Category Archives: stash

Aug5

Gimme That Washi!

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Gimme That Washi!

I love Washi tape. Have you ever seen it or used it? It’s pretty fun.

Washi tape is a low tack, slightly translucent, patterned tape. It’s originally from Japan. It comes in a wide variety of colors, patterns and widths. A lot of scrapbookers have fallen in love with the stuff, but have no idea how to use it.

If you just think about Washi tape as a shape (a long thin line) ideas for how to use it will start occurring to you right off the bat.

Use it instead of ribbon or a thin piece of paper to add a line to your page:IMG_4432

Cut the ends at angles to make arrows and banners:

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Make a frame around the outside of your picture:

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Cover shapes with washi:

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That should get you started on thinking about ways to use washi tape. Later this week, I’ll link you up to a couple classes that you absolutely should buy, because they are jam packed with ideas to get washi tape out of your stash and onto your page.

 

 

 

Jul25

Mixing Old Product with New

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Mixing Old Product with New

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Ready to see some of the pages I’m making with my super old SEI letter stickers? Yes? Wait, let’s give a set away before we start.

Laurie is the lucky recipient of an extra set of these letters. Hopefully she’ll have as much fun with them as I am. Yay Laurie! Thanks for playing along!

As I said when issuing this challenge, these letter stickers are old. Almost ten years old probably. Current color and pattern trends don’t use this method for combining colors as often. Shall we see how easy it is to combine old product with new?

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Let’s start off with “Silly Boys.” After deciding to use this photo, I grabbed the leaf patterned paper, because it echoes the tree hugging theme of the photo, and yellow and orange work well with the blue/violet colors of the letters. I wasn’t loving the color contrast that much, so I added the washi strips to tone down the contrast, and tie in the lighter blue and newspaperish background from the patterned paper. These letters are pretty large, and I ran out of room for journaling on the blue, so added a neutral journaling spot. A few paper flowers, a little bling and some rub ons, and I was ready to call it done.

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When I was done, the last page felt like there was too much pattern, so for Cook & Clean, I used a solid and a tone on tone pattern to reduce the visual noise. I like this one better, but I still feel like the pattern on the letters still don’t mesh with the other patterns I’m using.

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Walk is closer. The background color works better with the letters, and the striped paper and blocked washi tape echo the pattern of the letters better. The striped paper, the letter stickers, and the washi all have a similar color blue in them, which helps them play nicely together.

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This is it! The colors work together, and the patterns complement each other as well. Thank goodness! I was beginning to think I was losing my touch! I may jump for joy myself now. 😉

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As you can see, mixing old patterns (especially on letters) can be tricky, but it can be done. None of these pages are horrible, but some are clearly better than others design wise.

Have you been scrapping lately? What have you made?

Jul22

Can YOU Use Up an Entire Sheet of Letter Stickers?

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Can YOU Use Up an Entire Sheet of Letter Stickers?

Figuring out how to use up an entire sheet of letter stickers was a fun challenge. Since I usually begin creating a page based on a story idea or theme, starting with a title was an interesting variation in my approach.

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It felt like there were a lot of letters and numbers to work with when I started off, and by the time I was done I felt like I was grasping at straws.

Want to see what words/titles I came up with?IMG_5654

  • Wash Me
  • Cook & Clean
  • Mr. Fix It
  • Silly Boys
  • Jump 4 Joy
  • 24-7
  • 8 (for a quick one photo per age photo album scrapbook)
  • 12 (ditto)
  • Pizza Night
  • Queen (I’ll probably add “Bee” or “of the Crop” in smaller letters once I decide where to take the page.)
  • Go For Broke (Zeroes=o)
  • Walk
  • Quips
  • Wolverine (using lots of repurposed numbers as letters)
  • Wave
  • Doubt
  • Daddy
  • Thump
  • Bug
  • JV & V Jock (something re: my husband’s sports team history)
  • 55 (As in I can’t drive…)
  • FF (Fantastic Four!)
  • Chex (using an 8 as an E)
  • ’99
  • ’69

That’s a lot of useful titles. 25 to be exact. However, the colors and patterns of the alphas are challenging for me right now. They don’t really mesh with my current style. So, to make creating pages with these alphas easier, and make sure I have enough paper for all those pages, I put together a paper kit with 15 sheets of patterned paper and 15 solids/cardstock.

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Most of these papers are older. They’re from Studio Calico, American Crafts, Around the Block, Basic Grey, Little Yellow Bicycle, DCWV, CK, Paper Pizazz, and KI Memories.

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Various shades of blues and purples should work well with the alpha set, and you can never go wrong with kraft. Orange will also make an interesting contrast. (It’s my new favorite color. I love adding a bit of orange everywhere!)

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How did you do with your set of alpha stickers? Don’t give up! It can be done!

Later this week I’ll show you some of the pages I’ve made, and announce the winner. Don’t forget to drop by!

Jul16

Scrapbook Product Challenge: Alphabet Stickers!

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Scrapbook Product Challenge: Alphabet Stickers!

Here’s a fun little challenge for all you scrapbookers out there.

You know how you never use up all the letters on a sheet of letter stickers? How you run out of E’s long before you even look at a Z or Q? Well let’s play a fun game of Scrapbook letter scrabble.

I’ve got this ancient sheet of SEI letter stickers.

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Can you see how each letter has both a positive and the negative version? That was such a cool idea, I had to have this. I liked it so much, I bought two sheets! Looking at it now, all I can say is “yikes.”

So here’s what we are going to do. We’re going to approach these stickers as a puzzle, and challenge ourselves to make words that use every single one of these letters and numbers. We’re not going to bring in any extra letters, although we can use the ones we have in any creative way we see fit. (Coloring them and using them as outlines comes to mind right off the bat.) Feel free to play along with any full letter set you have at home, or throw out word suggestions for me in the comments below.

You know what, let’s even turn this into a giveaway. If you comment below, you’ll have a chance to get that second set of alpha stickers to use as you see fit! How about one week to comment, and then I’ll pull a random winner and notify them when I post the titles I manage to cobble together from these letters. *ETA: the contest is now closed! Thanks for playing!*

If you want to play along at home, the letters I have here are as follows: (6) A’s (3 positive and 3 negative); (4) B’s; (4) C’s; (4) D’s; (6) E’s; (4) F’s; (4) G’s; (4) H’s; (6) I’s; (4) J’s; (4) K’s; (4) L’s; (4) M’s, (4) N’s; (6) O’s; (4) P’s; (2) Q’s; (4) R’s; (4) S’s; (4) T’s; (6) U’s; (4) V’s; (4) W’s; (2) X’s; (4) Y’s; (2) Z’s; (2) of numbers 1-9; (4) zeroes; (2) ampersands; (4) periods; (2) exclamation points; (2) apostrophes.

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Let’s show these letter stickers who’s boss!

 

Jun24

Must Have Tools: Alpha Stamps

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Must Have Tools: Alpha Stamps

There are some things every scrapbooker needs in their tool box: a decent paper trimmer, a good pair of non-stick scissors, adhesive (you can never have too much), journaling pens or markers, and a clear ruler. (You can see the items I recommend here.)

Then there are the tools that, while not absolutely essential, can be used over and over again, in many different ways.

Today let’s talk about alphabet stamp sets.

While I LOVE alphabet stickers, they have a couple really big drawbacks. You always run out of a letter you want before you’ve used up the set. You will not run into that problem if you have an alphabet stamp set. Nor will you find your stamped letters lying in the bottom of your page protector when you come back to look at your page in a year or two.

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A lot of people worry about messing up their titles if they stamp them, and while that is a concern, there are a couple things you can do to alleviate possible problems.

First thing you can do: adjust your attitude. You are stamping. You are making a handmade craft. Imperfection is a wonderful embellishment that shows your humanity.

That’s all well and good, but you still want to make sure your title is readable, right?

If you are using clear stamps, mount each stamp together on a single block. Fiskars (among others) even has blocks that have a gridline on them, which makes lining up your stamps even easier.

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If you are using wood mounted stamps, place a ruler along the lower edge of where you are stamping your word. Use the marks on the ruler to evenly space out your letters, and keep the lower edge of the stamp on the edge of the ruler to stamp in a fairly straight line.

Another trick you can keep up your sleeve: use a fine tipped color matched marker to fill in any missing spots. If you don’t have a color matched marker, you can take a very fine tipped paint brush or one of ranger’s fantastixs to pick up color off your ink pad and fill in any empty spots.

Some of my favorite inks to use for stamping are Memento, Archival, and Palette inks in black. Be careful if you use Tim Holtz’ Distress Inks. They are wonderful inks, but they can bead up more than the average dye ink when used on clear stamps. Most pigment inks also work really well, but since they are slower drying, you may smear them.

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One of my favorite things to do is to mix alpha letters with stamps, to create a really eclectic, texturally interesting title. Don’t be afraid of stamping! You can do it!

If you are still unsure of your ability to stamp, sign up for my newsletter. I’ve got a free video and .pdf all about common stamping mistakes and how to avoid them for newsletter subscribers.

Looking for more things you can do with alpha stamps? I’ll have more for you later this week!