April Alcohol Ink Card Class: Butterflies Galore

I changed it up a bit this month and made all the cards with one theme:  butterflies!  You will use 4 different techniques and lots of different color combos. The cards can be used for any occasion - birthday, hello, thank you's, get well, even Mother's Day.  Class is Saturday, April 25th from 1:30-3:30.  We will make 5 cards for $25.  The class will be held in the Hotel Boardroom at the:

GrandStay Hotel & Conference Center
7083 153rd Street West
Apple Valley, MN  55124  

Below the pictures you will see a list of what to bring to class.

Please bring to class:  a craft mat, blending solution, adhesive including pop dots, a portable paper trimmer, scissors and a craft pick.  I will have a couple of score boards there but if you like to use one and you are impatient, you might want to bring your own.

April Page Class

Saturday, April 25th, 9:00 am - 11:00 am $20

GrandStay Hotel & Conference Center
7083 153rd Street West
Apple Valley, MN  55124 

The Hotel Board Room

Please bring to class:  jet black archival ink or any non-dye black ink, some post it notes to make a couple of masks, glossy accents and markers or watercolor pencils to color your stamped images.  I wanted bright colors so I used Tombow markers.  Tombow, Stampin Up or Distress markers or watercolor pencils would work.  I colored my designs primarily with blues and oranges to offset my photo; if you have a photo in mind, you might want to change your marker colors to enhance the photo to the maximum effect.  I will have 2 boxes of markers and pencils in class but if you have your own, please bring them - you won't have to share!

April Tag Class

Saturday, April 25th  11:00 am - 1:00 pm  $20

GrandStay Hotel & Conference Center
7083 153rd Street West
Apple Valley, MN  55124 

Hotel Board Room

Please bring to class:   craft mat, brown distress ink and blending tool, edge distresser, adhesive, water spray mister, and if you have it, the Tim Holtz distress marker spritzer and Distress Markers in the following colors:  worn lipstick, abandoned coral, crushed olive, pumice stone, weathered wood, evergreen bough, mustard seed, black soot, broken china, mermaid lagoon, squeezed lemonade, salty ocean, mowed lawn, peacock feathers, shaded lilac, dusty concord, spun sugar and milled lavender.  If you don't own distress markers, water color pencils or other water color markers (Tombow or Stampin' Up) will work for coloring the images. 

Mini book: All about Mack

I love mini books - my favorite form of scrapbooking I think.  I keep a bowl of them on the coffee table in our sun room and if we are having friends or family over and I have a book or two that features them, I will put those in the living room for everyone to look at.  They are fun and fast to flip through.  I usually design them around one event, one person or one pet.  This is a book I made when  we got our dog Mack.  I couldn't really walk around with photos in a zip lock bag so one afternoon I made this mini book to show him off.  Paper with a pet theme didn't seem to do him justice so I went with a red, white and blue theme for an All American dog.  I used 2 mini books from the dollar section at Michaels, the papers from a Jenni Bowlin line, ribbons and embellishments from my stash and lots of Beacons!  I went with two books because those dollar books usually have only 4 pages and I needed a few more pages.  I used the leftover pages to die cut pieces for other projects.

A paw print border punch for the mat on his cover photo says "doggy" in a subtle way.

The first two pages showcase the pics and text from the web pages of the rescue group where we found him.  The labels highlight what is on the pages....the red squirrel stamp fits him to a Tee!

I didn't have a lot of photos of him so I circle punched multiple pics of him and matted them to increase the impact.  I was making this in one day and wasn't going out to get more photos - had to make work what I had on hand.  It's faster that way and some times necessity leads to a fun design.

I like interactive pieces in mini books - another advantage they have over books with page protectors.  This flap describes his vital statistics on the front and when it is flipped up has a picture of our fabulous vet and details Mack's first trip to see him.

Great pictures of him tell the story - he is huge!  Stretched out on the couch in the top picture and standing on the coffee table (first and last time!) the first day we had him.  Of course I took the picture before I made him get down. 

Had to tell the story of his interactions with our three cats.  And the new complex feeding system with a baby gate so he didn't eat all of their food.  They were here first of course!  Little red cats are a cute stamp with room for printing in the letter they hold.  I often use stamps to make an element for my page when I can't find the right embellishment.  Cats above, joy stamp with cats below!

When I have odd shaped pages I try and do some of the journaling in a shape relative to the page.  I use a word doc text box and then place lines, circles or shapes over it to get the text formatted to fit.  The journaling here is from a description of the the dogs on the Great Pyrenees web site describing how they love their couches and comfy chairs - they will squeeze into anything soft!  It's not just him - it's a breed trait!

Playing with Andrew on day one.

Last page - I alternate how the pages are laid out so that as you are flipping through it the orientation is easy for you to read.  I made the red circle with the paw print embellishment by punching the paw print first and then a circle shape - matted with a blue shape.  Ball fringe on both the front and back covers added a fun dimension - and what dog doesn't like a ball?  

Thanks for stopping by.  I hope you had fun looking at this book and maybe got an idea or two to use on your next project!

Found on the web - Easter!

I know lots of you have multiple bottles of alcohol ink.  Here is a great way to use them for Easter!

 Click here to see cool eggs!
Happy Easter!