How to Embellish A Die Cut - Sizzix Easter Basket & Eggs 655016

A thought I would start sharing how to embellish your die cut, to make it special.

I am going to start with the Easter Basket & Eggs die cut.

This first photo shows the die cut after it has been paper pieced.  Everything in the picture is the entire die cut, so first I die cut it from the brown that I chose for the basket.  Then I die cut the green grass, but I did not cut the entire die cut out again I just cut a piece of green slightly bigger than the grass area.  Then I die cut the red egg, pink egg, blue egg and yellow egg.

The die cut itself has perforations for each section to help guide you.  So I used tiny cuticle scissors to precisely cut each section out. 

Lay the brown die cut down as the foundation and start gluing the colored pieces into place.  If you trimmed carefully, it should all fit together like a puzzle.  I like to use Sakura's Quickie Glue pen; it is the size of a pen and puts out a thin line of glue like a pen line.

The picture above is how it should look once you have all the cut out pieces glue down.

Next I add some pen work to imitate the grain and such of a basket weave.  Then with my Whispers Strokes marker to make the grass lines.  Then I used Sakura gelly roll pens to add the decorations to each Easter egg.

First Scrapbook Party

Yesterday I held my first scrapbook party and I did ok.  I brought my Sizzix and Cricut and we talked and had a ball.
When I get home from Ohio, I will tell more about it.   Happy Mother's Day to all the moms.

Die Cutting Session - Part 2

After another marathon die cutting session last night I have a die cut from every small (green), medium (yellow and 1 black), and large (red or black) and Bigz (pink, black, blue and red) die that I own.

Now I need to embellish them and then I can take pictures of them all, it is a more lengthy process than you would think.

As I was cutting out some of the Dress Ups Doll items and noticed something that is so very irritating.  They are only putting one shoe on the die - there is room for both shoes but they only put one.  Noticed this on the Dress Ups Scuba Gear and the Dress Ups Police Uniform.  I mean it is just poor planning. 

You have to either waster paper by cutting out the entire die again and having wasted extra pieces to get one shoe.  Or you got to cut a little piece and arrange it just so to get it where you want it.  Also when a Sizzix die cuts it ever so gently curves or bevels the edge; so when you don't have both shoes to cut at once the other shoe is beveled wrong. 

I mean I know it is a nit-picky thing but they should know better.

Started another blog - Sizzix Master List

I  gotta confess I love, love, LOVE my Sizzix dies.  For anyone that loves Sizzix like I do, one of the most frustrating things about Sizzix is that there is no list of all the dies.  No Master List.  After looking unsuccessfully for years for one; I decide I would take on the crazy task of making one.

So that is the inspiration for my new blog: Sizzix Master List   This is definitely a work in progress, but I am adding to it everyday. 

Update on eBay store inventory

I have been listing like crazy in my eBay store.  I now have 116 ads up for Sizzix die cuts.  I have listed all my small green Sizzix and about half of the medium Sizzix yellow ones. 

So if you need any die cuts let me know.  I have tons more to list.

Master List of Sizzix - Green Dies

I have searched the internet unsuccessfully many times for a comprehensive list of all Sizzix dies.  And not finding one have started one. 

Here is a link to my flickr page for the green Sizzix dies; I think it is complete, I have searched eBay and Google and can not find any other green Sizzix dies.

Master List of Green Sizzix Dies

I am working on the rest of the Sizzix and Cricuts also; but they are not complete.

Update on Heritage Scraps webstore

Got all my die cut ads for my green Sizzix dies listed in my webstore, on to yellows.

If you want to take a peek and see what I've got listed go to

http://heritagescraps.webstore.com/

I have so much more to list, so keep checking back.

Ecrater store update

Well after some long hours writing ads, I have all 73 green Sizzix die cuts ads listed in my ecrater store, Heritage Scraps.  Now on to listing my 60 yellow Sizzix die cut ads.

Opened an ecrater store - Heritage Scraps

I opened an ecrater store to sell my stuff in, currently I am listing die cuts, but have much more to add. 

Heritage Scraps ecrater store

Hope you will stop by and see what I have and find something you can use in your craft projects; I have 1000s of more die cuts to list, but am listing some everyday as possible.  If you are looking for something in particular, you can email and ask.

First I am focusing on getting all my small green Sizzix dies listed.

Today's Scanned Cards

Scanned these cards today. 

This first one is an elegent wallpaper fussy cut.  It is highly texturized.

The second one has a star border cut from a wallpaper sample.  The moon is a Sizzix die cut called Crescent Moon (38-0275) and I die cut it out of a textured wallpaper sample.

This third card is a Sizzix die cut called Gingerbread Man (38-0932).  The smile did not show on this so I simply took a small pair of curved scissors and snipped his smile bigger so that it showed up well.  This was die cut from a wallpaper sample.

This fourth card was cut from two pieces of wallpaper samples in the same pattern but different colors.  It was die cut from Sizzix die Balloons #2 (38-0146). 

Cards Again

Four more, been on a scanfest today, lol.  Cards 2-4 are fussy cut wallpaper samples.

Card 1 is Sizzix die cuts: Dove and Heart (2 separate dies)

Four cards

Four more scanned cards.

This card is on a background of pink cardstock.  The architectural detail on the bottom was trimmed from a wallpaper sample.  As was the word, Innocence.  The stylized sun is a Sizzix die cut (38-0707) I cut it from wallpaper.

These are die cuts from Sizzix Flower #1 (38-0224); I die cut them from paint chips in various shades of purple.

The last two cards are made from fussy cut wallpaper samples.

Cards post 2

Here are some more of the cards I have made lately.

Organizing Family Photos

In another chapter of my ongoing organizational efforts, I am trying to get my family photos organized.

I am also an avid scrapbooker, so have some photos that are in scrapbooks. Most of the other photos have long since been removed from those destructive magnetic photo albums that were so popular in the 1970s. They absolutely will destroy your photos. These photos are stored in 3 photo boxes made specifically for photo storage. Originally I had divided the photos in the boxes, placing all of my dh's family pictures in one box, all my family's pictures in a second box; and then all of us and our children and grandchildren in the third box. This has gotten a little unorganized over time; since when the kids look through the boxes they see no need to return them to the proper box. I have also made an effort to label each photograph on its back. I include who is in the picture, where it was taken, when it was taken, any occasion that it may be of, etc. Again this is not 100% completed, as I occasionally find unlabeled photos in the boxes.

The biggest problem for organizing photos is trying to organize all the digital photos as they number into the 1000s. With digital cameras, no requiring any expensive developing, to see our images, we shoot infinitely more pictures. A birthday party now can have 200 photos; instead of the 24 that the roll of film limited us to.

Also being a genealogist, I have scanned 100s of family photographs from near and far family members.

The problem comes in labeling, organizing, and ultimately being able to easily and quickly locate a picture when I want it. And I admit that I am probably only doing a C- job of digital photo organization.

I have made many stabs at getting them organized. Some of my efforts have been:

1. I created a folder on my desktop that I named Pictures; and I drag all pictures on my computer into it. So that they are at least all in one place.
2. I have created subfolders in the Pictures folders in the following categories:

• Crafts - pictures of crafts I have done, or pictures of crafts I have seen that I would like to do or use for inspiration. There are sub-folders within this sub-folder for the various types of crafts I do; such as: Quilting, Crocheting, etc.
• I have a subfolder for each family surname that I research, and place all photos of that family in each folder. Within the Talbert folder I have a subfolder for each of my children, one for pets, one for places we go (trips, vacations, etc), one for reunions, etc.
• Scrapbooking - I am hugely obsessed with scrapbooking and have a massive folder with numerous subfolders about scrapbooking, such as: Sizzix, Cricut, Titles, Tags, Page Layouts, Pages I Have Done, Alphabets, Fonts, Borders, etc.

Now this may seem very organized but not really so much so. As there are 1000s of photos in there and there are many, many folders which are only labeled by the date that the computer imported them from the digital camera. Also when one of the kids stops by they pull their memory card out of their cameras and download a copy of all their photos onto my computer. Which is good because I have all the pictures and also good because they have a backup else where of their pictures. However, if they don't delete the photos from their camera after downloading to my computer; the next time they download it will download not only the new pictures they have taken since then, but they will redownload additional copies of the photos that were downloaded last time. This makes for tedious matching up to find the duplicates and delete them.

I guess, to put it into perspective. Yes, organizing is a necessary but tedious part of this; but that is only because we are blessed with the technology to save our littlest memories so easily. Our ancestors, would have priced as a priceless heirloom even one photo of that dear baby or of mother and father. So we are blessed, just overwhelmed. Like anything else, working on it bit by bit and having an organizational plan can help us get organized and remain organized.

Good luck with preserving those visual memories.

This is a paper bag album that I made. It has a vintage looking mirror on it, and a red heart jewel. The background is painted gold and textured, with purple tissue applied over that in a random pattern. The yellow fern and flower lace trim is vintage from my grandmother. The antique hat was a sticker. The purple granny boot is a Sizzix die cut. There is a piece of a paper lace doily that I antiqued in the upper left corner. And a purple round sequin. The old newspaper is from a patterned scrapbook paper and I cut out the specific definition that I wanted and then burned the edges with my Hot Marks tool. It is held together with loose ring binder clips, that are accented with purple and gold ribbons and a faux tortoise shell heart charm.

This was my first attempt at a paper bag album.

Craft Area Organization

Here is a picture of my craft area organization. The green bookshelf in the midle holds my rubber stamps, then there is the sizzix bookshelf and the trim cabinets and bookshelves. On the bookshelf is my Cricut, and punches.

Hope this gives you some ideas. I know crafters always have lots of toys, oops meant tools, to organize.

I Like Sizzix

Here is a picture showing most of my sizzix, they are stored on a bookshelf that is narrow depth because it is sold to store your CDs on.

I have my alphabets like the Lollipop, Fun Serif stored in white plastic drawer containers. Each complete set of uppercase, lowercase, numbers, and punctuation fit in one drawer. So I can easily get out the alphabet I want to use and cut and then easily put them away.

The yellow drawer cabinets above hold buttons, beads, laces, trims and all little items like that.

The Turkeys Have Landed!

Sizzix Turkey die cuts now in my Heritage Scraps store.

So cute for Thanksgiving school or church crafts

or Name cards at Thanksgiving dinner.

Check them out

http://stores.ebay.com/Heritage-Scraps

Gingerbread House die cuts Available!

Sizzix Gingerbread House die cuts now in my Heritage Scraps store.

Check it out

Available in your choice of color.

http://stores.ebay.com/Heritage-Scraps

File Folder Die Cuts Available!

Sizzix File Folder die cuts available in my Heritage Scraps store.

You pick your color.

http://stores.ebay.com/Heritage-Scraps