Paper Purses

One of the things I'm challenged to do as a designer, is to come up with projects that promote a specific product.  In our industry, design is all about the product!  I've noticed that paper purses have become pretty popular again, so thought I'd resurrect - guess I should say "recycle" -  a cardstock purse I made from a circle.  I developed this design about 6-7 years ago to promote Fiskars' Shape Cutter and Circle templates.

Circle Purses and Circle Baskets ©Julie McGuffee Designs 

You can find instructions for the purses by clicking on the tab under the header right here on my blog and there's a YouTube video you can watch here 

Enjoy!  Y'all come back now....

Yours truly,
Julie :)

Happy Easter!

Every Easter I treat my daughter to a box of "peeps", but this year she's on a "no sugar" diet.  So, does tradition go out the window?  Of course not!  Creative minds at work - the "peeps" will become a decorative element rather than a treat to be eaten.  See what I mean.....

Have a wonderful and very blessed Easter!  Y'all come back now........

Yours truly,
Julie :)

April Showers bring May Flowers!

"And when it's raining, have no regrets, it isn't raining rain you know,
it's raining violets.... 

And when you see clouds high on a hill, there'll always be crowds of daffodils, 

so keep on looking for the bluebird and listening for his song,
whenever April showers come along...."

Daffodils, St. Mary's church in York, Northern England

I love, love Spring and I think it's mainly because of the flowers.  I love all kinds of flowers, but the flowers that bloom in Spring are just amazing.  Tulips are my favorite, but I can't resist Daffodils, Snowdrops, Lilies of the Valley, etc either.  Here's a scrapbook page I created of my mum using a photo of daffodils as backdrop for a title, which I added in Photoshop.

I love photography and have tons of flower photos.........  here are just a few.

I like to print the photos on ink jet transparency then use them to embellish cards, like this:

The card is just a piece of folded cardstock with a strip of embossed pearl paper across the bottom.  I attached the photo (matted with white cardstock) to the front of the card with brads.  I make sets of these as gifts for friends.  Can you identify the other 5 flowers?  Leave a comment here and I'll pick someone on Friday the 13th to receive a sheet of the photos on a transparency sheet together with a set of cards.

Don't forget to hop forward using the Designer Crafts Connection logo in my sidebar.  You'll find more amazing projects and more giveaways!  Enjoy and y'all come back now.................

Yours truly,
Julie :)

More Soup Please!

March Madness isn't just basketball.  Unfortunately it's been my life this month and for no particular reason, other than whenever I finish one thing and I'm about to take a breather, up pops something else.  It was so crazy that when the iPad that I ordered arrived, it was a whole week before I had time to open the box!  That is just wrong.  You'll be happy to know I've learned how to turn it on, but that's about it.  Not bad actually, since I had to ask a fellow traveller how to turn off my iPhone when I flew to Anaheim in January....LOL  Strangest thing happened though.  He showed me how to do it (yes, I was totally embarassed) and about 3 other people listened in and said "thank you" too, then everyone shared all the special tips they'd learned.  I felt as if I was in an Apple store....... 

I had to make time to share this Souper Duper news with you though.  Effective April 6th, you, and everyone else in the world, will be able to watch Scrapbook Soup online!  Each of the 13 shows will air every day, all day for one week, then we'll move on to the next show.  This is SO much better than being on iTunes.......  it's free for one thing.  You can watch the show  here .

Next month we'll be taping the next series of Scrapbook Soup, so March Madness will continue for me, at least.  Don't forget to check back.  I'll be posting sneak peaks of the new show, which will air in July.  Enjoy the show!  Y'all come back now.....

Yours truly,
Julie :)

Win Prizes!

Reprinted from Designer Crafts Blog Connection on Facebook, posted by Cindi Bisson @ Fat Cat Creations.

 

CRAFTERS OF ALL AGES - March is National Craft Month! Craft and Hobby Association and When Creativity Knocks have teamed up to bring you a great chance to win prizes! Download this free graphic - http://whencreativityknocks.com/mycraftspace/m/store/view/I-Heart-Crafts-PDF - , reduce it, enlarge it - use it full size - create something fun with it and upload your photos to:
http://whencreativityknocks.com/mycraftspace/ or
http://www.craftplace.org/
Who’s eligible? Everyone, no age restrictions.
All those who post to be eligible to win prizes from top craft manufacturers! Let's get crafty people! I KNOW you've all got some creativity inside bursting to get out!

I Heart Crafts PDF whencreativityknocks.com Free I Heart Craft images to create your own projects. Upload your finished project to your Profile ...   The luck of the Irish to ya!   May all the "green " you see be dollar bills - hopefully coming in and not going out.....LOL  and hopefully the wind at your back, won't be from the corned beef and sauerkraut! Yours truly, Julie :)

Ribbon Roses

I presented a seminar at the CHA show in January on how to make your own online videos as professionally as possible.  After presenting projects on TV for almost 20 years, 14 of them as a TV Host, I had a lot of tips to share on preparing the projects as well as the actual presentation.  One of the main points I wanted to get across to the audience was "if I can make a video anyone can" and to prove this I made a video specifically to share at the seminar.  Thought you might like to see it too.

You can also watch this on YouTube here:  http://youtu.be/xYRidzlNd3I

Enjoy!  Y'all come back now.............

Yours truly,
Julie :)

National Craft Month!

Wow, this month is going to be a blast - as far as crafting goes anyway!  They say March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb; not sure how true this is, but I do know that it is busy, busy, busy!  As well as being National Craft Month, it's my grandson's birthday this week, St. Patrick's day is on the 17th (not that I'm Irish, but it's a good excuse for a green beer), March 21st is the first day of Spring AND, the worst part, we put the clocks forward.  I just hate losing that extra hour........  Tuesday, March 6th is also craft day on HSN.  You should not miss this!  Check out the schedule at HSN.com.  Both Brenda Pinnick and Claudine Hellmuth will be featuring their kits.  You can watch on TV, or via live streams on your computer.  You can find some great products and great prices there!

I was ready to post a fun, Spring project for Designer Crafts Connection's First Monday project, but decided to share this instead:

I've hosted a scrapbook show on TV for 14 years, but, as some of you already know, I'm also a decorative painter.  Well, guess what, I like to make jewelry too!  This necklace (which I actually made to wear at CHA) is featured in the April issue of Bead Design Studio.  I really enjoy all kinds of crafts, except papier maché, I hate messing with wet stuff..... I like to knit, crochet, sew (things I learned years ago) and love embroidery and smocking.  There isn't enough time in the day to do it all, but every once in a while I'll put out knitting needles, or a crochet hook and see what I can come up with.

Don't forget to hop the DCC blogs this month.  There are a lot of giveaways and, since Spring heralds "Spring Cleaning" I'm sure I'll be pulling out some things for a giveaway in a week or two!   Y'all come back now...........

Yours truly,
Julie :)

Giveaway Winner!

If you look in the center of the photo at the bottom you'll see "The Knook", runner up for the CHA Winter 2012 Innovations award.  Estelle picked correctly and, as a "shrek" fan, I couldn't resist her short reponse:  "Pick me! Pick me!'.  Congratulations Estelle, instead of going to random number selector, I picked you to receive this box of goodies.  Have fun and let us know how you like the products!

Y'all come back now!

Yours truly,
Julie :)

Flip-Pal Giveaway!

Win a Flip-Pal here: http://www.vickiodell.com/i-love-my-flip-pal-mobile-scanner-giveaway/

You have to enter by February 29th!


Yours truly,
Julie :)

Giveaway - February

If you go back to my earlier post about CHA, you'll see I offered a box of "goodies" from the show for the giveaway for February.  Up to now it's been a "mystery" box, so here's a photograph of everything that is in it.  Can you spot the product that was one of the Top 3 most Innovative Products for Winter 2012?  If you can identify it, comment below (I won't publish the comment until later) and I'll add your name to the drawing.  The winner will be announced next week, February 29th, so don't forget to check back here.  This is what's in the box and what the winner will receive:

 

Y'all come back now......

Yours truly,
Julie :)

Happy Valentine's Day!

I used to love Valentine's day!  It was all about romance and secret admirers.  In England you never signed the cards you sent; at least that's how it was "back in the day" (sounds so much better than "the old days").  This was the day to send a card to someone you really, really liked - anonymously.  I remember getting my first Valentine's Day card - unsigned of course, so I wondered and wondered for days who had sent it.  Could it have been John who lived at the corner house?  Or maybe it was Roger?  Turns out it was my granddad!  That's okay, I sent him one too.

Commercialism has changed all that, but I still like to think that Valentine's Day has an air of mystery around it.  Here's a little love and inspiration using Smoothfoam™ shapes.

Have a wonderful day and enjoy!  Y'all come back now.........

Yours truly,
Julie :)

Designer Crafts Blog Ring

If you get "stuck" while hopping forward, click "DC Connection" which is right above "Hop Back" and "Hop Forward".  This will take you to a list of all the participating designer bloggers in the same order as the ring.  Simply click the next blog on the list.........  Now keep on hopping to see all our CHA photos and reports.  You can also see lots more photos from CHA Designers on Pinterest.  Y'all come back now.....

Yours truly,
Julie :)