Sunday, January 31, 2010

Black & White Valentine's Mini Album Kit

** 4 kits SOLD as of 2/1/2010! Thank you ladies!! **


Hi everyone!

I am introducing my very first mini album kit for sale and I thought it would be fitting that it be a Valentine's Day mini album kit. I am all about non-traditional scrappin' -- typically when you think Valentine's day, many think Red and Pink. I think Black, White and Red. hehehe! I thought the Black and White paper collection by Me and My Big Ideas would be the PERFECT paper for a Valentine's day mini album kit! This kit is packed with goodies! So be sure to check out the vid to see the details. But here are some pics below.

Also, at the time of purchase, let me know if you are interested in having your papers and chipboard cut in a top-note frame shape as shown in the sample below. I will add that on at no additional cost before shipping the kit. :-)

If you have any questions, email me at bfkwithlove@gmail.com.

Thanks for stopping by!


The chipboard can be cut in this top-note shape upon request.

Friday, January 29, 2010

New Tag and RAK for Amy


Happy Friday everyone! Are you as excited as I am that the weekend has come?! Gosh, what a week. One word -- insane!! hehe!!

Here is a new tag that I made for Amy at "worker4ever123" on YouTube. You can check out Amy's channel here. She is the sweetest lady ever. She went to her local Michaels and bought me the large Martha Stewart deep edge Doily Lace Punch after watching one of my vids. I had bought the punch, then later discovered after opening the package that the handle was broken. I checked and called every Michael's within an hour of where I live for a replacement. Nothing. I was nearly in tears (well, I think I actually was... LOL!) Don't you get like that when you really, REALLY want something? I know for sure I do. :-) Anyhow, Amy sent me a message on YouTube and she said "I picked up the punch for you, shipping to you UPS this week!" I was nearly floored... okay, I "was" floored! Even more excited than the Mariposa papers (OMG, is that possible? YES it is!) I offered to send her money through Paypal, even for the cost of shipping... but she wouldn't have it. Anyhow, Amy is just the sweetest ever to go out of her way to do something like this for someone she hardly knows (we only "know" each other through YouTube.) And to top it off, she sends the punch with a TON (and I mean a TON) of scrapbooking goodies. Everything was just AMAZING!!! You can check out my video of Amy's RAK here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qaK4k7zm0As

Anyhow, I put together a package for Amy as my way of saying "thank you." :-) I made a Valentine's Day tin mini album for her, a Valentine's treat box and a tag. I hope she enjoys it all and I wanted to share those creations with you here. Thanks for stopping by, and enjoy!

hugs,
Arlene



Wednesday, January 27, 2010

February Tag Swap Details!

UPDATE as of 2/28/2010:

Hi Ladies, I have received most of the tags (thank you!) but am still waiting on a few to arrive early next week. I will post a vid on my YouTube channel to give you all a sneak peek at everyone's gorgeous tags!! I am so amazed with all of you talented ladies out there... all I can say is WOW!!! :-) Can't wait to share. I will ship your tags as soon as I can. Check back here for updates on when they were shipped.

Thanks so much for participating and I'm looking forward to the March swap! :-)

hugs,
Arlene



**UPDATE on 2/1/2010: See update to Group #2 below**


Hi everyone!

Thank you so much for the HUGE response to this tag swap! It is going to be so much fun and we have a ton of creative ladies who have signed up to participate!

As you know from my former post, I extended the number of swappers and grabbed (in the order received) those that sent me a message on YouTube or commented on my tag swap post before 8am PT, Jan 25th. We have a total of 30 swappers!! :-) (By the way, next month I will only be accepting swap sign-ups by email. It just got way too confusing for the Feb swap. Lots of people left comments on my vid and YouTube profile and per my instructions, those interested were to send me a message on YouTube or comment on my blog... so if you didn't do either of those and got missed, sorry! This month is my first time hosting a swap so thanks for being patient with me! hehe!) Anyhow....

To keep the tag swapping/making to a manageable number for everyone, I will be breaking up the swappers into 3 groups - Group 1, Group 2 & Group 3.


Here are the groups:


Group 1 (make 10, keep 1 for yourself)
Livelovescrap
Twinsmoms
Pigglet4822
CpeilScraps
Yoliebean
craftyQT
Creatingwithaloha
Worker4ever123
Dayle Lindow
66msclaudia

Group 2 (make 11, keep 1 for yourself)
kaczsk
JadedStudios
Mybutterflykisses12
Msdaniellerenee2
ArrestedMotionVideos
Scrapbukr4life
Jules/jannaviles
Amylynn
amyvlovestv
Scrapsofmine
Tracey (fncyfce)

Group 3 (make 10, keep 1 for yourself)

Micki Switzer
TFriday77
706smile
Love2Craft
Tracy
KarenScraps
Supergirl1460
Marisa
Alexandra
Southerncricut

Here are the details for the tag swap:

* Please make your tag with good quality, heavy card stock or back with light chipboard for stability

* Your tag should be sized at 2 ¾ x 5 inches (no larger please!) Anything goes, as long as you stay within the size requirement. :-)

*All the tags you create should be the same/identical

* Include at least one embellishment on your tag (i.e. flower, bling, charm, ribbon, etc.)

* THEME: “Vintage Valentine”

* CHALLENGE: “Distress” (this could be paper distress/tearing, distress inking, distress embossing, etc.)

* Please include your name and blog/YouTube URL on the back of your tags so we all know whose work it is.

* Place your tags in a plastic zipper type bag to prevent possible water damage during shipment.

* Include a self-addressed/self-stamped envelope with your tags. The stamps should total at least the same amount of postage as it took to mail the tags to me. NO metered strips please.

Your tags need to be in my hands no later than Saturday, February 27th. I will ship the swapped tags to participants within a week so long as I have everyone’s tags on time. Any delays in receiving the tags will delay shipment for others so please be considerate of the deadline. :-)

Thank you all for participating, and most importantly HAVE FUN!! Can’t wait to see everyone’s creations! :-)

If you don't already have my mailing address, email me once you're ready to mail out your tags and I will send you my mailing address. I’m at bfkwithlove@gmail.com.

Lastly, if you haven’t sent me your FULL NAME and EMAIL ADDRESS, please email that to me as soon as possible.

Thanks ladies! :-)

hugs,
Arlene


NOTE: If you are non-US based and want to participate in a tag swap, Louise (YouTube name " ZettiBettie") will be hosting a tag swap for International swappers. Her blog is at: www.zettibetti.blogspot.com.

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Some new tags!

Hi everyone! I've been in a tag making mood lately... might have to do with the tag swap coming up, so I'm just warming up! hehehe! Here are a few tags I made that I wanted to share.

Also, I had a Glass Bead Embossing tutorial up on YouTube but it was set to private... ooops! I just made it public for everyone's viewing. This video will show you the technique I used on the frame of my "Me" Mariposa mini album where I used hot UTEE to set the glass beads.



Thanks for stopping by! Enjoy! :-) hugs, Arlene

Update on February Tag Swap

Good morning ladies! :-)

I just wanted to give a brief update on the February tag swap, then I will be following-up later on with the details for the swap as well as who will be swapping. :-) I will also send the details to your email addresses (if you sent it to me) so you don't miss out.

Wow, what an AMAZING turn-out for this tag swap! How super EXCITING ladies!! :-) I could not find it in myself to turn down everyone after the first 9 were selected.... so..... I accepted more swappers.... Yay!!! :-) If you received an email or message from me yesterday through Blogger or YouTube... you are in the February swap. :-) Basically, if you contacted me following the instructions on my Jan. 24th blog post (which was to leave a comment on my blog or send me a message on YouTube) and I received that message by 8:00am Pacific Time on Jan. 25th... you are IN!! :-) Due to the very large number of swap participants, I will need to randomly break everyone up in groups of 8 or 9 to keep the tag making manageable for everyone.

This is so exciting and I can't wait!!! :-) The details regarding guidelines, tag details, the "challenge", shipping, etc. will be posted to my blog shortly, so please stay tuned! :-)

Thank you all so much for participating. We have an awesome, awesome group of talented folks swapping so be prepared to be WOW'd!! hehe! :-)

Oh, and if you didn't make it in this month... please don't let that discourage you! I will be hosting another swap in March and I hope more people participate then. :-) Also, I will be working with a YouTube friend to host a tag swap for the international ladies who want to join in... so stay tuned for more information on that! :-)

big hugs,
Arlene :-)

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Tag Swap!

*** As of 1/25/10, the tag swap has been closed. Thank you so much for your interest and please check back for the March swap. I will be opening up March tag swap sign-ups at the end of Feb and take in all U.S. based scrappers who are interested in participating (no limit) -- I'll be splitting up the swappers in groups of 10 or so to make it manageable for everyone. So stay tuned!

If you are located Internationally (outside of the United States) and are interested in hosting a tag swap along side me for international swappers, please send me an email at bfkwithlove@gmail.com. Thanks everyone!! ***


Hi scrappers! :-)

I will be hosting a tag swap for the month of February and hope you join in on the fun!

I owe the encouragement to do this to Amy from "worker4ever123" (YouTube name.) Amy is such a sweetheart and she thought having a tag swap was an awesome idea, and I agree! Thank you Amy! :-) And thanks to Bona for walking me through my very first hosted swap! You truly are the bestest friend EVER! :-)

Here are the Tag swap details:

  • I will be selecting the first 9 people who send me a message on YouTube, or comment on this post
  • U.S. swappers only please
  • The first swap will be in February
  • February swap participants will be posted to my blog on January 30th
  • Once you sign up, you are responsible for following through with creating the tags and getting them shipped on time so they are received by the deadline. The worst feeling is sending out 10 tags and only getting back 5. :-( Please be fair to the other swappers and only sign up if you plan to follow through. :-)
  • Deadline to have your completed tags to me will be the end of the month. For February, the deadline will be Feb 27th since the 28th is a Sunday
How it works...
  • There will be 10 swappers total, which includes me
  • You will create 10 tags, all the same/identical
  • Follow the theme and/or challenge for the month (which will be posted to my blog)
  • Ship 9 of your tags to me, keep 1 for yourself
  • In your shipment, include a pre-addressed/pre-stamped envelope (include same amount of postage used to send me your tags, plus a little extra just in case we get some "heavy" tags). No paid meter-strips please! :-) I will ship back any postage not used.
  • Everyone's tags should be in my hands by the due date specified (we need to be fair to other swappers who are waiting for their share of tags)
  • Once I receive everyone's tags, I will mail 1 of each tag to each swap participant (so each swapper will get back 9 tags in the pre-stamped envelope they provided, one from each of the 9 other swappers) How cool is that to get an array of tags from so many other creative scrappers?! :-)
I will list further details on creating the tags when I post the participants to my blog on January 30th.

If you have any questions at all, please leave me a comment.

Can't wait to get started on this... it'll be super fun!!! :-)

hugs,
Arlene

Friday, January 22, 2010

Game of Life Tag


Hi everyone! Here is another tag I made using Tim Holtz's "Game of Life" cling mount stamp set. This stamp set has been around for awhile, but I just got it a few weeks ago and I'm hooked!!! I love this stamp set. On this tag, I used each stamp in the set and a bunch of different Distress Inks. Instead of Versamark, I used Ranger's Clear Resist Embossing Ink. I have no idea what the difference is, but it still came out okay. hehe! When I watched the vid I just put up... I realized there was something missing.... I guess I'll have to remember next time... GLIMMER MIST!!!! I can't wait to try out the new pack of Perfect Pearls pigment powder I picked up... homemade glimmer mist is just gorgeous when using Perfect Pearls! :-)

Thanks for stopping by and have and awesome weekend!!

hugs, Arlene :-)


Monday, January 11, 2010

40 Years and going strong!


My mom and dad celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary on January 10th and it was so amazing celebrating that milestone with them. It takes a very special couple to make it to 40 years and we are all holding on for the 50th! :-) Here is a pic of the happy couple and the card that I made for them.

I embossed the front of the card using my Cuttlebug french script embossing folder and my Sizzix BigShot. Then I took Distress Ink in Scattered Straw and blended it to give the card some color and texture. On the Sizzix Decorative Heart die, I colored it with Gold acryllic paint then sprayed gold glimmer mist, then added Versamark and clear embossing powder then heat set it. I hand made the paper flower using Tim Holtz's grungepaper flower technique. I used regular white cardstock, build the flower per Tim's instructions on his blog. I then sprayed the flower with Tattered Leather and Gold glimmer mist. I heat set it. Then with my finger, I applied distressed Stickles in Scattered Straw, then heat set again. The chipboard plate embellie is by Making Memories, from a wedding collection. I printed out the sentiment on my computer, then punched it out using my SU! Wide Oval punch. I then edged it with Distress Ink in Scattered Straw.

Hope you like the card and thanks for stopping by! :-)

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