10 Cards Using Herringbone and the ALCM Idea Deck

Club Scrap has tons of great ideas to help you with card making! Every month the Club Stamp Rap (full color newsletter that comes with the monthly Club Stamp membership kit) includes images of 15 great cards that are often created by members, using that month's kit. There are often tips and techniques scattered throughout the Sr, Jr, Club Stamp, and Digital Raps that either deal directly with cards or translate easily to them. There is also a full set of free instructions available to members to help them make 15 cards using the optional monthly Greeting to Go side order. And then there are countless videos in the Cinema with more ideas... And finally, the awesome ALCM (Assembly line Card Making) Idea Deck which has 52 idea cards with full cutting instructions so that you can transform a few sheets of 12x12 and/or 8.5x11 papers into a set of coordinating cards! A sampling of these cards were given away for free during the last PSL (Pro Scrapping League, a multi-week challenge to work as teams to create layouts and/or cards, competing for prizes and discounts... a brand new Summer Camp PSL is opening up on July 6th)!

Today, I'm going to share 2 new cards that I made using the Herringbone Technique that was just featured in a recent CS Cinema episode and some cards that I made during the last PSL using the 5 of Hearts card from the ALCM deck and papers from the Vintage Choice Collection! Enjoy!



Club Scrap: Concrete Jungle 6/09 - Birthday CSt WM Stamp; Milestones 12/08 - Plain Paper in Soft White; Wings 7/05 - Plain Paper in Apricot, Brown, Dark Blue, Light Blue, and Mustard; Hybrid Ink Pad in Earth; Herringbone Technique;
Carpet Tape;

The Herringbone Technique was features in the Henna 5/09 Club Stamp Rap and there is also a great video up in Club Scrap's cinema that teaches the technique! Basically you take thin scraps of cardstock and adhere them to carpet tape (from the hardware store) or another equally sticky surface, and lay them out in a Herringbone-like pattern then trim away! very simple and lovely! Use plain cardstock, printed papers, or stamp all over them before cutting... use left over scraps or cut up some extra paper, anything goes! It's a really great way to use up tiny scrap from your projects! I wound up diving into my ziplock baggies with old scraps in them and trimmed the strips to some skinnier pieces!



Club Scrap: Concrete Jungle 6/09 - Birthday CSt WM Stamp; Collections 6/06 - Plain Paper in Red, Saddle Brown, Tan, and Teal;
Ranger: Adirondack Dye Ink Pad - Stream;
Carpet Tape;



Club Scrap: Idea Deck Assembly Line Card Making - 5 of Hearts; Vintage Choice Kit: DIY Green Block Print, DIY Light Tan; Extra Extra 6/04 - UM; Rhapsody 3/07 - UM; Refresh 2/07 - UM;
Ranger: Adirondack Dye Ink Pads - Latte, Starfish Green, Meadow; Distress Ink Pad - Walnut Stain;

What do two sheets of 12x12 paper do when thrown into a PSL final challenge? Why, pair up with the Assembly Line Cardmaking Idea Deck's 5 of Hearts and become a quick set of 4 cards, of course! And I love this recipe since it creates cards which fit into standard invitation sized envelopes while also working quite easily with printed papers and stamps! Or toss some simple embellishments onto the smaller rectangle to finish out the cards!



Club Scrap: Idea Deck Assembly Line Card Making - 5 of Hearts; Vintage Choice Kit: DIY Purple Print, Time & Space Mauve Dust; Ivory Elegance - UM; Chapter One UM; Unknown Flowers and Brads; FFC Ways of Stamping - UM; Palette Hybrid Ink Pad - Noir Black;
Colorbox: Unknown Purple Ink;

Stay tuned for some more ALCM Idea Deck cards, coming soon!

Trash Menagerie at PEM with 2 Digital Layouts

The Peabody Essex Museum has a new and wonderful exhibit called Trash Menagerie which features an array of animal sculptures made from recycled and reclaimed materials! They have a few themed special events still coming up and the exhibit will be on display until May 1, 2010! Below are just a few pieces from the installation! http://pem.org/exhibitions/exhibition.php?id=83



Club Scrap: Concrete Jungle 6/09 - QDDL3; Digital Inked Edges Vol 1 - 4x4, 12x12c;

I layered up a border by inverting the color on the Quick Drop Digital Layout and added back the original color by pasting it over the brown version and using Ctrl-G after laying inked borders over the background.

Sulphur Blue Smeck, 2005, Michelle Stitzlein, mixed junk, 62x84x11 inches.

"Recycling is not only one of the most creative arts but it also needs some imagination and lots of skills to perfect. Michelle Stitzlein is an artist who has both these creative skills along with tons of patience. Michelle has created a dazzling “Moth” series of recycled artwork made from items including car license plates, car parts, piano keys, broken china ware, tin cans, electric wire and bottle caps among other stuff that might just be rusting in your garage." http://www.ecofriend.org/entry/eco-arts-michelle-stitzlein-s-recycled-moth-sculptures/



Club Scrap: Concrete Jungle 6/09 - Template3; Perfect Ten 2009 - Plain5, Print8, Print10, Tag22;
Font: Santana Black;

Raggedtailed Dragon Fish, 2007, David Edgar, 30 x 64 x 9 inches, mixed recycled plastic. (I still need to get the title of the larger piece.)

8 Layouts of my Son

In honor of his birthday, I'm posting 8 recent layouts of my son, over the years! Please forgive me for the photos of layouts, I took them quickly when I had just made them and planned to scan them in, but I want to get them posted today! Half are paper and the other half are digital layouts, enjoy!



Club Scrap: Centennial - Classic ALSB #6;
Scrapbook Takeout - Antique Autumn 11/08 - Chipboard Stickers; Pot Pourri 7/08 - Thickers Glitter Chipboard Alphabet Roller Rink Tangerine Gold; Eclectica 6/08 - Maya Road Stitched Ribbon;

These first three layouts are from the waiting period before his little sisters were born, when he got to take a visit to my parent's house to hang out, get tattooed, and take a night visit to the beach!



Club Scrap: Retreat 2006 - Let Me Count the Way Design Classic ALSB;
Scrapbook Takeout: Antique Autumn 11/08 - Felt Bird Shapes, Basic Grey Designer Rub Ons; Eclectica 6/08 - American Crafts Vinyl Stickers in Orange Sprinkles;
Ranger: Distress Ink Pad - Frayed Burlap;



Club Scrap: Time & Space ALSB;
Scrapbook Takeout: Parisian Vintage Chic 5/08 - Thickers Velvet in Cream; Ribbon;
Basic Grey: Distressing Kit (used on photo edges to file away some of the image);



Club Scrap: Bugs Remix 08 - ALSB #12 (includes Generations, Interior Designs, Retreat Cream, plus Bugs artwork);

Sebek and his friends were busy checking out his birthday cake complete with a painted on puzzle scene and handmade chocolate critters on top! You've got to love his shushing while they sang to him!



Club Scrap Digital Kits: Common Threads 3/09 - Print1, EMBXtra1, EMBXtra2, EMBXtra3; Gimme a Ring 1/09 - Template2, EMBFiber09; Mirror Mirror 11/08 - Plain4; Serengeti 11/07 - CS06, CS08; PSL 09 Prize - 4b;

It was such an unexpected treat to hear Sebek read his essay about me in front of his entire class!



Club Scrap: Academy 8/07 Digital Kit; Digital Inked Edges Vol. 1; Assembly Line Scrapbooking Idea Deck Vol. 2 - 9 of Hearts Left;

Not only was Montreal's Botanical Gardens filled with lovely plants and butterflies, but there was a small school playset in the middle of the greenhouse and Sebek had a blast in it!



Gimme a Ring Template; Inked Edges Vol 1, Artifacts BBF;

On out last trip to Montreal we were surprised by an array of street art stenciled onto the sidewalks and crosswalks! Since Sebek is named after the Egyptian crocodile god, I had to scrap this photo right away! I used the photograph of the title as my background "paper" and added the crocodile back in, creeping over the frame from the Gimme a Ring digital template!



Club Scrap Digital: Avant Garde 3/08 - DPaper11, DPaper12, Tag63, Tag80, Tag87, Xtra74; Be Still 9/07 - Xtra02;
Font: Clingy;

On our last visit to the Boston Museum of Science, we got to perform experiments! Here's one shot where Sebek and Jay successfully floated a paperclip on top of a glass of water!

5 Layouts From my Childhood and my Children's

Here are a few layouts that I completed earlier, some digital, some physical! You may notice that I create 8.5"x11" layouts for my life before kids... I just love being able to work in different sizes without having to create mini books all the time. So, years ago I decided to scrap in 12"x12" for my main albums and 8.5"x11" as my "Book of Me" and have never regretted it! Plus, for those older photos, I'll often only have one image per event or just smaller photographs!



Club Scrap: Bridges 2/08 - Dark Brown Plain; Academy 8/07 - Tan 8.5x11 Print; Autumn Splendor 10/04 - Dark Brown Plain;
Scrapbook Takeout: Journal - Scenic Route Save the Date Chipboard Circles;
Cuttlebug: Funky Circle Frames;
Ranger: Adirondack Ink Pad - Espresso; Distress Ink Pad - Walnut Stain;
Zig: Memory Writer - Chocolate;

When I saw the "Save the Date" and "Good Times" chipboard shapes, I just had to break out those "funky circle" die cuts and get playing! The slightly brown tinted photograph worked well with an assortment of brown cardstock, inks, and embellishments for a fun layout!


Club Scrap: Chapter One 6/07 - Blue Print, Blue Plain, Stencil;
Scrapbook Takeout: Tell Your Story 3/08 - Jenni Bowlin Printed Tickets; 7 Gypsies 97% Complete Stickers Inspiration, Heidi Swapp Journaling Spots Mini Stars and Moons;
Making Memories - Transparency;

I just loved taking this photo and layering up a frame for it, starting with a transparency and cardstock, then overlapping stickers and embellishments, and text printed and painted onto the background paper! And I worked to pick up the main colors from the photo, blues, pink, white, and grey



Club Scrap: ALSB Idea Deck Vol 2 - Jack of Spades (left); Cruisin' 8/08 - Translucent Print, Light Coral, Black, Stickers;

Forgive me for the quality of this photo, but it really helps to show off the sparkles in the papers from the Cruisin' 8/08 kit! All but the translucent paper have the full sparkles when you look at them in real life... but using them for fishing photos wasn't what I expected! However I think it worked out great! I moved the photos just a little from the plan on the ALSB recipe card and added some skinny scrap strips to echo the strips in my daughters' jackets and love how it all fell into place! And the girls always have a blast at the Cub Scout Fishing Derby, never afraid to get their hands dirty!



Club Scrap Digital Kits: Common Threads 3/09 - Plain1, Template4; Gimme a Ring 1/09 - Print6; Cruisin' 8/08 - DP05; Fizz 1/07 - Trans22; Wheel & Sprocket 8/06 - Trans25; Let Me Count the Way Digi Demo - Paper04; Digi Inked Edges Vol. 1 - 12x12b;

The template from the Common Threads 3/09 Digital Kit is SO FUN! You can alter the style of each layer and cut all kinds of papers and colors to fill them, move things all around to your heart's content! It just screamed out Hula Hoops to me! With our vibrant photos of the Hawaiian themed weekend on the ski slopes with the Girl Scouts, I just had to go bright and load on the colors! I grabbed the shadow from another photo of my daughter hula-hooping and added it in turquoise to the background, then added a few digital stamps from some favorite past kits and digitally inked edges to finish off the layout.



Club Scrap Digital: Artifacts 2/09 - Plain5; Gimme a Ring 1/09 - Plain2; Bistro 7/07 - CS07, CS08; Surf's Up! 7/06 - Trans17, Trans22; Oh Baby - Trans09, Trans24; Inked Edges Vol 1 - 12x12c;

For this layout, I was inspired by Kim B's layouts in the 3/09 DigiRaps with all of the great vertical lines and small photos with embellishments sharing on vertical strip! And with the cartoony duck photo prop, I had to get a little cartoony on my layout! I switched the photo to black and white and upped the contrast, then gave it a bold black border stroke. I found the great dotted frame from Surf's Up and selected the border for the frame, stroked it in a new layer, and moved it to the side! When I grabbed the dotted line and text images, I also applied a heavy border stroke to them in black, but chose to ink the edges of the paper strips. I grabbed the great duck stamp and "colored" it in with the background yellow paper as the final touch!

Sumi Painting ATC Cards and Display

When the April 2009 Pure & Simple SR Kit came out it included a Sumi paintbrush and some instructions, in the Scrap Rap, to help you learn a few different traditional Sumi designs! I tried my hand at a few of them, and some others, and some came out great, while others were OK ;) It'll take some getting used to, but it's such a fun thing to try and the black watercolor paint is incredible for very solid abstract patterns that remind me of the Zentangles that we did at the 2008 Main Retreat! And, since the Club Stamp kit included an awesome ATC Art Display (complete with an easel and a tacky mount to stick ATCs on and off of the display whenever you feel like it), I just had to put it together! I think that I'll add a few small mirrored tiles/rhinestones to the display, but I'm loving solid black with the rich texture for now!

Now, I'm anxiously waiting for my shipment of the two brand new Crafter Classics, Nature's Wonders in vibrant fucshia, lime, and lavendar... plus Color in Black & White in bold primaries (and b&w, of course)!

Club Scrap - Pure & Simple 4/09: Niji Black Watercolor Tube, Sumi Paintbrush, SR Scrap Rap painting instructions, Borders & Backgrounds UM Stamps, CSt UM Stamps, CSt Project ATC Art Display, Spring Green, Black, Grey, and White Papers;
Ranger - Nick Bantock Collection: Chartreuse Leaf; Adirondack Dye Ink: Citrus, Lettuce; Adirondack Pigment Ink: Pitch Black;

The ICA Boston Art Lab on Concrete Jungle Digital

The ICA Boston Art Lab
No trip to the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston could be complete without some time in the Art Lab! On this visit we got to experiment with family and self portraits while being inspired by the creativity of other visitors! This month's kit had the perfect designs and colors to complement our photos, from bold pop icons to vibrant color schemes, and a slightly subdued digital print created the perfect backdrop!

http://www.icaboston.org 4/25/09

Club Scrap: Concrete Jungle 6/09 Digital Sr Kit - DigiBG1, Font13, FontA2, FontC, FontI2, Font02, Print6, Sticker04, WMCS; Inked Edges Vol 1 - 12x12b;