Playing with Versamark

I'm getting ready for a class I'm teaching at our local scrapbook store (March 20th for those of you in the Keweenaw), and came up with this for one of my sample cards. I was trying to do something that would be different (in an interesting way!), so I chose to do a gatefold card. At the class, I'll show some different techniques using Versamark ink. I've embossed the scroll image, and then inked over it with a sponge. The embossed image resists the ink, so you get a nice effect with the background paper showing through the image. The background scroll image is from Club Scrap, and the foreground saying with the bird is from Stampin' Up!

By the way, if anyone has seen my crafting mojo, could they send it back here? It seems to have left me for a while! I'm still crafting, but can't quite seem to get motivated to do much. It might have something to do with the weather brightening up - it seems that I want to be outside, but it's not quite warm enough to do that yet.

I'm looking forward to some crafting time this weekend, though. I'm taking a few days off of work, and hopefully a new environment and no work will help to kick start some creativity!

Experimenting with color

This is another example of the "quadrant" technique I used earlier to make some holiday cards. I really like how sketches and techniques can be so dramatically varied just by choosing different colors, papers and stamps. These stamps are some of my favorites from Club Scrap. If you use different stamps in each of the quadrants, I like to make them similar - different sized paisley here, for example, or all nature stamps. I think it makes the card base look more harmonious.

When this dark blue paper (the card base - not very visible here) first came out, I had no idea how I would use it. It was a little brighter than I usually go for, and I had trouble "matching" paper to it. One tip I have is to experiment! I recently listened to a podcast, and they talked about "auditioning" your colors (Craftcast #118). They were talking about polymer clay, but it applies to any sort of crafting. This is something I like to do - although it can cause crafty chaos in my room!

Sometimes, taking fewer things with you can also help. I made this card on one of our skiing trips. I limit what I take to card kits from specific kits, and embellishments that fit in a box. I find myself trying out different color combinations, and really surprising myself sometimes.

My other tip is to use a color wheel. A color wheel shows you all of the color choices that will work - and through this I've learned that blues and greens generally go together (and you can add brown to anything!).

Have fun with color - you may surprise yourself!

Journal case album

This is another project from the 2009 Club Scrap Retreat (have you registered yet for the 2010 Retreat?). I adapted this project a bit to the personality of the recipients. The album on the left was a present for my in-laws for Christmas. The album outside is made from Infusions paper from Club Scrap. The album on the right was for my sister-in-law and brother-in-law. She loves blue, so I chose the Concrete Jungle paper.

Inside the case is a 6x6 album. This is very simply constructed - just page protectors with a simple ring closure. By tying a bunch of ribbons to the ring, you get this very funky, shabby chic, look. We filled these albums with pictures from our trip to England this past summer. This album was made from Asian Artisan paper:

The other album continued with using the Concrete Jungle paper:

I really like how these books can sit on a shelf and look great, but contain a really nice surprise inside. They also were easy to pack and ship to England! Everyone enjoyed them, and it's nice to be able to share them with everyone now.

Paper bag goodness

This is a project I made at the 2009 Club Scrap retreat. If you're interested in attending the 2010 retreat, registration is now open. This is an experience I look forward to every year. We make the most fantastic projects, and we have such a fun time. This was our opening project - it's made entirely of paper bags and butcher paper. Since the materials are quite hardy, I decided to embellish this for my nephew for Christmas. We got a bunch of pictures from our trip this summer, and Paul and I both journaled in it. I hope that he loves looking at the pictures now, and appreciates the memories later. I had a heck of a time getting great pictures of this, and was in a bit of a rush to get this mailed to him, so I had to settle for what I could get.

The majority of the embellishments are from the Concrete Jungle kit by Club Scrap (yes, I'm addicted to Club Scrap). The blue was a perfect accent to the brown paper bag, and the graffiti nature of the designs fit well with a little boy.

I also loved the swirls of the Be Still stamp. I can't believe I didn't want this stamp initially. I've learned to love it and its versatility.
These pictures below are from my favorite parts of England (so far) - Devon and Cornwall. We didn't have great weather, but the sights were still beautiful. I loved the ruggedness of the country. If you want to read more about our vacation, take a look at Charlesworth's Adventures.

I love creating books and giving them as present. I hope you enjoyed a peek at it, too.

Scraptastic snowflakes!

I'm really glad the holidays are over, and the semester is well underway! I have a lot of work to do between Thanksgiving and just after the new year, plus projects for the holidays. Most of my crafting in the last two months have been gifts for family, so they're not great to post! I can start sharing them now, including this card which ended up in some special homes this year.

This card also turned into the inspiration for a class I'm teaching at our local scrapbooking store tomorrow. I'm teaching a bunch of my favorite techniques for using scraps in new ways. I certainly have more scraps than I can probably ever use up on my own. This card used the Club Scrap card making deck to inspire the basic design of the card, and I added my own touches with the super cool snowman from Hero Arts. Each of the panels is embossed with a cuttlebug embossing folder (Snowflakes). I was really into pinks and green for holiday cards this year. There is something really sweet about these colors, and they're a little bit unexpected.

The "quadrant" technique can also be used with scraps, and the panels can also be stamped. Kay from Club Scrap demos other ways you can interpret this technique in the Club Scrap cinema.

I'll be sharing more samples and techniques over the next week.