My sweet boy

Things have been a little hard at home over the last few weeks. My craft room roof came down and leaked all over the place during a storm (twice) and we said goodbye to our precious Ollie.

Ollie was 15 and was diagnosed with a cancer on his liver last October. I have watched him go from a cheerful (if deaf) little fella to one who doesn't bother following me up and down the stairs as the lump in his tummy has got too big. Hard to watch.

As a family, we made the hardest decision ever - to let him go now before his discomfort got any worse. Well, what a week, knowing your best furry friend is leaving. The vet came to our house and it was handled beautifully, with all the family present. Very upsetting but Ollie is now buried in the garden and we know he is near us. Even Sophie (the cat) said goodbye. She is a little skittish at present and we like to think it is because Oll is still bugging her!

Mother in Law's birthday coming up, so needed a quick card to send to her. She is in the UK, so a week is necessary for postage etc. I am always late, so decided to shock her this year (hope it doesn't get mixed up in early Christmas mail - which I haven't got ready yet...). Found this card

on a blog I follow (Twisted Chick) and decided to CASE/adapt 'cos it caught my eye.

I am very happy with the result!

Two posts in one day??

More glitter - this time using Sizzix daisy die (discontinued), but any die cut flower will do. Cut out your shapes using your die cutting machine, lay onto your scrapbook layout and using the technique shown below (darkest to lightest), go mad with your glitter. It may be worth not adhering your photos until you have done this, as glitter tends to stick to photo paper ....

Fun with Glitter

Crikey, I had just re-discovered my inner Blogger, then I couldn't sign in! There was a time (1984) when I was ahead of the techno game - unfortunately technology is ahead of ME now and the distance is widening more and more ...

Moving on, what I am confident with is glitter! I love glitter, so thought I would show off this card that I made for my son. We like Scooby Doo. The base for this card is double sided adhesive paper (Jac), which is available here. Here is the easy method:

1. Cut a piece of jac paper to the size of your choice and attach to the front of your card. You could even print onto the paper prior to cutting. Lay your card onto a piece of scrap paper (A4 printer paper is fine), folded in half ready to catch the glitter and return it to the pot.


2. Using a very sharp knife, cut through the top layer of the jac paper (doesn't matter if you cut into the adhesive layer as long as you don't go through the card), following all the lines. On this card I did very thin outlines in black.


3. Assess the glitter colours you will use and start with the darkest colour first. As you cannot avoid mixing glitters, the light ones won't show on the dark colours, but obviously the dark ones will!


4. Carefully lift off the top layer of paper, exposing the sticky surface, from those areas you deem to be darkest. Now pour your glitter over the exposed parts and then gently tip your card so all the adhesive is covered and your glitter falls onto the scrap paper. Be generous with your glitter, after all, it is all going back into the pot anyway! Give the card a good flick with your fingers to remove all loose glitter. It is then easy enough to pour the glitter back into the pot (you may need to use your 'Spirit Fingers' to ensure all glitter is safely returned. Any that is left over, I just flick into the bin. A pot of glitter can last years - it goes an awful long way!


5. Carry on in this manner using your glitters from darkest to lightest until all areas are filled.

It is as easy as that! Your card will be awesome and shiny and you will then be able to go on to a nightclub as you are covered in glitter dust!

I also use glitter in my scrapbooking. I feel as long as all the loose particles are flicked off (as much as possible, anyway) then there is no harm. The jac paper is neutral, too. For glittery letters, simply use your die cutting machine (I have used Sizzix, Cuttlebug and Quickcutz dies with great success).

Where has my life gone?

Holy Moly! 15 months on and I am posting again! Not so regular, I am thinking... Life flashes by with nary a backward glance - I have been scrapbooking and making cards on a regular basis, but there has been a lot of exploring other (extremely talented) peoples' blogs!

Thought I might share one of my cards with you, which I made for my nephew's 13th birthday. He received a Fender Stratocaster guitar, so, as boys cards are generally not as easy as girls', this was what I chose to focus on! The guitar images were downloaded from the net and printed onto photo paper (nice and glossy) and then 'paper toled' to give a 3D image. The words were cut using the Sizzix machine, from chipboard which had JAC (double sided) paper attached and then dipped into glitter. (LOVE jac paper - get it here: http://www.scraptothefuture.com.au/ ). I notice I have 3 fonts (tut tut) and the stars were also cut from a Sizzix die from gold and silver foil board (also from my store). I liked the card when I had finished it, nephew loved it - it had just the right amount of bling for a budding Rock God to appreciate!

And so to test!!

And so, having arranged everything to my satisfaction at this particular point in time - I shall upload a pic! A basic and easy operation, you say, but I have discovered that technology has overtaken me somewhat - as the digital layout shows! The highly technical computer wiring shown on the layout is the inside of my computer - taken after a component died!

Layout produced using Adobe Photoshop Elements.

Setting Up

Hi - my name is Claire and I own an online scrapbooking web store - Scrap to the Future.
As my web design knowledge is somewhat limited, I have decided to use this blog to post hints, tips and layouts to share!

I hope you enjoy being here - I shall certainly try and update regularly.