NEWS YOU CAN USE ...

If you have not seen or heard about this product already, here is something from SCRAPCESSORIES to help you organize your Cricut cartridges & stickles or ink bottles too:

"TOOL TIME TUESDAY" -SCRAPBOOK APP

FOR THE TECHNOLOGICALLY SAVVY

Let me just preface this post by saying I do not have an iphone (I wish) but I am researching it & lobbying to get one.
So in honor of that tidbit...

BEHOLD... a new application you can purchase for your iphone that is made just for scrapbookers.
It is brought to you by the folks at : blueshiftsoftware.net

For anyone who enjoys scrapbooking but needs some help organizing their supplies, this application is designed to simplify your life and remove the chore of memorizing your supply inventory.

It will save you money & duplicate craft supply purchases.

It does cost $3.99 but you may find it minimal in comparison to all you will get out of the application.

Use Scrapbooker to create a visual inventory of all your supplies and equipment all with a device that fits in the palm of your hand. This application lets you enter in data to help you know what you have to work with, serving as a quick reference for planning projects. This app will pay for itself when you stop making duplicate purchases!

It Allows you to input:
-2 Images per supply, 1 for a piece of equipment which can be put in with built in camera or imported from device photo album.
-Track Name, Type, Color, Quantity, Pattern, Category, Type,Store and a custom Note for each supply

Scrapbooker also remembers the details you’ve put in previously and allows quick re-entry of common data.

Here are some images of what the application looks like on the iphone:







So if you are lucky enough to own an iphone you may want to consider owning this application for it too. Seems like a worthwhile investment.

CRAFTING TIP OF THE WEEK (#30) COMPACT CRAFT CRAP IS OUT OF CONTROL?

This week's tip is geared toward helping you store your certain types of craft items that can tend to get out of control.

You know those free photo albums you get when you have your photos developed at Wal-Mart or Target?

They can be very useful in helping you assemble a library of crafting products.
Their size is great because they do not take up too much room. It also allows for you to line up many of them in a designated area and have easy access to whatever you place in them.
The fact that they are designed for photos will ensure that anything you do store will remain well protected from acid or lignen.

Sometimes we tend to collect a lot of a particular embellishment but then have a tough time figuring out how to store it. These little albums can be just what you need. Their size can really help you to gather up many types of embellishments and store them in ONE place.

Their 4x6 size allows for the intended photo storage but you could also store your journaling pads, concert ticket stubs or movie tix in them as well.

Or if you had lots of chipboard for many occassions you could
store it according to occasions then you could assign 1 mini album for your chipboard related to celebrations, one mini album for nature chipboard, etc...
Or if you wanted to be more specific you could categorize the chipboard further by subjects such as flowers, hearts or birds. Storing one subject per mini album. Once you have all your chipboard safely stored you would label accordingly & move on.

You can store your sheets of adhesived backed bling,pearls or rhinestones by inserting them right into the sleeves. This would allow for you to keep all or most of your bling in the same place.

You could store your one of a kind embellishments. Those that are compact and you don't have too many of in your inventory.

You could store punched images and die cuts, fabric squares, quilting squares, or your small scraps of paper that you can't bear to throw away.

You can store newspaper and/or magazine articles, a special handwritten letter or ephemera handed down by family.

The idea behind this tip is to help you store those smaller, flat embellishments and allow you to keep them grouped together to help save you time, space and money. It will also allow for better cataloging and categorizing of your stash.

These free, mini albums look nice and tidy lined up beside each other and don't take up much room at all. So whether you have a large craft studio or scrap on your dining room table, this tip can work for you.

I hope you give it a try.
If you do please drop me a line to let me know how it worked for you.

Happy Crafting!

FOUND A FREEBIE YOU JUST CAN'T PASS UP- EXPIRES 3-31-10

HOT* Free Photo Book from Picaboo ($39.99 value)




Get a free Classic photo book at Picaboo! Use code AFFLGB through March 31, 2010.

This is a HOT freebie from Picaboo! You can get a FREE 20 page Large Classic, Classic Leather OR a Classic Custom photo book. This free photo book is a $39.99 value! That is a HUGE savings! You will be responsible for shipping which is only $8.99.

I am excited about this offer! =) I’ve never used Picaboo before but I’ve heard it’s awesome and that the quality of the books are fantastic! I can’t wait to make mine!!!

Kraft Card

This one is by far my favorite.
This one has a dual purpose.
On the inside, I attached an embellishment designed to double as a bookmark with velcro.
So it is again a card & a gift in one.
I love it when that happens!

FABULOUS FRIDAY FIND-PICNIK WEBSITE

This week I found a terrific site that allows you many photo editing options for free. It is a site recently acquired by Google called:
PICNIK

If you find you are letting a lot of your digital photos just sit in folders on your computer because you are not motivated to print & play then maybe the ability to give your photos a boost may get you going.

According to the PICNIK website, it is described as a "fast, fun, easy to use and powerful set of photo editing tools for editing, sharing and printing images using any Internet browser on any computer platform... also integrated with a wide variety of websites like Picasa Web Albums, Facebook, Flickr, Yahoo! Mail and Photobucket. With Picnik, you can edit your photos wherever they are from wherever you are."

You get many free photo editing options which include:

Fix your photos in just one click
Use advanced controls to fine-tune your results
Crop, re-size, and rotate in real-time
Tons of special effects, from artsy to fun
Astoundingly fast, right in your browser
Awesome fonts and top-quality type tool
Lots of shapes from hand-picked designers
Works on Mac, Windows, and Linux
Perhaps easiest of all- No download required, nothing to install

Did I mention all this was FREE?

The quality of this editing program seems better than that of a few others out there I have tried but don't take my word for it. See for yourself.

As people continue to invest more time & money in digital cameras, frames, equipment and even digital picture taking classes, I thought this easy & free program offered by PICNIK could soon end up a favorite go to tool for your digital photo editing needs.

Kraft Card #3

Another Kraft Card

Simplicity ...

Oops, I Forgot!

In all my excitement over getting the award from Sarah I forgot to post my 10 bloggy friends that I was sharing the award with, so here goes:

1-Emma from My Creative Time for her infectious spirit & great projects-uber good videos too!
2-Southern Belle for her fun, loving crafts, lovely blog with such wonderful use of color.
3-Enfys for her terrific cards and warm heart.
4-Mis C Daisy for her fantastic talent, uplifting spiritual boosts and great support.

5-Liz for her upbeat creations, of course sweet blog and inspiration.
6-The Scrap Avenue for her sweet videos & very positive vibe.
7-Nikki at Bond Girl Creations who is so friendly and radiant. Her cards are fantastic and her smile shines through in everything she does.
8-Tarrah for her warm hearted creation inspiration and for sharing all those lovely projects.
9-Natalie for her kind, gentle & encouraging ways. Her love for paper crafting, God & family come through in all of her beautiful projects.
10-Jill for her adventures in card making and her take on different creations. Always helping us see things in a different light.
I do believe there was a bonus one from me also...I obviously had a hard time stopping at 10.
11- Alisha the Crafty Brooklyn Army Wife for her willingness to take sewing lessons and teach us it is never too late to pursue something new even when you are a grown up. And her tenacious, NY spirit.
There are so many more blogs out there that deserve awards, accolades & support.
I am very appreciative of the blog-land support. Sometimes what you don't get from your own family is replaced by new family.
THANK YOU ALL!
I hope you enjoy your award and share the love.
Happy Crafting!

A UNIQUE PAPER CRAFT PROJECT BROUGHT TO YOU BY- TRISHA MORRIS @ CLUB SCRAP

ENJOY!

Ancient Scroll Book from Club Scrap on Vimeo.

AN UNEXPECTED HAPPY SURPRISE!

Today I received this blog award from the kind & gracious Sarah over at:
sallycicadadesigns.blogspot.com
With it comes a caviat- I must share 10 things about myself & also share the blog award with 10 of my bloggy friends. I do believe the later will be much easier to do. I am not certain I have quite that interesting a life but I will do my best to share.

1- I am fluent in Spanish.
2- I once sang for a Gubernatorial candidate in the great State of Connecticut.
3- I have lived in 5 different States.
4- I am double jointed.
5- I survived a hurricane.
6- I was a Budweiser girl in the 90's (and no...it does not mean I drank the beer).
7- I used to be a phlebotomist in a former life (so Edward's got nothing on me-for those Twilight fans).
8- I flew first class for the time EVER last October (2009) on my way to Germany also a first.
9- I got to fly in a c-130 although my husband was not allowed to be the pilot of that flight.
10- My girls are 13 years apart in age.

Thank you to Sarah for entrusting such a nice award to me.
I will post it with pride and hope that I continue to inspire.

A Birthday Card Creation

I don't know about you guys but I just love kraft cardstock and I have started to make a series of cards with it.

This card is one in a series of 6.

This birthday card has a unique feature...

On the inside it can hold anything you can hang from it by simply hanging it off the brad center of the flower.

So the brad is not just for looks but serves a function too.

I love the ornament which reads:
"Make A Wish"

I thought it was so appropriate for a birthday card. So it is a gift & card in one.

Enjoy!

"TOOL TIME TUESDAY" DISTREZZ-IT- ALL

This week's tool is brought to you by the lovely folks @ ZUTTER.

It's the DISTREZZ-IT-ALL.

Check it out!

CRAFTING TIP OF THE WEEK (#29) STITCHING HELPER

Have you ever wanted to try stitching (sewing) on your pages, projects or cards and thought the following?

-I don't want to buy the expensive stitching gadgets
-I can't quite line up the stitches
-I don't have a steady hand for stitching
-Not sure I can even faux stitch

In this week's tip I offer an inexpensive solution to assist with your first step in stitching...piercing. This step is often times a deterrent for many contemplating stitching or sewing on their pages, papers & projects.

Piercing is often the difficult part because it is what sets your pattern or creates your path for whatever image you are trying to sew or stitch. But after you've got the piercing down the rest will follow. Even if you don't sew I assure you that using this gadget will help you to get that stitched look you just might be going for or just help you to create small pierced holes on your project.
Once you pierce your paper, you don't have to sew with a needle either. You can just do a faux stitch with a gel pen or marker.

So what's this revolutionary & inexpensive thing that is going to help you towards your goal of simple stitching?

It's a: plastic needlepoint canvas. They come in a variety of shapes & sizes. Here are a couple to give you an idea of what to look for:




They are essentially a plastic canvas with holes in them. Sometimes they are squares, sometimes they are round but there are consistent holes in them for threading your needle through for needle point and latch hooking.

You can buy just a medium, single circle shaped one at Joanne Fabrics for .49 cents like I did and it will help you to achieve stitching perfection.

What you do is: lay the needle point plastic canvas over your paper/project which will be sitting on a cutting mat or piercing mat. Hold your canvas in place and pierce the holes of your choice. With these canvases you can:

- Use a dry erase marker to draw a pattern right on top of the canvas itself and pierce that pattern directly on to your paper. You can soak the canvas in Dawn soap & water later and the pattern should come right off.
-Pierce holes in a straight line which is often very challenging but these canvases have aligned holes making it easy to work with.
-Create shapes by piercing holes that follow the outer pattern of the canvas you are working with.
For instance: with the small star shaped canvas as seen above, you can just pierce your holes within the perimeter of the star, following the holes closest to the outside edge of canvas and you will create the pattern of that star on your paper/project.

Once you have pierced your holes you can do any of the following:
- Leave them blank- sometimes just a subtle touch, outline or shape is all you need
- Stitch the holes in a criss-cross pattern with embroidery floss
- Stitch the holes in a straight line with yarn
- Faux stitch by running your gel pen across the holes connecting the dots
- Faux stitch by connecting your dots with a gel pen in an "x" pattern.

These plastic needlepoint canvases are inexpensive and very helpful. If you have always wanted to try stitching but worried you wouldn't be able to pierce straight or that you can't sew...I hope this tip makes you reconsider.

Happy Crafting!

A DECORATIVE GREETING CARD HOLDER- VIDEO BROUGHT TO YOU BY GINA K.

Decorative Greeting Card Holder - Part 1 of 3 from StampTV on Vimeo.

Decorative Greeting Card Holder - Part 2 of 3 from StampTV on Vimeo.

Decorative Greeting Card Holder - Part 3 of 3 from StampTV on Vimeo.

FABULOUS FRIDAY FIND-HOUSE OF 3

This week's find is a freebie from Heidi Swapp & crew over at House of Three.

Vist their site at: www.houseof3.com

They often post freebies you can download that are super cool.

Check their site often if you don't already.

Not only are their freebies great but they have other beautiful products and digital downloads at very reasonable prices. They also offer classes and tutorials.

"TOOL TIME TUESDAY" THE i-TOP BY IMAGINISCE

I don't know about you but I have seen some super, cool tools out in craft-land. They seem to get better & better covering an array of needs.

If you are curious about a specific gadget or tool, please feel free to leave me a comment & I will do my best to find you a tutorial or introductory video for your "tool" of choice.


This week's Tool Time segment features:

THE I-TOP BY IMAGINISCE


You can make magnets too...Check this out:

CRAFTING TIP OF THE WEEK (#28) CURTAIN RODS ARE A CRAFTER'S FRIEND

For this week's tip I wanted to share how you could use curtain rods in your craft space for more than just curtains.

Yes, you read it right.

Curtain rods can be a very helpful gadget in your craft room. There are many sizes and types available. What kind you chose depends on how you will use it. Here are some ideas for its uses.

For instance, if you use the small, thin rods that look like this:


They are thin enough to hold your spools of ribbon or your gift wrap rolls. The nice thing is that these are usually inexpensive and long enough that they can hold many rolls of ribbon or accomodate one long roll of gift wrap.
If you use it for ribbon, you can purchase more than one and set them up in a tiered fashion on your wall or in your closet or screw it right into a piece of existing furniture in your craft space.
If you use it to house all your ribbon this system would allow for you to keep them all in one place. They would be easy to view & use as well. Just roll down, snip & your done.

OR if you want to use a more substantial rod like any one of these:



You can use these with the curtain rod clips that look like this:



You can attach almost anything on these clips. You can use these rods with the clips to display your favorite layouts, display favorite photos or photos you intend to use on your projects and/or for holding your scrapbook supplies in their original packages.

You can also use this system to clip on pails that look like this:



Then place embellishments in those pails. Anything from flowers to buttons to brads.

You could use as many or as few clips as you wanted and remember that the curtain rods will extend giving you quite a lot of space to work with.

Let's not leave out the tension rods too. They can work well for all these applications and with using these you don't even need to drill holes in the walls or your furniture. You simply insert it between two sturdy surfaces like in a bookcase or those famous expedit IKEA shelves; after you have threaded through it what you wanted and that is all she wrote.

Here are some more ideas:
-You can use the curtain rods to hang hand towels that you may keep in your craft room for clean up
-You can drape your craft mat over it
-You can use it to hold your acryllic stamps in their original packaging


The idea is that there is so much versatility in using this system.
It is like having a clip it up without the big price tag and lots more room.

From storage to display system. The choice is yours.

There are many styles, colors and widths of curtain rods. That's a plus because you can match the decor in your space.
Often times you can find them at really cheap prices at places like Big Lots, Ollies, Wal-mart, Target, Salvation Army, Goodwill & if you get lucky even at garage sales.

So next time you are out & about if this tip strikes your fancy keep your eyes open for just the right deal on a curtain rod (or 2) and give this tip a try.

A Video Find Brought to you by Denise over at PaperPastime.blogspot.com

Enjoy!

If you feel inspired head on over to her blog to download the file so you can make your own.

FROM TRASH TO TREASURE

Today I felt inspired to create something out of what was going to be recycled.

So out of this :

I made this:







It's a card box to be used to house my hand crafted cards.


I fit 10 hand crafted cards with their matching envelopes in a variety of sizes into the box.

I thought it would make a nice gift or hang nicely in any craft room.
You can easily fill it every month with birthday cards to send out to your friends & family.
You could also fill it with your hand crafted cards & gift it to a friend.

Supplies Used:
Francis Meyer-Heritage Scrapbook Kit Papers & Stickers
October Afternoon Alphas
Tim Holtz Ornate Book Plate & Brad
Fiskars- Gel Dots- Black
Photo Turns & Brads
Chipboard by Cosmo Cricket
StampinUp Word Window Punch
Martha Stewart Glue Stick, Glossy Accents & 2 Way Glue Pen
Brads/Eyelets- Making Memories
Ribbon- Joanne Fabrics

Sorry that the photos aren't the greatest. Remember, I am still using my cell phone as a camera until I get a new one.

Off to grab some dinner & let my little one have her turn on the computer. She has been patiently waiting by my side and interjecting her suggestions for my next project.

Have a good night!

FABULOUS FRIDAY FIND-PEACHYCHEAP.COM

This week's find is an online vendor but it's not just any vendor.

The site is: peachycheap.com and it is a money saver.

Basically, this site offers one amazing deal a day for all of us paper crafting enthusiasts.

When I say deal, I mean a BIG DEAL. It is so worth it.
Bookmark this site & you will be glad you did.

If you are going to invest in crafting supplies anyway, you might as well try to get the best deal possible.

I know, I know...it only offers one deal but it may be the deal you are looking for so head on over daily for a quick peek.

IF YOU ARE AN ANNA GRIFFIN FAN STAY TUNED...

FOR THE SNEEK PEEKS CHECK OUT HSN.COM

CRAFTING TIP OF THE WEEK (#27) MOUSE PAD & STAMPING?

Hello there!
This week's tip is simple but may prove to be very helpful for those who love to stamp but may struggle with getting your image to appear as crisp as possible.

The type of ink you use is super important in making the transfer of your image on to your surface but another thing that may help that you may not have noticed is how far the impression of your stamp translates on to your card or paper.

It's as easy as this: when you stamp use a placemat or mouse pad to do your stamping. This will allow for better compression allowing for the image to embed on your paper or project to its' best ability.

You can always find sales on placements for pennies on the dollar or less than "un peso", etc...
I recommend using placemats made of either cork, plastic, vinyl, rubber or that are laminated. Most of these have at least an inch thickness to them and provide good bouyancy when stamping your image for better application & release of your stamped image.

Do not use wood, linen, rattan, wicker or cloth placemats as these materials do not provide the stability and bouyancy factor needed to allow the stamp to transfer properly.
The wood surface may help as far as stability but you will not get that flexibility allowing for the image to go deeper into your paper. Afterall, that is the point of this tip...helping you to find a way to get your stamped images to stamp more thoroughly on your projects.

As for the mouse pad...an average ordinary mouse pad will do nicely. It has the ideal stamping surface. But don't take my word for it...try it yourself.





Happy Crafting!

FUN FRIDAY FIND-GRAPHJAM

Hi Everyone!

Just wanted to share a fun find for today. It is a website aptly named:
GRAPHJAM.COM

Simply put it is a website that allows you to build your own graph.

As crafters we often like to think outside the box & I thought adding fun graphs to our cards, projects & scrapbooking would be the cat's meow.

Think of the possibilities & in case you can't here are some ideas:

1-Build a graph showing your child's growth
2-Build a graph -o- love
3-Build a graph for contests
4-Build a graph for family members
5-Build a graph for surveys
6-Build a graph for topics on your layouts like best vacation, best family activity or best movie using your photos along the way on the layout.
7-It's great for those sports enthusiasts you scrap
8-Great for competition tracking
9-Build one related to food comparing best family recipes through the years when putting together a recipe mini album
10-Build one for tracking fashion

Truly...you can do a lot with them.
It may seem like a new concept but it definitely has the potential to add interest & fun to your crafting projects.
The last time I tried it- it was free.
I hope you give it a try.

Have a wonderful weekend!
Don't forget to tune in for the Crafting Tip of the Week next Monday.

Happy Crafting!

CRAFTING TIP OF THE WEEK (#26) INK ORGANIZATION

Happy Monday Everyone!
This week's tip is an organizational one for your inks.
It will accomplish several things:

1-Allow you to see your ink colors without taking them out of their storage area or applying them on a test surface.

2-Keep track of your color inventory.

3-Makes it easy to add colors to the list by simply adding another index card & repeating the process.

4-Will assist you in replacing the colors in your inventory that you love by allowing you quick visual reference.

5-Allow you to categorize them by manufacturer, color family or type- that part depends on how you craft.

You will need the following supplies:
1-A pack of 3x5 index cards
2-A Binder Ring (or ribbon)
3-A hole punch (or crop-a-dile)
4-A small punch (any shape)
5-White cardstock or paper
Lastly & this is totally optional- a label maker.
Your computer would work just fine or you could just rely on your own handwriting.

Gather up your ink stash & supplies as indicated above.
1- Decide how you want to categorize your inks & use your label maker to label the top center of your index card with either the manufacturer, color family or type of ink.
2- Swipe your ink pads, one by one on your cardstock.
3- Punch out the inked cardstock with the small punch you have chosen. Do so one at a time.
4-Glue the punched, inked shape on to your index card and label accordingly by using your label maker, computer or handwriting.
5- Do this for all your ink colors. Once you are done, punch a hole in the upper left hand corner of all your index cards & thread through the binder ring.
If you do not have a binder ring, you can easily use ribbon or string.

You can use the space on the back of the cards to make special notations for your ink colors, reference them for specific projects or just to say best type for specific applications.


HERE IS MINE...





It's a little time consuming but worth taking the time to do it.
You can easily throw this into your purse when shopping for craft supplies if you need to refill on certain inks or don't want to buy duplicates of a certain color. You can also take it with you to crops for a quick guide. You can select which inks you will take to the crop & take that card with those inks listed only. In the long run, it will save you time & money. Who doesn't need more of both?

Happy Crafting!