happy holidays

No matter which one you celebrate, let us wish you the happiest of holidays!

 

december - kits of the month

so this month we have a couple kits.
the first is a very, very cute basicgrey mini album using their brand new origins collection. i LOVE this album. i did one but gave it away as a christmas gift - i sooooo wanted to keep it for myself. i just know i won't find the time to do me one. anyways, it has lots of pockets, tags, & fun elements in it! LOVE IT!!!

the other kit was our product kit ... a christmas bundle. it was an AMAZING deal! Over $130 in product for only $25 - what was i thinking??? we sold out of this one in less than 24 hours - imagine that?! so, for those lucky enough to of ordered one - it is on its way & MERRY CHRISTMAS from me :)


a little INFO of our "BUNDLES". what we do quite often, is take a bunch of coordinated product which includes: pattern paper (& usually bazzill too) and various embellishments & the price on these are always a steal! we typically do this before a line gets discontinued or as things start selling out in a line so it no longer is a complete line. after our bundles are made, then we typically put whatever is left on clearance by the piece but just know that our bundles are made first from the best. these bundles are online & we always have them at the crops at the scrapbook shows. it is a GREAT way to get alot of coordinated product for a great price.

with that being said, i would like to announce that we will be having a christmas sale after christmas. EVERYTHING christmas ( & halloween) will be 25% off & some items up to 75% off. old product & new product. paper & embellishments. kits & EVERYTHING! look for details coming....

Happy Hanukkah!

It's the middle of Hanukkah and we thought we would give you a few examples of some fun Hanukkah projects you can make using the Merrakech line from Basic Grey. The colors in this line are perfect for Hanukkah decorations, gift packs and cards. Using the paper and sticker elements with a few odds and ends from around our scrap studio we've put together these four projects. To create the tussy mussy we used a premade cone form that you can find in the decoupage section of your local craft store. The candy "gelt" pillow box was created using the leftover clear packaging from Basic Grey ribbons. We used a 2" round scallop punch to create the base of the hanging tag on each piece. The Hanukkah stamp was stamped on white cardstock using Staz-on ink and then watercolor painted to coordinate with the Merrakech colors.
These projects are fun, fast and easy to make. Add a little color to your Hanukkah decorations!







You can find a full array of Merrakech products here:
http://www.embellishonline.com/page/280880203

Thanks for stopping by the Embellish IT! blog! We appreciate the opportunity to earn your business!

BasicGrey Vintage Collections

We have all missed some of the oldest & greatest BasicGrey collections so...
they are RE-releasing a LIMITED EDITION of 5 of their best lines!!!
We are so excited & know you will be too.

A few things to note:
* Only Collection Packs available - paper only, no tags or alphabet stickers
* Limited Edition - when they are gone they will be gone forever!
* PreOrder today & expected to ship next week (same time as the brand NEW Origins & SugarRush)

We are are offering these ON SALE until Dec.31, 2009
ONLY $12 collection

black tie


sublime


phresh & phunky


fusion


vagabond



go here to order vintage collections

november kits of the month

we have another 10 kits this month- WOW!
just for the record, even though we had 9 kits last month & 10 kits this month please don't expect that many every month. haha! i've just had alot of extra time these last couple months - LOL! actually, there will be minimum of 2 each month & usually we try for 4-5 & some months we just have more!
keep in mind that these kits are limited - being once they are sold out they are gone. some kits we have high inventory on & others not so much so some we might sell out of in a couple hours & others a couple months.
one ore thing: since it is the end of our year for teaching classes, i have converted many of our class projects into double-page layout kits. for those of you that were unable to attend classes, this is a great opportunity to get your hands on the class projects & not have to listen to me teach :)

here are the kits this month:

new basicgrey: sugar rush & origins

WOW - basicgrey has done it again.
Two new lines with MANY new embellishments!
All product available for Preorder TODAY!
expected to ship Mid-Late Decemeber

Sugar Rush & Origins

cruise with me

i am sooooo excited about our FIRST scrapbook cruise. here are the details:
7 night Mexican Riviera on Royal Caribbean
Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan, Puerto Vallarta
March 7-14, 2010

We have partnered with CruiseOne/Crop and Cruise so they will handle all the cruise arrangements. That allows me to focus on the FUN part- all the scrapbook activities: classes, crops, contest, & the best is all the surprises!

There will be an open crop 24/7 during the cruise. All scrapbook scheduled events will be held on sea days & the evening after ports. I will be teaching the classes. I will finalize the classes & have more details on them within the next couple weeks. Some classes will be included in your scrapbook fee but there will be additional classes available for those who would like to take more classes. There will be contests & giveaways during the cruise & FUN surprises! (oooh, how i LOVE surprises)!

Come alone - don't be shy. You'll meet new friends. Some of my best experiences have been when i went somewhere alone. Or make it a girls trip - one that we all deserve. Get the best of both worlds: bring your spouse or the whole family - there is plenty for them to do on the ship while you scrapbook. Just join me for lots of scrapbooking, laughs, memories you'll never forget & of course, the late nighters (btw, i get really giddy late at night).

Rates are great right now - $532 pp. Book soon to guarantee fare. Also, book before thanksgiving & receive an extra gift! Make this be a Christmas present to yourself!

All details at www.cruiseandcrop.com
you may also email me your questions: news@embellishonline.com or leave a comment & i will answer your questions.

hope you can join me!
shelby-

A winner and news...

We loved seeing all the fabulous pages created for our MIX IT UP challenge! We appreciate the time and effort you put into creating them! The winner of the $25 gift certificate to the online store is JACOB (heather) Congratulations Heather. Please email news@embellishonline.com to claim your gift certificate.

We have lots of amazing new products coming down the pike. Imaginisce new SWEET CHERI collection, a decadently delicious treat, is now available for PreOrder. This collection will ship mid-November.

Fancy Pants has introduced two new product lines FROSTED and VINTAGE VALENTINE. These two collections are fantastic! Frosted is full of happy colors, perfect to warm up your winter photos. Vintage Valentine is a darling nostalgic collection you won't want to pass up! Both are available for PreOrder now and are expected to ship mid-November.

Webster's Pages is having a 12 Days Of Christmas crop on their Inspire Me site starting on November 12th. The design team created holiday projects to inspire your creativity. You will find the details and supply lists for the projects in the Inspire Me forum. We have all the Webster's Pages products you need for this event available and now shipping. Here are a few sneak peeks:

Holiday Tussy Mussy

Gift Bag and Tag set

Finally our 2010 schedule is UP! You will find it on the side bar of the blog :) There is an addition coming to the 2010 schedule that i am soooooooo excited about - more on that coming soon!

Thanks for stopping by the Embellish IT! blog. We appreciate the opportunity to earn your business!

Mix it up contest

Edited 10/27/09

After many requests for more time we are keeping this contest open until Saturday 10/31/09. We will announce the winner on Tuesday Nov. 3.

Want to win a $25 gift certificate to the Embellish It! online store???!!!! Today we are kicking off one of our creative challenges for you. It's a product challenge. And yes, that is the prize at the end!
What we would like you to do is create a LAYOUT using products from ONE manufacturer, but mixing at least THREE of their product lines. For example, in the layout below I have used products from five different Imaginisce lines. The green and multi color dot papers are from the Polar Expressions line. The brown polka dot paper is from their Summer Cool line. The orange polka dot paper, fox, and brads are from their Twitterpated line. The striped ribbon is from their Wild Things line. And finally, the chipboard heart is from their Perfectly Posh line.



What you need to do is create your layout, post it in an online gallery or your personal blog and then leave us a link to it in the comments section of this post. On Tuesday we will draw a winner from the comments section for a $25 gift certificate to the Embellish It! online store! Sounds fun, right! So get creating... we can't wait to see your fabulous pages!
Just a little reminder, we now have Basic Grey's Nook & Pantry line shipping. As always, thanks for stopping by the Embellish It! blog. We appreciate the opportunity to earn your business!

i am grateful

scrapbooking for a cause!

chances are you either know someone who has battled breast cancer in the past or you will know someone in the future ...

using basicgrey products, you'll be able to create a wonderful keepsake while at the same time contributing to a great cause! go here for detailed information for the i am grateful mini album.

a portion of the proceeds will be donated to the city of hope for breast cancer.

one more thing:

take care of yourself & give yourself a breast exam. go here for easy instruction. do it today - it takes less than 5 minutes. early detection is key!

Nook & Pantry

BasicGrey's NEW Nook & Pantry collection ... Let me tell you, it has some awesome colors and patterns. Perfect for holiday gifts, kitchen decor, cooking layouts, holiday projects... it's VERY versatile! I am totally loving this collection!
The other day while roaming around a local craft store I came across a recipe box on sale for 40 cents. Seriously, only 40 cents! I bought the five they had left and new exactly what I would be doing with them. My Christmas gifts for my neighbors this year -- recipe boxes made with Nook & Pantry. I finished one so far. I used products from the collection pack and from the chip sticker shapes. I just love how it turned out. It's perfect for my neighbor Maggie. Here are a few photos.

Thanks for stopping by the EMBELLISH IT! blog today! I hope your in the mood for some delicious Nook & Pantry!

Scrapping your pets

During the past week Shelby and family lost a very special part of their family - their dog Zoe. Zoe was a loving and trusted part of the family. You can read more about zoe here. Her passing serves as a reminder to us all that including pages about our pets in our scrapbooks is very important. Documenting the relationship between family and pets can be done in a number of ways. The following are just a few examples. Noteworthy - each page was constructed using a combination of products from Basic Grey and Pink Paislee.
In this first page I had a fabulous picture of Sammy when he was much younger. He was such a beautiful golden retriever. I decided to make a page just about his beauty, because that is the one characteristic that comes first in my mind when I think of him.

In this next page, as I was looking through some old photos I came across these from when I was a little girl. On the back of one of the photos I noticed I had printed the words "blite and amy". I was seven years old when I wrote that. I scanned and printed that out to use for my title. It ws my handwriting and my spelling, atrocious as it might have been at the time, that really made this layout work for me. I wrote my journaling about my memories of my horse, Bullet (blite).

In this last layout I had my son help me with it. He is shown in the photo with his bird Pidgy. When we came across the photo while cleaning his room Logan asked me to "do something" with it. I made the layout and he wrote the journaling. I cut a piece of cardstock to fit the journaling area, drew pencil lines for him as a guide and he used pencil to print the journaling himself. Logan had written the journaling out on scrap paper first and did his best to keep the journaling neat on the final copy. This is a very special page to Logan as it is the only photo we have of the bird.

I encourage you to take photos of not only your family, loved ones, events and holidays, but also look at other things that have value and meaning to your life... like pets.

Thanks for stopping by the embellish IT! blog today! We have lots of great products in the store, including Basic Grey's Nook & Pantry collection which is now shipping! Have a wonderful week!

Letter Stickers - part 2

I really love letter stickers. They are sooo versatile! For today's tutorial I am going to show you how to use your letter stickers as a mask. For this example I used the Webster's Pages Storytellers letter stickers, Basic Grey Marrakech letter stickers, glimmer mist and a shipping tag. The Webster's letter stickers work particularly well for this technique because they are repositionable therefore they give you a good amount of working time. I used some glimmer mist but you could also use maya mist or any kind of misting bottle filled with reinkers/water, watercolor paint, or watered down acrylic paint. First I decided what I wanted my tag to say. In this case I chose FALL. I applied the letters to the tag then misted until I had the desired depth of color I was looking for. I allowed the tag to dry, which took about 10 minutes. I carefully removed the letters I used as a mask and set them aside. I then added some Basic Grey Marrakech letters to my fall tag to finish the saying, little strands from a piece of burlap and I have a great piece for my layout "FALL FAVES". This technique can be done right on your layout or card too. Just be sure to mask off anything you do not want to get mist on!
To make my letters go even further, I used the misted letters I had removed from the masked tag. I love the way the pale blue looks with the coppery tone of the mist. I added these letters to another tag which I had already misted with a different color. You could also do this with a tag you make from patterned paper or cardstock or put them right on your layout or card. I also added the '09 in numbers from the Merrakech collection and then some twine wrapped around the tag. For very little time and product I have two wonderful pieces that can be used as accents or titles for scrapbook pages. Easy and quick with a designer look!

Finished tag showing the masked letters, burlap strands and Basic Grey Marrakech letters.

Finished tag with the misted letters, twine wrap and Basic Grey Marrakech number stickers.

Give this technique a try and let us know how you like it! Thanks for stopping by the embellish IT! blog! We appreciate each and every one of you!!!

september kits of the month

we are very excited about our kits of the month for septemeber - many new kits released:

explosion box using basicgrey's wisteria




darling layout using crate paper's katlin


boys will be boys using fancy pants rough & tough


dancing girl using fancy pants


spooky using fancy pants trick or treat



boo using basicgrey's eerie

plus 2 new product kits using imaginiece's brand new releases:

let's roll (darling boy line)

perfectly posh (for all those princesses)

kits of the month are released on the THIRD sunday of the month. Minimum of 2 kits released & sometimes more! Kits are limited & when they are gone they are gone. If you'd like to be sent an email once they are released as a reminder, please let us know you'd like to be added to our email list.

click here to go to september kits of the month


Have a great sunday!