Society of Stampaholics

MyStampBOX Projects

Here we are on Day Two of my stint as a Guest Designer for MyStampBox stamps!

I originally was going to make some lovely Halloween candies and stamp onto them, but as I alluded to in an earlier post, the $#@% things kept burning up rather than melting properly, so I said To Hell With Them - and meant it.

(I hope they're black as tar and stinking up the River Styx as only burnt sugar can!)

I could have kept trying, I admit, but I was nauseated by the smell and just plain sick of looking at charred orange goo, so I made an executive decision to try to make something else on the spur of the moment.

(I probably shouldn't mention this, but my deadline was Friday, October 15th... that would be the day of the Candy Disaster itself, so I really wasn't kidding in my earlier post when I said I was freaking out. Yessireee, Bob! Nothing like looking down at charred sugar in your sink and knowing that was your one shot at glory.

Unless it's realizing that this isn't one of those anxiety dreams where you show up for the school picnic but it's really the day of the Science Fair and you're the only kid without an experiment. (I'm sure it was the smell of the burnt sugar that made me hope it was all a bad science fair dream, as we had to do that every year for science class. Although, if memory serves, my teacher's sugar always rose up in a straight black column, whereas my candy just layed there in a disgusting puddle.)

But that is neither here nor there!

Long story short: I found something up in Ye Ole Atelier that saved the day. I already had the other project made, so I made my deadline!

Here's the first thing I made - a Halloween necklace for Gigi. This necklace is easy to make and also pretty easy to make with a kid - just keep her away from the ice pick. This project is very quick so there's no waning attention span (which means no whining child - always a good thing)! If you don't add a layer of epoxy, your kid can wear it immediately (which was very much the desired action when we put this together for Gigi).

(These make great treats for birthday party prizes, stocking stuffers, etc, btw! You can also glue your little creation to a barrette, make earrings, key rings, wine glass charms - this stamp set is particularly well-suited to that!)

Sadly, this picture doesn't do it justice - it's much more vibrant in person!

Materials: Stamps: MyStamp BOX stamps (Boo! set); Cardstock; Ink: VersaFine, Ranger Distress; Gems: Reflections; Hardware: bottle cap, star charm, jump rings, ball chain; Other: googlie eyes, Stickles; Tools: circle punch, hammer and ice pick (to make holes in bottle cap for jump rings)

Directions:

1. On a block of wood, lay down your bottle top (interior side down, flat side facing you) and carefully place ice pick between crimps. When secure, hammer ice pick (one good blow should do it). Repeat directly across from your first hole.

2. Thread a jump ring through a charm, and then thread it through the hole in the bottle cap. Thread the second jump ring through the other hole (this is the top of your pendant).

3. Stamp web image with Ranger Distress ink (Honey), then stamp spider image on top of stamped web with VersaFIne black ink.

4. Circle punch your stamped image and use a drop of glue to adhere it to the bottle cap interior.

5. Adhere googly eyes and gems with Diamond Glaze. (You can also "fill" the cap with about 1/8" of Diamond Glaze as a protective coating.

6. Apply Stickles around the inside “walls” of the bottle cap.

7. When completely dry, thread a ball chain through the top jump ring and enjoy wearing!

And now we come to the Dudley DoRight Project... aka: The Clock That Saved My Bacon.

I like to buy things because you just never know when you might want them. (Unfortunately, I do this all too often and probably ought to invite people over to shop in my attic to make room for fresh inventory.) I do have some standards, though, and one is that the item has to be marked down to dirt or I'm not allowed to bring it home. (It wasn't always this way, but my dwindling attic real estate demanded some strict measures.)

The clock you see here was a good buy - originally about $12, marked down to $2.48 (I made a typo on the price in the picture) - and languishing in the Hobby Lobby clearance section until I rescued its ugly self and tucked it away in a box upstairs.

 

 
It seemed like a no-brainer to turn it into a Halloween clock - and if I were to have a Halloween party, I'd us this as a doorprize. Because it turned out pretty good, I think. (Much better than that stinkin', lousy candy, that's for sure.) Again, the photography isn't the best, but I was working with artificial light.

 

Materials: Stamps: MyStamp BOX stamps (Boo! set); Patterned Paper: Basic Grey, Graphic 45, Mary Engelbreit; Cardstock; Ink: VersaFine; Other: Cosmo Cricket chipboard stickers, Stickles, googlie eyes; Hardware: 12″ x 12″ square, battery-operated clock; Tools: circle punches

Directions:

1. Stamp your images on various patterned papers. Punch out images and 12 larger circles of purple and orange; layer and adhere to one another.

2. Attach googly eyes and apply Stickles to the border circles. Also apply Stickles to chipboard stickers – set all aside to dry.

3. Cut background patterned paper to 11.5″ x 11.5″ and adhere to 12″ x 12″ orange cardstock “matte.”

4. Using a template made from a small punch, draw a small circle in the center of the orange matte (do this on the back) and then cut out the circle.

5. Remove the clock’s hands and line up the hole in your background paper with the hands’ movement post – enlarge the hole if necessary, then adhere the paper to the clock face. Temporarily attach a 5/8″ scrap of paper to the end of the hour hand. (This will guide your circle placement so each is the same distance from the clock’s center.)

6. Mark 12, 3, 6, and 9 on the clock (find the center on each side) and attach your first four circles. (This helps you place your circles equal distances from one another.)

7. Attach the chipboard stickers. Apply Stickles to clock arms.

8. Once dry, replace the arms on the movement post.

I hope you've enjoyed these projects! I highly recommend the Boo! stamp set I used. Please go here to order one for yourself!

Please be sure to check out the MyStampBOX blog for lots of terrific inspiration!!!

Thanks for looking!

 

Jennifer McGuire's Holiday Thinking Inking

Oh, yowza, yowza, yowza!!!

    

Jennifer McGuire's much-anticipated series Holiday Thinking Inking class has commenced over at 2 Peas!!! 

This is the first week in an eight-week series, and these tutorials are the best thing going EVER! She provides three cards a week with an instructional video and excellent PDF handouts (with pictures) to download. These are listed as challenges, so if you want a chance to win some product, head on over! Oh, and this time around she's going to be offering some free digital images for download (like that super cute reindeer above!)

And did I mention that it's absolutely FREE?

Can't beat this deal with a stick!

I really loved her Thinking Inking class last summer, and this looks to be just as good, so....

RUN! (Don't walk!) RUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUN!!!

A Paper Hat and a "Glimmer Mist" Recipe

When Gigi had her 6th birthday, she wanted a costume party.

Given that I love my fellow humankind and didn't want to inflict any more pressure on the parents of the attendees, I suggested we have a hat party - which turned out to be a good compromise.

I wanted to make her invitations in the shape of a top hat, but I couldn't find any templates online. I decided I would just make one myself, and this is really easy to do if you have a computer and access to clip art. I did a search for top hat and had literally dozens of options. I picked the one I wanted and put it into Photoshop Elements, where I basically turned it into an outline of a silhouette and increased its size. Then I printed it on cardstock (remember, it was just an outline by that point) and cut it out!

It was like buttah.

(I highly recommend this in the future - it's much easier than what it sounds.)

A few months ago I decided to submit my template to Stamper's Sampler for their Tempting Template feature, and they published it in their DEC/JAN 2010 issue.  (I found this out while flipping through the issue in line at Joann's - my first thought was one of outrage that someone else had submitted my idea... and then I saw my name beneath and immediately felt vindicated... and rather full of myself. It took everything I had to keep from sending Gigi down the line with the magazine to announce, "Lookit - My mama made that!"  Hee-hee!)

The submission deadline for cards made using this template was January 15th, but unfortunately, I missed it. I decided I would finish my card anyway and possibly submit it at a later date or to another publication. And here it is:

SUPPLIES:

• Hero Arts stamps CL272, CL383, S5101
• Ranger Distress, VersaFine, Memento inks
• Copic markers
• Zucker feather
• Making Memories straight pin
• Stickles
• Paper Studio lace
• generic cord
• Prima flower
• Autumn Leaves button
• Ranger Perfect Pearls
• Cuttlebug embossing folder

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Cut out three hats from the template for front, back of front, and back. 
2. Using a Tim Holtz inking tool, blend Distress inks across the front piece. Finish by buffing it with a damp baby wipe.
3. Ink your polka dot background with Distress ink, then randomly remove some of the ink with a baby wipe. Now stamp your card front.
4. Dry emboss above the hat's brim and lightly sand to remove some of the color from the raised bits.
5. Stamp sentiment.
6. OPTIONAL: Although you can't see it in the photograph, I spritzed my lace with some homemade "glimmer mist." (See recipe below.) 
7. Wrap lace around card front and adhere on back of front (I used tape).
8. Adhere card front's back to conceal the taped ribbon.
9. Score the back piece in a horizontal line about 3/4" from the top and put adhesive ABOVE the scored line and attach to card front. (Prime the card open by bending the back of the card along the scored line so that it angles away from the card front.
10. Stamp three butterflies, color with Copic markers, apply Stickles to the spots.
11. Cut out and color the edges with a black brush pen, then assemble your 3-D butterfly. (Watch Hero Arts video.)
12. Attach two snips of cord for the two antennae.
13. Adhere feather, pin, flower, button, and butterfly (in that order).

Although I have a few bottles of Glimmer Mist, I've quit buying it because it's criminal to pay $7 for what is basically water and Perfect Pearls! You get the exact same affect (as far as I can tell) with the homemade version below. You are limited only by the Perfect Pearl colors in your collection, and if you do the math, I think you'll find it makes more sense to buy a variety of the Perfect Pearls. (I bought both my  Mini-Misters and my Perfect Pearls with 40% off coupons, so my savings were even greater! The Mini-Mister came out to about 65 cents, and it's reusable. The scoop of PP cost about a dime (if that much. That sure beats the tar out of $7!)

You can make as much or as little of each spray as you need, it keeps indefinitely, and it takes a lot less space to store if you use the Mini-Misters. This one's a no-brainer and requires no skill at all to create, so give it a shot!

RECIPE FOR HOMEMADE "GLIMMER MIST"

INGREDIENTS: Perfect Pearls, water, Ranger Mini-Mister*

1. Fill the Mini-Mister with water up to the "r" at the end of the printed word "Mini-Mister."
2. Insert about 1/8 teaspoon Perfect Pearl powder into the Mini-Mister (add more or less to taste).
3. Put the cap on the Mini-Mister and shake well.
4. Always shake before using in the future.

* You can use another kind of spritzer. I just like the fine mist produced by the Mini-Mister.

Gearing up for the New Year's Resolution

Remember how I had this resolution to be a little more disciplined and focused with my blog postings? I was so diligent I actually wrote a post before New Year's Day. And then totally forgot to schedule it to post - until now.

That's just so wrong.

So here it is. Written on December 30th for January 1st and delivered on January 7th.

Yessirreeeee, Bob, stellar performance of keeping the ol' New Year's Resolutions. I can't believe I blew it before teh year even started, for heaven's sake! A new personal low....

THE JANUARY 1, 2010, POST

Well, it's that time again.

You people know what I'm talking about. 

You... you... hoarders.

Nearly two years ago I started this blog with the intention of finding a support group for my hoarding affliction, and I do believe I've gotten worse! Could it be that I find myself enabled by all y'all?

(Hey, I'm desperate here. I'll blame anyone and anything if it means I can shirk my shameless addiction to paper and parts.)

If I must struggle alone, so be it! But let me just share a few thoughts over the coming days, starting now.

First a little math lesson.

If you stack your paper, how tall will that stack be? I store my paper vertically, and I'm not upstairs right now to actually measure it, but I'd say a conservative estimate for my stash would be about 24".

Now I've been doing a little research, and it appears that an inch-high stack of paper can easily make at least 25 pages (again, I'm being conservative). Which means I have no less than 600 scrapbook pages that I haven't created yet. 

Betcha didn't know Edvard Munch was a scrapbooker, didja?

Of course if I make 600 pages, I'll just have to go out and buy more albums and that costs money, so I'm actually saving money by not making pages! (Big, triumphant smile here!) ... except for the fact that I have no less than seven empty albums waiting for some pages (big, sulky frown here).

Crud!

I am so blown away by the horror of my own over-consumption of something I'm not even consuming that I'm desperate for a quick way to make myself feel better. And I believe I've found at least one immediate step I can take. I've noticed that I have a bit of a thing for packs of coordinating paper - only I never like ALL the designs. I will never use that paper. So I should get rid of it, don't you think?

Maybe I can take it to a crop (even though I rarely crop). But, if I did, I could possibly get as much as 100 non-existent scrapbook pages off my conscience, maybe!)

And what about all those do-dads I own?  All those brads and buttons and ribbons and flowers (oh -  merciful heavens, I have enough Prima paper flowers to choke Tim Holtz and Heidi Swapp)! 

Right!

Enough shilly-shallying, already!

I must make more pages. And I must not buy any more consumables until I've created at least 100 pages.

Anybody woman enough to join me on my quest for glory?

....

Is that those bloody crickets again?

❧

Stop by tomorrow to sign up for the January Card Chain Challenge

(yet another opportunity to use up product)!!!

Cards, Anyone?

My jitters have increased, so rather than babble like a brook,I am going to post some cards I've made recently. (This is a wise choice. Although you can't see it, I made no less than 17 typos in this paragraph thus far.)

Clearly, I am a Wreck.

(As usual, my photography leaves a little something to be desired because I still haven't made myself a light tent and will insist on thinking I can somehow get a decent picture at night without one. What a moron....)

On with the show!

Got back to my shabby chic roots with this one....

Hero Arts stamps

Harlequin Ribbon (F3450)
Two Flourish Flowers (H4464)
Thoughtful Messages (CL184)

Ink:

Ranger/Tim Holtz Distress Ink - Vintage Photo
Versa Color - Olive
Versa Magic - Perfect Plumeria

Here's my first use of my first Nestabilities dies.

Hero Arts stamps:

G3664 - Leaf with Stitching
CL184 - Thoughtful Messages

Paper:

Making Memories Embellishment Paper Fresh Anthology Multipack Eliza. (Well, that was a mouthful.)

These following cards are the ones I made for Jenn, Anne and Heathre for winning the "Spot the Fact From the Fiction" competition we had a few weeks ago. I love the stamp, The Crafter from Stampotique. They're pretty simplistic, but I enjoyed doing them. All the sentiments are hand-written.

 

 

This is a private joke with myself. When I was an undergraduate, "Is it art yet?" was something that the entire theatre program would jokingly ask about anything - from the cheap mac & cheese a lot of us were forced to eat between work study checks to scene work to cleaning out your fish bowl. To this day, I will often think or say this statement when pondering something that's in progress.

 

This one is my favorite, I think. I just like the composition of it. I may have to make another one of these and put it in the little $1 IKEA frame I bought....

I meant to take a picture of the little gifties I made for Jane, Anne and Heathre, but I can't find it, so I guess I didn't take one. How annoying. It wasn't much - just a little emery board holder, but I used my "artsy" stamps (Time Holtz, etc) and they looked kinda cool, I thought. If you want to make one, they;re great stocking stuffers, and fun to make. Also quick and easy and a good way to use up scaps. You can find the template here.

Obama took Pennsylvania and Ohio!!!!

Speaking of Christmas coming early, the following is a mini-card made for last week's HA challenge. It opens up and a gift card "pops up" at you. At least that's what's supposed to happen. Mine's a little limp.

 

The stamp is from the Hero Arts CL059 set. The paper is from My Mind's Eye.

And here we have an even smaller mini-card:

The stamps are from the Hero Arts CL058 set. The Paper is either My Mind's Eye or Wild Asparagus (pretty sure it's the latter).

The leaves are from a punch. I used yellow paper and then edged the punches with ink. (If you're wondering how I got the 27 circled, I took my largest eyelet setter and inked it with a stamp pad.) Although the photo doesn't show it, the 27 was stamped using a bright red ink (as opposed to the rust color of the rest of the numbers). 

I think this might be adapted to make a cool place setting at T'day dinner.

I call this next little thing a bookmark, but they call it a scrapling over at HA. No matter what you call them, they're very fun to make! Shari Carroll makes killer scraplings!

HA stamp from set CL184. Paper is Wild Asparagus, I think. Or My Mind's Eye.

We had our church retreat this last weekend, so our little kids missed out on the trick-or-treating (won't be scheduling it for this weekend again). Anyway, to make it up to them, we planned a little party. I made invitations for the boys and the girls using the Hero Arts Happy Owl-oween set CL239 and some super cheap generic sparkly stickers I got at Hobby Lobby. One thing I really like to do is outline the edges of a card with a black pen (caligraphy tip against a metal-edged ruler works best) for a super-fast border.  (Did this on the Stampotique cards, too.)

(These are really washed-out photos - sorry!)

The masculine version:

And the feminine version:

And that's all I got for now!

Barack's got 220 electoral votes... just 50 to go!

Top 10 Tools

I haven't been to many crops, but I always ask people I meet a hypothetical question:

If you were stranded on a desert island, (one that came with electricity and a place to scrap) and could only bring ten tools, what would they be? (Assume you have all the goodies in the world, just NO tools.)

Ooh. That reminds me of Jean-Paul Sartre. Sartre was an Existentialist. I also think he suffered from Terminal Crankiness. Anyway, he wrote this play called No Exit, and it's about two women and a man who are stuck in a room together (we later learn they are in Hell). Each wants or needs something from one of the others and is doomed to be frustrated. You know that phrase, "Hell is other people"? It comes from this play.

And the only reason I bring it up is because I suddenly thought of the stamper/scrapbooker version of Hell:

There you'd be with every kind of paper, embellishments, stamps, inks, pens, pencils, paints, bling, glue, (everything that is NOT a tool)....

And NO TOOLS.

Or your favorite snack.

Or Johnny Depp.

Luckily for you, this hypothesis allows for ten tools and any snack you want.

Johnny Depp is optional.

So what would yours be? (Yes, I really do want to know. I can't do ALL the talking around here, you know. Although I certainly do MOST of it, Yappie Girl that I am.)

MY TOP TEN

1. Centering Ruler
2. Cutterpede paper trimmer (with unlimited refill blades and mats)
3. Detail scissors
4. Cuttlebug (including mats and embossing folders)
5. Nestabilities circle and scallop dies (they work with the CB as long as you use CB's "adapter" mat "C")
6. Hole punch
7. Corner rounder
8. Stamp-a-ma-jig
9. Needle
10. Darice heat gun

So let's hear it, folks! What would you bring?

You can also provide your favorite snack (mine is Reeces Cups if we're talking sweet, chips and salsa if we're going with salty - and I will not turn down a Margarita on the rocks if offered one). Feel free to include your favorite celebrity, as well. (This is not restricted to eye candy. I want to meet Johnny Depp so I can... talk to him. It's just a bonus that he's really good looking.... If I can't have him, I'll go with Robin McNeil.)

The winners of the Common Taters brainteaser  are Ann Gaal of Gaal Creative and HeathreP from the HA Flickr Group. And just which statement in those absurd little bios was actually a fact?

(drum roll, please..............................)

Jenn Biedermann is scared to death of banana peels!

(And if you don't believe me, go read it for yourself in her own words!) 

Jenn gets a prize, too, since she was the only one who didn't get to guess.

Now before you three start jumping up and down and screaming and possibly wetting yourselves, this is a very tiny little prize. But it is handmade with gobs o' love and tender thoughts and all the rest of that gooey stuff. So if you would be so kind as to send me an email with your address, I will pop your gifties in the mail.

Hey - completely off-topic - but did you know that you lose inches in height as you grow older? I was once a respectable 5' 7 1/2", and I am now a mere 5' 5 1/2". Which is not to say that short people got no reason to live or anything. It's just unsettling that we're all shrinking.

Although there is an "up" side... some day Shaq may be a normal height.

If he lives to be, like, 180 or something.