Super Supervisor

My husband has a Mother-in-law and he wouldn’t take anything in the world for her. They kid one another. He is always up for her projects. She likes to bring him little treats or take him to lunch when he has been working for her. Mother is always upbeat and is very active. (I’m glad he helps her garden. She can work me into the ground along with her plants!)

There is one thing about it; if he is doing a project for her, you better believe she is going to be there to supervise. She loves to tell him what to do just after he has started doing the task exactly like she says. When he gets home from their house, I always ask if he had his ‘supervisor’ with him.

It took him a couple of days to get their driveway pressure washed last spring and it looked great – just like his supervisor said it would.

Project Notes:

• This is a real switch for me to only sort of match the photos with my papers. I was mostly matching my Mother’s leopard print shirt. She loves animal prints. I think it works because this is really about Mother’s personality not the actual chore.

• The title is cut out twice on the Cricut. I stamped some of the gold dsp with black circles in SU! classic black ink then cut out the letters. I enlarged the letters just slightly and cut them again in black cardstock.

• I downloaded Futura Rounded from dafont.com for cutting the letters with SCAL software. A really heavy font was needed since I was stamping.

Have you ever scrapped about your or your spouses relationship with in-laws? This reminds me of more relationships I keep meaning to capture. Ah well, another day…


Ingredients: Ink: Basic Black from SU!
DSP and glittery die cuts: Lemon Grass from Crate Paper
Ledger DSP:  Notebook from Stampin' Up!
Cardstock: Bazzell
Fonts: Just Act Casual (journaling), Futura Rounded for letters from dafont.com

TIPsy Tuesday - Recoloring Brads

To create some graduation cards for my Operation Write Home cards, I thought it would be cute to make my own little graduation cap.  The center really needed a black brad and I didn't have one.  When you live over 15 miles from the nearest craft store, you learn to make do if you want to get done.  So I recolored a pastel colored brad.  Here's how:

1. Thorougly ink a smooth brad in pigment ink of the desired color. (Stampin' Up!'s Craft ink is a pigment ink.)  I used black Colorbox pigment ink for my example. 
   
   
   
2. Dip the inked brad in clear embossing powder and heat.  Be sure to hold the brad with tweezors to protect your fingers.
3. Repeat this process if necessary to get a full coating. 

That's it!  A very simple way to give your brads a dye job.  I did find that Colorbox pigment ink did a better job than Stampin' Up!  I'd love to hear your experiences with inks.

Project Notes:

• This is one of the few pattern papers I had with black in it and forunately it is two sided.  I used a strip of the stripe for the center and turned the paper over for the aqua color.  I didn't have any cardstock that matched this paper.
• The morterboard is simply a 2" square of black cardstock with a hole punched in the center for the brad.  I attached it with dimensionals.
• The tassels is made from DMC embroidery floss and adhered to the card with a glue dot.

Thanks for stopping by for Tipsy Tuesday!

Ingredients:  Designer Paper from Two Bugs in a Rug

Stamps:  Congrats from SU!

Ink:  Black pigment ink from colorbox, Basic Black for greeting from SU!

Pieced Dahlia

I'm trying to get an Operation Write Home box out of here today.  I wanted to include just a few more Mother's Day cards so I did these really fast last night.

One project note:  The flower is a series of graduated scalloped circles from the Accent Essentials cartridge on the Cricut.  I just alternated the colors and how they were turned to create the flowers. 

Thanks for visiting.  Tomorrow's TIPsy Tuesday is on recoloring brads.

Ingredients:  Stamps:  All Holidays from SU!
Ink:  Chesnut Roan from Colorbox
DSP:  Basic Grey's Nook and Pantry 6x6 paper pad.

The reasons Why

One of the reasons I love this hobby of papercrafting is no one knows what you really intended to do.  This layout is a great example.  I started out with this cool circle paper from American Crafts.  I loved the colors and they fit my photos.  I knew I wanted to create a shopping bag and have my photos spilling out of it on tags.  Yet the paper was just too busy as a background so I started cutting and cutting... and cutting.  The short version is I was left with too short an amount of the paper to even get a border going all the way across the page!  That's when I improvised the idea of splitting the border with the circle element.   It's still a busy page, but no one really saw it the way it was before as I was assembling it.  If I hadn't told you, you would never know the border being in two pieces was really a way to fix a big mistake.  This just proves...

There really are no mistakes in papercrafting - just opportunities to be even more creative.  And thus this page kicks off a series of posts - about one a week - on all the joys of papercrafting.  You know them; I know them, but sometimes it is nice to see them in print.  So when someone (like your Mother or your husband) wonders why you can spend an hour in the scrapbooking section of Hobby Lobby or can't wait for the next card making video or just hole up in your craft room, you'll have a few ready answers. 

Notes for this Project 365 Layout:

• As I've already confessed, I had to stretch the designer paper to get this border by cutting it and adding the circle element.  The center is a chipboard circle I painted with various shades of yellow and orange until I got something that worked.  I used Creative Memories circle cutters to cut the edges of the DSP around the circle element.
• American Crafts DSP has a solid back that coordinates and it was a great blessing to this layout for the background and some of the elements.
• The tags were cut with the Cricut and Tags, Bags, Boxes and More cartridge.  I printed the photos on matte paper and then pasted them on the tags.
• The Kraft bag is cut with decorative scissors along the top edge and then just scored and folded.  It has 1/4" deep sides.  The handle is cut from a real shopping bag.
• The 'tissue' is scrap cardstock.  I soaked each piece in water briefly, crumpled them up wet in my hands and then laid flat to dry.  None of these papers had an ink run but I've had that happen before so be careful of handling wet paper or you can end up with a lot of dye on your hands.
• Another fix for this page was the yellow strip at the top.  I got the whole thing a little too high on the page so I just cut off some of the bottom and added a contrasting strip to the top.

In taking these photos for a week of Project 365, I was amazed that even when we shop in stores we often start on-line such as the Liberty of London bowls I bought at Target.  Target is a bit of drive for me so I wanted to know they had them before I bothered.  The Internet has changed many, many things but definitely the way we make purchases - and very much for the better.

Ingredients:  Designer Paper:  Everyday collection by American Crafts

Cardstock: Kraft and Choc Chip by SU!

Pens:  Signo White gel pen and journaling marker from SU!

Seashells and Friendship

Here is another card trying out the peg stamps.  I also made this for this March's A Year in Cards free class at Two Peas in a Bucket.  Visit their website and click on Education for more info.  This video based class  always gives me lots of ideas.  This month is focused on background stamps, particularly masking off part of the stamp.

Project Notes:

• I used the same method with these peg stamps as in my earlier wreath card.  I stamped an image, rotated the stamp and stamped again before reinking.  Some of the colors are embossed.
• To create the background, I tore a piece of scrap paper roughly the size of my greeting and adhered it with removable adhesive (I use Fiskars) to the card where the greeting should go.  Then I stamped over the entire card with my favorite new stamp - Sanded from SU!
• After removing the scrap paper, I then stamped and embossed my greeting.  I just love this large greeting from SU!  It is also a favorite.

Happy Friday!

Ingredients:  Starfish and Shells by Rubber Stamp Tapestry; greeting from All Holidays by SU!
Cardstock: Brocade Blue, Whisper white
Ink:  Kiwi Kiss, Tempting Turquoise, taken with teal, Brocade Blue

SC273 Color Challenge

For two Splitcoaststampers' challenges this week, this card features Pretty in Pink, Dusty Durango (some Really Rust) and Creamy Caramel as well as the sketch from the SC273 challenge.  It also goes in my Operation Write Home box.

Project Notes: 

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  The flower contains all the required colors with SU! watercolor markers and a blender pen.
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  The dessert option was leaves so I used the Leaf Print unmounted wheel again.  Think I'm getting addicted to this one.  I stamped Dusty Durango ink on the same cardstock, but only one row.  Yesterday's card, I stamped this image all over and it was a bit busy.
• 
  
  After I got nearly done, I realized I'd left out a layer so I put in the ribbon in place of paper next to the flower.  These sheer ribbons from the floral department are great subtle additions.

Thanks for visiting!

Ingredients:  Stamps:  by Stampendous; Leaf print wheel and All Holidays (greeting) by Stampin' Up!

Cardstock in colors of challenge listed above - all by SU!

Ink:  Black Stazon and Basic Black, Watercolor markers

Ribbon:  Craft Store

Thread:  DMC

Peg Stamps

My friend Betsy from our monthly stamp classes asked for my take on her new peg stamps.  The drawing on the packaging showed a wreath.  I used the Cricut to cut some scallop circles and stamped the images repeatedly around the edge. 

This is my first try on peg stamps.  So far, they aren't my favorites.  The designs are very small and you have to ink, stamp, ink, stamp a lot to get a design.  I think I prefer a little larger images.

Project Notes: 

• The Accent Essentials cartridge for the Cricut has this scallop circle.  The stamped one is cut 3" and the larger one 3 1/4".  I used dimensionals to adhere the smaller one to the larger one.
• The ribbon is threaded through holes made with the double horizontal punch from Stampin' Up!  If I were doing it again, I'd punch the holes first evenly spaced.  THEN I would stamp the flowers.  I kept thinking I was punching over some of my best flowers.
• I did the stamping as the packaging suggested and stamped a leaf or flower, then rotated the peg stamp slightly and stamped again without reinking.
• First I stamped the leaves in classic ink. Then I went over them with the flowers in craft ink and embossed to get more dimension.
• The background for this card is stamped with one of my unmounted wheels.

All in all, I felt the results were pretty but tedious.  I have another one of these coming up later using a seashell version of the pegs.  What do you think of peg stamps?  Are there tricks that make them easier or styles of peg stamps you prefer?

Thanks to Betsy for loaning me this set.  It is always fun to experiement.  Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!

Ingredients:  Stamps:  Waving Wildflowers from Rubber Stamp Tapestry; greeting from Kind and Caring Thoughts and background of Leaf Prints from SU!
Cardstock:  Lavendar Moon by PTI; Old Olive by SU!
Ink:  Kiwi Kiss, Old Olive, Pale Plum, Perfect Plum, Regal Rose by SU!

TIPsy Tuesday - Squint!

Yes, that's right,  Squint!  Quilters do it.  Window Treatment professionals do it - or at least this one does.  Why?  When you are working on a card or particularly a scrapbook layout, sometimes it is hard to figure out what else you need to complete the look.  Is your page balanced?  Will more embellishments be too much?  Should you move a photo to the other side of the page?  We all run into these quandries when we are papercrafting. 

The solution:
Stand up, step back, and squint.  The page will blur a little allowing the main colors to stand out.  It is much easier to see what you have too much of and what is missing.

Quilters do this and there is even a special tool you can use - a reducing glass.  It is the opposite of a magnifying glass in that it makes objects appear farther away so you can see an entire wall quilt in one view.  I have one and have used it on quilts and even on large window valances when I just can't stand back far enough in my workroom to see how it will look in the client's room. 

Here is a view of the double page spread above part of the way along.  I knew I needed some designer paper in the lower left but wasn't sure what color.  I stepped back, squinted and could see how it was all coming together. Then it was obvious I needed some more of the turquoise color.  I also needed another heavy element to balance the chipboard on the right hand page.

The finished ower left corner

balanced with the right side of the page.

Thanks for stopping by! 

Ingredients:  Stamps:  Sanded by SU! for background
Ink:  So saffron, Dusty Durango, soft Suede for distressing
DSP and brad:  The Daily Grind by Fancy Pants
Ribbon:  Stampin' Up!
Chipboard:  Stampin' Up! and Oriental Trading
Font:  Pea Jack and Jane from kevinandamanda.com