I Confess

I just couldn't decide what to do with the cute little canvas tote that comes in the September kit. I saved it 'til last, thinking that something would occur to me, that the lightbulb would come on, but it just never really did. That's kind of embarrassing to admit, but we all get blocks like this once in a while, don't we? Our mojo goes on hiatus? Takes a vacation and threatens to never return?? LOL well it feels like it sometimes!!! So, I did what any self-respecting scrapper would do....when all else fails, make a flower :)

First, I ripped all the seams from the bag, and removed the handles.

Next, I cut the bag into strips.

Then I chose my colors: Coffee Shop and Peach Delight Glimmer Mist.

After the strips had dried, I ran a needle and thread through one side of a canvas strip, pulled it tight, and secured the ends together.

Then I started pulling threads out, for a totally cool fringed effect....

....and finally, I chose my centers. I used some cork circles and a couple of buttons.

So I guess I figured something out with that cute little canvas tote after all. What will you do with yours?

Happy Scrapping :)

Spritz, Glimmer, and a Mid-Month Challenge

Have I ever been having fun with KnK's September kit! The uber-cool Krafty Collection from Paper Trunk just begs to be sprayed and colored with just about anything you can think of! With these layouts I used Smooch Spritz (which I am told will very soon be available in the KNK Shopping Mall) in Emerald and Glimmer Mist (already available) in Frosty Nights. Now, you can see that I may have gotten a bit carried away on this first one... see where my paper wrinkled? I didn't really take into consideration the weight of the paper, as I should have, before I started spraying. The Kraft papers aren't super-light, but they aren't as heavy as say, Bazzill might be. So if you've never really gotten acquainted with sprays and want to give it a try, keep this in mind before you start spritzing away on a favorite piece of paper! Especially if you are a perfectionist (which clearly I am not LOL) Here's a close-up of one of the fun flowers I made with the Crafty Chronicle...
For this next layout I really wanted to think of a different way to showcase my photos. I happened to be looking through one of my old albums... an 8x8 one that I did when I first began scrapbooking. While most of the pages were filled with a picture, a title, and a couple stickers, one caught my eye in which I had taken a photo of my daughter and created a sunflower around it. I remember being particularly proud of that page, too! While it lacked any kind of technique or finesse, the idea itself was exactly what I was looking for. So instead of layering a bunch of different patterned papers behind my pictures, I made a template for two different flower petals and began tracing and cutting.... and tracing and cutting.... and tracing... and cutting...
... ok, yes it took forever to get them all cut out! But once I did the flowers went together pretty quickly. The only thing I would have done differently is to put my photos on after the flowers were assembled. I ended up with quite a few fingerprints on my photos.

The quote and dictionary text were both cut from the Crafty Chronicle, and I used a few of the Paperie die-cuts for the date-tag and in the banner at the bottom of the page.

So, I know you are all waiting with baited breath to see if I will have a mid-month challenge, aren't you? LOL If you're not, that's ok, if you are, here it is:

Go back through your old albums and recreate something. Not like scraplifting a whole page, but just some element on a page that you really loved then, and make it new with your experience and different techniques you've learned since. Clear as mud? And naturally, I want to see the "THEN" and the "NOW". Post a link to your pics in a comment to this post! You have til the first of the month. Happy scrapping :)

June Kit and an old favorite

I am so in love with these papers by Quick Quotes. The colors are stunning; rich, warm summer shades that go with just about anything. They really compliment this photo of my girls standing in the sea, contemplating it. Do you remember your first look at the ocean? I don't know about you, but it never fails to take my breath away, no matter how many times I've seen it. I can only imagine what was going through their minds as they stared out into the vast blue. I don't often use only one photo on a layout, but this one really speaks to me and that's all it needs to stand alone. Here's a little detail, I used Stickles in Cinnamon for my faux stitching and the word "thoughts" is a Stampendous sticker from the Summer Words sticker sheet in the June kit. It really helped pull my title together which ended up perfect for the feel of this layout!

I absolutely could NOT narrow down this set of pics no matter how long I stared at them, so I ended up with a double layout. I am so glad I did it! It gave me plenty of room for the flower-type embellishments, which are meant to kind of mimic the bubbles (which are hard to see here) in the photos. This type of embellishment is not a new idea but having the color-core cardstock makes them so fun to make!

Here's a bit of a close-up.... if you've never made these before they are easy to do, you just have to be really mean to your cardstock! Once you've cut out various sized imperfect circles, just crumple, sand, and distress them, in that order. Add a generous amount of Stickles to the edges if you want, I used "Diamond", one of my personal favorites. You could use Glue Dots to assemble them but I used a simple button-stitch since the "buttons" were cut from another coordinating piece of patterned paper in the kit.

That's it from me for now, thanks for stopping by and having a look! Don't forget you can see these June Kit projects as well as many others from the Design Team at www.knkclub.com.

Two of my favourite things!

I thought it would be nice to share a few of my favourite things with you guys this week. You have probably guessed by now that one of them is the range of Distress inks from Ranger. I LOVE them and if I could start my crafting life over ... well they would be the first pads I bought ...and trust me ... I bought plenty that I never use! Why are they my favourite??? Well you can create beautiful backgrounds with a few inks and some white card ... oh yeah and a fabulous stamp. To make the above background I coloured the white card with Fired Brick and Spiced Marmalade distress ink then I stamped over the top in Fired Brick with the Stampendous Agapanthus stamp.

My second favourite thing is Stampendous embossing powder ... especially the Gold Detail. If you grab some card and pat it with the Gold Acrylic Dabber and then shake Gold embossing powder over the top ... once heated you are left with a really lovely textured vintage look ... trust me! No one will believe it started life as a piece of white card.
So ... don't leave me in suspense ... What are your favourite things?

Decoupaging your stamped images!

For this card I have used the Stampendous Sunflower Scene stamp. Mine is wood mounted but it is also available on cling here

I stamped the image three times in black archival ink on white card. You get three goes at this ... and because you don't need a perfect image every time ... it is a great technique if you are new to stamping.

Color your images in using whichever pens you have. I have used Pro markers ... but Copics; Marvy le plumes; water colors... the kids crayons anything will do. Once they are colored cut out as illustrated above.

Take a long slim card and about a third of the way up make a slot in the spine with your craft knife ... just wide enough to slide a piece of ribbon through.Place your ribbon through and tie in a bow ... cutting the ends into a point.

Stick the first layer flat and build up your flowers a section at a time. Use either a 3 dimensional glue or foam pads to make the layers stand out. I always curl the upper two layers around a bone folder so you cannot see the adhesive.
There you have it ... a quick and simple card ... just add a greeting when you next need a card.
Don't forget to check out the Summer Sizzle card kit ... there are still some available.
Have a good weekend ... see you next week!

Playing Tag!

I hope you are all enjoying your Fridays. I am demoing at a large UK show for the first time in a couple of weeks so I am playing with tags at every available opportunity at the moment ... just to keep my hand in so to speak :0)
This is one of my favourite tags from yesterdays samples ... so much so ... I thought I would share the details with you.

1. I coloured the tag with Mustard Seed, then spritzed Wild Honey, Mustard Seed and Rusty Hinge distress ink with a mini mister on my craft mat and dabbed the tag in the colour ... drying between dabs with a heat gun until I was happy with the overall effect.
2. Then I placed one of Tim's stencils over one side of the tag and applied Brushed Corduroy distress ink. The easiest way to do this is to gently swirl the ink over the top of the stencil with a blending tool ... that way your mask should remain were you want it to.
3. I removed the mask and then stamped the flourish with crimson red acrylic paint and once again I dried it with a heat gun.
4. I stamped the text on some scrap card. Added a few Prima flowers that were also coloured using the same inks and coated with some Rock Candy stickles for added sparkle. Finally I added an Ideology charm and the tag was complete.
I hope you have a good weekend ... whatever you are doing ... see you next week!

Play Time!

Hello everyone.
Does this look a bit odd to you? Bare with me and all will be revealed.
Firstly I got a really really big manila tag and I blended Antique Linen; Fired Brick and Spiced Marmalade Distress Inks onto it.
Then I spritzed it with water ... stamped it with water ... then stamped it with a Coffee coloured ink. The stamp I used was the Stampendous Agapanthus.

I know ... I know ... it still looks odd ... but stay with me. I used a one inch square punch to punch random one inch squares from my tag. I say random ... I made sure some had a stamped image and some did n't. Then I mounted all nine on a 6"X6" card blank.

Hopefully you don't think it looks odd now. This took about 10 minutes in total and it makes a great note card ... alternatively ... add a greeting or a 3d butterfly and you have a lovely greetings card too.
Have a great weekend everyone ... I am off to see Sir Tim of Holtz so I just know mine is gonna be great :0)

Let's play tag!

 

Hello everyone :0) It's only me :0)

Today I thought we could play tag ... I think tags are highly under rated ... don't just think tag ... you can add this to a card ... hang it off a gift ... add it to a scrapbook page ... the list is endless ... so without further ado this is what I used ... and how I made it!

Stash requirements:-

Stampendous music of love heart  

Stampendous Valentines text stamp

White card for base tag and heart ... I used 300gsm but any thick white card will do.

Grunge paper for the rose and leaf

Spiced marmalade and aged mahogany distress ink

Jet black archival ink

water and mini mister

Idea-ology embellishments

1. Blend Spiced marmalade and aged mahogany on your tag with cut n dry foam then spritz your heart stamp with water and stamp a random pattern on your tag. This picture really does not do this technique justice ... you really need to try it at home. Dry tag with heat gun.

2. Stamp the valentines text in jet black archival ink in the bottom right corner

3. Stamp the heart onto white card with archival ink and blend with Aged mahogany distress ink. Spray the mini mister into your hand a drop water onto the heart. Dry with a paper towel and cut out. Make a rose out of grunge paper ... there are loads of tutorials available for this ... but I use the one on Mr Tim's blog!

4. Assemble your tag and add a leaf to finish.
I told you it was easy :0)
See you all next week :0) Have a great weekend ... and don't forget to check back daily for some yummy posts from the rest of the Kreative Kaboodles and Creativity Boutique design teams!

Saying I Love You with ... Grey Chip :0)

Hello again everyone ... Linda here :0)
This week I thought we could make a romantic hanger for all our Valentines! I know quite often the reply would be Why??? But the simple truth is ... it's just great fun to make :0)
So without further ado ... here is the stash you need
3 grey chip coasters ... they can be beer coasters ... just cover them with grey card.
Fired Brick Distress ink
Fired Brick Distress Crackle paint
Black Coredinations core color
Black Soot distress ink
Grunge paper
Stampendous ornate heart stamp
Waxed cotton thread
Red seed beads
Alphabet letters - I and U
Butterfly stamp
Background stamp

1. Blend Fired brick distress ink on you chip
2. Stamp your background stamp in Black soot distress ink (I used a Wendy Vecchi stamp)
3. Cut a piece of cordindations card (7X7cm)
4. Distress your card with a sanding block and round the corners
5. Stick the card in the center of your mat.
6. Paint the letter I with distress crackle and when dry add some beads to embellish
7. Stamp and cut out a butterfly with grunge paper and colour with Fired brick distress ink
8. stick together as illustrated and add beads for body.

9. For mat number 3 repeat the above steps using the letter U

10. Follow steps 1 to five for mat number 2
11. Stamp the Stampendous heart onto grunge paper using black soot distress ink and cut out.
12. Attach this to the card and add an Idea0ology key ring as an embellishment
13. Stamp and add grunge butterfly.
14. Finally turn all three mats into a hanger by threading waxed cotton with beads to embellish.

Told you it was fun :0) If you would rather make a card ... just ignore the chip part and put the three coredinations squares onto a card blank.
See you next week!

Fun Background Friday!

I know that is a weak attempt at a post header ... I promise the post will be better and certainly more fun! You guys must be getting to know me by now ... which means that you know that I adore Tim ... and anything Tim. Am I excited about the new Tim releases for CHA? ... you bet!

Anyway ... just to prove we all need new stash ... we kinda have to prove ... to ourselves at least ... that we use all our old stash ... or is that just me????

So today I am going to share with you a technique that can be used with any ... yes any ... of the 24 fab Timmy distress inks ... which means we can all go buy the 12 new colors as soon as they are released ... a cool plan huh???

Grab yourself some tools and lets have some fun!

1. Ink up your Stampendous stamp with snow cap dabber and stamp a random pattern onto white card. You will need to reload with paint in between each stamp and you will need good light to ensure you don't over lap your images.

2. Dry the paint with your heat tool and make sure you clean your stamp immediately ... you really don't want that paint to dry on your favorite stamp ... believe me!!!

3. Apply your chosen color of distress ink with some cut and dry foam ... all over the card and the stamped pattern ... this will all make sense in a minute.

4. Once you have covered your card ... grab a baby wipe and wipe over the entire card ... this will make the snow cap dabber pop and ... hey presto ... you have a fab and subtle background that will match up with whatever you want! I have used old paper and dusty concord to make these samples.

5. If you want a more vivid background ... try over stamping the image with the original distress color you used ... wipe again with a baby wipe and you get this effect.

This technique really is loads of fun ... and you will always have a matching background whenever you need one ... see you next week guys ... Have a good one!

Someone Special!

As the big day draws nearer ... it is getting kind of late to be giving you Christmas card ideas ... so this week I thought we could focus on the presents :0) We all have that special present ... that we want to look special even before the paper is ripped off ... don't we? ... so here is an extra special gift tag ... that is great fun and quick to make ... Are you sitting comfortably?

1. Take a chip shape ... I have chosen a bauble ... but you could use a letter ... or a present shape ... or any shape you like really.

 

2. Cover the back with Christmas paper ... a great chance to use your favorite Christmas scraps ... sand the edges and then edge with a gold Krylon pen.

3. Triple emboss the front by covering the chip with embossing ink and then a layer of embossing powder and heat ... repeat this step twice more. Once you are happy you have a nice thick layer ... put embossing ink on the top of your bauble only and use a different color powder ... I went for yummy gold!

4. Now heat the embossing again and ink up a stamp with embossing ink ... I went for the Damask fall stamp again ... don't worry ... I have no plans to go on and on and on about how much I love it or how versatile it is ... again :0) Then place the stamp in the hot embossing powder and hold for a count of 10. Keep inking and stamping until you are happy with your design. Don't worry if it goes wrong either ... just melt it all and keep trying until you are happy with your design.

5. Finally add a ribbon and some bling ... use a gold pen to write on the back and this little tag will make any gift look a bit more special.

Until next week folks ... Have a good weekend!

An oldie but a goodie!

Hello everyone.
I have had one of those manic weeks ... you know the ones ... where you are merrily plodding along and the wheels start dropping off right, left and centre. Today of all things my camera has decided to hang onto the pictures I had taken for you ... so I am afraid I have had to improvise ... this is an old style of card ... but still a nice one to make for that special someone.
I have used Distress inks, Stampendous embossing powders and lots of sparkle in my designs ... but the sky really is the limit with this one!

1. Cut four pieces of card 8 ¼” by 5 ¾”
2. Score all four pieces of card 2 1/16” from  each end to form a tri-fold.

3. On one piece score again at 1 7/8“ from each end to form a mini spine.

4. Line all the corners up and round them off .

5.Cut a further piece of card 8” by 5 ½“ and score down the middle and round all four corners.

6. Line the three tri-fold cards up end to end and tape the middle flaps to the outer two cards so you now have a long card.

7. On your spined card make holes at 2 ¾” and 3 ½” approx ¾” in from the spine on each side with your hole punch tool.

8. Now cut a straight line from each edge of your circle to form a slot.

9. Feed a piece of ribbon through the slot that is long enough to go around the card and tie.

10. Adhere the back of the middle part of your long card to cover the ribbon part of your spined card.

11. Adhere your final card to the front of the middle part of your long card to form an insert.
 




12. Decorate as desired!


Have a good weekend ... See you next Friday!