Creative Cuts and More "Cancer Awareness" Blog Hop



Hello everyone.  I am sick so I did a real quick card for this one.  I really thought the DP expressed the sentiment wonderfully and honestly didn't want to cover it up.  This one is for today's Creative Cuts and More Blog Hop for "Cancer Awareness" and we would like to invite you to join us.  The hop begins at 9:30 EST.  I'm posting a little early so I can make sure mine is up and running before I leave for work. 

There are prizes, so make sure you read through the post to find out how you can win!  And even more wonderful, CC&M will donate 20% of all sales of Awareness Ribbon products in September and October!!  10% to American Cancer Society and the other 10% to Susan G Koman Breast Cancer Foundation.

For my project I used "Awareness Ribbon Window - Square Scallop Card Horizontal".  You can check out all the Awareness Ribbon products HERE.

Did you know that different cancers have different colors to represent them.  I sure didn't.  Terry put together a wonderful list for us HERE.

If you arrived to my blog from Kayla's great.  If you didn't arrive from Kayla's blog you don't want to miss what our designers have in store for you! The CC&M Cancer Awareness Blog Hop starts at http://die-cut-diva.blogspot.com/

If for some reason one of the links is broken along the way do not worry, just HOP back over to Die Cut Diva Blog where the complete list will be.

This month’s prize will be an assortment of awareness ribbon products, including an awareness ribbon album, awareness cards and maybe a box or two.  You can read all the guidelines for playing along over on the Die Cut Diva Blog.  You have until Sunday September 19th, 12MN.  The winner will be announced on Monday September 20th.

We would also like to invite you to join us next Tuesday and Wednesday for the Clear and Simple / Creative Cuts and More blog hop!

Oh and one more thing.  Terry just added the cutest retro handbag to her die line-up and you can check it out HERE!  Have you checked out the Card Kits yet.  Terry has added Christmas and Fall themes.  You can check out all the Card Kits HERE.

Your next stop on this hop is the very talented
 Becky

And I can not close without mentioning that today is Creative Belli Challenge day as well.  The Challenge for the next 2 weeks is to use something old and forgotten from your stash that start's with the letter "B" (button, bling, blooms, etc).  We would love to have you join us!  You can check out what all the DT members created HERE!

I hope all of you stay well this week!  It's no fun running a fever.  And I have to go to work tomorrow.  I hope it's a short day!

Inchies and Twinchies

Hello Papercrafters.  I spent the day yesterday working on inchies and twinchies.  Not familiar with the term??  They are little mini works of art either 1" or 2" square.  There are lots of paper crafters out there that swap them.  Some collect them as is, but they can be used on other paper projects as well.  There are even 2 challenge blogs that focus on these little pieces of art.  Inchy by Inch and Small World of Inches and Twinches.  I have designed 3 cards with inchy layouts, and 3 twinchies.  I also have a tower of inchies that I made last year and adhered to wooden blocks.

This was so easy to put together.  I used a leaf stamp from the "Vintage Roses" set by Layers of Color and one of the sqaure window cards by Creative Cuts and More.  CCM makes wonderful pre-cut window cards for inchies and twinches.  This one is the A2 Square Borders Window Card.  I adhered my 3 inchies inside the card. Isn't it cute how they peek through the window.

Other inchie window cards are :

Four Pane Window Card

Four Pane Scalloped Window Card

A2 Square Mini Window Card (one inchie)

Check out this page for even more Square Window Cards for inchies and twinchies HERE.

I'm linking this one to :

Let's Ink it Up's Anything Goes Challenge

I used 6 inchies on this one.  See how versatile these little cuties are.  For this one, I used 4 of the inchies with one stamp.  I adhered them on the brown cardstock and then stamped the clam shell onto them.  If you have an even larger stamp you might consider using 6 inchies.  Stamps are "Under The Sea" by Layers of Color

I'm linking this one to :

The Shabby Tea Room (metal starfish charm)

and Stampin' Sisters for Christ ( A special moment spent with Jesus - when walking on the beach in Jacksonville, it was so peaceful and quite and I would just walk and pray)

This one includes a twinchie and 2 inchies.  Stamps are from "Under The Sea" by Layers of Color.  Are starting to see all the fun options with these and how easy they are to put together??

I'm linking this one to :

Cowgirl-up Sunday Stamp'en Challenge (summer theme)

Stamptacular Sunday Challenge (more than one stamp)

Papercutz Challenge (anything goes)

This is a twinchie set I created.  I didn't have time to make cards with them.  I used "Butterfly Collector" by Layers of Color.

Here is a close-up of one of them.  I bought some 2"wooden blocks and I was thinking about putting them on those.

I"m linking this one to:

Allsorts (Minature, less than 3")

Here is an Inchie tower I created using 1" wooden blocks.  I created these last year.  I wanted a set with red and black to match my craft room. 

Did you know there are stamp companies that sell inchie images?  Lockhart and Inkadinkado.  But you can create an inchie from a larger image by trimming it down.  When I'm trying to decide if part of an image will work as an inchie, I use this little window template:

I lay it over the image to see what part might work.  For instance the 2 ladies are from much larger images by FCD.  The set is called "Leading Ladies".  Isn't the ballerina cute??  She is a cupcake topper image from "Vintage Cupcake" set by Pink Persimmon.  The apples are from one of my fall GinaK sets.  I bet if you started going through all you stamps you would find parts of larger images you could use as well.  The backgrounds behind the 2 ladies are from Inkadinkado.  They sell themed inchie clear stamp sets and you can find them at local craft stores.

Check out Lockharts "Itty Bitty" collection HERE.

So are you ready to make some inchies and twinchies??

You should set up a swap with your stampin' buddies.  Set up the guidelines that require them to create them with card making in mind if that is a concern.  You could ask them to create 3 inchies with the same theme to use on a card.  What fun it would be to see the different interpretations!

I hope you learned something new and are inspired to create something this week.  If you decide to do some inchies or twinchies, let me know.  I would love to see how you were inspired.

***  It's not to late to sign up for my August Blog Candy.  Go  HERE to read about all the details to qualify to win a Crafty Secrets stamps set!  ***

Woowhoo, the weeked is almost here!  Do you have any fun plans??

Back to School Teacher Gift Card and Gift Box

It's that time of year again.  This weekend is the tax free weekend for shopping since the kids here is Spring go back to school next week.  My DH ask if I was going to go out and do any shopping.  I quickly responded "have you lost your mind??".  teehee.  I do not like to shop in crowds and this weekend it going to be crazy with everyone getting ready for the start of new school year.  Instead I thought I would just stay home and create something with the Back to School theme.

Today I'm sharing with you these really cute apple window products from Creative Cuts and More.  It's important to start the school year off right by letting our teachers know how much we appreciate them.  This ensemble includes a card and gift box.  I created the sentiments using word boxes.  I sharing it over on the left column under "Word Art".  Click the link and you will be able to download it and print on an 8.5 x 11" cardstock sheet.  I don't have a way to seperate each sentiment, so you have to print the full sheet, sorry.  But, hey, it's free.  If you choose to download it, please leave me a comment.  I'm just wondering how many people would be interested.

This card comes with the apple window and scalloped border across the front.  I also used an Apple die cut as well.  It's actually attached to the inside of the card so you can see it through the window.  I lined the circle tag on the inside with the one on the outside, so that it can not be seen through the window.  CCM also sells Apple Window Mini Scrapbooks as well.  Check out all their "Apple" products HERE.

These gift boxes are so cute!!  They come with a variety of shaped windows.  It's called Apple Window Square Box 01.  And it comes with the acetate.

Tutorial

To get create a patterned paper panel for the front of the box or card:

Trim your pattern paper down to the size square or rectangle you would like on the front.  Slide the pattern paper inside the card in the position you would want it on the outside.  I secured the one for the box with 2 pieced of tape to keep it in place.  Then trace the window shape on the patterned paper.  Pull patterned paper out and lightly trace another pencil line around the edges of this one, approximately 1/8".  This will be your cut line and will give you a border.

Ink edges of patterned paper panel and along edges of inside of window.  Use a border punch to create a border.  The one I used is by EK Success.  It has this tiny little scalloped border.  Create sentiment tag and adhere.

Fold the edges along the score lines and use a bone folder over them to get a good crease.  Use your Killer Red Tacky Tape (also available at CCM) to adhere the flaps, creating the box top.  Do the same for the bottom portion of the box.  Adhere acetate on the inside of box.  Now that I'm done with mine, I realize that I could have adnered the acetate down on top of the apple window on the outside of the box before adhering my patterned paper.  This would have been neater.

I hope you were inspired today!!

I will add more "Word Art" over in the left column as I create them.  They are free, but I would appreciate a comment letting me know you downloaded, if you do.

I hope you are having a beautifully blessed weekend!!

hugs,

Melisa

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You can view more of my Back to School / Teacher Appreciation projects HERE.

You can view more of my Containers / Gift Boxes HERE.

You can view more of my Creative Cuts and More projects HERE.

Mini Album #2 : Baby Albums

Good Morning stampers!  This morning I am thrilled to be a part of the Creative Cuts and More Baby and Bridal Blog Hop! 

This is a circular blog hop, so if you arrived from Kayla's blog, then you are right on track.  If you didn't, then please hop over to the Die Cut Diva Blog HERE.  There you will find information of how you can win a prize!!  The prize this month is a 2-Tier Cake of your choice of a smooth or textured cardstock!!  So hop over to the Die Cut Diva Blog right away!  If one of the links in the hop is broken, no worries, head back to the Die Cut Diva Blog for a complete list of participates.

Our assignment was to create a Baby or Wedding ensemble.  What a great idea.  It seems like someone in my family or at work is either having a baby or getting married.  How about you?  So hop through and see all the great ways that Creative Cuts and More can help make your gift giving a little more creative.

I decided to go with a mini-album and card.  I just love mini-albums.  And so do new mothers and grandmothers!  Nothing better than having a little brag book tucked away in your purse to whip out at anytime to show off that new baby.  It couldn't be easier to put one of these together as a gift using CCM products. 

There are several options.  You can build your own album!  For mine I purchased 2 chipboard covers and baby blue pages for the inside.  You decide what colors you want when you order.  I actually ordered enough cardstock pages to glue 2 pages together at a time to make mine even sturder on the inside.  The holes are already punched and pages already scored.  Check out all of the 4 x 4" album options HERE.  However if you like a larger album, you can check out all the album options HERE.

Here is a Baby Girl version:

My second project was created using the A7 Scallop Star Window Card.  I just love all the window card options.  I started out with a peice of DP the size of the front of my card.  I placed it inside the card and traced the star shape on it.  I used the pencil lines as my guidelines and trimmed the star shape out a little larger.  I trimed it down to a 2.5" strip to create the border on the front of my card.  Next ink up all the edges with brown ink.  I tied the ribbon around as shown, punched out my brown scalloped border and adhered all of this to the front of the card using my t-square to keep it all lined up.   I stamped the inside of the card with my sentiment and the smaller stars as shown below.

And to finish it off, I secured a little charm (Making Memories) with a tiny saftey pin and stamped the sentiment to the front.

The next stop in this hop is

Pamela Smerker

Thanks for stopping by!

Creative Belli Sketch Challenge #94

It's time for another Creative Belli Challenge. 
This week our challenge is to use the sketch below and make it patriotic.  Creative Belli is all about inspiring you to use some of those old, neglected supplies you have laying around.  I used this patriotic paper I have had for years and the PTI stamp set I have had for probably a year and never used.   So here is what I came up with :

DP  : Carolee's Creations, Basic Grey

Stamps : Papertrey Ink

Lace unknown

Ink : Versa Magic Night Sky

We would love to have you join us!
Hop on over to the Creative Belli Blog right now and check out what the rest of the DT came up with and how you can take the challenge!

Here's the Sketch:

While I was in patriotic mode, I decided to create another card using one of Creative Cuts and More's window cards.  CC&M produces a fun selection of window cards using various shapes.  You can check them out  HERE.   You could have alot fun creating with these!

Card : Creative Cuts and More

Stamps : PTI, Stampailities (word star), Limited Editions (title)

Ink : VersaMagic Night Sky

Thanks for stopping by!!