Time passes quickly.....Enjoy!

Time passes so quickly, life happens and some goals get pushed aside. My blogging has fallen to the wayside during this mild, but busy winter season.
This week I spent some time cleaning out closets to help meet my goal of becoming more of a consumer not a collector of scrapbooking treasures. During the process I discovered some retired product from the Silhouette paper pack. I have been using Studio J to make some layouts of past weddings using that great black and white retired "paper". When I came accross a mini album it reminded me of friends, people, places and God's blessings.
 I am posting a few pictures of that album to encourage you to make your own album using up some of your stash, so you too become more a consumer rather than a collector of our great Close to My Heart products. Enjoy!

To start his album make a binding That is about 3 1/2" high by about 4" wide. Score at 1" and at 1/2" intervals, ending with a 1" tab at the end. You then want to add some 2 sided adhesive (like red line) to the first 1/2" scored area and every other one. You then put a piece of ribbon in the center of the spine and under the covers of the album. Leave extra ribbon to tie the book with a bow.

  Feel free to call me for further instructions or clarification since I don't have photos of all the steps. (859-421-4423) or e-mail: Alayneswillinghands@gmail.com. Enjoy capturing your special moments and blessings in your own mini album.

This cover was made from 4"coasters covered with cardstock and background and texture paper. I decorated it with a stamped image on overhead transparency plastic and a stamped Bible verse.

This shows the top of the album with the pages attached to the spine.

The desert sand color in the center of the album shows where the pages are attached to the scored spine.

Take time to journal your little album because as I started this blog entry I reminded you that time passes quickly. Today it is my middle daughters special birthday!  It seemed like only a few weeks ago that she was born, yet now she is a mom and wife and all grown up....if you don't write it down you might not remember where and when as you grow older. So do as I say and not as I do and journal.  The little babe in my arms is now 4 1/2 years old.  If it was only a few weeks ago that my daugher was born, it was only minutes ago that I became a grandmother.

So please take heed of the verse on this little album and remember that there is a time and season for everything.  Enjoy each day you are blessed with.

Always,  Alayne

January Special Rock the Block: How to....

Rock The Block:  How to....


1.    Put a number 1 -54 on the corner of each square (in pencil) so you can turn the blocks easily to find all of the puzzle fronts after the blocks are assembled.

2. Sponge all edges of the boxes with a color that goes well with the paper pack you are using. (I choose Desert Sand)

3. Choose the colors for your background of your boxes. I used the Roxie paper pack kit. Make 6 inch squares of all the colors. (Before I used the final pieces I took 6 pieces of neutral cardstock  (6"squares) and tried all the stamps ahead of time, planning the layouts. I first scored the paper in a 2"grid. Since I was making the blocks into a puzzle collage I let the patterns run over more than 1 of the squares.

4. Using the plain cardstock as a guide I now stamped (and embossed) the images I liked best onto the final background papers. I used Versa Mark ink over the ctmh colors before I sprinkled the embossing powder over the designs.

5. Using a heat gun I set (melted) the embossing powder on all of the papers. I was careful not to mix the powders, (I used clear detail, cranberry and black embossing powders) but did not heat them till all 6 pages had powder on them. It streamlined the large amount of embossing that was done to less then a half hour of effort. Notice I used a bone folder to hold the paper in place because the heat gun gets the area very hot.

6.   I didn't put as many embossed images on the paper as my original patterns  because I left room for pictures. This picture is a bit blurry but it shows how the powder looks  before it is heated.

7.Now that all my 6 pages were stamped, I planned which pictures I wanted to include on my puzzle cubes.

8.   I cut out coordinating paper to cover the box that holds the cubes. I kept the design simple, but I noticed my upline choose to add a photo to the inside of the bottom box and it looked great. She displayed it on an easle when the blocks were in use. I used a ATC gun to secure the paper to the box.

9.   I choose to cut around some of the stamped images and slide photos under the edge before I attached to the blocks. The layered effect looked good.

11.   I attached the pictures directly on the six inch papers.  They were not cut into their final size till after all pages were assembled.

12.  Next I layed out the blocks in a numbered order.  The first 6 inch pages would be placed on blocks 1 - 9, the second on 10 - 18 and so on.

13.   Using a paper cutter I made the completed pages into nine 2 inch squares.

14. I layed them out before I used adhessive and used some stickease images to fill in some of the "white" areas.

15.  It is important to make sure that the blocks are in the correct numbered order and orderly as you attach the design to the cubes. I found that it was easiest to do all the blocks facing the same way and rotating them one turn before doing the sides of the blocks.

16. When you are done, put the blocks back into the base you decorated and use as a unique home decoration or a game for family members to enjoy.  If you have any questions feel free to contact me for clearer instructions. (Alayneswillinghands@gmail.com)
 

Always, Alayne

Join me to "play" with Roxie next Saturday!

Roxie Workshop Reminder:

 Saturday 9:30am, January 21st

    Jesus Birthday 

       Celebration!

     Saturday, Dec 10^th

Come to Alayne’s home in Versailles this Saturday at 9:30am for a party!

I want to thank my friends and clients for being with me during this hard year, so I am having a party where everyone will get a chance to make free projects, win prizes, eat sweet treats and drink great coffee.

I hope to see you Saturday.

Always, Alayne

There is no charge but there will be opportunity to buy great Close To My Heart Products and Cricut Supplies.

The Cross is My Christmas Tree…

We went to Michigan for our Thanksgiving celebration with one of our daughters. We went to her church for the first Sunday of Advent and the sermon challenged us to remember what Christ had done on the Tree, The Cross for us during this Christmas Season.

 

What a blessing to be redeemed by Jesus Christ who came as a babe, and died on a cross for you and me.

Let’s keep our perspective as we go about our busy-ness with our family and friends as we celebrate Christmas this year.

Always, Alayne

Treasures Found in old TIF files, presented by Studio J

Old pictures in a new way: Studio J Always, Alayne

Delight

Proverbs 8:30

“I was filled with delight day after day.”

Time has gotten away from me and I did not keep my promise of writing every two weeks. Please be patient with me because I have been practicing what I preach, that it is more important to make memories than scrap them.  As applied to this new blog, it is more important to live for Christ, than to write about living for Christ.

Steve and I were discussing the verse from Proverbs 8:30 this week and how we could practically apply it to our everyday lives. Do we savor the everyday moments as well as the special events that happen less often?

I have been to Michigan to enjoy my daughter and her family that lives there as well as attend a fun Close To My Heart event near Detroit.

I met a lot of great people who love to preserve memories like me. I learned from their examples of crafting and from some interesting conversations. It was a high point for me, but I also enjoyed greatly the everyday moments with my daughter and granddaughter that I don’t get to experience very often.

This week, let us be filled with delight day after day…as we count some of the blessings we have been given from God above.

Always, Alayne

Christmas Card workshop Saturday, November 12^th

This is a Stock photograph of the special stamp set you can get a reduced price during the month of November. We will be using this stamp set to make a set of 16 Christmas cards next Saturday. (2 each of 8 designs from the Wishes book by Jannette Lynton.)

I will post the sample cards as I make them this week.  The cost of the workshop is $20 for everything you need to make and embellish 16 cards and envelopes. The class is free if you bring your own consumables.

Sonoma: pictures of cards and card accordian album