Jennifer Hadfield Archives

A Viewmaster Inspired Layout for Dads

Jun

Hello there! It’s Mendi here today with a fun and easy layout focused around an enlarged viewmaster shape using a mix of Pebbles Cottage Living and Happy Day collections.

When Pebbles asked me to create a scrapbook layout for Father’s day I was a bit panicked. Our family is notorious about taking it easy and forgetting to document the day with photos. I decided that doesn’t mean I can’t still show my husband how much he means to me by using a photo collage of some of my favorite pictures of him over the years.

I searched online for various titles and this sweet one caught my eye. It’s a bit on the long side, but by some miracle it fit my available space perfectly. I love that Pebbles offered these great Thickers in two different colors because it was just what I needed to break up the two lines and make it easier to read! I think they are perfect for a masculine project too! 🙂

To add a little extra detail and color, I added pennants to the bottom of my page with one of the beautiful gold metal labels. I have always been a huge fan of bookplates so I am excited to see these making a comeback! To tie in the black & gold Thickers, I printed my journaling using a white font in a black text box. Sadly printers can’t print in white ink so it’s a fun way to fake it.

So do you want to know how I centered my title on the curve? I turned to a circle die (a bit larger than my journaling circle), wrote out my title on a piece of scratch paper and then counted to the center of each line. When I found the center mark, I was able to put down my letters down from the top, center part of my page (and again from the bottom, center) and work my way out on each side. I thought I would have to really work at repeatedly moving them to get them all to fit, but luckily they all fell into place with natural spacing and very little fuss.

The circle die was the perfect tool to push my letters flush with and keep everything perfectly straight. When putting down my letters I just tried to imagine the center as a spoke of a wheel and to apply them radiating out from the center. When I was done and had the letters just the way I wanted them, the die easily lifted right out.

For my journaling I used a circle shape to type my journaling in Microsoft Word so I could figure out how many words would fit on each line. When I had everything just right, I changed my circle line to transparent (or no line at all) before printing. I then used the same circle die I had used to cut my patterned paper to trace a circle around my journaling. Since the die’s edge is slightly larger than where it actually cuts, it easily tells me where to adhere my die-cut circle and helps me get my spacing perfect.

I then used photo splits to temporarily adhere my die-cut circle to my printer paper and ran it through my printer one more time. Photo splits are the perfect adhesive for projects like this because they are not too sticky and can easily peel off afterwards.

Here’s one last look at the finished result with a parting tip. For my little photos I cut them apart leaving small borders around each and then taped them to the back of the viewmaster die-cut before adhering it to my 12×12 background.

I hope I’ve inspired you to scrapbook about an amazing man in your life this Father’s Day! 🙂

Supplies:
HAPPY DAY WOOD FIRE PIZZA CARDSTOCK 12″X12″
HAPPY DAY SUNDAY PAPER CARDSTOCK 12″X12″
HAPPY DAY PUZZLED CARDSTOCK 12″X12″
HAPPY DAY PHRASES & LABELS CARDSTOCK STICKERS
COTTAGE LIVING CHEVRON GOLD FOIL ACCENT CARDSTOCK
COTTAGE LIVING BLACK & GOLD FOIL THICKERS ALPHA STICKERS
COTTAGE LIVING WHITE & GOLD FOIL THICKERS ALPHA STICKERS
COTTAGE LIVING GOLD METAL LABELS
VIEWMASTER SILHOUETTE CUTTING FILE

Creating Repetition & Patterns with Dies

May

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Hello there! It’s Mendi here today with a set of simple cards using Pebbles elegant Cottage Living collection.

Today’s cards are all about using die-cuts to create repetition and eye-catching patterns with very little effort. Up first I have a sweet little card where I cut out the medium-sized heart using the coordinating Cottage Living dies from a variety of patterned papers. I arranged them on the diagonal from darkest to lightest to create an ombre effect. To add a little extra interest to my card I then stitched around the final row of hearts on my sewing machine & heat embossed my stamped sentiment with white embossing powder.

For my next card, I repeated the chevron arrow die-cuts in two different sizes, cut from a variety of patterns in the 6×6 pad, but keeping them all the same color. This provides a cohesive look while still adding interest. I then stamped my sentiment in black ink on both the gold tipped tag and again on the die-cut scalloped circle and then lined them up with a layer of foam tape between them. To tie in the gold on my little tag, I added a strip of gold glitter tape along one edge and topped my tag with a little gold brad.

My next card was so easy to make, but it’s one of my favorites! To create it I die-cut a number of arrows from several of the more subtle and colorful prints in the 6×6 pad and then lined them up on the diagonal (again), alternating the direction between rows. To help keep my rows straight, I used a clear ruler and drew light pencil lines that would be easy to erase when I was done. As a little finishing touch I decided to run straight stitching through each row. I love how that simple step added so much texture and interest!

Before I move onto my next card, isn’t that sentiment amazing?! I stamped it using another coordinating stamp from the collection. I love how beautiful and versatile this little set is–It’s a must have for sure! To have my sentiment stand out against my black background, I chose to stamp it with clear VersaMark ink and heat embossed it again with white embossing powder.

For my final card I wanted to repeat my die-cut sentiment and give them a glossy epoxy look that is so popular right now. There are so many different ways to achieve this cool look with several products on the market, but I decided to try something a little different this time and turned to my heat gun. Make sure to scroll down to see a mini tutorial on how I transformed my dies using supplies you may already have on hand.

First I grabbed a clear watermark stamp pad and I pushed my die-cut face down into the wet ink, making sure to cover it completely.

Next I coated my die with a clear embossing powder. I chose to use Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel (UTEE) which has extra large crystals and quickly gives a thick glossy appearance. You could also achieve a similar look using regular clear embossing powder if you sprinkle it repeatedly with more powder while it is still hot and repeat the steps a few more times.

Next I quickly heat it until the crystals were completely melted. For each of my words, I chose to repeat the steps twice for a more even glossy appearance. I found it helpful to heat up my gun and have it nice and hot before bringing it near my die-cut so that it wouldn’t blow off the crystals before it was hot enough to melt them. I also made sure to have a protective mat or piece of paper below to protect my surface from any flying crystals.

And here’s another peek at my finished card. If you find that some of the crystals get out of hand and melt beyond your die-cuts, you can easily clip off any little blips & strays along the edge with a sharp pair of scissors.

I hope I’ve inspired you to look at your dies in a new way today! 🙂

Supplies:
Cottage Living 6×6 Paper Pad
Cottage Living Acrylic Stamps
Cottage Living Polaroid Dies
Cottage Living Jewel Stickers
Cottage Living Gold Tipped Tags
Homemade Banners Die Set
American Crafts Gold Glitter Paper Tape
Zing! White Opaque Embossing Powder

New Year Cards that Sparkle and Shine!

Dec

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Hi there! It’s Mendi here today. Can you guys believe it’s almost a new year? Where did this year go? If you’re like many of us, you may have run out of time when it came to making Christmas cards, but I’m hoping I can inspire you to send out New Year Cards instead! To create my cards I turned to the classy Home+Made Collection by Jen Hadfield.

My first card uses all the soft and pretty gold and cream specialty papers and embellishments with the collection. I punched a snowflake from the gold foil cardstock and layered it with a smaller snowflake in vellum to give it a softer feel.

For my next card I alternated 1-1/8″ wide strips on a 9″ x 3-3/4″ card base. I then stitched down each side of the patterned paper and adhered gold foil alpha stickers for a sentiment with big impact. To complete my sentiment I typed my words on the computer using a text box in Microsoft Word, layering it with some of the gold glitter scalloped tape from the collection. My finishing touch was a pair of black buttons which I topped with gold sequins.

My last card has a holiday bokeh effect or exploding confetti look. I’ve included a little step-by-step photo tutorial below sharing how I created it.

I started by cutting a piece of black cardstock to fit the front of my card (5.5″ x 4.25″). I stamped and heat embossed my sentiment using gold powder onto one of the chalkboard labels from the collection. When I was done I lightly centered the label on my card front and traced around it with a pencil (and set it aside for later).

I then cut the gold foil cardstock into thin strips and punched it with a 1/4″ hole punch. We R Memory Keepers Power Punch would be perfect for this. It’s a pretty thick cardstock so you’re going to want a strong punch.

Next I started adhering the gold foil dots to cover the pencil line that I traced around my label, offsetting and spreading the dots out as I moved towards the edge of the card. I found a glue pen to work best at this stage for minimal mess, but as I started to layer them in the next step, I had to switch to a liquid adhesive with a stronger hold.

When I had completely covered the front of my card, I cut off the dots that bled past the edge of the card front.

I adhered the label to the center and stitched around the edge for extra holding power. The last step was to adhere the front panel to a notecard. This card ended up being extremely flat and is perfect for mailing!