15.Dec.2010 Quick & Easy Embellies with PSA Essentials!

For a great in-depth article about PSA Essentials, as well as a chance to win your very own personalized stamper and Peel & Stick stamp sets, click here to see my Examiner.com PSA Essentials profile.

There’s nothing I love more than a multitasker (click here if you aren’t familiar with this term) and the PSA Essentials stamper is just that!  Not only is it a very sturdy and well-made automatic stamper that I can use to personalize just about anything I make or own, it is also a super quick and easy way to make custom embellishments for my projects!  PSA Essentials also offers dozens of ink choices, some in very cool 2-color configurations, and around 700 stamp design choices.  Multitasker indeed (and then some)!

Here are a couple of examples of how I used the PSA Essentials stamper and Peel & Stick stamp sets to create easy yet fabulous embellishments on my  scrapbook pages.

“Merry & Bright” by Angela Pruitt
Supplies: PSA Essentials “Fancy Flakes” Peel & Stick stamps, “Hunter & Red” 2-color ink; Bella Blvd. papers; ProvoCraft “Botanicals” Cartridge, Stickles glitter

Tutorial

Click on the tutorial montage below to see it in 1024×768 resolution in a separate window (you can print it from there!)

Supplies needed:  2 sheets white 12×12 cardstock, two sheets of patterned paper of your choice, PSA Essentials stamper & Peel & Stick stamp set of your choice (I used “Fancy Flakes”), PSA Essentials ink cartridge of your choice (I used “Hunter & Red”), circle punch at least 1 1/3″ diameter, ruler, pencil, Glitter glue, adhesive

First, we will stamp the border along the top and bottom of the 12×12 white cardstock.

1. With your ruler, measure and mark a pencil line every 2″ across the bottom and top edge of one sheet of the white cardstock.  This will be your background paper when finished.
2. Load your PSA Essentials stamper with the Peel & Stick border and middle of your choice, and the ink cartridge of your choice.  Carefully align the PSA Essentials stamper along the edge of your page with half of the stamped image on your page, and half of the stamped image off your page, using your 2″ pencil lines as guides. Stamp six images across the edge of your page.  TIP:  Place a piece of scrap paper or newspaper under your page while stamping, to keep ink off your work surface.
3. The stamped border along the bottom edge of your cardstock should look like this.  NOTE:  It can take some practice to get the border perfectly aligned.  I sacrificed one sheet of cardstock for practice, and was able to get it perfect on my next try.
4. Repeat this border stamping process for the top edge of your cardstock.
5. Remove the circular Peel & Stick border from your PSA Essentials stamper, leaving only the middle portion of the stamp on the stamper.
6. Stamp several images on your second sheet of cardstock.  These do not have to be perfect, as we will be punching them out in the next step.
7. Using your circle punch, punch out all the stamped images from the cardstock.
8. You can ink or distress the edges of your punched images, add bling, glitter or anything else you can think of!
9. I chose to use Stickles to add a little sparkle to my stamped and punched embellies before adding them to my page.

“Hello Goofball” by Angela Pruitt
Supplies: PSA Essentials “Hello Kitty: Paly Time” Peel & Stick stamps, “Lime & Pink” 2-color ink; American Crafts papers & Thickers; ProvoCraft “Lacy Labels” Cartridge

Tutorial

Click on the tutorial montage below to see it in 800×600 resolution in a separate window (you can print it from there!)

This is just one way I discovered how to use my PSA Essentials stamps with my Cricut.

Supplies needed:  2 sheets of 12×12 Cardstock of your choice in coordinating colors, 1 sheet of white cardstock, at least 6″x6″, 4 sheets of patterned paper in coordinating patterns/colors (I used American Crafts “Teen” collection), PSA Stamper and Peel & Stick stamp set of your choice (I used Hello Kitty “Play Time”), PSA Essentials ink cartridge of your choice (I used “Lime & Pink”), Alphabet Stickers, foam adhesive squares, paper adhesive

1. Using your Cricut, cut three 1 3/4″ circles from the white cardstock.
2. Stamp the image of your choice on the circles, being careful to align the image in the middle of the cut circle.  TIP:  Stamp the images in the circles before you remove them from your Cricut mat!  Not shown: Using a coordinating cardstock color and your Cricut, cut three 2 1/4″ scalloped circles.
3. Using foam adhesive squares, adhere the stamped white cardstock circles to the colored scalloped circles.
4. Place on your page for a cute, custom embellishment!

11.Dec.2010 A Perfect Punky Giveaway

UPDATE: Congrats to… Ria (Craftyria) Johnson … the winner of this RAK!  Thanks to everyone that played along.  Keep your eyes peeled for more RAKS, including one sponsored by PSA Essentials on December 16th!  :)

I have a special holiday gift that I am giving away to one lucky reader!  This gift is filled to the brim with fabulous Punky Sprouts and Nikki Sivils goodies.  Included are three Punky Sprouts albums (Punk’ n Circumstance, Savvy Sprout and Spunky Sprout), two packs of Punky canvas embellishments (Lil’ Blooms and Lil’ Stems) and a 12×12 Happy Holly-Days Christmas scrapbook kit from Nikki Sivils!

To be eligible to win, simply become a “follower” of my blog via Google Friend Connect.  To become a follower, look for the “Join This Site” button, located near the bottom of the column to the right of this post.  Everyone who becomes a follower of my blog before midnight December 17th, 2011 is eligible to win!

Comment on this post for an EXTRA entry to win!

19.Nov.2010 Bewitching Buttons from Button-THIS!

I had the pleasure of working with a batch of fun, fashionable and totally unique buttons from Button-THIS last week.  I absolutely love these handmade acrylic buttons, and wanted to share the projects I made with them with you.  To read more about Button-THIS and owner Kai Cole, check out my article on my Examiner.com column.

“Cute As Buttons” by Angela Pruitt

Buttons:  Button-THIS “Pink Pastel Buttons .75 diameter”; Paper: Basic Grey “Urban Prairie”, Luxe; Embellishments: Pink Paislee “Press Ons”, My Mind’s Eye crocheted flowers

The close-up below shows the details of the fabulous Button-THIS acrylic buttons which were the perfect embellishment for this page.

“Say Cheese” by Angela Pruitt

Buttons: Button-THIS “Button Blanks .75 diameter”; Paper: Piggy Tales “Georgie Porgie”; Embellishments: Piggy Tales rub-ons, American Crafts “Remarks: Journaling Book 1″, Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist “Denim Blue”

I painted the backs of my button blanks to match my patterned paper!

20.Oct.2010 I’m Stuck Stuck on SRM Stickers!

I fell in love with SRM Stickers at CHA Summer, and was so happy when they sent me some of their fabulous stickers so that I could write a product review for my scrapbooking column at Examiner.com.

Here are the layouts I created using SRM Stickers products:

“Life Is Sweet” by Angela Pruitt
Supplies Used: SRM Stickers “We’ve Got Your Sticker: #53003 Sweet“; Cardstock: Discount Cardstock “12×12 130# Bright White”; Color Mist: Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist “Taffy Pink”; Mask: Tattered Angels

“Happy Halloween” by Angela Pruitt
Supplies: SRM Stickers “Live Life: Halloween #49008“; Paper: Pink Paislee and Bo Bunny; Cardstock: Discount Cardstock; Tools: Provo Craft Cricut Expression, Gypsy, “Gypsy Wanderings” cartridge

“Blessed” by Angela Pruitt
Supplies: SRM Stickers “Sticker Sentiments: #51012 Fall, Express Yourself: #42038 Everyday Life“; Paper: Crate Paper, Jillibean Soup; Ink: Close to My Heart; Stamp: unknown

19.Oct.2010 A Perfect Pair

Another super simple but fun layout created with Teresa Collins papers!

I cut the tags from a sheet of Teresa Collins “Crush” paper, and adhered them in a wonky pattern onto black cardstock.  I then cut out the middle of the black cardstock, and mounted the handmade border onto the polka-dot paper.  I cut my images tall and skinny, and then added the title block (made with my Cricut Expression and Sweethearts cartridge) and the plus and equal symbols.  :)

18.Oct.2010 An open letter to my daughter

Kae,

I’m sorry I yelled at you last night.  I know you didn’t mean to spill the red nail polish on my living room carpet. You asked me before you brought it into the living room, and I said yes, so I think it was kind of my fault.  From now on,  maybe nail polish should only be for the bathroom, or maybe you could lay an old towel down beforehand? Or two? Or maybe a room-sized painter’s tarp?

Anyway… to answer to what you said last night, you are not a screw-up.  Sure, sometimes you do dumb things, but you’re a teenager and that what you’re supposed to do.  I did dumb things when I was your age, and I still do dumb things.  I did a dumb thing last night.  I yelled at you for spilling nail polish.  Even while you were cleaning it up, I continued to yell.  This morning, when I looked for the spot, I could barely find it.  You got red nail polish out of cream-colored carpet.  I’m pretty sure that may qualify as a miracle.  I’ll have to consult with the Catholics.

You also told me as I was yelling at you that I never get mad at the cats when they mess up the carpet.  That is true.  I tried to tell myself that this was because the cats are just little animals and they don’t mean to make a mess.  But then I realized that you’re just a little animal too (well not so little anymore, seeing as how you’re taller than me), and that you didn’t mean to spill the nail polish.  I’m going to try to remember this next time I get the urge to yell.

For now, I’m just really REALLY glad the cats don’t know how to paint their nails…

Love,

Mom

17.Oct.2010 Dragonfly Laser Stamps Projects

I had the pleasure of working with Dragonfly Laser Stamps this past week for an article I wrote on the company for my scrapbooking column at Examiner.com.  I had so much fun working with these beautiful vintage-inspired rubber stamps.  The projects I made are posted below, but be sure to read the entire article to find out more about their fabulous, high-quality stamps!

On the above layout, I painted freestyle clouds on the Kraft cardstock using Apple Barrell paints by Plaid.  LOVE these paints – they are so smooth, and work very well with both dry and wet brush techniques.

The balloons were created by stamping the images using Close to My Heart inks on Ivory cardstock.  I then cut the images out, and attached the red heart shapes (cut with my Cricut) using a very tiny, thin copper wire (thanks, Judy!)

“You Make My {Heart} Soar” by Angela Pruitt
Stamps: Dragonfly Laser “Victorian style hot air balloon WM rubber stamp 2×2.75 inches“; Cardstock: Paper Accents “12×12 Recycled Kraft- 80lb 100% Recycled paper, Cardstock 12″x12″ Linen Light Ivory- 80lb, Cardstock 12″x12″ Smooth Dark Red- 80lb“; Paint: Plaid “Apple Barrell: Cloudless 2oz, White 8oz.“; Alphabets: American Crafts “Thickers: Rainboot Black“, My Little Shoebox “Mini Alphabet; Cream“; Tools: Martha Stewart Crafts “Border Punch: Doily Lace“, Provo Craft “Cricut Expression, Sweethearts Cartridge“; Ink: Close to My Heart “Outdoor Denim, New England Ivy, Garnet”

I love this page.  It’s very simple, and kind of a clean, linear design, and it turned out exactly how I thought it would.  I wanted to highlight the adorable Mason Jar stamps by Dragonfly Laser, and I got this idea for a page about me and the Hubs including journaling about a love potion (funny, right?!)

I stamped the jar images on shiny silver cardstock using StazOn black ink (always use StazOn when using non-porous surfaces or it will smear and never dry!)  I then cut the images out and places them against the curve of the scallop circle, and places cut-out heart shapes around them.  The title at the top reflects the circular design, and the journaling was printed out on my computer printer, cut into strips and placed on the page.

“Love Potion No. Nine” by Angela Pruitt
Stamps: Dragonfly Laser “Mason jars rubber stamp WM 2×2“; Cardstock: Discount Cardstock “Silver Polish 12×12 93#“; Paper: Teresa Collins “Crush: Mini Hearts, Heartland“, Making Memories “Audrey: Scallop Circle”; Ink: StazOn “Jet Black“; Alphabets: Doodlebug Design, Inc. “Loopy Lou: Beetle Black”

This is a freestyle layered collage layout that features a photo of my Great Aunt Hazel and her friend.  I wanted this page to include a mish-mash of vintage items, showcasing the beautiful Dragonfly Laser stamps.  They are so perfect on this page, and look completely at home with the rest of the vintage ephemera.

I cut the border shape from the Basic Grey paper, and used foam pop dots to adhere it to the background paper.  This gave the page a “shadow box” appearance, and allowed me to tuck some of the edges of the other papers and ephemera underneath to give a lot more dimension to the layout.

To create the vintage stamped cut-outs, I stamped the images on kraft cardstock using black CTMH ink.  I then used Tim Holtz Distress Inks to gently shade the negative spaces on the images, cut them out and placed them on the page.

“Vintage Style” by Angela Pruitt
Stamps: Dragonfly Laser “Vintage photo camera rubber stamp WM 2×2.3, Vintage phone rubber stamp WM 1.6×2.4, and Mason jars rubber stamp WM“; Cardstock: Paper Accents “12×12 Recycled Kraft- 80lb 100% Recycled paper“; Paper: Pink Paislee “Fascinating: Spectacular“, Basic Grey “Origins: Mud Mask“, Graphic 45 “Le Romantique: Celebration, Platimes Past: Child’s Play” Alphabet: Jenni Bowlin “Reverse Black Stickers“; Tools: Provo Craft “Cricut Expression, Calligraphy Collection Cartridge“, Embellishments: Gauche Alchemy “ACME Mixed Media Paper Craft Kit“; Ink: Close to My Heart “Antique Black“, Tim Holtz Distress Inks “Black Soot, Forest Moss, Rusty Hinge“

15.Oct.2010 Thank you, Kas!

My awesome friend Kas Mello of Art Loves Chaos bestowed on me the following sweet little blog award.  :)  Thanks, Kas!  <3

Now I’m supposed to post three things about myself.  Hmmmm….

1.  I am a total geek and love everything about history (especially Egypt) and science (especially astronomy)!

2.  I love the mountains, and hope to build a cabin in the Appalachians one day.

3.  I have a totally ridiculous fan-girl crush on Keanu Reeves and think he is chock full o’ hotness!

I’m supposed to post a fave pic, so here’s a pic of my favorite people (plus me!) wearing silly hats this past Christmas…

And now, I’m supposed to pass this award on to five other people/blogs I admire.

Candy Rosenberg – Certified Scrapaholic
Brenda Rose – Rose Blossom Legacies
Katie Turner – Teleroblog
Beth Moore – Runs With Scraps
Kim Sparks  - Memories in Thyme

13.Oct.2010 Colson’s Tool Tots layouts

I made the following two layouts using the Eye’m2Cute “Colson’s Tool Tots” collection.  For more information on these adorable lines, and to find out more about Eye’m2Cute and their upcoming products, read my Examiner.com article about them!

12.Oct.2010 Grin It to Win It

I have never been a huge fan of the clean and simple style of scrapbooking.  Although I like the way it looks, and I think it is very effective, it’s not really me.  I’m more of the eclectic, bohemian, cram-as-much-awesome-stuff-on-a-page-as-I-can kind of girl.

But when I was at a scrapbooking retreat last weekend, I had some scraps of paper left over from a kit that I wanted to use.  I went through my photos and found one of my son that I love.  I started arranging everything on the page, and I came up with this.  Once it was done, I tried to find an excuse to add more stuff to the page, but I was happy with it just like this!  How very unlike me.  :)