Product Shuffle : Title Letters

Good morning!

It has happened to all of us.  You have your layout almost done, you just have to put your title in. You find the perfect font in the perfect color in your stash, but as you spell out the letters to your title, you notice that your are missing an "E".  You can go about this problem 3 ways as I see it.  Try to find a title that will work with the letters you have, try to find another sticker sheet that has the letter you need, or you could transform the letters in the sheet that you have to make the letters you need.  Let me show you a few layouts where I did just that.  I have tons in my stash, I just can't seem to get rid of my old Thickers
Using the brand new Fancy Pants's Office Suite collection (now available in the LCOM store), I created this layout using a picture I found on my phone that my girls took.

I was missing an "A" for my title, so I created one using two "I" and a dash.

Depending on the type of alphas and the font, you can basically craft any letter from the letters you have availble, especially if you have foam letters.
In this next layout using goodies from the Herb& Honey collection by Basic Grey, I crafted my missing "F" using a "Y" and a dash.

Sometimes, all you need a little alteration to get the letter you want.  Depending on the font, you can almost always interchange an "U" with an "N", a "W" with an "M", a "P" with a "D". You can sometimes get an  "A" by altering a "d" or a "g".  Or like in the next example, use an "A" to get an "E".

Do you see it?  The first "E" in the word selfie is an upside down "A" with a little piece cut out.
So next time you are stuck with a missing letter, take a look at your sticker sheet and try to find a solution.  Sometimes all you need is to look at it upside down to see the letter you need.
Have a great week and be sure to ckeck back in on Saturday for an awesome sketch reveal!

Inspiration Station - The One-Hour Challenge

Hello, everyone! Aurélie here today to inspire you by being inspired. Now, I don't know about you, but for me, there's nothing quite like heading to a crop to get my scrap on. I just love the energy generated from a room full of scrappers papercrafting the whole day through. Since the beginning of October, I've been to three crops hosted by Isabelle and Let's Capture Our Memories and boys o' boys, I tell ya, the scrappy mojo has been plentiful. From day sketches, single-page layouts, double-page layouts, cards, mini-albums, you name it - my fellow scrappers and I have been having some good ol' scrappy fun. And in my neck of the woods, an LCOM crop is not quite complete without a one-hour challenge. Yes, that's right! A one-hour challenge. Isabelle gives us a sketch (that we can only look at when she says, "Go!") and we have one hour to design our layout. Sounds crazy, I know, but it's SO much fun! I have been known to have minor heart palpitations and shaky hands while participating in these challenges!! Hee!Hee! However, most importantly, I have realized that "sometimes", I really am too frugal when it comes to cutting my patterned paper, and that I really do fuss a "tad" too much on where I adhere my embellishments. When you have one hour to get 'er done, you get 'er done. No time to think twice about anything. As I mentioned in the October Inspiration Station, as Nicole Nowosad would say, "Cut and commit!" Hee!Hee!

This past weekend, I attended a LCOM crop and participated in not one, but two one-hour challenges. Once again, for me, it's not about following the sketch to a 't', but rather having a starting point to... get 'er done! Here are the layouts I created during the one-hour challenges:

Now, I will admit, I did take some time after the challenges to hand-stitch those straight lines as well as fussy-cut that chevron pattern. However, most of the elements were cut and committed in one hour. YAY!

What products do we have here? Most are from the Fancy Pants' True Friend collection (patterned paper, 6X6 paper pad, sequins, sticker fundamentals, label stickers, button set, and ephemera pack). I did add some Jillibean Soup Soup Staples III patterned paper along with some pieces from some Crate Paper and Echo Park collections. I also added a Pink Paislee circle grid, Maya Road chipboard hexagons wrapped in My Mind's Eye washi tape, Elizabath Craft Designs peel-off stickers, American Crafts alphas, Tim Holtz rubons, We R Memory Makers staples, a Wilton doily, and yes, stitching using my Bazzill Basics stitching template with some DMC floss (big shout out to my sister, Ginette, who had the perfect shade of orange floss!). Sketches by Becky Fleck over at PageMaps.

So, with this all of this in mind, I totally dare you to scrap a layout in one hour. You can ABSOLUTELY do it! Choose a sketch and a photo or two or three or... and GO! The clock's a ticking! Hee!Hee!

Happy scrapping!

Product Shuffle : Metallic paper

One of the most trendy crafting item today is the metallic paper.  They are featured in many collections including Pink Paislee's Luxe (a real bargan at 40% off for this week only!!!).  They are stunning and add so much to any crafting project.
This week I played with the As You Wish collection by Fancy Pants.

This collection features the new foil paper.  I tried to think of different ways to incoporate this gorgeous shining paper onto my project.  It was intimidating at first, but I just love the finished product.   I am going to have to stock up on it!
First thing I did was plug in my Cricut machine and make a few die cuts.  I used a CTMH cricut cartidge to cut out words and flower doilies. 

Another technique I used was fringing.  I cut a two inch strip of paper and with the help of scisors I cut slits at a quarter inch intervals going almost to the edge of the paper.  It gives great texture to the paper.  I also ruffled a one inch strip and glued it on top of the fringe. 

I then added stickers,  Recollections flowers and few fussy cut flowers around my picture.

To finish, I added Zva sparkles and some Tattered Angels Oil Slick.

And there you have it!  So very easy and it gives such a statement to the layout.  I hope you like it too!

Have an awesome  day and don't forget to check out the amazing bargains over at the LCOM store! 

Product Shuffle : Corrugated cardstock

Good morning!

Have you ever been confronted with a piece of paper that was so pretty that you just did not want to cut into it?  It used to happen to me all the time.  I now take a deep breath and just cut (sometimes with my eyes closed while I slice the paper in my trimmer).  This is how I felt with the collection I played with this week.  My Mind's Eye Ashbury Heights collection is simply breathtaking.  It has a mixture of patterns and graphics with a touch of mettalic that is really very beautifull

Along with the paper, stickers and chipboard buttons that coordinated with this collection, I also had a few sheets of Fancy Pants Designs corrugated cardstock.  Much like the pattern paper, I sometimes feel intimidated with this product and find it difficult to use on a layout.  When I do use it, it's usually as a photo matte. 
So here is what I came up with.  First of all I took my scissors and fussy cut the red flowers with stem from the pattern paper.  I then cut a flower pot shape out of the corrugated cardstock. 

 

I then punched circles out of two different sheets.  The circles were cut in half to create a layered scallop edge.   

I then cut a larger circle that I placed underneath my picture.  I love how the corrugated cardstock adds dimension to any layout. You could easily use any punch and create accent pieces out of the corrugated paper.   Here is the finished project

To complete the layout, I used lots of My Mind's Eye including the backgroung paper, the pattern paper, stickers, chipboard buttons and badge button. I also used Fancy Pants corrugated sheets,  Studio Calico acetate butterflies, CTMH ribbon and American crafts alphabet stickers.

I hope you like it.  Please comment and tell us your favorite way to use corrugated or crimped paper.

Please 

Oldies and Goodies

Hi, Erin here today to talk a little more about using old products and new products. Last week we looked mainly at combining papers and embellishments in a mix match fashion. This week, I want to show you how to use up some older stuff, and make it new using fun new products.

I chose to dig through my rarely used chipboard, and pull out some pieces from Fancy Pants Designs. You may even have something similar in your collection.

Chipboard is one of those staple products that can always be altered to look updated and modern. Even printed pieces of chipboard can be given a new look by either peeling off the printed layer, or by recovering the print with paper or paint. In this case, I'm giving the surface of the raw chipboard new life with one of my favorite new trends; washi tape.

Any colour combo goes, you could even repeat the same pattern over and over again.  Just line each strip up side by side, and go right to the edge. You can trim off any tape that goes over.

The next step is to take your craft knife and cut out any pieces you wish to use. I chose to remove the small inner frame and shaped tags, but to leave the smaller shapes in the bottom, so it created a polaroid type frame. Cutting is very easy, as the tape is thin, and you can see the indent of the lines where you should cut.

I dug through my pile of old Christmas papers to find a paper that worked with the patterns of washi tape I used. Wouldn't you know I had a red and white polka dot that matched exactly! ( October Afternoon).

Add to that a smattering of old and new embellishments, and you've got a page that can comfortably fit in your album with this year's pages.

New embellishments used: 

Wooden Shapes : Studio Calico ( covered with Tim Holtz Platinum Distress Stain)

Alterable Chipboard Stars: Pink Paislee (Coloured with Distress Stains)

Snowflake Die Cuts: Maya Road

Christmas Jammers

Merry Christmas to everyone today! We're actually celebrating Christmas day TODAY!

That's the life of a family with an nurse!! I'm actually working all day tomorrow and Christmas Day...so we decided to have our celebrations today! How fun!

And today you have the privilege of seeing my first LO in about 3-4 weeks! What's funny is that when I went to use my cutter last night....it was DUSTY!! Lol

I guess that's a hint that I need to use it more?? ;o)

Anyway, I created this LO last evening and I used Fancy Pants St Nick paper  Fancy Pants St Nick paper and the rubons too! I used some twinery twine too....and, of course, AC Thickers! All of these goodies can be found at the LCOM Shop!  

Here is my LO I made! Hope you enjoy it and I wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas and a joyful New Year!!

So Very Thankful

So Very Thankful

by Wendy Sommers

When summer gathers up her robes of glory,

And, like a dream, glides away.

~Sarah Helen Whitman

With the cool weather and shorter days, there is no doubt that summer has ended and soon, winter will be here!

The people at Fancy Pants Designs made sure that summer and fall have gone out with a bang with their Summer's End collection. It is such a beautiful colour palette and the diverse embellishments available for this line make it so easy to create layouts. I completed this layout in about 45 minutes, which is awesome for me. I usually take a few hours, at the very least!

I cut the leaves on the left out of a piece of the patterned paper called "Crisp". It's such an easy and economical way to spruce up your layouts.

Here are some close-ups:

This first one features the glitter cuts (so pretty!) and chipboard: Here is some more chipboard and the rub-ons: And here is a close up of some of the diecuts:

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Supplies Used from the LCOM Store:

Fancy Pants - Summer's End: Crisp pp
Fancy Pants - Summer's End: Harvest pp
Fancy Pants - Summer's End: glitter cuts
Fancy Pants - Summer's End: rub-ons
Fancy Pants - Summer's End: element stickers
Fancy Pants - Summer's End: design embellishments
Fancy Pants - Summer's End: chipboard elements
Fancy Pants - Summer's End: chipboard banners
KI Memories - So Cute calendar pp
Studio Calico - Mister Huey Mist - Orchard

Wendy Sommers

Just Chillin'

Hi Everyone,
I'm back with my final layout using Fancy Pants Beach Babe Line. I've had so much fun with this great collection! The colors are so bright and cheery and are perfect for your summer and vacation layouts! This picture is from my family's trip the the Florida Keys last April. My daughter was so happy to just sit by the pool, relax, read and listen to her iPod!!

I misted some Maya Road zipper trim and spiraled it around on a Gluber to create my big flower.

I didn't have any alpha's I felt coordinated with my colors, so I painted some chipboard letters using an Adirondack Paint dauber. Paint daubers are a perfect way to customize chipboard!

That's it for today. I'll be back next week with a birthday layout using Hip Hooray paper from My Mind's Eye!

Products Used

Cardstock: Bazzill Kraft

Patterned Papers: Fancy Pants Beach Babe Cards, Fish Farm, High Tide, Sand Dollar, Tropical

Chipboard: Fancy Pants Beach Babe chipboard pieces

Flowers: Fancy Pants Beach Babe Paper Flowers

Buttons: Fancy Pants Beach Babe Buttons

Fancy Pants Beach Babe Journal Embellishments

Mist: Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist Party Pink

Paint: Adirondack Paint Dauber Aqua

Letters: Cosmo Cricket Tiny Type Handwriting, Fancy Pants Chipboard Alpha White

Maya Road Zipper Trim

Cosmo Cricket Gluber

MFT Dienamic: File Tab

DMC Floss

You are Here

Hi Everyone.. I'm back with some more Beach Babe from Fancy Pants. The colors in this line were perfect to highlight some of the pictures from our trip to the Florida Keys last April... all very tropical and cheery!!
One of the must-do photo stops for us was the Caroline Street sign. Not only is it one of the most famous streets in Key West, but it's also my daughter's name. We couldn't resist!


I had fun with the great embellies that come with the Beach Babe line... the rub-ons, flowers, buttons and cardstock die cuts are all fabulous... it was hard to choose!
I did a little hand stitching to make a "sun" and couldn't resist adding a Whimsy cloud.

A little Glimmer mist and some bling for the flip flops and the layout was complete! I'll be back next week with my final LO using Fancy Pants Beach Babe. Don't forget to check out all of the goodies at the LCOM store for your Summer layouts.

Products Used:

Patterned Papers: Fancy Pants Beach Babe Beach Bound, Cards, reef, strips, tropical, fish farm, high tide

Rub-ons: Fancy Pants Beach Babe Rub-ons

Chipboard: Fancy Pants Beach Babe Chipboard pieces

Die Cuts: Fancy Pants Beach Babe Design Elements Die Cut Pieces

Flowers: Fancy Pants Beach Babe Paper Flowers

Buttons: Fancy Pants Beach Babe Buttons, My Little Bit of Whimsy (Cloud)

Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist Party Pink

Cosmo Cricket Tiny Type: Handwriting

Sit Back, Relax.....

Happy July Everyone! I finally feel like summer is in full swing...beaches, boats and after a very snowy winter and rainy spring...SUN!!! Perfect for those great summer pictures and Fancy Pants' Beach Babe is the perfect paper line to scrap them with!


This is a picture of my daughter out fishing with my husband off of Cape Cod, MA. She's less into the fishing and more into the relaxing!

Beach Babe comes with so many fabulous embellishments! The sun here is from the great sheet of Beach Babe Rub-ons.

I cut these fish and the water from the Jumping Fish Paper and added some Stickles to them and some other pieces for shine and the water drops and sand dollar are from the coordinating chipboard pieces.

I used the leaves from the rub-on flowers to create sea weed and added some more chipboard fish, Stickles and glossy accent "bubbles."

Finally, I stitched some "waves" into the water to add to the floating effect.

That's all for now. I'll be back in a couple of weeks with some more Beach Babe. Make sure to stop by LCOM soon to scoop up some Fancy Pants Beach Babe and their other summer line Beach Bum Soon!
Products Used:
Patterned Papers: Fancy Pants Beach Babe Jumping Fish, Reef, Turtle bay
Rub Ons: Fancy Pants Beach Babe Rub-ons
Die Cuts: Fancy Pants Die Cut Pieces

Chipboard: Fancy Pants Chipboard pieces

Stickers: Fancy Pants Element Stickers (from the kit) , My Little Shoebox Mini Alpha White
Stickles: Stardust

Glossy Accents
MFT Die namic: Flat Bottomed clouds

I Love You

I Love You
by
Zoe Nemburt

 Supplies Used: Fancy Pants It's the Little Things Glittered Cuts, Element Stickers, Bird Cage, Feathered, Gerber Daisy, Headed South, Honeysuckle, Hummingbird, Pecking Order, Shuffle, Strips, American Crafts Thickers, Prima Fabric Leaves, Prima Flowers Treasure Rae, Prima Floret.

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Happy friday the 13th!!! I can be a little superstitious at times!!! lol Well here I am again with another layout using FANCY PANTS!! It's the Little Things collection, ooohhhhh I just cant get enough of it, I did actually get the whole collection pack but I linked the papers I used individually above so click on the links to go straight to the items I used to create my layout.

For those of you who are familiar with my work you know how much I LOVE layers, and the more the better!!! Sometimes I like to take an extra step and add lace to my layers, which I did here with the bracket shaped background, It's super easy to do, I use a liquid glue and it's very strong too so I only need little, I run a very small bead of glue around the reverse edge of my die cut about 4 inches at a time and then place the lace into postition as I go, Once you get to the end just add a touch of glue to fuse the ends of the lace and your done!!

 What I love most about collections like this one, is if your handy with a pair of scissors you can cut out your own embellishments, like with the flower above and the cards below.

I hope you enjoyed my post today, I really really LOVED this collection by Fancy Pants we have alot more from this fabulous company in the store, :)

Sweet As Sugar

Sweet As Sugar
by
Zoe Nemburt

 Supplies Used: Fancy Pants It's the Little Things Overlay, Bird Cage, Feathered, Four Birds, Gerber Daisy, Honeysuckle, Spring Fever, Glitter Cuts, Kaisercraft Pearl Flourish, Prima Eminence Collection, Thickers Rockabye, Prima Bird Embellishment

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Hello, Zoe here today to show you a layout I created using Fancy Pants It's the Little things papers and embellies. The collection pack comes with this really cool sheet of flocked transparency, so for a different look I decided to use one of my Crafters Workshop templates to cut it out, it has super large scallops and makes an amazing background, quite tricky to cut transparency, but just take your time try not to handle the flocked surface too much as the flocking may come off a little.

 Here are some close ups of my layout, I used some flowers from the store made by Prima the Eminence Collection these are AMAZING, you can spritz them, distress them of just use them just the way they are, I didnt alter thier colour but I did scrunch them up to give them the height and dimension as the Prima Sugar blooms.

 On the Birdcage glittered cuts there was a little birdie already but I thought it would be fun to add a Prima Bird Embellishment in his place. :)

Thank you so much for stopping by the blog today, we have alot more inspiration coming this way so check back often, and dont forget to check out the store new items are arriving all the time.