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Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Blogging Hiatus

Hello my blogging friends!  Just wanted to let you all know that I am taking a loooooong break from blogging and crafting in general due to personal reasons.  I will take this hiatus to take care of what matters most.....family.  Just because I won't be crafting nor posting doesn't mean I will not be visiting my favorite blogs, which I know I have been neglecting to do as of late :(.  I have contacted the blogs I contribute to on a regular basis as a DT member and will not be posting any projects for them for a while.  Hopefully when the craziness in my life settles, I will dust my Cameo and my digital scrapbook softwares and just create.  Thank you all for visiting and leaving comments and I hope to "see" you all soon.   

Monday, November 11, 2013

One Nation Under God



Happy Monday, blogging friends!  Today's post can also be viewed over at She's a Sassy Lady blog . Very thankful to Sheila for letting me share my projects with her readers once a month.  Today's card is in honor of all our servicemen who fight so we can have our freedom.  Happy Veteran's Day and thank you for all that you do for our country!

This card is sized at an A2 card.  The elements were designed using the Silhouette Studio and all cuts were done using my Cameo.  I started out with a mat sized at 4 x 5.25 in white cardstock and then embossed that with the Stars CB folder.  Then I attached this mat to the front of the card.


Then with the same size of mat, I created a mat for the inside of the card and used a flag image by Richard Young (Design ID #18881) and set it to print only.  Then I typed in my sentiments using the Abbeyline font for the "Thank You" and the Arial font to type "for everything you do for our country".  The patriotic flowers were by Loni Harris (Design ID #19120), flood-filled with patterns from my library.  The sentiment "One Nation Under God" was typed using the Cooper Black font, flood-filled in blue.  Below is a screenshot of the cuts I wanted to be printed before loading the page to my Cameo to cut.


Here is how the printed page looks like after printing and before I loaded in my Cameo to cut.  The Cameo uses the registration marks on the three corners to guide it where to cut.

yep, I prefer to use my old Cricut mats in my Cameo
because to me it is more durable than the Cameo mats


I added some irock silver gems on either side of the front sentiment, mounted it on foam mounts for some dimension.  Below is a peek at the inside of the card.


Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!


Sunday, November 3, 2013

Playing with some window cards


Hi all!  I'm taking a break from digital LOs and getting back to some card making for a change.  This post can also be seen over at the Bugbytes where I hang out every first Sunday of the month.  Thanks once again to Pam for allowing me to show my projects with her readers.  These cards were designed using the Silhouette Studio and cut with the Cameo.

I was perusing my collection of cards and card bases purchased through the Silhouette Store and wanted to play with some I've always wanted to but haven't.  The two cards above started out as card base images called "2 abstract cards" by Daniela Angelova (Design ID #38691) and were sized at 5.5 square.  I cut 2 layers of background mats for each, embossing the top mat layer with Hearts Block (the brown card) and Swiss Dots (the red card) CB folders.  Then I imported digi stamps by Scrapper's Delights that were already pre-colored (big time saver for me!). I sized the images to fit in smaller rectangles then wrote the sentiments using the Choppin Script font already in my library. 

I also created an inside mat for the sentiments, personalized, again using the Choppin Script, flood-filled in my choice of color. I used the internal offset feature of the Silhouette Studio to create the faux stitching in coordinating colors. 

 

 
For the left side of the inside mats, I turned a couple of images into sketched images.  The heart border is by Alaa' K (Design ID #15744) and the set of balloons  is by Snapdragon Snippets (Design ID #24866).  Below are closeups of the sketched images.
 
 
 

 
I finished up the cards with ribbons from my stash, Card Candies, and some irock white gems.  Thanks for stopping by today!  

Saturday, November 2, 2013

Halloween Scream - hybrid double LO


Hello bloggers!  Today is Digital Scrapbooking Day (I think it's more like a weekend thing so it can be today AND tomorrow too), so in honor of that I have created a double LO, mostly done digitally.  The 12 x 12 LOs I created were based on Halloween pictures taken in 2009.  All digital papers and embellishments were from a kit called Fabulous Fall from the My Memories store.

Here's a screen shot of the double LO in the My Memories Suite v4, side by side.


And here's how they look after printing (I used my Epson wide format printer).  With digital scrapbooking, what you create is basically what you print and you can be as creative as you would doing traditional cut and paste scrapbooking but without the mess on your desk.  Or you can even leave them and come back and add/delete details or pictures until you're ready to print your page or send the pages out to print at your local photo printing places (ie., Costco) or any online printing services (I've never had to use one so I can't recommend any).  Or you can share digitally with whomever you want - totally your preference ;). 

 

I knew I wanted to add a couple of die cuts to the second page, so I imported a JPEG format of the LOs in my Silhouette Studio to help me size the die cuts accordingly.  Below is a screenshot of the JPEG format of the LOs in the Silhouette Studio.


I imported the PNG format of the center element on the second page and sized it to match the size already on the page so I can layer.  Since PNG formats don't have cut lines,  I used the trace feature of the Silhouette Studio to create a cut line. Below is a screenshot of what I'm talking about.  The traced element is next to the page and I will use the print and cut feature of the Silhouette.


Then I added an image of dripping blood by Ginny Nilson (Design ID #12712), and a skull border by Sarah Bailey (Design ID #49260), as can be seen from the screenshot below, sized to fit where I want them.


Here's how the pages look like after printing, with the die cuts before assembly.


And here are closeups of the second page after I have attached the die cuts.


I foam-mounted the cut version on top of the one printed
for some dimension

If you think you would like to try digital scrapbooking someday, there is a code ($40 value) My Memories has provided for me to share with my readers.  If you missed that post, click here for the link and the code, good through today ONLY.

As always, I thank you for stopping by.  Have a creative day! 

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Annual Pooja


I'm back with a double LO inspired by my late mother-in-law.  She passed away a couple of years ago and what I remember about her the most was her annual Pooja (gathering of friends and family to pray and honor Hindu Gods) at their house.  Although my father-in-law is in no condition to continue the tradition now due to his poor health, I wanted to create this double LO so that my children can have a means of remembering their Dadima and Dadaji (Hindi for grandparents from father's side). 

These pages were created using the My Memories Suite v4 software, using digital papers and embellishments (with the exception of the Om sign which I googled and converted into a .png image) I've collected throughout the year from the My Memories store.  (BTW there's still time to get the code to get a FREE My Memories Suite v4 software here, good until this Saturday).  Below are screenshots of the pages in the MMS.

the title and the journaling were done using fonts in my
library


And here are closeups of the pages after printing.  I've added 3 buttons with twine for the page on the right.

"Tradition" was done in Abbeyline, while the "Our Family" was
done in Cooper Black font.

the journaling was done using the Choppin Script font

closeup of the journaling

real buttons with twine I attached to the page using glue gun

pic of me and my kids - poojas were few of the times I got
to wear fancy Indian outfits.

my daughter still loves and remembers cuddling with
 her Dadima
 
Thanks for visiting me today.  I may not be back for a few days, especiall tomorrow since I'd be very busy with Halloween festivities at my kids' school.  If you're celebrating Halloween, have a safe and wonderful one!

Monday, October 28, 2013

Simple Digital Scrapbook pages



Happy Monday, everyone!  Scroll down or click here for the coupon code for a free My Memories Suite v4 download I posted yesterday.  Today I'm showing a couple of 12x12 pages I created recently with this software.  I just finished one of our family albums and needed a page for the end of that album and a page for the beginning of a new album ;). 

Here are screen shots of the pages on MMS. 


For this page, I created each layer from scratch, from digital papers (one layered on top of the background) and elements (alphas for the title, heart shaped bling, and faux stitching) from kits from the My Memories website.  I like to combine different kits to suit my needs so I don't normally stick with just one kit to complete a page. 


This page was super easy - done using a pre-made template.  All I needed was to drop two pictures and add the title using Creme Puff font (in my library) flood-filled in green.

I like to print my own pages - I'm lucky that my kids and hubs bought me a wide format printer almost two years ago for Mothers' Day.  I use the Epson Artisan 1430 and use only Epson paper.  I have gotten away with remanufactured ink (gotta cut cost somehow) which is really not that bad.  Below are closeups of the pages after printing.



Not much more I could do with these pages now but to stick them in 12x12 page protectors in the albums.  Thanks for looking and I'll see you in a day or two with another scrapbook page (or two). 

Sunday, October 27, 2013

No Tricks, Just FREE My Memories Suite v4 download!



Hello my crafty friends!  It's almost Halloween!  Some of you already know that I am so in love with digital scrapbooking and am an affiliate of My Memories.  The sweet people at My Memories are allowing me to give a special code for a WHOLE week as a special treat to all my blogging friends - so spread the word!  The code is for a FREE My Memories Suite v4 ($40 value) DOWNLOAD option only.   You must click on the logo above, select the My Memories Suite v4 software (again, the download option only) and use the code below at checkout.  It is probably best if you just copy and paste the code as it needs to be as is. 

FreeTreatLL155
 
This code is valid Sunday, October 27 - Saturday, November 2, 2013.  Thanks for being a follower!  For the next week, I am going to be posting some digital scrapbook pages I'm working on.  Have a wonderful week ahead of you!

Thursday, October 17, 2013

Takeout Halloween treats


It's time for another Cameo Creations Challenge and this time we are challenging everyone to create projects with "Lots of Candies" (open to your own interpretations, of course!).  For my DT contribution, I went for literal lots of candies - to create Holloween treat giveaways for my kids' friends at school. 

I bought these small takeout boxes already preassembled from Michaels.  The takeout boxes come 6 in a package and came in different patterns but I chose the black and white damask for the ocassion and filled each with 2 small boxes of Nerds and about 10 Starburst candies. 


The tags were by Alaa K (Design ID #32481).  I embossed some top layers with Swiss Dots CB folder and the others with Teresa Collins' Starburst Ebosser embossing folder (loving the Ebosser so far!).  I attached the tags to the boxes with jute twine and attached plastic black and orange spider rings.  Below are some closeups.


 
I am also linking this project over at the Silhouette Challenges blog for their Challenge #6: Critters challenge.  Thanks for looking!

Monday, October 14, 2013

(Almost) No frill birthday boy card


 
Happy Monday my fellow bloggers!  Today's my day to share a project with the readers over at She's a Sassy Lady blog so this post can also be viewed over there.  Thanks Sheila for letting me share a project on your blog once a month.  A friend's youngest son just celebrated his birthday party yesterday and I made this card for him.  The card was designed using the Silhouette Studio and all cuts were done using my Cameo. 

This card is sized roughly at 5.5 square.  The base of the card is an card image by Jamie Koay (Design ID #38959).  I created a square image to fit inside the ornate doily and imported a dragon image by Scrappers Delights called Draco inside this square and printed him using my home printer.  I used the Agent Orange font for the sentiment inside and outside the card, setting them to print only in blue ink.  I used the offset feature of the Silhouette Studio to create the mat (in green cardstock) and created another layer for the sentiment.  Below are the cuts after I cut them using my Cameo.  


I used my Promarkers to color Draco the dragon and created a coordinating crinkled ribbon (seam binding ribbon) using a couple of Tim Holtz Distress Ink in faded jeans and some water.



Here is a closeup of the card after assemby. I added a blue button with jute twine.

 
 
 Here's a closeup of the inside of the card using the same font as the sentiment in the front. 
 

 
Thanks for looking and enjoy your week!

Sunday, October 6, 2013

His and hers twin birthday cards


Almost forgot it's the first Sunday of the month and my turn to post over at the Bugbytes :).  Hello bloggers and thank you Pam for having me over to share a crafty project with your readers.  My twin niece and nephew had their 2nd birthday party yesterday and I created two separate cards for them - after all, each is beginning to have his and her own personality ;).  These cards are A2 size cards designed on the Silhouette Studio and all cuts were done using my Cameo.

The base of the cards and all of the inside parts were by Lori Whitlock called birthday candle pop up card (Design ID #40180).  I used the fonts already in my computer to write personalized sentiment before I cut the inside mat.  I made the candle image to be a print only in my choice of color, duplicated that to have 2 birthday candles in each card.  Below are the pieces after printing and then cutting.

 
The banners for the font of the card were by a set of ribbon banners (Design ID #24243) by Jamie Koay. I used the fonts from my library to cut the letters of the twins' names inside the banners. The images were by Polly Craft, colored with Promarkers.  I imported the images onto the Studio to size them inside scalloped square and oval images by Lori Whitlock (Design ID #26510).

Some closeups of the cards after assembly.  I used some scrap ribbons, buttons and flowers to embellish and some foam mounts for some depth here and there.





Thanks for looking and have a wonderful Sunday!