Just have some fun (and totally random) links for you…

• Remember THIS card? That great stamp set is now available outside of the card kit HERE. Love this set.
• Looking for a baby name? (Ha – I AM!) I love THIS site. Type in a name and it shows it’s popularity over the years. Pretty cool.
• Are you a Hero Arts fan? They just announced a new My Monthly Hero program HERE. I love THIS new birthday set from it. Fun.
• If you are on Facebook, I would love to have your vote for a belly photo contest. Each vote they get gives a dollar to the March of Dimes – awesome. If you are interested, click HERE.
• One of my new favorite cardmakers, Danielle Walls, has a new video series called “Shhh… Mommy’s Hiding.” So cute. Check it out HERE.
• Wanna see one of the best design teams ever? Truly. This is a strong group of artists. Go HERE – it is the A Blog Name Hero design team. Wow.
• I have gotten a few emails asking about our die cutting class, A Cut Above. The first half was traditional die cutting (Big Shot, Cuttlebug, etc.) and the second half is the Silhouette. Lots of fun techniques, a ton of videos and great prizes. You can still sign up HERE. Class is underway but you can catch up anytime as the content never goes away.
• Are you a mom? Proud of your kids? Wanna have a good cry? Go watch THIS.

I think that was enough random for tonight. On to the giveaway…

I have a great giveaway! THREE lucky winners will get a spot in my friend Julie Ebersole‘s upcoming class, Fold It Pop It Flip It Zip It. (If you have taken any Online Card Classes, you will be familiar with her work. She also does classes with Ellen Hutson… and they are fab!) Here is more info and it looks like fun…

Ready to take your standard card to a whole new level?  Learn how to incorporate specialty folds, shadow boxes, pop-ups and other fun interactive elements into your greetings!  Join long-time instructor Julie Ebersole for Fold It, Pop It, Flip It, Zip It! and learn more than a dozen different ways to add an extra element of fun and surprise to your card designs!

The two week course features video tutorials, complete step-by-step instructions, diagrams & patterns, along with project photos in downloadable PDF format.  Also included in the class are: A gallery, private forum, additional projects contributed by special guest designers, exclusive shopping discounts and prize drawings!

Come and go to the classroom on your own schedule, and, as always, enjoy lifetime access to all class materials! Class begins May 7-18! For more information, head HERE.

So here is your chance to win one of three spots. Just leave a comment here by Friday at 11:59pmEST. Oh, and if you have any baby name ideas, I would love to hear them. Good luck!

See you soon.

“Join Kelly Purkey in another installment of her popular Sketchbook class! Sketchbook 4 is a four week class filled with fresh sketches, easy instructions, beautiful examples, and lots of fun. This class is designed to be used at any time and over + over again when you need inspiration.

Sketchbook is different from any other sketch class out there because Kelly and the contributors offer design tips and detailed explanation of what makes a page work. It’s more than sketches – they’ll deliver valuable pointers for creating great layouts.

By the end of the class, you’ll have a complete sketchbook of 12 original sketches, 38 layouts, and an ADDITIONAL 38 sketches based on those creative pages. All the examples are brand new layouts, exclusive to this class… you won’t see them anywhere else! You will be receiving an example layout from Kelly for each of the sketches, along with two example layouts from a Studio Calico Design Team member and some of your favorite SC Guest Designers.”

Hope to see you there. Interested in winning a spot? Just leave a comment here by Thursday night for your chance.

Here are a few things I have found that you may want to check out…

• The folks at Lawn Fawn are having a great inspiration week with lots of card ideas. Adorable stuff HERE.
• I have loved seeing Heather’s tag creations based on the Tim Holtz Creative Chemistry 101 class. Gorgeous work.
• I am really impressed by the new A Blog Named Hero site. Good stuff.

See you soon.

I am excited to help celebrate the launch of a new website – A Blog Named Hero. This blog honors all things Hero Arts and will have fun challenges, prizes and card shares. This makes me so happy as I feel Hero Arts is one of the best companies in the industry – without a doubt. So this blog? Awesome idea. (BTW… the blog isn’t part of Hero Arts but rather was created by two sweet ladies – Mary Dawn and Linda – who are just fans of the company. Hero Arts is supporting them with prizes and such, though.)

They are kicking off the blog with a celebration week starting today. I am one of the featured folks, and here is a peek at my card…

To see the card in all it’s Distress-Inked-glory, head HERE. And please do head there today because two other ladies created STUNNING cards that are worth checking out. Wow. Oh, and I may or may not have hooked them up with some stamps to giveaway. Hint hint.

Be sure to add A Blog Named Hero to your Google Reader or subscribe. They have lots of fun things planned and great prizes.

Enjoy!

I recently found out about a fellow crafter who lost her home in a fire. Her friend, Kelly, is collecting cards and craft goodies to replenish her supplies and bring a smile to her face. If you are interested in helping out, please head HERE. I have my box of stamps ready to ship – I can’t imagine losing so much.

Thanks… see you tomorrow.

I wanted to pop in with some good news.

Due to the great excitement around Tim’s class, we will be moving open registration up to tomorrow – Saturday the 25th. If you were already an Online Card Classes newsletter subscriber, you should have received a few emails with links to a discounted class price for pre-registration. If you got one of these, be sure to do it right away! When it opens for registration tomorrow, the class with be the normal fee of $35. And no worries, everyone. The class will not fill – so if you can’t sign up right away, you can always sign up next week, next month, next anything. It will be fun! Just go HERE to sign up starting tomorrow.

There is a new product that I wanted to share with you. I love it!

I bet a lot of you out there are as addicted to foam dots as I am. They are a great way to add dimension and interest without a lot of bulk for mailing. And if you are like me, sometimes you find it hard to cut  white foam dots small enough so that the white doesn’t show around the sides of a small piece.

Well, this product solves that. They are Kool Tak Clear Foam Dots and Foam Tape. That’s right – no more seeing the white from the sides. Yay! I really like these. They are super strong and aren’t too bulky, which is nice. (But if you want thicker, you can layer two.) You can cut the pieces in half – the adhesive is so strong you don’t need to use much.

I will still be using my favorite white foam adhesive (EK Success 1/16″ and American Crafts 1/8″) for most of my crafting. But for small pieces or special cards, I will be using this new clear. You can find the Clear Foam Dots HERE and the Clear Foam Tape HERE.

Enjoy!

The background of this was such fun to make…

Using ink…

And one with tracing…

I use the Studio Calico Intertwined Circle Mask for these, and the other supplies are linked below. For more info, visit the Studio Calico blog.

I also wanted to give you a heads up that True Scrap 3 is coming up. I won’t be a part of it this time around (as I don’t want to be in labor during class – ha) but there is a GREAT crew of teachers. (I am going to sign up and take the classes.) If you go HERE and sign up for the info email, you will get a discount for when the class sign ups open.

See you there.

I also wanted to give an update on giveaways. I have a bunch of goodies that I have uncovered while purging my studio. And instead of doing the normal giveaway method, I am going to randomly give away prizes to comments left on any day. So I may give a prize to someone who leaves a comment today… tomorrow… sometime. That will be more fun! We will give this a try for awhile.

Oh, and we have winners. The winner of the Echo Park Paper is Paula C. and the winner of the Amuse dies is Anthonette. I emailed you both.

Delicious, isn’t it? You can get the kit HERE or sign up for a subscription HERE. (Since Kristina Werner is the master mind behind these, I am sure each month will be just as eye-catching.)

Will be back soon. Possibly with some sand in my toes. Take care!

Just popping in to share a card. This was a card I created for class, but didn’t like. But I never pitch anything – I figure every card (good or bad) will makes someone smile when they get it in the mail.

This one uses a new technique I shared over in the Clean and Simple Card Making Class. If you are in the class, you will recognize the technique. Very easy to do – just some Distress Inks and water…

Supplies are all linked below in the thumbnails.

Fun to play with color like this. Oh, and it isn’t too late to join in the class and get the discounts, prize chances, lifetime access, etc. Go HERE for more info.

I also have some fun links for you tonight. Lovely stuff:

• You MUST stop by Kelly Rasmussen’s blog this week. She is doing some amazing cards with Hero stamps. Lovely work.
• I have really enjoy Marion Vagg‘s work lately. So very classy.
• Cheiron makes the most beautiful cards. THIS makes me happy.

Finally, we have a winner of Amy’s class – SuZeQ. I emailed ya.

Thanks for stopping by!

Just wanted to share a few heads up. These are just things I have seen or know of that I thought you all might be interested. A little of this and a little of that – something for everyone.

You gotta move quick on this one! (Sorry – I just found it – the deadline is soon.) Lawn Fawn is having a challenge where the winners will have their cards in their catalog and CHA booth. Fun!

Love this challenge. For more info, go HERE.

Have you been thinking of joining Studio Calico? Now is the time. Enter the code SUBNOW to get 25% your entire order when you subscribe.

This is good through 1/10. Click HERE for more info.

Speaking of Studio Calico, they have a new class called Stretch Your Kit that has caught my eye. I love the idea behind it… and the teacher. Amy Tan is fabulous, and her class talks about making the most of product – making it go further. Love.

Click HERE for more info.

I just noticed that the newest BasicGrey line is now available. So excited! THIS Kissing Booth 6×6 paper pad is fabulous. Love the chevron pink paper in it. Yum…

Check it out HERE.

May Flaum has a great class with Big Picture coming up called Field Guide. I think this one will be fun because it brings together lots of different crafts and shares techniques and ways to get more from your product. (I even pitched in a tiny bit of help, too.) You can see a video about it HERE.

Click HERE for more info.

A few of my friends (including Kim Kesti, Betsy Veldman, Allison Landy and Teri Anderson) have a new card class at Big Picture called Cooking Up Cards. This class looks like fun, with happy card ideas and helpful recipes for success. Click HERE for more info. Here is a fun card from it…

And guess what? I told Kim I wanted to share this on my blog and she said I could give a spot in the Cooking Up Cards class away here! Just leave a comment here by Saturday night for your chance to win. Good luck.

See you soon.

]]> http://www.jennifermcguireink.com/2012/01/some-heads-up-and-a-giveaway.html/feed 252 http://www.jennifermcguireink.com/2011/12/cool-links-giveaway.html?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=cool-links-giveaway http://www.jennifermcguireink.com/2011/12/cool-links-giveaway.html#comments Wed, 07 Dec 2011 02:56:37 +0000 Jennifer http://www.jennifermcguireink.com/?p=4513 Hey there!

Just wanted to share some fun things I have seen online lately… things I thought you may like.

I am sure you all are loving the 12 Tags of Christmas that Tim Holtz is doing over on his blog. So inspiring! Well, the folks over at Ellen Hutson are doing a feminine twist on the 12 tags idea and they are fabulous, too. You can find them HERE.

The adorable Margie Romney-Aslett has a new holiday class that looks fabulous. I saw some peeks of the projects and immediately emailed her and asked I could share the class info with you here.

Her class is called Spark Your Christmas. It is a five day on-line video course starting Monday December 5th. (No worries – you can join in now and still get all the benefits.) Each video will be chuck full of ideas and project instruction. The content for the class will be available at your leisure and online for 6 months. What I like about this class is that there are gift ideas, garland, table decor, gift wrap and more. Love it. Click HERE for more info.

If you have read my blog for some time, you know I am a big fan of Lisa Russo. Not only is she a friend (she gives the best advice) but she is one of the most talented photographers I know. Her work is simply amazing. So when I saw her new 2012 photo calendar, I had to order one. So classy and the perfect gift for just about anyone. (Can you say “easy teacher gifts?”) Click HERE for more info.

Well, I emailed Lisa telling her how gorgeous I thought these calendars are and she said I could give one away here on my blog. Yay! Just leave a comment here by Friday night for your chance to win. Good luck!

Oh, and we have some winners from past giveaways:

• The winner of the Hero Arts DVDs is Maggie Haroldson.
• The winner of adhesives is lorianna.
• The winner of the Tim Holtz dies is Cheri Weston.
• And the winner of the big giveaway – the Vagabond – is Lisa Silver!

Have a great day.

Here are my last ten ideas for you. I hope you found something you think your loved one will love. Remember, if you click on the links to head over to Simon Says Stamp, you will get 15% discount and free shipping over $75. A big thanks to them! Here we go…

Every cardmaker looks for new and different ways to make cards. Something fun? Clear cards. Clear cards are such fun. I have lots of examples on my blog (search on “acetate”) – I use them a ton. The pack comes with clear cards (super thick and oh so nice), white inserts and envelopes. (Click HERE for more info.)

Here is one example of a clear card I have done. So much fun to use.

12×12 patterned papers can sometimes be intimidating with loud and large patterns. This is one reason I love 6×6 paper pads and use them almost exclusively. They are fabulous for cardmaking and scrapbooking – the perfect gift. (Click HERE for more info.)

Sometimes the simplest gifts are the best. I am loving these simple Stardust Glitter Pens. They are super fine tip and add just the tiniest bit of sparkle. Nothing over the top – just a little. Perfection. One of my favorite things to use these for is to trace a stamped greeting with this pen so it shines a touch. Your crafty gal will love it – and it is a steal. (Click HERE for more info.)

I get a lot of people asking what notecards and envelopes I use. I always use Hero Arts Hero Hues stuff. The cards are nice and thick and white on the inside. And the paper packs are great for cutting the vertical 4.25″x11″ pieces to fold into a card. I especially love their envelopes – they have a unique flap that I adore (see the photo). A great gift would be a box full of these – colorful goodness. (Click HERE for more info.)

I find myself using Mini Misters a ton. I keep a few with water (who wants to stop creating to refill?) and several with different colors of Perfect Pearls. So, I really like having these little organizers. And it comes with 12 misters – perfection! (Click HERE for more info.)

The black enamel? Perfect for cute little eyes on stamped animals. The white enamel? Perfect for little dots to accent cards. When you squeeze out these White and Black Enamel Accents, they immediately go into a tiny perfect ball. A must-have. And it is costs close to nothing. (Click HERE for more info.)

OK. You have to admit – Doodlebug’s Buttons are so stinkin’ cute. I can assure you that every crafter would love some of these. The colors and quality are fab – yum yum yum. (Click HERE for more info.)

Here is a fun necklace I made this them. Love these buttons…

I love die cutting. And if your crafty loved one has any kind of die cutting machine, you will want to get her some My Favorite Things Die-namics. These are the cutest, most inexpensive dies in town. They can be used with the Cuttlebug, Big Shot – anything. Another great thing: They used to offer some dies in a stamp+die combo, but now offer them all separately! My favorites? The Framed Greeting label, Notched Tag (adore the small heart and star), Polka Dot Greeting, Well Worn Greetings (great to layer – so lovely), Layered Labels (again fab for layering) and Rolled Roses. Oh, and this company is based in Florida and the owner is so very nice. (Click HERE for more info.)

I mentioned earlier this week my love of Memory Box Dies. I wanted to point out one in particular – the Round Buttons. I love the idea of creating faux buttons. Buttons work on just about any card, but can often add too much bulk for shipping. This is a great solution! (Click HERE for more info.)

This gift idea is the cheapest (free) but definitely the most valuable. Give your crafty gal a card promising hours of “creative time” – where she can create and forget about all the craziness that is life. She will love ya for this one.

Hope these help. Happy shopping.

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