Tag: DIY

embellishments, Scrapbooking, Tutorial, Video

Scrapbook Process #5 – Relaxin’

citygalpapeterie

Hello crafty friends,

I have been a bit MIA now that I am back at work and off my maternity leave… But I wanted to get this layout to share with you all. It is a photo my husband took of me while we were on our first vacation together and still dating (like 11 or 12 years ago!). I have been caring for my baby (it has been amazing <3) throughout the summer and was missing a little beach and summertime fun so I decided to scrap this pic and reminisce this great paradise vacation.

The process for this layout can be found on my YouTube channel.

All of the pattern paper I use is from an Amy Tangerine 12 x 12 Happy Together paper pad. The solid aqua cardstock that I use as my framing sheet was in my stash and I am unsure of the brand. It was also 12 x 12. I trimmed my background paper down 1/2 inch on each side so I am left with an 11 x 11 white with yellow polka dot background. As seen in the above picture, I mat my photo with a yellow pattern card cut out from a card sheet in the 12 x 12 pad (is that what you call that??)

After matting the photo I play with the borders to get the look I want. I settled on the drinks border and laid it over a 1 1/2″ strip of pattern sunset paper. above and below the sunset strip I adhered a coordinating thin strip of patterned squares, also from the same strip pack. It was initially a thicker strip with multiple rows of squares but I cut it down to have thin strips.

I also added more matting to the sides of my photo. On the left and right is another card that I cut in half and at the bottom is a piece I cut out of a full 12 x 12 pattern sheet from the pad. As a title I cut the word RELAXIN’ from another beach border and place it at the bottom of my picture over a fishtail cut strip. The beach borders are all stickers and already have adhesive at the back making placement super easy.

To complete my layout I add three clusters. Two are elements I have cut from a few beach borders and the third were words also from a border sticker. To add a little something to the words cluster I top them with a wave from one of the border strips.

I kept the layout simple and clean by just using pattern papers all from one pad and all other elements came from the one pack of border strips.

I truly enjoyed creating this layout and it made me want to plan a Caribbean vacation ASAP! =) I will however be doing more in the way of finding ways to continue to reconstruction efforts of many of the islands hurt by last year’s hurricane Maria. (more info coming soon) Should you have any questions, about this layout please include that in the comments section and I hope to see you all again soon!!

Until next time! XoXo

Art Journaling, DIY, Handmade cards, Scrapbooking, Tutorial, Video

Gel Plate Printing for beginners

citygalpapeterie

 

Hi crafty friends!

I recently purchased a 6 x 6 Gel Printing Plate by Gelli Arts and needed to try it out. I have never used a gel plate before so I myself am a beginner as I experiment and play with creating backgrounds with my gel plate. You can see the process here.

The plate comes in a clamshell package and once opened it is covered by a sheet of acetate on either side. It is a good idea to keep these, including the packaging to keep your plate protected as you store it.2018-07-06 13.20.22

To begin using it I removed only one acetate sheet and left the other. I felt this would help me lift the plate and keep it stiff as I transferred it to my art journal (from my stash). I feel it also helped with applying even pressure.

Then I got my paints. For your color, you can use any acrylic paints you have on hand. I pulled out a bunch from my stash, but I only used:

  • Light foliage green: Ceramcoat #02537
  • Yellow Lemon: FolkArt #226
  • Aquamarine: Apple Barrel #20774
  • Pretty in  pink: Apple Barrel #21339

2018-07-06 16.44.20

I also used an old plastic palette to put my paint onto. If you don’t have a paint palette, you can also use any piece of plastic, acetate, or even an acrylic block.

I put small globs of paint onto my palette. Then picking up paint by using a brayer (by Speedball) I rolled some paint onto my gel plate. Again if you do not have a brayer you can use a paint brush, sponge, an old gift card or just about anything you can think of! The beauty of the gel plate comes from the texture you add to the plate.

Snapshot_209

This texture can be added using almost anything, the sky is the limit. I used a stencil and stamp (honeycomb stencil by Tim Holtz and a polka dot foam stamp from a pack of Faber Castell gelatos) but some other ideas would be scrunched up foil or plastic wrap, a comb, sponge, the back of a paintbrush, toilet paper rolls, you get the idea!

Once you have your gel plate covered in paint and you have added any texture of your choice, you can lift it and flip it paint side down onto your paper or pad. You can also leave it down and place your paper onto the gel plate instead. For both methods, you want to add even firm pressure all over the plate, and give enough time for the paint to transfer from gel plate to paper.

If you have any paint left on the plate after transferring your color, you can grab another piece of paper or page and by pressing the paper to the plate again you will be able to lift some or the rest of the paint that is left on it.

That is basically it! There are so many different kinds of backgrounds that you can create and each will always be unique. You can use your gel paint backgrounds for art journaling, card making, scrapbooking or any paper craft you enjoy creating. I hope you will consider giving this a try and have enjoy!

Thank you for stopping by!

Until next time, XoXo!

 

DIY, Handmade cards, Video

Father’s Day 2018

citygalpapeterie

Dad day 2018

Hello crafty friends! How fitting is it that I return to blogging after exactly 1 year? =)

For this year’s Father’s Day cards I used the following supplies (pictured above):

PAPER:

  • 6×6 pattern cardstock in zigzag and polka dot light blue and navy; Pebbles Inc., Everyday paper pad
  • 6×6 light blue textured cardstock; DCWV®, Cardstock Stack Neutrals
  • 6×6 Navy blue textured cardstock; DCWV®, Cardstock Stack Pastels
  • White 60lb cardstock; Neenah Classic Crest® Solar White Cardstock

Glitter tape: Recollections™

Embossing folders:

  • Cuttlebug; Fabric Swatches Set
  • Darice; polka dots

Stamps: Woodware Craft Collection, Happy Father’s Day

Corrugated Cardboard: My stash

OTHER SUPPLIES:

  • Ranger clear embossing ink pad
  • Inkadinkadoo Embossing Magic
  • Ranger Embossing Powder, Super Fine Silver
  • Fiskars paper trimmer and Bypass paper trimmer
  • ScorTape
  • Cuttlebug
  • foam tape
  • Westcott nonstick KleenEarth Scissors
  • American Crafts heat tool
  • Pencil
  • Spellbinders die Phrase set 2, Hooray!
  • Lawn Fawn die, Wishes
  • Recollections, Silver and white twine
  • Elmer’s Craft Bond

Here is a picture of the completed Father’s Day cards. These are extra special to me because they will be given to my dad and husband, I don’t know where my life would be without them.

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I was also determined NOT to leave scraps so I used as much left over paper as I had and created 3 more cards! They are also masculine and can be for any occasion.

A video is available on the creation of these cards and can be viewed here.

This is all for today!

Wishing all those amazing dads out there a wonderful Father’s Day!

Until next time XoXo

DIY, Handmade cards, Tutorial, Video

Father’s Day DIY Cards

citygalpapeterie

Hello crafty friends! I hope all the dads are having a wonderful Father’s Day!

For this Father’s Day post I am including the uploaded DIY tutorial video for 3 cards I created. The theme was circles and faces.

I recently purchased clear stamps from my visit to Puerto Rico which were just a series of faces with varying emotions and I knew I wanted to use them for this project. For the circles I decided to use a hole punch, a stencil set I also purchased in P.R. which included a large polka dot stencil and some very old foam geometric shaped stamps I found in my stash.

I am having trouble uploading the individual photos for each card onto this post but you can see them each in the video below.

All 3 cards are standard A2 size. I used distress inks and the circle foam stamp on the first card, an ink blending tool for the polka dot stencil in the second card and a 1 1/4″ hole punch in the third. I am very happy with how these cards turned out and I sent one to my father, my father-in-law and I gave one to my husband.

SUPPLIES:

  • Clear stamps were by La Casa De La Tarjeteria, Stencils by American Crafts (Vicki Boutin)
  • Distress inks used were Fossilized Amber, Mermaid Lagoon, Hickory Smoke, and Carved Pumpkin.
  • Onyx black Versafine ink
  • 110lb White Cardstock from Core’dinations
  • Black cardstock by Recollections
  • Patterned Cardstock American Crafts Amy Tangerine and Dear Lizzy

I love to be able to create one of a kind cards for my loved ones and friends. Every now and then I get an order for personalized or special occasion cards and I really enjoy making those as well. Thank you so much for stopping by and I hope you will stop by again soon!

Until next time XoXo

DIY, Handmade cards, Tutorial, Video

DIY Card Kit – 5 Cards

citygalpapeterie

Hi everyone!

I am very excited to share this post with you all. I am away and scheduled several video posts. Due to time constraints though I am only making one blog post that will complement all of the scheduled videos.

Let me just start with…it is LATE as I write this and I am exhausted from packing, prepping, organizing, etc for this family trip. It has been hectic. So please, please excuse any errors, typos or silly mistakes I have made to this post or any of the video posts!

I have been in awe and admiration of many of the great card kits I have been seeing out there and I have been wanting to purchase a subscription. Unfortunately I cannot justify spending $25+ a month on a card kit no matter how gorgeous it is. So like a child that has been denied their favorite toy, I turned to my stash and created my very own DIY card kit. I knew I was going to create multiple cards to scheduled for this trip and felt this was the perfect opportunity to do this. Below is the card kit reveal video (my version of an unboxing lol).

SUPPLIES:

Paper:

12 6×6 sheets, variety of scraps, 12 5×7 sheets, die cuts, doilies

  • Crate Paper (Maggie Holmes)
  • Prima (Hello Pastel)
  • My Mind’s Eye (Ashbury Heights)
  • American Craft Dear Lizzy (Lucky Charm)
  • Simple Stories (Vintage Bliss)
  • Scraps
  • Anna Griffin
  • Recollections

Color:

  • DCWV watercolor paint
  • Ranger Gold embossing powder
  • Stampendous White and Stardust
  • InkaGold Rub
  • Kaisercraft in Tangello, Lagoon, Saffron
  • Hero Arts shadow ink Rose
  • Gold ink pad (stash)
  • Distress ink Ground espresso and Old Paper

I had so much fun trying to think outside the box when creating with limited supplies. I really enjoyed that process. All cards are 5×7″ cards. If you have any questions on card specifics, tools, sizing etc. please let me know. For the most part I used standard sizing or eyeballed measurements (I truly HATE measuring).

I hope you were able to find inspiration in this card kit and card set. I have many plans for new videos and posts when I return.

Until next time XoXo

DIY, Handmade cards, Tutorial

Whatup Wednesday – Viewers Choice Card Pop-Up Rainbow

citygalpapeterie

Hi crafty friends!

This post is so late! I apologize, I have been prepping for an upcoming trip and there has been an immense amount of extra work!

And I still have a lot left to do so this will be short and sweet 😉

For this viewer’s choice card I made a pop-up rainbow greeting card. It was quite the challenge seeing as I had never used the pop-up die cut kit (despite the fact that I have had it for like a year, ha!) I had a vision and I have to say that the outcome was very close to it.

WW4

For the background I used mostly patterned paper. With the exception of the clouds which I created using a blending tool and a DIY stencil. For the sentiment I found in my stash this perfect quote. I thought it worked out perfectly.

For the rainbow I cur out several patterned papers into nested circles and cut that in half. I used one half on the inside and the other on the outside.

20170516_184903For the outside of the card you can see the other rainbow half. I also used what I had left of the yellow and white polka dot patterned paper to cut out sunrays to put behind the rainbow which also resembles a sun.

I wish I had a bit more experience with the pop-up die kit. This card may have been a bit easier to create. I enjoyed making it either way! And it sure makes me smile. I hope it brings a smile to your face too!

SUPPLIES

Paper:

  • Precut folded blank patterned A2 card – Recollections
  • Patterned paper – Recollections, Simple Stories (vintage bliss), American Crafts (Amy Tangerine), Prima (Hello Pastel)
  • White cardstock – Recollections

Color:

  • Versamagic Archival multi-surface Chalk ink (SeaBreeze)

Other:

  • Clover Andabee Adhesive Quotations (Beauty)

Tools:

  • Fiskars paper trimmer
  • EK tools precision scissors
  • Westcott nonstick scissors
  • Pencil
  • Cuttlebug
  • Sizzix Circle framelits
  • Stampendous Fran’s Make it pop cutting dies
  • EK Success hole punch 1 1/18″
  • Tombow glue
  • Gluedots
  • ScorTape
  • Foam tape
  • Inksentials blending tool
DIY, embellishments, repurpose, Tutorial

Margarita Monday – DIY Scrap Paper Embellishments

citygalpapeterie

 

 

Hi everyone!

I hope you have all had a wonderful weekend! Especially all the mom’s out there =D

In today’s post, I will share some of the embellishments I created using scraps. I really hate to throw away my leftovers after projects…. just in case you know? I have LOTS of scraps. And no matter how much I tell myself that I will use scraps in as many projects as I can… I don’t. I start projects from scratch every time! If anyone has any tips on how to help someone remember to use their scraps PLEASE SHARE! =)

Here are the finished embellishments. I barely made a dent in my scrap stash, but it’s a start. I will definitely begin to make embellishment posts more regularly and perhaps in this way I will be able to dwindle down my scraps once and for all!

S1080011 (3)

S1080011 (2)

I am going to skip the supplies list and let me tell you why.

I find that when creating embellishments it is more a feeling that an instructional process. I grab some of my scraps, and then I go grab tools that could be helpful. I do not always use all of the tools I gather and sometime I end up using other things entirely. This is really just a fun way to get creative with paper and use whatever you have on hand to accomplish that. So for these embellishments you do not need instructions, just a bit of time, scraps and creativity.

I hope you can appreciate the absence of a supplies list and find ways to incorporate what YOU have at home to create beautiful embellishments for any project!

Until next time XoXo

DIY, Handmade cards, Tutorial, Video

Taco Tuesday – Puerto Rican Taino Symbols and Alcohol ink

citygalpapeterie

Hello crafty friends!

It seems this week started with a sprint. And we are already on our third feature for the Taco Tuesday series posts.

Today’s cards were motivated by my upcoming trip to the island of Puerto Rico, where my family is from. Our ancestors, the native Taínos used hieroglyphics to depict life. Using two recognized symbols as inspiration, Coqui (a frog native to the island) and Sol (the sun) I created these 2 special cards.

For the background I used alcohol inks with alcohol blending solution to create a soft look that did not take anything away from the presence of the symbols.

Once the backgrounds and images were complete, I adhered them to the card bases over a piece of foam sheet to give it dimension. As a final touch I embellished each card with sequins and a bit of Wink of Stella.

A full video for how these cards were made can be found on YouTube (https://youtu.be/quEHMx5gI2w)

SUPPLIES

Paper:

  • Glossy cardstock – Stampland (5 1/4 x 4″, 2 pcs)
  • Burgandy and light blue cardstock (5 1/2 x 8″ scored and folded at 4 1/4″)
  • Foam sheet – Oriental Trading Company (a bit smaller than the glossy cardstock)

Color:

  • Alcohol ink by Ranger Tim Holtz series in Clover and Pink Sherbet
  • Universal permanent ink marker – fine

Tools:

  • Darice dream sequins
  • Tim Holtz blending tool
  • Gluedots
  • Xyron Megarunner ATG
  • Fiskars paper trimmer
  • Bone folder
  • Micron marker #0.3

These cards are very special to me and I am sure I will use them for a special someone. I did not include a sentiment so they can apply to any occasion and any gender. I hope this post sparked some creative inspiration.

Until next time XoXo

DIY, Handmade cards, repurpose, Tutorial, Video

Fresh Friday – Urban Skyline Sunset Snowglobe Shaker

citygalpapeterie

 

Hello crafty friends!

The weekend sure flies by…This card was created for my Fresh Friday feature. Unfortunately, I have not been feeling my best with a sinus infection and allergies but I digress.

This Fresh Friday card is a shaker card. So many things went wrong with this card, basically everything… wrong paper, wrong order, wrong amount of contents, messy table, sticky junk on the acetate, full memory card and so on…

To start I created this card during the evening after I returned home from my full-time job. I was, needless to say, exhausted! But I had not missed a card yet so I was determined to get this card done. I knew what type of card I wanted to created but that was about it. I played the steps by ear seeing as I had no idea where I was headed with the project. Then midway into the creative process and a ton of errors my camera stopped recording because the memory card was fall.  Of course I don’t notice until much later and begin to photograph my process instead.

I edited the YouTube video to include a full voiceover so I may explain all the successes and failures. I can only work on this while home on the weekend and yesterday my husband worked so my son was with me, as well as, in the background noise!! But nonetheless the card and video were executed as best I could. I hope to move up from here haha! Above I have inserted the video and below are all supplies and measurements.

SUPPLIES:
Paper:
White Cardstock – Recollections (4 1/4 x 5 1/2″)
Brown Cardstock – Recollections (Scrap)
Black Cardstock – Recollections (8 1/2 x 5 1/2″ Scored and folded at 4 1/4″)
Gold Cardstock – Anna Griffin (Scrap)
Acetate – recycled
Watercolor cardstock – (Scrap)
Color:
LuminArte watercolor paint in Hot Cinnamon, Bougainvillea, Iridescent Green, Sunflower, Playful Peony, and Periwinkle
Gelato – Faber Castell in Black Licorice
Inka Gold Metallic Rub
Elegant Writer – 2.0mm F
Other:
Small buildings – original sketches
Black Satin ribbon – my stash
Purple and clear microbeads – my stash
Tools:
CuttleBug Machine
Hello Die by Spellbinders – Phrase Set 2
Darice wood grain embossing folder
Sizzix 3″ Circle framelits die
CuttleGug Cricut labels and such frame dies
Westcott nonstick scissors
Foam tape
Scortape
Elmer’s Craftbond glue
All-in-all I am happy with the final project despite all of the hiccups. I doubt this will be the last time something like this occurs and that is okay. We live and we learn. I have absolutely learned from my mistakes and I hope you do too!
Until next time XoXo