Card Challenge - Christmas inspiration by Cari Locken

How many of you have started making your christmas cards? I haven't. :( I taught a class this past Saturday and was surprised at how many ladies are almost finished making theirs (if not done already!) That's wonderful!

However, if you're like me and haven't started yet OR maybe you never thought about making them before and figured you'd try it out this year then I hope that I can share a bit of inspiration with you right now.

Remember, you can keep them as simple as you want and then they're easy to mass produce.

Or you can make them all different if you'd like. You also don't have to make cards using the typical red & green combos. There's so many different colors that are being used to decorate christmas trees these days that you can use that for your inspiration as well.

I'm going to share with you a bunch of cards that I have made.

This 1st collection reveals 7 cards that I'm currently teaching. I've used product from Imaginisce and their new christmas collection called Cottage Christmas.

This second set were cards I made last year using Imaginisce's Polar Expression collection.

And these cards I did a lot of embossing using the Cuttlebug embossing folders and then just added a few pieces of cardstock here & there along with ribbons, buttons and stamped sentiments.

I hope that you're inspired to start creating. ENJOY!

Stamp It Challenge - by Cari Locken

Well, I have to admit that I actually started out this scrapbooking journey with some stamps. I went to a stamping party and immediately was hooked.

However, there was a BIG lull for me when I didn't want to use stamps at all. I was just quite content scrapbooking with all the new goodies & toys out there in the scrapbooking industry that my stamps began to collect dust.

But over the years I've acquired a love for them again.

Since designing for Imaginisce I've found that I've used them even more on my layouts (not just cards .... which is where I usually think to use my stamps).

Here are a few examples of how I've used stamps.

This one I stamped the image with Versamark.

Supplies used: Bazzill cardstock, Imaginise (Scooter's Vacation: paper, flowers, stickers, stamps), transparency, EK Success corner rounded punch, Versamark

For this layout I stamped the little robot image with black ink and then colored it in with Tombow markers.

Supplies used: Imaginisce (Live Loud: papers, stamps, stickers, chipboard), Tombow markers, EK Success corner rounded punch

On this card I used the word stamp with Versamark on the background card and then stamped and colored the main image in like I did for the layout above.

Supplies used: Prism cardstock, Imaginisce (Live Loud: papers, stickers, stamps), EK Success corner rounded punch, Versamark, Tombow markers

I used a flower stamp for this layout on some patterned paper and then just colored in the center of the stamped flower image.

Supplies used: Core'dinations cardstock (Black Magic), Imaginisce (To Love & Cherish: papers, flowers, stamps, i-top brads), American Crafts Thickers

And lastly, on this layout I used a tree stamp on patterned paper and then cut out all the trees and adhered them along the bottom section of my layout. Some trees I adhered with pop dots ... others just flat.

Supplies used: Core'dinations cardstock, Imaginisce (Apple Cider: papers, chipboard, rub-ons, stamps, i-rock tool and crystals), VersaColor ink (in brown)

Thanks for looking & I hope that you're inspired a little to play with your stamp collection today!

Giving Thanks - by Cari Locken

I just love this time of year. I love the coolness in the air, the changing color of the leaves, hunting for the perfect pumpkin and making yummy comfy foods!

I also enjoy this time of year because we set aside a day to be thankful. (not that we should just do that one day of the year, don't get me wrong) but it is nice to have a day where we can actually sit down together and actually take the time to say what we are thankful for. I'm hoping to do just that this year at our dinner table before we dig in to our delicious turkey dinner meal.

In keeping with this theme of Giving Thanks I'd like to share a few projects with you that I've made.

I just made this layout this past week using one of my all-time favorite collections by Imaginisce, called Apple Cider. I love it. So rich & warm.

Supplies used: Imaginisce (Apple Cider - papers, ribbon, chipboard), I-rock tool (by Imaginisce), Fiskars border punch (leaf design), owl (My Little Bit of Whimsy), Core'dinations Cardstock

This little mini album is accordian style. I taught it last year at a retreat. It's so cute & easy to make.

Supplies used: chipboard, Bazzill Basics kraft colored cardstock, Scenic Route patterned paper, chipboard (Riff Raff Designs), flowers (Prima), stamps (Making Memories and Melissa Frances)

Here's another mini album that I've made. This one housing pictures of people and things that I'm thankful for. I'll be teaching this class again up at The Ultimate Scrapbook Retreat at Loon Lake in a few weeks.

Supplies used: Paper Trunk (papers, letter stickers), ribbon (Offray), punches (EK Success), Fiskars border punches, Bind-it-all machine and o-wires, Making Memories stamps

Have a blessed Thanksgiving everyone!

Color Challenge by Cari Locken

Hi there everyone!

Well, after taking the summer off from being around here it's great to be back!! I hope that you've all starting settling into school/work routines again. I've been trying to get used to having all 3 of my kids in school now and I must admit it's been a huge change. I've enjoyed some quiet hours and have had some time to scrapbook as well.

I sometimes find it hard to get back into the groove or find that I lack inspiration. I have found the perfect place to get inspiration is from sketches and color challenges.

This particular picture below was my color challenge.

I decided to use the layout of the photos as part of my actual design. The colors were just so gorgeous that I used those as well.

Supplies used: Imaginisce (Birthday Bash papers & rub-ons), Core'dinations Cardstock, button (My Little Bit of Whimsy), Fiskars border punches

Hope you have a chance to play along with this awesome challenge!

Have a great weekend!

Autumn is in the Air - Chriss Hird

Well, I don't know about you, but this first full week back at school, and all the extra-ciricular activities that come with this time of year, have really wiped me out! If I didn't understand the term "Mom's Taxi" before, I certainly do now!!! I just need to know - where do I go to get a meter installed in my vehicle? I think that should be an option when buying a car!

I did manage to scrap a couple pages though! Autumn is my absolute favourite time of year. I love the crispness of the autumn air, the bustle of getting ready for school (most days!), cozying up in my favourite sweater and seeing the leaves change to the beautiful crimson shades of Fall! Oh, and did I mention the fabulous seasonal patterned papers?!

I know many of you have probably seen, and maybe even added to your stash, the sweet new Apple Cider line from Imaginisce. How have I come to this conclusion? Because I went back to my fave LSS today to pick up a few more sheets and guess what - SOLD OUT! And its no wonder, they're so darn cute!

I wanted to show how you can create lovely LO's using only the patterned paper. Sure, all the embellishments are fabulous, but they can get pretty pricey too. So if you love a particular line, try using embellishments you have at home, or even create your own!

This layout is my favourite, yet if you look at it, its rather simple. Besides paper, all I've used is a tag and chipboard lettering. I'm fortunate enough to have a Sizzix alpha set, so I cut out my own title, painted it, and then ran it through my Cuttlebug Argyle embossing folder. The result is easy, inexpensive and cute!


This second page has a few more additions, but not many. I stamped my title with my Stampin' Up Woodgrain background stamp - that's it! The acorns are from...you guessed it! My Cricut! (By now, you should all know how much I love the Cricut! LOL!) A couple flowers and some buttons completes the page.


So if you find yourself at your favourite scap shop with only a few dollars to spend, get that perfect paper and take it home knowing that you can create something beautiful and stay within your budget! Can't wait to see what you come up with!

Father's Day - by Cari Locken

I love celebrating my dad and my kids love doing the same for their day. But don't ya think that sometimes the hoopla for Mother's Day is so much more? I don't get it. I know in our family my husband is both an amazing dad and husband. He loves our children & does so much with them and they just adore him. We're not planning to do anything big but we are having a nice lunch with my side of the family and just hanging out for the day.

Our middle one made a book for him at school and I actually snuck a peek at it the other day when I was putting it in a "secret" place. Oh my! It made me cry. It was straight from the heart.

The kids helped me make this small gift for their dad as he loves chocolate covered raisins. We were going to get some golf tees as well but I ran out of time before this post. We may still get to that before Sunday though.

Supplies: Imaginisce "Live Loud" collection (paper, ribbon, chipboard), Scenic Route chipboard "u", Making Memories alpha stickers

And this layout is about my dad. I love him and I'm so thankful that he's my dad.

Supplies: Heidi Swapp patterned paper & chipboard crown, American Crafts thickers, Making Memories letter stickers

and this layout (I created a while ago) is about my hubby. I love how the kids admire him so and want to be just like him (... in some way)

Supplies: Core'dinations cardstock, twine, Cuttlebug embossing folders, Stampin' Up punch

And here's an album that I made last year for a class that I taught.

Just a few of the inside pages.

I hope that you are able to enjoy being with your father and celebrating him.

Happy Father's Day to all the dad's out there!

Wedding - by Cari Locken

Well, it seems that we're getting close to that time of year when we'll see more & more weddings happening during the summer months. It's been 12 years since my hubby & I got married and my photos have been in an album shortly after we got married. And to be honest, I have no desire to take them out of those plastic sheets and scrap them. I'm not sure why because they're good photos. I just prefer to scrapbook the "here" & "now" I guess.

Anyways, with all the weddings happening there's always showers & gifts that are to be given so I created a couple of cards to celebrate this blissful time of year. I've used the new "To Love & Cherish" collection from Imaginisce - a wedding collection.

Supplies used: Imaginisce (To Love & Cherish collection of papers, rub-ons, ribbons, flowers) and Core'dinations cardstock, Fiskars border punch, twine, button, rhinestones

These 2 cards are very similiar in design however with a different color added (let's say something that matches the bridesmaid dresses) the black & white combo really changes.

Supplies used: Imaginisce (To Love & Cherish collection of papers, flowers, brads), Core'dinations Impressions Cosmo Cricket Collection (black) and Essentials cardstock (yellow), button, ribbon

I'd love to see what you can create for weddings. There's many ideas out there, like wedding favors, invitations, gift bags, etc. So show us what you've created by posting a link here on the blog.