I made these fancy hand stamped paper flower embellishments to use on scrapbook pages, mini albums, and cards. They can be used the same way that you’d use a Prima flower, but the hand stamped version doesn’t cost as much. I wrote up a tutorial with instructions for how to make these pretty layered flowers; You can click here to see the instructions for how to rubber stamp these paper flower embellishments. They are easy and fun! Enjoy!

Thanks for dropping by. Hope you are having a lovely and creative day!

Did you know that Clear Scraps acrylics can be embossed? It’s true! I have been writing some articles for other web sites about this technique. You can click here to read about Embossing Clear Scraps acrylics with Cuttlebug embossing folders at associatedcontent.com. Or you can click here to see more photos and examples of Clear Scraps embossed acrylic mini albums at clearalbums.com. Hope you enjoy the articles! Thanks so much for dropping by.

It’s been awhile since I last updated my blog, and I have quite a bit to post about…

First, I wanted to share some photos, links and memories from CHA (the Craft and Hobby Association trade show), which I attended in January of ‘09. I spent most of the trade show working in the Clear Scraps booth, meeting Clear Scraps customers and demonstrating how Clear Scraps acrylics can be embossed in the Cuttlebug machine using Cuttlebug embossing folders. You can see one photo of the Clear Scraps booth above. From left to right in the photo are Janet Blair, Elisa Kammerdiener, Sally Lynn MacDonald, and me (Amy Solovay.)

During the CHA trade show, I embossed lots and lots of the new Clear Scraps mini keychain albums in the Cuttlebug machine. So, naturally, now that I am home, I have been working on projects that use embossed acrylics. I wrote a couple of new articles about embossing Clear Scraps acrylics. One of the articles has been published at clearalbums.com. The more detailed of the two articles will hopefully be published on associatedcontent.com in the next couple of weeks. Edited to add: Click here to read my article about Hot New Scrapbooking Trends: Tiny Mini Albums.

When I wasn’t working in the booth at Clear Scraps, I did get out and about a little bit to look at all the other booths and see what’s new and trendy in the world of crafting. I caught a little bit of the Fashion Show sponsored by Lion Brand Yarns, and I saw some of the gorgeous new yarns at Premier Yarns. I posted quite a few of these knitting photos at my new knitting web site, Knitting With Color.

Click here to see knitting trends and knitting photos from winter CHA 2009.

I also took lots of photos of the brand new scrapbooking supplies too, so you can look forward to seeing those in future posts here and also at clearalbums.com and paperlaces.com.
I have also been writing lots of new articles and posting new crafts projects for various web sites around the internet, and I have been submitting my projects to magazines for publication too.

I just updated the page about Martha Stewart punches at paperlaces.com: Martha Stewart Punches (along with some other brands of scalloped heart punches that make good alternatives to the hard to find Martha Stewart Scalloped Heart Punch.) I have also been working on updating my free paper lace idea book too. I updated the chapter about using punches to make paper lace, and I have also been working on expanding the other chapters with more detailed diagrams and information. I’m hoping to get even more updates posted in time for Valentine’s Day, but I’m not making any promises. Hope you guys are all enjoying your Valentine’s Day preparations! I know I am. It’s one of my favorite holidays.

Thanks so much for dropping by. I hope you are having a lovely and creative day!

Plus, Blog Candy: A Giveaway for a Clear Scraps Sandcastle Shaped Clear Acrylic Album

My husband is into extreme sports. He enjoys mountain biking, dirt biking, motorcycle racing, rock climbing…stuff like that. While he is really supportive of my scrapbooking, he has made it more than clear that he does not really want flowers, rhinestones, and ribbon on his extreme sports layouts. I understand. But…what to do with them? Making feminine layouts comes easy to me, especially with all the gorgeous products available with flourishes and flowers and swirls. I find that making “guy” layouts is more of a challenge.

Clear Scraps to the rescue! I have discovered that Clear Scraps slides are the perfect complement to extreme sports layouts. Here I painted the slides with a little bit of alcohol ink and adhered them to a piece of Gypsy Moonbeam patterned paper by Basic Grey from the Gypsy / Romani Collection. I used Zip Dry Paper Glue as the adhesive. Add some Thickers letter stickers by American Crafts and the finished result is a perfectly masculine layout. It was really quick and easy, too, which is an added bonus. So if you’ve been looking for ideas for scrapping “guy” layouts, hope this idea inspires you too!

Sneak Peeks of New Clear Scraps Albums, Sets and Embellishments!

Would you like to see some Sneak peeks of the Clear Scraps products that are brand new for the upcoming CHA (Craft & Hobby Association) Trade Show that happens later this month? Well, if so, click here to see them: owl shaped clear and chipboard albums, sandcastle shaped albums, new clear acrylic and chipboard mini book kits and sets, new acrylic keychain minis, and more. We hope you will be inspired!

Remember that these products will probably not be available at your favorite local scrapbook store yet, so, if you see something you like please mention it to your favorite retailer so that they can be sure to place their orders ASAP. We’ll be at CHA booth #1441 taking orders for the new goodies, and we invite you to drop in and say “hi” if you will be there. We’d love to show you all the latest products in person! Plus you can shop online 24-7 if you’d prefer:

• Scrapbook.com Carries Clear Scraps
• Clearalbums.com has a page devoted to Clear Scraps clear albums and embellishments, and also a whole page of product reviews of Clear Scraps albums, embellishments and products.
• Esticker.com carries Clear Scraps
• A Cherry on Top Scrapbook Shoppe Carries Clear Scraps Clear Acrylic Embellishments
• You can also find Clear Scraps products for sale on ebay.

Clear Scraps Giveaway in Honor of CHA!

I also want to let you know about another Clear Scraps giveaway!

Would you like to win the brand new Sandcastle Clear Acrylic Album by Clear Scraps? Clearalbums.com is hosting a giveaway of this beautiful new clear album which is BRAND NEW for CHA. So if you’d like your chance to win it, click on over to the giveaway post at clearalbums.com and check it out. Also, if you read through the comments on that blog post there you will see that lots of creative ladies have shared their ideas for what to make with this stunning sand castle album. I think you will be very inspired by reading what they have shared, at least I know I was.

Thanks so much for visiting. I really appreciate it that you took the time to drop by my blog.

Posted by: Amy Solovay

Hi everybody! I just wanted to share a mini album I just finished. The album was created using a brand new product line that I am really excited about! It is the “Clear and Chip” product line manufactured by Clear Scraps, and it is so new that it isn’t even available in stores yet. So, if you like what you see, I really hope that you will tell your favorite crafts and scrapbooks stores about it and ask them to order some! You can find Clear Scraps at CHA Booth #1441 or you can always visit their web site too- it is open 24-7!

Here are some photos of my mini album. Like quite a few of my projects, this album combines brand new materials with recycled materials. The papers in this album are mostly very old. For the longest time, I have had a falling-apart dictionary from the early 1900’s that is unsaleable on amazon.com, unusable as a dictionary, and just generally a waste of space. Yet I couldn’t bring myself to toss it because it has so many interesting pictures and ideas in it. I used it in this project to cut out words and phrases that I find meaningful, that relate to our lives in some way. I also used a sample book of Strathmore papers that I have had in my stash for quite some time. One of my former colleagues was going to throw it away and I rescued it, but couldn’t think of anything interesting to do with it until now.

One more thing I’d like to share: a quick recipe that is one of my favorites for coating raw chipboard. Take some Pearl-ex, mix it with a little mod podge, and paint it right on the chipboard. Let it dry, and you will have a shimmery shiny chipboard page or embellishment. On the front cover of this project the little flowers were embellished in this way. Some of the interior pages were done this way too. The letter stickers are Tinsel foil Thickers by American Crafts, and they are already shiny so no need to worry about them! Love ‘em! Sorry that my photos don’t really do justice to the “shinyness”. If you are going to be at CHA, I invite you to visit the Clear Scraps booth to see this mini album in person! Hope it will inspire you!

The green and multicolored flower above was created using a Clear Scraps flower, a masquepen, and alcohol inks by Ranger / Tim Holtz.

Sneak Peek of a new Clear Scraps album I have been working on.

This clear album was created using a Clear Scraps 8″ x 8″ tabbed album. I used this album plus various other supplies by Clear Scraps, Hambly, and other manufacturers to create a clear holder for antique postcards and vintage ephemera. I’ll be posting more photos, step-by-step how-to instructions, and details about this project at clearalbums.com in the next few days. So I invite you to check back and take a look!

Clearalbums.com Calendar Challenge!

Would you like to win some really amazing scrapbooking supplies, including prizes by Clear Scraps, American Crafts, Hambly, and other manufacturers? Well, you have a chance to win if you play along with us and take the Clear Albums Calendar Challenge. There is still plenty of time to get your challenge entry sent in. Hope you’ll join in the fun!

Free Scrapbooking Class With Stacy Julian!

In this fun free class, you will learn how Stacy made her 1-2-3-4-5 EXCLUSIVE clear acrylic album by Clear Scraps! You can click here for more information about the class.

Thanks so much for dropping by! I hope you are having a lovely and creative day.

I’ve been busy creating lots of new projects~ both art projects and craft projects. One of my favorite new projects is this brand new calendar for 2009:

I made it for the calendar challenge at clearalbums.com. You are invited to play along with us! I think the challenge should be a lot of fun, at least I know I had fun designing and creating my calendar. Also remember that calendars make fantastic holiday gifts! So if you are looking for fantastic gift ideas, please wander on over there and have a look.
You can click here to view more information about the Clear Albums Calendar Challenge, and you can click here to shop for calendar themed scrapbooking supplies and art supplies. If you’re feeling creatively blocked and not sure where to start with creating a calendar, we’ve assembled some free project ideas to inspire you. Hope you’ll check them out!

If you want to see more photos of my 2009 calendar, they are posted right here, along with a complete supply list and instructions. My calendar was made using 2 albums by Clear Scraps; a scalloped acrylic album and a scalloped chipboard album.

Original Art Collage With Antique Postcard and Czech Glass Button

When I was finished creating my calendar, I had a couple of scalloped pages left over. Here is another project that I created using one of the left over chipboard pages:

Tools and Supplies Used:

• One page from the scalloped chipboard album by Clear Scraps

• Antique Floral Postcard (on the back the postcard is dated 1913!) I LOVE antique ephemera and I think this postcard is soooo pretty. Love the purple and green!

• Patterned Paper: Making Memories from the 6×6 Pad Boho Chic / Lauren Collection

• Purple Core’dinations Cardstock

• Zip Dry Paper Glue

• Purple Metallic Ribbon by RibbonFX

• Czech Glass Button

• Purple & White Korker Ribbon (Ebay)

• Aleene’s Stop Fraying Glue (this is to keep the ends of the ribbon from fraying.)

• The Hanger is Made From Purple Craft Wire by Darice

• Sanding tools from the Distressing Kit by Making Memories I used these to sand the cardstock around the edges of the chipboard. I am not sure if you can tell from the photo, but the Core of the Core’dinations Cardstock is a lovely light purple color. Core’dinations Cardstock is the perfect choice for covering chipboard, because when you sand it down it looks gorgeous! Especially for antique or vintage themed projects that call for a little bit of shabby and chic distressing.

• Paper Lace Border #1 (Top): Pale purple cardstock, Wisteria Fluid Chalk Ink Pad, Narrow Purple Ribbon, Fiskars Square Hand Punch, and a couple of different Fiskars Paper Edgers, including Fiskars Mini Scallop Paper Edgers, Fiskars Victorian Paper Edgers

• Paper Lace Border #2 (Bottom): Green Patterned Paper by Fancy Pants, Pale Purple Cardstock, Wisteria Fluid Chalk, Fiskars Victorian Paper Edgers, Fiskars Scallop Paper Edgers, Fiskars Arabian Paper Edgers, Fiskars Mountains Paper Edgers

Please visit paperlaces.com for more information about how to make paper lace borders.

Paper Lace Projects Coming Soon to the Stamper’s Sampler!

I just found out that some of my paper lace projects are going to be published in an upcoming edition of the Stampers Sampler Magazine. I have no idea which project(s) they chose to publish because I sent them a bunch, and they didn’t specify when they emailed. So it will be a pleasant surprise when I get that issue! Look for my paper lace projects in the December 2008 / January 2009 issue! For those of you who pick it up, I really hope you will enjoy the projects and find them inspiring.

Helmar Adhesive Design Team Call!

If you ask most scrapbook designers whose design team they’d like to be on, most of them will reply with a list of their favorites plus “ANY ADHESIVE MANUFACTURER’S!” Well, guess what, girls, this is the call you have been waiting for…Helmar Adhesive is looking for a new design team! Click here for more info, which is posted on Tracy’s blog. Also note that the ladies over at the Pub forum of the twopeasinabucket.com message board have a thread going about this call, so if you want to chat about it with some other designers, you can check that out. I just got some Helmar adhesive to try, and I am looking forward to using it. It looks like it might be a better choice for my paper lace projects than the adhesive I have been using. I will keep you posted and let you know how it works out. In the meanwhile, Createforless.com has some Helmar adhesive for sale if you’d like to try it out.

Well, I have so much more I could write, and so many more projects to post, but I am out of time for blogging at the moment…so please check back soon for more new Clear Scraps projects, new paper lace, and new spin art! Thanks a lot for stopping by. I really appreciate your interest in my work. Hugs!

My husband and his friends are really into mountain biking. This past August, we took a trip to Brian Head, Utah, so they could ride in a race that was taking place there. I actually took my bike along for the trip too. It was so much fun! Even though I fell off my bike a bunch of times and got totally scraped, bruised and sunburned.

Normally when I go on these trips I take a camera, but not a bike. These guys are really experienced riders, and I am not anywhere close to their level, although I do enjoy riding the trails with my husband. It’s not quite as much fun for me when he gets together with a bunch of hardcore riders and they decide to ride down really insane terrain. To that, I say, “No thanks!” I usually have more fun taking photos of them than I would attempting to ride with them. I took quite a few photos on this Utah trip~ almost 1,000 of them all together. No, I am not going to scrapbook them all. But I am picking out all my favorites to print and scrap.

It was sooooooooooooo beautiful up there in the mountains that it was hard to take a bad picture. Everywhere I looked, there was gorgeous scenery. Pretty incredible! Utah is just spectacular.

The rider shown in this scrapbook layout is my husband. For his cycling layouts, I try to keep it simple- definitely no paper lace, ribbons, or Prima Flowers. The truth is that my husband would rather just have his photos stuck in albums. He does humor me with my scrapbooking, but I try not to press my luck and go too crazy with embellishing his bike photos. Interestingly enough, I’ve found that he seems to like the layouts I’ve been doing lately with Reminisce’s Great outdoors line. The papers are really ideal for this kind of layout, much better suited than the few-and-far-between bike-themed papers that I’ve seen. I do dream about the day when someone will release a downhill mountain biking themed collection, but until then the Great Outdoors line is the next best thing.

Supplies Used To Create This Scrapbooking Layout:

• Camping Alphabet Stickers: by Reminisce, from the Great Outdoors Collection
• Wilderness Map / Trail Map patterned paper: by Reminisce, also from the Great Outdoors Collection
• The Great Outdoors Journal Stickers by Reminisce
• The strip of Camouflage patterned paper is by K & Co.
• Black Sharpie Marker
• Gray Cardstock
• Fiskars Paper Edgers ~I think this design is called “Mountains”. It seemed appropriate. This particular design is now hard to find, but you could substitute either a pair of pinking shears or a different pair of paper edgers. There are a zillion of ‘em. If you are doing a “guy” layout like this one, it’s a good idea to avoid the ones that are too froofroo, but you have quite a few choices available.

My scanner cut off the side of this layout, so I took another photo with the digital camera. Unfortunately the light isn’t so great this afternoon and so this is another not-so-stellar photo, complete with glare from the flash. *sigh* But at least you will get the idea.

My husband and I spend a lot of time at the beach. It’s one of the perks of living in California…

Supplies Used in this Scrapbook Layout:

• Shelley Stripestock Paper by Reminisce ~ It’s double-sided; I used the side that is a gorgeous red with grid pattern. The other side is a fun vibrant stripe. Love this versatile paper! I’ve used a bunch of it and am planning on getting more.
• Hula Girl Patterned Paper From the Tropical Fusion Collection by Reminisce
• The Letters in “Manhattan” were spelled out using “Winter Wonderland” Alphabet Stickers. Yes, you can count on me to always find a way to use winter themed supplies in a summer themed scrapbook layout. This ability seems to be one of my trademarks! Haha. Guess you can’t accuse me of not “thinking outside the box”, anyway…
• The “Beach” sticker is from the Surf Shop Journal Sticker Sheet by Reminisce
• A Day at the Beach Li’l Stamp Set by Inque Boutique
• Dye Ink by Rubber Stampede
• Aqua Blue Cardstock
• Blue Prismacolor Marker (Although, I am wishing I had Copic Markers!)
• Tsukineko Walnut Ink

Thanks for dropping by! Hope you are having a lovely weekend.

Hello my lovely blog readers! I am long overdue for a blog update! And I am thrilled and delighted to announce what has been keeping me so busy- I just found out a few days ago that I am going to be part of the Clear Scraps Design Team!!! YIPPEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!! I am so excited to be a part of this fantastic, talented team. So you guys can look forward to seeing some new clear albums and chipboard albums from me very soon! I have also been sooo busy working on new scrapbook layouts and greeting cards. Here is one of them:

Mike & I love making blender drinks with bananas, coconut milk, oranges, and other assorted fruits- whatever is on hand. Sometimes strawberries, blueberries, and limes- sometimes not. Actually I am thinking of creating a brand new mini album featuring tropical drink recipes. Perhaps that would make nice gifts for friends, plus I think that it would be a fun project!

I originally meant to include some drink recipes on this layout, but I ended up not adding them because the stamp set I wanted to use hasn’t come in yet and I got impatient to get the layout done. Which, to my way of thinking, is much better than having unfinished projects hanging around! I am so happy with the way this turned out, and I must say that it’s a lot less cluttered than it probably would have been if I’d put the recipes on as planned. At any rate, this is a memory I definitely wanted to record, because making blender drinks has been such a significant part of our lives lately. We recently got a Champion Juicer, and ever since then we have been juicing and making tropical drinks constantly.

Scrapbooking Supplies For This Layout are Mostly By Reminisce:

• The letter stickers are from the “Tropical Fusion” collection by Reminisce.
• The “Blue Hawaii” patterned paper is also from the “Tropical Fusion” collection by Reminisce.
• The tropical “Hula Girl” patterned paper with colorful hibiscus flowers is also from the “Tropical Fusion” collection by Reminisce.
• The Palms green shimmer paper is also by Reminisce; it is from the “Beach Party” collection.
• The yellow banana printed paper is called “Goin’ Bananas, and it is from the “Monkey Business” collection by Reminisce.
• The “Going Bananas” sticker is from the “Wild Things” journal sticker sheet by Reminisce.
• The turquoise blue / yellow / green striped patterned paper is called “Denise” and it is from the Stripestock collection by Reminisce.
• The flower is one of the “Painterly Petals” / Cavalier 2 by Prima Marketing. There is also a hydrangea petal in the center (I got that at Michael’s) and a flower-shaped epoxy and metal brad by Autumn Leaves from the Foliage collection.
• The turquoise patterned ribbon is by Basic Grey from the Romani / Gypsy collection.
• The lemon ribbon- I can’t remember who made that or where it came from, but if you have any idea, please comment because I sure would love to get more of it. Thanks!
• The green patterned ribbon is RibbonFX.

The “Tropical Fusion” collection is one of my favorites- aren’t those letter stickers in the title just the coolest thing? LOVE how colorful and creative they are! That has got to be my favorite part of the whole layout. Love those stickers! If you need some supplies to make a similar layout or project, check out this Tropical Fusion Kit for sale by a seller on ebay. I have purchased from that seller before and received great products and fantastic service, and her kit is priced very attractively.

I also wanted to show you a tropical themed card that I made a few days ago. I went on a cardmaking spree, and completed quite a few greeting cards, but I wasn’t all that happy with how most of the cards turned out. So at this point I am not sure I want to show them to you. Out of all the cards I made that day, this one is my favorite:

This is an everyday, all-purpose type greeting card that you could send anytime. It is colorful and fun, and it was very simple to make.

Supplies Used To Make This Greeting Card:

• Blue Hawaii patterned paper by Reminisce, from the Tropical Fusion collection
• The orange patterned paper is “Wave Rider” by Reminisce, from the Surf Shop collection
• The letter stickers are from the Tropical Fusion collection by Reminisce.
• The aloha sticker is from the Surf Shop collection by Reminisce.
• The Prima flower is one of the Painterly Petals from the Cavalier collection.
• The epoxy brad in the center of the flower is by Autumn leaves, from the Foliage collection
• The orange, green and blue ribbon is by RibbonFX
• Bazzill cardstock

If you make a dark-colored card like this, make sure you have a white or light colored pen or pencil so that the ink will be visible when you write on it. I love using white pens to write on dark cardstock! Check out this Milky Way White Marker by American Crafts- one perfectly chic solution for writing with white. Love it! You can also stamp your sentiment with white ink if you prefer to stamp the inside of your greeting card.

Thanks so much for dropping by, and for your interest in my work. I really appreciate it that you took a peek. Hope you found some inspiration! Please come back soon!