Recipe Boook

Craig took these pictures, aren't they good? I made this as something to display for the store, using Teresa Collins paper and the tabbed covers. I am really proud of the way it turned out. I custom mixed the green color with the new line of Claudine Hellmuth Studio paints. They are easy to mix because it's basically half and half. I wanted a little more of an olivey color so I added red to the blue and yellow I already had mixed up. The glossy multi media is great to add a little less opacity to the color plus it's great to use as a glue. Just coat the back of whatever it is you're trying to adhere, press out all the bubbles, and paint the same stuff over the top. Very cool!

These are a couple of the inside pages, I used the Cricut to cut the shapes and lettering. I used the Home Accents and the Accent Essentials cartridges for the shapes and Plantin Schoolbook for the lettering. Some of those Home accents shapes are pretty intricate, I learned that the hard way and wound up using the Scrapbook Adhesive brand adhesive sheets on the card stock before I cut it so I could just stick it down. What a pain to stick down all those little itty bitty bits otherwise. Anyway, it was fun to do and I guess enough other people liked it enough for me to teach a class on it in August! Wouldn't it be cool to do this kind of thing full time?

I LOVE these stamps!  I love the vintage feel and I especially love how i can color them in with Copics.  the 2 stamp sets I used were both by Clear Art Stamps and  are "Little Chef" and "Bouquet of Joy" 

Bleaching

This was a technique I saw described on SCS.  What caught my eye was the the stamp, and the asian feel.  It turns out that the stamp was retired from Stampin' Up, 'Riot of Petals'.  It took me forever to find it. (I paid way to much on ebay!) The technique is simple; emboss the image onto dark cardstock then apply bleach (regular Clorox) to the image to take out the pigment in the cardstock.  What's cool is the variations of color that the bleaching gives you.  This was dark blue Creative Memories paper that bleached out into various shades of purples to white.  I found that drying between bleach applications worked better.  I went back in with my Copics and colored in the leaves and the branches.  It didn't seem to hurt the pens any, I was worried about the bleach affecting the nibs.  I used an aquacolor waterbrush and filled it with clorox. Kept the smell down to a minimum.  It would be fun to experiment with different colors of darker cardstock.

You can kind of the see the variations in this this close-up.  It's really beautiful in person.

Acetate Overlays

This is a card I designed for the Scrapbook Expo class that Kara and I taught in San Diego. She really encouraged me to go for it, it was agony because I am my own worst critic. I always feel like I have to get it right the first time, I don't expect that from anyone else, guess I'm weird. I colored in the Karen Lockhart blueberry shoe with my Copic pens (I don't remember which colors I used, didn't keep track). I do know that I airbrushed the background after masking off the shoe. The paper is all by Graphic 45, great line of paper. The rub-ons are by K & Company, way cool because they came with the jewels.












Close up of the shoe.

This is another of the overlay cards but with the "Lilacs" stamp by Karen Lockhart. I once again have no idea what color Copic pens I used!

Close-up of the pitcher and the lilacs, I love the vibrancy of Copics. I did this after I became an official Copic instructor (in LA during CHA).

A Really Green Vacation Book...

I went down to the scrapbook expo in San Diego with my friends Kara and Jana. I had a great time even though I was there to work.  Jana and I were cruising around before the Expo opened up morning and we saw the greatest album in the Rusty Pickle booth.  It was made using regular old cardboard and I loved it.  So, I bought their kit but also tried to make on of my own.  I cut up some boxes from the garage when I got home and used the "Snorkel" paper from Cosmo Cricket ...taadaa! Craig took all the pictures so it was truly a family project!

Here's pages 2 and 3. I had to use the paper in different ways to cover up the 'U-Haul' logos on the pieces I'd cut.  Anyone have any good ideas for getting clean cuts on corrugated cardboard? My rotary cutter didn't cut deep enough and the guillotine cutter smushed it too much.  I finally wound up using a straight edge and an Exacto knife.

I thought those guys at the Rusty Pickle had some great ideas. How come I never thought of making a little flap like this? They used a safety pin but I didn't have one so I improvised with a paper clip and a brad.

The little flap lifted up so I could show another picture of Zachary along with journaling.  I love it!

Garrett hanging with Juliet in the boat.

I think I have this figured out, the picture and comment thing...I love the little tag on the O-ring! Garrett is jumping of this big rock, I took pictures of him using the burst mode.  Jandi was the best boat driver...

We boated over to this cove one afternoon , it looked like it was going to rain but it didn't. Amanda is such a dork.  I couldn't get a straight picture of that girl EVER!

The end.  The Snorkel paper was perfect.