Coaster Made With Scraps

I was in the $2 shop today and found a set of four cork backed coasters, they were really nice except for the hideous picture on them.

I had a look around my stash and my eyes fell upon the leftover designer paper from the diary I made for next year. Out came Scribble This again and this is what appeared a few minutes later. I think I might make a few sets for Christmas presents (my husband thought it was made of leather when he first saw it).

• Stamps: Scribble This
• Ink: Basic Brown, Cranberry Crisp, True Thyme
• Paper: Rustic Designer Paper
• Accessories: My favourite - Crystal Effects (for gluing the paper down and for sealing the coaster), Sanding Block, Sponge Dauber

Nice and Easy Scrapbooking

Here is the first page that I put together of our weekend away. My son was being silly and pulling faces and poses so I just kept snapping away - I love the expressions that I caught and I wanted to scrap a simple layout that kept the emphasis on him and I am thrilled with the way it came out!

• Stamps: Pure and Simple Alphabet Upper
• Ink: Brilliant Blue pad and Brilliant Blue Stampin' Write Marker
• Card: Brilliant Blue, Basic Black, Notations Double Sided Designer Paper
• Accessories: Crystal Effects (I used it to glue everything down and to add water drop accents), Spiral Punch (a must have for me), Bread and Butter Plate (my circle template).
  

Next Years Diary

I got an On Board Art Journal with the intention of using it for next years diary. As usual I couldn't bear to touch it in case I messed it up! I told myself I just had to suck it up and do it and this is the result - it is exactly what I want and I am thrilled with how it came out.


How did I get started? I decided I wanted neutral tones so I picked up my Basic Brown pad and a sponge dauber and started sponging around the outside of the cover, by the time I had finished that I had found my confidence and went hunting in my stash with bits to dress it up. Somehow I felt that once the sponging was there it was no longer perfect so I gave myself permission to play - go figure :-)


I played with my On Board Accents (once again stashed because they were too precious to use - I really have to get over this), designer paper, hodgepodge hardware, ribbon I had previously dyed using a basic brown reinker and a sanding block to name a few. I stuck everything down with Crystal Effects - darn I love that stuff - and glazed the On Board Accents with it to protect them, the outside was done (or maybe a work in progress. there is still plenty of room to add more treasures) and the effect was great!

To do the diary pages I made a universal calendar template in word and printed it out, trimmed it and stuck it to the inside page with Crystal Effects. I then wrote the dates in, stamped the month and generally had a blast stamping everything else, the second page I just ruled and stamped. I will be using this primarily for workshop bookings so the 10 blocks are ample (I never intend doing more than 10 workshops a month).

To use my diary I just write the name of the person hosting the workshop on the main calendar, write the date at the top of one of the rectangles on the second page followed by their details - simple to follow and I can see at a glance where I can slot people in. Best of all I can also block out days that I can't work for personal reasons (such as my sons birthday).

I think I will be able to fit a few years worth in this journal and love that I create each and every month the way I want to! If I need an extra page for some reason it won't be a problem to insert using the spiral punch.

Just a Quick Note

Just a quick note today as we are about to head off to the beautiful Marlbourough Sounds for an extended Labour Weekend. Hopefully I will have some great scrapbook pages to put up after I scrap the photos I intend taking. Have a great Labour Weekend and I will be back the middle of next week.

Progressive Scrapbook Page

I love the concept of progressive pages - where you firstly create a 6 x 6 inch page(Creamy Caramel), then use it to create an 8 1/2 x 11 inch page (Old Olive), then upsize the whole thing to a 12 x 12 inch page (More Mustard).

It is so much easier to start out small then build it up. I even managed to fit my title and journal ling on the 6 x 6 page!

• Stamps: Greetings Galore, Pure and Simple Alphabet Upper, Watercolor Joy Wheel
• Ink: Versamark, Basic Black
• Card: Creamy Caramel, More Mustard, Old Olive
• Accessories: Sanding Block (for sanding the edges of the photos), Stampin' Write Journaler
  

Pastel Workshop Card

A friend of mine bought the pastels and wanted some ideas of how to use them so I came up with this card for her.

I stamped the flower with white craft ink then embossed it with white embossing powder - the fun part was colouring in the flower using a blender pen and the pastels, it really pops on the black card! When we had finished coloring in the flower we quickly zapped it with the heat gun again to set the pastels.

The ribbon started out in life as plain white grossgrain, we staped along the length of it with versamrk ink. chalked up a cotton ball then dabbed it along the length of the ribbon, to get the colour to teally stick we then rubbed the ribbon hard with the cotton ball.

The Scribble Wheel background was coloured using a blender pen and pastels.

All up it quite a simple card to do although a bit time consuming, but I think the results justify the time, and it is so much fun using one colouring medium to get so many different results.

• Stamps: Heartfelt Thanks, Scribble Wheel, Warmest Regards
• Card: Whisper White, Basic Black
• Ink: Basic Black, Versamark, White Craft
• Accessories: White Embossing Powder, White Grossgrain Ribbon, Copper Brad, Mat Pack, Pastels

Thinking of You

I love the mat pack and have been playing with faux stitching using the white gel pen, I love this technique and the way it dresses up a small image on a card.

• Stamps: Greetings Galore, Itty Bitty Backgrounds


• Card: Whisper White, Green Galore, Basic Black


• Ink: Green Galore, Basic Black


• Accessories: Mat Pack, White Gel Pen, my fingernail for distressing
  

Baby Card for a Friend

A friend asked to make a baby card for her which put me in a bit of a panic - I don't have any baby stamps from Stampin' Up!, then I remembered that there was a baby stamp in Greetings Galore (it made such a big impression that it hadn't even seen ink), don't get me wrong, I like Greetings Galore, but the baby stamp did not inspire me. Time to stretch the brain cells a bit! Here is what I came up with and I like it and my friend liked it - yippeee!

• Stamps: Greetings Galore, Weathered, All About You
• Card: Very Vanilla, Bashful Blue
• Ink: Basic Brown and Bashful Blue (both used for colouring as well as stamping)
• Accessories: Hodge Podge Hardware, Gold Organdy Ribbon and my finer for distressing :-)
  

Looks Like Spring

How appropriate - it is spring here in New Zealand (although at the moment it doesn't feel a lot different to winter!). I decided I needed some bright spring like cards and also set myself two challenges, the first is to use up scraps from my ever growing stash and the second to use yellow, a colour I tend to have difficulty with. These two cards are the result:

• Stamps: Looks Like Spring
• Card: Green Galore, Brilliant Blue, Real Red and Whisper White
• Ink: Summer Sun and Real Red
• Accessories: Corner Rounder, Mat Pack, White Gel Pen, Dazzling Diamonds, Spring Bouquet Flower Punch

• Stamps: Looks Like Spring
• Card: Brilliant Blue, Real Red, Green Galore, Only Orange, Whisper White
• Ink: Summer Sun, Green Galore, Real Red , Only Orange
• Accessories: Spiral Punch, Corner Rounder Punch and Dazzling Diamonds, Spring Bouquet Flower Punch

Challenge details

Here is the card I use at my workshops:

My challenge to you is to use the photo which can be found here: http://nzlyn.blogspot.com/2007/10/have-magical-day.html to make a card. To save a copy of the photo just click on it, right click and choose save as to save it to your computer where you should be able to resize it.

Upload your card and put a link to your photo in the comments section so other people can see what you have done :-)

When I print the photo I normally print four on 6 x 4 photo paper.

At my workshops people have made some amazing cards using the minimal supplies that I take so I can't wait to see what you do with it.

An added bonus is that I am quite happy for you to use the photo for your personal cards and for Stampin' Up! demos to use it at their workshops. The only thing that I ask is you don't mass produce it for profit.

I hope you enjoy participating in my little challenge :-)

And Still More Scribble This......

Believe it or not, I do have other stamp sets, it's just that this flower worked so well with this design!

I needed a gift card holder card for work, one of the ladies has just done 20 years and work bought her a fairly decent sized voucher as a gift. I didn't want her to get just a piece of plastic so thought it would be nice to make her a card.

You can't see it in the scan but it lifts up at the scallop edge and there is a pocket inside for the gift card.

Splitcoast Stampers to the rescue - I found the perfect tutorial here http://bellepapier.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/2007/09/06/pocket-card-a-challenge-a-tutorial/ thanks so much Julia for your fantastic tutorial, it was exactly what I needed! This card was the result:

Supplies Used:

Cardstock - Very Vanilla (it looks quite white in the scan), Cranberry Crisp, Marigold Morning and True Thyme Ink Pads - Basic Brown and Cranberry Crisp (to colour the flower)
Ribbon - Gold Organdy
Accessories - My fingernail to distress the edges, Sponge Dauber, Dimentionals, Slit Punch, Mat Pack
Non Stampin' Up! buttons from my stash - but they matched so well I had to use them!

More Scribble This :-)

I am really enjoying playing with this set, this time I added the scribble wheel. I think it is the versatility that makes this stamp set so special, you can go from soft and subtle to bright and bold so easily.

I have used only products available from Stampin' Up! as follows:
Whisper White and Basic Black cardstock
Whisper White craft ink and basic black classic ink
Scribble This and Sweet Hello stamps sets, Scribble Stampin' Around Wheel
White Gel Pen
Bold Bright Stampin' Write markers
Dazzling Diamonds

I love the Stampin' Up Scribble This set and recently got the Weathered Background stamp - I think they look

fabulous together!

Have a Magical Day

This is photo I took then altered, the toadstool was screaming to have a fairy sit on top of it!

I have done it! I actually created a blog, now I have to try and remember to post to it LOL :-)