Card Making Process: Glossy Apple Accent Card

I finally picked up a bottle of the Glossy Accents (by Ranger) while checking in at Scrapology last week.  While going through my school themed stash, I came across four of these simple apple diecuts (I think they were from Creative Memories):

I knew they would be cute on Teacher cards, but they were . . . well . . . dull.  Ta-da!  Glossy Accents!

I started around the outside to make sure I got to the edges (you can use the bottle tip to move it around), then worked toward the middle.

This is when I was done -- I did use the bottle tip to take off just a little bit of that pool at the bottom of the apple.  It's okay if the paper bows a little.  It drys flat.  Make sure you give it plenty of time to dry.  I played it safe by letting it dry an hour, but it may only take 30 minutes.

Voila!  The finished apple on the card.  Really dresses it up, doesn't it? Makes old stuff look new.

You can notice the bubbles at the bottom of the apple?  I learned -- don't shake the bottle!  LOL  But you don't really notice it unless you look up close like this!

Have any of you had experiences with Glossy Accents?  Let me know or post your project using Mr. Linky below!

Card Making Process: Back to School

It's Friday, the laundry is "cooking", and it's a glorious rainy day -- perfect for scrapping!  I also love that it's going to be a three day weekend, which will give me more time to sit and work on more cards for challenges that will eventually go toward my October shipment Operation Write Home.  I was going through all my stash of Back to School stuff the past couple days, and I have way too much that I'll never use for layouts now . . . especially since I got a complete kit of the new "School Spirit" collection from Crate Paper!  (I'll have to tell you more on how I got that nifty little kit for free another time!)  Since I did have a lot of cute diecuts and stickers that I just can't throw away, I decided to use them for cards.

So with all this stash, I completed a card for this week's challenge at The Sweet Shop.  Most card challenge blogs I like require you to use stamps (or their stamps).  The Sweet Shop lets you use your own, which I did for the sentiment of the card, stamped in the inside of the apple diecut:

I thought this card could card could be used for a teacher or student.  What do you think?

Scrapbook Process: Showcase Your Child's Artwork

My youngest son, Josh, is in Kindergarten this year, and you know what that means -- lots of artwork comes home! Unfortunately, I really do not have the space to keep everything he will bring home during the year, so I found another solution. I found an inexpensive spiral scrapbook that is 10" x 7". (It already had the opening for a photo.) I used paper and sticker stripes to decorate the cover from the bland brown it was originally:

I started with a cover page inside:

Dedication page:


then took photos of his large artwork and created pages for each month when they were created. Here are a couple months in his book:


page 2 from November:


When I started the project, I precut the photo mats and the paper for each page. I have the next couple months ready, so all I have to do is choose the paper and start adhering.