Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Flip Flop Fun...where's summer gone???

I don't know about you but it feels like summer has simply flown by this year.  I don't know if it's because it's been so stifling hot and we're stuck inside, maybe it's because there's been such little rain and everything feels the same day in and day out or God forbid it's age.... but I just can't believe it's the last day of July already!  It feels like we just had Bob's graduation party a couple weeks ago and it's actually been almost 2 months!  eeek!  Shoot, the Indiana State Fair is starting already (this weekend) a sure sign of fall!!  (we'll be going down next Thursday - can't wait!!)

Well, before it's time to pull out the long pants, sweaters and woollies I wanted to share some fun Flip Flop cards with you all...

Note: All images are by Just For Fun Rubber Stamps.




Now, I think it's time to kick off your heels (tennies or other uncomfortable daily shoe) and pull out your favorite pair of flip flops and relax a bit :)

Hope you've all enjoyed summer so far....


Monday, July 30, 2012

Mom's Steampunk Mini Album

Hi All...

Gosh, feels like forever since my last post on Wednesday.  Life went haywire here and I've been scurring around like crazy.  I feel like I've spun my wheels more than anything but I'm back and ready to share a cool Steampunk album that Mom made for one of her friends who was turning the big 60! I thought it would be fun to share it with you...she's very shy and never would on her own so I just told her she didn't have a choice ;)

Here you go...

Somehow I'm missing a few photos but you'll get the idea....
Mom SP 1 Mom SP 2 Mom SP 3 mom 5 mom 3 mom 2 Mom 1

Fun huh?


Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Canvas Mini Album - Pt II ~ Vintage Beach Album - Enter to Win!!!

Now, on to the canvas album!!

Yesterday if you will recall I was telling you how much I loved canvas albums and how I went about altering them to suit my needs ~ Canvas Mini Album - Pt I.   Well today I wanted to share with you the album I created using this canvas book to show you just how cool they can be!

At the Beach
Vintage Canvas Album


Beach Canvas Album 001


Beach Canvas Album 002

Front Page Fold Out....Pocket has 3 tags for journaling, photos or whatever...

Beach Canvas Album 003

The right page is chipboard ~ I have also included several cool printed tags in the book as well.


Beach Canvas Album 004


back of the first tag....


Beach Canvas Album 005

Beach Canvas Album 007

Beach Canvas Album 008

Beach Canvas Album 009

Beach Canvas Album 010

Beach Canvas Album 011

Beach Canvas Album 012


Beach Canvas Album 013

And there you go!
I told you that canvas albums could be so much more that you previously thought!

I didn't add any "lumpy" embellishments or ribbon on the binding rings....
 I thought I'd leave that for the winner....

YES, I said Winner!!!
Would you like a chance to win this album?

To be entered for a chance to win this album simply post a comment telling me what your favorite part of summer is...be it the beach, the county fair, the heat, etc...

Whatever it is, it will enter you for a chance to win this fun vintage beachy canvas album!

For a second entry to the drawing, post a link to this drawing on your blog or facebook page. (be sure to come back here and post a link to your posting)

If we get over 10 entries I'll give a way a second beachy prize...
one of my "by the sea" altered washer charms and a surprise! 

You will have until 8-7-12 to comment and post links.

Good Luck Everyone
Hope you're all enjoying your summer!!

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Canvas Mini Album - How To Part 1 -

Today I wanted to share a bit about canvas albums (shown below)....


I think these little gems are often overlooked and unused because people just aren't sure how to go about using them.  Well today I want to remedy that!  I personally love canvas anything and these little albums are no exception.

Now these particular albums come with three double folded pages sewn together.  Essentially you have a front, 4 inside pages and the back.   That's fine if you're working with a few pages or you're making a small album to give away.  I know most of us enjoy a few more pages than that so I thought I'd share my solution to this AND how to adhere things to your pages once you've got your canvas book apart!


First, you're going to want to separate your pages... 

I inserted the point of my scissors at the bottom of the "spine" of the album and began cutting the pages apart.  You'll need pretty sharp scissors as you're cutting through 3 layers of canvas but if they are you'll have no problem at all.

Canvas Mini Album 009

Here you will see that all of my pages are now separated but still attached together by the stitched binding.  Don't cut it just yet, we have a few more things to do first.

Canvas Mini Album 010

Even though they are still sewn together I had 3 folded pages.  I took the center set of pages and cut them apart along the page side of the book (opposite of the binding side).  So now I am left with a folded front section, two individual sheets of canvas in the center and a folded back section.  This is exactly what I wanted.  (you'll see why later).  

You could of course cut apart all of the canvas sheets so you are left with 6 individual sheets of canvas.  Totally up to you.

Now determine how and where you want to bind your pages....  You can see here that I've marked out my pages and poked a hole through all of the canvas layers.   I used a paper pick to pierce the canvas then pushed my marker through the holes so it would stain each layer. 


Canvas Mini Album 011

Now, you can remove the thread that is holding all of your pages together. 

As you know, I left my first and last sets of pages together so there is a fold on the page side of my book.  This is because I wanted my first and last pages of my album to have flip out pages! 

I opened up my folded canvas page set, I then cut off the binding from the right side page as you can see from the photo below (approx. 1")  using pinking shears.

Next, I colored the fronts and backs of all of my canvas pages using Glimmer Mist.  You of course can use whatever medium you like....  My colors were meant to be the beach in the a.m. and the back pages were the beach in the p.m.


Canvas Mini Album 001 Canvas Mini Album 002 Canvas Mini Album 003

After the inks have dried you need to add some substance to your pages!  Now, to add a bit of body to my album I tore 2 pieces of a food product box down to size.  They were both inked, stamped and a stitched pocket was added to the front.  These will be adhered to the front and back covers.

To adhere this or any other paper to the canvas pages  I like to use Aleene's Quick Dry Tacky Glue.  It is perfect for this application as it has a super hold, isn't runny and dries very quickly. 

Canvas Mini Album 006



I simply placed my canvas page on a sheet of scrap paper, applied a thick coat of the glue to my cardboard (cardstock or pattern paper) and pressed it onto the canvas page.

Canvas Mini Album 008


After you press the paper onto the canvas page you will need to peel it up from the scrap paper, flip it over and let it dry.  As you can see from this photo some of the white glue bleeds through the canvas, no worries...this glue dries clear and flexible.  You won't even notice it once it has dried!

Canvas Mini Album 007

As I mentioned before you can adhere pretty much any embellishment, cardstock or paper to the canvas using this glue.

Now, I think you'll want to pop back in tomorrow as I'll share my finished book that I created using this canvas album and you might even have a chance to win it for yourself!!!!

Monday, July 23, 2012

By the Sea Altered Washer Charm

A couple people e-mailed asking to see some of my "General" themed charms that I'm making for the swap so I thought I'd share the last charm I'm making for that group. 

By the Sea
Washer Charm

The first thing I did was to glue my washer onto a piece of pattern paper that will eventually be the back of the charm.

By the Sea Charms 001
After that side was dry I trimmed the washer from the paper, sanded all the edges then glued the washers to various images I wanted to show on the fronts of the charms.

By the Sea Charms 002
Once the main image was dry I trimmed, sanded then inked all edges with Sepia Archival Ink ~ front and back.

By the Sea Charms 004

Next I applied a thin layer of Glossy Accents to the back of each washer and let it dry.  I then wrapped a piece of blue wire around the washer and created a loop for hanging.  Finally I applied a nice thick layer of GA to the fronts of each washer and let them dry.

By the Sea Charms 005


I finished off the charms by adding a couple tiny "ocean" charms (shell & seahorse) as well as a reclaimed vintage faux pearl.   And here's what they look like....



By the Sea Charms 006

Close up of one of the washer charms....

By the Sea Charms 008

Easy Peasy...
Just a bit time consuming.


Friday, July 20, 2012

Mini Acrylic Coffin Charm!!!!

I know, another charm but I am really on a charm makin' high so I've just got to share this with you.  I knew several months ago that I wanted to do something really cool for the Halloween charms but I just couldn't find what I wanted.   Well, I could but they were really expensive ~ I saw these charms....

Steampunk Victorian pendant charm pirate pendant Necklace locket  DARK Spirited Locket  COFFIN Necklace

but they are WAY too expensive ~ 10.00 each!

Then I saw these.....

Plastic Skeletons in Coffins charms

A bit tacky looking

I've seen them made out of wood and glass but again, very cost prohibitive.

Things weren't looking good until I had a thought....
I bought a piece of sheet acrylic material,
drew out some designs, 
had my dad cut them out and.....

TA-DA....


Wicked cool acrylic charms in shapes "I" want!!!!
I made two different sizes of coffins and a house charm.
I had left over acrylic so I'm thinkin about trying some little gothic arch charms too!

How freakin cool is that? 

Now, since the charms are hand cut they aren't all exactly the same but I think they are all way cool :)  I have a few of the small ones started for the swap (pictured below).  I need to finish them off but I'm loving how they look so far.

The type of acrylic I bought said it was o.k. for higher temps so i'm going to put it to the test this weekend and try to solder a couple together just to see how things turn out.

Anyway,

again,

if

you're in the charm swap....

be sure

NOT

to

scroll

down

any

further....

Cause

here

is

the

start

of

my

Mini Coffin Charms....


I still need to finish them off but I'm excited how cool they look so far :)
I hope you are too!

Take care and have a super weekend everyone!!!


Thursday, July 19, 2012

Rock Candy Anniversary Card

Today I wanted to share an anniversary card I made using a couple of stamps from the Family Album set by Oxford Impressions.

Anniversary Card - Rock Candy


The main images were stamped using black archival ink then covered with a thick coat of Rock candy.  Once it was dry I picked off some of the RC and then inked with vintage photo distress ink...


Rock Candy Images

Makes for a very fun vintage feel don't you think?

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Ouija Board Charm - Shrink Film Tip for Back of Charm

With the charm swap deadline less than a month away, I am in full charm making mode.  I have been having such fun creating lots of different charms and today I wanted to share a neat tip I came up with today to help make the back side of your charms almost as nice as the front!

Much of the time when you get a charm made from shrink plastic the back side isn't much to look at.  Sometimes you get some clever crafty stamper who stamped both sides of the charm which is totally awesome. BUT when you print an image from your ink jet printer on the shrink plastic the only way the charm is going to dry is to shrink it.  So you don't have the option of flipping the shrink plastic over to stamp on the back without risking damage to the printed image. I ran into that very problem with some charms I made for the Halloween group of the swap.  I had a couple really cool images I wanted to turn into charms BUT no way to really help the back sides....

ouija board charms 003

Ugly huh?  I know...I'm a messy crafter but I can't help it.  As careful as I try to be I usually get something on the back. Well, I've been wracking my brain trying to come up with something to help the back sides of these charms and I finally figured it out....  I love to edge my shrink film charms with one of my Krylon Leafing Pens so I figured I'd give it a try on the back side and here's what I did.....

I knew I wanted something wood grain because the real thing is usually made from wood so I started off by drawing a rough oval or two somewhere on the back of the charm.  I then drew lines from the top to bottom surrounding these ovals until the entire back of the charm had been covered.   Ta Da... instant wood grain!

ouija board charms 004

Wanna see the front of the charm?!?!?

If you're in the Halloween group and want to be surprised, better not scroll down....

cause

here

is

my

shrink

plastic

Halloween

group

charms...

Ouija Boards!!!

ouija board charms 005

Now, you would never catch me "playin" with one of these suckers in real life... I have in the past and let me tell you, they are so not a toy and you just never know who's on the other end.  It's nothing to mess with! But, that being said they are way cool looking and fit the Halloween theme oh so very well!  I'm really tickled with how they turned out and I hope the folks who receive one of these charms will enjoy.

Supplies:
Grafix Shrink Film - White
Computer Generated Image
Jewelry Findings

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Paper Piece Tree Card

Today I wanted to share with you I made recently that had me puzzled at first but then I thought of a fun way to use up some of my scrap paper and fix my problem at the same time.

I needed a pretty large tree for a new stamp from Just For Fun Rubber Stamps.....
Boy Swinging
Well, I knew I didn't have a tree stamp large enough and the only branches I had were either bare branches or pine branches...  Not gonna work for this nice summer time image.

SOOOO, I dug out my 1" circle punch and lots and lots of scrap green colored pattern papers and started punching!  After I had a nice pile I tore a strip of brown cardstock and mounted it on my card panel.  I stamped my boy/swing image along side the brown torn paper.  Then I started layering on the circles!

And here is what I came up with....
JFF Summer 019

Turned out pretty cool if I do say so myself :)
It's a great easy fix when you need a nice summery tree but don't have a stamp that will fit it!

You could actually use your circle punch for all sorts of images...clouds, cherries or grapes, apples, pumpkins, eyeballs (thinking of Halloween), etc.

Have you used your circle punch for something cool?
Please feel free to share...

Monday, July 16, 2012

Shattered Glass Technique II

Last week I shared the basic instructions for the Shattered Glass Technique.
Well today I wanted to share a variation of that technique which is a bit more precise and segmented.

While the basic instructions are the set up instructions are the same...

Tear your choice of tape (masking, tissue or washi tape) into tiny thin strips.  I used tissue tape for the first example because that's what I had handy.  Someone asked about masking or painters tape so I went in search of and found a small left-over roll of our blue painters tape.  

NOTE: If you do use masking or painters tape you'll need to first un stick some of the stickie-ness...I simply stuck the tape to my shorts (cotton/poly knit) and peeled if off 4-5x.  It picked up enough lint to make it just the right tackiness.

Begin to place the strips on your cardstock in whatever patter you desire.

Shattered Glass II 001


Shattered Glass II 002

Next instead of just stamping willie nillie I pulled some scrap paper out, tore it into strips and used it to mask off each section I created with the tape.  I then stamped into each cell with a different image.

Shattered Glass II 003

and here is what it looked like at this point....

Shattered Glass II 004
(All stamps are from StampersBest)

Next I added some ink to the entire piece ~ Graber however decided it was time for him to be the center of my world and jumped up on my lap then the table for a closer look!

Shattered Glass II 006

Here is the card with the ink applied and Graber removed ;)

Shattered Glass II 007

And it's time to carefully remove the tape.  You will notice there is one tiny spot where the tape was still a bit too sticky (by the brown corset dress form) but it doesn't look too bad.

Shattered Glass II 008

And finally ~ my finished card!

Shattered Glass II 011

A closer look at the fashion ticket...

Shattered Glass II 012

So, there you go!
Another fun way to use the same basic technique and achieve an entirely different look.
I hope you decide to give it a try as it really is a fun technique to play around with.