Fresh Fruit Friday…on Sunday

Ok, so this is a little late but hey, better late than never right? We had the big scary computer upgrade so I haven’t been able to post sooner.

As you know Friday is release day and Amy has blown us away with yet another great kit – Autumn Garden. This is a collaboration with Melissa Bennet & it is stunning! I haven’t yet had a chance to work with it but check it out! Grab it at the Orchard today!

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Lil Missie layouts!

I’ve just finished working with some super cute Miss Tiina goodies so of course I have to share the results with you!

Tinna’s designs are super cute and so much fun to play with – very funky playful elements and awesome papers. You need to get your hands on some ASAP! Her store is packed to the gills with both personal & commercial use items that are simply awesome – check out her store HERE

Thanks for stopping by :)

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Did I hear someone say sale?

I lurrrrves me a bargain, and when I find a good one I just gotta share!

If you’re anything like me you have a huge wish list at the Orchard so why not grab some goodies with this awesome Summer Rewind sale! Perfect chance to grab some LCC by Amy Stoffel lush goodies! Starting Monday August 31st & going through to Sept3rd, this is a sale you won’t want to miss, so head to Scrap Orchard!

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Speed Scrap at the Orchard!

I took part in my first ever speed scrap tonight over at Scrap Orchard and it was great fun! Thanks to Christine for hosting!

Credits:

The Art In Me by Tracie Stroud

STAY TUNED soon for details on a great upcoming sale at the Orchard!

Thanks for stopping by!

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I tweet – do you?

Ok, so I’m giving this twitter thing a go lol Follow me on TWITTER for fast and easy updates on not only my incredibly thrilling life – HA! – but for news and info regarding sales, digi freebies etc etc. If I find something good, you just know I’m going to share the deets with you all! And I’d love to follow more folks so link me up!

Thanks for stopping by!

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Come chat with the Daydreamer team!

Pop over for a chat with the whole crew – the fantastic Site Owner, our talented Designers, site staff and of course the wonderful Dream Team!! Get to know us a little better and hey, you might even score a great prize while you’re at it!

And if you haven’t yet registered at this awesome new digi forum & store – what the heck are you waiting for?! Head over to DAYDREAMER DESIGNWORKS today to register – and be sure to pop litabells in the referral section – tell em Litabells sent ya!

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Another gorgeous New Release - Sunday

And boy does Amy have a good one for you!

Sunday from LCC by Amy Stoffel

This kit is fantastic – it reminds me of lazy weekends cozying up with loved ones, or taking walks in the park. It’s packed full of the cutest elements – have al ook at the puddy cat and that oh so cute owl! The papers are richly coloured with excellent texture – you will fall in love!

Here are some of my creations with Sunday:

Also released today are two awesome quickpage packs using Amy’s newest releases – Sunday & Creative Me

Be sure to head to the Orchard quick smart and grab this jam packed goodies!

Thanks for stopping by :)

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My August guest spot

with LCC by Amy Stoffel is now a permanent gig!! Woot woot!

I lurve Amy’s team! They’re all complete nutters of course but a heck of a lot of fun and Amy’s designs are to die for. And I get to stay!! Woot woot – happy dance!

Click the blinkie to take you directly to Amy’s store at Scrap Orchard…go on…you know you want to!

Thanks for stopping by!

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Who’s a lil missie?

That would be me!!

I’m now on the creative team for the talented Miss Tiina!! Tiina has amazing goodies in her store for both personal and commercial use, including some brilliant fonts – my fave!

So be sure to head on over to her store quick smart & stock up on some great digi treats!

Miss Tiina

Thanks for stopping by :)

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Lita’s Sketch No.6

Here’s this week’s sketch girlies :)

And as always, our efforts. Karen’s is not yet posted due to my spasmodic camera that does not want to play nice. Grr

Lita – mine is an oldie and what this sketch was based upon :)

Cyn – love that Cyn has turned this into a double – wootwoot!

Lita’s Sketches will be moving to a new addy soon so be sure to keep checking in so that you’re kept up to date with the happenings!

Thanks for stopping by!

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Creative Me from LCC by Amy Stoffel

Yay – it’s new release day!!

Check out these amazing new goodie from LCC by Amy Stoffel! The collection is called Creative Me & can be purchased in four smaller parts or one bumper kit! It is absolutely jam packed with goodies that are just perfect for all those crafty pics just waiting to be scrapped, but versatile enough to make any page pop. Head on over to the SO Market & grab it today! Kit image is linked to the store :)

And here are some of my creations:

Thansk for stopping by guys – be sure and leave me a comment, I love to hear from you!

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I'm on the dream team!

I can now offically announce that I am on the Dream Team at Daydreamer Designworks! Woot woot!

I was approached to join the creative team but had to keep quiet until all the applications had been dealt with - but now I can scream it from the rooftops!! I am so excited to be a part of this! We have a huge list of talented designers on board & as part of the creative team I get to work with them all!

We have a bunch of challenges lined up that will earn participants points towards savings at the storeand we also have a fantatstic blog train and grand opening giveaways. This site rocks! Come & join us! Especially for the challenges - I'm hosting a journalling based challenge that I'd love to share with you all!

When you join, be sure to pop my username (litabells) in the referral box!

Come on - join the dreamers!

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Tuesday Tute: Lettering Techniques

Hi there - it's Karen here bringing you today's Tuesday Tute: Lettering techniques! This is my first tute, so please, be gentle LOL

As scrappers, we know that journalling and titles can really make a page, so our alpha stash can be huge - there’s so much variety to choose from . A few examples are:
Thickers – these come in variety of colors and ‘textures’ including puffy vinyl, foam & chipboard.
Tim Holtz Grungeboard – love this stuff! Flexible and if you ink in a color and decide it’s not quite right, simply run it under cold water and dry and start again!
Stickers – endless variety, so many different brands and styles. At the moment one of my favourites are ‘Adornit’ by Carolee Creations. Big color variety and the best part is they only cost $2 here in Australia!
Rubons – again an endless variety available. Many different brands that offer abc/123 basic fonts, coloured fonts, prints, words, pictures.
Chipboard – again endless variety, you can get premade words, titles, shapes, almost any type of theme. Some are plain, some are printed, colored, patterned, etc.
Sizzix & Cricut – A huge variety of Sizzix and sizzlit alphas to choose from, also Cricut cartridges provide a great range of choices. They can be quite expensive to purchase but if you already have some, mix and match the fonts in your title for a great effect.

Tip - By using different lettering fonts and styles, in different materials, you can create a unique look on your page. Mix and match different alphas in different fonts, brands, colors to give your layout a wonderful title and focus point.

Use chipboard for one word, thickers for another word and stickers for the rest, so many combinations, you’re going to end up with a different look every time.


Combine thickers and stickers:




Tip - Some abc lettering stickers are quite small, ie. ‘Adornit’ by Carolee Creations range, as mentioned above. Sometimes I do find them rather small when I want them to stand out more. A great tip to make them ‘pop’ on your page is to matt them on plain white cardstock, using a small square punch. You can get these great little punches from spotlight for around $2-$3. Once you matt the sticker on the square it automatically looks ‘bigger’. For an added effect you can outline the white cardstock with a cloured pen!

Tip - With a lot of lettering, if you run out of a particular letter, you can substitute with another similar and either turn it upside down, or make a little snip somewhere and you have what you need. Sometimes it’s not always that affordable or accessible to go out and buy another packet of lettering because your missing one letter!
Tip - Recolor your existing letters using inks to get the right color or change the look. I often use Dew Drop inks, they have a huge color range and are very easy to use. Add some color ink to your Tim Holtz Grungeboard and any chipboard. But you can also take it further and experiment with other alphas like Thickers. There is a huge selection of foam Thickers that are already coloured, but sometimes you may not have the ‘right’ color for your layout, grab your inks and change the color to suit your layout! Chipboard is great for creatign a title that matches your page - cover it in paper or ink it to suit your needs!There are so many endless possibilities and you don’t always need to have a lot of abc’s in your stash.

Recoloured Grungeboard

Inked & glossed chipboard


Tip - use a different type of font within a word, if you’re using thickers in a certain color and you have run out of a letter to use for that word, maybe use a different color or different type of lettering, ie sticker abc! This adds some interest to the page as well as giving you a pretty funky looking title!

Have fun with lettering, use them as another element to your page and really make your titles ‘POP’!!!!

Thanks for joining me for todays tutorial - Karen x

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Lita's Sketch No.5

It's sketch day!!

Todays is a double page sketch, with lots of room for journalling. Take the sketch and spin it your way - show me what you can do with it!

As always, here are our samples -

Lita:

Karen:

Cyn:

Have fun with it ladies! Be sure to pop on over to our FACEBOOK GROUP and share you creations in our album - look forward to seeing them!

Thanks for stopping by!

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I love Fridays!

Fridays are my favourite!! I know what you're thinking but it's not just because it means the weekend is here, nor because it means that it's scrap night with Karen - but because it's new release day at Scrap Orchard! And, since I'm lucky enough to be guesting for the Fabulous Amy Stoffel this month, I got some of the goodies early!

Flavor Of Life: Summer is Amy's newest - an awesome collab kit with the talented Jen Yurko. This kit is fantastic - it can be bought as four seperate minis, or as one giant kit - grab the big one, you know you want to! And for a limited time you can get theses goods on sale - save 19%!

Here are my creations with this fun kit:

NOW - are you all ready for tomorrows sketch? I've got a double page sketch coming your way using at least 4 photos! Can't wait to share it with you all!

Thanks for stopping by!

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New Digi Den- Daydreamer Designworks

I love me a good forum, and if there’s a store attached to it well that just makes it so much better!

A new forum is launching in September & believe me, you’ll want to join! The site is super cute which gets you inspired straight away. There will be challenges, giveaways, blog trains and the designers on board are AMAZING! Whilst the store is not open yet, the forum is already filling fast, & it’s easy to see why. The ladies on the team are so friendly and love a good laugh.

Pop on over & visit what is bound to become my home away from home!

Oh, and when (not if, WHEN) you register, be sure to pop my username in the referral box: litabells :)

Daydreamer Designworks

And if you’re anything like me, you’ll want to sport the Fan blinkie around town – enjoy :D

Thanks for stopping by – hope to see you at Daydreamer soon!

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Wednesday WriteUp - Curvy Cutter

Today's Write Up is bought to us by the lovely Cyn. If anyone can recommend a good product it is Cyn - this gal can shop!!

Do you ever wonder how to get those 12 inch circles for your 12x12 layout? Well, have I got a tool for you! The Curvy Cutter!

Here is the information from the EKSuccess Website for you to learn more about this really cool tool:

Features and Benefits:-
Crop photos and paper with 1/8" mats into circles and rounded squares in seconds!

Circles create 22 shapes ranging from 2 1/4" to 7 1/2. Cut outside the track too, for additional sizes!

Curvy Cutter™ Cutting Tool sold separately.

For best results use a glass mat for smooth cuts, self-healing mat may provide uneven results.

When cutting multiple sizes from one piece of paper, cut smallest shape first and continue progressively cutting larger sizes.

Includes 2 templates with positioning guides

For photos and paper

Easy alignment guide

Gripper feet ensures template will not slide

Clear template for accurate cutting
Cuts clean edges from start to finish

Creates 1/8" mats
Dimensions: 12" x 12"

The Curvy Cutter is a Cutter Bee product made by EKSuccess. I have both the circle cutter templates and the Segments Templates and have the 12x12 glass mat. I figured to save money, I would get the circle template to start and see if I used it. Boy did I ever use it! So, then, I kept my eye open for the segments and when they arrived at our Hobby Lobby, I bought them with a 40% off coupon. It was better for me to be able to “build” my shapes than purchase all the different shapes. I bought every piece of my curvy cutter system with my 40% off coupons at Michaels and Hobby Lobby and then bought my 12x12 Glass Cutting Mat at Archivers with a 30% of coupon.

In order to use the Curvy Cutter, you will need:
The EKSuccess Cutting Tool
A Template of your choice – circles, ovals, rounded square or segments.
**It is recommended that you have a glass cutting mat to make smooth cuts (self healing mats tend to make an uneven cut).

Cyn’s Pros:
*Circles, Ovals, Rounded Squares and even Racetrack Sized Cuts to go across a layout are EASY
*Cutting Blades are Cheap to replace (have had mine for a year and have not had to replace the blade yet)
*Segments allow you to make whatever shape you want to cut
*Learning curve is null and void – VERY EASY TO USE!!!
*Cutting Blade for the cutting tool can be stored in the cutting tool knob – the clear part screws off and you can store your blades in there so that they do not get dull from sitting out.

Cyn’s Cons:
*If you don’t hold down the template properly, you can slide across the glass mat – this only happened the first time I used it...
*All the pieces for the segments are small and need to be kept together – I use a Jet Maxx Cube drawer to keep mine handy and safe from little hands, but when I go to a retreat, they go in a Ziploc baggie in my AMM Tote-ally Cool Tote.
*Keep the segments out of reach of small children!

Here are 2 PDF Documents that will tell you how to use these awesome templates!
PDF Document for the Curvy Cutter Segments - http://www.eksuccess.com/pdfs/product_9241.pdf
PDF Document for the Curvy Cutter Circle Template - http://www.eksuccess.com/pdfs/product_7685.pdf

Youtube video on how to use the Curvy Cutter Circle Templates
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9k6_SeVTTRQ

A big thank you to Cyn for this wonderful review!

Thanks for stopping by!

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no tute...sad face...

I had a brilliant tute for your today, packed full of tips on using your flower stash. I uploaded it, go thte pics looking right, spell checked...and my comp crashed. I lost the tute, a digi layout that was just about done, and the remaining scrap of my sanity.

So, there'll be no tute today. Quite frankly, I don't think I have the mental capacity to do it right now lol

Check in Thursday for the tute instead - & come back tomorrow for a review by team member Cyn!

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August by Amy Stoffel

As you know, I'm a guest on Amy Stoffel's creative team this month & all I can say is WOW!! While I can't yet show you what I'm surrently working on, I can show you her latest release which is simply stunning!!



The kit is called August and can be found at Scrap Orchard. It is jam packed with lush goodies so be sure to head on over and grab it - it's %20 off at the moment so get in quick!



And if you're looking for inspiration head over to the team blog to see their gorgeous LO's with this kit.


Thanks for stopping by :)

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Lita's Sketch No.4

Another sketch for you today ladies!! Thisa is a very basic sketch as I would LOVE to see you gals jazz it up and put your own spin it! Use it as a starting point and let your creativity run wild!!

As always, here are the sample from myself, Karen & Cyn:

Lita: I've kept farily true to the sketch this week, simply adding a little hidden journalling tag, & also keeping my photos straight. Love these picvs of my DD and her nanna.

Karen: Karen has flipped the sketch & angled her papers a little - love it! She has also replaced the two smaller photos with a large, stunning pic of her gorgeous DD.

Cyn: Cyn has kept true to the sketch & used it for an 'interview' she has done with her cute DS.

Be sure to share your creations - thanks for stopping by!

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