Time to purchase a Cricut?

Last Sunday was our October card workshop... It was long overdue, as we weren't able to meet for our regularly scheduled September date.  The theme was baby and wedding cards.  I did the wedding ones, and Bliss completed the baby cards using the Cricut... Her cards are super cute, so I wanted to share them below.  What's great about using the Cricut is that you can control the color palette.

Here's the girls' set... Isn't the onesie adorable?

And this is the boys' set!

So my current dilemma is whether or not to purchase the Cricut 2.  As Bliss begins to make more and more cards using the CM cartridges, I'm getting very tempted! 

Can you believe it's already late October?  I feel the craft fair season coming up quickly.  I've been working on a few new products which I hope to have ready soon.  Hope you'll consider shopping at SimpleStationery for Christmas!

Finishing Up Projects

Whoa!  It's been another long break from bloggin'.  August and September were busy months at KCS, but I managed to finish two main projects.  Jodi's Bridal Shower album was completed thanks to the quick and easy 8x8 I Thee Wed Kit.  Sorry, no pictures because they were accidently erased from my camera.  Bummer!

Nikki's Graduation Album was my next big project, as I compiled nearly 50 or so messages (thank you Storybox journal boxes!) with pictures from her grad party.  This would celebrate her high school graduation and send her off to college with well wishes from all her friends and family... my favorite type of album to put together!  I kept it simple by using the primary colors of the Cheerful Power Palette.

Here's the setup at Nikki's grad party.

Gotta always have directions!

Sometimes the hardest part about these projects is getting people to participate. 
Kids are usually up for the challenge tho'.

Once I got all the pictures from Nikki's family, it was a bit of a puzzle to pull together colors and match picture to message into a cohesive layout.

But the end product is always rewarding.  Congratulations, Nikki!

Catching up

Wow, it's been a while since I last blogged!  It's been a crazy summer.  I'm excited about several projects that I have coming up... I'll be creating a bridal shower album for my friend Jodi. That will be a quick 8x8 album.  And, I've got a massive graduation party album to put together for Nikki, who will be leaving for college in a month.  Ideas and visions have been dancing around in my head for months, so I'm excited to see them start materializing!  More details and pictures to follow...

We did some pretty cool projects this summer during our Sunday Workshops. We used the Cheerful Zoo Additions to create kids cards in June, and in July, we used the Earthly Serenity Additions for Sympathy Cards.  Check out the instructions sheets for ideas or if you're interested in a kit.

My biggest accomplishment this month has been completing my Holy Land digital album.  When I returned from the trip in October of 2008, I had all these grand ideas of putting the album together with everyone's pictures, incorporating quotes and stories, and using excerpts from my journal.  I wanted to publish the "group book" for everyone.  Ha!  It's been almost 3 years, and the only reason I was able to finish is because my product credit that I purchased in January was about the expire.  For the majority of this week, I felt like I was back in college trying to finish a long term project or paper.  I was up until 3 am on Thursday, but I was quite pleased with the end result.  Thankfully, everything uploaded properly, and the 100 page book is ordered!  Don't ask me how much it cost...

This is the cover.  The new "What a View" digital kit was the perfect choice!

For these more seriously themed pages, the "Basic Black" layouts
showcased Ron Chock's amazing pictures.

One of my favorite pages!

Rough and Rugged Projects

So I finally got down to business to create our May cards (the week of our workshop).  Creativity loves a little procrastination sometimes... You can check out my cards under the "Instruction Sheets" tab.

Bliss did a great job with her cards!  We actually had some of the same ideas, and I was glad she was able to execute the techniques that I had wanted to but didn't get a chance with my cards. We found that for these "guy" cards, we had to alter some of our embellishments.  For example, instead of using ribbon, Bliss used twine.  No hearts and flowers allowed for these cards!

Love the use of the twine, brads, and a button!

This was a fun card to make.  Open it up and...

..this guy pops out at you! 

Not that Inspired

Ahhh!  I've been struggling with motivation to design May's "Rough and Rugged" cards/projects these past few weeks... I'm having major creative block as I catch up in other areas of life.  When life is busy, I tend to avoid these "harder" creative tasks, such as designing cards.  But I've been making major progress on my Holy Land digital album.  Woohoo!
Some ideas I will employ to hopefully help me get out of this funk (soon, I hope!):

• Take a step away.  I hate sitting with all my papers and tools a'clutter with no end product that I'm pleased with.  Sometimes it's part of the creative process, but most times I know myself well enough to just put the project on hold.
• Back to the drawing board.  I look through old magazines, crafting websites, and the CM project center to hopefully get that new burst of inspiration.  You never know what will catch your eye as you browse these resources multiple times.  Old projects can also be given new life with a simple twist!
• Pray.  Since God is the source of inspiration and all things creative, why not offer Him a prayer?  I find He will pop amazing ideas into my mind at the most random times!

Happy Easter and April Projects...

Blessings to everyone on this Resurrection Sunday!  May Jesus' triumph over the grave become a reality in your life... and give you HOPE. He is Risen, indeed!  It's been a busy Easter weekend, but I promised myself that I would catch up with a post to share the projects we completed during our April workshop.

Bliss again did a fantastic job finding creative cards for us to mimic. Our first card is a preview for May's "Rugged Boys" workshop.  She originally created her card as a Boys' Day card, but I turned mine into a Father's Day card.  She played off of the CM "Boyfriends" samples to create our personalized guy using the tag maker punch.

No hair on this guy because it's supposed to be my dad. Lol!

This next project is a perfect fit for the Fabulous paper flowers that we used in this kit. 

A potted plant card... but where do you write?

Pull up the flowers to reveal a journaling card, where you can
compose a thoughtful message. So cute!

This next project took the most time to put together, but the finished product is worth the effort. The accordion card measures 5x5 inches and contains 3 pages (or six sides) to add pictures, embellishments, or messages.  It would be a nice gift for a bridal party or a perfect group card for any event!

A view of the accordion card from the front... all tied up.

A view from above when the card is opened up and stretched. 
I kept my card plain since I don't know who I would give it to.

The added cardstock gives the card a unique crisscross effect when opened.

Thanks for reading... hope to see you at our May workshop.  Gonna go look for inspiration now!

Paper Album Saves the Day!

One of the greatest products Creative Memories makes are paper albums.  {Paper Album = 6.5x6.5 album with coordinating papers, photo mats, epoxy stickers, die cuts, and title stickers = gift in minutes.}

It's perfect for the novice scrapper or someone who is overwhelmed by staring at 15 pages in a 12x12 album.  My challenge for this particular paper album was to incorporate thank you notes from 34 fourth grade students.  Because this album came with 12 photo mats in 4 different colors, I decided to cut them in quarters, so I ended up with 36 mini pieces of paper.  (I know you're wondering about my math... I didn't use one of the colors because it was brown and too dark for the kids to write on.)  I've learned from my many communal album experiences that it's best to give everyone individual pieces to write on, for the following reasons...

1. the back can be used in case mistakes are made

2. giving someone a defined area to work with is always best

3. one person is not "holding up" the album as others painfully wait for their turn to write in it

So here's how the project evolved... 

I used the "Spice of Life" Paper Album. 

Here are the notes from the 4th graders!
How in the world to arrange them in the album?

I slowly get inspired to try different layouts, mixing and matching pictures and notes...
Don't laugh at my workspace on the floor.

I was quite pleased with the finished product!  I hope the Aunty and Uncle that are on the receiving end enjoy the notes from the kids as well as the pictures of their time with them.