Just Us Girls and My Memories Suite

It's National Scrapbooking Day and Maria has aptly challenged us to make a layout.  She's offering a prize too so be sure and check out Just Us Girls for the details.

Check out the inspiration from the girls...

Elise
Maria
Vicki

I used My Memories Suite scrapbooking software to make this page!  I know my hometown scrapping friends are gasping but....I am slowly but surely converting to digital scrapping!  Surprise, surprise, I like it!  My Memories Suite is a super easy program you can use to scrap at your own computer.  Some of my favorite features are that I can take my scrapbooking anywhere on my laptop and work on pages without needing to have an internet connection.  This makes going to a crop a breeze!  I just need my laptop...instead of the trailer full of heavy totes I used to haul!  ;)  This program will also save your finished pages as .jpg images so you can upload your page to ANY online photobook printing service. (My favorite is Mixbook) Other great options are that My Memories gives you access to ALL of the fonts on your computer as well as any other digital papers and elements you may have regardless of which digi store you bought them from.  FYI- My Memories comes with lots of pre-loaded digital packages so you can get started right away even if you have never done digital scrapbooking before.  Check out the tutorials at My Memories for lots of easy ideas on how you make memory albums using the software.

For a $10 discount off the purchase of the My Memories Suite Scrapbook software and a $10 coupon for the MyMemories.com store - $20 value!), please help yourself to my coupon code:

STMMMS9322

Here are a few more pages in an album of Italy that I have been working on using

My Memories Suite...

I can't wait to finish this album one day!

Thanks for stopping by!

Digital Scrap Software: My Memories Suite
Digi Elements and papers: My Memories Suite and The Digichick

Just Us Girls Technique Challenge #59...Gatefolds Galore!

Happy Saturday!  Ready for the latest with Just Us Girls?  Our talented Kathryn has chosen Gatefold cards this week!  So get your scoring board out and let's make some gatefold cards!

Gatefold cards generally have two flaps that fold and either overlap or meet in the front of the card.  The "gate" can meet in the middle, off to the side, or, in my case, be shaped.  I chose this adorable cupcake cut file by the super fab Kelleigh Ratzlaff.!  I kept trying to make this card "cuter" but the fact is, the cut file does all the work!  Awesome!  I just added a little papercrafted frosting in the Color Cue #9 color pallette (I'm too late but I couldn't resist this color combo) and voila, card confection!

 I decided to try my hand at a handmade crepe paper flower.  I made mine simply by cutting individual petals our of crepe and then pinched the bottoms to create the petal shape before I glued it down to a circle punch that served as my flower backing.  I later added glitter to the edges using a little Scotch quick dry adhesive and martha stewert glitter.

See how cute this cuppie is?  The muffin top lifts to expose the top of the cupcake "liner paper" which I pinked to give it a real cupcake wrapper look.  The bottom striped paper panel hinges down to expose the entire inside for writing your message or stamping a cute cupcake image like I did here.

OK, ready to play "gatefold" with us?  Be sure to check out the designer examples at Just Us Girls, including our guest designer this month, Cheryl Rowley, for lots of inspo and then join us in our gatefold challenge.

On another note, I am riding high, my friends, on the creative spirit I witnessed last weekend at two classes led by Tim Holtz!

Weeeee!  What a fun creative festival it was last weekend!  Tim is an incredible teacher, inspiration and an all around cool guy to hang out with.  He and Mario ran a seamless show I tell you!  I can't wait until they come back to town for another round of creative fun....I am so there.  I am sure these ladies are too!
So glad to be sharing creative space with some of my favorite sisters in scrap and stamp and Tim Holtz last weekend!  What a fabulous day!  (and I just counted that I said the word "creative" far too many times in the last couple of sentences, but hey, what can I say, the man bleeds creativity and you just can't help but catch the fever of "I NEED to make something" and THAT is so exciting!!!  I can't wait to show you what we made but I'm still poking at my projects...so someday soon :)  In the meantime, check out Tim's blog for a classroom photo that illustrates how lucky we were to sit  front and center for the whole day (I am fourth from the front and my pals are right near).  Our theme was christmas so you could say that I am excited for the Twelve Tags festival this year, oh yeah, you could say that!  Bring it on!

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I appreciate it so much!  Have a good one, friends!

Blog Hop with Kelleigh Ratzlaff and the girls from the Digichick boutique!

We are in for a treat today!  Join Kelleigh Ratzlaff and the talented designers from Kelleigh's Creative Team and the Digichick Boutique and the Hybrud Chick CT on a blog hop!  All Kelleigh templates, all the time today! 

I chose Kelleigh's Easter Basket template today to make a matching gift basket for the card I made above that has a sweet Benjamin Bunny image.

Be sure and check out all of the designers in the hop today.  When you find your favorite design, cast your vote at Kelleigh's blog and let her know how much you love her innovative templates!  Have fun hopping today and thanks so much for stopping by :)

Tracy - http://tracykosofsky.blogspot.com/
Sally - http://arainbowslife.blogspot.com/
Laura - http://www.lauras-little-corner.blogspot.com/
Juli - http://julifreshfish.blogspot.com/
Julie - http://mycrazylifeasamomandawife.blogspot.com/
Christy - http://scrapsofme.com/
LuAnn - http://livelaughcreate-luann.blogspot.com/
Jacinda - http://www.digikiwichick.blogspot.com/
Viva - http://vivaartistry.blogspot.com/
Dalis - http://www.stampergirl.com/
Holly - http://lv2scrapnjp.blogspot.com/
Sharyn - http://analteredlife.wordpress.com/
Karen Lewis - http://scrappingmum.blogspot.com/
Linda - http://www.yamstamps.com/
Alice - http://aliceslittlewonderland.blogspot.com/
Mel - http://domesticatedlady.com/
Sunghee - http://www.creativityinprogress.com/blog/
Carolina - http://creativepad.typepad.com/
Debbie - http://www.debbieseyer.com/my_weblog/
Kim - http://paperrocksscissors.blogspot.com/

Blog hopping with Kelleigh Ratzlaff Designs...little black dress

Hey everyone!  It's a blog hop today with Kelleigh Ratzlaff Designs!  You can find Kelleigh's amazing papercrafting templates at the DigiChick Boutique.  Today I am playing with the brand new Heart Cup template and once I started assembling this cute little basket all I could think was "little black dress"...but you tell me what YOU think...

Wouldn't Audrey Hepburn look great in this??!  I mean fabulous, dah-ling.

This would be cute for valentines day stuffed full of sweet treats and a gift card for a romantic dinner with my hubby.  I also think it would be fun for a girls night out.  This went together really quick with a simple ribbon treatment and the addition of a bit 'o bling.  I added an apron lace punch handle to up the feminine factor.

Ready for more Kelleigh valentine's inspiration?  Head on over to Kelleigh's blog for all the hop details and here are the links to the creative team to see what they have been up to.  You are gonna {love} them!

Kelleigh

Julie

Jen

Sunghee

Christy

Kelleigh also is releasing a grab bag today that is packed full of template goodness that you won't want to miss.  Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies:

Template: Kelleigh Ratzlaff Designs

Paper: Georgia Pacific

Punch: fiskars

craft supplies: ribbon and craft gems

JUGs13 a template challenge

It's saturday!  Time for a Just Us Girls Challenge!  This week we are challenging you to make a project using a template, bonus challenge of using the color blue.  We are being generously sponsored by Kelleigh Ratzlaff Designs this week and Kelleigh has offered a $15 gift certificate for blog candy and also a store discount is available to each challenge participant!  Head on over to the JUGs blog for more details on how to play.

my project:

I used one of my favorite Kelleigh templates called the Sassy Purse #3.  It's a great size for packing it with hand lotions, jewelry boxes, etc and with the open top, you can let it all hang out so to speak. ;)

This is such a fun template to accessorize!  Check out that paper rose!!  Eeek!  If I do say so myself!  Tim Holtz has a great tutorial on his blog on how to create these luscious roses.  You gotta try it.  I wish I had some grunge paper so I could make this into real wearable art...it's that pretty in real life.  But, since I don't have grunge paper, I went ahead with cardstock and it worked just fine. I think this handmade detail really ups the "sassy" in my sassy tote :)  I also layered some beads and ribbon on a corsage pin for an embellishment and used a silver holiday sprig to nest my rose in.

Have you checked out what the rest of the Just Us Girls team has made?  Ohhhhh you gotta!  They never dissappoint.  This week we also have a creation from the fabulous Kelleigh as our guest designer and sponsor.

Guest Designer, Kelleigh Ratzlaff

Kristin Bueter

Pam Imholz

Maria Levine

Tracey Cuccia

Lisa Kind

Mona Pendleton

Alicia Weiman

Ok JUGs fans, let's get those templates out and create something!  Please share it with all of us by linking at the Mr Linky on the JUGs site.  Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Supplies:

Template: Kelleigh Ratzlaff Designs

Paper: Papertrey Ink, georgia pacific and bella boulevard

Ink: Stampin Up and Papertrey

Other: corsage pin, beads, ribbon, holiday pick, stickles. spray glimmerz

Holiday Tussy Mussy and a *favor*

Hi friends!  Back with more holiday goodies.  Have you seen the amazing eye candy over at Kelleigh Ratzlaff's blog?  She has issued herself a challenge to do 30 ornaments in 30 days using her vast array of terrific templates.  (Don't miss out on the brand new Grab Bag released for November) The best thing to me is she's using just about all of her templates to do this, bags, gift boxes, party hats and more to show the wide open versitility of using a 3-D template for ornament making.  She's asked the creative team to jump in with some template ornament fun and I jumped at the chance to make a holiday version of a tussy mussy (check out my wedding version HERE) out of the Party Hat template.    There is a fantastic sale going on all individual template's of Kelleigh's at the digichick so check that out too!  35% off sale  making each template just $2.59! 

Here it is, in all of it's glittery goodness!  Before I jump into the making of the tussy mussy, I was wondering if you might consider doing me a favor?  Have you seen the holiday craft contest going on at Michael's crafts?  Check it here Welllll, I entered this project in the hopes of maybe winning a gift card (goodness knows I will put it to use ;)).  Here's the deal, it's based on votes so I was wondering, if you have a minute, if you wouldn't mind hopping over and voting on my project.  It's a simple click rating system without any tedious registering, etc.  I would LOVE to have your support!  You can get to my entry here.  Thanks so much!!!

EDITED to add:  to vote, scroll to the bottom of the photograph of my project.  You'll see five little snowmen standing in a row.  You choose to vote from the level of 1 snowman (least) on up to 5 snowman (best), by clicking on the number snowman/men in the lineup you think it's worthy of.  That's it.  You all are the best!

So on to the juicy details...I grabbed Kelleigh party hat template and dropped it into Microsoft word.  I arranged and stretched it to enable a taller template.  When you assemble the cone, you'll want to roll it tighter than the template shows for a party hat so you end up with a tall skinny cone...but don't glue it shut yet...you'll want to assemble your ribbon hanger, bouquet of picks and bottom hanging decorations first.  These will get taped to the inside of the cone and then the cone is glued shut. I printed the template on one side of cream cardstock and THIS vintage sheet music from the Graphics Fairy blog on the other and cut out the template. 

It's all about the embellishments and holiday picks after that!  Some of the vintage sheet music scraps were perfect for making my own glittery holly leaf pick.  I also grabbed a fistful of other items....a thrifted glass ball ornament, a gold painted pinecone, a ultra glittery poinsettia pick and the gold/red/green pick from Michaels this year.  If it was something that did not already have a stem attached, pipe cleaners and craft wire can be used to fashion "stems" onto items.

I fell in love with this Tim Holtz santa last year.  It was time to pull it out!  I stamped and then die cut with a lable nestie die and then fabric paint glitter for the edge.  He's mounted on a vintage book print accordian folded pinwheel and also glittered (there is a theme developing here LOL!)

The "believe" tag is a piece of the above santa stamp.  I stamped it twice and trimmed out the word believe gluing them back to back.  More gold glitter to edge the tag.  The two pieces were glued together while sandwiching the gold thread and then a few beads and buttons were tied on for the end piece.  Once all the parts and pieces and ready to go, they can be arranged in and around the cone template and the cone glued shut. 

So there it is.  I made mine fairly big because I want to hang it on a doorknob and not a tree branch...but wouldn't it be adorable in miniature?  hmmmm....maybe I need to try that next! :)  Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Template: Kelleigh Ratzlaff Designs

digital image: the Graphics Fairy

Stamps: Tim Holtz for Stampers Anonymous

Ink: SU!

Glitter: Martha Stewert and fabric dimensional glitter paint

Craft supplies: vintage book print, buttons, beads, snowflake sequin, tinsel trim, ribbon, gold thread, holiday picks, craft wire, pipe cleaners, glass ornament

Just Us Girls Challenge #5 Wild card challenge!...{holiday photo card}

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas....

what?!   Or, er, HALLOWEEN!  Happy Halloween everyone!  Before I hop right into the JUGs challenge, allow me to share my dear featured with his "deer"....

This pumpkin perfection was custom made with my hubby in mind by none other than the amazing and ultra talented, and Halloween obsessed ;), Elise of Mamacow Creations!  Take a bow, girlfriend!  You are the queen of pumpkin carving!

Now that we've gotten our halloween fix, how about a challenge with Just Us Girls?  Super sweet and talented, Kristin Bueter, is hostessing our Wild Card Challenge this week.

I chose a super cute and easy template by Kelleigh Ratzlaff to make a holiday door hanger using Kristen's digi stamps and a photo of my girls.  You can find the Door Pouch template at the Digichick Boutique.

Look at those cute little elves on my front lawn!

The door pouch has enough room to add some festive stuffing and a homemade treat, gift card, personal, note, etc.  I hand colored Kristin's lamp image with brush tip markers after printing it on white cardstock.  I echoed the raspberry and bright green colors of the KI Memories holiday DP.  A little glitter, ribbon and a button and we are ready to leave some cheer on a special friend's door.  These would also be cute hanging on a christmas tree branch...a fun alternative to the money/gift card in an envelope on the tree, dontcha think?

Want to get a jump start on your holiday photo greetings?  Check out the amazing inspiration and details at the Just Us Girls designer blogs:

Kristin Bueter

Pam Imholz

Maria Levine

Tracey Cuccia

Lisa Kind

Mona Pendleton

Guest Designer, Tammy Hershberger

We hope you'll get a chance to play along with us this week.  Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Digital Stamps: Kristin Bueter!

Paper: Papertrey Ink, KI Memories, Georgia Pacific

Punch: CM and SU!

Glitter: Martha Stewert

Button : Papertrey Ink

craft supply: embroidery floss, ribbon and Zig brush pens

Blog Hop with Kelleigh Ratzlaff Designs...{the wave box goes Halloween}

It's thursday and that means all new releases over at the Digichick Boutique.  Kelleigh Ratzlaff has a brand new template releasing today in her shop that is called the Wave Box.  When printed in the largest size, it holds 3x5 cards and has a cool wavy tuck in flap closure!  Check it out...

Thanks to the Halloween Challenge over at Papercrafts Magazine, I decided to go all monster mash with my wave box and grabbed this fun DP from BoBunny.  Kelleigh's box template was built with plain black cardstock and then I added detail panels of DP and swiss dot embossed and inked purple cardstock.

I also thought it would be fun to add a handle and a large handmade monster cupcake using the DP as inspiration.  You can see "baby" monster cupcake on the DP to the far right.

After cutting the flap slits as indicated on Kelleigh's template, I went ahead and embellished with buttons and an orange scalloped strip.

I wonder what is inside......

What's not to love about a well designed template?  I love accenting my gift boxes all the way around, up and down.  It really makes the gift extra heartfelt when it comes in something so custom. 

Want more?  Some of Kelleigh's designers, including Kelleigh herself, are blog hopping today.  Check 'em out for tons of inspiration:

Kelleigh

Julie

Sunghee

Visit Kelleigh's blog and leave a comment to be entered for a PRIZE!  Thanks so much for stopping in today.  That was way nice of you!

Supplies:

Template: Kelleigh Ratzlaff

Paper: Georgia Pacifc, BoBunny, CM, SU!

Stamp: SU!

Ink: SU!

Punch: SU!

Embossing: Cuttlebug

Craft supply: buttons, makeup sponge