Pop-up bench cards extraordinaire.....

Today's class was on pop-ups.  We learned how to make our own pop-up cuts in paper, the basic construction of pop-ups and then used the Elizabeth Craft Designs bench pop-up die to make our cards.  Amazing results!  Patti Jo made this wonderful card (and once again, the photos just don't do it justice at all.)  The swan is cut in white micro glitter paper.  The tree is a die cut from Dreamweaver.  You can order any product through our local scrapbook store by calling them at 719-275-2526.

This is the front of her card using Graphic 45 paper that has unfortunately been discontinued.  Wouldn't you love to get a card like this and when you opened it up the bench just popped up to greet you?

Rhonda's card would be a complete, total surprise.  The front is just so simple and sweet....

but what a great, wonderful surprise when you open it up!  Who knew a white tree could be so stunning???  Now, want to know a secret?  She's used holly leaves for her flower petals.  Cut and folded - you wouldn't have guessed that if I hadn't told you!!!

And don't those deer look like they are a foot deep in the grass?  How'd she do that anyway???

Mary used some vintage 12xtwelve paper.  The company, sadly, is no longer in business.  But look at what she did to the flower behind the bench!  Cut and curled the petals.  Then hand cut out all the smaller daisies to surround her bench.

Again, the front of the card is so simply, you'd never guess what's inside.  What creativity!!!

Carolyn didn't finish her card, but I can hardly wait to see it.  Just incredibly amazing work - they are all such one-of-a-kind pieces of art.  I had so much fun teaching this class.  We're planning a great pop-up class for April, so check the store blog often!

Denim country journal at The Abbey Scrapbooking Retreat

First, I have to tell you about the food at this retreat.  WAY TOO MUCH!!!  A complete 20' long candy bar that they kept stocked the entire weekend!  I will not eat anything with sugar in it for a whole week!!!  The meals are included in the price and they are amazing.  I understand they are prepared on site by the Abbey's kitchen.  Well....you'd think we were at a 5-star restaurant the whole time!  The Chocolate Lasagne may have been my favorite, but I really liked those sandwiches we had.  The stuffed waffles were amazing - I will have to take photos next time!

I started out the weekend making this journal.  I had finished my denim towels last week and had pockets leftover.  Then I went to a garage sale and picked up some little kids denim shorts for 50 cents each and just wanted to play!

Sizzix dressform diecut and the flowers are another Sizzix die.

Bo Bunny paper - with loads of stickles all over it.  Made pockets that things can go down it.  Used my white pen to outline some of the items on the paper.

If you want to do this - you'll be cutting out a lot of the elements in the papers and putting them on other papers - something I truly enjoy doing.  But I know there are those who don't like to cut things out!

But when you take the time to cut the elements out - you can create whole new looks.

Lots of distress inking with faded jeans and vintage photo...

This one will go for sale in our new space in the Marketplace Shops.  It's ready for you to simply add photos and words!

The page on the right is actual denim.  On the left, I did a lot of doodling with my white pen.

and my favorite page - the chocolate page!  I may have to do this page in every journal I make - simply because you need a little chocolate in every day!

I had fun putting this together the first afternoon - it was an easy way to get into a creative weekend!  And easy to do while chatting with all the other gals.  Thanks to everyone for making this such a fun weekend!

If you want to order this paper, you can do so by calling Design U'R Memories at 719-275-2526.  We are truly blessed to have both a scrapbook store and a stamp store in this little town!!!

What criteria do I use to pick a die?

Dies have never been cheap and it doesn't take much to get a fortune tied up in your collection.  I try to "see" or "imagine" a variety of ways that I can use a single die.  If I can't, then I do not buy it, no matter how much I want it!

Here's a cute tree that is a flourish.  First, I could visualize it in different sizes....just by cutting the bottom off.

But then I saw it as a corner embellishment:

I didn't actually do this, but if you look at the tree as points of a star, you could put 5, 6, 7 or 8 of them together to make a giant star!

What do you see in this tree???

When I do purchase a die, I will cut it out 10 times in plain white card stock.  If its a die that can be embossed, I do not emboss it, I simply cut it out.

Then I can lay all 10 diecuts out on a flat surface and rotate them North, South, East, West, on any angle, mix 2, 3, 4....10 dies together...just to see what I can come up with.  You can make a nice full page sized flourish rick-rack with this die!

It's sort of fun to see what you can "see" when you do this with your dies.   

This adorable tree is 5 pieces and comes in 2 sizes.  I had to have them both.  Take any two layers of the tree and put them together and you will see an "elf" collar!  Cut the tips off and you have snow to drip off any roof!  Put the 2 dies together as one and you'll get a huge tree with 10 layers!

I understand the company is no longer making this die, so call Rhonda at Design U'R Memories as she just placed an order for a ton of these!

She also sells this glitter paper in 12x12 sheets and it works fabulous with copic markers.  Just put a peel off sticker (the snowman) over the paper and color with your copics.  The cut out around the edges.

The title on this card is "Time to play" made but cutting up individual letters on a holiday peel off sheet.    I love the glitter sheet so much that I bought  the glitter and an entire roll of the adhesive so I can make my own!!!

So, stop before you invest in dies and see how many different ways you can use that die before you make your investment!!!

When we moved mom, my sister took the pocket from her front door at The Village and put it on her bedroom door in her house.  So I had to make a new LO for her door.

There was a free crop at the local scrapbook store this weekend and I decided to pop in there Sunday afternoon and just "play".  Lovely ladies.  So sweet!  I found the papers and the "cut work" dressforms and roses in the store.  These are very metallic - but don't show up in the photos.  3 layers, each layer a little differently cut and you stack them up, so lots of dimension to this page.

My friend, Kathy, gave me the bird bath, birds and bird cages, lace and bling.  I decided to try and incorporate them all into the page.

You have to look close to see that the lace holding up the bird cage is wrapped around the end of the hand-cut corner embellishment.  I wanted mom to have lots to look at and feel.

I even hand cut some self coloring paper into the shape of a dressform.  Another product I picked up at the local store.

I'd say this is breaking all the scrapbook rules and more like making a 12x12 sized card.  Quite fun.  Mostly just cut paper around an existing printed design to make the corners and borders.  OH, lots of stickles on the roses and other embellishments make the page just "pop" in real life.

Thanks to Design U'r Memories for a fun crop day!!!