August 16th, 2010

Hey, fellow stampers. Are you short of ideas this summer?  If you are, you might want to check out this blog post by I’m Impressed Paper Arts, a  stamping and scrapbook store in Vancouver.

They’ve posted a list of 120 things you can stamp.  Imagine!  They even suggest stamping on a marshmallow. I confess I have no idea how that would be done.  I did make my own suggestion to the list, though. I suggested stamping on decorative food items, such as gourds, pumpkins, eggplants and squashes. I’m thinking in terms of decorations, not things you eat.

I can see those little tiny decorative pumpkins that you get near Halloween — stamped and decorated with messages.  I suppose you would need to use small stamps and solvent inks.  Perhaps die inks would work.  This would take some experimenting.

Anyway, the link for the list is: 120 Things to Stamp.

August 9th, 2010

birthday card made with sizzix dies I’ve made another birthday card decorated with Sizzix  dies that cut party hats and the word Party. The dies used are
Sizzlits Shape Sets Die – Birthday Set #2.

The concentric pink circles are cut using the Spellbinders S4-124 Nestabilities 6-Piece Concentric Die Template, Classic Scalloped Circles, Large

As always, I cut the paper with my favorite tool of all time, the Sizzix Big Shot .

To make the party hats, I cut a hat in brown, a hat in rose and a hat in pink. I then layered them as shown, and decorated with a bit of Snow Writer. The hats are attached with 3D tape to add dimension.

The hat die could be adapted for a New Years theme, or for any other theme where a party hat may be apropos.

August 8th, 2010

birthday card made with sizzix dies This birthday card is decorated with die cuts made with Sizzix dies and cut on the the Sizzix Big Shot . The Big Shot has to be my most favorite tool ever.

The die cuts I used are the Sizzlits Shape Sets Die – Birthday Set #2. The scalloped circles are cut with Nestabilities dies.

To make the birthday cake, I cut two cake shapes, one in brown card stock and one in pink card stock. The dies are perforated so its easy to rip off the pieces you need for layering.

I layered the cake pieces as shown, and added a rim of white using Snow Writer. I finished by putting a daub of shiny glitter glue at the tip of each candle.

August 7th, 2010

card made with butterfly punch art I bought a new punch yesterday. It is one I had been wanting for quite some time. It’s the EK Success Paper Shapers Large Punch, Butterfly Whale of A Punch

I made several cards, similar but different, using paper and card stock left over from Valentine’s Day craft projects.

The shapes are cut on the Sizzix Big Shot using various Nestabilities dies.

As for the butterfly, I cut three identical shapes, one on brown card stock, one on rose card stock and one on scrapbook paper. I used the brown butterflyfor the base, then cut pieces away from the other two, which I layered as shown.
I filled in the butterfly’s body with Stickles Glitter Glue in this particular card. In other cards, I used beads, glitter and Fun Flock for the body.

The sentiment, Hello, is an acrylic stamp.

I’m particularly fond of butterflies. I like this punch. No buyer’s remorse here.

August 7th, 2010

stamped card with Stud Muffin This Stud Muffin card was completed today, thanks to a make and take at Making Memories with Scrapbooking in Burnaby, BC.

It is a simple card with red cards stock framing patterned scrapbook paper.

The oval and the scalloped oval are Nestabiliity dies cut on the Sizzix 655268 Big Shot Cutting-and-Embossing Roller-Style Machine.

The design is a collection of stamped images, colored with marking pencils. The yellow is stamping ink applied with a smudging tool.  The cupcake is decorated with brown Fun Flock.

June 28th, 2010
cover of anniversary scrapbook
layout in anniversary scrapbook

This project is a combination anniversary scrapbook and guest book. I made it on request of a woman who is planning an anniversary party for someone’s 20th anniversary. She intends to pass the book around so guests can view the pictures in the scrapbook, then sign and leave a comment in the empty pages at the back.

I chose a ring-bound 8 inch by 8 inch album with a cover of black felt with silver threads running through. The ring bindings made it relatively easy to add the Guestbook pages at the back.

My instructions were to put a picture on the album’s front cover, and to use a simple design. With that in mind, this is the project I came up with:

I have attempted to make the facing pages complement each other, picking up colors and using similar scrapbook paper, card stock and embellishments. The entire book leans heavily to a red, white and black color theme. Those colors seem to match with almost of all of the photographs, and I’m told red is the wife’s favorite color.

Not all pages have headings, but those that do are cut with the Cricut Personal Electronic Cutter using the Jasmine Font Cartridge

I’ve used a considerable number of quotations set in journaling blocks, since I know the people involved are fond of that approach.

I hope the Anniversary Scrapbook and Guest Book is a hit.

June 1st, 2010

sweet 16 birthday scrapbook

This Sweet 16 birthday album is a scrapbook made for my granddaughter’s 16th birthday.

The layouts contain photographs arranged chronologically, starting at age six months and ending with a blank layout with a space for a picture taken on her sixteenth birthday, or at some point during that year.

I have also added an envelope for small keepsakes and journalling tags so the young woman can write about various interests that she has.

Most of the materials, including the album, came from the Bo Bunny collections.  I went for pink, bling, glitter, ribbon and frills — to me, that seems fitting for a Sweet Sixteen memory book.

The chipboard mini album is the Bo Bunny My Edgy Chipboard Album With 6 Cascading Pages 6″X12″ Blush MWC-B854, 2 Item(s)/Order

All photographs were digitally edited in Adobe Photoshop CS5
For some years of her life, I created collages in Photoshop and printed out the collages using my inkjet printer.

This video shows the complete scrapbook with all layouts.

This Sweet 16 scrapbook album required a substantial amount of work, including participation  from my daughter-in-law, who painstakingly scanned and emailed the photographs to use. Thanks go to her for all the help.

May 30th, 2010

package gift wrapped with craft supplies Yesterday I needed to gift wrap a birthday present. I thought I had wrapping paper on hand, but it turns out I didn’t.

I turned to my stash of craft supplies and found two sheets of scrapbook paper that were a light lavender in color with darker dots of purple.

Nice, but not very festive.

The recipient is fond of butterflies, so I found a large  butterfly stamp and some red die ink.  I stamped the red butterfly over both scrapbook papers, then stamped it on the accompanying envelope.

I added a couple of paper flowers to the envelope and placed a gold and pearl button in the middle.

It’s quite a nice look.  Given that craft supplies are more costly than gift wrap, I don’t recommend this as a regular practice. However, in a pinch, its a good substitute.

May 25th, 2010

chipboard mini album made as birthday gift This chipboard mini album was completed as a birthday gift for a friend.

I made it using an Edgy Album  from Bo Bunny. I also used Bo Bunny papers and embellishments for the layout.

The cover is acrylic. I stamped the bird image and the word Happiness using acrylic stamps and Stazon ink.  It needed a solvent ink because other inks would not dry on acrylic.

Here is the video showing the inner layouts of this little scrapbook.

It’s an interesting little mini album. I am particularly fond of the Bo Bunny collection that I used. I’m using a similar collection to make a Sweet 16 mini album for my granddaughter’s birthday.

May 21st, 2010
welcome to the world hand made baby journal
welcome to the world hand made baby journal
welcome to the world hand made baby journal
welcome to the world hand made baby journal

I’ve made another Welcome to the World Baby Journal.

This one is done in tones of red and purples. It’s otherwise much the same as before.

This time, I did not find scrapbook paper with lines, and I have not found a suitable stamp for a journaling block. I drew dashed lines by hand using a glaze pen.

The labels are done with Spellbinders S4-161 Nestabilities 6-Piece Concentric Die Template, Labels One and cut using the Sizzix Big Shot Universal Die Cutting Machine.

I have a video demo and more information about the hand made Welcome to the World Journals at this link.

Currently, I have two journals being displayed at a local Florist shop. We will see if they sell.