Get Out of the Box!

Hello and welcome to July's stamp of the month blog hop!  This month we have over 60 consultants sharing their ideas with us, and I hope you'll visit as many as possible.   If you're coming here from Shirley's Mom N Me Scrap blog, you're in the right place.  When you're done here, you'll head over to Vicki's Wizard's Hangout for what I'm sure will be a spectacular project.

This month's stamp set contains 12 images that are perfect for Independence Day, but also for so much more.  I want to get you out of your box with this stamp set!  Some of these images would be great for birthdays as well, but I chose to use the set for a soccer layout.  Even using the Fanfare paper pack, with its stars and patriotic color scheme, these pages are decidedly sporty.

Quick Note: I used Make The Cut software with my cutting machine to cut my title, but you can easily substitute the stamp font of your choice.

Here's the entire layout (click on the pic to see it larger!):

Not what you would expect from this stamp set, is it?  That's the nice thing about stamps; we can use them in unexpected ways with great results.  Let me show you a few detail shots for some out of the box thinking and some other little tips.

 

Here I used a stamped image to reinforce and highlight part of my title.  I also pulled in multiple colors by inking up my stamp with a lighter color (Sky), then inked the edges in a darker color (Pacifica), using just the edge of the ink pad.  After stamping, I hand cut the general star shape then swiped a third color (Sunny Yellow) along the edges.

Add dimension to your stamped images with foam tape.  Here, I stamped a second image, punched it out, and popped it up in the center of the first.  Also, see how I let my star go right off the edge?  Always works when your space is just not quite large enough to get the whole thing in; just snip off the extra from the back side.  Oh!  Like my borders?  Those are the Kraft Color-Ready Borders - I actually colored them for a change, using an Archival Black stamp pad for the blackest black.

Lastly, use embellishments to replace tiny portions of stamped images.  I stamped this image in Sunny Yellow on White Daisy CS, and just cut out the larger stars.  Following the design of the entire image, I replaced the smaller stars with Opaques Pearl Adhesive Gems, and the dots with Bitty Sparkles.  And a final tip: notice how I focused on the lesser used colors in the paper pack to make it feel less like a patriotic product?  By adding just enough black and yellow, it changes the entire feel.  Try it with any paper pack!

I hope you enjoyed getting out of the box today!  I'd love to hear your comments, or even have you become a follower or email subscriber.  Now it's time to hop along to the Wizard's Hangout and see the fabulous project Vicki has for us this month.  Hope to see you back here soon!

Win a Black Cat Lynx!

I got an email today from SVG Cuts.  In addition to their regular free cut file (a cute Wonderland inspired group), there was a nice little surprise waiting for me.  It seems that the super nice folks at the Black Cat Company have donated a Lynx cutting machine to be given away! 

I have been coveting one of these babies for a while now, and any one of us could be lucky enough to win one.  It's super easy to enter, so just click here to see head over to SVG Cuts and enter!  Good luck to us all.

Time is Running Out

Today is the last day to take advantage of all of June's specials from Close To My Heart.

Don't forget to check out the versatile June Stamp of the Month, Jubilation, available at a discount or even free!

It's also your last chance to support those affected by recent severe weather in the US, by purchasing the You & Me kit for only $15.

Finally, take advantage of the Studio J Free-For-All to get your free digital JPG file just for trying out Studio J.  I like to call it digital scrapbooking for dummies, because even I can figure it out, and it's fun!

One last note: make sure to stop by tomorrow for our Stamp of the Month blog hop for July, and some tips for getting out of the box!

Borders, Borders Everywhere

Let me preface by saying that it is HIGH time I get myself in a Copic class.  I had one heck of a time coloring the face on this today, but I have vowed to practice more with them in the hopes that I will eventually learn to love them!

I've had very little crafty time lately, so I decided to enter a couple of challenges today so I would at least get to play a little before I dig in & get back to the drudgery of housework!  I based my card on a sketch for Which One Wednesday at the TGF Farm Fresh Challenge Blog, and opted to go all-in with some border strips for the Beautiful Borders Challenge in the Moxie Fab World.   Go check them out and you can play along too!

I love how she just happens to fit in the circle design so perfectly; like she's lounging around there.

I used the following supplies to make my card:

• Kraft card base
• Springtime papers from Echo Park
• Black and white cardstock
• Cheeky Rockabilly stamp from The Greeting Farm
• Copic markers
• Ribbon from the Animal Crackers Jack collection by Making Memories
• Border punches from (top to bottom) Martha Stewart Crafts, EK Success, Martha Stewart Crafts, & Stampin' Up!
• ATG adhesive, Scor-tape (for the bottom 2 borders), and foam pop dots

Shameless plug: the Echo Park papers, The Greeting Farm stamp, Copic markers, and all adhesives are available over at Cutters Creek!

Thanks for stopping by; I always love to read your comments!  If you feel so inclined, I would also love for you to become a follower (I also have email and reader options).

Big News for Electronic Die-Cutters!

If you own an electronic die-cutting machine, you are going to love this newly announced product!

 

Creatively Simple...

New Simple Shapes from Lettering Delights will make your creative life simple, regardless of your cutting machine. Introducing over 50 sets of new single-layer cuttable images offered in multiple cutting file formats. Whether your machine requires ai, eps, svg, svg without layers, dxf or pdf files, you simply can’t live without Lettering Delights’ new line of Cut Its.

To accentuate this exciting news, you can get all 50 sets of Simple Shapes in one amazing bundle. The Cut Its Simple Shapes Super Bundle includes over 780 new single-layer images in a variety of topics and themes for only $49. That’s less than 6 cents per image!

Whether you choose to purchase sets separately for just $4 each or grab the whole bundle for $49, you’ll find that these simple shapes offer so much more than just your basic silhouettes. They’re hip and fun with oodles of creative potential! To see what we mean, take a look at the sets and check out the five project ideas featured at Lettering Delights.

Hurry! Though Cut Its in new file formats promise to stick around, the $49 pricing is available for the next two weeks only.

Here are a few examples of the individual sets, just to entice you a little more!

Quirky Art

Simple Shapes Farm

Simple Shapes Rockstar

Game Spinner Cut Files

Someone in one of my groups was looking for a game spinner.  I created a simple one pretty quickly, and thought I would share it here for others.  I haven't made anything with it yet, but it cuts just fine.  My only request if you want to share this with other is to point them here to get it rather than forwarding it along.  Feel free to use it for any purpose, including commercial.

I have both the SVG and MTC files available on Google Docs.  You should NOT need to create an account in order to download them.  Please leave a comment if you download, and feel free to share a link to any projects you make with it in your comment.  I'd love it if you'd join my followers or subscribe via email or a reader.  Now, here are the links to the files:

MTC file

UPDATE: I can't get Google Docs to handle the SVG file properly, so if you want that version, please let me know and I can email it to you.

It's a House Party!

No, no, not those horrible Kid & Play movies - oops, I think I am dating myself again!  Oh, well.  Anyway, this House Party is a website where you can sign up to host a variety of events (www.houseparty.com).  Past event have included things like a Singer sewing machine trial party, Bic razor sponsored scrapbook party, and the one I recently hosted a Sauza-rita party sponsored by Sauza Tequila.

So, just a quick share, as I thought some of you might be interested in joining the website as well.  They are NOT, I repeat NOT sales parties.  You are generally sent free samples of things for you & your guests to try, in the hopes that you will both make future purchases and spread the word about the product(s) to your friends.  There are separate sections for the 18+ and 21+ parties, so if you aren't interested in that type of thing, they are completely separate.

For my party, I received a free Sauza apron, pitcher, & margarita glasses.  I also received a set of fun "conversation starter" cards that made getting to know each other a little more a lot of fun!  One of the questions was "Who was the worst boss you've ever had?"  Lastly, since they can't send free liquor through the mail, I received two $5 off coupons for Sauza Tequila, and a stack of party planners with $3 off coupons to share with my guests.

I think the margaritas made answering the questions even more fun, especially that one about your worst boss!  I'm sure a lot of my friends have heard me rant about this particular former boss on more than one occasion, but things get slightly more, shall we say colorful, when I've got a few margaritas in me!  And it's nice to know that I'm not the only one to have had a boss from "down below".

Just for grins, here are a few pics of the fun.  If you want to find out more about becoming a House Party host, just visit their website.

This is just the beginning...

Why yes, lemon cake & lime pie are excellent with margaritas!

Betsy came fully prepared with boas for all of us to wear!