Misti & My Brother Paper Piecing

Paper Piecing is such a fun way to add color and texture to stamps!  I prepared a couple of mini classes using Texana Designs Stamps and my favorite stamping tool, MISTI.  The main image was stamped on white cardstock and cut out with the Brother Scan 'n' Cut with a small white border.  The blue and red were stamped on colored papers and cut out by hand right along the line of the barbed wire.  Below is a step by step of preparing for 50+ participants.

 I positioned my three stamps on the Misti and inked the images with VersaFine.

By closing the Misit, I was able to stamp in exactly the same place every time.  If the image was not fully inked or if I didn't press evenly, I was able to stamp a second time precisely.

The images are nice and crisp.  Now lets let the Brother work it's magic.

I firmly attached the cardstock with the stamped images on the mat and loaded the mat.

I used the direct cut feature and narrowed the selected area to just cover the three images.

After the first cut with the stamped image, I continued to cut blank images.  By using the negative and putting the blank images back in the Misti I am able to stamp perfectly on the cutout images.

See how the Texas shape blank has already been fitted into the negative.  The heart is ready to drop in and then I would drop in the glad.  Because I had never moved the cling mounted stamps from the Misti, I can ink up the stamps again and stamp perfectly onto the blank images.

This is the coolest thing since sliced bread.  Talk about helping prep multiple images a piece of cake!

I was able to complete 50+ images cut and stamped in no time at all.

I am a frugal crafter, so I didn't want to stamp the entire shape on the red and blue papers so I made some adjustments.

I re-aligned the stamps so that the center line lined up.   Next I cut the colors just wide enough to place in the Misti and stamp the red bottom or left blue portion of the three images. 

I have not figured out how to make the Brother cut out each of the elements, so each piece would be fussy cut to be glued onto the white image.

Below is one of the finished cards.

And now a few other variations

Thanks for stopping by!

Texas isn't for wimps!

Here is a card and an ATC that I created using Texana Design stamps and showcasing one of the new sentiments.   I am still a glittering fool using the Elizabeth Crafts microfine glitter.  For the two cards I glittered the background then used jet black staz-on ink to stamp on top of the glitter.  After the image dried I colored it with Copic markers. The pictures just don't do justice to the original cards!!!

Jacob's Ladder Albums

UPDATE: The classes were great! A great big thanks to everyone that attended one or both! If you missed the classes in New Braunfels, our next Techniques and Jacob's Ladder classes will be July 9th at Scrapology in Lakeway.

Pam Sivage and I taught several Jacob's Ladder classes many years ago at Scrapbook Fever in Round Rock. This is one that Pam created from 1960s Christmas photos. I love her work!


Here is one of two that I created for the boys in my family a few years back. It is a 4" x 6" and was a big hit as a Christmas gift.


When my daughter went to the lake I decided to make a 3" x 4" Jacob's Ladder with wallet size photos.


This week Jimmye Sue of Texana Designs and I have been preparing for Scrapbook n' More classes in New Braunfels this Saturday. I am teaching the Jacob's Ladder and Jimmye Sue will be teaching techniques to go with it. We almost have a full house 12 and 14. There might be a few more spots available. It is so much fun to play with these albums and impress your family and friends or just show off your pictures. I posted a video of the book in action here.

Original inspiration:
Scrapbook Lounge, Jacob’s Ladder Flip n Fold
with Tricia Morris, May 4, 2007
Great video instructions now archived here

I have made many different variations of this album and taught it several years ago when I worked for lss in Round Rock (still miss the Fever Team). As I find photos of my old work I will try to update this entry with more pics. Below is the class sample for Scrapbook 'n' More in New Braunfels, Saturday 6/18/11.