Too Cute to Spook! September Linky Challenge and Blog Hop!

Hello, Friends!

September has arrived, and with it comes cool sunny days, crisp, juicy apples, brightly colored leaves, kids going back to school...all things we love about fall!  And then there's everyone's favorite fall festival: Halloween! Crafty Secrets is ushering in the holiday with a Too Cute to Spook Halloween Linky Challenge and Blog Hop where everyone who plays along receives a free digital image/paper and one lucky participant will be randomly selected to win a $25 shopping spree for any digital products found in the Crafty Secrets online store!  Like our New Digital Halloween 4 Page Scraps on Special for $2.75!

Our design team has been busy brewing up some Too Cute to Spook Halloween projects for our Blog Hop.  This hop is loaded Halloween treats (no tricks!), fantastic tutorials and handy tips.  I have a sneak peek of each project to share with you and the link to each designer's blog where you can get all the ghoulish details.

When you are done hopping, dig deep into your own Crafty Secrets stash and create your own Too Cute to Spook project, then link it up at the bottom of this post.  You will have until midnight PT on Sunday, September 20th to add your project.  The design team will be stopping by to pay you a little visit, so have some treats handy!

Now, on with the Blog Hop!

Kathy Clement, Design Team Leader shows you how to build a spook-tacular Halloween flip album.

Kathy by Design

 

Darlene Pavlick will show you how to create a boo-tiful bokeh background.

Dar's Crafty Creations

Diane Hover has brewed up a bewitching tutorial for you.

Nellie's Nest

 

Ginny Nemchak has a frightfully pretty card to share.

Polly's Paper Studio

 

Melody Clement's technique tutorial on transferring images to wood will give you chills! 

Paper Melody's

 

Michele Kovack's tutorial will have you dancing in the moonlight.

Thoughts of a Cardmaking Scrapbooker

Sheila Rumney's Photoshop layout and Digital Tutorial is too cute to spook!

Sheila Rumney Design and Photography

Teresa Horner's darling pocket card will have you under its spell!

Victorian Paper Queen

If you plan to play along with us this month, we have some fun treats for you to download. 
(These images are for personal use ONLY.  They may not be sold or distributed in any other way.  They are intended only for those who participate in this month's Linky Challenge but it's not mandatory that participants use them. ) Both have been reduced in size as they are big files.

This month we have a super cute 'Pumpkin Swinger' and some Halloween Paper for Linky Participants!  This fun pumpkin and the paper are from  Halloween Jumbo Digital Download for a $14.00 special or if you prefer you can get the CD #4 Creating With Vintage Halloween for $15.50.  Both include the same designs with 44 great vintage printable Halloween designer papers and a combo of over 100 images and graphics with bingo cards, postcards, digi stamps like lace and die cut frames you can layer or print and use. Plus there are 12 fun templates with treat boxes, wine glass shades, games, party favors and a Dolly Dingle Paper Doll with Halloween outfits and accessories!

To download the pumpkin and paper, simply right click on the image, then save the image to your computer.  You can size these bigger or smaller to suit your taste.

You can check out all of our Halloween supplies here - with so many spooktacular designs to create Halloween decor, party favors, cards, tags and all sorts of altered projects! You can also find loads of tutorials, design team samples and inspiration on our Pinterest page. Here's a link to our NEW 4 Page Halloween Digital Scraps on an Introductory Special for $2.75 as the printed ones sold out. These are great as you can resize and print them on various mediums - over and over!

Now it's YOUR turn!  Link up your "Too Cute to Spook" project using Crafty Secrets.  Be sure to link back to the Crafty Secrets blog in your online post or photo gallery. You don't have to follow our theme this month to play along, but it's always fun if you do.  To win the shopping spree, you MUST use Crafty Secrets goodies in your project.  

Don't forget to link up before midnight PT on Sunday, September 20th.  The winner will be chosen on Monday, September 21st and announced here on the blog and on our Facebook page on Wednesday, September 23rd. 

I can't wait to see what you make!

On behalf of Sandy Redburn, I wish you joy and creativity!

Kathy Clement, Design Team Leader, Crafty Secrets

LINK YOUR PROJECT HERE:

 

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Website: www.craftysecrets.com
Toll Free Phone or Fax 1-888 597-8898
Local Phone 604 597-8817

Crafty Secrets Head Office
15430 78 A Ave.,
Surrey, BC V3S 8R4

USA Mailing Address
250 H. Street, #436
Blaine,WA 98230

Awesome New Sunflower Set, Recipe Album, Winner for 4 Flower Sets and More

Hi Everyone, our New Sunflower Digital Stamp Set is finished and I'm so excited with how it turned out, I think it's my new fave set!  We also have a random.org lucky winner #8 Birgit who has won all 4 of our Flower Sets in Dalhias, Poppies, Roses and Sunflowers. Thanks to everyone for all the wonderful comments and encouraging words!

This set has 23 great designs including the originals from the Clear Sunflower Set which has sold out as well as a folder with 20 of the designs and words in a brown sepia tone.

I really like how the designs look in the brown and will post some samples ASAP!  You can see the sizes on the preview sheet above if you click it on larger. Many of them are at least 4" x 5" all the way up to 10", plus 12" borders!  You can change the black PNG files to any color and I have a previous Tutorial on How To Change a PNG Stamp To Any Color using Adobe Photoshop Elements.

Here are some samples that were created in the past before this new Sunflower Set.

If you don't feel like coloring check out this beautiful Sunflower card by DT Member Diane Hover. Diane used the Sunflower image from our Color Digital Flowers Set which is just $1.95 and can be re-printed over and over again.

Birgit was lucky # 8 and won all 4 of our Floral Stamp Sets.

Remember I showed a peek of the Rose card by DT Leader Kathy Clement . She posted about it on her Blog and has all the details using our new expanded Roses Digital Set.

 ILook at this adorable 6" x 6" Recipe Album that DT Member Sheila Rumney created using images from our Homemade Booklet for a Scrappy Gourmet Recipe Album Kit she designed. You can see photos of all the pages here on Sheila's Blog. 

      You can see all the pages on Sheila's Blog. The Kit includes all the images, tags, paper, album, even the wooden spoon!

I love how Darlene Pavlick colored this knapsack and added it 3D on her card. The image is from our Little One's Booklet, which are on clearance for .99 cents!

  I also wanted to give you an update on our 'house for sale' I posted about last time and I was so sad the offer that fell through. We got a new offer and we find out this weekend if they get their financing. We've found a townhouse we love and made an offer subject to this house selling - so I'm on pins and needles. It's exciting and so scary as we built this house and have been here for over 20 years. I will let you know what happens and - thanks so much for all your encouraging comments!

Wising you joy and creativity
Sandy Redburn
Owner

Visit Our CraftyVintageGirl.com  Online Store    
 Visit Us on Facebook!

Website: www.craftysecrets.com
Toll Free Phone or Fax 1-888 597-8898
Local Phone 604 597-8817

Crafty Secrets Head Office
15430 78 A Ave.,
Surrey, BC V3S 8R4

Closed Sun, Mon, Tues.
Phone 360 389-5156

USA Mailing Address
250 H. Street, #436
Blaine,WA 98230

Beautiful New Roses Set and Digital Flower Giveaway, Samples and Winner!

Hi Everyone,  it's Sandy and I have a NEW Digital Stamp Set to show you today called Roses and a Giveaway for all 4 Flower Sets (Dahlia, Roses, Poppies and Sunflower)  I'm working on expanding our Sunflower Set and the winner will get the updated version. Plus I have the winner from our Linky Party a bunch of some fabulous new samples and an update on having our house for sale!

The new Rose set includes all the designs from our old clear rose set but I've added several new large re-sizeable designs including a folder with 15 of them also in a brown sepia tone - and it's just $6.95. If you want to change to another color - I did a How To Change PNG Stamps To Colors Tutorial previously. 

 

You can see the sizes on the preview above and look how big some are! You can resize them and print them on a variety of mediums. I've also included all the samples shown below with the stamp set for inspiration.  There are 11 rose illustrations, 5 sentiments and a lady bug.

This beautiful framed sample was colored by our shipper Lyssa who tried to warn me it was her first time ever coloring a digital stamp - and look at how gorgeous it turned out!  Lyssa says she printed the 01 Rose in black on cheap copy paper and colored it with color pencils and layering oranges and red on the rose and wrote over the lettering with a light brown pencil adding some shading after.

Here is the same rose stamp colored by Theresa who told me she used 4 Copic Markers

R22,R24, G21, and Y28.  She printed the black 01 rose on ivory card stock and sponged Distress Ink Antique Linen on the background. 

Here is the same 01 rose printed in the brown sepia by DT Leader Kathy Clement who colored hers with chalks. Kathy will be posting her sample with all the details this Monday on her blog

Check out this pretty Rose card that DT Member Diane Hover created by printing the 18 Rose stamp on vellum and I love her technique to color the back with Copic Markers.

I have a bunch more samples but first I need to announce the lucky random.org winner was #2 Loretta who won a $25.00 Digital Gift Card to buy anything that grabs her fancy in our www.craftyvintagegirl.com store. I decided to give the new Rose Set as a gift to all the ladies who joined our Aug Linky Party. They did such a fantastic job and I want to thank them for their support!

You can check out all the entries here

 

Okay, I have more awesome samples to share like these fun Kitchey File Folder Cards by Kathy Clement,  she created for her sister's birthday party using our Retro Kitchen Kit! Kathy has a bunch more photos and all the details on her blog.

Look at this very cool rainbow vase card by DT Member Michele Kovack that she created with our Button Up Digital Set. You can see more photos and all the details on Michele's Blog.

How about this cute travel theme birthday card by DT Member Melody Clement she made using our CD 3 Creating With Vintage Typography and the trunk and postcard are from our Travel Scraps

Member Ginny Nemchak designed this great pocket card using a sheet of our Fall Cotton Scraps on sale for just $1.50 or buy all 6 themes left for $6.99 and Pastel Paper Pad paper with a ribbon and flowers from Really Reasonable Ribbon.

DT Member Diane Hover made this adorable friendship card using a illustration from our Wizard of Oz Digital Stamp Set and you can see a photo of how she added glitter to the Tin Man and Scarecrow.

I also have a fabulous Tutorial by Sheila Rumney on How To Highlight Text using Photoshop Elements. Sheila used paper from our CD #3 and she shows step by step photos.

I've been going to some scrapbook garage sales at local stores like Clipper Street and Country Lane
 and I met a lovely lady Linda who bought one of our Boys Chipboard Outfits at a previous sale and brought the sample she made to show me. I wanted to add it to our Linky Party but you need to link it to a Blog or Gallery and I never got a post done that night in time, so I'm sharing it here as it turned out so adorable.

 

So some of you may have wondered what the heck happened to me as I've been missing from the blog and DT Leader Kathy Clement has been running things for me.  Our house is for sale - which is just short of a miracle as we built the house 21 years ago and with 3 kids, my parents, 2 dogs, and the business it became filled to the rafters with stock, samples, old books, paper, postcards and way too much 'stuff' in general. I was a 'collector' or maybe a hoarder is a better term so I have been working like a busy bee to de-clutter. It's been a month and we've had 4 offers and really thought it was finally sold and then yesterday we found out the buyers didn't get financing which was so disappointing, I'm sure sad for them as well after paying $500 for an inspection.

So back to square one but I sure hope it sells this weekend! All my time is being used up cleaning and looking for the perfect townhouse close by the condo we found for my mom in White Rock. She's 83 and so excited as this will be the first time in her life to live on her own. She will be 1 block away from all the shops and not too far to the beach. I will my our house but I'm totally excited about the future!

Don't forget to leave a comment here to be entered to WIN All 4 of Our Digital Flower Stamp Sets. Which set do you like the best?   Roses,   Dahlias,   Poppies and the new soon to be larger  Sunflowers! A random.org winner will be annouced next Wed Aug 26/15.

Wising you joy and creativity
Sandy Redburn
Owner

Visit Our CraftyVintageGirl.com  Online Store    
 Visit Us on Facebook!

Website: www.craftysecrets.com
Toll Free Phone or Fax 1-888 597-8898
Local Phone 604 597-8817

Crafty Secrets Head Office
15430 78 A Ave.,
Surrey, BC V3S 8R4

Closed Sun, Mon, Tues.
Phone 360 389-5156

USA Mailing Address
250 H. Street, #436
Blaine,WA 98230

Fabulous Sales and Summer Inspiration from our Design Team

Hello, Friends!

Well, here we are in the last official month of summer. In North Carolina, kids are already heading back to school, stores are having back to school sales, and gardens are starting to fade.  It seems that summer comes and goes in the blink of an eye, doesn't it?  Our design team has been creating some fabulous samples using all kinds of wonderful Crafty Secrets goodies, many of them on sale in our online store.

Sandy Redburn, owner of Crafty Secrets is having a fabulous sale on our Sweet Chips Little Girl Outfits and Sweet Chips Little Boy Outfits. If you haven't seen these adorable little kits before, you are really in for a treat!  Die cut from heavy white chipboard, the outfits are hinged at the shoulders and open up so that you can decorate them inside and out. They come with extra little chipboard pieces like pockets, buttons, bows, hearts or bow ties that you can cover with paper and add to the finished project.  I've used them to make banners for my granddaughter's bedroom, as cute kitchen banners, birthday cards, baby shower cards and more.  And they are cute, cute, cute!  Take a look:

 



 Diane used beautiful papers from our Birds and Blooms Digital Paper Kit to decorate this little girl's outfit.  I love the fussy cut bird on the pocket.  You can find all the information on this card HERE.

I used a cooking theme for my little girl's outfit and added pretty papers from our Creating with Retro Christmas CD. I think this would be such a fun activity for a bridal shower.  Each guest could make a little outfit for the bride to be and tuck a favorite recipe inside.  You can read all about this card HERE.  On sale in the store for just $1.75 each, you'll want to stock up on these before they are gone.

We also have some fantastic deals on heavy duty white chipboard shapes.  These are just 50 or 70 cents each in the online store. You'll find it in our albums and extras section. This coasterboard/chipboard is lovely to work with, especially if you are a fan of mixed media.  It takes paint, mist, and ink like a champ.  I have even embossed it with embossing folders.  Teresa Horner used the pretty heart shaped coasterboard to make this totally fun wall hanging for her camper.

Teresa decorated her coasterboard with images from our Summertime Images and Journal Notes Booklet, also on sale for just $2.95. Sandy has a special bundle deal going right now where you can get NINE different Vintage Images and Journal Notes booklets for just $19.99!

Ginny Nemchak and her husband are refurbishing a vintage camper this summer, and Ginny made this fun retro wall plaque using papers from our Barbershop Kit, Retro Kitchen Kit and and Retro Christmas CD.  It has such great 1950's diner vibe!  You can read all about it HERE.

Sheila Rumney is the master of digital layouts!  I just love the colors she used in this fun Bubble Run layout, don't you?  She has a great TUTORIAL showing you how to add text to a photo, which is a hot trend right now.  She used the wonderful quatrefoil paper from the Birds and Blooms Digital Paper Kit...which she also designed, clever girl!

 

Sheila does such a great job of capturing life's everyday moments in her digital designs.  Here she is enjoying a round of golf with her son.  In this TUTORIAL she shows you how to use a clipping mask.  Her tutorials are always clear and easy to follow, so if you are just starting out with digital, you will want to visit her blog on a regular basis.  (Papers from Birds and Blooms Digital Paper Kit.)

Teresa has created a beautiful card that celebrates the little things in life.  She used a beautiful image  and bingo card from our Creating with Vintage Patterns  CD. I just love these bright summer colors and beautiful flowers!  You can read all about this lovely card HERE. 

Going along with the golfing theme, Melody created such a great masculine card using our Golf Time Digital Art Stamps and our Digital Green Embossed paper.  I love the clean design and vintage feel of this wonderful card!

I was feeling nostalgic for country fields and freshly mown hay when I created this kitschy card with our Farm Fresh Creative Scraps and vintage papers from our Creating with Vintage Typography CD.  I just fell in love with the little hen on the front of the card.  Do you think she's headed to a hen party?  You can read all the details on this cute card HERE. 

Diane is also thinking of gardening, and made a really cute Gardener's Gift Packet using our Digital Garden Creative Scraps and loads of other Crafty Secrets Goodies.  She has a great tutorial on her BLOG and links to all the products she used.  Such a clever idea! 

 

Wow!  That's a lot of inspiration from our fabulous team!  I'm ready to go get my craft on...how about you?  

Don't forget to link up to our August Linky Challenge and Blog hop.  This month's theme was Art for Your Home...and the team created some really beautiful mixed media home decor pieces.  To play along, just create any project you wish using Crafty Secrets goodies from your stash, and link it up HERE.  We have a free digital paper and stamp that you can download and use and there's a $25 shopping spree up for grabs, too!  You have until Sunday to link up, and so far we only have 2 entries, so your chances of winning are good!

Thanks for stopping by today!  On behalf of Sandy Redburn, I wish you joy and creativity!

Cheerio,

Kathy Clement

Design Team Leader/Crafty Secrets

Crafty Secrets August Linky Challenge and Blog Hop

Hello Friends!

Well, summer is speeding right along and I hope you have all had a chance to relax a little, play a little, and be creative!  It's hard to believe that we are already in August, isn't it?  We have a really fun theme for this month's Linky Challenge.  Sandy Redburn, the owner of Crafty Secrets, thought it would be fun to share ideas for home decor with a mixed media twist this month.  So our fabulous design team has prepared some really inspiring projects for you along with some great tutorials.  You'll want to be sure to hop along to each of the blogs below to see what wonders are in store for you.  I'm giving you a sneaky peek of each project with a link to the designer blog where you will find beautiful photos, tutorials and links to our products in the Crafty Secrets online store.

To play along this month, just visit each of the blogs below and leave a comment.  Then, when you are all fired up and just oozing with creative ideas, create your own project using Crafty Secrets products and link it up at the bottom of this post.  One lucky participant will be chosen at random to win a $25 shopping spree for DIGITAL products in our online store!  Sound like fun?

You do NOT need to follow this month's theme to play along, but to be eligible to win the prize, you MUST use Crafty Secrets products in your project.

Now let's get hoppin'!

Kathy Clement, has a little sewing room wall hanging to share with you.  She will show you a fun way to use all that old mulberry paper that you have wasting away in your Closet of Shame.

 

Diane Hover put on her Mixed Media Boots and made a super cute canvas. She'll show you how to  make molding paste clouds.

Ginny Nemchak used her digital collage skills to make a stylish dry marker board that you will absolutely love.

Melody Clement will show you how to add a darling little scroll like the one she used in this pretty shadow box.

 

Michele Kovack has the cutest upcycling project that you have ever seen using glass bottles !

 

Shantaie Fowler knows that we always need a good frame...and has a really great way to make one from chipboard. 

Sheila Rumney dug deep into her love for all things country and created a darling sign.  She has a wonderful tutorial for this hybrid project that combines digital design with collage techniques.

 

Teresa Horner has a wonderful tutorial for making this stunning summer themed beach bag using one of my all time favorite Crafty Secrets images.  

I don't know about you, but these wonderful samples make me want to get out my Crafty Secrets goodies and play!  For those of you who plan to play along this month, here is a digital image and paper to help you get started.  These free downloads are for personal use only, may not be sold or shared and should only be accessed by those planning to play along in the monthly challenge.  It's our way of saying thank you for playing along with us this month. 

This pretty blue quatrefoil paper is one of the 24 gorgeous pastel papers found in our Birds and Blooms Digital paper kit, designed by our very own Sheila Rumney.    To download just click on the paper until it is full sized, then save to  your computer.

And how about a digital stamp this month, just to change things up a bit?  This lovely little digi stamp is from our Couple of Cuties Digital Art Stamp Set.  Isn't she darling?  This is one of my personal favorite sets with 22 different stamps, images, border pieces and sentiments.  Again, this image is for personal use only, and only for those who are playing along in the challenge this month.

Now it's your turn!  Use the Linky Tool at the bottom of this entry to link up your lovely Crafty Secrets August Challenge project before midnight on Sunday, August 16th.  Our team will be visiting your blogs to take a peek at your wonderful creations and leave you some love.  A random winner will be chosen on Monday, August 17th and will be announced on our Facebook page and on this blog on Wednesday, August 19th.  

We can't wait to see what you make, so go get your craft on!

On behalf of Sandy Redburn, I wish you joy and creativity!

Cheerio,

Kathy Clement

Design Team Leader, Crafty Secrets

ENTER YOUR LINKY PROJECT HERE: