Archive for August, 2009

I took my Mother to Michael’s so she could pick up some paper for a masculine card.  While I was waiting for her to see if they had the crochet thread she needed, I was walking around the floral area.

I discovered these “Decorative Accents” that are tiny acrylic disk.  They actually look like “Dew Drops” or what some people call Skittles.

Now I have made these little items using a hot glue gun, alcohol inks and a silpat.  Some clear, some frosted and some various colors. 

However, a bag of these clear acrylic disk at M’s was about $5.80 and there were a “gajillion” of them and this is not all of them because I’m sharing some of them with my BFF and my Mother.

As you can see they are about a 1/4″ and they take alcohol inks very nicely (the actual color is called “eggplant”).

You can use a sharpie and color the back of the disk and the color will show through.  I also took Stickles (aka glitter glue) and covered this little disk with it and made glitter domes.  I’m pretty sure Perfect Pearls will add that little extra frosting.  I even have a friend who uses nail polish to give them color.

I have to admit these are a lot easier than making the Skittles myself and they are more uniform in size, besides being smaller than what I could make.  Sorry, old trusty hot glue gun, you may be going back in the drawer for awhile.

I learned a new technique this week that uses this beautiful plate (which by the way the other side has a different design), a sheet of metal in “Kiss Me Pink, a new tool that is called an eraser, a stump and I used some distressed ink in “Worn Lipstick”.

This plate is used to emboss the metal and the tool that can either smooth out the thin metal or crease it is used to get deep embossing around the design.

Phyllis and I had a girl’s day where I took her to one of my favorite shops for scrapbooking.  It is called “Gotta Scrap” and it is owned by two sisters.  This store is loaded with all kinds of unique items that you can not find at your everyday craft store such as HL, M’s or JA’s.

Best of all they are always so willing to show you what classes they are teaching, new items that have come out and what is their favorite.  They are also very knowledgeable about the products.

This beautiful deeply embossed star is going in my GD’s scrapbook.  I loved the way the design turned out and once you emboss the tin, you can take a very fine grade buffer and expose the silver metal underneath.  I then took a little alcohol ink and ran around the edge and took the distress ink and shaded in some of the outer parts of the star.

I adhered it to the star chipboard (which by the way I cut out of a cereal box) using spray adhesive.  This particular plate, metal sheet, and tools came from Tenseconds Studio.  I haven’t tried this metal in the CB but I’m going to.  I will tell you I love creasing this metal over the plate and then refining the peaks and valleys to get that sharp detail.  You put the plate down then the metal sheet on top, take the stump run over the design, take the eraser and bring in the detail.  Once the imprint is clearly visible place the metal on a soft surface (ie. mouse pad) and refine the lines.

There are a lot of other tools that go with this technique but we just got the things we needed to play a little.  I loved the results.  You will be seeing more of this incorporated into my cards.  By the way Phyllis bought the lime green shade of metal, I can’t wait to see how beautiful that works up.

These pillows have seen their better days.  They are outside cushions and although they have the sun resistant outdoor material, the sun has faded them out.  They are probably about 2-3 years old.

Back at the beginning of the summer I bought some material to make new pillow cases for these two pillows.  It’s the color of that chartreuse green strip that is running through the middle of these pillows.

My how time gets away from you!  Here it is at the end of the Summer and I finally decided to set down at the sewing machine and whip the new pillow cases out.

“TA DA!!!”  It might have taken me a whopping 30 minutes (I had to rip out some seams that I wasn’t paying attention to how I was sewing).

This picture doesn’t do the green color justice, but it matches the color of the umbrella I had to purchase at the beginning of the year because a storm broke my other one and my tempered glass top table. 

I don’t know why some of the easiest things we just put off.  You would think we would want to do those things because they bring us a sense of accomplishment.  Human beings are a strange lot at times.

  Hmm, since that was pretty easy, maybe I’ll add some fringe or beads to them…….oh get real Sherri, these just sit out in the sun.  I’ll put that money toward more stash.

Oh well, they will look great next year.

This weeks Paper Cutz Challenge was to do a baby layout, project, craft or card in green, yellow and orange.

This is an acrylic tag card with a large B cut out of  DVCW’s Fun in the Sun pack.  I cut the tag card out with my Cricut Expression using the Tag, Bag and More cart.  The tag  is 4″ wide and 5.5″ high.  The pattern paper is orange and green. 

Acrylic cards are difficult to get a picture where you can see all the details, so be sure and click on the pictures to get a closer view.  The green flower color looks off in the picture because of the shadow on it; however, the colors all blend and compliment each on the tag in “real life”.

The edge of the tag has been inked (or should I say painted) with Adirondack’s Willow (a light green).  There are rub ons on the outside of the tag and on the inside in white.

There are three little rectangles that have been inked using alcohol inks in lettuce and then “ABY” is stamped in white Staz On ink.  The little tags have orange thread tie through them. 

This is a view from the back side of the tag, just to show you that the back side looks as good as the front side.

I cut two B’s out using Sure Cuts A Lot software and my Cricket Expression, with one of them being the mirror image of the other.  The font is Arial, which is a nice clean no frills font. 

Where the tags were attached to the front of the tag I put some Stickles on both the front of the tags and on the inside, too.  This helps conceal where they have been attached and adds another dimension to the inside.

Here is a close up so you can see the rub ons and what the mini-tags look like.  Plenty of Stickles in green, yellow and orange spread around on the tag.

I punched a hole in the top of the tag card and put an eyelet through the hole.  Threaded three strips of ribbon to finish it off.  The flower is three layers orange, yellow polka dot and green with some yellow stickles.  The brad in the flower is orange.

If you look back at the first picture at the bottom of the tag card is the word “Congratulations” written acrossed it.  This was done using a Sakua Souffle pen in yellow.

I’m going to slip a gift card inside this tag card for my Pastors wife, who is expecting.  Hopefully, I can find a gift card that had the colors green, yellow and orange.

If you have questions about the tag or need clarification, be sure and let me know.  I’ll be glad to fill in any gaps.

So this last week was the trifecta of the craft store world.  All three (Michael’s, Hobby Lobby and JoAnn) had 40% off coupons.  I know, I know, this happens more than less but for some reason it was the perfect timing.

MS came out with her holiday punches.  Halloween stamps and embellishments appear in abundance (actually Christmas decorations made it out before Halloween). 

So, I’m doing my usual stroll around JoAnn’s and I had picked up a couple of small things when as I walked through the impluse buys, toward the check out, my eyes saw these $1 acrylic stamps.  Being the sweet, kind person that I am….;-), I told the lady behind me to feel free to go in front of me.  I needed time to dig through the stamps unrushed.

Tip: Just click on the picture to get a larger and better look at the stamps.

Now I’m not much on the Halloween celebration, but the more I looked at these stamps the more I realized that they could be used beyond Halloween.  The pirate is actually the mascot of one of our High Schools.  The leafless tree could be used for a winter card or layout.  The leaf flourish reminds me of fall and the birds on the fence or gate reminded me of Tim Holtz line (or the Raven quoting “never more”).  Love the sunflower and the spider and web could be used for a GS (or GD) card or layout exploring the outdoors.

Keep your mind open and don’t get turned off by things just because you might think they pertain to something you are not interested in.  Try to take a fresh look and see if they can be used another way.  You might just end up with some jewels for your stash for just a buck or so.

If you haven’t figured it out by now, I’m always looking for something intended for use one way and figuring out if it can be used another way.  I had one of those “aha” moments that worked out this last week.

Remember, yesterday when I said I was strolling around JoAnn’s and picked up a few small things?  This was one of them.  These are called texture makers for Sculpey clay.

What first drew my attention to this particular texture maker was the design of the plate called “Chantilly Lace” (remember the song Chantilly Lace….) .  My Mother has been crocheting some beautiful flowers and I’m thinking this would be a great  embossing texture for a card and those flowers.

In this particular package you get two plates, the Chantilly Lace and a Script.  They are not a hard plastic like a Fiskar’s texture plate or a Cuttlebug Embossing Folder.  They are also one sided, unlike the Cuttlebug where you have a folder type instrument.

The next step was to see what type of sandwich (meaning combination of plates to run through the embossing machine) I needed to configure to get the best embossing.  Now keep in mind, that just like the Cricut, each Cuttlebug has it’s own little quirks about the sandwiches that it will take.   

If it is to thick of sandwich and it will emboss but will also emboss right through the paper.  As you can see, the card stock took the design but it also cut right through the card stock.  This told me my sandwich was to thick, so I had to try another mix.

This looks like a good sandwich mix, but if you look closer, it is still to thick because it is breaking through the card stock in areas.

This is a beautiful pattern. 

 TIP:  If you spray a little water on the cardstock it will emboss better also.

I finally ended up with the following sandwich for my Cuddlebug:

A plate, texture maker plate, cardstock, embossing pad, 3 shims and B plate.  I save the cardboard packaging that comes with my A2 embossing folders for shims.  The various thickness helps get the right mix  for the other brands of embossing elements.

Tip:  So if this combination doesn’t work for your Cuddlebug or embossing machine, play around with different combinations to find out which one works best for your machine.  There is no wrong or right combination.  Each machine is different.

I did a rough chalking of the design since I made the test on white card stock so you could see what it would look like.

 On the script I took a make-up sponge and an ink pad and inked the design.  I’m thinking these might work on white core card stock and then sand them to expose the white core, or Tim Holtz distressed ink would probably be beautiful to use on this also.

This is just another example of looking at something intended for one thing (clay ) and using it for another.  By the way, I did use my 40% coupon on these plates and I think they are going to be well worth the $5.20 for two.

Don’t forget if you want a closer look just click on the picture.  Thanks for stopping by and spending a few minutes with me.  Let me know what you think, I love hearing from you.

How cute is this!  This baby card makes me smile every time I see it.  The papers are cute and the paper piecing with the polka dot paper and perfectly matching green gives it depth.

The heart was cut using a Spellbinder scalloped heart die cut.  Lots of doodling around the buggy, heart and wheels.  Take a close look at those little hubcaps on the wheels.

 I love all of the cards but this one happens to be my favorite.  Phyllis you did an awesome job and thank you for sharing them with us.  Love you loads, girlfriend!

Did I happen to mention that there are approximately 5 women in our church that are expecting, including our Pastor’s wife.  That is one way to increase attendance!

Here is another baby card that Phyllis made.  I love the rattle!  It is a shaker, which means that when you shake the card the items in the rattle….well they shake.  Although it’s difficult to see, those are micro beads in the rattler.  When I talked to Phyllis, she said next time she would probably put a course glitter.

The rattler is cut out of some very cute paper and I love the style of the medallion.  I’m sure Phyllis design the rattler in Cricut Design Studio and then used the Cricut to cut it out.  I also love the ribbon that is on the card, just that little hint of sparkle and the scripture verse adds the perfect finishing touch.

Beautiful, Phyllis and love the shade of pink.

Recently I was exposed to a product called Cricut Gelly.  I have the Cricut Markers but have not been to excited about them simply because the lines they draw are larger than what I wanted and they have a tendency to be a little wet and therefore the paper soaks them up and gets a little soggy.  That makes the paper more difficult to cut.

At Scrappy-go-lucky you get this box of 12 gelly pens and the magnetic housing for $55.00 and shipping is free.  

Although it looks like you have two of the same colors in this photo, they are actually a shade different.  So you might have a dark green and a medium green and a light green.  The gelly pens have a metal design on them and the housing has a magnet in the end that holds the gelly pen in place.

They ship out of Utah here in the US.  I ordered mine late night on Wednesday and they were here by noon on Saturday.

This is a picture of the housing and the pink gelly pen in the cricut.   Unlike the normal green housing and the blue deep cut housing, there are no numbers to regulate the depth of the gelly pen.  You use the pressure and speed to control how they draw.  They recommend the speed at 2 and the pressure at 3.  I tried that setting and it worked perfectly, I did not have any skips in the lines even though the Cricut has a jerky kind of motion.

The chandelier is from the Home Accent cart drawn on card stock by the gelly pen.  These gelly pens open up a whole new world of possibilities.  I am so excited about these pens.  They give a nice fine line and although gel pens are known to skip, you can manually draw in the missed area or  just have the cricut redraw the item before you unload.

I can see where this could be used with the MCPT (magic color pencil technique).  It also puts a new light on digital stamping.

Here is their web address (www.scrappy-go-lucky.com).  I have to thank Diane @ Capadia Designs for turning me on to these new pens.  You can also visit Diane’s blog spot and she does a show and tell on how to use different color pens on your design.  You’ll find a link on the right hand side under the BlogRoll.

Thanks for looking and let me know if you are excited about these pens as I am.

I recently spent a couple of days with one of my BFFs!  Her name is Phyllis and she has recently embarked on a new adventure in her life and is becoming a nurse.  I’m so inspired and impressed with her ability to go after the things that she wants (not to mention she has a very supportive husband, Joel).   Although, it has been hectic (she is on the fast track program) she has done one amazing job in keeping her training and studies going and even finding time to make some cards.  Oh yea, I need to mention she also heads up our “hydration bar” at church….;-) and helps with the bounce house and gigantic slide at the Ole City Park here in town when we have Summer in the Park series.

This card is a card that Phyllis made for our Children’s Church Pastor who just recently had a baby girl.  This is very antique looking and soft.  The baby buggy was cut twice (using Cricut), once out of tan card stock and again a little smaller out of vellum.  A little doodling and a rhinestone sets it off.  What looks like ribbon is actually a paper strip of vellum that has been embossed, giving it that Swiss dot look.  The buckle is a spellbinder die cut and the dots on it are glitter.  Rylee is also glittered and a MS border punch to finish it off.  Just perfect for a little girl.

Over the next couple of days I’m going to show case some more of Phyllis’ cards.  We had so much fun being together, making the card, trying different things to see what looked best and then coming up with the finish product.  I know her inspiration will shine through her cards and inspire you.