My Mind's Eye Blog

Jewelry Making with Decorative Tapes

 

Hello! It’s Valerie with my first post for 2015. Thanks to My Mind’s Eye I have this amazing collection of decorative tape! I’ve been doing some thinking—thinking of different things to make using this tape. I’ve seen people use it to decorate their walls and furniture, but what about wearing it…as in using it to make jewelry? And then this little endeavor led to creating some embellishments for scrapbooking too.


I have a box of air dry modeling clay that I purchased from my local craft store a couple years ago. It’s a white clay that feels and looks similar to the stuff we used in high school art class and put in the kiln to dry. I usually get it out around Christmas time to make some handmade ornaments with my son.

Yes, I did say I bought this box a couple years ago, and well, this is probably my last project with it—it’s starting to get a little dry. Amazing that it lasted as long as it did! You could also probably use the modeling clay that comes in lots of colors and a much smaller size than my ten pound box of clay.


So here’s my supplies. I raided my son’s play-doh tools and pulled out a rolling pin and a cutting wheel. I’ve also got a paintbrush, a ruler, a paper piercer, some heart shaped cookie cutters, and a scrap piece of cotton canvas cloth. In high school we always worked with our clay on a canvas cloth. I think it was because it was easier to peel the clay off the cloth than a smooth table.

It’s kind of like your floured work surface I guess, and I do like the texture it leaves on the clay. Later on in the post I added gel medium, embossing ink, embossing powder, and a heat gun to my arsenal of supplies, but they didn’t make the photo.

Supplies: My Mind’s Eye Market Street Ashbury Heights decorative tape (pink floral), Lost & Found Record It Antique decorative tape (silver chevron), and Now & The Milo decorative tape (yellow/turquoise floral).

I used two different very basic techniques to create my pendants. I rolled the dough flat like when making sugar cookies and cut it into strips. Then I connected the ends to create the pendant in the photo on the left above.

For the pendants on the right, I rolled the clay out like a snake/worm and cut it down to size. I used a paper piercer to create the hole. The clay, when it’s this thin and small doesn’t take too long to dry. I may have placed it on the heat vents in our house to speed up the process a little.

It definitely shouldn’t take much longer than overnight to dry. First, I used gel medium on the pendant and then applied the tape while the gel medium was still tacky. I applied another layer of gel medium on top of the tape to make sure it was adhered well. I decided to add a little silver and gold with some embossing powder. I simply rolled the pendant or pressed the pendant onto my embossing ink pad and then dipped it into the embossing powder and heated it up with a heat tool.

While I had the clay out I decided to cut a few cute little hearts to use as embellishments for a layout. I used gel medium again to make sure the tape was adhered well. Then, used them on this easy single-photo layout pictured below (I’m still slightly obsessed with all the pretty Necessities vellum paper).

Supplies: My Mind’s Eye Necessities Black & Gray “Stripe” vellum paper. Jubilee Wild Berry “Hey You” Rub-Ons. Now and Then Dorothy “Celebrate” Alpha/Word Stickers. My Mind’s Eye decorative tape Pink & Charcoal collection and Pink & Yellow collection. Other: Bazzill Basics Kraft paper and black ink.

Anyone else ready to give clay and decorative tape a try? It’s quite the odd couple, but it was fun experimenting and creating with. Thanks for stopping by!

Mix and Match with Karen | December 2014

This is Karen, back with another Mix and Match for the month of December. If you're anything like me, December is a very busy month for you, too. Between work and the holidays and working on my December
Daily, I rarely find time to do anything else during this time of year.

However, this time of year is also a very reflective time for me. I like to look back and the year I'm saying goodbye to and look forward to the year I'm welcoming. I like to come up with my word of the year and some
specific projects and goals for the year. And another tradition I started last year is to think about my desired feelings for the year.

This is how I want to be feeling throughout the year. Here, you can see my layout on this from last year.

So, instead of doing nothing, I wanted to challenge myself to see how quickly I could make a layout. I wrote my journaling, which was the important part for reflection. I grabbed a recent photo of myself, which was a core goal for 2014 (get in the photos more) and then I sat down at my desk.

I put the photo down somewhere on the page that felt pleasing to me. Then I took out all the My Mind's Eye tape that I love and makes me happy and just put it down on my page line by line. I let it seep into my other page a small amount to create the feeling of connectedness between the two pages.

I added one big 2015 and spelled "here i come" in little alphas and stitched all around my two pages. And I was done:



I know it looks simple but it also makes me really, really happy.

See, I even look happy in the photo:



You can read the full journaling here.

I like playing with product as much as the next scrapbooker and sometimes I love tinkering with my pages forever or coming up with something creative. And then, other times, I love being able to create a page that makes me happy in minutes.

It's good to have both in my box of tricks.

If you've got some tricks to make super-fast pages, I'd love to see them!

Mix and Match with Karen | September 2014

 

Hi everyone,

This is Karen. I am back with another Mix and Match layout. For this month, I wanted to experiment with leaving a little more room on the bottom of my journaling page to see if I could find a slightly different
way to unite my two pages without doing a border. So I left some empty space on the bottom and then used washi tape to make strips that go across both pages. Here's a look at my full page:


Even though this page has no border to unite the two 6x12s, the tape going across the bottom and top makes it feel like one 12x12 page. You can read the full journaling here.

Since the Mix and Match posts are all about how you can match your older products with the new ones, I wanted to show you a trick I used on this page. My Mind's Eye uses several differing shades of pink and blue in their products.

Most of the time, I love combining these and it doesn't bother me if they don't match perfectly. But once in a while, I find myself annoyed at a particular shade. In this layout, I wanted to use the joy chipboard piece from the Market Street line and the blue glittered tape from the Necessities line.

The chipboard piece was more of a green/teal blue whereas the tape was more baby blue and I didn't like the way the two sat near each other. So once I finished my whole layout, I covered the chipboard piece with some Stickles that matched my tape.


To many of you, this may not matter at all. But, for me, the end result was closer to what I wanted for this particular layout. I wanted to point this out as an option when you find yourself wanting to use a product but don't like the particular shade of the color.

You can also cover it with clear glitter which will make it shiny enough that the shade won't matter as much. You can also paint it, of course.

To give the layout a bit of balance, I then added two more small bits of glitter. One on the left side, on the chevron and one on the top right on the little heart.


One of the reasons I love washi tape is for its flexibility. After I made my strips going along the bottom of the page, I knew I wanted one on top, too, but I hadn't left enough room on top to allow for that. I knew I wanted to leave a strip of white on top so I was stuck with having to go around the journaling.

To make this look more purposeful, I picked a tape with the Chevron pattern and cut out the edges and taped
it around my journaling.


This way I got the stripe I wanted and having to cut a piece out even added a bit of extra interest.

I created several little and big triangles in this layout. One is with the three little hearts on the right page and the other one is the chipboard flag piece on the top right, the right side towards the bottom and the chevrons on the bottom of the left page. These help keep your eyes focused inside the page instead of wandering out of the layout.

And finally, I added little word tidbits here and there:


To remind myself that one can never achieve perfection and to adhere my pieces with my favorite adhesive, I then stitched all over my page. I like stitching in black because it adds texture and contrast.

Here's the layout once more:


And that's it for September, thank you for letting me share my page and I'd love to see some of yours in the comments!

Product Spotlight | Decorative Tapes- Market Street

Hi!  Tina here today with a great way to use decorative tape to create a frame on a scrapbook layout.

Supplies:Market Street-Nob Hill:Chipboard Elements, Flair, Foiled Mixed Bag, Enamel Dots, 6x6 Paper Pad, Decorative Tape,Journal Card Packs; Other:Cardstock:  American Crafts Twine: American Crafts Adhesive: Tombow (tape runner)

I have a confession.  My love for decorate tape was starting to wane.  I have loved decorative tape for so long and have been inspired by the amazing patterns, colors, and sizes, but had felt the time had come to de-stash myself of my decorative tape collection. 

I felt that feeling of defeat up until the new decorative tape appeared in the Market Street and Essentials collections.  The decorative tape in these 2 collections made me fall in love with washi all over again, and I am again obsessed with adding tape to every project. 

Instead of using decorative tape for hints of color, layers, and pattern, why not make the decorative tape the star attraction?I created a frame around my cardstock with 2 tapes.  I trimmed the corners to mimic the look of a wood frame. 

Using some of my favorite chipboard, sticker, and die-cut embellishments, I layered more goodness across my page.  I even used a journal card for fun.

Tie it up with a bow!

Do you still love decorative tape?  What is your favorite use for tape?  I’d love to know.

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a great day!

Tina

Product Spotlight | Decorative Tapes

Supplies: Necessities - Blue: decorative tape; Market Street - Ashbury Heights: journal card pack, stickers; Market Street - Nob Hill: stickers, enamel dots; Cut and Paste - Presh: decorative tape set; Misc: black ink and thread, Mr. Huey's Color Mist - Ocean.

Ahhh, the carefree days of summer.  Running from friend's house to friend's house with out a care in the world and the only worry you have is to be home by dark.  My youngest has enjoyed palling around with his little buddies all day - every day.  A few weeks ago, it was a sweltering day and I suggested they put the sprinkler on the trampoline and cool off.  

 

A little while later, I discovered our neighbor had brought over his slide and they fashioned their own water slide with it off the back our stone firepit bench.  They had such a blast - I love their creative minds!!  So, how do you scrapbook a ton of action shots taken with your cell phone?  Why, a few film strips of course!!

I love MME's vast array of decorative tapes.  I dug trough my stash to find some that coordinated with my photos - and captured the fun feel of a summer day.  I layered two blue striped pieces of tape from the "Necessities" collection for the foundation of my page.   Then I layered four more tapes to create the bottom and side borders.  

 

I placed a paper over the tapes to mask them, then I sprayed the background paper with blue ink - to echo the splashes of water in the photos. I used the Market Street Journaling card - "All the Adventure You Could Ever Want" for my title.  I layered three stickers over the title and placed 5 enamel dots on the journaling card.  I love how I could take elements from 3 different collections and they worked perfectly together.

 

I hope you can take time to document some of the fun and impromptu moments from your summer. :)

 

-Tamara

May Sketch Challenge

Hello all, it has been awhile!  It's Ronda here with your May Sketch.  This month's sketch is all about playing with layers of patterned paper.  Stacking them behind your photos to create a dynamic focal point.

Remember...you are interpreting the sketch so feel free to rotate the sketch or change out the two photos for one large photo.  Envision the pieces and see how you can make the sketch your own with embellishments, paint, patterned paper, and other wonderful My Mind's Eye products. 

Before i jump into my interpretation of the sketch, let's talk a little bit about patterned paper.  

My Mind's Eye always offers you a wide variety of patterned papers with larger patterns, small patterns, neutrals, & bold colors.  So how do you decide which ones to use?  Patterned papers should complement your photos not compete.  

In the above photo, with her pretty floral dress these papers compete for attention.  

These papers complement with the photos, letting them take center stage.  But there is a way to use all these lovely patterns without competing with the photos.  

Supplies:  Necessities: Teal - Decorative Tape, Metallics - Monogram Alpha, Decorative Tape, Wood- 'Light' Wood Paper, Wood Shapes, Decorative Tapes;  Market Street: Ashbury Height - 'Global' Paper, 'Flowers' Paper, 'Shimmer' Foil Paper, Chipboard Elements,  Decorative Buttons, Decorative Stickers, Enamel Dots, Flair; Misc: The Crafter's Workshop RetroBursts Stencil, Ranger archival Ink: Black & Rose Madder, Black Pen, Neocolor II, DMC Floss

When I stacked these patterned papers, I took care not to put the floral paper near the photo.  The floral print is beautiful and I completely adore it, but if I placed it right under the photo it would compete.  So I stacked the more neutral paper next to the photos.

I love how all the paper looks stacked on each other.  I stitched a wonky border around them all and inked the edges with black ink.  I offset the patterned papers to showcase them all.  

Stacking & layering things together just like the paper stacks: watercolors, stickers, enamel dots, wood elements.  I loved the chipboard title stacked with the flair.  The chipboard heart looks great on the photo.  

Okay. Now it's your turn.

A random winner will be chosen and shared with our next challenge on June 2  . You have until the end of the day on June 1  to share your project.

Please link your sketch via the InLinkz tool at the bottom of this post. Your layout must feature MME products. Only one entry per participant, please. The prize is any MME collection.

Have fun and good luck!

An InLinkz Link-up

Anatomy of a Double Page Layout | April 2014

Hello everyone! This is Shelly with a behind the scenes look at the makings of a double page layout.

Awe… SPRING! It is here… well, sort of. Being in the Midwest, I keep waiting for that next and last snowfall we seem to get in March/April. Maybe this year, we will get lucky though. A girl can dream, right!? With the birds chirping and the snowpiles gone for now, I was iching to play with some bright playful fun colors. I was inspired to get our spring memories documented from last year for my daughter’s album.

Supplies: Now & Then – Dorothy: “Lovely Day” Party Paper, “The Best” Happiness Paper, “Wild & Free” Spirited Paper, “Lovely Day” Play Paper, “Pretty” Label Stickers, “The Best” Accent Stickers, “Wild & Free” Enamel Dots, “Celebrate” Decorative Buttons, 6x6 Designer Paper Pad; Now & Then – Izzy: “Boys” Smart Paper; Cut & Paste Decorative Tapes; other: My Mind’s Eye twine, Thickers, string, bubble border punch.

 

Left Side:

 

Right Side:

After pulling my favorite pictures aside to scrapbook, I created a quick sketch in my notebook.  I had quite a few pictures, so I actually opted to go with an additional “insert” of a 6x12 divided pocket page. I would be able to slide in 4x6 pictures to document Easter and a Girl Scout outing that was important to my daughter

That way, I had the pictures in her album, but if I ever feel the creative desire to scrapbook those memories, I could easily go back and do that too! It’s a great way of feeling accomplished and get those memories documented.

Next up, laying it all out with an idea of colors! As you can see, my page ended up changing just a touch after some cutting and pasting. I put the focal picture on the left side of my page instead of the right like I had sketched it.

I went back and forth with it, but ultimately decided to switch up my initial plan. Looking at it now, it could still easily go on the right side… I can’t be the only one out there that always second guesses herself. Right? HA!


After laying out my papers, I started the embellishment process. I started with my big empty 6x8 spot. I had ideas of either a large title to fill the space or filling it with some journaling. I opted for both, sort of. I typed up my journaling to see how much I had to say.

I always make sure there is room for the story before I add any of the fun stuff, but why not include the story as part of the fun stuff? I cut the journaling block into a banner and then added a few fun patterned banners too. After having that in place, I went with a small title to fill in on one of the banners.

With the left side being very photo heavy, I went light on embellishment there. I added a few strips of decorative tapes and a phrase sticker.


Following the triangle rule of thumb with my embellishment groupings, I added a little something extra to the top left. A simple bubble border strip, a button, and a couple of enamel dots did the trick just like I had done on the other side of my page.

This is the finished product with the 6x12 divided pocket page to include some extra memories. I added a little tab on the side labeling each event. It is so simple and easy, and just like that the memories of spring 2013 are documented for my daughter.

Thank you so much for stopping by today. I hope you have a wonderful day!

Mix and Match with Karen | March 2013 Edition

 

Hi everyone!

It's Karen, back with another Mix and Match. This month, I decided to just have fun with the wide range of decorative tape My Mind's Eye has come out with in the last few years. I love this tape and I decided to
challenge myself this month to only use tape and no paper on my layout.

Here's the end result:


This whole page has nothing but tape for its background. Since I am continuing with the theme of 2 6x12 pages with a full page journaling, it was really easy to continue the washi tape on to the next page to create a more seamless and unified effect.

The other nice thing about the decorative tape is that it can be cut very easily.  For the left side, where I have a lot of journaling, I wanted to layer some extra tape to give it color and have the two pages go together better. But I didn't have that much room due to all the journaling, so I took my take and cut it into a third to make it really narrow. Below that one, I put an even thinner layer of the green one. I topped them with a blue heart and a pink enamel and that was all the left side needed to feel whole.


On the top right, I decided to add some stickers, enamels, and chipboard pieces just to give my page a bit more depth and texture. I also put some twine through the chipboard piece to give it a more whimsical feel.


And then, finally, I added my title. I loved pulling all the colors from all the different decorative tapes and just having fun with my long title. It says: This is a moment of deep joy and gratitude for me.


If you'd like to read the full journaling on this page, you can do so, here.

And here we are. If you haven't done a washi-only page yet, I highly recommend it. These tapes go wonderfully together regardless of how old or new your My Mind's Eye products are. They are really easy to adhere, cut, manipulate,  layer, and tear. And, as my son would say, they are super-fun!

Thanks for letting me share my page, see you next month with another Mix and Match!

March Challenge!

Hi!  Tina here today with the March Challenge!  Tapes! Use 3 or more tapes in a project.

I adore decorative tape! Tape can be used on a multitude of projects and is always the perfect little touch.

For the challenge this month, I challenged myself to create a layout using mostly tapes. Once I had an idea in mind, the layout design/creation took no time at all. Here's how I created my layout, using 6 different decorative tapes from the new Record It! collections.

To start, I drew a loose rectangle in the center of my paper.  I also (using a t-square) sectioned off several areas where I wanted to place the tape.


Using a black and white pen, I doodled on each tape, using the tape design as a guide.  This really added a  whimsical and unique look to the tape.


Draw another loose rectangle around the tape section.  This will act as a frame around the tape. Embellish and color the frame with paint markers.


Add a journal card (that is also doodled), 1/2 of a doily, and a title and you are done!

Supplies:Decorative Tapes (Just Splendid, Here is Happy), Journaling Kit (Just Splendid) ;Misc: Cardstock:  American Crafts Pen: Scarlet Lime, Uniball, Sakura Markers: Montana Markers Chipboard Alphas: Pink Paislee Stickers: Prima Doily: Knot & Bow Adhesive - Tombow

Easy, quick, and really fun!

So there you have it. My take on the challenge. Can you use 3 or more decorative tapes on a layout? Show us how! Here are the rules.

1. You can submit a layout,card,album,altered item,etc.

2. The project must consist of mainly MME. It must "look" like a MME project. :) It must fit the theme.

3. The project must be created new for this challenge. You may only submit one project.

4. Upload the project to the InLinkz link tool at the end of this post by the end of the day on Monday,March 31.

5. A random winner will be chosen and announced with the March challenge on Tuesday, April 1.

 

Thanks for stopping by, and have a great day!

 

 

Getting Creative with Decorative Tapes

Hey there, MME fans! Missy here with you today.

If you’re anything like me, by now you’ve got quite the collection of washi tape. I absolutely love it and can’t believe I scrapped so long without it. It’s so fun and easy to use, and it’s great for adding a little pattern or pop of color here and there.

I’m excited to share a project I created for my scrap room. It’s a canvas, and I used many MME washi tapes to create some fun patterns.I also used some MME stamps, stickers, chipboard, brads and enamel dots as well.

I started out by using gesso on my canvas. I pulled out a few templates and some colored spray inks and then used some modeling paste to add some texture. I wanted to create a bright and inspiring piece to hang near my scrap desk, and I had the idea of a color explosion. So I pulled out many rolls of washi tape in multiple colors and started layering it down all over the canvas.

I wanted it to look messy, so there were no right or wrong creative moves in this project.

Supplies: Decorative Tape Sets: Coral & Aqua, Pink & Charcoal, Blue & Yellow, Pink & Yellow; Tapes from: Collectable, Cut & Paste “Adorbs,” “Flair,” “Presh,” Sweetest Thing; Stamps from: Cut & Paste “Flair,” “Adorbs,” & Collectable; Chalk Studio: Chipboard Elements, Stickers; Lost & Found “Antique”: Alpha & Word Stickers, Chipboard Elements, Enamel Dots, 6x6 paper pad; Cupid’s Arrow No. 14 Enamel Shapes; My Girl Decorative Brads; Cut & Paste “Adorbs” Decorative Brads, Enamel Dots; Other: Artist’s Loft canvas, Dylusions Spray Ink by Ranger, Crafter’s Workshop templates, Liquitex gesso, Golden modeling paste, Martha Stewart acrylic paint, watercolors, book paper, pop dots, Silhouette Cameo, cardstock.

 

This adorable camera sticker is from the Chalk Studio collection. I painted it blue and added some thread behind it. I love how the black pieces from Chalk Studio really stand out against all the bright colors.

You can see several pieces of the tape here, too. I like to tear off a long strip of tape and then tear it in half to give it an uneven look.

Here are lots more tape strips. I also used some old book paper to give the look of text through all the color and texture. I love how this Happy Day chipboard piece pops!

The birds are also from Chalk Studio. I chose to leave them white so they’d stand out. You can see some of the stamping here, too.

I just LOVE the glasses tape! I wear glasses half the time, so I wanted to include them on my project. The days of the week tape is another big favorite of mine from the Collectable line.

I hope this inspires you to get creative with your washi tapes. They are so versatile and can be used on more than just layouts and cards. They’re so much fun to play with! Thanks for stopping by, and have a great day!

Missy