TaDa Featured Designer – Tracey Wilder!

Greetings from snowy, cold Ohio!  I’ve been instructed to introduce myself to all of you, so HELLO!  I’d shake your hand, but it’s freezing here, and mine are always cold, so for the sake of keeping warm, consider yourself hugged.

As today’s Featured Designer, I will share a few things you may not know about me:

I have lived my entire life in the same little corner of Ohio, always within driving distance of my parents and my four siblings, who I see or talk to on a near-daily basis. If I ever get the nerve to move, it will be south, where it’s not freezing or below-freezing for half of every year!!!  When I’m not scrapbooking, I’m caring for my three kiddos and/or cleaning my perpetually disorganized home.

I mostly prefer to create layouts versus cards or altered pieces, because I love that I can take a memory from my mind and put it on paper, where it is remembered forever, even long after I am gone. And then, of course, there’s the chance to play with pretty papers and cool embellishments and glue…it’s a childhood dream come true!

I am blessed to have a great, big studio in a large corner of our basement, where I am stocked up on scrapbook supplies until approximately 2069.   That many supplies, of course, means that it is also perpetually cluttered.  It’s also surrounded by the kids’ play area, so if I can navigate the piles of toys covering the floor, then get to my desk, then create something cool amidst the piles of supplies on my table, I consider every creation a triumph as well as a minor miracle.

As for inspiration, I am always excited to work with new product. Always!!! Something about it being fresh and new appeals to my senses, and sends my mind in a new direction. I also get excited by cool new color combinations, and of course, I’m definitely inspired by my fellow scrappers!

My favorite TaDa product these days is the Abode a la Mode line! The awesome colors and funky patterns just make my creative heart sing! It doesn’t hurt that several of the papers are a perfect match to my baby-blue–and-chocolate-brown scrap studio.

My favorite creation right now is this layout about my sweet little niece, Brianna, whose smile lights the world. It utilizes my favorite pattern from the Abode a la Mode line, Alfresco. Enjoy!

The Shape of the Season

Good morning!

At this time of the year, some have already made a list and have checked off several items. Others have gotten as far as thinking “hey, I should probably make a list of everything that needs to be done”. I fall into the latter category. ‘Tis the season where I appreciate shortcuts and all things quick and easy. (Okay, I appreciate that at any time of the year, but especially during the hustle and bustle of now.) This Christmas card definitely falls into the quick and easy category.

I used the Pocket Notes and the Tag-a-ma-jigs from the Whirly Gig collection. At first glance, the Whirly Gig collection may not seem like a Christmas line but I rather like it for this card. The wings are paisleys from the Pocket Notes and is in one piece. I then added the quarter circle and small circle from the Tag-a-ma-jigs and mounted them with pop dots. I adhered the entire piece to the card, added rubons and created the entire project within minutes. I think that gives me enough time to actually begin writing my to-do list.

Happy Holidays!

Terri

Credits:
Tag-a-ma-jigs and Pocket Notes from the Whirly Gigs Collection
Bazzill Cardstock
Doodlebug rubons

Happy Thanksgiving!!

We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our customers and friends for supporting TaDa Creative Studios and its design team members. We are truly grateful – thank you!!

Brunch, anyone?

The Holiday season is coming into full season. (Well actually, if one would go strictly by store displays than it actually began in late September.) Lots of celebrating and get-togethers occur at this time of the year, so I thought I’d share a recent project within that theme.

It’s a brunch box, perfect for serving as a gift or favor box. It was easily created with punches for the border and sun middle. The rays were trimmed and torn. The bird face was cut from a Tag-a-ma-jig and the neck was inspired by the patterned paper and hand cut. Obviously, not specifically a holiday themed project but good for any time of the year.

Supplies:
Green Pastures, Country Quilt and Barnyard Line up patterned paper; E-I-E-I-O Tag-a-ma-jigs from the E-I-E-I-O collection byTa Da Creative Studios
lunchbox by Maya Road
alphabet stamps by Close to My Heart

Happy celebrating,

Terri Davenport

You’ve Got (SB) Talent!!

We’d like to introduce one talented crafter, Lisa Henke! Take a look at all that she has done with TaDa Creative Studios’ products…give you any ideas for the holidays?! It has for us!

Here’s what Lisa had to say about TaDa Creative Studios:

“I’ve had fun discovering TaDa papers and products. I kind of stumbled upon them by accident thanks to my design team work with Limelight Papercrafts and boy, am I glad. I love the fun, fresh designs and the great colors. I was in need of some new Holiday papers. The colors in the Fa La La La La and Okee Dokee lines were perfect! The fact that they are double-sided makes me feel like I got more bang for my BUCK! I can’t wait to get my hands on some of the E-I-E-I-O papers very soon. Plus, who can resist the adorable names!”

Thanks so much, Lisa, for taking the time to visit with us! To see more of Lisa’s wonderful creations, please visit her blog, My Little Creative Escape.

Happy (early) Halloween!!

Are you ready to greet small visitors this Saturday? I have yet to decorate my yard to welcome them BUT I did make a card with Festivus Collection (“Smell My Feet” FE09104), Festivus Tag-a-ma-jigs 1 (FE09106/Spider Web) and the Stampede stamp (Itsy Bitsy # ST09109).

I also used a Halloween-themed border punch, added glitter and googly eyes for some final touches.

I hope that you and your gouls have a wonderful Halloween night…and be careful out there!! MUHAHAHAHA!!!!

TaDa Technique #12 adding dimension to your stamped projects

I love having dimension in my projects.  Creating dimension with stamps is easy.  Here are the steps to create this fun card:

You will need the following:  TaDa papers: Scalloping Along and Blooming Dots, Blooma Bloom stamp, cardstock, inks, pearls, and ribbon.

1.  Take your Blooma Bloom stamp and stamp it on white cardstock. 

2.  Stamp the top of the blooma bloom stamp with the 2 colors that you want for your flower top.  I used a purple and a pink shimmer ink. 

3.  You will need to do some fussy cutting for this step.  Cut the 2 flowers out.  Cut the whole flower top of the color you want the petals.  Cut only the center of the other color. 

4.  Adhere a pop dot to the center of the first cut out. 

5.  Add the small center over the pop dot. 

6.  Add 2 pop dots on your fully stamped original flower. 

7.  Add the “cut flowers” over the pop dots creating the dimension. 

Enjoy!  You can do this to any stamp to add a dimensional look.

TaDa Featured Designer – Margie Higuchi

Hello from Chicago!
Today I am “TaDa Featured Designer” and am thrilled be a part of a company that has hip and new ideas! Hope you are enjoying TaDa Creative Studio products as much as I have…and continue to for years to come!

What do you like us to know about you?
My family and I live in the northwest suburbs of Chicago for close to 3 years. My husband and I have two teenage boys (well…the youngest will be in January but he acts like one NOW. LOL!!).

What kind of paper crafter are you (Layout? Card? Mixed Media?)?
I am a mix of all of the above. But I did start out as a layout person and then with all the materials I had around, I dabbled in mixed media such as altering items. Thanks to the talented ladies on this design team, I started to do some card making as well. I love all things that pertain to paper crafting!

Where is your workspace and is it cluttered & crazy or clean & clear?
Well, today is a total diseaster zone! LOL! I guess it depends on when a deadline is coming or I am in a crazy creative mode like creating four to five projects at a time. So I would consider my workspace a constant cluttered and crazy but an organized mess ;0P

My workspace is my dining room and it is also where I hold my scrapbook workshop for my Japanese students. I am able to speak Japanese (thanks, mom!) so I use that to my advantage and teach what I love. I hold Japanese workshops several times a month and I get to practice my Japanese too! Oh, this is the only time when my workspace is clean! LOL!!

What inspires you when you’re working on a project?
Inspiration for me comes from all over. I could be walking down the street and come across a store window with a great display or a tree full of fall colors by the sidewalk. Or something I come across online like a scrapbook gallery or a blog. It’s not one thing – it is what strikes you and moves you to create from it. Hope that makes sense :0)

How did you hear about TaDa Creative Studios?
The summer of 2007, I was working at the Craft & Hobby Association (CHA) trade show and came across TaDa’s booth. It was their debut and they showed some wonderful designs – just loved their style. Then on a scrapbook message board, I read they were looking for scrappers to join their design team. I applied and was fortunate enough to be selected along with some awesome crafters who inspire me! This is my second year with the team…again, so blessed to be a part of it!

Out of all the TaDa Creative Studios’ products which one is your favorite?
My favorite of all products?! GGRRrrr!! That is a hard one! But I have to go with is TaDa Signature Collection. I used it to create my first piece that was used for the design team call. It was also the inspiration of a make’n take I did as a cross promotion during CHA-Summer 2008 for TaDa and LaserLine. I designed a paisley-shaped chipboard mini album and used TaDa pattern papers.

My second favorite will have to be their My Scraptopia line. It is a new product, a chipboard house frame, but it doesn’t end there. It can be a shop or a townhome complex display for a job project. It can be a dollhouse for your daughter, niece or granddaughter. Plus TaDa even has furniture and people to add if you desire…they left nothing undone! LOL!! This is where my altered mind is spinning next!

Thanks for stopping by! If you like to read more about MargieH, please visit her blog “Scraps of (my) Life.”

Hey, anyone up for a challenge?!

Take a look at October’s challenge and see if you can win a prize! This will be the last challenge of the year as we will be getting into the holiday season and we have lots to show. So come on and join the fun!!

October Challenge

Hi everyone!  Its time for another challenge and I’ve a great one for you.  This is so simple and I know that you’ll just love it.  If you haven’t noticed yet, circles are everywhere.  Mary and Annette clearly realize this because they have produced so many incredible designs that include circles in an array of glorious designs and colors.

Your challenge is CIRCLES!

• It could be a circle card
• Circles could be in the design of your card/3-D/scrapbook page
• Just as long as your main idea, theme, concept, etc has to do with circles.
• And of course get out your TaDa Creative papers and/or stamps.

For my example I created a card using one of the most delicious new papers.  Its called Alfresco from the Abode a la Mode Collection.

Like I said this paper is just the cutest so I decided to focus my attention on creating a flower out of circles.

I grabbed my punches and coordinating cardstock and then decided to distress them a bit.  All I did was spritz them with water and then crumple them up a bit.

For the leaves, I cut them out with scissors and did the same distressing.

And finally, added a cute button and some ribbon and then added a sentiment with some foam Thickers.

Now its your turn to create something with CIRCLES.  You have the rest of the month to create something fun for your chance to win a PRIZE from Mary and Annette.

Deadline is Oct. 31st at 11:59PM CST (Central Standard Time/U.S.). Not only U.S. but International participants are welcome to join the fun.  Please  email Margie at mhiguchi@comcast.net with your card in jpeg format (please type in your name in the title and no larger than 300K, please – limit one card/person).

So go and have fun!

Thanks for visiting and have a great day.

-Katie

Challenge Winner!

What an appropriate day to announce our card challenge winner on World Card Making Day!! Hope you all are making some wonderful cards!

Thank you to all who participated in the challenge!

The challenge was to create a project that had a 3-Dimensional element and included TaDa Creative Studios’ pattern papers, cardstock and embellishments. We picked…(drum roll, please!):

Ellen Sosnoski from PA!

I love 3D elements, especially on cards, so when I saw September’s challenge, I jumped right in my scraproom and started creating. TaDa patterned papers have such great color, I knew I wanted to accent them with some stamps and ink. Thank you so much! – Ellen

Congratulations, Ellen! We will be sending you one of our card kits to play with! So want to see what she made? This card is so cheery (is that a word?!), bright and fresh just like our TaDa Signature Collection! Just love the texture that Ellen added in the background and around the edges.

If you enjoy Ellen’s design, please visit her blog, “A Little Bit of This…”

Be looking for an upcoming challenge from my fellow Design Team Member Katie Renz!

Thanks again!

MargieH