Club Scrap Blog Hop - Aspen

Hello!  Welcome to the December edition of the Club Scrap blog hop!  This month we're crafting with the wintry Aspen collection.  I'm going to show you how I used elements of this kit on a traditional layout and a pocket-style scrapbook page.

If you traveled here from Lisa's blog, then you are following the hop!  If you've lost your way or just want to see all the links in one place, head over to the Club Scrap Creates blog to see a list of all the talented bloggers participating today.

I have a lot of ideas of what I want to get accomplished in 2014, crafting-wise, and one of them is to get all of my old pictures into albums.  I'm a little overwhelmed with what I have to tackle on these, so I think I'm going to slip most of these pictures into pocket page protectors like these.  I was able to use many elements from this month's kit to create 4x6 and 3x4 cards that I then used on these both on a traditional 12x12 layout and in the pocket page protector.

My original inspiration came from this layout here - instead of using pre-made 3x4 cards, I created my own with the papers in the Aspen kit and all of the goodies that came along with it!

Some of my favorite supplies in this kit include the mica handmade paper and the wood veneer sheets.  And the chevron ribbon.  Oh, and the buttons.  Really, pretty much everything.  This is a pretty simple page for me, but it helps to not complicate things to much when you are going to pair this with a very linear page next to it using the pocket page protector.

I was able to get a lot of photos into these pockets pretty easily - I only had to cut a few down to size to fit into the smaller pockets in the middle.  I had a lot of fun trying to see how I could fit elements like the stickers and the die cut frames on this side of the page.

I think my favorite part about this side is the 3x4 wood veneer card I punched out.  I also ended up using the stars that I punched out on the traditional 12x12 layout, so I got a lot out of this piece of wood veneer and the punch!  Depending on what I put on the reverse side of this page, I might line the back of the card with washi tape so it peeks through the cutouts, or just leave it transparent.  I'll make a decision when I get there!

Thank you again for coming back and checking out what you can accomplish with Aspen and a little time on your hands!  Head on over to Annette Dragon's to see what she has been working on.  Join us again in 2014 when we kick off January with Club Scrap's Graffiti collection!

Supplies // Paper: Club Scrap Aspen: Almond Plain, Blue Pattern, Green, Almond, and Aqua Patterned Paper , Handmade Mica / Stamps: Club Scrap Aspen Collection UM, Art Nouveau / Inks: Club Scrap Sandstone, India Ink / Tools: Martha Stewart Starry Sky Punch, Pocket Page protectors / Embellishments: Club Scrap: Wood Veneer Sheets, Tags & Cutouts, Stickers, Chevron Twill, Buttons

Club Scrap Blog Hop - Gnome for the Holidays

Happy Holidays and welcome to a special edition of the Club Scrap blog hop!  Club Scrap has released their 2013 holiday kit, Gnome for the Holidays.  I got a lot of use out of the stamps in this kit and was able to make my holiday wrapping paper and gift tags even more festive!

If you traveled here from Annette's blog, then you are following the hop!  If you've lost your way or just want to see all the links in one place, head over to the Club Scrap Creates blog to see a list of all the talented bloggers participating today.

My good friend Anne Marie pitched this idea while we were eating dinner at this year's August Retreat, and we all had a great time and lots of laughs trying to think of "punny" names.  I love how this kit turned out!

I used the stamps, some brown paper packaging and string to make my wrapping paper and tags for my gifts this year.  I really like the look of kraft paper and baker's twine, so I decided to stamp on the paper before wrapping the presents to make it homemade.

I also used the stamps to make little gift tags for the presents as well.  I tried a couple of techniques - one was paper piecing.  I simply stamped the image three times, once on red paper, once on green, and once on white, then cut the pieces out and reassembled.  This gives a nice dimensional look to the image and no coloring is required!

I did the same thing for the gnome tag, but used some patterned paper instead.  I think I like this combination on the wrapping paper the best - there is something about a white image on the kraft paper that makes me happy

I also tried out the chalkboard technique I demonstrated in my last post - I think this makes for a really fun gift tag!

Short, sweet, and simple, but who needs additional stress during the holidays?  Try these ideas out if you are looking to add a handmade touch to your gifts this year.

Up next on the hop is Hetty from the Netherlands!  Be sure to stop by and wish her the best of the season.

Have a safe, wonderful, and happy holiday!

Supplies // Paper: From Stash: Kraft wrapping paper / Inks: Club Scrap Earth, White Pigment, India Ink, Spruce, WOW Red / Stamps: Gnome for the Holidays / Embellishments: Baker's Twine

December Card Sketch and Technique Challenge

This month over at our card sketch challenge at Club Scrap, Anne Marie and I decided to change it up a bit and do a sketch and technique challenge.  Come play along - use just the sketch or try your hand at the chalkboard technique!

Chalkboard is all over the scrapbooking and decorating world - just check out Pinterest any day and you are sure to see something!  There are a lot of tutorials out there on how to achieve this look, but I wanted to see how I could recreate this trend using primarily Club Scrap products.  This technique was a lot of fun to try out - it really helped me look at my plethora of stamps in a different way and how I could incorporate different stamps into a cohesive final product.  Here's a quick look at how I created this card:

First thing is to cut out your panel that you will be using for your chalkboard background.  I used black cardstock, but you could use any dark color - gray or the traditional chalkboard green come to mind.  I cut this panel to 2.5 x 3.5 inches for this particular sketch. You will be using white embossing powder, so I swiped my embossing buddy across the cardstock so the powder will end up exactly where I wanted it.  This is important since the white powder will definitely stand out on the dark background.

I first tried out the design I had in mind on a scrap piece of paper - this will help me when I'm using clear VersaMark on the black cardstock.  I used stamps from Give Thanks and from the new Neon Doodles stamp set - look for "hand-drawn" looking stamps to assist with the illusion of chalkboard art.  Following my "sketch", I stamped with the clear ink.  I stamped one image at a time since I was using the same stamp several times on the same panel, but if you are able to use a single collage image or create your own using several stamps, go right ahead and stamp it all at once.

Once I stamped with the clear ink,  I poured the white embossing powder on my images and used a fine brush to clean up the images a bit.  Be careful at the step - the powder attached to the ink is not set yet and can easily be moved.  I concentrated on the more open areas where the powder was still sticking a bit.

Heat set the powder and your main image is done!

I added some color to my panel at this point with a colored pencil.  I would recommend one to two colors, or you can keep it simple and add some lines with just a white pencil.  I picked blue to compliment the cardstock I knew I would be using on the rest of the card.

The next step is to add the "shadow" to your image - this helps to make the image look like it's drawn on with chalk.  You will be using the same stamps you used with the embossing powder with white pigment ink this time.  This second image will be slightly offset from the embossed image, so I used a Stamp-A-Ma-Jig to help with placement since I'm using rubber stamps.  If you are using clear stamps, this tool might not be necessary, but I find it helpful if you like to be exact with your placement.

I stamped the same images slightly offset from the embossed images - you can see this better in the completed card above.

Club Scrap makes a lot of great "noise" stamps.  I used this one from the Full Circle Jr. kit to make a chalky background on my cardstock.  A stark black background won't help with the illusion of chalkboard art - you have to make it look like it's been erased a few times and the chalk dust is still lingering.  I inked this background stamp up with the white pigment ink again and stamped directly over the image and came away with a subtle background that I loved.  Look through your collection of stamps - I'm sure there are a lot of background stamps that would lend themselves to this technique.

One other technique that will help with the hand-drawn look of this card is to actually hand-draw!  I added a rectangular frame around my image with a white colored pencil and a clear ruler.

The final step is to add some white pigment ink around the edges of the panel.  I used an ink applicator so that the ink was softened a bit.  I also added a little of this ink directly to the panel in places where I felt that the background stamp was lacking a bit.

And that's it!  Add your completed panel to your card using the sketch found here and you are all set.  Hope you can look through your collection of stamps and see what combinations you can come up with.  Can't wait to see what you create!

ETA: Go check out Julie's post here on how to make cards using this sketch and her ALCM (Assembly Line Card Making) steps!  It's super cool.

Supplies // Paper: Club Scrap Fire & Ice Turquoise, Welcome Gray, From Stash: Club Scrap Black paper / Inks: Club Scrap Neon Blue, White Pigment / Stamps: Club Scrap Neon Doodles, Give Thanks, Full Circle Jr. / Tools: Club Scrap Acrylic Ruler, Ink Applicators; Inkadinkado Stamp-A-Ma-Jig, Embossing Buddy, White embossing powder, VersaMark / Embellishments: Sequins, Binder clip, American Crafts Glitter Ribbon in Silver, Bella Blvd Decorative Tape in Teal Stripe, colored pencils