It's a Mini-Mania @ Lucky Girl Crafts!!!

Hi Friends!

The Lucky Girls have been having a blast creating with our Mid-Summer Mini kit, Beach Babes (and the subscriber extra - Beachy Keen). The bold prints and bright colors are perfect for all those summer pics & projects!

To celebrate the middle of summer, we're having our

JULY MINI-MANIA BLOG PARTY
July 15-17
Visit each of the Lucky Girls to check out their take on our "mini" challenge - there are some phenomenal projects out there, plus a chance to WIN for one of our Lucky Girl fans (world wide!)

Oh, and did you know it's Christmas in July at Lucky Girl Crafts?
You get a FREE GIFT with any order placed in our store - the bigger your purchase, the more goodies you'll see under your tree in your mail!

Without further ado, here's my mini... a memory box sized perfectly for vacation photos and mementos (5"x6") - though this weekend I'll be taking in my carry-on luggage on my flight to Boston, filled with card-making supplies and trinkets. I need something to keep me occupied for 4 hours!

With a little sparkle and bling, it's going to capture all of our "flashy" beach memories. Aren't those Bo Bunny papers & accents divine?

A little sparkle and shine included with the casual design mimic the summer sights.

Some foam pop dots add dimension to the hibiscus journaling shape and a few more add a little extra pop to the metal trinket. These were combined with the chipboard alpha, which was painted over with Shimmerz watercolors and spritzed with glimmer mist for a watery effect.

Recipe for Beach Vacation Mini: July 2011 Mid-Summer Mini Lucky Girl Crafts Kit - Beach Babes Bo Bunny Barefoot & Bliss Papers, Trinket & Die Cut // Handmade Glittered Flourish Tag // My Mind's Eye Lush Chipboard Alphabet // Imaginisce Studded Sticker - Hibiscus // Yellow Grosgrain Ribbon Other: Shimmerz Water Color Paint // Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist // ModPodge Dimensional Glaze

Wanna win a little summer embellie package, filled with flourishes and bling, flowers & journaling spots and more?!

Simply play along with our blog party and leave a comment on each of the Lucky Girl's party posts to earn your entry! Once you've visited each Lucky Girl, please come back here and tell us what your favorite mini project was in this month's hop. One winner will be announced on the store blog next week.

Store Blog
Natalie
Jessica <==== You are here!
Ana
Sabrina

Participants must visit & comment on each blog for a chance to win the Blog Party prize. This one's open to Lucky Girls world wide!

For an extra entry, play along with our Mini Mania July Challenge Contest (check out the Store Blog for more deets!)

Die Cut Mini Album - Challenge Blog Hop

My! this has been such a busy weekend! I've been cropping away at the Fall into Scrapping on-line crop at AC Bailey Designs' forum, plus there's been an exciting challenge blog hop that I'm participating for with Practical Scrappers.

There are lots of prizes out there in cyber land to be won, my friends! Be sure to visit the fun sites to get a little mojo moving and a chance to win!

The hop is hosted by Scrapsketch - if you haven't checked it out yet, definitely do it soon! Each of the 10 or so sites is hosting their own challenge and giving away TONS of sweet prizes!

The challenge over at Practical Scrappers is to use die cuts, so I broke out my Journaling Spots from Close To My Heart to create a fun and quick little album. I've had this project in mind ever since I got these spots, but it wasn't until I got back the pictures from my kiddos old-time photo shoot this summer that everything fell into place.

The journaling spots I used varied in sizes and shapes ovals, circles and squares ranging in size from 2"x2", 2-1/2"x3", 3"x4" and everywhere in between.


I traced some fun chipboard shapes onto regular transparency sheets (I purchased 100 8-1/2"x11"sheets at Office Depot for something like $25) and trimmed them out for a few accent pieces as the cover and on the inside of my album.

The first transparency was cut into a heart shape for my cover page. I adorned this with rub-ons for my title, a tiny flower and a little bit of bling.

Next, I trimmed the edge of the oval journal spot so it was easier to bind together cleanly in the finished project:

Next I left one of the journaling spots plain because it was just too cute - it worked great just as it was left open for journaling. I added another little flower and bling to jazz it up a bit:

I had a few clear acrylic shapes lying around, including a little photo clip that I tied to the front, and this little flower that I used on the inside. Again, I used some rub-ons and bling.

The last transparency I cut into a brackety shape and added a bling circle, rub-on word and flower.

The album ends with a picture of old-timey Sophia.

Once everything was complete, I punched holes to the album using my Crop-o-Dile and added 3/4" binder rings to hold it all together, then added scraps of ribbon around the rings to add a little pizazz.

Thanks for visiting!

I can see clearly now!

I've been playing with all sorts of clear mediums lately. I love the look of acrylic albums and acetate cards, but have been a little scared to try them myself until just recently. Here are a few of my first attempts.
The first is an acrylic album from Close To My Heart using the CTMH Perfect Day Papers, new CTMH chocolate rub ons, some Making Memories Brads and some flowers a friend gave me for Christmas last year. The big rub on words were from Cloud 9 Design (I think?). I used my favorite adhesive, Ad Tech tape runner that I pick up for pretty inexpensive at Wally World. I love how sticky it is, and it works great for these projects. just remember to "hide" your adhesive on clear projects, i.e. with papers, rub ons, stamped images (with StazOn) or clear stickers.

I made this album originally as a Christmas gift, but it's so pretty, I don't think I can part with it.