Friday, February 24, 2012

Let's Scrap Design Team call

IF YOU CAME HERE FOR THE BLOG HOP: YOU CAN FIND THAT POST HERE 

I always think time flies and every time we (Betty Anne and myself) have to start posting the new DT call for Let's Scrap we say the same thing.
Last call we changed our term from 3 to 4 months and it still flies. But okay, it is that time again and we are looking for a new design team. Here is what we are looking for:


We are looking for experienced and new, talented designers from all over the world that can do awesome things with our sketches and challenges. The term will be running from April 1, 2012 – July 3, 2012
If you would like to apply to join our wonderful team we would love to receive your application before March 20, 2012. 

This is what you’ll need to turn in:

  • Your take on the sketch below - it can be a 2 page layout or you can do either side
  • short paragraph about yourself, explaining who you are and “why you want to be on the Let's Scrap DT”
  • A link to your gallery or blog if you have one
  • List of any teams you are on right now or responsibilities
  • Your contact information

Each DT member will be expected to do the following 'chores':

  • Make 2 LO's/cards per month from our sketches
  • Provide a challenge or tutorial (at least one per term)
  • Be an active member in our forum and in the gallery
  • Be a team player
If you think you are THE new DT member please send your application to: letsscrap2011@gmail.com. Anyone thinking of applying for the DT please contact us for a more detailed information sheet about what would be expected of a member of the Let's Scrap Design Team.  

And here's the sketch we want your take on:

And even though I am a bit biased, only a bit, LOL, I can say Let's Scrap is such a fun place to be. 



Monday, February 13, 2012

Free printables

IF YOU CAME HERE FOR THE BLOG HOP: YOU CAN FIND THAT POST HERE 


I thought it would be time again to show you some free printables that I found in this great environment called the world wide web. I love free printables and I have tons of them saved. Now the only thing I need is walls to hang them on and time to craft with them, LOL.
Here's some lovely ones:










I just hope you have enough ink in your printer or enough storage on your computer. Thanks for popping by and have a great week!

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Rainbow Colored Cake

IF YOU CAME HERE FOR THE BLOG HOP: YOU CAN FIND THAT POST HERE

My little boy is getting BIG! Last Thursday he turned 11. I can still remember the day he was born as if it was yesterday. He has been a total joy ever since the day he was born and I can not believe how sweet and nice this little man is.
In our little family we have this cute birthday tradition: You eat your birthday cake in bed!!!!! So this year I made DS Joram an angel cake covered with white chocolate (he loves white chocolate). There's one con about this cool tradition we have: You never have a complete birthday cake when your party starts!
He had his party on Friday and I decided to make al ast minute cake at 2pm. Well, let me tell you: You can better think of it a bit earlier than 2pm. I was stressing. Always aiming at high goals I wanted to make something special with little than less supplies. The party started at 6 so there was no time for complicated icing or decorations.
All of a sudden I had this great idea: I was going to make a rainbow cake! This is how I did that. It might not be original but hey, it was made by me!

I just took a recipe of a plain cake and doubled it. Just use your favorite recipe and start making it the way you always do. The only thing extra that you will need is food coloring in various colors.
When your batter is all done divide it into little portions. The more the better I found out. If you have more, the pattern in the cake will be better to see in a slice. Put the portions into glass bowls since you will be working with food coloring and you don't want to eat your apple out of a purple colored plastic container.
Mix every batch of batter with food coloring. I experienced that blue and purple kind of look strange. Though the blue I had was dark blue, turquoise would probably work better.
I used a round cake pan and scooped golf ball sized 'splashes' of batter in the cake pan, just playing around with the colors. And after that just bake it the way you bake your cake.
I covered the cake with icing so the surprise effect was going to be bigger when I cut the cake.



DS Joram had no idea what the cake would look like inside and neither did his party guests. You can imagine how ecstatic they were when I cut and served it.

Tuesday, February 07, 2012

Layouts from card sketches

IF YOU CAME HERE FOR THE BLOG HOP: YOU CAN FIND THAT POST HERE

With the Leap around the World blog hop going on at Let's Scrap I could be expanding my card collection with no less than 50 cards but I chose the hard way. Always wonder why I make it so hard on myself.
This is what I decided to do: I want to make LO's instead of cards form all the 50 card sketches. So far so good, I did 6 LO's since the first of February. And let me tell you; if you knew what was all going on here, 6 is my absolute record.
For a while our computer is playing tricks on us and we finally decided to buy a new one. Nothing spectacular there, right? Trust me, there's more to the story. With a 10yo in the house it is kind of nice to keep track of his computer habits. So we decided to put one of the computers downstairs and the other one in my scrapbook room. So far so good! But then I decided I did not want the computer all out in the open in the living room so we needed some kind of cupboard for it. I looked around and found this great looking cabinet that perfectly matches our dining room table. And very affordable too. DH picked it up and when I opened it, it turns out to be a TV cabinet, not a computer cabinet. One problem more to be solved.
I finally was able to store all the important items and files on my old computer and ready to be transferred to our new one. So I opened the box and got everything set, hooked up cords, put in plugs, find more empty outlets. Hmmmmmm, in what outlet on the computer should the screen go? There's this one outlet which has the perfect shape and size but it has a cover on there saying 'Do not remove'.
After some Googling and searching I find out that our computer screen is not compatible with our computer the way it is and we need an adapter to get it going. Bummer. Got to make a confession: I did remove the 'do not remove' cover and yes, that outlet is perfect for the screen, but unfortunately it is NOT activated. More bummer.
So I am still typing away on my old computer, waiting for the opportunity to go downtown to pick up an adapter.
But: Back to the blog hop. As you all will know by now we have one one the biggest blog hops ever going on at Let's Scrap: 50 hosts, all with a different sketch and all with two chances on a prize. And believe me: There are some awesome prizes to be won! As said: I already finished 6 LO's from card sketches.
For those who are still interested in participating in the hop: You still can, it goes until the 29th of February, so still lots of time to play. And the fun thing is: You can do one card, 5 or even all 50. You can read all about it HERE in my host post. So back to my LO's created from card sketches, here they are:
My two kids and the two of my DB

PP: Echo Park
Stickers: American craft, EK Success, Adornit
Misc: Black pen

This photo was taken when DD was 8 days old.

CS: Bazzill, K&Company
Stickers: Adornit, My Little Shoebox
Twine: Divine Twine
Misc: Tiny hole punch

This is my DD with my mom and her DH. Title in Dutch and reads: Grandpa and Grandma

CS: Bazzill
PP: Girls Paperie, DaisyD's
Stickers: Echo Park, Kaisercraft, Bo Bunny
Misc: Sewingm achine, lace.

On this photo my DD is exactly a week old. Even though it might look different, this photo is NOT posed. It is hanging in DD's room 20"x20'.
The scan made the photo a little crooked but it is placed straight as can be.

CS: Bazzill
PP: Echo Park, Around the Block, My Minds Eye
Misc: Twine, rhinestones

I hand cutted the elephant and the bird matching the sheet blankie the kids are lying on.

 Those monitor lines have been hanging in our hall closet for two and a half years and I never knew how to scrap them. This was the perfect sketch for them. 

CS: Bazzill
PP: Autumn Leaves, Girls Paperie
Dies: Cuttlebug, Zip-e-Mate
Stickers: Cosmo Cricket
Misc: Sewing machine, lace
LOVE this photo!

CS: Bazzill, Papermania
PP: Autumn Leaves, Lily Bee Design
Border punch: Fiskars
Misc: elastic, heart sticker, sewing machine

The title was cut with my Silhouette.

With that last LO I actually broke off one of the handles of my Fiskars border punches. With their life time guarantee I have all the confidence that it will be replaced. I already e-mailed them. 
Thanks for popping by and have a great week! 


Wednesday, February 01, 2012

Let's Scrap Leap around the World blog hop!

Hello and welcome to your next stop in the Let's Scrap Leap around the World blog hop. One of the biggest blog hops ever with 50 hosts, all with a different card sketch and a different prize. And a great reason to get your cards for every occasion done for this year. And when you are not a card maker: Feel free to turn the card sketch into a LO sketch. 

If you are hopping well your previous stop should have been Sue Colerick @ http://creativitybug.blogspot.com/  If that is not the case something went wrong during the hop. Maybe a leap???? Just go to Mindi Brown @ http://scrapchat-n-coffeetalk.blogspot.com/ has the entire hop order to help you get back on track.


Now that I have mentioned Mindi. Not is she only your guide during this hop, she is also the reason why this hop has just started! Mindi organized it pretty much by herself and I will be the first one to say: YOU DID AN AWESOME JOB MINDI, THANKS SO MUCH.
Mindi is one of our current DT members at Let's Scrap, we love our DT! 

This is going to be so much fun! Even if you are not a card maker, just give it a try or be creative and turn the card sketch into a LO. 

Here's the sketch I used for my example and it is also the one you will be using if you want your name in the draw a second time. A fairly simple sketch but one with so many possibilities. 

I made one example card and really liked it and when I looked at it again I though the colors I picked might have been a little bit too much Christmas. So; I made another one! So I have two examples and a couple that I did previously. Enough inspiration I would say. Here's the ones I made for this hop: 



CS: Bazzill
Die cuts: Quickutz (now called Lifestyle Crafts), Cuttlebug
Misc: sewing Machine, baker's twine




CS: Bazzill
PP: Girls Paperie*
Stickers: EK Success
Misc: sewing machine, bakers twine, ribbon


Companies marked with an * are no longer in business.


Over time I made several cards and even some LO's with this sketch and I just want to show you those to see how different the outcome of a sketch can be and how versatile sketches are.







Now the image you all have been waiting for: my RAK. Hopefully you like what you see. You will get enough rhinestones and half pearls to really spice up your LO's, some sweet stamps, so really cool brads, snaps, a bottle of glitter glue and those cute paper roses. And maybe, when the hop is really booming, I'll add some extra's to it. 
Now the boring, but yet most important part of this post: The rules, the do's and don'ts and all the other stuff you do not want to read but HAVE to know. So keep on reading. 
It is not hard to get in the draw at all, here's how it works: 
  • Be or become a member of Let’s Scrap which you can do by clicking HERE . It is free, easy and fast! Once you get there, I am sure you will love it! It is one of the most friendliest communities you will ever find. 
  • Become a follower of my blog (I know some of you are already)
  • Leave me a comment telling me what your scrapbook wishes are. I would really like to hear them. 
And if you would like a second chance in the draw
  • Make a card from the sketch I have posted and upload it to the gallery at Let’s Scrap. Please tag it as such 12-15-10, LEAP6. Please note there is no spaces and that LEAP is all capitals. 
  • Leave a comment with a link to your card on Let’s Scrap.
The hop ends at 11:59 pm Central Standard time February 29th, which you would be able to track using the clock on the main page of Let’s Scrap.


Your next stop in this hop will be the talented Margaret Kieser @ http://www.deniquecrafts.blogspot.com/ . So you are hopping from Europe to Africa, we did not  exaggerate when we named our hop 'Leap around the World'
If you get lost along the way or have joined the hop in the middle, Mindi Brown @ http://scrapchat-n-coffeetalk.blogspot.com/ is the beginning of the hop and as said before: She also has the entire hop list posted. . You don’t want to miss any of the fun!


Thank you so much for stopping by and participating in this blog hop. I can not wait to see what you all come up with. I think that is the most fun of it all: Looking at all your creations!