Distressing & my favorite border punch!

The more distressing I do on layouts the more I love it. I have been expanding the colors of ink I use and recently add the Weathered Wood to my growing collection. In my "Partners for Life" layout I used 3 different colors of distress ink to achieve the look I was after.
The ink colors are Antique Linen, Walnut Stain and Weathered Wood. I use distress inks often alone, but sometimes in combination. Most of the time I use a simple sponge dauber tool to apply the distress ink. On this layout I used the Antique Linen on the very outside edge of my background paper. I then used the Weathered Wood distress ink on the edge of my blue paper on top of the punched border to make it stand out more against the background paper. Last I wanted a mat for the photo that had an uneven edge, but I didn't want to tear it because I wanted a jagged edge that was small. So I hunted around and dug out my old Fiskars deckle edge sizzors which I have had for years. I then experimented with a sample piece of paper before cutting and inking my photo mat. After cutting the deckle edge, I sanded the edge so that I would have a completely white edge on the paper to work with. The close up photo left is how my paper looked before I began inking. With the photo mat I wanted some depth to the look, so first I inked the edge with Antique Linen. I brought the color approximately 1/2 inch into the paper. I left that dry just a bit and then went back and used the Walnut Stain distress ink to add a darker color to the outside edge. On the corners of my mat I pulled the dark Walnet stain a little farther in. The photo mat was about 5/8 of an inch wide so I had some room to vary the distressing. Last I distressed the striped piece of paper with just the Walnut Stain ink adding color only the the very edge to give it depth. I did the same process to my title on the word "Life". For the title this better defined the letters and let them stand out better from the background.

Because I love border punches and the Martha Stweard Doily punch is one of my favorites I wanted to share how I did the corners. The steps I am going to share are what I do with any border punch I buy, so you can apply these steps to your favorite punch.

When I get any new punch and experiment with it for a while I will decide what "look" I prefer for a corner. With the Doily punch I liked how the corner turned out when I let two scallops meet at the corner which gave the corner a more rounded look. Once I figure out what I am after, I just need to give myself two things, first a consistent way of lining up the two edges of paper and second an easy way to measure and trim my paper so I have a result I can reliably repeat. I always start figuring out what I need to do with plain old computer scrap paper. So I am going to show you an example using just that. I have here two pieces of computer paper. On one piece I punched a one side. the other piece I took my punch and cut a single image a short distance from a corner. I did this on purpose because I want to know exactly how far in from the edge of the paper the punch creates its design. I decide how I want to line up the corner design. Here you see red circles that I have drawn around a hole that sits in the design at the lowest point in the scallop. I am going to use this part of the punch design to line up my corner. I take the piece of paper with the single punched design and set it on top of the piece of paper with the punched edge. I make my second piece of paper turn the corner and I line up those two red dots. In the photo at left they are sitting on top of each other. Next I take a pen and draw a line on my bottom piece of paper exactly where the paper edge ends on the top piece of paper. It may be a little had to see in this photo but when I remove the top piece of paper you'll see exactly what I did.

The line I drew is clearly visible here. I will trim my paper exactly where I put this line so that when I put the paper in my punch and turn the corner I can line up the small punched hole in the design with the same hole in the punch itself for a clean corner. To punch the corner you will need to turn the punch upside down when holding it in your hand. I make a note, or keep this scrap piece of paper so I can trim each of my four corners to the exact same distance.

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Punching great corners!

I was asked recently how I got such clean corners with my Fiskars Threading Water paper border punch. It's really not difficult at all once you take a few steps. First you'll need to punch one edge of your paper with the border punch. Then we'll can start working on an example of a corner. The key to a great corner is just having the ability to line up the curve on your last scallop with the curve of the first scallop on the next edge.
Since the border punch has a specific width or distance from the edge of the paper where the cut occurs, you just need a reference point to create this exact distance. I have found from experience that if I trim off the edge of my paper to the exact point where one of the small holes in the punch design sits, then I can easily line up the punch when I turn the corner. I have an example in the picture on the left. The dark line represents the point where I will trim the edge of the paper. See how the line I have drawn just touches the small hole in the last scallop design.



Here is another picture where I have trimmed the paper. The paper I am using here in this example is two sided and the green side is the topside of the paper, the backside is a red and orange print. To turn our corner we'll need to work holding the punch in our hands upside down so we can see how the paper is lining up with our desired design.

Although it is a little hard to see in this picture, when I slide the new edge to be punched into the border punch I can use the small holes in the design to be sure that my corner is lined up. In the picture the first hole on the left lines up perfectly with the little hole that was created by the last scallop on the previous edge that I punched. All you need to do is punch the corner while holding the paper and punch upside down, then you can turn the punch back over and work as you normally would lining up the punched design with the design painted on the punch guide. Hope this helps those of you who are enjoying this Fiskars border paper punch!

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Masking with Drafting Tape

When I created this Skateboard layout for a friend I wanted to add a little bling to this "Boys" page. So I decided to create some distressed lines up to a series of stars reminiscent of search lights. To create the distressed lines I used drafters tape. It looks a lot like ordinary masking tape, but the sticky formula is different. This tape is designed to work well with paper and can be removed and repositioned without harming the paper. I learned about the useful qualities of drafters tape from my watercolor painting experience.

In this layout I wanted a nice clean edge for one side of each line, so I put a piece of drafters tape down and distressed the page starting from my tape and moving away. I repositioned the tape for each line. When my distressing was complete I took Stickles (here's the bling) and applied it near the straight edge of each line. Then I used an old watercolor paint brush to spread the Stickles over each line giving them a nice sparkle.

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g.c.d Studios has a NEW blog-plus a give away!

Hey I wanted to share that g.c.d Studios has moved their blog and to kick things off at their new location they are having a give away of a New paper pack--Chic Bebe! To participate just vist their blog and link it to your blog. They will draw a winner on Monday, 3/16/09. They have some very pretty papers, so check it out!

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Perfect Corners Everytime!

Sometimes my perfectionist nature creeps into scrapbooking and I find myself wanting to "fix" something. Actually, I probably fight with this tendency more than I'd like to admit, I am sure this has influenced my scrapbook style. Well I love all the decorative punches on the market; I own quite a few. The last couple I purchased were from Martha Stewart. I used her Doily border punch in my "LOVE" layout below.

I really like to use border punches on the outside of a square, but I always want my corners to meet perfectly! With the two Martha Stewart punches I bought, I just couldn't get a really clean look even with practice. So I decided on an alternative which is what I want to share here. In my "LOVE" layout I actually used the Doily border punch on card stock strips, created mitered corners, and affixed these behind by patterned paper square. I want to show you how I did the miter with the paper strips.
To explain how I did this I am going to have to introduce one of my favorite tools. Yes, this is a quilter's ruler. I use it all the time. I am always looking for an easy way to accomplish a task and with this tool I can attach a pic to card stock and cut a clean 1/8" border around the pic without measuring anything. I just use the quilting lines, all set 1/8 or 1/4 of an inch apart.

The other cool feature on this ruler is the angles. The ruler has two lines with mark a 45 degree angle which is what we need to create a mitered corner!


To create a perfect corner with a perfect 90 degree angle we start with two strips of paper punched with our border punch. We then need to decide on a spot in the design for the corner to match up. Once we have decided on a match up point we cut our strip at a 45 degree angle making sure we end our cut at our match up point. the quilter's ruler makes this easy because all we do is line up the straight edge of our punched strip with the 45 degree angle painted on the ruler and cut. Here is a closer look at those angles painted on the ruler.

When we cut our two strips, each strip with have a 45 degree angle cut, and the cuts will mirror each other. When the corners are matched up, you will have something like this. In this picture I have matched up the corners of the Martha Stewart Arch Lattice border punch. Both of these punches give such pretty results!

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Our pup Truman is on the mend!

The last 6 weeks have been full of ups and downs as we have tried to keep our youngest lab out of trouble as he heals following his knee surgery. The first month had me worried as he just wasn't following the norm as far as his ability to use the injured leg and walking goes. More x-rays revealed that the healing was going fine, Truman just needed to use his leg to build muscle and confidence. The last two weeks we have really seen improvement and he has begun to show signs of his old self--such as in this pic. Truman is actually teasing our other lab Gracie with this toy. He wants her to chase him. This kind of play is still off limits, which our sweet Gracie does not quite understand.
I have hidden all the toys but brought this chew toy out to give Truman something to keep him busy. It is such a relief to have progress. Another month or so and he should be good as new!

Maybe now I can regain a little of my time for scrapbooking--and take a few more pics of our dogs for layouts. I think Truman is probably the most photogenic dog we have had, and a ham to beat!

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Great changes to the Silhouette software!

I bought a Silhouette digital craft cutter in November 2008 and have really had a lot of fun with it. Of course, Quickutz just came out with an updated version, but the great news is the new software can be used by my existing machine. Wow was I excited when I upgraded the software and started using the meld function. Here is my first LO where I created a whole new design, a scalloped frame, by starting with just a piece of an existing digital image (Quickutz Damask_8052).
I used just the top most flourish of the Damask image, deleting all the other pieces of the design.

Here is my single flourish from the Damask image. I have drawn a 6.5" circle on my screen and positioned the center of the circle on the intersection of a horizontal and vertical grid line. I then re sized the flourish to 2" high and put in on a vertical grid line with the tip of the flourish touching the circle.

I then copied and pasted the original flourish and positioned it on either horizontal or vertical grid lines.

Each time I added a flourish I made sure the tip of the flourish was touching the outer circle, this ensured that my design would be a perfect circle shape.

After I had placed the first four flourish images, I then continued to copy and paste 4 more shapes. This time I had no grid lines to help with placement, but the first four shapes could be used for evaluating spacing.

With the placement of these flourishes you still have the outer circle to guide the placement of the tip of the flourish.

With all the flourishes in place its time to create our welded image. Select the circle and now re size it smaller. You'll want to make the circle small enough to allow the 3 leaf like shapes to extend outside the circle. Once your circle is re sized, select all the shapes at once (all flourishes and the circle). If you have selected correctly, all of the shapes should appear blue.

Click the "weld" button, it will be the second to the last button on the right. All of the inner lines should disappear and you will have the outside share of your frame. It it doesn't look right you can always undo the weld action and reposition your circle for a better shape.

We still need some inner circles to finish the frame. Make sure you don't move the shape because we need to line up our inner circles on the grid.

I added two additional circles to my frame because I wanted a circle inside the fancy edge to set against my picture. I made sue that each new circle I added had the center of the circle placed on the same intersection of the grid that my original circle used. This allowed me to have a perfect center for placement. I then selected all the pieces of the image, both circles and the outer frame and "grouped" them together. Once grouped I could move the image around or re size it and retain the proportioned shape.

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