Scrapbook Siren

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MAGNETIC BOARDS

We will be posting a video on how to make these adorable magnetic boards for Christmas!  They are really really easy and can be adapted for any season with the appropriate theme to match.  

For this project you will need:

1. small baking pans, one for each kid.  We got ours at DollarTree so they were $1 each. 

2. Acrylic paint--we used what was in the art room so there was no cost involved but to clarify--this is not the kind of paint that comes out of the tubes. You can also use craft paint. Colors are: WHITE, BLACK, BLUE, small amounts of BROWN, RED, GREEN, and ORANGE. 

3. flat head brushes and detail brushes for project and a good paint brush for polyurethane

4. Paper towels, one for each kid to wipe brushes in between colors

5. Crop-O-dile (http://store.scrapbook.com/wr-70907-7.html) or some other punch that cuts through metal

6. ribbon

7. One container of High-Gloss polyurethane. I got mine at the hardware store and paid $18

 

Take off the paper on the front of the pan.  Pass out pans.  We had our kids write their name and a Christmas message to their parents on the back. 

Start by using the flat-head brush and paint the background which is basically painting the bottom 1/4 of the pan white.  WITHOUT CLEANING THE BRUSH--dip one side of the flat brush in blue and shade by going over the top of the white with the blue side.  It should blend naturally. 

wipe brush on papertowel. Load brush with white paint again and make a large ball on the snow you just painted. Make sure to paint into the snow and not just on the line so that it looks like he is actually sitting in the snow.   Make the body with 2 or 3 snowballs.  

Dip one side of the brush with blue again and shade on one side of snowman.  

Wipe brush---don't let the kids WASH the brush as the paint will run on the pans.  This will also destroy any chance at blending if there is water in the brush.  Wipe on paper towel in between colors. 

Using detail brush make the hat and eyes and mouth out of the BLACK paint. Make the arms out of BROWN paint to look like twigs. 

Add nose with a small amount of ORANGE. 

Add scarf in green or red or if the kids are older, like in this case, we let them go to town on the decorating. 

Add snowflakes in BLUE or WHITE. 

Let all the pans dry by stacking alternating horizontal and vertical. 

 

When the trays have dried AT LEAST ONE FULL DAY, punch holes in tops and run ribbon through.  We also added a quick note printed on computer about NOT using as a baking pan and to only use for decoration.

Dip paint brush in polyurethane and LIGHTLY go over artwork.  If you actually touch the paint it will bleed as the polyurethane eats a bit of it up and softens it. 

LET DRY ANOTHER COMPLETE DAY. They are ready to use! 

Merry Christmas

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Halloween Projects with Dufus and Dork

I have a friend I call Dufus.  She calls me Dork.  If you spend any time at all reading my short stories and have hung around me you will understand how I earned that nick-name.  Dufus is a true friend.  Know how I know?  When she goes to get a bagel she buys an extra one for me and has it at the bottom of the bag because she knows that even if I'm on a diet, and I'm always on a diet, I will want to start taking pieces of hers.  She also buys extra scrapbook supplies when she sees something I like because she knows I will be bummed I missed out on getting it because I was most likely working at my day job.  When she watches my dog she comes in and watches tv with the silly animal so she is not lonely.  I can go on and on but you get the idea.  

In turn I have had to put aside my phobia of needles and accompany her to get her first chemo treatment after her mastectomy .  I tired to hold a smile and be supportive as I am sure I was turning 3 shades of green and trying not to black out.  I had to try and stay positive which for me is a hard thing to do since I am a chronic worrier.  Yes of course I was worried about her health through this whole ordeal. We are less like Lucy and Ethel and more like Lucy and Ricky.  I reciprocate the pet-watching duties when she is out of town although her bird can take off my finger and her dog barks at me non-stop and runs away so not much chance of me petting her while watching TV. 

We used to do a lot of scrapbooking together but then along came work.  We still get together when I go to her crops at Scrampers in Torrance, CA and we show each other projects we made.  I made these bottles on a whim.  We decided to put them into a video so here goes nothing. 

We will ALWAYS give you the names of the manufactures and will continue to be FREE!

Hope you enjoy them. 

4th of July LO

This LO was an assignment for the show before its demise.  The challenge was to only use the Cricut and sewing to make the LO.  I used the Cricut patriot cartridge and mostly just the stars in different sizes and then the fireworks.  I used Sparkle N Sprinkle glitters which I LOVE and the owners are the sweetest people.  They have an amazing array of colors!!!!  I had borrowed the producer's Singer Touch N Sew that was featured on the show.  I used some of the fancy stitches.  If I were in the market for a new machine I would definitely get this one.   Anyway that is about it in terms of embellishments and such.  I tried to create a story by using something I call "Storyboard Scrapbooking."  I will talk more about this later but I created a "montage" of the days events and then ended with the fireworks. I didn't have the greatest photos so it made it harder to create the story.  The best photo was the one of the kids making goofy faces so I used that as my focus.  Then I took other shots and placed them along the bottom of the LO to make the montage.  

I used the large stars to separate vignettes of the day, like my older son watching the fireworks, and the other kids watching in the cut-out star with journaling around it.  This was a SIMPLE LO to create and I even used up some old bottle cap embellishments that had been sitting in my stash forever.

As always I printed the photos on my Epson Picture Mate!!!  

NEXT PROJECT:  PURPLE COW LAMINATING IDEAS

Holy Cow!! Purple Cow that is!

I love the Purple Cow!  I have been using them since their beginning and anyone who has cropped with me knows that I use the hand-held cutters all the time. 

Well today there was a surprise for me on my doorstep! It was a new Hot Laminator and pouches! 

I can't wait to play with these great products!!!!  

I know I want to make luggage tags after our trip to Iowa.  

So our plan is to show the 4th of July LO followed by the Hot Laminator project.

ARE YOUR PHOTOS SITTING ON YOUR HARD DRIVE?

I swear I am going to print these photos this weekend and finish that 4th of July LO.

I am so far behind and need to bind some scrapbooks so I can have them finished and trip over them in my bedroom.  Here are some of this year's 4th of July party where we had the whole neighborhood watch the fireworks from our roof deck.  Adam is at the age where I cannot get him to take a photo.  I am finding it harder and harder to sneak them on him.  Ethan on the other hand is a big ham and will pose for any shot---unless of course he is in a bad mood and then he shows his pouty face.  Many of our photos have the pouty face.  

The LO I am working on is one using just the Cricut and cardstock and glitter----I did sew around the edges and in the middle but you can leave this out if you don't like sewing.  I normally don't sew on my pages but this was a left-over assignment that we never shot so hence there is actually thread on my layout.  You will usually see me just distress the edge or something--much quicker!  

I have to admit the new Singer Touch N Sew was FUN to play with!  They have all sorts of cool stitches.  My sewing machine only does straight and zig zag.  If you are in the market for a new machine I highly recommend trying this one out first!

Okay---gotta clean and then maybe I can start printing photos!

ANNOUNCEMENT

Well after almost a year on "Cropped" I met with the producer today and we decided that I will no longer be working on her show.  This was a mutual decision based on time and scheduling and further commitments we both felt I couldn't give right now.  I have gone back to working in commercials in film/tv production and have had a hard time working around both of our work schedules.

So I will just make my own videos at my own pace using my studio with a friend and have some familiar faces.  I have already contacted my favorite product sponsors so you will continue to see their lines on my blog. 

I wish Judith the best wishes for the new changes to her show and continued success.  

I hope to have a video up within the next few weeks.

REMODEL STAGE 3

So we are almost done with this remodel and for the first time in 3 months we can get up to use the potty in our own bathroom.  Of course there is no sink so we still have to take the long walk to the bathroom in the living room to wash hands but hey---we are closer than we were a week ago!  And we got our shower connected.  And then the contractor informed me that my "hot water heater check valves and my shut off valves need to be replaced" whatever that means but apparently it means that although we could theoretically take a shower in our bathroom we have no hot water or water pressure to achieve that task.  And who has dealt with granite.  I mean I was expecting about $1500 in granite for a 5 ft counter and a 3 ft counter but not $2500!  Which is why I signaled my contractor when he got the phone call from the granite guy and was repeating the prices out loud, a very definite NO WAY----may have used other symbols but you get the idea.  

In the midst of this I have had no time to scrapbook.  I snuck in my studio to work on a LO for the show that I thought came out pretty cute.  I have my washer and dryer in my art studio so I can always say I am back there doing laundry while I play around with paper and adhesive.  Anyone else ever use this excuse to get a couple of pieces of paper down before someone calls out your name?

4th of July Layout

This is the 4th of July Layout I've been working on using solely the Cricut, cardstock, and glitter. I also sewed around the edges using a decorative stitch from the show's Touch N Sew by Singer.  I also added some waves in red and blue thread. This was my first time using the Cricut and I was playing around with the sizes and shapes.  I cut them out of red and blue papers then added the glitter. I will be printing photos from the 4th and finishing the layout soon.