TIME FOR A SCRAPY LAND...

"QuicKutz Innovation". Courtesy of Brenda.

When she ordered this shape from Dani...

the NEW Revolution Presents, she didn't see presents. I did, and maybe you did - but nope. Not Miss Brenda. She cut those present pieces out and saw this...

a wonky-avant-garde butterfly! I hereby dub this critter a "Brenda Butterfly"!

{I can do that you know - name animals and insects - it's in my contract! LOL}

She added some texture to each piece with this folder and this folder - which I think totally makes the butterfly POP off of the page! LOVE IT!

When I see things like this is always surprises me. Why didn't I see that? Why did someone have to tell me about that? How come I didn't recognize that on my own?

But then I realized - I don't have to. Because I have friends like Brenda. Who look at dies and see things like this - and call me to tell me. Totally awesome! Thanks Brenda - I'm lucky to have you in the Scrapy Land corner. Not recycling ideas - but dreaming up brand new ones!

And all of the ladies that have this die already {if you don't, there are only a dozen left!} - are lucky to have you in our corner too! Because now, we can all make butterflies together!

Leave her some comment-love girls. We need her buttered up, we need her grinning from innovative ear-to-innovative ear. Because for next week's release I want her creative juices flowing! {LOL!}

Thanks Brenda and thanks blog reading Divas! And if you didn't yet see the NEWEST Scrapy Land Exclusive QuicKutz die...hop on over to the website and check it out. You'll go bananas!

For "reals"!

I'm here for your habit...

I'M TURNING OVER THE BLOG TODAY...

to some of our blog readers!

Dear-Dear Deborah, Land of Lincoln Lara and Inky-Fingers Jane.

{I love having the power to make up nick-names...LOL!}

Some gorgeous projects from these three ladies - all because they decided to share them with me. For that, I thank them. Because I think you'll find all of their ideas truly inspirational!

I love getting "fun mail" as much as anyone. Fun mail, in my house, is classified as anything with a first class stamp on it. Well imagine how tickled I was this week when Dear-Dear Deborah {a.k.a Actos from Wisconsin} sent me this sweet card...

This was a first for her - a first attempt at color with Copics. And my jaw dropped when I opened the envelope. A beautiful card with such gorgeous attention to detail! She's been holding out on us because I think she's a Copic coloring pro!

supplies used: C1, C3 and E47 (for the stamped acorn), YR20 and YR04 (for the stamped orange leaves), Y11 and Y15 (for the stamped yellow leaves), Y28 (for the squiggles) and the whole image is outlined in B60. She used Lots of Stickles to accent her colors because she wanted just a bit more sparkle. LOVE IT!

She used her Cuttlebug Leafy Branch Embossing Folder, QK Rev Autumn Twigs and the QK Cookie Cutter Fall Shapes for the smallest yellow leaf.

Isn't this just GORGEOUS! Love the layering of products - embossing, die-cuts, stamps with colors and finally some bling! Deborah - I thank you for sending this to me. It is the first fall card decorating the table in my foyer! I'll think of you and your cool Wisconsin weather whenever I walk by it!

Then these fun pictures came in from Lara. Lara is from Illinois {hence the Land-of-Lincoln nick-name!}, and was my #1 Teachers Assistant in St. Charles at the Scrapbook Expo. She had just ordered her QK Silhouette SD the weekend we were together - and could hardly talk about anything else except waiting for "good mail from Dani" the next week!

Well - she's only had her Silhouette for a month, and look what she is turning out...

She did this entire table display using only her Silhouette. Don't you LOVE the string of pennants that spell out her words? I think it's adorable! And did you notice her little "globe and stars" centerpieces? Stinkin' CUTE!!

Here is a closer look...

All of her images she downloaded from the Silhouette Library...trees, flourishes, globe and stars and borders. All of her wording is cut from QK vinyl, so easy! She told me everyone thought it was done professionally! I have a feeling she's already penciled in for next year's booth set-up! Great job Lara - such lovely work. And it does look very professional. You're a natural at rockin' that Silhouette!

Thanks for sharing your pictures!

And finally today - some gorgeous projects from my friend Inky-Fingers. Better known as Jane. But admit it, Inky-Fingers is surely how she spends most of her days! {LOL}

supplies used: QK Rev Bats, QK Witch and QK Graveyard border...and 387 hours worth of inking {just kidding!}. I couldn't even fathom the steps she took to make this card, but it seems to just come naturally to her. BEE-YOU-TI-FUL! I have to get her on video tape, don't I. Can't you see it - "Inky Fingers 101"!

supplies used: QK Haunted font, QK Rev Candy and a Sizzix Pillow Box {this isn't the one Jane used, but it's bigger!}. Her candy looks good enough to eat! Isn't it amazing what some time, some ink and some skills can produce. {Jane dear, could you whip up 117 of these for me - I'd like to use them as teacher's gifts at the high school!!}

supplies used: QK Rev Spider, QK CC Frame and QK Halloween Embossing Folders. I think this would be adorable made into a front door hanger. Kind of a "Welcome to our Web"...that spider looks friendly enough! Just gorgeous Jane - love how the frame was cut apart to look like two pieces. Skills girl, you sure do have some skills!

supplies used: QK Zelda Grand font, QK Frame Embossing Folder, QK Witches Hat and her eyeballs were pieced with circle punches and hand cut accents! This is just gorgeous - love the little details and the layers! But the eyeballs are just my favorite. Wouldn't it be fun to make up a BUNCH of these and hide them around the house for your kids to find on Halloween night! LOVE IT! Oh Jane, you inspire me!

And finally from Inky-Fingers...

the Scrapy Land Exclusive Gingerbread House. I was going to save this for next week, but there are only TEN of these lovelies left! I figured I better mention that, in case you're still on the fence about ordering one. What I wanted to show you with this picture Jane sent, is the size of the finished gingerbread house. It's GINORMOUS...totally fills up the front of a card! The attention to detail is just amazing - so many options for this house! Only one of which an edible dwelling!

Well, that's it from the Guest Bloggers today. Thank you ladies. Your work is amazing - and I am flattered that you share it with me. Readers - remember to leave these scrappers some comment-love! What a great way to start their weekends!

I'm in full-on Homecoming preparation mode. Game, dance, bonfire, parade, royalty and hair-dos. Can you imagine the photos?!? Good thing there is still a week to get some Blox done. I'll have plenty of material to scrap, that's for sure!

Comments, questions, suggestions or fun projects of your own to share - you know what to do!

I'm here for your habit...

A SMALL PART OF ME...

loves Monday morning.

{A larger part of me would rather it still be the weekend.}

The thing about Monday is this - we have one entire week ahead of us to get things done.

Five days to make some progress, create a memory, finish a project, find a new purpose or just enjoy being where we are! That's kind of exciting in my book!

This weekend I spent a bunch of time knee-deep in scrapbook supplies. I'm working on pages, I finishing up albums, ticking off deadlines, wrapping up projects - and GASP - starting to brainstorm Christmas card ideas!

I know, I know - it's not even December. But the QuicKutz Christmas release last week, I think, made everyone realize that the holidays are just around the corner. So to get the ball rolling - I grabbed the NEW Embossing Folders.

These three are from the four-piece 2x2 sets. The Christmas set and the Let It Snow set. I grabbed some non-traditional Christmas papers {I know, shocker!} and came up with this idea...

I used Co'ordinations Cardstock for this project. LOVE this paper with the QK Embossing Folders because when you scuff your embossed image with a file, a lighter color is revealed. SO COOL! I embossed each hunk of cardstock - did my scuffing - and then cut out the image with the QK Nesting Label (square) or the QK Nesting Label (rectangle). Then I just mixed-and-matched the "rings" around each shape.

Cute and easy I think. Now I just need to find out if I can find enough sticky-backed pearls to make a bunch of these!

So what are you doing this week? Do you have any creative-time planned out for yourself? Are holiday cards on your to-do list sometime soon? {Did you get up this morning at 5:30 a.m. to feed a lamb?}

Just curious!

EDITED TO ADD - 5:09 a.m PDT and we are only 10 away from 70,000 hits! Hey, that's kind of fun! Who will it be, who'll be the 70,000th hitter? LOL

I'm here for your habit...

HEY LADIES...

how about I kick-it-in-the-shorts today and get some pages posted?

I've got 421,648 pages to share with you from Starting Blox Week #27.

{slight exaggeration, but not by much!}

I'm uploading, I'm cropping, I'm editing - and I'll start posting here pretty soon.

In the meantime - here is the page that I DID, that I never shared with you. Well, I never shared the finished page with you.

supplies: QK 12" Embossing Alphabet Folder, QK String Bean border font, QK Nesting Scalloped Ovals, QK Diesel and QK Neat Freak. Love that the String Bean comes in both an embossing folder AND an alphabet. Layering them together makes it easy to pop out some letters...these are my kids initials. FUN STUFF!

{And YES, I added some additional journaling on the matching page to this one. I rambled on about how first-day-of-school pictures get harder to take as the kids get older. Goofy faces, hunched shoulders, peace-flashing and rolled eyes...I'm all about truth in journaling! LOL}

Here is a close-up of how the border strip looks. Embossed the teal cardstock, cut the colored ovals, then cut an extra letter with the matching alphabet. Try it - it's an easy school accent, and you can obviously customize it for any letter. Just pay attention to how you're laying down your border, so the correct letters are visible!

Okay - back later today with pages galore!! You won't want to miss it!

I'm here for your habit...

EMBOSSED, DEBOSSED,

and just plain old "the boss"!

Or so I've been saying this morning! Answering questions about all of the NEW QK Embossing Folders!

I received a big ol' box from QuicKutz yesterday - with a few backordered dies, and a few NEW dies in it. I decided to start playing with the backordered dies first. That's only fair, don'tcha think? {LOL}

Anyway - since most of the questions recently have been about QK Embossing Folders, I thought I'd start there. The easiest way to explain things this early in the morning, {with only one cup of coffee in me} is to go straight to video...

Don't hit the large arrow in the center of the screen, it's not loading properly. Instead hit the little "pause/play" button along the bottom edge of the status bar. And remember, "X" out the ads the pop up, and eventually they will stop.

In the video I used the 12" Alphabet Embossing Folder and the A2 Flower Card Embossing Folder. I also used the cute NEW font, Miss Muffet.

What do I LOVE most about these new folders? THE PRICE!

Holy scrap - the 12" folders are only $3.74 right now at Scrapy Land! The A2 folders are the EXACT SAME PRICE...$3.74. And wow-eee - hold the phone, the 4-pack of 2x2 folders are guess how much? THREE SEVENTY FOUR! That Dani - he is awesome at securing deals for you!

So stinkin' much you can do with these QK Embossing Folders. Straight up on cards, added to scrapbook pages, texturing up die-cut letters for some POWIE on a page, circle punch out the embossed flowers to use like textured brads...SHAZAM! {can you tell I was watching cartoons this morning?}.

I'll do my best to throw some fun ideas your way in the next couple of weeks - but let me tell you - these are going to add SO MUCH to your holiday crafting. Expect to see me using them a lot!!

Here is the final card I showed you on the video...

I used up some old patterned paper, but used a brand new piece of "blingy" cardstock. Love it embossed! The 12" Circles Embossing Folder looks exactly like bubbles to me. In fact, I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that QK misnamed this folder! BUBBLES it will always be in my book! {HAH! Think I should let them know?!}

Hey - did you notice that lime green donut sitting on my Epic? It's my new tape dispenser from the school supply aisle. I popped out the regular Scotch Tape and replaced it with my Removable Matte Finish Scotch Tape...LOVE IT! Now my roll of "special tape" won't mysteriously disappear when some child of mine is looking to tape something together. The lime green donut is MINE! {And they are on sale at Target this week for just over a buck!}

If you have any other questions about using the QK Embossing Folders - leave me a comment or send me an email! Then - head over the the Scrapy Land site to do some Wednesday morning screen shopping! If you decide to place an order today for some NEW Embossing Folders, put in the comment section of your order "because Susan said so" because I'm going to do a give-away!! I've got a couple extra Embossing Folders here that need a new home, so leave a comment here if you do place your order and I'll give away some goodies Friday morning!

Until then - I've got my work laid out for me. Look what else came with my backorders yesterday!

It's going to be pan-die-monium around here today!

I'm here for your habit...