Finally - THE Christmas Card ... :)

There has been so much going on, so many family and friends getting sick, just so much everything, that I had not designed the Christmas card I was going to use this year.  Finally, a few days before Christmas, it is done! (It's a good thing I hand deliver most of my cards :)

As usual, I just have no expertise in photographing cards. This one is so pretty in person with shiny paper, shimmery ribbon, shiny glitter and a couple touches of bling. (I sure wish someone had a class on how to "Effectively Photograph Cards 101" - I would sign up in a heartbeat!)

BTW - have friends become a follower of my blog - I'm trying for 100 and the 100th person will win a nice prize. If that 100th person mentions the follower who referred her/him to the blog - that person also will win a nice prize! So help me out here :)

Reindeer in the Snow Christmas Card

Once again, it's been a long time between posts. Too many things and too little time :(

I did find time to make this card! No matter how I photographed it, I couldn't get the glitter and sparkle to show up. Also, the snow flakes are stamped (with StazOn) on the back of a piece of acetate - which isn't visible in the photo. To make this card, I first stamped the acetate with a snowflake background stamp and set it aside to dry. I cut the white reindeer using the Very Merry Tags cartridge; the cardstock is the coreCouture line called White Gloves - it's very sparkly! I adhered the reindeer to another coreCouture sparkly cardstock: Blue Diamonds. I cut what I call a window mat - the center is cut out creating a frame - from a piece of light blue cardstock (don't know the vendor), and adhered the now dry acetate to that. I adhered the reindeer piece to the card base, then the frame piece over that. I applied Frosted Lace Stickles to the front of the acetate, creating a snowy ground. I wanted it more glittery, so I sprinkled white sparkly glitter to the Stickles while it was still wet. After that dried I applied white ink to the frame to create a snowy effect (which I should have done right after I made the frame). I had a sheet of lightweight glittery green paper (vendor unknown) which I punched out the leaves with a Martha Stewart punch to create the hanging branches on the top left of card. I took red Stickles and squeezed three little "berries" in the branches. As a finishing touch I attached three very light blue Swavorski crystals to the bottom right. Finally - a very pretty finished card! (If you click on the photograph you will be linked to a larger version which shows the glitter of the card better.)

   Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

Christmas Cards - again :)

I said I was going to design a couple of Thanksgiving cards, but once again I ended up doing Christmas cards:) I love the reindeer on the Joys of the Season cartridge - there are 3 styles, and they are so gorgeous! The swirly Christmas tree from the Christmas cartridge is another favorite - so I just had to make more Christmas cards.

The patterned paper is "Vintage Blue Strokes" by the Paper Studio, purchased at Hobby Lobby, and I used it on both cards. The sparkly cardstock paper is from the Core-dinations Couture line, from JoAnn's, and is so pretty in person. I also used it on both cards. (It cuts like butter on the Cricut!) The star atop the Christmas tree is a silvery button from JoAnn's.

On the Reindeer card I attached Jolee's Swavorkski crystals to the middle of the two larger snowflakes. To make the antlers even more sparkly I used the Clear Star gel pen over them. On the hooves I added Tiara Stickles, and at the bottom I used a wide tip Zig glue pen to make strokes, then added white glitter to make it look snowy (doesn't show up in the photo very well).

IMAGINE that!!!

My IMAGINE was delivered yesterday! I am SOOO thrilled - I can't wait to start using it. But, I have to find space for it first :(  That will take a day at least...)
And you know I will be posting whatever my first project will be as soon as I have created it!

Christmas Cards using Cuttlebug

My intentions were to design some Thanksgiving cards, but somehow I ended up making Christmas Cards! I used the Cuttlebug on all three of these cards. The paper I used is really beautiful, but I just couldn't capture it in these photos. It's irridescent and has a swirly design which reminds me of snow swirls - I bought it at Hobby Lobby so I don't know the vendor. But it is definitely gorgeous in real life! I was a little lazy on these cards - I used white textured already cut-and-folded blank cards from Hobby Lobby as my bases ;)
On the card with the bird, I used Tiara Stickles to add definition to the cut and pop-dotted it. On the reindeer card, I used the Swiss Dot folder on the background mat and on the reindeer. I used Clear Star gel pen on the antlers, and Stickles on the hooves. Using the wide point Zig glue pen, I stroked glue across the bottom and sprinkled with white glitter (to create a snowy look).
The Merry Christmas card is white-on-white with red accents. This card was very hard to photograph! I cut "Merry Christmas" using the Wild Card cartridge. The paper is the Cor-dinations Sparkle - and it cuts very easily on the Cricut. It is the same swirly snow paper on all three cards (I love it!).

Long Time, No Post

It has been a month since I have posted. So much going on the last four weeks - but, I'm back now!!!
I made this card a few months ago, and cannot remember which cartridges I used.  It's called a Tri-Fold Shutter Card, and if you would like instructions, just send an email to me at rezinc@aol.com. There are also a few how-to videos available on youtube.com with very good directions on creating this card.

Jesus - peace giver...

Kelly and I recently taught an "Inspirational Card Class" at the beautiful Church of God on the east side of Columbus. There were twelve lovely ladies in attendance and we had an awesome time of creativity and fellowship! This is one of the three cards we created.

The Jesus stamp is by Stampendous, the oval scalloped punch is Marvy, and the double loop punch is Martha Stewart. The patterned paper is from Hobby Lobby, and so is the little cross (got it in the charm section, two per pack for $1.47 - but, I got lucky and the charms were on sale for half price). This card is simple, but one of my favorites, mostly because of the stamp. Thank you for stopping by!

Tim Lane

Not a card, or a layout, I just want to share with you the link to hear my cousin Tim Lane sing at his church in South Carolina:
http://beachchurch.org/#/listenwatch/video-worship
Choose July 18 from the worship service menu, and Tim sings the first opening songs of worship. Tim is the son of my beautiful first cousin, Carol, on my father's side of the family. My heart swells with pride every time I hear him sing - he is so talented, so handsome, and such a good Christian. He has no clue how deeply he touches my heart!

August layout page

In one of the groups I belong to, I am one of the people participating in a "calendar crop". There are 12 participants (12 months, 12 people :) - we each get a specific month to create a layout for. My month is August. I incorporated various icons that remind me of summer: green trees, green grass, the sandy beach, the ocean, the mountains, strawberries and apples, hot sun, cold lemonade, sunglasses. I also wrote a little verse and included it in the layout. I cut everything on my Cricut using these cartridges: Plantin Schoolbook, From My Kitchen, Just Because Cards and Doodlecharms. My photo isn't a very good one. I am going to retake and repost it within the next couple of days.

Editing Photos - PrintShop Deluxe

Quite a few people have asked me what program I use to do photo editing. I actually use two: PrintShop Deluxe and Adobe Photoshop Elements 7.
   Elements 7 is a very intensive, high learning curve program that produces fabulous results. It is not for the faint of heart or people who don't have a lot of time. It's most often used by professionals.
   PrintShop Deluxe is very user-friendly, and is perfect for those who just want to do basic touch-up and special effects. It has a lot of free clip-art and templates, or you can design your own. It also has two text features which enables you to create really neat text effects. PrintShop Deluxe is very affordable and quick and easy to learn.
   PrintShop Deluxe can be bought at Staples or OfficeMax. It is also available at http://www.broderbund.com/ (where I usually buy it). This program is so fun to use and you will love all the creativity you can add to your photos and layouts!

This is a picture of my daughter Shawna, taken at a family picnic. I want to use it on a scrapbook page, but with a totally different look. I open up PrintShop and place the photo above onto the page.

The first thing I do is correct the color - very easy to do in PrintShop. Next I add a soft edge around the image. I then add a light blue "radiant glow" around the photo. My final touch is to use the headline feature of the program - I type her name, add a color inline and outline, add a curve and a drop shadow. Voila! In just a few steps I have created an edited version of the original photo!

Dinner invitation with Wall Decor cartridge

Many days later, I finally created a card using "Wall Decor"! I used Bazzill Pink for the base, Core'dinations Black/Pink for the layer, the Chandelier (cut with Wall Decor) and the word "you" (cut with Beyond Birthdays). Three pink bling stones attached to sheer black ribbon across top; and 3 smaller black bling for the elliptical dots under the word you. I outlined the chandelier with Clear Star Sakuro gel pen, used Crystal Accents for the hanging crystal, and a gold gel pen for the candle flames. The pink paper with black chandeliers is by Paper Studio. The outside says "you...:, and on the inside it says "are invited to a celebration dinner, blah, blah, blah....." Thanks for looking and have an awesome day!

New Stuff :)

I recently won the cartridge WALL DECOR AND MORE on ebay (for a great price) and I LOVE IT!!! What an awesome cartridge! My next post will be a card or layout using Wall Decor & More...
The pink Bone Folder by MS was just too cute to pass up when I was at Michael's yesterday; I just HAD to have it. I mean, look how cute it is... it even has bling on it (that's why I put the close-up picture in this post - you just have to see the bling :)

Class Project

This is a quick and easy project I made for our upcoming Technique Class. I used Plantin Schoolbook and Paisley cartridges. The rim was created with a Martha Stewart punch - but I can't remember the name. Heidi Grace paper, A Little Birds Tale line, Paisley design; Bazzill blue card stock. The kit includes the items in the photo - ready to assemble! The photo on the right is :)obviously:) the finished project:) If you would like the cut file send an email to me rezinc@aol.com!

Thank You For Being You...

There are so many wonderful people on the Cricut.com message board, so they all were the inspiration for this card.The patterned paper is left-over pieces of the Paper Studio Meadowsweet line, ribbon from JoAnn's, bling from Hobby Lobby, Bazzill cardstock from Michael's, Cats Eye inks, and sentiment from Stampin' Up. Thanks for looking and have a blessed day!

Happy Anniversary

I made this card for a friend of my husband's. I used the MS Trellis Punch, and everything else is from scraps. (I have no clue what vendors are represented here:) I do remember the lace was from JoAnn's and the key from Hobby Lobby. Thanks for looking!

BUTTERFLY CARD

I loved the Butterfly on the kit layout (see older post), that I just had to make a card using it. The butterfly is from the Tinkerbell cartridge. The paper is Paper Studio, Meadowsweet line. I cut the pink layer of the butterfly on pink Core-dinations paper, using the lighter side for the butterly; the darker textured side I used to punch the bottom layer of the flowers. The top layer of the flowers were punched from Bazzill String-of-Pearls. I used an EK flower punch tocreate the flowers. The brownish shadow layer of the butterfly is cardstock from Hobby Lobby, and as they don't mark their cardstock, I have no idea who the vendor is or the name of the color. It doesn't show up very well in the photo, but I outlined the pink layer of the butterfly and the top layers of the flowers with Sakura Gelly Roll pen "Clear Star". The sentiment is from Stampin' Up (love their stamps), stamped with Cocoa Brown ink. I edged with Cats Eye pink and light brown inks. The inspiration for this card is Jeannie Phillips, a designer who contributes to the cricut.com message board. If you haven't visited the site, you should do so right away - there are so many talented people on the board that share their creations every day. Jeannie is an awesome designer and a beautiful Christian. She is a delight! Stop by the message board first chance you get!

CUTE AND SOME - great blog!

If you have never visited the blog of Audrey Frelix, you are missing a treat! So many beautiful creations there. She also features a SHOWCASE CHALLENGE where you can show off your creation! Audrey is an awesome lady and I hope to have the pleasure of meeting her in person some day soon! Here's the link: http://cuteandsome.blogspot.com/

Scrapbook 2-page Layout Kit

I have started designing Scrapbook Page Kits, and this is my first creation. The gorgeous butterflies are from the Tinkerbell cartridge! I outlined them with the Sakura Clear Star gel pen - they really glimmer and shine! On the body of the butterflies I adhered 3 pearls for a touch of elegance. The butterflies and photo mats are all pop-dotted (doesn't show up in the photos). The kit includes everything you need to re-create this layout - down to the tiny little brads in the flowers! (Adhesive and pop-dots are not included.) As a special perk, I am also including a Sakura Clear Star gel pen with each kit. If you would like to order this kit, email me at rezinc@aol.com.

This is a close up of the butterfly, so you can see the sparkle!
I LUV this butterfly, and I am going to scraplift
my own design to make a card :)

Birthday #63

Yesterday was my birthday...and I'm not aging gracefully...
I received a lot of nice things, but favorites were the flowers from my 7 year old granddaughter and 8 year old grandson (they picked out all by themselves), the beautiful pearl bracelet from my oldest daughter, and my JoAnn's gift card from my youngest daughter! My husband - well, he always gets me very nice things!

Aging is something I totally disdain, but family and friends make it bearable!:)

Paytan

Scrapbooking is so much fun - especially when I am scrapbooking one of my grandkids! This is Paytan, the newest grandchild, our miracle baby! She is my son-in-law's first (and only) child, so I wanted to do this page for him. (My daughter has a 13 year old daughter and 15 year old son from her first marriage.) Chad is a wonderful son-in-law, a great father to the older kids, and a good husband to my daughter. A mom just couldn't ask for any thing more :)
I could not photograph this page very well - has a lot of shiny stuff on it and the lighting isn't very good. But you can see her "crazy" hair. She has the craziest hair I've ever seen on a new baby. She's 3 months old in the photos (4 months at this posting).

RU - This one's for you!!!

The inspiration for this card is my wonderful friend Ru - she's such a Darling! I cut the scallop shape from Mini Monograms, the butterflies from Indie Art, and the sentiment from - well, I forget that one...
I cut the scallop out of cardstock and one out of some beautiful, sparkly, heavy weight vellum that I have had for a while. (Click on the photo to see a larger one with more detail.) The gems and flowers are from my stash. I edged the base scallop in a couple of different tints of purple ink, and dotted the "i" in friends and life with Tiara Stickles. Photo 1 is a shot of the entire card. Photo 2 is a close shot of the top. Photo 3 is a close up shot of the bottom. If you would like the cut file, just email me: rezinc@aol.com!

Coffee Cup Invitation Set

We are in the process of designing a class called "Mom's Time Out" and this is the model of the invitation I am going to use. I used the cartridge "Joys of the Season" for the coffee cup and steam coming out of cup. I used Bazzill String-of-Pearls card stock for all four pieces. On the "steam" I applied white Perfect Pearls to give it a shimmer. I used pearl bling on the handle of the cup, and edged the white pieces with Versa Magic Spring Pansy ink.  The glimmer on the lip and bottom of the cup was created with Clear Star Gelly Roll pen. I used Ashlyn's Alphabet for the "you are invited" on the front of the cup, but I have decided to change to another font. Click on photo to see a more detailed view. If you would like the cut file just email me.

Thanks for looking and have a fabulous day!

Serenade Birdcage

I used the SERENADE cartridge to create this birdcage votive holder (battery-operated candle, of course). 

Using DesignStudio, I placed four birdcages side by side, each at 2.75" wide, and welded them together. After cutting on my Cricut E, I formed the cage by folding at each corner spot, and used a small piece of tape at the top and bottom to hold cage together. Bending the tops of the bird cage, I attached them together with a brad, forming an enclosed cage. I adhered 1/2" lace around top, and 1/4" ribbon around bottom. (I used double-sided adhesive to attach the lace and ribbon.) I added a small craft rose in the top middle (all four sides), and a flourish cut from the Cricut on the bottom of all four sides. I also glued a blue gem in the middle of the bottom on all four sides. The cardstock is blue metallic, but I can't remember the vendor. The color of the cardstock is more accurately represented in the photo with the candle turned on.

I had seen a very similar birdcage created by an extremely talented guy, but I can't remember his name. He was the creative inspiration for this project. If anyone knows of who I am speaking, please let me know.

If you would like the cut file, just email me at rezinc@aol.com . Thanks for looking and God bless!

scrapbookpal.com

Scrapbookpal.com is one of my most favorite retailers on the Internet. I LUV the Cats Eye Fluid Chalk ink pads - they are so perfect for edging and getting in small places. Scrapbookpal sells them for $1.65 each, have EVERY color (regular and metallic), and FREE shipping with a minimum $25 order!

My daughter recently ordered the flocking assortment for me, and I have been trying it out. I used it on the butterfly on the front of this card.

I stamped the butterfly image with black ink on Bazzill white cardstock. I filled in the small shapes with my Zig glue pen, and sprinkled blue flocking over the glue. Next I traced the outline of the image with my Zig pen and sprinkled purple flocking over the outline. I used Tiara Stickles (from Scrapbookpal) on the butterfly's antennae. After the Stickles dried, I applied Zig glue to the white areas of the butterfly's wings and misted with white Perfect Pearls. I used an art brush to lightly dust the Pearls over the flocking, resulting in a beautiful, soft effect. I tried to photograph how pretty the finished butterfly is in real life, but I just couldn't capture it. One thing I will do differently next time I use Flock and Perfect Pearls together - I will apply the Perfect Pearls first, the flocking next, then a very light dusting of the Perfect Pearls over the entire image as a last, finishing touch.

MISSING YOU CARD - Take 2

This is a second version of the Miss You card (see below). I like the type on this one better - it's without the shadow background layer. I like the color schemes on both cards, and the pendants can be removed and put on a chain!

APRIL PROJECT

This is the project we made in our April technique group. It was designed by Christel (who started the group and hosts it at her house every month) - isn't it gorgeous! And it's a perfect frame for our group photo!

Technique Group

This is a great group of talented ladies that get together once a month to share techniques, scrap, create, have fun and eat! Each month a different member designs a project (card, page, mini-album, etc), makes the kits, and teaches the group how to put it together! Each member brings a dish for pot luck, and $5 to pay for their kit. Have friends? Get together!

Shana & Ru are Copic Certified!

Congratulations to Shana and Ru! They traveled to Indianapolis on April 23 and took the all-day training to become Copic Certified Designers!!! And that means (drum roll......) we will now be offering COPIC CLASSES!

Miss You...

I designed this card to send to my aunt in Tennessee. I love the card, but I am now thinking that maybe the "Miss You" should be smaller and in a less modern-looking type. What do you think? (I like constructive suggestions :)

But on with the recipe... The base is a very light pink cardstock. I used the MS punch for the lattice. The first layer is Paper Studio Mirabelle Plaid, and the layer on the inset piece is Mirabelle Roses. Ribbon is May Arts, and pearls are orphans in my stash. The sentiment "Miss You" is from the Sentimental cartridge, cut twice and layered. The pretty heart charm is by Bead Landing (from Michael's).

My Friend

My best friend, Kelly, was the inspiration for this card. She is such a special person and I love her dearly!

I used white Bazzill textured card stock for the base, and a lavendar metallic card for the layer. The lace down the middle is MS punch with Perfect Pearls added for glimmer. Butterfly is from Indie Arts cartridge - I cut both butterfly layers in white, then used yellow ink on the bottom layer, and lavender ink on the top. I applied Tiara Stickles (my favorite) on the body and antennae of the butterfly. Ribbons, flowers and bling are "orphans" from other projects.

(PS: {{{{{Shana and Ru}}}}} - you are also my BFFs and there are cards in the making for you, too!)

I made this card from "orphans" (my term for any leftover bits and pieces of any scrapping material). The card base is a piece of white, smooth cardstock which I dusted with white Perfect Pearls to add shimmer. The first layer (the light bluish color) is a textured piece of cardstock with a metallic sheen. The second layer is a piece of white textured cardstock which I embossed with the Swirls folder and dusted with white Perfect Pearls to add shimmer. The third layer, the oval shape, is another piece of the bluish cardstock. Each layer is pop-dotted. The word "Mom" is from the Mother's Day cartridge, with the bottom layer cut from the white textured cardstock, and the top layer is cut from the bluish shiny cardstock. The ribbon is from J's, and the brads are orphans from a wedding page I made. I edged all the layers with VersaColor's celadon ink. On the inside I stamped Happy Mother's Day using the celadon ink. Thanks for looking and have a blessed day!

Thinking of You Card

I saw this pendant at Hobby Lobby - and thought "that would be an awesome gift to attach to a card"! (It's by Metal Gallery.) So I bought it. The neat thing is that I had bought the paper from JoAnn's months ago (Heidi Grace, Winnefred St. line) - and the pendant and paper are a perfect match in design and color! I used Sentimentals cartridge to cut the "Thinking of You". I edged the card with ColorBox Fluid Chalk Cat's Eye Inkpad (Chestnut Roan, from ScrapbookPal.com). The ribbon and lace are from my stash.
Thanks for looking and have a blessed day!

Meet Shana

Shana is my youngest child and BFF. She is part of our "A New Creation" team and will be teaching classes on Digital Photography, PhotoShop Elements, and creative project classes. Shana is a professional photographer, and is currently setting up her own company called "Eternal Images", offering a variety of photography services, including special events and Families at Home photo shoots.

MEET KELLY

Kelly Davis is one of the most creative people I know. She is my bestest friend and business associate. Kelly is a "technique junkie" - always on the prowl for new and exciting techniques to share with other paper addicts!
She is an Account Operation Manager for the Xerox Corporation, has an Associates Degree in Graphic Communications and a Bachelors in Business Administration. With that background it is only natural that she is an avid scrapbooker and a highly talented designer. Kelly's creative goals are to continue learning and teaching paper crafting skills and techniques - inspiring others to recognize and develop their own creativity. She teaches at a monthly technique club and is involved in developing retreat style classes. She's always armed with her digital camera and her favorite quote is by Rhonda Anderson:
"A birth certificate shows you were born; a death certificate shows you died; a scrapbook...shows you lived."