Clear Embellishment Tips

I was working on a layout last week with some clear embellishments, and I suddenly realized that I never shared that earlier layout I promised!  So since I now have two layouts where I used the embellishments differently, I thought I would share them both today.

First, the original layout, where I cut my own shapes from a sheet of Clear Scraps acrylic.

For this layout, I cut the same shapes out of both the clear acrylic and some pattern paper.  

I backed the clear shapes with the pattern paper, then added designs with Stickles to the front.  You could also offset the paper from the clear shapes for a slightly different look.  I paired mine up with another snowflake shape I cut from some Magic Mesh I found in my stash (who remembers Magic Mesh?! Do they still make that stuff?!). The papers are from the discontinued Wonderland collection from CTMH.

The layout I just finished uses some clear shapes I had in a set from Fancy Pants.  I chose to use them "naked", although since they had a hole in them I did tie some twine through them.

You can see the clear stars better in the closeups:

 

It's easier to see the "naked" shapes when they are clustered in a group of similar shapes and/or layered with similar shapes.  You can see I layered a small clear shape on top of the larger yellow star.  Then the large clear star has a smaller felt star layered on it.  I even was able to pop it up using a Clear Foam Adhesive from ASI Kool Tak - it's like foam squares, but they're clear.  Pattern papers and letter stickers are from the A Boy's Life collection from Echo Park Paper. Cardstock, felt, and chipboard are from my stash.

I hope I've given you a couple of ideas for using your clear embellishments. I'd love to see what YOU make with clear embellishments!

New Products from Clear Scraps

You card makers will be excited to learn that Clear Scraps has new Send It Clear clear card designs coming out!  I'm really digging all of the designs, but I think my favorite just may be this cute cupcake design featured right on their website:

I have all kinds of ideas rolling around my head for this one!  If you want to go check out all of the new designs, you can see them on the Clear Scraps website right here.  If you like what you see, be sure to go like them on Facebook here, and do me a favor and let them know that Lori Brown sent you!

Clear Scraps Tutorial

It's my turn over at the Cutters Creek blog again, and since it's Tuesday that means it's time for a tutorial!  There was a question on the Cutters Creek Yahoo Group about the Acrylic Sheets from Clear Scraps, so I thought I would share a project and some tips about them.

These clear acrylic sheets are 12"x12", so they are the perfect size for scrapbook pages or decor projects.  They can also be cut with scissors, dies, and cutting machines (see video for cutting machine tips).  There are plenty of ways to take your projects from everyday to extraordinary using these cool clear sheets!  Today I have my most recent project to share with you, as well as a longer-than-my-usual video with more information.  There's just too much information to type out, so if you're not able to watch videos and have a question, just leave it here in the comments and I will respond as soon as possible.  Here are two photos of the layout I made:

Looks like an average layout, yes?

But aha, remove the cardstock behind and it's a super-cool clear layout!

This layout looks WAY more cool in the video where you can see the lights glaring off of it.  I think it would look awesome in a floating frame on a wall, but in my scrapbook I'll keep the yellow CS behind it so that whatever layouts are behind it in my album will not show through.  It still has all kinds of awesome dimension just perfect for my daughter's album!

Here's the video:

FYI: I checked and it looks like several of the Doodlebug Designs twine assortments have colors that will match this Echo Park collection.  (And as always, you can ask Kim any question.  If she's got items in stock, I'm sure she would be happy to color-compare for you.)

Here's a list of supplies I used that are available at Cutters Creek online store:

• Clear Scraps 12"x12" Acrylic Sheets
• Echo Park Paper, Hello Summer collection (currently sold out, so ask Kim about it if you want one!)
• Ranger Ink, Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Festive Berries (from Winter LE set), Spiced Marmalade, and Peeled Paint
• Scor Tape, 1/8" and 1/2"
• Making Memories, Scrapbook Colors in Red Wagon and Spotlight (currently on special for half off at Cutters Creek!)

Other supplies used:

• Close To My Heart, cardstock in Sunny Yellow and Twine in Paradise assortment
• Echo Park Paper, Hello Summer chipboard elements (possible special order from CC - just ask!)
• We R Memory Keepers, Crop-A-Dile
• Copic, Multi-liner 0.3 in brown (journaling)

I'll have that layout with acrylic accents done soon, and I hope to have my new video on the clear cards finished by next week (kids home for Summer tend to slow me up some!).  Be sure to sign up to follow me by email if you want to be notified when they're posted.  There's a simple signup box near the top of the right hand hand column!

Thanks for stopping by today; hope to see you again soon!

Product Spotlight Featuring Echo Park Paper

If you haven't yet started your Christmas crafting, this is your official notice that it's time to get going!  In the spirit of all things Christmas, I'm putting a spotlight on the Season's Greetings collection from Echo Park Paper.  This happens to be my personal favorite Christmas line this year, so it was really easy to whip up a few projects this weekend.  (And I have even more in my head, lol.)

My first of three projects today are some Christmas ornaments.  I do something different with the kids' school pictures every year, and this year's ornaments are made from these sweet over-sized bottle caps.

This is the "top", or outside, of the ornaments,  I covered them each with a paper and embellishments that best suited each child.  I also personalized them with their names and ages so I won't have trouble remembering what year they are.

The left one is embellished with a snowflake brad from the Assorted Brad Pack and letter/number stickers from the collection pack.

The center one is embellished with a wreath from the Season's Greetings chipboard and letter/number stickers from the collection pack.

The right one is embellished with a snowman sticker and letter/number stickers, all from the collection pack.

This is the inside of the ornaments.  I simply lined them with the same paper I used on the outside.  Then I used a large circle punch to cut out their school picture and adhered them to the centers.

In order to hang them, I used a Dremel tool to drill a hole in the top center.  (If you don't know what a Dremel is, I suggest you Google it - it's a handy little tool for all sorts of uses!)  I then doubled some thin satin ribbon and pulled the ends down through the hole and tied an overhand knot.  I trimmed the ends then pulled the ribbon back up until the knot was against the hole.

My second project is a clear gift pail I picked up at Michael's.  I love to fill these with matching paper shreds to hide some little gifts.  They are especially fun for kids as they try to peek through the pail to see what the gift is!

Beautiful, even empty!  I love how the "back side" of the double sided paper shows through.  I used Scor Tape to attach everything, since it holds to plastic well, and keeps things stuck to the curved shape better than other adhesives.

I added a thin border of black cardstock to make that poinsettia paper stand out more.  Next I cut the sentiment from the sheet of Journaling Cards, inked the edges with black ink, and matted it on some coordinating green cardstock.  I poked a hole in the corner and strung through some Doodle Twine, tying it in a bow on the front.  To complete the look, I cut a circle for the lid from the same poinsettia paper.



My final project is a clearly fabulous Christmas card!

 You may wonder why this card looks a little "different".  Well, it's because this is NOT your ordinary card.  This is a clear card, cut with my Cricut from a Clear Scraps Acrylic Sheet.  I cut this one using the card on the Thanksgiving cartridge. (If you're cutting with a Cricut, be sure to test - I needed to multi-cut 4 times on mine with a deep cut blade set at 6 and Max Pressure.)  Here's a view where you can see a little better how the whole clear thing comes in to play.

The key to clear cards is layering, so the outside pieces cover the  inside pieces properly, and add dimension. I used Liquid Glass from Close To My Heart as my adhesive.  It dries clear and is much less noticeable through the clear card than other adhesives.

I started with the inside front of my card.  I adhered a strip of red snowflake paper to the inside front bottom edge and trimmed it by hand after the adhesive dried.  I also adhered a snowflake Journaling Card to the upper left of the inside.  On the outside front, I adhered the rocking horse from the Layered Chipboard on top of the Journaling Card.  Lastly, I wrapped the entire front of the card with some green ricrac from my stash.  In order to keep the hills & valleys matching, I extended the ricrac off the edge of the right side somewhat.  I then added a Craftwork Cards CANDi near the end.

Here you can see the inside of the card, and the matted sentiment I chose to hide behind the embellishments on the front of the card.  I started with the outside back of the card.  I covered the entire back with the striped paper using the Liquid Glass.  Then I moved to the inside back.  Checking against the card front, I adhered a strip of green cardstock across the entire width.  Next I cut a blue mat 3" x 4", the same size as the journaling card on the front.  I lined it up with the journaling card and adhered it on top of the green strip.  Finally, I added my sentiment using stickers from the collection pack.

You can check out the entire collection here - I'm sure you'll love it as much as I do!  I hope you liked today's projects.  Leave a comment and let me know what you think!  I'd also love it if you become a follower or follow by email.