Happy Monday folks! I am very happy today, I have a free day (the kids are at grandmas!) so I can create til my heart is content, then tonight me and my hubby are going out to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary! I am one lucky lady 😉
OK enough jibber-jabber let’s see what the Lindsay’s stamp Stuff DT has been working on for us lately, I have the pleasure this week of having Margie Visnick back as a guest designer, see the cute cards she made for us this with the Strawberries and Watermelon stamp set week:
Karin also made this “Chic” Hello card using the Posh n Trendy stamp set:
Diane has been busy this week, she made 4 cards this week using the Cupcake Carrier SVG set, you can see them all on her blog but this was my favorite 😉
Happy Saturday! I’m just getting up at 9am on a Saturday (thanks kids for arguing quietly this morning:) and was checking my email to find a few places offering some cool freebies today, check them out:
Sew True is offering free shipping now through the 17th with the coupon code: 11H51F I love their Hug Snug seam binding. You can use the seam binding for making vintage crinkle ribbon (video tutorial here) or stamping on it (video tutorial here). They have lots of other goodies too like blank buttons you can cover with fabric and loads of sewing supplies!
ScrapGirls has a new mega kit to download free here, check it out:
And Lettering Delights has the American Pride Mega Bundle set of 14 fonts, svg, graphic sets and doodlebats (a $50 value) for free! You will want it:) I couldn’t get a screen-shot of everything but trust me its a good one, I love the Scap States font-who needs the 50 states cricut cartridge now!?!
Well, I have a birthday party to get to happy freebie downloading and til next time happy crafting!
My favorite holiday to scrapbook is Easter. I love the frilly Easter dresses, brightly colored plastic eggs, fresh flowers popping up out of the ground and pretty pastel candy! this feast of springtime color is perfect to capture in photos. Before you head out (or host) this years Easter Celebration here are some photo tips for you!
Tip 1: Don’t Pose…Compose!
When photographing kids capture them being kids, chasing after eggs, playing and having fun. Check out this photo I tool last Easter of my nephew. My sister set him in frount of her flower garden and let him play and I got a great natural shot!
Don’t forget the candid action shots too:
Of course when you do have the family together and all dressed up it is a great time to…
Tip 2: Get a semi-posed family photo!
Tip 3: Do some still life photography:
Notice the photo of the baskets of eggs only, this after the hunt photo make a perfect embellishment for the page. Also consider taking photos close up in macro mode of jelly beans, easter grass and other candies for nearly free scrapbook embellishments and they will be authentic too!
Tip 4: OK this is a scrapbook tip-try kraft colored paper for your scrapbook pages, it looks great with pastel springtime shades (see above photos) a swipe of pastel paint adds a nice touch too and best of all you keep the focus on the photos!
Tip: 5-Photo the Pre-Easter Events.
This year I bout a Spin-an-Egg (Target/ $5) and we used that to color our eggs, what fun, get a photo of the pretty colored eggs:
Note: If I had to do it over I would have taken the photo outside with no flash 😀 Sometime your photos are not perfect but you should still scrap them, that’s what is important. You kids will not care that the lighting isn’t perfect, they will be glad to have the memories. Here I took a bunch of egg dying shots and used a egg-shaped puzzle template to make this page. Also I saved the egg-dipper and used it as an embellishment!
Here are some of the digital products from Lindsay’s stamp Stuff I used in the above pages and some other springtime goodies:
Well, hello there folks! I have been playing in my studio and wanted to share a quick and easy project I made. First I printed out some digital stamps from the Fancy Flower set from Lindsay’s stamp Stuff, then I had a photocopy made so I could transfer them on to tiles. Wouldn’t thse make a cute Mother’s Day gift?
I colored the tiles with my new ProMarkers, it was so easy! Here is a video showing you how to do it:
Here are close-ups of my favorites:
EDITED TO ADD: the background on this tile was done by coloring it with a blue marker, then dabbin the same marker randomly on top. If you marker is not juicy enough you can use a q-tip to drop denatured (or rubbing) alcohol on top for the same effect. Just play around until you like the look!
And here is a peek at the Fancy Flowers digital Stamp Set I used:
With easter on its way I thought you might want a handy little basket to make so for this weeks freebie I give you a basket and notecard, click the pic to download.
It coordinates with my new Basket Bonanza set, 6 baskets in all including a covered picnic basket (that is my favorite!)
****EDIT: 3/25/11**** I have ben asked by several readers where to buy the new blending sets, I have added a list of stockists at the end of my post as well as a list of al the colors in th sets so you can buy them a’la carte too***
Howdy folks! I can’t believe March is almost over! It cam in link a lion and, well, that has not changed LOL! I decided to stay in away from the slushy snow we received yesterday and make a card with my new Sew Much fun digistamp set and my new ProMarker blending kits.
And that set along with everything at Lindsay’s Stamp Stuff is 30% off Now through Saturday!
If you want to see how I made this card and learn some coloring tips and tricks watch the video!
That was a fun one to make, I actually talked and talked til I ran out of film {no surprise there ha ha}, here is a look at the brand new Sew Much Fun digistamp set I used:
Now for the freebie, Vintage is so hot right now and I’ve seen a few rubber stamp companies come out with eye charts will, I came across a vintage eye chart and I cleaned it up a bit and made a sheet of them that you can add to your cards and crafts, click here to download. There is a printable sheet of 9 and a single too 🙂
Ammended 3/25/11: The Blending sets are arriving in brick and morter store now, they will be available online within weeks. All of the colors in the kits are available open stock (in case you cannot wait LOL!)
Here are the colors in the ProMarker Blending sets:
Pastel set: Vanilla, Satin, Meadow Green, Apple, Pastel Blue, Powder Blue, Lavender, Lilac, Pale Pink, Baby Pink, Putty, Tan
Here is a list of store that sell Promarkers, please support your local art supply shops and check there first. I am not affilated with any of these retailers, I am just passing info along 🙂
Many online art supplies have the basic Promarker sets: Blick Art Materails and Cheap joes are two compaines I order from oftern but do not carry them individually.
I am lucky that my Local Art Shop locatred in Aubachon Hardware in Bangor Maine carries all the ProMarker colors, if you are local check them out {Say “hi” to Fred for me 🙂 }
Aubuchon Hardware Store #174
21 Washington Street
Bangor, ME 04401 207-945-5542
Canada Retail Stores
Omer Deserres, 400 de Maisonneuve Blvd. West, Suite1200, Montreal, Quebec, H3A 1L4Tel: 1 800-363-0318 http://www.deserres.ca/Above Ground Art Supplies, 74 McCaul Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5T 3K2, Tel: 1 416-591-1601 https://www.abovegroundartsupplies.com/Art & Hobby, 755 Saint-Jacques St., Saint-Jean-Sur-Richelieu, Quebec, J3B 6S4, Tel: 1 450-347-1517 http://www.arthobby.ca/Colours Art & Framing, 1340-16th Avenue NW, Calgary, Alberta, T2H 0L1 Tel: 1 403-289-1633 Opus Framing Art & Supplies, 3445 Cornett Road, Vancouver, British Columbia, V5M 2H3 Tel: 1 604-435-9991Also available at: The Artstore of Waterloo &Wallacks Art Shop Anyone can order the markers directly from Letraset too: www.letraset.com They are based in England, you can see shipping rates on their website. Most likely you are better off to check with your local art shops, you will save on shipping and keep your money local. If your local art shop does not carry ProMarkers just ask them to, if not they can likely order them for you 🙂
I realized that the kids had nothing green in their wardrobes so we did a bit of tie-dying this week then I though, hmmm, why not add some iron-on decals to our shirts as well? You will need Iron on Transfer paper, clip art (I used an image from the Organic Living kit from Lindsay’s stamp Stuff ), an iron set to dry and hot, scissors and a natural fiber t-shirt. The first thing you need to do is open your graphics software (I am using Paint Shop Pro) and arrange your artwork. Get as much as you can on a sheet because you will cut around the images after you print them. Use the PNG files so you can really pack them in 🙂
If you are using iron-on transfer paper for dark fabrics you can leave the image as is and print BUT if you are using standard iron-on transfers you need to flip the image:
Then I printed it using the everyday setting. If you are using MS word or another program that will not let you mirror your image then when you go to print click Preferences – Advanced – Mirror Image (switch to “on”) or check “Iron-on Transfer” under paper choice.
I will use the Vegetarian logo on this shirt and save the rainbows for other shirts.
Do not use your ironing board when doing transfers. You need a hard surface that can take a lot of pressure like a table or counter. Lay a cotton pillowcase on the table and iron it, then iron your fabric, make sure the steam is turned off. Cut apart your images and place them on your shirt exactly where you want them.
*Light color shirt transfers go face down. Dark color shirt transfers go face up and you use a special tissue paper over it to press, that is why you don’t need to flip dark color fabric transfers. If you have any questions check the instructions that come with your transfers
Honestly you need to press down really hard, use both hands, I only used one here because the other hand was holding the camera 😛
Set your iron to the hottest setting. You need to exert a lot or pressure while you iron. If you are ironing an entire sheet set your timer for 3 minutes. You can use an oven timer or an egg timer for this. I used a quarter of a sheet and only needed to iron it one minute. Press the transfer firmly moving it so you do not scorch you fabric. when the timer goes off let it cool completely before trying to remove the backing sheet.
Enjoy your stylin’ new shirt…yeah, I look like such a dork 🙂
Here are the other shirts I made, the Rainbow is also from the Organic Living kit and the shamrocks are today’s freebie!
Since it is st.Pattie’s day how about a shamrock freebie, you can whip up some custom shirts for the kids before they come home from school (or just save it til next year LOL!)
click on the pic, then right click on the bigger picture and choose "Save as" This file is a PNG.
I think soccer must me the most popular kids sport out there. In my neck of the woods it is a 3 season game: Spring soccer, fall soccer and soccer camp in the summer and for all of the die-hard soccer players there are indoor soccer fields. Wow, that is a lot of soccer! I bet a lot of kids would love a soccer themed birthday party, how fun would it be to let a gaggle of kids loose in the backyard with a bunch of balls to, well, have a ball! With that in mind I designed a new soccer party kit with SVG cutting files and printables to create the soccer party of their dreams! Here is a look at some of the printables:
My favorite is the cupcake wrapper, how fun!
A fun and easy (not to mention inexpensive) way to decorate for a soccer party would be to get a piece of green outdoor carpet cut to fit your table (a picnic table outside would be perfect) and put all of the food and party stuff on top. It would look like a mini soccer field! After the party you can simply hose off the table, carpet and all. Now that’s my kind of clean up 😀
The printable invites come in two parts so you can print both the inside and outside for a slick look and to save time!
You get 11 printable 8.5″x11″ sheets and 6 SVG cutting files all for $5. Here is a look at the soccer party kit:
Also today I wanted to share this weeks Dollar Deals with you, they will be on sale until next Wednesday and then they go back to full price, get them quick while there a buck!
Well, today that would be you (check out the end of this post for a cute vintage button digistamp freebie!) I used said freebie on my project today too as well as stamps from the Sew Pretty set from Lindsay’s Stamp Stuff:
Every designer has her favorites and this set is one of mine, you get 8 sewing themed stamps in png and jpg format but what I really love about this set is how easy it is to layer them to create unique “still lifes” or montages that you can color as I did here. I simply layered the png stamps and erased bits here and there (in paint shop pro but photoshop or gimp will work just as well) until it looked right. Tip: When you create a cool layered layout save it so you can print it again!
I used my new favorite markers to color this and if you have not tried Tria markers by Letraset you are in for a BIG treat (my poor copics might be gathering some dust now LOL!) I really like it because I can use them with my ProMarkers (the ink is the same, the big difference is that Tria has replaceable brush, chisel and fie tip nibs and are refillable) and they blend beautifully even though I have a small collection. BTW you are going to want to keep your eyes glued to this blog because I will have a FABULOUS giveaway in a few days that will totally color your world (hint hint, nudge nudge, wink wink 🙂 ) You won’t want to miss that COLORFUL giveaway!
OK now on with the show. I used the Sew pretty set on my card, this set coordinates with the Sewing Stuff single and the Posh and Trendy sets very nicely:
And here is your freebie-now grab it while you can because I’ve got some sketching brewing in my noggin that coordinate well with this and it’s freebie status might be in jeopardy if I end up tossing it in with a fab new set…as in get it while you can, don’t say I didn’t warn you 🙂
To download click on the picture, then right click on the larger picture and choose "save as" from the drop down menu. Enjoy!
Are you ready for this weeks Dollar Deals? Remember these sets are on sale for $1 but only til next Wednesday so don’t wait!
Be sure to check back tomorrow when I will have fabulous eye candy from the Lindsay’s stamp stuff design team! Til then happy crafting!
S-P-I-R-I-T!!! {Yes I used 3 exclamation points!} The days are getting warmer and I am thinking about Spring! I walked the dog this morning and actually broke a sweat-usually I am freezing my buns off and gripping my coffee mug for any additional warmth I can find LOL. This has got me thinking about baseball, all 3 of my kids play (heck, they can make up half the team 🙂 ) and so I decided to scrapbook {gasp-yes I scrapbooked} last years photos. I used the SVG artwork bonus from my new Baseball Party SVG & Printable kit:
I used a shape collage software to cram in all of those photos-it really takes the brainwork out of putting photos on a page and let’s face it, not all of the photos we take need to be enlarged but it is still nice to be able to include them 🙂
The baseball party kit includes all of the layered die cuts for decorations, crafting, cardmaking and scrapping but also it has die cuts for cupcake wrappers and toppers, drink flags, party hats, invitations, favor bags and the fun and festive bunting/banners that are so popular these days.
But that is not all, there is also a full size printable kit included that has printable sheets (that you can add text to if you like) of all of the SVG templates plus water bottle wraps and more! These are full color printables and I squeezed as much as I could on each sheet to save you money, time and supplies. Here’s a look:
This kit was so much fun to design that I decided to make a little freebie set to go with it:
I think it would be fun to print out the sheet of name tags on sticker paper so the kids could wear them on their shirts. Especially if you are having a baseball theme party at a park or sports arena, that way you can easily identify kids from your party 🙂
Attention Dollar Deals!
Have you checked out the dollar bin at MyGrafico? Every week I will put a few older sets on sale for $1, they will go on sale Wednesday and be on sale for 1 week only. Check out this weeks Dollar Deals! Get them while you can because they will be back to regular price next week! Be sure to check each week for new Dollar Deals!
The Frugal Crafter Blog 