Beautifull stamps! Update

Hectic week, lots of hours at work, I also caught a cold, but when I received the Crafty Secrets stamps http://www.clearartstamps.com/, I got better!

The designs are "Home Sweet Home" and "Fairyland" and the first attempt (pictured) is from the "Home Sweet Home"set.

Now, in the first picture I used used chalks from Pebbles and the result is really soft and fine, eventhough not so detailed

In the second one, I used the dual markers from Tombow but I overdid it a little and "scratched" the surface, maybe next time I will try watercolor paper. I didn't take any pictures (the battery of my camera died), but I actually made two coasters from them: I glued them on chipboard, I inked them around, then "inked" the whole surface with watermark and clear embossed it twice. It came out almost like a tile! I don't know though if it is water resistant...

The designs are really unique, I can't wait to order some more!
I definetely want the "Feeling Yucky", they're so cute!

Photo Frame 2

I really liked the photo frame so I made a new one, with Hero Arts Four Dolls clear stamps (border, fan and doll, they were all in the set), and it came out really cute! I also used Ranger's distress ink to make the background, it doesn't really show in the picture but the colour is not solid, it actually came out in shades of blue and green. I also used Fiskars squeeze punches for the scalloped circles and distress ink to make the edges darker.
One tip if you want to make one: when you put the magnet on the back, put it on the outside and adhere it, cause if you put it between the photo and the cardstock, it will fall down, the magnet must be as closer to the fridge as possible.

Albums: Postbound or D-ring?

I have both kinds and I must admit that postbound albums are my favorites, even though when I started scrapbooking my first choice was D-ring.
The reasons are:

• postbound albums "grow" with time, as you put more pages in them, and the process of increasing their depth is very easy.
• they are not bulky (from day one) like D-rings.
• D-ring albums seem a lot like office binders (prettier of course), while the postbounds absolutelly not.
• the pages are really firm and steady in a postbound and the presentation is much better.

These are my reasons for choosing postbound albums.

Finally, a small description about increasing the depth of a postbound album:

1. Unscrew and remove the screws.
2. Remove the back cover.
3. Take the metalic expansions (in American Crafts albums they are hidden in the inside of the spine) and screw them on top of the existing ones.
4. Replace the back cover and screw the screws.

That's all!

I'm in love with...Pebbles Chalks

I just received the pictured set of Pebbles chalks, and I love it! The set has also all the accesories that you'll need and the effect is really subtle and delicate as you can see.
I also bought a few extra templates, and the fun part is that you can also use them with any kind of ink or fluid chalk etc, and the result is different depending on the kind of ink/chalk you use.
The possibilities are endless!

Monthly Layouts: February

For the layout of February (this year I dressed for the carnival as a pirate), I used:

• basic grey patterned paper
  green AC cardstock
  the stamped month is Inkadinkado
  fiskars squeeze punches

What I really like is the little flower pot that I made from scratch: I cut the shape, used some ink to achieve the degradation of colour (so as to give the impression of volume), then distressed the edges! It came out really cute!

I also had an ink accident with the picture in the lower right corner, so I glued on top the "bbq" sign to hide it :-)

Oh, February was fun fun fun!

Photo Frame or Fridge Magnet? Both!

I started with a piece of white cardstock 11 x 16 cm (it fits a 10 x 15 photo). On the perimeter I glued various flowers and scalloped green "leaves" (all leftovers from previous projects).

For the big flowers in the corners (which double as photo corners) I used only brads and...pronto!

The photo is not glued, it stays in place with the flowers - "photo corners", so I can change it an a second. The fridge was never so pretty!

For the back, I glued the magnet in place and then covered the whole with white self adhesive matstack.

The possibillities are endless, I'm already thinking about making another with floral swirls...

Tips: Buying from Ebay

Buying my crafts stuff from ebay has became a routine for me.

Reasons:

1. Huge variety of choice
2. Prices are varying from good to really good to unbeatable!
3. Hard to find stuff, like retired or new releases

What it takes to achieve a purchase that will make me smile is just searching for a while:

1. I use the ebay search engine (advanced mode) and there I define what I'm looking for. My standard criteria are: new, available to Greece, buy now (I don't have the patience to monitor an auction) and then the description of the object I'm looking for, i.e. fiskars trimmer
2. Then, I sort the results, usually by the price (lowest to highest) and go through them.
3. I always calculate the total cost (price + shipping) to determine what I should consider buying and what not
4. If I'm looking for something small and light, i.e. clear stamps, thickers, embelishments, punches (not huge ones), I prefer USA because the prices are really good (with shipping costs included). I also pay antention not to exceed 30-40 euros of total cost (I'm scared of greek customs!). If I 'm looking for something heavier or more expensive, I always prefer europe ebay (uk, ireland, france, italy, whatever)
5. Once I decide what I want to buy, I check the rest of the stuff that the seller has for sale, because they combine shipping costs, and if I find something else that I currently want and is within my budget limit, I choose to buy the object I was searching for and the extra object that caught my attention.
6. I go through the checkout process but I request the total from the seller, so as to receive a total invoice with the shipping costs recalculated.
7. Once the seller sends me the total invoice, I pay via Paypal
8. ALWAYS USE PAYPAL, if there is a "safe" way to send money via the net, that is Paypal.
9. The delivery varies from a week to a month (rarely and only when buying from usa)
10. Once I receive, I leave feedback for the total experience.

So far, everything I ordered was received as described, no bad surprises, with one exception: a dcwv matstack was corrupted on one corner (not something that could happen from bad handling from the post services). I sent an email to the seller with a picture of it (before leaving feedback), the seller was kind to send me another matstack free, I left positive feedback, everybody happy!

What I'm not buying from ebay?

1. Heavy cardstock packs because the shipping costs are very high. I usually purchase them form online retailers in europe (I like american crafts and I usually buy them from http://www.sarahscardsltd.com/).
2. When I need something asap, I always choose http://www.scrapbooking.gr/.
3. When I want a specific object from a well known brand and can't find it, I always send a quote to http://www.scrapbooking.gr/ and ask about it.

So, I have to leave you now, I 've got some nestabillities hunting to do!