Happy Spring!

Easter Eggs straight from our hens bunny.

I hope you are enjoying this time of year. I have to admit that spring is my least favorite time. It comes after a long wet winter. And just continues to be cold and wet when I am aching for some sun and warmth. Then it (the huge tease of a spring) will throw in a few days of just what I need, only to yank it away again and replace it with more cold and wet. All the way into June. So, no, spring isn’t my favorite. I have to really hang on to the little joys. My fresh, home grown, naturally colorful eggs being one of my spring joys. What are your spring joys?

(BTW, I have all the usual excuses for being AWOL, for any that actually ready my blog consistently. I’m hoping to be back next week with more projects for you.)

CKC: March Layouts

Like I said recently, I took a handful of basic supplies (pattern papers, ink and cardstock and alphabets for the most part) to my CKC crop. I wanted to simplify my preparations and this certainly did the job. I also simplified by going in knowing I was going to use the same basic layout for these 3 pages. My kids each got a gift certificate to spend at an online store. I had pretty much the same picture for each kid enjoying their booty from the package that arrived. So I thought, why not make pretty much the same layout for each one? These layouts are going in different albums so they will be viewed at different times. This will reduce the boring, repetitive factor (if you are worried about that kind of thing). So go ahead and make the same layout! It really isn’t a big deal.

The layout below is what I had in mind originally when planning for these layouts. I wanted the title to arch around a circular photo mat. I used my Cricut to cut my photo mats before leaving for the crop. That was the only special thing I did to prepare for these layouts. I used a combination of papers that came in my crop goody bag and older papers I had stuffed in my crop bag. I really planned to keep these pages simple to keep the focus on the story.

I just slightly adjusted things for the next layout, using up scraps of pattern paper from other projects.

And finally I made this one using up a bunch of older product, including these alpha stickers that I have had lying around for about a year.

1-2-3 Recipe challenge

This week’s The Paper Variety challenge is a 1-2-3 recipe challenge. You pick any items and use them in the quantity of one, two and three. I wanted to see what I could do if I went really hard core with this challenge. So here is what I picked: one pattern paper, two stamp sets (an image and a sentiment), and three distress ink colors. I wanted to go all the way hard core and only use those things. But I just couldn’t do it. So the additional supplies I used were cardstock for the card base (though I probably could have worked in more of the pattern paper), a waterproof ink to stamp my images (so they wouldn’t bleed when water colored) and a punch to shape my pattern paper.

I used my three distress ink colors three ways to make them go farther in the design.

I used them to distress the background with layers of color and added subtle stamp images from the image stamp set.
I used it to add hard inking of the paper paper edges to get it to pop a bit.
I used an aqua painter to pull color from the ink pad to paint in the stamped image.

When you are restricted in your product choices – for a challenge, a small crop bag, a tight budget or whatever – make your supplies go farther by figuring out multiple ways to put those items to use.

No go cook up your own 1-2-3 crafty soup!

CKC: February Layouts

At the Creating Keepsakes Convention I packed supplies to work on my kids calendars for the months of February and March. Here is what I came up with for February

First we have my oldest daughter’s page. I saved tags, buttons and other tidbits from a couple of her fashion shopping excursions to use on a layout. I think they fit perfectly here to capture the things that I see I see in her that are in between being a little girl and being a teen. It was a great photo and journaling for her ninth birthday.

My son’s layout came out of one of the CKC classes I took focusing on using sketches. I took the sketch and the supplies provided to create this layout. I had this photo of my son in the back of my mind when I made this project in class so I used a larger amount of orange pattern paper and kept the pink to a minimum accent. The pink works on this boy layout since my son is holding a glass of pink “snow cone.” When I made the project in class I left off the recommended title and added in my own titling later. Don’t be afraid to mix it up, even when taking a class. If something different works for you, then go for it!

And finally, my youngest’s layout. I used pattern paper that came in my goody bag at the evening crop at CKC. I didn’t have any plan for this layout going into the evening, but when I saw this energetic paper I thought it would be great for the photos of my daughter “building” at the science museum near us. The paper was a very stark contrast and I inked the paper just to tone down the white a bit. This is one of my favorite techniques to use paper that otherwise is just a bit to bold or busy. If you tone it down, you can make it work. You don’t have to stress out over layouts, just use what you have on hand.

CKC: Prize + Copic

Every year (I think) I have won a prize attending my local CKC. This year I had gone all weekend long without winning anything. I figured my winning karma had just run out. As I was packing up my things to leave after the Saturday night crop, they announced that they were just going to draw for all the remaining prizes. I decided to stick around just in case. It is a good thing I did since I won a very lovely floral stamp set from Close To My Heart! So excited. I used it to play with my brand new Copics to create this card.

I drew outside of the lines on purpose just to experiment with what I could and could not do with my Copics in the color range I purchased. Just fun and play!

Recipe:
cardstock: Stampin’ Up, The Paper Company
stamp: CTMH (flower), SU (sentiment)
markers: Copic
ink: Versamark, Tsukineko (Memento)
ribbon: Cream City Ribbon
punch: SU

CKC: Paper Variety challenge

I took my Paper Variety Challenge and some sketches with me to my Creating Keepsakes Convention event this weekend to use during the open crop time. Here is what I ended up doing with Paper Variety’s Tic-Tac-Toe challenge.

I used the far left hand column and made a layout using some flowers about my youngest daughter’s first birthday. I packed really simply for the crop and will tell you about that in a later post. The tags I made using my Cricut/Gypsy and I cut a ton of them to keep in my stash. I packed a whole handful of these tags to do different things with. Yes tags are widely available but I didn’t have any so I just made my own. Know that you can make lovely pages without spending a ton of money but packing simply and making your own embellishments when you need to.

Recipe:
cardstock: The Paper Company
pattern paper, cardstock stickers, small alpha: Echo Park
title alpha: American Crafts
ink: Ranger
die machine: Cricut/Gypsy (tags)
flowers: stash

CKC: Copics

I took two Copic marker (pronounced coe-pick, not cop-pick) classes at a Creating Keepsakes Convention in my area. I’ve had Copics on my wishlist since seeing them on Scrap Time. Since then I’ve seen and heard much about them. I thought I would share with you what I know and some resources to learn more.

Copics are alcohol based markers and…

Come in 4 body styles: Copic (original), Wide, Sketch and Cio. Differences between these include marker size, ink volume and marker convenience. Sketch and Cio are most popular with stampers and scrappers due to the brush tips. Ciao are slightly less expensive because they are smaller, hold less ink and do not have the nice marker design features. Sketch are nicer in that they are a rectangular body to prevent them from rolling around on the table. They also have caps that have the color printed directly on the cap. This is a HUGE time saver when looking for markers.
They are refillable and have very durable nibs. And if your nib is damaged somehow, then the nibs are replaceable. This makes these markers a life-time purchase! Never throw away another marker!
They are guaranteed not to dry out for 3 years. And if they do dry out they can be refreshed. Did I mention, never throw away another marker?
They can color on paper, cardstock, chipboard and other paper products
But unlike other markers they can also color on plastics, metal and other non-porous surfaces including buttons, brads, ribbon, glass, transparencies and much more. Since Copics are alcohol based they color on paper better in many ways than water based markers. The colors can be blended seamlessly and without leaving heavy streak lines like water based markers.
Due to the alcohol based nature they blend more smoothly than water-based markers (depending on your surface!)

You can see some info on Copic techniques from Scrap time. I love Christine over there and think you should check out her Copic and other videos.

How to start inexpensively with Copics by using a palette blending method. Episode 98.
How to use Copic to blend colors for shading & dimension. Episode 371.
Another blending and shading technique using a palette. Episode 612.

I took my class from Clear and Simple Stamps. You can find their basic photo color blending tutorial on their site. They do have a video tutorial but I found the sound quality poor and couldn’t finish watching it. Also, search YouTube. There are dozens of videos.

My initial thoughts after taking the class

Like them way better than water based markers and bought a full range of colors.
Love the fact that they will last forever. I won’t ever throw away another marker!
I think they are more versatile since they can color on many more surfaces.
It will take some experimenting to find just the right paper and stamp ink to use for color stamped images. The marker ink can cause some stamping inks to bleed. Never use them with StazOn which is also alcohol based.
Different cardstocks will absorb the ink in different ways causing the ink to feather outside of your intended images. This is especially frustrating if you are coloring in stamped images. My Stampin’ Up cardstock is “not recommended” by some resources, yet I had the best luck with it not feathering/bleeding. Go figure. (I heard that it absorbs more ink so it will run your markers dry faster. Who cares if it actually works!)
Don’t trust the plastic cap colors. The actual marker color can be quite different. It is best to buy them in person or in coordinated color sets (like Clear and Simple Stamp Trios) until you know what colors you actually want.

I am planning a bunch of sample swatches to test different stamp inks and papers. I plan on showing it in a video since it would take way to many photos to go over all the details. When I finish it I will share it with you.

Two cards

I’ve been busy getting myself ready for the Creating Keepsakes Convention in my region. I will have plenty of goodies to share with you on Sunday or Monday. For now, I’ll give you the last two cards I made.

This first card I made for my SIL’s birthday. I didn’t have the stamp I wanted to I actually cut the “r” off of a “for” stamp and added on to the end of the “you” stamp to create “your”. I cringed as I sliced the scissors through my cling-mount rubber. But everything worked out just fine. When I cling my stamps onto my block I can just add the “r” back on to it’s original word and it will look just fine! If a stamp isn’t quite what you need, don’t be afraid to alter it!

This next card was made for my friend’s son’s birthday. He is an animal lover so I wanted to go with a wild animal feel without being too cutesy since he is 11. I used my alcohol inks on glossy paper to get the marbled background.

Enjoy! And I’ll be back in a few days with tidbits from CKC!

Anniversary card

I took this week’s Paper Variety challenge – a page sketch – and turned it into a card. Here was the original sketch

I removed most of the elements on the left side of the sketch to scale it down for my card size. I also replaced the pennants with a banner so I could add an additional message there. When using sketches, feel free to remove items that you don’t need and change elements into items that will work better for your layout.

Recipe:
cardstock: Stampin’ Up, SEI, Wausau
stamps, ink: Stampin’ Up
rubons: Fancy Pants
glitter glue: Ranger
wire: stash

January layouts

Here are my kids scrap calendar pages for January.

For this one I kept things simple. I added texture to the carstock using a piece of old plastic fencing and some Glimmer Mist. I stamped the fruit images on pattern paper to give them more texture and depth. Finally I used Staz On to tone down unimportant ares of the photograph that were distracting from the focus. These are all easy tips you can use on your layouts too!

Recipe:
cardstock, stamps, ink: Stampin’ Up
pattern paper: stash scraps
journal stickers: October Afternoon
alpha: stash
spray ink: Tattered Angels
other: stitching, plastic fencing as mask

I thought I had shown you this next one already but I couldn’t find it in my image gallery. So here it is. For this one I used a sketch from Sketch Inspiration. In order to balance some poor photos I added a clear photo of my daughter’s face. To enhance the subject (her love of archeology) I used paint. I’ll have to admit that it was a bit more paint that I intended, but I think it works just fine.

Recipe:
pattern paper: Scenic Route, Fancy Pants (I think)
paint dauber: Ranger
punch: Stampin’ Up
stamps: Technique Tuesday
ink: Staz On
alpha rubons: stash

And this one you’ve seen before.