Tips and Techniques - Backgrounds on ATCs

One of my favourite backgrounds for ATCs are using acrylic paint.  I love my ATCs to be sturdy and sometimes I use regular thin chipboard which I cut into the ATC size of 2 1/2 inch by 3 1/2 inch.  Thereafter - I just give it a coat of acrylic paint.  Then its ready to be stamped on.

Here I have stamped and embossed using white UTEE and then further distressed the ATC using the Stazon ink.  I love this effect - hope you try it too.

T n T - Usage of UTEE

I am a big fan of UTEE.  I love using it in various ways.  Here in this layout - I have just used gold UTEE is the normail embossing way meaning - just dabbing the embossing ink and then pouring the gold utee on top,  poured away the excess and applied heat on it with the heat gun till the UTEE melted.

However - the crackling in the owl on the top left is a different matter.   I have melted clear UTEE in my melting pot using a tweezer to hold the owl diecut,  I dragged the owl across the surface of the melted UTEE. Please note that when you want to attempt this crackling method,  it would be more advisable not to add too much UTEE flex as this will hinder the UTEE from crackling.  Hope you can try out this technique soon.

New Products - ScrappingGlitz - Cards

Fancy a custom made card anyone?  If you are - do head over ScrappingGlitz.   The latest line to be launched are custom made cards.  Love the unique Hari Raya card and the custom made wedding card featured here.  

Artist Feature - Nadia Jalil

Our Artist Feature this week is no other than the owner of Scrapping-Chix - Nadia Jalil. Nadia has dabbled in scrapbooking for just a mere one year and she is certainly very talented with her designs.  

Nadia shares with us one of her mini albums here.  I love how she has incorporated lots of little details in her album like fibers,  pearls,  buttons,  laces,  stickers,  rub ons etc - to create different looks and textures.  What a brilliant way of decorating an album.  Well done Nadia and we thank you for sharing your work here with us.

 

T n T - Cutting paper for 3d effects

Since the recent fuel hikes, scrapbooking items in Malaysia seems to be even more expensive. In order to save paper and also on the concept of going green, I challenged myself to create 3d effects on paper with minimal wastage.  I used to love paper tole which one create 3d effects with using 3-5 or even 6 pieces of the same paper design which you select the areas of the paper that you wish to pop up.  Looking back - that was such a waste of paper.  Here is a simpler way to do it and it saves paper and looks equally good.

I want to create 3d effects on the flower and I do it simply by cutting the petals with my X-Acto knife.  Just be careful not to cut the petals of the flowers all the way - you should be fine.  To create a better and less stiffer flower,  you can always try to curl the flower petals with your finger and just pop up the petals with some 3d foam underneath.  Try it and you will be pleasantly surprised how effective this method is.

New Kid in Town - KindaSweet Online Store

A warm welcome to the latest kid in town - another new online store - Kindasweet. It is owned by 2 partners - both May and Sham. It is so exciting to see more online shops sprouting up as this is a sign of our scrapping community growing. What I love about this shop is the availaibility of Graphics45 line of paper. It is early days for this site but I am sure given time - this shop will definitely grow in strength.

Tips and Techniques - Embossing UTEE 1

I have been posed this question a couple of times and I have experimented and hope I have come up with several possible solutions. Hope this helps.

The question:

Why does the UTEE fly away when I am embossing?

Possible answers:

1)  The proximity of the UTEE to the heating gun.

     I find that one should always hold the gun  away from the paper and wait till the UTEE start to melt before bringing the gun nearer to finish the job.

2)  Embossing Ink is too dry

     Kindly ensure that the embossing ink is refilled and not to dry. As if the ink is too dry,  the UTEE is unable to adhere to the inked surface properly.

Possible Solution:

Of late I have been using the Perfect Medium as my embossing medium for UTEE.  I find that its very "sticky" and the UTEE has a less tendency to fly off.  

Hope I have answered correctly to this question.  For those who have different solutions,  please do share with us in the comment column.  

Its Alive - Scrapping-Chix Website

The latest shop around the block is ALIVE!!! Hee hee - too much drama there - what I mean is that the Scrapping-Chix website is fully operational!  I see lots of new products like Prima - Say it with Crystals,  Coredinations pp,  DCWV and Delish papers, and many more other products.  Do check it out!

Artist Feature - Chua Lay Hoon

One of the most fascinating things I find about scrapbookers are their immense talent and their ability to switch to art.  I am proud to present such an artist in Malaysia who successfully made this transition,  her name is Chua Lay Hoon.  Lay Hoon hails from the land of satays (traditional spiced skewered marinated meat - very yummy with special spicy peanut sauce) - Kajang.  When I first met Lay Hoon, she was shy and soft spoken.  When she started dabbling in scrapbooking and then art journals - I found that she has this "free" spirit about her art which belies her very gentle demeanour.

In crossing over to dabble with art journals,  I have noticed that Lay Hoon has used many techniques to create the backgrounds of her art journals.  Lay Hoon prides herself as a hands-on mom and has very often incorporated her daughter in her artworks - which I think is a splendid idea.  For more information on Lay Hoon's art journal,  please head over to her blog.

Tips and Technique - Using the Bone Folder

One of the basic tools of scrapbooking is the bone folder. What does the bone folder do?

Scoring pages:

For scoring page albums or cards into half or any other measurement. Just remember to always score from the middle of the page to each end of the page for a precise straight line.

Secondly, the bone folder can be used to create neat corners when you are wrapping patterned paper onto a chipboard cover when making an album cover.  I was taught that we should always stick the sides of the corners first and then make a diagonal cut as per photo below with the allowance of the thickness of the chipboard. 
Thereafter,  make a sharp straight crease as shown in picture below with the bone folder and proceed to finish wrapping the album.  That would ensure that you will get one neat corner for your album. Hope you try this tip.

P.S.  I apologise for not publishing the tips and technique last week. I was away and was too jet lagged to post anything.  Thanks for visiting our blog.

Artist Feature - Yatie Tajuddin

One of my first scrapbooking friends that I have met in Malaysia is Yatie.  Yatie currently resides in Kedah and is a familiar face in our scrapbooking scene.  She is a designer for a couple of the scrapbooking stores here.

One of the things I love about Yatie is her passion for altered arts.  Here - she has graciously allowed us to feature her altered box which she has used multitude of techniques.  Fresh from her table is a pink layout of her daughter.  Yatie has used the latest cardstock to hit out shores - its called the Coredinations pp.  Love this layout featuring her daughters curly locks.

Thanks very much for sharing your work with us Yatie.  For more of Yatie's works of art,  please hop over to her blog.

Artist Feature - Jessy Christopher {Digi Layouts}

I will admit this - I am computer-challenged. When I first saw Jessy's digi layouts - I knew that I have to feature some of her awesome digi-scrapping. Her photos are beautiful and her layouts always has the correct composition, the correct colours etc. Oh - how I love them.

I am also proud to announce that Jessy is one the participants for Project Scrap-Away hosted by Scrap-n-Crop. She is one of those who successfully both digi scrap and paper scrap. I am amazed by her talent. For more works of art - please head over to her blog. Thanks very much Jessy for sharing your beautiful creations with us.