Hand Made Travel Organizer #1

Here is my first attempt at a travel organizer using my Accucut Craft dies. I can't recall what sparked this idea but I've been obsessing over it for some time. I used 5 Accucut Craft dies (or pieces thereof) on this travel wallet.

Right here on the cover, you see two dies: the Theme Album die to make the curved closure flap and the Buttons die as part of the closure functionality.

The first set of pages has an acetate envelope and a cardstock envelope.  The acetate was especially difficult to work with. Both envelopes close with velcro.  If I am putting credit cards in this thing, then I don't want them sitting next to strong magnets!

The back pages hold the credit cards.  Again, I used acetate and it was was a real pain.  Sure, I think it looks snazzy but it was so hard to accomplish!  Each acetate flap is attached to the bottom of a credit card sleeve and tucks in to the sleeve below it.  The credit card sleeves are individually hinged. I used two Accucut Craft dies to make these sleeves: a jacket card that makes the "V" shape and another die for the the envelope flaps.

I stuffed this file folder (also made with an Accucut Craft die) into a small pocket.  I intended it to hold receipts when traveling for business.

To see this organizer in action and get the names of the dies, you can watch my first travel organizer reveal video on my Vimeo Channel.

Hand made birthday cards I received

It was my birthday last month.  I got a couple of hand made cards that my step-mother, Maria, made. She made one for my sister to give me and one from herself and my dad.  Maria goes to Stampin' Up! classes where they sometimes scrapbook, sometimes make cards.  She's done a wonderful job on these:

This one would make for a lovely spring card too - what with the wood embossing and image from nature. I think Maria did an excellent job colouring the bird!  (I didn't ask, but my guess would be watercolour markers.) (Click the image for a larger view, so you can see all the embossing and shading.)

This one is bright, celebratory and gender neutral!  It would make a great birthday card for anyone! I think this one has a very graphic art style.

I was thrilled to get some hand made cards for my birthday!  They certainly add a touch of extra specialness to the occasion.

New Dog Die Cut!

There's nothing like new machine envy that forces me to figure how to get my old machine to do something close or similar.  I have a Boss Kut Gazelle.  I bought it in 2007, but I'm drooling over the new Brother Scan N Cut. Well, I played with my Gazelle to see if I could mimic one of of the Scan N Cut features with a little extra elbow grease.  That gave me the designing bug again, so I designed a new die cut dog!

And I used the nifty outline feature of my Gazelle to make an outline that could serve as a silhouette on its own.

 Here's the doggy cut from patterned paper:.

I inked around the paws and tails on all of them to provide some more definition - especially on the cardstock ones.

This dog actually started out as a bunny die cut that I designed first.

Then I morphed it in to a dog.

(These will be up in my shops at some point in the future!)

The feature I adore about the Scan N Cut is that it will scan any image (rubber or a printed digital image or my own sketches and handwriting) and cut it out perfectly. I would NEVER have to fussy cut a stamp again or manually make a stamp mask.

Although the newest software of my Gazelle can do print and cut using registration marks, I have never upgraded the software because I don't use the machine as much as I imagined I would. I find I still prefer the finished edge of manual die cuts. Nevertheless, this machine has definitely served me well for YEARS.

While the newest Gazelle Software can print and cut, my original out-of-the-box-from-2007 software can outline.  So, I scanned in a stamped image (with my printer/scanner) and then outlined it.  I can cut the outline and then use my stamp-a-ma-jig to stamp inside that cut out.  More steps, more time, more margin for error, but it does the same job.  So, no Scan N Cut for me.... yet.

I'm so ready for Spring!

By the time we reach the end of February, I am sick of the cold!  Cold, by itself, isn't so bad. It's the wind I despise. The wind comes along and strips away that little halo of heat your body makes around itself. It chills me right down to my bones!

So, here's a little flower card to wish for spring flowers!

I made this for a co-worker, who had been my mentee, who decided to try a different route with her career.  We worked together for some years and she was very detailed, diligent and willing to continuously learn and improve. She will be missed in the office!

This card uses my favourite scrap paper idea - monochrome ribbon tails. In this one, I matched the blue with a neutral ivory/yellowish colour. The flowers are a stamp I acquired from Annabelle Stamps (in Australia). I coloured them with my Bic Mark-It alcohol markers. I think the vibrant purple is a great contrast to the soft background.

In fact, I've had a lot of fun playing with my alcohol markers.  I have three kinds: Copic, Bic Mark-Its and a couple blending pairs from Close To My Heart. (I will show you a comparison in a future post.)

I'm in to spring imagery right now! Flowers, Easter bunnies and Butterflies! Today, we had some beautiful sunshine, even though we're still below zero. I'll take it as a promise of spring in my books!