Happy Anyaversary Blog Hop!

Hi Everyone!

Aloha and welcome to the Island Scrapbooking Design Team's Blog! We have been very busy putting together some special birthday wishes for The Greetings Farm Blog Hop to celebrate their Birthday today! The Greeting Farm stamps have become a staple in our store and we wanted to share some of our projects with you! Are you ready?

First up is Tracy's Pop Up Birthday Card for Anya... Here's what it looks like when its closed up.

Tracy used a lot of Island Scrapbooking's custom laser cuts like the "Aloha" sentiment, hibiscus, fern, crabs, sting ray, turtles and coconut trees. We just love how TGF created all these cute Hawaiian themed Anyas and Ians (and clothes too) that coordinate with our designs and represent our island home!

First we have H&G's Sing singing a special birthday song for TGF. Can you see the "lei" hanging from each page?

Next we have Hula Anya dancing a special hula for Anya's birthday!

Next, Surfer Ian had to splash on by to send his birthday greetings...

And finally, dress up Anya and Ian in their best beachwear wish everyone at TGF a Happy Anyaversary!

Next up we have Donna's card featuring Miss Anya. She is all ready for the summer sun!

She'd better watch out or she'll get a sunburn!

Debi took her creativity to a whole new level! She decorated a tree using all Greetings Farm stamps! If you look closely, they are all ready to celebrate with their party hats on, cupcakes to eat, or presents to share... She even included presents under the tree!

Here's a closer shot of the tree... See the Happy Birthday wishes?

Here's a close up of H&G's Peace... She has a groovy party hat for the occasion!

Your's Truly used the Rock the Farm set and Farm Animals to represent TGF in my special "Greeting" (get it Greeting Farm??? Stale joke, sorry!)

The "Small World" theme utilized Anyas and Ians from around the world! Looking forward to seeing what other cultures they will include in their collection next! Hawaii is such a melting pot, that the Small World theme just goes hand in hand with our culture!

Finally as a bonus, we have our future DT member-in-training (aka my daughter)... She wanted to participate in the blog hop too, so she decorated her favorite bunny's new house with all her favorite Anya and Ian stamps!

Thank you for stopping by to see all of our projects! Can you tell we love The Greeting Farm stamps! Hope you stop by again soon!

Thank You Bear

Isn't this bear so cute? He's made by Hero Arts and can be used for all types of cards. Here, Jenny used it to make a Thank You card. The background paper was embossed using the Cuttlebug Embossing folder to give it some depth. The bear was cut out and adhered to the dotted paper using pop dots to give it some dimension and to make him stand out. Jenny also used the Spellbinder dies to frame the bear and topped off the card with a Hero Arts Thank you sentiment.

Don't forget... Spellbinders dies are on coupon starting tomorrw at 40% off!

A Trip To The Zoo

Mini albums are a great way to document events. You can create them rather quickly and don't need that many photos to finish the project. These Sizzix XL dies make great mini albums that are simple to put together. Jenny cut the shapes out of chipboard and then out of cardstock and mounted the cardstock to the chipboard. Since there is no cover on this mini scrapbook, the pages won't get damaged because the chipboard is pretty durable. The pages are held together by a binder ring and then decorated with scraps of ribbon.

Supplies used:

DP: Imaginisce

Don't feed the Animals Stamps- Imaginisce

Animal names- printed from computer

Oval dies- Spellbinders

Mini album die- Sizzix

Cardstock- Bazzil

Horse and cow stamp- The Greeting Farm

Elephant, Monkey, Alligator, and Hippo stickers- Doodlebug Designs

Hippo and Giraffe stamps- Imaginisce

Cuttlebug Embossing Folder

Ribbon

Binder Ring

Don't forget, Saturday is the last day for the 30% off coupon and Greetings Farm Stamps Coupon!

Spellbinders Butterflies

Don't you just love how versatile Butterflies are? You can use butterflies on all different types of cards, which make them a great addition to your collection. Donna put together this great card using the Spellbinders Butterfly dies and Sizzix flower and leaves Sizzlit set.

Supplies used:

Butterfly dies- Spellbinders

Flowers and leaves die- Sizzix

Cardstock- Bazzil

Crystals- Hero Arts

Just a note that the Pull Out Pop Up Card Class is on Tuesday 7/28. There was some confusion if the class was on Friday or Tuesday, so to clarify- its TUESDAY!

Sweet Baby Mobile

Sizzix dies are so versatile! The possibilities are endless! This mobile was created by Jenny using the Sizzix baby dies... perfect for a little boy's room!





See the baby bird peeking out from all the vines?





To decorate the wire frame, Jenny use one of the new Bigz Leaf designs that recently arrived.


Supplies used:
All dies- Sizzix
Cardstock- Bazzil
Floral Wire (comes covered in paper)
Gold cord


Also- just arrived is the card-makers collectable favorite: Card Creations Volume 7 is now available! Card Creations is only published once a year and is only available at retail locations so hurry in as this issue always sells out fast. Call if you want to reserve a copy (we can hold it for 24-48 hrs with a planned pick up day)



Another great special edition of Paper Crafts Magazine is 225 Cards and Gifts, which also just arrived. Find great ideas for making gifts, cards, and cards as gifts!

Going On A Safari

How cute are the new Doodlebug items? We just can't get enough of these cute papers and stickers from their newest releases. Featured here is a "canteen" style bag and matching circle card using the new Zoo/Jungle paper. Donna followed the pattern by Leigh O'Brien to create the canteen. She used spellbinders nesties to cut the circles and scallop circles. Ribbon is by Bo-Bunny, which makes the cutest matching strap. She topped it off with a "Don't Feed the Animals" sentiment by Imaginisce. You can't tell from this photo, but instead of water in the canteen, Donna added Animal Crackers! The perfect snack for a day on a safari!

Here's a close up of the canteen.

Here's the matching card. This was also cut using the Spellbinder nesties dies. Donna featured an elephant from the paper itself.

Also shown in the first photo is the coordinating jungle themed stickers by Doodlebug. Remember, Spellbinders will be on coupon next week, so don't forget to stop by so you can pick up the sets you are missing. This week's coupon is for all Greeting Farm stamps!!!

Blog Award!

Hi Everyone,

We got our first Blog Award! Yipee!

Thanks to all of our customers who inspire us everyday!

The Girls at Island Scrapbooking

New Greeting Farm Stamps

Attention all Anya Lovers... we have recently received some new stamps! Shown here is Wild Things which is a cute set of Anya/Ians dressed up as animals! Fly Away is definitely one of my new favorites. I guess now we can do anything since pigs are now flying! And last but not least is the new Butterfly Wishes set, which contains the sweetest sentiments.

Not pictured here are the new Anya designs including the Navajo Anya, Ian Laddie, and the limited edition Hippie Anya. Hippie Anya is the first of the limited edition series of Anya: Through the Decades, so we suspect there will be more of these fabulous new designs to look forward to.

In addition, we have marked down a number of single Ians and Anyas in the clearance bin, so be sure to check it out the next time you come in.

Finally, in case you haven't noticed our side bar, we will be participating in The Greeting Farm Birthday Bash Blog Hop on 8/1/09. Be sure to stop by our blog to see what we come up with to wish The Greeting Farm a Happy Birthday!

Oh yah- one more reminder... All Greeting Farm stamps will be on coupon next week for 30% off! (limit 2)

Laser Cuts Card Contest Winner!

Well, it was a very hard decision... but we finally decided on a winner of the Island Scrapbooking Laser Cuts Contest!

Tennille, you are the winner! This awesome tri-shutter card was made using Island Paperie and Creative Native paper, H&G Sing stamp by The Greeting Farm, and the "Aloha" sentiment laser cut from Island Scrapbooking. Please stop by the store to pick up your blog candy!

Here's the front of the card when its closed...

Here's what it looks like when its open!

Here's some honorable mention cards that were also submitted by our customers...

Thank you to all who entered our contest!

Spellbinder Embossing Mat Tutorial

Have you ever noticed that after you cut with your Spellbinders dies, there is a faint embossing on your image? Can't figure out why the embossing is not as defined as in the samples? Here's the secret... you need the Spellbinder embossing mats to help you!

We've been getting so many requests on how to use the new Spellbinders embossing mats recently, that we decided it was time to do a tutorial on how to use this product. Get out your Big Shots, multi-purpose platforms, cutting plates, spellbinder die (made for embossing), embossing mat, and cardstock and let's get to it!

Step 1: Cut out your image using your big shot/multi-purpose platform with side that cuts the image facing up and with cardstock right side down. Your image will be in the die after you cut it. Keep it there for the next step.

See- cutting side up?

This is what it will look like after you cut the cardstock.

Here's what your image will look like if you flip it over.

Step 2: Now change to tab #1 on your multi-purpose platform. Keeping your cardstock still inside the die, place die with cutting side up again onto cutting plate and lay Spellbinder embossing mats (there are 2) over the die. Put on top cutting plate and run through Big Shot again.

See the difference? The flower on the left was just cut using the die but we did not run it through again with the embossing mat. The flower on the right shows the image that was cut from the same paper, but this time run through again with the embossing mat. The embossing is much more pronounced in the image on the right. Believe me, you'll love the results!

Hope you enjoyed this tutorial... If you'd like to learn more about how to use another product, post a comment here with the product name and what you want to know. We are happy to help if we can!

New Arrivals This Week

Just wanted to share what new items have arrived in the store this week... Tracy made this beautiful card using the new Fancy Pants paper. Its printed on both sides- so you get both the floral print and harlequin print in one great paper!

Here's a close up of the harlequin side of the paper.... The stamp featured here is one of the stamps on promotion by Inkadinkado.

The sentiment is by Hero Arts. Tracy sponged on ink to give the sentiment some color.

Also in store is spiderweb and holly Cuttlebug Embossing folders, new Bo-Bunny papers, new glitter cardstock- these are great... you won't get as much glitter all over you when you work with them and they come in some basic colors we all need like gold, silver, etc... New Stampendous stamps are also here, along with some new Hero Arts!

Finally.... we just got in these cool Copic pen wallet holders.

Just a reminder to check out our Laser Cuts challenge post by clicking here. The deadline to enter is Saturday. Let's just say you'll have a REALLY good chance of winning if you enter. Hope you are having a great week!