Categories
Baby Boys eCraft General Information Tips & Tricks

Well? Why shouldn’t I?!?!?!

“Firework”

You don’t have to feel like a waste of space
You’re original, cannot be replaced
If you only knew what the future holds
After a hurricane comes a rainbow

Maybe your reason why all the doors are closed
So you could open one that leads you to the perfect road
Like a lightning bolt, your heart will glow
And when it’s time, you’ll know

You just gotta ignite, the light, and let it shine
Just own the night like the 4th of July

‘Cause baby you’re a firework
Come on, show ’em what you’re worth
Make ’em go “Oh, oh, oh”
As you shoot across the sky-y-y

Baby, you’re a firework
Come on, let your colors burst
Make ’em go “Oh, Oh, Oh”
You’re gonna leave ’em all in awe, awe, awe

Boom, boom, boom
Even brighter than the moon, moon, moon
It’s always been inside of you, you, you
And now it’s time to let it through-ough-ough

‘Cause baby you’re a firework
Come on, show ’em what you’re worth
Make ’em go “Oh, Oh, Oh”
As you shoot across the sky-y-y

Baby, you’re a firework
Come on, let your colors burst
Make ’em go “Oh, Oh, Oh”
You’re gonna leave ’em all in awe, awe, awe
-Katy Perry

So I was sitting in my craft room playing Farmville *cough* I mean, brainstorming project ideas…yeah, that’s right – that’s what I was doing lol and I happened to glance over at the mini-baby book I had made a couple days prior. And as I sat there staring at the front cover, it dawned on me – Here I have a really great electronic die cutter, yet I bought embellishments from the store.

Why did I do that?!?!?! Do I not think that my eCraft is up to the task? No. We all know that Mischief is quite capable of some seriously impressive work… Do I not have the supplies on hand to make my own embellishments? I’ve got supplies lol No shortage there! heeheehee

Could it be something as simple as thinking mine could never look ‘that good’? Honestly…I think that’s exactly what went through my head. And I’m sure many, many years ago, that might have been the case, but its certainly not that way now. I just got into the habit of buying what was out there that I pretty much checked my crafting independence at the door. And anyone one that knows me…I mean, REALLY knows me…knows that I’m not one to back down from a challenge 😉

This week, instead of doing a full blown project – I’m going to show you a couple revamped embellishments, using some unexpected (at least from me lol) materials.

Look familiar, don’t they? They’re basically the same pages that I created last week…but with a twist! I’ll wait while you flip over to the previous post and look at the book again 😉

What I Used:
My rockin’ eCraft
eCraftshop Pro Software
Adobe Photoshop
eCraft Die-cuttable Paper – Blue Potatoes, Butternut Squash, Molasses Cookies & Mint
Inkjet Opaque Print & Cut – www.printonit.com
Peachy Keen “Funshine Face Parts’ stamp set
Epiphany Shape Studio
Stickles
Perfect Pearls
Black Ink Pad
Various Pattern Paper
Scotch ATG
Scor-Tape
Chipboard
Various Ribbons
Foam Glue Squares
Glue Dots
Craft Knife
Red Chalk
Cotton Fabric – Blue and Brown
Heat N Bond
Household Iron
Animal Print Image
Various Pattern Images
Printer

How I Did It:
I googled ‘patterns’ and found a bunch of images with patterns that were in similar color families as my project and I used Photoshop to ‘grab’ little squares of each pattern and created a mock quilt – complete with little embroidery lines lol Then I printed the quilt out onto the Inkjet Opaque Print & Cut paper. My mini-quilt is 2”x2”, so I used my eCraft to cut my quilt out of the paper, since I don’t cut all that straight freehand.

Did you know that your eCraft can cut fabric? I knew it could…but up until this week, I had never tried it.

The special Inkjet paper is meant to go on fabric… and that was exactly what I needed to add more realism to my little quilt… but in order to do that, I had some prep work to do.

Certain materials are stiff enough that you can run them through the eCraft in a freezer paper sandwich. But if your material frays easily, you can use Heat N Bond on one side to keep that from happening. I used my eCraft to cut out the Teddy Bear AND the ‘backing’ for my quilt. Since this is my first quilt, I kept the backing uber simple – blue cotton.

After cutting out the shapes, I set my teddy bear aside, picked up my blue cotton and the quilt I printed and ironed them according to the directions that came with the special Inkjet paper. SO COOL!

See how tiny that quilt is? That’s the paper ironed on to the fabric! Way better then some paper sticker…

Back to the Teddy Bear – since he was cut out of fabric, I cut a second bear out of paper and glued them together. The gave my bear the support he needed… I used my printer for the ‘Sleep tight’ lettering and stickles for the sparkly border.

I did the same thing with the giraffe, except he’s a combo of card stock and the special Inkjet paper…

I made the basic rattle shape in eCraftshop Pro – 3 circles, 1 rectangle…2 paths. lol I know you guys say you struggle with the software – but there really is A LOT you can do with basic shapes. A lot! I used a cute 2-tone blue striped image and printed it on the special Inkjet paper and then gave it a lovely coat of watery perfect pearls. Its hard to see the stripes, but they’re there… Slide the paper into the Epiphany Shape Studio, plop in the epoxy shape and presto! One very adorable baby rattle!

I’ve decided to re-vamp the entire baby book with embellishments made with my eCraft and I’m taking you along for the ride! Because if I can do it, YOU CAN DO IT!

Categories
Baby Boys eCraft Paper Crafting Scrapbooking Videos

Its a BOY!

With arms wide open
Under the sunlight
Welcome to this place
I’ll show you everything
With arms wide open
Now everything has changed
I’ll show you love
I’ll show you everything

With arms wide open
With arms wide open
I’ll show you everything …oh yeah
With arms wide open..wide open
-Creed

No-no, not me! Sooooooo not me! hahahaha Those days are long gone, sadly… But I can still delight in other people’s blessings 🙂 Babies, to me, are a new beginning, a new little world forming and bringing with it, the promise of a bright, new future.

This little mini-baby book is all boy! My daughter is my one and only, so her baby days were filled with pinks and purples and all those girly colors, so it was fun to venture into that other color scheme to see what I could come up with that was boyish but still sweet.

What I Used:
eCraft/eCraftshop Pro Software
eCraft Die-cuttable paper aka WorldWin CutMates
-Blue Potatoes
-Butternut Squash – Giraffe
-Creamy Butter
-Molasses Cookies – Teddy Bear
-Olive Oil
-Sea Salt – Overalls
-Spring Water – Elephant
-White Flour – Hanger
Jen Allyson ‘Designs’ SD card
Unity Stamp Itty Bitty stamp phrase
K&Company Embellishments (Walmart)
EK Success Stickers (Walmart)
Polka Dot Buttons (Walmart)
Peachy Keen ‘Funshine Shine Face Parts’ stamp set
My Mind’s Eye Vellum (Remember When…Scrapbooking, Valencia, CA)
My Mind’s Eye Antique Dots stack (Hobby Lobby)
Scotch ATG
Scor-Tape
Zig Glue Pen
Chipboard
Various Ribbons
Embroidery thread/large embroidery needle
O-Rings
Foam glue squares
Glue Dots
Unscented Baby Powder or Cornstarch
Baby Clothing Tag (Remember When…Scrapbooking, Valencia, CA)
Scissors, Craft knife, Ruler
Red Chalk – Teddy Bear cheeks
Ink pads – black, green & pearl
Twine
Printer

How I Did It:
The mini book covers were designed/created in eCraftshop Pro using just a rectangle and some circles in varying sizes. I used the template to cut the chipboard and the color cardstock covers and used some basics shapes to cut out the little sections of the book. Because I wanted to use a certain style of font, I printed the writing on the cardstock instead of using the pens in the eCraft (I did use them for the journals though). Hopefully, as more and more crafters start cutting their own embellishments, those with font creating talents will make more fonts geared towards us. I never knew that 98% of the fonts out there were hollow – great for cutting, but not for writing.

This is one of those projects where scraps reigned supreme! Because of how mini this book is, I was able to pull scraps from previous projects to avoid having to yank out a fresh FULL piece of cardstock. Especially since I am seriously coveting this particular cardstock. This stuff cuts like a dream *sigh*

The pages are simply a collection of embellishments, combined with a poem and space to jot down a few memories. This is my first time using Peachy Keen stamps and I must say, I LIKE ‘EM! Super cute, crisp clean lines and no strong odors – super important for me and my other 2 sidekicks; Asthma and Allergies. Those are 2 sidekicks that I’ve been trying to ditch for years, they just don’t seem to get the hint!

The super cute Baby clothing tag is proof that if you see something really cute, BUY IT! You may not have a need for it at that particular time, but one day – you will. I bought that little package (set of 2 tags) about 5 or 6 years ago, it was too cute to pass up. I just placed it in my ‘boy’ bin along with the velum and some other items I picked up along way. So if you were looking for a way to justify – there you have it!

I just love the expression on the teddy bear’s face! He’s quite ready to curl up with his favorite quilt for some much needed sleep. Tomorrow is a brand new day for him to lay claim to and make it his own!

Trucks just aren’t for girls, you know! lol Every now and then you gotta let the boys play with the cool toys or they get grumpy and go fishing or something along those lines. 😉

See those letters up there… Those are stickers. So is the rattle, the onesie, the ‘sleep tight’ phrase. Just cuz its sticky doesn’t mean we have to stick it to something! Just dust the back of the sticker lightly with some unscented baby powder or corn starch and With a Rebel Yell (thank you Billy Idol), your ‘sticker’ is neutralized. Pretty cool, huh!

And no book is complete without the perfect ending… Can you tell that I’m totally in love with this stamp?!?!?! lol Its hard to see it, but I used green ink on the stamp first and did a sort of colored watermark background and then with the pearl ink, I put the message clearly in the center. Obviously my photography skills rank lower than my stamping skills! LOL I know, I know…practice, practice, practice.

What technique are you working on right now?