Monday, April 30, 2012

Sugar Plum Fairy Layout - Fun with Circles



I've done a lot of cards lately, and have been itching to get back to some layouts, so I'm guessing that's what you're going to see from me this week.  These are some photos from a little ballet class Ellie took in December. 

I knew I wanted to create a circle collage with the photos in the bottom left.  I laid the photos out to figure out placement and how large the circle should be.  Then I used a large kitchen plate to trace the circle on white cardstock.  I cut that out, and then adhered the photos to it, cutting along the curve of the cardstock to trim the photos that are on the curve. 

Then I started playing with my circle cutter.  I cut a number of circles out of the white cardstock (these are the ones where there is another white circle inside a blue circle.  Then I cut a variety of sizes of circles in Holiday Red and Sky cardstock, and just started playing with them to get a pattern I liked. 

I trimmed the left side and bottom of the collage piece just a bit to create that little sliver between the photos and the rest of the white cardstock.  Then I adhered both the collage piece and outer circle piece to a sheet of Sky cardstock.

Another genius move on my part, I put it all together, and looked at it, and then realized that I had forgotten about the  title.  Oops.  Not quite sure how I would have done the title if I had rememberd it, but I opted to stay with the clean and simple look and used some Creative Memories stickers.

This was a fun process.  I'm not sure about the results.  I like all the elements.  I think they could be tied together a little better, but I really like the idea, so I'm thinking I'll try this again.  I'm also going to submit this to the 2peas scrapbooking challenge for this week which is to use circles.

Hope your week is off to a good start!

Supplies Used
Paper/Cardstock:  White Daisy, Holiday Red, Sky cardstock
Other:  Bonding Memories Adhesive; Tombow Adhesive; Creative Memories Custom Cutting System - circles and black letter stickers; EK Success Black Zig marker

Saturday, April 28, 2012

DCWV April Card Sketch




I had several happy mail packages this week, including some DCWV stacks that I won from Erin's weekly stack giveaway.  One of them was the Chateau Lavender stack, which has some gorgeous papers, and I was itching to create with it, so I put together this card for the April Sketch challenge.

I'm a little pressed for time, with several other projects in play, so I used the sketch pretty literally.

The large purple flower shape was cut using the Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge, and I used a white gel pen to add that outline around the edge to give a little more definition.  The doily was another little piece of happy mail which came from Martha Pineda at Creating is Fun.  It's a white doily, but I didn't want it to look too bright white, so I toned it down a bit by lightly sponging some Bamboo ink on it. 

The horizontal piece is actually two pieces cut from a piece of cardstock that looks like a birdseye view of some gardens, so I took two of the hedges and glued them together - the center sentiment piece covers that up.  It's hard to tell from the photos, but those hedges have some great sparkle to them.


This was fun and easy to put together.  This is the first month that DCWV has both a layout and card sketch, so if you're a card person, be sure to check it out.

Supplies Used:
Paper/Cardstock:  DCWV - Chateau Lavendar; CTMH - Colonial White cardstock
Stamp:  CTMH - Mad About You
Ink:  CTMH - Olive, Chocolate
Other:  Creating is Fun - Doily; The Twinery - Lilac and Honeydew twine; White Gel Pen; 3L - Large Dodz Adhesive; CTMH - Bonding Memories Adhesive, Cricut Art Philosophy Cartridge; Creative Memories - Custom Cutting System Circles

Friday, April 27, 2012

A Match Made in Food Heaven



I had a quick little work trip this week, so I haven't gotten to craft for several days and was so happy to be able to do a little creating this evening.  This card is for Sweet Stamp Shop's April Challenge, and uses the Perfect Match stamp set.



I've had this idea rattling around in my head for a couple weeks now.  Originally I was going to pair the hot dog and ketchup stamps, but after playing with it for a bit, I decided that ketchup and mustard worked a little better. 

For mustard's outfit, I cut out both a white and black middle band.  On the black band I snipped just a bit in the middle, at the top, and then folded down the 'collar'.  Then I cut, very carefully, a tiny little bowtie.....a good pair of fine details scissors is so worth buying, just love mine!



For ketchup's outfit I cut a white center band and I layered some delicate crocheted lace that I got from Hydrangea Hippo over top.  For the head piece, I used the cap portion of the stamp (using white cardstock), and on the ridges of the cap I used liquid glass to adhere some small seed beads.  I put another thin layer of liquid glass over top of the beads to make sure they stuck and give it a little extra shine.

I got some tulle by the yard from Joann's and cut a very small piece for the front veil, and a larger piece for the train.  To adhere the train, I used a Dodz adhesive piece, and I used dimensional foam tape (two layers for the ketchup) to attach ketchup and mustard. 

I hand drew the mouths of the couple as well as some eyelashes for ketchup.  And, of course, ya gotta have some googly eyes for a card like this. 

So much fun, this one makes me smile and I hope you're smiling too.

Have a great weekend!

Supplies Used
Paper/Cardstock:  Stella and Fanfare scraps; Black, Cranberry and White Daisy cardstock
Stamps:  Sweet Stamp Shop - Perfect Match
Ink:  Black
Other:  Dodz adhesive; Dimensional Foam Tape; Liquid Glass; Seed Pearls; Tulle; Crochet Lace from Hydrangea Hippo; Googly Eyes; EK Success Black Zig Marker

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Father's Day Card



This is the Father's Day card we'll be making at my workshop next weekend. It was a ton of fun to put together!

The letters were cut using the Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge, and the sun, plane, and banner are from the Splendid Day set ($17.95). The plane and banner were stamped and then cut out. I also added a little extra shading to the ends of the banner to give it a little more depth. The sun was stamped directly on the white base piece. I used Goldrush and then very lightly rocked and rolled the rays with Autumn Terracotta.

Once I stamped the sun, I used my foam tool and cloud border that I sketched and cut out to ink the clouds. Then it was just a matter of putting it all together. I used Bonding Memories adhesive to adhere all the die cuts/fussy cut pieces, added a Pacifica mat and then adhered the whole thing to the card base. I've never made this size card before, but it's nice because it will fit into a letter size envelope so you don't have to go and purchase special ones.

I'm going to link this up at Crafty Friends Challenge - use two die cuts - too.

Supplies Used
Paper/Cardstock: White Daisy, Pacifica, Cranberry, and Buttercup cardstock
Stamps: Splendid Day
Ink: Black, Pacifica, Heavenly Blue, Goldrush, Autumn Terracotta
Other: Cricut Art Philosophy Cartridge, Blending Pen, Bonding Memories Adhesive, Craft Knife, Foam Tool

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Getting Organized



I wanted to share my new organization device/system with you. I was lucky enough to be the big winner of the Simply Renee Clip it Up All in One back last month (big jumping up and down moment for me!!!!). Life has been a little crazy here of late. I was trying to find a nice big chunk of time where I could go through and do some top to bottom sorting/reorganizing of my craft stuff.

This never happened (go figure).

In the meantime, my crafting area became insanely messy (I can't even find my Topiary ink pad and I really need it) and I got so annoyed last week that I decided I just needed to start cleaning up. And what better way to clean up than to put together a new organization system, right?

This was really pretty easy to put together, and would have been easier still had I actually read the part of the directions that said you should put the trays and spinners on BEFORE you attach the top poles and certainly BEFORE you put the ribbon rack on.

Oops.

Note to self: READ THE DIRECTIONS!

So, it ended up taking a little bit longer to do, but I got it all together, and into the sunroom and then I started loading it up.

It's not totally done yet. I need to decide exactly what I want to put on there. Since it's in the sunroom so I'm a little concerned about putting all my patterned paper packs on because I don't want them to fade, but I must say that I LOVE being able to see all the stamp sets and not go searching for them (these are actually just my non-CTMH stamps - I have separate bins for those, but my non-CTMH stamp sets were a big mess prior to now). Also, since I work in the dining room, which is right next to the sunrom, but not arms length close, I've kept some of the most frequently used stuff (ink pads/blocks/etc.) in the dining room.



I also LOVE being able to see all my embellishments, those tended to end up in a big pile or get left places when I was working. I'm very visual, so I often peruse my stash to kind of jog my creative process, and it's so frustrating when you can't find something, or you forget that you had it. Being able to SEE it all is so nice!



Let me be the first to say that this is a BIG system! When I got all the stuff on there, I thought, I need more stuff. Which I really don't, I still have things that I haven't even gotten to using yet, but man, there's so much space to grow! Clearly I've got lots of space for my dreamed of, but not yet realized, collection of mists and spritzes and washi tape. And there's PLENTY of room for more stamps. You could move the spinning items down and fit a bunch more ribbon racks up top too. I have mine set up pretty high as I figured the lower it is, the more temptation for the small children that are running amok.





This was such a fabulous prize from Simply Renee, I can't thank them enough and I feel bad it took me so long to get myself together and get photos posted. If you have less space available, and the All-in-One isn't for you, all of these elements can be purchased as free-standing/individual items. Thanks so much Simply Renee! My dining room/craft zone thanks you too!

Monday, April 23, 2012

Viva la Verve April - Week 4



I did it! It's nice to be able to set some goals and complete them! I'd been wanting to participate in this challenge for a while, but since it's a month long thing, it always seemed to get overcome by other things that were happening. This was the month I decided I was just going to do it, and I'm really glad I did.

This sketch was another puzzler for me. I stared at it for a long time before I started working on it. It's also one of those cards that takes on a life of its own. I had a very different card envisioned when I started, but some of the things I wanted to do didn't work out the way I thought they would, so this was one of those 'Plan B' cards.

I'm really happy with how this turned out. I tend to think of cards in general as more for girls than guys, so for me a masculine card has to really look masculine/neutral, and I think this fits the bill.

To create those chevrons I cut squares, and then cut them in half diagonally. Then I decided how wide I wanted the thickness to be and, using the corner of a piece of paper, traced the corner of the paper to use as a guide for the cut out. Once I had a chevron I liked I used that as a guide in cutting down the other pieces.

The patterned papers I used are from a retired collection called Bliss. One of the papers has stripes, so I cut it down into strips and then used those to cover the chevron pieces (which I had made from kraft). I adhered only the center portion of those chevrons to the base piece of paper and then I stitched across with my sewing machine.



The sentimentis another of my favorite verses: Philippians 1:6. Really a pretty simple card to put together. Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used
Paper/Cardstock: Bliss Level 2 Papers, Chocolate and Kraft cardstock
Stamps: Verve Philippians 1:6 Plain Jane
Ink: Chocolate
Other: Bonding Memories Adhesive, Dimensional Foam Tape, Sewing Machine.

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Viva la Verve April - Week 3



I'm a little behind on my Week 3 posting, but here it is.

This card is has a little more modern feel than the previous two. For some reason the sketch stumped me a little, and it took me a while to decide on those horizontal elements, but once I settled on the sentiment and the arrows it came together really quickly.

The 'U' and arrows were cut using the Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge, and the sentiment is another one from the Blue Skies set. It actually says You Make Me Smile, but since I already had the 'U', I just masked it with a little bit of tape when I was inking it up, and removed the tape for stamping.

The little heart was easy to make. I cut a small heart with white cardstock and applied some adhesive around the edges. Then I just laid the twine on top of that and adhered the whole thing to the arrow.

I'm hoping to have Week 4 done and posted tomorrow.

Hope you are enjoying the weekend!

Supplies Used
Paper/Cardstock: Fanfare Level 2 Papers; Pacifica and White Daisy Cardstock
Stamps: Verve - Blue Skies
Ink: Cranberry
Other: The Twinery - Maraschino twine; Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge; Creative Memories Custom Cutting System Circles; Bonding memories adhesive; Tombow adhesive; Sewing Machine

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Mother's Day Card



Here's the card that we'll be making at my workshop next month for Mother's Day. It's a tri-fold card, and it features the A Tree stamp set, which is only $6.95, and a really versatile little stamp set. The sentiment is from the Pair a Phrase stamp set.

The card also features the Dotty for You paper packet and color ready seam binding. Lots of fun stuff here!

Folded up, the card is 4" x 5 1/4". So it will easily fit in an A2 envelope. Super simple to make. Just cut a 5 1/4" piece of cardstock and score at 4" and 8".

The card is designed to hold three photos and there's a blank space to write a note as well. Here are pictures of the card unfolded





If you're in the Northern Virginia area and would like to attend my workshop, please contact me for details. I'll be sharing the Father's Day card we'll be making int he next few days.

So glad that tomorrow is Friday! Have a great night!

Supplies Used
Paper: Dotty for You Papers; Chocolate, White Daisy and Hollyhock cardstock
Stamps: A Tree,
Ink: Chocolate, Garden Green, Smoothie
Other: Bonding Memories Adhesive, Color Ready Seam Binding, Dodz Adhesive, Creative Memories custom cutting system ovals

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Card Patterns Sketch 161



A quick and simple card today. Clear and Simple stamps is the sponsor this week at Card Patterns. Whenever possible I try and use the sponsor's stamps, and in this case I used CSS's Love Cupid set. The set includes two flourishes/brackets that you can use separately, or join together to make this image. I had planned to include a sentiment, but the image was so strong, I really wanted it to be the focus of the card.

The scalloped circle die cut was cut using the Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge and one of the papers from the Pemberley Level 2 pack. The background paper is from the Dotty for You paper pack. For the diagonal stripes I used two lengths of color ready seam binding, and then a strip of Outdoor Denim cardstock centered on top of those.

Hope you are having a good week. The highlight of my day was getting to see the shuttle Discovery on it's final 747 flight. It did an extended flyover of the DC region on it's way to the Udvar Hazy Air and Space Museum. Pretty cool.

And now for a shameless plug: If you love that yellow polka dot paper, it's from this month's CTMH special. With a $35 purchase, you can get it for only $5. There are 12 patterns that cover so many of the current trends: chevrons, butterflies, stripes, plaid, etc. The backside of each is this polka dot pattern in 12 different colors, and you get two of each, so 24 total sheets. If you'd like to get your own, please contact me.

Supplies Used
Paper/Cardstock: Pemberley Level 2 Papers, Dotty for You; White Daisy and Outdoor Denim cardstock
Stamps: Clear and Simple - Love Cupid
Ink: Outdoor Denim
Other: Color Ready Seam Binding, Cricut Art Philosophy Cartridge, Bonding Memories Adhesive, Tombow Adhesive

Monday, April 16, 2012

May Arts Candy Colored Challenge, DIY Embellishments



I was so excited to be able to participate in this month's May Arts Craft Challenge. If you're not famliar with it, Bethney from May Arts selects a theme, and then an assortment of May Arts ribbons. Each participant gets two yards of each of the ribbons. Then, it's up to you to create something with those ribbons.

This month's challenge is a Candy Colored Challenge, based on the above photo that Bethney found on Pinterest, and here are the ribbons that Bethney chose for us to use:



I wanted to create some custom embellishments with the ribbons. The method I used is based on a quilting technique called foundation piecing. Here's a short tutorial of the basic process:

1) Sew ribbons together. You may wish to iron them (on low heat) to flatten them.



2) Draw/trace the shape you wish to create onto a scrap of regular printer paper. Pin to the right side of the ribbons.



3) Tape a scrap piece of cardstock, slightly larger than the shape you want to create to the bottom of the ribbon, creating a sandwich with the ribbon.



4) Sew around the shape.



5) Remove the printer paper.



6) To add definition, sew around the shape again, this is also when I added the thin blue ribbon.



7) You can now cut the shape out. That's the basic process. I added zigzag stitches along the outside of the shape to add a little more definition. For some of my embellishments I also add a little bit of a cotton ball between the cardstock and the ribbon during step 4 to create a ‘puffy’ embellishment.

I didn't just want to create the embellishments, I wanted to use them in a project, so I created this little set of cards which also utilize the ribbons on one of the layers of the card.











If you don't like the puffy look, here's an example of a card that has a little less bulk to it.



And finally, this technique can be utilized for pretty much any shape. Here are a couple more examples, as well as an example using white thread.



Like I said, this was a lot of fun, and I hope that you like my project. Be sure to stop over at the May Arts blog to take a look at all the different projects that were created. Vote for your favorite in the comments - you could win a roll of each of the ribbons used in the challenge!

Supplies Used:
Paper/Cardstock: Stella Level 2 Papers; White Daisy, Cocoa, and Kraft cardstock
Ink: Cocoa
Other: May Arts - Ribbons; CTMH - Sponge Daubers; Sewing Machine

Sunday, April 15, 2012

Big Girl Bike Layout



This layout is from back in September when we got Ellie her big girl bike. Which is kind of a misnomer since at some point she'll have an actual big girl bike that doesn't have training wheels, but it's 'big' for her.

We took the bike over to a parking lot near the house and let her go. Andrew had previously gone out and picked up a bike at a pawn shop so that he could ride with her since neither of us had bikes. It was so much fun to see the two of them riding together side by side chatting, and just to see the sheer joy and realization that she was a big girl and she could do it in Ellie.

One of my goals is to do more stamping on my layouts. I was able to do that with this layout. I used this month's Stamp of the Month "You Are..." The phrases on the stamp set really lend themselves to cards, but I love how versatile the stamp set is. In this layout I used the criss cross stamp to create some patterned paper, and one of the small sunburst shapes to create a border strip.



I wanted to use the same pink patterned paper for the letters as I had already used in the layout, but I didn't have a Cricut font that I wanted to use, so I sketched some letters out and the outlined them with my black Zig marker and cut them out.

The green and pink papers as well as the flowers are from Cocoa Daisy's January kit which I was fortunate enough to win from Ali Edwards. I'm still learning to use kits in their intended manner. More often, I end up using bits and pieces from a kit, but not the entire kit on a project. I do love how everything coordinates though, so it's easy and timesaving to pull a kit out and find pieces multiple pieces that will work in a project.

The other thing that was interesting about this layout is that the focus/centerpoint is actually on the left hand page where the journaling/title is, so in some ways it feels a bit unbalanced. I'm one of those kind of symmetrical people, so I struggled a little with the balance of the layout, but I think it works.

Hope you had a great weekend!

Supplies Used
Paper/Cardstock: Sassafras - Sweetly Smitten Pen Pals; Basic Grey - Picadilly Breakfast Nook; CTMH - White Daisy and Topiary cardstock
Stamps: CTMH - You Are...
Ink: Olive (stamped in second generation)
Other: Sassafras - Paper Whimsies Seamstress Bouquet; EK Success - Black ZIG marker; CTMH - Bonding Memories Adhesive; Craft Knife

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

The Quickest Card I've Ever Made



Just a quick card to share with you today (and by quick, I mean lightning quick). I have a few deadlines looming that I need to get stuff done for, but sometimes you need to make something not because you have to, or to try and win a challenge, or because there's a class or assignment, but just to make something, from scratch, out of your own head, just because, and that's kind of where I am today. But, of course, I'm pressed for time, so this is what I came up with: a really simple, clean, one layer card that was so easy to whip together....a set of these would be PERFECT to give as Teacher Appreciation gifts.

And, I got to try out one of my new goodies. I heard tell from some of my friends out there in blogland that there was washi tape to be had at Target! I love a trip to Target, and it just so happened that I was home with a 'sick' kid last week, so off to Target we went to get Easter stuff, and then we just 'happened' to be in the stationary aisle where I just 'happened' to see these fabulous little sets of tape.



There are four different color combinations (if I recall correctly): red/pink, yellow/orange, blue, green (although blue and green might have been a set together, I just can't remember). For $4 you get a set of four. Can't really beat that, so I got myself the red/pink and yellow/orange sets.

For this card (4x4) I used the solid red along the bottom of the card. All of the stamps are from the Pemberley workshop on the go set, which I love. Black ink, three stamps, a bit of washi tape, and there you have it. So easy (unless you're like me and manage to leave a big black smear on your first take and have to do it again, in which case it's still easy, but you're annoyed that you wasted a perfectly good piece of cardstock because you were careless...AGAIN).

But, I digress, the moral of the story is, do some stamping/crafting for the sheer joy of it and not because you have an end goal in mind, go to Target, and try and be a little neater. Now, I am off to do the projects that I have to get done....

Have a great night!

Supplies Used
Cardstock: White Daisy
Stamps: Pemberley workshop on the go set
Ink: Black
Other: Washi tape from Target

Monday, April 9, 2012

Viva la Verve April - Week 2



Here's my second Viva la Verve card for this month. This one uses CTMH Roxie papers and Verve's Psalm 121:1-2 Plain Jane. This verse/Psalm has a special meaning to me. When each of our daughters was born, I picked a few passages to learn/recite to them each night as I was putting them to bed. This is one of the passages that I learned for Carina.

For the background portion of the card I pretty much stuck to the sketch. On the front piece I deviated a little. I offset the oval (mine were cut using the CM custom cutting system). I really love the swirls/flourishes on the patterned paper for the front of the card, so I traced the large one and that little flourish at the bottom of the oval so that they would fall in front of the oval. Originally, I was going to have that large curved piece lie flat against the card, but I kind of like the height/dimension it adds, so I left it popping up.



For the trim piece, I just used a strip of black cardstock, and then I cut four pieces of hemp. I grouped them two and two, and then hooked them together.



The little tag that is hanging down is actually a button. I strung a piece of twine through one hole and tied it to create a large loop. To make the small loop through which the tag is strung, I just tied a knot/bow using some twine. Then I cut a little circle of Desert Sand cardstock, stamped one of the small flowers from the Happy Clusters stamp set, and inked around the edges. I adhered it to the front of the button using a 3L Dodz. It was fun to create my own embellishment, and I'm going to link this up to Moxie Fab World's DIY Embellishments Challenge.

Hope you had a good start to your week and a wonderful Easter. I'm home tomorrow to do taxes....ugh....

Supplies Used
Paper/Cardstock: CTMH - Roxie Level 2 Paper Packet; Black and Desert Sand Cardstock
Stamps: Verve - Psalm 121:1-2 Plain Jane; CTMH - Happy Clusters
Ink: CTMH - Black, Desert Sand, Tulip
Other: CTMH - Sponge Dauber, Craft Knife, Hemp, Kraft Button; The Twinery - Cappuccino twine; CM - Custom Cutting System ovals; Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L - Dodz; Crafty Foam Tape

Sunday, April 8, 2012

One of Those Days - An Easter Contemplation

Today (Saturday) was one of those days. You know, when your kid wakes up, and five minutes later you realize that it's going to be one of those days because she is already in the middle of a full blown tantrum? It seemed like every question turned into an argument/debate with a full complement of whining, foot stomping, tears, and angst. The fact that I was just exhausted didn't help the situation.

But at some point, I stopped and thought about what God must feel like. I certainly am not any better than a 4 1/2 and 1 1/2 year old when it comes to life sometimes. I do what I'm not supposed to, I'm whiny, ungrateful, selfish, and unkind. And yet, God sent his only begotten Son to suffer for me.

This (fairly obvious) realization gave me pause to think, and to be grateful, and to more wholly appreciate the joy of this day, when we celebrate Christ's victory over death, and rejoice in a new day, and in each new day that his sacrifice affords us; days when we can begin anew, wipe away the old, be forgiven of our past transgressions, and make his sacrifice worthwhile.

So, on this most holy of Sundays, I wanted to share one of my most favorite quotes with you:

"It means," said Aslan, "that though the Witch knew the Deep Magic, there is a magic deeper still which she did not know. Her knowledge goes back only to the dawn of Time. But if she could have looked a little further back, into the stillness and darkness before Time dawned, she would have read there a different incantation. She would have known that when a willing victim who has committed no treachery was killed in a traitor's stead, the Table would crack and Death itself would start working backwards."

Happy Easter!

He is risen indeed!

Saturday, April 7, 2012

Two 'Let's Go Fly a Kite' layouts



You probably think I'm going to share some great spring layouts, right? Wrong. I am always months behind when it comes to scrapbooking and this is actually from this past Christmas.

So what's with the springy colors and titles for these layouts? Well, winter wasn't exactly wintry here in Virginia this year. There was pretty much no snow, and the temperature was well above normal for most of the season. So, on December 23rd when I found myself home with the two girls and it was so nice and sunny, and warm (even though they have their winter coats on) we ended up outside playing with sidewalk chalk.



At some point the girls ended up sitting on the steps and Ellie broke out into song. No Christmas Carols here, instead, she decided to belt out (I'm sure everyone in a two block radius who was outside heard her) Let's Go Fly a Kite from Mary Poppins, which she had recently seen for the first time.

Carina, who at that point was saying pretty much nothing intelligible, sang along, loudly.

Just another little moment in our lives.

Back in the old days I probably wouldn't have bothered with a layout to document this event, but this year I'm trying to do a better job of documenting the everyday, the little moments, the precious seconds. And I find, that I am really enjoying that process, that it allows me to not move from one holiday season/momentout event to the next, but to stop and appreciate the moments in between. It's fun, and it's good for me, and I hope will be good for the girls when they look back on their books later on in life.

In case you're wondering, the kite shapes/insides were drawn free hand and cut out. I attached some twine for accents. Other than that, these layouts were pretty simple. I don't like to do exactly the same layouts for the two girls, so even here where it's the same event, I like to mix it up a bit. I'll often use the same papers/embellishments to save time, but I like to see what the photos want to do on the page.



I also took the opportunity to work on my lettering. This is something I want to be better at, to be as comfortable in writing out my titles as I am when stamping or using stickers. Since I'm still working on it, I used a pencil to sketch out the letters first, and then went over them with marker. On Carina's layout I added some pink accents with my blending pen and Sorbet ink.

Hope you are having a wonderful Easter weekend!

Supplies Used:
Paper/Cardstock: Mayberry Level 2 Papers; Colonial White and Hollyhock Cardstock
Ink: Sorbet
Other: Dimensional foam tape, Blending Pen; EK Success Black Zig Marker; The Twinery Lemondrop and Pink Sorbet twine

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Viva la Verve April - Week 1


I've been wanting to play along with the Viva la Verve for a while now, but I always seem to run out of time, so this month I figured I would get an early start, and hopefully I'll be able to complete each week.

For this card I used Verve's Blue Skies stamp set and papers from Echo Park's Times and Seasons collection. Originally I was going to use two different patterned papers, but I really like how using the same print with the black mats makes the card pop.

The Blue Skies set has some great flourishes. I used one of the medium sized ones around the border of the center circle and a larger one on the backgroud piece. As luck would have it, when I went to assemble the card, the flourishes on the rectangular background piece and the round circle just seemed to line up....I love it when happy coincidences like that occur!

Supplies Used
Paper/Cardstock: Echo Park - Times and Season collection; CTMH - Black and Colonial White cardstock
Stamps: Verve - Blue Skies
Ink: CTMH - Black

Monday, April 2, 2012

Ellie's Fall Festival/Petting Zoo Layout



I know that I have mentioned it before, but I'll say it again....I LOVE FLIP FLAPS! How else can you cram 12 full size (or nearly full-size photos) onto a layout and still have plenty of space for journaling? Flip Flaps are the answer. You can take the layout above, and turn it into the layout below:



And while I love being able to include more pictures in my layouts (it takes me a long time to cull through my photos....I hate 'rejecting' any), the other thing I love about Flip Flaps is that it makes my layouts interactive. I can use them to do a better job of telling a story through a progression, showing a series of photos, and involving the viewer.

The papers in this layout are from the Pemberley Level 2 paper packet, and while they are not particularly fall-like, they are so pretty, and I have really been wanting to use them.

I'm using two Flip Flaps on this layout, and since they really don't photograph that well, this time I'm photographing them outside the page protectors/flip flaps. The first is the small 4x6 size on the left half of the layout, and the second is a 6x12 one on the bottom of the right half of the layout.

I'm lucky enough to work just 10 minutes from home, and even closer to where the girls are in daycare, so I can slip out when there are special events at school to help out/volunteer/take pictures. It's always interesting to me to see how Ellie is when she's in a group without me. She's always been very clingy (last year I didn't even attempt to attend this event because I figured that my being there would only end in tears when I had to leave), so I like to try and kind of sneak in and capture her in her more natural form before she sees me and starts acting all goofy.

I think most folks print photos in the 4x6 size, so my goal with this layout was to make it accessible. All the photos are either uncut or 4x4. There are 12 photos in total and two spots for journaling, but you could always convert that last 4x4 space to another photo if you needed. And really it just depends on how many photos you have. If you wanted to include more, you could use more of the full length Flip Flaps. You get an assortment of 4x12, 6x12 and 8x12 sizes Flip Flaps in each package.

The title letters were cut using the Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge and then I ran those as well as the hexagons that I cut out through my Xyron. I used a sponge dauber to add a little extra color to the letters which is really easy to do when you use the Xyron because they are stuck to adhesive sheet, so they don't move around on you.

This is actually the layout we'll be completing at my workshop this month. If you are in the Northern Virginia area and would like to attend, please contact me. Hope your week is off to a great start!

Supplies Used:
Paper/Cardstock: Pemberley papers; Desert Sand, Colonial White, and Outdoor Denim cardstock
Ink: Honey
Other: Flip Flaps, Cricut Art Philosophy Collection, Sponge Dauber, Xyron 5" Creative Station