As April Ends....

I am looking forward to the May Flowers! We had a very mild winter here in the Northwest. Spring, however has been wet. I am ready for the showers of April to end and the flowers of May to start showing up!!!
To be honest though, I am ecstatic to have the weather as one of my major complaints this year. Last year, at this time, it was one of the darkest times for our family. My son went through a VERY rough period in April of last year (....he is doing amazingly better now!) He was eventually diagnosed with a severe Anxiety Disorder and thankfully therapy and medication has worked miracles to return him to a happier and functioning 12 year old again. During the process of trying to figure out just what was happening to to my sweet boy, Autism (most notably Asbergers Syndrome) came up from many different resources. As I researched about Autism, red flag after red flag about incidents in my son's life started flying. Though his current doctor team doesn't feel he is on the Autism spectrum (Autism is a spectrum disorder with a huge range of functioning and symptoms), I learned a lot about this disorder and how early diagnosis and intervention can help to unlock the puzzle of how these children perceive and function in the world. The foundation Autism Speaks is one of the leaders in assisting families affected and in funding research about Autism. April is Autism Awareness month. In honor of that, Tattered Angels (makers of my one of my fav's "Glimmer Mist") has team with Autism Speaks and introduced a special Glimmer Mist color called "Glimmer of Hope". Proceeds from the sale of this limited addition mist will go to Autism Speaks. They have sold out on the Tattered Angels website, however, I ordered TWO bottles before that happened. They should be arriving any day now. I am willing to part with one of them...


Tomorrow is National Scrapbook Day, I will be hosting the second part of the Gatefold Mini Album class on Ustream late in the afternoon. Leave a comment here on my blog about what you are doing to celebrate National Scrapbook Day BEFORE 3:00 Pacific time on Saturday to be entered to win (the Ustream class starts at 4pm Pacific time...I'll need time to get the drawing ready) At the end of my show I will be doing a drawing to give the "Glimmer of Hope" mist as well as a few other items...... (you don't have to be present to win!)
See you tonight for Part One of the Gatefold Mini Album!

Laura

Ustream Class this Friday and Saturday!

Come join me this Friday evening and Saturday afternoon for another fun Ustream class making my new Gatefold Mini Album. This mini features a cool binding method using the spiral binding wires from Zutter's Bind It All or the new Memory Maker's Cinch. ( I will show you how to do use the wires without the binding machines as well!!) Below is a list of materials you will need if you want to work along with me during the show.

Mid-weight chipboard (this is about the thickness of matt board for artwork): (2) 4" X 5 1/4" for Fronts, (2) 1 3/4" x 5 1/4" for Sides, and an 8" x 5 1/2" piece for the back.

Cover Paper: (1)12" x 12" cut into (2) 6" x 12" OR (2) 6" x 12" (one for front, one for back)

Inside Cover and Binding sections: (2) 6" x 12" card stock sheets

Inside pages: (6) 6" x 12" card stock sheets (This makes six pages. For more pages, add more sheets in multiples of 2)

Binding Wires: (2) 6 "prong" sections

Adhesives: 1/4" Terrifically Tacky Tape (i.e. the red tape) is recommended as well as your favorite dry and liquid adhesives. Optional: 5" wide Xyron Create-A-Sticker

Other supplies: Paper trimmer, craft knife, scissors, etc.

Paper: Single or double sided pattern paper and or solid color card sock for page embellishment and tags. Feel free to add any ribbon, fiber, die-cuts and other embellishments

The class starts at 7pm Pacific Time on Friday and at 4pm Pacific Time on Saturday. CLICK HERE to go directly to my Ustream Channel. I will be recording the classes for those who want to watch again or those who can't join us!

What's Up Wednesday! 4/28/2010

Here are the photo's and directions for the

Gatefold Tag Inserts

from yesterday's What's Up Wednesday video!



Here's how to make the tags:

Start with a 4 7/8" x 10 1/2" piece of card stock. (This is for a 5 1/2" square envelope, you will need to adjust your sizes for other sized pockets or envelopes) Score and fold 2 5/8" from each end.


Holding the two flaps together, punch a half circle in the top of the flaps.


Add patterned paper to the flaps and body of the tag. For the flaps, cut two 2 1/4" x 4 1/2" pieces. For the inside and back of the body, use 4 1/2" x 5" pieces. Distress if you want. Check out my video of these tags for my "Double Distress" technique.
{CLICK HERE to go to that video}


Add a cool flower (like this ones I used from Prima with a punched flower backer) or another embelly of your choice. This "tag" is a fun option instead of the ol' single layer flat tags. It doubles your photo/journalling area, too!

Here's the Slide show of the finished album.

For the tutorials of the cover technique CLICK HERE. For the tutorial of the vellum pages, CLICK HERE.

Have an AWESOME WEEK!!

Laura

The Gatefold Kits are up!!

The Gatefold Kits are up and available at my Etsy store. Video's will be up on Youtube later tonight or in the morning.
CLICK HERE to go to my Etsy store.

Ustream Tonight!

We are make some of my NEW favorite folded card stock pages for a mini book tonight! Each page holds two removable photo mattes and two tags and there is still room for a couple more photo's! I am lovin' these pages!



Here's what you will need:

-12 x 12 solid card stock or double side patterned paper. Both sides will show. These will be cut on the diagonal, so be careful about directional paper. Each paper will make 2 pages...I used 3 to make 6 pages for my book.

-Card stock for tags/photo mattes. The tags are 2 1/4" x 4 3/4" and the photo mattes are 4 3/4" x 6". There are two of each per page.

- Solid card stock strips for binding edge. One per page cut to 2" x 4 3/4". You can use an edge punch or decorative scissors to dress these up. This mini can be bound with rings or a binding system.

- Your favorite embellishments.....flowers, ribbon, etc.

Class will start at 7 pm Pacific Time. CLICK HERE to go directly to my Ustream channel.

See you tonight!

Laura

Happy Earth Day!

As a little girl in Alaska, I tended to take the majestic beauty that surrounded me for granted. It was my normal. It wasn't until I grew older, that I began to appreciate the seemingly untouched wonder of a crystal clear mountain stream, a tiny wildflower struggling to grow amongst craggy rocks, or a moose wandering through the backyard!


My father was an adventurer. We spent nearly every weekend out in the woods...summer or winter. He taught my brother and I to leave no trace behind when we were out in the wilderness. No one should know you were ever there within 48 hours of leaving your campsite. He taught us to love and appreciate the world around us. We are the keepers of our planet...we need to treat it with respect.
Today is Earth day...please give a thought... and more importantly...an action to be a good steward to protect our planet. Even something small could have a big impact. This week a young whale washed ashore in West Seattle. In it's stomach they discovered an alarming amount of trash...including plastic bags and a towel! Be aware of what you throw away!
In honor of Earth Day, I pulled out one of my "older" mini's (from last September!) to post. There's a Youtube video of it, but I haven't posted the still photo's before.
For this mini, I looked around the house to find things that we would normally throw away....pop top tabs, bread bag twist thingies, juice pouches, clothing tags, etc....and incorporated them into this mini. It was so much fun!!



Here's the finished mini:

Today (and every day!) give a thought to your impact on the planet! RECYCLE your paper, cans, and glass, REDUCE that amount of trash you generate and REUSE whatever you can!

Laura

What's Up Wednesday! 4/21/2010

It's Wednesday...and I know it this week!!
It's also the day before EARTH DAY!
In honor of that, I am
DYING IN THE KITCHEN!

I have used things from the kitchen to color some white Prima flowers. These are items I have used for years to "dye" fabric, so I thought "Why not try it on flowers!" (No, they are not going to be acid free any more...)

Here, I used unsugared Koolaid! As any mom knows, the dye in this stuff NEVER comes out!! I used the non-sugared kind and mixed it very concentrated (about 8 oz of water for the packet) Mist or brush on the flowers. KOOL colors!... and it smells fun, too!!



Here's the card using the flowers. I used plastic bag "paper" (see my Youtube video ) for the background and paper made from recycled paper grocery sacks



Next I made some very strong instant coffee and several strong varieties of teas. Just drop the flowers in the coffee or tea. Let sit a minute or two, then pull them out to dry. The colors are subtle and beautiful!!



Here's another card. The paper is made from banana fiber and the background panel is from a Starbucks cup sleeve. The subtle colors of the tea and coffee dyed flowers are so soft and pretty!



There are lots of other natural dyes from veggies and things as well. Look around you kitchen...you never know what you can find to include in your paper crafting!!

Have an awesome week!!

Laura

Friday's Ustream Class!

Join me on Ustream tomorrow at 7 pm Pacific Time!
We will be making our own envelopes with gatefold flaps...







Make 5 pages and turn it into a flip mini album with lots of room for tags and photo's!

Here's what you will need f you don't have one of the kits:

- For each "page" you will need two 8 1/2" x 11" sheets of heavy paper or card stock.
- Patterned paper to cover your envelopes
- Coordinating card stock for tags and photo mattes
- Flowers and embellshments (as many or as few as you wish)
- Binding rings or binding system
- Your favorite tools and adhesives

Feel free to work along with me or just watch and chat and re-watch the recording later.

CLICK HERE to go directly to my Ustream channel. We will start at 7 pm Pacific time

See you tomorrow!!
Feel free to bring a friend...the more the merrier!

Laura

WHat?!!! It's Wednesday!!????

Okay...it's been one of THOSE days!
I have spent most of the day thinking it is Tuesday. Weird, cuz I knew it was Tuesday yesterday when it really was Tuesday!
My son called me at about 2pm to remind me to pick him up (I pick him up at school on Wednesdays) That is when I realized that I was off a day.
I don't have the album I was going to show for What's Up Wednesday ready to show you yet. I will try for tomorrow. Hopefully I will know it's Thursday!!

Enjoy whatever day it is for you!!

Laura

My Guy Ustream Part 2 Today!

Part 2 of the My Guy Ustream is today at 4 pm PT! Tons of fun last night! We will finish up today with the last two "guys"!

I have sent out the revised instructions to everyone that ordered them. These are only minor revisions/corrections. I added page numbers for easier reference (and you can tell which one is the new set!) Toss the old ones and work from the new set. If you ordered them on 4/10/10 or later, you will receive the revised set.

I also added the Ustream schedule for the rest of April...check it out! I will put up the kits for next Friday's class tomorrow, they will be ready to ship out on Monday. Three looks... Vintage Easter, Retro Sewing, and Shabby Chic!

See you in just a few....

Laura

My Guy Instructions Correction!

Oops!

Every effort is made to have all the dimensions on these instructions correct, but sometimes things slip by even several sets of eyes. I have 2 dimension corrections and a Paper designation correction for the Well Suited page. These corrections do not effect the amount of paper you will need! Here are the corrections:

Earlier, I had revised the suit fronts to 2 3/4" wide. This was a false alarm...the fronts of the suit should stay at 3 1/2" wide

Under A Proper Gentleman, the two 2 1/4" x 4" tags are cut from this paper. the remaining tags and the tie are cut from the red striped The Sophisticate.

Please make these corrections on your instruction sheets.

I will email any revisions/corrections to all who have received the instructions. All instructions ordered after 4/9/10 will already be corrected.

Thank you!!

Laura

My Guy Mini Album Ustream Classs

The My Guy Mini Album Ustream class starts tomorrow evening at 7 pm PT and will run for about 2 hours (suuuuurreee... for those of you who've been to my other Ustream shows know that I tend to chat and run over!!) The second half of the class will be on Saturday starting at 4 pm PT, again for about 2 hours.

If you have the kit or the instructions and you want to follow along, you may want to do some pre-cutting and scoring...I will be all pre-cut before the show to save time. We will be doing the first two "guys" at the first class....the suit and the sweater...and then finish up the other two and the cover on Saturday!

CLICK HERE to go to my Ustream Channel.

The supply list and cutting is in the Instructions available at my Etsy store. They are sent via a PDF in an email, so there is still plenty of time to order them and receive them. I also still have a couple of kits available.

See you tomorrow!

Laura

What's Up Wednesday! 4/7/2010

I got the video up yesterday but my camera batteries had to be recharged so here are the still photo's a bit late!

These are the start of the pages for the mini I started last week (with the rubber stamp embossed Fun Foam)


I used vellum envelopes to create pockets for tags that I will show you next week (along with the finished album). I then heat embossed them with white embossing powder. To color them, I used Tattered Angel Glimmer Mist applied with a brush rather than sprayed. The embossing acts like a resist and the Glimmer Mist doesn't stick to it...so you don't have to color in the lines!!! It gives a lovely, subtle colorized effect.


I am binding the mini by attaching S-shaped with brads and then will attach the pages with rings or ribbon through the extended loop.


Next wednesday I will be showing you the unique tags that will go into the envelopes....

Have an awesome week!

Laura

My Guy Kits and Instructions Update

All the Pdf's have now gone out! Thank you for your patience!!

Laura

My Guy Mini Album kits and Instructions

The kits and Instructions for the My Guy Mini Album went up today! There are still a few kits left and I can add more if there is demand.



The Instructions will go out electronically on Monday, April 5, 2010 to everyone who ordered the kits as well as to those who ordered the instructions only. The kits will be mailed out on Monday and should arrive to US locations prior to the UStream class on Friday/Saturday (I will post more on that on Monday). I can't guarantee the kits will arrive to International and Canadian locations prior to the UStream class, but I will be recording the class, so you can watch it again when you receive your kit.

The instructions include the supply list for all materials needed to make the album. I won't be posting the supplies here on the blog as they will be listed on the instruction sheets.

Have a lovely Easter! I have a cute Easter kit that I will post either late tonight or in the morning, so don't forget to take photo's from your Easter festivities!
Big Bunny Hugs to all!!

Laura

What's Up Wednesday! 3/31/2010...FINALLY!!

A bit late getting this up....sorry 'bout that! My son has needed some extra Mom time so I am running behind....but family comes first!

These tiles and butterflies are made from a very common material....FUN FOAM! You know, the stuff in the kids crafts area! I comes in a squillion colors and it's CHEAP!



For this project I have used two different techniques with the foam. The first is heat embossed with rubber stamps.

Cut the foam into small squares (I used 2" squares). Evenly heat with a a heat gun and immediately stamp with a stamp. Deeper cut stamps without fine detail work best.





After stamping, lightly rub a metallic paint dauber over the raised areas



Affix the "tiles" to a chip board base, evenly spaced. Spray with Glimmer Mist (I used Irridescent Gold and Tarnished Brass) Let air dry.



Use 3-D paint as "grout" between tiles. This paint is very shiny, so I added fine glitter when the paint was still wet.





The Butterflies are made with a different technique... standard embossing with Tim Holtz Distress Powder.







Cut out the butterflies with sharp scissors and attach the butterflies to the tiled background in a random pattern.



This is a fun technique that I used years ago on a quilt project and thought it would work great for a lightweight mini album cover. Stay tuned next week for what's going to happen INSIDE this mini!
Have a great week and a lovely Easter weekend....
Don't forget to take time to PLAY!!!

Laura