Clear Scraps ARMY album

This album was made using the new Build a book system from Clear Scraps. Now your album scan be truly personalized - have children with unusually spelled names? Now you can make a personalize album for them! (My daughter's name is Rhiannan... I can't find ANYTHING with her name on it!) Take a trip to somewhere off the beaten path? Now you can have an album for that too.

For the longer albums, the first letter is very small, with very little room for pictures. So if you have a shorter word, start with the second or third place to allow more room. That's what I did with this album, because I knew I wanted to use that particular photo on the front.

RAK time

Ok, so I ended up working yesterday and not posting anything..

Clear Scraps has release the build your own word books as well as several ginormous shapes.

Word books can be made to say anything - up to 8 letters - and can be made from acrylic, chipboard, or a mixture of both (wouldn't that be cool?). What a fun way to make an album specific for a trip, or someone's name, or anything else you can think of. I made an ARMY album for my husband using the new word books - I have another one I am working that says BONKERS, and another with my dog's name (ALI) How fun is that??

The ginormous shapes are 12x12 acrylic shapes that can be used in a variety of ways. I used the giant brackets to make the mobile posted previously. I also took several of the shapes and cut them in half to make a cool, one of a kind 6x12 album (FAMILY fun).

So onto the RAK - post a comment about acrylic albums - what you like, if you have a favorite tip or technique, or what you're afraid of... I will pick 2 people at random for RAKs. One will receive a word book, and one will receive a couple of the 12x12 acrylic shapes.

I'll post the rest of the army album later (after work)

Have fun!!

Edited to add: I'll accept comments for the RAK until Friday July 11 at midnight CST. Winners will be chosen over the weekend.

CHA

What an exciting time to be on a design team.. we all have been very busy creating for Clear Scraps.. please make sure to check out the other DT members blogs for even more great projects.

Tomorrow I will be posting the pages from my Family Fun album (which, I think, is my favorite to date!) and posting a RAK


Hope everyone had a great 4th of July!

Clear Scraps projects

Have been working on a lot of different things lately.

Wanted to challenge myself to use more Clear Scraps shapes on cards - I tend to mainly use the acrylic albums and basic shapes on layouts. The first card is a rather simple one, done almost monochromatically, with a touch of pink added in. The acrylic photo corner was inked around the edges with Stazon.

This card was made using a stamp set designed by my friend Kelli Caslow. She is doing exciting and great things with her designs and I can't wait to see what else she comes up with. The image was stamped on the acrylic star. The image was colored {using Galaxy markers }on the back side, which adds a little dimension. One of the fun things about this card is that the star can be removed and used as a decoration or a Christmas tree ornament

Here is a little tag I made - ink used was StazOn. Cardstock edges were inked and distressed with scissors

I also wanted to do something different, and as soon as I saw the shape of the brackets (a new release for CHA), I had this idea to make a mobile. My daughter LOVES it. For the next one, I won't cut the acrylic so wide - it was very moveable, so I added in the binding tape to hold the pieces the way I wanted them. Acrylic letters and shapes were embellished and tied to the brackets with ribbon. Holes were punched with the CropADile.

Another new CHA release are custom word books (or build a books, as we have been calling them). I'll showcase the pages of this ARMY album in the next few days.

Another idea I had with some of the new releases was to make a multi-shaped album. I took the 12x12 shapes (circle, the brackety square, postage stamp, funky heart and regular square sheet, and cut them in half to make a 6x12 album. This album was made using the June kit from All Moments Remembered, which includes Pink Paislee, Fancy Pants, SEI and more. This is a preliminary photo - I will be getting more tomorrow now that the album is finished.

I also made a 12x12 Easter layout using that brackety square shape. It is a little hard to see in this photo, so I'm going to retake it tomorrow and repost. This layout also uses an acrylic tag and flower.

This last layout is one that I originally made for a challenge on AMR. But I wanted to do something else in the corner by the girls names. I cut a bracket in half then used the pieces to frame the journaling.

I've been tagged!!

I've been tagged by Jennifer, who is the newest member to the Lilac City Designs design team. Jennifer has some fabulous projects on her blog (check out the skateboard card!)

Name 5 things that I do for myself:
1. I buy Ben and Jerry's New Your Super Fudge Chunk ice cream. LOVE IT. Too expensive for a family of 5, so I keep it at work and have a little when I have a bad day.
2. My CTMH scrapbook club - it's my one night out a month, talking with people who love the craft as much as I do.
3. Raise Shetland Sheep. What can I say, I love the cute little things. I am fascinated by the genetics behind their color. {And their wool is to die for!}
4. Buy CARS collectibles. I originally bought them for my kids, but couldn't decide how to divvy them up so the kids wouldn't fight. So now I buy them for myself.
5. Spend a little bit more for the lavender body wash I like. The kids don't care what they use. I like the lavender because I find it refreshing and relaxing. Now if only I had a clawfoot bathtub for soaking in!

Name 5 kind things I do for friends, my children or partner:
1. Spend extra money to have a library card in a nearby town to have a better choice of books to help satisfy the voracious reading appetites of my family. {We live in the country, and have a very small, not very current library}
2. Listen to my son talk about his video games. The latest one is Lego Indian Jones. he gets so excited when he talks about all the stuff he finds.. and I try really hard not to let him know I have no idea what he is talking about!
3. Dance with my daughter whenever the music strikes her {this happens a lot}
4. My husbands laundry - he is a truck driver and is on the road 5 or 6 days out of the week. He doesn't have a lot of time for laundry. So he brings it home, and I do it for him.
5. I work with a scrappy friend, and when I find new things.. I usually try to pick it up for her too. She doesn't blog or blurf or come across some of the neat stuff I find, so I help her out with that ;)

Name 5 kind things I've done for a strangers:
1. When I call somewhere, and the receptionist says they will will page whoever I'm calling, I always say "Thank you." I also say thank you to the cashiers at the stores I go to. It is amazing how many people smile just from having a person say thanks. It isn't said often enough anymore.
2. Whenever possible, I let cars in front of me in traffic. It's tough sitting there waiting to turn onto the road, especially when it is busy. More often than not, I see that person letting someone out further down the road. It's a great "Pay it forward" type of thing.
3. I tell people it is ok. With my job, I often have to counsel people about making difficult decisions. Often people are not sure they are doing the right thing. Sometimes they just need to hear it said out loud that It is OK, and they are making the right decision.
4. I like to send RAKs. If I see that someone needs/wants something I have, I'm more than happy to share it with them. It is so much fun to see them post about what I have sent, especially if they were not expecting it!
5. A lady called me up with a problem - she had found two orphan kittens whose mom had been hit by a car and killed. She couldn't keep them. So I took them {and they are still at my house}

Name 5 hobbies I enjoy
1. Scrapbooking
2. Reading
3. Photography
4. Blogging/blurfing
5. Bowling

Tag, You're It!
Kelli C
Nicole P
Erika
Jessica Mae
Stacey (the bestest board owner EVER)

Hope you gals will have fun with this too!

Acrylic Jar Album

Threw this together the last couple of days... Had a lot of fun doing it..

I have been wanting to make a jar album since I saw a class at Scrappin' It. Unfortunately, the class was at a time I couldn't attend, but I kept the idea in my head. Then, Jessica, a friend from AMR, made one and the idea resurfaced. It took me a little while to find the jar I wanted to use, but once I did, it was easy to make the album.

Naturally, since I wanted to make acrylic pages, I had to modify the album a little - Using a ribbon to connect the pages was not what I wanted to do. I had picked up the tiny rings at Scrappin' It, and they really fit the bill.

Supply list:

Acrylic sheet: Clear Scraps

Jar: Mason

Patterned papers are from the AMR May Kit (LOVE the AMR kits!).

Cardstock: Bazzill.

Ink: StazOn Pumpkin

Stickers: SRM Press (Mother and Mother's Day) and EK Success

Heart bling: Glitz Designhttp://www.glitzitnow.com/

Gems: Joann's

Flowers: Prima

Punches: Marvy Uchida and Creating Keepsakes

Ribbon: Offray, Pebbles Inc
Pens: Sakura Souffle

Rings: Scrappin' It

Tools: Cutterbee scissors, Crop-A-Dile, container template

Adhesives: Zip Dry, foam squares

{The template for the pages was actually a stackable embellishment storage container. Since it fit nicely into the jar, I used it for the template. I traced around the container onto the acrylic page (drawing on the protective coating with a sharpie). Then I cut them out with my Cutterbee scissors.}

Flooding

I have not posted for a little while, as I have been busy with work and other things.

We live about 15 miles from the Mississippi River. I drive over it every day to get to work in Quincy IL. For the last week, we have been watching the waters rise. Things have been most dramatic the last few days.

The Memorial Bridge (one way East bound traffic into Quincy) has been closed since Saturday night. The west end of the bridge is rather low. When we drove over the bridge Saturday, we knew it was only a matter of time before the bridge would be closed. They initially said it would be closed Wednesday. Well they moved it up to Saturday night. Now, all traffic is going over the Bay View Bridge (which normally only has West bound traffic)

Took pictures at Clatt Adams Park on the river front.. well, IN the river front... But at least most of the park was ok. By the next morning, it was a different story. I can't believe how high the water rose overnight. Even more impressive.. Sunday, my son and I went to town to run errands and pick things up we might need if we were cut off from town or lost electricity. Memorial bridge had sand bags across the road. They were still using bulldozers to increase the height of the levee that protects West Quincy. We stopped at the park and took pictures as soon as we got to town. Ran errands - picked up the grill my mom bought at Big Lots (that didn't fit my rather small Ford Escort with the whole family yesterday). Went to Burger King for lunch. Went to WalMart to pick up some other things on The List. Went to Game Stop to get DS's LEGO Indiana Jones game and book that had been reserved several weeks ago. Stopped at Hy-Vee (grocery store) to pick up frozen fruit for homemade ice cream. Stopped at the park on the way back. The water was easily 4 inches higher than it was 3 1/2 hours previously. Places we had walked were now under water.

This morning it was even worse. The low portion of Memorial Bridge was under water. I have NEVER seen so much water. (There was a lot more in '93, but I wasn't here then). The pavilion is under water. The fountain - it is an island - all that could be seen is the sides of the fountain. And the steps my son had stood on Saturday night? The only thing visible was the topmost portion of the handrail.

During the day, the water started to flow over the levees near Canton, MO (a short distance north). I stopped at the park again after work, and the water had actually receeded some. The first levee in the area has broken.. and the waters are flooding 2000 acres of farmland. So naturally the water in the park has gone down. It was interesting albeit nervewracking to see the high water line - even higher than I had seen the water this morning.

The river is supposed to crest on Thursday. Predictions keep changing, but range from 31.9 feet to 32.4 feet. The Flood in '93 crested at 32.2 feet. Hopefully the levee won't break open to flood West Quincy - if that happens, I may not be able to get to work. The highway will be under water. West Quincy is starting to look like a ghost town - there are 5 places that sell cars - now all the cars are gone. One place that had rather small buildings actually put the buildings on trailers and moved them out too. Knapheide, which makes truck boxes (think of an electric company truck, with all the little doors that hide tools and things.) has stopped production and moved out all of their trucks... and they have been using the place for a base of operations for sandbagging the levee.

I'm told the area is better prepared this time around. I hope that is the case.

AMR Kit Reveal!

The AMR June kit was revealed today! WOOHOO It is SO awesome - I am glad that I signed up with a subscription! The kit has been SOLD OUT, so if you want one, you are out of luck for this month! But if you sign up for a subscription, you will be guaranteed one for next month (unless, of course, you wait until July 1st!) This will be my second kit, and I have not been disappointed by either one. (I wish I could show you what I did with the first one, but I can't, as it is a CHA sample!)

For samples, and Heather's awesome kit story, check out the AWESOME pages and projects on Heather's Blog

June Kit:

Paper in the June Kit:

June Add-On Kit: