Papertrey Ink's Make It Monday Line Frame 101 challenge

This week's Papertrey Ink's  Make It Monday Challenge is to make a Line Frame. Here's my take on it. The circles are 1.75". With one of them stamped with images from the Tags for Spring stamp set with distress inks. I used my favorite Ocean Tides for the card base.

My Name is Earl

A layout dedicated to one of the sweetest cats I've ever known. Sadly he passed on in 2006 at the age of 14, long before I was ready to say goodbye. I just couldn't bring myself to write my name WAS Earl though.

I used some stripey paper and cut out four of the same stripes and then mitered the corners. The title is from American Crafts (foil). I added a little sparkle by covering the sides of all the letters with Viva Decor Hematite Glitter Liner. I used the same paper to make mats for all the photographs and the journaling. I made the large two photo mat into a pocket for extra journaling by adhering it with ATG tape on the bottom and sides only. Earl is cut from the font on the Birthday Bash cartridge. I welded the shadow together on my Gypsy and then just put the letters on top of that.

I made a hand cut heart to replace the dot for the i, and used Scotch Quick Dry to glue the key on. So far so good. Everything comes from the Club Ruby Designers' October kit.

Framed Home Decor

I love this tree on the Botanicals Lite cartridge. I think it would be an excellent mat for writing on too whether it be on a scrapbook layout or as framed home decor. It's just so darned versatile! lol

But this time, it's just decoration. The tree and it's shadow are glued together, but they are just placed in the frame with background paper so I can change the background easy peasy. You could also write a family tree (on the tree) or a poem, favorite quote. The possibilities boggle the mind lol.

Spinning Video Sale Alert :D

If you are interested in learning about spinning on a spindle, Interweave Press is having a sale on the Digital Video of Respect the Spindle for $0.10, yep that's right ten cents.  The regular price for this is $14.95. I'm just saying you can hardly beat that price with a stick lol.

WOYWW 99

Happy Wednesday everyone! I've been a busy bee, see previous posts as evidence if you like :D. I'm still on my Botanicals  Lite Cricut cartridge. So I'm playing with variations of a cut. to the left is a little doodle I take for a mental break. I'm liking the Zentangle designs, but I prefer to just do one pattern on  a bit of scrap paper and maybe use it somewhere rather than making something with a collection of patterns.

I took my massive pile of left over paper and cut it up in 3 sorts, large rectangular pieces, strips of paper and irregular pieces of paper. I listed to my ipod play along in alphabetical order so a song by the clash is followed by a brief podcast audio tour of a painting in some museum followed by birdsong. It's an auditory potluck and keeps me on my toes. Looking at the picture I see my container is still not properly labelled. It no longer contains scrapbook embellishments but acrylic blocks for rubber stamping. And huzzah I did stamp a card this week :D. Thanks for looking :D

If you are wondering what's all this WOYWW, hop over to Julia's Stamping Ground and have a gander, better yet, take a picture and join in :D

All About Me well I only had one sheet of paper, so it's a lot about me!

This was one of my Design Team Submissions at Club Ruby Designers (did I mention there is a free membership option?) . Everything except the Glossy Accents was included in the Club Ruby Designers' October kit. I started with the Halloween in Wonderland paper and the Viva Decor Hematite Glitter Liner. I put a dot of Glitter liner over every black square around the border, while I tried to decided what to do lol. Then I cut out the top of the keyhole and put a black and white picture of myself flipped backwards in a tribute to the looking glass. I'm taa-daaaing the "Welcome to CHA Super Show" sign last year, because let's face it, it's a wonderland for crafters. I used a cut out from the Botanicals Lite cartridge and skewed an circle into the appropriately sized oval for the title.

I used hearts for different categories of interests with spinners (from Tim Holtz) because I'm really interested in a lot of things and spinners could make choosing what to do a lot easier lol. I couldnt' get the title to "pop" enough for my taste so I used glossy accents to accentuate the cut out. The hearts were all cut from the Cake Basics cartridge and thanks to my Gypsy, I hid the inner contour to make the shadow with the diamond flocked paper and hid the outer cut to make the rusty hearts. I DID forget to add my favorite color though (it's RED) lol. I hand cut little banners and folded them  as titles for the different interests. Then I needed more room so I hand cut pieces of paper to fit in the border. I distressed the title layers and the rusty hearts with an open pair of scissors sort of like using a vegetable peeler.

April Papertrey Ink Blog Hop

This month's Papertrey Ink Blog Hop is dedicated to the boys and men in our lives. Focusing on "masculine color schemes, fresh pattern combinations, understated embellishments and unique uses of images you may already have in your stash!"

I didn't have Up Up and Away, so I had to use two stamps from Club Scrap.  The It's Your Day sentiment comes from Papertrey Ink's Star Prints. The card base is Vintage Cream and the stamped mat is Simply Chartreuse.

The winner of the handspun embroidery thread from last month's blog candy is Monica K.

Shaped Cards with the Botanicals Lite cartridge

The first two cards are made with the Botanicals Lite Cricut cartridge and K&Co. double sided paper. Two pieces, easy peasy. The shaped edges are really fun. I used clear embossing powder on the bird and branch and one of the flowers.

This tulip is also two pieces. I used my new favorite clear Decorative Accents for embellishment, this time I used the Copper Ranger Alcohol Ink. The alcohol ink slid off a little bit adding a distressed texture I really liked.

There are also phrases on the cart. The two Get Well Cards were made from the same sheet of paper cut in half and put on the Cricut mat with one half of each side facing up. I used Papertrey Ink Vintage Cream cardstock to make the back of the card (so loving my ATG gun for this sort of attachment btw). When the card was closed, I traced the flower lightly with a pencil then colored to the edge with watercolor crayons.

The second one I put the flower slightly off the edge and embellished the from with dots of Antique Linen Distress Stickles.

There really is a lot that can be done with this cart, so I'm giving one away soon in a future post :D.



Flowery Heart Card

The cutout is from the Botanicals Lite cartridge, cut out on Core'dinations cardstock (sanded with the Tim Holtz sander). The card base is Simply Chartreuse from Papertrey Ink with a matching Papertrey Ink button.

The cutout is matted on some K&Co paper and black paper. I used a craft knife to make slits in the mat and put ribbon in so it's wrapped through all the layers of the mat. Then I threaded the ribbon through the two holes of the button and tied a bow. The ribbon is also Papertrey Ink (comes on a spool) and is the very essence of gossamer :D.

updated: It just felt incomplete and I finally decided to add some of the clear decorative accents I've been using as eyes, only this time I put a drop of Pearl Ranger Alcohol Ink on them.

Out of This World Party Layout

I started by cutting out the silhouette planet from the Cricut Life's a Party cartridge. Then I cut a new monster like the one I did for TheBugBytes from the B is for Boys Cricut Lite cartridge skewing the image for the shadow.

This time I added a party hat from Straight from the Nest (trimming off the scallops) and I made a rainbow of eye colors. Rather than find paper for each color, I used markers to color white cardstock the color I wanted just big enough for a hole punch.

Then I made the title mat, and photo/journal mats. The rocket is from Paperdolls for Everyday cut twice and layered. I used a red Copic marker to color the rocket rather than gluing on layers. And I also used the marker to color the edges of the red mats.

The banner is hand cut and I used some Cosmos Cricket letters for the "out of this world party". I also put it on some pop-dots to keep it the same height as the rocket. It started out white but I changed it with Antique Linen Distress Ink.

I outlined just about everything with a fine line black pen and used Crystal Stickles to make stars.

WOYWW 98, What?!? Wednesday Again?!

Oh my gosh, now it can't possibly be Wednesday again? But I'm still looking for Tuesday! I'm up to my ears in projects I'm trying to catch up on. As you can see, things are getting back to normal lol. The large Tinkerbell mug is full of Red Rose tea, since I am sadly out of Scottish Blend. The paper in the middle is from Sassafras Bungle Jungle (as opposed to Jethro Tull's Bungle in the Jungle). The stack to the right is all about ideas to try before gravity rears it's ugly head.

A quick recap to the week so far:

Sunday: won an Imagine from Everyday Cricut. An Imagine is basically a Cricut that prints and cuts out. So I can just print out a sheet of pretty patterned paper at 3 am if I need to do so.

Monday: found out I made the Design Team at Club Ruby Designers.

Tuesday: Tried to do some work on another contest, but my lungs and nose decided I had better do more lying down. Hence the reason I'm still looking for Tuesday even though it's Wednesday.

Among the other things on my list to do this week is sit down and do some serious stamping. Honestly it's been weeks since I've done some proper stamping and I'm starting to get the shakes. No one's fault but my own, but still serious pining going on lol.

So if you are wondering what this WOYWW is all about, head over to Julia's Stamping Ground and have a gander. Better yet, snap a picture of your work desk and join in the fun :D

Wow!

Sunday I found out I won an Imagine from Everyday Cricut (if you like Cricuts, this is an awesome source of information and inspiration). Monday I found out I made the Design Team at Club Ruby Designers (An online gathering place for paper crafters with two levels of membership, one free and one for $7/month. There a lot of tutorials and videos from the Design Team and there's a gallery and a forum as well). I'm just pleased as punch and can't wait to get started :D.

WOYW?W 97 - John Henry was a papercutting man

Today my workdesk has a contradiction lol. Like that's a stretch? It's handmade vs. machine, or using a machine to make different handmade or where does machine made differ from hand made lol.

I love my Cricut (this is the Champaign [sic] Expression Cricut. For those of you unfamiliar with it, an electronic Die Cutting Machine. While I usually use the 12 x 12 inch mat, there is a 12 x 24 inch mat available too. It's kinda wonderful :D. I bought it for making titles to scrapbook pages and now I'm doing scrapbook pages, making cards, home decor, boxes, tags... well you get the idea. But I also make projects without it. And I made projects that give me some hand making time supplemented by machine cut things.

Add to that my Gypsy which is sort of a design studio in a handheld device which allows me to weld images, hide cut lines, design in my car, waiting for DD in various after school events, skew images. This is 4 of the same image welded into one new image from my new favorite cartridge Paper Lace.

I've also been having a lot of fun with these two books: Zentangle Basics and the Doodle Formula. Zentangled is a bit too structured for regular usage by me, the Doodle Formula is more my style. But both are very informative.

So I cut the image in the Gypsy on kraft cardstock, but not all the way through. Then I cut off the edge with a craft knife (lots of time for reflecting whilst I did that lol) and opened some of it up. Then I put the kraft cardstock frame on a piece of vintage Anna Griffin paper. And I used some Distress Crackle Paint (need to use Tim Holtz products lol) and lightly brushed it over all the cuts and when the paint dried I glued it to a piece of black cardstock. The kraft cardstock frame was decorated using a Fine Line Sharpie. The black cardstock was decorated using a Signo Uniball Gel Pen. I haven't decided what to do with the papers yet, still mulling over some ideas.

Now if you are wondering, "What's all this WOYWW then?", head over to Julia's Stamping Ground and have a gander. Better yet, take a picture and join in the fun :D.

Simple Thank You Card

Made an A2 sized card base and covered most of the front with patterned paper. The flowers are made with handcut circles distressed on the edges with an open pair of scissors with a button in the center. Viva Decor Glitter Liner substituted for thread on the buttons and was used to highlight points on the patterned paper. Finished off with a sentiment stamped with Rusty Hinge Distress Ink from the Club Ruby Designers stamp set included in the (January?) kit. I used corner chompers to round all the edges.

Embellishment as Journaling Tag

I told you I was having way too much fun with the skew button on the Gypsy :D. I used the Shadow as the upright and the colored pumpkin as the shadow sort of a play on how the world turned upside down when Trick or Treating for the first time. I used the Shadow as a journaling tag and distressed the edges with the blade of an open pair of scissors.  The colored pumpkin was lined twice with an ultra fine line black pen. The cut is from the Mini Monsters cartridge. I used a large house cut (from the Don Juan cartridge) to convey the sense of going door to door since I didn't have a picture of that. I used the Signo Uniball Gel Pen for the journaling.

The house is outlined in Viva Decor's Hematite Glitter Liner applied thick enough that it has some depth to it. It is also applied around the photo mat but flattened out so it is almost transparent. I used more writing to ground the images to the base of the background.  I used the hide contour button to hide the eye cuts since I was using a googly eye and a Custom Eye. This picture existed as a Polaroid, and with the aid of Photoshop Elements I was able to make a larger picture and correct the color loss that was going on with the original.

A side note: I use the clear packaging the letters came in to put the letters on first and hold them against the different papers without risk of them sticking to it. Also gives me a sense of size and a chance to make sure all the letters I need will be there.

Put a New Skew on Your Embellishments

Hello everyone! It's time for my guest spot at TheBugBytes :D. I recently discovered my skew button on the Gypsy and what fun I've been having (okay maybe I need to get out a little more, but I sure am having fun in my craftroom).

Basically the skew button can be used to make awesome shadows out of die cuts that don't have awesome shadows. Or if you want an oval and all you have are circles, but today it's about adding a shadow. The shadows can also be used as a journaling mat, but this time it's just decoration.

And it's easy peasy (lemon squeezy). For this embellishment I used the monster from B is for Boy and put two base images and one layer on the screen. Than I highlighted one base image and turned the skew button to -130 and then rotated to 30.00. The rotating just made it easier to cut and have the pattern cut in the direction I felt the shadow should be.

And the monster's eyes are customized to match the shadow. This is also easy peasy (lemon squeezy).

All you need are some clear plastic domes (aka skittles). I found these in the candle department at Michael's and it's a large bag for about $6.00, and I think I used a coupon. They are labelled Decorative Accents. To make customized eyes, just use a regular hole punch and cut out some holes saving the little circles. These fit under the skittles perfectly. 

Then just use a black marker or Sharpie in the little bubble at the bottom.

Put a drop of Glossy Accents or other clear drying glue on the circle than pop the flat side of the skittle on top of the circle and let dry. Of course you can also make them without the dots for regular embellishing.

WOYWW 96

Things have been galloping out of the drawer on back to my craft table lol. But there isn't much I can show you here. I haven't used a single stamp all week though, and I'm starting to go through withdrawals lol. There will be a post another post today from my Guest Designer spot at TheBugBytes about making shadows with the Gypsy and a quick way to make eyes for embellishments. I'm not sure why the turntable looks so askew in the picture though lol.

I've also been working like mad on submissions for a design team. The problem is winnowing it down to three projects. For these projects I've been digging through old photographs and it occurs to me how much digital photography has changed the way I scrapbook. I can scan those Polaroids and old photographs and fearlessly cut, glue and embellish the digital prints. I can print photographs out at 3 am if I have a mind to do so. Now I just need to start weeding through the 89,000 jpegs on my computer lol.

If you are wondering what's all this WOYWW, then head on over to Julia's Stamping Ground and take a gander. Better yet, snap a picture and join in the fun :D.