Project: turn Cuttlebug "Harmony" alphabet into a greek alphabet!

When I wanted to write a title in greek in the September 2008 layout, I used the Cuttlebug "Harmony" alphabet and the letters were fine.
So I thought to make a guide for future reference and to share it with you:
The purple letters are the letters without any alterations.
The green are the greek letters that came out after alterations, for example in order to make a "Γ" I used a "T" and cut off the upper left end and so on.
The letter that was the most difficult to figure out is the "Σ" where I used two "z".
Finally, because in some cases I use letters in reverse, i.e. the "β" is the B reversed, I have to keep it in mind when I'll use patterned paper that I must have the pattern I 'm using facing not the die but the other way.
Not the easiest way to make greek letters, but still it is a way!

Baby Layout: October 2008

It 's a fact: I 'm addicted to flowers! After positioning the photos on my page (the paper is K & Company) I used the nesties and distress inks to make the scalloped "petals" and the Sizzix "Build a flower" die for the flowers. The fun part is the buds, I used the same die but after adhering the three layers one on top of the other, I cut the flower in the middle and then folded this half in the middle with one end overlaping the other and glued them together. Then I added the tiny green "sepal" and the journaling spots. Finally I added the swirls with my Sakura Souffle, on some of them I added on top a layer of Glossy Accents, the result is very nice and almost 3d. Flowers flowers flowers EVERYWHERE!!!

Delivery Day: New video!

This is my new video about the stuff that I recently purchased.
Enjoy!

Baby Layout: September 2008

I made 3 pages for my niece's christening , the coolest thing that happened is that I made greek letters with the Cuttlebug "Harmony" alphabet!
It has caracters that resemble the greek letters and for the rest I improvised: in order to make an "φ" I used the number 8 and the letter J: I cut in half the 8 and added the J and I had an "φ"! For the "σ" I cut an E and then I turned it upside down. Finally for the "ν" I just used the V!
I'm so glad I bought this, it was really cheap on ebay, just $33 ($23 + $10 for shipping) sealed in package!

 

Delivery Day: Bind It All

I 've got a Bind It All!
I 've got a Bind It All!
I 've got a Bind It All!

As you can tell I 'm doing the happy dance because I bought the Bind It All!

I 'm extra happy because I bought it 60 euros, it was on sale at Boit A Scrap , the shipping was free (I purchased some paper pads as well and if the order is over 70 or 75 euros, I'm not sure exactly, it is free) and it arrived at my doorstep just 6 days after the day I ordered it!

I' m totally clueless about what I 'm going to do with it, but I 'm sure I 'll find something! :-)))

Did I tell you? I 've got a Bind It All!

Card Making: Gone Fishing!

I had to make a card for a male friend of mine who enjoys outdoor activities, so I came up with a fishing theme.
First I made the backround with copic markers and then colored the boy drawing on a seperate paper (Gina K's pure luxury white cardstock).
Then I added the tree (I used scallop circle punch and a cuttlebug embossing folder, then I added red on the "apples".
I adhered the boy and the tree on the backround and then I cut by hand the grass stripe and added it on the card.
Last step was to adhere the fishing rod (I cut it from plain chipboard and then colored it brown).
I used green cardstock to make the frame, I wanted it to be like a 3-dimensional frame so I gave depth to it by adhering the card not directly under the frame but on double foam pads and then folded over the cardstock so that the foam pads were not visible.
Finally I drew and adhered the fish, I put Ranger's "Glossy Accents" on top to give them a little shine (I had an accident though with the pink fish) and added the title (I drew lines with blue and green copic on green cardstock and then used the Cutlebug's "Baby Face" alphabet.

I had lots of  fun making this card, I hope my friend wiil like it!

Baby Layout: August 2008

For this layout I wanted a light and airy effect, so I used a low key yellow - ochre background paper (K & Co). When I positioned the photos on the page I came up with idea to incorporate arrows, so I used the leftovers from a paper (Earth Love collection by Cosmo Cricket) an cut the arrow shapes.
Then I made the flowers: I cut them with my sizzix "Build a flower" die but used cutouts of the same size, used yellow and orange distress ink and a Sakura Glaze orange pen. Then I added a clear button on top.
For the title, I glued green cardstock on plain chipboard and the used the "You're not the boss of me" cuttlebug alphabet.
Finally I added the journaling using a HOTP journaling template and the page was ready!

Baby Layout: July 2008

July 2008, first vacation for my niece, sea, sun and lots of fun!
I wanted a two page layout and at first I tried to use two different background papers, but then I thought to use this paper on both pages (from the K & Co "Sea glass" collection.
I positioned the photos and then I wanted something to accent the smaller ones, so I made some frames with mt nesties. Then they seemed too flat, so I added the yellow lines (Sakura Glaze) and then I covered them with Ranger's "Glossy Accents". It takes a while to dry but the results are shiny and it adds volume if you spread it in a thick layer.
For the rest of the photos I just used white Sakura Souffle and draw the faux stitches.
I used my American Crafts "Giggles" white thickers (I have a stash of them, bought them on ebay really cheap) and colored them with my copics, perfect results!
At this point the pages were almost complete, but I wanted to add something like a base, so I cut by hand white cardstock and used yellow distress ink (I'm a distress addict, it's a fact!).
For the finishing touches I stamped and colored the boat and the lighthouse (Inkadinkado) and then covered them with the Glossy Accents. Finally I used the Fiskars "Threading Water" border punch and added the blue string.

At this point I thought to leave it as it was, I liked it this way because it is not too loaded, I just added the date with the "Baby Face" cuttlebug alphabet.

They look like a summer breeze in my album!


 

Baby Layout: June 2008

For this layout I wanted to focus on the central picture. So I used two layers (one cardstock and the stripped paper is from the "Earth Love" Cosmo Cricket collection) and then adhered them on my paper (K & Co). Then I realized that there was not enough space for the other two photos and I didn't want to leave them out. So, I cut them and kept only what I wanted, this way they fitted exactly on my page!
I used the leftovers of the stripped paper to make some accents and then tried to copy the stripped pattern on the thickers (American Crafts "Giggle" white), but I faced this problem: I used my old markers, Tombow dual and at first the colors where perfect but when the ink dried the colors changed! Specifically the orange became pink and the green blue!!! I colored them again, the same thing happened! Finally I used distress ink in yellow and somehow the result was ok. Next time though I'll use my copics!
Now, the flowers were cut with my brand new sizzix die. I assembled the flower in the upper left corner in the traditional way, I just put them one on top of the other. For the two flowers in the right lower side of the page I stamped on plain paper and then inked them with distress inks in yellow and orange. Then I folded them in the middle, and added the little green paper piece.
They are really cute and because the paper is thin they are more flower-like than the other I did with patterned paper.

With this layout I completed my niece's first year "Baby Layouts":

July 2007
August 2007
September 2007
October 2007
November 2007
December 2007
January 2008
February 2008
March 2008
April 2008
May 2008

Baby Layout: May 2008

For this layout I used K & Company paper because there was a lot of pink in the photos and I like the pink-green combination.
I positioned the pictures and I order to accent the central photo I used green cardstock to make a mat and embellished it this way: I used the Fiskars "Threading Water" border punch, then used pink string and finally I added the flowers.
Next step I colored with my copics the flower fairy (free coloring template from Dover Publications) and then used UTEE to make it like a shiny sticker. When I positioned it on the page, it was like floating on air, so I stamped the flowers and leaves (from a Gina K stamp set) right on the page, colored them and then positioned the fairy on top. Then I added the journaling using HOTP journaling template. The title and the date was foam sheet cut in my cuttlebug with the cuttlebug "Baby Face" alphabet set. The butterflies on the left is an Inkadinkado stamp. Finally, the flower on top is Prima, from the "Whispers" collection, I love them because they're semi-transparent, I also stamped underneath it leaves, I didn't color them after stamping becase I wanted only the outlines.

Candy Time!

Hello,

just a quick post: Inge has candy to give in her BLOG , two cute Magnolia stamps.

Happy crafting!

Delivery Day: First video!

Baby Layout: April 2008

For this layout I wanted to combine spring and Easter, so I chose two simple K & Company papers (the green backround paper and the plaid pink) and another K & Company paper with flowers from the McKenna collection to make the letters and the button.

I used the scallop blade in my Fiskars trimmer to make the scallop around the page and also used the "negative" to make the green border around the central photo.

I made the basket with the eggs:
First I cut the shape of the basket, I used pink distress ink for the edges and then used the Fiskars "threading water" border punch for the top. I added the green string and the button (just a clear button, I glued patterned paper underneath). For the eggs I used the Fiskars "easter egg" squeeze punch, then adhered it on patterned paper, then on chipboard and then I covered it all up with UTEE, I currently love UTEE!

Next step, I wanted to add something on the right and left of the central photo (for which I made a mat with the plaid paper and used small Prima flowers in the four corners, now, these flowers were altered this way: I used my markers on the back of the flowers to achieve a sublte variance in color), so I used my Gina K flower stamp and colored it with Copic markers. Then I used a Sakura pen to make the green doodling and stamped on it the leaves with various shades of green. I used Copic markers to accent the leaves around the flowers.

Then I stamped the little butterflies (Inkadinkado) and also added the punched out ones (Fiskars mini punch).

Last step was to add the month and year on top:
I glued a patterned paper on some plain chipboard (it actually was a box of Kellog's) and then used my Cuttlebug alphabet "You're not the boss of me".

Layout ready, fresh from the garden!

Baby Layout: March 2008

For this layout I wanted lots of flowers, so I started cutting them the way I mentioned in my earlier post.
Unfortunately, for some weird reason, I ruined each and every one, usually by cutting off the petals!
I tried 4-5 times, each time a disaster, finally I kept only 2 of them that were almost ok but used them under the big semi-transparent Prima ones.
(I got really frustrated, it was not fun at all, so I bought THIS on ebay.)
I used my cuttlebug dies to cut the small flowers and the leaves, then I used distress ink (I always do, almost on everything!) for the edges.
Then I cut free hand green cardstock to make the curves, embossed them with the cuttlebug "Swirls" folder and then sanded them a bit.
I added the journaling in the middle.
For the "Jump Jump!" title I used colored foam pad that I cut with my cuttlebug alphabet, I kept the negatives of the letters and used them in the lower right corner.
Too many flowers I think, but definitely very girlie and cute!

Techinque: Make a flower

It's been a while that I'm concidering to buy a Sizzix Bigz flower die, something like THIS because I like flowers but not the ready made ones, like Prima, I prefer to use my own paper, inks, stamps etc and make my own embellishments.
Meanwhile, for the February LO I needed a big flower, so I made it from scratch, this is how:
1) I cut three squares from patterned paper, one smaller than the other, for example the first 8 cm, the second 6 cm and the third 4 cm.
2) I folded each in half and then again in half
3) Then I sketched (on the folded quarter) a quarter of a flower, two whole petals and two half petals.
4) I cut the folded quarter on the sketch lines
5) I unfolded it and the first flower is ready
6) I repeated it for the second flower and the third
7) Then I used my bone folder to curl the petals
8) Glued them one on top of the other
9) For the center you can use anything (a button, a brad, a round piece of paper - this is what I used, etc)
10) A three layered flower is ready!

It is a really funny and practical technique (it reminded me of my school days!) since you can make flowers of any size and pattern, to match your project.
Have fun!

Baby Layout: February 2008

For this layout I kept it simple because I wanted to put the rose fairy image which is large enough.
The rose fairy image is a sample from a Dover colorbook, and it works this way: I gave my email to Dover and each week they send me a link with samples from their various colorbooks. I pick the ones I like and download them for my personal use.
So, I printed this rose fairy in BW (the actual size was A4 but I wanted it smaller) and then I colored it with my Copics. I experienced minor smearing, but only when I kept coloring repeatedly over the black lines. The result was soft and delicate, the only part that I don't like is the face and the body because I used exactly the same colors that I used for the roses and the dress.

Once the image was colored, I adhered it on blue cardstock and put the photos on the page, the paper is K & Company.
I added the letters and then I had the idea to stamp over them. Don't try this at home :-) because I also stamped the paper!. If you want to stamp on your thickers, line them up on a scrap paper, stamp them and then position them on your page.

I added the flower (I made it myself and will share the details in another post), the arrow (HOTP journaling template) and the little heart on top (wrong year, I have to correct it somehow!) and that's it!

Baby Layout: January 2008

For this layout, I started with a K & Co dotted paper in pink. I wanted something simple so I could add lots of stuff!
Next, I made the trees using a Fiskars cutting template and light green cardstock. Then I used Ranger's green distress ink in green, embossed the trees with Cuttlebug's "Branches" folder an finally I sanded the surface a bit.
The snowman was made with three circles that I cut with my nesties on white cardstock, used Ranger's blue distress ink to make the shadows and empasize the shapes. I cut the little hat by hand, stamped some snowflakes in light grey and then used the same blue distress ink for the edges. I also cut a pop dot in tiny parts to make the buttons and the nose and colored them with markers. Finally, the scarf is an American Crafts ribbon, I used my blue Copic to mute down the colors, but, I couldn't adhere it on the snowman! I used glue, herma, nothing, the only thing that finally kept it in place is a couple of pop dots. So if you know any adhesive that holds ribbon in place, please enlighten me! :-)
Once I put the trees, the snowman and the photos in place, the image of a seesaw was created in my mind! So I cut pieces out of pink cardstock, used pink distress ink to make them seem less flat, and it was ready.
The letters are American Crafts "Giggle" white thickers, I used some light blue distress ink in the right side of each letter.
At this point, I needed something to put in the upper corners of the layout, so I used a Fiskars stamp set on white paper, colored them, cut them and then, for the embellishment in the upper left I used some stickles, while fot the little one on the upper right, I used UTEE, the result is really nice, lots of shine!
Finally I used some festive rubbons, actually that's the only set of rubbons I have (not a rubbons girl!).

I really liked the final result, BUT, next time I want to make a fastive layout I 'll make sure I have some festive papers first, it makes the project so much easier!