Recent Posts

28/06/2013

Baby Girl & Boy Congratulations

Today I made some baby cards. I made four purple & pink and four green & blue.



This is the first time I've ever used washitape on a card, and I'm so happy with how it looks. Once I put the twine across the middle, I felt the card was too plain. I slid it up and put washitape under it and I think it made it tons better than before!


The stamps along the bottom are all part of a set. I thought at first that the black would be too dark for these cards, but I think it was just enough to balance out the pastel colours.


Here we have the green one. The thing I like most about this card (minus the smudges of ink) is that if I changed the "congratulations" sentiment at the top to "you're invited" or "our baby is here", I could easily turn this congrats card into an invitation or a birth announcement!


I originally made this one first, and put the lime green washitape on it. I felt that it made it better. Now I think I should have gone with something to match the card base, like I did with the pink ones. But I still like this one as it is.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!
-Alex

27/06/2013

Another Happy Birthday!

Yesterday, while browsing one of my card magazines, I stumbled across something similar to what I'm about to show you. I loved it and though I struggled to achieve something similar, I made two cards from it, and I love them more than I thought I would.


First up, we have the navy and charcoal grey card. The light grey circles were added mostly to cover a mistake or two, but I kind of like them. I just wish they could have been placed differently.


Here's a close up to show you two of the different stamped circle borders. They were made using a couple of my Stampin Up stamps from the Big Flowers set. I had to cover the flowers with a circle, to only get the border I wanted. It was tough, but I'm happy with how it turned out.


Here's a close up of the sentiment. It proves that my stamping abilities can be improved. But I love this sentiment. It also shows the texture of the yellow paper.


Then I made one in pink, without random light grey circles. I think it looks a lot better without it, but I also think that the texture on the red/pink circles adds to the card.


Here you can better see the details of the circles.

Thanks for stopping by! Hope to see you again soon!
Have a wonderful day!
-Alex

26/06/2013

Personal Planner Turned Address Book

Good morning! Today I'm going to share a brief overview of my new address book. There are a few things I wish I had done differently now, but I'm still happy with how it turned out. I think it would have been better if I would have made them double sided, despite not wanting to. This way I could have inserted dividers so I could easily find the letter I was looking for.


As you can see here, it's almost crammed into it. I used cardstock because I wanted something sturdy that wouldn't bend or get damaged too easily. I don't want to have to spend more money than needed to remake it if it gets ruined. I alternated the pages between charcoal grey and raspberry.


This is what I see when I open it. In the left pouch I have my little calendar in which I keep track of mail coming in and mail going out so I know who's letter was sent when and can easily look it up if they ask. The striped cover I made myself using some scrap pieces. On the right is my black Sharpie Pen.
*I made note cards using this technique and I'll explain how to best achieve it in that post.


This is what my planning stage for this looked like. In the end, I moved the photo to the top, and cut 1/2" off the right side so that all my pages would fit. I made this template in Microsoft Word and typed everything out.
This is the template I used in Word. I made a table and split the row in the middle into two columns, one with three rows. Or you could make your table in Excel and simply merge the cells on the left into one, and leave the three on the right. Or you can come up with a layout all your own. I didn't want the borders in the middle to show, so I only turned on the outside borders. In word, the dotted lines show the border, and when printed it looks like the photo below. 

You could combine like/hobbies like I had in my original layout, and you could also insert the photo directly into the table. I cut the outside borders off of my printed copies, as they were only there so that everything was the same size when cut, without doing unnecessary measuring.


At the back of my address book, I inserted some adhesive mailing labels, and I also slid some smaller pieces of stationery into the back, in case I decide to write a letter on the go. 

And that's my address book! I'll ask a few penpals if they'd  be comfortable having me share their page (minus their address) so you can see what the finished page looks like and share that later!

Have a wonderful Wednesday everyone!
-Alex

25/06/2013

Paper Stack Storage Solution

Alright, so for those of you who know me, I have a love of paper. There has only been a handful of times that I've gone shopping, and not bought at least one paper stack. Unfortunately, that means that I have A LOT of paper.
I don't know that there is any right way to store it, but while browsing my Instagram feed, I came across a crafty lady who had come done what I'm about to show you. I thought it was the smartest thing I'd ever seen!
At some point I'd like to get more shelves so I can store all of my paper this way, and not just my paper stacks.
So, there's my shelf. I'm sure you've seen them at Walmart and thought "What would I ever use that for? Things would fall through the holes". They also have fabric boxes that could fit into the cubes. It worked for other things for a while, but I decided that it wasn't working for me that way. So I took it apart and found some metal ties (metal twist ties from bread or garbage bags work).


I assembled two of the cubes and used the remaining pieces (plus two I took from another one of these) to make this. I used twist ties to secure each shelf to the outside in five places. Two on either side and one on the back in the middle. Then I slid all of my paper stacks into it and ta da. You could also use this for individual sheets, just put similar patterns/colours together.

There you have it! A simple storage solution you can make yourself. And there is no limit to how many cubes you could build, I think I might add another two cubes onto this for all my other paper!

Have a wonderful Tuesday everyone!

-Alex

24/06/2013

Desk Storage

Good afternoon lovelies! I've been rearranging my desk and all my supplies to try and find a place for everything  that works best for me. But at the same time, I'm looking for more practical ways to store everything.
One thing that has stayed the same since "The Grand Tour" post, is the drawers on my large desk. I decided that the most practical thing for them, was to put things I use on a regular basis in them, without weighing them down too much. That being said, all my paper is stored elsewhere, but has also been moved since The Grand Tour. The top of my desk has also been rearranged a couple times, and will be changed again I think.


In the bottom drawer, I have all my handmade envelopes. The two rows on the left are wallpaper envelopes sorted by texture/pattern. To the right of those is a row of magazine envelopes made from Seventeen Magazine. To the right of those are Warhammer envelopes made from the magazine White Dwarf. Jon is a huge Warhammer enthusiast and recently subscribed to the White Dwarf. Once he read them, he gives them to me and has me make them into envelopes. He intends to send Christmas cards and Birthday cards to his friends in them. I think it's wonderful that our hobbies have overlapped a little bit!


In the drawer above that, I have wallpaper pieces that I chose not to use for envelopes for various reasons. The white ones on the bottom of the pile are "paintable" wallpaper. So I'm looking for something else that I could use them for. Some suggested testing out different kinds of paints on them and covering journals/notebooks with them. If anyone has any ideas that would be great! I also have a package of tissue paper, which will be used for tissue paper flowers in a later post. Once this wallpaper is used up, this drawer will hopefully be used for my always growing acrylic stamp collection.


In the drawer above that, I have a giant mess currently. I need to get drawer dividers, or more shoe boxes of varying sizes. What I have in here is a mixture of everything that I use on a regular basis, and thins I just wanted to get out of my old desk. In the box on the left I have all my foam squares, tape, Zots, cutting blades for my knife and paper slicer. I have a couple glue sticks, refills for my tape gun, and a few other adhesives I don't use very often. Above that I have tacks, post it notes and all my glue sticks. I also have my old tape gun that my mom got me for Christmas. In the middle I have all my punches and my circle cutter. Above them are my glue sticks for my glue gun, my glue gun, and my heat gun. On the right is a box of all my glitter. There is also a set of alphabet stamps that I've had since I first started scrapbooking.


The arrangement of my top drawer has changed a little bit since this photo, but the things in it has stayed the same. I have all my cricuit cartridges (not many), cutting mats, tool kit, scoring boards, hole punch, ink and mounting blocks, and my stamp cleaner in this drawer. A lot of what I use on a regular basis is stored in my carousel, but these items won't fit and so I store them here.

I'm slowly getting myself organized now that I have enough storage space for all of it. Tomorrow I'll show you all how I store my paper stacks now! I must admit though, the idea wasn't mine but I wish it was!

Have a wonderful Monday everyone!
-Alex

21/06/2013

Shopping..Again

I needed to get white 12" x 12" paper, and I did (not pictured here), but I couldn't help myself when it came to these stamps. I saw some others that I really liked, but refrained from buying them. For now! I also needed grey ink, and bought a pink as well.



These are great for Project Life, or simply scrapbooking. Could also work for something wedding related, like a program or "the story of us".


These vintage postal looking stamps will be perfect for Valentine's Day cards and any Valentine's mail that I send to penpals!


I needed more Father's Day stamps, and found these. They're perfect for next years Father's Day cards!


Here's a close up of the inks I bought so you could see the names and numbers!

There you have it! My shopping haul from yesterday. After the weekend, I'll hopefully be able to share my DIY address book, made using an old Filofax type planner, and some scrapbook paper!

Have a good one!
-Alex

Craft Haul

I got a bunch of things in the mail today, and later I'll share what I bought when I went out to get paper.
I received 2 orders from Peachy Cheap this morning, and I was super excited and pleased with what I received! I can't wait to use them!


The first order was Paper Crate and Studio Calico embellishments. The top left is wooden bingo chips from Paper Crate. Perfect for putting an age or date onto a project. Top right is date buttons from Studio Calico. Great for Project life! Bottom left is clothes pins from Paper Crate and the bottom right is paper pieces from Studio Calico.


Here's part of my second order. These also came from Peachy Cheap, but everything from this order was from Glitz Design. The left is layered stickers, the right is peek a boo pieces, and the bottom right is giant rhinestone. All of these came from their 'Yours Truly' collection 


And the second half of the second haul is paper layers and what nots, also from the Glitz Design 'Yours Truly' collection. I'm excited about these!

There's my daily deal haul for today! Have a wonderful one!
-Alex






20/06/2013

Stamps, Stamps, Stamps

I got my stamps from Peachy Cheap in the mail today! I was super excited to get them. I almost forgot that I had ordered them, but I'm glad I did. They're ideal for scrapbooks or Project Life.


Here's a photo of all three, I took closer photos of each set so you could see them better.


I like the detail on these, and that there's a little space on the two on the right to put little notes. 


I love the box on the right. You could use it for anything. It would be great for small to do lists or little notes.


I bought a few Stampin' Up stamps a couple months ago that were corner stamps. They're so handy! Sometimes you just want to put the sentiment on the corner.

That's my stamp haul from yesterday. I have a bunch more things coming in the mail from both Peachy Cheap (here), Scrapbook Daily Deals (here). Every once in a while Pick Your Plum (here), has scrapbook supplies, but they also have a variety of amazing non-crafty things that pop up on their daily sale. Definitely worth checking out all three of them!

If you know of any other websites with cheap craft supplies that ship to Canada, I'd be more than happy to take a look at them!

Have a wonderful day!
-Alex

19/06/2013

Happy Birthday to You!

Made this lovely birthday card and wanted to share it with all of you! Some of it's elements were displayed in yesterdays graduation card, but the swirls on this one are more what I was going for in the last one. They're simple and beautiful!


This card opens from the bottom, and the twine was wrapped 4 times with a single bow. The large flower, and the one little flower below it have glitter on them.


I really don't like glitter, but this card needed something to make it sparkle!


The twine is centred between the swirls and tied with a single bow.


I was originally going to put the banner on the very edge, but decided that I liked it better at the edge of the beige paper.

What do you think? If you have any questions about what I used, I'll do my best to give you a detailed description.

Have a lovely day everyone!
-Alex

18/06/2013

You did it!

A coworker of mine graduates highschool at the end of the month. We decided that we'd give her a card and a small gift to celebrate her achievement, and so I made this lovely card for her.


Using an additional left over piece from yesterday's Father's Day cards, stamped swirls along the edges and 'you did it!' in the bottom right corner.


Here you can see a close up of the double twine bow and the swirls. There's a piece of black and white striped paper between the flowers and the front sheet to break it up a little. I could have simply used a plain black piece. 


And a close up of the swirls. The left side was stamped once using brown and black ink to make it a little lighter. The ones on the bottom were stamped with brown over the edge and then black along the edge.

And there you have it! I consulted with Jon a lot on this card. He was more than happy to help me coordinate things and I really think this card is more of him than me. He altered my original idea, and made it better. That's why I love him!

Have a wonderful day!
-Alex

17/06/2013

Happy Father's Day

After deciding that I wouldn't be posting anything on the blog on the weekends, here are some Father's Day cards I made over the weekend. If you have any questions about anything I used, please don't hesitate to ask.

Happy (belated) Father's Day to all you Father's out there! These cards are for you!
I spent my afternoon trying to come up with something Father related to post for all of you, and I thought why not post a couple cards?


I'm a little unsure about the one on the right being so plain, but Jon loves them (of course) so I think I'll just leave them as they are. I also included individual photos and close ups for all of you.

Don't mind the mess that is my desk behind it, but here's the first one. It opens on the right hand side.  


Here's a close up of the two buttons, I layered on top of each other and tied with twine.


 Here's a close up of the Happy Father's Day banner in the bottom right corner.


Here's a close up of the paper I used on both cards.
On this card I stamped the circles on it to go with the buttons and jazz it up a bit.


Here's the second one. I used the same Happy Father's Day stamp and twine.  


The stars are from close to my heart, and I think I might need to start buying more things from them!
These are great! I also have a bunch of other cut outs from them.


Here's a close up of the bottom of the card. It opens at the bottom.

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and Father's Day!
-Alex