I had my open house last Sunday and these are the invites I sent out.  Of course, I can’t make anything easy so I had to make a bunch of different designs.  I mostly used DCWV florals and Making Memories Bohemian.   I created the invite itself in Word.  There’s a great tutorial on Splitcoast by the great Beate Johns:

http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/ee/index.php/resources/tutorials/pocket_card/

Supply List:   Punches: Scallop circle punch, slot punch, corner rounder, tag corner punch; ribbon, miscellaneous cardstock, miscellaneous patterned papers from various companies, tacky tape, ScorePal; Stamps: Sincere Salutations; Inks: Regal Rose, Always Artichoke, Wild Wasabi, Groovy Guava.

Hey, I just can’t seem to get enough.  I have an after-school scrapbook club of 3rd-5th grade girls (13 total).  I prepared some samples ahead of time and did the pre-cutting and scoring.  The girls loved the watercoloring and especially adding  glitter.  Just love froggy.  Adding the googlie-eyes is a must!   This is a perfect set for valentines.  Enjoy!

Supplies:  Stamp sets: Happy Heart Day, Unfrogettable.  Ink: Real Red, Basic Black, Regal Rose, Wild Wasabi, Artfully Artichoke.  Papers: Real Red, Regal Rose, non-SU paper.  Glue pen, glitter, watercolor pencils. Punches: large and small tag punch, slot punch, tag corner punch; ScorePal, medium cellophane bags.

I cased this card from Andrea Walford http://andreawalford.com/?paged=5.  She’s brilliant and it was so fun!
Here’s some more grown-up valentines.  I know, I know, the mouse is a bit childish, but what can I say…I’m a child at heart!  I just love this set!  Supplies: Stamps: Happy Heart Day, Paper: Real Red textured cardstock and DP, Whisper White cardstock, Pretty in Pink DP; Ink: Basic Black, Regal Rose, watercolor pencils, blender pen, red glitter, glue pen, scallop circle punch, 1 3/8 circle punch, paper piercer, stampin’ dimensionals.

Ok, now this is grown-up! Supplies: Stamps: Bursting with Joy, Papers: real red textured cardstock, gold embossing powder, gold metallic paper, stampin’ dimensionals, ticket corner punch.

I really love this one.  I added lots of bling that I found at Walmart in the sewing section.  You can get a whole bag of the little adhesive-backed rhinestones for $2.  They have them in all colors and different sizes.  Have fun!

Supplies:  Stamp Sets: A Beautiful Thing; Ink: Regal Rose; Paper: Real Red DP and textured cardstock, whisper white; rhinestones, stampin’ dimensionals, scallop circle punch, 1 3/8″ circle punch, corner rounder (without guard for scallop edge), slot punch.

I just made these last week.  I cased the cupid poop poem from someone on SUDSOL.  I like how the candies are shaped like hearts.  I imagine if Cupid made a poop, it’d be heart shaped LOL.  I also love the new Happy Heart Day stamp set.  It’s so cute.  I am having a Mom & Me Valentine’s Day stamp-a-stack and I’m planning on using these as well as some new designs I’m working on.  Enjoy!

Supplies:  Stamp sets: Happy Heart Day, Paper: Real Red cardstock and DP, Whisper White, .  Ink: Regal Rose, Basic Black; Versamark, clear embossing powder, red glitter, watercolor pencils, blender pens. 

I made these valentines for my Brownie troop.   I found the poem in a catalog and just changed some of the words.  They are going to give them to kids they don’t know so they can make new friends.  It’s a part of our Friends are Fun badge.  The girls had a great time making them.  My 11-year old daughter copied some of the faces from a Pikachu game.  They came out really adorable.  Have fun!

Supplies:

Brown cardstock cut to 3.8″x5.5″ and scored in half.  1.5″ square punch, corner rounder punch, dimensionals, cellophane bags, tape runner, watercolor pencils, chalk.

Tips for creating gift scrapbooks.

It is very difficult to create a scrapbook for someone without having their photos. When I made the baby girl scrapbook for a baby shower gift (look under Categories:Baby), I assumed the recipient would be using 4×6 or cutting them down to 3×5 (I often do this because I’m not a good photographer and there’s always “noise” in the background). I tried to make layouts that you could lay a photo down on matted or unmated. When you scrapbook with pictures, most often you pull out colors from the photos and use that for your mat. You cut down the mat to fit the photo perfectly. When you don’t have pictures, you should go with a theme. A good choice is to use a color scheme with 3-4 elements. Here’s some information on color schemes. I don’t follow these rules religiously. Mostly, I pull a bunch of papers together and see how they look. Sometimes, if you’re stuck, a color wheel can be useful. Anyway, if you use multiple colors, the recipient will have a better chance of pulling a color from their photos. Often, they could use a mat of another color that will then somehow tie in to your color scheme. For gift albums, a theme works best because you can use typical color schemes that would probably make use of a color the person had in their photo (i.e., babies are often dressed in pastels, so you would use a pastel theme with coordinating embellishments).

Another good tip is to have templates of various sizes. You can use typical photo sizes and also have some templates for typical scrapbook sizes (6×6”, 8×8”, 8.5×11”, 12×12”). You might also have some favorite photos that work for certain colors and themes. Have them printed in several sizes and use these when creating a new project. When I put down my layout I move around my templates to see if they’ll fit. After I know everything works, I adhere everything. I then try to fit the templates one more time to make sure it works. This is a good time to ensure embellishments and other elements are functioning. For example, if you have photo corners or pockets, or anything interactive, test to make sure things fit easily and make any necessary adjustments. Don’t forget to place your scrapbook page into your album before adhering anything. Often times, a scrapbook album will say it’s a certain size and it’s off slightly. I can’t tell you the number of times I had to scramble at the last minute and trim down entire completed layouts because they wouldn’t fit into the page protector/sleeve (my hubby and kids have been put to work rearranging things and we have arrived late to a party LOL). Do this for each individual page because individual sizes may vary slighty as well.

Happy Scrapping!

Karen

I made these party favors for our annual New Year’s Eve party. The champagne glasses were for the adults. I filled the hats with horns, masks and blowouts for the kids. We got the champagne glasses for $2 each at Pier One. The champagne bucket candles were from the party store. I created the tags in Word..they are text boxes and I used the Stampin’ Up tag corner punch. I just love that punch….you can make any square or rectangle into a tag instantly! I downloaded a New Year’s font from the internet and used a thin glue pen with Stampin’ Up glitter on some of the letters to glam it up. We filled the glasses with some tinsel. Everyone loved them and a great time was had by all. I hope everyone had a great New Year! Thanks for stopping by.