Lucky Girls Friday Fun Day: sketch challenge

Hey there, all you Lucky Girls: I'm issuing a challenge to you for today's FFD!

I am a sketch-a-holic. Whether I follow them closely or not-so-closely, I almost always start my layouts by choosing or drawing a sketch. It helps me plan my photo sizes and placement and just generally gets me started creatively.

When I ordered photos recently, I drew this sketch to make a layout about the fantastic bed and breakfast where we stayed for our 3rd anniversary:

As soon as I laid eyes on the MME circle die cut in the June 2011 Lucky Girls kit, I knew it was perfect for the photos I'd just printed. I modified the sketch a bit to make my layout, but the general idea is still pretty obvious-- the photo placement is the same, and I've kept the circle motif.

My challenge to you is to use this sketch to make a layout! Get out your Lucky Girl kits and get creating... and be sure to link up your layouts so that we can see what you've come up with!

Need some supplies to get you started?? Don't forget about this awesome Lucky Girl Crafts deal!!

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To participate in the FFD challenge, you must create your own project inspired by any of the following from the June Friday Fun Day projects:

Overall Design

Color Combination

Title of the Project

Use of Embellies

Be sure to post your project to InLinkz gallery at the end of this post no later than July 2nd! You can post any kind of project (layout, card, altered item, home decor, etc.) that has been inspired by any of the June Friday Fun Day Challenges. We love to know how you are being inspired by the Lucky Girls!

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"Comfort" supplies:
from the Lucky Girl Crafts June 2011 kit "Hullabaloo":
die cut: My Mind's Eye Lime Twist (Fly a Kite/Wish Confetti Paper)
patterned paper: Imaginisce Berrylicious (Cherry Lemonade)
alphas: American Crafts Dear Lizzy Puffy Thickers (Berry)
flowers: Petaloo Color Me Crazy paper roses

other supplies:
cardstock: from stash
brown pen: American Crafts Slickwriter
brown ink: Stampabilities

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Friday Fun Day - Thanks a Latte

Hi Lucky Girls! Thanks for joining us for our May FRIDAY FUN DAY CHALLENGE!

Where imitation is the highest form of flattery!

To participate in the FFD challenge, you must create your own project inspired by any of the following from the May Friday Fun Day projects:

Overall Design

Color Combination
Title of the Project
Use of Embellies

for a chance to WIN our June kit, "Hullabaloo"

Be sure to post your project to InLinkz gallery at the end of this post no later than June 2nd! You can post any kind of project (layout, card, altered item, home decor, etc.) that has been inspired by any of the May Friday Fun Day Challenges. We love to know how you are being inspired by the Lucky Girls!

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Jessica's got this week's project for you! Check out this fun gift card tag, perfect for end of year teacher gifts or that hard to shop for college graduate.

This is the final project for this month's contest. June brings our first birthday and some changes to our Friday Fun Day contests. Use this holiday weekend to create something from this project, Stacy's altered frame or Ana's mini album for your chance to win!!!

Friday Fun Day (on Saturday) Mini Album

Hi Lucky Girls! Thanks for joining us for our May FRIDAY FUN DAY CHALLENGE!

Where imitation is the highest form of flattery!

To participate in the FFD challenge, you must create your own project inspired by any of the following from the May Friday Fun Day projects:

Overall Design

Color Combination
Title of the Project
Use of Embellies

for a chance to WIN our June kit, "Hullabaloo"

Be sure to post your project to InLinkz gallery at the end of this post no later than May 2nd! You can post any kind of project (layout, card, altered item, home decor, etc.) that has been inspired by any of the May Friday Fun Day Challenges. We love to know how you are being inspired by the Lucky Girls!

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Ana's here with this week's post!

I started with basic business sized envelopes and cut the patterned paper. I used my crop-a-dile to punch the wholes and used ribbon to bind it all together.

Go get inspired, Lucky Girls! Let's see if your project is the winner!!!

It's Party Time! May Friday Fun Day Challenge

Hi Lucky Girls!
Thanks for joining us for our May FRIDAY FUN DAY CHALLENGE!
Where imitation is the highest form of flattery!

Stacy's got a great project for you today, so I'll pass it on to her:

I have to say I love this months kit, "Spring Soiree"-- there are so many possibilities with it. The Pink Paislee paper line is one of my favorites. Since it's a birthday theme line, I started to look around the house to see what I had to alter. My grandson is going to be one in June, so I found the perfect frame to alter so that we can place a picture of him in it after the big celebration. Here is what I came up with.

So this is my challenge to you...look around your house and see what you come up with to alter. It can be anything..a frame for a picture, a tin to keep all of those special notes in, a box to gift a gift in. I'm sure if you look ladies you have lots of stuff to alter and turn into something special!

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To participate in the FFD challenge, you must create your own project inspired by any of the following from the May projects:
Overall Design
Color Combination
Title of the Project
Use of Embellies

for a chance to win June's kit, "Hullabaloo!"

Be sure to post a link to your project in the comment section at the end of this post no later than June 2nd! You can post any kind of project (layout, card, altered item, home decor, etc.) that has been inspired by any of the May FFD challenges. We love to know how you are inspired by the Lucky Girls!

*** P.S. You have until tomorrow to participate in our "Spring Soiree" blog party! Join the fun by checking out the blog party post below and checking out all the amazing projects our DT has created just for you. Who knows, maybe there's a prize in it for you!

Friday Fun Day -- Mini Note Holder

Hi Lucky Girls! Thanks for joining us for our April FRIDAY FUN DAY CHALLENGE!

Where imitation is the highest form of flattery!

To participate in the FFD challenge, you must create your own project inspired by any of the following from the April Friday Fun Day projects:

Overall Design

Color Combination
Title of the Project
Use of Embellies

for a chance to WIN our May kit, "Spring Soiree"

Be sure to post your project to InLinkz gallery at the end of this post no later than May 2nd! You can post any kind of project (layout, card, altered item, home decor, etc.) that has been inspired by any of the April Friday Fun Day Challenges. We love to know how you are being inspired by the Lucky Girls!

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Happy Friday, everyone! It's Natalie here, bringing you the final Friday Fun Day project for April...

Each spring, there is a big physics conference that my husband attends. He's gone for about a week, and this year, I decided to make a little something to sneak into his suitcase to make him smile.

I made the little accordian note file from a single 12"x12" sheet of paper from the Lucky Girls April 2011 kit. Here's how I did it:

Cut...

• two 1.5" by11.5" strips
• one 4.25" by 11.5" strip
• one 4.25" by 5.5" rectangle
• one 4.25" by 3.25" rectangle

(this note holder is big enough to accommodate all but the largest journaling cards from the Crate Paper Accent Cuts sheet in the kit).

Score across each 11.5" strip 1.5" from one end and at 1" increments the rest of the length, then use the scoring to make accordian folds. I used a border punch along one (short) edge of the 4.25"x5.5" rectangle, then scored it at 3" and 3.25" from the straight side. This will be come the back and top flap. The other rectangle will be the front.

Tie a knot to form a long loop of elastic cording and use a star brad to attach it to the middle of the flap. I used a tiny drop of Glossy Accents (the strongest scrapbooking glue I know of) behind the brad+elastic to make sure that it won't move.

Using the flap as a guide, determine where the second brad should go on the front. I poked this second brad through a tiny foam adhesive square so that the brad has enough height to hold the elastic loop.

Now, to assemble the accordian folder, I used a strong adhesive on the 1.5" segment of each of the accordian folded strips and attached them to three sides of the back, making sure that the first fold on the strips lined up with the edges.

Do the same to attach the front: apply adhesive to the top segment of the accordian strips and press the front on top.

Write notes on the journaling cards and slip them into the "slots" of the accordian file. Add a label sticker to the front under the flap.

Use the elastic loop to secure the file closed...

And there you have it! A mini accordian note holder to send love notes to your sweetie :)

Lucky Girl supplies from the April 2011 kit "A Boy and His Toys":
papers: Echo Park Little Boy (Lava/Chocolate), Crate Paper Toy Box (Accent Cuts)
brads: Making Memories Animal Crackers (Jack velvet brads)
elastic: Making Memories Findings Trims (Cool)
label: Crate Paper Toy Box (6x12 Phrase Stickers)

other supplies:
border punch: Fiskars Apron Lace
double sided tape, Glossy Accents, foam adhesive

Friday Fun Day Challenge - Getting your hands a little dirty is OK!

Hi Lucky Girls! Thanks for joining us for our April FRIDAY FUN DAY CHALLENGE!

Where imitation is the highest form of flattery!

To participate in the FFD challenge, you must create your own project inspired by any of the following from the April Friday Fun Day projects:

Overall Design

Color Combination

Title of the Project

Use of Embellies

for a chance to WIN our May kit, "Spring Soiree"

Be sure to post your project to InLinkz gallery at the end of this post no later than May 2nd! You can post any kind of project (layout, card, altered item, home decor, etc.) that has been inspired by any of the April Friday Fun Day Challenges

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Jessica here with you today for a little tutorial in getting your hands dirty!

Supplies needed:

* Acrylic Paint

* Foam Paint Brush

* Alpha Stickers / Thickers

* Fine Tip Pen

* Straw

* Desired supplies for your project (patterned papers, stickers, pictures, punches, ribbon, chipboard, etc.)

I used the April Lucky Girl Kit - "A Boy & His Toys" for this layout. We've got a select few left in the store - be sure to get yours before they're gone!

To start, I laid out my Thickers in the desired pattern (mine happened to be inspired by a Target wall decor item I came across last week). I added a few paint spots to the page and blew them into dramatic shapes using the straw.

Once your pattern or title is laid out, paint over the section. I only added a little bit of paint to my brush, then did it back and forth both horizontally and vertically.

Once your paint is dry, trace your letters with a fine tip pen. It works better if you do this while the letters are still in place. Once that's complete, carefully peel the letters off the page.

From there, I completed my title with contrasting letter stickers and a hand-cut heart, then completed the rest of my layout. I must admit, it's pretty fun getting messy once in a while! I kind of revel in the perfect little imprefections of this kind of project.

Let's see what kind of mess you can create into a work of hear! Ready, set, GO!

Lots of fabulous news!!!

Hi lovelies - Sorry it's been so long since I've visited. Sometimes real life just gets a little crazy, ya know?

Anyhow, I've got THREE winners to announce, plus some awesome news to share about two of the Lucky Girl DTs. Just to keep you on your toes, we'll start with that news first :)

First - Sabrina just got word that one of her projects from the April kit, "A Boy & His Toys" - featuring all sorts of scrumptious new Crate Paper, just got requested for an upcoming Crate Idea Book!!!! Woohoo, girl!!! (P.S. There's only a few left of these awesome kits in the store... does one of them have your name on it?)

Secondly, one of Natalie's projects from our November kit, "Family Traditions" - is in the running for the Creating Keepsakes Reader's Pick poll. Natalie's is the awesome double-paged spread on the bottom -share some love & go vote for her HERE. :) Way to go, Natalie!!!!

Now, how about some winners? First up, congrats to our March Friday Fun Day winner, Amy Lynne! Her beautiful layout was so eye catching, I just can't help but share:

Next up, two winners to announce from last week's blog party. Speaking of, how'd you guys like the changes? We loved getting to know more of you, so we liked it more! :)

Blog Party GRAND PRIZE Winner (from the store blog)

For $25 Lucky Bucks to use in our store goes to ...

CANDICE!

Candice said...

I love hops!! Great pages, I'm off to check out everyone's blog!

April 2, 2011 8:10 AM

Our Blog Party RANDOM DRAWING winner (from Natalie's blog)

Receives $7 Lucky Bucks to use in our store blog is....

VALERIE DURHAM!

on April 2, 2011 at 7:25 am Valerie Durham Wow! What a compliment for the hubby to say it is his favorite! Awesome two-pager! To our lovely Lucky Girl winners, please e-mail me at jasafras98@yahoo.com so I can send you your special codes. Congratulations!!!

Friday Fun Day Challenge -- Inside-out paper and a photo collage

Hi Lucky Girls! Thanks for joining us for the final March
FRIDAY FUN DAY CHALLENGE
Where imitation is the highest form of flattery!

To participate in the FFD challenge, you must create your own project inspired by any of the following from the March Friday Fun Day projects:

Overall Design

Color Combination

Title of the Project

Use of Embellies

Be sure to post your project to InLinkz gallery at the end of this post no later than April 2nd!

You can post any kind of project (layout, card, altered item, home decor, etc.) that has been inspired by any of the March Friday Fun Day Challenges - either this project, Ana's Tussie Mussie, Sabrina's Baby Album, or Emily's Home Sweet Home Banner

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Hi everyone! Natalie here again...

It's Friday, and you know what that means-- Lucky Girls Friday Fun Day!

Aren't the colors in the March kit rich and sumptuous? They inspired me to make a layout using photos I had just taken (believe me, I have never scrapbooked anything this quickly after the fact!). I took these photos on a Thursday night and started working on my project the next evening!

First, let's talk about the way I used the paper from the March kit. I loved the Stamp of Approval patterned paper, but I felt like my photos looked funny on the otherwise wonderful creamy grid. By chance, the paper got flipped over while I was working, and I saw my photos with that wonderful red tone-on-tone B-side. The color accentuated the dim,warm light in the photos from the restaurant, but I still loved that border, so I decided to take a risk and cut out the center of the paper and flip it so that the red was framed by the black stamp edge...

I think it came out pretty well!

I also want to talk about the collage photo.

I had a lot of photos from our date night at a French restaurant. It was our first time eating "real" French cuisine, and I was excited about all the wonderful dishes we had. When I started making my layout, I decided the best way to include all my photos was to make a collage.

Now, you can have collage photos printed through a lot of online photo printing places, and their software makes arranging the photos really easy. But I wanted a little more control (and the instant gratification of having the print in my hands within minutes of finishing it, haha)!

Want to make your own collage layout, too? I used Photoshop Elements for mine, and here's a quickie tutorial...I'm not an expert, but these 6 steps worked for me:

1. I sketched my collage layout on a piece of scrap paper (yes, nerd that I am, it is to scale! 1 cm = 1") to plan where each photo would go.

2. I opened all my photos in Photoshop Elements Editor (I made sure to adjust the color, etc. on each one individually).

3. I created a new canvas of the size I wanted (in this case, 8"x10"), specifying a resolution of 300 pixels/inch.

4. I cropped each photo to the size I wanted (using my diagram), again specifying a resolution of 300 pixels/inch.

5. I dragged and dropped into position each cropped photo onto the large canvas, and used Edit>Stroke (Outline) Selection... for each photo layer to create a black border.

6. I saved the finished canvas as a .jpg and printed it with my photo printer!

I think the longest part of the whole process was deciding how to arrange my photos!

I added some journaling (including our selections from the menu!) on cards tucked into a pocket behind the photo...

...and embellished with those fabulous Prima Damsels, a strip from the Borders patterned paper, and a few bits of Ephemera.

I hope this project inspires you to use your Lucky Girl kit in a new way! I can't wait to see what you create. Be sure to link up your projects to this post for your chance to win!

Lucky Girl Supplies:
patterned paper: Echo Park "For the Record" (Stamp of Approval, Borders)
embellishments: Prima Damsels, K & Co. ephemera, corrugated cardboard

other supplies:
scrap cardstock for journaling pull-outs
foam adhesive
black pen

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Thanks for playing along with the March Friday Fun Day Challenge! Link your projects here:

Friday Fun Day Challenge - Tussie Mussie Tutorial

Hi Lucky Girls! Welcome to our March
FRIDAY FUN DAY CHALLENGE
Where imitation is the highest form of flattery!

Play along for your chance to win the April Lucky Girl Crafts kit or LUCKY BUCKS store credit!!!!

To participate the FFD challenge, you must create your own project inspired by any of the Friday Fun Day projects our Lucky Girls have created this month - Ana's awesome Tissue Tussie, below, Sabrina's Homemade Happiness Baby Album, or Emily's Home Sweet Home decor project. Use their project's...

Overall Design /Layout
Color Combination
Title of the Project
Use of Embellies

...as an inspiration starting point to create your own work of art, then post it here for a chance to WIN!

Be sure to post your project to InLinkz gallery at the end of this post no later than April 2nd!

***Please note: International entries are welcome, but must pay a portion of their own shipping charges for the April kit.***

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A Tussie Mussie Tutorial with Ana!

A Tussie Mussie is traditionally a floral bouquet, but today a Tussie Mussie is a quick and easy paper craft! Once completed you can use it as a gift container, to hold flowers, or even as a decorative piece.

Here's how it's done:

First pick your base paper, then draw a half circle type of line from one end to the other and cut.

Then, fold your paper into a cone shape and adhere it using hot glue or other strong adhesive.

If your cone doesn't come together perfectly at the top, trim the excess off as needed.

Once your cone is shaped you can decorate it any way you would like.

I add the pom-pom ribbon around the edge.

I then cut another piece of paper and punched out a border.

I added some flowers by cutting them out of the patterned paper and using dimensional adhesive to lift them up.

Once complete, just add your ribbon to hang it. You might want to experiment with the placement of your ribbon before committing to the final placement to ensure your Tussie will hang how you'd like it to. I kept putting it in the wrong place.

Here's the finished project:

I can't see what you do with it! Go get crafty and post your picture back here!!!

Friday Fun Day - Beautiful, Homemade Happiness Baby Album

Hi Lucky Girls! Thanks for joining us for the first March
FRIDAY FUN DAY CHALLENGE
Where imitation is the highest form of flattery!

This is your first chance of the month to enter to win the April Lucky Girls kit.*

To participate the FFD challenge, you must create your own project inspired by any of the following from the Friday Fun Day projects posted here on the Lucky Girls blog each week in March:

Overall Design
Color Combination
Title of the Project
Use of Embellies

Be sure to post your project to InLinkz gallery at the end of this post
no later than April 2nd!

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Hello fellow Lucky ladies! Sabrina here with you today to share a little inspiration in the form of a mini album I created for my sister - a non-scrapbooker - and her soon-to-be baby boy. I wanted to create something like a brag book that she can carry around with her to show off all those sweet moments of baby's first few weeks but also something that won't require much effort for her to complete. She won't have time with a newborn and because scrapbooking isn't really her thing.

To make the cover I used 2 5x7 pieces cut from the Coordinations cardstock and decorated (everything in this mini came from our March kit, Homemade Happiness) and cut pages from a page protector that has the individual 4x6 pockets to house the inside pages.

The layout is similar on each page - a 4x6 cardstock or patterned paper with a border on the outside of the page. It's pretty simple but when you mix up the papers it adds a lot of extra fun. The first page has a spot for her ultrasound photo (I thought the lantern was appropriate here :)) and on the journaling card she can put her due date.

The next pages are for photos of mom, dad and mom's belly - whatever she wants to include. I glued some of the embellishments to the outside of the plastic so the book will have the layered effect when she inserts a photo in the pocket.

These pages are my favorite from the book! Love this color scheme! Here she can add photos from right after the birth and include height, weight, date, etc on the journaling card.

More photos of baby's first day can go here...

And attached to the back of the bicycle card is a little pocket that can hold baby's hospital bracelet.

Here are a few more pages she can add whatever photos she likes and more journaling cards to jot down notes and thoughts she has about baby.

One final page and a jumbo frame for a photo of the new family :). After I picked out all the pages, embellishments and journaling cards to go with, I bound the book with my often neglected Bind-it-All. Hole punches and rings or ribbon would work just as well.

Just had to use the horse head die-cut somewhere in this book - my sister adores horses! I added an envelope in the back made from the Dotted Swiss cardstock to tuck in extra memorabilia and photos.

On the inside of the back cover, I stapled a length of trim to loop around the brad on the front cover and secure the book closed.

The back uses the same Bo Bunny die cut paper as the front. I may add a little "handmade by" note here as well.

Are you drooling yet? There are still 3 of the March kits left in the store - filled with all the scrummy-ness Sabrina's used in her album. Go get yours today!

PS. If you have a new baby girl coming into your life, there is one more Forever Love kit left in the shop - it is very girl-centric.

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Join us this Saturday, March 12 from 10-11 a.m. MST for our first SPECIAL SATURDAY FACEBOOK-ONLY SALE!
SAVE 20-30% on a limited number of bundles filled with scrappy awesomeness - nothing over $15!
But hurry, the first dibs on each bundle is the LUCKY GIRL who gets the deal!

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Now - go get crafting! I can't wait to see what you create based on Emily's or Sabrina's Friday Fun Day projects!