Off to See the Wizard!

My daughter was Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz for Halloween. I couldn't wait to use the Love Song kit with the blue lacey edged paper to scrap these photos of her. I added a red crocheted flower from my stash to create the layered flower. I used Sassafras Lass Mini Hombre Letter stamps for my title and the Making Memories Ornaments stamps to add a few accents around the page.




I also colored in the rubons for a little added touch of color.

Have a great week!
Jana

Xmas, a BFF and a winner

WINNER OF THE MAGNET IS: LYNETTE...WHOOOO HOOOOO!!!!
..EMAIL ME AT GRETA.ADAMS@GMAIL.COM WITH YOUR SNAIL MAIL ADDY


Each year i take a pic of the kids with each of their gifts and scrap it.
This year noel's winter kit was perfect for this one with all the tereesa collins goodies in it.



This one i had a few pieces left of the Sugar Cookie Kit. i used he hearts and the glittery circle along with the last little bit of the blue lace cardstock that came in the kit. the rest is from my stash. I took the plastic letters (i think creative imaginations) and a stamp and some staz on and stamped on them to give them some oomph!! this layout is for the Inspired Blueprints sketch. Did you see that Jana was guest designer for this sketch? YAY!!

So what have you worked on? Share it with us.

See ya next week!!

Quick Tips and Tricks with RubOns

RubOns can be intimidating. I know, because I avoided using them for a long time! LOL! But once I took the plunge and followed some tips from fellow scrappers, I no longer am afraid of them! Infact I LOVE using them! Here are some of the things I have learned.

Applying a RubOn

1. When you first open your package of rubons, staple the rubon sheet to the protective backing. Staple in a blank area, not an area with a design.

2. After selecting the desired image, cut around it, including the backing. This way, when you go to apply your rubon, you are only applying the image that you want to use and other images won't accidentally transfer to your project in unwanted places.

3. Keep the backing in place while you decide where you would like it to go. When you are ready, remove the backing and apply the rubon.

4. Rubons usually come with a craft stick to use as a tool for transferring. I usually use something else. I find that the craft stick doesn't give me enough leverage to get a smooth image.



My favorite tool is the Rubon Tool by Basic Grey. It has a rolling ball tip that makes it a breeze to work with! I also like to use an embossing stylus for finer detail. But lots of things work great, a bone folder, the cap of a pen, etc. The gray tool next to the craft stick in the picture above is a tool that was included in an American Crafts package of rubons. LOVE it! It really is a matter of preference. Try a few different tools and see which ones you are the most comfortable with.

5. Rub the entire image with your tool, making sure to pay special attention to fine details and areas where the rubon is overlapping layers of paper. With most rubons you can tell when your image is transferring because the backing will go cloudy.



Some are a little harder to tell if they are transferring. When this happens, I will lift the backing off slowly, keeping most of it in place, so that if the image doesn't completely transfer I can lay the sheet back down and continue working.

6. TaDAAAA! You have applied your rubon!


Store the remaining pieces of your rubons together in the packaging. Or, if you have stray pieces, try taping them to a piece of wax paper. Store packages of rubons in a photo box, so that you can easily flip through them, or place them inside a sheet protector inside a binder. What other ways do you store your rubons?


If you change your mind about where you placed your rubon, you can always try removing it with a piece of low-tack tape. I like to use transparent tape or masking tape.



I place the tape over the image and gently rub. Be careful not to rub too hard, or you could risk pulling up and tearing the paper underneath.



Slowly pull back the tape at an angle to remove the rubon. The extra flecks left behind are easily removed by "dabbing" a piece of tape over them, using a glue eraser, or sometimes I've even gently scratched them off using a paper piercer. Note: Removing a rubon that has been applied to a photograph is virtually impossible! LOL!

If you are still nervous about using a rubon directly onto the page you've been slaving over, you can always apply the rubon to a transparency and cut it out. Works great!

Rubons are really fun because they can add detail over several layers of paper, brighten a dark corner of a photograph or layout, or add interest to a premade embellishment!

On this layout, I added a rubon to the blue brad for a fun little detail.




I wanted to add a little color to this rubon, so I simply colored in a few areas using colored pencils.




White rubons can be fun to use as a mask. Apply the rubon to your project (a light colored paper works best for this technique), and then use watercolors to paint over it. Such a fun and artsy effect!




Other fun ways to use rubons include:

Add rubons directly onto your photos.

Use rubons to enhance premade embellishments, including stickers, chipboard, buttons, brads, acrylic accents, etc.

Rub them onto vellum for an opaque look.

Use word rubons and fill them in with chalks or water color pencils.

Use on ribbon or fabric to pick up texture.

Cut them apart to alter the design to fit your individual project. No one will even know!

Rub over them with sandpaper for a distressed look.

Add interest to a corner with rubons.

Use them as part of your title or to enhance your title.

Use rubon stitches as journaling lines.


Don't be afraid to experiment with rubons! They are a great way to add interest, texture and depth to your next project!

Parade and To Do

This first LO is one I did with sketch #7 over at inspired Blueprints. I love that site. Anyway, the papers are all last years MME and they look a little darker here than IRL. The base paper is actually a maroon. The letters are from Cosmo Cricket and every time I post a LO with these I always get comments about the doodles on the letters...they come that way! Some of my faves!! I also used a little bit of SEI ribbon and the tiny MM letters.


This was my entry for the "Ready for a change" challenge. It's so so in my book. Nothing special. I do really like these papers from MM. They are from last year, and are the graden party line. TFL and have a great weekend!

I resolve

You know I am not a resolution maker simply because I don't want to disappoint myself when they don't come to fruition. But when Noel presented this challenge to us I was a little wary -- but once I dedicated myself to it and decided to make these goals attainable it was simple and this layout was completed in less than 30 minutes -- seriously -- I love it when that happens!

Oh and thanks for those of you that linked up your cards --- they were awesome! And I chose Shanon as the winner of a fun RAK! So Shanon send me your info at mnm0293@msn.com!!

Thanks ladies!

Michelle Lanning

Goals for 2009- Reminder Canvas

Noel's current challenge was for us to scrap our goals for this year, and as I started thinking about my goals, most of them revolved around me growing in areas that already existed some in my life.... they just need some watering, some time to bloom, and maybe a little weeding. ;)

I decided to make a canvas to be a daily reminder to water these little seeds in my life, and the Love Story kit (sold out!) had the perfect accents and colors to support this theme. I knew I was hoarding that beautiful Basic Grey chipboard flower sticker for something! hehe

I used these neat little canvasses they sell at Walmart that come in a pack of 3 for right around $3. You can't beat that! I taped off the inside to paint a "frame" around it, and then outlined it with a black marker, and then randomly swished my paintbrush on the inside portion of the canvas.



Make sure to hop on over and join in on the challenge - and to see the rest of the dt's take on this challenge!

Goal's Challenge....

Have you thought about your goals for the new year? I think we all reflect on the past year and wonder if there are things we can change or improve on. I know that I have! Noel is hosting a new challenge HERE to scrap your goals. I decided on 6 of them. I wanted to be realistic! My goals are to attend church more regularly, send cards instead of hoarding them, take a summer class, be more thoughtful, get published again, and be a bit more organized.

I used bits and pieces from the Love Story kit here. (Which is currently sold out) The title was cut using my Cricut machine, and the tic-tac-toe pattern was done with my sewing machine. (Which just as a side note, has never sewed anything but scrappy stuff! Yep, not even a hem on a pair of pants! How pathetic really..........)

So what are your goals for this year? Reflect a little, grab your scrappy supplies, and get creating!