Special Guest Blogger: Mandy Douglass

04/02/2010 at 8:10 am | Posted in fonts, General Inspiration, guest blogger, Holidays, How-Tos, product, technique, Uncategorized | 5 Comments
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Hey all my favorite CK Readers! It is me, Mandy Douglass! I don’t know about you, but I am so excited for this upcoming Easter holiday weekend. Now that I have two little boys, it just keeps getting more and more fun each year. I love easter egg hunts, easter baskets, easter bunnies, and those little peeks from the tulips that will soon turn into beautiful flowers.

Last year was the first year my son, Bryson, could start to understand the whole easter egg hunt idea. So today, I thought I would share a photo tip and a ribbon tip with you from this fun new page I created about his first hunt!

The Race is On by Mandy Douglass. Supplies: American Crafts.

Photo Tip:

Bryson was just learning to walk, and he really didn’t have enough balance to pick up eggs, so crawling was his only way to get those funny looking round things! I thought this photo was perfect to use on my layout, because it captures his perspective on the easter egg hunt. There weren’t a lot of kids around to “race” him for the eggs, but the faster he got them, the more excited he was. I challenge all you CK readers to get down in the grass this weekend and get some true perspective photographs!

Ribbon Tip:

Next is a fun tip a friend taught me a while back. I often find it hard to punch through a page or get a knotted ribbon to stay in place without gargantuan amounts of glue! So here are a few steps to show you how to get that cute ribbon knot to stay in place and avoid getting sticky.

First cut a piece of ribbon about 3″ long. Then staple it to the area of the page you would like the ribbon to be.

Then simply tie the knot (I usually only tie one knot and it stays in place).

 

Then cut off the remaining ribbon.

Simple, huh!

Bonus Gift-Bag Topper Tip:

I decided to use the same technique on some cute treat bags for Easter. (Not only did I get a cute bag out of it, but it also gave me a great excuse to open those Cadbury Mini Eggs that have been staring at me for a week!)

To make the bag topper, I made a simple flap using Sizzix’s scallop square die cut, then I folded it in half. I added some darling egg paper from the Dear Lizzy line by American Crafts and stapled the decorated flap to close the bag and keep the ribbon in place. 

Last, I made a cute little tag using a Quickutz oval die, some scallop scissors by Fiskars, and Dear Lizzy Dimensional Sticker. Then knotted it all in place! 

Such an easy way to do lots of Easter treat bags.

“Hop” that you all have a great holiday weekend!

Mandy Douglass, CK contributing writer

P.S. Don’t forget to download today’s font as part of Free Font Friday! This weeks’ font is CK Day Dream. Download it today at Creating Keepsakes.

Guest Blogger: Nichole Heady of Papertrey Ink

09/11/2009 at 4:18 am | Posted in guest blogger | 576 Comments
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Headshot

Hello and happy Friday! My name is Nichole Heady, and I am one of the co-owners of Papertrey Ink. We specialize in clear stamps along with our own line of exclusive paper crafting embellishments and accessories, all of which are created specifically for stampers, by a stamper. 

We release new product each month on the 15th, with a special countdown on my blog, featuring sneak peeks, beginning on the 10th. I was just thrilled to be asked to participate here as a guest blogger to debut a brand new product that will not be available until September 15! How’s that for exciting? Let’s get started! 

sweet tooth smile layout

Sweet Tooth Smile by Nichole Heady. Supplies Cardstock, ink, ribbon and vintage buttons: Papertrey Ink; Die-cut machine: Cuttlebug, ProvoCraft; Dies: Spellbinders; Border punch: EK Success; Letter stickers: American Crafts (foam) and Making Memories (mini); Rub-ons: American Crafts; Embossing powder: Stewart Superior; Pen:  Uni-ball Signo, Newell Rubbermaid; Adhesive: Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L. 

The project I prepared for you today uses one of the ever-popular vintage label shaped journaling blocks. Our new stamp set, Vintage Labels (available on September 15 for purchase), allows you to create four different sizes in any color you desire.  All you need is a little cardstock and some ink. Let me show you how!

stamping outline

Step 1: Stamp the label outline with one of the largest images from the stamp set onto Melon Berry cardstock using our Berry Sorbet ink.  The stamp set includes a total of eight label images in a variety of sizes so there is something for nearly any project!

taping die down

 Step 2: To make it quick and easy to cut our Vintage Label images out, they were designed to coordinate with Spellbinders Labels One die collection. Center the die directly over your stamped image, using a bit of tape to hold the die in place along the outside perimeter.  

finished die cut

These dies are compatible with almost any die-cutting machine. Once you have run the die and stamped image through the machine, you’ll be left with this--a perfect match.

cutting mask

Step 3: Stamp the same label image onto computer paper and use a craft knife to cut out the center to create a journaling mask. (You can easily create a mask like this for each image in the set and save them in the stamp case for future use.)

stamping journaling lines

Step 4: Place the mask over your die-cut label. Use our stamp set Journaling Lines right on top of the cardstock and mask. 

finished journaling block

After removing the mask, you’ll be left with this. (I decided to only stamp the lines on ¾ of my label to allow room at the bottom for some embellishing.)

 stamping letter sticker

Step 5: To customize alphabet stickers, try stamping a pattern on them. Here I’ve used our Polka Dot Basics II stamp set along with Ripe Avocado ink to add some character to these American Crafts Thickers. 

smile closeup

With just a little ink and some basic background building stamp sets such as this, you can really customize nearly anything in your stash.

stitched leaves

Step 6: For added detail, hand-cut leaves and stamp with Text Style using Ripe Avocado ink. Finish by stitching down the center.

I hope you enjoyed some of the things I shared with you today, including the showcase of our new stamp set, Vintage Labels.  Since this versatile set isn’t available for purchase until September 15, I thought I would give you all the opportunity to win it along with a few other complimentary goodies!  Here’s what’s up for grabs:

This prize package has a retail value of nearly $90, so it’s totally worth sharing a comment with us today!  Just drop a line below and let us know what you think of the ability to customize your own journaling blocks with this new product line.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time with you here today and look forward to hearing what all of you think of this exciting *yet to be released* product!  And don’t forget, even if you don’t win, this stamp set, along with all of its complimentary accessories, will be available on our website beginning September 15.

Nichole

FFFLOGO1

 

P.S. It’s Friday! It’s free! It’s a font! Click here to get your font for Free Font Friday!

Special Guest Blogger: Amanda Probst

07/03/2009 at 10:53 am | Posted in guest blogger | 7 Comments
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AP-headshotHey there! I’m Amanda Probst, contributing writer with Creating Keepsakes. Happy as pie to be guest blogging here today. 😉 (Yeah, I don’t know how happy pie is either, but my boys tell me it’s pretty dang happy.) Given the date, I figured I’d share a fun little Fourth of July layout with you…a layout that happens to sport some of my favorite things lately.

AP-ooh

“Ooh aah” by Amanda Probst. Supplies Cardstock: Prism Papers; Die-cutting machine: Silhouette by QuicKutz; Font: VNI-HLThuphap; Glimmer mist: Tattered Angels; Ink: Close To My Heart; Stamp: Cornish Heritage Farms; Crimper & punch: Fiskars; Label-maker: Dymo; Pen: American Crafts Precision Pen; Adhesive: Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L (E-Z Dots, 3D Foam Squares), Scotch double-sided tape.

1. To start, I used my Silhouette to cut out my title. (I love that!) I stuck it to my cardstock with removable adhesive (not something I use all that often, but it comes in quite handy for things like this).

2. Then, I used my awesome Candy Apple Red Glimmer Mist to spray randomly around the title. (I did this outside because I just find that easier, though I have a mat for doing it indoors.) Peeled off the cardstock title, and voila!

AP-ooh-step

3. Next, I added my big blue star to the layout using scrap strips of cardstock. There’s no magic about this; I simply stuck them down where it looked right. 🙂

4. Along the top, I added the photos, and I used my Dymo label-maker for the strip of journaling.

5. For the star accents, I stamped a scrap of white cardstock with a dot pattern then put that through my handy-dandy Fiskars crimper that I picked up a couple weeks ago. (I can’t believe I’ve lived this long without one!)

AP-oooh-crimp

5. I then punched stars out of the crimped paper and used foam squares to adhere those to punched circles of red cardstock. I added those to the layout.

6. The “final” touch here was to trim the kraft cardstock to 11.5″ x 11.5″ and mount that on a full sheet of white cardstock. I did this partially to tie in with the white of the stars and partially (mostly) to help flatten out the warping cardstock after having been misted. I added a simple black pen line because I can’t seem to help myself. 🙂

AP-oooh-punch

There you have it. And, true to my norm, it’s an almost entirely cardstock-only layout. If you’d like to see other star embellishment ideas, check out my Monthly To-Dos column in the July issue of Creating Keepsakes or see the July chapter in my book, Month by Month Scrapbooking. (Sorry, couldn’t help myself with the plugs there, LOL!)

In the meantime, have a fantastic and safe weekend, okay?

Amanda Probst

Check out Amanda’s blog for even more inspiring ideas you can try this summer!

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