Wednesday 12 February 2014

Happy Valentines!

Create a class set of Valentines in 30 minutes! Really! It will take you less time to create these Valentines than to run out to the store and purchase a box of ordinary ones. All you need is cardstock, a stamp set, paper scraps and your tools. (And this is a great way to use up your stash!)

For these Valentines, I started with the Centre Focus pattern (from Originals, pg. 111) as the basic layout. However, I made it my own, by adding a patterned paper background and changing the size of the centre piece to accommodate the sentiment.

Here's my recipe:

* Start with a 3" x 3" card with the fold at the top. (To make the card, cut a 3" x 6" piece from cardstock and fold in half.)
* Trim a 2 1/2" square from patterned paper and adhere to card face.
* Tear a 2" piece of washi tape or trim a 1/2" x 2" piece of paper or trim a 2" zip strip and adhere to middle of card, flush on the left side.
* Trim a 1" x 1 1/2" piece from cardstock and stamp sentiment. Adhere sentiment to right side of card, in the middle, overlapping washi tape.
* Stamp or write sentiment, Happy Valentine's Day, on inside.

For these cards, I used the sentiment from the Live Out Loud stamp set and the sentiment "Happy Valentine's Day" from the Whoo's Your Valentine stamp set on the inside. (Not shown.) I used the scraps from my Dotty For You papers.

It's easy to create multiple Valentine's quickly with this pattern. Get your little Valentine involved too! Assembling and stamping are easy and fun tasks for little hands.

Don't forget teacher! Use your school-themed papers and stamps to whip up cute Valentines for your child's teacher.

For these Valentines I followed the Sunset pattern (Originals, pg. 66).

* Use a 2 1/2" x 3 1/2" card with the fold on the tops as your base. (To make the card, cut a 3 1/2" x 5" piece from cardstock and fold in half.)
* Trim a 1 3/4" x 3 1/2" piece from patterned paper and adhere it to the card front, placing it 1/4" from the top, keeping the edges flush.
* Trim a 1 1/4" x 1 1/2" piece from cardstock and adhere it 1/4" from the right and top edges of the patterned paper.
* Stamp embellishments and adhere to card face.

For these cards, I used the ticket stamps from Blue Ribbon and Victory Workshop stamp sets and the large heart from Whoo's Your Valentine stamp set. I used the scraps from my Scholastic paper packet.

You've got 2 days left! Take a few minutes to show your love by creating your own special Valentines!

Monday 10 February 2014

You and Me, Me and You

Even though there's a fresh, new Idea Book (check it out on my website), I have been on a mission to use my stash. I love Workshop on the Go kits because they contain coordinated products that make putting pages together, and using your stash, a snap. Once I've made the two layouts in the kit, I store all the supplies together until they're used up. That way I don't have to go searching for the little bits that match.

For this layout, I used the extra supplies from my Sarita Workshops on the Go kit. Note: Sarita is also one of the paper lines that has been carried over to the new Idea Book. You can get Sarita Paper Packet, Sarita Assortment, (both seen on my layout) and Sarita My Stickease Assortment right now!

I created a large title with my Silhouette--also using my stash as this was a cut file that had been in my collection for a whle--and added some Dimensional Elements Hearts as accents.

Turning to my stamp stash, I added a chicken wire background with the Distressed Backgrounds stamp set and the subtitle with the Framework Alphabet stamp set. (If you get one alphabet stamp this month, get this one! It includes an upper case and lower case alphabet with numbers all in one 6"x6" package. It will quickly become your go-to alphabet stamp.)

You know how much I love sketches, and so often when I'm planning a page, I spend time surfing Pagemaps or Pinterest looking for interesting sketches. But for this layout, I turned to my stash again and found this perfect sketch in Imagine. The sketch for Three-Part Harmony is found on page 44. It's a versatile sketch that accomodates lots of photos in different sizes. To make it my own, I used an extra large focal photo and flipped the right side of the sketch on its side. I also used fewer papers than was called for, letting the Goldrush cardstock set off the busy paper.

Here's a tip: When you have a layout that calls for a 1/2" x 12" piece, use a Zip Strip (that extra strip of pattern you trim off the patterned papers) or washi tape. A quick and easy way to use up scraps!

I love this layout and now I've got some room in my stash for new product!