New DT, New Inspiration

Our new design team is so awesome, they have been inspiring me! So I know that next week when they start posting their projects for you, you'll be inspired too. I hope you'll take a couple of minutes to check out their blogs too.
Here's one of those projects I've been inspired to create:

I've been getting pretty messy lately while creating and in the interest of saving my clothes, I decided an apron would be a nice solution. I was inspired by one of our fabulous new DT member Kim to decorate my apron before I totally ruin it with paints, inks and glimmer mists LOL

What do you think? Does it look familiar?
I used regular inexpensive acrylic paints to color it and then added sparkle with Dazzling Diamonds glimmer mist all over and some of the new yummy Pomegranate glimmer mist on the very bottom. I also painted the stars and stardust with silver and frosted lace Stickles. I wish you could see the way it shimmers, it's so pretty IRL.

Elegant Bird Cages

Good Monday to you! Hope you had a nice weekend:) Today I have a rather simple card to share featuring some gogeous SEI paper and rub on's. I rarely use rub on's as I am always reaching for my stamps, but they are really fun to use and I just treated them as I would a stamped image. When applying rub on's to your paper be sure to rub really firmly and slowly lift up the backing to see if it's really rubbed all the way on your paper before you remove it and so you don't break the image. I added a score line and some ribbon to finish this little card off and decided to leave a sentiment off and just add one when I need it. Thanks for dropping by today!

Christmas in July?

Here is a mini album I made for a Christmas in July theme swap.



As much as I enjoy making the videos, sometimes the quality of the playback just doesn't show all the details of the project as well as photos.
So here are the pics of the album:

I used 3 1/2" x 5" pieces of chipboard for the album and all of the pages are covered in DCWV patterned paper from the 2009 Christmas stack. On the cover I used a Chatterbox Wood Frame that I accented with some peeled paint distress ink and Iridescent Gold Glimmer Mist. I made the flower from some Prima 5 petal flowers that were actually an orange-ish copper/ brown color, but once I sprayed them with some Piece of Heart (aqua blue) Glimmer mist it made it more of a copper-y green or verdigris color. I added some chunky glitter to the petals for a frosty/snow effect.

The next page has a tag pocket that I simply covered with patterned paper. The photo mat on the next page was embossed with a Cuttlebug embossing folder and inked up with some white ink to bring out the texture.

The wreath on the left page is a gift tag that I re-purposed as an embellishment that you could put a small photo inside. The mat on the right page was cut on my Cricut and I just inked the edges with some fired brick distress ink.
The photo mat on the left was also embossed with my Cuttlebug and then inked with white. The photo mat on the right is gold metallic paper with a simple ribbon embellishment.
The photo mat on the left was again embossed, with the Swiss dots Cuttlebug folder and I added a couple of Prima pearls to, two of the corners. The page on the right is my favorite. I covered a couple of Prima flowers in thick coating of UTEE for that "glass flower" look and then glued some rhinestones to the middles.

Here's a close up of the flower, I think it kinda resembles a poinsettia?
And finally this is the back cover page of the album. I almost forgot to mention that I bound the whole album with my Bind-it-All and some 1" O wires. I like to use the extra large wires so there is plenty of room to add thick embellishments to the pages inside.

thank you card set

Hi everyone,

Hope everyone is staying cool in this hot weather...

Today I have a cute card box and a set of 4 thank you cards to share with you. I used the Mimosa Mint julep and key lime for the card fronts and the box... the bird houses are a rub on from the SEI lovebirds collection... and of course you can get the rub ons and paper at http://www.yourmemorieshere.com/category_21/12x12-Paper.htmhttp://

the box is cut from the cricut tags boxes and more cart..the bird is cut from the wild cartridge...

I'm Addicted

Yep, it's official I can't stop covering things in UTEE (ultra thick embossing enamel). I was watching some youtube videos yesterday and came across a few that show different techniques for turning your Prima paper flowers into a beautiful glass like finish. If you're going to give this a try, I recommend the Prima Bitty Bag of flowers - you get a ton of flowers in a variety of sizes, colors and styles.

I don't have a tutorial of my own to share with you, just search UTEE flowers on youtube. I'm sure you'll find tons of technique videos. It's as simple as inking up your flower with embossing ink or versamark and then sprinkling with UTEE and melt it with your heat gun tool. Repeat until you get the desired finish (I used 3 - 4 coats of UTEE).

Here are some of the flowers I made.

Keep in mind they do end up a bit darker then the color you start with. So my brown flowers look more like black now (as seen in the photos)

The light yellow/cream colored flower with the script writing, I actually stamped the script on there myself with some timber brown Staz-on ink and a background stamp before I covered it in the UTEE. If you are going to try that I recommend using the Staz-on so that your ink doesn't smear when you cover your flowers in the embossing ink or versamark.

I was so hooked on this technique I thought 'what can I cover next?' and I remembered how I tried to use glossy accents to cover my paper buttons from my MS button punch and it didn't really work out because the glossy accents made the paper cup as it dried. Well, the UTEE technique worked perfectly!

Now I've got some awesome custom buttons.

This one here I coated in the UTEE twice, then I brushed on some pink Pearl FX and then added one more coat of UTEE. I love how it's so dimensional and kinda pearly/iridescent.

I hope I've inspired you to try out some new techniques today :)

Our New Design Team

I'd like to share with all our readers the new Your Memories Here Design Team. These are the ladies who will be providing you with a daily dose of crafty inspiration for the next 6 months. Our posting line-up has not been decided yet, so I can't say who will be posting on which day. That information will be coming later.

Without further ado please welcome to the blog:

Crystal and if you'd like to visit her personal blog it's Scrap Candy Designs.

Cassie and if you'd like to visit her personal blog it's Crafty Cassie's Corner.

Jess and her personal blog is KinderStampO.com she also has a facebook fan page that she posts on as well also called KinderStampO.

Kim and her personal blog is Creatively Fabulous she also has a facebook fan page that she posts on also called Creatively Fabulous.

And our incumbent team members also know as my left and right hand or my go to gals or thing one and thing two (OK I'm just being silly now)

Leah and her fabulous blog is Paper Blossoms

Karli and her spectacular blog is Crafting with Class

and last is me, Kristina. I may not be in the same caliber as the above mentioned ladies, but I get a spot cuz it's my store :) My personal blog is Creatively Counting My Blessings

In the next 6 months you'll be seeing some great layouts, cards, tags, altered items, videos, tutorials and probably a blog hop or two with some giveaways thrown in for good measure. If you've got any suggestions on things you'd like to see or techniques you'd like us to tackle just leave a comment on any post or you can send me an email (my address is located on the bottom of the blog page)

Comments and feedback are always welcomed and I assure you we read each and every one.

You Are My Sunshine

Kristina has been terribly busy with the task of choosing a design team, something I don't envy her.  So, since I had had such a great time being the guest artist for June, I offered to pop over and fill some space.

I simply adore Prima for fussy cutting.  There are always so many beautiful flowers and other elements. (fussy cutting is the hand cutting of elements out of a larger piece of paper)

For this layout I used the yummy Pastiche papers.  The background paper is Seaside.  I used some also used stickers from the collection.

Thanks Kristina for letting me share.

Hugs.

Nancy

Tough Decisions and Easy Ones Too

Hi All! Hope you're having a lovely week. Here in Ohio we just had two days of rain (perfect for my garden) and now we're about to have another heat wave (above 90 degrees F).
So any way, enough of my rambling nonsense about the weather (though if the weather never changed, what would people talk about?)
I have been going over (and over, and over, and over) all the fabulous design team submissions. I just wanna know, Why do you all have to be so talented?! I mean really, it's already hard telling anyone that they didn't get chosen this time. Then you throw in the fact that they are so extremely talented (seriously, there isn't a crappy submission in the whole bunch) and tell me to "pick just a few" that's like saying "here is bag full of Prima flowers, but take only 4 to use on your projects for the next 6 months!".
I guess what I'm saying is THANK YOU! for being so fabulously talented, THANK YOU for wanting to design for Your Memories Here. Please know that I am struggling with this decision and if you aren't one to be chosen, it had NOTHING to do with your talent.

So that covers my "Tough Decision" part of this post. Now for an easy decision:
If you've been eyeing any of the Prima kits we have in the store, now is the time to "decide" to buy. We've got them all on sale and they are so full of Prima goodness, even if you don't make the project they were designed for you are still getting a heck of a lot of fantastic items to use however you like at a great bundled price!
Like this Altered Tin kit for example:

It comes with TWO lunchbox style tins full of Prima flowers, a set of TWELVE stamps, a whole 8"x11" sheet of Prima crystals, a sheet of chipboard stickers, a set of 3 dimensional alphabet stickers, one yard of crocheted lace and some fairytale roses. OR how about the 12"x12" Marathon kit that comes with 6 sheets of double sided cardstock, chipboard stickers, Prima crystals and this HUGE container full of flowers (over 600 in there!)

Prima=Pretty

Hi there!
I'm popping in to share a card I made with some of the new Prima goodies & goodies in general from the YMH Store.
Here's my card:

I used the Urban Cosmos "Metro" DP. I added a fun fiber from the fibers & ribbon assortment along the edge where the two papers meet and as the "leaf" for my flower.  I added Stickles to the open swirls on the paper for that added touch of sparkle. There are 3 little Dew Drops from the Lilly Pad Collection in the top left corner. I also used a sheet from the Beach House Wall Paper collection to create my flower.
Here's a closer peek at that:

 I inked the edges with Rose Red & sprayed it with Iridescent Gold Tattered Angels mist for a bit of shimmer. I also sprayed the ticket which serves as my sentiment.

All the products used on this card, can be found at the YMH Store along with lots more preeety Prima. 
Thanks for peeking!

Live with Prima Class Tonight

Have you seen Prima's live classes on USTREAM yet? They are fabulous, inspiring and informative(not to mention there's a prize giveaway too). I hope you'll join me (I_SKRAP is my ustream name) for tonight's class lead by Julie Fei-Fan Balzer where she show us how she creates this super awesome mini album:

Class time is 5:00 PST or 8:00 EST
You can capture an entire summer’s worth of memories in this two- ‐hour class! Whether you want to put together an album celebrating summer 2009 or get a head start on creating summer 2010’s album, this class is sure to delight! You’ll learn how to decorate an acrylic album with patterned paper, paint, and a little bit of imagination! Even if you think you can’t draw, learn how easy it is to make a dramatic artistic statement with this lovely album!

Included in this kit is:

• 840778: Paradise City Collection: “Sunset Bonfire” paper
• 890025: Build-­‐A-­‐Book Red Acrylic album
• 890469: Build-­‐A-­‐Book Butterfly Tab album

YES! We have this kit in stock and ready to ship at Your Memories Here

* Your Memories Here is a Live with Prima Kit participating store, you can find our link on the Live with Prima site

Moments In Time

This is one of my very favorite pictures of my son and husband. My son looks a little concerned as he kept a very close eye on where I was in his first days home, but it was such a sweet moment as he was "helping" daddy release a fish into the fish tank...we were finally a family doing family things:)

I used some gorgeous SEI paper that is so shimmery and lovely in person, some fun Prima trim and Wings stamp set for my butterflies and bird and (of course) some Golden Berry Dew Drops. I used my Cricut to cut the title (Wall Decor) and then embossed it with the Damask embossing folder and used an EK Success punch for the scalloped border.

Take some time to remember all your blessings...especially those little ones in your life because time does fly so quickly.

A Prima Challenge

Hi! I've got a layout to share with you today using almost entirely Prima products! Most everyone is familiar with Prima's flowers but did you know they also make some other amazing products like papers (that are a good 65 lb heavy weight) lace ribbons and trim, stickers and chipboard accents and pretty "bling" (what is the "proper" term for bling anyways?)
Last Thursday on Live with Prima Marion issued an impromptu sketch challenge. I though it would be fun to play along. The background cardstock is just a solid sheet of pink paper and I layered a sheet of Prima Shabby Chic "my lovely" after I border punched around the edges. I embellished each corner (to hide my funky corner cuts) with a Prima leaf and flowers. The picture is my favorite girls, my daughters and my niece (the baby). I painted around the photo in a heart shape on a transparency (so I didn't ruin the photo) and then trimmed it out in Prima ribbon. I colored the little ribbon rosettes with rose tea glimmer mist (by just dabbing a little on with a paint brush) The title is Prima alpha stickers and the journaling spot is a Prima chipboard accent. For a better look at all the details please click on the photo.

Special Day!

This Sunday (7/11 or July 11th) is my most FAVORITE day of the year. Why? you ask. It's MY birthday! Yes, I'm not ashamed to admit that I LOVE my birthday. I'm also not afraid to tell you that I'm going to be 31 on Sunday :)

But enough about me, How about something for you?

From today till Sunday July 11, I'm offering FREE shipping on all orders (to the U.S. and Canada) over $31! That's right, just purchase $31 in products at Your Memories Here and get it shipped for FREE!

If you're in the U.S. just select "local pick-up" as your shipping choice when your total is over $31 and I'll take care of the rest. If you live in Canada, I'll have to issue you a refund on the shipping (sorry, but I promise to take care of it ASAP)

Many items are also on sale! So you can really make out like it's your birthday!

Sporatic Posting

Hello! If you are one of our regular readers you may have noticed there hasn't been a daily post this week. Well, some of the team needed a little break for summer. So being an easy goin gal I just said "post whenever you feel like it, if you feel like it". So we'll still have some great projects and ideas for you, they just won't be on a very regular basis for the month of July.

BUT, starting in August we'll have a NEW design team, a new line up of posts and some awesome new projects to share.

There is still time to submit your application if you'd like to be considered for the NEW design team .Visit this post for the details.

Birds Of A Feather Layout

Welcome everyone!

I hope that you all had a fabulous 4th of July weekend! and hope you are all enjoying your Summer so far!!!

Today I have a super cute whimsical layout to share with all of you. the papers I used are sooooo cute from Prima marketing "Signs of Spring Collection" you can get the the papers from http://yourmemorieshere.com. I also used my Cricut cartridge Forever Young to cut out the flowers, the birds where cut with create a critter and the title was cut with song bird. The flower I stickled and add a Grapes and Leaves Dew Drops from YMH.

Title cut with Song bird cartridge

flower I stickled and add a Grapes and Leaves Dew Drops from YMH.

Bird cut from Create a Critter and a flower on bottom of page.

Fabulous Facebook Giveaway

Happy July! I just love this month (mostly because my birthday is in July :) )

First, if you all are wondering where is the July store newsletter? I haven't composed it yet because so much happens in July (CHA, special offers from our suppliers, etc.) that I want to wait till I've got all (or at least most) of the information to share with you before sending out the newsletter.

So now I bet your saying 'what's this about a giveaway?'
Check out this video it explains it :)

Don't wanna watch the video? or Already saw it on out youtube channel? Well, here are the details I promised you :)

To be entered to win one of the two Prima paper kits you must "like" our Facebook fan page. (there is a little box over there to the right -> just click that like button)

or use this link HERE. When we reach 200 fans, I'll have a drawing on our Facebook page for each of the Prima paper kits (that's 2 chances to win!)

Spread the word we want to get to 200 as quickly as possible to giveaway these prizes!

Dragonfly Card and Video

Hi all! I finally got another video made. It's been a while since I worked on one. I made a dragonfly card using the new dragonfly color Glimmer Mist (seems appropriate, right?) Of course you could use any of your favorite colors of glimmer mist for this technique.


Visit Your Memories Here for Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist in a variety of colors and Prima Pearls and Crystals (which come in various assortments for only $1.49)