My Scrapbook Evolution-Blog: The Scientific Method

Showing posts with label The Scientific Method. Show all posts

Thursday, September 5, 2013

The Scientific Method: Spelling with Word Stamps

When it comes to stamps with words and phrases, I am the first to confess that I don't use them very often. I take the words given to me at face value. What the stamps says is what it says. It might be a phrase like Happy Mail or Love. Therefore, I must find a way to use those exact phrases on a layout. Right? This means the stamp waits in my supplies for just the right moment to be used. I am pretty sure I am not the only one.

When we see stamps, we take the whole word. When we use letter stickers, we take a different approach. We spell the word we want. What if we did the same with our stamps? Now you are probably saying, hold on a minute. The stamps is the way it is. How am I going to spell anything with a word or phrase stamp? It's a lot easier than you think.

Supplies
a scrap sheet of cardstock
a marker such as Tim Holtz Distress markers which allow you to color on a stamp
word or phrase stamps
a craft knife
small strips of scrap paper

Step One Color only the letter or letters that you want to use. In this case, I want the H and the A so that I can stamp ha ha ha over and over again. You may need to use several stamps to be able to spell out the new word or phrase that you desire.

Step Two Stamp the letters onto the scrap sheet of cardstock. Then use a craft knife to carefully cut your new word or phrase out.

Step Three This step is optional. You can adhere the phrase directly to the layout. However, I like to glue mine to a very thin strip of paper. I like the extra dimension this gives to the stamped phrase.

I stamped " Ha, Ha, Ha" from the letters in the Happy Mail Stamp. To create the stamped " lol", I first stamped the "L and O" from love, then stamped another "L" making sure it matched up with the O.

It really is that easy to create custom stamped words and phrases. It's just a matter of seeing the stamps in a new light.

What is that Noise by Christy Strickler Supplies| Cardstock: Bazzill; Patterned Paper, Stamps, Tape: Studio Calico; Marker: Ranger; Letters: Basic Grey, American Crafts; Die Cut: Basic Grey; Other: DMC floss; based on the September Sketch from Scraphappy.org

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

The Scientific Method: Pie Charts

It seems a lot of people out there love the pie chart trend. The topic has come up on scrapbook forums and among my creative team members. It would also seem that many people find themselves pie chart challenged. Some of my friends have lamented the fact that making a simple pie chart is more complex than it seems.

I wanted to share a tutorial all about making your own pie chart. It ended up being just a few steps, and honestly that was pushing it. I ended up writing a little article for the Scrapbook News and Review Magazine blog instead.

If I had gone ahead with the tutorial, it would have looked like this:

Step One: print template and cut it out.

Step Two: trace template pieces onto patterned paper and cut.

Step Three: adhere pieces together onto your layout.

See...not hard at all!

If you do decide to hand cut your own pie chart, remember to be forgiving. By that, I mean that I don't know anyone who can perfectly hand cut a circle. I think that's the problem with pie charts. People want theirs to look precise. The only way you will get a precisely perfect pie chart is to buy a die cut, cut one on a Silhouette machine, or use a stamp.

I don't know how long the pie chart trend will continue. As with any trend it's best to just relax and enjoy the fun while it's here.

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

The Scientific Method: LOAD213 and the 6x6 Paper Pad

In January, I wrote about CHA Temptation and how I love 6x6 paper pads. I know that a lot of people prefer 12x 12. I still love my 12x12 papers. I do however, also love how easy it is to store a 6x6 pad. I love how I get a little bit of every paper from the collection. My wallet also loves the cost. Sometimes though, you have to get a little creative when you use them. Today, I thought I would share a layout using only one 6x6 paper pad and a sheet of cardstock.

I started off by using a sketch from Shimelle.com. The sketch calls for the full use of the 12x12 canvas. This meant that I had to reduce the size of my canvas to accommodate the 6x6 papers. I cut the paper into strips and arranged them in a manner similar to the sketch. It was easy to choose the papers. Using a 6x6 pad takes a lot of guesswork out of the mix. All of the papers coordinate and it simply becomes a matter of choosing the ones you want.

Once I had adhered the paper to the cardstock, I stitched around the edges. I had used some of the borders from the top of each paper sheet. Many pads are printing designs on the top potion of the paper. The only con is that they also tend to have a hole in the dead center of the paper strip. I cut a paper strip of my own and used it to to cover the holes. I didn't need to carry the paper strip across the whole thing. It's easy to hide the gap with a photo.

It was now just a simple matter to embellish the layout as usual. Would you have ever guessed this was created using paper from a 6x6 paper pad?

Up High by Christy Strickler Supplies| Patterned Paper: Pebbles; Flowers: Sassafrass, Recollections; Stickers: Studio Calico; Dies: Sizzix; Brads: Making Memories; Other: Letter Stickers, glass beads, metal from a soda can; submitted to Simon Says Stamp Metal-ology challenge

I know it doesn't look exactly like Shimelle's sketch. That's ok. Sketches should be a starting point and guide. I let creativity drive my choices and I like the end result. I also love how friendly this layout was on my budget. I do admit that using a 6x6 pad can be tricky. Part of the fun, for me, is the challenge of making it work.

Friday, January 11, 2013

The Scientific Method: Tips and Tricks for Fussy Cutting

Fussy cutting was originally a sewing term referring to the removal of images from cloth. Many paper crafter's have adopted this method to fussy cut images from patterned paper. It's a wonderful way to extend the supplies you have on hand and to customize paper to fit your story. It works well on papers with busy patterns or patterns that might not fit your style.

Do you remember how I love to get warehouse mystery boxes? While I love most of the supplies they hold, there are, at times, a sheet or two of a paper I just don't like. Either the paper is not my style or I don't expect to ever use the theme to document a story. This was one such sheet of paper that I received in a Rusty Pickle grab bag. I have a son so it's difficult to find a use for this particular paper. I decided it would be perfect for some photos of our cat playing in a paper shopping bag.

I used a craft knife to extricate the paper shopping bags. You can also use small scissors, however I find that a craft knife has one huge advantage. You can cut something more easily out of the center of the patterned paper with a craft knife. This leaves behind a negative image that can be used later on as either a stencil or on another layout. In this case, since I don't like other parts of this patterned paper, I might flip it over to use the B side with the negative images.

To save a little on supplies, I cut the two sheets of blue patterned paper a bit smaller than I needed them. The border I plan to create with the shopping bags will hide the gap between the blue papers. No one but you will know it's there. You will now have just that tiny extra bit of blue paper leftover to use elsewhere.

With any patterned paper, there may be instances in which the image you desire to remove is not intact. Other images may be layered over it or part of an image may run off the page. In this case, I had parts of green striped boxes on my shopping bags. I hid most of them by strategically layering the paper bags over one another.

The rest of the boxes were hidden with buttons. If your image is not intact, consider places you can tuck the undesired portions underneath photos or other parts of your layout Use embellishments to hide any other unwanted parts.

The Paper Bag Princess by Christy Strickler Supplies| Patterned Paper: October Afternoon, Rusty Pickle; Alphas: Sassafrass; Buttons: Basic Grey; Chipboard: Tattered Angels; Ink: Ranger; Die Cut: K and Company; Marker: Bic Mark-it; Other: kraft cardstock

As you can see, the customized border works perfectly with the photo. Fussy cutting allowed me to make use of a sheet of paper that I might not have used otherwise.

For additional fussycutting tips, check out Ideas and Tips for Fussy-cutting on Paper and Digital Scrapbook Pages on the Get It Scrapped Blog.

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

The Scientific Method: Creating a Pocket Full of JuJu

Last month, I was honored to be a guest for JBS Mercantile. I received several kits for November which featured awesome black, red and cream papers. I still have a lot of product left to play with. However, I also wanted to extend the kits I have. I am on a limited budget and there are not any local stores that carry JBS Mercantile products. The answer to my dilemma was to go hybrid.

I chose two specific kits. The Red and Black Extension and the Vintage Cream and Black digital kits were perfect compliments to the JBS Mercantile November papercraft kits.

From my November papercraft kit, I selected a sheet of paper covered in shirts and blouses. I printed a few sheets of patterned paper from the Red and Black extension to match. Then I set to work creating my layout.

I love the packaging my stamps come in. Now that the stamp was safely stored away, I knew this would make a wonderful journal spot.I simply needed to cut off the top portion of the card.

I used black cardstock to matte my papers and photos. Now I just needed to add the title and embellishments. You may be wondering what a cat and paper with shirts have to do with each other. My cat is in the suitcase which, as we all know, holds clothes. I also liked the coupons. When we do pack a suitcase, it often weighs in at the airport around 50 pounds.

I decided on the title, mostly based on the red letters left in the package. Originally, I was going to use "Pocket full of Kitteh!" Machine stitching and outlining the letters with marker made the title stand out a bit more.

I embellished the layout with handmade flowers. I cut strips of printed paper, but found them to be a bit stiff. If I had thought about how I would use the paper, I may have printed it on lighter weight cardstock. I worked the paper back and forth, bending it to make it more pliable. Then I was able to create the flowers.

A Pocket Full of JuJu by Christy Strickler Supplies| Cardstock: Colorbok; Patterned Paper, Digital Paper, Buttons: Jenni Bowlin Studio; Alphas: American Crafts

I liked the ease of using the digital papers. I used to print and use paper like this when I first started scrapbooking. I abandoned it long ago due to the low quality of the printed papers around 2001. Now, having a really high quality printer ( I use an Epson Artisan), good cardstock, and wonderful digital files make printing your own paper and embellishments a wonderful alternative. I don't have to worry whether I have just the right paper. If I need to, I can search on-line, find what I need and then press print.

For printing tips, check out the article I wrote for today's Workshop Wednesday post at the Scrapbook News and Review magazine blog.

Related articles

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

The Scientific Method: Tips for Journaling on Your Photos

I know some of you might be a little squeamish about the idea of writing directly on your photos. However, in this day and age of digital prints, you really should consider trying it. It's a great way to add some visual interest to your layouts. In some cases, it helps compensate for not so great photography.

All you need is a photo with some extra white space and a permanent marker. I like to use Bic Mark-its since they are acid free. American Crafts has a selection of slick writers markers which work well too.

There was a lot of open space in these photos which makes them a good candidate for journaling directly onto the photo. My cats are playing a game in which they stick their paws under the door. One cat must catch the other cat's paw. The story is not very obvious, so journaling is a must.Writing on the photo compensates for the stretch of ugly grey carpet.I can include more photos in the layout design and still have a lot of story written. I used a ruler to help me stay a little more even as I wrote.

The background is a grainy photo taken while we were driving in the car. I purposefully blew it up to a larger size, knowing there was a lot of white space in the sky. I was then able to layer page elements, photos and journaling over the photo. The larger photo becomes part of the background, adding visual interest.

Tips:
-If you are nervous about writing directly on the photos, consider using scrap pieces of cardstock to journal on. Then add your journal strips to the photo.
-Choose photos with lots of white space. While on outings, look for opportunities to take photos with interesting backgrounds. Include those backgrounds or large sections of sky in the photo knowing you can journal on the open spaces later.
- If you make a mistake, correct it by using journal strips for some words in your journaling. You can also use acrylic paint the same way you use white out.

Don't be nervous about writing on your photos. Think of it as another way to embellish your layout. If all else fails, you can always print another photo.