Monday, June 6, 2016

Anchor of my Hope

Hello, Crafty Friends
I'm back again for another week with Craftwell & Latina Crafter!! Today marks the beginning of week #2 of awesome Latina Crafter projects! And, today I will show you how made this "Porthole" window card.


Supplies Used
Cut'n'boss (Craftwell)
Teresa Collins Pocket Dies- Memory Collection (Craftwell)
Teresa Collins Embossing Folder- Diamond Motif (Craftwell)
Nested Circle Dies (Darice)
Xyron Mega Runner 
Seaside Yacht Stack (DCWV)
Glittered Vellum
Red & White Baker's Twine
VersaFine Onyx Black Ink
Spectrum Noir Marker- TB1
Blue Button
Cardstock- Black, White

One of the best inventions ever... clear stamps!! One of the benefits of using clear stamps is one's ability to see exact placement of your images/ and words! I can position or combine stamps in a variety of positions for a variety of looks, expanding and maximizing my stamping possibilities.

First, I positioned my clear stamps onto an acrylic block and stamped the image onto a practice sheet of paper to make sure that alignment is how and where I want it. This way I  minimize waste and saves my "good stuff" for my actual projects. For this card I used Latina Crafter's Anchor set.

Once placement was exactly how  wanted, I stamped my image onto my "pretty" cardstock.

I added shadows to the banner by shading the ends with a Spectrum Noir Marker in TB1. 


For my card front I cut a 4"x5.25" piece of cardstock. I found this awesome anchor paper that matched the theme of the stamps with cute little anchors from the DCWV Seaside Yacht Stack. I embossed it using a Teresa Collins Diamond Motif Embossing Folder through my Cut'n'boss machine using the following sandwich:



I wanted to cut a window but I wanted my stamped image to be centered. To get image centered, I first centered my stamped image using a wafer thin metal die blade side up. I held the die and paper in place with my thumbs and forefingers, then flipped them over. Still holding them together I centered them over my card front mat. Now, when I remove my stamped paper, my die is now positioned blade side down. At this point you can use washi tape or painter's tape to keep in place. and die cut your window.

Then used my Xyron Mega Runner to attach my window to my card A2 sized card base. To complete my "Porthole" window, I centered the next smallest circle die inside the first window and ran it through my die cut machine again.


Then I attached my stamped image on the inside if my card. Centering it on the back lap should also result in it being centered in the window.

Then, I cut a 4"x5.25" piece of cardstock and attached it to the inside/ backside of the window. Then repeated the same step for the front window to the inside. This covers up an adhesive that shows through the vellum and gives the inside of the card a finished look.

To embellish the card I also stamped an anchor and cut it out by hand.

And, die cut the "RememberThis" phrase from the Teresa Collins Memory Collection set. Then ebrushed it using the same marker I used to color the stamped banner. I used a glue pen to adhere it to black cardstock and attached it to my card stock with more adhesive tape.

To finish my card, I used baker's twine topped with a button. and used liquid glue to attach the twine and anchor.

And here is my finished card...
You can''t see the actual sentiment until you open the card...
or press down firmly


I hope you enjoyed today's project!! I really love the quality of Latina Crafter stamps!! And they go so perfectly with my Teresa Collins dies and folders... don't you think??!!

Until next time,
HAVE A CRAFTY DAY!!
~Mitsy








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Friday, June 3, 2016

Planner Fun

Hello, Crafty Friends!!
Xyron and our Friends at Simple Stories have partnered together to bring you today's super easy project! And this lucky gal got to play with Simple Stories Bloom and Grow Collection. If you are a garden lover or gnome fanatic this collection is for you!! 

Today, I  will show you how to transform your daily planner for plain and ordinary to bright, cheerful, and most importantly... FUN!!

All you need are a few supplies.

1. A planner
2. Scrapbook Paper / Cardstock ( I used these awesome papers from Simple Stories)


3. Paper Punch or Paper Trimmer
4. Xyron Creative Station Lite
5. Fine Tip Black Marker

Here is a cool way to make your own decorative panels for your planners...


Simply use a paper punch to cut out patterned paper or cardstock. The one I used was a 2 " square punch. This fit nicely into each section.

 I used a combination of a few different papers for my Bloom & Grow Collection Kit. Each paper is double sided adding more coordinating options.

I cut these 9 different squares from only 3 sheets of paper.I love how each of them are different yet still go with and compliment each other.


Then I ran all my 2" panels into the Xyron Creative Station Lite, turning them into decorative sticker panels.

Then I randomly placed them into my planner squares. I love these bright bold colors! The definitely brightened up my pages.


I decorated my pages even further by adding a variety of stickers from my Bloom and Grow kit.


Because I covered up a few of my calendar dates, I used additional stickers to add those missing date back on. You can totally handwrite the numbers back in if you wanted to. I just prefer to do it this way because I loath my handwriting!

As another cool trick I hand drew the shadows to my new numbers. It gives the illusion that the numbers are three dimensional and helps make them pop off the patterned paper.


OMG... look how stinkin cute these gnomes are!! I just had to sneak a couple in for good measure! LOL

I also added a scalloped border to the "Notes" section and also added flowers. The Bloom and Grow also comes with border stickers, you don't have to stick with just decoration your days!! These were a bit long so I used scissors to trim off the excess and continued around the top and bottom of the lined area.

And here is my new decorated planner pages. Now, to fill in my important dates!!


Hope you enjoyed this quick tutorial on how to give your planner pages a crafty and colorful make-over!!

Until next time...
Happy Crafting!!
~Mitsy

Supplies Used
Bloom & Grow Collection Kit  (Simple Stories)
 Xyron Creative Station Lite
PITT Artist Pen S (Optional)
2" Paper Shapers Square Punch (Ek Success)
Planner