Christmas in July! 9 Layouts and a Sale!

I was secretly saving these recent layouts to post in July as a Christmas in July post...


Club Scrap: PSL Scramble 2008 - ALSB #25; A Study In Red 1/08 - Black Plain, Grey Print, Red Print, Black Tag, Dark Red Tag, Mini Brads;


Club Scrap: Musical Interlude - 12/05 Maroon Print, Ivory Print; Poetic 9/03 - 8.5x11 Green Print;
Scrapbook Takeout: Celebrations 11/07 - Basic Grey Undressed Chipboard Holiday, Prima Poinsettias & Stars Mix, Heidi Swapp Cargo Ribbon;

Part of my birthday party tradition was that the overnight guests went over to Salem for the ice cream smorgasbord and took photos with Santa at the little mall there!


Apple Barrel: Acrylic Paints - Black;
Club Scrap: A Study in Red 1/08 - Plain Black; A Very Groovy Christmas 2007 - Red Print, Stencil; Salsa 11/03 - White Plain;
Provo Craft: Cuttlebug - 3x3 Funky Circles Frame;
Ranger: Adirondack Paint Dabbers - Clover, Lettuce, Silver;
Scrapbook Takeout: Celebrations 11/07 - Basic Grey Undressed Chipboard Holiday;
Zig: Millenium - Pure Black;


Club Scrap: Retreat 2007 - ALSB & Fibers; Poetic - 9/03 Brown Print; Work Bench 8/05 - Green Embossed Plain; Rhapsody 3/07 - Rust Plain; Bridges 2/08 - Brown Tag, Stickers;
Scrapbook Takeout: Harvest Feast 10/07 - 7 Gypsies Zanzibar Brad;
Zig: Chocolate Memory Writer;

For my 9th birthday, all the girls stayed overnight after decorating a float and the next morning we donned traditional clothing from all over the world to ride on a Unicef float sponsored by my parents' store!


Club Scrap: PSL Scramble ALSB 2008 #5; A Study in Red 1/08 - Red Plain; Be Still 9/07 - Brown Plain, Brown Tag, Title Strip; Culinary 3/04 - Olive 8.5x11 Print, Evergreen 12/03 - Handmade Green Plain;
Ranger: Adirondack Dye Ink - Ginger;

Each year, my daughters' Brownie troop creates a themed holiday wreath to donate within town. This year their gingerbread cookie wreaths went to the Senior Center!


Apple Barrel: Acrylic Paints - Black;
Club Scrap: Bridges 2/08 - Stonewash Plain; A Study in Red 1/08 - Plain Black; Culinary 3/04 - Olive Plain; Poetic 9/02 - Creative Imaginations Tagwear Rub Ons; Art Deco 9/02 - Plum 8.5x11 Print, Architecture Overlay Stencil;
Ranger: Inkssentials - White Pen;
Scrapbook Takeout: Adventures in Altering 8/07 - Chipboard Numbers;
Zig: Millenium - Pure Black;


Club Scrap: A Study in Red 1/08 - CS02, CS07, Fibr05, Xtra36; Sparkle 12/07 - CS09;
Adobe Photoshop: Drop Shadows; Blending Mode - Multiply; Altered Hues & Levels; Inverted Colors;
Scan of my Sofa Fabric;






Club Scrap: PSL Scramble 2008 - ALSB #3 and 4; Hannukah 2006 - Sky Print; Varsity 6/05 - Blue Plain; Evergreen 12/03 - Green 8.5x11 Print, Stickers, Plum Plain;
Ranger: Adirondack Dye Ink Pad - Denim;

Beaded and Wired Mini Book: By The Seashore Crafter Classic UM Stamps

I just could not wait! I had to get my fingers all inked up and attack that By The Seashore Crafter Classic Remix UM stamp sheet! So, since the Matrix 7/08 Sr ScrapRap (the newsletter that comes with each monthly membership kit, and available on its own) shows a gorgeous CS Wired Book Project, I decided to run with that pattern and made a mini book!



I moved a little bit away from the design in the ScrapRap and skipped the hardcover, for now ;) I also used POPs (Pound of Paper, basically you can order these to come iwth your monthly kit, containing 1 pound of papers from the kit cut into small sizes, typically 3"x5", 4"x6", and 5"x7" but sometimes you get other sizes as well!) that I had on hand using the same solid papers that the By The Seashore Crafter Classic prints are on.

This mini book uses all of the stamps from the brand new FFC Crafter Exclusive By The Seashore UM Remix. I did add the overlapping retro-rectangles from the Matrix Stencil to one page, but otherwise all images come from this stamp sheet! I LOVE the the dashed semi-circle and know that I'll be using it will all manner of other stamps!



Club Scrap: By The Seashore Crafter Classic 2008 - UM Stamp Remix; Matrix 7/08 - Stencil; Body and Soul 5/08 - Light Green; Serengeti 11/07 - Light Teal, Dark Teal; Varsity 6/05 - Green; Assorted Beads; Waxed Linen Thread;
Ranger: Adirondack Dye Inks - Aqua, Bottle, Juniper, Latte, Lemonade, Mushroom, Pool, Willow; Distress Inks - Antique Linen, Frayed Burlap, Peeled Paint;
Technique Junkies: February/March 2008 - Reinker Splash Technique;
Manilla Tags;

Varsity Double Layout & Transparency Technique!

I've mostly used my Club Scrap Varsity 6/05 Kits for their paper colors, love that dusty color palette and the soft fabric-like texture. But I was recently inspired to get out some of those sporty prints and get scrapping! (You know I never scrap in order, just when the mood hits!)

Here's a double layout from the last Pawsox (Minor League) Game that we attended! One side is about the mascots, the other with a shot from the game.

Have you ever wanted a great transparency overlay, but what you were looking for just didn't exist? One of the wonderful things that Club Scrap does is give you full permission to scan and reprint their idea cards! So you can take the images from their unmounted stamps, scan them in at any resolution and print them at the size you wish! You can get special transparency film for your printer, or do what I did! I enlarged the baseball frame from the Borders & Backgrounds Idea Card and printed it on some paper from my recycling bin, then traced it onto my transparency with a Slick Writer and painted on the backside. I found that this image worked best when I painted outside of the lines!

I used the same paint to make the metal alphabet match as well as my journalling box! To get an aged look on the journalling box, I applied the paint to the cardstock and then quickly blotted some off with balled up plastic wrap (from opening a package of scrap supplies!) to give it some texture and show small hints of the paper from below it!

Another thing that I did was to stamp directly onto craft felt with StayzOn and cut it out for my pennant title. Also, I used foam squares to raise the sports jersey print and the baseball snap.

Club Scrap: Varsity 6/05 Papers, B&B Idea Card, & CSt UM Stamps; Fossils 6/04 Font UM Stamps; Chapter One 6/07 Grey Striped Paper; Collections 6/06 GTG Foam Square Stickers;
Plaid Folk Art Butter Pecan Acrylic Paint;
Clearsnap Fluid Chalk in Dark Moss;
Tsukineko StayzOn in Timber Brown;
American Crafts Slick Writer in Cranberry;
Colorbok Sticky Stitches in Solid Cool Brights & My Type Punched Metal Alpha;
Making Memories Baseball Snap & Washer Words;
DCWV Fall Rub-on Stack 2;
Light Blue Craft Felt;
Staples Transparency Sheet;

Distress Ink Monoprinted Bookmarks by 1st Graders!

These bookmarks were created by my daughters' First Grade class! Each of the kids selected one color of my Club Scrap Cardstock Pieces first, then some stamps, and together we selected the ink colors, in the end, using nearly the complete line of Ranger's Distress Inks! We pressed each ink color on my Ranger Non Stick Craft Sheet and then misted the inks with water before the kids' pressed their glossy paper into the inks, then swirled, swiped, bent and striped it, etc until they were satisfied! (I helped cover a few white spots for them.) Then we ran adhesive across the backs of the inked paper and stuck them right down onto the Non Stick Craft Sheet and stamped over the papers with Ranger's Waterproof Archival Inks and Club Scrap Stamps! Then, while each child cleaned their fingers, I adhered the inked papers to the cardstock, laminating them all at home!

They did such a beautiful job! Each child selected one bookmark to keep and one to contribute to the Class Auction Project! They also each made Japanese Stab-Bound Mini Books last week and I'm going to bind one Writing Workshop story per child, with about the author pages, into a Hand Stitched Journal. Along with all of these handmade goodies, parents are contributing towards storebought books and book related items, some additional handmade surprises, and an unfinished wood nightstand bookcase! Rocky's Ace Hardware of Millis is also donating the winner's choice in colors for one quart of paint or stain and advice to complete the bookcase!

I've also donated a complete Mini Kit For a Cause Handmade 6"x6" Postbound Scrapbook with ALSB Layouts (ready-for photos) and accompanying cards, stamps, stencil, and more! This will be a separate auction item!

I've had such a blast working with the kids in the classroom, and especially loved the enthusiasm from some of the boys... including the extra twinkle when one worked with purples and pinks! So adorable!

I will also be making bookmarks (die cut shapes and possibly this same ink technique as separate options) at the Millis Girl Scouts Craft Expo on March 25th! It will be from 12:30-3:00PM at the Church of Christ, with a $2 entry fee for adults (children under 19 are free!), with plenty of crafts to make and buy as well as a full concession stand to benefit the Girl Scouts of our town! (We will even have extras of my daughter's homemade GS Cookie Inspired Chocolates for sale at our booth! Mmmmmmm!!)