Tutorial for the The Kraft Journal challenge

     Well peeps, it's the brand new kick off week for The Kraft Journal challenge blog.  Our fearless leader, Beth Moore, has waved her magic leader wand and tapped my shoulder to do the lead off tutorial for this new adventure.  A different member of the team will have a tutorial for you each week that will hopefully encourage those creative juices to flow.
     This weeks challenge is to use flourishes.  I'm not sure what it is about adding that little swirly shape to a project, but it sure makes a difference.  For my tutorial I'm going to show you a couple of ways you can use these little gems on your projects.  You may have seen these before, but if you're like me it never hurts to have a refresher course.  I won't own up yet that my memory is failing, but I do have to admit that there's so much stuff rattling around in my brain that I can't keep track of everything.  My husband says the problem is that I'm preoccupied.  Can't imagine why he'd think that. :)
     First off we're going to use some Kraft Outlet cardstock and a few supplies.  I'm using the #202 Lunchbag Kraft cardstock.  You'll need some flourish stamps, ink, scissors, whatever papercutting tools you use, a corner rounder, and gel and ink pens.

     Choose your stamp and use a ruler to determine the height that your cardstock will need to be cut at.  Make sure you leave a little room around your stamp for a border.

     Cut your cardstock square or rectangle out.  The length will depend on your project and how large you want your journaling square to be.

     Stamp your flourish image.

     Use your scissors to cut a small outline border around the outside edge of your stamped image.  You can use a corner rounder or decorative corner punch on the other two corners if you want to.

     Use a ruler to add lines to your journal spot.

     Below you'll see the finished products.  I used brown and black ink pens and a white gel pen to do some faux stitching and doodling.  I threw in the flag image (you can find this on #398 Between Prim Friends Vol. 1 graphics CD at the Kraft Outlet store) just to show you that you don't have to use a flourish on this technique.  There are several different kraft papers in the store here and they would all work very well for this little extra.

     Besides the cardstock, Kraft Outlet also carries chipboard.  The chipboard is a nice light weight,  perfect for cutting in the Cricut or Cuttlebug.  Nestabilities dies work great with it too.  In keeping with our flourish theme, I cut a few chipboard swirlies with my Cricut and used several finishes on them.

     The first one is covered in Scribbles 3-D paint and Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel.   

     Let this dry over night and then hit it with your heat gun.  You'll get this really cool bubbled effect.  The second one is covered with Distress Crackle paint and the third is just inked with Distress ink. 

     The possibilities are endless--glitter, paint, designer paper,beads, flocking, Glossy Accents, embossing powder, bling--the sky's the limit and it's a great way to make an inexpensive "custom" made embellishment for your scrapbooking page, card, or any other papercrafting project you can dream up.
     We hope you decide to join us for this inaugural challenge.  All you need to do is use a flourish on your project somewhere and of course some kraft paper or a Kraft Outlet product.  Easy peasy!  We don't require you to use Kraft Outlet kraft paper, but we think you'll love the quality of it if you give it a try.
Happy crafting!