Sharing the Helmar Love

I'm currently working on the September tag swap for Kinderstampo - my first tag swap ever!!  More to come on my progress and the finished product...

In the meantime, I want to share the love for Helmar adhesives!!  They are fantastic and I have YET to try one of their products that I don't simply adore!  I'm using 2 of their products on these tags:

1. 450 Quick Dry Glue (my FAV wet adhesive)
2. ZapDots - GREAT dimensional adhesive that is the perfect height for layering and getting that extra lift

ZapDots were used under the Enjoy the Journey element and 450 Quick Dry holds everything together!

I highly recommend them for your stickingtogether needs!

Other Helmar products I've used and loved:

• Adhesive tape runner (super sticky dry adhesive)
• Scrapdots (make your own dimensional embellishments)

Techniques and Inspiration

OMG what an amazing last 5 days I've had!!  My hubby treated me to an early bday scrapbooking retreat with Marion Smith (check out her blog here) at the uber fab scrapbooking store in Valencia, CA, Remember When.  Tonya, the owner, and her staff were so fantastic and her store is stocked full of all the goodies an artsy scrapper craves!  I did some serious damage there...

3 days, 4 workshops - all loaded with techniques and yummy Prima product.  I had sooo  much fun and met some really fantastic people!  I just wished I lived closer so I could crop with these girlies all the time!

My favorite technique from Marion's workshops was a "glass flower" technique using UTEE (ultra thick embossing powder).  UTEE is a powder like resin that adheres to inks, glues, and other wet materials and hardens to a clear glassy appearance when heated.  We took plain white Prima flowers and then painted them with Glimmer Mist.

Misted Prima flowers - 3 layers per flower.  Pretty on their own!

Then we dipped them in melted UTEE and then sprinkled them with glitter.  As they cooled, they could be shaped and molded.  I love love love this effect!!! 

Flowers coated with UTEE and assembled.  Prima page pebbles were added to the center of each flower.

We stopped in Paso Robles and did some fabulous wine tasting at Robert Hall and Eberle wineries on our way to Valencia and had lunch at a terrific hole in the wall called the Jack Ranch Cafe.  Home cooked food and really yummy pie.  I highly recommend all three!  Apparently James Dean died in a car crash along hwy 46 (the road that goes between hwy 101 and Interstate 5 through Paso Robles).  Who knew?!?! 

So the So Cal trip was fantastic, and then I get back today and the latest Live with Prima web show features Julie Balzer (Julie's blog) doing some super cool altering techniques with Prima flowers.  There was one in particular that really got me excited and I had to try it out right away.  It's a fairly simple idea but sooo cool in its effect.  You basically layer flowers in a certain way to create a dimensional effect.

I've been really into fabric lately and I had some crinoline so I decided to use it instead of Prima flowers (plus this way I could try it out as many times as I wanted and not feel like I was wasting anything).  ;)  Because the crinoline is so stiff, I thought it would really poof up with this technique.  I used the Tim Holtz altered flowers die and cut out 5 flowers of the same shape.  I then misted them with Glimmer Mist.  For some reason I was channeling fall so I used all fall colors. 

Following Julie's technique, I took one of the flowers and folded it in half, then folded it in half again (I should have taken pics of these steps, sorry!).  You end up with 4 triangle looking petals.  Arrange the petals on the 5th flower with the points all meeting in the center.  Glue it down and voila - instant fluffy flower!! 

The crinoline soaked up with Glimmer Mist so nicely!

I added a smaller flower to the center and included a dot of glue and some microbeeds to give it some sparkle.

I love the rough earthy texture of the fabric.

I'm so going to use this with all sorts of different media!  These Prima shows are so great!  I learn so much and just love chatting with all the gals.  :)

Let There Be Light

This month's Arty Addicts (Marion Smith's online group) challenge was to design a layout using just items that were white/off white/cream.  No color!  I love color so it was tough to come up with something that was truly all white.  Then it hit me - make it all about light, not white!  I instantly knew exactly which photo I would use.  A few months ago my hubby got me a lovely bouquet of lilies and irises to celebrate our "2-iversary" (2 years together).  I managed to get some nice shots of the lilies in the afternoon light.

Lily in afternoon light

So now I just had to create a layout to showcase this photo using all white elements - right!

My first thought was vellum!  Vellum is sheer and great to work with layered over various items.  I also had some great white die cut paper and wanted to use fabric to keep the feeling of lightness.  I picked some white cotton voile since it's very sheer and airy.  The airy/lightness theme took me to butterflies (of course) and I threw in some glitter and pearls for added sheen.

It's hard to capture all of the ways light plays of the various elements

Afterward I decided to add small pearls to the center of the butterflies.  I think it helps them stand out more.

Once I got the whole "light" theme going I thought wouldn't it be cool if you could also see the layout backlit?!?!  The details got washed out but the background showed up nicely.

Backlit yumminess

Since I couldn't play with color, I focused on playing with texture and I had a great time!  I am really enjoying participating in these challenges.  They are a great way to keep those creative energies flowing! 

Step by Step:

1. I sewed a border around a piece of white vellum.
2. I adhered the vellum to a piece of white die cut paper and then adhered that to a sheet of clear acetate for stability.
3. I doubled a piece of white cotton voile and sewed it together with 2 rows of "wonky" stitches and then frayed the edges.  I then adhered the fabric strip to the center of my background.
4. I cut a piece of clear acetate larger than my photo and burnt the edges with a candle to soften them.  Burning them also forms a hard layer at the edge which makes a nice border.
5. I glued my photo onto the acetate mat.
6. I covered a Tattered Angels glimmer chip butterfly in glue and diamond dust glitter.  I love this glitter!  It's big and chunky and looks like sugar.  I added a white vellum flower to the center of the butterfly and adhered it the upper left hand corner of the vertical fabric strip.
7. I then added my photo/mat and adhered it with dimensional pop dots to help separate it from the background.



The acetate behind the photo catches the light in its own way

9. Then it was embellishment time!  I stamped butterflies onto clear acetate and vellum with white StazOn ink. I edged the vellum butterflies with white Stickles glitter glue and once dry, coated them with a coat of Rock Candy crackle paint.  After they dried I cut out all of the butterflies.  I liked the contrast of the clear acetate next to the shiny vellum.  Each picks up the light differently.
10. To help anchor them on the page, I layered them over a horizontal strip of ribbon layered over lace.  The vertical butterflies are layered over Prima pearl bling.



Pearls, acetate, and painted vellum all have their own unique sheen



Re shot this image after adding the pearl centers

13. For the title, I covered the chipboard with the same diamond dust glitter and voila, done!

Everything's better with glitter!

Glitter AND pearls that is!  ;)

Supplies used:

• Clear acetate sheets
• White vellum
• White die cut paper (KI Memories)
• White cotton voile fabric
• Glimmer chips chipboard butterfly and letters (Tattered Angels)
• Diamond Dust glitter
• White Stickles (Ranger)
• Rock Candy crackle paint (Ranger)
• Butterfly stamp (Prima)
• White vellum flower (K&Company)
• White StazOn ink
• Pearl bling (Prima)
• Pearl buttons
• Scallop Lace and flower ribbon (Prima)
• Sheer ribbon (Michael's)

Because Girlies Can't Live on Ink Alone

crafteraholic (noun); a person addicted to multiple crafting media limited only by one's imagination and the space dedicated to one's craft room/garage/house/backyard,etc.

Hmmmmm know anyone like that?!?!  ;)

I think one of the great things about being a crafteraholic (hey it's a word, sort of) is that as your mood shifts you can switch gears onto different crafts and keep your creative energy flowing.  I was sewing and making jewelry long before I ever scrapbooked so it's only natural that I circle back to these staples from time to time.  Plus, with mixed media art, you can blend it all together into one big crafty piece of goodness!

At Scrapbook Expo last Friday I came across a great little vendor doing super easy and fun jewelry with glass overlayed onto interesting papers and images.  CraftFantastic is what they're called and I had to circle past their booth a few times just to get a good look at what they were doing.  On the second pass I sat down and was instantly hooked!  Most of my jewelry making has been focused on beading but this approach was super fast and easy.  Pick a glass piece, pick an image, glue it into a backing and you're done!  I ended up making a pendant at the booth and picked up supplies to make a bracelet.  I also picked up some glass circles for use as flower centers, journaling accents, etc. 

Botanical glass necklace and bracelet

I strung the pendant on a coordinating ribbon necklace

Butterfly themed bracelet on a sterling silver backing

I really love how flat the glass is on the back and it's fairly unobtrusive in height - perfect for scrapbooking embellishments!  I'm really looking forward to playing with these glass pieces and layering them over all kinds of goodies.

Of course, the crafting didn't stop there...

Ever since sewing on my last layout, Mamma Kori, I've been fixated on incorporating more sewing and fabric into my work.  I swung by the fabric store and picked up some super cute quilting fabrics.  I die cut a few circles of differing sizes and made a lollipop flower hair clip.  They even had buttons on sale and I found some great crystal buttons for the center!  Fun fun fun!  I frayed the edges of the fabric to help give it some extra texture and then I hand sewed the layers together gathering them slightly.  I added the button center and then sewed the back layer of the flower to the hair clip. 

The flower is about 2" in diameter with 6 layers of fabric, 2 layers in each of 3 sizes

These were really fast and fun weekend projects.  Sometimes its nice to keep things simple.  Next stop - fabric layouts!  :)

Family in the Truest Sense of the Word

I took a photo of a dear friend of mine with her stepson at a barbecue a few months ago.  I just loved the shot and wanted to do something special with the photograph.  My friend, Kori (AKA Mamma Kori to her stepson), has wanted to be a mom ever since I met her over 10 years ago.  She finally got the opportunity when her boyfriend, now husband, had a son not long after they met.  There is something poignant and sweet about this image that typifies their relationship.  I know that Kori loves him with every ounce of her being as much as she would have if he were her own.  It made me think of a quote from Richard Bach's book Illusions.  In it he talks about what family really means.  Essentially, he says we're born with relatives but we choose our family.  This has been so true in my own life.  Anyone who has grown close to their in-laws can testify to this fact.

I had 3 goals in mind with this layout:

1. I wanted to do something special with the photograph.
2. I wanted to keep it fairly simple - simple color scheme and not too many papers.
3. I wanted to have a pocket for hidden journaling since the topic was a very personal one.

Hidden journaling pocket

I always start my layout design with a photo in mind.  My initial thought was to do an image transfer with the photo so I printed it onto an ink jet transparency in a sepia tone to give it an antique feel.  Then I realized that I'd forgotten to reverse the image before I printed it (when doing image transfers, the image goes print side down so you get the reverse of the original image)!  I didn't like the look of it reversed so I decided to try something different.  There were strong horizontal lines and pretty clear distinctions between the sky, background and water so I painted a piece of watercolor paper and overlaid the transparency on top.  It gave the photo an ethereal quality and I love how the texture of the watercolor paper shows through the transparency.  To soften the horizontal lines, I tore the edges of the paper and stitched around it a couple of times in wonky lines.

H2O colored background under a transparency with glass bead gel painted frame

I just got some Golden Glass Bead Gel and wanted to try it out (gotta love new toys!).  I took a postage frame from Tattered Angels and Glimmer Misted it in Marshmallow. I let it dry and then applied a fairly thin layer of bead gel.  It dries clear and shiny and the beads take on the light beautifully.  I can tell I'm going to get hooked on this product!  I added it to the photo with Scrap Dots to help highlight the focal point.

For the background, I took a Tattered Angels glimmer screen and misted over a piece of MME patterned paper with Riptide Glimmer Mist.  I distressed the edges of the teal paper and then stitched it to a piece of orange cardstock.  I then curled up the edges of the teal paper to reveal some of the orange underneath. I played the teal-y blue off the orange with my accents and tried to keep it simple. I Glimmer Misted the leaves on the flower as well as the word "mama" and added the glass bead gel to the subtitle "Kori".

Glimmer misted background and accents with glass bead gel subtitle

I heated a piece of Glimmer Glass to bend it and topped off the upper corner of the photo. A few flowers, buttons (which I painted with StazOn ink), some lace, and metal flowers from Making Memories and I was done!

This one is for you Kori - my friend, my family. 

Supplies used:

• Orange cardstock (Club Scrap)
• Teal patterned cardstock (My Mind's Eye)
• Patterned paper (Sassafrass Lass)
• Lace, large flower, orange flowers, and leaves (Prima)
• Buttons (Jenni Bowlin)
• Metal flowers (Making Memories)
• "Memories" Tag and envelope (Maya Road)
• Lace rub ons (Hambly)
• "Kori" chipboard letters (Basic Grey)
• Glimmer screen, glimmer glass, postage frame, "mama" letters (Tattered Angels)
• Glimmer Mist in Marshmallow and Riptide (Tattered Angels)
• Golden Glass Bead Gel
• Watercolor paper (Strathmore)
• Watercolors (Prang)
• Timber Brown ink (StazOn)
• Green embroidery floss
• Brown thread