Write Your Ten Minute Love Story

Every year, for Valentine's Day, I give Jeffrey something handmade and memory-related. This year v-day came up super quick; somehow it was February 13th and I still had nothing started. Luckily I had gotten my Studio Calico box earlier in the day and had the evening to throw something together.  

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Quick Tips for Embellishing Canvas with Chalk Inks

Today I'm sharing with you  tips for decorating canvas embellishments using chalk inks.

I love the way the little canvas pieces look right out of the package -- soft and very cloth-like.   When using paint on canvas there is a tendency to get a firmer finish, and I really wanted to keep that soft, pliable look. I decided on using chalk inks to achieve my desired look.  After experimenting a bit, I'm really happy with the way they turned out, and I'd love to share a couple of tips with you.

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Freckled Fawn October Sketch Challenge

Each Month Freckled Fawn provides a sketch challenge. I played along with the design team and had a great time.

Check out the challenge, and if you play along, make sure to link up your project on the Freckled Fawn blog!
 http://www.iamdoe.blogspot.com/2012/10/october-sketch-challenge-some-lucky.html

Here is this month's inspiration layout from the amazing Christin Gronnslett. 

And my take on the layout:

I changed it around to an 8.5x11 and added a little bit more red to my layout.

I LOVE making a mat with washi tape! 

http://www.iamdoe.blogspot.com/2012/10/october-sketch-challenge-some-lucky.html

please leave a link to your project by Monday October 15th.

I'll have a Washi Workshop up on the Freckled Fawn blog this week as well. I hope everyone has some extra office supplies lying around! :) 

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Washi Tape & Freckled Fawn: Part I

This month I'm lucky enough to be guest designing at the best washi tape store in the world: Freckled Fawn!!

So far I've made three layouts and a super cute mini-book (look for a tutorial later this month).

Here's a peek at the mini-book:

Check out all my washi tape projects at Freckled Fawn.

Thanks for stopping by! 

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Project Life Essentials: My Must Haves

These are my Project Life Essentials. They are all products that I use week-in and week-out. They sit on my table when I'm making my pages, and today I'm going to share them with you. I only recommend products that I use consistently and really love. If you have any questions please feel free to email me or leave a comment at the bottom!

The Basics:

• Becky Higgins Page Protectors -- these divided page protectors make it easy to break up your week into little snippets and document all the fun everyday moments. I mainly use the Design F pages, but the Design A, and Variety Packs are also popular.

• Project Life Core Kits (currently unavailable: expected mid-august-september) -- these kits have enough cards to get you through an entire year. I tend to use them sparingly throughout my book, but they are great to have on hand for quick pages and jotting down lists or notes. I have both Clementine and Cobalt; but I'm also liking the look of the new Cherry kit as well. 

• Project Life Grid Cards (currently unavailable) -- I use these all the time; both for Project Life and for various notes and lists I write for myself. I even use these cards to sketch out my Project Life layout for the week, the grid lines help to keep everything even. 

***Don't worry if these are unavailable; its super easy to use your own stash to make all the cards you 

need. 

The Tools

• Fiskars Softgrip 8-Inch Scissors - I've tried lots of scissors, and these are the ones I always come back to, especially for Project Life. They are a great size, not too big & not too small. I use them every day, and they clean very easily for a brand-new feel every time. 

• Corner Rounder -- This EK Success punch is the one I use. It's small and fits on my desk. It works every time and never gives me any problems. 

• Silhouette Cameo -- I use my Silhouette all the time, It's great for cutting out titles, and making lots of journaling cards. This starter kit from Amazon is a great deal: Silhouette Cameo Starter Kit Bundle Cutter. There are lots of different retailers who sell the Silhouette Cameo; I bought mine off Amazon because of the reasonable price and the super fast shipping. Here's a list of all the free Silhouette cuts that I've created, please feel free to download and use any of them. 

• Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher -- This is by far my favorite little tool. It's a strong mini stapler that has a good reach. Its great for attaching ticket stubs or any other memorabilia, and for adding a little bit of texture/dimension.

• Zig Millennium Markers -- These are my main journaling pens. They are a pure black color. I use all the sizes but I'm most partial to the .005 for fine writing, the .03 for regular journaling, and the .08 for a bolder look. 

• India Ink Pen -- If I had to use just one pen for the rest of my life; this would be it. It has a great feel, and it writes super smooth. The color is a bit of a faded black, which I really like. Sometimes the Zig markers are just too harsh of a black, and this India Ink pen has just the right amount of fade to blend into pages and pockets that are a bit more muted. 

Paper & Embellishments

• 6x6 Paper Pads -- I love working with the smaller size paper for Project Life, the prints are all shrunk down and look better in the smaller pockets. A few of my favorites: Studio Calico: Classic Calico (probably the best neutral 6x6 pad out there), Crate Paper: Storyteller (love the muted tones & map pages), Studio Calico: Hey Day (love all the various & well coordinating colors). 

• Clear Stamps -- Stamps are definitely the most economical embellishments, I use several of the same sets each week. I keep them right on my desk with a couple of ink pads and integrate them into almost all of my PL pockets. Here are a few of my most used sets:

 Studio Calico: Stepping Stone Alphabet 

Studio Calico: Hey Y'All

Lawn Fawn: Sophie's Sentiments

• Hero Arts Shadow Inks -- I love the saturation of these, they ink a bit blotchy at first, but then spread out as they dry to a really pretty color. I use wet cement the most, followed by soft pool & butter bar. I just recently ordered soft pink & the new neon colors. 

• Prima Inks -- I have these chalk inks in lots of colors. Its a great way to expand your ink colors without breaking the bank. They're also small and don't take up too much room on the desk/in the ikea cart. Starter color recommendations: Ladybug (a real red), Moss Lawn, Teal Damask, Attic Dust, & Old Road.

   

• Washi Tape -- I have lots of washi. I use washi on pretty much every pocket. You get a ton of it on a roll, it can act as ribbon, patterned paper, sticker, access. Two Peas had a great tutorial on using washi in Project Life, I was lucky enough to guest design for the challenge. Washi suppliers: Freckled Fawn, Love My Tapes, & Two Peas has a good selection. 

These are my most loved Project Life products; the essentials that I need each week and can't go without. I'll keep this list updated to include any new products that make their way into this list. If you have any questions at all, feel free to leave them in the comment section and I'll do my best to answer them!

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Social [Media] Butterflies July Blog Hop

Welcome to the Social [Media] Butterflies Blog Hop! Each month on the 29th day, we're going to be sharing projects that have been inspired via each other and various social media outlets: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Message boards, etc. Join us for awesome inspiration, new friends, & great prizes each month. You can check out last month's blog hop project here. 

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Blog Hoppin' with New Friends!

Welcome to our Social [Media] Butterflies blog hop!

Hi Everyone! Thank you so much for stopping by today! I'm Kristin (or rukristin or K -- whatever strikes your fancy). I'm super excited to be joining this great group of ladies in this new monthly adventure. 

Each month on the 29th day, we're going to be sharing projects that have been inspired via each other and the various social media tools that we're all using. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Message boards -- they all have a place in the online scrapping community; and we're going to be using them to their full potential.

From Shay: 

Want to join in? Scraplift any of the projects you see, come back here and link up the project to this main post. You never know what prizes might be handed out along the way :]  Want more chances? Tweet about the blog hop, tell us your favorite project using the hashtag #SMBiGbloghop Comment [on shay's blog] and let me know which of these things you've done & you can win a $25 store credit to Persnickety Prints. 

Today I'm sharing a project that was inspired by the awesome MonicaB. Monica has a brand new etsy shop: Dinky Doodle Designs, and while I was checking out her new shop, I ran across some awesome washi tape samples and knew I needed to scrap about my washi addiction. 

I used my silhouette machine to cut out the rectangular background, and some pop dots to raise it off the bottom page. Under a couple of the rectangles I used some of my new Freckled Fawn washi tapes to add pops of color.  

  

A few looks at the dimensionality (is that a word) of the layout. I tied some jute around a few of the rectangles and finished it off with a bow. 

And another look at the entire layout. 

I'll be giving away a great little chipboard/acrylic prize pack to a random blog commenter, gain extra entries for following on twitter, or liking my facebook page. Just come back here and comment that you've done so! (and please leave an email address or way to get in contact with you). 

Now on to the rest of the amazing inspiration! 

Blog Hop list (name, blog url, instagram handle): 

Shay: http://sbookinshay29.blogspot.com/ sbookinshay29
Trisha: trishacakes
Margrethe: http://onelifedocumented.com/ margrethe_
Melissa: http://www.melissapriest.com/ click click
Amanda: http://somethingsorta.blogspot.com/ mandadej
Caz: http://www.cazhancock.com/ cazhancock
Erika: http://erikabardo.wordpress.com/ erikabardo
Kristin: http://rukristin.blogspot.com/ rukristin ----------------You Are Here!!!
Monica: http://monicalifeasme.blogspot.com/ MonicaB
Angela: http://kindlelover.blogspot.com/ akochmcelroy
Suz: http://livealifeextraordinary.blogspot.com/ SuzMannecke

Each blog will lead you to the next, or you can come back here if you get lost, happy scrapping!

Remember to comment on Shay's blog to be entered in the Persnickity Prints giveaway!

And comment here to be entered in my giveaway as well! 

Thanks so much for stopping by and happy scrapping!

Love, K

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Making Memories: A Fun Single Small Photo Layout

Hey Everyone! Today I'm going to be sharing a layout I made with the Trinity Paper Arts Sincerely collection for National Scrapbooking Day. 

I got to use my Silhouette for both my title and several of the elements in this layout. I love how much use I get out of it -- its the best thing for titles since the invention of thickers!

I love the plum and grey color theme to this line--it gives off this passionate vibe. I thought it would be perfect to document how much I love all of the memories that Jeff and I share together. 

I started this layout with the banner strip from the Sincerely sticker sheet. I ran it across the page, and outlined it with a black pen to make it stand out a little more.  I then added a few more elements from the sticker sheet, cutting a couple of stickers in half (why waste half a sticker if its just going to be hiding underneath something). I trimmed my photo to a 'polaroid' shape and laid that on the top of my banner collage. 

Underneath my title are two more halved sticker pieces. To create the straight lines when cutting your stickers in half, take an exacto knife and a ruler, and make a smooth cut right through the center. This way you can leave the other half of the sticker on the sheet for a later project. 

I wanted to give this layout some personalization, so I did a lot of doodling around the edges of several of the elements as well as a bit of fussy cutting with the birds. 

A quick close-up of my hand-written journaling. 

Thanks so much for stopping by! 

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Layout: Smile, Its the Little Things

Layout: Smile, Its the Little Things 

Today I'm sharing a layout that I created for Basically Bare, highlighting a couple of quick tips that I wanted to share a couple for dressing up your embellishments to use on a layout (or any other project you see fit).

You can see the original post here: http://basicallybareonline.com/wordpress/?p=3849

Clouds inked with Prima Chalk Ink: 

Painted chipboard layered with vellum & a painted/embossed star:

Journaling with stickers: 

Thank you so much for stopping by!

Kristin 

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