Inky Fingers

Here's another Valentine card.
This one uses a variety of inking and stamping techniques and was posted to the Ranger yahoo group for a monthly How-To (called an Inkling). I'll share the instructions here next week. The image stamps are from Alpha Stamps and the sentiment is from Purple Onion for Self-Addressed. Felt heart from the craft store. I do love playing with inking techniques from time to time!

Layout Share

Just a quick post with some of what I've been up to lately. These two were made with the December Studio Calico kit. I have to say this is one of the few times I am happy with my Christmas layouts!

This one uses the January Studio Calico kit. I got a subscription as a gift from my sister Vernell and boy do I love these kits!


For this one I mixed items from the December and January kits and threw in some stuff from my stash.

And finally this one is what I call a messy desk layout. My desk was piled high with stuff, but I wanted to scrap so bad I didn't want to take the time to clear everything off. So I managed to clear a space to work in and then pulled this together using only what was already out. Sometimes you just have to scratch that itch!

Tuesday To-Do: Altered Clock

As soon as I saw this stamp at Alpha stamps I knew I had to have it! This is so me, I'm a horrible procrastinator. I'm hoping this project will help me get that under control!


Before


After
Supplies:

Clock (I got mine at the equivalent of a dollar store)
Patterned paper
Queen Rubber stamp
Decorative stamp
Butterfly wings grungeboard
Black ink
Stamping ink in a light and dark shade of the same colour ( I used a sand colour and a darker brown)
White gesso and black acylic paint
Sticker numbers
button

Instructions

1. Very carefully remove the hands from the clock and set aside



2. Find something approximately the same size as the clock face to use as a template, and draw and cut out a circle from the patterned paper (or you can measure the diameter of the clock and use a compass to do this)

3. Find the center of circle and use an anywhere hole punch to punch out a hole (to find the center I dabbed a bit of paint onto the bit sticking out of the clock and gently lay the patterned paper, right side up, over it to mark the back of the paper)

4. Depending on the size of the mechanics you might need to use a pair of small scissors to enlarge the hole

5. Paint face of clock with white gesso and when dry, black acrylic paint. The gesso helps prepare the surface for the paint.

6. While waiting for the paint to dry decorate the patterned paper circle

• Use black ink to ink the edges of the circle as well as the hole in the center
• Stamp main image in black to left of center
• Add number stickers in a jumble at bottom of circle
• 
• Use sand ink to ink up the wings
• Stamp decorative image on wings with brown ink
• 
• Finish off piece and add to clock using a strong glue.

This will now stay in my scrap space to help keep me on track!

Here's another project I made with this stamp.

It's very versatile, it would be great for a calendar and for ATCs, and maybe also to stamp on packages that are being sent out late!

Valentine's, goodies and flowers, oh my!

Yesterday one of my Valentine's cards was featured on Scrap Scene. They are currently running a Valentine Card a Day up until Feb 14th.
You can check them out to get the step by step instructions for my card, as well as to see all the other cards featured so far. Thank you Angie and Scrap Scene!

In other news, we have a winner of my little RAK. I got our cat Naala to help me out (is this a sign of old age or boredom?). It was harder than I thought, usually she can't leave anything alone, but the day I actually want her to play with something she sits there and ignores it. Subterfuge (in the form of a wine cork) was necessary.






Congrats Nicole! Please send me your address so I can get these goodies in the mail. Thanks to everyone who commented and said Hi or shared ideas!

And finally, look what will be part of the February Scrapbook Takeout Kit! I'm pretty excited that my partners thought my little flowers were worthy of the kit and included them.

I'm working on some new designs and hope to put them in an Etsy store later this week. What do you think, would you buy these for your projects? They are completely handmade from vintage French papers, paper doilies, felt, stitching and a bead center. I have some other fun ideas in mind and will keep you posted (Oh Nicole you will get one in your package!). So, Happy Monday everyone!

A Thank You

I've been amazed by the traffic to my little space here on the web since being featured on Today's Creative Blog (thanks again Kim!). To show my appreciation I will send a lucky someone a goodie package from France. How does dark French chocolate and flea market goodies sound? Leave a comment in the post telling me Hi, or where you're from, or even what kinds of things you'd like to see on the blog, and I'll pick a name randomly on Monday morning. Happy Weekend to all!

Croppin Fun

We're cropping over at Scrapbook Takeout tonight (Friday 25th) from 6:00 p.m EST. Join us for laughter, challanges, games and prizes! The Queen of the Crop, the person who completes the most challanges, gets this fabulous prize!


In addition:
*There will be a random drawing for one winner for each challenge
*There will be a special door prize drawing for all newbies and lurkers
*2 door prize drawings for everyone who attends the crop
*Prizes for Bingo, plus some other games (you can enter the Bingo game until 4:00 p.m.)

We always have a rocking good time at these crops, I even stay up till the wee hours to join in the fun (I'm six hours ahead of EST). You can spend all night chatting because your challenge entries don't have to be in till Sunday. See you there!

I love Kit Clubs

Not only because I get a fully coordinated package of goodies delivered right to my door (well except for when the mailman doesn't actually deliver and I have to go to the PO to get it), but because on Tuesday it finally occurred to me that they are perfect to take to crops. You see, I belong to a group of scrappers here in Lyon, we meet every two weeks, for scrapbooking and laughter. I usually have a hard time deciding what to pack, I'm so used to having all my stuff right there. Invariably I pack too much into my crop bag, which I have to lug all the way across the city on the metro. Sometimes I even ended up taking extra items in a separate tote bag, but regardless I was guaranteed to never have what I wanted and always had to complete projects at home (some of them are still sitting there waiting). Maybe it's the new year, or the new moon, but on Tuesday I stuffed three kits into my bag, added my basic tool kit of adhesive, ruler, craft knife and trimmer some basic stamps and ink and voila, I completed a page that I loved. I'm not sure why this never occurred to me before, it might be because I usually just fondle my kits and "save" them for something special, but this was a real break through for me! The downside of course is that now I want to subscribe to more kits!

8 Principles

This is one of my favourite things that I have found online. I followed a link from somewhere , (you know how you do) and even though it was a good two years ago, it's still pertinent, it still makes me nod my head in agreement and I still learn something new each time I see it.

8 Irresistible Principles of Fun

I'm thinking they may be great prompts for a minibook too!

Tuesday To-Do

I shared this step-by-step project on the Ranger Yahoo group last month. Since January isn't yet over there's still time to get it made before you have to start using it!

Supplies

6 or more colours of Tim Holtz Distress ink pads

Ranger Cut & Dry Foam

12 manila envelopes about 6.5” x 3.5” – you can use pre-punched envelopes, or punch your own holes at the sealed end

Seasonal rubber stamps and embellishments

Assorted patterned papers

2 nesting square punches – 1.5” and 2”

Calendar for 2008 printed on white cardstock (available here http://craftysecrets.com/images/pattern%20pics/2008%20calendar.pdf)

Hole Reinforcements

Chipboard, patterned paper, number and letter stickers for cover (optional)

Step 1:

Using a small piece of Cut & Dry Foam, apply one colour of ink all over front and back of

envelope

Step 2

Ink seasonal stamp with same colour ink, and stamp randomly over front and back of envelope, re-inking stamp as necessary

Step 3

Punch out calendar month with smaller punch, and stamp same image lightly on it

Step 4

Punch a piece of coordinated patterned paper with larger punch and use to mat month. Cut another piece of patterned paper 6”x3” and use as a mat on the envelope, remembering to punch a hole through.

Add matted month

Add seasonal embellishments and hole reinforcement

Repeat for the remaining months in the year, varying the colours, stamps and embellishments as necessary to suit the month and season. Now throughout 2008 you can add a wallet sized photo above the month, and tuck mementos from that month into the envelope!

To make a cover for the book, cut a piece of chipboard 6.75” x 3.75” and cover with patterned paper and embellishments as shown below

Other ideas:
1. Feel free to substitute your favourite inks for the ones I used. You can also do away with stamping on the envelope and simply mat with your favourite patterned papers
2. You can highlight family members' birthdays on the calendar and use a photo of them that month

If you create this project I'd love to see it, so please come back and leave me a link!

Sweet Monday E-mail

I woke up to a lovely e-mail from Kim of Today's Creative Blog, letting me know that I had been selected as the feature for today. Definitely helped to make a groggy Monday morning wake-up easier. Thanks Kim, I am honoured! If you aren't familiar with Kim, she features a new creative blog just about every day. Go check her out and tell her I sent you!

Love is in the air

I've started working on some Valentine's Day cards. I'm hoping to be better at sending them out than I was with my Christmas cards!

As well as making cards for my own amusement, I'll be teaching a card class from February 1st at Scrapbook Takeout. A card a day for a week! I'd love it if you'd join us!

Chit Chatting Away

Here are my layouts for the last two Chit Chat Challenges



You can enter the current challenge until next Thursday at midnight. All the details are here. Come join us!

3 little things

Studio Friday prompt for this week

"What 3 things can you do today to further your goals and dreams?"

I decided to do a quick layout about this.



I already had this page started, with just the photo and the trim, but wasn't sure where to go with it (probably because I don't like this photo of myself!), so the theme was just the jump start I needed. My three things are

1. Wake up earlier
2. Spend less time online
3. Plan better and follow through

Not rocket science but oh so hard to do. For me at least! What three things can you do to get closer to where you want to be?

10 sites that inspire

I spend probably way too much time online, and in my website and blog hopping I have come across a number of sites that never fail to inspire. Here are 10 of my favourite.

Design*Sponge
Oh Joy!
Tuttifruiti
Funky Finds
Urban Debris Artlog
Sew, Mama Sew
Ace Jet 170
3191
Trash The Dress
Making It Lovely

Are there any sites you visit that set your mind whirling with ideas? Please share!

Been Scrappin'

A few layouts to share. First the two latest Chit Chat challenges.

As usual all the details can be found on the blog.

And this layout I did for a challenge at My Scrapbook Nook - use the theme Today to scrap an all about me layout.
You can get a closer look in the gallery.

I'm working on plans to shake up this blog starting soon!

In with the new

A long time ago (in a land far away) I used to take part in Studio Friday, on my other blog. One of my goals for this year is to get back into this weekly sharing of studio peeks. The first topic for 2008 is "Brand New", and so I thought I'd show off this little beauty.
I had been drooling over it since it was released and I couldn't resist any longer. I already used it to make some Christmas gifts and I have many other projects in mind. I love making minibooks, and with this tool I can now make them any size or shape with the exact number of pages to suit my project. I got mine from Alpha Stamps, and I definitely recommend it!

Happy New Year to you

I am still working out my plans and goals for this year ahead. I have many ideas I want to work on, not just in my scrapbooking career (such as it is!), but I also have ideas for this blog, and for general crafting and creativity. Here are a few things I plan to work on

• Cleaning up more frequently, i.e after two or three completed projects, not waiting until the point that I have a 1" square space to work in!
• As much as possible execute the ideas I have when I have them, don't wait until 2 months later when I can't remember what I was going for
• Share more, especially via this blog. More ideas, more techniques, more how-tos, more general creative thoughts
• Doing other craft forms such as sewing, general crafting, knitting....

I am also toying with the idea of doing a number of year long challenges. One, Project 365 is already started, and you can follow along here. Others under consideration:

overlooked
52 Blessings
Paper Adventure 08
The Best Me

I of course want to do them all, but I know that will just lead me down the usual path of being overwhelmed and then doing nothing, so I will attempt to judiciously select one or two to work on. Especially since I have already decided to do the How Much is too Much and Pub Ad Challenges every week.

I'm looking forward to a year full of creativity and I am wishing you the same!