Special Delivery Card

so all morning I have been trying to pick out a color scheme for a friends baby shower card, at first I was going to go for ladybugs, because that is what she likes... but then, i didnt like that Idea, so working with some stamps, and an ink set, I came up with this pink little card, that was orignally a 6"x6" card, that I cut down to a 4.5 x 5.5 card.

First I stamped the little flower all over the main card piece in pink, then stamped the stork on white paper, fitted it with a black matte... the last stamp was "its a girl" in hot pink.

I used pop dots for the black matte and stork piece, with adhesive sticker for its a girl.

Convention Galore...

If you are new to scrapbooking, paper altering, rubberstamping, or any other new hobby that has to do with paper, try and find a convention. Meaning a scrapbook convention, or rubber stamp convention. They offer great deals, classes, and hundreds sometimes thousands of other artists you can mingle with while shopping. I finally got to go this year to the Scrapbook convention and I didnt spend a lot of money this year LOL but had so much fun watching everyone else have fun.

Scrapbookers Block...

Lately I have pulled out photos, and I get the paper out, and then i just stare at them, not sure what to do. Is it possible to have scrapbookers block??? i think that is me right now, i am usually on top of this and never have to take more than a day to do a few layouts, but wow, lately the creative juices haven't been flowing as fast. I can make a card, or a layout, but they are usually boring to me. i am really hard on myself and "perfection". i usually let it go, or I hide the layout before putting it in an album for sometimes months, cause there just might be something I can add or change later. I am a simple scrapper, i dont do huge layouts with a lot of fancy "frill", I do however add a few embellies, but that is about it, the art work is my own, and no one else's. If you feel that you need to spend 5 dollars on a page that is just great for you, but for me, the photo is the artwork, the scrapbooking is just the binding to tell the story.

Here I am, sitting at my desk, with three photos and a piece of paper. Two photos are of my son and the other is a giraffe. With giraffe paper for the background... pretty simple stuff, but from there, my brain just doesnt see what I want to be there. A nice layout, simple, that I can be proud of...

On The Cheap Side

When I was single and working and in school I never had enough money to really scrapbook the way others did. So I had to find a way to make things happen. I wanted a few LO's to look like the current in fashion so to speak. You have to not only be creative with your craft, but you also have to be creative with how you do things if you dont have the money to buy the in tools.. say a sanding block, those are about 8 dollars in the store, and dont last very long, so I took an old stamp block and took the stamp off of it, and stapled sandpaper that was a few dollars to the block, and there I had my own sanding block for roughing up paper.

Another was buttons, everyone has been using buttons, but I couldnt afford the fancy buttons, or Jesse James buttons ( all the time) so I went garage selling, and found jars of buttons of all shapes, sizes and colors that no one wanted for pennies.

Chalks was another one, the palette that was out on the market depending on maker was anywhere from $35-$50 dollars.. for me, I just bought a box of school chalk, and broke them up as needed, and used a makeup brush to apply the chalk and added a bit of water to really get it to show up..

If you want the latest styles but dont have enough money or money at the time, change the style a bit and try to make it your way..

My Greeting Cards...

I love to make cards, at first I was so addicted to scrap booking that I didn't think I would enjoy making cards, but its the total opposite. I love giving them and making large amounts as gifts for people to give as little mementos. I had my very own rubber stamp made with my logo and email address in case someone would like to order more.




St. Patrick's Day, I love this card, it was one that I made for this year and sent out about 10 and it was so much fun, because I found in my stash of stamps, the large St. Patricks Day Stamp, and the little acrylic one on my large ring.




Birthday cards are probably my biggest seller. Everyone has a birthday, and everyone loves to get cards. This card was one that I made for my Mom, that she later asked for several to be made because she liked the colors that were used. I love using Mattes as backgrounds, that is my go to template, and then anything else is extra.






This is was made in three's, for my Mother in Law and her two sisters, had to make sure there was plenty to go around. I switched it up, but the background paper was the same.



Fathers Day, I took some sand paper and added little brads, I wish I had had the screw head brads, but didnt have time to go to the store, so I just used brass brads to simulate nails, along with the little Jesse James buttons that I cut the shanks off and glued to the card.



My signature card is the folded latice, I learned how to do this on the Carol Duvall show, I will look for a video clip, its so easy and then once you have mastered the technique, you can modify it so that you can have an embellishment in the middle, or the bottom, etc.



This card is probably ten years old, and I still have it, I make two of the same, and keep one for a spare or add to my collection. This was the first time I had ever used chalk as apart of my art. I didn't have the money to use the fancy chalk palettes, but I had some school chalk that I got at Target for .25 cents, and added a little water to it, and made it a bit tacky and it stuck wonderfully.


Another card using the lattice technique and working on changing it up by adding ink embossing, it was my first time, and I loved it. Then as I tried different things, I learned a whole new way of inking.





Happy Halloween, I love this holiday, mainly because I get to play with paper that is fun, orange and black, with a little purple thrown in. Mind you, these aren't my favorite colors, but together they can do many things. The card with the spiders has a piece of purple paper in it, to show the spiders off.

Tips, Tricks and Techniques...

I hope to keep this apart of my daily blogging.. something new to pass on, if you have something to share, please feel free to leave a comment.

Sanding Paper
Right now, the Coredinations paper that I recently bought is helping me expanding my horizons.. I want to try new things, but since I like things my way, somethings I get frustrated and tear layouts apart when others think they are just wonderful. But taking sandpaper to the Coredinations paper is something that I have so far been enjoying. I try not to try it to much because I don't want all my layouts to look the same, so for me, I try it for several different albums.

Pre Makes
I premake as much as I can when making cards. I have a box of card stock all pre-folded for cards, organized by color. A recipe box full of vellum phrases i.e. Happy Birthday, Hello, Friendship, etc. So that if have a last minute card to make and I'm in a hurry, all I have to do is pick out the color of the card, a matte, stamp an image, color the edges, and use vellum tape for the vellum phrase.

Invitation size Envelopes
You can buy invitation sized envelopes at any discount/stationary/paper/scrapbook store, they are perfect for cards that are 4.5"x 5.5".

Basics
Make a basic supply list of items you use a lot, such as, vellum tape, glue sticks, any other adhesivies, and put it in your purse, so when you are at the craft store, you have it, so if its on sale, you can stock up. I didn't do this once, and actually had no adhesive, I was caught with my pants down and it was not fun at all. I ended up using school glue for cards, until I could get to the store..

Paper, Paper, Paper...

I am in love with Paper! Patterned Paper, Solid Colored Cardstock, and my newest find, Coredinations. You can tear the paper, sand it, crumple it, and have an opposing color come thru. I found and bought ever since color they had at Joann Fabrics when paper was 6 for .96, I just couldnt help myself.

How I store my paper is my own, I know exactly where everything is, but my storage options are just that, mine, and someone else might have a better way, but it might not work for me, it works for them.

I have slabs of paper in a large three draw tote that sits under my desk, and solid 8x11 in a large magazine holder rainbowtized LOL, my 12x12 solid paper is in its own large paper holder that oddly I found at the grocery store, and no website that I could by more. Paper that I buy at the stores in singles or at conventions go in another file folder that holds 500 sheets and it sits between my feet next to the computer tower, I have it all organized by color.. its there when I need it, and as much as I love it, I dont mind leafing thru it.

Some of My Layouts..

If you look at my sons outfit there is a little snowman that I turned into a LO. I like to match things, especially when its fun and there is an added kick, I think my favorite part of the snowman is the lime green fiber that I used for his scarf.



There is no rule as to how many photos can be put on a page, I have done as many as 15 small ones to show a full sequence, but this time, four will do. This is our son, about a month old.. A true gem.




Do you ever fall in love with a color combination? For me, it was light purple and celery green. As you look through my blog, layouts, cards you will notice that celery green is my favorite color. This LO is of my Grannie holding her newest Great Grandson...

This is the first layout that I made for our son's scrapbook. He is about 26 weeks inutero and just the greatest joy. I hope to follow with the rest of his Sonogram photos that I got. But I was just super happy with this one.

Tools Of The Trade...

Paint Chips

This might be an oldie for some, but a new for another, but Paint Chips are one of my favorite things to use in either scrap book layouts or greetings cards.. They have so many ways to use them, stamp on them, embellish them, dry or ink emboss, make bookmarks, use them as a title bar, the possibilities are endless..






Buttons
These can come with or without the shanks on the back, and the easiest way to get them off is by using a finger nail clipper. Off like a snap. You can use them for cards, LO's and any paper project, they just arent for buttoning up anymore.





Punches

You can never have to few punches.. especially ones that you can use in multiple LO's. Some are for corners, or the center of your layouts. They come in a wide variety of sizes, from small to HUGE.








Ribbons
Ribbons and Fibers are wonderful little ad on's. They come in all sorts of colors, textures and thicknesses. I have also incorporated embroidery floss into my pages.. I write with them, or make shapes. Remember the sky is the limit.

HSN and QVC

If you are a scrapbooker, you know that you can get some really great deals on here.. but lately, I have been seeing better deals in the stores. Ok, Joann's to be more specific. I am watching the HSN program that is on right now, and I'd love to just buy buy buy, but I wont.. cause I dont need it. Ever tell your self that? Ok how many times? for me, its often, I just find myself wanting this and that, luckily not everything. Cause you just cant have everything. But it would be nice to have unlimited money for your craft, but I find that the more I get the less I use it... So sometimes when the shopping networks buy these huge bulk packages, i have to ask myself, do i really need it.. probably not, do i really want it, sure, but would i use it all or put it to good use.... No i wouldnt.. lol isnt that funny

Acrylic Stamps...

I am in love with acrylic stamps, especially the dollar packs at Joann's and Michaels. Currently I have them all together on a large ring and flip thru them occasionally and pull out the ones that I want to use. This method is ok, and works great, but you know I feel the need to modify this way of storage. I have an index card box that I am feeling the need to modify into a stamp holder. I love to organize and all of my scrapbook stuff is organized and some has been reorganized to fit the current living arrangement. There are many processes to doing things, we just have to realize not everything fits into a cookie cutter mold, or for our friends. So for me, right now, I am feeling the need to make little tabs for the stamps, so that i can organize them and make it pretty LOL. If I do this project you can expect photos.

My Crafty Stuff...

Some people think that you need thousands of dollars worth of stuff to scrapbook, and you dont. I always tell the newbies to go basic, and then as you get use to scrapbooking and finding your niche, then modify.

I started out with 8x10 albums, and didnt care for them after a while, and discovered 12 x 12 several years ago, and love them to this day. Then I went thru a period of only 8 x 8.. there are so many things that you can do on a sheet of paper of any size, it really doesnt matter. I still have the same basic tools that i started using 15 years ago, one of the newest that I added was the Cricut, I love my cricut, and use it almost daily. I dont spend hours on one page/layout, I just dont have the time, I like quick pages, and if all my pages look the same, then that is ok, there is no rule of thumb.

Basically I started with my album, some card stock for a background page, pretty papers that I found for which ever occasion i was working on, and embelishments. You can go simple, or you can go extravagent. Some pages I have spent litterally days on, I pull it out and work on it, or take it apart and start over. I still use glue sticks to glue my pages together, but have become a great fan of the PinPoint Roller Quickie Glue Pen. Oh and dont forget your photos. Cant forget those, as you progress you will add to your collection.

I scrapbook at my computer desk/craft table, and all around me is all of my supplies, I have a one year old who thinks pulling out paper is a fun thing to do... so I usually keep the first few pages just for him to pull out over and over...

Just remember when you are starting this or any hobby you are going to make mistakes, and that is ok, dont let any one tell you how to scrapbook.. these are your thoughts and your ideals of what you like.