We interrupt our regularly scheduled programming…

14 Tuesday Feb 2012

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…for Valentine’s Day!

I was going to do another technique today, but just couldn’t pass up the Valentine’s thing. If you’re craving technique, check my previous posts here, here, and here – that should keep you going until tomorrow! 🙂

So, I knew Valentine’s was coming. I bought little treats for the kiddies, poked them away….. and promptly forgot about the whole thing!

Don’t get me wrong, I like Valentine’s Day. I just don’t get all hyped up about it. The point is, late last night I was up making M and G’s Valentine’s. And D’s is the technique for this week!

Valentine's

Also, since I forgot all about today, I didn’t get my kiddies on the ball making Valentine’s for their little friends or make the cupcakes for the party we always have. That meant Valentine’s making instead of cereal for breakfast and cupcake making with a crew of  (not very helpful) helpers this morning!

Valentine Cupcakes

Long story short, we got it all done, including making these cards, ate copious amounts of sugar, and, due to changing the topic at the last minute, this post is very, very late – sorry!

Hope you all have a very Happy Valentine’s Day with whomever or whatever you love – friends, family, pets, books…

Sara

P.S. The Valentine’s were made with this Hero Arts Stamp, Basic Grey Sugar Rush papers, Stampin’ Up! gems, and Sakura Gelly Rollers (I use medium for colouring) and Stardust Pens.

The cupcakes are this recipe (but made with rice flour and xanthan gum) and the frosting is this recipe (again with the rice flour!). These really are the best – even gluten free – with wheat, they’re to die for!

Kit Clubs and a Layout!

13 Monday Feb 2012

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So, my local scrapbooking store, The Paperie, recently started doing a monthly kit club and I’m loving it!

I’m a slow (slooooooowwwwww) scrapbooker – I can’t decide on paper, I move things around, I just can’t “commit and stick,” as a friend would say.

But since the kits, I’m a fast scrapping machine!

Now, let’s not get crazy here, two of the four kits haven’t seen the light of day yet, nor has the one Studio Calico kit I’ve received. However, when I do open the bag, things flow smoothly and quickly. There’s my patterned paper, my cardstock, my letter stickers, and this month, my stamps, ready to go!

I came home from teaching a class yesterday and did this one:

this is US

It’s an old pic of D and I at Eastport Beach, where we got engaged, the day of my uncle’s wedding, and just 2 weeks before M was born.

When I was cleaning the scrap space, I put 3 or four old pictures aside in an envelope to scrap. I just pulled out the kit, grabbed a pic, and went for it!

I think what made this super quick and easy was the Amy Tangerine Daybook that was in the kit – I just tore pages from that instead of cutting paper. Apart from the kit contents, I only added mist, washi tape, and a Sakura Stardust pen (side note: these rock! I use them on everything for a hint of shimmer. Really. The best.)

See the shimmer? Awesome!

And since those other three items are always on my desk, I didn’t have to go looking for any product, it was all at my fingertips.

I think the Paperie has one February kit left, call them if you want it – it has the Daybook, a bunch of patterned papers and cardstock, Coredinations cardstock, sanding file, velvet and stitched ribbons, a 7 Gypsies tag, a Technique Tuesday stamp, Studio Calico border stickers and chipboard alphas, and Prima alpha stickers. It’s a great kit, with mostly winter papers, but you can obviously make summer pages too!

Have a good one today – it’s actually nice enough to go outside around here – yay!

S.

Card Day – A Step by Step Photo Show!

10 Friday Feb 2012

Posted by in Classes, ScrapBook, Techniques

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I normally don’t consider myself a great cardmaker – I have trouble with the smaller canvas and working space, I guess – but it’s a great size for trying new things. And I like how this one turned out!

We have a birthday party tomorrow so a card was necessary. This morning, I bit the bullet and went for it, taking pics of the progress for you along the way. This is going to be really photo heavy, sorry!

Supplies

Used lots of stuff here – Papertrey Ink and Unity Stamps, Fiskars Stamp Press (go right now and buy one if you don’t have it!) and Cloud Punch, Hero Arts Long Notecards, My Minds Eye Twine, Papertrey Ink Button Twine, Ranger Archival Ink, Distress Stain, Paint Dabber, and Perfect Pearls Mist, and Clearsnap Smooch.

First, I rubbed my Distress Stains over my Non Stick Craft Sheet and sprayed lightly with Heirloom Gold Perfect Pearls Mist.

Stain and Mist

Then I dragged a piece of ivory cardstock through the colour.

Swiped through the goodness!

Now I’ve done this before and always gotten a bit of shimmer with the mist, which is what I was going for this time. But I got this instead…

Loads of Heirloom Gold!

See all that gold? Awesome! I can only figure it was because I used Stain this time instead of Ink and the consistency was different. Whatever, it looks fab, if I do say so myself!

Anyway, moving along… 🙂

I cut the card stock down to size to fit the front of the notecard, then stamped some balloon strings…

Balloon Strings

…and a sentiment from Papertey Ink.

sentiment strip

I stamped that on a bit of leftover cardstock for some more interest – and it looks cool (pat on the back)!

I then punched a couple of small holes in the balloon strings so I could tie some twine around them.

Lime Twist bow

I threaded the buttons with Rustic Button Twine, then decided to stamp a “3” and use that as a balloon instead.

Smooched "3"

And while I had the Unity stamps and the smooch out, I did the inside of the card too!

inside...

Finally, I punched some clouds and dabbed them with Pearl Paint Dabber…

Pearl coated clouds

…and adhered everything to the card!

All done!

The best thing? I still have this left over to make another one!

extra stuff!

Are you all pictured out yet? 🙂

We have the birthday party this weekend, and a fun cupcake/Valentine making event at the Paperie, and I’m teaching the Groovy Glassine Class Sunday – we’re full (for the class and the weekend)! Hope you all have a great one!

S.

Things on Thursday

09 Thursday Feb 2012

Posted by in Classes, Family, ScrapBook, Techniques, Things on Thursday...

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1. Said good-bye to a friend yesterday. St. Thomas Church (it’s a big one) was standing room only. I think that says it all. You’re already missed, Dan.

2. So I pinned these the other day on Pinterest, wishing I could have them in my life again and, lo and behold, as I was at the dollar store the other night, guess what I found? Score! I them have in my hands again, though not the sparkly barreled ones I remember having as a kid. Oh well, I guess these will do! 🙂

80's Pencils

3. We have royalty in the house today!

Princess Rapunzel

P, M’s bestie, brought all her princess gear to share today. M insisted that red sparkly shoes were needed to complete the look (along with her PJ bottoms!) The patch, as you can see, is still on and (knock wood) going better than expected.

4. This cat is my favourite today…

my favourite - today, anyway!

The other one (who is not as innocent as she looks) has escaped into the snow 3 times and forced me to go get her, in the cold and the snow, 3 times. Not her biggest fan right now.

5. My baby, who is also not as innocent as he looks (even my dad said he was evil!), loves his cars right now. And not napping. Sigh.

G and the little cars

Look at the tongue poking out – love that! ❤

6. Going to the Paperie to kit up the Groovy Glassine class tonight. I think there might be a spot or two still available, if you’re interested. This class is jam packed with technique, focusing on Kraft Glassine but also using acetate, Sticky Back Canvas, Cork paper, dry embossing, Perfect Pearls, Distress Stains, alcohol inks, AccuCut Dies, and more! And at the end, you’ll have a seasonal mini album to fill. If you’re going to be around St. John’s, NL on February 12, it’s worth going to – I promise!

winter - Groovy Glassine Album

7. EDIT: One more thing – I finally redid the header; no more generic hallway thing!

Have a great afternoon!

S.

Some Basic Grey Love

08 Wednesday Feb 2012

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One of my all time favourite Basic Grey collections is Lime Rickey – the colours, the stamps, the little birds – so much fun.

The Paperie asked me to do a LO for them when Lime Rickey was first released way back when and then, as I was into two page LO’s exclusively at that point, I did the second page for myself. Because both pages have been in different places, I’ve never posted them anywhere. But last week, Meghan gave me back the original page and finally, they are united!

So I thought I’d share them with the world…

aka

I still love this LO, maybe because of the paper, maybe because of the pictures. They were taken when M wasn’t yet 2 and G was only 2 weeks old – love them! Lots of fun products here too, the Basic Grey, of course, Bo Bunny Double Dot, Hero Arts felt buttons, and stamps, grungeboard, Bazzill Basics Edges, and old Kelly Panacci border stamps (which are so old that I can’t find them anywhere!).

Here’s another LO I did using Basic Grey, and my all time favourite collection, Basics. I also used Doodlebug Jack & Jill alphas in Swimming Pool (no one does alphas like Doodlebug!), October Afternoon Thrift Shop and Fly a Kite, a Martha Stewart Doily, and a bunch of border punches.

buddies - Vicki, Marg, and me!

This is one of my favourite LO’s – love the colours, love the pic. This was taken at my friend’s son’s wedding where D was the photographer. I think the three of us clean up pretty well! 😉

Hope this inspires some of you to get crafty today! I have some major cleaning to do first… 😦

Sara

Tuesday Techniques – Faux Metal

07 Tuesday Feb 2012

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Super fun technique today – faux metal! All you need is silver (or gold) embossing powder, VersaMark, and a heat gun! It doesn’t get easier than this, people, and it’s cool – bonus! And I apologize for the pictures – I did this in the night time and the lighting in my kitchen is terrible for pictures!

The Supplies

Pretty simple – you need VersaMark (or some other sticky embossing ink), a Heat Tool, silver embossing powder, and stamps.

First, press VersaMark onto some cardstock, then cover with silver embossing powder.

Silver Embossing Powder

Next, heat it up! There are a couple of ways to do the next few steps, but this is my way. After the first layer, let the powder cool for a moment, ink the embossed surface with VersaMark again, add more powder, and heat. For the next layer, as soon as the powder melts and the surface is still hot, pour embossing powder over it and heat again. Follow this melt, sprinkle, emboss series until you have 4-5 layers of embossing powder. You will notice that the more layers you add, the faster it melts, and the smoother the surface becomes.

4 layers of embossing powder

For the final step, take a stamp and ink it up with VersaMark, then set it aside. Melt the final layer of powder and the immediately lay the stamp in the pool of silver. Let it sit for a moment until the powder cools, then lift it off. The VersaMark should allow it to release very easily.

If your image doesn’t stamp correctly, no worries! That’s why this is the easiest, most fool proof technique out there – simply reheat the powder, let it melt again, and re stamp. You can do that over and over and over and… You get the drift!

Heart Trio

Heart

Another thing you can do is to apply these same steps to heat embossing a chipboard letter. The difference is at the very end. After stamping a pattern on the letter, heat the powder again. The stamp design will disappear, but will leave behind a streaky, almost black residue. This will add to the faux metal look, especially on a letter or small, solid embellishment.

I punched and cut my shapes out, so you still get the pattern, but not the debossed look. If you cut out a square, or cut the shapes outside the stamp line, you’ll get more of a stamped metal look. That heart trio would look awesome cut into a rectangle and left as a simple embellishment on a card front!

Heart Trio Embellishment

See the flecks of black, how it looks like a more aged metal? That’s what you get when you re heat!

You do want to be careful when cutting as, once cooled, the layers of powder can be brittle, especially if you have lots of layers, and they can crack easily. This is a cool look, if that’s what you’re going for (maybe we’ll do that next week!), but if you want a smooth surface, take your time.

Once you’re happy, make your project!

Completed Tag with Faux Metals Embellishments

Closeup

Look at the texture! And a stamp did that! That’s what I call super cool!

Now, you know you’re just itching to try this out for yourself so go do it! What are you waiting for?

Oh, you’re waiting for this…

Scrap Space - during

OK, so maybe you don’t see a big change but let me tell you, since Friday, a lot (a *lot*) of work has been done in this space – you can actually see the floor now! Wish me luck on the rest of it!

And, as always, when you try this technique I’d love to see your results, so post a pic somewhere and leave a link in the comments!

S.

M and her funny sayings…

06 Monday Feb 2012

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Mom popped by today and spent some time with M during naptime. She told Nana, “This eye is working really, really hard and this eye is on vacation in Noba Cotia (Nova Scotia) – that’s why I need a patch.”

M and her "happy face"

Always entertaining to see what their minds come up with!

Today I want to remember…

06 Monday Feb 2012

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… to hug my kiddies a lot, and cuddle them really hard.

…to say “I Love You” to the ones I sometimes don’t because I know they already know it.

…that life just isn’t always all that fair, so I better make the best of it right now.

…how lucky I really am.

Late last week I got some terrible news that I’m still trying to process. A friend called to share the news that someone we used to work with died fairly suddenly.

He was 27.

He left a beautiful 3 month old baby boy, an amazing wife, and too many family and friends to count. I consider myself lucky to have known him.

I consider myself extremely lucky to have seen him a short while ago, and seen his absolute delight in his tiny boy. It’s a good memory to have for the last.

Take the time today to remember to stop and enjoy those you love – no matter what age they leave us, we never have long enough.

Sara

(Thank you, Ali Edwards, for the great starting point.)

Just randomness…

03 Friday Feb 2012

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I’ve got some random, in no way connected, things to post about today – enjoy the ride!

1. I ordered a fun new play toy at the Paperie and it just came in – the Tim Holtz Cargo Case! I can’t wait to fill it up and try to begin getting organized.

2. To keep on the same theme for a moment, I have to start gutting out my scrap space this weekend – D is really getting annoyed with all my stuff piling up in the kitchen! I’ve told people that my space is a disaster and they say theirs is worse. Here’s proof. I win. 🙂

Scrap Space - before

3. My cats are crazy. With a bunch of little kids running around, you’d think they would have a sense of self-preservation and keep out of the way. But no, they want to be in the thick of things. Yesterday, Ella decided that M’s favourite blanket (G has one too that he loves, thanks Vicki!) would be her napping spot. The thing is, it was on the island in the middle of the kitchen. Somehow, that doesn’t strike me as the most peaceful spot she could have picked!

naptime...in the kitchen!

4. Because I feel bad that you’re only ever seeing pics of Ella, here’s one of Rosie, my Calico baby.

What? Go away.

Ok, so I just had to go take a picture. Rosie doesn’t like the camera much and the only recent one I had was of G using her like a pillow and squashing her – not the best one to show her off!

5. I hate to admit this but…. Sometime in December I said to D that I needed a new point and shoot camera because mine was too slow (toddlers are fast, you know!) and I wanted to do that fuzzy background thing.  Instead, he gave me his old Nikon D70s with 2 lenses he doesn’t use anymore and said, “Have at it.” Now, he’s a photographer and knows what he’s doing. I do not know what I’m doing and have no (really, truly *no*) interest in learning so when he handed me this camera, I was not impressed. But now I love it. Still have no clue what I’m doing, still have no interest in learning more about it, and I totally make the backgrounds too fuzzy, but it’s fun!

6. I’m sick of snow and it’s only the beginning of February. We’ve had two storms (as in close everything down and can’t see across the road storms) this week and they’re calling for another one tonight/tomorrow. I’m done, people, I’m done. Where’s my nice, rich benefactor to take me away to some place warm? I’m waiting…..

7. To end on a crafty note, here’s a LO I did of M & G in Bowring Park last year. They’re not always this nice to each other so we have to get it on film when they are!

M & G - Bowring Park

Notice the cute cloud buttons? They’re from a great online shop based out of Halifax, NS called My Little Bit of Whimsy, love their buttons and pins.

Hope you all have a great weekend. Around here we have plans for Frosty’s 30th Birthday Party on Saturday as part of the Frosty Festival Celebrations, and then breakfast at a restaurant Sunday morning – the kids favourite thing in the world to do!

S.

Things on Thursday – CHA Edition!

02 Thursday Feb 2012

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The Craft and Hobby Association (CHA) just finished up their big show in Florida where manufacturers released their new product for the year. I thought I would give you a run down of my needs!

As an aside, I had an entertaining email chat with a friend (Hi Cathie!) about the difference between wants and needs and she agrees with my reasonings for the needs list. Now I’m fully justified in buying!

1. Distress Markers. Yes, I own a zillion Stampin’ Up markers, but these are different, really and truly. They match all my Distress Ink pads! And there’s a white one too!

2. Studio Calico wood veneer shapes. I love these, they take mist and ink beautifully and look great just left plain. They’re the perfect embellishment. And they’re releasing people and cameras – perfect for my Yearlong Album!

3. October Afternoon SprINKlers. I admit to a slight problem – when I love something, I must have it in every colour (case in point, Distress Ink). And I really love the chalk finish and quick drying time of SprINKlers. Plus the new colours are amazing!

4. Heidi Swapp Memory File. I was shocked by this one, shocked. Love the system and think it’s brilliant, though I know I’ll never do it (but it really is genius). What I really want are the FotoStacks – again, perfect for the Yearlong Album.

5. Simple Stories/Unity Stamp Company. I love Simple Stories – we’re using the Year.o.graphy line for the 2012 Yearlong album – and Unity makes really great rubber stamps, so to get both in one product? Awesome! Especially when they make these, maybe my favourite release of CHA.

6. BoBunny Vintage Double Dot Cardstock. The DoubleDot has been my favourite go to cardstock – great weight, great colours, great tone on tone patterns. And now, just when I thought it couldn’t get better, it’s vintage!

7. Now, that’s not my full list, there’s still Tim Holtz/Idea-ology Chitchat Word Stickers, and washi tape galore, Basically Bare albums, Simple Stories everything (especially the pockets), stamps….. it’s all bad people, it’s all bad!

Let me know what’s on your want/need list, I may have to add it to my own! 🙂

S.