RStovall's Blog

Attorney in the Making

2011-03-27T23:35:00.000-07:00

Love this layout and that I got to use some new products! Here is the creation from ColourQ number 78!

Smiles

2011-03-27T23:32:00.000-07:00

Another fun layout from the ColourQ! Here is number 77.

Post

2011-03-18T18:44:00.001-07:00

Colour Q Challenge # 76! Love these colors... really fun to work with!

Colour Q 71

2011-02-09T20:46:00.001-08:00

Colour Q Challenge # 71

Here are the colors I worked with to create this layout.

Can we say pink!?!

Colour Q Challenge #69

2011-01-30T11:35:00.000-08:00

As a DT I also like just playing with the colors at the ColourQ! This is challenge # 69 see colors below.

CQC #68 Challange

2011-01-21T20:46:00.000-08:00

A lovely creation for the ColourQ Challenge # 68.

Here are the fun colors!

Detail Shots:

Some older brads from a "road trip theme" worked wonderful on this layout. Also, a little hand journaling around the layout creates a faux frame.

I didn't realize how many "road trip themed" items I had until I started digging.

As always mixing fonts are a fav of mine... I love you American Crafts!!!

Products Used:

Cardstock: So saffron, cherry cobbler, & white
October Afternoon, Night Light: Louie
Basic Grey Papers: Marrakech
7Gypsies Fabric Tape
American Crafts Thickers: Lulaby Sunflower & Tinsel Red
Various Brads
Zig Calligraphy Pen: Chocolate
Rickrack: lt yellow

ColourQ Challenge First DT Layout

2011-01-12T16:40:00.000-08:00

As I just joined the design team at ColourQ I wanted to do a really fun layout for the Challenge # 67! See the awesome colors below.

A little bit of a stretch for me reaching for that pink in my layout... but it's there! All the other colors I just love!

Detail shots:

I've been waiting for something special to use this huge butterfly on. I think it works out quite well!

It's been a while since I made paper roses... but they are so much fun. Had to crack out my quilling tool, hum... quilling... maybe a future item in a post. :)

Products Used:

Cardstock: white, melon mambo (pink), taken with teal, and swiss dot teal
Me & My Big Idea: Copper Willow - Specialty paper pack
DVWV The Mariposa Stack
Various manufacturers flowers
Zig Calligraphy pen: Chocolate
American Craft Thickers: Daiquiri white foam
Martha Stewart Butterfly punches
Recollections Boutique Fleur Butterfly Embellishments
Recollections Rhinestones

Colour Q DT Appointment!

2011-01-10T18:23:00.000-08:00

OMG! So excited I'm posting without a pic!!! haha

I just got appointed to be a Scrap Design Team member at ColourQ!
Yeah! My first DT assignment!

You can look forward to many fun posts from me for all the fun color challenges!

The next one comes out soon... check back!

Cheers,
Rebeca

Mini Albums

2011-01-08T23:00:00.000-08:00

I just finished a great class with a mini album... I thought I'd do a post of some of the other mini albums I've done or will be having classes on!

Lazy Days of Summer - Beach Album:

Who doesn't have beach pictures to scrap?!?!

This is a future class coming up in Feb. 2011 for MFTM... fun fun fun!!

It's "Party" Time:

Tag book that I taught as a class in a scrapbook store that unfortunately closed.

This class was great because everyone got to customize the title of their book... It's "Baby" Time, It's "Scrap" Time, It's "Girl" Time... and on and on...

Be Mine - Valentine's Album:

This is the class I just finished teaching at MFTM this past weekend. It was a blast!

Winter Fun - Winter album:

Another past class I taught at MFTM in late 2010.

Dance:

I put this book together for my Mother-In-Law, she had some lovely pictures of her China Trip she wanted to document.

India album:

Probably the most embellished of all my albums... can we fit anything else on this thing!?!

Before I learned how to make my own custom albums I paid and arm and a leg for this chipboard album. I do admit that it turned out really pretty!!

San Francisco Zoo:

Another tag album, this one filled with shots of the Zoo.

2009 Stovall Family:

I had this acrylic square 8x8 album sitting around for some time before I put it together into this lovely family photo album. Love the front cover with the acrylic title over the butterflies.

I've put together a slide show of these albums and their inside pages if you're interested.

Also, if there is any interest in any of the products used, please feel free to leave a comment. Listing all the items used in all these albums would take FOREVER... hahah.

Cheers,

Abstract - Scrap getaway

2011-01-08T22:00:00.000-08:00

Randomly on Flickr I saw some lovely layouts that a few scrappers were copying. And well, I was inspired! I've been wanting to scrap my scrapbook space pics for a while and this seemed like the perfect time.

Some serious distressing of the paper happened here! From wetting the paper, crinkling it, sanding, tearing, and finally inking and "coffee-cup" stains with alcohol ink. Take that Paper!!

Here are some detail shots... because this layout is all about the details!

Handmade embellishments... Yeah! This fabric flower has an added dimension with the outer layer frayed.

With my scrap room comes butterflies! I have some new butterflies that I got to use on this page. The 3D plastic butterflies are just some simple stickers that I altered.

I wanted to add just a little something up in the corner of the layout... these phrase stickers were perfect.

And who doesn't want a little bling on the page... American Craft Glitter font to the job!

Products used:

Cardstock: tan
G.C.D. Studios: Paris Nights Collection Pack
Recollections Pop-Up Stickers
EK Success Dimensional Stickers - Multi Color Butterfly Repeat
K&Company Handmade Adhesive Gems
Creative Imaginations: Narratives by Karen Russell
Prima Marketing: Pebbles
American Crafts Thickers: Lax Glitter Stickers Powder
Basic Grey: Porcelain Chipboard Stickers
Unknown Manufacturer Folwers
Zig Calligraphy Pen: chocolate
StayzOn: Timber Brown

Explorer

2011-01-02T14:59:00.000-08:00

Detail shots.

Here is detail of the bling that pulls your eye to the image of Poof.

The title was a bit of a challenge for me... I almost put "dreamy" because the image looked so unreal. But I decided that it might be a little confusing. In this detail shot you can also see how well the Zig Calligraphy pen does at inking the edges of the paper... I love my Zig pens!

Products Used:

Cardstock: black, lt olive, & forest green (swiss dot)
Me & My Big Ideas: Harvest Specialty Cardstock
Wild Asparagus patterned paper - "Mother" striped
American Craft Thickers: Giggles white foam
ColorBok: Nocturne - Metallic/Foam Accents
White lace
Heidi Swapp: Frame Circles Bling
Unknown manufacturer metal embellishment

Watermelon Carving?

2011-01-02T13:43:00.001-08:00

I love my winter break ... I finally got around to scrapping some of the halloween photos.

Here are some detail shots.

Yeah mixing fonts! I love to do this to bring a little more to the page.

And of course I cannot do a layout without a butterfly... although it was a bit of a challenge to get this little guy in. I decided that butterflies like to sit on pumpkins right?!? HAHA

Products Used:

Cardstock: green and black
Me & My Big Idea: Copper Willow - Specialty paper pack
Zig Calligraphy pen: black
Unknown manufacturer flower
American Crafts Thickers: Bones orange
Basic Grey chipboard stickers - Delilah white chocolate chip
Crystal Stickers: Mosaic lt green 5mm
Recollections Adhesive Rhinestones: Brown
Unknown manufacturer 3D butterfly

Christmas Day...

2011-01-02T13:12:00.001-08:00

Just a fun layout where I finally got to use these beautiful red "dew drop like" butterflies!

Here are some detail shots.

I've really been into layering many items lately. This flower combo really popped and the added Stickles was the last little touch that helped bring it all together!

Ever have a picture that just had the wrong color on it... well this purple shirt was that for me... so... scrap-o-tunity! I covered most of the shirt with a flower. :)

And the title... I know very generic but I just wanted to say what it was without doing journalling. Only down side... I think my letters were slightly different colors of green *sigh* that is what I get for getting them from a discount store :,( Oh well, you can hardly tell right?

And always, Products Used:

Cardstock: black, cream, and brick red
Echo Park Paper: Mary Christmas - Christmas Carol
Zva Creative self adhesive crystal
American Craft Thickers - Playroom Felt lt green
Zig Calligraphy pen: black
Various manufactures flowers (including Prima Roses, etc)
Crochet green flower
ColorBok: Nectar - Epoxy Stickers Butterfly
ColorBok: Woodhaven - Epoxy Stickers Leaves
K&Company: Handmade - Adhesive Gems
7Gypsies Fabric Tape
Ribbon - cream lace, drk red lace, and sm black pom-pom

Top 10 Layouts of 2010

2010-12-31T15:39:00.000-08:00

I completely lifted this idea from another blog site... but I think it is just a grand project.

I've picked my top 10 layouts made in 2010! Whew... that was a lot of layouts to sort through... haha.

In no particular order.....

Jane Austin Forever:

I'm one of the few people in my crop group that does layout that are non-family photos... I just love this layout, the colors, the image and all the embellishments were just perfect!

Your World Now:

This layout uses circles in a great way. And I always love my butterflies!

{us}:

The colors on this were inspired by a color challenge but ended up being so wonderful for this shot of me and my hubby!

Let the Monkey win:

This layout is just fun... and I've used this trick with hidden journaling (behind the large pic of the monkey) several times. I always love the results.

Morgan the Kid:

This layout was just a ton of fun to use up many scraps - each circle was from a scrap!

Thank You:

This was a odd layout at first for me, but it really grew on me. I love how I was able to use some odd embellishment combos that really seemed to work together.

Cannot Cage Explorers:

This simple layout is just really pleasing to the eye. I got to use up some great papers and old travel embellishments to document this thought & moment.

Sneak Attack:

Little Yellow Bicycle and BoBunny always inspires some great layouts with their awesome paper!

Poof & lights:

Put orange on it and it is likely to be at the top of one of my lists... plus I just love the image of Poof too!

Unique:

Likely because it is recent... but I love the colors used on this.

Hope you enjoyed!

P.S. take a look back and try to find the layouts without butterflies! I sneak them in there all the time. :D

Unique

2010-12-31T14:14:00.001-08:00

Oh! I love this layout! The capture of Ryu is super cute and I just love the paper and the color combo... I could go on and on!

Color combo is provided by a past challange #17 from ColourQ.

Detail Shots.

This butterfly is gorgeous, I got several of them at a garage sale and have no idea of the manufacturer, if anyone knows feel free to leave a comment.

Oh Prima Roses... my new fav! They do add a bit of dimension but I love them so much... how many more colors can I get!

And the collection of layered embellishments! After completing the page it was a little weighty but how pretty!

Products Used:

Cardstock: teal, white, black and brick red
7Gypsies - Barcelona Paper: Catalonia
Ribbon: Sm pom-pom in black & brick red lace
Various manufactures flowers (including Prima roses)
Recollections Rhinestone stickers
Unknown manufacture - chipboard definition "unique," drk red flourishes, and metal butterfly
Various manufacture brads
Zig Calligraphy pen: black
American Craft felt peices
American Craft Thickers: Daiquiri black

Thanksgiving - Another Copy

2010-12-31T13:41:00.001-08:00

I just love doing collage prints recently. I always take a million pictures and this is a great way of using them. This layout is perfect too! Here is the original I scraplifted myself again!!

Although I think I like the color combo of the original... this is still a great layout that was a quick and easy way of getting those thanksgiving photos done!

Detail Shots:

So one of the bad things about digging out all the products I have is that I discover ones that I love and want to use...but for the life of me cannot remember where I got them. For two reasons this is frustrating... 1) I like to document what I used...for myself, contests and for all thost that might read my blog... so if you want you can get it too, and 2) because I cannot go and get more. I want to use my product but when I really like it I like to use it again and again... *le sigh*

Cute new font that I've used twice now (first time on the Poof & Lights layout). This is American Crafts Thickers - Bones. Did I mention yet how excited I am about the 10 e's that come in the package!!! WHOOOOO HOOOO! I always run out of e's and normally buy two packages of fonts because of this. I love you American Crafts Thickers!!

Products Used:

Cardstock: black, white and craft (tan)
American Crafts Thickers: Salutations Fabric Brown & Bones Glossy (chipboard) Orange
Zig Calligraphy pen: black
Signo white pen

And you know it is a pretty simple layout and fast to assemble when the product list is only 4 bullets!

Poof - a copy

2010-12-31T13:20:00.000-08:00

I recently created a really fun layout that I needed to scraplift from myself! Here is the result.

It didn't turn out as nice as the original, but still pretty nice.

Detail shots:

This butterfly is gorgeous, I got several of them at a garage sale and have no idea of the manufacturer, if anyone knows feel free to leave a comment.

If you cannot tell I sort of used the Ranger Liquid Pearls everywhere!

And my scrap buggies ask it too... what is with all the clocks on my layouts... The answer: Honestly, I just like them... why do I put flowers on layouts about cats?!? HAHA...

Products Used:

Cardstock: white, brick red, and black
K&Company Tim Coffey Designer Paper Pad
Various manufacturers flowers (including some Prima roses, American Crafts, etc)
Tim Holtz, Ranger: Liquid Pearls - Gold Pearl
Tim Holtz Metal Accents - clock and coin
Basic Gray Boxer Collection - Chipboard sticker/boarders
Med black ribbon & med white lace
Brads of various colors
Unknown manufacturer decretive packing tape
American Crafts Thickers: Fantastic Foam White
Unknown manufacturer metal butterfly
Zig Calligraphy pen: black

Creative Scrappers Challenge # 136

2010-12-29T21:48:00.000-08:00

Another Challenge! This time from Creative Scrappers... #136!

Totally fun to take my on view on this one!

Here is a bit more detail.

Products Used:

Cardstock: lt yellow, lt green, green, & blue
BoBunny Learning Curve Dot (flip side)
Little Yellow Bicycle: Traveler - Ticket to Ride
Jillibean soup pattered paper
Basic Grey: Orgins - Sea Salt
October Afternoon, Night Light: Louie & Night Light
American Crafts Thickers: Fantastic Foam White & Honey Puffy Green
Zig Calligraphy pen: black

Final Dollies Challenge

2010-12-29T21:29:00.000-08:00

Another layout inspired by the awesome color challenge at Design Dollies! Here is a submission for the last color challenge of 2010.

This layout was inspired by the colors:

ORANGE,

ROYAL BLUE,

TAN, &

CHOCOLATE

Detail shots:

If it isn't already evident... I like layering... paper, flowers, different trims, ribbon, etc. The detail shot above I think shows some of the many layers of this piece.

Products Used:

Cardstock: chocolate & tan
DCWV the Shimmer Stack: blue
BoBunny Mama-Razzi-Dot
BoBunny Paradise
Tim Holtz Metal Accents - clock and coin
American Crafts Thickers: Fantastic Foam White & Bones Glossy (chipboard) Stickers
Various manufactures flowers
Various manufactures bling
Creative Impressions Felt Butterflies
Handmade pearl hat pins

Colour Q Challenge #65

2010-12-29T21:09:00.000-08:00

Inspired by browsing the Colour Q site ... I decided to play along with the latest challenge #65!

Here were the colors... pretty!

Here is a little detail on these fun puffy flourishes:

Products Used:

Cardstock: black, white, lt navy, olive, kraft (tan), and gray
Martha Stewart Butterfly punches
American Craft Thickers: Giggles Foam White & Cinnamon Foil Silver
Me and My Big Ideas Puffy Stickers: Elegant Flourishes
Colorbok: Patterned Paper, Stickers & Punch-out Pack - Midnight
Zig Calligraphy pen: black

Colour Q DT Call for Scrappers

2010-12-28T18:32:00.000-08:00

OH! Yeah! I love the Colour Q Challenges!

Here are two past layouts that were inspired by color!

A creation for the ColourQ Challenge #20.

The colors in the images seemed to just work with this ColourQ Challenge.

To see full details of this previous posting click here.

The Colour Q Challenge # 13.

I missed the deadline for this one, but it is still a pretty layout!

To see full details of this previous posting click here.

If you have any interest here are some of my other Colour Q challenge submissions:

What fun it would be to design for this great Challenge site!

So excited, I think I need to scrap another challenge right now! Look for an additional post soon!

Cheers!

Flowers from Ribbon

2010-11-28T01:26:00.000-08:00

I'll be teaching a class soon that covers how to make a couple different types of flowers. I wanted to post this out there for all as a sneak peak. I've gone ahead and listed these flowers from least challenging to most challenging. I've also added a few tips below about what they might be used for and a couple notes from me about my experiences making them.

But first - what you will need if you want to make these flowers:

The only materials you'll need for making these flowers are:

Scissors
Adhesive
Thick Ribbon (I used 1 1/2" red satin ribbon)
Thin Ribbon (I used 1/4" green satin ribbon)
Thread (doesn't really matter what color) and Needle
Lighter
Buttons or pearls (for centers of flowers)

The Easiest - the Basic Poppy Flower:

This poppy flower was the first I learned to make, by far the easiest. You just take a long strip of ribbon (I usually use 3-4 times as long as the width of the ribbon) and with needle and thread perform a running stitch along one side of the ribbon. Pull the thread tight so that the flower starts to gather and tie when it forms a tight enough circle. Place a center (like a button, brad, jewel, etc) in that covers the opening left from the gather. A green ribbon looped behind the flower act as "leaves." These work well on flat projects such as scrapbook pages and cards. P.S. The larger your running stitches are apart the thicker (more 3D) the flower will be.

Still Pretty Easy - The Child-Like Flower:

This child-like flower looks a little more abstract then the others I've made before, but it goes together pretty fast and has a different look. Cut your ribbon in descending sized circles, I typically use three but you can go down to two or up to about 5 or 6 depending on how many layers (which look like petal layers) you'd like. After sealing the frayed edges of the petals (I use a lighter to burn the edges) you can start to assemble the flower. Just layer the circles with the largest on the bottom and up to the smallest on top. Add a center like these pearls and the green ribbon looped behind to make the "leaves." Perfect for flat projects and can be made pretty small in diameter. I learned there from a blog where the originator was making them so small they were post earrings!

The Mid of Ease - The Modified Poppy Flower:

This modified poppy flower is very similar to the basic Poppy Flower. You take your long strip of ribbon (I usually use 4-5 times as long as the width of the ribbon) and cut it into 6 even sized pieces. Then with needle and thread perform a running stitch along one side of the different ribbon pieces, just like you did with the basic poppy. Pull the thread tight so that the flower starts to gather and tie when it forms a tight enough circle. The pieces of ribbon will overlap and form petals. Place a center (like a button, brad, jewel, etc) in that covers the opening left from the gather. A green ribbon looped behind the flower act as "leaves." These work well on flat projects such as scrapbook pages and cards. P.S. The larger your running stitches are apart the thicker (more 3D) the flower will be.

Getting a Little Harder - The Flat Rose:

I usually make this flat rose with a surface covered in a slow setting adhesive. You just twist the ribbon (or fabric, etc) and then create a flat spiral to form the shape of the rose. A small "leaf" made from green ribbon completes the look. These are work well for flat projects - like cards or scrapbook pages. P.S. I label these as a little harder mostly because of the tidiest part of getting the twist even... if you have uneven sized twists in the ribbon the flower will be lop-sided.

Somewhat Challenging - The Tropical Flower:

This tropical flower (sometimes called a hibiscus) requires a little bit more effort. First you take your ribbon and cut 5 petals that are tear shaped from the ribbon. After sealing the frayed edges of the petals (I use a lighter to burn the edges) you can start to assemble the flower. With needle and thread you stitch each pedal so the it folds in half and overlaps with the next pedal. after all the pedals are on the thread just tie the ends and correct any form issues. A green ribbon with simply cut ends forms the "leaves". Finishes the look with a small button or pearl in the center of the flower. These work well on semi-3D items and look very nice on barrettes and hair ties/bands.

Challenging - The 3D Rose:

This 3D rose, although very pretty, definitely a little hard to make. These are made from a very long strip of ribbon (I typically make mine with at least 1' of ribbon to each 1" of width. The rose is made by folding the ribbon in a almost square pattern and then twisting the ribbon together to form the bud-like rose. The ends of the ribbon are then secured by stitching the base of the rose. Green ribbon is added to form the "leaf" and also stitched around the base to form the bottom of the rose. A stick or wire can be added to form the stem of the rose if desired. These roses are very 3D and are best given as "faux" roses or used in clothing or decretive hair items like burettes, etc. P.S. These roses are very difficult to make from ribbon less then 1/2" thick. Additionally, they look best with a silk ribbon (used here) but work best and are easier to make with a less smooth ribbon like just plain cotton.

Hardest and Most Challenging - The Full Flower

Okay, this is a bit of a hard bugger! I have actually included some drawings to describe how this is done... as it's a little hard to understand from just written instructions.

You will start with a circular template, I just use a punched-out circle of paper. The size of the circle will determine your flower's size. Fold the circle in half and cut it creating two half circles.
Fold each half circle piece into a quadrant with the wrong side out. Using straight stitches sew the straight side of the quadrant on the edge (a). Turn the piece right side out. Do the same for all six of them.

Next sew on the curved side of each petal piece with a running stitch one at a time (b) as shown above. Space the stitches evenly as you will need to pull at the thread at one end to create the folds as show below. For each petal piece, secure the folds with ties before doing the same for the next petal. At the end of the sixth petal, attach it to the first petal to form the base of the flower.

P.S. Make another set of petals to use as a base - I suggest using contrasting colors. These can be the same size as the first set or different. Sew the smaller set on top of another. P.S. 2 The smaller the circle the harder these are... using the 1 1/2" ribbon I used the flower was quite small - as you can see compared to the other flowers shown.

New Scrap Space

2010-11-06T15:20:00.001-07:00

We recently moved and I've just finished putting my scrapbooking space together. I thought I'd share images of the space as I'm pretty proud of it!

The scrap space is toward the back of the loft while there is a partial wall made by putting a bookcase and a large plant into the middle of the room. This separates the lounge/sitting area from the scrap space while still keeping a very open feel to the room.

I added a second chair to my sitting area so I can have guest join me in my relaxed loft! The chairs are actually lawn furniture I saved and revitalized with a fresh coat of paint and cushions. Although not a room that is lacking natural light - it is pretty barren of built in lights so I've added several floor lamps and a task lamp as well as two paper stars I got in India that I modified into paper lanterns above the sitting area. Finally, in the seating area I added a couple 12" floating shelves that are perfect for showing off a couple pages.

My major desk space is a mirror surface. I like working on mirror as it is hard and easy to cut on (similar to glass cutting mats) and it is pretty easy to clean.

Everyone needs their tech center for the photo editing, music, research, etc. This side nook area fit an older desk perfectly and it's nice and out of the way. I've got all my cables for my computers, laptop, iPhone, iPad, cameras; my battery chargers; networking & wireless; etc. all in one place and easy to access.

I had some extra space above my equipment so I hung wires with clips so I can display more pages. It's very easy to switch them out as I create new pages.

If there is interest here is a link to my Flickr slideshow of the additional pictures.

Cheers!

Halloween Decorating

2010-11-06T15:14:00.000-07:00

I decided to try and create some fun decorations using the Cricut Expression and Gypsy. Here is fun banner that I created and hung outside my house.

The black "flag" shapes were just hand cut out of 12"x12" paper. The letters were first laid out out on the Gypsy (this is a great way to save paper) then I cut them out via the Cricut Expression. The letters were adhered to the "flags" and then I attached the "flags" with eyelets (left a little loose for flexibility) in the corners.

I think it turned out nice!

Products:

Cardstock - black and orange
Eyelets - orange
Cricut Expression & Gypsy - Hanna Montana Cartridge (font)

Shami's Favorite Boy

2010-08-29T21:31:00.000-07:00

I've been creating pages lately just to kind of catch up and not bog-down with different challenges. But I was really missing the ... well... challenges of challenges! HAHA So, I jumped on my blog and checked a few great sites that I new had really fun challenges.
It was fun trying to incorporate the Design Dollies color challenge which used navy blue, mint green and ivory.

And the sketch from Creative Scrappers Challenge 119 was awesome!

Here is a little more detail on the paint spatter, twine and title chipboard font at the top of the page.

I wanted to keep this page pretty masculine. But at the same time have a really great look. I like the repeating circle patterns on the page - on the background patterned paper, the circle mask used for the splatter and lastly the popped-up "favorite" piece.

Products:

Cardstock - navy blue and mint green
Basic Grey: Basics collection
Raw small twine
Kaiser Craft blue paint
Zig calligraphy pen - pure black
Basic Grey chipboard stickers - Delilah dark chocolate chip
Basic Grey chipboard stickers - Delilah white chocolate chip
Little Yellow Bicycle - Zach's Life: Fabric Boarders
Wild Asparagus circle tag

Rafting 2010 Photos

2010-08-27T20:32:00.001-07:00

Who doesn't love scrapping rafting photos!! I can't wait until I get my photos developed from our annual rafting on the American River. This year I've start off by scrapping just a few of my favorite shots. You can look forward to more as I took almost 200 captures!

Here is a little more detail on the bling I placed over the photo.

Products:

Cardstock - white
Basic Grey chipboard stickers - Delilah white chocolate chip
American Crafts Thickers - Tinsel foil cherry
Kaiser Rhinestones - orange
BoBunny Paradise Collection - Paradise
BoBunny Paradise Collection - Paradise Lingo
BoBunny Paradise Collection - Paradise Sunset
Little Yellow Bicycle - Zach's Life: Fabric Boarders
Little Yellow Bicycle - Zach's Life: Chipboard Self-Adhesive Embellishments
Mini brads - light yellow
Zig calligraphy pen - chocolate

I loved the color combo so much on the first page, I decided to use the same color combo on the next. They will go great in the photo album next to each other.

And again a bit more detail on the title with that string of star bling!

Products:

Cardstock - white
Basic Grey chipboard stickers - Delilah white chocolate chip
Signo white pen
Mark Richards Crystal Stickers - Clusters orange
BoBunny Paradise Collection - Paradise
BoBunny Paradise Collection - Paradise Lingo
BoBunny Paradise Collection - Paradise Sunset

Going back to Origins

2010-08-27T19:40:00.000-07:00

I've been waiting to use my Basic Grey Origins paper for a while. It just kept getting put off to the side... well, I finally went back to it and let my artist out! These creations were really fun.

Here is a bit more detail.

Products:

Black cardstock
Light yellow large scalloped cardstock
Glitter cardstock - copper
Basic Grey: Origins - Mud Mask
Basic Grey Origins sticker Elements
Basic Grey Origins chip sticker shapes
Provocraft Circuit cut - Love
Fiskars butterfly punch
Zig calligraphy pen: black

Here is another example of the use of the Origins paper. This paper can actually quite masculine. I used some raw wire to "stitch" the different blocks of color together. Here is some additional detail.

Products:

Basic Grey: Origins - Relaxation
Basic Grey: Origins - Sea Salt
Basic Grey Origins sticker Elements
Light blue cardstock
Zig calligraphy pen: black
24 Gauge silver wire
American Crafts Thickers - Delight fabric white
American Crafts Thickers - Legwarmers felt green

Rebeca Stovall's Photos of Insects

2010-05-31T20:50:00.000-07:00

This layout is a bit of mixed colors, photos, and for me - appeal level. I cannot decide if I like it or not.

I was trying to use a lovely college print I had of some photos of insects. The issue was that there were so many colors! So, I tried to go for a "all" color theme... but I'm not sure it worked out so well.

Also, see below for detail on the title:

I think I like it... but it just seems a little off. I kept thinking I spelled something wrong....

Oh wells, as always -

Products:

Basic Grey Designers Cardstock Pack
Cardstock: white and black
K&Company: Tim Coffey paper
Little Yellow Bicycle: Generationz - Orange Metallic Wings
Chipboard letters
White paint
Fiskars boarder punch
Zig Calligraphy pen: black
Med blue ribbon
Stapler
K.i. Memories: Softies - Bloom

Jane Austin Forever

2010-05-30T22:30:00.000-07:00

I don't do this very often - but this is actually a page that is not an image I took. Rather it is representative of the page subject - namely, Jane Austin (who doesn't love her novels!?!).

This was a fun layout that allowed me to use a great photo. BTW, for those that don't know this is an image from the latest movie based on Pride and Prejudice.

Also, I got to use my Post-it Brand craft paper. Here is some detail of the title - the "forever" green and brown layered title is made from the Post-it fully adhesive material.

Here is some additional detail of the flower cluster below the title:

Products:

Post-it Brand: Fully Adhesive Craft Paper - Cocoa and Jungle
Little Yellow Bicycle: Traveler - Ticket to Ride
American Crafts Thickers: Delight - fabric white
Paperchase: Novelty Stickers - Butterfly
Zig Calligraphy Pen: Chocolate
Unknown manufacturer flowers: white, brown and blue
Unknown manufacturer brads: lt blue, blue cloth
My Minds Eye: Life Stories - journal card

Love

2010-05-30T22:14:00.000-07:00

I wanted to use up some of the scraps from a couple of past layouts I've done - and I just love the color combo that developed. Yellow, green, blue and brown!

Plus, I just love this bling flurish - here is a little more detail of it and the cluster of flowers:

Products:

Lt green lrg scalloped cardstock
Post-it Brand: Craft Paper Full Adhesive - Cocoa
Jillibean soup pattered paper
Sandylion: Kelly Panacci - Dotsalot-green
Making Memories: Passport - Passport 12x12 Stripe
Creative Impressions Felt Butterfly
Various manufacturer flowers: yellow, blue and brown
Unknown manufacturer brads: lt blue brad, lt blue button brad, "machine washable" brad, and flower bling brad
Hand made pearl stick pin
Zig Calligraphy Pen: Chocolate
Queen & Co. Felt boarder ribbon
Lt blue sm ribbon
American Crafts Thickers: Rockabye - Foam White
Unknown manufacturer paper clip
Hand crochet lt green flower
Basic Grey: Origins - cloth brad

In a Tree

2010-05-30T21:56:00.000-07:00

I really like the color combo on this layout and how I was able to use up some fairly large embellishment items I've made/have.

Here is some detail of the upper left of the page - where I have a small handmade embellishment made from Shrinky - Dinks!! Yep, you read correctly. I punched a Martha Stewart butterfly out of black shrinky - dink material and a circle out of white shrinky - dink material. I shrunk both, then reheated the circle and "pressed" the butterfly onto it to adhere it. Of course, do remember that shrinky - dinks do shrink quite a bit... so although cute this embellishment isn't much larger then a USA currency dime.

Here is a little more detail on the lace ribbon flower and large chipboard butterfly.

Products:

Cardstock: black and white
Simply Luxe Designs: Simple Pinstripe - Lime
Sandylion: Kelly Panacci - Dotsalot-green
ColorBok: nocturne chipboard pieces
Md ribbon: drk green
Hand crochet flowers: lt green
Bling jewel brads
Bling: lt green
Shrinky - Dinks: white and black
Martha Stewart Butterfly punch
EK Success Circle 1 1/2" punch
Basic Grey: Origins cloth brad
American Crafts Thickers: Patchwork - fabric black
Velvet mini brads: lt green

Family - Blue

2010-05-30T21:48:00.001-07:00

I wanted to do a pretty simple layout for this great shot of my sister-in-law. I also wanted to stay with a simple soothing color.

Blue it is!

With just a spots of patterned paper and the elegant ribbon and journaling to frame the whole thing - I think it turned out pretty nice.

Here is a little closer detail on one of the circles I embellished.

Products:

Cardstock: white
Zig Calligraphy Pen: black
Various manufactures patterned papers: cut with a EK Success 1 1/2" Circle punch
Drk blue lace ribbon
Basic Grey: White Chocolate Chip Micro-Chip Stickers
Sm lt blue ribbon
Unknown manufacture - tiny silver key
Silver eyelets

Ryu

2010-05-30T21:35:00.000-07:00

I really liked this fun shot of little Ryu kitty!

Products:

White Swiss Dot cardstock
Lt green large scalloped cardstock
Jillibean soup pattered paper
Simply Luxe Designs: Simple Pinstripe - Lime
Unknown manufacture: recycled pattered paper
Unknown manufacture: Dye-cut sayings
Copper brads
Martha Stewart Butterfly punches
Zig Calligraphy Pen: Chocolate
Basic Grey: White Chocolate Chip MicroChip Stickers

Missed a Challenge

2010-05-30T21:10:00.000-07:00

So I missed posting this layout for a Colour Q challenge that occurring a while back. *sigh*

Oh, well. I's still a very pretty layout!

Here is a link to the Colour Q Challenge # 13.

Here are some detail images.

Gotta love the metal embelishments - most are from Tim Holtz collections.

To accent the dragon fly I used a little more bling... never too much bling!

Products:

Cardstock: rose and pink
Lt teal Swiss Dot Cardstock
DCWV: Once Upon a Time Paper
Dream Street Papers LLC: Remember the Moments - Jacob
Various manufacture flowers: lt blue and rose
Various manufacture bling: teal, hot pink, and clear
Various manufacture brads: copper, white velvet, and jewel
Various manufacture ribbon: white lace (two different kinds), velvet rose rick-rack, and black small poof ball
Zig Calligraphy pen: black
K&Company: Tim Coffey die-cut cardstock and acetate
Tim Holtz Metal Accents - clock and coin
K.i. Memories: Softies - Bloom
Basic Grey: Dark Chocolate Chip Micro Chip Stickers

OMG - So cute!

2010-05-24T23:37:00.001-07:00

Okay, I was just blown away with the cutest ever embelishments I saw today! Little ribbon dolls!

Above you can see some I made... yes they took F O R E V E R...

So, here is the deal, I would have simply purchased these tittle lovelies if I could have found them. Turns out the cute idea is actually Rachel Young's... but the little stinker made them only digital embelishments! ARGE! I wanted the real thing.

So, those of you that know me understand the next 3 hours of ribbon sorting, cutting, adheiring and creation that occured. And just a few sticky fingers and a few yards of ribbon later (and the two dolls the didn't "survive" the experience) I have 4 lovely little dolls.

For those of you that cannot tell, these cuttie pies are Disney female characters - Snow White, Ariel, Jasmine, and Mulan!

Oh, I just love these little things.

Well, happy crafting - now I just need to figure out what to do with the little ladies! LOL

Geoffrey Satisfies a Colour Q and Shabby Chic Challenge

2010-05-19T23:26:00.000-07:00

I took on two challenges and combined them again! This time I was very excited about the color combo from the Colour Q #33 challenge!

And it seemed to just go great with the lovely inspiration from the Let's Get Shabby Challenge #11 with this beautiful quilt!

Here is a bit more detail of the layering I had going on with this page. I think the date and title on this page are my fave... of course after the pic of my brother-in-law.

Products:

Cardstock: kiwi kiss green, soft suede brown, and white
Little Yellow Bicycle - Generation Z: Yellow Grunge Dot
DVWV Taj Mahal Stack (blue patterned paper)
ColorBok Specialty Journal Stickers
Basic Grey Chipboard Stickers - Delilah: white chocolate chip
American Crafts Thickers: Cinnamon Foil
Lace: soft suede brown
Md velvet ribbon: lt yellow
Sm satin ribbon: Bermuda bay blue
Various manufacturer brads
Fiskars boarder punch
Zig Calligraphy Pen: Coffee

A card for Mojo Monday

2010-05-19T12:20:00.000-07:00

From scraps of the recent layout I did, I created this 6"x6" card for the Mojo Monday 139 challenge. I just love the colors here and I always like a chance to use up scraps!

The "Treasure" is actually one of my first stamps I every purchased! I love this stamp and have used it multiple times - this time it is with embossing powder to really pop!

Products:

Cardstock: white and black
Basic Grey Papers: Marrakech: Palace Blue, Masala Bella and Chamomile; Pattern Paper: Ambrosia
Zig Calligraphy Pen: black
Various manufactures flowers: blue, white, and orange
Prima Rose
Embroidery floss: lt blue
Stampendous Embossing Powder: PEARLustre Sapphire

Gail's Flowers

2010-05-18T19:31:00.000-07:00

This layout was inspired by the layout below by Kimmy Jaster who is a XOXO Lipstick Chicks Design Team member for their Challenge #9 This challenge is sponsored by Color Me Miki.

I just loved the layout and not only did I take inspiration from the "sketch" but also the flowers and butterflies!

Here is some detail of the flowers and title.

BTW, I rarely use substitute letters in my titles/journaling/etc. But today I made an exception... yes, that's right.... I used a 3 backwards for the E on this title! I really liked this font and I always run out of E's!!

Products:

Cardstock: black and white
Basic Grey Papers: Marrakech: Palace Blue and Masala Bella; Pattern Paper: Ambrosia
Lace: white
Zig Calligraphy Pen: black
Various manufactures flowers: blue, white, orange,
Prima Roses
Bling flower brad
American Crafts Thickers: Tinsel Foil Black
KaiserCraft Basics Rhinestones: lt blue
K&Company Tim Coffee Die-Cut Cardstock and Acetate
KI Memories Softies: Bloom
ColorBok Small Chipboard Letters

Ryu

2010-05-16T20:36:00.000-07:00

My sister-in-law says I can fit a butterfly into any layout... and well, I think she might be right!

I just love to add butterflies to any papercraft I do. haha

Nothing new here, this layout was a cute one I did of our cat Ryu - who if you cannot tell is playing with my camera strap and so I figured she was going to get her picture taken.

Here is some detail of the title and the ceramic "hearts" that I added to the page.

Ryu is Japanese for Dragon (okay I know she is just a kitten... but she is a tough little kitten) so I decided to keep with an Asian feel to the layout. Nothing does much better then a red, black and white layout.

Products:

Cardstock: white and black
K&Company: Tim Coffey Designer Paper
Me & My Big Ideas: Specialty Cardstock - Coastal Culture
DCWV: The Mariposa Stack
Zig Calligraphy Pen: black
Mark Richards: Metal Stickers
Ceramic Heart Beads
Creative Impressions Felt Butterflies
Sanding block

Love Layout

2010-05-16T15:59:00.000-07:00

This layout was inspired by the layout below by Zoa Barker who is a XOXO Lipstick Chicks Design Team member for their Challenge #9 This challenge is sponsored by Color Me Miki.

I just loved the square bling circle for the layout... in fact, circles definitely took on a whole new element on the layout I created!

Here is some detail of the title. The trick to cutting glitter cardstock on the Provo Craft Cricut is definitely to use multi cut.

Products:

Cardstock: black and white
Glitter Cardstock - Copper/Brown
Sandylion Sticker Designs Paper: Kelly Panaccii - Full Circle
Mark Richards: Crystal Stickers - Mosaic, Rust
Making Memories Big Grommets: white
Basic Grey Micro Chip Stickers - White Chocolate Chip
Provo Craft: Cricut solutions cartridge Home Decor
Zig Calligraphy Pen: black

Well Hello...

2010-05-16T14:03:00.000-07:00

This lovely layout was inspired by the layout below by Aliana Erickson who is a XOXO Lipstick Chicks Design Team member for their Challenge #9 This challenge is sponsored by Color Me Miki.

Hopefully the similarities are evident!

Here is a little more detail on some of the flowers on the layout.

This is a hand crochet flower - yep I made it! I've been seeing more and more knit and crochet flowers available for embellishments in the scrapbooking/paper crafting world. I went to buy some the other day and... they were WAY TOO EXPENSIVE! Really, I knew I could make them for less. So, I decided to teach myself from some online video tutorials and I think it came out pretty well. :)

As always, Products used:

Cardstock: drk brown and green
Basic Grey: Orgins - Sea Salt (2 sheets both sides)
Various manufacturer flowers: cream, brown, green, and orage
Various manufacturer brads: epoxy and bling
Ribbon: med brown, orange, and sheer
Martha Stewart punches: butterflies
Zig Calligraphy pen: Chocolate
American Crafts Thickers: Foam Giggles Cream
Tim Holtz Distressed Stickles: Peeled Paint

Hearts from Tear Drops?

2010-04-24T18:06:00.000-07:00

I love it when I can repurpose something I've used once and have "left over" of. These two layouts use "tear drop" gems to make hearts! I know... aren't they so cute! I also just like the layouts but I really like that I got to use these products again. :D

Products:

Cardstock: brown and drk green
Swiss Dot: white
BoBunny Shabby Princess, Anna Sophia Worn Dots
Ribbon: med blue and sm green
Prima Roses
Various Manufacturer flowers: brown, creem, and blue
Basic Grey Micro Chip Stickers - White Chocolate Chip
Glitter brads: Green
K&Company Tim Coffey Die-Cut Cardstock and Acetate
ColorBok, Specially Journaling Stickers
ColorBok, Woodhaven Epoxy Stickers
MakingMemories Chipboard Clocks
Zig Calligraphy Pen: Pure Black

Products:

Cardstock: blue and tan
Lace: brown and green
Ribbon: drk green
BoBunny: Mama Razzi - Stripe
Cloud9 Designs, Teardrop Rain Dots - Teardrop Sky
Unknown Manufacture flower: brown
ColorBok: Nocturne Metallic Accents
Zig Calligraphy Pen: Pure Black

Simple and Fast

2010-04-24T17:59:00.000-07:00

It's always nice when a layout is simple and fast. If you have several photos I've always found that a quick layout can be made from a collage of the images. I did this one at my local drug store. This just took a little doodling and a title and bam! All done!

Products:

Cardstock: black, white, green and lt green
Signo white pen
Large star brad: white
Crimper
EK Success 1 1/4" circle punch
Zig Calligraphy pen: black
American Crafts Thickers: Honey Puffy Green

MORGAN the kid - Using Circles

2010-04-24T17:32:00.001-07:00

I was feeling like all my layouts lately were really linear... so here are some circles for a change! This is a really basic layout with detail that makes it pop! I just love how I got to use a tone of my scraps to make the various circles (I love my 1 1/4" circle punch!). The trick here is to use a lot of variety in colors. I also like to add in textures like the Swiss Dot, Velvet, and crimping.

Here is some detail of both the flower cluster and my faux stitching created with just a EK Success Cutter Bee Bug and a pen.

More texture was added by crimping the main title (cut with the Provo Craft Cricut - Road Sign cartridge) and popped up with foam to keep the dimension as well.

Products:

Cardstock: lgt brown, drk brown, green, white, and drk green
Swiss Dot: blue and lgt blue
Various print papers (7Gypsies paper - Gypsy paper market: Moe; October Afternoon, Night Light: Louie & Night Light: Charles ; DCWV The Glitter Cardstock Stack; DCWV The Mariposa Stack; Dream Street Papers LLC, Rue - All Dolled Up; American Crafts Paper; BoBunny, Shabby Princess: Anna Sophia Bold Floral; Wild Asparagus : Mother;
Doodle Bug Designs, Inc., Crushed Velvet Cardstock
EK Success 1 1/4" circle punch
EK Success Cutter Bee Bug
Provo Craft Cricut - Road Sign cartridge
Various manufacture flowers
Red jewel brad
Green glitter brad
Prima Flower - Rose
Zig Calligraphy Pen - black
Crimper/roller
American Crafts Thickers Patchwork: fabric black

Snow Hunting!

2010-04-23T11:59:00.000-07:00

I really like how this layout turned out. I started with a wonderful sketch from Becky Fleck's Page Maps Blog Challenge.

Then I added the fun images I captured of a snow hunting trip I took in January this year to Big Tree's National Forest, a little bit of my favorite colors (green and brown) and BAM! A great layout is born!!

Here is a little detail of the lovely flowers/collection:

Products:

Cardstock: green and coffee
Swiss Dot: white
Dream Street Papers LLC, Remember the Moments - Christian
October Afternoon, Night Light - Louie
American Crafts Thickers: Salutations, Fabric - brown
American Crafts Thickers: Giggles, Foam - white
Basic Grey, Origins Collection - Fabric Brad
Lace: green, white, and brown
Ribbon: medium satin cream
Verious manufacturer, flowers: Brown
Clear Stamps, Smooch
Prima, Canvas Screenprints
KI Memories, Softies - Bloom
Velvet brads: green and brown
G.C.D. Studios, MeLODY RoSS, Designer Collection: Artsy Urban Transparency Shapes
Zig Calligraphy Pen: brown

Color, Sketches, Challenges... OH MY!

2010-04-10T12:28:00.000-07:00

I haven't done a challenge lately and missed the... well... challenge of it. One of the best things about challenges is that it makes me think more about my layout and techniques.

I decided to do a combined challenges ... two rolled into one final project.

The Design Dollies are always a great inspiration for beautiful projects. I took on their Color Challenge for April.

Dark Green, Yellow, and Rusty Orange

Also, I decided to use a sketch from the Sketch Challenge Blog their latest sketch to work with was just wonderful!

Products:

Cardstock, yellow
7Gypsies paper - Gypsy paper market: Moe
October Afternoon, Night Light: Louie
Dream Street Papers LLC, Remember the Moment: Christian
Basic Grey Doilies
Zig Calligraphy Pen - Coffee
K&Company - K-Ology Hannah Stitched Beaded Brad
Various Manufacture flowers, yellow, green, and rusty orange
S.E.I. Coaster Tags Madera Island
American Crafts Thickers, Honey Puffy Green
Two small copper brads
Technique Tuesday, butterfly acrylic stamps
Cats Eye ink, white
Transparency sheet

Mixing Fonts

2010-03-29T21:29:00.000-07:00

I've been experimenting with mixing fonts for titles this last two weeks. Here are some fun examples of what I've been coming up with.

You Make My Heart Soar

With two different fonts - and yes more butterflies!

Products:

Cardstock, black and white
Bazzel Dotted Swiss - lt green
Zig Calligraphy Pen - Black
DCWV Mariposa paper
Fiskars Boarder Punch
K&Company Susan Winget Nature Butterfly Pillow Stickers
Basic Grey Micro Chip Stickers - Dark Chocolate Chip
American Crafts Thickers Cream Soda Foam, army green
Ribbon - small black mesh

In My Eyes

I used the fonts to also create a visual triangle for this layout around the main image.

Products:

Cardstock, drk orange
K&Company Tim Coffey Designer Paper
BoBunny - Mama-Razzi, Tabloid
Basic Grey Micro Chip Stickers - Dark Chocolate Chip
American Crafts Thickers Giggles Foam, cream
Prima, Canvas Screenprints
Mark Richards - Crystal Stickers, Pearls
K&Company - K-Ology Hannah Stitched Beaded Brad
Ribbon - small black mesh
Zig Calligraphy Pen - Black
Unknown manufacturer flowers, blue

Your World Now

I had fun not only mixing two different fonts.. but also using some digital masks before I had this wonderful photo of my niece printed. Love the flourish!

Products:

K&Company Tim Coffey Designer Paper
Basic Grey Micro Chip Stickers - Dark Chocolate Chip
Little Yellow Bicycle - Fresh Print Traveler - clear cut film strips
Zig Calligraphy Pen - Black
Martha Stewart Butterfly punches
Tim Holtz Distress Stickles - Antique Linen
Unknown manufacturer flowers, blue and cream

Authentic University Of the Pacific Brand Card

2010-03-09T19:23:00.000-08:00

I love this card! I created from mostly "recycled" paper products from another invitation that I received.

The main element on the front is a 5 layered butterfly (I know - I really like butterflies!).

This fabric tag from Little Yellow Bicycle was just the right colors and texture to add to the card. I covered the center that used to say "Authentic BOY Brand" so that is now says "Authentic University Of the Pacific Brand." It will be perfect to give to my fellow Pacificans!

Products:

Cardstock - black
Little Yellow Bicycle, Zack's Life, Fabric Tags
Martha Stewart Butterfly punches
Bling brad - lt orange
Recycled papers from University Of the Pacific invitation (yep the entire rest of the card!!)

Morgan, handmade Ribbon Flowers, and finding more butterflies

2010-03-09T18:48:00.000-08:00

A fun layout with some new captures I have of my niece, Morgan. I scraplifted (scrapstole) the lovely layout "wishing" by July Gaceta on XOXO Girls Challenge Blog.

I really like how my ribbon "flower" turned out. If you haven't made these before they are very cute, and easy! You just need a strip of ribbon (in this case I used about 4") and you sew one side with a running stitch. Leaving a few inches of thread at each end to "pull" together. When the thread is pulled tighter the ribbon starts to form a circle. You just tie it and cover the center of the flower with a brad/button/another flower/etc.

Additionally, the larger white "butterfly" is made from two flourish stickers - I fudged the butterfly by adding the 3 white velvet brads and the antennae from wire. :)

Products used:

Cardstock - white
Bazzel Dotted Swiss - lt green
Reminisce Unwritten, Colorful
Recollections Rhinestone Stickers - brown flourish
Me & My Big Ideas, Elegant Flourishes Puffy - white
Magic Mesh - lt green
Martha Stewart Butterfly punch
4 velvet brads - white
26 gauge wire - teal
Embroidery floss - drk brown
Imaginisce Wild Flowers - White Elephant
ClearSnap Smooch - green
American Crafts Giggles Foam Thickers - white

ColourQ Challenge #21

2010-03-01T00:18:00.001-08:00

Here is my submission for the ColourQ Challenge #21.

Products:

Coordination's cardstock - melon (pink), rose (drk pink), apricot (lt orange), and green
Bazzel Dotted Swiss - white
Cuttle Bug envelopes (various)
Sanding block
Stayz-on ink - black
Zig Calligraphy Pen - black
Basic Grey Micro Chip Stickers - White Chocolate Chip
Basic Grey Micro Chip Stickers - Dark Chocolate Chip
7 Gypsies crushed velvet butterfly brads
28 gauge pink wire
K&Company Jim Coffey Designer Paper

The color's were:

Teaching Scrapbooking Classes in March 2010

2010-02-28T16:24:00.000-08:00

March 2010 will be a fun filled one for me! I again have two scrapbooking classes that I'll be teaching at two different stores in the San Joaquin area.
Memories for the Making (MFTM), Lodi Ca is a great store where I'm going a little dimensional with the next class! Here is a sample of two of the layouts from this class -- I call the class Shabby Chic with Scraps!

I'm very excited to teach this class because Shabby Chic is a new area for so many people! I really think that everyone will love the fact that they are going to be learning techniques they can use on all kinds of future pages!

My Scraplifting 101 class at My Scrapbook Dreams (MSD), Stockton Ca is going to have some fun layouts for the month of March. Here is a sample of one of the pages that will be part of the class!

This class is going to be another great class filled with tips and fun! And not to mention of course the attendees leave with the pages they created!

Cards for Soldiers

2010-02-28T15:37:00.000-08:00

Whew! We made over 25 cards for soldiers in my Stockton/Lodi Scrapbooking Meetup Group this last weekend! It was great! Got to try new techniques and some fun cards came out of it. Here are the ones that I did:

Easter Wishes:

This card is super simple and guaranteed to make people go "Aaaahhh!" when they see this super cute chic/bird made from a button!

Products:

Cardstock: white, pink, and grass green
2 mini brads - yellow
1 small button - yellow
Zig Calligraphy Pen - Black
Basic Grey Micro Chip Stickers - White Chocolate Chip

Butterflies and Best Wishes:

Products:

Cardstock: white and pink
Martha Stewart ribbon - Best Wishes
Martha Stewart Butterfly punches
Decretive mini scallop scissors
Zig Calligraphy Pen - Black
DCWV Mariposa paper
5 Robin's Nest Pebbles - Cowboy

Bug/Thinking of you:

This cute little bug is super easy to make from a circle punched out and cut in half to create the two wings. I layered a second set of wings under to give it a more 3D look.

Products:

Cardstock: mat blue, white, and pink
EK Success 1 1/2 in circle punch
8 mini brads - red
Lace ribbon - white
Pink Pebbles Duplicate Rob-ons - "Thinking of you" white
Zig Calligraphy Pen - black
Signo Pen - white

Leaves/Thinking of you:

This card was a bit of an experiment that I think turned out fine! Basically the front of the card is cut (in this case in the shape of a branch/leaves) to reveal the inside of the card - in this case the white interior.

Products:

Pre-made orange/white card - unknown manufacturer
Reminisce - Unwritten collection, Paper Strips (butterfly strip)
Pink Pebbles Duplicate Rob-ons - "Thinking of you" white
Signo Pen - white

Inside - Thinking of you/Butterfly:

Products:

Cardstock: white and pink
Doodle Bug Designs, Inc. - Swimming Pool Crushed Velvet Cardstock
Zig Calligraphy Pen - Black
Martha Stewart Butterfly punch
EK Success 1 1/2 in circle punch
Cat's Eye ink - teal
Reminisce - Unwritten collection, Paper Strips (butterfly strip used as a mask)
Pink Pebbles Duplicate Rob-ons - "Thinking of you" white

Outside - Thinking of you/Butterfly:

Butterflies - Thank You:

I dry embossed and sanded the pink cardstock, overlaid the DCWV paper then added the popped-up butterfly to add a little dimension. I topped the card off with the green ribbon in a cute bow!

Products:

Cardstock: white and pink
Cuttle Bug embossing folder - flourishes
Sanding block
DCWV Mariposa paper
Small ribbon - green
Thank you rub-on, unknown manufacturer
Zig Calligraphy Pen - Black

Spring is Here

2010-02-18T13:00:00.000-08:00

I was inspired by spring today! It has sprung here in Stockton, CA. A nice walk was all it took for me to start thinking seriously green.

Layout Products:

Drk green, brt green, and lt green cardstock
Bazill Swiss Dot cardstock - white
Various green patterned papers from My Mind's Eye, Me & My Big Ideas, DCWV, and BoBunny.
ColorBok chipboard pieces
Basic Grey Micro Chip Stickers - White Chocolate Chip
K&Company Jim Coffey Designer Paper
28 gauge green wire
Zig Calligraphy pen - black

And I made a cute little card from a small twig collected on my walk.

Products:

Drk green, lt green, brt green, green, and white cardstock
Various green patterned papers from My Mind's Eye, Me & My Big Ideas, DCWV, and BoBunny
Twig
Green ribbon
Zig Calligraphy pen - chocolate
Sm maple leaf punch

ColourQ Challenge #20

2010-02-17T17:16:00.000-08:00

A creation for the ColourQ Challenge #20.

These were some fun shots from this past Christmas. The colors in the images seemed to just work with this ColourQ Challenge.

Products:

Real red, brilliant blue, tempting turquoise, and white cardstock
Imaginisce Wild Flowers - White Elephant
American Crafts Thickers, Lulaby Sunflower
Red brads
White velvet brad
K&Company Tim Coffey Designer Paper Pad
Embroidery thread - lemon
Iron on Butterfly/Flowers - unknown manufacturer
Sharpie Paint Pen - Red

Another Triple Challenge

2010-02-16T20:48:00.001-08:00

I've taken on three different challenges this evening!

In no particular order....

C reative Scrappers Sketch 91:

The layout design was based on this sketch. Not bad if I have to say so myself! :)

Challenge # 8 from the wonderful ladies of Lets Get Shabby blog.

They put a challenge out to use a love note. This note (sorry about the handwriting) was from my hubby. I'd had it in a box just waiting to be scrapped! Thanks Lets Get Shabby for the inspiration!

And finally, you're likely wondering about these colors. They are compliments of the gang at Design Dollies Color Challenge LAVENDER, GREY and WHITE/IVORY.

Products:

White, grey, and lavender cardstock
DCWV Once Upon a Time - Unicorn Flight
DCWV The Glitter Cardstock Stack
American Crafts Thickers, Giggle Foam white
Drk grey lace ribbon
Martha Stewart Butterfly punches
EK Success 1 1/2" circle punch
Provo Craft Paper Palette handmade paper
Drk pearls
Jewelers pin
Signo white pen

Cannot Cage Explorers

2010-02-15T23:41:00.000-08:00

I still have many photos from my India 2008 trip that I've been working through slowly. This was a great shot of my travel buddies as we hiked to a temple.
Products:

Drk brown cardstock
Basic Grey, Milk Chocolate chip chipboard micro-chip stockers
American Crafts Thickers, Delight Fabric White
Making Memories, Clear Creations - Travel
Sticko, Jolee's Boutique Destination - India
Tan lace ribbon
Lt yellow rickrack
Sm black rickrack
Staples
Signo White pen
JoAnn Craft Essentials Vacation Acrylic Words
Rhinestones - Orange
My Mind's Eye - Bohemia Acrylic Borders
GCD Studios, Melody Ross Designer Collections - Transparency Designs - Artsy Urban
K&Company, Tim Coffey, Designer Paper, TC Bloomwood
DVWV The Mariposa Stack
Heidi Swapp World Traveler Glossy Extras dye-cut
Unknown manufacturer - orange travel quoted tag

A Mini Stovall Book

2010-02-15T17:50:00.000-08:00

I decided to use up a short Acrylic book I've had for a while. I kept it pretty basic with just four main pages and very easy layouts for each page. And, since I had tons of leftover Martha Stewart butterflies... well, they came back for this project.

Products:

Black, red, orange, blue, and white cardstock
Various brads - black, white, velvet, orange, etc.
Martha Stewart butterfly punches
Various size ribbon - lt green, teal, black, white, lace, sheer, red, and orange.
DVWV Mulberry Mat Stack - Neutral and Classic
American Crafts Thickers, Lullaby Foam Charcoal
Basic Grey, Dark Chocolate chip chipboard micro-chip stockers
Basic Grey, White Chocolate chip chipboard micro-chip stockers
Making Memories Felt alpha - Red
Making Memories Felt alpha - Green
American Crafts Thickers, Delight Fabric White
Zig Calligraphy Pen - Navy
3 Binder rings - 1"
8"x8" Acrylic Book

Butterflies, butterflies, and more butterflies

2010-02-15T17:32:00.000-08:00

I think I'm obsessed with getting as many butterflies on my pages as possible! I just got some new punches - I put out for these Martha Stewart beauties! I just love how the butterflies look like they are flying across/up the page!

Products:

Lt. blue cardstock
Little Yellow Bicycle, Nita Bella Collection, Dark Blue Medallion
Blue lace ribbon
Lt. blue sm ribbon
Colorbok chipboard piece
Martha Stewart Butterfly punches
American Crafts Thickers, Black Tie Velvet - Lt blue
Zig Calligraphy Pen - Navy
Various blue brads
Various shades/patterns of blue paper/cardstock
Various word stickers - shades of blue
Tim Holtz Distressed Stickles - Broken China
Blue Rhinestones

A Little Valentines!

2010-02-15T17:12:00.000-08:00

I did this super cute layout of my brother/sister-in-law having a whimsically lovely time.

Products:

White, red, and black cardstock
Me & My Big Ideas - Red/White flower patterned paper
Black buttons
ColorBok chipboard letters
Martha Steward butterfly punches
Pom-pom Back Ribbon
American Crafts, Holiday House Felt pieces
Unknown manufacturer heart chipboard pieces
Felt brads, white
Chipboard lrg letters
Making Memories Felt alpha - Red
Doodle Bug Designs, Inc. - Beetle Black Crushed Velvet Cardstock
Smooch Spritz - Cherry Ice
Zig Calligraphy Pen - black

Red, Black and a Neutral Challenge

2010-02-07T18:28:00.000-08:00

I put this layout together for the Design Dollies February - RED, BLACK and ONE NEUTRAL - Color Challenge.

Products:

Me & My Big Ideas - Red/White flower patterned paper
PSX Paper Designs "Antique Wallpaper" - Tan-ish pattered paper
Doodle Bug Designs, Inc. - Beetle Black Crushed Velvet Cardstock
DCWV Taj Mahal Stack - Red/Gold patterned paper
Tan cardstock
Red cardstock
Black cardstock
Mark Richard's Crystal Stickers - Pearls
Zig Calligraphy Pen - black
Lace Ribbon - red
Red button
Black buttons
American Crafts Thickers - Patchwork, fabric black
American Crafts, Holiday House Felt pieces
Color Box chipboard accents

Card Making Weekend

2010-01-27T12:36:00.000-08:00

Two weekends ago I made a bunch of cards for Cards for Soldiers. This is always a fun thing to do as I can be a little wilder with the cards - it is okay if they have a different personallity then me - I'm not sending them. :)

Here are my creations:

Products:

Dotted Swiss Cardstock - black
Lt-green cardstock
American Crafts patterned paper - both yellow and pink
Med button - Drk green
American Crafts Rhinestones - Lt-green
Butterfly - handmade from patterned paper (October Afternoon, Night Light: Charles), Sharpie Paint-Pen - Silver, and silver 32 gauge wire
Signo pen - white

Products:

Dr-Navy cardstock
Lt-Pink cardstock
Raw cardboard-colored cardstock - Fiskers Star punch
American Crafts patterned paper (pink)
7 random buttons (Dr-blue and red/pink in color)
Butterfly - handmade from patterned paper (October Afternoon, Night Light: Charles), Sharpie Paint-Pen - Silver, and silver 32 gauge wire
American Crafts, Holiday House felt shape
American Crafts Flair Character - Question
Zig Calligraphy Pen - Black

Products:

Lt-blue cardstock
Bazzil silver cardstock
2" orange lace ribbon
Staple
Handmade paper ribbon - Orange/Silver
Rhinestones
Zig Calligraphy Pen - Black

Products:

Green cardstock
Gray cardstock
Raw cardboard-colored cardstock - Fiskers Star punch
5 1/2" each: yellow ribbon, navy sm ribbon, brown ribbon
2" navy sm ribbon
2 stables
Navy/star patterned paper (unknown manufacturer)
Raindrops
Flourish stamp - unknown manufacture
Stays-on ink - drk brown
Zig Calligraphy Pen - Black

Products:

Black cardstock
Drk-red cardstock
Lt-blue cardstock
DCWV Tahiti Stack patterned paper
Fiskers Star punch
Lrg yellow ribbon
Sm orange ribbon
Red button
Yellow button
Lt-blue button brads
Zig Calligraphy Pen - Black

Products:

Blue cardstock
Drk-purple cardstock
Rhinestones - purple
Lace ribbon - white
Unknown manufacturer patterned paper
Zig Calligraphy Pen - Black

Products:

Blue cardstock
Lt-blue cardstock
Green coordinations cardstock
Unknown manufacture green patterned paper
Lrg blue ribbon
Lrg green button
Zig Calligraphy Pen - Black

Products:

Blue cardstock
Drk-purple cardstock
Yellow cardstock
Red cardstock
Fiskers star Punch
Unknown manufacturer patterned paper
Rhinestones - purple
Sm orange ribbon

Products:

Blue cardstock
Dotted Swiss Cardstock - black
Lt pink cardstock
Lace ribbon - white
Rhinestones - pink
American Crafts patterned paper (pink)
Zig Calligraphy Pen - Black

Challenge to the Power of Two

2010-01-18T18:57:00.000-08:00

I've gone for a challenge to the power to two this weekend with my layout!

1st power: The Page Maps Blog BasicGrey Double Header Sketch Contest - which inspires the layout with this sketch. I just love Becky Fleck's Page Maps -- I use the site ALL THE TIME! It's fun to actually do a contest with one of her layouts.

2nd power: This is a Fave Color Color Combo Challenge from the Design Dollies Blog with inspiration from the following three colors: TURQUOISE, WHITE, and LIME GREEN.

I just love these colors and didn't have a problem at all working with them.

I think the layout turned out quite nice!

Products:

Making Memories, Embellishment Paper, Funky Vintage ~ Ruby Collection 6"x6" pack
Fancy Pants Transparencies, Vertical Jump
Creative Imaginations, Narratives by Keran Russell
American Crafts, Thickers, Daiquiri, white
Turquoise cardstock
White cardstock
Lime green cardstock
Zig Calligraphy pen - black
Sm-rick-rack ribbon - black
Lt-green pom-pom ribbon

Mojo Monday Week 122 Challenge

2010-01-18T14:27:00.000-08:00

Here is a fun card I put together for the Mojo Monday Week 122 Challenge.

I decided to have a bit of an Asian feel to the card. Also, I used two contrasting colors - purple and yellow. I think it came up pretty nice. :D

Here is a image of the original sketch that inspired this creation.

Products:

DCWV The Far East - 8"x8" stack
Black cardstock
Yellow-gold cardstock
Silver cardstock
NRN Designs Vellum Stickers, Asian Text and Coins
American Crafts, MiniMarks - Salutations Phrases Multi
Zig Calligraphy pen - black
Matt-silver mini brad
Lt-purple small ribbon

Challenge, Challenge, Challenge!

2010-01-16T22:30:00.000-08:00

This weekend I decided to take on three different challenges from three different blog sites!

1st: American Crafts MiniMarks Week Challenge. I actually used 3 different MiniMarks and actually several other American Crafts products!

2nd: Creative Scrappers blog Sketch # 86 Challenge. This was a fun sketch to work with. I was even able to work in the paint splatter at the top right of the layout.

3rd: Challenge Seven from the Lets Get Shabby blog, with some Summer Influence. The paper creation needs to be inspired by this image:

I decided to use the color combos on the image and also took a little inspiration from the summer feel.

Products:

My Minds Eye, Breaking Free Collection
October Afternoon, Night Light: Charles
Bo-Bunny Press, Summer Cottage Flourish
Drk-brown cardstock
White cardstock
American Crafts, Thickers, Chit Chat, Puffy, white
American Crafts, MiniMarks - Summer (promotional book)
American Crafts, MiniMarks - Calendar Kit, Ned Jr - Black
American Crafts, MiniMarks - Ned Jr - Black
American Crafts, Holiday House - Chipboard Summer
Tattered Angles Glimmer Mist - Pearl
Lt-green acrylic paint
Zig Calligraphy Pen - Chocolate

Design Dollies Triple Threat Challenge

2010-01-15T00:21:00.000-08:00

I decided to take on a Design Dollies Triple Threat Challenge - so, this means I used three of the Design Dollies three different challenge and combined them all into one layout -- whew!

This weeks challenges included:

Sketchiness Sketch - okay I think I got this one down!
Color Challenge - FUSCHIA AND PALE YELLOW! - I think i did pretty good!! Yeah, even thought I think fuschia is a little too close to pink for Rebeca ;) .
Your most wintry project yet! - Well, I think I might be able to queeze by with this one -- the layout is about my "winter eyes" and also has small fuschia snowflakes on it. I'll totally understand if I miss out on this third piece however.

Products:

Memory Box Flirt Collection, Buttons
DCWV Taj Mahal Stack
My Minds Eye, Breaking Free Collection
Lt-yellow cardstock
Drk-blue cardstock
Fuschia cardstock
Snowflake brads and eyelets from the Eyelet Outlet
Various flowers
24 gauge gold wire
Queen & Co Felt Fusion
Sm Fuschia ribbon
Zig Calligraphy Pen - black
American Crafts - Puffy Rainboots - Daisy

XOXO Girls Challenge #1

2010-01-11T22:58:00.000-08:00

Another challenge - this time I took on the XOXO Girls Blog Challenge #1.

This is my take on the layout by XOXO Girl Lynnette Davis.

I decided to do several layers for this layout - yellow cardstock, drk-brown cardstock on top, then the patterned paper, then I started to layer the photo, ribbons/fibers, etc. This image of my cat "Skitty-Kitty" I felt really showed his beautiful yellow eyes. I wanted to bring that color out even more in this photo with the highlights of yellow.

I didn't want to make the photo too "heavy" with a large mat so I just sanded the edges of the photo to give a think white outline, then I took brown paint and did a quick faux frame on the left side of the photo. Some people might not even notice it, but it brings emphasis to the main photo.

I roughed up the drk-brown cardstock quite a bit on this layout - first with distressing (literally ripping the paper edge) then with distress inking the paper before layering on the pattered paper.

The strip of Provo Craft handmade paper (the drk-brown almost brick pattern behind the photo) is actually flocked. Between flocked paper, dew-drop pebbles, and the fiber on the page - you just want to reach out and touch it!

Here is a bit more detail for the Tim Holtz Grungeboard hinges:

Product used:

Drk-brown cardstock
Yellow cardstock
Cosmo Cricket, Haunted: Ominous
Provo Crafts, Handmade Paper
KI Memories Alphabet Soup Acrylic letters - Mac-n-Cheese
Tim Holtz Grungeboard, plain elements
The Robin's Nest Dew Drops, Cowboy
Ranger, Tim Holtz Distress Ink, Vintage Photo
24 gauge gold wire
Mini brads, gold mat
Lace, off white
Fiber, drk-brown
Ribbon, yellow
Zig Calligraphy Pen, Black
Kaiser Colour, Crafters Acrylic paint, Raw Umber

Here is Lynnette's original layout:

1.07 Sketchy Thursday Challenge

2010-01-11T01:08:00.000-08:00

This layout is for the 1.07 Sketchy Thursday layout challenge. I think this came out pretty good. I really like the colors and how they compliment the image.

Here is a little more detail of the Tim Holtz grungeboard inked and a little distressed.

Products/Tools used:

Lt-Green cardstock
Black cardstock
Drk-Green Swiss-Dot cardstock
Zig Calligraphy pen - black
Zig Writer Chalk Collection pen - white
Color Box Cat's Eye ink pad - copper
Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Ink - Vintage Photo
American Crafts Thickers - Patchwork, fabric
Wild Asparagus patterned paper - "Mother" striped
Sandylion - Fine Designs, Rougte De Garance Inspirations precision cut cardstock paper - "Love in Bloom"
Tim HoltzGrungeboard, plain elements
Strip of lace

Here is the original sketch:

Sketchy Thursdays - Second Chance Challenge Card

2010-01-10T14:29:00.001-08:00

I've recently joined a new Flickr group and started following a blog for Sketchy Thursdays. Here is my card creation for the Second Chance Challenge Card sketch.

My version of this pretty sketch:

Products used:

Black cardstock
Lt-Blue cardstock
Blue Swiss-Dott cardstock
Pink Paislee, Vintage Moon Collection, Moon Glade pattered paper
Quartet Cork Craft Sheets
Starform Stickers - small silver butterflies
Zig Calligraphy Pen - Black
32 Gauge silver wire

Original Sketch:

Wired!

2010-01-09T22:24:00.000-08:00

Oh I'm wired! This is a pretty basic layout -- except -- did you see!? The Wire!? I actually added this wire on the advice of a fellow cropper buddy. Why? Well, because my silly letter would not stay stuck! HAHA! I'm not kidding. These acrylic letters would not seem to stay put when traditional liquid glue. I didn't want to use glue dots because I felt that the dots would show too much. So, when in doubt -- use wire! I actually really like the added touch to the layout. Here is a close up.

Also, I've decide that I'm going to try and start listing all the products - or at least those of note - in the blog. I hope this will help with any layouts that I want to submit to challenges or for those reading to know what materials I used.

Products/Tools:

Blue pattered paper - DCWV, Tahiti Beach Stack
Drk-brown dotted pattered paper - My Minds Eye, Breaking Free Collection
Brown-rusty colored pattered paper - Dream Street Papers LLC, Remember The Moments - Christian
Cardstock - WorldWin Papers - Double Mates
Circles cut with EK Success 1 1/2 " circle punch
Random ribon
Unknown acrylic alpha
Gold 24 gauge wire
Zig Memory System - Calligraphy - Chocolate pen

4 of us

2010-01-09T22:12:00.000-08:00

I really really like this layout! Not only is it featuring my favorite subject (my family) but it also have gorgeous colors, butterflies, and I think it just looks stunning! I hand cut the butterfly patterned paper (some paper I'd been saving from S.E.I.- Bridgeport collection) to shape, then cut it to flow onto and off the page. The rest of the layout just came together after that. With B&W photos it is so easy to really focus on the layout color combos. In this case - sea foam green, charcoal, black, and off-white. The butterfly papered paper had a slight sheen to it, so I followed that when I choose my buttons to add to the layout. Also, did you see my little birdie? How cute, right?! I just couldn't help myself -- I've had some flocked lace type ribbon for some time with these little birds and flowers -- I trimmed the birds and flowers off to use just a strip down the page. But, I decided last minute to add just one little birdie. The title of course is using my favorite letters -- American Craft Thickers -- two different fonts and mediums. I just love mixing these up for my titles.

Vroom Vroom

2010-01-09T22:06:00.000-08:00

This layout is definitely inspired by a little fun side of me. I don't get to do very many whimsical layouts since I don't have kids, but, I do have young family members and some sometimes silly adults! Thus this "vroom vroom" layout came to be. Who doesn't love Go-Carts! I got to use some of my masses of ribbon on the layout - fun stapling (although I hid the staples with more ribbon on top) to create a pleated ribbon look. Additionally, I was please to use up some of the road trip candied brads - "nice ride" and "lets GO!" The color combo is okay. I think the purple background paper is getting a little too close to a color I don't like - it's like the other other pink. Arge I hate pink...

{beka}

2010-01-09T21:48:00.000-08:00

Ever have way too many flowers? A need to use up some of my flowers was definitely what inspired this layout (a perfect dozen in total were used on this layout). I think it came out pretty nice. I also use a lot of different techniques and tools on this layout -- Glimmer Mist is used on the lace paper toward the lower left hand corner, Stickles are used on the flower, flower centers, and to create a few flourishes around the flowers. Tearing/distressing of the main patterned paper is also used -- this is a lot of fun if you haven't tried it before. Also, you don't need those expensive tools everyone wants you to buy -- seriously you're taring paper. I just use the junction of my scissors and a little old fashion elbow grease for the tiny tares.

Oh, and the butterfly is very fun! It is made from a chipboard cutout of a butterfly which I painted and then added a butterfly sticker (applied to green velum) over the top and adhered with three brads for the "body" of the butterfly. I left the wings of the stickers slightly folded up to create the taking flight effect.

Yummy!

2010-01-09T21:28:00.000-08:00

I'm still working through the images I took for the holidays. Here is another layout for the sugar cookie making -- and eating! This layout is pretty basic with lots of layers of paper to give the depth to it. My scrap buddy for the day mentioned she would never have thought to add orange to the color combo ... I kind of think of orange when ever I want to add a pop! Especially when working with any blues (as it is the contrasting color). This layout also allowed me to use up more of my millions of stickers that I have - yeah stickers.

Family Fun Layout

2010-01-03T17:55:00.000-08:00

This "family fun" layout is actually quite similar to another layout I recently did of some pumpkin carving photos. Both layouts are based off of the same sketch. On this one I think the colors are wonderful (some of my favorite ones to do together).

I've added in some faux stitching to frame up the photos. One of these days I'll invest in a actual sewing machine instead of faux or hand stitching.

I used a library book card for the journaling on the layout... that was fun! I keep seeing people use the strangest of things - completely unrelated to the subject of the layout - as journaling or embellishments. I have had a whole stack of these card sitting around for a while and I think it works out well. Next time I think I'll try to include the little envelope sleeve I have for them to go into (wrong color for this layout so I left it off). Finally, I used stickers on the layout as well. I rarely use stickers because they are usually too, well, sticker-ish looking usually. But, these stickers you can barely see! YEAH!

Well, my winter holiday is just about over, I think this may be the last layout I get done before heading back to work. I'm actually excited to get back to work... I love my work!

Hopefully I can squeeze in a few more layouts -- and post them to the blog - if not, the next time I post may be after a crop night with the Meetup Group.

Cheers!

Carving Pumpkins

2010-01-03T14:42:00.000-08:00

Well, I can't decide if this layout is done or not. I think it's starting to get a little too busy but I just feel like it might be missing something still. I used quite a few dimensional foam dots/squares on this layout to pop-up all sorts of pumpkins. I also decided to try and and use a little paint on the layout. This may have been a mistake as I didn't exactly fall in love with the result. But, with paint there really isn't any turning back... so it says unless I want to reprint and rip up half the layout -- I don't think so!

Let the Monkey Win

2010-01-03T14:34:00.000-08:00

A little travel tip - #37:

Let the monkey win! HA HA

Well, I decided to go ahead and scrap this funny moment.

The layout has hidden journaling again as I did on another recent layout with images from my India 2008 trip. I also used glimmer mist on this layout -- but after looking at the completed project I covered most of it up! I doubt most people would even notice it. This product if fun, but I still struggle sometimes in the best way to use it. Of course I mixed up my Thickers title. I just love doing this to give the page a little more of a whimsical feel to it. I read somewhere that if you see a movie poster with a mixed color and font title -- you know it is a romantic chic flick. Maybe all my layouts are too!

On Pins and Needles!

2010-01-01T18:27:00.000-08:00

I've been seeing a little trend lately where people are using decorative pins (usually close to a hat pin) on layout and cards. Well, I've been keeping an eye out for some in my local craft stores - both in the scrapbooking area and out. But when I find these fun pins they are just way to expensive or just not what I want for my layouts. Well, when I can't find something I want I usually go straight to the internet and get it there! However, I decided this was something I might actually be able to make easily and get exactly what I wanted. So I did! I made about a dozen of the "pins" by cracking out my stash of pretty glass beads and -- here is the fun part -- my jewelry supplies, specifically the head pins. Usually, these are used when making earrings... but I found they are pretty perfect for these little babies too! Quick instructions for anyone that wants to try -- you'll also need a strong wet glue (I used Diamond Glaze) and a foam to stick the pins in. I just coated the end of the head pin with glue, slid the bead on (some I did two beads to make little flowers!) and then suspend upside down by poking into the foam and hanging this off the edge of a surface. I let mine dry over night and bam! My own personal pins for crafting.

I used my first two on another layout for the various Christmas 2009 pictures. They are a small addition to the left of the page title. I think it looks pretty nice.

Beautiful

2009-12-30T16:52:00.000-08:00

Ever since I took this picture I've wanted to scrapbook it in a really special way. I think I finally did that today when I used an interesting outline technique I've done before but this time I went a little more elaborate on the embellishments. The colors of this layout were inspired by all the vibrant colors I saw while in India (where this photo was taken) back in 2008. I certainly used a good collection of bling on this page with Stickles, Rhinestones, and even shiny paper! The main photo is also covered with a 5"x7" overlay I'd had around and was waiting to use on something fun!

The best thing about this layout is the teal tab at the top of the photo area... yup, hidden journaling that slips behind the photo itself.

I wanted to talk about this image and what feelings it invoked in me, but I didn't really have room on the layout! Again, not my first time with the hidden journaling technique, and I like how it turned out. If you're ever thinking of doing something similar, the one suggestion I can give is to plan it out ahead of time. Double and triple check the adhesive areas and then finally -- here is the best part -- have a stop and/or guide points for the journaling to sit against. Otherwise I've found that the journaling just goes all over the place and can really detract from your layout when it doesn't sit in the right place.

Bright Colors

2009-12-30T00:37:00.000-08:00

Wowza! Those are some bright colors! Well, for these bright cookies I thought I'd stick to paper that matched. :D

This layout is pretty simple. It just has six 2"x2" photos. Those above are just some random shots from making sugar cookies for christmas. I know, I know... you're likely wondering well where does it say that... or the year/date for that matter. It's okay, I didn't feel like putting this on the front via journaling or a title... so it is written on the back for all the years to come!

The yellow paper I've had forever and forget where I got it from, but it looks perfect and has a slight embossed dot pattern. Actually, that dot pattern came in handy several times while creating this layout. Since the layout is a grid pattern, I was able to easily line everything up but --- well -- following the dots!

This layout is a little off for me -- it's the Pink! I hardly ever use pink on anything... really, I think I can count the number of pages I've done with pink on one hand. I actually had to peck around to find a few embellishments that were pink -- most of my pink items I give away knowing they'll usually just gather dust in my scrap room. The pink glitter strip on this page is from a DCWV glitter cardstock packet I got recently. I hadn't had the chance yet to rip it apart and toss the pink to another crop buddy.

The letters are new to me too -- I got them on sale at a great buy for just $1! Yikes, I know... I got 4 packages! They are the American Crafts Cloth Thickers. I've always likes this font and I needed "e"s again so I had to crack open another package.

Christmas Pictures

2009-12-29T21:46:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm sure there will be more to come after this layout -- but this is my first layout from the 2009 Christmas pictures. It's a fun layout that uses up some of my older Christmas papers (from DCWV paper pack I've had for over 2 years!). Also, got to use some fun combos of American Crafts letters! I love this white font -- I think I have about 4 packages of it becuase I keep using up all the "e"s... and I refuse to use a 3 backwards for an "e" ... sorry folks it doesn't look okay... it looks like a 3 backwards! Oh! On to more photos!

More Teal Glittery Letters

2009-12-28T20:47:00.000-08:00

I really found I like the look of the Teal Glittery Letters I used on the Me Layout. Since they are so nice I decided to create another layout with them. I think that some people might be intimidated by mixing teal and bright orange ... but not me! Orange is my second favorite color to scrap with (green being the first). Also on the layout I played a bit with a doodled frame around the edge of the layout ... I saw this same technique on a layout in a store except it used half circles as the "notched" out part. I didn't have a circle punch of the right size and just knew that I'd mess up a hand cut attempt. So, instead I used a single spoke of my star punch. The points kind of look like more arrows ... and I just thought it added a little extra to the entire piece.

Two New Scrapbooking Things for Me

2009-12-28T17:26:00.000-08:00

For the last week or so I've been mostly producing a lot of cards -- this was because I wanted to cleanup some of my scraps (my scrap drawer was full!). I'm a little done with card making for a little while! :D

I decided today I would try to use some of my larger scraps with a scrapbook layout. I also chose to try two new things for me:

1st a new technique where distressing the edge of a page is taken to a whole new level! If you can see from the layout above, this technique uses a very rough distressing and tearing of the edges of the page to actually reveal a new color below. I think this worked out pretty good for this layout -- the peaks of teal paper along all four edges really helps to almost frame the layout. It was a little scary tearing up the edges so brutally - it took me a little of holding my breath and I went really slowly removing just a bit at a time.

2nd a new product! Yeah, always love new fun pretties! In this case very pretty! The product is something that I got from my local craft store -- they were very beautiful teal glittered letters. They are meant for wall decoration -- but I think they look wonderful on my layout! I'm pretty sure I'm breaking the "no acid" with these letters -- but the image and layout is more for fun then long lasting. I have the image in other layouts and don't need this specific layout to last my life and beyond without yellowing. I think it came out pretty nice. :D

Zig Emboss Pen

2009-12-27T11:12:00.000-08:00

I saw a fun card made from a patterned paper filled with words - on word was highlighted by a frame to point to the subject of the card. I figured I could try this myself and make a handmade pattern of words and highlight the one that I wanted to most highlight. To do this I used a Zig Emboss Pen. I first wrote out several words (in this case words related to love and my husband) in a random pattern with the pen. I then applied black embossing powder to the words and heated. One single word - Love - was embossed with gold powder. I'm not sure I have the color combo down - as green didn't seem to highlight the card well. :( However, a work in progress -- I hope my hubby doesn't mind getting a few of these as I experiment more. :D

Copy a Card

2009-12-26T21:47:00.000-08:00

Man! I don't think I like glitter rub-ons! I tried to use my first one today and just about tossed it out! If it wasn't such a pretty thing (and expensive!) I would have given up. However, some acrylic and some diamond glaze later and the thing was saved!

I decided to try and use the saved butterfly glittery rub-on it on a copy of a previous card that I made. With a change in color pallet -- the 1st card was in red tones and the second in green and blue tones - the card looks fairly different. I LOVED the way the 1st card looked. And the second take wasn't too bad -- but not as good as the first one.

This card layout was inspired by another card, but it really took on a little life of its own as I worked through putting it together. The bling of the butterfly was a bit of a challange to balance out on the card -- I finally decided to use a more natural fiber strip piece to help with that balance.

So, now what am I going to do with the rest of the sheet of glitter rub-ons!?! Well, this is really sad but I might just cut them out and adhere them the old fashion way -- with glue and give up on the whole rub-on chore! HAHA!

Quilling

2009-12-25T17:00:00.000-08:00

I've always loved the art of quilling and today I decided to pull out some of my quilled pieces and use them on some cards.

This card was just cute as could be -- I'm guessing I'll put a sentiment inside to the affect of "Everything will be okay" for a type of sympathy card, or encouragement in a tough time.

And one can never have too many "THANK YOU" cards -- so here is another one for the pile for some deserving recipient.

Button Animals

2009-12-25T16:53:00.000-08:00

So, I was wondering what else I could do with my various buttons, when I decided to see about making them into cute little animals.

Now this is a very cute way of using up your buttons -- but let me warn you that it takes a long time to make the really detailed ones! Worth the end result! I started putting some on cards -- how precious is that!

Teaching Scrapbooking Classes in Jan 2010

2009-12-23T07:36:00.000-08:00

January 2010 will be a fun filled one for me! I have two scrapbooking classes that I'll be teaching at two different stores in the San Joaquin area.
Memories for the Making (MFTM), Lodi Ca is my first class in 2010 - and it's my first class at MFTM! Here is a sample of one of the layouts from this class -- I call it Thinking Outside the Box!

I'm very excited to teach there, and well, lets face it - scrap with all sorts of new people! Sharing in paper crafting is why I teach!

Toward the end of January 2010 I have another fun Mini Tag Book class at My Scrapbook Dreams (MSD), Stockton Ca. Here is the cover of this fun mini book. By just changing out the "party" in the title you can make all sorts of custom titles! Just think of all the title posibilities -- "it's baby time," "it's us time," "it's sports time," and what about "it's scrap time!"

This class is going to be a blast. I normally teach Scraplifting 101 with just 12x12 examples and I'm please to be showing this same concept in a Mini Book format.