Die Cutting – Page 5 – Taniesa Vlasak

I have some pretty exciting news to share!

Published on June 21, 2013 by Taniesa4 Comments

It’s been a quiet week on my blog but not around my house, we have been busy busy busy! But I do have a very exciting announcement I wanted to share with you all!

I have been asked to join 5 other amazingly talented ladies on the Die-Namites Design Team! I am thrilled and honored to be apart of the team and hope you will help me in congratulating the other ladies that will be wowing you with their talent over the next 6 months. Take a hop to each of their blogs to see some beautiful projects, they really are quite talented!

Taniesa Vlasak – California *USA* (you are here)

Peggie Lee Baker – New Hampshire *USA*

Susie Moore – Texas *USA*

Lynne Forsythe – New Hampshire *USA*

Lisa Tottle – *Canada*

Dunja Ducker *Germany*

Thank you for sharing in my excitement! I can’t wait to share some very fun DIE-NAMITE projects with you all! You can also visit the Die-Namites Blog HERE.

Happy Crafting!

Project Life: Week Nineteen, including bad days in your album.

Published on June 19, 2013 by Taniesa7 Comments

Hi Project Lifers!

This week I bring you a pretty challenging layout for me. Not so much of how to embellish or what photos to include but for the first time I had to decide if I was going to include a bad/sad day that happened this week. I debated for a while… which is why I didn’t up posting yesterday like planned. More about that later. First, This is what the entire spread for week 19 looks like:

I knew I wanted my title card to be fun, it’s the one thing that I think I embellish most on my Project Life spreads. I remember back in the early days of scrapping , shaker boxes were really popular. So I thought, hey why not make a shaker card title for my week 19! That is exactly what I did. With the help of my silhouette I created this fun shaker title card filled with glitter, sequins, and buttons.

Here is a close up of the left side with the title card in the page protector.

If you are a iPhone user you might have had the chance to play with the new app “A Beautiful Mess” I love this app and its so fun to add a little bit of whimsy and journaling on your photos.

Here is a close up of the right side.

A couple of things about this side of the layout. First on the top left card that says OPEN House I used a stamp from studio calico that said OPENME. I took a piece of washi tape and covered the “me” before inking it up. It was a nice way to get more use out of this stamp and not have to cut apart my stamps.

Second, for the book fair card I used a page from an old dictionary on top of a white plain project life card. Sometimes the most effective embellishments can be very simple.

And lastly, the hardest part of my layout was the extremely sad day that I had this week. I decided that if I only document our lives in the wonderful everyday moments then I am not being completely truthful and authentic. Everyone has bad days and this was one of mine. I did however hide the journaling which is written on the back of the “A mommy sad day” card. I loved that this particular card from my studio calico monthly kit had journal lines on the back. So the journaling is there for me to reflect but not out there so whoever flips though our family album can read what is very personal to me. I included one of the filter transparencies over the sad selfie photo.

I hope you enjoyed my view of week 19. I promise next week is far more happy!

Make sure you check out TheMomCreative.com for even more Project Life inspiration. There are some fabulously talented ladies that link up to the equally talented Jessica Turner.

Happy Crafting!

Silhouette Sketching & The Pickle Product Pick-of-the-Week!

Published on June 13, 2013June 13, 2013 by Taniesa4 Comments

Hi fellow Silhouette users!

Have you fallen in love with the sketch option of your Silhouette like I have? I love that I can journal and draw nearly anything from my Silhouette. I first started “sketching” when I, like many others, was unable to get the famous Studio Calico “Lost Boys” add-on kit which had the over the moon stamp set. The had offered the digital stamp set and I imported it into my silhouette software. I definitely fell in love with the results (you can see where I had posted about it HERE)

After that, I was hooked, I bought every silhouette sketch pen that was on the market. The most popular being the sketch pen starter set.

These pens run about $20. While they worked great for me for the first few times, the ink stopped flowing consistently and i ended up with skips in my design and journaling. I did love the free sketch shapes that came with the pens. I found, like gel pens, if you tap the top of the ball point on paper before using it works a little better. Unfortunately I still had the skipping problem so I purchased the ballpoint pen holder also from silhouette.

While this is not a bad solution I was REALLY limited on what pens I could use in it. some ballpoint pens fit and some did not. It left me more frustrated than happy. I still really wanted to utilize the sketch designs I had. I began searching for another option or maybe an aftermarket pen that would fit and that’s when I stumbled upon the Chomas Creations website. She had pen holders of all types for different machines. Now I was skeptical and hesitant to purchase one of these. I saw YouTube videos using the pen holder and it LOOKED like it would be a good option but I was nervous that I would have the same problems i had already experienced. I decided to give it a chance and purchase the pen holder first (she has a marker holder as well), this is what it looks like:

I was so pleased with how this little pen holder worked, and I put it to the test with several pens and every time I was very happy with how the sketches came out. Chomas Creations really knocked it out of the park on this one! The pen holder is not some cheap plastic thing but sturdy.

I emailed the owner of the Chomas Creations, Amy, and let her know how much I loved her product. she emailed me back within hours and thanked me for my email. She told me that she was a small home-based business (4 years old now) and they manufacture their product right here in the USA. You can really tell the quality when you hold one of these pen holders. While they could of saved money producing a cheaper product in china they produced a high quality product here in the states that will really last and not fall apart.

Now the only negative thing I could possibly say about this pen holder is that it does not hold ALL pens but it does hold most. My favorite pens to use for silhouette sketching and Amy’s holder is the Staedtler fineliner marker pens and the Signo uniball white gel pen. I got a small set of the Staedtlers at michaels in the art section of the store. You can also purchase them HERE at Jetpens.com (my favorite online pen source) Chomas Creations does carry a marker holder as well that I need to order. I am hoping the marker holder might fit some of the other pens that I have. Did you know you could even put a stylus in the holder and do some dry embossing?

Good stuff, my friends, good stuff! I love supporting small and home-based businesses when I can. Amy told me that there is a sale going on right now for 10% off your total purchase. Just use the code JUNE13 when you check out. I wholeheartedly recommend this “Pickle Product Pick”!

Happy Sketching!

Project Life week 18: Yes you can incorporate 12×12 layouts in your PL Album!

Published on June 11, 2013 by Taniesa1 Comment

Hi Project Lifers!

As promised, here is my week 18. This particular week was my oldest son’s birthday and I wanted to incorporate two 12×12 layouts in with my regular project life spread. I wasn’t too sure that I could pull it off and have it flow well but I think that it turned out really nice. Although most of my traditional layouts will go in a different album, occasionally it is nice to put one or two within the project life album.

So this week I have two 12×12 spreads. Here is a look at the first.

I usually use a lot of color so this was a big change for me. I love that it draws your eye to the photos instead of the cards or embellishing. This entire week was actually fairly simple and quick (except for the title card that I talked about last week). I stamped various sayings on the “real life” card with black and gray ink. The “cuddle” and clock image was stamped using stazon ink. For the 12×12 layout on this side I wanted it to flow well opposite the project life page protector side, so I used project life cards to tie it in.

The journaling was done using my silhouette. I really love that I can journal anywhere on my 12×12 layout with my silhouette beings I don’t have a wide format printer.

Here is the second half of my week 18:

Remember my post about white sticker letters and alcohol markers? Yep, Used a green copic for these letters here. went super fast and I love that they are slightly shaded rather than flat and solid.

National scrapbook day was a lot of fun…. the clean-up, not so much.

We are still working on teaching the teenager how to smile on command.

I love including quotes from my kids in our album. This one was from my 6-year-old daughter. She was talking about her student of the month award (which is a surprise to all the kids at the award assembly). Apparently when you see your mom in the audience you know you are the student of the month LOL.

There ya have it! Week 18 with 12×12 layouts. The best thing about Project life is that you can make it work any way YOU want to.

Looking for more project life inspiration? Check out The Mom Creative for her Project Life Tuesday post along with a bunch of talented ladies that link up every week.

Happy Crafting!

Life is like a box of chocolates, and so is this great altered gift!

Published on June 8, 2013 by Taniesa4 Comments

Hi Crafty Friends!

Today I bring you something different from a scrapbook page, card or project life layout. Fathers day is coming up and I know most dads will be wishing for power tools and sports tickets. My Dad likes all those things too, but my Dad also loves chocolate! I made a few of these gifts in the past, but for women. This time around I’m giving it a whirl with a fun masculine feel to it!

Simple, affordable, and far more adorable than any store-bought card. An altered box of chocolates is the perfect gift for anyone, even Dad!

For this gift I bought a box of chocolates from our local grocery store for about $10, but you could go more expensive or less expensive if you wanted. I would estimate the entire project cost me a total of $15. The box already had a white/red/gold color scheme to it so I decided to just run with what was already there and picked products that went along. Here is some quick shots I took on the iphone before I started (please forgive the glare and fuzzy “before” photos).

The top:

The back:

And the side:

I felt I picked a really easy box to work with, it was already pretty on its own and the size was perfect for 8 1/2 x 11 paper.

Here is a photo of box top and side once I finished altering it.

I started with the side of the box. I added gold washi tape along the top lid side and again repeating on the bottom side of the box. I then added a frame of red metallic washi tape on the top of the lid. Once that was finished I began working on the lid cover.

For the script writing you see in red, that was all done using my silhouette, a red pigment journaling pen and a pen holder made by Amy Chomas.***I will be doing a product review this coming week on Amy’s pen holder, the silhouette sketch pen holder, and the silhouette sketch pens.*** Then I cut out the title in a gold cardstock and the chocolates in various brown shades. If you are wanting the numbers for the silhouette cut files I used they are: Design ID #12274 and Design ID #12223.

I added shading with both chalk and copic markers. I also added some glitter accents using the Copic Atyou Spica glitter pens.

The brown grosgrain ribbon was attached around the top lid only. I made a flat bow by making a “ring” of ribbon and folding that flat. I pinched the two ends to the center of the ring and added a staple. I added another piece of ribbon to cover the staple, securing it with a couple of glue dots.

That completed the top and side portion, and while you can stop there and it would be just adorable, I decided to add a little more fun to the box and cover the bottom as well.

The bottom was quickly completed by layering text boxes within a framed shape. It is my personal opinion that any chocolate gift should be calorie free so I made it so *wink*! I added some more silly, fun text that should make my dad smile. Printed it out, trimmed it with my paper trimmer and stuck it to the bottom of the box. I then added one more chocolate die cut for some color.

You could make this for nearly any occasion and customize it so many different ways. I don’t think that I will ever give a “plain” box of chocolates again.

Happy Crafting!

Cutting into Monday: A Silhouette card tutorial.

Published on June 3, 2013June 7, 2013 by Taniesa11 Comments

Happy Monday! Have your little ones started summer vacation yet? Today is our first “official” summer vacation day. With a bit more time on my hands (not playing taxi service and homework police for a few months) It is my goal to share more tutorials, fun projects, and some great giveaways on TheCraftyPickle. I hope you will join me on a summer scrappy adventure! We are going to have a great time! Don’t forget that my giveaway is going on though this week. Subscribe to my blog and leave a comment for a chance to win a great project life kit in an adorable box.

For today’s tutorial I thought it would be nice to start with a simple yet beautiful card project. This card is so versatile you can use to for nearly anything from birthday, sympathy, just because, or thank you as I did for my card example below.

Here is what the finished card looks like.

Supplies needed: (links added if you need any of these supplies)

Your Silhouette (or you could substitute a paper punch in this case or other die cutting machine either electronic or manual) ***edited to include the flower cut file I used from the silhouette store (Design ID #1692) I took out the center circle piece***

Card base (white, cream, or any neutral color you prefer)

White cardstock (Neenah solar white is my favorite)

Adhesives, including mini glue dots, and pop dots

Sewing machine (optional)

Twine,ribbon,or string in a neutral color

Ink Mist (I used Mister Huey’s in seafoam but any light blue, aqua, or prefered color shade works)

1/4 yard of May Arts leaf ribbon (BY-16 is the color I have)

Alcohol based markers (Copic, Sharpie, Mark-it’s, etc) or watercolors if using white cardstock for your die cuts.

Glitter pen (optional)

Enamel dots, rhinestones, or something similar

Ephemera such as tickets, doilies, and paper items for layering

Small shipping tag

Stamp, sticker, or something that has your chosen sentiment. I used a tag sticker from My minds eye (caroline collection)

Ok to get started cut your card to 8 3/4 x 5 5/8 (score in the middle) and then cut your card base to 4 1/4 x 5 1/2. I chose to mist my cardstock and let dry before trimming my card base. It’s just a matter of preference. If you haven’t already mist your card base and let dry. Set your card aside until the end.

While your ink is drying go ahead and prep everything else. Cut out your flower of choice on your die cut machine. I took one flower that I liked and made a bunch of copies of that flower on my silhouette software workspace, I then resized them in three different sizes to add variation and interest. So go ahead and grab your markers, bring out your inner 10 year old and color away! I love coloring and having die cuts pre cut in white really speeds things up for me as I can make it any color I want. Be careful if you have chosen to use a water base marker as they can be streaky and can make your paper pill up. You could watercolor these as well for a soft beautiful look. I really wanted my flowers to pop and be the main focus so I chose shades of pink and red copic markers this time.

Once colored and dried (doesn’t take long) attach your enamel dot (or other bling if desired) in the center of each flower.

Next, take your length of the May Arts leaf ribbon trim and attach a glue dot or other dry adhesive of choice to the top leaf. and attach that to the top left corner of your card base. What I did from here was let the vine twist and turn in a natural fashion attaching a mini glue dot on every 3rd or 4th leaf. I did not want the leaves to all lay flat. Once finished trim off excess trim and make sure the ends are secure.

I chose to use pop dots on three of the flowers only. You can choose to have them all popped or not at all. I tucked them in back of, and in front of the vine and made one cluster of two (the large is with a pop dot, the smaller has a flat glue dot). Once that was finished I added in a few enamel dots along the vine and I took a glitter pen and added a little sparkle on the flowers. *** Taking a moment to tell you that the wink of stella glitter pens with the brush tip are AMAZING! I only have the clear right now but I plan on eventually investing in the rest someday***

Now that your vine is done dig in your stash of little bits of paper fun. Pull out things to layer that you love. Its a great time to see what kinds of scraps you have laying around. Cluster together in a way that looks good to you, tie your twine in a bow to your tag and add that in too. Fold over a doily on top, covering only half of your cluster and adjust if needed. Once you are happy with the look take the doily off and add adhesive to hold it together. I just added one small staple with my mini attacher. Go ahead then and attach your doily and sentiment on top. I took my doily and my sentiment and added a tiny bit of adhesive to just hold it in place. I took the card base to my sewing machine and just sewed the layers together. This step is completely optional.

Finally attach your card base to the card itself and admire your beautiful card and think of someone special you are going to send it to.

Here is another look at the finished card. I also stamped the envelope with a cute stamp set made with the envelope in mind. You can find that stamp set here.

How simple and fun was that? And the results are beautiful and look far more complicated than it really was. I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and if you decide to make a card of your own like the one shown, please link it in the comments, I would LOVE to see your work!

Happy Crafting!

Taniesa

Scrapbook Challenges.

Published on May 27, 2013 by Taniesa2 Comments

Hi friends!

Things have been quite chaotic around here so I haven’t had much of an opportunity to post but yesterday I was able to participate in a challenge from the Studio Calico message board called “lift the person above you“. This is a challenge I had done once before and really enjoyed myself so I gave it another go. What it is is that each person who posts in the message board thread “scraplifts” one of the previous poster’s Layouts or projects. Its a great challenge that starts with a selection of inspiration. This is the layout I chose from member Joshnwillsma. you can see her full post by clicking Here. A couple of things popped out at me right away when looking at this layout. 1. I love how she matted her background and then framed with bakers twine and 2. I love how she layered her photos. the whole layering concept is a new thing I have been playing with so I thought this would be a great inspiration for a layout of my own.

I am working this layout within my project life album but I really wanted to capture one of our favorite traditions in my family, The Birthday Breakfast! On May 1st my oldest son turned 14 (I can hardly believe it, the time really goes by so very fast) and he requested his favorite starbucks frappachino and a waffle ice cream sandwich (hey waffles is a breakfast food, right? LOL) I also have to add that this is his favorite place to be, his computer desk. so it was the perfect set up.

For the title I used the new Silhouette Chipboard. The chipboard sheets are fairly thin so I cut out the title 3 times and glued the layers together. I layered the white cardstock die cut on top and colored in with my copic markers. Once dry I brushed on a little glitter in the center where the color was lighter. The coffee cup was also cut from the silhouette and used the sketch pen on the machine for the “I love you a latte”.

Studio Calico has a great set of grid style 12×12 papers that I think are a great foundation for scrapbook pages. Check them out here.

I even pulled out a couple of old items from my scrapbooking stash. Remember Magic mesh? Years old but it was a fun little 3D embellishment here as well as the metal Making Memories T that I tucked in the corner.

So if you are ever feeling in a creative slump try participating in a challenge, you can find so many on the internet via different websites, sketches, or one copying someone else just like this one.

Thank you SC Member Joshnwillsma for the inspiration!

Happy Crafting!

Working with a monthly scrapbooking Kit: featuring ScrapbookCircle.com

Published on May 19, 2013May 19, 2013 by Taniesa10 Comments

Hi Friends!

This month I was fortunate enough to win a NSD contest for one of Scrapbook Circle’s May kits. I won on instagram with my friend, Toni, who is also sharing her ideas and inspiration using this amazing kit on her blog today. Please visit her at Lifescrapbookrepeat.blogspot.com. You have to see what wonderful things she has created!

Here is a photo of the beautiful kit that we won.

This kit had wonderful papers from Elle Studio, Maggie Holmes, Amy Tan, Fancy Pants, Lily Bee, and Basic Gray. It included some pretty adorable embellishments as well. Those bows designed by Maggie Holmes were one of my favorites and I love the Lily Bee labels for project life! Want one for yourself? There are still some available at Scrapbook Circle. Just click HERE. Hurry as supplies are limited! The company owner, Lisa, can also hook you up with a subscription if you wish. Check out even more inspiration and ideas on the Scrapbook Circle facebook page HERE.

When I sat down to work with this kit I tried to limit myself from using other things that I had on hand. the things that I did add were: 1 sheet of white sticker letters from Basic gray, some various washi tape, Gold Mister Huey’s spray, various pens, ink and markers, various clear stamps, some sequins, cardstock in a few different colors, and my silhouette cameo. This really helped me stay focused on the projects I wanted to complete and saved so much time. Normally it takes me more time “shopping” my stash for the supplies I think I will use than actually doing the project. My goal with this kit? To complete one layout, one project life spread, and one card. And so, I started out on my mission on a peaceful mothers day weekend!

My first project was some snapshots I had of my daughters first ballet class. I knew when I saw the TuTu trim in the kit that these photos would work perfectly. The layout came together surprisingly quick! The background paper was not pink at all, it had a slight mint distressing around the edge. I took some distress ink in a rose shade to make it fit just a little better. I used glue strips to adhere and pleat the tutu trim and I altered the gray sticker letters slightly by outlining them and then using a glitter pen to give some sparkle. The journaling is inside the cute little bag.

For my second project I tackled my week 17 photos for my project life album. The colors in the photos matched pretty well with the colors in the kit. For my title card I used the 12×12 sheet of paper included from Elle Studio. The top left corner had the layering look that I thought was ideal for a title card. I took a pencil and my old school lettering templates and lightly traced the letters for week. I then erased the lines so that I could barely see them and took my black journal pens in three different sizes and started dotting everything outside the letter. I spread the dots more and more as I moved away from the letter. The “seventeen” was white sticker letters from basic gray that I colored with a copic marker.

All of the larger letter stickers are the gray ones that were included in the kit, and the small letter stickers were the white that I added in. I altered the color as I needed to with my copics or another alcohol based marker. The tab stickers were perfect for little bits of journaling here and there. Proof that one can complete a project life layout with normal sized scrapbooking supplies.

Now remember when I said I wanted to complete one card as well as the layout and project life spread? I thought that I would be making a card with the last little bits of the kit but it turned out that I had so much more to work with still. I created 4 cards! I am not much of a card maker so this was big for me. All cards that I made I put on white cardstock card bases.

My first card is simple and sweet. A nice little thank you using three pieces of the paper included in the kit. I colored in my stamped image with a copic and then cut it out of the white cardstock. I attached it using pop dots to give it a bit of dimension.

My second card is father’s day inspired!I loved the green & blue print of the background and thought it fit a more masculine card. I used my silhouette for the title, the world, and the dad image outline. Notice his clothing? Yep, all little scrap pieces of paper that were in the kit and nothing else. was like coloring with paper and the end result is a fun whimsical card for Dad.

My third card was inspired by the floral paper, the pattern almost made me think of wallpaper. I popped some woodgrain washi on the bottom to mimic a table and cut out a vase and some flowers (all out of white cardstock) with my silhouette. I then went in with copic markers in complimentary colors as the background and colored in the different elements then I built my paper floral arrangement to the back of the vase die cut. The bow embellishment was the perfect touch and I added pop dots to the back of the flowers and vase. This card would be great for a birthday, thank you, mothers day, get well, or a “just because” card.

By my 4th card I was starting to have less to play with so keeping things simple I made this card with a scrap of the star print paper and one of the little paper bags I had still. I stamped “You Rock” on white cardstock and colored in with a purple copic. I shaded using a gray copic and then bordered the white with some of the black zig zag patterned paper I still had. Added a few of those adorable little metal stars to tie in the star theme and popped in a iTunes gift card. This would make a good birthday, graduation, or other gift type of card.

You know what else? I STILL had more supplies left. I cut all remaining paper down to 3×4 and or 4×6 to use in future project life layouts. I also integrated the few embellishments I had left over in their proper spot in my scrapbook room. Mission complete!

This is the first kit that I have used start to finish and I have to say that it was simple, fun and has changed how I will continue to scrapbook. Kits are a fabulous way to go if you get overwhelmed by all sorts of supplies like me. Joining a monthly kit club like Scrapbook Circle is a great way to keep up on the latest trends, However if that is not in your budget right now, consider putting together some kits of your own from supplies you already have on hand. How do you begin to put together your own kit? Check out this video by Glitter Girl on 2peas in a bucket. This has to be one of my most favorite videos she has done. She even has a PDF to assist you further. I have already began to assemble some of my older supplies into my own kits.You can also look at past kits that appeal to you of various kit clubs and try to copy them as close as you can. If you are a paper crafter on the go, this is perfect for when you are packing up for crop night!

I hope you enjoyed my start to finish with this kit. Don’t forget to stop by Toni’s blog HERE to see more ways you can use this kit. Here is a little sneak peek of what you will see 😉

Feedback from friends!

Published on May 16, 2013May 30, 2013 by TaniesaLeave a comment

Today I would love to hear from YOU! A blog is not much of a blog without its readers, and I want to provide content you want to see and read. With that being said, I created a little poll that I would love if you would participate in. Additionally if you have an idea that is not apart of this poll and you would like to see featured on TheCraftyPickle.com then please leave a comment below.

Thank you so much for your imput and as always…

Happy Crafting!

*** Poll is closed, thanks for those that participated, Looks like this Pickle will be workin on some techy tutorials! stay tuned!***

Project life week 15&16

Published on May 14, 2013May 14, 2013 by Taniesa2 Comments

Hi Project lifers!

I just finished my week 15 and 16 a couple of days ago. I didn’t have a lot of photos for these two weeks because my daughter was sick. I decided to just do a two page spread for both weeks and call it complete!

A little bit of random things thrown in here and there for this spread. Here is a close up of the left side:

And here is the right side:

I think the title card was most fun for me. I took watercolor paper and ran it though my silhouette cameo with the black sketch pen for the title. Then I took some water colors and just brushed around the edge in layers until I was happy with the overall look. I really wanted my title to pop and have dimension but I didn’t want to overdo it either. I took a set of close to my heart alcohol markers (similar to copics but not refillable) in the color Jasper (includes one light and one dark shade) I colored in the title, the lighter shade on top and darker on the bottom to give it a bit of an ombre look. I liked how it came out but it didn’t feel finished to me, so I took a cool gray copic sketch marker and marked the shadow of where the letters would be. I was surprised how doing so little popped the title so much. I am really glad I got over my fear of using these awesome markers! Another little thing I learned while working on this title card, was that my white water based sharpie marker works GREAT at covering little mistakes! I accidently stamped the wrong date (by the #16) so I marked over it once, let it dry, and did it again, let it dry and it was great to stamp again.