* * * New Way to Look at Bills * * *

   

  One of the challenges I answered a few days back during the Fiskateer National Scrapbooking Day Crop was called Upcycle It! We had to upcycle something we would normally throw away. Well, I had been noticing that some of the security envelopes that my bills come in have different patterns inside and some are very interesting so I started saving some of them. I made this card using five different patterns.



    I'll never look at my bills the same way again. Now I can't wait to get them opened! lol  My stepdad, Wendell, will be getting this card for Father's Day. I know he will love it because he hates throwing away paper as much as I do. For those of you who know Wendell, shhhh!

National Scrapbooking Day

   Today is National Scrapbooking Day. There is a great online Scrap going on over at the Fiskateers site. I'm having lots of fun participating in that. If you care to join me, go to www.fiskateers.com . There are a lot of fun challenges.

Published in Paper Crafts Magazine

Bleach Painting

      Paper Crafts magazine just published one of my cards in their May/June 2012 issue. If you have never been on the Paper Crafts website or seen their magazine you are missing out. I get so much inspiration from them. Check them out here: www.papercraftsmag.com/ .

    

     I am so excited to share this card and my bleach painting technique with you!

     To begin with, I made a 5x7 card out of light gray cardstock. On a separate sheet of gray cardstock, I heat embossed the image of the birch trees. Heat embossing forms a kind of dam for the bleach-paint keeping the bleach from bleeding outside the lines.

     To paint the trees, I first mixed one part bleach to two parts water in a small bowl. I dipped a Q-tip in the bleach solution and painted the tree trunks with it. It may take a bit to see the complete transformation of the cardstock so be patient and don't overwet your image. You may want to paint a second coat if you want to go even lighter. Let the paint dry completely.

     Next, I trimmed the image and added black and burnt orange panels.

     The stamp for these trees belongs to a friend who is currently at her cabin in the remote areas of Alaska far away from phones (even cell phones) so I was not able to ask her who made this stamp. But, Northwoods Rubber Stamps has a stamp that would work even better with this technique. The stamp is Three Snowy Pines in Woods. Their website is www.northwoodsrubberstamps.com/

     Designer Tips

     This painting works great on a lot of different stamps. I find that it works great too to add highlights to heat embossed, stamped flowers.

     This technique does not work on coated papers. Regular, smooth cardstock works best.

     I would love to see the cards you make using this method. Send me a link to your card and I might just highlight it here on my blog. Thanks so much for your time and patience. Hope you have a wonderful day!

    

Paper Scraps Challenge

     Thanks for stopping by my blog today. I want to share with you this card I've created for the

Paper Scraps Challenge in the Moxi Fab World.

     Scraps!?! What a great challenge for me! I think I save every scrap of paper left over after every project. The papers are so gorgeous, how does anyone ever bring themselves to through away any of it.

     For this challenge, I dug through my box of scraps and found all these long, narrow strips. I put them in place just as they were. I kept digging to find coordinating and/or matching scraps big enough from which to punch flowers and fronds.

     Next, I heat-embossed the sentiment from TPC Studio's Travel Collage collection. I love this quote from Emerson. That's the way I've lived my life. I also heat-embossed the edges of the small panel to make it pop.

     This card was so quick and easy; I think I will make more. Maybe all round scraps.

     Do you have a big collection of scraps? You can enter your own card here: http://www.moxiefabworld.com/2012/03/practical-solutions-for-paper-crafters.html

    

5 Cards for $5 Challenge

I made these five different cards for the

5 for $5 Challenge in the Moxie Fab World.



     Card making can be expensive, but it does not have  be. I created this five-card ensemble, including rubber stamps and envelopes for less than $5. It really helps that I rarely buy cardstock, patterned paper or pre-cut card bases if I do not have a coupon or if they are not on sale. 

    I started with six pre-cut, white card bases (5" x 6.5") from the Paper Studio. I used the sixth card to stamp my sentiments so that my cards and tags would match perfectly. (I'm a big time perfectionist. I hate that part about myself sometimes. But, I do end up with very neat and matching projects. lol) I cut one sheet of patterned paper into various shapes and mounted them on a sheet of solid-pink paper. I ran out of that pink so had to use a third sheet of patterned paper to mount my sentiments.

     My fingers were itching to do more to the cards, but the challenge was not to spend over $5. I think I will make more of these sets to give as gifts. Can't you just see them tied up in a pretty pink ribbon!?!

     Here's my shopping list:

                $0.60 --- 6 precut card bases - the Paper Studio

                  0.30 --- 3 sheets patterned paper - the Paper Studio

                  3.00 --- 3 rubber stamp sets - Studio G

                  0.44 --- ribbon - Spool O' Ribbon

    Total    $4.34

 

    Think you can make 5 for $5. You can join in on the fun here:

http://www.moxiefabworld.com/2012/03/practical-solutions-for-paper-crafters_23.html