Here is what everyone made of it:

by Agata Pfister, a simple and elegant card

by Janet Zeppa paired with green

by Els Brigé, just in blue

by Jill Hildebrand

purple exploration by Jaine Drake

by Linda Abadie using the new Warm Tweet set and Back to the basics

by Jolene Johnston, beautiful pairing of the colours

layout and detail by Jill Hildebrand

this beautiful little chest is by Marsha Valk, the colours just pop!

… and inside! The Itty Bittys fit perfectly on the cubes.

We hope you liked our challenge!

Stay tuned for our design team call coming up later this week!

Until then, happy stamping!

This mini proved to be just that so I had to find cunning ways to use my favourite stamps on pages which are only three inches by three inches.

This is the cover page and the butterfly from the Colorful Companions set, has been stamped onto shrink plastic. It’s only half an inch wide but has lost none of it’s detail.

On this first page I really wanted to use the Mini Pennants stamps so when cutting them out I left a small tab at the top which I folded over and threaded some coloured thread through them so I could wind them around the two pages allowing them to poke out of the page in a couple of places.

Stamping onto acetate also allowed me to make my own overlays and kept the pages free from bulky embellishments.  It keeps the finished look light and uncluttered. I attached my overlays using Helmars Scrap Dots as it dries clear. Incidentally you can compare the butterfly with the one on the front page – it’s the same one!

On these two pages I’ve used the Snapshot stamp set for the photo corners, camera (again stamped onto acetate) and the sentiments.  The tiny size is absolutely perfect here.

On this final page I’ve again used shrink plastic with the Seal It stamps to make the flower centre. Compare the shrink plastic version with the stamps on the right for an idea of the shrink ratio.  You can clearly see how the full sized stamps could have swamped the page.

I hope you enjoyed my mini and it gave you one or two ideas for making your own.

I decided to fill a couple of pages in my Summer 2011 art journal.  For the first page about our National Day celebrations,  I’ve used music score paper as my background but painted it first with gesso to dull the printing. I’ve used flowers from the Funky Flowers stamp set as fireworks, giving them a sprinkling of glitter to make them shine. I’ve also used the Mini Pennants for the bunting and the border stamp from the Border Lines set to frame the page.

For my second page I’ve transfered the music score paper onto watercolour paper using gel medium to make a subtle background. I cut out some rough circles to use as masks and sprayed inks over the page using dye inks. I’ve used the Friday Night Stencil alphabet for my title, emphasising it with the brackets from the oversized set.  I wanted to stamp the film strip from the Snapshot set at the bottom of the page and ended up dropping it. I could have covered it up by stamping it a second time onto paper, cutting it out and sticking it over the top but I actually liked the messy look it gave me, so I left it there. I finished off the page using the Graphic Borders stamp printed onto book page as a frame.

Here are a couple of gorgeous pages from Birgit and some explaination on how she did them.

For “the sky is the limit” I used Colorful Companions, Bottlecaps, Repeat
after me and Backgrounds. For the background I used Gesso and TA Glimmer
Chalkboard. I stamped with Stazon and colored in the little dots of the
bottelcap stamp with Letraset markers and then I put little punched out
paper circles on top. The stars where made using sequin waste.

For “Heaven” I used Colorful Companions, Abundant blossoms, Bottlecaps,
Backgrounds and He loves me. The background was made with acrylic paint. I
also used acrylic paint to stamp the butterflies and the flowers. I used
Stazon to stamp the bottlecap stamp and the little swirl from the He loves
me set. Again I colored in the little dots of the bottlecap stamp with
Letraset markers. The little circles and the words “heaven” where cut from
bookpaper. The angel wing is a rubon from Hambly.
The little white dots on both pages where made with the back of my brush
dipped in acrylic paint.

Hope you enjoyed them.

I remember watching in my childhood a TV show called Beyond 2000. My English was sort of in its beginnings back then so I was puzzled by the word “beyond”. Plus year 2000 seemed so far away!

Today I believe I understand better the meaning of this word and scrapbooking-wise it means for me going for a bigger project. We’re all running after time trying to get the most of it but let’s be honest: sometimes it’s not possible so we go for those small projects that offer us a short creative escape. The result is that some memories get lost in the process. So today I’m challenging you to add up those short periods of time and create something bigger: a layout if usually you make cards, or a mini album if you make layouts etc.

Personally, I do make cards and layouts quite often but I do envy my friends who create mini albums all the time! So here’s one that I offered to my in-laws with pictures of their grandchildren.

It’s an accordion style album with a fabric covered front and back. Here it’s open.

And here it is page by page. Sorry for the fingers that are holding it down! I’ve chosen the best pics of my in-laws grand-children and adorned each page with myStamp Box stamps. Snapshot and Seal it! on this one:

Repeat after me and Snapshot again:

As you can see I tried to keep the same colors as on the cover for the unity of the album.

I used Funky Flowers and Mention it sets for the last page.

As for the detail on the cover, I stamped the frame from Snapshot set on a piece of cardstock, added a sentiment from Itty Bittys set and glued to fabric using a product from our partner company, Helmar Adhesives, Liquid Glue Dots.

So my today’s challenge for you is this: go beyond the size of your usual projects and make something bigger. Maybe it will cost you some effort but it will be a very rewarding experience! Happy stamping!

The album I made to showcase today is made using some simple tags.  I designed these tags using my die cutting machine software and then cut out patterned paper covers.

The Facts About You

For each tag, I used a different kind of patterned paper but all from the same collection by My Mind’s Eye called “Alphabet Soup“.  By using the same line of paper, my mini album appears unified.

stamp sets used: Bold Blocks, Funky Circles, Mini Pennants, Splash Me a Little! alphabets, Mini Alphas

I chose to feature my furbaby, Teaco.  She’s my scrappin’ buddy most nights!

stamp sets used: Bold Blocks

Look at that tongue!!!

stamp sets used: Snapshot

See how all the colours just flow from page to page…

stamp sets used: Oval Office, Repeat After Me,  You Name It

Remember, you can make anything with stamps… even a little faux stitched banner…

stamp sets used: Whatever!,  Repeat After Me

That crazy cat!!!!

stamp sets used: Whatever!

And my final tag…

stamp sets used: Review Time, Small Greetings

The moment I finished my little tag album, look who showed up??!!…

She thought it would be the most appropriate place to be with me while I worked!

I hope you’ve been inspired by my simple little tag album today. Why not try one yourself!

Happy stampping!

Here are Isha’s tips:

1.Use an old mouse pad under the paper before stamping with clear stamps. It will give a better stamped image but don’t use it while using stamps with lots of empty space as when you ink such stamps, some ink transfers to the empty space and since mouse-pad gives more cushion, it will ink your card where you don’t want .

2. Use water based markers from your kids stash to color the background stamps, spritz a little water and stamp for a lovely background effect.

Great ideas Isha, thanks for sharing these. At the last ScrapFest in Kitchener in April, Allison and I were offering make and takes with  the markers on stamps technique on our “Colourful Companions” set. This creates some beautiful effects.

Isha, please e-mail me directly at bettina@mystampbox.com and send me your address. I will put a set of “Snapshot” in the mail for you.

Our Design Team will share more stamping tips in the next few days. Make sure to check these out!

Happy Stamping,

For this mini album, I started with a raw chipboard album by Maya Road called the “Love Word Album”.  I then adapted it and made it my own and that’s what I’m going to share with you now.  The album pages measure approximately 3×6.

For the mini album I designed a cardstock pocket insert.  The inner panel is the same size as my mini album page; 3×6 and then I added a 1/2 inch on each side (and scored it down the center) and an inch flap at the bottom.

Next I folded up my pocket insert.  The bottom flap gets folded up and the sides get folding in a “V” shape with the bottom of the “V” being folded into towards the center of the pocket.

Then I used some of my sticky Scor-Pal tape to ensure my flaps adhered correctly.  I applied it to each of the top surfaces of the side flaps and a double stripe of it on the bottom flap.

I covered the first 1.5 inches of the end of the album since the pocket doesn’t cover this area with coordinating patterned paper for my mini.  I used the Crate Paper line “Portrait” for my entire mini album.  I then adhered the flap to the chipboard base.

I then peeled off the tape backing and adhered the side flaps… creating a pocket.

For my pocket I began by creating a simple tag.  I used the stitching stamp from the “Repeat After Me” stamp set and then I stamped the word “PHOTO LOG” from my “Snapshot” stamp set.  This became my base tag design.  Then as I completed a page, I created computer generated journaling to go along with my photo.

Let’s take a look at my final product!  Here’s my final mini album…

Photos I Love ~ Mini Album

*stamps used: Snapshot, She Says, He Says

*stamps used: Snapshot, Abundant Blossoms,  Repeat After Me

*stamps used: Snapshot, Abundant Blossoms

*stamps used: Snapshot, Abundant Blossoms

*stamps used: Snapshot, Abundant Blossoms

*stamps used: Snapshot, Abundant Blossoms, She Says, He Says

Thanks for joining me this fine Thursday!  I hope you too can make a fun project like this.  All it takes are a few stamps some cardstock and patterned paper and you’ll have a wonderful project to share with someone special!  Happy stamping!

However this weekend we are celebrating NSD and are sharing some of our beautiful layouts with you. And since celebrations are (mostly) nothing without presents, we are giving out a stamp set to  one of you leaving a message today or over the weekend (deadline Sunday 6pm, EST). A winner will be announced on Monday on this blog.

And now – be inspired and enjoy our projects!

by Sue Sykes: Using the Border Lines sets, I stamped and heat emboss 10 squares, and used markers to colour in the squares.  I cut our the centres and then attached them to photos and cut each square out.  I used one side of the box and the circle to create the “10″ in my title, using the same technique as the squares. The banner was created by affixing an American Crafts letter sticker to cardstock.  I then inked my banner stamp with Versamark and stamped over the letter, centering it on the banner.  I sprinkled with clear embossing powder and heat embossed the entire thing – sticker and all!

by Marsha Valk: I’ve created a lay-out using Colour Me, Borderlines and Roadtrip. First I sprayed my background with mists, then I stamped and embossed the Borderlines images and then I taped all my pictures in place. The title is stamped on patterned paper and then cut out and adhered to the lay-out.

Supplies used: all paper: Studio Calico Metropolitan kit, the mists are self-made (Talens Ecoline, with added Ranger Perfect Pearls), embossing powder: AC Zing! Metallic Finish Blue, Versamark, and Stazon Rusty Brown for the ‘You are here’ and the date (stamped with an office date stamp). iPhone photo apps used: Instagram and Hipstamatic. The journaling reads something like: ‘How have I lived without an iPhone for so long? I’ve had mine for a Month now and it’s always at my side. E-mail, internet, Facebook all within an arms reach! But the most fun are the photo apps. They make even very mundane things look awesome!’

by Wendy Morris: I used the following MSB stamp sets – Sigh Gush Gasp, Seal It, Symbols

by Jolene Johnston: the layout uses Summer Alphas and Snapshot. It also uses papers from our product partner Core’dinations.

by Allison Cope: Allison used stamps from many different sets including Funky Circles, Graphic Borders, Timelines, Pennants and Birthday Numbers

by Jill Hildebrand: I used the Colour Me stamp set with bright yellow acrylic paint, and stamped slightly off the top of the layout.

by Birgit Koopsen: I used “Seal it!”, “Repeat after me” and “Timelines”. She added different buttons in the centres of the seat it stamps to create the graphic border at the bottom of her photo.

by Agata Pfister: Agata used the Let it Snow! stamp set and embossed with holographic powder.

by Janet Zeppa: Janet used the pennants set to create this banner.

by Jaine Drake: I’ve used Colour Me, Friday Night Stencil (in the background) and Snapshot! The film strip was stamped on a transparency.

by Rebecca Keppel: Rebecca used Snapshot, Symbols and Sigh, Gush, Gasp to break up her journaling.

Enjoy your NSD and have a creative weekend!

Happy Stamping,

Love,

Jill, here, with some fabulous inspiration coming from…….what else……..FOOD!!!!

I know…..we all love it…..we crave it…….we consume it; we buy it; we even hide it on occassion – not me though.   

So what better inspiration to use?!?

The first layout I created this month was inspired by a “food” photo.  It’s a photo taken in Disney World this past January of two of my kids.   I used the Snapshot and the Wishing You Sunshine stamp sets.

Afternoon Snack:

Here’s some close-ups:

For the second layout I create, I drew inspiration from an image of food that I found via the internet.  I loved the softness of the photo; the colours; the textures; and the little, green butterfly.

And from that, I created this:  Mulan

I used the Colorful Companions and the Road Trip stamp sets.  I also used a fabulous butterfly die cut from one of our partner companies: Magistical Memories.

I stamped the butterflies on the layout with Versa Mark ink and pop-dotted punched butterflies around them for dimension — i love how the lime green little butterflies add a little punch to the page.  I used hydranga coloured dye ink to colour the naked chipboard butterfly.  I cut the scroll off the left-hand side of the butterfly and pop-dotted it onto the right-hand side scroll, giving dimension to the chipboard as well.  Check out the original chipboard image from Magistical Memories {here}.  There are so many fun & gorgeous images to choose from.

Here are some close-ups of my layout:

I hope you can find a little inspiration for your next creation in your breakfast, lunch, supper…….or midnight visit to the fridge!!!! 

I had fun filling in the title block area using one of the photo corners from the set as well as the Mini Alpha set of stamps. If you don’t own this set, you should definitely check it out. It’s perfect for cards and for making mixed alpha titles like this one. Here’s the finished layout.

I hope you have fun matching up your myStampBOX stamps with other scrapbook products. Happy stamping!

Supplies:

For most of you, there’s only a week left of summer until school begins again.  So I thought I would share with you some fun scholarly projects with you today.

My only son, Spencer, is going into Kindergarten this year and we had a variety of school supplies to get to start him off at school this year.  So instead of sending him with boring old looking supplies, I thought I’d make a few special more personal items just for him.

So I grabbed some fun school related papers from GCD Studios called “Schooled” to use as my inspiration.

I first created the cover for one of my son’s notebooks.  This is originally what it started off looking like.  I know… just not inspirational or fun looking at all!

And this what it became…

I used the Rough Copy Alphabet stamp set to create a name plate for the front.  I stamped all the letters so they touched each other and then cut it out all as one word.  I added some pizazz to it with some fun colour coordinating mists and my Copic airbrush system.

Then I created this cute little faux chalkboard piece… so very simple to make.  I stamped my little view of the school yard on smooth black cardstock using my Neighborhoods stamp set using white ink to make it look like chalk.  Then I created a brown mat and adhered it over the stamped image to appear just like a mini chalk board.

I also used my file tab punch and added a stamped “subject” element too using the word from the Snapshots stamp set.

I layered all the elements including a fun embossed ruler piece using a Cuttlebug embossing folder, mini book mark and my faux notebook across the front of my book.

Next I created a fun little back pack.  I thought it might make a cute little mini card holder to give to his teacher as a gift.

I used the GCD Studios lined papers for the back pack and they worked perfectly with the myStamp BOX Mini Alpha – Small Box stamps so I stamped a variety of fun school related words all over the lined papers on the front and back of the little back pack.

And finally I thought I’d make a cute little book mark for his reading books at home.  So I took the fun school themed paper scraps I had and made a fun book mark.

To add some school elements, on the front, I stamped the numbers using my Review Time stamp set.  I also used the star from the set and stamped a row of those in blue ink.  I had some small scraps of lined paper left and using my Mini Alphas – Small Box stamps to stamp a variety of school related words on the back to match his mini back pack.

So in the end, I have a fun notebook, a cute little back pack and a fun book mark for him for school next week.  I thought even if he wasn’t allowed to use that actual notebook, that I would keep it at home to either practice his printing at home or use it as a communication book between myself and his teacher.  One way or another, I have 3 fun school projects I just adored making.

Why don’t you look at your young kids school supplies and see what your stamps can do to jazz them up and make them more personal.  And get your kids to help… that will make them even more special!

Happy stampin’!

We were in the yard playing and I called her over, and she knew what I wanted from her: to pose and smile   She came so reluctantly but after she came, she started to imitate me.  It’s beyond cute how she did the snapping with her little fingers. She even made little holes with her tiny fingers and peaked out from behind   I kept on snapping because it’s these unposed moments that are most endearing to me and my scrapbook pages.

I hope you will find this particular set of stamp as indispensible as I do!! 

Jing-Jing Nickel

Today it’s Tuesday and that means “Project Day” here at myStampBOX!! 

So, which projects am I going to show you?? 

I’m going to start with a layout as that’s what I love to do most! Here’s my layout called “Home is where YOU are”:

For this layout of my youngest I used one of the butterfly stamps from the “Colorful Companions” set for my background. I stamped it various times with Versamark ink so the butterflies wouldn’t be too obvious and therefore just perfect for a background.

Furthermore I used a few flowers from the “Abundant Blossoms” set and the filmstrip from the “Snapshot” set for a little journaling.

Then on to my next project, a photo frame:

As it was so terribly hot here in The Netherlands (and I really had had enough of the sun!) I decided on one of my winter photos taken in Disneyland Paris.

For this frame I used three different stamps from the “Road Trip” set (the tag, part of the title and the circle bottom left).

I had so much fun creating these projects and sure hope you’ve enjoyed them too!

Thanks and have a lovely, scrappy day!!

The inspiration for the first project I created comes from this advertisement I found in a home decor magazine: a black & white collage with a little splash of red:

I created this card using lots of black & white & a little red and stamps from “Colorful Companions” (the butterfly), “En Cette Occasion” (the sentiment) and “Seal It!” (the little heart). The butterfly is heat embossed with some white embossing powder. Love it!!

the embossed butterfly:

Then the second advertisement I used, is this one:

What attracted me to this advertisement are many things: the design, the many details, the colours….,  well everything really.

I created this layout of my daughter and tried to capture the same carefree atmosphere of the photo above, using stamps from “Abundant Blossoms” (flowers), “Road Trip” (the suitcase, the stamp, the seal) and “Snapshot” (the photo camera and expression).

And then last but not least this advertisement caught my eye:

mainly because I love this green colour and love the combination with white. I used it to create this decoration for the present my son wants to give his teacher to thank her for two wonderful years.

For this last project I used the label stamp from the “Road Trip” set.

This is it!! I hope you liked it and if you decide to give this challenge a try don’t forget to post a link to your blog in the comments section of this post!! I would love to see what you create!

Happy scrapping and see you next time!

Today i want to show you a layout with tone on tone satmped embellishments. It gives something different, very subtle i think.

I like to mix genres! This layout is a kind of girly layout with the flowers but it’s about renovating our house so the subject is masculine…

I have used the “Abundant blossoms” set for the flowers and the “Snapshot” set for the photo corners. I decided to stamp the flowers with the same color as the paper beneath them. So green flowers en green paper and red flowers on red paper. I embellished the center of the small flowers with pearls.

I hope you enjoyed this idea!

Virginie

When it comes to summertime in our family, we think of camping.  Since I was a young girl, my family always camped a few times a summer somewhere in Ontario.  So when my husband suggested we find ourselves a little Boler trailer to camp in, I was in whole heartedly!

So after much searching and a little bit of good luck and good timing, we managed to get our hands a little cream and gold Boler trailer…

My husband has been hard at work fixing up for us to use.  Since I knew we would taking our little “golden home on wheels” on vacation this summer, I thought I would make a cute little journal that I would keep in a safe place in the trailer for all of us to document it’s travels.

I first designed this simplified Boler type trailer shape using my Klic N’Kut software and then I cut a series of pages and a couple of thin chipboard covers…

I started creating my mini album by decorating the covers.  I cut out a cream page for both my front and back covers and then I applied a “map” patterned paper bottom and a charcoal grey cardstock body divider.

To decorate the cream part of the trailer body, I used my trusty Road Trip stamp set and some inks that matched the colours of my patterned paper “map” base.

Here is the back cover…

For my first inside page, I wanted to create an area where I would write where we traveling to, who was there with me and how we were traveling.  I used some of the fabulous stamps from the Passport to Adventure and Snapshot stamp sets to achieve this.

Then I proceeded to create each double page spreadt…

Each double page set is slightly different…

I incorporated whatever stamp images that I associated with traveling…

I even stamped some camera images… you never leave for vacation without your camera!!!

Each page I managed to use the same ink colours (just tints and tones of the same 4 inks) but never quite the same stamp combinations…

No two page spreads are the same!  It’s so much better that way!  I left the centers of the page open and unstamped so I could either attach a photo or journal about our trip.

I even managed to use my Review Time stamp set by using the word “Travel”.

And finally, I had to include a simple pocket at the end to save any neat items like brochures or random photos to go along with the journal.

I used the Review Time stamp again to add some more journaling type details to the final page.

I hope my little mini album has inspired you to create something fun today!  Remember stamps are a fabulous investment as you can use them again and again… and again!

You can check out more inspirational projects by the entire team by visiting each designer’s personal gallery by clicking the Design Team button above and clicking on the appropriate team term.  Check our current team’s creations here!

Have a great Tuesday!  Keep inkin’ and stampin’!

Allison Cope

You need white streamer paper, glimmer mist in Walnut Gold and Golden Terrakotta, archival ink in sepia and maroon and the Snapshot stamp set.

Spray desired colours onto the streamer paper and set with a heat gun.

Stamp the photo strip and/or photo corners repeatedly onto the coloured paper with your archival ink.

Glue the paper in a circle onto the LP. Gently crunch it up while attaching. Decorate with ribbon and flowers.

I hope you like my wall hanging. It’s fun to recycle and incorporate unusual items such as this LP.

Thanks for stopping by to check out today’s tutorial by Maria Schmidt.

Here’s the finished card. I love using multiple textures on projects, and this one is just fun to touch!

1. Emboss a piece of cardstock with an embossing folder that resembles animal hide.

2. Cover the raised pattern on the cardstock with clear embossing ink and powder then heat set. This gives the cardstock the shiny look of faux leather. Set aside.

3. Die cut a circle from craft foam. This foam is often used for children’s projects and can be found at most craft and department stores. Heat the back side of the foam with a heat tool then flip to heat the front side as well. Heating both sides helps create the best impression when stamping.

4. Stamp your image using ink color of your choice into the heated foam. Press firmly to get a strong image. I used a camera from the new Snapshot set of stamps. Remove stamp carefully.

5. Using inks of your choice, distress the edges of the circle to give a worn leather look.

6. Punch holes and insert antiqued metal eyelets using a Crop-a-Dile or other setting tool. Insert twine as shown. Attach circle piece to embossed panel using pop dots and secure strings to the back with tape.

The final card has a sentiment stamped from the new Straightforward set of stamps, embossed with copper powder. The faux leather panel was attached to a black card base and finished off with some simple twill ribbon.  The shiny embossing and eyelets contrast nicely with the rugged leather and twine elements. I think my dad will really enjoy this card!

Happy stamping,

Jolene 

Supplies: Snapshot stamps, Straightforward stamps, Core’dinations cardstock, American Crafts cardstock, Tim Holtz Distress Inks, PSX embossing powders, Making Memories eyelets, twine, The Paper Studio twill