Tuesday, September 25, 2018

Happy 50th Anniversary for Retro Rubber

We have an excellent sketch for Retro Rubber Blog Challenge for the next two weeks.  Check it out!


It is great when the elements of a sketch lend themselves easily to a card I need to create.  My Aunt and Uncle are celebrating their 50th Wedding Anniversary this fall, so the sketch was great starting point for their card.



I started with an A-7 cream card base, and die cut a rectangle section for the main panel using Elizabeth Craft Designs Stitched Rectangles.  Wedding Bells by DeNami Design released in 2004 is stamped in Delicata Golden Gltiz.  I used this stamp on my wedding invitations in 2004, and I think this is the first time it has seen ink since!  The sentiment is from Sincere Sentiments by SC Designs from February 2017.  It is one of those sets that come packaged with Cardmaking & Papercraft  from the United Kingdom.  It has been a very versatile set!  It is heat embossed with clear embossing powder over Delicata Golden Glitz. 

To add a bit of bling I trimmed a section of Paper Studio's Glittered Cardstock in gold for the bottom panel of the sketch.  The "50" is die cut from the same with Quickutz Frankie font.  I have paper packs from about 2006 that were purchased at Costco that my mom, sister and I split, so that we have two of each sheet.  Obviously that was plenty as many sheets are still in my stash!  Elizabeth Craft Designs Stitched Circles is used to die cut the small circle from this swirl embossed Mulberry paper.

Do come play along with us at Retro Rubber!  We ask that you use at least one stamp older than a year and tell us how long you have had it in your stash.  Please enter only 10 or fewer challenges along with ours!

Have a wonderful day!

Thursday, September 20, 2018

Quick Quotes Mini album from Club Q kits

Hello Quick Quote friends!  Neva here to share a mini album created from September's Club Q kits.  I used all the parts of the Ultimate Combo Club Q to fashion the twelve pages of this 6" x 6" album.  Recently I scrapped a few photos from this event, my parent's Sixtieth Anniversary Celebration.  My mother's wish for the weekend was to take many family photos and individual photos that showed each family member's personality.  With a little perseverance we granted her wish . . . the first round of photos were not of good quality as settings on her camera had been adjusted from auto to manual.  But we believe round two of photos turned out even better!


Three sheets from the page kits were used to create the pages, one sheet of Main Street 101 and two sheets of Main Street 102.  The remaining sheets from the page kits and Altered kit were used to mat the photos.  Accents from Main Street 103 were cut from the scraps from the Altered Frame kit.  Design Team members were sent Main Street Quotes and Phrases 600 which is used throughout the album including the opening title.


To guide you through the process I used to plan and create this mini album I will share a few insider tips.
  • I start with a paper planning grid to determine the sequence and placement of photos.  You will notice I added an extra page as I had most of the planning done and wanted to change the order of the photos.
  • Photos are printed in three sizes:  4" x 6" and trimmed down to varying sizes, 3" x 4", and 2" x 3".
  • Each of the three sheets are trimmed to four 6" x 6" base pages, for a total of twelve.
  • Each 6"x 6" page is laid next to it's companion and the photo mats and embellishments are selected.  
  • I made an effort to vary the embellishments from the two page kits, the Chipboard Die Cuts, and the Quotes and Phrases, throughout the album.  The similarity between the two page kits made this easy, but added a nice variety to each layout.
  • Some companion page backgrounds match, others are complementary.  Complementary layouts feature the background on one side and photo mats on the opposite that match.
  • All the elements for each page set are put in envelopes to finalize the design, as a few embellishments were moved around in the mini album before final assembly.  
  • The journaling strips were created in a Word document and printed in brown then are inked in Mocha Mama Powder Puff Chalking Ink.  Not all are included for publication to protect privacy.
  • Ribbons were tied into bows and added to the pages that needed that last little embellishment. 

Front Cover:
  • Photo is trimmed to 3 1/4" x 5", and backed with 102 white dots that is 1/4" larger all around for a frame of 3 3/4" x 5 1/2".  All of the larger photos have this mat sizing.
  • The mat is inked with Powder Puff Chalking Ink in Bermuda.
  • The 101 grunge side page is inked in Powder Puff Chalking Ink Mocha Mama as is the "Bless this family" sentiment.  What a great sentiment from the Main Street Quotes and Pharses 600! 
  • The photo and sentiment are adhered at slight angles to allow both to fit the page with a bit of overlap.
Pages 2 and 3
  • These pages feature my parents and my siblings and uses teal 101 for the left and grunge quarter 102 for the right.  The mats are the 102 for the left and 101 for the right to tie the pages together.
  • The accents are used directly from the page kit, along with a bow made from the ribbon from the Small Altered kit.

  • A hidden a flap lifts to reveal a fun photo and story.  We had a great time recreating a photo that we gave my parents in 1981 when frizzy perms were a thing for men.  My niece crouched behind my brother so her curly hair would give him the illusion of his hair back then.  We obviously could not keep a straight face!
  • Barn Board Powder Puff Chalking Ink is used to ink the elements of these pages.
  • With care, one ink color can be used on one side of the page and a different color on the opposite side.

 Pages 4 and 5
  • Both sides use dotted 102 for the page and 102 teal side for the mats.
  • The accents are used directly from a page kit, as is the gingham bow.
  • The large circle is trimmed asymmetrically to add interest and tie the two pages together.  I also like to think of the symbolism of our wedding rings!
  • Bermuda Powder Puff Chalking Ink is used to ink the elements of these pages.

Pages 6 and 7
  • This layout shares a bit of my parent's personality!  It features 102 quarter grunge side.  
  • The smaller photos are 2" x 3" and the mats are 2 3/8" x 3 3/8".  
  • The smaller mats are more proportional to the smaller photos by framing the photo with 3/16" on each edge.   
  • The red mats are trimmed from the scraps of the Altered Frame kit as Main Street 103 is featured as an accent in September's Club Q.   The teal mats are 101.
  • Mocha Mama Powder Puff Chalking Ink is used to ink the elements of these pages.

Pages 8 and 9
  • There are some really great sentiments in the Main Street Chipboard die cuts that are perfect for layouts about families.  This one is fantastic to represent the younger generation of our family!
  • Both Mocha Mama and Bermuda Powder Puff Chalking Ink are used to ink the elements.
  • Pages are 102 dotted and 101 grunge for the mats.  

Pages 10 and 11
  • My family is featured in these pages, so the journal strips are included.  
  • The background is 102 grunge quarter and the mats are 101 teal.
  • Mocha Mama Powder Puff Chalking Ink is used to ink the elements.

Pages 12 and 13
  • Personality photos for my family on 102 dotted pages. 
  • The frames area 101 grunge and a scrap of 103 red for the large photo.
  • The banners are trimmed from Main Street Quotes and Phrases and have holes pierced through the corners.
  • Twine is threaded through the banners before the are adhered.  
  • Both Mocha Mama and Bermuda Powder Puff Chalking Ink are used to ink the elements.


Pages 14 and 15
  • These pages feature my brother's family.  
  • Opposing backgrounds and mats are used in this layout.  The quarter grunge of 102 and the teal side of 101. 
  •  Mocha Mama Powder Puff Chalking Ink is used to ink the elements.
  •  I really like how the patterns of the papers show up in the Chipboard Die Cuts!  All three embellishments have the dotted side of 102.

Pages 16 and 17
  • More photos of my brother's family.  
  • Grunge 101 is used for the background.  The mats are a mix of 102 quarter grunge and 103 red.
  • I almost forgot to use the great little chipboard banners from the page kits, they finally show up here!  They are inked in Bermuda Powder Puff Chalking Ink.
  • Black and red twine are threaded through the buttons before they are adhered.  I enjoy adding these little touches to bump up the effect of buttons!
  • The mats and Chipboard Die Cut are inked in Mocha Mama Powder Puff Chalking Ink,

Pages 18 and 19
  • These pages feature my sister's family.
  • These pages are complementary with 101 teal and 102 quarter grunge.

  • Another hidden flap hides the photo of my sister's family and their plus one, my niece's (now) fiance.  :)
  • Chipboard Die Cuts are the embellishments.
  •  Bermuda Powder Puff Chalking Ink is used to ink the elements.

Pages 20 and 21
  • More photos of my sister's family.
  • True story about the sentiments selected.  My niece moved to a remote town in Alaska with a population of less than 1,500 people to take her first teaching job . . . and she met her now fiance!  The school district is pleased as they will have a music teacher who stays longer than a year.
  • The pages are dotted 102, with mats of teal 101 and red 103.
  • Both Mocha Mama and Bermuda Powder Puff Chalking Ink are used to ink the elements. 

Pages 22 and 23
  • We have a tradition of taking group photos of birth order.  We did it at my Grandparent's 50th Anniversary 30 years ago, and it was fun to take these in August!
  • Quarter grunge 102 and teal 101 are the background, with complementary mats.
  • I used up the last few bits of the pages kits for embellishments, love it when you get to the end of a project and have very little left! 
  • Another great sentiment from Main Street 600 Quotes and Phrases.  
  • Mocha Mama Powder Puff Chalking Ink is used to ink the elements.

Back Cover
  • Grunge 101 with the title from a page kit.
  • Mocha Mama Powder Puff Chalking Ink is used to ink the elements.
Final assembly
  • I used a Bind-It All tool to punch the holes and bind the mini album together.  A similar tool can be used to bind the album.
  • Alternately, the holes can be punch through each page and binder rings can be used to finish the album.
  •  Because the pages are smaller and are not placed in page protectors, I choose to adhere the Chipboard Die Cuts with additional glue dots to insure they would stay put!
Making mini albums is a passion of mine, and I am thankful that the elements of the Ultimate Club Q Kit worked so well together to create a cohesive but fun mini album.  Thinking outside the of the kit can be really fun and a satisfying crafting experience.


Here is my version of the Large Altered Kit, I always really enjoy making a Quick Quote Canvas!  They always turn out so beautifully!  I used a different Main Street Chipboard Die Cut, and punched holes to insert the brads.  Shhhhh, this will be a gift for my parents!

Quick Quotes Products
Club Q Ultimate Combo Kit
Main Street Quotes and Phrases 600--coming soon
Powder Puff Chalking Ink in Mocha Mama, Bermuda, Barn Board

Other Products
Twine from my stash
Bind-it-All tool and wire by Zutter
Spice and Ocean by Zig Writer
Bakers twine from my stash


Thanks for stopping by today!  Neva

Tuesday, September 11, 2018

Back 2 School for Quick Quotes

Hello Quick Quotes enthusiasts, Neva here to share a fun layout I created for our most recent back to school photos.  My youngest started school last week, so he is featured by himself.  This is the first year in many, that we have only one starting school!


I was inspired to use the color in the photos as well as think about my son's school colors, which do include blue.  Selections from Secret Garden and Spring Showers complement each other well.  A great vellum saying and a sentiment from the Farmhouse collection both work with the topic and color scheme.
  • Secret Gardens 101 is used for the background.
  • Secret Gardens 105 is trimmed to 7" x 12" and inked with Powder Puff Chalking Ink in Deep Sea.
  • Spring Showers 103 is trimmed to 2 1/4" x 10 1/2" and inked with Powder Puff Chalking Ink in Green With Envy from the newly released Retired Colors Set.  I am really loving this set by the way!
  • The photos are backed with white cardstock trimmed to 6 1/4" x 4 1/4" and 4 1/4" x 3 1/4" and inked with Powder Puff Chalking Ink in Green With Envy.
  • The journal strips are trimmed to 1/2" and the length necessary to accommodate the journaling.   The edges are inked with Powder Puff Chalking Ink in Green With Envy.
  • The sentiment from Farmhouse 600 is trimmed and the corners are carefully rounded with scissors. 
  • The edges are inked with Powder Puff Chalking Ink in Deep Sea.

I wanted to convey the sentiment of the page with out adding a huge title, so I decided to create my own "patterned paper" as an accent.
  • White cardstock is trimmed to 1 3/8" x 10".
  • The Back 2 School sentiment is stamped repeatedly down the strip with Powder Puff Chalking Ink in Green With Envy.  I purposefully staggered the stamping to avoid trying to line up the sentiment perfectly, I added little bit of randomness for more interest.
  • The edges are also inked to match in Green With Envy.  
  • The vellum saying is backed with white cardstock then trimmed to the blue outline.  The patterns behind the saying were a bit distracting without the cardstock behind it. 
  • The edges are inked with Powder Puff Chalking Ink in Deep Sea.
At first I did not include the stamped Back 2 School strip or the photo frames on this layout.  It seemed too plain and needed a bit more.  With these two additions, the layout really has more pizzaz!

Quick Quotes Products
Secret Gardens 101 and 105
Spring Showers 103
Never Forget Who You Are K134
Farmhouse Strip 600
Powder Puff Chalking Ink Deep Sea, Green With Envy

Other Products
Smarty Pants stamp set by Unity Stamp Company
Evergreen by Zig Writer 
White cardstock

Thanks so much for stopping by Quick Quotes!
~Neva

Back to School with Retro Rubber

Retro Rubber has a great inspiration for the next two weeks, School Days!  You may use the photo as an inspiration for a Back to School project OR for the color and image choices like books or apples.



I have several years of Back to School layouts I want to complete so I went with one from 2012.  There are actually two versions, one for the then first grader, and another very similar version for the two older kids.


My son was being particularly cute with the chickens after obligatory back to school photos and before getting on his bus.   So that morning is commemorated with a few extra photos.

I started with My Mind's Eye Academy Glitter Book cardstock which has been in my stash at least seven or eight years.  Two sheets of note book style cardstock make for a great background.  Originally I was going to use an embossed sheet that said school phrases behind the photos but 1) the embossing didn't show well and 2) the photos wouldn't stick to the embossed paper!  So red cardstock it is!  The striped strip is topped with a thin strip that has been punched with an EK Success border punch that creates small uneven sized scallops.  

All the embellishments come from two sets of stamps both by The Paper Company Studio.  One set is clear the other red rubber, both have been in my stash several years, but I couldn't find dates on the sets.  Each image is stamped in Memento Luxe Tuxedo Black and heat embossed with clear embossing powder.  The "1 2 3" is stamped in Memento Luxe Rhubarb Stalk and heat embossed with clear embossing powder.  The images are colored with a bit of marker scribbled on my craft mat and picked up with a wet paint brush.  Some also include coloring directly on the image.  I used a series of Memento Dual Tipped Markers to match the color scheme of the paper.  Dandelion, Love Letter, Summer Sky, Potter's Clay, Teal Zeal and Pear Tart are all included.  Each image is fussy cut.  Since I made more than one layout it was super easy to make multiples of the embellishments and not have to worry about running out of matching stickers!  This is what the older two will have in their albums:


Please do come join the fun at Retro Rubber and create you own School Days project!  Remember that we ask that you use a stamp that is at least one year or older that needs some inky love and to not enter more than 10 challenges including RR!

Thanks for stopping by!

Monday, September 3, 2018

007 Prom for Stick It Down

Wow it seems like Senior year just flew by!  Here is one more memory of the year using out fabulous sketch from Stick It Down for September.

You will notice that the selection of papers are identical to the ones I used for the Promposal layout for SID's sketch for last month.  It was a great way to tie the two layouts together, and use the scraps from the first layout.  I did not have to cut into another piece of cardstock, wow!


The black cardstock is by Wausau and is a textured Eclipse Black.  The ancient Costco specialty paper pack is the source for both the red and gold mulberry paper and the white and black flocked paper.  The Gold Glitter cardstock and the Red Small Flourish Gemstones are both by Paper Studio.  The title is die cut from the Gold Glitter cardstock with Spellbinders Etched Alphabet.  This glitter cardstock die cuts beautifully, and I love the shine and shimmer!  Jelly Roll White Gel pen makes it easy to journal although the photos do speak for themselves!

Do come play along with us at Stick It Down, we have some great sketches to work with this month.  We are playing along with Spiegelmomscraps this month and she has offered a great coupon for 20% off, just use SIDSMS when checking out.  She does ship internationally, shot her an email if the $$ seems a bit high.

Thanks for stopping by!  Oh, and I just figured out that I was not receiving emails notifying me of all those wonderful comments you have been leaving me!  Busy summer, heads down to get crafting projects done before traveling, and some major upheavals within the family.  Blessings!