Yes!
Finally. It all comes together, even better than hoped.
I spent hours yesterday trying to buy a few select items and ran up against wall after wall of "not currently in stock" and paying $5.00 or more for each shipping charge, adding up to over $20.00 for less than $15.00 worth of product.
I started out the day with a positive attitude. After about an hour of searching the wheels began to
grind down... again. Time to take a break. I set back out after the house
quieted, not really expecting results. And then, jackpot!!!
Scor-Tape. Bingo!
Flying off the shelf Prima mask. Gotcha!
Photo corners. Done deal!
I am tickled pink. But... the best was yet to come. I've lusted after a
Graphic 45 collection called "Once Upon a Springtime" that I believe retired
about the time I came into the craft. Through sheer perseverance I
managed to collect the tag, frames and sticker pages, and all but two of
the pages from the12x12 paper pad.
Tonight I found the two pages, they are ordered, and mine all mine!
I've resigned all hope of finding the full 8x8 pad. Notwithstanding, this is the absolute BEST. Now(!) all the Prima flowers,
lace and crystals I've been hoarding will have a place to call home.
Right after I finish the other three albums in line. Poo. The important thing is having the set together when time comes. I think to buy
another safe to keep my most treasured papers protected in the event of a
fire; either that, or find a place to stash that other junk taking up valuable
safe space: birth and marriage certificates, diplomas, etc ;P
The next Graphic 45 quest is the Olde Curiosity Shoppe line. It's newer
and hardly a challenge to find. Just that money thing, which always
gets in the way of fun. This will be the September allowance.
I still can't figure out why the big hobby stores aren't carrying Scor-Tape. And why I haven't heard about it until now? The red sticky tape meets all demands, but gets to be
down right expensive at $3.00 for five yards. The Scor-Tape does the
exact same thing, but for a few dimes more buys twenty-seven yards.
Every album created so far has cost over $10.00 in tape alone. Throw in
the-up front paper investment and a few embellishments... and one of these books costs
almost $35.00 to create - of course I still mess up a whole bunch in the process. What was it I read a few months ago?
Scrapbooking is the art of spending $20.00 decorating a ten-cent
photo... too funny.
So.
I've finished the full mock-up of the next album and decided the binding. Or so I thought until
watching a new batch of YouTube videos. There are quite a few out there that use greeting card size pull-outs for pictures. Not a bad idea,
actually; most of the fun of the mini's is the interaction, and it also
provides a quick way out of figuring where to put the 5x7's collected
over the years.
I'm content. There's enough work laid out now to last until Christmas. It's going to be a fun three months.
Showing posts with label quests. Show all posts
Showing posts with label quests. Show all posts
Friday, August 17, 2012
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Lots to Cover & So Many Photos
We're back from vacation and there's much to cover in this post.
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.
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.
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.
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.
 |
| Crafty Secrets & Cricut Haul |
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.
Monday, June 11, 2012
Leaping Tall Buildings in a Single Bound
I knocked out a mini this weekend! The construction was heavily guided by professional construction techniques, but that I was able to quickly follow the instructions and pull it together is nothing short of miracle material! There's hope yet.
The album still lacks tags/photo mats. Tags are proving to be a creative millstone. Since the event for which the album was designed hasn't taken place yet, how is one to know how many to make and at what sizes? Intuitively, one would think to design for the standard 4x6 photo; yet, not many of the photos I work with end up without a bit of cropping. Further, does the album serve to showcase the photos, or do the photos work to fill out the album? Two of the minis in the planning stages at present are being constructed with all the photos I want to exhibit, so say I need to create six 3.5x3.5 mats and four 3x5's. This knowledge makes it more, or less, of a challenge depending on perspective. I'm planning on making one mini as a Christmas present for someone this year and until I can figure out how to solve this puzzle, it's going to create all sorts of anxiety.
I spent over an hour looking for a product made by a company based in the U.K. Magnetic clasps, of all things. I love the way these closures look on the videos; so classy and professional. The first problem was not knowing the product's description. Then on to find a company selling this style of magnets in the U.S. And finally, to find it reasonably priced. Described, found, and bought... all only a few mouse clicks away.
Something solid clicked in this marginally functioning brain. I'm suddenly able to see not only how the paper will look on the page, but able to visualize the background work needed before mounting the page to maximize function; setting eyelets, brads, stitching, ribbons, pockets, etc. Best yet, this is happening before it's too late... that's kind of key to the point. Before this, I would realize "something" needed to happen, but not the when and where, and quite frequently slap myself upside the head realizing the task one step too late, forcing less than impressive corrections. I get so excited upon discovery of another hurdle successfully jumped.
I've come to believe the more page construction techniques available to assembling mini-albums, the better and quicker the project goes. I'm currently creating a library of different page design templates. I had an "ah ha!" moment a few days ago, when thinking about a page style not seen before. It was based on the memo boards constructed with latticed ribbon. Of all the scores upon scores of YouTube videos watched, I'd never seen one. Then last night I happened upon the exact design I had pictured. At least I now know it's perfectly feasible. I digress, back to page design resources. The more the better, but I wonder at this point if there might be a magic formula to how certain designs work with others. Beyond that, I suspect a repetition of a few patterns within a project would present far better than a random selection; perhaps too chaotic and showing off. It's easy getting the impression I'm re-inventing the wheel when it comes to many of the technique and design issues as they arise. No doubt.
Another hard-earned tip to share. The Fiskars personal trimmer began putting out very unreliable cuts. Were the guidelines somehow knocked askew? But then, not having any idea why, it would randomly put out perfect cuts. I finally concluded the inconsistency had to do with the angle the blade was being pushed down the wire. Sitting down, working from the right or left created a slight pull to the guide wire when cutting. Standing up straight (or at least paying attention to hand placement) over the top of the cutter made a precision cut. And to think I was ready to toss the tool in the trash due to sheer frustration.
So much detail never explained to the novice... as if the novice could take all the vast body of knowledge in over a couple of settings. Maybe there's a book in here somewhere.
The album still lacks tags/photo mats. Tags are proving to be a creative millstone. Since the event for which the album was designed hasn't taken place yet, how is one to know how many to make and at what sizes? Intuitively, one would think to design for the standard 4x6 photo; yet, not many of the photos I work with end up without a bit of cropping. Further, does the album serve to showcase the photos, or do the photos work to fill out the album? Two of the minis in the planning stages at present are being constructed with all the photos I want to exhibit, so say I need to create six 3.5x3.5 mats and four 3x5's. This knowledge makes it more, or less, of a challenge depending on perspective. I'm planning on making one mini as a Christmas present for someone this year and until I can figure out how to solve this puzzle, it's going to create all sorts of anxiety.
I spent over an hour looking for a product made by a company based in the U.K. Magnetic clasps, of all things. I love the way these closures look on the videos; so classy and professional. The first problem was not knowing the product's description. Then on to find a company selling this style of magnets in the U.S. And finally, to find it reasonably priced. Described, found, and bought... all only a few mouse clicks away.
Something solid clicked in this marginally functioning brain. I'm suddenly able to see not only how the paper will look on the page, but able to visualize the background work needed before mounting the page to maximize function; setting eyelets, brads, stitching, ribbons, pockets, etc. Best yet, this is happening before it's too late... that's kind of key to the point. Before this, I would realize "something" needed to happen, but not the when and where, and quite frequently slap myself upside the head realizing the task one step too late, forcing less than impressive corrections. I get so excited upon discovery of another hurdle successfully jumped.
I've come to believe the more page construction techniques available to assembling mini-albums, the better and quicker the project goes. I'm currently creating a library of different page design templates. I had an "ah ha!" moment a few days ago, when thinking about a page style not seen before. It was based on the memo boards constructed with latticed ribbon. Of all the scores upon scores of YouTube videos watched, I'd never seen one. Then last night I happened upon the exact design I had pictured. At least I now know it's perfectly feasible. I digress, back to page design resources. The more the better, but I wonder at this point if there might be a magic formula to how certain designs work with others. Beyond that, I suspect a repetition of a few patterns within a project would present far better than a random selection; perhaps too chaotic and showing off. It's easy getting the impression I'm re-inventing the wheel when it comes to many of the technique and design issues as they arise. No doubt.
Another hard-earned tip to share. The Fiskars personal trimmer began putting out very unreliable cuts. Were the guidelines somehow knocked askew? But then, not having any idea why, it would randomly put out perfect cuts. I finally concluded the inconsistency had to do with the angle the blade was being pushed down the wire. Sitting down, working from the right or left created a slight pull to the guide wire when cutting. Standing up straight (or at least paying attention to hand placement) over the top of the cutter made a precision cut. And to think I was ready to toss the tool in the trash due to sheer frustration.
So much detail never explained to the novice... as if the novice could take all the vast body of knowledge in over a couple of settings. Maybe there's a book in here somewhere.
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