InKollage: January 2009

Sending My Love

Cranberry Biscotti...yum!

The 12 new Biscotti 8.5x11" cardstock prints are a breeze to design with. They match the Memory Box Notecards, Cardstock and A2 Envelopes - and complement many of Dave's newest printed papers too.

We'll be using Biscotti for the cards themselves - and as borders, backgrounds and accents. Let's begin

with a simple Valentine card that features an old favorite (Script Block) and the brand-new Dorian Border.

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Petalburst, a new 12x12" sheet, makes this another quick and easy Valentine design. The deep, rich background and soft pink flowers complement the chocolate ink and pinks of the heart and Pearl Stickers.

If you've never used little adhesive jewels and pearls because you thought they'd fall off the card, you have to try these new Memory Box stickers. They are super-sticky! So sticky that you don't want to place them somewhere "to see what they'd look like here" - because that's where they'll decide to stay. Instead, leave them on the clear backing sheet and place the sheet over the "intended location" for an idea of how they''ll look there. If that's the right place, then remove them from the backing sheet and press them firmly into place. If you're using them individually, instead of in a row, use fine-tipped scissors to snip between each piece to cut into the adhesive that links them together. Transfer them to your design with self-closing tweezers.

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So Many Hearts

It's great to be back home after four days at the Craft and Hobby Association's annual tradeshow. It's always energizing and exciting to see the latest products, colors and trends - then challenge myself to integrate some of those concepts into cards and papercraft projects.

Square cards are fun - and having 21 brand-new 12x12 designs to chose from makes it super-easy to

create designs because Dave's already done the majority of the work for us. It takes just minutes to

stamp a few images and attach Jewel or Pearl Stickers - that's it!

Combine a distressed vintage background, stately tree, simple hearts and pearly accents for a quick and easy Valentine card.

Red, Red Rose

Here's a card you can create from the other half of the Trellis 12x12 sheet - it's even easier and faster than the card on the previous post.

Stamp happy valentine's day (B1174) on Endive Cardstock with VersaColor Rose Red, then emboss it with clear powder. Distress the edges of the greeting strip with a sanding block, then attach the strip to a slightly larger strip of Cranberry Cardstock. Distress the edges of the Cranberry strip, then attach it to a slightly larger strip of duplex Black Cardstock. Distress the edges of the Black Cardstock, then attach it to a 6" square card cut and folded from a Trellis 12x12" sheet.

Attach Memory Box Cherry Jewel Stickers to the greeting strip and large red rose. Attach a square of Endive Cardstock inside the card for your personal greeting. Tuck the card into a 6.5" Cherry Envelope.

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Greetings from the Heart

Memory Box's 2009 Collection is arriving in stores everywhere - great stamps (pandas!), 12x12" sheets, 6x6" sets, and the Biscotti Collection of 8.5x11" prints. I'll be posting a few more Valentine ideas that combine stamps from the Valentine 2009 release with the great new papers Dave's designed.

Here's an easy card that starts with the Trellis 12 x12" sheet. It mixes softly-distressed images of roses and leaves with the crispness of black and white. Like many of our other Valentine cards, variations of this design will work for birthdays, weddings and thank-yous too

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Valentine Wishes

It seems like we just celebrated Christmas - and suddenly, Valentine's Day is four weeks away!

Memory Box's Sugardrops Valentine release of stamps, papers (6x6 and 12x12!) and Jewel Stickers is a romantic collection of pretty pinks, yummy browns (think truffles, chocolate ganache and cocoa) and soft greens. In addition to being perfect for February 14th, it's also great for other celebrations like birthdays, showers and weddings - and for thank you cards and get well wishes. Visit our website - memoryboxco.com - for a list of Sugardrop retailers.

The 12x12 sheets (larger versions of three Sugardrop patterns) are great for scrapbook and calendar pages. Just add a photo or a February calendar block, a few stamped accents and Jewel Stickers, buttons or ribbons - and you're done!

Here's a card featuring two of the Sugardrop prints and the new Heart Sprinkles combination stamp. The large heart stamped in Pearlescent Poppy is the perfect accent or background element. The array of five little hearts on the side of the stamp (used on other cards in our Ideas gallery) is designed to work perfectly with several of our wordstamps, branches and trees.

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February Penguin

February's man-of-the-month is the Boxer Penguin, in his bright red Valentine boxer shorts. He's stamped on a page from the small Impress calendar, but he'd also look great stamped on a Valentine card for your special guy.

We've used the large and small hearts from Heart Sprinkles in this design - and added a bit of sparkly embossing powder to accent the big heart.

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Valentine Greetings

Heart Sprinkles is a great combination stamp - the large solid heart, with a set of five tiny hearts located on the side of the stamp. The Thicket Birds stamp is another (yes another!) favorite of mine. It was introduced late last year and we've used it in classes for fall and holiday cards - and here it is again.

We're stamping on the beautiful pearly Opal Cardstock from the Soiree Collection. Now that I can pronounce it (Swa-ray), I use the collection more often. Soiree Cards, Envelopes and Cardstock will make everything look great.

Brilliance ink is the perfect choice for stamping on coated, metallic and glossy papers - and vellum. It air-dries on these papers - but I like to heat-set it to speed the process it up a bit.

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Afternoon Tea

The comfy Cozy Chair, with a teacup carefully balanced on its arm, is another great stamp for both Valentine and all-occasion greetings. It's great for get well, thinking-of-you and wish-you-were-here cards too.

The Sugardrop 6x6 Set includes an assortment of soft, vintage prints that are perfect for "upholstering" the chair. The teacup is stamped on a 12x12 version of a Sugardrop print - it's called Candy Wrapper. I've rounded the top corners of the card and the two printed papers to match the shape of the chair, softly-rounded at the top and squared-off at the base.

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Damask Heart

Shades of pink and brown - and the sparkle of Diamond Jewel Stickers - create a quick Valentine card that blends the old and the new. It's fun to combine the vintage look of the Antique Damask stamp with the cool contemporary pattern from the Sugardrop 6x6 Set.

A row of Diamond Jewel Stickers quickly adds a bit of instant-gratification bling. It's a good card to mass-produce because the layout works for weddings, anniversaries and birthdays too.

I taught three classes at Impress this week - and we used the new Memory Box Jewel Stickers in shades of Petal, Diamond and Cherry. Everyone loved them - in a row like on this card, and individually as tiny, sparkly highlights. If you're lucky enough to have an Impress store nearby (or even if you have to drive two hours or catch a ferry to get to one!), be sure to check out their card samples. You can also order the Sugardrop Set and Jewel Stickers from the Impress Online Store.