My Purple Cave (AKA my Craft Room)

I have had a few inquires on what my craft room looks like. It has been in constant change. When we first moved into the house 12 years ago it was purple with white carpet that desperately needed to be replaced. It went from a guest bedroom with a fold out table on the wall for my crafting to a full studio and now it is a partial guest bedroom  and craft room. Though it has taken over a decade to evolve into the final state I am happy with it!

To take the tour of my craft room please click here: Purple Cave Tour

Until Next Time  -- Happy Crafting!!!!!

Betz

Keeping the Faith Junk Journal

I created a journal to symbolize the spiritual journey I am on. You can find the walk through of it here: Faith Junk Journal

I hope you check it out! You can find the junk journal to make one of your own here: Calico Collage

Until Next time -- Happy Crafting!

Betz

Dashing Men Crackle Card

I have been having just so much fun playing with digital art from Calico Collage! I took some time to make these beautiful cards using a crackle effect. These gentlemen are from the "Dashing Men" set. 

 I did a 15 minute tutorial making this card:

You can find it here:
Crackle Card

Go check it out and please subscribe to my channel if you have not done so and leave me some love....I like love :-)

Until next time ~ Happy Crafting!

Betz

Amped Up Pin-Up Card

I have for you a fun tutorial on how to take a card to the next level with just a few easy techniques! Please check it out and make sure you subscribe here:

Layered Card Tutorial

Until next time -- Happy Crafting!

~ Betz

Phone Stand Tutorial

I attended CHA 2017 and my very favorite "Make and Takes" were done at the Beacon booth! If you have not caught my review on it all check it out here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxjKiEEeDx4&t=15s  I am excited to share with you my favorite "Make and Take" in this post. This is both pretty and practical! It is a phone stand. Often times I like to watch something on my phone as I craft or cook and have a hard time propping it up. This solves that problem. Check it out:

 The phone stand can be found here: http://www.clearscraps.com/product_p/cspsscallop.htm
Information on the adhesive can be found here: http://www.beaconadhesives.com/cggrip.html
Embellishments can be found here: http://www.teresacollinsstudio.com/

 The first thing I did was ink the edges of all the sweet die cut I was going to use on my phone stand.

 Next, I traced the stand on to pattern paper and cut it out.

 I then assembled the art work that would make up the focal piece of the stand when my phone is not on it. You could add a picture here too! That would make a great gift!

The rest of the tutorial can be found in this video I made. I found it to be beneficial to show how to assemble this rather than continue on in a pictorial form. Please make sure you subscribe to my youtube channel and leave me some love ;-)

Phone Stand Video

Until next time -- Happy Crafting!

Betz

San Francisco Shaker Card

There is just something about San Francisco that makes my heart swoon. It is my very favorite city in the world -- and I have been to many cities in different parts of the world. I think I am biased because I grew up right outside of SF in the bay area. Often I would take the ferry with my Dad from our hometown to Pier 39 to spend the day. Of course I did not realize how much I cherished it until I moved away to the Southwest where a natural body of water is hard to come by. Every time I go back home I make sure to take my kiddos to Pier 39 the same way I used to go when I was their age -- by the ferry. This is one of my all time favorite views of the city and I can only get it on the ferry:

 The first time we went into the city, my kids did not understand why it is so special. They have been to cities in Southern California and were not impressed with the water because they had seen it before. They also have spent time in Maui and were repulsed by my adoration of the muddy bay water -- even though I am convinced it is what makes the sourdough from SF so delicious ;-) I explained to them it is the culture of the city. It is the people that make it so special. They finally understood once they saw a street performer:

 After the street performances and being scared by the "Bush Man" (A dude who looks like a bush and leaps out in front of you) we always stop for clam chowder and sour dough bread at my favorite spot (that cute little attitude in the corner is my daughter):

 The ferry ride back to my hometown is topped off with hot chocolate and usually one of us falling asleep for a quick nap.

When I saw the San Francisco Stamp by Brutus Monroe I knew I had to have it! I decided to make a shaker card out of it making sure to pay tribute to parts of SF that I adore. Here is how I created my SF card. First I used red foil paper from http://www.rinea.com/. This is some pretty cool stuff and I highly recommend you make your way over to their website and order a pack or two. It embosses lovely, can be shaped easily and holds well, cuts smoothly and can be stamped on. That is just to name a few things I love about this paper. The fact that it originated in Germany and I remember making stars out of it while living there, is beside the point and I will address more of that in later posts. For now, lets just get back to the shaker card (no more chasing rabbits -- I promise ;-) ) I stamped three images using my Stazon ink pad: cardboard (from a box I was about to recycle), red Rinea paper and a white card.

 I wanted to bring in some Mermaid Blue Distress ink by Tim Holtz because it reminds of the houses that are in SF. I even painted my house this color living in the Southwest because it reminds me of the houses in the Bay Area.

 The Cardboard is what will serve as the shaker portion of the card. I cut the snow globe out making sure to go outside of the stamp lines. It is important that you cut outside of the lines so the cardboard is not visual to the eye once it all comes together.

 The Rinea foil paper is the front of the card. I choose this paper because the red is spot on to the color of the Golden Gate Bridge. It also is very easy to cut with an exacto knife. It does not take much pressure at all and it is a clean cut. It was important that I cut on the line of the stamp. I did not want to have that vary from section to section.

 To assemble the card I used Beacon 3-1 and attached the cardboard to the card being careful to line it up just right.

 To fill the shaker I used things from my stash that remind me of SF. First I punched three little hearts (because I left my heart there and I like the number three!). I used gold mica flakes to represent the dirty bay water (I'm not even kidding about this! It is one of my favorite things about the city -- dirty water). The little glass beads reminded me of the waterfront. Finally the cute little white flowers represent the bushes and flowers found at Pier 39.

 Packaging material works great as a clear overlay! I adhered it with the Beacon 3-1 because I could slide it around it needed, yet when it dried it was secure.

 I carefully added my last layer making sure to hide the cardboard. I used Beacon 3-1 for this too!

 I wanted to add a little bit more piazza to the card so I embossed the scraps of red Rinea foil paper. Since there is red on one side and gold on the other, I decided to use the gold! It embossed perfectly!

 To hide the rough edges I used a red and white trim. The houses in the bay area all have white trim for the most part. This reflects that!

 To finish that card I added three sweet hearts that I punched from the leftovers of the Rinea foil paper. This also covered where my trim meets and adds a little more personality to the card.

 I think I might keep this card all to myself instead of giving it away. It truly reminds me of everything I love and miss about my favorite city!

Until next time -- Happy Crafting! ~ Betz

Monthly Planner Set Up

Hi Scraps!

Today I have the most adorable and useful planner spread to share with you. I adore The Planner Society Kits and use them to set up my monthly spreads.

There always is a pretty coordinating pen included in the kit. I was tickled when I saw this beautiful gem poking out at me and started using it right away! I just could not wait.

Here is what my month looks like at first glance: 

This is the pocket I made to keep my list I use for the market. This pocket gets the most action in my planner:

 I used the sweet die cut girl along with card to give it some more personality. I never was a fan of puffy stickers until they started making an appearance in my kits. Now I love them! They add nice texture:

For the "Projects" pocket I simply used the tape to adhere the pocket. This took me a little bit of time to figure out what size I wanted and needed it to be. I like to start small and get larger as the pages, pockets, and files are flipped so you can see everything. It is important to me that each piece can hold it's own while still helping showcase the full picture.

 I added a pop dot under the sweet little hearts to give it some dimension on the NEXT page, but at first glance it looks like it is part of this page. I did that on purpose ;-)

This next section is actually a divider! Behind it I will hybrid scrapbook the month, keep my schedules, and notes!

 I have a serious crush on bows! I love this bow and saying.....

 This precious little swan deserves the spotlight, don't you think? Not only is the crown just adorable, but that pink tulle is to die for! 

 This is the shaker dashboard that I will use each week as a marker. It was so much fun and I am really happy with how it turned out! 

 "She Plans" yes I do :-) 

Please check out my video here to see me put the entire month together:

February Planner Spread

I had so much fun getting my planner ready for February and I am looking forward to what the month has in store. If you have not subscribed to my YouTube channel please do so. I have some exciting things in the works and I can't wait to share with you.

Until next time -- Happy Crafting :-)