Digital Hybrids and Flash Cards

Still working on kicking the winter colds/flus and my blood pressure drops which come whenever I catch a bug :( But I did manage a few new things :)

The newest is a hybrid of Digital Scrapbooking and actual papers... a simple little jewelry holder for some pieces that I made as gifts! I've put earrings, pendants, and rings in them so far!

Tricia Morris had posted a sample jewelry holder on ClubScrapChat.com and it inspired me to make these new holders with the popout hanger section! I had been using mini gift bags from my Sizzix machine up until now, but I had a few new pendants which were too long for the bags and decided it was time to mix things up a bit!

I used the Serengeti 11/07 CS Digital Kit to create the simple holders (with my contact info on the back as the jewelry designer). The inside is made simply by taking the Yellow print and using the magic wand to select all of the yellow for deletion, then using Enhance >> Adjust Color >> Color Variations in PSE to remove a little green from the piece (since it is printed on the actual greenish-yellow paper I wanted the original background to show through and for the colors to be less distorted). I used the same Color Variations on the outside cover to remove some blue and green (it will make the lion charm appear reddish on your screen but will print truer to the original color on top of your Light Teal paper).

I simply used my X-Acto knife and ruler to cut horizontal lines for the pop out bars and used my bone folder to score vertically at the ends of each pop out section... The Score-It tool did the main folds at the center quite nicely! I also added a little color using Direct To Paper inking with Ranger's Distress Inks in Peeled Paint and Broken China on all of the edges and on the inside of the Light Teal paper wherever it would be visible! These were some very quick and simple holders!

I also wanted to share a few of the Korean language flash cards that I've begun for my kids! When I am ready to print a large batch they'll be printed on photo paper with the edges inked and matted on cardstock... possibly even laminated, I haven't decided!









I adored the animal stamps/transparencies from the Serengeti 11/07 Club Scrap Kits and really wanted to incorporate them into these cards with some zoo photos (yeah, I need to get a better zebra shot!). To do so, I used the paintbrush tool with a very soft brush to color a layer underneath the transparencies and erased most places where I went outside of the lines, maintaining a little bit of a transparent look to the finished pieces. I used the brush in the same colors to fill in the romanized version of each Korean word by making a text layer, simplifying the layer, selecting the area the layer took up, then opening a new layer and painting into my selection with the brush.

I also die cut the Korean font out of other papers from the kit and stretched and altered some of the transparency images to make frames or mattes for my photographs. On the Zebra card, I used the same transparency for the three accent squares and then stretched it for my photo frame, erasing the lines inside of the box.

On the lion card, I made ready use of the pattern making tips from the Serengeti 11/07 DigiRap. I also used the same Color Variations to alter the lion charm, and even used the burn technique from the Great Outdoors 10/07 DigiRap!

I know that they aren't too complicated... But I am planning to print them out at about the size of a license since I have the perfect laminating pouches for that size and also some playing card box kits from Club Scrap, way back to Wild Wild West 10/05!

Have a Very Groovy Christmas! (New ATC)

Finally getting better after a month totally knocked out by a killer sinus infection and low blood pressure! I've been crocheting and knitting up a storm for some holiday gifts, but yesterday I got out my ink and paper! This ATC is fully inspired by Club Scrap's seasonal A Very Groovy Christmas Too Collection, using its stamps and solid papers along with some Ranger goodies and a new Sizzix die that my girls gave me for my birthday! (Scanned on top of Groovy Christmas Too 2007 Translucent Print.)



Supplies Used

• Club Scrap: A Very Groovy Christmas Too UM B&B Stamps; Serengeti 11/07 Yellow CS; Be Still 9/07 Brown CS; Bistro 7/07 Grape CS; Simply Beautiful 5/07 Tan CS; Color in Black & White 4/06 Translucent;
  
• Ranger: Adirondack Ink Pads in Citrus and Wild Plum; Archival Ink Pad in Jet Black; Nick Bantock Ink Pad in Sapmoss Green; Perfect Pearls in Blue Patina and Perfect Gold (in real life, the reindeer's collar appears fully gold, but it doesn't scan well); Stickles in Burgundy;
• Sizzix: Sizzlits 655187 Reindeer #2 by Stu Kilgour;
• Xyron: Create-A-Sticker #250;

Want To Crop From Home This Weekend?

Oh there are so many great ways to do this! Last night Club Scrap launched the Centennial ALSB Class online at their new ClubScrapChat.com forum! Check out the full instructions in the ALSB Event section!

Then, there's a weekend long crop with fun challenges, contests, and PRIZES! It's being offered by Scrapbook Take Out and is up on their forum in the Scrappy Hollow Crop section!

I might be too busy to play but I'm going to try to get some of the challenges in later on! It's definitely worth a visit and there is a wonderful group of ladies over there! The three owners are wonderful women whome I'm lucky enough to know! And the forum members rock!

Whether you get to craft or not, have a great weekend! I'll try to post later after we have our Brownie Troop make 36 cards with Nathalia Castelon's AWESOME card formula and a mix of K&Co Brownie Papers and Club Scrap cardstock & stamps!

Got Bugs? (Centennial Layout)

This has got to be my favorite layout from the Centennial Kit's 26 ALSB Layouts! I love these colors and happen to have a lot of photos already in the perfect color scheme! It also works perfectly with my favorite two shades of Ranger's Adirondack Acrylic Paint Dabbers, Pool and Lettuce, and these awesome Heidi Swapp Bordeaux Ghost Alphabet in Lime and Hambly Transparencies which came in Scrapbook Take Out's July 2007 Clearly Speaking Kit!

My daughter wanted to simply take photos for her grandpa of her eating one of the strange treats he gives us... It had those fun starter style chopsticks and Chinese takeout box, so she wanted it and got the photos taken! Well... you know I thought it was another fake creepy-things treat from the Fear Factor line... not so!


Supplies Used

• Club Scrap - Centennial Kit 2007 Green & Aqua 12x12 Prints, Light Blue and Aqua 8.5x11 Prints, Translucent 8.5x11 Plain, Light Blue Die Cuts, and Centennial UM Casual B&B Stamps; Stratosphere 4/07 Light Blue Plain; It's a Boy/Girl 2006 UM Font; Mosaic Twist 1/05 Aqua Plain;
  
• Scrapbook Takeout - Clearly Speaking 7/07 Kit Heidi Swapp Bordeaux Ghost Alphabet in Lime and Hambly Transparencies;
• Ranger - Adirondacks Acrylic Paint Dabbers in Lettuce and Pool; Adirondack Dye Ink Pad in Pool (aka Sea Brights Pool); Archival Ink Pad in Jet Black; Matte Accents (to adhere transparencies); Stickles in Baby Blue;
• Creating Keepsakes - Lisa Bearnson's Mega Chipboard Kit;

The Overflowing Centennial Kit!

Club Scrap has created such an amazing kit to celebrate their 100th month of kits! This one of a kind, double sized kit combines design elements of multiple kits from long ago with papers from more recent kits to give a brand new, yet "classic" kit! It includes a brand new Scrap Rap, four recipe cards, one large wood mounted collage stamp, two full-color alphabet sticker sheets, four coordinating fibers, twenty four photo mattes, sixteen 1/4 sheets of cutouts, and an assortment of beads and embellishments (including two sizes each of brads and eyelets, a coin charm, and a molded road sign brad)!

Play the image above to see all the components, or go to this Photobucket Album to see them one by one! I did miss a single printed translucent sheet in the Casual Kit and will post it when I'm able to take a well lit photo tomorrow!

The 58 sheets (twenty four 12x12 prints, fourteen 12x12 plains, twelve 8.5x11 prints, and eight 8.5x11 plains) include: Academy 8/07 Manila; Stratosphere 4/07 Fuchsia, Green, & Light Blue; Farmer's Market 10/06 Brown, Pumpkin, & Translucent; Wild Wild West 10/05 Terra Cotta; Painted Desert 5/05 Embossed Stem; Mosaic Twist 1/05 Aqua;

The designs come from so many amazing past kits, including Time & Space 12/04, Poetic 9/03, Journeys 6/03, Aromatherapy 5/03, Weather 4/03, Games 3/03, Tuscany 10/02, Art Deco 9/02, Bugs 5/02, Architecture 4/02, Polynesian 7/01, Heritage III 6/01, Outdoor 11/00, Weekender 9/00, Heritage II 6/00! I'm sure I missed a few!

While waiting to build my ALSB (Assembly Line ScrapBooking, or creating photo-less layouts with Club Scrap's incredible instructions and minimal leftovers) I grabbed some of the matching solid papers from my personal stash and used the two sets of Centennial Casual and Classic Borders & Backgrounds Unmounted Stamps (sold separately from the kit and still available!) to create the cards below!


Supplies used on Dragonfly Card:

• Club Scrap - Centennial Kit 2007 Casual Unmounted Stamps and Recipe Card (I enlarged a scan of the dragonfly and printed it onto the Green paper then cut it out); Stratosphere 4/07 Fuchsia, Green, and Light Blue; Painted Desert 5/05 Embossed Stem; Mosaic Twist 1/05 Aqua;
• Ranger - Antiquities Frosted Crystal Ink (to white wash the Fuchsia paper before stamping onto it); Archival Carnation Ink; Cut 'n' Dry Foam; Nick Bantock Lamp Black Ink; Sea Shells Tropical Raspberry Ink (aka Adirondack Lights Pink Sherbet);

See the next blog entry for a full description of the second card!

Centennial Classic Card

My Club Scrap Centennial Kit & Unmounted Stamps arrived today and I LOVE it! I am waiting to cut into the papers because I want to do Tricia's awesome ALSB which will make 26 drool-worthy layouts and a pair of cards! But, the Scrap Rap that came with it tells me about the solid papers that are used and I do have those in my stash! So I prepped the stamps and dove in with a batch of these cards!

I was also heavily inspired by Carole's cards (she posted amazing cards on ClubScrapChat.com, totally different than mine here!) that used a new Vaseline Resist technique from Technique Junkies' newest newsletter! So, I grabbed my newsletter, raided my paint bin, and here you have it!

Supplies used:

• Club Scrap - Centennial Kit 2007 Classic Unmounted Stamps; Farmer's Market 10/06 Greetings to Go in Pumpkin; Wild Wild West 10/05 Terra Cotta; Ivory Elegance 12/06 Beige, Dark Brown, & Ivory; (Note that all but the Beige and Dark Brown are papers included in the Centennial Kit and the card/envelopes are scanned on top of the Centennial 2007 Classic Manila Print.)
• Ranger - Archival Ink in Coffee and Sepia; Adirondack Ink in Caramel and Ginger; Cut 'n' Dry Foam;
  
• Pro Art - Watercolor Tubes;
  
• Technique Junkies - Vaseline Resist Technique;

Watch out for more to come!

Frienship and Marriage: 1 DigiLayout and 1 Mini Book

I absolutely adore the September 2007 Club Scrap Be Still Kit... so many wonderful colors, shimmering papers, and gorgeous images... but it's been a very busy month with all of the back to school and scouting rushes as well as my week in Wisconsin for the Club Scrap Main Retreat (have to wait to share those creations until after their October Main Retreat, wouldn't want to spoil folks' surprises!), so I have not had much time to play! But I did create this layout for the DigiRap!

This particular kit not only comes with 10 full color journaling boxes, but also a transparency of the journaling lines and box so that you can recreate them on any background papers! Here's the trick to using them... Adjust the "Leading" from your Text Tool until the text aligns properly with the journal box lines. In this instance, both my Freebooter Script and Milk & Cereal fonts worked perfectly at 32pt Leading!

I also wanted the photograph to be very soft while also standing out from the background. To do so, I went to Special Effects > Layer Styles > Inner Glow to add a pale soft pink glow within the edges of the photo. I then reinforced that very pale pink by Simplifying the layer and Stroking the edge of the photo with a pale pink border. And I made all of my shadows become a shade of the purple that I used in the layout elements.

To embellish the layout, I broke up the trio of transparency tiles to create three "Brushes" (the digital scrapper's version of a stamp). The pink and purple squares were simply brushed on in those colors while the yellow squares are the result of brushing onto the printed Lemongrass paper and cutting and pasting the tile onto my layout as a partially transparent layer!

Now, one little thing about the photo... it was taken in the same spot as my favorite photo from my wedding! My daughters had never been inside the home where I was married and we happened to be there earlier this month for a birthday party! They got to have a tour of all the "famous" sites from my wedding photos and took this shot almost as a recreation of one of ours... But, you know, those bright little girl swimsuits really made it informal, yet perfect for this layout!

Here's a mini album that I made my husband a few years ago for our Anniversary! There's one silly photo in the same room (a bathroom!) and another with my husband and his parents! (Yes, my daughters also were dying to go out on the balcony and Uatchet had me go downstairs where she promptly waved to me and announced "Hello, Citizens!")

This mini book is made in a Paper Reflections 3x3 Memory Book #MEM04460 Ivory Album and features only Club Scrap papers.

Supplies Used:

• Cover - Anna Griffin Meaning of Flowers Clear Stamp Set; Offray Ivory Lace;
• Entry Page - Club Scrap POPs, Time & Space Star White, Asian Artisan Cream Frost, Autumn Splendor Yellow Translucent; Club Scrap Poetic Unmounted Borders & Backgrounds Stamp; ColorBox Yellow Gold Mica Magic Ink Pad (visible in real life);
• With Parents Layout - Club Scrap POPs, Time & Space Gold, Asian Artisan Cream Frost; Offray Ivory Lace; Europa Imports Ribbon #112/36F Color #8;
• Awaiting Father of the Bride & Bride Layout - Club Scrap POPs, Time & Space Silver, Asian Artisan Blue Frost and Cream Frost;
• Vows Page - Club Scrap Time & Space POP in Star White and Gold; PSX A-279 Corner Stamp; Ranger Clear Emboss it Ink Pad; Ranger Gold Super Fine Detail Embossing Powder;
• Bouquet & Garter Layout - Club Scrap Time & Space POP in Gold and Autumn Splendor POP in Yellow Translucent; EK Success Laura Ashley LAIT003 Palace Garden Flower Stamp; Colorbox Bisque Fluid Chalk Ink Pad;
• Dancing & Cake Layout - Club Scrap Asian Artisan POP in Cream Frost and Time & Space POP in Star White; Hero Arts #S1838 Florentine Scroll Background Stamp; Tsukineko Brilliance Moonlight White Ink Pad (visible in real life);
  

My Pilgrimage

You may have noticed that I'm not really around online right now... Well, I'm in a special kind of heaven! I'm at Club Scrap's Main Retreat! (There's still one more in October, then you'll have to wait until next year to have another!)

We have pinky sworn to let no secrets out of the bag... but I have something safe that I can share!!! (That's Jenn with me behind the stacks in the warehouse!)



Club Scrap Supplies Used: Academy 8/07 Digital Kit; Farmer's Market 10/06 DigiGoodies Key; Refresh 2/07 DigiGoodies Frame Transparency;

Summer's Over, Time to Play!

Oh my goodness... if you didn't already notice, this Summer, that person named "Neith" pretty much didn't exist! I was known soley as "Mommy" and barely anything else!

My kids are finally back at school and so much less clingy... so I'm escaping the house! In two weeks I've already managed to create at least 32 Layouts, 1 Digital Layout, 2 Mini Books, 1 Purse Album, 22 or so Cards, a dozen Notebooks, countless ATCs and countless Bookmarks! But that's not all! I actually am taking the escape to the extreme and leaving for the Club Scrap Main Retreat at 6AM on Wednesday!







MORE Pumpkin colored layouts to come!
These represent just a few of the seven gorgeous layouts using Club Scrap 10/06 Farmer's Market Jr Kit and after making the layouts, you are left with a woodmounted stamp, small ink pad and a seed packet stencil to reuse as often as you like!

Butterflies and Swirls... When Handmade Books and Purses Meet!

Today I went to a party for a butterfly loving friend and just knew that I had to make her this gift! I paired up the great Bistro 7/07 Club Stamp Album Purse with this month's Be Still 9/07 Serene Swirl Stencil and Bugs 5/02 Jr Butterfly & Flower Sprigs Stencil to decorate the cover and create a matching card for her!







Supplies Used: Bistro 7/07 CSt Album Purse Kit, Grape and Tangerine Papers; Be Still 9/07 Serene Swirl Stencil; Bugs 5/02 Jr Butterfly & Flower Sprigs Stencil; Wings 7/05 CSt UM Stamps; Ranger Adirondack Inks in Wild Plum and Sunset Orange with Cut 'n' Dry Foam; Stewart Superior Palette Noir Blank Ink;

6 Fast Cards Without Scraps!

Nathalia Castelon came up with a great cutting diagram/plan for using up almost every last scrap of 5 sheets of 12x12 paper to create 9 greeting cards! It's up on her blog and another version was featured in the Club Scrap Academy 8/07 Scrap Rap! I took the cutting plans and made them my own to make two different batches of cards. Here is a sample of each batch!

This set of cards uses Club Scrap's Egyptian 8/03 Green as a base, with Yahoo ALSB 2007 Kit's Green Print (a remixed design of Musical Interlude 12/05 on Wild Wild West 10/05 Green) with a Design Classic Retreat 2005 Print on Chocolate Shop 2/05 Chocolate.

On the medium card, I used the UM Stamps from Chapter One 6/07 and added Embellishments from Scrapbook Takeout including Passion for Paisley 3/07 Kit's American Crafts Annie Felt Flower and Elements Mini Brads with Adventures in Altering 8/07 Kit's Prima Press 'n' Petals. I also used Ranger's Distress Inks in Aged Mahogany and Peeled Paint along with Archival Ink in Coffee.

On the small card, I used the Chapter One 6/07 CSt UM Stamps on the inside with Ranger's Distress Ink in Brushed Corduroy. I embellished with Scrapbook Takeout's Passion for Paisley 3/07 Kit's American Crafts Annie Felt Flower and Elements Mini Brads.

On the larger card, I added small Brown POPs from Interior Design 11/06, The Written Word 11/05 CSt UM Stamps, and Journeys 6/03 Stencil along with Ranger's Distress ink in Peeled Paint & Cut 'n' Dry Foam along with some Offray Ribbon.

This set uses Egyptian 8/03 Gold as a base, combined with a Design Classic of Color In Black & White 4/06 Land Duplex Print on Ivory Elegance 12/06 Light Brown and Wings 7/05 Brown.

The tall card uses The Written Word 11/05 B&B UM Stamps in Ranger's Coffee Archival Ink. I applied Ranger's Distress Inks in Aged Mahogany, Brushed Corduroy, and Spiced Marmalade by pressing them onto my Non Stick Craft Mat and swirling them onto glossy paper with Cut 'n' Dry Foam. I finished the card off with some Offray Ribbon.

On the medium card I used the Color in Black & White 5/06 UM Stamps with Ranger's Distress Inks in Aged Mahogany and Walnut Stain. I added embellishments from Scrapbook Takeout including Passion for Paisley 3/07 Kit's American Crafts Annie Felt Flower, Journal Jammers 4/07 Kit's 7 Gypsies Jaune Flowers, and Adventures in Altering 8/07 Kit's Prima Press 'n' Petals.

On the small card I added Chapter One 6/07's UM Stamps with Ranger's Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink and Coffee Archival Ink. I also added on Scrapbook Takeout's Passion for Paisley 3/07 Annie & Sadie Felt flowers and a found brad.

20 Vintage ALSB Layouts!

Last weekend Club Scrap offered a great Online ALSB Crop with a special edition Vintage Kit! I managed to complete all 20 layouts and have added photos to 11 of them! (Even embellishments, journaling, and titles to most!) There are still a bunch of good sized paper scraps, more than 2 sheets worth of die cut tags, dozens of printed twist-ties, 21 mini bags, and more than 3 yards of fibers left from the kit!

Here are my completed layouts!


Vintage Kit 2007 ALSB Layout #10
Additional Supplies: Club Scrap Garden La Fleur 5/01 Stencil; Niji Waterbrush; Ranger Adirondack Inks in Pink Sherbet, Purple Twilight, & Juniper; Zig Writer in Pure Violet;



Vintage Kit 2007 ALSB Layout #3
Additional Supplies: Club Scrap Bugs 5/02 B&B UM Stamps; Niji Waterbrush; Ranger Adirondack Inks in Citrus & Meadow;



Vintage 2007 ALSB Layout #6
Additional Supplies: Club Scrap DIY 2003 Light Kraft paper and Refresh 2/07 UM Stamps; Ranger's Archival Ink Pad in Library Green and Adirondack Paint Dabber in Lettuce; Scrapbook Takeout Adventures in Altering 8/07 Maya Road Blossoms and Fancy Pants Big Board; Creating Keepsakes Mega Chipboard Kit;



Vintage Kit 2007 ALSB Layout #7
Additional Supplies: Club Scrap Retreat 2006 UM Fonts;



Vintage Kit 2007 ALSB Layout #12
Additional Supplies: Club Scrap Color in Black and White 4/06 Copper (shimmers amazingly in real life!) and Translucent papers (folded into origami butterflies);



Vintage Kit 2007 ALSB Layout #14
Additional Supplies: Club Scrap DIY 2003 Cut Outs; Scrapbook Takeout Adventures in Altering 8/07 Prima Sprites & Press N Petals and Passion for Paisley 3/07 American Crafts Elements Mini Brads; Zig Writer in Pure Black;



Vintage Kit 2007 ALSB Layout #15
Additional Supplies: Club Scrap Retreat 2006 UM B&B Stamps; Zig Writer in Chocolate;


Vintage Kit 2007 ALSB Layout #4
Additional Supplies: Club Scrap Let Me Count the Ways 2/06 B&B UM Stamps; Zig Writer in Chocolate;


These need just a little bit more added to them, mostly journalling and titles!


Vintage Kit 2007 ALSB Layout #20
Additional Supplies: Club Scrap Retreat 2006 UM Fonts;



Vintage Kit 2007 ALSB Layout #16
Additional Supplies: Club Scrap Retreat 2006 UM Fonts;



Vintage Kit 2007 ALSB Layout #5

And here are the layouts to be completed! Please click on each for a closer view!





Unless it was listed above, everything came directly from the kit, with just Ranger's Black Archival Ink and Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink added!

Academy - 2 Mini Books, 2 Bookmarks, and 2 Layouts!

Can you tell that I'm really loving the new Academy 8/07 Kit from Club Scrap? Here are two Mini Books, two Bookmarks, and one Digital Layout in two color options, all using the same kit! For the first projects, I took the theme and ran with it!




For this Mini Spiral Bound Book, I used photos from school events for the 2005-2006 School year and then laminated each page in driver's license sized laminating pouches! I trimmed the pages down so that the tabs were actually protruding... My Crop-A-Dile came in handy for creating nice and even hole punches for the spiral binding!

Supplies Used: Club Scrap - Academy 8/07 CSt and Jr WM Stamps, B&B and CSt UM Stamps, and Cardstock in Blue, Brick, Brown, and Tan; Ranger - Adirondack Acrylic Paint Dabber in Aqua, Archival Ink Pad in Coffee; We R Memory Keepers - Crop-A-Dile; ABC - Heat Seal Laminating Pouches;






These little treats are samples of new free gifts that I've made for my customers! The top image is of a lined notebook with a handmade laminated cover, sharing designs and techniques with the laminated bookmark below it. I stamped my images with archival ink onto glossy paper and then colored the images in with Distress Inks using a Niji Waterbrush plus both Cut 'n' Dry Nibs and Foam! The bottom bookmark was made by monoprinting with the extra ink from the top projects and then collage stamping over it!

Supplies Used: Club Scrap - Academy 8/07 Kit CSt and Jr WM Stamps, B&B and CSt UM Stamps, and Cardstock in Blue and Tan; Niji Waterbrush; Ranger - Archival Ink Pad in Coffee, Cut 'n' Dry Foam, Cut 'n' Dry Nibs, and Distress Ink Pads in Aged Mahogany, Brushed Corduroy, Mustard Seed, Peeled Paint, and Weathered Wood; We R Memory Keepers - Crop-A-Dile; Duck Brand - Heat Seal Laminating Pouches; Bridgeport Memo Book;


This pair of Digital Layouts is identical, except that I altered the hue of the background and "9" block to match the shade of the curtains in the photo! You may recognize it from this month's DigiRap :) I was careful to use a feathered edge when cutting the digital version of the Edified Felt, keeping the edges soft like they would be in real life! I also made use of the Ivy League stamp image to create an all over background pattern on the Brick paper.

(Please click on the blue version if you wish to see the full sized image.)

Supplies Used - Club Scrap Digital Academy 8/07 Kit.

Remember, this is the same kit that I used for my Ducklings layout and ATCs! Love the versatility of it!