Soccer Trading Cards in iPod boxes

Hello all and welcome to the Sports Blog Hop!

I am so glad you are here!  Now you should have arrived here from  Nicolette Simpson - Beyond Scrapin.  If you just came by chance head over to Creations with Kathryn and read through all the exciting blog candy and start at the beginning of the hop.     Below is my project!  Be sure to read to the end and find out about the BLOG CANDY I am giving away!

So, our challenge today was design something sports related.  Doesn't sound so tough, right?  Both of my children play soccer, so I have soccer pictures coming out of my ears!  I also have soccer layout after soccer layout as well, and after a while they start to run together.  (Both kids have played since they were 4 years old!  That is a combined 9 years of soccer pictures!) To combat my problem, I decided to create Soccer Trading Cards which fit in iPod boxes.  (You can use any container you want, just alter the size of your trading cards).

First, I measured the plastic boxes and then used George and Basic shapes to create rounded corner "cards" that would fit in the boxes.  (Exact measurements were 4.83 x 2.46 in.)  I was able to get eight cards per piece of paper.  I cut one sheet (12x12) of khaki and one sheet of bright blue.  I figure each season I will change the trading card color so it will be easy to figure out what pictures are from what season.  (i.e. 2007 is khaki, 2008 in yellow...)

After cutting out the cards, I began to scrap each trading card separately. Because of their small size and the desire to keep them fairly flat, this was quick and easy. 

Card #1:  I matted a professional wallet photo of my daughter in black cardstock.  I then used Sports Mania to cut the corner soccer ball out of black and its shadow out of white.  (Cut at 1.78x1.71 in.)  I used a black zig marker to write the team name along the top and the year along the bottom.

Card #2:  I cut a traditional 4x6 photo into a small square and matted it on black paper.  I used Sports Mania again to cut the "Kick This" title frame out.  I cut the title frame in blue at 2.13x1.39 in.  I matted the title frame in white and adhered it to the trading card at a slight angle.  The title frame has a layer for the center of the soccer ball which I cut in black.

Card #3:  I trimmed another 4x6 photo to fit the card, being sure to center my daughter to the right of the card.  I cut out I (heart) soccer in blue from Sports Mania at 4.83x1.00 in.  I cut the heart layer out in red (.78x1.00 in.)  I layered all of this to a torn strip of black paper to really make the title pop! 

Card #4:  I turned this card horizontally because I couldn't get the photo trimmed to fit vertically.  I matted the photo to a piece of white paper and then trimmed the mat tight on three sides.  On the last side, right, I left an extra .25 inch and tore the edge.  I used 3-D stickers from K & Company Peter Horjus Soccer Grand Adhesions.  The three soccer balls really make this page pop!

Now that the inside trading cards are done, I have to alter the outside of the box. 

 The first thing I did was wrap 15" of black polka dot ribbon (3/4 in.) around the bottom edge of the box.  I then wrapped 15" of black polka dot ric-rac (1/2 in) around the lid edge.  I used glue dots to hold the ribbon down where the ends meet.  (The ATG adhesive held the rest of it no issue!)

I then added two more K & Company Peter Horjus Soccer Grand Adhesions Stickers.  The large soccer ball sticker is 3-D and came with the small photo frame already attached!  I trimmed an extra photo of my daughter to 1" square and carefully slid it into place.  I then added the "Kickin' It" sticker to the bottom center of the box.  Lastly, I added a small wooden round "M" to the top left side of the soccer ball for my daughter's initial. 

Of course, having two kids, I couldn't stop at one box, so I made a 2nd for my son!

This is another plastic iPod box.  This time I adhered a khaki rounded corner rectangle to the top of the box and put on the #1 stickers.  (Stickers from Pebbles Stickers Snpsht Wrd Stckrs Soccer.)  I used a black zig marker to write my son's name. 

I then put 15" of blue ric-rac with brown polka dots around the bottom edge of the box.

Card 1:  I cut 8 rounded corner trading cards from George and Basic Shapes.  (Same measurements as above.)  I matted a professional wallet size photo of my son on green pattern paper and then wrote the team name and year in zig marker.

Card 2:  I trimmed a 4x6 photo and matted it on white paper. I then used Hot Off the Press Brad Buddies (Soccer!) to put the metal, blue goal net and soccer ball onto another square of white paper. (The soccer ball is actually a brad!)  I then carefully trimmed around the netting and ball to create a white shadow. 

 Card 3:  I matted a different photo on white paper and then used a simple sticker (Score!) from Carolee's Creations Soccer Stickers.  Clean and easy!

Card 4:  I matted a photo with white paper and then used another Brad Buddy from the same package.  The Goal is a metal plate, while the star and dot on the exclamation point are both brads.  I put the brads through the metal plate and then carefully trimmed the brad flaps that you could see.  I didn't want to actually send the brads through the back of the cards so I can journal on the back.

Card 5:  I matted another photo on white, trimmed three sides tight, and left the bottom long.  I tore across the bottom of the mat and wrote "Goalie in Training!"



I hope you enjoyed my projects; I know I did!  Now, on to the blog candy!  First, become a follower and then leave a comment on this project. (Open only to people in the US due to shipping rates!  Sorry!) At the end of the hop I will be announcing my winner. So please check back then!! Now, you are off to

Here's the blog hop order with links for your convenience!


1) wamfamily - Creations with Kathryn – http://wamfamily.blogspot.com/


2) TX Scrapper Mom - TX Scrapper Mom -http://txscrappermom.blogspot.com/

3) TinaB - Tina Time - http://ollieanddextersmommy.blogspot.com/

4) Ms Dee - Dee's Special Things - http://www.deesspecialthings.blogspot.com/

5) Lissa - So Many Crafts, So Little Time http://www.somanycrafts.wordpress.com/

6) CraftyScentiments - Crafty Scentiments –http://www.craftyscentiments.blogspot.com/

7) Scraphappybette - Believe, Dream, Create –http://www.believedreamcreate.blogspot.com/

8) bzymomof9 - Life on the Bright Side – http://quiverofangels.blogspot.com/

9) Jenne - Fairy Craft Mama – http://www.fairycraftmama.blogspot.com/

10) Nicolette Simpson - Beyond Scrapin –http://www.beyondscrapin.blogspot.com/

11) JenMcCalley - Scrappin at McCalley House – http://mccalleyhouse.blogspot.com/      You are here!!!!!!

12) VinDeeLoo - VinDeeLoo's This 'n That – http://vindeeloosthisnthat.blogspot.com/

13) roxybonds - RoxyBonds - Scrappin – http://roxybonds-scrappin.blogspot.com/

14) LisaLisa&ScrapJam - Peanuts & Pepper Paper Crafting – http://peanutsandpepperspapercrafting.com/

15) LeAnnSnyder - LuvToScrap – http://leann619oh.blogspot.com/

The Backyard Remodel

This is one of the layouts which looks simple, easy and clean, yet took forever!  I learned a lot about the Cricut on this layout which is odd, since the page doesn't include a lot of Cricut accents.  I wanted to steer clear of green backgrounds because I feel the photos would have gotten lost in them. 

I used Medium Berry Red Colormates cardstock for the background and then found two matching patterned papers with the same color red accents. (The patterned paper is from PaperSalon Glad Rags floral and multi-stripe.)

 I added two strips of patterned paper along the bottom of the photos.  My initial plan was to create a scalloped bottom on the striped paper.  So, using my gypsy I created a border and went to cut it.  I learned that cutting on the very edge of the paper made it move around on the mat a lot.  I think it would have worked much better if I hadn't precut my boarders and had the cricut actually cut the boarders in the scalloped shape.  In the end, I just trimmed off the messed up scallops and used a smaller boarder piece. 

After assembling it altogether, I wasn't very happy with the boldness of the patterned paper.  I felt it overwhelmed the photos and took over the page.  Instead of starting over from scratch, I found a bright blue coordinating cardstock and cut two different sizes of circles to create a border on top of the patterned paper.  I think it helped "calm" down the pattern paper.  To tie the blue in, I cut the title (George font) in blue, with the shadow in the striped pattern paper.  In he end, I really like the page, but it was nothing like I originally had planned!

Halloween and New Gypsy Updates

With Halloween this weekend, I didn't have any time to scrapbook and I'm feeling the urge to be creative!  Wish I had more time!  I did take a few minutes and do the new Gypsy update so I could get the 6 free cartridges!  Boy I am excited about them and can't wait to make something with them.  I especially love Smiley Cards!  Hope to post a project soon!

Scramp Layouts Continued!

After I finished the Yellowstone album I was on a roll!  Here are the rest of the layouts I finished while I was at Scramp!

"Gone Fishin'"  While we were in Yellowstone, Matt went sturgeon fishing one day and caught this huge sturgeon.  Since I only had this one cell phone photo, I couldn't enlarge it more without it getting blurry, so I matted it with large mats to give it more weight.  I then cut the title from Life's a Beach on the Cricut.  Finally, I flocked the fish in the title with gray flock to make it look more like the fish Matt caught!

"Toutle"  That Christmas my parents gave my brother and I title to the piece of land we have camped on our entire lives!  (In fact, that's where Scramp takes place!)  I used the Cricut to cut out the trees, but then I noticed I had this great row of trees left on the paper (the reverse of what had been cut!).  I trimmed across the trunk portion of the trees and placed them on the page as a pocket.  Then I added the original trees I had cut out with popdot's for a little dimension!  I was excited that I'd used a scrap and I love the way it turned out.  I then had this Sandylion (?) tent and fire that I was able to nestle into the layers of trees.

"Snow Love"  This was my first layout using the gypsy! (A handheld device, like a DS, that allows you to combine Cricut images for more flexibility.)  I love it!  I took the o's out of the words and added snowflakes in!