Encre, papier, ciseaux

Say Cheese Main Street: A Disney Notebook

I am coming on the end of a two-week staycation and I got so much crafting done during my downtime! I am feeling very relaxed and also very happy that I got to work on many crafty projects that had been on my mental to-do list. I am nowhere near done, but I at least hit some of the big-ticket items. One of those was to make a disc-bound notebook using the Say Cheese Main Street collection. I had figured out the measurements, done a sample page using the Crop-a-dile Power Punch tool and picked the patterned paper for the divider pages, but I was wondering whether to laminate the dividers pages or not and at that time, laminating seemed like a wiser option but I just was not in the mood to get the laminating machine out that evening, so the project got pushed to the back burner.

I am so happy that I finally revisited the idea and got it finished! My laminating machine was already out tonight to test out foiling, so I decided to get my notebook pages done at the same time, and then I kept going on it. The notebook could have been kept very simple - two laminated papers for covers, cut inside pages, punch holes in everything and assemble with discs, but I decided to organize it a little bit further.

I used pages from the 6" x 8" paper pad to create the cover pages and the dividers. I quickly realized when cutting around the laminated cover pages that if I left a 1/8" border around all four edges and punched, the inner pages would show under the clear left edge of the cover (I hope I'm making sense) so to avoid that problem, I cut the left edge straight to the paper and so everything lined up better that way. I rounded the corners of the plastic using my Corner Chomper (also from We R Memory Makers). For the dividers, I decided to forgo laminating. I wanted to add tabs and it seemed pointless to laminate the pages and not the tabs, and then if I did, I thought cutting the plastic would be tricky (and I didn't want the edges to be sharp either), so I decided I could live with just using paper.

I wanted to have a pocket to possibly house documentation, but I didn't want to hide the foursquare images on my paper, so I decided to add the pocket to the back of the first divider. I used the grey polka dot paper from the Basics Kit (it was a good additional purchase - the dots are adorable and having neutral papers helps complement the papers). I reused an idea from my recent summer mini-album - I really loved the look of the pocket created with the Puffy Cloud Borders dies from Lawn Fawn, so I did the same thing here as well. This looks way better than the straight pocket did, and the stitching adds a nice finishing touch. The pocket seemed a little bare, so I went through my embellishments and picked a border from the sticker book and a couple of images from the foam stickers.

Then came time to prepare the tabs. I looked at my punch and dies options. I was liking the look and size of the tabs from Planner Essentials 4 from Elizabeth Craft Designs (told you I love those dies!). I was trying to figure out how to add the names I wanted to the tabs, though. Using Word and the free Waltograph font, I printed the names on Very Vanilla Cardstock and tested them on the tabs, but they were too wide to fit on the tab part. I could have used the tab die directly on my vanilla cardstock, but I thought colorful tabs would be prettier and I'll admit, I was way too lazy to print my doc six times on a scrap of each colour. So instead, I die cut my words using the smaller of the Sentiments dies from Waffle Flower. Those are full dies (they are not open in the center), so I had to create a negative template, center it around the word, fit the die in the hole like a jigsaw puzzle, tape everything in place and run it through the Sidekick. I then cut two tabs out of each Basics Kit colors, then I added them to my divider pages using sticky strip and I added the words to the bottom of the tab. We can't see the words when the notebook is closed, but I know the order I put them in, so it shouldn't be a problem.

The paper I used for the inside of the notebook is actually nice paper with a linen pattern to it. It was actually what my office used for letterhead paper and when our logo changed, they collected it to recycle it. I asked if we could upcycle it as printing paper instead and the next day, I was gifted with a nice pile of paper... cut to 9" x 8½" to take the logo off. So... not exactly printing paper, but as a crafter, it has still come in handy. There is just a lot of leftovers because of the wonky size, but hey, it was free and it is nice paper, so I'll take it. I cut the pages to 6" x 8" like the patterned paper, so I have a nice stack of 3½" x 8" paper that will probably become a notebook for my grocery lists. I made sure to round the two right corners of the pages as well. At the last minute, I also remembered that I had the stamp set from this collection and that adding a little stamped image in the corner of the first page of each section would be super cute, so I picked matching ink colors and did just that.

The red discs I used are from Waffle Flower and I like that you get 8 discs for $6 US. Discs are not easy to find and I had a little bit of sticker shock when the disc-bound trend started and I started to get interested in it. I have a binding machine that I purchased over 15 years ago and that I still love and use once in every blue moon, but the appeal of disc-bound is that you can take pages in and out and move things around without damaging anything. This is perfect here, as I doubt I will have the same amount of notes for every park and since it's hard to anticipate, I can add to sections that need it down the line (as far as the discs can allow). 

Keeping with that same logic, the next project on the list would be a sample book. Where I can sample my products, pens, etc. and keep a bit of an inventory on items that I could benefit from. I don't plan on doing a comprehensive inventory, just for the elements that I keep searching for or where I want to have color samples on hand. This is a great example of something that grows over time and where you benefit from having a system you can add to. I would like to find larger discs for those sample books, though. Right now, I have two sets of larger discs that I got by purchasing planners from the Clearance section. I didn't really have any use for the planners themselves but they were clearanced at a lower price than a set of discs would have been. My niece actually expressed interest in keeping the pages for herself, so we punched holes in a corner and binded everything with ribbon and that made her day (and it cleared space in my workspace). 

On a side note, the cover pages are not flimsy, but they are not sturdy either since I only used patterned paper. I could have added cardstock, but then I would have either ended up with plain cardstock on the backside of the cover or would have needed to add a second piece of patterned paper and sandwich the cardstock in between. That seemed wasteful to me, so I decided the single-page cover was good enough for me. I will say that when I create notebooks for the office, that I plan to carry around with me and maybe write in while standing up, using chipboard for the back cover becomes highly important, so it depends what you plan to use your notebooks for. Just something to keep in mind when planning your design and supplies.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Say Cheese Main Street (Simple Stories)
Cardstock: Very Vanilla (Stampin' Up!)
Basics Kit, Patterned Papers, Sticker Book, Foam Stickers: Say Cheese Main Street (Simple Stories)
Ink: Real Red, Smoky Slate, Blushing Bride, Seaside Spray, Crushed Curry, Basic Black (Stampin' Up!)
Dies: Sentiments Dies (Waffle Flower); Planner Essentials 4 (Elizabeth Craft Designs);
Puffy Cloud Borders (Lawn Fawn)
Accessories: Red Binding Discs (Waffle Flower);
Corner Chomper, Crop-a-Dile Disc Power Punch Tool (We R Memory Keepers)

Picnic in the Sky

Inspiration: Little Red Wagon #607 (Walking on Sunshine)

I wish all of my crafting sessions went as smoothly as this one did... I tend to overthink but for some reason, this afternoon, I just went from one idea to the next and they all seemed to work out right away. 

The starting point was the Shadow Box Card Rainbow Add-On. I have used individual embellishments from this die set, but never as an add-on to an actual shadow box. Shadow box cards seem to be my favorite type of 3D cards to make, probably because they are really easy to put together and I really enjoy the final depth you get from the multiple layers. 

I pulled out my organizer pocket where I keep all of my Lawn Fawn 12" x 12" papers together (I thought I needed full size patterned paper for the shadow box, but I think each panel is under 6" wide, so I could have used a regular paper pad). I picked the first scrap of Really Rainbow paper I saw, as I was in the mood to create something colorful. I then pulled out the Watercolor Wishes paper pad and used scraps to create the adorable rainbow. I pulled out the Stitched Cloud Backdrop die and die-cut a piece of blue Watercolor Wishes paper to create my background piece. As I was looking through backdrop dies for this specific one, I also spotted the Foursquare Backdrop: Portrait, which happens to include a cute stitched sun that is the perfect size so I used this die with yellow paper from the same pack. I added shine to the sun and rainbow using the Midas Touch Aqua Shimmer brush from Nuvo. I also cut out four cloud pieces (for the layers) from Watercolor Wishes paper in blue, purple and aqua shades. And I used the zigzag opening on the front of the shadow card.

I was really liking the look already. I dug through my Lawn Fawn stamps to find images to create my scene. I hesitated between fairies or the little dragon, but because I had not used this little stamp set often, I opted for the latter option. I borrowed the blanket image from Crazy Antics and I used a piece of acetate to have the fire hang in the air over the cake.

I was not liking how the front of the shadow box looked and I wasn't sure how to fix it. I ended up using the stitched rectangle from the Shadow Box Card die set and adding it over the zigzag circle frame using foam strips, and now I do like the look better. I added a few pearls and a gem to embellish.

I reused the purple rectangle from the front opening on the backside of the card, initially planning for this to be the place where I would write a message. When I looked through my sentiment stamps, though, I found something that was just perfect in the now-retired Birthday Banners stamp set. It reads, "Blow out the candle and make a wish" (it's better in French - it has a fun rime!). I stamped the sentiment on the matching banner, used the coordinated dies and added Stampin' Dimensionals on the back. It felt a little bare added like that to the card, but I had leftover pieces from die-cutting the cloud borders and the various colours for the rainbow, so I assembled a new rainbow and added the cloud before adding the banner. Then added a few pearls there as well and now, this colorful card just makes me smile.

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Banderoles de fête (Birthday Banners - Stampin' Up!); Little Dragon, Crazy Antics (Lawn Fawn)
Cardstock: Whisper White, Window Sheets (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers: Watercolor Wishes (Lawn Fawn)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento); Calypso Coral, Wisteria Wonder,
Granny Apple Green (Stampin' Up!)
Dies: Shadow Box Card, Shadow Box Card Rainbow Add-On, Little Dragon, Crazy Antics,
Foursquare Backdrop: Portrait, Stitched Cloud Backdrop: Portrait
Accessories: Midas Touch Aqua Shimmer Brush (Nuvo); Stampin' Dimensionals, Foam Strips (Stampin' Up!);
Bluebell Pearls, Seafoam Pearls, Pineapple Delight Crystal (Studio Katia)
Bunch of Banners (Stampin' Up!); Markers (Copic)

 

I See in the Near-Future...

Inspiration: Global Design Project #297

I've had this idea in my head since the Happy Hugs stamp set was shown in a sneak peek and I finally gave it a try today. There was a lot of fiddle-faddling involved before I managed to get this card to a point where I liked it. So the idea was to have the Fortune Teller Tabby image on the front of the card, where she is looking into her crystal ball, and inside the card, you see the little critters hugging. This is a little nod to the fact that hugging should be making a comeback in the near future. So I had my concept, but I really struggled with how to actualize it. Initially, I had the Puffy Cloud Backdrop die cut out of white cardstock and inked in Pear Pizzazz and Fresh Freesia ink with a blender brush, and my tabby colored with markers. I made a card base using Thick Whisper White cardstock and I sponged four clouds in matching ink colours, using the blender brushes and the Thought Bubbles stencil (without the little bubbles part). I stamped my four hugging pairs separately, colored them and die-cut them. The card felt very boring at that point, and because I was using blended ink, it also felt very washed out.  

I prepared my sentiment using green glitter paper and the Oliver's Stitched ABC's dies. (It reads, "I see...") I decided to create a shadow using Blackberry Bliss cardstock, and use the same cardstock to create a stitched scalloped rectangle frame around the card as well. I looked through my stamps to find a little star pattern and found what I was looking for in Fairy Friends. I added speckles to the background using Liquid Stardust and I added Diamond Stickles to the edges of the clouds.

Inside, I added texture stamping to the clouds, a border using a matching Stampin' Write marker and the stencil, and then I added die-cut clouds and cloud borders that were both embossed with the Painted Texture embossing folder. I added stars that were die-cut out of the same green glitter paper, from the Shadow Box Card Theater Add-On dies. Still not my favorite card I ever made, but it's cute and I like that it's a little out of the box.

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Happy Hugs, Fortune Teller Tabby, Fairy Friends (Lawn Fawn); Encre d'artiste (Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Blackberry Bliss, Fresh Freesia, Thick Whisper White (Stampin' Up!);
Green Glitter Paper (Unknown)
Ink: Blackberry Bliss, Fresh Freesia, Pear Pizzazz (Stampin' Up!);
Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Dies: Happy Hugs, Fortune Teller Tabby, Shadow Box Card Theater Add-On,
Oliver's Stitched ABC's, Puffy Cloud Backdrop: Portrait, Stitched Scalloped Rectangle Frames,
Puffy Cloud Borders, Simple Puffy Clouds (Lawn Fawn)
Accessories: Thought Bubbles Stencil (Lawn Fawn);
Painted Texture 3D Embossing Folder, Stampin' Dimensionals, Stampin' Write Markers,
Circle Punch, Twinkle Adhesive-Backed Sequins (Stampin' Up!);
A2 Avocado Envelope (envelopes.com); Iridescent Mini Star Confetti (Pretty Pink Posh);
Blender Brushes (Taylored Expressions); Diamond Stickles (Ranger); Markers (Copic);
Glitter Gloss Aqua Shimmer Paintbrush (Nuvo)

 

Notes of Cheer Card Kit

Stampin' Up! recently launched a new selection of kits. They will be sold online, while supplies last, and new designs will be added to the line on a regular basis. I decided to order three kits to check them out for myself, thinking they could also be used to prepare the monthly cards I send to my team members.

Notes of Cheer is the second kit I put together. Let's start with the positive: the elements included in the kit are beautiful. Nice sherbet colors, beautiful die-cuts, fun fonts. But then you look at the instructions... Card 1 is is folding your card base in two, gluing the lace die-cut, adding the banner with Dimensionals and adding the second sentiment strip with glue dots, then adding the gems. Card 2 is gluing the butterfly overlay with Dimensionals, adding the sentiment die-cut and the gems. And card 3 is folding the butterfly card base in two, adding the sentiment strip with Dimensionals and adding the gems. I know some of those kits are aimed at beginners, but this kit is so simple, it couldn't even keep my 3 and 8-year-old nieces busy for a full hour. This was disappointing to say the least. I had a look at the kit's content to try and see how I could pimp it up a little bit. I ended up transforming the butterfly into a full A2 card and using the Painted Texture 3D folder to add texture to all of my cards. I also swapped the gems from the kit for the Opals embellishments (just because they are bigger and fill the space a little bit more. I also spritzed the butterfly die-cuts with a sparkly mist to add shimmer to the wings.

If you do decide to try out some of those kits for yourself, I would advise that you pay close attention to the content's description, especially the project size. The last kit I have left to assemble is a note card kit and the cards are tiny! Will have to invest brainpower to redesign with this one as well in order to end up with something that's useful to me.

 

 

School's Out!

I recently found the Look How Big stamps and dies at my local store. I thought the mages were adorable - you see a big owl marking up how big a little kiddie owl has gotten on the trunk of a tree. I thought that if I used the big owl on his own, with his glasses and pencil, he could actually look like a teacher and be used of a school-themed card. Since I had my School Days collection out today, I decided to give this idea a try and I am really pleased with how it turned out. Isn't this little owl just precious?

One detail to point out: I cut the Fine Frames Cover Die from Altenew out of a gold foil sheet and I've been slowly incorporating all of the different sized frames I obtained into my projects. Here, I added a gold frame to the scalloped rectangle die-cut. The frame was not the right size initially, though. It was too long, so I cut it down near the bottom, overlapped the sides and I hid the seams with the owl image and the little star sticker. Easy way to get more use out of those frames.

The "thank you" sentiment was die-cut out of Blue Cashmere Pearlescent cardstock from Tonic. I took a chance on the color as I was ordering online and you never know with colour, but I'm really pleased, it's a lovely soft shade of blue that is somewhere between cornflower and steel blue. It's going to pair nicely with a lot of patterned papers, I believe. I've been loving the glitter, pearlescent and mirror cardstock from Tonic. The quality and color palette is top notch.

I used the ruler washi from the same Carta Bella collection and a little clock sticker from the sticker book to fill in the space at the top. I added a piece of torn vellum underneath the sentiment die-cut so that it would be easier to read against the word background. I used a Fairway metallic envelope, decorated with a zig zag panel and a sticker to match. I think this will make another great teacher card.

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Look How Big (Avery Elle)
Cardstock: More Mustard, Basic White, Vellum, Gold Foil (Stampin' Up!);
Blue Cashmere Pearlescent (Tonic)
Patterned Papers, Sticker Book, Washi Tape: School Days (Carta Bella)
Dies: Look How Big (Avery Elle); Zig Zag Rectangle Stackables, Dotted Rectangle Stackables (Lawn Fawn);
Bonne fête/Merci (Dee's Distinctively); Fine Frames Cover Die (Altenew)
Accessories: Ladybug Twine (Doodlebug Design); Stampin' Dimensionals, Black Basic Jewels (Stampin' Up!);
Markers (Copic); A2 Fairway Metallic Envelope (envelopes.com)

 

Happy Summer Mini-Album

Inspiration: YouTube Tutorial from Pinkstrawberryz

I started my day with a mini-album based on a tutorial from Michelle. I ended up adapting mine and changing how I did the last few pages. I recently purchased Elle's Studio dies that are might to create insert for pocket page scrapbooking. Since the mini-album has 3" x 4" pages, it was the same format as the dies, so I was inspired to make an insert. In order to be able to pull it in and out, I couldn't glue the sides of the panel together, as I would have made the space inside the pocket narrower, so I used large gold washi tape on the backside and it worked perfectly. I also love the binding look it creates, it looks really pretty.

On the front page, I also did a layered pocket instead of die-cutting the actual front of the album. I made a first pocket with the lemon pattern and a second pocket with vellum. I added the puffy sticker with the words "Happy Summer" to that front page. I made a little tag using the Say What? Gift Tags dies from Lawn Fawn and added green seam binding. I also added a little curved puffy sticker underneath the pocket slit. I slid the largest Dotted Tags from Waffle Flower. It looks so pretty with the top showing outside of the album.

The second, third and fourth pages are similar to what is shown in the tutorial. I like the idea of the hidden clip - I'll want to reuse that idea and make more for other projects. On the fifth page, you see the insert I made. I used the die that lets you create a rounded tab at the bottom, so you get two colours and it makes it more obvious that there is something hiding underneath. I used more puffy stickers on this page as well, and a leftover piece from a tag I had cut off.

On the last page, I liked the idea of the hanging element, so I used my Folk Hearts dies on woodgrain paper. The white of the woodgrain paper was not matching the white from the patterned papers, though, and was clashing so I used a blender brush to ink the heart in soft pink ink and it looked much nicer. I added an eyelet and a few stickers to dress if up and added it to the page using yellow baker's twine.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Vellum (Stampin' Up!); White Woodgrain Paper (Memory Box)
Patterned Papers, Puffy Stickers, Element Stickers: Summer Market (Carta Bella)
Dies: Dotted Tags (Waffle Flower); Say What? Gift Tags, Puffy Cloud Borders, Lacy Heart Stackables,
Outside In Stitched Heart Stackables (Lawn Fawn); Folk Hearts (Essentials by Ellen)
Accessories: Pear Pizzazz Seam Binding, 2½" and ½" Circle Punches, Baker's Twine, Eyelets (Stampin' Up!);
Washi Tape (Various)

 

And We're Off!

I went back to scrapbooking my Disney trip pictures and paired the picture of us on the plane with the Going Places collection from Simple Stories, released in 2020. This is another collection that I had yet to dive into. The colors and images are so cute! The feel of it reminds me of the You are Here collection, which I had a lot of fun using. I purchased quite a few items from this collection so the hardest part was deciding what to use first. I picked stuff that was related to airports and airplanes mainly. I was planning to use a sketch, but after putting three papers together, I started focusing on what I wanted to use instead.

I used the patterned paper that has large strips with tone on tone patterns and because I wanted to showcase it, that's when I decided to put the sketch aside. Ironically, I didn't notice as I was embellishing that I ended up covering almost the whole thing anyway! I picked the patterned paper with luggage tags and fussy cut a bunch, then created a border with them. I was liking how I had arranged them, so I in order to be able to glue everything down the way it was, I used the Press 'n Seal trick, where you add a layer of Press 'n Seal on top of the elements on your page, which allows you to turn them over while in place, add glue to the back and put them back down on the page. 

I went through the journaling cards and I selected a picture one as an embellishment and a boarding pass to include a bit of info. I had also a couple of others journaling cards that I liked aside and a few embellishments from the Bits & Pieces to possibly use on the page. At this point, I realized the page was getting uncomfortably crowded, so I started editing and taking stuff off. This is still a busy page, but this is more to my liking.

When placing die-cuts and cards on the layout, I made sure that the stewardess' feet were on the boarding pass so she was grounded and that her hand was pointing directly to the "Adventure Awaits" sentiment, which I thought was a nice touch. I matted my picture with a piece of green foliage Designer Series Paper fished out of my green scraps and a piece of white tissue paper, and from another green paper scrap, I fussy cut a leaf that I placed peeking out from underneath the boarding pass.

To add the info to the boarding pass, I pulled out my rotary alphabet stamp that Stampin' Up! used to carry a few years ago and used four colours of ink matching the papers. I handwrote the journaling at the bottom of the page with a navy gel pen. We were set for a 4-hour direct flight to Orlando and due to rainstorms, we ended up sitting on the tarmac in Miami for three hours before we were able to head back to Orlando, for a total of 8 hours on the plane. Not ideal with two young kids. They did fairly well the whole time, but we did get a meltdown from the toddler on the way out of the plane. (Which is definitely better than during the flight.)

Speaking of the You Are Here, I found some cute wood embellishments from that collection while pulling the journaling cards out so I added a flamingo at the bottom, with a palm tree die-cut from Going Places, and a plane at the top. I dug through my container of random bits and bobs and found a green button that fit so I added that, as well as an assortment of resin shapes, rhinestones, gems and dots to finish embellishing. The title was created with Dear Lizzy Thickers (2012) and pink Jane Tile Alphabet stickers from Elle's Studio.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Rotary Alphabet Stamp (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers, Bits & Pieces, Journaling Cards: Going Places (Simple Stories)
Designer Series Paper: Unknown (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Rose Red, Pumpkin Pie, Bermuda Bay, Daffodil Delight (Stampin' Up!)
Stickers: Pink Jane Tile Alphabet Stickers (Elle's Studio); Treasure Thickers (Dear Lizzy for American Crafts)
Accessories: You Are Here! Wood Veneer Pieces (Simple Stories);
2020-2022 In Color Square Gems, Twinkle Adhesive-Backed Sequins, Playing with Patterns Resin Dots,
Designer Elements, Resin Heart Embellishments, Blue Adhesive-Backed Gems, Petal Pink Rhinestone Gems,
Designer Buttons, White Baker's Twine, Shimmery Crystal Effects, Stampin' Dimensionals (Stampin' Up!)

 

Spring Scene

Inspiration: Hand Stamped Sentiments #366

I have wanted to try out the Build-a-House Spring Add-On dies, so they were the starting point of today's card. I looked at weekly challenges for color inspiration and liked the Hand Stamped Sentiments combo for something spring-y. I used Bumblebee for the house and used the Brick stencil to add texture with a blender brush.

I used white woodgrain cardstock for the door and window frames, the bird bath and the fence. I backed the windows and door with Gold Rush cardstock from Lawn Fawn (I love it, it has a nice soft golden hue with little gold speckles on it, it's just lovely). For the flowers and the sentiment, I used pink glitter paper for a little bit of variation.

The grass was created with Mint Macaron cardstock and I inked the top with Lucky Clover Distress Oxide ink. It ties in with the color combo, while adding depth. I looked at my Lawn Fawn 6" x 6" paper pads to see what I could use for the sky and I really loved the look of the Dandy Day blue paper. I added Simple Puffy Cloud Frames in white. I wanted to have a sidewalk along the fence, so I cut a piece of Gray Granite cardstock using the Outside In Stitched Rectangle Stackables dies, scored the piece at one-inch intervals, folded the paper back on itself and added grey ink in the sidewalk cracks using a sponge dauber. I wasn't sure I liked the look at first, but it definitely works well now that the full scene is assembled.

So I had my little scene set up and I went to my stamps to see what I could add to it to make it more lively. I first found the little bear from the Snow Much Fun stamp set, which looks just like he's opening the door, so that was perfect. I added him and then I realized that it would look really cute if I had the little bunny on scooter zooming by on the sidewalk. I love the finished card. This shows how well thought-out Lawn Fawn's products are. Have you seen the little mailbox? It actually opens up, and you have the shape to back the mailbox, the little flag to show mail's in, the front piece to get another colour with a heart shape and a mini envelope just the right size to slide in. Same with the bird bath - you get the piece of create the water (in my case, I just did shading in grey) and a slit so you can slide it in so that the perspective remains right (instead of having the water sit on top of the bath). You have all of the pieces you need for the flower beds and the hanging pot, including the piece to create the flower centers in another color and the thread to hang the pot from! This also explains why I ended up sitting at my craft desk for many hours, die-cutting away, but the result is very pleasing.

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Scootin' By, Snow Much Fun (Lawn Fawn)
Cardstock: Grey Granite, Just Jade, Bumblebee, Calypso Coral, Whisper White (Stampin' Up!);
White Woodgrain, Delicate Pastel Glitter Pad (Memory Box); Gold Rush (Lawn Fawn)
Patterned Papers: Dandy Day (Lawn Fawn)
Ink: Smoky Slate (Stampin' Up!)
Dies: Grassy Border, Scootin' By, Simple Puffy Cloud Borders, Snow Much Fun, Build-A-House, 
Build-A-House Spring Add-On, Outside In Stitched Rectangle Stackables (Lawn Fawn);
Voeux (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: A2 Rose Quartz Metallic Envelope (envelopes.com); Markers (Copic);
Stampin' Dimensionals, Share What You Love Artisan Pearls, Sponge Daubers (Stampin' Up!)

 

King of the Barbecue

Inspiration: Fab Friday #215 + As You See It #252

I was really happy to find the "papa" die in a recent Simon Says Stamp release. I don't think it's meant to be a French die, but this happens to be the French word for dad. French dies are few and far in between and the ones that are available don't always have the best font, so I was happy to find this one. It's a nice size, it has a clean font and I like that it has the shadow as well.

I'm trying to replenish my masculine card pile a bit, so I pulled out the Bar-b-cute paper pad from Doodlebug and add the die in the center of the oval, then use icon stickers to add elements around the oval. My initial idea was to tuck images behind the oval, but the icons were too big for that to work. Maybe if I had the mini icon stickers, the scale would have worked better. This is arguably one of the quickest card I've ever put together.

I repeated the oval on a Sapphire metallic envelope and added another icon sticker as well. I used the little cut-aparts from the paper pad to decorate the inside of the card.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Daffodil Delight, Basic White (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers, Icon Stickers: Bar-b-cute (Doodlebug Design)
Accessories: Papa Dies (Simon Says Stamp); Stitched Oval Stackables Dies,
Outside In Stitched Rectangle Stackables Dies (Lawn Fawn);
A2 Sapphire Metallic Envelope (envelopes.com)

 

Thank You, Teacher!

Inspiration: Just Us Girls #588 (NO stamping)

This card was put together in record time. I basically just assembled a design using the patterned papers and sticker book from the School Days collection from Carta Bella. This is a reminder that stamping is usually one of the time-consuming steps of the creative process. I had purchased this fun collection when it came out, but hadn't had time to use it before today. It's a line from Steven Duncan, which is a designer who's style I can instantly recognize and that I really love due to its retro influences, but I think I've mentioned in the past that I don't always find it easy to use his collections due to the fact that the papers are pretty busy. So far, I'm liking how the elements from School Days come together nicely. I hope to work with this line some more to scrapbook school pictures, but this is also perfect for teacher's thank you notes. I know my sister is constantly in need of thank you cards for teachers and day care center personnel now that her kids are at that age, so I gave her a big pile of thank you cards that she could keep to have on hand when needed. This means that I have to restock on my end as this section of my card stash is now empty. What is fun with this line is that the sticker book contains two sheets of alphabet stickers, so I was able to write "thank you" (one of the rare French words that is short and has no letter repeating) on the little blackboard speech bubble. 

In the past year, I've started buying sticker books from various companies and I've noticed that the type of stickers included in each varies greatly. Carta Bella's (and Echo Park's) sticker books include cardstock stickers that are the same thickness as their Element stickers sheet. I love that and it makes the sticker book more valuable to me. They also include two sheets of each pattern, so it is nice to have repeat. Considering the low price point, I find that you get a lot out of your money with those sticker books. The first ones I had purchased were from Simple Stories and they include paper stickers. I find those trickier to use, as they wrinkle or tear very easily when you manipulate them and they can't be popped on dimensional adhesive like with cardstock stickers, so their use is more limited. I have also noticed that because they are printed on paper instead of on slightly glossy cardstock, the colours are not always coming out exactly the same as on the other elements of the collection. It's subtle, but the difference is noticeable enough to annoy me. I thought I'd point out the difference so that you know that not all sticker books are created equal and so you are cognizant of this when shopping, especially online.

 

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Crumb Cake (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers, Sticker Book: School Days (Carta Bella)
Dies: LIbrary Card (Hero Arts); Outside In Stitched Rectangles Dies (Lawn Fawn);
Pocket, Frame and Flip-Up - Extra Frames (Elle's Studio)
Accessories: A2 Fairway Metallic Envelope (envelopes.com);
Crystal Stars, Halloween Party Doo Dadz (Buttons Galore & More); 
Stampin' Dimensionals, Night of Navy Baker's Twine (Stampin' Up!)

 

Paradise Flip-Fold Mini Album

I was inspired by a tutorial put together by my local scrapbook store owner for an online event last weekend and I used the Paradise collection from Mintay (from last year) to put together this adorable clip-fold album. I used thin chipboard for the base and patterned paper for the flip-fold inserts. I was a little hesitant when I first started and unsure how to embellish my album, but as soon as I started putting together a few elements to add inside, inspiration kicked into high gears and I stayed at my desk for hours working on putting everything together. I was wondering how well the album would close once I started embellishing, but I was surprised to find out that everything falls into place very nicely. I did avoid using any foam adhesive and layered everything flat, to make it easier.

I have a pastel glitter paper pad that I pulled out to add a few shimmery accents here and there. I used the "Paradise" Thicker from the Heat Wave pack and my net die from Les ateliers de Karine, which works so nicely with the papers. On the bottom left panel, I created a little side pocket using one of the cut-aparts and I slipped two tags die-cut with the Dotted Tags dies from Waffle Flower.

I used my Scalloped Pocket die in the top center panel. The die itself is more like a library card pocket, with a rounded back, but I only used the bottom part to make it smaller, and I added pearls along the scallops to decorate. Another cut-apart card was matted with white tissue paper. I handcut a lot of designs from the pattern papers and from the cover page of the kit. I even use the name of the collection from the branding strip as a little sentiment on my bottom center panel.

When the flaps are completely folded, you see a side pocket in the center, created with a design from pattern paper and lined with vellum to make it easier to slide the insert in. On the left panel, I glued a slip at the top and bottom so inserts can be slid underneath. 

When you close one more side of the mini-album, you see a panel decorated with sailboat pattern paper. Over it, I added a tropical panel created with Stampin' Up!'s now retired Tropical dies. I added white foliage over it as well and a mini-pocket created with the Sidekick Essentials 6 dies from Elizabeth Craft Design. Isn't that little pocket adorable? It measures 2½" x 2" so it's small! Love how it looks in the tropical flower print.

On the front of the album, I made sure to showcase one of the prettIy patterned papers from Mintay. I will say that I'm impressed the the designs of the Mintay papers, but I also find it challenging to use them in projects because they often do full-page images, which are hard to layer on without hiding the beautiful design. Here, you see most of the scene (even though the umbrella sadly got mostly cut off). The beach sign is partially hidden when the album is closed, but you can fully see it as soon as you open the side panel. I have to tell you about this "Paradise Street" metal sign that I added to the front. It was made by Making Memories. in 2010. And it was been sitting in my stash for that long. The travel theme of the embellishment pack made it harder to use due to its specificity. I was thrilled when I realized that the paradise sign fit perfectly in the design's open space, had the right colours and words on it and was a great way to finish off the album cover without hiding the paper. I know there's a school of thought where if you have not used something in years, you should get rid of it, but I think you only should if you don't love it anymore. 

Finally, I kept thinking I should add a little dangle to the edge of the album, so I wired wrapped three beads together and hung them using a jump ring. As I was pulling my jump rings out, I saw the crimps I recently purchased, so I decided to do a ribbon ornament as well. I can see why those have been extremely popular online recently. They are really addictive! It's so much fun going through my box of ribbon scraps and putting together the right colour combo to match my project. I have cumulated so much ribbon over the years that getting the right colours is not a problem... Adding the two dangling embellishments to the edge of the album made a huge difference, adding dimension and texture. Just be careful if you add something to the edges of the album and remember that when you open the album, the spine then goes flat on the table. My first idea was to do a long line of beads, wrapping twine around the cover of the album, but then I realized that the beads would really be in the way when opening up the album. By doing the dangle, I can rotate them up, out of the way when I'm opening the album, so this works much better. Always test how the flip-up parts are going to go before you glue anything down to avoid surprises.

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Till We Meet Again (P13)
Ink: Petal Pink (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers: Paradise (Mintay)
Cardstock: Whisper White, Vellum (Stampin' Up!); Delicate Pastel Glitter Pad (Memory Box)
Dies: Borders (Photoplay); Sidekick Essentials 6 (Elizabeth Crafts Design);
Tropical, Botanical Builder (Stampin' Up!); Scalloped Pocket (Fun Stampers Journey);
Stitched Square Frames,Simple Wavy Banners (Lawn Fawn); Dotted Tags (Waffle Flower);
Grillage (Les ateliers de Karine)
Accessories: Ribbons (Stampin' Up!, May Arts); Panorama Metal Plaques (Making Memories);
Heat Wave Thickers (American Crafts); Thick Baker's Twine, Brads, Clear Drops,
Expressions in Ink Ephemera Pack, Banners Pick a Punch, Distressing Tool (Stampin' Up!);
Crimps (DeSerres); Beads, Jump Rings (Bead Landing); Pearl Rectangles (Nuvo);
Watercolor Florals Say It in Crystals (Prima Marketing); Velcro (Amazon);
White Tissue Paper (Dollar Store); Mini Hearts Cotton Candy Glossies (Pure & Simple);
Corner Chomper (We R Memory Makers)

 

Bullseye!

I made a Father's Day card using the Sasparilla collection after using it on my last layout. I can never have too many masculine cards on hand so I figured these papers would fit the bill perfectly. I used the patterned paper with the little cowboys and cowgirls and paired one of the images with a kraft woodgrain frame from Jillibean Soup I've had in my stash for a while (2013). I don't have a ton of Father's Day sentiment options, so I went back to All-Aroung Argyle, which has been pulled out many times over the years. The sentiment ("Happy Father's Day, Dad") is all in one long line, so I cut it apart in smaller bits.

I had a leftover piece of polka paper cut at an angle, so I layered that piece over the quilt one, and I was liking the look of the map paper with those patterns, so I tore a strip, crumpled it, inked it with Distress ink, dried it and added it to the card. I used a mix of regular Antique Linen Distress ink and Distress Oxide ink in Frayed Burlap.

I included a few stickers from the collection around the card, a copper star and a copper-foiled embellishment from the Brightly Gleaming Foil Elements from Stampin' Up! (That embellishment pack was sold in a Christmas collection, but the stars can easily be used year-round.)

I felt the main frame would be a tight fit on a regular A2 card, so I went up in size and created a 4½" x 6" card. I had plenty of patterned paper from the collection, so I used a sheet to make a matching envelope using the Envelope Punch Board. I don't know if you have seen the Howdy! collection from Simple Stories that will be coming out this month, but it reminds me a lot of the Sasparilla collection. The colours are slightly more saturated and there are a few additional cutesy critters in it, but the patterns and vintage cowboy images are very similar. 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Tout en losange (All-Around Argyle - Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Thick Very Vanilla (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers, Stickers: Sasparilla (October Afternoon)
Ink: Antique Linen Distress, Frayed Burlap Distress Oxide (Ranger);
Chestnut Roan ColorBox Chalk (Clearsnap)
Dies: Lots of Labels (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Stampin' Dimensionals, Envelope Punch Board, Brightly Gleaming Foil Elements,
Star Designer Elements (Stampin' Up!); Kraft Woodgrain Frames (Jillibean Soup - Hampton Art);
Distress Tool (Ranger); Jute Trim (Celebrate It)

 

Expedition Everest

Inspiration: May 2018 Page Maps Sketch + Lasting Memory Layout challenge #550 (use at least three pictures)

I knew I wanted to use the Winter Wonderland collection from Doodlebug to scrapbook my Expedition Everest pictures from Disney, because of the adorable yeti included in this collection. I had purchased the adorable yeti Doodle-Pops called Harry and kept him aside for this page. In one of the cut-aparts, I found an adorable crest with the words "Adventure Awaits!", which I fussy cut to keep only the shape, and I layered the yeti over it. I thought it could serve as my title, since I was planning to use three pictures on my page and knew it might be a tight fit.

I was looking at sketches for inspiration and ended up picking a two-page sketch, even though I knew I would only use one. I thought I could pick the elements I liked and shrink them down to a single-page layout. Two of the elements from the sketch that caught my eye were the character embellishment, which I knew would be my yeti, and the banners at the top. If you look at my bottom left picture, you can see the surrounding area of this ride is embellished with a lot of bunting, which is apparently inspired by what can be seen in this area of the world. I had initially passed on the Bunting Borders dies from Lawn Fawn when they came out because I had a few smaller versions in their interactive cards sets, but I found the set at a good clearance price last year, so it was perfect to decorate the top of my page. The dies are so well thought-out - you get the string with small banners on it, and then you have the individual banners separately. Two are individuals, with a heart and a star in the center and the other die has four banners on it, alternating sides, which allows you to die-cut four at once and to use very little cardstock to do so. Kudos to Lawn Fawn for always thinking their products through thoughtfully. This made it really fast to assemble the banners. I made sure to put adhesive sheets on the back of my cardstock before die-cutting, so I didn't even have to waste time on glue. I used my Blue Cashmere pearlescent cardstock from Tonic for the banner base, which works beautifully with the papers.

At the bottom, I used gingham paper for the band from the sketch and I was looking for a scalloped border die when I spotted the Snowflake Border die from Lawn Fawn and decided to use that instead. This is where organizing my dies by type has started to pay off, as I don't always end up going to the same options and might get inspired to use something else instead. The die is about 6 inches wide, so I repeated it twice on my cardstock. It's lucky that I purchased the texture cardstock assortment with this collection, so my colors match perfectly.

I wanted the ride picture to stand out, so I pulled out Dazzling Diamonds glitter paper and cut it to size with the deckle trimmer, which goes well with the snow and ice theme. I'm almost out of the glitter paper, so to avoid wasting everything that was hidden underneath the picture, I used a rectangle die to take the middle out and I replaced it with another scrap of cardstock in another colours using the same die, to make sure the center of the picture would not buckle in the album (to level things underneath the picture).

I thought the top left corner felt empty, so I decided to add "Expedition Everest" to the page after all.  I used the silver Abigail stickers for the second word and the Newberg Navy Alphabet stickers from Jillibean Soup for the first word. I tested out adding snow to the top of the silver letters with a white gel pen and I LOVE how it turned out! 

I embellished the page with Glitter and Shape Sprinkles and a rhinestone border. I happened to have a piece of purple thread on my desk that was actually fiber provided with a garment in case you needed to repair it. I don't have the garment anymore and the colour was a perfect fit for the page. The piece of fiber was unfortunately shorter than 24 inches, so I couldn't do too strands, until I realized that I could cut it and hide the ends underneath my yeti block, and that solves the problem. This adds a nice fuzzy touch and additional colour to the bottom of the page. At top, I folded a Swimming Pool paper doily in half, added a leftover patterned paper and the yeti waving from the cabin sticker. Then I found a cute acrylic piece from Florilège Design that reads "Bon courage", which sort of means Hang in there, but that seemed to go well with the roller coaster theme.

I love how the page ended up. That cute little yeti with his toothy smile really makes the page. I will admit that while I loved the elements of the Winter Collection when it came out, I was worried about the bright candy hues and the result being a little bit too much when all paired together. You'll notice I made sure to use the grey cardstock and the grey on white pattern at the bottom to try and mitigate that a little bit, and I think it worked out well. I now want to go use my leftover papers with the new background dies from Lawn Fawn to see what cute card I can create with it! They are doing a Christmas card drive at my local scrapbook store for the children's hospital and I think Doodlebug is a safe bet when crafting for kids.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Winter Wonderland Solid Assortment (Doodlebug Design);
Dazzling Diamonds Glitter Paper (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers, Icons Stickers: Winter Wonderland (Doodlebug Design)
Dies: Snowflake Border, Bunting Borders (Lawn Fawn)
Alphabet Stickers: Silver Abigail (Doodlebug Design); Newberg Navy Alphabeans (Jillibean Soup)
Accessories: Harry Doodle-Pops, Winter Assortment Glitter Sprinkles,
Winter Hugs Shape Sprinkles, Swimming Pool Mini Paper Doilies  (Doodlebug Design);
Décos Mots doux Céladon (Florilège Design); Adhesive Rhinestone Strips (Crafts - Dollar Store);
White Gel Pen (Gelly Roll); Purple Fiber (Upcycled); Stampin' Dimensionals (Stampin' Up!)

 

Hats Off, Dad!

Inspiration: Mojo Monday #319

The initial inspiration behind this card was a colour combo I stumbled on when clearing place in my ink holder for this year's new In Colors. I had to pick a few colours of ink to move elsewhere and when I saw Purple Posy, Terracotta Tile and Bumblebee together on my desk, I really liked the look.

Hats Off is one of the first bundles that caught my eye in the new catalogue. I love the look and size of the hat and the cute logos we can add to it. I also thought this could help inspire some masculine cards so I was all for it. It's too bad this set didn't get translated (little bit of a head scratcher, honestly - they could have switched a floral set for this one), so I paired it with the Geared Up Garage set to add the "Happy Father's Day" French sentiment.

I used the woodgrain Purple Posy DSP for the background and I used a blending brush to add patterns to the corners using the Basic Pattern decorative masks. The Geared Up Garage also had a little stain stamp that I added to the corners as well for additional layered texture.

The hat was stamped in Soft Suede on Bumblebee cardstock and die-cut. I added the little logo stamped on Terracotta Tile cardstock and I stamped and fussy cut the front of the hat on the linen texture DSP and paper pieced it for additional color and texture. The sentiment was stamped on a stitched circle die-cut that was siting on my desk, in Terracotta Tile ink.

At this point, I needed to figure out how to design the card so it wouldn't look so drab. I drew inspiration from a past Mojo Monday sketch and added the polka dot rectangle and the banners. The die set includes a star, so I grabbed a scrap of gold foil paper on my desk and added a gold star to the first banner, then Purple Posy dots from the Playing with Patterns resin dots pack. (I'm surprised this one came back in the annual catalogue considering that Purple Posy just retired.)

At this point, the Terracotta sentiment was really bothering me and seemed to flat so I started testing out ideas on how to improve it. After a few tries, I settled on a Purple Posy banner - and then I added a fussy cut layer over the central word, added at an angle, and I was finally happier with the whole look.

Fun set! I like that the matching dies add stitching to the hat - interesting detail!

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: À plein moteur (Geared Up Garage), Hats Off
Cardstock: Purple Posy, Terracotta Tile, Bumblebee, Gold Foil Sheets
Designer Series Paper: 2019-2021 In Color, 2020-2022 In Color
Ink: Soft Suede, Purple Posy, Terracotta Tile, Bumblebee
Dies: Hat Builder, Stitched Shapes
Accessories: Playing with Patterns Resin Dots, Basic Pattern Decorative Masks,
Blender Brushes, Stampin' Dimensionals, White Medium Envelope

 

Big Thunder Mountain

Inspiration: Page Maps June 2018

While looking through my papers recently, I spotted the Sasparilla collection from October Afternoon (2011) and thought it would be cool used to scrapbook my Big Thunder Mountain pictures, so I had put it aside. I pulled it back out today and made a page based on a Page Maps sketch.

This all went fairly smoothly. I started by working on my title. I wanted bold letters, so I looked through my Tim Holtz Bigz Alphabet dies and picked Handmade and Wonderland. I cut the letters I needed out of chipboard. I wanted to use my Distress Oxide inks to cover the chipboard but I spotted my ColorBox chalk mini inkpads and decided to test them out. The colours and coverage was perfect so I used Warm Red and Chestnut Roan. I am really impressed by those inkpads. They were purchased well over a decade ago and it never crossed my mind at the time to invest in reinkers, so I keep expecting for the inkpads to go dry at some point, but they are still as inky as the day I got them. Which is lucky, because ColorBox has since gone out of business, so I will not be able to reink those pads. I also used those same ink pads to stamp the stars you see spread throughout the layout, using the Simply Stars stamp set. The result is very crisp and even. 

I wanted the first word to be even bigger, so I used the Big Letters dies from Stampin' Up! I layered three layers of thick cardstock and added patterned paper over it. I liked the pattern I had picked but didn't think it stood out enough so I remembered a tip seen in a video recently, where the scrapper edged her letters using the tip of a dark marker. I did that on all of my letters, including the ones colored with ink. This step was pretty time-consuming, but it made a big difference in the end result. 

I used the File Folder Edges dies on the left side of the ledger paper. I also found the Mini Fringe die while I was looking for the file folder dies and thought I could make some tassels for the page. I ended up adding them at the very end, to the ends of a piece of twine cord. I wasn't sure where I'd add the tassels, possibly hanging from the side of a patterned paper, but I ended up adding the cord over the top of the page, lasso-style.

I also wanted to use the stickers from the paper collection and discovered that the boy and the girl were quite big, but I liked that the lasso happened to fall right over the title, so I slid some of the letters under the sticker. I used the cacti to add to the scene, as well as some of the matching mini flags I had on hand. 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: This and That Date Stamp, Simply Stars (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers, Word Stickers, Little Flyers: Sasparilla (October Afternoon)
Ink: Warm Red, Lime Pastel, Prussian Blue, Olive Pastel, Creamy Brown,
Chestnut Roan ColorBox Fluid Chalk (Clearnsnap)
Dies: Mini Fringe, File Folder Edges (My Favorite Things); Big Letters (Stampin' Up!);
Handmade Alphabet, Wonderland Alphabet (Tim Holtz for Sizzix)
Accessories: Fuzzy Brad, Metal Brad (Making Memories);
Twine Cord (Stampin' Up!)