CKCB Hop: Vellum Stamping and Tea Lights

Here's my offering for today's Counterfeit Kit Challenge Blog Hop.  You probably came from Jessica, and the next stop is Bethany. 

Next month I'll be hopping on the CKCB Master Forger team - Whoop Whoop!! Can't wait to officially get started!

This month's hop theme is to use a stamping technique on a project. I went about this assignment sort of backwards.  I stamped my project, realized I really should show a technique first, went looking for a tutorial, found fantastic instruction for a project much cooler than my original idea, and then made that other project to add onto this post.  And so it goes with attention deficit crafting.....

My initial technique is a simple one, but something I haven't used much in the past.  I used Staz-on ink to stamp onto vellum.

I won a set of "Hardware" Clear Art Stamps by Crafty Secrets from Shirley (It was part of a huge prize that included all sort of Basic Grey Lauderdale stuff, too - thanks, Shirley!). As soon as I saw the stamps I fell in love with the ruler in the set. It was perfect for a page about our household facelift from earlier this year.

I used this week's sketch from Shimelle for this page, too.  For my background I used a piece of vellum over a piece of patterened paper. I thought the pattern (Basic Grey) looked like measuring tapes and contruction plans, but I needed to mute the colors for this project.  The vellum toned it all down.  I wanted to journal right onto the vellum, so I used the Staz-on ink to stamp the ruler for my journaling lines.  It stamps on the vellum with no smudge problems, so it's the perfect ink for that type of paper. Then I wrote my journaling with a vellum marker. 



Journaling: We started 2011 with several big projects in mind.  We had our room painted and updated with new fixtures, we created a new scrapbooking/guest space, and we upgraded my closet with new paint and cabinetry.  The closet was a lot of work for us, but I'm glad we decided to do the project ourselves. It took months to complete it all, but now that it's mostly done, we're enjoying all of our updated spaces.


I still get a little giddy when I walk into my new closet each morning :).  I did a blog post earlier this year where I talked about the project here.

So, that leads me to the vellum tutorial. Rochelle at I Stamp, I Create, I Have Fun  showed how to make a tealight lantern using stamped vellum inserts.  So cute!  Her tutorial (the link above goes right to that post from 2008) shows how to cut the cardstock for the lantern and how to stamp onto the vellum.  I modified the process a little bit to work for me.




I sat up my template on the Gypsy, so I could easily duplicate it. My template is 8 1/4 x 5 inches. The windows are about 3 x 1 inches.  You could draw out your own template and cut it out by hand, too - it's not an exact science. After I cut the template, I scored the folding lines at 2,4,6, and 8 inches on my score board. Another under-utilized tool makes an appearance on my desk :). 



I stamped my fall leaves with brown ink and a Martha Stewart leaf stamp. 



I cut the vellum pieces just slightly larger than the size of the windows.
While the ink was still wet, I coated it with UTEE and heated it with a heat gun. 

I used my ATG to tape the vellum pieces to the cardstock and the cardstock edge to form the box.  Of course I will only use a battery operated tea light with this project - I wouldn't use a real candle inside this all-paper project.

And here's the finished project:

I can't wait until this weekend when I have some time to make more.
Add some ink to the edges, scallop cut the top edge, etc.  Cute, cute, cute!

I've had a busy work month - it's just part of the cycle of my job to be extra busy during September on a college campus - and I ran out of time for a lot of things around the house.  I have a friend coming for an overnight visit tomorrow, and it fell to Crystal to do most of the household cleaning to get ready for that visit.  Nothing like company coming to whip you into housekeeping mode!  I worked a lot this past weekend, and I didn't even have the energy at home to bring out any fall decor.  So taking a few minutes to make a couple of these tealight holders last night was the perfect stress reliever for me.  Now I have a bit of fall in the house, and we're ready for a fun visit. 

Hop Order: You probably came from Jessica, and the next stop is Bethany.  Take a second to go back to the beginning, too, and leave a comment on today's blog hop post on the Counterfeit Kit Challenge Blog for a chance to win a stamp set from this month's sponsor, Ippity Chick Sherri!





Fussy Fun

I made a page this evening. It was fussy. It took some time.  I inked, painted, embossed, folded, layered and cut.  And, in the end, I somehow meshed three challenges into one page!

I created my own background paper and used lots of stuff from my September kit for the Counterfeit Kit Challenge.

I used a striped background and the page starter for Shimelle's Scrapbook Starting Point.

And, while looking at Shimelle's blog, I realized I had my title for the 2Peas Fill in the Blank Challenge.

I inked an embossing folder and ran some Core'dinations cardstock through the Cuttlebug.  So while I didn't really stamp my background, I did use ink to create the color on the dot pattern. I managed to piece it together in a way that most of the seams are hidden under other things.

I was going to make a medallion but didn't end up seeing a place for it on the page, so instead I just stretched the scored paper across the page.  First I coated it with Triple Thick Gloss Glaze for some shine, and then lightly highlighted the folds with the blue and red inks that I used throughout the page.

Recently I have seen paint being used for matting/edging, so I thought I'd give it a try.  I then inked the edges, too, to help define the pics and journaling block on the page.

I made the flower for a previous counterfeit kit and finally used it here.  It was inked with an aqua blue, which didn't quite go with any of the shades of blue on the page.  So I covered the aqua with a darker blue staz-on ink with a q-tip.

I am happy with the page, but more than anything, I am just happy that I had some time to fuss. 

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go pace and swear at the TV while I watch the rest of the football game :).

Walgreens Coupon Code

Happy weekend! Just wanted to pass along this coupon code for Walgreens photo.  It expires on the 17th, I believe.  "5OFFANY" will get you $5 off a purchase of $5 or more for photo gifts.

So I went looking for what I could get for free :).  The closest I found was one of the magazine cover templates for 5.99, so .99 after the code.  Here's what I made and picked up last night:

One of Junior's pictures in front of the waterfall at the park fit perfectly into the template. 

I believe you can also do some 5x7 folded cards that can apply toward the code.  Collages do not (I tried).  Maybe you can find something else that works with the coupon. Hope that info can help someone else!

Rebecca

More Dog Training - CKC Project 1

Just had a little bit of time to work with my September Counterfeit Kit - 1 page about Junior's "advanced class" graduation in July.  My page is a total, shameless scraplift of Nichol Magouirk's Day One Seattle layout posted in the 2Peas gallery.  I simplified the top half and didn't include all of her beautiful stamping/printing work, but I did use the layout and picture placement nearly the same.

The title is my first use of my "faux-Thickers," which I cut from foam.



I also used several items from my kit: papers, faux stitch rub-ons, some ribbons and embellishments. 
These pics were from before Junior's injury. We had to delay his next class, rally obedience, until this past week. I don't think I've mentioned it here, but since his back injury, we followed a few weeks of crate rest with very light activity.  We just started taking longer walks again, and tonight was his first trip back to the dog park.

Foam Cutting Experiment

I use a Cricut and try to find new ways to use it as much as possible.  When I saw this month's Counterfeit Kit Challenge, using the September 2010 inspiration kit from Sweet Peach Crop Shop, my eyes were immediately drawn to that set of foam Thickers.  I've been meaning to try cutting foam with my Cricut, so I thought now would be the perfect time to try.

This month's inspiration kit.

My experience is with a Cricut, a Gypsy and a regular blade. Maybe you have a Slice, a Sil, or one of 100 other electronic cutters.  Or maybe you have a deep blade for your Cricut and already know you can cut thicker material.  Regardless of the machine, my thought is google how to cut foam with your machine and give it a try!

To start my experiment I turned to YouTube to see what others have already done with foam. I found this tutorial from Cathie Rigby, and I think it was the most useful for getting started. By the way, Cathie's blog, Creative Cutter Room, is a great resource in general!

                                       

So here are the results of my experiments:

Round 1 - Epic fail. I had my machine set to speed 3, pressure max, multi-cut 2, and the blade at 6.  It wasn't enough multi-cuts, and my blade was dragging between letters, so they ended up cut where they shouldn't be. I said bad words and went to bed.

Round 2 - Not to be detered, I tried speed 3, pressure high, multi-cut 4, and the blade set at 4.  Better but not perfect. There was still a drag line, although it got better.  And the extra multi-cut definitely made a better cut through the material. 

Round 3 - Success, sort of. I didn't ever completely resolve the blade drag issue. If anyone has any ideas for that issue, I'll take it! But I tried something suggested in the video - I flipped my image on the Gypsy and that way the right side was stuck to the mat and protected from the overzealous blade. I also found that a quick trip around some area of a letter with a craft knife helped give a great release.

Flipped image using the Gypsy, so the "right side" of the cut would be the side that was stuck to the mat.

My early tries were pretty rough.  The blue examples were my best cuts, and that's when I really felt like I was on the right track.

Round 4 - I tried my letters a little bigger (about 1 1/2" tall), chunkier/less intricate fonts, and some welded words.  Great success! I also played around with running it through the Cuttlebug for an embossed image and changing the color with stickles or ink.  I just wanted to quickly show how easy it is to change the color - you're not stuck with neon green if that's all you have.  I really liked the brown ink on top - it made it look botanical and less like a kids craft item.

It took awhile to work out the kinks, but now that I know what works best on my machine, it will be a quick and practically free process to cut just the letters I need.

One final side experiment note: I have a Sizzix Sizlet alphabet strip (Wingo Zingo) - I found it at a flea market last year for $2. Anyway, I don't enjoy using it in my Cuttlebug because the letters stick in the die, and it's a pain to get them out. But I decided to try it with foam. Oh my gosh, it was so easy! And the letters peeled right out! And it was such a clean cut! I just wish they were bigger. But I can definitely see myself using that alpha with foam in the near future.



Sorry for the dirty craft mat, but I wanted to show the sizes of all my experiments, and this was the only grid surface I could find.



No time for Bonus Round 5 yet, but when I do, I'm going to try more stamping, dry embossing, and glittering. Stay tuned.

Moral of the story:  Play with whatever machine you have, find the settings that work for you, and see how you like cutting foam!

12x18 sheets of foam are around $1 at any craft store and give you lots of room for cutting the letters as you need them. I also found packs of small foam sheets at Dollar Tree - it may be just a hair thinner but nearly the same as what I bought at Hobby Lobby.

If you have any hints or tips for cutting foam letters, please leave a comment so we can all learn more together.  Happy crafting!

Rebecca

Football Friday Night

I was just working on another project and came up with the solution for my football page. I have renewed love for my cuttlebug tonight. I just cut some shapes and embossed them with a star pattern embossing folder from hobby lobby. A few stickers for an OH - IO! cheer, and I was done.

We will be back in the stadium tomorrow. Hope it's 50 degrees cooler than last weekend!

My September Kit

To see September's Counterfeit Kit Challenge, find all the info here.  The inspiration kit is the September 2010 kit from Sweet Peach Crop Shop. 

And here's my take on the kit:

I liked the blues and greens in the inspiration kit.  I was reminded of an old My Minds Eye (everyday tango) stack that has been kicking around (haha - tango.....kicking.....haha) my stash for several years.  I used a lot of the papers for a vacation album several years ago, but as often happens with stacks, it hardly looks like I put a dent in it.  So many of the papers will work this month, and I hope to use up as much as I can.  I even have a plan for card making with this kit, if I can get around to it!

I also included some other papers to work with this month - some Basic Grey, American Crafts, GCD Studios (I am loving grid paper as backgrounds right now), and cardstock (DCWV and Core'dinations).

I have a few embellishments pulled out for my kit - some rub-on stitching, some fall/themed metal pieces, and some ribbon.  But mostly I'm going to rely on making embellishments and alphabet sets with my kit contents this month.  I'm looking forward to some stamping challenges, and I have big plans for some foam to counterfeit the Thickers in the inspiration kit.

Looking forward to a month of creativity!

Giveaway Winner!

Thanks to everyone that shared some ideas for my football page.  I haven't decided yet, but I think I'll use a combo of a few different suggestions.  I'll post it again when I get the page completely finished.

The random number generator and I are having issues, so you're just going to have to trust me to cut/paste the results:). So, here is the random drawing result:

True Random Number Generator
Result: 6
Powered by RANDOM.ORG

And that means Tracy, you won!  Don't worry about not being a football watcher - the pack of goodies isn't necessarily sports-themed, so I hope you like it.  Just send me your address, and I'll get it in the mail to you.

Hope everyone is enjoying the weekend. I'm still on Cloud 9 about yesterday's CKCB announcement!

Fun News!

I was late to turn on the computer today.  I was at a crop until late last night, so it was a slow-moving morning around here. 

I started visiting my usual blog stops when I noticed a special surpirse announcement - I am now part of the Master Forger Team at the Counterfeit Kit Challenge Blog!

I am relatively new to all this blogging and sharing projects stuff, especially related to scrapbooking. So I'm thrilled to have the chance to work with a great group and on the challenges that come along with the Counterfeit Kit.

So if you're coming here from the CKC blog, welcome! And if you've landed here from some other direction, welcome to you, too - and please make your way over to the CKC blog.  The next monthly challenges will start on September 5th.

                                                                   

I will post the winner to my football challenge later this weekend.  Just wanted to share my happy news today!

Happy September

Happy September 1st!

I'll celebrate with a September 2010 page:

All the papers are We R Memory Keepers Furever Friends line; the title is ??from my stash, not sure what it is??; and the picture collage is from Walgreens.  Love those free collages when they come around!