Cafe Mojo Creations

Okay, my month-long sting as guest-designer for the team Cafe Mojo has ended almost three weeks ago. I think it's safe now to be able to share the creations I made for the team.

First up was the challenge to scrap an addiction. Well, I have several addictions, but since I'd already scrapped layouts about Diet Coke and computers, I decided to switch over to a TV show addiction: Grey's Anatomy. My favorite show. I never miss it, and I have a season pass on iTunes. Here is the layout I came up with:


To read the journaling on this layout, visit my gallery at scrapbook.com using the button on the right.


Another challenge was to use brads. Well I have quite the stash of brads. I have brads in almost every color, Doodlebug's sugar-coated brads, Making Memories' gemstone brads, brads from Basic Grey to coordinate with their Two Scoops line. I pulled out the Two Scoops paper pack and coordinating buttons and brads for this next layout.

This one is a picture of Lizzie with one of her little cousins. Such a girly, feminine page called for bling. Lots of it! For the "Cousins" title, I mixed glitter in with the paint, and painted the letters. After the paint dried, I sealed it with a glitter glaze, for added sparkle. I did the same thing for the "E" and "L," and for the "&," I just used the glitter glaze by itself. I also Stickled the butterfly and the scallop; and cut the butterfly itself and the scroll out of Bazzill Bling.


For a third challenge, I was to tackle embossing. Wet or dry, just embossing. I don't have the supplies here for wet-embossing, but I do have a Cuttlebug and embossing folders, so I went to town! I decided to create a tag for one of Lizzie's pages, and here is what I came up with:


I used my Cuttlebug to cut a tag out of Grungeboard. I then put it in the swirls embossing folder, and ran it back through the Cuttlebug to emboss it. I treated the tag the same way I did the title on the "Cousins" layout, adding glitter to the paint, and sealing the painted tag with glitter glaze. I stamped the princess image on watercolor paper with StazOn ink, and colored it in with watercolor pencils. Next I got a brilliant idea. I had been undecided as to how to handle the "e" monogram, so I thought I'd be smart and use the watercolor pencils on the chipboard. Once I added the water, though, the chipboard peeled in half, leaving me with two "e's." Oops. A blingy ribbon tied in a bow completed the tag.

There was a fourth challenge, for staples, but unfortunately I am unable to upload the picture. I will keep trying. Happy scrapping!

A Sham-Rocking Good Time!

This St. Patrick's Day, the kids and I did something we'd never done before. We walked the few blocks into downtown for the fourth annual St. Patrick's Day Parade. I took both my camera and my cell phone and got 52 pictures altogether. Well, 52 pictures is a bit much for a couple of 12x12 and 8x8 layouts, so I decided to do a mini-book. I think it came out really cute, and I'm planning to submit it to Zutter for their Spring contest. It's my first time entering a contest or challenge outside of scrapbook.com or Cafe Mojo, so this should be interesting to say the very least.


Supply list:

6x6 acrylic covers from Zutter
1" white wires, also from Zutter
Zutter Bind it All 2.0
Bazzill Basics and Bazzill Bling cardstock
Tim Holtz Grungeboard (for the round tags)
Fiskars Threading Water border punch
miscellaneous ribbons
Glue Glider Mini
Zip Dry
Xyron 150 and 250
Crop-a-Dile (to punch the holes in the grungeboard and the plastic coins)
Stickles

...and last but certainly not least, Cricut Expression with Plantin Schoolbook, Paper Doll Dress Up, and Opposites Attract cartridges and Design Studio software

This book wasn't as complicated to make as it looks. I took the shamrock from PDDU and welded it to squares to create a shamrock-shaped page, and I cut two of them. I also cut a leprechaun and a pixie paper doll, to represent Jory and Lizzie.

I bound the covers, shamrock pages, 6x6 regular pages, and a 6x11 fold-out page with the Bind-it-All, and then just scrapped it. I had a ball making it, and I think it turned out really cute.

And the Technodiva Reigns Supreme...

Whew. I have gotten some of my posts back. Not all of them, but some of them. I at least got some of the crafty ones back. I've re-posted those, and then I'm going to start fresh from there. If you've been following my other trail of glitter, I would greatly appreciate it if you would follow this new one. I'm looking forward to the fresh start, and I've got a few more projects to share with you all! It's good to be back!

Missing Mojo...FOUND!!!!

Mojo. It means different things to different people. We creative types identify our mojos as inspiration and the intense want to create. Whether it be papercrafting, painting, drawing, writing, making music, whatever our creative outlet may be, mojo is usually the driving force.

I have been struggling with my mojo for several weeks now. Fickle thing mojo is. It's there one moment, and in the brief time it takes me to pick out scrappy supplies, it flits away. Just like that. I have four scrappy challenges that I must complete within the next two weeks. (I am not allowed to really say what they're for just yet.) But I have two of them finished, and still have two more to go.

I decided to look for my missing mojo one last time. I was over on the Sassy Blinging Babes thread at scrapbook.com, just chillin' with my homies. Sassy Blinging Babes has a different challenge every week. And one of them summoned my missing mojo. It was the black, white, and one other color challenge. As I read the challenge, a familiar feeling washed over me. Mojo!!! Oh, mojo, how I've missed you!!! I greeted my mojo like a long-lost girlfriend.

I spent a few hours after work designing a layout, and then cutting pieces out with my Cricut. Then the next day I put it all together. I have to say, for this particular challenge, Core'dinations cardstock is amazing. (Yes, I think it's "the bomb-diggity.") The color scheme I chose was black, white, and purple, and this layout, "Silly Girl," is the result.

Supply list:

Core'dinations cardstock, the medium purple from the "Hocus Pocus" pack

Lighter purple cardstock from a Paper Studio stack

"Diamond" Bazzill Bling

"Grape" Glitz Stickles

Cricut Expression with Plantin Schoolbook, Opposites Attract cartridges, and Design Studio

Gemstones

"Wild Plum" alcohol inks

Bazzill Blossoms, white

Sanding block

Glue Glider Max mini (the pink-and-green one) and Xyron 250

I prepped for this layout by designing the L-shaped scallop and welding the word "girl." Then I cut them both out along with the word "silly," and I moved on to the next step.

I took the sanding block and sanded down the Core'dinations, so that the purple core peeked through.

I added drops of alcohol ink to the gemstones to make them a deeper purple. (They were originally a pinkish-purple, and I needed a deep purple.)

I layered all the pieces on the sanded piece of Core'dinations, then fashioned a pull-tab for hidden journaling: I cut a piece of the Core'dinations to fit the word "silly," and after using my Xyron to add the letters, I tore the bottom edge so more of the purple core showed.

I flipped the bigger scrap over, so the purple was on top, and slid it behind the photo. I attached the "silly" tab to the journaling block so that when the journaling was slid into place, the tab would meet up against the photo. I wrote my heartfelt journaling on the block, and slid it behind the photo.

By now the alcohol ink had dried on the gemstones, leaving them a nice, deep purple. I added flowers on the alternating scallops, and used the gemstones for centers. I then took the Stickles and added faux stitches around the scalloped edges. And that was that. Layout completed. Mojo found.

This is the second layout that I've used the Core'dinations on, and I really like it. To see that one, titled "Technodiva," or read the journaling on this one, or just see more of my work, use the "Visit My Place on Scrapbook.com" button to the right and visit my gallery over there. It's time for me to head to bed, but first I'm going to tuck my mojo to bed in my bling drawer. Nighty-night, mojo, till tomorrow!

Thursday, January 8, 2009

Here I Come to Save the Daaaaaay!!!!!

Mighty Mouse I'm not, but I did save the day today. With my trusty scrapbook supplies, Momma saves the day yet again!

Jory has a project for school, he actually brought us the instruction sheet for us the day he got it; usually he waits till the night before as I'm rushing out the door for work. He has a little over a week to create a diorama out of a shoebox. He had a shoebox he wanted to use, but it was a Nike box. Yes, those Nike boxes are funky with their flaps here and everywhere.

Jeremy and Jory read the directions, which called for a shoebox with one panel cut out. Jeremy cut the panel out with a box knife, and yes the box fell apart. All those dadgummed flaps. Momma knew what to do, though. When her Glue Glider Mini Gun didn't hold the cardboard, she reached for the heavy artillery: quarter-inch-wide Terrifically Tacky Tape. Yes, there IS such a creature out there and the stuff is amazing. With a few strategically placed pieces of Tacky Tape, the box was salvaged, and Jory has the box he needs for his project.

Once again, Momma saves the day. With her scrapping supplies. My work here is done.

*puts on SuperMom cape and flies off into the sunset*

Monday, December 29, 2008

PUBLISHED!!!!

Boy, you never know what will happen when you check your email! Yesterday I got the surprise of my life when I checked email. There was an email from one of the editors of the e-magazine Scrap 'N Art. They had chosen one of my layouts for their January/February issue!

They had had a call toward the end of summer for pink layouts for their January/February issue. Being the mother of Lizzie, naturally I have lots of pink layouts! Just for fun and giggles, I submitted two. One of them in pastel pink with lots of bling entitled "She's SPECtacular" about Lizzie's new glasses. The other in brighter pinks, entitled "America's Next Top Model," about her first day back at school.

I never in my wildest dreams thought that either of them would be chosen, so imagine my surprise when I received an email saying "She's SPECtacular" had been chosen!!! Because the layout is published, I cannot post it here and it has also been removed from my Scrapbook.com gallery until March 1.

If you would like to see the layout, the e-zine will be available for download January 1 at http://www.scrapnart.com. I'm so happy! March 1 I'll be able to return the LO to my Scrapbook.com gallery and then I'll post it here, too, so everybody who wasn't able to download the e-zine can see it.

Thursday, December 18, 2008

What I Won't Do For My Friends...

Okay, so I'm a few weeks late in blogging about this little episode...

Thanksgiving was an adventure for me. It was my third year cooking the turkey. Yes, I mean buying a turkey and bringing it home. And yes, I even pulled the innards out of it, rubbed extra-virgin olive oil and seasonings into it, stuffed it with stuffing, and roasted it. And like last year, Jory announced he wouldn't eat any of the stuffing because it was "in the turkey's BUTT," as he says.

Dinner was uneventful, really. My mother-in-law came downstairs, a friend of the family came over, and we feasted. What happened after dinner was eventful. For me, that is.

My best friend Liz wanted a Cricut machine for her birthday. Badly. I found out Michael's would have them on sale Thanksgiving night; the price was so low I couldn't resist getting her one. Michael's would only be open for three hours Thanksgiving evening, so I decided I would charge up my iPhone and iPod and go camp out for a few hours. We'd eaten earlier than usual so I could go.

I arrived at Michael's at 3:45. Two hours and fifteen minutes before the doors opened. There was one other lady waiting, and I made myself comfortable as second in line and watched "Grey's Anatomy" on my iPod. I work fast food and I'm used to standing for eight hours a day, sometimes longer. I was quite content.

The other lady and I made small talk, and I watched "Grey's." People would come up, see when Michael's opened, and leave again. Other people would drive slowly by and gawk at us. I started waving to the gawkers. Around 5pm, Liz arrived to wait with me. People still drove slowly by, gawking. I still waved.

Not long after Liz joined me, others began to, also. One woman arrived with a ten-year-old boy who looked so lonesome by himself that I was sorry I had left Jory with Jeremy and Lizzie. By five-thirty there was a small crowd gathered around the entrance. But the crowd at Michael's was nothing compared to the crowd at Best Buy. The folks camping out there had brought tents, grills, video games powered by battery backup packs.

Liz decided to be nosy and go find out what they were waiting for. Okay, she decided to be nosy after I asked her to be. She walked down to the crowd and asked them all what they were waiting for. "Uber cheap laptops," was the response from most people; "video games," was the response from others that she reported back to me.

At five minutes till six, the doors opened and it was a mad dash! Liz and I split up and I managed to nab a Cricut Create for her. Then the crowd all went for the Cricut cartridges. I got her a Tinkerbell cartridge, and myself the other Disney Princess cart I didn't have and one with all kinds of little tags and goodies on it, Fabulous Finds.

I have to say that my first experience "camping out" at a store just to get something was a fun experience. I would do it again in a heartbeat, so long as it was only for a few hours. I don't think I could do an overnight campout at a store. I think that was just silly. But a few hours? Now that's fun.

Monday, October 20, 2008

Itchy, Itchy, Screamy, Screamy, Happy, Happy Halloweeny!

Yes, friends, Halloween is upon us. That time of the year for picking pumpkins and choosing costumes; umping in piles of leaves and making candied apples. For me this year it meant sitting down and making twenty-four goody bags for my daughter's kindergarten class.

Elizabeth had a hand in everything. She chose the goodies for her classmates: party favor-size tubs of Play-Doh, mini bags of pretzels, and Hershey bars in the shape of "ghosties."When I cut out the pumpkins, she loved each one before it went on the bags. She loves her "punkies" so much that last year she SLEPT with her "punky" in her bed. But that's another story. I sat down Friday night and put them all together, and this was the result:
















Supplies needed, for 24 goody bags:

8 sheets of black 12x12 cardstock (I used Canson)
2 sheets of orange 12x12 cardstock (I used Michael's stock)
1 sheet of orange Bazzill Bling
1 sheet of gold shimmer cardstock (also Michael's stock)
4 yards of Halloween, orange, or black ribbon (or any combination)
24 large eyelets (I used We R Memory Keepers eyelets that came with my Crop-A-Dile case)
24 clear treat bags
Pumpkin stickers (I used puffy stickers from Michael's)
Cricut
Cuttlebug*
Sizzix Originalz Die "Pumpkins #2" or any pumpkin die; "Pumpkins #2" has two pumpkins on it*
Crop-A-Dile
Adhesive
Trimmer
Black Slick Writer

*If you have a Cricut cartridge with a pumpkin on it, you can use that, making 3" pumpkins


1. Fill clear treat bags with goodies, set aside.

2. Cut cardstock down: black cardstock into 4x12 strips, orange into 4x6 sheets, and gold into 12 2x2 squares. (You will have gold left over.) Score the black cardstock in 5" from each end, creating a 2" bottom.

3. Using your Cuttlebug and Sizzix die (or Cricut) cut out 24 pumpkins. Because the Originalz dies can cut chipboard, I was able to cut 3 of the 4x6 pieces of cardstock in a single pass, thus creating 6 pumpkins in one pass. Using the 2x2 gold squares, cut out 24 Jack-o-Lantern faces. (If you're using the Cricut, you won't need to cut the gold cardstock down.) Attach faces to pumpkins, and attach pumpkins to black cardstock, just above the score lines.

4. Using your Cricut, cut 24 2" tags. (If you have the Expression, you can use Design Studio and cut them in one pass; if you have the Create or Baby Bug, you'll have to cut the Bazzill in half and cut them in two passes, with DS). Using the Slick Writer, add little Halloween sayings to them like "Trick or Treat!" and "Boo!" If you're doing this for older children who can read, you can instead put each child's name, but I did mine for a group of kindergarteners. Add a pumpkin sticker to each, set tags aside.

5. Fold one of the strips of black cardstock on the score lines, add the filled goody bag. Line up all edges, and punch a hole with the Crop-A-Dile. Then add an eyelet. Continue until all 24 bags have been made.

6. Tie the tags to the bags with ribbon. Voila. Very simple goody bags. These are very versatile and you can adapt the design for any holiday/occasion by switching out the colors and embellishments. Have fun!

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Making Meshes

I was introduced to the beauty of meshes on the Cricut website's messageboards. I fell in love with the look, and the fact that they were quite easy to make with Design Studio. I played around with my All Mixed Up cartridge, and came up with this:

I planned on using it for the background on a card. I knew I'd use bling on it. They don't call me a Bling Princess and Jedi Master Bling for nothing, you know! And here is the finished card:

I used the following on the card:

Cricut Expression

Design Studio

All Mixed Up and Opposites Attract cartridges

Cardstock from Paper Studio

Gemstone brads from Making Memories

Baby Blue and Cotton Candy Pink Stickles

Fiskars' Threading Water border punch

Xyron 250 Stickermaker

And I have posted my cut file for this mesh in the "Diamond Downloads" section, on the right. Enjoy!

Thursday, July 3, 2008

Happy Fourth!

I take a break from papercrafting to wish everybody a very happy and safe Fourth of July! I will be getting the day off work tomorrow and Saturday. It's my usual weekend off, but that's all right. We're planning a BBQ for our friends, although if the weather keeps up it may be an indoor party and no fireworks. Which would be safer anyway, since Lizzie and Jory both insist on doing fireworks.

Our tentative menu will include:

hamburgers
bratwurst (and a few hotdogs for the kids)
barbecued chicken (still undecided)
my homemade macaroni and cheese
Jeremy's baked beans
chocolate cake with buttercream frosting and sprinkles

We're thinking it'd be a celebration also of our anniversary, which is Sunday. Next weekend we may hold another BBQ to celebrate Jeremy's birthday, which is Thursday. In our house, the week between July 4 and July 10 is busy-busy!

In scrappy-related news, I am anxiously awaiting to find out if I made the cut for the design team for Queen Kat Designs. There were two openings in the Royal Court for stampers, and I tried out among other very talented scrappers/cardmakers/paper crafters. Results were supposed to have been posted July 1, but there hasn't been a decision reached yet. I'm fighting the urge to bite my nails down to the quick over this.

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