New Mini Album

I finally made another mini album!  For those who know me, they are my first love! They challenge my creativity and make me happy when they are done. I don't have to have pictures for them since for the most part I either sell them of give them away!

This one was created using the DCWV Coral Couture stack as well as the mini stack and mini cardstock stacks from the same collection.  The chipboard is Melissa Francis and was painted with Turquoise acrylic paint from JoAnns. The flowers are from Recollection, Wild Orchid Craft as well as from Prima and Petaloo!  When it comes to flowers, I love them all!  I've also thrown in some lace that I bought on line from an Etsy vendor. Unfortunately it sat in my stash for quite a while and there was no name on the tags that the lace was on, I can't tell you who. I added some Recollection trinkets (all of which were formally Primas) as well as some ribbon and a couple of Prima journalling spots.  For more details, come back in a day or two and check the sidebar for the YouTube video or you can check out my YouTube channel directly ar http://www.youtube.com/user/mccplg. I wanted to post it today, but I'm used a new camera (it's the panasonic I got for my birthday a year ago) My first attempt using it as a video showed a spectacular video with great clarity, which unfortunately stopped before the end of the shoot, likely because I ran out of space on the card.  So I will try again tomorrow!

I did set aside one of everything I used plus some additional 12x12 papers from the Coral Couture collection.  If you are interested in that kit, please contact me! I am charging $29 plus $6.00 shipping. If the shipping is less, I'll return the difference.

Here are the inside pages of the mini:

Inside front cover - the orange matted flower
can be pulled out and used a s a journalling spot.

I really didn't want to cover the bird,
 so there are a couple of cards in the envelope
for adding small pictures and journalling.

The family sign is mounted on a little holder
 I made from one of the 12x12 sheets. See what it holds below.

What can I say!  I love pockets and envelopes.
There is room on the actual pocket and two mats inside it
for pictures and journalling. Personally, I'd journal on the one
 with the bird, I'd just hate to hide it!

Another place to hide a mat! Just pull on the tab!

This paper was so pretty, I just didn't want to hide it!
Instead I cut the 12x12 paper so that the pretty part would fit !

I fussy cut the flowers from the 12x12 paper and actually
pop-dotted another cut out flower on top.
I then adhered it on three sides as a pocket
 that I put a bunch of goodies in.

What's a mini without more pockets and spaces for pictures?
This is actually an envelope which also contains a mat!

Here is what I slipped into the pocket
of the page  in the above picture!

The back of the envelope with mat from the mini mat stack,
 little lace and a couple of Prima flowers with a pretty brad!

Another pocket page made with paper from the 12x12 stack.
Such a pretty place to journal and there is a mat inside the
pocket for a couple of pictures.

Back of the pocket, a nice place for a picture.

A nice spot for a vertical picture.

Lots going on here!  This is an envelope left open at the top.
There are a couple of tags and...

This card, with pretty mats on all 4 panels slips into it,
hiding yet another mat glued down right on the envelope!

A little lace, some pretty flowers and some delicious paper from
the 12x12 stack adhered to the Melissa Francis chipboard and
voila! Sorry for the glare, but dreams do come true!

And finally, the back cover,
painted and distressed a little!

I know this was long with loads of pictures, but I do hope you enjoyed!

Thank you so much for looking and have a terrific time until we speak again!
M-C

April Class gets doubled!

When we first looked at the Echo Park Happy Days, many of us thought, :Oh that is just for 50's layouts"!  But the kit can do much more.  That is what I set out to show in these layouts, which are now being added as a second class in April!  Hope you like them!

 

Have a great weekend!

M-C

Dave's Cave

When my friend Charlene moved into her new condo, I made a plaque for her for her new craft room. You can see it here.  I mentioned that I wanted to make one for her husband Dave, as he would now have a man cave. It was a lot of fun adding paints and distress ink and even stickles and glossy accents to the original wood plaque that I bought at JoAnn's.! I was invited to Dave and Charlene's this past Wednesday and got to give Dave his plaque in person! I think that Dave liked his plaque!

Believe it or not, I also used Jolee's Trees and mounted them on foam to give then depth and dimension. To make sure they were not too fragile, I coated them with Glossy Accents after I had shaded them. Because I didn't want the to look too glossy, I added a layer of ink on top of the Glossy Accent. I also inked the letters with Distress Ink, so they wouldn't look so lime green!

Thank you so much for looking and please feel free to leave a comment!
M-C

April Class Layouts

Hello everyone!  There are so many things that have gone on recently that I really haven't been posting much!  I  will post the April layouts, then a special project I made for a friend and an extra batch of layouts will be posted separately!  My scrapbook group asked me to use the Authentique "Loyal" kit for April.  This is a little different from what we normally are attracted to, but it will provide us with6 pages with a less frilly, girly feel.  I personally would use these for outdoor activities, sports, and boy pictures, but I'm sure that there is a lot more that they could be used for!  What would you use them for and what titles would you give these? For the record, these layouts are meant to hold as many or as few pictures as each person wants, so they are pretty open looking!

Without further ado:

I just know that these layouts will get more layers and embellishments, LOL!  

Stay tuned for the rest of the story and have a great weekend!

M-C

Where in the World is Your Vagabond!

Are you the proud owner of one of  the Tim Holtz designed Vagabonds by Sizzix? If so you've got to rush over to the Sizzix blog and you just might get a free set of the new set of stickers for your vagabond and get a set of their new sandwich keys! Thanks to Mr. Tim for letting us know!

OK, so what are you still doing here????  Here is my entry:

March Layouts

Hi everyone!  I know I haven't been posting much recently.  I've been undergoing a number of tests and they have taken time away from crafting in a big way. I'm hoping that the results when they come in next week clear me for another few years!

At any rate, here are the layouts I created for my March layout class:

As usual, some of the layouts are complex and some are very simple.  All are intended to allow my students to put multiple pictures on them.  The collection used this time is Little Yellow Bicycle's Teen.  

In addition, since each of my students is also the mom of either a cheerleader or dance student, /i was thrilled to find the following two stickers from Soft Spoken, which totally match the basic layouts.  Wasn't I the lucky one!

Hope you enjoy! Thank you so much for stoping by and looking!

Have a great day,

M-C

House Warming Present for Charlene

I thought I'd share the present I made for Charlene since she is moving soon and will have her own craftroom! I had to wait until I'd actually given it to her, so that I ruin the surprise! I used a wood plaque from Michaels, some Folk Art paint for the base with some of the Distress Crackle paint in Picket Fence. The flowers are Pettaloo and the bird is Recollections. The paper is recycled Prima packaging. The letters are Thickers from my stash. I'm glad to say that Charlene liked it!

Have a great day and please take a moment in the next few days to come back and check.  I am planning on selling off a lot of items from my store and from my personal collection of craft items!

Layouts for my February Class

Here are my layouts for my February 24th class. I leave many of the pages open so that my students can put the number and size of pictures that they want.

 I really enjoyed using this Echo Park's Victoria Garden Collection! I also used Want2Scrap bling, Bazzill and Coredinations cardstock, a Martha Stewart punch.  The flower is made using some flat palyers from Wild Orchid Crafts, which I misted and twisted. I used a couple of different shades of Starbusrt Sprays from Lindy's Stamp Gang on both the flower and the paper doily! I plan on adding personal pictures and journaling once the class is over!  Hope you like!

Thanks for looking and have a wonderful weekend!

M-C

A Few Cards

I have been changing things in the way I live recently and while it's been interesting, it seems to be very time consuming! But I did want to share a few cards that I recently made to send off with my YouTube and Blog giveaways!  They were a lot of fun to make!

MATERIALS

I used the Girls Papperie, Some Recollections pearl trim, a strand from the Cynthialoowhoo bling trim that Karlas001 sells on her etsy shop, a little ribbon from my stash, some prima flowers and some Liquid Appliquée (used on the last card and puffed up with a heat gun!

Here is what the card looked like without the Liquid Appliquée. It was the first time I used the product and I'm thinking it will not be the last!

I wish everyone a great week!
M-C

Renewable Smash Book Tutorial

A while back, I made and uploaded a video on You Tube that dealt with what I called a renewable Smash book.

Since then, I've gotten a number of requests for a follow up tutorial on how I created the folders. I finally did go through the book explaining the mechanics of each folder, but I thought some instructions and pictures about the whole process might be nice for everyone interested to have a look at.The video dealing with the folders is at  http://youtu.be/lYDU-l_Gtzs.  I apologize in advance as it is really long. That is another reason that I added this blog entry!






First let me just say that I bought the actual small binders at Staples a few months ago.  They are still available and are a great way to keep a ton of your art related lists on and sketches etc.  Why do I use a 3D, real life book with paper?

• First, it's not always easy to get cellphone reception in the store when I'm shopping.  
• Although I use the apps on my phone when shopping at JoAnn's, Michaels and Archivers, they do send  paper copies or give you register coupons. So the new renewable book I'm making here will have a coupon folder to store all those in one place.
• I'll have a place to store my Copic List, my Spellbinder and Sizzix list, my sewing pattern list and so on.
• I'll be able to store a record of projects I want to do by putting pictures that I take with my phone, grab online or I can even sketch an idea...when I get one, LOL!
• Finally, it's just plain fun! I've always loved paper and although I can scrap digitally and I am fairly good with photoshop, I just love cutting and pasting!

Enough, blah, blah! So here is what the binder looks like and works like.

COVERS


Binder Cover
The binder has a "window" with an insert.  Remove the insert and use it as the template to create your binder cover.  This will be glued to your inside cover when you decide to recycle the binder to another use!

Inside Covers
Chipboard dimensions for the covers:  (these will become the mini album covers when you re-use the binder and in the meantime they do a great job of protecting your inside pages and folders)

Cut  2 chipboard pieces  8.5 inches x 6.5 inches.

Patterned paper dimensions for the outside of the covers (cut 2):

Cut 2 pieces patterned papers 8 x 10 1/4 inches.
Make sure the paper is in the right direction.

Fold the paper over the chipboard, then remove the chipboard and adhere it to the paper.

Cut all four corners and adhere each side.  I usually put a line of adhesive on the edge of the chipboard and the edge of the paper.

Patterned paper dimensions for the inside of the covers (cut 2):

Cut two pieces, 8 7/16 x 6 15/16 inches

Adhere paper to inside of the cover.

Use your crop-a-dile to cut three holes that match your binder! Your covers are done, now on to the folders!

FOLDERS

The folders for this size binder are easy to make!  I use a 12 x 12 inch sheet of double sided cardstock which I either cut to 6 x 12 or leave full size.  Let's start with the 1/2 folder!

Single Folder
Cut your 12x12 paper in half from the top to the bottom. Put the side of the paper you want to have the pocket facing up on the table. Fold  bottom up 3 1/2 inches. Add double sided tape.

Remove the protection from the tape and fold up and adhere the flap to the main part of the 

Glue the flap to the main piece. You have a single sided folder.

Double Folder

Place your 12x12 sheet with the side that will have the flap up.

Fold the paper up at 3.5 inches.

Fold in half from left to right.

Open the folder and put double sided tape on the outer inside edges of the flap.

Take off the protective white protection and adhere the flap to the main part of the folder. Refold in half and decide if you want the holes on the fold or open side.

You can see a number of variations of the folder in the video tutorial!  Thanks for looking! 

My Word for 2012

Every year, I pick a word to inspire growth and change, and a fresh perspective and I create a project to showcase the word. I hope that my word for this year will bring me to a new level of peace and joy and hence, will rub off on my friends! Strangely enough, this year, the artwork came before the word.  In fact I created the canvas as part of a blog hop on Marian Smith's Arty Addict facebook group, earlier this year and wasn't quite sure how to finish it.

As I reflected on what would be best for me in 2012, I realized that there was only one word for it, serenity.  Suddenly, I knew exactly what to use, and here it is!

I wish for us all, less stress and a whole lot more serenity!

Hugs,
M-C

Happy New Year Giveaway Winner!

Happy New Year everyone!  Well I just came home from a yummy dinner with hubby and thought I would put an end to the wait!  So having used Random.org, here is the winner:

If you look at the comments, you will see that the second comment was made by Ronni who is getting back into stamping/scrapbooking! I've known Ronnie for a number of years and she is very, very talented!  I always thought it was a shame that she stopped creating and sharing! I am sure that she will make good use of the stamps and maybe we can convince her to send me a picture of something she creates to share with all of you!

As the winner of my Christmas giveaway did not come forward by the 27th, in fact, I still have not heard back, I am sorry to say that she has been disqualified. I will draw a new Christmas giveaway winner from all the comments received in 2011 and post that here tomorrow or Tuesday!

Congrats Ronni and as usual, you have one week from today to contact me!

Hugs everyone and stay safe and warm! It's getting downright chilly out there!