Board Book – Completed June 26, 2008

My latest project is a Cloud9 Board Book.  It comes in a matching box with a handle.  I’m thinking about making these as Christmas gifts this year.  I completed this project last weekend at the Fiskars training in St. Paul.  I used Heidi Grace’s Midnight Kisses line throughout the book.

 

This is the front of the box.  I covered it with leftovers from the book and used a photo that I had enlarged to 5×7 then tinted sepia.  Then I just added a couple of ribbons on the handle.

 

Here is the front cover.  Nothing tricky here.  Just the black & white floral, shimmer glitter paper and some ribbon.  The back cover is covered the same way.

 

The inside cover.  Floral foil and shimmer papers used here.  New tools I used were the Fiskars Threading Water border punch and Corner Squeeze Punch – ticket corner.  (I had borrowed both of these tools when making the project and then went home and ordered them online.  Can’t wait for that shipment!)  I also added a little ruby bling on the tag and a couple of ribbons where the different papers meet.

 

I made this one very simple.  Not too many frills on this masculine page.  I used some of the Midnight Kisses rub-ons under the Happy Day stamp, but it doesn’t show very well on the black.

 

The rub-ons showed up much better on the white cardstock!  I used a ton of flowers.  The center of these flowers has a foam dot underneath for dimension.  I also accented a few spots with the signature hearts (basically raindots).

 

 

The swirly felt is from Queen & Co.  It comes by the yard and you can cut it to suit your needs.  You could also ink or paint it to add color.  I love it white, though.  I added some clear bling in the little swirls.  I think it’s a great accent for any page.  The felt is also self-adhesive.  This can be a little tricky when working with larger sections.  It will tend to stick together.  Tip – take the backing off in small sections as you place it on the page to avoid this.

 

Here I made another tag using the ticket corner squeeze punch.  The letters are Making Memories.  My youngest was flipping through and said “Ohhh, I get it now! Different branches!”  Like I always say, we don’t catch on quick, but we catch on.

 

The last page.  This is the same photo that is on the front of the box.  I layered papers here.  I love all of this Midnight Kisses line so I tried to get everything in this little book.  I used the Fiskars Round the Bend corner squeeze punch to round all the corners.  A few rub-ons, some bling and flowers finish it up.

 

What a fun project!  I’m hooked on these mini albums now.  I think, mostly due to the instant gratification.   If you see these cloud9 board books at your lss pick one up and give it a try.  I’d love to see what you’ve created. 

My new obsession June 25, 2008

 

I love this new tool!  The Round the Bend corner squeeze punch from Fiskars.  I discovered them at The Scrapbook Shop of St. Paul where I just completed Certified Fiskars Demonstrator training.  I haven’t used corner rounders much over the years.  The first tool I ever bought was a Creative Memories corner rounder and I used it on EVERYTHING!  I think my mind just associates the rounder with outdated scrapbooking styles.  Who knows.  All I know is that I’m now addicated to these squeeze punches.  They’re so easy to use, you can see what you are doing all the time and you don’t have to kill your hand to punch the shape.    Just use it on any corner and you get this… 

 

I also bought the ticket style corner punch (it’s just inverted).  Love that one, too!  I used it alot on my Cloud9 Board Book.

 

I have lots to share from CFD and the crop last weekend.  I’ll post pictures of my newest completed (yes, I said COMPLETED!) project as soon as I can take the pictures.  As for now, I’m packing for another crop this Saturday.  Can you believe it – two weeks in a row!!

Inspiration has struck…I’ve conquered the slump! June 19, 2008

Thanks to all the tips I received this week I am finally back on track. 

 

Here are the ways I conquered the slump:

 

1.  I sat down and made tags/cards to swap with the ladies I will be meeting on Saturday (I’ll post about that soon!).  Even though I made a bunch of the same things, I really had fun doing it.  Coming up with one cute little tag took some pressure off and I’m feeling much better about tackling the bigger projects. 

 

 

2.  I shopped online a bit (couldn’t get to the LSS yet).  Retail therapy works every time!! *wink*

 

 

3.  I flipped through a scrapbook magazine.  It wasn’t a new one, but it does have a ton of little stickies in it from the ideas I had the first couple of times through.  I usually write something on the stickie note, too, so I don’t forget why I liked it.  Such as “not the flower-thingy, use the photo layout” or “try the layering and buttons”. 

 

 

4. One idea that was repeated many times was that sometimes you just have to step away for a bit.  I think that helped more than anything.  Absence makes the heart grow fonder, right?

 

 

5.  I have a new project ready to go.  I packed all the supplies I’ll need in a tote bag that I’ll bring to the LSS this weekend.  If I don’t spend too much time yakking and actually complete the project, I’ll post it here.

 

 

I’m very grateful to everyone for taking a moment to help.  I also hope that these tips help others get out of a creative rut.  Sending you happy, crafty inspiration!

In a slump (creatively speaking) June 17, 2008

***RAK WINNER***  Thank you all so much for your fabulous ideas!  I know I’ll be back on track in no time now.   The winner, chosen randomly, is comment #25 – Sweepnut #3618 (I’ve sent you an email – please respond with your contact info)

 

 

How do you break out of a slump?  I’ve been feeling less than inspired lately.  Maybe it’s because I have a new addiction to surfing blogs and other sites looking at everyones beautiful designs.  I’m feeling a bit intimidated. 

 

Saturday night I went to a friends.  It was a typical night for us; when we can find the time to get together.  Put in a movie, set up the table, the cricut, the supplies, the snacks (of course) and get cropping.  She is single so I love going to her place.  The quiet is unbelieveble.  Usually we pump out a few pages, laughing, talking, movie watching in between.  My friend crops about a hundred times faster then pokey me so by the end of the night we would have been at 10 pages (her) to 4 pages (me).  However, this time was different.  Neither one of us was enjoying the projects we had planned to work on. 

 

I brought out a few sheets of “inspiration”; layouts I had copied from various places online with designs I really liked.  Even that didn’t help me.  So we decided maybe tonight just wasn’t a crafty night and sat down to watch “Catch and Release”.  (If you haven’t seen it and love chick flicks you must see this one.)

 

Even though Saturday night was a bust, I have decided to break out of my slump by trying a new project.  I’m putting together the supplies for a mini album.  Something very different then I usually do.  But I’m hoping it will spark the creativity and get me back on track.  What do you do to pull out of a creative slump?  Leave a message here and I will send a packet of goodies to one lucky person (a RAK – to you Fiskateers!!). 

Digital Scrapbook Layout Newbie June 12, 2008

So, I took the photo of my girls from my previous post and tried out a fully digital layout.  I have played around with them before but never really finished one.  I found some great free digital “kits” online at http://www.shabbyprincess.com/ .  Here is the finished product….

 

 

So what do you think?  I wish I knew more about photo editing.  Because then I could have been more creative about cropping out the men standing behind the girls.  For now I just slapped a photo corner to cover up the one guys crotch area (see original photo below). 

 

As for the process of digital scrapbooking I think if I decide to use it in the future, I will try a hybrid method.  Using both digital and hand pieced pages.  When I did this page I missed using the paper trimmer and adhesive runner.  I missed the scraps and the feel of the photos and papers in my hands.  I guess I’m just an old-fashioned girl.  What do you think about digital scrapbooking?

 

A few of my favorite things… June 11, 2008

These photos came from the most recent batch of disposable cameras I took in for developing.  I love the photo of my girls.  It’s a rare moment when they are getting along and being silly.  We were watching my sons baseball game and it was freezing out.  The sun was shining but the wind was blowing the most bitter cold it could without snowing.  The photo of my son is taken just after they won the baseball tournament.  He is at the stage where mom is embarassing in public.  So making him stand still for a picture is almost torture.  I have to admit that’s kind of the fun part! *insert evil laugh*   I can’t wait to scrapbook these photos.

Digital Camera Diaries June 9, 2008

I may have mentioned it before, but I am a hockey mom.  Two of my three children play hockey and we are constantly on the go – practice, game, practice, tournament.  The only respite is the month of July when not much happens in the youth hockey world. 

 

Since we are so active, there are many, many photo opportunities to capture and scrapbook.  Some people love to shoot photos and video of the games, start to finish.  I love getting shots of the kids and their teammates before a game, after a game, running around the hotels, jumping in the pool, carrying their bags and sticks to the car, mom and dad giving them a high-five and “good game” when they come out of the locker room.  You get it.  The candid, everyday moments.  I guarantee that when the kids are no longer kids and they look back on their days of sports, they will remember very few games.  They will remember these moments.  For a very long time I used a 35mm camera to take these shots.  I loved that camera.  It  was never very far out of reach. 

 

Then the unthinkable happened – I lost it!!!  Days and days I searched for it.  Finally I gave up.  I was so heartsick that I did not immediately go out and buy another.  I merely purchased single use, disposable cameras “just until I found the other one”.  Well, that time never came and technology was rapidly catching up to me.  I watched the other parents with green-eyed envy as they took picture after picture, turning their digital cameras to me and showing me the photo they took just two second before.  It was then I began to whine.  I wanted a digital camera and bad.  I showed my husband ads in the Sunday paper of digital cameras.  I pointed out Best Buy and Circuit City ads on TV.  And just in case he didn’t get the hint I told the kids “if dad asks you what I want for Christmas tell him a digital camera.”

 

I guess it worked, or everyone was so annoyed they just bought me off.  I received my beautiful Olympus digital camera on Christmas Day.  I have never been so happy with a gift.  Finally, no more disposable cameras!  Finally, a zoom lens!!  I used that darn thing every day.  No kidding.  My kids loved it, too.  They took pictures of each other, the tv, dinner, the hamster, the cat and themselves.  It was great.  But sadly, the honeymoon had to end. 

 

In January, my sons hockey team was using a practice as a fun, skills competition between themselves.  It was just a teambonding, fun time; meant to blow off some steam and keep the kids having fun.  They were going to do some relay races, puck shooting contests, etc.  Just before we had to leave for the rink I started to go through the pictures on my memory card to see if there were any I could delete to make room for more.  I turned the camera on and starting flipping though the memory – blurry picture of Queen Bee posing for herself, delete; picture of Queen Bee’s feet in her new shoes, delete; picture of Moxie’s nose and left eye (her attempt to take a close up I guess); delete.  It went on like this for about five minutes.  When I was done I hit the power button and nothing happened but this terrible little *whirrr*.  The lens did not close but the power went off.  It was stuck.  I hit the power button again.  Another *whirrrr*.  Then nothing.  It wouldn’t turn on and the lens was extended like a telescope.  I couldn’t believe it!  Then I did the mental math…got it for Christmas last year, now it’s January, one year warranty.  ARRRGGGHH. Not covered. 

 

I took it to the camera store.  Bad news – happens a lot to digital cameras, it’ll cost you $180 flat fee for us to send it the manufacturer.  Went to another camera store.  Bad news – happens a lot to digital cameras.  If you would have bought it from us and purchased the extended warranty for $30 it would have been covered.  Went to the manufacturer (well, I went to their website) = sortof bad news – $80 flat fee to send it in for repair.  Now here is my dilema; spend the $80 to send it in and hope for the best while waiting for I don’t know how many weeks.  Or pony up the $100 to $300 for a new one.  This happened five months ago and I’m still so heartsick I can’t decide…  For now, I guess I’ll buy a disposable camera.

Mixing techniques June 6, 2008

Here is a fun layout I created of my daughter back when she let me dress her up like a girlie-girl and actually posed for photos!  Now if I point the camera towards her you’d think she was Britney Spears getting assaulted by the papparazzi.  sheesh! 

On the base page I used foam stamps to create her name.  On the dark purple strip I used an acrylic flower stamp.  Then I layered vellum flowers from Cloud9, small paper flowers and topped with a round brad.  I love how the layered effect came out.  And also how the papers match her shirt!

 

a day in the life…of a working mom June 4, 2008

So as I’m dutifully working at my desk today, ok…maybe I was surfing a little, and checking my email once…I mean twice; my lovely 16 year old daughter (I’ll call her Queen Bee; don’t know why, it just fits) calls me to say “Mom, will you please tell him to STOP TALKING!?!”  Him, of course is her brother age 14 (I’ll call him Hot Shot; don’t know why; it just fits).  I asked her “are you really asking me this?  How old are you? ‘Can’t we all just get along?’”  She doesn’t appreciate my sense of humor.  In her frustration at her brother talking and me not being as helpful as she hoped the phone went *click*.  What do you do?  I called her back and since I am in my office, at work I cannot speak as…um…forcefully as I would like to.  I said calmly “Do not hang up on me.  That is highly inappropriate and disrespectful”.  Queen Bee mumbles “sorry” as I hear Hot Shot and my third child (I’ll call her Moxie; it just fits) yelling in the background.  It was then I decided the best way to settle this was to give each one something productive to do.  Keep them busy and away from each other.  I gave them each *gasp* a chore.  To be completed before I arrive home.  Queen Bee said “Fine!” she handed the phone to her brother who said “Fine!” and handed the phone to little sister who said “am I the only one who has to do a chore!?!”  “no,” I said, “you each have to do one”.  To which she replied “Fine!”  *click* 

*big sigh*  a day in the life….

learning how to blog ~ part I June 2, 2008

My ultimate goal for this blog is to share my designs, layouts and ideas for scrapbooking with others who find as much enjoyment in this craft as I do.  I have visited so many blogs and websites that have inspired many designs of my own that I wanted to try and do the same in return.  So here we go, my first attempt at sharing my ideas. 

I created an 8×8 album of our family trip to Duluth, MN.  We love to visit this historic town on Lake Superior.  However, we are usually there for a hockey tournament and it’s usually winter.  In Duluth, winter means about 20 degrees colder than our hometown near the Twin Cities.  And the wind that comes off the lake…brrrrr.  This year we went for a hockey tournament, but it was SUMMER!!!  I couldn’t believe our good fortune.  We really enjoyed this trip and I found the 8×8 album size to be ideal.  It’s prefect for a theme or vacation.  Here are some of the pages…

This is the front cover.  Instead of using a photo, I altered paper to match the album theme and inked a chipboard “d” and stickers for the remaining letters.

The famous lift bridge can be seen in these photos.  I was enamoured with chipboard at this time so the circles are chipboard covered with coordinating papers.  I used sandpaper to smooth and slightly distress the edges.  *Tip: no need to spend a lot on distressing tools.  I went to Home Depot and bought regular sandpaper in the smallest grit available.  I spent about $2 and have probably a lifetime supply.  Just cut small pieces off of the large strips.  It bends easily and enables you to get into small crevises.

This is a rare photo of my hubby and I.  My youngest daughter took this photo while we toured a coal ship docked on the pier.  I was so proud of her…we both have heads!

We bought huge s’mores candy apples at the Rocky Mountain Chocolate factory.  Yum!  While working on this page I just couldn’t find anything I liked to go with the photo.  Then I found this terrific textured paper.  I initially overlooked it at the store because the front side had wide stripes of a darker green all across it.  Then I turned it over and ta-da!  It makes the page so much more intersting.

During a lunch of pizza and soda the kids took some time out to play games.  To add a little dimension I cut out some paisleys from leftover scraps and added them as you would a sticker or diecut.  The green paisley on the boys page is matted in blue and attached with foam dots.

While touring the coal ship my daughter decided to treat me like the paparazzi. 

While my third child couldn’t be bothered to pose, my hubby went straight for the captains spot.  (Again with the chipboard.)

 I borrowed the idea for this layout from a product catalog.  I like how it’s simple, but also shows lots of color.  The photos were taken from our hotel balcony and the coal ship can be seen behind the boys.

Thanks for taking a look at my first big post!  I’m looking forward to sharing more.