Card Sketch December #5

Is everyone ready for some celebrating today? I don't know about you but I am so ready for 2008 to be OVER! Bring on 2009! I love the New Year, a fresh start, it's probably one of favorite times of the year. This weeks card is perfect for any occasion, and I seem to be loving the big greetings right now.

I made this card back in November and I love it. I did have a major moment of indecision when doing the sentiment panel (done in photoshop) and trying to decide on which way around to do the colors: white text on black or black text on white. In the end I printed both, and tried them both, I prefer it this way round.

"Happy New Year" card by Di Hickman
Supplies: Papers: Paper Company, DCWV; Ribbon: Offray; Die cut: Sizzix; eyelets: Boxer Scrapbooks; Rub-ons: Making Memories: Software: Photoshop & Epson Artisan 800 printer

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"Happy New Year" card by Louise Brigden
Supplies: Shiny black card, K&Company glitter alphabet stickers, Cuttlebug D’vine Swirls embossing folder

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"Snow Fun" card by Jan Tatomir
Supplies: Paper: SweetwaterCardstock: Stampin' Up, Bazzill; Trim & Letters: Making Memories; Buttons & Snowman: Dress It Up; Ghost Snowflake: Heidi Swapp; Snowflake Bling: MAMBI

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"All hearts come home for Christmas" card by Chrys Rose
Supplies: Prima paper; Bazzill cardstock; Daisy D's velum; Boxer Scrapbook brads; Making Memories paper, flower and brad; Doodlebug glitter; Basic Grey chipboard

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"Happy Birthday" card by Kelli Seeman Smith
Supplies: fancy pants celebration collection, MSE birthday rubons, ribbon, buttons

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"Ho ! Ho ! Ho ! " card by Pearl Liu
Supplies: Bo Bunny pp & cardstock stickers , Autumn Leaves ribbon, Core'dinations cardstock, Bazzill Pom Pom trim

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"Merry Christmas to One and All" card by Celeste Brodnik
Supplies: Pattern Paper, Strip Tease Sheet: Cosmo Cricket; Flower, Brad: Making Memories; Ink: Colorbox Chalk Ink

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"Thank You" card by Louise Connell
Supplies: Cardstock – Bazzill; Papers, ribbon, jewels & alpha stickers - Doodlebug

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"Cherish" card by Liz Davidson
Supplies: background paper by papermania, and making memories, 3 brads by dove craft, gems by paperchase, word sticker by c'est la vie Tres jolie, by my minds eye.black and white pens by sakura.

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"You make me happy" card by Jackie Price
Supplies: scraps and a transparency from Transparent Tags & Touches.

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"Let it Snow" card by Kristin Schulz
Supplies: Bazzill Cardstock, Rob and Bob patterned paper, DCWV patterned paper, Autumn Leaves Rubs, Target ribbon, Heidi Grace Rubs, unknown bookplate

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"Best Wishes" card by Linda Flinders

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Enjoy what's left of 2008, and all the best for 2009!

Di

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published - just cards Vol 11

Thanks to everyone who commented or emailed regarding yesterdays post. B will be missed here on the blog and in the crafting community, for me the biggest impact will be our gardening stories, and especially who I will have to laugh at all my squirrel deterrent stories. You never really appreciate friendships until they are gone :( So thank you for your support during this time. All her family and friends appreciate it.

Today I thought I'd share with you some published cards. These are all from Just Cards! Vol11. I've mentioned this magazine before but it really is a great mag for cardmakers of all levels, plus each issue has full step by step instructions for each card too! There are 8 issues a year so keep a look out for it!

You'll notice some of these are based on sketches of mine, I love reusing sketches! Remember you can submit your cards and layouts with my sketches, just be sure to give credit in the supply list. If you're not sure how to do that just email me!

As you can see the techniques on these really vary, from simple, to stamping, transparancies, cut outs, and layers. My favorite is the "pig out" card! Love those animal stamps from Gel-a-tins!

More projects soon!

Di

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Miss Ya B :(

I've tried to post this a couple of times over the weekend but honestly the words just didn't come, the time wasn't right. After a day or so has passed I feel able to put some words here in memory of my design team member, fellow scrapbooker, and most of all my friend... Beverley Todd, who I simply called B.

December 23rd Beverley suffered a brain hemorrhage, which turned into a massive stroke. She was rushed to hospital and died on the 24th. In keeping with Beverley's caring and giving nature her family donated her organs, knowing that she gave some families hope and happiness this Christmas really uplifts me, and helps deal with the loss.

It's been almost exactly a year that Beverley has been on my card sketch team. I remember her application email vividly as she jokingly threatened to cease making cards altogether if she didn't make it, and that would be my fault, lol. That was Beverley always making light of situations, injecting humor and making you smile. After a few emails back and forth over the next month, it became apparent that we were alike in so many ways. She'd email to pick my brains regarding design teams or scrapbooking, we'd end up veering off topic and discussing other things and found we shared so many common interests.

When I started my green/gardening blog earlier this year I thought no-one would visit, but there was B encouraging me. She told me that she was also doing her bit for the environment, that she wanted to grow vegetables, live more sustainably, and she eventually started her own blog to document her own journey. It's strange to think that cardmaking brought us together yet so much more made us friends!

We were forever bouncing idea's off each other regarding green living, gardening, our dreams of living on a little small holding where we could live off the land, be sustainable with solar panels etc, and even though we lived 8000 miles apart we shared the same dreams, the same passion and the same drive.

We were both vegetarians which meant we should have shared recipes, only she didn't like foods too spicy/hot, and for me, the spicier the better =) I'd call her a wuss and she reply with some remark which would have us both rolling about laughing. Her sense of humor just had me cracking up every time!

I'll miss her emails every week, with her latest creations. She'd email me with her cards telling me that I was either awesome/evil depending on whether she'd struggled with the sketch or not, lol. She just had a way of lighting up the conversation, and I so looked forward to her emails. You could always be guaranteed of some witty comment :)

I thought I'd share again her card from mid-December. When she emailed this she told me she was taking a couple of weeks off from the sketches to tend to family stuff, which at this time of year is understandable. Little did I know that this would be the last email I'd receive from her :(

"warm wishes" by Beverley Todd

My thoughts go out to her family, especially her husband Adam and her four boys. I am so sorry for your loss. B will be deeply missed by all who knew her in the crafting community. I personally will miss her terribly, but I am thankful that I knew her, thankful that we shared so much in common, and thankful that I was able to call her a friend.

Miss ya B!



D

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Boxer Projects

I recently got a HUGE box of supplies from Boxer Scrapbooking, and in it were a couple of their Calendars. Love the Boxer Calendars, perfect for crafting with kids, and the dates/months etc are all stickers. The calendars come in lots of sizes too, I had the 8x8 for 2008 and for 2009 I am using the 1/2 page calendar and the 6x6. I love the different sizes! This is my page for January's calendar, me snowboarding =) January & February are prime snow times here in California so hopefully I'll get chance to get out on the slopes some more during the snow season!

Supplies: Calendar, Stickers, papers, ric rac, brads & Transparency: Boxer Scrapbooks; Chipboard: Heidi Swapp;

Nice and simple layout that took just minutes to do, but would be ideal for working with kids or those on a time constraints. Plus with the smaller sizes less is more!

Back soon!

Di

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Scrapbooking behind the scenes

Ok firstly a disclaimer: I've been published sure and I've been on various design teams, but there are other scrappers who are published more than me, been on more design teams than me, and are more well known than me. I don't claim to know it all, but I've learned a lot during the last 3 1/2 years and I thought I'd share that with you. All I can share is what I've learned and my personal experiences.

My History
Back in 2003 I started scrapbooking after saying defiantly in 2001 that "I could never get into all that". I played around for a year or so trying different styles, techniques and then I discovered internet message boards for scrapbooking, and "the pub". It was early 2005 and I found that regular people could get their projects featured in magazines. I decided to make it my goal for 2005 to get something published in a magazine. I'd been submitting a few months when I got my first call back, a card request for CorrespondenceART magazine. After the initial jumping for joy on the request, there was more jumping for joy upon receiving the magazine and seeing my card published, I was hooked. Submitting became a regular thing.

During 2005 I also discovered a thing called Design Teams. Create things for a store/kit and they send you stuff for free? Sure sounds great! I applied to TONS of teams and didn't get anywhere. The old adage of "if at first you don't suceed, try and try again" was proving incorrect but I kept at it. Throughout this time I was still submitting and getting nowhere since my first publication, the lack of DT was also getting to me, maybe I was a one hit wonder? So I took some time off, re-evaluated what I was doing and approached things differently. Mid-December I began submitting to magazines again, and got a call back! I wasn't a one hit wonder! In 2006 I saw a post on 2peas asking for DT members for an online store, I applied and got a position. That same month I received a call back from Simple Scrapbooks asking for a layout, and I was asked to be a guest designer for another online store/kit club. I found that this is a common theme for me in the publishing industry: Long dry spells followed by a series of hits.

Since then I've switched teams, learned a LOT and gained so much personal experience through Design Teams, publications and writing. Over the next few weeks I plan to share that experience on my blog. I plan on discussing things like being published (submitting, where to find calls, what happens, and what to expect), design teams (the different teams, how to get on a team, what to expect and the pro's cons of each), the highs and lows of the industry, and basically giving you all an insiders perspective of the industry.

So check back in January when I will be discussing Design Teams 101. If you have questions just ask (email or in the comments), I always say there is no such thing as a stupid question

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Happy Holidays - bumper celebration post!

I mentioned before that my favorite greeting for this time of year is Happy Holidays or Seasons Greetings. Honestly we don't celebrate Christmas in the religious sense, just a secular celebration for us full of food and festivities. Just the two of us this year, but no doubt we'll have friends round celebrating at some point over the holidays. We've already had a few little get-togethers to celebrate various holidays during the season.

Anyway I just wanted to share some seasonal creations with you all today as it is still Theme Thursday! These were published in the July issue of Cardmaker Magazine. First is a CD holder, this was a recovered CD holder, originally it was a Purina Puppy DVD case.

All suppplies by one heart... one mind

When I submitted the CD case, the editors requested a matching card, and gift tag. Anyone knows I am ALL about the cards. Hard to tell on the pic but this card has lots of dimension, the circles on the green cardstock are epoxy stickers. I was in the beginning of my 'stash busting' phase so I added these to the card for a fun background design.

All suppplies by one heart... one mind

The gift tag was quick and simple, just folded over cardstock, pre-printed elements layered and a little ribbon. Simplicity itself!

All suppplies by one heart... one mind

Speaking of one heart... one mind I thought I'd also share this table scape I did for them. Originally it was an assignment for a magazine, which promptly closed the month after I finished it. Then it was supposed to be published this month in another magazine but unfortunately magazines want items that are readily available and one heart one mind closed early in 2008 so my projects got bumped. I think I'm giving them up as a jinxed project and just posting them on my blog! Ignore the crappy pics, I only had 48 hours to get the project done, and photographed, with instructions etc.


Tree center piece, pops on top of a wine glass! Quite labor intensive!


Tray, repainted and lined with seasonal papers, makes a great addition to a table setting.


Little gift box in a dish could be a place setting or an addition. Beware of glitter falling into dishes however! Lol! It seemed like a good idea at the time!


My first altered coaster. Simply patterned paper and a sentiment panel from the ohom sheets. Definitely a project I'd do again. Also wine glass charms. The "Merry" panel is under and acrylic charm piece. I LOVE making these! Such a great addition to ANY party!


Simple place setting using ohom papers and rub-ons.


Again with the acrylic pieces from ohom. Love that they fit the papers, plus yummy ribbon! Simply wrap around napkins. This again could be used as a placesetting if you used the persons name instead of greeting.


Just a simple addition of a candle to round out the table setting.




Wishing you all a happy holidays!

Di

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Card Sketch December #4

Happy Holidays! Last minute preparations for the Christmas day celebrations!!! Lately the cards have been a little fussy and layered, so this week I thought we'd get back to simple, easy and quick card designs. Everyone knows I'm all about the simplicity!!!

It's nice to do fancy cards, with layers, and lots of embellishments but my passion will always be for simple and classic designs. This card came together so easily and took just 15 minutes from start to finish (including the envelope!). Such a simple design, yet one that I'll probably use over and over again!

"Happy Holidays" card by Di Hickman
Supplies: Cardstock & Paper: DCWV; Ribbon: Offray; Rub-ons: JoAnns; Pen: Sakura; Stitching Ruler: Boxer Scrapbooks; Charm: Unknown;

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"Snow" card by Kristin Schulz
Supplies: Bazzill cardstock, DCWV stickers and patterned paper, unknow fibers and metal snowflake.

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"Tickled Pink" card by Liz Davidson
Supplies: Pearl card from crafter companion, patterned paper papermania, offray ribbon, dangly handmade with odds and ends of beads.

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"Deck the Halls" card by Chrys Rose
Supplies: Bazzill cardstock; Fancy Pants paper; K & Co. chipboard; Heidi Swapp tulle; W R Memory Keepers rub on

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"Merry Christmas" card by Louise Bridgen
Supplies: Basic K&Company Peppermint Twist mat pad, glossy accents.

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"Happy Holidays" card by Kelli Seeman Smith
Supplies: bazzill cardstock, Basic Grey Wassail (tree lot), flower prima, stamp swirl Technique tuesday, funky fibers (christmas), Kaiser craft bling gem

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"I Believe" card by Jan Tatomir
Supplies: Paper: Making Memories; Santa Suit: Jolee's; Clothes Pins: See Spot Run; Rub: Scenic Route; Lace: Carolace; Ribbon: Strano; Other: string

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"Merry & Bright" card by Celeste Brodnik
Supplies: Pattern Paper, Die Cut: Cosmo Cricket; Button: Bazzill Basics; Jute: Craft Supply

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"Merry Everything" card by Pearl Liu
Supplies: Bo Bunny pp , CI epoxy stickers , Autumn Leaves brad

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"Good Luck" card by Louise Connell
Supplies: Papers & alpha rub ons – Doodlebug; Ribbon & charm from stash

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"Happy Anniversary" card by Linda Flinders

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"Deck the Halls" Card by Annette Taylor
Supplies List: Stamp and ribbon – Angel Crafts, Velvet from stash, Cardstock – PaperMill, Rub-on – Basic Grey

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Happy Holidays!

Di

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Scrapbooking.com December

If you're still scrambling making holiday projects or looking for crafting inspiration I thought I'd remind everyone that the December issue of Scrapbooking.com is up and available online. This month I decided to tackle a beginners guide to stamping. My projects from the article are below. If you'd like step by step instructions please follow the link to the article and click on the projects

This layout is created with Top Line Creations page kits. It was the first time I'd used their products and I really loved their products. Great coordinating papers with chipboard stickers.

Supplies: Art Pen: Sakura; Acrylic Stamps: Classmate Alpha (Close to my heart); Adhesive: E-Z Runner (Scrapbook Adhesives 3L); Buttons: Crème/white self adhesive (EK Success); Cardstock: Red, Green, (DCWV); Font: Dream Orphans (Larabie Fonts); Ink: Hollyhock (Close to my heart); Scrapbook Kit: Christmas (Top Line Creations); Tab: plastic tabs (Heidi Swapp); Tearing ruler: Deckle Edge (Karen Foster)

I've been using a lot of CTMH products too lately, especially the stamps and inks, and recently got hold of some of their papers. All I can say is WOW! I am LOVING this "reflections' line. Totally just calls to me, with it's awesome color palette and beautiful patterns.

Supplies: Acrylic Stamps: Sentiments (Close to my heart); Adhesive: E-Z Runner, Foam Squares (Scrapbook Adhesives 3L); Ink: Indian Corn Blue, Hollyhock (Close to my heart), Black (Versamark); Paper: My Reflections Paper Pack (Close to my heart); Tools: Scor-it board (Hammonds)

I was also recently featured as "blog of the week" at Scrapbooking.com, which I was over the moon about! I get to sport this little beauty (even if I am late putting it up!). Jami over at Scrapbooking.com is looking for more blogs to feature. To nominate yourself or your favorite blog for the Blog of the Week award, simply drop Jami an email giving herthe blog address. You can reach Jami at jpetersen@a-z.com.

So stop by Scrapbooking.com check out the articles and see what you get inspired to create!

Happy Crafting!

Di

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Back Soon...

All posting plans this week are put on hold as we're busy continuing our purge & declutter of the house. If you've been following my other blog you'll know we already got rid of a lot of stuff, well I just listed more items on freecycle! Bob is busy sorting through his office, and I'm in the process of going through my office. I just boxed up a 3" pile of papers. If it didn't cost so much to send through the mail due to the weight I'd give it away on my blog, but it's freaking heavy! So onto freecycle it goes.

So yeah, just taking a little blog break this weekend while we purge and organize...

If you don't hear from me in a couple of days, send chocolate & beer...


Di

*currently taking a break, having a cup of tea, and listing MORE things on Freecycle!**

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35% off Sale!

Letting everyone know that it's the last few days for 35% off my digital stores at Di Hickman Designs and A Cherry On Top! The discount is already taken off so no coupons required! Just pop by the stores and grab anything on sale! Includes layout templates, cards, kits, template bundles and more!

Happy Shopping!!!

Di

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