Friends with you know what....

...Flair, of course! Unity's weekly parade of inspiration.... Today, I was inspired by Suzi Blu's Cupcake Fairy. A perfect birthday image alone but I wanted to show the very human way she created her magical cupcake and that is in an oven just like the rest of us (and a retro one, at that... but then a fairy would have a cool retro oven...) I just love sentiments that use a typewriter font like this one that came from the July '10 KOTM Happily Ever After. Then the sign on the second panel came from the same Kitchen Logic set as the oven. I suppose it's meant to be used as a tag on a gift of fresh baked goods but here it got a second life. The pointing hand and the patterned paper came from the super cool Mod-Retro stack by DCWV. (Not to mention, Stampin Up's Really Rust and Crumb Cake cardstock.) All the items highlighted above are linked to where they can be found...

Now, I just wish I had sneaked a little bird onto the card because then I could enter it in Unity's Tweet Tweet Challenge.... maybe the next card..... *smile* (Oh, and remember, the tri-shutter card tutorial can be found on the sidebar of my blog....)

Have a sweet day! To hop along with us, go to Unity's website by clicking HERE.

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)

WhAt'S On TaP TuEsDaY #3

Welcome to the third installment of WOTT (What's on Tap Tuesday).... where we share our workspaces, works-in-progress and/or finished works.

I loved being a part of a similar weekly event hosted in the UK but waiting up until 1am to link in made me a walking zombie and I felt guilty participating in their blog candy contests because I didn't want them to go to the expense of mailing me something if I won. Not that contests are expected here but if you want to advertise blog candy, go right ahead. It's also come up that any work being done for a publication call can't be photographed. My UK friends solved that by hiding whatever they didn't want seen. Sometimes the fun is in seeing how you set up your workspace (even if it's the dining room table) and seeing all the goodies you're working with each week. Let's just have fun. Thanks to Lynn, Nora Anne and Leslie for joining in last week.

Funny how a desk can be used to read a personality. Mine shows that I'm a procrastinator. How? Because it's a jumble of supplies that were left as is while I ran to the computer to get my latest project uploaded for yesterday's blog hops. I'd have to say that rarely will my WOTT show a tidy desk. It's always chaotic but then that's how I roll. On my desk you'll see Unity and Ippity stamps (though for the most part they are organized in magazine files), my fave paper people K&Co, the SU modern label stamp and punch that I love, a cool little Stick 'Em Up set by The Rubber Cafe that helps you pick up small items (like my Jellie Dot butterfly heads from yesterday), my monster-sized Dymo label maker and a hair band that comes off late at night when it's giving me a headache! Lol.

Question of the week: Do you listen to music while crafting? If so, what kind? Does it differ from what you listen to in the car, etc? As for me, if I listen to anything, it's classical music because I work slower when I'm singing along with favorite songs. Lol. In the car, I like Sirius Broadway because I just love show tunes! 

So link in if you want to play and I promise there will be blog candy for a follower when we get this event going... (so spread the word...) *smile*

Love,
Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)

Two blog hops....

Hi! I'm participating in two blog hops today.... Simply Scrapping Crafts and Ippity.

I committed to a Pay It Forward event awhile back and I have 3 people to forward a handmade item to. This will be one of them. I like making these Birthday Log books because beautiful double-sided patterned paper and a few stamps always make for a magical outcome. (My blog post on April 16th will lead you to one way of making these books... I changed it up a little today....)

Each page is presented below. Quickly though, just wanted to let you know that I used Ippity's Now and Always for the butterfly, Unity's Here's the Ticket for the months and Stampin Up's modern label stamp and modern label punch to frame the months, Brenda Walton's Celeste paper by K& Co and SU's Newsprint pack for the lined paper inserts.

Thanks for dropping by.... whichever fork in the road you choose to take (blog hops, that is...) I hope you enjoy yourself immensely...
*smile*
P.S. Tomorrow is What's on Tap Tuesday....

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)

FrIeNdS with FlAiR

Welcome back for more Friends with Flair this week at Unity and Happy Earth Day! What better way to celebrate nature than a card featuring birds? This sweet chickie and sentiment came from Small Things Matter Most, Unity's current Kit of the Month (April '11). Click on the name to go to Unity's website and check it out for yourself! I'm playing along with the My Unity Place Challenge #1 to make a card that's decorated on the outside and the inside. Here's the outside of my easel card:

Here's the inside:

My little card will soon find its way to a friend. I just love letting patterned paper do the talking sometimes. The scene came together easily with this bird-in-the-tree paper from Birdsong by DCWV. The flowery paper comes from Kimberly Hodges for K&Co.

Our FWF blog hop can be found HERE. I hope you'll come along.

Have a great weekend and maybe check back on Tuesday and play along with What's on Tap Tuesday? We share pix of our work desks and works in progress. *smile*

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)

A quick card and a little serendipity....

It's Passover. Time to stretch the imagination for things that can be eaten on matzoh! (I personally like either butter, peanut butter or turkey and cheese.... yum.)

A friend makes cute wooden matzoh trays (with a laminated photo of matzoh on it) so I bought one to give as a hostess gift. I had to make very quick cards to go with both the gift and the thank you to my inventive friend. This is what I came up with. Remember it was quick so I just circle punched and then added this adorable label I've been hoarding onto a metal tie from 7 Gypsies. It looks like a towel on a rack, doesn't it? It needed a little something so I added that sweet bird from the Ippity set called Quotes a la Happy. (A few birds made it inside the card, as well.)

The serendipity I mentioned in the title came in the form of a gift card design. I decided to give my father-in-law the card I made and featured in my blog post entitled B{ippity} Boppity Boo (April 11th). It is a tri-shutter card that has the same cute little birds from above on it and I gave them all party hats in the scene I created. Well, I went to Amazon to buy a gift card to include in the card and I almost fell off my chair when I saw that this was one of the designs to choose from. I got a big smile out of this!

I wish you smiles today!

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)

What's On Tap Tuesday #2

Hi all! I hope you're considering sharing your workspace with the rest of us. If so, link in below. (Remember, if we can get at least 20 people to link in and comment, I'll be obliged to pick a random commenter to win a little prize pack. So spread the word!)

My chaotic desk this week show evidence of the tools I'm using to create a DT assignment for Let's Get Peachy. It will be featured in June, so I'll have to alert you later to watch for it. I'm finding Becky Fleck's Page Maps to be a great source of layout design. Also, I had to make a quick card to go with a gift I took to our Passover dinner tonight. I was so excited to finally have a use for these cute Passover labels I've been hoarding. I just wish I'd had time to take a picture of the resulting card... oh well. Trust me, it was simple but cute...  *smile*

Question of the day: If you had to pare down to your favorite three crafting tools, which would you choose? I'd want my paper trimmer, Copic markers and Stamp-a-jig (for lining images up.)

Have a great day!






Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)

Stress Awareness Month

Yep, this is Stress Awareness Month and what better way to beat stress than to craft? Right? I think that if you're here, you love to craft, so you are already on the right track!

My DT assignment over at Let's Get Peachy was to come up with a fun project for beating stress, so here's a cute, easy mini-book that's topped off with a little paper piecing. (I practically go into REM sleep when I'm paper piecing.... that's how great a stress buster it is! Lol.)

I've outlined step-by-step instructions on how I made this over at LGP, so if you're interested, head over there and enjoy!

P.S. In honor of National Scrapbooking Day, the Let's Get Peachy Kats invite you to blog hop with us on May 7th. Actually, we'll have all kinds of inspiring creations for you to enjoy from the 7th through the 9th, so mark your calendar. You'll find challenges and prizes at each stop, as well as a Grand Prize from a very special sponsor. You can start here or at LPG on the 7th. Hope to have you join us!

*smile*

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)

Happy Taxes-Are-In-The-Mail Day (I hope)

What better way to celebrate Tax Day than with a nice, relaxing blog hop? Click HERE to get to Unity's Friends With Flair. Doing it a little differently this week. I think it's a great change, so enjoy!

For your shopping pleasure, here's your link to the Unity website. Always fun to check out the latest Kit of the Month, as well as all the great companies that co-brand with Unity. And don't forget to check out the sale items. There is literally something for everyone!

My card today: Just like the kid in Sixth Sense, I see "things," too. But I see "cards" in my head. Lol. I sometimes know just what I want to make. I screeched to a halt though when the 12x12 dp that I wanted was all gone except for a variety of scraps I had from the last time I used this particular sheet. So, it was a challenge to maneuver the scraps into the pieces I needed, but I think I was able to produce my "vision" after all. (Remember, the tutorial for this tri-shutter card is up on my left sidebar.) In order to enter it into the current All Things Unity challenge, I decided to decorate the cake with button icing. If you squint, they look like little icing florets, lol. The woman, the cake and "Eat Cake" are from Melody Ross' Domestic Bliss (love this set), "Today is the Day" (I love that it's in script) is from Melody Ross' She Did It Anyway and the "Happy Birthday" is from Party Hat Wishes (an Ippity set). The highlighted words will take to a site where you can purchase each. (I've also entered this card in Simply Scrapping Crafts' color challenge HERE, too.)

Before you ask the question, I don't know what the source of these tiny buttons is, they've been in my stash awhile, but you can bet I'm going to be on the hunt for more soon. Also wanted to let you know that I came across these unbelievable Micro Gluedots on www.Joann.com and snapped them up.

That's it for today. If you come back tomorrow, you'll see the cute mini-book I made that features a paper pieced Ippity stamp.

Smile... 365 days til the next Tax Day!

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)

What's on Tap Tuesday?

I've been participating in a weekly blog hop based in the U.K. called What's on Your Workspace Wednesday. It's loads of fun but I'd like to bring it across the pond by starting a similar weekly hop called What's On Tap Tuesday? (WOTT?)  I just think it would be fun to share what's going on on our desktops and/or in our lives each week. Maybe focus on a favorite tool or a daily adventure, as an example. Finished projects are not required but always welcome. Would you like to play? I'll have a Linky area every Tuesday so we can hop around easily. If I can get at least 20 interested bodies involved, I will just have to select a random person to get a little crafty RAK prize. Let's up the ante, too. I'll also post a question to consider answering in the comment field. Let's get to know each other better!

Here's my desk today. I was looking through my paper stash for money and circus themed papers for a couple of cards I have in mind and I came up short but I did find some cool papers for future use. The one on top (unknown source) just jumped out and inspired me to use my Maddie the Cat stamp again. I can't help it, I have a cartoon brain. I got a little hybrid by using my printer to complete the scene.

Question: What do you do for exercise? (Crafting can be pretty sedentary, so I'm starting to pop in a Zumba tape and dancercise for half an hour to get a little cardio in.)

I hope you'll join me in this new adventure, if not today, maybe next week?

Hugs,

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)

B{ippity} Boppity Boo, a tip and an announcement...

I am running out of titles, as you can see....Lol.
You'll find the start of the Ippity blog hop HERE. Take a jog around and leave comments as you go in order to increase your chance for the random commenter prize drawing.

My card this week is, what else, a tri-shutter card. (When I want a quick card base this is my go-to design now.) I used Party Hat Wishes and Quotes a 'la Happy. Papers were Springtime Vintage from SU for the three inset papers and Songbird by DCWV for the lovely green leaves and the card base that is peeking out.

Frugal tip #58: Use this cute EK Success punch to make a bird. The beauty is you can face your punched bird in either direction! And they make this punch in a larger size. I found the larger one in the clearance section at Michael's. I used my little one to add a little zing to the back of my card....

Okay, now please please please check back tomorrow for a really fun event I'm going to start on Tuesdays every week!
I'm such a tease....
*smile*
Cindy
(aka Scrapcollectr)

It's Finally Here: the Tri-Shutter Card Tutorial!

Don't look at the hour by all means! I promised the tutorial today so here I am. I am so excited that this may open the door to lots of fun for you if you choose to try your own version of a tri-shutter card. The link is on the left in my sidebar.

Please come back and leave me a comment here if you make one because I'd love to drop by to see it!

I have twin baby albums to finish this weekend but I hope to be back with yet another tri-shutter card very soon. Maybe even in time for the Ippity Blog Hop on Monday morning.

Have a great weekend!

*smile*

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)

Friends with Flair at Unity

Join us for this week's blog hop at Unity. Start your tour HERE and be on the look out for that illusive "You've Got Flair!" blinkie.... There's a new kit of the month out now, check it and all the other lovely stamps out on the Unity website!

I have to pass along to you what the benefits are of getting published.... My card featuring a Unity stamp was published on p.66 of the April/May Stampers Sampler and guess what? Unity generously rewarded me with $25 and a kit of my choice... woo hoo! So I chose the Melody Ross kit called Domestic Bliss which is where this lovely seamstress hails from. I am so into vintage images now. I liked pairing her with the sentiment from Material Girl and then following with another sentiment inside from the Melody Ross set called Just Be You. Isn't great that you can find stamps that go together from different sets? Gotta give credit to Stampin' Up, too, for their great decorative paper sets. The card patterns are from Sew Stitches and my seamstress' dress is from Springtime Vintage.

Oh and in case you were wondering how those cute little buttons were stuck onto my card.... I discovered Micro Pop Dots....

...amazing invention.... but don't let little children be around when you're working with them, though.... because they'll hear you cursing your fine motor skills! Lol.

Here's wishing you sew much fun this weekend! P.S. Maybe check back here tomorrow because I think my tri-shutter tutorial will finally be ready for your viewing pleasure....

*smile*

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)

WOYWW96

What's on Your Workspace Weds #96..... that is a WOW. The lovely Julia in the UK coordinates this weekly workspace jog around the world so that we can all share in each other's lovely goings-on. When we hit 104 (2 years of 52 weekly posts), we'll each be doing RAKs to the people next to us on the list so if you want in, start playing along with us! Go HERE for all the fun.

I've been having more fun with my tri-shutter cards lately. (Check them out in my previous posts below.) They make me thirst for new interesting papers so I was strolling through JoAnn's and noticed that all the older Die Cuts with a View Premium Packs were 50% off so I snapped up a few. Including one called "Immortal Love" which is a blatant Twilight themed set. Lovely dark brooding papers with large roses and spooky fog-filled forests. Anyway, I can't wait to make more of my tri-shutters with these papers. I'm eagerly awaiting my Michael's 40% off coupons, too, because DCWV has a bunch of new packs out now that are to die for. One I have my eye on has a Marie Antoinette theme to it.....

On my desk, too, is a How To Make Bargello Cards instructions from Splitcoast Stampers and a copy of the magazine I was recently published in. (See blog post last Tuesday.) Gotta send it off to my mom!

Hope you have a wonderful WOYWW. Seeing as it is 1:30am here, I guess I should go to bed now....

*smile*

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)

Needed a get well card...

The back story: My mom's best friend has been like another mother to me and another grandmother to my boys. She recently had surgery to fix her pacemaker (God bless the doctors that can get in there with tiny screwdrivers) and now she's resting at home. I wanted to send her a smile so I figured a mischievous cat card would be appropriate because I thought she still had cats. (In fact, she and her husband were opera singers once and hence they named their cats after operas. One was Scaramouche and the other was Tosca.) But I've come to find out from my mom that there are no more cats, just a floppy eared dog now. But the gears were already going. I couldn't stop the card-making machine so I went ahead with the idea. Maybe it'll bring a laugh anyway.

I used the Birdsong paper stack by DCWV (love it-- lots of glittery pages), the Unity stamp Birdie Duet, the Ippity stamp set How Ya Doin', Lawn Fawn's Harold's ABCs and last, but not least, the adorable Maddie the cat stamp which you can find HERE. (The artist's blog, Understand Blue, is a hoot... you should check it out.)

Thanks for dropping by! I've been asked to provide a tutorial for my spin on tri-shutter cards so I'm working on it. Check back 'cause I hope to have it linked here soon. (Or maybe I'll make a new blog for it called Tri-Shutter Island.... Lol.)

*smile*

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)

Ippity Bop

You see how I combined "blog" and "hop" into "bop?" Sorry, but I've gotta keep coming up with a new title for the Ippity Blog Hop each week and I kinda like the ring of this one.... I'm weird, I know.

My card had an interesting evolution this week. My son needed a card. (Well, HE didn't think he needed it, but I thought he needed it... any excuse to make a card). One of his girlfriends has a birthday tomorrow and this is the age when they start driving so I thought of making her a tri-shutter featuring a car and I wanted the state of Virginia somewhere on the card because that's where she wants to go to college. The closest I could get to the state name was to show West Virginia (if you look closely on the top right.)

But then, I colored the car blue and I needed an exclamation point for the second panel so I used an upside-down tie from the same set (Authentic Man). It started lookin' more and more masculine. So I've decided to hold this card for my nephew's bday in June and it's back to the drawing board for the girlfriend. Furthermore, I found out that All Things Unity's new challenge this week is to use buttons on a card so I added the button as a sun with a little yellow and white twine rays and a smile to complement the two button hole eyes. (The word Happy comes from the Quotes a la Happy set. More deets in my SCS Gallery.)

Shhhh! Don't tell my nephew this wasn't originally for him... Lol.

Here's how I changed it up for my son's friend...

I hope you liked this little diversion... Now go blog hop... Another winner this week. By commenting on each blog you visit, you increase the chance it could be you. I wish you good luck.

*smile*

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)

A shot of Unity with a dash of Peach....

Hi all!

The top of this post addresses today's Unity Friends with Flair blog hop and below is my Let's Get Peachy layout for today....

For today's blog hop, the lovely snow that's falling outside my window put me in the mood for a spring card. I used Melody Ross kits for the first panel (One of a Kind) and the bird in the second panel (Love Life). The sentiment on the second panel comes from the Ippity kit called Music of My Heart. The names of the sets are linked to the websites where you can find these wonderful stamps. (In the case of Ippity, the stamp name takes you where you can locate your very own Ippity gal.) I also have to give a shout out to Die Cuts With a View because all the patterned paper I used came from their Songbird stack. So cute.

Now.... my April DT assignment over at Let's Get Peachy was to show a little "how-to" demonstration of masking. I get to present it to you on this first day of April because we have a masking challenge for all who would like to compete for the monthly prize from our friends at Flamingo Scraps. I'll give you a peek at the super easy layout I created but for the step-by-step and the challenge deets, head over to the LGP blog. I can't wait to see what you come up with!

This layout was my way of remembering my great-grandmother Emilia. She loved to take an early walk on the beach whenever she joined us for summer vacation. She's the reason that, now as an adult, I like to catch at least one sunrise when I'm on vacation.

Thanks for dropping by and I hope to see you participating over at LGP!

*smile*

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)