ScrapbookPal.com Blog Hop

Are you ready for Spring??  I know I am although we've had a very mild winter here in Colorado.  The tulips and daffodils are just starting to come and the grass is getting green so it is the perfect time for the ScrapbookPal Flower Power Blog Hop!!


For your chance to win a free Cricut Cartridge from ScrapbookPal.com, you will need to hop along to each blog and leave comments along the way and then return to the ScrapbookPal blog to become a follower and leave a final comment for a chance to win a Cartridge of their choice.  You also get a 2nd entry by "liking" ScrapbookPal's facebook page and leaving a comment there.  See the ScrapbookPal blog (first and last links below) for more details.

For the blog hop, I made this magnetic bulletin board.   More photos and instructions for my bulletin board project appears below the blog hop links.

Blog Hop Links - Be sure to visit each blog and leave a comment at each.  Then stop back by the ScrapbookPal blog and leave a comment when you finish.  Those who visit all of the designers blogs will be entered into a drawing for a free cartridge!

ScrapbookPal Blog (http://scrapbookpal.blogspot.com/)
Amy Crockett (http://www.scrappingmommy.com/)
Tomi Ann Hill (http://tomiannie.blogspot.com/)
Cheryl Walker (http://sweeetdesignsbycheryl.blogspot.com/)
Leah Cornelius(http://paperblossoms.blogspot.com/)
Jamie Cripps (http://jamielanedesigns.blogspot.com/)
Crystal Butler (http://crystalscraftycreations.blogspot.com/)
Tammy White   YOU ARE HERE!
ScrapbookPal Blog (http://www.scrapbookpal.blogspot.com/)

I made a magnetic bulletin board using a 12 x 16 blank painter's canvas, metal roof flashing, a cork sheet and inexpensive magnets from Michael's.  You would never know it from looking that it is magnetic would you??

I took some left over roof flashing (you can buy small rolls at your local hardware store) and cut it to fit the left side (approx 12" tall by 10" wide) of my bulletin board using tin snips.  Be careful because the cut edges are sharp.  I adhered the flashing to the front of a 12 x 16 painter's canvas.  I used E6000 adhesive and some clamps until the adhesive was dry.  Then I took a 12 x 12 piece of designer paper and wrapped it around the back of the canvas.   I used 1/4" Scor-Tape along the edges of the flashing to hold the paper down on the front side.  This is one of my favorite tape adhesives!  If you have not tried it, I highly suggest your order a roll or two or three from ScrapbookPal and try it.  I adhered the paper on the back of the canvas with Tombow Mono Aqua glue.  Because the 12 x 12 paper won't cover the whole canvas and have room to wrap around, I wrapped it around the left and bottom edges only.  I trimmed the corners so I had a nice looking edge.   I used black satin ribbon to create the diamond shapes on the right side using the Tombow adhesive to adhere them.   My ribbon sections are about 2.5" apart.  I used Craft Glue Dots under each intersection/cross point of the ribbon to hold it in place.  I then added a rhinestone at each intersection for some bling. On the left side, I cut another piece of coordinating designer paper to about 7.5" wide by 12" tall.  I again used the Scor-Tape to hold the paper in place and wrapped the edges around the right and bottom sides.  Again adhering the back with Tombow Mono Aqua Adhesive.  I tried to keep these edges nice and even so the back would look almost as nice as the front.  I cut a piece of cork I purchased on a roll approximately 5" wide by 10" tall.  I adhered this with the E6000 adhesive and used small clamps on the edge to hold it down until dried.

Because the bulletin board is longer than my 12x12 paper, for the top I used a striped paper to help cover the seam which I then cover with a ribbon anyway.  I cut 2 pieces at approximately 3.5" wide.  I wrapped them over the top and around the edges and then trimmed away the excess paper.  Before attaching the top paper to the canvas I cut some circles on my Cricut and then ran them through my Cuttlebug with the the Swiss Dots Embossing Folder.  I lined these up and then adhered them to the back side of the paper.  I then adhered the paper to the canvas.  To cover us the seams I used a ribbon.  I made 3 small flowers using the Paisley cartridge on my Cricut.  I cut 3 scalloped circles at 1.5" (Doll1 Button Icon, p. 66) using Real Dial Size on white cardstock and then 3 scalloped circles at 1" (same button) on pink.  I spritzed the cuts with water and crumpled them up.  I unfolded them and then began to shape the flowers.  I used my emobssing heat gun and dried the flowers shaping as I went.  Using chalk (or a blender pen and ink pad work great too), I colored the edges of the white cardstock.  I then layered the flowers and used the Tombo Adhesive to hold them together.  I then spritzed the flowers with Dazzling Diamond Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist.  I adhered them to the ribbon using the Tombow Adhesive but glue dots or hot glue work great too.

For the magnets, I purchased the $1 packages of glass magnets at Michaels.  Using an exacto knife to loosen the glue, I peeled off the magnet and removed the paper (very easy to do).  I cut small circles out of my matching designer paper to fit under the glass piece of the magnet.  Using Matte or Glossy Accents, I lightly smeared some on the back of the glass piece and then placed the paper under the glass.  Once dried I used more of the Matte or Glossy Accents to attach the magnet onto the back of the glass again sandwiching the designer paper in between. 

I hope you enjoyed this project and try it for yourself.  Thank you for joining us for the ScrapbookPal Flower Power Blog Hop.

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun - ScrapbookPal Design Team

This month I received 2 of the Pink by Design stamp sets from the wonderful people at ScrapbookPal.com.  These 2 particular stamp sets (Girls Just Wanna Have Fun and Shopaholic) had to be made with me in mind!!  The sayings are perfect for so many cards but this time I wanted to do a layout and again PERFECT!!

My best friend, another friend, my daughter and I went to the Mayan Riviera in Mexico last Spring Break.  The trip happened to fall over St. Patrick's Day so we all had to have green drinks, in the case of the pictures below, it was the Grasshopper.  I thought about journaling on this page (something I rarely do) but you know the saying...What happens in Mexico, stays in Mexico!!

Layout by Tammy

This layout took a lot more time in planning and thinking than it did in actual work.  Isn't that the truth for most layouts??!!

Using my Spellbinder Classic Scalloped Circles Large Nestabilities (on sale now at ScrapbookPal.com for only $19.99), I cut out out the pictures using the 3rd largest circle in my Cuttlebug.  I then cut the frames with the 2nd largest circle.  I inked the edges of the frames using a ColorBox Fluid Chalk Cat's Eye in Sour Apple inkpad.  I adhered my pictures to the frames using my GlueGlider Pro (one of my all-time favorite adhesives).  I used Pop Up Glue Dots behind the picture frames to make them stand off the page.


I cut "Mexico 2010" on a dark green cardstock at 1.5" using the Don Juan Cricut Cartridge.  Then using my Signo Uni-ball White Gel Impact Pen, I added some doodle dots to the letters and numbers.  I used Tombow Mono Aqua Adhesive to adhere the letters.


I selected several of the phrases from both the Girls Just Wanna Have Fun and Shopaholic Stamp Sets by Pink by Design and stamped them on white cardstock using the ColorBox Fluid Chalk Cat's Eye in Sour Apple.  I cut the sayings out by hand and adhered to the page using my GlueGlider Pro.  I stamped the "Well behaved women" saying on white cardstock and cut it out using my Stampin' UP punch.  I inked the edges with the Sour Applie Cat's Eye.  I also punched out a couple a frames in dark green cardstock and cut the frames in half and used pop up glue dots between the layers for dimension.


For the lace on the left side, I took a length of lace from my stash and using a needle and thread I gathered the lace.  I used Craft Glue Dots to hold the lace in place.  I added some roses from my stash on top of the lace also using the glue dots.

I added some rhinestone stickers and gems to the page for the finishing touch.

A New Technique I Came Up With - Grungeboard and UTEE

Here is a technique I came up with last night.  I won't say that I am the first person to ever do this, but I have not seen videos or tutorials specifically for it so I did come up with it myself.  This is a technique that is a combination of other techniques I have seen on youtube videos and blogs, I just combined them into a new technique.  I have taken some photos of the steps I did along the way and hope these are helpful.

Here are the supplies I used:
Grungeboard or chipboard shapes
Versamark Ink Pad
Pearl Ex or Perfect Pearls Powder
UTEE Clear Embossing Enamel
Coffee Filter
Non-stick Craft Mat
Paint Brush (soft bristles)
Tweezers
Embossing Heat Gun

The first part of this technique was inspired by a tutorial at SwirlyDoos.

Make sure you are using your non-stick craft mat for this project.  Not only will you be able to easily remove the powder residue and the UTEE, but it is also heat resistant.  To clean the powder and UTEE of my mat, first I used some water which took some of it off, then 409 which took a little more.  The think that worked best was to make sure the UTEE was totally cooled off and then spray the mat with Stampin' Up Stampin' Mist Stamp Cleaner and a paper towel.  With minimal elbow grease it came right off.

Step 1: I covered the front of the grungeboard or chipboard shapes very well in Versamark ink.

Step 2: Using a paintbrush I applied Pearl Ex powder to the front of the shape.  For this project I used "Super Bronze" color.  You can also use multiple colors as you will see in some pictures below.  The Pearl Ex goes a long way so just dip the edge of your brush in the pot and spread it on the shape.  Once covered, I used the paintbrush to remove any extra powder.

Step 3: Once covered, stamp the Versamark ink over the front of the shape again.  Some powder will likely come off onto your ink pad so I use one of my older ink pads for this portion of the project.

Step 4: Place the object in the coffee filter and cover with UTEE. 

Step 5: Shake off the extra UTEE and use an Embossing Heat Gun to heat the UTEE until it fully melts.  Use your tweezers to hold the shape in place so it does not move around.  I find that if I turn on my heat gun and let it heat up for 20-30 seconds before using it on my project I get much better results. 

Repeat Steps 3-5 at least twice more until you have a nice smooth finish on your shape.  I found that if I was not heating the UTEE enough and was having trouble getting the smooth finish, that I could use the heat gun to heat the UTEE more and then it would even out.

Optional Step 6:  For a few of my pieces, I wanted a antiqued or distress look to the shape, so once the UTEE was smooth and while still fairly warm, I put the shape in my freezer for about 20 minutes or so.  Once cold, I removed the shape and then bent the shape (this works best on grungeboard), until the UTEE cracked (do this many times).  Then I used a ColorBox Fluid Chalk Cat's Eye Inkpad - Blackberry on the edges of the shape and rubbed it over the top to fill in some of the cracks.  I hope you can see the cracks in the picture below.  I got the idea for the "Cracked Glass" technique from InkStains blog.

Here are the results of this technique.  I found that Perfect Pearls works just as well for this technique.  You can see one a few of the flower and large scroll where I used multiple colors of Pearl Ex and Perfect Pearls.

Make Margaritas - Scrapbookpal.com Design Team Post

This month I received 2 sets of Pink By Design Stamp sets from ScrapbookPal.com.  These stamps have the cutest sayings!!  I am definitely going to be ordering more of these sets which are a steal at $14.99 plus free shipping with a $25 order!!  The set I used for the card below is "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" and the Life's A Beach Cricut Cartridge.  

Project by Tammy White

Using the Life Is A Beach Cricut Cartridge, I cut the Palm Tree (p. 40) and the fronds layer at 4.5".   I adhered the fronds to the base and then I cut the fronds again and used Pop-up Glue Dots between to give some dimension.  I then covered the frond on the left with Peeled Paint Distress Stickles and the right frond with Shabby Shutters Distress Stickles.  I used Antique Bronze Distress Stickles on the tree base. 

I cut the chair (p. 81) at 2" once on a dark gray for shadow and then again on white.  I used a Tombow Dual Brush Pen - Sand 992 to highlight the slats and edges of the chair on the white layer.  I used Pop-up Glue Dots between the gray and white layer for dimension.

I cut the Sun at 2" and then trimmed it to fit in the corner of the card and covered it with Yellow Stickles. 

Adhere blue card stock cut at 6.5" x 5" to the front of your card base.  I used some old wall paper samples for the sand layer which I hand cut and adhered to the bottom of the card.  Adhere the palm tree, chair and sun to the front of the card.  I stamped the sentiment  with a Colorbox Fluid Chalk Cat's Eye Inkpad in Blackbird.

Faux Glassine Flowers

I was blog surfing one night and found a blog where someone had made her own version of what I thought she called Glassine flowers.  I have been unable to find the blog since but if you know who it is, please let me know so that I can give her proper credit for this idea.  I know that Tim Holtz has come out with glassine paper.  I have not seen it yet and don't think this is exactly the same idea.  I could not find the blog to make sure I followed the steps exactly but it is pretty close if not.
 

I used the plastic packaging that my cricut carts come in and the Tim Holtz Tattered Florals Sizzix Die to cut out the flowers. I  did the same on double-sided designer paper.  I found that sometimes it was hard to distinguish the layers so for the purple ones, I cut the flowers again on a cream paper and used Tim Holtz Dusty Concord Distress Ink Pad on the edges and center.  For the blue flowers, I used Vintage Photo Distress Ink Pad on a couple of the layers.  I also used my Cricut to cut out some leaves on a green cardstock.

Then I applied glossy accents with my finger (don't want it too thick) to the back of the plastic packaging and then put it on top of the same cut on the designer paper or the green cardstock for the flowers and lined it up.  Once it dried for a few minutes, I used my embossing heat gun to heat up the plastic until it began to adhere to the cardstock.  I then used my fingers and my paper piercer to round the petals and form the shape of the flower.  I shaped the individual flowers and then applied glossy accents between the flower layers to make them stick together.  Then I used the heat gun again to make the flowers and leaves shape around each other a little better.  Then I added a little more glossy accents to the very center flower and added a bead or pearl for the center.

Don't Eat the Grass - Scrapbookpal Design Team Post

I have another new FAVORITE Cricut Cartridge!  This time it is Nate's ABCs.  I am just loving all the new carts that Cricut is coming out with.  If you want great deals on carts (and free shipping on orders of only $25) be sure to check out ScrapbookPal's store!!!

When I saw this cute Don't Eat the Grass cut on the cartridge, I knew exactly the photos I wanted to use from our camping trip in the Big Horn Mountains of Wyoming in the Summer of 2009. 

Project by Tammy White

Using Nate's ABCs Cricut Cartridge, I cut the goat and layers (p. 63) at 5.5" tall and assembled and adhered all of the pieces together using Tombow Mono Aqua glue.  I did the same for the smaller goat cut at 3.5" tall using the Font 2 button.  Once assembled, I used my Signo Uni-Ball White Impact Gel Pen to doodle some dots randomly on the goats.  If you have not used the Signo Uni-Ball White Gel Pen, buy it now!  I have tried many white pens and this one is the BEST!

Next I trimmed my photos and matted them on a dark brown cardstock allowing 1/4" of brown showing on each side.  Then again I used my Signo Uni-Ball White Gel Pen to add dots to each corner of the photo mat.

I had a sheet of paper with a photo of grass that I used as my background.  I adhered this to a sheet of green cardstock to make it more sturdy.  I applied Tombow Mono Adhesive tape to the back of the 2 photos mats in the corner and placed them.  Then I applied Pop Up Glue Dots to the back of the goats and the center photo mat.  Once I placed the center photo mat, I added the goats.

This was a quick and simple layout but with the cuts from the Nate's ABCs cartridge it turned out really cute.

I'm Pulling For You - ScrapbookPal.com Design Team Post

I just love this new Nate's ABCs Cricut Cartridge!!  It is soooo cute!  My first idea was to do a layout of my boys and our dog but then a friend gave me the idea for what I actually created.  I hope you enjoy it!!

 

Project by Tammy White

I cut the shadow of Nate (Shift Phrase Button - p. 52) at 8" tall on a medium weight chipboard so that he could stand up.  Then I cut the main image on brown cardstock, trimmed off the grass and wagon and adhered it to the chipboard.  I cut the remaining layers on pattern paper and adhered them to the brown cardstock.

I cut the sides of the wagon (Layer 2) twice using Real Dial Size at 6" on red cardstock.  I trimmed off the handle.  I ran those through my Cuttlebug using the Swiss Dots embossing folder.  Then I made a box measuring 5.75" x 2.5" wide x 2" tall from red cardstock and adhered the wagon sides to it with foam pop dots.

To make the wheels I cut 4 circles at 1.5" on medium weight chipboard and again on black cardstock.  I cut 4 circles at .75" on silver and adhered the layers together.  You need the chipboard or the wheels will collapse when you add the candy.  You could also use large buttons for the wheels.

I used my Crop-A-Dile II Big Bite and punched a hole (1/8") on the front center of the wagon.  I used a small piece of ribbon and looped it around his hand and then used a brad to attach the ribbon to the wagon so it appears that Nate is pulling it.

I hand cut the grassy area so that I would have something in which to make Nate stand up.  I took a piece of the leftover chipboard and formed a right triangle and glued it to the back of his leg and to the grass.  I used a brad through the grass to ensure it stayed in place.  I applied some bling to the dog's collar and a blue gem as Nate's eye.

I typed the saying "I'm Pulling for You" in Word using Word Art on white cardstock.  I hand cut it out and used black ink on the edges.  I used foam pop up dots to apply the saying to the sides of the wagon and then filled it with candy.

Stick Pins for GIBBS Happy Mail

I am in a swap I am hosting called GIBBS Happy Mail.  My partner wanted stickpins and cards so that is what I made for her.  Here are a few pictures of the stickpins.  Once I got started making them I just could not stop!  I'm sure I will look back in a few months and say "wow those are so plain" but for now I really like them!

Birthday Card for My Daughter

Here is a card I made for my daughter who turned 19 today.  I went into my craft room intending to make a card with cowboy boots on it, but this is what resulted instead.  The patterned paper is K&C Amy Butler Faded China stack.  The punch and stamp are from Stampin' Up!  I made the flower using the Tim Holtz Tattered Flowers die and the ribbon is from my stash.  I made the stick pin and used it on her card because it was one of my favorites.

Bee Mine Using Spring Holiday Cards Cartridge

I received the Spring Holiday Cards Cricut Cartridge from ScrapbookPal.com this month.  At first I did not think there was much to this cartridge, but the more I played with it the more I realized how much I could do with it.  I started this card for my daughter and then realized that it would not post until after Valentines Day, but it turned out so cute and looked like Spring that I just had to share anyway.

Using the Spring Holiday Cards Cricut Cartridge, I cut the Bee Mine (1st row, 6th button) on black and red cardstock at 5.5" tall (note because the pieces are sized to work proportionally with the shapes, the actual cut was only 3.25" tall).  The red cardstock came embossed with little hearts so it was perfect for this project.  I used scissors to trim the bug off the red piece of cardstock and then using Tombow Mono Aqua Liquid Adhesive, I layered the red on top of the black cardstock.  Then I used a scrap piece of yellow cardstock for his body and eyes and a scrap piece of white glitter paper for his wings.  I used my Zig 2-way Glue Pen for these small pieces.   I used a scrap piece of blue glitter stock to go behind the Bee Mine.  Once I layered these on to the back of the black piece of cardstock, I put used a scrap piece of white cardstock for the background. 

I cut the top note shape (3rd row, 6th button) at 4.5" tall using the real dial size on Tantalizing Turquoise (Stampin' Up).  I cut the shape in half, then trimmed off the center points so they would not show from the back side.  I put one-half of the shape on one end of the bee layers and then the other half on the opposite end.  If you could see the back side you would see that there is about 1" between the 2 pieces. I used the Signo Uniball White Gel Pen to doodle in some sew lines around the edge.  This is the ABSOLUTE best white pen I have used.  If you don't have one, order it today from ScrapbookPal.com.  You might as well stock up on a few other items too while you are at it because you get free shipping with only $25 in merchandise!!


I cut a piece of Tangerine Tango (Stampin' Up) 6" wide by 8.5" long and then scored it down the middle at 4.25" and folded it to make a card.  Using the Signo Uniball White Gel Pen again, I doodled little dots around the edge of the card front and then used a punch along the edge of a scrap piece of designer paper and adhered that to the bottom of the card.  I had some green tulle left over from another project so I scrunched it up and then  applied pop-dots to the back of the blue top note die and adhered to the front of the card with the tulle in between it.  I added some flowers and some pearl embellishments to the front to finish it off.


I hope everyone had a very nice Valentines Day!!

ScrapbookPal Give-Away

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Exciting News!

I just got a comment in on the card I made with Paper Lace (see January 22nd post) that indicates that my card will be featured on tomorrow's edition of Fantabulous Friday on the Fantabulous Cricut blog!  How exciting and I am very honored.  Thank you Tanya for this honor!!

Stampin' Up Valentine's Day Card

My Stampin' Up upline Becky is hosting a Valentine swap.  You make 1 valentine and send it to your assigned person.  The only rule was that it had to totally be made from Stampin' Up stuff.  I hope Allyson likes this card!

Cute As A Bug - 12 x 12 Layout for ScrapbookPal Design Team

I received the Spring Holiday Cards cartridge this month from ScrapbookPal.com.  I have been wanting to do a 12 x 12 single page layout using one of my favorite pictures of my daughter when she was about 16 months old.  I saw the Cute As A Bug card and finally I knew what I was going to do.

I cut the Cute as a Bug card (p. ) twice, once on black and once on an off-white cardstock at 3.5".  I hand cut off the bug from the off-white cardstock and then layered them together.  I handcut a small piece of red cardstock and put behind the bug body.  I used a pink ink pad to apply some color to the off white cardstock.  The paper is from Doodlebug Design.  I applied some pearls and mulberry paper flowers.  You could also use Color Me Crazy flowers that you could color to match your theme colors.