Cutting Tips

Some of you may have noticed that Mosaic Moments dies leave a little bit of a mark on your photos.

That’s normal. It’s how the die-cutting machine works. It’s on all of my pictures, but I don’t think anyone notices. However, some scrappers do see it and it bothers them.

If you have the We R Memory Keepers Evolution Advanced machine, you can dial down the pressure and you will not get the marks.

But, if you’re like me and you have a Sizzix Big Shot or Vagabond and you love your machine and do not want to buy another, you have to deal with the marks.

Fortunately, I recently had a customer who came up with a solution. And, I made a video to show you how to avoid that mark with the crease pad. You can watch how to do it, here: https://youtu.be/wQV4mhVmfhk

And, if you have any other questions, feel free to ask away!

 

Samples, samples and more samples

Whenever I have a big crop to attend as a vendor, like Boyne Highlands’ “Girls Just Wanna Crop” with 331 women, I create samples for as many of the products as I have for sale as possible. After all, how do you know you need that product unless you can see (and touch) what someone has done with it for yourself?

I finally had a chance to get photos of all of these card creations … this post will be long, but hopefully it will be inspiring!

 

Elizabeth Craft Designs’ A Way With Words Dies
Elizabeth Craft Designs makes these dies using hand-drawn words from Suzanne Cannon. They are beautiful and unique and fit perfectly on cards and scrapbook pages alike.

My husband, who used to just run my register and serve as chauffeur and pack-mule at the larger crops, has gotten a bit crafty lately. Every time I taught a class, I would come back to either new samples or a group of ladies hanging on his every word! The coolest thing is I have not shown him how to do a single thing … he has absorbed it all from listening to me teaching and/or discussing products with him over the years. It turns out he is quite creative. I know I should not have been surprised, but I was!

For these words (to show the differences in the Elizabeth Craft Designs’ Cool Diamond Silk Microfine Glitter and the Warm Diamond Silk Microfine Glitter), he adhered ECD clear, double-sided adhesive to black cardstock and then used the Believe die to cut each one out. Then he applied the glitter and polished it with his finger. Super easy and super beautiful!

By the way, the top one is Cool Diamond — it has a silver or blue tint. The bottom one is Warm Diamond — it has a gold or yellow hue.

For this one, I cut the words out twice — once from brown cardstock and once from Bazzill’s Foil Cardstock (one of my new favorite products). I layered the foil die cut slightly to the right of the cardstock one to create a bit of a shadow.

The foil background is embossed with the ECD snowflake embossing folder. I used the medium die from the ECD Entwined Circles die set and added a few Glitter Dots. Easy and stunning!

 

Elizabeth Craft Designs Silk Microfine Glitter

Did you know ECD double-sided adhesive and Warm Diamond and Cool Diamond glitters are transparent and can go over photos? I did the fairy and birds with Cool Diamond. Matt made the mosaic with Warm Diamond (he was looking for ways to join my two lines).

Matt also made this one using the Warm Diamond Glitter and Mosaic Moments RTC Grid Paper in Black.

 

Elizabeth Craft Designs’ Chevron Background

I love this new die from ECD. On this card, I put back in some of the chevron pieces it cut out (flipping some over to take advantage of the double-sided paper). But the coolest thing is all of the pieces along the top and bottom of the chevron have tiny holes cut in them so you can take out those pieces and create a banner, like I did at the top of the card. Ingenious!

I also used Halloween Charms and Alphabet Die from ECD on this one.

This time, I covered my card base in ECD double-sided adhesive, added the die cut to the top (cut out of silver foil cardstock) and then filled in the open areas with ECD Silk Microfine Glitter. Then I colored them in using Copic markers. This idea is totally stolen from Kelly Booth and hers looked much better than mine, but you can get the idea …

 

Elizabeth Craft Designs Animal Dies

These are part of the Karen Burniston Pop It Ups Collection for ECD. I love that they have little props, like a Santa hat and glasses, that fit on any of the animals.

This is new paper from PhotoPlay … I used Honey the Bear with Props 5. He’s sitting on the Holly Flourish (trimmed and mangled from transport) with Glitter Dots for berries. The stamp is also from ECD.

Cheepers the Chicken wearing Props 5 and a stamp from Karen Burniston, as well.

Jolly the Mouse, stamps from Karen Burniston (the same set as the chicken) and the new Labels & Circles die

 

Iron Fence Pop UpThis ECD die, also by Karen Burniston, came out for Halloween, but it is easily made into a Christmas fence by using glitter paper. I added the Labels & Circles dies and a stamp by Joset Designs for ECD. The paper is from BoBunny.

Here’s the fence again … this time not as a pop up. In addition to the Labels & Circles (love that set) and the stamp from Joset, I used the Chevron Background Die to cut out the pieces for the banner from glitter paper.

 

Winter Sweater Die

I can’t get enough of the Winter Sweater Die by Joset Designs for ECD. It is way too much fun to play with. These are just cut out of paper … I added the Holiday Garlands 2 and Holiday Charms dies, along with Glitter Dots to these ones. The hanger is cut from foil cardstock.

Matt did this one … he used foil cardstock for the cuffs, antlers and nose … I love how it shows the embossing that is part of the die. And, he added googly eyes and Glitter Dots. The bow is from the balloon die set by ECD. Quite clever!

 

ECD Peel-Off Stickers

I love these stickers. They are so versatile … you can use them with any coloring medium and on just about any surface.

Matt made this card on Mosaic Moments RTC Grid Paper with Cool Diamond Silk Microfine Glitter and Copic markers. I love how he colored the background in.

I did these on patterned paper (from Graphic 45) and fussy cut them out.

More glittered and colored stickers … it never gets old.

The card on the top right uses the Transfer Sheet to use the remains of the sticker after the outline has been used. The paper on that card is made using the new stencils from Karen Burniston for ECD.

Two more samples … I thought the Kitchen Time set would be fun to make tags to adhere to your homemade gifts this holiday season.

 

More Dies from ECDThis one uses the largest die in the Entwined Circles set. I added the Holly Flourish, Joset’s Birds and some Glitter Dots. The birds are cut from glitter paper (Close to My Heart) and the hats and scarves are cut from felt. I love how versatile the dies are!

I made this one the last day of the show using the new Pinwheel die from Joset Designs for ECD. I cut most of it out of foil cardstock (I told you I love that stuff). Because the foil is white on the back, I added Cool Diamond Silk Microfine Glitter to the backside before creating the pinwheel. The paper is from Doodlebug. And, yes, the pinwheel is adhered with a brad and spins!

 

Stencils

Finally, I purchased this beautiful Memory Box stencil from Bayview Scrappers, another vendor at the show. I made a sample for their booth using Distress Ink and dies, which I neglected to take a photo of.

But, I also did this one with Viva Decor Glitter Paste in two different colors for my booth. I love how it turned out. It will become a card eventually!

And there you have it … Are you inspired?

Stay tuned … page samples are coming soon!

Starting with A

Thin metal dies from Mosaic Moments makes putting together beautiful layouts take less time than ever … honestly … with a page pattern to follow and the dies, I can put together a complex page in just 15 minutes.

But, the basic dies … the ones that cut the squares and rectangles you need to complete your pages … are a bit of an investment. Fortunately, you don’t need all of the dies to get started. I did this entire page using only one set of dies, the A set.

The A set is one of my favorites and probably the one I use the most. And, it makes making layers and all different size squares quick and easy.

I created a video to show you how easy it is … click here to watch it.

NOTE: I am compensated for making videos for Mosaic Moments.

Mosaic Borders

One of the biggest natural attractions in Michigan is the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. Along 40 miles of Lake Superior’s shore are these incredible rock formations.

On this trip, the weather didn’t cooperate, so we were unable to take the 3-hour boat tour to see all of the rocks, but we did get to view the few that are easily accessible from the shore. This one is called Miner’s Castle. Since I only had a few pictures, I wanted to do something that would really make the pictures stand out and show how unique they are.

I used my favorite die, the 1×1 Mosaic Die Borders, to extend the photo beyond the photo mat. Then I used some paper that reminded me of the colors of the Pictured Rocks in between.

Want to learn how to combine dies to get this look? I made a video! Click here to watch the video and take your photos beyond the border.

NOTE: I do receive compensation for making videos for Mosaic Moments.

Christmas in July

I am loving the new dies from Elizabeth Craft Designs. I have been making plenty of cards to send to the company for samples, as well as for my friends and family. But, my first love is still scrapbooking.

Since the new dies are large enough to make beautiful accents on scrapbook pages, I decided to create a layout of last Christmas. With my children grown and no grandchildren in my future, Christmas is a pretty low-key event these days. So, I opted to just showcase a few highlights of the day.

 

The paper, letter stickers and word stickers are from Webster’s Pages.

I used several dies from Elizabeth Craft Designs, including the Candle, Holly Flourish, Holly Leaves & Berries, Ornaments and Stockings.

I added Glitter Dots and a little ink to bring out the shapes.

These dies will be available at the end of July. You can order them from Elizabeth Craft Designs, here,check with your local scrapbook store, or contact me to get these amazing new dies.

 

Thankful Butterflies

Despite the cold and 2-feet of snow stacked outside my front door, I thought it was time for a little summer. I’ve been hooked on blue and green lately, so I created this thank you card.

I started with an orange Shimmer Sheetz. I ran it through an embossing folder and then lightly sanded the color off of the top of it.

I added a strip of paper from Bo Bunny.

Next, I added glitter to Elizabeth Crafts Designs butterfly, flowers and leaves stickers. To see a video on how easy this technique is, click here. I love Elizabeth Crafts Design Glitter because you can color on it with your Copic, Tombow or Distress Ink markers. This is the ONLY glitter I know of that is safe for your markers.

Here are the colors I used …

After coloring, I used a craft knife to carefully cut out each piece and adhere it to the card.

I used dimensional foam to adhere the flowers and butterflies to the card.

Then, I added a bit of ribbon and cut out the word “Thank You” from an Elizabeth Craft Die.

I hope you enjoyed this brief peek into summer!

 

 

 

My Scrapbook Room

I love to look at other’s scrapbook rooms. It’s fun to see how people decorate, store products, etc.

I have been asked to share mine, but since it is ALWAYS messy because I am always in the middle of multiple projects, have to unpack from a crop or bought new stuff and then threw it in my room, taking photos isn’t easy.

On this day, I decided it was clean enough and photographed it …

Welcome to my room …

It’s a small room — about 10×12 — but it has everything I need — including two large windows to let in the sunlight. (click on the photos to see a larger version)

It’s put together with repurposed and second-hand stuff — the armoire was part of my son’s bedroom furniture; the desk was purchased when a scrapbook store went out of business; the computer desk was put in here when my husband got a different one …

The animals on top of the TV are some of my favorites … I never have outgrown dolls and stuffed animals! The teddy is dressed in a track outfit. He was bought to remind me of my son. The moose I bought on my honeymoon and then proceeded to take photos of him visiting all over the UP!

This little shelf came with my house. It fits perfect above the window and holds my Tim Holtz dies.

I hung a shelf by 3M to hold my Robin’s Nest Dew Drops. I like the way they look and I use them all the time, so it works better to keep them in view.

The Kaiser binders hold my larger thin metal dies by QuicKutz and Dies Direct. I covered the inside with QuicKutz magnetic adhesive sheets to hold some dies. The 4×4″ dies fit perfectly in the zipper holders that KaiserCraft rub-ons come in. I love the system since it is easy to find exactly what I want.

My cling/acrylic stamps, catalogs and idea books are also stored here.

What used to be a rack for CDs is the shelf I keep my buttons, flowers and other embellishments on.

My Big Shot, Cricut, photos waiting to be scrapped, Copic markers (obviously I don’t have it all!) and other stuff all lives on the desk.

The basket is where I put stuff that I don’t feel like putting away or don’t know where to put until I use it. It’s messy, but it works for me.

The white shelf was here when we bought the house and seems to be permanently attached, so I just work around it.

The closet doesn’t open all the way, but the door holds my punches, extra adhesives and other stuff …

I bought this wooden cabinet at a craft show years ago. It holds my wood mounted stamps — well, at least the ones I don’t leave out to enjoy looking at!

I’ve had this little shelf for a long time, too. I got it for about a dollar on clearance. I covered the red drawers with paper and took the bottom three drawers out to hold some of my ink pads. I keep bottle caps, extra screw posts, rings, extra blades, staples and other “spare parts” in the drawers.

This is my favorite storage container. It’s a spice rack that mounts to the wall. I covered the jar lids with the color of the brads that I keep inside.

The KaiserCraft box I covered with Tim Holtz paper and a Ranger Paint Dabber sits prominently where I can enjoy it. It holds my Texture Fades Embossing Plates, Adirondack Color Washes and a few dies. I haven’t filled the drawers yet.

Also in this photo, although you can only see an edge, is my pink bag. I keep the tools I use all of the time — rulers, scissors, journaling pen, adhesive, piercing tool, knife, stapler, etc., in this bag. It’s easy to grab and go for a class or crop, too.

I have storage under my desk on both sides. This one holds paper and stuff to scrapbook (I have one for each kid, one for Christmas, etc.). The one of the other side of my chair holds tools, templates, stamp blocks, adhesives and other things I use all of the time.

My Ranger Craft Mat and heat gun stay on top, since I use them on almost every project.

I even stash stuff on top of the armoire!

Inside the armoire, I store cardstock, papers from my favorite companies, specialty papers, stickers/die cuts, page protectors, etc. My glitter and embossing powders are in the tackle box. Paints and reinkers are in the container in front. There is room for a shelf up top. I’ve been waiting for about 10 years for someone to make me one.

And, finally, my scrapbook companion. She thinks my room is her room, too. She gets mad every time my husband comes in the room and she sleeps in my chair every day. Often times when I get up, she’ll cry at me and get me to follow and she’ll take me from bedroom (at one end of the house) to my room (at the other end of the house). She thinks it is my job to crop! Someday, Winnie, someday!And, just to be fair …

You should never leave an empty Karen Foster bag laying around … you never who you might find inside!

I hope you enjoyed this peek into my scrapbook room.