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Maximize your stamps Day 2: Birthdays

Welcome back! Today I am sharing a few ways you can use the stamp set Eat more cake from Kellie stamps to make cards, layouts and party decor for birthdays. Let´s go!

These first projects are made by myself. I´ve made a wrapping paper by using a WORD document, setting the paper to horizontal and then adding in the two digital stamps happy and birthday as you can see. For a little bit more interest I chose to make the middle row a bit bigger and use a bright pink. You can easily change the color of the stamps in a digital editing program such as Photoshop. I have used the free website picmonkey.com for that. 

I also used Picmonkey for the card shown here. I started out with a 4x6" canvas and added the stamps at the top there several times and changing the color/opacity level on a few to create the faded stamp effect. The cake stamp is an older one from Kellie stamps that is not longer available, but you could add any birthday related stamp or embellishment really. 

Here are two fun cards made by the owner her self, Kellie. Here is what she says:

Over the other weekend Diane was sharing her watercolour cards she'd made.  It got a lot of us inspired to start creating and so I grabbed out my forgotten watercolour paint set and tried a few things that weren't working. But then I remembered watching a youtube clip  from Amy Tan, here.  After that is all just came together and I love it. 

Tracey made this cool card! 

My intention was to make it look like a lightbox.  It took way longer than I thought (silhouette dramas) but I am really happy with how it turned out.  I have made the messages on acetate that can be removed to give it more of an authentic look.

Diane is the one who made all the fabulous brush script in this stamp set! 

I created this layout to celebrate my 35th birthday and there is no better way to make a layout special than with a WHOLE LOT of stamping in my favourite colour: rainbow! I threw some stitching in there as well and I have a very special layout for my special day!

My fellow swedish DT member Magdalena made this fun and different birthday layout.

My daughter turned seven in August so this stamp set for perfect to use for my traditional birthday interview project. I also wrote a bit about her day.

Cecily made two fun party pieces! 

To create these coordinating birthday pieces, simply grab some digital stamps and create your sentiment, then attach them to coordinating cardstock or card base and you're ready to roll. I chose the traditional 'Happy Birthday' but there are loads of things you could say!

Make sure the two words are fully attached to each other for easy trimming and then accentuate the black and white words with a pop of color–or confetti like I've done with this card!

 

Tara made this cute pocket page spread. 

I made my own journal cards using the Letterglow app, changing the colors for boys/girls. I am going to be doing an IG giveaway for a pdf of the journal cards.

 

Isn´t this just a fantastic use of just one stamp set?!

Ok, so we have birthdays down, tune in tomorrow to see some home decor projects!

Maximize your stamp set Day 1

 

 

 

Hi and welcome to this week´s theme that will be all about this stamp set! Besides being a team member here at WCS, I am also a design team member for a stamp company called Kellie stamps. Kellie comes out with one or two sets a month and I am always so inspired by them and make a ton of projetcs with them. This week I wanted to share how I and several of the other design team members at Kellie stamps have worked with this stamp set. We have worked both with the physical set and a digital set. 

Let´s talk about the set for a minute. As you can see it´s a birthday/party themed set with words like happy birthday and so on, but the fun think is that most of the stamps are mounted on their own so you can use them one by one making it easy to make other projects with them too! 

Here is a sneak peek of what is coming this week! Ah, I get all giddy when I see all the fun projects in this collage, don´t you? Be sure to pop back in here all week to see more. Here is the schedule:

Monday: Introduction

Tuesday: Birthdays 

Wednesday: Home decor

Thursday: Giveaway post!

Friday: Non-birthday ideas

 

I have to write a small disclaimer telling you that eventhough I do get this set for free as a CT member, I really do love Kellie stamps and have created with the stamps sets many, many times. I also want to write that there are other really great stamp comepanies out there. 

Lisa

Let's Try Something New Day 4

 

 

Hey, Ewa here 
Today is my turn to encourage you to try something new. Each of us has time such a day that does 
not have an idea for a new LO, any papers do not fit,add-ons as well. You sit an hour on an empty 
desk.
And here's my idea for days like these! Why wouldn't you try to create your own add-ons ?

For this Lo i made my own add-ons (the square next to the image). 
 
I stamped some colorless emmbosing ink on watercolor paper and covered it with 
transparent embossing powder. 
Then I used a hit gun and let powder dry off. Later I painted it with watercolor using myfavorite color and then cut squares out of it. Now, just few more pieces of patterned 
paper, labes and wood chips and it's ready!!

 

 

Still Bored? Let's make your own background!

 

In this LO I used my favourite mask and glossy gel medium. One part is clear glossy medium and the other is mixed with some green waterbased ink. When a glossy medium is completely dry finish your background as You wish ( use sprays, watercolor paint , panpastels  or gelatos )

I hope you liked my ideas for trying somethig new.

Hugs Ewa

 

 

Letterpress and Scrapbooking

 

Hi there, it's Cristina here with some letterpress inspiration. Last week, Jennifer talked about learning to letterpress, and I want to show you how easy it is to build a scrapbook page starting from some gorgeous letterpress designs.

A while back I showed you how to create a faux letterpress look using embossing folders, but today I want to show you how to do real letterpressing.

Supplies

Here is what you'll need:

• Die cutting machine. I have a Big Shot.
• Letterpress platform. I have seen people who say they can letterpress just by adding some cardstock shims and the regular cutting pads, but I didn't want to have to guess every time so I bought the platform - and I have no regrets! Especially since letterpress paper is pretty expensive and I don't want to waste it on trials.
• Letterpress paper. The type of paper you use is critical to get a deep impression and get the most out of your letterpressing. I know some crafters have great results with watercolor paper, but that has not been the case with the watercolor paper I had on hand, so letterpress paper it is for me. 
• Letterpress plates. There are many designs available, I'm sure you'll have fun picking your favorites!
• Ink. To be honest, I have not tried letterpress ink just yet. I've heard horror stories about how hard it is to clean up, so I started going the easy way, and I have just used ink pads for now. :) The examples on this page use distress ink pads (I love the bright colors). I also love doing blind impressions (no ink) as I think adding the ink detracts a bit from the deep impression.

Letterpressing

With the idea of putting a page together, I made two letterpressed cards using plates from Studio Calico.

For the card on the left I used the picked raspberry color, and I added spiced marmalade for the card on the right to get an ombre effect.

Putting the page together

I used the Poet Society kits by Studio Calico. Using the letterpressed cards, it was very easy to build a design using my photo and some strips of patterned paper. I added some stamping with grey ink to tie to the background paper, and completed the page with some gold splatters and sewing. 

Here are a couple detail shots.

I hope this has inspired you to give lettepress a try - I love how easy it is to put together a page starting from a couple of letterpressed cards. Share your creations in the comments! I'd love to hear your tips too, as I am just starting out myself.

Learn a New Technique! Day Three: Watercolor

 

Welcome to another Learning a new technique post this week! Lisa here and today I am going to show you how very easily you can use watercolors to make pocket cards. The trend of watercolors in memory keeping has been going on for a while now, but let´s face it not everyone is a painter me included! But, really, if you can hold a brush and color then you are set. I am going to show you 4 examples.

 

Let´s start!

Circle card

1. First cut cardstock/watercolor paper to the size card you would like to make. I cut mine to 3x4” cards.
2. For this first card I used a fuller brush like this.
3. Choose your color and then simply paint a circle that is filled in.
4. Put aside to dry!    

 

Striped card

1. I used a flat brush for this.
2. Choose your color and with the flat brush paint stripes across the card. 

 

Splatter

1. Change back to the fuller brush.
2. Clear your workspace so that nothing will get splattered that shouldn´t.
3. Choose your color and make sure that you use a little more water so that you can easily get splatter.
4. Then hold your brush like you would a magic wand (he he) and make a rapid motion downwards so that you get small drops of color on your card.

 

 

Stamped card

1. For this I used an outlined heart stamp from Technique Tuesday, but the important thing is to have a stamp that is outlined.
2. Stamp (with your normal stamp pad) randomly on the card and then let dry.
3. Now, use a thin brush (or even a q-tip) depending on how big the space is that you will color in is.
4. Tip! Don´t use too much water when you color in the stamp.

 

Now you have your basic cards. Here is how I used my 4 cards in my Project Life album!

 

 The circle card became a title card. 

 

The lined one is perfect for journaling.

 The splattered one is a weekly card.

 

And finally the stamped card is used as a background.

 

Fun, eh?! I hope that I have been able to inspire you to try watercolors for yourself! Have a great day!

Lisa

scrapbook. How about a stamp giveaway?

Hello, and happy Wednesday!

Are the kids back in school?  Are you ready to sit down and do some power scrapping?

Today I've got a stamp set to give away, the very fun and versatile Geotags stamp set designed by Ali Edwards for Technique Tuesday.

 

Just leave a comment on this thread and let me know what your favorite types of stamps are to use on your layouts.  I will do a random draw and come back and announce the winner on this thread on Sunday the 7th.

Good luck!

eta the winner is #34 Melinda Wilson

I love to have non-specific stamps that are not "themed" to a specific holiday or event so I can get lots of use out of them on my layouts and cards.

Thanks, everyone!  I will be back with more goodies in the near future!

 

Rainbow Scrap Page

 

Hi there, it's Cristina here with a fun step by step rainbow tutorial.

I recently made a page that I love based on a rainbow inspiration, and I wanted to share with you some thoughts about the process.

This page started with the idea of making a rainbow page. I decided to use a starburst mask and a few of my mists to create a background for my page.

I started with red, then orange, yellow, green, blue, and then only had room on my page for some purple to complete the rainbow. :) After I was done spraying my mists, I searched for embellishments in my stash that matched these colors.

At this point, I went looking for photos to match the rainbow theme of the page. Since I love bright colors - both on scrapbook pages and on clothes - I decided to look for pictures of me wearing the colors of the rainbow. I selected and printed out five of them. At this point, I had to decide how to arrange the photos. I tried alternating the pictures above and below, then I tried lining them up on top of the rainbow, and finally I decided I liked them best arranged at the bottom, but not lined up too precisely.

The final step to complete my page was to add a title - done by stamping in gray - and journaling.

I love how this page turned out, and I hope it inspires you to create a rainbow page!

Fun with embossing folders

 

Hi there, it's Cristina here with some embossing inspiration for you. Since I got into scrapbooking through digital scrapbooking, I missed out on a lot of traditional tools. I am gradually catching up, though, ever since I got into paper scrapbooking when I started Project Life. A couple months ago, I took the plunge and bought a manual die cutting machine. After considering other options (mostly the Cuttlebug, which is smaller and less sturdy, but cheaper), I decided to get the Big Shot. My main motivation to buy it was to use it as a cutting machine with wafer thin dies, but I also bought an embossing folder, just to try it out... and since then I have fallen in love big time with embossing!

I really love the results! Here are a few cards I made for my Project Life album. The process is so quick and easy, and works with pretty much any kind of paper. I love to add watercolors or stamping to the embossed cards, and I even tried the faux letterpress look.

Embossing and watercoloring

I love to use watercolors to accent my embossed cards. This first example uses a thick grid card from Studio Calico. Since I wanted to use watercolors heavily on this card, I needed thick paper that could hold that much water and paint.

Embossing folder: Amy Tangerine

This card was done using a cheap index card from Staples. My watercoloring is done in a few spots and using little water, so the paper held up well.

Embossing folder: Tim Holtz

This next card was done on thicker paper. Adding a sticker and my photo, this card is ready to put in my Project Life album.

Embossing folder: We R Memory Keepers

 

Embossing and stamping

As a big fan of stamping, I also love to combine embossed cards with stamped accents. Here's two examples. 

Embossing folders: Cuttlebug (left)          Tim Holtz (right)

 

Faux letterpress

Finally, since letterpress is all the rage and I love the look, but don't own any letterpress plates nor paper, I have been playing with creating a faux letterpress look with my embossing folders. I just used some Hero Arts shadow inks to make this card (index cards from Staples). I inked the embossing folder with the ink pad, and ran it through the machine. Next, I cleaned the folder, inked it up with another color and embossed again.

This one is probably my favorite plate set! By We R Memory Keepers

Seriously.. embossing, where have you been all my life?? ;) Are you a fan too?

Let's Celebrate With a Stamp Giveaway!

Hi everyone!

Today is July 4th, Independence Day in the USA. A day for cookouts, fireworks, and parades. Whatever you're doing, wherever you are, I hope you are having a great day!

For today's post I thought I'd do a stamp giveaway. I have a brand new Technique Tuesday Fun in the Sun stamp set designed by Ali Edwards to give away to 1 lucky commenter.

 

These stamps are so great for summertime layouts!

If you would like to be considered for this giveaway, just leave a comment from now until Sunday, July 6th. I will post the lucky number holder here on this post on Monday morning. Please remember to check back to see if yours was the number chosen!

Happy Fourth!

eta Stacie D is the winner of the stamps:  Love, love, love, AE stamps! These would be perfect for my kids' albums I am working on right now!

I have emailed Stacie to let her know she won.  Thanks so much for the comments, I will come back more often with stamp goodies!

Scrapbook | Summer Bucket List

Hi everyone, Diane here! I thought it would be fun to kick off summer with a bucket list of things to do with family and friends. I decided to keep my list fairly short, only 9 items, so it wouldn't feel overwhleming.

I enlarged a favorite photo from a couple summers ago to document my list. I think it just screams summer, don't you?!

The title was created with a combination of stamping and flair. To the right of my photo I recorded my summer bucket list.

I'm looking forward to doing these things with my family and friends, making new memories and recording them along the way too. I hope to make this a 2-pager at the end of the summer with photos of each of the items on the list that we actually do on the second page!

What are your plans this summer? Why don't you make a summer bucket list layout like mine? It will be fun to look back on at the end of summer when the kids head back to school.