Endless Summer

This is a quick scrapbook layout of me, made with the CTMH Artbooking cricut cartridge.  It is on page 67 of the handbook, button 30; except the palm tree, I swapped that for the evergreen tree on  the other button (page 66).  British Columbia isn't known to have live outdoor palm trees.  The base paper is Kraft cardstock, the other papers are Recollections brand from my stash.  I inked up the edges with mini pigment ink, but I don't know which colours now.  I just played around on scraps until I liked the colour.  I did use White daisy pigment ink and a deep blue dye ink to stamp in the honeycomb corners.  I learned from another blogger Obsessedwithscrappin "fun hexagon background" on youtube that the honeycomb overlay perfectly fits the Honeycomb #c1537 stamp set.  I need to find my yellow chalk to tint the white on the upper right corner.  I think it will lend visual interest to the layout, even though its opposite the lighting on the picture, LOL!  This is my modest attempt at waiting out winter.  Stay warm & keep on craftin!

Give Thanks

 This is a 2 page layout made using the CTMH Artbooking cricut cartridge, using button 35, page 72 in the handbook, size 11".  The overlay is cut from Kraft paper, the coloured papers are Recollections brand from my stash.  This edge distress-er makes easy work of roughing up the paper, it takes up the ink & softens the hard border that is edged with twilight ink.  A good tip is to not use that edge distress-er over a project, else there will be shreds of paper dust EvErYwHeRe.  Scissors work well for roughing up edges, but the micro-tip scissors are so very sharp, bloodletting would wreck the project.  Not to mention valuable crafting time spent on cleaning it up and healing.  I stamped the cutout pieces with Geometric backgrounds D1853 stamp set; the tree trunk I used White daisy pigment ink, the leaves I used mini pigment set ink, sorry but I didn't note which ones.  A tip about stamping on bitty pieces of paper:  put a scrap of copy paper over the stamp set foam cushion insert so the excess stamping isn't on the insert.  It was easy to ink in bands of colours on the distress stamp and then clean it all in one round.  I found that the pigment ink shows up on the Kraft paper, the dye ink was more muted looking.  Some of the leaves are trimmed slightly, and they are all popped up on 3D foam tape.

The Kraft paper is more fibrous, it cuts best with a slightly lower blade pressure than usual and multicut ON.  The leaves are edged with a bit of twilight ink.  I squish the lid on the ink & then pick up the ink on a sponge that I've cut into 6th's.  Other bloggers like them cut into quarters, but I like the slimmer profile to use.  I will show you in another post how that works.

I like how I could use the layouts together or separate, and even swap left to right.  This Artbooking cartridge is my favorite because I don't have to play around with the dial size and everything coordinates nicely, even when elements are swapped around.  I haven't got the pictures printed yet, so anywhere it looks like the overlay would hang over a picture is not glued down.  I should say "adhesive" but I am getting sick of the overuse of that word on blogs, youtube, etc., but that's just me.

A cricut tip:  When looking at the handbook, notice that each example is in a code of colours.  This is to remind you to pick 2, 3, or 4 colours for your project.  If you only use 2 colours on a 4 colour example, the layers blend together visually and vanish unless you take steps to alter the cuts with ink or doodles or something.

Whatever you are making, I wish you crafty success!

Monoprint envelopes

Remember those monoprint papers I posted about Dec 4, 2013?  Or the hectograph post from back in July?  Here's what I did with them!  That tube in the middle is to make the envelopes lick-em-stick-em.  Splitcoast stampers has a homemade recipe for it, but for $4, the job is done.  I could always refill it I guess?  I saw http://canadianscrapbooker.ca/  Fall 2013 magazine featured this cool Kreatealope EnvelopeTemplates.  I first saw them on Splitcoast stampers email and I was hooked, I had to try this.  In the summer I found the templates at an out of town scrapbook store.  Who can travel without visiting scrapbook stores, pet stores, candy stores...  I digress :-D

The Kreatealope website has a video that shows just how easy it is; tear, fold, snip corners, glue 2 edges.  Like magic a pile is done very quickly if the steps are done assembly line style.  I don't mind the torn edges, they're just envelopes.  I could always trace & cut out to make neat ones if needed.  The bonus is that I monoprinted the papers double sided so the insides are just as pretty.  I think they would make cool security envelopes too.  This template is sturdy enough to get the job done, yet takes up almost no space to store.  The cellophane packaging is not going to stand the test of time.  I think I will punch a hole in the corners to hang on ring on the wall so they don't get lost in the craft room.  I bet crafty children would have fun making these?

Happy crafting to you!

Monoprints

These are plastic templates I cut with my cricut expression from the CTMH cricut Artbooking cartridge.  They are dirty because I have been monoprinting with my Hectograph that I made back in July.  To make these templates, I used plastic pocket folders that I got for 30cents each with back to school sales.  That tip I learned from Lindsay at "the Frugal Crafter" on youtube. 

One side is shiny, the other matte.  I saved the scraps and used them as window accents in my recent Halloween-mini-book.

Here is a really good cricut tip:  cricut image direction.  She expains how to know which direction an image will cut on your mat.  I put a piece of tape on my cricut to remind me.  Glamorous?  Fashionable? No, not even remotely.   Practical, you betcha!

The arrow of green painters tape on the handbook shows you the 6" x 12" overlays are in different orientations (vertical and horizontal).

So here are my monoprints!  I was so excited to finally try these.  In about an hour, with a modest selection of cheap inexpensive acrylic paint I got on sale at Michaels, (50 cents each, a real score!), I went with the recomended 4-7 colours, and played with a brayer and wasted printer paper.  Here is a fun video showing how to do it Gelli plate monoprinting layers.  I kept it simple with these, but some of the uglier less pretty pages can get overprinted later to get more visually complex.  That's where some real art comes in.

I have a stack of blank school-work that a certain teenager generates.  Well, the school doles them out, he just leaves a lot of them blank.  They are begging to get monoprinted, and will be even more interesting with the assignment questions and various doodles that did get done.  I will show you in another post what I've done with these papers.

Playing with supplies, it does my art happy!

In case of Coffin

 

This was my entry for challenge #4 in the 3rd Canadian cricut circle online swarm.

The challenge was 

1. Make something for Halloween without using green purple yellow or orange

2. Make something for Thanksgiving without using orange, brown, red, or golden yellow.

3.  Make something for Christmas without using green red or pure white.

A prohibited colour may be used if it is a shade NOT traditional.  

My inspired is the "emergency (gift) kits" that are all over Pintrest and the internet.  

Materials used are listed at the end of this post.

I cut the coffin cut from the Artiste cartridge, button 46, page 76 feature 3D object at 7.5".  I tried 12" and found the lid uses less paper than the base.  Go figure, the base is deeper so it uses more paper.  Also, I found the lid is the "shift" cut, and the base is the non-shift.  That matters when planning papers.  What clued me in is the example and the layers are in different colours in the handbook.  I took a pen and wrote in my handbook (base, lid) so I don't forget.  I give you permission to write in your handbooks, and to rip out all the extra sheets of  languages you don't use.

 These little tiny stamps are for the note card.  I chose Art philosophy cartridge, button 50 cut at 3.5" because it looks a bit like a tombstone.  A nice way to use clear CTMH stamps is not having to think backwards like rubber stamps do.    Pick out the letters, arrange on a ruler face down so the letters & words read correctly.  Then use an acrylic block to pick them all up at once.  I recommend doing a few test stamps to check alignment and make sure there is no factory residues interfering with imprint quality.

Stamping before assembling the coffin makes the job easier.

I set in the potion stamp just for fun and tied it all up with the tag & brown bakers twine.

Materials used:
CTMH Artiste cricut cartridge
CTMH Art Philosophy cricut cartridge
CTMH slate ink
gold sparkle poster board ($3 for a big sheet!)
Super bright yellow cardstock from my stash
CTMH Creepy creatures stamp set #c1522
CTMH a typeface alphabet #a1117
CTMH Magic potions stamp set #c1509
CTMH CC1025A stamp of the month alphabet
redline super sticky tape
Honey, tea, tissues, cough candies
Bakers twine

What do you think?  Challenge me to try something a bit off the normal path, I dare ya!
Thanks for stopping by, now go make something unconventional & fun!!