Polymer Clay

Has added a whole new dimension to my Christmas Village collection. I have always like Christmas Villages, I have collected a few items over the years, made a few when I was involved in Ceramics and bought some pieces here and there, now I am adding to the collection with a village made of Polymer Clay.

I have absolutely no idea where I will put it, but it small enough that it will fit anywhere.  The largest house is only 1″ x 2″ so space isn’t going to be a problem.  Also these little house don’t necessarily fit the Christmas theme, but could be on display all year round. The decorations will include candy canes, gumdrops, various flowers, Christmas ornaments all made using my imagination and Polymer Clay.

To make these little houses all you need to do is make patterns out of card stock the size you want the houses, then use the same pattern for each house.  You will notice one of mine is a Blue and Maize one…a tribute to our Michigan Football team.  Not to be outdone I am in the process of making one out of Michigan State colors.  Most of these still have to be decorated for Christmas…so going to my favorite craft shop today to look and see what I can find in miniature that will fit my needs. I have texture plates that I use to make patterns on the side of the house to resemble bricks, lap siding, log cabins are made by rolling clay and stacking one on top of the other. All very simple that children will have a lot of fun helping you make them.

Nothing says “Merry Christmas” than something given from the heart. I know most of the crafters are thinking decorations and gifts, but for those of us who have embraced Digital Scrapbooking start with your Christmas Card.

I feel Christmas cards have gone a little out of style what with the cost of the cards to start with, then the postage it can get quite expensive.  So save some of the expense by using your digital scrapbook papers, embellishments and pictures and make your own cards.

Here is an example of one I just made, don’t know if I will use this particular one or not, but it is a start and I think it came out quite nicely.

 I just love the free kits at My Memories Suite.  If you like Digital Scrapbooking try them out they have both free and paid kits.  This card was made with all free material.

I have been very busy with my scrapbooking as you can see.   I have a lot more pictures but unfortunately I cannot post them all here..sorry Cindi.

Getting busy now making some scrapbook recipe cards for family and friends, incorporating some polymer clay ornaments to give as gifts.  Making Christmas cards is another holiday plan, so I will be busy.

I hope you have enjoyed my few endeavors with my pages.

I have been putting some thought into what I want to give family and friends for Christmas.  Since we are retired and money is not something I have a lot of  they can forget about the electronic toys they want!

So how can I combine my love for crafting (digital scrapbooking by far my favorite) and cooking?  I have an idea to make recipe cards using as a background pictures of family, favorite vacation spots and whatever I can find that would make a nice background for the card, print some of my favorite recipes, then put them in a box that would be decorated by me again with family photos or favorite pictures.

Not only would this be a inexpensive gift but one that is truly given from the heart.  Below is an example of what I am talking about.  See if you can come up with some ideas of your own using digital scrapbooking, favorite recipes and a plain cardboard box purchased at your favorite craft store.

Here is one simple idea I came up with…it will be printed on 4×6 cardstock..remember this is just an idea of what you can do with digital scrapbooking.

Happy Holidays

I know I write about Digital Scrapbooking quite a bit, but it is so easy and fun.     Minimal expense  is required if any at all.  Anyone can do it.   Why don’t you just try it?  Free scrapbooking papers and embellishments are available on the Internet.

As promised here  are some more pictures of my Germany trip.   All done for free!

Recently my husband and I were treated to a trip to Germany by our daughter and her husband.  She is living over there now for at least the next two years.  It was our first trip to Europe and very exciting for us.  I have longed dreamed of going abroad but never seemed to have either the time nor the money so when she said for us to come and she would pay for it, we jumped at the chance.  Literally!  Who in their right mind wouldn’t?

We were able to visit the Rhine Valley area of Germany, Prague, and Innsbrook Austria.  Of course I took pictures, lots and lots of pictures.  I want to remember this special time with my girl forever, so I started to scrapbook some of the pictures to remind my husband and myself of the great time we had.

Here are a few of the simple pages I have done today…7 in all.  I might add more embellishments once I get them printed to give a more 3-Dimensional look or I might not.

These ideas outlined here are the same for traditional or digital scrapbooking.

The term “simply scrapbooking” is often used when talking about the hobby of scrapbooking.  You probably have some ideas what it really is, but what is it exactly and what are the parts that are associated with the name?

A simple scrapbook is not your every day album that will rely on event in a certain order.  Focus is not on family traditions, your hopes, your dreams, or even everyday customs.  It fits outside the box as it is shorter, smaller and more manageable.  A simple album is one that focuses more on your more commonplace aspects of your life that is very often overlooked.  Another way to look at it is this: a more traditional scrapbooking album capture memories with pictures while the simpler scrapbook captures the memories of before and after the picture was taken.  What led up to and came after that special memory in your traditional scrapbook moment.

So what goes into a simple scrapbook?  When thinking of a simple scrapbook five (I call them the 5 F’s) terms come to mind: Format, Freedom, Framework, Finished, and Fast!  Let’s discuss them!

Format refers to the how one scrapbook is different from the others and yet somehow follows a certain format.  Simple scrapbooks all have size, content, and certain characteristics that are somewhat the same as the rest of the scrapbooks but upon examination they use different approaches to the subject matter.

I talk a lot about digital scrapbooking and what can be done with it.  First of all know that it is no different that traditional scrapbooking only you do it on a computer.  While it is true that you don’t need any special program to complete your projects I have found that it is easier with a digital scrapbooking program.

I have used two different ones Smilebox, which is essentially if you want to share your photos with others through email.  The designs are limited.  Not to say it is not a good program, it is, but I found it hard to import other papers and embellishments to the projects.

The other program that I use and love is MyMemoriesSuite.  I started by using just the papers available about a year ago and used the program I already had on my computer for manipulating photos (Microsoft Picture It! Publishing 2001 Platinum [Old Version]).

You can purchase the newer version, but it is over $300.  You can find the older version at Amazon for around $25.00 used.  You could probably find it at Ebay also.

This is just a cheap way to get you started to see if you even like digital scrapbooking.  Some who have done the traditional type of scrapbooking don’t like digital.

Once you decide you like digital scrapbooking you can then decide if you want to purchase a specific program such as MyMemoriesSuite.

Here are some of the pages I have done digitally of my sons wedding.