BAM! A blog post, a layout to share, and a GIVEAWAY

Hello friends!

Oh my.  I have never been so busy in my life!  Student teaching full time, classes at night and on many of my Saturdays, and sweet girls to raise and a husband to adore.  ...  suffice it to say I am busy.  Happily so, I must say.

One of the things that has gone by the wayside is to share projects made with the Portfolio Kit that Danielle and I put together.  It has a lot of Pink Paislee products, with a few homemade goodies tossed in too.  As I've mentioned, I love this line, and it is a perfect addition to my stash.  It basically goes with everything!

This is a layout I came up with the Portfolio Kit, documenting our recent visit to the pumpkin patch last weekend:

The background was cut from one of my favorite files from the Silhouette store.  I then trimmed bits of the 6x6 pad to layer under neath it creating a fun collage of chevron arrows in a great fall palette.

I am a bit obsessed with the hello stamp in the stamp set, and I'm not a stamper.  I had to emboss it again with white zig powder (just like I did with the card I made HERE).  

The leaves were also created with my Cameo.  They were trimmed with a print but it felt a bit busy, and I wanted my title to stand out.  So I turned them over to reveal the white.  I love this much more!

The title became a happy accident.  

I have a Pinterest board called FONTS.  I like to find free fonts to save for later.  I was searching through it today and found the Cafe Rojo font, which I used for this layout.  

The accident happened when I trimmed it out.  I don't always have my cutting mat figured out when it comes to placing it in the right place, so it cut the title much higher than I had planned.  As I peeled it off, though, I loved the effect of the print at the top of the title, so didn't cut another.  It adds some fun color, I think.  

Dani and I still have a couple of kits left.  Check out images of it on my blog here, and also check out Dani's post here.  I've done a terrible job sharing what a fun kit this is, so I hope you will check out the kit contents and some cards that Dani came up with too.  

If you have purchased this kit and are looking for more ideas, I have them linked with the "portfolio kit" label at the end of my post.

And with that, I also have a little giveaway!

As you know, I was on the Studio Calico Design Team for 5 years.  I think there are only two current team members who have more tenure than I do.  That means I have been around for a lot of kits.  That also means I have been around for a lot of stamps.  

Except for rare exceptions, I've never been a big stamper.  Unlike many subscribers, stamps were never the reason I liked the kits.  So, as time has gone by, I have collected many stamps, and many of them still remain unused.

I am trying to clean up my space, and that means taking a look at my stamp stash.  I don't think I am allowed to sell these.  I know there are "for sale or trade" boards all over and even some occasionally sold by people on Ebay, so I know the demand can be high for some of the designs and I feel guilty having them all here.

SO.  I thought I'd give some away!

Disclaimer:

I *have* given away stamps before.  

I *do* covet some of them and plan to keep them for myself.

I *may* not have the stamp you love.  5 years and 2 kids is a lot of time and little hands that could have misplaced a stamp.

Some of them *may* have been used a time or two, and have the Stazon stain to prove it.  

The rules:

In the comment section, list up to 3 stamps you'd like to have.  I never memorize the stamp name, so please let me know what main kit it was part of so I'll know where to look.

I will draw TWO names on Saturday.  We will then work together to sort out what you'd love to have and what I have available.

Sound good?

I've given you two chances to win, but if you want a third chance, I will be giving away a stamp (or trying to, anyway, if I have the one you are looking for) to one person who purchases a Portfolio kit this week.  Simply enter the word STAMP in the comment section to seller when you purchase your kit by Saturday.  I'm not sure how many kits are left, so you might want to be swift if you are considering the kit and would like an extra stamp as well.  

ETA:  I have most stamps from all kits, main kits and add-ons.  You don't have to list main kit only stamps.  :)

How does that sound?

I hope you have a great week!  I am in dreamland, teaching Science to my 4/5 blend class at school.  We've been crafting, making communities from styrofoam and suffering from devastating Earthquakes, creating and erupting volcanoes, studying Crater Lake, and this week it's all about fun experiments with Rocks as part of an Earth Science unit.  I am having so much FUN.  You can be creative in so many ways.  This is definitely the profession for me.  I love touching little lives this way.   

Davinie

Project Summer - and LAST CALL for Take Note and Abroad!

ETA:  Weekend Giveaway below!  

Good Morning!  A couple weeks ago I shared a fun summer project I am working on, namely, Project Summer, where I am recapping our fun adventures in a mini album my family can enjoy.  One of the fun things about this album is that I'm using the Studio Calico Chevron journal as a base, with those 40 journal pages which will make for lots of layouts and opportunities for my kids to participate.  I'm also using the Take Note line for this journal because I think it has a fun color palette which is perfect for our summer adventures.

Guess what!?

It's Last Call at Studio Calico RIGHT NOW and Take Note AND Abroad are on sale.  Big time!

The cover for my summer album was made with Take Note, butterfly punches, and lots of little hole punched circles, all tucked into a page protector and sewed shut.  

More about that album cover and my plans here.  

Don't forget the journal too!  They are still 20% off through 6/30.  Be sure to enter discount code Journal20 at checkout.  

If you need other ideas utilizing Take Note or Abroad, be sure to check out the Studio Calico blog.  There's a list of other designers participating in a little inspo blog hop.  

ETA:  I forgot about the giveaway!  Oh my.  I get to give a lucky blog reader one of the 4x8 honeycomb embossed journals.  PERFECT for capturing your own summer!  

Check it out here.  Just leave a comment on this post and I'll draw a winner Monday morning. 

Enjoy your Friday!  I'm braving Macy's AND Target with the kids today.  No small feat!  Davinie

the Summer issue of Scrapbook and Cards Today magazine (and a weekend giveaway)

Good Morning!  Today is a fun day because it's the release of the summer issue of SCT.  It is always an honor to contribute to this inspiring publication and this month was no exception.  

I participated in the 3 Designer challenge for this issue.  We were each sent the same supplies, a kit of sorts, and asked to create a project from those supplies.  This is what I came up with:

Layout:

I loved the American Crafts goodies and couldn't stay away from the turquoise polkadots.  I thought they went really well with the orange from Payton's sunglasses.

Circles were the theme inspired by the dots so I used that in various punches and also stitched in a circular pattern as well.  The blue bumps placement was inspired by the popular mist splatters.  Fun to place them where I wanted them to be and to have a dimensional element too.

Weekend Giveaway:

I hope you have a chance to check out the summer issue of SCT, you can view it online, but if you'd like to see it in print and you aren't already a subscriber or don't have access to a copy at your LSS, I have an extra copy right here I would love to use for a weekend giveaway, along with a little box of goodies from my stash.  Good stuff, I promise.  Simply leave a comment and let me know if you take time to check out SCT each release, and if you like the online or the paper version.  I'll draw a name on Sunday night and post it first thing in the AM on Monday.  Sound good?  (P.S.  US only.  I love you, my international friends, but shipping is expensive).  

thank you and have a great Friday!  I have some work to do for classes tomorrow (Saturday classes are a stinker), and the annual swimming lesson extravaganza continues with lessons for the kiddos.  Fun times!  

Davinie

December Daily workshop winner

Giveaway winner:


And the winner of the spot in the December Daily workshop by Maggie Holmes is:

Cheryl Leong said...

I Like your sneaks! TFS!

cheryl131091 at yahoo dot com

8:13 AM 

Congratulations Cheryl!  I'm sending you an email!

Tis the Season - Documenting the holidays and a weekend giveaway!

The details:

Around my house are a couple of half finished December Daily albums.  Every year I make this big plan to do it, and then the holidays get here and I'm too busy enjoying them to document them daily with photos journaling.  Then the holidays are over and it's that post-pardum period, and then it's on to something else and the album cover gathers dust.

Last year I made a commitment to myself that 2011 was the year.  I HAD to do one this year.  I had several winter assignments in the winter issue of SCT, so I had a lot of Christmas/ winter product.  I decided to save the leftovers for my 2011 album, and as the year has gone by, I've been gathering products to my stash to use.  I'm already off to a great start!

Again, SCT set me up with another great idea when I was asked to do a mini album for the summer issue using the Fancy Pants brag book.  For the summer issue, I used it to document all the fun we had in the summer of 2010, and as I put it together, I knew I had to use it again. 

The album:

The Fancy Pants brag book is the ideal December Daily album, in my opinion.  It has journaling pages, pages with pockets, and page protectors.  It has a thick chipboard cover, and coil binding.  Coil binding with perfectly spaced coils which just so happens to work beautifully with my much neglected Bind-It-All.   I'll be able to add color and fun with my envelopes and memorabilia.  The coil binding also allows me to arrange the album as I think best. 

You could say it is a match made in heaven.

I am SO excited.

I'm calling my album "Tis the Season" because I plan to start it next weekend when we are at the beach for a few days with my family celebrating Christmas, just before Thanksgiving.  This yearly gathering always speaks the holiday season to me, and I didn't wnat to exclude it just because it didn't happen in December.  With my kids in public school now, it was getting difficult to schedule a December date that worked for everyone, so I think a late November gathering will be the norm from now on. 

I'm keeping the cover simple, using stamps and minimal embellishments.  I my experience, my mini albums get used and abused, and I wanted the cover to withstand the test of time.  In saying that I also wanted it to be timeless, so didn't want to get too crazy with the cover.

I plan to share my progress with this album here.  I'm hoping it'll go as smoothly as I envision, because I also plan to carry on in 2012 and do better about documenting the day to day.  I'll share more about that with my next Project 12 post. 

In the meantime, I wanted to share my excitement about this album with a blog reader.  Leave a comment letting me know what you did at 11:11 on 11/11/11 and I'll draw a winner for your very own Fancy Pants Designs brag book and announce a winner Monday morning.  Sound good?  My girls were in the Veteran's Day parade at 11:11.  They are Girl Scouts and were really excited to carry flags and waive to the crowds. 

Speaking of the holidays, though, there is something else new in my home that I'm also pretty excited about:

If you haven't heard of it before, it's called The Elf on the Shelf, and I can't wait for him to join our family.  I have wanted to use him in year's past, but I always forget about him until it is already into the season.  Not this year.  He's already found his way to our home and he's going to be the first book in our book Advent for December.  I can't wait to have fun with him.  If *I* am this excited to create mischief with this little guy, I can't wait to see what my kids think.  I have pinned zillions of hiding place ideas on Pinterest already.  Fun times ahead!

Have a great weekend!  Davinie

Supplies: _______________________________________________________

InLinkz.com

A weekend Giveaway - Sketchpad from Kelly Purkey and friends

Hi all!

I have a really fun giveaway for you today.  I was previously asked by miss KP to contribute to her Sketchbook class, so when she decided to do an updated version called Sketchpad, and asked me to contribute again, of course I jumped all over the opportunity.

Kelly has graciously donated a free "copy" of this class for one of my blog readers, and I'm very excited to share it with you!  Here's a little more about Sketchpad:

Sketchpad is a brand-new class from Kelly Purkey, spinning off from her series of successful Sketchbook classes.  Sketchpad is a downloadable, self-paced class featuring 12 original sketches, 35 exclusive layouts from Kelly + and her talented contributors, 35 MORE sketches made from those layouts, and 12 amazing cards based on the sketches from the talented, Kristina Werner... all in a full-color 75 page PDF.  Visit Kelly's blog for more details on the class and how to purchase. 

Here's a little sneak at some of the layouts from the sketches in the class:

And ssshhh.  Don't tell Kelly I shared, but here's a little peek at my layout:

The concept is really cool, so I hope you get a chance to check out this publication.  And because this blog post is for a giveaway, how about you leave a comment and let me know if you've taken a class from KP before, and I'll draw a winner Monday morning.  How does that sound?

Good luck!  Davinie

a Weekend Giveaway and a snippet of a sneak

Hello Friends!

We had a blast in Idaho.  The water park was a hoot, and except the part where I was tossed from the boat on the biggest rapid of our float, rafting down the Payette was a blast too!  :)

The week has flown by and my blog has gathered dust, but I'm here today with a couple of fun things to share.

FIRST:  If you are not a subscriber from Studio Calico, then you may not have taken the opportunity to purchase the current Studio Calico kit, Boardwalk:

I have to tell you, I adored everything about this kit and ended up with all the add-ons as well, so this is defintiely a must have in my book.

Let's talk exclusives:

2 double sided papers designed by Studio Calico. 
2 double sided papers designed by Crate paper for Studio Calico (LOOOOOOVED these).
That Sassafras sticker alpha?  An exclusive color, just for us.
The brown chipboard alpha?  That's the same font as our summer CHA release, but it's a different color, just for this kit.
There's also an SC exclusive stamp.  It's that round frame.

All of the above is only available if you get the Boardwalk kit.  Isn't that fabulous?!

The Sassafras prints in this kit as well as that Pink Paislee mistable trim had my heart so it's a shame to see any crafter miss out on an opportunity to get their hands on this one.

As for add-ons:

More Color - who doesn't want more cardstock to match?
Tide Pool, one of the add-ons for this kit, is available. 
So is the more add-on paper add-on.

I definitely recommend that add-on paper add-on.  We had a couple of prints from Simple Stories, a new company to me, and it was just delicious.  Just look at the beautiful color palette:

YUM.

Lucky for you, Studio Calico has been gracious enough to pass me a main kit to give away on my blog.  That's a $34.50 value! ($29.50 if you subscribe).  I love that!

If you are interested in getting your hands on the Boardwalk kit, simply leave a comment on my blog, and let me know if you've ever hand stitched on a layout.  That's all.  I'll leave comments open until Sunday and draw a winner Sunday evening.

Hooray!

And with hand stitching in mind, SECOND: check out this snippet of a sneak of the September kit, Glee Club.  I'm still working on this layout, but wanted to share my progress:

You can see bits of one of the main kit prints from Studio Calico here, as well as the main kit stamp.  That camera is going to be in a few places on this layout.

I have 10 instagram prints!  I sure love my phone.  That phone and that app made it much less stressful to capture fun at the fair a few weekends ago.  FUN times.

Obviously, this sneak is more about hand stitching than anything else, but i just wanted to share how easy the Sew Easy tool was to work with, especially that pennant roller.  SO fun.  (You can pick up the banner roller, as well as other shapes, from the shop too). 

More sneaks coming soon.

Good luck on the giveaway!  And have a great weekend!

Davinie

P.S.  You can only win the giveaway once, but you have multiple chances.  Check out the DT blogs (listed on my sidebar) for more chances to win.  This isn't a blog hop, but most of the girls should have a kit to give away so check them out.  :)

A little weekend Giveaway - Scrapbook and Cards with a side of Fancy Pants

For the summer issue of Scrapbook and Cards Today magazine, I was assigned the Fancy Pants Brag book and decided to make an album about the summer of 2010 and all the fun adventures we had.

This has turned into one of my favorite keepsakes.  I really like everything together in one place, in a compact little album that also has photo pages to add more photos, you know, those silly photos that don't make it on to the scrapbook layouts but still tell stories of amazing adventures, and lines for lots of journaling about it all.  It's a fun alternative to the traditional way I scrapbook.

As I was contemplating buzz about albums for a week in the life that Ali is doing, or Smash books, or mini albums in general, I came back to this Brag book and how fun it would be to fill one up again.

Contemplating that made me think of the WWW and a recent thread at Studio Calico about the once elusive Brag Book (but you can now find it here, for one).

I happen to have one right here, and was thinking it would be fun to share the love by giving it away this weekend.  And to give you ideas on what to do with it, I thought I'd add a summer issue of SCT so you can see a bit of the innards to the book I made.  Yes, Scrapbook and Cards Today magazine, IN. The. Flesh.  You did know you could subscribe if you can't find this at your LSS or prefer fondling a hard copy over the online version, didn't you?  You can. 

So there you have it.  I am in the giving mood and wanted to spread the wealth on documenting your life in different ways (you could also try Project 12, hint, hint). 

Simply leave a comment on this post about what you are up to these days.  Easy as that.  I'll leave the comments open and choose a winner first thing Monday morning.

Sound good? 

Have a great weekend!  I'm taking my girls to a Balloon Festival.  I am so excited!  Hopefully we'll get to see them launch this year......     Davinie