I thought I’d turn it into some sort of fabric story book which I could wind up around the reel.  I cut my strip of calico and got out the stamps which would help me tell my story.   I just started stamping from one end and the story ended up playing itself out through the stamps.  I added some colour with Faber Castell Big Brush pens and stamped onto some pieces of coloured fabric.  I cut small pieces of fabric and ironed them onto heat and bond, stamped then cut out the images.  I could then iron these onto the fabric with the heat and bond.  I used a black journal pen to write the story and added a few beads and french knots.  I then cut a second piece of calico and backed it onto the main piece and ran it all through the sewing machine.  I wanted a raw, almost journalistic look so I used black thread and left all my edges raw.  I stitched onto each end some fabric to tie around the cotton reel.

Here are the stamps I used to tell my story:

I hope you enjoyed my fabric story book.  Maybe your stamps could tell your story. For a full list of all the stamps I used see the top of this post.

The base for the journal was a wonderful long black envelope which I folded into three to make a fold over cover.  The front has a doily and stamp from the Seal It stamp set.  I then collected tags, packaging, envelopes and all sorts of other goodies, folded them and laid them on top of one another then just ran it all through my sewing machine.  To hide the spine stitching and strengthen the fold I use some furnishing fabric glued on with gel medium.  The furnishing fabric came in a huge box of samples and given to me as a christmas present by a crafty friend. Even the closure is the bottom from a felted jumper with a button on it.

Once it was put together I just needed to decorate it.  I wanted the book to reflect my personality so it became a journal about me.

Here I’ve used a tag by Canvas Corp (partnered with My Stamp Box) and splattered it with ink, stamped the journaling before adding it to the page.  That coffee ring stain in the new Enjoy your Latte set comes in very handy for backgrounds. Here I used it with black acrylic paint. (Clean your stamps well afterwards).

Below I’ve used mini pennants and some of the Snapshot stamps.

I’ve totally fallen in love with the houses from the new Lovely Houses set, they’re just so totally me.  All the craft cardstock used throughout the book was recycled from packaging. 

Funnily enough the piece of acrylic for the page below came in my box of new stamps so nothing has gone to waste.  I painted over some gesso, sprayed with some ink and stamped on the tea cup from the new Special Teas set.

The flowers from the Garden Sketches set was stamped onto some recycled craft card and glued to the music score page.  A few more flowers were added to fill in the gaps.

You can just about see the coffee stain stamp again on this last page.  I did say it makes a truly funky background especially on a grunge look.

By this time my book had become quite fat and uneven so stamping the tree from the Tree for all Seasons set, wasn’t perfect.  I had to touch up some of it with an embossing pen before adding some embossing powder.  When I wanted to stamp the snowflakes from the Let It Snow set, I used the tip of my finger rather than the acrylic block as this gave a much better impression on the uneven surface.

I hope you enjoyed my show and tell junk journal.  Have a go at your own and see what interesting things you can find to stamp onto.

It’s me, Isolde! Indeed, I’m one of the 2 new DT members. It’s so great to be a member of  this talented group.

I must admit that I’m a bit nervous to show you my work for the very first time. I guess you all know that it’s Autumn right now, don’t you,haha?  Well, Autumn means a cosy, warm house for me. I love to snuggle into my sofa with a good book or watch a movie while it’s windy and cold outside. It’s so nice to decorate the house to make it feel like a real home. I’ve created some Fall deco for you.

I went outside to collect some leaves and seeds from a tree. Then I searched in my paper stash for some matching papers. Once the leaves and seeds were dry, I glued them on the paper. For the tree, I used this lovely stamp set called Tree for all seasons

I hope you’ve enjoyed my first project.
Love,

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 used the “Splash Me A Lot!” for my title with kraft cardstock, outline it with light blue gel pen and glue it on the layout. I used 7gypsies paper as the base of this layout. All butterflies are from”Colorful Companion” stamp set. Throughout the layout, I stamp all little flowers from “Tree for all Seasons” using silver ink and applied multiple colors as filler. I just LOVE this particular stamp set, it is so versatile and so much fun! For the trees, again I used the “Tree for all Seasons” set. To create the 3-D effect, I only glued the main part of the tree and let the branches flow freely.

From this angle, you can see the “shadow” of the trees. For this effect, I used black ink to stamp near the main green trees for shadowing. I did a lot of distressing, hand-doodling, and used bold colors. I tried to bring a bit of “Spring” feeling to the layout. I hope you enjoy my Show and Tell. Thank you so much and excited to see all of the comments and messages from you. Takecare and have a great weekend!!!

This month I wanted to challenge myself to share something outside of the box (no pun intended!) for me!  I have the hardest time altering items.  I’m not certain why but I guess it’s because I thoroughly enjoy creating layouts and cards.

So I was browsing through my local scrapbook store and came across these little shadow boxes by Tim Holtz called “Configurations” and I knew it would be perfect to allow me to create something different… you know… to think “about the box” for once!

This little shadowbox measures about 8 3/4 x 6 3/4 all arranged inside their box.  There are 4 different sizes boxes that fit within the dimensions.  Perfect for little photos, trinkets or just some beautiful things like paper and blooms!

Here’s what I came up with… lots of greens, browns and blues!

Each mini box is decorated differently.  This little box has the word LOVE inside.  I used the “Funky Alphabet” stamp set for this.  I used some of our Preferred Partner, PK Glitz “bronze patina” embossing powder to get a distressed metallic look.

Inside the largest of all the mini boxes I stamped a little scene.  I used the bare tree from “Tree For All Seasons” and the grass from the “Funky Flowers” set.  I also added some delicate Flower Soft to the branches to look like Spring blossoms.

In the top right hand corner box, I first stamped the large daisy image from “Funky Flowers” and then I stamped an “I” from the “Royal Flush” alphabet set right over top of it in a different colour of embossing powder. “I” is the first letter of my married name.

In the bottom right hand corner, I stamped another little scene of some houses.  These sweet little houses and sentiment come from the “No Place Like Home” stamp set.  It fit perfectly in this little space in the corner.

In the center smallest square, I added an embossed butterfly from “Colorful Companions“.  Again I used the beautiful bronze patina embossing powder from PK Glitz.

We have some AMAZING new stamps coming out for CHA this year and I just happen to sneak one of them on my project today!  We have a gorgeous background stamp set coming out and I managed to sneak it on to my project but you’ll just have to wait to see what that stamp set is all about SOON!

The beautifully ornate piece of heart chipboard is also from another one of our Preferred Partners here at myStamp BOX.  It’s made by Magistical Memories and it’s called “Heart Swirl“.  I stamped on it, inked it and also added some of the bronze patina embossing powder to unify it with the rest of my shadow box elements.  I adhered my altered chipboard piece using some of Helmar’s “3D Scrap Dots” adhesive.  Works great for popping things off of your surfaces!

supplies: stamps, myStamp BOX;   embossing powders, PK Glitz, Hero Arts, Ranger;  chipboard, Magistical Memories;  shadowbox, corner hardware, Tim Holtz;  ink, Versamark, Tsukineko, SU!;  patterned papers, brads, BasicGrey;  pearls, paper flowers and leaf, Prima;  silk flower, Heidi Swapp;  other, Flower Soft, Crackle Accents by Ranger.

I hope you too think outside of the box when using your stamps!  I hope you’ve enjoyed my project today!

Today I’m going to show you how to make some quick gift tags for your presents. Remember that christmas is just around the corner…

To do this tags you will need:

• Your favorite myStampBOX stamps. I used my Colorful Companions, Tree for all seasons and Road trip sets.
• Inking pads
• Tags
• Ribbon
• Scraps of paper

Use your Tree for all Seasons set and stamp the tree with black or brown ink. I stamped it on one side of the tag to make the design more interesting.

Use your green ink and stamp the leaves

Stamp a butterfly on white cardstock, cut it out.

Create a pattern in the green cardstock. I used one stamp from the Road Trip set.

Hand cut the grass

Stamp your sentiment on one side of the tag

And then attach all the embellishments to the tag. To attach the butterfly add one rolled glue dot under each wing to give some dimension.

Add some ribbon and maybe some circles to add a little color and summery feel.

I hope you like these tags, they are so easy to make!

Have a great day!

Today I’d like to share some fun autumn related projects I have made to both put in my scrapbooks, give as gifts and also to hang on my walls.

I started off by celebrating the first day of my son going to Kindergarten for the full day.  I captured him all dressed and ready for school on his first full day of school and thought it would make a great layout to share with you!

Ready 4 School

For this layout, I used some non-school themed stamps to add those special touches.  I used some of the postage stamp canceling images from the Road Trip stamp set and the school related stamp set from Neighborhoods, of course!

Here are a few closeups…

Next I wanted to create a fun card caddy to give to my son’s teacher around Thanksgiving; which is next week here in Canada.  So I found a 6×6x1 acetate container to use as my card caddy and then I decorated the front…

Autumn Card Caddy

For the front, I used some autumn inspired papers from Imaginisce as the starting point for my colour palette of light orange, rich red, dark brown and a pop of dusty blue.  I stamped the tree with coloured leaves from the Tree For All Seasons set and than added a fun tag using the Itty Bittys (the wood grain stamp) and Small Greetings for the sentiment.

I created one card to put inside my caddy too!  I used the pretty little leafy branch from the Floating Leaves set to decorate the front oval.  Doesn’t it look great with that similarly patterned paper?

And here’s the back of the little card caddy… using the simple leaf shape from the Floating Leaves set again.

Next I wanted to create something autumn related for my door.  So I grabbed some fabric and created a stuffed fabric ring and wrapped it with some soft satin brown ribbon and tied it at the bottom.

Fall Wreath

To decorate my wreath, I stamped a variety of leaves from the Floating Leaves stamp set onto the autumn patterned papers and then cut them all out.  I adhered each leaf using the amazing Professional Acid Free Glue from Helmar Adhesives, one of our extremely generous partner companies.   Each leaf is securely attached but flexes with the fabric.  I’m so impressed by this great glue!

And the final autumn inspired project that I have created to share with you today is a fun welcome sign to hang on my door as the happy haunting season begins for Halloween in a few weeks.

Batty Welcome Banner

I started off my using some black embossing powder and heat embossing the entire surface of that super cute bat chipboard piece by our newest partner company, Magistical Memories.  A few sprays of glittery mist to add some sparkle didn’t hurt either!

I strung a bunch of Halloween colour inspired banner pieces from our newest stamp set here at myStampBOX, Pennants (soon to be released!).  I added some fun Halloween themed stamps from our BOO! set to the tops of some of the banner pieces to add to the holiday theme.

I then used my Funky Alphabet stamp set and created a fun “welcome” statement to hang below my glittery bat.  The title appears to float below because I used some of my “recycled” stamp backer acetate pieces from all of my myStampBOX stamp sets and adhered the hand cut letters using Helmar’s fabulous Scrap Dots and black foam adhesive circles called Zapdots to it and then attached it off of the back of the chipboard bat.

I coloured the inside of all of my funky alphabet letters using some coordinating Copic marker colours to match my pennant pieces.

Thank you for joining me today on my autumn inspired journey.  I hope that just one of these fun projects inspires you get out your myStampBOX stamps and create something fun today!

Happy stamping everyone!

If you want to start this blog hop at the beginning, visit “PK GLITZ’s BLOG” first and follow the instructions posted there. It is the starting point of your fun “hopping” activity! Be sure to click the link on each blog to “hop” to the next blog for some great eye candy. All of the projects will have a Spring, bunny or flower theme just in time for the warmer weather!

To celebrate we are giving away a small stamp set during this blog hop. To win this set, just leave a comment before you hop off to the next participant. The deadline for entering all blog candy giveaways is midnight Central time Sunday night, April 4th. We’ll announce our winner next week – stay tuned

If you get lost at any time, come back here and pick the next link on the list to keep hopping. Here are the links for you:

P K Glitz Blog (www.pkglitz.com/blog)
Tammy, Not Just Paper and Glue (http://www.lifeonpossomtrot.com/)
Colleen, Happy Little Art (http://www.lifeonpossomtrot.com/)
Bettina and team, My Stamp Box (http://mystampbox.com/blog/)
Deborah, Country Heart and Home (http://countryheartandhome.blogspot.com/)
Janet, Janet’s Joy (http://janetsjoy.blogspot.com/)
Wendy, Dazzling Reflections (http://dazzlingreflections.blogspot.com/)
Jamie, Bits of Paper (http://jamielanedesigns.blogspot.com/)
Andrea, Andrea’s Scraps (http://andreasscraps.com/)

And now enjoy our creations:

This pretty light Spring card is by Gudrun Loennecken. Gudrun used “Turqouse Glitz embossing powder”, and the “White Orchid Glitter Glitz”. Stamps are used from the “Lots of Dots – Sentiments”, “Itty Bittys” and “Funky Flowers”.

Jolene Johnston made this sweet turquoise Easter Card. She used the flowers from “Tree for all Seasons” for the flower pattern and a sentiment from “Straightforward!” stamp sets. Jolene embossed the sentiment and flowers with “PK Glitz E P Max Merlot” and added spots of “Glitter Glitz in Bronze Patina” to some flowers.

My card is made from easter egg coloured papers. I stamped flowers and leaves from the “Garden Sketches” set with matching inks. Some flowers were stamped with glue ink and covered in “Glitter Glitz” glitter and “Powder Keg – Mirage” embossing powder. Then all flowers and leaves were cut out and arranged as a bouquet. The sentiment was stamped with the “Mini Alpha” stamp set.

And now off to visit DEBORAH to see what Glitzi project she has in store for you.

Happy Easter,

Bettina

Supplies:

Card Base, kraft cardstock, white cardstock, white circle (2 5/8 inch diameter), Tree for all Seasons stamp set, brown ink, variety of 1/2 inch strips of coloured cardstock

Step 1:  Cover white circle with glue and arrange strips of coloured cardstock on top, allowing them to overhang.

Step 2.  Once circle is completely covered, trim off excess cardstock.  Mat the cut out circle in white cardstock and glue onto Kraft cardstock that has been trimmed to fit on front of card base.

Step 3.  Stamp tree trunk onto tree.  Add a sentiment.  I used a “thank you” from the Mention It set (my most favourite sentiment set to date).

Step 4.  Using your sewing machine, “stitch” a border of holes around the kraft cardstock.  Adhere to card base.

Happy Stamping,

Tracey

Anyhow, I kind of love the fall. I love it when school starts, and we all get into the swing of things. I love the cool, crisp air and the beautiful colors. Fall allways makes me feel inspired. Inspired to create and to make stuff. And rainy weather gives me plenty of time to dig into my scrapstash and play.

Today I’ll share two projects with you. I have used the wonderful “floating leaves” stamp set and the ” tree for all seasons”.

On my LO I stamped different leaves on my background paper with brown distress ink, I sprayed the background paper lightly with Glimmer Mist, added photo, tags, embellishments and title.

I stamped leaves on a white cardstock and colored all the leaves on the cardstock using my favourite shimmering H2O watercolors. I cut the leaves out of the cardstock and added them to my LO with 3Dfoam for extra dimension.

I did allmost the same on my card.

Sprayed the cardstock/background paper with Glimmer Mist (to make a background for the tree) Then I stamped the tree. I added the rest of the leaves from my LO-project. Some are added with glue and some with 3D foam.

Thank you for looking.

happy fall!!

~gudrun~

I used all of the images on this fun card for any occasion. The sentiment reads “Friends are always in season”, perfect right?

For the trees, i used bronze metallic embossing powder which really makes them pop. I sprayed my cardstock with different colors of Glimmer Mist to portray the different seasons, then added my blossoms and leaves using embossing powder, glitter ,and copic markers.

Notice that little bird in my winter tree? He comes with the set. How cute is that?

I’m calling this my “stamp for all reasons” set, proving once again the verstility of myStampBOX stamps.

Until next time,

Marci

Here is what I did with the set: I used only one of the little cherry blossoms and stamped it repeatedly onto a white card stock, but carefully around the flowers and mounted them with Helmar liquid scrap dots for more dimension. The sentiment is stamped in VersaMark ink, to keep the colours subtle. Sewing without thread brings extra texture and interest to the layout.

To win the Seasonal Tree stamp set, you can leave up to two comments, each entry will win you a ballot. You must do one or both of the following:

1. leave a comment, please include your first name and last initial, plus your city/country

2. on a second comment post a link to the place where you have posted about my Stamp BOX’s  blog (on your own blog or in a forum), again you need to include your name and last initial, plus your city/country – Good Luck!

This contest is open until June 30, the winner will be announced on July 1st.

Remember to send a friendship card, if you haven’t done so in a while – just because!

Happy stamping,

love, Bettina