Artist Tray

Gosh, I have been so busy lately. Although I feel like I haven't done much. 

I just finished my brothers wedding invitations... and wow, what will I ever do with all my time? 

Oh, yeah... bridal shower invitations, decorations, favors and giveaways. 

But, I still am making time for my own stuff... 

Like this little gem. 

A little wall hanging for my bathroom. 

I had been drooling over this artist tray from 7 gypsies for some time.

Finally I bought it and used it. Yippee!

Cheers. 

N

Challenged!

A Muse Challenge.... I'm Back!

So, maybe some of you know my obsession with A Muse... they have literally the cutest stamps ever~

If you haven't heard of them... check em' out! 

So here is my take of the Challenge this month... 

The inspiration...

I was really liking the simplicity of the card and wanted to keep the simple theme going... 

My Card...

Cheers.

N.

Not Above Bribery, Kiki Art Giveaway!

Alright Readers, you've been caught! 

I was wondering, for a long while, if my husband and my bff were the ONLY people reading my blog. So, I decided to do a little detective work and I found out.... wow, people really do read my blog!

Here is a little incentive, or bribe, to make your presence known... 

A treat box full of Kiki supplies could be yours, here's how:

1. Become a follower if you can and

or

2. Comment on this post making sure I can get a hold of you if you win :) 

Your prize... 

So, comment away and tell all your friends to come comment.... if I hit 25 comments, I'll double the prize~

and if I hit 50, I'll pick two names!

Ends: March 18

Thank you for commenting and visiting my blog.... your support keeps me going!

Cheers.

N.

(If for some reason it won't let you comment, please email me and let me know : nicolehrixon@gmail.com)

Check Out My New 'Pages'

I have added three galleries to my blog... so that way inspiration is just a gallery away. 

Check out the gallery pages under my header, 

'Gallery of Layouts' 

'Gallery of Cards' 

and

 'Gallery of Altered Art'... 

I worked on some cards today, on the list... 

1. Wedding Card

2. Thank you Card

3. Sympathy Card 

Here they are :) 

I used some scratch sheets from my last layout.

Cheers.

N

Doing it all...

Have you ever noticed that if you want to share your scrapbooking gifts with others you have to know it all? What I mean by that is, not only do you have to be a great scrapbooker.... You have to excel at blogging, following multiple boards, posting about others work, posting about yours.... and the last one and perhaps the most important, photography.

I resisted starting a blog and thought I would rather be scrapbooking than blogging about scrapbooking. But, I came around to it and actually enjoyed having a voice in the world wide web; even if no one reads it. 

And here I am on the cusp of the next step. I bought my first Digital SLR Canon camera. Whew. 

I kinda always thought, I am not a photographer and I like that my scrapbooking has an organic regular person feel to it. I didn't want to think that to fully enjoy the hobby I had to be some fantastic photographer. Now that I have finally given in. I love it. Yep, with cameras now a days you can literally point and shoot. It just captures what I want in a way better quality. But, I am still not a photographer so my people pictures are as organic as they were with my little Coolpix, just a way better quality. 

Here is the deal, I think that scrapbooking is literally the best gift you can give to your children. It's a life journal with photos. I don't want anyone to think that in order to scrapbook you have to 'do it all'... that is simply not the case. And, I know plenty of people who 'do it all' and its nothing more than some fashionable buttons next to a photo, not a meaningful story. I want to create the best scrapbook possible for future generations and for my husband and I to look back and remember this amazing journey. 

Check out the new Gallery Of Work page under my header to see a slide show of my work using my new camera. Here is a new layout... 

Start scrapbooking already!

Some older layouts... 

So much better quality, huh? Now it's just a matter of plugging along taking back log photos of my work... it would certainly help if it wasn't cloudy and raining!

Cheers.

N.

GCD studio paper... loving it.

Not to much to say today. Just a layout using GCD paper... I love their stuff. So classy! 

Great for a wedding photo, wouldn't ya say? 

All the cute little embellishments...

Cheers.

N.

Nicole's Review of the L Letterpress

YOU ASKED .... and here it is :) 
A VIDEO REVIEW: 


Nicole's Video Review Here






The L Letterpress... 

My review, some user tips, and some photos!

Anyone who doesn't know... 

the L Letterpress is an accessory of Quickutz Epic Machine. 

Looks like this... 

Basically, the L Letterpress de-bosses and imprints an image simultaneously. 

Creating a professional letterpress effect for the home crafter. 

Well, when I saw this little baby I just had - to - have it! 

And after reading several positive reviews and using the excuse

"I'm doing my brothers wedding invites and this would be perfect" ... 

I jumped in the deep end and bought it. 

So here is my review. 

I would consider myself a seasoned crafter, having tried and succeeded  at most 

everything crafty, and out of the box this tool has a learning curve.

I mean to say, don't think that you can just ink up the brayer and have perfect letterpress

out of the gate... oh, no. 

BUT!!

Once you do get the hang of it, hopefully quicker than me with my tips, 

it is one of the more fun tools I have ever bought. 

Tip 1.

Use double sided sticky tape... it works way better than the provided adhesive. 

Tip 2. 

Odds are you don't need any more 'filler' paper to make a deep impression. So, 

I would steer clear. Unfortunately, some of the plates tend to crack and when 

you start to fill up the inside of it with extra filler paper.  

You'll know when they crack because it's loud. 

Tip 3.

When they say it doesn't take much ink... listen to them! No need to trace over 

the plate 3 and 4 times with the brayer. You'll be unhappy with the 

blurred results. Crisp letterpress is just ONE ink away. 

Tip 4. 

The 'ink' is more accurately described as 

oil based stickiness. So, the best way to clean without 

spending an arm and a leg on the L Letterpress cleaning clothes... is... 

you guessed it... Goo Gone. 

You can leave the 'ink' on everything for days and it comes

right off with a little Goo Gone. 

I have also read that baby wipes work. 

Maybe I'll try it the next time I go to the store and report back to you. 

Tip 5. 

Don't use the foam placing things they give you. Honestly, 

you don't need them. Like I mentioned I did my brothers wedding 

invites and I did two impressions on each invite, for a total of 200 impressions... 

and when each invite was place it never moved... not once. 

Tip 6.

I have yet to use the soft cotton paper that the machine came with. 

Right out of the box I used it on regular ol cardstock. 

It worked great... as you will see on my photos... 

I am sure that the soft cotton paper makes a better deeper impression...

but if I couldn't use it on regular cardstock I would have been 

regretting the purchase. But, like I said, it works really well.

Ok, without any further commentary here is the proof in the pudding...

Disclaimer: the brayer in the above photos is in gold ink but

the cards are in the black ink... I was working on another project while I was taking 

the photos... sorry about the confusion. 

When my brother gives the go ahead I will share his wedding invites. 

They were without any ink. The impression is really really nice. 

I am excited to share. 

Please ask me any questions! 

I really did learn a lot of this machine the hard way... so, maybe I can save you the same!

Cheers.

N

Feeling Grey... Basic Grey that is.

Well, I had high hopes to re-take my photos from yesterday... 

But alas, the weather thought otherwise.  

RAIN! 

So, I did another layout today and 

I took some more photos of yesterdays... and thats that. 

I am calling it quits on pictures for that layout. 

Retakes... 

whatever. 

Perhaps another tomorrow? 

Maybe some better weather... heck, Jake has to study tonight

and I have recently restocked my photo wall... so maybe 

some more tonight. 

Cheers. 

N

Gettin' Stuff Done, Done, and DONE!

First I might like to mention, 

for those who use Pandora radio, 

the Goo Goo Dolls station is simply the bestest ever. 

I was the inspiration for this blog post and probably 

the next few.

 Loving it!

Ok, so lets get to the bottom of it all. Here is the latest 

creation out of my creation factory. 

Yeah, I pretty much love it. 

I think I will re-take the photo tomorrow. I am not loving how it looks here. 

Yikes. 

NEXT:

Anyone who knows me, outside my college years, knows I 

am a self-proclaimed organized clean freak. 

Yep, over half the fun of scrapbooking is color coding and 

organizing my rather large stash of goodies... 

So, here is another thing I added to the ever 

growing room this weekend. I really like it. 

Ribbons, flowers, and buttons have a new home... 

Peace out... until tomorrow... when I update these photos 

and possibly have something new to share. 

ONE WHOLE MONTH! WHAT!

OMG, where have you been all my life... my blog!

Oh, how I've missed you! 

And my legions of fans are missing regular updates!

 (eyes rolled)

Anyway, lets get to the beef! 

This is going to be a crazy long blog, 

So, I plan to keep the commentary to a minimum. 

Here goes it, lets go backwards... 

Valentines Day.

My gift from my hubby... 

Scrapbook page inspired by gift from hubby.

Making Valentines with the amazing little girl I tutor...

Working on my brothers upcoming wedding... 

invites, centerpieces, decor...

Invitation mess

Mockup 1

Mockup 2

CHA!!!

Otherwise known as the largest Craft and Hobby trade show!

Here is some stuff I made for one of the

companies I design for, Kiki!

Picture from Kiki Arts Booth

Pictures from Simply Renee Booth 

(another company I design for)

Random CHA photos

Busy month for me... Yikes! 

Oh, yeah... and a wedding... 

I'll be back again soon with some more much needed 

and popular commentary! HA!

Card Catch Up!

Hello 2 0 1 0 !!! 

I'm back!

Missing yours truly? 

Nothing too much new to report, other than 

I am busy creating wedding invitation ideas for my brother and his fiance. 

So, lots of crafting has happened. Just nothing I can really 

openly share. Sorry peps! However, for all my family

keep posted and I will randomly post picture peeks~ Heck the color of this 

font may be a hint in and of itself. 

Anywho, I am gearing up for CHA in Anaheim on the 23rd... 

So freakin excited... I have to network like crazy. Although I wouldn't 

say I am great at meeting new people... I'll give it my all!

I am so behind on some cards I  have been meaning to send out... 

You know whats horrible about everyone knowing you craft???? They 

secretly look for a home made card for every occasion and if I send a bought one 

then it looks like I didn't care to take the time... uggg! So, 

basically, I am always a card or two behind.

Finally, I am caught up.

Some of the days loot...