Tons of Freebies, 2012 Winter CHA links and more!

Another week has almost flown by, where does the time go?  I have been busy making cards but no video this week, will work on the video's for next week.  From my last post someone asked that I do a video on matching patterned paper to your image and ways to make a great card, will work on that video first, then move on to the tour of my craft area and other tutorial type videos.

You might have noticed a new button to the left of this post, at the top of the page, "Follow me on Pinterest."  Yes, I have really fallen for Pinterest!  Love how easy it is to find just amazing things and also share what you find, have been pinning away over there like crazy.  (Pinterest is an online bulletin board of sorts, you scour the web for images of things you like then pin to your boards, you can have numerous boards on many topics, like cooking, card making and so on.  People see your "pins" and like them and share, you see their pins and can like and repin as well.)

What a week!  My girlfriend and I are working on a cool project that will launch the AfterHoursStamper store, stay tuned, I think you will like our first original offering!  It is going to take a while for us to get everything we need together, but two things 1,) it will be something that experienced and novice crafters can use and 2.) we are working on keeping the price very affordable.  We are in the development stage, but hope to get everything together within the next month of so.

Oh, and I won a prize!  Every week Factory Direct Craft has a contest on their facebook page, and last week I was one of the winners, am impatiently awaiting my box of goodies : )  When I get the box will take a picture for you.  Factory Direct Craft has some great prices on ribbon (yesterday I was in a fabric store and couldn't believe how much the small rolls of grosgrain ribbon cost).  Their site has all sorts of things for general crafting and their pricing is very good.


In my web-surfing I happened to find that Jennifer McGuire (who is simply amazing) has an online class for Clean and Simple cards!  Yes, I signed up ($25 for the class which started at the beginning of January, the fee entitles you to a lifetime access to the class), the class runs for two weeks and is filled with all sorts of inspiration.  Am LOVING the clean and simple ideas for card making, beautiful cards with little effort, small amount of supplies and huge wow factor!  Here are three cards that I have made for the class, we are on day 9 so I have some catching up to do : )   (each day there are at least three examples of techniques and videos, as well as downloads).

Using water color paper: Stamped image and saying in versamark, then added clear embossing powder, heat set.  Added distress ink to a foam blending tool, then sprayed some glimmer mist on my craft sheet and dipped the foam with ink into the glimmer mist.  Placed the blending tool on the card and as I was applying the ink I turned the handle to get softer edges.  I did the blue, then the green and the middle color last.  Sprayed the entire piece with water to get more blending of colors.

Same technique as above, this time the image is placed on top using black ink and clear embossing powder.  This time I did not turn the blending tool, wanted crisper lines for pattern, sprayed the image with water after to get a more blended look.  This was an easy card to make and the results are very nice!

This card was designed after viewing one of the classes which discussed having one focal point, the butterfly was stamped on water color paper, colored with H20's and then I sealed the image with glossy accents.

You can still sign up for the class, and in my opinion it is worth every penny of the $25 : )



Now, onto the link list for this week, and do I have a TON for you!  My "January" bookmark folder is getting so long that I will need to start a "January 2" soon!

FREE Strathmore Online Art Classes:  Yes, signed up for this as well, all three of these classes and can't wait to dive right in.  Card making/scrapbooking, paper crafting...all of these things are based in the fundamentals of art, expanding your art knowledge base helps you to become a better paper crafter.


Free Scrapbook printables:  A few nice printouts you can use on your scrapbook pages.






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Free digital paper:  Really nice paper, and make sure you check out how you can print in 6x6 size as well





Free scrapbook sketches:  Loved these, very nice and easy to use!







And more FREEBIES!  Page layouts, papers and embellishments.

FREE Digital Stamps:  GREAT site with tons of free digital stamps, she adds to her blog all the time so keep checking back.  Wonderful resource!


How to use Heat and Stick powder:  I love heat and stick powder, but you have to be really careful about not overheating the powder when you heat, thought the following was a good video to show you how to use the powder:



And a few CHA links:

Technique Tuesday:  New stamps!  Can't wait to see this collection.

Fiskars interchangeable border punch:  YEAH!  For those of us who have limited storage this is a GREAT idea, the punch has removable cartridges for borders which makes storing them oh so nice!




Donna Salazar:  Loved her mixed media items!  Birdcage in Chipboard is soooooo cool!  Watch her video to see everything she has coming out.






Tim Holtz Stamps:  Just LOVE these retro stamps, so cool for cards and scrapbook pages!





PHEW!  That is all for today, hope you like the links, next week I have a tip for you, stumbled across it by accident, and it "saved" one of my projects.

And I LOVE when you leave comments!  Please let me know what you think of the links this week and if there are other topics/types of links you would like me to post.

Have a great week, happy crafting : )

Amazing FREEBIES!

Happy Monday everyone.  I hope you had a great weekend, my husband and I went to visit my Mom in San Francisco and on Sunday I worked on a set of baby shower invitations someone ordered (18, not too many but enough to require lots of time cutting all of the elements.)

Here is the invitation:

From October 11, 2009

Oh and I did laundry today as well, while watching the 49ers lose...sigh.  Oh well, there is always next week.

Before we get to the freebies I wanted to show you a card I made using a Prickley Pear stamp...wow....I LOVE this stamp!

Here is the card:

From October 11, 2009

I stamped the image (a grid with the heart and swirls) on top of some ledger paper I have (actually have about 500 sheets of the ledger paper), added the butterfly, added another thin piece of card stock (which I stamped) and mounted everything on the black card stock. I used faux stitching around the black card stock (have an old tool for sewing that makes the perforations, then just add some lines with a pen for the stitches).

The butterfly was colored with copics then covered with diamond glaze and some glitter.  I will be doing a tutorial on how to blend different copic colors together (as I did on the butterfly)  for Paper Craft Planet at the end of the month.

And now...onto the links.

I love, love, LOVE finding "free" stamping/scrapping things online, and let me tell you there are tons of things out there if you just spend some time looking.  Today I have perhaps the longest and most diverse list of freebies I have ever posted, and there is sure to be at least one "freebie" that you are going to love.

Here goes:

Freebie Bowdabra VIP Membership:  The Stamping to the Wright blog has a post up with a beautiful bow on a card made with a "Bowdabra."  At the end of the post on Stamping to the Wright is the word for the free VIP membership on Bowdabra (code word is "sandy")  Go to the VIP Registration page, fill in your information and then pick "coupon" for the membership type.  Use your coupon code and you are good to go.  Really cool freebie!


Digital Delight Freebie:  I have not yet tried digital stamp images, but here is a good way to try them out, and for free!  I loved this image and since it is a Halloween image all the better. 

Freebie Pumpkin Images:  And these are SO cute!  And make sure to click on the directions for the project as well. 

Picasa Software:  Picasa is the picture software from Google, and I absolutely love using this program.  What I haven't done yet, but am going to try, is what is suggested from the link, using the software to change the color of digital paper!  The link has lots of good information on using Picasa, as well as a download button for the software.

10 Freebie Digital Images:  These are wonderful images, click on the link and then on the menu bar to the right of the site is a whole list of 9 other free digital images, all of which are wonderful.

Four Freebie Templates:  These are really nice, make sure to save them on your hard drive for future use.

Freebie Designer Paper:  Wow, you are going to LOVE some of these papers, make sure your printer has enough ink for these great designs. 

More Freebie Designer Paper:   I liked this snowflake background, and some of these baby related printables. 

Christmas Images:  Loved these buildings, and can imagine that some great cards and or scrapbooking pages could be made with these delightfully free images : )

Christmas Templates:  Save this page for those projects during the holidays, these are very good, basic templates that you can use multiple ways.

Even MORE Designer Paper:  Yes, there are lots and lots of places to find free designer paper online.

Play Money and other game printables:  Customize some of these printables, use your childs picture on the money, use on a card, use your imagination and find some cute ways to use these printables.

Snow Kids Paper Piecing Pattern:  This is so cute, the directions and template are both on the same page, I can't wait to print this out and make one for the holidays!

Freebie Templates for Blogger:  I know that many of you have your own blogs, so make sure to check out these really cute templates for your blogger site.

Well that is it for this week!  Have fun with all of the freebies : )