Bringing back the blog.... Sharing My Favorite Mini Book Kits I created

I've been helping Susan at EMI Scrapbooking with the store blog... it's looking great!  The store is looking great too - so many new product lines, of course every one of Teresa Collins lines are well stocked, crops, & the mini books & kits business is booming.  New kits will be added to the blog when they are available for sale & will have a paypal purchase button right there.  Hope you check back often or sign up to follow EMI - lots of inspiration & happenings posted daily.  If you're in the Atlanta area drop by & say hello.

This is a picture of the Teresa Collins section from a couple months ago

I'm still creating mini books & kits for EMI.  I've been so bad about sharing them here on the blog... I added pictures of the covers over to the right on the slide show.  

Here's a few of my favorites.

Making Memories Valentine line (I miss that company... 

Their scalloped ledger paper is an all time favorite background - I still have 1 piece left & waiting for just the right project

Echo Park collections are always great to work with.

Love the sticker embellishment sheets 

This is an all time favorite using Graphic 45.

I cut out the "window" & hinged it so it would open to reveal another beautiful image inside on the cover.

So many great embellishments can be cut out of the papers. 

several of the pages.  Filled with half pages using the postcards 

that filled one of the piece of patterned paper

This one was a labor of love.  

Each page is an envelope & I hand laced the book together for each of the kits. 

My favorite Glitz line ever - love all the soft colors & vintage prints... very shabby chic

Here's the inside of  one of the pages.  

I put tabs on the card enclosed in each envelope page

Rhonna Ferrar did a cool line for My Mind's Eye

I love the kites 

I used canvas fabric for several of the pages - stitching near the edges but loving the fraying

another of the pages - love the pre-designed clusters on the paper 

Teresa Collins collections are so well designed & thought out - I love

how easily the mini book comes together

Another Teresa Collins collection - classic colors but fresh shades of green & red

This one is so different than my usual 6x8 size....

Tall & skinny using Studio Calico school collection

Perfect for teen boy photos

I did several of this accordion bound spine books

using My Mind's Eye's collection.

Loved this boy one with Navy & Gold

another MME more feminine book

Simple Stories collections are fabulous - they give you so many 

journaling & embellishing images just on a piece of patterned paper.  

Budget friendly without sacrificing the style & layers we all love.

6x12 in mini gives plenty of room for the photos of new little one.

Another My Mind's Eye...

I love the colors & patterns in their Lost & Found lines....

However the glitter became a running joke - after creating 3 mini book kits

I had inches of glitter on my desk & all over not just my scrap room but the whole house.

I was covered in glitter for days since their glitter.

You're probably thinking so..... but I'm not a glitter person lol 

I will not even buy greeting cards with glitter on them.

So Susan knows better than to ask me to create with glitter paper 

I have a ban on it.

This album was beautiful though glitter & all

Well I hope you enjoyed looking at the covers of some of my books.  I'm hoping to post a couple times a week what I'm creating for the store & for myself.  

Take some time to be creative today,

Operation Write Home Memorial Day Blog Hop

My name is Suz Gray.  I love all things paper & am known on the web as "craftysuz".  Welcome to my stop on the Operation Write Home Memorial Day Blog Hop.  This is my 2nd year participating in this hop & wow has it grown.  Have you been enjoying the hop?  If you are one of my regular readers or just stumbled onto me I'm sure you will want to start from the beginning to see all the beautiful cards, be moved by touching stories, learn some new cardmaking & stamping techniques.  You can even enter to win some prizes along the way too.  The OWH Stars & Stamps blog is the beginning... find it here.  It starts at 10 am EST on Saturday & goes thru 6 pm EST on Monday.

The reason I support OWH is because it is a great way to use something I love to do to make it easier for our troops to stay in touch with their loved ones at home.  I feel like every card I make is a little thank you for the huge sacrifice they make for us.  I love the OWH blog posts where soldiers share what this organization means to them and their families.

We've had quite a few members of our family serve our country over the years.  Currently my cousin has a daughter & son serving in Afghanistan & Iraq.  I pray for Kayla & Vinnie's safety as they serve in dangerous places.

Spc. Vincent Hoover, a tanker with 1st Bn, 72nd Armor Regiment was awarded the silver star last October for his valor & quick actions when a grenade was thrown into his vehicle.  He threw it back out & all the lives in vehicle were saved.  See story here & here.  Our family is so proud of him!

Thank you to each service person & their families who sacrifice so much to serve our country.  On this Memorial Day I ask that you join me in saying a prayer for those families who have given the ultimate sacrifice of a loved one that they are comforted by the heroic way they lived & blessed by memories along with those who are currently in harms way.

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Now to share some cards.  I made a couple keeping with the Red, White & Blue - Missing You card theme requested by OWH.

For this card I used a Cuttlebug dry embossing folder to create the dotted texture on the kraft cardstock.

Supplies:  Cardstock (Bazzill & Bo Bunny); Paper (Pink Paislee & Making Memories); Punch (Stampin' Up); Die Cut (Nestabilities); Ink (Palette); String (Making Memories); Stamps (Ipppity Stamps & Unity Stamps); Trim (Wrights); Dry Embossing (Cuttlebug Swiss Dots Folder)

For this card I stamped on the plain navy background with Versamark ink & a flourish stamps by Ippity to give a subtle watermark look to the paper - in person it looks great and added a lot of interest.  I like to cut out stamped images like the butterfly here.

Supplies:  Paper (Creative Imaginations, K&Company, & The Paper Studio); Stamps (Unity Stamps & Ippity Stamps); Bling (Paper Reflections); Ribbon (Michaels' Dollar Bin); Ink (Palette & Versamark); Die Cut (Making Memories Slice - Think Pink)

I also did a photo tutorial showing how to make the layered watercolor flowers in the next two cards.  If you would like to see the tutorial please go to the next post.  I did this so people who didn't wouldn't have to scroll thru all those photos & instructions.

This flower is stamped multiple times then cut apart.  I used foam dimensional adhesive to add depth.  I dressed up an office supply tag with layers of stamping & distress ink.

Supplies:  Cardstock (Bazzill & Watercolor Paper); Paint (Grumbacher); Ink (Palette & Ranger Tim Holtz); Stamps (Ippity Stamps & Hero Arts); Die Cut (Nestabilities); Ribbon (American Crafts); Tag (Staples)

This card uses the same flower & watercolor painting but it is just a flat image.  The paint shading helps to give depth.  I stamped the leaves on canvas fabric for interest.

Supplies:  Cardstock (Bazzill & Watercolor Paper); Paint (Grumbacher); Ink (Palette & Colorbox); Stamps (Ippity Stamps & Unity Stamps); Twine (Making Memories); Canvas (Joann's); Dry Embossing (Cuttlebug Swiss Dots Folder)

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To thank you for stopping by... I have some prizes to offer you.

One winner will receive this "Lucky Me" mini album kit courtesy of Susan Moore - Owner of EMI Scrapbooking Store in Cumming, Georgia.  She also has an online Etsy store called creativekits4u where she sells these kits to customers all over the world.  This kit features Little Yellow Bicycle Lucky Me papers.  MSRP $22.

I sell Ippity Stamps (see tab at top of the page or click here for Memorial Day sale prices) so I am offering these 2 sets to one winner.

Leave a comment for your chance to win - sorry but open only to USA residents only due to shipping costs.  (make sure you leave an email address or way to get in touch with you).  Comments close at 6 pm EST on Monday & winner will be drawn by random number generator soon after that.

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Now head on over to the next stop on the blog hop.  Sharon has some pretty cards to share with you. 

Blog Hop

Wow it seems strange to be on the internet.   I've been cut off from the world in every way since the move... no car (tag experied since Lexus didn't pass emmissions), no web, & no home phone (learning to talk quick so not to use a lot of cel minutes.   The house is getting organized since I have NO distractions lol.  The scrap room was almost finished & then the unthinkable... the new roof sprung a leak around the skylights during the 4 days of rain.  It's always something.  Well it's taken almost 2 weeks since the move to get the cable company to come out & put a booster on the house due to low signal and deliver a modem to us.  I know I have a loads of emails to read but I'm going to try to keep from falling back into my trap of hours spent on the web each day - try being the word lol.

Today is the Everything Scrapp'n Blog Hop.  My projects will be posted on Tuesday due to the roof leaking on my layout & card (in addition to the Cricut Expression... gasp yes it seems to be ok thankfully) and the fact that I haven't found the cords to link the camera and computer yet.  You all know me by now... it's always something lol.  But I hope you will hop along with the rest of the design team.  They have some pretty projects to inspire you. 

Make sure you leave comments on each of the blogs for your chance to win 3 bottles of Stickles (love those little bottles of goodness) and make our guest designer Ileen feel welcome.

Ileen

Teresa
Jana
Michelle

 Have a fantastic Sunday!

Cards For Heroes Blog Hop

Welcome to my stop on the Cards For Heroes Holiday Card Inspiration Mini Blog Hop. If you stumbled onto my blog without doing the hop & want to start from the beginning head on over to CFH Blog HERE. Along the way you will see many different styles of cards to inspire you.

Cards for Heroes is an amazing organization that gets blank homemade greeting cards into the hands of our soldiers on active duty all over the world. This really blesses the soldiers with something a little special to send back home to their loved ones. The blog is filled with many stories & thank yous from the soldiers who have recieved the cards. I love being involved in this organization because it is something I can do with my love of paper crafts & a way I can send a little thank you to those serving whom I so admire. I have a package ready to send next week with my 25+1 cards for the summer card making drive.

I love vintage things & that translates into my cardmaking & scrapbooking. Graphics 45 has some great vintage theme papers. This card was really easy to make but doesn't lack the little details that make it special. By adding simple machine stitching to the layers it adds texture & interest. Inking the edges of the papers with a little brown chalk ink ages the new paper instantly. A bit of ribbon tied in a knot brings the whole card together & adds more texture. I wanted the greeting to pop so I punched out a tag using inexpensive kraft paper & added my favorite sentiment from Unity Stamp Company.


Supplies: Cardstock (Bazzill, Paper Resources & The Paper Company); Paper (Graphics 45); Ribbon (Joann's Craft Essentials); Brad (The Paper Studio); Punch (McGill); Stamps (Unity Stamp Company & Inkadinkado); Ink (Ranger & Colorbox); Thread (Coats & Clarks)

When you are finished getting inspired on the blog hop I encourage you to make some holiday cards to send to Cards for Heroes. The deadline is November 1st so that there will be plenty of time for the soldiers to receive & send them on to their family & friends. They have some tips on the blog here. The only main rule that can't be broken is NO GLITTER. Because that will make the soldiers visible to the enemy at night with night vision goggles.

I am offering a RAK for all of my visitors today. Leave a comment & you will be entered to win a set of wooden stamps by Anna Griffin & some Me & My Big Ideas rub ons. Contest closes Sunday, August 16th at 11:59 pm.


The store I design for is also having a RAK drawing for some brand new prizes picked up at CHA (I bet there will be new Rock Candy Stickles in the box, along with some great other new products) a couple weeks ago head on over to the Everything Scrapp'n Online Scrapbook Store Blog & leave a comment for a chance to win.


Thanks so much for visiting & the next stop is the very talented Tammy. Her cards are so cute & filled with whimsy.

We Have a Winner

I wanted to thank you all for the great response & all the comments! Everything Scrapp'n really wants to carry the things you need so now we have a good idea of what to look for at CHA.

Well without further delay the winner is: (I couldn't get the widget to work on blogger so I just highlighted & copied it. I promise that the Min & Max were 1 & 109 - but the important part is the winner which I copied)

True Random Number Generator Min: Max: Result: 45 Powered by RANDOM.ORG

Beth said...

All 3 cards are true blue beauties hope you have a great trip and enjoy CHA loving anything new from Provo and spellbinders.
beth714@gmail.com

July 4, 2009 4:09 PM

I wish I had more prizes to give out... I reached a milestone 50 followers too! I owe you all another giveaway - I'm going to the Scrapbook Expo on Friday & Saturday so I'll be on the lookout for a great prize to offer the following week.

I hope you had a relaxing weekend with family & friends. We had a very relaxing time at my parents house swimming in the pool & eating yummy food. Here's a few photos of cooling off.

Note to Self.... don't ask my mom to take photos anymore

I usually am left out of all the photos so this time I asked to have a photo taken (even in a bathing suit - this is true growth lol) and this is what I get

I'll close with friendly Mr. Lizzard saying have a great day!

Oh Say Can You See Blog Hop

If you are here for the Unity Hip Hop Hangover Blog Hop it's one post down but you've stumbled onto a huge card blog hop filled with gorgeous red white & blue inspiration....


Welcome to my stop on the “Oh Say Can You See 4th of July Blog Hop”. If you got to my blog from Kim Schofield's Blog then you've already seen some great cards from the creative blogs you've already visited. If you 're one of my regular visitors... you don't know what you are missing & you can start from the beginning by clicking here to go the Scrapbook News & Review Card Universe Website.

I've created 3 different 4th of July cards for you today....

Flag Card - is a simple layered & distressed card. The canvas fabric with frayed edges adds interest. I used rik rak instead of ribbon & even threaded the button with it. We all struggle with stamping white on a darker color paper don't we... I decided to heat emboss it so it would add dimension & the image would be sharp. Stitching around all the layers adds texture without bulk.

Supplies: Cardstock (The Paper Company); Paper (K & Company); Lettter stickers (Making Memories); Stamp (Dicky D); Embossing Powder (Ranger); Canvas Fabric (Misc Stash); Rik Rak (Wrights); Punch (Fiskars); Button (Misc Stash); Eyelets (American Crafts);Thread (Coats & Clarks)


Stars Card - Super easy card. This one makes me think of a summer picnic. I punched a row of stars in the denim patterned paper & adhered it to the cardstock. I stamped the stars using red ink & then cut them out. The stars that were punched from the denim paper are adhered to the stamped stars with pop dots for more dimension. For a twist I used a Happy Birthday stamp as part of the greeting.

Supplies: Cardstock (Bazzill); Paper (K & Company); Stamps (Unity Stamp Company); Ribbon (Offray); Punch (Fiskars); Ink (Close To My Heart & Mementos);Thread (Coats & Clarks)

Pocket Card - Have you seen July Unity Kit of the Month?

It has the cutest pocket stamp in it. (If you aren't a member it's the best $24 I spend on this hobby each & every month - boy they have a sale going on too to make it irresistible click here for more details).


The kits haven't shipped yet but I was just dying to make a card with a pocket to hold the patriotic Jenni Bowlin Bingo card. So I hand cut a pocket shape & stitched around the edges to make it look more realistic. I know it's not as cute as the Unity stamped one would have been but my mom will LOVE it. Finish it up with a bit of ribbon & some letter stamps made quick work of this super easy card. For more interest I used painted a grungeboard number 4 with Ranger crackle paint instead of just a stamped number.

Supplies: Cardstock (The Paper Company); Chipboard (Tim Holtz); Stamps (Unity Stamp Company); Bingo Card (Jenni Bowlin); Ribbon (Offray); Ink (Mementos); Thread (Coats & Clarks); Paint (Ranger)

In honor of our country's birthday I am offering a RAK as a thank you for visiting my blog this weekend. One lucky winner will receive 3 packages of Thickers & a $15 gift certificate to Everything Scrapp'n Online Scrapbook Store.

So how do you enter..... I'm going to CHA at the end of the month with the owner of Everything Scrapp'n ... Leave me a comment telling me what you as cardmakers are excited to see/buy. (brands, type of product, colors, whatever.... even items you have trouble finding). If you are looking for bargains right now everything is on sale 20% - 75% off to make room for all the new product we will be ordering. So leave me a comment with your faves & I'll draw a winner Monday morning.

For those of you in the US have a fantastic 4th of July weekend. I sure appreciate each & every one of you stopping by. Remember to leave a comment for the RAK

The next stop on the blog hop is the talented Robyn Weinrib she has some cute cards to inspire you.

The First Everything Scrapp'n Blog Hop

Well it's that time of the month again.... No I don't mean THAT... it's time for the Everything Scrapp'n Design Team to show you what they've been up to! We decided it would be fun to do a blog hop this month.

Of course we have a special for you too. Free shipping on orders over $35 (Coupon Code KENNY)

All of you regular readers of my blog know that I am a vintage kind of gal... so I was excited to find some Graphics 45 in the Everything Scrappn' Store. It is the perfect compliment for the new Narratives Die Cut Paper that just came in the store last week. This layout is so me & my style.

Supplies: Background Paper - Narratives Remember Ledger Diecut; Black Border Paper - Graphics 45 Photogenic; Red Dot & Gold Stripe Paper - Graphics 45 On the Dot; Vintage Tag - Graphics 45 Communique Tags; Cutout Card Paper - Communique; Chipboard Letters - American Crafts Thickers; Chipboard Button Embellishment - Jenni Bolin Milk Caps; Black Trim; Metal Tag - Tim Holtz; Pin (Maya Road); Letter Stickers (Making Memories); Lace (Hobby Lobby & Wrights); Page From Vintage Book; Ribbon (Creative Imaginations)

For my other project I thought I would go with brighter colors & show you how to make a really inexpensive layout that doesn't lack the wow factor....

I love the pink & green color combo & pattern of this paper by Doodlebug. The print inspired me to create a "faux" diecut edge by cutting out along the lines & adhering it to my kraft cardstock using Gel Medium. Since I was already painting on the gel medium I decided to paint behind my titlework with some inexpensive Green Apple Plaid Folk Art acrylic paint.

My journaling spot was rather large & I didn't have a stamp that big so I used another one of my favorite techniques... machine stitching lines to mimic lined paper. It adds texture & interest wherever I use it. I anchored the bottom of the page with a full row of the patten paper adhered with pop dots to add dimension. To make them look more like an embellishment adding a large adhesive pearl to the inside of each flower adds pizazz. Using some of the Prima Flowers & buttons from my stash I select 3 of each style/color to layer. I placed them on the page in a visual triangle to draw you eye to the focal point of the layout & anchor the top line of the design at the titlework

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Supplies: Pattern Paper - Doodlebug Cherry Cobbler; Chipboard Letters - American Crafts Thickers; Cardstock - Bazzill Kraft; Bling Rhinestones, Flowers - Prima; Buttons - misc stash; Thread - Coats & Clarks.

Make sure you visit the Everything Scrapp'n Blog for a chance to win this Rusty Pickle Brass Knuckles Mini Album Kit. All you do is leave a comment & you're entered. While you are there you'll see links to all the other designers blogs - you've gotta see what they've created!