Good Enough for Marie Osmond!

Hi again! Hope everyone is having a great day. I couldn't wait to show you these beautiful paper flowers and the card that I made with them yesterday morning. I get an email newsletter called "Weekly Inkling" from Splitcoast Stampers each Wednesday. In last week's issue there was a link to a tutorial by Judi M. (aka "Crafts") that explained how to make them. Of course I can't do anything exactly the way It's supposed to be done, so I went into my scraproom Sunday and  changed it up a little.

I used a heavy pearlized cardstock and a Stampin Up! five petal flower punch to make the leaves. Just punch a flower and cut it into two pieces. Now you have two clusters of leaves, one with three leaves and one with two. I colored my leaves with Always Artichoke and Certainly Celery SU markers.

Judi used a McGill punch that I don't have, so I made do with what I do have and used the little five petal flower punch from EK. I like the look of Judi's base petals better, but I am nothing if not frugal! The only real difference is the petals on the EK punch are more defined, so I just used one for the base, while Judi used three. I'm sure a small circle or scallop circle (1/2 inch or 5/8 inch) would work just as well. I was feeling rather lazy when I made the flowers (and my table is a HUGE mess), so instead of walking all the way over to my Cuttlebug (all four feet) and getting out my Nestie scallop ovals, I reached across my table for my 3 inch scallop oval punch. I punched just enough of one end of the oval to get six scallops and trimmed it down to a thin strip. I wanted cream colored roses, so I used a piece of pearlized cream stationery. It's about the same weight as a nice printer paper. (I tried cardstock first, but I couldn't get the petals to curl back very well.) 

Now to put it all together! Judi used a mouse pad and an embossing tool to give a little bit of a curl to the base petals and the leaves. I don't have a mouse pad, but the arm of my sofa worked very nicely! If you don't have an embossing tool with a big tip, the clicker on an ink pen or the cap on a Sharpie will work the same way. Just lay the petals or leaves on the mousepad and rub around and around in small circles while pressing down. The harder you push down the more curl you get. I used hot glue to attach the base petal to the leaves. Then I wound the scallop strip around a skinny stick, hot glued it in the middle of the base, and curled the petals back. 

This is what my table looked like (and pretty much still does!) when I finished playing Sunday. I made the little paper roses and experimented with another kind of flower that you'll see in another post. 

Monday morning I came in to make a card for my friend Julie who celebrates her 16th birthday tomorrow. (Think about that one for a minute....) I had a really hard time coming up with a combination I liked. I'd pulled out several beautiful papers and dies to choose from, but it took forever to get it just right. Once I did, I mailed it to Julie and planned to make a copy of it for this post. When I came in here today I decided I should clean up a little. In the process I came across my last SU order. (See the bag in the lower left corner?) 

The Framelits Labels dies were still in the bag just begging to be broke in. The dies coordinate with the Apothecary Art set, which was also unused. The largest stamp in the set has a wreath of roses. Perfect! Just to stay with the "theme" I used a brand-new-never-even-unwrapped pad of Early Espresso.

I found a leafy green paper to use for the background, stamped the label on cream cardstock, and added "Happiest Birthday." I've had the trellis ribbon forever. I love it so much that I am very picky about where I use it, so if you get a card from me with trellis ribbon on it, you must be pretty special! I was happy with the first card, but I think I like this one even better. Sorry, Julie!

You can say it. Go ahead. I should have cleaned my table first. Yep. I should've. But don't for one second think that will reform me! I only cleaned until I got to the SU bag. The rest of the mess is still there!
Thanks for stopping by today--see you Friday! Happy birthday Julie!

I Know I Said 'See you Friday,' But You'll Have to Talk to the Router

I know that everyone out there in www land was pacing the floor and wringing their hands in anxiety yesterday because I didn't post anything. Nothing to worry about, folks. I'm OK. Our internet router, however, apparently is not. I couldn't get online all day yesterday! *gasp* And I'm only on now because the stupid thing thinks I'm a guest. Ha! (Yes, I am sticking my tongue out at the router right now.)

I managed to keep myself busy all day even without being connected. Mom and I decided to take the leap (really it's more of a baby step) and open a booth in a flea market.

There's an old building here in Aurora that was built as a hotel in the town's early days. It sits directly across the street from the old bank building, and was originally The Bank Hotel. The building now houses                Uncle Doc's Flea Market.

This is what Uncle Doc's looked like in the...30's? 40's?

  Mom and I spent a few hours yesterday arranging some things on the shelves we are renting until Doc has a booth available. Here's how it turned out:

We still have more stuff to put out, but for the time being this will work. Mom had mostly glasswares and I had mostly scrapbooking supplies. Go figure. I admit it--I'm a tool junkie. I always want to try the newest, coolest tools. But there's not a scrapbook store around here that carries a lot of tools. OK, there's not a scrapbook store around here at all. We have Michael's & Hobby Lobby in Springfield (30 miles away), and there is one store that is just scrapbooking stuff, but they are pretty limited to paper & embellishments. I don't want to use embellishments someone else designed. I want to make MY OWN. (Kind of like the whole Mexico book thing....) Does that make me a control freak? Anyway, I buy tools and do just that! Now when I get bored with a tool, I can move it to Doc's and someone else can enjoy it. (I feel like singing the song from Rudolph -- "We're on the Island of Misfit Toys....") Plus whatever I make from selling my unused stuff will buy more new toys! WooHoo! I mean tools. Yeah, tools.) 

I even managed to squeeze some self promotion onto the shelves. I made a flyer with my business card at the top and pics of some of the wedding announcements I've made. I included the blog address at the bottom. 

I've decided that it's time to actively recruit blog followers, so I added the address to the back of my business cards, too. I promised Mom earlier today that one of my upcoming posts will be a step-by-step tutorial on how to become a follower. I know there are millions of you out there who have tried and haven't been able to figure it out, so I'll solve your problem and mine! As soon as I figure it out myself!

Thanks for stopping by! I hope to see you Tuesday--if the router is feeling cooperative. :)

Lessons Learned

So.... I completed all of my experimentation with my supplies I showed you the other day. And I really like how my project turned out. BUT I learned a few things. I would be happy to share them with you so you can learn from my experience. 

1. Dry corn husks will absorb color better if you soak them in water first. (You never know when that one might come in handy!)

2. All those tiny little fibers that come off a piece of burlap are a real bear to get out of sweat pants.

3. Dry mimosa seed pods do not bend. No way, no how.

4. Mod Podge is awesome, but sometimes you just have to plug in the old hot glue gun.

5. When you're on vacation in the tropics and you see a really cool book made with all kinds of interesting fibers and plant parts, BUY IT! It's well worth the ten or twelve bucks to get that look!

That being said, here are the highlights of what I did:

I soaked the dry corn husks ("upcycled" from the tamales I had for lunch!) in a jar of water until they were soft, then patted them dry. Then I poured a little of my homemade walnut ink in a saucer and soaked the husks in that for a few minutes. (see Lesson #1) When I was tired of waiting I moved the husks to dry on some paper towels. Be careful where you put them--that walnut ink stains!

                                                                                                                                              

While those were drying I crumpled up the tissue paper and used the Stampin Up! Always Artichoke to ink it all over.  I wanted the look of leaves and the green paper was too bright. I also inked some tan tissue paper, so I came out with two different  shades of green that would pass for the colors of  tropical leaves. 

 I spread Mod Podge on a narrow strip of chipboard (2 1/2 x 8 3/4 inches) and laid out pieces of embroidery floss in kind of a fan pattern to resemble the veins on leaves. Then I added a little more Mod Podge and put pieces of tissue paper on top, finishing with another coat of Mod Podge. The MP is still milky in this pic, but can you see the "leaves?" 

Next I used gobs (yes, THAT word again!) of Mod Podge to adhere burlap to two pieces of 8 1/2 x 11 chipboard for the front and back covers. I put burlap on the inside and outside of each piece of chipboard. The burlap is soooo messy (see Lesson #2), but a thick layer of MP cuts down on all those stray fibers. I even used a brayer to make sure it was good and secure. I  put a coat of MP on top of the front cover, but it really didn't need it.

I adhered the strip with the "leaves" to the burlap-covered chipboard with...you guessed it...Mod Podge! Then I used my high tech multi-purpose tool (aka, felt-wrapped brick) to clamp the pieces together while the MP set up. You would be amazed with the things that brick can do! It's an excellent door stop, a very efficient aluminum can smasher, a take-anywhere vise, and Kit says it gives great back rubs (you probably can't see all the cat hair that I was unable to remove).

While all that Mod Podge was drying I went to work on a frame for the front cover. I cut the size I wanted from chipboard and wrapped it with the corn husks. Then I used raffia to wrap the corners. Corners are always so messy! I like to cover them with something pretty or interesting whenever I can!  I adhered chipboard strips (spacers) to the back of the frame so there is room to slide a picture in and out then I put a piece of kraft paper behind the strips so it would all be easier to attach to the cover. Yeah, right....

Once everything was secure I brushed on a layer of Mod Podge to hold everything in place and bring out the colors a little. The mimosa seed pods got a coat of MP, too, before I glued them to a piece of kraft paper and cut them into triangles to put on the front cover. These aren't permanently adhered yet. I want to try soaking some in water to see if they will soften enough to wrap them around the corners (see Lesson #3), but that is for another day. 

For pages I just used kraft paper cut to 8 x 12. I punched two holes thru the pages and the left edge of the covers. I threaded a long piece of hemp up through the top hole, wrapped the hemp around a stick, and took it back down through the same hole. Then I took the same piece of hemp up through the bottom hole, around the stick, and back down. I pulled both ends tight and tied a good knot at the back. If you want to try this on something but can't decipher these instructions, leave me a message or send an email and I'll add pictures.

The little bottle of sand is also upcycled. It's a Tabasco bottle -- like you get with room service -- with a tiny little cork from the hardware store. (Eat your heart out, Tim Holtz!) I brushed some glue around the top and wrapped hemp around it, leaving enough to tie it to the stick. That cute little shell has a hole in it and was just begging to be hung like a charm.
This is where I had to break out the hot glue gun (see Lesson #4). The frame was too bulky and Mod Podge just wasn't going to cut it. A good glob-o-glue in each corner worked great! I also used the hot glue to attach the little shells to the bottom right corner of the frame.

These are three of the books that served as inspiration for my Mexico book. All I had was my phone's camera but they're clear enough to remind me of how the books were made. 

(That brought on a Flashback)
When I was growing up Mom made a lot of our clothes. I remember when we were shopping, she'd see something she liked and say, "I can make that for so much less!" Then we'd go look through patterns and find something similar, along with a nice piece of fabric. I guess I have just transferred that to scrapbooking, because I catch myself saying that ALL THE TIME! Thanks, Mom! That makes it more fun.
(End of Flashback)

All of the green on each book is leaves and the brown is seed pods.They really were only ten or twelve dollars (see Lesson #5), but they were odd sizes and I didn't know how well they were put together or if the pages in them were photo-safe. I thought about buying one, taking it apart, and attaching the front to the cover of another scrapbook. That probably would have worked, but I'm very happy with the way mine turned out.
 I forgot the wood veneer again. Rats! I'm going to cut the word "Mexico" from a thin sheet of wood veneer that's still hiding in my closet and attach it to the bottom of the  frame. This book will be for photos from the two times Andy and I have been to Mexico, and the trips the boys made with their Uncle Brian. So now I just need to print those pics. And clean my table again. Ugh!
Thanks so much for stopping by! See you Friday!

WHAT?! A Clean Work Table? No Way!

What on Earth is going on?! That's MY work table and it looks...CLEAN! (Everything is relative, ok?) 

We went to Mexico for a week--that's why I haven't posted for over two weeks--and when we got back I jumped right into designing some wedding invitations that were dancing around in my head the whole time I was on the beach. After that I couldn't see any of the glass surface on my table. Really. Not a pulgada to be found! (That's Spanish for inch!) Now about 60% of it is cleared of debris. Time to make something!

That cutting board in the middle looks like things I haven't put away yet, but they are items with a purpose.

In the top left corner is a jar of homemade walnut ink. That stuff is so concentrated! I made it a year and a half ago and you can barely tell I've used any. Working clockwise, there's some burlap, muslin, and cheesecloth (left from the wedding invitation experiments), a pad of Stampin' Up! Always Artichoke, green tissue paper, tan tissue paper, a saucer with some sand and seashells straight from Playa del Carmen, a cluster of dried up bean pods from the mimosa tree in my front yard, under the mimosa pods is a dried corn husk (saved from the tamale I had for lunch today), natural and brown hemp, and raffia. I forgot to dig the piece of wood veneer out of my closet for the picture.

Hmmm....

You're going to have to come back to see what I'm doing, but Kit, always ready to be my #1 helper, has a hint for you. See it? I'll be back in a few days to show you what I come up with and the poor quality cell phone photo of my inspiration. And most likely the big mess I've made. See you then!

February Assignment

Wow! Can you believe January is almost over?! I have an assignment for you today that will make you look forward to February, and it has nothing to do with chocolate! 

If you have an iPod Touch, iPhone, or iPad, and you do not have the Coolibah scrapbooking app, I want you to go to the app store right now and get it. It's free and a LOT of fun. Go ahead. We'll wait...(elevator music in the background)....

Back already? Ok, then--let's get started. If you haven't used Coolibah before, you'll want to look through the gallery and pick out some kits that you like. There are several free kits and the rest are 99 cents. Take a few minutes to tap on the first page and flip through the instructions. Then experiment a little to get the feel.

We are going to make a calendar--I mean a PRETTY calendar!--that you can save as your lock screen so it's the first thing you see when you turn on your device. You could also save it as your home screen (you know--the one that has the apps on it) or to the desktop of your computer. You could even print it and put it on your refrigerator. It is going to be THAT pretty! I don't have a smart phone, but I was able to send the calendar as a text message to my reasonably intelligent phone and save it as the wallpaper. This is how mine turned out:

The first thing we need is a calendar. Use your device to go online and Google 'free printable February 2012 calendar.' When the results come up click on 'images' up near the top. This will show you gobs and gobs of calendars. Yes, I said gobs and gobs. Pick one that you like and tap on it so a bigger image comes up. Find one that has nice and clear lines and numbers. I used one with big numbers, because I don't need space to write on it and because, well,  I'm 47, ok? When you find the one you want, hold your finger on it until a box pops up that says 'Save Image' and 'Copy.' Tap 'Save Image.' You just put that calendar in your photo album. Now you can use it like you would use any other picture! 

Now for the fun part....

To make a new page, you need to tap on the + in the lower left of the screen. 

Next tap on the symbol for background paper and pick a pattern you like for your background.

To bring your calendar in just tap on the button to add a photo. On an iPad it has a photo on it, but on the iPod (and I assume the iPhone) it's a + sign that brings up some choices. Tap 'add a photo' this time. We'll come back to the others. Your calendar should be the last photo in your album. Just tap it and it will go right to your page. As long as  it's yellow you can move it (with one finger), change the size (with two fingers), or rotate it (with three fingers). 

Now you can look through the 'elements' to decorate your page. Remember the button on the iPod that said 'add elements?' On the iPad it's the button with a flower on it. I like to pick a bunch of embellishments all at once then go back and arrange them the way I want them. You can change the size and move elements when they are highlighted, too.

You might want to add a frame around your calendar. That's the one on the iPod that looks like four photo corners. 

You can also add shadows when an element is highlighted yellow, or move it up or down so it's layered on top of or beneath other elements.

When you are satisfied, tap the far left button. It's either a check mark or an arrow. That will bring up a button that says 'Share.' Tap it and choose 'Save to Photo Album.' Then to close your calendar, tap the button on the top left (looks like six rectangles).

Go to your home screen and open your photos. Tap on your calendar to open it. See the little rectangle with  the arrow coming out of it? Tap that and choose 'Use as Wallpaper.' On the iPad you can then choose if you want it as your lock screen, your home screen, or both. (This is where you can also email it to your computer or send it to your reasonably intelligent phone as a text message.)

THAT'S IT! Woo Hoo!  

So how does it look? Mine is pretty busy, but it looks cheery. Here's a little secret.... If you want to use my calendar, there are two things you can do. Scroll back up and save it to your computer, or use your device to come to my blog and save it the same way you saved the calendar on Google. It will go directly to your photo album. But. If you do that. You will miss all the fun!

Let me know how your calendar turned out! And how quickly you become totally additcted to Coolibah! 

  Thanks for stopping by!!! 

Secret Letter Box

Happy Friday! Today I'm just "showing." No "telling." Or would it be "telling," but not "showing?" Hmmm....

I came across a great site the other day called The Women's Waiting Room. Ellen is also a scrapper/crafter, but her posts cover a wide range of topics. She is very entertaining. Go to thewomenswaitingroom.blogspot.com to check it out. (Sorry-I tried to put a link there, but it didn't work.) In one of her posts, called "Fall, leaves, fall,"  she has a photo of a secret letter box that she made. I loved it so much I had to make one, too!

Just looks like a stack of old letters, right? But look what happens when you untie the lace and pick up the top envelope! Too cool! 

I am not EVEN going to try giving directions with pics. I think I would even confuse myself! But there is a Youtube video that gives very clear directions.  Click Here to watch it. (HA! That link worked!) Of course, I had to change mine up a little (mostly just to save my fingers!). See if you can figure out what I did. I think that once I find a place that works for classes and crops, this will be our first project! 

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great weekend and I'll be back Tuesday! (Or very early Wednesday morning! teehee!)

No-Paper-Bag Paper Bag Brag Book

I absolutely love it when Andy comes home and says someone at work is going to have a baby! Baby brag books are one of my favorite things to make. Brag books for cats and dogs are a close second.

I've always loved the look of paper bag books. But if you've ever made one, you know that the bags can be kind of a pain to deal with. Very often they are wrinkled or have uneven folds. It's hard to decide how to use the flap, and the paper is so thin! So I thought, "Why not use the ginormous roll of brown kraft paper that I bought YEARS ago?" It's nice and heavy and I think it replenishes itself every time I cut a piece off! Turns out it works really well! 

Here's what I use:

Six pieces brown kraft paper, cut in 13 x 6 inch strips. Each strip will be one page.

Twelve 6x6 inch squares of paper, patterned or solid, it's up to you. 

Cardstock for a frame and pull-outs.

Solid cardstock for photo mats.

I used my Cuttlebug and Nestabilities to cut the frame and pull-outs, a Stampin' Up Round Tab punch, a circle punch, and a hole punch.

Cinch & binding wires or hole punch and binding rings.

Sewing machine (You don't have to sew this--I just love the way it looks)

Fold each piece of kraft paper in half and sandwich it between two of your 6 inch squares, leaving a half inch of kraft paper showing on the fold side. Use paper clips or binder clips to hold this together and stitch around the page, leaving the top open (for a pocket) and staying off of the half inch strip of kraft paper on the fold side. I like to use a simple zig-zag stitch unless the paper is really busy. Then I go with a straight stitch. I DO stitch the top of the pages I plan to use for the front and back covers. Geez! This sounds so confusing! I hope the pictures help! 

If you don't want to sew, just use adhesive to hold your papers together. First go around the open edge and the bottom of the kraft paper, adhering it to itself. You don't need to do the folded edge--the stitching there is just for looks. If you leave the top open and stay close to the edges you'll end up with a nice sized pocket. Then adhere your patterned paper to either side.

Use a circle punch to punch out a half circle in the middle of the opening of each pocket. I just know that if I didn't do that, six years from now someone would say, "Hey! There's a pocket in this page and this ribbon is attached to this card-thingy that pulls out!"

Once you've assembled all of your pages, put them all together using a binding tool or by punching a few holes and inserting binder rings. If your sewing machine is pretty heavy duty you could probably even stitch through the kraft paper. 

I like to put a frame on the front. I pick a shape I like and, if it's a Nestability, I cut several layers of heavy cardstock for stability. If it's a bigger die, like a Sizzix, I just cut a piece of chipboard and whatever paper I want to cover it. For this I cut four pieces of heavy cardstock. 

I cut a circle out of the centers of three of them and left the fourth one whole for the time being. I also cut a piece of red paper with the next smaller label die, but I used the next bigger circle die for the center, so that when they're layered, the white shows around all the edges. 

Now back to the fourth piece. I guess we could call it a spacer. Place the frame on top and trace the circle onto it.. Then just cut out a space big enough to slide a photo in.  (I will cut along the blue lines and remove the whole middle) I know my pic shows the open side at the bottom, but please don't put it on your book that way, or your picture will slide right out! This piece gets attached to the back of the frame then the whole thing goes on the cover.

I used the same label dies for the pull-outs. One of these will slide into each pocket.

I like to put mats on the pages to make it as simple as possible for the new mommy and daddy to get their pictures in the book. Sometimes I use colored paper, but usually just white with inked edges. If it's a gift for someone who does not scrapbook I'll even send adhesive. 

I punched the tabs and stamped the baby's initials on three of them and a star on the fourth, then attached them to the edges of the four inside pages with a Tiny Attacher staple. Those are SO cute! 

Here are the finished pages. I just realized I don't have a pic of the back cover and I already sent it to work with Andy. It looks just like the front, but without the frame, and with my little 'mp' stamped at the bottom. 

Hope you're able to follow that! Time for bed. But first thing in the morning I'm going to finish the sample for another birthday party invitation. Same family as the Lego party, but Joshelle is having a Candyland party! I'll show you what I've come up with after she sends them out. And when I come back on Thursday or Friday, I hope to show you a secret envelope box. Really cool! See you then!