Lil Buckaroos Imagine Project

Well, I tried to do a video to show you exactly how I made this layout, but it didn't import correctly. I'm still learning. So, at this point, I have the still pictures until I figure out this video thing.

I pulled out papers that coordinated with the colors of the horses and the jeans. I love this circle paper and knew it would go great on this layout.

I cut the red photo corners using a square punch and cutting them in half. Easy peasy. They needed a little more so I cut the horses from the Old West cricut cartridge in Kraft paper and a chocolate brown. I inked the edges with Tim Holtz Distress Tea Dye ink.

The Lil Buckaroos was also cut with the Old West cartridge. I shaded the title with colored pencil to emulate wood. The saddle is from the Old West cartridge and inked as well.

I went fairly simple with the Imagine for my first use and just did the journaling tag. I used the cartridge that came with the machine. I used the layers option and changed the colors of the tag to coordinate with my page. The original tag had a yellow base that I changed to brown. The blue is the same (no changes made). The top yellow layer looks like notebook paper in the original design. And there are two extra layers that I didn't even use. I LoVE that you can make all of these adjustments. I can't wait to make something a little more intricate. This opens up sooooo many opportunities.

Hope you enjoyed! Happy scrappin!

Alisa

Setting Up the Imagine

I decided to do a video showing step by step how to set up your Cricut Imagine. This includes everything from the blade and ink installation to the initial callibration to line up the cutting with the printing. If your mat is not sticky like mine...wash it with warm water and let it air dry. If it's still not sticky...take something plastic like a ruler and rough up the mat. This "activates" the stickiness of the mat. it sounds crazy, but it totally works! So here is my very first video. I have since made another one that I'm working on editing...but to be honest...it's a LOT more work than pictures and typing instructions. I'm going to try to contine videos on occasion...but at the moment I am not planning on video taping every project.

I hope this helps those who are just now taking their Cricut Imagine out of the box.

Hope you find that helpful and a bit amusing :)
Alisa

Me & My Imagine

Since Bryan (AKA Scrap Guy of http://scrapguy.blogspot.com/) lives close by, I was able to go pick up my Imagine today. I was/am SOOOO excited!!!!!!!!!!! I've been like a kid in a candy store waiting to eat that candy. I couldn't open it any faster than I did when I got home. But had to go pick up my kids...so I'm STILL waiting to play :-) Here's a picture of my and Bryan with my new toy.

Happy Scrapping!
Alisa

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

OMG!!!!!!!!! This is the email I woke up to this morning...

The Winner of the Cricut Imagine is...........

Posted: 05 Mar 2012 08:30 PM PST

It's time to announce the winner of the Cricut Imagine

I had so many entries that they had to but in a 30 gallon tub to use as the container.  I had a random friend draw that had no knowledge of what they were drawing for or how the entries were compiled.
so the random winner is:

AlisaFeb 22, 2012 04:46 AM

Can't really think of anything at the moment. I like what you're doing these days. I know you'll come up with something fun with your creative mind. And it's bound to be good!

THAT'S ME! I'm SOOOOOOOOOOO excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I didn't believe it was me, so I had to go back and check the comment to make sure it was my picture and not another Alisa (like there's a ton of us...). 

Thank you SO much Bryan. Visit Bryan's site for awesome inspiration at http://scrapguy.blogspot.com/ 

Can't wait to design my own papers and projects to share with you :)

Happy Scrappin'
Alisa

Rehearsal Dinner Layout

As a scrapbooker, we scrap everyday events as well as special events like birthdays, holidays, and weddings. It's even better when there's a good story that goes with the pictures and this is one of those moments. My sister-in-law got married a few years back (ok...several years back as I'm STILL 6 years behind in my book). the wedding took place 2 hours from home. With two little ones, there's a lot to remember to pack. I had everything packed up from the all important clothes and toiletries to the even more important things to occupy the kids in the car and during the rehearsal. We packed the car and did not do that final walk through to make sure we got everything. We arrived at our destination only to discover we forgot the hanging back with the dress clothes for the rehearsal and wedding. YIKES!!!!!!!!!!!

Thankfully my mother was able to get the clothes and meet the caterer who drove the clothes to us. However, she did not arrive until after the rehearsal. So, we scrambled to find outfits for the four of us at the mall. It was this moment that I learned it's not worth fretting over something like this...there's always a way to fix it. So next time you forget to pack something on a trip...find a mall/store and just go buy a new one. :-)

On to my layout...I found the perfect color to match my shirt as my focal color. The patterned paper complemented my husband's green shirt. WIN WIN! I cut the title on my cricut and free-handed the shadow because the title did not stand out on its own.

The layout was lacking that extra punch and needed some all important embellishments. So I went to my stach of flowers. Every wedding needs/has flowers so what better embellishment to use than flowers. I desperately wanted to cover my goof on the shadow behind the title. Did you even realize I cut a straight line? It looked horrible. The coordinating flowers were perfect! Although the cover the title just a tad, which is SO not like me, I think it turned out just right. Sticking with the rule of three, I added more flowers in a triangular shape to bring it all together.

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great weekend.

Alisa

Classic Cars Layout

We are a family of car lovers. So when we stopped for lunch and saw this old truck, we just had to get pictures. A few weeks later was a local car show that I took the kids to. My son loves mustangs, camaros, and firebirds. He was so excited to see these two classics.

When I came across this car paper...I just knew I was going to use it on a layout of cars with my son. My first step in my layout was to find coordinating papers and embellishments. I had these really cool brads that matched perfectly. I simply layed out the photos and filled in the empty spaces with the embellishments, title, and journaling block. This was simple and quick to put together.

Before...

AFTER...

Although there is not a lot on the page, the simplicity allows focus on the pictures and the story. I chose not to border my photos either as the background, brads, title, and journaling create borders for them. Sometimes less really is more.

Enjoy!

Alisa

Kids at Play Layout

My goal when starting my blog was to get my scrapbooking caught up by doing a layout a day, hence the name Scrap du Jour. Get it...Scrap of the Day. LOL. Well, I haven't been so productive, but will try again. So here is a layout of my kids playing. First, I picked out the papers to use for the layout.

After I decided on the papers I wanted to use, I layed out the pictures to see which ones I can use and the order they will appear in the layout. Here is what my table looked like...messy!

Once the layout was decided upon, I framed the pictures and inked the edges to provide contrast and bring out the red in the background paper. I decided I wanted to use more patterned paper, so I cut a strip of the striped paper to go on the bottom of the page. The title was created with sticker letters I had laying around.

Happy Scrappin'
Alisa