Making Your Own Stencils

When I was in the 6th grade, I got to go to the school spelling bee.  I didn't get any further as I misspelled the word "stencil."  (I spelled it stencel.)  It was years, YEARS before I ever needed to actually spell that word in real life.  I couldn't imagine ever needing to know how to spell that!  And now, way more years than I want to count, I'm needing it for a very popular scrapbooking tool.

A few months ago I got really interested in stencils.  I collected several made by Studio Calico and The Crafter's Workshop.  I also cut my own stencils from cardstock with my Cricut.  Those were usually good for just a few uses as the paper would curl when misted.  I tried using Vellum and that was an epic fail as the vellum just crinkled up completely when wet.

So then I looked into blank stencils found in the craft department of Hobby Lobby.  This is a thin flexible plastic that holds up better than transparency film but is still a good weight for using with mists, inks or pastels.

For the card above, I used a stencil cut on the Cricut from the Plantin Schoolbook cartridge.  It is covered in this video at YouTube:


I adhered the stencil to some black cardstock and then misted with white Mister Huey, tinsel  (which I just found out has an 'el' at the end rather than 'il' - I'm still a terrible speller!) and gold Colorshine mists.  This is a graduation card for a friends daughter.

I'm also using a homemade stencil on my scrapbook page later this week.

Thanks for stopping by!  You can still sign up for the Scrapinar on June 12 on using 6x6 Paper Pads.  Just click on the link on the right side of the screen.

Stampin' Up! 2013-14 Catalog

Each year, I offer some information and thoughts on the changes Stampin' Up! is making for their new catalog year and on the catalog itself.  I'm not affiliated with Stampin' Up! in any way.  These are just my opinions.

THE biggest change:

Several colors have been retired and new colors (almost all old in-colors) are being added.  If you had these in-colors in the past and saved them, you are in luck.  New colors to the regular color families are:  Bermuda Bay, Smoky Slate (this one is truly new - a nice soft gray, I think*), Blushing Bride, Calypso Coral, Pear Pizzazz, Pool Party, Soft Sky, Wisteria Wonder, and Island Indigo

Biggest disappointment - If you like pink or purple, you are really out of luck.  Most of the purples went with the last color change.  Pink is the latest color to get the ax.  They still have that pale Pink Pirouette and Melon Mambo but Pretty In Pink and Regal Rose are gone leaving true pinks out almost entirely.

The biggest change involving the catalog:

A de-emphasis on card making and scrapbooking.  A greater emphasis on "other papercrafting."  I was really surprised to see how few card examples are in the new catalog.  However, at least there is one card every 2 or 3 pages.  I think there are maybe 2 scrapbook pages in the entire book!  The Simply Scrappin' kits are also gone.  This doesn't surprise me.  They were nice kits but too pricey.

If I were seeing Stampin' Up! for the first time, I'm not sure it would appeal to me as much.  Personally, I'm have little need anymore for making place cards or fancy package wrapping. I've never done a lot of paper based home decor projects.  When I think of Stampin' Up!, I think of card making.  There are still cards, just a noticeable emphasis on other things - especially gift packaging.  I just don't see people spending the money for SU! products to wrap pretty presents.

Most positive change for stamps:

Background stamps are now available in 'clear.'    That's really 'cling' and it makes the less expensive and more in line with Hero Arts.

Background stamps are no longer grouped in the back of the catalog.  They are spread around so I don't know what is new and what isn't.  Though there is a world map stamp I know I want.

New Accessories:

They have some Washi tape and it seems reasonably priced.

They have a new pretty ruffle trim and a denim jean ribbon I love!  I have some with grommets in it I got years ago at Walmart and have always wanted to find another source.  There are also some cute shaped paper clips and chevron ribbon I like.   I do wish though they would offer ribbon in smaller quantities.  I've complained about this since day one - no one really needs 10 or 15 yards of one ribbon color!

They reorganized the punch section by type of punch - all the circles together, all the label punches together, etc.  What a great idea!

Biggest relief:

All my staples are still available - 12x12 Crumb Cake and other colors either in individual packs or as a set, Naturals white and ivory cardstock, and envelopes.

I commend them once again for maintaining their prices on basic items - ink, paper and envelopes!  I think that is fantastic!

My Biggest Complaint:

This year, it is a tie.

First of all, there are no holiday stamps in the main catalog.  None, not a single Christmas tree or Ho Ho Ho.  No Easter egg or Thanksgiving turkey.  I assume they are planning to put these in the mini catalog but some of us what to see what is coming for Christmas before fall.

And once again ...poor representation of the colors!  I think this is at least the 3rd year I've gripped about this.  In past years the color samples were tiny.  This year they are large but someone decided to be clever and use 'stuff' to show the colors.  For example, the *neutrals are shown with buttons and brads.  This is why I said earlier that I think smokey slate is a light gray. The representation is a few buttons and with the lighting glare it is hard to tell the true color.  The Brights collection is shown with ink drops of all things and some of the colors are definitely not true.  There is plenty of room in the catalog, why not just put in a nice square with the color - nothing fancy - just print the color?


There are some nice hostess sets. They also offer a new monthly kit club which sounds like a wonderful idea for someone new to the art of stamping.

For all my complaining, I do really admire the quality of their products and appreciate that they are keeping prices consistent with prior years.

You can find the new catalog via Stampin' Up!'s website here.

Have you seen the new catalog? What do you think?

Little Notebooks

On a really busy day recently, I knew my only time to craft was going to be early in the morning. Typically, I clear off my worktable at least some before starting a new project.  On this morning, if I took time to clear up and then select materials for my next project, my time would be up.  So I played the 'use what is on your worktable game.'  This is a bit of a challenge for me.  I like to pick through my stash.  But I resisted, well, mostly.

These little composition notebooks are from the dollar store.  I covered them with some Webster's pages 6x6 paper.  I got my covers a tad small so filled in the space with Washi tape which wasn't on my table but very close by.  The embellishments were things that were all out.  The only cheating I did was to pull out a new-to-me MME stamp for adding a little something over the Washi tape.

For the back side, I used stamps on my table from Define Your Life by Stampin' Up!

Getting these done was a great way to start the day.

Thanks for spending some of your day here.

Don't forget to check out my upcoming webinar (Scrapinar).  The link is on the right side of the screen.

Join me for a Scrapinar!

I'm so very, very excited!!! I've been invited to present next month's Scrapinar at Layoutaday.com.  Lain Ehmann  hosts a free webinar each month.  To attend, all you have to do is follow this link and sign up.

Click here to view more details

The image at left and the one below are a little sneak peak of two of the new layouts you can see in the Webinar.

In June, we are going to be talking about how to use those fantastic 6x6 paper pads on regular 12x12 pages in scrapbooking.  I've done a couple of videos in the past where I really emphasized the use of 6x6 pads and have of course used these fantastic papers on other pages.  This time, all the pages and techniques will be focused on ways to get the most out of a 6x6 paper pad.

If you haven't been bitten by the 6x6 paper pad bug which is as sneaky as a chocolate craving, you may not know what a value these are (and they are calorie free!).  I'll talk briefly about the benefits of a 6x6 paper pad and then jump right into ways you can use them on your pages.  I'll share several pages with predominately 6x6 papers and some techniques in the 20 minute video.  Then we will have lots of chat time.

If you can't make it on June 12, no problem.  You can still sign up and watch the video later on.  But you do have to sign up to have access to the video.  This one won't be on my YouTube channel.  The only way to get it is to sign up for the Webinar.  It's free and fun.

I've attended other webinars through Lain's site and always learned some tricks.  It is recommended that you participate via a computer directly connected to your Internet service rather than Wi-fi for the best response time although I do remember participating in one via my laptop on the 2nd floor of my house (far away from the router).

This is such an honor for me to share my ideas in the Scrapinar.  I hope you will join Lain and me for the evening of June 12.

There is only one downside for me.  In the meantime, I'll be busy, busy putting together lots of pages and that means I won't be posting quite as often.

So here's the link again. I hope to meet you all at the chat following the video on June 12, 8:00 p.m. Eastern.

Favorite Ink

I read about the challenge at Simon Says Stamp over at Ashi Oliver's wonderful blog.  I sooo love her page using Ranger Archival Ink.  It is just gorgeous!

She commented that we might think it odd she picked black ink as a favorite when there are so many colors available.  Well, I can top that, I picked Clear!  Yes, my favorite ink is Versamark.  Why?  Well, it is so versatile of course.

Sometimes I just leave it clear and stamp as a watermark, but mostly I use it for embossing.  For my card, I stamped in Versamark and embossed with Stampin' Up!'s new Early Espresso embossing powder.  Then I used a trick I got from Kristina Werner in this post for her Mother's Day card.

She colored on the back side of her image after embossing.  I think she used Copics with her white embossing.  I'm using Stampin' Up! markers and they are blending great on the vellum as the ink doesn't dry immediately.  This is also a fantastic technique for someone like me who has trouble staying between the lines :-(  I tell you if there was a grade for coloring in elementary school, I would have failed.

So this is perfect and creates such a soft look.  I'm using Hero Arts Whimsical Houses.

The frame was cut on the Cricut.  I just moved the cutting blade in a tad and then cut a shape from the Storybook cartridge.  I used the negative space by cutting a border around the where the shape was and that became my frame.  It is finished off with more Versamark, a wood grain stamp and clear embossing powder.

This one is off to my Operation Write Home box.  Thanks for stopping by today.  The challenge is here at SimonSaysStamp.

Working with a Collage Print

Apparently April and May are busy months.  When I did Project Life in 2010, that is when I got behind. We had a family wedding out of town and things just sort of piled up. So I did both of those months as full months in my PL album.

I'm doing a little better this year as I have multiple layouts for April; however, May is getting past me quick.  So it seemed like a good time to try out he collage print option that my photo processor keeps offering me.

I use Walmart or Walgreens for photos as these are my closest places to pick up photos.  In my small town, Walmart is the only option.  Both seem to have the same photo interface with an option to turn your prints into a collage.

So for this layout, I uploaded several 4x6 prints and printed them as one 8x10 collage.  After trimming, it was more 7x8 inches.  This left plenty of room for journaling and with just a couple of embellishments, the page was done.

I really like the photo collage option.  It is cheap and easy.  It is also fun to keep shuffling on the screen and see what photos become the prominent ones.  I think this would work well for travel, a wedding or sporting event photos also.

So here's the video:


And here is the PDF which contains more details on using Walmart's (and probably Walgreens) photo collage option.

Thanks for stopping by today!

On Crumb Cake

Jennifer McGuire often white embosses and colors images on a kraft background.  I love the look and that is what I did here. This is Stampin' Up!'s version of kraft now called Crumb Cake.

The image is from American Crafts Soho Garden set and the sentiment from an old Stampin' Up! set.  I did the coloring with Prismacolor pencils.

Thanks for dropping by today!

gone Fishing Page and Video

 


Last summer's fishing adventures were a tad less adventuresome thanks to a motor on the raft that gave my husband and his grandson quick access to the lake shore.  They are both looking forward to this summer's fishing trip.

For the page, I took up a couple of CHA challenges:  Stretch your Supplies from Shimelle.com and Use 5 Tools from Two Peas in a Bucket.  The Quint-essential flower stamp from Stampin' Up! coordinates with 2 scallop punches and a whole bunch of circle punches. I also used my scallop border punch on the layout.

The other challenge I faced was very dark photos that seemed to recede further with the bright colors I chose for stamping and papers.  To make the photos pop a bit more, I matted them with white cardstock.  The scallop pieces were all distressed so they blended more with the photos.

Here's the process video:


Thanks for watching today!