Scrapbooking 101: Lead with Brads

It’s been awhile since I posted a Scrapbooking 101 tip, so I thought I’d put one up for you today.  On this So Much Love for Grandpa page, which features photos of Seth and Mia with my grandpa, I used a line of brads to accentuate the title.  Placing brads in a line, whether straight or curved, will serve as a directional aid, helping to lead the eye across the page (or in the direction you place the line of brads).  Try it for yourself on one of your scrapbook pages!

I apologize that the “So Much” and “for Grandpa” portions of the title are hard to see….I used Bashful Blue ink on Bashful Blue cardstock in order to keep the word “love” as my focal point of the title.  They show up fine in real life, but not so much in this photo.

Be sure to check out my other Scrapbooking 101 posts in my left sidebar!

Stamp sets: so much, jumbo outline alphabet; Inks: bashful blue, basic black, old olive; Cardstock: bashful blue, whisper white, certainly celery, so saffron, cutie pie DSP; Embellishments: rich regals brads; Tools: heart to heart punch, circle punch, paper piercer, punches plus classy brass template 

I {Heart} Sweet Pea Felt

I’ve been itching to use my new Sweet Pea Stitched Felt (available in the Occasions Mini Catalog starting January 5th) ever since I earned it for free by getting certified in My Digital Studio.  Finally got the chance last night to break it out.  I designed this simple card to keep the focus on the felt embellishments.  Truly, I am in love and I can’t wait to use some of the felt pieces on a few scrapbook pages. 

Sweet Pea Stitched Felt – Item #117266.  For just $7.95, you get a pack of 52 stitched felt pieces including:

• three-petal flowers
• french knot circles
• leaves
• six-petal flowers

That’s a great deal!  The Sweet Pea Stitched Felt coordinates with our gorgeous Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla, Old Olive, Pretty in Pink, and Rose Red colors.

Here’s a close-up of the stitched flower & leaves:

Stamp set: kind and caring thoughts; Inks: rose red, old olive, chocolate chip; Cardstock: rose red, whisper white, chocolate chip; Embellishments: sweet pea stitched felt; Tools: scallop trim border punch (Sale-a-bration catalog)

If you’re interested in losing 10-15 lbs in January, join my nutritional cleansing group.  I’d love to be your personal Isagenix coach!  So far, I’ve lost 32 lbs & 53 inches in 13 weeks using Isagenix and I feel AMAZING!  Email me ASAP so we can get you started ASAP!!!  See this post for more details and check out my sidebar above to see before/after photos.

**The first 5 people who sign up for my Isagenix group will get a sampling of our delicious IsaDelights dark chocolate bars (diet-friendly) & Want More Energy drink mix from me!

Top Note Genie Bag Tutorial

I already posted the chipboard ornaments I made for a few friends this Christmas.  See this post if you missed them.  Well, I couldn’t just give them the handmade ornaments in a store-bought bag, could I?!!!  Of course not!  So, I made my own genie bags in two different versions.

Stamps: four the holidays; Inks: baja breeze; Cardstock: riding hood red, baja breeze, whisper white; Embellishments: whisper white 1/4” grosgrain ribbon; Tools: large oval punch, scallop trim border punch, big shot, stampin’ up! top note bigz die, cutting pads; Other: small white paper lunch sack

Stamps: christmas punch; Inks: real red; Cardstock: real red, glorious green, whisper white; Embellishments: whisper white 1/4” grosgrain ribbon; Tools: scallop oval punch, scallop square punch, big shot, stampin’ up! top note bigz die, cutting pads; Other: small white paper lunch sack

Here’s a tutorial for those of you who want to try it at home…

1) Start with a small paper lunch sack (I used white) and 2 top note shapes die-cut with the Stampin’ Up! Top Note Bigz Die by Sizzix for the Big Shot.

2)  Fold the turned-up side of the sack bottom downward so that both bottom pieces form a “V”.  Now cut the lunch sack so that it is 3” tall.

3) Apply adhesive to one side of the lunch sack and adhere it to the center of one of the top note die-cut pieces.

4) Now use an oval punch to punch handles in the top of the bag….you will be punching through 3 layers (the top note piece and both sides of the paper sack).

5) Now apply adhesive to the exposed side of the paper sack.  Then adhere your second Top Note die-cut piece on top, aligning the top note shapes.  The paper sack will be sandwiched between the two top note pieces.

6) When you open up the bag, you will see that the top note piece you just adhered does not have the handle opening punched.  This is evident by the red cardstock showing behind the oval scallop.

7) Simply slide your punch inside the bag and punch through the 2nd top note piece, using the oval punched in the paper sack as a guide for perfect alignment. 

8) Now decorate as desired and fill with goodies!

Isagenix Nutritional Cleansing Info

I’ve had quite a few questions about the Isagenix 30-day Cleansing and Fat-Burning System and my upcoming nutritional cleansing group.  I thought I’d share the answers here in case any of you were considering Isagenix and had similar questions.



What is the 30-day Cleansing & Fat-Burning System?  On this system, you’ll have 6 shake days and 1 cleanse day per week.  On shake days, you will replace 2 meals with our delicious IsaLean shakes and then have a 400-600 calorie meal for your third meal.  Plus, you’ll eat a healthy 100-calorie or so snack every 2 hours.  On cleanse days, you will drink our Cleanse for Life liquid and snack on our wafer-like IsaSnacks.  Then every day, you should drink alot of water (half your body weight in ounces).   

Will I be in the bathroom all day on cleanse days?  No.  Isagenix is a nutritional cleanse, NOT a colon cleanse.  If you do need to visit the bathroom alot it is only because you will likely need to urinate more often with your increased water consumption.

I’m used to eating food at regular intervals each day.  How can I go all day without eating on cleanse days, especially if I’m hypoglycemic?  You’ll be surprised how satisfied you are with our Cleanse for Life liquid.  Plus, our IsaSnacks, which you will eat 6 times per day on cleanse days, are designed to stabilize blood sugar and curb hunger.  I am hypoglycemic myself and I do pretty well on cleanse days.  Occasionally I have to eat a 1/4 of an apple or some celery sticks, but generally not. 

Are Isagenix products only for those who want to lose weight?  No.  Isagenix products are great for anyone who wants to increase their health, have more energy, and sleep like a baby!  There are athletes that use Isagenix to stay in top shape.

Will the shakes fill me up?  Yes.  Take it from someone who was used to eating alot of food.  You can add ice to your shakes as well as a small amount of fruit and they are very satisfying.  If you are hungry after drinking your shakes, know that you can have a healthy snack every 2 hours so food is never far off!

How much is the 30-day system?  $260 wholesale when you sign up as an Associate on autoship.  Otherwise you would pay $374 retail.  That is a HUGE savings!!

Isagenix seems expensive….can I afford it?  Of course you are the only one who truly knows your budget situation.  I can say that since this is a meal replacement system, you will be spending a lot less on food.  Besides the 30-day, you will just need to buy groceries for 6 meals per week and several healthy snacks per day.  I can honestly say that I spend less on food now than before I started Isagenix.  Also, I do tend to eat out A LOT less, and that translates into huge savings. For less than $9US a day, you can have TWO meals plus snacks, but you could easily pay that for ONE meal at a restaurant.

If money is still a concern, I can show you how to earn commission with Isagenix and start earning a portion, or even all of your products plus residual income!  By the way, membership into Isagenix (a $39 value) is free now, but only through January 3rd. 

When does the nutritional cleansing group start?  If you want to be part of a cleanse group, please contact me ASAP, so we can get started ASAP!! You can lose 10-15 lbs a month, and that get put you well on your way for bathing suit season.
 
If you have any additional questions about Isagenix, please don’t hesitate to email me.  I would love to be your personal cleansing coach starting in January!

Christmas Food Place Cards

Before Christmas dinner yesterday, I spooned different types of jellies/apple butter into decorative bowls for our dinner rolls.  Though it looks more festive, the jellies are hard to distinguish once outside their labeled jars.  I thought about writing labels on scraps of paper, but wanted something a little more fancy.  So, I ran downstairs to my craft studio and whipped up these fun little food place cards.

The place cards themselves were quickly cut using Whisper White cardstock and Stampin' Up's Table Setting Bigz XL die by Sizzix in my Big Shot.  I then stamped a poinsettia image from the Berry Christmas stamp set in the upper right corner and wrote the name of the jelly with a pen.  Simply bend the place cards in half and you're ready to go.  It took me less than 5 minutes to finish all 3 tags and it certainly livened up the serving line.

Hoping that you all had a Merry Christmas!

Note: both the Table Setting Die and Berry Christmas stamp set are available in our Holiday Mini Catalog, which is only good through the end of the December, so order yours now!

Stamp set: berry christmas; Inks: garden green, real red; Cardstock: whisper white; Tools: big shot, su table settings bigz xl die, extended cutting pads

MDS Christmas Gift Certificate

I made this Christmas gift certificate for my mom using My Digital Studio.  I printed it on my computer and then mounted it on a piece of 4-1/4 x 5-1/2” real red cardstock.  Though it’s not indicated in words, the certificate entitles Mom to 2 shows at a local live, outdoor theater during the summer of 2010.  Can’t wait to see the shows with her and my daughter, Mia!  Mom was pretty excited too after I gave her the gift certificate tonight!

To make the certificate, I took an existing designer card and made several modifications to it to suit my needs.  Instead of photos, I used show title images in the photo boxes.  Then I added miniature button embellishments in place of the berries in the holly stamp image. 

I actually created a different version of the gift certificate first but decided I wasn’t happy with the design as I was looking for a simpler design since the show title images were so varied.  Here’s the 1st version:

On Board Trinkets Ornaments

I purchased a chipboard ornament kit from the Stampin’ Up! Clearance Rack online.  These are two of the ornaments I put together as Christmas gifts.  Mix and match patterns for different looks.

After gluing the designer paper to the chipboard using Tombow Multi Purpose Adhesive, I added extra sparkle by piping the same adhesive to the edge of the medallion on the circular ornament and to the entire blue portions of the shaped ornament and then sprinkled on Dazzling Diamonds glitter.  I added a piece of Whisper White grosgrain ribbon to the ornament on the right and then used my Crop-a-Dile on both ornaments to punch a hole in the top, through which I tied a piece of Silver Cord.

Supplies: on board trinkets, tombow multi purpose adhesive, whisper white 1/4” grosgrain ribbon, silver cord, crop-a-dile

Here’s a peek at the On Board Trinkets ornament kit.

On Board Trinkets Ornaments
Item #113680

Regularly $24.95 in the catalog, the kit is now on clearance for just $8.99.  Talk about a deal!

The ornaments in this kit are easy to make and exclusive—you won’t find them in any store. The chipboard and paper are die cut, so you don’t need to worry about measuring and cutting—the pieces fit perfectly together. They’re easy to embellish by adding glitter or Rub-Ons or embossing them with your favorite stamped images. And they also look great as embellishments on holiday cards, tags, and scrapbook pages.
■ Combination of On Board chipboard pieces and die-cut Designer Series paper
■ 6 sheets of 9" x 9" die-cut chipboard (2 sheets of 3 designs containing an assortment of words, stars, and classic ornament shapes)
■ 12" x 12" die-cut double-sided Designer Series paper sized to fit chipboard pieces (3 sheets each of 2 designs)
■ Coordinates with Stampin’ Up!’s exclusive colors: Baja Breeze, Old Olive, Riding Hood Red

Get your kit by going to my Stampin’ Up! Webstore and then clicking Shop Now.  When you’re in the store, click the Clearance Rack category in the left sidebar, or enter the item number in the search box.

New Winter Blog Banner

Check out my new winter blog banner!!  What do you think?  I designed it myself in My Digital Studio, exported it as a JPEG file, and then cropped and resized it in Photoshop Elements.  It was a pretty quick process.  Love that I can change my banner as often as I feel like!  This software is great for designing much more than cards & scrapbook pages…..think flyers, banners, invitations, chore charts, etc.  I’ve even designed a gift certificate, which I’ll be posting on Christmas Eve.  If you don’t already have My Digital Studio, contact me to purchase your copy.
Don’t forget to email me by December 27th (sooner if possible) if you’re interested in losing around 10-15 lbs in January, with me as your personal coach.  See this post for details.

Snow Buddies Birthday

A good friend’s dad celebrated his 69th birthday on Friday and I needed a card for him.  I don’t have many masculine stamps and I wanted to avoid Christmas stamps, so I chose the snowman, snowflake, & dotted flourish images from the Snow Buddies hostess Level 2 stamp set in the Holiday mini catalog.  I stamped the snowman’s hat on a piece of scrap cardstock, cut it out, and then popped it up with a couple of stacked glue dots to give it a little dimension.  The designer paper is from our retired Prints Pack, a 6x6 paper pack hostess selection from several years back.  I thought the white dots on bashful blue cardstock resembled falling snow and fit nicely with the theme of the card.  The greeting is from the On Your Birthday stamp set.  A piece of Night of Navy grosgrain ribbon & silver cord finish it off the front of the card nicely.  Since my card base is so dark, I added a piece of Whisper White cardstock to the inside so that my greeting can be read once I write it.  I stamped a few images on the side for interest.

 Stamp set: snow buddies, on your birthday; Inks: basic black, bashful blue, night of navy; Cardstock: night of navy, whisper white, prints pack DSP; Embellishments: night of navy 1/4” grosgrain ribbon, silver cord

Want to Lose Weight?

Swimsuit season is just 6 or so months away here in the Midwest.  Are you interested in losing around 10-15 pounds in one month?  Then I've got a solution to your New Year's resolution!  I'm looking for 10 people to do a nutritional cleanse with me.  You'll receive personal coaching, have access to our group nutritional cleansing forum, and can participate in a group coaching call.  We're starting January 2nd, so email me (t.kieninger@comcast.net) if you want to join the group and I’ll give you the details.  Hurry and sign-up by December 27th so your products arrive in time! 

By the way, did I mention that as a bonus you'll IMPROVE your SLEEP, gain some new found ENERGY, and FEEL BETTER than you have it years?  Well, it's true!  What do you have to lose, besides the weight?!!

If you don’t believe it works, then check out my 3-month comparison photo!

Tutorial: Stamping on Candles

For Christmas this year, I stamped candles for my kids’ teachers.  The candles make fun and inexpensive gifts.  I used peppermint-scented candles and the smell is heavenly when heated.  Here’s a tutorial so you can try it for yourself.

1) Start with a piece of white tissue paper.  Stamp randomly on the paper with classic ink.

2) Cut your tissue paper into strips measuring just shy of the height of your candle.

3) Wrap the tissue paper strip around the side of your candle.

4) Now tear off a piece of waxed paper.  Wrap it around your tissue-wrapped candle.  Pinch the ends together tightly.  You want to ensure that the waxed paper lays as flat against the candle as possible.

5) Apply heat to the waxed paper using your Heat Tool (aka heat gun).  This causes the wax from the waxed paper to melt the tissue paper into the candle.  Continue applying heat until the tissue paper becomes translucent.  Now continue around the candle until the entire tissue paper strip has been heat set.  You will likely need to move your waxed paper in order to heat set the back side of the candle.  If so, use a fresh piece of waxed paper as the used pieces tend to get wax buildup.

Here’s a close-up showing the bottom side of the candle, which has been heat set and is translucent.  The top side of the candle has not been heat set and you can see the white of the tissue paper. 

6) Once your entire candle is heat set, you can decorate as desired. 

Experiment with different colors of candles and tissue paper for new looks.

Note: you can also stamp your images on tissue paper and then cut them out and heat set them with wax paper individually on the candle.

Stamp sets: berry christmas, christmas punch (hostess set); Inks: night of navy, brocade blue; Cardstock: night of navy, brocade blue, whisper white; Embellishments: silver cord, tissue paper/candle/waxed paper (non-Stampin’ Up!); Tools: heat tool, tag punch, jumbo snowflake punch 

Scrapbooking 101: Simply Scrappin’ Kits

For quick and coordinated scrapbook pages, turn to Stampin’ Up’s Simply Scrappin’ Kits.  For just $19.95, you get:

• 6 sheets of 12x12” double-sided designer series paper
• 6 sheets of 6x12” self-adhesive die-cuts (2 each of 3 designs)
• 8 sheets of 12x12” textured card stock

These kits make putting together scrapbook pages a snap and allow you to create with minimal products.  On these example pages, the only supplies used were our retired Hoppy Memories Simply Scrappin’ Kit, Pixie Pink & Whisper White cardstock, and a Real Red Stampin’ Write Marker.
And our Simply Scrappin’ Kits are great for cards and 3-D projects as well, so stock up on our current designs here.

The nice thing is that you can adhere our self-adhesive die-cuts easily anywhere you'd like on your page.  However, if you don't want your die-cut to be sticky (say you want to pop it up with a dimensional or let it loosely as a tag), then simply pat your Embossing Buddy on the back side of the die-cut.  The powder in the Embossing Buddy will adhere to the stickiness and you'll be left with a non-sticky back.  

MDS: Year End Photo Book

Warning: Mom – if you’re reading this post, please stop or you will ruin your surprise for Christmas!

Last year, I started the tradition of creating a photo book to document my favorite photos of the kids over the past year.  I used Photoshop Elements and some templates to create the pages and had them printed by a photo book company.  They became cherished presents for grandparents and godparents and I made sure to keep one for myself.

This year, I’m creating my photo books with My Digital Studio.  I’ve dedicated 2 adjacent pages to each month.  This is from an 8-1/2 x 11 photo book.  I kept the design simple so that my photos are the focus of the page….this is easy with MDS as you can pick a photo box layout to start with (though I did do some modifying).  I chose the grid pattern designer series paper as my background, though I am using different colors on each page in order to coordinate with the photos.  I also used the dotted circle stamp images from Enjoy Every Moment as page accents, though I move the location of the circles on each page to give them a little variety.  I added simple journaling tidbits underneath the photos to help describe them.  Here are images from the January  & March pages.  The left side of the book is shown first, followed by the right side of the book. 

 

 

Happy New Baby Cards – Style 2

If you caught yesterday’s post, you would have seen some baby cards that I recently stamped.  Here are some additional cards using the same images, cardstock pieces and embellishments, but a different layout.  Like those posted yesterday, these cards have boy and girl versions.

Which style do you like best…….yesterday’s or today’s?

  Stamp sets: animal crackers, family phrases; Inks: chocolate chip, barely banana, close to cocoa, pretty in pink or bashful blue; Cardstock: kraft, whisper white, pretty in pink or bashful blue; Embellishments: pretty in pink or bashful blue taffeta ribbon; Tools: big shot, stampin’ up! table settings bigz XL die, extended cutting pads

Good Neighbors Get Well Card

My friend Kathy has been battling pneumonia since before Thanksgiving, so I stamped this get well card to send to her.  I’m praying that you soon make a speedy recovery, Kathy!

This card is also my entry in the Paper Pals Arts #20 Color Challenge.  It’s been quite some time since I’ve participated in a challenge.  It feels great to get the chance to play, especially with this cute color combo. 

 

This card uses products that you can earn for FREE during the upcoming Sale-a-bration (SAB) promotion starting in January.  It’s our biggest promotion of the year!  Be sure to save your Christmas money so you can earn a SAB product FREE with every $50 purchase!  

• I just love the house images in the Good Neighbors SAB stamp set.  This stamp set would be perfect for creating cards to send to someone who has just moved or is remodeling a house.  I also have several realtor friends who could use this set to create client thank you cards.  And just wait until you see the Designer Series Paper SAB pad that coordinates with this set! 
• So are you wondering how I got that adorable border on my card?  It’s easy with our Scallop Trim Border Punch, available as a SAB product!

Stamp sets: good neighbors (SAB), kind & caring thoughts; Inks: soft suede, crushed curry, old olive; Cardstock: crushed curry, old olive, whisper white, autumn traditions DSP; Embellishments: old olive 1/4” grosgrain ribbon; Tools: scallop trim border punch (SAB)

Stay tuned later tonight as I’ll be posting my Style #2 Baby Cards.  If you missed yesterday’s post with Style #1, click here.

And of course, don’t miss your chance at my blog candy!  Enter by December 15th.  See this post for details.

Happy New Baby Cards – Style 1

I am WAY behind on sending out baby cards to some of my friends and customers.  So, when I arrived home a little early from work today, I got busy stamping.  If you are one of my friends and have had a baby recently (or even several months back!), stop reading now or you’ll spoil your surprise.  These cards are going in the mail tomorrow.

I came up with 2 styles of baby cards, each using the same pieces and embellishments, but with different layouts.  I also created a boy version and a girl version of each style.   I kept each card simple and I love them.  It’s funny how my favorite cards are often the simplest ones!  All of the cards use Kraft cardstock as the base, taffeta ribbon, Whisper White cardstock, a piece of soft subtles cardstock cut into a large tag using our Stampin’ Up! Table Settings Bigz XL die from the Holiday mini catalog, the giraffe image from our Animal Crackers stamp set, and the happy new baby greeting from our Family Phrases stamp set.  The giraffe and greeting are stamped in Chocolate Chip ink and the giraffe is colored in with Barely Banana, Close to Cocoa, and either Pretty in Pink or Bashful Blue Stampin’ Write Markers.   

Here’s style #1:

 

Be sure to check back tomorrow for Style #2! 

Stamp sets: animal crackers, family phrases; Inks: chocolate chip, barely banana, close to cocoa, pretty in pink or bashful blue; Cardstock: kraft, whisper white, pretty in pink or bashful blue; Embellishments: pretty in pink or bashful blue taffeta ribbon; Tools: big shot, stampin’ up! table settings bigz XL die, extended cutting pads

Don’t forget, you have until December 15th to sign up for my blog candy contest!  Click here for details.

Dormant Lists – Retiring January 4th

Do you know about our Dormant List?  This list includes stamp sets that were featured in past catalogs but are not pictured in the current catalog, though you can still purchase them.  The Dormant List was first created when we were using two catalogs a year and contained mostly seasonal stamp sets to carry them over until the next catalog. Now that we're back to one catalog a year, the Dormant List is kind of obsolete. And Stampin' Up! just announced that stamp sets on the current list will all retire as on January 4th and will no longer be available.

Fall 2009 Dormant List (.pdf)

Make sure to check out this list, which includes a small image of each stamp set.  If you click on the image in the PDF, it will take you to the online store page to view it larger.  Be sure to order the stamp sets you want before they are gone forever!  Send me an email with your order or purchase them directly online at http://tarakieninger.stampinup.net.

MDS Tutorial: Remove Photo Box From Template

With the release of our My Digital Studio software, Stampin’ Up! offered a series of webinars, quizzes, and assignments to their demonstrators under a certification program.  I’m pleased to announce that I am now My Digital Studio Certified!  This means that I am here to answer your questions and help you with your projects.  While I can obviously only offer this personal service to those who purchase the software from me, I thought it would be a great idea to share some My Digital Studio tutorials here on my blog for everyone. 

If you want to purchase My Digital Studio (Item #118108, $79.95), click the Certification button in my left sidebar and then go to Shop Now.  My Digital Studio software and MDS extra downloads can be found under the Digital Crafting category there.  Or email me with your order!

I thought I would start by showing you how to remove a photo box from a pre-made Designer template.  In this example, I started with the Christmas Cocoa II Designer 12x12 Template (available as part of an extra download to MDS, Item #120880).  As you can see from the screen shot below, this template has 4 photo boxes.  

Now, let’s say that I only want 3 of those boxes because I only have 3 photos.  It’s easy to remove the extra one.

1) Click on the photo box you want to remove.  In this case, I want to remove the lower box.  When you click on the box, a set of gray “handles” will appear around the digital element to indicate that it is selected.

2) Now that the photo box is selected, click the Delete key on your computer keypad (or in your software, go to the Edit menu bar and select Delete Object from the dropdown choices).  Here’s how your page will look with the photo box removed.

3)  Now I want to resize the white cardstock digital element to remove the extra white space below the remaining photo boxes.  Click on the white cardstock element until the gray selection handles appear.

4) Now move your computer mouse over the bottom middle handle until an up/down arrow appears.  Drag the handle up while holding down the left mouse button until your cardstock is resized as desired (in this case, just shy of the bottom black photo box).  Here’s how your page will look.

5) Now drag & drop your photos into the photo boxes and type in your journaling into the text box to complete your page. 

Here’s my finished page with bottom photo box removed from the designer template.

My Digital Studio elements: christmas cocoa II 12x12 designer template