Scrappin’ Green~ 22nd Edition

~Making a “Bag-a-lope”

by Mary Chong, SBCH HOF Member

 This is an “oldie but a goodie” and I hope you like it PLUS it’s just in time for Valentines Day crafting.

 We at Scrapbookers Clubhouse are all about recycling and repurposing things into crafty stuff.  So when I needed an article topic I instantly thought of the…

 BAG-A-LOPE

 Now is it a bag or is it an envelope?

 First it was an envelope. 

I get my envelopes in bundles from the local variety store.  They are the extra “leftover” envelopes that remain after all the cards are sold. I’m not sure why there are “leftovers”, but they’re always there and the assorted colours sell for about $2 per bundle.  I’ve heard tell of thrifty crafters approaching various card stores and offering to take these off their hands because really – they can just say no – no harm no foul. 

 Another option if you are especially crafty is to use a used envelope.  An expert crafter would find a way to incorporate the address label and postmark into the decorating of the bag!

 Supplies:

Supplies required to create a "Bag-a-lope"

–          Squarish envelope

–          Ruler

–          Bone folder

–          Decorative scissors or border punch (optional)

–          Embellishments and something to decorate the envelope

–          Adhesive

 Step 1:

–          Seal the envelope well

 Step 2:

–          Tear off the top of one narrow end

–          OR cut with decorative scissors or border punch

–          This is now the bag’s opening

Step 2

 Step 3:

–      On the other 3 sides measure, and score with the bone folder approximately 1″

–          The 1″ is more of a guide and will vary according to how deep you want your bag and the size of your original envelope.  The key here is that each score mark must be equal in width or it won’t work.

 

Step 4:

–          Stick your hand inside the open end and open up the envelope to create the shape of the bag

–          Decorate your bag

–          Tape or glue down the bottom flaps 

*I find it easier if I’m using stamps etc. to decorate the bag before I stick down the flaps.

 And there you have it  – a BAG-A-LOPE is born!

Photo #3

 

Photo #4

Guest Designer Spotlight: Deanne Burton!

By Ali MacDonald

SBCH PR and Promotions Director

 Today our Designer Spotlight is shining on Deanne Burton, Guest Design Team Member at SBCH for the month of January 2009. Thanks Deanne for sharing a bit of yourself with us here today and over the past month at SBCH!

 

Deanne Burton, SBCH January 2009 Guest Design Team Member

 Deanne kindly sent me a few words describing her love of scrapbooking:

 “I am very passionate about scrapbooking and every chance I get (which is about EVERY DAY!) I spend it creating something. My favourite time is SUMMER when I get two full months of ME time to scrap ’til I drop!

 Many of the skills that I have learned from being a teacher for 20 years have taught me to be a strong, energetic person with a great work ethic. I am able to handle large work loads. I LOVE challenges and on the forums I am on, I take on many of them with vigor and passion. Challenges spark my creativity and I enjoy them.”

 Deanne cannot be described as anything other than energetic.  A busy teacher and Mom of two, she admits to loving the summer months when she can “scrap my EYEBALLS out and I don’t have to get up and go to school!!! Wahoo!!! Come on Summer!” (ROFL Deanne!) Deanne loves summer so much that she even has a 12×12″ album dedicated JUST to that season!  Deanne, who started scrappin’ in 2003, describes her style as “a mix of this ‘n that.” The space she uses for her hobby USED to be her boys’ playroom, “but they are 14 and 17 and they really don’t NEED a playroom as they have the family room taken over with their numerous game systems, Rockband guitars, drums, and mikes. So I told them this room is now MINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” (LOL)

 Deanne turned the tables on me during the course of our interview when I asked her how she organizes her SB albums! LOL! After describing her organizational scheme, she asked if I’d like to know how many albums she had. She raced off to count and came back with the total: 44. YES: 44, 12×12″ albums of her two boys, she and her husband Todd, their pets, extended family, and even some BOMs.

 Friendly and effervescent, Deanne has a passion for blogging and is involved with several:  Sisterhood of Scrap (SOS), “Am I a Scrap Addict?” plus a Sketch blog and a Christmas Cards Challenge blog. She told me that her favourite is SOS, the Challenge blog she co-manages with her 2 sisters, Carla Robinson and Susan Coish.  She also contributes to three additional blogs!

 Deanne believes that scrapping is all about “sharing and being inspired and getting encouragement and praise from other scrapping sisters from everywhere in the world.” She actively practices this through the Sisterhood of Scrap blog, regularly highlighting scrappers and their creations from all over the globe. Anyone who has received feedback from Deanne in the SBCH Gallery, on the Forum or on one of the blogs she maintains knows that she is enthusiastic and genuine in her praise and encouragement of other scrappers.

 Asked how she makes her scrapbooking time count, Deanne unhesitatingly replied that she scraps “everything, for everyone… I do albums for my sisters, sister-in-law, mother, and mother-in-law…. It’s all good…” As far as blending scrapping with her life, she told me that she usually scraps “in the evenings or into the wee hours of the mornings on weekends or holidays.” One of her favourite pages ever is a baby layout done with the 3 Bugs in a Rug “Seeing Stars” paper collection (below).

~One of Deanne's Favourite Layouts~

 Deanne DOES have a favourite paper manufacturer. She says that “I don’t usually get caught up in the latest and greatest product, but I do like Basic Grey and will buy full collections and the buttons, ribbon, and chipboard that goes with it!” Deanne also has a huge button collection. She stores her buttons (and her brads) in big glass candy jars. Other collections include Christmas decorations: angels to adorn her tree and Gingerbread decorations for her kitchen.

 This month, Deanne had the chance to create with the February 2009 “Homegrown” Kit from SBCH. Two of her favourite projects were the layout and card shown here.

A layout created by Deanne w/ the SBCH Feb 2009 "Homegrown" Kit: "Havin' Fun!"

A greeting card created by Deanne with the Feb 2009 "Homegrown " Kit

 

Scrap-wise, Deanne is not a collector of “fancy schmancy tools.” She does, however, love her Cuttlebug (a Christmas gift from her husband, Todd.)      

A self-professed “Harley Chick,” Deanne laughingly told me that although she doesn’t ride her own bike, “I thoroughly love riding with my DH!!!!” One of her favourite altered projects is a small canvas she created of just this topic: riding the Harley!

An Altered Canvas made by Deanne

 Thanks so much for being in the spotlight this month, Deanne!!

 Keep on creating and “Enjoy the Ride!!” 

 Here are some useful links where you can find Deanne and many of her creations:

 Here’s Deanne’s SBCH Gallery

 …And Deanne’s Personal Blog  “Am I a Scrap Addict?”

 The Sisterhood of Scrap Challenge Blog 

  “CHRISTMAS CARDS ALL YEAR ‘ROUND” blog

The “JUST MY SKETCHES” Blog

Technique Tidbit Thursday-Valentine’s Day Card

Valentine’s Day Card wtih  Grungeboard

By Wendy Visser (wendance)

 

Materials:

–          Grungeboard  Elements Seasonal  – LOVE and Cupid

–          Mini Mister

–          Red Pepper Adirondack Alcohol Ink (or Fired Brick Distress Ink – Re- inkers)

–          Pearl Ex (or Perfect Pearls)

–          Fired Brick Distress Ink

–          Worn Lipstick Distress Ink

–          Inkssentials™ Ink Blending Tool & Foam

–          Heat Gun

–          Ranger Stamping Supplies – Craft Sheet 15×18

–          Script Stamp – Hero Arts

–          Cuttlebug Embossing Folder – Hearts

–          Cuttlebug Embossing Folder – Swiss Dots

–          Adhesive

–          Foam tape

–          Bellas Baubles or Robin’s Dew Drops

–          Black ink – either StazOn or Archival Ink – Jet Black

–          Glue dots

–          Glossy Accents

Instructions:

Using the ink blender tool with foam pad, rub Worn Lipstick onto your Grungeboard. Do the same with the Fired Brick to add a contrasting colour.   Do this on the letters and on the cupid.

 

In a Mini Mister, mix 4-5 drops alcohol ink or distress re-inker with a smidge of Pearl Ex or Perfect Pearls.    Fill the rest of the container with water and shake well.

 

Spray the mixture onto the craft mat (this is a non-porous surface and nothing will stick to it!) and press your Grungeboard into the mixture.  Dry the ink on the Grungeboard, using the heat gun.  Repeat this step until you have all of the letters and cupid covered.  The more you do it; you will find that the ink will sparkle more and little water spots may show up.  This will add to the end result.

 

Next, take your script stamp and ink it with the black ink.  Stamp your letters and the cupid.

 

Using your Cuttlebug, emboss the red paper with the Hearts and the white paper with the Swiss Dots.  I added foam tape to layer the white paper and then used the Glue Dots to attach the Grungeboard.  The baubles or dew drops can be added with Glossy Accents.

 

This technique can be used on Chipboard, too!!! The possibilities are endless!  Have fun!

Time for a Sketch Contest!!

Here ye here ye!  The sketch contest is back!

The winner will have her work posted for all to admire and will provide an interpretation of a sketch for an upcoming Blog Sketch Contest. It’s great exposure for talented scrapbook artists! Follow these rules/directions : Upload your interpretations in the contest Gallery by January 31, midnight MST (The SBCH Gallery is here: http://www.scrapbookersclubhouse.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=323) … Sketch interpretation entries for the SBCH Blog Sketch Contest are due by January 31, midnight MST.

Good Luck and happy creating!!

Here is your sketch designed by SBCH Design Team Coordinator, Trina Carbert

Interpretation created by our previous sketch contest Winner: Deanne Burton!

 

 

January 2009: SBCH Contest and RAK Recap

Happy New Year: “2009” to all you talented scrappy artists!  We have lots of fun contests and RAKs to be entered and won over at Scrapbooker’s Club House!  One RAK ends at midnight TONIGHT, so be sure to check the links and read all about them carefully, then go enter every single one!

 Remember if you’re new to the Club House, you’ll be made welcome- we are the friendliest scrappin’ site on the ‘net, so pop on by! You’ll be more than impressed with the ideas, caring, creativity and friendship on the SBCH Forum. We pride ourselves on extending the welcoming hand of friendship to ALL.

WELCOME!

On to our January Contests and RAKs!

There’s still time to enter the Scrapbooker’s Club House Contest for the February Guest Designer  position. The winner will receive a SBCH Kit to design with, will post a challenge on the Forum and work along with the Design Team for the month of February! Check out the rules and then be sure to enter: SBCH is an awesome site to design for! You have until midnight MST January 25^th to submit your work.  

This month, be on the lookout for a Sketch contest on the SBCH Blog.  You’ll have a chance to interpret a layout sketch by Trina Carbert, our SBCH Design Team Coordinator. Shhhh, here’s a secret: this contest will be posted on January 21 so be SURE to check the Blog that day!   The winner will have her work posted for all to admire on the SBCH Blog and will provide an interpretation of a sketch for an upcoming Blog Sketch Contest. It’s great exposure for talented scrapbook artists! Follow the rules/directions on the Blog, coming  on Wednesday January 21  and enter your interpretation in the contest… Mark your calendar for this one!

 We have a tonne of RAK Fun on the SBCH Forum this month!!

Win a  $5.00 gift certificate to the well-stocked Scrapbooker’s Club House Store by participating in a scrappy-area “hotspot clean-up” and sorting! Many of the gals have found a ton of inspiration  when they tidied a hotspot and  it got them scrappin’ BIGTIME! [LOL] Every hotspot tidying activity earns you a RAK ballot!  The reporting of the activities is on the honour system; just come on over & let us know what you did. Go for it!!  Check the link right here for the details and be sure to enter by midnight MST January 17th for a chance to win a Gift Certificate! 

Design Team Member Michelle V. has posted a contest too! Think about YOUR 2008, and create a page about some aspect of it for a chance to win a RAK drawing! You have until midnight  MST January 15.  I KNOW you can do this! (That’s TONIGHT!! Go go go!)

Submit a layout for Design Team Member Joann’s January Colour Challenge: it’s one that’s going to pull you out of your colour “box” and net you a chance to win a RAK!  Come on over and enter by submitting a layout. That’ll earn you a ballot for Joann’s RAK draw.  You have until midnight MST January 31 to enter!

There you have it: A whole bunch of chances to WIN at Scrapbooker’s Club House!

Come on over and join us for a fun and creative month. You will be thrilled that you did when you discover all there is to enjoy at the Club House : Contests, RAKs, free classes, challenges, new friends, up-to-the-minute Kits, a Gallery full of inspiration and a fully stocked store with service that goes the extra mile. 

See you there!

Supply Salute: Slick Writers!

Slick Writers are a marker with a permanent ink that work on a variety of materials that are often difficult to write on (such as metal, vellum, stickers).  They are acid free and permanent on porous surfaces. These amazing pens dry quickly and permanently on glossy surfaces. With virtually no smearing or drying time involved, they are an absolute treat to use!  No special instructions are needed.  If you can write with a pencil, you can use a Slick Writer!

Slick writers can be used on a wide variety of surfaces.  Here are just a few:

• buttons
•  brads
• cured clay
• shrink plastic
• glass
• cd’s
• plastic
• photos

You can also get creative and create your own transparencies, like I did on this layout (see the journal box?) 

It’s quick and easy!  Here’s how I did it:

1. Print an image (such as a flourish or doodle) onto regular printer paper.

2. Place a transparency or acetate sheet over top.

3. Trace over the image with the Slick Writer.

4. Cut out and adhere (using a clear adhesive such as Scrappy Glue) to your creation.

Tip: Slick Writers work great for journaling on photos!  That’s a lot easier than using a photo editing program, now isn’t it?

You will be sure to be reaching for your Slick Writer regularly since you can write on almost anything with it. Share with us your creations at the Scrapbooker’s Club House Gallery! 

February 2009 Guest Designer Contest!

February 2009 Guest Design Team Member Contest at Scrapbooker’s Club House!!

Here’s your chance to share your creativity and inspiration with our members & spend a month as a member of our talented Design Team!

Your contest challenge is to show us a snowy good time with a winter-themed layout. It must include at least 3 photos. To those who have no snow in winter, feel free to do your winter-themed layout including, for example, things you do in the winter, or tell & show us what your winter season is like. It might be refreshing for those of us who only get snow!

Upload your entry to the February Guest DT Contest folder right here in the SBCH Gallery  . Please be sure to include your name. :o)

Our lucky lady’s Design Team term will run from February 1 – 28th, 2009. She will post a challenge, questions of the day and Kudos for our members once weekly in Feb. She’ll also be able to include her SBCH DT term on her scrappy resume!

Deadline for entries: Sunday, January 25th, midnight MST.

Can’t WAIT to see your entries!

Scrappin’ Green~Tips for Eco-Friendly Memory Keeping: 21st Edition

Happy New Year everyone!

 

Today’s article is brought to you by Michelle Vekved, an artist and Design Team Member here in the SBCH Community. Michelle has some super easy and effective tips for avoiding waste while streeeetching that scrappy-dollar!

 

Read on for some great tips as we enter 2009. Thanks Michelle!

 

“Ok, I am a paper hoarder. And a ribbon hoarder. And a chipboard hoarder.”

 

Tips on saving that oh-so-great paper and getting the most right down the very last hairline strip.

by Michelle Vekved

PAPER
1. The Trap Door Technique. When using paper to matt a photo, cut a square out of the paper that’s just smaller than the photo you’re putting over it, as if you were making a photo frame. Then glue the photo to the edges or the cardstock behind the matt, and voila, another decent sized scrap to use on another worthy layout.
2. Don’t Throw Out the Scraps! Even small scraps can be made into priceless pieces. Flower petals, leaves, anything you might need to pop some color or pattern into your layout can be cut out from scraps. If your scraps are very small, glue them all collage style by color onto plain cardstock or cardboard. Now you have a unique piece of pattern paper that would be perfect for cutting out custom embellishments or making a photo frame.
3. Everytime you cut a thin strip of paper you don’t need off of another piece, put them all in an envelope to use as strips on layouts. No more hacking into a brand new piece of paper just to have a funky border or to cut a scallop out of. Similar to the scrap idea, you can adhere them all to one sheet (either by color or style or whatever) to use as a piece of unique paper. Or line them up and stagger them behind a photo as a funky matt. Or weave them into a cool piece of woven 12×12.

RIBBON
1. What They Don’t Know Won’t Hurt Them. If your ribbon strip goes behind a photo or other large item, cut it to fit around the item. Not only do you get to save some of that awesome stash, but your photo won’t be warped from the ribbon being behind it as well.
2. Flat Isn’t Always Faulty. Instead of tying a ribbon bow and using more than you need to, make a flat bow by making a loop that when pressed flat is as wide as you want the bow, then a small loop to go around the middle. It uses less ribbon than tying does and it sits flatter on your layout. Tails can be cut out and simply glued in place under the edges of the ribbon or simply place the ribbon on top of another strip to act like a buckle would.
3. Geese Flock in V’s, Ribbon Doesn’t Have To. Instead of V’ing the ends of your ribbons, cut them on an angle. The next piece you need to cut will already be angled and you don’t have to waste even a smidgen of it to cut it straight and V it again.
4. V is for Very Easy. Remember Valentine’s hearts folded and cut out of construction paper? To get a perfect V every time, and stop redoing it over and over (and wasting ribbon), fold the ribbon in half lengthwise where you’re going to cut and cut on an angle towards the fold. When you open it up, you now have a perfectly even V.

CHIPBOARD
1. Gimme Gimme Gimme My Chipboard! Getting more out of something than what is obviously there is always a great thing. When you buy chipboard that pops out of a larger piece (ie: 12×12 diecut sheets), save the 12×12 popped piece. Use it as a stencil for more chipboard or to cut out paper pieces.
2. Cut To The Chase. Use heavy duty scissors to cut out the hole from a used chipboard sheet again in an outline by cutting around the hole about 1/4″ from the hole. I’ve done this with letters when I ran out and it looks REALLY neat. I also used pinking shears to cut out some glittery hearts from Melissa Frances glitter sets.
3. When In Doubt, Use What’s Out. That 12×12 or 6×6 empty chipboard die cut sheet would make a neat 12×12 layout background! Either paint it or ink it and use it alone (think stamped transparency or lace cardstock) or attach a piece of cardstock or pattern paper to the back for a more solid look.
4. Instantly In Pictures. Shaped holes in chipboard diecut sheets make cool photo frames! Cut them out either close to the shape for a traditional square frame, or cut it square by cutting into the neighboring holes and you get a funky edged frame with a funky interior shape.

Have fun with your leftovers and the more you save, the less you need to buy! 🙂

***

Remember to check out Michelle’s DT Gallery Folder for her recent work with the SBCH January 2009 “Prudence” Kit!