OLW

karla's tip/technique

Hey guys! I wanted to share with you a simple Peek-a-Boo card

You can modify it in so many ways. I will be using Photoshop to decorate the card but you can use stamps if you'd like.

Supplies:

• Editing program/Photoshop + printer (optional.)
• Rotary cutter or craft knife
• Self-adhesive mat
• Scissors
• Ruler
• Anywhere hole punch (optional)
• Sewing machine or stapler
• One 8.5 x 11 white cardstock
• One piece of pp
• One piece of vellum

Below is a video of preparing the card design within Photoshop. (note: if you don't have Photoshop and you want to try it out; go here to download a 30 day trial. Any version of PS will do for this tutorial)

The first thing I did was look for a card that I already had to get the measurements from it. I chose one that was within a stationary pack so I knew it had a fitting envelope.I took the measurements of the card while it was open.

How to put it all together...

[supplies: pp (letters): KI Memories; Vellum and 'anywhere' punch kit: Making Memories; Rub-on letters: American Crafts; Tag: Office Depot]

You can download the brush I used to make the card below.

Download Kd_Peek-A-Boo_Brush

I really hope you got something out of this and remember to stop by my blog tomorrow for more variations on this peek-a-boo method!

SPECIAL NOTE: There is a very special card drive that is going on through the 15th of October. Kate, just a little girl, has been diagnosed with cancer. You can read her incredible story here. And Kristina Proffitt along with Jennifer McGuire holding Cards for Kate and are asking all scrappers and even your children to make a card for her. There will be some giveaways also and I will have a couple of word brush kits for a winner. There will be several ladies contributings so make sure to stop by and create something for a special little girl :) Grab the badge bellow and spread the word! 

Happy Scrappin'!

❤ Karla

Lynn's tip/technique

Hey! Just wanted to share a little technique using some grunge paper and a little bit of crackle paint! I LOVE flowers....in case some of you haven't noticed that already! lol I started by going to my local scrapbook store 'the Scrapyard', and cut out some grunge paper flowers

then I painted them with antique linen crackle paint, waited for it to dry then added a bit more ink..... can't be tooooooo grungy..... can it?

 

Then I used a script stamp and stamped on all three flowers with brushed corduroy distress ink.....
 
Then I stacked them on top of each other and added a cool brad with a little gem in the middle...

and this is the layout that i used it on..... which is also a class at the Scrapyard!
Have fun with it!

Lynn

Ronda's Tip/Technique

it's no secret, I love playing with spray inks.  So much fun in a bottle.  There are many great brands out there. 

Glimmering Mists by Tattered Angels (they have a shine to them)
Maya Mists by Maya Road ("plain" & Metallic Mists)
Color Wash by Ranger

Here i am going to show you some techniques i have done while playing with these spray inks that go beyond just spraying the page.  I could go on & on about spray inks. I am completely addicted to them....almost as much as chai teas!

Paint a little bit of the background with your favorite color.  Next grab a "lace" or "Die-cut" pattern paper.  We all have these in our stash.  I placed scrap sheets of cardstock (or honestly whatever else i have lying around) so that i could concentrate my spray.  Spray through the die cut paper.  You can make it light or heavy.  I would start light and then check it to see how much more you want to add.

 

The first layout is just doing the mist in strip using the die-cut paper.  The second is covering the whole background.

Don't let those mask go to waste.  You probably have some in your stash.  Break them out and use them with the spray inks.  Spray inks are water based so all you have to do is rinse them in water.  Use one color or multiple colors.

I used three colors on this layout.  The green was the prominent with greys & blues softer in the background. 

Punch it out.  Punches are a great way to make your own masks.  You can use the punched out shapes like here.  Or do the reverse like Denise showed you in this post. 

I used a music note as my "screen" on the first layout.  The second layout is using Denise's technique with a "reverse" star punch.

Found objects.  That's what i love the most.  Unusual shapes that leave you guessing how i did it.  This little piece was the best money I ever spent and it was really cheap too.  It is a plastic canvas i found at my local hobby store, you know the kind that you weave yarn through.  I have also used doilies, buttons, rhinestone pieces.  Nothing is off limits.

 

Can you see the red mist through the screen?  And on the second layout after painting the background, I tossed buttons on the layout and then sprayed.  Washed off the buttons, easy peasy.

Stamps + Mists = FUN.  I did this tutorial up on my personal blog a few months ago.  You can GO HERE for the complete step by step.  It is so much fun you won't be able to stop.

Here is that butterfly with spray inks.  One in the center & one on the bottom right edge.

 

Bubble Wrap stamping is so much fun.  Here i used an orange spray.  You can see how cool the bubble wrap looks on the page.

I told you the sprays were water base.  Well if you spray again, you can get a cool two tone look. I had already sprayed the bubble wrap with the orange and stamped it.  Now I sprayed it with the red.  You can see the two colors on the page.

Here is a bubble wrap spray ink page with a script stamped over it. 

I hope you found some new techniques to incorporate with your spray inks.  Most importantly is to have fun, play around, and see what you create.  If you don't like the page as a whole, you can turn it into Cards or ATC cards.

needs some more inspo?  Go here & check out Dina Wakley's Maya Mist tutorial.

Lots of Love,
Ronda

gudrun's tip/technique

School just started here in Norway, and now I have TWO little schoolgirls. I also try to renovate and redecorate my home these days. I need to find new ways to keep all our stuff in place. So what better way to start out the new school year than making a new place for pencils and all the things needed for homework. I made these little boxes for all the little things like erasers, little scissors, pencil sharpeners, tape and so on. I also decorated a empty glass jar for all the pencils and markers. Fun and easy, and It will keep all the little things in place.

What you'll need:

patterned paper

cardstock

glue/doublesided tape

ruler

scissor

pencil

embellishments of your choice.

You can download and print the sketch on the back of your patterned paper, or just use it as a guide.

Make sure you mark the middle of your paper.

Fold all the corners to the middle of the paper.

Fold along all the lines 1, 2 and 3. For this step I just fold all the sides so they touch the middle of the paper. 

 

Unfold -you now have several folds that'll guide you to fold the box.

Cut along the folds marked Cut /"klipp" on the sketch.

 

Fold the little "loose ends" in and the "envelope-like" part of the paper over them. Do the same thing on the other side of the box.

secure the inside center of the box with a little drop of glue.

The lid of your box is now ready.

Make one more box like this. I used cardstock for the bottom of my box - CUT the paper about 5mm smaller on two of the sides before you resize and print/draw the sketch and  start folding. This will make the bottom part of your box fit better to the lid you just made. finish box 2 in exactly same way as box 1.

NOW embellish the box however you like it the best, and you have a beautiful little box for your stash.

These boxes are also perfect for little gifts.

You can make them whatever size you like. My boxes are made of patterned paper in size 12x12" and 9X9", but you can even make them smaller or bigger, just resize the sketch if you choose to print it on the back of your paper.

Have fun and happy creating  :)

~gudrun~

Denise's Technique

I thought Revlie's tip the last time was brilliant.  It got me thinking about all those stamps I have but hardly use and what I could do with them.  This little trick is something I learned a few years back from one of my stamping hero's, Lenna Andrews.  You can use any old watercolors but my favorites are Twinking H2O's by Luminarte.  They have rich, vibrant colors and a hint of mica powder like glimmer mists so they sparkle.  Yea!

You'll need your watercolors, container of water, brushes, paper to stamp on and various stamps.  I like to use foam stamps or rubber stamps.  Reverse images work really well with this tecnique giving you a better impression of color.  Paper towels are a good bet as well.

 

The Twinkling H2O's come in little pots that are dry.  You need to add a few drops of water to each pot you'll be using and wait a few minutes while the pigment breaks down.  You do not want to use to much water.  Less is better and you can always add more if you need to.  Mix the pigment up in the pot until it has a nice, rich creaminess to it.  You want the paint to be thick so it will adhere to the stamp.

 

Next, using your paintbrush, begin applying the paint to the rubber stamp.  Sometimes you may need to go over it several times.  The water in the paint likes to bead up and resist the stamp.  Keep painting.

 

When you have covered the stamp impress it onto your paper.  The image may be a bit blurry, this isn't as exact as ink.  I find that if I paint over the stamp again after the first impression, the second will often be clearer.  This is especially true with foam stamps.

 

The two colors on this was because I didn't clean the stamp very well after stamping it with the aqua color.  The gold and aqua mixed together while I was painting --a happy accident for a lazy craft er.  I then used the foam stamps to impress my title.

 

I love the way the images shine and sparkle.  Many of the colors have duo pigments so the color changes as you move.

 

 

If you don't feel comfortable using paint on a scrapbook layout, this technique is also wonderful for creating unique cards and gift tags.  Have fun creating!

Denise

Revlie's Tip/technique

i'm not much of a stamper. or a painter. and i think that's because i feel like i can 'mess it up' easily. so i thought of a plan. to get more stamping & painting going on my work (cause i love looking at yours!). with the clear stamps, it's easy. just place & see where it lands... but with the mounted stamps... so i figured i wanted to feel 'save'. and maybe you are already doing it, or not, but i thought "what if i had the stamp as a layover/ transparency and i could simply look at it BEFORE i stamped it on my precious work?". now that sounded as a fabulous idea. so here's how i work:

when i buy a new stamp, i first stamp it on a blank transparency. i bought a box of these a million years ago (actually i stole it from my work, but it's my own company, so my own money :D. we used it 'back in the old days' for Power Point presentations):

it was kinda useless so i thought it would be perfect for scrapbooking :D (now don't go steel on your bosses, i didn't set you up to it!)

 

when i'm creating a layout and feel the need of a stamp... i simply get to my stamped transparency and hold it over where i would love to have it. then i can place and replace it just as long as i want and when i feel happy with it, i get the REAL stuff and stamp.

of course i use it a lot for journaling stamps, cause that's the stamp i use most regular, but also for quotes, symbols, trees, swirls whatever stamp you have you can use this tip for! and if you are like me (hmmm where shall i put this??) it's a perfect 'saver'.

and what if.... you DO make that mistake... on my next layout (published in Scrapbook Magazine in 2008) i dropped my journaling stamp after i had already stamped on the layout. aarggh. do you feel the panic? ha. i simply dropped it again. twice. and just wrote my journaling on it. i loved the effect. problem solved.

and if you are planning on buying a box of those blank transparencies, of course you can use them for numerous things. i also use it as a 'color card' for my acrylic paints. this way i can view the color better. hold it over my project and decide what color of green is best.

and what about creating your own transparencies? you can find lots of cool free patterns you can use to print on the transparency. or maybe you can even create some coolness and print it?! if you do so, please share!

life is good

rev

gigi's tip/technique

make mine a mini please :)

i create a lot of mini books...they are super handy because both sets of grandparents live pretty far away from us, they are quick and easy AND they help use up all of that excess product that collects on my desk after i've created layouts & such...

there are a million and one ways to create a minibook & there are so many great products on the market already ready-made for you too....but i find myself going back to the same formula time & time again to make many of mine...i've also used this formula to create little felt needle books too with great results...

gather your supplies...you'll need something for your cover, some inside pages & something to bind it all together with.

for your cover you can use chipboard, a bingo card as you'll see below, double sided patterned paper, felt, stiff fabric, a piece of cardstock...the choices are endless...same with inside pages :)

for your inside pages, cut them each 1/4" smaller all around then your cover piece...so if your cover is 5"x7", your inside pages are going to be 4 3/4" x 6 3/4"...

fold all your pieces in half in half and then stack together

pierce center of your "spine" with a darning needle in 2 places...thread embroidery floss, or twine or ribbon (again...endless choices here :) to create your binding...


tie off & viola!  you are done!!

this little plain cardstock one will be given to one of my little ones so she can create her own little "field journal" for her "hike" in the backyard today...these would be cute to make for your kids for a trip to the zoo so they can draw or write their faves of the day as they stroll through the exhibits (& then later you can pilfer it for your scrapbook...lol!)
you could also make one with some favorite family photos & give to your little one to occupy him in target too...or vacation journals for your kids (again, perfect to steal later for your scrapbook...lol)...or maybe the month's sight words for your kindergartner...again...endless possibilities here  :)

here are some examples of how i used this formula:

* this little minibook has some of my fave pictures i found of my littlest, kate, when she was 2...i used a bingo card for my cover

* this little book i made for my dad so he can hold it while in the hospital & going through tough therapy appointments..i thought it would help to have some smiles in hand :)
(for this one, i sewed a bit of felt riboon on for the spine rather than tying off some thread)

* and this one i made back in july 2007 with some of my favorite family photos of the moment, i used the same formula & repurposed a starbucks gift card holder....i also added a bit of printed transparency to this one, just to jazz it up...this little mini was the perfect size for my purse when i travelled to my first CHA & missed my "team":)

these little books would be the perfect little gift for your summer visitors too...you could whip one up for them so when it is time to say goodbye, they would have a little treasure of some of the fun times they had while visiting...

you also could create one & instead of photos, add important phone #s, addresses & information & stash in your glove compartment or have on hand for your babysitter...

happy creating!!!

xoxo

gi

Jessi's tip/technique

hi jessi here.  I say "it's all good" & end my sentences with "hey".  Just teasing, hey.  It's actually Ronda filling for jessi.  A couple weeks ago I made some pendants using Hambly Pattern Papers & Hambly Rub-ons.  and now I am going to show how to make them.  We all have pattern papers we love, so why not show it off by wearing it?

Supplies:
Glass tiles
Silver bails
Clear Glue (like Diamond Glaze)
Strong Glue (E6000)

You can find some starter kits & glass tiles here on Etsy. 

Kristen Krafts

Sun & Moon Crafts

I picked out some of my favorite rub-ons from hambly. Love how graphic they are.  And then choose some of your favorite pattern paper.  Rub it on to the pattern paper.

Now spread the clear glue over the top of the rub-on and paper, having your glass tile ready to go. 

 Place your glass on top of the clear glue & smooth out any bubbles. 

Let the glue dry and then cut off the excess paper.  Sometimes I put the rub-on off to the side of the glass tile for a nice design touch.

How cute is the tile?  I warn you creating these are addicting!

Next take the E6000 and put a small dot on the back of the bail.  Then place the bail on the back of the glass tile, keeping in mind where the placement of the design.

To clean up my tile, I use a little bit of alcohol on a piece of cloth.

 

Now you have your own piece of wearable art created from your scrapbook supplies!!!  These make great gifts for people.  My daughter & I made them some for her friends together...so much fun.

Lots of Love,

Ronda

Karla's tip/technique

Hello guys! Well, I'm here with another Photoshop trick to make your photos pop for your blogs with the use of drop shadows! It's a subtle way to add a little whimsy to any post.

So lets just get to the nitty gritty of it shall we? :)

1.) Start off by opening up a new canvas and opening up your picture. Then drag your picture on top of your canvas.(I do it by dragging the picture layer onto the canvas itself) Rename it if you want. I named mine picture.

2.) Select your picture layer (so that it has 'marching ants' around it) by pressing the apple key while clicking the picture in the layer pallet. (hold down the Ctrl for windows).

3.) Create a new layer (rename it shadow) and drag it under the picture layer. With the 'marching ants' still around the picture layer and with the shadow layer active, fill it in black with the paint bucket tool.

 

4.) Deselect the picture layer and click on the shadow layer. Go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur. Make it so the edges are good and hazy. I usually choose a setting of 8.5 - 9 but adjust to your taste.

 

5.) Now with the shadow layer still active. Go to Edit > Transform > Warp. Handles will appear. Take the two middle handle on each side and drag them until they almost hit the edge of the picture.

 

 

6.) When you are done with those then pull the very corners out some.

 

7.) Lastly drop the opacity down some if it's a bit too dark. I did mine to 70. And this is the final look :)

 

Play with it too. Here I made the corner of Chloe's picture super funky.

With her all I did was pull the handle of the bottom left of the shadow layer out and up. Then I pulled the bottom left corner of the picture layer out and down. Like you see here:

 

 

I dropped the opacity of the shadow layer and that was it ^_^ Just a little way to make your extra special pics on your blog look snazzy!

***One more tip...Try adding a thin border to your photos along with this technique. It's super easy. All you need to do is:

1.) Make sure your picture layer is active.

2.) Go to your Layer Styles. (it's the cursive 'F' on the bottom of your layer pallet) And go down to Stroke.

3.) Enter a stroke size of about 4 (adjust according to taste). Choose color (I usually go white) and set it to Inside.

You will end up with a nice clean border that will make your photo stand out even more. It is especially nice on darker photos. Here, take a look:

I hope you enjoy and happy posting guys!

-Karla

Lynn's tip/technique

Just want to share a little embellishment that I LOVE doing! First of all I make my own  albums and I LOVE having things dangling from the spine of my albums... so lets get started!
First of all I used a small frame that is just plain metal.... the opening is roughly 2 inches by 2 inches.... get out your paint and crackle paint as well! ( I just use the good old crackle paint....i know it requires another step but I LOVE the look I get from it!)


wait for your frame to dry then gather up some little embellishments to add to it!
I used a flower and some little letters and a tiny little picture of one of my kids....

I use these little metal attachers...(totally don't know what to call them!) to attach to the back of things to make it easier to hang.

attach picture to the back of frame and then attach  metal attacher...i used glossy accents to adhere everything.

Voila!!! the finished embellishment! I used some wire to attach some beads and another little metl flower and then used some bead chain so that I could hang it from the spine of my album! Have one with these everyone the possibilities are endless!