My favorite tool for inking

Disclosure: I am NOT a card maker. I just play one on my blog from time to time.

I really like the whole "distressed/vintage" look (shocker, I know), however, I'm not a big, fancy tool kind of gal. I like to just make do with what I have most of the time... plus I'm a cheapskate and don't like to spend my paper spending money on tools. Ha!

However, about a year ago, I was in Hobby Lobby and was buying some new Tim Holtz Distress Ink (I like the Walnut Stain color a lot!) and I found these little sponge daubers. For some reason I was compelled to buy them, and I'm so glad I did.

You can tell I've used the one on the far right a lot. This is actually a new package I bought recently. I'll be digging out those fresh ones soon.

I like them because they give you more control on how much ink you can put on a page. I know there are other tools out there that can help with inking, but the selling point for these are that they fit on my finger like a thimble. I can get into all the nooks and crevices easily, and add "blurry edges" on things.(Cards made with the Scripts Blackbird kit)So next time you see some of these, grab 'em! I bet you'll like them.

(I was not endorsed by Tim Hotlz or Tsukineko to post this! I just like the stuff!) :)

Oh, the drama

I have to tell you all, I still feel over-the-moon excited about being asked to join the Lily Bee design team. I kind of think I understand a little of how Cinderella felt. :)

And how fortunate that this month's Scripts kit, "Blackbird," has some Lily Bee papers in it?!

The other night I was looking for some inspiration to scrap, and I remembered some of the cool color inspiration places my friend Jana had introduced me to.

I found this entry on Creature Comforts and I loved the sweetness (no pun intended!) of the colors.


Then I realized- oh, this fits the Blackbird kit (and those cutie Lily Bee papers) perfectly!

My Jenni Bowlin letters were kind of disappearing into the banners, so I used a little penwork to make them stand out. I also cut out the inside of one of the JBS label stickers to remove the green border since it didn't fit into my color scheme.

The Cadillac of Bikes

Poor baby girl has been battling the sickies big time: she's got bronchialitis, and an ear infection. Would you believe this is the first ear infection for our household?!

I'm really hoping it doesn't become a trend.

Even when she's sick, though, she's still fairly content & happy- which almost makes it even more pathetic to me. Poor baby girl.

(hat from Heartsmiles.etsy.com - I'll have some more pics of my cuties in these tomorrow!)

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In scrappy stuff:

I love to do sketches in my free time, when I have lots of ideas floating through my head, but I don't have time to sit down and scrap.

You know, like when I'm sitting and feeding the baby... or listening in church. I know, bad!! It really does help me concentrate, though! :)

Here is a sketch from my sketchbook:

and here is how I interpreted it with the new Scripts kit!



I would LOVE to see how you interpret this sketch! Rotate it, make it your own- and then link it back here! :)

How I Organize My Scrapbooking Kits

I've kind of migrated to making my scrapping stuff more easily portable. I do a lot of scrapping in the living room, with my husband, while we watch tv together, or in my bedroom, or with my friends, or at the craft table with my kids... you get the picture!

Because of this, kits are AWESOME for my type of scrapping. Everything is in one spot and I don't have to hop up a million times for whatever things I need.

However, keeping all of the kit in a plastic bag doesn't prove to be the easiest way to find stuff within the kit.

Let me introduce you to one of my favorite purchases of all time. I bought this around 2 years ago.

My Rubbermaid drawers. (You can buy them here - 3 sets of these for $30!)

The drawers are 14x14" so there is plenty of room for all your papers & such.
Two drawers are for kits, and one is just for "new purchases." (hehe)

The cool thing about these is that you can pull the whole drawer out and bring it with you wherever you are going to scrap.

I also bought these little lunch trays (I think at Target- on clearance!) a while back and have them sitting in the top of the drawer. They hold all the smaller bits and pieces nicely.
(Kit featured: the "Can't Buy Me Love" Scripts Kit)

The little tray can easily lift out and be set aside so you can rifle through the rest of the drawer's contents.
One other thing I like to do (and I know B is gonna laugh; she always teases me about using every last scrap!). When I'm working on stuff, I end up with a pile of papers like this:
I like to pull out a few fave punches, and punch the heck out of them, and then toss the rest.
I add those right into my little tray and have pre-made embellishments for the next project I'm going to do! I hope this helps!

I would love to hear your kit organization ideas; what do you do with the leftovers from your kits?

Shanty 2 Chic

So a while back, I discovered this blog called Shanty 2 Chic. I think that Michelle shared it with me, but I can't remember for sure. Either way- it is one of my new favorite blogs to read! They take "shanty" looking things and paint them, sand them, pretty them up... make them chic.

About a month or two ago, our church secretary posted on facebook that she was getting rid of some old pictures out of the church office, and did anyone want them? I immediately jumped on them as soon as I found out they were framed. She warned me that they weren't very attractive (ahem), but I knew I could make them into treasures.

I took this one the other night, and while watching the Bachelor (shush, I know, I KNOW!), I made it into one of my favorite pieces of art in our home.

I took out the glass & artwork, and brushed on white acrylic craft paint roughly around the frame. I didn't make it super thick because I wanted to see a teensy bit of the wood showing through.

Once it was dry, I dampened a paper towel, and then put a few drops of brown acrylic paint, and rubbed it over the frame, so that it would get into all the little decorative crevices.

I then adhered two overlapping pieces of sheet music (from the "Can't Buy Me Love" Scripts kit) on top of the pre-existing "artwork", and then adhered the photo right in the middle.

I didn't even measure it to make sure it was centered. I'm a risk taker like that. ;)

I inked the edges of the mat board that was in there to give it more distinction.

Jillibean Soup corrugated cardboard alpha letters from my stash (dry brushed with more white paint) adhered on top of the photo finished the look!

(I tied some green ribbon I had through some of the staples on the back to hang it up, since I was hanging it in the landscape orientation and it didn't have the right hardware for that. I also didn't replace the glass because I think the letters would be too thick inside.)

I'll share with y'all in a few days what I did with the other frame, but since I forgot to take before pics, it won't be such a long post. :)

Scripts- Em @ Four

I, like many scrapbookers, love to find inspiration in the fashion & design trends around me.

However, since my life is pretty much inundated by preschool stuff right now, I keep my eye out on trends with the under 3 ft. set! hehe

I started out with this layout using the Scripts "Can't Buy Me Love" kit (with the exception of the addition of the pink cardstock and Glimmer Mist), with the idea of capturing some of Emerson's favorites and quirks at age 4.
If your house is anything like mine right now, I find those dang Silly Bandz EVERYWHERE! I thought it would be a great accent and also be very fitting for her age to include this current fashion trend.
(Those tiny stars, hearts, and dots are from the Jillibean Soup alpha sticker sheet in the kit. I love it when a company includes a few extra little surprises in their products like that!)

I did not attempt a December Daily album this year (like Britney & Katie did!) , but I did want to create some sort of mini album recording some of my favorite Christmas pictures. I pulled out my December Scripts kit and went to town!

I used a card from the November Scripts kit to create the cover for the album, then I folded and cut several interior pages (folded just like a card and nestled with each other) from kraft colored cardstock. I punched two holes with my Crop a Dile and threaded some hemp through them and tied them to hold them all together.
I covered the inside page with some of that lovely glittery polka-dot paper! Super cute!

My Silhouette machine came in handy to add a few fun die cut touches.
I alternated punching & tearing the edges of the 'pages' of the album. I like the touch it adds!
I think backing the hole in the gift tag with the red text paper added a cool look.
I used a bit of masking tape, here and there, to the album to add to the "handmade/haphazard" feel of the album. ;)
There are LOTS of Bella Blvd. and Making Memories papers used in this album. (Speaking of Bella Blvd., make sure to go check out my friend Deanna's work there this week!)
Thanks for looking!

A little more from "Virge's Workshop."

I'm working away in my little workshop here, trying to get all my gifts finished & wrapped. I can actually see a light at the end of the tunnel- how 'bout you?

So, I'm STILL using the November Scripts kit.

I can't help it, it's got some of my very favorite things in it!

I made this little flip book from Snapfish as a gift for my husband's Grandma, but when it came, I knew I just had to spiff it up. I couldn't leave it plain! The pages are basically just photos bound together, so the backside of each photo was just white.

The cover has letter stickers from the December kit. I was skeptical about the Tim Holtz film strip stuff at first, but I've ended up using it on every project! It's really cool!
The little sticker strips from 7 Gypsies were the perfect touch for this simple album.
To go along with this gift, I bought these cool Ranger Ink/Tim Holtz frames, glass slides, and swivel chains. I made a 1.5" x 1.5" square of paper, slapped Grandma's first initial on one side, and then put a 1.5" x 1.5" collage (made it in Picnik because it was fast & easy!) on the other side!
The collage goes in between two glass slides- I made this in about 5 minutes. I love it! You could also make these into necklaces.... ;)A fun & easy Christmas gift!