Technique Tuesday 1-13-09

These awesome matches were made by my up-line Mindy Bywater.  She did them for a Convention Swap last year.  I think her and Janice used them for a club later because I made the card at one of Janice’s Demo Club nights.  Now your are probably wondering why they would be on technique Tuesday.  Well if you look closely at the ear of the Elephant you can see why.  On all of the animals she has used the beads.

I thought this was defiantly a fun and different way to use the beads.  If you’ve never tried them before then here’s the easy steps to use them.  I usually use both beads when I make things, but here she only used the micro beads.  I believe that we used the crystal effects.

First you want to stamp your image like normal.  Next you want to cut your image out if you are cutting them.  All the animals on the page are cut out.  The card is just on a square.  Once you have cut out your images you are ready to put on the beads.

wild-about-you-pagesI’m going to be bad here and suggest something other than our wonderful powder pals when working with the beads.  The reason is the tiny beads bounce really bad and are full of static.  I sometimes use the large powder pal underneath, but I’ve actually found what works best is a piece of paper folded in 1/2.  I use the grid paper because it’s nice and big.  I like the paper because it doesn’t cause as much static and I can fold it completely in 1/2 and pour the beads back into the container without them bouncing everywhere.

To apply the beads you want to apply just a very thin layer of crystal effects and then sprinkle on the beads.  Don’t worry about spilling some on your paper that’s why we made it so that we could funnel them back into the container. 

wild-elephantShake off any loose beads and set them aside and to dry.  Make sure you let them dry really good.  You don’t want to try and apply them to the page when they are still wet or you will squish your beads and it won’t look good.

If you are doing just a small area like on the giraffe.  (It’s just his tail and the top of his antlers.) The easiest and best way to do it is just to dip the end of the desired part into the beads.  This is a lot less messy and and a lot faster too.

Now you are probably wondering where she got the cute circles from that are on the two stripes.  It’s actually one of the center’s available for the Pick a Petal #109445 $27.95.  Another fun thing she added is all the dots on the words are actually brads.  They would also be really fun to do with the beads.

I hope you try this fun technique at home.  I will show you another time how to use the beads with both sizes.

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Marvelous Monday 1-5-09

This was a page swap from Convention last year.  It was made by my up-line Janice Barlow.  I wish you could see it in person because the picture really doesn’t give it justice.  She used the Card-stock Vellum to create the Sea Shells.  She stamped on it then dry embossed it and colored it on the back side I belive.  Either way it’s a really cool look and technique. 

beach-day-pagesI think this set is on the dormant list.  It’s called Seaside #110990 for $23.95.  I don’t think it’s retiring.  The words are schoolbook serife alphabet set #111121 for $40.95.

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Swapping Saturday 12-20-08

I really wish I knew who to give proper credit to for this card.  I believe it was a swap from Brandi Barnard’s meeting in October.  I just think it is really cute and shows how you can use the punches on stamp sets that weren’t designed specifically for them.  I believe this is actually the punch pals set though. 

s-3-tags-christmasYou probably can’t see it in the picture very well but she used crystal effects (I think) on the scarf the ornaments and the holly and nose.  They are stamped on white glossy paper so they really shine and it’s very cute.  The very merry and the snowflakes are embossed .   It’s very cute and you did a great job.  If anyone knows who did this card please let me know so I can give her proper credit.

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Swapping Saturday 12-13-08

Sorry this is late.  This is a 3D swap that I got from convention.  It was created by Tammy Johnson.  I love how she used the Bella Rose Designer Series Paper to create a Christmas Project.  She also used the Deer Friends Level 2 hostess set. christmas-card-box

I also love that the cute box hold 4 Christmas cards with envelopes.  The cards are actually the Note Cards which are a smaller size.  They are 5 x 3 1/2.  Just perfect for giving with a gift.  I hope you enjoyed this swap and be watching for more.  Thanks Tammy for your great project.christmas-card-box-cards

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Awesome Meeting

I’ve spent the weekend at a meeting my up-line Brandi Barnard put on.  It was so much fun.  If you are in my down-line and didn’t make it you really missed out.  If your not in my down-line yet there’s always a quick easy way to join in all the fun.  We had a great time swapping and made a fabulous project as well as visiting with friends and learning great tips to build our business.  There were also lots of great displays and I came back with so many fun project ideas that I can’t wait to show you.  Hopefully I will be able to get some of them posted here soon.