i-rock Templates: Learn to Make Your Own

Everyone loves our i-rock templates, we know because we keep selling through them and having to bring in more. Stores are telling us these are among the best selling item in their stores. Everyone loves a something they can use over and over again and have cute designs. Imaginisce actually has three different designs currently. We are working on next designs for next year. Be sure to keep reading to see how you can create your own or win one!! 

Here's what the end result of the template design looks like when you remove it and  the gems are left behind...beautiful don't you think?

The following pillow and card designs used the Swirl Templates to create the beautiful flourish pattern on them. The great thing about our templates is they're made from a HEAT RESISTANT material so that you can touch it with your i-rock tool and not melt the material.

Another Tip: In stead of leaving the template in place and dropping each stone in and setting it inside the holes of the template, you can simply mark where the holes were with a pencil and go back and add the stones of your choice.

We've had tons of requests for more templates and we're working on some amazing designs hopefully to release for next year. But in the meantime, we've got a couple great ideas from our cute friend over at PinkCricut. She created two videos showing you how to create your own templates. 

The first video shows you how to use your Crop-A-Dile hole punch to create your template. Here's a template design we worked up for you so you could try this technique out yourself. Click on the image to make it larger and open in new window and right click on it to save it to your computer to print (you can resize it too). Enjoy!!

 You could also use one of my favorite tools to for this same technique. Some call it a Japanese Screw Punch and others call it an Anywhere Hole Punch. Simply print out your design and punch holes along the lines to create your gem pattern. 

The second video shows those of you that have a Gypsy and Cricut how to easily create your own template from designs you have stores on your Gypsy. I've tried this and loved how amazing the designs turned out when I was finished.

FREE STUFF: 

Let us know which of the PinkCricut videos you think you'll try and we'll giveaway one of our Template Kits and a new i-rock tool. Be sure to leave Sarah a comment so she knows you stopped by to check out her videos!! We'll announce all winners from previous weeks each Monday.

Winners!! August Sketch Winner & MORE!!

We love giving away goodies to our fans, but sometimes we posts contests, challenges and more and forget to announce the winners. Thanks for all the reminders on Facebook and through email. Hopefully we found all the missing announcements in this post.

August Sketch Challenge

First we wanted to post our monthly sketch winner for August! Congrats to Debbie from Love Life's Little Pleasures for creating the winning layout for our August Sketch Challenge!

We loved how Debbie used the Splash Dance Collection and all the great detail in this layout and how great it went with Sarah's sketch. Debbie will get a big box worth over $75 from Imaginisce for being selected. Be sure to visit our blog on September 1st to see the next Sketch Challenge!

Back to School with Liz

Friday our DT member, Liz Qualman posted a fun idea for back to school and she's giving away a Simply Charmed Cricut Cartridge. The lucky winner of this cart is:  Christine Zook

Cuttlebug Giveaway

We asked you all to either show us a project you've done that has embossing or send us a link to someone else's blog post about embossing. The winner we picked at random showed us this and she is:

cupcakesforchloe

Bella Blvd Blog Post Giveaway
We featured a great make & take project that Bella Blvd did at CHA using the i-top tool and so we decided to give away an i-top tool package on our blog that day. The lucky winner of this package is:

juli (sweetpz)

Sewing, Sketches & Scooter's Vacation Giveaway
Over a week ago the lovely Kim Holmes shared with us how to sew on your scrapbook pages and featured the popular Scooter's Vacation Collection. The lucky winner that commented on this post will receive a set of the Scooter's Vacation products and she is:  Teresa Jaye

WINNERS!! If you are one of the winners listed above and you have not received an email from us already, it's because we can't find any contact information in your profile and have no way to reach you other then hoping you're reading this post. All YOU need to do now is email us your shipping information to our blog email at contactimaginiscegmailcom or click on this link. 

Thanks!!

i-spy Simply Southern Sandee

Sandee from Simply Southern Sandee partied it up last week with the Imaginisce B-Day Bash Collection. We loved how she created so many great projects with her Cuttlebug and Cricut. Jump over to their blog to see each piece from this great party set up close and in detail. Great job Sandee!! 

Back to School with Liz

Hi everyone! As many of your know, my "real" job is as an educator and this month has been my department's Back to School month, which consists of helping teachers in our district prepare for the return of our students. Since I have been consumed with work, which always encroaches a bit on my hobby (LOL), I thought it would be appropriate to share little desk caddy created with the delicious Apple Cider Collection. Below are just a few directions on what I used to create this special gift for a child's teacher.

First of all, I started with one of these... 

Purchased at Hobby Lobby

Then I painted it with this...

Burnt Sienna Acrylic Paint

Next I covered it with these...

Fall In Love 12x12 Paper

Nature Trails Ribbon

I also used one of these:

Fiskars Scallop Border Punch

Then I cut this...

Using this...

Cricut Country Life Cartridge

With this...

Cricut Expressions Machine

And ended up with this...

Ready for a Giveaway???

Leave a comment and be eligible to win one of these...

Cricut Simply Charmed Cartridge

Thank you so much for stopping by - Liz
My Little Sketch Blook

Rockin it on Good Things Utah

Today the awesomely talented Brett Lund will be representing Imaginisce on a local afternoon television show called Good Things Utah. He'll be showing folks how to use the popular new i-rock tool and create some fun and easy holiday cards with the new Cottage Christmas Collection. If you're local, be sure to tune in to channel 4 at 10:00am. And for those of you not local, we'll post the video clip back in this post later today.

Download the instructions here to learn how to create the fun cards shown on today's segment.



WIN FREE STUFF: As mentioned on the segment today, we're giving everyone the chance to win a Cottage Christmas Collection and new i-rock Tool with accessories. Simply leave a comment for each of the following tasks:

1. Follow the Imaginisce Blog

2. Like Imaginisce on Facebook

3. Visit our i-rock Gallery and tell us which project is your favorite!

4. Send a link to this blog post to your friends...tell us how many!

On Air Personality: Brett Lund

Many of you have probably seen him on Good Things Utah representing Roberts Craft Stores. But lucky for us he's decided to start helping us out and we're thrilled to work with Brett!

Impressed with Embossing and the Cuttlebug (with giveaway)!

Provo Craft originally introduced the Cuttlebug as a die-cut machine for the home crafter. It's compact, does not require electricity, and folds up for easy storage, which has made it popular with scrapbookers that don't want the bulk or expense of large digital machines. It's also very easy to use. Here's a couple samples of what Melinda created with the Happy Birthday Cuttlebug Embossing folder (shown below) and the B-Day Bash Collection.

Cuttlebug embossing folders are used to press a three dimensional image into cardstock, craft foam, mesh, chipboard, and other scrapbook media. Six inches in the maximum width of the paper that can be accommodated, but there is no limit to the length.

The folders come in several different styles. The basic folders are 5-inch by 7-inch, and have an overall pattern. These folders are perfect for embossing photos mats and cards.

For those of you that don't own a Cuttlebug machine, you can still use the embossing folders. According to Love to Know: Scrapbooking they claim you just need a spray bottle and rolling pin. I haven't tried this myself, but here's how they did it:

The only equipment needed is a spray bottle, some tape, and a rolling pin. It is not possible to get as much pressure with a rolling pin as the Cuttlebug can apply. With light weight paper, this will not be an issue, but for cardstock or other heavy weight materials, embossing will be easier if the paper is sprayed lightly with water. Dampening the paper will make it more pliable and easier to emboss. Place the paper in the embossing folder, and tape the folder closed. Lay the embossing folder on a firm surface like a table or counter, and roll over it with the rolling pin, as though you were rolling out a pie crust. You will need to experiment to learn how much pressure to apply to get the desired result.

Wanna WIN a CUTTLEBUG MACHINE and some EMBOSSING FOLDERS?? We would love to see what you've embossed? Simple leave a comment with a link back to a sample you've created using an embossing folder. But, if you don't have anything because you don't own any embossing folders, simply give us a link to a project you found online using this embossing method. We'll select a winner by Thursday morning!!

Tons-O-Winners....from our past blog posts!!

Scooter's Vacation Giveaway from our Blog last week with our Tracy Gardiner. We're giving away a fun set of Scooter's Vacation and we even scored some fun Cuttlebug Embossing Plates to add to the giveaway. And the winner is:  Kimmarie Baker

Last week we featured the PinkCricut video and she offered a giveaway on her blog and we didn't want to leave our friends out of the mix. So we decided to offer the same prize package on our blog/facebook as well. The lucky winner of this giveaway will win an i-rock, some accessories and a new i-rock tote. PinkCricut will be posting her winner on her blog today...go check it out!! The winner from the Imaginisce blog is:  Samantha T.

And we love our FB fans...so here's another winner from the Imaginisce Facebook:
Jennifer Bryan Childs

And on August 17th we posted some great i-rock storage ideas on our blog and offered to give them away to three lucky winners. Here are the winners:

creative patti

 cricut junkie

 

summer braxton

If we did not contact you by email it's because we cannot find your email in your blogger profile, so we're hoping you happen to see your name here or a friend told you. If you were one of our lucky winners mentioned above, please email us at our "generic" public gmail address contactimaginiscegmailcom. 

Sewing, Sketches, and Scooter's Vacation!

Hey all!  Kim here and I am thrilled to be your blog hostess today!  I'm even more excited to share with you three of my favorite things in the scrapbooking world:  sewing, sketches and Scooter's Vacation!  So let's get right to it!

First up - sewing!  Stitching on my layouts has become a must for me.  I just love the finishing touch it gives to my layouts and cards and it's sew easy (pun intended)!  Okay, I'll admit, it wasn't always so easy!  So let me share with you a few things I learned along the way and hopefully you can speed up your learning curve!

*Use a basic machine with basic stitches!  In fact, I went out and purchased a small, basic machine for under $75.00 just to use for my scrapbooking.  It's all you will need.  Keep it handy and threaded with a basic color and you will find yourself using it all the time!

*Apply a small amount of adhesive to hold your papers in place while stitching.  Avoid stitching directly through adhesive tabs as this will gum up your needle and your thread will continually break.  If you do get glue on your needle, you can clean it with Un-do or rubbing alcohol. 

*Use a medium to heavy weight needle for most paper stitching.  The exception would be if you were sewing through light ribbon or vellum.  In this case, a light weight needle will suffice.  Remember to keep your stitches long - short stitches too close together will act like a perforation and your paper will tear. 

*After stitching, turn your project over.  Grab hold of the bobbin (bottom) thread and give it a light tug.  The top thread will come through a bit and make a loop.  Grab this with a sharp point and pull it all the way through to the back.  Use tape to secure both threads to back of project and cut off remaining.

*Play with a variety of stitches!  I combine straight and zig zag stitches on almost all my layouts.  Sometimes I  leave the ends loose on the front, sometimes I go around 2 or 3 times, sometimes I use a pattern and sometimes it's random.  There is no right or wrong way!

Next up is my sketch!  I love to work from a sketch!  They make great starting points for photo placement and help me to get my mojo flowin'!  I love to rotate them, add photos, delete photos - you can make the design all your own! Some of my favorite sites for skeches are My Sketch World, Page Maps, and Pencil Lines.  Here is own I created for you to play with:

And last but not least is Scooter's Vacation!  This is one of my all time favorite lines by Imaginisce.  It's such a versatile travel line full of fabulous 2-sided papers and embellishments!  You can find it all at Two Peas in a Bucket and at your local Michael's Craft Store. 

Do you see all that fun dimension?  I was playing with my Cuttlebug machine and embossing folders!  I love to use them to add dimension, texture and character to my designs!  The large dot one is called Seeing Spots and it's my current favorite!  I also used Diamond Plate, Script Texture, Tiny Bubbles, Polka Dots and the Measure by Measure borders. 

Did you make it all the way down here to the end?  If you did -- good for you because this is where the giveaway information is!  Giveaway?    Imaginisce is amazing when it comes to fun giveaways!  So, leave a message here by August 24th and you could win a prize package full of Scooter's Vacation Goodies! 

Do you want another giveaway?  Of course, you do!  If you hop on over to my blog today, you will see that I'm giving away a fabulous Cuttlebug embossing folder by Provocraft!  It's called Dominos!

Have a glorious day - Happy Scrappin'!

i-rock Video by Pink Cricut (and giveaways galore)!

We are so excited to be able to team up with great talent around the web and today we have the pleasure of featuring a video from Pink Cricut. Sara created a fun project using the Imaginisce i-rock tool. And we love it!! In fact, she has a ton of great videos to check out!!

SPARKLY FREE STUFF!!! Sarah is giving away some great i-rock product on her blog today, but you know us, we love to giveaway here too. So be sure to jump over to Sarah's blog and check out how to enter her giveaway. To enter the Imaginisce giveaway today, simply go to the Pink Cricut blog and follow her blog OR go to her Facebook page and "like" her then come back and tell us (1 enter per place you follow)!!

The Patient Workings of an Artist in Australia: Melinda Spinks

The very patient Melinda Spinks created this beautiful "Love" layout form the new Apple Cider Collection. I say patent because she cuts the little leaves and apples from the pattern papers, she stitches the little blue bird's trail, quills the cloud and then went hunting for twigs to create her darling boarder. For more close-up photos of this beautiful layout, visit Melinda's blog post. Isn't Melinda great!!

Cute Melinda sent me this sketch to share for those of you that might want to create a layout based on Melinda's original layout. I love collecting sketches!

We were also very excited when we learned the Kristina at 2Peas featured the Apple Cider Collection in her weekly product picks. In fact, she even mentioned Melinda's layout above.  If you want to see the product in action...well sort of in real life, then you'll love this video. 

i-rock Storage Ideas (and giveaway)!

I've been asked a ton how I store all my i-rock accessories and tool. So I thought I'd show off how I store my i-rock products and give you a few more ideas I picked up while doing a little school supply shopping.

Hard Pink Case

The case in the lower left corner (see group shot above) was a great find, but needed to be just a bit bigger to fit more i-rock accessories. I also thought cutting a name out or design with my cricut and vinyl would have totally rocked this case. The tool and glam rocks fit in here real nice, but the compacts are a bit too large. If you like the idea of a clear case I would for sure pick up a larger version of this case. 


Round Pencil Case
I thought this was too plain for my liking, so I attached a flower pin that Julia Sandvoss made for me to the zipper. This is a cute case, but the compacts don't fit in here real well, but everything else, especially the i-rock tools fits in here nicely.

Hawaiian Zipper Case

Loved that this case had a side for pencils and the Glam Rocks fit in real nice in their place. This was the higher priced of all the options, but isn't it great!  

My Personal i-rock Storage
I bought one of these "clearly organized bags" from a friend years ago and actually own them in a ton of sizes. The new versions of these have handles and are very reasonably priced. These are my favorite way to transport a lot of my scrapbook tools, supplies, etc when I go to crops. It makes my scrapbook tote a lot more organized and easy to manage. Anyway, I thought the bag was too plain so I added a couple flowers to the front of it and filled it with EVERYTHING from the i-rock tool and accessories (and extra batteries) in my bag.  

We love Giveaways, especially those that ROCK!!!
Yes, we have three extra cases that need a home and we can't send them empty either. So enter to win one of our three i-rock tool + case sets. Tell us which of the cases you'd like best OR share some of your own storage ideas for the i-rock tool. We'll pick a winner by Thursday, 8/19.