Cleaning up from disaster...

Ugh!  Sorry everyone.  Nothing new to post.  I've had a bit of a disaster that I am still cleaning up from.  The upstairs toilet overflowed for about 2 1/2 hours a few weeks back.  The kitchen, dining room and basement below that are a wreck.  Based on preliminary estimates, I'll be under construction for most of the summer. 

Kitchen ceiling has to come down, bathroom floor has to come up, dining room floor is a wreck but we think we can refinish rather than replace.  The built in curio cabinets in the dining room have to be sanded and refinished - hopefully minimally as it seems just the varnish bubbled up.  No electricity in the dining room and the central light in the kitchen does not work either.  And of course I have to paint everything.  Not how I wanted to spend my summer. 

I'm still headed for 4th of July cards - I refuse to let this mess up my 4th of July.  Oh!  Hey!  I was on my bike yesterday riding the Interurban to Port Washington.  They built a bike bridge over HWY 45.  I'm thinking this is an EXCELLENT place from which to watch fireworks!  See you there!

Happy Memorial Day! - AMK

Published!

Check your local newsstand for the upcoming issue of Just Cards - Inside & Out.   Barb Housner will recognize what's on page 95, I made that one just for her last Halloween.  Page 103 has Alice's Valentine from 2010.  That's Alice, as in Wonderland...

Once again I encourage you all to send your work to magazines that you love.  All of them have some kind of editorial calendar on their websites to give you deadlines for different themes.  Or, you can do what I do.  I save my own copies of each item I make.  Then, when I have the time, I type up the recipes.  When I have a stack of a dozen or so, I just send them all in and give them permission to use them whenever they see fit.  This method keeps the surprises coming for years sometimes.  You never know how long they are going to keep your work on file for future issues.

You're not going to pay the mortgage with the proceeds, but it is a thrill to see your stuff in print. 

Oooooh! New Paints!

Hey crafters - don't forget about Amazon.com when hunting for craft supplies.  Amazon sells everything and can compare prices for you, to boot.  When you need to round out your shopping cart so that you get the free shipping, check out their arts and crafts department for just about anything you may have on your wish list.  I got this set of acrylic paints for next to nothing from good ol' AZ. 

The Faber Castel brush pens came from Create For Less - another great discount site.  Just be advised, they sell in BULK.  You are not getting just one sheet of paper, you're getting 12 to 25 depending on the item.  Weekly sales at an already discounted price are hard to pass up. 

I know I've not been posting newly crafted creations - it's only because I've begun the annual cookie book, so it will be a while before I can show and tell anything about that.  I'm probably skipping mother's day so if you were holding your breath, let it out.  Next up for me will be July 4th!  That is not to say I won't post anything until those are done, but that's the next big card event in my near future. 

Happy Spring!

Spring Cleaning

Hidey-Ho, Readers,  

Sorry to have been away for a while, things are poppin’ here in the Burg, at least in my life anyway.  Work has reached a fever pitch, and on the home front, we are down to a one income couple again.  I’m not complaining.  I like to be busy, hate to be bored, and when someone else makes dinner, well, what’s better than that? 

I admit to being in a bit of creative slump.  I was counting on the Scrapbook Expo to jump start my creative noggin’ and it did not disappoint.   In preparation for what I suspected would be a large amount of new stuff, I put ‘clean the stamping room’ at the top of my to-do list.  I’m not ready to cross it off as done yet, but I’ve definitely made some in-roads. 

Below is another little idea I had as an effort to further organize my wafer thin dies.  I like to keep things out so I can see them.  It helps me remember what I have, and lets me explore all my options on a given theme.  

That piece of wood you see spanning the shelving units is a 10x12x2 plank from Home Depot.  Cheap as hell, and very sturdy.  If you wander around the lumber yard looking pathetic, you are sure to get attention from some able bodied individual to help you sling that thing into your car.  Now, those of you who know me, know that is NOT what I did, but I’ve seen it work.  I’m just sayin’… Just make sure you know how long you want it to be before you put on airs.  If you bat your eyes, that same able bodied individual will cut the thing to size for you too. 

While you’re in Home Depot, pick up a package of cup hooks and some thin metal rods.   These items should bring your grand total to something like $13.00.  Now all that’s left is to get it set up.  

If your shelving units are the same size, just toss the plank up on the highest shelf.  If they are different, like mine were, you’ll have to get out your level and jury rig one end.  (I know it looks crooked in the picture above, but it's not, it's just my crooked picture taking.  Note that it is parallel to the ceiling line.)

I used some old scraps of 2x4’s that I wrapped in polka dot paper and some old magazines as the final shim.  Once it’s level, measure your metal rods and screw three cup hooks into the underside of the plank, one on each end of the rod with about an inch of overhang and one for the middle of the rod. 

I like to organize by theme.  So, all the leaves go together, all the valentines/hearts go together, anything for winter is another one, Christmas of course and Halloween.  Then there are flourishes of all kinds, edges, geometric shapes etc, etc and on and on…  Once you have your toys grouped, it’s a simple matter to hang them on the rods. 

I use the metal clips from Simply Renee’s Clip It Up series.  But there are things back at Home Depot that would work just as well.  I just happen to have a boat load of the Clip It Up clips, so that’s what I use.  I made the white dividers from card stock, creasing the long end and labeling that, making it super easy to see where one group starts and the previous one finishes. 

This was an easy and fast solution for me.  The added bonus of a sturdy shelf for my large punches makes this a great addition to the craft cave.  And, it lets me use space, that would otherwise be unavailable. 

Spring

Even though the weather has returned to something more normal, despite the rain, it's still pretty nice here in WI.  But, as promised, something did fall out of the craft room this evening.  There was one, half finished valentine idea up there that finally got finished.  I loved those little birds with their conversation hearts, the tilt of their heads and their expressions are great.  They are one from a set by Inkadinkado (Animal Hearts 99646).  There's a Bear Hug in this set too, that I'm really liking.

For the Spring card, I saw something like this on Pinterest and thought I'd translate it to a card.  I'm not all that smooth with my sewing machine, so I drew the line first with a pencil.  That made it pretty easy.  Stop the needle in the lower position, slide the flower up to it and start up again.  Repeat.  The stamp is from Imaginisce, part of the Twitterpated collection (Item # 001112).  I was trying to be 'Clean and Simple' or CAS with this one.  I'm pretty sure this is as simple as I get.  Barb Housner tried to get me to post one of these on Operation Write Home's FB page a good while back.  Better late than never?  And, just for Andrea, who believes green flowers are 'just wrong', there's one in there just for her!  Happy Spring everyone! - AMK

It's TOO Nice Outside!

Hello Everyone!  Sorry to have left you hanging out here with only Valentine's to keep you company.  It's been waaaaay to nice outside here in WI.  I can't bring myself to while away the hours in my craft room when it's sunny and 80+ degrees in MARCH!  We are setting records every day!

They say it's supposed to start raining tomorrow, so maybe something will fall out of the craft room this weekend.  I do have to get started on the 2012 cookie books soon....hmmmm

Enjoy! - AMK

Valentines Part 2

Much like I did for Christmas, I kept on with the Valentine's to stock up for next year.  Here are a few more that made it from pile to produced.   I love this little kewpie doll.  He usually makes an appearance every year in some way or another.  I've used him for Mother's Day and I've got an idea for Christmas too. 

This is the end result of the stamp positioner and masking class posts I did a few weeks back.  As I mentioned in the class, the signpost is from Unity Stamps.  I used some elastic string to accent the bottom.  I was going for an arrow-ish look. 

The town image in this one is also Unity Stamps, but I confess I paired it with another sentiment I had on the same theme.  I do that a lot.  Mix and match from my collection.  It probably gives the manufacturers fits, but a girl has to do what those vioces in her head tell her is right.

Well - looky there! Another Unity Stamp valentine.  I really loved those birch trees with their hearts sort of woven into the bark.  I layed the ink on thick and then smeared it up a bit because bark isn't smooth, right?  And, that little bird they sort of hid in the image was too cute not to color and bring forward with a hand cut matching paper feather.  That little blue bird makes me happy!

Variations on the theme...

Here are a couple more of those 3-ring circus valentines I mentioned in the previous post.  This is not the K&CO background paper, but something else, I got from somewhere else...more from the stack of Valentine paper that mysteriously appeared.  The unicycling juggler I think is from Making Memories.  The laughing elephant is definitely from 100 Proof Press which, if you have not discovered yet, well, take stock of your mad money before you hit that link....

Enjoy! - AMK

Valentines - Part 1

I've been working away at this year's Valentines.  I was surprised by the amount of valentine-themed paper I had in my collection.  Seriously, I must have a 2" high stack.  Where the heck did all that come from?  In an attempt to put a dent in it, I've focused on using two packs from K&Co. pictured below.  One is pretty traditional, the other, the one on top, has a "love is a 3-ring Circus" theme to it, which I thought was both original and completely accurate. 

 
I've been adding paper to these packs from various sources as the mood hits me.  The one below may be hard to find.  I've had it for a while.  It's from Creative Imaginations.  I'm really only using the edge of the page.  It goes well with the circus theme.  The middle will probably wind up as the envelope. 

Here's a shot of the rest of the stuff I used to make the card at the bottom.  Those Graphic 45 stamps from Hampton art are the perfect foil for the circus valentine.  K&Co. offered some adhesive borders to match all the papers in the pack.  I couldn't resist. 

The finished piece.  I used Glossy Accents to add detail to the hearts in the banner.  Enjoy!

Cards from Friends and Family

Between Christmas and my Birthday just past, I've got a nice display of hand made cards that others have made and sent my way. I bought two of those little wood display stands from 7 Gypsies and keep them filled with stuff that I like.  I thought I'd share....

This first one is one of mine - I keep it on display because I like the stamped sentiment.  I keep this stamp out on my worktable too.  It's a little blurry.  It says "Normal day, let me be aware of the treasure you are".

 This next one is from Lynn Diebold.  A very pretty Christmas card she sent me. 

 Andrea sent this for my birthday this year.  That rosette is VERY popular these days.  This one is hand made, and very pretty.  I think this is the first birthday card from Andrea that DIDN'T have Fluffles the cat on it.  I don't miss him...:oP

This one came from Jan Nolte, a fellow Cedarburg crafter.  Looks like she was into crafty brown for Christmas too!  

 
These next two are from my big sister, Bridget.  She likes to do a lot of hand lettering and decorating.  There is a name for the style of lettering she did on the Christmas card, but I don't remember what it is.  Essentially, you draw the letter and than fill it in by repeating a pattern over and over until the letter is no longer 'hollow'.  Each letter has a different pattern to it.

 

This pretty winter tree came from Cheryl Husmann.  She's got her own blog which you can peruse by clicking her in my blog roll on the right.  She's a scrapbooker with grandbabies so her blog has a lot of layouts you can use for inspiration.

Masking

Here's another way your Stamp-a-ma-jig stamp positioner is useful.  I often find I only want to use part of a stamp.  Maybe one flower out of a whole bunch, or in this example, one word from a sentiment.  Sure, I could just use my computer and print out the word I want for my card, but that won't add it to the same element as the image we stamped in the previous post. 

For this example, I want my finished image to say "Valentine, you make me smile", so we need to figure out how to add the word 'valentine' to what we already have when we don't have quite the right stamp. 

The way to do that is to use the masking technique.  Here is picture of what you will need.  Elipse tape, is nothing more than a roll of paper where the entire back has post-it note glue on it.  So, you guessed it, post-it notes work great for making masks.  The stamp I am going to hy-jack the word 'valentine' from is pictured below.  I stamped it onto the pink scrap just so you could see it on paper.

Cut off a piece of Eclipse tape and stamp your image onto the paper side.  Use a dye or chalk ink so it drys fast. 

Next, get out your craft knife and trim away the part of the image you want to show on your finished piece.  In this case I am removing 'valentine' from the stamped mask.

Set the mask asside and place the pastic sheet from the stamp positioner on your work surface.  Line up the jig with the corner like we did in the last post.  Stamp your sentiment onto the plastic sheet making sure you have it nice and snug into that corner.

Place the mask on your project so the missing word will show where you want it.  You'll note that the Elipse paper is see-through.  Post-it notes; not as much.

Layer the plastic sheet over the mask, matching up the letters, so it reads perfectly.

Add the jig, snug to the corner of the plastic sheet.  Hold the jig in place with one hand and pull the plastic sheet away.   You should now have the jig in place and the mask in place so...

...ink your stamp and snug it up to the jig in the corner.  Lower the stamp onto your project and stamp. 

Ok - that's it - go back to the top to see the finished image.  You may see a little smudge above my finished image - I was toying with the word 'happy' while putting this class together and dropped the dirty stamp.  Gah!

Stamp-a-ma-jig - Stamp Positioning

Hidey-Ho Readers - in an effort to stop stuffing my face after work in front of HBO, I put this class together on using a simple stamp positioner.  It's called the Stamp-a-ma-jig and it retails for about $8.  You can buy extra plastic sheets for the thing separately, but it comes with everything you need to get started. This is what you get, minus the tape runner.  I stuck that in there so you could get an idea of how big the thing is. The plastic sheet has a sticker on the side you DON'T stamp on.

Ok - here is a look at the finished piece.  I'm using a couple of stamps from one of Unity Stamp Co's sets and a sentiment from Hero Arts in the next post when we get to the masking class.  The inks should be pigment ink.  I'm using Colorbox; terracotta and pink. 

First let's stamp the base image - the sign post.  This is a larger stamp, and it's important not smear ink into the hole where we'll add the word 'smile'.  To keep things even and clean, I like to use a brayer to load the stamp with ink.  You can use your ink pad, but just be sure to keep the edges clean. 

Not to get ahead of myself, but I doused the finished product in clear UTEE and melted it from behind with the heat gun. Another reason to use the brayer to load the stamp; it puts a nice, even, thick layer of ink on the page that UTEE loves to stick to. I find when using Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel (UTEE) it's best to heat the stuff from underneath. The larger particles tend to blow all over the place if heated from above.

Set the sign post image aside, once you have it stamped.  Now, lay the plastic sheet on your work surface.  The smooth side should be facing up.  Place the jig handle tight to the corner of the plastic sheet.  Ink your 'smile' stamp and carefully place the corner of the stamp into the 90 degree corner of the jig.  Lower the stamp so it prints on the plastic sheet.

Ok - we're almost there...take the plastic sheet and layer it over the sign post so 'smile' is in the center of the lower oval. 

Add the jig snug up against the corner of the plastic sheet, keeping 'smile' where you want it.  Move the jig together with the plastic sheet until you get it just right.
 

Once you are happy with the placement, keeping the jig in place with one hand, carefully remove the plastic sheet with the other.  Don't move your sign post image when you take away the plastic sheet.  If you do, it's no big deal, just repeat the above step and try again.  You should now have your stamped sign post image with the jig on your work surface.  Ink your 'smile' stamp and place it in the corner of the jig, lowering it down to stamp onto the sign post.

Remove the stamp and the jig and you should now have 'smile' right where you want it.  Ta da!  (Here's where you can get out the UTEE and dunk, gently shake off the excess, and melt from behind.)   

There are about a million different stamp positioners on the market today, but I find that none of them are as easy to use as this little gadget.  Here are some additional tips if you are stuggling at all with this.

1. If you can't seem to pull the plastic sheet away without moving the base image, try using some repositionable tape to hold the base image to your work surface.  You can stick it down with post-it notes too.  They are designed for repositioning, but most people don't use them as tape.  I do. 
2. Use pigment ink to start.  It wipes right off the pastic sheet so you can try again.  Chalk ink and Staz-On require you to remove it with special cleaners.  It's just something else to mess up the place and keep you from getting things figured out while you practice.
3. Ahhh...Practice.  Yeah.  Good idea! 
4. Note the plastic sheet has three corners (because of the sticker they place on it) that you can use for images.  You can put a different image on each corner and place them anywhere you want them.  If you buy extra plastic sheets, you get three in a pack.  Thats 9 more corners to play with!  Take off the silly sticker with some Un-Do and, bam!  That's extra corners!

That's it!  Shout out any questions you have.  I'll reply with comments on the blog so everyone can see.  - AMK

New Valentine Theme

If you've been visiting regularly, you've undoubtedly noticed I've been playing with the blog theme.  It all started when my brother took down his blog site, one I had linked into my blog roll.  He's a figure drawing sketch artist out in Portland who teaches drawing on the side.  After he exited the on line world, I removed his link, saved everything and then those little wrench-crossed-with-screwdriver icons started showing up on all the widgets I have on my site.  I've been messing with things ever since in an effort to get rid of them.  They seem to have a mind of their own. 

Since Valentine's day is right around the corner, and I've got all those piles of would be cards on the floor again, I'm sticking with a Valentine theme for a the next little while.

For those of you who were avid readers of  'The Paper Bicycle'  my blog devoted to professional cycling, I've added a page to this blog.  Right now it's linked under the Pages roll, but I may make it its own tab.  I'm thinking I'll start those post updates on that new page.  Google's blogger is SOoooo much easier to use than the wordpress blog I started that site with.  With February being the official start of the 2012 season, I'll be just in time to start those, oh so wonderful rants as well. 

- AMK

Auntie Unusual

Guess who's finally gettin' her first year's baby book?  Madison's big brother Jason got his shortly after he was born so it's only fitting that Little Red get hers.  If you don't get why I call her Little Red, then you must not be from Wisconsin. 

I don't do a lot of decorating on the inside of these baby books, because I figure Mom will add her presonal touches.  Each page is an envelope that holds a different colored page.  Pictures and little notes to baby are added each month for the first year.  The book always starts with the birth month. 

Beyond the obvious, these little books have a lot of uses, all of which work better if you keep the book a secret while they are growing up.  For example:

1. When she brings home the first boyfriend you don't like, you can whip this little thing out and embarass the hell out of her.  Be sure to have at least one naked baby picture. 
2. Or, when she's become a screaming teenage nightmare, you can give this to her and she'll have no choice but to treat you better. 
3. Or when she's a screaming teenage nightmare you can read it again and remember why you love her. 
4. Or, when she gets married, you can make a gift of it to her - something old maybe? 
5. Or, while she's pregnant with her first baby, you can give her this one, and make one for your soon to be grand baby and give her that after the arrival. 

A 12-days special I couldn't resist...

New ribbon organizers!  And, only $10 each, Merry Christmas to me!

If you look back at my first post where I showed you my craft room, you can see how my ribbon was displayed above one of my work spaces.  The wooden dowels were curved, overloaded, and not all that functional.  I'd pull down what I wanted to use and invariably start an avalanche.  So when I got the email for this deal from scrapbook.com I bought my limit, got out my dad's whisky stick, my trusty De Walt drill and away we went.    Ta da!