Wednesday, August 31, 2016

This...

The older I get the more and more I start to appreciate the little things in life. A good afternoon nap is high up on my list of things that I love. I was able to get a photo of Romeo snuggling up with me one afternoon, and thought that the August main kit from My Creative Scrapbook would be great to document it. Using my large square punch I cut out several squares from the papers in the kit and arranged them on the page. I lightly adhered them with my ATG until I could stitch them down. I did use my ruler to mark off the middle of the page, and tried to make sure that the four corners were the same distance apart from the edge of the cardstock. The rest of the squares I just eyeballed the placement.


 To make the background look more like a quilt, I stitched diagonally across the squares. In person the detail is amazing, and I am a bit disappointed that it doesn't show up as well in the photo.


Since the doily that was included in the embellishment pack was too large for this cluster, I pulled out my Martha Stewart pinked circle punch and cut it down to size. This also repeats the pinked circle in the upper left hand cluster as well. I love it when my design elements coordinate because the page looks more cohesive.


 Although this layout has nothing to do with a typewriter, I thought that it made the perfect embellishment. Yes, life is grand when you have a chance to take a nap and you have a pet to keep you company :)


Here's a link to my process video. Be sure and leave me a comment...I love to hear from you. Have a wonderful day!


Monday, August 29, 2016

Scrap the Challenge: Stencils

Mari and I are really having a great time with this series that we started at the beginning of the year. This week our focus was on using multiple stencils. I am not going to lie to you...this made me cringe. I am not good at the artsy backgrounds. My mixed media tends to consist of just a couple things and I wimped out a bit on this challenge as well. However, I did use two stencils and two different types of texture paste so I am still calling it a win. I also used a sketch by Laura Whittaker from Stuck?!Sketches. She has some great sketches so if you are in a scrappy desert, try looking at her sketches. I'm pretty sure that you can find a couple that will get your mojo going again.

I have the Felicity Jane kit Happy Day that was created by Suse Fish and wanted to use it for this layout. The photo is of me and my friend Suzanna that we took at this amazing little place that makes homemade pies, both ones to eat as lunch and dessert pies. Unfortunately they don't offer pies that are sugar free, so I won't be able to go as often as I'd like, and honestly that is probably a good thing. (I am not a diabetic; I  just try and avoid sugar, processed breads and flours for health reasons). Anyway, this kit has this beautiful periwinkle-cornflower blue that I wanted to feature on this page so I converted the photo to black and white to avoid the clash of the colors between the papers and the photo.



I used Shimmerz Dazzlerz in Coral Me Crazy through a Prima stencil. I love this stencil so much! The sweet flowers are just perfect and I know that I'll be using this stencil again and again. The second stencil that I used is a Heidi Swapp stencil that is small dots. To keep this subtle I used white texture paste and made some small dots in between the flowers. The end result was exactly what I was hoping for...a dainty and girly background.


The puffy stickers that came with the Felicity Jane kit are amazing, but then I do think most puffy stickers are pretty special. I cut some of the vellum flowers in half to create a border underneath.



FJ kits always come with a stamp set. This tiny flower is so cute and I love the way that it looks stamped over the background. The dots also reinforce the dot theme that I have with some of the papers and my background. 


Here's a link to my video. I hope that you enjoy it and have a great day! Be sure and check out Mari's video as well. I've linked her channel in the details section of my video.


Wednesday, August 24, 2016

XO

I have my third layout using the main kit from My Creative Scrapbook kit club. This week I decided to do something a bit different and go for a "clean" mixed media background. The colors in the photo and the embellishments were my inspiration for the mist colors that I used to color the modeling paste. The photo has been sitting on my desk for quite a while now. It is dark and has been somewhat challenging for me in choosing papers and embellishments. Once I decided to make my own background incorporating the colors of the tricycle the paper choices were easy.


Taping the stencil down to my work surface helped me to keep the colors separated while I was applying the paste through the stencil. I used Heidi Swapp mists to color the modeling paste, but you can use watercolors and acrylic paint as well.


Her sweet face and the expression is why I wanted to get this photo on a layout. It's just one of the many that tug at my heart strings :)


I kept the embellishments to a minimum since the background is fairly busy. Outlining the paper layers helps them stand out against the mixed media.


Here's a link to my process video if you'd like to take a peek.



Friday, August 19, 2016

Another Love Layout...

Today I have my second layout that I created for My Creative Scrapbook using their August main kit. I am sure that if I went through my albums and looked at the titles of the layouts that quite a few would be "love". It's generic, unoriginal, and so easy to put on a page, especially when it is on a chipboard sheet. So I did...and I will do it again :) For this layout I really wanted to showcase a mix of the papers that were included with the kit. The woodgrain is one of my favorites and it is such a pretty shade. 



The kit included the Fancy Pants flair and I thought that this one was perfect to pair with the clouds in this cluster.


The title is clustered on a gingham doily that can be found in the ephemera pack. I also cut a thin strip of the woodgrain paper and placed it underneath the title to cover the bit of "trapped" space under the letters O and V. 

Stitching adds the final touch to this layout. These papers somewhat reminded me of a quilt which inspired a layout that you will see in a couple of weeks. So I thought that it was only fitting to stitch on some of the paper layers.



I have a process video if you'd like to take a peek. Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope that you have a great day!



Friday, August 12, 2016

Today's Challenge is Fancy Free

It's time for another Scrap the Challenge layout with Mari, and today we challenged ourselves to use the Fancy Free collection. I am so thrilled that Paige Evans has made it into the design world. I have always loved her layouts, so it was no big surprise for me that I loved her line. One of the things that I love most is that it is both masculine and feminine! When you have a boy and a girl it is nice to have one collection that truly can be used for both types of pages. 

I used a cut file from Hip Kit that was designed by Ashley Horton. The file is free for those who join their website. The heart was one of several cut files for the month. I did some messy stitching around the heart and thought that I was going to break my machine in the process! There was a grinding noise and the needle got stuck a few times....I'm sure that is not a good thing. Fortunately I made it through without breaking my machine.


I love these Thickers, even though not every thing can truly be the "best ever". While I would love to see other phrases included, I would rather have a phrase that I can use so I am in no way complaining.


 These colors are just magical together. I wanted to use more of the blues and the greens to give it a more masculine feel. I did sneak in a doily though to add a different texture. After I finished recording I looked back over the layout and felt like it needed a little something else. So I pulled out these clear sequins and scattered a few around the page. It was exactly what the layout needed.


Here's a link to my process video. Be sure and check out Mari's as well. Have a wonderful day my scrappy friends!

Wednesday, August 10, 2016

My First Official DT post for My Creative Scrapbook

Good morning my friends! Today I have my first layout for My Creative Scrapbook kit club using their August main kit. This kit is full of Fancy Pants with a bit of Illustrated Faith thrown in and is just gorgeous! This photo is of my daughter after I told her she could have one more gummy worm. This is what she pulled out of the package, and no I didn't allow her to eat that entire thing :) 

Just because I know someone is thinking it....I was in my neighborhood and stopped to take the photo. I don't like to use my phone and drive and above all I want to set a good example to my kids. 

 The background was looking a bit plain so I added some mists and used a bit of texture paste through a heart stencil. I did not want it to compete with the bright colors of the papers, so I purposefully kept the tones muted. 





This title is perfect for this photo :)


Here's a link to my process video. I hope you have a great day!

Saturday, August 6, 2016

8th Grade

For today's layout I decided to use my Felicity Jane Next Stop kit. I love the floral paper in the kit. I am a sucker for a beautiful floral and this one makes me so happy! The photo that I'm working with is one that I took on my daughter's first day of her last year in middle school...and my journaling reflects my feelings on this subject. Let's just say that this momma thinks her baby is growing up way too fast and I just want time to slow down just a bit.


 I fussy cut a few of the flowers so that when it came time to make this layout I could just choose a few and go with the flow. I fussy cut bits and pieces while I'm watching tv and want to do something scrappy but not make a page. These pearls have been in my stash for quite some time so I was happy to get some of them used on this page.



I love the stamps that come with the kit. At first glance I wasn't sure just how much use that I would get from travel themed stamps. On closer inspection though I found several phrases that were more generic and I felt like "for real?" truly fit my thoughts as I was making this layout. I used CTMH ink in Hollyhock and it matches perfectly. 


Here's a link to my process video. Have a wonderful weekend!


Friday, August 5, 2016

Exciting News!!

I have been asked by My Creative Scrapbook to be an official member of their design team. I am excited and thankful for the opportunity. As of right now I will continue to be posting my process videos for them on Wednesdays four times a month.

I have a process video to share as well with you today. This layout I created several months ago. I have been so behind in sharing my layouts and getting process videos done. Actually, the voiceovers are what slow me down. Trying to find a quiet time without the phone ringing or kids calling me has been a bit challenging with everything else that goes daily. So my goal is to get somewhat caught up during August and September.

I love my silhouette cameo and decided that one of my scrappy goals for this year was to use it more frequently. When I saw this cut file in the Cut Shoppe, I knew that I wanted to use it on a layout. I pulled out Amy Tangerine's Finder's Keepers collection to use and chose the pink watercolor paper to use for the cut file. The background was looking a bit plain so I used Shimmerz No Yolking for a splash of yellow behind the cut file. 


There really isn't any journaling other than the title for this page. The cut file and playing with pretty papers was my only goal, and I am so happy with the way that it turned out.


Irit Landgraf has a video in which she used rub-ons on craft foam. I decided that I would try that with the clear stickers and the rub-ons and this is most definitely a technique that I will use again. It made it so easy to move the stickers and rub-ons around the page for me to figure out their placement. Plus it looks a bit like a puffy sticker!! Puffy stickers are some of my favorite embellishments so this is definitely a win-win!


Here's a link to my process video. Please feel free to leave a comment or email me if you have any questions :) Have a wonderful day!