Scrapping by Design

This is an Easter Bunny House craft project that I made yesterday.

The top picture is the front view. The bottom picture is the view from the back.

It’s made using the same pattern as the St. Patrick’s Day House I made awhile back. You can get the pattern and a video tutorial for the St. Patrick’s Day House at this link and adapt it to the Easter Bunny House.

This time I added a little pink chimney with a tulip growing in it, and some little wooden shapes that they sell at Michaels. Otherwise, its scrapbook paper, some of it embossed with a Cuttlebug embossing folder done on the Sizzix 655268 Big Shot Cutting-and-Embossing Roller-Style Machine

At the back, I placed a small bunny picture that I decorated with the burnished velvet glitter technique described in an earlier post

This is a video demo of the Easter Bunny House. I didn’t show how its made since I showed that in the St. Patrick’s Day House video tutorial linked to above.

This is another effort at Tag Art for the challenge I mentioned yesterday.

For this one, I stamped the tag with a background stamp from Just for Fun, using the Tuscan Earth chalk ink from Fresco.

The green card stock is stamped with one of the images from Creative Block #9 from Stampers Anonymous using one of my favorite colors, Artprint Brown from Memories.  I also went around the edges of the tag and the square using the direct to paper method.

The trim at the bottom is actually several  square, silver beads strung on silver wire, with a silver ampersand charm added. I wrapped the whole thing around the tag and glued the wire down at the back, holding it in place with a strip of scrap card stock.

At the top of the tag,  I punched  a hole and added some brown ribbon, then set in a brown eyelet. The eyelet didn’t end up exactly where I wanted it, but it isn’t too bad where it is.

Now I have to get over the idea that anything I make has to have a practical purpose. I usually think that my tags and other embellishments have to end up on a card or scrapbook layout, for example. I am trying to accept the idea that it is okay for me to create art for its own sake.

I wonder if anyone else struggles with this issue.

Anyone wanting some beautiful images for St. Patrick’s Day art work, you’ll do well to check out The Original Printables Holiday Countdown, published by artist Lisa Vollrath.

Lisa has some terms and conditions, but those terms are more than reasonable. She asks only that you post a link in your blog or on a forum or email group in exchange for downloading the graphics. Also, the graphics are for personal use only, and cannot be used on a project you intend to sell.

I intend to edit these images using Photoshop CS or Adobe Photoshop Elements 7 and use them in one or two St. Patrick’s Day projects. No doubt I’ll post pictures and possibly a video of what I make.

A few days ago, blogger Susan Chong from the Artful Mama posted some pictures and a link to instructions for making a thoroughly delightful pop-up hexagon ball. Apparently Susan cut the shape with a Provo Craft Cricut Machine, but she also posted a link to another blog showing how to design the project yourself if you don’t have  the Cricut pattern.

And for those who can wait, Sizzix is soon to release a die that makes the pop-up hexagon ball and a few other things too.

Today, Susan uploaded what she describes as her first video clip showing the ball popping open. You can see it here: The Artful Mama: My First Pop Up Hexagon Ball!

I love this project. I can’t wait to try making one. Hmmm. I have a Cricut but no pattern for this. I also have a Big Shot Die Cut machine, but the die isn’t available yet.

So therefore, I’ll be trying to make the thing using the pictures at the link Susan posted.

These gift card holders, two with a Valentine theme, were inspired by a make and take at Scrap Arts, a scrapbook store in North Vancouver.

They are easy and fast to make, and are a great way to personalize a gift card — whether for Valentine’s Day or any other day.  The gift card goes in the opening in the front, and the holders open up so you can write your personal message inside.

They’re simply rectangular envelopes cut and folded, then covered with colorful scrapbook paper. A one-inch punch works well to make the semi-circle at the top of the envelope, and of course you can decorate them any way you want.

Here is a video tutorial demonstrating how to make these gift card holders.

Blade Rubber Stamps in the UK has a great article called How to Use Punches.

The writer explains the ins and outs of using punches and of creating punch art. She gives a lot of good tips and includes pictures and images of competed punch art projects.

I am particularly interested in the Troubleshooting section because it has information on how to unplug a jammed up punch. This happens to me with alarming regularity. My usual approach is to mess around with it for awhile and then if nothing helps, I attempt to pry the punch open with a screwdriver. This inevitably breaks the punch altogether and I discard it and if it was a favorite, replace it.

Someone else has suggested hurling the jammed punch on a carpeted floor several times. That’s worth a try also, although Blade Rubber suggests a gentler approach.

If anyone has any good tips for unjamming punches, I’d be delighted to hear them.

This Coffee Sleeve Valentine Card was a project for a kid’s craft workshop that I did on Saturday.  For that reason, its designed and decorated very simply, but obviously you could make it as sophisticated as you wanted.

I like this Valentine craft project because it uses recycled sleeves from Starbucks and other coffee houses. I’m a fan of anything recycled.

I suppose you could also call it altered art if you wanted to make it more elaborate. I wouldn’t go so far as to call this example “art.”  LOL

The “I Love You” embellishment on the front was cut from the Cricut Machine using the ; Mini Monograms cartridge.  The hearts inside the card are cut with the Cricut Cartridge: George and Basic Shapes

Here is the video tutorial for this hand made Valentine:

The great thing about scrapboooking is that it can lead you into so many other paper crafts as well — including experimenting with ideas and items that you find in your home or in your daily activities.

Iris folding is a beautiful paper craft technique in which one uses folded strips of  colored paper to form a design.  The artisan follows a pattern to lay the design. The “iris” in this case refers not to a flower, but to the unusually shaped space that remains in the middle of the pattern after the paper folds are in place.

In the Halloween card to the right, the iris is the red shape in the middle of the witches pot or cauldron.  You can fill the iris with a small picture, which is a lovely touch for scrapbooking, or you can fill it with a contrasting paper. In the witches card, I have used a contrasting color of paper and added a dot of silver dimensional glue, which matches the “glue” bubbles on top of the pot.

Iris folding patterns are readily available. Amazon has several books containing iris folding patterns and papers, and you can also find the patterns for sale or for free on the Internet.

Iris Folding @Circle of Crafters is my favorite site for free patterns. You can sign up to receive a free pattern every month by email. plus you can help yourself to the archived patterns. You can not, of course, sell any of these patterns to others. They are for your own use only.

The video demonstration below shows how I made a Halloween card using iris folding.

Iris folding designs can be fun and quirky or elegant and stunning. They work for every season and every occasion, and they’re fun to do. Enjoy!

I think that Halloween cards are among my favorite cards to make. I simply love this holiday. The colors appeal to me and I enjoy the whimsical nature of the season.

I made the card on the right for my granddaughter a few years ago. The witch is made using a technique known as iris folding. I plan on making a video tutorial demonstrating iris folding sometime soon, but for now, I’ll just refer you to Iris Folding @Circle Crafters Free Pattern of the Month Club. They have some wonderful patterns and pictures of completed projects. You can sign up for free email notification when the pattern is ready.

So my card uses iris folding, but I don’t remember where I got the pattern. I may have drawn it myself. I do that from time to time.

The broom brushy part is made with a light burlap paper and the broomstick is a length of wood, probably from a skewer.  The star is a button or charm, and Happy Halloween is a stamped image.

The other nice thing about iris folding is that it gives you a chance to use up scraps of paper.  We all have a stash of that, don’t we?

Do you have a favorite Halloween card? Please comment or leave  a link to where we can see it.

I recently read an ebook called How to Make Money Scrapbooking. The author, Brad McFall  takes you through the steps of starting a scrapbooking business. At 91 pages, the ebook gives you plenty of good material. Plus in addition, you receive bonuses that cover advertising and how to write advertising copy.  McFall’s background is in advertising so he knows what he’s talking about.

If McFall’s information is correct,  scrapartists can make as much as $100 an hour.  He furthermore says that some scrapartists in the US are charging and getting paid as high as $5000 for a wedding album.

That is big money, no matter how you look at it.

I have occasionally sold commissioned scrapbook projects, but I have never really looked at scrapbooking as a business venture.  When I think of scrapbooking as a business, I picture a lot of face to face meetings and conversations trying to decide how to create the kind of scrapbook that the client wants. i don’t view that as enjoyable.

I’m the sort of crafter who wants to create according to my own whims. I want to do scrapbook albums when I want, how I want, and according to my own schedule. I want to design layouts depending on my mood at the time. I want to chose colors and embellishments and themes that fit whatever frame of mind I’m in.  If I’m in the mood for whimsical, then I’ll create whimsical. If I want a heritage look, that’s what I’ll do. I don’t want to restrict myself to creating the sort of album that a customer wants.

And, of course,  that attitude is the kiss of death to a business. Srapbooking as a business is all about pleasing the customer. That means finding out their style, their preferences, their hopes and dreams, and creating a book that speaks to them at that level.

For those scrappers who would enjoy doing that, I think scrapbooking could be a moneymaking business. This ebook would definitely be a good starting point.

The well-written ebook contains a lot of good  content, including links to sites where you can find free materials, layouts, etc.  Since this is a book about starting a scrapbooking business, the topics include how to get started, the basic materials you would need, how much to charge, how to find customers, how to promote your services, taxation issues, etc.

If I have a complaint with this product, it would be that McFall makes it sound too easy.  In my opinion, he minimizes the skills needed to create good scrapbook designs. The book seems to suggest that a totally inexperienced scrapbooker could start a scrapbook business easily.  I disagree. There are skills needed here, and a total newcomer to scrapbooking isn’t likely to learn them overnight.

However, for anyone who already has good scrapbooking skills, and wants to make money doing something they love, then How to Make Money Scrapbooking is well worth the reasonable price you’d pay.

I’m curious to know how many site visitors are like me. Would you be happy scrapbooking according to someone else’s tastes, or would you prefer to work at your projects when and how you please? Leavea comment and let me know where you stand on this topic.