QuicKutz Company Blog

December 18, 2009

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

December 17, 2009

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!

December 16, 2009

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!

December 14, 2009

L Letterpress Giveaway!

If you haven't checked out the Lifestyle Crafts blog you will want to drop by and have a chance to win a new Letterpress combo kit and a custom plate set! Valued at $150.00! Click here to see the giveaway!

I am especially excited for the opportunity to have my own plates made! At $39.99 you cant get any better deal. What is the first design or phrase you would make if you won?

A Clever Hostess Gift

Like many of you, I enjoy visiting with friends and partaking in some holiday cheer this time of year. When attending a holiday party, I always try to bring along a small hostess gift as a way to show my appreciation for the party-planning efforts that were made on my behalf.

While playing with the dies from the Santa’s Workshop mini album kit, I whipped up a quick project that will undoubtedly make my hostess’ holiday to-do list a little shorter.

The outcome? A fun gift tag album that is a one-stop spot for tags needed for holiday gifts. Read the step-by-step directions below to see how these are assembled. The best part is that you can make several of these tag booklets at once.

1. Select cardstock and patterned paper that coordinates well together. I love the Making Memories line, so that is what inspired me.

2. Lay out your Wintergreen dies. You’ll need the cover die, page die and inset mat.

3. Cut some cardstock into 6.5” wide and 4” tall rectangles. (I prepped enough pages so I could assemble a few mini albums all in one sitting.)

4. Run several pieces of red and green cardstock through your Epic tool with the Wintergreen page insert die and the coordinating inset mat die.

5. I set up my platform with this configuration of dies and cut them with green, red and kraft. I also used the window die, as they made the perfect rectangle-sized die cuts that were in direct proportion to the nameplate and oval.

6. I then created my gift tags. I used a To: and From: stamp and attached ribbon and silver embroidery thread with a stapler. I added some lovely touches to the patterned paper, and called it good! Adorn your own tags however you wish!

7. To create the back cover, I attached red cardstock to a piece of the patterned paper.

8. To make the pouch, I chose a green mat-sized piece of cardstock and trimmed it in half. Using double-sided tape along the sides and bottom, I left the top free to tuck in my tags.

Note: You can also use the coordinating Wintergreen Folder die to create a nice pocket for your gift tags.

9. I used Santa’s Workshop Mini Alphabet and black cardstock to create the title.

10. Line up both the cover and the back page to thread ribbon through the holes. I used American Crafts ribbon, which matched perfectly.

Easier than throwing a party, but just as fun!

Thanks to our Ambassador Tamara Warner for this darling idea!

December 12, 2009

Our 12 Days of QuicKutz Ornaments

A heartfelt thanks to Beach Scrapbooks from Virginia Beach, Virginia for designing these creative and inspiring QuicKutz ornaments. It really is phenomenal to see what creativity is possible when you really put your mind to it.

Beach Scrapbook's Ornament Design Team:

Jen Goodwin
Janice Roller
Melissa Hudgins
Amy Norman
Linda Ross
Susan Hobbs
Jody Blaufus
Michelle Avants
Barry Webster

Thanks for making our holiday a little brighter!

To see more great ideas, visit Beach Scrapbook's blog. And don't forget about our advent calendar promotion on quickutz.com, where you can score some great deals on product bundles.

Happy holidays to all,

The QuicKutz team