Paper Secrets NSD Challenges are still open

08 May 2011 1 Comment

by dlwidder in Cards and Projects Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Happy Mother’s Day everyone! The Paper Secrets National Scrapbooking Day challenges are still open! If you happen to find a lull in your day, stop on by for some great challenges w/awesome prizes. Entries need to be received by 11:59 pm PST tonight to be elligible for prizes. Don’t worry though, if you miss the NSD challenges, there are also 4 May challenges posted that aren’t due until the end of the month! So far you’ve seen my examples for the recipe challenge and the sketch challenge. Now it’s time for me to share my examples for the color combo challenge. Our very talented Amy, has challenged us to use the Turquoise, Red and White color combo on any project of our choice. You can do a layout, card or tag!

Though I love the colors and have used them in other color combos with ease, I tend to shy away from this trendy and very popular color combo. It’s everywhere in the previous CHA releases. You’ll find it with Lily Bee, Crate Paper, Webster’s Pages, Cosmo Cricket and I’m sure many others! What is it about turquoise and red together that I have trouble with? After quite a bit of thought, I’m relatively certain it’s a simply that they are both such bold colors. Well, if for no other reason than the fact that I like to step out of my comfort zone, I just HAD to participate in this one! My last project was a layout and the next one requires it to be a layout, so for this challenge I went with both a card and a tag. Here’s my take:

Materials (card):

American Crafts white cardstock
MME Kaleidoscope 12×12 papers
MME Lush2 trim
Crafty Secrets Heartwarming Vintage Booklet

Adhesives:

Helmar Zap Dots
Helmar 450 Quick Dry
Glue Arts Glue Glider Pro Perma Tac

Materials (tag):

WP scraps
MME Kaleidoscope 12×12 paper
Crafty Secrets Heartwarming Vintage Booklet
WP Chipboard button
twine
seam binding
Punched paper scrap

TFL!

NSD – Challenge Event Announcements and Projects

07 May 2011 6 Comments

by dlwidder in Cards and Projects Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Happy NDS (National Scrapbooking Day) all you crafter’s out there! Hope everyone finds the time to do something creative today. 😀

In case you haven’t noticed, I love to combine challenges whenever possible. I often find it even more challenging to take a color challenge and mix it with a sketch challenge or a recipe challenge and blend it with a themed one, etc. It’s great when you can combine 3 or more challenges on a single project! Not all sites allow you to do this for your entry, but you can always do it just for you too. 😀

Today’s projects are combined challenges, however they’re unique because this time I’m combining a challenge that I’m hosting on Paper Secrets for their NSD weekend event with one on Webster’s Pages’ InspireMe! 😀 The WP traditional challenge asks you to create either a Mother’s Day or Father’s Day card using mainly WP papers and embellish it with either one of their flowers or stamps. If you don’t have either of these embellishments, you can even make your own paper flower from their papers for this challenge (CLICK HERE to enter or for further details). My example was created with this challenge in mind and my recipe challenge for Paper Secrets which requires just 1 ribbon, 2 patterned papers, and 3 embellishments of your choice from the provided list. You can use any manufacturer and can pick any 3 embellishments from a list that’s posted on the forum (CLICK HERE to enter the challenge or view further details for the challenge). Here’s what I came up with:

Materials:

American Crafts cardstock base
Webster’s Pages 6×6 papers
WP Bloomer
Seam binding
WP Ladies & Gents Digi Tickets
K&Company rubons
Queen&Co. rhinestones

Adhesives:

Helmar 450 Quick Dry
Glue Arts Glue Glider Pro Perma Tac

For the challenge I posted on Paper Secrets, you can also opt to make a tag instead of a card, so here’s my example for the tag:

Materials:

American Crafts cardstock base
Webster’s Pages 6×6 papers
WP Ladies and Gents chipboard buttons w/twine
WP Ladies and Gents Digi Tickets
Seam Binding

Adhesives:

Helmar 450 Quick Dry
Glue Arts Glue Glider Pro Perma Tac

The tag was combined with Michelle’s May Tag challenge on Sketches4All. TFL and I hope you can play along too! 😀

Paper Secret’s May Challenges

02 May 2011 7 Comments

by dlwidder in Cards and Projects, Scrapbook Layouts Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The May challenges have been posted on Paper Secrets. Enter any or all of the 4 challenges to be entered to win the monthly prize! One is a card sketch challenge with a twist. The twist is to use a bare chipboard piece on your project and alter it in some way. For my card, I used a Maya Road butterfly and coated it with a Viva Pearl Pen (kind of like liquid pearls). Here’s what I came up with using Webster’s Pages, new Trendsetter 6×6 papers, bloomer, trims, pins, and their sparklers from last year:

Another is a layout challenge based on a pagemaps sketch. I combined it with a “something old/something new” challenge on Sketches4All that also required you to add sparkle and dimension to your project. For this one, I went with MME’s original Lush line (the light blue patterned paper, trim and brads) and mixed it with Lush 2 (the fuchsia and navy papers and journaling spot). The buttons were also old, as were the WP and Cosmo Cricket alphas for the title. Here’s how it turned out:

The journaling is just explaining how incredulous we were when when Matthew was an infant (he was early too) and Madison was a year old (90th percentile for height and weight), how often we were asked if they were twins. Ha! 😀

The last example I have is for the stash/supply challenge. For this month, all you need to do is use 3 or more rubons on your project. For mine, I used a Kraft base, scraps for the matting, American crafts trim, yarn from my stash, and Bo Bunny rubons. Since I wanted to add dimension w/the rub-on images, I adhered them to plain cardstock, fussy cut them, then popped them up with foam dots. Here’s my example:

The overall design was a scraplift challenge on another site. The fourth challenge is a manufacturer challenge. This month’s featured manufacturer is Glitz. Unfortunately, I do not have any of Glitz’s fab products, so I wasn’t able to create an example for this challenge. Hope you stop by and join in on some of the great new challenges and don’t forget, we have a wonderful event scheduled to take place this Saturday, May 7, 2011 (National Scrapbooking Day), as well as the Scrap Your A** Off contest starting May 13th (sign up before May 12th to join in). HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE! 😀

I {Heart} Helmar

26 Apr 2011 6 Comments

by dlwidder in product reviews Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

A couple of days ago, I received the most incredible news!!! Keeping my mouth shut about it was really, REALLY hard! Who am I kidding? I blabbed about it to my bff and a couple of others that I knew would not tell a soul. I couldn’t believe the email I received and had to read it a few times before it really sank in. Tracy from HELMAR, you know, the company that makes the most incredible crafting adhesives imaginable, contacted me and let me know that I was being the opportunity to be a Guest DT for their blog!!! I STILL can’t believe it, but sure enough the GDT list that was posted this morning has me on the list! {still giddy over the news!}

In case you are not familiar with Helmar’s products, here’s a pic that shows a lot, but not all, of what they make:

They make high quality, scrapbook-friendly adhesives that really do what you would want/expect an adhesive to do…STICK! Some of their products are incredibly innovative and I haven’t come across anything I could possibly replace them with. I have no idea how I ever crafted with my Helmar!

Some of my favorite products made by Helmar:

450 Quick Dry – This is a thicker, clear liquid adhesive that works fabulously on ribbons and trims. Handmade flowers are a snap with this wonder! It also works with just about anything! You can use it on acryllic, metal, wood, paper, chipboard, cardboard, canvas and the list goes on and on!

Premium Craft Glue – This fantastic, clear liquid glue is a lot like the 450 Quick Dry, but it isn’t as thick and takes a bit longer to dry. For ribbons and Trims, I prefer the 450, but for other applications, this is a more cost effective solution. Not recommended for acryllic

Liquid Scrap Dots – I can’t say enough about this amazing product!!! Have you ever had a fussy cut piece that you wanted to give dimension, but couldn’t because it was so intricate you wouldn’t be able to raise it with foam dots/tabs? Liquid Scrap Dots to the rescue! This stuff is amazing! It comes in a tube and you just apply as much as you need, where ever you need it and voila! Incredible levels of dimension! Want even more dimension? Apply a dab, let it dry and add another layer!!! You control the depth…get as much or as little lift as you want! Simply brilliant!

Acid Free Glue – White glue that dries clear. This is the one you want when you’re looking for a flexible hold that does not yellow. You can use it for book binding or even for decoupage!

V2 Vellum Adhesive – An incredible spray adhesive that is perfect for so much more than just vellum! Works great with acryllic, chipboard, cardboard and GLITTER too! On vellum, it simply vanishes…just imagine an adhesive where your vellum doesn’t ripple and you don’t need to try to hide where you’ve applied it, because it doesn’t show through! Works like a dream! Just think of the magic you could create with an adhesive like this…you could even use it to apply vellum to acryllic with no need to hide either side!!! What other adhesive gives you this kind of versatility?

Helmar also makes an adhesive runner, gemstone glue, fabric glue, 2 step crackle medium and Zap Dots (these are like foam dots for dimension and are available in clear, white and black and in various sizes). Be sure to check some of these products out today! If your LSS does not carry them, there are many fabulous online retailers now carry a wide variety of their products. Twopeasinabucket.com now carries Helmar as well as Scrap-tastic.com They also have a link on their site for other retailers. You can even find Helmar on facebook!

***Be sure to check out my fabulous giveaway on the previous post***

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