Thank You Card

This is a thank you card I made yesterday. I just love this color combination! Certainly Celery, Bashful Blue and Close to Cocoa. Finished size is 5x5.
All stamps, ink, paper and embellishments are Stampin' Up!

Themed Fonts

I was asked where I got the "Friends" font used in my best friends album and thought it might be of interest to everyone. The short answer is "I don't remember." However it wasn't hard to find. Just do a Google search for Friends font and see what you get. Here is a cool website that has tons of themed fonts from tv shows, movies, bands as well as many other familiar brand names.
typenow.net
As a designer and scrapbooker, I can never have too many cool fonts.

Hey Sweetktea!

I'm thinking about renaming this blog "Katie Capers" since you are my most loyal reader! Thanks a lot for your comments. I know I can always count on feedback from you. It's funny how much more I've gotten to know you these past couple months through blogging. I think we have so much in common. Here's to our skinny Christmas photo/scrapbook extravaganza! (We could even scrapbook our progress.) LOL!

Altered CD Tin

Today is my best friend Anne's birthday. Happy Birthday Anne...here is your gift. I decorated a cd tin and inside is a photo cd as well as a small round album that she can fill and decorate with photos and journaling. What do you think?

Papers are Bo Bunny Press and Anna Griffin. Cherry buttons are Paper Bliss

Best Friends Gift Album

Last year for my best friend's birthday, I made her an album of all the fun stuff we've done together. I think there were about 25 pages total...these are just my favorites from the album.

Birthday Card and Gift Bag

Here is a card and gift bag I made for my BF's birthday 2 years ago. We went out for tea at the Pomeroy House in Washington and had a great time. Stamps, ink and paper are Stampin' Up!

I Love 7 Gypsies Ephemera Products...discuss

As I was checking out after the all night crop at my LSS last Friday, I saw the coolest embelishments for sale at the counter. They are from 7 Gypsies. I love their stuff. So cool and yet so timeless. Anyway they have these new tags called 97% complete and it was all I could do not to buy one of each. Here are just a few samples and a link to their website: 7-Gypsies


Aren't these great? I just love all the cool office ephemera that people use in scrapbooks. Someday I am going to be brave enough to try it, but there is such a specific look to it. I need to expand my style a little more...get a little more artsy-fartsy. I love the look of collage that is used on heritage pages such as this picture I found on the 7-Gypsies web site:
Ephemera: (uh-fem-er-a) n. 1. ornamental paper embellishments for scrapbooking, cards, collage or altered books. 2. printed material of passing interest, as in periodicals or pamphlets.

Here are some ideas I found on Paperwishes.com

Tips and Tricks for Using Ephemera

Cut or tear out the images and use them as is—or try a few of these techniques.

* Distressing: Cut or tear out the image, then crumple it into a ball; smooth out and then lightly sand to further distress the paper.
* Chalking: Use your finger, a small foam applicator or a cotton swab to apply chalk to the edge of the parchment, vellum or paper, or to highlight a certain word. Apply the chalk lightly at first, then add more to darken the color. If you need to lighten or remove some of the chalk, use a white artist’s eraser.
* Direct-to-Paper Inking: Place a rubber stamp inkpad directly on the paper. Tap the pad for light coverage, or drag it for thicker, complete coverage. You can also rub the inkpad along the edge or the top of the paper—this looks great on both torn or straight edges!
* Stippling: Tap the bristles of a stippling brush onto a rubber stamp inkpad. Hold the brush straight and gently tap the bristles on the paper. For best results, choose an ink color that matches or complements your project. Tip: Some inkpads will be wetter or have more intense colors. Stipple the color onto a scrap piece of paper before applying it to your Ephemera piece!
* .Attaching Ephemera: Attach your Ephemera image with glue, foam tape, brads, eyelets, safety pins, staples or stitches.

Baby Crazy

I don't know what got into me today. When I was looking for photos to post, I found all these baby themed projects. Not all of them are paper crafts, but I hope they inspire you none the less.

Bubble Bath

The bubble background on this page was made by doing the following:
1. Take a cup (disposable) and put in equal parts dish soap and paint (or re-inkers). Filling it no more than 1/2" from the bottom.
2. Add a couple drops of water and stir with a straw, making sure that it doesn't get too frothy.
3. Now blow until bubbles start forming.
4. Keep blowing until you have a pile of bubbles flowing up past the rim of the cup.
5. Carefully invert your paper onto the bubbles. Don't let your paper touch the rim of the cup or you will get a circle of paint on your paper too.
6. Repeat until your whole page is covered.


The stamped letters were made by applying several layers of Chrystal Effects to them before I cut them out. All stamps, ink and paper are Stampin' Up!

Handmade Baby Gifts

I was so excited when my best friend went to Texas to adopt their baby boy that I wanted to surprise them with a few baby things for the nursery. I painted the star yellow and stamped the details with an alphabet set, applied glitter to the letters and attached a ribbon for hanging. The canvas drawing was a group effort. Z did the blue painted background and N did the drawing and wrote the name. For each of my kids, I have kept the newspaper from the day they were born. Since Anne was in Texas, I doubted she would think of this...so I got one for her and tied it up with a ribbon.

First Birthday Ducky card

I made this for my niece on her first birthday.
This is pretty much the same card as the one I posted before, I just wanted to show what I did on the inside. The finished size is 6x6 which makes it a perfect fit for a 6x6 scrapbook album. All you would have do is cut down the middle of the open card and you would have 2 6x6 pages!
Stamps, ink and paper are Stampin' Up!

Baby Shower Momento

When I threw a baby shower for my friend Anne, we decided to do a tea. So I made up a little booklet with the menu on the front. On the inside there were pages that told the history of tea, how to brew the perfect cup of tea as well as a few tea recipes (scones etc.) It's hard to tell in the photo, but the booklet it hole punched at the top left corner and held together with a ring that has blue ribbon tied to it. I also made the invites that turned out sooo cute, but I didn't take any pictures. I will post a picture when I find my copy of the invite. (it's probably in a box somewhere in the garage...not unpacked from the move yet!) For party favors, everyone got to take home a little silver tea spoon.

Baby Shower Gift

Here is a paint can I did for my friend's baby shower (18 months ago). There are small pieces of blue paper attached to the side and inside there were things for making baby scrapbooks. On the lid, the text reads:
Baby books are great fun, but sometimes you're so busy... Living with a little one can put you in a tizzy. Milestones pass too fast at times to find the propper page. So jot a note with each event, with date and Isaac's age, then drop it in this memory can to help you remember each wonderful stage.
(This saying came from Pea Soup on the 2 Peas website) The background paper used is from Stampin' Up! (but it's been retired)

Baby Thank You Card

This is a thank you card that I made for everyone who gave me baby gifts after baby #3 was born. By the time you have 3 kids, people just kind of assume you have all you need. Although we did have most everything, all the clothes for H were the wrong season, so I was gratful to have some new clothes for him...sweaters in August just didn't cut it!!!
Stamps, ink and paper are Stampin' Up!

Under the Sea Party

Here are the pages for DD's under the sea party when she turned 4. The background paper is from the Disney Princess collection. The Ariel cutouts are Jolee's Botique, the letters were hand cut from a stencil, the mermaid cutout was made by me using a stencil from Close to my Heart. I made tons of these for her invitation and attached them as a tag to the outside of an empty water bottle. Inside the invitation was rolled up to look like a message in the bottle. It turned out so cute. (I made the birthday cake and mermaid tail with rolled fondant. It was kind of tricky as I had never used it before, but it turned out great, and She still loves her Ariel doll.) The paper with Ariel's image on it is a letter that Ariel wrote to DD saying she was sorry she couldn't make it to the party because she had to sing at her father's concert. Ariel left a special surprise for her...her own goldfish!

I'm still working on a caption/title for the first page, but couldn't wait to post it here!

Life is a Picnic Card

All stamps, paper and ink are Stampin' Up!
Yes even the polka dot paper...it's old-school Stampin' Up!

Unfrogettable

Here are some cards I created using the Unfrogettable stamp set from Stampin' Up! They were all watercolored, even the envelope. Also there are hints of glitter that may not show up on the computer screen...but they look cute. The address on the envelope has been intentionally blurred to protect the innocent!!!

CJ's Graduation from Eastern Oregon U: 2004

As usual I still need to add some more journaling. This is our friend CJ from Journalism school. It was great to see him continue his education and accomplish some goals he set for himself, like being the first person in his family to get a bachelor's degree!

Father's Day Card

I made this for my dad this year for Father's Day just days before he went in for surgery to remove his cancer. All stamps, ink and paper are Stampin' Up!

Weeee!

Look how little my DD is! Not the most exciting layout, but I like the fact that it's not all cluttered up with trendy scrapbook stuff.

Dirty Dan

This page was done a long time ago after Dan put in the rock path at our house in Troudale. I cut out the wheel barrow from a pattern and the "dirt" was just ripped out of brown card stock.

Photo Colage

I was asked by my friend's mom to creat a photo display for a coffee table top that would go in their family cabin. I used background paper from Karen Foster Design as well as photo corners a dried fern frond and a couple brass book plates I got from 2 peas.

Natalie's Ladybug Birthday: 2002

Solid colored paper is Stampin' Up! Ladybug stickers are Jolee's Botique