Scraps are fun!

Hello there! Let me share with you what I love to do with my scraps. I always love to challenge myself to use whatever is left in my stash especially the tiny & odd pieces. Scraps are like pieces of puzzle, all you need is to piece them together & create a layout! I have too many scraps lying in my stash box and it's a great way to use them all this way. 

Here's a sample I created using the pretty Lily Bee Design called Head Over Heels...

Close-up shots:

 You can always add pretty embellies like ribbons and trinkets to fill up :)

Have fun scrapping your scraps!!

Xoxo Jessy

Journaling Card Tips

Journaling cards are really fun to use on layout / card or even on altered projects!

Whenever I see journaling cards, I enjoy cutting the images out of them and this time round I also arranged the pieces to make them part of the background. 

You can also use journaling cards to embellish a card. 

Hope you enjoy today's tips :)

Xoxo Jessy

Dressing Your Chipboards

Today's first Two Scoops Tuesday post is from Jessy.  Another great technique post to follow this afternoon!  Happy crafting!

Hey! It's Jessy here again & I would like to share with you a very simple tip on how to dress your chipboards.

What I like to do is to paint my chipboard and once dry, I will stamp on it. Or sometimes I add glitter for the shimmering effect too. It totally gives a very interesting look to it. 

If you see here, I use one of the chipboard as a frame. Cute eh?! Thanks for peeking.

Have a great week! 

Xoxo Jessy

Altered Mini Album

This is the first day of a new feature we are bringing you in September (yes, we're starting just a bit early!) called "Two Scoop Tuesdays."  That means that every Tuesday in September, we'll be posting 2 fantastic projects, tips, or tutorials for your inspiration and enjoyment.  One post will come in the morning, the other in the afternoon, so check back later for your second scoop.  :)

Hey hey! It's me again. I am back to share with you a fun step-by-step of making a mini album. I wanted to make it a mini one this time round and guess what I found... a card case. Thought it would be totally cool to fit a mini album into a card case! Let me show you how...

Here's the card case I was talking about. Basically you can work with any card case, mine is an aluminum one I got at the dollar store :)

 First, I cut a strip of 3.5" x 12" kraft cardstock. Then I kept scoring at 2 1/4" as I go.

You will get an accordion album with 5 panels & also the lil flap at the end. 

 Next, I took out Tattered Angels Mist for some fun. I used two colors Chalkboard, Firefly & Glimmer Mist, Rum Punch. For this I used a negative of a foam dots as my stencil. 

Here's the effect of two colors. Lovely isn't it? I also inked the edges and the scored lines. Once you are done, you can start to embellish the card case and also the accordion album :)

 Ta daa....

A perfect mini to remember a fun day! Totally cool for a summer project & also for using up those stash :) Adore those Crate Paper chippies & alpha sheet!

Remember the lil flap? I decided to punch it and it acted as a closure.

Here is how it looks inside. I used the Crate Paper - Neighborhood collection. You can get them in the YSS store and it is on sales too :)

Close up shots:

Hope you enjoy this step-by-step and have a good week everyone!

Xoxo Jessy

Altered Hair Clip - Maya Road Zipper Trim

I got Maya Road Zipper Trim for May's DT kit and I wanted to make something fun out of it. And I thought of hair clip...how fun!

Here's how I created the flower out of the zip...

First separate the zipper, so you will get only one side of it. For the zipper flower I created, the length was 12".

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Then, just sew "slip-stitch" until till the end.

Once you get to the end, do not end your knot but to slowly pull the thread so the thread will gather.

Once you are happy with it, sew a knot at the end and cut off the excess of the thread. Next, all you have to do is to roll the zipper. As you go along, remember to adhere fabric glue/hot glue to secure it.

Sew a Maya Road Wooden Button at the top and voila... here's your zipper flower :)

Adhere the zipper flower onto the hair clip and you are good to use it!

Hope you will try this zipper flower. This is perfect for layout, card and of your altered projects! Have fun trying :)

Xoxo Jessy

Acrylic Mini Album Tips

I was given the pretty Maya Road Acrylic Butterfly album. And it paired perfectly with the latest Echo park collection called Springtime. Here are little tips on how I designed my album:

Tip 1: Firstly, I painted the edge of the acrylic album using the Jenni Bowlin Paint Dabber (Lemon Drops). Once it is dried, add stickles/glitter glue all around.

Tip 2: I used ordinary transparency that you can get from the local/stationery store to create dimension. Hope you can see it in the photo :) Place the stickers on the transparency and cut the outline. You may use foam/gel dots to create the 3D look.

Tip 3: To give a define look to your pages, use chalk or distress ink for the edges.

To have a better look at the album, you may view it HERE or HERE!

Hope you like the little tips :)

Xoxo Jessy

Tuesday Technique and Tips!

Hello! Audrey here and I just wanted to share a few techniques with you that I used on my layout for the Color Combos Galore palette from a few weeks ago.

As I started to think about these colors, I was rummaging through my drawers and saw all these containers of American Crafts ZING powders. I had the perfect shades of green for this color combo! I know it looks like paint, but it is all heat embossed!

I have tried many different types of glue, and I have this one liquid glue that has a funky applicator, so I used it to spread glue on my page and then sprinkled the dark green embossing powder on it.

For the light green embossing, I mixed some mod podge with water to make a real runny glue and splattered it on my page. Then I added the light green embossing powder and let it dry. THEN I heated it with my heat gun.

I actually used some stuff from my stash for this page, like the Pink Paislee artisan tapes (the orange and the black houndstooth), and some Pink Paislee rub ons. The papers are from Jillibean Soup Pasta Fagioli collection.

TFL today!

Misting Tip

Hi! I would love to share with you a little tip on how I created my layout for CCG 175.

So, what do you do once you are done with the foam dots? I recycled them to create my background.

All you have to do is to position it on a cardstock, place the foam dot negative on it & mist it. The layout below is the result of my misting.

What a great way to go green huh?

Xoxo Jessy

Valentines Tagbook by Danielle

Now we all now this is the most romantic time of the year.. all those gorgeous hearts, sweet little birds, cute elements and perfect sheets of wordart for love layouts and projects.. 

Valentine's Day is just around the corner!

I wanted to show you what I did with the YourScrapbookStash products I got to work with this month. I got the most adorable love/valentines line from Bella BLVD called Lovey Dovey; it is on sale right now with 25% off. So including the 20% off you have during this celebration time with YSS I advise you to RUN to the store! (of course after reading this post..)

In my package there was also the acrylic keychain from Maya Road and when I saw it, I already had the idea to make a cute little gift for my youngest son, who totally adores everything I make (My oldest does too, but he is WAY too "cool" now he is 6, LOL! He will get something cute too..)

Here is me holding the keychain up:

I love how the acrylic pieces are just barely there, but they make a HUGE difference in the end piece. On the front acrylic heart I added a heart shape from Lovey Dovey's cut out element sheet. As a second element on the keychain I cut out a simple 3x3" square white cardstock and added a photo, the gorgeous ruffle flower from Maya Road and a cute heart pin from Maya Road. The I love you sticker is from the Alpha+Bits sticker sheet from Lovey Dovey.

Here you see the back of the first square with colored photo. I added pink paper, a heart cutout from the cut out element sheet and a doily from KC company. Up there is a heart I created using my heart punch and another sticker from the Alpha+Bits stickers.

On the Alpha+Bits sticker sheet where two little tag stickers which I stick back to back and added with a piece of bakerstwine to the keychain. I added all the tags with ribbon or twine to create a playful look. 

The black and white photo is also on a 3x3" square piece of cardstock and I framed the photo with a stickerstrip, which I cut in half. I added a tab and some beautiful May Art lace. Right behind the photo you can see the large cutout from Borders+Blocks. I glued two of them back to back and added them with ruffled ribbon from Maya Road.

Here you can see the back of the b/w photo. I added the lace ribbon and tied it in a small bow. I also added a pearl pin from Maya Road and a cute cut out heart. I tucked in a ticket from Tim Holtz and while the pink wordart was originally a large strip from the Alpha+Bits sheet, I cut it up to fit the square. It works perfect if you working on a small piece of cardstock. 

You can add as much or as little as you want. You can write on the acrylic, you can add rub ons, or just like me.. just glue little hearts on there and leave them basic as a little, yet perfect touch to finish it.

It is easy, it is fast and it is such a perfect little gift for someone you love!

Have fun creating!

Danielle

Tuesday Tip

Having Fun with Mists!

I know you have read a couple of times already how much we adore the different products of Shimmerz Paints. This is because it is worth telling about! Shimmerz Paints add sparkle and shimmer to any project you want to create. It gives that special touch to everything you use it on.

Today, I have a simple project that incorporates different layering of Shimmerz mists. You just need punched out circles and several colors of Shimmerz mists.

  "Joy" by LG Belarmino - BasicGrey Jovial patterned papers and embellishments, Maya Road Ribbon, October Afternoon stickers, and mists all available at YSS Online Store.

To create this background, just use the circles as masking templates. Rearrange the circles as you add a different color. Always start with the lightest color.

Photographing Your Layouts

When I just started scrapbooking I thought that the process of creating a page was the hardest part, but I found photographing my finished layout more difficult because I was having a hard time capturing the real look of my page. The color was off, the alignment was slanted, and the photograph looks so different from the actual layout.

As I have tried several cameras I found out that the main key to get a good photograph of your layout is LIGHTING. Here are some tips that I have read and discovered:

• the best time to photograph your layout outdoors is 1hr after sunrise and 1hr before sunset. This is the ideal time of the day because the sunlight is not that strong and the brightness is just right.
• when taking photos indoors, take a photo in the afternoon when the sun is so bright. Find a room that has enough light. Make sure that the wall painting is white because colored rooms bounce back the colors to the layout.
• you can also use a white cardboard to bounce the sunlight.Simply locate the sunlight in your room. Position the cardboard directly to the sunlight to bounce the light towards your layout.
• if you want to use an artificial layout, create your own mini lightbox. You can find the intructions here: HOMEMADE LIGHT BOX. If I have time I definitely will make me one of those.
• never photograph your layout using your flash or putting your layout directly to the sunlight! This will create strong shadows or the light might bounce back on the photo of your layout if you have used a glossy photo paper.

POSITIONING of your layout is very essential too. This will make it easier for you to crop your image later on using a photo editor software. Here are some tips on positioning your layouts

• you can adhere your layout on a wall at eye-level
• you can also use a photo stand
• or simply place your photo on the floor
• before taking a photograph of your layout, imagine a grid on the view box of your camera. Make sure that the spaces on all sides is parallel to the layout.

  
CAMERA. I think the best results is with a digital camera, preferably an DSLR camera like the Canon Digital Rebel. But if you don't have one it is okay to use a regular digital camera keeping in mind that the quality is different when using a DSLR. With good lighting you can still get a very decent photo of your layout.

• Set your camera to Auto Depth of Field setting and shoot. The auto depth of field keeps all elements equally important visually, which makes the text and photographs all stay focused.
• Use a tripod if your speed is below 100 to make your photo sharp.
• ISO must be set not higher than 400. The higher the ISO the greater chance of getting grains-look on your photograph
• Instead of just taking one photo of your layout, take several. It's easy to delete anyway. This will allow you to capture the perfect photo.

PHOTO EDITING SOFTWARE. After photographing your layout, it is still important to add some minor adjustment to your photograph by using some photo editing software. I actually use 2 software, Adobe Photoshop Lightroom and Adobe Photoshop CS4.

Usually I use Lightroom to edit the colors because it has the capability to adjust the colors individually unlike Photoshop. If you edit a color on Photoshop it will adjust the entire photo and make it all green for example. In Lightroom it only adjust the green colors thus you can make it more vibrant or pale. I do them first on Lightroom then I just do the cropping or cleaning(removing spots) on Photoshop.

Whatever photo editor software you use, just adjust the levels, brightness, contrast or color balance to get your desired outcome. Crop it! I suggest you place your layout near you so that you can use it as guide as you do some adjustment. Make it look like as close to the actual layout.

 "My Home is With You" layout by LG Belarmino - Echo Park Life is Good collection and Shimmerz Paints

You're done! You can now upload your layout online!

Hope I was able to help you get an idea on how I photograph my layouts.

Easy Flower tutorial using new pleated Maya Road ribbon....

I love everything Maya Road, and when I saw their CHA blog here, they had made the cutest flowers with their new pleated ribbons. I did it a little differently than they did - here's my version:

You just need a few things - Maya Road pleated ribbon, some type of really tacky glue (I used Aleene's Tacky Glue), and a center for your flower (I used a Maya Road resin flower).
First, I cut a length of ribbon about 1 foot long and put some glue on the second segment. This is to start the center of your flower. Then I folded the first segment onto the second and let it dry about 10 minutes.

I then put a line of glue across the bottom of the ribbon (the seam side) and started wrapping the ribbon around the center.

When I got to the end of the ribbon I let the flower set until the glue was dry. I squished the flower down slightly while the glue was still slightly wet to make the flower stay open wider.
After the flower was dry I attached the center piece.
I made two of the flowers (one in another color) and made a card with them!
You can find the new pleated Maya Road ribbon in the YourScrapbookStash.com store here! There are so many colors to choose from - you should get them all!! And don't forget about our two contests - all the info is here. You only have until September 15th so hurry and join the fun!!

Valerie