Lots to Cover & So Many Photos

We're back from vacation and there's much to cover in this post.

Crafty Secrets & Cricut Haul

EDIT:  Picture Revised.  The original photo posted reference a haul from last week.  This photo was the one intended for this area.  Apologies from the author.

 Several items ordered before we left arrived in the mail today.  I referenced a vintage stamp, paper, postcard company a post or two back, the order shown to the left.  The order was a sampling of some of the many products available and not surprisingly, was happier with some items more than others.  The various stamp sets are perfectly suited for several projects I'm due to begin in the coming weeks.  The little boy alpha stickers will quickly disappear.  The postage card/journaling tags will slowly find secret spots as other projects evolve.  I'm not sure how much the baby book chipboard stickers and chipboard pieces will actually end up in the Graphic 45 Little Darlings mini-album I begin work on this month, but with product in hand I'm now certain the colours match perfectly.  This was more luck than anything else. The Flower Shoppe cartridge from Cricut also arrived and this one will save over $100 within a day of work.  These cartridge offers endless dimensional flower combinations that, for under $20, cost about the same as one standard punch of this type.  My deepest regrets, EK Success. 

Butterfly, Turtle & Potbelly Pig charms

Dinosaur charms

Along side the need for a quick buildup of paper and fabric scrapbooking flowers, I've also found my charms collection miserably lacking. 

Charms are used extensively to decorate the outside binding of mini-albums; a charm bracelet for a book, as it were.  During each major phase of the vacation I bought several charming (ahem) charms representing that event; and, other pieces I thought might come into use down the road.  The dinosaur charms are precious!  I plan to use these within the Texas vacation mini as tag danglies.  I'll post pictures of how they're used once put into pace.  The cute little pot bellied pig will be seen again in the upcoming mini album project using the Graphic 45 Olde Curiosity Shoppe paper collection.  Unfortunately, the gift shop at the Japanese Gardens didn't have a koi charm of any sort, which was a major disappointment... the quest will continue.

July 27th, 2012

 I couldn't resist posting one of my favourite photos of Martin feeding the koi during our visit to the gardens. The fish practically climb out of the water for their kibbles.  The little guy's mouth is wide open waiting for him to drop in the pellet.  Is this a great shot or what?  I love it!

Next are the photos of the book's layout almost naked, before attaching the vacation photos and other memorabilia inside.  I've flipped at a breakneck speed through most of the pictures we took and can already tell I'm going to add a few more pages to the album.  I suspected this would be the case, and planned accordingly, but waited until knowing exactly what we had before committing to the work.  (See post: TP & Thinking, June 26th, 2012) Those, of course, aren't represented in this showing because they are still locked in my head and scattered throughout various parts of the scrapbooking room.

Front Cover

Inside Front Cover

Japanese Garden Pages

Museum Pages - Info Bundled, Ready to mount

Self-descriptive

Family Photos & Small Pocket Page

Flip Page Details

Glen Rose - With Back Inside Cover

 ( How nice it would be to quickly figure out how to neatly arrange the photos, but this is a first and it's late! :D  

Oh, well)

I'm particularly proud of this mini-album because, although I've learned many of the techniques from other great scrappers, the layout, paper combinations, and design are 100% mine... no scrap-lifting involved.

School starts back this week so I'll have many hours each day to devote undivided attention to several upcoming mini-album projects.  The baby book, the boy's younger years, and two identical copied-to-the-letter Old Curiosity Shoppe albums - one for here and one as a Christmas gift.  The album I plan to shamelessly copy - not once but twice - is shown on YouTube here.  Almost needless to say, but said, is that all the paper lines will come from various Graphic 45 collections.  Does the company sell stock?  If so, buying in could prove a solid investment.

I promised to cover a whole bunch.  Delivered, with a smile.  Blessings!

PS... The vacation was positively awesome.  We had a blast.

Discovered UTEE

Something about funds, or lack thereof, altered my plans to attend the SSD warehouse sale.  It wasn't meant to be.  I did, however, stop by the tiny TM in Rogers and found the Crop-a-Dile Main Squeeze for pennies on the dollar.  Upon further inspection, I'm not sure the investment was a good one.  The concept is great, and if embellishments outside what the company offers work, the story changes.  Otherwise, this will be a very expensive press... for garlic maybe???  What's really needed is the Crop-a-Dile II.

I've owned Glossy Accents for a number of months now, but let it set because it seemed too expensive to use, and embossing powders gave a bit of shine where needed.  In the making of the mini-album, I hauled the bottle out... and WOW!  How did I do this without the glossy bling?  What I didn't realize after this discovery, until seeing it on YouTube, was that the surface had only been scratched, so to speak.  The next step up is the Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel (UTEE). Playing with it when it comes into the house will probably set the album back a few days, but this is a tool to master.  I'm wondering if this could change the way I look at charms; they are much too expensive for general use right now, and want to change this.

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Speaking of the mini-album (what else these days?) I decided to make the ABC Primer documenting my husband's childhood days photographs before starting the one intended for me.  I found a video with step-by-step instructions on YouTube (where else?) that's perfect for my current skill level.
 

 
   This is a great introduction since the lines run very straight, without all the flourishes and complicated cuts planned for the other book.  I'm learning exponentially at present, and it's all to the good!  I'm lifting the book straight from her design, but can't help but think that anyone who makes 18 videos outlining every step and cut minds being copied.  (Trying to sell the album as my own design would be less than ethical, but that's not a problem.)

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I absolutely adore the two stencil sets bought from Kiwi Lane Designs.  Since discovering the site, they've had only one sale, just before Christmas, nothing since.  This Saturday they're having another.  There would be nothing more pleasing than having everything they make, but that's unreasonable.  I will settle by buying only one more set to add to the collection this go round... darn.

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I'm having a blast decorating containers and house decorations.  One of the latest creations, for the coloured pencils collected over the past 20 years or so:

Quickie Photo

 

Not all Goes as Planned

Feeling much better now, thank you.  There's still no clue as to what happened.

Much to my amazement, there are areas in life where paper, though decorative, doesn't enhance.  The coloured pencil container - previously coffee container - came out splendidly.  So, using great leaps of imagination and motivation, decided to decorate a few other recycled coffee tins.

{Before going forward with the story, it's necessary to note my husband is a closet garage hoarder.  Only the garage.  He'll come back and say it's my fault... blah, blah, blah.  It most certainly is not.  It's that I finally gave up trying to organize the area, only to find it totally junked up weeks later; wasted effort.}

Finding a particular item inside the garage is a daunting task.  Not quite impossible, but we've lost 16x8x7 tents in there.  I'll give credit and say he has a loose system of grouping like items in a particular part of the garage.  He loves my homemade fire starters for BBQ and camping.  He said he'd run out recently, and could I make some more?

This is where the story gets crazy.  Why, we'll never know, but I decided to melt the paraffin so it would store neatly in three cans (first duh).  Task finally completed, I  though it would be nice to paper the exterior of the can to serve as a visual cue in the virtual wasteland.  It finally hit me!  Getting the paraffin out of the coffee cans would require heat... lots of it.  Not so good for paper.  What a total and complete flop.  Live and learn!  Is that funny, or not?

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For my baby pictures mini-album, I'm currently studying every aspect of what makes a page work, or not.  Since the album cover and pages will be created from cereal boxes, you can only imagine the intense labour required.  From scratch!  I only hope it begins to come together before the end of the year.

I gathered my baby pictures from all sorts of stashed areas yesterday, then decided which pictures to use.  A huge task in and of itself.  Now I have a good idea what size pockets to create.  That's it so far.

The inspiration for all of this comes from a video from YouTube, from a user calling herself, Monkeydreamz1. Everything she does are pieces of art.   Of course, I'll need to make many, many adjustments, beginning with painting the pages pastels instead of the bold black she (appropriately) uses in this video.  I'm still looking forward to the project; but maybe because I haven't done anything but find pictures and collect chipboard, no labour as yet.

Stuff

My husband began a new diabetic medication, though while not insulin, does require two injections each day.  He handles the morning dose just fine, but not so much with the pre-dinner shot.

I've decided to venture beyond scrapbooking proper and make a cute little 9x9 framed page to hopefully prompt his memory before dinner.  Going all out, I'm working with colours and sizes never used before.  It should do the trick; if not as a visual reminder, then as new splash of colour in a very monochromatic kitchen.

When I first began using the Cricut I counted a well-cut image miraculous. I stayed very, very basic with the cuts, and came to the point of frustration where I almost decided to sell the kit and kaboodle. Time and practice has refined enough to get the image I want every time.  There's enough confidence to now have fun and play around.  And... I no longer fear cutting the pattern on 15 different pages to get the results desired.  The differences between the first successful cuts and what's put out today is remarkable!  While still plenty of room to improve, it ain't half bad.

A Cricut Rooster

Thus far, I've given the mini-albums a mile-wide divide between them and me.  No way, never going to happen!  (That pesky word: never)  Finally, at long last, I saw one of these, putting to great use the beautiful Graphic 45 paper.  To put it simply, I was awestruck.  This is what scrapbooking is all about!

Graphic 45 Mini Album  at YouTube.  I am going to shamelessly copy every little detail demonstrated in the video.  I'll practice all the different techniques on less expensive paper, so maybe there will be two in the end... maybe three or twenty before getting it right?

During a total mental meltdown last night, I created a list of all the scrapbook paper/card stock packs.  The list includes the manufacturer, size, dominate colours, coordinating accessories on hand, and special features such as maps, stamps, tickets, etc.  There were almost 50 packs accumulated thus far... this is on the frightening side of paper obsession.  This list does not include single patterned, themed papers, or special bonuses like vellum and transparencies.  There must be a totally different approach to the 7 inch stack of primarily unsorted paper.  Perhaps tomorrow I'll inventory the paper kits on hand; another 5 inch stack I've lost the ability to instantly recall.  Stamps will have to follow at some point soon; just trying to think of the most effective way to accomplish/organize the system.

It doesn't get any simpler than this, but the dowel rod was finally hung in the closet (amazing dead space remains!) with three evenly spaced curtain rod support screws.  Most ribbons fit on the rod, but a couple more spools will necessitate another row.

I ordered my first Cricut Cartridge since December.  It was on the list and at the right price.  What's up with eBay charging as much, or more, for these cartridges as can be bought in stores?  I wouldn't have nearly the collection if most of these were bought at (usually) less than $20.

At long last, I want to offer praise to our Lord Jesus for answering a prayer thought unanswerable.  Well, I knew He would!  The answer came in the form of yet another miracle, but my God always does it in style.  Thank you so very much, eternal praise for your faithfulness.

Gaining

I went to Fayetteville yesterday for a doctor appointment.  While there I planned to hit JoAnne's and the TM rumoured to have a much better inventory selection for scrapbooking supplies.  Imagine my surprise when TM was located in the same mall strip as HL!  Well, that works out just fine. No doubt about it; the Fayetteville store was all promised... and more!

At present, I'm collecting as many Basic Grey paper packs as possible.  (Only at greatly reduced prices, of course.)  They had two large packs.  Wow-za! The current passion for BG is that the company puts out an unique array of colours and patterns hard to find elsewhere.  And the paper quality is great.

I love Tim Holtz products, but most large box stores charge exorbitant prices and the rare times put up for sale, it's less than a significant margin. Until yesterday my Tim Holtz inventory consisted of four distress ink pads, and about five Sizzix Bigz dies.  I found two paper packs, a small and gigantic mask set, and a package of round cut out grunge board that I have NO idea how to put to use, but will eventually.  There might have been other items, but it's all put away and nothing else comes to mind.  (Oh! a butterfly border die!)

The grand find involved 7 Gypsies (yet another line tending on the expensive side).  They had a super-sized stamp set, 64 individual stamps, with every warning one could ever think of stamping on a page or envelope when mailing.

Note:  I need to rethink haul strategies.

Finally, though it's not related to scrapbooking, we stopped at a little antique/junk store I've wanted to visit every time we drive past it - 4 times every weekday.  They had quite the assortment.  Of all wonders, I found three history books published in the late 1800's, and a world atlas from 1937; pre-WWII era.  They weren't in perfect condition, but still!  While on the subject of books, the doctor gave me an outdated medical book for the asking.  There's real scrapping potential with this one.

Now to the meat of this post.

One would expect a difference in quality between a new scrapper and one with six years under her belt.  I can spot the difference in less than a second when browsing LOs at scrapbook.com.  I suppose an innately artistic brain probably differentiates, also.  I'm putting a great deal of effort trying to decipher the differences between amateur and professional work.  So far, I've only been able to learn more advanced techniques, but haven't gotten the hang of combining these to make a WOW piece.  They happen occasionally, but it's mostly by accident.

While browsing through more professional LOs today, I stumbled across Dusty Attic, a blog with blow-away tutorials.  Maybe this will be the place, and ones similar to this, I can learn the tricks of the craft.

What would be absolutely wonderful would be to recruit a few semiprofessionals to not encourage the scrapper, but to critique works submitted.  The submitters would put out their best examples and find where room for improvement exists.  It would not necessarily be put-downs, but a place to learn, "this is good, but some shadowing would make a difference."  The concept is good.  Implementing it, another.

Shock and Awww!

There's still an itch to get back to scrapbooking, and yet I simply can't find the inspiration to actually sit down and do the deed.  I miss this stuff!

The Kiwi Lane Design templates arrived.  That should be enough to cause immediate breaking down of doors and pulling out the drawers and get down to scrappin'; alas, not quite yet.  For reference, I purchased the bracket and scallop 12 in sets.  They are adorable.

I found an online scrapbook store called Blue Moon Scrapbooking.  They may not be the largest store out there, and they are large, but what they have are collections and items fairly unique, and on the pricier side.  (Okay, I consider anything over $10 an item is on the pricier side!)

While perusing there last night I fell head over heels in love with a new Graphic 45 collection called Little Darlings, an infancy paper theme with 1920-30's colour schemes.  I showed Martin the collection and he absolutely looked aghast.  "Angel, how would you EVER use this paper?  It's too pretty to cut and some of the pages are works of art in their own right!"  Yep, his first exposure to Graphic 45 scrapbook paper.

The following scrapbook page is one of the very first done and is one in a series of three.  And yes, I'm still working to perfect the photographing of scrapbook pages.

Peach Keey Stamps

I've wanted a Peachy Keen Stamps stamp set for months now.  Today (ta-da) I purchased my first set.  (Now to wait forever to them get to the house.)  This site has to be the best collection of face stamps available.


I ordered the original set, which is a good start.  I also bought an acid/lignum-free white pen to colour in the eyes. 

 

But, oh, how much more they've put out; human, animal, Halloween and many more faces in every size and expression imaginable.  They've even come out with die sets with two different face stamps per die... and they are adorable!

I can only imagine it would take a small fortune to own all their products.  I'll have to be very selective with my inventory.  I think I'll stop at the assorted face stamp set and one assorted animal face set.  Or more.  It depends on my mood.  (I did put a set of acrylic block set with the rounded grips in my wish list for next month's order.  All are currently 90 degree edges.)  They even have stamp sets that coordinate with various Cricut cartridges. Along those lines, MyPinkStamper.com has designed word stamp sets that compliment Cricut cartridges, but I've yet to buy from there, either.  To own fully integrated Cricut cartridge, word and face stamps is a dream come true.

When I receive my next allowance payout I am 100%-positive-sure buying a border template set from Kiwi Lanes.

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Over the past several days I've filled my time by finishing scrapbook pages and have created a few more.  There's no feeling like putting a page in the scrapbook knowing there's no more work to be done.Here is one of the latest pages:

Now that I'm getting the hang of photographing the 12x12 pages I'm sure to post more!

*** Whoopie: My new Spellbinders Edgeability set arrived in the mail today.  :D

Ribbon Organization

This is the best system for ribbon organization I've seen yet.

I'll say it here, and 100 more times before ending this journal:  Scrapbooking need not be an expensive hobby; yes, there are companies out there that offer incredible products.  But in most cases, a goodly amount of imagination can slash costs to pennies on the dollar.

Just yesterday when visiting Hobby Lobby I saw a pack of eight large paper clips with small pieces of ribbon tied on as a bow.  I actually said out loud, "I can do that at home."  Someone standing near me laughed.  I suppose the thought is fairly universal.  Nevertheless, I couldn't bring myself to look for the price knowing I would have had a total meltdown in the middle of the aisle.  (Closest estimate is around $6-$8.)

I highly recommend you take a quick look at one woman's solution and have your socks knocked off!  Just click the image below: