Little Something Sunday with Karen Grunberg

For this month's "lucky" theme, I wanted to show you a tag I made.

For this tag, I wanted to make a clover but I didn't have any green sequins, I only had gold ones. So I decided to make my own.

First thing I did was to punch out four hearts. I used this Martha Stewart punch:

I then glued my sequins on to the paper. I put a lot of them on so they covered all of the paper. I turned it around and cut the pieces of sequin sticking out. Since the sequin is a non-porous surface, I decided to use my alcohol ink to color it. I picked Meadow.

I squeezed a few drops into my alcohol ink applicator.

And then applied it directly to the sequins (demonstrating here with loose ones, but I did it directly onto the ones I glued to the heart.)

It's hard to see in the photo but the alcohol takes off some of the gold and applies a bunch of the green. If you do it enough and hold it long enough, you will see the sequin get greener and greener.

I then connected my hearts to make the clover shape and put another sequin in the middle with a bling on top. I used a little rope to complete my clover and sewed it in place. A few letters and some more stitching and my was done!

In the end, I think it actually turned out prettier than if the sequins were green since this way I get to see the color change and shimmer when I move the tag around.

If you have alcohol inks lying around, take this opportunity to play with them, they can be a lot of fun. And don't forget how lucky you are! :)

Design Team Recommendations

Hi there. Today I wanted to share with you a new feature on the blog. We are going to be highlighting the design team member's favorite products, new and old alike, from the AMM store.
Our first designer I am going to highlight is Sasha Holloway. Sasha has a clean yet funky style. I love her use of circles, patterned papers, and small photos. Here are three of her top favorite products from the store.


1. Sassafras Lass Monogram Alphas from "Life at the Pole" collection. Now on sale for only $1.50!

2. Sassafras Lass "Penelope" patterned paper from the "Cherry Delicious" line. Have a look at her gallery here and I am sure you will be able to tell this girl loves Sassafras Lass.

3. My Mind's Eye Cute Tickets from "Quite Contrary"

I hope you will take a cruise around the store and see what other awesome finds are on sale. Stay tuned for more recommendations from other design team members.

March Guest Designer Revealed

I am so excited to announce our guest designer for next month is the super talented Katie Watson! Please help me welcome this AMM alumni back! Read on to learn a little more about her and see some samples of her work.

"My name is Katie Watson and I live in Southern California. I'm married to a Navy Pilot so we have traveled the country coast to coast calling many different states our home. I am a Mom to 3 children and 2 cats. I am on the Design Team for Maya Road which I Love, Love, Love!! I love vintage anything and everything...I would rather rummage than organize and am just plain happy when I'm doing some form of art! I love mini books and altered projects and would describe my style as shabby chic mixed with thrift store randomness."

Have a peek below at some samples of Katie's really awesome work!

You can read more about Katie's life and get more inspiration from her blog here. Please help me welcome here by leaving some love on this post!

February Design Team Reveal-The Sketch

Welcome to another Design Team Reveal-The Sketch Edition! This month we had great participation with our monthly sketch designed by Jeni Boisvert and I wanted to take a couple minutes to share with you the design team's interpretation of Jeni's sketch.

So first of all, here is the sketch one last time.


First we will start with Kat Glossop's layout. I love the punched circle border she gave this design.
"Original Beauty" by Kat Glossop

This layout by Design Team Coordinator, Tonya Dirk, is so sweet. I love her cutting up off the ends of the measuring tape paper to look like real measuring tape.

"Measure" by Tonya Dirk

Next we have this layout by Staci Taylor who dressed up the border of her circle with the vintage AMM trim and that button filled heart is so cute!
"Immeasurable" by Staci Taylor

Next is my contribution. I die cut some kraft colored cardstock to get the apron lace border and then used the Studio Calico patterned paper for the center.

"Scrap Crush" by Jennifer Findlay

Lastly, is this layout from Karen Grunberg. I love how she trimmed the scallops from the Studio Calico paper and used them as trims on her layout.

"Your Protector" by Karen Grunberg

Stay tuned for sneaks of our March kit and our March guest designer! Don't forget that Suzy Plantamura is with us again for next month as our honorary design team member!

We Have Winners!!

I wanted to take a couple minutes to say a big congratulations to our recent challenge and banner contest winners, Maria and Karla, and share their projects with you.

First up is this layout by Maria created for the February sketch challenge. She has won a collection of Shimmerz from design team member, Jeni Boisvert! Congratulations Maria!!
"Hear No Evil" by Maria Swiatkowski


Next is this awesome banner created by Karla Smith. It is actually a banner/mini book. It is so clever and beautifully put together.
"Girly Girl" Banner Album

The dress aprons fold up to reveal pictures and journaling. So clever!

I hope you will join me in congratulating these two ladies. Look for an announcement coming soon about a revamping of the Design Team Challenges, which I think you will all really like and will get more people participating.

Technique Tuesday with Stacy Cohen

USING GAUZE ON YOUR LAYOUTS
One of my favorite non-scrapbooking products to use on my pages is gauze. You can either use regular gauze like the kind you buy in the bandage aisle at the drug store, or you can use cheesecloth material (I found some cheesecloth-like material at a local specialty fabric/upholstery store).

I start with plain white gauze and spray it with one or more colors of Shimmerz Spritz. Once dry, the Spritzed gauze can be used as a fluffy photo mat or background for a title. Here are a few examples:

You can also create an ethereal-looking background using gauze, cardboard, gesso, paints, Spritz and Mod Podge. Here is a step-by-step:

1. First prepare your background. Start with a piece of heavy cardboard and cover it with gesso:

2. Once the gesso is dry, brush/spray on Shimmerz paints and Spritz:

3. Spray your gauze or mesh with Spritz (I used two different colors here). I like to spray on waxed paper so that I can mop up every last drop of the Spritz:

4. Once the gauze is dry, adhere it to your cardboard with Mod Podge:


Note: if you want your gauze to look fluffy like it is on my layouts above, adhere it with just a little bit of adhesive rather than Mod Podge.

Here is the finished project:

It’s an easy way to add some interesting texture to your pages and projects!

Member Monday with Rachel Hall

This week's Layout of the Week was chosen by Rachel Hall. She chose the layout below, "Magic by Rosângela Philippson.

Rachel said, "I love the texture that pops out of this design immediately in everything from the tearing to the handmade flowers. There is so much to look at on this layout from the flowers, to the layering of various patterned papers and the transparency butterflies, but Ro has pulled off the goal of every scrapper I have ever met, the balance of embellishments and techniques while maintaining a strong focus on her gorgeous photo. Such a gorgeous page that makes our wonderful gallery truly shine!"

"Magic" by Ro Philippson

How about a little interview with Ro to help us get to know this AMM newbie a little better. Read on to see what she had to say.
1.) How long have you been scrapbooking? I have been scrapbooking for five years. Initially it was a hobby that made me very happy, and now I also teach scrapbooking in my city and do events aroud my country.

2.) What are some of your favorite scrapbooking products? I love papers, and all that I can do with it: I can cute, mash, distress, tear, finally do everything that my creativity will allow. I also like paint, flowers and thickers.

3.) What inspires you? I find inspiration in the nature with its unique colors: the rain, a beautiful sunset, the sea... In a beautiful pictures with a story to tell, and also in the galleries that I always visit.

4.) What advice would you give to someone just starting scrapbooking or that you wish someone had told you when you started? My advice is: Don't be afraid of making mistakes, because in scrapbooking nothing is wrong. You are free to do whatever you want, spread your wings, you can!

5.) Besides scrapbooking, what other hobbies or interest do you have? I like to travel, read a good book and watch a good movie.

You can view more of Ro's gallery here or on her blog here. Be sure to leave her some love here on this post!

Little Something Sunday with Rachel Hall

Quick and Easy St. Patrick's Day Cards

Materials Needed:
12x12 Kraft Cardstock
Green Cardstock Scraps
Heart Paper Punch
Rhinestones
Stamps
Ink
Fabritac
Bone Folder

To Make Clovers:
Using heart punch, punch out 3 hearts

Using bonefolder, make a crease in the middle of the heart

Using bonefolder, curl the rounded tops of the heart back. Repeat for the next two hearts

Using a strong adhesive like fabritac, adhere hearts together to create a clover

Cut a piece of green cardstock for a stem and adhere to the back of the clover. Add a rhinestone to cover up the glue and overlap of the hearts

To Make Your Cards:
Cut your 12x12 cardstock into 8 3x6 pieces
Fold them in half to create a small card

Stamp sentiment on card leaving enough room for your clover
Add clover to front of card

These make great cards for you to give to brighten up someone's day and to let them know that you feel lucky to have them in your life. They also work well for you to make with your children for them to give to their friends. You can also use the technique to create your clovers on all of your St. Patrick's Day crafts from cards, to altered art pieces, and of course on your layouts!

Saturday Special Edition with Rachel Hall!

Make a Mini Album in 2 Hours or Less!
I often times find myself with duplicate prints from favorite photo sessions that even though I may have already used the same photos on layouts, I can't bear to just toss into a box in storage. They are my favorites for a reason so they should be displayed in new ways rather than cast aside.

To solve this problem I came up with this easy and quick mini album made using items that I already had laying around and that I bet you do too!

Materials Needed:
4-6 pictures
cardboard
paint
glitter
chipboard
scraps of paper and/or cardstock alphabet stickers, chipboard, etc
binder rings (or something to hold the book together)

Instructions:
1. Decide how many pages your book will be. Since you are using a thick cardboard for your base I would suggest no more than 6 pages.

2. Pick your photos for your book. If you want to have a 6 page book, choose 5 pictures, a 5 page book will have 4 pictures and so on.

3. Cut your cardboard into 4"x6" pieces, cutting the number of pages you need for your book.
Peel the top flat layer off of one of each of your cardboard pieces. Don't worry about perfection, it's the imperfect look that makes the cardboard look so good!

4. Adhere your photos to the smooth sides of your cardboard pieces.

5. Adhere cardstock to the piece with no picture on it. This will be the back cover of your book.

6. Since I used "Counting My Lucky Stars" as the theme to my book, I used stars as my main embellishment. Choose your theme and use purchased chipboard shapes or cut your own. You will need as many chipboard pieces as you have pages to your book.

7. Paint the chipboard pieces in the color theme of your book. Let dry.

8. Cover chipboard pieces with glue and apply glitter. Let dry. (I also like to spray my glittered pieces with Krylon triple glaze before using so that I do not have glitter flakes everywhere!)

9. Using your scraps, cut small pieces of patterned paper to layer on each page (corrugated side). They will serve as the base for your glittered chipboard. I cut all of mine the same for a uniform and simple look that is eye catching and so easy to do quickly!

10. Adhere these pieces to each page (corrugated side).

11. When they are dry, add the glittered chipboard pieces to your pages, on top of the paper pieces (corrugated side).

12. Add your mini album title and words to the cover and each page (corrugated side).

13. Add journaling strips (corrugated side).

14. Punch two holes on each page on the left side. Add rings, ribbon, or twine to hold your book together.