I've been on an involuntary stamping hiatus this summer, but I think Monday will bring the cure for my current case of stamper's block...did you know that Hero Arts is launching a new website??! The celebration begins on Monday with lots of creative ideas (as usual) and lots of prizes (can I get a Woooo-hooooo??!), so be sure to tune in for the big surprise! Here's a little hint just for you:
Happy Friday!
Another fun project that I made with my Cricut! I used the new Life is a Beach cartridge to decorate a plain chipboard box:
Super cute, super easy. It took me all of 20 minutes or so to cover the box with patterned paper and ribbon and die-cut the hibiscus flower for the top. I added a bit of shading with some chalk ink and that's it! A great spot for your summer treasures or a way to dress up a small gift! :)
Patterned Paper: SEI, Scenic Route Paper Co.; Ribbon: SEI; Die-cut cartridge: Provo Craft
Another little project I created using the Home Decor Solutions cartridge:
All the die-cutting on the tin (dragonfly, "simplify", flourish, scalloped circle) are from the Home Decor Solutions cartridge. Gotta love that kind of versatility, right? I cut the dragonfly twice: once plain and the second time as a shadow image, and I layered them and attached them to my tin with foam adhesive.
In order to cut the flourish from vellum, I experimented with the pressure setting. It cuts beautifully (depending on the intricacy of the design) on medium pressure with the multi-cut setting. I also found that it works best if you are using an older cutting mat; i.e., one that is not brand-new super-sticky. If the mat is too sticky, the vellum won't release without tearing or curling.
Supplies: Patterned Paper: Bo Bunny, Cardstock: Bazzill Basics; Vellum: The Paper Company; Die-cut cartridge: Provo Craft
Wish I had a patriotic photo to share, but unfortunately nothing this year. Next year may be a different story, however! :)
Hope all my American friends and family are having a wonderful 4th of July! I'm thinking of you all and wishing I could be celebrating with a BBQ and fireworks too!
A quick card share to prove that you need the Home Decor Solutions cartridge:
I think I've mentioned before that it's one of my favorites, and I made several projects with it for Provo Craft. Once I got going, I couldn't stop, so I made a few cards of my own and I've got a layout in progress too. At my current rate of production though, who knows when that will get done? The outlook isn't promising.
For this card, I cut the word "miracle" three times. Once plain, once in blackout, and once in shadow, and then I layered them all together for this dimensional look. I also cut the frame twice, and layered them, lifting the second one up on foam adhesive. I love attaching die-cuts with foam adhesive; the extra dimension adds visual interest, and I'm a sucker for those little details. :)
Supplies: Patterned Paper: KI Memories; Die-cutting cartridge: Provo Craft
To all my Canadian friends, Happy Canada Day! For all the rest of you, hope you had a wonderful Wednesday.
Our good friends Heather and Jonathan invited us to a Canada Day parade, and it just so happened to be Sadie's very first parade. We'll be heading to our second parade on Friday, and by then, I'll be a parade connoisseur and should you need it, I can give you a very professional comparison of the two and commentary on parades in general, but for now our only comment (submitted by Sadie) was "more clowns!"
The little Canadian herself:
Our little family, parade-watching:
And a bonus photo discovered while I was downloading to my external hard-drives. Derrick must have snapped this while I was dodging parade horses to snap a photo of Heather's family. With Heather's camera obviously. Because of course, I would never touch a Canon voluntarily.
It's been a very long while since I scrapbooked anything for fun, but I've been catching on friends' blogs and I've been really inspired to get moving on some of my own projects. Hopefully, I can set aside a little time for that this summer. We'll see. So far, it's been a very busy June and my prediction for July is even busier yet.
Back in May, I scrapped a little vintage-inspired card for Banana Frog's color focus. Here's our inspiration piece:
And here's what I came up with:
Very different from my usual linear, colorful style, but a fun challenge nonetheless. I printed a vintage clip art piece and used an X-acto knife to trim it to shape for my card sentiment. I used the Take Note set for the scroll background and to create a foundation for the vintage clip art, which I accented with a plain tag, fancy ribbon and velvet scallops.
You can see the rest of the design team's interpretations here and here!
"You were given life; it is your duty (and also your entitlement as a human being) to find something beautiful within life, no matter how slight."
-Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love
As promised, how ever many days ago...
Here is my other layout for my friend Heather's album:
Jonathan asked us to create a page with a photo of ourselves and some words of wisdom or encouragement for Heather. I chose to journal about how she inspires me. She is always challenging herself. Always. Heather just isn't a person who sits back and lets things happen, and frankly, she doesn't give herself enough credit for that. She works very hard at life. Sometimes even (most of the time, if I'm feeling honest here), she makes me feel downright lazy. I could do without that part, but if nothing else, she certainly inspires me to get moving. :)
I went very clean and simple on this layout. So much so that I skipped my trademark stitching, but added dimension by popping up the middle portion of the layout with foam adhesive. "Dream big" is from the Graphically Speaking cartridge, and I used one of my favorite Hero Arts stamp sets: Thank You Flourishes.
I like it. I might have to recreate something similar for my own book. You know what they say...no sense reinventing the wheel and all that.
Oh, and someone else likes it too...
Scrapbooker- in-training? Yes, yes I think so.
Supplies: Die-cut cartridge: Provo Craft; Butterflies: American Crafts; Stamps, gems: Hero Arts
Abandoned and alone, you poor thing. It's been days and days now since I've bothered to even look in on you. Excuses are as follows: I discovered Twitter. I read the Twilight series again (I know, I know, please spare me the criticism). I decided to read good writing again: Eat Pray Love. I edited every single photo I've taken since Christmas (thank God and Adobe for Lightroom 2). I joined the gym and typing hurts all the muscles in my upper body. Sadie decided to strengthen her immune system with a litte five day bout of vomitous maximus. I desperately needed to catch up on some sleep and some assignments. I haven't scrapped anything - or had any desire to scrap - for fun in over 30 days. And most importantly, I had some deadly dull paperwork that I have been procrastinating for about two months, and it desperately needed a little TLC before I missed the deadline and got myself in a whole lotta trouble.
With that said, hopefully I can have my life back now.
But then again, summer is officially here, the sun is shining, and my pasty white self is in dire need of some Vitamin D, so therefore, it would be wise to not make any promises about posting daily. I don't want to put myself into a sticky situation...
