New from Boss Kut

Hello friends! Today I'm going to share with you about the fun new releases from Boss Kut! They now have some fun designs called Sketch Kuts. Here's an excerpt from the Boss Kut blog that explains all about them...

Our Sketch Kuts work like digi stamps. We have designed them especially to be used with copic pens or colored pencils. Each file comes with .jpgs, .wpc and a colored .jpg for coloring reference. Each folder has a .jpeg with and without the sentiment if there is one. Also one image that is just the main image. So as you can see they are very versatile. Gazelle Owners we have included a .wpc file for you as you can put in a pen and pen the design and then just put your blade in and cut the border or frame. If you are using copic pens be sure to use a pigment pen that does not smudge such as Zig Millenium. I use either a .01 or .03 to draw my image.

And here's a peek at one of the images in use on a card...

This little lady is Lucy. Isn't she cute?? This beautiful card was created by Phyllis Parkins, owner of BK. She is also the artist behind the Sketch Kuts.

So, as you can see, these new Sketch Kuts are very versatile! Even if you don't have a Gazelle, you can still print them out and use 'em! And at only $1.99 each, you can afford to have something new to play with, even in today's economy! Gotta love that!

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I'll be back as soon as I can...after I recover from my travels. :)

2 Page, Multi-photo layout

It seems that IF or WHEN I do actually scrapbook, I am making single page, single photo layouts. Rarely do I ever do a two pager with four or more photos. But, I had some pics from the kids coloring their eggs last weekend so I printed them off and went to work.

With the help of my Gazelle, this layout came together rather quickly. Inspiration for this layout came from this post on Scrapburbia. After adhering the photos, I trimmed them out with strips of patterned paper from the new Sassafras Lass Sweetly Smitten line. The title, eggs and grass are all cut with my Gazelle. The grass is cut from Core'dinations cardstock then lightly sanded. For my journaling, I hand wrote on strips of lines Sweetly Smitten paper then cut into strips and adhered.

I actually enjoyed doing the two pager so don't be surprised if you see more in the near future! I am leaving on Wednesday for New Hampshire for the Creating Keepsakes convention. If you're attending be sure to stop by the Scrap-Mart booth and say hi. My blogging will be rather non-existent for when I return I will only be home for 2 days and I leave again for Novi, Michigan. :) But, after I return and get settled back in I'll have more scrappy stuff to share with you.

I WILL be back tomorrow with some fun info about some new releases from Boss Kut!

JustRite Weekly Challenge & Spellbinders

This week is Spellbinders week on the Scrap-Mart blog. Everyday one of our DT members is posting a project created with Spellbinders products. Today is my day.

I love participating in the JustRite challenges and since Spellbinders is their sponsor this week, it's double duty for me. ;) This week's challenge is a Technique challenge...to make your own flower embellishments. Easy enough, right?!

My niece's baby shower was last weekend and I wanted to make her something special so I decided to try my hand at making a corsage.

The new Donna Salazar Carnation Creations set was just what I needed to create the flower! I cut multiple layers of each size from some Melissa France Crepe Paper and secured them with a brad. Using my hands I crumpled and "lifted" the flower petals 'til it was full then I inked the edges all around with blue ink. After I had enough ink to satisfy me I added the tulle, pearls and leaves. The bottom was super simple! I cut kraft cardstock using the smallest Nested Pennants, then topped them off with the Banner Basics One which was embossed and inked after cutting. Then, using my JustRite Curlz font, I stamped the letters for Mom and cut them with my Small Circle Nesties. I layered them on some ribbon pieces and secured it all to the back of the corsage with hot glue and covered it with felt.

Here's a closer peek

I really love the way it turned out and my niece did too. The best thing is now she has a special keepsake from the shower that won't go bad. ;)

Rejoice...

Hello and TGIF!!! It's finally Friday! I managed to squeeze out one more card before I left so I'm sharing it with you today.

I used one of my favorite go-to shapes for my card base...Grand Labels One, die cut on the fold then embossed. Then I stamped the cross directly onto the card base. The image and sentiments used are from Heartfelt Creations Wrought Iron Pre Cut Stamp Set. I colored the image with my Copics, (YR30, YR31, V20 and V25) then cut and embossed the Exclusive Heartfelt Creations Decorative Window Scene Die and adhered that over the cross with dimensional adhesive. After stamping the sentiment I cut it out using Scrap-Mart's Exclusive Labels One die and airbrushed it with YR31 before removing it from the die. I finished the card off by adding some purple crinkled ribbon and little flowers. I stamped a coordinating sentiment inside.

Thanks for joining me this week! I'll be home from Orlando on Sunday and will get some pics of the booth and all up Monday. Have a great weekend!

Sausage-Almond Rice...

As many of you may already know, I am on the road again this weekend. This time, I find myself in sunny Orlando, FL. I know, my job is tough. ;) But, I've been on such a roll blogging that I didn't want to leave you for four whole days with not post so I thought I'd share one of my favorite recipes with you today.

This recipe is from a Paula Deen cookbook, The Lady and Sons Too!, my mother-in-law gave me for Christmas a few years ago. I cook it probably once a month and my entire family loves it.

Serves 6

3 cups water
One 2.1 ounce package chicken noodle soup (dry like Lipton)
1 pound ground pork sausage
1 cup raw long grain white rice
1 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
1/4 cup sliced or slivered almonds

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine the water and dry soup mix in a saucepan and simmer for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, brown the sausage and rice in a large skillet. Add the celery, onions, and bell pepper and mix well. Combine the rice mixture with the soup, add the almonds, and pour into a greased casserole dish (2 qt or larger); cover and bake for 1 hour.

I've found this dish keeps well so you can double the recipe for a day's worth of leftovers too! ;) Try it and let me know what you think!

Clean & Simple Sketch 134

I first saw this sketch on Laurel's blog and knew I wanted to use it. It's Clean & Simple Sketch 134...

I was drawn to the stars right off! My first thought was a boy card. And since my niece is having a boy and her baby shower is fast approaching, I thought I could make something for her, possibly. Here's my card...

This card came together super fast, especially since I used a collection kit so all the embellishments and paper were in one spot. :) It is the Big Kids Boy collection from Making Memories...from my stash, it's an older collection.

Well, my flight for Orlando leaves just after 12 noon today and I have a few things to finish up so I'd better get moving! I hope you all enjoy the rest of the week. I'll have some pre-scheduled posts to finish out this week and will be back Monday with some pics from my trip.

Happy Mother's Day...

Have you guys noticed I seem to be on a craft roll these days??? hahaha I have had more crafty time in the last week than in the whole month before, and I'm lovin' it. I got the kids off to school yesterday morning and couldn't wait to get busy! I wanted to play along in this week's JustRite Inspiration Challenge and LOVED the new Card Patterns sketch for the week. So, why not combine the challenges, right? Here's the JustRite Inspiration...

You can use either the picture or the colors or both as your inspiration. The Copic colors were given simply as a reference. And here's the Card Patterns Sketch...

and my card...

As you can see, I stayed right on the sketch. I love my Big Shot Pro machine and this sketch was perfect for my A6 Scallop Card Die. After cutting my card base, I stamped my image using JustRite's Beautiful Blossoms Oval Original Ribbed stamp set and colored it with my Copics. Using the colors from the picture as my inspiration, I colored my image with Y21, YR65, YR68 and YG61 to and B21 to airbrush around the image after cutting it with my Spellbinders Oval Nesties. For the sentiment, I used the new Happy Everything Card Making Kit and airbrushed it to match after cutting and embossing it. To accent the image I cut a piece of SU! Apricot Appeal using my Spellbinders Scallop Oval Nesties. The ribbon and pearls are from my stash.

Easter Card

I'll say it again, just like I do at the beginning of every month. I cannot believe it's already April!!! Seriously! Easter is late in the month this year, which gives me more time to plan! ;)

I have always wanted to try making a hinged card. And, I love making shaped cards. In my head, the two ideas merged and I created a hinged egg shaped card.

Believe it or not, this card was super easy to create. I used my Gazelle for all my pieces. For the egg, I used the base egg shape from the Lattice Egg digital design. I expanded the design to approximately 4" and cut it out. Then, using my scissors I free hand cut across the center so it would look "cracked". I adjusted the two pieces so that the cracked edge would slightly overlap then I stuck a brad in the far left corner and added some ribbon trim to cover the crack and the brad. Then it was time for the inside...

Again, using my Gazelle I cut out the Chick Peeker digital design and inked and assembled it. Then I tucked it behind the bottom of the egg so that he was peeking out. I stamped the sentiment from Heartfelt Creations Wrought Iron Cross pre-cut stamp set then hand cut it into a little flag shape and glued it to a toothpick. I think I am going to tuck these inside Cody and Shelby's Easter baskets and probably make one for their teachers too.

Thanks for stopping by today! I am preparing to leave for Orlando, FL on Wednesday but will do my best to have a project or something to share with you tomorrow. If you are attending the Orlando Expo or the St. Louis CK convention, be sure to look for the Scrap-Mart booth! We like to defy physics by proving we CAN be in two places at once. LOL!

Coupon book...

My Seth is one of those kids who loves to drag things out. He likes to save his money and will hesitate to spend it on something, even if he really wants it, for fear that something better might come along. He's also a thinker. He likes to ponder what if's and what not's. So, I thought that giving him a coupon book as one of his birthday presents would be kind of fun. ;) Here's what I made him...

Here's the cover. I used the new Lifestyle Crafts Cookie Cutter Coupon Book dies to create the book and pages. You get 2 dies in this set and the inside page actually fits perfectly on the outside as a mat as well! For the mat on the front, I used some My Mind's Eye Hattie patterned papers I scored on ScrapAce then added the title with the Lifestyle Crafts Blue Sky font.

One of Seth's absolute favorite things to do is go to the movies. There are a few movies out right now that he'd like to see in theatres so I thought it'd be fun to give him a coupon so he could decide when and what he wanted to go see. A craftier way of giving a gift card, I suppose. I cut the page out then used my PTI ticket die and Just the Ticket stamp set to create the personalized tickets and some Sassafras Lass Cherry Delicious Glitter Alphas.

Next school year Seth enters the awkward world of Jr. High. He is becoming increasingly interested in girls and appearance so I thought it would be fun to take him clothes shopping and let him pick some stuff out that he thinks is "cool". Yes, he would've received summer clothes anyway, but this way he'll feel like it's even more special. For this page I pulled out my trusty Slice. The t-shirt is actually the onesie from the Animal Crackers design card. I simply cut the v in the neck and trimmed off the bottom half to make the shirt. The flip flops and the words are from the Summer design. The word trip was actually a double word that said Road Trip so I just trimmed off the part I didn't need. I filled in the rest of the title with some Making Memories Tiny Alpha stickers.

For the last page I created a simple Free Space page. Seth can choose whatever he wants...fishing trip, a second movie trip, iTunes. It's totally up to him. I cut some inchie squares from the My Mind's Eye scraps and staggered them across the bottom then used more Sassafras Lass Glitter Alphas to create the title across the top. I added some more Making Memories Tiny Alphas to finish off the title. All edges pages were inked with the Midnight Confessions Quick Quotes Chalk Ink.

We had a few smaller gifts for him to unwrap too, including the much requested Spanish-English dictionary. Did I mention Seth is a brainiac??? hahaha Thanks for stopping by! Have a great weekend and I hope to see you Monday!