So what are your plans...

for today? It is New Year's Eve! Me, not much. I will work some then hang out with my family and some friends tonight. I will also be preparing for my retreat this weekend! I've stocked up on some new dies from all the crazy sales Scrap-Mart's been having this week and I'm planning and sketching out my pages. The DT has been crankin' out some great projects so let's take a look at what they've created!

Check out this layout from Jenn!

Jenn used the Quickutz Chemistry 4x8 unicase alpha, Quickutz Moonlight 4x8 Skinimini alpha, Quickutz 2x2 paper clips, and the Quickutz Club Recipe card die. If you missed out on that Club die you can use the Quickutz Cookie Cutter Recipe card set in it's place. This is a great layout and it could be easily "scraplifted."

This next layout comes from Veronica.

She used Sassafrass Lass papers to showcase her "Noisy Brothers" along with the Quickutz Aquarius 4x8 alpha and the retired Abigail alpha. I just love this layout! The layers and the embellishment cluster really bring it to life.

Brenda created this card/invitation using a combination of Quickutz and Boss Kut dies.


Mmm, just the thought of a big 'ole pot of hot soup is making my mouth water. Brenda used the Boss Kut Cameron font, Boss Kut kettle and ladle, Boss Kut Pea Pod, Boss Kut Carrot, Boss Kut Swirly Potato, Boss Kut Swirly Tomato, Quickutz Nesting Squares, and the Quickutz Cookie Cutter Recipe Card Set. Wow! What an awesome card!

Tammy created a mini book for "Just Desserts" using the Quickutz Cookie Cutter Recipe Card set. Check this out:

How cute is that?! She used the Quickutz Rollerskate 4x8 Skinimini alpha for the title on the cover. Take a look at the inside pages:

Tammy left enough room to add photos to go along with her recipes. This would make a fabulous house warming gift!

CraftyDeb has put together another quarter-size reference for us. This time it is for the Boss Kut space dies. These dies are on sale right now in the store in a bundle for an amazingly low price. Look at how cute they are:

CraftyDeb thinks it would make a great "Sorry I spaced out and missed your...birthday, anniversary, etc." or the ever popular "You are out of this world!" card. Do you remember the old playground song..."girls go to Mars to eat more candy bars; boys go to Jupiter to get...well, I'd better stop there. LOL!

I hope you've enjoyed today's post. The DT has even more to show you so be sure to check back here Friday, January 2nd! And remember, if you'd like to share any of your creations you can email them to me at Katie@scrap-mart.com. I've received many emails lately full of feedback! Thank you for taking the time to tell us you think we're doing a great job! We appreciate each and every one of you!

Thanks for stoppin' by today!
Katie

As promised....

I'm back today to show you all of the entries we received for the 12 Tags of Christmas contest. I want to stress again that all the tags were wonderful and unique and it was difficult to pick just ONE winner!

That being said, here are the tags in no particular order:

by: Tammy Vanhauen

by: Amanda Havon

by: Anita Schaub

by: Erica Wejshag

by: Jeremy in Georgia

by: Lina Wejshag

by: Marika

by: Marit Cronquist

by: Mary F.

by: Matthew James

by: Peggy Vanhauen

by: Pomaika'i in Hawaii

by: Shar


by: Vicky Hrabe

And here's one last peek at the winning tag by Kristen Anne Hermanny:



I also have a project to show you from our lovely CraftyDeb.

Here, CraftyDeb used the Quickutz Recipe Card Set to make a journal block for an upcoming page. She added the holly and berries from the Quickutz Jolly Gift Set alongside her journaling and just like that she has a wonderful handmade piece to add to her layout.

I've issued a challenge of sorts to our design team to see how many ways they can use these recipe cards on a page. Stay tuned to see what all they come up with!

The final project from today comes from Jenn. How many of you have seasonal dies? I know I do. Jenn took the Quickutz Revolution Scarecrow to a whole other level. Look:

Jenn turned that Scarecrow into a clown for her Circus page! Isn't that cute?!

I want to thank all of the participants in the tag contest again. You are appreciated! If you have not yet emailed me your mailing address please send it to me at Katie@scrap-mart.com.

If you haven't checked out the store swing by there and see what's going on. From now until Dec. 31st we will have a different item of the day at an unbeatable price!

We hope you all had a wonderful holiday with your family! As always, thanks for stoppin' by! We'll see you back here Wednesday to end the year right. And, if you have any ideas, feedback, or projects you'd like to share with us send 'em to me!

Thanks,
Katie

P.S. I've added a new link to the Sizzix Stack Matrix on the right side of the page under "Useful Info" (toward the bottom). You can refer to this anytime you have questions about what dies require which plates in various machines. You will need Acrobat Reader to view it! Please let me know if you have any questions! Thanks!

It's the day after....

Christmas. It's Friday and hopefully you have the day off. I hope that you all enjoyed the holiday and that you were surrounded by those you love. Just in case you are looking for something to keep you busy over your long weekend, we thought we'd share some great non-holiday inspiration to get your scrappy gears movin'.

To get this layout started, Jenn grabbed the Scenic Route Appleton collection! This paper is so awesome! The red is a TRUE red and the blue is great too. Jenn took 5th Street paper and cut it in half, then she flipped one of the pieces over. She connected the "seam" with a strip of green cardstock. This is a great paper-saving technique!!! Next, she cut the Quickutz Flowers 12" Border and since Jenn is creating this page for her son, she used the Quickutz School Cookie Cutter Dies instead of the flowers to fill in the circles! For her title, Jenn used the Diesel Grand (3), Rockstar (rd) and Aquarius (Grade) alphabets. Love the combo!

This next layout from Brenda is also a school themed layout.

Brenda used the Bosskut school bus, school house and brackets. Here's a close-up of the pages.

Brenda even added a hidden journal block and she used the Quickutz Tab to top it off.

When making two-page layouts, creating the pages as mirror images of each other is a great way to give them balance.

These next two layouts come from Tammy.

Tammy used the Quickutz Revolution Butterfly and the Quickutz 4x8 Storybook font.

On her next layout, she started out with paper from Scenic Route's Sonoma line.

Then she added the Quickutz 12" Bead Border, Quickutz Photo Corner and used the 4x8 Chemistry font for her title.

The last layout I have to show you today is from Veronica.

The title on this layout was made with the Quickutz 4x8 Dragonfly font and means "Sunshine Boy". She used glitter cardstock and cut flourishes using the Quickutz Revolution Antique Flourish. What a gorgeous layout!

I do have just one more thing to share with you today. It's a quarter-size reference from our CraftyDeb for the Quickutz 4x8 Mini Storybook alphabet.


Thanks for stoppin' by today! We appreciate you! If you haven't stopped by the store yet hop on over and check out the after Christmas deals. I hear all the Quickutz 4x8 alphabets are on sale. You'll also find some great deals on all Quickutz Cookie Cutter shapes and even some Bosskut dies!

We hope you're enjoying all of the projects. We've received some invaluable feedback recently and we encourage you to keep it coming. You can email me anytime at Katie@scrap-mart.com. If I can't answer your question or help you then I will find someone who can. We'll be back on Monday, December 29th with ALL of the tag contest entries! I hope everyone has a great scrappy weekend! And if you'd like to share your creations with us, you've got my addy! We'd love to see 'em.

Katie

Good Morning and....

Merry Christmas to you and your family from all of us here at Scrap-Mart! We hope you all have a wonderful holiday filled with family, love, and happiness! We'll see you back here on Friday with some great layouts from our DT to help kick start your new year!

Katie

Today is....

the last day before Christmas. You are hopefully done shopping, done wrapping, and ready to start cooking! But, in case you have a few last minute things to finish up and need a little inspiration we thought we'd share a few more holiday projects.

Look at these beautifully wrapped packages!


Veronica used the Quickutz Jolly Gift Set and the Quickutz Scallop Border to wrap these packages. These would look beautiful under any tree!

Next up is this layout from Tammy.


I'm sure we all have a stash of pictures just like this of our children with Santa! To make this layout Tammy used Scenic Route Roxbury patterned papers and the Quickutz Jolly Gift Set. No pouting here! Great layout, thanks Tammy!

Now check out this layout from Veronica!


The title means roughly "Are there some nice children here?" Again on this layout, Veronica used the Quickutz Jolly Gift Set. Are you seeing a pattern here? LOL! Don't ya just love all the layers?

Our CraftyDeb has been super busy making some wonderful custom borders to show you! Look at this...

For this one, CraftyDeb used the Quickutz Gingerbread Border. She cut the heads off.....now bear with me here....and turned them into a string of pajamas! Next CraftyDeb cut the Quickutz Border Dots and threaded a small piece of matching patterned paper through it! My kids get at least one pair of new pajamas every year for Christmas. I can already see this as a border on their page!

The next one CraftyDeb made for you is this adorable gingerbread border.

Here she used the Quickutz Gingerbread Border again...this time leaving their heads in place...and outlined them with a white pen to resemble the icing. Then she added both the Quickutz Bead Border and the Quickutz Scallop Border and the Quickutz Cookie Cutter Recipe Card. That recipe card could easily double as a journal block!

This HoHoHo border is too cute!



CraftyDeb used the Quickutz Fiesta and Merry and Bright fonts for her title...but any font combination would work here! This next one is similar...

but this time she put the border at the bottom and added the Quickutz Revolution Parchment Scroll.

Here's another one she created with the Lights Border.

To make the presents, CraftyDeb cut squares from her Nestabilities then wrapped a piece of ribbon around them and tied the bow.

But CraftyDeb didn't stop there! Oh no, check this one out!

Isn't this beautiful?! She used the Quickutz Cookie Cutter dies from the Jolly Gift Set and the candy canes to decorate the tree!

Wow! What wonderful projects! Those borders are so easy to make yet can make such an impact on your layouts! Thank you everyone for stoppin' by today! Leave us a comment and let us know which project is your favorite! If you have any projects you'd like to share with us email them to me at Katie@scrap-mart.com. Many of you have asked if I would share the rest of the tag contest entries and my answer is yes! I will be posting them all on Monday, December 29th. We'll see you back here Friday with some inspiring layouts to get you off to a scrappy start for 2009!

Katie

If you're like me.....

you're gearing up for these last few days before Christmas. That means shopping, wrapping, checking lists, and finalizing work issues. I LOVE the holidays. It's a time I'm guaranteed to have all my family together. It's a time for sharing, laughter, and good food. As we enter these last few hectic days I want to invite you all to take it all in. Don't rush. Sit back and enjoy the holiday for what it is. And, be sure to give yourself some time too!

We have more wonderful holiday projects to share with you today. First up are these gift card holders from DT member Brenda.

Gift cards are very popular these days and there's no better way to give them than in a handmade holder. On this one, Brenda used the Quickutz Revolution Santa and the Quickutz Jolly Gift Set.


Here, Brenda used the Quicktuz Snowflake, the Quickutz corner, and the Boss Kut Merry Christmas expressionable. Who wouldn't love to receive a gift card wrapped up in one of these?!

Our next project for today comes from DT member Veronica. She created this card...


with the Quickutz Jolly Gift Set. Veronica also made this box craker.


It was cut with the Silhouette, the star was cut with the Spellbinders Nestabilities and she added some holly leaves to her tag from the Quickutz Jolly Gift Set. Both projects are great and could be done rather quickly.

This next project is a wall hang. Our very own CraftyDeb designed this to fit inside a 12x12 frame.


On this lovely layout CraftyDeb used the Quickutz Tree 12" Border, a variety of the Quickutz animal dies, and the Quickutz Nutmeg font. The next one she made is 8 1/2x11.


This time, CraftyDeb used the Quickutz Paper Dolls, the Revolution Nativity Manger, and the Quickutz Lamb. These would look great hanging on your wall next to your tree!

The last projects I want to show you today come from DT members Brenda and Jenn.



This Magic Reindeer Food Ornament was created by Brenda. She used the Quickutz Tree Border to create the antlers. Isn't this darling?!

Here is Jenn's version:


Jenn chose to make hers a bag and she created the handmade topper with Scenic Route papers, the Quickutz Santa in his sleigh and Reindeer and the Rollerskate font. These dies are retired but the shapes are still available as downloads for the Silhouette.

There are many different recipes and poems out there for Magic Reindeer Food. Here's just one of them...

1/2 cup uncooked oatmeal
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup red or green sugar crystals (as used for cake decorating)

Be sure to take this magic food and sprinkle on the lawn,
On Christmas, Santa's reindeer travel miles before the dawn.
The smell of oats and glitter path will guide them on their way
And you'll wake up to Santa's gifts next morn on Christmas Day!

Wow! Are those projects awesome or what? And you know what? The best thing is you still have time before Christmas to try one...or all...of these for yourself! If you try any of these we'd love to see your version of it! Email them to me at Katie@scrap-mart.com. Thanks for stoppin' by today! We'll be back Wednesday with tons of scrapbook inspiration! Have a great day!

Katie