A Bright Idea!

Well, I hadn't posted for a few days, so I set out to create something amazing tonight... It didn't happen. I cut out my stuff, arranged and rearranged. I didn't tape anything down, it just wasn't coming together. So instead, I'm sharing a glimpse into something out of my usual style, that I started on the weekend. It's not done yet, but it gives you an idea for all those PLASTIC BOXES your clear stamps come packaged in!!!

Okay, so after CHA, I noticed the whole fun clear albums trend is still in full force. Well, I haven't had time to make it out to my LSS lately, so I'm not even sure if they carry them. So what do I do??? I attempt to make my own! Regular acetate is too lightweight for something like this. It could work, but I wanted something sturdier. Well, does anybody else keep all their PaperTrey Ink plastic boxes? I did... They are a stronger plastic then regular acetate. So I cut them into flat, usable panels under 6 inches in width and ran them through the Cuttlebug with the scalloped square Nestabilities. It required a bit of elbow grease, but it cut just fine (I did do two runs through the 'bug: forward, then backwards). Next, I punched out a hole with the Crop-a-dile and found a binder ring. So far I've only done one little page. I used Basic Grey papers and rub-ons. I also used some Heidi Swapp rub-ons. The idea is that it's a title page for "Bright (the light bulb) Ideas". I thought it might be fun to capture some sarcastic type quotes, you know the "Thank you very much Captain Obvious" moments, in a mini-album. However, I'm not committed to that 100%. This was just a test run, me playing around with product I have, but never use.

Anyway, I hope you've enjoyed my rambling, and I hope I've inspired you to take a stab at your own mini clear album!

Sparkly Star

I said I couldn't wait to make a sparkly star ornament, so here it is. I cut out one star from chipboard. Then I placed the smallest star on it and cut again to get the window effect. I loaded it up with mod podge and gold glitter. I did that a few times. I had punched out a hole before adding the glitter, which I just needed to poke through with a piercer. I tied some gold cord around, and look at that, an ornament. I'm actually more impressed with how I managed to get a decent photo of it. I hung a cord over my monitor, under my natural light, and then over my white backdrop.

Supplies:

Paper: Chipboard

Accessories: Gold glitter, Mod Podge, Gold Cord

Tools: Star nestabilities

Wedding Favours & Ribbon Shares

I was very busy today, making 150 wedding favours for my friend's upcoming wedding. We decided on doing a bit of variety. Her colours are pink and brown. We spent the day baking sugar cookies, dipping them in chocolate, wrapping them up in cello bags and of course, sealing the bags with some ribbon and the stamped tags. I brought a variety of clear stamps. I figured with novice stampers and mass production, being able to see placement was crucial. It definitely sped up the process!! I don't have a super great photo, it was a very dark and gloomy day. Here's a sampling of them though.

In other news...Canadian Ribbon Share!

I received my samples and have colour-matched the colours to Stampin' Up!'s paper. The Vanilla, Burgundy, Red, Rose, and Brocade are all excellent matches. The Celery, Olive and Chocolate are good matches- they match the paper but aren't 100% perfect matches. I just want to be honest with everyone before going through with everything! In a workshop situation these colours would definitely be usable!

I was also going to still go ahead with getting the 9th "bonus" colour. I was thinking about it. Originally I was going to do a colour that closely matches the Basic Gray colour. Now, I'm giving you the option, 5/8" white OR 5/8" grey.

The total cost (including shipping) comes to an even $33.00 CDN. That gives you 90 yards of 5/8 ribbon total. (8x10 yards matching the SU! catalog available ones, and 1x10 or either white or gray). I prefer paypal payment.

So, let me know if you are still interested in the share by email (on the right!), what extra colour you are interested in (the white or the gray), and how you intend to pay if you are joining the share. If you expressed interest in this a week or so ago and still want in, check you're email. You should have received a message from me on Saturday!

Scenic Route Star Box

I was browsing my long list of blogs tonight, and I happened upon one that pointed me to this site: http://scor-pal.com/boxes/index_files/Page327.htm. It's got very easy to follow photos and instructions for making a star box. I am somewhat obsessed with all things starry, so I HAD to try this. Plus, my Scenic Route paper had arrived today, so that had to be used.

It's funny, you go to all this work to make a 3-d object, only to take a flat picture of it. You know, it's not the easiest thing to photograph a 5-pointed object.

Snow Treats

I love the idea of packaging your own little treat bags together, but I've never bothered to do it. Until now! I had salvaged the small clear bags from the Studio G stamps, thinking they might come in useful in the future. First, I stamped some retro flakes (gelatins) in white stazon all over the packaging. Then I filled the bag up with 2 different blue jelly beans. I had to make a topper too, so I measure the the top of the bag (there's a hanger space, but they were never hung at Michaels). The topper measures 2-1/8x 2-13/16, then it is folded in half. I stamped the letters s,n, and w from my Groovy alphabet (also gelatins), then punched out another retro flake (which was perfectly sized for my 3/4 circle punch) for the "o". The word "treats" is from my snap stamps. I thought about it afterwards and realized icy treats might've been a better name, but then I wouldn't have been able to use a snowflake as an o! I wish my photograph could do this justice, it really is quite adorable, and there's something kind of fun about being to hold something in your hand and crinkle it.

Blah Day

Do you ever just have one of those days, you start out, and feel like "yes, today will be a productive day!". But then, by the time you get home, get dinner together, and actually sit for a moment, absolutely all motivation is lost. Last night, I had every intention of at least doing something. Seriously, I sat at my desk for 2 hours (while watching the season finales of Smallville, then Scrubs) and did almost nothing. I stamped the word "groovy" with my new Groovy Letters alphabet set. Then I cut it out, that's it. I hate days like that. And tonight I have yet to get started on anything. So I will look into my files, I think I still have a few items un-uploaded from the crop, 2 weeks ago.

This here is a mini book. Magenta makes these cute kits, with enough supplies to make 3 mini-books. I covered this one with My Mind's Eye paper, embellished with some nice brown ribbon, and some fun Autumn Leaves/ Foofala buttons. Now, the ultimate question, what do you use such a small book for? (I think it's 2-1/4 square, maybe?)

Destination!

Have you ever spotted something in a magazine, and thought I HAVE to make that! Well, Creating Keepsakes has started offering these kits of the month. They have advertisements featuring that month's kit, but the ad also includes a little tease of the 2 months afterwards. Well, I really liked the teaser for July. However, because I am the way I am, (impatient, cheap, resourceful, to name a few...) I had to see about making it myself. Here is my inspiration piece (if you are interested in the actual kit, check out here: http://www.lisabearnson.com/kotm/)

So the first thing I needed was a book, I found one at the dollar store. It holds 5x7 pages. Next, I used my upper and lower typeset font for the mixed up "destination". I used the rough edges mini alphabet for the word cruise. The star is from the gelatins Super Star set. The arrow was traced from one of those purple sparkly templates. I don't know who makes them, they first came out when scrapbooking was just starting to be more mainstream. And that was that! I was very impressed that I managed to achieve a similar look with my book!

Yay! A RAK!

I love receiving fabulous cards from other stampers! This one is from Nancy. I love the fun spring colours she used! What a delightful surprise! Thank you Nancy!