Note of Thanks Blog Banner CASE

Back in February, I created a new blog banner using Stampin’ Up!’s My Digital Studio (MDS) software.  Just for fun, I decided to create a 3-D card to coordinate with the banner (I changed a few things, including the color of some of the flowers).  Cute, huh?!!  That’s the beauty of MDS….you can design your card digitally before actually creating it.  This way, you can know exactly how it will look without wasting cardstock or embellishments on a design that doesn’t turn out quite how you imagined. 

Tip: For a glossy look, I added Crystal Effects to the top of my black punched circles and placed them in the center of my flowers. 

Here’s my banner:

And here’s my actual card:

Stamp sets: thank you kindly, simple friendship, polka dot; Inks: basic black, whisper white, lavendar lace, pretty in pink; Cardstock: basic black, whisper white, lavendar lace; Embellishments: hugs sending love notes, white gel pen, crystal effects; Tools: circle punches, paper snips

Tutorials: Scalloped Awning & Tri-Scallop Decorative Edge

On our way to Baraboo, Wisconsin last year for vacation, we stopped in the small town of Amboy, Illinois as my hubby had to pick up some work apparel for his job.  While he did his shopping, the kids and I explored the town’s quaint “Main Street”.  I fell in love the old town charm of this little town and the highlight of our exploration was the discovery of an old time soda fountain drugstore with shelf upon shelf of penny candy (though they don’t cost a penny anymore!).  The kids made their selections and we ate them on a bench outside.  Fun times! 

I kept my pages pretty simple so that the photos would be the focus.  On the 2nd page, I created a scalloped awning on the 2nd page to coordinate with the title of the layout: Small Town Charm.  See below for close-up photos and a tutorial on making your own scalloped awning as well as a tutorial on making a tri-scallop decorative edge.  

Stamp sets: short order alphabet, lovely letters alphabet; Inks: bravo burgandy, so saffron, bashful blue; Cardstock: bravo burgandy, so saffron, bashful blue, whisper white, parisian summer DSP, junior varsity DSP; Embellishments: bravo burgandy 5/8” grosgrain ribbon, rich regals brads, white gel pen; Tools: scallop edge punch, square scallop punch, square punch

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Scalloped Awning Tutorial

1) Start with a strip of designer paper measuring the desired width & length.  Scallop one edge of the strip with the Scallop Edge Punch.  Apply Stampin’ Dimensionals at regular intervals on the back side of the designer paper along the scallop edge.  For additional “curve” to your awning, add a 2nd layer of dimensionals on top of the first (see photo in step #2).

2) Apply SNAIL adhesive along the straight edge of your cardstock and stick it to your cardstock where desired.  Now peel off the backing on the Stampin’ Dimensionals and stick the scalloped edge to the page.  Your awning will have a curved look.

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Tri-Scallop Decorative Edge Tutorial

1) Start with a square scallop die-cut with our Scallop Square Punch.  Cut off 2 of the corners at 90 degree angles.

2) Adhere them to the back side of your cardstock strip and insert a brad in the center scallop (cut off the protruding metal prong when you’re finished, but mine is shown here for illustration).  Now you have a fun decorative edge.

For more Tutorials and my Scrapbooking 101 posts, see the links in my left sidebar.  Be sure to subscribe to my blog so you don’t miss a post, or bookmark me so you can find me again!

Round and Round 12x12 Page

Here’s a 2-page spread I did featuring photos of Mia and a neighbor girl hula-hooping in the backyard several years ago.  The girls would have contests to see who could hula the longest.  Mia was always the youngest and so she usually lost, but she had fun anyway.  Ah….brings back good memories of the days of my youth and the hours spent spinning a hoop around my hips!  How about you….do you love to hula too?

I used several circular images from the retired So Much stamp set to mimic hula hoops.  To continue the circular theme, I choose an appropriate title and added them to my page in half-circle patterns that helped draw the eye down the page along both photos.  The letters themselves were stamped with the retired Alphadots alphabet stamp set, which are circles.  

Stamp sets: so much, alphadots alphabet, alphabdots numbers; Inks: whisper white, lavendar lace, regal rose, certainly celery; Cardstock: lavendar lace, certainly celery, whisper white, flowers for you DSP; Embellishments: fairy tales ribbon originals; Tools: 3/4” circle punch

Custom Jumbo Brads

For this card, I used Color Throwdown #83 challenge for the color scheme and cased a card layout from the Sale-a-bration brochure.  I created the card when the challenge was still going on but am just getting it posted, so I missed the deadline.  Still love those colors together.

The designer paper is from the Welcome Neighbor Designer Series Paper Pad in the Sale-a-Bration brochure.  The stamp images are from the Teeny Tiny Wishes, Cheep Talk, and Nursery Necessities stamp sets.  I used our Spiral & Corner Rounder punches on the white background cardstock and then cut the main white focus cardstock piece with the Circle Scissors Plus.  A custom jumbo silver brad completes the look.  I love how I can customize the brad to give it the look I want for each project.   

Stamp set: cheep talk, teeny tiny wishes, nursery necessities; Inks: wild wasabi, marigold morning, melon mambo, whisper white; Cardstock: bermuda bay, marigold morning, whisper white, melon mambo, welcome neighbor DSP pad; Embellishments: jumbo silver brad; Tools: 1/2” circle punch, 1-3/4” circle punch, circle scissors plus, glass mat, small corner rounder, spiral punch

To create your own custom jumbo brad:

1) Start by stamping an image or applying a rub-on to a piece of scrap paper.

2) Punch out the image or rub-on using a circle punch.  As an alternative, you can just punch designer paper with your circle punch.

3)  Attach the punched circle image to the top of your jumbo brad with adhesive.

4) Now embellish your paper project.

For more paper crafting tutorials, see the links in my left sidebar!  And be sure to subscribe or bookmark my blog so you can find me again!

Scrapbooking 101: Create a Numbered Series

I scrapbooked these T.P. Thief pages last fall at a weekend demonstrator retreat.  Love these photos of my son Seth when he first discovered toilet paper and the joy of pulling it off the roll (and eating it in the process!).  The photos were taken before we remodeled our bathroom, so they also serve as a historical documentation of our sea green wall tile (and toilet!) and white/gold floor tile.  Notice how the Soft Sky patterns paper mimics the wall tile. 

If you have a set of photos or events that you want to scrapbook in order, it’s helpful to number them so your reader/viewer can follow along easily.  This is especially true if you plan to write separate journaling for each photo or event, or if you have step-by-step instructions or such.  Here’s my numbered series in action:   

Looking for other Scrapbooking 101 posts?  See my left sidebar for direct links to each tutorial, technique, or tip!

Stamp sets: tidy alphabet; Inks: soft sky, soft suede; Cardstock: kraft, whisper white, DSP; Embellishments: on board chipboard; Tools: 1-3/4” circle punch

DownTown Baraboo 12x12 Page

Wow, where does time go?  Seems like I just posted yesterday, when in fact it’s been 5 days.  Hope a few of you are still out there reading!  It was just a crazy busy week and it didn’t help that my husband was out of town 2 days.  I’ve also had the spring cleaning bug and by the time I get done with a few tasks at night, I’m just too tired to edit photos & post.  I’m sure you all understand.  We are starting another big project tomorrow…replacing the carpet in our bedroom with hardwood floors.  Exciting, but also alot of work!  Has the spring cleaning/project bug hit at your house too?

Here’s a scrapbook page I finished last weekend.  It features one of my least used Stampin’ Up! colors…..Creamy Caramel.  But the photos from our trip to downtown Baraboo, WI last summer coordinate with it beautifully.  Even the ice cream matches…..doesn’t that chocolate-dipped cone look heavenly?  (It was!!). 

 

Stamp sets: define your life, a little bit of everything (exclusive incentive stamp set); Inks: chocolate chip, creamy caramel, real red; Cardstock: chocolate chip, creamy caramel, real red, whisper white; Embellishments: latte designer buttons, earth elements buttons, white gel pen; Tools: circle punches, paper piercer, mat pack, big shot, billboard sizzlets Stampin’ Up! decorative strip die, decorative strip cutting pad, staples

SpongeBob SquarePants 12x12 Page

During our summer vacation last year, we visited Circus World Museum in Baraboo, WI.  We lucked out as SpongeBob SquarePants was making an appearance on the day we went.  The kids had fun seeing him up close, though Seth was a little hesitant. 

I knew that I wanted to scrapbook these photos so I decided to do a punched SpongeBob face after seeing a card that my upline Ann made a few years ago.  Not remembering how hers looked, I got online and did a little searching and found a few versions.  None were exactly what I had in mind, so I modified several of them to get the look I wanted.  My photos are a little dark against that black background, so I plan to go back into PhotoShop to lighten them, but I went ahead and put the page together so I’d have placeholders for the corrected photos. 

I downloaded a SpongeBob font online and printed out the title on my computer.  Not sure why it looks so grainy in this photo as it’s crisp in real life.  SpongeBob’s face was die-cut with our Square Scallop Bigz Die in the Big Shot. The mouth, teeth, tongue, and nose were all cut free-hand.  The rest of the features were punched using various size circle punches.

Here’s a close-up of the SpongeBob face.  Do you think it’s a good resemblance?

Stamp set: think happy thoughts; Inks: whisper white, basic black, yo yo yellow; Cardstock: basic black, real red, yoyo yellow, tempting turquoise, groovy guava, bravo burgandy, whisper white; Tools: big shot, square scallop bigz die, cutting pads, circle punches

The cutest thing is that my daughter saw my page and loved it.  Later that night, she came upstairs with her own SpongeBob page.  She used our Polka Dot background stamp to create the designer paper, Best Friend alphabet for part of the title, and SpongeBob photos & font printed from the internet.  Cute, huh?!!

Ears Wishing You

Woo – it feels good to be back blogging after a weekend away!  My computer upgrades are done and I’m happy to have it back as well.  Thanks for your patience during my unplanned, but refreshing break.

My upline Julie Davison recently issued an unofficial color challenge….see THIS POST for details….and I just couldn’t resist playing along.  These particular colors reminded me of Easter, so I grabbed a bunny image from our Animal Crackers stamp set.  Cute!  I also used SplitCoastStampers Clean & Simple (CAS) #57 challenge.  This week, the challenge was to layer 2 different shapes on your card while keeping it CAS.  The Modern Label punch & Two Tags Sizzix shape worked great for this.

 

Stamp sets: animal crackers, nursery necessities; Inks: cameo coral, apricot appeal, basic black; Cardstock: cameo coral, apricot appeal, tempting turquoise, whisper white; Embellishments: tempting turquoise 1/4” grosgrain ribbon; Tools: modern label punch, big shot, two tags bigz die, cutting pads, paper piercer, mat pack

Now You See Her...Now You Don't!

Hi all - I didn't disappear.  I've been super busy this week and now my computer (which has all my photos) is getting some upgrades, so I haven't posted the past few days.  I have the day off today and plan to do some stamping, so look for some new projects soon!

Grandpa Bobby 12x12 Page

I created this layout last fall at a weekend demonstrator retreat.  It’s actually one of my most cherished pages because it features one of the few photos that we have of my late father-in-law with my husband and the kids.  That’s what scrapbooking is about…preserving those precious memories. 

Because the theme of my page was masculine in nature, I kept the page and color-scheme simple.  A block-style layout works great for this.  I limited my embellishments to jumbo brads, poly-twill ribbon, and some off-set flourishes so that my 5x7 photo is the main focus of the page.     

Stamp sets: rough edges alphabet, just perfect alphabet; Inks: chocolate chip, riding hood red; Cardstock: chocolate chip, riding hood red, whisper white, notebook DSP; Embellishments: chocolate chip jumbo brad, 1/4” chocolate chip poly-twill ribbon, summer home simply scrappin’ kit (red designer paper); Tools: small corner rounder, big shot, swirly sizzix die

Double Blooms

Today I’m showcasing the last 2 cards that I stamped with my daughter Mia and her friends last week.  I redesigned an old card to make it more suitable for 8-9 year old girls using the Eastern Blooms stamp set.  Which one is your favorite? 

Here’s the original card from my card class:

And here are the re-designed cards:

Stamp sets: eastern blooms, on your birthday; Inks: basic gray, bermuda bay, versamark, taken with teal; Cardstock: basic gray, bermuda bay, taken with teal, whisper white; Tools: photo corner punch, paper snips

You Rock Flip Sketch

If you caught my post yesterday, you know that I stamped with my daughter Mia and some of her friends last week.  I took some of my older card designs and changed them a bit so that they were more kid-friendly.  Tonight I’m showcasing our 2nd card, which features different stamp images and a flipped sketch. 

Here’s the original card….

And here’s the kid version…

Stamp set: friends rock; Inks: old olive, rich razzleberry, melon mambo; Cardstock: old olive, rich razzleberry, melon mambo, whisper white, razzleberry lemonade DSP; Tools: small corner rounder

Another Birthday Monkey

Mia had a few friends over last Friday afternoon/evening and I thought the girls would enjoy doing a little stamping.  I happened to have a few unused supplies from a previous card class, so I grabbed those to start.  Since I was stamping with a group of 8-9 year olds instead of adults, I changed the cards up a bit to better fit their style.

Here’s the original card from my class:

And here’s the card I stamped with the girls: All I did was change the background texture and the stamp set for a more youthful look.

This just goes to show that you don’t need to reinvent the wheel with every card.  Start with an existing card or sketch (our catalogs have tons of samples designed by professional artists) and change it to fit with the stamps and supplies you have on hand.

Stamp sets: fox and friends, family phrases; Inks: chocolate chip; Cardstock: crushed curry, dusty durango, chocolate chip, whisper white; Embellishments: dusty durango polka dot grosgrain ribbon; Tools: big shot, perfect polka dots textured impressions folder, multipurpose platform, cutting pads, scallop square punch, square punch

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