The Return

Incomplete & Cropped

Lately I've focused incorporating flowers and metals into new projects.  I've struggled with flower placement as either sprays or decorative elements from the beginning.  Inexperience with metals came down to inventory resources.  In this latest layout I've had opportunity to work with both.  The flower spray in the lower left corner still seems imbalanced somehow.  Secondly, this flower arrangement is dead flat.  Since the layout is not intended for a book where depth is an issue, it feels instinctively wrong not creating opportunity for shadowing.  Perhaps not. Overall, not a bad attempt for my first attempt.

This year's vacation is a thoroughly documented historical event, still unscrapped. Time to get serious about pulling it all together and for all that I still haven't decided which paper collection to use.  I originally bought Farm House Fair Skies collection for this purpose, but fell in love with - and purchased - Prima's Craftsman; either will work fabulously for the project. Choosing between the two collections might be the most difficult decision of the entire project. 

There's been two substantial hauls in under a week. I'm too ashamed to admit how much money changed hands; but using a spender's rationale, it can be said I saved more than paid.  The new inventory overflows with all types of goodies, covering everything from alphas to zippers.  The multiple quests involved purchasing items I've wanted to experiment with and incorporate into creations, but haven't, being unwilling to spend full price for something that may, or may not benefit future creations.

That's all for now!

Improbable

Page with flip out card on left

 As improbable as it might seem, I worked out several technical issues and now back on track on the page order.  Also improbable, I completed the first page.  Nothing's been glued down, but there's no work remaining to complete the page.  At least that's what I think today.  As pretty as it is, it seems as if "something" is missing.  No worries, loads of time to think this through.
 



Because I changed my mind about the album dimensions, I can't firmly grasp how the above page will sit on the inside cover.  There may be room to add an ivory pleated trim between the book board and paper.  Another reason for not gluing the components to the page at this time is because it's probably 100 times more difficult; that, and if it can be done, I haven't seen anyone do it.

Next... an absolute final commitment to the 8.5x8.5 page size.  Either later this evening when there's more time, or tomorrow, I plan to cut the base paper for the first page.  It's with that extra added one-half inch that the certificate, that cause so much grief, can snugly fit.

The I am Roses package arrived today.  Oh, my!  These are going to be fun with a capital F.  The time has arrived where I can no longer ignore the (b)looming flower storage problem.  From incorporating flower use only a couple of months ago, the inventory is accumulating as quickly as weeds grow.  That's not including the dozens of flowers I've cut from off the Cricut.  Guess it's back into the room with the rolling bins.  Although... a $25 wall lateral wire shelf would go a long way in solving this problem without taking up floor space.  TBD.

It's total defeat in collecting the full Once Upon a Springtime collection.  What's on hand should be enough to do everything I bought it for.  I saw another Graphic 45 collection, Le Cirque since retired that peaked my interest, but thought much older then the Once Upon and, as these things go for me, figured completely unobtainable.  Not so fast!  I got my hands on both the 12x12 and 8x8 paper pads, and some of the other pieces in the collection.  I could not be more pleased.  Finally, as budgeted, I bought the full Tropical Travelogue collection, but from several places; all now on the way to the house.

While browsing through YouTube the other day I ran across a mini-album design, with tutorial, that's a must for several future albums.  The link for the YouTube video.

Skill Development

The Lindy's Stamp Gang Nantucket Starburst colour shot set arrived today.  Yeah!  Unfortunately, the weather affected me so badly I couldn't even twist a top loose, let alone fill the container with water and begin to play.  I learned the other day this particular collection isn't about glitz; rather, the soft shimmer.  This is perfect for the purposes intended.  Next batch will be all about the glimmer and glitz.  Hopefully the weather and extreme temperature changes won't keep me from enjoying the little things in life tomorrow and I can find time to play with the colours.  At least the temperatures will be a bit more bearable throughout the weekend.

It may take another three weeks before the first I am Roses package arrives as they originate and ship from Taiwan.  In the meantime I've began playing with the Flower Shoppe Cricut Cartridge.  Though the flowers come out pretty, there was "something" missing.  After watching a few videos I believe that missing something is my fear of manipulating the paper overly much once cut and inked, which took the potential of something great into amateurish attempts.  There's at least twenty pounds of paper in this room - excluding the premium papers - and I'm still too stingy to let loose and have fun with new creations.  Perhaps this is common to new crafters, but probably has more to do with my more conservative nature.  I've watched a few videos specific to the cartridge and learn more each time.  It's a shame there's no group in the area specific to Cricut. 

The function of every tool in the Cricut tool kit was readily apparent except for the spoon looking thingy.  I finally found a use for it!  Having lost the embossing tool purchased in the earliest days of card making, getting the flowers to soften and curl was a bit of a challenge.  This Cricut tool and a variety of metal crochet hook sizes does a great job.  The spoon tool (for lack of a better description) works especially well for petal embossing in the sizes I'll most use.

The box of scrapbooking goodies came in much earlier than anticipated.  I immediately passed most of the materials to my sister after she got to play with some of the stamps and inks.  She's been scrapbooking for a much longer time than I, and makes stunning pages, but has never incorporated stamping into her designs.  Now hooked on the concept, I donated most of the stamps and inks that came in to encourage her new skills.  But not all!  Some were much too precious to let go.  In the end, we fairly well split the box down the middle.

On to more skill sets and advancing in others!

Learning by Mistake

What a week.  Seems as if every project is somewhere up in the air... or in the mail again.

Got the photos.  When building the travel mini I designed everything to accommodate 4x6 photos, although there were a few pages designed with smaller mats.  I realized there would be many, many pictures to include and adjusted for that.  What I'm learning in putting the final touches on the album is that my matting skills have everything left to improve.  For example, in one booklet alone I punched an eye out - totally avoidable - placed photos in such a way the booklet requires constant turning to view the pictures, and as cute as the booklet is, the photos still needed an additional mat, which of course I didn't allow for.  It's still okay because the approach to this album was to treat this as a learning experience.  That certainly happened!  The next "solo" designed album will mark a dramatic advancement of skills.

While watching the daily subscription YouTube videos, I ran across someone very excited about a find at TJ Maxx getting in a huge variety of EK Success punches for $3.99 each.  That is something to get excited about.  I couldn't get to the Maxx until yesterday and it initially appeared as if all the punches I'd hoped to find already sold.  It wasn't a total loss as I managed to find one EK Success Halloween punch and a bonus Martha Stewart Halloween Punch Around the Page set for only $8.00.

I learned an surprising fact about EK Success punches. (This also includes Martha Stewart as EK Success manufactures these as well.)  They come with absolutely no guarantee, implied or otherwise.  And when calling customer support, they all but told me: too bad in just about those words.  It's a shame there's no alternative punch companies out there that back their products.  Perhaps Fiskars, but would have to look.

I've been a very good scrapper and chained myself to a strict budget; because I've realized it's not a good policy to buy something just because I "might" need it someday - sales or not.  (I must admit that I'm still working on that "chained" part :) 

So... today I finally bought a couple packs of I am Roses and doing the happy dance for it. The flower inventory is still very limited, so I've decided that for the next couple of allowances to add a few packs each time.  

It's very fortunate we live so close to the national Tattered Angel's warehouse as bottles and sprays can cost as little as $3.00 a bottle; fortunate because my investment for glittery sprays and paints has been minimal.  After watching so many videos, it's obvious Lindy's Stamp Gang's various forms of micas are far superior to Tattered Angels.  I'm buying my first four-bottle set that happens to marry up with several Graphic 45 collections already on hand.  Between I am Roses and LSG, I'm going to have a blast over the next few weeks learning new techniques.  Like the I am Roses, I also plan to slowly build the LSG spray/paint inventory.

For fear of retiring the collection I'm hoping to buy Graphic 45's Travel Travelogue in the 12x12 and 8x8 pads.  If the collection proves to be a fairly new, then I'll just sit on this week's allowance until a good sell comes along.  I wonder if there's a place where you can go to learn when a collection came out and approximately how long the sets stay in publication.

Great, great news!!  I misunderstood what the seller was offering with the partial 8x8 pad Once Upon a Springtime paper, but now accidentally own TEN face pages of the collection.  However (squeals of joy) I located a company that had the postcard page for 70c each, and had them in stock!!!  Four of these should arrive any day now.  That leaves the tag page to locate, and should I desire, the chipboard frames.

The post here is too long, but in the next day or so I'll share a project I'm coordinating. 

Flowers & Style

This is the first post about flowers and scrapbooking.  The reason is quite simple; except for the few occasions I've used paper flowers - in very limited quantities - on a scrapbook page, I haven't seen a need from them.  There's a dimensional aspect that I figured would fail when used in a traditional, sheet protected 12x12 album-bound book.  

For the past couple of months when doing the scrapbook store run I've began picking up a package or two of assembled flowers when found on sale.  They aren't cheap.  Last week, TM had a sale on Prima Flowers (the industry standard) which reduced the $4.00 packages down to 99c each.  Talk about building a rapid inventory! 


Though I'm not quite sure where to start, I'm fascinated by the flowers made by I am Roses. You get a big bang for each buck there, and they are truly lovely.  They have a huge assortment of flower types, sizes and colours, and priced very reasonably.  Except that I have to restock on some very basic supplies, I would order enough to sample and play around with.


The big box craft stores all carry silk flowers, which they regularly have 50% sales.  This is an area to pay more attention, especially the bridal section.


And in no way least, there's virtually an unlimited range of paper flowers created with the Cricut.  I've watched scores of YouTube video demonstrating techniques of creating beautiful flowers I never would have thought possible.


Primarily through the warehouse sales, I've built a reasonable collection of Tattered Angels sprays and glimmer paints.  These consistently put out stunning effects, but they really need to figure out a better spray system.  I've yet to complete a project without having the sprayer clog.  Everywhere I turned I kept hearing about Lindy's Stamp Gang, a direct competitor of Tattered Angels.  I watched several videos from both the manufacturer and independent reviews, and I'm convinced this line definitely has a place in my growing spray paint/mist collection.  Lots of them!  The mention of the sprays and mists while posting about flowers is because these play such an important role in colouring flowers... and so much more.


The white flowers at the lower right corner are some left over from a wedding several years ago.  Cheap, cheap, cheap.  The coloured flowers are the same set but with a stingy application of differently coloured Tattered Angel's mist sprays.

____________________________

It's taken awhile to figure this out, but I do have a "style".  It is the colours and images predominate between 1910-1960.  Yes, that's a sizable range, but these are the colours I love working with best.  G45 probably helped with that, but it holds true across all paper lines and graphics.  When I heard yesterday about an online store, CraftySecrets.com carrying vintage papers, postcards, and images; I had to go check it out.  Using incredible ultra-human restraint, I left the site with only a large stamp set (perfect for the G45 On the Boardwalk line!!) and 32 page postcard collection, and two booklet sets.  Yes, all from the 1930-60's.  And as it happened, they had a sale in place.  I will go back to "visit" again, some time soon.  Oh, yes, life is good!


Then, as if the gummy karma worms weren't helping along most wonderfully, today I found a blog site here called The Graphics Fairy LLC, with free(!) vintage images... thousands of them.  Too good to be true.


On a sadder note, one of my all-time punches got damaged somehow.  The question becomes:  do I go out and buy another, or do I go with a similar punch? This is really discouraging; having to buy something a bit pricey twice.