January Expressions

I just noticed that I failed to blog my January Expressions cards. . . yikes! There are tons of exiting things going on over at Express the Moment, including a new web layout, and new kits for this year. There are scrapbooking kits (a year long project to DIE for this year – I love it!) recipe kits, PAGE kits (new this year) and my favorite, the card kits. If you haven’t been to ETM lately to check things out, you definitely should. Getting my kits each month is definitely a highlight. . . I love that everything comes packaged and ready for me to go. . . with so many cute matching embellishments and fun things to do.

For January, Kim picked the cutest paper by Fancy Pants Designs from a line called Hot Chocolate. She also included a print out of “page map” card sketches . . . I love the Page Maps sketches because you are never without an idea of what to do with your cards. Rather than making up new designs this month, I decided to follow those sketches and demonstrate that you can easily make one card following each sketch. . . these kits are fantastically huge and there are ALWAYS plenty of supplies inside!

There is even this cute frame inside the kit – I decided to demonstrate how this can be made into a fun shaker frame for a holiday photo. Just save the baggie that that the frame is packaged in. Cut a piece of 4x4 cardstock and mount a photo to the center. Adhere the baggie to the front of the photo, using adhesive only along the outside edges of the 4x4 cardstock. Next, you need to put some dimensional squares or foam tape on each corner, INSIDE the baggie. This will give your baggie some open space for the things to shake around in. Add some snowflake punches to the inside of the baggie. Fold the edges of the baggie around and secure them to the back of the 4x4 cardstock. Finally, adhere the baggie to the frame, making sure that your photo is centered. Now give it a shake. Fun!

Thanks for stopping by to see the Expressions goodies. . . I can’t wait to start showing off my “Moments” project each month this year. And hey locals – ETM is having a crop on February 19th! Check out the details on their site . . . this event is a ton of fun and will help get you started with your kits for 2011. There is always great shopping too. .  . and we will be making some super cute cards! I can’t wait!