Scrapbooking & going green!

Do you ever pay attention to the fine print on the scrapbooking supplies you buy?

Recently I just happened to glance at the back of a pack of brads from the new Holly Lane line from KI Memories.

This is what I saw:

It says, "Recycle this packaging...use the patterned above for a project!"

So I did!

How fun!

I used the packaging from the new Christmas Puffies to make this card to send to my mom.

Can you see the packaging that I used??
I'm knocking out a birthday card and going green all in one!

And I am saving the packaging from the Holly Lane brads to use on a Christmas card.
It will work perfectly with the patterned papers from that new line!
:)
Have a great day!

Card/envelope tip!

You know what drives me crazy??
I get so annoyed when I go to mail a card I've made
and I can't find an envelope to fit!

I try to make standard sized cards, but I am always running out of standard sized envelopes.

You now what I do have a ton of though??

I do have tons of these ugly legal-sized envelopes!

These legal-sized envelopes measure about
4 inches wide x 9 1/2 inches tall.

And now I think I will make cards to fit these envelopes!!

To make a card to fit, I cut a piece of black cardstock
8 inches wide x 9 inches tall.

Then I folded it in half to make a card measuring
4 inches wide x 9 inches tall.

Then I pulled out my Study Hall kit from Noel Mignon
to decorate the front of the card.

And it fits perfectly in my ole boring legal envelope!

So if you are like me and always run out of your smaller, cute envelopes, try changing up the sizes of your cards to fit the envelopes you do have!

Just something to think about!
:)
Happy Monday yall!
gretchen

Sketchy

Anybody scrappin' this weekend?

Need a sketch to get you going?

I put this one up on the Midnight Rooster blog yesterday and I thought I would share it here too.

I used that sketch to make this layout with the September kit from Midnight Rooster.

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Now go get your scrap on!
:)
Happy weekend!
gretchen

GIVEAWAY!!

Well it is not here this time.

But there is a very nice giveaway going on over on the Pebbles blog!

Head over there (click here) & leave a comment for your chance at some goodies!!

And TGIF!!
:)
gretchen

Things are getting spooky

BOO!!!

Check out the new kit from Noel Mignon!
It's really "Something Wicked"!

And it is on sale NOW!!!

{get yours here}

:)

gretchen

Layout shares

Happy Monday folks!
:)
I've got a couple layouts to share today.
Both of these I made with kits from Noel Mignon.

This first one I made a while ago using the Mary Ellen kit for a layout tag game I played with some members of the Noel Mignon message board.

Ever played before??
It's fun!

It's like a scrapbooking game of telephone!
Basically you start with an original layout that gets sent to the first person playing.
That person makes a layout inspired by the original layout.
Then the new layout is sent to the second person who creates a new layout inspired by that layout.

And it just continues on from there!
It is cool to see all the layouts created!
{if you want to play along with us, add your name to the list on this thread here}

Anywhoooo, here is the layout I created this time...

{made with the Mary Ellen kit}

*****

This next layout I made with the newest kit from Noel Mignon.

It's called "Study Hall" and it is designed to be a school-ish kit.

But it doesn't have to be!
:)

For instance, it works for sports layouts too!

That is my brother David.
He came to Birmingham to play in a little semi-pro tennis tournament.

He was the oldest guy in the draw by like 9-10 years.
And then he proceeded to beat 3 guys who currently play college tennis to win the tournament.

I love it!

:)
OK I am done rambling!
Happy Monday!
:)

***WINNER***

Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:
43
Timestamp: 2011-09-19 04:12:55 UTC

___________________

which means the winner is...

mollydianeh said...
How cute! Thanks for a chance to win! (ahem...GO DAWGS!)
September 18, 2011 2:55 PM
____________________
YAY!!

Molly, email me at gretchenmcelveen(at)yahoo.com with your address and I will get your goodies out to you ASAP!

A big thanks to everyone who played along with us this weekend!

And happy Monday!

:)

gretchen

OK here is what you could win...

OK so I got my lazy rear up off the couch & took a picture of the prize you would win from me as part of the Paper Issues blog hop!

{see the post below}

In keeping with the new "Tree Hugger" theme over at Paper Issues, the RAK you could win from me in blog hop is very "nature-y".
It includes

embellishments from the Little Yellow Bicycle "Twig" line, Studio Calico cloud rub-ons, a cute little love bird stamp, My Little Shoebox flower stamps, and a pack of KI Memories Wild Life glitter stickers!
:)

Leave a comment on the post below for your chance to win!

and ROLL TIDE!

Paper Issues Blog Hop! (giveaway is closed now)

Good morning & happy Friday!
Welcome to my stop on the Paper Issues blog hop!
***
There is a new theme on the Paper Issues blog today.

"Tree Hugger" is the theme!
You could interpret that many ways...
Do you have any layouts about nature?
Or what about projects using leaves or trees?
There are lots of fun papers, die cuts, stickers, etc. with fun tree patterns!

Or how about a layout about your family tree?!
The interpretation is up to you!
Think out of the box!
If you use paper, though, you are in!
Play along with us & link up your projects here.

***

"Tree hugger" immediately made me think about recycling, being kind to nature, etc.
Recycle. Repurpose. Reuse.

So for my project I used a great piece of product packaging to make a tag rather than just throwing it away!

Check this out!
How perfect is this backing from a pack of My Mind's Eye bling for a tag?!!

It is ridiculously cute!

What a waste for it to just be thrown away!

So I just turned it over & decorated it to make this tag!

So easy!

Supplies: Patterned paper (KI Memories, My Mind's Eye); Lace cardstock (KI Memories); Chipboard (KI Memories); Bling (My Mind's Eye)
***
OK now the fun part for you!
Leave a comment here for a chance to win a box of goodies from me!
(I bet you would like to see a picture of what you might win. But that would require me to get my lazy booty up off this couch where I am cozily watching this LSU-MS State football game & sipping on a glass of wine. You will have to trust me on this one.}
:)
How about just tell me what your favorite football team is & I will pick a random winner on Monday!
***
OK from here your next stop is to the
ultra-creative Diana Fischer's blog!
***
P.S.
There is all kinds of blog hopping going on at Paper Issues!

If you start there, there are 3 different routes you can take.
There is a "layout" route, an "altered item" route, and this post is along the "card" route.
You can hit all 3 routes if you want to!
You will see tons of inspiration & increase your chances of winning prizes if you do!

***
Here is the entire "card" route:

Jeannie DeGruccio
Bethany Crowell
Corri Garza
Cathy Dippolito
here
Diana Fisher
Kristy Dalman
Kelly Ratcliff
Ruby McGuire
Jess Mutty
***
Happy hoppin' folks!
:)

gretchen

KI Christmas card challenge!!

Did you know that there are only 101 shopping days left until Christmas??!
Whenever the weather starts turning a little cooler I can't help but start thinking about Christmas.
I love it!
And it is never too early to start thinking about Christmas cards!
They are much more fun to make if you are not stressing out trying to get them done last minute!
I put up a challenge on the KI blog the other day.

The challenge is simple: Work on your Christmas cards!
Start now! Don't wait until the busy holiday season is upon you!

KI's new Holly Lane collection and new Christmas Puffies are just what you need to get you started!

Here is the best advice I can give for making your cards:

1). Keep them simple. Find a design that you can recreate over & over again.

2). Use your scraps. Don't "waste" an entire sheet of patterned paper when you probably have lots of scraps you can use up instead.

Now go make some Christmas cards!
Happy card-making!

{and merry Christmas!}

:)

gretchen

Well looky here!

Bella Blvd
design team announcement

*****

Crazy things are going on in the McElveen household!

Crazy GOOD things, that is!

{"Many thanks" card made with the Finally Fall line from Bella Blvd}

And many thanks to Bella Blvd for having me as a part of the team!

I am pretty pumped about it!!
:)

gretchen

First one

My first assignment as a design team member went up on the Pebbles blog yesterday!
The new team is being introduced for a couple of weeks so we were to create a layout representative of our style.

I was immediately drawn to the bright, bold colors mixed with kraft in the new Fresh Goods line.

So I played around with it and made this layout...

It's my first of many projects with fabulous Pebbles products!
This is going to be fun!
:)
Happy Tuesday!

gretchen

New challenge

There is a new challenge up at Noel Mignon today.
This challenge is to make something taking your inspiration from this...

I made this card last week that unintentionally works for this challenge.

And then I made this new one.

I made both of these cards using the Salt Water Taffy kit from Noel Mignon.

Feel free to play along with us!
If you are feeling inspired by that color board, make something & then link it up here on the Noel Mignon challenge blog.
:)
Happy Monday!
gretchen

P.S.

go check out the Pebbles blog today
:)

Remembering

I remember sitting in class during PT at UAB.

The class was interrupted by a normally-calm professor who told us anxiously that planes were crashing in New York City.

I remember all 48 of my classmates and a few professors sitting in the teeny tiny break room right outside of the classroom watching the small TV hanging on the wall.

We were sitting around a couple of tables; some people were on the floor; a few people sat on the counter; others were just leaning against the drink machines.

I remember sitting there for what seemed like hours.

I remember there being silence as we just watched the TV.

After that day it was back to the routine as normal for all of us.

But for so many, many people life would never be the same again.

Never forget.

9-11

God bless America!

Midnight Rooster REVEAL!!

We are well on our way into September and that means a new kit is up for grabs at Midnight Rooster!

And once again, I loved it!!

There is lots of black & red & teal & yellow in this one.
And for this layout I managed to even pull some pink out of it!

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PUBLICATION
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{the brads are from my stash}

Those Cosmo Cricket chipboard alphas are quickly becoming some of my favorites.

Must get more!

*****
This kit has a great variety of products.
There is stuff from Cosmo Cricket, Pink Paislee, Echo Park, My Mind's Eye, Maya Road, Sassafras, Crate Paper, and more!

And of course I had to make a card for good measure...
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I made a mini album too but I will share that tomorrow!
Head over to Midnight Rooster and pick up a kit for yourself!
:)
Happy weekend!

Color Combos Galore

Well looky here!

I get to be the guest designer over at Color Combos Galore this week!
{what that really means is that Midnight Rooster is the sponsor over there this month and i was the only Midnight Rooster designer who had a chance to make anything this week! lucky me!}

This is the first time I have ever participated in these challenges and it will not be my last!
Basically (in case you are not familiar Color Combos Galore challenges) each week the challenge involves a color palette with a twist.

For instance, this week's color palette is soft with some pink and blue/purple.
The twist is pearls.

And I made this ...

I put a little simple greeting inside...

I made this card using the August kit from Midnight Rooster (Summer Shandy).
Now go check out Color Combos Galore and see all the better stuff that people made for this challenge!

*****
P.S.

Tomorrow is the Midnight Rooster September reveal!

Oh, and it is Friday!
:)
gretchen

Midnight Rooster sneaks!!

The September kit from Midnight Rooster

goes on sale on Friday

September 9th!!

Here is a little teaser to tide you over until then!

You are welcome!!

{insert evil laugh here}

:)

gretchen

Happy Labor Day!!

Personally I plan to do no laboring today!

I love Mondays like this!!
I ran early this morning.

Then I finished the first Harry Potter book.
{yes, I realize that I am the last person in America to do so. i am totally cool with my "follower" status.}

And now I think I will try to hunt down the first Harry Potter movie & watch it while doing a little scrapping.
But I have a card to share first!
And I really like how this one turned out...

I made this one with the Salt Water Taffy kit from Noel Mignon.
I did grab the Thickers out of the Very Virginia kit and the October Afternoon 5 & Dime label from the Mary Ellen kit though.

I love how Noel's kits mix so well together!!

*****
OK I am off to search for a movie!
Happy Labor Day!
:)
gretchen