Fabulous Find: Taylored Expressions Party Banner

Happy Birthday to You....Happy Birthday to You... who wouldn't have a smile on their face with a fabulous birthday card made with the Taylored Expressions Party Banner cutting plate???

This cutting plate makes birthday cards so so so easy to make. It is really one roll through your die cutter and placed as an overlay on another piece of paper. You can embellish it by layering the banners or you can go simply and let the beauty of the cutting plate stand alone.

Supplies:  K&C (pattern paper); Close to my Heart (ribbon); Taylored Expression (birthday cutting plate, birthday treat topper); Spellbinders (scalloped circle)

I wanted to add how easy it was to cut with the Taylored Expressions cutting plate...the cuts were crisp and clear ... and are easy to use. Additionally I have found it so easy to pair Taylored Expressions dies together (more on this in an upcoming post.)

Have you added a Taylored Expression product to your stash? You can find many of her products in the store. 

Fabulous Find: The Amazing Elizabeth Craft

Many cardmakers are eagerly working to finish their Christmas cards these days. Elizabeth Craft Designs has a few beautiful dies that would be perfect for Christmas cards as well as future all occasion projects.

For example, look at the branch and pine cone die below.

Supplies:  Darice (brick embossing folder); Making Memories (Merry Christmas sentiment); Elizabeth Craft (berry branch and pine cone die)

Here is Elizabeth's ornament die - I love the beautiful filigree overlay for the ornaments - its beautiful and so easy to use either as is or all dolled up.

Supplies:  Scrap Shotz monthly kit (pattern papers); Making Memories (Merry Christmas sentiment); Elizabeth Craft (ornament die)

How are your Christmas cards coming along? I ummm have quite a few more to make!

Fabulous Find: Stephanie Barnard Dies

Have you ever drooled over some gorgeous flip cards...and wondered how they were created? Well, wonder no more because Stephanie Barnard has created a fabulous die that creates the flip card. Below are examples from Rosie and myself.

Supplies:  Stephanie Barnard flip die, Elizabeth Craft (shimmer sheetz, stickers); Copics

Supplies:  Stephanie Barnard flip die, Elizabeth Craft (flower and bird die); Darice embossing folder

These wonderful dies work in the Big Shotz, Cuttlebug and other die cutting machines beautifully - let me know what you think too!

As an A Side with Die-Versions Edges

As my title suggests...as an A SIDE...aren't these just the cutest cards ever??? I am in love with the Die-Versions Edges dies. The dies allow you to die cut on an edge. How often have you wanted to add a die cut word or phrase on the edge of a project but were not sure how to do it...well, these dies do it all. They are simple to use, are gorgeous in design and cut beautifully.

Check out the cards below created by the lovely Rosie!

Thanks for dropping by! We hope you had a lovely time at our World Cardnaking Day Mini-Crop.

Fabulous Fundamental: Prima Alphas and Claudine Helmuth Mini Paints

I have an Alpha Obsession. There I said it...yup, an Alpha Obsession. I also love love love these Prima Alphas. These alphas take any project from great to unbelievable - the font is perfect for all events.

But are there ever enough vowels? I seem to always run out of "E" and "N" but I have inadvertently discovered a secret trick. Want me to share??? :-)

Well, I have been using Claudine Helmuth Mini Paints and a Q-tip to paint my alphas. It appeases my need for matching alphas and allows me to re-colour any of my alphas to complement my project. Additionally, the Claundine Helmuth Mini Paints smoothly and easily covers the textured surface of the Prima Alphas...and even smoother alpha surfaces. Very little paint is needed. I squirt paint about the size of the pea onto a piece of scrap paper and apply the paint to my alphas.

Here is a sample of a layout with re-coloured alphas.

 Supplies:  Pink Paislee (pattern paper, die cut accents, alphas); Petaloo (glittered flowers); BoBunny (metal butterfly); Kiki art (glitter chipboard heart); EK Success (border punch); Making Memories (mini alphas) House of 3 (acrylic 3D flower and flower centre); WRMK (chomper)

As you can see, I was running low on alphas and modified several remaining alphas to the letters I wanted. I personally adhered my alphas to my layout first and then I recoloured the alphas. If you can believe, the original colours of the alphas were brown and pink. The black acrylic paint did the trick beautifully.

Have you recoloured your alphas?

Fabulous Fundamental: What...Blurry Photos??? !!!

Aaack! Blurry photos! But they are the only photos I have of the event...what do you do? Well scrap them of course...ok, so it wasn't really that simple for me. Yes I spent quite a bit of time trying to find any picture that I had of my daughter's birthday that was not blurry at the restaurant but no such luck. That left scrapping the photos I had or go without!

Here is the resulting layout...and you know what? I'm so glad I decided to scrap my blurry photos!

Supplies:  Pink Paislee/Collage Press (pattern paper, die cut accents, purple gem); Prima (alphas, teal gems); Claudine Helmut (acrylic paint); Fancy Pants (chipboard hearts); BoBunny (medallion); Stampin' Up (notebook punch); American Crafts (pen for journaling); House of 3 (journal card)

And because I included some private journalling, it was written on a notecard by House of 3 and tucked into the back of the top layer.

The next time you are debating if you should scrap blurry photos, think of me and take a leap of faith in scrapping those blurry photos - you will be happy you did! I know I sure was!

P.S. I also wanted to mention my sincere love to Pink Paislee/Collage Press for the fabulous assortment of die cuts and accents that are coordinate with their collection packs - gosh, they make my heart sing because everything coordinates and can be layered easily together!

Scrapping With Scraps!!!!

Throughout the summer I have been challenging myself to use my Scrap Shotz kit remnants and collection scraps to their fullest extent. When I scrap, I am a paper heavy scrapper so to have remnants is a bit of rarity...but no matter how frugal I make my cuts, I will inevitably have a few strips here and there. So what do I do with them?

Well, here is an option...use them to create a unique photo mat and create a platform for larger accents.

Supplies:  Close to my Heart (cardstock); Pink Paislee/Collage Press (pattern paper, die cut accents); Prima (mistables, gems); Tattered Angels (mist); Tsukineko (mist); Heidi Swapp (chipboard flower); Basic Grey (chipboard accent, alphas); Evalicious (felt accent); Making Memories (mini alphas); American Crafts (chipboard accents); Fiskars (border punch)

To create added textures and interest on my layout which I would normally do with pattern paper, I used various accents from my stash...to take the place of the "O"s I did not have for the title and to balance the layout. For my layouts, there are bits and pieces of symbolism like the heart to show the love between sisters, the clock to symbolize the passage of time, to the butterflies flitting their wings as they grow and to the dressmakers mannequin they each have in their room to hang their jewellery.

I hope you are feeling inspired from this post!