22 January 2012

So, today I made Cake Pops….

No, this post is not about the cake pop – that vile affront to my gourmet-baking sensibilities.  Why yes! I am a baking snob –  and I can’t for the life of me figure out how anyone can eat these things.  Really?  To me, these are the Emperor’s New Clothes of the baking world.  If you are a baking snob too, you know what I mean.

Anyway I made them for my class tomorrow, as it’s our last day together. They’re in high school which means they’ll eat just about anything.  Even these.   

Some good did come of it, though.  I upcycled the cake box and the frosting container and made these:

The magnetic storage box is similar to the one I showed you how to make in my last tutorial, which you can find HERE.  Did you miss the free download for those cute labels?  Well hurry on up and check out that tutorial as I plan on expiring that link pretty soon.

The birch vases are today’s tutorial, which you can find HERE.  Aren’t they cute?

I know this post has nothing to do with digital scrapbooking, but I figured if I like it, you might too!  Happy creating!

20 january 2012

I’ve decided I should put all ridiculously long tutorials on their own page.  So that’s where this tutorial is.  It sort of goes with my new release.  The tutorial is  for making these:

And the new release is a set of those cute labels I used on the boxes.  These are PRINTABLES – they are already set up on sheets as shown.  Just open them up and print!  You can find them HERE in my shoppe.  To find the free thing, you’ll have to check out the tutorial…

Don’t they look cute as gift tags?

Anyway, if you’re interested in making these nifty fridge boxes, the tutorial is RIGHT HERE. Have fun!

No I don’t.

I don’t make resolutions.  More like suggestions.  Recommendations even.  Resolutions just equal broken promises that leave me feeling crappy about myself.  Anyway, this year, one of my suggestions to myself was that I might enjoy paying a little more attention to my blog and facebook pages.

So far, so good.

I’ve been doing a ton of crafting lately, and I am really hoping to be able to share some ideas and tutorials with you over the next few months (because if you’re here, you’re probably crafty too.)  Sigh. So many ideas, so little time.  But for now, I can show you a new product, and share a wee small freebie as well.

Here are some date stamps, which you can find both here at  SBS and at CatScrap.

And, just in case you’d like to try them first, here are the two January stamps, with my compliments.   (Freebie link has now expired) Date Everything!  (Freebie available for a limited time!)

Enjoy! 
6 January 2012

Are you doing any sort of Project 365 this year?  Then hurry on over to my Facebook Fan Page  and pick these up before they go away!  This is a pack of ATC-sized journal cards that I created for my own ATC book.   I’ve created these in two versions:

• There are 4 sheets of printable pdfs, which are great if you’re a paper scrapper or if you just need a tag with a date.
• There are also 31 separate png files with just the dates, so you can change the color or use it as a stamp on a larger page.  The rounded-corner kraft background is one separate file, and there’s a text path in psd format as well. 

 Here’s another image, so you can better see what you’re downloading:

This is a huge 85MB file, so I’ll probably take it down in a few days.

If you download it, I’d love to know if you like it.  And which format you like best.  Because even though I’ve made all 365 days for my own use, I don’t want to package them up and stick them in my shoppe if others don’t have use for them.  I just thought it would be a great way to document each day in a painless way.  Here are some ways I thought I might use them:

• on the reverse of whatever ATC I’ve made that day (I am on an ATC kick)
• as a way to quickly jot down the events of the day
• to keep a goal-reaching log
• to use as my ATC base –  scrap a photo up top, jot down some journaling on the bottom.

If you have more ideas, I’d love to know! Any feedback is appreciated as I debate putting them up in the shoppe .  Please feel free to comment over on my fan page - I don’t have comments enabled here.

Thanks and Happy New Year!

So, I am trying out this facebook fan freebie stuff, and I’ve thrown up 2 frames from a larger set I am working on.  They’re rounded-corner crayon-ish frames and I figured they’d be nice for posting pics on your blogs, like the one below.   They’re in both layered tiff and png format.  The layered tiffs have masks and make life very easy.  Instructions included for those.  Just visit my Facebook page and like me to access the free stuff.

See?  Just a simple rounded-corner frame that’s a little more interesting than just a solid line. Oh, and if you like that necklace up there, it will be in my etsy shop soon!  OK – hope you find this little gift useful. I plan on making some blog boards in this style – stay tuned for those

4 June 2011
Well it’s finally my week and it’s fitting that I’m late posting this.  I’m late because my life is chaos.  That’s what my journaling is about, throughout this 8-week journey. How to regain control over the chaos.  So far, well, maybe not so good?

First, thanks for visiting.  Here’s some word art  {click!}:

And here’s my contribution for this week, which you can find HERE at CatScrap:

If you’re new to this challenge and don’t know what the heck I am talking about, some of us over at CatScrap are hosting an Art Journaling adventure called Hopes, Dreams, Goals & Schemes.  There is a free gift each week and we’re all posting our layouts on the CatScrap gallery.  There are no rules – just use what we give you as a jumping-off point to create your own piece based on that week’s topic.  Combine the imagery to create new symbols and meaning.   Use all of  it, or none.

Aaand, now I suppose I should show you what I made with it.  before I do, let me explain my little project to you! So, I like to make journal pages – I make them all the time.  Mine are always ATC sized (2.5″x3.5″) and I like to put them in various kinds of mini albums.  At the end of these 8 weeks, I’ll post again with my completed album, which in this case is an accordian album.

My altered journal pages are really mostly just about the journaling.  Most of them I would never post here – they are either not very artistic, really stupid, or too personal.  Some reflect temporary sadnesses, already lifted just by writing it all down.  But the point is, I make them.  And it’s easy to find time in my crazy life to make them because they’re small.  I like small.  And when there’s no one around to spill it all out to, there is always Photoshop and a blank 2.5×3.5 document.  Art journaling is pretty cheap therapy.  OK, here’s what I made for week 5 – eventually I’ll post my weeks 1-4:

See?  Mostly writing.  I’ve so been enjoying seeing all the posts in the CatScrap gallery.  I hope you’ll find this one useful, and I can’t wait to see what you come up with.  Thanks for participating!

Please find the previous weeks’ links here:

Week 1 {hopes} - Fiddlette’s blog
Week 2 {hopes} - Nancie’s blog 
Week 3 {dreams}-  Creashens (Shen’s) blog
Week 4 {dreams} - Cheeky Monkey (Christine’s) blog

28 May 2011

This week’s stuff is on the fab Christine’s blog (Cheeky Monkey).  Check it out HERE!  (Short post – rushing around this holiday weekend).

21 May 2011

Gah.  With Z’s bday party taking up all my mental energy and time last week, I totally forgot to post week 2 of the Hopes Dream Goals Schemes art journal challenge.  These weeks belong to Nancie and Shen, and you can find the download links and other fun stuff (Nan has a cool tutorial) at their blogs.  I hope you’re playing along – I am, and I really need to get my pages posted.  I’ve been working on my part of the packet – week 5, Goals – and wait ’til you see what the remaining 4 designers have created.  Gorgeous stuff.  Yay!  Linkies:

Week 2: Hopes by Nancie Rowe Janitz

Week 3: Dreams by Creashens (Shen)

Now get going!! 

7 May 2011

Do you love to create art journals?  Have you always wanted to try? If so, I hope you’ll take part in this wonderful art-making journey over the next eight weeks at CatScrap.  Eight of us have created some sweet mini-downloads based on each week’s theme. Participate in each weekly challenge, and you’ll end up with a beautiful little album in which you’ve recorded and explored your hopes and dreams.  I’ll post a whole lot more about it during my week (Goals – week 6, I think?) but in the meantime, check out Fiddlette’s blog of gorgeousness for lots more details.  She’s Week 1.  I hope you’ll join us!

6 May 2011

Yep, my store’s on sale!  Hurry – just ’til Saturday, Midnight EST.

This is the first and perhaps the last time I’ll put the magnets and jewelry on sale as well.  Select Personal Use stuff is 50% off, CU stuff is 30% off my already silly prices, and the magnets/jewelry are 20% off.  Hooray!

CatScrap is also having a sale, and there are a number of things that I sell exclusively there, so check out CatScrap as well!  There may be a small difference in some of my sale priced stuff there and here, but there you’re getting a gorgeous kit if you spend $10 there, so I’m sure that more than makes up for it!  Be sure to check this blog tomorrow for an exciting announcement about an art journal challenge.  Woohoo!!