Paper Stacks, Scissors and Glue

Something I have been really working on is trying to use my paper stacks. I forget that I can find cute embellishments right inside a stack of paper.  Here is a a super simple card that I just love using my paper stack for embellishing.  This is a great way for beginners to get into scrapbooking or card making. It won't be overwhelming. I remember my first card making party and it was so overwhelming. All the gadgets, papers, punches, markers, stamps, stamp pads, Jolee's stickers, etc laying on the table I didn't even know where to start.You don't really need anything but paper, scissors and glue to start with. You can always step it up a notch with extras like dry embossing, ribbon and pop dots. But really if you are just thinking about getting into paper crafting you don't need a lot to make something cute.  The second picture is purely just fussy cutting out of a paper stack. It is actually one of my favorite cards. The first picture is stepped a notch.

K&Co Sweet Nectar Stack



DCWV Botanical Stack

 *Itty Bitty Tippy*  Try using the little 3D foam squares to give more dimension to your projects.


If I can inspire just one person today I have done my job!
XOXO SugarGem

Stylish blogger awards and 8 blogs I love.

I am so honored and shocked. Over the last week I have received two awards from fellow bloggers. I couldn't believe it! I'm so new at this half the time I don't know what I'm doing. It was such a sweet surprise. Thank you so much to my readers, followers and everyone who inspires me on a daily basis!

My first Award was from

http://creativetryals.blogspot.com/

And my second award was from
http://grabthescraps.blogspot.com/

Thank you ladies for the thoughtful awards!
Everyone needs to check out their blogs they are amazingly talented women!

With these awards I am supposed to share 8 things about me and nominate 8 more blogs that I love so here you go-

8 things about me.
1. I have a special place in my heart for animals;
2. I love giving almost more then receiving;
3. My dream jobs would be to own a doggie daycare and a/or a scrapbooking store or both;
4. I don't know how to cook. And don't want to learn....yet;
5. I don't talk on the phone much I only text and email if I can;
6. My favorite colors are black, pink, aqua and green;
7. I love shopping at drugstores;
8. I never thought I was very good at writing and shocked I started a blog.

I nominate the following blogs for the Stylish Blogger Award.
All of these bloggers are extremely giving people. You will see that many of them work SO hard to give us their beautiful designs for no charge at all! Because of their kindness these woman have inspired me to give my creations to all of you. Thank you to all these bloggers for your wonderful gifts! It does not go unnoticed!
Here are some of my favorite blogs in no particular order:

1. Just Yolie
2. Penny Duncan
3. The Paper Trail
4. scrapashopaholic
5. jennifermcguireink
6. fabulouslyartsy
7. lshdesigns
8. scraplifters

I have so many blogs that I love! I want to thank everyone for all their hard work and sharing their amazing creations with all of us! Thank you

If I can inspire one person today I have done my job!
XOXO SugarGem

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Mini Treat Basket

Ok I know it's sorta early, but I found these mini terracotta pots and I knew I had to get them and make something with them.  I entered this in the SVGCuts.com Easter Challenge. I didn't think I would enter anything this time because I was going to be gone and couldn't really make anything cute in the time I had, but I thought this turned out pretty cute!
I used the SVGCuts.com Easter Morning Egg Hunt collection for everything here. You can find the collection Here. 

If I can inspire just one person today I have done my job!
XOXO SugarGem

Favorites Friday

Here is this weeks Favorites Friday!  I could not craft with out my TweezerBee tweezers. They come in so handy for everything. Especially for those teensy embellishments and cuts from the Cricut. They are extremely precise and have a mean grip. I highly recommend investing in a pair of these babies! I think you can usually find them for $6.99 at Michaels then use your 40% or 50% off coupon and they are about the same price as a latte! Happy Friday everyone!

If I can inspire just one person today I have done my job!
XOXO SugarGem

Finding Inspiration

I had another craft date with 2 of my friends yesterday. One of my friends I will call J, has introduced me to "Make and Takes". What are these you ask? They are AWESOME that's what.  They are a lot of work for her to get together, but they are so fun. She designs something for us then teaches us how to make them. She made a really cute card for us to make. She had everything stamped and cut out for us. All we had to do was put it together. I absolutely love the style and shape of the card. I loved it so much that after she left I went and made another one with some of my favorite paper. Take a look at what we did. 

 Isn't this paper adorable?

 I FINALLY figured out something that has been driving me nuts. Every once in a while my paper will get an oily smudge on it. Especially dark solid papers.  I thought I had oily fingers...... I thought I was dirty...... I washed my hands constantly, but still kept getting these smudges. You can see if you look closely at the blue paper there is that smudge AGAIN, ugh! Well it finally dawned on me it's my glue! I use a liquid glue that I really like, but sometimes it gets on my finger and leaves these little smudges! Voile! So my tip of the year is use a dry tape roller for any of your dark solid papers! No more oily smudges.

Here is my version. I used one of my favorite packs from DCWV called The Far East stack.

The thing I love about this card design is that it is so unique you really don't need to embellish it all. All you really need is awesome paper, glue and a paper trimmer. Anyone can do this even a beginner.

I had a couple people asking for a tutorial. I took measurements of my card.
I just eyeballed mine from my friends, but I think it looks good so here you go.

Cut Base- 11 5/8"x 5 3/16" ( score along 11 5/8" at 4 1/2" and 9 3/4")
Cut 2 pieces at 5" x 1 3/4"
Cut 2 pieces at 5 1/8" x 1 3/4"
Cut  the 1 Folding inside piece at 9 9/16" x 5 1/8" (score along the 9 9/16" at 5 1/16")  On her card and mine we used the corner rounder punch on this piece and the liner.
Cut 1 liner piece (for writing on) at 5x 4 5/16". This is optional if you aren't using dark papers you probably don't need the liner. Although it does look pretty.
Cut 1 strip at 1/2"x 4 15/16.

That's it then assemble and glue. Please let me know if you have any other questions.

If I can inspire one person today I have done my job!
XOXO SugarGem

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Little Gift Idea

I love making little gifts for friends. It's my new obsession.  Here is a little gift I made taking ordinary to extraordinary. 

 Here is one of my favorite touches. I like to tuck a little something special under the lid of the mint tin with a cute little saying or quote. Just adds that special touch.  I found these little mini Altoid tins at Safeway.

 Here is the before and after of the lip gloss. Something you don't know about me is that I have a little obsession for lip products. This Blistex Deep Renewal is one of my favorite chap sticks. It's so smooth and luxurious with a bonus of spf 15.

 Here I hot glued a little mini mirror on the bottom. I really wanted it on top so she could put gloss on and look in the mirror, but it would not work. So now she can go to the gym throw this in her pocket and do quick little checks of herself with out lugging around compact.
*Itty Bitty Tippy* Through more trial and error with wrapping paper around plastic and metal I have found that the tape rollers work well, but to add a dab of hot glue right at the seams. Then quickly smooth out while it is hot works the best. You probably do not want to use the hot glue over the entire strip because it is too thick and would look lumpy.  Over time the paper seems to lift if you only use basic tape rollers. The hot glue really helps the paper stay in place the best.

 Here I added the little soft pink pearl to the top to add a little extra sweetness.

 I hand wrapped the Hershey's nuggets (they are Almond and Toffee) with paper then cut the ovals out with the basic shapes in SCAL and hand stamped the little mini "Sweet" label with Fresh Ink's Pink Lemonade.
 *Itty Bitty Tippy* The measurements of the wrappers are 1"x3" strips. This I have found stays the best. When you wrap them you want to make sure that the glue is right to the edge of the end of the strip so that it doesn't lift up. I learned this through trial and error

 Oh my I love this little flower. I used SVGCuts.com Chamomile Friendship File for the flower Here. I think it turned out so cute. I lightly inked the edges with the Fresh Ink in Pink Lemonade to give more dimension.

Originally I planned on putting the gloss inside the tin, but once I wrapped it in the paper it was just a hair too thick to fit inside nicely. I think the little Soft Lips chapsticks would fit really well inside, but I personally prefer the Deep Renewal gloss.  I was really surprised and happy how it looked on the outside when I was finished. Here I tacked the ribbon down with a little dab of hot glue.  I'm really loving the glue gun lately.

Here is a close up of the gloss tied down.

This is a pic of what I started with. What a difference huh? You can find these large tins at Michaels for a $1.00. They sell them for gift cards, but I love them for other little treats.
Thanks for looking,

If I can inspire just one person today I have done my job!
XOXO SugarGem

Favorites Friday

Happy Friday everyone! I have decided to start Favorites Friday. I will share my favorite tools, projects, materials or anything that is a personal favorite of mine with you on Fridays! This weeks Favorites Friday are my Tim Holtz Tonic Scissors.  These are a fave for many reasons. They cut through paper like butter with the non stick coating and micro-serrated edge.  They also have the extra comfy handles so my hands never seem to get cramped when using them.  Also they are compatible for Lefties and Righties(yes I made these words up). They look kind of goofy, but I promise you will like them.

Have a great weekend everyone!

XOXO SugarGem

Craft Dates

I have met some of the nicest, most talented, kindest, giving, thoughtful people I have ever met in the scrapbooking community.  So many times in my life I didn't feel like I clicked with a group of people or friends. I can now say I have found my kinda peeps! Just meeting friends from the internet sounds strange to even me, but more and more people are making friends online.  It use to only be for dating, but now you can meet some wonderful friends over the internet.  Many of the wonderful women I have met unfortunately don't even live in my time zone, but strangely enough I have met one that only lives maybe a mile away.  And another maybe 20 min away.  It's such a small world.  One friend I met online we had spoke through email for a few months and finally had time to meet up for a craft day together. We exchanged addresses and I was in shock!  She was practically my neighbor! Here is one card I made with her. She had some really neat fibers I got to use some on the tag.  I really think that is what makes this card! I am really loving my craft dates and meeting my new friends. They all have such different yet fabulous ideas and we have such a great time. It's a fun way to get inspired!

Happy Birthday Card

I hope everyone had a wonderful Valentines Day.  I got the sweetest surprise from my new craft friend. I was just coming home from lunch and there was an adorable white gift bag with great big red hearts on it sitting on my door step.  I opened it up and found all kinds of treats! Take a look at what was inside!  Adorable oven mitts with cookie cutters, a super cute vellum style take out box filled with all kinds a Valentine goodies and the cutest card EVER! I was so touched I have never received a surprise like this from anyone! It made my whole day! She is so talented and sweet.

 If I can inspire just one person today I have done my job!
XOXO SugarGem

The Anti-Valentine Valentine with mini bandaid box tutorial

Have you ever dreaded Valentines day or know someone who does? Why not make them something special to cheer them up?  Sometimes Valentines day can be so depressing for some people. I know I have had a few of those.  I know some people who even have Anti-Valentines Day Parties. A whole bunch of friends get together and celebrate being single. How cute would these be for party favors with a little box of chocolates or attached to a card for the Anti-Valentine party? They can also be a cute little gift for a friend with a broken heart to get a giggle or just a little glam pocket to hold some bandaids.  You know instead of the old ziploc baggie routine in the handbag or travel bag. You could even put a couple Q-tips in for traveling. Use it for some of your favorite stickers or embellishments. You could even use it on a scrapbook layout and tuck a little note inside,  etc. There are so many different uses for this adorable little box. I'm sure you could even find some cuter bandaids with a Valentine theme too.

This is my personal design. I am not charging for my template. All I ask from you is that you do not sell the design and if you use my design please give credit where credit is due. I ask that you link to my blog and let everyone know where you got the idea! That's it! Thank you for checking my creation out! Have fun and enjoy

 Mend a Broken Heart.

Mend a Broken Heart Bandaid Box

 I used that yummy Echo Park Be Mine paper again on this box.  It makes me smile. The heart is from Candy Cherub Bears Here. I cut it in half to make it look broken and then used a white pen to create a faux stitch.  The label is from the take out box in the Crush On You Collection Here.

Mend a Broken Heart Bandaid Box

 I used the Martha Stewart Stamp Setting Kit for the sentiment Here. (see note below) I LOVE this stamp set. I actually have more then one because I needed more letters and use it so much. You can find it usually at Michaels and if you use a coupon you should be able to get it as low as $14 (or less) for the whole set. 

*Important tip*
There are at least 2 times this set has been released. This is a picture of my personal set below. This is the one you want where the rectangular acrylic blocks go vertically rather horizontally (like in  the picture in the link above). I have both sets and the one below is the newest release. The letters fit a lot better in the 2nd release than the older set that is in the picture in the link I provided above.    

Mend a Broken Heart Bandaid Box

I used Me & My Big Ideas paper on the black box. I can't find a name for the collection. There is an item code PADX-87.  The heart on the front is the same as the heart on the pink box from the Candy Cherub Bear collection. 

Mend a Broken Heart Bandaid Box

Mend a Broken Heart Bandaid Box

  I cut out the broken heart @ 1.25"and the bandaid @ 3.25", on the back, with the Cricut Indie Cartridge Here


Mend a Broken heart with a Cricut Bandaid

 Items you will need- (You will need Velcro too)


 Cut a piece of your favorite paper to 6.5"x4.5".

Score
4.5" side at .5", .75", 2.5",and 2.75"
Score
6.5" side at .5", .75" 4.75" and 5"

*Itty Bitty Tippy* When scoring you want to fold the "mountain or speed bump" part of the score to the inside for clean score lines. If you don't do this you will get scoring lines that start to look shredded.

Below is what you should have. I used dark ink to show score lines.

Cut and remove the shaded area.
*Itty Bitty Tippy* When making your cuts try and cut at a slight angle almost like cutting a slice of pie. This makes it easier when folding.

 This is what is left after cutting away shaded part. You can fold and decorate from here or you can take it a step further. See below.

 Here I used the corner rounder on the flap, the tag punch to cut a design under the flap and cut off a triangle to look clean when folded. Can you also see where I cut a little slit on the flaps on the bottom where the tiny squares are? I tried using red ink so you could see it better, but it didn't show up that great.  Try enlarging the picture if you can't see the slit.
Below shows the before and after so you can see what I actually did.

AFTER AND BEFORE (should have been the other way. This is my learning curve. Now I know for next time. Ha)

That's it now fold, glue and decorate.
I would love to see what you make with the pocket.

 Question for you-
I am in the process of trying to learn how to do Youtube videos. Would you guys find a video more helpful on these tutorials?
If I can inspire just one person today I have done my job!
XOXO SugarGem 

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Out of the Blue I Dare You.....

Last night I was inspired.   We watched the true life story from the movie The Blind Side. Such an amazing story.  It made me think of doing random acts of kindness. Have you ever received something for no reason at all? Something just out of the blue? It doesn't happen often does it? But when it does it means the most. This week I'm sending out a couple cards "Just Because". I am daring you to do this too. I know a lot of people do swaps and RAK(random acts of kindness) swaps, but wouldn't this be completely out of the blue RANDOM? 
It'll cheer a friend up plus give you a reason to make a card or two. 

If I can inspire just one person today I have done my job!
XOXO SugarGem

Valentines Day is only a few days away!

Are you all ready for Valentines Day yet?  I have been so busy with this whole new blog thing. There is so much to learn.  I have so many ideas and projects to share with you I don't even know where to start sometimes.

 Here are a couple cards I made last night to share with you for Valentines day. 

I used the SVGCuts.com Valentine Cupcake set  Here for the large scallop heart and the arrow heart. I give it 5 stars it's so cute for so many things besides just cupcakes! Definitely a must have set for SCAL. I also used their A2 Laced Edge Card Collection Here  for the scalloped heart border along the bottom. It's So So cute!

What you will need-
Cuttlebug (Or any embossing machine you have to emboss with will work)
Embossing folder
Patterned paper
Plain paper
Glue and hot glue gun (I used a hot glue gun to attach the bow embellishment to the pink heart/red heart)
Ribbon (you can find very cute ribbon at the Dollar tree or even in the dollar bins at Michaels)
SCAL and  CRICUT
    -you can substitute these for punches or even pre-made shapes at your local craft store
Border punch or SVGCuts.com Border file
Ink for edges to give dimension (I used Fresh Ink in Sugar for my light pink card)
Button
Twine

If you have any questions let me know! 

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If I can inspire one person I have done my job!
XOXO SugarGem

SugarGem's Designer Purse Pocket

Are you getting ready for Valentines day? I have been obsessing over my Valentines crafts since the beginning of January. I started looking for Valentine paper the day after Christmas. My local Scrapbook store finally was the first to get some Valentine paper in and it was the Echo Park Be Mine collection. Have you seen this yet? If not check it out here, it is so flipping adorable.  I normally will NEVER buy craft products unless I can use a coupon, but in this case I had to have it and (choking) paid full price.  I have kept it in the chic little black fleur de lis bag it came in......until today. I have been coveting this paper. Waiting for the perfect project to cut into it. I knew would be the right project.  
I am so EXCITED to share my new design that I am entering in SVGCuts.com Valentine challenge. I love it so much. I hope you like it as much as I do.

It started when my fiancee and I went to the local casino. We go there often for their buffet and I always carry the little Wet Ones packets because everything is so filthy there and germy. While there the other night I got the inspiration for my pocket holder. I always grab the matches there because they are free (I looove free who doesn't right?) and they are handy to have laying around the house for lighting candles. So here it is- My first design for all my new followers and friends.

 I have attached a little tutorial and dimensions for you so you can make one too for yourself or someone special. This is my gift to you. I am not charging for my template. All I ask from you is that you do not sell the design and if you use my design please give credit where credit is due. I ask that you link to my blog and let everyone know where you got the idea! That's it! Thank you for checking my creation out! Have fun and enjoy. 

SugarGem's Designer Purse Pocket

SugarGem's Designer Purse Pocket

SugarGem's Designer Purse Pocket



SugarGem's Designer Purse Pocket





Wet Ones Glamour pocket fits two Wet Ones per pocket



Luxurious Hand Stamped Note Cards -A2 Laced Edge Cards from SVGcuts.com

At first I designed this just for the Wet Ones, but I loved it so much I decided to make some cute little note cards to put inside too. You can put 2 Wet Ones in each pocket. You could also put Kleenex, a little mirror, stamps, mini embellishments, mini envelopes etc.inside. I cut out SVGCuts.com  Here A2 Laced edge cards at 3.37"x3.75". I was able to fit 9 on one 12"x12"  glitter page. Then hand stamped the back to add a little something special with Fresh Ink Here in Slate and a couple Pink Lemonade.

I've been working on my photography can you tell?

What you will need:

Favorite Paper
Scissors
Glue
Velcro
Scoring Board

*If you want to make my heart Valentine from the challenge you will need SCAL software and 2 different SVGcuts.com Valentine collections, Candy Cherub hearts Hereand Valentine Doodles Here. If you have purchased or purchase those files I would be more then happy to try and guide you through making the cuts from my Valentine challenge pocket. But you can make a cute and simple pocket and decorate with punches, border punches and embellishments. It's also cute with just some beautiful paper alone. 


Here is a pic of the scoring lines. I made them black so you could see them better just for the picture.

Cut 3 pieces of paper at-
1 at 10.5"x3.5"
2 at 5"x4.75"

Using the large piece score at the following:
Length wise- 4", 4.5", 8.5" and 9"

Score the 2 (5"x4.75")small pieces as follows. pics below-
Along the 5"- score at .5", .75", 4.25" and 4.5"
Along the 4.75"- score at .5" and .75"
(Or the easy score is score at .5" and .75" on all 3 sides. You can choose which is easiest. Everyone learns differently right?)

Take a look at the photo and you can see the shaded in areas are the ones that need to be cut off and removed.

*Itty Bitty Tippy* When making your cuts try and cut at a slight angle almost like cutting a slice of pie. This makes it easier when folding.

 Here it is with all the pieces removed.

Can you see how I cut the little tab here?


*Itty Bitty Tippy* When scoring you want to fold the "mountain or speed bump" part of the score to the inside for clean score lines. If you don't do this you will get scoring lines that start to look shredded.

Fold your pieces and glue. You should have 2 half pockets now.

Add Glue to the edges

Glue your pockets to the long 10.5 piece like below.


 That's it! Easy Peasy!
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I would love to see your creations with my pockets!
XOXO SugarGem