Dr. Seuss Birthday Invitation and a GIVEAWAY!!

Our Grandson "A"s Birthday was coming up and when I heard that our daughter "S" was going to do a Dr. Seuss themed party, I was really excited!

I've always loved Dr. Seuss books and couldn't wait to help out with the preparations.

I had been wanting to try my hand at creating a custom invitation and just recently realized that the "My Memories" Software could assist me in this, when I made an invitation for my Granddaughter's Birthday last month.

I asked "S" if she would mind me making up some sample invitations and if she liked them, we could use them and if they were a big fat "Fail"...(LOL!), we could order some digitally from the many sellers on Etsy that have them.

She has a lot of faith in me and let me do it!

I went to work using the My Memories Software Suite and was AMAZED at how easy it was to make the invitations!

In the past, I had attempted projects like this using Photoshop and just went away frustrated and confused!

Here are the two examples I came up with:

(Click on the pictures to enlarge)

To make these, I used the My Memories Software Suite, some digital papers I purchased from Great Graphics on Etsy and a Dr. Seuss inspired Digital Graphics Set I purchased from my bloggie friend Nikki at Melonheadz Illustrating.

I made them 5x7 in size, so that there was room for everything and so that it could be read clearly.

The invitation that "S" chose for the final one to send out was the first one.

I went to Walgreens online and uploaded the jpg file of the invite and ordered all the copies we needed for our guests.

(You can of course do this at any other photo place also, such as Snapfish, Shutterfly etc...the reason I chose Walgreen's is because it is closest to me and we needed them quickly...they will print them in an hour in most cases!)

Just be sure to upload these to the photo site as a stand-alone photo (.jpg format).

It won't work if you go to their "create a card" section, because those are pre-set-up templates that the photo sites have and you can't put your own design in there. 

(At least that is what I found with Walgreens, Snapfish and Shutterfly...I can't speak for any others.)

You can view several different tutorials on the My Memories YouTube Site that can help you make an invitation.

I am thinking about making a tutorial myself on exactly how I made these invites, but I've never attempted a tutorial yet and I'm a bit hesitant to try and compete with all the great ones that are out there! 

If I do decide to make one, I will update this post with a link to it.

Now, for some exciting news...My Memories has graciously agreed to give a FREE copy of this awesome software to one of my loyal followers!

If you would like to be eligible to win a copy of this Digital Scrapbooking Software Program, then here are the requirements:

1. Be or become a follower on my blog.

2. Go visit the My Memories site at: http://www.mymemories.com/ and make note of your favorite template or kit, then come back here and leave a comment stating which is your favorite from the site. (Be sure to include an e-mail address or a way to get in touch with you in case you win!)

3. For a second chance entry, please "Like" their Facebook page at: http://www.facebook.com/pages/MyMemories/140359372717593

4. For a third chance at winning, please follow the My Memories Blog at: http://www.mymemoriesblog.com/

5. For a fourth chance at winning, please follow My Memories on twitter at: http://twitter.com/#!/MyMemoriesSuite

(NOTE: After doing steps 3,4 and 5, make sure to leave a comment for each, saying that you completed the step...this is to make sure you get your extra entries!)

Remember to be eligible to win, you MUST do at least steps 1 and 2, all other steps are for extra entries!

This giveaway opportunity will be open through Tuesday May 8, 2012 and I will choose a winner via Random.org on Wednesday May 9, 2012.

Even if you aren't the lucky winner...you can still get a great discount on the software as My Memories has authorized me to offer $10.00 off the software by clicking on the blinkie below and entering the special code.

CODE: STMMMS91285

This awesome software was recently featured on the Lifetime Television show "The Balancing Act", if you'd like to see the clip of the show where they featured the software, you can view it here.

They are also running a *Free* Photo Book Promotion right now and you can get the details of that by clicking here.

Good Luck to All and Thank-you for reading my post!

I have linked this post/project to the following sites/Link-up Party's:

Ikea Julen Cards

I recently won some blog candy from Scrappin' Delta Diva's blog and one of the items that was in the awesome bag of goodies I won were these cute little blank cards from Ikea:

I never even knew that Ikea had cards!

I was pleasantly surprised to find these little nuggets in my gift bag, as they are different and a bit unusual, which inspires some creativity in me.

I really liked the stitching on the envelopes, it adds an elegant touch without being distratcting.

I tried to find out some more info on these cards online, but couldn't find anything.

I was curious to know what they are made of, because they feel almost like they are part paper and part fabric!

I couldn't wait to try them out and see how the fibrous material reacted to different mediums.

I knew that I wanted to make "thank-you" cards as these are the perfect size for that, so here are the results:

The catepillar card was made using a digi design from my dear bloggie friend Nikki at Melonheadz Illustrating.

She is SO very talented, if you get a chance, check out her blog and see some of the awesome digital images she offers.

Incredibly, she does not charge for most of them, but she does accept donations on her blog site and I hope you will donate if you like and use her images.

I started out by experimenting with some stamp pads and a natural sponge on the background of this card.

I wanted to bring out the natural texture of the card material and see how it would look.

I was pretty pleased with how it turned out, it looks almost like it is lightly tie-dyed!

I sized down the digi from Melonheadz to fit my card and then printed it out on white cardstock and cut it out.

I colored it using copics sketch markers and then gave it dimension by coating it with glossy accents and adding pop dots to the back to adhere it to the card.

The word "Thanks" was cut from one of my cricut cartridges, but I'm not sure which one, as it was from my "extra" stash of cuts.

I embossed the word "thanks" to give it a bit of pop.

I added a strip of ribbon and small purple flower brads to finish the card with a bit of charm.

Here is a picture of the items used to make this card:

Recipe:
Cricut Cartridge - "Thanks"
Blank White Card, Ikea, Julen (2-3/4" x 6")
Digital Image, Catepillar - Melonheadz Illustrating
Ribbon, Berwick Offray, Sheer Petit Dot C5 Kiwi, 9.0mm x 4.5m
Flower Brad, Purple, Creative Impressions Bright Flower Asst. Item #90666
Glossy Accents, Ranger Inkssentials
Embossing Powder, Super Fine Detail, Clear, Ranger #SFJ06954
Embossing Ink Pad, Clear, Emboss-It Inkssentials, Ranger Ink
Stamp Pad, Pigment, Lime Green, Studio G
Stamp Pad, Pigment, Yellow, Studio G
Copic Sketch Marker, Y13, Lemon Yellow
Copic Sketch Marker, YG03, Yellow Green
Copic Sketch Marker, BV13, Hydrangea Blue
Copic Sketch Marker, R29, Lipstick Red
Zots Clear Adhesive Dots, 3D, 1/2", Therm-o-web
Fabri-Tac Permanent Adhesive, Beacon Adhesives
Zig Squeeze & Roll, 2-way Glue Pen

Tools Used:
Cricut Expression Machine
Heat Tool, Marvy Uchida, Model #2500
Sponge, Watercolor, Large Coarse Sea Sponge, Royal Langnickel (From Set #R2098)
Awl/Scribe
Cutterbee Scissors
Flat Spatula Tool, Metal
PSA Essentials Custom Stamp

Now, for the second Thank-you card:

The bow on this card was made using a technique I found on a fellow-blogger's site Seongsook's Creations.
I am terrible at tying bows...especially tiny ones and this tip was a big help!
Here is a photo of the items I used to make this card:

Recipe:
Cricut Cartridge: Flower Shape & "Thank-you"
Blank White Card, Ikea, Julen (2-3/4" x 6")
Patterned Paper, Diamond/Argyle Lt. Purple/White (Unknown brand from stash on hand)
Satin Ribbon, 1/8"(3mm), Spool-o-Ribbon, Offray #RN1991 Orchid
Rhinestones, (2 ea.) Purple, Stick-on (Unknown brand from stash on hand)
Glossy Accents, Ranger Inkssentials
Copic Sketch Marker, #YR68 Orange
Fabri-Tac Permanent Adhesive, Beacon Adhesives
Zig Squeeze & Roll, 2-way Glue Pen

Tools:
Cricut Expression
Cutter Bee Scissors
ATG Tape Gun, Scotch
PSA Essentials Custom Stamp

Of course I stamped the back of both of my cards with my custom stamp by PSA Essentials.

Thank-you for checking out my blog!

Hope you'll return soon...don't forget my follower giveaway posted on my sidebar and here.

I am almost at my goal of 100 followers!! Yay!

Another Blog Award!

I can't believe it...I received another Blog Award!

And I received it from someone whom I highly respect in the Crafting/Art World...the very sweet and talented Nikki from MelonHeadz Illustrating!

You have to hop over and check-out her blog...it is just awesome and she has such a giving heart, she offers almost all of her fabulous digi's for free!

If you check out her digi's and love them as much as I do, please show some love and use her "tip" jar to show her how much you appreciate her work!

Thank-you for the award Nikki and thanks for all you do!

XOXO
Lisa