Garden Junk Journal - Helmar Creative Team

Since starting my potted veggie garden I have found myself frequently looking up the same information for my plants and I felt I needed a notebook with quick references to this information.  I downloaded various printable Garden Planners but couldn't find one that was just right.  After Jeanette's Easy DIY Two Hour Planting Journal post I found myself really inspired to create a Junk Journal style notebook/garden planner for myself.  So I started collecting various free printables, sorting through my stash to create a Garden kit to play with.

I printed out the printables I liked, some I printed on nice thick paper and other's I printed on standard 80gsm copy paper.  The tags and library cards that I printed on 80gsm paper I decided to back onto a manilla file folder.  I simply ran some Helmar Acid Free Glue onto the back of each tag and Library card, adhered them to the file folder, cut them out once dry and then touched up any gaps in corners or edges with a drop of Helmar Acid Free Glue.

Once they were dry I distress the edges of the printables and the back with a variety of Distress Inks.  While I had the inks out I distress the edges of all the printable pages and the papers I had cut and distressed the backs to if they were blank.

Some printables I didn't want as pages but rather I wanted to glue them onto pages that I had given a Tea Dye look using Distress Inks.  I simply glued them where I needed them with Helmar Acid Free Glue.













I have been really concerned in the Junk Journal groups about the safety of the methods some are using to adhere napkins to paper so I wanted to share how safe and easy it is to use Helmar Acid Free Glue to do this.  Great minds think alike and Jeanne recently did a post Decoupaging Napkins with Helmar Acid Free Glue, our method was very similar but I will share mine too.
I simply squirted some Helmar Acid Free Glue onto my work surface, spritzed some water onto the glue and mixed it with a old brush.  I then brush it on evenly to where I was decoupaging my napkin, placed the napkin down and then gave it a coat over the top with my watered down Helmar Acid Free Glue, set it aside to dry while I worked on something else.  It was very quick and easy to do and much safer than melting cling wrap or ironing plastic backed paper.  Please, please don't melt plastic in your craft room, Helmar Glues are much safer.

When cutting my cover I cut it a fraction too short, so I cut a strip from the left overs and ran some Helmar Acid Free Glue along the strip and used the strip to hold 2 pieces together.  Bonus it gave me a little bit of contrast on the busy paper I had chosen for my cover.   Sorry I didn't get a pic of the process but here is the finished repair.

I decided to use the left over paper from my cover to make a pocket inside the cover.  I ran a bead of Helmar Acid Free Glue around the bottom and 2 sides and adhered it inside the cover, once dry I had a great pocket for my tags, library cards and embellishments I want to have on hand to use when needed.

As I add information into my Garden Junk Journal I will give finished pages a coat of Helmar Crystal Kote Matt to ensure if it gets wet no ink will run.

I want to try protecting my cover using Jeanette's method of upcycling cereal packaging and using Helmar Silicone Sealant to seal it, it is a brilliant idea, check it out.

I am really happy with how my Garden Junk Journal has turned out and I have been using the information I have added regularly to remind myself of when to water which plant, what plants I want to use in companion planting and what fertiliser needs each plant has.  It has been so handy. 
I am looking forward to printing out some photos of my garden and adding them in as a way to document how the garden is progressing and the things I am learning.

A Covid-19 Easter

I was invited to a online scrapping session a few weeks ago.  It was a great way to get myself crafting as I have been struggling to get back to crafting since the move, I have just fallen out of the habit, if that makes sense.
Anyway I scrambled for what to scrap and decided to scrap our Easter during Covid-19, I had been collecting a variety of free printable Covid-19 Scrapping supplies (link at the bottom of the post) so I printed them out and created a Easter during Covid-19 kit for myself with these, the Easter Wishes Collection Pack from ColorPlay (ordered from CraftOnline) and some Poppy Crafts Cardstock.

During the scrapping session I started my usual way of prepping everything that needed prepping, so I short listed what I might use, fussy cut out assorted items, coloured my virus characters with some Distress Ink and a Aquabrush.  Once everything was ready I started figuring out my layers, cutting papers, adhering down and then embellishing.







I adhered my papers down with Helmar Acid Free Glue and used Helmar Liquid Scrap Dots to adhere some of the words and my virus characters to give them some pop.
Once it was all down I remembered I had this planet earth glass flair from Kaisercraft in my stash so grabbed it, it was perfect for this layout.

I decided to use a lot of words to tell the story of how we adapted a family tradition by using Facetime to have Hot Cross Buns with our adult kids & Granddaughter, the kid's Grandparents and Aunt, Uncle & Cousins.

I love how the layout turned out, the various printables worked really well with this range from ColorPlay and the cute bunny and egg stickers were perfect for hiding mistakes ;)

Have you scrapped your Easter 2020 yet?
What products are you planning on using?
Here is a link to the post that I found most of my printables on.

I'm a Mermaid - CraftOnline Creative Team Project

We are all moved and 90% unpacked so I got to scrapbook for the first time in months and it was so good to be creating the way I love most again.  I have had to edit this video a lot as there were long periods of indecisiveness as I was out of my usual flow, if that makes sense, but I am really happy with how this layout of my Granddaughter posing in a Mermaid cutout turned out.

Items used in this project
Bazzill Bling Cardstock Charming
Bazzill Bling Cardstock Her Majesty
Eyelet Outlet Shell Brads
Echo Park Mermaid Dreams Collection 
Poppy Crafts A5 paper pad Mermaid
Scrapaholics Chipboard Floating Mermaid
Scrapaholics Chipboard Mermaid Kisses
Poppy Crafts die Sea Shell
Poppy Crafts die Sea Horse
Poppy Crafts A4 Cardstock Yellow Pack
Stickmaster Glue Residue Eraser

Tonic Studios Mini Guillotine

Julie Taylor 18x24 inch cutting mat

Universal Crafts Etching Tool 

 

I cut the shell die cuts with some Kaisercraft Cardstock in my stash, it is a old colour and no longer available.  I would suggest trying Kaisercraft Oatmeal and blending inks to get the result you want.

I coloured the shell die cuts with Distress Ink in Brushed Corduroy.  I coloured the Seahorse with Fossilized Amber Distress Ink.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I glued everything down with Helmar Acid Free Glue, Helmar 450 Quick Dry Adhesive and some Helmar Liquid Scrap Dots were perfect for giving some lift and pop where needed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can view my Process Video by clicking on the pic or video below.

 

 

I love how this layout turned out.  All the little bits that say I am a Mermaid were just perfect for telling the story of the photos and prompting my memory of it.

Christmas Pocket TN set up - Ruby Rock-It Creative Team

When I saw the new Crafter's Nostalgic Treasures range I loved it's traditional colours and thought it would be perfect for my planner set up for the lead up to Christmas, journaling the events of November and December that involve traditional colours and scrapping memories that need those gorgeous traditional colours.

I have been having a bit of a creative block and my usual tactic of just sticking something down and keep sticking until I am happy with what I have hasn't worked so I used my other creative block ending tactic of picking a simple project that needs doing and just doing it.
I have wanted to try using a Field Notes sized TN as my wallet for ages and scored a cover cheaply the other week which came with a insert that had no cover on it so I decided to break my creative block by making a removable cover for my insert and see where that takes me.

I decided I wanted to use the foiled papers in the 12x12 paper pad from the Nostalgic Treasures range for my pocket TN and if this went well I would make a few items for it to give myself a cute Christmas planner to carry with me.
I loved the first paper in the pad so cut a piece measuring 5 5/8 by 7 1/2 inches.
I wrapped it around my insert, creased and then trimmed any overhang.

I then cut a piece of the gorgeous mirror gold cardstock from the Crafter's Choice Luxury A4 Gold Cardstock pack the same size, scored it and then adhered it with Helmar Acid Free Glue to the inside of my paper.  This would give the cover some needed structure and it looks gorgeous.  

Best of all my TN cover has gold elastic and gold on the inside so it coordinated beautifully with my TN cover.

I used some Distress Ink in Fired Brick around the edge of my paper.

I had a slight misalignment so I used a old border punch from my stash with the Gold cardstock I lined the inside of my cover with and punched a border for my front cover, adhering it down with glue.

I then grabbed out my pack of Crafters Choice Nostalgic Treasures Die Cuts and selected the car and a Merry Christmas die cut to use on my front cover, adhering them down with glue.

I added the word Plans under the word Christmas with some alphas from my stash to finish off the look.

I now have a adorable notebook for writing down notes about my plans for this Christmas, gift ideas, names of recipes to try, etc.

While I had the Crafters Choice Nostalgic Treasures Die Cuts out I decided to make some cute paperclips for my Christmas planning.
I sorted through the die cuts and found ones that would match back to back.

I added a glob of Helmar 450 Quick Dry Adhesive and placed my paper clip in it before adding my other die cut to the top.
I left them to dry for a while to ensure a strong hold.







I decided my cover needed something so I grabbed out my Crafters Choice Nostalgic Treasures Tag Pack and selected a tag to tie to my elastic on the front of my cover so it would look more festive.

















My final need in this TN is a reward cards insert, I followed this tutorial I found on YouTube..
I selected a foiled paper to use and got to work creating it.  I now have all my reward program cards in a easy to access folder.  Organised by frequent of usage and location where I use them, as living regionally some cards are only used when I shop in other towns. 

I love how cute and festive this set up is and now feel more confident about getting my A5 planner set up for the more detailed planning at home.

A Stranger Birthday Afternoon

My daughter loves Stranger Things so when it came to a Birthday Card for her I decided to make her a Eggos themed card.

I started by designing a cut file for it that would enable it to look like 2 eggos were overlapping.
I cut 1 base, 3 of the full waffles and 2 of the waffles with a section missing.

I then coloured the base and top layers randomly with Distress Ink in Wild Honey and Fossilized Amber to give it a more toasted look.

I then started gluing my layers together with Helmar Acid Free Glue.

I then added my eggos to my card base.

My next step was adding the red lettering for Eggo, I grabbed out some really old Creative Memories alphas and added them to my card.

I then sealed my card with Dorlands Wax Sealant to ensure the alphas wouldn't peal off.







As the boys and I were traveling down on the train for a week long stay with my daughters the week before my daughter's birthday I decided to just pack the card and instead organise everything else once down there.  I arranged some awesome Stranger Things and Spiderman cupcakes to be made by her housemate who has her own cake decorating business in Brisbane (My Sweet Addiction)
I also got my eldest to pick up Christmas lights and I used her scrapping stash to make a box to fit a pack of waffles for a mini themed afternoon tea with just us and her housemates as she prefers small events.

Here is a quick how to of how I made the box.

I glued 2 sheets of yellow cardstock together with a line of Helmar Acid Free Glue.

















I then measured my waffle pack and cut my cardstock to size and then scored it which was difficult as my daughter's scoring tool was missing so I had to use the back of a knife and her trimmer.  I did slip and cut through one section so I just taped it back together with washi tape.
I then cut down the sections that would form the ends.














I then used my Helmar Acid Free Glue to glue my box closed around my waffles.











The card turned out so cute.

At the afternoon tea I sat the card on top of the box so it looked like a box of Eggos.

Darling Girl - Ruby Rock-It Creative Team

Before I got around to doing my next layout with my kit I created for scrapping photos of my Granddaughter at a wedding earlier this year I received a lovely box full of new Bella Mini Themes from Ruby Rock-It so I decided to add the gorgeous PFF06 Fancy Florals Blossom and PFF90 Fancy Florals Bouquet to my left overs from creating my Sweet Bubbles layout as I loved the little hints of blue in the flowers of both papers, I thought it would be a good way to help pull in the blue from my daughter's hair.

So I could use the gorgeous florals in PFF06 Fancy Florals Blossom and PFF90 Fancy Florals Bouquet I cut away a section of the papers and used my Silhouette with the Pixscan mat to cut as much as possible and then fussy cut the pale flowers as it had trouble detecting them when I used the tracing tool.

I decided to create a background on my white cardstock using the packaging technique with Distress Inks in Vintage Violet and .
The packaging technique is a really easy way to get a lovely background.  You dab your ink or watercolour paint or watered down paint onto a nonstick surface, spritz with water, place some plastic packaging and then dab the packaging onto your cardstock.

I used Victorian Velvet first, dried it with my heatgun and then added Broken China.
I love the results you get with this technique.

I was having trouble deciding which way I wanted the embellishments to be so I started with adding my heart die cut white I cut from a lilac coloured card from the Francheville Cards & Envleopes Pastel Pack to my photos and gluing them down.
I selectively cut my heart die cut to spread it as much as possible, even cutting a single heart out that would have wound up behind a photo, which I added to my florals later.



I had 2 layout options I loved and couldn't decide which was my favourite so I shared them with my fellow team members to see what they thought, I love that I can bounce creative ideas off other team members.  I also left it sitting on my desk in each design for a day and walked past it regularly to see what I liked the most.

When building my clusters I added in some of blue flowers I made when I created my kit in my previous post as I wanted to include some more blue into the project.  Instructions for these flowers are in my Sweet Bubbles layout post.

My title was going to be created with a darling wood veneer I got from a destash I bought years ago and some chipboard alphas from Ruby Rock-It to spell out GIRL.
To colour my chipboard I gave them a rough base coat of gesso and then experiemented with colouring them with Distress Inks in Victorian Velvet, Faded Lilac and Broken China.
I dabbed my ink onto my alphas, spritzed with water, dried and then used another colour and repeated until I had something I liked.

Now I was ready to stick down my embellishments, I decided I wanted to add some dimension to the layout so I glued together some scrap cardstock and adhered it to the big sections of my florals.

I tucked that single heart I cut away from my die cut into the big floral section on my layout.  I helped pull those hearts further into the layout.


















I love the flowers from PFF06 Fancy Florals Blossom, they were perfect for these photos of my Granddaughter and I think if I had some of the Blush floral left they would work beautifully together so if you have some photos that need gorgeous florals then check out Blush and Fancy Florals from Bella, they are just gorgeous.