Happy National Scrapbook Day

Happy National Scrapbook Day everyone!

How are you going to celebrate the day?

I am heading to Lehi, Utah to spend the afternoon with Lisa Bearnson and Team Lisa.  I will post photos later.

April Pocket Letter

This has been a fun one.  Under the Pokemon cards and stickers I have a Pokemon design that says Happy Easter cut up to fit the pockets.  When my grandson removes all of the fun stuff he will still have a picture to see.





I have to go get this off in the mail so it will arrive on time.

He loved his March Pocket Letters - looking forward to creating many more.

Pocket Letters for Grandkids

My grandchildren live across the country from me and my oldest has just turned 5.  It was a thrill to hear how stoked he was with the homemade Lego card and Toys R Us gift card.  I started thinking about sending him something to open in the mail every month.  A couple of weeks ago a friend told me about a new thing that she has become addicted to called Pocket Letters.  This is the perfect thing to send to my grandson.

March 2015 Pocket Letter

Since then I have been on the hunt for relatively flat things that will fit into the pockets of baseball trading card pages.   I have set up a binder with several pocket pages and have started to collect things with monthly themes to go in each pocket.   So far I have partial pages to take me up to next February.  The challenge will be to find things very flat that can easily be mailed in a No. 10 envelope.

March

Pokemon cards
Stride lime gum
Star Wars stickers
Lego Mini Figure
1" flair buttons
MineCraft stickers

Shabby Mini Album

I have been thinking about different acrylic stands available at Michaels for a long time.  Originally I wanted to make a mini recipe book with the 4 x 6" stands but feared that the sturdiness of them wouldn't be able to handle the weight of the paper and binder rings - I kept picturing them toppling over.






















Several months ago when I was standing in front of the Acrylic Basics section in Michaels Framing departments it hit.  Flip the frame down and use Tim Holtz Idea-ology Ring Binders.




I drilled holes in the centre of the acrylic to line up with the Binder Rings.  I placed a block of wood behind the acrylic to stabilize it and keep it from cracking.  The binders stay in place with brads that come with them.  Before pushing the brads through, I inserted a polkadot piece of recollections paper.  Once the brads were in place I had a cute little mini album that won't topple over.

I cut several tabbed and pocket pages to create my Shabby Mini Album.  I added some small watercolours and Project Life cards.

I used:

8 x 10 Acrylic Basics from Michaels 

Tim Holtz Ring Binder   (2 per pkg)

American Crafts Crate Paper Stack

Recollections polkadot paper

Heidi Swapp Project Life cards - Foil Kit

Drill & a block of wood.

Valentine Gift 2015

Every Valentine's Day  I try to find something special for my husband.  He was in the music industry when he was young and I found this red 45 adapter in his things.  Normally these adapters were yellow plastic.  I thought this would be something that would be fun to frame.

I used silicone sealant to mount the adapter onto a linen canvas art board and opted for no glass for my float mount.

Valentines in Project Life Pages

As Valentines Day approaches, don't throw away your Valentines, they can be fun to look after the years pass.  A fun place to save some of your or your children's Valentines is to put them in Project Life pocket pages.  I have opted for Design F for my vintage Valentines.

If some are too large, you can split them up into two pockets (depending on which page design you choose.)  You can also scan them and shrink them to size.

I think kids Valentines from this year will be full of Frozen cards. 

January 2015 - Happy New Year

I can't believe that January has rolled around so quickly, it seems as thought I just got use to writing 2014.

Last year I listed a few of my fave things that have helped save me time and space with my organizing.  Since then I have added a few new things to my ever growing supply of crafting stuff, while trying to make it fit into a very small space.

1.  ScrapRack - This cool gadget has totally changed my organizational habits for my scrapping materials.

2.  Project Life - I have been working on weekly pages, which may have been a bit ambitious.  I often forget to take photos so I fill my pages with fun things like what we binge watched and snapshots of gas prices.  It has been a crazy year for petroleum pricing.

Wow this stuff can take up a lot of space.  Eight core kits and several mini and theme kits later, I was left wondering how on earth to keep it organized and also be at my fingertips.  My Project Life Card Storage

3.  Raskog Cart from Ikea.  I will write a blog later about what I have put in my cart.

• Top shelf - Tool caddy
• Middle shelf - Copic Markers
• Bottom shelf - Sizzix, original red

4. Button Maker - I use a lot of buttons and this has helped me immensely over the past year.  It has added joy to my life to be able to put my design knowledge to good use.

5.  Silicon mat from Heidi Swapp

6.  Washi Tape Organization - My washi collection grew from a small basket of a few assorted colours to a medium sized colander full.  Originally when the collection was smaller, I had it organized by colour (my OCD side made me do it), since it has grown, it is now just tossed into my colander and I just dig through it.  Eventually, when I have enough room, I would like a Harbor Freight 4 bin revolving tray for Washi, sprays, diminutional paint and glitter glue.

7.  Rubber Stamp Catalogue

I will report back in another year with a new list of my fave things.  Hope you all have a very productive and creative New Year.

Copic Markers ~ Sketch vs. Ciao

I see a lot of people wondering which type of Copic Markers they should invest in and what the difference is between the styles of markers.

These are NOT your Crayola Markers.   Copic Markers are professional markers that are created for creative people.  They can run anywhere from 5.50 - 9.00   depending on where you shop.  Many people ask me if they are worth the price.  ... the answer is YES!  They are refillable and designed for a lifetime of use.  Copic Markers do not dry out when in  use and come with a 3 year shelf-life guarantee.

This is everything you need to know about Copic Markers. 

Copic is a brand of alcohol markers that has been developed by the .Too Corporation in Japan.  The popular markers are used by fashion designers, architects, illustrators, animators, cartoonists, hobbyists and crafters.  They have been in business for over 25 years and the colours they originally produced still have the exact same formula today.

The Copic Colour System is exclusively designed by Copic and includes 358 colours.

Super Brush Nib  - unique flexible brush nib that allows for smooth blending.  No other brush marker on the market has this type of feel and quality.

Copic Original

• Available in 214 colours
• Fine and chisel nibs
• Can fit into the airbrush saddle

Copic Sketch

• Available in 358 colours
• Super brush and chisel nibs
• Barrel is oval
• Colour codes are embossed on the coloured cap ends
• Can fit into the airbrush saddle

Copic Caio 

• Available in 144 colours
• Super brush and chisel nibs
• Barrel is round
• Coloured caps 
• Numbers are on the side of the markers
• Cannot fit into the airbrush saddle

Copic Wide

• The Copic Wide is exactly what it promises - wide
• Available in 36 colours
• Different nibs are available 

Sketch vs. Ciao

These are the differences that I have observed between Sketch and Ciao markers.

Ciao

• Ciao were designed for youth to have smaller and less expensive markers.  
• Because I have both osteoarthritis and psoriatic arthritis I have a harder time opening the lids. 
• They are round and have a tendency to roll off the table. 
• Since the caps are just coloured you have to pull them out to see the colour number on the side of the marker.
• I find that when they open they can leave little droplets of ink on my art project so open them away from your project.  
• Hold less ink than the Sketch.
• The inner cap plastic seems to catch on the chisel nibs and chews them up - I have to replace the chisel nibs on my Ciaos and have never replaced them on my other makers. 

Sketch

• Oval design make the caps easy to twist off.
• You can easily see the colour number on the cap.
• The Sketch markers do not roll off the table.
• Hold more ink.
• Fit into the airbrush saddle.

Since they are the same nibs the difference that I find most noticeable is ease of use.  I definitely prefer working with the Sketch over the Ciao and feel that they are well worth the small difference in price.  I am slowly replacing my Ciao markers with Sketch.

Baby Layout

I created this scrapbook layout a couple of days ago and had to share.

I love the Silhouette Studio software and how it has helped me visualize my layouts and gives me cutting files at the same time.

I am able to fill each shape with a colour or a pattern to bring my layout to life.  If I am ambitious, I can also import my photos to see how it will look.  After I have chosen all of my papers and embellishments, I begin to cut my shapes and letters.

I used a photo of my daughter Julie when she was 6 months old.  She sat up for the very first time for the photographer so we have it all captured on film.

Metallic RGB Colours

Print and Cut is my favourite feature on my Cameo.  It can be a little bit frustrating trying to find the right colours, as the colour chart in the Studio software is a bit limiting.  With Christmas coming up I am always wishing that I could print with foil but unfortunately my printer doesn't have that capability.  Here are some RGB codes that will help you get close to having a metallic look.