KatScrap Studio

Mixer Magic

2012-01-24T21:00:00.000-08:00

My project this week is literally covered with the brand new Terri Sproul's Mixer's...beautiful mica powders that can be mixed with Crystal Lacquer for some pretty amazing results. I wanted to try it on several different surfaces to see what effects I could obtain....and what I got was really beautiful!

I started with these simple supplies:

light pink crepe paper rosette

a plain white paper flower

white plastic mini frame

a valentine cut out

a tim holtz rosette made with vintage sheet music

and I added the magic:

Terri Sproul's Mixer's in the following colors -

Red Satin

Silver

Gold Dust

Bronze

Here's a close-up of the pink crepe paper rosette with a layer of Bronze mica powder mixed with 3D Crystal Lacquer brushed on the top. I dipped the edge in Crystal Lacquer then dipped in Gold Dust mica.

I painted Red Satin mica powder mixed with Crystal Lacquer on a white paper flower, let it dry thoroughly, then stamped it with a handwriting rubberstamp using black StazOn ink. The little frame was white, and is coated with Silver mica powder mixed with Crystal Lacquer. I cut the word LOVE out of white cardstock and distressed it a little before gluing it to the backside of the frame. The little Valentine image was distressed on the edges, coated with Distress Crackle and then brushed with a small amount of the Silver mica powder. I layered a vintage music rosette, the Valentine image, then topped it with the frame and flower.

I'll be attending CHA this coming weekend and can't wait to see all the new products out there and visit the Sakura Craft Booth 844!

Till then.....stay creative

True Love tag featuring the NEW Terri Sproul Mixers!

2012-01-10T21:00:00.000-08:00

This is my first project sharing the brand new Terri Sproul Mixer - Jewel Effects by Sakura Hobby Craft - which will be debuted at the Craft and Hobby Association 2012 Winter Conference!! These mica powder colors are amazing and I've been having a blast playing with them!

Materials Used

Crystal Lacquer Color - greens and brown

Terri Sproul Mixer - Jewel Effects

Red Satin

Blue Ice Pearl

Lilac Pearl

(mixed with Crystal Lacquer)

Manila tag - size 16

scrapbooking paper

PaperClay

rubberstamps

clear embossing powder

ATC blank

min playing card

arm charms

mini paper flowers

girl & crown image printed from computer

a little bling

lace scrap

pop dots

'ck paris' font printed on white cardstock

distress ink - tea dye & vintage photo

sewing machine - off white quilting thread

This tag was a total blast to create. I used a lot of different techniques...even got out my sewing machine to give it a little touch of whimsy vintage!

This is what I started with....keep in mind that I usually don't have a clue what my project will develop into while I'm creating and taking these pictures. At this point I had painted on a layer of Blue Ice Pearl Terri Sproul Mixer over the stamped bird image on the paperclay.

Here's a close up of the bird image on the paperclay. I used tea dye distress ink of the edges and printed out the word LOVE and glued it on using Crystal Lacquer.

After roughing up the edges a bit with the Zutter Distrezz It All, I inked the edges with tea dye distress ink and ran it through my sewing machine....even sewing a little heart in the corner.

I painted inside the heart with Red Satin Terri Sproul Mixer and Crystal Lacquer and let it dry - stamped and embossed over it - then topped it with a nice layer of Crystal Lacquer and little pixie dust :)

This tiny bouquet was white originally - given a little spray with glimmer mist and then I painted the 3 light pink flowers with Lilac Pearl Terri Sproul Mixer.

Thanks stopping by!

Have a wonderful week!

Visit www.crystallacquer.blogspot.com for all the latest from

Sakura Hobby Craft's Design Team!

and www.sakuracraft.com for more information about Crystal Lacquer!

CHEERS!

2011-12-27T21:00:00.000-08:00

This week's project is quick and easy....and a great way to dress up your decor for any occasion!

Materials Used

Sparkraft Enterprises Pine Tree Stickers in Gold

That's it! I said it was quick and easy!

It's very important to work on a non stick work surface. I use a craft sheet from Ranger. I placed the pine tree sticker on the craft sheet and then went to town with my colored Crystal Lacquer. I used 2 shades of green for the tree and a brown for the trunk and just filled in the blank areas. I let it sit overnight.......very important here. Once it's completely dry, it peels right off the craft sheet and almost has a vinyl window cling feel on the back. In fact, I was able to move it several times to make sure it was straight. This is such a great idea to turn an ordinary clear glass votive holder, wine glass, vase - virtually anything into a very nice addition to your decor or party theme.

Here are the same stickers on a votive candle holder......cute!

I added some plain gold stickers in the background for a little more interest.....love it!

Here's wishing you a very Happy New Year!

and 'till next time......stay creative!

Visit Sakura's amazing blog here

Find out about all their amazing products here

A Christmas Wish

2011-12-13T21:00:00.000-08:00

Believe it or not - I created this ornament in about 30 minutes - beginning to end. Fortunately, I had time to let it dry overnight, before it and me ran off to a Christmas party and ornament exchange.....

Materials Used

1 vintage glittered star

white crepe paper streamer

gold and pearl glimmer mist

gold and silver find glitter

white cardstock

music rubberstamp

distress inks in vintage photo, tea dye & black soot

I was in a pinch - invited to a party & ornament exchange and make some creative goodness for my design team assignment. I had these vintage star ornaments arranged in a glass bowl as part of my Christmas decor - and a bottle of Crystal Lacquer...what more could a girl ask for?

I made the rosette using simple white crepe paper streamers using about an arms length doubled - that took like 2 minutes! I'm doing good! Sprayed it with a little gold and pearl glimmer mist and hit it good with my heat gun. Next, I poured a good amount of Crystal Lacquer on a paper plate and mixed gold and silver glitter on another. I dipped the edge of the rosette into the Crystal Lacquer and then dipped in into the glitter mixture - so pretty!

While I set that aside to dry (it did dry in just a few hours, but I left it overnight for good measure), I ran to my computer and printed the words "A Christmas Wish" in a fancy little font and cut it out in banner style - distressed the edges and used distress ink on it for a worn vintage look. Next, the star...easy peasy. Using the same scrap of white cardstock I used for the banner, I die cut a star, stamped it with a music stamp and distressed it using black soot and vintage photo distress ink. All I needed was a little doodad as an accent. I coated a scrap piece of plastic leaf stem - using Crystal Lacquer and my gold/silver glitter mixture. When I glued the whole thing together - I used a glue gun for speed - I added 3 tiny vintage glass ornaments from my stash and I was done and very pleased with the outcome.

Update: I've been asked to make more for the other gals at the party that didn't get my ornament!

Hope you take the time to make some creative magic this holiday!

Make sure you check out the amazing creations our Design Team has made -

And visit Sakura's website for product info and more inspiration! -

Till next time....stay creative!

Birdhouse Fun!

2011-11-22T21:00:00.000-08:00

The Route 66 stamp from Viva Las Vegastamps! was my inspiration this week for this cute little birdhouse ornament.

I started with some basic supplies:

Route 66 stamp from Viva Las Vegastamps!

Blue Flash Gem Particles

Wooden Birdhouse Ornament

Scrapbook paper scraps

Vintage Gold Fine Glitter

Distress Ink - Vintage Photo

Distress Crackle Paint - Rock Candy

I cut scrapbooking paper just a tad smaller than each side of the birdhouse - distressed each edge and glued it down using 3D Crystal Lacquer. I inked the edges with Distress Ink in Vintage Photo to give it a rustic look and to take away the new look of the wood.

For the roof - I used paper that had small license plates (Tim Holtz) which look like shingles and gave it a coat of Rock Candy Distress Crackle to make it look aged. At the bottom I added a layer of Gem Particles and finished off the bottom edge with fine glitter. The stamped image was stamped and embossed, cut out and aged with Distress Ink in Old paper and Vintage Photo.

This was a fun FAST project!

For more creative inspiration - visit Sakura Hobby Crafts blog

and for product info, check out

Enjoy!

Summer Memories Vintage Tag

2011-11-08T21:00:00.000-08:00

This month I'm featuring a stamp from VivaLasVegaStamps! along with Sakura Hobby Craft products! I created this fun vintage beach tag using the following items.

Rubberstamp from VivaLasVegaStamps!

Crystal Color Lacquer - brown

Manila Tag

Scrapbook paper scraps

Flourish rubberstamp - Tim Holtz

Film Strip Ribbon - Tim Holtz

Vintage Ticket sticker

Hinge Clip - Tim Holtz

charms from my stash

Distress Inks - Old Paper & Vintage Photo

I started with distressing the edges of the manila tag using distress ink. I cut my scrapbook paper scrap the size of the tag and distressed the edges using a Zutter Distrezz It All to really rough up the edges and make it a little smaller than the tag. I stamped the girl image on plain white cardstock using black distress ink and embossed her with clear embossing powder. I aged the white cardstock with distress ink in old paper and vintage photo on the edges.

I stamped a flourish image over the scrapbook paper using StazOn ink in black and outlined some of the flourish with brown Crystal Color Lacquer. I set this aside for a few hours before I finished assembling the tag.

Creating the film strip was a little time consuming - but turned out really cool! I just cut small face images from scraps of scrapbooking paper - here I was using Graphic 45's Bathing Beauties - one of my all time favs! I placed a dot of Crystal Lacquer on top of the image and then pressed the film strip over it. To finish the tag, I adhered a vintage ticket sticker behind the clipped on film strip ribbon and added some fun charms.

You can find amazing rubberstamps from VivaLasVegaStamps! here

Visit Sakura Hobby Craft's website for product info & project ideas.

and visit Sakura's Blog to see all of their design teams creations!

Have a great week!

Wicked Fun with Crystal Lacquer

2011-10-25T21:00:00.000-07:00

This week Crystal Lacquer and I had fun creating one more Halloween decor piece for my collection - a wickedly cute mini witches hat!

Materials Used

Paper Mache Witches Hat

White embossed wallpaper - thank you Becky Conley :)

Assorted Glimmer Mist

Paper Flowers from my stash

Scrapbook paper - Halloween theme

Old dictionary pages

Colored glass ornaments in Halloween colors

Assorted glitters

Brads - for flower centers

Assorted Beads

Halloween Tulle Fabric

I started by covering the paper-mache hat with embossed wallpaper. In the photo, you can see that I had cut off the top part of the hat - my project started off in one direction and took a turn midway - and decided to glue the top back on. Funny how that works when you have an idea in your head of how you want something, and then "poof" right in the middle of creating, you change your mind. I love that part of the process and it didn't bother me at all to have to change directions. Anyway, I sprayed the entire hat with glimmer mist - in Raven. It has a very cool purple shimmer when dry.

Here's a close up of one of the flowers. I love this photo because you can see the purple shimmer on the hat from the glimmer mist. I bought a package of small glass ornaments in Halloween colors. I wanted to see what fun I could have adding glitter/beads to them using Crystal Lacquer. This green one was covered with fine green glitter. I did another one in chunky beads that turned out cool - and will be using it for another project. It was easy to brush on a thin layer of Crystal Lacquer and then just dipping them in the glitter or beads.

For the center of this flower, I coated a black glass ornament with chunky orange glitter.

For center of this paper flower, which I made using old dictionary paper and orange and black glimmer mist, I used Crystal Lacquer and orange seed beads. I coated a brad with the lacquer, dipped it in the beads and set aside to dry. I did this process twice as to get a bigger layer of beads.

I used my scallop circle Accucut Die and cut about 8 circles of Halloween themed tulle fabric to create this little number. The edges of the tulle were melted (I used a lighter) so they would curl up and make it more dimensional and added a brad that I coated with Crystal Lacquer and orange chunky glitter.

Here are my Crystal Lacquer creations for this Halloween - I can't wait to start on Thanksgiving and Christmas next :)

Till next time - stay creative!

and please visit the Sakura Hobby Craft Blog and website

for more creative inspiration and product information.

Halloween Wand with Crystal Lacquer

2011-10-11T21:00:00.000-07:00

This week I decided to add to my Halloween decorations and make a Halloween Wand that coordinates with my last post - the Halloween Treat Cone.

Supplies Used

Black Coated Jewelry Finding

Peacock Green Gem Particles

Black Crepe Paper Streamer

Asst. Ribbons in Halloween colors

Scrapbook papers - Halloween themed

Orange chunky glitter

Glitter Chipboard

Distress Ink - Black

Wooden Spoon

I started out with a simple black crepe paper rosette. I sprayed it with Glimmer Mist (black with purple glimmer), but it didn't show up that great and most of it did get covered, however it does have a little bit of a shimmer to which is pretty cool.

Adding a glitter edge to the rosette is simple, and it gives it a more vintage feel. First, I dipped it onto a paper plate which I had poured a generous amount of Crystal Lacquer. Second, I dipped it into a mound of orange glitter that I had poured onto a second paper plate in a rolling motion.

I absolutely LOVE the way it turned out!

I also did the same process using Gem Particles from Sakura on the smaller scrapbook paper rosette that I made using the Tim Holtz Rosette Die. It came out super sparkly and chunky. Both of these methods dried pretty quickly, so I was able to complete this whole project in just over an hour.

I added this cute little frog on one of the ribbon streamers. It was a cardstock cut out that I simply used crackle medium on, then gave it a coat of Crystal Lacquer for more shine. To complete the project, I wrapped ribbon around a wooden spoon, (the reason I used a spoon instead of a dowel was that I found it was MUCH easier to glue down the rosette onto something sturdy - the spoon part - rather than using just a dowel) glued the rosette onto a purple glitter chipboard vintage shape and added a little paper tab to the rosette. The skeleton face was cut out from a scrap I had left over from my last project and coated with Crystal Lacquer.

Here is the completed wand, set in a witches shoe for the pictures sake. To the bow, I added a charm that I made using a Black Jewelry Finding from Sakura. I simply glued a picture of candy corn in the charm and covered with Crystal Lacquer and a sprinkling of fine clear glitter. Also to the wand, I added a journaling tag that can be filled with all the fun Halloween memories and maybe a photo or two that can be brought out and displayed year after year! Right now, it's part of my Halloween display! This was a super fun project and I hope to hear that you made one yourself! Share with me if you do!

As always - stay creative!

Find more fun projects AND products at Sakura's website - www.sakuracraft.com

and visit the Sakura Craft Blog and join the fun!

Halloween Treat Cone

2011-09-27T21:00:00.000-07:00

Fall has arrived here on the mountain....leaves are changing color and nights are getting cooler. Boxes of Fall decorations are being brought out from storage - which means one thing - Halloween!

I adore Halloween decorating (and I must admit the candy!) so I'd thought I would share a Halloween themed post to get a jump on all of Halloween's goodness.

I used vintage sheets of music for the cone, and old dictionary paper for the flower. This project is really fun because you can use whatever papers you have on hand to coordinate with any theme you would like!

I used a paint brush to apply Crystal Lacquer to the scalloped edge of the cone and sprinkled it with orange glitter.

After the glitter was dry, I rolled the cone into it's shape and used Crystal Lacquer to adhere it.

To make the flower, I used 2 scalloped circles of old dictionary paper, crumpled them up several times and sprayed them with several layer of Glimmer Mist.

I used this little guy for the center of my flower. Here he is coated in a nice thick layer of Crystal Lacquer. I sprinkled a little fine clear glitter onto the wet Crystal Lacquer and set him aside to dry.

I used a Tim Holtz stamp for the ticket, stamped it with black Distress Ink and embossed it with clear embossing powder. To color it, I used Crystal Color Lacquer. I squeezed a little out in a puddle on the side of the stamped image, and used an old giftcard to scrap it across it. I used both purple and orange Crystal Color Lacquer.

Here you can see how awesome the ticket turned out. After it dried, I distressed the edges using a distressing tool and black Distress ink. I used a Dymo Label Maker to make the "BEWARE" label and stapled it to the flower, shredded some black paper in my paper shredder and used it to fill the cone. For the finishing touches, added some black ribbon for hanging and filled it with some candy corn!

Till next time....stay creative!

Please visit Sakura Hobby Craft for more info on their products

Find more creative inspiration at Sakura's Blog

"Let's DO this" ATC Card

2011-09-13T21:00:00.000-07:00

I had the privilege this past weekend to spend some time with some amazingly creative ladies at the Creative Souls Retreat in beautiful Lake Arrowhead, CA. One of the fun activities we did was an ATC Swap. The theme was transformation - and here is my spin on that theme.

Since I had to make multiples - I wanted something fairly simple, but I didn't want it to necessarily LOOK simple. After deciding on my design and image, I immediately reached for my 3D Crystal Lacquer and my 3D Crystal Lacquer Color

Here's the image I started with - printed on cardstock.

I love this photo. It really shows the sparkle you can create with a simple layer of 3D Crystal Lacquer and a sprinkle of glitter. Here I used an Ultra Fine Clear Glitter by Hero Arts. Any glitter will work perfectly.

I also used 3D Crystal Lacquer Color in blue to add dimension to the butterfly. After letting it dry overnight, I added the words "Let's DO this" using my underwood font and printed out on copy paper and a little green bling on the girl's wing!

Finished ATC's all ready to trade!

To find the products used in this post - please visit

www.sakuracrafts.com

and please visit and follow www.crystallacquer.blogspot.com for more info and fun projects shared by the Design Team!

Thanks!

Exciting News!

2011-08-27T23:43:00.000-07:00

I'm very excited and honored to announce

that I will be joining the next

Sakura Hobby Craft Design Team!

I have had such a blast creating projects and sharing them with everyone, and I get to do it for another 6 months - YAY!

Here are the other wildly talented Design Team members - just click on their names to get to their blogs - don't forget to follow us all!

Our fearless leader:

Design Team Members:

Quick Crystal Lacquer Charms

2011-08-25T21:00:00.000-07:00

I'm sharing with you today 2 quick and easy charms ideas. Gift giving season is quickly approaching and with a bottle of 3D Crystal Lacquer, a package or 2 of Glass Tiles, Bales and Ball Chain Necklaces and a little imagination you can pretty much take care of several gifts in just a short amount of time.

For this first charm, I applied a thing layer of Crystal Color Lacquer on the back of the glass tile. The glass tiles DO have a right and wrong side. The back has a slight texture to it and isn't as shiny. I let this dry overnight. For the initial - I used a permanent black marker on white cardstock, let it dry and used Crystal Lacquer to glue the tile (colored side down) over the initial. Again I let this dry overnight, then trimmed around the glass tile. On the back, I glued some typed words and gave it a coat of Crystal Lacquer....let that dry and added the bale.

For this second charm, I stamped an image onto the back of the Glass Tile and used Crystal Lacquer to glue the tile onto printed scrapbooking paper. After it was dry, I trimmed around the edges and wrapped metal foil tape around it to give it a soldered look. I added some printed words on the back and gave it a good coat of Crystal Lacquer. When it had dried overnight, I added the bale.

String the completed charms on a ball chain necklace and ta da!

Find more ideas and tips for Crystal Lacquer and the jewelry findings used here at

And you can follow Sakura's Blog and see more fun projects and ideas at

Silver Ball Chain Necklace

Until next time......stay creative!

Boardwalk Pendant

2011-08-11T21:00:00.000-07:00

I can't seem to get away from my beach-themed projects this summer! I've even been decorating my deck in a beach theme - even though I'm at 6100' elevation in the mountains! I can see the ocean from my deck, so I thought....why not! I really love the way this necklace turned out. I've been wearing it quite a bit too!

To start off, here are the products that I used.

Zinc Jewelry Finding

Graphic 45 Bathing Beauties paper scrap

Distress Embossing Powder - Old Paper

Distress Ink - Vintage Photo

Starfish charms (from my stash)

Assorted Beads (from my stash)

My Underwood font printed on white paper

I couldn't wait to make a collage style scene in this deep pendant finding - it just took me awhile to figure out just how I would do it. I knew I wanted depth and had a fair amount of room to work with, although this was a very tiny space to work in. I first decided on my background, which is this vintage beach scene that I found on a Graphic 45 scrapbook paper scrap and glued it down using 3D Crystal Lacquer. After it dried, I started layering the Crystal Lacquer and the embossing powder (it's what I had on hand that mimics sand). I let each layer dry overnight, so this process took me a few days to achieve. After the second layer, I added the starfish charm, which was part of a necklace that I took apart. I glued the charm down, and added more Crystal Lacquer and embossing powder over the charm to make it look like it was partially buried in the sand. There was another loop on the bottom of the charm that I snipped off.

These jewelry findings came with what I thought was a piece of cardboard that fit nicely on the top. I didn't realize that it was a piece of acrylic, until Chelsea (a talented Design Team team mate) had explained it in her post a few weeks ago! Thank you Chelsea! This shows the acrylic 'lid' after I peeled off the protective paper.

I printed several versions of the words I wanted to go in the pendant and finally decided on the My Underwood font. I cut out each word, distressed it with Vintage Photo Distress Ink and glued them into place. I curled the word 'seashore' a little bit and attached it to the top of the starfish for dimension.

Here you can see that I glued a small clear rhinestone over the loop on the charm, a small pearl in the sand and a green pearl bead in the background. The rest of the beads were just placed on the sand area and not glued down. When I was happy with the amount of beads, I glued down the acrylic cover using Crystal Lacquer just around the tiny edges of the pendant. The smaller beads can move around inside the pendant.

Here's another close-up of the charm itself.....

And here is the finished piece.

I added another starfish charm on the top with a jump ring and put the pendant on a ball chain. All ready for summer outfits!

Until next time....stay creative!

Be sure to check out Sakura Hobby Crafts amazing blog at www.crystallacquer.blogspot.com

You can find more info on product and additional tutorials on their website

Fun Flowers with Crystal Lacquer (DT Submission)

2011-08-09T21:00:00.000-07:00

I've been having such a wonderful time being a part of a team with a bunch of very talented gals on the Sakura Hobby Craft Design Team. Our 6 month assignment is almost up and I'm trying out again - I've got my fingers crossed!

I'm sharing with you today a cute little card I made using a fun technique with Crystal Color Lacquer. This product is very versatile and really fun to play around with!

Here are the products I used for this card:

Crystal Color Lacquer -

I used just about all the colors I had from these kits

Pastel Glitter

Country Colors

Primary Colors

Pastel Colors

Gold Flower Stickers from Sparkraft Enterprises

Bazzill cardstock

Printed scrapbook paper

Close to My Heart Stamps

Distress Ink - Spun Sugar

Momento Ink - Black

Tim Holtz Rosette Die

Fiskar's Crimper

White cardsock

Pop Dots

Wooden Skewer

White Ribbon

This whole process started when I was playing around with my Crystal Color Lacquer. I loved how the colors mixed when I pooled it on my craft sheet, which is a VERY important part of the process - you have to use a craft sheet so the dried lacquer can easily be peeled off! I made the pools with similar colors, mixed a little bit of 3D Crystal Lacquer (which is clear) in with it and gave it a stir with the end of a paintbrush (it's what I had handy). You can see how the Glitter Crystal Color Lacquer sparkles, and who doesn't like a little bling!

Here's the dried "skins" of lacquer. They dried overnight, plus a few more hours. I placed the Gold Flower stickers on them and then cut them out - simple!

Aren't they pretty?

Here's a close up of the flower I created starting with a die cut rosette made with plain white cardstock. I wanted the flower to have dimension, so I used the rosette as a base. I then used pop dots to stack the 3 flowers on top of each other, alternating the 2 large ones so the petals of both would show. I added a little pearl bling for the flower's center.

The card was constructed using 3D Crystal Lacquer as my adhesive - this stuff is awesome and has become my "go-to" glue. I crimped the patterned scrapbook paper with a Fiskar's crimper and the 3D Crystal Lacquer worked really well to glue this to the card, which was simply a piece of yellow bazzill cardstock cut and folded.

For the sentiment, I stamped the background image using Spun Sugar Distress Ink and black ink for the words. I roughed up the edges a little bit with my distressing tool and glued it on the crimped background paper. I used a wooden skewer cut to size and glued it inside one of the folds on the rosette - added a little white bow and I was done.

Till next time...stay creative!

You can find 3D Crystal Lacquer, Crystal Color Lacquer and all their other great products at this website: www.sakuracraft.com

And check out their amazing Blog at www.crystallacquer.blogspot.com!

Summertime Tin Album - Part II

2011-07-29T00:31:00.000-07:00

As promised, I'm sharing the inside of my Summer Tin Album this week. My first challenge coming up with something that wasn't bulky, as the tin is quite thin. I love adding layers and dimension to my projects - so I had to do this without adding too much bulk. I decided on a simple accordion fold design with only 5 pages. After measuring the inside of the tin and figuring out how big my pages needed to be, I simply cut and scored 2 sheets of patterned paper and glued them together to get the 5 needed pages.

Materials Used:

3D Crystal Lacquer

Color Crystal Lacquer - light blue glitter

patterned paper

Tim Holtz Adage ticket

Tim Holtz bottle cap stickers

vintage buttons

brown bakers twine

Distress Ink - vintage photo

vintage dictionary pages

pearl embellishment

plastic date disc

Tattered Angels Glimmer Chip - seagull

I cut the same size patterned paper to act as a picture mat on each page. This way when I'm ready to add pictures, I have a place holder for them. I made them smaller (I'll print my pictures wallet size) so I could add journaling and any small memorabilia (ticket stubs, receipts, pressed flowers, etc) to the page. On this first page, I added a plastic date disc that I cut to fit on the edge, a Tim Holtz ticket and my infamous paper flower (made from old dictionary pages). Only this time I slathered the flower with Crystal Color Lacquer in light blue glitter.

I love the way it turned out - it's rather stiff, so would also make a great pin or addition to a hair band. These are so easy to make, that I made some in several different colors that I'll be able to add to other projects!

On the next 4 pages, I just added a variety of patterned paper and small embellishments including buttons, twine and an alligator clip.

I traced the design on the paper here with same Crystal Color Lacquer that I used on the flower. I love the dimension it gave and I also liked that when I inked the edges, it resisted the ink, which made it "pop" even more.

For these cute little bottle cap stickers, I simply covered them in 3D Crystal Lacquer and let dry overnight, which gave them a bright shiny coating.

Here's the cover of the completed album - all ready to receive my summer memories! Now, I just need to get busy and make some worthy of my album!

I couldn't just leave the back of the album blank, so for a bit of whimsy I decided to do the same technique to mimic sand (3D Crystal Lacquer sprinkled with Distress Embossing Powder), and add a fancy little seagull.

I hope you enjoyed my project.

Until next time....stay creative and have some summer fun!

visit

www.sakuracraft.com for more ideas on how to create with 3D Crystal Lacquer

and

www.crystallacquer.blogspot.com for more project ideas and inspiration!

She Canned it Anyway

2011-07-23T12:59:00.000-07:00

We were visiting my mom-in-law, Ruth, earlier this week and she had a bounty of Meyer Lemons. I love lemons, always have. I remember as a young girl picking the lemony orbs and loving their fragrance. I once sliced them and floated them on my bath water - must have read something in my favorite magazine about the advantages of doing so. We brought home several pounds of lemons and a recipe for Lemon Marmalade. I'd heard of Orange Marmalade, but never Lemon....I was intrigued. I'd been wanting to try my hand at canning this year...I had done it in the past, when I lived in Oregon and had mountains of blackberries to deal with, and I was itching to do it again.

I just needed a few items - like canning jars, lids & rings which were easy to get - and I was set.

The recipe was simple - lemons, sugar, water. After slicing the lemons and letting them sit overnight in the fridge, I added the sugar and started the cooking process. The skill is getting to the "jelly point" - which I kept reading about online while investigating different recipes. I had my trusty candy thermometer, so I just had to be patient enough to get just the right temperature.

TA-DA! Easy peasy! The hardest part was waiting for the mixture to get to 220 degrees! It's very yummy - of course we had to sample it!

Now I'm trying to think of what's next - I've got a few jars left........off to find more recipes!

Until next time....get creative in your kitchen!

Mountain Top Gardening

2011-07-22T14:01:00.000-07:00

Well here she is....my first Sweet Pea bloom of the season.

I'm so excited to finally see her and a few others in my first attempt at flower seed sowing at 6100 feet elevation. I had bought some packets of seed at Descanso Gardens back in April. I was so enchanted with the beautiful images on the packages, that I just HAD to buy a few.

I was so in love with them, that I made a page for them in my journal along with a planting map of where they were planted in my little garden patch. I planted two varieties of Sweet Peas - Explorer Mix and April in Paris. The photo above is of the April in Paris variety and I have one purple bloom from the Explorer Mix. I have a few Columbines growing, no blooms yet and I haven't seen any of the Zinnias. I do have some Marigolds with a few buds along with one tiny Rosemary plant and the Sage seems to be doing really well.

With some 30 degree evenings and some very cold days, I didn't think I would have much luck with the seeds - but am so happy to see that it could be done....with a lot of patients, a little water, some sunny days and a little pixie dust :)

Summertime Tin Album - Part 1

2011-07-14T21:00:00.000-07:00

Summer is my favorite time of year - so when I received this metal case from Sakura for this month's projects - I knew I wanted to make an cute little mini album for this year's summer pictures. I will be doing my album in 2 parts this month, this first one showing the cover of the Summer 2011 Mini-tin Album. Here's the list of supplies that I used.

Small metal case

Patterned paper

Beach-themed cutouts

Rubberstamps from Tweety Jill

Chipboard Adirondack chair from Tattered Angels

Brown twine

Distress Embossing Powder

Distress Ink

Glimmer Mist

I first cut a piece of scapbook paper (I used a piece from a Tim Holtz paper stack) slightly smaller than the front of the case. I distressed it with a distressing tool and inked it with vintage photo distress ink. I measured a length of ribbon (this will be used to tie around the album) about 16" and glued it on the front of the case, and then glued the paper on top. After that was dry, I ran a ribbon of 3D Crystal Lacquer along the bottom in a wavy pattern,

and poured out the one thing I had on hand that resembled sand - Distress Embossing Powder in Antique Linen. I let that sit overnight - then just tapped the excess off into my handy dandy tidy craft tray and replaced the unused bits back into the bottle.

I used beach images from Graphic 45 paper, cut them out, did a little distressing and inking and tied the tag around the "Beach" piece, using brown twine, before gluing it down. The stamp looking embellishment is a Tweety Jill stamp that was embossed and colored with distress ink (red barn and vintage photo). I also stamped the background paper with a few beach images using Tweety Jill stamps.

The Adirondack chair (Tattered Angels Glimmer Chips) was sprayed with several colors of glimmer mist, dried and inked a little bit with Vintage Photo distress ink, then sanded around the edges to give it a worn and antique look. I really like how the embossed areas popped after they were misted and inked!

For the last little embellishment, I hand wrote "Summer 2011" on a scrap piece of polka-dot paper, distressed and inked it and glued in onto the album. It was given a nice coat of 3D Crystal Lacquer and dried overnight to give it a nice shine.

I'll be sharing the inside of the album next time!

In the mean time...stay creative!

Karen

Visit www.sakuracraft.com for more information

on 3D Crystal Lacquer and all their great products

and

www.crystallacquer.blogspot.com for more Design Team projects

Sakura Hobby Craft Blog Hop

2011-06-29T21:00:00.000-07:00

If you came from Jennifer Van Pelt's blog you're in the right place!

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My name is Karen Myers and I am on the Design Team for Sakura Hobby Crafts. I hope you are having FUN and enjoying our projects we are sharing with you today.

I totally moved off the page with this project. I'm redoing one of my bathrooms in a "Seaside" theme and had this Mary Englebreit calender page laying around waiting to be framed. It's 12 x 12 size was perfect for an inexpensive scrapbook page frame - which I of course couldn't leave alone.

Here are the supplies that I used to complete this project.

1 12 x 12 frame

Sakura Hobby Craft Gem Particles in Blue Flash

Fine Tarnished Silver Glitter

Idea-ology Tissue Tape - Symphony

12 x 12 Calendar page

Assorted beads & Shell from my stash

I used the tissue tape to cover the frame. It was easy and fast to apply. I just folded over the edges to the back and used little pieces to cover up any small tears or places that I missed.

Now the fun part. I wanted to use the Gem Particles to cover the frame and give it lots of shimmer. I mixed the Gem Particles with a tarnished silver glitter on a paper plate, got out a paintbrush, started brushing on Crystal Lacquer over the tissue tape and sprinkled on my gem particle mixture.

I let each side dry for about 30 mins. before I started on the next side, just so I wouldn't have a sticky mess to handle while I applied the gem particle/glitter mixture. I loved the way it turned out - very shiny-sparkly and kind of chunky!

At this point, I was really happy with the frame and added the picture thinking I was done...but I had an idea to add some sparkle and glimmer to the front of the picture as well, and I had some gem particle/glitter mixture left...and a cute little bottle of beads was staring at me, so I thought....why not!!

This was SO easy! I applied a thick line of Crystal Lacquer right on the glass of the picture frame underlining the quote on the picture. Then I just sprinkled some beads, a large green pearl, the gem particle/glitter mixture and added a shell. I let this dry overnight. I loved the way it turned out! Now all those calender pages I've collected over the years are staring at me.........

Till next time...stay creative!

Next you will be going to Chelsea's Blog !

Have fun, thanks for stopping by, and make sure you become a follower of mine and leave a comment to be eligible for the BLOG CANDY*!

*To get the blog candy you must become a follower of all the blogs including this one and leave a comment on all the blogs. It's that easy...Terri Sproul will pick a winner and post the winner on the Sakura Hobby Craft blog on July 3rd... Good Luck!

Hurray for the Red, White and Blue!

2011-06-23T21:00:00.000-07:00

Have you ever started a project and then WHAM...you got an idea that took you in a totally different direction? Well, that's exactly what happened to me with this week's project...I just love the creative process! What had originally started out as cupcake picks (yes, I was going to show off my baking abilities!), turned into this awesome banner! I know what you're thinking...."Darn, I would rather have had some cupcake pics!" Well, maybe next month!

I have a ton of pictures to share in this post, so I hope you enjoy them all!

Here's the loooong list of items I used:

Sakura Craft Gem Particles (Blue Flash and Peacock Green)

Sakura Black Rectangle Jewelry Finding

Chipboard

Idea-ology Seasonal Paper Stash (4th of July images)

AccuCut Pennant Die

Distress Ink in Vintage Photo, Old Paper, Faded Jeans and Barn Door

Stampers Anonymous Fabulous Flourishes RubberStamp

Crepe paper streamers in red, white & blue

Glimmer Mist - in various colors

Acrylic Paint - red

Accucut Scallop Circle Die

Tim Holtz Alterations Sizzix Decorative Strip Die - Paper Rosette

AccuCut Fringe Die

White and Red Cardstock

Blue Glitter Paper

Pearl topped hat pin ,a tiny price tag & 3 clear rhinestones

A strip of red rhinestones

2 Idea-ology Hinge Clips

2 skewers "borrowed" from my kitchen

Oh! and 2 stars from a box in the basement marked "Christmas decor"

Wow - that's a long list, but you know how it is when you start going on a project, you just keep adding things!

Ok, so here's how I made the "cupcake" picks. Very simple really, especially with the magical rosette die - if you don't have one yet, get one, it makes rosettes in a snap!

I printed out words using the My Underwood font onto plain printer paper. I used "God Bless America" and "Happy 4th of July" for my rosettes. I cut each word out, distressed the edges and glued them on the rosette center. Then I covered the center with Crystal Lacquer.

You can see in these photos that the edges are sparkly blue. This is the Gem Particles by Sakura and here is how I applied it. I made a puddle of Crystal Lacquer on a paper plate along with a mound of the Gem Particles. I dunked the edges of the rosette in first the crystal lacquer and then the Gem Particles, going around the entire edge and then set it aside to dry.

I glued the rosette onto a scallop circle, then glued a skewer behind the rosette, using Crystal Lacquer. Ta-DA!

This is where things kind of got fuzzy. I had my picks ready to go - (just go upstairs and make the cupcakes Karen)....but alas, I somehow got the idea to put these cute little numbers on a banner....a U S A banner...for the 4th of July....yeah! So, 2 days later....and a lot more doo dads, I finished it! Here's some more photos of the finished project.

For the firework-looking doo-dads, I just used my Accucut Fringe die. You could also, just cut fringe with your scissors, leaving a band uncut at the bottom, roll up the paper over a pencil, (to curl the fringe) then roll the bottom band around the bottom of a pencil to get the flower or fireworks shape. I layered 2 together and used a hot glue gun to attach to the banner. I glued a clear rhinestone in the center.

I used crepe paper streamers to make the large rosettes* under each letter.
This one was sprayed with glimmer mist and edged in red acrylic paint.

I outlined the "JULY 4th" with crystal lacquer to make it shiny.

Well, that's it for today. I hope you all enjoy your 4th of July holiday - hey, make a banner!

Our Design Team has a fun Blog Hop planned for June 30th. I hope you can join us for it!

Here's a link to get more information and to RSVP -

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=225213800830499

For more information of Crystal Lacquer products, visit www.sakuracraft.com

and to check out the amazing design teams projects, visit www.crystallacquer.blogspot.com

Until Next time...stay creative!

* Chelsea had shared how to make these easy-peasy crepe paper rosettes on the Sakura Blog, but if you'd like more info on how to make them, you can just email me at katscrapfever@sbcglobal.net .

Vintage Layout - Robin's Nest Design Team Entry

2011-06-19T21:00:00.000-07:00

I've been going through family photo boxes pretty regularly since my recent move, and just fell in love with this picture of my Mom, circa 1929, and decided that it needed some special attention.

Here are the supplies that I used for this 12 x 12 page layout.

1 12 x 12 sheet of Donna Salazar's Trunk in the Attic (Banana Nut Loaf)

1 12 x 12 sheet Donna Salazar's Trunk in the Attic (Nutmeg Nostalgia)

Vintage Photo

Up-cycled old dictionary pages die cut into scalloped circles

Robin's Nest Clear Dew Drops

Crystal Color Lacquer (in brown and metallic gold)

Lace Ribbon

An Idea-ology Facet

An Idea-ology Trinket Pin

Glimmer Mist

Distress Ink

Copic Markers
3D Crystal Lacquer
Tape Runner

Ok, to start off, I used a real vintage photo that was mounted in a folder. I wouldn't have normally used this, but I was fortunate enough to have 2 of these pictures in my collection. I love the embossed framework and photographers name on the mat, as well as the dimension that it created on the page. Because of it's depth, I'll probably be putting this page into a shadowbox frame to display.

The first thing I did was to simply trace the swirls on the paper (Banana Nut Loaf) with Crystal Color Lacquer. I love how it added a bit of shine, and really made the flourish images pop from the page. Note: It's important to let the Crystal Lacquer dry overnight...I know...we don't like to wait, but it's worth it! I used 3D Crystal Lacquer to adhere the Dew Drops to add to the flourish design. Just a teenie tiny drop does the trick.

I cut the sheet of Nutmeg Nostalgia paper about 3/4 of an inch larger than my matted photo. It was distressed on the edges using my Zutter Distrezz-It-All (love it!) and Distress Ink in Tea Dye. After gluing on the lace ribbon across the page, I adhered the distressed piece of Nutmeg Nostalgia, then my vintage photo.

Now on to the fun part, the flowers. These as SO easy, it's kind of embarrassing to say they are just scrunched up pieces of old dictionary paper. I die cut old pages of dictionary pages using my AccuCut and 2 different sized scallop circle dies. I sprayed them with various colors of Glimmer Mist, dried them with my Heat Gun, and crumpled them up....several times. I then stacked as many as I wanted for my flower, lay them on my craft sheet and start squishing them from the center until I'm pleased with the look. I squirted out some Crystal Lacquer on my craft sheet and squished the flower down.....boom - done. In a few hours, they are dry and just lift off the craft mat, ready to rock and roll. For the centers of these flowers, I used the Dew Drops in clear, colored with Copic Markers. They were glued onto the flowers with Crystal Lacquer.

Now for the finishing touches. For the Facet charm, I printed my Mom's name and year the photo was taken onto a left over piece of the Nutmeg Nostalgia, placed a few drops of Crystal Lacquer over the words, and placed the Facet on top, pressing to make sure there was a good bond between the two and no air bubbles. After it dried for a few hours, I just cut around the Facet, poked a hole through the paper, added a jump ring and attached it to the bottom of a Trinket Pin, which I then pinned to the lace bow on the page.

I had fun sharing my project with you. I'm trying out for the Robin's Nest Design Team with this project, so if you liked it, I'd appreciate it if you would leave me a comment, or two...can't ever get enough love!

Until next time....stay creative!

Check out the Robin's Nest website at http://www.robinsnest-scrap.com/

and their Blog at http://www.chatteringrobins.blogspot.com/ for ideas and inspiration.

Father's Day Message Box

2011-06-09T21:00:00.000-07:00

I love cruising around the Internet, reading different creative blogs and learning new techniques. I am a follower of The Graphics Fairy blog because of her awesome vintage images that she posts just about daily that are free to download (I love people who share!). I found this fun Father's Day Message Box from a link on her blog, and am now following Just Something I Made, which you should check out too!

Materials Used:

Message Box download (click here )

Craft Knife & Cutting Mat