Pinwheel Fun in My Scrapbook Layout

We recently went to my works Summer picnic. I did the decorations for the picnic and created some pinwheels for the candy bar. I also included one in my scrapbook layout to remember the awesome clown that did the kids face painting!  Nothing says fun summer to me than a pinwheel.  I started by cutting a square (any size will do--it just needs to be equal on all 4 sides) For the sign I did 4X4in and for my layout I did 1X1in. Then I cut along each corner going towards the middle halfway or 3/4 of the way to the middle. Using a hole punch I punched a hole into every other corner. I brought each corner into the middle one at a time (lining up the holes in the center) and secured it with a brad. Here is the template for the pinwheel in case you need a visual like I do...

I've also made them to go on notebooks, paper pads and for party center pieces. They are really fun when you have double sided paper..happy creating,

melissa 

Scrapbook Journaling Cards

 I'm working on my next swap due on my list! It's a journaling spot. I love journaling on my scrapbook pages! That's pretty much the reason why I scrapbook..to tell my version of what happened in the photo I'm scrappin or to tell a story about something. I love the project life cards that have journaling prompts and then have space for writing something..I used that for my inspiration. First, I practiced writing words a whole lot on regular white paper. I originally wanted to do thicker words, but it was really hard for me to write the words and have them be continuous with the boarder  lines. I switched to a thinner pen and it seemed smoother (and easier!). I wrote the words at the top of the card, then continued the line around the card to make the boarder. It took me a few tries to get a smooth continuous line all around the card. I thought about putting lines on the card. But decided against it, thinking it would  limit the journaler to how many words they could write. This way they can squeeze as much (or as little) as they want. I matted each card with black cardstock then I stapled paper butterflies I had in my stash to one side of the card. They were tan, so I sprayed them (with black Maya Road Mist) the color I wanted. I wish I would have gotten a ton more when I bought them years ago..they are so versatile.. they soak up whatever color you stamp/spray them! I then put washi tape on the opposite side, snipping the ends (I LOVE making the ends like that..I don' know what it's called though-LOL!?) Here's the link to my Google drive with all my blog PDF files,

 newest one being the journaling cards.

 https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5EHbpKDNr1mX0J5bFV2LUtJNmc/edit?usp=sharing

Happy Creating!

Grad Party Centerpieces & Candy Banner

I was really excited when my sister asked me to make my niece Jennifers graduation party centerpieces using inspiration she found on Pinterest. I got to use my Silhouette and even learned how to layer plain numbers. I am SO happy every time I learn how to use my machine better! I did notice that it really matters how thick (good quality) your card stock is when cutting. Some card stock cuts smooth and wonderful, other stuff not so much. I cut the hat, ribbon and diploma seal using cut files on my Silhouette. I then painted kabob skewers white and washi taped them to the back of each item. I made the grad hat tassel by cutting cross stitch thread and taping the top with washi tape. I hot glued each tassel to a grad hat. That worked out so much better than waiting for glue to dry.

 I also made a banner for their candy bar. I had to cut the colored banner pieces by hand because the paper was so thin it ripped when I cut it on the Silhouette. But the background and letters were easily cut.

Altered Tickets

This is my first time altering tickets. I have to say it was really fun! Such a small space but I had two ideas that have been brewing for a while that I finally tried on the tickets. I did a vintage theme ticket strip and a bird "winged things" ticket strip. I haven't made several of something in a assembly line way in quite awhile. I first made one ticket strip completely, then I made each part 4 times and laid it all out. After all the pieces were made it was a quick process to assemble. I did the pointing hand on my Silhouette as a print and cut. I cut banners out of manila cards and stamped "Live your life" and "Inspire" on them. I cut circles out of sheet music and stamped "dream". I had the film strips in my stash from (goodness knows when!)

For the vintage one I first started out by embossing the ticket strip with a Sizzix Tim Holtz (TH) embossing folder. I used a rolling pin instead of dragging out my big shot..

After I embossed the strip I then used my TH blending tool to ink it. 

I really like how it all came together..and vintage is my most favorite style! 

The second one was a little harder for me to embellish. I knew I wanted to use my new brayer and do some pinkish colors. I started out by using my brayer to paint each ticket. It was a lot of fun!! I found 5 brayers for $1.00 at a rummage sale and I've been waiting to use them ever since! I just painted (with acrylic paints) the colors onto the brayer and then rolled right over the ticket. 

I stamped "soard" onto grey cardstock and then banner cut each word. I sprayed little white flowers with grey mist. I punched flowers out of sheet music and inked them. I had little mini white tags I inked grey  and wrote "free" thinking that the saying would kind of read Soar free...ah-it was hard for me to embellish these ones! Lastly I used Prima brads. 

I'm so glad I got these done..and now for summer break from Swaps :] 

Happy Creating,

Melissa 

Handmade Flowers

I've always loved flowers...especially since they are so versatile. I needed to make a few different kinds for my swap at 2Peas in a Bucket. I signed up for 4 groups. White textile, black textile, white paper and neutral paper. I made the black textile flower out of felt. I picked up thin sheets of felt at the dollar store. I first cut circles out and then cut each circle in a spiral.

I rolled each spiral starting at the open end, rolling in towards the middle. I don't roll mine super tight as I want some of the layers to be loose to show more petal. 

I made the next flower out of some embroidered trim that I had in my stash. I first began by weaving my threaded needle through the straight edge of the trim. 

Then I pulled the thread tight leaving enough thread at both ends to tie the two together in the middle of the gathered trim. That make the flower. I sewed a button in the middle to complete a flower. I'm really happy with how they turned out. Now on to my paper ones! :] 

Scrappin Tricks to Use My Stash

I don't buy glittery "gold" items often (really ever) so when I wanted to do a page with gold embellishments I didn't have any to choose from. Especially letters. To make my own letters I chose yellow ones and put stickles on each letter. To dry I lightly stuck them to my stamping block. They dried pretty quickly (by the time I was ready to use them!). You just need to be careful not to bend them too much. My yellow alpha stickers had a very smooth and slightly glossy surface, so when I bent the stickers to put on my layout the stickles flaked off one letter. I reapplied the stickles when I was finished with the layout. I also covered the butterfly at the top with stickles.

For the background I didn't have exactly the right color to mists my white paper with. So, I mixed 3 colors (Tattered Angels Spicy Mustard, Mister Hueys Custard and Artso Gold) into one of Rangers mini misters. Yesss...I got the color I wanted-not too brown-not too orange!

Most of the time my paper gets bubbled or wrinkled from the alcohol inks or mists I spray on it with. To help reduce this I use washi tape and tape it very tightly to a piece of chip board. You can use any flexible surface that's small enough for you to hold. I then bend it, spray it and lastly blow dry it (with my hair dryer). Depending how much you saturate it, it shouldn't bubble too much.

I used strips of scraps from my stash and some AC Glitter Strips. I turned my photos black and white and made them smaller in Monkey Pic (awesome free photo editing site). Hope this inspires you to use your stash in a different way too!

Happy Creating,

Melissa 

Alcohol Spray Inks

SO excited to share this idea I got from a FB group I am in called "A Documented Life". II started off with a trip to the Dollar Store to purchase:

When I got home with my goodies I covered my area with my homemade "Messy Mat".

I used needle nosed pliers to remove the end of the marker and take out the ink tube.

Then I wanted to remove the plastic tube around the ink tube . I didn't put on gloves for the first one and ink was all over my fingers after I was done! I did use a baby wipe to hold the ink tube but the ink still got on my fingers/hands. I highly recommend using plastic gloves.

To cut the plastic I used plain old kid scissors and cut right up the middle from bottom to top.  

After I separated the plastic from the fiber I slid the whole thing in the spray bottle.

I filled up the bottle with rubbing alcohol and waited about 20 minutes before I started to use the sprays. It was really fun using them, because they dried so quickly! First I sprayed glossy photo paper, let it dry and then stamped on it. I used another piece of photo paper to "mop up" the leftover ink on my mat.  I think of all the papers I used,  I liked the photo paper the best. When I stamped on it, the image was really clear and crisp. The bad thing is that the stamp stuck to the paper. I used a less stickier stamp for the butterfly and I was able to peel it right off.

I sprayed Heidi Swapp butterfly resist paper and swirled a baby wipe on it.

I took a Tim Holtz blending tool with a felt pad on it and sprayed several colors on it. I put the nozzle of the spray bottle right up on the felt pad.

I love the water color look without the dry time! On the stamping paper I did two circles, dabbing and straight lines  The velum looks like a stained glass (hard to tell in the photo!).

I also sprayed some sticker sheets as well for the Hi, today and airplane. The colors didn't show as bright as the photo paper, but it was still pretty. I used some stamps to stamp words/images then drew circles around today and the plane (then cut it out with a circle punch). I can't wait to incorporate some paint and other colors!

 

It was SO fun to make the sprays and play with them! I have a few more papers I'd like to try out and see how it works out. Maybe even some glass and metal.

Happy Creating,

Melissa