February 24, 2010

Album Cover Tutorial

Hello QK Blog Readers,

It's good to be back! Everything went well with Baby J's delivery. He is a fat and happy 10 lb. baby. :-)

Thank you so much for all your lovely comments on my diaper wipe box tutorial. You made my day! I have another project for you...

Dust off those naked albums, gather your supplies and get ready to create an album cover you will love! These steps will help your papers remain in place, stay protected and look bubble-free. This project can be completed in two nap times, mostly because you have to wait for the varnish to dry.

Materials:
Paper
Glue (I used Tombow Mono Aqua Permanent Strong Bond)
Varnish (I used Delta Creamcoat Matte Interior Varnish)
Foam Brush
QK Dies (I used Blossom Grand, Honey Bee Classic, Punctuation, Nesting Circles, Flowers, Daisy)
Any other embellishments (stickers, brads, jewels, ribbon, etc.)

Step One:
Cut the paper you've selected for your album cover. (Deciding what you want your album to look like is often the hardest part!) Distress your edges now (inking, sanding etc.) If you want to outline using a Sharpie, do it later.

Step Two:
Glue down your papers. This step can be a bit tricky--try to cover every square inch of your paper with your clear glue. Then cover the album with glue. Carefully place your papers onto the album and rub out all of the air bubbles. The glue on glue should make it easier to rub out any air bubbles.


Step Three:
Cut your QuicKutz die cuts and glue them to the paper, just like you glued your paper to the album. Cover every square inch with glue and smooth out the bubbles. (I have also used my Xyron sticker maker with some smaller die cuts and that worked well too.)


Step Four:
Coat the whole thing with varnish. It goes on milky but dries clear. Smooth it all in one direction before letting it dry. Then, let it dry. Don't rush this part, give it a few hours or overnight.

Step Five:
Decorate with other embellishments. I added some stickers. If you wanted to outline anything with pen do it now that the varnish has dried.


Visit my blog to see more albums covers to see more cover I've created. I would love to see the covers you create! I hope you'll add them to the Community Gallery!

Enjoy,

Maegen Jenne

www.scrapbuddies.blogspot.com

February 18, 2010

QuickBuckz, get 'yer QuickBuckz!


It's that time of year again.

QuickBuckz time.

QuicKutz retail stores all over the globe are dishing out QuickBuckz to customers when they purchase QK products. In fact, if you spend $20, you will earn $10 in QuickBuckz to use at a later date!
Simply visit your local scrapbook store to find out if it's participating and to get all of the specific details.

To view participating locations in your area, please click here.


Happy shopping!

February 12, 2010

Paper Weight

Like many of you, I tend to hoard dies. Surprisingly, I don't seem to use them for much more than my scrapbook layouts and cards. In my search for something new in which to use my dies, I came across this glass paperweight kit. I originally intended to find a great photo to place inside the paperweight, but then I decided to break out my dies and have some fun. My paperweight came from Hallmark, but you may be able to find them at other stores or websites (I found some at http://www.photoweights.com/). The kit I purchased from Hallmark came with the paperweight, a template, and a sticky back to keep it all together.

Now for the fun! I made a variety of inserts for my paperweight, which I will change with the seasons, holidays, or my mood. Here are a few examples:

The underside of the weight is recessed, so you can easily set your paper inside. Instead of using the sticky backing that came with the kit (I’ll want to change the scene from time to time), I used mini Glue Dots in the corners. (I just used them on three corners and everything seemed to stay in place just fine.)

I then used a sturdy piece of cardstock as my backing.

You should put one together yourself! It’s a lot of fun, and it’s also a great gift idea. Give the paperweight, along with a variety of inserts you’ve created, and you’re sure to please the receiver. Then again, you can also just keep it for yourself (like I did!)


Dies used:

"You are my sunshine"-Weather (Rev-0179) and Banana Split 4x8 alphabet
"My Lucky Charm"-Shamrock (RS-0798) and Miss Muffet 2x2 alphabet, Spider-(REV-0235)
"Fall"-Autumn Twigs (REV-0247) and Banana Split 4x8 alphabet
"Snowman"-(REV-0255)
"Teach"-Schoolhouse (REV-0217) and Banana Split 4x8 alphabet
"Memories"-Trees (REV-0187)
"Flowers"-(REV-0016) and polka dots embossing folder (EF-A2-038)
"Be Merry" - Dragonfly 4x8 alphabet and Holly & Berry (KS-0979)
"Love"-Love ShortKutz

Thanks,
Michele Hamby
http://michelehamby.blogspot.com
http://simplyshell.etsy.com

Thanks to our design team member Michele for this great idea! Be sure to check out her blog for more great ideas. You can also see the beautiful jewelry she sells on her etsy shop.

February 9, 2010

BEST Valentines!

Hello fellow QuicKutz fans! My name is Shaunte Wadley, and I have been on the design team for QuicKutz since 2007.

My husband and I have five children, and I feel (along with everyone else) that my time and budget are pretty limited these days! I am excited to share with you a few cost-effective Valentine ideas. Assembling these projects forced me to get a jump-start on Valentine’s Day preparations. (Almost incomprehensible to be ready early for a holiday!)

Four of my five kids are in elementary school, so I wanted to come up with inexpensive valentines for them to hand out to their classmates. Bonus if they can help me crank them out assembly-line style. And double bonus that I can further justify the dies already in my stash!

I came up with several ideas.

The first one is very traditional:

A cute tag that can be tied to any treat of your choice.

Dies used:
tag REV-0015
nesting hearts CC-HEARTS-01
heart mini RS-0400

And then I thought “Wadley, you can do better than this…”

I challenged myself to make some non-traditional valentines using the dies I already have. You know, those dies that you have in your stash that don’t get enough love. (Please tell me I am not the only “collector.”)

Do you have the Revolution nameplate dies? There are two: the oval and the rectangle.
Well, guess what? They are a perfect fit for threading onto a sucker stick! I was pretty happy about that discovery, especially when I can pick up a gigantic bag of Tootsie Pops at Costco and be done with the treats for my kids’ classes!

Let me show you.

Here is a close-up of the oval nameplate with the sucker inserted:

See how the sucker stick pokes through the pre-made holes? So easy! I love easy.

Here are some ideas I came up with to incorporate the sucker stick idea for the kids:

Dies used:
nameplate REV-0004
nameplate REV-0005
dinosaur (triceratops) RS-0635
heart mini RS-0400
fish RS-0372

I tried to go fairly gender neutral.

Here is another one. My ten year old son loved this one:

Dies used:
nameplate REV-0004
heart mini RS-0400
pirate skull KS-0780

And one for my oldest son who is in junior high and thinks he’s too cool for school.

Dies used:
REV-0005
male/female icons KS-0539
heart mini RS-0400

Speaking of my oldest son, he has a girlfriend this year! Did I mention that he is in junior high? He is THIRTEEN! Shouldn’t girls still have cooties at thirteen? Sigh… I feel too young for this.

I made him a “special” valentine for her. Cause I am giving like that…

Here it is:

In case you can’t see the tag, it reads:

We make a great “pear”, even though we can’t “date.”

Just a friendly reminder to them, and yes, it is tied to a bag of DATES. Yummy, yummy dates. I am thinking that will go over well. Very romantic. (snicker)

The “pear” idea could also be used for Grand”pear”ents if you exchange valentines with extended family.

Dies used:
tag REV-0015
pears REV-0208-S
heart mini RS-0400

If you are looking for a valentine idea for your significant other, you can whip one of these up:

We’re a perfect “Match.”

Of course you can also add something along the lines of “you strike me as being hot” or something else about hearts burning…but since this is a family-friendly site, I’m not going there.

My favorite thing about the nesting label dies is when they’re folded in half—they fit perfectly as a treat bag topper! I have used this idea for almost every holiday.

Dies used:
nesting label CC-SHAPE-3-028
match RS-0693

I have some friends this year who are still hanging onto New Year’s Resolutions and are on fitness kicks. I am eating their chocolate myself, and giving them this:

This door hanger die fits perfectly on a bottled water. I love it!

Dies used:
scale REV-0302
door knob hanger CC-shape-082-2
rollerskate skinnimini complete alphabet 4X8-ROLLERSK-SC

Do you want to see the valentine my 11 year-old son loved? He is in 6th grade. The irony here is that I have to remind him every day to wear deodorant. His valentine is so very “him.”

Dies used:
air freshener CC-SHAPE-073-2
heart (curl) RS-0047

My girls fell in love with this one:

A simple flower, and leaf set.

The flower already has a hole in the center for the sucker to stick through.

I computer generated a simple “Happy Valentine’s Day” and adhered that to one of the leaves. The other leaf is where the girls will sign their names. So simple.

Here is a close-up of the leaves:

Dies used:
flower REV-0172
leaves REV-0170

The kids were excited about making their own valentines. I was excited about the savings, and excited to use up part of my scrapbooking stash. Win/win.

Thanks for taking a look. Hopefully this will inspire you to look at your dies a little differently, and start creating your own valentines!

February 8, 2010

QuicKutz Cares Recap

Holt International Orphanage in happier times

Congratulations to our day 5 auction winner, ute.hamburg@gmail.com! We hope you enjoy your one-of-a-kind 4x4 die. Look for an e-mail from QuicKutz in your inbox today.

Thank you to our generous QK fans who bid on our products to help many Haitian children in need. Needless to say, we are overwhelmed with the response we received from you.

When the QuicKutz Cares campaign first launched, a few of our retailers contacted us to see if they could also participate within their own stores and websites. We gave them a whole-hearted, "Yes!"

The following retailers donated a portion of their weekly sales to the QuicKutz Cares campaign:

Scrapy Land, www.scrapyland.com

Remember When, www.shoprememberwhen.com

Mountains of Memories, www.scrapbookexpress.com

With everyone's efforts combined, we'll be sending several thousand dollars to Holt International and the Foyer de Sion Orphanages in Haiti.

Thank you again, and God bless.

February 5, 2010

Haiti Auction- Day 5

Winner of Day 4 Gingerbread Mini Album Dies:

linmarion@cogeco.ca

Congratulations! Look for an e-mail from QuicKutz today.


Day 5 item: 2x2 to 4x4
Die
  • Choose your favorite 2x2 QuicKutz die from past or present. We'll turn that 2x2 die into a 4x4 die, just for you!
  • SingleKutz or DoubleKutz
  • You'll literally have a one-of-a-kind QuicKutz die
  • Perfect for QuicKutz collectors
  • Shapes exclusive to retail stores not applicable
Starting bid: $50 USD


How the auction works:


1. View item on blog

2. Place your bid amount and e-mail address in comment field

3. Auction will end at midnight (PST) on day of posting

4. QuicKutz will announce the winner(s) the following day

5. QuicKutz will contact the winner(s)

6. Winner(s) will pay by credit card or debit card via PayPal

All proceeds will go to Haitian orphanages in need.


Many thanks to our generous bidders!

February 4, 2010

Haiti Auction- Day 4

Winners of Day 3 Spicy Chicken Alphabets:

rbscharhag@yahoo.com
vandozoo@hotmail.com


Congratulations, winners! Look for an e-mail from QuicKutz today.



Day 4 item: Gingerbread Mini Album Dies (Complete Set)

  • Gingerbread Mini Album (album cover, single page, page mat, circle windows, square windows), Folder Insert, Spine Set, Page Insert
  • Total of 11 dies
  • Large format, Epic-only dies
  • Winter '09 Limited Edition
  • Value of $110

Starting bid: $50 USD

Note: International bidders will incur additional int'l shipping costs.

How the auction works:


1. View item on blog

2. Place your bid amount and e-mail address in comment field

3. Auction will end at midnight (PST) on day of posting

4. QuicKutz will announce the winner(s) the following day

5. QuicKutz will contact the winner(s)

6. Winner(s) will pay by credit card or debit card via PayPal

All proceeds will go to Haitian orphanages in need.


Thank you again for your generosity. Good luck!

February 3, 2010

Haiti Auction- Day 3

Winner of Day 2 Sunshine Gift Set:

smoore82@live.com


Congratulations! Look for an e-mail from QuicKutz in your inbox today.


Day 3 item: Spicy Chicken Alphabet


  • 4x4 Grand Complete Alphabet
  • Contains uppercase, lowercase, numbers, punctuation
  • Alphabet will arrive in a 4x4 Storage Binder
  • The top TWO bidders will win!




Starting bid: $40 USD


How the auction works:


1. View item on blog

2. Place your bid amount and e-mail address in comment field

3. Auction will end at midnight (PST) on day of posting

4. QuicKutz will announce the winner(s) the following day

5. QuicKutz will contact the winner(s)

6. Winner(s) will pay by credit card or debit card via PayPal

All proceeds will go to Haitian orphanages in need.


Thanks, bidders! And good luck.

February 2, 2010

Haiti auction- Day 2

Winners of Day 1 Kids from Haiti Cookbook:

asmiller1@charter.net
msullaway@msn.com
ute.hamburg@gmail.com
adaoust@platinum.ca
Barb
awkwardworkplacephotos@gmail.com
pinggirl57@yahoo.com
suehck@hotmail.com
ceci.hurtado.seniors@gmail.com
pattyis40@hotmail.com


Congratulations, winners! Look for an e-mail from QuicKutz today!


Day 2 item: Sunshine Gift Set


  • Limited Edition Sunshine Gift Set from Spring 2006
  • Contains Mini Complete Unicase Alphabet Set (letters, numbers, punctuation)
  • 5 exclusive shape dies: sunburst, stem & leaf, swirl, sun rays, sun tab
  • 5 full color step-by-step idea cards
  • Value of over $160

Starting bid: $30 USD



How the auction works:

1. View item on blog

2. Place your bid amount and e-mail address in comment field

3. Auction will end at midnight (PST) on day of posting

4. QuicKutz will announce the winner(s) the following day

5. QuicKutz will contact the winner(s)

6. Winner(s) will pay by credit card or debit card via PayPal

All proceeds will go to Haitian orphanages in need.


Thank you again for your generosity. Good luck!

February 1, 2010

Haiti Auction- Day 1

How the auction will work:


  1. View item on blog

  2. Place your bid amount and email in comment box

  3. Auction will end at midnight (PST) on day of posting

  4. QuicKutz will announce winner the following day

  5. QuicKutz will contact winner

  6. Auction winner will pay by credit card or debit card via PayPal

At the end of the week, we’re hoping a nice sum will be sent to our friends in Haiti.

Thanks in advance to our participants. We love you!


Day 1 item: Kids from Haiti Cookbook


  • 120 full color pages, over 250 recipes

  • Best-loved recipes from QuicKutz founders and employees, plus recipes from scrapbooking legends Lisa Bearnson, Stacy Julian, Becky Higgins, and more!

  • The top ten bids will win cookbooks


Starting bid- $15.00 USD