April FreeHand Scraps Kit: Magnet Board Tutorial

As soon as I opened my April FreeHand Scraps kit and saw the guest checks, chalk bubble, Jenni Bowlin blue ribbon embellies,  Scrumptious Basic Grey red patterned paper and cork heart, I knew I wanted to make a magnet board for my kitchen stove-top area.

What you will need:

• 1 frame*
• photo-editing program like PSE/PS (Photoshop Elements/Photoshop)
• photo paper, printer

From April's FHS kit: 

• 1 sheet of Basic Grey "Scrumptious" red patterned paper
• guest checks
•  Jenni Bowlin blue ribbon embellies
•  chalk bubble
•  small circular magnets* 
• Paint-A-Mag* (I used a 40%off coupon for this item and have alot left over).
• Jillibean Soup corrugated frames  
• sheet metal: Obtained from local hardware store--I cut it down to size (12 x 12) with my DH's tinsnips but one could pay a small price to have it cut down at the hardware store.  Make sure you buy a sheet metal that attracts magnets. :)

(*denotes items purchased at Michael's (big box craft store here in the United States).



I started with this frame purchased 50% off at Michael's = $10 (Score!) I removed the premade scrapbook page and placed the red patterned paper from the kit into the frame. Just make sure the side of the patterned paper you want used is facing the correct direction in the frame.

Then I ran to my local hardware store and purchased a piece of sheet metal. It was about $5 and I have some left over for another project. (Yeah, the guys at the hardware store were loving little ole me coming in and asking for sheet metal! You should've seen the looks on their faces when I proceeded to tell them what I was using it for. Priceless!)

Place the trimmed sheet metal behind the patterned paper, toward the back of the frame. Then add the cardboard that came with the frame back into the frame to help hold the layers together. Clasp down the layers into the frame with the metal tabs that are a component of the frame.

Next, using Photoshop, I selected a picture of each of family member and resized each photo to fit the openings of the corrugated frames. Be sure to leave a small border/margin around each picture. This will come in handy later when you glue the newly made photo magnets to their corresponding corrugated frames.

I created my photo collage in Photoshop using a 4x6 format and printed it out on 4x6 photo paper. (I don't like wasting anything, so I added an extra photo to the collage and reserved it for another project).

I glued the trimmed photos to the corrugated frames, running adhesive around the perimeter of  each photo.

Then I used liquid glue to adhere the Paint-A-Mag material to the photo. Tacky Glue or Tombo permanent liquid glue both worked well. (I did place a heavy book over the photos to prevent warping while the glue dried).

Also, be sure that the black, magnetized side of the Paint-A-Mag faces out as shown below.

I turned the Jenni Bowlin blue ribbon embellishments into magnets quickly by adhering the small circular magnets to each with Glue Dots.

The chalk bubble was also made into a magnet by the same process I described earlier.

Arrange the photos and embellished magnets to your liking and you are good to go!

 The finished project sits just to the left of my stove-top in my kitchen, perched on a recipe book easel.

NOTE: Since the framed photos are magnetized, they are frequently moved around to the person "Thinking/Stating" what he/she wants for dinner. My family actually has had a few small disputes over who gets to write on the chalkboard each day! :)

This whole project took less than 30 minutes to make and cost less than $20. If you have further questions or want more explanation, please leave a comment on this post and I will comment back. 

I really enjoyed playing with this month's kit and this magnet board has quickly become a favorite altered project of mine (and my family's!)

Have a joyful day!

Suz

Beautiful Blooms of Joy Today

...came my way via a few lovely floral delivery ladies. Thank you to Jules, Gil, Nate and Lexi! The flowers are simple gorgeous and truly put some joy into my day! Love you all.

Suz

April Free Hand Scraps Kit - Reveal

Hi everybody! Back to life in the scrapbooking world. The following are layouts and projects I created with the kit. I'm loving the flowers and vintage feel to this kit!! 

I'll be back later with a tutorial post on a magnet board I created with the kit. Fun! Fun! Easy! Peasy!

She's Gone...

My beloved, big sister, Linda "Linny" went on to be with our Lord, early Tuesday morning.linda had just won her battle with leukemia when she suddenly contracted pneumonia as a complication from chemotherapy she had been receiving. (In other words, the chemo wiped out all of her immune system in order to get all of the cancer and therefore she had no defense against any infections or diseases). Our mother and Linda's two kiddos, Shelby (my niece) age 16, and Casey, (my nephew) age 11 were by her side.

Visitation will be held Fri April first at Faith Lutheran Church in Valders, WI from 6-8:30pm. On Sat, April 2 there will be a Celebration of Life ceremony from 1-3pm. We encourage all to bring photos and memories of laughter and love of time spent with Linda.
Immediately following the Celebration of Life ceremony will be a memorial service in her honor.

In lieu of flowers, memorials can be sent ("College Fund") to:

Shelby and Casey Gunderson at:
Lake Shore Farm Management
401 S. Calumet Drive
PO Box 280
Valders, WI 54245-0280

Thank you to all who have expressed their love and support both here on my blog and elsewhere. We feel your love and prayers.

Hope to be back soon with a more uplifting post.
Hugs to all,
Suz

Please, PLEASE pray for my sister

My sister, Linda, acquired pneumonia this morning and is now in critical condition on life support. The next few hours are extremely critical...

Please, please pray for her to be healed. We just received word Fri. that her blood was cancer free.
Thank you beyond measure for your prayers and support!
Suz

April's FreeHand Scraps Sneak Peeks!

Here ya go!

Here ya go! :) Hope these will tide you over until the full reveal tomorrow! ;-)

I Never Thought I'd See the Day...

...our basement eating area would be used for this...

...entering the Realm of Sparfest! Onlookers beware! LOL

Coming up really soon...SNEAKS of Freehand Scraps April kit. After I completed my guestwork for March, Miss Elaine asked if  wouldn't i "stay on and design for April and May too?"
{ Darn...do I have to?}
;-)

Tis the Allergy Season

...and I am sooo not liking it! I am so very bummed that I have grown a severe allergy to the out of doors. It is a beautiful, gorgeous day and yet I have to spend it inside despite longing to be outdoors. Trying to keep it all in perspective though, as I know there are many individuals out there struggling with so much more...
So, on the bright side, I thought I'd post a few pics i took from this past week. A little bit of happy, a little bit of crazy (as in the weather!) and a little bit of every day life here in our little part of the world.

 Ethan had his big piano festival last Sat. He had been practicing his pieces since last November. All of his hard work paid off as he earned a "Superior" rating on both pieces! Way to go Boo! :)

 Here's the craziness to the weather. So typical of life in the Ozarks-- One day beautifully sunny, perfect day for flying a kite--The next day= Hail/Ice Pellets come crashing down from the sky! Sheesh!

 Ouch!

Misting/Spray Ink Color Guide Tutorial

So, I don't know about you, but as my stash of spray inks has grown, I realized I needed a way to visually help me know what each color  of mist looked like on paper. So, here's what I did to help me keep my colors straight:

1. Punched out several squares of white card stock.

2. Spray misted each square using my trusty "Misting Box."

       

3. Adhered each colored square in a column by manufacturer to an 8.5 x 11 piece of card stock. I labeled each color by the manufacturer's name listed on each bottle of mist. 

*I made sure to leave room for new additions to my color chart in the future. (One never knows when the misting stash might grow!) ;-)

4. I slipped my color chart into an 8.5 x 11 sheet protector and placed it in a three ring binder I have for sketches, etc. and now it's ready to go for easy reference! 

Another idea:  Cut up your 8.5 x 11 paper into strips and make "paint sample" strips of the square color samples. Punch a hole in the top end of each strip. Align each strip of color samples with each punched hole and place a metal binding ring (you can purchase at Hobby Lobby or Michael's) through the stacked strips. Flip to the manufacturer or color you are looking for, and you are good to go!

Here's a pic of how I organize and store my mists. This organizer/tool caddy is a little something I picked up a few years back from Hobby Lobby. It has a handle and sits just inside the door of my walk-in closet where most of my scrapbook supplies are. I like that they are near-by and easily accessible. 

Oh, I almost forgot! One other thing! Some mists do not show up well on white card stock. (One of the reasons I wanted to make up a color chart to begin with). For example, the Marshmallow Mist Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist is difficult to see on white card stock (no contrast). So, I punched out a black square and misted the Marshmallow Mist onto it for better visibility of the color.  Silver mist was  also difficult to see on both black and white. So, it ended up being sprayed on a light blue piece of card stock.

Hope you found this helpful! Happy misting!