Archive for the ‘Tips’ Category

On the dazzle sheets after you pull off an element you are left with “innies”.  These are the left over cuttings from the design.  You can get twice as much for your money when you learn to use these left overs in your design.

Usually, you would use what they call a transfer sheet to lift these off the paper and then transfer them onto whatever you were making.  However, I didn’t have a transfer sheet so I decided I would see if I could use masking tape.

I cut around the leaf pattern and placed the masking tape over it and rubbed it.  This will cause the sticky side of the tape to adhere to the top side of the innies.

Tip:  When you cut out the area that has the innies left in it cut on the outside of the design capturing a little line of the left over open space.  This will give the leaf an outline rather than just random “innies”.  I learned this the hard way.

If you look closely you can see the leaf under the blue tape.  This is the top of the blue tape and I rubbed my finger over it several times to be sure that the blue tape picked up all the little pieces.

 I picked up the edge of the tape and pulled it back slowly revealing that it had captured all of the innies from the dazzle sheet.

If I had cut around the outter edge of the open space on the dazzle sheet I would have had an outline of gold around the innies – it would made for a  better looking leaf.

I turned the sticky side (the one holding the innies) face down on the card stock and ran my fingers over the innies.  This will transfer the innies to the card stock (that is because the adhesive that was holding the innies to the dazzle sheet is now exposed and when you place it on the card stock it will stick to the card stock).

Once you have rubbed this onto the card stock “slowly” pull the masking tape back.  I keep a craft knife in hand to help the innies release from the tape.  If you do this slowly you can keep those rogue innies from getting out of line.  You will also notice that some of the gold came off on the tape but that is ok it doesn’t hurt the dazzle.

 Here you can see two sets of leaves.  Two are the outline dazzles (the “outties”) and two are the inside cuts (the “innies).

I just cut the shape of the leaf around the “innies” and if you look back at the card posted yesterday, you can see that they look just fine.

I haven’t tried this yet but using repositionable tape may work better on the Dazzle innies.  This type of tape is not as strong and would probably release the innies easier; however, you may have to rub the tape over the innies harder to get it to adhere well enough to lift them off the dazzle sheet.

Don’t let transferring dazzle “innies” psych you out.  You don’t have to have a “special transfer sheet”.  If you have a transfer you need to make that is bigger than the strip of tape you are using, just overlap the tape a little and make the tape transfer as large as you need.  You need a low tack tape to make this work.

We have a minor league baseball team here in the metroplex called the Rough Riders.  The stadium where they play is beautiful and we purchase 8 game season pass each year.  It is just fun to get out and enjoy the outdoors and I love to people watch.

When you buy season passes they send you a calendar of the games.  This is a nice size calendar and it is magnetic so it can sit on your refrigerator.

I’m in this cleaning out mode (I think it is because I’m working on my Mother’s bathroom and she has so much stuff) at home.  I’ve set myself a goal of cleaning out a closet or drawer once a week.

I reached up to throw this calendar away since the season is over for the Rough Riders and realized that this was an excellent sheet of magnet.  Do I need a sheet of magnet?  I’m sure I can find something to use this sheet of magnet for and recycle or up-cycle it without just throwing it out.

Oh well, so much for cleaning out.  Somethings are just hard to throw away.  I’ve worked on Mom’s bathroom Saturday and it is coming along nicely.  I’ll have additional pictures to show later.

This little gem is one of my favorite tools of the trade.  For those of you who are not familiar with the CuttleBug or CB for short, it can be used as a die cut machine and it can be used to emboss various items like card stock, metal  and acetate, etc.

On the bottom of the CB is a black rubber mat.  When you fold down the arms it creates a suction to hold the little gem in place as long as it is on a flat surface.

I started having issues with my CB not making a good connection to the tempered glass surface of my work area. 

I’ve been struggling with this dilemma for weeks, so frustrated because it now walks on the work area and I have to use one hand to hold it down and the other to make sure the plate sandwich, emboss folder or die cut went through the machine correctly.

I was cleaning up my “woman cave” and just by chance decide to look at the bottom of the CB to see what was going on and I found that the rubber mat was dirty.  Took a baby wipe and cleaned it up.

Oh my, it works just like new.  If you are struggling with the suction on your CB, take a few minutes and do a little maintenance.  You will fall in love all over again with this sweet little machine.

This weeks Paper Cutz Challenge was a Christmas layout, project or card.  Tomorrow is my Mother’s 81st Birthday and I took this challenge to make her a Christmas Ornament.

This is the snowflake from the Provo Craft Cricut Christmas cartridge cut at 4″.

First I cut 2 snowflakes out of white chipboard.  This white chipboard is actually the backing to a paper pack that I tore apart.  I tried using chipboard that I recycled from a cereal box but I was not having any luck. It has rained so much here and the humidity is so high that the cereal box chipboard felt damp and would not cut correctly.

I also cut two snowflakes out of blue colored cardstock.  I used pale blue coarse German glass.  You can click on the picture and enlarge it to see the beautiful color of the German glass. 

TIP:  Make sure the color background of your item is close to the same color of your glitter or German Glass.  When you do this, if you miss a place it is not as obvious as it would be if the white was showing through.  Once all the snowflakes were glued together I used the Basic Grey files to get in between the cut out areas and file away any burrs and define the detail of the snowflake.

I ran both the two white chipboard snowflakes and the two blue cardstock snowflakes through a Xyron machine and glue the white to white and then adhered both blue cardstock snowflakes to each side of the white snowflake.   This makes the snowflake very dimensional and puts the white chipboard in the middle.

Put an eyelet in so it can hold ribbon or wire.  I originally started to put the glue on with a foam brush.  However, the glue dried out too much and it was too thin to hold the coarse German Glass on the snowflake.

TIP:  You need to use a semi-thick consistency glue that will dry clear.  I use Art Glitter Designer Adhesive (www.artglitter.com) because it is excellent for glitter and German Glass.  It is a little pricey ($18.59 for 8oz.) but it has lasted me for a long time and it works great. 

I found that if you dab the glue in a small area at a time and then pour the German Glass over it, it adheres better.  This process takes a little while and I took two days letting one side dry and then did the other side.

Once dry, I went back and looked over it to see if there were any areas that I missed.  Well of course there was…. because with coarse German Glass it is too large and will not get in all those little twist and turns and edges.

To fill in those areas, I put on additional glue and used a very fine glitter in a color that was close to the German Glass.  Coarse German Glass does not have the eye popping glitz that glitter does so by adding the fine glitter it really makes the snowflake shine and catch light.

Warning:  German Glass is not glitter.  It is little shards of glass and should not be used on items where children will be handling them.  So be sure and be very careful.

My Mother’s favorite color is blue.  Her B-card is white and blue and her little snowflake ornament will be an additional surprise.  I need to find a little box to put it in, oh wait, I think I can have my Cricut Expression cut me one.  There it is another project, I don’t think it ever ends.

This is not glitter, although it looks like glitter,  it is glass.  German glass will cut you because it is little shards of glass.  This is not the type of stuff you want to use on a project that kids will be receiving or handling.

If you click on the picture you will see it says fine and that it will tarnish.  When this tarnishes it will take on a patina that looks very old and it is beautiful on Christmas projects.

My Mother loves blue, so I’m in the process of making her  B-card.  I’ve taken some white core blue paper and used nine different folders on 1″ squares.  Once embossed I took some sand paper and scuffed off some of the paper to bring the embossing alive.

I took  each of those nine squares and edged them with the silver (fine)  German Glass.  You will need to use a glue that adheres and holds really well and dries clear.

So stay tune, you will see how I put all of this together for Mom’s B-Day Card and I’m going to use German Glass on the Paper Cutz #9.

Oh there is just something about a lazy day, drizzling rain and a cat.  This is a basket I have sitting in the “Woman Cave” and Henry has found it a nice place to take a nap.

If you enlarge the picture (by clicking on it) you’ll also see a leopard pillow.  Henry and pillow coordinate….I’m just saying, a girl needs to keep everything in balance and if he is going to sleep in the “Woman Cave” he needs to compliment it.

I confess I am a Starbuck’s fan and this time a year I get really happy as they bring back that special drink “Pumpkin Spice Latte”.  Unfortunately, they just recently went up (again) on their prices and I just find it difficult to pay $5.03 for a grande Pumpkin Spice Latte.  They charge $.40 extra for Soy and now they are charging more if you have a special order.  Let’s see, I’ll have a grande, soy, pumpkin spice latte, with no whip please….because I ask to have it my way I get to pay more?

I decided to take matters into my own hands and started my quest to make my own.  Several years ago I got my espresso machine for an anniversary (along with all the stuff you need to make the drinks).  I splurged and bought the ceramic SB travel mug (hey, I want it to look authentic).  Here is the recipe:

3 Heaping Tablespoons of Pumpkin   (I opened a can to use for a pumpkin cake and now I get to use the left overs).

1/2 oz (2 tsp) Vanilla Syrup (I like to use the shot glass to measure that way one less thing to clean up).

1/4 tsp of Pumpkin Pie Spice

1 cup Milk (I use Soy Milk, because I digest it better)

2 shots of strong coffee

I mixed everything right in my ceramic cup (pumpkin, vanilla syrup, spices).  Steamed the milk and poured it on top of the pumpkin mix.  Pressed the coffee and threw that on top of the pumpkin mix, gave it a little stir.  The pumpkin puree dissolves when the hot milk is poured on to it.

If you don’t have an espresso machine you can do this right on top of your stove.  Put the pumpkin, vanilla syrup, spices and milk in a sauce pan and bring it to just below the boiling point (be careful not to scald the milk).  When you make your coffee make it strong or you could get instant espresso and through that in the pan with the rest of the mix.

You can replace the pumpkin with pumpkin pie syrup.  I haven’t found any place that carries it locally but you can order it off the internet.  It usually runs $6 -$8 a bottle, depending on the manufacturer and it is also pricey to ship because it is heavy.

I like mine a little sweeter than what this recipe turns out so I added a little sweetener.  You could also use a vanilla creamer to add some sweetness.  I grated some nutmeg on top to finish it off.

Yummo!!!!

I will tweak the recipe a little, because I want a little more pumpkin flavor but this is very close to what SB has.  The good thing is I can do it a lot cheaper (it will just take me a little more time in the morning) and I can have it all year round if I want it.

So there take that Star Bucks, I’ll save quite a bit by making my own, which that means more for my other habit……………”stash”!

I know you have experienced the same thing I have on this subject.  You buy an album and some additional filler pages.  When you get home and start adding the pages to the album you discover that the pages you bought are not the same size as the pages in the album (although you check the size).

As you can see the back pages are larger and to complicate the issue the holes in the smaller pages were not in the right place.

Although the holes are a little off it can cause a buckle or ripple in the pages and they will not lay flat.  The smaller pages in this case were causing a buckle in the spine of the album.

I decided I was going to try a technique and see if I could move the holes in the sleeves.

I measured out both sleeves and figured out where I wanted the new holes made.  I drew a little template on my self-healing cutting mat so I didn’t have to measure each time.

The large dot is where the hole needs to be punched and the long line is where the edge of the sleeve is align against it.  I made these markings at both ends so I could lay down the sleeve and see where both new holes needed to be.

Using regular tape I pulled a long strip off and aligned it up with the edge that would be covered up in the album.  I placed tape on both the front side and the back side of the edge of the sleeve.  The tape will act as reinforcement for the new holes when they are punched.

Once both sides have been taped you will need to cut the excess tape off of the edge so it will have a nice clean look.

The tape is in place and cleaned-up and I laid the sleeve on the template and marked where the new holes needed to be punched.

The new holes are cut just a little off from the original holes.  However, the tape should hold everything in it’s place and not allow the hole to tear.

Once all the sleeves were loaded back into the album, they laid down in the spine very nicely and when the book is opened you do not see where the tape has been added or the holes have been changed.

The only thing that was really different was the front pages to the album were a little smaller; however, every page of the card stock was cut the same size so the consistancy was still in place.

To see what the finish product looks like be sure and visit back on Saturday, 9/12/09.  This is an ABC Baby or Family Album.

So here I am needing just 4 photo corners to finish a project and I don’t have the right color.  I know that black goes with everything, but the rest of the pages were done with pastels of green, pink and lavender.

I decided I would paint these black photo corners a light green (Willow) and see if I couldn’t get them to look very close to the other photo corners.

It was going to take several coats to cover the black.  Be sure and stir the paint before you start to paint with it.  You want it to be slightly thick and creamy to be able to cover the item you are painting.  Also, since I was painting over paper I didn’t want the paint to be really wet.

After several coats the coverage was excellent. I used a small foam applicator to apply the coats.  To seal the paint I use Glossy Accents and let it dry.  I did the painting and the Glossy Accent on a craft mat, that way if anything spelled it would clean up easy.

Tip:  When using Acrylic paints you need to let the paint dry in between coats.  If you try to add another coat while the first coat is wet, the second coat will lift the first coat off of the item you are trying to pain.

With the mat inside the corners, you would never know they were black to begin with and the Glossy Accent gives them a very professional looking finish.

Just click on the picture to get a closer look and don’t worry if you don’t have the right color, you can change it with paint, paper or alcohol inks.

This weeks challenge was to design a layout, card or project around this sketch.  Simple enough right?

For some reason this was a very difficult challenge for me.  As the days ticked by, I begin to panic a little bit.

Part of the problem for me I think is when I see items (i.e., the embellishments looking like flowers) I can not get past trying to make the design match exactly.

Unfortunately, the camera does not do the colors of the card justice. The actual colors make me think of fall and apple cider.  The original design actually had three little icons for fall, like a tree without leaves, a leaf and a pumpkin.

I used the Cricut Expression along with the Graphically Speaking and Stretch your Imagination carts on the cup and the word ”Autumn”.

I couldn’t get the Cricut to cut out the leafless tree, leaf, and pumkin I wanted to use so I found a M’s $1 stamp that I had for a year or more.  I stamped the apples onto the burgundy colored card stock with Staz-on ink.  I then took color pencils and use MCPT to give them some shading and highlighting.  Once I got the colors I was looking for I applied Glossy Accents.

Glossy Accents gives your embellishments a dimensional look.  Here you notice that the apples look a little cloudy.  Once everything dries the card stock, that has been colored underneath, will show through the Glossy Accents.  The Glossy Accents will dry clear.

I took the word Autumn and ran it through the Xyron face down to get the sticky on the front side of the word.  I then glittered it using a glitter called “Butter rum”.  This is the same color glitter that I used to edge each of the mats.

Tip:  I like to glitter the edge of the mats for a couple of reasons: 1) It helps to tie the glitter on the embellishments together, and 2) I just run a  glue pen along the edge of the CS then start using the CS to move the glitter down the tray to the opening.  This helps get the edge glitter and gets the glitter back down the tray so I can put it back in it’s proper container.

This word was very fragile so I used a glue pen that was very thin to get the glue where I needed it to be to attach to the card.

I love putting beads on pins and using them as embellishments.  With the arrangement of the items on this challenge, this was a perfect fit to include them.  Also, if you enlarge the picture there are some PW Dazzles underneath those pins.

I took gold alcohol ink to change the color of the ends of the pins so they would match the color pallete of the card.  The ribbon is from HL that I got on sale.

This is not the best picture, but if you look close you will see little leaves on the apples.  They have been blinged up with Stickles and the Apples were mounted on the card using black pop dots that I made out of the foam board.

The inside of the card has some of the same rich papers that are used on the outside.  There is a little embossing on the left hand side of the burgandy that has been enriched with perferct pearls and some 3-D gold paint.  The CB embossing border is one of the new ones just released called Organic Flourish.

I’ll probably use this as a friend card, sending it to ask them to meet me for a latte or apple cider.

Whew! This truly was a challenge for me, but I enjoyed it.  Joining the Paper Cutz Challenge has certainly made me have to think alot, but that is a good thing.   One it exercises the brain and two it develops my designing skills. 

Thanks Mary for taking the time to pull these challenges together and coming up with things for us to work on.  Be sure and join in the fun.

Click on the picture to get a closer look at the elements and thank you for stopping by and visiting.

I’ve had my Cricut cutting mats for over a year and I’m just now experiencing them losing some of their tackiness to hold on to  the paper or card stock.

I decided to see if the Zip glue worked to make them tacky again.  I first scrapped off anything that might have been left behind from the last time I use the mat.

I then took a baby wipe and scrubbed the mat, and to my surprise the mat was dirty.  I don’t know why I didn’t expect it to be dirty but I didn’t expect to get black off of it!

I took it to the kitchen sink and used Dawn (the degreaser) and some warm water to finish the cleaning process.  I dried it off and proceeded to cover the cutting mat with the Zig glue.  I used the big chisel Zig glue so I could cover area more quickly. 

I started by running the Zig pen around the outer edge of the mat, paying close attention to where the glue was originally on the mat.  Once that was complete I started going up and down across the grid in the same direction, putting a thin layer of glue down on the mat.  Once I had finished that I held the mat up so I could look across it and see if there were any places I missed.  If I found any I ran the glue back across only those areas I missed.

At this point I haven’t tried the mats.  I’m letting them dry so the glue will act as a repositionable glue rather than a permanent glue.  I plan on using them tonight so I’ll let you know how this process worked out.  I also understand you can us spray adhesive but I haven’t tried that yet and it seemed to be messier than just running a glue pen across the mat.  However; if you have used that method or another method, let me know.  I would like to know how you make your tack-less mats tacky again.