Binding System Blog Hop

Have you heard of the CarlaCraft Binding System? We've been carrying it for a few years now, and it's a fantastic little invention. A while back, I made this video tutorial showing how easy it is to use:



Just a few simple steps, and you can make your own notebooks. Check out these two I whipped up yesterday evening:

These came together really quickly. Each notebook took less than ten minutes. In fact, that part was much faster than taking photos and writing this post!

Of course, you can use regular cardstock or even thin chipboard for the covers, but I modeled mine after similar projects I found on Etsy utilizing recycled materials.

I'm especially fond of the back covers. The nutrition chart on the cracker notebook, in particular, makes me smile:

Where's the Inky touch? On the inside pages! The stamp images are 10851E Cracker Me Up and 10855E Hiya Cookie:

Besides making all sorts of fun (and handy) notebooks, there are tons of other bound items you can create. You'll find links to several ideas in the right-hand column of this blog. Even better, our Inky designers have been merrily punching pages and inserting coils, working on projects that we think you'll really enjoy!

You're invited to visit each designer's blog and see what they made using the Carla Craft Binding System. Please be sure to leave them feedback about their creations. The more you comment, the better your chances are to win. (Limit one comment per blog, please).

On Monday, July 4th, a lucky winner will be drawn at random to receive his or her very own Carla Craft Binding System prize pack:

Ready to begin? Here we go:

Keri
Michelle
Debbie
Jovi
Crystal
Tex

Once you're finished, please come back here and leave a final comment. Remember to check back on or after the 4th to see if you've won, too. Happy hopping!

Back From Orlando

We've been going to the same conventions for many years now and I always love seeing our Inky friends and customers. Last weekend, I was especially happy to see so many familiar faces! Two of those lovely faces included Nancy and Terri's:

I met these sweet ladies back in 2000, and they were the ones who introduced me to Debbie Gimbel. (As you may know, Debbie is the originator of the colored pencil blending technique using Gamsol. We worked together for many years, and of course we're still huge fans of Gamsol even now!) It was such a treat to see Nancy and Terri and share a few laughs together.

Speaking of laughing together, after the show on Saturday we had dinner at Downtown Disney and then walked around for a while. When we encountered this "unique" silver statue, I asked Lee, Darby, and Michelle to pose for a photo:

What made it so unusual? Here's a clue:

That's right, it was alive. How funny is that? We stood there mesmerized for several minutes as she morphed into various poses with different park guests. Those Disney folks sure know how to entertain. Hope YOU have an entertaining day, as well!

Tea Time

Last week I showed you a card made by Marie Oberg in a post that kicked off our HoneyPOP Summer Challenge (which is going through July, by the way...and we'd love to have you play!).

Marie and I started chatting online back in 2009, and I was thrilled to finally meet her in person later that fall. During the past couple of years, I've enjoyed catching up with her from time to time. I was glad to hear that lately she's been participating in some blog challenges and having a great time.

She recently created this lovely card using 1575G Teacup Bouquet:

As you know, it's the details that really make a project special. You can see them better in this close-up view:

Here's the same card but done all "pretty in pink":

How many of those "special details" can you find here? Count 'em up:

Yep, she layered the pansies with foam tape and then put Stickles on them. And, you're right...she also used Diamond Glaze (which is a clear dimensional lacquer similar to Glossy Accents) to give the teacup a "glazed china" effect. Finally, the pale yellow outline done with marker and the gold edging done with a metallic calligraphy-tipped pen were the perfect finishing touches.

Two things I've always admired about Marie in particular are her positive attitude and generous spirit. In one of her notes, she said, "As you probably noticed....I am evolving.....I am learning. My earlier cards are lacking the final touches that make the cards "POP"...See, you're never too old to learn!"

And when she kindly agreed to take close-up photos of these cards especially for our Inky readers, she shared this:

"After I complete my cards, I see things that I could have added or done differently...The exciting part is there is always something new to try...the possibilities are endless. I wish there were more hours in each day so I could create more, but alas there is cooking and cleaning to do."

Haven't we all felt that way? I know it's definitely true for me (well, maybe except for the cleaning part...ha!), and I couldn't have said it better. Thanks so much, Marie, for sharing your beautiful creations with us!

Blast From The Past

Did you notice this week's project on the main Inky website? It's an adorable paper bag card made by Debbie Fisher:

I've been doing some de-cluttering lately, and I ran across these other creations using those 4882K Tea & Prayer Girls:

The card on the left was made by Sue Nelson...way back in 2000, can you believe it? But it's still just as cute as ever, along with the mug-shaped greeting on the right by Belva Brown in 2003.

Belva created dozens and dozens of samples for us during the early 00s. (I've learned that's how you type what comes after the 80s and 90s, but how in the world do you say it?) She also made this pretty card:

I think it's interesting to see how cardmaking has changed over the years. For example, fewer embellishments were used back then...probably because there just wasn't as much available. Other than ribbon and maybe a few flowers, I don't recall having much else to work with. You even had to stamp your own patterned paper, as the number of paper companies was somewhat limited until scrapbooking really started getting popular.

And, while there were other brands of alcohol-based markers being touted, no one in the stamping world had even heard of Copics until much later. Of course, by then we were already avid fans of colored pencils and Gamsol, which we've stuck with ever since. (Both methods are great, but we'll always favor the latter.)

If you've been stamping for a while, how are things different for YOU now? Is there a product or technique you recall that really impacted the way you create? And what tried-and-true tools have remained your favorites?

HoneyPOP Summer Challenge

Yesterday our friend Marie emailed to let me know about some recent posts she wrote on her blog, including one featuring our HoneyPOP Collection. She made two HoneyPOP cards, one of them using 11026MC Cupcake Birdy HoneyPOP Clear Set:

Before showing the inside of the card, she wrote this funny comment: "And now for the surprise! Kinda like opening and digging into a Cracker Jacks box or dumping out all the cereal to get that magic ring."

Doesn't that excerpt bring back fond memories from childhood? Here's the "surprise" part:

Of course, Marie did a beautiful job on her card. She added little bits of sparkle and bling that really accented it nicely.

As I've said before, we love seeing what our customers create with Inky products! In fact, I'd like to encourage YOU to show us what you've made with your HoneyPOP sets and paper. Starting today, you've got until July 23rd to participate in the HoneyPOP Summer Challenge.

To play along, link your HoneyPOP creations below by Saturday, July 23rd. You can make a card, a 3-D item, or whatever else you dream up! (Note: It does not have to be related to summer; that's just the name of this challenge.)

Your project must utilize HoneyPOP sets and/or paper, and it should be new (in other words, something you make today or afterward). If you don't have a blog, you can email me with your photos and I'll submit your entry.

Feel free to enter as many times as you wish, as long as each project is linked only once and features different HoneyPOP products.

We'll be giving away THREE $25 gift certificates for Inky stamps. Prizes will be awarded to (1) our designers' favorite project, (2) the project that receives the most votes during the last week of July, and (3) a participant's project that is chosen randomly from a drawing at the end of July.

The winners will be announced on Monday, August 1st. Please remember to come back and see if you've won. Happy creating, everyone!

* * *

More Classes

Yesterday I received another email from Polly, which included this excerpt:

"Help! I am becoming addicted to Honey pop cards! There's a little bit of a learning curve but once you get the hang of it, the product is easy to work with."

Of course, she wrote to the master "Inky enabler," so I'm not sure I can do anything except help encourage her addiction...which she is already doing herself at today's classes. If you missed signing up for this, Polly will be offering another HoneyPOP class in July.

Our friend Tina also notified us about a class she'll be teaching on the other end of Texas, at The Crafty Scrapper in Waxahachie. The first card is an adorable Monkey HoneyPOP creation:

Of course, it's got the classic pop-out surprise inside:

And for a non-HoneyPOP project that's also interactive, this cute Shaker Chef girl will be the second card:

Tina's classes will be held on June 22nd at 11:00-2:00 and June 25th at 1:30-4:30. Please contact the store directly if you're interested in signing up!

HoneyPOPping Along...

Last week at the Arlington show, we were delighted to see several of our Inky friends and customers. (Hello to Blaire, Donna, Jackie, Meg, Monica, Sylvia, Tina, and all of you I know by "face" but not by name!) Our visitors included Frank, whom you may recall was the creator of the fantastic dress form card featured in this post.

Well, Frank's creation inspired our owner, Ted, to play with products from our HoneyPOP Collection...the Stampers Anonymous way!

Instead of cardstock, Ted used Grungepaper embellished with stamps from Stampers Anonymous and embellishments from the Tim Holtz Idea-ology line:

It's pretty neat, right? Now take a look at the inside, where he used our Honeycomb Paper Pad in Ivory:

Just like Frank, Ted used the Tim Holtz Alterations "Sewing Room" Bigz Die to cut the dress form. But, of course, he added his own twists to make the card look quite different.

And on the more "Inky cute" side, Polly from The Stamp Act in El Paso, Texas, just emailed these adorable samples:

That's the 11044MCTurtle HoneyPOP Clear Set she used above, and here is the 11026MC Cupcake Birdy HoneyPOP Clear Set on a "sweet" card:

Polly will be teaching two HoneyPOP classes this Saturday, June 11th, and another one in July. For more information, please visit her store's class schedule page.

And if you know of other stores that will be offering HoneyPOP classes, give us a holler so we can post about it!

Blog Hop Drawing Results

Oops, I'm just a bit behind in posting the results for our random winners of last month's HoneyPOP Blog Hop. I'd meant to do this before I left for the Arlington show and it completely slipped my mind. Thanks to a "gentle nudge" from one of our customers who reminded me. I hope to recover soon from my little brain snap! ;-)

Congratulations to Linda P., Cindy M. and Amy D., who have each won one of the new HoneyPOP Clear Stamp Sets and a coordinating Honeycomb Paper Pad.

Thank you to everyone who played. We hope you enjoyed the hop and look forward to sharing more ideas with you soon!

Texas Scrapbook Show

We're at the Great American Scrapbook Show in Arlington, Texas. One of our talented designers, Tex, is working in the Inky booth with me (along with her super sweet husband, Ron, who obviously isn't pictured here):

If you're planning to attend the show, please stop by and say hello to us. Otherwise, I will "see" you back here on the blog after I return home!