TP & Thinking

Finished the inside cover of the mini-album celebrated yesterday.  Yeah!

I saw somewhere (surely on YouTube) someone planning on a vacation and creating an album in advance of the trip to journal and stuff memorabilia/other scrapbooking materials inside as the vacation progressed.  Hmmm, I think.  Very organized.  Without even knowing I'd already "thought" about the concept, the mister came in the room all excited one evening after seeing someone mention a way of keeping all the maps, receipts, and other travel information organized and at easy reach throughout a trip.  His method included sheet protectors with all relevant information contained inside each page protector that could be moved back and forth within a notebook as needed.  That really got me to thinking.  Hmmm (with emphasis this time)  We're going on a week-long vacation next month, with as close to a planned agenda for each day as I care to get.

This force me to put down the boy's childhood album... again. 

In anticipation of this trip, and with these new ideas floating about, today I began putting together a custom made mini with lots of pockets, sheet protectors, journaling spots, and assembling this in such a fashion as described, using a little bit of each method that best suit our needs.  All will be temporarily bound so that each page can be arranged and rearranged, or in case something unexpected comes along during the adventure.  Since we roughly know all the major spots we're hitting, it's easy enough to put a loosely themed page together for the event.  This is pure genius at work.  By the time we get back, all I'll have to do is select the postcards, receipts, tickets, etc, and the order the pictures we like, mount them, and finish binding the album.  That simple!  No need to fret about compiling an album after the event... and a good way as to not procrastinate the project into 2016, or thereabouts.  What a lifesaver!

Pictures of this work of wonders to follow.

Stamp Organization System

Way, way back in March I described a system that helps keep track of the all the punches I own.  The system is working out wonderfully; no more guessing about ownership of a particular punch, and knowing exactly what's a hand in an instant.

Keeping an active scrapbooking room organized is the singularly most difficult part of the hobby.  Too many times," out of sight, out of mind" applies and various items become under-used.  This proves especially true when it comes to stamps.

I don't have a mega-collection of wood, acrylic, and rubber mounted stamps; there's probably about 200 individual stamps in all.  How to best keep the inventory in mind?  And because of the nature of stamps, they tend to end up in various places around the room: baskets, shelves, boxes, etc.

While trying to remember whether I had an appropriate stamp for a project being worked on today, and spending over 15 minutes looking about the room for one, I came to a breaking point.  Something had to be done, and done now!

Solution:  I pulled out a box of extra large index cards and begin stamping images by category.  Some fell into more than one, so those were stamped in whatever other category they could be assigned.

Indexed Images

 In little over three hours I grew a index card collection about 1/2 inch thick.  Unfortunately, this also meant cleaning, drying, and repackaging each stamp.  I'm stopping today at the halfway point... or so I hope, though I'm still working on repackaging/drying the first batch.

What a mess I created!

Just as in the case of the punch system, stamps will on longer come into the house without assigning a category with the stamped image. I've yet to determine the binding system since the collection will continue to grow over the months and years to follow, but notebook closure rings or ribbons come quickly to mind.

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It's really a "nothing" deal, but I've been asked to come in and work with a group to teach the basics of card making.  I'm flattered to no end.  It will be enough to know I've helped people of all ages discover a new creative outlet.

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.

Cricut Mat Rescue The One That WORKS

I've watched way, way too many YouTube videos talking about the best method for removing the yunk off a a less-then-sticky Cricut cutting mats.  There always seem to be many arduous steps involved in the process, not to mention extreme commitment of time.  Some claim these steps are easy... anyone could do them with great results.  Well, I've tried all the methods and they all involve WORK!

Have I ever mentioned how handy my husband comes in at the oddest moments? He stood back and watched yet another promised technique utterly fail.  He walked out of the room and came back in with a bottle of of GOO GONE, and said, "try this."  I did.

I generously sprayed the mat and let it sit for a minute.  I took paper towels to remove almost all the oogie-gooy glue and tiny bits of paper scraps .  I re-sprayed the mat, and one more wipe produced a virgin mat... except for all too-deep cuts.  No kidding, this took less than five minutes, start to finish.  I washed they mat with dish washing soap and hung it to dry; ready to spay adhesive.

After cleaning the first set of mats - well overused by this time - using this method, subsequent cleanings became a breeze.

Some might panic and say, this harsh chemical will harm the mats.  I've now processed each mat four times, and nothing gets harmed... and cleaner much quicker

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Successfully completed the pastel-based ocean page.  Thus far, I've only captured a fair representation, but it's not worth submitting anywhere but here.

Quick Tip

When there's a need of a line of embellishments such as tags, pictures, etc, and absolute perfection is not critical, there's a method  I found that eliminates rulers, pencil marks, or crimped paper.

Using a 12x12 cutting map I use a large rubber band expanded over and around the mat.  Assure the rubber band is resting on a designated mark on both sides, and not twisted. Pull the background between the rubber band and mat, marry the top or bottom of the pulled through paper to a predetermined guide mark on the mat.  Line the objects upon the rubber bands once adhesives are attached and use care to place the bottom or top of the element just over/under the band while carefully not moving the placement of the band.

Works like a charm every time!

Not Really a Second Post for the Day

This isn't really the second post of the day.  In my excitement over the hall yesterday, and not desiring to forget anything, I posted the blog previous to this in my Myspace blog.  Today I transferred the post to here; a more appropriate setting.

I've spent nearly twelve hours re-organizing paper and paper scraps.  To accommodate for a hefty but handy pre-sized paper cuts, some of the smaller dies had to be consolidated.  So too with other tools, but it will be worth the effort in the end.  Not administering enough organization torture, I labeled every bin and drawer.  Needless to say, after only twelve hours into the project, the room looks as if a paper bomb went off.  I really need to track how often I go through these two-to-three day organizational fits; it seems I do this at least every other month.  But wait!  There's more accomplished today...

For my coloured pencil collection, I saved an old coffee tin.  Yes, it's totally filled, but this collection goes back at least twenty years.  Back when the boys were kids, and I was a Camp Fire leader, I put all the crayons in a coffee bin and decorated it with a wallpaper scrap and crayon wrappers; the exterior decoration lasted virtually forever.  Each "play" coffee can had a unique decoration so they could pull the can and know what was inside at a glance.  The coloured pencil can has served well, but it was nothing to brag about.  It really bothers me when a container I use is ugly.  With some help for my great helper, we decorated the coloured pencil bucket with very pleasing results.  I added a pencil sticker on the label after taking the picture, which adds that much more cuteness.

Sometime early last year I found a small plastic accordion folder in Hobby Lobby's clearance section.  It originally sold for $10, but because it had a busted carrying strap, I picked it up for $2.00, I think.   We buy cat litter in boxes that have sturdy plastic handles.... just about the size needed to repair the accordion folder.  A match made in heaven!  Better than that, the new handle is of better plastic quality than the original.  All due credit goes to Martin that thought to marry the two.  He's one smart cookie!

I picked up a black painted wood frame with a mysterious slot in one side for 50 cents while at SSD.  Playing around with it, we discovered the slot perfectly accommodates a scrapbook page.  Martin wants me to go back and pick up as many as ten, should they still be there.  His idea is that we (yes, he likes to help scrap sometimes, too!) design decorative holiday pages to display for the various seasons.  He also wants me to display a few scrapbook pages around the house instead of photographing them and throwing into an album.  It will take an hour to make the round trip, so I hope it's worthwhile.  Maybe call to find out before leaving the house?  Nope, there might be new stuff on the floor tomorrow.  As much as he thrills over this prospect, he has yet to see what scrapbookers are doing to deep-framed art canvases.  I can put together a piece of art to hang on a wall for under $10 for what departments stores sell at $20-30, and can do a better job of it.

Probably not this year, but perhaps next, I take this hobby to the next notch and try to sell cards at the farmer's market.  I've gotten very good with cards, but don't feel I'm up to the commercial level yet.  I've always been crafty, but never considered ever making a profit from it.  Who knows?

Punch Drunk

I went to JoAnn's this past Friday in small hopes of finding We R Memory Keepers brand new Lucky 8 punches.  I hoped there might be just one.  Foolish faith.

While over in their Fiskars punch area I happened to see a clearance tag on a small corner punch.  Lacking a goodly supply of these, I snatched it up.  The punch was originally listed at $12.00, but was marked down to $2.98.  WOW!  What a deal.  Initially it appeared I'd come in too late in the sale to take advantage of other great deals after seeing so many of the arms with clearance tags empty.  Undeterred,  I began looking more closely at the clearance tags.  They didn't hang on the front of the arm, but each was pushed against the back wall.  The search was on!

In the end, I found: 1 regular shape punch, 2 small corner punches, 2 3-in-1 emboss plus punch, 1 4-in1 emboss and punch, 1 medium squeeze punch, and 3 different border and corner punch sets.  Oh!  And a Sizzix Original dye.  Over $150.00 retail value, I spent less than $50!  A 66% savings value!!!

In the past, I've hesitated over buying corner punches.  They just seemed so dog-gone expensive.  At the same time, I've also felt the loss of these tools, especially when matting photos.  Small rounding and large rounding was to the largest extent of photo and matting ability before now.  While nice, there's just so much creativity to be had.  Between the newly acquired tools, and the couple of other punches I owned, I now have the ability to create no less than 18 corner designs.  And that's before combining punches for extra depth.

And this is the way I've built a huge inventory in such a short time, by taking advantage of really great deals.  They almost always come in bulk of one tool or element.  If I buy one, and find others, I stock up.

There's still one of the WRMK Lucky 8 punches I really want, but the last purchase ate this month's remaining allowance.

Before ending the discussion of punches, I found posted somewhere a nifty tip about how to know whether a particular punch in the store is not already sitting in the closet, or punch bin, whichever applies.

For every punch bought, punch an index card with the new punch.  Each card then gets a general round punch so each card as acquired can be added to a opening/closure ring.  When heading out to a craft store, take the entire ring.  Then, when wondering whether the punch on the shelf is something already owned, all it takes is pulling out the ringed set and flipping through the punched cards

Punch Ring - Organization

I've taken this idea to a higher level and write the brand name and title of the demonstrated punch to make putting together the "supplies used" sheet easier to write up after the page or card creation.

(Sorry for the mess.  Actual scrapbook page creation in progress)

Adhesives, Photography & Lessons Learned

I've selected some of my best pages (best in my opinion) and began photographing them.  Certainly a skill set of its own!  I've noticed some of the pages set out in the house as temporary decorations throughout the year warped.  Too much heat?  Not enough support?  Really, there was no clue as to what factors, or combination therein, cased this discernible warping.  The largest concern was that once warped the page could not be straightened or photographed properly.

I just LOVE the internet.  There's absolutely no question that anyone can ask that the internet can't provide an answer.  However did we live our lives without it? A couple of inquiries solved the riddle about warping.

The key seems to involve the amount of adhesives used on the page.  The more glues, the more certainty to warp.  Well... that's a problem since almost everything on the page requires taking down onto the page. 

Early on I understood different sorts of glue were on the market, and many not suited for scrapbooking due to acid or other chemical content.  Fortunately I have a niece with years of experience in the hobby pound this information into my head before I ever picked up a pair of scissors, and nothing was ever ruined or threatened by paper- or photo-toxic adhesives. 

Without a little experience in this craft it's difficult imagining how many, many different types of adhesives are available specifically for scrapbooking. There are dimensional dots that raise an element off the page.  There are liquid glues for paper-to-paper bonding.  Glue runners, where a line of rubbery glue bonds many types of elements together.  All stickers come pre-glued.  And finally, for purposes of discussion, there are glitter glues.

(Upon reflection the previous two paragraphs probably been posted previously... if so, whoops.  It's not as if anyone happens on to the page anyway.)

So!  Is it the weight of the glues or the types of glues that cause the warping?

The project in question begins with a heavy paper, or what I consider card stock.  In this case I used the Cricut to cut out "Give Thanks" in 3 inch letters to mount on the page.  (Side note:  the size of the script was primarily determined by the skill set I had at the time in working with the Cricut.  Today I could easily bring that down to 1 inch.)  This element was also heavily decorated with glitter, since this was my first work with the stuff and I wanted to experiment.   And, because the glittered element was never to actually come into contact with the photo page, I cheated and used regular Elmer's Glue from a bottle.  (Covering a 3 inch phrase with glitter requires a whole lot of glue!)  There were several dimensional stickers added to balance the height of the overall page.  Finally, since the page was created to decorate a holiday table, it was placed on a plate holder for a full month.

When described as such, retrospect tells me I probably did everything possibly wrong to the page.  The tip offered here is:  watch the use of glue and the quantity used.

Live and Learn!!

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In a huge departure of my buying philosophy "never pay full price for anything," I did just that.  Not once, but twice!


Paper companies come out with full lines of accessories in almost all collections.  This usually includes: 12x12, 8x8, and sometimes 6x6 inch paper pads, individual sheets, stickers, chip board sets, perhaps coordinating ribbons, alphabet stickers, stamps and possibly more.  The longer a collection has been out in the market, the harder it is to find many of the accessories.  Thus and therefore, to assure the option of buying collection accessories, it has to be bought early on, and usually at full price.  This lesson came painfully when I found an older collection and discovered nothing but the one pad and a sticker set remained.  That was after I conducted the most extensive internet search possible.

Graphic 45 specializes in nostalgic 1920-30's images in incredible colours.  It's a great paper to work with be that scrapbooking, or in creating home decor; some pages are nice enough to frame as is.  It also runs on the expensive side.  Thus far, I found the paper line too intimidating to use in everyday scrapping.  What I have worked with has been found at greatly reduced prices with limited accessories, if any.  This year they came out with a line called "Little Darlings."  It was love at first sight.  I knew this was a collection applicable to so many pages I want to scrap, but had not found paper to do the intended photos justice.  I bought the FULL line, except the 3 different stamp sets and the 8x8 paper pad; however, I bought extra copies of some of the accessories.  I all but fell over when the price totaled over $50, but every scrap of this stuff will be used for years.  I may go back and make up for the accessories not originally purchased my next allowance cycle.

Then I found a completed layout from scrapbooking.com featuring a different company line.  I used restraint and didn't go all out and buy the full collection, but did purchase enough of the coordinating supplies to pull together a couple of antique photo pages.  Again at full price. 

This is the type of post (very chatty) where there's not much I can't do for the day.  Obviously, this is one of those days.

I couldn't resist putting an image of the collection here!

Graphic 45 Little Darlings Main Image Page

Inventory Building

One of the best ways of building a paper supply quickly is to buy paper packs.  These packs range in paper counts between 24 and 80; the larger the number, the more papers there are to choose from.  You can also figure the higher number packs will probably contain paper; the lower the number, the likelihood of card stock contents.

What's best about any pack, whether paper or card stock, is that papers within that pack will always coordinate.   Probably the most important consideration while building an inventory

Most packs of any count run about $20.  I never pay for anything full price.  Hobby Lobby, JoAnn's, Michaels, regularly put these on sale for $10.   Regularly means between twice a month, but certainly once each month. (I can't vouch for scrapbook specialty shops because we only have one (boo) in our area and they are so pricey I can't afford to shop there very often; and when going, only hit the 50% off table, but drool at the rest!)  Most often when the paper packs are on sale, the racked individual papers are included in the sale.  However, there's no guarantee you can get more than one project out of each page later down the road.  I do often buy these papers for accent pieces needed from time to time.  Since the already packaged packs are still on the shelves, I can go down the aisle with the pack at home and pick out coordinating sheet papers.

For the first year of scrapbooking I tried to take advantage of as many of the sales as possible.  Buying one pad at a time feels as if it takes f-o-r-e-v-e-r to build an inventory.  I'm more fortunate than most since my husband is very supportive of my hobby, and allows a generous budget with most of the "extra" money that comes into the house.  In a one year period I managed to purchase 27 paper packs in as many moods and themes as possible; some of the packs in places never believed to carry scrapbooking supplies, and usually for pennies on the dollar.

For those with a Cricut, or similar machine (now that there's different brands out in the market), an important consideration when buying paper is how well it stands up to the rigours of automated machine die cutting, and to a lesser extent when using an embossing machine.  An inferior paper will never stand up to detailed cutting with the Cricut.  Going about it the wrong way, I ruined pounds of paper trying to put it to purposes it clearly isn't designed.  That's never the case with superior grade paper and card stock.  It takes some practice to figure out what works and what doesn't.  I can assure you the rack paper at Hobby Lobby will not stand up to the test!!!  I wish I had kept a list of which brands work the best with the Cricut, but not yet.  Off the top of my head I can vouch for K&Company, Graphics 45, and We R Memory Keepers, and Creative Memories among others not so close to immediate thinking.

The last word about paper probably should go without saying.  I keep ALL my scraps organized by colour.  I don't know how many times when looking for a particular colour I've discovered papers from different packs coordinate with another.  I "try" to indicate on the cover of the packs when this happens, but that's another organizational weakness.

This year March is National Scrapbooking month.  I'm hoping some of the specialty on-line shops (that normally only have bi-annual sales) come out with special discounts during the next few weeks.  As the motto goes:  more bang for the buck!

Fun with Acetate

I found a book in the library that expands the use of saved acetate.  The book is:  Create Greeting Cards with Glass Painting Techniques, written by Joan Dale.  Basically is describes how to use a fake stained glass liner (made by Plaid Paints in various colours) to outline borders of the templates provided on acetate pieces and then coloured in with acrylic paints.  The results, as shown, are stunning.  Although most of her projects center on card making, it wouldn't take much imagination extending this out to include Christmas decorations, or other holiday themed decorations.  Just as a quick example, I could see using some of the larger Sizzix dies as basic forms to add extra dimension to scrapbook pages.

I can't wait to try this new technique, but for now I'm taking a temporary break from both scrapbooking and Christmas themed ornaments.  (We just finished packing up and taking out the last Christmas crate for the year!)  The break won't last long, I'm already missing the daily creativity time after only two days.

More Ways to Save

I've mildly ranted about the cost of storage; mildly, because it's part and parcel of the craft.  I'd like to share today another nifty way to save money while keeping scrapbook items organized.

Over the year I've grown quite the patch of flowers... paper and silk primarily.  Between Cricut, dies, and templates there's almost an endless assortment.  I also enjoy crafting three-dimensional paper ribbons and embellishments.   Like everything else, it didn't take long before a system had to be put in place to accommodate the collection.

I've saved six stacking plastic ice cream half-gallon buckets.  They're scatter throughout the craft closet.  Some labeled, some not.  Even still, they all look the same at a quick glance.  So I've decided to colour code the containers so that in an instant I'll know a particular bucket contains flowers, brads, etc.  Red indicates flowers.

Organizational Work in Progress

 

 

 

 

No, not exceptionally pretty in this DIY project, either; however, I'll probably attach a large flower on each side and the top of the lid to pretty it up a little bit.  The image will also assist as a visual clue to others who like to sneak into the closet and design something wonderful for me!  (This happens often, much to my great delight!)

In time, I'll have a colour coded embellishment organizational system in place.  There might be acid content concerns for hard-core scrappers, but for my purposes, it should work fine. 
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When meeting Martin's mother for the first time she pulled out a decades old scrapbook.  A woman ahead of her time.  I could tell she rightly held this as a prized family possession.  The amazing part of the physical scrapbook was that despite the decades, and despite a lack of concern of the obsession we have with acid and lignum today, the book had not deteriorated.  Yes, there was some fading and yellowing, (in my opinion perfect seasoning) but the overall quality remained excellent.  It's probably a good idea to construct albums with perpetuity in mind, but as I've just described, it might not be as critical an issue as some make it to be. Maybe.

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Yet another recently finished page!

Silly Night

Christmas Eve
December 24, 2011

Spellbinders & New ATG

Finally, and at long last, I broke down and bought an ATG.  It was getting wearisome constantly refilling the small adhesive applicators.  Using it still feels a bit clunky, but practice will make perfect.

I love working with Spellbinders dies.  The collection is still rather limited, mainly because they're so doggone expensive.  Most of what I've bought are the Nestibilities... squares, rectangles, ovals, just very basic shapes, all on sale.  Unfortunately, Spellbinders don't go on sale very often, and when they do it's not by a large percentage.  I've yet to buy any of the Grands because doing so will mean buying a Grand Caliber machine and I can't justify the expense at this time, especially considering Grand dies cost between $50-60.  Each set.

Before going forward there's a tip I'd like to share.  Before opening the acetate package, cut down the right, side of the package, just inside the sealed seam, and then cut the bottom fold to create a reusable envelope.  Keeping the acetate packaging for storage is a winner as most of their products are susceptible to damage by accidental bending.  When finished using the die, place it back into the package for protection, and if cut correctly you'll have a snap-tight envelope.  I didn't know about this for the first few sets bought and I've had to adapt stiff packaging to overcome this oversight.  It's truly worth the initial time and effort.  This technique works equally well with other thin dies such as QuikCutz.)

 Package already cut as described, locked back into place

Demonstration of the opened envelope created.  (Forgive image quality, I only had so many fingers and hands available.)

Hobby Lobby has a small area of the store where real bargains can be found.  Lately, they've been throwing a few Spellbinder sets in the pile.  I found a charming full-size Borderability set at about 1/2 off.   It's even hard finding a good deal on Ebay, but apparently a lady scavenged a few hundred from an earthquake sale.  I bough four sets of the petite Borderabilities for the same price one would have cost elsewhere.  (I'm honestly hoping this was a scavenge sale and not a theft!  Can you imagine the police coming to the door demanding the merchandise returned?  Egads!)  I had found a set of their Classic Scallop Edgeabilites on sale at HL months ago and love incorporating these dainty cuts into my cards and scrapbook pages.  And again, the earthquake sale lady had another set of the postage stamp Edgeabilities.  These are still in transit, but once these arrive, I'll have accumulated half the Edgebilities sets currently available.  The very best aspect of the Edgeabilities is that they are all interchangeable.

The only sets I don't particularly care for, or see much value in, are the Shapeabilities.  Maybe that's because I haven't played with the enough, or I don't find much use for the couple of sets acquired; but they just come out looking blah.  The Impressibilities provide a soft embossed touch, great for matting photos, but the size is very limited and it's difficult, if not impossible, trying to repeat the pattern on the same piece of paper.

Any of the Spellbinder dies afford a flexibility to shape paper into almost limitless possibilities.  It's a shame that some of these possibilities never enter my mind.  What helps the most is my little Miss or other scrapbookers playing with the dies sets.  That is when so much possibility opens up!  Everyone always comes up with something different.

It would be positively wonderful to have a monthly scrapbook meet somewhere in the area.  Why there isn't anything like this available now is a shame.  Perhaps it's time I step out and give it a try.

Follow Up to January 4th Question

I posited the question in the January 4th entry concerning the thickness and fibre content of cereal boxes.  I didn't have a micrometer handy, so had to search for the answer through the internet.


Here's a link to the best information I found:  http://reviews.ebay.com/What-is-Chipboard_W0QQugidZ10000000007700031

"What is Chipboard? Chipboard is cardboard that is not corrugated. It is not particle board or made of wood chips in any way, instead made of recycled paper which is pressed into a paperboard. Though it does have a grain like wood, with one direction being more sturdy then the other, it is not wood. Cereal boxes, tissue boxes, fruit snack boxes, etc are all made of chipboard. Chipboard comes in two colors, Kraft and News. Kraft is brown and News is Grey. If you look inside your cereal boxes you can compare the colors.
White chipboard is clay-coated chipboard. The coating is applied to only one side of the board. The other side is either Kraft or News. Just like a cereal box you can see the white coating first and then the printer applies the colored ink over the clay-coating for the design.
There are many thicknesses of chipboard. The higher the number the thicker the chipboard is. A cereal box thickness is .022. We carry from .022 to .080, however, you can find chipboard from .012 to .120+. Some of the thicker chipboard is often referred to as book board, davey board, or pasted board. If you have no idea what thickness you need, samples are available.
Uses for chipboard

• Covers for albums - bound or loose
• Die cutting (sizzix, cuttlebug, cricut, etc)
• Scrapbooking - chipboard letters, numbers, titles, etc.
• Backing for notebooks or note pads
• Art projects - drawing and painting
• Graphic design projects
• Screen Printing "scraperboards"
• Stiffeners for mailing envelopes

This is just a short list of the many uses for chipboard. Use your imagination and the possibilities are endless. Samples are available. Some techniques will need to be practiced."

IMPORTANT NOTE:  Before moving on, please note that cereal box chipboard contains acid, which is harmful to pictures and other paper products used in scrap booking.  There are several products available that neutralized the acid, ranging from museum quality sprays (above $20 for several ounces) down to Krylon, Make It Acid Free ($10.00 for 6 oz)   I would think the Krylon deacidification spray would serve the purposes of most scrap booking projects, but have not tested it yet.  (I'll post an update to this in the near future.)  Acid-free chipboard is commercially available, but costs more than I want to pay.

In summary, once de-acified, cereal boxes can be used with the Cricut and other better die cutters and can stretch the crafting dollar until it squeaks!

Scrapbooks as Historical Tools

New and nifty idea I've just put into practice to satisfy the historian in me.

With the creation of each new scrapbook page I've created a document that slides into the album, behind the page.  The document includes such information as:  creation date, author, title, names of subjects, picture location/creation, and a list of specific materials used in the creation (paper pad name and company, stamps, dies/cartridges used, etc)  I realize good journaling would include much of the first items previously listed, but the inclusion of  the material source list isn't suitable for the story format.  Twenty or thirty years from now, should the decorative tags or labels from the project somehow manage to get lost, there's a backup source for information.  Additionally, if I decide later to submit a page for contest consideration, a comprehensive supply list is already in place.

I keep a piece of paper next to my supplies throughout the creation process and jot down supplies and other information as they are used.  An improvement on this would be to print blank forms in advance for standardization.

Stamping Lessons: Hard Won

Going into design mode.  Not a bad time to do this as I've yet to attract followers.  Please pardon the mess.

Stamping and scrapbooking.  Difficult to separate the two.

I've learned over the past year there are many styles of stamps, and many types of inks.  There doesn't seem to be a locale that supplies comprehensive orientation to stamping... and this blog will not become the exception.  I can, however, offer tips as experience provides.

The easiest type of stamp to work with are very simple lined, wood-mounted blocks. ( A bonus is finding a stamp with a pre-coloured picture on the back side.  This comes in handy for people without formal art training or an innate sense of artist flourish in shading when colouring in the stamped image.)  I quickly advanced to clear acrylic stamps, which are a pleasure to work with, as well.  The foam-back cling stamp presents a few challenges to the beginner, but certainly worth adding to a stamp collection.  The most difficult stamps to work with are stamps of any type with great detail, or those covering a very large area.

I bought a beautiful stamp last year featuring the Three Wise Men, created by Stampendous, measuring 4 x 5.25 inches:

2011 Family Christmas Cards Mailed (1 of 3)

 

As easily seen, there's a great deal of detail to the stamp.  The problem encountered in earlier stamping was getting a consistent image.  No amount of careful pressing around the stamp offered a finely detailed image.  Finally, I picked up a book and ran it across the stamp.  It worked like a charm.  Martin, my ever-suffering husband, improved on the idea by using a rolling pin. We were knocking four stamped images out every couple of minutes.

Along those lines, it also took some experimenting to discover not all acrylic blocks are equal when using the clear cling-on acrylic stamps.  I initially bought a large block thinking of the range of sizes this would be useful for without investing a great deal of money on the front side.  That's a beginner's mentality.  I ended with a very wobbly, unstable base to manage smaller stamps.  Since then I've added several different size blocks and produce crystal clear stamped images about 98% of time.  (One should not attempt stamping when feeling shaky or around children bouncing off your body!)

Finally, I'm not adverse to writing notes/comments on the wooden blocks.  It may be another four years before a stamp is picked back up and these notes will come in handy should a tip be forgotten.  My collections includes statements such as:  "very clear/easy," "use rolling pin," "lightly ink," and et cetera.  Even should I decide to sell them in the future, the buyer may appreciate the notation.

I see too many people not incorporate stamping into scrapbooking/card making because of initial failures.  Stamping adds so much variety to pages to discard this image creation form out of hand.

So ink it up!

Next Steps Organization: Stickers

I demonstrated the new sticker organizational system on another blog, late 2011.  The post ended with a promise to attach labels to the file dividers I'd created out of cereal boxes.  I've began this final process in earnest.

From the whole box comes a hefty divider and tabs...

To the raw tab and decorative paper scraps:

To the tab mounted on the divider, constructed using eyelets:

The system doesn't look half as bad as I thought it might!  The best part of all is knowing each element used in the project are parts recycled from other sources... it is virtually free!

It took no time at all to cut down enough boxes to file stickers by category, and I now have extra space dividers.  Because I didn't notice in time that the inside flap made a right pretty folder top, I must continue collecting cereal boxes in order to produce enough tabs for each divider.

The last issue with the cereal boxes involves a lack of knowledge:  is the cardboard collected equal, or superior, to chipboard?  If so, there's no end to the uses I'll find with this material.  It may be that all I need for a free and endless supply of raw material for sturdy Cricut cutouts is the deep cut blade assembly housing.

AS ORIGINALLY POSTED TO MYSPACE BLOG 28 NOVEMBER 2011.

Stickers. Got 'em. Not, mind you, as much as many dedicated scrapbookers who've been at this for years, but I've built up quite a collection.

It started simply enough. I converted an underused plastic file sorter box (12x12) into a sticker box. I could even file the stickers under a general heading. Several 50% off sticker sales later and I adapted yet another plastic sorter previously used for coupons. All was still very manageable, and this I believed until one day I looked in the closet and discovered there were four different filing systems for stickers and I didn't even know what the inventory was anymore. This indicated a looming crisis.

For all that I am, or am not, one personal characteristic I cannot abide is disorganization. My mind simply shuts down until I can get a situation under control. (This applies only to me, what works for others are for them to decide.) Another characteristic is that I'm thrifty… I never pay full price for anything. And if it can be made instead of bought, this works even better.

It took a couple of days to think this problem out, but I came up with a very workable solution. There are still drawers available from the steal of a purchase a few weeks ago concerning multi-drawer rolling bins. At first I thought to use manila file folders, but foresaw a problem with bulkiness. Maybe cut them in half? Ack, a waste of good material. Then I thought of all the cereal boxes we go through; each box would provide two dividers. A solution to the problem without spending an extra penny, not to mention a great way to recycle goods. This is taking some time to build enough dividers to neatly categorize each sticker by type, but I've already emptied three of the boxes and the last container is quickly emptying.

The next move is to create tabs to label each division. Sub-folders may come in handy at some point.

Clam Shell Templates

To think one year ago today my scrapbooking supplies consisted of a few sticker packs owned by my granddaughter, a pair of scissors that cut zigzag lines and a Valentines Day corner punch bought a couple years before for some silly cards my son and I made.  I've been blessed to accumulate so many systems and materials over the past eleven months.  That said, there's still thousands of papers, cartridges, adhesives, etc available on the market I don't own.  (There are limits to spending, even if my husband isn't totally convinced I'm aware of this notion.)

Early into my Cricut cartridge collecting I found a tip that advised saving clam shell wrapping to recycle for other projects.  The acetate does go through the Cuttlebug wonderfully when embossing and cutting.  I haven't tried using this material on the Cricut, but it's probably only a matter of time.  It's also great for creating windshields and other glass representations.  Acetate's only drawback thus far concerns finding the right glue for more seamless applications.

I recently stumbled across Kiwi Lane Designs, a small business that offers a diverse line of scrapbooking templates.  I understand many companies sell templates, but the difference here is that the prices are very reasonable and they offer a fun line of easy to use, coordinating templates. 

Affordable doesn't always mean I can run right out and purchase, however.  I did easily adapt their photo templates by cutting various commonly sized photo squares and rectangles using the clam shell materials on hand.  

Sample of adapted photo templates

No, not very pretty, but it functions!  (Squares and rectangles are the limit of my copying abilities so Kiwi Lane Designs are safe from future infringement... at least from me!)

I used these for the first time last night when laying out my newest scrapbook page to decide what size to print the picture.  It took all the guesswork out and let me focus on a design with confidence.

As Martin always says:  It's called scrapbooking for a reason!


Happy Cutting