Art Girlz Scrapbook Nook

Scrapbookers Don't Lie -- They Just Embellish!

Scrapbookers Don't Lie -- They Just Embellish!

I saw this as someone's signature on Split Coast Stampers. I can't remember who ... but I wrote it on a post-it note and thought I just HAD to spread the word. Since we'd had a number of posts and a lot of comments over the past few days about using your embellishments.

I've got another tip:

* I had LOTS of little stickers. It was the thing to put on your pages about 12+ years ago. Maybe some of you can relate. I don't use these like I used to and didn't know what to do with them.

Some of these I have used as centers for flowers, add to photo corners for an added embelishment (instead of a brad) ... but I have found that my 10 year old step-son LOVES them. He is always making something. I keep the stickers in a box, separated from my other embellishments. He thinks these are special and I let him use them for projects for school, cards for teachers, etc.

I don't feel so bad about "wasting" these stickers since someone is getting enjoyment out of them. I have to admit that even my daughters (now Junior & Senior in High School) have some favorites and went and picked them out of the box. The girls put them on cell phones, notebooks and more.

Remember: one crafter's junk is another's treasures.

Using your embellishment stash

The other day we posted a fun page (8th grade graduation) using some birthday papers. Well, they are called "BIRTHDAY BOY" (by Doodlebug Design, Inc.), but they don't actually say happy birthday, so we thought they screamed PARTY!!!

I had some comments about using embellishments and your stash. Happily, I am not alone. You are not alone. Seems that a number of scrappers out there love embellishments but want to make sure that page they put them on is "the perfect page".

I used to feel that most of my pages were unworthy and didn't want to use those special embellishments, BUT I realized a few things:

* photos can be reprinted and you CAN re-do a page.

* embellishments CAN be removed from one page and put onto another -- stickers can not be removed, but you can cut around them and add that cut out piece as an embellishment on another page.

* a "mistake" is not really a mistake if you can cover it with an embellishment, or remove it!

So I am NOT waiting for the perfect page anymore. I have gone through some older albums and re-done pages. I have taken some photos that I dearly love and enlarged to 5x7 or even 8x10 and put in an album JUST FOR ME! Since these photos were already in books for each of the girls, I wanted some special photos in an album that was all mine.

Hope you will enjoy your stash of scrapbooking stuff -- use those papers, brads, stickers, rhinestones and more that you have collected. There will always be more items on the market.

ENJOY the art of scrapbooking, ENJOY your stash, ENJOY your time spent with friends & family.

Happy Birthday Page -- Loaded with Embellishments

I LOVE embellishments in my scrapbooks ... brads, eyelets, flowers, ribbons ... I could go on (almost) forever. I've really been hoarding my stash and not using it. Why? Various reasons. I look back at my first scrapbook pages (over 12 years ago) and I cringe. I see improvement (at least to my eyes), and I don't want to "waste" my precious embellishments on a less than super great page.

But I realized something. My style will always be evolving. I may like something now, and think "why did I do that" a few years later. I'm coming to the conclusion that you need to embrace EACH and EVERY scrapbook page you make. I put a lot of time into my pages, I'm not a quick scrapper. Sometimes I think a page is complete, and 6 months later I find just the right embellishment. I've removed items and replaced them with the perfect find. Sometimes the perfect find is just an addition to the page -- you know when you look at the page and say "there is something missing".

I found this totally cute paper from Doodlebug Designs called BIRTHDAY BOY. Love the Doodlebug Design colors -- bright, happy and fresh. This paper collection is a mix of turquoise blue, lapis blue (close to navy blue) and lime green. Although this paper is called  BIRTHDAY BOY it can be used for any party, celebration with cake & presents. And it doesn't have to be just for boys!

How about 8th Grade Graduation Celebration? The school colors are turquoise blue and black, but that's not why I used this paper. I used it because my daugher LOVES blue, and it just fit her. Fun. Plain & simple.

A very simple sketch combines three different printed papers from Doodlebug Designs' BIRTHDAY BOY paper collection. Used some Bazzill Bling paper behind the photos. Added ribbon around one photo and tied the t-shirt on with funky fibers.

One of our favorite embellishments is FELT. It reminds me of being a kid. We did so many crafts with felt. It is so versatile and really lasts a long time. I made some Christmas ornaments for my mother 30+ years ago and look brand new.

Have some fun with Queen & Company's FELT FUSION. Felt "ribbon" that can be used as is, or cut into individual shapes. This green FLOWER pattern felt embellishment really matched the paper well and added a little bit of "girly" style.

Carry the funky fibers to the second page and use for ties on a tag. This adds more girly feel, but certainly could be used for boy pages too!

The felt ribbon is great as is. It is self-adhesive, which makes adhering to paper and chipboard and more SO EASY.

Since I really love embellishments, had to add some to the felt. We added a variety of items. Some Doodlebug Design JEWELS were added as centers to flowers. The Jewels come in 4 different sizes -- you can find one to fit any of these flowers.

Then we added some Queen & Company large BON BON brads from the "Make Waves" Collection. In addition to the large brads, we added some of Queen & Company's FAB FLOWERS and SASSY SEQUINS flowers. These are great embellishments to add to your scrapbook pages or other paper crafts. The Fab Flowers and Sassy Sequins are thin sequin-like flower shapes. Layer these with other flowers and brads.

See the close-up of the felt ribbon where we layered floral sequins & brads, and also the self-stick jewels.

Have some fun using these fun embellishments!

Queen & Company FAB FLOWERS & SASSY SEQUINS, BON BON BRADS; Doodlebug Design, Inc. patterned papers from BIRTHDAY BOY collection and add some BLING with JEWELS from Queen & Company or Doodlebug Design.

National Scrapbooking Day (& Weekend)

We're getting ready for National Scrapbooking Day ... and we'll be celebrating all weekend from May 2-4th. We're making a list of all that have made comments on our blog and will be posting names in a few days. Still a week left to post comments!

Yea, we're sad to hear Arctic Frog is out of business, but glad that we had some of their goodies in stock. Making up a nice package of BLOG CANDY for our winner. And we'll be posting our special KIT for National Scrapbooking Day. We'll be having an ON-LINE tutorial and class for our kit.

Dew Drops by Robin's Nest

We've been reading about these new embellishments called DEW DROPS, by Robin's Nest. Dew Drops are wonderful little drops of color that you can add to just about any creative project! These tiny pebbles vary in size, but are approximately ¼” in diameter. These are flat on one side so that you can adhere them to any project. Mini Glue Dots, Ranger’s Glossy Accents, Judikin’s Diamond Glaze or Stampin’ Up!s Crystal Effects make attaching these to any project easy. Sold in solid & mixed color assortments.

This is the "Hydrangea mix", several shades of pink to magenta color drops.

Dew Drops can be used in the centers of any flowers (Primas, Bazzill -- from paper to silk), used as “rain drops”, or just added as a perfect decorative accent to your pages, cards or projects.

There are many colors and possibilities that we're excited to try these little gems. They will add a little personality to your projects and will look much different than rhinestones (which we LOVE!).

The mix with greens & blues, called "Lily Pad mix" could be used for the "rain drop" effect & more.

If you can't find these DEW DROPS (by Robin's Nest) , we found a clever & creative blogger who has found something you may want to look in to ... she's found something very comparable to these Dew Drops. Check out Lauren's site HERE.

How to Make Your Own Glitter Alphabet Letters

Had these photos from a Christmas a number of years ago (like 10 years ago!). Decided I really needed to do something FUN with the title and the pages.

Used BasicGrey holiday papers, mixing and matching stripes with poinsettias and even a special hand-made paper with white embossed design. When looking for embellishments for these pages, I wanted to keep them simple since the papers and photos were really busy and I wanted them to be the main focus. I had stamped about a dozen of the Santa images (Stampin'Up! image) for cards and tags and thought that one of them would make a cute embellishment to the page. Used markers to color in the Santa image.

I was looking for a really BOLD and FUN title. I looked at my box of chipboard letters and the collection of glitter letters was really limited. I did have a V and an M. While at my local scrapbook store, I took the opportunity to die-cut the other letters for the "Very Merry" title. I used red cardstock. If you want the letters thicker you can also die-cut some chipboard and glue the cardstock onto the chipboard. However, I was just using the cardstock. After cutting out the letters, I ran them through my Xyron X-150. It's small, convenient and invaluable!

The adhesive will need to be on the FRONT of the letter (instead of the back). So when inserting the letters into the Xyron, check to make sure that the adhesive will be going ontothe FRONT. Peel the backing off the letter to reveal the adhesive. Using a shallow dish and a small amount of glitter, press the cardstock letter (sticky adhesive side DOWN) into the glitter. We used an ULTRA FINE clear glitter. Red glitter probably would show up better, but it's just what YOU decide.

Keep pressing the cardstock letter into the glitter until the whole front is covered with glitter. Attach to your scrapbook page. For added dimension, you might use foam dots or dimensional glue dots.

Remember that I cautioned about making sure the adhesive would go onto the FRONT of the letter? Well, see the Y in MERRY? Yes, it was put in the wrong way and the adhesive was put onto the back of the letter. So the Y is backwards, but since it's a Y, it's not really such a problem. My daughter thought it was done on purpose. It's got a little bit of kid charm to it now.

These were quick and fun pages to make, especially making my own glittered alphabet die-cut title!

Try glittering your titles or other embellishments.

Using WATERCOLOR Wonder Crayons

Last year I purchased WATERCOLOR WONDER Crayons from Stampin'Up! -- in ALL their colors (48). I felt that if I didn't have an ink pad, I still had the crayon in the same color as the paper. I don't know if anyone else makes / sells something like these watercolor crayons, I haven't seen anything like them in stores. These are different than the artists oil crayons, I tried those.

They look like regular crayons. But they are a little softer. I'm sure there are many ways to use them, but I've only tried (so far) two different techniques: 1) directly coloring onto rubber stamp; and 2) using paintbrush and picking up color to do "traditional" watercoloring. I have only used the traditional rubber stamps with the crayons, I'll have to try the clear stamps to see how well they work.

TECHNIQUE TUTORIALS:

COLORING RUBBER STAMP & Misting stamp

* stamps with bold images work better than fine line drawings.

* color stamp image with crayons, using a number of colors, if desired. You can also stamp several times if you use a stamp positioner to make sure you've got the stamp in alignment with the previous stamped image.

* LIGHTLY spritz colored stamp image with water. Start with a fine mist and try various amounts of water.

* stamp image on DRY cardstock. Do not use a coated cardstock. You want the wet crayon to be absorbed into the paper. Even better if you use "watercolor" paper. You can find this in any craft or art supply store. It usually has a slight texture.

Card #1 uses technique of coloring directly onto the rubber and then misting stamp and stamping on DRY paper.

These flowers were misted quite heavily with water. The stems were stamped a second time and the rubber was slightly misted so that the image is more clear & crisp.

I'm not sure what type of flowers these are supposed to be, but the rubber stamp looks almost like dandylion puffs!

COLOR IN IMAGE -- PAINTING:

* use an image with an open design so that you can color it in.

* wet a paint brush (size depends on your images) and gently rub the end of the crayon to pick up color. This reminds me of grade school when we wet our brushes and swirled into the watercolor paints.

* color image. For darker shades, add some crayon DIRECTLY to stamped image and use brush to spread the crayon color.

* the more water you use, the lighter the color will be. For very light colors, you may want to add crayon directly to the paper and then brush over.

I found this technique to be more satisfying that coloring directly onto the stamp.

TIP: To preserve the crayons: rub crayon on waxed paper or acetate sheet (just colors you will use on this project). You only need a small spot, probably smaller than a dime.

Then use this as your pallette, like a painter would. You can mix colors -- dip paintbrush into one color, then swirl it around and pick up another color.

Best part of using the pallette is that you can save it for future projects -- or for continuing on a project you had not finished.

Anyone else tried the WATERCOLOR CRAYONS? Are there any other brands out there besides the ones Stampin'Up! sells (in their specially matched 48 colors).

Direct to Paper (DTP) Technique

Perhaps you've heard of "Direct to Paper" or the "DTP" technique, but you didn't know how to do it? Or it sounded too intimidating? But DTP is VERY EASY! And it has limitless possibilities -- which we really love.

DTP is using your ink pads to ink your paper WITHOUT using a stamp image. You can use large or small ink pads, dye inks or pigment inks. Each different type of ink or size of pad will give you different looks. Why not take a small piece of paper and experiment?

We loved the Stampin'Up! stamp set "Bareback". It can be used for masculine cards or scrapbook pages, or try different colors and it works for girls too!

Instead of using a stamp image or printed paper for the background, the DTP technique was used. The card uses kraft-color cardstock, and we used a chocolate dye ink pad. We used a large size ink pad (about the size of your hand).

DTP Directions:

1) lay card on flat surface

2) hold ink pad and gently & randomly (turning ink pad) layer ink onto card front.

3) Use one or more colors for different looks.

4) try using pigment inks and heat embossing!

"Bareback" stamp set with DTP background. Does it look like "faux leather"? "Distressed and old paper"? We're not sure how to describe it!

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Product Review: Pebbles, Inc. RIBBON IRON

Did you ever think you'd need a RIBBON IRON? I didn't. But as I've collected more and more ribbon, I've found it more difficult to store them. And consequently, they have gotten folded and creased.

The folds and creases in the ribbons make tying bows difficult, if not just plain unattractive. Pebbles, Inc. has come out with the solution. A RIBBON IRON. It looks like my daughters hair straightening iron (flat iron), you just put the ribbon between the heating elements and squeeze ... and run the ribbon through to straighten it to better than new.

Now, you may have one of the flat irons used for hair, but I wouldn't try that. They get much hotter than the Pebbles RIBBON IRON. Be especially careful with ribbon like organdy which can melt under high heat. (*Tie organdy ribbon in a bow, run a heat tool over it and the ribbon will curl and melt slightly -- giving you an instant aged look).

We love our new RIBBON IRON. These irons are not expensive. We also see that you could probably straighten paper that has gotten creased. A problem all of us face.

Try one and let us know what YOU think about them.

Crop-A-Dile -- a new best friend

Do you love to use eyelets & brads? Do you have several small hand punches, or other types of punches to make holes for these embellishments? And then you have the setters for the eyelets. These tools are practical when using cardstock, but if you want to use chipboard, these tools won't make it.

CROP-A-DILE to the rescue! Some of my friends had this tool, I tried it ... it is amazing -- and I fell in love. Thinking I had to squeeze the handles tightly, I was so pleasantly surprised to find that it was quite the opposite. The Crop-A-Dile does all the work ... barely squeeze the handles and it has cut through the chipboard like butter.

See some samples of what it can do:

We have covered Cosmo Cricket's "Buck Naked" Lacing Cards printed paper to make a holiday decoration. It is easier to cut the paper larger than the size of your chipboard and trim with x-acto knife after adhering. We've tried numerous types of adhesives, we find glue sticks or liquid glue easiest to work with because you can move the paper slightly to adjust if necessary.

On these lacing cards, the holes are already punched for you. But use the Crop-A-Dile to punch the paper through the holes.

Punch holes after covering each side.

Here's our Crop-A-Dile with the pink handles!

If you want holes that look more finished and cleaner, you can set eyelets in each hole, but we're going to thread ribbons through these holes -- lace them like shoes!