My Dream Creative Space

For my dear friends that have been listening to me complain for the past 2-3 years about my unfinished basement...the future location of my craft room/office...this is for you. If I had all the time and money in the world, I would want my creative space to be a happy place like Heather Bailey's...check it out here!!

I'm Cured!

Yes, you'll never believe what I found out yesterday after visiting one of my favorite local scrapbook stores, Heartland. You see I haven't been in a scrapbook store since before Christmas...whether it was from lack of funds or lack of time, I just haven't gone. So after that long of a break from one of my favorite places to blow money, I figured I was in for it...I knew I'd go a little nuts and would have to figure out justify my purchase to my honey.

So with my 40% off coupon in hand I ventured into Heartland Paper. They always have the cutest paper crafted decorations up and their store is so nicely organized...and oh, there was a ton of things I hadn't seen since my last trip. Not tons of new stuff from CHA yet, but still new to me. I started wander...almost hunting for everything I couldn't live without. I went up and down each isle, touching and looking and ready to fill my basket. But isle after isle I would pick something up, question how I would use it, decide I didn't need it and put it back (yes, actually put it back). I tried really I did. I tried paper, albums, embellishments, rub-ons...but everything I put back. My daughter was with me and we bought some things for her, but nothing really stood out to me as a MUST have. I don't know if it was me wondering "what will I do with this", but heck I've purchased things for years and never justified it...trust me I have the receipts and boxes of product to prove it. So with my 40% coupon code I tried and tried to find something, finally settling on a darling pack of paper from My Mind's Eye for a gift I needed for a fellow scrapper. But NO, I did not buy a thing. I've been spending so much time creating fun beautiful designs on my computer in My Memories Suite or my good ol' Photoshop and for some reason I feel satisfied!! So maybe "digital scrapbooking" has cured me!! Of course I still want to embellish pages and create cards, but I own PLENTY of embellishments that there's no need to buy more. I've NEVER felt this way in all my years of crazy crafting. I hope it passes and as new CHA products reach the stores, I'll find the impulse to BUY, BUY, BUY!!

Hide the Food Coloring!

So most of you know that I like to stay up late when the house is quiet and work. Well, it was moments away from my pending birthday (almost midnight) and I wondered up to the kitchen to get me a drink of milk. I poured me a cup and thought for a brief moment that the milk seemed a little off color, but then I chalked it up to my tired eyes and maybe a reflection off something in my kitchen. 

BUT, then I open the fridge to place the milk carton in the fridge and stopped, trying to process why the other (unopened) gallon of milk looked even stranger. I seriously thought at that point that my mind was playing tricks...OR WORSE, I was getting old and seeing things. It took me a few minutes to realize that the quiet moments this evening when my 13 year old son was up in the kitchen...that he was up to no good. We found evidence of burnt candles and other small plastic things earlier that evening. What I didn't realize until that moment, was that when my daughter had made me a cake for my birthday she had left the food coloring out on the counter. Finally after my brain process this and the PINK and GREEN milk cartons in my fridge I realized that my son had colored the milk. But I was really worried this had something to do with me getting older!! 

Dude! Collection from Ettes & Company

My daughter keeps getting mad at me that I always scrapbook "her" and not her brother. Well I just happens that most of the beautiful scrapbook stuff is so girly AND he's never around for me to shoot any pictures, but she is!! So here are some darling layouts I threw together with the new DUDE Collection from Ettes & Company. Love these designs!!

Fast & Easy Invites Created in MMS

I needed some quick invitations for church last week, so I turned to My Memories Suite. I started by creating a landscape page from scratch. I dropped in a new paper design from the Be My Guest Pack by Ettes & Company and then added ONLY text. It's amazing what you can do with beautiful fonts!

I exported (share button) my page out as a JPG. And then I printed it out on white cardstock. From most PCs you can print 4-up to a page from your preview screen. But I dropped it into Word and pasted a few copies so I had four to a page. I then trimmed them with my paper trimmer.

Next I trimmed a slightly larger piece of black cardstock, punched the right edge with my very cool Stampin Up punch and adhered them together. I tied a small piece of ribbon to a paper clip and slid it onto the white part.

I thought I would personalize them a bit and add each child's name. I simply created a black shape and dropped the kid's names in white text over it, printed it out onto cardstock and then trimmed the names down and placed them under a small paper clip.

These were very inexpensive and very fast and easy to create...and I think they look beautiful, don't you?

My Project 52: Weeks 5 and 6

For those new to my blog, these layouts are for my Project 52 album where I'm creating a layout per week about my life (see link to the right for older layouts). It was less overwhelming then Project 365. All layouts for this project are being created using the My Memories Suite Software. 

Design Note: Created layout in My Memories Suite
 software, using the Bohemian Designer Pack by Miriam Lima (new pack available online in the Design Shop). The paper was too gorgeous that I didn't want to over embellish the layout.

Design Note: Created in My Memories Suite
 Software using the My Favorites Recipe Designer Pack by Ettes & Company. Love all the veggie art and beautiful word art this set had...to yummy not to use!!

Online Title Maker - Rockin Idea!!

Okay girls, how many of you remember using Lettering Delights over the years, a great source for the cutest journalling fonts available? Well I have to admit, it's been a while since I checked out their site and wow was I impressed when I went back recently. But the thing that motivated me to post about this was their new Online Title Maker. 

You know how we all have tons of PNG alphabets/monograms and they're tedious to use at times? This is the coolest online tool I've used. You can take the alphabets (NOT fonts) you purchased and create your own custom titles in a matter of minutes!! 

To create the "Valentines" title, I purchased the Crazy for You alphabet. Then once I was in the Online Title Maker, I simply selected that font, typed in the title I wanted and voila...I have a perfect title in seconds. Then you'll notice the save image...click on that and it saves your title as a PNG file to your desktop. I can then drop it into My Memories Suite Software or photoshop or even MS Word.  How cool is that?? 

You don't have to be a digi scrapper to appreciate this either. Do you ever need a flyer for school or church? How many times do you need an invitation or your kids need a poster?Seriously...love this fun easy tool. Check it out at Lettering Delights!

Martha's Done it Again

My good friend Wendy pointed me to this find thanks to her Twitter posts. And it's worth passing along to all of you. It's a great find, the new Martha Stewart Button Punch!

Not only does it punch, but it also makes an embossed edge! You can pick yours up at Michaels. And did you know you can register online to receive Michaels newsletters and coupons reguarly and then they will send you an email and you can print their coupons out!

Donna's Inspiration Journals

Donna Downey just posted some of her NEW limited series release of handmade inspiration journals on her website...and they are darling! These journals has been sewn and assembled by Donna herself and measures 7" x 9" each one signature journal is ribbon bound though 3 nickel grommets. 12 full pages and 14 random inclusion pieces to help jump start your creative juices flowing.

Find out how Donna uses these cute Inspiration Journals here.

Basic Grey - One of my Favorites from CHA

Bling-a-ding-ding! New to CHA this year is the glittering introduction of BasicGrey’s Bling It™ rhinestones. Available in seven sets of two-tone colors in both dots and squares, these self-adhesive jewels will dazzle any page.Think that’s bling-tastic? Bling It On™ Baby! That’s right, Bling It On™ is a limited edition collection of designer rub-on patterns created with intricate rhinestone accents. The set includes 12 detailed designs in black, white and brown and matching diamond and nutmeg gems. As with any other bling, we’re complimenting our treasure-chest of accessories with a limited edition collection of 21/2” x 21/2” mini stamps. Twelve hand-doodled, perfectly-crafted designs await your creative touch.

Darling Headbands

I get many, many great tips off my friends from Facebook and today was no exception. I was invited to attend "Art Market" in Salt Lake yesterday, but didn't end up going. However, this darling artist was there and thanks to Facebook, I learned about her shop on Etsy and I've already purchased a bunch of her darling headbands. Not bad price either (2 for $20). You can purchase online at Happy Little Artist on Etsy. 

Design Note: I couldn't decide which of her headband pictures to share with you, so I saved a bunch to my computer, threw them into a photo template in My Memories Suite My Memories Suite, tossed in a background a few staples and created this for my blog in a matter of minutes. Fun!!

Creative Team Announced!!

My dear friends of Ettes & Company just announced their new Creative Team. And I'm proud to announce that I'm part of this very talented group of ladies. Yes, I know I'm already swamped (who isn't)...but I couldn't resist the opportunity to play with their beautiful designs. And the best part is they're designs are available for regular digi download for photoshop or templates and packs for My Memories Suite by Polaroid program. Here's a layout I threw together last night with their new Mom's Life Collection (combined with Templ-Ette in Photoshop). 

Too Cute not to Share!!

I have some of the most talented and artistic friends around!! They inspire me all the time and I love that they share their talent with me. One great example is my darling friend Miriam sent me this cool tag she designed for me to attached to my own creative pieces...how cute is it?? Thanks Miriam you made my entire day! 

Valentine Treat Bag & Cards

Happy February!! Well they did it again, my favorite digi designers (Ettes & Company) have created some of the cutest Valentines ever! These very inexpensive digi sets have treat bag toppers, Valentine cards, tags and a very cute Valentine Coupon book. Visit their blog to download your free coupon book idea sheet (too cute). Check out what I did with these designs below!

Here's the fun treat bags and tags my daughter and I created this weekend using these dang cute ideas. It was super easy and fast and I'm never buying another overpriced Valentine card set again.

Bag Giveaway - Congrats!

I almost forgot that I promised to post the winner of the Clear Window Bag give-away today. So I went to random.org to help me select the winner, the envelop please......

Congratulations to 

****REALRACH****

RealRach, please contact me at lori@lilredcottage.com with your shipping information and I'll get this sent out to you soon!!