Thursday, February 28, 2013

Meet the 2013 Color Combos Galore Design Team

Color Combos Galore is a weekly color and inspiration challenge blog. The challenges are designed for every paper crafter from scrapbookers to cardmakers and everyone in between. Color Combos Galore takes an inspiration photo, a color combo and a designer's challenge, some notes, and puts it all onto one inspiration board.  What a FUN and creative challenge!  You can play as many times as you want, creating layouts, cards, tags, minis, altered projects--traditional, digital or hybrid--even something from Project Life!

A few years back, I was a design team member for CCG, playing the challenge in a more simplified way with a very talented group of ladies.  Recently, CCG put out another call for a design team and I submitted again.  Luck struck twice, and I was selected!  I get to play along with another bunch of creatively talented individuals from around the world.  The challenges are a lot more complicated these days but I’ve found it appeals to my creative side and gets my mojo going. 

Please check back often, so you can see all the fun we’ve been having with the weekly challenges!  I’m hoping it will inspire you to take part in these fun, creative challenges as well.  

THE COLOR COMBOS GALORE 2013 DESIGN TEAM

COLOR COMBOS GALORE FOUNDER:  Janet Perafan-Babar - USA 

RETURNING MEMBERS
Kelly Holbrook - USA
Jinny Newlin - USA
Fi Kenward – Australia 
and Me!

INTRODUCING
Beck Beattie - Australia
Emilia van den Heuvel - Netherlands
Meihsia Liu - USA
Meredith MacRitchie - Canada
Sara Noendeng - Australia
Stephanie Bryan - USA
Trudi Harrison – Australia

CONTRIBUTING DESIGNERS....
Mebae Kasumi - Japan
Ana Castro - Brazil

Monday, February 25, 2013

Amy Tangerine Sketchbook Full Collection at AC Digitals! HAD to make a Delightful Goodness Mini with it.

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Give me some fun elements and bright colors in the Winter and I’m inspired time and time again.  That’s what happened when I got to play with Amy Tangerine’s Sketchbook Collection from AC Digitals.  I loved it so much I had to make a mini with it, so I could see as much of this energetic collection as I can during this cold, wintery February. 

Below are several peeks into my “Delightful Goodness” mini album which, by the way, was printed and cut using my Silhouette Portrait—all of it.  Also, the cover was cut from chipboard using my Silhouette Portrait.  Yep.  Chipboard.

The closure for the album is called a string-tie closure.  Here’s the link to the tutorial I used as a guide to put that together:  http://raspberryruffles.blogspot.com/2012/01/how-to-string-tie-closures.html

This was the first time I utilized Heidi Swapp’s back-to-back book binding method and I loved everything about it.  It feels wonderful when you’ve placed them all in the book together, very solid, and first and foremost, easy-peasy.  Here’s a link to that very helpful video:  http://www.mycraftchannel.com/Shows/Create-to-Remember-with-Heidi-Swapp/Back-To-Back-Book-Binding/

The album looks like I spent a ton of time on it but it was actually easily put together.  After all, it was designed in Silhouette Studio, so I knew how everything was going to go together once printed.  I didn’t take a lot of time searching for photos to put in it nor did I have a theme in mind.  I just wanted to make a mini and that’s what I did.  This collection was perfect for that reason.  I’ve been admiring it for some time and was thrilled to find out it was going digital.  Hope you like!

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Click on the above collection image to be taken directly to the product pages at AC Digitals.

Here’s the description from AC Digitals:

Amy Tangerine Sketchbook is splashing some color on life with this signature collection. Vibrant colors drip off the page thanks to a bold watercolor effect. Hand-drawn details are everywhere — from picture frames and cameras to flowers and lace — bursting with eclectic goodness.

Buy the full collection and save 20%! The Amy Tangerine Sketchbook Full Collection includes the following individual kits:

  • Amy Tangerine Sketchbook Element Pack #1 - includes 54 elements in PNG format
  • Amy Tangerine Sketchbook Element Pack #2 - includes 55 elements in PNG format
  • Amy Tangerine Sketchbook Element Pack #3 - includes 38 journaling cards & tags in PNG format. It also includes 14 brushes in PNG and ABR format
  • Amy Tangerine Sketchbook Paper Pack #1 - includes 16 12x12 papers in JPEG format
  • Amy Tangerine Sketchbook Paper Pack #2 - includes 16 12x12 papers in JPEG format
  • Amy Tangerine Sketchbook Paper Pack #3 - includes 16 12x12 papers in JPEG format

Monday, February 18, 2013

Welcome Crate Paper’s Neighborhood (Full Collection) to AC Digitals!

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SO many pretty and cute embellishments to play with in this collection.  That was the inspiration for this comfy layout.  Every evening when Gwen is done with her homework, she breaks out her iPod and relaxes A LOT before bedtime.  The imagery above her little head reminds me of her mood—bright, happy, and a a fun, comfy time on the couch in our home.  All of the little embellishments were print and cut with my Silhouette Portrait.

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Click on the above collection image to be taken directly to the product pages at AC Digitals.

Here’s the description from AC Digitals:

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood with Crate Paper's Neighborhood Collection. With sweet birds, happy birds, and a sweet spring color palette you will happily record your favorite memories of spring, Easter, or everyday life.

Buy the full collection and save 20%! The Neighborhood Full Collection includes the following individual kits:

  • Neighborhood Element Pack #1 - includes 69 elements in PNG format
  • Neighborhood Element Pack #2 - includes 50 journaling cards and tags PNG format and 14 borders & border bits in PNG format
  • Neighborhood Paper Pack - includes 16 12x12 papers in JPEG format

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Crate Paper’s Pink Plum at AC Digitals!

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I hope you all are enjoying some LOVE-ly cupcakes and chocolates on this glorious Valentine’s Day!

I just had to squeeze in one more Valentine’s Day card.  This time I used Crate Paper’s Pink Plum on this print-and-cut card I put together using a card base and sentiment from the Silhouette Online Store and a stamp from Unity Stamp Company--1,2,3,4,5 Thousand Cupcake Calories

Pink Plum is yummy!

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Click on the above collection image to be taken directly to the product pages at AC Digitals.

Here’s the description from AC Digitals:

Dive into this collection full of sweet pinks and delicious plums. The happy flowers and sweet word art are perfect for that sweet girl in your life or your everyday memories.

Buy the full collection and save 20%! The Pink Plum Full Collection includes the following individual kits:

  • Pink Plum Element Pack - includes 89 elements in PNG format
  • Pink Plum Paper Pack - includes 17 12x12 papers in JPEG format

FREE FOR THE LOVE PROJECT LIFE KIT!

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From AC Digitals:  “We want to share our love with you this Valentine weekend by giving you a free gift with a $10 purchase. What is this kit? It is a gorgeous Project Life Valentine-themed kit designed by our 2013 Creative Team. There are 23 unique designs in 3x4 and 4x6 sizes in horizontal and vertical formats. That makes 92 cards! Heck yeah! All you need to do is add $10 worth of products to your cart and a screen will pop up automatically telling you that you qualify for this free gift. Add it to your cart and then check out. This offer is good only February 11- 17, 2013. It's our way of showing you how much we love you and how much we appreciate you being part of AC Digitals. Happy Valentine's Day!”

Monday, February 11, 2013

Valentine Vintage Sentiments

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Three more days until Valentine’s Day. This makes me sad.  I’ve been on a roll making cards lately and I think it’s the theme—Valentines. I’m more likely motivated to make Valentine-themed cards than Christmas cards.  I never get tired of designing them or putting them together.  Also, I never get bored of looking at them when I’m finished making them.  Galleries, blogs, and Pinterest are filled with them right now, so inspiration is easy to find. 

The above cute, little funky girl is a Unity Stamp called Frazzled.  I’ve stamped her quite a bit when messing around and getting inky-fied and have used her on a card (visit my scrapbook.com gallery—button on the right).  The stamp is approximately 1.5" X 3.75" but I wanted her bigger to fully fit on an almost standard-sized card.  Remember this post?  So that’s what I did.  I scanned her into my computer and made her a cut file for Silhouette and then I was able to fill her with digital papers from Nancie Rowe Janitz’s Journal Your Art Out 5 kit.  Also, I was further capable of cutting her silhouette (with my Silhouette-ha!) from chipboard and mounting her to the chipboard for dimension and weight.  When I was finished assembling the card, I mounted her to the card with dimensional adhesive and applied glossy accents to her button eyes and heart.  I LOVE her!  Look at her socks—Adorable!

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For the inside of the card, I used a sentiment from Vintage Sentiments 2 kit by Nancie Rowe Janitz. I adore these!

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I’m more than pleased by the results of this card—inside and out!

Onto my next card share . . .

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Again, I used the Vintage Sentiments 2 kit by Nancie but placed the sentiment on the outside.  I wanted the sentiment to be the focus of the card.  That’s when Spellbinders Resplendent Rectangles come into play.  They’re a perfect set for focusing on what’s in the middle. It looks like I’ve spent a decade making the layers of this card but it was really pretty simple—I only used two dies!  The Spellbinders system also plays well with digital elements because you can see through the window of the die, so placement is a dream come true (ADD embossing to that dream!). When I get a new set of Spellbinder dies, I trace the window of each die on a piece of paper, scan it into my computer, and use the scans as templates to place my digital elements.  Then I’m able to print them exactly the size I want onto cardstock and then use the dies to cut/emboss.  It’s frustration-free and you get beautiful results time after time again.  I’m hoping in the future that Spellbinders will release a digital version of their dies that will coordinate with their system (one less step don’t you think?).

Once this card was assembled, I applied glossy accents to the heart for a little pop. 

Nancie’s Journal Your Art Out 3 kit was used for the frames.  I LOVE how using Nancie’s kits make me look like I got all inky-fied and messy with paint, but really, all I ever do is apply some distress inks here and there and around the edges to my liking.  You’ll find printing her papers out in real life and applying distress inks is very satisfying as they coordinate well together.  Also, they look awesome when you dry emboss/wet emboss designs on them.  It looks like you’ve spent quite a while putting the background together.  They are fantastic!

Below are the digital products used in the above cards. Click on the collection image to be taken directly to the product pages at jessicasprague.com.

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Thursday, February 07, 2013

Crate Paper Pretty Party Invitation Set

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Today I had the pretty pleasure of putting together this invitation set for a friend of mine whose pretty little girl will be turning one at the end of this month.  She’s a cutie for sure and a busy little bee!  She’s been walking for almost the past three months.  We think she’s going to start driving soon.  

To put this together, I created a template for the invitation in Photoshop Elements, filled it with pretty digital elements and papers from Crate Paper’s Pretty Party Collection (available at acdigitals.com) and added this pretty photo of Jordyn taken by her mom, Jina.   The template was sized to fit as a standard-sized card.  Four templates fit on one 8-1/2-x-11-inch piece of HP Premium Photo Paper (Soft Gloss). I printed one dozen for family and friends and placed the invitations in a pretty folder I printed and cut with my Silhouette Portrait.  To prevent the invitations from getting bent in the mail, I placed pieces of chipboard in each envelope.

Packaging these cute little invitations, folder, and envelopes perplexed me. I remembered a box from CTMH’s Artiste Cricut Cartridge.  It looks like a mini magazine holder and is the perfect box to hold an invitation collection.  It was one of the reasons I purchased the cartridge. As you may know, I recently became the proud owner of a Silhouette Portrait machine—it’s been getting a good using, too. Oh! How I wish I could make this box a print-and-cut for my Silhouette.  Well, I did! 

How to Cut/Print-and-Cut Cricut Images

with your Silhouette Machine

I sized the Cricut cut I wanted as a Silhouette cut file to fit on an 8-1/2-x-11-inch piece of paper.  I replaced the blade in my Cricut with a black pen and drew the shapes on white cardstock.  Then I scanned these drawn images into my computer.  I cleaned them up in Photoshop and saved them as png images.  Once in my Silhouette software, I used the tracing tool to process the image as a cut.  Then I was able to fill it with the exact patterned paper I wanted.  This really made me happy and was easier than I thought it would be.  I was even able to remove the little cuts Cricut images have as score lines and replaced them with score lines that I like better.  Now I’m sure I’m not going to want to do this with ALL of the Cricut images I own, just for ones that are special to me or that I can’t find easily as a free svg file. Besides, why buy when I already have, KWIM?  It really bridges that gap doesn’t it?  Don’t get rid of your Cricut stuff just yet . . .

Monday, February 04, 2013

I Heart U=Paper Heart by Crate Paper

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I used this cut file from the Silhouette Online Store to make the above card with Crate Paper’s/Paper Heart Collection (now available at acdigitals.com). In the Silhouette software, the card base was filled with one of the papers from the collection (the “define” print).  The card base along with various elements from the collection were printed and cut with my Silhouette Portrait. Some of the elements were adhered using dimensional pop dots or squares or adhered using Tim Holtz’s tiny attacher.  Some bling was adhered to the flowers and the little heart at the bottom of the card.

This collection is PERFECT for Valentine’s Day, weddings, or couples photographs or projects.

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Click on the above collection image to be taken directly to the product pages at AC Digitals.

Here’s the description from AC Digitals:

If you're looking for love this season, look no further, as Paper Heart is bound to win the heart of every scrapbooker out there! This distressed collection in sweet pinks with accents of blue and green, is perfect for creating Valentines for your loved ones, scrapping your Valentine's Day memories, or just scrapping your everyday memories.

Buy the full collection and save 20%! The Paper Heart Full Collection includes the following individual kits:

  • Paper Heart Element Pack #1 - includes 48 elements in PNG format
  • Paper Heart Element Pack #2 - includes 12 borders and border bits and 29 journaling cards & tags in PNG format
  • Paper Heart Paper Pack #1 - includes 9 12x12 papers in JPEG format
  • Paper Heart Paper Pack #2 - includes 9 12x12 papers in JPEG format