Hi everyone! Denise here with a quick project for you. With the start of the new year, I’ve been trying to organize and backup my photos (so important!). I decided to make photo CDs to send to the Grandparents and family out of state, using the Hopscotch kit to make a CD sleeve. If you normally shot photos in Camera Raw, it’s a good idea to convert the photos to JPEGs when sending the photos to family.

The final folded dimensions of the CD Sleeve are 5″ x 5″. The open dimensions are 6″ x 10″. In the picture below, you can see the two flaps that are .5″ each used to glue the sides together. To start, I opened a Hopscotch patterned paper and changed the canvas to 6″ x 10″ and using guides mark the two vertical folds for the flaps .5″ in from the sides. Also set the guide for the horizontal fold at 5″.  The border, ribbon and blue paper were added and masked at the middle fold. The card, flowers, buttons, tape and tags were added, sized and rotated to compose the cover. An Outer Glow was used instead of a Drop Shadow, my personal preference for hybrid projects.

The file was flattened and printed to a heavy weight matte photo paper. Trim the edges and fold the .5″ flaps in, and also the middle of the sleeve. Trim a small corner off the top and bottom of the flaps at a 45 degree angle to aid in folding (see photo below). You can also punch a half circle in the back of the CD Sleeve. Using a tape runner glue, fold the flaps in and glue, fold the sleeve in half  and you’re finished.

I hope this project inspires you to send photo CDs off to family members and to back up your photos! Happy scrapping everyone. :)  We’ll see you back here on Monday – have a great weekend!

DeniseHybrid Projects, Uncategorized 8 Comments

Hi everyone! Denise here with this week’s Product Spotlight – the Brrrr! kit. On sale this week for $3.71.

I really liked the mix of black with the cool blues and greens in the Brrrr! kit. It’s makes for a hip winter kit that’s versatile for multiple themes, such as the everyday and especially baby boys. The sequins are great for a little sparkle on layouts and the argyle adds a great pattern for layouts.

It was fun to see the different ways the ladies used the Brrrr! kit. You can also see the teams layouts in the Shabby Artist’s gallery.

I hope the team has inspired you with our layouts using the Brrrr! kit, on sale this week for $3.71.

SP will be back tomorrow with some updates on the BLOG schedule.  Happy Scrapping everyone! :)

DeniseProduct Spotlight, Uncategorized 4 Comments

Hi everyone! Denise here with another Christmas project for you using the Sugarplum Dreams kit. If you have a favorite Christmas photo of the kids or the family this is a great project to customize your own ornaments. I used a 6″ circular base for my ornament which already had holes that I got at a local craft store. The ornament is on the big side, you could consider it as more of a decoration unless you have a large tree. Other bases that would work really well are Basic Grey and Maya Road mini albums.

To start I opened the Sugarplum Dreams Ornament paper and using the Elliptical Marquee Tool (M) in Photoshop, changed the Style along the top menu to Fixed Ratio and set the width and height to 6 inches. I centered the circular selection in the middle of the canvas and added a Layer Mask. A circular scallop from Scallops, Shapes and More was used to mask the polka dot paper. The pink paper was masked with a circular selection too. The frame was added and rotated to a tall position and the photo was placed behind it. The glitter photo corners and swirl were placed, too. I decided to add some flowers behind the tag so I guesstimated how big I wanted the tag and type set the sentiment and date. I left a section of the tag blank figuring a flower or item would cover the tag. The cicular dot and ginger bread man (from the Sugarplum Dreams Additions) were sized and moved to the side of the circles. Everything had a Outer Glow added instead of a drop shadow and the tag was also moved to the side of the layout. The Outer Glow will also help show the edge of the “stickers” when cutting the items out. Add the flattened items to a 8.5″ x 11″ canvas to print.

Once the digital items are printed onto a heavy matte photo paper,  trim the main circular piece, tag, gingerbread man and the small circular swirl. The ornament base needs to be painted and, when dry, use Mod Podge to adhere the main piece to the ornament. A heavy book helps to flatten the item. Flowers and bling were layered. Using pop dots, place the tag over the flowers so it hangs off the ornament edge. Glue the gingerbread man to the tag. Spread Stickles or glitter over the photo corners. Poke a hole along the top of ornament and thread ribbons to hang.

The left photo is a  detail shot of the finished ornament to show most of the front is flat. The flowers and tag add the real dimension. On the right, additional products that can be used to decorate ornaments are; paints, Mod Podge, Stickles, flowers, bling, pop dots and ribbon.

I hope this inspires you to create your own ornaments, we’d love to see them in the gallery! Happy Scrapping everyone! :)

Check back LATER TODAY as SP shares a fun and yummy treat idea!

DeniseHybrid Projects, Uncategorized 2 Comments

Hi everyone! Denise here, with a hybrid project to start off the Christmas season. I found a pack of generic gift bags at Michaels and thought it would be fun to decorate them up a bit, adding a little sparkle. I was inspired by the hanging ornaments in the ‘Twas the Night kit. I loved the digital sequins on the ornaments and after digging into my craft pile, I found some sequins to add to the project. The sequins also added a nice touch to the “trees” on the second set of bags below.

The gift bag front is really close to 8″ x 10″ so in Photoshop I created a canvas that was 8″ x 10.25″ and added guides at the top and bottom to mark 10″. For the left bag I placed the patterned paper from ‘Twas the Night and masked it so it was 3″ wide. I placed the red polka dot paper behind it and used the Scallops, Shapes and More to create the scallops. An additional yellow paper was added. The layers had an Outer Glow added instead of a drop shadow and the merged strip was placed on an 8.5″ x 11″ canvas to print. I was also able to place two ornaments and a stocking on the larger page for printing. Print the sheet onto heavy matte photo paper and trim the pieces. Glue the strip onto the bag starting at the top and trim the extra at the bottom of bag. Punch a hole in the ornaments and hang the assorted ornaments from the bags with ribbon. The right bag is created similarly, with the scallops being cut after printing with decorative scissors. Sequins and a snowflake were glued to the ornament also.

For the Christmas tree bags, the stitched circles and bits of patterned paper from ‘Twas the Night were printed onto heavy matte photo paper and trimmed. A circular punch works great for this process. The circles were glued to the bag and a rectangle of paper was placed for the trunk. I used sequins to fill in the tree a bit and added a brad or snowflake to the top of the trees. Note the bottom right circles are blank, that’s where I plan to write the names of the giftees.

Here’s some of the products that can be used to make the gift bags; decorative scissors, circular punch, brads or bling, sequins (Darice, 5mm), ribbons, liquid glue and tape adhesive.

I hope you’ll give them a try, it’s easy to create multiple gift bags with the ‘Twas the Night kit at the same time. Happy Scrapping and Crafting everyone! :)

DeniseHybrid Projects, Uncategorized 3 Comments

Hi everyone! Denise here, it seems every year my family goes to sit at the Thanksgiving table and it’s a bit of a mad shuffle. This year I decided to make place cards, mixing colors and embellishments for my family members. They are a quick and easy Hybrid project using the Autumn Medley kit to add a pretty touch to the holiday table.

Using the Autumn Medley kit, I decided to make four versions of place cards, with the male versions having less embellishments. To start, in Photoshop I made a 3.25″ x  3.5″ canvas (3.25″ x 1.75″ folded). The brown frame was placed and distorted to fit the front panel. Add the notebook paper and rotate. The leaf was placed behind the items in three versions of the place cards. Pick a brown from the frame and typeset the names, I used the font LD Marooned. Different backgrounds were used on the four versions of place cards. Add the embellishments of leaves, swirls and pumpkins as desired. All the items had a Layer Style – Outer Glow added instead of a Shadow (using the same Shadow values and color).

I was able to place four of the finished place cards onto an 8.5″ x 11″ sheet. Print onto a heavier matte photo paper (I like the Staples brand). Trim, fold, and ink the edges and spines of the place cards. The “Ray” version didn’t have anything else added. The “Nolan” version has a small bling attached in the upper left corner. The women’s versions have flowers and bling for embellishment. I added a light dust of glitter to the “Denise” version and the “Jan” version below.

Here’s some of the products that can be used for the place cards; Ranger Distress Ink (Antique Linen), bling, small flowers and a fine glitter (Martha Stewart).

I hope this inspires you to add a little festive touch to your holiday table. Have a Happy Thanksgiving! :)  Be sure to check back tomorrow as SP announces the winner of Template Challenge SIX!

DeniseHybrid Projects, Uncategorized 5 Comments