4 Farewell Cards

My husband and I were attending a party for 4 of his colleagues who were leaving after many years at his workplace, 3 of them I had worked with when I worked there 15 years ago.  Hubby wanted to give them a card each with a personal message from himself so I decided to make a set of 4 cards for him.

I had no idea what I was going to do so I started by designing a cut file for the word Farewell to use on my cards and cutting it from white cardstock 4 times.
You can download a copy of my cut file here.  Please if sharing the file or a project using the file link back to this post rather than just giving someone a copy of it.

I grabbed out 4 white card bases and initially I grabbed out a assortment of scraps, flowers, ribbons, lace and die cuts but the variety was making things harder than it had to be so instead I got out my December 2018 kit from Scrapping Fun Kits that was a pink with hints of black and white kit, having everything coordinating really helped get these cards done quickly.  I added some white flowers and a scrap of cream paper to this and set to work.

I cut my papers too size and then just built each card individually, first adding a piece of ribbon or lace and then adhering my die cut onto these with Helmar Acid Free Glue.

Once my word was down I added my flowers with Helmar Premium Craft Glue.

Once the card fronts were dry I adhered them to my card bases with Helmar Acid Free Glue.

I love how they turned out and they were so quick and simple to make once I reduced down my options so I wasn't overwhelmed with choice while creating.

Aunty - Helmar Creative Team

I had a beautiful photo of my daughter with my granddaughter has been needing to be scrapped for some time now so I decided to create a Aunt themed kit for myself start with grabbing out the chipboard alphas I used on my 3 2 1 Crawl layout and sorted through them to see if I could make the word Aunty, as I was out of A's I used a V upside down as my A. 
I then pulled together papers, paper scraps and embellishments that coordinated with the colours I was using from the alphas but keeping it mostly pink as they are both wearing pink in the photo.
My papers were a old Dear Lizzy paper called Serendiity, papers from Pink Paislee Summer Lights 6x6 paper pad, Dear Lizzy Happy Place 6x6 paper pad and papers from the June 2018 and December 2018 kits from Scrapping Fun Kits.
My flowers came from the June 2018 and December 2018 kit from Scrapping Fun Kits, left over flowers from my Happy Days Diner layouts and a few from a destash bundle I bought that I think are from D-lish Scraps.  I also grabbed out a cool metal flower I got at a destash market, some chipboard butterflies, a chipboard bird and a cute arrow from Charm's Creations.

The first thing I had to do was fix these cute concertina flowers that had lost their centres so I grabbed out my Helmar 450 Quick Dry and some metal buttons from my button stash and put new centres on them so they were ready to use.

Now it was time to play with my papers. I salvaged what I could from where papers would be behind other layers so I would have scraps for elsewhere and adhered all my layers together with Helmar Acid Free Glue.

Here is how my layers look from behind and look how much paper I saved, I will wind up using a few bits from this elsewhere on the layout.
I adhered my layers down to some white cardstock with Helmar Acid Free Glue and started playing with my embellishments to work out a embellishment cluster.




Once I had my cluster worked out I started adhering things down with Helmar 450 Quick Dry Adhesive, this was perfect for the variety of embellishments I had including a big chunky metal flower charm, Charms Creations arrow and various paper flowers.

I decided to use Helmar Liquid Scrap Dots to adhere my little tag that said Smile and to fussy cut out some cameras from the camera scrap paper, Helmar Liquid Scrap Dots were perfect for the cameras going into my big cluster as they needed that bit of lift to help them pop.

To adhere my alphas and a cute little heart from the set which I attache to the Smile tag I used Helmar Acid Free Glue.

I decided to add this cute chipboard butterfly to my layout.  After I painted it with some Vicki Boutin pink paint I added water to the paint and splattered it around my layout.

For my top and bottom corner I cut some strips from my scrap papers and adhered them down with Helmar Acid Free Glue and then added one of my fussy cut cameras to each of these corners.









I finished off with a doodley border with a old pink pen, added the You Make Me Happy card which I trimmed to fit and tucked in some paper scraps and scraps from trimming the You Make Me Happy card to create more layers.

I am really happy with how this layout turned out.
And look how many alphas I still have left.  I posted a pic on my Intagram and Facebook page and asked what words people could make from these.  What words can you make from these?

4 Super Projects - Ruby Rock-It Creative Team

I was so excited about the new Superhero range from Bella, I had so many ideas in my head for projects to do with it, I got to a short list of 4 projects and decided to challenge myself to get all 4 projects out of the 3 sheets I had plus some Francehville Cards from the Primary & Basics packs and a sheet of Red Gallery R1998 Crinkles.

To get as much out of these papers as I could I had to do a fair bit of selective cutting, but it was so worth it.

The first thing I did was cut out this awesome section from THE623 Superhero Collage paper






 

Next I cut out the 3 items I definitely wanted from THE647 Superhero Jigsaw paper.

I then matted my photos with cards from Franceville Cards and Envelopes boxes in Basics and Primar and then cut out some cityscapes and comic splats and title card from these also using my Silhouette Curio to do the die cutting.

I created a starter stack for 4 projects.  I have the start of 2 12x12 projects, a Father's Day card and a 5x8 journal tip in for my A5 journal.

 

I then worked out placement for the 2 12x12 layouts on the papers that would be their background, flipped it back over the the wrong side and recreated the placement so I could trace around it with pencil and cut away inside my pencil line to ensure I got as much of  each paper to cut pieces from as possible.  

I got a nice big piece from the THE630 Superhero Splat paper, so there will be lots of cute heros to decorate with.  :)

Now that I had my lines on THE647 Superhero Jigsaw paper I was able to go through it and get as many bits as I possibly could from it.

Time to use my Pixscan mat with my Silhouette Curio to die cut all those superheros.














I decided to work on my favourite little Bat Girl's layout.
I adhered the big fussy cut piece from THE623 Superhero Collage and her matted photos down, just gluing things where they touched.
Filling in gaps with comic sections cut from THE647 Superhero Jigsaw paper and from splat style words from THE623 Superhero Collage paper.

I loved this Yeah for my Bat Girl layout but it was missing part of it due to how I had to fussy cut it, so I cut another cloud bit from another partial of it and adhered them together to complete it.

I added a little word from THE647 Superhero Jigsaw paper to hide the seam in my Yeah and it is perfect.












I cut my layout down to 11 and 13/16 inches and mounted it on some white cardstock which I had cut away the middle leaving a 1.5 inch frame and called this layout done.

The second project I worked on was my Free Comic Book Day layout, I used the comic strip sections I had cut from THE647 Superhero Jigsaw paper to give it a comic feel.

I used my cityscape to hide the narrow bit I cut away at the bottom earlier to get the tiny words I needed for my other projects.  I love how this little scene sits at the bottom.










I then cut it down 3/16 of a inch and gave it a boarder by mounting it on a 1.5 inch white cardstock frame and running a black marker around my decorative paper.
And finished it off by adding part of one of my heroes flying to the city with a boom to hide that part of his head is missing as he was from the edge of the paper.

Now it was time to do my third project.  I decided my Father's Day card would be next as my journal tip in can just be made with minimal supplies but I wanted to have more items to work with for the card.

I cut a piece from my left over piece of THE623 Superhero Collage paper to fit my card base with a slight edge of the card base showing.

I then used the Super Dad card from THE647 Superhero Jigsaw paper, my left over cityscape die cut, some extra splats I cut from left over bits from the Franceville Cards I had been using and a hero and arrows from THE630 Superhero Splat paper. to cover my missing section and build a card that looks finished.

Now it's time to do my fourth project, a tip in for my journal.  I am using a A5 journal this year so that means I can make a bit bigger tip in this time.  I went with a 5x8 base.
When doing this I realised I had forgotten to use Red Gallery R1998 Crinkles paper which I had included as it reminded me of a superhero cape so I was really glad to have a full sheet to play with as I couldn't get a 5x8 base piece from any of the other papers.

I trimmed a 1 1/4 x 8 inch piece from the last of the THE647 Superhero Jigsaw paper and adhered it down the right side.

I then adhered my photo down and tucked in the partial comic strip card I had remaining above my photo.

Added a zap, the small word that I selected specifically for this photo and then chose 2 heroes that remind me of my sons to create a cluster down the bottom left.

This is now ready to add my journaling to the back of it and tape it into my journal.

And this is all I have left.  I actually think I could squeeze one more card out of this but I will save that for later.
This range really is amazing value given how much you can create with just 3 papers.

Shopping for our Steampunk Costumes.

I hope you have enjoyed my Steampunk posts.  I wanted to share with you the op-shop buys we made for our costumes.

When the boys friend asked them to join him in participating in the first Steamfesta we jumped at the chance as Steampunk is something we have always wanted to give Steampunk a go.

Our 2 families went on a initial op-shop tour together to find items that would suit a Steampunk Costume for each family member wanting to participate.  On that tour we found a couple of items but we still had a lot we needed so I spent my op-shopping over the next few weeks looking for items and over the course of a month I found E a vest, a lovely blue shirt for C and for myself a skirt, blouse, tank top to go under my blouse and a lovely black shawl.

For shoes C was ok as he had a pair that would suit but E and myself needed some suitable shoes so we went to Rivers during a big sale and scored boots that would suit our costumes for $17, that were comfortable and supportive. 
E's serve a double purpose as they are perfect for the Ezra Bridger cosplay he is working on, it is always great when a item can serve multiple costumes as well as every day wear.

Other purchases were supplies to decorate my Hat, safety googles to turn into Steampunk Goggles, cogs and gears on ebay as I didn't have enough, various trims for decorating the various projects we would be creating including my Handbag, supplies to try making Spats and last minute I would buy some Sunglasses to alter.

The boys also altered Nerf guns we had in our Nerf stash to enhance their costumes.

I love this gorgeous photo Paul Aurisch Photography took of the boys and I.
I just wish I wasn't slumping but pain levels were high which makes my propreconception much worse.









Here I am with my friend Ruth (I am the one wearing the shawl), isn't her costume amazing?

I am really happy with how the boys and my costumes turned out and my budget is happy too.
 
If you want to get into costuming but worry about the cost just remember Cosplay and Steampunk don't have to be expensive and depending on the requirements of a particular costume you may even be able to select some pieces that you can wear as everyday clothing.
So go check out those op-shops for items to start a costume with.  It's a lot of fun and is a great family hobby.

Treasured Memories - CraftOnline Creative Team

I have been exploring my family history this year and even though I scrapped treasured photos of my Grandfather years ago that album was a gift for my elderly Uncle so I haven't scrapped them for myself yet.  This year I have been working through getting photos of Grandad scrapped.

Grandad traveled overseas as so man young men of his generation did to serve with the Allied forces in World War 1, he was sent to France.  I won't go into a lot of detail here but he fell in love with a lovely French Lady and they got married, she sadly passed away when their children were young and eventually Grandad and my Grandma fell in love and married.

Today's project I am scrapping one of only 2 photos of Grandad with his first wife Madeleine, I am unsure when it was taken but I put their wedding date on the layout as I thought it was important to record that on there.

So check out my process video to see how this layout came together and why I chose the products I chose for this project.

 

Items used in this project

49 and Market Ehthereal 12x12 Collection
49 and Market Captured Adventure 6x6 Collection
Poppy Crafts 6x6 Textured Paper Pad
Poppy Crafts Lady With Parasol Die
Poppy Crafts Bonjour Paris With Eiffel Tower Die
Poppy Crafts Lace Oval Nested Die
Mini Distress Ink Victorian Velvet
Helmar Liquid Scrap Dots
Helmar Acid Free Glue
Universal Crafts Ultra-Fine Tip Glue Applicator
Universal Crafts Embossing Tool
C-Thru T-Square
Universal Crafts Blending Tool

Have you scrapped those precious family heritage photos yet?  I would love to see your projects so please pop a link to any posts you have done of them in the comments and I will check them out.

Steampunk Spats - Helmar Creative Team

The night before Steamfesta I decided I would try making Steampunk Spats from some brown leather type vinyl fabric I had as my boots were black and my Bag was brown.
If you would like to see the other projects the boys and I made for Steamfesta then check out my Steampunk Googles and Sunglasses post, Steampunk Handbag post and Steampunk Hat post

To create my spats I made a pattern from my shoe following the instructions on Spats pattern making in this tutorial but as my sewing machine was not available I decided to use Helmar Fabric Glue to make my Spats instead of sewing them, except for the under boot strap and button which I hand sewed onto my finished Spats.

I wound up cutting my pattern so the part that had to be joined together was at the front, in future I think I will do the front on the fold so I close it up at the back.
To close the front I glued 1 side down to itself and then glued it on top of the other one using Helmar Fabric Glue and positioning it so it looked like a nice clean seam.








I used Helmar 450 Quick Dry Adhesive to adhere some gorgeous gold trim and some metal cogs and gears to my spats, to give them that Steampunk Feel.

Lessons learned from making my fur boot covers for my Cheshire Cat Cosplay I wanted to make some straps that went under the shoe to hold the spat in place.
I just used some random scraps and glued the edges down with Helmar Fabric Glue to get a nice look to them.

I then hand sewed them on to my spat, cut a slit as a bottom hole and then sewed a cool button to my spat from my op-shop button stash.
How cool do they look?