Technique Class #2 - Acetate & Tissue

Here is the second technique of the year with two variations on the card.  It's a fairly messy process but the results are well worth it. After doing just two of these I would recommend the following: 

1.) Cut your acetate or window sheet larger than you think you need it to be.  The reason for doing this is to keep the crystal effects from bleeding over the edge.  You want to keep the stamped side as pristine and glass like as possible.  You can always trim it down.

2.) Less is more.  Use just a few drops of color into a reasonable amount of crystal effects. Remember you're going to lay tissue paper on top and then a piece of card stock so you don't want a goopy mess.  You will need to experiment.

(Instructions below.)

Paper Flowers

I got this idea from Pinterest.  I used eight 1/2"x5" strips of Stampin' Up! Newsprint Designer Series Paper, made them into loops, punched a small hole through the center of each loop and fastened them all together with an antique brad.  I finished it off with a light spritz of green ink.

Bottle Cap Buttons

I recently discovered that the Stampin' Up! Big Designer Buttons (Sweet Stitches) fit perfectly into bottle caps.  You can use them on scrapbook pages, cards or like I've been doing on a magnetic display board.  They are currently on sale.  48 buttons for $3.95. Click here.

Earthy Birthday Card

My friend Raquel (aka Rocky) is celebrating a birthday today.  She's a designer by profession so I hope this meets her standards.  She works for the National Park Service so I was going for an earthy look.  I used scraps from my mini book project, a crumpled piece of vellum and a small square of sticky-back canvas.

Tim Holtz - 2nd Tag of 2012

For those of you familiar with Tim Holtz's 12 Tags of Christmas you'll be glad to hear that he's now doing the "12 Tags of 2012".  So at the beginning of each month he will post a  tag tutorial (with step by step photos, video, etc).  His tag will be themed to that month's holiday season if applicable, or just a new idea to share.  He will have the inlinkz live to allow you the entire month to upload your creation inspired by that month's tag.  At the end of that month, he will select winners at random from those who have uploaded a project, and post them on the blog with some great prizes. Here is my February tag using all Stampin' Up! products.

PlayDate Mini Books - Brilliant & Strong

I recently purchased some carry-on luggage that came with bound 4x5 instruction/warranty booklets.  My immediate thought was to repurpose these into mini books using Stampin' Up's Play Date Designer Series Paper (DSP) for the exterior and Notebook DSP for the interior. The text on each cover was a Silhouette download from Kristina Werner's site. 

Flower Frogs

I've been seeing these on various blogs and finally decided to buy some after attending a webinar featuring Nichol Magourik and how to take better blog photos of cards and scrapbook pages.  I purchased these off of Etsy from a shop called "simplychi".  Look for them in future blog posts along with the keys that I hope to use as props.

Technique Album Cover Page

A few weeks ago I presented the first of twelve techniques that will be introduced over the course of the year and the idea of the 6x6 technique album.  Below is the cover page to my technique album.  I downloaded the Rehotalko font from the web and used my Silhouette to weld the individual letters together.  As you can see further below I experimented with several font  types.

St. Patrick's Day - 3D Stamping Swap

Butterfly Tag

Technique Class #1 - 3D Stamping

This year I'm participating in a monthly technique class hosted by my friend Jen.  Each month we make two cards, one to display in our 6x6 technique album and one to give away.  Included in the class is a 6x6 instruction sheet which will sit opposite from each card in the album.

I'm also trying out a new photo technique using props (buttons) and a background.  The inspiration came from a webinar given by Nichol Magouirk and Lain Ehmann on how to take better project photos.

Dog Get Well Card

Valentine's Day Card Swap

Fabric Knotted Necklace in Green

Here's another knotted necklace in green tones. 

Fabric Knotted Necklace in Red

This necklace was custom made by Takako Hill in Southwest Virginia.  There are two separate strands that make up each necklace and each strand has a lobster claw clasp.  The necklaces come in a variety of lengths and patterns.

420 Chocolate Chip Cookies

21 cups of sugar, 14 eggs, 4 2/3 cups of brown sugar, 4 2/3 cups of granulated sugar, 7 teaspoons of baking soda, 7 teaspoons of salt, 7 teaspoons of vanilla, 7 cups of butter, 7 bags of chocolate chips....and 4 hours of labor.