Monday, February 27, 2012

Easter

I've been playing catch up at home and work and so haven't had a lot of time for stamping and scrapbooking. I intend to remedy that this week and get back here and post more too.

In the meantime, here is a layout I did for my February Paper Pack Club.

Friday, February 24, 2012

The Age of New

It's that time when all the new stuff is starting to ship. I love this time!!

I received 3 new stamps from Unity Stamp Company and they're awesome. Nice red rubber cling mounted stamps.

They're $6.50 each.

Pom Pom Daisy


How far one can go


enjoy explore believe
Let me know if you are interested in any of these.

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Tim Holtz Stamps

He has a bunch of new release stamps and I just wanted to share two that I really like.

Words for Thoughts



Mixed Media

Monday, February 20, 2012

Swinging

Here is a layout I actually made a few months ago. It's just a simple one that I did with a paper pack so it all matches.


Sunday, February 19, 2012

Ribbon Holder

I have struggled with how to store my ribbon and have used a few different systems. I've never been totally sold on any of them. I used to keep them in little rubbermaid bins with holes drilled on the top, but that took a ton of room and I wanted to be able to see them at a glance.

Currently, I have them on 2 dowels where I can see them, but it's a pain to replace.

Cropper Hopper has a cool ribbon holder that would let you keep your ribbon on display, but it's also quick and easy to change the ribbon out. I love it. Of course, I'm not sure I have room to put it anywhere in my room, but I love it anyway. And you could hang all sorts of cool things off of it!!

Saturday, February 18, 2012

By the Month

I saw this idea in some magazine and then saw an awesome layout. I photocopied the layout and put it in my envelope of photos so I'd remember when I came to do my layout. As I get more organized (and caught up), I'm going to start doing that more. Photocopying a layout if I have an idea of how I can adapt it and then putting it right with the photos I want to scrapbook. Of course, I'm still behind, so that's likely something for down the line.

Anyway, each month, I took a photo of Nathalie holding the same bunny so I could see how she had changed and grown. Then I created a layout with those 12 photos. The sample layout had some cool milestones recorded so I looked back and found some and did that too. I'm quite happy with how it turned out.



Friday, February 17, 2012

Alphabet Tiles

I decided that I'd intersperse some product posts since there are so many new and cool things coming out!

I like the Bottlecap Inc inserts and bottlecaps. So easy to use!

They have introduced square Alphabet Tiles. They're 3/4" and they have Epoxy squares which can cover them so they'd make a very quick and cool embellishment to a card or scrapbook page.


Thursday, February 16, 2012

Distress Flickers Reindeer

I'm away for a few days so the next few posts will be short. But I didn't want to ignore my blog for 5 days, so I'm trying.

I talked about the Distress Flickers technique last month I believe. Here is a card I made using that background and then stamping my favorite Tim Holtz trees and reindeer. I have used these stamps so much. I just love them!!

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

More Sparkle Drips & Drops

I love that we can take what is old and make it new again. I used to love the Drips & Drops technique, but I changed it a bit so you use the Distress Reinkers which react well with water and then some sparkle spray. What a gorgeous background. I used it to die cut the heart on this card and then the stamp on the heart is a Tim Holtz as well which fits perfectly!


Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Happy Valentine's Day

In my inbox last week, I received a newsletter from Split Coast Stampers with a tutorial for a very cute Valentine's card, so I thought I'd make 3; one for each of the kids. It broke my main rule of no cutting, but it was still pretty quick and easy and I like how it turned out.

You can find the tutorial here if you would like to try one.

Monday, February 13, 2012

Honeycomb Paper

I was browsing on Facebook today and saw a post from Tim Holtz with a link to his blog, so I checked it out (going with my resolution that I'm going to try to stay on top of what's new and cool).

He has decided to make some changes to his 12 Tags program and he posted a tutorial today for February's tag. On it, he has a link to a video about Honeycomb Paper. It looks so cool and I can't wait to try it. It's made by Inky Antics and I can get their products so I'm even more excited!! They even have coordinating stamps. They're kind of a bit cutsie for me, but I think I'll get over it because the rest is so cool.

Click here to check out the Inky Antics page with a list of the paper and stamps. The stamps will be $12.50 and the paper will be $6.25.

Click here to see Tim Holtz' blog post and I highly recommend you watch the video.

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Distress Chart

Happy Sunday. I haven't been creating very much lately as life has been really busy. My mother was in an accident with her horse and although she will be just fine, it was a bit crazy dealing with insurance companies and keeping friends and family up to date. But she's home safe and sound and on her way to full recovery.

I did, however, want to share a chart I made where you can keep track of all the Distress Products that you own (and you can even put little marks on the ones you want to buy).

Click here to download

I hope you can use it!

Friday, February 10, 2012

Sparkle Drips & Drops and Candi too

I'm off to stamping tonight and am excited. I need to go finish getting ready and packed, so I just wanted to post a quick little post.

Here is a card I did with a new twist on an old technique. It happens to be this months technique for my technique club. I've termed it Sparkle Distress Drips & Drops. I embossed the background with the Seeing Dots folder which I discovered has the perfect sized dots for Candi.

Thursday, February 9, 2012

New Product Preview

I opened my new package yesterday and there were lots of goodies. Some gorgeous paper and embellishments for my paper pack club (I can't wait to do some layouts with it!!)

There was also a really cool magazine called "Cool Tools." It is full of instructions and projects using a whole variety of different tools. I can't wait to spend more time looking at it. I do have an extra copy and it is $16.00.


I also have three new stamps.

Calligraphy Background by Stampendous: $9.75. It is cling mounted and is 3.5x5"


Newspaper Eiffel Tower by Hero Arts. $14.50. It is cling mounted and is 4.75x6"


Magical Wishes by Amy R Stamps. It is $8.75 and has 17 little sayings (my favorite is "Cinderella is proof that a new pair of shoes can change your life.")

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Bonjour

So, I totally missed posting yesterday. I thought about it, but I was so sick so it just didn't happen. I spent most of Monday and Tuesday flat out in bed. It was crazy. Yesterday morning, I was dizzy and weak and we almost headed to the hospital for IV fluids, but the nurse I spoke with said to try small amounts of fluids for a few hours first and thankfully that worked. I can't remember the last time I stayed still for 2 days. Needless to say, the house is a disaster and I have a pile of paperwork screaming at me, but at least I can sit upright today, although I'm feeling pretty tired still.

I just had a delivery at my door: a box of stamping and scrapbooking supplies. I can't wait to see what's in there. I know that I should know, but half the time I forget what I ordered.

I am offering a pre-order special for the Distress Marker sets: the set of 37 markers for $110. I have a bunch of people interested in them, so let me know if you want a set. I think they are supposed to ship sometime this month.

In the meantime, here is a simple card I did with the Spellbinders Edgeabilities die. I love them; they're so cool!!


And yes, that is Candi on the card. I got mine all organized the other day and then came downstairs yesterday to discover that Nathalie unorganized some of them. Oh well, it could have been much worse!!

Monday, February 6, 2012

Giggle Candi

I loved the little flower Candi card I posted last week so I wanted to try to incorporate that into a scrapbook page. I worked on it on Friday, when my sister was over, and we were in play mode (as opposed to get it done mode). In the end, I love how it turned out!!

I stamped a bunch of flourishes and added the flowers. Then I knew I needed something along the top, so I just cut three pieces of coordinating paper (I love paper packs!). I wanted something along the right side, so I added more Candi (this time in black) and then a rub on on the left.

Sunday, February 5, 2012

Not Coming Home Outfit

My sister came over on Friday and we scrapbooked most of the day. We haven't done that in so long! And there was no pressure. We just played and created. Neither of us were trying to finish a project under a looming deadline and so I just putzed around more than I would have.

My mother has always bought the coming home from the hospital outfits for my kids. And since the first two were 9 lbs 3 oz when they were born, she figured a 3-6 month size would be fine for #3 since aren't they supposed get bigger each time?? Well, Nathalie was 6 lbs 13 oz, so the cute little dress was way too big and didn't fit her until she was 8 months old. But we had a fun photo shoot then.

I really like the look that some people can do with their titles using different fonts and different chipboard letters and stamps. I'm not very good at it since I don't have a huge collection of chipboard letters and it takes so much longer. But I attempted it with this layout and I love how it turned out. The NOT was done with chipboard. I wanted shiny white chipboard, but couldn't find the right letters in my white stash. So, I inked them with Versamark and then embossed with white embossing powder. Since I almost never emboss, I didn't have a nice white; it was more of an off white and I wanted it to be shinier, so I ended up adding some Irridescent Peacock Powder that added a bit of shine to it, so overall, I like how it turned out. Then the rest of the lettering was done with various rub ons that I had in my stash.



The collage I did in Photoshop so I knew that the pictures would be cropped exactly as I wanted them. And it's so much easier to make sure everything is even that way. Then I just upload it to Costco and have them print it.

Saturday, February 4, 2012

Almost Missed It

I was sick again today and spent a good chunk of it sleeping in bed which is quite unlike me. As a result, I almost missed posting today. As it is, I just remembered and it's almost midnight, so how about a quick one.


It opens up which doesn't show in my scan. I might have to start taking photos of my cards. I see pretty photos on other people's blogs, but I guess I just need to figure out how to set up a nice little area to take pictures of them.

But that's food for thought another day.

Friday, February 3, 2012

Distress Flickers Again

I am running out of time to get my post up for today, so it will be another quick post. The good news is that my sister came over today and we scrapbooked and I got another two layouts done to share with you. Yeah!!

Here is another card I did for January's Kayric Technique Club (Distressed Flickers).

Drop a drop or two of Distress Reinkers on a non-stick craft sheet and mist with water. Then dip an old toothbrush in and using your thumb to "flick" the colour on to your paper. I did this years ago with Twinkling H2Os and loved the result. I do wear gloves for this though since you will get rather stained hands. And make sure all your cool projects are away so that they don't suffer collateral damage.

And because you are using Distress Colours, you can stamp with your Distress Inks and it will all match. I love that system!

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Simple Candi

Have I mentioned that I love the new Candi dots?? I thought so. I've been playing with them all week and they're so cool. I've been waiting to share this card all week. I taught it in my Quick Cards class and so wanted to wait until after that to share.

You could put whatever sentiment you'd like on it and it's so quick. The stem of the flower is just a flourish (Autumn Leaves).

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

More Candi

It's been a busy day, and I have a meeting tonight, so just a quick post to show a really simple card I made the other night while I was playing with my Candi.

I've made a bunch of other stuff with it too. So much fun. I love how they're dimensional!!


And if I was debating before about getting the Distress Markers, I'm totally sold now. Of course, watching a video of Tim Holtz using them is pretty good motivation to shift me to the dark side. Yup. Definitely ordering these when they become available. I'll be able to get the sets for sure; I'm just not sure if they're going to make me order the markers in multiples. I'll post cost when I get confirmation. And they're supposed to be shipping in February!!!

Check out the video for yourself!!