Creative Imaginations Blog

Same Product 3 Ways!

Hi Everyone...Nicole here back with the next installment of our "3-ways" series!  This month, I want to focus on one of my favorite new C.I. products...the 6"x6" paper pads!  Now of course everyone knows they the perfect sized sheets of paper for making wonderful cards, but I got to thinking...what else does the size inspire?

So I rounded up a couple of your favorite DT members, Shelly Hamilton and Alicia Geiss and asked them to show you what the pads inspired them to create, along with a handfull of other C.I. goodies including the new Silks paints:

And so it finally happened...I've been bitten pretty hard by the mixed media bug! So with the addition of all kinds of new mixed media goodies to it's catalog, Creative Imaginations makes it so easy to indulge in my latest obsession with canvas...and these little 6"X6" paper pads are no exception!  They're just the right size for cutting and tearing into all kinds of strips and shapes, making collage art a breeze.

So in that spirit, I tore strips from the Christine Adolph BOHO collection pad and collaged them into flower petals, then arranged them around a circle to for the flower in the lower left corner.

I used a stencil and some modeling paste to create the butterfly, then stuck a few of the eye candy crystals into the paste while it was still wet, so it acts like a glue.  The rest is messy fun with paints, rub ons, stamps, and of course, word stickers:

So much fun!  Stay check back in a day or two to see what the other DT members did with their stash...you're sure to be inspired!

Products Used:

• BOHO 6"x6" Paper Pad
• Luminarte Silks
• Banana Leaf Paper
• Oilvine Eye Candy (small)
• Life as Art Word Stickers

May Arts & Creative Imaginations tutorial!

Hi everyone, it's Nicole here excited to share my project for our week long blog hop with May Arts!  But first another winner ~   Sharon S “Both the package and card are beautiful.  I forget that ribbon adds such a special touch to a package -- I really like the Silky Crush ribbon on that package -- gonna have to get me some of that.  :-)  Thanks for sharing your wonderful inspiration too” Sharon please email me your address to ceeangels@aol.com

Earlier in the week I was perusing facebook and stumbled on a really cute flower tutorial using fabric strips.  I played around a bit with the technique, but kept ending up disappointed with the end result because the torn fabric strips made the flower petals look frayed & messy when I really wanted a crisper, cleaner look.

Enter May Arts Ribbon!  Its finished edges were just the tweak I needed to get the crisp petals I was yearning for!  I grabbed my Debbie Mumm Songbird 6x6 pad and some of my favorite May Arts ribbon and got to work.

I started by spraying both sides of a 2 foot length of 1 1/2" wide white satin ribbon with Sunburst Spray until it was completely saturated, then dryed it with a heat tool. When it was completely dry, I folded it in half widthwise and secured it with some super tacky double stick tape.

Then I folded the ribbon in half lengthwise, once...twice...three...maybe four times.  Using my super sharp tonic scissors, I randomly cut notches into the top of the ribbon through all the layers...maybe to the halfway point, like this:

When it's done and unfolded, it looks like this:

Then onto a 2" gluber I pleated the ribbon (with the notched edge along the top) all around the gluber in a spiral toward the center. 

I was done when I ran out of gluber, then I just trimmed off the excess.

After adding a button or two and some cute twine, it makes a beautiful embellishment for the front of a card for a special friend!

 

 

Creative Imaginations Products Used:

• Radiant Rain in Sunburst
• #29228 Nature's Song DS paper
• #29230 Fancy Flight DS Paper

Today we are giving away some ribbons from May Arts - you get to pick your favorite roll! All you have to do is post a comment and we will pick a winner and post it tomorrow!  And remember to hop on over to the May Arts blog for a chance to win some Creative Imaginations goodies!  Good luck!

Another New Feature!

Hello Scrappers!

I am so excited to announce another new monthly feature to our blog called the "Same Product 3 Ways".  The concept is not new, but the inspiration always will be!  Each month, I will send a mixed up, random collection of exciting Creative Imaginations product to two of our talented design team members to play with.  Then, each designer along with myself will be encouraged to do something different, or unexpected with the contents of their "mystery kit" in the hopes of offering lots of ideas and inspiration for products you may not expect!

So without further ado, let me show you what we're working with this month:  The super cute "Ragamuffins" Paper Collection from IOD:

Plus these other fun products:

Because layouts are my thing, I decided to create a one-pager celebrating my relationship with my favorite guy; my nephew CJ:

 

I've been playing around with paint a lot lately, and I love the distressed feel it creates when it's dry brushed onto patterned paper.  So I started by adding a little white to two of the corners of my background paper.  Then, after assembling the rest of the patterned papers and photos, I went to work with my the stencil!  I added a little gold paint to some light modeling paste.  I grabbed a doily from my stash and the key shape from the stencil sheet and filled it in with the gold modeling paste, then set it aside to dry a bit. When it was done, I completed the cluster by making a fabric flower and adding a little leaf.

Then, using my cricut and a deep cut blade, I cut the word "key" out of the cutables corrugated paper using the Plantin cartridge:

 

I mounted it onto a black cardstock shadow and used some foam tape to adhere it to the page.  I really LOVE the texture the cutables adds to any project!

So I hope this post provides a fresh perspective to using some of the great Creative Imaginations products you may or may not have seen before.  And be sure to check back a little later to see what cool, new stuff design team members Alice Carman and Lynn Kopas created with their kits!

Product List:

• #28763 Ragamuffins DS Paper
• #28764 Ragamuffins Border Paper
• #28765 Ragamuffins Deco DS Paper
• #28766 Ragamuffins
• #28767 Ragamuffins Floral Dedley
• #28776 Ragamuffins DS Paper
• #28377 ExiStencils
• #26335 Cutables in Pearl Cream
• #22154 Spook & Spirits Alphabet Stickers
• #28076 Monarch Flowers

 

NEW Renae Lindgren's, Make A Wish

Wow....what a great blog week!  Have you been checking everyday?  This year's CHA is going to be another awesome event with all NEW product!

 

Today we are featuring Renae Lindgren's, Make a Wish collection.

What can you make with Renae Lindgren's Make a Wish?  Here's what Design Team Member, Nicole Capote created.  

Also created by Nicole Capote is a layout made with Renae Lindgren's Make a Wish.

Here's another layout using Renae Lindgren's Make a Wish designed by Design Team Member Tanisha Long.

Don't you just love the stickers in this line?  I really like how Tanisha used her stickers to create her header for the layout.

Love love the banner stickers in this set.  Isn't this adorable?

Here's a card designed by Alice Carman using Renae Lindgren's Make a Wish.  

The full release is coming to CHA so be on the look out for more details and inspiration here on the Creative Imaginations blog.

 

Peeps Peace Collection

Those adorable little bunnies and chickies are back!! That's right, Creative Imaginations has added a few new products to the Peeps Collection and they are ready to don your projects.  This adorable collection can be used for everything from Easter to Girl's Night Out.  Take a look at what our Design Team has created:

{click on the photos to enlarge the images}

 

Altered project designed by Tanisha Long

Card designed by Eva Dobilas

Layout designed by Nicole Capote

Christine Adolph Oceanside

Just one look at Christine Adolph's gorgeous Oceanside collection and you can almost hear the rhythmic, foamy waves crashing onto the soft sandy beach.  The variegated blues and browns will add a soft vintage flair to your beach themed projects.

The delicate butterflies and dragonflies add to the versatility of this line.  This collection is perfect for boy, girl, and adult scrapbook pages and will definitely allow your imagination run free!

{click on images for a close up view}

 

Above 12x12 layout designed by DT Member Tanisha Long

Card by DT Member Alice Carman

This collection also comes in a 6x6 pad!!

8x8 layout designed by DT Member Nicole Capote

Be sure to jump over to Artist Christine Adolph's blog or become a fan on her facebook page.

Day EIGHT of our 12 Days of Christmas!

Happy Holidays everyone!  Today I want to share a holiday gift I made for my grandmother this year.  At age 91 she is by far the most difficult person on my list to buy for.  She has everything she needs, and swears there is nothing that she wants or honestly that she doesn't already have.  I figured a handmade gift would be a welcome surprise to anything I could find at a department store, and it would remind her that she is loved every day of the year when she comes through her front door:

For this "Welcome" sign, I started with a page from our Bare Elements Conrad Ring Book since it was just the right size for what I had in mind.  I dressed it up with a few of my favorite Creative Imaginations papers and embellishments, including some fun Luminarte elements on the chipboard frame and paper flowers:

It all fell into place so nicely, and it's a gift I am definately excited to give this year!

Products Used:

• BE Conrad Ring Book
• Creative Cafe Red Die Cut Paper
• IOD Devotion Rose Garden Paper
• IOD Devotion Flutter Paper
• IOD Loolah Fine Day Paper
• IOD Loolah Gems & Pearls
• Twinkling H20's in Olive Vine
• Radiant Rain in Passion Fruit
• Radiant Rain in Hot Cinammon

Unity Love...

...And peace.  Not to mention fun, fun, fun!  I just loved playing with this stamp set!  I paired the giant peace sign up with some of my favorite Twinkling H20 colors, and the very tie-dyed feel of Christine Adolph's "Boho Boy" collection and I just fell in love with the way they all just meshed seamlessly into this fun card:

The twinks play so well with the rubber of the unity stamps, the images look like they were stamped by a pro every time!

• #25486 Boho Boy "Houndstooth" paper
  
• 25484 Boho Boy "Air & Sea" paper
• #20820 Large Eye Candy in "Jet"
• Lucky white scalloped velvet ribbon
• #26359 Twinkling H20 in "Olive Vine"
• #29036 Twinkling H20 in "African Jade"
• Marah Johnson's "Vintage Peace" stamp by UNITY STAMP CO.

And today is friday - time for another blog hop winner of a Unity Stamp set! 

Congratulations to Becky D "This is just gorgeous!  This is one of my favorite Unity sets and I love IOD!  Painted with Twinkling H20s makes these images even more beautiful!  Thanks for sharing this creation!" Please send me your shipping address to: Ceeangels@aol.com

 

And don't forget to hop over to the Unity Blog and share your comments for a chance to win one of our paper packs!

ATC Love!

I'm not gonna lie.  When I saw the ATC challenge posted a couple of weeks ago I thought to myself "oh no".  I am a scrapbooker plain and simple.  I don't do mixed media, home decor...or even hybrid.  ATC's with all their media options are just way outside my comfort zone.

So of course I had to try one.

And wow, what a blast!  Of course with so many awesome Creative Imaginations products at my fingertips, it was hard to go wrong!  So without further ado, I am honored to share with you my very first ATC ever:

Hope it provides a little inspiration!  Hope to see yours at CHA!

Supplies:

• #26408 Radiant Rain in Teal Zircon
• #26396 Radiant Rain in Key Lime Mist
• #26401 Radiant Rain in Pewter
• #28590 Romance Existencil
• #28069 Allegro patterned paper
• #27980 Devotion Wave patterned paper
• #27988 Devotion Flutter patterned paper

 

 

September and October Sketch Challenge!

It's been a little while since we've had a sketch challenge, and I for one have missed it!  I think it's time to bring this old favorite back! 

You remember how we play, right?  Simply create a layout, card, or altered item based on the sketch posted here each month and upload it into appropriate folder in the C.I. gallery under "Sketches and Challenges".  NOTE: You can post your challenge submission either in the September Sketch Gallery or October Sketch Gallery!

Remember these few guidelines when entering.  Your entry must be created for the challenge and consist of 80% Creative Imaginations products.  You will then be automatically entered into a drawing to win a great prize valued at at least $25 from Creative Imaginations. Challenge must have more than one entry to be considered valid.   Hurry this challenge ends October 31, 2011!

Now, without further ado, here is your sketch for September:

 And of course, here's a layout inspired by the sketch using one of my all time favorite collections, IOD's "Beach Cottage":

 

Supplies Used:

• 15859 Narratives Cream Line Scalloped paper
• 28003 Beach Cottage Shells paper
• 28002 Beach Cottage Mermaid paper
• 28005 Beach Cottage paper
• 28011 6x12 Cardstock Sticker
• 28010 12x12 Cardstock Sticker

Good luck everyone...we can't wait to see what you create!