stamping – Page 9 – Taniesa Vlasak

Turn your leftover project life cards into greeting cards!

Published on June 17, 2013 by Taniesa3 Comments

Hi Everyone

Today I thought I would share a few greeting cards I made using leftover journal/filler project life style cards. I made these three cards in less than an hour! They were so simple to make and far more personal than store-bought. The added bonus was being able to use up some cards and supplies I had on hand. There are so many pocket filler cards out there both in 3×4 and 4×6. I gathered up some cards that I wasn’t using to see what I could create. The assortment I grabbed was from different companies. Pebbles, Becky Higgins, Me and My Big Ideas, and the Studio Calico monthly project life kit.

The first one that I made was this adorable “you are simply wonderful” card from Pebbles. It’s almost that this little filler card was made for a delightful greeting to brighten someones day! I added very little to this card. some background paper, a die cut flower that matched the flowers printed on the card, a few sequins, some yellow string, and some detail on the bee with my glitter pen.

The second card that I made, I used a card leftover from a Studio Calico pack. It was just a plain card that said “Together”. I stamped the “Let’s Get” with versafine smokey gray ink and colored in the “Together” with some copic markers. There was a lot of empty space on the card so I decided to trim it and use some colorful scrap pieces of pebbles basics paper behind for a fun look. to finish it off I sewed around the edges of the card, Popped the title up with foam dots and added a little car paperclip.

For my final card I actually used two project life style cards. The gray background card was from a Pebbles pack and the white square was just cut from a grid journaling card from Me and My Big Ideas. I did not alter the bigger card at all as I already loved the scalloped border. On the grid card square I used a paper smooches stamp set called Squeaky Clean and stamped the vacuum and the sentiment “that sucks”. I did a little coloring with my copic markers and added some sequins and pen detailing. I attached it to the bigger card with a bit of Queen and Co. Washi Tape.

I hope you enjoyed my little card tip for this Monday, and maybe you too can use up any leftover cards you might have in your scrappy stash. Tomorrow I promise I will use my Project Life cards in my actual Project life album!

Until then,

Happy Crafting!

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!

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.

Later this week I will be posting some non-project life layouts that I was able to work on over the weekend and maybe a card project or two!

Till then…. Happy Crafting!

Project Life Week 13 and 14: Feeling a little bit colorful.

Published on May 6, 2013May 6, 2013 by Taniesa1 Comment

Happy National Papercrafting month!

This Saturday was National Scrapbook Day and I was fortunate enough to get a couple of weeks done in my project life album thanks to my sweet husband who kept all our kids busy.

WEEK 13:

I had in my head that I wanted to create a rainbow layout for my week thirteen. I had been thinking about it for a couple of weeks. When I went to print my photos I realized that I was going to need to put in an insert of some sort as I didn’t have quite enough room. I am pretty happy with how the monochromatic rainbow look came out.

for the first page and half of the insert I did redish pink though lime green. For the Title card I used letter stickers by Amy Tangerine and I stamped and embossed the number 13. I felt it needed a bit more pop after embossing so I hand stitched around the numbers.

The second half was aqua though purple. I found that I was seriously lacking purple paper so I took some purple cardstock and stamped a cute arrow background with white ink. (every piece of patterned paper used in this week was all different, 19 different patterns!)

I was excited that I got to use my latest fab find, a cursive typewriter! I used it to make the “Father & Daughter” Tag.

WEEK 14:

For week 14 I didn’t have a ton of photos. My husband and I went out to dinner one night and I took a “to-go” menu when we left. I incorporated a lot of that into my layout, which made it more fun.

For the title card, I used a piece of cork paper. I pierced a hole and stuck part of a Doodlebug pushpin though a post-it-note type paper. The post-it was a sketch from the Silhouette online store as well as the letters. I LOVE using the sketch pens on the silhouette. I then took a piece of yellow lined scrapbook paper I had in my stash, used a notebook style border punch along the side and then crumpled the piece into a ball. I flattened it out and stamped the dates. I used a large silver brad to mimic the look of a thumb tack.

I used some basic gray and studio calico stamps for the title part of the card above and *gasp* my own writing. I am still having a hard time with journaling in my own writing and not using the computer all the time. However, I know my children will more than likely want to see moms writing over computer font’s in the future.

For the card below I edited a photo that didn’t come out so great but still wanted to use. I used a bokeh filter which made it look a little more dreamy. It worked out beings it was breakfast for the girls and light was spilling in from the window behind them (with both on their ipads no less LOL)

This next card was so FUN! I incorporated a QR code into the page so that it can be scanned and go to a video on YouTube of my niece chewing gum for the first time. Pretty funny stuff. No journaling could do that one justice. I see myself using these QR codes more often!

Whew! That’s all the photos I have for you today. I feel really good that I got a bit more caught up. I was also able to do a couple of cards and some pages in my December Daily album. It was a very busy yet productive weekend! I hope you all enjoyed your National Scrapbooking Day as well, no matter how you spent the day.

Happy Crafting!

Project Life Week 11 (St. Patricks Day week)

Published on April 21, 2013 by Taniesa1 Comment

I am chugging right along, well slightly “behind” but not too much that I feel overwhelmed. Currently I am working on week 13 and a mini project as well that I am hoping to share this week but for today, week 11, St. Pattys week!

It was a fairly normal, not much going on week so I picked a few things to spotlight that could really of fit in any week.

For my title card I did a few cuts on the Silhouette and kept it fairly simple. I stamped the dates in gold. I did add some glitter pen accents. My favorite glitter pens of all time are the Sakura Stardust Gelly Roll pens. I usually have several of the clear star pens on hand as I use that one the most. It is perfect for adding a little (or a lot) of sparkle in just the right spot. If you haven’t checked out jetpens.com take some time out to peek at the wonderful pens they have. They offer pretty good pricing and fast shipping. I have always had awesome luck with them

Did I mention I love washi tape? 🙂 I included a little on this weeks layout and my favorite had to be the movie night card. The flim strip worked out perfectly.

I have been doing more and more cluster embellishing as well. I love the dimension it adds but not a ton of bulk. all of the stuff I layered was flat except the enamel dots…. Oh how I love those adorable enamel dots!

For an afternoon date my husband and I got pedicures. Was a nice treat beings that sandal weather is upon us again. I stamped “his” and “hers” in gold but I embossed the word pedicures in gold directly on my photo. I think it came out just right. If you do this you want to make sure that you are moving your heat gun around quickly as to not burn your photo.

For our little St. Pattys Day tradition the kids leave their shoes out the night before the 17th and the leprechaun comes and leaves treats in their shoes. This year Taegan got different kinds of gold wrapped candy and some gold $1 coins. She was a very happy girl!

Because I didn’t have a ton of photos I did add in a few things to fill in the spots. A homework photo of my daughter doing her normal homework routine. A photo of a popular show that my middle son and I watch together faithfully, and a week in review which I don’t do often. I think that is always great to have some photos or ideas of things that you can fill in the gaps for those weeks when you are just a few photos shy of a two page layout.

Hope you are all enjoying your weekend!

Happy Crafting!

Project life week 9 and 10

Published on April 13, 2013 by Taniesa1 Comment

So I didn’t have a lot of photos for either weeks 9 or 10 so I thought I would just combine the two weeks into one spread. I think it came together pretty well. I anticipate that this might happen again though the year. Its nice to know I don’t have to try to cram in a bunch of extra stuff to fill up a two page spread just for the sake of doing a two page spread every week.

For the title card I got the idea from an instagram photo I saw using this studio calico “&” card. I went to try and find it again and I couldn’t so If someone knows who had used this same idea please let me know so I can give proper credit. I loved the look and thought it would be perfect for a two week title card. I used similar colored embroidery floss to do the arrow stitching. I stamped the dates in gold ink and used the little yellow stickers from studio calico for the week 9 and week 10 title.

I am one of those girls who needs her cup of coffee first thing in the morning before anything else. Once my alarm goes off I go straight to the coffee maker and then wake the kids. I wanted to stay simple with my photo and figured no journaling was needed beyond “6am”. I love these little wood veneer hearts from Studio Calico and Freckled Fawn (I pulled hearts from the two different packs I had).

So this week we had quite the shake ordeal. We ended up having to go to McDonalds several days (and more than one McDonalds as well) just to get my little girl her shamrock shake she had been wanting so much. It was pretty funny when you think about it but the frustration that we went though in the process was NOT fun!

So there is my week 9 and 10. I am starting to feel better being more caught up. I figure I will always be a couple of weeks behind but thats ok, thats caught up enough for me. It’s when I get more than a month behind that I start feeling more pressure and stress.

I hope you all have a fantastic weekend!

Happy Crafting!