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Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Hey, bday girl!


Today's project can also be viewed over at the Scrapper's Delights Paper Craft Blog, where I'm a guest designer.  Thanks Janice for letting me post over in her blog to showcase her wonderful images!  Today I'm showing you  a gate-fold card I created for one of my DS' classmates who celebrated her 9th birthday yesterday.  This card turned out to be roughly an A2 size card, and all pieces were designed using the Silhouette Studio and then cut with the Cameo.  The base of the card is an image purchased from the Silhouette Studio store called "card flower lace gate fold" and is by Samantha Walker.

Here's a screen shot of how I planned the pieces to this card.  The top half of the matt shows the outside/front of the card, and the bottom view on the matt shows the inside of the card. 


I was feeling a little lazy so instead of printing the image on the front and coloring it with my Prismas, I just used this image of Bridget already colored in.  You can get her at Scrapper's Delights (click link).  I added a flower bunch for her to hold, from the Spellbound kit, also from Scrapper's Delights.   For the inside of the card, I also used other elements  from the Love and Friendship kit (the swirls on the left, the frame in the middle and the sign post cluster on the right).  Digital kits are awesome because not only can you use them for digital scrapbook pages, you can use it on just about any papercrafts!    I used the Abbeyline font for the sentiments on the card. 

Below are the pieces of the card after they were printed on my printer then cut with the Cameo using the print and cut feature. 



Other closeups:

Card folded up.  Blue panel was embossed
with the Plum Blossom CB folder.

Inside of the card.  I added some stickles to the images. 
 The "wavy pocket card" I used to tuck in a gift receipt
is an image from Silhouette Store and is by Sophie Gallo. 

Here is Bridget foam mounted for added dimension.  I added in
some light blue sticket gems and some flower buttons. 


Thanks for stopping by!  

Friday, May 25, 2012

Soccer digital-traditional hybrid LO



Hi all!  This is another digital-traditional hybrid LO I finished yesterday.  Pictures were taken in 2008, the first time my then 5 y o son took a summer soccer class through our community leisure services with my then 6 y o nephew.  I used the Creative Memories Storybook Creator software to create and plan the digital papers and elements for my LO.  The background digital paper and the filmstrips were by Correen Silke and is a free digital dowload through computerscrapbook.com.  The corrugated-look frames were also free downloads (within a kit) from computerscrapbook.com and is by CaliCool.  I love digital frames because really all I had to do was "drop" pictures in them and  arrange them however I want them to look on the page, much like traditional paper scrapping, except everything is on your screen. The digital stamps on the background paper (the label with swirls and the heart) were obtained from Jessicasprague.com.   I will try my best to give credit to the artists who created the digital papers and elements on my LOs and direct you to the sites where I got them.  If I forget to give credit to an artist, please know that it is by no means intentional.

After I create my  LOs, I like to transfer their jpg images onto the Silhouette Studio to plan my titles.  I like textures I can touch and creating my titles using die cuts fits the bill.  Below is how the two LOs look imported onto the Silhouette Studio.

I then used the font Rockwell Extra Bold (already in my computer) to create the G, a, l and ! for my title, then created the shadow for the letters using the offset feature.  I used a soccer-in-flames image purchased from the Silhouette Store in place of the letter o in "Goal!".  Below is how I envisioned the pages with the title to appear, with the letters and soccer die-cut images flood-filled with my choice of colors.


After printing the digital LO pages with my wide format printer,  below is how they looked.  Then I was ready to cut my title in my choice of cardstock with my Cameo. 


Here are some closeups of some of the elements/embellishments on the finished LOs.


I embossed the letters with the Tiny Mosaic CB folder then
used a white gel pen for the faux stitching on the
shadows of the letters.

I digitally stiched on my LO!  Digital stitches were
by Lindsay J, from the Pickleberrypop.com store. 

Hope you liked my LOs today.  Have a wonderful weekend! 

~ Melody ~

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Believe in yourself hybrid double LO



I'm back to share another digital-traditional hybrid LO I put together yesterday.  I am really loving creating my LOs digitally, then printing them to add die-cut embellishments or any other 3D embellishments .  As you all know, I'm still working on 2008 album so the pictures here are four years old.  Being the family paparrazi is the pits if you like to scrapbook, and digital cameras make scrapping memories much more challenging for me - I take way too much pictures and have a hard time deleting others :(   My hopes in creating my LOs digitally is to catch up with scrapbooking and do so without cluttering my desk with unfinished LOs. 

These double LOs were created using free digital elements (papers, frames, tags, etc) obtained from different sites (you can google under "free digital kits" or "digital scrapbook."  Some of my favorite sites are on the right sidebar (will add more later).    After creating the LOs in the Storybook Creator software, I imported the jpg files of both LOs onto the Silhouette Studio to size the title "Believe in yourself" (old freebie from the Silhouette Store) where I wanted it. I flood-filled the title with roughly the same colors as the cardstock I had wanted to cut and layer it with, but decided against layering the title after I saw how beautifully my printer had printed everything.  Below are some closeups. 



I love these photos of my Dad, my kids and my Stepmom,
before she passed away from cancer at the end of 2008


The only non-digital elements I ended up adding to these pages were the Craftworks Card Candis - I figured those satisfy my need for tactile texture just fine for these two pages ;) 

Thanks again for stopping by.  Come back tomorrow and I'll show another 2 page hybrid LOs. 

~ Melody ~

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Baby Tony LO

If you have been following me along you'd know that my hubby and kids bought me a wide format printer for Mother's Day. I have been meaning to print some of the LOs I put together using the Creative Memories StoryBook Creator but I screwed up and ordered the wrong paper (my bad!). So today I'm sharing with you all the first digital-paper hybrid LO I printed using the wide format printer.  I am so impressed with this new printer!  This is a LO of when my SIL welcomed her new baby in 2008. 

Here is how the 2 page LO looks like after I have saved a jpg image from the StoryBook Creator software and imported onto the Silhouette Studio so I can plan my other elements.  I could have just left the pages the way they were (would have saved me a lot of time) but I just love layers! The StoryBook Creator (or any digital scrapbook softwares out there) have the ability to let you "drop" shadows to images to create visual depth and textures but I'm a tactile person  ;).

Here are the two pages side by side on Silhouette Studio.  All the papers and
elements on this jpg image were from CM (free after you buy the software).

I added in "Tony" in Curlz MT font and used the offset
feature to create the shadow for the letters. 
The pinwheel is a free image from the
Silhouette Studio.

Without further boring you guys,  here are a few closeups of the finished pages.  I used my Cameo to cut "Tony" and the pinwheels. 

I pop-dotted "Tony" with foam mounts for depth

The pinwheels were so easy to assemble! 
I used small brads to hold them in place

All I did to add to this CM digital element were some irock gems


I can't wait to print the other digital pages I have been working on!  Until next time!  Thanks for stopping by! 

~ Melody ~

Monday, May 21, 2012

Enter if you dare!


Hello my blogging friends! Today I'm guest designing over at the Scrapper's Delights Papercrafts blog.  Today's project is a door hang I created for my 14 year old niece who seems to be forever trying to get her 8 year old brother to stay out of her room.  Special thanks goes to Janice over at Scrapper's Delights Papercrafts blog for letting me play with one of her new digi stamp releases - this particular one is called the goth girl duo (she comes in two poses, I just used this particular one).   I also used elements from Janice's Spellbound kit (the broom, fence and the crow) to create a scene. 

I'm also entering this project in the following challenges:
1. OLLCB #105 - Ribbons or Twines or both
2. Bunny Zoe Challenge #24 - Anything Goes
3. Going Buggy - Things with Wings (my 2nd entry!)

I used the Silhouette Studio Designer's Edition to design this door hang, then cut all the pieces with my Cameo.  I LOVE that I can import images from other kits or stand alone digi stamps onto the Silhouette Studio and use the print and cut feature.  This is how I envisioned the door hang would look before I started cutting.


The background crackle print is actually one of the patterns I purchased from the Silhouette Store for 79 cents (again, if you have a subscription with the Silhouette Store it comes out much less than that).  Before you can cut any jpg or png format images with the Cameo using the print and cut feature, you would need to use the trace feature for the images (there are some tutorials on youtube).    The layers are stacked up on top of each other in the above screen shot and all you do is peel away and use your own paper when you're ready to cut.

And here are the layers after the Cameo was done cutting and after I colored in goth girl with some Prismacolor colored pencils.  The base of the door hang was an image from the Silhouette Store and is by Silhouette (with the circle omitted and instead I put two small circles for the ribbon to thread through), and the scroll image is by Sarah Bailey.  I used  Distresss Reinker in Dusty Concord to dye the seam binding ribbon.  I used the Matura MT Script Capitals font and then used the offset feature of the Silhouette Studio to create the shadows to cut the words "Enter if you dare!"


And here are some detailed pics of the assembled project.

We don't believe this will keep her brother out of her room for
good as we both know it's an empty threat ;) but it's a nice touch LOL!   I used
the Arial font to write the disclaimer. 

I pop-dotted the colored goth girl using some foam mounts

The top layers of the words "Enter if you dare!" were embossed
with one of Paper Lace II CB folders, then pop-dotted with foam mounts.

I hope you liked my project today for the Scrapper's Delights Blog and hope you can join in on the goth challenge.

Monday, May 14, 2012

Best Hubby and Kids!



Just had to share my excitement with y'all!  Yesterday my hubby bought me a wide format printer for Mother's Day that I have been wanting for a while.  My blogging friend Sabrina has been going on and on  ;p  about hers so naturally I went researching for wide format printers but this same brand and model she has keeps popping up as the best in its price range (should have just taken her word for it, would have saved me weeks of googling printers and the house would have been much cleaner!)  If you have been following my blog, you'll know that I have been dabbing into digital scrapbooking and have actually sent some to Costco to print some pages.  This printer is so going to make my scrapping easier and faster!  Now to hook up this baby and start printing some pages.

My hubby also bought some of these vinegar chips for me.  Last time I had massive cravings for sour things I was pregnant.  Hmmmm......


The Michaels GC was my kids' idea of course!  My hubby will NEVER admit to buying me a GC to "hell on earth" (as he so endearingly calls Michaels and Joann's, while I call them "the mothership") but will buy them for me anyways and say they were from the kids ;p. 


Thanks for letting me share - hope you all had a wonderful Mother's Day!

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Yet another teacher appreciation gift ;)



Hope everyone's having a wonderful Mother's Day!  My hubby's taking the kids out for a few hours this morning so I have some quiet time for myself - thanks honey!  I just realized I forgot to post this third (and last!) Teacher Appreciation gift I created for my kids' teachers.  I got these jumbo memo clips at the dollar store last week and wanted to jazz them up for the teachers.   

Here are the other two I made:



I used my go-to die cut machine nowadays, my Cameo.  I just love the ease of print and cut feature, as well as the ability to use the fonts already in my computer.  Plus I am able to adjust the shadows as wide or as thin as I want.  Here are some pics of the print and cut feature.  The prints on the cuts were ones I purchased from the Silhouette Store.  Really wished I had a wide format printer so I could utilize the full 12x12 mat :(  - are you listening, honey?! 





For added stability and durability, I added a bottom layer cut in acetate.  It's hard to see below because acetate is hard to photograph.


To adhere the signs to the jumbo memo clips, I used terrifically tacky tape (I tried hot-glueing them but they just came right off). 


To make it easy on me while designing, I used only the Forte font. 

Ok, the hubby and the kids are due back soon so off to spend the rest of Mother's Day in this (finally) beautiful day!  Have a fab day, everyone! 

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Another Teacher Appreciation Gift



Hello again, my blogging friends!  Here's another teacher appreciation gift I whipped up for my kids' wonderful teachers for Teacher Appreciation Week.  The base of the boxes was an image from the Silhouette Store and is by Cali Arroyo, cut with the Cameo.  I am linking this project to the following challenges:  (1) Going Buggy [anything with wings], and (2) Scrapper's Delights [anything with flowers]. 

The boxes were roughly 2x2x2 and I was able to fit two in a 12x12 cutting mat.  I used a double-sided K & Company cardstock. 


After assembling the boxes, I created the layer for the 4 panels of each box in the Silhouette Studio by using the draw feature.  On one of the panels I wrote the sentiment "For my wonderful teacher" in Abbeyline font, flood-filled the font in pink ink and used the print and cut feature of the Cameo to cut. 


On the other three panels, I imported  .png files from images I purchased from Scrapper's Delights' kits (Morning Dew, One Fine Day and Bee Happy; I actually purchased these kits for my digital scrapbook pages but was so tickled to find out I can import the images onto the Cameo!  Sweet, right?!). 


Here are some close-up pics of the 4 panels of the box:


(the stick pin was handmade by me)


(the butterfly was pop-dotted via foam mounts)



And a top view of the box.  I was able to fit 6 of the Ghirardelli squares in each box. 



Thanks for stopping by!