Wednesday, April 27, 2011

This One Threw Me for a Loop!

When I saw the new sketch for Sketch Along Tuesday @ Frosted Designs, I immediately knew what photo I wanted to use.  But for the life of me, I couldn't figure out how to design my lo based on the sketch.  I looked back at it everyday since last Tuesday trying to get a vision going of what I wanted to do...with no success.  And then finally, as I was browsing through my Creating Keepsakes May/June 2011 issue yesterday, I came across a lo by Stacy Cohen.  She used a piece of leftover chipboard, where the shapes had been removed and used it as the background of her lo.  She added a liquid adhesive and used small beads in the negative spaces.  That's when the lightbulb went off!  I grabbed a piece of old chipboard that I had taken the shapes out of and painted it white with acrylic paint.  I backed mine with a piece of Echo Park paper, but didn't add any liquid adhesive or beads, because I wanted the paper to show through.  This lo is kind of a mis-match of colors and embellies, but I am really happy with the final page!


The Frosted Designs sketch 4.19:



Products Used:

Papers:  Echo Park & Scenic Route
Grommets:  WRMK
Brads:  Anna Griffin
Paint:  Apple Barrel
Tiny Type:  Making Memories
Pen:  Sakura
Corrugated Alphas:  Jillibean Soup
Other:  Chipboard

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Sketchy Thursdays 4.21 Challenge

I had so much fun with the spray mist on this lo.  I used some of my Jillibean Soup corrugated alphas for a mask on my title...a little different from what I normally do.  The ST sketch had 3 staggered photos, but I chose to use one landscape photo for this lo.  I took the color scheme from the front of the May/June issue of Creating Keepsakes.  I left out the navy and threw in kraft/dark brown. 


This week's sketch:




Products Used:

Papers:  The Paper Studio, Scenic Route, BoBunny, October Afternoon
Spray Mist:  Tsukineko
Pen & Marker:  Marvy
Tiny Type:  October Afternoon, Cosmo Cricket
Brads & Anchors:  Spare Parts
Other:  Chipboard




Monday, April 25, 2011

Frosted Designs Fabulous Friday Challenge 4.22

These days popular trends aren't only associated with the latest fashions in clothing.  There are trends all over the Scrapbooking world.  Banners, clouds, baker's twine, butterflies, and trim are just a few things that are popping up on lo's everywhere.  So the challenge this week at Frosted Designs was to use birds or butterflies on your lo.  My daughters made these cute little paper butterflies at the beginning of April and I thought, "what better lo to use butterflies on!!".  I bought the Little Girl paper and elements kit from Echo Park this past Wednesday for $1 Wednesday...can't beat that!!  The colors from the papers worked great with the colors from my photos.  And my big TADA for this lo is my brand new Baker's Twine that arrived today, while I was actually working on the lo.  I am so excited to have it and I'm sure it will be showing up on a lot of my future lo's!


Products Used:

Paper/Elements:  Echo Park
Buttons:  Pebbles Inc.
Embroidery Floss:  Janlynn
PomPom Trim:  Wrights
Brads:  Making Memories
Other:  Baker's Twine

Monday, April 18, 2011

The Dreaded Birthday Layout!

Birthday layouts have to be my most difficult ones to scrap.  I don't know why...maybe high expectations, not great pictures, too many pictures...who knows the reason.  But this year, my daughter wanted a Princess theme for her 5th birthday, so I already had a great theme to work with.  So add in a great sketch from Sketchy Thursdays, a Fabulous Friday Challenge from Frosted Designs for some great hand-made embellies, and some awesome papers from Crate Paper and what do you get...probably my favorite birthday layout to date!!

I loved these paper flowers that I saw on the October Afternoon blog and thought they would be great for the hand-made embellies for the Fabulous Friday challenge.  They look kind of complicated, but are super easy and beautiful.  Check them out here:  http://octoberafternoon.typepad.com/october_afternoon/2011/03/tuesday-tutorial-paper-flowers.html



and the sketch from Sketchy Thursdays:



Products Used:

Paper & Stickers:  Crate Paper
Marker & Pen:  Marvy
Brads:  Spare Parts
Embroidery Floss:  Janlynn
Thickers:  American Crafts
Fonts:  Book Antiqua
Ribbon:  CTMH & Misc.
Buttons:  Misc.

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

DIY Scrabble Tiles

I started this lo with a really cute Crossword Puzzle paper from Sassafras and thought, "how cute would a Scrabble title be for this page?".  Since I didn't want to use my tiles from the actual Scrabble game, I came up with this idea.  Here is the lo and a close up on the title:




First off, here is a link to a digi Scrabble alpha that I found.  It says it is a free download, but I already had the Scrabble alpha, so I have not tried downloading this one:  http://www.computerscrapbook.com/alphabet-woodtiles.html

2.  Once you have your alpha downloaded, just insert the letters for the word you want to use, as a photo into Word or Desktop Publishing program.

3.  Print on Glossy photo paper.  This works better than just plain cardstock, because it helps give it the look of the shiny tiles.

4.  Once printed, don't cut each tile out separately, cut around the group of letters and glue to a piece of cardboard.  I found that the pieces that come inside the packages of page protectors or maybe something you received in the mail that is used to protect items when being shipped, works best.

5.  After your glue is dry, cut around each letter.  You may want to use an emory board to file down any rough spots after cutting and/or use a little brown ink to distress around the edges for a little more definition.

Hope to see some of you using this technique on your lo's.  You don't have to be a "Digi Scrapper" to still have fun with digi elements!

April PageMaps Sketch:


Products Used:

Paper:  Sassafras, Scenic Route, Bazzil
Brads:  Spare Parts, Close to My Heart
Corrugated Alphas:  JilliBean soup
Grungeboard:  Tim Holtz
Felt Hearts:  Pebbles Inc.
Journaling Tag & Date Sticker:  October Afternoon
Rick Rack:  The Paper Studio
Rub Ons:  Making Memories
Embroidery Floss:  Janlynn
Button:  Close to My Heart
Pen:  Marvy, Sharpie

Monday, April 11, 2011

Kits = Easy Peasy, Lemon Squeezy!!

Can I just say that having co-ordinated kits is A-MAZ-ING!!  It takes all of the guess work out of putting papers together, wondering what embellies to use, and what letters to use for your title.  It was great doing this lo with 80% off the products from the Echo Park "Life Is Good" kit.  The brads, buttons, embroidery floss, and ribbon trims were really the only extras I had to use outside of the kit.  This was a fun lo, because I really loved creating the little scene.  I don't always have lo's that would fit in with having a scene, but I thought it would work great on this one. 


PageMaps Sketch:



Products Used:

Papers, Embellie Stickers, Alpha Stickers - Echo Park
Rick Rack - The Paper Studio
Ribbon, Brads, Buttons - CTMH
Embroidery Floss - Janlynn
Pen - Marvy

Two Birds with One Stone

This week, I combined the 4.7 Sketch Challenge at Sketchy Thursdays, with the Fabulous Friday Challenge at Frosted Designs (using brads on your lo or project).

I bought some 12x12 transparencies by Fancy Pants about 2 1/2 years ago, when I found out we were having a boy...and now I am finally getting around to using them!  :)  When I first started this lo, I didn't think I was going to like the end result, but I think it ended up being really cute.



The Sketch:



Products Used:

Paper:  The Paper Studio, DCWV
Transparency:  Fancy Pants
Brads:  Anna Griffin, Spare Parts
Embossing Folder:  Sizzix (Tim Holtz)
Thickers:  American Crafts
Pen:  Sakura
Tools:  Cuttlebug


Paint & Play - ST May GDT Challenge

Wow, what a great sketch for the May GDT Challenge at Sketchy Thursdays!  I went all artsy/craftsy on this one and there is paint on my laptop, paint on my wall, and paint on my pants!!  Guess I should take it outside next time!  The splatter paint brought me back to the days of splatter painting our jeans and shorts...fun times!  For the painted circles, I used some of the lids on my scrappy containers, painted them with acrylic paint, and then stamped onto my paper.  I cut the circles with the Expression and added some fun elements with the brads, glitter, and word bubbles.  The color inspiration actually came from some Supergirl Sandylion stickers that I've had for about 3 years. 


The actual sketch:



Quick Tip:  I ran out of white brads and had to paint a couple.  Easy way to do it:  Grab a used tissue roll and poke a hole with paper piercer or brad setter.  Put your brad in the hole, but not flush with the tissue roll.  Squirt a dab of paint on scrap paper and lightly dip your brad.  Sit up your tissue roll, as a holder until paint dries.

Products Used:


Paper:  BoBunny
Brads:  Spare Parts, CTMH
Stickers:  SandyLion
Paint:  Apple Barrel
Pen:  Sakura
Glitter:  Stampendous
Fonts:  CK Psychedelic, Anime Ace
Embroidery Floss:  Janlynn
Adhesives:  3L, Zig, Recollections

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Walking Tall - FD Sketch Along Tuesday 4.5

This was a fun lo and I love these photos of my little boy on top of Daddy's shoulders.  Loved the sketch at Frosted Designs, which just happened to have a place for two photos!!  :)  I guess I have kind of challenged myself to be more creative with the supplies I have, instead of just using the same old things on every lo.  One of my friends shared some of her Sassafras paper with me and of course I have been hoarding it up, but have used it on several lo's lately and I think the papers have given them that little extra kick!  I was inspired by a K&Company paper pack that had some of the elements I used on my page.  The arrow, pinwheel, and "R', are all cut from papers out of the pack and then I added a little extra umph to each one.  I distressed the arrow and added it to a chipboard circle for extra dimension.  I used a 1 inch punch to cut out the pinwheel and popped it on one of the EK Success tags.  The "R" is the first initial for my little boy's name and I just distressed around the edge and added some embroidery floss.  For the title I did two things I hardly ever do:  (1.) using old chipboard letters that I've probably had for about 3 years, instead of my new Thickers!!  (2.) using my handwriting.  I just drew out the word "Tall" in pencil and then went back over it with a brown Marvy Embossing marker.


Frosted Design's sketch:


Products Used:

Paper:  Sassafras, K&Company, Recollections
Tickets:  Tim Holtz
Distress Ink:  Tim Holtz
Brads:  Spare Parts & Recollections
Tag:  EK Success
Embroidery Floss:  Janlynn
Pen:  Sakura, Marvy
Embossing Markers:  Marvy
Other:  Chipboard



Monday, April 4, 2011

Spring Bling!

I just got finished working on my lo for the Fabulous Friday Challenge for 4.1 at Frosted Designs (and also happy to find out that my "Deck the Halls" lo was chosen as one of the Top 3 on FD from last Tuesday's sketch challenge!! YAY!).  Back to the FFC, which was to use Bling on a card, layout, or project.  I got some cute pics of the girls with a Butterfly craft we made last Friday and I thought adding bling to a butterfly lo would be perfect. 

One of the ladies over at Club CK posted a pic of these cute little butterflies, that she found on the BoBunny site.  They were really easy to make.  I just got some empty toilet paper rolls, tape, scrap paper, google eyes, and pipe cleaners.  I cut the paper to the size of the tp rolls and let the girls tape one end and then wrap it around and tape down the full side of the paper.  I free-handed the butterfly wings and let the girls cut them out and then attach them with tape.  They glued on their google eyes.  We wrapped the pipe cleaners around a pencil to get a twist and then hot-glued them on the inside of the tube.  The girls had so much fun making their butterfly crafts!


I found a sketch on Scrapbooks Etc.  They have a TON of sketches.  Don't know how I've missed them all this time.  If you like sketches, check them out:  http://www.scrapbooksetc.com/printables/sketches/



Products Used:

Paper:  BoBunny, Echo Park, Fancy Pants
Rhinestones/Bling:  Recollections
Chipboard letters:  Making Memories
Shimmer Alpha Stickers:  Making Memories
Embroidery Floss:  Janlynn
Ribbon Tape:  K&Company
Ink:  Tim Holtz Distress Ink
Pen:  Marvy
Chipboard Tag (Thickers):  American Crafts




Sunday, April 3, 2011

"Sweet On You" 3.31 ST

Sketchy Thursdays offered a fun layered sketch this week.  I am slowly knocking out the remaining holiday lo's - Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Valentine's Day.  My goal was to have all of my Christmas lo's finished before Easter...I might just barely make it.  I decided to use this sketch for my son's Valentine's Day lo.  He had so much fun making his cookie at our little Homeschool Valentine's get-together with friends.  But I think he had more fun eating it!



Products Used:

Paper:  Echo Park
Thickers:  American Crafts
Tiny Type:  Cosmo Cricket
Charm Embellishements:  Making Memories
Decorative Trim:  Hobby Lobby
Ribbon:  Michael's
Buttons:  Michael's
Frame:  K&Company
Brads:  Spare Parts
Embroidery Floss:  Janlynn
Punch:  Anna Griffin