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. 

Gift bags and thank you cards - A Club Scrap Blog Hop!

Welcome to the Club Scrap blog hop, featuring the Aspen kit.

Around the holidays, I always seem to have at least one or two items that defy wrapping paper, and a box just doesn't seem right.  To the rescue - gift bags!  I used some ribbon from my stash to tie things up - I couldn't bear to use that gorgeous chevron twill just yet.

Of course, ordinary gift bags might not be the right size, so I made my own with paper from the Club Scrap Aspen paper.  These bags are destined for gifts just after Christmas, so the wintery feel is just right without being too spirited. The patterned paper made it easy to make a pretty bag without a lot of work.

To make these custom bags, I measured what I wanted to bag up, and then made a template with some plain paper that was languishing in my drawer (not Club Scrap paper, of course!).  These bags hold bars of homemade soap - who can't use an extra bar or two?  I used the stencil with mists for this bag.

On this bag, I masked each panel (before folding!) and used stamps on the sides and the Aspen stencil on the front and back.  I think I cheated here and used a piece of tan paper from the Chocolate kit...

The length I needed was 11" or 12" depending on the number of bars in the bag, but the height was only 8.5".  This left plenty of long strips for crafting, which were perfect for making cards to go with the gifts!  In a "What Would Kay Do?" moment, I added glitter to this cut apart from the kit to make the leaves sparkle.

I make it a habit when crafting now to use up scraps to make other cards when I can.  This is yet another reason why Paul's Christmas card was made from the same scraps....  I used sepia accents on the leaf here to make it shine and have some dimension.

Since I used the green for Paul's card, the leftover strip became this card.  My "thanks" greeting is from a Stampin' Up! stamp and punches to nestle it on the front.

I hope you're enjoying the hop this month and seeing all of the inspiration from our talented artists.  Next on the hop is Deb Weller, and if you get lost or want to start from the beginning, check out the Club Scrap Creates blog.

Merry Christmas!

Every year at Christmas, my husband and I exchange cards with one another.  It's fun, and a good way to remember to do some crafting during this busy season.  This year, it's also a sort of preview of the Club Scrap blog hop on Friday, since the card features the papers from the Aspen kit.

We usually go skiing today, and the trails are lined with birch trees, making this paper feel just like our ski trails.  And, since we are obsessed with ice skating, this is the perfect stamp this year.  A pop of red from my table full of scraps gives a happy feel to the card, and some silver pearl pen in the corners gives a little sparkle and dimension.

I hope you and yours have a wonderful holiday season, blessed with happiness, fun, and good health.

An Envelope Punch Board File Folder Book - Club Scrap Blog Hop

I hope you're enjoying the Club Scrap blog hop with the Lock & Key kit!

I was inspired this month by a project we made at retreat - a composition book with tabs that stuck outside of the book.

I wondered how I could make this as a stitched book, with the tabs inside the book, like this (sneak peek at the inside!):

I also have to admit that some of the ladies at Retreat didn't think algebra was useful in daily life, so I also took this a bit as a personal challenge to work math into my next project!

The first puzzle to solve was how to use the envelope punch board to evenly space the tabs.  At Retreat, I just did what Karen told me, but I was on my own here.

I wanted to make a six inch book (since our paper is 12 x 12 inches), and have three evenly spaced tabs.  I did a little sketch of what I wanted first and got a formula to express the width of the paper, width of the tabs, and gap between the tabs.

The envelope punch board has 1/8" spacing on the ruler, so I used a spreadsheet to vary the width of the tabs from 1 to 5 inches in 1/8" increments, and played with different amounts of small gaps until I found a combination that yielded a paper width of six inches wide.

If there is interest, I can explain this in a bit more detail later and show different sizes - let me know in the comments!  With a formula and a spreadsheet, there is a lot you can do here to customize your tabs.

I cut paper that was 6" wide and 12" long from my kit.  On the short end, I punched three papers as follows on the short end:

• For tab 1 - punch at 0" and 1.75"
• For tab 2 - punch at 2 1/8" and 3 7/8"
• For tab 3 - punch at 4 1/4" and 6" (or repeat tab 1 and flip the paper)

Trim the pieces you don't want so you end up with one tab on each of three papers.  Score these at 5 3/4" inches.

I wanted the tabs to stick out from the book, the remaining paper was cut to 6" wide and 11 5/8" long and scored in the middle (5 3/4"). 

The outer papers on the book are either a tab piece or a smaller piece of paper, so I created a pocket page for the front and back. (see my previous tutorial)

The book was stitched together using waxed linen thread over ribbons.  (see Tricia's video for an awesome explanation of this technique - starting at about 6:30)

Not being content with just having an awesome book on the inside, I created a niche on the cover to hang some charms and baubles. (see my previous tutorials)

And, here is the finished project.  I might do some more embellishing later, but it is bedtime now!

Hope you enjoy the next stop on the hop - the lovely Debbie Weller always has a fun project showcasing the monthly kit.  If you got lost along the way or want to start out at the beginning, check out Club Scrap's blog for a complete listing of participants.

I can't wait to see what Fire and Ice brings us next month....

Take Wing Blog Hop - A dimensional book

Thank you for joining me for the Take Wing blog hop sponsored by Club Scrap.

Each month, their kits inspire me to try new techniques and practice old ones in new ways.  The Take Wing collection inspired me to make a book. This book is a twist on a dimensional book I developed a few years ago (my older posts have full tutorial details).

It uses several layers of bookboard on the cover to create a dimensional niche.  The thick covers and size of the pages reminds me of "big-little" books I used to read.

Three layers of thinner bookboard are used on the cover.  Between the second and third layers I placed punched circles to simulate clouds, and the bird was mounted on a piece of bookboard to lift it above the clouds (but below the surface of the cover of the book).

For the inside pages, I cut a 12 x 12 sheet into 4 x 6 pieces and one 8 x 8 piece for the back cover. On the 4 x 6 pieces, I used a Sizzix die to cut a fancy edge.  This creates a little extra space in the book, and a cool decorative effect.  Because the pages are 4x4, they are perfect for showcasing a photo collection.

What else did I use here?

• A chicken wire stencil from Crafter's workshop for the textured pattern on the cover
• I used a brayer with a foam attachment and a Kaledacolor ink pad to create the vibrant stripes
• The Be Still stamp from Club Scrap for the swirls (I used the wood stamp, but similar swirls are still available on this lovely unmounted sheet)
• Club Scrap Retreat stencil from 2011(no longer available) for the bird - traced onto shrink plastic first
• Elements of Style stamp from Stampin' Up! for the swirls on the bird - be sure to use StazOn ink for stamping on shrink plastic. It just works best.

Next on our hop is the fabulous Debbie Weller.  I can't wait to see what she has planned for this month!

If you want to start back at the beginning, or have lost your way, please check out the Club Scrap blog for the full listing of participants.