Adding dimension to craft projects

One of the biggest challenges when crafting paper projects such as cards is adding dimension but still ensuring the project can be mailed or a mini book can shut. For this reason I try to avoid using a lot of metal accents that aren't flat or things that will poke through the envelope.

However, I love foam dots. A few foam dots can lift an accent off the page and make it all look so much more interesting. It seems that just the smallest shadow that they provide makes items look like they're stacked. Foam dots also travel well - when they're squashed down the pop back up.

They work well with stickers, simply add the foam dots then dust the remainder of the sticker with talcum powder to remove the 'stick' then adhere the sticker to the card with the foam dots.
When you're stacking lots of flowers on a scrapbook layout or a card you can add dimension to the grouping by using foam dots to lift some of the flowers higher. This technique lets you add lots of less expensive sticker flowers and intersperse them with some more expensive embellishments and get good mileage out of all of them.

Gotta love these things

I have this thing for stationery and I could spend hours in the store browsing pencils, pens and paper. So, when I found Knock Knock and their Knock 'em dead cool stationery I was in 7th heaven.

This site has the coolest stuff from diecut foldable tick and send messages to cute clips and reminders. You just have to go visit them to see the range. I love the Pack This lists and, next holiday I'll be packing messages to home that I can tick and send every day instead of always feeling guilty about not writing when there's so much going on.

When you visit Knock Knock, stop by No. 2 as well - gotta love their disposable clipboards and the gigant colored elastic bands they call Utility bands are so cute. Everything is colorful, coordinated and oh! so chic!

Great news from Ranger Inks

I love Ranger inks but it wasn't until I interviewed Tim Holtz a couple of years ago that I discovered that the company's Sea shells, Sea Brights and Adirondack inks were arranged into a complimentary palette of color - who knew? Not me!

It seems that if you took Peach Bellini, Popsicle Orange and Terra Cotta inks - one from each of the range, they work wonderfully together. In fact, I still have one of their promo sheets on which Tim Holtz circled the colors to show just how they work. I lived by that list for a couple of years but I don't have to any more.

Ranger has, at last, acknowledged that most crafters don't know how the inks coordinate so the company has made it simple for all of us. Now the Sea Shells and Sea Brights are gone and they're all called Adirondack inks (I still can't pronounce that word, but at least I can now coordinate the inks). The inks are arranged into groups called Lights, Brights and Earthtones. The colors are the same but they're easier to match up with each other.

For the Earthtones collection which are the darker colors in the range, there are matching Acrylic Paint Dabbers, Dimensional Pearls™, Color Wash™, Alcohol Inks, Embossing Powders and Pigment Pens. So many wonderful products - Yum!

A by product of this rearrangement is the retirement of a few older products but you'll love the ease of coordinating colors - imagine paint,ink and embossing powders that all go together.

Find out more about the new range here: Ranger inks

Clay and CHA

We've all just returned from CHA where we not only had a wonderful time but also lots of success.

Michelle and I, together with Frank were chosen as finalists in the Amoco Bottles of Hope challenge and I won the Most Original award!

We got to hang out with lots of clay people and, at our hotel, we were next door to Gail Richie, Leslie Blackford, Kim Cavender and just two doors away from Donna Kato. Since we were all on the ground floor by the pool we got to hang together which was great fun.

Here are some of Donna's photos too. Check out the right hand side (5th image down), left hand side (6th image down - it was Australia Day after all!) and (right hand side second to last photo)

You can read about some of our discussions with Donna Kato on her blog, including that we seem to have talked her into a competition for CHA next winter - Yeah!

I also met Claudine Hellmuth who had done a commission piece for Michelle and me so that was fun too.

Took a class with Tim Holtz on inks which was great fun as his classes always are.

The show really was wonderful and Anaheim sure beats Las Vegas!

Cool stuff from Artgirlz

I just have to say, I love Artgirlz stuff. I found them at CHA this year and took a class from them to make a wonderfully funky felt, bead and charm necklace.

The result is just so wonderful. I've already added some bling to it so it sparkles deliciously and, as soon as I get home, I'm going to find other wonderful things to hang from it.

Their felt beads are imported from Nepal and they have the cutest little pewter charms. Look out for the crown which has four holes across the bottom and two at the top so you can hang things from it and have it hang from other things!

There are other cool, "must have" items in the range including felt flowers.

My plan is to incorporate some of the leftover beads I have (and some the girlz are sending) into the binding of my next mini book project. I can't wait to have the felt beads dangling from the spine... they'll look so cute.

I think you should go visit Artgirlz right now and lust after some of their wonderful stuff!