Tuesday, September 24, 2013

#Fabulous You

To finish off our month with American Crafts, I decided to make a tag using the super cute Pebbles From Me to you Collection.  What I love about their lines is how well everything works together and this tag is a perfect example of that.  Of course when you add the eBosser by Craftwell into the mix, you can make it even better!  I really wanted to show the versatility of this collection, because it is perfect for mixing modern with vintage, so decided to mix those two styles together to create something that I hoped would work well….and it did.

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To get started, I cut a piece of patterned paper from the From Me to You collection to create the base for my tag.  I used a hole punch to add the hole into the long side of the tag.  Then I spritzed some Perfect Pearls mist in Heirloom Gold onto the tag and added the gold Postage edge sticker that is also from the From Me to You collection.  I then pulled out some coordinating papers from the From Me to You collection and using my eBosser die cut the Rolodex card and the Plaque label.  Then I grabbed some kraft cardstock for the label to hold my sentiment.  Like last week, I used the American Crafts stamp to create my own sentiment and decided to use “#Fabulous You”.  This shows you just how long your sentiment can be and it fit perfectly on that kraft label.  Love how it adds that vintage feel to an obviously modern sentiment.  I then took the Rolodex card die cut and decided to impress it with an impression plate in my eBosser.  Before I did this, I inked up the impression plate with some dark grey ink.  Love how this looks!

 

Then I assembled the layers and added a cute little clothespin from the From Me to You Collection from Pebbles. Before adhering it to the tag, I couldn’t resist adding a few more little stickers from the collection to the corner.  Then since this whole tag is playing with opposites, I decided to bring in another rustic element and created a little tassel with some twine.

 

Hope all of you have a #Fabulous You day!

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Hello! Call me!

 

It is so easy to create a card using American Crafts From Me to You from the Pebbles line!  I just fell in love with the phone dial paper and knew that I just had to create a card for a friend of mine that I haven’t talked to in awhile!

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I started off with an orange card base and I impressed it using my eBosser by Craftwell.  This is such a nice touch to add in the background, gives it some texture.  I then took that fun phone dial paper and cut a large 6” circle and then adhered it onto the front of the card base and trimmed it off.  Then I grabbed these super cute envelopes from the From Me to You line along with the Chipboard accents and stickers.  I added the “hey you!”, “I miss you” and the phone dial stickers to the insert for the envelope.  The heart stickers were added to the envelope.  The “hello” on the envelope is originally there, but I added the “Call Me” with my super fancy roller stamp from American Crafts.  This wonderful stamp allows me to create a sentiment that is 15 characters long. LOVE IT!  After all that, all I needed was that beautiful retro telephone chipboard accent to top it all off.

 

Thanks for coming by, see you next week!

Saturday, September 14, 2013

Teresa Collins eBosser Blog Hop


Welcome! Today is our special blog hop featuring the Teresa Collins eBosser!  We are so excited because Teresa is going to be on HSN on Tuesday, September 17th to show off the eBosser with all the great things that it can do.  To get her off to a great start, we are having a jam packed blog hop this weekend and there are a lot of giveaways too!

First off, if you stumbled here and would like to go back to the beginning of the hop…shoot on over to blog.craftwellusa.com!

If you came here from Cheripiles, then you are in the right place!  If you have gotten lost, no worries!  At the end of this post is a complete line up for you so you can find your place again.  Let’s get on with it!

For my project, I really wanted to show you how well the eBosser embosses and how well it cut those dies that we love to collect!  When I saw Teresa’s Family Stories collection, I felt the urge to do something that I really don’t do very often….a scrapbook layout.  That is right!  If you have been following me, then you know that I am primarily a card maker, but Teresa inspired me to go out of my comfort zone and create a scrapbook layout showing some pictures that I recently took of my little boy Mason.  Isn’t he a cutie?
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One of the great things about Teresa’s collections is that everything coordinates so well together that this type of layout works perfectly.  You almost don’t have to think about it!  The eBosser is an amazing companion to her collection because it allows you to take something that is already gorgeous and kick it up a notch!  Let’s take a look at a close up, so you can really see what I am talking about!
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OK, so see the black and white chevron doily?  Can you see how perfectly the eBosser cut out all of those tiny pieces?  It just amazes me every time!  In fact with this die, there is some embossing along the edges that you might be able to see.  Don’t strain yourself if you can’t, it is really tiny!  It is one of those things that you really appreciate in person.  Also, do you see the white and orange polka dot paper sticking out from under the doily?  That is a piece from the Family Stories collection that I simply embossed with one of the eBosser embossing folders created by Teresa Collins.  Because I wanted to use the black and white paper for underneath my pictures and then add in a little more of the orange, I needed to add some depth to this paper so it would be grounded and I was able to achieve that with embossing.  Pretty cool huh?
Now before I tell you all about the amazing giveaways, I want to point out some other really cool features of the eBosser that maybe you don’t know!
  • The Teresa Collins eBosser is universally compatible with any brand of die or embossing folder on the market. Yes, really!  With that 8 1/2” x 12” platform, you can even fit some of the large AccuCut dies!  Oh and if you use those really long AccuCut dies, you can even get a platform set to work with those. 
  • Teresa Collins folders are large! {letter size}.  Love this because I can easily emboss a whole card front without worry that one edge is going to be unembossed.
  • Teresa Collins exclusively created this embossing folder line for Craftwell!
  • 10 designs of embossing folders available, with more to come in the fall!  Oh and did I mention that they are gorgeous and I want them all…really I do want them all!
  • HSN Teresa Collins eBosser bundle includes: Teresa Collins eBosser, two Teresa Collins embossing folders +two bonus Teresa Collins folders for ordering on HSN!, full platform set {which includes magnet shim, and rubber embossing mat!}.  Totally sweet package that allows you to emboss away right out of the box, what could be better?
  • World Launch of the Teresa Collins eBosser on HSN! Limited Quantity!  In other words, don’t wait to buy!  This could sell out and fast!
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And one more thing…..Isn’t it pretty?!?!?!?!?!  Well done Teresa, well done!
So now it is GIVEAWAY TIME!!  That is right, there are lots to give away, so make sure to sign up!  Craftwell has generously put together prizes for 250 people!!!!  Woohoo!!!  The first 250 people that leave a comment on each and every blog in the hop will receive one of the new Teresa Collins designed eBosser embossing folders.  10 people will receive a tool kit and one lucky grand prize winner will receive a shiny new Teresa Collins eBosser!!!!

You MUST leave a comment on each and every blog to win!!!!  The comments will be counted starting at 8AM EST!! 

Once you have left your comment here, you can then skedaddle on over to the Favecrafts Blog!  Thanks for stopping by and I hope that all of us inspired you to spread the eBosser love and don’t forget Tuesday, September 17th….HSN….Be there! 

Here is the whole lineup!
Craftwell - blog.craftwellusa.com <----EVERYTHING STARTS HERE!  DID YOU GET ALL YOUR COMMENTS IN?
TCD Design Team http://teresacollinsdesignteam.blogspot.com/
Sesil Cratin:http://www.sesilcratin.com/
Cheripiles - http://cherinspirations.blogspot.com/
Denise O'Connor -http://purplepaperparadise.blogspot.com/ <----YOU ARE HERE
Favecrafts Blog:http://www.favecraftsblog.com/ <-----GO HERE NEXT!
Lyssa Zimmerman:http://joe-lyssa.blogspot.com/
Yvonne’s Blog - http://www.yvonneblair.com/
Caroline Duncan:http://stampingsandinklings.blogspot.com//
Teresa Collins - http://teresacollins.typepad.com/

Friday, September 13, 2013

Teresa Collins eBosser Blog Hop Tomorrow

Edited...see in red below!

EXTRA!!!!  EXTRA!!!!
In case you haven’t heard, Teresa Collins has teamed up with Craftwell to create an eBosser….oh and it is gorgeous!!  If you have been hemming and hawing over getting an eBosser, the good news is that now you can get a Teresa Collins eBosser AND you can get it at a great price too!  Teresa will be on HSN on September 17th with an eBosser package that you won’t want to miss!  I will make sure to post the times when we get closer so that you can keep your eyes glued to that screen and call in to get the eBosser.  You don’t want to miss this deal!
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To celebrate all that the eBosser can do with the Teresa Collins style, we will be having a BLOG HOP with some tremendous giveaways!



Tomorrow morning (bright and early especially if you want to be a winner Winking smile) go to blog.craftwellusa.comMake sure to leave a comment on everyone’s blog for a chance to win! Comments will start at 8AM EST for the giveaways! The blog hop will only last for Saturday, September 14th and Sunday the 15th! 

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

A Little Americana with American Crafts

 

OK, so I am not a big scrapbooker.  If you follow my blog, you know that.  I love making cards, they are my absolute favorite, but sometimes you just have to mix it up a bit!  Recently the boys and I went to the Museum of Science and Industry with my parents for the day.  The boys had never been there before and after this visit, they will definitely want to go back.  These pictures were just too cute not to scrapbook!  When I saw the background paper in the Pebbles From Me to You collection by American Crafts, I knew that it was just the thing for my scrapbook layout!

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The first thing that I did was in Adobe Photoshop by adding the location and date labels to each picture and then I cut the pictures out in hexagons.  Then I turned to my background paper and added some spritzes of Dylusions London Blue spray ink and some Perfect Pearls spray in Perfect Pearl.  When I was going through the From Me to You paper pack, I just loved this reverse newsprint paper, so I cut out some large stars to nestle the pictures on top of. 

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I also embossed these stars with the Dotted Elegance embossing folder by Craftwell made for the eBosser. The embossing really gives a nice texture and since the eBosser is always by my side when crafting, it is always an easy solution when you need to add a little something extra. I needed more blue, so I also cut out some flourishes to give everything a little movement.

 

I am really starting to like this “anything goes” style of scrapbooking.  Speaking of which, you might want to check in at the Craftwell Blog this coming Saturday (September 14th), but you didn’t hear that from me Winking smile

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

It is a Happy Day with American Crafts

It is a whole new month and that means an all-new sponsor for the Craftwell Design Team and I am just thrilled that it is American Crafts.  For the month, I will be working with the From Me to You collection from the Pebbles line.  I just love the colors in this collection, so I could not resist making a card that showcases the amazing color palette.

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The two background patterned papers are separated with a vine border die that I cut with ease out of yellow cardstock with my eBosser.  I also die cut that notebook paper at the same time.  Since the eBosser has such a large platform, you can fill up that platform with many dies as long as they are all the same height and cut them in one pass.  For the notebook paper, I decided to add a few sticker embellishments from the From Me to You Collection.  There are a few flowers tucked behind the notebook paper (along with a flourish stamp) and then there is the tab and the beautiful sentiment label.  Since there was some extra room on the notebook paper and I really didn’t want to add anything else, I decided that I would do a partial embossing on it.  I used Craftwell’s Gracious Argyle embossing folder. 

 

Thanks for stopping by, be sure to come back next week to see what else I am cooking up with my eBosser and American Crafts.

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

A Gift Tag for Someone You Love

I have been so inspired by the Teresa Collins embossing folders that she designed for Craftwell as well as her brand new collections…especially Family Stories.  This tag was pieced together so quickly using these elements that I kind of shocked myself that I didn’t have to think about it at all.

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I started by cutting a large gift tag from some patterned paper from the Family Stories collection.  I then embossed it with the Teresa Collins embossing folder made especially for the eBosser called About Time.  After that I spritzed it with a little Mister Huey’s Opaque White and then I just started layering more layers on top of it using some of the coordinating papers from the Teresa Collins Family Stories collection.  The sentiment is one of the punch outs from the paper collection which I inked up the edges.  To top it off, I threaded some ribbon through the hole and then added the chipboard tag and button (also from Teresa Collins). 

 

Love how simple it looks and yet at the same time looks complete and there is enough to keep it interesting.

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Back to School Time!

It’s that time of year!  School is about to begin and that that means that the Craftwell Design Team are showcasing some Back to School projects using products from the fabulous Teresa Collins.  For my project, I decided to make a little sweet something for the teacher without the traditional primary back to school colors.  With my trusty Craftwell eBosser on one side and my Teresa Collins embossing folders and paper collections on the other, I went to work.

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For starters, I just knew when I saw the Glassine bags that were included with the Masquerade treat bags pack from Teresa.  What works best in Glassine bags?…um…food.  No doubt about it.  I quickly whipped up a batch of Oatmeal Cookie Bars that my youngest loves.  I just had to emboss the Glassine bag in the About Time embossing folder that Teresa Collins designed specifically for the eBosser by Craftwell.  This folder is clean, classic, and can work for many different styles all the way from modern to vintage.  Love that versatility.  Now, here is the trick about embossing glassine…put the glassine in between two pieces of copy paper before embossing.  That way you can make sure that the embossing is softer and doesn’t rip the glassine.

 

After embossing the glassine, I added the cookie bar and then added a vertical belly band using the bingo card paper from the Family Stories collection.  From there I started to build my layers.  First there is a doily die cut from some coordinating paper in the Family Stories collection.  Then there is the Angled label in a coordinating cardstock that was stamped with a border and the “Back to School” sentiment.  I used the same paper as the doily to die cut the letters.  (Inside scoop, I lost the dot for the “i”, so I added a stray pebble that was floating around on my desk that got left behind from a card made a few weeks ago.) The butterfly die cut is from my stash of unused die cuts and I thought it was perfect to go on this. 

 

Every time I sit down to make something, I fall in love all over again with my eBosser and in the last few weeks, I am feeling that way about Teresa Collins’ newest collections as well as her eBosser embossing folder.  Everything just works so well together!  

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Showing Some Love!

This week, I am continuing to have fun with the new Teresa Collins embossing folders for the eBosser made by Craftwell as well as with some of Teresa Collins’ new collections.  Between the embossing folders and the gorgeous collection Family Stories, creating a card is SO easy!  I seriously created this card while dinner was cooking in the oven.

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To start with I used a pale pink card base and embossed it with the Honeycomb embossing folder.  On top of that I added a long die cut from the Family Stories collection.  The next piece is a punch out card from the Family Stories collection that I simply trimmed down a bit.  Then another die cut on top with more Family Stories paper.  On that card, I added some die cut letters in a dark grey cardstock and a small grouping of some of Teresa’s sequins with a small dollop of white Enamel Accents.

 

Teresa really designs some gorgeous papers that all work so well together.  Add in the embossing and it is really a marriage made in heaven!  This card is perfect example of this because without the embossing, this card would probably be a little boring.  The embossing adds that gentle touch that just pulls it all together.

 

The embossing folders are going to be available soon, so head on over HERE to see which ones you want to get your hands on…I want them all!

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Teresa Collins is in the House!

The Craftwell Design Team and I are SO excited that Teresa Collins has teamed up with Craftwell to release a line of embossing folders for the eBosser!  Teresa is such a wonderful person that she gave all of us some of her newest products to play with along with the folders.  This is going to be a great month on the Design Team blog, so be sure to come back everyday to see all the great inspiration!

 

One of Teresa’s new collections is Family Stories and when I saw this collection, I just fell in love with it.  The colors, the patterns, it all just works so well together.  Then you add in all the great accessories and it really just takes it to a whole new level.  I just had to use it for my first project this month.

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I started off by creating a bit of an arrow with a piece of cardstock and embossed it with the new Teresa Collins embossing folder for the eBosser – Honeycomb!  LOVE THIS FOLDER!! Such a great classic pattern that works with so many styles.  By the way, if you want to see all of the folders that Teresa has designed for the eBosser, click here.  There are so many great designs here, I seriously want them all!

 

Topping that embossed cardstock, I just started layering things.  Next was the “Take Note” card which is a punch out from the Family Stories collection.  Then some die cut leaves, then a frame shape stamped with the We Are Family stamp, then the decorative circle (cut from more paper from the Family Stories collection).  Then I added the chipboard embellishment for the final touch.

 

This whole card came together so easily.  Everything just works together so well!  I wouldn’t change a thing!

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Loving Scraperfect!

Scraperfect.com makes some awesome products and I have really enjoyed using them this month.  Today I decided to make a really quick and simple card using their Perfect Crafting Pouch and the Embellie Gellie.  This card came together very quickly!

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To really show off how well the Perfect Crafting Pouch eliminates those pesky rogue specks of embossing powder, I put it to the ultimate test.  White powder on black cardstock.  I can say that normally I avoid doing this because any white specks of powder in the wrong place always seem to ruin the illusion for me.  Not with the Perfect Crafting Pouch….no white specks!  Yippee!  Since I did this embossing right on the card base, I added some die cuts cut (with the eBosser of course!) using dies from Tim Holtz, Papertrey Ink and My Favorite Things.  I also added a butterfly cut using my eCraft and the Fundamentals 1 SD card.  I have used this butterfly image so much since getting my eCraft!  I bent the wings of the butterfly up a bit and then with the help of the Embellie Gellie, I glued the Pebbles onto the body.  This is so much easier to do with the Embellie Gellie.  With the Pebble flat on my worktable, I touch the Embellie Gellie to the rounded edge and lift it up, add a dot of liquid adhesive to the flat underside and then put directly into place on the butterfly.  Once I have it in place, I used a craft stick to hold it in place and then with a little twist on the Embellie Gellie, it releases the Pebble.  Easy Peasy!

 

If you have not used the products from Scraperfect.com, be sure to check them out! Great products and a Great company!

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Vintage Embossing

Last week I showed you a technique where I inked up an embossing folder and used that to create a layered grungy look.  This week I decided to show you the same method but achieving a much cleaner look.  Knowing that anytime you rub ink onto something, you can not get perfect precision, I decided to go for a vintage wallpaper look.

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I inked up the inside of Craftwell’s Regency embossing folder with Versamark ink.  I have loved this folder from the get go and it always made me think of elegance and sophistication so that was perfect for my vintage wallpaper. Before I could run a piece of Papertrey Ink Autumn Rose cardstock through the folder in my trusty eBosser, I rubbed Scraperfect.com’s Perfect Crafting Pouch all over the paper.  After running through the ebosser, I embossed it with some fine clean embossing powder.  Since I inked the folder so that the recessed portions would be inked, knowing that there would be some smudges of the ink on the embossed parts it leaves the impression that the entire wall was glossy and shiny originally, but over the course of time  those raised parts got worn and the shine wore off.  I again used Scraperfect.com’s Best Cleaner Ever to clean the embossing folder.

 

Turning to my stash of stamps, I knew that I had to use the Simply Jane stamp set with coordinating dies from Papertrey Ink.  I took the frame die and cut a piece of coaster chipboard as well as a piece of Smokey Shadow cardstock.  Then with the oval cut out from the chipboard die cut, I cut the bust. Using a light gray ink, I stamped the bust image onto the die cut and then stamped the necklace on top.  That bust got adhered to the the oval cut from my Smokey Shadow die cut.  I adhered that oval into the center of my wallpaper and then turned my attention to the frame.

 

I had cut the frame from the chipboard because I wanted the dimension, but I was not thrilled with the color so I grabbed my spray inks.  First I spritzed my chipboard frame with some water and then spritzed with some black spray ink.  This gave me a smoky gray color and then to dress it up a little more I spritzed some Perfect Pearls spray on top for that shimmer.  Using my Embellie Gellie from Scraperfect.com, I added some pearl accents to the frame and then with some foam adhesive lined that up with the oval on the wallpaper.  I decided to leave this card sentiment free so that it could be used for just about any occasion.

Be sure to come back everyday this week to see some more projects from the Design Team using the great products from Scraperfect.com!

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

A Crafty Experiment

Today’s post is different than most of my posts.  If you have been following me for awhile then you know that I experiment a lot.  I am always willing to try new things.  I thought it might be kind of neat to show you one of my experiments…the good, the bad, and the ugly.  This month our sponsor Scraperfect.com sent each of us a few products to use and last week I focused on the Perfect Crafting Pouch and the Embellie Gellie.  This week I wanted to focus my post on one of their other products, the Best Ever Cleaner.  Why would I want to focus my entire post on a cleaning product? Well because it is awesome, that’s why!  It is a new staple in my crafting supplies, and I am about to show you why.  Warning…there are a lot of pics ahead!

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To get started, I pulled out one of my Craftwell embossing folders (Whimsical Wishes).  I picked this one because there is a lot of blank space which works best for the technique.  I started out grabbing an Archival Ink Pad by Ranger.  This ink is waterproof.  Which means when I use it, I cannot clean it with water.  The advantage to this type of ink is that if you spraying anything on it (as you will see later) the ink will not bleed or wick.  It will stay in place and be as clean as it was to begin with.  The other cool thing about this ink is that when you apply it to an embossing folder, it will stay wet for awhile, so you don’t have to rush to do your embossing.  So to start, I used a brayer to apply the ink to the embossing folder.  I added ink to diagonal sides so that the ink is on the inside of the card as well.

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After that I grabbed another ink (this time a darker color) and using a stamp, I stamped directly on the folder.  This is where “the ugly” comes in.  I realized that this stamp is defective as I could not get a clean impression…uggghh!  But in spite of this the experiment continues.  Now when stamping on an already inked folder, you have to be VERY careful.  The folder is slick and if you lose your grip on the stamp block, the stamp will smudge.  I think that next time I will use a stamping press to see if that will make this process less nerve wracking.

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Next I added a light colored cardstock into the folder and folded it over.  Here you will get an idea of what your card will look like.  Now it is eBosser time!

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And here we have the card after embossing…pretty cool look even with the bad stamp.  But I am not done with it.  Before I move on though, I need to turn my attention back to the folder.  Here is what it looks like after the embossing.

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Time to crack open the Best Ever Cleaner!  Spritz away right on the ink.  You can actually see the ink start to swirl around.

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Wipe the folder clean and then I also spritzed some water on it and wiped it down again.  You could also use a baby wipe.  And here we have a perfectly clean embossing folder….

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If you have ever tried to clean any kind of waterproof ink off of an embossing folder before, then you know how difficult this can be.  On top of that, the odor of some cleaners is horrendous.  There is a smell to this cleaner, but it is not in any way offensive, so another big plus!

 

Moving back to the card, I decided to do a little more experimenting. (Disclaimer Alert…normally when I do something like this I will tape off the area that I want to make sure stay clean like the back of the card, since I already knew that this is not a card I am going to give someone, I didn’t bother.) I got out a Distress Ink pad and sponged on some ink especially focusing on those areas where there wasn’t enough coverage from the Archival Ink.  I wish on this step that I used a color that was more contrasting like a yellow because I don’t love how the dark blue ink detracted from the embossing.  Another lesson learned.  I also used my Black Archival Ink to stamp my sentiment in the non-embossed space.

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Next I decided to heavily spritz the card with three colors of Perfect Pearls Sprays to add a shimmer to the card and also to get that Distress Ink to blend in a little better.  Here is the card as it is wet and you can see how that Archival Ink completely holds up under all of the spray.

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After drying the card, this is what I was left with….not the best I know, but I sure learned a lot.  Next week, I am going to do a project using this technique so you can see how this entire project would look like if I did it the right way!  I will also be incorporating the Perfect Crafting Pouch and the Embellie Gellie along with the Best Ever Cleaner.  Hope you all enjoyed my experimental post today!  Please let me know if you would like to see more posts like this.

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

A Happy Discovery

 

I’m sure that somewhere, someone has done this before, but I haven’t seen it before.  So I decided that I would explore and see if it would work.  It just so happened that since our sponsor this month is Scraperfect.com and they had sent me three products to try out and one of them is the Perfect Crafting Pouch which is just perfect for this technique which for lack of a better term I will call Spray Ink Emboss Resist.  If you love working with spray inks, then you will love this technique.  Let’s get started.  The first thing to do is create your background.  I used some spray inks on some watercolor paper.  Next to the background you will see my blotting paper.  This is simply a piece of paper that I blot excess ink up with.  I ended up using this later.

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Next step was to rub the entire surface of the paper with the Perfect Crafting Pouch.  This is going to put a light film of anti-static powder on the surface.  Then I stamped my image (from Tim Holtz Remnants stamp set) with Versamark and applied clear embossing powder.  Then I heated the image until all of the embossing powder was melted.  I didn’t get any pictures of this process because time is an issue and I was using a large stamp.  This stamp was perfect to test the Perfect Crafting Pouch because it is very detailed and after the embossing, I truly cannot see any stray embossing powder anywhere.

 

Now, I added some black (you could use any dark color) spray ink…

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Pretty cool looking isn’t it?  I let the black ink sit and soak into the paper a bit and then blotted it off and this is what I had.

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I loved that look, almost like a chalkboard.  I decided that I wanted to get it darker though so I added another coat of the black and again let it sit.  While that was sitting, I took my blotting paper from the background and added some more ink to it and used that paper to cut out my sentiment using some Papertrey Ink alphabet dies and of course the amazing eBosser. You have just got to love the magnetic shim when cutting letters like this! This was also the perfect time to try out another Scrapperfect.com’s Embellie Gellie.  This little wonder helped me remove the die cuts from the dies…love that!

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I also used it to help me apply some liquid adhesive and set it in place on my card.  By this time, I had blotted off that black ink from my background and had let it dry a little.  Here is the end result of the Spray Ink Emboss Resist.  I personally loved doing this and I think you will see me do it more and more in the future.

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Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Random Stamp Set Challenge

This week I sat down to do my card and no ideas were coming to me.  I needed an idea and quick!  So, I went to my stamps and without looking at them, I randomly pulled out a stamp set.  I grabbed Papertrey Ink’s Signature Series: Butterfly.  OK, I can work with this…the creativity started to pour through me.  I quickly picked out a yellow, orange, and pink (summer colors of course!) color scheme and got to work. Ten minutes later, I had this. 

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I randomly stamped the main butterfly image in my three colors onto a piece of cream cardstock and then did some die cuts. The banner die and the small doily are from Papertrey Ink, the flourish die is from My Favorite Things and the label that I stamped my sentiment on is from Tim Holtz. I love layering die cuts to create a focal point.  To finish it off, I stuck in some colored pins.  Looking at it now, I think I would add in some ribbon loops…hate it when I think of a great idea after the card is done…ugh!  But at least I have a lovely card that can be used in a jiff when I need it!

 

Hope you all are enjoying your summer and getting in some crafty time!

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Cake Challenge #3–The Reveal!

 

Well today is the day!  We finally get to see the end results of our cake challenge using our eBossers by Craftwell and Photo Frost Sheets.  Before we do that though, I wanted to share with you something else that my “cake” friend Jennifer Carreno and I did…

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We did some rolling!  The Photo Frost sheets are delicate when they are fresh out of the packaging, so we had to take some care with it.  Here you can see Jennifer using the end of a beater to help her roll the Photo Frost.  We also discovered that rolling it as it was coming out of the die, seems to work best with these flowers.

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We were so glad that these flowers rolled as well as they did because our entire focal point needed to be rolled.  Have you guessed what it is yet?

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Well if you guessed jewelry….you’re right!

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Jennifer in addition to be a cake master is also a Premier Designs representative so the idea of combining her two loves into one was just something we had to do.  It also helped that I had the Beautiful Beads die from Papertrey Ink to cut the beads with.

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Do you see that little white cup with the small paint brush sticking out of it.  That is the vanilla extract that I told you about last week and we used that to make sure that the ends of the beads stuck well.  In other words, it was our glue for this project.

 

And here it is…the entire cake all done!

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One more tip for you…you may have noticed in my previous posts that the black fondant appeared to have a white powdery substance on it….that was powdered sugar!  In the picture above you will see that the black fondant is now gorgeous and shiny.  Jennifer did that with a steamer.  That is yet another thing I would not have thought of.

 

I want to once again thank Jennifer for helping me with this project.  I learned so much!  In fact, if we had to do this again, I think I could manage it on my own.  The Photo Frost is easy to work with and you know that I love working with my eBosser, so that is easy peasy.  Jennifer also loved working with the Photo Frost and the eBosser!  She is already thinking of ways of using both in her cakes.  Thanks again Jennifer!

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Saturday, June 15, 2013

Special eBosser Offer & a Blog Hop!


Welcome to a very special blog hop!  Today and today only Craftwell is offering a special on the eBosser!  To order and take advantage of these savings, click HERE or on the picture in my sidebar.

If you have come here from MountainsideBride.com you are in the right place!  If you have stumbled upon the blog hop, be sure to start at the beginning at SewCalGal

Now, on to some inspiration!  For my project, I decided to do a little experimenting.  To start with I grabbed one of my Craftwell embossing folders and spritzed the inside with some spray inks in yellow, blue and purple.
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I really wasn’t sure what to expect and there was no rhyme or reason to why I selected these colors, but from here I added a piece of watercolor paper that was lightly spritzed with some water.
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Now, I have to tell you after seeing how the ink spread after I closed the folder made me a little nervous.  Did I really dare to put this into my eBosser?  I had doubts, but I am a crafting rebel and decided to go for it.  Here is what the folder looked like after running it through my eBosser.
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To make sure that none of the ink got into my eBosser, I took a paper towel and stuck it in the eBosser opening and wiped all four sides down and did not come up with any ink.  The platforms seem to protect the eBosser.  Even though things went great, I think next time I may put a paper towel in the eBosser behind the paper to help sop up the leftover ink.
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Above is the paper once it was removed.  As you can see there are some dark areas along the edges where it soaked up more ink.  This can be avoided by working faster than I did.  In my case, I had purposely used a piece of paper that was larger than what I needed so I was able to trim these areas off.  In general I usually do this with these spray inks just so that I can pick the area that I find the most interesting.
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From here it was just a matter of finishing off the card so that the embossed inked background was the highlight of my card.  I added a strip of Papertrey Ink’s Limeade Ice cardstock stamped in their Polka Dot Basics with the matching ink.  For my sentiment, I used the Limeade Ice with their Tagged Sentiments stamp set on a white cardstock circle and backed it with a My Favorite Things Fancy Flourish die in Hibiscus Burst and then Papertrey Ink’s Ad Sense die in Smokey Shadow which was also was used to create the 5”x7” card base.
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You have got to love the detailed embossing that the eBosser can get and this technique really shows it off.  Don’t run off now, because you still have plenty to see on the blog hop and your next stop is LlamaTales!  If you are lost, be sure to check out the full listing below.

If you don’t have an eBosser already….don’t miss this deal!  This is one of those crafting gems that come along and are “Must Haves”, so ORDER one today!
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Be sure to check out the other wonderful sources of eBosser inspiration on the blog hop!
SewCalGal.blogspot.com  <—START HERE
MountainsideBride.com
PurplePaperParadise.blogspot.com <—YOU ARE HERE
LlamaTales.blogspot.com <—GO HERE NEXT
LawnFawn.blogspot.com
Jazmin-Rose.blogspot.com
blog.CraftwellUSA.com

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Cake Challenge #2

 

Welcome back to my month long series on cake decorating using the eBosser from Craftwell & Photo Frost frosting sheets.  If you remember, my friend Jennifer Carreno who can make cake into works of art is helping me because when it comes to cake decorating, I am a complete mess….no really I mean it…disastrous.  So when we left you last week, I showed you this cake which Jennifer brought over for us to decorate.

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So from here, we started to experiment with cutting and embossing the Photo Frost sheets.  We decided to start with cutting.  I decided to try to cut without adding any kind of vegetable oil or anything and see what happens…well it cuts like butter!  Getting the Photo Frost out of the die can be a bit of challenge, but once you get a small section up, it comes out easily.  A small pin or pick can help if you are having trouble.

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We also decided to go ahead and try out embossing…take a look at how amazing this emobssing looks.  Jennifer was so excited to be able to add a little dimension this way!

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From here, Jennifer put me to work cutting and embossing.  For example, on the cake we have some flower accents.  We decided to emboss some of the layers and leave some of the others flat. 

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Jennifer used some frosting under the petals to get them to stand a little.  The above picture shows that in the top flower.  She also added a dot to the center of the flowers.  I am guessing by now, you have noticed something else in this picture….can you guess what it is?  No?  Well be sure to stop back next week… Winking smile

 

Jennifer was ECSTATIC to cut out letters!  I guess that letters in the cake decorating field is tricky and a lot of people free hand them.  Jennifer had just the solution to “adhere” the letters onto the fondant…vanilla extract.  I never would have thought of that!  Here is a little peek of the letters that we cut out…

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How amazing is that? 

 

Still not convinced that you can do this…well come back next week and you will see what Jennifer and I did.  If I can do this, you can do this!

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