Clean and Simple card - video

Hello again.  Today I finally was able to start making a card set, which will be part of a gift.  I spent a lot of time trying to come up with the design that would be easy to duplicate, but still have a nice design and look.  I was happy to use a few of my newer stamp sets that I got from the Scrapbook expo and my local craft store (before it closed).
Since this will be a gift, I felt a clean and simple design would be best since most person's eyes are drawn to these type of designs.  Since it was a simple design, I still wanted an element of detail.  Also, the recipient's favorite color is orange, so I wanted that to shine through.  For that element of detail and color I used the paper piecing technique on a simple stamped image.   This image was easy to cut out a lot of them and have them ready to assemble the large quantity of cards.  I hope you enjoy the video tutorial.

Wow, it's been a long time

Wow!  It's been over two months since my last post.  A lot has happened during that time in my crafting 'world'.
First, my local scrapbooking store closed.  :(  I'm very sad about that.  I took advantage of their closing sales though and got some goodies at a great deal.
Second, I went to the scrapbook expo in Pleasanton.  I was disappointed in that I didn't really see anything new.  The newest thing I saw was ruffled paper to make flowers.  Eh.  Not impressed.  I got some pretty paper, washi tape, and some great sets of stamps for less than $5!  I was happy with my purchases, though not so thrilled with the expo itself.  Also, the admission price went up from $8 to $10!  Blah...
Third, I placed an order through Two Peas in a Bucket.  I shopped through their clearance and again I got some great deals!  Of course, more washi tape, paper, buttons, and yes, more stamps.
Fourth, I got some cheap picture frames from a local thrift store.  I've painted them and framed a scrapbook layout and now I'm just looking for a final picture to put in the last frame so I can hang them up.
And finally, I've gotten the Spring fever bug.  I finally after 8 years, bought some flowers for my front yard.  I've been spending time caring for these plants and now I'm sketching ideas to change my back yard.

Lots going on, thus no postings here.  I did make a new video with my daughter.  I hope to make another video soon, as I am now 3 weeks from my last video posting too.  I'm falling behind, but I am still here.

Magnet & gift card in one - Video tutorial

Here is a video tutorial showing how to make a fun personalized gift for a new house, in addition to a gift card holder.  This was fun to make and I was able to stamp a lot for this project.  I hope you give it a try.

Ezlie

2013 layout!

Hello everyone. I was inspired by the video posted by Two Peas In A Bucket on Tuesday for their new video series, "In the Mood to Scrap".  Click HERE to see the inspiration board and the free video.
Chalkboards are in style now and I originally thought I was going to try to mimic that design on my layout.  But when I got started and tried gathering my products together, I saw that I just ordered new chipboard letters that should be used.  I used these letters painted white with acrylic paint rather than trying to use my own handwriting trying to mimic a chalkboard look....lets's just say I'm happy I used the chipboard letters, or else I'd probably be very frustrated and unhappy.  To get the look of the chalkboard as an accent, I simply stamped with white ink on black cardstock.  I simply used a white colored pencil to add a few accents, but that's it!  Very simple to get a chalkboard appearance.  With some practice, you could get more creative with doodles, fonts, and shading on dark cardstock with stamps and white pencils to get an even more dynamic chalkboard design element.
On this layout I was happy to break out a few of my stamps.  I used only gray and white ink.  I like the look on the gray cardstock.  It is subtle but adds to the design.  With this neutral background the little pieces of color really pop.  I like how it all came together with some washi tape and wood veneer accents!  Lots of fun products used on this layout.  I don't know if this qualifies as a clean and simple design....what do you think?

Thanks for stopping by and I will be posting a new video tutorial soon.  Have a great day!

Aloha! I'm back!

Aloha friends.  I'm back from the beautiful island of Oahu.  It was perfect weather and so nice to get away from the Bay Area storm.  We enjoyed 4 days of the beach, boogie boarding, good food, and a Luau.  We liked it so much that we are already thinking of making this our new annual trip.
I've been scrapbooking a bit more lately and will try to post more about what I've been working on. I also got a new Polaroid camera.  I'm just getting used to it.  It takes some adjusting to...but it was fun to have on our trip since I was able to scrapbook in the hotel with photos not just memorabilia.
I recently discovered an app called Viddy.  It is similar to Instagram, but instead of photos you share short 15 second videos.  I like this concept and I think I will be experimenting more with it.  If you're on Viddy, please feel free to follow me: ezlie perez
I'm thinking of using this 'platform' as a base to do a Vlog - sharing little pieces of my cooking, crafting, and some of the everyday.  I hope it works out.

A new addition to my kitchen!

After much torture of watching the QVC special on this wonderful tool, I finally got the "ok" from my hubby to go ahead and make this purchase!  I've been wanting one of these for the longest time.  I've seen tutorials and cooking videos using this tool and it truly is nice to just add the ingredients and let the machine do all the work.  What I really wanted this machine for was to make bread.  I'm trying to eat healthier and store bought bread has high fructose corn syrup in it as well as preservatives.  So, I thought I'd give it a try to make my own from scratch.  Each tutorial I saw used this mixer and recommended using this mixer since mixing the dough can be hard.  I tried making the bread dough without this mixer, and I have to agree that yes, I'd rather make bread with this mixer than without it!  My arm was sore, my hand was sore from holding the mixer and the bowl tight, and it took a long time to mix the dough.  So, my next bread attempt will be with this mixer!  horray!  I've already made cupcakes, muffins, and frosting.  I'm looking for more recipes and opportunities to put this tool to work!  
If you'd like to see more of my cooking journey, follow me on Instagram.  I post almost daily, and I share new recipes I've been trying - both baking and cooking in general.  My name is: ezlieJ

On the paper crafting side - I have my final video for my Summer Silhouette series.  For this series I made a total of 6 videos.  I think I'm getting a bit 'bored' with using the same set so much, so that's why I decided to end the series.  I will still be using the set for sure, but just not back to back.  I hope you all have enjoyed the series and seeing how to use the stamps in a different way.  I plan on uploading this new video this week.  I look forward for your comments!  Take care!

Journal pages & a shaped card

Today I felt like sharing a couple recent projects I've made in my craft room.  I've been working on a personal journal - which I want to document things about myself and my life now.  A bit more personal documentation, rather than a family themed project.
So here are a couple pages I recently completed.

This page I documented my Starbucks name - Janel.  This is really my middle name, but is much easier for a Starbucks employee to write as well as say instead of my first name, Ezlie.  Only a few people know this about me if they go with me frequently enough to Starbucks.  I thought this was worth documenting as it is personal and something I recently started to do.

I think this second page speaks for itself.  My hubby knows how I love this candy.  He surprises me every once in a while with one - which always makes me smile.  This was a fun page since I was able to bring focus on the wrapper rather than a photo.

My third project I wanted to share was for a wedding I went to earlier this month.  It was a clean and simple shaped card.  I normally don't make shaped cards, but now that I have some more dies in my collection, I think I will be making more of these.  I really love being able to personalize cards for special events like a wedding.  It makes it more personal, and I would hope the bride and groom would cherish my card a bit more than a store bought one.  I white embossed the images on Island Indigo cardstock from Stampin' Up.  I used my white gel pen to outline the image and add the dot accent to the corners.  I added small pearls to finish it off.  I really like how this turned out - clean, simple, and personalized.

I hope these few projects were a bit inspiring to you.  Happy creating!

First time using Distress Stains - video

I've finally been able to spend some time in my craft room.  I went on vacation to Disneyland (again!) and I haven't had the time to do some paper crafting.  But, when I did find some time, I decided to use my Distress Stains that I had sitting on my shelf, brand new for a few months now.
I got inspired to buy these stains after I watched a few videos on You Tube.  They were on sale so I made the purchase, but failed to use them.  I was a bit skeptical since I like clean and simple designs.  For me, when I see distressing, it looks nice in some applications, but most of the time for me it seems messy.  And for me, not knowing how the inks will blend or how the end result may be...that scares me a bit.
But I'm happy I tried these out.  I briefly demonstrate 3 different ways of using the distress stains.  They were all very basic and took me out of my comfort zone.  I was a bit disappointed to find out that the colors that came together as a set didn't really blend well at all together.  I thought that was the point of them being sold together...but the colors were so different from each other, that I ended up using them independently.
I hope you enjoy this video as I try out these stains for the first time and make a card with one of the resulting backgrounds.  I will be doing follow up videos to show card projects using the other two backgrounds made using the stains.
Thank you for stopping by, and I hope you are inspired to try out these stains.

My latest card - neutral baby

Well, I have been spending a lot more time in the kitchen than in the craft room.  I've been cooking up a storm of new recipes.  Not only main dishes, but also sides, and desserts!  The entire family is enjoying this cooking 'kick' I'm on and they like trying out the different recipes. I've been cleaning and organizing my kitchen more since now I am spending more time in there...and using (or should I say...looking for) more tools.  So sadly I haven't been in my craft room much, but I have still been doing some paper crafting.
I have been working on my personal journal a bit.  I will share more on that later.  But today I just wanted to share with you my latest creation, which was a baby card.  It was a jungle theme and neutral colors since the parents to be did not know the sex of the baby.

 

The stamp set I used was an older set from Inkadinkado.  I love how the lion has the stitches as a detail already on the stamp.  I simply white embossed it on craft cardstock.  I used some designer paper I had in my scraps folder to make the banner.  Using my white gel pen I hand drew in the stitching around the stamped image and down the green designer paper.  To soften the card I rounded all four corners.  The sentiment is from Pebbles - it was from the boy collection pack I won from Two Peas In A Bucket.

This card is so sweet.  I love the white on the craft as a neutral for a baby card. 

 

Stay tuned as I continue to work on my Summer Silhouette series - showcasing different ways to use one stamp set.  Check out my videos on my You Tube channel.



If you are interested to see my cooking creations - I post quite regularly on Instagram. 
Follow me: ezlieJ
Happy stamping, cooking, or creating whatever it is that brings you joy!

scrapbook layout - with Summer Silhouettes

Here is another project I used the Summer Silhouette stamp set from Stampin' Up.  This is my third project in my series of trying to use this stamp set in different ways.  I used the stamps on the background to add some visual interest and to add some subtle patterns to the embellishment clusters.
I used Instagram photos which are 3x3 for this simple layout.
Please enjoy my video tutorial on how I put this layout together.  Thanks for stopping by.