memories Circle Cutting System
Foam dots
Double-sided adhesive
Scissors, ruler, pencil, sewing machine,
white sewing thread

Instructions
1.Cut one 5-1/2" x 11" rectangle from Crabapple Light cardstock, one 5-1/2" square from dark pink print patterned paper, one 5-1/4" square from green print patterned paper, and one 3-1/4" square from light pink print patterned paper. Use Circle Cutting System to cut one 43/4"-dia. circle from dark pink with white polka dot patterned paper. Turn Crabapple Light rectangle horizontally, score a vertical line down the center, and fold in half.
2.Adhere dark pink with white polka dot circle onto upper left side of green print square. Machine straight-stitch around inside perimeter of dark pink circle. Adhere light pink print square onto bottom right side of green print square as shown, then machine zigzag-stitch around outside perimeter of light pink square.

3.Use Tuxedo Black ink pad to stamp girl, girl’s accent pieces (including dress, shoes, dress band, and flower in hair), bunny, bunny pieces (including dress and dress band) and sentiment (“Bravo!” used here) onto White cardstock. Use Sketch Markers to color images as shown or as desired. Fussy-cut girl, girl’s accent pieces, bunny, and bunny pieces and cut sentiment into one 7/8" x 1" rectangle. Layer and adhere girl accent pieces onto girl and bunny accent pieces onto bunny. Use foam dots to adhere girl image onto left side and bunny onto bottom right side of light pink square, referring to project phto for placement. Use foam dots to adhere additional layers of girl’s dress onto girl as shown. Secure mini paper clip onto White sentiment block and adhere onto upper right side of light pink square.

4.Measure 1/2" in from left side and vertically wrap one 6" length of white ribbon around green print square. Repeat with 6" length of pink ribbon on top of white ribbon as shown. Cut one 7" length from pink ribbon and tie ends into a bow, trimming ends evenly. Measure 1-1/2" down from top edge and adhere onto ribbon as shown. Use foam dots to adhere assembled green print square onto dark pink square. With fold at top, center and adhere assembled dark pink square onto card front.

5.Use Tuxedo Black ink pad to stamp the words “Take a Bow” inside card.

Handmade Valentines

As I continue to gather my notes and organize my photos from CHA, I thought I'd share with you the handmade valentines my son and I are going to create for his Kindergarden class. I found this vintage valentine online.
















I thought it would be super cute to fill a sandwich bag with popcorn and use that vintage image to create a bag topper adding "love from Wyatt" or something like that to personalize it. It would look kind of like this - just on a smaller scale.















I'd love to hear some of your handmade valentine ideas.

Home At Last

What was suppose to be a 4 day trip, ended up being 6 days - mostly due to the weather making it impossible to fly home. BUT having an additional day on the trade show floor and another day touring a little bit of California presented me with many more items to share with you. Once I get my notes organized, I'll be posting information about all the goodies I found at CHA and I can't WAIT to tell you about them. So stay tuned . . .

Ever do something sometimes and think “oh wait I should have done . . .” and then its too late! There is no turning back, it is what it is! Well after I finalized my tinyprints order Friday, I didn’t feel that way, but with the follow up phone calls/emails if I had felt that way I would have had plenty of opportunity to fix something I would have wanted changed. By Friday evening I received not only a phone call but a follow up email about my order. I was given some advice on using different wording for my postcards and was informed that the image I sent wasn’t clear. I was so impressed by the response of customer service, it was really nice to hear a voice on the other end of the phone. After we went back and forth, I was sent another email where I had to ok the changes on each card (for front and back) before the order was to be processed. That was Tuesday, by Friday I received my box of goodies!





Look at these party invitations! My son was so excited! He’s been planning his birthday party since we had his sisters 2nd birthday this past summer. His Star Wars theme is going to be equipped with Yoda Sodas, Death Star pizzas, and Jedi training! I’m so glad we found these invitations, it made this part (and the thank you part) of the party planning process less stressful.



With the post cards and ornaments, I embellished a plain brown gift bag with the postcards, tied the handles with yarn, and topped it off with the ornament cards! Oh I only wished I had a gift for myself to wrap it in this unique bag!
(Photos on the postcard and photo ornament by Sara McManus Photography - www.saramcmanusphotography.com)

Anybody on facebook notice the ads on the right hand side? I keep finding myself clicking on the Tiny Prints ad and going to their site to check out their adorable cards. Guess what? I was recently given the opportunity to create cards from their website and I couldn’t be more excited!

I took about an hour (a very enjoyable hour I might add) to look through all of their products, from photo cards (worthy of framing), greeting cards (for any occasion imaginable), photo gifts, Pop up and flip greeting cards (so unique), holiday coloring cards, holiday newsletter inserts and even personalized birthday cards. While looking around you can click on the little folder to the bottom right of each card and add it to "My Picks". It will be placed in a tray along the bottom of your page so you can compare your favorites to one another. The ideas are endless, and this is what I created.

Every year I give my loved ones handmade ornaments with photos of my kids on them to adorn the top of their presents. Each one of my family and friends look forward to receiving them year after year. Can you believe Tiny Prints makes photo ornaments? I had a hard time deciding which one, and decided on this one. (Note that this card was designed by Kate Beckinsale for the Epidermolysis Bullosa Medical Research Foundation.)

It took me all of 5 minutes, between uploading, personalizing and checking out. Don’t get me wrong, its not that I don’t enjoy putting the time into creating ornaments every year, but this really did take away some unnecessary stress this holiday season. What I also chose to do was create a collage postcard to embellish brown gift bags. What a perfect way to further personalized my gifts along with the ornament cards on top. This was the template that I used.



Next I created birthday invitations with matching thank you notes for my son’s 6th birthday party. His theme is star wars and sure enough tiny prints had a layout that was perfect for me to use.



One thing I wished I had ordered were their photo birthday cards. Why look for the perfect card for each and every person on your birthday list. Give them a one of a kind card fully equipped with your photos and personalized sentiment inside. Have 30 birthdays you celebrate a year? Buy 30 of these cards and BAM – your birthday card list is complete. – I LOVE how you can even personalize the back with sweet words and a small photo. Oh well, next time I'm adding those to my shopping cart.


















Look for my next post where I’ll be showing off my personalized goodies and what I did with them!

Happy Turkey Day

We want to wish you and yours a safe and happy Thanksgiving holiday.
Here are some coloring pages to keep the little ones occupied at the kiddie table and some additional turkey day fun. We can't wait to see what this holiday inspires you on your next card making or scrapbook project!

What inspires you?

So I'm trying to figure out what inspires fellow scrappers to to scrap the pages they do. Is it a particular photo you have, the season, a title name, a new paper line you found at the store, or seeing another layout? I think whatever way you organize your thoughts prior to scrapbooking tells alot through the page you create. For example if you are driven by a particular photo, it will take center stage on your page and you may tend to spend more time on the photo than on any other part of the page. Yes? No? I was inspired by a title called "Death by Candycorn" and I immediately thought of a photo I took of my kids with candycorn teeth! Here is a photo of the page I came up with! What does this layout say for my inspiration? I'd like to know what inspires you - make sure to leave your commments here.