Quilt in your Scrapbook!

I love quilts. It is the one thing I wish I had inherited from my family. Unfortunately, since they were made from pieces of worn-out clothing (making them that much more important to me) and thrown together just to keep people warm at night, rather than in an attractive pattern, they were not considered valuable and were not kept. As soon as the family could afford it, they bought bedspreads and comforters and threw out the quilts.

But, my love for quilting has continued on and although I am just learning to sew with fabric, I am pretty good at pasting paper — especially when I have a great die to use!

Mosaic Moments recently released a die that cuts 12 corner dies that perfectly fit the grid paper.

I created this page using the die, following a quilt pattern I got off of Pinterest.

And, I made a video to show you how I did it! Click here to see how easy it is.

Layering with Mosaic Moments

I created this page using the nesting dies from Mosaic Moments.

And, I made a video to show you how easy it is.

Check it out, here.

I was compensated to create this video.

Abstract at the Beach

Our task for this month’s Elizabeth Craft Designs Designer Challenge was to create something using one of the new dies: Bricks, Pebbles or Circles. I opted for Pebbles and created an abstract scene of a ship at sea.

I started with a white card and then added the background paper from Basic Grey.

Then, I added Elizabeth Craft Designs Transparent Double Sided Tape Sheets to the back of the Blue Metallic Shimmer Sheetz — the tape is thin e enough to cut in the Big Shot and makes it much easier to adhere the waves onto the paper. The new Precision Platform from Sizzix makes this simple and easy to cut. I used the Outdoor Edges die from Elizabeth Craft Designs to create shimmery waves.

Next, I cut out the Pebbles die from scrap paper and used it like a stencil on the corner of my card. I added Texture Paste to create the look of rocks on the side of the water.

Once dry, I inked them with Distress Ink. (If using embossing paste, you will need to use permanent ink … only Texture Paste picks up the color of the Distress Inks.)

In keeping with the abstract quality of the card, I wanted to use the leftover pieces of the ship, rather than the outline. I pulled the outline sticker off and placed it on paper for another project. Then I cut the remains out of the sticker sheet and peeled off the outside edge.

I then cut a portion of Transfer Sheet slightly larger than the sticker and covered the sticker with it. I used a bone folder to rub all of the parts onto the back of the Transfer Sheet, like this …

Then I put the ship where I wanted it and rubbed it again with the bone folder. Once done, I carefully removed the Transfer Sheet and put it back on its backing to use again.

I then added a few other stickers off the Peel-Off Sheet and my abstract scene is complete … what do you think?

Click here to see what the other designers created this month.

 

Technique Thursday: Liquid Pearls

Time completely got away from me this week … I pulled something in my back, spent time with my daughter, helped out at Capture A Memory, taught a class, wrote a few articles for Michigan Scrapbooker magazine, planted flowers, and helped my husband build a chicken coop for meat chickens and a couple of turkeys. I have to pause here and show you the turkeys because they are so cute …

They remind me of little ostriches.

This is the little turkey showing off and declaring dominance against my husband. He never does it to me, but every time my husband comes by, those feathers come out and he struts about. Hilarious!

Needless to say, there has not been a lot of time for crafting projects that could be placed online. So, I have decided to give in and let Father Time have this past week and I will start fresh this week with an early peek at Technique Thursday — LIQUID PEARLS.

Liquid Pearls are made by Ranger and they come in a little bottle like Stickles. They are a dimensional paint with a pearl finish and are a great economical way to make pearl gems on a page. They can be used on just about any surface, including fabric.

Here is a bottle I altered … it was from IKEA and was filled with some sort of berry juice my husband loves. I liked the shape, so I kept it. I attached an image from Crafty Secrets and then created a design around the bottle with dots of Liquid Pearls. I let it dry between sections so I wouldn’t accidentally ruin something I had already finished (trust me, I do this a lot and it is not pretty). Then, I added a few flowers from KaiserCraft and Prima to finish it off.

Here’s a close-up of the pattern at the bottom …

The lid had a code on it, so I used Liquid Pearls and a paint brush to make a rippled effect on the cap …

Next, I made this card with Basic Grey paper, flowers from KaiserCraft, and a Tim Holtz Die Cut flower.

I love using Liquid Pearls as flower centers.

For the giant center flower, I painted a thin coat of Liquid Pearls onto the cardstock die cut. When dry, I traced the edge with another color and added a bunch of dots to make the flower center.

You can also use Liquid Pearls on fabric …

This is just a piece of muslin. I used a paintbrush to apply Liquid Pearls to a rubber stamp and stamped the flowers on the fabric. Then, I added flower centers, leaves and a little pattern with different colors of Liquid Pearls. Imagine how cute something like this could be on the pocket of an apron or at the top of a baby’s onesie!?!

Come into Capture A Memory on Thursday from 2-6 p.m. and try out Liquid Pearls for yourself.  I know you will love them.

By the way, Capture A Memory is hiring, so if you are looking for a part-time job in the scrapbooking industry, or you know someone who is, please have them call or stop by.

For a friend …

The new CMC Copic Challenge is to create a card showcasing friendship, using Copic to color the embellishments.

As someone relatively new to Copic, I found this challenge to be quite a bit of fun. You should have seen me attempting to color nearly everything that came along. Fortunately my cats stayed out of site, so I still don’t know if it is possible to color a cat with a Copic, but I do know you can color this cat …

This stamp is from Penny Black. I stamped it on Cryogen paper, that I had cut out with a die from Dies Direct. After coloring the image, I added Stickles to the insides of the flowers and the kitty’s nose for a bit of sparkle. Then, I added Distress Ink around the edges to soften the white color.

I layered some papers (from Bo Bunny and Basic Grey) that I had edged in Distress Ink and then the REAL fun began …

I started with a plain white ribbon, which I knew would take the color well, and colored it gray.

Then, I tried Tissue Tape from Tim Holtz. I was thrilled with how well it took the color. (I put a strip on a piece of scrap paper and colored it in long, even strokes. When dry, I gently pulled it up and attached it to the card.)

Finally, I pulled out some white flower-shaped buttons from Pebbles. I colored them in yellow, then edged them in orange. While they colored OK, the color seemed to come off as I worked with them, so I actually colored them again once they were attached to the card. I’ll have to look for some sort of sealer to see if that works …

Anyhow, with the addition of a saying from Northwoods, the Tiny Attachers, floss from We R Memory Keepers and a few Glue Dots, I came up with this …

Check out the other amazing samples from this challenge, here.

Birds of a Glitter …

Lately, I seem to be on a bird kick … anything and everything that includes a bird pulls me to it.

So, when I saw this wreath kit by KaiserCraft, I was immediately drawn to it. And, when I discovered the Vintage Glass Glitter and Gala Glitz  by Art Glitter, I knew I had to make this.

I used several techniques to create the wreath. First, I cut apart and lightly sanded the wood pieces from KaiserCraft.

Some of the leaves were sprayed with Adirondack Color Wash. Others were covered in papers from the Marjolaine collection from Basic Grey and then inked in Peeled Paint Distress Ink.

After putting the basic wreath together, I added flowers from Prima and some that I made using the Tim Holtz/Sizzix Tattered Flowers die. I added 600 Indian Summer Fine Vintage Glass Glitter to the centers.

Then, came the best part … the birds!

The blue ones are sprayed with Adirondack Color Wash before applying the glitter, to make sure nothing showed underneath the chunky glitter. I used 911 Lapis Vintage Glass Glitter Shards.

I love, love, love this glitter … It is rich and full of deep blue and purple hues.

For the lighter bird, I used a Paint Dabber to color just the edge in blue and then applied Champagne Gala Glitz.

When zoomed in on the glitter, it looks like this …

Because it is a mix of Vintage Glass Glitter, beads and other glitters, I didn’t worry about any color showing through … I figured there would be enough different size pieces in the glitter to cover and it did. This photo shows it a little more pink than it is … it is more of a tan/cream/gold color, but when light hits it, it reflects in pink. The larger shards almost look like mirrors … It is AMAZING!

The Vintage Glass Glitters provide so much depth — they keep you mesmerized.

By the way, I used Designer Dries Clear adhesive from Art Glitter to adhere everything — papers, glitter, flowers and wood pieces. This is a one-adhesive project!

Altered Clipboard

I showed you a tease of this project and told you I would show you the entire thing when Art Glitter posted the instructions on their blog. Now, I’m going to show you the clipboard I altered with Basic Grey paper, Art Parts by Wendy Vecchi, Rubber stamp, die and Baubles by Tim Holtz, ribbon, and of course Art Glitter.

The leaves are my favorite part. I cut them out of green cardstock with the Sizzix Bigz Leaves Die by Tim Holtz. Then, I covered the entire thing with Art Glitter Designer Dries Clear adhesive and added Vintage Glass glitter. I love the texture and sparkle!

For complete instructions, visit Art Glitter’s Blog at http://artglitterblog.blogspot.com/

Beyond pink and blue

In the scrapbooking world, nearly everything made for babies seems to be either blue or pink. I suppose that is fine in some cases, but I would imagine a new mommy would get tired of opening dozens of cards in pink or blue. So, I challenged myself to make a card that didn’t use either of those colors.

This is what I came up with …

I used an embossing background die by Dies Direct and then inked it with Spiced Marmalade Distress Ink.

I added Stickles in some of the flowers and mounted it on green and then put on a white card.

I used brads and a button from Bo Bunny, a strip of paper ribbon by Basic Grey and a flower “button” made with a die by Dies Direct to finish it off. The mini font used to write A Baby is also from Dies Direct.

All about me

I am sure I am no different from others … I am always recording everyone else’s memories. I’m the one behind the camera, with the notepad, putting together the scrapbook, but never seem to find myself inside of it.

So, I decided it was time to scrapbook myself.

I took my inspiration from a Jeep television commercial (I’m still missing my Jeep) and the incredible colors in the Max & Whiskers line from Basic Grey. I did a bit of soul searching. Felt like an idiot posing for pictures and came up with this … what do you think?

If you want a better view, just click on the image and it will open in a larger window.

Acetate Cards

A few months ago, I taught a class making acetate cards.

One of the students enjoyed it so much, she asked me to teach a private class to her stamp group. While I couldn’t do the original class because the supplies I used were no longer available, I created new ones using the same techniques.

The first one uses papers from TPC. I cut them out using the Tim Holtz flower die from Sizzix and attached them with a brad from American Crafts. A quarter circle on the inside and a few Robin’s Nest Dew Drops complete the card.

This one uses papers and rub-ons by Kaiser Craft. I love how the red paper appears to be floating on the patterned paper in the background. The effect was simple — I just attached the red to the inside of the card and the patterned to the outside of the card.

The final one uses papers and paper ribbon from the Olivia Collection from Basic Grey. I used them to create a pocket for writing and then tucked a tag inside the pocket. The flowers on the front were made using a die from Dies Direct and the stamp is from Northwoods. StazOn ink makes it possible to stamp on acetate.