Category Tips & Tricks

Tips & Tricks that I have learned along the way

Mar 31 2022

Layout: Ready to Pawty

Hello everyone! I hardly ever scrap during the week, but I had some free time in the evening and did this two pager.

I always take a picture of the pups first thing in the morning on their Birthday. These were taken Feb 10th – Jasmine and Shelby’s 5th Birthday. Took a while to get great pics of them, and even big sister Penny wanted her picture taken!

It used quite a bit of older stash and even learned a new technique on my Cricut!

The pattern papers, large paw prints and washi tape is from Hobby Lobby (The Paper Studio). The alphas are American Crafts (red) and Moxxie (green). The smaller paw print stickers are from Sticko and the chipboard pieces are MAMBI. I even finished the sticker sheet of those! The enamel stars and dot is from Freckled Fawn.

Close up of left page:

The banner is cut using my Cricut and I learned how to SLICE when I added the paw prints and the word WOOF. I really love how that turned out. The glittery brads and glittery embroidery thread is from WRMKs.

Close up of right page:

The design is based on a sketch for the Double Page Challenge over at ACOT.

TFL! 🙂

Apr 21 2020

Thanksgiving Layouts

Hello everyone! I took a break from scrapbooking Christmas last weekend and instead, scrapped Thanksgiving! From 2018!

Blessed: I used Reminisce background paper; Bo Bunny banner and journal spot, Elle’s Studio blue word pattern paper, and a Freckled Fawn start paper Clip. Everything else – the polka dot paper, plaid paper, hedeghot sticker, cotton sticker and the leaf sticker are from a PhotoPlay Fall collection.

The design is based on this week’s Becky Fleck Sketch at ACOT:

Bless this Home: I used Bazzill cardstock; PhotoPlay pattern papers and pumpkin stickers; Bo Bunny banner and tree cluster (fussy cut from a journal tag) and Reminisce photo corners and word stickers.

Always Stay Humble and Kind: I used Bo Bunny papers and brads; a PhotoPlay raccoon sticker; Paper Studio denim washi tape and a Reminisce title sticker

Smile: I used Bo Bunny papers, die cuts, brads and chipboard embellishments; an Echo Park stencil; Thickers alphas and a Freckled Fawn gold doily. The gold paste is actually a combination of Nuvo Crystal Drops in Pale Gold and Gold Stickles. I ended up making my own gold glitter paste.

Funny story about that gold glitter paste. Saturday night, I just couldn’t find my gold modeling paste or my gold glimmer/glitter pastes. I found my Nuvo drops, my stickles, my gold gelato, and my gold high impact tattered angels paint but no pastes. So I gave up. Came into my room Sunday morning and thought, well, I better make my own since stores are closed. I tried several mixtures but didn’t like the color (too dull) or texture (too wet). Until I stepped back and made it simpler. I used my Nuvo Drops in Pale Gold and my palette knife with my stencil then came over with it with my Gold Stickles and a soft brush. Let it dry and wholla! Very pretty. I actually prefer THIS over my regular stuff. LOL. Oh and guess what? As soon as I was done with my layout, guess what I found? My gold Glitter paste! Oh well.

The gold looks SO MUCH better IRL and it ended up being rainy and cloudy on Sunday so I couldn’t take a great picture. But here’s the close up:

TFL! 🙂

Jul 30 2016

A Colorful Day

Hey ya’ll! This next layout was inspired by Let’s Get Sketchy’s newest sketch and ACOT’s MMC #3 challenge – stamping, but with a twist. We had to create our background by stamping with something unusual. I actually tried this a few times on scrap paper and never liked anything I came up with until I went into the kitchen to grab a bottle of water, when I saw it. Sitting on the counter. Next to the wine rack. A wine cork! I tried it and really liked the results!

A colorful Day

And here is the sketch:

LGS Week 4 July

I loved the 2 photo sketch, and the ric rac was perfect! The ink, ribbon, bling are all from CTMH with the chipboard pieces from MAMBI. The turquoise paper and paper clip are from The Paper Studio while the pink paper and alphas are Basic Grey. And yes, I finally used that lonely teal flower from my original July Use It or Lose It Challenge! Better late than never right?!!

TFL! 🙂

Apr 30 2016

Happy

Good morning and Happy Saturday scrappers!

I’ve been playing with stencils and some new glitter paste from Bo Bunny. With anything new, I WANT every color, but always buy just one or two “basic” colors. So I bought black and gold. The black I used on a previous layout (One in a Million) and it spread evenly using a heart stencil by Heidi Swapp. So when I opened it up to use the gold, I expected the same results. But that didn’t happen. It came out clumpy and uneven. Ugh…it was UGLY. So I thought it was my paint brush and the size of it, so I went with a smaller one and nope, that wasn’t working either. It spread thinly….but not even. It was see-through! NOT the effect I wanted! So then I grabbed my gold gelato and used that first with the heart stencil. Then came back and “painted” on the gold glitter paste. And THAT, my scrappy friends, is the result I wanted!

glitter

I let it dry overnight and came back to it, layering my papers, my photo and other embellies and OMG….LOVE how it turned out!

Happy

I used MME “My Story” collection. I usually don’t buy all of a collection by MME, but this one spoke to me. The bold patterns. The flowers. The GOLD. LOVE it!

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My favorite part of this collection has got to be the die cuts. I had bought the paper pack, stickers, chipboard, brads, veneers and enamel dots at a local scrapstore called Wooten’s in southern California back in January. While I was at Hobby Lobby earlier this week, I saw that they had MME die cuts too! And lo and behold, “My Story” was one of them! I just LOVED them. And that banner at the top is from that package. I thought it was the PERFECT touch!

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This layout is based on this week’s Let’s Get Sketchy sketch:

Team B Week 2

I LOVED the cascading stars with little sprinkles and all the layers! The design is awesome too!

This layout is also for ACOT’s Guest Designer Challenge #4 – “Happy Place”. The challenge was to scrap about your happy place, whatever it is. For me, its my scrap room. And since I just had a crop at my house last month, and we took a group picture, I thought it was perfect!

TFL! 🙂

Sep 22 2013

Tips & Tricks: Using Chalkboard Tape

I recently received Fancy Pants’ Chalkboard Tape as a gift. It has a slick surface and its black, so I knew I would need a white (or silver) pen and/or marker. Today, I bought a silver sharpie from Wal-Mart; and a white pen and white marker from Joann’s.

To try them out, I cut a piece of chalkboard tape and placed them on a solid piece of cardstock I had in my stash of scraps. I then used each of my three pens/markers I got today and wrote out text to see what they look like, how easy they were to use, etc.

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As you can see, you get different effects with each pen or marker.

The top piece was using the white pen. I bought the gel excel Reminisce pen by Marvy Uchida. It writes thin, just like a normal pen.

White Pen

 

The middle piece was using the white marker – Pen-Touch by Sakura. You need to shake this one (with top on) before you use it. But it glides really nice on the slick surface.

White Marker

And last, I used the silver sharpie. It gives it a bit of sheen. Sharpie also makes other metallic colors – such as gold and bronze. I haven’t tried those colors yet, but will definetly pick up those as well.

Silver Sharpie

There are other markers and pens out there, so please do not think you must only use these kinds or brands on the Chalkboard Tape. But if you are looking into buying some of this chalkboard tape, or have some but do not know which marker and/or pen to get, I hope my suggestions help you in finding JUST the right pen or marker for you next project!