| Other Recent Tips & Techniques Embellish It!
Whether you are a stamper or a scrapper, embellishments can "make or break" wonderful projects from cards and scrapbook pages to framed art.
Some of the products we carry in the store that work well include Jolee's Boutique stickers and photo corners (3 dimensional paper, vellum and/or fabric elements combined with wire, beads, glitter and bits and pieces). No matter what your theme, you will find something that will fit.
Boutique trims (charms ready to be glued down to your favorite piece of art), ribbons and jute (sold by the foot or the yard), and the new Limited Edition postcards, rulers, and scrabble tiles (printed on cardstock) help to add that finishing touch. Glitter and glitter glues and beads of all colors and sizes are also available to add that extra little something.
Die cuts come in many flavors. You can purchase die cuts from our large die cut center, or buy printed die cuts found throughout the store. We also have a brand new display of laser cut deluxe cuts (which come with their own embellishment ideas in the package). Or you can use our accu-cut to make your own die cuts in a color that is just right for you. Emphasize the die cuts with markers, chalk, colored pencils or pens, glitter and trims to make them extra special.
Whatever you have in mind to make will be a one of a kind piece of art - even if you are using an idea found in a Scrapbook or Rubber Stamping magazine. Make it your own by embellishing with your choice of trims and colors.
What goes around comes around. What's old is new. How many times have we seen and observed the above?
Many women have come into the store and told us how they used to do quilling and wouldn't mind taking it up again. The same goes for shrink plastic. Remember when you used to do it on "liver lids"? There were no special plastics or inks available back then. How many times have I passed on to friends, colleagues, and customers the fact that I save all kind of patterns for future use? The pattern that may have caught my eye may not be the one I end up making, but the big reason I save the patterns is that they are interchangeable from one craft to another. Trace a quilt pattern on aida cloth to work in cross stitch. Trace a cross stitch pattern out on grid paper to create a template for a quilt (or a scrapbook page).
I was showing one of the women in the store a pattern for a 12x12" quilt square and commented that once I realized that it was a 12 x 12" pattern, I saw it done as a scrapbook page! The pattern shows a blue bird flying between branches of leaves and berries. Instead of appliqueing with fabric, I have chosen some of the new Magenta papers for color and texture along with some wonderful vellums. The bird on the page can be done in suede paper. On the facing page, I can put in more branches and berries and surround my picture, tying it in to the quilt block!
The tip is that there is life in those old patterns that can be put to great use in our scrapbooks and our cards. Another tip is to save all those old stamping and scrapbooking magazines. It is not as if the patterns will become old and stale. Remember how we started this tip by quoting "What's old is new again". Magazines frequently showcase special cards and scrapbook pages sent in by readers. Many times the magazine will hold onto those cards and pages until the right season of the year or the right theme is featured in the magazine (sometimes years later). By the time they show up in print, elements used by the crafter may no longer be available. A stamp or sticker may have been discontinued because crafters did not know how to put them to use and were waiting for ideas from the magazines. But hold onto that idea because, while browsing through your favorite craft store, you may find something that will make that idea even better for your purpose!
Foil Technique
There are many different ways to add foil to your cardmaking project.
1. You can stamp (using a permanent ink) on embossable window plastic. Let dry. Put a piece of double sided glue tape sheet slightly larger than the image you want to foil on one side of the plastic. Take the paper off the second side of the glue tape sheet, and add foil or foil flakes. Cover the entire piece of glue tape sheet, then burnish with a stipple brush or your finger to get excess foil off of back of image. Cut out and layer on cardstock. This technique is appropriate only for the foil sheets and foil leafing - not for the foil on mylar backing.
2. Use a clear sticker sheet such as the Illuminata Art Labels from Paper Parachute for your image. Peal off the back paper and apply foil as above. This technique is appropriate only for the foil sheets and foil leafing - not for the foil on mylar backing.
3. If you want to add a foil border to a card, use the double sided heat resistant tape in 1/8", 1/4", or 1" size. Put on card (or other object) where you want it to be. If you are using foil sheets or leaf, peel off the paper top, and smooth on foil. Burnish off excess using a stipple brush or your finger. If you are using foil applied to a mylar, place the foil over the tape dull side down. Smooth to apply over tape, and peel off mylar backing.
4. If you want to add interest to a card in certain areas, use a foil adhesive to 'paint' the area. Let the adhesive dry until clear and tacky. Apply foil as in #3 above.
5. You can also apply foil to an object, such as a wooden music box. Coat the box with the foil adhesive and let dry or use the double sided glue tape. Apply foil as in #3 above.
Scrapbook Calendar Ideas
Scrappers who are looking for a fresh way to look at their scrapbooks might be interested in a project Beth mentioned in the store. She has decided that it would be nice to do a scrapbook based on the current year. Since we have 12 x 12 calendar pages, Beth is decorating one for each month of the year. On the calendar page, she is jotting down anything of importance, such as Doctor's appointments, special outings, birthdays, Holiday's (of course), and anything else that has meaning for her family.
In the pages that follow each monthly calendar, Beth plans to do regular scrapbook pages showing the activities chronicled on the calendar page for that month. This way she and her family can look back and see what changes they have gone through during the year. It will be a special treat once her daughter's have their own families to share the scrapbook with.
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