Oh, What Fun It Is & Contest!

Hi! I am thrilled to be with you today! What an honor it is to be part of the QuicKutz blog. My name is Amber Packer. I am an Independent Designer and have the opportunity to work with some of your favorite manufacturers behind the scenes. I also appear regularly on a local television program called Good Things Utah. One of my favorite companies to work with is QuicKutz. I have had the privilege of demonstrating their newest products on Good Things Utah numerous times.

I am blessed to have two beautiful boys and a fabulous husband, good friends and health. It is also a blessing to be able to work (mostly) from home in an industry I love. It’s almost embarrassing to admit, but I get giddy when I see new products!

I’m wondering if you are like me. When I am looking at the many beautiful designs from QuicKutz my eyes get BIG and I want them all. I get tempted (it’s true) and sometimes I purchase a die that I don’t need right away, but I’m sure I’ll use later – and then I don’t use it. Please tell me I’m not the only one!

It seems silly, because it’s such a fabulous die, but the Sparkles die is one of those dies for me. Since one of my resolutions for next year is to use my new supplies along with supplies I already have, I knew I needed to use this die for today’s post.

Here is what I came up with:

My boys just LOVE this! As you can see, I have tied it to pegs on a shelf. I also thought about tying them to a wrought iron rod I have. There are so many fun ways to hang something like this.

I have also wanted to use my Epic (or Revolution) to cut felt since it’s such a huge trend right now. Guess what? It works! All the snowflakes you see on this project are felt. I found that the stiffer felt (usually glittered or self-adhesive) works best. Remember to remove the ejection foam to cut felt. You may need to shim the die as well.

Instructions:

1. Print four 4” x 6 photos” (I printed mine with a white border) and set aside.

2. Cut four 8” x 10” pieces of cross stitch fabric and spray with Frosty Night Glimmer. Mist. Roll over top pin on two 12” ribbon pieces per base and sew a border or two. Fray the ends.

3. Cut four 2 ¼” x 7 ½” strips of patterned paper (My Mind’s Eye Colorful Christmas).

4. Cut snowflakes from two different colors of felt using Sparkles die (REV-0261-S).

5. Cut four swirl borders from Prism Metallic cardstock (Metal Ore) using Contemporary Border die (CC-BDR-002).

6. Cut title from Prism Metallic cardstock (Midnight) using Mary Jane Grand Alphabet (CC-MARY-JANE-G).

7. Adhere as shown using your favorite liquid glue.

8. Add brads randomly (I used My Mind’s Eye Colorful Christmas brads).

9. Tie ribbon, hang and ENJOY!

QuicKutz would like to issue you a challenge! Would you like to win $100 (retail) in QuicKutz supplies of your choice?

Submit a project (layout, card, home décor, gift – your choice) using a “that” QuicKutz die–one you rarely or never use—by e-mailing asmith@quickutz.com by Monday, January 18, 2010.

QuicKutz will announce the winner on Wednesday, January 20, 2010.

Have a Happy New Year!

We want to thank Amber Packer for being a guest blogger on our blog! She is so talented and organized! For those of us lucky enough to live in Utah be sure to check her craft segments out on Good Things Utah daytime TV show. For those of you who do not live in Utah be sure to go check out her site for unbelievable ideas, out of the box thinking and great layouts & cards!

http://www.amberpacker.com/

The holidays are coming to a close and it’s time to pack the decorations away for next year. But before you do, I would like to share with you a quick and simple project that will have you enjoying the cards, photos and holiday letters you received for years to come.

A big thank you to Kim Cook for sharing this wonderful idea! I added a little twist with shrink plastic charms created with QuicKutz.



Along with your cards, photo postcards and letters, you will need a metal ring, ribbons or fibers to match your paper, 6x8 sheet acetate, two sheets of patterned paper cut into four 6x8 pieces, two pieces of 6x8 thin chipboard (you may substitute with two 6x8 pieces double-sided heavyweight patterned cardstock instead of paper and chipboard), a sheet of shrink plastic, markers or ink to color shrink plastic, and a hole punch.

Dies I selected for creating shrink plastic charms were parchment scroll REV-0080, Ornaments Rev-0068, Tree Rev-0067. Using your Epic or Revolution, cut your dies just like you would paper. Lightly sand them so ink will adhere better. Punch a hole in shape to thread fiber through. Color shapes with ink, markers or chalk. I wrote on the scroll using a black pigment marker. The color will intensify when shrunk.

Follow the instructions for shrinking. I placed my cuts on a craft mat, stabilized with an alligator clip and heated with a heat gun. It is fun to watch the shape curl upon itself then settle out flat. I tried wet glue and glitter on a shrink plastic die cut and it created a lumpy sugar cube-like finish when it shrunk. Have fun experimenting!

Once your dies are made, assemble the cover and front page. For the cover I used a 6x8 sheet of acetate and glued the Santa Paper Doll REV-029-S to the bottom right and then set it aside. Next I glued a sheet of patterned paper to each side of the chipboard. (Repeat for your back cover at this time). I used Khaki mini for my year and title, placing “cards” on label die from Santa’s Workshop. You may create pocket inserts for any letters at this time.

To complete the project, punch a hole in the top left corner of acetate cover, both top and bottom pages. Match top left corners and punch holes in cards. (The Crop-a-Dile tool makes this step simple.)

Assemble your project, tie charms to ring, add additional fibers or ribbons.

This is a great project that can be adapted for wedding and anniversary cards, baby announcements, birthdays, graduations, etc.

My goal this year is to further incorporate special keepsakes into our décor for everyday pleasure and enjoyment.

I have received great pleasure participating in QuicKutz’s Ambassador program and making new friends on the forum and gallery.

Happy crafting!

Sandy Peplinski

Rolling in an Epic 2010!

Grab your Epic or Revolution and all of your favorite QuicKutz shapes! You still have time to make a great keepsake for yourself or a gift for your loved ones. This calendar is simple and sure to bring smiles to the faces of friends and family throughout the year!

Each month starts with a simple sketch that is rotated or shifted and then embellished with great shapes from your QuicKutz collection of dies! On my example, I used Pink Paislee’s Amber Road collection of paper and a Boxer 8” x 8” calendar. I used the Calendar Die Set from last year for the month headers, but if you have the newest set from the Black Friday release—use that instead!

I used stamps for the days-of-the-week headers and my trusty journal pen to write in the numeric days. (You can use dies, Boxer sticker sheets, or stamps for the details instead of handwriting, but if you’re giving this as a gift, remember that your handwriting is significant to your loved ones!)

Each month features a journal block that was cut from the Sugarplum Page Insert die (CC-SHAPE-065-1) from the Santa’s Workshop Gift Set. You can use the journal block to write in birthdays or anniversaries for that month, journal about the pictures on the page, or write an inspirational quote for each month.

You may recognize some of the fun shapes I used throughout the year! It’s no problem if you don’t have the same dies—just use your favorites from your stash or head over to your local QuicKutz Retailer to see what they have in stock.

Dies used
January: Sophisticate Gift Set, 2” x 2” Fleur de Lis
February: 2” x 2” Cupid, Heart from Military Die Set
March: Patterned paper, cut-out blossoms/foam dots
April: Bird and house Pop-up Set
May: Tulips Pop-up
June: 2” x 2” Butterfly
July: Hawaiian Flower & Seashell- “Relax” Spring Gift Set
August: Bottle Cap Die Set, Prima Paper Flower
September: Heritage Die Set
October: 4” x 4” Cat- Fall 2009, Dots Border Die
November: 4” x 4” Pumpkin Die- Fall 2009
December: Gingerbread Men- “Jolly” Holiday Gift Set, 2” x 2” Holly & Berries- Santa’s Workshop Gift Set, Scalloped Border Die

Happy holidays

Happy holidays from all of us here at QuicKutz! We hope you have a great week enjoying time with family and friends, catching up on scrapbooking, card-making or crafting projects you’ve put on the backburner, and setting your new year’s resolution to scrapbook at least once a week (if not more)!

QuicKutz is so excited for the new product releases coming this next year, many more fun promotions, new incentive programs, contests and even more ways to spread the die-cutting love.

To the new year!

The QuicKutz team

Stop, Santa!

I love to look at my QuicKutz dies and think of different ways to use them—I feel like I come up with the best ideas when I think out of the box! Or, in this case, out of the stop sign! This “Stop Santa” banner was made using the new Travel and Black Friday releases. I love how fun and different this project turned out.

I used the Postcard die for the base of all of my banners, added my postage stamp and then used one of the signs from the Billboard Set as the background for my letters. I then used the Katie font to spell out SANTA—it has such a fun and festive vibe!

For the first postcard I decided to use the License Plate die and then spell out “Santa Lover” in license lingo (SNTALVR). I used the Stop Sign die to ask Santa to stop at our house, as well as the Road Sign Set to spell XMAS HWY to make sure ol St. Nick knew where he was! I used the License Plate Alphabet for all of my letters on the first postcard, then the Disco and Sticky Note Alphabet on the last postcard.

I cut two of the tree Air Freshener dies and tied them to my ribbon, writing “Christmas” on one side and “Spirit” on the other. I used the Billboard Sign dies on the last postcard and placed my son’s name and part of our address so Santa wouldn’t miss us. To finish, I used the Paper Doll release for the face, as well as the Santa outfit from the Black Friday release. On the back of each postcard I left room to put my family’s letters to Santa, something that will be fun to look back on year after year.

I hope you, too, will look at your dies in a new and different way. If you just play and let your imagination take you away, you never know where you’ll land! Of course, this banner is in my son’s playroom, which fits our playful spirit!

Hope you find time to stop and play this Christmas season!

Happy holidays,

Andrea Yokley-Jessup
QuicKutz Ambassador

Winners!

In September we had a fun contest with all of our readers! Five lucky ladies won a discontinued die in our 4X4 size. We have our dies in and ready to ship! Would the following comment winners please email us your addresses to get your winning die shipped to you ASAP! Please email asmith@quickutz.com.

ASWANN-Whale
QUEENBEEROWE-Bumblebee
FRANK-Pocket Watch
DEBORA-Fire Hydrant
KAYLYN-Race Car

Thanks!

Snowman Card

Hello all! Happy holidays!

Those who are close to me know I have a few favorite colors. My very favorite color is truly clear, followed closely by blue and fuschia. I incorporated all of these colors into my 2009 Christmas card.

I created the background for this card a few years ago and found it could be used for many different holiday themes, including Easter with colorful eggs in grass, fireworks in the air, or a wintery snowman.

This season I created a snowman card. I used the following products:
QK 4x4 snowman REV-0255-S
American Crafts glitter paper- white, light blue, black
American Crafts seaside paper- brown American Crafts foil- orange
American Crafts 12x12 page protectors
Straight edge cutter
Xyron
2-3” of fiber

First I measured my page protector and cut into six pieces, each measuring 4 1/8” x 5 ½”. (I chose this measurement so I could use the L Letterpress A2 envelopes.)

Note: The black lines are drawn just to show the page protector markings. Do not try this at home!

I then measured the back of the page protector so I could cut the light blue glitter paper to size (should measure around 4 1/8” x 5 3/8”, though the seam will make it just a bit shorter)
(Optional) Write a greeting on the back of the blue sparkle paper.

Run the Xyron through your Epic tool, sparkle side up. Place adhesive on the inside back of the card. Rip an edge of white glitter paper in a line to use as the snow bank. This piece of paper will lie down on the top of the card for the snowman to sit on. Now place bits of paper on your snowman die cut for the orange nose, black hat, white body, and brown arm/hands. I used fiber for the snowman’s scarf. Xyron all the parts—finished side up. Xyron and place ripped snow bank on the top page of the card. Now cut exactly flushed with the edges. Cut a bit of black paper to place behind the body of the snowman and behind the snowman’s head.(This will feel in the holes and mimic coal. Place snowman body down on snow bank and finish assembling.

At this point you gave several options… -Use QuicKutz dies to add a sentiment -Write a sentiment on the front page with Copic markers -Use Exes white dots to mimic snow

In all my years as a class instructor, I’ve never seen a card receive as warm of a reception as this invisible card. I hope you enjoy this project, too!

Have a joyous and festive holiday season.
Your fellow QK Ambassador, Jason Jones

Here are a few more fun ideas Jason created with his "clear" theme!