Will is now a paper crafter

So last week, I found some Tim Holtz Texture Fades on clearance (used) for $2.99 per pair, so I ordered a few sets (regretting not getting the wood grain, that is next on the list).

I didn't have a die cutter/embosser though. So the LSS was having a "Scrapper's yard sale" - you send in all your stuff you don't want in exchange for a credit to the store, and they sell it all yard sale style for you. I thought, maybe, if I'm lucky, there will be a die cutter there even though we went right at the end of the sale.

And.....

There was! I am now a proud new owner of and Epic Six I got for ridiculously cheap!  Yay!

Then I got home, realized it was the older version without the flex mat to be able to use Sizzix embossing folders... and got very sad. I ordered the mat, but I couldn't use my fancy new toy til the mat came in (stupidly, I didn't buy any super-cheap dies that were at the yard sale...)

And then! On Sunday morning, hubby came in with some junk stuff from the garage, the perfect thickness to put us in business!  He proceeded to emboss everything in site (yes HE not me, the owner of said embossing machine...)

Finally he let me try my new toy (love it!), and then promptly announced I should make a tag for the Easter gift for my friend's baby - they were coming to visit that afternoon. I, busy working with my Silhouette, ignored him (hey, I had some die cutting to do! Check out the next few posts this week and be amazed!)

So he took it upon himself. I was upstairs at this point searching for the right papers for my cutting I had planned, and he came up wondering how to cut wavy. He had the wavy paper cutter (which he bought me) downstairs, but didn't know how to make it do wavy. I explained and off he went.

Back at the Silhouette, he asks me to cut said baby's name "Logan". So he picks the font (Jokerman) and sizes it to fit his tag perfectly, and then picks the most god-awful cardstock I own to cut it out of. I hate that cardstock with a burning passion and have used it precisely once (which turned out really nice, but I still hate it). And I cut away.

Then I had to help him figure out what glue to use. I settled on my Xyron since I figured he would make the least mess (he'd already broken my liquid stick) and it would stick and do what he wanted.

Then he headed over to the embosser, and this, my husband's first papercrafting project, was born.

Scrapbook Stamp Society Anything But a Square Blog Hop

Welcome to the Scrapbook Stamp Society "Anything But a Square blog hop" First we have a fun announcement.

***Special Giveaway Announcement!***

April is an exciting month here at Scrapbook Stamp Society. We have a fun giveaway. Would you like to win a Sizzix Texture Boutique? Throughout the month of April enter our Special challenge using Any stamp from Scrapbook Stamp Society purchased that month and be eligible to win. Enter up to 1 card or project per image. The more times you enter, the better your chances of winning.

The Dream team went outside of the box and created cards and projects not in the shape of a square...

I love this Urban Farm Diva CowGirl by Sherri Baldy. I use her all the time!

I used a cowboy boot cutting file from Silhouette. It had slits cut in the paper for the stitching detail on the boots, so I decided to sew it up using my Sew Easy needle and some embroidery floss. I used a gel pen on the spurs to give it some detail, and inked the whole she-bang with Walnut stain Distress Ink. Of course, my lil girl is colored with Copics

Hop along with us and be sure to see all the beautiful creations. Leave comments on each blog as well as this main one and become a follower on this blog.

Blog Candy- 3 digis of your choice from www.scrapbookstampsociety.com Want to win an extra one? Go to the store and pick your favorite one and let us know what it is in the comments below.




START HERE: Scrapbook Stamp Society- http://www.addicted-to-stamps.blogspot.com/
1.Sher - www.patternsbysher.blogspot.com
2. Jamie- http://thesassyprincess.blogspot.com
3. Lia- http://myscrapworks.blogspot.com
4. Lou- try this link
5.Tori- http://tfraildesigns.blogspot.com
6. GO HERE NEXT IF YOU CAME TO ME FROM LOU Bev- http://beeceecreativity.blogspot.com

Another pair of New Digis From Scrapbook Stamp Society

I have to say, I love being on the DT for Scrapbook Stamp Society. We get so many fun and cool images to play with. This week I got two of the new releases, Shades of Green by Morgan Fitzsimons, and Lotus Blossum by Sherri Baldy.

ALSO - we are now on Ning - come on over and share all your fabuloso cards and other projects with us, chat, join challenges, etc. Be sure to stop by the QOTD group so we can get to know you!

Here are my cards:

Lotus Blossom

Shades of Green

Everything I used is from the stash pretty much, including old Momenta St. Patty's papers, MME paisley, Momenta cardstock, DCWV cardstock.

Hope you enjoy, and head on over to the store to check out those images and more!

Let's Scrap Forum Challenge - Up Up and Away

In addition to showing off a fab new double pager sketch every week, Let's Scrap has tutorials and challenges in the forum too!

This month's challenge was to make a monochromatic layout with the sketch below.


In addition, we had the following criteria:

1. use the sketch provided for the month long challenge

2. make use of a monochromatic colour scheme

3. use your stash {no new papers and embellishments for this layout!}

4. use a LARGE TITLE on your layout

5. use a stamp

6. use a handmade embellishment {made by YOU} that matches a pattern or item on your layout

Truthfully, I don't like this sketch. Not at all. It could be great with the right photos, but I don't take the right kind of photos. I always zoom in so my subject fills as much of the frame as possible, so making itty bitty tall strips like that was not at all possible for me!

I decided only to use the left hand page and move things around a bit, adding a few more photos and such.

I used a paisley stamp in blue (Weathered Wood) around the photo, and hand made the airport wind sock.

Thanks for visiting!

2SF Christa's Monday Challenge, including Momenta

Not sure if I've mentioned this before, but sometimes, Christa is evil lol. She said for this challenge over at Two Scrapbook Friends that we had to use shapes other than squares, hearts, stars and circles.... which of course are everyone's go-tos.... but truly, they weren't mine. I just got a few shiny new punches so at first glance I thought, GREAT! I can use my fab new punches... which are stars and hearts! Darn.

Then I thought about this layout I started EONS ago and never finished. I made the RHS page photo collage a long time ago when I first got my Creative Memories blooming star template (its a flower. not a star lol) and then had no mojo left to finish the pages.

The patterned papers are more of my ancient Momenta stack that I love so much but can't even tell you what its called its so ripped up and beaten! (I bought it damaged and missing the "Summer" section :( )  The orangey cardstock is from DCWV, and then the blings and letters are stash items. I am thinking about going back in and adding some stickers to the second page now that I look at it closely, but I'm not sure.... any suggestions?

TUTORIAL: Customizing Momenta Cardstock and a Scrapbook Stamp Society Image

This week, I got this new release, Super Hero Zell & her Walker by Sherri Baldy from Scrapbook Stamp Society to play with.

I wanted to use my textured black Momenta cardstock but I wanted some way to bring out the texture more, and of course you can't just ink up the black cardstock straight.

I thought I would share with you how I did this.

What you need:
Cardstock cut to size (I used Momenta - any textured Momenta will work)
Sanding block of some sort
Ink

Here is my pre-cut cardstock card out of Momenta PA-2390 

A piece of 2x4 and some scrap sand paper is all I use!

Sand the paper. I used a wood block and a piece of sand paper, but you could a drywall sanding sponge or a commercially available paper sanding tool. I find with a linear pattern like this, you can highlight the pattern best by sanding along the lines.  Sand more heavily on the edges to really highlight the texture and the edges

Wipe/blow off as much of the sandings as you can from the paper. You don't want these to accumulate on your ink pad.

Rub down the surface and edges with the ink pad. I used Peeled Paint distress ink.

 

I also made my own multicolor twine, or at least thats what it looks like. I used two pieces of embroidery floss, and twisted them together between my fingers as I wrapped, using Scotch tape on the back to anchor it. Excuse the inky fingers... I am a pro at getting dirty :)

I colored the image with my Copic markers, and added the squiggles and the spider webs free hand with Stickles.

Here is a 12x12 page of raised stripes from the same Momenta pack I also sanded down.

Scrap the Girls - Celebrations

Scrap the Girls is a fun, girls-only challenge blog. It gives you an excuse to make a girls-only page for no reason at all! The theme this month is "Celebrations".

I decided to use photos of the girls dancing at my wedding... cuz you know there were no men on the dance floor!

I used the Bo Bunny line Jasmyne from 2010 since it had lots of glitter and glam going on, and wasn't overpowering. I added some sequins and Colorbok letters from the stacks set... and ta-da!