New Year, New Blog!

Hello, 2015! I am back after a year long hiatus and I have returned with a new address!

See you at http://www.pearllui.com/blog.

Thanks for stopping by!

Pearl

Silhouette Cameo: "December" Handwritten Title

Hi there! How is everyone's December coming along? Today, I thought I'd share a bit about how I created the "December" handwritten die cut title in my December Daily album.

Anyone who has the Silhouette Cameo probably LOVES it just for this kind of application. I wanted my own handwriting to be captured in our December Daily, and the Silhouette Cameo is perfect for this.

Materials used: See this blog post for details.

Here's a quick how-to:

1. Write your word in script using a tablet and pen in Photoshop and save it as  JPG file. Or write your word using a black Sharpie marker on a white piece of cardstock and scan the word into a JPG file.
2. Then open the file in your Silhouette Studio software.
3. Trace the area where the word is. (Menu > Object > Trace > Select Trace Area and create a box around the area you want to trace)
4. Play with the filters on the right side until you have a nice trace line around the word.
5. Simple remove the JPG from the background and you'll have a nicely traced word you can cut with the Silhouette Cameo.

I love this technique when you're looking for a nice handwritten title for scrapbook pages or even sentiments on cards.

Thanks for stopping by!
- KRAFTY pearl

Mama Elephant: Stamps Perfect for December Daily

Hi there! I'm over at the Mama Elephant blog today, to share the December Daily foundational pages I made in November. Here you'll find all 31 layouts so far... This is my third year making a December Daily album and I absolutely love it! You can see 2011 here and 2012 here. Every now and then, my husband and I really enjoy flipping through the other two years to see how every holiday season has evolved for us. Since December is always a busy month (and even November), I put together all of the foundational pages so that I can simply print/slip photos and journaling into the pockets.

Mama Elephant Inline Letter stamps, coordinating Creative Cuts dies, and Embellished Tag Creative Cuts die are perfect for this project. In fact many of Mama Elephant's latest releases are perfect for December Daily.

I have been documenting 2013 Project Life in 6x8 Simple Stories Snap albums because this was my first year at PL. Filling the giant PL album seemed daunting and I wanted to make sure it was something I could easily stick to the habit. The 6x8 Simple Stories Snap album seemed like the perfect size. I absolutely love it now! One album filled up very quickly covering months February (I started a little late) August, and another filled up with September through November. Since December is going to be a photo-filled month, I decided to start a whole new album just for December Daily. I'm glad I did because the foundational pages alone have already bulked up the album plenty!

I envisioned this year's December Daily to have a mix of wintry turquoise, silvers, golds, textured whites, kraft, and spots of coral and red. Like my 2011 December Daily album, I wanted a transparent, layered look and like my 2012 December Daily album, I wanted crisp black stamped sentiments and images -- for which Mama Elephant stamps are truly perfect.

Unlike most December Daily albums going through just the 25 days of Christmas, I like to document all 31 days. I imagine throughout the month of December, as I'm actually printing out photos and filling up the album, I will be moving some of these pages and elements around to make it fit around my December. But the point of having foundational pages is that, I'll have all of these pages as a base and if I have more or less photos, I can simply add page protectors or move some of the foundational pages around. I'm sure by January, this album will look very different and that's totally ok with me. :) Here's a look at all of the foundational pages I put together.

Title Page: To create this page, I used Inline Letters to stamp "joy" multiple times on a Midnight Project Life card in black and grey. I then die cut "2013" from the Inline Letters Creative Cuts die cuts. And then I stamped the little deer image from the Winter Wonderland set. To further give it some dimension, I die cut tissue paper features from the Fair Feathers Creative Cuts dies. I wanted to keep it fairly simple, so I didn't stamp the coordinating feather images. Instead, I cut little slits in the feathers in various parts of the feathers to give each a slightly unique look.

Day 1 layout: To create the "Day One" tag, I stamped "day" with Inline Letters and then used the coordinating Inline Letters Creative Cuts dies to cut out "one". Then I used the Silhouette to die cut "dec" and layer it onto the Embellished Tag. As you can see, I put in packets of sequin stars in the slots where I would expect to use them. By laying down a foundation ahead of time, it will be easy to just slip photos in and jot down simple journaling during the busy days of December.

Day 2 tag: For the day 2 tag, I used a ton of sequins and glued them to the base card. I then die cut "day" using the Inline Letters Creative Cuts dies and stamped the number "2".

Day 3 tag: For the day 3 tag, I simply die cut the word "day" using the same kraft color cardstock as the tag base for a tone on tone shadow look. I then die cut the number "3" and put a piece of glitter cardstock beneath it. I then finished it off with a few sequins. To keep a light transparent look, I adhered the tag onto a piece of transparency.

Day 4 & 5 layout: To create the day 4 and day 5 tag, I stamped the words "day" with Inline Letters and then stamped the numbers outline image from the Four Seasons set beneath it. To highlight the actual days "4" and "5", I filled the outline numbers with gold and silver Stickles.

Day 6 layout: For the day 6 tag, I stamped the "day six" letters using Inline Letters in grey on the tag. I again decided to go for a transparent look by adhering the tag to a clear transparency. To give it a bit of depth, I sprinkled some silver stars in the pocket and stitched it up. For the right side of the layout, I put green glitter in to a stitched vellum pouch. The photo doesn't quite show the little green specks peeking through the vellum, but there's a nice pine needle feel about this page in the background. I then took a regular shipping tag, stamped "twinkle all the way" from Merry Greetings on it, and added sequins and stars from Confetti in black and silver ink.

Day 7 & 8 layout: To create the day 7 tag, I used the Inline Letters Creative Cuts dies to die cut "day 7" in vellum. I then added a piece of silver doily to the edge of the tag to give it a bit of texture. To add more dimension, I die cut a heart filled kraft card using the Silhouette and backed the tag to keep a fairly transparent and airy look. On the left, I added a piece of white glitter decorated cardstock to the back of the vellum pouch from the day 6 layout. I added some Fair Feathers die cuts and sequins. I envision stamping a label of some sort and adding it underneath "Dec" once I have photos in December. As you can see, I also added a pouch of gold stars in the bottom pocket, again so that all I have to do is add photos and sprinkle the gold stars in December. On the backside of the day 7 tag, the heart die cut card nicely matches the day 8 kraft tag.

Day 9 & 10 tag: To create the day 9 tag, I die cute "day" from vellum and adhered it to a woodgrain tag. I then die cut the number "9" from the woodgrain tag and slipped a piece of silver glitter cardstock under it. Then in the left pocket, I stamped the word "cherish" from Remember December in white several times on transparency added some clear glitter stars in the pocket and stitched it up. The day 10 tag is on the other side of the day 9 tag. I love how the stars in the transparent pocket beautifully sparkles through the backside of the pocket.

Day 11 layout: To create the day 11 tag, I die cut "11" from white cardstock, adhered it to a clear transparency Embellished Tag, added gold stars, stitched up the tag to another piece of transparency, adhered a Silhouette-cut "Dec", added silver sequins to the pocket, and then stitched up the pocket.

Day 12 through 14: To create the day 12 tag, I stamped the word "day" using the Inline Letters set and the numbers outline from Four Seasons. I then added silver Stickles to the numbers 1 and 2 to highlight "12". To the left of the tag, is actually the back of the day 12 tag which is a clear tag sewn to a piece of transparency sandwiching some tiny glitter stars and then I added large silver sequins to the back pocket and stitched up the pocket.

I really love stamping on transparencies because it's such a nice layered look. Here I stamped a family of deers using Winter Wonderland and a sentiment from Cinnamon Spice on a piece of transparency. 

Here's a view of the stamped transparency in its full layout with pattern paper . It has a nice faint white shadowy touch.

Here's the backside of the stamped transparency on the left in the full layout. I love that the stamped image shows through both sides and adds a nice touch of dimension and texture in a light airy way.

Sometimes, if I have a simple tag design like "14", I added a striking Project Life card next to it to give it that extra pop. I love this gold foil card from Studio Calico!

Day 15 tag: For the day 15 tag, I die cut the tag from an old Hambly overlay. I then die cut the number "15" from the overlay tag for a super transparent look. To give it a sense of transparency, I added a piece of silver doily and some gold glitter stars to the pocket.

Day 16 & 17 layout: I love the look and function of envelopes, so I added a couple to the day 16 and 7 layouts. The turquoise one is perfect for larger memorabilia such as ticket stubs, receipts, or tags. For the smaller ones on the day 17 layout, I think I'll be saving that for notes that my husband and I will be writing to remember the holiday moments together. It'll be fun, twenty years from now to look at those notes.

Day 18 layout: For the day 18 tag, I kept it very simple by die cutting "day 18" from the same kraft cardstock as the tag base and adhered it to the tag for a tone on tone shadow look. To the right of the tag, I stamped the words "celebrate", "capture", "remember", and "cherish" from Remember December to a Midnight Project Life card. That's what I really love about the Mama Elephant stamps, they can be added to any preprinted Project Life card for a lovely unique look.

Day 19 layout: For the day 19 tag, I die cut the number "19" from cardstock, adhered it to a Hambly overlay tag, and then further adhered it to a piece of gold cardstock.

Day 20 tag: To create the day 20 tag, I die cut "day 20" from a vellum tag and added clear star confetti to the pouch and stitched the pocket up. I really love the layered, yet transparent look.

Day 21 layout: For the day 21 tag, I simply stamped "day 21" onto an Embellished Tag die cut and adhered it to a piece of gold glitter cardstock.

Day 22 layout & 23 tag: For the day 22 tag, I simply stamped "22" using Inline Letters on a tag and added a flair to the tag. On the right page of the layout, I stamped the sentiment "merry, merry, merry, merry" from Merry Greetings and a bunch of sequins and hearts from Confetti onto a shipping tag.

I love the Fair Feathers Creative Cuts dies. Just as I did with the title page, I cut some extra slits in the die cut feathers just to give each a little more of a unique look.

Day 24 tag: To create the day 24 tag, I die cut the tag using Embellished Tag from a polka dot-embossed kraft cardstock, adhered it to a piece of transparency, sprinkled gold glitter stars behind the transparency, and stitched up the pocket. I love how the stars fall under the die cut number "24" for a sparkly transparent look.

Day 25 tag & 26 layout: To create the day 25 tag, I die cut "day 25" using Inline Letters Creative Cuts dies from a woodgrain tag. I put washi tape behind the word "day" and silver glitter cardstock behind "25". I then layered the tag on top of a piece of pattern cardstock. To the right of the tag, you'll see the back of the day 24 tag/pocket. By adding glitter hearts to the back of the pocket, the transparent backside of the pocket blends in with the rest of the page nicely.

Day 27 & 28 layout: To create the Dec 27 tag, I die cut the number "27" using Inline Letters Creative Cuts dies and die cut the tag using Embellished Tag, both from vellum paper for a tone on tone shadow look. I then used my Silhouette to die cut "Dec" from a piece of woodgrain paper and adhered it above "27". On the right side of the layout, I adhered silver glitter label-shaped cardstock to a piece of transparency. On the backside of the transparency, I adhered another white glitter label-shaped cardstock to the day 28 layout.

Day 29 layout: To create the day 29 tag, I simply combined stamping the word "Day" using Inline Letters and die cut the number "29" using the coordinating Inline Letters Creative Cuts dies and slipped silver glitter cardstock behind the number opening. Also on this layout, I added a kraft envelope to collect memorabilia throughout December. I added a shipping tag, stamped with a deer image from Winter Wonderland, "love" using Inline Letters, and a silver bow from Confetti.

Day 30 tag: For the day 30 tag, I simply die cut the number "30" using the Inline Letters Creative Cuts dies from a Hambly overlay tag created using the Embellished Tag Creative Cuts die. To the right of the tag, I created another tag by stamping images from Winter Wonderland and Cinnamon Spice.

Day 31 tag: For the day 31 tag, I adhered a ton of sequins to a piece of transparency. I then die cut the number "31", using Inline Letters Creative Cuts dies, from an Embellished Tag die cut polka dot-embossed kraft cardstock.

Materials used: Mama Elephant Confetti, Fair Feathers Creative Cuts dies, Four Seasons, Embellished Tag Creative Cuts die, Inline Letters, coordinating Inline Letters Creative Cuts dies, Winter Wonderland, Remember December, Merry Greetings, Mama Elephant Cinnamon Spice stamp set especially designed for the October Studio Calico card add-on kit; Knot & Bow silver doilies, gold star glitter, silver start glitter, sequins, Silhouette Cameo, Midnight Project Life Kit, SEI Chalet collection, Singer sewing machine, Studio Calico Project Life kits, 6x8 Simple Stories Snap album

Hope you enjoyed a peek at my December Daily foundation pages! Come back in 2014 for a look at my completed December Daily 2013 album!

Thanks for stopping by!
- KRAFTY pearl

Mama Elephant Highlight: Inline Letters

Good morning! I'm back again today for the last November Mama Elephant highlight. Inline Letters is an awesome set and has so many uses. The best part is that it comes with coordinating dies so you can cut virtually any word out!

Materials used: Mama Elephant Inline Letters, coordinating Inline Letters Creative Cuts dies, Many Thanks, Bold Banner Creative Cuts die

I created this card by stamping "thanks" on the white card base three times in Creative Color inks in Bubblegum and Smoke. Next, I used the Inline Letters Creative Cuts dies to cut the word "thanks" out from vellum paper and adhered it to the card base. I then die cut a Bold Banner from kraft paper, added light gold glitter speckles to it, and adhered it to the card base behind the die cut word "thanks". Lastly, I stamped the sentiment, "a million thanks" from the Many Thanks set in Bubblegum and adhered it to the front below the die cut letters.

Be sure to stop by the Mama Elephant blog for more inspiration from the rest of the design team!

Thanks for stopping by!
- KRAFTY pearl

Mama Elephant Highlight: Fair Feathers

Hello! Hope everyone is having a wonderful week. Today I'm here to have a closer look at the Mama Elephant Fair Feathers set. I love this set because it has great outline and solid feathers along with perfectly coordinating dies.

Materials used: Mama Elephant Fair Feathers, coordinating Fair Feathers Creative Cuts dies, Embellished Tag Creative Cuts die

I created this card by stamping feather outlines on the white base of the card with Mama Elephant Creative Color inks in Lollipop, Sunshine, and Bubblegum. I then added a piece of kraft paper off set to the right of the card base. To give this card tons of dimension, I layered feathers on top of a die cut Embellished Tag and further stamped ink spots, sprinkled confetti, and added a small silver star for a touch of sparkle.

Don't forget to visit the Mama Elephant blog to see what the other design team members created!

Thanks for stopping by!
- KRAFTY pearl

Mama Elephant Highlight: Confetti

Good morning! Here to share another Mama Elephant highlight. Today, we're taking a closer look at Confetti. It's a perfect set to decorate any card, envelope, or special package.

Materials used: Mama Elephant Confetti

I created a clean and simple tag for the front of an envelope. It's a fun and easy way to decorate the front of an envelope without all of the bulk of real sequins and things. I simply stamped the tag with sequins and the sentiment "smiles inside". I then decorated it some more with a few silver metallic stars.

I plan to type in the address with my typewriter and to mail this, I'll be slipping it into a clear cellophane envelope so the tag won't fall off in transit. Hope you enjoyed this simple project and see just how cool the Mama Elephant Confetti set is.

Be sure to stop by the Mama Elephant blog to see what the other design team members created.

Thanks for stopping by!
- KRAFTY pearl

Mama Elephant Highlight: Four Seasons

Happy Monday! I'm here today to share a Mama Elephant highlight of one of the November stamp releases, Four Seasons. This set is perfect for Project Life albums or to make personalized cards. I made a personalized and feminine birthday card for a special little girl who turned four on November 5th.

Materials used: Mama Elephant Four Seasons, Martha Stewart butterfly punch, sequins, gold paint

To create this card, I highlighted the number 4 by coloring it in pink and encircled it with the circular date stamp -- love this circular date stamp by the way! To give the card an extra dimension, I added a glitter gold butterfly perched on the circular date stamp image, some glitter gold paint splatters, and sequins.

Be sure to stop by the Mama Elephant blog to see what the other design team members created with this super awesome and versatile set.

Thanks for stopping by!
- KRAFTY pearl

Mama Elephant November Stampede

Welcome to the Mama Elephant November Design Team blog hop! Our November release is now live and available for purchase in the store.

To celebrate the new release, Mama Elephant is giving away one of each of the new stamps released! Winners will be chosen at random from the collective blogs in the Stampede. Winners will be announced on the blog on the last Stamp Highlights Day on the Mama Elephant blog.

You have up to 3 chances to qualify to win! Just leave a separate comment for each!

1. Leave a comment on this blog post
2. Like/share Mama Elephant on Facebook
3. Follow/tweet about Mama Elephant on Twitter

For today's blog hop, I created some tags and packaging. I've been obsessed over making suitcase gift boxes and so when I saw the new Confetti set, I was so excited to use it to create tags.

Materials used: Mama Elephant Confetti, Embellished Tag die, Dainty Bow die, Letters die, Creative Color inks (Lollipop, Hazel); kraft gift box, felt, Hambly overlay, Memento ink in Tuxedo Black

Here's a closer look at each tag! I used the Mama Elephant Embellished Tag die to cut out all 4 tags. 

1. The first tag is created with two pieces of overlay sewn all around with sequins inside. I then stamped "smiles inside" on a piece of kraft cardstock and adhered it to the top of the tag to give the tag an added layered look.
2. The second tag is created simply by using the Mama Elephant Letters die to cut out "joy." I then stitched on the word by running the tag through the sewing machine and stamped the bow image above it using Mama Elephant Creative Color ink pad in Hazel.
3. The third tag is created by die cutting "joy" with the Mama Elephant Letters die from the tag so that there's a nice negative on the tag. I then cut another tag out of polka dot paper to back the top layer.
4. The last tag is created simply by stamping "to you from me with love" using Mama Elephant Creative Color ink pad in Lollipop.

Be sure to stop by every blog in the Mama Elephant Stampede blog hop to see what the rest of the design team put together and to enter to win!

• Mama Elephant (start here)
• Laura Bassen
• Jenn Biederman
• Emily Leiphart
• Pearl Lui (you are here)
• JJ Bolton
• Geralyn Sy
• Nichol Magouirk

Thanks for stopping by!
- KRAFTY pearl

Mama Elephant: More Mileage With Your ME Favorites

Hello! I'm over at the Mama Elephant blog today, to share four cards that mixes this month's releases with some Mama Elephant originals from last year. This is perfect for ME fans who may already have some of last year's favorites. I wanted to show you how to get more mileage out of your stamps. Here's a preview of the cards but go on over to the Mama Elephant blog to see how I created all of these cards.

"Merry, Happy, Cheer, Santa" card:

Materials used: Mama Elephant Cozy Christmas and Polar Pals, Mama Elephant Creative Color Inks (in sunshine, apple, orangeade, and bubblegum), Memento ink in London Fog, Copic Sketch markers

"Feliz Navidad Snow Globe" card:

Materials used: Mama Elephant Merry Greetings, Full House, and Believe in Magic, Memento ink in London Fog and Tuxedo Black, Stickles, Distress Inks, sequins

"Warm Holiday Wishes Dear Deer" card:

Materials used: Mama Elephant Winter Wonderland and Polar Pals, Mama Elephant Bold Banner die and Embellished Tags die, Memento ink in London Fog and Tuxedo Black, gold glitter paint, sequins

"Yay Baby Celebration" card:

Materials used: Mama Elephant Party Kit and Nursery Decor, Mama Elephant Creative Color Inks (in mojito and ocean), Memento ink in Tuxedo Black, Copic Sketch markers

As you can see, the new Mama Elephant stamp sets are very versatile and can be mixed with older sets for even more variety so you can be sure that you get optimal mileage out of your stamps! Head on over to the Mama Elephant blog to get all of the details on how I created these cards.

Thanks for stopping by!
- KRAFTY pearl

SEI Spotlight: "Holiday Wreathe" Card & Matching Tag

Hello! I was over on the SEI blog earlier this week sharing another simple holiday card made with SEI's new Chalet collection and my favorite die-cutting tool, the Silhouette Cameo. I really love the Silhouette Cameo because there's so much you can do with it.

For this card, I designed a wreathe very simply using stars and circles. I purposely left some spots uncut so that I could add some pearls to give it added dimension. I also like how it gives it the illusion of berries you may find on a wreathe. The stickers and paper peeking underneath are from the SEI Chalet collection and perfect with a simple kraft card.

Materials used: SEI's Chalet collection, Silhouette Cameo

Check out how I made the card and tags over at the SEI blog!

And this project ends my two year term on the SEI design team. I had so much fun designing for SEI because their designs make it easy to be inspired to make anything! I am so thankful for my time with SEI and I can't wait to continue to be a customer and follow inspiration from the new 2014 design team. Thank you, SEI!

Thanks for stopping by!
-KRAFTY pearl