Technique Class - Faux Stitching

In my former life... before I discovered scrapbooking... I was a cross stitcher & sewer. I've sewn my own clothes for as long as I can remember, mainly because I couldn't get anything to fit me, but also because when I did find clothes in my size, they were too expensive to even contemplate buying.
This could be why hand sewing and indeed any sewing is a prominent feature of much of my scrapbooking.
When I talk about sewing I mean - hand sewing, machine sewing and faux stitching - all under the same umbrella. All are relatively easy to do once you know how. The only special equipment you need is a sewing machine if you want to do machine sewing, but as these can be a bit on the expensive side I wouldn't recommend one, unless you are really going to get some use out of it. Of course if you can pick one up second-hand, really really cheap on trade me, then go for it.
As you don't need much by way of tools, sewing is a cheap and easy way to add dimension and interest to your scrapbook pages, cards and of-the-page projects.
The different techniques will be discussed over the next few weeks, but today we start with probably the cheapest and easiest way to add stitching to your projects which is "Faux Stitching" (or fake stitching).


Ingredients:

• Project
• Pen
• Stitching template, awl & mat or hole maker such as the Cutter Bee Bugs (optional extras)

Methodology:

The easiest method is just to draw short straight lines with a pen.

The real trick is to keep your lines the same length and evenly spaced. And don't worry it you line looks a little crooked, as hand sewing and even some machine sewing ends up crooked.

Some people like to draw little dots at the end of each line, to look like the stitching holes made by the needle.

Personally I don't think the extra work is worth it, but I would suggest you at least try it to see which method you prefer.

If you wanted to try something that looked a bit more complicated but still without using any extra tools, then you can always try a faux cross stitch.

All you need to do is draw "X's" around your picture or title. Again the key to making it look realistic is to try to ensure that your lines look as alike as possible and your spacing is even.

And finally if you want to look of stitching but without having to get out the needle and thread, you can always pierce the paper and then draw lines between the pairs of holes.

To make his look I used the single row paper piercer tool from Cutter Bee. I've had it a few years now, so I'm not sure where you can get them or something similar but try your local scrapbook or craft shop or even a hardware store for a leather punch. A sewing store would also have a "Pattern Tracer" which would do a similar job.

This particular paper piercer also comes in a double hole version. More on those next week when we look at hand stitching using actual needles and thread. (So now you have a week to mentally prepare yourself for the shock of actual sewing!!!)

Best & Worst - Photo Manipulation Software

At the moment, more so than ever, more of us are having to be financially vigilant and incredibly budget conscious about how we spend our money. The current global recession is forcing us to think twice about how we spend our hard earned money and more often than not it is our hobbies and recreational activities that are the first to bear the brunt of our cost cutting endeavours.
So when I find an incredible bargain then I am apt to share it, and if that incredible bargain is FREE and delivers more than expected then I will happily sing it's praises.
Sometime last year (or maybe even the year before) I was looking for some software to use for tidying up my photos. By that I don't mean how they are organised or stored on my laptop, but how I can manipulate the original image file to get the final picture I want to print and scrap.
I had previously used the software that came with my printer (but that shall remain nameless as I don't want any law suits). I really liked this software and occasionally still use it now, but somewhere along the way, one of their product upgrades changed the way it worked considerably and now it just doesn't have the functionality I liked about it and nor is it now as user friendly. Hence my search for a replacement.
At the time I wasn't working so my price range was very limited. I could afford somewhere between nothing and FREE and there wasn't much allowable movement from there. So I "googled" every combination of "photo", "FREE" and "download" I could think of.
After a few tries and misses I finally found the freeware download I have used ever since, and have recommended to all my friends both scrappers and non-scrappers alike.


"Insert Drum Roll here..."


The software is called Photoscape and you can find out a whole lot more about it as well as download your own copy HERE. It's now on version 3.5 though.

This isn't a paid commercial for it, they don't know I am writing about it, so I'm not getting anything in return and I doubt the creators will ever see my praise, I just think it is a fantastic piece of software that everyone should / could use.


So why do I think it's so great??

• It works on both PC's & Macs
• It's very user friendly - you don't need a manual or three week training course to operate it... just follow your nose
• You don't need to import all your photos in the software library, you just browse for them wherever you usually store your photos
• There are heaps of pre-determined photo sizes as well as custom-sizing. This is great for cropping photos to print at photos booths. You can pick from a long list of standard sizes which you know will fit standard photo paper - makes life easier & cheaper
• There is an option to edit photos individually or in bulk - though I have only ever used individual editing
• Photo collaging templates included with a variety of styles and sizes all with a click and drop in your choice of photos to populate the template - so easy to use
• Large selection of built in photo frames and speech bubbles, even though I only have a couple that I use all the time
• Most if not all editing options have pre-sets as well as scaled variations to enable you to select/de-select/set levels to achieve exactly the look you want. The pre-sets are great for the beginner and the scaled variations provide plenty of space to play for the more experienced user
• Heaps of built in filters to adjust the look of your photo including aging to look like vintage photos, various film stock, age-distressed old photos
• Handy editing tools for red-eye reduction & cloning (yes I know they are fairly standard tools now)
• Easy set up for standard photo paper sizes including allowing you to specify how many photos of a particular size to print out on the page - i.e. you set how many per row and column and the software automatically determines the size of the photo

There are heaps of other great features I haven't mentioned, but I am sure you will see them all once you start using the software yourself. I just know you will love it as much as I do.

Handmade - Hat Pins

In fashion it is a well known adage that if you wait long enough, everything will come back into fashion again which no doubt explains millions of over-stuffed wardrobes around the world.
Scrapbooking borrows a great deal from the world of fashion in terms of colour combinations, trends, even tools and products, so it really is no surprise to see items from yesteryear making their way onto our scrapbook pages, cards and other craft creations.
One of these is of course "Hat Pins". A fashion icon from a bygone era when it was commonplace for women to wear hats with a hat pin of course to stop your hat from being blown away. These adornments are now making a resurgence in our crafting as personalised jewelery and embellishments. You can buy them pre-made from most craft stores or online craft shops - I will have a selection selected on my website soon - www.scrapfx.co.nz - or you can make them yourself with just a few jewelry making items and some quick drying glue.
There are two options for making hat pins:

• Using a pin such as a corsage pin available from most haberdashery shops, including Spotlight or a hat pin if you can find them.
• Using a jewelery head pin with either a flat head, loop head of ball head

Head pins - flat head, gold looped head, silver looped head & ball head (top to bottom)

Using a Corsage or Hat Pin:

As the pin already has in effect a bead (aka pin head) attached, you don't need to add a stopper bead (to stop all the other beads falling off) so you can get straight into threading your chosen beads and spacers onto the body of the pin. I recommend covering no more than 1/3 - 1/2 of the pin body with beads otherwise you may have difficulty with getting your pin to stay "pinned in" to your project.

Finish your beading selection with a small seed bead then dab around the bottom of this with a clear drying adhesive. I like Glossy Accents or Dimensional Magic for this job - usually as they are the handiest glues for the job on my crafting table.

Ensure you adhere the glue around the entire pin body to stop the seed bead from coming loose and allowing ALL your other beads to slide off as well.

Allow the glue to dry with the pin resting upside down so that the beads don't slide down the pin body during the drying process.

Once the glue is dry, the decorated hat pin can be pinned into any crafting project - scrapbook pages, cards or OTP project.

The two pins on the left were created on hat pins, while the other three were on flat head jewelery head pins.

These were all corsage pins. They all show adding a charm with a jump ring slipped over the pin body and held in place by the other beads. The red pins are from my "Twilight" Series.

Using a Jewelery Head Pin:

Many of the heads (tops) of head pins are quite small, so any larger beads may slide right off the pin unless you add a stopper bead to prevent this from happening. I like using a seed bead for this roll. You don't need to add glue to hold it in place like the bottom bead though.

Add a small seed bead to your pin before adding all your other beads and spacers as described above. Again finish with a seed bead and then secure all your beads in place with a small dab of glue around the body of the pin.

You can see a small seed bead at both the top and bottom of the pin on the left. The "stopper" bead prevents the other beads from falling off the end of the pin if they have a larger hole through the middle of the bead.


Variations:
Try colouring the pin head for a coordinated look. I recommend either a Copic Marker or a Slick Writer. The slick writers give the pin head almost a marbled look.

Add charms or tags - refer to the picture of the "Twilight" pins earlier in the blog.
If you are using a looped head pin you can simply attach a charm by securing it with a jump ring to the end of the head pin.
If you are using a corsage pin or non-loop head pin, attach the charm to a jump ring as before, then thread the jump ring over the body of the pin. Be sure to secure it in place with a bead on either side that is not small enough for the jump ring to slip over.
These pins a really simple to make - the hardest thing is deciding what colour and style of beads to use. You don't need any special tools either, another great bonus.

Layout - 2011 Resolutions

Ok I scheduled this to go through Thursday night. Guess that will teach me for not double checking it went... like I did on Wednesday. Sorry its late.


Last year I created a two page layout to document my New Year's Resolutions so I decided to do it again this year as well.
2011 Resolutions:

For the records, yes that is real blood on the page. Not sure if it is acid free but it's staying... who said this scrapbooking hobby isn't dangerous. First I suffered a broken tail bone and sprained wrist, now there is bloodshed. What will be next???
Yes I hand stitched around every segment. Much of that was done while crawling up Hobson Street from the Downtown car park to the motorway on-ramp heading South every day after work. When about 6 blocks takes 45 minutes, the wise person takes something to do in the car. Wonder what other scrapping I can do while driving???

Photo Techniques - Sand Paper Distressing

There is just so much we can do to our photos these days, from removing or adding colour, background objects, red eyes & even unwanted people to adding digital distressing and frames. Still sometimes nothing compares to that grit under the fingernail feeling (not to mention the therapy it offers) of taking to a photo to distress it with good old fashioned sandpaper or the like.
Most of us have happily sanded away at our cardstock and patterned paper with gay abandon for many years. We don't even blink as we reach for the industrial strength high grade sandpaper from the home hardware depot... but I for one still remember a tense moment of hesitation before turning the aforementioned sandpaper to one of my precious photos.
Even though I knew it was a copy and I could reprint it with the mere click of a button, it somehow seemed sacrilegious to destroy my precious photos like that. Still my need for creative release and fulfillment won out eventually and I held my breath during the few few tentative sweeps of that caustic tool... then it was all on for young and old.
I look back now and fondly remember my apprehension, though now a glimmer still appears each time I furtively look at an other photo deciding what its fate will be.
Still nothing can compare to the thrill of the attack as you launch at your photos to deliberately scar your precious memories all in the name of creativity.


Instructions:

1. Select your photo to distress. Be sure it is a copy or a digital print you can reprint at any time. NEVER try this on your one-of-a-kind irreplaceable originals. I guarantee you will regret it.
2. Select your tool of destruction - sand paper, sanding tool, sanding disk, sanding block, pot scrubber, emery board etc
3. Gently rub around the edges of your photos to distress the photo by removing the colour from the front of your photo image.
4. Repeat until you achieve your desired look. You may need to rub the sand paper harder, or more flatter against the front surface of your photo to get the level of distressing you like. Remember to build up in layers. You can always distress some more... you CAN'T undo the distressing.

Variations:

• Try different grades of sandpaper for different looks
• Try different materials... sandpaper distressing looks different to distressing with an emery board
• Try different levels of intensity of your sanding - harder sanding will give you more of a whitish frame around your photo compared to softer sanding which leaves a lot more of the former background colour showing, just more blurred

I have two examples here, both distressed using a sanding disc. The wedding photo (my first marriage) was printed on professional photo paper while the baby (my nephew) was printed at home on my photo printer. And for the records, no I was not trying to get rid of my former husband in this photo... honest!!!

Off-The-Page - Book Marks

I don't know what it is about Summer, but it inspires me to read and read and read. I do love a good book and once I get into a book it is nearly impossible for me to prise my nose out of it until I finish. I will sit up all hours of the night reading if I am really engrossed in the story. I get swept away. I laugh with the characters and I cry with them. I really get into it.

As you would've seen from my earlier post about My Year in Books Project, this year I am creating a mini album to document the books I read... the heart wrenching stories and the trashy ones as well... (and yes their will probably be a few Mills & Boon in there for good measure.) 

It seemed only appropriate then to make sure I had a nice book mark to record my place and where I am up to. I am SOOOOO NOOOOOOT a page corner folder down person. I detest that practice in fact. So a proper book mark, or two, it had to be.

I made both a traditional book mark, complete with beaded tassel and a non-traditional book mark based on an idea I saw online.

 

The non-traditional book mark was based on a blog article I read, when someone crafted a book mark out of the corner of a used envelope. I wanted to create something a little more special for myself, yet also nice and simple to make.

I just used a scrap of cardstock from my stash and cut it into a rectangle about 2" x 5" (from memory). I marked the centre along one of the long sides, then folded both ends over to create an apex at the point I had marked. The folds formed a 90 degree triangle.

I then taped a triangle of scrap paper across the back with double sided tape to hold the two ends down and stop them from unfolding. (Sorry didn't take a picture of that). Finally I added a rub-on to make it look a little less plain. Simple to do and took all of 10 minutes. Of course cutting the corner off an envelope would only take about 2 seconds, but where is the fun in that??

Oh and the really great thing about this non-traditional book mark is it tucks in nice and tidily within the pages of your book, so you don't need to worry about catching your book mark on anything and pulling it out so you lose your place anyway.

Card Day - Jordan's 5th Birthday Card

Happy Belated Birthday to my nephew Jordan. He's just turned 5, so is about to start school. He has a very slack Aunty who still hasn't sent his birthday card or present yet so I hope he doesn't read this post. I do have a good excuse though.
Jordan & his brothers live in Nelson and all three of them celebrate their birthdays early on in the year, so I try to get organised and send all three presents and cards down in one parcel, especially as getting to the post office at the moment seems nigh on impossible with working in town. The parcel will be in the post this week though I promise, as I now have all the presents and cards.
I love the way Jordan's card turned out. I've never tried a gate-fold design before, but went with it because of the paper I wanted to use. I think the end result was way cool and hopefully the card's recipient will think so too.

You will get to see part of the present that goes with the card in a couple of weeks.