Published in Cricut Magazine

One of my cards was published in Cricut Magazine’s March issue.

This was a really big deal for me because I have submitted many projects to many magazines many times over and this was the first that said, “yes.”

It’s funny because I don’t really consider myself a great cardmaker, but there it is in living color.

This card is made with papers from My Mind’s Eye, a stamp from Tim Holtz and Dickie, the name my friends and I gave this adorable bird in the 3 Birds on Parade cartridge by Cricut. I like how easy the die cuts are to layer when cut with the Cricut. It gives the die some dimension. For additional dimension, I covered him in Diamond Glaze by JudiKins. It gives him the look of an epoxy sticker and makes him really stand out.

Growing Up Grandma

Whenever I see an iron birdcage or decorative fencing, I always think of my grandmother. It is a little odd, since she lived on a farm and never had caged birds or decorative iron fencing, but she grew up in New Orleans and for perhaps for that reason, I have attached the two in my head.

When I saw the Sweet Nothings Collection from KaiserCraft, I immediately thought of my grandma. Since I only have a few photos of her, I thought I would put them all in a mini album.

The pages (also from KaiserCraft) are actually wood — the same material they make their shelves, trays and photo frames out of. I love them because they can be painted, inked, covered with paper or whatever you want to do with them and they hold up well. I have pieces I made several years ago that still look brand new.

To start, I painted the edges of each page with Ranger Paint Dabber and then covered each one with paper. I used the UHU Stic to glue it all in place and then used my Crop-A-Dile to repunch the holes. A light sanding around the edges adds a bit of “time” to the album and gets rid of any paper hanging over the edge.

Then, it came time to decorate … For the cover, I added a few strips of paper and borders from the sticker sheet in the collection. Then I used Perfect Pearls Mists to color the flowers and glued them on the front with Designer Dries Clear Adhesive by Art Glitter.

The birds were stickers on the sticker sheet. I put a piece of dimensional foam adhesive on the back of each one and brushed them with baby powder (while leaving the protective coating on the foam. This “removes” the sticky. Then I removed the protective coating and attached them to the cover.

The cameo was also a sticker. I covered the front of it with Diamond Glaze to give it an epoxy appearance. I added a couple of pearls for a feminine touch.

For the inside pages, I used some of the same techniques — a combination of sprayed flowers, pearls, gems and sticker borders all from KaiserCraft.

Here is my grandmother as a girl and young woman:

Here she is married and with children:

And here she is the way I remembered her … the bottom photo was taken the year I was born:

Christmas Mini Album

I’m probably spoiling the surprise, but I am so in love with this project, I cannot wait to share it …

So, Stephanie, if you are reading, stop now and go to a new site …

My sister, has a new man in her life. He’s a great guy and they have a lot in common. They’ve been together for quite a while and things seem to be getting serious, so I decided to make them a mini album to document their first Christmas together.

I wanted something they could record their new traditions, their love and their time together during this most wonderful time of the year. So, using book covers from 7 Gypsies, I created this …

 

I wanted to give the look of Christmas Eve night, so I used a Tim Holtz mask and then covered the cover with Distress Ink in Faded Jeans and Black Soot. Once that was done, I sprayed it with Heirloom Gold Perfect Pearls Mist.

For the title, I used one of Tim’s stickers and alphabet stamps from Close To My Heart (with Snow Cap ink from Ranger). The “1” is Grungeboard from Tim and the “st” are chipboard from Maya Road. I stamped both with a Studio 490 stamp from Wendy Vecchi in Archival Ink and then covered them in Distressed Ink and then a layer of Diamond Glaze.

The date is stamped and then covered in Glossy Accents. I added eyelets with the Crop-a-Dial from We R Memory Keepers and then attached some beads and chain. Finally, I added ribbon from Bo Bunny.

Inside, I cut pages to fit from Bo Bunny paper, added embellishments, cardstock, ribbon, etc. and then attached two pages back to back to make them thicker (and hide the backs of the brads, pins, staples, etc. Mini albums are a great place for those leftover embellishments …

Where I left space for photos, I didn’t attach the embellishments completely, so my sister can slip in her photos behind the film ribbon, in this case. It is only attached on the edges and the key is pinned to the ribbon itself.

Since my sister and her boyfriend are going Christmas shopping in NYC, I included pages for shopping, along with pages for holiday treats and family traditions.

I’m not showing you all of the pages because I want some of it to be a surprise, but I hope this gives you an idea of how easy it is to create a mini album of your own — for Christmas or for any special occasion.

On the move

I am in the middle of moving from one house to another.

Moving is nothing new to me … I’ve moved 14 times in my lifetime — including 2 cross-country moves … but that doesn’t mean I like it.

This time is more difficult than most because we are drastically downsizing — our new house is less than half the size of our current one. On top of that, we seem to have accumulated much more during the eight years we have lived in this house than I have at any other time in my life. Needless to say, my house is currently filled with boxes for the new house, boxes for a storage shed, boxes for eBay, boxes for charity, boxes for other people and boxes that we don’t know what to do with.

My scrapbook room is partially packed — I have yet to find the right boxes for packing my collection of 12×12 paper, since I don’t want to break anyone’s back when they attempt to move it — but most of the rest has been placed neatly in boxes and is unusable for the next couple of weeks. To prevent myself from going through a crafter’s withdraw, I kept my Copic markers, my basic tool kit, some of my rubber stamps and few sheets of paper accessible. I figure at the least, I should be able to make a card without ribbon, charms, buttons or embossing powder, but at least I’ll be able to color until I get all unpacked and settled in at the new house.

In the meantime, I thought I would share a layout I did about another kind of moving — taking a train ride.

I wanted this page to show the train ride as much as possible, so I played with stripes, checks and other repeating patterns that remind me of train tracks.

The papers are from Webster’s Pages. They are actually part of the Spring Market collection, but I just used portions of the papers that didn’t have jars of peaches and fruit on them. I think they worked well.

The patterned cardstock is from Bo Bunny, the sanded cardstock is from Coredinations and the rest of the cardstock is from American Crafts.

For the title, I used some of the light patterned paper from Webster’s Pages and stamped on it with Hero Arts stamps (the words) and a Studio 490 stamp (the button holes). Then, I did one of my favorite techniques: I stamped Maya Road chipboard letters with a Studio 490 background stamp, then colored it with Distress Ink and then added shine with Diamond Glaze. I used the same technique on the banner (stamp from Technique Tuesday).

The tag was made with another Wendy Vecchi Studio 490 stamp. I stamped on patterned paper, crumbled it a bit and used Distress Ink to help age it. Never be afraid to stamp on softly patterned paper. It gives you a bit more dimension than plain cardstock. I used the same technique on the facing page.

And then I added a few brads and a photo corner (Tim Holtz) to finish it off. Since trains are so masculine and industrial, I thought a bit of metal was crucial to this page.

A Traveling Tray

In the digital age in which we live, words, books and the entire printing process seem to be going away. For someone who has spent the majority of her life hanging out in bookstores and libraries and working  for a newspaper, the change is sad. While I appreciate the ability to carry dozens of books on my Nook and love the speed of e-mail and the convenience of text messaging, I am still nostalgic for the smell of ink, the feel of the pages in a brand-new book and the excitement that comes from finding a card in the mailbox. Yes, I am that crazy girl who rather look up a book in a digital database, but dreams of owning her own card-catalog cabinet. And, while I would never trade a computer to go back to the old days of setting type, I would give just about anything to own a wooden cabinet that once held the letters.

So, when Tim Holtz came out with a printer’s tray as part of his Configurations line through Ideaology, I knew I had to buy it — even though I had absolutely no idea what I was going to make with it. It sat in my craft room for a few months while I thought of the possibilities.

Then, Matt & I took a vacation in Manistee, along Michigan’s west coast, and had such a wonderful time that I knew it was worthy of recording in the tray. Here’s what I came up with …

You can click on the photo for a larger view.

I used quite a few techniques and wanted to share a few with you …

I started by painting the outside of the tray, along with the insides of the boxes I planned to put photos in, with an Adirondack Paint Dabber. Then, I created some glazes with Perfect Pearls and went over the outside with them. The end result looks kind of like wood and has a soft, silky feel.

Next, I covered the edges of each of the interior boxes with Tissue Tape. It was too light/bright for my project, so I covered it in Walnut Distress Ink to tone it down a bit.

Then I glued each of the boxes into the tray with Art Glitter Designer Dries Clear adhesive and added metal photo corners, also from Tim Holtz. At that point, I was ready to decorate.

I cut photos to size and placed them in many of the boxes. I used paper from Simple Stories to accent a few of the boxes. The brads and embellishments are, for the most part, from Tim Holtz. The metal flower is from Graphic 45 and the decorative brad shown here is from Bo Bunny. I also added a few rocks and the saying in the top photo was cut from a travel magazine.

In this box, I filled one of Tim’s tiny jars with sand taken from the beach. I added a label from 7 Gypsies, fiber from We R Memory Keepers and a tiny lock and key from My Mind’s Eye.

The Frankfort sign was cut from a photo.

I created another jar for this square. The compass was stamped, embossed and cut out. I added a brad and game spinner and attached it to the box. The tag is also from Tim Holtz — I cut the die on my Sizzix Big Shot and then stamped the image, distressed it and added it to the box.

The tiny sign at the bottom was cut out from a travel magazine. I then used Glossy Accents to attach it to a clear fragment charm and glued it on the bottom so it stands out from the photo.

I used the same technique to make the charm in this photo.

The No. 2 is Grungeboard that I colored with Distress Ink and then covered with Diamond Glaze.

The book plate is another of Tim’s brilliant creations. The stamp is from his ticket set and the paper is cut with the tag die. They were designed to work together, but also to fit in the metal book plates! Cool, eh.

I used the same stamps and the ticket die to make the title … then I cut out the letters using a QuicKutz/Lifestyle Crafts die set.

The flowers are from Prima. I so love these!

And, although you can’t see them too well, the word Escape is made from Tim’s letter and blocks Grungeboard set. I colored the letters with Distress Ink and painted the block with Adirondack paint. When dry, I glued the letters to the blocks and then covered them with Diamond Glaze. I love the way they flow together!

When I finished, my husband decided it said Escape 2 West Michigan. It really didn’t … I had separate squares for escape (as in relax), Just the 2 of us, and the destination, but, from a distance, it does say “Escape 2 West Michigan.” Sometimes I think my fingers know more than my brain!

 

 

 

 

 

The Cat Who …

I recently discovered The Cat Who series of murder-mystery novels.

The books, written by Lilian Jackson Braun, tell of the adventures of a semi-retired journalist, Qwill, and his smart Siamese cat, Koko. They take place in Moose County, a rural region 400 miles north of everywhere, in Michigan.

While I enjoy the basic mystery portions of the novels, I also like to read about the slow-paced small-town life, the quirks of Koko and other small tidbits in the stories. I am particularly intrigued with the creative license Braun uses in her fictional county. It appears she has taken the best of Michigan and combined it into one location. So taken by trying to figure out where Moose County is, I decided create a scrapbook page about the clues in the book.

As always, click on the photo for a larger view …

The paper and flower stickers are from Cloud 9 Design. The state die cut was a gift from my sister. I printed the journaling on vellum and the clues on cardstock. The cat is a digital stamp by Doodle Pantry, printed on X-Press It Blending Card and colored with Copic Sketch markers.

As a side note … Copic will not react with laser or toner from a copy machine. They may react with ink jet printers. I have an HP and it works fine. I haven’t tried it with my Epson photo printer yet. So, always check your printer before coloring. Trust me, you will not like it when the black bleeds into your images and you could damage your nibs.

Back to the layout … the large letters and question mark are Grunge Board from Ideaology. The question mark is painted with Adirondack Paint Dabber and then covered with Diamond Glaze. The small letters are chipboard from Maya Road. They are colored with Rusty Hinge Distress Ink … a lot of ink for a solid color, less ink for the spotty ones … and then covered in Diamond Glaze. The black is painted on, then glued to the top of the squares and then the entire image is covered in Diamond Glaze. I love the finished look … especially the way the Diamond Glaze puddles where the letters meet the blocks. Once dry, I used Black Soot Distress Ink to ink the edges and then adhered it to my page. My favorite adhesive for these is Art Glitter Designer Dries Clear. I used Removable Glue Dots to hold the letters to my Nonstick Craft Sheet while painting. Trust me. You will want to do this!!

Playing with the polar bears

Whenever we visit the Detroit Zoo, we always spend some time in the Arctic Ring of Life.

If you have never been, let me tell you, it is amazing! The exhibit covers four acres with space for foxes, polar bears and seals. There are educational displays that explain the customs of the arctic, as well as share details about the animals. But the best part is tunnel where the seals and polar bears swim all around you. Clear dividers prevent the polar bears from eating the seals, but when you are inside, it appears they are swimming together.

Last fall, we were fortunate enough to witness one of the bears swimming, climbing and posing all around the tunnel. Almost like a trained bear, he would go to a window, pose for photos, then move onto the tunnel, pause again, wave and move on to another location. I’m not sure who was having more fun — him or me — but it was an incredible experience.

To remember the day, I created a mosaic page, with the help of grid paper and tools from Wish in the Wind. I love the focus on photos that mosaic pages call for and Wish in the Wind makes it so easy!

Here’s what I came up with … (click on the photo for a larger view)

I started with white grid paper from Wish in the Wind and then lightly sprayed it with Perfect Pearls Mist. Once dry, I added Distress Ink to the edges and then set to work.

I did a mix of 1″ squares and full photos, showcasing some of my favorites of the day. I matted some of the photos with cardstock from American Crafts and added a few accents from Colorbök.

For the title, I used one of the photos of our hand prints on the ice wall. I cut it to size and scored the top so it will open easily and added a few brads to make sure it stays in place. The arrow photo turn from American Crafts holds it in place. Underneath, I added a piece of cardstock and journaled about our day.

Then, I used one of my favorite techniques to make the letters … I colored the chipboard (Maya Road) with Distress Ink and then added Stickles to the bottom half of the letters (to represent ice/snow). Once dry, I covered them with Diamond Glaze and then used Art Glitter Designer Dries Clear Glue to adhere them. Simple, inexpensive and elegant!

At the beach …

During my recent vacation, I inadvertently discovered the most beautiful beach on Lake Michigan (or so I thought when I was there …)

On our way to the Sleeping Bear Dunes, I asked my husband if we could track down a couple of lighthouses on the way. I “collect” lighthouses — I visit as many as I can, take a picture or two and then scrapbook them in a special 8×8 album that I started after our honeymoon. So, naturally, he was willing to take a short detour to Frankfort, the next stop on my map of Michigan lighthouses.

What we discovered was an adorable town and a beautiful beach, not to mention a great view of the lighthouse.

This is the page I created about the beach …

I used paper, a journaling tag, a glittered border sticker and some fabric embellishments from Little Yellow Bicycle’s new Sweet Summertime line — I love the bright colors!

I attached all of the photos with Ultra Thin Glue Dots, which are perfect because they do not add any bulk to the page.

Next, I stamped the poem — from Tim Holtz for Stampers Anonymous — on a sheet of white cardstock with Ranger Archival Ink and then used Distress Ink to add a bit of color. I attached the poem with Glue Dots and then applied a few brads to the top.

For the banner, I started with the mini chipboard banners from Maya Road and painted them with Adirondack Paint Dabbers. TIP: Use Removable Glue Dots to hold the chipboard in place while you paint.

I cut out letters with QuicKutz dies and used Micro Glue Dots to attach them to the banner. Then, I covered each piece with Diamond Glaze to give it a shiny, epoxy-like finish. Again, use the Removable Glue Dots to hold them in place.

Then, I cut a piece of We R Memory Keepers twine to use behind my banner flags. I used Craft Glue Dots to attach these since they hold so well. I made sure some of the twine ran through the Craft Glue Dots in places to secure two parts at one time.

Finally, I used Craft Glue Dots to attach a few of the shells I took from the beach.

Here is a close up of the banner … click on the image for a larger view.

Thanks for your Service

Memorial Day has always been a somber sort of day for me.

I know it signifies the beginning of summer and many open their pools and enjoy barbecues and parades on the day off work.

I like all of that, too, but I can’t help but remember what the day means. I was married to the Navy and my son is currently serving in Guam. I understand the sacrifices servicemen and women make for us. So, when Glue Dots® asked me to create a project for Memorial Day, the first thing I thought of was a gift that can be given to a veteran as a small token of appreciation. This is what I came up with …

The box is an Accu-Cut design using paper from Creative Imaginations. I placed a piece of acetate in the window and used Glue Lines® to hold it all together.

Next, I painted Maya Road chipboard letters with a Paint Dabber and, when dry, covered the letters with Diamond Glaze. I love the look it gives the letters. I used Micro Glue Dots® to adhere them to the box.

Then, I cut out stars from QuicKutz, now Lifestyle Crafts, out of white cardstock, painted them gold and then attached them with Mini Glue Dots®.

For the final touch, I took metal adhesive paper from QuicKutz, backed it with cardstock, and then cut out two dog tags using a QuicKutz die. I added a little Alcohol Ink to add some dimension and a bit of chain. I used Glue Lines® to attach it to the top of the box.

Inside, I added a white doily by Little Yellow Bicycle and then some no-bake cookies, my husband’s favorite.

I know it isn’t much compared to the sacrifices made by a vet, but at least they will know we appreciate them!

I wrote this while serving on the Glue Dots® Design Team.

Winter Weather Fun

For this month’s Glue Dots® project, I created a piece of winter weather decor using a mini album by KaiserCraft. Click on the photo for a bigger view.

Supply list:

KaiserCraft Mini Book; Ranger Paint Dabbers and Archival Ink; Bo Bunny Papers, ribbons and embellishments; Maya Road Mini Chipboard Alphabet; Distress Stickles; Diamond Glaze; Wendy Vecchi Background Stamp; K & Company Brad; Grungeboard “&”, Distress Ink, Hitch by Tim Holtz; Fiber; Sparkly Fluff; Mitten Punch by Emagination; Micro Glue Dots®; Pop Up Relief Glue Dots®; Glue Lines Glue Dots®; Craft Glue Dots®; Removeable Glue Dots®

1. Lightly sand and then paint the edges of three pages of the mini album.

2. Use Craft Glue Dots® to cover the front sides with paper.

3. Paint the warmth, “&” and comfort letters. Use Removeable Glue Dots® to hold them in place while painting.

4. Ink the background stamp with Archival Ink and stamp on the letters here. Then cover with Distress Ink.

5. Once letters are dry, cover all of them with a thin layer of Diamond Glaze. When dry, add layer of Distress Stickles to the white letters.

6. Attach letters with Micro Glue Dots®.

7. Place brad through crocheted flower and add Distress Ink lightly to the edges. Then attach both flowers with Craft Glue Dots®.

8. Punch out mittens from leftover paper. Use Distress Ink around the edges to add dimension.

9. Use a Glue Line to cover the wrist part of the mitten and add Sparkly Fluff. Attach fiber to the back of the mittens and attach the mittens with Pop Up Relief Glue Dots®.

10. Attach the hitch with a Craft Glue Dot®.

11. Use Glue Lines Glue Dots® to attach each of the pieces to the ribbon, hang and enjoy.