Take advantage of my Birthday and Blank card sale this weekend too! In celebration of my father’s birthday, all my birthday and blank cards are on sale, 50% off! Sale prices are as marked. Go to www.L7Designs.etsy.com!

Inspiration Alley – Card Making Classroom

This week on Inspiration Alley, I want to introduce you to the Card Making Classroom – a weekly email card tutorial by an amazing designer, Jen Gormly. Each week, Jen puts together a beautiful card using different layouts, designs, materials and tools. Her cards are always so cute and creative! Jen is a seasoned scrapbooker who not only runs the Card Making Classroom, but also has a few scrapbooking and card making books published, as well as the creative brains behind StickersnFun.com a great inspirational site (more on stickersnfun.com next week!).

The Card Making Classroom is a fantastic FREE way to get great card inspiration ideas right to your inbox! To read more and sign up, go to http://cardmakingclassroom.com/freeclasses/ today!

Thanks for creating with us!

Scrap Addict Etsy Spotlight

Meet my friend Anne, the creator and talent behind the Scrap Addict etsy shop. Anne, along with her husband and three children, bases her brilliant shop out of their dairy farm in Minnesota. Anne displays her incredible creativity throughout her shop with page layouts, 6×6 albums, cards, scrapbooks, and page kits (amongst other products!). Scrapbookers everywhere would be doing themselves a favor by shopping at Scrap Addict’s etsy shop. I get inspired just by looking at her creations!

Scrap Addict posts pictures of her various projects on Flickr and is also a Twitter user (and posts some great comments and tid bits! User name: ScrapAddict). Also, show your support and become a Fan of her shop on Facebook (click on the link to view her Facebook page, or search for ScrapAddict)!Check her projects out and prepare to be amazed! She ships all of her products priority mail, carefully packed so your items arrive without tweaks! She prides herself in producing beautiful creations and aims to keep them perfect for you when you receive them – what a great way to preserve your memories! Visit her etsy shop at ScrapAddict.etsy.com!

Scrapbooking

Pooh Bear 12x12 Scrapbook Page - ScrapAddict

True to her name, Scrap Addict’s shop is packed with scrapbooking layouts and designs including 1 and 2-page layouts, 6×6 scrapbooks and 6×6 scrapbook kits. I love her designs – so many creative ideas, layouts, use of colors and embelllishments! She embraces her gift of creativity to the fullest and it is really evident that she loves her craft! As a true scrapbooker, she uses only acid-free, photo-safe adhesives, and all of her page layouts come enclosed in a page protector.

Purrrrrrrfect Cat and Kitten 6x6 Scrapbook - ScrapAddict

She has a wide variety of themes, patterns and occasions represented in her shop. The photo pictured above features a 6×6 scrapbook with a cat theme (Click on the picture to view the listing in her shop) – perfect for those of us with furry feline pets at home! She has a number of 6×6 albums – all of her 6×6 albums are pre-made and designed, so all you need to do is insert your pictures! They include a chipboard cover, with 5 pages and are tied together with multiple pieces of coordinating ribbon around binder rings. The 5 pages of these albums leave you room to put 10 pictures in (more if you crop your pictures well!).

Happy Halloween Scrapbook Kit - ScrapAddict

Along with pre-made pages and albums, ScrapAddict also has a variety of scrapbook kits – great for those who love to be crafty, but either don’t have time to do all the shopping for everything involved or aren’t sure what coordinates together! The picture above shows her Happy Halloween kit. Her kits include 10 6×6 patterned sheets of paper (2 sheets of each pattern), coordinating tags, brads, buttons and ribbon. Everything featured in her pictures is what you will receive in your kit! Along with her Happy Halloween kit, she also has a Dog kit!

Cards

True Friends Leave Footprints On Your Heart Greeting Card - ScrapAddict

Along with her various scrapbooking creations, Scrap Addict also designs a wide variety of greeting cards. Her handmade cards and notecards are beautifully designed, like her scrapbook creations. She uses an arsenal of techniques, tools, designs, patterns and colors to ensure your card is beautiful and original. She has cards for almost every occasion, including birthday, friendship, thank you and a wide variety of generic cards good for any occasion! Her designs are beautiful and timeless and perfect for anyone at any time – a great addition to any card collection!

Brown OWL Notecards Set of 4 - ScrapAddict

Along with greeting cards, ScrapAddict has a variety of mini card sets and notecard sets – including this beautiful Owl notecard set (includes 4 notecards) that features a die-cut owl. Her mini cards are perfect if you love to send out lots of notes. She has a great set of Midnight Blue Thank You cards that would be great for wedding thank you notes (she also advertises them for etsy sellers’ thank you notes!)!

Tags, Flowers and Die Cuts

Golden Yellow Tags With Flowers and Red Ribbon - ScrapAddict

ScrapAddict also sells a variety of scrapbooking and card making materials including die cut shapes, paper flowers, and handmade tags. Her tags are great for gift tags, or as embellishments in scrapbook albums. Click on the links to explore ScrapAddict’s etsy shop!

Also, a very big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Scrap Addict! She celebrated her birthday on Wednesday, the 24th this week! Best wishes Anne!

Thanks for creating with us!

Today I’m featuring two cards for Mother’s Day. Yes I realize Mother’s Day was yesterday, but I made both of these for my Mom and my Mother-in-law and didn’t want them to see the cards before they opened them! The first idea is made of chipboard and is more of a package than a simple card. The second card I designed using DCWV’s “green” recycled paper! Let’s create!

Mother’s Day Tri-fold Card

Materials

• Tri-Fold chipboard folder from SEI
• Caspia cardstock from SEI’s Oasis line (You will use both sides of this cardstock)
• Samarkand patterned cardstock from SEI’s Oasis line (You will use both sides of this cardstock)
• Oasis Coaster Tags from SEI’s Oasis line
• Oasis ribbon from SEI’s Oasis line
• Oasis acrylic stamps from SEI’s Oasis line
• Blue patterned paper from SEI’s Oasis line (You will use both sides of this cardstock)
• Notch & Die Cutting Tool from Basic Grey
• Adhesives – mini & large pop dots, paper adhesive, ribbon adhesive and a chipboard adhesive
• Small sharp scissors like CutterBee
• Blue ink from SEI
• Stickers from SEI

Instructions

1. The make up of this project is very simple. Simply measure each panel, cut the cardstock to size and adhere. For this particular project I used the blue plain Caspia paper as the bottom layer then adhered the Samarkand patterned paper on the large right panel, and green patterned paper on the left smaller panel. For the inside I used the brown side of the Caspia paper on the small left panel layering Samarkand patterned paper over it. The middle panel has the green patterned paper adhered while the far right panel has a dark brown patterned cardstock with Caspia paper adhered to the center.
2. The details of this album are fairly simple, but they take a bit of work. I used the Samarkand patterned paper for the majority of my detail embellishments, taking some of the mini blue flowers and die-cutting them out by hand using my little scissors. I also cut out two half-circles of the large ornamental pattern. After I cut those out I arranged them around some of the panels, adhering them with mini and large pop dots.
3. The right inside panel of this card was for a gift card. I took a piece of the brown side of the Caspia cardstock, cut it to a 1/2 inch larger than the gift card and punched half circles in the two sides (measuring with the gift card so I could slide the gift card under the half circles.
4. The middle panel of the card was designated for my personal message to my Mom so it doesn’t have much embellishment except a chipboard cutout stamped with “Happy Mother’s Day” in blue ink.
5. The whole project was tied together with a patterned green ribbon on the smaller panel.

Recycled Mother’s Day Card

Materials

• Wild Flowers Green Cardstock from Die Cuts With A View
• Bear Green Cardstock from Die Cuts With A View
• Red Ferns Green Cardstock from Die Cuts With A View
• Mother’s Day Acrylic Stamps from My Sentiments Exactly
• Black Staz On ink
• CutterBee scissors (or similar)
• Adhesives – paper adhesive and mini & large pop dots
• Pewter Metallic brads (4)

Instructions

1. Cut a piece of 12×5 from the red fern cardstock. Score and fold in half to make a 6×5 card. The card will have a portfolio orientation.
2. Cut a piece of the Bear patterned cardstock measuring 4×5 (make sure the Bear holding the flower is in the bottom left corner). Punch holes in all four corners of the bear patterned paper and attach pewter brads in each corner. Adhere to the red patterned cardstock base.
3. Stamp “Happy Mother’s Day” in black ink onto red patterned paper. Cut out around the stamped sentiment leaving a 1/8″ border around all edges. Adhere above the bear image using mini pop dots
4. Cut out a yellow circle from the Wild Flowers patterned paper and adhere to the center of the flower the bear is holding using large pop dots.
5. Stamp the flowers with owl image and “We love you Mom!” in black ink on the inside of the card

Thanks for creating with me! Come back tomorrow for the first birthday tutorial!

It’s an amazing club by Sew Easy Inspirations (SEI) – one of my all-time favorite scrapbooking companies. Sign up for either the Mega or the Mini or sign up for both and receive an amazing package every month! Each kit comes with a wide variety of paper and embellishments from one of their fantastic product lines – usually a newly released line of paper and products too – at least one-two pages FULL of project ideas featuring the contents of your kit. Each kit also features additional ideas and add-ons that you can download for free from their website (available only to Club SEI members) or purchase additional bits and pieces at a reduced cost. It’s amazing and I highly HIGHLY recommend you sign up and check out this amazing kit club!! Go to ClubSEI.com for details!

Etsy Spotlight: Lemon Drop Studio

Spring Is Here Penny Ponytail Holders - LemonDropStudio

Meet this week’s wonderful, talented designer, Shauna, from Lemon Drop Studio! Shauna is a card maker and crafter masquerading as a SAHM (Stay At Home Mom) outside of Portland (Hillsboro), Oregon. Lemon Drop Studio is also a proud member of the EtsyMoms Team through Etsy.com. I love the way her profile is worded on her blog (LemonDropStudio.blogspot.com):

Shauna Rogers developed lemon drop studio based on the notion that correspondence with friends, family and even the electric company should be personal and fun! From there, her products have expanded to include all kinds of fresh-squeezed gifts.

Lemon Drop Studio’s products include a wide range of handmade cards, gift tags, magnets, note cards, silhouette prints, punched shapes, pony tail holders and hairclips, and lots of other great handmade creations! Let’s check ‘em out! Check out her shop at LemonDropStudio.etsy.com, her blog at LemonDropStudio.blogspot.com and follow her on Twitter! (http://twitter.com/lemon_drop)

Inside LemonDropStudio.etsy.com

Handmade Paper Crafted Goodies

Scarlet Sweet Wish 10 note card flats - LemonDropStudio

Lemon Drop Studio’s many paper crafted products include handmade cards, note cards, gift tags, scalloped and other shaped punches. I love her note card sets especially. The beautiful set pictured above, the Scarlet Sweet Wish set of 10 Note Card Flats is one of my favorites. All of her note card sets come in a set of 10 and are made with a great quality paper – 80-pound weight so it’s not a flimsy paper stationery. Her note cards are stamped and embossed with a simple but beautiful design and include coordinating envelopes. Her handmade cards, too are beautifully designed, so cute, sophisticated and classy! A lot of her cards feature some of her fantastic scalloped punches too that really add a punch of pizazz to her designs! I love her scalloped punches (and all of her shaped punches!) – they come in good sized packages and at great prices. Better yet she uses a wide variety of patterned papers and groups her shapes together in themes! Click on the links above to see all of her great paper crafted products!

Prints and Invitations

Custom Silhouette - LemonDropStudio

Not only does Lemon Drop Studio create handcrafted products, she also designs fabulous digital prints, invitations and silhouettes. Featured in her shop are three kinds of digital invitations: Birthday and two Baby Shower invitations. One of the great things about her digital invitation designs is how customizable they are. For her Happy Hedgehog Birthday Invitations, for example, when you purchase her invitations you are invited to customize the color and wording (even font!). She then sends you a high resolution file of the invitation for you to print wherever and on whatever you choose! Great idea! Her Silhouette Prints are a great product as well. They are customizable with up to 15 different colors (pick two!). Just send her a digital photo of your loved ones’ adorable face and she compiles your silhouette from there. Choose from 3 different printed sizes (order additional prints, too!). What a FANTASTIC idea for a baby room!

Fun Stuff!

Earth Friendly Heart Crayons - Set of 6 - LemonDropStudio

Not only does Lemon Drop Studio play with paper and scissors but she is also incredibly creative with making handmade pony tail holders, magnets, hair clips and handmade recycled crayons (yes, you read that correctly!)! Her pony tail holders and hair clips have been featured on the popular blog Dooce.com. Those lucky enough to be local to the Northwest can also find her hair clips and pony tail holders at In Other Words, a bookstore in Northeast Portland, Oregon. Most of her magnets are fabric covered buttons in adorable patterned prints and colors. She also features a fun felt mustache magnet! Her upcycled crayons, though (pictured above) are what get me the most excited! I am a big kid at heart and I love crayons! These fun, creative crayons are made from bits of crayons that can’t really be colored with comfortably any more. They are made into cute little shapes (hearts and circles) and are mixed colors (never know what you might get!)! They’re great for little kids who can’t quite grasp a skinny crayon yet and perfect for putting in a purse or tote for spur-of-the-moment creativity! She has three sets available in her shop (convo her for more!).

Thanks for creating with us, Lemon Drop Studio!

Be sure to check out my new cards posted on my etsy shop last week!

Friday Favorites

1. Simply Handmade Blog

   I recently fell in love with the Simply Handmade magazines produced by the same company that does Scrapbook Trends and Cards magazines. I’m a big supporter of DIY (Do It Yourself) handmade projects and the projects I have seen showcased in the Simply Handmade magazine are beautiful, easy to do and well designed. Their blog features even more projects with clear, easy instructions and beautiful pictures. They also do drawings for free products frequently – including an amazing giveaway going on right now for a die cut machine! Go to simplyhandmademag.blogspot.com or details!

2. The LOTR (Lord of The Rings) soundtracks

   Music is a big part of my creative inspiration … at least helps fuel my energy and brain into focusing on my creativity. I have a wide variety of likes and dislikes in music, but I can always come back to the Lord of the Rings soundtracks. They are beautifully scored and I believe Howard Stone did a fantastic job. I have listened to all three soundtracks (and watched the movies) so often that when I’m listening to the scores I know exactly what scene is being played in the movie. I listen to them at my office day job while working and at home while creating. Yes, I admit it, I am a LOTR geek.

3. Nana’s Kids Chipboard Shapes from Die Cuts With a View

   I’m working on a custom BABY word album (will post pictures when I get it finished!) right now for a baby boy and went to my local scrapbooking store to find some cute chipboard embellishments for this book and came across these adorable chipboard shapes. They’re perfect for boys or girls – decorated with soft neutral colors, patterns and shapes.

4. Cinder Wine

   A few weeks ago my husband and I went to the Urban Wine Makers Cooperative here in Boise, ID for a wine tasting with one of the cooperatives, Cinder Wine. They featured a Viognier, Rose’ and Syrah. The Viognier and Syrah were my favorites, so my husband and I brought a couple bottles home with us (as well as a cool t-shirt from the Wine Makers Co-op for me!). I do not know if they are licensed to ship or sell out of the state of Idaho yet, but those local to Boise, ID, I encourage you to try their delicious wine! Their grapes are from around Idaho and Oregon, but the wine is made here in Boise by fantastic wine makers, Melanie Krause and Joe Schnerr. Check out Cinderwines.com for more information!

5. Joy of Cardmaking book

   My husband bought this book for me for Valentine’s Day this year and I absolutely love it. It’s put out by Creating Keepsakes under their PaperCrafts Magazine production and contains TONS of pages of beautiful layouts and ideas – and includes templates and sketches for each design. It’s a definite MUST-HAVE for card makers and creatives!

Thanks so much for creating with me!

Before I go into my Friday Favorites for this week, please check out the great giveaway/challenge for this month from the EtsyGreetings Team! As I have mentioned before I am a proud (and excited) member of the EtsyGreetings Team. One of the many great things this team does to promote its members and cards, as well as promote our team community is to pose a challenge to the members and let the readers vote for their favorite card! This month’s challenge was Easter cards. Each participating member designed a special Easter card and you get to vote for your favorite! Voting starts now, so head over to the Etsy Greetings blog at http://etsygreetings.blogspot.com and vote for your favorite card! Click Here to go directly to the March Challenge post (this link will take you to the post itself, not the main page of the Etsy Greetings Blog). The winning card will be the grand prize for a randomly chosen person who leaves a comment on the blog post. Thanks for your help in promoting my team and great artists!

Friday Favorites!

1. Bazzill Basics Textured Cardstock

Bazzill Basics is a huge paper and embellishment company that designs gorgeous textured and smooth cardstock in a wide variety of colors. I’m fairly certain they have the perfect cardstock for any color scheme you could possibly imagine. Most of their cardstocks are plain colors (they also recently came out with a polkadot cardstock) and they are perfect for making cards. Their cardstocks come in a wide variety of finishes as well – for example, their “bling” cardstock has a shimmery finish on it that sort of sparkles in the light (perfect for cards for girls!). Chances are likely, if you have ever bought textured 8 1/2″ x 11″ or 12″ x 12″ cardstock from a craft or scrapbooking store, it was Bazzill Basics. To see all of their many colors, textures and products to choose from, see their website at http://bazzillbasics.com!

2. Pomegranate Bath Foam from Mor Cosmetics

Pomegranate Bath Foam from Mor Cosmetics

My husband gave this delicious, luxurious bath foam to me for Christmas this year. I am not traditionally a bath person, but I have grown to love a good soak in the tub to ease the stresses of the day or week with this wonderful bath foam. I love this bath foam because it smells so good – it’s not overpowering at all, but has a soft sweet fragrance. It is so luxurious, too – your skin will feel so soft and silky smooth when you get out of the tub! The bath foam comes in a beautiful tall and thin 12.7 fluid ounce bottle stoppered with a cork. I love the description the Mor Cosmetics website has for this:

Re-discover the ritual of bathing in a tub of silky, pearly bubbles. Aromatic notes of fruits and flowers blend with exotic Amazonian Nut Oil for ultimate relaxation. (from MorCosmetics.com)

If you’re not tempted to go take a bath right now (whether you have this amazing product or not), then I’ll go take one for you! The website doesn’t say much about where you can buy this delicious bath foam other than from their online store, unfortunately. My husband bought mine at a local boutique here in Boise called So Glad in Bown Crossing. To see more of Mor Cosmetics, visit their website at: http://morcosmetics.com!

3. Glaze & Souffle Pens from Sakura of America

Glaze pens from Sakura of America

These pens are made by the same company that produces Gelly Roll pens. The great thing about souffle and glaze pens is they add a bit of dimension. They raise up to give sort of an embossed texture to your designs. They are fantastic pens for doing colored accents and outlines in a wide range of colors. The souffle pens come in more pastel colors while the glaze are a bit more bold. You can buy them in sets or individually (usually in packs of 2 pens). A couple things to remember when using these:

• Remember to let them dry! I can’t even count the number of times I have put my fingers and hands in wet ink. Thankfully they don’t smear too much, but it still leaves an unsightly mess on your projects. They take longer to dry than most inks, so be sure they are really dry! Wait a few minutes then lightly touch the ink with the tip of your finger to test. If it’s not dry yet and you end up leaving a splotch, you can go back and touch up!
• These pens have a tendency to clog up easily. My souffle pens especially clog up frequently (not sure if it’s me or the pens). To unclog, just stick a needle or pin to get all the dried bits of ink off.

4. Clark’s

I absolutely love Clarks shoes. For some reason last year I started having really bad problems with my feet – especially my heels. It got to the point where they hurt like crazy even just sitting at work (not putting any weight on them essentially). I tried some new Sketchers, which are usually very comfortable to me, and they made the pain worse. When we went to southern California last August for our 2nd Honeymoon, I realized just how much I needed REALLY good shoes after walking around Disneyland for a couple of days. While at a mall in San Diego we decided to splurge and buy me a pair of Clarks. Oh, it was heaven in footwear! Since wearing these I haven’t had any feet problems at all (save for some blisters I received trying to break them in with bare feet – not a smart plan). Their shoes are a little expensive, but trust me it’s a great investment for your body. They are typically made of leather and are GREAT quality. Weather proof them and take good care of them and they will last for a long time, too. Shoes designed to make your feet feel great (to me anyway) are usually lacking a little on the aesthetic end of footwear, but Clarks has found a way to bring style and comfort into footwear. The two pairs I currently own are really cute! Check out Clarks.com for more information!

5. Basic Grey Card Kits

Basic Grey Marrakesh Card Kit

Basic Grey released a new product this year with most (if not all) of its product lines, Card Kits. I absolutely love these! There is a card kit featured with each of their new product lines released in 2009; each kit contains enough product to create 6-8 cards and each kit features different card layouts! It’s brilliant. Archivers, a national chain of scrapbooking stores, recently signed a deal with Basic Grey to include two of their card kits as classes exclusively at Archivers: Birthday and Kids (both featuring a variety of different product lines). I am currently signed up for both of these classes and I strongly encourage anyone into Basic Grey, card making, paper crafts, or just great design (my graphic designer husband [www.transitdesignstudio.com] loves taking these classes with me!) From what I have seen their prices for these kits are reasonable as well, ranging from $10-$20. You can also buy them at Amazon.com – just search for Basic Grey or Basic Grey Card Kits! See BasicGrey.com for more information!

Thanks for creating with me!

My number one favorite didn’t make the list but today is the first day of Spring and the sun is out and it’s warm! Beautiful!

1. Bone Folder

S-Shaped Bone Folder from FineArtStore

This simple, inexpensive, ancient tool is a must-have for card-makers, scrap bookers and crafters. The bone folder has a variety of uses – the most common (at least for papercrafters) is making a beautiful crisp crease. It can also be used as a score tool – a fold guide essentially. Simply place a ruler or straight-edge along where you want your fold and draw the bone folder along the edge. It will make an indented line down your card (or whatever material you are using) that you can easily fold over – then crease with the flat edge of the bone folder. So simple, yet so helpful! Bone folders come in a variety of shapes and sizes. I use the S-Shaped Bone Folder because it has a nice flat edge that makes it easier for me to crease edges of thick card-stock. I do have a score-it board that I use especially when I make multiple cards in one sitting, but I use my bone folder with it to put a good crease in my folds as well. These wonderful tools are pretty cheap as well. The above bone folder from ProvoCraft is selling for $3 on Amazon.com and the S-Shaped folder sells for around $5-6.

2. Aveda Hand Relief

Hand Relief from Aveda

I have extremely dry hands and when the seasons change (as they are now) they get even worse and the skin starts cracking and peeling around my finger nails – which encourages me to pick at them (a bad habit of mine). When they get to that state I have to put anti-biotic ointment and band-aids on my fingers to heal them and get some moisture back. I have tried lotion after lotion, multiple salt scrubs, hand treatments and even used paraffin wax (when I worked at the athletic training center in college). By far the best thing that worked was paraffin wax. Unfortunately paraffin bath treatments aren’t the most efficient and you have to use them regularly to really get the full impact. The next best for me was salt scrubs, however you can’t really use a salt scrub sitting at your desk at work or walking around because you have to wash your hands with it. And you will scream bloody murder if that salt scrub gets into cracked skin that has broken through the skin. Trust me. Out of all the lotions I have ever tried in my life Aveda’s Hand Relief takes the cake. After just a couple applications the first time I used it, my hands felt so much better – and looked better too. My cracked skin healed and my hands were so smooth. I ran out a few weeks ago and went back to another lotion (Aveeno) and it seemed to dry out my hands even more. So I picked up some more Aveda Hand Relief and the difference is unbelievable. I get the small 1.4 fluid oz bottles that fit perfectly in my purse ($7.50). If you click on the picture above it will take you to Amazon.com’s page for 4.2oz bottle ($19.00).

3. Martha Stewart Ruler

(Sorry I couldn’t find a picture or link to it!) I have mentioned before that I prefer using XActo knives over other paper cutters. One of the difficulties with scrapbooking and card-making with XActo knives is being able to see what you are cutting and having the ruler move when making a cut – then potentially cutting yourself. I found these amazing rulers about a year ago at Michaels from Martha Stewart Crafts. It’s a translucent ruler – which means you can see what you are cutting. One of the reasons I use XActo knives is so I can make really precise cuts. I don’t usually go by measurements because I use a lot of patterned paper and I like to have a certain length of border around my images. Using measurements sometimes constricts my creativity and ability to use the patterns, images and embellishments I want. There’s only so much space on the front of a card after all! So having a translucent ruler like this Martha Stewart one is perfect – I can place the ruler on the edge of my paper and be able to much more effectively cut around a border. This particular ruler also has a non-slide backing on it. It is kind of a rubber coating on the underside of the ruler which really helps against the ruler sliding while I’m cutting. It has been one of the best crafting tools I have ever purchased. They cost around $20 at Michaels (Michaels now allows customers to use their weekly coupons on Martha Stewart products too!).

4. Rice bag

Last year for Christmas someone made me a nice long rice bag – long enough to spread across my shoulders. For those of you who aren’t familiar with rice bags – a rice bag is simply a bag (made of fabric – the softer the better, but try not to use something too heavy – I think mine is a flannel) filled with rice. It can be heated or frozen to use as a heat pad or ice pack. I carry a lot of tension in my shoulders and neck – remnants of a car accident from about 10 years ago. This rice bag helps so much in the evenings. I heat it up in the microwave for about 3 minutes then set it across the back of my shoulders so it heats my neck and shoulders evenly. Oh it helps so much!

5. Staz-on All-Purpose Stamp Cleaner

StazOn All Purpose Stamp Cleaner by Tsukineko

I absolutely love stamping with Staz-On ink. So far in my experience it is the best to stamp with – at least in the black. It is made by a company called Tsukineko and is a solvent-based ink, not acrylic.

StazOn is our only solvent-based ink, designed for decorating non-porous and semi-porous surfaces, such as metal, shrink plastic, acrylic, cellophane, aluminum foil, leather and some glass surfaces. Thanks to its mild smell, StazOn is much safer to use than other permanent inks. (from tsukineko.com)

I know a lot of scrap-bookers and card-makers do not use it and stay away from using it because it is so difficult to clean off stamps. Baby wipes don’t do much and it takes a while to scrub with a toothbrush and dish washing liquid, and even then not everything comes off. Thankfully, they came out with a Staz-On cleaner specifically designed for staz-on inks (and other …… inks). I use this cleaner on all my stamps (safe for rubber and acrylic) and to clean all my inks, not just staz-on. The only stamps of mine that I still have problems with, even with this cleaner, are my Close To My Heart stamps – and I know from experience that just about every flavor of ink will leave a stain on these stamps, despite all efforts to clean them off. The one thing to keep in mind with this cleaner is it leaves kind of an oily residue, so simply take a paper towel and wipe off the stamp and stamp pad after you’ve cleaned it.

Thanks for creating with me!

Great all-in-one tool for hole punching and setting eyelets, brads, grommets and snaps! It’s so easy to use and there are no small parts to keep track of – everything is right there! I have a Crop-A-Dile as well as an Instant Setter set from Making Memories that basically does the same thing. With my Instant Setter set I have to be working on a really sturdy table (the craft table I use doesn’t even work well) and use most of my body weight to punch through more than one sheet of paper. The Crop-A-Dile, however punches EASILY through multiple layers of chipboard and card-stock, wood and (according to the description) metal and fabric. This is the product description on Amazon.com

Finally! No clicking, banging, pounding, twisting, or grunting. This all-in-one tool punches and sets eyelets, snaps, and so much more. Easily punch through any material, thick or thin, then set eyelets, snaps, or any metal embellishment into your project. Ideal for punching paper, leather, plastic, metal, chipboard, acrylic, fabric, wood, poly, and much more!

The Crop-A-Dile kits include the Crop-A-Dile tool with lime or pink colored handles, a matching (lime or pink) carrying case and 400 metallic eyelets (50 each of 8 colors). There is an extra large compartment in the case for additional embellishments such as the Designer Eyelets and Snaps. The handle grips are set apart just right for women’s hands and have a rubber grip on them for easy handling. The cost listed on Amazon.com is $36.27 (I received mine for my birthday last year so I’m not sure how much it was at a craft store).

2. PlayFirst Games – PLayfirst.com

Alright, I know this isn’t the most mature “favorite” and I know I’m just two months shy of turning 28, but I absolutely love PlayFirst.com. I started playing Time Management games a few years ago bored at my apartment in Costa Mesa, CA with nothing to do. I have always loved playing computer games, but I’m a girl and don’t really get into the war and fighting games; the cool ones that boys have. Then I found Diner Dash. I loved playing it from the start and have since purchased every Diner Dash sequel game that has come out, as well as almost every Dash game. The Dash games are time management games that involve characters and stories from Diner Town (where Diner Dash takes place). The Dash games I love are sequencing, point-and-click games. They are a lot of fun and really family friendly. No blood and guts in these games!

3. Cards Magazine by ScrapbookTrends

If you are a handmade card maker or dreaming of becoming one, get a subscription to Cards Magazine! I have been subscribing for two years and I don’t regret a single issue. Granted, not every issue is chock full of ideas that inspire me, but I always get something good out of each issue. The magazines themselves are more like paperback books than magazines. Cards has recently been given a face lift and I really love the new look and especially their monthly features and sections. The magazine is a monthly publication. Each month features about 9-10 card genre sections that feature a wide variety of card designs created by tons of different designers. There are also three “features” in every issue – a Style Challenge, Ultimate Card Class (that focuses on a particular line of scrapbooking products or technique) and Designer of the Month (which also features a wide selection of examples).

What I really love a lot about this magazine is there are not many advertisements scattered throughout. Creating Keepsakes’ magazine gives me headaches because every page and article is loaded with ads. PaperCrafts magazine can get that way too. I don’t subscribe to these magazines (though I refuse to subscribe to Creating Keepsakes) for the ads, I want the content!

Each magazine costs $20 retail, which means you spend about $240 per year (not including tax) without subscribing. A subscription is about $100 per year which decreases each year you renew your subscription saving you about $140 per year … An excellent savings in my book!

Lemon-herb Marinated Chicken

A couple times a month my husband and I make this delicious chicken dinner. It has become my second favorite chicken dinner of all time (my favorite is my Grandma’s Apricot Chicken). It is so simple, healthy, delicious and super easy to make. All we do is marinate the chicken (1 chicken breast is perfect for the two of us) for 30 minutes in Lawry’s Herb and Garlic with Lemon Juice 30-Minute Marinade. Then pop it in the oven (preheated to 350) and bake for 30 minutes! So simple! We usually serve it with a delicious Lemon Spaghetti recipe from one of Giada De Laurentiis’ cookbooks with a yummy salad on the side.

5. ColorBox Cat’s Eye Chalk Inks by Clearsnap

On a lot of my cards, scrapbooks and just about every other paper crafting project I do, I like to distress the edges of my papers. Not all the time, but distressing seems to give the cards a finishing touch. The Cat’s Eye inks come in two kinds: a pigment ink and fluid chalk ink. I used to use the pigment inks all the time, then my craft stores changed to fluid chalk (which I have come to appreciate much more than the pigment ink). It’s my own opinion, but I prefer the color of the chalk inks. I think they stand out a lot more and the colors seem a lot deeper and truer. The drawback is the ink can wipe off kinda easily if you don’t let it dry completely. My fingers are ALWAYS covered in ink from distressing then adhering the distressed paper to my cards. It doesn’t wipe off all the way, and if you wait until the ink is dry you will be fine.

I have used these Cats’ Eye ink pads as well as the mini ink pads from Versa Color, and I really love the Color Box Cat’s Eye inks a lot more. The colors are so much better than Versa – for instance there is a big difference in the two black inks that I have from Versa and ColorBox. The Versa black has a grey-ish tinge to it, whereas ColorBox is more of a true black. Just my observation. The color box inks also work a lot better for getting the distressing in corners. I do a lot of word albums, and the color box inks work so well at getting into crevices that the other inks can’t. Both inks cost the same (about $1.99) so the issue is more your preference!

Thanks for creating with me! What are your favorites this week?

1. Martha Stewart Wide Tip Glue Pen

This adhesive is my all-time favorite glue to use when I make my cards or scrapbook layouts. Out of everything I have ever used (and I’ve used just about everything I know of on the market) I love this glue the best. Martha’s website boasts:

This glue goes on blue for easy visibility and dries clear. Use it wet, and you’ll get a strong, permanent bond. Allow it to dry, and you’ll have a sticky, temporary bond for positioning items on your surface. Wide sponge tip for even distribution and broad strokes. Idea for scrapbooking, card-making and other paper crafts. Xylene free and acid free for archival use.

I’ve used this glue on vellum, every weight and texture of card-stock and chipboard. So far out of everything I have used, this is the only glue that will leave everything I glue flat with no wrinkles or bubbles. I can get it to the edge of my paper and it will adhere the edges down so they don’t bend upward like with other glues which makes this product excellent for those selling their paper craft projects. A couple not-so-good things about this glue:

• Is it does get a little messy sometimes – it is a glue and it does spread out (unlike KI Memories’ Gloo), but it dries clear and no one is the wiser. Keep some paper towel handy and it’s no problem!
• It doesn’t work so well with chipboard. I do a lot of projects working with chipboard and have discovered that this glue doesn’t hold for the long term when adhering paper to chipboard. I believe it is probably because the glue just dries up in the chipboard, so after a few months the paper will start to bubble up and come off. My remedy for this is to use KI Memories Gloo to adhere paper to chipboard, then switch to Martha for paper to paper. It may seem like a lot of work to go back and forth between different glues, but trust me, it makes all the difference.

Martha Stewart Wide Tip Glue Pen can be found at Michael’s Craft Store or bought online on Martha’s website by clicking on this link.

2. DearReader.com

These days things are so hectic, no one has time to read. Going to the library doesn’t help much because there are so many books out there, it’s really hard to know which ones to read. Suzanne Beecher of Sarasota, FL started this email book club a few years ago and it has read world-wide recognition. A few months ago she was even featured in Oprah’s magazine. DearReader.com is an email book club with a wide variety of genres including: Business, Mystery, Fiction, Non-Fiction, Romance, Teen, Pre-Published, Thriller, a couple of Inspiration/Christian clubs and quite a few others. Each weekday the reader receives a 5-minute excerpt in their email, so by the end of the week you’ve read about 2-3 chapters. It’s a fantastic way to read guilt-free (if you don’t like the book that week, delete it!) and to really get a good feel of a book before you commit to reading it. Each day features a short column written by Suzanne Beecher (as well as some guest writers every once in a while) which has personally become my favorite part of the book clubs! Sign up for any or all of the clubs and find some fantastic authors and books you wouldn’t normally read! I have been with the clubs for a year now and have discovered some new favorite authors and genres I wouldn’t read otherwise!

3. Watercolor Pencils

Stamps can get a little boring sometimes – especially when the stamp is just the outline with not much color. Using watercolor pencils with stamping … or even without the stamps, just as an extra way to enhance your paper crafts … is a fantastic, cheap and easy way to spruce up your creations. I have a pack of 24 Blendable Watercolor Pencils from Staedtler that were $10 at my local craft store (Archivers: The Photo Memory Store but I know just about every other manufacturer of colored pencils makes Blendable or Watercolor pencils as well. Regular watercolor pencils, I’m sorry to say, will not work. I did my own little experiment and while the colors will blend some – you will also end up destroying your paper. My experiment ended up getting a little crater in the paper and the surface was rough and torn up from the blending process.
To use the watercolor pencils you need to have a cup of water and a brush. My recommendation would be Stampin’ Up’s Blender Pens, but a regular fine tip paint brush will work fine. I know there are some tools out there that have a brush with a water well so all you have to do is squeeze the brush and water will come out the tip. I found I wasn’t able to control the amount of water I used and ended up having to let my papers dry for an hour or had to dry the majority of the brush off on some paper towel. For some great tips on using Watercolor Pencils check out Stampin’ Up’s Tips and Techniques.

4. Dutch Bros White Annihilator

I admit it. I am a Dutch Bros addict. At least once a week (many weeks much more often) I take a little detour going to work and pick up a 12 oz White Annihilator from my local Dutch Bros. I have gone so often and ordered the same drink so many times that they know me by name and have my order ready when they see my car drive up. I’m not ashamed, they make a fantastic coffee beverage! A White Annihilator is an Annihilator, which contains chocolate macadamia nut flavoring, with a shot of white chocolate. It’s delicious and I highly recommend it if you are fortunate enough to have a Dutch Bros in your area! It’s a perfect drink for someone who likes their coffee a little sweeter and a little less coffee-flavored!

5. Club SEI

As I have mentioned quite a few times here on my blog, I love SEI’s products. They have beautiful designs and wonderful embellishments and I especially love their albums. They have a monthly kit club called Club SEI that I highly, highly recommend to any paper crafter. They have two clubs – a Mega and a Mini and you can join one or both of them. Each club is sent out every other month (for instance, this month was a Mini Kit, next month will be a Mega Kit and so on). Each kit theme, ideas and contents are different. This month’s Mini Kit featured SEI’s brand new Bridgeport line and included a full kit for a 6×6 album along with some Polished Pearl card-stock accents and a sheet of Bridgeport epoxy stickers. Last month I received all the paper and embellishments for their new LoveBirds line. Each kit contains ideas and directions for page layouts or card ideas (a lot of them I might add) with exclusive membership options to download and print additional embellishments, layout ideas and card ideas, as well as an exclusive members-only gallery. It is a fantastic club – and I really recommend it!

Thanks for creating with me!

Each page spread of the book features a different primary color (Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue and Pink) coordinating with one of Winnie the Pooh’s friends. Each page is uniquely designed with my own ideas using Disney and Winnie the Pooh themed paper and embellishments. The book itself is made of chipboard, hand-cut and sanded down smooth, then distressed with brown (chestnut roan) ink to give a more finished look. Two holes are punched in each page with a copper-colored eyelet then tied all together with 6 different kinds of ribbon.

Even the adults will want to re-learn their colors with this adorable book!

Please view my etsy site: http://tinyurl.com/PoohColorBook

**Apparently these books are very popular because I have already received 6 requests for the Pooh and Mickey color books. If the item you are looking for on my site has already been purchased or you want to inquire about a different theme, please email me at carrie@L7-designs.com.

Thanks for creating with me!