Monday Muse

This is my week to post a piece of design team inspiration at Create My Keepsake. Here is the challenge if you'd like to play! Create a touchable card with fabric, embroidery floss and ribbon!
I just love the dimension and softness that these items give to a card. I used some Creative Cafe felt for my "fabric" and cut it into a tag shape. Added a photo corner sticker and stitched over it with the floss. Striped paper, felt, and stickers are all Creative Cafe, and the photo corner and yellow paper are some of the new Sassafras Lass. Can't wait to see your creations! ~Danielle~

Yay! It's Friday!

What do you have planned this weekend? My niece's birthday party is Sunday and we want to start renovating our kitchen floor soon, so maybe it will be this weekend..not sure yet. I am not looking forward to the big MESS but I am looking forward to getting the new floor! My hubby is a do-it-yourselfer and is pretty talented in that area...but it seems to take sooo much longer than if a professional came in. ha

So before we get started with our busy weekend, I wanted to pop in and share a little project I made for the Pink Paislee blog yesterday (you can read the full directions and supplies used there). I had fun with lots of Pink Paislee goodies here! I found a cake box pattern on-line and enlarged it and then traced it onto the back of my patterned paper, then assembled it. These would be so cute if you made a bunch of them for party favors and arranged them in a circle like a cake! The top of the box says, "you are DINO-mite!" The card is an invitation for the Dino party!

Dino-mite Box - up close

Card - up close

And below is a little sneaky peeky to a crop challenge that I will be hosting at Create My Keepsake on National Scrapbooking Day, May 3rd! I am doing a card challenge, so all you card lovers come on over to CMK and hang out with us! (Of course there will be lots of other challenges too!) I will have a nice give-away for my challenge for one lucky participant. Supplies I used here include some yummy new Sasafrass Lass paper and stickers, and of course some gorgeous Pink Paislee stamps and floral paper from the Spring Fling line! I hope you will join in on the fun!

Have a great weekend! Thanks for stopping by, I appreciate it! ~Danielle~

Hybrid card tutorial..

Since I haven't done any scrapping lately, I wanted to share a tutorial I made for Prima Hybrid a few weeks ago on how to create a shaped card with Photoshop. These are so much fun to make! I have Photoshop CS2, but I believe Photoshop Elements is very similar. If you have any questions, let me know! Click on photos to see them larger.

Supplies you will need:

*White cardstock or matte finished photo paper: one 8 ½” x 11” piece and one 6 x 12” piece,
*Digital kit and digital saying (I used Carrie Stephen’s Santiago Sunrise kit and Warm Fuzzies kit from Prima Hybrid.),
*3 white Prima flowers (I used Prima #140441.),
*Glitter and glue (I used Glue Dots to adhere the flowers and small butterfly.),
*Twine from craft store.

1. Open a new file that is 8.5 x 11”. Click on the “blob” looking shape in the tool bar. At the top you will see “shape”. Select the butterfly shape. Draw with your mouse the butterfly shape 6” x 5” (or smaller if you wish to have a smaller card).

2. Open the patterned paper that you will use on your butterfly. I used Carrie Stephen’s Santiago Sunrise Double Diamond background at Prima Hybrid. Resize it to 6” x 6” by clicking on “Image”, “Image Size”, then put in 6 inches x 6 inches for the measurements.

Click the move tool (arrow and little cross), then drag your paper over the top of your butterfly. Click Control-Alt-G and the paper will take the shape of the butterfly.

3. Repeat this process to create another smaller butterfly. I used Carrie’s Santiago kit again with the Sunrise Cherry paper. I also opened the long rub on from the kit and dragged it over to my butterfly for the body. If you click Control-T, you can resize it to fit the body.

4. Open a sentiment to put on the front of your card. I used Carrie Stephen’s Warm Fuzzies kit from Prima Hybrid that says “Perfectly Sweet”. Using the move tool again, drag it over to your butterfly, and click Control-T to resize to fit.

5. Select the Type tool in the tool in the tool bar (T). Add the word “How” right above sentiment and click the check mark at the top of the screen to accept it.

6. Print page out onto white cardstock. Cut out butterflies. Fold a white piece of 6” x 12” cardstock in half for the card base. Attach the large butterfly to front of card with the left top wing ON the fold. Cut around butterfly but do NOT CUT on fold.

7. Attach glitter to small butterfly. Wrap twine around left top wing and tie in bow. Attach small butterfly over top and 2 Prima flowers. Adhere another flower to bottom right hand wing near saying. You are done! This card would be cute for a baby card or a nice thank you. Finished size is 6” x 5”.

Happy Friday!

Hope you have had a wonderful week! My mom is still here visiting and we've had such a nice week together, playing with the kids, going on bike rides and walks, etc. and just taking it easy. The weather has been beautiful, so we were able to do all of the fun outside things this week, including a little run through the sprinkler for the kids...gosh, I didn't think that weather would ever get here, it's been such a long winter! It will be very hard when she has to leave tomorrow. I miss having her around.

Well, I just wanted to pop in and let you know there are only 5 card kits left at Create My Keepsake. You can grab them here! Let me know what you think!

Sweet Day card

What's Up, Girly? card

B.F.F. (Best Friends Forever) This is a little telephone (pattern is included in the kit). I thought the ribbon looked like a telephone cord! ha

A little money holder card...

I can't wait to scrap again..I'll admit, I'm having withdrawals. lol Wishing you a happy weekend!
~Danielle~

A bit of news...

Today is the day I can finally spill what I've been hinting about lately and I'm so VERY excited, thrilled and honored to be a part of one of my absolute favorite manufacturing companies, Melissa Frances! I've always adored her products and love the gorgeous, shabby feel to them. I was floored when Carolyn Peeler e-mailed me a few weeks ago asking me to join this team of amazingly talented ladies!!! Please come on over to the Melissa Frances blog HERE for wonderful inspiration by the team members using these products...I'm always amazed by what I see here...my jaw drops every time I visit!! The ladies are so talented and I'm just in awe that I get to be part of it all!

Please also take a moment to read about Melissa Frances' story of her fight with breast cancer and how it has inspired her to create the Thankful line. Truly an inspiration to us all. I can't wait to get started with this amazing company! ~Danielle~

We have a winner!

Thank you all sooo much for playing in my little card challenge! Such beautiful cards from everyone..I enjoyed seeing them so much! Sorry for the late post today..it's been such a wild and hairy day for me for some reason! I had my little Kati choose a name from a bowl from everyone who played along and she chose.......

LORI RENN! Congrats, Lori! Please e-mail me at dflanders71@hotmail.com with your addy, so I can get a little goodie out to you! :)

And here are a few more cards that I made recently with the March kit from InspireMeCardKits! Speaking of IMCK, please check out their new design team call HERE! Her kits are absolutely fabulous, I love how she puts in so many goodies and 3 lines that coordinate so nicely! Very fun kits! I wish I could stay on, but unfortunately my plate is getting too full at this time. :)

This card is made with mostly Jenni Bowlin items, however I sneaked in a bit of Pink Paislee..it's the little notebook edges from the orange die cut paper! I just turned it over to use the white side:

(Will be published in Cards Magazine, Sept. 2008.)

The frame around the Baby Boy card is My Mind's Eye, orange background paper is Pink Paislee - Office Lingo as is the large oval die cut, small oval is Jenni Bowlin label sticker, stars by Melissa Frances, buttons and sticker letters are Doodlebug and ribbon is Fancy Pants:
The Celebrate card is another card that is made with mostly Pink Paislee - Office Lingo papers and die cuts! Rub ons are Creative Cafe swatch book of sayings. I cut the middle out of the circle die cut to surround the little candles:

(Will be published in Cards Magazine, Sept. 2008)

Thanks for taking a peek! Well, I'm off to go pick my mom up from the airport in a bit..I can't wait to see her! Hope she makes it here OK. It's been a rough day for her. Wishing you a fabulous weekend! And please check back on Monday for some "news" from me.. I'm bursting at the seams to share this fabulous news! :)

Hugs! ~Danielle~

How about a challenge?

Amidst the raking of the yard and getting ready for my mom to come visit me (in 3 days!!)...I thought I'd pop in and share a couple more projects I've done recently. These are Pink Paislee projects done with the March kit at InspireMeCardKits.com. The first one is a layout made with the Office Lingo papers and die cuts from Pink Paislee...love the color combo! And I had to throw in a Jenni Bowlin die cut (large flower) and a little stitching around the edges. (click on photo to see it larger) This is a photo of my daughter, Taylor, from last summer...just some fun pics we took at the school one day while we were playing...inspired by Creasa Brown. I just love her photography and her work is amazing. I cut the orange die cut frame in half and overlapped it to fit my 4x6 photo.
This is another Scenic Route chipboard piece (the negative) that came in the kit from IMCK, so I painted it blue and had to distress it a bit, backed it with the fun Pink Paislee papers. Then I cut the edges of the awesome die cut paper for the "fringe" and added a fun little die cut on the bottom to finish it off. I think it will look cute hanging on Kati's wall...

Can you tell I'm a little addicted to butterflies right now!? I wonder what it will be next. (sigh) What technique or item are you loving in scrapbooking right now?

How about a little challenge?
Create a card with: polkadots, chipboard, paint and a butterfly of some sort and I'll select a winner randomly on Friday for a little RAK! :) Can't wait to see what you create!

~Danielle~

Sneak PEEK for you!

My first card kit peek is ready and it's girly! The April Card kit will be available on April 15th at Create My Keepsake...unless you're a card kit member...and then you get all the perks of membership (advanced purchase at a discount, welcome coupon, etc.)!! Visit the link for membership information. Included in the kit are photos of 4 fun cards...complete with detailed instructions!
And many have asked if the card kit can be used for layouts...absolutely!! All kit supplies are 12x12 and coordinated for whatever project you desire. The "soft charms" by Love, Elsie in the kit are the best--SO cute!
And here are a few projects I've been working on for the main April kit at CMK. Love how the Prima-Dude papers coordinate with the Paper Trunk papers...the colors are wonderful! This is my daughter, Taylor last summer. The journaling says, "Seriously! This girl was born with more attitude than anyone I've ever met. But I truly admire her for it and think it will serve her well in her life."

This is a card made with the negative of the people chipboard. I painted it red and backed it with the Dude papers!
Thanks 2 You! card. (I added the "thanks" rub on from my stash..but everything else is in the kit.)
In other news, well it's not really news...but I spent this entire morning going through my daughter's room cleaning out the clothes that don't fit her anymore and washing 3 big bins full of clothes that will fit her now from my older daughter's stash of hand-me-downs. Wow! What a BIG job that is. Guess I should keep up with it more often! Yesterday was actually 66 degrees here, the warmest it's been so far, so I am feeling the Spring cleaning bug! :) Have a wonderful day and thanks for stopping in! ~ Danielle ~