Then I used the print and cut files from the Folkart Love Digital elements to cut out the decorations to hang on the tree.

I simply opened one of the print and cut files, selected both the image and cut line, copied it and then pasted it into a new document.  Then I re-sized the image smaller (around 2 inches in my case).  I copied my re-sized image and cut file and pasted in a copy.  Next I flipped the copy so when I glue them back to back they will match perfectly.  You can flip your copy by going to Object – Transform – Flip Horizontal.

I repeated that for all the images until I ended up with a print and cut file that looked like this:

I printed and cut 2 copies of the file on my Silhouette – so I had 2 of each design.  You could do more or less, depending on your sticks.

Then I twisted some hangers from floral wire and sandwiched the wire between the front and back copies for the printed element.  The wire is handy because you can bend it to fit on the branches and angle the decorations any way you want.

I hung my decorations on the sticks, and then hot glued on a few paper flowers – just to make it look a little more springy.

Now to move it to that lonely corner of my dining room….

Before I get to challenge #12, I’d like to thank everyone who played along with the last challenge. There were 77 beautiful entries!! Thank you so much!!

I had the difficult task of trying to pick the 3 Favorite Peeps! You guys made it very difficult to pick just three so I went rogue and picked FOUR this time!! There was no way I could take one more from my list….

And here are my Favorite Peeps (in no particular order):

• Twisted Witch
• Faye
• lis-m
• Cely

Congratulations! Feel free to grab our badge for your blog:

Now on to Challenge #12 – use ribbon! I have to admit I’m not much of a ribbon user but there is nothing as beautiful as seeing ribbon used creatively on a card or project. I’m talking those double/triple loop bows, those beautiful knots that are just the right finishing touch or ribbon turned into a beautiful flower.

Let’s see what the team has come up with for this challenge….

Melissa created this bright and cheery card that makes long for Spring. She used Sarah J’s The Good Life: February Mini Kit

Cathy created this fantastic card using XOXO by ForeverJoy Designs and Valentine Sentiments Digital Stamps by Arty Pants Digital Stamps

and this beauty was created by Julie using Bohemian Rhapsody by Quirky Twerp

PROJECT SUPPLIES

• Cherish digital kit AND Cherish Borders Elements pack BY ViVa Artistry
• Valentine Sentiments digital stamps by Arty Pants Digital stamps.
• craft metal
• alcohol inks -LATTE, RUST, ESPRESSO, AND PITCH BLACK
• alcohol blending solution
• alcohol ink applicator
• precious metals leafing finish
• oval punch
• Spellbinder dies – SCALLOPED HEART, FANCY TAGS
• E6000 glue, ribbon, paper flowers

Cut the scalloped heart shape using the largest and next largest dies from craft metal.

Add two layers of paint.  Instead of stroking on the paint dab it on so that you are a creating a textured surface on the metal.

I used about a 2:1 ratio of the lighter colors (Latte and Rust) to the darker colors (Espresso and Pitch Black) when I dotted them on my applicator. This was followed with a little squirt of Blending Solution.

Randomly dab the applicator onto the heart shape. Let dry and repeat until you have the desired effect.

I used the pretty flower bouquet from the CHERISH BORDERS ELEMENTS PACK on a background from CHERISH DIGITAL KIT along with a sentiment from the VALENTINE SENTIMENTS DIGITAL STAMPS.  These were sized to fit the heart and my oval punch and printed  out on matte photo paper.

The scalloped heart die was used to cut around the flower. I wasn’t too particular about the edges because they are covered by the metal heart.  I added a little brown ink around the edge to shade the flower.

The Fancy Tags die was used to make a background for the sentiment the same way the heart was made. 

Adhere the sentiment to the Fancy Tag and the flower to the back of the heart.  Small brads were used to attach the tag to the front of the heart.

Small holes were punched at the top of the heart and metal wire was used to create a handle.

A small flower and ribbon was added to the top of the handle.

Thanks so much for stopping by today and have a very sweet and happy Valentine’s Day!

Welcome to the Card Template challenge – a new monthly challenge here at The Hybrid Chick.

Each month, a new card template will be posted here on The Hybrid Chick (it’s also posted in our Challenge forum at The Digichick). Your assignment, should you choose to accept it, is to create a card using the template provided. As with any template, we want you to be inspired so feel free to improvise on the template a little to your liking.

For those of you who keep saying “I don’t do Hybrid” or “I can’t do Hybrid”, I say give the card template a try. Think of it as a mini layout – simply add your papers, elements and a few shadows. print, cut and fold. There you go… a digital card.

Next time, try cutting out one or more “parts” of the card and using some glue dots or 3D foam to adhere it to your card for real dimension. Maybe tie some ribbon around your card. And guess what? You’ve just created your first Hybrid project!

Are you ready for our first Card template? Here it is – a very simple template to get you started.

You can get the template (which includes a psd file, png files and a sketch copy) HERE

Here is my card that I created from the template – I used Sherwood Studio Together at Last patterned papers and Arty Pants Card Sentiments digital stamps:

How about some fantastic samples of what can be done with the template from the team?

Melissa created this beautiful card using Dani and Mari’s Bee Happy kit:

Cathrine, of Paper Garden Projects, created this sweet, sweet card using her own Folk Art Love kit:

Sharon created this wonderful baby card (that I want to steal from her!) using the kit Brady’s Room from Wishing Well Creations:

Cathy created this stunning card using Vanilla Noir by Quirky Twerp:

and finally, Joana’s beautiful card using the Feb. boutique collab A Love Story and Arty Pants Valentine Sentiments both of which are new releases today!

So, what are you waiting for??? You CAN do it, I know it!

Today I prettied up a plain notebook…super easy and a complete transformation in just a few minutes!

Supplies needed:

• Sarah Jones – Smitten
• Plain Notebook
• Ribbon
• Punches
• Adhesive, foam dimensional
• pads
• Sentiment Stamp – I used Take Note from Papertrey Ink.

1. Gather your supplies and print out papers and elements in your software. I used Photoshop Elements for mine.

2. Cover front of notebook with adhesive. I used double sided sticky tape.

3. Lay paper over the sticky tape to adhere.

4. Trim around patterned paper with scissors or craft knife.

5. Trim more patterned paper and cut ends so it look like ribbon. Then adhere to the front of the notebook.

6. Trim and add pretty ribbons.

7. Punch out 2 scallops using a 2.5″ scalloped punch and punch out element with a 2″ circle punch.

8. Using a small hole punch, punch out holes around the scallop circle, then lay pink scallop onto black scallop and adhere.

9. Stamp sentiment onto punched circle element and adhere to the front of the notebook with foam squares.

There you have it!!  What a transformation of what was once a very plain notebook!!

Here is the digital kit I used.

Have a great day!

Hugs, Bonnie x

Coming up with a boy-approved project has been harder than I expected. I wanted something that would be easy to create since I’ll be making dozens of them. I also wanted something without all the pink and frills that often come with V-day celebrations.

When I saw Sarah Jones’ Smitten Kit in the shop, with such great papers in red, aqua, and yellow, I knew I’d found a winner with lots of boy appeal.

To get started, I designed my heart shape in my design software. I’m working in CS5, which has a heart shape built in. I drew my shape, adjusted it’s size to fit two on my 4×6 canvas, then dropped papers and text on until I was happy.

I have a big supply of 4×6 photo paper, so that’s what I printed my hearts on. I love the thickness and sheen the photo papers gives to the project, but regular cardstock would work well, too. I’m a big fan of using what you have on hand!

Next, I carefully cut each heart shape out.

Then, I punched a hole on each side of the heart. This is where you’ll slide the pencil through. If your hole punch isn’t big enough to fit the pencil width, make a second punch that overlaps the first one. Now your pencil will slide right in!

And now you’re done!

The only requirement to being a Hybrid Chick is one blog post/tutorial a month BUT you are free to be as active in the community as you’d like.

Some Hybrid chicks are very active (like a site Creative Team member) and others pop in to the forum to pick their blog post date and that’s it. Both are totally acceptable!

As a Hybrid Chick, you are welcome to anything in the store that you want to create or scrap with provided that you use it in a reasonable time. Scrap a page, create a Hybrid project, join in a challenge, complete a layout ahead of time for a challenge, host a CT challenge, scrap with new releases for the newsletter, tweet/post of facebook – any or all of the above to whatever degree you want.

Going Hybrid is a great way to combine Digital Scrapbooking with your traditional supplies such as rubber stamps, copics, die cutters, etc.

You just have to do one monthly tutorial/project on THC blog to remain a member of THC team.

Requirements:
1 blog post (project photos and tutorial) per month
{Additional projects are welcome, but not required}

Perks:
Opportunity to create layouts/projects with new products
for The Digichick weekly new release newsletter

To apply:
Please send the following information to
luann at thedigichick dot com

your name & username
why you want to be a Hybrid Chick
link to your gallery and/or blog
a list of your current teams
and
a little about yourself

Call ends February 3, 2012
Announcement of new Hybrid Chicks February 8, 2012.

I look forward to hearing from you and seeing who will join the team!

PS…a huge THANK YOU to Michelle Batton for creating that gorgeous ad you see above!!!

I decided to create a decorative heart garland with photos and pretty paper with just a few supplies that I had on hand. I created two types of heart ornaments, single photo heart ornaments and double heart patterned paper ornaments,  with Sugarplum Paperie’s Chocolate Kisses kit and strung them together.

Here are the supplies that I needed:

• 4×6 prints with 6 2×2 pictures
• Double sided patterned papers or cardstock
• Ribbon
• Hole punch
• Attachments (Stapler or Tape)

To create a photo heart ornament:

Cut the 4×6 prints down the center to create two strips of 2 inch x 6 inch and cut the patterned paper to strips of 4 inch x 6 inch

Adhere the strips of patterned paper to the back of each 2 inch x 6 inch photo strip. Place two photo strips facing each other and attach at the top. Note that I trimmed a bit of the side of my pictures so that the paper would frame the edge

Fold the strips over and attach at the bottom

To create a double heart ornament:

Cut the patterned paper to strips of 2 inch x 6 inch and 2 inch x 4.5 inch.

Place the two patterned papers facing each other, layer the solid cardstock on top of each side and attach at the top.

Fold the shorter pieces of solid cardstock over and adhere at the bottom to create the first inner heart. Repeat with the patterned papers to create the outer heart.

Hole punch each heart and string together to form your garland.

I’d like to take a moment, on behalf of the entire Card Caravan team, to thank you all for playing along with our last challenge which was to include some sparkle on your card/projects. With each and every challenge, you continue to inspire and amaze us with your creativity!

At this time, I’d like to announce Julie’s Favorite Peeps from the last challenge. In no particular order, they are:

• Sasha
• Maria B
• Micki

Feel free to grab our badge to display on your blog!

Now, on to our new challenge – get out those dies and punches! I want you to use them in a new, unique way! Get creative with them. For example, you could create a flower using your scallop border die.

How about some Design Team inspiration?

Julie created this beautiful card using Read all Over by Elise’s Pieces and On This Day by Quirky Twerp. She used a Cheery Lyn doily die and a MS deep edge punch:

Next, we have Melissa’s oh-so-sweet card using Elise’s Pieces Affirmation, a Mat Stack 4 Die from Papertrey Ink and sentiment stamps from Waltzingmouse Stamps:

Cathy created this super sweet treat bag using the brand new Smitten kit by Sarah Jones:

I created my card using Elise’s Young Love {Mini kit} and a Fiskars scallop edge punch to create a void in my patterned paper to stamp my sentiment:

Personally, I’m not ready to think about Easter and the DigiChick designers haven’t started creating their Easter kits yet, so today I’m going to show you how I altered this simple little white lantern into a sweet little Valentine’s Day decoration for my home.

Supplies used

• small Rotera lantern from Ikea
• Valentine Retrospect digital scrapbook kit by Quirky Twerp
• Fiskars paper trimmer
• stylus or bone folder for scoring
• Zots sticky dots adhesive
• scalloped border punch
• scalloped circle punch
• small circle punch
• Epson matte presentation paper

First, I measured one pane of the lantern to determine how to create my document. The pane measured about 3″ high by 2″ wide. I created one clipping mask on my document that was the size of four blocks, and one that was the size of two blocks. I also created a clipping mask that was 11″ high x 1.5″ wide to use as my strip of paper for my accordion flower. Finally, I created a 2.125″ square that contained the letters LOVE and the white paper from the kit.

I printed the document and then cut apart each piece. I turned my scalloped circle punch upside down so I could make sure my letters were in the center of the circle.

To create my accordion flower, I started by punching one long edge of my paper strip with the open scallop border punch.

Next, I used my stylus to score in between each scallop. I used the groove on my Fiskars paper trimmer to guide the stylus in a straight line.

Once the whole strip had been scored, I folded the strip up as though I were making a paper fan. Then I placed several small Zots sticky dots on one end of the strip.

I attached the short ends of the strip to form a circle. Then I pushed the middle together and held it in place by adding a Zots 3-D Sticky Dot to a small circle I had punched out.

I attached another circle to the front with the same 3-D sticky dot. Then I attached the LOVE scalloped circle on top of the accordion flower. I set the completed embellishment aside while I fitted the inside of the lantern with the paper I had printed out.

I took the 8″ rectangle of paper and scored it at 2″ intervals. I folded the paper and then placed it inside the lantern. It was a little too tall, so I had to trim a tiny sliver of paper off the bottom. I placed the paper back into the lantern, and used sticky dots on the four outer corners to adhere the paper inside.

After that paper was secured, I took the smaller rectangle and fitted it to the door of the lantern, adhering it in the same way, with small sticky dots on the outer four corners of the paper.

The lantern looks pretty sweet with just the pretty paper inside the glass, but I wanted to take it a step further in its beauty, so I added the accordion flower. I also decided at the last minute to add a ribbon and flower cluster to the top of the handle.

I just tied a bow with some ribbon, added a red felt brad to the center of two six-petal white flowers, and then added a flat-backed pearl to the top of the brad. I placed a sticky dot on the back of this cluster and added it to the handle.

And there you have it – a sweet little lantern all dressed up for Valentine’s Day! This project was so quick, easy, and inexpensive and I love how it turned out!