Cool Stamping Technique

Hello Friends! Long time no see! Life has been crazy as usual, and I know I have lots of posts to catch up on. So watch over the next few days for some updates on what I've been working on.

I wanted to share a cool stamping technique with you that isn't new, but is fun nonetheless. Did you know you can turn nearly any die cut into a stamp? Here are two ways:

1. You can use the large AccuCut machines available at many scrapbooking stores (some charge for the use of their machines...just ask what their store policy is). To start, simply die cut images from fun foam and attach them to an acrylic block with double stick tape.
   
2. For personal die cut machines, such as QuicKutz, pull the sticky foam from the metal die and use as your stamp. You can re-foam the die with QuicKutz replacement foam available in 4x4 or 2x2 sizes. Attach the sticky foam to a QuicKutz Rocker handle or acrylic block. Then stamp your image with paint or ink.
   

On my "Sisters" layout I posted last month, I die cut a flower image and a bird image from Kraft colored cardstock. Then I created a stamp of each image from foam using the technique explained above. I dabbed some off-white paint onto my foam stamp and placed it over the die cut flower. Some of the cardstock still showed in some places where the paint hadn't touched. It left my die cut with a shabby look that I loved!


I repeated the technique with the bird, only this time I used brown paint:

It's so simple and fun to do and adds a little touch to an otherwise boring die cut. Think of all the possibilities! You could create your own custom alphabet stamps, border stamps, and smaller images too.

Things Sisters Do Together

A couple of years ago I made a mini album with little pictures of my sister and I from a long, long time ago. It's called "Things Sisters Do Together." I was trying to come up with an idea for my next class and decided to turn the mini album into a layout.

I started with some yummy new product from Little Yellow Bicycle's "Fresh Print Clothesline" collection and some 2x2 photos. Here's what I came up with:

Although purple and green are not normally colors I use, I love, love the nostalgic feel to these papers.

I wish I had some close up shots, but I don't because the layout is currently hanging in the store. But here's a look at the album I made that was the inspiration behind it:

Things Sisters Do Together

Go shopping.
Share secrets.

Enjoy a girl's day out.

Sometimes, on the other sister's birthday, she steals the spotlight.

Protect one another.
They laugh and dream together.

Borrow each others clothes.

Have dress-up days.
Play "Mommies" together.

Love each other from the start.

Thanks for looking! Have a great weekend!

Flower Techniques

Click on over to the Fancy Pants blog to see some way cool flower making techniques! A couple of these I have never seen before.

Album designed by Jolene Pienaar.

Mother's Day Tin

Created by Lesley Langdon
Featured in April/May Simply Handmade

I just got an email from Scrapbook Trends magazine featuring this beautiful project by Lesley Langdon. I love the fabric flower on top of the tin and have added this to my long list of things I would love to make. I thought I would share their blog post here since I will most likely never get around to making one for myself. :)

Heartstrings

We just finished celebrating Quilt Week at Porter's. We couldn't let the fabric department have all the fun so we decided to have our own make and take in Scrapbooking. I made this project from a small shadow box frame.


The Graphic 45 papers worked beautifully to create the look of a pieced quilt. And I think the quote about heartstrings finishes it off nicely. I purchased a couple of extra kits since I thought they would make great gifts. So you never know...some lucky family member or friend just might be receiving one someday. :)

Happy Spring

Here is a very busy, but very happy layout based on a sketch from the Feb 2010 Creating Keepsakes magazine. I love the bright colors and although red is not a traditional Easter color, I thought it added a fun surprise.


By cropping some of the photos down, I was able to fit 9 pictures on this layout. I'm always looking for way to incorporate lots of pics, especially for holiday events where I seem to end up with way too many!


In the CK article, Kayla Lamoreaux created a digital layout using clothespins to display her tiny pics. I thought it was so fun for a spring look, that I recreated it with actual clothespins from the craft store.


I seem to be getting away from inking all my edges lately. Because there were so many patterns on this page, I decided to define the edges with a journaling pen. It's kind of a fresh, fun look.


I unearthed this little Pebbles bee die from the forgotten stash at the lss. Isn't he cute? I tried to mimic his flight path with gold wire which I curled and looped. There's also a bee on the 2nd page of the layout. Can you see it?

My Nearly Perfect Life

I had so much fun making this layout for a class! These are my all time favorite colors, and it makes me happy to look at them. :) The idea for the theme evolved a lot as I was designing it. But in the end, I think I achieved what I was after.

Still photos from Flickr.

Sometimes I get very overwhelmed with all the responsibilities that come from being a wife and mother. It seems so hard sometimes to juggle all the day-to-day tasks between a job, housework, and all the activities in between. I look in magazines and see beautiful homes with sparkling kitchens and think, "That's what I want." However, I don't think those things are real. Not in my world anyway. What IS real to me is my family and the peace I feel in my tiny haven I call home.

Hopefully, my layout conveys a little of all this. I wanted clean lines mixed with shabbiness to symbolize the difference between my idea of perfection and reality. It was fun getting a little messy with the Tim Holtz mask and my favorite color of Glimmer Mist...Olive Vine.

Here are some close ups:

The flowers are super simple to make. Just punch a few different sizes of circles from various patterned papers, spray them with a little water, then crumple. You can speed up the drying process with a heat gun. Add a button or other embellishment in the center and sew all the layers together with a little floss tied into a knot. Voila! Wonderfully shabby flowers!

I crumpled the tags too and then sewed them on with my machine.

These Heidi Swapp stamps are some of my favorites. I embossed the title with American Crafts Zing embossing powder.

I printed my journaling onto vellum, then crumpled it all up. Vellum kind of tears when crumpled, but it just added to the shabbiness. I cut my journaling into strips and machine stitched them directly to the background. That eliminates the never-ending problem of how to attach vellum without seeing the adhesive.

Well, that's my version of my nearly perfect life. What's yours?