pomaika`i: my work, my thoughts and my reflections. living with aloha

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

The Scrappy 500 Begins


Aloha mai,
There are so many wonderful things to do on NSD!  I can't believe that it's this weekend! Unfortunately, my family has so many non-scrap related things going on this weekend, that I won't be able to play as much as I'd like.  If you are a similar situation, or are already scheduled to a crop this weekend, come join us at Secret Scrapper for a month long challenge that is guaranteed to get your mojo flowing!  

Challenges have already started.  I'll post my first one tomorrow.  Happy scrapping! 
a hui hou!


Friday, April 25, 2008

Tinkering Ink's Awesome New Peekaboo Album


Aloha Mai,
I was lucky enough get a chance to work with and review Tinkering Ink's new Peekaboo album for Scrapfriends. I created two albums and had a blast!  You can see the whole review and my projects here.  This album is a mixture of acrylic and chipboard pages.  I loved working with it!  



I wanted to share something with you that you can't really see.  It's about the paper flowers on the upper left page.  I cut those out from a piece of TI's patterned paper.  I cut around the petals and down to the center so that each petal is separated from the others like a real flower.  I coated front and back with diamond glaze for durability.  They are mounted on pop-dots.  I love this 3-d effect! 


 
Hope you enjoyed this little peek at my album.  There is another little funkier one in the review.  Hope you'll visit me at Scrapfriends too! 
a hui hou! 

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Working with Mod Podge

Aloha nui,
I wanted to share a little tutorial I created for working with Mod Podge. Please feel free to email me or comment if you have any questions as this is one of my favorite subjects ;)

I will add pictures as I am able.


Covering Chipboard Album Covers Using Mod Podge:


When covering chipboard album covers that I create from scratch, I use Mod Podge.  I like to have my album covers sealed for durability and Mod Podge does a great job with this.


If you enjoy altering, then you might invest in a little bottle of Mod Podge and some 1-inch sponge brushes.


Mod Podge comes in different finishes.  Matte and Glossy.  I recommend the glossy finish.  It comes with an orange label.  I have used the matte finish for years, and just started using the glossy because I ran out and that was the only option.  I love it!  In my opinion it’s much easier to work with! 


a.  Coat the surface of your chipboard, then coat your patterned paper.  The paper should have a thin layer of Mod Podge, but it should not be dry appearing when you adhere.  Place the paper onto the surface, adjust (coating both surfaces will give you the ability to slide and adjust).


b.   Brayer: Immediately after adhering, use a Brayer to smooth the surface of the paper working from the inside to the outside edges.  This will get rid of any air bubbles which is important if you are going to coat the surface of your paper for durability. If you can’t reach some areas with a brayer, or don’t have one, then use your fingers, or a bone folder (gently).  



c. Trim excess patterned paper.  Turn the chipboard over and trim excess paper off of edges with a sharp exacto blade or sand or cut with a scissors.  


d. Add photo matts, words and flat embellishments with Mod Podge


***Designer tip-if you are going to add a top layer of Mod Podge to seal your project, then you MUST add anything under that top layer with Mod Podge.  It will act as an adhesive.  Be sure to use the brayer after you adhere each piece.  


You do not have to seal your project.  This is up to you. 


Ribbon can be added with Mod Podge, but will look different under a surface layer of Mod Podge.  Have fun experimenting.



e.  Add 3-D embellishments like flowers and buttons and ribbons etc with strong glue. 


I hope this tutorial helped you feel a little more comfortable with Mod Podge.  


Until next time...

a hui hou!


Friday, April 18, 2008

In My Easter Basket...


Aloha mai! 
I just finished the Rusty Pickle Blog Challenge for this month.  The challenge was to use a whole sheet of stickers or alpha stickers.  

This was an awesome challenge.  I've seen people do this, but never had a chance to do it myself.   I used various heights of pop dots to create dimension on the layout.  The grass is hand cut and inked as are the easter eggs.  

Meet Flopsy, Mopsy, Cottontail and Peter.  Four bunnies born to Cornflower Blue at Briar Rose Kindergarten about 6 years ago.  Peter later known as U'ikalani Dutchy Cornflower Miyata came home with us.  


Supplies used: Patterned paper, Stickers: Rusty Pickle, Rhinestones: Bead Party, Raffia and Pop Dots. 

Have a great evening!  
a hui hou! 

Hybrid Cards in My Etsy Shop



Aloha Mai! 
I hope you are having a wonderful Friday!  I am!  Lots to look forward to today and this weekend when we will be heading down to the Spring Fair in Puyallup to see how Kai's creations did in the fair.  He hopes his cookies or rolls takes a rosette.  I want to see the altered shoes that the kids created!  Oh, and the infamous Egg Drop contest is at 2pm on Sunday.  Keep your fingers crossed that Kai's creation gets past the first round this year.  ;)



I have a couple of my first Digital Hybrid cards on Etsy ready for Mother's Day.  See what you think.  I had a blast creating them!  I can't wait to play more.  

Are you game for some recycling and scrapping?  I have my newest challenges up at Secret Scrapper.  There is a great RAK from me up for grabs, it will be chosen randomly from all who post a creation this month.  I promise it's something good!  

Altered challenge #1 Recycled Packaging Challenge


Altered Challenge #2  Get Organized Challenge

 

Well, enough for today.  What exciting things are you doing this weekend? 
a hui hou! 

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Somerset Digital Studio Review & Spring Fair Preparations



Aloha Mai!  
I can't believe how the week has flown by.  I have been incredibly busy and with Spring Break for DS, it's been crazy!  There is a Spring Fair in a couple of weeks at the Western Washington Fair grounds.  The fair has a lot of categories that kids can enter their crafts. 

By Kekai:  

DS chose to enter a lot of photography categories this year.  He even did a digital page (above) after seeing me work on my projects for my Scrapfriends' review of the premier issue of Somerset Digital Studio Magazine.  You can read about my adventures with digital scrapbooking in the review if you are interested.  

By me: 


Anyway, about the Spring Fair: DS baked whole wheat butterhorns yesterday, dropped a lot of raw eggs in different contraptions, and today we got some red and yellow Stickles for him to decorate a shoe with.  This was my first experience with clogged nozzels on both the red and yellow.  We took it back to the store and I should have insisted on a new bottle, but instead we were taught how to use a miniscule drill bit to open the hole a little wider.  It worked on the yellow bottle, but the red one keeps on getting clogged.  The store was closed and I was tired of driving, so DS just had to make due.  I think that there is a large piece of glitter or something in the red bottle that keeps clogging it.  Bummer!  

Anyway, I'll know better next time.  Stay tuned for photos of the completed shoes soon.  
Have a great Friday! 
a hui hou! 

Monday, April 07, 2008

What's wrong with this picture?



Aloha Mai,
A funny story: 
If you can't guess what's wrong, don't feel too bad, this listing was up and running in my Etsy Shop for a day before I realized that the word was spelt "rong" LOL.   I had also sent photos around to a few friends to show my new creation and no one caught it.  LOL
Since I had to pull it apart, I decided to re-work the design and here's the new listing: 



Another question for you: 
What do Mom, Recipe and Rolodex have in common? 
 They are my newest altered canvases! 
You can see the results in my Etsy store.  They are up for grabs!  LOL.  I hope you'll check it out.

The Mom and Recipes albums are from Secretscrapper.  Mandy does an awesome job with creating them.  I hope you'll check out the site for any personalized album under the sun!  I'm working with her on some album designs exclusive to Scrapaloha.com!  I'll keep you posted! 

The little rolodex, I love these, so cute!!!  I have three more that I can 't wait to play with.  Who knows what I'll do with them!  

BTW A big thank you to the Rusty Pickle team.  My marble track was chosen to as the March Blog Challenge winner!  Hooray!  I'm so excited!  


It's spring break and DS and I went down to Pike place market and the Seattle Aquarium to take photos.  He is getting ready for a local kid's photo contest.  When he was little I used to take him everywhere!  I miss that now that he's older.  Well, guess what, now we'll go around to different places to shoot pictures together.  How fun is that!!!  I'm really excited!  

Well, take care and have an awesome week!  I've been working on a few projects and have some reviews coming out soon at Scrapfriends.  I'll post when they're up! 

until then...
A hui hou! 
{{{hugs}}}