Anyone interested in a Glue Glider Pro absolutely FREE? If you are then head on over to the store and get in on a great deal.
Preorder any 4 Glue Glider Pro refills or spend $50 and get a Glue Glider Pro absolutely FREE.
Membership card and gift certificates will not count towards the $50. Only one free Glue Glider Pro per person. Approx ship date November 26th. Offer good until Friday November 13th or while supplies last.
It’s taken me a bit, but I have finally got some good pictures of the American Crafts mini album that I made a couple weeks ago with Lovebug Debby during a class at the BC Scrapbooking for Kids Crop.
Check it out:
It was so easy – I haven’t put in my journalling yet, but the whole album came together so easily. I love this mini albums now and a big thank you to Lovebug Debby for a wonderful class and showing me how easy it was to use these American Crafts albums.
I posted a new layout from the September kit that used up a good chunk of my Scenic Route die cut arrows. I really like the result of the layout. For some information on the technique, check out the Lovebug Monthly Kit forum.
I hope to see a few layouts in the gallery using these really great die cuts!
Lovebug Kathy
Good afternoon everyone! It’s Rachel here, I hope you haven’t all forgotten who I am!! I know I haven’t been posting here as much as I had hoped to, but life has been pretty busy. I just went back to work full-time after a 14 month maternity leave. Let’s just say life has been hectic! 
And since it’s been so hectic I haven’t had time to do much in my scrap room, but I took a class at the BC Scrapbooking Crop for Kids this past weekend and took a class taught by our very own Lovebug Debby. And wow, no matter how busy you are, if you can find a couple hours you can complete a full project so easily using the American Crafts mini albums. Check them out in the store:
I’ll be back later to show you how fabulous they can look all done up. In the meantime head to the store and stock up while you can. I made sure to order lots so I can make some easy Christmas presents with minimal effort. There are still some left, so run while you can. I’m going to count how many I have and decide if I need more…. beat me to the store if you dare. 
Lovebug Kathy here, showing how our designers have been busy at work using these fabulous products from the September kit.
Check out gorgeous layouts by Debby:
Fantastic creations by Shannon:
I’ve been working with the kit as well:
If you are a “boy scrapper” than you are going to want to check out the Jr. line from American Crafts and the Zoom line from Imaginisce. Both lines are selling fast so don’t wait!
American Crafts Jr. Paper Line
American Crafts Coordinating Thickers
Imaginisce Zoom Paper Line
Imaginisce Snag Em Stamps
American Crafts has come out with a new product – the stamp marker. If you have ever tried any of the American Crafts pen or markers you know they are a great quality and good value product.
Stamp markers are just right for card making, scrapbooking or adding fun to any craft project. All markers include two tip sizes, which allow for greater versatility when stamping. A brush tip for covering large surfaces and a medium tip for jobs that require precision and detail. All stamp markers are acid free, reliable, non toxic, and non-bleeding. Package includes 5 stamps.
From now until Friday October 9th Preorder them for 20% off.
The order will be placed on Monday the 12th and I should have them the following week.
Have a look at the American Crafts blog for ideas and tips on how to use the markers.
Another Lovebug Online Crop is coming up this weekend. Starting 7 pm CST Friday October 2nd with new challenges posted throughout the evening and Saturday.
This is going to be an “educational” crop with focus on techniques and I know you are all going to love it!
So, who’s coming to play? Don’t forget to invite your friends, the more the merrier!
Bonus item #1
If your order reaches $50.00 before tax and shipping and after any discounts you will receive a free American Crafts mini album. (styles vary)
Bonus item #2
If your order reaches $100.00 before tax and shipping and after any discounts you will also receive (in addition to the mini album) a free American Crafts grab bag that includes cardstock, thickers, ribbon and markers.
Use coupon code “cg2009” when you check out. Please make sure to double check that your total after the coupon reaches the bonus gift total.
Coupon expires Friday October 2nd. May not be combined with any other offer. Coupon only applicable to orders placed between Wednesday September 30th and Friday October 2nd 2009.
This is a layout I did with my August kit. It’s a photo from a very long time ago (not sure when) of my dad’s grandmother.
I created a template for the shaped piece. I will share my template with you in the Lovebug Gallery of templates. Open it with your photo editing software and size as you please. Mine was roughly 8 x 10.5″, so it will almost fill an 8.5×11″ piece of paper. I plan to use this template in other sizes for future layouts.
I wanted to use the “Beautiful” title and blue swirl, but there was no other blue in the layout, so I matted the photo in blue cardstock (I couldn’t believe I had the right shade!) and used a couple of blue flowers to add a little splash of blue to the layout.
I found the brown flourish transparent shape in the die cuts, cut it in half, and lay them at the top and bottom points of my template shape. They stick up past the edge of the background sheet, but that’s OK if you’re using top-loading page protectors.
Use some of the pretty gold rub-on letters as a subtitle or “pre-title”.
I distressed the edges of the template shape with ink, using the ink to paper method (this means you use the stamp pad directly on the paper).
To adhere the title transparency and matching blue swirl, I dotted Zig two-way glue behind the letters. It dries clear, so you can’t see through the transparency. You could also adhere the title with regular glue and hide the glued parts under another layer of paper or photo. Staples also work well to hold down transparencies.
Adhere the small transparent frame beneath the picture. This time it doesn’t matter if the glue shows through because your accent will be on top of it to hide the glue (as long as you put the glue in the middle of the frame)
Now to make the fun little embellishment. These work great if you’re short on flowers but you still want a large embellishment on your layout. Even better, this embellishment works nicely on masculine layouts for those who are hesitant to use florals with their men!
Cut a strip of paper about 1.5″ wide and 12″ long. Accordian fold every 1/4 inch. You can try doing this freehand, but it’s really hard to get consistent folds all the way along, so try using a tool such as the Score-Pal, the scoring tool on your paper trimmer, or an embossing tool and the cutting line on your trimmer. Using an embossing tool, just put your strip in the cutting track of your trimmer. Gently run your embossing tool across your paper strip in the groove of the trimmer. I was fortunate enough to have a scoring blade for my trimmer, so scoring every 1/4 inch was easy.
Accordian fold the scored lines:
Put some small bits of glue (I used mini glue dots) on the last fold:
Match up the last fold to the first fold so you end up with a shape similar to a napkin ring….
Don’t worry that it’s out of shape. All you have to do is push the folds on one of the sides together and put some adhesive on the front and back so the shape doesn’t pop back up.
Take one of the large Technique Tuesday circle tiles and stamp it with the large Technique Tuesday Scroll With It stamp.
Adhering this tile to the center of your embellishment really helps to keep the folds in shape. As you can see, getting it centered can be a little tricky – an extra set of fingers to keep it in place while you center the circle tile would be handy!
You can use the embellishment as-is, or you can spice it up with your own touch. I added some gold Stickles to help it stand out more from the layout.
I decided later that I needed to splash a blue flower into my embellishment to go with the other blue splashes in the layout, so I added it between the folded paper and the circle tile.
I added a few pearl accents to the layout to add to the vintage feel.
I really like the texture these accents add to layouts, so I hope you’ll give one a try!
