inspiration

Technique Tuesday - a Card from Ginger

Here is a sweet card that Ginger submitted for our Customer Feature Contest. She used some great techniques to make that fabulous background. Here, I'll let her describe it for you:

"I used the Ranger Distress Inks to create the base of the card and then took the Heidi Swapp stamp to create a framed edge which I embossed giving it some extra dimension. The Distress Inks were used again on the owl chipboard piece to give the card some consistency in design. The use of glimmer mist on the flowers gives it an extra pop of color while the sewed on red ribbon gives a linear base for the owl and flower to sit."

I love the giant ruffles in the bright red ribbon, and how all the colours go together, but stand apart from each other.

And here is Ginger's supply list:

Ranger Distress Inks

Versamark Embossing Ink

American Crafts - Zing Embossing Powder

Heidi Swapp flourish stamp (try this as a background

or this to make a frame)

Tattered Angels owl chipboard & Glimmer Mist (try this colour or this one)

Prima Marketing paper and flowers

Rhinestones (try these ones!)

Corner rounder punch

We will feature another of Ginger's projects here on the blog on Saturday morning...hope to see you here!

Happy Creating! Love Lisa

New American Crafts...Meet Lisa's Gesso

I LOVE bright, bold colours! LOVE THEM! But sometimes, they just don't work for me on a layout. Sometimes I've got so much else going on, that anytime I try to add some pattern paper, or a bright background, my photos seem to disappear.

Enter GESSO. Gesso is essentially a paint primer. It comes in different colours, but I always keep my big jar of white on hand for art journaling, mixed media canvases, and - just recently - scrapbooking. You can buy it at any craft or art supply store...heck, TM even carries the stuff!

I started this layout and was really loving it...until I went to glue the photos down. They just didn't mesh with all the colours and patterns I had going on in the background. So I grabbed my trusty Gesso and scraped it across the entire background!

Then I added a couple of splatters of spray ink (Lindy's, Ranger, Studio Calico, whatever you have on hand) and let those wander around. I wanted a little bit of colour, not the whole rainbow!

The embellishments add the little pops of colour I need without being too overwhelming.

So if you've started a page and the colours are screaming at you, try giving it a little gesso wash to tone it all down! And remember...it never hurts to get a little messy when crafting!

And for those of you who don't like getting messy (Victoria, I'm looking at you), check out this layout I completed using the same American Crafts line...without the paint!

I didn't think of it before, but the Gardenia paper line is perfect for Easter and spring photos! Bright colours mixed with pastels in sweet patterns, with quirky fonts & doodles thrown in for good measure! YAY!

I started some other layouts with this line, but never finished them...hmmm. You'll have to watch my blog for the rest of them!

 

Happy Creating!

Love Lisa

Technique Tuesday - Embossing

Hello Everyone! I have a simple technique for you today, but one that gives great results and can be done in any colour and pattern you like. Today we are going to create an embossed background!

You will need:

- a large background stamp OR a smaller stamp with an easily repeatable pattern

- embossing ink pad (I'm using my old Versamark)

- embossing powder (I'm using some glittery American Crafts)

- a piece of cardstock cut to size

First start by inking up your stamp with your embossing ink. For a large stamp like this it works best to ink the stamp, not stamp the ink!

Stamp the image on your paper. It makes things super easy if your piece of paper is the same size as your large stamp, but it is also quite easy to match up the edges. Then sprinkle your embossing powder over the image and tap off the excess. (Pictured below)

Now, heat set the embossing powder! And you're done! You can see in the image below how I used my piece as a photo mat for these lovely pictures of Scarlett.

And here is the full layout, made exclusively with supplies from this month's TM Kit "Picnic Blanket".

And tonight (right now in fact) Chantel is hosting a free Make & Take at the store, showing off an amazing technique using embossing powders, as well as Fragments, glitter and microbeads.

Happy Creating!    Love Lisa

*NEW Amy Tangerine...Layouts c/o Jill

I think most of us were drooling a little when the new Amy Tangerine line by American Crafts came in! She makes such great use of bright, vibrant colours, and floaty doodles. Jill made some fabulous layouts featuring some of her honeymoon photos! Check it out...

I really love that Jill "fussy cut" a bunch of the doodled flowers and enhanced and embellished them with a little GLITTER!!

Your technique this week is as follows: Find something to "fussy cut" and embellish it with a bit of glitter, or Stickles, or embossing powder. Then, pop-dot those pieces on your page! What a great look!!

This next one is small, simple, and  sweet!

Happy Creating!

Love Lisa

More Clever Handmade...

This time with Jill! And a couple of different techniques to try as well!

On this first layout, Jill did amazing things with paint, and glitter and twine! Notice the blue around the edges? That's paint/glitter that she smeared on there. Looks kind of like water doesn't it? And did I mention the glitter!?!?!

I also love the curly twine at the top. Draw your line with liquid glue, then smush your twine into it and let it dry!

Make your own trendy chevron design by cutting strips of pattern paper and reassembling them on your layout. I love the look of this!

I LOVE doodles! And what better place to put them then on a layout featuring some pretty doodly paper! Jill doodled a super simple border around her layout with a matching blue pen. If you want to branch out a bit, and get even more creative, try "copying" one of the designs on your paper in a different colour or a different size! What a special handmade embellishment that would make!

For more with Clever Handmade, check out this post, or this one. Chantel's layout is coming up later this month!

 

Happy Creating!

Love Lisa

Perfect Pearls

Now, Perfect Pearls have been around for a long while, so nothing new there. But, we just got in a bunch of Ranger's *new & fabulous colours! And I know that this is one of those products that (a lot of) people buy because it looks awesome, and then they get it home and it sits on a shelf or in the bottom of a drawer never to be heard from again!

Well I am here today to inspire you to pull out those pots of Perfect Pearls, and get crafting!

 

If you want to "accomplish" the technique I'm showing off today, grab these supplies:

- Perfect Pearls, in at least two colours

- Perfect Medium...this is essentially a watermark or embossing ink pad, that is nice and sticky and perfect for using Perfect Pearls with your stamps

- A favourite stamp or two

- A big fluffy (clean!) paintbrush

 

And here we go...

 

 

 

 

 

Want to see what I did with these images after I made them?

 

I really love the subtle shimmer you get with these powders. They are super easy to apply, and would look great brushed over paper flowers and chipboard shapes as well. Remember that they only really work on porous surfaces, so no plastic!

 

Happy Creating!

Love Lisa

P.S. Tonight we have a sweet Show & Tell running. Click here for more info!

Customize Your Thickers!

A couple of weeks ago we (finally) got our long-awaited American Crafts order. And in it were these kind of, completely fabulous customizable Thickers! In all the fonts we know and love and covet!

So, here's the low down. You buy some glitter, or tinsel, or micro beads. You reveal the top sticky layer of the Thicker. You put the glitter/tinsel/micro beads on top of the sticky part. You have new Thickers!

And in photos...

I left the Thickers in their packaging to add the tinsel. I guess it's up to you how you want to do this part. I didn't want to get Tinsel all over my layout. This step does get messy!

And that's pretty much that. Once you have them all glittered up, you can go ahead and adhere them directly to your layout!

And can I just say that I absolutely love the new American Crafts lines by Amy Tangerine and Dear Lizzy!? The colours and patterns are delicious!!

The glitters and tinsels come in lots of fun colours, and the Thickers come in most of American Crafts most popular fonts.

 

Happy Creating!

Love Lisa

New Product, New Technique!

In the past few weeks we have been receiving loads of powders and glitters and flakes and tinsel in the store. It has been fairy heaven! And while I am not normally a huge fan of glitter, I love love LOVE trying out new techniques, and figuring out new ways to use some of our "tried-and-true" products!

 

Step-By-Step...sort of...

Sprinkle down some embossing powder, some glitter, some more embossing powder (this time in a different shade), some glitter, some fragments, some more glitter.

 

HEAT FROM THE BOTTOM!!!!

 

Heat with your heat gun until everything has melted together and set.

You get this beautiful, chunky, heavenly effect. I loved it so much I made a bunch more tags...

You can do this with any colour combo. Go ahead and mix some crazy ones together...I dare you!

 

Products I Used:

- Glass Glitter (Salmon)

- Stampendous Fragments (Tea Dye)

- Stampendous Chunky White Embossing Powder

- Lindy's Stamp Gang Embossing Powders (Pumpkin Fiesta & Hyacinth Blue Green)

- American Crafts Embossing Powders: Blue, Orange & Black glitter, Green matte

-  Gold embossing powder (brand unknown)

- Big silver glitter (brand unknown)

- Multi-coloured micro beads (brand unknown)

 

Try adding:

- Lindy's Fusible Webbing...for a crunchy look!

- "Different shaped" glitter and confetti

- American Crafts new Tinsel glitter!

- Charms or other metal embellishments!

- Alcohol ink or spray ink!

- All of this to a die cut piece of chipboard for an amazing embellishment!

The possibilities are pretty much endless!!

 

Don't be afraid to: mix textures and finishes

I used glitter, shimmery and matte finishes in with actual glitter and fragments that are meant to look vintage. The more you incorporate different textures, the more you will notice each one. And try them in differing levels each time you make a tag...the results will be a little different each time.

 

Happy Creating!

Love Lisa

 P.S. We have a "messy" technique to share with you tonight at the Show & Tell...click here for more details.

A Technique + New Product

I was quite excited to start playing with all the new Lindy's Stamp Gang powders. This time I want to show you how special their two-toned embossing powders are.

They come in so many different colours I had a hard time choosing just one. But I settled on Hyacinth Blue Green, which is a neat turquoise. But the truly special thing about these particular embossing powders is the fact that you get two shimmery colours happening on every project!

You really have to see it to believe it.

I wanted to change the look of these simple glossy black chipboard letters.

The Lindy embossing powders are applied in the same way as "normal" embossing powders. Start by pressing the face of your letters in to some embossing ink.

Sprinkle the powder over the letters, and tap off the excess. I'm using some old tweezers to man-handle my letters so my stubby fingers don't mess up the powder or get burned when I heat them up!

Heat it up with a heat gun. You can tell quite easily (and quickly) that the powder has set.

Now check out the spectacular effect it has! My plain black letter has been transformed!

And here is the final product in place on my layout.

 

I used some more of the new Bo Bunny pattern paper and a rub-on from the same line. A little "bonus technique" can be found on the pattern paper at the top of the layout. I made that using a Crafter's Workshop stencil and some alcohol ink!

I can't wait to try out some more colours!

Stop by the store tonight to learn all about these and other Lindy's Stamp Gang products. Limor has some great demos planned for you! Check out this link for more information about this Special Event, and I'll see you tonight!!

 

Happy Creating!

Love Lisa

Technique Tuesday - POW Glitter Papers!

It's Lisa here, bringing you a fun project to try out using our new POW Glitter paper from American Crafts. I'm going to show you how to make a word banner with some super basic supplies...check it out!

Step One: I typed out my phrase in Microsoft Word, chose a nice font, made it really big, then printed it out.

 

Step Two: Cut out all of your letters!

Step Three: Trace all of your letters on to the POW Glitter paper. Flip the letters over and trace them on to the back of the glitter paper with a Sharpie (or other permanent marker). Then cut them all out (again...)

Step Four: I backed all of my letters with some scrap cardstock. I want this banner to be super sturdy, but I don't really care what the back looks like! The best adhesive to use with the POW paper is a double sided, super tacky tape (like Wonder Tape). Liquid glue just makes things bubbly and yucky, and regular scrapbooking adhesive isn't really robust enough.

Step Five: Punch two holes along the top of each letter. I used the smaller hole in my Crop-A-Dile.

 

Step Six: String some twine through all the holes.

 

Step Seven: Hang up and enjoy!

Jill has done up a fabulous CELEBRATIONS display in the store, collecting all of our fun birthday and party themed products in one easy-to-find location. Check it out the next time you're in!

This is a great idea for parties - birthday or otherwise - or as fun decor in your house! I'm already planning the one that's going to hang in my bedroom!

And if you have a Silhouette, Cricut, or other electronic die-cutting tool (which I don't...) this project would be so much easier!! The POW Glitter papers are so perfect for die-cutting.

 

Happy Creating!

Love Lisa