AccuCut Craft Blog

The 2nd Annual GrandeMARK Challenge begins today!

By: Traci Armbrust

The 2nd Annual GrandeMARK Challenge kicks off April 17, 2012. Designers can enter their projects in six different categories for the chance to win the Grande Prize, a $500 AccuCut Craft Shopping Spree. Six others will win $100 AccuCut Craft Shopping Sprees. You can enter as many entries as you like.

Remember, the more entries you enter the better your chances are of winning!

Here are the Categories:

1.Cardstock-Stationery

2.Cardstock-Non-Stationery

3.Recycled Media

4.Plastic

5.Chipboard

6.Fabric

All entries are due by Midnight CST May 31, 2012. Please be sure to read the rules and check out our "How To Enter" page below.

GrandeMARK Challenge Flickr Group:

http://www.flickr.com/groups/2012-grandemark-challenge/

 

GrandeMARK Challenge Official Information Page:

http://www.accucutcraft.com/grandemark

 

GrandeMARK Challenge Official Rules:

 http://www.accucutcraft.com/grandemark-official-rules

 

GrandeMARK Challenge FAQ’s:

http://www.accucutcraft.com/grandemark-how-to-enter

 

Click on the banner on the right side of this blog to see entries and the winners from last year.

Good Luck everyone! You're Crafty and We Know It 



 

If the shoe fits, design with it!

By: Traci Armbrust

 

I'm so excited to announce a reintroduction of a fabulous line of shoe dies we created about 7 years ago. As you will see, they are timeless and a must have. Almost all the shoe are available in small (3"), Large (4" to 5") and Jumbo (8" to 10"). These are some of my favorites.

This is Shoe #7 and I created this fun album using the Jumbo size die.

I also used our Black Chipboard and our new 1" Vintage Alphabet. Flowers #6 worked awesome with Bazzill's Antique Micro Dot Paper. The paper is thin so you can distress it or in this case I sprayed shimmer mist.  The spray curled the petals and gave the flower awesome dimension.

 

There are a few other dies I used like the words You & Me and Life which are such versatile words to have for any occasion.

Check out this cute vintage shoe, Shoe #10 in small.

I used Bazzill Basics Paper's new patterned paper called Vintage Street Market. Added little eyelets to bring the shoe to life.  What I love about these shoes is you can add as much detail as eyelets or as little as a dusting of glitter to these shoes.

So check out our shoes!  I promise just like the real ones you won't be able to buy just one.

I wanted to leave you with a fun picture of me trying on shoes in Anaheim before the CHA show. These shoes had 5" heels on them and I'm bent over because that's pretty much all the farther I could go in them. I guess you can't call me Traci GaGa

Remember, Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did, but she did it backwards and in high heels.      -Faith Whittlesey

Sneak Peek! What's Cookin' Good Lookin'

By: Traci Armbrust

Oooooh, you are going to love this die designed by Vicki Chrisman!  It's a 2 die Recipe Album set.  There are so many stamps, rubons and fun papers out there to create one of a kind recipe albums, and this die is the perfect canvas.  Plus, the accessories that come on this die, make it easy to create albums, cards and so much more.  

I used our chipboard, just plain, with a little inking around the edges, as the recipe album pages. This die is available with or without holes so if you are wanting to use a binding system you can.

Check out that perfect size pocket for a standard index/recipe card. Add the tab for easy grabbing.

So the real question is, is it a recipe album or a scrapbook? The answer is both.  You'll have something to pass down to your children or an unforgetable gift with the benefit of yummy recipes.  So have fun creatimg memorable albums with even more memorable family recipes. 

 

 

 

Let the Sneak Peeks Begin!

By:Traci Armbrust

We have 19 new dies coming our for CHA and I want to show you all of them so bad, but one will have to do for today.  Designed by Cheryl Mezzetti, the Blossoms (3-D) is such a fun way to add dimension to all projects. Plus the simple fact that you can never have too many flowers is reason enough to get this die.

When I use these Blossoms, I like to layer two on top of each other and curl the petals. There are two choices of centers for each size of the Blossoms but those centers can be used as small flowers or little berries on their own. I used the Core'dinations line of paper so that I could sand the edges, but they also look awesome inked or layering two different colors of papers.

If you are wanting more of these blossoms check out the Luminarte Blog today featuring a project created by Cheryl Mezzetti.

The new dies will not be available for purchase on-line or by phone until the week of February 6th. Stay tune for more sneak peeks in the weeks to follow.

 

Back to School! 12" x 12" Double Page Layout

By: Guest Blogger, Vickie Kipp

Every year when I start seeing "Back to School" sales, I think about scrapbooking my children's school photos. My oldest child started school in 1983 and my youngest child graduated in 2005. Twenty two years of beautiful, smiling faces wearing the latest fashions and hairstyles. One day, I will have all of those photos scrapbooked but probably not anytime soon!

The paper I used for this layout is from DCWV Grade School Stack. The paper is cardstock weight and so easy to work with. I wanted paper that matched the pink and purple in my daughter's shirt, this paper is perfect . I used cardstock to match the pink, lavender, red, green, yellow, blue and orange in the pattern paper.

The title font is Accucut's Apricot 2" lower case alphabet cut from AccuCut chipboard and covered with cardstock. I also used the dies Star-Nested #1 (the center star from the die), Buttons #2-Mini (the star button), Borders #4, Border-Notebook and Nameplate #3.

 

 

This is such a simple layout design but with lots of possibilities. I wanted plenty of room to journal and space for a 5"x7" photo with three small photos. You can easily scraplift this layout using the following photos with cutting sizes.

left side layout

 

right side layout
 

left side

 

right side

 
I cut the stars, star buttons, banner and nameplate embellishments from AccuCut chipboard and covered them with cardstock. I added Stickles glitter glue to the letters spelling school. The stars are on pop dots and tied with red, green and yellow Baker's twine. Instead of using brads to attach the nameplate, I added lavender rhinestones to match my daughter's shirt. I machine stitched the pattern paper to the background cardstock and the mat for the 5"x7" photo.

I hope this layout design will help you get a few of those school photos scrapbooked! Have fun with it and happy scrapping!