Fiskars Fun Part 2: All of the Projects

Hi Everyone!

I am posting all of the projects we worked on last night in case you didn't have time to finish. I know some of these are in the previous post, but I wanted to put them all together so you don't have to sort through other posts. I hope you had a great time and that you'll come to my next Fiskars class on Oct. 3. We'll be making a fall-themed layout (great for Thanksgiving pics or for those playing in the leaves photos) and a bunch of animal themed cards (see the froggie card, previous post), including a pet themed one (choice of dog or cat) since I know you guys love your little critters!

For those who couldn't make the class, I'd love to see you at the next one. Sure, we had a few learning experiences (I think we had too many projects in too little time and everyone seemed to want more cards, fewer layouts) but that's ok--that just means our next class will be even better! I also had a request for a class using some of the cool clear stamps by Heidi Grace or Lil' Davis, so keep an eye out for a stamping class soon. To be honest, I kind of shied away from stamping in this first class simply because I teach so many stamping classes already (I'm a Stampin' Up rep), but I'm always up for more stamping! I'm thinking perhaps a holiday card class in November. Anyone interested?

On to the pics. If you have any questions, just let me know!

Review: Archivers' Totally Clear Acrylic Album 2 Class

Yep! I made it out of the house on Saturday despite my rather painful weekend (my spine was being quite bitchy, let me tell you.) Archivers' and an acrylic album beckoned and I could not but follow. ;)

This is the cover of the finished album. One thing I have to give Archivers credit for is always using great quality "ingredients". The class was $18, which I think was a fair price considering the outcome. If you just want a clear album, yes, you can make it cheaper on your own, provided you have the necessary stamps or a similar set you're willing to substitute, but I do enjoy the social aspect of the classroom experience, especially getting to see what other people do to their albums to make them unique. Even with explicit instructions, everyone has their own flair.

One thing Archivers has improved on drastically over the last year is its instructor training. In the past I attended some classes that really seemed as if the instructor had never made the project before--or even read the instructions till they got to the class. Not good. When I pay a class fee, I expect that part of that fee is paid to cover the instructor's time and skill, so when an instructor just reads from the same instructions I have sitting in front of me, I'm really unhappy. I can read on my own. Really. I have a rather useless English degree under my belt. This time, our instructor was not only familiar with the class and able to actually teach, she also had a lot of handy tips, tricks, and ideas to share. In the past, I've had instructors get nervous, even snippy, when I diverged from the instructions because I preferred a different look (for example, I almost always do all I can to avoid the colors peach and yellow in any project I make. That's because these colors are gross. Seriously. Gross.) Lisa (the instructor who ran the class) was encouraging and didn't freak out when I dumped out all of the pens and things onto the table to use the little bucket to trace a circle.

I'm only showing a page or two here because I don't want to spoil the class for those who'd like to take it. Let me just say that I was very pleased with the results. One tip I highly recommend is to remember to bring your photos to any album class. Inevitably some parts of the project will be intended to overlap a photo, and you're bound to lose the pieces or have them damaged if you try to take them home and add them later. Also, if you are like me, you will let the album sit around forever waiting for pics to be added if you don't finish it in one sitting. Also, bring your own adhesive. I've never been to a class that wasn't stingy about their adhesive, so I won't blame Archivers for this--it seems to be a disease all instructors are infected with and a pet peeve of mine, but so it goes. I always pack my own. It's especially a good idea to bring your own tape runner when working on a project like this one without any protective sleeves. You want all of your photos and embellishments to withstand a lot of handling.

And yes! Here is another area where Archivers has improved dramatically. Remember that summer themed chipboard book class from last year? The one that took an extra four hours to complete outside of class, even if you did bring your photos? I'm a very quick scrapbooker, relatively speaking, and if I had four hours of extra work, I can only imagine how many of these albums went unfinished. I've started taking their classes again pretty regularly and they seem to have learned that people really prefer to actually finish a project when they take a class. And we don't want to leave the class totally stressed and out of breath from having to endure an intense time crush. The acrylic album class was relaxed, yet kept me busy enough that I didn't get bored and start wandering the store (short attention span). We left with a cute, completed project and a good 20 pictures (or thereabouts) beautifully displayed. Neat!

If you are the kind of person who freaks out about cutting their photos, you may want to bring duplicate copies or choose not to take this class since it does require a fair amount of photo trimming. If you're like me, though, and like something kind of funky and fun, you'll love this class. In the end, the time and money I spent on this class was well worth the results and I do think this album will be one I enjoy for a long time. I also feel confident now that I know how to use acrylic albums, which I didn't feel I could do before. Good class. Take it if you have an Archivers near you.

Review: Myrtle Beach Scrapbooking Stores

Happy Happy Happy Happy Happy Happy Happy Happy Happy Happy Happy Happy Happy

This, my friends, is how I feel when I go to a new scrapbook store. Or heck, even when I go to one of my favorites I visit all the time. I just know I love to shop for art supplies and scrappy stuff. :) So, when I ended up in Myrtle Beach, hanging with the inlaws, I had to check out the places where the locals scrap.

Snooping around online, I found two scrapbooking/stamping stores in the Myrtle Beach area. Scrapbooks By the Sea and Artful Legacy. Now, if you're one of those people who thinks a fifteen minute drive is a painfully distant journey, you're not going to get to either of these stores. However, if you have the attitude that a vacation is an adventure, and you enjoy checking out the scenery beyond the beach, hop in the car and enjoy the ride.

I intended to visit Scrapbooks by the Sea first, but got terribly lost because I forgot to note that they aren't in Myrtle Beach proper when I popped the address into mapquest. Oops. And yeah, I now know that there's a map right there on their website that would have made things much easier, but in my excitement to get shopping, I overlooked it completely. Finally after leading Scott (who was driving--I never learned how and now due to my heavy pain meds (see my other blog, Handiscrapped) I would probably get a DWI or the like if I tried.) up and down all sorts of confusing streets, I called the store and they politely explained my error (extra congeniality points for not guffawing at my lostness), and finally we were moving in the right direction.

We got what I would later learn was about halfway there, when I caught a glimpse of Artful Legacy and nearly crawled out the car window before Scott could even finish the U-turn to get there. Stepping into the store I was greeted with a welcome blast of air conditioning and my first glimpse at a sparkling wonderland of stamps and papers, tiny little metal embellishments, and friendly service. I could feel my bank card bleeping away dollars before I'd even had a close-up look at the inventory.

One thing I absolutely adore when travelling is finding local treasures you simply can't get anywhere else. These things are by far the best souveneirs, far surpassing any plastic dome with Santa on a surfboard being snowed upon. So I nearly swallowed my tongue when I was told that the aisles and aisles of wood-mounted stamps I was parousing were exclusive to Artful Legacy, made by their own artists! No freakin' way! I had hit the motherlode!

The thing that really stands out about Artful Legacy's home-grown stamps is the variety of artistic styles they feature. I don't know who chooses their art, but they do a fantastic job of creating a line of products that run the gamut when it comes to appealing to stampers of all types. They have ones that appeal to the "cutesy" crowd (I chose the dog saying, above, but they also had tons of doodled designs as well), the sassy girls (I can't recall the sayings offhand, but you know the type--chocolate and hot flashes dominate. :)), country/genteel (florals, scenery, etc.), Christian religious stamps, and my favorite--the artsy altered look kind. If I had unlimited funds, I would have picked up even more of those in this last category. It made me wish they had an online catalog so I could order more, but on the other hand, perhaps their rarity makes them all the more wonderful. They aren't designs you see over and over, and there's something great about associating these stamps with the memory of actually being on location, so I can remember my travels each time I stamp with them.
Correction: They do appear to have their stamps available online, though at the moment it's a little confusing to work with. It may be an in-progress kind of thing, but it's there if you'd like to take a look.

Oh, and I need to clarify for the anti-wood mount crowd--their designs are also available unmounted or sticky mounted. I apologize for not knowing the technical term for the type that are opaque but still will stick to a block. They're not acrylics, but they still stick. If you know the proper name for these, please leave a comment and let me know.

Speaking of unmounted stamps, I had to pick up this set of dog stamps. If you're into dogs and stamping, you likely already know that there is an overabundance of poodle images and vaguely beagle-y dogs, and very few that feature other breeds and mixes. So I had to have this set. Yeah, I know it has a poodle toom, but look! A German shepherd dog, a spaniel, an Italian Greyhound (I know you're totally envious, Laura (mom to Stella, the spunkiest of IG's). Crop with me and *maybe* I'll let you play with these! :)), a tiny terrier, a French bulldog, etc. One question I have is why the dog walker has no head. I'm guessing it's based on a story written by Washington Irving's dog, but if you know differently, please comment and let me know!

I know I'm rambling, but if you're ever in the Myrtle Beach area, do check out Artful Legacy. I dumped out my entire bag of purchases for the photo below (minus the album I altered which you saw at the beginning of this entry. Check out all the cool hard-to-find altering tools I can't wait to dig into. I'm not even sure, exactly, what to do with the sparkle powder, but I'm going to have fun figuring it out. :) I was so excited to find Doodlebug flocking! I haven't seen it anywhere else yet, and WOW do those colors just spring out at you. Prices were reasonable, and you can't see them in the pic (oops! I forgot to add them to the pile) but I also got a fabulous deal on some of my favorite (and usually *so* pricey) magazines from their clearance table--Somerset Studios magazines and the like...you know what I'm talking about. Beautiful magazines, incredible art, but running about $14.95 an issue it's hard to justify picking them up. Half price makes me go wild! :)

The envelope above is filled with tiny charms from their salad bar-style charm display where you can pick and choose them individually. I couldn't resist the little bag of old watch pieces either, which has got me thinking about taking a hammer to a few old timepieces I have laying around here. Hmm...perhaps another entry?

The only thing that gave me pause at all was the "See you in church" entry every Sunday on their store hours calendar and a few other bible-y statements, and this is only because I have been run down by conversionists at scrapbooking events in the past. I certainly enjoy a good discussion on the topic of religion and I know a lot of mighty fine Christians, but I get a little twist of fear in my stomach when I think I may be walking into a Jack Chick style rumpus room. I was only there for an hour or so, but honestly I don't think anyone need worry. Everyone was wonderful, kind, and helpful, and I didn't feel assailed-upon at any time. I didn't catch any sort of intolerant vibe, merely a gentle open-ness about their own beliefs.

Moving on...I didn't make it to Scrapbooks by the Sea until a few days later because after all that shopping at Artful Legacy, I was a bit worn out. So, here we go on excursion two:

Scrapbooks by the Sea turned out to be considerably further away than we thought it was. It's definitely a jaunt from Myrtle Beach (I'd guess 45 min-1 hr?) but if you're near Pawleys Island, you may want to take a look.

Located in a cute little shopping center, the store definitely has a breezy, beachy feel. The front door is open much of the time and driving up to see the proprietor sitting out front, enjoying the afternoon, is decidedly picturesque.

The store itself is, well, tiny and had the feel of visiting a close friend's crop room, which is not a bad thing, certainly. The front of the store is mostly beach-related scrapbooking stuff for the tourists. They have, what I am guessing is every single beach related scrapbook paper available, and lots of pre-made die cut paper piecings directly related to the area. If you're doing a family album about your vacation, and you took pics at all the regular tourist spots (Broadway at the Beach, pirate museums, etc.) they have all the headers and papers you could possibly desire. If you're looking for much beyond that...it's likely not there.

I did pick up a couple of neat items I hadn't seen before (looooove that template!) but unless you're looking specifically for beach themed items, or you happen to be staying nearby, I'm not sure you'd really want to drive as far as we did. Don't get me wrong, this is in no way a bad store, it's just set up primarly for the locals, and that's important too. From the time I spent sniffing around the place, I caught that special orders are really the way to go when you're shopping there and that they host a ton of cool events if you're in the area long enough to check them out. The crop room is HUGE for such a small store, so I'm guessing that if you live around there, you will love to hang out for classes and crops.

If you do decide to visit Scrapbooks by the Sea, there are a couple of other things to check out nearby. I was totally thrilled to find that the shopping center is adjacent to Haunted Trail:

Though despite my dramatic expression, we didn't encounter anything otherworldy. Perhaps it's scarier at night?

Across the street is a fabulous dog store that pet lovers *must* drop by.
Puparazzi / 10729-B Ocean Hwy / 843-235-8822
Unfortunately they don't seem to have a website, but they do have a fantastic selection of dog-themed art, home decor items, dog toys, cool games and crafts (they had a scrapbook kit that was very cute, but that was it--I do, however, kind of regret not picking up one of the dog themed paint by number kits. So retro!), and cute clothes for dogs and people. It may sound odd (okay, it definitely sounds odd), but the night before we visited Puparazzi, I had been lamenting the absence of matching dog/human pajama sets. Lo and behold, what do I find at Puparazzi, but the very same! I totally freaked out and of course bought a pair for me and for Revco. Yes, he actually likes wearing pajamas and such. Little dogs with very short hair get chilly easily. He's sitting by the cooling fan of my laptop as I write this, enjoying the hot air (there's a joke about this blog in there somewhere). I did not get any for Usagi, not because I'm neglecting her, but she simply hates dog clothes of any kind unless it is snowing or extremely cold out. Then she will wear a jacket only while outside, and will immediately try rubbing it off on the couch the second she gets indoors. I managed to get Scott to get the matching boxers, which he only submitted to because of the weirdness of bringing up the topic of dog pajamas then finding some purely by serendipity the next day. My arguement was that if anyone breaks into our bedroom with the intention of slaughtering us all, they will be so overcome by the cuteness of us all that they won't be able to kill us. Useful, eh?

Scrappers 10 with Terri

I loooove this group! We week once a month to make things from Stampin Up products. You'd think I was a consultant from how I gush over all their stuff. I spend waaay too much on stamps and I'm completely addicted to their cardstock now that they've pretty much spoiled me for anything else, as far as blanks go. The colors are great and the texture is better than any others I've found. Creative Memories, I'm sorry, but a lot of yours is too akin to construction paper for the price (though the prints are pretty neat, and I adore their little scrap pack things with the journaling boxes...I could go on, but we're talking about something else here.) and Bazzil...it's great for a lot of things, but not for stamping. It's got that weird grid texture.

Anyway, check out the cards we made. Terri had some really fun ideas this time, my favorite being the one on the far left with-get this!- scratch and sniff embossing. Too cool! It's just Kool-aid powder and some heat and stick powder. Now I have to get to the store to scope out different flavors...er...smells to try. You can also use spices, like pumpkin pie spice for Thanksgiving cards, and being totally goofy as I am, I'm totally thinking we need some chili powder embossing powder for a taco night invitation. (As an aside I love the invitation they made on Scrap! on PBS, but I just don't have the wherewithall to go find all the various types of industrial plastic required to make each guest lifelike tacos, hand delivered. It was incredibly cool, yes, but come on...poly this and that? Oh my. I believe I just walked into a dirty joke. Anyway...)

It's not easy to see in the picture, but there is a neat technique on the sympathy card that I'd never seen before. Terri showed us how to use an atomizer thing along with one of those incredibly expensive Stampin Up markers to blast tiny flecks of color across the entire card. It had the effect of unifying the layers, though if you are squeamish about it and put too little, it could end up looking like you spilled something on the card. Overall, I give it a thumbs up. I don't know how expensive the apparatus is, but if it's not too pricey, it would be neat to have. I doubt it's going to be a core tool for anyone, but it would be fun to pull out for something extra now and then.

The tiny card was done to show off this catalog's punch box set. The punch is a line of 3 little flowers and, of course, you also get a stamp set to match. If you ordered it last month (and, of course, I had to. A cool new toy *and* a deal to go with it? Like I could say no.) you also are getting a set of little gift card blanks to start playing with right away, just like the one you see in the pic. I love those tiny little cards for throwing into care packages, hiding for friends to find, and for a little gift topper in place of an overwhelming birthday card. I like birthday cards, of course, but they seem like a bit much when they're huge honking things on top of a cute little present. Mail the big card and use one of these for gift delivery. The recipient gets two surprises (and who doesn't like that?) and your present is less cumbersome when you're juggling it, a purse, and your shoes at the sushi place.

So, I'm very excited to go to the next Stampers 10! I was sad last time that my friend Jen K. couldn't make it (she was being held hostage by her inlaws, I think.) so it'll be doubly fun at the next one. Whoo hoo!

More layouts from the CM crop...

This layout would probably embarass my poor brother (Nicky of Scars and Stripes) to death. I'm proud of his keyboard work in their punky rock-n-roll band ("they" including my other brother Mikey, the bassist/frontman last I heard though it seems like they switch around all the time so I could be wrong.) Anyway, a bit of Nicky's musical foundation is exhibited in this die cut sprinkled page. Yeah, it's a bit on the dorky side, but I wanted to reflect the rather dorky feeling one always has posing for their mom before a high school choral concert circa 1990. I used the blue flowers to pick up that colonial blue in the decor in the background--a color oh so very popular at the time, and of course, I had to match it with duty rose to complete the 90's ish "decorator" style. Notice the other artifact of the period style? Yep. There's a painting of geese in the background. You'll be glad to know that yes, mom has updated the look of the house. To prove that I'm decendent of a craftygirl, check out the little blue stuffed cat by Nick's rented shoes...she made that!


Hooray for a snowy layout! I hate summer. I hate the heat. So why not escape into some paper flurries. I used the brand spankin new snow-blossom punch from Stampin Up to make the flakes, then punched some brads (from the Fiskateers again...Heidi Grace, I think--the soft blues went very nicely with the Stampin Up cardstock cutouts), then added some nifty Creative Memories stickers and a journal box I got at the crop. I really like the icy look and the way the stickers ended up looking like they were falling. If you can see the pics at all, that's my little dog Usagi enjoying the snow.


Okay, I made an effort to turn this rightside up and yet...it was probably better off sideways. Sigh. Well, it was a very cute rat layout using some lovely products I received via a Fiskateers contest (Whoo hoo!) I loved the paper, loved the stickers, the tissue paper that said it was good for backing photos...looks good, but was a total pain to work with. I'll keep the rest for fluffing up gifts or possibly for decopaging stuff. Cool designs though. I think we need more gift wrapping stuff to go with altered gift bags, the tags we work so hard on, etc. So, it's a good product, just don't try to mat photos with it.