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.

_______________________________

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.)

________________________________

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.

__________________________________

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

 

Sharpies & Photos

Altering photographs is scarey business.

I attempt to decorate photos  only on prints that can easily be taken to the local photo shop and have them printed again.  Never, never, never on original prints dating back years.

Today I played with a print recently back from Walgreen's and decided to use one of the journaling templates bought, but rarely used.  The template is plastic if that makes any difference at all.  For the colouring medium, I decided on a Sharpie Marker.  (Sharpie has such a great range of colour you would never expect, usually found in the art department of a craft store.)

Not the greatest idea I've come up with!  The ink sets on top of the print and the moment the template moved the ink dragged with it.  Fortunately, I was able to save the print because the ink sets on top of the print instead of quickly absorbing into the photograph paper.  This is a mixed blessing.

I would have been much better off using a regular ink pen.  Yes, I know:  standard ink is bad for photos.  Bad.  And so, my first attempt of decorating photos with ink was a partial failure.  Live and learn, right?

________________________________________

The Peach Keen Stamp set arrived in the mail today.  My first project using these stamp will surely involve anthropomorphizing a soccer ball, since the next scrapbook page involves documenting this winter's Futsol games.  It's safe to say there will be many uses for the stamps throughout the hobby.  Now I'm dancing around waiting for next month to buy the animal faces.  I did decide that eventually the monster faces are a must.


________________________________________

Getting down the right photography skills is a process and world into it's own.

Another projects finished in the past week:

Feeling A Little Snooty, Page 2

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