STB - may 1 2023

Another week in the books. The Stop the Blur book that is. And it's actually the first page of a new planner cuz the first one's a wrap!

STAMPlorations more designs with gelli prints

 Hi there peeps! 

I was having so much fun using a technique (a la Susanne R.) which also uses up those gelli prints we all have hanging around our craft rooms. 

Paired it with  a cool coffee mug die cut here.

Or how about with many bloom die cuts cut from black cardstock?

Oh heck. How about with a green heat embossed ice cream cone? Artistic license, ya know?

Art Marks stamp, Zen Coffee Cup die,

Just Caffeinate sentiment stickers,

Trendy Spring Blooms die,

5 Love Words die,

Sweet Cravings stamp,

embossing powder

That's it for today. Thanks for looking.  

STAMPlorations and gelli prints

Hi there peeps! 

I was very inspired by a technique (a la Susanne R.) which uses up those gelli prints we all have hanging around our craft rooms. Don't ya love it?

Paired it with a black heat-embossed-on-white fussy cut floral bloom.

Paired it with a white heat-embossed-on-black fussy cut floral bloom.

Art Marks stamp,

Dee's Flora stamps,

gelli prints, embossing powder

That's it for today. Thanks for looking.  

STB - april 24 2023

 I've decided to start including my Stop the Blur weeks here on my blog too. Until now I'd only put them on my instagram. If you're interested you can find more descriptive content over there. If not, you cardmaking friends can just ignore these STB posts ;)

die cut a card edge flap

Saw a cool technique over at Scrapbook.com which inspired me to give it a try.

I'm not a huge interactive card fan, but this level of interactivity I can handle. Turns your sentiment into a tri-fold card flap holder. (There must be a better name for this!)

One graduation and one get well version.

happy valentine's day 2023

Lordy, lordy look who hasn't posted for two months! Not sure anyone cares, but if nothing else but to remind myself sometime down the road here's why... I'm not making as many cards lately. I make the occasional one that is necessary (Valentine for example) and otherwise use up ones from my stash. More on that later.

This was the Valentine I made for DD this year. I was inspired by something Heidi Swapp created. Did you see this fun piece in her reel? I love the little interactive window elements. I used another of Heidi's ideas from another piece and included "5 things I love about you." Three in the windows on the front and two on little pull out tags in a pocket inside.

I pulled out all kinds of supplies from my stash - PP to stamp on, stamps, dies, inks, colored pencils, twine. All the things. Loved the process. Hated the clean up :) 

On a side note, something keeping me busy lately is getting my stamps and dies into the Evernote app so that I have an overview of what I actually own. And for a project like this it would have been very helpful to use Evernote to see which Valentine/love/vintage etc stamps I own instead of flipping through everything.  I own a shitload, actually, but alas they're not all in Evernote yet. 

When I have everything inventoried, I aim to destash about a third of my shitload. Just keep watching ;) 

Here are DH and DS versions.

What has actually been taking up my time more recently is a foray into the world of memory planning. An oxymoron if I ever heard one, but I'm learning to live with it ;)

Are you a planner? I am the world's worst planner. Ever. So why would I get into memory planning? My cousin introduced me on to the Heidi Swapp memory planner world and by golly it's a great idea. It's basically scrapbooking daily life in a simple format - photo driven with some journaling to record the memories and some decorating just for fun. Heidi calls the process "Stop the Blur" as in keep track of everday life so when people ask you what you did last Tuesday you can actually answer. You can check out the idea here. 

So before jumping into it (and buying all the things) I decided to give it a try using a notebook from the dollar store and supplies I already have. I print photos at the drug store and pop them into my book often hidden in interactive elements. Here's a peek. 

Full disclosure, I just recently did buy all the things :) I've been enjoying this process this since last fall so I'm gonna make the switch to Heidi Swapp's memory planner format. If you are a memory planner, I'd love to hear any of your tips for a newbie!!!

mini accordion album - nordsee

Another mini album in the books. And another craftermath.

So did you see my last one? I was inspired by Andrea L to give a mini album a try. Because it was SUCH fun, I decided to make another one for DD after we took a trip to the North Sea.

I'm just gonna show you the pages. There's so much product. So many fun, interactive elements. And so many dog photos ;)

Action Deutschland PP

STAMPlorations tag die

Waffle Flower alpha die

 inks, vellum, stickers, washi, ribbon, staples

It's all there - flaps, pockets, tags, tabs, vellum, stickers, hidden journaling, hidden photos. FUN! And the best part? DD loved it!

LEARNED:

Got reacquainted with some really old stash.

You need to know your adhesives when constructing a book with them.

Cutting things up/apart to make them fit your design really works.

Don't make pockets/sleeves too tight or impatient people won't be able to use them ;)

I'm playing at:

Creative Friday - Use your Stuff (I sure did!)