Spellbinders Paper Arts Get the Knowledge! Blog Frenzy

Spellbinders Paper Arts

Get the Knowledge! Blog Frenzy

July 6 - 14, 2011

Welcome to the Seventh day of the Spellbinders Paper Arts

Get the Knowledge! Blog Frenzy!

Spellbinders™ Paper Arts’ is absolutely thrilled to bring you one of the most exciting die releases to date! These new collections are some of the most innovated and beautiful die templates in the world! The Get the Knowledge! Blog Frenzy allows you a sneak peek of the products we’re introducing at the Craft and Hobby Association trade show later this month.

· Win today’s new Spellbinders die templates!

· Be eligible to win the Grand Prize by entering each day (see schedule below)!

· One entry per person, per blog please, on the designated days!

· Each blog will accept entries for 48 hours!

· You have from 12:01 a.m. Eastern Standard Time July 12, 2011 to 12:01 a.m. July 14, 2011 to enter my contest. See the Official Rules

· Today you can enter my contest and Linda Duke’s contest.

Thank you, Spellbinders Paper Arts, for sponsoring this contest!

I’m thrilled to share two projects using the LF-008 Hexagon Pinwheel Top Box and S4-338 Holiday Tags with you...

The LF-008 Hexagon Pinwheel Top Box die template can be used for so many different occasions! First, I am going to show you how to use it to create a Christmas tree ornament with an extra little surprise inside!

*Cut/emboss LF-008 Hexagon Pinwheel Top Box in the Grand Calibur™ Machine out of ivory cardstock. Ink edges and set aside.

*Cut/emboss LF-008 Hexagon Pinwheel Top Box out of red patterned paper, adding the Layers as shown in the photo. They will be used to cut out windows in the box. Ink edges.

*Layer the 2 boxes with the ivory one on the top. Fold all arms in on the embossed lines. Open and adhere base together, leaving the “arms” free.

*Cut/emboss S5-041 Floral Doily Motifs doily #3 (with #1 being the smallest) onto red patterned paper. Ink edges. Adhere to inside of the box onto the ivory cardstock. Add cardstock stickers with the year.

*Cut/emboss S5-041 Floral Doily Motifs doily #4 twice from ivory cardstock. Lightly ink edges. Adhere together. Set aside.

*Punch hole and add eyelet to one of the arms. Insert twine and tie.

*To close your box, begin by folding one arm in towards the center. Moving counter-clockwise, fold in the next arm, tucking it UNDER the previous arm. Tuck petal under and around previous petal. Continue around until all arms and petals are tucked. The top will be a beautiful pinwheel!

*Adhere Doily to the bottom of the box.

*Your Hexagon Petal Top Box is complete! I like to curl the edges of the outer petals just a bit to help give an extra bit of definition as well!

*Now for the surprise inside!
*A photo banner/minibook!

*Print photos 3x4”. Layer with ivory cardstock. Cut out both together using S4-114 Standard Circles LG #4. You do not have to emboss these. I then sanded the edges of the photo using a sanding block. Adhere photo to cardstock circle. Repeat for all photo’s. (Note: I used 5 photo’s. If you use any more than that they will not fit inside of the box.)

*Punch small hole on left and right side, as well as on the bottom of each photo circle. Insert jump ring into each hole.

*Using your printer, print name and age of each person in photo. Cut/emboss using small Rounded, 6 Pointed and Notched ornaments from the S4-338 Holiday Tags die templates. Ink edges. Set aside.

*Cut (do not emboss) Best Creation red glitter cardstock using LG 6 Pointed, Rounded and Notched ornaments from the S4-338 Holiday Tags die templates (ending up with with one ornament die for each photo). Adhere name tags that you just cut. Add red bling from Want2Scrap. Insert jump ring into hole. Join with bottom jump ring on each photo.

*Join all photo's together using the jump rings.

If you are interested in knowing how to make your own jump rings, or how to work with jump rings, just leave me a note in the comments section and I’ll be glad to do a short video/ tutorial for you on that! They are super simple!

*To finish off, add a charm to the first and last photo. Fold up your little banner and sit inside of hexagon petal topped box. Close box as explained above.

Hang and enjoy!!

Supplies Used:

Spellbinders (GC-001 Grand Calibur Die Cutting Machine, LF-008 Hexagon Pinwheel Top Box, S4-338 Holiday Tags, S4-114 Standard Circles LG, S5-041 Floral Doily Motifs) **Nikki Sivils Scrapbooker (We Are Family "Family Album") **My Minds Eye (Holly Jolly "Holly Berries") **Worldwin (Ivory cardstock) **Best Creation (Basic Glitter Cardstock, Red) **Artistic Wire (22 guage silver wire, 19 guage silver wire, Curling Gizmo) **Canvas Corp (Twine) **Want2Scrap (Say it with Baby Bling, Red) **Ranger (Distress ink, Frayed Burlap) **Helmar (Premium Craft Glue) **Jenni Bowlin (Alpha)

LF-008 Hexagon Pinwheel Top Box

MSRP: $59.99

DIE SIZES:

Die Template: 8x8"

Layers: 1x1 3/8"

Tag: 1 1/4 x 1 1/4

Assembled Box: 3"

S4-338 Holiday Tags

MSRP: $24.99

DIE SIZES:

Notched: SM: 1 1/4 x 1 1/4" LG: 2x2"

Rounded: SM: 1 3/8 x 1" LG: 2 3/8 x 1 3/4"

6 Pointed Star: SM: 1 1/8 x 1 3/8" LG 1 7/8 x 2 1/4"

8 Pointed Star: 2 3/4 x 2 1/2"

I have also created a second project to share with you today using both the LF-008 Hexagon Pinwheel Top Box and S4-338 Holiday Tags. This one is created to be a wedding favor. I used the Layers as actual layers and adhered them to the outside. I also added a few butterflies from the S4-329 Butterfly Circles. The tag was made using the SM 6 Pointed Star from the S4-338 Holiday tags. THis beautiful patterned paper is by KaiserCraft. I added some Ranger Liquid Pearls for accents and distress ink in Frayed Burlap. Check it out!

See the official Spellbinders Paper Arts Get the Knowledge! Blog Frenzy rules.

TO ENTER:

My contest is open for entries from 12:01 a.m. July 12th, 2011, to 12:01 a.m. July 14th, 2011 Eastern Standard Time.

1) Send your email entry to: Reveal14@spellbinders.us (either click the link or type the address into your email program)

2) The subject must be Hexagon Pinwheel Top box and Holiday Tags.

3) Send!

Be sure to visit all the Designers on their contest dates:

July 6

Debbie
Olson

Kimberly Crawford

July 7

Becca
Feeken

Latisha
Yoast

July 8

Tonya
Dirk

Shanna
Vineyard

July 9

AJ
Otto

Gloria
Stengel

July 10

Christine
Emberson

Michelle Woerner

July 11

Judy
Hayes

Heidi
Blankenship

July 12

Linda Duke

Tina
McDonald

July 13

Sherry Cheever

Lesley Langdon

July 14

Holly
Simoni

Windy Robinson

Daily contest winners will receive an email within 24 hours of the contest’s closing. The winners will have 72 hours to reply to that email to claim prize. If a winner fails to respond within 72 hours, a new winner will be drawn.

To be eligible for the Grand Prize, enter each contest within its designated time period. Use the same email address to send the entry email. The Grand Prize has a retail value of over $1400, and includes the complete Spellbinders line of die templates released at the 2011 Summer CHA show, and a Grand Calibur™ Die Cutting and Embossing Machine!

I love your comments! Unfortunately your comment does not count towards a
contest entry, so be sure to enter (above, see To Enter section) and then
leave a comment here on my blog!

If you have any questions, please e-mail ContestQuestions@Spellbinders.us

Thank you for visiting and good luck!!

~TINA~

Best Creation Collection Winner!!

We have a winner!!! Thanks so much for your comments!! I love hearing your thoughts on the collections!!
The willer of this prize pack is....

TANYA!!!

Tanya, please email me at tinamcdonald(at)xplornet(dot)ca and I will get your prize out to you!!

Thanks again for dropping by!!
Until Next Time...
Happy Scrapping!
~Tina~

I Hope You Dance

Hello there! So glad you have dropped by!
I have a layout to share with you today that I did for Simply Renee.

I HOPE YOU DANCE

I absolutely LOVE these photo's of my daughter! She was in dance class this year and these were taken the night of her recital.
I titled this layout "I hope you Dance" not so much after the song though. My thoughts are that I hope she goes after everything in life like she dances... she gives it her ALL and is amazing! At only 8 years old, she already demands the stage, and I'm just so proud of her! So my prayer for her is that no matter what she does in life, she gives it everything she has, and loves every minute of it... just like she were dancing! :)
This page was created to use up some of my stash. I LOVE to collect paper collections. THis is the A Capella collection by Basic Grey. LOVE it! So soft and elegant. I also used to collect a LOT of flowers... (Now I create a lot of my own with the Spellbinders Die Templates!) So I dug into my stash of flowers and papers to create this layout. I love how it came out... it conveys the feelings and emotions thatI was trying to get across. And check out that lamp post! NICE! It's a wood piece by KaiserCraft! SO fun!!
I used several Spellbinders Die Templates in creating this page. I used the Donna Salazar S5-051 Fanciful Flights (Large butterflies). I added some liquid pearls and stickles to the butterfly and adhered it using Helmar's Liquid Scrap Dots. Perfect for adding a bit of dimension! I also used the S4 328 Foilage. LOVE these leaves!! I covered them with ICE stickles and absolutely LOVE the look!! The small butterflies are the punch outs from S4-329 Butterfly Circles. These are all adhered with Helmar Liquid Scrap Dots and have a small drop of Ranger Liquid Pearls in the center.
Here are a few tips for you...
*Take advantage of the Stenciling abilities in the Spellbinders Die Templates. I used this technique to add the glitter to the leaves and some inking to the butterfly! SO simple and very beautiful!
*Have you used Liquid Pearls? They are like regular pearls only you do not have to adhrer them individually in the same way. You add drops of a thick liquid and they look just like little pearls! They are FABULOUS for adding a lot of fine details. Check out the lamp post and the butterflies.
*For adhering butterflies, I ALWAYS use Helmar liquid Scrap dots. This is a THICK glue that dries thick. It helps to give dimension and depth to fine embellishments and is so easy to use! See the leaves and the butterflies.

Thanks so much for stopping by! I just love your comments! Each one is read and greatly appreciated!!
Tomorrow is my day for Spellbinders Blog Frenzy!! Be sure to drop by! I have 2 AWESOME die templates to reveal to you!!! I'm just so excited! Have you been following along? If not, you are REALLY missing out!! :) These designers are AMAZING! And the new releases... JAW dropping!!
So, until tomorrow... Happy Scrapping! :)
~Tina~

Spellbinders publications

Hello all!!

Just wanted to drop in and show you a couple of my Spellbinders projects that have been released. All of the work we do for Spellbinders is private... I am not allowed to show any of it until it goes public by them. I have a layout to show you that was featured in an article sponsored by Spellbinders on Scrapbooking.com. Then i have a card/envelope to share that was used in a Spellbinders slide show on Scrapbooks Etc. Here we go!

This is the first LO I did for Spellbinders as a part of their Design Team. It was my April layout. It is featured on Scrapbooking.com here. There are step by step instructions on how I created this page as well as some close up shots. Feel free to check it out! :)

BROTHERS

I used the following Spellbinders products on this page.
GC-001 Grand Calubur (TM) Die Cutting Machine
S7-018 Big Scalloped Border Grand
S4-206 Renaissance Hearts
S5-051 Fanciful Flights
S5-029 Nested Lacey Pennants
S5-028 Nested Pennants

Other Supplies used:
MME Stella& Rose (Patterned Paper), Canvas Corp (Cardstock and twine), Buttons Gallore and More (buttons), Want2Scrap (Say it with Pearls) , Helmar Premium Craft Glue, Ranger Distress Ink, Crate Alpha's

The second project is a card/envelope set that I created for a HSN show that Spellbinders did. How cool is that! :) It was used in a slide presentation featuring the entire design team on Scrapbooks Etc website. Check it out here.

Thinking of You Set

Here is the writeup taken directly from the Scrapbooks Etc website.
The Tulips Pendants, die cut/embossed/stenciled, create the focal point for this lovely card. I replaced the cut-out tulips on the card with pieces from the Tulip Borderabilities™ Petite patterned paper. I repeated the border on the edge of the envelope, creating a lovely ensemble. The base for this 6 x 6" card is Grand Labels One, perfectly suited for making shaped cards.
The following Spellbinders Products were used in creating this:
GC-001 Grand Calibur(TM) Machine,
S4-209 Tulips Pendants
S4-211 Tulips Borderabilities(TM) Petite
LF-161 Grand Labels One

Other Supplies Used:
StampingScrapping, Label Accents Stamps; Want2Scrap, Say It With Pearls Cream Pearls; Graphic 45, Green Floral, Green Dots, Pink Gingham, Pink Striped Once Upon A Springtime Patterned Paper; Clearsnap, ColorBox Chestnut Roan, Toffee Fluid Chalk Ink; Scor-Pal, Scoring Tool; Cream Cardstock; Helmar Liquid Scrap Dots; Craft Glue

Thanks so much for stopping by! Did you know that Spellbinders is showing some of their new releases in the Get the Knowledge Blog Frenzy this week and next? I have the AWESOME privilege of showing for the first time... 2 of their new releases! It is going to blow you away... trust me! My day is Tuesday, so be sure to drop by! It is already going on featuring the other
designers and they are blowing me away EVERY day! Check it out!!!
And how about this video showing off their BRAND NEW Edgabilities!!!!! These are AMAZING!! Check out the video!! If you can't view it here, click on this link to view it on YouTube.



SOOO super exciting! What do YOU think of them?
That's it for now!!! i hope you have been inspired!! I hope you will drop by and follow the Blog Frenzy! Did I mention that you could win the ENTIRE NEW RELEASE along with a Grand Calibur Die Cutting Machine? No?... well you can! Head over!
Until Next time...
Happy Scrapping!!
~Tina~

Best Creation Design Team Call and RAK

Best Creation is having a DESIGN TEAM CALL!!! Check it out!! Then check out the end of this post for a chance to WIN some Best Creations Goodies!!!!

Taken directly from the Best Creation Blog...

Ladies! It’s that time of the year again and Best Creation is searching for the next design team! We are looking for enthusiastic and talented crafters who would like to work with the best of the best in glitter paper!

The new team will last from August 2011 through January 2012. As a team member, you must be willing to:

· Promote Best Creation
· Create 5 projects per month (with description of products used and brief tutorial)

To apply for a spot on the team, send us the following:

· Contact Information (Name/ address/ phone/ email)
· Headshot or Photo
· Short Bio

· List design teams you are/have been on
· Resume including any publications
· Link to your blog
· jpegs of 3 projects (layout, projects, and/or cards) incorporating any Best Creation paper

You will be compensated with the latest in Best Creation papers, products from our cross-promotion companies, and promotion from Best Creation on all of our sites!

Submissions will be accepted now through July 24^th, 2011 at 11:59 PST.

Email your application to joyce@bestcreation.us!

The New Team will be announced on July 29^th, 2011.

Happy crafting and good luck!
*****************************************************************************
Are you new to Best Creation's products? Would you LOVE to try out for this call, but don't have any of their papers? Want to WIN SOME??? Well here's your lucky day!!! I am giving away a stash of BC's NEWEST lines!!! Here is how you can win!! Each of the following will give you one ballot in the draw!! Please leave a separate comment for each!

*Leave a comment in this post saying that you want to try BC's stuff, or that you love their stuff!! Tell me which of the collections below you like best! ;)
*Become a follower, if you already are, tell me so!
*Post a link to this blog post on Facebook.
*Post a link to this blog post on your blog.
*Send your friends over! Tell them to say you sent them!! For each one who becomes a follower because of you, you get an extra chance to win!!

So you could get 5 chances to win and MORE for each person who drops by!!
Check out some of BC's newest lines...

Splash Fun

Loops and Scoops

Rock StarI look forward to hearing from you!! You have until July 10th... not a ton of time but I want to get the winner their package sent REAL soon!!!

Thanks for stopping by!!!
Until Next Time...
Happy Scrapping!!
~Tina~

I'm still here!!!

HELLOOOOOOOOOO>>>>> Do I hear an ECHO???? ;)

Man, I can not believe it has been so long since I've blogged!!!! I apologize to those who visit faithfully and have found nothing new...I have been SWAMPED in Spellbinders and LOVING IT!!! :) I have gotten to play with a TON of their summer releases which will be released in July at CHA! You are going to be in AWE!! I know I am! They are AMAZING!!
I have about 16 projects that I'm shipping out tomorrow to them for CHA all using these amazing new dies! I can't wait to share some of those dies with you!!
That being said, I really should share something with you! It's not a Spellbinders project though. It is my final project that I created for Helmar before my term ended. It's a fun LO!! :)
Check it out!

LAUNDRY

This LO is about... can you guess? LAUNDRY!! It may seem like a funny thing to scrap about, but it's one of those things that I just HAD to do!! It's a HUGE part of my life, as you can well imagine with 7 of us living here!! LOL!I used Helmar Liquid Scrap dots to help "pop" up the laundry on the line and give it a real lift! It worked like a charm!!
Supplies: American Crafts PP, Pink Paislee PP, Jillibean Soup Corrugated alpha's and twine, Robin's Nest glass beads, Canvas Corp Pins, K&Co Flowers, Helmar Premium Craft Glue, Helmar Liquid Scrap Dots, Helmar 450 Quick Dry, Helmar Gemstone glue

Thanks SO much for stopping by!! I REALLY appreciate your patience and your faithful visits! :) I promise I'm going to be back to my regular posting schedule... you know, the not-so-scheduled one! :)
Until Next Time,
Happy Scrapping!!
~TINA~

Best Creation SUMMER FUN Blog hop!

Hi and WELCOME to the Best Creation SUMMER FUN blog hop!!

Grab your suntan lotion and a towel and

get ready for a fun Summertime Hop to get some great ideas
to get caught up with old summer photos and lots of ideas
for inspiring you for this summer too!!

Our first stop on this weekend hop is to Liz's blog and then

off to a idea packed hop with the rest of the team

and our Guest Designer for this month Shannon Morgan...

And of course we have lots of chances to win some of

our New June releases and 6x6 mini packs too. Be sure

and leave a comment on either Facebook or the blog

or sign up as a new Follower!!!
And of course our DT loves, loves, loves to hear from you
so leave them comments too!!

Liz Chidester

Katarina Damm

Alicia Barry

Kim Holmes

Brittny Kilvaug

Petra Offrell

Karen Taylor

Sandy Ang

Karen Thind

Jona Panessa

Sarah Mullanix

Tina McDonald <---you are here

Julie Walton<----GO HERE NEXT

Jodi Wilton

Debbie Sherman

Kim Arledge

Irit Shalom

Nicole Wise

Emily Branch

Shannon Morgan

Contest ends Sunday May 29th at Midnight. Check out the Best Creation blog for details on the prizes that can be won!! NICE new collections!!

*********************************************************

For my SUMMER FUN project, I created a Mini book using Best Creation's I LOVE AMERICA line... and no, I'm not American! LOL! But the red, white and blue color combo is just so much fun to play with!!
By using the 6x6 papers, it made for very little waste! And the patterns on the papers were small and suit the size of the project perfectly! In creating my album, I used Spellbinder's NESTED PENNANTS # S5-028 and LACEY NESTED PENNANT # S5-029 die templates. I cut out each page in my Spellbinder's GRAND CALIBUR #GC-001 die cutting machine. This makes it SO EASY to create a unique mini!!
Check it out!!
Here are the inside pages...
The entire album was adhered using my absolute favorite adhesive... Helmar's Premium Craft Glue! On the cover, I used some of the Helmar 1/4 inch square Zapdots to give the banner and star some pop!
I hope that this project has inspired you to create something or at least helped you look forward to the lazy hazy days of summer which have to be coming soon! :)
Thanks for stopping by! Until Next Time...
HAPPY SCRAPPING!
~Tina~

Flourishes and Spellbinders Blog Hop!

My apologies for the late post... gotta love Blogger!!! :)

FYI: Because of issues with Blogger and the inability to leave comments, You NOW have until Sunday, May 15th at 3PM CST to comment and participate in the week’s challenges. Remember, when you take part in our challenges, you could just win THE ENTIRE FLOURISHES RELEASE! See the Flourishes blog for details!!

Welcome to the joint Flourishes and Spellbinders Blog Hop! The Spellbinders team is joining forces with our Preferred Partner Flourishes today to show off stamps that coordinate with Spellbinders™ die templates!




We don’t need to tell you that tags and labels are two of the trendiest items to hit the card making market in a long time! And, to help you add style and pizzazz to your creations, Flourishes has teamed up with Spellbinders Paper Arts to make sure you have the perfect set of stamps to match a darling set of tag style dies.
Wonderfully whimsical and reminiscent of Grandma’s calico prints, Flourishes “charming” set offers three labels that coordinate perfectly with Spellbinders Grommet Tags (S4-322). Designed by Becky Fleck, you'll also find 6 beautiful sentiments and 4 accent stamps to dress up your labels! Pair that with Flourishes Country Charm Borders and you have the perfect set to make darling note cards in minutes. Flourishes coordinating Country Charm Borders set features five border strips that match the labels set to a tee. What fun!



Because Flourishes knew this set was a match made in heaven with Spellbinder's Grommet Tags, both design teams are joining forces for a fun-filled show and tell blog hop! Make sure to hop on over and see....
Please note some of the ladies are experiencing technical trouble with Blogger, we apologize for the inconvenience. Please check back later if a blog doesn’t work.


Barbara Anders

Christine Okken

Cindy Lawrence

Danielle Kennedy

Dawn Burnworth

Julie Koerber

Leslie Miller

Stacy Morgan

Heidi Blankenship

Beth Pingry

Margie Higuchi

Holly Simoni

AJ Otto

Latisha Yoast

Kazan Clark

Terre Fry

Becca Feeken

Julie Overby

Linda Duke

Sherry Cheever

Christine Emberson

Gloria Stengel

Judy Hayes

Michelle Woerner

Tina McDonald------------- YOU ARE HERE!!

Tonya Dirk

Windy Robinson

Keep in mind, if you like what you see, both the Country Charms Labels and Country Charms Borders are available now -- just click the links to see! Thanks for stopping by and happy stampin!!
******************************************************************
For my card today, I chose the adorable label and border that each coordinate and have the tiny bell flowers on them! LOVE!
I stamped the label and the border using dark brown ink from CLEARSNAP onto this beautiful yellow paper. I then trimmed the scalloped border using scissors. The label stamp coordinates with a Spellbinders die template that I don't have... yet! ;) So I got creative and came up with my own design!

After stamping the label, I cut/embossed it using the Standard Circles Large S4-114 Die #6 (with #1 being the smallest). Before removing it from the die template, I inked it it give it a nice country feel. Then I cut another circle using Standard Circles Small S4-116 Die # 7 (With #1 being the smallest) onto the green paper. Finally I cut out a Lacey Circle S4-293 Die #5 (with #1 being the smallest) again onto the yellow paper. After matting these together, I tucked them under my strip of patterned papers. Add a couple of eyelets, some twine (Thanks to Canvas Corp) and a button (Thanks Buttons Gallore) and it's good to go!! Oh, as a final touch, I colored in the flowers from the stamps with a teal colored marker! Doesn't it look adorable?

Thanks so much for dropping by! I know MANY of you are new to my blog, so please feel free to become a follower and stay up to date with all of my latest creations! THANK YOU to Flourishes for the opportunity to help show off your ADORABLE stamps!!! LOVE them!!
Now, continue on to the talented TONYA DIRK's blog! :)
Until Next Time,
HAPPY SCRAPPING (and stamping!)
Tina

My Scrapbook Nook

Hi everyone! I know, I have been horrible for updating... I've been really busy creating though... just not able to share it with you! :) Just so you know, a lot of the stuff I do for Spellbinders will not be able to be seen on my blog. A lot of it will be for advertising and such with them... very exciting...!
However, I WILL be using lots of Spellbinders stuff on practicly everything I make, so you'll definately get to see it in use! :) Once things settle in I'm planning to do a video for all of you who are new to Spellbinders as well so that you can see how simple it is and how fabulous!! :)

So, on with the post, eh?
Some time ago I mentioned that I would be guest designing for My Scrapbook Nook for a month! Well, I recieved the April kit a couple of weeks ago! YUMMY!!! Check it out...

I have had the chance to create one layout so far... but can't wait to dig in some more!!

Check it out...

QUIET MOMENT

Everything on this page was part of the April kit except for the mini roses... those were from Michaels. I adore this collection from Echo Park, don't you? Gorgeous color scheme going on!!
I used my Spellbinders Grand Calibur to cut out the ribbon banners (S5-028 Nested Pennants) as well as the label (LF-161 Grand Labels One) which I used as my photo matt! OMW!!! I am in LOVE with these dies!! Check out the embossing on those ribbon dies!! LOVE!!
That's all for now!! I know I should have more to show you but for some reason I'm coming up blank... LOL!
I'll be back soon with some Best Creations creations to show you! LOL!
Until then... Happy Scrapping!
~TINA~

Best Creation Border Punch Blog Hop

It is Hip Hop time again ladies so grab your Bunny Ears and come on a fun hop with us to learn lots of incredible techniques to use all those fun border punches that you have.

You have arrived here from the blog of the talented Tracey Taylor. Don't forget to pick up the mystery letters on each ladies blog as you go to spell our mystery word. Send this to teresa@bestcreation.us for a chance to win our grand prize and leave comments on our facebook and all of the design team for 2 more chances to win your choice of a pack of glittery goodness.
Here is the blog list again... if you have arrived here by chance and want to start at the beginning, please stop by the Best Creation blog here...

Jodi Wilton
Irit Shalom
Karen Taylor
Liz Chidester
Mireille Divjak
Jona Panessa
Sandy Ang
Kim Arledge
Alicia Barry
Kim Holmes
Petra Offrell
Katarina Damm
Sarah Mullanix
Julie Walton
Brittny LeJeune
Debbie Sherman
Karen Thind
Tracey Taylor
Tina McDonald <----------- YOU ARE HERE!!
Emily Branch <--------------------YOU GO HERE NEXT!!
Nicole Wise
Best Creation Blog
***************************************************************
Alright, let me share my project and my tips with you for making the most of your border punches!!
I dug into the brand new Graduation collection that Best Creation just released! I didn't do a grad themed project, but I loved the grey and cream color combo going on, so I used it to scrap a layout of my sister's engagement! Worked perfectly!! And since all of the cardstock stickers and chipboard elements that come with the collection are grad themed, I dug into my stash and found some elegant embellies to top off the page.

Soulmates

In creating this page, I wanted to share with you a tip that I used... which often can help me to get double the use out of just one border stamp!
See the beautiful lace border below the photo? It's one of my favorite punches that Fiskar's has out. But now look down the left and right sides of the page... see that cream strip? That is the piece that is cut off when I punch my border! Normally we would toss that in the trash... but not me! Especially with this punch! I love the subtle look it gives! To create this look, I added a strip of black cardstock (the reverse of the black Glitter Dots paper from Best Creation) to the left and right sides. I then added the leftover (or negative) from my border punched strip. To finish it off, I added a small drop of liquid pearls to help define the look!

So there you have it!! Next time you are playing with your punches, give a second look at what you are about to toss in the trash! You just might be pleasantly surprised!! :) This happens to be the last time I'll be using my punches for a while... as I'll be doing a lot of playing with my Spellbinders die templates in the days and weeks to come! ;) But I'll save those tips and ideas for other posts! ;)
Thanks for stopping by! Now don't forget to take your letter with you...
"S"
Now go stop by the fabulous Emily Branch's blog!

Until next time... Happy Scrapping!!
~TINA~

A few little projects to share

Hello and HAPPY EASTER to you!!! I hope that you have a joyous weekend filled with loved ones and blessings! This weekend is a time for me to reflect on what my Savior has done for me and how thankful I am for my salvation! Today and every day!

Since returning from the Spellbinders Design team retreat, i have not been able to work on one single project without using my Spellbinder's Grand Calibur die cutting machine and the Die Templates! They are SOOOOO versatile and can do SO many things!!!! I am in LOVE! :) Today I have a couple of projects to share with you.

This first project is a card I made for Magistical Memories. That beautiful swirl on the front of the card is a chipboard piece called "heart border" and it is so elegantly beautiful! I covered it in Clear Snaps Color Box Cat Eye ink and Ranger distress powder. I then melted the powder with my heat gun, which gave it this beautifully distressed look! It went so beautifully with the KaiserCraft paper!
Supplies: Kaiser Craft Patterned paper, Spellbinders die templates, Recollections pearls, Ranger distress powder and ink, My Stamp Box Stamp, Clear Snap Color Box ink, Magistical Memories chipboard, Helmar Adhesives

Can I tell you a secret?... These last few weeks I have found myself LOVING making cards! I can't believe I just wrote that... but it's true! Using the Spellbinders Die Templates makes it SO much fun!! :) Now remember... don't tell!! ;)

The second project I want to share is a cute little Easter set that I made for Helmar... again, using my Spellbinders Die Templates! These were SOOO easy to make! And using the Helmar Liquid Scrap dots made those flowers stick on SO good!! We learned a similar version of these at the Spellbinders retreat and I just had to adapt them and make some Easter themed ones! :)
Supplies: Helmar Liquid Scrap Dots, Helmar Quick Fix Adhesive runner, Helmar Zap Dots, Fancy Pants Patterned Paper, Clearsnap Ink, Recollections blooms and pearls, Spellbinders die templates

Also I have some news... as of the end of this month my term is finished with Helmar and I will not be continuing on as a part of the Design Team. I have LOVED being a part of it and will continue to use Helmar on my projects! I look forward to seeing what the new team has in store!

I also have some fun news!! I have been asked to design some projects for the fabulous Iphone app "Sketches2Scrapbook" and "Sketches4Cards"! I will be designing with Anam's sketches for both cards and layouts! This will be lots of fun!! And seeing that I do not have an iphone, I will have some free app codes to give away once my projects are in!! Wohoo! So keep dropping by and I'll have those to give away someday... though I'm not sure when yet! :)
So... lots of changes... change is good! Looking forward to lots of changes coming up!
So until next time... Happy Scrapping!!
Tina

Spellbinders Design Team Retreat (long and photo heavy)

Alright, I promised I'd share some details regarding the Design team retreat put on by Spellbinders. There is SOO much to tell... and so much I can't tell! :) VERY exciting time, so much fun stuff coming up...

I left home at 3:15am on April 6th. After arriving at the airport, I was informed that my flight was delayed by 1 hr. I could have slept in... Yeah, right! :) So my wonderful Hubby went to Tim Horton's and got us breakfast! Then at 6:45 I was away. I couldn't stop grinning... I was beyond excited!!

I arrived in Phoenix Arizona at 11:30am. I was picked up by Cathy and Kim and off we went to the hotel. Since I was the first of the team to arrive, I had a few hours to kill. Sleep... sweet sleep! I got settled in the hotel room and crashed for about an hour! This is the view from the hotel room. Desert and mountains. It was so beautiful! Cloudy... but beautiful! :)
Thru the next 3 days, we were treated like royalty!! SPOILED ROTTEN! We were fed amazing food... both in the hotel and at some beautiful restaurants! Some of the snacks and desserts that were brought in were to DIE FOR! They almost looked too pretty to eat!... almost! And I was informed that there are no calories in the food in Arizona! I think I want to move there! LOL!
The people... I feel so honored to have had the opportunity to meet these girls in person. The 11 other team members are all AMAZING! I laughed harder than I have in YEARS!! We had so much fun! Here are some shots of the gals I had the honor of hanging out with and getting to know... They are all incredibly talented and have fantastic personalities! Each one is so unique and has something different to add to the dynamics of the team. We had 2 Canadians... Lesley Langdonand myself, and one gal from the UK, Christine Emberson. The rest were from all across the US. 4 were returning members from the 2010 team, AJ Otto , Judy Hayes, Kimberly Crawford and Latisha Yoast. And the remaining US teamies were Gloria Stengel, Michelle Woerner (My table mate), Shanna Vineyard, Tonya Dirk and Windy Robinson(My roomie).

The team that put together the retreat... they are amazing! They put SO much work into every little detail! Check out the room where we held our meetings and classes...
It was FULL of beautiful girly touches! Flowers hanging... real flowers on the tables... balloons... it was so beautiful and made us feel so special! And here is the star of the slow... the Spellbinder Grand Calibur!!
This is an AWESOME machine!! It needs no plug... it can cut several dies at a time due to the large plate it can run thru... and it applies even pressure through the entire plate to give a fabulous cut every time! I am in LOVE!!
Want a peek at the die templates that Spellbinders was generous enough to send us home with?
WOW eh? SO many sets of die templates to play with!! And the Grand Calibur AND the brand new not yet on the market Presto Punch! I'll share more about that in the next couple of weeks! Stacy and Jeff were SOOOO generous!! Can you believe this stash?
Want to see some more of the fabulousness we brought home... I will warn you... it is jaw dropping...I feel so unbelievably blessed... and the only reason I am showing the entire stash is to show you how HARD the Spellbinders team work to support their team... they work HARD to provide us with amazing cross promotional partners and the best of product to work with!!
Each team member was presented with this HUGE collection of ColorBox Cat Eye Chalk inks! Every color we could imagine! We nearly died!!! :) You should have heard the squeels of excitement!
And check out the bling...
Want2Scrap has partnered up with Spellbinders to bring you some Nestabling... bling shapes to fit the Nestabilities!! AMAZING! This is just the first shipment of bling from this EXTREMELY generous company!!
Alright... want to see the entire stash? Well... there are still 5 or 6 companies still to ship... but this is the majority...
And this photo does it no justice... there are things in bags still not spread out... but do you get the picture? GENEROUS and I'm SO BLESSED!!
At this time I want to take a minute to say THANK YOU to the companies who have partnered up with Spellbinders for cross promotion! You are AMAZING! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!
Graphic45 Paper
Donna Salazar
Flourishes
Flower Soft®
Gina K. Designs™
Heartfelt Creations™
JustRite® Stampers
Layers of Color™ Art Stamps
Local King Rubber Stamps
Magenta Stamps
Our Daily Bread Designs
Penny Black® Inc.
Quietfire Design
The Rubber Cafe'
StampingScrapping™
Technique Tuesday®
Unity Stamp Company
WaltzingMouse
Want2Scrap
Anna Griffin®
Bazzill Basics Paper®
Beacon Adhesives
Best Creation Inc.
Buttons Galore and More
Craftwork Cards
Canvas Corp.
Clearsnap
Cosmic Shimmer
Cosmo Cricket™
Creative Impressions
Echo Park Paper
Fancy Pants Designs
GCD Studios
Glue Dots®
Imaginisce®
Jillibean Soup™
KaiserCraft
My Mind's Eye™
Nikki Sivils, Scrapbooker
Scor-Pal®
SCRAPBOOK ADHESIVES BY 3L™
Sparkle N' Sprinkle
Want2Scrap
WorldWin Papers®
Artistic Wire
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While in AZ, we did more than just have classes. We also had a TON of fun!! One of the neat things they did for us was this...
You've all heard of a piniata? Well, this is the Spellbinders version... it's called a "DIE-iatta". When this baby broke, it was filled with die templates, and lots of other fabulous little goodies from our partners!! You should have seen us crawling around the floor like a bunch of children! It was so fun!!
A few more photo's...
Corporate office... lots of fun secrets seen in there! But I'll never tell...
I got to see real cactus! I even had to go out in the rain to get my picture taken with this one! LOL!
And check out the beautiful double rainbow we seen that night...
Here's the team...

What an amazing journey this was. I am blown away at having been given this opportunity! I feel so unworthy... but so blessed. Thank you Stacy... thank you Spellbinders. I can't wait to see what all this next year has in store...
Never in a million years would I have dared to dream that I would be given an opportunity like this. But I was. And for that I am so thankful! So always work towards your dreams... because you just never know what tomorrow holds.
Thanks for sticking with me thru this LONG WINDED post! There is so much more I would love to have told you, but I think this is lots... for now! LOL!
I have a project up on the Spellbinder blog today... it's not brand new, but it's there if you want to check it out and say HI! :)
Until Next time... Happy Scrapping!
~Tina~

Middle of April already?

Oh my goodness! Where has the month gone?!?! I can't believe it's been 2 weeks since I posted!! Terrible me!
I'll be honest... with going away on the Spellbinders DT retreat... i was busy getting ready to go. Now that I'm back... Well... all I want to do is create! LOL!

however, I know you are all dying to know all about the retreat... so this post is my promise to you that I will be back later on today with some fabulous photo's, details and sneak peeks of some of what I'm creating! Lots that I can't show you yet though! :)
So... until later... bare with me! "I'll be back..." (said in my very best Arnold Schwartzinager voice... LOL!)
Until then...
Happy Scrapping!
~TINA~

Officially a Spellbinders Gal!

Today marks the beginning of my term as a member of the 2011 Spellbinder Paper Arts Design Team! I still can not believe how blessed I am to have this opportunity!

I head off to sunny Arizona on Wednesday April 6th for the official Spellbinders Design Team retreat! I am so excited to meet this amazingly talented group of ladies!! I get to be roomies with the incredibly talented Windy Robinson... she was just named one of Paper Crafts new Go-To-Girls!!! I'm so thrilled for her! And I get to be her roomie!! Perhaps some of her talent will rub off on me!! :)

Check out my sidebar for links to all of the blogs of these fabulous designers!! They are all so amazing! Someone pinch me... please! :)

I created a little THANK YOU card for this occasion. I want to thank Spellbinders for giving me this amazing opportunity! I want to thank YOU for dropping by my blog! Please feel free to FOLLOW me for lots of inspiration in the coming months!!

Supplies: Patterned Paper (Pink Paislee, Prima), Cardstock (Bazill), Alpha stickers (Doodlebug), Pearls (Recollections), Button (Jenni Bowlin), Die's (Spellbinders, "Parisian Accents"), Adhesives (Helmar Premium Craft Glue, Helmar 1/2 inch round Zap Dots, Helmar quickfix adhesive runner)

Thank you so much for stopping by my blog! I hope to see you around lots more in the coming months!! Don't forget to hit that FOLLOW button to be sure you don't miss anything! :)
Until Next Time...
Happy Scrapping!!
~Tina~