My Core'dinations Creative Frenzy

Get ready for a lot of photos...I went a little "Core'dinations crazy" over the past few weeks, and it's time to share the results.

It all started when I received my Coordinates Collections "Blooms" kit to play with, and it had a sheet of Core Impressions My Mind's Eye cardstock.

The rich brown color was so pretty by itself, but I couldn't resist sanding away a bit of it to reveal the red underneath. It made a perfect background for the butterflies on this layout.

But that was just the beginning. With sand paper and my Imaginisce d-stress tool in hand, I was ready to experiment a little more. I've had this Maya Road Picket Fence album in my stash for a while and it seemed like a perfect fit for the Core'dinations Whitewash cardstock. After I had glued and trimmed it from the fence shape, I sanded the edges and used the d-stress tool to add some lines to give it the look of a weathered garden fence. I also embossed a sheet of the Whitewash with a pink core to use as part of the title block.


And since this little book showcases my family gardening, I created this little flower by tearing circles of yellow Core'dinations cardstock into circles, crinkling them up, then unfolding and layering.


There's Core'dinations on literally every page of this mini book. I used it to mat the photos, create layers for backgrounds and even to punch the butterflies for accents on the page below.


On these pages, I created handmade accents and journaling spots with Core'dinations.


For the flower, I used an edge punch to cut along a 1" strip of cardstock, then I pleated it into a circle on top of a Cosmo Cricket Gluber and topped with a Crate Paper brad. I added some leaves that I hand-cut from the Whitewash cardstock and sanded to get a pretty green color.


Ok, this is subtle, but I love this idea so I'm going to share. I used the Imaginisce d-stress tool to sand journaling lines onto this cardstock. I have a hard time keeping my handwriting straight, so these subtle, sanded lines were a perfect way to make sure my writing would stay neat.


I was amazed at how easily the Core'dinations cardstock tears in a semi-straight line. It made it easy to create some accent borders and strips to add unity to my pages.


And just for fun, here's the back of my little book. I couldn't resist adding this little birdie as a "bye-bye." To get the weathered effect on the cardstock, I used the same technique I used on the cover, but I rubbed a little Distress Ink around the edges to create some depth.

And finally...a card! This one includes a mix of sanding, embossing and tearing -- because I tried it all! On the embossing, I accidentally embossed the wrong side of the cardstock, but it gave this cool "reverse embossing" effect, which I ended up loving. Yay for happy accidents!

Thanks for checking out my Core'dinations Creative Frenzy! I hope there will be many more Core'dinations projects in my future!

It's a doll's life

With two little girls, it's no surprise that our house is full of dolls: Barbies, American Girls, Groovy Girls, Disney princesses...the list goes on and on. Appropriately enough, this month's "Click It With Cricut" challenge on the Imaginisce blog was to use the doll shapes on the Once Upon a Princess cartridge.

I went a little doll crazy...


But I just couldn't resist creating this layout about my girls and their dolls...

And then I spotted the mermaid costume. This paper-doll-making thing is addictive.


Everything on this gift bag was cut using the Once Upon a Princess cartridge. I used the Gift Bag cut to 5 3/4" and Doll2 cut at 3" from some Imaginisce Splash Dance papers. The sentiment is a rub-on that I applied to the Pajamas tag, and I finished the bag with the clam rub-on and some i-Rock hot rocks to accent the mermaid.

Be sure to hop over to today's post on the Imaginisce blog for my third project (using the Enchanted collection), plus some fabulously inspiring projects from fellow design team members Melinda Spinks and Liz Qualman. But first, leave a comment below for an extra chance to win a fabulous Cricut prize pack from Imaginisce!

Spring has sprung!

Okay, so technically, it's not feeling very spring-like outside today. Kind of gray and dreary and cold. But we had a long string of 80+ degree days before this cold front rolled in, so I'm going to consider it Spring! (Fortunately, the calendar agrees with me.)

In honor of the arrival of my favorite season, I'm sharing some spring projects I've created over the past few weeks. First up is a layout I created with the March Sweet and Sassy kit from Coordinates Collections. The kit is now sold out (sorry!), but the papers are from the Echo Park Little Girl collection, with some American Crafts Dear Lizzy mixed in.


These photos had such nice sunlight in them that I decided to tie it into the layout in a very literal (a.k.a. huge sunshine title block!) way. I did my journaling in a half-circle on the bottom of the layout to balance it.

Next up is a layout using my favorite Upsy Daisy papers -- the Vogue collection. I can't seem to get enough of the green/navy/white color combo. So fun!


I really liked the diamond print in the patterned paper so I did a crazy thing and cut it out. They were straight cuts (up and down, and up and down), but they still took me a while. I do love the way it turned out though. Note to self: use more diamonds!

And finally, here's a card I made using the same Upsy Daisy papers to create a rolled window effect. It's an easy technique, and I posted a full tutorial on the Upsy Daisy blog, in case you're interested.


Thanks for stopping by!

Catching up

Today continues my "catching up" posts with some projects I've created with Upsy Daisy supplies over the past few months.

First up, a couple of layouts I created with the Avalanche collection. I really like how you can use this collection for school-themed layouts or wintery layouts -- very versatile!

I found that the square brads were the perfect size to use with the Basic Grey mini mono stickers, so I incorporated them into my title. I also embossed some white cardstock to tie in with the "snow" theme and added some Basic Grey snowflake rub-ons as a finishing touch.

These are some of my favorite photos from last fall, but I hadn't really thought about doing them in black and white until I paired them with these papers.

Next up is a layout I created with the Blossom line and my Cricut:

I think my "spring fever" made me go a little crazy with the butterflies, but I liked the way they worked with the flowering tree on the paper. I used some pom-pom trim to make the body of the big butterfly, and I also accented the flowers with some i-rock crystals.

And last, but not least, here's a little thank-you card I made with the Home Sweet Home collection and the Girlfriends stamp set:

Speaking of Upsy Daisy, the Printers Tray I created last fall with the Vogue collection is featured on the Scrapbook and Cards Today blog today! Check it out.

Lots to share!

Anyone else notice that it isn't February anymore? How the heck did that happen?! That short little month confuses me every year.

The good news is: I've got lots of projects to post! (And some fun news to share, so keep reading!)

First off, a birthday card I sent to Lori Allred at Imaginisce for her birthday last week. I used the new Berrylicious collection and this fun new punch from EK Success.

Lori loves her some bling, so I got a little "blingy" on the butterfly. Hope she likes it!

And speaking of cards, here are a couple more cards I made with the Berrylicious collection.



And are you ready for some exciting news? I was selected to join the Fashion Team for Epiphany Crafts!

I've been intrigued with Epiphany ever since summer CHA (remember this blog post?), and I love the versatility of these products. This team is a little different than my other design teams because I'll be coming up with ways to use the awesome Epiphany Crafts products to create jewelry, hair accessories, home decor and more. And who knows...I might even throw in a scrapbook layout once in a while.

Check back tomorrow for Upsy Daisy projects and some Coordinates Collections sneak peeks!