Weekly Warm-Up: Incredible (not so edible) eggs using your scrapbooking supplies!

03/29/2010 at 1:25 pm | Posted in General Inspiration, How-Tos, product, Uncategorized, weekly warm up | 11 Comments
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Wait a minute! Do you realize Easter is less than a week away? Hopefully you’ve got that extra bit of spring in your step and you’re ready for an egg-xtra fun project! Megan Hoeppner and I had a blast using our scrapbooking supplies to decorate these adorable eggs. The possibilities are endless, and the results are super-way-dang (that’s like the ultimate in cuteness)! We opted not to dye our eggs before decorating them, but remember this is your creative time and you can do whatever you want!

Spot-on

These happy polka-dot eggs were easier to create than you might think. Megan first started by placing a glue dot onto her egg. She then dipped the egg into a small pile of flock, used her finger to make sure it was pressed in well to each glue dot, then gently brushed off the excess and repeated the process.

Absolutely Frilling

Ribbon is one of my favorite supplies, and ribbon scraps are perfect for decorating eggs. My orange egg was dyed using spray ink. Once dried, I adhered a large layer of ribbon around it, then a thin sheer ribbon over the top of the large ribbon. For the green and purple egg, I simply used Smooch ink, from Clearsnap, to create my green horizontal lines. Then I placed strips of ribbon in-between the lines. Finally, I tied a bow with the ribbon and adhered that to the top of my egg.

Rubbing me the right way

You can do so much with rub-ons! Megan created this fun spring scene using these yummy rub-ons from Hambly Screen Prints. The grass on Megan’s egg was created by painting small blades with Smooch ink. This same technique would be super cute on an Earth Day project, which just happens to be celebrating it’s 40 anniversary on April 22, 2010.

Speckles of happiness

This egg just makes me smile. When colors like these work so well together, it’s almost like they were two birds of a feather! Megan sprayed the egg with one color and allowed it to dry completely. Then she lightly sprayed the second color. Remember, sometimes less is more. Create a light mist affect by spraying from a distance rather than too closely.


Blooming with color

Oh my gosh! This egg is cuter than cute and definitely sprouting to the occasion. Nothing says spring like bright vibrant flowers. Add a little sparkle and the world couldn’t get any sweeter! Start by applying ink to create your petals. using a small foam square, dip one side into glitter and adhere the other side to the center of your flower. Hippity, hoppity for sure!


The write stuff

Everything’s better when it’s personalized! You can create these one-of-a-kind eggs for yourself and all your flock too. All you need is glitter glue and a little imagination.

I hope these techniques give you at least a dozen of your own incredible ideas. We’d love to see what you come up with. Share your projects with us in the Club CK idea gallery.

Joannie McBride, assistant editor

Weekly Warm-Up: Fonts for Holiday Pages and Cards

12/07/2009 at 4:00 am | Posted in fonts, Holidays, weekly warm up | 11 Comments
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Have you seen the January issue of Creating Keepsakes? Our new “Scrappetizers” column in the printed magazine is so fun! If you’re a font fan, you’re going to love the CK Font Find. Each issue, we’ll show you a cool font that’s inexpensive or—better yet—free. In the January issue, we featured the darling Glengary font by Nick Curtis, available from MyFonts.com for $7.95. Be sure to download this cute accent our design team created for you using the Glengary font!

If you’re looking for more great fonts for your holiday pages and cards, I’ve selected a few of my favorite free finds for you. Just click on the links to download these beauties. I’ve typed out a greeting in each one so you can see how fantastic these fonts will look on your projects.

This Renaissance font is available from FontSquirrel.com.

Here’s Ballpark, also from FontSquirrel.com.

Thaleia is available from Dafont.com.

Quentin Caps is from Dafont.com, too.

You’ll find Kingthings Christmas at Dafont.com as well.

Gloucester MT Extra Condensed might already be on your computer. If not, you can get it from FontYukle.com.

While we’re talking about great holiday fonts, be sure to consider stickers, stamps, and rub-ons—there are many wonderful options! Here are some that will look super on your holiday pages.

Doodlebug Design offers the Crushed Velvet Shin-Dig Alphabet stickers in Ladybug.

Making Memories sets the holiday mood with the Mistletoe Glitter Alphas.

Cosmo Cricket brings joy with the Jolly By Golly Alpha Rub Ons.

American Crafts spreads holiday cheer with the Ginger clear acrylics stamp set.

What lettering products and fonts are you using on holiday pages? Leave us a comment so I can check out your favorites, too!

—Lori Fairbanks, product editor

P.S. Check out the Giveaways tab to see if you were one of three lucky winners to receive an autographed copy of 52 More Scrapbooking Challenges by Elizabeth Kartchner.

Weekly Warm-up: Ideas for Mom, Deals and Winning Names!

04/27/2009 at 10:51 pm | Posted in Uncategorized | 12 Comments
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

megan_headshot-sm6

 

 As any mother will likely tell you, handmade gifts from the kids are the stuff that melt mothers’ hearts. So, I’m going to dedicate this week’s warm-up to a few quick and easy gifts you can make for your Mother Dearest or anyone on your gift-recipient list. Like so many of the things I do, these projects are quick, easy and affordable. Let’s begin!

 

Bitty Pails

 ww_mom-toolsw

I love little buckets, both because they serve many purposes and because they’re just so darn cute. To make my projects, I used a few bitty pails from Target’s dollar section, some rub-ons and a hole punch (the Crop-a-Dile from We R easily punches through metal).
Note: If you don’t have a Target in your area, you can find bitty buckets online.

 

Votives

Okay, so maybe the idea of a candlelit dinner isn’t the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Mother’s Day, but this idea may change that. Turn small buckets into votive holders and line them up on your dinner (or brunch table). I used the swirl design of my rub-ons (from Glitz Designs) to guide my hole punching. The candle light will come shining through in fun and interesting ways.

 ww_mom-votive1w

 

ww_mom-votivew

 

Candy Containers

Fill these tiny containers with Mom’s favorite treat. Like me, my mama loves bubblegum, so I filled my bucket with pink gumballs. Any small candy will do the trick, or you can go a healthier route and fill your containers with non-edible goodies (flower seeds, jewelry, tickets, an SD card loaded with photos, etc.)

 ww_mom-gumw

 

Get the Kids Involved

To prove just how easy this project is, I had my young niece help me create. Here are some of her awesome designs.

 ww_mom-bucketsw

Let’s Make a Deal

If buckets aren’t really your thing or you simply want to explore your options, I also have a few sales and freebies for you to check out.

 

Shutterfly

shutterfly

Create all sorts of unique gifts for mom on the Shutterfly website. There’s a big sale going on between now and this Wednesday. Plus, you can get free shipping on orders of $50 or more by entering the promo code SHIP50 when you check out.

 

Serif

ww_serif1

Our friends at Serif sent over a hot tip on where you can get a free Mother’s Day digi kit, good for making specials layouts for Mom or creating a unique greeting card to brighten up her day. Check out DaisyTrail for details.

You don’t need to wait for a designated holiday to honor the people you care about. I hope these ideas will inspire you to share a bit of yourself with the others through the gift of a handmade surprise.

 

Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner

Speaking of sharing gifts, let’s get to our lucky winners. I have the happy job of announcing winners in today’s post for a number of giveaways hosted last week. Thanks to random.org, I have those names to share with you now. Drum roll, please…

 

Weekly Warm-up: Add a Little Spring to Your Designs

ww_trees_bucket

The winner of my springtime giveaway is…

  • Jingle: “COLOR! That is my favorite way to add spring to my layouts! I like to use bright, cheery colors and lots of them!”

 

An Insider’s Look: CK’s May Issue

skater

The winners of Maurianne’s look-inside giveaway are…

  • Kimmie: “Camera fun and the stamping ideas. I think I always forget to use my stamps.”
  • Christine Dibble: “I love using colorful ribbon scraps to make sun rays.”
  • Linda E.: “I always find inspiration on every page of CK but if I had to pick just one article it would be Design Cheat Sheets. I loved the combination of sketches, tips and comments by former Hall of Famers.”

 

Special Guest Blogger: Jennifer McGuire

jennifer_giveaway

The winners of Jennifer’s flower grab bags are…

  • PamK: “I love the beaded one. But they are both so simple that even I could do them lol. I usually use punches and dress them up.”
  • Giovana: “Wonderful tutorials. I really like both techniques and I will definitely give them a try. God bless.”
  • Paola Norman: “I love all of Jennifer tips and techniques I visit her wonderful blog on a daily basis and love it!
    My fav. flower technique is the folded flower. Thanks and have a great day!”
  • Alli: “Jennifer always has great techniques! I think the beaded flower is so cute, but I don’t have the patience to make them myself. Thanks for the fun giveaway!”
  • Jennifer Larson: “Not a technique, but I love to work flowers onto my pages, even though I have two boys. It’s a challenge for me.”

 

To Claim Your Prize

Please email us at letters@creatingkeepsakes.com with “Blog Winner” in the subject line. Include your name and mailing address, as well as the post you won with, and we’ll get your prizes sent out.

 

Congrats to all of our winners and thanks to all who participated. We l-o-v-e reading your comments (giveaway or no giveaway) and always appreciate you taking the time to share.

 

Enjoy the week ahead!

Megan Hoeppner, Creative Editor

Weekly Warm-up!

03/23/2009 at 1:53 am | Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

img_20574Happy Monday, Friends of CK!

You know how certain songs can just whisk you back to a very specific moment? That’s how the song “Borderline” by Madonna is for me. I vividly remember a lovely walk on a spectacular Michigan summer day, among country creeks and cornstalks, skipping along to that catchy tune . . .

Today, we invite you to embrace the borderline in your projects. Particularly, we propose that you get creative with border rub-ons, just like our technique guru, Jennifer McGuire, does in her column on p. 47 of the April issue of Creating Keepsakes. Try one of Jennifer’s suggestions:

  • Add border rub-ons to plain ribbon.
  • Apply rows of border rub-ons to create your own patterned paper.
  • Use border rub-ons to create journaling lines.
  • Decorate a die-cut shape with a border rub-on outline.
  • Apply a border rub-on along a curved edge.
  • Accentuate border rub-ons with gems.
  • Decorate craft supplies with rub-ons.

Or, come up with your own inventive use for border rub-ons. And don’t forget to share your projects in our online gallery. Check out just some of the snazzy products that manufacturers are offering:

my-pictures

Border rub-ons by: GCD Studios, Hambly Screen Prints, Jenni Bowlin Studio, K& Company, Kaisercraft, Maya Road and Rob and Bob Studio, Provo Craft.

Finally-wow! We really enjoyed all your Irish toasts and blessings…what a great smile-inducer last week. The LUCKY winner of our green giveaway? None other than the lovely Teresa M., who shared this little ditty:

May the Irish hills caress you
May her lakes and rivers bless you
May the luck of the Irish enfold you
May the blessings of Saint Patrick behold you

 Teresa, please send us your address to bopel@ckmedia.com so we can get your green goodies in the mail!

img_2401
Back row, L to R: Matt Anderson, Brian Tippetts, Jennifer Schaerer, Janice Barfuss, Andrew Johnson; Center: Lori Fairbanks, Susan Opel, Jennafer Martin, Maurianne Dunn, Neko Carrillo, Brittany Beattie; Front, standing: Carma Calder, Joannie McBride, Beth Opel, Erin Bayless, Cath Edvalson; Front, kneeling: Kim Blackinton, P. Kelly Smith, Brandy Jesperson, Megan Hoeppner, Brenda Peterson.

Remember to mosey on over to our Facebook page to become a fan and receive mailings with even more fun ideas! 

Beth Opel

Senior Writer, Creating Keepsakes

Blog at WordPress.com.
Entries and comments feeds.