Scoring demo

I had really been wanting to buy a tool to score my cards and projects but I was reluctant to spend $40 on it. I have been doing some research and was talking to my mom about it when she told me about this great technique she saw on a scrapbooking show (she doesn't scrapbook but she watches them so that she can give me awesome ideas like this one!). She told me that I can use two of the tools I already have (a paper cutter and a stylus) to do exactly what I was wanting. So tonight, I tried it - and it works SO well! Here are the pics:

This is my Fiskars trimmer that I have had for YEARS and use every single day, and my stylus which I bought to do embossing with my light box but have found a bazillion other uses for:



So the technique is to simply lay your paper on top of the trimmer and instead of using the trimmer, you run your stylus along the groove! And it really makes a nice score in the paper. Here is a pic of me scoring some basic card stock with the cutting arm down:



So i got tired of putting the arm up and down and wanted to compare how it would work without using the arm:



And it worked just as well. Yay!

Moral of the story: look at what you already have in new ways. Although I am sure that the new tool would work great, this technique will work just perfectly for what I need to do!

Some New Cards

Tonight I had some scrappy juices flowing so I sat down and popped out FOUR CARDS! I am so pleased! Three of them turned out really good so I am going to share them here. The fourth was only so-so. Here they are:

This is for my cousin, Dawson. He is 6 and lives in Wasilla, Alaska. He is by far my BIGGEST fan! I love sending him cards because he gets so excited for them! This Halloween one will be late but his mom hardly ever checks the mail (they have to drive in to get it at the PO Box) so they may never even know!



and a little detail:


This card is for an Aunt's Birthday. She has a bright personality so I thought this would be great for her. This is my favorite card from tonight - I mean, who doesn't love a penguin in a bikini??





And the last is a Birthday card for my husband's Grandma (whom I adore). It is a little different than my usual style but I think it turned out pretty well. Here it is:



Well, those are three of them. I love 'em! How cute were those button coconuts?? and the glittery eyes on the skeleton's (made with Stickles)?? I had so much fun making these tonight! I have been doing SO many contests lately that I completely forgot how much fun it is to make things just for the fun of it... I am going to have to do this more often, for sure. :o)

scor-it

I have decided that I REALLY want a scor-it. But I can't just go into a store and buy one (apparently) so I am going to have to order one. Anyone know where to go on the web to get a good deal?? Thanks!! Erin

We have a winner!

This morning I entered allllll of the names into random.org and we have a winner! And the winner is.... dah dah dah dum.....

3. Doreen who said: "Hi, I love your Karlena Charm!"

Congratulations Doreen, send me your address (erin_manning_ @ hotmail.com) and i will get your prize in the mail asap! Also, let me know if you would like the charm turned into a keychain or a necklace (or if you would like it left solo). Congrats again!

For all of my other wonderful participants - check back with me in about a week or so, I'm sure I'll have something new and wonderful to give away! Thank you so much for playing, I appreciate all of your kind words.

Did you realllllly love the item you picked? Well head on over to my etsy site and see if it's still available! Here are a couple of pics to get your taste buds going:

Some scrappy prizes

Denise over at "Stamping with Denise" is giving away an awesome prize in honor of her blogoversary - check it out here! As for me, I hope I win! I need some cheering up and I think this amazing prize package would do just the trick ;o)

There's still time to win some Etsy goodness!

There's still a RAK up for grabs! Wanna enter? Click on this to go to the posting and leave a comment! It's that simple. You can leave comments until Sunday October 26th at 8pm Central Time. I will pick a winner at random and they will receive the item they chose! Can't wait to see the rest of the comments and to have more visitors to my etsy shop! And to give you a little idea of what you could win, here are some examples:


Thanks for playing!!

U R Loved!

I have found a new site that I love, Caardvarks. They have new challenges every two weeks and offer amazing prizes. Also, if you need a little inspiration - check out their DT examples! They have a phenomenal DT! I reaaaalllly wanted to win the scor-it last week but, no luck. So I put in a lot of work on this week's entry bc the Cosmo Cricket (Cogsmo line) prize they have up is fabulous! The theme this week was to create a "monogram" card. I wanted to make a card for my Aunt (her bday was last week and I spaced it) and this is something that I hope she is really going to love:



BUT.... wait... there's more! It's a tri fold card so when you open the "U" flap up, you see:



I made the R from a used sheet of chipboard letters. I had already used the "r" for another project so I cut around the edges and made a second "sticker" out of the leftovers. Because it didn't stick down very well I hooked it to the purple piece of sticky backed cardstock and held it down with a few embroidery floss stitches. I love the way it turned out! I also love the distressed heart that I made out of a scrap of red sticky backed paper. I roughed the edges up and added faded brown distressing with my water pen and ink. Then I used a bit of white gel pen to make the dash thing in the corner. And did you notice the leftover piece of scallop to the right of the heart? (under the "loved" sticker).

And here's a view from top, trying to show the tri-fold part:



And a view from the back (I always cover both sides of my cards in pp, it looks so much more complete - thanks Kelly for tipping me off to this!):



and a close up of the front:



The little swirly thing behind the U is actually garbage! It was from a package of (Prima) flowers I bought. The flowers had this cardboard looking sheet behind them and this scroll thing is at each of the four corners so I just snipped it out and I think it makes a really beautiful addition.

Now that the pics are done, I can get it in the mail. She is a really special Aunt to me and I hope she loves it! TFL!!

Don't forget....

I still have a RAK offer going on. Check it out here.

The prize is an item (of your choice!) from my etsy shop. Enter by midnight on the 26th. I will announce the winner on the 27th. Get your comments in - you still have lots of time left to win something great! :o)

Glittery Pumpkin

I made this pumpkin for a challenge over at [some] assembly required. I had a lot of fun playing with my stickles, as you can see! I colored the bats onto white cardstock with a black glittery marker and stuck them into the pumpkin using paper clips that I bent into shape. The spider's legs are also from pieces of paper clips and a stick on gem (with white eyes). The Boo! is just a doodle with glitter markers and outlined with orange sharpie then stuck into the pumpkin with some left over paper clip. I think this turned out really fun and it was super easy. My girls are going ga-ga over it. :o)

Out for Publication

So I found out today that the Christmas card I posted last week with the hot pink/lime green (with ornaments/baubles) was accepted to be published! Here is the little "marker" they gave me to put in it's place:



So my card will be in the November issue. Let you know more as I find out more info...

EDIT- now that the issue has been published, here is the card that was chosen:

Win some Christmas Goodies

There are some GREAT Christmas goodies being given out (by random draw, I believe) over at elf-creations

I should be telling you to hurry and get over there by the 16th to get your name into the drawing but I really want to tell you to stay put bc I want all of the goodies! ;o)

Oh, ok, I'll be a good scrap buddy - Head over there and check it out!

Kazan's Sketch 11

I had a lot of fun this morning making a card for Kazan's sketch at 2 Sketches 4 You. Somehow my end result doesn't look all like the sketch but it makes sense to me, lol. I love the way that it turned out, though. The stickles is still wet but here's the pic:



Check out their blog at: http://2sketches4you.blogspot.com/

Giveaway Time!

I swore to myself I wasn't going to do another giveaway this month bc I am so busy with school and such. But I just can't help myself! It's tooooo fun! So here is this month's "RAK":

This month is a lot easier, all you have to do is go to my etsy shop:
http://www.mycreativedesigns.etsy.com/
and pick out your "favorite item" then head back over here and leave a comment letting me know what it is. That's it!

On October 26th (two weeks from today!) I will look at all of the comments and choose one winner at random... and you will win the item that you picked as your favorite!

Sound fun?? I hope so! :o) Looking forward to all of your comments.....

(here are just a few of the charms posted in my store, there are also cards and gifts)

NTSA Rant & Rave

When: October 13th @ 6:30p
Where: Dillon's Marketplace at Central and Rock
What: October meeting for the
Non Traditional Students Association
of Wichita State University
Who: Any Non Traditonal WSU student

This month, we will be having a "door prize" that will be given out. I have donated a mini album and necklace featuring the WSU mascot, WuShock! Here's a pic:



Can't make it to the Rant & Rave but want this album/necklace anyway? It is also listed in my etsy shop for just $22! Or you can buy the necklace alone for $14!

See you there!

Have you visited...

Have you been to my etsy shop recently?? There are LOTS of great things posted there, ready for you to love! Here are a few things you can find: Charms made from scrabble tiles, finished altered projects, great gift ideas, scrapbooking supplies (including die cuts) and MORE!



visit my shop at:
http://www.mycreativedesigns.etsy.com/

InkaDink Designs

Have you checked out the InkaDink Designs blog yet? It's a new challenge blog just bursting with fun! and some pretty great DT memebers, I might add *wink*.

There is a new challenge posted, the theme is TRAVEL. You can also go into the gallery and check out my DT example titled "Ride 'em Cowgirl!".

They also just started a forum so if you are looking for a "scrappy home" and want to get in on the ground floor... this is your place!! Questions? Let me know!


(www.inkadinkdesigns.blogspot.com)

There are Pirates Among Us

I took my girls and nephew to a local bookstore for their "Pirate Party". I bought them some basic dress up stuff at the party store and we got to go look for treasure, win small prizes and hear a pirate story. They had so much fun!! This is the album that I made to remember that great day!

Christmas Cards... already!?!?

I found a new challenge site today: http://www.papertakeweekly.blogspot.com/. Their challenge this week (you have a choice of two themes) is ... no stamping! Yay! I can do that!! So my first card below is for that challenge. The letters are rub-ons and there is not a stamped image in sight. :o)

-also-
On my last post I told you about a new blog called "Christmas Cards All Year 'Round". They are having a challenge for October to create 5 different Christmas cards to help get a jump on the holiday season. here are mine:

What Christmas means to me: nothing says Holiday fun like good 'ol green/red with Christmas trees!!


The next one is the same theme: it represents Christmas Carols (to me, at least!). Here it is:


The next is "untraditional Christmas colors": Hot Pink and Lime Green!


The next is from a sketch (check out their site to see the sketch!):


And the last one I already showed you but I am going to post it again bc it is part of the "challenge set":


That's it for now! This was fun!!!