Sunday, April 29, 2012

I keep a stash of cards on hand, so yesterday I figured I'd find something appropriate for a communion we were going to later in the day. Then I saw this card on Pinterest and the creative juices started flowing. I decided to CASE it with a few modifications.

First, I dug out:
- a mini envelope punch that I don't think I've ever used. (Yay, purchase now justified. Lol.)
- a lonely stash of vellum that hasn't seen the light of day in awhile
- a three-hole punch to make confetti. (I wound up just using a hand held punch instead... much faster.)
- a scrap of Stampin' Up's Big Top patterned paper


Then, I used my Stamp-a-ma-jig to make masks for a Sale-a-bration stamp set by Stampin' Up called Outlined Occasions. Why? Because I tend to ruin cards when I stamp on a saying and deem it to be crooked. Pet peeve. These vellum masks allow me to place my saying exactly where I want it. It helped to make my smaller saying straight too because I made masks for the three smaller sayings in the set also.


I decided not to color in the saying... just another precaution on my part because I wasn't sure that I wouldn't color out of the lines accidentally and I didn't want to have to start over again.

One might question the use of such non-traditional colors for a Communion card but I don't run with the herd. These were the colors nearby on such short notice. Lol.

I realized that I needed to do something to keep the confetti in the envelope from falling out so I used micro Glue Dots to keep the top ones in place and hoped they blocked the others from falling out. The micro dots came in handy for the confetti on the face of the card too.


I hope you are inspired to create a card like this. It was fun to make with scraps and came together pretty quickly.

Off to tackle the To Do list..... *smile*

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

WOYWW151 and more baby books...

Now that I have a recipe for a baby book (see last Weds. post), I'm able to face all the books that need to be worked on. We are in a veritable baby boom right now, from the looks of it!

This one is for my neighbor's little bundle. Working with all this pink is joyful... *smile*

For What's on Your Workspace Wednesday (hosted weekly on Ms. Julia's blog), I'm showing you the state of my kitchen table. With a project like this, it's nice to spread out.


Once all the pieces were cut, it was easy to assemble quickly. In order to make this album less bulky than my recent creations, I dispensed with the chipboard embellishments this time. I punched my alphabet letters and then ran them through my little Xyron X machine (seen peeking out of the lower right corner.)


Two different types of ABC prompts were presented to you in my previous blog post. This time I printed the prompts in the only pink that my computer offered (I'll have to fine tune that one day). It did the trick this time.


And here is the lovely pad that makes this all possible. For a project like this, I love pads that have punch out dies that coordinate with the paper.


Check out Julia's BLOG for more fun workspaces this (and every) Wednesday.

Oh, and I almost forgot to toot my own horn.... I was published on p. 91 of the Apr/May/June issue of the Stampers Sampler. Woo hoo! Let me let you in on a little secret. If you use Unity stamps and you get published in a magazine, they reward you with $25 and a free stamp kit of up to $29 in value. Isn't that a super incentive! Check out the Unity SITE to see their cool stamps. I'm just sayin'...


Mother's Day is coming up so I should be posting a card sometime soon.....

Have a nice day!

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

As promised, some ABC ideas...

Hi there! Yesterday I promised that I'd share some ABC journaling that I used for a couple of baby books I just finished. First, I'll list the one that is related to the Stampology clear stamp set I have. Then, the more spiritual one that I found somewhere. Using one line per page makes for a nice easy album that can be modified for other occasions (if you squint... lol.)

A is for amazing/adorable
B is for best/beautiful
C is for caring/cherished
D is for darling/determined
E is for easy going/energetic
F is for fearless/feisty
G is for great/gifted
H is for happy/helpful
I is for individual/interesting
J is for joyful/joker
K is for kind/kissable
L is loved/loud
M is for mine/marvelous
N is for noisy/notorious
O is for outdoorsy/outstanding
P is for perfect/pleasant
Q is for quiet, queen
R is for rowdy/runner
S is for sweet/sensitive
T is for tricky/treasured
U is for unique/understood
V is for verbose/victorious
W is for winner/wonderful
X is for x-static/x-cited
Y is for you/youthful
Z is for zany/zoo

(I think that for my baby book, I may have exchanged some of the above for more baby-like terms.)

The title of my next album was "Children are..." and these were the pages that followed the cover:

Amazing, acknowledge them
Believable, trust them
Childlike, allow them
Divine, honor them
Energetic, nourish them
Fallible, embrace them
Gifts, treasure them
Here Now, be with them
Innocent, delight with them
Joyful, appreciate them
Kindhearted, learn from them
Lovable, cherish them
Magical, fly with them
Noble, esteem them
Open minded, respect them
Precious, value them
Questioners, encourage them
Resourceful, support them
Spontaneous, enjoy them
Talented, believe in them
Unique, affirm them
Vulnerable, protect them
Whole, recognize them
X-tra special, celebrate them
Yearning, notice them
Zany, laugh with them

There you have it. I hope you're inspired to create with one of these. And, if so, let me peek!

Have a great day,

WOYWW #150 and she's back...

What's On Your Workspace Weds? The brain child of Ms. Julia. Please check out her BLOG later. Lots of great workspaces linked in over there.

As for me... so much going on, so little time to craft. But I did get back in the trenches for a project that has been looming over my head for 2 years. Yikes. Yes, I'm talking about the infamous baby books for my niece. I guess this is what happens when I get myself involved in a project that requires factory-line processing. My self-diagnosed scrapper's ADD sets in and something shiny catches my eye and I'm off chasing it.

Well, the twins are turning 2 tomorrow so I had to make enforce a deadline for myself to finally get these done. I'm going to give you a quick peek at how I did them so that maybe it will inspire you.

I like to make ABC books. I've found two syles that I like to use. One is using a clear stamp set by Autum Leaves called Stampology.


If you can't read the words, I'll provide the list in tomorrow's post. The other style is to use a poetic ABC version that can be illustrated with any picture that you choose. It's your interpretation (or your recipient's choice, I imagine.) I'll give you that tomorrow, too.

Okay, so, I like to start with an 8x8 album and a paper pad with a baby theme that offers papers and punch out dies, but you can also find papers that have coordinating chipboard etc. (Just be warned, they make your album thick, I know now too late!)

Then I take:
a patterned 8x8 sheet (or cut a 12x12 down),
a 4-1/4" x 6-1/4" coordinating paper mat,
a 1" x 8" strip of solid cardstock,
a die cut journaling shape
an alpha embellishment,
and my computer generated verse.

I attach the journaling shape to the photo mat in such a way that whether the album recipient wants to display their chosen photo horizontally or vertically, it works on the page. I don't glue it down to the page when I slip it into the page protector for that reason, too. Oh and I attach the the strip only on the edges so that the photo mat can slip under it also if preferred.


I hope this gives you a spark of inspiration. And don't stop at baby books. It can be modified for any occasion that you can come up with an ABC approach.

Tomorrow, I will give you the two ABC journaling lists, I promise. Come back if you'd like them. (Too long to include them today.)

Here you see me adding a name to one of the album's I'm sending to my niece. I figure, by now, she's got plenty of pictures to choose from!


Have a great WOYWW and thanks for coming by....

*smile*