Saturday 28 July 2012

Craft Inspiration

There's nothing I like more than browsing a magazine, specially scrapbooking and crafts mags.

While nothing beats paper publications, since I go the iPad I have downloaded/read online some  magazines like Mollie Makes, Scrapbook Trends, Scrapbooks Etc and Martha Stewart Living.

Those are all paid for magazines, but there are some amazing free e-mags around.

I love these ones:

Scrapbooks and Cards Today

30x30 (Polish)

Crafting Ireland

While browsing Issu today, I found a few more:

Scrapbook Trends April 2010 

Cards April 2010

Plumetis (French/English)

Paper Runway

Whimsy Stamps Inspirations Magazine 


They're all full issues, while some are regular free online magazines, others are a free edition of a paid-for mag.

Have fun!

Sunday 22 July 2012

Have you heard of Skylanders?

Unless you have a child in your life, of a certain gender and of a certain age, you probably have not.

For the uninitiated, I'll explain: it is a Wii game, and Wikipedia explains:

"In Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure, players take on the role of a Portal Master who can control over 30 different characters, including Spyro. Players embark on a journey into a world where they will explore lands, battle creatures, collect gold and treasures, and solve puzzles while on a quest to save their world from Kaos, an evil Portal Master, whom they must defeat."

It fascinates my boy and lots of his school friends. The clever marketing ploy about this game is that it mixes the video part with actual toys. You can change ther role you play by placing a diferent character in a sort of box (which looks like a tree trunk to me). So, not only you have to buy the game, but you will be asked to buy endeless Skylanders so your child can progress in the game.

My son's granny gave him the game as a Christmas present (big hint from Daddy) and on his birthday last month he got 12+ new Skylanders from family and friends.

* Font: Pincoyablack (title), Century Gothic (journaling)
* Stamps: Studio Calico (letters), Viking Direct (date)
* Skylanders Image: Crabfu.com
* Other: Letraset Promarkers,  Washi tape, Silhouette Cameo

It is a very simple layout that took a few resources to put together.

First the profile was inspired by a silhouette by Kennedy Garret that I found in pinterest:

Source: flickr.com via Elisa on Pinterest#


The profile was from a photo I took a while ago as part of my photo a day project:


After that, I looked for a font that ressembled the Skylanders title. Pincoyablack is not exactly like it, but close enough.



After that was the inside of the silhouette which I wanted to be Skylanders-themed - a quick google search brought me to the person that drew the characters. His blog has the original sketches for download. I grabbed one and coloured with Promarkers.

After all that, it was easy, I had fun colouring with Promarkers.

Which I might be using more in the future... In a recent crop, Elaine Smyth gave a class on how to use the markers and I think a penny dropped. I has only half listening while I was trying to get my layout finished and I regret it, I should have paid more attention!

Saturday 21 July 2012

Don't Grow Too Fast...

Often I have an idea for a layout design which is very simple to visualize but a pain to make. Often I give up on those ideas.

This time, I would have given up if I didn't have the Silhouette. Or I would have attempted a digital layout. Because the idea was simple, layers of cardstock, going from light to dark, each with a word on top, but can you imagine handcutting all these letters?




These were the only shade I had enough to make the sentence I wanted. However would have been much better on a brighter pink.




I am not sure if you can see it, but he chevrons go from dark pink to while, you can see through all the shades.

Thursday 19 July 2012

Guest Designer for DYSU

Today I am the Guest Designer for DYSU.  The challenge subject is very close to my heart: FOOD! Or should I say stomach...

The challenge is been sponsored by Rhoda Design Studio, which kindly shared the fun image of the teacup seen in my card.


* Digital Image: Rhoda Design Studio
* Stamps: Papertrey Ink
* Ink: Tsukineko (Versafine, Versamagic)

Check all the amazing entries here!

I was very honoured to be asked, thank you!

Thursday 12 July 2012

Giant Bubbles

I posted recently about my love of soap bubbles, and since we went to the bubble exhibition a few years ago I have been thinking in trying to make really big ones.

When I was looking around in pinterest for things to do in the summer, I found a post teaching how to make big bubbles. It is really simple, you probably have everything you need at home.

Did it work? Well check it out:


The original tutorial asked for 4 drinking straws, but I ended up using two kebab sticks as handlers instead of a second pair of straws.

I told the the boys to blow or to wave the contraption but they discovered that the best way to make big bubbles was to slowly walk backwards. Genius!

I found this in a list of "boy-approved craft and activities", and interesting enough, I had 3 boys and 4 girls at home (only two my own, you understand) and while the girls played a little, it was the boys that really enjoyed making giant bubbles.

Here's the link:

Wednesday 11 July 2012

Adventure and Rain

Last month my daughter went camping for the first time. It was supposed to be a 4-day/3-night trip, and you can't believe how much stuff she had to pack for that. Look at the size of her backpack! It rained to hard on the second night that they had to cut the trip short. Her sleeping back and PJs were soaking wet when she came how. Still, she loved the experience!



*Patterned Paper: Pink Paislee, My Mind's Eye, Crate Paper
*Stamp: Studio Calico
*Stickers: American Crafts for SC (letters), Cosmo Criket (small, rhs)
*Mist: Studio Calico
*Embossing Powder: American Crafts
*Ink: Versamark
*Digital Images: Ya Yeah Designs @ Two Peas in  a Bucket
*Punch: Woodware


The Moody Miss Journal cards by Ya Yeah designs were perfect for the layout!

Tuesday 10 July 2012

A quick card

I am doing an online class on stamping; Studio Calico's Summer Stamp Class. The first lesson covered stamping off, which is to stamp several times with same stamp without reinking in between. I have still to produce a good result but am having lots of fun!

* Stamps: Studio Calico
* Ink: Tsukineko (versafine, versamagic, versamark)
* Embossing Powder: American Crafts
*Other: Cardstock and button


I am not great at stamping so this is a way to work on my skills and also to try to use them in scrapbooking.

When I had a chance to get into a rubbers stamp shop in London I bought a couple of versafine inkpads and am converted to them. They really give a good impression and it is the only one which worked well for this technique.

Wednesday 4 July 2012

Bubble Love

I have a childish love of soap bubbles - one of the easiest and cheapest toys you could ever imagine -  no matter how many times I see them, they still fascinate me.

* Patterned Papers:  My Mind's Eye (floral black and white/yellow stripes), Crate Paper (dark yellow)
* Twine:The Twinery
* Pen: Unibal Signo
* Punch: EK Success (label)
* Stapler: Tiny attacher; Tim Holtz
* Shape: Love in circle by Karla Dudley; Silhouette Store
* Digital Die Cutter: Silhouette Cameo

Most of the layouts I have done lately are from a Studio Calico kit; Brooklyn Flea. I had used most of the patterned papers and this one (floral black & white on one side, yellow stripes on the other) was the last one left. Altough I liked it, I was afraid the paper make the layout look too dark. It is a bit contradictory that I ended up using it with such an airy subject, but I loved how it turned out.

Sunday 1 July 2012

Colourful popcorn

Last time in Brazil, my children discovered coloured popcorn. I don't want to think how much artificial adictives there were there, but hopefully once in a while, it won't hurt.


* Patterned Papers: My Mindy's Eye (black floral, read), Crate Paper (dark yellow), 
Pink Paislee (circles, floral blue), Echo Park (yellow hexagons),
* Buttons: Crate Paper
* Fonts: Bebas Neue (title), Underwood Champion (journaling)

The title was printed in Paint Shop Pro. PSP has a nice feature where you can print only the outline of the any text. I printed the solid text with assorted colours and the outline in black with a slight offset.

Journaling:

"Since we go to Brazil every year, you and Lucy have already developed some “traditions”, that is, things that you like to do when we go there. One of them is to go to a feira. Feira is a street market, initially they used to sell vegetables, but bit by bit they developed and now you can get meat, household stuff, pirate DVDs, toys, plants, clothes, costume jewelry, herbal medicine, even ornamental fish. Whatever. You name it. But we go for the food. Specially pastéis. I am mad about pastel and now you are too. This year, in Prudente, we stopped in a feira after a busy day in the swimming pool. Of course we had pastéis and then went to explore the other delicacies of the feira. And we found this: colorful popcorn. Who knows, perhaps another tradition in the making?"

As I reread the journaling to post, I discovered that I wrote "two" instead of "too" in the layout. Tell me,,w many more spelling mistakes are still left? Or maybe, don't tell me, I'll get depressed.