Go Mini!

I admit it.  I love things in miniature.  *pops mini Reese's Cup into mouth*  Honestly, what could be better?

Part of the joy of scrapping is that companies make the cutest little items.  Do yall remember the first time you saw a Jolee's sticker set?  Mine was a baby bath set with the cutest little duckie ever.  I just had to have it and it took me forever to be able to talk myself into actually using it.

Now I have a full collection of mini items from flowers to circus animals.  Some come in the form of stamps, some are stickers, others are multi-faceted embellishments.  I adore them all.

Last month Editor Katey Green said to me--hey, how about we make a Mini Mag in between our quarterly issues?  Something that is just a little bite-sized version of the magazine we have lovingly put together for more than 6 years now.  A little lightbulb popped over my head and I headed for the computer.  Absolutely doable.

What to include?  Definitely a free digi kit.  Who doesn't love our monthly freebie?  And a feature on the generous and talented designer who donates it.  And a few layouts by talented scrap artists who show us how to let that kit shine.  And then a few more articles with fun topics.  Wrap it all up and pop a bit of a bow on it and we are pleased to reveal the ScrapStreet MiniMag!

A big thank you to Kim of Kim Cameron Designs for this month's free kit.  It is quite simply darling.  Kim creates adorable kits with themes for all the fun in real life.  I admit to loving her fun take on Pizza Night.  Head on over to her blog and look at all the goodies.  She even offers CU freebies!  Here is her gift to our readers--Discovery:

Downloads:  {link expired}
Please respect this generous gift and do not upload/share this kit.  Friends are welcome to download it here for the next month.  Thank you!

Next month, join us for another issue of our mini mag!

Hello from CHA!

Hi everyone!

Melissa here blogging from Anaheim, California. It's Winter CHA 2012 and I am having a blast down here checking out all the beautiful new releases from manufacturers. This is my first Winter show. After being at the Summer show two times, it is weird for me to see Spring and Summer colors and patterns. I am so use to seeing collections for Fall and Winter. So this is quite the life for me right now. Being a sunny, warm place and viewing product that gives off a lovely warm vibe.

I thought I would share a few photos with you...

American Crafts has some beautiful new flowers to enhance their collections. Love the colors.  They also have new alcohol based markers that color and blend like the dream. The price point on these is very low. I believe they are about $.2.50 a marker. Don't quote me completely on that but they are going to be EXTREMELY affordable.

Crate Paper is always a hit for us. Storyteller is my favorite from them I think.

Loving the alpha sheets!

I cannot get over these frames. They are just beautiful and I see so many possibilities! Leave them raw, alter, frame a photo, do spots of patterned paper or journal inside.

Check out these new Tiny Text stickers from Cosmo Cricket! They are so perfect for the "Me" scrapper than I am. I need several sheets of each please. :)

I am in LOOOOOVE with all four new collections from Lily Bee. This is a must stop booth for me at these shows. These papers are a clean and simple scrappers dream. They are also perfect for creating handmade embellishments... you know... with the Cameo. :)

This is just a little taste into all that there is to see at the Winter show. You can find more photos on my blog - The Profound Brunette. There are more photos from Pink Paislee, My Minds Eye, Basic Grey, etc. More will be coming from Teresa Collins, Echo Park, Nikki Sivils and others. 

My 2 Cents!

Today I’m going to introduce you to a product by Imaginisce called the i-magicut Ribbon Cutter.  It’s a cute gadget, but is it worth spending $19.99 on?  I have a friend who is a gadget fanatic and she would say YES, I got to have it!  She would buy it, use it twice and then shelve it with all the other cool gadgets she collects. But those of us who are sticking to our crafting budget, spending $19.99 on this would mean losing out on quite a bit of other products we are drooling over.

This gadget cuts and seals the ribbon for you and you can use it on ribbons up to 3” wide.  It runs on batteries and is portable so you can pack it to take to crops, weekends, or wherever else you are going that you might need to cut and seal ribbon.  It heats up within 5 seconds so there is no long waiting time and it does a few different cuts too.

Would I buy it?  Well, I have scissors that will cut ribbon just fine.  I can cut it in angles, straight, snake tongue whatever way I want.   If I wanted something different in a cut I could dig out some decorative scissors and snip away.  Fraying ends, well those are a problem on some ribbons but for me it’s not worth buying a gadget for.  I like to use clear Elmers glue to end fraying.  I dunk a toothpick in the bottle and then rub it across the cut edge.  This works just fine.  Nail polish works too and if you use color or glittered polish you would be adding a little something extra to your project. Chances are you have a your own method to stop fraying already. I don't have many problems with my ribbons being wrinkled so I'm normally not concerned with flattening my ribbons. But if I would get one that was especially wrinkled up I have an iron in the house, so no problem with getting it nice and flat. 

My 2 cents, save your money.

Happy Crafting!

I "Heart" You

Love is in the air ... I have two loves that my heart belongs to. My husband and my daughter. I wanted to share these layouts with that mind. These photos were not taken on Valentine's Day but they represent the story I wanted to tell.

I decided to use the Basic Grey collection "Kissing Booth" and also My Mind's Eye "Love Me". I liked the soft pink, red and vanilla color pallette. I also used the "Little Black Dress" collection for the card below.

BLISS

MY TWO HEARTS

Happy LOVE Day!! 

My Funny Valentine

Hi everyone! Valentine's Day is the next big card-making occasion and it's in almost two weeks. Today I'm sharing a funny Valentine's Day card I made. It's perfect for a man, whether it's your husband, son or father. I plan to write "Will you be my Valentine?" on the inside, but you could write anything as long as it's in the form of a question. (Kinda' like Jeopardy.)

Speaking of funny cards, it's not too late to submit to our latest call for submissions. Like Connie, I've been thinking about my article for the April issue, which is about the use of humor in your projects. Although I made a card for today's post (because that's just how I roll), humor can be a fun element in layouts or even party decor. I hope this card inspires you to use your sense of humor (because I know you all have one)! This is no joke! I really mustache you to have fun with your projects. Don't shave it for later, do it now because the deadline to submit is February 18!! :-)

There are lots of great calls out there. Click here for all the deets and happy crafting!

Deceives the eye~

Hi everyone!!!

I have been thinking about my April call for submission and thought I would show you some examples of what I'm looking for.  My call is~

Make a LO that deceives the eye~for example, the LO shows two photos but it really has eight. Send two photos ~show both views.Here are a couple of examples~

Here is another~

So I'm looking forward to seeing your ideas!!!! Send submissions to connie@scrapstreet.com

Submissions are being accepted until Feb.18 at midnight. This is for the April issue of ScrapStreet!!!!
See ya soon!!!!

{travel cards}

Hi everyone! Today I have two cards that I made, using some new products. Carina Gard­ner has new paper sets com­ing out on Mon­day, these papers are titled “Well Trav­elled.” They will be avail­able at www. jessicasprague.com

I had had this idea for a card in my brain for a while, and thus this card came together super quick. Hybrid cards usu­ally come easy to me 

Sup­plies used:

Soft­ware: Adobe Pho­to­shop CS5

Papers: Carina Gardner

Fonts: Hel­vetica

Card­stock: Wassau

trying to think Spring

Nothing is blooming around here right now.
Six inches of snow blanket the ground.
We are a long way from spring. 
So, I've decided I need to create my own.
This is a very simple (and addicting way) to make some beautiful flowers that you can add to your home, sweaters, scarves, and even cards and pages.

Start with a piece of felt 3 1/2" x 12 " long. Fold it in half the long way (so it is now 1 3/4" x12"), and hot glue where the two edges meet.

Then, snip from the folded edge about every 1/2".

Take one end and start rolling, it helps to add a drop of hot glue every once in awhile to help hold it together.

Boom--you have a bloom!
                     
Once you've done this a few times, you can really start to play around with how big a piece of felt you use and how far apart or how close you snip--it totally changes the outcome.

You can group some blooms to add to a sweater or scarf.

You can use your bloom on a gift tag
(this one is going on a bottle of wine).

Or, you can create a paper tag to use for a gift card envelope (cleverly recycled flattened toilet paper roll).

Now, I want you to be the florist! In each issue of Scrapstreet, my article, Graffiti, looks at popular art for inspiration. For the next issue, I'm looking for ONE BIG FLOWER. Can you guess which famous artist I'll be highlighting?

So, show me ONE BIG FLOWER! You can doodle, stamp, cut, fold, paint, or surprise me with your bloom on your card, scrapbook page, or project, but only use ONE flower. Send your creations to submissions@scrapstreet.com by February 18th.


Check out the other submission calls too... http://scrapstreet.com/ss12/janu12/calls.htm
Turn your mind towards spring!

~Kelly

A freebie to brighten up your weekend

Hi everyone, we have a bright and cheerful freebie for you this weekend! Take your mind off the gloomy weather and do some scrapping!

Just a few papers and elements to create a page or two, a card or some invites to a party maybe?

You can download it here for the next week then it is gone. As usual, please do not share this - it is free here for all to come and get their own copy!

Enjoy and happy scrapping. Sorry link expired.

How about a Quickie!

I bet I got your attention! What I'm referring to is the Sakura Quickie Glue pen!  This pen is one of the best paper crafting tools out there.  If you aren't familiar with it you soon will be.

Basically, it's a pen filled with glue.  It looks just like a pen and works just like a pen BUT there is no ink, just a nice fine line of liquid glue.  The glue is tinged blue but dries clear.  I'm thankful that it is tinged blue because otherwise I wouldn't be able to see it without double strength reading glasses.  It dries quickly but it allows you plenty of time to get your bling or embellishment on.  If you use more than just a line or drop of the liquid glue it may take longer to dry. For me personally I've only had it take a couple of minutes at the most.

I reach for this glue pen constantly.  I use it for small areas that I want to add chalk, glitter or flocking to.  It's wonderful if you want to outline or write something because it works just like a pen.  I love it for attaching small embellishments and it's great for ribbon too.  Draw the line, stick down that ribbon - your done!

This pen is inexpensive, a plus we can all like!  I've seen it marked anywhere from $3.50 to $1.99.  Mostly it is sold in single packages, but sometimes it comes with three in the package.  I'm sure that you can find higher prices and maybe lower prices if you do a little searching.  Believe me you will use every single drop, I suggest you get more than just one.

I always have around five of the Quickie glue pens open and laying around my work space.  I tend to lose things when I'm working. Technically, they aren't really lost, they are just buried under all the 'stuff' I have spread out all over in my craft room.  When I'm creating, things get messy but I tell myself that it's O.K. because creative minds tend to clutter!

Happy Crafting!

MelissaO

Valentines card

I admit it; I kind of hate Valentine's day. I feel the need to at least make a couple cards though. I kept this one simple and distinctly un-pink. I was inspired for this card by the challenge over at the Ruby Rock-It blog to use a banner, tag or pocket. You have all week to participate to win a prize.

I had this banner sitting around for a while but was afraid to use it. So, thanks for the inspiration!

7 Gypsies Photo Tray and Paper Niche Monthly Kit

Altered items make great gifts.   I made this photo tray for my niece, who is all grown up now.  I thought it would be nice for her to have a picture of her and her mom (my sister) when she was only 9 months old. 

I used the Paper Niche Monthly design team kit for January.  It is full of paper and embellishments.  The 7 Gypsies 4x6 Photo Tray was not included in the kit, but I’ve wanted to make a photo tray for a long time and thought it would make a great birthday gift for my niece.

Paper Niche January's kit features

Paper - October Afternoon, Jenni Bowlin, Prima, and Glitz

Embellishments - Prima flowers (2), Glitz tini alpha, Glitz stickers (Peekaboo and Paper Layers), Webster’s Pages sparklers, crepe paper, Maya Road chip board letters, Prima bling tiles and buttons, and yummy candy from the candy bar.

Ribbon - 5 yards ribbon from Maya Road, American Craft, and Prima

I used mostly the Glitz Girls “Vintage Blue” collection which was included in my kit as my back ground 4x6 matts.  Then I added the peek-a-boos transparencies to give my background an easy and pretty extra layer and pattern.  I then used the October Afternoon Farmhouse “clothesline” paper and cut out the flags, and added pretty ribbon to string along the front of the tray. 

The journaling card is from Prima and the background from Glitz Designs.  The flowers are prima also.  The key was given to me at CHA but can't remember what booth.

The poem on the upper right is from the Glitz Design peek-a-boo vintage blue collection. 

You should try making a photo tray; it was fast and I think makes a great gift.  One tip I can give you on the photo tray is to "pop" up your matted photos.  Happy Scrapping.

Title Work

Title Work

I love titles.  They are all over – on billboards, on TV ads, on web pages and the list goes on and on.  So one of the first things to catch my attention when I look at a scrapbook page is the title.  Scrapbook page titles can be big or small; short or long, they can be aligned vertically, horizontally or anywhere in between!  Titles can be created using a favorite font or made by using alpha elements included with the kit.  I personally enjoy making photo titles as done on my Keith Urban layout below.

Let’s take a look at how these resourceful scrappers titled their layouts:

Dad’s My Coach by “Grandma Crys” (Digital Scrapbook Place member)

Credit:  Digital Kits:  Papers and elements from Nicole Young's  Allstar Whimsy SVC, RedStarTag from Nicole Young's Sport’s Whimsy, RedGlitter from Nicole Young's Lost in Wonderland, all available at Digital Scrapbook Place.

Yuletide Cheer by Jenni (Digital Scrapbook Place member)

Credit: Digital Kits: January 2012 Club Digitall and Merry Moments Deluxe Word Art Set by Heidi Kuester, both available from Digital Scrapbook Place

First Daddy by Felynn (Digital Scrapbook Place Member) 

First Day by Handkl (member of Digital Scrapbook Place Digital Elite Team)

Credit:  Digital Kit:  School Days Mega Kit (available at Digital Scrapbook Place)

By Jill W (Digital Scrapbook Place member)

Credit:  Digital Kit:  Mandee Page Kit by Marcee Duggar (Digital Scrarpbook Place)

By Jill W (Digital Scrapbook Place member)

Credit:  Edith’s Diary by CarolAnn Gary (Digital Scrapbook Place)

I hope some of these titles have given you inspiration!!  Enjoy your day!

Having fun with the January SFTIO Kit

Happy New Year everybody!! It's time to reveal the very first kit of the new year and I must admit, I love the colors!!! This was such a pretty kit to work with. I love it, and I'm really excited about being on this team because it means I'll get to scrap more about me for a change! YAY!

Here are two of the 5 layouts I created using this fabulous kit! I'll be sure to share the rest later this week! What do you think? If you're thinking you need this kit, visit Scrapbooking From The Inside Out today to get yours ASAP!! You won't regret it.