Christmas card for my husband - Club Scrap Blog Hop

I know it's just a little bit past the season, but I think this technique would be great for a variety of cards - I just happened to need a Christmas card! I hope you're enjoying the blog hop - if you get lost along the way, a complete list of bloggers is at Club Scrap.

I fell in love with the bonus stained glass stencil for the Reunion kit, and how perfectly it matches the patterned paper this month. I immediately thought of Christmas and the beautiful windows in churches, and wanted to try and make a background perfect for a Christmas greeting.

I started by taping a piece of black card stock to my work surface with washi tape.  I was careful to line up the tape nice and straight so I would have a nice clean mat around the final image.

Next, I found the area of the stencil I wanted to use, and taped it down.

I colored in areas of the stencil using pan pastels - they are super vibrant even on black card stock.

My picture of the "finished" panel did not not look so great (I was struggling with trying to get this done quickly, and didn't have enough lights set up!), but it was great in person.  I did spray it with a clear sealant, and that dulled the colors a tiny bit.  This shows the panel before I sprayed it or took the stencil off.

I finished it up with the candle image from the 2010 Christmas release from Club Scrap (also colored with pan pastels), and the gorgeous ribbon and papers from the Reunion kit.

As an experiment, I tried coloring in another image with markers, but I wasn't careful enough with the stencil, and my pen kept going under the stencil.  That experiment ended up in the bin.  I would recommend taping it down more to do that, or focusing on things like inks or pastels, where you are pushing down on the stencil more.

The next blogger on our hop today is the fabulous DebDuzScrappin' - hope you enjoy all of the ideas she has to share!  If you get lost along the way, or want to start at the beginning, please visit Club Scrap for the complete listing of bloggers.

My very best wishes to you for a super Happy New Year!  Who doesn't appreciate a fresh start every year?

A card for frozen Lakes!

Hello blog hoppers!  I hope you are enjoying the Club Scrap blog hop featuring the Lakes kit. I have a simple project to share today as I dip my toe back into blogging - a birthday card for my dear husband.

We prefer our water frozen since we ice skate together, and I thought the colors for this were just perfect for a little ice skating penguin (with matching die to cut him out!).  The tag is from last months Homestead kit - I just love the combination of kraft and teal. I had to add a little glitter to the heart so it sparkled a little bit.

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving, and enjoy your next stop on the hop - Deb Duz Scrappin' always has some clever up her sleeve. If you get lost along the way, or missed a stop, check back at the beginning with Club Scrap's blog.

A Picnic in my Office - a handmade journal for work

Welcome to my place on the Club Scrap Picnic blog hop. I hope you are getting lots of inspiration along the way.  If you want to start at the beginning, check out the Club Scrap Blog.  Otherwise, read on!  As a warning, if you don't like long tutorial posts, just breeze on by to the bottom to see my finished product and catch the next stop on the hop!

Now, I hate to rain on anybody's parade or picnic, but I don't really like watermelon or ants.  I also haven't been on a picnic in a while since my furnace is still on, so the theme this month had me go hmm...  If you haven't noticed yet, however, I never let a theme that doesn't match my mood get in the way of crafting!

So, I started cutting book board (the best projects start with a full sheet and end up with scraps).  I cut a front cover and back cover (6 3/8 x 8 3/4), spine (3/4 x 8 3/4), and front flap (6 1/4 x 8 3/4).  I like to write the name of the piece on the board, especially when I'm making this up as I go along.

I glued my spine to a piece of green paper from the kit (4 3/4 x 10 1/4).  I used grid rulers at the top and bottom to center it as nicely asa I could.  I also drew guide marks on the green paper.

I then glued the back cover to the green paper, making sure to just glue the part that would touch the paper (measure twice, glue once!).

Repeat for the front cover.  I like to leave a generous 1/4" gutter between my spine and covers, which allows for a nice opening and closing.

Next up, glue the back cover striped blue paper to the back cover (5 3/8 x 10 1/4).  I butt the paper right against the lip of the green paper, and can generally get things really close. In this case, I got a little glue outside the paper, so I just use a slightly damp piece of paper towel to dab a bit up.

I repeat for the front cover, using the book board as a guide to draw the area to place glue.  This striped paper measures 10 1/4 x 12.

When I'm done, I have a very long piece!  The gutter between the front flap (piece on the far left) and its neighbor, the front cover, is a super generous 3/8".

Next, I wrap the flaps around the board.  Miter the corners, leaving a bit of overhang, and tuck them in once one side is wrapped around.

Before glueing my flaps around the front flap, I want to place my paired magnets. I want my front flap to close onto the front cover and close with a magnet.  I have these super slim, super strong magnets from Basic Grey, and I have never used them.  I start by drawing a placement line on the front cover - you can see I didn't like my first location.  I put a bright green paper dot on top of the placement, with some removable adhesive on the top side.

I then close the front flap on top of the front cover.

When I open the flap, I have perfect placement for my opposite magnet - right where the green dot is.

On the front cover, I hollow out some book board using my craft pick, and place the magnet using a bit of extra glue to hold it in place.

On the front flap, I cut a bit of paper out from the flap (the magnets are about as thick as card stock, and finish wrapping the flaps.

 I want my journal to have an elastic closure, so on the back cover, I place an eyelet, trapping a bit of elastic in the cover.

After measuring the length of elastic I'll need, I set the second eyelet, so there is a loop of elastic on the back cover.

Bright pink paper covers the inside, and I created a light pink pocket to hold my pad of paper.

If you have any glue on your cover at this point that doesn't make you happy, I use an art gum eraser to clean it up a bit (gently!).

My finished journal looks classy and pulled together.  My pens are actually disposable fountain pens - they come in super bright and fun colors!

When you open it, you continue to see the striped paper from the cover wrapping around, and have a lovely surface to write on with your pad of paper.

When you open the front flap, you reveal a secret location to hide post it notes!  I was inspired by the 3M web page, where they were showing using a binder to organize sticky notes.  The Evernote post its have a super cool holder, and work with my favorite organizational product - Evernote (the Evernote post its come with a free premium month so you can try it out, too).

At work, I've been blessed to be getting an office makeover, complete with new furniture and freshly painted walls.  I've been shopping for some "upgrades" to my office supplies, which included these Rhodia journals.  It makes me happy to write on nice paper!  My old leather journal didn't fit these pads, however, so I love being able to make something handmade that matches what I want exactly.

I hope you enjoyed my little project along with tutorial.  This portfolio will perfectly fit a Rhodia No. 16 pad of paper, but can be resized to fit your favorite pad, too.

I hope you enjoy the next stop on the blog - Debbie Weller always has a fun project in store for us!  If you want to start at the beginning, be sure to check out Club Scrap's blog.

Dungarees is Great for Masculine Cards!

Welcome to the Dungarees blog hop!

Between moving offices last week (temporarily due to remodeling) and the holiday weekend, little time was left for crafting with the Dungarees Lite kit from Club Scrap.  Good thing everything coordinates, because I just had to pull out a few sheets of paper, get cutting, and I had the perfect card for my friend.

The Dungarees kit is great for masculine cards.  The stamps and dies are from my extensive stash.  I just love that ruler washi tape, and I think it looks great layered on the Navajo washi tape.  I joined the pennant craze and made a sort of medal for my recipient.  Ribbon is also from the Lite kit.

When I'm in a rush (or just want quick card bases) this is the cutting formula I use:

1. Trim paper at 7.25" and 7" (the two vertical lines in the sketch above)
2. Rotate the 7" x 12" piece 90 degrees and cut at 10"
3. Take the 4.75" x 12" piece, rotate 90 degrees, and cut at 6.75"

I did that with the Russet, Light Blue, Dark Blue, and Cream from the Dungarees kit.   I end up with a card base, mat for the card (or light panel for the inside of a dark card) and nice scraps that I can work with.  I like to use three or four colors so I have options for mixing and matching.

For this card, the cream paper became my card base.  The light blue "leftover square" became my focal mat.  The Russet photo mat nests nicely on top of the light blue piece (any of the photo mats fit perfectly on the large mats).  The remaining "scraps" were used to create the banners and other die cut pieces.

Thanks for joining me this month on the Dungarees blog hop. I can't wait to see what Deb Weller has to show us this month!  If you get lost or want to start from the beginning, check out Club Scrap Creates for a full list of the participants this month.

Spring Greetings with the Hydrangeas Blog Hop!

Welcome to the Hydrangeas blog hop!  My post features the Club Scrap Lite kit.  If you want to start at the beginning, check out the Club Scrap Creates blog.

Spring always brings garden images to Club Scrap, and I sure could use those right now since I still have a 4 foot lump of snow in my front yard.  This kit was the perfect excuse to dust off my crafting table and get a card ready for my dear sister-in-law.

I was inspired by the stencil and tags and decided to make that my focal image.  I used some purple painters tape to stabilize the stencil and tag to make it easier to ink.

I used two different shades of purple and green to create a variegated look to the flowers.

I loved the halo around the whole image!

As I was playing with pieces for layering on the card, I decided that a patterned background with text and shapes was what I was needing to contrast with the flowers.  I pulled out a variety of Club Scrap stamps and used versamark and purple ink to create a layered background.  The center would be covered by the tag, so I didn't worry about it too much.

I wanted the birthday greeting on top of the tag, so I used some peel-off stickers from my stash.  These can be easily recolored with alcohol ink, so I colored them to coordinate with the flowers.

To finish the card off, the greeting went on vellum and the glue was hidden behind the peel-off sticker.  The ribbon from the kit was perfect to finish things off - it's light enough to wrap around the card and not interfere with mailing.

I hope you're enjoying the Hydrangeas blog hop - I know I'm looking forward to what Deb has in store for us on her blog!  If you want to start at the beginning, check out the Club Scrap Creates blog.

A desk calendar for a new year - Graffiti blog hop

Welcome to the Club Scrap Graffiti blog hop!

This kit challenged me - I'm a clean and simple gal, and free-form graffiti is not my natural style.  I loved the idea of bright colors, though, and the striped ribbon is so pretty.

I started out making a card this month - I made two at the same time. One for a very good friend, and one for another time.  I'm almost out of the lovely striped ribbon, so only the bow made it onto this card. (Swirly stamp from Club Scrap - Stratosphere; birthday greeting from Stampin' Up!)

A few years ago, the Club Scrap kit had a calendar cut-apart, and that led to my little desktop calendar (tutorial from 2012).  They are a bit hit as gifts, and I've found myself looking for the 2014 version on my desk every day since the beginning of the year.  This year's version uses the Graffiti kit.

I tried to go all artsy and use my dabbers to splash colors on the print, but it just didn't work out the way I wanted (see what I wanted to do!).  So, I went with my tried and true method - I used an older stencil from Club Scrap (Memoirs - 2009) to ink some artful splotches on the calendar.  Since I'm skating so much these days, I thought the penguin was something fun to look at every day, and the bright colors will make this cold winter speed right by!  Green tape from Club Scrap (Surf's Up) and brads from my stash.

I hope you enjoyed my projects this month. DebDuzScrappin' is next on our hop!  If you get lost along the way or want to see the complete list of bloggers participating, check out the first stop - Club Scrap Creates.