Pursenally, You're the Best

Normally I wouldn't post two cards in one day but just had to when I read SugarGem's blog.  She made an adorable card for CAS-ual Fridays.  I had heard of this blog but had never been there.  It is such a cute blog with weekly challenges geared toward Clean and Simple designs.  Oh, I can do clean and simple (heavy on the simple) real well.

Since this challenge ends in six hours, I had little time to throw something together.  This week is "Just for the Pun of It."  I knew just the stamp and sentiment I was going to use.

I still can't believe I made this card as quick as I did.  No computer or die-cutting machine was hurt in the making of this card.  All hand cut.  Whew!

I sure do hope I win, they have an awesome prize this week (Skipping Stones Design).  LOL  Anyway, hope you enjoyed today's second card.  Oh, just pretend it's Thursday cuz you ain't getting another one tomorrow.  ;)

Supplies:
Life is Good by Echo Park Papers
Purse and sentiment by Stampin' Up
Recollections paper for base

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Hang in There

Ah Wednesday, the middle of the week.  Know what that means don't cha?  We are that much closer to the weekend!  Haha, can't wait.  Been busy on a super secret mission, so I haven't had a lot of time to craft.  Although, I did manage to get this cute little card done for a super cute little 3 year old boy who had just had kidney surgery.  Once again, kept it simple with no embellishments in case he carries it around and plays with it.

The monkey isn't actually that dark.  His body is a little lighter brown than the picture shows.  I don't know whats been wrong with my lighting lately.  The colors are so funny.   Oh well, I'm sure you can still make out the idea behind the card.  Glad you stopped by today and got a little inspiration.  Have a great rest of the week!

Supplies:
Lettering Delights Nancy's Buddies Cut-Its
Recollections cardstock
Twisted Lime Trendy Twine
Yippy Skippy font in frame
Homemade sentiment stamp

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Exciting News and a Reminder

I just received some amazing news yesterday after checking my email a million times.  I am happy and proud to announce I am now part of the Boss Kut Design Team.  I just want to say what an honor it is to be part of a wonderful company and great group of people. I was so excited when Judy finally emailed me the Boss' answer.  I was floating on air all day.  I can't wait to get started designing

I just can't tell you how much I love my Gazelle.  It is one of the best cutting machines I have ever used and I have had a few of them.  ^__^  In order to showcase all the projects that I will be creating for them, I have started a new blog called Modern Gazelle.  OK, not the coolest name on the planet but when you have two teenage boys helping you name crafty things, this is what you come up with.  LOL

Don't worry, in order to check out my craftiness you do not have to go to both blogs.  Modern Gazelle is for future and current owners who would like to see all that the Gazelle can do in one central location.  I will be cross posting to both blogs so you all shouldn't miss a thing!  Speaking of not missing a thing.  Have you purchased the Big Bang Bundle over at Lettering Delights?

You get over 1600 designs for just a $100, even less if you use the receipt coupon.  The regular retail price for this bundle is $497!  That's a savings of almost $400!  I have some bad news, this special deal ends tonight at midnight MST.  So get it while the getting's good and see you on the flip side!

Handy Dandy Catch-All

Happy, happy Monday, y'all!  It is a bright and sunny day and I'm feeling good.  I think we all shook the nasties around here finally.  Of course, I could be happy because I have what is probably one of my favorite projects to date.

Last week it was my turn to create a file for the Make the Cut challenge and I decided on making something 3D.  So I created a catch-all with a cute little heart hanger.  It was such an awesome feeling to see everyone's creations and how much they loved the file.  If you own Make the Cut, please consider joining us in these challenges.  They are such fun and a great inspiration.

Our next challenge starts March 3rd with a complete set from ScrappyDew to work with.  He is also sponsoring this event with a gift certificate to his store.  Super awesome prize, huh?  The only requirement is that you must use Make the Cut and the provided files (if any) for your project.  Anything goes after that!  OK, so let me show you what I made.

I kept it pretty simple as I know I am going to be carrying it around and using the fire out of it.  Maybe I'll keep my alcohol markers in it.  This thing is pretty darn sturdy!

Hope you enjoyed today's project as much as I did!  If you would like the file, head over to the SVG/MTC page on my blog.  Since the challenge is over, I am making it available here in both formats.  I also added the previous challenge's Valentine heart shaped basket.

Supplies:
Black chipboard for base
K & Co. Best of Brenda Walton stack (thinner the better)
Recollections ribbon in sheer yellow
Homemade crochet flower
fresh brand metal charm

Hope this was a inspiration to get you up and crafting!

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New Free Gift - Poplar Street Tulips Kit

If you have an electronic die-cut machine (ex. Boss Kut Gazelle) with software that can import SVG files, you must get the new Poplar Street Tulips kit to be ready for all those Spring and Easter projects.  I don't scrapbook at all so the layout is not what excites me.  It's the 3D egg candy holder!

Can you imagine having one of these on everyone's plate for Easter dinner?!?  This could replace the lamb-shaped butter as the "ohh" and "ahh" dinner centerpiece. I love the papers Mary used too.  They just say happy, cherry Springtime to me.  Here is a shot of some of the adorable elements that are included in the kit.

From their website:  "Create a fresh, cheerful Spring and Easter with five all-new projects! Send a super cheerful Spring greeting with our gatefold Tulips Card or our cute Collage Card. You can show off the same stamps we used (from Punkin Patch Stamps) or feature your own. Adapt the cute Collage Card to any other occasion and play around with different themes and papers! Our Egg-Shaped Container shows off your favorite pastel Spring paper and is pretty easy to put together! Imagine giving it to someone special full of chocolate eggs or marshmallow bunnies! It looks super cute on our new Pedestal, which can be just the thing to create a sweet scene with your favorite decorations at home. Finally you can scrapbook four favorite Springtime 3x4" photos easily with our pre-designed 12x12 scrapbook page! You can make yours look just like ours or put your own twist on it. You can even substitute the eggs with something different for any occasion."

Doesn't this kit just have you wishing for Spring?  It does me.  Don't forget, Poplar Street Tulips is free with a purchase of $9.98 only till Wednesday, February 29th.  See the SVG Cuts blog for the free gift instructions and the weekly freebie - the 3D bow shown below. 

Thanks for Everything

Hello everyone, hope your weekend is off to a great start!  I have a cute little card for you today.  I made it to enter into two different challenges.  One is Mojo Monday and the other is A Jillian Vance Design Peepster Color challenge.  I really liked creating for the challenge over at A Jillian Vance because you just had to use three colors.  White, pink and Aqua/Teal.  This was definitely a challenge for me.  LOL

I would like to give a shout out to MichelleMyBelle for making the card sketch into a Make the Cut file for easier crafting.  Thank you so much!  It helped me get my sizing right.  We all know I make things crooked as a dog hind leg.  ^__^   If you, dear readers, would like to join the Mojo Monday challenge and cheat a bit, Michelle has the files in MTC, SVG, Scal2 and Scal3 format.

Hope you enjoyed today's card.  See you next time and happy crafting!

Supplies:
Blossom Stack by DCWV
Recollections ribbon
Michaels dollar bin stamps colored with Spectrum Noir markers

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Big Bang Bundle at Lettering Delights!

Oh my word!  Lettering Delights has come out with another money saving bundle!  Let me tell you, this is a great way to get starting using the Cut-Its sets.  I purchased their $100 bundle last year and have not regretted it.  Especially since I picked up a freebie first, waited for my email with the 25% off coupon and paid only $75!

Just look at all the sets you get.  If you were to pay retail, it would cost you over $497.  This is such a great deal!  If you have Make the Cut, it's an even better value as you can export the already colored SVGs to Raster and have a graphic file.  This is what I do for my Print n Cuts.  Double bonus - two for the price of one!

Let me break this incredible deal down for you - as is, a $100 for 100 sets is $1 each, if you use the current code "BESTBUYBUNDLE", you get 20% off and each set for only .80 a piece or the best deal with the 25% email coupon and pay just .75 a piece!  Considering that each set has anywhere from 5 - 27 designs, that is a whole heck of a lot of goodies to craft with.  Actually, a little over 1600. Last years bundle, I picked up 1400 new designs!

So if you are on the fence with this one, don't think about it too long as this bundle will be gone in 5 days.  You have till Tuesday of next week to make up your mind.  ^__^

Here is a link to a freebie to get your coupon (if you already have all the freebies, just go and purchase them again to get the coupon) -I'm Your Ally matchbox cover

Have a great weekend and happy crafting!!

Update:  get the Friday Freebie and use the 25% off coupon for great savings on the bundle!

MyGrafico Designer Sales

Check out these awesome sales by four talented designers.  Especially if you love to create Print n Cuts!  Have a great day and happy crafting!

MyGrafico Weekly Freebie!

Freebie donated by KIKA ESTEVEZ

License: Personal Use/ Non-Profit

Homemade Washi Tape

Hello everyone, I am back again with another money saving tutorial for you - homemade Washi tape!  The Make the Cut forum has been a buzz lately with talk of making your own tape.  Since I have never seen nor purchased this stuff before I had to check it out.  It looks pretty cool but with all the ribbon I have I can't see putting money into another craze.  And I do mean craze!  Now that I know what it is, I see it everywhere.  Seems I am fashion two seasons ago once again.

That's when I thought maybe there was something to making your own.  It is really cute stuff but again I don't see myself using it all too often.  Oh but I love to make things so why not give it a go.  I'm sure there is money savings if you already have the majority of the supplies on hand.  So lets get to it!

First off, you will need two items to start with (boy, I'm seeing a pattern here) - a Xyron or similar sticker maker that leaves a backing and whatever tissue paper floats your boat.  I used white here but I heard there are lots of nice patterned tissue papers available.  I haven't seen any but that just makes this project more interesting.  The rest of the supplies I use are optional.

Since I have the 2.5" Xyron, I cut my tissue paper into strips of 2.5" wide.  Then you just take your paper and proceed to crank it through.  Believe it or not, it goes in pretty smooth without a lot of fuss.  Out of 10 strips, only one crinkled and I wanted it to.

See, so nice and smooth.  Now, you could stop there but I am experimenting so its no holds barred!  I got out lots of inky goods to slap on my new tape.  With the backing on there it makes it sturdy enough to not worry about getting it soaked.

Here it is with some chalk ink and a present stamp.  It was kind of hard to know what kinds of designs I wanted.  I have no idea what I will use the tape for yet.

Another chalk ink in two different blues with a flower stamp.  Nice effect.

I cut them down into strips of about 1".  I am thinking that would look better on a project and easier to manage.  Who knows.  The brown tape was made with my homemade Glimmer Mist, the next was a background stamp with black pigment ink then on the lower right corner is done with Faded Jeans and Broken China Distress Inks.

Here are a few all dried, rolled and ready to go.  I forgot to take a picture of the purple one.  It is two Distress Inks daubed on and then spritzed with a little water to blend them.  I think I like that one the best.

I just want to say, I know they are not the prettiest tapes I could have made but this was more about the method then showing my juvenile looking tapes.  I had lots of fun making these so practice makes perfect.  I am definitely going to try other methods and colors as soon as I go buy more adhesive.  ^__^  Any ideas?

Hope this tutorial inspired you to create your own and save a little bit of money!  Let me know if you try your hand at making Washi tape.  Have a great day and happy crafting!

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Special Freebie from Lettering Delights

Straight from Lettering Delights Facebook page:  "We are super excited about the jump in fans! To say thank you and Happy Mardi Gras, here is a special FREEBIE for all of you! Get our I'm Your I'm Ally Matchbox Album absolutely FREE! Thank you fans...with 16 days to go, we are less than 700 fans away to the big celebration!"

Hurry, this freebie ends on Monday!

New Free Files

Hello, hello everyone!  Just wanted to let you know I added six new files to my free SVG/MTC page for St. Patrick's Day.

I made a couple clovers, a cute little saying and a few Celtic Knots.  Right now they are just in SVG.  If you would like to see them in other files formats just let know and I will see what I can do.  Enjoy!!

MyGrafico Retirement Sale

Go check out the MyGrafico Retirement Sale.  The retiring sets are only a $1.00!  Go stock up on digi stamps, SVGs and party printables!  Click the MyGrafico image to be taken to the sale page.

IMPORTANT: Read   before   purchase!! Retiring sets will be removed 10 days after sale is over. None of the retiring sets will be sold or their links will be activated again.

PLEASE MAKE SURE, DOWNLOAD ALL YOUR RETIRING SETS RIGHT AWAY AND BACK UP.

Have a great week and happy crafting!

 

Friday Freebie at Lettering Delights

BooRah, it's that time again for the lovely freebie at Lettering Delights!  See, just another reason to love Friday. 

Stuck for affirmations? Get Inspired! Whether you're a positive thinker or a negative catastrophizer, this printable is for you! Just print, cut on the dotted lines, then hang up in the office, home, or wherever you feel the benefit of positive thinking is required! Pull off one positive affirmation as needed. Good karma will soon come your way. Get your FREEBIE now! Offer ends Sunday at midnight, MST.

Other great happenings at Lettering Delights are the new released Nancy Kubo sets.  The creative genius behind the Create-A-Critter Cricut cartridge.  Look how stinkin' cute these little guys are!

As you can see by the image above the new sets come in graphics and Cut Its.  The graphics are great for those quick and easy Print N' Cut projects whereas the Cut Its come in SVG, DXF, AI, EPS, GSD, JPG and PDF for use in most any die-cutting program you are using.


Grab the freebie and a few of the new sets and show me what you created!  Have a great weekend and happy crafting!