Foiled!

Well, hello.  It's Crafty JoLynn, Teacher JoLynn's happy cousin, and it's Winter Break, so you know what that means!  Woo hoo!

There's a whole story to go with today's cards, so sit back, relax, and enjoy.

It all started in December, when Kim and I traveled to our favorite little-scrapbook-store-that-could, The Paper Forest, in Washington, IL, because it was hosting Gina K of Gina K Designs.  Truth be told: Kim followed Gina more than I had at that point.  I had done some foiling experimenting here and there, and I liked it, but it was some serious work (see my 2015 December Daily).  The main issue was that to foil well, your images needed to be printed on a laser printer, which I had no intention of purchasing.  I had purchased some adhesive and attempting stamping, a la Jennifer McGuire, but that required more patience than I tend to have. So it was with some trial and error that I came to this class.

Gina has a product line called Foil Mates. This class introduced us to the ease of their use in making absolutely beautiful cards, like this one.

Seriously simple and amazingly gorgeous.  We left with three cards and a bunch of purchased product (well, I did...Kim is way more conservative).  Kim also gifted me some great products for Christmas, and I gifted her a laminator, so we were ready to rock.  A play date occurred.  Reality came with it.

Imagine the profanities.

No, these things did NOT happen when Gina's smiling face was in front of us.  Man was this frustrating.  Rather than producing, our afternoon (and several days after that) was spent troubleshooting.  Why was the foil being finicky? Was it is?  Did we need a minc (we used mincs in Washington)? Why had I not had previous issues like this with foiling?

I e-mailed Gina K Designs, and Kim and I both scoured the digital crafting world, because we knew we could not be alone.  Here's what we now know to be helpful:

- Your laminator needs to be WICKED hot.  The typical 15-minute warm up is not sufficient.  You have to give it about 30.
-Dusting the image (similar to what one does before heat embossing) is a solid choice.
-A shim of 3-4 pieces of cardstock and a piece of parchment paper surrounding the "foil sandwich" helps tremendously.
-Putting the image through the laminator 2-4 times is another part of the success insurance policy.
-If you die cut, it's best to do so AFTER you foil, as your plates might cause dents in the image, and thus, trouble for the foil.

Now, we might have it down to a science.  Check these babies out:

Ah yes, THAT is what the previously-shown trial was SUPPOSED to look like.

Check out that shine.  I had to include a close-up.  Foil cards are a challenge to photograph! The background is from Taylored Expressions.  Cute?  Cute.

The stamped image on this final card is foiled in gold. I am not sold that the process is easier/better than just embossing in gold.  I followed Jennifer McGuire's tips for foiling on stamps.  It was not a flawless process, but I am glad I found some success with it.  It gives me a much broader range of use for the foil.

You may have noticed one additional card.  This one has no foil.

I have been watching a lot of tutorials for Gina K's wreath builder system.  I ordered one, but again, I lack patience.  So, I created my own stencil and gave it a try with a Papertrey set (Background Basics: Venice - no longer available through Papertrey) that was sitting around waiting to be inked (for, no joke, years).  Each of the images is a separate little stamp, and, with the MISTI and a template, a circular design of many colors was created.  There are some imperfections to my imposter system, but it allowed me to try out the concept.  There are MANY videos of ways cardmakers use this tool.  More to come, for sure!  Her daughter, Rina K, got me excited for the Mandala Maker set, which reminded me of the Papertrey set I already owned. Rina's You Tube videos crack my butt up!

Craftiness Over Winter Break

Apparently, I like to craft like the apocalypse is nigh when I have Winter Break.  I think my brain realizes that school has been pushed back, for now, and there are creative juices flowing.

Several things led up to this first project:

• I started a Pinterest board on Traveler's Notebooks.  They intrigue me.
• I have read and researched and followed creative as well as efficient people who have used Traveler's Notebooks.
• I have seen several people who have made their own covers.  This post is one I used to guide my project.
• I purchased several Midori inserts and a binder.
• I have watched countless videos on hand lettering (a passion of mine since I was 12).  I have purchased brush pens and printed practice sheets. (whole 'nother Pinterest board)
• I joined Cathy Zielske's Fit 2017 class.  In that class, she gave an option for documentation via Traveler's Notebook.
• I decided I wanted to try making my own "Fauxdori" Traveler's Notebook cover.
• I am a VERY novice sewer, so you are about to witness something that took a lot of stitch ripping, cursing, and machine instructions reading to get done.

I ended up using the suede side of the leather.  The flipside did not enjoy being sewed many times.  Leather is not as forgiving as other fabric.

I currently have two inserts that I use regularly in the "Fauxdori."  One is my Fit monthly journal and the other is my small group journal.

I got these trinkets at Michaels.  A constant reminder for me.

And these Heidi Swapp marquee letters were another project. I had started messing with these a few months back, then they went on the back burner.  When I finally had time to set the up, I found the "S" lights had a short in them, so I bought a new strand (Lord knows where a receipt was for that original purchase).  Not super impressive with a dark photo, but my son really likes them and wants me to make him one with his name. :)

December Daily: The End of 2015

I have been doing this little by little, as battling an ice blizzard and vertigo have kept me fairly unproductive in the area of my scrapbook.  In other words: Who knows what may have been if I had done this with room spins. :)

First, I finished up Day 16 with this calendar, using this freebie.

I made it 6 x 8 in MS Publisher and typed in the Hello Chunky font that I have been using throughout the album.  I printed on Bazzill Orange Peel (the smoother side).  The flipside is paper from the Ashley G DD kit that repeats the script "joy" in gold.

Thus begins the Christmas spread.  I love Christmas morning photos, as I believe the joy on a child's face and the tired-yet-happy looks on older faces is awesome.  Page one was simple.  I used my Ashley G card, a card from a Project Life holiday set, and I cut a 4 x 6 of the kids of my besties.  We have a tradition of meeting together at our friends' house every Christmas evening.  I cannot get over how much our kids are growing.  Age ranges: almost-19 to 9.

The flipside: I used 2 of Ali's 12 Days of Giving images.  For the stars, I foiled them on a white card you will see that in a couple pages, but liked the negative image so much, that I decided to use it as a 3 x 4!  I coupled it with a diagonal of a gold-foiled sentiment of Ali's.  The other two cards are, I believe, from Simple Stories sheets.  I used one of them to list a summary of each person's haul.

The double page spread looks like this.

I scored some gold and silver foiled labels at Micheals for 70% off!  I decided to use them as tabs for some of my pics, similar to how Ali used Avery tabs. I got lots of pics of my son's happy face.  Christmas morning is the happiest I have seen him in a LONG time.

The flipside of his pic is a photo that came to me as I was dozing in our bedroom.  The contrast of the blue sky and the Christmas lights was the perfect segue for a quick journal about the unseasonable weather.

I decided to use Max's actual list in the album.  I love his handwriting.

On the back of his list, I adhered part of a Toys R Us ad that he HAD to have to make his list.  Actually, he wanted their catalog, but the ad worked.  I decided not to be overwhelming with gift photos, so the next page has 23 different photos from that morning.  One is of me (the photographer) trying to deal with my vertigo (Merry Christmas to me!).

See them?  I used the gold foil stars in the extra 2 x 2 space. :)

These two photos are back-to-back and hold punched.  My boys and their musical toys.  Their dad loves to make sure Santa brings something wicked cool.

I placed the last pic in a modified page protector, as I feared it would take a beating being the last one.  How serendipitous that I JUST bought that Heidi Swapp washi tape?  And that I thought to take this shot?

My final journal card is on the flipside of the slumber photo.  I used another of Ali's 12 Days of Giving, and a Heidi Swapp Project Life card (from the Glitter Value Kit) I almost forgot I had. NOTE: Being overly organized is overrated.  Putting stuff "away" sometimes means forgetting you have it.  The lines for the journaling are hand-drawn.

I am so excited about this keepsake.  I did not allow it to be a time suck, and I enjoyed it very much.  If you are contemplating doing one, I am a huge fan.  

December Daily: Days 11, 12, 13

Welcome to more December Daily 2015!  Some of the following pages were a touch more time-consuming that was typical, but I say that in a good way.

I knew for Day 12 I wanted to use the 2 x 2s, so I thought that would make a nice double-page-spread for Day 11, as Day 11 was low in the photo area.  I decided to take a picture and journal on it for Day 11.  The journaling is in white, and is somewhat difficult to see.  I kind of liked it that way, considering the text's message.  It is definitely a metaphor for life being clear and unclear over the past two decades.  (Below is a closer shot.)  I decided to go with some see-through 2 x 2s with Heidi Swapp sequins.  Then I used Ali Edwards' December Daily (Technique Tuesday) stamp set to create a 2 x 2 back to back with a 2 x 2 on Day 12.  I used my Fuse tool to close up the sequin pockets.  For the patterned paper, I mainly used some craft patterned card stock from Stampin' Up! (I believe it is no longer available).  I liked balancing a couple of Bingo cards, and I thought the "Time" one was perfect for the page.

I had to do some blurring here because my niece wants her kids off social media.  Behind the blur, trust me, is one of the cutest faces ever.  On this day, I went to my great nephew's Baptism.  It was a whirlwind trip, and it was so nice to see everyone and their kids, even for just a day.

The middle vertical photos are adhered to each other and hole punched.  They are page-protector-free.  I was thanking the great gods of filters that I had Rad Lab, as the lighting in church was not the best for iPhone shots.

Here is a close look at these ca-yute tiny sequins by Heidi Swapp.

Despite the simplicity of this last page, I printed and reprinted these photos several times.  The page captures my [VERY] early morning flight and the weird, unseasonably-warm weather we are having this December.  Seeing the sun come up on a plane above the clouds is pretty cool.

I have lots planned for Days 14 and 15, but I am running out on time in the day.  Tomorrow!

A Crafty Labor Day

My first holiday of the school year.  Yes, I have school-related things to do.  But first, I must craft!

Project Life, Week 2.  Keeping things simple is my theme.  I am very happy for products from We R Memory Keepers, Heidi Swapp, Project Life, Versa Mark, and Lawn Fawn that helped with the creation of this spread.  I can't recall the maker of the apple and "School Rocks" images, as I just recently went on an organization spree and cut off the identifying info.  I do know it was a 12 x 12 piece of paper with lots of options.  The grid paper was the back of the clocks paper that I used in last week's spread.  Great, heavy patterned paper.  Not sure about the cloud patterned paper, either.  Part of my scraps.

And now, a card!

I have Lawn Fawn, Stampin' Up, VersaMark, and Copic to thank for this little cutie.  Sadly, it's for a friend who is battling breast cancer (have I mentioned lately how much I hate cancer?).  I tried to get a bit of the inside, where the sentiment reads "wishing you a speedy recovery."  The vase was cut out, paper pieced, and colored with Copics and Blendabilites.  I then popped it up on Dimensionals.

A New Project Life Album: Week 1

I decided it was time to get a Project Life album rockin' again.  This last school year with both boys at home is one that I felt needed to be documented.  It's the last breath of this stage of my parenting, and, quite frankly, it's going WAY too fast!  I needed some way to remind myself the happenings of this year.

The first page is actually a half page in the album.  I decided to crop photos as they are best cropped, and find page protectors after that, rather than taking/cropping pics to suit the pocket pages.  It worked pretty well, as I have a wide variety of the page protector designs.

The Title Page (12 x 6)
Photos by Studio Barbie and SarahKate Photography
Printed with permission

Week 1 DPS (well, 1.5PS)

Page 2

Page 3
Using two stamps that I love: My new Heidi Swapp roller date stamp (look carefully at the clocks) and Ali Edwards' Dear Time set

I am putting the pages in my new Heidi Swapp Project Life three-ring album.  (It's the second one from the left.)