Sunday, March 31, 2013

Happy Easter!

Good morning, and Happy Easter! I hope that you all have a wonderful day!
I've just got a quick card to share and then I'll let you all get back to your families.
 I created this 5x5 inch card base using the Pretty Paper, Pretty Ribbons Layered Labels 1 cut files. 
 This adorable little Easter Bunny is from the Pretty Paper, Pretty Ribbons Hoppy Easter cut files.
Supplies:
PaperTrey Ink kraft cardstock
Carta Bella True Friends 6x6 paper stack
Carta Bella Cool Summer 6x6 paper stack
My Mind's Eye Dwell 6x6 paper stack
Pretty Paper, Pretty Ribbons Layered Labels 1 cutting files
Pretty Paper, Pretty Ribbons Hoppy Easter cutting files
Pink By Design Bunny stamp set
Stampin' Up Pearls

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

PPPR Design Team Post :: Home Sweet Home

Good morning! Today is Wednesday, and that means it's time for a new Pretty Paper, Pretty Ribbons design team post! 
 Last Wednesday, Lisa released the cutest little house files! And of course, I just had to use one of them!
 I created my 5 x 5 inch card base in Silhouette Studio using the weld feature. I created the top layer by using the offset feature.
In order to make my fence reach across the entire card, I welded two of the shapes together to make a longer piece. The sun is a cut from my Silhouette Library.
Supplies:
PaperTrey Ink Kraft cardstock
Carta Bella True Friends 6x6 paper stack
Heidi Grace Sunshowers 6x6 paper stack
Core'dinations
Pretty Paper, Pretty Ribbons Home is Where the Heart Is cut files
Pretty Paper, Pretty Ribbons Kite & Clouds cut files
Pink By Design Home Sweet Home

Don't forget to head on over to the Pretty Paper, Pretty Ribbons blog to check out the rest of the design team's projects!

Have a happy Wednesday!


Printing Digital Files

There are many digital designers who are creating pocket page (much like Project Life) scrapbooking kits. So today, I thought I'd share how I print these digital kits at home. I am including photos with this post, but since I forgot to take regular pics, these were taken with my iPhone, so I apologize in advance for the quality. :)

Some of my favorite digital kits are the Project Mouse Bundles that are offered over at The Lily Pad.

Pocket page scrapbooking is all the rage right now, and for good reason: it is one of the easiest ways to quickly & beautifully create a cohesive project with no fuss! So what happens when you cross the ease of "Procket Style" scrapbooking with a passion for "The Happiest Place on Earth?" You get Project Mouse - a collaboration between Sahlin Studio and Britt-ish Designs!
I've chosen to print my kits at home on one of my printers. I have tried my Epson Workforce 1100, a Canon Pro Mark II, and an HP Photosmart All-In-One printer. And I've gotten great results with all of them. But I've learned that the different brands work best for different things. My wide-format Canon Pixma printer prints the BEST photos than any other home printer I've ever had. So I use it mainly for printing my photos on Ilford Gallarie Smooth Pearl photo paper. I have my Epson printer in my scrapbook room, where I use it mainly for printing and cutting with my Silhouette Cameo.

I've found that this little HP PhotoSmart All in One 309G printer gives me the best prints for my Project Life scrapbooks. I believe the printer is around $250 and the printer takes 5 ink cartridges which cost around 17.99 each. There is also a set of XL cartridges you can get for it. I've looked around online (after having this printer for a while) and it doesn't actually have very many good reviews. :) I think that mainly has to do with the wireless set-up, and not the print quality. I have never been able to get the wireless to work correctly either, but that doesn't really bother me.
I always use the matte presentation paper for printing my digi files. It gives me the best print quality and exceptional colors. I've used both the HP brand and the Staples brand. And after comparing the two of them, I think that the Staples brand is just as great, if not better than the HP brand. I purchase a pack of 50 for 14.99. I like it best because it is a somewhat thicker paper.
These are the exact items I used for printing the following samples. :)

I should mention that I open the PDF or JPEG printable files to print if I am printing all of the cards. These are already laid out in a 8 1/2 x 11 layout and print perfectly on regular sized paper. I open the files with Photoshop CS6 and print from within that program.

If I want to only print a few of the individual cards, I create a new 8 1/2 x 11 inch document within Photoshop and then paste the individual cards onto the document.

Here are a few of the 4x6 cards.
And a few of the 3x4 cards.
And a little sneak of my organization. :)
Now, the one thing that I hate with printing a ton of these 3x4 and 4x6 cards is cutting them out. I just find it a boring task, I guess. On the other hand, I LOVE printing at home because I have the cards right here and ready to go! 

I've also been able to try out a variety (over a dozen or so) cutters and trimmers and have found one that is PERFECT for cutting these files out. And that would be the Cutterpillar Pro. I have the original version, but they are coming out with a new version, that has fixed a few issues that people were having. The best thing about this cutter? The light! I didn't think I'd ever use it, but guess what?! When cutting out digi Project Life files...it's a life-saver!
And now...how do I store my printed out cards? I use an old Project Life plastic tray. :) These sets come with planning cards, reveal cards, travel cards, basic cards, a day at the park cards, and so on. Since there are so many different types, I wanted to label them so I could find them more easily. I created plain 3x4 and 4x6 cards and used a Stampin' Up tab punch to create and tabs. :)
There is only one other place here in town that I can print these files at and that is Staples. While I did print some there, the Staples prints came out great as well, but they were having problems getting the cards the right size. I had to go back and forth three times before I had the prints in my hands. And it took them three days to get them right. So I figure home printing also gets rid of that hassle as well.

And with that, I hope this helps with the digital files that you need to print. I haven't actually come up with a cost for printing out a kit, but that's because I used what paper and ink I had on hand. So I didn't start fresh to see how much ink and what not. I also didn't count how many pages of paper before I started cutting. But for me, I prefer to print the files at home even if it is just a bit more expensive.

Last night I was able to purchase and download the new Midnight Project Life kit from Becky Higgins. The physical kit won't be available until May. So I wanted to get some samples printed for my post as well. These cards are the 3x4 filler cards. :)

 They were printed with all of the same supplies as the Project Mouse kits. For these cards, I did use the 3/8" We R Memory Keeper Crop-o-dile Corner Chomper. I think it is the closest match to the actual PL cards.

Have a great Tuesday!

Saturday, March 23, 2013

PPPR Welcome Home Blog Hop!

Good morning! And welcome to the Pretty Paper, Pretty Ribbons Welcome Home Blog Hop! 
If you've just come from Barb's blog, then you're headed in the right direction. 

If you've just stumbled across my blog by accident, then head on over to Lisa's blog to start at the beginning of the hop!

Today, we are celebrating Lisa's move back to the states...WELCOME HOME Lisa! Now that you're (hopefully) settled in, it's time to put your feet up, pour yourself a glass of wine, and Have a Bubbly Day! :)
I created my card base with a rounded square and a circle and then welded them together within Silhouette Studio. 
I cut the wine bottle out of the clear card stock to give it more of a glass look and then added some glossy accents to the wine bottles and the "bubbles." :)
Supplies:
PaperTrey Ink Kraft cardstock
Stampin' Up Glossy Clear card stock
My Mind's Eye Bluebell 6x6 paper stack
Simple Stories Happy Day 6x6 paper stack
Core'dinations
Misc cardstock
PaperTrey Ink Clear cardstock
Pretty Paper, Pretty Ribbons Champagne cut files
Pink By Design Girls Just Wanna Have Fun
Glossy Accents

GIVEAWAY TIME!
What's a blog hop without a chance to win some great prizes?
For a chance to win, you must be a follower of each blog on our hop and leave a comment on each blog. For extra chances you can also like the Pretty Paper, Pretty Ribbons Fan page on Facebook here, and/or sign up for the Pretty Paper, Pretty Ribbons Newsletter here! A random winner will be chosen for the prize on Tuesday, March 26th. (Only US or Canadian mailing address, please!)

You're next stop on the hop is the super talented Nicole!

And if you get lost somewhere along the way, here is the complete blog hop!

Lisa
Candace
Melisa
Ana Maria
Barb
Jeanne - That's me!
Nicole - Your next stop!

Sunday, March 17, 2013

You're my pot of gold!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I just want to share a quick little card with you!
I created this 5 1/2 inch square card with a shape from my Silhouette Studio. The little bear came from the Happy St. Patty's Day file from Miss Kate's Cuttables. 
Supplies: 
PaperTrey Ink white cardstock
My Mind's Eye Collectable Notable 6x6 paper stack
Core'dinations
Misc cardstock
Miss Kate Cuttables Happy St. Paddy's Day
Lime Licorice Trendy Twine
My Create Time You're My Pot of Gold
iRock
Glossy Accents

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

PPPR Design Team post...a little lucky panda!

Good morning! 
Guess what...I have a new project to share with you this morning! It's been a while, but I'm still alive. :) And this project happens to be a design team post for Pretty Paper, Pretty Ribbons!
Since St. Patrick's Day is right around the corner, I decided to use the Birthday Panda cut file but switch it up and go with the "green" theme!
To create my card base, I used a standard A2 size card. I created the base as 8.5 x 5.5 in Silhouette Studio. Then I opened up the Layered Label 2 cut file and welded it to that shape. I scored it at 4.25 inches.
The little clover is found in the Luck of the Irish cut file. My background paper is from the Rainbow Plaid Grid digi papers, and I used to the print and cut feature on my Silhouette Cameo to cut it out. I used a couple different shades of green from the digi papers to fill in the clover to print and cut that as well.
The twine is the Lime Licorice from Trendy Twine...didn't it go perfect with my color theme?! 
Supplies:
PaperTrey Ink black and white cardstock
Core'dinations
Pretty Paper, Pretty Ribbons Layered Labels 2 cut file
Pretty Paper, Pretty Ribbons Birthday Panda cut file
Pretty Paper, Pretty Ribbons Luck of the Irish cut file
Pretty Paper, Pretty Ribbons Rainbow Plaid Grid digi papers
Lime Licorice Trendy Twine
Jaded Blossom Lucky Treats

Thanks for stopping by!

Friday, March 1, 2013

Pretty Paper, Pretty Ribbons guest designer!

Today I'm sharing a project as a guest designer for Lisa over at Pretty Paper, Pretty Ribbons! Lisa has just moved back to the states and is still waiting for all of her crafty stuff to be delivered. And then...there's the putting away of all that stuff! 

She's bound to be super busy for a while, so her design team members, we've all decided to take over her blog to help her out!

For my project, I've decided to use some cutting files and digital papers to spotlight these fabulous products!
For my card base, I've used the Layered Labels 2 cutting files. I did some welding and flipping in Silhouette Studio to create the base and then created a couple extra layers using the offset feature. :)
These patterns come from the Pumpkin Spice digital paper collection. The striped pattern is from the Pattern Pack 1 and the solid pattern from the Plaid Grid Pack. I used the print and cut feature of my Silhouette Cameo to print and cut them out. My super cute little lion is from the Safari Love cut files, I just decided to leave off the heart for this project. :) 
 Supplies:
PaperTrey Ink Vintage Cream cardstock
Pretty Paper, Pretty Ribbons Layered Labels 2 cut files
Pretty Paper, Pretty Ribbons Safari Love cut files
Pretty Paper, Pretty Ribbons Sentiment Spots 1 cut files
Pretty Paper, Pretty Ribbons Pumpkin Spice digital paper collection
Pink By Design Jungle Fever