digital scrapbooking

teacher appreciation – November

These got put together pretty quickly. T was needing something for his “team of 25” at work. These were pretty easy to put together in SCAL — I did however forget how heavy all those apples would be — and that T would need to pack them about 1/2 mile into his office from the gate — We did find a way to pack them in hopes that he wouldn’t bruise them too much. That duffle bag sure came in handy.

Background paper from an Autumn Collection in my digital files, I think. I used Fairy Sketch and Ink Free from my Fonts library on the PC. The tag is printed on a white base and I was able to 12 to a page and still have room for the registration marks to cut using the Print 2 Cut option in the SCAL software. Tags were cut using the Skycut C24.

Hoping you’re finding some creative time doing something you love! Enjoy! Keep nurturing your soul in a creative way.

November decor

As luck would have it, a few of our older decorations for the month of November need to go — they’re bent, torn and some are beyond repair. That being said, it just means it’s time to get started on some new pieces to replace the ones that are no longer usable.

Welcome to our newest additions:

I thought if might be fun to use the Easter Egg Gift Box as the base again for another pair of owls. Yep, similar to the Halloween themed owls found here. The Pilgrim Hat file is also from Simply Crafty SVGs and was resized to 47% of the original size. I had a metal buckle in my stash to use and her cap is simply a rectangle with a little shaping. I used a Spellbinder’s embossing folder (retired) for the panels and wings and then brushed ink over the top for a little more depth. A FUN NOTE: Our Miss Pilgrim was cut from white paper and then inked to add color. Eyes and beak are colored with markers.

Right now this pair is sitting on a shelf waiting to take their turn on the mantel or in the tiered tray as soon as October’s decor is put away in a few days. We’ll see where they end up.

Hope you’re finding some time to create in your space. Take care and we’ll connect again soon.

October cards

How quickly September has flown by. The leaves are beginning to turn colors and fall has officially arrived. We’ve enjoyed cool mornings and pleasant afternoons and evenings.

It’s also been fun to create cards using old and new techniques that will be delivered the first part of the month. This first card is the October ministering card. I saw a similar idea on Pinterest — but put my own twist on it using Procreate to “paint” the image using some of the techniques I’ve learned in a couple of online classes. The leaves are a brush from Sandra Createinspain. There were lots to choose from in a recent online offering. The sentiment stamp was found in a collection from Fun Stampers Journey (retired). Using my stamp jig made it very easy to add the sentiment on each card front after printing the main image.

We have two birthdays at the beginning of the month. Mother and daughter. I had a difficult time choosing the designs, but I think ultimately, these will work just fine for them this year. The first card is print to cut — I used Impact font, filling each of the letters with a patterned paper from Creative Fabrica. Each letter is backed with a cut in black paper set slightly to one side to create a shadow. Birthday script is done in Edwardian Script and all pieces are printed using the SCAL software’s Print 2 Cut process. The dry embossed piece is distressed and adhered to a regular A2 card base. The embossing folder is from Fun Stampers Journey (retired). I love using some of my older products! It can be used either vertically or horizontally as used in this card.

Maybe in next iterations, I’ll add some additional inking for a little more texture and depth.

The last card for this post was designed in SCAL 6 – using basic shapes from the library. The flowers and leaves are printed in a base color with additional depth and details added using colored pencils and an embossing tool. The label was created using basic shapes — a rectangle and oval and then using the Mirror Symmetry command under the Effects tab to create the shape – I added some additional details using a Winsor Newton .01 gray pen, a background stamp (Stampin’ Up! retired), and inking the edges after some distressing using an emory board to achieve the desired look. The Happy Birthday banner has been shaped a bit and glued in place before adhering the piece to the panel that was embossed using a Provo Craft embossing folder — another item from the cupboard. I really enjoyed seeing this one come to life — adding additional color to each flower and leaf was a great way to add som more depth and the embossing tool added the texture that made a lot of difference in how the light impacts the design.

As always, the Skycut performed well and each print 2 cut design was spot on! I’ve had the machine for over 4 years and haven’t had to make any additional adjustments to the calibration after the initial set up for my machine!

3 Fall Tags 2025 – Tag 3

I saw something similar a few weeks ago on Pinterest and thought I would try my hand at doing something like it for my final tag in this challenge.

I drew and colored the bat in Procreate. After saving it as a png, I was able to do a little final editing in Photopea (an online photo editing program-free) before importing into SCAL. I did hand cut the white portion of the eyes so I could put a small piece of vellum behind that now open space with the goal of adding lights* to the tag.


For the remaining pieces of this tag, I used basic shapes from the SCAL library and added some fun papers using the Pattern command option. It’s so much fun to play with. The papers are from Echo Park (I Love Halloween Mega Collection). Everything in this matting was set to print 2 cut and the easy step by step process works magically each and every time! I added some inking to add a little more interest and texture before putting the tag together.

*The light is from Pear Blossom Press. I used the EZ-Light version. It’s an all in one unit with 3 lights each and the packaging also includes the batteries. The word PRESS is a stamp from TLC Designs. They’re perfect for interactive cards as well as indicating where the ‘button’ is on a light up card or tag.

These tags and several others can be found on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/eclipsecal
We have some amazing artists on the page and since I’m writing this a little early — my hopes are that we’ll have several of them participating again this year!

that ornament file has a new life

With Christmas not too far away, let's just say, getting a head start is a good idea for this gal.  I should have started two months ago…. at least on my cards!  

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Pinterest inspired, this make was lots of fun and I even got to use some things from my stash and the scrap bin too!  
The file for the ornament is from Simply Crafty SVGs and the file I used for the H is from the 3D Letter SVG Kit at SVGCuts.com. (You get the whole alpha in the kit!) 

The 3d Round ornament gift box file was also used for some Halloween decor in my last post.  But I thought that changing it up to a bell would work too.  I did do a search for something similar in 3D, but struck out, so it was time to put things together to bring it to life.  

Bell

This is also where the paper yarn came into the crafting picture.  I needed something small to fit in the space between the halves of the ornament… but nothing seemed to work.  I tried wrapping paper around some cording, a pipe cleaner, and even designed a boxy trim – but nothing looked right.  While browsing the net one evening, I found a tutorial for making paper yarn.  The form I liked the best was using crepe paper and you can get about 9 yards of "yarn" from 1 yard of crepe paper when it's all spun.  I did need to get a drop spindle — but that was okay as I plan to use it for some other projects as well.  

Here's what my "yarn" looks like after it is spun.


Yarn

BELLS:  Once the ornament has been assembled following the video (here), glue the two halves together.  Get those edges close together.  When dry, you can apply the paper yarn.  I used Bearly Art craft glue to adhere the yarn in the area between the two halves.  

Decorate as desired. I used some die cuts (dies from Sizzix) and some wired ribbon I found at Hobby Lobby — yep, they're already setting their Christmas section!  

LetterH

Letter H:  Assemble the H according to the directions.  It really is an easy letter to put together.  Ink the edges of the H panel.  Decorate with a strip of black across the center of the H and add a second piece of black that has been threaded through the belt buckle.  I purchased a tin of buckles and frames from Oriental Trading quite a while ago and still had some that worked well for this project.  Adhere this panel to the front of the H and you're ready to display!  

As you can see, I made 3 of each – 3 bells and 3 H's.  You can display them in a several ways – and they'll be perfect for your holiday display this year and in years to come.  

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Happy Crafting!  Enjoy some creative time today and every day!