Some new embossing powder...

There are several "deal of the day" scrapbooking supplies websites. Three popular ones I know about are Crop Chocolate, Flowers to Flourishes and Peachy Cheap. I have ordered from Peachy Cheap a couple of times and last week I couldn't resist the offer for some embossing powder by American Crafts called "Zing."



Here is a LINK to a video by American Crafts demonstrating this embossing powder.

The offer was for six jars for $8.99 (plus $3.99 shipping) and the video says the regular retail is $4.99 per jar so I thought this was a good deal. I ordered on Tuesday of last week and the powder arrived today.



I had to laugh - the green color was called "Cricket" (not the same spelling but even so...!)



I had to try it out right away, so I stamped some flowers with the new foam stamps I wrote about yesterday using Versamark ink, then covered the impression with the powder, tapped off the excess and heated the paper from below.



The embossing powder is truly amaZING (I think that's where they got the name!).



Here you can see the small flowers before I heated the embossing powder. It sticks to the Versamark ink very well - the power is a bit more granular than some others I have used but very fine.



The shine after heating is incredible...



The lines are sharp - these stamps have large lines but I plan to try the powder with some more detailed stamps as soon as I can. I really like the look of the embossing on the textured cardstock.



My assortment of test flowers wasn't really planned but I think it makes a pretty card.

This "Deal of the Day" is over but sometimes the same item shows up again - I know I will be looking for more colors of this embossing powder in the local stores

I have been working on a lot of Design Studio projects but most of them have to stay "secret" for a bit longer. There is something new and very exciting coming in September...watch this space!

A card made with Foam Stamps

I found some foam stamps at a Tuesday Morning store in Connecticut when we were on one of our trips to New Jersey. Tuesday Morning seems to get lots of scrapbooking items for clearance.



This set is borders and backgrounds. I tried out the diamond pattern and the ink does stain the foam a bit (I used my new Papertrey Ink "Scarlet Jewel" ink pad).



The stamps are by Making Memories.



I hadn't seen these before or even heard about anyone using them but I decided to give them a try...



After all, I didn't have much to lose!




So I bought the Summer set,




the Halloween set,




and the Flowers and Hearts set too! (Don't you just love it when you buy a lot of things for just a little money?)

The package says the stamps can be used with ink, embossing powder or acrylic paint.



I inked the foam generously with the ink pad and then stamped the front of an A2 card. I scored the fold line on the card before stamping to help me see where to center the stamp but I didn't fold the card - I wanted it to stay flat. The image was nearly perfect but there were a few edges of the diamonds that looked a bit ragged. So I got out my Stickles glitter glue in "Goldenrod."



I added the Stickles along the continuous diagonal lines - first on one side and then the other being very careful not to bump into my previous lines!



When the Stickles were dry, the card looked nice but rather plain despite the "bling." The stamp also did not cover as much of the card front as I would have liked, leaving a wide border.



I used this paper for a gift card swap recently (here is a LINK to that post). The colors were a good fit with the ink and the Stickles already on the card.



The remnant from cutting the gift cards was just big enough for me to cut a frame for the A2 card. By adding the border the design was contained and the amount of empty space was more proportional on the card front.



So here is the card I ended up with - it could be a note card or I may come back and add a Cricut cut or another embellishment to the front.

If you have a Tuesday Morning store near you be sure to check their scrapbooking items frequently - you ever know what you will find! (For those of you who accuse me of doing too much "enabling," I say when the cost is less than $1.00 "go for it!")

Some Cute Cards...

These cards are part of a bigger project I am working on. I thought I'd share them today so if you like the idea, you might be able to find the same paper before it is out of stock.



I found this paper (once again from K & Company) on clearance at Michael's. At first glance, I didn't think it was something I'd be interested in since I don't have young children at home. But I picked it up and flipped through the stack and quickly changed my mind.



The illustration style is so charming - I liked nearly all of the pages. The opposite sides are various overall patterns in small scales so I can certainly use every sheet.



Some of the pages have a more overall pattern but with a bit of "fussy cutting" I was able to find sections that work for note cards.



I particularly liked the penguins - all four corners will work beautifully for A2 cards (three horizontal and one vertical) and there will even be some of the lovely wave area of the paper left over.



On some of the cards I stamped small sentiments. Doesn't this crab look like he needs a hug? I inked the edges a bit and used brown "Dark Chocolate"cardstock.



I haven't decided on the sentiment to add to this card. I did not ink the edges of the paper on this one because the crisp line against the black seemed to suit the penguins.



This a notecard -I carefully chose the area to cut and inked the edges with brown. The "Ripe Avocado" cardstock was a nearly perfect match for this paper.



I used a light blue "Spring Rain" cardstock for this card and inked the edges of the paper with blue ink for more definition. These penguins are so stinkin' cute!



I have many more of these in the works as part of my project. I used my new Papertrey Ink cardstock for all of the card bases. I am really enjoying the weight and "feel" of this cardstock and I have already started to fill another shopping cart on their site!

Just a quick note...
Thank you to everyone who emailed or left supportive comments on my post yesterday. I didn't realize that what I wrote would cause such a reaction! I don't think there was any intention to be hurtful, just a statement of fact about the style of my posts. I always welcome suggestions and I know that my style may not be for everyone. As a few of you said - it is my blog and I should just do what works for me, but please do let me know if I am boring you!

Fancy Scroll Frame

It has been brought to my attention that many of my blog posts are very long and may have too many photos - so tonight here is a short and sweet post with a new file for you!

I used two elements from the Ashlyn's Alphabet cartridge to make this frame.



Here is a screen shot of the keypad showing the location of scroll.



This screen shot shows the location of the frame (I stretched it in Design Studio to make it more rectangular).



I used cardstock from the Luxury Stack by DCWV for this test cut. There are some interesting offcuts - the oval can certainly be used for another project and even the small pieces would make embellishments for a card - I think the lower ones look a bit like baby angels with trumpets. The frame is about 5 inches wide and 9 inches high. The oval is sized to work with a vertical (or horizontal) 4 x 6 photo.

Fancy Scroll Frame

More Christmas in August

Last Saturday I ordered some new items from Papertrey Ink. I have heard so much about their products and I decided that I wanted to try them out (even though I have a studio full of paper - it is truly an addiction!). I got a shipping notice on Monday and the box arrived Wednesday so I was very happy with the service.



One of the things that really appeals to me is the way that all of the products coordinate and the "quick pick" system that allows you to order everything in a certain color collection. I decided to try the "Scarlet Jewel" collection. Here is a LINK to the page for the quick pick color collections.

For $34, I got 5 yards each of six kinds of ribbon (grosgrain, satin, swiss dot, twill, stitched and bitty dot), 24 sheets of 8 1/2 x 11 cardstock, a hybrid inkpad and a package of buttons. I ordered a few more things to reach the $55 order size that qualifies for free shipping (OK - more than a few more things - I couldn't resist!).



I am not really a stamper but I do seem to be collecting stamps lately. I found this stamp at a secondhand shop. It is made in Canada by Magenta. I looked online and couldn't find the name but I really like the design.



Here is the stamping side - the lines are sharp and clear. I opened up my new Scarlet Jewel inkpad and inked it up!



I stamped on plain ivory cardstock, trimmed around the stamped image and layered the image on an A2 card made with the Scarlet Jewel cardstock. This stamp would be a great one to color but I really like it in this simple outline look. The ink matches the cardstock so well.



Next I tried another large stamp - this one I found on clearance at Michael's a year or so ago. It is an Anna Griffin stamp by All Night Media.



Here is the top of the stamp so you can see the image more clearly.



It was very hard to get a good photo of the stamped image - the effect is lovely with the matching ink on the cardstock - very subtle and elegant. I will be adding to this card - maybe a border ... I am thinking it over ... but I wanted you to see the effect of the ink on the matching color cardstock.



I had heard that with large stamps it is a good idea to stamp on a cushion of some sort - like a mousepad. I didn't have an old one handy but I grabbed this piece of styrofoam from a shipping box. It seemed to have enough "give" and firmness to help produce a clean image.



The main reason I chose the Scarlet Jewel collection was that I thought it would work well with these K & Company papers from last Christmas. This line is called "Christmas Cheer." I am on a quest to start using some of the paper I have "collected" and I needed some solids to work with all of the beautiful patterns.



Here are the pieces for my simple card. I found the coordinating embellishments on clearance after Christmas last year.



I used the satin ribbon and placed it at the line to cover the row of red shapes on this patterned paper cut to 4 x 5.25 inches.



The only problem I have with double-sided paper is that I often like both sides and then I have trouble using it because I have to make a choice! I taped the ribbon to the "back" side.



It is hard to see in the photo, but I inked the edges of this paper with gold ink to tie in with the embellishment with the glittery edges.



Here is the simple card - it is so easy when all of your colors and patterns coordinate. The Papertrey cardstock makes a great card base. It is very heavy and has a lovely smooth feel. I also ordered the sampler pack of perfect match colors and I think I will be ordering several more quick pick color collections to use for card making.

I will show you the stamps I ordered another day - there are so many great choices that it was hard to pick just one!