Take Pictures Tonight!

Happy Last day of 2009!

I hope when you take a look back over the year - you can see the good things that happened!

I know I do!

Whatever your plans for tonight - a big party or a quiet evening at home...take some pictures!

They will go great on this new 1 Creative Bug Quick Kit!

Quick Kits are only $7.00 - and they go together QUICK!

There will be 1 to 3 new Quick Kits a month - all for just $7.00 each!

Here is the first January Quick Kit:

"New Year"

This kit comes with everything you see here as well as years 2008& 2009 - and if you need a special year cut, I can do that free of charge! Just let me know!

Quick Kits come with most items precut- there is some simple assembly required,

but I promise - they are QUICK!

If you'd like to order the "New Year" quick kit- shoot me an email!

A Very Disney Christmas...

This layout is so cute! 1 Creative Bug designer Shannon Blinn uses a lot of layering to give this page subtle dimension. Shannon and her family paid the magic kingdom a visit in 2008 - giving 1 Creative Bug the challenges of creating die cuts and paper piecings for Shannon to use in her album. For this page I created the mouse ear hat die cut. I love how Shannon added the jewels for an accent.

Christmas in California . . .

Christmas in California tends to be special... no snow- just abundant sunshine. The cousins LOVE playing at the Rosas Ranch Playground any day of the year.

Don't forget....

to take a picture of the tree BEFORE the kids attack it... I try to get a picture of each child's "pile" ... it shows their new "buddy" as well as the wrapping paper of the year...

Paper Piercing Fun

It's kind of hard to tell in the picture--- but I created my title (Believe) by poking holes in cardstock... easy to do!

Print your title in REVERSE on plain paper. Use a temporary adhesive to attach to a cardstock strip that coordinates with your layout. Now use a piercing tool or a push pin and poke in even intervals along the word. When you are finished remove your pattern, flip your cardstock over and wa-la!- a paper pierced title.

Make an Easy Magnet

Howdy Blog Fans!! How is everyone doing? Getting ready for the Holidays... we are already 5 days into Chaunaka and well on our way to Christmas.

This is an easy project you can whip up anytime --- the base is just a chipboard rectangle with a square window cut out for the picture. Covering chipboard is not a new technique - but man I am loving it. I made chipboard tags this year to adorn all my packages.

What are you doing with chipboard these days?

It's all about the PRESENTS!

This is another 3 page layout I did showing the opening of the presents... my favorite part of this layout has got to be the chipboard presents I created with various rectangles covered in patterned paper - it was time consuming, but so worth it!

Even our Fur Babies get into the Holiday Spirit!

Look at this adorable layout of designer Shannon Blinn's doggie Jenny!

Shannon used 1 Creative Bug die cut snowflakes and a cute calendar embellishment too!

Don't forget to document your fur babies and their part in the holiday season!

The 2009 Visit with Santa

Let me first thank Santa Claus - because this was no "helper" !!!

Santa was the Real Deal and the kids couldn't have been more excited. Thanks Santa for taking the time to visit the Festival of the Trees this year.

I love how the bugs are looking at Santa and just chatting. They sat with him a good 5 minutes!

Then Santa stopped over to revisit and read a story - the Bugs and their good friends even participated in a Parade with Santa. I think this this will be a year to remember!

Here are some fun ideas for scrapping your Santa Visit Layouts:

* Create a page "looking back" at all the visits with Santa over the years
* Journal the requests your kids made to Santa

* Put letters to Santa as hidden journaling

*Record the date, time of day and place of your visit

Do you have more ideas??? Please share them by leaving a comment!

Sitting with Santa

I love our annual visit with Santa... this layout uses the 2007 picture... now the bugs are getting older and more observant, we had to introduce the idea of Santa's Helpers since Santa might look differentfrom year to year... this year we got so lucky - I'm telling you the REAL Sanata... keep checking he blog for this years layout and you'll see what i mean!

It's Cookie Baking Time!

Many of our holiday traditions start in the kitchen! How many of you bake cookies for Christmas? Raise your hands! I DO, I DO! We have some that we ONLY bake at Christmas time.

Here is a layout I made documenting one such event - I had so many pictures I made it a 3 Page layout!

3 page layouts are not common, but they sure are fun. I create more of them now that I discoverd a neat product:

Panoramic Page Protectors

These work in postbound albums, you get 6 in a pack for $9.00... if you use strap hinge albums, have no fear, you can also create 3 page layouts!

This pack of Expand A Pages fits all Strap Hinge albums (including Creative Memories) . It is available for $6.50 and you just slip on your regular side load page protectors.

These two products can be special ordered at anytime - just let me know what and how many you'd like!

Get ready to Crop!

I have two crops this weekend - back to back! First it's Friday night Fun at St. Catherine's for our Holiday Crop and Potluck. From 6 pm until midnight we'll be celebrating the season - bring a potluck dish to share, your $5.00 donation and if you'd like to participate in the ornament exchange - bring one of those too! Take a look at this GREAT ornament I received last year:

If you are not busy this Saturday - I'll be cropping for 12 hours at the California School for the Deaf in Riverside. Our monthly 10 - 10 - 10 crop is always a blast. From 10 am - 10 pm you can crop for just $10.00 and a potluck dish. We always have YUMMY food!

I hope to spark your holiday creativity with some affordable homemade gifts. I'll have plenty of stickles and adhesive on hand as well - both make excellent stocking stuffers or Secret Santa Gifts.

If you need more information, or want to reserve a spot at either of these events, shoot me an email by clicking HERE.

The BIG move is finished!

Hello everyone! It has been awhile since I blogged because of our Family's BIG move... my relocation to Riverside is complete and I look forward to better serving my local scrappers needs. For all you Far Away Fans - order away, I'm here for you too!

Sharing Love

Since I was away for a scrappy weekend I didn't have access to my computer for journaling --- I needed to journal the "old fashioned" way... with markers. To add visual interest I cut the journaling into strips and adhered them to the page. What fun journaling ideas do you have to share with me?

Plane Trip

Check out the cool paper flowers by Creative Memories - I think they mke the layout pop!

Lost Tooth!

When Megan joined the tooth fairy club - we were driving... she bit into a pancake...but unlike her sister, Megan did not panic....and I just happened to have my camera with me. I think I need to always have a camera with these bugs... so strapped in her carseat Megan poses for pictures after loosing her first tooth. (Don't worry I waitied until a red light to snap the pictures.) I used a Circle Lace Paper by the Memory Cafe

and a kit of stuff from chatterbox I have had sitting around forever. It was so much fun to put together!

Bath Buddies

I have never used a full 12 X 12 transparency on a layout before --- I am now officially addicted. I love how this layout looks! The transparency adds so much visual image and the colors are bright. It will be perfect when I add the picture of the bugs!

More MOSD Days!

Here is another layout documenting my days with MOSD... this is the second time Alison and I were together face to face in February 2008.

For this layout I used Stickles (AGAIN!!!) to add some red to the black and white flowere paper. I love stickles! The "Scrapbowl" vendor tag was actually my ID for the event, I removed it from the plastic cover and used it as an instant page accent!

The internet makes so much possible....

Imagine two strangers meeting online and starting a business together... it happened to me! Back in 2007 I was blessed to meet face to face with my business partner for the first time. We met in Las Vegas for the Memory Trends Trade Show. The picture on this layout was taken by my husband who witnessed the whole crazy meeting... My time with MOSD is over (Everything has a season) but it will always be an experience that shaped me --- so this layout goes into my Book of Me!

Some fun things I did on this layout... I used a title Frame by the Memory Cafe and I also hand journaled around the picture. I did a lot of hand journaling this past weekend so I could finish my pages - i was happy with the results!

I'm Back!

What a wonderfull scrappy weekend! I cannot thank my friends enough for their generous gift. I got an incredible amount of work done, laughed until my sides hurt and I got to eat so much good food I think I gained a million pounds!

Here is a page I did using foam letters and stars --- so they don't look quite so cheesy, I used stickles over them. Stickles are so much fun - I took stickles up for sale and sold a record number of bottles. THANKS Ladies!

Scrap Retreat

I am so excited I am away for a full weekend scrap retreat... I hope to scrap tons of layouts I can show you over the next few weeks... check back on Monday to see what I create.

Another Baby Shower ...

Here is the custom invitation I creatd this week... it is a silhouette of my cousin and her 4 daughters. The invitation information is printed on an overlay you can see in the next picture.

These were fun to create - I can't wait to hear feedback from the guests!

Baby Shower Decor

We recently had a baby shower for my cousin.. here theme was "elephants"...and who got to help decorate --- ME! Here are a few projects I created for the event!

The elephant image for the cake - I just scanned my paper pieced creation and Sam's Club did the rest!

These were the hangng decorations - simple but cute!

This is a little magnetic giveaway.

A pick for inside the flower vases.

Here are the flowers.

I love being able to create anything my customers want... the sky is the limit!

New Kit!

Check out this Recession Buster Kit --- it is called YOU ARE LOVED and it is only $8.00! The top picture shows the assembled kit, and the bottom picture shows the suggested photo layout. The white mats do not come in the kit. This kit is versitile and comes with blue flowers and buttons so if you want a more masculine look you can easily achieve it by using the buttons!

Custom Maternity Silhouettes

Happy Monday Everyone!

Today I want to show you a fun custom product I offer --- Custom Maternity Sihouettes!

All I need is a side profile of you... and wa-la... a unique die cut you can use for invitations or in a scrapbook.

This is my beautiful Cousin Rose - pregnant with blessing #5

Take a look how I transformed her into a die cut we can use! I put her in a flowing shirt and capris so she looks all dressed for her shower!

What a fantastic momento this will be for years to come. It's even suitable for framing.

If you'd like to order your own custom Maternity Silhouette Keepsake - email me! Prices start at just $5.00 - very affordable for any mom to be!

Gearing up for Halloween!

Are yoy thinking of your halloween costumes yet? We sure are! Check out this fantastic page by Shannon Blin using custom cut buzz words of course!

Boo - tiful Wordbook!

I am officially addicted to wordbooks.... this is a BOO book I created recently. 1 Creative Bug carries the MOSD build a book system so you can build basically any wordbook you want! Letters are just $1.25 each and they are a great way to use up your stash of supplies... take a look at a few pages from my book and how I embellished them...

Since BOO is such a short word and I usuallh have sooo many halloween pictures I added an extra page to my book with scrap chipboard and a ghost die cut.. I just trimmed the exposed areas of a 12" length and wa la! an extra page- for FREE!

If you'd like to order a wordbook - feel free to email me.

Some Halloween ideas are:

Spooky

Haunty

Boo

Ghouls

Goblins

Pumpkin

Easy Distressing technique

If you like the distressed look... try sanding the edges of your picture... I love how they turn out every time!Do you have a distressing idea??? Leave a comment and share it with us! We LOVE to hear from you!

Sketch Contest!

It's Contest time!!! Use this sketch as inspiration for a page... email completed project to me through THIS LINK... you will be entered into a random drawing for a chance to win some 1 Creative Bug Goodies! The winning layout will also be posted to the 1 Creatieve Blog!

Entries must be submitted by September 30th, 2009. Please feel free to tell a friend, post the contest on YOUR blog, etc!!

Who doesn't love a hayride?

This is a quick easy layout you can "scraplift" for any occasion.. designer Shannon Blinn shows off her darling children partaking in a halloween hayride.... need fun fall leaf die cuts> Just email me,
they make great journaling boxes!

Fall Fun - with some squirrels!

This page was crated by designer Shannon Blinn... she aparently has some pesky squirrels hanging out at her house. 1 Creative Bug was pleased to provide the acorn paper piecings. I can't decide which is cuter, the squirrel on the roof, or my acorns... what do you think?

Ribbon, Ribbon, Ribbon

I know I was going to show you only gift ideas available from 1 Creative Bug this week --- but I have to show you an awesome gift option from my very good friend Suzy... Suzy is the owner of the Memory Cafe and now the Ribbon Cafe.

Well... the Ribbon Cafe has just posted for sale a Ribbon Club!!

You can get a 3 month, 6 month or 1 year subscription --- meaning FABULOUS ribbons will show up at your door every month for as long as you want...

WHAT A GREAT GIFT!

In fact I thought it was such a great idea - I'd get one for myslef, so I did!

Here is the October set of Ribbons:

For more information check out the Ribbon Cafe Blog!

Gifts for your Scrappy Friends

The most used products in scrapbooking is adhesive...so why not gift your scrappy friends with their favorite - OR - with something new they have not tried. With price points from "Stocking Stuffer" and up - you are sure to find a soultion that its your bidget and makes your friends want to sitck around!

The Zig 2 Way glue pen makes a perfect little thank you, stocking stuffer type gift. It is perfect for little projects and especially for attaching custom cut Buzz Words. Read more about the Glue Pen HERE... You can pick up the Glue pen for just $3.25 each.

Need more information about Buzz Words??? Stay tuned to this blog in the coming weeks!

The next adhesive on the must have list are Glue Dots.

Glue Dots are an embellishment lovers dream... here I have mini Glue dots - sized perfect for tiny google eys, gems, buttons and even for ribbon. To learn more about Glue Dots - check out THIS POST.

With a Price point of only $4.00- you can get a pack as a gift and a pack for yourself!

There are so many "tape runners" on the market it can be hard to choose... I prefer the E-Z Runner by Scrapbook Adhesives for a few reasons:

*You can twist and turn while applying adhesive

* It's disposable so you don't have to remember how to refill the sucker!

*It's perfect for attaching pictures and photo mats quickly

This great Tape Runner is also an easy way for you to donate to a great cause --- every purchases of Scrapbook Adhesives and their parent company 3L donates to the Make a Wish Foundation .
All you do is buy adhesive and you are making a difference... that's why most of the adhesive 1 Creative Bug carries, is from Scrapbook Adhesives. The E-Z runner is $6.50 in a single pack or $11.00 in a 2 pack.

Do any of your friends have a die cutting system... if they do - this is the gift for them:

Scrapbook Adhesives - Adhesive Sheets.

12 X 12 adhesive you apply to your paper before putting it into your die cutting system - whatever the system may be - and wa la you have self adhesive titles, dies cuts, paper piecings, etc... At only $10.00 for a pack of 5 sheets - this beats buying a high priced cartridge you're not sure if she'll like!

These adhesive sheets are also great for making Serendipity squares - check out the how to HERE.

Last, but not least we have photo tape...another winning product by Scrapbook Adhesives. You can gift all 81 feet of double sided tape fun for just $10.00. This is the tape I use for putting my pages into albums. It's great for large areas, but versitile enough for small areas.

Find out what my favorite use for photo tape is HERE.

I hope you have enjoied my review of adhesives and will consider purchasing for your friends - as you can see you can spend as little as $3.25 or over $20 by bundling several adhesives together - it's up to you. Email me to order... have a great Wednesday!