Monday, September 25, 2017

Making a Galaxy with my Fingers - video

I recently acquired some pots of Nuvo Embellishment Mousse. I wanted them to make a shiny galaxy. My issue with using ink pads is that the ink will run when they get wet. Yes, some inks, like distress inks and distress oxide inks, have a really neat effect when activated with water, but they are never made permanent. (I suppose you could use a sealant afterward.)

Nuvo Embellishment Mousse is permanent once dry. It will never run and blur if it gets wet. So, I really wanted to try them out. Also, they are opaque and can layer over each other, so its harder to "make mud" out of the colours.

I experimented many different ways and filmed them to share. Here's the first: Making a galaxy using my fingers as the applicator.

To show you something what it looks like, from a different experiment (mousse and baby wipes) I made this card.
The mousse cleans off my fingers easily with a baby wipe (or water and a cloth) when wet. Your finger gives a strong colour, but I found the mousse dried really quickly, so I had trouble spreading it nicely. (Luckily, that matters less when making a galaxy since most of it gets covered up at the end.)
One thing I like about the black is that it's not a solid black. It's more like a very dark, smokey grey. (It's called black ash, so that makes sense!) If you spread it thin or water it down a bit, it allows the colours below to shine through.

I made this card with a Tonic Studios moon die. I plan to give it to my sister-in-law for her son. They often say this phrase to each other. I found the "I love you" and the "To the moon & back" stamps as separate stamps in the same sale bin at Michaels craft store. I knew I had to buy them as a set, specifically to make something like this for my sister-in-law.
I also tried a (yet another) new way of splattering the stars onto the galaxy. I have finally found a way I like - minimal mess, maximum effect, acceptable control. I saw other crafters doing it this way so I tried it and am so happy!

Use this link to go to my Vimeo channel to see how I made this galaxy background and my new favourite way to splatter stars/snow!

Stay tuned for future galaxy background experiments and other ways of using the mousses!

Thursday, September 7, 2017

Photo Sizing for Mini Albums

Ever wonder what size is best for a mini? Some mini albums are really mini (even pocket mini), but some mini albums are not very mini. I think the expression of "mini album" originally meant anything smaller than a 12 x 12 inch album (or perhaps an 8.5 x 11-\ inch album). Lots of brands carry 6 x 6 inch and 8 x 8 inch albums.

Then, Project Life took hold and pocket scrapbooking became popular. 4 x 3 photos are all the rage because of it. Then Instax took off and now there are super mini albums.

Me, I like to work with the standard photo size that the average Joe would get from a photo printing place: 4 x 6. If I have a really nice picture, I might get it in a 5 x 7. So, those are my two basic sizes. From there, you can cut them in half or in quarters.

I show in this video what those sizes look like on an 8.5 x 11 inch piece of paper. Many of us have home photo printers, so we can collage several photos in different sizes and print them together on one piece of 8.5 x 11 inch photo paper. My printer also allows me to put 4 x 6 inch paper or 5 x 7 inch paper in it too.

I also cover how to protect your photos in mini albums. One of the biggest deterrents to making mini albums (other than pocket page albums) is the lack of a photo sleeve to protect your pages. Well, I have a solution that will protect the most important part of your page: the photo. They are called Crystal Clear Photo Mounts and they are sold online by Clearbags.ca. (I am not affiliated with them. I just really like their stuff.)

Head on over to my PHOTO SIZES video on my Vimeo Channel to get the full scoop!