Thinking Inking Week 2 Part 1

This week we are focusing more on embossing powders than we are the inks, but that's okay, it was fun to try a few of these things. The main focus Jennifer had for this part was to have us experiment with embossing powders without using stamps.

There were several things she wanted us to do, so I made three cards with the different techniques.

This first project I made kind of cracks me up! I don't really celebrate Halloween, but I ordered a bunch of paper from Cosmo Cricket last week and they sent me a few little baggies with some of their paper pieces, chipboard and ribbon. Not a lot, but just enough to make a card. So since one of them had Halloween paper, and I had just bought a Tim Holtz Halloween stamp set for the barbed wire stamp (stay tuned for that card which is in progress!) I decided to give it a shot and I love it!


This technique we were to put clear embossing gel on the flower, and then cover the flower in clear embossing powder. When heated, it gives the flower a very shiny appearance. I also stamped the bats in Spiced Marmalade and embossed them with black embossing powder. The Happy Halloween is inked in Worn Lipstick Distress Ink and embossed with Concord Grape Distress Embossing Powder. Thanks Cosmo Cricket for the free stuff!



This technique we were supposed to use Utee on an embellishment to make it look like a faux acrylic embellishment. I bought the wrong kind of Utee - the pearlized instead of the clear (I didn't know there were different kinds!) I finished the technique anyway and it goes with the cream in the paper, so it's all good!



This last card is currently my favorite. I took some really old, cheesy paper I had and inked it all with Antique Linen Distress Ink. Then I copied an old vintage 4th postcard. I liked the way it said 4th of July already on the card, so I carefully went over it with an embossing ink pen and embossed it with antique gold embossing powder so it would stand out. Then we were to take a circle of paper and keep embossing it over and over with embossing powder until it was thick and gooey, then stamp an image in the center to make a faux wax seal. I used antique gold again and a star. For Week 2 part 3 we were to emboss on metal. I took three very bright metal stars and heated them and then dipped them in the antique gold embossing powder until they matched the seal.

I think I like this one so much that I may not be able to give it away.

Lots more fun projects from Jennifer and today begins week 3!

Thinking Inking Week 1 Part 3

Part three of week one was a little messy. You put ink from three different colored ink pads onto a nonstick craft mat, then spritz with water and carefully place your papers into the wet ink. This lightly colors your paper pieces and gives them an interesting look. We also did the water color stamping this week again.

Here is my take on this technique and my scraplift of Jennifer's card.


I made a celebrate card and used Scattered Straw, Faded Jeans, and Fired Brick Distress Inks to make make card and to stamp. I wanted it to have a fun, happy feel, and one that kind of fit with Disney's Celebrate theme this year, so that was my inspiration.

Only a couple more techniques and I will be caught up with the rest of the gang!

Thinking Inking Week 1 Part 2

Week two of the Thinking Inking class was to use Distress Inks in stamping. So Jennifer wanted us to use several techniques to do this. Her sample was a layout that displayed all of the techniques, I just made a card instead. Again, if you are interested in the class, the title of this blog entry is a link to the thread on Two Peas in a Bucket.



I will describe the techniques from upper left to right and then lower left to right. I used two stamps from Inque Boutique/Darice.

1. Stamp with Fired Brick Distress Ink, then rub on some red perfect pearls. The perfect pearls give it a great shimmer.

2. Stamp with Peeled Paint Distress Ink and then cover with clear embossing powder to bring out the color.

3. Stamp with Spiced Marmalade Distress Ink and them embossed with bronze embossing powder.

4. Ink the stamp with Scattered Straw Distress Ink, then add a little Tea Dye Distress Ink around the edges. Spritz the stamp with water and it makes a water color image.

5. Just stamped with Fired Brick Distress Ink.

6. Same technique as #4 - inked stamp with Dried Marigold Distress Ink, then added a little Vintage Photo around the edges, spritzed with water, then stamp. Makes a water color stamped image.

7. Is the the family stamp in the middle of the card. She wanted us to stamp on cork and see how the ink showed so well on it.

I'm having a great time playing with all my Ranger/Tim Holtz goodies and actually using a lot of the stamps I have that I never use!

Thinking Inking Week 1 Part 1 Distress Inks

Two Peas in a Bucket has asked Jennifer McGuire to do a 9 week class on Distress Inks, Stamping, Embossing Powders and such. I got to the party a little late as they are in the second week, but I am going to plod along and finish as much as I can. The title of this blog entry will link you directly to the thread on Two Peas.

These are my projects for Week 1 Part 1.


One of the first techniques was just to apply distress ink to paper so you could see how it changes the look of something. We were to take a bright colored paper and see how it could alter it just by applying some ink. I covered some old American Crafts and some Basic Grey paper with Vintage Photo Distress Ink.


The stamp is from Close to My Heart.


This technique is called Water Splotching. I inked up a tag and then you sprinkle water onto the tag and it creates these cool splotches. Then we were to stamp in a paper flower. The Thank You and flower stamp are both from Inque Boutique/Darice.


I really liked this technique. I inked a tag with three different colors (Concord Grap, Spiced Marmalade and Worn Lipstick) then you ink up a stamp with clear embossing ink and spritz it with water (this is a Tim Holtz flourish stamp.) Once it is sufficiently wet, you stamp n the ink and let it work its magic. I also used the fist technique here as well and inked the bright Basic Grey paper with Spiced Marmalade.



The last technique was masking. Since I didn't have any masks handy, I made some. I took an old Bo Bunny cardstock sticker and punched out various circles. I inked the tag with some Broken China and a little Shabby Shutters. then I applied the mask circles and covered the entire tag with Faded Jeans. Since I decided to make this an underwater feeling card, I stamped the card front with the Tim Holtz flourish stamp using the water technique and also with some ink so I could apply some perfect pearls to the top. This card needed some shimmer. The shells are QuicKutz and when I was all done, I spritzed the entire thing with a light misting of white Perfect Pearls. I curled the ribbon by heating it with my heat tool.


What a great class! Jen is really creative and I am having a blast! Stay tuned for more Thinking Ink projects from me shortly!

Twinchies

A scrapbooking friend of mine posted some wonderful little things called TWINCHIES on her blog about a year ago and I have to tell you, the minute I saw them I was enthralled. Twinchies are little 2 inch x 2 inch squares that are stamped, painted, collaged or otherwise decorated. I began dreaming of twinchies as I slept, planning all the wonderful little ways I could fit as much cuteness as possible onto one 2" square.

Twinchies grew out of what was originally the ATC craze. ATC (Artist Trading Cards) are 2.5 inch x 3.5 inch "Cards" that are stamped, painted, collage or otherwise decorated. There are many paper crafters who alter ATC's and trade them with people in their area, the internet, even world wide.

Next came the Inchie craze. Inchies are little 1 inch x 1 inch squares that are stamped, painted, collaged, or otherwise decorated. A one inch square doesn't leave a lot of room for embellishment, but I am quite surprised at the amount of decor some paper crafters can fit on an inch.

For those of us who like a little bit bigger canvas to work with, the Twinchies were just the thing. I talked to a group of friends who do Disney scrapping with me and they were game to have a Twinchie swap. The only rules for the swap were that the Twinchie had to be exactly 2x2 and that it was Disney related. Here are my Disney Twinchies. Just so you know, it is very difficult to take a good picture of something that is only two inches big, so please bear with the results.

I made two versions of this Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln before I decided on the second one for the swap.


I had the same problem with the Tiki Room Twinchies - I made the first one with the beads, but went with the second version with the bamboo and flowers for the swap.


I had a lot of fun with this one! I copied an idea I had used on my Monsters, Inc. ride layout and I made Boo's door for all the twinchies.

This twinchie is interactive - it opens up and reveals one of the monsters from the movie. I used the EK Success sticker packs and so each person got a different monster.


The rest of these twinchies were my initial attempts at them. I used old attraction posters from Disneyland and other left over odds and ends.




One of my favorite extinct rides. On this one I used aluminum foil duct tape on cardstock and embossed it.


This is one I made as a blog give-away on my Disneyland blog last summer. For everyone who posted a comment, I put their name in a drawing for an Indy twinchie. I was doing a review of the Summer of Indian Jones in Disneyland's Adventureland.



Then I decided to make some to use on layouts. These three were for a Grizzly River Run layout that I never finished (some day!)



These I made for a Splash Mountain layout which you can see below.



So that has been my venture into the world of twinchies. I really love making them and hope to make a few more when I get a little more time.

BEWARE! Once you begin making these little artistic wonders, you will become addicted and may loose sleep due to hours of dreaming about new designs for them!

Storytellers Cafe Critter Breakfast - Disneyland

This is a layout I just finished about the Storytellers Cafe Critter Breakfast we attended for my birthday in January. I have a lot of photos still to scrap, one or two more two-pagers, but this was a good start!

I linked the title of this entry to my Disneyland blog so you can read more about it if you are interested in attending one yourself. But since this is a scrapping blog, I figured I would focus on the pages, not the topic of the pages.

I ended up purchasing about 12 different papers for this layout and this is what I finally ended up with. It is kind of a hodge podge of old, outdated paper and I always love the challenge of putting old stuff to good use.

First, I needed some good background paper. I tried several different papers, and ended up making my own. I used cream cardstock and then a Tim Holtz technique of spritzing the paper with Distress Inks and Color Wash ink.

To do this I put 3 drops of Scattered Straw, and 3 drops of Vintage photo Distress Reinkers into a Ranger Mini Mister, then filled with water.

I spritzed the entire paper and dried.


Then I VERY lightly misted the paper with the Espresso Color Wash. Be sure to do this lightly as it will easily beome way too much and overwhelm the paper. I just wanted a few dark brown spots to make the background interesting.


As you can see, the spritzed paper looks a lot different than it did when I started. It did tend to curl the sides up even when I dried it with a heat tool, so I ironed it with a dry iron once all the ink had dried.


When the base was finished, I added the pieces of patterened paper and sewed them on with my machine. As I said before, I used a lot of old patterned paper for this because I like the challenge of taking something old and making it a little different so I can use it. The plaid paper is by Junkitz, typed paper is Jenni Bowlin (this is the only new line), dot paper is My Mind's Eye, and all of the ginham paper is very old Paper Patch. I inked all of the older gingham paper and the dot paper with Ranger Distress Ink Antique Paper. This gave it a different look and it went with the feel I had in mind for the page.


The leaves are cut from some colored cardstock called Coredinations by Reminisce. When you sand the edges or if you emboss it and then sand it, the color on top comes off revealing the core color of the cardstock underneath. I love it! It comes in White Wash, Chocolate and Black too!



Lastly, I punched flowers from the gingham paper and some black corrugated paper and layered them with buttons over some burlap squares that I also tinted with the Espresso Color Wash. I layered some tags from an old tag set I bought at Walmart and journaled on a Tim Holtz Journaling Ticket. The small tag is a plain brown tag that I stamped with a Tim Holtz stamp from Stamper's Anonymous and the Mickey tag is punched from some old type paper.

I distressed the pictures by scraping along the side of each one several times with an awl and then sanding them lightly before adding a little Antique Paper Distress Ink.

Baby Buggie Favor Boxes

I made these for a friend's baby shower. I found the design on Denise's Scrapbooking, a blog that showcases free and affordable SCAL designs for the Cricut. She had designed four or five baby items that could be used for table decorations or favor boxes at a baby shower. My mom and I purchased the set for $5 and Mom cut them out for me on her Cricut Expression. I then assembled them and decorated. It was a lot of fun, and once the original buggie was decorated, the rest were easy. It took me 3-4 hours for these.

For decorating, I used lots of odds and ends of lace, trims, buttons and ribbon. I even added some sequin butterflies to go with her nursery theme.

Sleeping Beauty's Castle

Did I ever have fun with the techniques on this one! My friend Susan has a fantastic scrapbooking blog and she often posts tutorials based on the techniques she uses. That is how this page got it's start. I read her "Make Your Chipboard Shine" tutorial found here. (you have to scroll down a few entries to find it) Then I purchased some Cosmo Cricket Sweet Mix chipboard letters and got to work. The paper is Melissa Francis, and I used Inque Boutique stamps instead of the Basic Grey stamps shown in Susan 's tutorial.



Then it was on to the second page. I think embellishing page two is often more difficult because you don't have a title to take up space. But I think the Prima Say it in Pearls embellishments really did the job! I wanted to document when I took these pictures of the castle, so I figured a stamp border and some Quickutz letters would be just the thing, but the stamped border needed some shine. That is when Tim Holtz came to the rescue with his current blog technique. He stamped with distress ink and then just wiped perfect pearls over the stamp and brushed off the excess. It gave the stamped image a pearly look that was perfect. You can see Tim demonstrate his technique here.



You can barely see the shimmer of the border, then I backed it with Bazzill bling and cut the letters out in Bazzill Bling.


Really fun techniques! Thanks Tim and Susan!

Pocahontas

This is a page I really had fun making! When I saw the blue Saffron paper by K & Co. I had "Colors of the Wind" in my head. For some reason it just screamed Pocahontas to me. So, I cut out the windy swirls and set about making a page that fit this Native American Princess. This was a page that sat on my scrap table for a couple of days until I realized what it needed - beads! So off to the bead store for some beading needles and seed beads.

I decided to put beads in several locations. I threaded multiple beads onto the jute that is tied through the end of the journaling tag.



Then I poked holes through the paper with an awl and sewed the tiny seed beads all along the border of the brown paper. This added just the texture I was looking for. But It needed just a little more, so I cut out the butterflies and rolled their wings around a pencil to make them stand out. Then I attached a bead to each end of a 2" piece of wire and folded it in half to form the butterfly antennae. For the body I used a bit of Ranger Distress Stickles in Walnut Ink color. I used an EK Sucess sticker set for Pocahontas and the title and I was done. I love when a page is fun to put together and you like it when it's done!

Baby Shower Invitations

I am admittedly not a card maker, so I know there is probably nothing original on these invitations, but I had a fun time making them and trying to be creative as I did it. My boss, Linda, asked me to help her with a couple of invitations for baby showers she is throwing. One is for her daughter, and another for her daughter's friend. I agreed and started looking around for inspiration.


The first invitation was for a boy. I had purchased a bunch of Daisy D's baby paper for some Ariel layouts - I thought the colors and circles went well with an under the sea feel. Anyway, I had some left over and thought it would be perfect for a rustic baby boy invitation. I had picked up ideas from layouts and other cards and decided to add them in. One was the corrugated heart on the front. I only had some bright yellow corrugated paper, so I mixed my paints and then painted all the paper, distressed it by sanding and scratching it, then I cut out the hearts and letters. To add a little texture, I sewed around the edges of all the hearts. I had to dye the twill and the bears for the inside. Then we sewed around the edges of all the papers and crinkled them. It took three of us two days to put these together and that was with all the elements cut, punched, painted, dyed, and ready for assembly.



Then on to the baby shower invitations for my boss's new baby granddaughter. I wanted these to have a warm, baby quilt, feminine, vintage feel to them. I used Basic Grey Two scoops for this card, and added lace, velvet ribbon, clear glass beads and some sewing. Instead of inking and crinkling, I decided to sand the edges of everything to give it a soft worn look. Then we sew just around the edges of the front and the inside of the invitation.



For the inside we decided to borrow an element from the first card, the heart and stork tag. But since the feel of this card was so different, I didn't think corrugated paper was what I wanted to use. So, I cut some different papers from the line and glued them on to card stock. Then I used a zig zag stitch to sew across all of the intersecting edges, horizontal, vertical and diagonal. Once that was done, I traced a heart onto the paper and cut out all the hearts, then sewed around the edges of each one with a straght stitch. I think the little quilted paper hearts are just the feeling and look I was hoping for.



These took three of us (four of us one night) three different evenings to finish. And again, that was with everything cut, printed, and prepped for assembly.

Despite all the work, we had a great time making these, and my boss was bitten by the scrapbooking bug. With all the techniques she used on these cards, she kind of got a baptism of fire into the realm of scrapbooking, but she loves it anyway!

Disneyland Main Street

My DH loves trains and Disneyland, so of course, the Disneyland Train and Station are two of his favorite things. This is a layout focusing on the Main Street Station and the memorabilia inside, like the model of the "Lilly Belle" engine on display just inside the doors. Walt and others built this 1/8th scale train at the Disney Studios and then installed it in his yard at the Disney home on Carolwood Drive. It is still around and you can actually go out and see the original at Walt's barn which has been moved to Griffith Park.

Main Street Station Page 1
When I saw these Cosmo Cricket papers, I knew that I would have to use them for something on Main Street. My husband is a train man and so we inevitably end up either in the train station or on the train each trip. This particular day we were waiting for a tender pass so we could ride up front with the engineers, so my husband asked me to take pictures of all of the Disney train memorabilia for him. As I contemplated this layout, I was inspired by a title I saw on a layout in an online gallery. I liked the use of the tall, straight font mixed with a script font. The only other things I wanted to do were to incorporate some trim and to give it a turn of the century feel. I tried to accomplish this with the scalloped strip, patterned paper choice and the journaling box. As do most all of my Disney layouts, there is a Mickey shape somewhere, and on this page I have it peeking out from behind the journaling.


Main Street Station Page 2
This page is a continuation of Page 1. I felt this page need a bit of embellishment, so I added some die cuts from Cosmo Cricket, a flower and a miniature version of the Disneyland Railroad poster printed on paper so it looks old and worn. On both pages, inking was an essential technique. I used Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Inks in Walnut and Vintage Photo. Using the blending tool and blending foam, I pressed the foam onto the ink pad and then worked the ink onto the paper in a circular fashion. It is important not to press too hard or it will leave a distinct dark border around the page and edge of the patterned paper. To get an antiqued look, you just need to work a little ink onto the page. That way it looks authentically old.

Supplies:
Cardstock: Harvest, French Silk (Bazzill Basics Paper)
Die Cuts: Abigail font, Beauty Queen font, Archiver's exclusive flower (Quickutz)
Ink: Walnut and Vintage Photo Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Ranger)
Misc. embellishments: button, 1/8 brown ribbon, metal disk (K & Co.)
Punch: Mickey large(EK Success)
Paper Clips: Heart and Swirl (Creative Impressions)
Patterned Paper: Gretel (Cosmo Cricket)
Trim: Westrim
Trimmer and Blade: 12" Cutterpede scalloped blade (EK Success)

Directions:
1. Lightly ink Harvest cardstock with Distress Ink.
2. Cut two pieces of Gingerbread Gretel into 3x12 strips -- one for the left side, and one for the right side.
3. Cut two pieces of Autumn Gretel into 1x12 strips using a scalloped edge cutter.
4. Cut one piece of 6x12 Fairy Tales Gretel. This will be placed over some smaller pieces across the center of both papers, but it should be slightly off center. So Page 1 may have a 6x5 piece and Page 2 a 6x7 piece.
5. Cut one 4x12 strip of Hansel Gretel. Then cut it into a 3x4 piece and a 9x4 piece. The smaller piece goes near the bottom right corner of Page 2 and the large piece goes near the top right side of page 1.
6. Cut one 5x12 piece of Woodland (solid blue side). Then cut it into 4x5 and 8x5. The larger piece will be placed near the bottom of Page 2 and the smaller piece will be near the center of Page 1.
7. Cut a 12" piece of cream trim to go along the bottom of the piece of Fairy Tales paper.
8. Title was cut from French Silk cardstock and Hansel Gretel paper.
9. Flower was cut using a 4x4 Quickutz Flower die exclusive to Archivers. Shadow was cut from French Silk Cardstock and the flower from Hansel Gretel paper.
10. Two Gretel Die Cut elements were placed behind the flower.
11. The flower center was made by layering a metal disk, button and a knot of brown ribbon.
12. Journaling tag was made by hand drawing the design on the top of a piece of Gingerbread Gretel (use the cream colored solid side) then hand cutting a matching mat from Hansel Gretel. Attach a small ½" strip of Autumn Gretel to the bottom of the tag.
13. The heart clip goes over the top of the tag and the swirl clip goes along the bottom of the tag.
14. For added interest and texture, I did sew a straight stitch around the piece of fairy Tales in the middle of the layout.


This is a layout about my favorite little cafe on Main Street at Disneyland. The Carnation Cafe is next to the Bakery and under the directions of Chef Oscar Martinez, serves a great breakfast, and for lunch and dinner they have a wonderful loaded potato soup! We usually eat here when we go down for date nights and at least once on any other trips.

Carnation Café Page 1
This is one of our favorite places to eat along Main Street in Disneyland. When I saw this Cosmo Cricket paper, I just knew that it would be perfect for the Carnation. I really had fun playing with techniques on this page. First, on both pages, inking was an essential technique. I used Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Inks in Walnut and Vintage Photo. Using the blending tool and blending foam, I pressed the foam onto the ink pad and then worked the ink onto the paper in a circular fashion. It is important not to press too hard or it will leave a distinct dark border around the page and edge of the patterned paper. To get an antiqued look, you just need to work a little ink onto the page. That way it looks authentically old. Another technique I used was the scalloped circle. I cut a 5 ¾" circle, then using my corner rounder, I was able to make the scalloped edge. There are directions for this on the back of the corner rounder and in the current Close to My Heart Catalog. I added a mini poster of the Gibson Girl Ice Cream Parlour that is also an eating establishment on Main Street.



Carnation Café Page 2
Because this is the continuation of Page 1, I used the same techniques on each page. On this page I stamped in the corner on the cardstock using Paint Dabbers. I also stamped on the tan paper and the journaling box using liquid chalk. I sewed on one corner of each page, up to the stamp to add a little interest.

Supplies:
Cardstock: Maraschino, French Silk (Bazzill Basics Paper)
Chalk: Chestnut Roan Colorbox Chalk Ink (Clearsnap)
Corner Rounder: large (EK Success)
Die Cuts: Fiesta font, tag (Quickutz)
Flowers: Bazzill Basics, Prima Marketing, Inc.
Ink: Walnut and Vintage Photo Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Ranger)
Punches: Mickey large (EK Success), Floral Lace Edge Punch (Martha Stewart Crafts)
Patterned Paper: Gretel (Cosmo Cricket)
Stamps: Savoir Faire French Quarter, Mini Majestic Flight, Narrative Elements (Inque Boutique)

Directions:
1. Ink two piece of Maraschino cardstock to age the paper.
2. Cut one piece of Butterflies Gretel in half vertically (with the stripes). Then cut 2" off the bottom of the left side leaving the majority of the butterflies along the top. Cut 2" off the top of the right side, leaving the majority of the butterflies along the bottom.
3. Cut two 5 ¾" circles from Woodlands Gretel paper. Scallop using a corner rounder.
4. Cut two 5x6 pieces of Autumn Gretel. Stamp a French Quarter corner border along each corner using Colorbox Liquid Chalk.
5. Apply paint dabber to Majestic Flight corner stamp and stamp onto upper left and lower right corners.
6. After paint dries, sew from the stamp, down the left side and across the bottom of Page 1, and across the top and down the right side up to the stamp on Page 2.
7. Cut one 1"x12" piece of Gingerbread Gretel (solid side) punch with Floral Lace Edge Border punch
8. Stamp Narrative Elements journaling box stamp onto a piece of Gingerbread Gretel with Colorbox Liquid Chalk and cut out by hand.
9. Title and photo mats are cut from French Silk cardstock.
10. Adhere all elements to page as seen in photo.