A fun gift idea...

(Click for larger image)

I've been making these for years - this is one of my favorite gifts to give kids because kids typically love art and I love to encourage them to create art. You can get the art cases from the craft store and whenever my daughter gets invited to a birthday, I typically do one up as part of the gift. For the past two Christmases, Michaels (craft store) had the art cases on sale - they had them on sale several times but during one sale they had them for $2.50 each so I bought a whole case of them!

Here's what the cases look like "before" and I have another photo of the inside:

There is a clear plastic cover on the case so I use an exacto knife to carefully cut into the plastic on one side of the case. You have to cut really close to the edge so you won't see the cut. After cutting, the prepackaged cover slides right out and you can slide your new cover in. I use a little bit of ashesive to hold the plastic back down, again just on the very edge and just a little so its not noticeable.

To make the cover insert on this project I used an ADORABLE digi kit from Sweet Shoppe Designs, called Squiggle It. It was PERFECT for this! Here's a peek:

Isn't that cute??!!

I had some good news this month - I had Scrapbook Dimensions ask for a project, Bella Scraps published two of my projects this month and Scrapbook News and Review ask for two projects for their July issue. That's always fun :)

That's about all for now....I can't believe June is almost over - where did the time go???!!!

July 4th Treats

This was probably the quickest and easiest project I've ever done. I could have done a lot more with it, but I wanted it to be quick and easy so that is how I approached it. I'll be making more of these but here's the first one - its a July 4th Treat Bag. I filled the bag with "Red Hots" (cinnamon candies). For the bag topper, I used a pre-made digital page and just inserted a photo. Here's the digi kit with the pre-made stars that I used: Liberty & Justice: Mini Star Album by MandaBean.

This kit is made for making a mini-album, but I like to "think outside of the box" and see what else I can do - you know, to get more bang for your buck ;)

I found the little red bags at the craft store (you may need to make the star a little larger when you print it out depending on what size bags you get). I printed the star out on cardstock, cut it out, and used brads (I put a little sequin with my brad) to attach it to the top of the bag (I also folded the top of the bag down a bit prior to attaching the star with the brads). Here's a photo of the back of the bag, to show how the brads attach the star:

The two sayings at the bottom of the bag also come in the digi kit. I just cut them out and used glue dots to attach them to the bag. That's about it - SUPER EASY and a great "starter" hybrid project too - Let me know if you try it out!

A few things and a CHALLENGE!

Got a few things done for Sweet Shoppe Designs:


Made a card using this: Blossom CD Album Kit. Instead of making the CD album, I used one of the pages for a card front. It was sooo fast and easy!

Found these plastic buckets at Party City and used this kit from Eva Kipler to made a "Girl Stuff" bucket for dd to put her girly trinkets (hairbows, bracelets, etc....) in.

There is a new CHALLENGE up at My Creative Scrapbook for June!!! You can go here for all info: June Challenge. The prizes this month include: AC Thickers, Bling, a Font Folder (alpha rub-ons) and Pattern Paper! All you need to do is complete a layout using this sketch:

You can use any paper or supplies you want - we just want to see what you do with the sketch!!! I'd love for you to participate!

Also, if you haven't seen the kits at My Creative Scrapbook check out the DT Gallery, the girls there ROCK!!!

That's all for now! Have a GREAT WEEK!!!

New Stuff, Gift Ideas & More

Got a few projects done. The first is a super quick 6x6 layout for Prima Hybrid. This was sooo easy, I used a predesigned 12x12 digi page, printed it at 6x6 and just added a few real embellishments (flowers, buttons, ribbon and an epoxy sticker). Love how it turned out!


Here's another fun project, but the photo here stinks because there was too much glare on the coffee mug. Anyway, I found these mugs at Hallmark. I've seen them before in other places but they had a good deal on them when I was at Hallmark so I got several (more on the deal later...). The mugs have a removable insert so I made my own insert using Heather Roselli's super cute digi kit at SSD called "Be Happy". More info is here.





Here's a better picture of the insert before I put it in the mug.

After I printed out my design, I traced the existing insert onto my printed page and cut it out to get the right size and shape. Really easy, plus I can make many more of these and change it out whenever I want.

Oh, and here's the info on the coffee mug deal, they are $8.95 at Hallmark (until Father's Day) with your Hallmark Rewards card. You can get the card free online and print it out instantly right here.

And no, I don't work for Hallmark (LOL) just passin' on a deal...

Here's something else I did yesterday, this was a quick mini album for SSD. I LOVE this cute little digi album kit from Mandy called "Nerdy Girl". My daughter's teacher this year sent all the students home with a CD on the last day of school that had pictures from the whole school year. There must have been 75 photos on that CD and it was the MOST AWESOME thing ever!!!! Such a great idea!!! Anyway, I used the photos from that CD to make this. The digi album is all pre-designed so all I had to do was pretty much drag my photos in the photo spots and print. The album was designed at 8x8 so I changed my printer settings to print at 6x6 to fit the BasicGrey "Quarter Pint" Album I used for this project. Here are a few pages:

I added a few traditional embellishments (flowers, ribbon, buttons, etc) to the pages after I printed them.
I photocopied some of her school papers at a reduced size to put on the backs of the album pages.


Well, that's about it for now...I'll be back soon!

It's June!

A new month and some new things for My Creative Scrapbook. Make sure you go visit the message board at MCS and check out this post to find out how to win some free scrapbook goodies!!! Also check out the monthly kits - they are FABULOUS and FULL of stuff!!!

Here's a project I did with the June Album Kit featuring Heidi Swapp's World Traveler papers:

Gotta add one more photo - my dd is taking a rock climbing camp this week, here's a shot of her on the rock wall yesterday:

I don't know exactly how high that thing is, but it is HIGH!!! When I went to pick her up yesterday the guy running the camp asked if I wanted to give it a try, uhhhh no thanks! LOL!

Have a great week!!!

Memorial Day Weekend (Yipee!) & Teacher Gifts

I LOVE a three-day weekend! Especially since we only have 4 days of school left when we go back next week :)

This weekend I plan to "stimulate the economy" and several items on my list are teacher gifts. I wanted to get my dd's teacher a nice gift card so I made a card and matching pillow box to put the gift card in. I LOVE this kit called "Imagine That" by Robin Carlton & Misty Cato, there are two reasons I love this kit so much: 1) its sooooo bright and colorful (and I love bright colors) and 2) I'm a Reading Resource Teacher and its got some really cool reading-themed pieces to it. I have another project below that I did with the same kit so its pretty versatile, too.

Close up of card:
Close up of the pillow box:
Here's the other project I did with the same kit. I found these plastic cases at Michaels. They are 7" x 10" and I think they were $2.99. I thought they would make a fun "Summer Survival Kit" to put crayons, paper, stickers, playing cards, a book, etc... in for those "I'm bored" summer vacation days.

Here's a "before" pic of the cases (I didn't get a "before" of the blue one, so here's a green one):

And here are some pics of the finished blue case with the "Imagine That" kit:

ALSO.... on another subject, My Creative Scrapbook is having a sketch challenge due May 31st. You can go HERE to read the details. All you do is create a LO (using any supplies you already have) based on this sketch by Liz Qualman:

The winner will receive a prize package consisting of Black Prima Crystals, Prima- Belle fleur fowers pack, Heidi Swapp- Jeweled brads, Ribbon, and Black and white foral papers. Hurry, only one week left!

That's about all for now. Have a GREAT Memorial Day Weekend!!!

Summer Journal

Got another quick project to add for the Sweet Shoppe. If you have never been there, you have GOT to go look at the kits..... I love EVERY kit those girls put out!!!

Here's a project I did with Julie's Wildflower Whimsy Kit. It's a summer journal for my daughter to keep up with her writing over summer vacation. She loves to write stories and draw so I thought she needed something cute and summery to do it in.

Have a GREAT week!

~Cindy

Pinch Me!

I am SOOOO excited! I got some great news early this week and have had to hold it in all week, but now the cat is out of the bag....check this out (the very bottom row):

My Dream Team

Yipee!!! I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE SSD!!!! I am one lucky girl to get to work with all these amazing designers!

I've gotten two projects done for them so far:

This card was made with the Skippy Doo Da Kit by Lauren Grier

and, I made a little BFF Bouquet with Chit Chat by Kristin Cronin-Barrow.

Make sure you check out the new Hybrid Babe Gallery to see some super projects from the other new Hybrid Babes at the Sweet Shoppe!!!

Have a great weekend!!!

Projects!

I've got a few projects to share - The first is a tutorial I did for SBB, I thought this would make a neat teacher gift since school will be out soon. I used Ali Folendore's Teacher's Pet Kit for this altered mini-clipboard.

This is another project for SBB, this altered frame was for the April issue of Tid-Bytes Magazine. You can find the tutorial for this project there.

I LOVE this month's mini-album kit over at My Creative Scrapbook!!!! There are several kits to choose from each month, this is the mini-album kit featuring Pink Paislee. You can check it out here: MCS May Kits

Have a GREAT weekend & Happy Mother's Day to all the Mom's out there!

BLOG PARTY!!!!!

It's a Prima Hybrid BLOG PARTY!! Below you will find my FREE template download and the links to the other flowergirls and moderators who have free templates at their blogs too.

Also, see below for my Altered Challenge at PH with a chance to win a $20 Prima Hybrid Prize package!!!!!

Here's the template and download (I used the header I created for my blog as inspiration):

Download Here: Cindy Gilchrist's Blog Party Template
Here's a digi layout I did with my template:

(I used Weeds & Wildflowers' Vintage Comfort Kit Papers for this LO)

Also, head over to PH for a challenge and tutorial for this project:

See HERE for the tutorial for this project and HERE for the Challenge - You have until Sunday 6 pm EST to complete this challenge and get a chance at a $20 prize pack from Prima Hybrid!!!!!

See the sidebar -> to sign up for e-mail updates on my blog, including occasional freebies!

Links for more FREE Templates:

Di Hickman http://dihickman.blogspot.com/
Andrea Gourley http://www.andreagourley.blogspot.com/
Kristin http://wyowoman.blogspot.com/
Jess Gordon http://scrapbookideas.wordpress.com/
Amy Martin http://alb52.typepad.com/
Angel Hartline http://angeltown.typepad.com/
Indah Permata Sari http://inskidahv.wordpress.com/
Patty Komara http://plkomara.blogspot.com/
Melinda Staley http://myscrapcorner.blogspot.com/
Monika Martinson http://monma.blogspot.com/
Cathy Pascual http://paper-cat.blogspot.com/
Margie http://margiescreativity.blogspot.com/
Heather http://designrecollections.co.uk/blog

Also, in honor of NSD, we are having challenges and give aways at the PH Site - make sure you stop by!!!

Happy Scrapping!!!

A little project and Blog Party info...

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Got a new tutorial for this Notecard project in the latest Fresh Cuts Newsletter at Prima Hybrid. You can go here to sign up for the newsletter, it always has great tutorials and great info.

Also, tomorrow we are having another Blog Party at Prima Hybrid!!!! I'll post a link to all the Flower Girls' Blogs where you can go and get a free goody at each blog! You don't want to miss it so check back tomorrow!!!!!