Mini Albums

I found a bunch of unfinished chipboard mini albums when I cleaned out my scrap crap a few weeks ago.

I made a Christmas album out of this tree. It would have also made a cute camping mini album.

These albums are very easy to make. Each page was traced on paper and the images cut out. I used a glue stick as the adhesive to attach the papers to the chipboard. I find that the glue sticks work really well and have even coverage. Once the glue is dry the excess is trimmed off with a craft knife. The edges were inked with a corresponding cover. I think it adds a nice effect without overpowering everything.

I didn't add many embellishments to this book other than the wreath and letters on the cover. The letters were plain chipboard letters painted white. I wanted gold but had no gold paint :(. I sprayed the painted letters with gold glimmer mist. Once dry I coated them in crackle accents. I think it gives the letters a nice aged look. Ribbons were added to the binder ring.

I was on a roll so I also started a Halloween mini album. This album is larger measuring roughly 6x6.

The process was the same as the Christmas album. I added lots of embellishments. I was going to sell it in my etsy store but I like it so much I'm keeping it. Thought I could add a pictures of each of the kid's Halloween costumes. I guess that's the downfall of making awesome crafts. :)

Missed Opportunity?

Yesterday I had a message on my etsy page from a local woman. Basically she was organizing a craft fair for a local church and wanted to know if I wanted to be a vendor.

As much as it killed me to do so I had to decline. First off was the vendor fee. I know it was for a good cause but I don't make a huge profit of most of my items. Maybe I should raise the price points but that may be my insecurity talking. Even if I did make a profit I wasn't confident that it would cover the vendor fee. I also don't have much as far as inventory goes and since school started this week I won't have a ton of free time to work on specific projects....for now. I'll have much more time in the late fall/winter because we are homebodies and don't leave the house much during the cold months.

I guess the other part of me declined was simply fear of the unknown. I'm afraid people won't like my stuff. I'm afraid people won't BUY my stuff. Right now I just sell on etsy, some of my family, and a few of my co-workers. It seems sort of anonymous.

I also declined because as of now I have plans on having a table at the Shop for SIDS event in November. Maybe once I dip my toes in the water my fear will go away.

I feel like a hoarder

My confession: I have reorganized my scrap space twice in two weeks. I found not one, not two, but three unopened packs of glue sticks. I feel like a hoarder. Maybe we should play "Where's Waldo" but with glue sticks and not Waldo.

And so I now present to you my secret shame with all of the dirty details:

top box has random embellishments; cart has rub-ons; white/clear embossing powder and heat gun; mists and masks; chipboard pieces and random items

reference material; magazines; idea books; finished layouts (in giant ziplock bags); pictures; paper

texture boutique; lots of glitter; random stuff; stickers; stamps; and more stamps

the whole enchilada - lots of paper; green box has finished cards; cart with more stuff; black container is filled with 8x10 paper



lots of chipboard letters; paint pens; oh look glue sticks



lots and lots of punches



buttons separated by color; eyelets; brads



lots and lots of ribbon. there may be 2 or 3 layers underneath what you see



oh look - more chipboard letters

desk



card stuff; trimmer; 6x6 paper pads; scoring board; scrap paper box; organizer with ink, stamps, and washi tape

So there you have it. All of it. Well, maybe not all of it. I know there is still stuff lurking upstairs. One day at a time. :)

How long can I keep it cleared of paper???

My scrapping area is finally clean! I'll post a few pictures every day with an explanation of what everything is.

This is my desk. On the top shelf sits my pencil cup filled with my most often used small tools. Pencils, gel pens, stylus, bone folder, tweezers, craft knife, paper piercer, and scissors.

The pink tin thingy (Upcycled planter) holds all of my different adhesives. I have a few tape runners, various sizes of glue dots, liquid glue, matte medium, etc.

Next up is my baby, my pride and joy, my most awesome piece of machinery, otherwise known as my Silhouette Cameo. It's a die cut machine and so much more. I can use computer software to manipulate files as well as edit and design my own stuff. If my house were on fire I would go back and save it. On the other side is a small jelly jar filled with various jewels. My swatches finish out the top shelf.

The basket on the bottom holds my versamark ink and mounting blocks for my clear stamps. I use these a lot and I hate digging around for them. I also have my dimensional adhesive, otherwise known as pop dots. Precut cards and a few other items fill the basket.

Next is my handy dandy bottle caddy filled with glittery stickles and liquid pearl goodness.

The small drawers are filled with washi tape, small ink pads, gaffer tape, markers, misc tools, and various refill blades.

The container next to it has various pieces of stuff. I don't know how else to explain it. I'll take a few more detailed pictures tomorrow. The lighting is bad so I apologize in advance.

To top it off is my self healing craft mat. It has all sorts of measurements on it which makes it easy to line things up.

So there you have it for now. This is where the magic or epic failures happen!

Another weekend in the kitchen

Today I made 10 pints of salsa and I still have ripe tomatoes to deal with!

I'm tired of being in the kitchen so tonight I vow to clean up my scrap space. It's embarrassing to admit to all of the stuff I have that I have good intentions of using and never do.

So, dear readers, I will let you in on my dirty little secret. I promise to reveal my after photos but be warned that it may take a few days!

Summertime

Not much crafting going on here. I spent most of the weekend picking corn and making tomato sauce.

Cards cards and more cards

It's been brutally hot here in the Midwest. Since its been too hot to do anything outside (even the pool is hot) I thought I'd sit down and create a few things with my new card kit from simonsaysstamp.com. I have also been working on using up scraps from previous kits. I must say they are worth every penny when you consider the amount of stuff you get and the papers are always beautiful.

As always you can view these cards on my etsy page at www.etsy.com/shop/InkStampPaper

My free time ends now

The veggies from the garden and going full blast. We've rarest pulled a bunch of eggplant and green beans. The tomatoes are finally turning red. The sweet corn melts in your mouth. And the cucumbers? Well, they are on steroids. I picked all of them on Saturday. The hubs brought in another giant bag full of them today. Looks like my canning season starts now. It's a lot of hard work and LOTS of time in a hot kitchen. My fingers face constant threat of being maimed by the vegetable peeler or being burned by various hot objects.

So, why do I do it? The payoff of fresh and preservative free food during the winter months is worth every second.

InkStampPaper is now on Facebook

Did you know....InkStampPaper has a facebook page? Did you know that as soon as I post items for sale on etsy there is a notification on the facebook page? Did you know that I recently had a coupon to celebrate my etsy shop birthday and that coupon code was given on the facebook page?

If you want to be in the know then stop on over to facebook and click "like". I promise you won't be disappointed. :)

Hot stuff

I was planning on staying indoors today since the temp was already 90 degrees at 9:00 am. But instead we are going to spend the day at the pool.

Enjoy your weekend!

Happy 4th!!!

We will be getting our swim on at the pool today followed by a traditional cookout. Skipping the fireworks this year. If you haven't heard there is a heat wave in these parts and this girl doesn't do sitting in 100+ heat very well.

Hot girl = cranky girl

Have a great holiday and stay hydrated for goodness sakes!

There's a party in my tummy!

So yummy. So yummy.

Ahem. I may like Yo Gabba Gabba more than my kid.

Last night I decided to get my bake on and try some recipes from pinterest. The result? Totally awesome granola bars and chocolate chip muffins.

Now to be fair I have made the muffins a few times with variations such as fruit. I have also discovered that the batter tastes remarkably like cookie dough. Not that I did anything remotely like that...or scraping the bowl for every last bit of goodness.

Sorry for the bad picture. My kitchen is a horrible shade of bright yellow which is not ideal for picture taking. One of these days I will get around to painting it again. First I will have to convince the hubs because he likes it.

Mmmmmm.......brains

Zombies are sort of a big deal.

I made a set of zombie blocks for a friend (gift she was giving) and I loved them.

I thought it might be nice to do some blocks again so I don't burn myself out on cards. When I paint blocks I found its easier if I do a few sets at a time. And as luck would have it the hubs and the boy left the house for a few hours so I set everything up assembly line style.

In the past I cut letters out, traced them, then painted them. I figured I have a HUGE amount of chipboard letters so I might as well use up some of my stash. I'm going to mix and match fonts. I'm going to coat them with white embossing powder and will distress them somewhat. I don't want them to be too shiny and white!

Lazy Sunday

I'm sitting here listening to the sound of thunder and rain. The good news is that I don't have to go outside to weed and water the garden!

I hope you get to enjoy your Sunday. I have a day of pinterest recipes to try out. :)

Upcycled!

I downloaded the handy blogger app for my iPhone. Maybe I'll post more often now.

Anyway, yesterday I reorganized my desk at work and needed a container for my binder clips. I use clips and paper clips....a lot. No joke. I have a lovely paper clip container that Tiki Laru made me a few years ago.

Wait? What was I talking about? Ahem. In my mess of a drawer I found an old tea canister that was perfect. I took it home and covered it in paper (naturally).

And now I present to you an upcycled tea container!

Happy Birthday InkStampPaper!!!

Today is the one year birthday of InkStampPaper on etsy! To celebrate everything is 10% off. Enter BIRTHDAY10 at checkout! Coupon code is good until June 30th.

I have added a few items and will add more throughout the week.

time is not on my side

Sorry I haven't posted anything in awhile. T-ball season has started and games two nights a week is hell. Add to that the normal household chores and my massive garden and it seems like there are not enough hours in the day!

Anywho, posting may be sparse until the summer months are over. I did set up a Facebook page featuring things in my etsy shop. I'm still deciding on what I'm doing with the whole thing but the plan for now is to "feature" new products and/or items that have expired on the etsy page on the FB page and the blog. I also need to figure out the whole blog layout and adding a shopping cart for those items. I may have some free (kid-free) time next weekend to mess around with things for a bit.

As for creating...I am still subscribing to the monthly card kits from simonsaysstamp.com and LOVING them. I also throw together a card or two as time permits.

I guess I'm asking that you be patient while I try and fumble my way through some of these new changes and I thank each and every one of you who has supported me in the past year or so. I love you all! :)