Mandie's Keepsakes Box

When I started this project it was going to be a quick and pretty little box. I had a very simple idea in my head for what I wanted to do... and then I found myself adding a little more here and doing a bit more there, and found myself spending many hours creating this little box.

It started lift and a plain wooden "book-look" box that I had purchased a couple years ago, on clearance for $.29. I had purchased several because they were so cheap and cute. Fast forward to a few weeks ago and I decided to FINALLY alter one of them.

To begin, I sprayed the "Pages" part with lots of Glimmer Mist. I started with the Walnut Gold, added some Coffee Shop and then finally some Tattered Leather. Then I used my Black Adirondack Acrylic Paint Dabber to paint the rest of the outside of the book. Then I decided to work on the inside of the book first.


I started with some fabric remnants that I picked up at a local craft store. I loved the silky patterned one so I simply used my Scor Tape and adhered it to a sheet of chipboard that I cut slightly smaller than the inside measurements (to allot for the fabric's bulk). Then I used my Glossy Accents to adhere this piece to the inside bottom of my box. Did you know that Glossy Accents is an excellent adhesive as well? I then repeated this to line the inside of my lid. Next a grabbed the music note fabric and cut small pieces of chipboard to do all of the inside sides on the box. Since the music note fabric was plain white cotton I wanted to make it co-ordinate just a bit more. So, I grabbed my Bazzill Splat Mat, my Heat Tool, a Mini Mister filled with water and my Glimmer Mists! First I sprayed the ribbon with water to make the dyes soak in better. Then I randomly sprayed Mel's Diner, Wheat Beer and Meadow Green all over my fabric. I used my Heat Tool to dry it and then cut it to cover my chipboard and used more Scor Tape to adhere it. Then used the Glossy Accents to attach all the pieces to the sides. I also used some giant binder clips to make sure my pieces stayed tight to the surface to dry.


Next I started working on my cover. Remember the Mosaic card I posted here a few days ago? Well, this is the original project that I had cut all those pieces for. I just cut strips from my Echo Park Paper "For the Record" 6 x 6 Paper Pad. This technique would really be great with any of Echo Parks lines! Then I inked all the edges of my pieces by swiping them over my Walnut Stain Distress Ink Pad. Then I very sparingly added Glossy Accents to the back of each piece as I created my pattern. I made sure to leave space for my title piece. Then I used my Glossy Accents to cover each piece of paper to give it a glass tile look and let it dry.


For my title, I had picked up these really cute "mistables" at a LSS a while ago and they've been sitting on my desk waiting for just the right project. I think this qualifies. So I used my Wheat Beer Glimmer Mist to cover the whole thing. Then I used my Barn Door and Walnut Stain Distress Inks around the edges. Then I added a layer of the Rock Candy Distress Crackle Paint. When it was dry I added more Walnut Stain Distress Ink to the cracks (just liberally apply it with your Ink Blending Tool and then use a damp cloth to wipe off the top). Then I added 2 layers of chipboard behind it to raise it up a bit more. After I adhered it to my box with more Glossy Accents I then added the Glossy Accents to the top of this as well.


So here is where I will mention what I will call my "Glossy Accident"... I had actually already completed most of my box when I was adding that final title "tile". When I set it aside to dry I didn't realize that it was sitting at the tiniest angle... and when I came back to it to take photos I gasped. The Glossy Accents had slowly traveled over the edge of my tile, through the other tiles and down the side of my box. Well, I'd invested too much time in this box to toss it aside and start again, so I decided to roll with it and disguise it as much as I can! So I added Glossy Accents to the whole top of the box. First I very carefully outlined the whole top of the box with it and let the outline dry on a completely level surface (yes, I checked it with a level to be certain). Then I filled in the rest of the "grout" space with a thin coat. When that was dry I added one more layer to all of my tiles to be sure they all stood out. I love the finished effect!


Ok, so now I will tell you how I decorated the back of my book box. I wanted it to sit flat so I needed a flat design. I created a stencil from one of the shapes in one the For the Record papers. Then I used my White Adirondack Paint Dabber to fill in my shape. When it was dry I removed the mask and then I randomly added my Glimmer Mist using the Wheat Beer, Coffee Shop, Walnut Gold and Tattered Leather to it. Then I painted the Rock Candy Distress Crackle Paint over the area and when that was dry I added Scor Tape around the edges, peeled off the backing and covered it with antique gold glitter. A quick simple way to make sure your glitter goes on perfectly straight!

Here's a look at the spine of the book. I simply added my paper (this was a 12 x 12 sheet from the same line) and added some May Arts Velvet Ric Rac to the edges. After that previously mentioned "Glossy Accident" I added the Rock Candy Distress Crackle Paint over the top as well to mask that little boo-boo.

I's so thrilled with how my little book box turned out, now I just need to find some special treasures to tuck inside!

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Super Fast Valentine Card with Lori

If you're like me and short on time, it's great to be able to get a card made RIGHT NOW.  But I'm sure you still want it to have some WOW factor.  Cutters Creek to the rescue!  All you need are some Reddy Pyramids from Ecstasy Craft, some Joy Foam Pads or ASI Kool Tak, and scraps of your favorite pattern paper and American Crafts glitter cardstock (or POW!).  This card literally took me no more than TEN MINUTES to put together.

Note: This particular Pyramid image is no longer in the store (I've had it for a while... things go missing around here sometimes), but I see some awesome flower Pyramids that would also be great for Valentine's day.

So, punch out your Pyramid image, layer it up with the Joy Foam Pads or Kool Tak, then add a mat of the American Crafts glitter cardstock (or POW!).  I used lavender glitter cardstock (and cut the mat with my Cricut), and my pattern paper is from the Echo Park Paper Springtime collection.  I stamped a quick sentiment on my paper (stamp from Close To My Heart), then adhered everything to a 5"x5" card base.  Quick, simple, and beautiful!

You still have plenty of time to get an order in time to make some great Valentine's Day cards - here's what you need to look for in the Cutters Creek store:

• Reddy Cards Pyramids from Ecstasy Crafts
• Joy! Foam Pads or ASI Kool Tak Clear Foam adhesive
• American Crafts glitter cardstock or POW! glitter paper
• Springtime collection (or pick a great 6"x6" pad) from Echo Park Paper

Thanks for stopping by to see us today!  We love to read your comments - and be sure to let us know if there is a product or technique you'd like to see us feature.

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Card Making Tutorial

I've just come back from vacation and I am exhausted, so I thought I would do something a little different for this Tutorial Tuesday. The other day we were having a conersation about the different steps we go through to make a card and how everyone does it a little differently. I thought I would share my process with you in case you ever get stuck and don't know where to start.

The first thing I do when I'm making a card is to pick my image this can be either a stamped image I'm going to color with copics or an image I'm going to cut with my cricut. Once I have decided on my image, I choose a sketch. I visit several different sketch blogs and print out the sketches I like the most, sometimes I draw them when I can't print them. A Smash Book would be perfect for this. You can redraw the sketches yourself directly in the book or you can print them and smash them in whatever works for you. Keep your image in mind and think it will work with a circle or if it needs to be a rectangle or a square. For this project I knew I wanted to make a birthday card so I chose this adorable little house mouse image. From the size and shape of the stamp I knew it would work best with a square mat so I chose this sketch from my sketch notebook.

Looking at this sketch, I knew I needed 2 different patterns of paper. I love to use the 6x6 paper pads to make cards because I know they are full of coordinating papers. The Echo Park pads Cutter's Creek sells are perfect for this. After I decide on my patterns, I pull out my copic markers and start trying to find colors that are closest to the colors in the papers and then I color my image. On this one I switched it up a little by adding some embellishments and a sentiment that weren't in the original sketch.

This also works on cards you make with your cricut. I love the egg and bacon happy face image on Kate's Kitchen and I was dying to use it on a card. Since the plate is round, I looked for a sketch that featured a circle as the main element.

Here is a sketch I pulled off one of my favorite blog sites a few years ago. Once I find the sketch that I think will work best with my image, I look and see how many different paper patterns I think I will need for the sketch. For this card I used 3 different patterns of paper from the Kate's Kitchen Imagine cartridge. I added the papers to my card base as they were in the sketch and then added my image. I changed this one up a bit by putting the sentiment on the bottom instead of up higher as it was in the sketch.

I know some people feel sketches limit them, but for me they are just the jolt I need to get my creativity flowing. Next time you find yourself stuck in a creative rut, try changing up your usual process and see if that helps any.

Echo Park A Boy's Life LO by Laura C

Have you seen the brand new Echo Park in Cutter's Creek?!!

This LO was done using the new "A Boy's Life" collection....I
thought this was a perfect way to show....it's definitely NOT
just for little kids! It has some great paper designs! Great
for cards too! This page used 2 of the patterned papers from
this kit....several of the stickers, and the orange alpha on
the 2nd page are from the kit too! Always soooo much in these
kits....a great value for sure!

Here's a close up of some of the stickers....and a few metal
gears I threw in there for embellishment from my stash...

And if you see the close up of that raised dot paper....
that's the Core d'nations Cosmo Cricket pack....
and guess what, I found!! This cardstock goes with
this Echo Park kit perfectly!!

And can I tell ya...I have so many "old"
plain chipboard letters....what?? You do too?!!
LOL....seems those old supplies get lost in the
shuffle sometimes. I've decided to USE this
stuff this year!! I used a gear embossing folder,
then used Distress Ink in Black Soot (chipboard
takes distress ink REALLY well!) and then brushed
that with an Adirondack Paint Dabber to give the
look of metal gears (like the ones in my pics). Just
think of all you could do with this....emboss with
snowflakes, ink in blue (or RED!!) and brush with
a Snow Cap paint dauber, you could emboss with
anything, and do any color.....soooo many ideas for
this technique!

And here's a close up of those letters....


And one final peek at the full LO.....


Would love to hear what inspires you most here
on our blog....would you like to see more LO's,
cards, techniques, videos....we're here for you,
and I know we'd all love to give you what you're
looking for!! Leave a comment and let us know!

Available at Cutter's Creek:
Echo Park Page Kits (A Boy's Life)
Core d'nations Cardstock (Cosmo Cricket)
Distress Ink (Black Soot)
Adirondack Paint Daubers
Embossing Folders

Almost White On White Card with Chris

This 5x7 card is made layering different Nestabilities over Cuttlebug’s embossing folder (Madison). The layers cut and embossed are Labels Ten, Labels Twenty Three, Small Deckled Rectangles, and the smallest Labels Four. The deckled rectangle was also run through the Madison folder and the smallest label was embossed with an Impressabilites Flourish. (Just cut the nestability and then lay cut side up on the impressibility with the embossing pad over it and run through your machine.) After all were cut and embossed I sprayed all with Tattered Angels Pearl Mist and let dry. The large Madison embossed layer and the Label Ten layer were glued with my ATG. Each of the other layers were added with pop dots, centering each above the previous one.

To give it some elegance I added pearls on the first two layers and cut a piece of pearl art on the deckled rectangle before I popped up the littlest layer. I just couldn’t bear the starkness of it—I love the look, but it just seemed to be missing something. So out came my jewels and Copic Markers. I colored the heart with two coats of R46 and adhered it with glossy accents. Now here’s a Valentine’s card fit for my mom!

Resources from Cutters Creek:

Nestabilities: Labels Ten, Labels Twenty Three, Labels Four, Small Deckled Rectangles
Impressabilities: Flourish
Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist: Pearl
Cuttlebug embossing Folder: Madison
Self-Adhesive Pearls: Champagne
Glossy Accents
Copic Markers: R46

Mandie's Mosaic Card

Hey everyone! I wanted to share a card that I created with some leftovers from a really fun project that I've been creating! I used free-hand cut squared from the Echo Park Paper's For the Record 6 x 6" Paper Pad (but really you could use ANY of their beautiful lines for this project). I just cut up a whole bunch and then inked the edges by running them across the Walnut Stain Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad. Next I started randomly gluing them down to form this the mosaic pattern. Well, that of course wasn't enough so I used a few stamps from my stash to add a little bird here, a butterfly or five there and the word "Hi!" so I can use this card for any occasion.



Well, it looked pretty cool but of course I felt it needed more... so I pulled out this package of "spritz screens" that I picked up on clearance somewhere I decided to use the bird shape. I just wanted a subtle pattern so I grabbed my Walnut Gold Glimmer Mist... and after 2 spritzes I realized - I'm going to need ANOTHER bottle, LOL! Well, I grabbed the plain gold and misted and then got called away buy the kids. Well, there my card sat for several days, with the screen on top and the Gold Glimmer Mist in blobs all over the screen. Well, when I came back and took off the screen I thought the effect just wasn't big enough, so I laid my screen back down and grabbed the Walnut Stain Distress Ink again.



This time I used the foam applicator to add a bit of ink around the image so it would pop more and still have the beautiful glimmer. Well, I liked it but... I thought, "I wonder if I can use the screen like a stamp and put some of that Rock Candy Distress Crackle Paint on my card? That would REALLY finish it off nicely!" So, I grabbed the bottle, coated my screen really well and slapped it (carefully) into place. Then I smooshed it down REALLY well to make sure I got the Crackle on good. Well... I must had waited a tiny bit too long (like 10 seconds) because when I started to peel my screen up, the paper started to come too. Luckily I had started pulling up slowly and when I realized what had happened. I simple smooshed that screen right back into place and LEFT it there! Well, I LOVE the way it turned out! The Glimmer Mist that had dried onto the screen looked like I was trying to do it that way. And inking around it really made it pop just right. It's funny how some times the accidents in crafting and experiments really can make all the difference! Oh, and for those who were worried that I no longer have that screen... you can all sleep easy because I had purchased two boxes thinking maybe I could use one as some sort of page accent! Yep, my inner hoarder paid off... now I've gotta place an order for some more Walnut Gold Glimmer Mist....

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Smashing Organization by Laura C

Click on the arrow above to see a quick...and definitely
unedited...lol....video about using the K&Co Smash Books
as an awesome way to get yourself organized in the new year!!

And here are some of the goodies I used:




And a close up of some of the pages....you can really let loose
and have some fun with this!!! I had the best time doodling
and drawing on the pages!!

See that awesome washi tape that K&Co made?
All different kinds are available, and it's really fun to use!!


And those cute little labels too....


Soooo, what are you waiting for??? Kim's got these goodies and
more in the store....whether you document a trip, give it as a gift,
or use it to organize....Smash Books ROCK!!!! Make sure to check
out Cutter's Creek selection of these awesome products HERE!

Hello Kitty Action Wobble Card

So I heard that Cutters Creek was getting in more Action Wobbles and thought it would be fun to share I card I made this afternoon using an Action Wobble.

I started with a piece of what Bazzill Card stock cut and scored to make a 4 1/4" X 5 1/2" card base. I added a hot pink mat cut at 4" X 5 1/4" and then the patterned paper mat cut at 3 3/4" X 5". I cut the Hello Kitty Image at 4" and adhered it to my card front with an Action Wobbles. I added some Glam Pink Stickles to the heart. Finally I stamped my sentiment with the Festive Berries Distress Ink that was part of the Winter Limited Edition colors released in November. It is a great red.



Not sure what an  Action Wobble is? Let me show you.

They have a little spring in them that allows movement on the object they are attached to. Here is a quick video (my first) of the action wobble in action. Aren't they fun.

A Valentine Tag with Chris

The tag background is colored with Barn Door, Broken China, and Antique Linen Distress Inks. I smeared them on my Bazzill Splat Mat and spritzed them with a bit of water before dragging my tag through it. Once it was dry I used Distress Embossing Pad (Clear) and inked up a quote stamp. I stamped it three times down the card with some of the quote going off the edges. I embossed with Gold Super Fine Embossing Powder. I put that aside and cut a piece of acetate to about the size of the tag and ran it through an embossing folder (any design would work). I flipped it to the debossed side and used Gold Stickles to fill in a few of the spots. While that dried, I painted my chipboard letter with some gesso so it would have some texture—and again waited for that to dry. Once it was dry I inked the edges with Barn Door and Aged Mahogany Distress Inks and set it aside.

I layered the acetate onto the tag hiding two Super Strength Glue Dots under where the letter V was going. I glued the V down using Glossy Accents and added a scrap border along the bottom. It still needed some pizazz so I cut a heart, smeared it with a lot of flower soft glue and then thickly layered on Ruby (from the Diamond Range collection—wow—it absolutely shimmers!). I had some silver twigs that I broke off and sprayed with some Gold Metallic Glimmer mist and used glossy accents to adhere to the “V”. I finally layered on the hear using a Glue Dot Pop Dot; cut a ribbon from my stash and finished off the tag.

What are you making for Valentine’s Day?


Resources from Cutters Creek:

Tim Holtz Distress Inks—Broken China, Antique Linen, Barn Door, Aged Mahogany, Clear
Super Fine Embossing Powder—Gold
Acrylic Sheets
Embossing Folders—Cuttle Bug or Sizzix
Gold Stickles
Glossy Accents
Glue Dots—Pop Up, Craft Dots
Flower Soft Adhesive
Diamond Range Flower Soft—Ruby
Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist—Gold Metallic

Happy Days Layout with Lori

There are so many style option with the Happy Days collection from Echo Park Paper, it seems like I can just keep making things that look "new"!  So I thought I'd share a layout I made last weekend.

 

The fun retro patterns and bright colors go great with all of those "little kid" pictures I'm trying to catch up on.  This is my almost 11yo daughter, about 9 years ago, beginning her art "career".  (She is becoming a pretty accomplished cartoonist, so I'm very glad to have captured this!)  For a girly feel, I grabbed the small flower print paper from the collection, and add the mini polka dots and just a bit of the stripe.  Sticking with the retro feel, I cut my title with my Cricut from the Nifty Fifties cartridge and added some of the mini alpha stickers from the collection.

I wanted to add a journaling block to my layout, but the flower ones in the collection weren't colors I wanted to use, so I picked the one with the big green car on it and just used embellishments to cover up the car.

 

I used some o the flower stickers in the collection, along with some flowers cut with the Cricut and a flower made with gathered crochet lace.  I just threaded some bakers twine through the holes in the lace and pulled it until I could gather it into a loose circle.  I threaded the leftover twine through a button and tied it into a bow, and used that for my flower center.  The sentiment at the top of the journaling card is stamped, and the rest is stickers from the collection.

Items available at Cutters Creek:

• Happy Days collection kit from Echo Park Paper
• ATG Adhesive Refills
• Nifty Fifties Cricut Cartridge (special request, and Kim can get most cartridges)
• Doodle Twine bakers twine

Other items used:

• cardstock from Bazzil
• brads from my stash
• Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge & all other items from CTMH

If you're interested in a just-for-fun challenge blog, this is my layout for this month's Scrappy Frog's "use lace" challenge.

Double Dutch Fold Card

My Tuesday Tutorial post for you today is a card I saw on Splitcoast Stampers called a Double Dutch Fold Card. Of course I had to give it a try.

This card fits in a standard A2 envelope. I started with a piece of Bazzill White card stock cut at 4 3/16" X 9" and scored at 5 1/2". I also cut a piece of the white card stock 2" x 8 1/2" scored at 2 1/8" and 6 3/8". I used my ATG Gun to adhere the the larger piece to the smaller piece centering it between the folds of the smaller piece. When finished the top folds down and the two smaller sides fold in like a gate fold card. I then cut a dark turquoise mat from Core' denations card stock. For the larger flap I cut the blue mat at 4" X 3 3/4". The smaller flaps I cut the blue ( think I didn't write it down sorry) at 2" X 1 7/8". The polka dotted patterned paper is from  the Echo Park Paper Pad. The patterned paper was cut 1/4" smaller than the blue mat.  I cut my cupcake from the Sweet Tooth Cricut cartridge at 3 1.2". I cut the heart out of red paper from my stash and then used some Magenta Stickles on the heart to give it some sparkle. Finally I add some faux stitching and doodle dots to the chocolate layer.

I sure hope you will give the card a try. It was a lot of fun to make something a little out of the ordinary.

Love You! Valentine's Day Card

Well for a lot of us the holiday decorations are put away and the kids have gone back to school. I had to go back to work today (bummer!) So it is time to start thinking about the next upcoming holiday, Valentines Day. It is also time to start using all those new crafting goodies you all got over the holidays. To help you out on both counts, I have this Valentines Day card to share with you all.

I started with a 4 1/4" X 5 1/2" white card stock base. I added a black mat cut at 4" X 5 1/4" and then one more white mat cut at 3 3/4" X 5" and finally a patterned paper from the My Minds Eye Sunshine 6" X 6" Paper pad. I inked the edges of all the mat layers with some Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink. For the image on my card, I used the Paper Trimmings cartridge (a circle exclusive sorry). I cut both layers at 3 1/2" and cut the bottom layer from white card stock and the open top layer from red card stock. Using the same cartridge I cut a circle at 2 1/2" out of black card stock. The Love sentiment is from the Tie the Knot cartridge (which I believe Cutters Creek customer service can special order for you, just ask) and cut at 2". Now to glitz up the card I a bit I sprayed the white background of the heart frame image and the Love with Pearl Glimmer Mist. Pearl is still one of my favorite colors and a great color for those just getting started with Glimmer Mist. It is a wonderful way to has simmer and shine and a glittery look to something without having to break out the glitter and glue. For my black circle I first spritz the black with some Slate Glimmer Mist. Then I used some Oil Slick Glimmer Glaze (this is a special order item again, just ask Customer Service at the Cutters Creek site for help). I am so pleased with the effect I got from the glaze on the circle. It really darkened the color and left the circle with this nice shiny glaze to it.  I strongly urge you all to give the glaze a try sometime. Now for the red layer on the heart frame and the heart from the sentiment. To be honest I first spritzed both of them with some Rum Punch Glimmer Mist. While I loved the sparkle it was really just a tad to light and didn't give me the affect I was looking for. So what to do? I took out my Bordeaux Glimmer Glam (another special order item from Cutters Creek) and brush on a couple of coats of it on my two red pieces. Love the look and depth of color I got. One more fun way to add shimmer and shine to a project. I layered all the images together and after adding a piece of red ribbon for color to my card front adhered the heart frame image with some ASI Kool Tak Clear Foam Pads. To finish the card I added some red rhinestones from Want2Scrap and some smaller white pearls from my stash.