Want to win a Craftsy online class?

Welcome to a special blog hop hosted by instructors at Craftsy.com, an online classroom platform that includes classes on scrapbooking, card making, paper crafting and much more! 

Spend a little time getting to know each instructor on this list and the classes they teach through Craftsy. You'll discover that some of your favorite teachers are now offering classes through this incredible platform. Look for special giveaways from the instructors and leave a comment on the participating blogs for your chance to win! Then join us on Craftsy for inspiring new ways to craft and learn!

A little about me:
Many of you have been blog readers of mine for some time now, but for those of you who are new to my work, I'd like to take a minute to introduce myself! My name is Danielle Flanders, and I've been paper crafting for about 15 years now. It all began when my first daughter was born. I wanted to document her life as a baby and create a memory book for her. Since then, I've worked for many paper and stamp manufacturers and am so grateful to have had my work published numerous times. Cardmaking is a favorite pasttime of mine as well. I love to send happy mail to make people smile! I would say my style is trendy, light and airy, clean - yet layered, girly and colorful.

About my Craftsy class:
The class I'm teaching with Craftsy is: Cards With Dimension: Lovely Layers, Textures and Embellishments.  By clicking the link, I'm happy to offer 1/2 off my class today! Sign up and watch the class anytime, at your own pace. Ask questions of the instructors and post pictures of your cards in the class platform as well! It's a great way to work on your cardmaking skills and gain feedback from the Craftsy instructors. You can read more about the class HERE. In the class, I focus on creative and simple ways to add texture to your cards with embossing, stitching, embellishing tips and ways to use vellum, tips on layering patterned papers and much more!

(Photos shown are actual cards from the class.)

Giveaway:

Would you like to win a spot in my online class? Please leave a comment. Let me know what would you would like to learn the most from an online paper crafting class? Giveaway will end Thursday, July 16 at midnight EDT. Next, hop on to the other instructors' blogs for more giveaways:

Wilna Furstenberg 

Jen Gallacher 

Nichol Magouirk 

Aly Dosdall 

Paige Evans

Danielle Flanders (you are here!)

Happy NSD! *Giveaway now closed*

Well, hello there! A few of my scrapbooking and cardmaking friends and I have put together a fun blog hop in honor of National Scrapbook Day! Are you getting crafty today? There will be a few giveaways and special things along the hop, so be sure to hop along, get to know all of these creative people, and see what they are up to!

First, we thought it would be fun to share a little bit about each of us. Please feel free to play along and post your favorites too! Currently...

1. Favorite YouTube clip: Jimmy Fallon's Ew! videos...my 9 year old daughter, Kati, and I laugh and laugh! We love Jimmy Fallon!
2. Listening to: Pandora on my iPad - Today's Hits Radio.
3. Watching: Game of Thrones.
4. Reading: I'm not much of a reader, just online news and blogs!
5. I can eat this everyday: definitely chocolate.
6. Favorite drink at 4pm: Diet Dr. Pepper.
7. On my wishlist: a Heidi Swapp Minc machine and some foils to experiment with.
8. Enjoying: time with my husband before he starts his new job.
9. Favorite quote right now: "Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement." I always like to have an optimistic outlook on things!
10. Smiling about: Spring and all its beauty.
11. My favorite project for the year is...

Probably my Craftsy.com workshop that came out in January! It's called Cards With Dimension: Lovely Layers, Textures and Embellishments.  (Today I'd love to offer you 50% off my class! Just click on the class title link above to get 1/2 off.) I teach tips on working with patterned papers, layering with vellum, choosing and placing embellishments, other ways to add texture and dimension, stitching - hand and machine, and more. You'll see over 70 cards throughout the class. If you'd like to read more about it, you can see my original blog post here. Here are some samples from the class.

Love me some layers!

Now, before I go, a few things...Wilna has graciously offered a freebie for us to share with you, which you can download here.  See image below. She also has a new class with Craftsy titled Fresh Techniques for Artful Layouts. Be sure to check it out, it's fantastic! She's so creative.

And one last thing...I'd like to give away a spot in my Cards With Dimension class!

If you are interested, please leave a note and tell me what you would most like to learn or improve on in your card making or scrapbooking. I'll choose a random winner by May 4th. Have a happy and creative day!

Laura Craigie

Jen Gallacher

Jill Sprott

Wilna Furstenberg

Paige Evans

Shimelle Laine

Nancy Damiano

Danielle Flanders (you are here!)

Aly Dosdall

Laura Bassen

Amy Heller

Stephanie Bryan

It's National Craft Month!

Happy Monday! I am here recovering from this whirlwind Papertrey Ink release and getting my craft room back to normal! :) Were you inspired to create something fun over the weekend?

I wanted to pop in and share a peek of Betsy's next Make It Market kit called Party Pops. Visit the link for more information. We will be sharing more projects made with it at the end of the month, and the kit will be available on April 1st. I've made some party decor for the table here, but this kit can be used for SO much more! Pop up birthday cards, fun cupcake flowers for gift toppers, banners and garlands...really so many possibilities with it!

Also, I wanted to share a great deal with you today over at Craftsy.com. All of their classes are 50% off this weekend, and today is the last day of the sale for National Craft Month! If you've been thinking about watching a class, you won't be disappointed. There are so many great things about Craftsy. The classes stay online forever, so you can watch them at your own pace, anytime. You can chat with instructors and ask questions, and you can post pics of your own projects in the class platforms! (And you can get a free app to watch them on your mobile devices.) If you are on the fence, you can check out their free mini classes to see what Craftsy is all about!

Well, I am off to spend the day with my husband today. The girls have 4 days of school this week, then they are off for 10 days for spring break! I can't believe it's March already! This year is flying by so fast. What's going on in your neck of the woods?

keeping organized and accountable...

Well, have you recovered from the February release yet? I've been so inspired by all of the new products this past month and projects by the team. And I'm ready to see what's next! Are you?

I've finally started writing in my new Moments Inked planner after three weeks. I think I feared it because I wasn't sure what I'd use it for. Laundry? Dishes? My life is pretty boring outside the occasional school play and dentist appointment, ya know? But I decided it would hold me accountable for exercising and meal planning (or just being more aware of what I eat, as I can keep track). So far, so good! Did over 9 miles the past 3 days on the treadmill and am eating healthier, and now I can be proud to write in those accomplishments! It's holding me accountable, which I love! If you want to read more about the planner, visit this link: Moments Inked Planner.

I've also been working on photographing my cards for the Craftsy class, so if you are taking the class be sure to check into the Class Project section to see them in closer detail. And please, please upload your cards as well! I want to see them! If you haven't purchased the class and still want to, you can still get 1/2 off by clicking here: Cards With Dimension: Lovely Layers, Textures and Embellishments.

This is one of the cards I made as an extra sample to share at the end of the "Machine Stitching chapter". There are 7 lessons with about 3 chapters in each lesson. I make one card in each chapter (= about 21 new cards you'll see me create on camera) and then at the end of each chapter, I share at least 3 MORE card ideas using those skills in that particular chapter (= over 75 cards shown in my class)!

On this card, I've used a Pink Paislee - Color Wash paper in the background, Beautiful Butterflies dies by Papertrey Ink and a sentiment from Feather Finery.

Winter has finally hit Colorado, and we've been getting snowfall after snowfall this month! I'm so ready for spring and colorful flowers, bright green grass and spending time outdoors again. How about you?

Cards With Dimension: an online class...

After several months of hard work and patiently waiting for the final result, I'm finally able to reveal something that I worked on feverishly last fall...an online class with Craftsy.com! It's here, it's here! We'll be creating standout cards that are beautifully layered, textured and embellished. I'll offer you tips and tricks to achieve that elegant, professional look to your cards!

Cards With Dimension: Lovely Layers, Textures & Embellishments

(Fancy title, eh? They are so crafty at Craftsy.)

I am going to tell you a little secret! When Craftsy contacted me last fall, and I heard that I would be filmed on camera, my first reaction was, "Oh gosh, no. No, no, no." I'm not really one for being in the spotlight. I'm very quiet and shy (until I get to know you, then I talk up a storm! ha), so for me to go on camera was a huge stretch out of my comfort zone and my little studio at home! I'm much more comfortable being behind the scenes and behind the computer. Maybe I'm just used to it after all of these years of creating and blogging and doing my thing from home! After I gave it some thought... a lot of thought...and talked to my husband about it, he very much encouraged me to go for it. Try something new. Grow. Learn. Take some chances! Put myself out there a bit more. So...hesitantly...I said yes. After all, I love sharing ideas and inspiring others to bring out their creativity!

From that moment on, Craftsy was WONDERFUL to work with. My acquisitions editor worked with me weekly to develop the content and devise an outline of what I was going to teach. We also put together a mini kit that is optional to the class, and of course it is chock full of supplies that I adore! I used everything in the kit on my cards for the class (plus a few other things not in the kit, like some stamps and dies by Papertrey Ink). The great thing is that you can pick one or two items to buy, or you can grab ALL of the items to go with the class! OR you don't have to buy a thing. It's totally up to you. :) If you'd like to follow along and try some of the card ideas, grab a kit. You'll love it! Here's a sneak peek. Click here to see the kit items that I used, available at Craftsy.

In the class, there are approximately 30 never-before-seen projects, and I'll also show several more cards as extra examples of the lesson at the end of each chapter. So all together you'll see over 70 cards throughout the class! (And please...ignore my long, scraggly hair and the scared look on my face! Ha I have cut it short since then! And by the end of the class, I promise I'm not as scared of the camera. Hee)

We'll cover ways to incorporate patterned papers, how to mix and match them and how to layer. And let's be honest: as paper crafters, we all LOVE embellishments! They're fun to work with and make our designs to much more visually appealing. I'll share ideas for incorporating a variety of embellishments for cards that are multi-dimensional and absolutely captivating.

We'll also work with texture in several ways, and I can't wait to show you my process when creating a dimensional card.

Currently, the class is $29.99, however, as a huge thank you to you for being a blog reader of mine, I can offer the class to you for 50% off! YAY! Click HERE to purchase the class for 1/2 price.  You must create a log-in to see the description for the class, I believe. Thank you for letting me share about this journey with you. I'm so grateful for this opportunity to stretch myself, and truly hope you enjoy the class on techniques for creating dimension. xo

P.S. Have you seen the Vibrant Stamping class by Laura Bassen? She's so adorable and fun, you'll love her class!

Danielle