Stamp It Up with Katie: June 2012

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

I'm A New Demonstrator! "Stamp It Up with Katie"

It's official now: I'm a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator! Woohoo! I visited my upline's home today to talk about becoming a demo and we had a lovely time. Peg is so sweet and she showed me lots of her Stampin' Up stuff, and boy was I impressed! Stamping for me is usually a nightmare -- I suck at it. I now realize it's partially, if not completely, because I have been using inferior products! Their stamps, ink pads, and paper are unsurpassed in quality. I cannot wait to get my starter pack and demonstrate how well I can stamp with their product versus the product I already have on hand.

My Stampin' Up! website is located here: click! I don't have any events or anything planned yet, but once I acquire some more product I will be hosting workshops :)

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

My Method to Madness

A couple of months ago my mom and I were both wanting to read The Hunger Games so bad. When I found it on paperbackswap.com for less than $9 including shipping, we went ahead and ordered it. After it took weeks to arrive, I let my mom have it first. For some reason I haven't been in the mood to sit and read lately. So I got the audio book and am almost done with it. Listening to a book is a great thing to do while I scrap! So if you enjoy audio books, too, you should give it a try if you don't get so distracted with your scrapping that you're not paying attention to the narration. My mind is weird and can focus on both what I'm doing with my hands and the words I'm hearing perfectly. I'm sure lots of people are the same way.

But unless I'm struggling with a project, I don't do a lot of active thinking when I scrap. I think that's why I can listen to the t.v. or an audio book and not miss a word. And yet I get compliments on my work all the time. My dad says I subconsciously just know what looks good and do it without actively thinking it. He analyzes everything I make and tells me what I did right artistically, and I always say, "I just put it together, I didn't think about the red contrast with the rest of the card, honestly." And it goes beyond color combinations which are pretty elementary in the art world as far as finding what looks good together when we're scrapbooking. My dad says the other elements of what I do show, and I have no idea why something looks good, I just keep working until it looks finished. This is what my dad calls my talent. Maybe it is...

Anyway, yesterday this is what I made while I listened to The Hunger Games. All these are for sale in my Zibbet shop (click the long banner to the left!):

Altered wooden trinket box

Another view. The top is padded with batting underneath the satin fabric.

Five petal flowers made with costume satin. For someone who can't sew worth a lick I'm pretty proud ;)
I used the largest circle from the Sizzix Circles #2 die for each petal.

The same as the previous flowers but bigger. I used a glass
bowl as my circle template. I accidentally stained the rim with
Sharpie. Oops!

Well I'm back to listening to my book. I can't write and listen at the same time, that talent is not one I possess :)

Be sure to leave a comment if you stopped by! Thanks for visiting!

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Craft Show Preparation!

So I finally got my application mailed off to the Westfield Band Boosters for them to decide on my entry into the craft show. I have no idea how long it will take to get a response back but I am eagerly waiting to hear! If it's a no, I'll be disappointed but there's another fair I can apply to get into. If that's a bust, well let's just say my Zibbet shop is getting a LOT of new inventory! So far these are the types of items I have made (pictures will follow eventually LOL):

Skinny Notepads with Covers & Pens
Jr. Legal Notepads with Covers & Pens
Post-It Note Holders with Pens
Altered Composition Notebooks
Altered Mini Composition Notebooks
Desktop Calendars
Altered Mini Clipboard Organizers
Teacher Gifts
Kids' "What I did each day for a week" Journals
2-5-7-10 Gift Bags
Bag-in-a-Boxes (like gift bags)
Regular Clipboard Organizers
Christmas Card Sets with Boxes and Envelopes
Greeting Cards
Gift Card Holders
Lip Gloss Holders
Floral Hair Clips
Clear Stone Refrigerator Magnets
File Folder Organizers
Homemade Dog Treats in Origami Boxes

My mom is also helping me with some mason jar decorations. They're filled with epsom salts and have a tea light candle in the middle. We're going to wrap wide lace or ribbons/bows around the jars. I also plan on making some treat items, like Snowman Soup or Reindeer Food. I'm saving the food stuff for closer to the November show date.

This upcoming weekend is the Fishers Freedom Festival, a huge festival in the town I grew up in. They have lots of vendors selling various items so my mom and I are going to go check out the prices and types of items people are selling. It'll also give me a chance to ask some questions of the veteran vendors!

Saturday, June 16, 2012

Obsessions

I have a new obsession. And surprisingly, it's not scrappy! It's yogurt mixed with Special K Low Fat Granola cereal. Oh my goodness I am averaging 3 cups a day! Mixing the cereal with the $0.39 yogurt from Aldi is a lot cheaper than buying the yogurt that comes with granola in the top part of the cap. And it's low-fat granola with low-fat yogurt so it's pretty healthy. My favorite flavor is strawberry banana, but I like strawberry and vanilla, too.

My latest scrapbooking obsession is washi tape. Washi tape looks a lot like ribbon, and I love that it's self-adhesive and I can get more yardage at a better price than ribbon. Of course I can't tie bows with washi tape, but when I need ribbon to just line across a page or project, washi tape is a great alternative! A good place to get washi tape is from an Etsy shop run by an affluent YouTuber named Drew. The link is right here: http://discountcharms.etsy.com. I only have two rolls but am already HOOKED! So check out washi tape, you might get hooked, too!

Friday, June 15, 2012

"Cotton Candy" Paper Carnation Flower Tutorial

Hi scrappers! I have a flower tutorial for you today -- cotton candy carnations! My mom thought the pastel ones I made here looked like cotton candy, so I decided to keep that name :)

This is a really easy flower to make and doesn't take a whole lot of skill. So let's get started!

What you will need:

Cardstock
Water in a spray bottle
Paper piercer/small hole punch
Brad
Scallop circle punch

First, cut out 8 scallop circles with your punch. Ink the edges if desired.

Next, lightly spritz all eight circles with water. Do not fully saturate the circles. If you are using thinner paper, you will need very little water.

Now take each circle and crumple it up into a little ball.

Carefully un-crumple all the circles. They are wet so they will tear if you are not careful. You should have eight damp wrinkly scallop circles now.

This step is optional. If you are impatient like me, you can use a heat tool to dry the circles.

Now, stack one circle on top of the other until all circles have been stacked. Find the center of the top circle and pierce/punch a small hole through all eight layers.

Next put your brad through the hole and fasten it to the bottom of the stack.

This is the most time-consuming part. Separate the top layer and pretend there is a pencil sticking through the center of the stack and wrap the layer around the "invisible pencil." Really crumple it tightly!

Continue doing the same thing with the remaining 7 layers.

Now gently use the tips of your fingers to fan out the different layers gently until you get the fluffy appearance, or whatever shape you prefer.

And here you have your finished carnation! Another optional step is to Glimmer Mist (or any shimmer spray you like to use) the carnation (second photo -- the Glimmer Mist looks overkill thanks to the bright flash on my camera!).

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and found it easy to understand! I have a video tutorial on my YouTube channel located at http://www.youtube.com/theElegantCriminal

I have this type of flower available in my Zibbet shop located here: http://www.zibbet.com/kinetickatie

Thanks for stopping by, don't forget to leave a comment! :)

Thursday, June 7, 2012

My First Layouts Since My Scrapping Return!

So I finally got into making layouts again! I have only made one double layout since I got back into scrapping, and that was for someone else in a swap. But I've made four in the last week or so, and it feels so good! Ready to see them? Let's go!

The first layout was inspired by Lisa over at What a Beautiful Mess. I lifted her layout featuring the faux envelope she did a great tutorial on. She also has a tutorial on faux scrabble letters, which I used for the title. She graciously let me do a video version of the tutorial which you can find on my YouTube channel (link in the sidebar).

I live in the Indianapolis suburbs and this year the Super Bowl was here in Indy! So the Friday before the game two friends and I went downtown to enjoy the festivities going on. We had a lot of fun! My favorite thing was the roman numerals, XLVI, in Monument Circle. They were HUGE and acted as a projection screen for videos. It was so cool!

Flower on left made by me, flowers on right from IAmRoses.com. That's me standing in front of the numerals.

I used Lisa's faux scrabble technique for the title. I also added some eyelets, which I've never done on a layout before! Love my Crop a Dile Big Bite :)

This is the faux envelope I learned to make from Lisa's tutorial.

I colored the top rose from I Am Roses. As you can tell it was white :) I painted it with Brick Glimmer Mist.

I made this flower with Tim Holtz's Tattered Florals die. It's made up of costume satin, lace, and tulle. And a giant button :)

"Agape" here is pronounced "uh-GAH-pay" and it's a Greek word meaning the highest form of love. It's the type of love between families, and the type of love God has for us. The picture is hard to see, but I've looked at it so many times it didn't really matter if it was real clear. I remember that moment clearly and I think I always will. My dad had been in the hospital for a week, then was transferred to an inpatient physical rehab center for almost three weeks. He had gained 40 pounds in pure water weight from a change in meds and he was bloated to the max, barely able to move, water literally seeping through his skin. But despite his uncomfortable condition, he was so excited to have my brother and me visit him. I asked my brother to take a picture of us and when I walked over to lean down, my dad grabbed my arm and held on with his hand and kept me close as he smiled widely. He was truly happy, and it was just because we were there.

I have brown and "rockstar red" hair at the moment :) The tips are all red and I have several streaks throughout my hair as well. I LOVE it! When I got back from the salon I took a bunch of pics with my computer's webcam photo program, Photobooth, to try and get a good picture of me with the new hair. I kept all the ones I didn't upload to Facebook and I ended up using them on this layout! I made each flower on this layout. The title is "My Version of a Dye It." :)

One night, just before Christmas, I noticed someone forgot to turn off the lights on the Christmas tree in our dining room. I decided to take some pictures of various ornaments. The only ornament that isn't sentimental is the ballerina, I'm not sure when we got that one, but I thought it was pretty and cute and decided to use it in my photographic experiment. I wasn't sure if the photos would turn out or not, but I was able to edit them in Photoshop and I love how they turned out!

This is a flower I made with Tim Holtz' Film Strip Ribbon and Canvas Ruler Ribbon. I used red beaded floral spray and two large floral leaves to accent it. A ribbon rose I bought at Michael's sits in the center (I wish I could get the hang of making those myself!)

Again I used Lisa's faux Scrabble letter technique for the title. I'm low on Thickers and letters so I've been using these a lot! :)

I hope you enjoyed looking the layouts, leave a comment if you stopped by! <3

Friday, June 1, 2012

Charm Tutorial: Part One -- Supplies

I am going ahead with the charm tutorial! I got a huge response on YouTube from viewers saying they'd love to learn how to make them, so I am going to do a series on how to make them beautifully! For the first video, I describe the supplies you need. Here is a written list of what you need: