Operation Scraplift: Ali Edwards

A little scraplift from my favorite artist....














Just browsing through my January 2009 issue of CK (p. 54) and found the perfect page to make my own. I have always love the pocket page idea. It's a great way to sneak in tons of fun embellishments without making the page feel cluttered. I loved finding little bits and pieces of things to use on the page. So much fun!

Supplies (there were a ton!):

Cardstock- (reds) Worldwin; (white) Georgia Pacific

Patterned - (black lace) KI Memories; (hearts) Cosmo Cricket

Accents - (paper border) Doodlebug; (rub-on scroll black) MAMBI; ('love' chipboard circle) Scenic Route; (chipboard circle and mini flower) K & Company; (acetate half-circle) Little Yellow Bicycle; (chipboard man/woman) unknown vendor purchased at Picture This; (chipboard heart, acetate letters, acetate heart and butterflies) Heidi Swapp; ('kiss kiss' stamp) Amuse; (ink) Staz on; (chipboard #2) 'Lil Davis; (ribbon) KI Memories; (brads) KFD; ('celebrate life' stamp) Ali for Technique Tuesday; (plastic dotted accent) Making Memories

Tools - (swirl and dot embossing folders) Cuttlebug; (scallop circle diecut) Quickutz

Tip: As a former baseball card collector I had a good supply of card protector on hand. These will come in handy for all my upcoming pocket pages! If you aren't so lucky to have a baseball card fetish or a 10-year son, you can purchase a stack of these type of pages at your local retail store (i.e. Shopko, Wal-Mart, etc). For the page above, I simply cut the protector down to a 2x2 piece to fit my page. I attached the protector with double-stick tape, but some other fun options would be sewing or stapling the pockets down.

Lovely Layers!

A bit of time to be creative...

I finally got a little time this week to do my favorite thing in the world...create! With busy season underway, my life has been all but consumed by work. I was able to get away early on Thursday and after an inspiring trip tp Picture This, I went home to play. In the spirit of Cuttlebug fever, I created a brand new card!

Supplies:

Cardstock - (tan, dark pink) Worldwin; (green, aqua) Close to My Heart; (white) Georgia Pacific

Accents - (layered flower) American Crafts; (flower brads) Making Memories; (saying stamp) Printworks; (heart stamp) Stampin' Up!; (brown ink) Stazon; (clear ink) Versamark; (clear embossing powder) Ranger; rickrack (unknown)

Tools - (swirl, leaves, and dotted background embossing folders, ring diecut) Cuttlebug; (scallop circle and circle with dots) Quickutz; (scallop border punch) Stampin' Up!

Tip - I love the sanded look that's OH SO EASY to acheive with the Cuttlebug embossing folders. Simply use a white (or color core) cardstock, emboss in the machine and then sand to reveal. Another of my favorite things right now is layering. I actually was inspired on this card by the designs of Elizabeth Karchner. She uses amazing color combinations on all her projects! I also love how she combines the look of pre-made embellishments with handmade ones. Here I stamped and embossed the heart, created a layered center block with embossing, stamping, and sanding, and then added a pre-made layered flower for good measure. The perfect mix of creativity and pre-made fabulousness!

Thank You mini card

My new toy at work...

While I have never had any intention of buying the Making Memories tag curler, I just had to have it after seeing some super cute new offering at Archivers last weekend. So, with my 40% off coupon in hand, I headed to Michaels. I finally got the chance to try it out this weekend. I just reached for a loose piece of ribbon and grabbed one of the plain "thank you" tags that came with the curler. Voila! The tools is actually super easy to use and makes projects way cuter than I had anticipated. Definately a good buy!

Supplies:

Cardstock - (pink, tan) Worldwin; (blue) Bazzill; (black) Rooney Printing

Accents - (black corners) Canson; (ribbon) American Crafts; (metal tag) Making Memories; (paper flower) Doodlebug

Tools - (tag curler) Making Memories; (corner rounder) small EK Success

Not really any tips on this one. Just a simply card whipped up after testing my new toy. Guess it CAN be that easy to make a quick card. Made this one a bit smaller than normal too - about 4.25 x 4.25 inches. Thanks for looking!

a "sweet" card...

Just in time for V-day, some ultra-cute stamps from Amuse! (Amuse Challenge post)

I just love the cuteness of Amuse art stamps! Who wouldn't?! Thought the ice cream cone would be perfect for a V-day card...sweet and pink and everything. This card turned out to be more of "no particular occasion" card, but I love it just the same!

Supplies:

Cardstock - (white) Georgia Pacific; (pink) Worldwin; (black) Rooney Printing

Patterned - (black lace diecut) KI Memories; (pink polka) Bo Bunny Press

Accents - (black rickrack border) Doodlebug; (gems) Kaiser Craft; (glitter) Martha Stewart; (watercolor pencils & blender pen) unknown; (pink rickrack) Doodlebug; (pink dotted ribbon) Michaels; (stamps) Amuse; (ink) Staz On

Tools - (swirl embossing folder & diecut machine) Cuttlebug; (ovals and scallop ovals) Spellbinders; (corner rounder) small EK Success

Tip: The biggest tip I can offer for this one is to just PLAY! I knew I wanted to use the ice cream cone stamp and picked out a few papers for the card. I ended up using two of the papers in the end and just played until I ended up with a card I really enjoyed. I even changed the size of the card after it was half-way done! Don't be afraid to do and re-do.