Nutz about Stamping

Nursery Necessities Card

Yes, this is quite the change from my usual Holiday or Halloween projects but I had a baby shower to attend this past week and wanted to share my card with you. The card was created using Nursery Necessities, the cutest baby stamp set EVER! You won't be able to see it in the photo but I added dots of the 2-way Glue pen and Dazzling Diamonds glitter on the stars and on the boat flag to add a wow factor.

  

Stamp set: Nursery Necessities

Card stock: Pretty in Pink, Perfect Plum, Whisper White

Ink: Pretty in Pink and Perfect Plum marker, Perfect Plum Classic ink pad

Accessories: Pretty in Pink striped ribbon, Scallop edge punch, Mini glue dots, Dazzling Diamonds glitter, 2-way Glue pen

This layout can easily be switched up with Night of Navy and Bashful Blue, along with Bashful Blue striped ribbon to create a baby boy card. Do you need to create some baby cards for upcoming baby showers? Order Nursery Necessities from me and create a pile of unique, super-cute cards to impress those moms-to-be!

More Halloween Photo Tips

Here are the remaining few Halloween photo tips from the experts:

• Add interest to small items in Halloween photos. Use a narrow focus to bring attention to something in the foreground or background. The greater the distance between the pieces, the greater the blur. You can shorten the depth of field by using a zoom lens, adjusting your aperture, or getting closer to the subject.
• Get a shot of the Halloween candy. Pictures of candy or treats make great supporting photos for holiday scrapbook pages.
• Take photos of the entire pumpkin-carving process -- not simply the result. You'll get great expressions while your subject pulls the seeds from the pumpkin.
• Take a couple photos of a jack-o'-lantern in early evening. The sun isn't as bright, but it's light enough to capture the essence of the pumpkin along with autumn scenery in the background. You can still make the jack-o'-lantern glow by sticking multiple candles inside.
• Take photos of an entire Halloween party setting. Even if you don't use them on a scrapbook page, you'll have a reference of details for journaling.
• Don't expect kids to sit still -- and embrace their restlessness! You might want the perfectly posed photograph now, but you'll look back later and cherish the photos that capture a child's personality.
• Using a digital camera? Take as many photos as you want! Try shooting in different light or at different angles. Delete what you don't like.
• Rotate or alter photos to suit your subject's character. For spiders, Spider-Man, or mountain climbers, have your subject create a climbing pose on the ground. Rotate the photo 90 degrees to imitate scaling a wall, or 180 degrees to create the illusion of hanging.
• Make sure you get a photo of all your Halloween party guests. As guests enter, hand them a large photo frame. Have them position it to their liking, then snap away. You'll end up with personalized photos that put a spin on the term "portrait."
• To take the perfect jack-o'-lantern picture, use a long exposure. Set your camera to Auto, focus on an area of the pumpkin not brightly lit, and use the spot metering system on your camera (if available) to gauge the exposure time. Slow shutter speeds increase the chance of camera shake, so use a tripod of brace the camera against a stationary object.

(Source: Scrapbooks, etc.)

 

Have a fun Halloween and I hope these tips I shared with make for many fun and creative Halloween scrapbook page memories for years to come!

Scrapbook Map

Yes that's correct - there are maps for scrapbooking too. By now you should know what a fan I am of using maps to create cards but I also use them to create scrapbook pages too. From the moment I saw this map I was smitten. This is such an unusual layout and I wanted to try some unusual colors too.

Here's the map:

  

Isn't that a neat map? Well I wanted to use up some Autumn Traditions designer series paper that I had and decided to go for an unusual color for the 12 x 12 page: Taken with Teal.

 

I also used Really Rust, Chocolate Chip and Very Vanilla. The leaf accents were created using my Big Shot as was the "Thankful" title. Although you can't see it in the photo the leaves were sprayed with Champagne Mist shimmer paint and have a lovely sparkle to them.

For more information on scrapbooking, contact me at [email protected]. To order scrapbooking supplies, click here to browse through my online store.

Holiday Wish List

Do you secretly wish that your friends and family would "surprise" you with some fabulous stamping, scrapbooking and paper crafting products under your Christmas tree this year? I have the perfect idea for you this year. I have developed a Holiday Wish List that will allow you to point out some specific items that you would love to unwrap on Christmas Day.

 

Here's how my Wish List works:

Download the Wish List document and fill it with the items you wish to receive. Then return it to me. At the bottom of the list you will see that I have asked for the names and email addresses of those people you wish me to contact with your Wish List. I will contact the people on your list and share your wishes with them. And if all goes well, you will find some fun stamping, scrapbooking and paper crafting goodies under your Christmas tree. And for those who are undecided, I also offer gift certificates for any amount.

Contact me for my wish list and let the surprises begin!

Deals of the Week #4

Hang on to your hats because the deal of the week is a doozie!

Item	Page	Description	Regular Price	Special Price
116214	174	Princess Party Kit	$15.95	$9.99
116213	175	Pirate Party Kit	$15.95	$9.99

Make your next birthday party stress-free with these cute kits for your princess or pirate:

Hoist the Jolly Roger and get ready to have a swashbuckling good time! Gather your little buccaneer and his or her mateys for a pirate party of the finest sort, complete with invitations, decorations, and eye patches to create and wear. This kit contains products you need to create party invitations and decorations for eight guests.

 

■ Contains products to create invitations, eye patches, banner, treasure boxes, and food toppers for eight

■ Coordinates with our Pirate Time stamp set and Pirate personalized name stamp

You can make your princess's fantasies come true with our Princess Party kit. Your little princess and seven of her ladies-in-waiting can celebrate a splendid happily-ever-after complete with invitations, decorations, and dazzling crowns to create and wear.

 

■ Contains products to create invitations, crowns, purse boxes, banner, and food toppers for eight

■ Coordinates with the Princess Time stamp set and Princess personalized name stamp

Remember these offers have to be purchased at my online store. And don't forget that even if you don't have a princess or pirate living at home anymore you may know someone who does and these kits make a GREAT gift idea for friends, neighbors and family too.

Note: this deal of the week ends October 31^st.

Delightful Decorations

Don't you just love the Stampin' Up! coordinates stamps sets, inks and paper for you so you can just sit down and start to create? For example, the Holiday Lounge designer series paper is a perfect match for the Delightful Decorations stamp set. And the paper provides you with a new take on holiday colors as it uses Taken with Teal, Ruby Red, Sahara Sand and Basic Gray.

Here's what the Holiday Lounge paper looks like:

  

 You will notice that some of the papers have large designs on them and I have had customers comment that they are not sure how to use these papers. The solution? Think background paper for your cards or use your punches to create colorful embellishments on cards, envelopes, scrapbook pages, and other paper crafting projects. In the card sample below I created my layers then my punched ornament embellishments (using the Ornament punch) to adhere to the paper. But since the designer series paper is so busy with its pattern, my ornaments didn't stand out as I would have liked them to so I decided to add two more layer strips of matching colors (Ruby Red and Sahara Sand) on an angle before adding my ornament embellishments. And when I did attach the ornaments, I used Stampin' Dimensionals to pop them off the card front.

 

  

Contact me to order the Holiday Lounge designer series paper #115676, Ornament punch #116794, and Delightful Decorations stamp set #116571. Make your holiday cards stress-free this year!

Want more Christmas card and gift ideas? Week #5 of my exclusive 12 weeks of Christmas campaign will be emailed on Wednesday. So if you are not on my mailing list sign up now using the sign-up box in the top left corner of my blog!

Sundays with Sizzix

Here's a super cute Matchbox BIGZ XL die idea for Halloween, inspired by a fellow Stampin' Up! demonstrator, using the Graveyard Gala and Holiday Best stamp sets. After creating the matchbox you can fill it with Halloween treats for someone special at work, at home, or in your neighborhood.

  

Graveyard Gala Matchbox

Stamp sets: Holiday Best #115364 (Level One hostess set); Graveyard Gala #115458

   

Ink: Basic Black Classic pad, Basic Black and Pumpkin Pie markers

Card stock: Night & Day designer series paper (5 ½ x 6 ½"), Pumpkin Pie (5 ½ x 6 ½", scraps), Whisper White (scraps)

Accessories: Big Shot, Extended Cutting plate, Extended Premium Crease pad, Matchbox BIGZ XL die #114890 (exclusive to Stampin' Up!), Pumpkin Pie striped ribbon (6 ½"), Sticky Strip, Stampin' Dimensionals (used to attach the Trick or Treat image to ribbon), Wide Oval punch, paper snips, Snail adhesive

And now for the video tutorial. Enjoy!

 

 

To order these products please email me at [email protected]. Stay tuned for many more created Matchbox die projects, coming soon!

20 Halloween Photo Tips

Need some great tips for taking Halloween photos for scrapbook pages, photo cards or calendars? Here are 20 photos tips from the experts:

• When taking photos of jack-o'-lanterns, turn off your flash. A bright burst of light will destroy the glow emanating from lit pumpkins. If possible, place more than one candle inside the pumpkin to boost the light.
• To get perfect candid photos, ask your subjects to act out their character or costume. The personalized photos will boost your layouts and record the characteristics of your subject.
• Avoid shooting jack-o'-lanterns when it's completely dark. Although a shot of the glowing portions of a jack-o'-lantern alone can be beautiful, the photo is more effective when the pumpkin's overall shape is evident. Shoot just after sunset when the sky is still a deep blue, or simply turn on a porch light and arrange the jack-o'-lantern so the area behind it is softly lit.
• Make sure to take a picture of all your trick-or-treaters or party guests. It's a great way to remember the whole group, and you get to showcase a variety of costumes! Pose large groups on different levels to ensure all faces show.
• Trick-or-treating shots can be difficult because it gets dark early in the fall. Take advantage of a well-lit doorway or outdoor lighting instead of using your flash. If you need to use a flash, prepare by setting your camera to the red-eye reduction setting, which causes the pupils to contract due to a short flash preceding the main flash emitted when the photo is taken.
• Use a tripod or other steady surface in low-light situations to avoid camera shake, and consider shooting at dusk when there's still a bit of natural light to work with.
• When dressing up pets and snapping Halloween photos, prepare to act fast. Not all pets are patient, so have the camera ready to go.
• If wearing a jacket is necessary on a cold Halloween, snap a few photos indoors before heading out for trick-or-treating. You can keep warm and control the lighting better, and fall or Halloween decorations serve as the perfect backdrop.
• Take photos of the pumpkin carver. Especially when young children are involved, this person is usually an adult. It's a great way to feature the grown-up version of Halloween.
• Photos of full Halloween costumes are great, but ask your subject to remove the mask for at least one shot. If the disguises are good, you might forget who's who in a few years.

(Source: Scrapbooks, etc.)

 

Stay tuned for a blog post coming soon with the remaining 10 photo tips!

Fall Color Combos

Are you ready for some new color combinations for your cards and scrapbook pages? The dawning of a new season is a great time to switch to our Earth Elements for all your paper crafting. You can use the combinations suggested in the Color Coach:

  

Or you can look to current fashion magazines for what's new and unique. An article I read today in an office waiting room talked about reds, purples, blues and pinks. An online articles states: New York Fashion Week gave us a glimpse of much less traditional autumnal hues. Colors bridged the gap between beige and light gray, sophisticated lilacy-purple and teal blue, a very wearable red and a combination of fuschia and soft pink. Warmer colors were represented by a honeyed-up yellow and an earthy shade of orange, a darker version of this spring's ubiquitous tangerine. Super-shiny metallics also starred on the runways, with shimming gowns in silver, bronze and gold.

So now let's look at Stampin' Up!s fabulous 48 and In colors and create some new colors combos to try:

 

 Can you guess the colors above? If you aren't sure, check out page 7 in the 2009-2010 Idea Book and Catalog then have fun creating new color combos for your next projects by mixing the Fall Color Combos displayed above!

 

Christmas Card Map

When planning your Christmas Card layout ideas, did you know that My Digital Studio is a great solution that doesn't use up any supplies? I saw a card map today that I wanted to play with and rather than cut and organize my supplies I decided to see what I could create digitally first.

Here's the card map:

 

  This card map has lots of layers to play with so I did it digitally until I was satisfied with the layout and colors I chose.

Here's my digital creation:

 

If you enjoyed this project, you'll like my exclusive 12 Weeks of Christmas campaign. Each Wednesday leading up to Christmas, I will send an exclusive Christmas project idea to everyone who has subscribed to my newsletter. If you are not already signed up, the newsletter sign up box is in the upper left sidebar of my blog. Join today so you don't miss out on some great holiday ideas!

My digital studio

Most people think that my digital studio is only for people who love digital scrapbooking but this program is so much more! Over the next few weeks I will be highlighting all the other things you can create with my digital studio. I am especially excited about the calendar option.

 

Calendar

Digital Stamps Enjoy Every Moment Schoolbook Serif Alphabet Digital Paper Kiwi Kiss digital card stock Pumpkin Pie digital card stock Kiwi Kiss large polka-dot digital paper Hoppy Memories Designer Kit Digital Accessories & Tools Whisper White straight stitch digital sewing 1.25 Square punch

With very few steps you can create a calendar of memories for family members and friends who live a distance away - what better reminder each month than a photo calendar exclusively prepared by you? Order my digital studio from me by October 31st and I will provide FREE training to get you up and going with this fabulous program! And don't worry that you don't have a printer for 12x12 calendars and scrapbook pages; Stampin' Up! has contracted with a printer to provide you with a service that will perfectly match our 48 basic and In Colors palette!

Deals of the Week!

This is one special you won't want to miss! FOUR specials good for one week only. Check them out below:

1/2" Library Clips #112581 Only $3.99!

1

  

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Let your inner librarian run wild when you clip a tag to a project with one of our adorable Library Clips. These clips to add the right touch to your projects. ■ Contains 24 pieces ■ 8 each of 3 colors: Chocolate Chip, Old Olive, Whisper White ■ Powder finish ■ 1/2" x 3/4" Basic Jumbo Grommets #114348 Only $4.49   Custom designed, these large grommets add some real spunk! These grommets can even frame small images for real art appeal. ■ Colors:  Basic Black, Silver, Very Vanilla and Whisper White ■ 5 each for a total of 20 pieces Circle Designer Brads Only $3.99    These high-quality cast brads are so easy to use and come in custom Stampin' Up! designs. They're finished in our Styled Silver, and can be used separately or with our Hodgepodge Hardware. ■ Assortments include 16 pieces; 8 each of 2 sizes (1/2" and 3/4") ■ Use to embellish cards, scrapbook pages, and other paper crafts Mini Library Clips #109857 Only $8.99!     Let more of your inner librarian run wild when you clip a tag to a project with one of our adorable Mini Library Clips. These clips are 1/4" x 1/2" and each package contains 12 each of 4 colors (Black, Silver, Antique Brass, and Pewter). That's 48 clips per container! Remember, in order to take advantage of these special offers you need to order online. Click here! Then click "Shop Now".

Autumn Days Scrapbook Page

The temperature in Raleigh has gotten much cooler in the past week (Frost predicted!) and the leaves have started to turn color. Driving around town and seeing the beautiful reds and yellows that have started to emerge has made me think of fall designs for my scrapbook pages. I have heard that the colors this fall are going to be spectacular so I designed a page for my Scrapbook Club on Saturday so that the club members will have a page ready for any fall photos they may be taking in the next week or two.

I had so many design ideas that it was hard to choose the layout for this page. I finally decided to use Autumn Days and some left over Autumn Traditions designer series paper.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This then dictated the colors I would use for the page. Here's the page my club members made:

 

 

 

  

    

Often scrapbookers feel that layouts need to be complicated and use a lot of accessories. They certainly can but sometimes simple is good too! The other two pages my club members will be making are more complicated so I decided to keep this page a bit more simple. What the photo doesn't show you is that the pine cone images across the top of the page have been glittered using a 2-way glue pen and Dazzling Diamond glitter. I deliberately left room for journaling: the three Always Artichoke rectangles can be used for three photos or two photos and a journaling box, depending on what each scrapbooker wants for her page.

For more information about my Scrapbook Club or to join us every second month at our meetings, email me at [email protected].

Sundays with Sizzix

Today's video tutorial was created to show you how to create a beautiful Fall card using the Big Shot and Leaves #2 BIGZ die. I am also excited to introduce you to Shimmer Paint, a new product in the Holiday Mini catalog on page 27.

 

Autumn Leaves Card

Card stock: Chcocolate Chip (5 ½ x 4 ¼"), Really Rust (3 ¾ x 4 ¾"), Take with Teal (1 ¾ x 5 ½"), Autumn Meadows designer series paper ( 1 ½ x 5 ½"), Very Vanilla (2 pieces: 2 ¼ x 2")

Ink: Chocolate Chip Classic pad, Really Rust reinker

Accessories: Big Shot, Standard cutting plates, Leaves #2 BIGZ die, sponge, Stampin' Dimensionals, Chocolate Chip ¼" grosgrain ribbon, Champagne Mist Shimmer paint #116826, Rubbing Alcohol (90% or higher), travel spray bottle, tray, paper towels

And now for the video tutorial. Enjoy!

To order any of the products used to make this card, email me at [email protected] or go directly to my online ordering system (then click Shop Now).

Halloween Scrapbook Page

I am sure that many of you have little ones that are getting very excited about Halloween night. So I created a Halloween scrapbook page the other day using My Digital Studio.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    

I had so much fun looking through the stamp sets (Schoolbook Serif), designer papers (Pumpkin Pie Patterns designer series paper), and embellishments to create this cute page. If you know the commands for "copy" and "paste" you can easily design a page just like mine.

My Scrapbook Club begins today and although we are not going to create a scrapbook page for Halloween I can also use My Digital Studio to create templates for my classes, just like you can play around with digital images and accessories before you actually create a page. This saves time and money!

If you want more information about my Scrapbook Club, please email me at [email protected].