Sunday, June 26, 2011

Distress Burst

My June Kayric Club technique is called Distress Burst. I'll post in a couple of months about how to do it, but I wanted to post a quick card.

I used the Curiosities set by Tim Holtz. It came in my last order and I wasn't quite sure about it (I ordered it on a whim). But I've used it a couple of times and I love it. It's great for guy cards.


I am hoping to have some more time soon so that I can play with it more!!

Anyway, here is the card I created using this set and the Distress Burst technique.

Thursday, June 23, 2011

I broke my cardinal rule

For those who know me, they know my cardinal rule is keep it simple. There are many sub-rules such as:

1. No embossing
2. No cutting
3. Do not ever use glue because it is messy sticky stuff that gets everywhere and makes your fingers stick to everything

Those cover just about any circumstance, but the keep it simple part generally covers it all.

I hate glue (can you tell??) and I'm too lazy to emboss and I am cutting challenged. So, really, the rules are out of necessity.

That said, I created a layout the other day that broke my cardinal rule about keeping it simple. I was doing a Santa layout for Nathalie and my new Cricut cartridge (Life's a Party) had a Santa you could cut out. It looked cute and it seemed like such a good idea at the time. Well, to make that work, you need to cut out 455646546 different layers and make sure the cardstock all goes together. Then you need to piece it all together and glue it down. Major infraction of the rule.

Of course, once I started, I wanted to see if I could in fact do it and I did and I actually kind of like how it turned out. I have all these Cricut Cartridges and mostly just use them for letters which is a bit of a waste. So, I am going to try to cut out other things too and actually get some good use out of them. But I'm going to have to wrestle all of that with the cardinal rule. It might just need some adapting.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

4 Months

I haven't had time to craft in the past few days as work has been busy, but here is a layout I did last week. With each kid, I've taken a picture of them around 4 months with the same pose. It's cool to see how different each one looked.


It's just a simple layout with an 8x10" photo and then matted. I inked the edges of the white cardstock and added a title, buttons and a little metal quote thing because that space needed something.

Monday, June 20, 2011

Simplicity

It's raining here. Well, it's alternating between raining and pouring. I managed to scrapbook a bit this weekend which was very nice. I feel like I'm getting back into the swing of things!

But it's Monday and I have tons to do, so it's just a quick post today. Here is another simple card with my friend Jackie's background. I always make these focal things and then don't know how to finish the card. I've started using my Tim Holtz background stamps and just stamping a quick background and then layering and I'm liking the look.

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Love

I was flipping through old photos of Nathalie looking for inspiration to scrapbook. I hadn't scrapped in quite awhile and I was having trouble getting back into the swing of things. I grabbed this envelope which has pictures of the early days and thought it would be fun to scrapbook. I found a layout in a magazine which provided inspiration and just started. Overall, I was happy with how it turned out. I had a bunch of these acrylic embellishments that I bought a couple of years ago because I had to have them, and I haven't used them, so out they came too. I coloured them with alcohol inks and in the end, the layout came together and I was very happy with it.

Friday, June 17, 2011

For Heather

I was at my friend Jackie's class last Saturday and another friend, Heather, came up to me and said, It's about time you started blogging again. I was a bit surprised that she had noticed my absence, but she said she had which was very nice. I just figured that people would check maybe every so often or if they saw a link on my Facebook, but Heather isn't on Facebook and so, she was just checking. So, for her, I'm trying to be better about posting.

I created this card using the same technique Jackie had taught us (well, steps 1-3 of it). Then I grabbed one of my favorite Tim Holtz sets, Reindeer Flight, and added the trees and reindeer. I love that I could create cool looking background paper to match whatever colour scheme I have in my head.

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Cousins

My cousin came over to scrapbook last week and I started back with Nathalie's album. I managed to get 4 pages done, so I was quite happy.

Nathalie was the third baby born in 3 months in my family. My cousin had a little boy in March, then my Sister-in-law/Brother in April and finally Nathalie in July. When she was just a couple of days old, they all came to visit and we got a great photo. It's hard remembering her so tiny. She looks so different now. Her hair is so much lighter.

It's a very simple layout, but that's me, right?? And I'll never catch up if I spend hours on each layout.

I've read that you shouldn't always journal on the computer since people will want to remember your writing too. I hate my writing and wish longingly that I had cool printing like all the scrapbookers in the magazines. But I don't, so I don't often print on my layouts since I'm scared of messing them up. But since I could do this on a tag and if I messed up, it wouldn't wreck my layout and I could start over, I went for it.

I've decided that you don't need a lot on a layout for it to be nice. This has one piece of patterned paper, one piece of cardstock with another small one for a mat. Then just a title and a journaling tag. So simple.

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Thanks Jackie

First of all, I need to say Congratulations to my friend, Jackie Smith (check out her blog) as she was published in the "Stamper's Sampler: Catch Up Issue." She is very talented and I am so excited for her.

Jackie and I, although we share a name, are somewhat different when we stamp. Jackie does the most gorgeous intricate cards. There is so much detail and they must be seen in person to truly understand what went into them.

I helped Jackie teach a class recently and so she had come over a couple of times to show me what we were doing. She does this gorgeous background and then stamps flowers and leaves and cuts them out to use as embellishments. The end result was stunning, but more work than I usually put into my cards. So, I played with her technique and did just the first few steps and created backgrounds that I really liked.

For those who know me, they know I tend to do very simple cards. Mostly because I'm lazy and don't have a lot of time to stamp, so I need to be quick and efficient. I made three cards with her backgrounds and so today, I'll show one.

Monday, June 13, 2011

Mother of Pearl Hearts

A quick post to showcase another Mother Of Pearl card that I introduced yesterday. This one is done with Gold Lumiere paint and then I used Red Distress Ink overtop. Then I die cut two hearts (Tim Holtz) and stamped on them.

Very simple, but I like how it turned out!

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Mother of Pearl

The technique for May was Mother of Pearl. It's a cool technique with Lumiere Paint and Distress Inks. It's a kind of resist and for those who know me, they know I love just about any type of resist.

This technique called for dabbing Lumiere paint onto white matte cardstock with scrunched up saran wrap. Then you heat set it (if you're impatient like me) or put it aside to dry. Then just apply Distress Inks overtop with a blending tool (I love the Tim Holtz Blending Foams). Then spritz paper towel with a bit of water and wipe off the ink from the Lumiere. You have a beautiful metallic resist.

As I was doing this, I started thinking. I wonder if you can stamp with the Lumiere instead of just dabbing it on and it worked great. I spread some Lumiere paint on my craft sheet and used some solid stamps. Then you can overstamp. If you stamp with Distress Inks overtop of the Lumiere, they won't stick to the Lumiere, but that creates a unique effect in itself. You can use Chalk Ink if you want it to stick.


For this card, I used my favorite Tim Holtz Set (Reindeer Flight). I love those trees! I stamped them with silver Lumiere paint and added two colours of green Distress Ink. Then I overstamped with Forest Moss Distress Ink because I wanted the green trees to be in the background.

Friday, June 10, 2011

Stamping Bella

I opened my orders last night and started drooling over some new Stamping Bella Stamps. I ordered them because they looked cool, but I'm really liking them once I see them in person! I just ordered 3 of the new Eclectic Line.

Eclectic Ticket ($15)


Eclectic Butterfly ($9)


Eclectic Mini Bubble Wrap, Mesh & French Script ($14)





They are beautiful grey rubber unmounted stamps. Unfortunately, the description said that they were cling mounted, but they appear to be just the rubber. But they are still quite beautiful and I really like them. They would be gorgeous for lots of different types of cards.

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Organization

I know it's been forever since I posted. I have not been in a very creative mood lately and I have barely stamped in the last month. I find it really hard to get back into it if I haven't done it in awhile and then I get overwhelmed. There are days I feel like just selling it all off and giving up.

Thankfully, those days pass and eventually I end up back in my room. It often takes scheduling a friend to come over and stamp or scrapbook with me. It's fun to have the company and I often actually make something I like. Then I get motivated and am excited to get back into it.

I had my friend Jackie over a week or two ago and she was showing me the technique she's teaching on Saturday (I'm going to help her). Jackie does very gorgeous, very intricate work and she taught me a beautiful technique. Of course, I'm lazy and lost focus after the first few steps, so I adapted the technique and I quite like it. It's so great how we can all start out with the same thing and end up with something so different.

I then had my cousin over yesterday and I finally finished putting titles on the layouts I did at the retreat a month and a half ago. I do think that the two days that Jackie and Debbie came over are the only time I have spent in that room in the past month, but the desire to go back in there is getting stronger and so I'm hopeful that I'll be able to get over this hump and get back into the swing of things.

I got two packages this week full of goodies. I was worried about the once since it comes from the US and with the strike, but it managed to make it here anyway. I'll be throwing up some of the new stuff this week as I'm going to try to keep this blog updated.

Anyone who knows me knows that I'm rather anal about organization. I get so excited when I go into a store that sells organizational goodies. It's better than a candy store for me. So, I ordered a magazine "Creative Spaces" which showcases Scrapbook and Stamping Rooms and organizational ideas. I have just briefly flipped through it, but I'm salivating at these rooms. And while, I'll never have a huge studio, I always find neat ideas from these larger rooms. I can't wait to sit down and quietly look through it.

I have one extra magazine for sale for $16.00 if anyone is interested.


I'm hoping to be back here more often now. Thanks for your patience.