The Thrifty Scrapper: using what you got.

A new route.

2010-10-03T15:16:00.000-07:00

I am now blogging HERE and I explain all the reasons HERE.

If you are a follower of The thrifty Scrapper please consider becoming a follower of Creating Treasures. I will keep posting tutorials, videos and more there.

Blessings,
Tereza

Going Digital!

2010-08-28T14:02:00.000-07:00

ok, don't freak out!! I know I did when I found out about the new Digital thing. Yes, digital scrapbooking.

If you are like me - you love to cut and paste paper, embellish, stitch, distress and do other manual things to your scrapbook layouts or cards, to go digital is just foreign. But did you know that you can go digital just not completely digital?

Ok, I will explain. I use digital papers to create my scrapbook papers and cards. It's called Hybrid scrapbooking. I use clip art, digital stamps, scanned images, enhanced and altered photos and digital papers.

Going Digital is great because you can save money on storage.

I made a confession once that I hoard paper. Well now I can without so much guilt because it is not creating piles in my craft room, it is stored away in my hard drive. Yeah, I know. You got to have room to store in a hard drive too. Another topic for another post.

For now, let me tell you that you can use digital papers for less money and less storage space than the actual papers.

Here are some examples of my hybrid work.

I will share in a few days how to create some of those hybrid layouts.

:) Thanks for stopping by!

Tereza

So I got carried away...

2010-08-03T12:01:00.001-07:00

Recently I was creating a custom bridal card and got carried away coloring my card with my watercolor pencils.

I was trying to create a halo around the bride and it ended up looking like she was contaminated with nuclear chemicals or something. Anyway, the whole thing made me take a closer look at the books I read to my children.

I read this one recently and realized that it has beautiful artwork and what you know? All the illustrations were made with watercolors and there is a WHITE halo around the characters from where the artist left the area without color. The whole concept is perfect but if you look too close it might look a little messy.

I am definitely learning some serious art as I scrap and card make. :) Every day is an opportunity to learn new things and grow.

So for now my brides will not have a blue halo around them, but who knows in the future!! :)

Also, if you are interested in scrapping but is really short on time please follow me. I will be doing a little tutorial on using digital to short cut your scrapping time. :) Here are some of my recent pages I made using these shortcuts.

Thanks for stopping by.

Tereza

And the Winner is....

2010-07-30T08:05:00.000-07:00

Sorry, I am late posting the winner for the Blog Candy! I have been busy with many projects that I am hoping to share soon.

The winner is ...

DESSY

YEah, congratulations!! Espero que te guste mis creaciones. Por favor enviame un email con tus direciones para que yo pueda enviarte las tarjetas.

thanks so much for all that participated!

I will be showcasing a Wedding Album soon, so be sure to check back!!

Tereza

Blog Candy - harder than you think!

2010-07-17T16:11:00.000-07:00

I think I finally get the hype of stamping.

If you have seen my cards you know I am a fan of digital and vintage. I love to layer papers, stitch my cards, add glitter, paint and ink. I love to stamp to create a distressed, old, worn look.

I do, however, love the look of clean and simple too. And often I will ooh and aahh over a card and tell myself that the card is beautiful but pretty easy to make. HA!! Big mistake! I want right here and right now to APOLOGIZE to all card makers out there that have dedicated their lives to stamping the perfect image. I found out that it is harder than I thought. I am very sorry for thinking that it was easy. It is an Art to do what you ladies do out there!! See end of post for a few of my favorites..

Below the result of my experience:

Supplies: Prima and Technique Tuesday stamps, Tim Holtz distress inks, Staz On ink, satin ribbons.

Now check out these pros:

Heather

Ashley

Jennifer

And to these ladies I would like to say: YOu are simply the Best!!!

And if you, my fellow blog reader, think the above cards are worth anything, then leave me a comment and enter to have a chance on winning the cards above. The lucky winner will be picked on July 27th.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend :)

Tereza

How to make a chipboard album - Last Part

2010-07-14T09:52:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

I am in full blast summer! We have been grilling eggplants. Have you ever tried it? Just slice them and sprinkle salt, pepper and olive oil. A few minutes on each side and they are done. They are soooo good.

We also did a beer but chicken WITHOUT the beer. We didn't have any so we used a can of ginger ale. Oh, my!!! It turned out soooo good.

Ok, I will share some photos and recipes in a later post.

Now back to scrapbooking...Below is the last part of the Bikas album that I finished and it is on its way to Portugal. Please excuse my rhetoric. It is pretty bad. I was rushing, trying to get done because of the lighting and the children and I ended up stammering and forgetting words. So enjoy the images and excuse my speech.

Would love to hear your comments and questions. :) Thanks for stopping by.

Tereza

The monster I created.

2010-07-10T14:53:00.000-07:00

The other day I was trying to organize my craft room. It used to be my dining room now it is our library/ craft room/ study room.

I needed a place to store my ribbons. I have so many spools and I thought maybe I could hang a rod on the wall and store them there. My DH (he is wonderful) made a big fuss about making holes on the wall and what rod to get and blah blah blah.

I realized it was going to be a big problem and I would have to wait a while before I got my storage solution. So... I just put my brain to work and came up with this.

I used an old bulky piece of Styrofoam I had in my closet where I store my boxes and shipping supplies. I covered it with a piece of fabric and stuck some bamboo kabob sticks in it. Then I organized my spools by type and size. To finish it up I covered it up with another piece of fabric to keep it safe from the dust.

There is a saying in Brazil that says "If you don't have a dog to hunt with, you hunt with a cat." Can you translate that into an English saying??

Now, it may not look the best but solved my storage problem. :) Hey, the day my studio looks like something out of a magazine, it will probably BE in a magazine. LOL

Next week, I will try to share some photos of my Studio. You might remember my husband made me a new table. You can see the Before pictures here.

Thanks for stopping by,
Tereza

Celebration Weekend!

2010-07-02T08:00:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

great news: I am on a new DT. The tag above granted me acceptance to More Paper than Shoes!! I just love that name. It definitely describes me. I told Anna that before I had children (8 years ago) I was all about shoes. Then I had my first daughter and began scrapbooking. Now I am all about paper!! LOL

How about you??

Well, MPTS is doing a Blog Candy and a challenge. There is a forum for those that love to chat and all the other members are so talented. So during this holiday weekend, do stop by and check us out!

Also, stop by Operation Write Home and check out the OWH Stars and Stamps blog where so many card makers are sharing their talents, tips, tutorials, give aways, free digis and so much more. While you are at it, I hope you get inspired and get involved and send them some cards too.

To see some of my last shipment, go to my YouTube Channel. I made some Father's Day cards and some all occasion cards. As well as Christmas and Fall themed cards.

So join in! Make something fun, uplifting! Share your faith, your joy, your love! And just so you know, YOu are simply the best and I appreciate you stopping by. :)

Have a great weekend.

Tereza

How to make a chipboard album - Part III

2010-06-29T13:08:00.001-07:00

hi everybody,

I hope you are having a fun summer. :)

Above a sneak peek of the Custom album I am making for Bikas. As promised here is Part III of how to make a chipboard album. Check out the video below. If you haven't seen part I and part II make sure you check them out to see how we got here. :)

Feel free to email me questions or if you are interested in a custom album for yourself or a loved one. We can do any word you like or any style or color schemes. Be sure to check out my other blog to see all my treasured creations.

In this part III of this video tutorial, I am showing you the whole album completely covered with the papers. Be sure to follow me or sign up for my updates on my Youtube channel or here to see the next episodes of how to embellish and finish up the album.

I hope you enjoyed the video. Thanks for stopping by,

Tereza

Thrifty Thursday: How to clean your clear stamping blocks.

2010-06-24T08:00:00.000-07:00

Thrifty Thursday happens almost every Thursday and it's my way to contribute with some tips and techniques that will not bankrupt your pocket book. So be sure to follow my blog so you can see when I post a new money saver tip. Now on, for today's tip...

I was recently playing with my newest Prima and Technique Tuesday stamps and found that my acrylic blocks were just too dirty that I couldn't see through them. I know, that sounds awful! But sometimes I have to decide if I am going to clean and organize or scrap and create something!

Anyway, I had read somewhere that you could use a Magic Eraser to clean them. I didn't believe it until I tried it.

Here are the before photos:

Here are the after photos:

My observations:

you don't need a lot of elbow grease. Gently rub the sponge and it will erase all the permanent ink you might have on your acrylic blocks. I use a lot of Black Staz On ink and you can't get that off with just water and soap, but Magic Eraser will do it. If you rub the sponge to hard it will erase the grid lines of your block, so go easy on them!

Let me know how you like you newly cleaned blocks. :)

Tereza

Mini Kit from The Little Shabby Box

2010-06-22T14:24:00.000-07:00

As my first assignment for the Little Shabby Box, I got to work with their mini kit and it is superb. It's mini but it's full of goodies: yummy Jenni Bowlin papers, glittered butterflies, chipboard stars, ribbons, even a handmade embellishment.

I was able to make 4 cards and there's still a lot of stuff left to make many more. Here are some sneak peeks...

Be sure to check their blog for the full view of these cards and their shop for the kit.

Be blessed,

Tereza

Happy Father's Day!

2010-06-19T21:29:00.000-07:00

Below a batch of cards I sent to Operation Write Home.

I hope they made a Father's Day!!

hug your daddy today. :)

Tereza

How to make a chipboard album - part II

2010-06-10T19:55:00.000-07:00

Hi y'all.

Here is part II of the chipboard album tutorial. I just finished covering Bikas album - my newest custom order. If you would like to find out how I did it so that it looks like the photo above, take a look at my video below.

I have a few other video tutorials posted so please do check these out too.

In part III of the series I will share all the pages of the album and more details. Be sure to follow my blog so you won't miss a thing.

Now, for the video making pros out there I would love if you could share some positive criticism on my videos. I feel my videos are getting better, but I want to improve even more. So do share your knowledge, or leave me some love. :) thanks a bunch.

have a great weekend :)

Tereza

How to make a chipboard album - Part I

2010-06-08T15:37:00.000-07:00

hi everyone,

As you know I am working on a new custom album and I will be sharing some of the techniques I use to make my albums. If you are new to my blog be sure to stop by CreatingTreasures and see my albums. HERE is a link to all my ALTERED Albums posts.

The album I am creating is made of MDF but the techniques used are the same as if for a Chipboard album.

Enjoy the video below and be sure to check out my other videos on my YOuTUbe channel. I will be posting Part II on this album next week, so be sure to follow me or subscribe so you won't miss anything.

Got questions? Leave me a comment. :)

Be blessed,
Tereza

Chipboard Tutorial while Blog Hopping!

2010-05-28T12:45:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

Aren't you glad you live in a country that is free and you can blog hop with Operation Write Home, have religious freedom and speak your mind? I am. :) I praise Jesus for the United States of America and the brave men and women that serve this country. :) Thank you, Lord!!!

Well... I hope to inspire you to use some chipboard with this little show and tell video of how to use them. I have included some in my Give Away so be sure to enter to win.

Now go on to the next blog and check out Tricia's fun post.

Be blessed,

Tereza

Blog Hop, give Away and video tutorial!!

2010-05-26T11:37:00.001-07:00

Hi everyone...

this weekend I will be participating with Operation Write Home in their Blog Hop!! It's going to be lots of fun and I will be doing a video tutorial on digital collage sheets, so be sure to stop by and participate!!

On my other blog I will be doing a blog Candy!!

Hope to see you Saturday!!

Tereza

The Little Shabby Box and other news!

2010-05-21T04:45:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!!

Life has done it again. :) I have been busy with the children and have not been able to post anything recently, but I have great news!

1) I have been invited to join the DT of the Little Shabby Box. They have awesome card kits and I will be designing for them for the next 6 months. I couldn't wait for my first kit and assignment and went ahead and purchased the May kit just to play around. :) it's gorgeous. It has beautiful Prima papers, flowers and other goodies. Go check it out. and be sure to come back here, I want to share some of the cards I make with it. :) Congratulations to all the other ladies who made the team.

2) Remember I told you I was going to be working on a new custom album? Well, the album is in and I have already made the first video introducing the album to you. So if you would like to follow and learn some new techniques and see how I make my altered albums be sure to follow this blog and/ or my OTHER blog. I will be posting the first video soon. To see some of my recent videos go HERE.

3) Also I will be participating on a Blog Hop on Memorial Day with Operation Write Home. If you have a blog, or you are a card maker or you want to join in be sure to stop there and sign up. It's going to be fun.

So that is it for now. It's raining here today and the children are still sleeping. I think I am beginning to get caught up! Ha!!

have a blessed day and thanks for stopping by!

Tereza

Super Sale going on at my Etsy shop now!!

2010-05-11T14:15:00.000-07:00

Have you ever paid $2.50 for a handmade card?? well, now you can if you stop by my Etsy shop... I am cleaning up my studio and liquidating the inventory I have right now..here is the deal:

3 cards and/or sets of tags - $10.00
4 cards and/or sets of tags - $12.00
5 cards and/or sets of tags - $14.00
6 cards and/or sets of tags - $15.00

Write SPECIAL SALE on note to seller when checking out.

Difference will be given as refund through Paypal and normal shipping applies. Only valid for individual listings of cards and or set of tags, NOT altered albums or custom orders.

I hope you will stop by there.

Tereza

Submissions and tutorials

2010-05-08T13:55:00.000-07:00

Remember the stamping on your buttons technique? Above a close up of a button stamped with a snowflake image. Cute huh?

But that is not the reason I am posting today. No! I wanted to share with you that I am definitely in a new phase of my craft. I don't know how long it will last but for now I am trying my hands and work at submitting my treasured creations to challenges and magazines. I am also sharing some of my knowledge through tutorials.

You can see my first and latest submission HERE.

and you can check out my contribution of a fun technique that will go on next Tuesday HERE.

I will do my best to share a Thrifty Thursday this coming week. :) Bear with me... and by the way, I am beginning a new custom album that I will definitely share the how-tos with you. So be sure to follow my blog so you don't miss anything. :)

Have a great weekend.

Tereza

Thrifty Thursday: making your own flowers!

2010-04-29T15:19:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Thrifty Thursday!

On an attempt to save money, pay off debt and be content with what I have, the thrifty scrapper blog was born. Every Thursday I will share a simple technique, mostly using things we already have at home but that can bring your scrapbooking or card making to a new level! :) This is thrifty Thursday, so be sure to follow my blog and make use of this free information. Who knows you might be debt free in a couple of years?

so this week I want to share with you how you can make your own flowers with what you got at home. I know you love Prima flowers! So do I! But I just can't afford every flower I fall in love with! Ha LOL

So take a look at the video below and see some of the flowers I created from funky to chic ones! Enjoy and if you have questions please send me an email at info@mytreasuredcreations.com

Be sure to stop by my Youtube channel and become a subscriber so you can see all the new videos I upload. Or follow my blog here so you can be notified when I post something new!

I hope you are enjoying these new videos. I have many more to share and as I go I am learning how to make them better. :) Comments, advice on video making or critics are welcome!

Be blessed,
Tereza

I got an account on YouTube!

2010-04-24T16:30:00.001-07:00

so I couldn't resist and have joined the YouTube team. You can now find my videos on youtube. Here is the link.

This weekend I am making cards for Operation Write Home and decided to share a quick tutorial on how to make a cute trim. Watch it below.

I will share more cards and other tutorials when I finish the cards.

I hope you are enjoying the weekend. Leave me a comment so I know you stopped by. :)

Tereza

Thrifty Thursday: upgrade your buttons!

2010-04-17T13:22:00.000-07:00

On an attempt to save money, pay off debt and be content with what I have, the thrifty scrapper blog was born. Every Thursday I will share a simple technique, mostly using things we already have at home but that can bring your scrapbooking or card making to a new level! :) This is thrifty Thursday, so be sure to follow my blog and make use of this free information. Who knows you might be debt free in a couple of years?

So recently I was working on 2 custom albums for 2 little precious boys! Here's Camden's album and here is Carson's Album. As you know buttons are one of the main embellishments used on boys albums or pages. I really wanted to make these buttons pop though. I had seen ribbons go through buttons, rub ons, or paint but never seen stamps.

So I tried stamping on them. All I used was Staz On black ink and a Martha Stewart stamps I had previously bought but never used. Here are some of the results..

I used some snowflakes stamps on some buttons too. They turned out so cute. I will be using them on some cards in the future. Be aware that you need to use stamps small enough so that you can see the image on the buttons.

Try and see what you come up with. The only rule is to NOT buy anything new, use what you already have at home. tip: look for the flat surface of the button, of course! :)

Have fun!

Tereza

Thrifty Thursday: using acrylic paint!

2010-04-07T19:05:00.000-07:00

This is our first Thrifty Thursday. The idea is to share with you a technique that does NOT require new scrapbook supplies or tools, but can be done using what most of us already have at home.

Today I want to share with you how to make something look old, vintage, shabby or distressed looking. I am finishing a custom order for 2 vintage scrapbook albums for 2 brothers. Here is a sneak peak of the first album. I wanted to achieve a fun, distressed, old look without making the albums feminine at all. So I decided to use paint. White acrylic paint. I found it is the best way to make something look shabby.

Now you don't need any special tools to apply your paint. Any acrylic paint will do. Because acrylic paint is rather thick it can be very tricky to use it on rubber or acrylic stamps. They tend to get all sticky and you can't see much of the detail of the stamps, unless it is a big one or a foam stamp. That's another post.

I used two simple tools for my technique. I used water bottle caps and medicine measuring cups to make the white circles on my latest album. I also used my finger to dab the white paint around the edges of my album. I tried using a make up sponge but I liked the result of using my fingers better. I was going for a not so uniform look, more messy.

First squeeze some paint on a paper plate and spread it flat like you would icing on a cake, then use the cap and cup to start stamping. Don't worry about perfect prints, you are going for shabby, not perfect prints. You will have some circles thicker, with missing pieces to the circle, others lighter. the paint dries really quickly too.

The first photo on this post is an example of the result of this technique. The complete photos of this album and more will be on my other blog this weekend.

You can use other tools with this same technique. Try using bubble wraps, the end of pencils, a sponge, a paper crinkled into a ball or anything else you can think of and already have at home.

On the card below I smeared the edges with white paint.

Here is an example using green paint and bubble wrap.

Would love to hear about your results and your discoveries with white acrylic paint. Until next Thursday, stay thrifty and crafty. :)

Be blessed,

Tereza

Thrifty Thursday!

2010-04-07T12:33:00.000-07:00

If you are a follower of this blog you are probably frustrated because I haven't posted in a while. Well, lots of things have happened: I had another baby, a got a few custom orders backed up and I homeschool my children. So, there! as you can see I have my hands full!

But I decided that I can take a few minutes and commit to post at least one post a week where I can share some of my crafty thriftiness. Ha! so this is where Thrifty Thursday comes in.

Every Thursday I will share a simple technique, mostly using things we already have at home but that can bring your scrapbooking or card making to a new level! :)

Make sure you follow this blog and my other BLOG to see finished treasured creations. :) So, tomorrow I will post our first Thrifty Thursday post!

thanks for your patience. :)

Be blessed today,
Tereza

Blog Candy from Norway!!

2010-01-30T11:43:00.000-08:00

Beautiful cards, gorgeous color schemes and 400 followers!! Come celebrate with Amy and enter for to win her Blog Candy! click here!!

Be blessed,

Tereza

PS check out some of my new creations!

Prima Products Picks Giveaway!!! Take 2

2009-11-08T18:21:00.000-08:00

My favorite color in the whole world is YELLOW. I love the warm tones of yellow and orange. So when I saw THIS I was in heaven. Prima is giving away some gorgeous flowers and you will want to hop over there and try to win some.

I hope I win!! Good luck to you!!! (No you are not seeing double this is the same post as in my other blog. I am trying to increase my chances of winning. :)

tereza

Making your own cut outs or die cuts.

2009-11-01T12:42:00.000-08:00

If you are like me, you are always looking for shortcuts to make your scrapbooking easier and more fun.

One of the things I have been using are digital images. If you do a search you can find all kinds of vintage images available at very low cost. Once I purchase them, I can then print and use them as many times as I need to. I can use them as cut outs or print them on transparencies and use them as 3D embellishments.

Here are a few examples.

You can then add glossy accents to them, glitter, or doodle on them. You can mat them on cardstock and cut them out as stamps. OR you can mat them on chipboard and make thicker die cuts out of them. Pop them up with pop adhesives. The sky is the limit and they are always available at the press of your mouse and the availability of your printer.

To see my latest custom work where I used butterflies printed off my printer look HERE.

Enjoy!!!

Tereza

Another Giveaway at Crop Spot!!!

2009-10-27T10:13:00.000-07:00

I have been busy and have some wonderful news. You can see them on my other blog HERE and HERE!!

Now for the other news...Crop Spot is doing another Give Away! I just purchased some awesome Webster Pages Christmas papers and I am looking forward to creating my own Christmas album. although it was a struggle to decide between Webster Pages and Graphic 45 papers, so I am glad that Crop Spot is giving away the Graphic 45 Christmas papers. I want to win!!! :)

make sure you go check it out too.

have a great day!!!

Tereza

Awesome Giveaway at Crop Spot!

2009-09-28T20:11:00.000-07:00

Have you been wondering what happened to me? Well, you can read about it HERE.

I am still trying to scrapbook. I have managed to clean out my scraproom. I will try to post photos and a card I made some time soon. In the meantime, I am hoping this awesome Give Away will get me inspired!!

I am looking forward to finding out the baby's sex. Maybe this week or the next. :) I will keep you posted.

Blessings,
Tereza

My New Scraproom or should I say Studio?

2009-06-04T17:50:00.000-07:00

I have been for a long time waiting on my husband to allow me to transform the dining room that we don't use, into my official Scrap room or Studio. Well, he finally gave in, and not only that, he is building from scratch the room I wanted. :)

Here are some BEFORE pictures for you to see where I have spent my time Creating Treasures.

This is my dining room table. Behind it, against the wall there was a china cabinet that is already gone. As you turn left and left you see the other photos and the place where I stock my tools, embellishments, flowers and ready items.

Below you will see my husband at work: building my new table from scratch and the finished result. No, he does not have a wood shop. He used our drive way to build my table.

I had no clue that my husband had such awesome carpentry skills. I am so happy and so thankful. After he finished the table I convinced him of putting a shelf on the wall for me and I am hoping that one shelf will turn into 2. Little by little I am taking ground. :)

Next week I will share the final results with the table and shelves in the room!! Can't wait!

Thanks for looking

Tereza

Cards for Heroes Blog Hop

2009-05-22T22:56:00.000-07:00

****Memorial Day Update - some people on the comments asked how did I know that the RED CARD in the soldier's hands was mine. Earlier on there was a bigger photo on CFH blog and I was really able to see it closely and it is mine. Below is a bigger picture of one of the cards I sent. And like I describe below on my original post I cut up pieces of a Christmas fabric and machine stitched to a red cardstock and hand stamped Merry Christmas on the inside. there were many different images on the fabric: Snow man, Christmas tree, bells, angels and with them the Christmas wishes for Joy, Peace, Love etc. I was so happy to see the fruits of my labor and it really motivated me to keep making more cards to send to them. It really takes very little to make someone's day.***********

If you follow my blog or have been here before you might have noticed my little banner on the sidebar of my blog for Cards for Heroes. Cards for Heroes is an organization that donates cards to our soldiers abroad so they can send hand written notes to their loved ones here back home. They also provide encouraging cards to our wounded heroes helping out another organization that provides quilts and other needed personal items to the soldiers that are wounded and have to be transported to a hospital.

I have become involved with this organization and have sent some cards to them a couple of times. My daughter and I got busy and made a bunch of them, as well as Christmas cards last year. If you would like to see some of them and the tips I shared please click HERE.

so I am participating on a Blog Hop to help promote this organization and get more people involved. Please check out their website for more information.

You don't need to be an expert card maker to join, or send dozens of cards. Just do a little or as much as you can. There are so many creative ways you can help. If you don't want to make cards, you can donate supplies, send a few dollars to help out with shipping, sign AnyHero cards...there is so much to do.

I have recently started collecting the cards that don't sell in my shop and I am sending them over. You see that red card in the hands of that hero on the first photo on this post? It's my card!! That is a Christmas card that I made using some donated red cardstock. I cut up some Christmas fabric that had cute pictures on them with sayings like Peace, Joy, etc and I machine stitched them to the cardstock. Them my daughter and I hand stamped MErry Christmas on the inside of them and they were ready. We sent over 50 cards. They were simple, cute and it was a great opportunity to do some bonding with my little one.

Have I convinced you yet? :)

I hope so...now if you would like to see who else helps out please check out Bonnie Rose's blog. She is an avid scrapbooker and makes awesome little albums as well as gorgeous cards.

Have a great weekend and don't forget to celebrate the heroes that have given their lives for this country! :)

Tereza

How to stretch your Say it with Crystals Flourishes

2009-05-17T21:49:00.000-07:00

I was trying to figure it out how to make my crystal flourishes last longer and I found THIS.

Lynn is an avid scrapbooker and an artist and extremely creative. I just had to mention her incredible idea. :) Thanks Lynn for sharing. I will definitely try it and post a picture of my finished work.

Have a great week. :)

Tereza

BLOG Candy ALERT!!

2009-04-29T18:15:00.001-07:00

oh, my...there are so many generous ladies out there this month...The list of Blog Candy is a long one...so check them out...

1) Chelsea from Crafting Life's Pieces is giving an awesome kit with K&Co paper pads and Prima flowers... you can't miss it.

2) Debbie from Passion for Crafts is giving a mighty kit with Copic markers, Prima flowers, Nestabilities and more. Go check it out and take a peek at her amazing cards too!

3) Mary is giving away another great assortment.. check it out HERE.

4) If you like stamping, coloring with Copics and beautiful patterned paper you got to check Steph's gorgeous blog Much Ado about nothing. What a fun name!! Thanks, Steph.

5)One more awesome blog Candy at Bearly Mine Crafts...:)

6) Last Blog Candy of the night: Created by Gracie is giving some delicious candy!! go check her out and her pretty little girl!! :)

Enjoy and don't forget to stop by CreatingTreasures to see what I have been up to. :)

have a great night. :)

Tereza

How to add dimension to your scrapbook pages with Distressing techniques.

2009-04-27T13:15:00.000-07:00

I just finished a custom order for a page layout I did last year. I have created this page 3 times... of course, not exactly the same. you will see here all the pages, in their order of creation. The last one is the one I just finished last night.

Were you able to pick up the subtle differences??

Well, I wanted to share with you how to add dimension to your pages. For this layout I used a textured cardstock base, then a patterned paper that shows behind the mats and lastly another patterned paper that goes on top. Can you see those 3 layers?

Next I tore the green patterned paper, wadded it into a ball so that it would crinkle. Do it gently so it won't tear on the inside, if the edges tear a bit, it's ok. then I smooth the paper out and glue the edges to the textured cardstock base.

After it's glued down, the center will be open so you can insert your mats or photos. I stitched all the edges, highlighted the darker leaves with a white gel pen, and added golden glitter to the orange parts of the paper. The edges of the paper was also distressed with the help of a pair of scissors. I also curled the inside of the paper.

Can you see all the dimension that that brought to the layout?

After that I worked on my chipboard flourishes. I painted them white and stamped them with distressed ink. I then layered my flowers: a mix of silk flowers and Prima flowers. I also printed out my title and poem. I added a black ribbon or lace to make the photos pop.

This is one of my favorite pages. I have kept the first one to myself and it has photos of my children gathering leaves in the front yard. The other pages went to two customers that requested them to be made again. :)

I am so glad I did. :)

I hope you enjoy the techniques and make sure you click on the pictures to see them enlarged.

Tereza

Stamping your Ribbons

2009-04-19T13:33:00.000-07:00

I just returned from a week at the beach. While I am so grateful for the relaxing time, I am glad to be home. :)

I don't know if this is an old topic or technique for you, but before I left for the beach I created a card and stamped some images on the ribbon that I used on the card. Oh, I just loooooved the result.

I used StazOn Jet Black Ink and some bird stamps.

I will share the rest of the card later on this week as well as another stamping technique. What would you say if I told you, you could create NEW stamped images with your OLD stash??

So follow me or sign up to know when I post again.

Have a great week. :)

New Stamps using your Old Stamps

2009-04-08T12:07:00.000-07:00

ok...I am hooked on stamps...I can spend hours looking at all the wonderful websites that have these gorgeous stamps. I am specially fond of the vintage, grunge, collage style ones. Love flourishes and the ephemera look.

But, unfortunately, it is just not practical to buy every one of them. I don't have the room and I don't have the money.

So there are many options to have new stamped images without having to clutter your craft room with new stamps. One that I really like is creating new images with your old ones.

I used these stamps.

and created these images..

Now for you to make these, you will need to create some masks. What is a mask? It's an image that you can use to protect a certain area from getting inked, or an image that you use to get a certain area inked. See Scrapperlicious for more on masks or Tim Holtz, for that matter. LOL

So just stamp the images you will use again...these were my masks. After I stamped them, I cut them out.

Here are the steps:

1) I stamped the flower with the Happy Spring text first.
2) Then I put the mask on top of it. Then I stamped the journaling circle on top of it, and added that mask on top of that.
3) Lastly, I stamped the flourishes. Depending on the look you are going for, you might want to lift the circle mask and stamp the flourishes on some of the edge of the circle.

Here is the result...

And here is the card I made using my NEW stamp...

As you see the sky is the limit... you can create many different images with the few stamps you might have at hand.

Next time you are bored with the stamps you have, try making new images with them. :) Enjoy!!!

Tereza

PS...if you would like to purchase this card, please click HERE.

Making your own Liquid Pearls

2009-04-08T11:49:00.000-07:00

I have never had Liquid Pearls in my hands. But I have seen enough projects created with it to know that I want some. I have read some articles about how to use Puff paint or Fabric paint and how it has the same or similar effect as the Liquid Pearls made by Ranger. I don't know because I haven't used any of the products mentioned.

However I did buy a couple of months ago a bottle of Pearl Metallic White acrylic paint and Glossy Accents from Ranger. So after looking at many projects and what liquid pearls look like on them and reading the articles about the cheaper stuff, I thought I give it a try and make my own liquid pearls.

Now from what I concluded from the information I gathered Liquid pearls would be a paint that has shimmer and dimension and you end with a droplet of paint that resembles a real pearl. So I thought, "I use my Glossy Accents to create water droplets." Look at this photo. Be sure to click on the photos to enlarge them and see the details.

The water droplets here were created just by adding drops of Glossy Accents. When it dries it holds its shape and you have a water droplet. There are many different uses for Glossy Accents. You could have a whole afternoon of fun just with it. But I decided to go a little further. :)

Here is what I used.

So I mixed both together. I would suggest you start with very little. Get a paper plate and add a dab of acrylic paint and 2 dabs of Glossy accents. Stir until they are well mixed and use the tip of a paint brush's handle or a crochet needle to dab into the mix and start making little dots.

If you want round, plump, dimensional pearls be generous with the amount of goo you put on the end of your needle or brush. You can even go back and place more on the same place. Try one or two pearls and let them dry. As they dry you will see if they are holding their shape or not. If they start to go flat you will need to add more Glossy accents to your mix. It's trial and error job but after you get the hang of it, you will have your own recipe depending on the look you are going for. :)

I got this result with my experiments, and I was pretty happy with it since I wanted a subtle appearance.

I really liked the shimmery look and dimension without having to spend any extra money or waiting for my Liquid Pearls to arrive in the mail.

Now you try and have fun!! Let me know what kind of results you have. :)

Tereza

Digital and Hybrid Scrapbooking: is it worth the money?

2009-03-24T15:14:00.000-07:00

A few months ago my husband made a huge investment (huge for me that don't like to spend more than $100 at a time on anything) and bought us an Adobe Suite. It has the famous Photoshop program as well as other programs for making illustration and other digital work. It is a fantastic software. Of course, as anything computer wise, you need to invest time on it, to learn how to use it. I have been slowly learning it and incorporating it into my card making, scrapbooking, altering art.

If you would like to see what I have been making please check out my other blog. Under the Digital ART label you will find the posts where I am showcasing my treasured creations.

Although your initial investment to go digital may be greater than with traditional scrapbooking, the good thing about it is that your resources never end. Let me explain. How many times have you bought a favorite paper collection and after using it on a couple of projects they were gone? You either went and bought more to use it again, or to hoard it so that you would always have it. :)

Well with digital, you have it forever (unless your hard drive crashes and you didn't back up the files. That's another story for another day!) anyway... as long as you have a printer so you can print your digital file or a screen where you can see it, you will have your digital papers, brushes, embellishments forever.

Now for a paper hoarder like me, that is HEAVEN!!! So I am definitely a Hybrid scrapbooker. Now, go take a look at some of the things I have already created and get inspired.

I will be sharing some of my knowledge as I discover more and more of the wonderful digital world!! So, have you dared into the digital world yet?

Would love to hear from you. :)

Tereza

Think long term instead of instant reward.

2009-03-12T23:15:00.000-07:00

ok, so I am always trying to save a buck, right? Now, with so many tools, gadgets and the newest electronic devices that will cut, emboss and whatnot your papers, acrylics, chipboard and more, it is really hard not to fall prey of every trend that comes around.

If you got tons of money and storage space, then go ahead and indulge. But if you are like me, you don't have the extra money to spend on this hobby and your craft room is over flowing with stuff.

So, whenever I want to buy something new, I follow these steps:

1) It needs to be in my budget. I cannot go into debt because of it.
2) I research prices, specifications, reviews and whatnots about the product. I wait. I never buy something immediately. Usually it takes me months to make a big purchase. If I am convinced that I still want it, I go to step 3.
3) It needs to be something I will use again and again. I will not fall for an impulse purchase to buy a gadget that will sit and gather dust. So, if I have to, I will try to see it in action, ask people that have it what do they use it for, how often, what are the expenses with replacements etc etc.
4) So after all that, I can tell you that the most expensive thing I own that I use DAILY in my craft is my computer, my trimmer and my punches. LOL

How about you?? what is the most expensive gadget you got? and do you use it EVERY TIME you sit down to craft??

Love to hear your comments. :)

Tereza

Creating new flowers using the ones you got!!

2009-03-07T15:58:00.000-08:00

This past week I had a customer that requested some bridesmaids cards using a pear and plum color scheme. While creating different designs I inked some of the white hydrangeas I had with Dusty Concord distressing ink pad from Tim Holtz.

Here is the result...

Don't they look good?

So next time you have a need for a certain color try inking them with distressing ink. Just use a make up sponge and dab the ink and then on to the flower until you get the color saturation you are looking for. very easy. :)

I will share some more flower techniques this coming week. :)

Tereza

NEW Look for my blog!!

2009-03-03T15:55:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,

We have been sick here at home. My hubby is fighting the flu. I made him stay home from work today. Praise the Lord he is an obedient husband!! LOL

Sorry for the lack of posting. I promise to share some cool techniques next week. In the meantime, enjoy the new look and the lovelies in my other blog.

God bless,
Tereza

BLOG Candy ALERT!!

2009-02-22T22:10:00.001-08:00

If you like Basic Grey papers and other great goodies you need to check out this blog candy!!

have a great week :)
Tereza

Making your own flowers

2009-02-14T10:04:00.000-08:00

Have you seen the new released Prima flowers?? They are gorgeous!

Prima had the bright idea of incorporating the layering and vintage look that many artisans have been using on their altered art and handmade items for a long time in their NEW FLOWERS. They are using fabric, beads, tulle, felt, ribbon and other notions to layer their flowers. They look so yummy and you just need to get some!

Oh, wait a minute! That's right you don't NEED to buy some, you can MAKE some! SO if you are short on resources or just practicing being a good steward of what you have then you should use what you got!! I bet you got some beads, fabric, ribbons that you can turn into gorgeous flowers in no time!!

Here are some photos of recent flowers I have created in my items just using what I had. I used the Prima flowers I had in my stash and added my own handmade ones, pieces of tulle, ribbon, doily and other stuff to them. I will be talking about some of these techniques, so if you would like to learn them, please come back. Sign up for my newsletter or follow the blog to know when I post.

Enjoy the photos and have a great weekend!! oh, stop HERE for a chance to win some Blog Candy!!

12x12 Custom page is DONE!!!

2009-01-31T12:34:00.000-08:00

hi Everyone,

this is a quick post to show you the result of that custom order I had for a 12x12 scrapbook page. Be sure to click on the photos to enlarge them and see the details. :)

This is the original layout.

My customer asked me to duplicate it. Unfortunately that is just not possible for me. But I came pretty close. I painted and transformed the chipboard scrolls I had at home, and I also distressed the eyelet brads I had. Click on the colored links to learn how you can do the same.

Here is the result of the layout. After I painted the scrolls I stamped on them to complete the look I was going for. Would love to hear your comments!! thanks :)

Distressing and inking eyelets and brads!!

2009-01-30T09:37:00.000-08:00

I am working on a new layout. Click HERE to read the post I talk about it.

So, I needed some dark distressed eyelet brad. All I had was bright colored ones. so, I used a nail filer and sanded the one I had. You will see in the photo, it is a blue one. Then I inked it with Distressed walnut ink.

In the photo, the first brad on the left is the original color, then sanded and the last one, sanded and inked. Come back to see how I used it on the layout!!

Also this is an eyelet that has a backing of a brad, so you don't need to set it. All you have to do is punch a hole and put the eyelet brad in the hole and fold the little legs behind the paper like you would a brad.

I want to make a little confession here: I have never set an eyelet. LOL

So next time you need some metal embellishments and all you have are COLOREd ones sand them. Use a nail file or sand paper, whatever you got on hands!!

Enjoy! Would love to hear your comments if any of my tips are helping you out at all!! :) Thanks.

tereza

Coloring and using the Chipboard at hand!!

2009-01-30T09:28:00.000-08:00

I am at the moment working on a custom 12x12 page. The customer saw a page I made in the past and asked me to duplicate it. I kindly explained to her that I would be glad to make another one for her, but it would NOT be exactly the same as the first.

I have a very hard time duplicating any of my work because most of it comes out of pure inspiration of the moment. So while, I can use some of the same papers and products and maybe keep with the same sketch, the layout will have a very different feel from the first because that is just how it is with a creative spirit.

I will post the finished layout later with the original for you to see what I mean.

Now, the hurdle I found with this layout is that I used some chipboard scrolls that were white and I don't have any more of those. So, using my thinker, I decided to paint the scrolls I had. They were in a variety of colors and I painted them all white, as you can see on the photo.

Some of the scrolls were flocked and had bright colors so I had to use a second coat of acrylic paint. Once it dried all I did was punch them out of their sheet. They came already with adhesive in the back. I did not worry about the chipboard being perfectly painted since it will be stamped. I will show you the results next week.

So, next time you need a chipboard letter or any other embellishment in a color you don't have, just paint it. :)

Enjoy!!

Tereza

and the Winner is...

2009-01-28T08:25:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone, I am sorry I kind of fell off the face of the Earth, but I am still here. :)

the winner of my first give away is VITTORY. I will be sending you 4 chipboard puzzle pieces ready for you to create an album. Please email me at mytreasuredcreations@gmail.com with your address and name so I can ship the pieces to you. You have until February 05, 2008 to contact to claim your prize. If I don't hear from you I will draw another name. Thanks to everyone who participated.

Please check back I will be posting more tips this coming weekend.

Tereza

My first Blog Candy: Chipboard Puzzle Pieces

2009-01-14T12:06:00.000-08:00

This is my first blog candy in my new blog. :)

I have seen a lot of people looking for these so I decided to offer them to you: 4 chipboard puzzle pieces. They measure 8x9" and come painted with black acrylic paint. They are all the same, but if you overlap them in different directions they end up looking like each piece is unique. Check out all the photos to see the details. The card on top of one of the pieces measures 4.25x5.5".

They come without holes or book rings so that way you can use them any way you like. When punching the holes make sure you line up the pieces so that your holes are on top of each other.

Each piece was hand cut and hand painted by me. I made sure that the edges were sanded and are smooth, but I am human so I can't promise perfection.

So what you have to do to get these? Leave me a comment on this blog, add a link of this blog candy on YOUR blog (if you have one) and EITHER follow the blog or sign up for my newsletter. It's important that you leave me an email so I can contact you. IF you sign up for my newsletter I will have your email address, or if you link me to your blog I will have a way to contact you. :) That easy!!

If you are in a hurry to get these, you can find them in my Etsy SHOP.

Look HERE to see the album I did with these same pieces.

I will draw a winner on January 24th, 2009 at midnight CT.

Thank you for participating and have fun!! :)

Tereza

Working with Doily

2009-01-13T13:22:00.000-08:00

If you are a fan of everything romantic you have seen the doilies that have taken over the scrapbooking world. Now you can find them in many different sizes, color and shapes. There are many different companies that are making them.

I wanted to use the doily in my scrapbook layouts without having to spend an enormous amount of money. Let me explain: I live in a very rural area, I have no Local Scrapbook store and the closest Craft Hobby Store is an hour away. Although I purchase most of my supplies online, it still needs to make sense financially. So I try to keep a list of things I need and purchase them all at the same time from the same place so I save on shipping.

So on this day, I decided to work with what I had on hand. I purchased some 12" doilies from Walmart. (yes, we do have one in my town! LOL) My children and I painted our doilies. After I painted mine with acrylic paint, I dabbed a piece of cloth on it, to give it a shabby look, taking some of the paint off.

Now, you say: "But it's not Acid Free." No, it's probably not. But if you painted it with acrylic paint you have put a barrier between the acid from the doily and your photos. "But you took some of the paint off!" Right. So you mat your photos.

A lot of the fear of the acid on the papers that are not made for scrapbooking has no precedence since you can always protect your photos by matting them with Acid Free paper or card stock. Make sure that papers or items that are NOT acid free are NOT touching your photos, or you can always buy one of those spray things that supposedly neutralizes the acid of the paper. :( Right, one more thing to buy!!

Anyway, here is the final layout that I used the doily on! Also take a look at one of the cards I have made in the past using doilies. Enjoy and feel free to leave me a comment or a question!

Tereza

Getting rid of Blood Stains

2009-01-11T22:42:00.001-08:00

I know that Blood stains has very little to do with scrapbooking, but there is a verse in the Bible that says "My people perish for lack of knowledge". How many times have you wished you just knew that one piece of information that could have saved your day??

So the other day, my husband was running late getting ready for work and I heard him in the bathroom having a hard time. He cut himself while shaving and the cut would not stop bleeding. He got more and more aggravated as his brand new shirt got stained with blood and he kept putting pressure on the cut trying to make the bleeding stop. He got his second shirt stained again with blood and was rapidly losing his patience.

Finally I told him to lay down on the bed and calm down. He finally did, the bleeding somewhat stopped and we were able to put a band-aid on his chin. So I made him change his shirt again. All the while he kept complaining that I was going to have to wash all those blood stained shirts. I told him not to worry about them, I wasn't going to throw them in the washing machine. A little cold water and scrubbing in the bathroom sink and they would be squeaky clean again.

He left for work and a couple of hours later after I had fed the children and somewhat organized the house I went back to the bathroom.

Now, this is where you need to store this piece of information in your hard drive (your head) and next time you are faced with this problem you will know what to do.

The best way to get rid of blood stains is to get the area wet with COLD water. Not hot or warm water, COLD water otherwise the stain will set. After the area is wet, scrub the stain. With your hands formed into fists as you grab the cloth, scrub it against itself, like our ancestors used to do when there was no washing machines. Scrub, rinse with cold water, scrub again, rinse. It should take you a couple of minutes and the stain will disappear. No need for laundry detergent, or any other chemical, or soaking to get rid of the stain.

I squeezed the wet area and hung the shirts back in the closet to dry. After they were completely dry there was no sign of the blood stain, or yellowing of any kind. :)

Now, it's important that you don't let the stain set on the fabric. You can probably wait a couple of hours to scrub the stain off, but don't soak your blood stained garments in water in the bathroom sink all day. Take a couple of minutes and get rid of it right away!! I heard this technique will work with wine and other foods that will stain fabric. So make sure to try it out!! :)

I hope that piece of information saves your day some day!!! :)

Tereza

Got Flowers? What to do when you need Prima flowers.

2009-01-09T23:21:00.000-08:00

Would you love to be able to buy any Prima flower you wanted and as many as your heart desired? I would!! Unfortunately, it's just not possible. LOL

So I have learned to improvise and work with what I got. Last year when I was working on a new project I did not have Prima flowers in the right color for it. So I began brainstorming how could I get it without having to buy any more supplies. I am drowning in supplies!! LOL (Answer this question: do you have NEW, UNTOUCHED, CLOSED, UNOPENED containers or boxes of Prima flowers? If you answered "yes", then you are drowning in supplies too!)

I learned with Scrapperlicious how to make flowers out of pattern paper, vellum, acrylic and more! But that was not the look I was going for. I wanted to use some Prima flowers! So it hit me: I can paint them!!!

Yes, I can paint them! So I used some acrylic paint and painted my pretty Prima flowers.

The ones on the left are the original. The ones on the right are the result of my painting job. :)

I needed some flowers that were of a deeper green, like grass green; and I needed some red flowers. So now, I had them! So next time you can't find an exact color in your Flower stash, paint what you got!!

Here is a photo of the painted flowers on my project.

I will be talking about some basic supplies that you should always have on hand on later posts. Be sure to sign up for my newsletter or follow the blog. In a day, where everyone talks about how bad the economy is (I don't agree with the rumor) you surely would appreciate to learn how you can keep your cardmaking/ scrapbooking hobby going, wouldn't you?

Let me know you stopped by and say hi!! :) Also, check out my other blog for some of my projects.

Tereza