02 June, 2010

We have a winner!!!



Wasn't that an awesome bloghop!!! Thanks to everyone who particpated and thanks to all who left such sweet comments on my blog!!! Hope that you will check back periodically for new ideas and/or products!!! Cut n Paste Memories is also on Facebook and would love to have you as a fan!!!

mumgranny has won the House-Mouse patriotic stamp!!!!


29 May, 2010

Happy Memorial Day!!!



Welcome to Operation Write Home's Memorial Day Bloghop!!! If you've arrived here from Debi's site, you're right on track! If you've missed any of the previous blogs you can start at the beginning OWH Stars and Stamps blog. If this is your first Operation Write Home Bloghop...you are in for a treat!!! There are a gozillion blogs with creative cards to share, some are offering blog candy, others have tutorials and/or challenges!!! So make yourself comfortable and hop along with us!!!

Operation Write Home sends handmade cards to our military men and women to send/write home to their loved ones. This is made possible by many many crafters spending time/money/love to furnish cards to send. Any help is appreciated!!! Get together some friends and get some cards made! All kinds of cards are needed...not only holiday cards, but thinking of you, thanks, love you, cards to send to children of service men/women. Also donations are needed to provide postage to send these cards overseas. Get involved!!!!

Operation Write Home has 3 blogs to enlighten you about their operation. The Homefront Blog gives you instructions on what type/size of cards are needed...also things to not do, such as NO GLITTER. Any other bling or shiny cardstock is fine...just check to see that it doesn't flake off. The Hero Blog has letters that soldiers have taken the time to write to us. The OWH Stars and Stamps Blog has tutorials, sketch challenges, and other challenges...a good place to get some ideas and see other crafter's work!!!

Here are some cards I made for today's hop!!!






Please leave a comment for a chance to win a House-Mouse patriotic stamp!!! I will pick a winner using Random Integar on Tuesday June 1. This will give everybody a chance to get thru all the blogs....there are a lot!!!!

Your next stop is Tammy at My Craft Central. She has some gorgeous cards to share...she can really rock the cuttlebug folders!!! :) Enjoy!!!

11 May, 2010

Pre-Order Time Again!!!






Can you believe that it's time to pre-order the July 2010 House-Mouse Design of the Month???

Get your order in by May 17th and get a 10% discount! Use code HM10July.

05 April, 2010

House-Mouse Preorder!


It's that time again...time to preorder your House-Mouse Design of the Month stamps!!! May will be here this week - June needs to be preordered now!!! Here's a peek of the June stamps!



Be sure to order before April 15 to receive 10% discount! Use code HM10June.

Let me know if your need any other House-Mouse stamps and I can order them for you!

03 April, 2010

BlogHop Winner!!!


Finally... I am announcing the winner from OWH Spring Blophop!!! I promised a goodie for someone and here it is!!! This is the February House-Mouse Design of the Month stamps - words and image.



The winner is Dawn who said:

omg this card is so cute. I just love it. Thank you from my family to your hero!!

Dawn - please send me your mailing address and I will get your stamps out to you!!! The address is cutnpaste@tx.rr.com. Thanks for stopping by and thanks for participating in the bloghop!!!

20 March, 2010

OWH Spring Break BlogHop

Welcome to the OWH Spring Break Bloghop!!!!! You should have arrived here from Megan's blog. If you need to go back to the beginning of the hop go here.

Thank you for being a part of this Bloghop. Operation Write Home does a fabulous job for our armed service men and women (and their families) by providing handmade cards for them to write home to loved ones and also for sending "hero cards" for those service men and women who may need an extra boost or for someone who may not get much mail from home. We can use your help in making cards to send or for donations to help pay for expenses associated with sending cards to our soldiers. Children are also encouraged to make/send cards for our heroes. Operation Write Home has some guidelines for children's cards posted on their website.

I (and my company Cut n Paste Memories) have been involved with Operation Write Home for several years. We have sponsored several card-making workshops and hope to sponsor several more this year.

My baby brother Lewis J. Snow just returned from a second deployment to Iraq this past week. We are grateful that he was there for us - and VERY HAPPY that he is once again home!

Please take some time to make some cards or donate funds to help support Operation Write Home!

Here is my spring card:



*Paper: Bazzill Basics cardstock, *BasicGrey Origins Collection
*Stamp: Stampabilities House-Mouse April 2010 Design of the Month
*Ink: Ranger Archival Ink Pad
*Punch:Fiskars Treading Water Border Punch
*Brads: Sunshine Yellow
Prisma Colors and Gamsol and ribbon(stash)
*available at Cut n Paste Memories

Be sure to leave a comment and/or join our Facebook Fan Page for a chance to win some blog candy!!! I will randomly pick some lucky person on Monday March 22nd.

Thanks for stopping by. Your next stop is Jan's Art Friendzy. She has some gorgeous cards to share. She also is into knitting and quilting - a very talented lady!

Thanks a bunch!!!

02 March, 2010

New Distress Inks on board!!!!






Wow!!! Loving all the new Distress Ink Colors!!! The new colors are in and ready for ordering at Cut n Paste Memories.

I found this article at the Ranger site and thought I would share it here. It has some really good tips and techniques for using the Distress Inks.

Tips & Techniques

Tim Holtz™ Distress Ink™ Pads
Here are some key points that make Distress Inks different:

STAYS WET LONGER - (allows you to blend and shade on photos and paper - also emboss) other dye inks dry too fast especially on photos so you end up with lines and marks if you go direct from the pad.

COLOR WICKS OR SPREADS OUT - (these inks will travel across the surface of your paper when spritzed with water) other dyes do not travel as much although they might bleed a little when wet, the Distress Inks actually "wick" or spread out much further creating several tone on tones.

COLOR STABILITY - (the colors of the Distress Inks will not break down when wet or heated allowing you to have more color control for the finished look) other "brown colored" dyes will break down when water is added leaving a pink & green hue.

TO DISTRESS: I like to use water when I am distressing. I think it gives the papers more of a weathered texture, so here's how I start. Working on any type of paper (manila, cardstock, or text weight), crumple the paper up - always press in the center of any heavyweight cardstock or manila stock - this will break the surface tension of the paper and allow you to crumple up the paper easier without tearing it. Next rub the Distress pads over the surface - you can work with several different colors or just one - WALNUT STAIN IS IDEAL FOR THIS. Then spray the inked surface with water (you will immediately notice the ink "travels" outward when water is applied as these inks are designed to react with water). Heat the surface to dry - and here's why... Although you don't have to Heat Set these inks for any reason, I like to dry the water using either my Heat-It Craft Tool or an iron. This will allow for more tone control and keep areas dark and others light. Ironing the paper will also give you a much smoother surface to stamp on without compromising the aged finish. *If you allow the surface to air-dry most of your color will end up on the edges only because the paper will bend and buckle when wet, forcing the ink and water to the edges. Notice that these Distress Inks retain their color value even when wet and dried. Other brown dyes will break down in color (sometimes leaving a pink and green hue).

DOUBLE DISTRESS TAGS: Crumple tag and apply 2 colors (one new tone and one original tone) of Distress Inks directly from the pads to each crumpled tag. Spray with water and dry.

"WRINKLE-FREE" DISTRESSING
To create the look of aged papers, from times gone by, without all the lines and wrinkles - give this a try. Working on your non-stick Craft Sheet, begin by directly applying various colors of Distress Ink Pads to the surface of the Craft Sheet. A couple of swipes of a color or two will do the trick (you might also try using an original color of Distress Ink along with a new one!). Get out your Distress Re-Inkers for this next step as you want to add a bit of intense color for the ultimate vintage look. I like using Walnut Stain or Vintage Photo for this, so remove the glass dropper from the bottle and drag it across the inked Craft Sheet - do not squeeze any drops of ink as it will take over everything! Next mist the Craft Sheet with water to allow the inks to begin mixing and blending - usually 3-4 sprays is plenty. Then take your paper or tag and place in directly on the inked Craft Sheet and lift it off. If you have any un-inked areas simply place that area of the paper on any left over inks on the sheet. Finally dry your paper or tag using an iron or a Heat-It Craft Tool ( if you allow your papers to air dry they will curl and force most of the ink to the edges so I prefer to heat them to dry.). To finish your attic-fresh look, ink the edges with Distress Inks using a piece of Cut n' Dry Foam.

FOR STAMPING: What can I say about the many stamping applications these inks can achieve. Once again the special formulation on these Distress Inks provides a versatile finish on papers yet still allow for "normal" stamping applications. I like to stamp on uncoated (matte) papers and immediately rub the image with a cloth - this will soften or shadow your image WITHOUT smudging any detail - VINTAGE PHOTO, WALNUT STAIN, TEA DYE, BLACK SOOT - wonderful for this one! Another surface is glossy cardstock - keep in mind this is a different type of dye ink so when you stamp on glossy, certain areas of your image will "bead" up, once again providing a Distressed look without you doing a thing (this is probably one of my most favorite looks) - some areas of the image appear "pitted". Brayering on glossy cardstock is also wonderful because you can still manipulate the inks with different tools, brushes, your fingers, whatever. Even after the ink is applied you can achieve amazing texture and color shading.

ON PHOTOS: FINALLY an ink formulated for photos! Whether you're a scrapbooker or not you can use all types of photos (vintage or new ones) on your cards and pages. The Distress Inks work on all types of photos - inkjet, laser, toner copies, regular photos (matte or glossy) and even color photos! Start by using the lightest colors ANTIQUE LINEN or OLD PAPER with either a brayer or DTP (direct to photo). Cover the photo in the lighter colors, blend the colors with
a small piece of Cut n' Dry Foam after you apply the inks - these inks stay
wet long enough for you to blend out any lines or marks other ink pads leave on
photos. Next age the edges with VINTAGE PHOTO or WALNUT STAIN by applying the pad directly to the edges - soften and mix the tones with a small piece of Ranger Cut ‘n Dry™ Foam. Of course to complete the aged process lightly sand - YES SAND - the photo with medium grit sand paper. Don't go over anyone's face, but just make a few scratches here and there.

PHOTO TINTING:
Distress Inks acid-free, easy to blend formula makes them your best choice
for photo tinting. Make a black and white copy of your favorite photo onto
Ranger Gloss Paper. Select areas of your photo to colorize. Pick up ink directly from the Distress Pads with Cut n' Dry Nibs and color. It's that easy! Cut n' Dry Nibs provide the control you need to place colors exactly where you want them. Distress Photo Edging Make any photo look antique. Cut a small square of Cut
n’ Dry Foam. Ink the foam on one of the Distress pads. Rub the inked foam
around the edges of the photo for anaged effect.

THE RE-INKERS: The Distress re-inkers are so versatile and fun, especially the bottles they're in! These vintage looking glass dropper vials are perfect for aging a "batch" of tags, fibers, linens or whatever, in baths of Distress Inks & water. You can also create your own palette on your craft sheet using the reinkers and hand tint any black and white photo color by color (very fun thing to do). I also like using the resist ink or Perfect Medium and the reinkers to create amazing stained backgrounds on papers. Enjoy the journey…

Enjoy!




02 February, 2010

House Mouse


"Did you ever stop to think, and forget to start again?" -A. A. Milne








House Mouse stamps are one of my favorites!!! So I'm really excited to say that Cut n Paste Memories is going to start carrying them in the store. I will be ordering the Designs of the Month for January, February and March - as well as pre-ordering the April Design of the Month.

Let me know if you are interested in ordering any of these! January, February, and March should be here shortly. Pre-ordered April design will be here mid-March!!!! You can pre-order each month (April must be ordered by Feb 15th, May by March 15th, etc.) Or I can sign you up for all pre-orders and you won't miss a single one!!!