Where did the month of July go?  Holy cow, it went fast!  I put the fishy tag online accidentally, before finishing my notes, or adding any videos to the end, and am not really sure how I did that, but went back in and fixed everything later.  I’m just glad it’s  up.

I went into the craft room and worked on a card featuring an old Mustang convertible, and I really liked the technique I used, but did it on a piece of cardstock that was too small, and I lost part of the car in the process.  So tomorrow I’m going to redo that part of the video and try to make the technique work on a larger piece of cardstock, or do less of the edging technique, so both can exist on a regular size card.  I would have loved to have made it a 5 x 7″ card, but am also using an embossing folder, and it’s only large enough to work with a smaller card.  And speaking of the embossing folder, I wasn’t thinking, and put too many layers into my Vagabond and halfway through embossing, the machine jammed.  The one thing you have to know about the first Vagabonds (like mine), is if something jams in them and you can’t get them out, your machine is toast.  So I tried getting it out on my own, then enlisted Rich to push down hard on both sides of the “sandwich” while I pushed the button….It came right out.  Without his brute strength, I would have had to throw in the towel on it, because I tried to fix it by myself for at least ten minutes before giving up.  Every time I do that (almost getting something stuck), I swear I won’t do it again.  It only takes a few months for me to forget, and next thing you know, I’ve got another jammed embossing folder.  I’m not equipped to use a machine that doesn’t know to reverse when it’s going to jam.  That’s the great feature of the Vagabond II….reverses when it’s going to jam…I could have waited for it to come out before buying one, but just wanted one so badly, and now I kind of regret it, as there might be a time that even Rich won’t be able to save it.

 

I wanted to give our friend Becky a fish bowl for a “thinking of you” present, and thought a fishy gift tag would be perfect to go with it.
I used a Hero Arts Stamp set called Layered Goldfish for my images. I put Gesso on a gift tag and let it dry. I stamped “Just Keep Swimming” from the stamp set on the tag with Versafine Onyx Black ink and clear embossing powder from Ranger to heat set it.
I took a couple of stencils to create a background…I used one that looked like waves and another that looked like droplets of water so I could create colors….I put painters tape on the back of the tag and attached it to the stencil, then used a 1″ chip brush and wiped the small Distress ink cube onto the stencil, then wiped it with the brush onto the tag underneath. It helps make the brushed ink much bolder than if you just brushed with the ink on with the brush. I took the droplet stencil with a darker blue ink and brushed it through….I was trying to do things quickly so didn’t let it dry and wiped it, so wiped away a lot of my pattern….I used Tumbled Glass and brushed it over the other patterns and went around the edges with the Tumbled glass ink pad as well. I took the wave stencil and went over it again with Broken China after drying it.
I took a white card stock scrap and stamped out the goldfish with Sweet Corn ink from Gina K and a Stampin’ Up ink called Tangelo Twist. I used some alcohol markers in oranges, reds and blacks to accentuate the colors. I took a white gel pen and put lines on the fish and colored in the eye with a black Sharpie. I used foam squares to add the fish to the background and took the small circles to make bubbles above the fish with white Hero Arts Unicorn ink and added the seaweed stamped images around with Stampin’ Up Always Artichoke ink. I used the white gel pen to go over the bubbles so they showed up better.  Because the back had smudges on it, I glued another tag to it, then pulled a gold piece of ribbon through the hole to tie it to the bowl handle.

I’d like to say that I got busy in the craft room today, doing something, anything, but sadly, I did not.  I think it’s the weather…Sunny and hot one minute, raining the next.  It sounds crazy, but when the barometric pressure changes, my joints aren’t happy and let me know it.  So instead of doing anything productive, I watched a couple of new YouTube videos and read.

Yesterday we went to friends and watched the new version of Jumanji.  It was cute and one of those movies that you watch when you just want to relax…There’s no one suspended from a burning skyscraper, or any scenes that later give you nightmares…just a fun, family type movie.

I went to a few garage sales with my girlfriend this morning, and bought a couple of plants that will spread in my island, and that’s about it.  I had high hopes for a couple of the places that we went, and was a little disappointed,  but that’s the nature of garage sales..You never know what you’ll find, and that’s the part that’s fun..(or disappointing, however that particular day turns out.)

I just finished Lee Child’s book entitled The Midnight Line, and really enjoyed it.  I’ve read all of his books, and this one was one of my favorites.  It’s really well thought out and I recommend it highly.

Rich and I were going to take the Mustang for a small road trip tomorrow, as it just came back from the shop (needing a new carburetor), but the chance of rain is 70%, so I might be cracking open another book instead.  There’s a good chance I’ll make a card as well….but I wouldn’t hold my breath if it’s a rainy day.  That darn barometer….

Finally! The pop-up box card video is live.  I know, it’s been forever, and I shouldn’t talk about a video until it’s ready to go live, because it’s just a nightmare for me, waiting.  Patience is a virtue that I definitely lack.

I couldn’t get a good photo of the card, and took probably thirty pictures, so had Rich take over.  He did a great job, and he didn’t have the blurry results I did.  I’m not sure what I was doing wrong, but every photo had one small aspect of the card that wasn’t in focus.  It was making me crazy, so I threw in the towel and turned it over to an expert.  He’s been doing some amazing photography this summer and I should start putting some of his photos up on the blog.

Here’s one that he took of his Mustang at sunset, at a lake near our house.   I’m going to be doing a Mustang inspired card in my next couple of videos, so now you’ll know my inspiration..

I’ve wanted to make one of these pop up box cards, but had never found a plan that I could execute. I found a video from MFT that worked perfectly for me, and I hope for you as well.
I got the August Hero Arts Stamp Kit that is county fair inspired, and wanted to make a pop-up box card with these stamps and dies.
I used my iron to attach a napkin that reminded me of a circus tent to card stock and attached the video explaining how to do that.
Start with 11″ x 8 1/4″ paper and score on the 11″ length at 2 5/8″, 5 1/4″, 7 7/8″, and 10 1/2″.  If you are cutting or scoring paper you’ve attached a napkin to, you’ll need to put the napkin face down for scoring or cutting.  Then cut your paper on the 8 1/4″ length at 4 1/4″. What you have remaining, is a piece that is 4″ wide and a piece that is 4 1/4″ wide. You want to keep the 4 1/4″ wide piece for your box….you’ll need the 4″ side too, as we’re going to create the “shelves” for inside our box with that paper. Cut the 4″ piece that has a 1/2″ score on the end, and cut it at 3 5/8″. Then cut that piece into 1″ strips, so they can be the shelves. They have a score on either end and are perfect for the shelving.
I cut my own 1″ pieces, because I wanted white paper, instead of the napkin covered paper for this portion of my project.
I also took a piece of white scrap paper with two dies that looked like rolling fields and rolling ground to me, so I could attach them to my “shelves” and they would look like dirt and grass. I took Distress inks in greens and browns and colored my pieces, then dried them so I could cut them for on the shelves. These pieces each need to be 2 5/8″ long, so I cut them and glued them to my “shelves”.  You need to be sure that they aren’t higher than the top score line of your box..One of mine was a little bit short, and I just made sure I covered that with one of my bigger elements. I took my 4 1/4″ box piece and scored it on the long side at 2″…I cut the 2″ side score lines down to the center score so my box had a top to it. The last 1/2″ score line, you’ll need to snip it off down to the 2″ mark and remove that, plus cut a small notch after the score, so we can attach our box together.
To put the shelves inside, start after your first score line with about a 1/4″ distance from it and so the shelf is below the center score line. Bend the fold toward the inside of the “shelf” and glue it down, then line up the next “shelf” directly behind the first, and glue it’s fold down, and continue til all four are glued in place. Then lay them down in a line on top of each other, and your other end folds are laying side by side in a straight row…bend the folds so they can work when the box is assembled, then lay them down again in a row and put glue on the tabs. I folded the box flat and held it in place after putting glue on my end notch as well and tucking it in so the box was glued together and the “shelves” were also glued in place.  Once you reopen the box, the shelves are glued in place, as is the box if this is done properly.
I cut and colored with Stabilo markers the Hero Arts stamps. I used Versafine Onyx black ink and clear embossing powder on my images and heat set them. I stamped them with the Tim Holtz Stamp Platform.
My review of the Tim Holtz Stamp Platform is this: the lid is heavy, and I found it to be wearing for me, to do repetitive stamping with it…I was tired after only stamping a few images, and do not feel it’s the right tool for me. If you don’t have hand/wrist/strength issues, it would work perfectly, but I found the lid to be overly cumbersome.

To continue with the box card….I either die cut or fussy cut all of the shapes I needed, then used four card stock pieces that were 1 7/8″ x 2 1/2″ to decorate the top flaps of the box. I used Tombow Mono Aqua glue to adhere them. I attached a long fair scene to the bottom of the box and wrapped it around the sides. Then attached some of the images to pieces of acetate so the images looked like they were floating above the “shelves.” I cut thin strips of acetate in varying lengths and glued them to the backs of the images then to the back of the shelves. I glued the roller coaster to the back flap that stays straight when the card is open, and then put the food concession on the first shelf, the Ferris wheel on the second shelf, then the next two I tried to elevate the images so there was more dimension. I glued a ticket on the front flap of the box and added a piece of white cardstock to the back for writing, that was 2 1/4″ 1 7/8″ tall. I added some clouds on foam dimensionals to the front of the card and behind the airplane that is suspended above the box.

I had given Rich two videos that needed to be uploaded.  The one where I show that I covered a box and how I label my pens, and the pop box card video.  I thought he knew which was which, but when the video was uploaded, it was the wrong one.  He felt so bad about it that he’s working on getting the box card uploaded tonight as well.  If that’s the case, I’ll make sure to put it on live tomorrow AM.   I’m really sorry that I keep getting people’s hopes up about the box card, but these things happen.  Maybe I should have been more clear…He doesn’t even remember the discussion, so maybe it was in my head and I never said it out loud.  I think that happens to me more than I want to admit…

Tomorrow I’m going to work on another card that I think might have some big possibilities….but for now, I’m just thinking out the details…I hope it works, and if it does, YAY!   If it doesn’t, as always, I’ll disavow all knowledge that I ever mentioned it…like Mission Impossible, but crafty…

Summer is flying by… It seems like fall is almost upon us, Yikes!  So we’re trying to make the most of summer by doing as many activities with friends as possible.  Today we went to an outlet mall and had a great time shopping.  Rich found all kinds of bargains for the things he needed, so came home a happy guy.  I love watching him shop when he finds something he really likes, and today he found so many things….nice to see.

Then we went out for supper and had a nice dinner with our friends.  I had purchased a blue glass bowl shaped like a fish for our girlfriend who has a house on Lake Erie.  It’s the perfect size for a salad for four, and she always makes the best salads, so I thought, “great gift!”  I made a gift tag for her on video, using some mixed media, and it turned out really cute if I do say so myself….but I’ll wait to hear your thoughts once you watch the video.

I bought this set of Arteza Brush Pens and wanted to organize them. I
also wanted to show a background board that I covered and showed how to make it. I started with a large piece of cardboard from a paper trimmer I bought, and covered one side with washi tape from the Dollar Tree, then, turned to the opposite side and covered it with the same washi tape, then did both ends. I finished with a different washi tape in the center, then covered the whole piece with clear contact paper so the washi tape won’t pull up.  I had showed this briefly in another video and a viewer asked me to show how I’d done it.

As for the Arteza pens, I bought a box at a garage sale for a quarter that was for manicure/pedicures and wanted to cover the front so it looked better. I put Art tape from the Dollar Tree (that’s really just electrical tape that’s thinner, and covered the edges of my box front with it, then used a matching washi tape to cover rows inside the art tape, then a couple more rows of the art tape, then put a piece of decorator paper in the center. I put a sticker on the front of the box that said it contained the Arteza pens.
Then I took a pad of name badge stickers and cut them in strips. I used one brush marker and colored in one strip the length of the badge, then waited for it to dry, and wrapped it around the center of the pen near the name of the color and cut off any excess once I went around the marker once.  I put them back in the box and then I’ll know exactly what color each marker is…
I hope this answered any questions you might have about how I organize and label my markers/ pens / watercolor pencils/ and colored pencils.

 

I’ll bet you’re thinking that I have yet another excuse for why I didn’t make the box card today, but I don’t…..I made the card, YAY!  I’m not saying I didn’t procrastinate for most of the day, because I did….but, I committed to making the card and I think you’re going to like it.  It’s not hard to make based on the way the ladies at MFT showed how to do it.  I have seen so many people trying to line up those little slats inside the box, and thought I’d never be able to do it.  There’s such an easier way, just wait until you see it.

I also took this time to try out the Tim Holtz Stamp Platform.  I was disappointed, I have to say.  The lid is heavy, and I couldn’t use it as a primary stamping tool, as I was worn out after only stamping a few images.  I really wanted to like it, and thought that I would, but for me, it’s just not practical.  The weight of the lid makes it too difficult for repetitive use, and isn’t that why we use them?  So with that being said, I don’t encourage anyone with hand/wrist issues to purchase it   I realize that I am completely out of shape, but others like me would be in the same physical condition…  I think it would be a wonderful tool for people who have hand/wrist/arm strength, but it’s just not me.  I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to review it, as I should have done so a lot sooner.

Today, Rich and I went to the “The Rock” in Skyscraper.  If you are old enough to remember “Die Hard,” then you’ve basically seen the movie.  There was one “jump out of my seat” moment, when it seemed like he was falling one-hundred floors to his death.  It was entertaining,  but probably better as a video rental.

When we got home, I fully intended to do some crafting, but got sidetracked when watching YouTube videos.  I found one that talked about how a woman lives in her car for $800 a month, and thought “that seems expensive.”  So I watched the video, and she earns $800 a month, and she only pays a portion of that to live in her car.  It was interesting to know that it was her choice and she’s enjoying it, but that there’s a whole movement toward people living in cars, trucks and vans by choice.  Apparently tiny houses just aren’t tiny enough.  Who knew?  Of course then I found a video on the pitfalls of living in a tiny house, most of which I had already figured out for myself.  Why do I allow myself to get waylaid by crazy videos?  I guess because I can.  I have a plan for myself and tomorrow, I’m going to stick to it.  I’m not watching any videos on dumpster diving, how to make an entertainment center from the Dollar Tree, or the best potato salad made by a woman who really doesn’t measure anything….I am going to make that box card, or throw in the towel and watch some other crazy videos, but I have a plan.