Thursday, November 25, 2010

Happy Hallowe'en


I know it's long past, but I did a quick Hallowe'en page for Eric's album and wanted to share.

It was another really quick page. I just took this Hallowe'en patterned paper and matted my three photos in black. I cut out a Bat in a Circle using my Pumpkin Carving Cricut cartridge and then cut out 2009 and stuck it all down. I didn't bother journaling since really, the pictures say it all.

I haven't stamped or scrapbooked lately and I'm itching to create again. Luckily, my sister is coming over tomorrow for a scrapbook day. I've been frantically cleaning the house and catching up on other work so that I can have a play day tomorrow. I have a bunch of ideas in my head and I'm hoping that I can get them onto paper without too much frustration. So many times, I have ideas in my head, but they can't seam to make it onto the paper without major issue. I have confidence that tomorrow is going to be great though.

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

This one's for Heather ...

Last June, I took a class from Els Van de Burgt owner of Elizabeth Craft Designs which was fabulous. It involved a lot of glitter, which isn't normally my thing, since, well, it's messy and takes a long time. She did this one demo, though, that completely sucked me in.

We took a peel off (her designs are gorgeous) and placed it on a piece of Sookwang Tape (also known as Scor-Tape or Be Creative Tape) which was on cardstock. We poured the warm or cool highlites glitter all over and it stuck to the background. Then we coloured with Bic Permanent Markers and an Alcohol Ink Pen filled with Blender Solution. The results were so gorgeous and what I loved is you could have all sorts of different colours of glitter without messing around (and needing) all sorts of colours.

I don't have a lot of peel offs, but I was thinking I might be able to make it work with cut outs from my Cricut. I used the Picturesque cartridge which Jackie Smith (check out her gorgeous blog) thankfully convinced me to order. The lines are thicker, but I still think the result is gorgeous. And what is really cool is I can cut them out to be whatever size I want which is very appealing.

I took the stuff out to the PMS (Pretty Mean Stampers) retreat and played. They turned out gorgeous!! I was colouring them and cutting them out while chatting with Heather Kuchma who convinced me to take it one step further and instead of adhering the butterfly right onto the cardstock or background, she had me adhere it to a transparency so I could curl the wings and make it 3D. It turned out fabulous and I was sold.

I do think that next time, I'll adhere the whole sheet to the transparency first and then cut everything out to save time and hopefully make them a bit easier to cut.

The background was done with the Distress Ink/Cuttlebug technique from a few posts ago. Check out Technique Junkies for a detailed tutorial on that and tons of other great techniques.


Sunday, November 21, 2010

Colour Wheel

I have to start by saying thank you to all the people who have mentioned to me that they enjoy reading my blog. I was at stamping (PMS - Pretty Mean Stampers) on Friday and was floored by the number of people who mentioned that they liked reading what I wrote and seeing what I posted. I know it gets mundane to post comments and such which I totally understand, so it was nice to hear in person that people are enjoying this venture of mine.

It's funny, though, as I've been talking quite a bit lately about the scrapbook kits. And while not a traditional kit in that the layout isn't already set out, these kits are still great because as I've mentioned before, everything matches and goes together. I've been ordering them for awhile as they are making my scrapbook life easier and quicker (which I definitely need!). I need to order in twos though, so I have been trying to sell off the other set. Well, I took all my extra sets to PMS and they were all gone. So, I guess people are reading! There will be definitely more coming in the future though as I have decided this is the way to go for the next little while until I can get more caught up.

Here is a really quick layout I did a week or so ago. I am getting a bit tired of the same old dark "boy" colours as I'm working on Eric's book. I had these two pictures and choose olive green and navy blue (I know - big surprise, huh?). I need a small dash of a third colour and had no idea what to add. I checked out my colour wheel (I actually have a bit of a different one and it shows me the colour options next to each other rather than having to look all around the colour wheel on a traditional one, but more about that later). Well, it showed me a blue, green, purple combination which I would have never pulled out of my head. I did it and loved it.


It's a very simple layout on white cardstock. I cut 3 medium squares and 3 small ones and ran them through different Cuttlebug folders (Navy - Argyle, Green - Seeing Spots, Purple - Clockworks) and added them as filler. The rest was pretty straight forward. But when I finished it, I loved how it turned out. Of course, the picture doesn't really show the purple very well, but I challenge you to try that combination - green, blue & purple.

As for the book. I bought this a few years ago, but I found it on Amazon.ca. It's by Memory Makers and it goes through and explains all the different types of colour relationships (monochromatic, diad, triad etc). It's fabulous as each relationship is a new chapter and they have a ton of examples of layouts done with these type of relationships. And it included a colour wheel. You choose a colour (let's say green), and it shows you all the different colour relationships in little squares. It's hard to explain, but fabulous! The one I found on Amazon has a different cover than my book, but I think it's the same book as it's the same publisher and same title.

Thursday, November 18, 2010

The Orders Have Arrived

I have two new orders that have arrived this week. I've unpacked them and drooled over some of the new and cool stuff. I wanted to post a few pictures of the new product.


Here are a few of the new Tim Holtz Dies and Texture Fades. I also ordered a set of the Copic Multiliners. It's a great set of black pens from extremely fine (0.03) to thick (1.0). While I didn't really like the extremely fine ones (0.03 & 0.05), I loved the thicker ones. But I still think it's worthwhile to have a set of nice black pens. I don't like extra fine pens, though, which contributes to my bias. This set would be great for even doodling and then Zentangle craze!

I love all these mini jewels. I had ordered a set or two with my last order and loved them so much, I ordered a few more colours. They're hard to see in the photo, but they're gorgeous.

A couple more Embossing Folder Sets. Sizzix has some gorgeous Christmas sets out, which I ordered, but they were backordered.


I ordered three new scrapbook sets. My sister is over today and she really likes the other two (Christmas/Snowman themed), as do I. I am not totally sold on this one, but I ordered it because these are not my colours and I thought it might push me a bit. I am working on Eric's album and am getting a bit tired of the same "boy" type colours. I thought I might just go a bit bright!

Friday, November 12, 2010

Out for Delivery

I have an order that is currently Out for Delivery which should mean I will get it today. I always get so excited when I get a new box!! Sometimes, I can't remember what I ordered and it's a little bit like Christmas to open it up and see all the new stuff. Lots of times, stuff looks so different on the internet and it's cool to pick it up and touch it. Of course, it means a mess on my craft room floor, but that's worth it!

So, I will be back later to post about whatever treasures are in that package. In the meantime, here is a card I made for one of the classes I taught.


I used the Time Holtz Tattered Flower die and cut it out of bond paper. I then used that as a reverse mask and coloured the flowers with a Stipple Brush and Worn Lipstick & Dusty Concord Distress Inks. I overstamped the script with Worn Lipstick, then stamped the sentiment with Dusty Concord.

I did cut a couple of flowers out of white cardstock and then coloured and stamped them with the same two colours; layered them and adhered a button in the middle.

I love how you can use a die for so much more than just creating a flower cut out.




Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Scrapbooking Kits

I've started ordering Scrapbook Kits as a means to help me scrapbook quicker. One of the challenges I face when I sit down to put together a layout is making different patterned papers and embellishments match. I can usually do colours, but them matching the hues and tones can sometimes be difficult. And I tend to stick with monochromatic colours because I know I can make them work. I find it more challenging to put completely different colours together. Sometimes, it's a mental block as I know that red and green are complementary, but whenever I think of them together, I think Christmas and so I don't do it. But I need to get past that because when I do manage to get it to work, I really like the result.

I was at the scrapbook store the other day buying some soccer paper and embellishments so that I could do Eric's soccer layout (which has a group photo, so I don't want to post it here) and I noticed these really pretty glitter chipboard Embellishments by My Mind's Eye. There was a display with matching paper, so I bought the chipboard embellishment sheet, and two each of two pretty double sided patterned papers. From that, I created 8 different pages with my Christmas photos from last year. They are all part of a larger theme, but yet each one is unique to its purpose. I was so happy when I was done and the pages came together really quickly. I think I did all of them in less than 2 days with my sister(while that sounds like a lot of time, that includes dealing with work and house stuff and 6 kids between us). I know I should probably split them up into several posts, but I just wanted to showcase what you can do with matching papers and embellishments. And again, a page/card/layout doesn't have to take hours for it still to be nice. I actually quite like most of these and they came together very quickly.










Sunday, November 7, 2010

New Embossing Folders from Sizzix & Revamped Colorwash from Ranger

I love Embossing Folders. They're so great for creating textured paper. I, like many others, have a ton of them. I recently went through and labeled all of them so that when I use them, I know the name. It also helps me see quickly which is the front of the folder. The Cuttlebug folders have their writing on the front, but a bunch of the Sizzix ones have the writing on the back, so it can get confusing.

I was going through my some new stuff and discovered four new Embossing Folder sets from Sizzix; all Christmas themed.
Christmas & Thin Iced

Plaid & Snowflakes


Powdered Sugar & Snow Globe

Sugar & Starry Night

I wish that Sizzix wouldn't do the sets of two and would let us just purchase them individually. It always seems that in each set, there is one I love and the other I end up getting because, well, I love the one. I'm thinking of maybe throwing it out there that if people are interested in just one folder, then I'd keep a list and if someone wanted the other one, I'd order it and split it for them.

As well, Ranger has recently revamped their Colorwash Sprays. They've gone to a smaller (and therefore easier to hold in your hand) bottle and made the mister much finer. They have a great video right here. Tim Holtz is doing the video and it's full of cool stuff. I have a few of the older sprays that I haven't used in awhile, and I'm motivated to get them down and see what I can do with them! They're very vivid and I can't wait to try them with the sticky backed canvas.

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Happy Birthday

A quick post for today. I was too busy creating earlier to blog, but the good news is that I should have some more layouts to share in the coming days. My sister came over today and in between a ton of other things, I managed to finish a soccer layout from yesterday and do three single layouts from Christmas last year.

I loved the distress ink/cuttlebug folder technique I spoke of the other day. I used one of the backgrounds I created on the following card:


I used Worn Lipstick and Dusty Concord Distress inks and my new favorite Cuttlebug Folder: Seeing Spots. I love how the big spots react with this technique. The cupcake (it is a single stamp that I just stamped three times) and saying are from a new set by Hot off the Press: Magical Birthday. I stamped the cupcake with Ancient Page Coal Black and then used the same Distress Inks from the background to paint them in. I just used a damp waterbrush and picked up the ink colour directly from the pad and painted. It was very quick and easy. I punched the bottom scallop border with one of the Tim Holtz Border Dies (Scallops). The rest is pretty self explanatory.

Monday, November 1, 2010

Demo Night Demo

Well, it's been so busy the last week, I haven't had any time to post. I wanted to share what I did at my Demo Night so that those who couldn't attend could still check it out.

I subscribe to The Technique Junkies and absolutely love it. I think it's one of the best things I get in the mail. It's chocked full of great ideas and techniques and most of them use stuff I already have which is a major bonus. I don't seem to have a lot of time to look at blogs and stuff online, so I really appreciate being able to sit down with these and just play.

The technique I chose for last Tuesday was Faded Texture. It used Distress Inks (which I love) and Embossing Folders. What a great combination. You need glossy cardstock and add your distress inks (two colours). I used my Ink Blending Tool. Then spritz the top side of your embossing folder and run your cardstock through. It will fade some and I love the little water droplet marks too. The Distress Inks are meant to react well with water and it gives you a fabulous result. Here is card I did as our Make & Take:


I used Crushed Olive & Forest Moss Distress Inks and then ran it through the Tall Pines Tim Holtz folder. There is a coordinating Tree stamp in the Tim Holtz Reindeer Flight set which I stamped in Olive Pastel Chalk Ink. I stamped the saying (from another Tim Holtz set: Just Thoughts) on vellum with Coal Black Ancient Page and then adhered it with a Memo Pin.

Here are a couple different examples of this background.


That one was done with Faded Jeans & Dusty Concord Inks and then the Seeing Spots folder.

This was done with Scattered Straw & Spiced Marmalade Distress Inks and then put through the Tim Holtz Patchwork Texture Fade.

I think this is one of my new favorite techniques. It's so quick and gives fantastic results.