Here are some photos of the mini cards (for info on the birthday card, check out yesterday’s post), then I’ll list the materials I used and link you up to a template (and list instructions) to make the packaging for your mini card set!

Digital products: Rock Star Girl edition kit by Shabby Miss Jenn designs. Paper scraps from Journalicious by Ztampf.

Paper Products: 3×3" cards with vellum envelopes from Close To My Heart; ribbon (from Walmart); staples and glue runner, cardstock for printing.

Now for the packaging template:

How to put together the mini card packaging:

• What you will do is click on the link to the template above and download the psd file. You can use the file in Photoshop, Photoshop Elements and Paint Shop Pro.
• Use the template to design you’re packaging, keep in mind that the inside parts need to be designed upside down.
• Now print (be sure to delete the layer of writing), the printed packaging is 8×5".
• Cut out the packaging, fold on the lines. Fold the bottom up first to make 2 pockets, then fold in half.
• Add glue or staple down the outside edges of the folded over part. Do not put too much glue, you want to be able to fit your cards inside the pockets.
• Add ribbon at the top of the folded part, between the layers before gluing/stapling sides. The ribbon can be used to tie the packaging closed.
• Add any embellishments you would like to add…. and you’re done!

Check out my Facebook Design group today to find… a place where I show examples of my work and pricing for the custom designed products that I offer. Available products include recipe cards, greeting cards (general, holiday, invites, announcements etc), mini albums, framed art, post-it notebooks, bag toppers and more to come!

Hybrid Framed Art!

I wanted something that I could put on my crafting desk or on a shelf that showcased my beautiful daughter and my love of scrapping. So I decided to create a miniature layout, frame it, and finish it by adding some traditional scrapping embellishments to make a cute framed piece of art! So first check out my finished piece (shown below), then I’ll tell you about the few simple steps I took to put it all together!

 Tutorial:

Digital Layout Credits:

• First Kiss kit by Flergs & Sugarplum Paperie
• So Sentimental wordart by Zoe Pearn

Materials:

• Frame (mine’s a cheap, clear plastic 4×6 frame that only cost me 1$)
• Digital layout, printed (mine’s 4×6 to fit the frame I bought)
• ribbon
• flower(s)
• brad
• label/wordart (mine was done digitally and then printed out)

Tools:

• Paper cutter/scissors
• Glue dots

How To:

• First trim the edges of your mini layout to fit the frame (only if necessary, mine was printed along with several other things on an 8.5×11 mat photo paper on my home laser printer – so I had to do some trimming).
• Next, insert the layout into the frame and play around with some embellishments until you find a look you like! I played with a few different ribbons and flowers, played around with how many times to wrap the ribbon and where to place the flower that I chose to use.
• Once you’re sure you know how you want the frame to look, start tying on the ribbon and gluing on the flower and tag!
• And that my friends… is it!

So now go and make your own hybrid framed art, and link me up so I can check it out! And while I’ve got you here, tell me…

What is on your must try hybrid project list for this year?

Check out my Facebook Design group today to find… a place where I show examples of my work and pricing for the custom designed products that I offer. Available products include recipe cards, greeting cards (general, holiday, invites, announcements etc), mini albums, framed art, post-it notebooks, bag toppers and more to come!

Here’s something that I made recently – a hybrid address book. I actually made 2, one for each of my sisters. So I thought I’d show you some pics of what I did, and maybe share a bit of info on the steps I used to create them.

Hybrid Address Book:

1- Design front and back covers, and design address book pages. I wanted a 5×5" address book, so I designed the front and back covers 6×6" to include folding over the edges. The address book pages were designed to fit the badge holders, check the size of your badge holders before designing as they are sometimes different sizes.

2- Print pages (I printed on my home printer on mat finish photo paper).

3- Gather supplies, I used 2 loose leaf rings, 10 badge holders, scissors, ruler, craft knife, self-healing mat, mod podge and sponge brush, crop-a-dile, and a sheet of heavy cardstock from some product packaging that I had saved.

4- I cut the cardstock to 5×5" using a ruler and craft knife, I just had to go over my line a couple times to go all the way through. I cut this on a self-healing mat so as not to damage the table underneath. Now cut out all of the printed stuff, front and back covers and inside pages.

5- I then used mod podge, applied with the foam brush to glue on the front and back covers. I folded in the corners first, then folded over the sides and glued them to the back of the cardstock.

6- Insert the address book pages into the badge holders. Use a badge holder to mark where to put holes into the front and back covers, use the crop-a-dile to create these holes.

7- Now you can seal the front and back covers if you’d like. I use a spray on sealer, I just have to use it outside because of the smell

8- Once the sealer is dry you can put it all together. Slip the loose leaf rings through the  front cover, address book pages (2 pages per badge holder, backs together to make it double sided) and back cover. Now you can decorate the rings with ribbon if you want.

Here are some more photos of my 2 finished address books:

Digital supplies:

Blue Address Book: 

• Flutter & Fly by Kristin Cronin-Barrow;
• Cover frame and back label from Fresh Cut by Kristin Cronin-Barrow.

Green Address Book:

• Fresh Cut by Kristin Cronin-Barrow;
• Butterflies by Flergs.

Check out my Facebook Design group today to find… a place where I show examples of my work and pricing for the custom designed products that I offer. Available products include recipe cards, greeting cards (general, holiday, invites, announcements etc), mini albums, framed art, post-it notebooks, bag toppers and more to come!

Hi everyone! I’ve been seeing tons of beautiful Christmas cards just ready and waiting to be personalized with your holiday photos and I thought I’d show you some of my favourite ones! Now, if you’ve never used these before then you might be wondering how to turn these digital png files into ready to mail Christmas cards. So first I’ll give you a little info to help you get started before you decide on which card set to purchase.

First you will need to add your photo(s) to the card of your choice. I’ve written an article for Blissfully Domestic with links to many tutorials on how to do this with a quickpage, which is exactly what the products I’ve shown and linked to below are. Head on over there and read a tutorial or two on how to add your photo(s). Then once you’ve finished with that, come on back and check out some of the printing options I’ve found.

Okay, on to the printing options. You can print the cards on regular photo paper with a mat finish and glue them onto blank cards that are ready to be used for making your own cards. You can find these in the scrapbooking or card making section of stores like Walmart, or or your local scrapbooking store. Or you can use a printing service. Here are couple companies that I’ve found but have not tested myself (as I print on photo paper and finish hybrid style myself). Check out the prices, shipping and printing options to find the one that you think will work best for you.

• Staples (for those who live in Canada) has a Greeting Card option that you can use to upload your own greeting card, you can personalize the inside greeting and they can be purchased in multiples of 12.
• VistaPrint has many country options so that you can order from them wether you live in Canada, USA, Australia, Europe or anywhere else! They have several card options that allow you to Upload Your Own Design (you just have to scroll down to the bottom to see this option). They’re prices seem very reasonable and you can order 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 100 cards… whatever meets your needs!

And now it’s time for you to choose you’re card design! There are tons out there to choose from, but here are some previews of some quick-cards that I’ve found! Just drop in your photo, and you’re ready to print! Click on the images to be taken to where the sets can be purchased!

I hope that this article has helped you if you were trying to decide wether or not to create your own cards this year. I love making my own as I find it gives a much more personal touch than the store bought cards that never seem to say just the right thing. Have a happy scrappy day everyone!  

Check out my Facebook Design group today to find… a place where I show examples of my work and pricing for the custom designed products that I offer. Available products include recipe cards, greeting cards (general, holiday, invites, announcements etc), mini albums, framed art, post-it notebooks, bag toppers and more to come!

This is where I actually got my start with hybrid, it’s super easy, it can be cheap (I print a lot of my digital parts on mat photo paper at Walmart, it costs me only $0.19 for every 4×6″ print.) and I’m always needing cards! Birthday, Thank you, New Baby, Wedding, Just to say Hello…. the list of cards needed on a regular basis is long. And I got tired of not being able to find just the right card at the stores, they were all too mushy or too corny or just too blah. So now I make my own cards, just the way I like them to be. And you can too! Below you will find a link to my quick and easy tutorial, posted at DigiScrapChat this month, as well as links to challenges, templates and beautiful inspiring card designs… just what you need to get you started! Ready? Set? Hybrid!

Definition:

A hybrid card is one that combines digital and traditional scrapbooking supplies &/or methods of scrapping. Personally I like to start digitally, print then finish the card design by cutting/pasting the digital parts to a blank card base and adding a few traditional elements such as ribbon, flowers, brads, buttons and rubons.

Tutorial:

Hybrid Card Tutorial - by me over at DigiScrapChat!

Challenges:

• The Sweet Shoppe has a challenge called 52 Card Pick Up where you get weekly instructions on the latest challenge’s card requirements (Size, theme, colour & element). This challenge qualifies for Sweet Rewards (their points system that earns you %off coupons to the store!). You can find the old challenges (great for inspiration) in the forum, and the new challenges are posted on the blog!
• I also found a newly started challenge at Digital Freebies’ blog, they give you a card theme and a chance to win a GC to their store too!
• Gotta Pixel has a monthly card making challenge too, it get’s updated on the 22nd of every month!
• And I also found that Designs In Digital has started a monthly hybrid card challenge! (They’ve also started up a new Challenge Points System to earn points redeemable for cash in the store!)
• This last one isn’t a challenge but is definitely worth a mention. Di Hickman shares a card sketch/template every Wednesday on her blog, it’s a great way to get some inspiration and motivation!

Products:

Here are some card templates to help you get started with your hybrid card making. Be sure to search the stores where these are located to find more, I only chose a few to give you an example of what’s out there. The links to find the templates are listed below the images.

ROW 1: 1- Snail Mailers #5 by Bree Clarkson 2- Quick Cards Set 2 by April Staker 3- Quick Cards (Set 14) Christmas by Tara Sroka

ROW 2: 4- Love, Jessica – Card Templates by Chrissy W. 5- Greetings! Pack #2 by Duchess Designs 6- Christmas Photo Card Templates – Set 2 by Designs by Shelle

ROW 3: 7- FotoKardz Templates No. 02 by Anna Aspnes 8- Kim Hill’s Holiday Card Templates 9- Birth Announcement Templates #01 by Mega-Doodle Inspired

Inspiration:

(click on the links below the images for a closer look and for credit info!)

ROW 1: 1- Friendship Mango Sorbet 2- Tri-fold Card 3- DinoMite Birthday Card

ROW 2: 4- All-Occasion card with envelope 5- Happy Hybrid Birthday 6- Fall Blessings

ROW 3: 7- Friends Forever Card 8- {Hybrid Card} Owl 9- Hybrid Happy Birthday Card

ROW 4: 10- Happy Birthday Card 11- {Hybrid} Thanks 12- Tweet Tweet – You’re Sweet!

Check out my Facebook Design group today to find… a place where I show examples of my work and pricing for the custom designed products that I offer. Available products include recipe cards, greeting cards (general, holiday, invites, announcements etc), mini albums, framed art, post-it notebooks, bag toppers and more to come!