Labor Day

Happy Labor Day weekend! I've got some house projects planned, but in between I'm taking advantage of extra time off and am catching up on stamping. It was very unlike me, but I woke up early this morning and had a chance to participate in the Featured Stamper SCS Challenge before going back to tiling the fireplace. I needed a baby card, so this is the first one I did, however, since tomorrow is a day off I'm hoping to fit in a few more cards before the weekend is gone.

For this card I used some leftover polka dot paper from SU stack. I seem to always reach for this retired Bundle of Joy set for the baby cards. I stameped the bear in pink, filled in the inside with glue being careful not to over the eyes and nose and covered with glitter. Unfortunately, the pink image blended in with the pink glitter a little too much, so I went back and traced it with creamy caramel. Some ribbon and buttons to complete the card so now I'm off to do more tiling.

Supplies (All supplies are Stampin'Up! unless otherwise noted) :

• Stamps: Bundle of Joy, Warm Words
  
• Paper: Whisper white, DP stack, non-SU textured paper
  
• Ink: Pretty in pink, creamy caramel
• Accessories: Ribbon (Hobby Lobby), buttons, Fairy Dust glitter
  
• Tools: Nestabilities, SU scalloped border punch

~Olgy

Modern Vintage - Tips For Scrabooking Old Photos

For a long time I didn't know how to approach scrapping heirloom photos because they look more natural in a vintage type layout, but I have a more contemporary, ad-hoc style pages. It wasn't until last year when I was required to create a vintage layout for a few challenges that I actually gave it a try. I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't as difficult as I imagined. I was still using my "improv" style but with a few little shortcuts the layouts took on an old-fashioned feel.

Supplies:

• Paper:Antique Cream collection from Creative Imaginations, basic black 
• Ink: Basic Black 
• Accessories: Heidi Swapp chipboard clocks, pin, pearls and brads from StampinUp pretties kit, kraft taffeta ribbon

Shortcuts to a vintage look:
1) It's all about the paper!
Really. The paper is the main element on the page, so it has the biggest impact. Neutral tones are the easiest to work with, but rich, jewled tones such as navy, burgandy and dark purple work well too. Not to say that you can't use bright colors, but because of their vibrance it's harder to pull off an aged look.

Choose vintage or aged designer paper. I've seen some great examples in the travel section, with script writing or distressed florals. Can't find vintage paper? Read shortcut #2
Finally the photo itself. Print it in sepia or black and white. You can use photo editing software to "distress" the photo ahead of time or you can do it by hand.

2) Distressing
I could do several tutorials on this topic alone, so I'm just going to cover the ideas and if you have question on the details there are a ton of resources onilne or just post a comment and I'll be happy to answer.
What can be distressed? Well, just bout anything on your layout - the photos, paper, embelishments etc. Some of the popular techniques include: roughing up the edges (with a distressing tool or a pair of scissors), sponging, bending and crinkling the paper, using sandpaper to scrape the paper or photos.

The cracked glass technique is another great look for vintage layouts. Just emboss an image with thick, clear embossing powder and when it sets, bend the image to crack it in a few places. Use as is or finish it off by adding some ink to the cracks to emphasize them. Voila - the cracked glass technique.

Did you know that heavy duty cardstock like Stampin'Up can be distressed to look like worn leather if you're going for a western theme?! Crinkle and rub the paper (creamy caramel, close to cocoa or a similar color works well). For added emphasis sponge the edges and crinkles. You can leave it as is, or stamp an image on top.


3) Complement the era
Where you would normally use ribbon - tie a piece of lace. Add a jewel or a picture of one. Maybe feathers. Use stamps to help emphesize the time period or an "aged" look. If unsure about what fits, do some research on the style of the era you're trying to portray or use generic "timeless" items such as: pins, flowers, clock (not digital), old style postage, etc.

On the layout above I let the paper do most of the work for me. It was neutral with a script pattern that resembled an old handwritten letter, so it fit well. I still scattered the photos and added journaling blocks just like i would on a modern page, however, i added a few "timeless" embelishments such as a clock chipboard piece, neutral ribbon, pearls and pin. Added some journaling and the page was done.

The same concepts can be applied to a card. I used neutral DP that looked like old letters for the background, added pewter eyelets to keep with the aged look, distressed and slightly sponged the edges of the image and added a few other embelishments in the same color scheme.

Supplies:

• Stamps: Eiffel Tower from Stampabilities
  
• Paper: Heritage Postcard by Provo Craft
  
• Ink:Going grey, sahara sand, StazOn (to stamp on metal)
• Accessories: Stampin'Up! pewter jumbo eyelets, metal tag, twine, ribbon from Hobby Lobby
  
• Tools: Crop-a-dile

Other things to keep in mind when scrapbooking old photos:

• Do NOT use the originals. Scan them and then print at home or through a photo processing service. Some places even offer photo restoration services. 
• If you're very conscientious about your albums lasting for decades, be careful to use acid-free items on the layout (including adhesives and inks) or spray the page with a product like "Make it Acid Free" by Krylon to neutralize the acidity and make the pages archival safe. 
• Let the photos take center stage. 
• Ask family members to help with the details of the story. If you or someone else wasn't there when the photo was taken, write down the memories of the the people or the place in the photo.

~Olgy

CAS Monday

I really wanted to stamp today, but it's difficult for me to do during the week. The CAS (clean and simple) Monday challenges are perfect when I don't have a lot of time, i.e. most of the time.

First there was CAS15 - Black & White & 1 Bold Bright. Unfortunatley, I didn't read the directions carefully until I was getting ready to upload the card and I sneaked in some kraft with the black and white... ooops. In my attempt to catch up to the recent CAS challenges I actually skipped around today because I wanted to make a yellow card. I don't use bright colors too often, but either as a tribute to summer or because yellow cards, stationaries, templates etc have been haunting me lately, but I just had to use yellow. I think I'll play around with this color combo a bit more later and see what else I can come up with. By the way, it's difficult to tell from the photo, but the flowers are raised with dimensionals.

Supplies (All supplies are Stampin'Up! unless otherwise noted) :

• Stamps:Pretty Amazing, Happy Harmony
  
• Paper: Whisper white, basic black, yoyo yellow, kraft
  
• Ink:Basic black
• Accessories: Rhinestones, pop up dots.
  
• Tools: Flower punch, scalloped punch

I also participated in today's CAS30 challenge to remake an older card. Here's my version of a CAS card getting even simpler. There's a picture of the original in my gallery, but I wasn't very fond of it. Instead, I took out all the layers and just dressed up the rub-on with a few rhinestones and ribbon. Ahh, what would I do without rhinestones, they make the simplest cards eye catching. That's all for today. Happy Monday.

Supplies (All supplies are Stampin'Up! unless otherwise noted) :

• Stamps: none
• Paper: Whisper white
  
• Ink:none
• Accessories:  Love and happiness rub-on, ribbon, rhinestones

~Olgy

Craft Room

I've been promising the craft room reveal since May. I feel like I've been talking it up the same way TV stations talk up their fall season premier shows. Frankly, I find it annoying to have to see the same commercials all summer so by the time September rolls around I don't even want to see the show. Therefore, without further ado, I present to you my new craft room....  

Ikea Expedit bookshelf, Arthur table legs, Vika tabletop, Hemnes dresser

Ok, keep in mind that it's still not "perfect" and is a work in progress, but since I have a place for the basic essintial it's oficially considered open. For those of you in town - come by and visit!

And no, I didn't copy the design out of the IKEA catalog, although you have to look closely to find the things that are not sold by them :) Heck, it's cheap and it all matches, so it's perfect for a room like this. The only problem is that they're changing their catalogs faster than I can make up my mind on some of this stuff, so I'm still missing a shelf and a few other things that are no longer sold in store. Thank goodness for Craigslist and Ebay.

The curtains I made myself and I still have one wall where I need to decide if I should frame some patterned fabric as art, or setup a shelf to display my layouts. I'm taking suggestions.

IKEA Grundtal kitchen shelf

IKEA Justda glass shelves

Nothing In Particular

Still stamping, still baking and still behind on my blog posts... I actually had quite a few cards and other pictures to share, but I'll have to pick a few favorites and upload the rest to the gallery.

Supplies (All supplies are Stampin'Up! unless otherwise noted) :

• Stamps: Owl Always Love You b y GinaK
  
• Paper: Almost amethyst , whisper white, Bluebird "All Boy" Stripe DP by My Mind's Eye
  
• Ink: Copics
  
• Accessories: mini clip, ribbon
  
• Tools: Photo corner punch

I even went out a few times in the past month. At this rate I just need 12 more months of unpacking and move-in house projects and I'll have my life back. Anyway, I went beer tasting, missed a cupcake event, discovered Austin had wineries, caught a show at the Alamo and most importantly I started scrapping again. Sounds like a lot, but then again I haven't posted anything a month.

Supplies (All supplies are Stampin'Up! unless otherwise noted) :

• Stamps: Tier of treats by Stampendous, wonderful wors
  
• Paper: Old olive, apricot appeal, DP
  
• Ink: Chocolate chip, apricot appeal, real red, cameo coral, close to cocoa
  
• Accessories: Ribbon, crystal effects
  
• Tools: Bigz Top Note, Cuttlebug

It's All About Food

Another week flew by... I still have a few of the CAS cards to share from last week, but didn't make anything new this weekend. Instead, I was busy cooking and doing a few more house projects.This ladybug card is very simple, but still kind of cute and great for notes to friends. The background is embossed with Cuttlebug Swiss Dots. The scalloped border would be a sinch with square Nestabilities or a punch, but I didn't have either in the right size and resorted to cutting with my rectengular Nestabilites twice to make a sqare. Finally, the ladybug is stamped twice and popped up for a 3D effect. All in all though, it took me about as long to type this up as to make the card, so that's a big plus.

Supplies (All supplies are Stampin'Up! unless otherwise noted) :

• Stamps: Cute & Curly
  
• Paper: Very vanilla, Dill Blossom DP by SEI
  
• Ink: Mellow moss
  
• Accessories: mini clip, ribbon
  
• Tools: Punch

I finally made ice cream for the first time this year - coffee with a hint of Baylee's. Yum! Tried out a tandoori chicken recipe. The flavor was great, but to my surprise it wasn't spicy at all so I'll have to add a few more serrano peppers next time. The favorite had to be the Sourdough Rosemay bread. I got some sourdough starter from my friends (thanks, Jud) and it was finally ready to use this weekend. I found a basic sourdough recipe online and adopded it by adding fresh rosemary and some italian spices. Mmm, the smell alone was phenomenal. I could have baked it in the oven for a nicer loaf shape, but since it was just for me I let the breakmaker do all the work. I'm so glad i bought it, I've been using it at least once a week and its super easy - dump all the ingrediants in adn 3 hours later... Magic - a fresh, fragrant loaf of bread. To finish off the weekend, I prepared frosting for tomorrow's class, as usual, and some cupcakes for later this week.

Ok, so it wasn't all about food this weekend, I actually did a brick Saturday morning (bike+run). It may have been a first one this year, which shows how little I've been training. I need to check if Jack's Generic Tri still has open spots and maybe sign up to give me some motivation. It's a very short tri, so I'm thinking that even though I'm out of shape, I should be able to finish it. It's only two weeks away, so I'll have to hurry.

Simplicity

After a long cessation, it's been all about cards the past few days. Last week I got a card and stamp set in the mail from Emily, a generous fellow scrapper on SCS.While waiting for a few things to get here in the mail so I can put the finishing touches in my craft room, I dusted off a my other stamp sets and made a few simple cards. Turns out that while I was living under a rock the past few months (in my case it's been a big two story rock) Slitcoaststampers forum added a few more daily challenges. They're a ton of fun, but I hardly had time to keep up with one, occasionally two of them a week before, let alone now. However, the new CAS - Clean and Simple challenge intrigued me. As much as I admire elaborate cards, sometimes it's the simple ones that are the most breathtaking, probably in part because you look at them and think "Wow, that's so simple, yet so (...elegant, beautiful, cute, glamorous, adorable...)" Followed by, "... Why didn't I think of that!?" It's true, sometimes making a minimalistic card is a lot more difficult. I would love to possess that talent, but to some extant I lack the vision for these super clean and simple cards that some of the very talented stampers have. I still experiment and learn and I guess that's the fun of it anyway. I started at the beginning and finished 8 challenges this afternoon, here are a few:

Supplies (All supplies are Stampin'Up! unless otherwise noted) :

• Stamps: Cute & Curly
  
• Paper: Very vanilla, Dill Blossom DP by SEI
  
• Ink: Mellow moss
  
• Accessories: mini clip, ribbon
  
• Tools: Punch

Supplies (All supplies are Stampin'Up! unless otherwise noted) :

• Stamps: Spring solitude
  
• Paper: Whisper white, pretty in pink
  
• Ink: Chocolate chip, pretty in pink
  
• Accessories: Rhinestones
  
• Tools: Paper piercer

Back to Basics

My first card in 6 months! It was tough to get started - I pulled out lots of papers and colors, browsed through bookmarked images and was about to give up and just case a few cards, but as I started stamping I was able to get some creative juices flowing and make this Serene Spring card. I was reluctant to use my Hodgepodge Hardware and BasicGrey ribbon, but they fit in with the color scheme, so I overpowered the herder in me. This is also the first card where I used Copics that I got last fall and of course a touch of glitter to add some bling. It's so nice to have a craft room again!Supplies (All supplies are Stampin'Up! unless otherwise noted) :

• Stamps: Serene Spring
  
• Paper: Certainly celery, chocolate chip, whisper white
  
• Ink: Almost amethyst, certainly celery, copics (E53, E57)
  
• Accessories: Hodgepodge hardware, ribbon from BasicGrey Urban Couture collection, Stickles
  
• Tools: Cuttlebug, scalloped punch

I also started running yesterday... Again. I used to love sports and working out , so I don't know what's been going on the past year. I sporadically ran or biked a few times, but that's about it. Enough is enough though and I'm determined to get back in shape. I've been feeling down and also put on some unwanted pounds so it's time to resume a regular workout routine. My goal is to loose 8-9 lbs over the next two month. It's the most I've ever gained/lost, but I'm hoping it's doable if I start eating better (no more eating frosting during my cake decorating class :) and no Flaming Hot Cheetos in the evenings.). Top that off with some running and swimming and hopefully I'll see results. The heat this year isn't helping though, it's around 100 degrees and humid every day. Although I prefer heat over cold this is a little much even for me.


2 days down, many more to go.

~Olgy

Baking

I've been on a baking craze lately. It started with a cake decorating class. Not that I bake cakes very often, but I wanted to try something new, plus I'd love to know how to make some of the designs I've seen on the cupcakes. I still needs lots of practice, but this is the first cake I made with roses. The design is kind of random, but we were learning different flowers during this class.

A couple of weeks ago I also got my first break maker. I've only made a few loafs so far and dough for cinnamon rolls, but I've been pretty happy with it. My favorite's been rosemary bread, but I want to experiment with a bit more to try and make sourdough rosemary so I can replace my addiction to the Rosemary Sourdough from Whole Foods (I can finish half that loaf in a sitting).


Aside from baking I finally got around to putting together most of my craft room this weekend. It still needs a little work, but I should be able to post a picture next time. I'm so happy it's finally in a usable state - I've missed stamping.

Weddings

Earlier this year I helped some friends design and make their wedding invitations and it was kind of funny to get this invite back a few months later. I hope they like how these turned out. After the initial design it actually didn't take that long to make. Between 5 people it took us about 5 hours to make roughly 80 invites and return cards. Here's one of them

So many of my friends got married or engaged in this past year and it's hard to believe Pete and I are have been married for almost 4 years and just celebrated our 9th anniversary. Time flies.

~Olgy

Supplies (All supplies are Stampin'Up! unless otherwise noted) :

• Stamps: The Art of Life
  
• Paper: Whisper white, night of navy, vellum
• Ink: Night of navy
  
• Accessories: Ribbon
  
• Tools: Punches, sponge
  

Our New House

I can't believe how long it's been since my last post. The move just took everything out of me. It went from mortgage paperwork, packing and cleaning to moving, unpacking, home improvement projects and more cleaning. My DH said point blank that we're never moving again. Well, I don't think I can make that drastic of a statement, but this endeavor certainly took a lot out of me. The sad part is that two months later there still isn't a single room that can be considered "done." The kitchen tile needs grouting, the living room is serving as storage for my husband's tools, the dining room is half painted (still), the bedroom has butcher paper on windows due to the lack of proper window treatments, the craft room is packed up... and we've been working pretty much non-stop on this house during all our "free" time. I'm realizing that I can handle the move or the job, but juggling both is getting to me.
So is it worth it? I don't know, but better or worse this is our new place.

~Olgy

Out of Shape

Last year I started biking, swimming and running more to prep for the first tri. By the end of summer I finally got somewhat of a routine, but this fall and winter I was busy and lazy and practically stopped working out all together. Agh, I'm so mad at myself. Now it's time to get back into shape. I'm not sure yet if I'll have time/money to sign up for a tri this summer, but I definately need to start training. This morning I went for the first ride in months... now to actually keep it up.

No cards or layouts today, but I'll try to have something new for you tomorrow.

~Olgy