Advent Calendar with Reversible Boxes

I just love the Kaisercraft Advent Calendar and had been dying to make for my son for Christmas this year. I finally got it done on December 2! Only a day late...I'll guess have to eat the first two candies.... :)  I made the boxes for the calendar reversible, so after you finish each day you can turn the box around. I'm so happy with how this turned out. I hope it is something my son will treasure for years to come.

I assembled the calendar (my dremel tool was super handy to sand off all the extra tabs) and painted it with a basecoat of Adirondack Espresso acrylic paint. I then added a couple of coats of DecoArt Spun Gold acrylic paint - it wasn't quite the tone I wanted, so to get the "old gold" look I was going for, I treated the entire surface of the calendar with Distress Ink in Vintage Photo. I used the same paint treatment for the calendar numbers.

I used two Graphic 45 paper collections, Christmas Past and Christmas Emporium for all the paper on the calendar and just love these collections and they go so perfectly together! I wrapped each box with paper and added a ribbon "pull tab" at the bottom on the reverse side of the boxes.  I then covered the bottom of each box with coordinating paper. I inked all the edges of the boxes with Vintage Photo Distress Ink. I cut the "stamps" and small images from the G45 papers and distressed/inked the edges before adhering them to the boxes. I also added some Recollections Dimensional Stickers and K & Company Adhesive Chipboard and Stickers to several of the boxes.

I cut the central image from the G45 Christmas Emporium paper. I added the cream/gold cording around the edge of the image to give it a more finished look. I wanted to add something "extra" to the centre of the calendar, but I didn't want to obscure the image on the paper -- so I added a few simple handmade gift-boxes to the corners. I created the "boxes" by cutting and gluing pieces of cardboard together. I then wrapped the boxes with some of the G45 papers and inked all the edges. I added some ribbon to finish off the mini-gifts.

Thanks for visiting my blog - I hope you have a wonderful holiday season! Only twenty-two days until Christmas!

~Sarah

Materials Used:
Advent Calendar by Kaisercraft; Patterned Paper by Graphic 45: Christmas Past (Victorian Greetings, The Night Before Christmas, Glad Tidings, Christmas Past Frames, Holiday Spirit, The Holly & the Ivy, and Letters to Santa) and Christmas Emporium (Christmas Emporium, Believe! and Special Delivery); Adirondack Acrylic Paint in Espresso; DecoArt Acrylic Paint in Spun Gold; Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Vintage Photo; Recollections Signature Dimensional Stickers; K & Company Yuletide Adhesive Chipboard and Snow Globe Stickers; Celebrate it Holiday Ribbon and Cord; Craftsmart Hot Glue Gun and Glue Sticks; Memory Tape Runner XL, Xyron Sticker Maker and Glue Dots.

I'm Published!

Check out my "First Visit with Santa Claus" layout on page 29 of the Winter 2011 issue of Canadian Scrapbooker!

Here is a scan of my layout in the magazine.

You can see the original blog post and close-ups of the layout at: http://sarahs-scrapbook.blogspot.com/2011/04/new-layout-first-visit-with-santa-claus.html
TFL,

Sarah

Nevermore - Halloween Wreath

Just a quick post tonight of a wreath I threw together today. I got the idea from someone at work to use some inexpensive feather boas to create a very cool wreath -- in deference to the raven and feathers, I'm calling it a "Nevermore" wreath.

This was a really inexpensive project. I used a grapevine wreath from Michael's and wrapped it with four feather boas that I got at the dollar store. I then added a dollar store raven. Some hot glue and floral wire and I was done! The whole project cost less than $15 - and it looks fabulous on my front door!

TFL!
~Sarah

Halloween Advent Pumpkin!

So, my new online addiction is Pinterest (check out my Pins) and while I was browsing I saw the coolest Chalkboard Pumpkin. I just LOVE Halloween (second only to Christmas in my books) - so I used this as inspiration  for my very own Halloween Advent Pumpkin.

This was a pretty easy project. I started out with a black acrylic pumpkin that I painted with spray chalkboard paint. I added some glitter to the pumpkin stem and some decorations from Michael's and the dollar store. The metallic-green skulls were originally bone & black - so I painted them with acrylic paint. The letters are Chipboard Letters by K&Company. Here are a few close-ups!

That's all for today!

TFL,

Sarah

Materials Used:

Celebrate It Products: Black Acrylic Pumpkin, Glitter Pumpkin Picks (Black & Orange), Glitter Raven, Glitter Skeleton; Krylon Spray Chalkboard Paint; Martha Stewart Sparkles in Onyx; K&Company Chipboard Letters; Dollar Store Plastic Chain, Plastic Skulls and Chalk; Folk Art Metallic Peridot Acrylic Paint; Adtech Mini Glue Gun and Hot Glue Sticks; Aleene's Tacky Glue Fast Dry Glue Pen.

Feature on Graphic 45 Community Site!

Just a quick post today! My Altered Witch's Hat (below) was featured on the Graphic 45 Community Site!  I adore everything G45 - so this is a big thrill for me!

Have a great day! And thanks for visiting my blog!

~Sarah

Altered Witch's Hat - Graphic 45 "The Magic of Oz"

Ahhh...Poor neglected blog. It has been such a busy summer and I hadn't been feeling the crafty-mojo for a while - until I got the new Graphic 45 "The Magic of Oz" paper collection. I LOVE it! When I saw a paper mache witch's hat at Michael's I had to have it to use with the G45 papers; so here is a first for my blog - an altered art project! I am SO happy with how this turned out - for my first foray into altered art I think it is pretty amazing. I've got lots of photos and close-ups of this one for you!

I started out with a plain brown paper mache Witch's Hat. I painted the entire surface of the hat with Pure Black acrylic Paint. I then covered the peak of the hat with the reverse side of the Goblin Gazette paper - I love the black paper with "Oz" all over it as the background for this project. I wanted this project to show the duality of Oz (i.e. Good vs. Evil) so I created a "Wicked" Side and a "No Place Like Home" side. I also wanted to be sure to include images of all the major players in the Oz story. The series of photos below shows the entire circumference of the hat so you can see how the sections flow into each other.

I love how the floral embellishment for this hat turned out. I used a combination of satin flowers, feathers and floral swirls to create the embellishment - which I attached to the brim of the hat with hot glue. Below are a few alternate views and a close-up of the floral embellishment.

TFL,
Sarah

Materials Used:

Celebrate It Paper Mache Witch's Hat; Folk Art Artist's Pigment in Pure Black; Patterned Paper from the Graphic 45 "The Magic of Oz" Collection including: Emerald City, Journey to Oz, There's No Place Like Home; Wicked!; Poppy Fields, and Goblin Gazette; Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Black Soot and Vintage Photo; Ranger Stickles in Ruby Slippers and Patina; Studio 18 Rhinestones; Finishing Accents Rhinestones; Celebrate It Halloween Floral (Roses and Black Sparkle Swirls); Ashland Feather Picks (1 Purple, 1 Green); Mod Podge (Gloss); Glue Dots minis; Hot Glue Gun

His eyes - how they twinkled; His dimples how merry!

I decided to play along with the July 15 Challenge at Once Upon a Sketch and created this layout using a photo I took of my little guy in December of last year. I absolutely adore this photo - so much so that I used it for our 2010 Christmas cards!I used the Graphic 45 Christmas Past papers for the layout. There aren't a lot of techniques in this layout - just lots of edge distressing, inking and layering. I added some creases to the background paper and inked them to add some extra dimension in the "white space".

I fussy cut the black and cream strips of paper and the rose squares from one sheet of the G45 paper and used several tags in my layering. I used adhesive foam to add dimension to the layers and make the pictures really "pop" on the layout.

The journalling challenge at OUAS was to use a quote - and how appropriate is this quote from 'Twas the Night Before Christmas? I love that the quote suits the Christmas theme of the layout and, at the same time, is so descriptive of the photo too!

TFL!

Sarah

Materials Used:

Patterned Paper - Graphic 45 Christmas Past Collection - We Wish you a Merry Christmas, The Holly and the Ivy, Holiday Spirit, Jolly Old St. Nicholas, Glad Tidings, Tags; Recollections Cream Cardstock; Glam Art Rhinestone Swirls; Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Vintage Photo; Keepsake Memories Foam Adhesive Squares; Memory Tape Runner XL.

Hope

In June, my dear Mother-in-Law passed away unexpectedly and my husband's family gave me her memory book to scan and preserve the photos for the family. On the cover of her album was the most beautiful photo of her that was taken when she was quite young (c. 1959). I've entitled this layout Hope - because I think that's what it portrays - the innocence and hope of a young girl who is dreaming of what her life may bring. I've included a verse from a poem by Emily Dickinson as a tribute to my Mother-in-Law's indomitable spirit; while she didn't have the easiest life, she never stopped searching for her happiness and never lost hope that she'd find it. The poem reads:

"Hope is the thing with feathers

That perches in the soul. 

And sings the tune -- without the words,

And never stops at all."

I knew when I saw this photo that I wanted to use Glitz Design's Laced with Grace papers as they complement the tones in the photo so beautifully. The base sheet was originally plain orange; I've embossed it using a background stamp and gold embossing powder. I then distressed and inked the edges of the base page with Vintage Photo Distress Ink. The floral sheet was trimmed with wavy scissors and then water-distressed (also with Vintage Photo ink). I made sure to add some larger tears to the page so the embossing on the base page could peak through. The photo was matted on brown textured cardstock that I punched with a Fiskar's edge punch. I layered the matted photo on top of some distressed Glitz Design Plaid paper - I used both sides of the paper - the dark orange and the plaid.

The floral cluster is a combination of Prima, Recollections and A Bride's Wish paper flowers. The dark, mossy-green flowers were originally white, so I misted them with Smooch Spritz in Mossy Mist to complement the green tones in the paper.  The Dusty Attic flourish that I tucked into the distressed peek-a-boo was inked with Spiced Marmalade Distress Ink and then embossed with the same stamped image as the base page (the image isn't really defined on the chipboard though) and then inked the flourish with Vintage Photo Distress Ink. I also added some glossy accents to the flourish to make it stand out.

 I cut the title on my Silhouette and embossed it with gold embossing powder to match the embossing on the base page. I added a Maya Road kraft envelope, which I also stamped/embossed in gold using the background stamp.  I then inked the edges of the envelope with Vintage Photo Distress Ink. The close-up also provides a good image of the embossing on the base page under the peek-a-boo. I printed the poem verse on kraft cardstock and then crumpled the paper slightly and distressed and inked the edges.

TFL,
Sarah

Challenges:
Get your Glitz On Challenge #4

Bird is the Word "Hope" Challenge

Materials Used: Patterned Paper: Glitz Design Laced with Grace Collection - Floral, Rose and Plaid; Bazzill Basics textured cardstock (Chocolate Brown); Recollections Kraft Cardtock;  VersaMark Watermark Stamp Pad; Prima Clear Stamps; Stampendous Embossing Powder in  Detail Gold; Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Vintage Photo; A Bride's Wish Wild Open Rose; Recollections Mulberry Paper Mini Roses; Prima paper roses (from ScrapThat Kits); Maya Road Kraft Envelope; Dusty Attic Flourish #7; Ranger Glossy Accents; Memory Tape Runner XL; Glue Dots - Mini and Memory Book.

Guest Designer at Two Scrapbook Friends

Head on over to the Two Scrapbook Friends Blog for my Guest Designer write-up!
TFL~
Sarah

Anticipation - Stuck?! Sketches

This is a layout I've had planned for a while - it is meant to be a companion piece to my "Adoration" layout. I decided to use the Creative Team Call Sketch from Stuck Sketches as the inspiration for my layout. I'm not sure if my layouts are quite up to Creative Team standards - but I really liked the sketch and it can't hurt to try!

As you can see, I rotated the sketch 90 degrees to the right and shifted the title position and added a couple of extra layers. I used the Bo Bunny Timepiece collection papers (and some Back to Basics Double Dot paper) for the layout. Lots of distressing and inking on all the papers for this layout - I used Walnut Stain ink on everything. In the top left corner of the background page, you can see a bit of fussy cutting in the large flower with some brown paper set in behind it - I also added a Prima Say it in Pearls flower centre to this flower to accent it.

The title is a chipboard piece by Maya road; I painted it with Antique White acrylic paint and then misted it with Tattered Angels Glimmer mist in Latte - I then wiped the mist off as I just wanted a hint of the colour on the title. To finish off the title, I lightly spread some Liquid Pearls in Gold Pearl over it. I cut the larger flower beside the title out of the Timepiece Stripe paper and then added a handmade lace ruffle flower and a Prima flower centre.  On the right side of this photo, you can see some accent stitching, as well as a distressed peek-a-boo with the striped paper in the background and a mini-rose accent.

The large flower to the left of the title was made using a Cosmo Cricket Gluber. I cut 2.5 inch brown ribbon into strips and frayed the edges and then finger pleated it to form the first layer of the flower; I then added a handmade lace ruffle flower, another layer of the frayed ribbon and a Prima flower centre to complete the flower. The smaller paper flowers are by Prima.

The chipboard key is a Bazzill Chip. I misted it with Maya Mist in Metallic Silver and then added Distress Stickles in Walnut Stain - I was aiming for a rusted key look and I like how this turned out. I added the mini rose to the key to dress it up a bit more. You can also see more of the accent stitching to the left of the key.

TFL!

Sarah

Materials Used: Patterned Paper - Bo Bunny Timpiece Collection Stripe, Home and Moments; Bo Bunny Back to Basics Double Dot paper in Coffee Dot; Maya Road Chipboard Title, Bazzill Chips Chipboard Key; Cosmo Cricket Gluber; Offray Ribbon in Dark Brown; Hero Arts Hero Hues Woven Lace Ribbon; Prima Say it in Pearls Flower Centres; Recollections Mini Roses (cream); Prima Paper Flowers (Cream/Brown); Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist Latte; Maya Mist in Metallic Silver; Tim Holtz Distress Ink and Distress Stickles in Walnut Stain; Liquid Pearls in Gold Pearl; DecoArt Acrylic Paint in Light Antique White; Sew Easy Blanket Stitch Piercer; Dark Brown Embroidery Floss.

Together - Guest Design Team Layout for "Two Scrapbook Friends"

This is my final layout as a Guest Designer with a Local Scrapbook Store, Two Scrapbook Friends, for the month of July 2011. This is a photo I have scrapped before - but I just love it and it worked so well with the Cosmo Cricket Salt Air Collection that I had to scrap it again! The picture was taken while my DH and I were on our Honeymoon in Punta Cana in April 2009.

I did a lot of layering for this LO and I had planned to do a lot more machine stitching; however, my stupid sewing machine crapped out on me in the midst of sewing a layer. I subsequently had to rip off that layer and find some new coordinating paper to finish the LO...(On the plus side, I was eventually able to fix the stupid sewing machine - but not in time to finish this LO.) Anyhow, I digress... I printed the photo for this layout twice - once in colour and once in a blue-tone. I cut the image of my husband and I out of the blue-tone picture and adhered the cut-out to the colour picture with 3D Adhesive foam dots; I love this 3D effect! 

The photo frame and title were cut using my Silhouette and I added some adhesive pearls to the swirls to dress them up. I used 3D foam dots to adhere the title to the layout to echo the 3D effect of the photo.

I love the look of banners on layouts, but this is the first time I've actually used one. I cut the scalloped ovals and letters using my Silhouette and then folded the ovals in half and strung them along some blue twine. I also added some blue glitter to the scallops of the larger ovals. I think this turned out really well and looks so cute in the corner of the LO.

The Design Kit from Two Scrapbook Friends included some of Cosmo Cricket's Glubers. I hadn't had a chance to use these before - but I really loved how easy it was to create some pretty amazing flowers using them. I didn't have any narrow taupe-coloured ribbon, so I ended up cutting some 2.5 inch ribbon into narrow strips and I frayed the edges to create the taupe flowers - I LOVE how this turned out and will probably use this technique again. The blue ribbon was the perfect complement to the frayed ribbon - I love the combination of the two in the larger flower. The flower centres are some old buttons from my stash; the pearls were originally white, so I coloured them with Smooch Pearlized Accent Paint in Snickerdoodle so that they would match the gold pearls on the photo frame and title. I tucked a small journalling sticker from the Cosmo Cricket Salt Air Cardstock Stickers in the lower right corner to finish off the LO.

TFL,

Sarah

Materials Used:

Patterned Paper - Cosmo Cricket Salt Air Collection Tiny Bubbles and Cardstock Stickers; Core'dinations Cardstock in Beach; Yellow and Peach paper from stash; Bob Bunny Back to Basics Double Dot paper in Denim Dot; Smooch Pearlized Accent Ink in Snickerdoodle; Studio G Glitter Glue in Blue; Cosmo Cricket Glubers; Offray Taupe Ribbon; Michael's Special Value Blue Ribon; Gold and Pearl Buttons from Stash; Adhesive Pearls; American Crafts Memory Marker in Denim; Karen Foster Designs Inc. Scrapper's Spools in Pansy; Glue Dots - Memory Book and Mini; American Crafts This to That Glue Runner; Keepsake Memories 3D Adhesive Foam.

3D Flower and Just Keep Swimming Card - Guest Design Team Projects for "Two Scrapbook Friends"

I completed these projects using "leftovers" from my Guest Designer Kit from Two Scrapbook Friends. (Though I do still have one more layout to share...)

First is a 3D Flower that I created using a tutorial by Dana Parlevliet I found on the Graphic 45 Blog:
http://g45papers.typepad.com/graphic45/2011/06/dana-feature.html.
I used one sheet of Cosmo Cricket paper - Salt Air Collection Deck Chairs - cut into four 4x4 squares plus one 4x4 square of dark yellow cardtock for the flower petals and added a large red button from my stash as the flower centre. I wanted to turn the flower into a pinwheel; however, due to time constraints (and lack of mechanical inspiration) I attached it to a metal stake (i.e. a straightened wire coat hanger). I'm still pretty pleased with how it turned out. I think I'll put it in the pot with one of my houseplants.

Second is a really simple card I made using some bits and pieces leftover from the Cosmo Cricket Salt Air Borders (Yellow Bubble paper) and Cardstock Stickers (Floral Strips and Fish), as well as some pieces of Core'dinations Cardstock leftover from my Beach Boy layout. The sentiment is actually cut out of the title strip (i.e. waste strip) from a sheet of the Cosmo Cricket Salt Air Paper. I added Glossy Accents to the Bubbles and added Stickles in Waterfall to the flower centres on the floral strips; I also used the stickles to add some bubbles for the fish.

One more layout to share tomorrow for my Guest Design Team projects!

TFL,
Sarah

Materials Used:
3D Flower
Patterned Paper - Cosmo Cricket Salt Air Collection Deck Chairs; Recollections Cardstock - Dark Yellow; Red Button from Stash; AdTech Hot Glue Gun and Hot Glue Sticks; Wire Hanger
Just Keep Swimming Card
Cosmo Cricket Salt Air Collection Borders, Cardstock Stickers and waste strip from Coral Bloom paper; Core'dinations Cardstock (light and dark orange); Stickles in Waterfall; Ranger Ink Glossy Accents; Michael's value Pack Blank Card (Ivory).

Beach Boy - Guest Design Team Layout for "Two Scrapbook Friends"

I was so flattered when a local scrapbook store, Two Scrapbook Friends (2SF), asked me to be a guest designer for July 2011. My package of goodies from 2SF includes papers from Cosmo Cricket's Salt Air Collection, Cosmo Cricket Glubers, some Bella Blvd Baby Blooms,  a strip of gold adhesive pearls and a large piece of fabric. I'll have several posts for the projects I completed for 2SF...

My first layout is of me with my son on his first trip to the beach. He LOVES the water but was a little hesitant about going in the lake...we ended up having a great time though!

For this layout I layered punched strips of the Cosmo Cricket Salt Air papers on top of a punched strip of some coordinating Core'dinations paper as well as a Core'dinations background page. I smeared some Stickles in Christmas Red along each of the strips of the lighter orange, punched Core'dinations paper -- I wanted it to look a bit like sand was stuck to it. I then added dots of Liquid Pearls in Gold Pearl along the top and bottom edge of the punched layers to really define the edges. I matted the photo and journalling on the same paper as the background page and I also added a few dots of liquid pearl on the photo mat beside the the Baby Blooms. I added some eyelets and stitching between the photo and journalling mats - I wanted it to look a bit like an old life-jacket. I used a date sticker from the Como Cricket Salt Air Cardstock Stickers and printed the rest of the journalling on Cream Cardstock. The title letters are Fabric Thickers in Apricot and I added a ruched bit of fabric to the title to coordinate with the large "sun-flower" on the page.

This was my first time working with Glubers and I have to say - I LOVED them. To create this "sun-flower" I first sprayed a large strip of cheesecloth with Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist in Candy Apple Red. Once that dried, I knotted one end of the strip of cheesecloth and attached it to the centre of the Gluber and then tightly rolled the cheesecloth around the knotted centre to create the spiral. I then added some Stickles in Fruit Punch to the grooves of the spiral. I decided the colour of the spiral wasn't quite what I wanted so I spritzed it with some Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist in Lemon Zest to tone down the red. To create the ruffle around the spiral, I hemmed both sides of a long strip of fabric and then did some simple gathering stitching along one of the hemmed edges and --voila -- my "sun-flower".

TFL,

Sarah

Materials Used:

Pattered Papers: Cosmo Cricket Salt Air Collection - Coral Bloom and Half Shell; Core'dinations Cardstock (light and dark orange); Recollections Cardstock (Cream); American Crafts Thickers - Dolce Fabric Letter Stickers in Apricot; Bella Blvd Baby Blooms in Saffron; Cosmo Cricket Glubers; Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist in Candy Apple Red and Lemon Zest; Stickles in Fruit Punch and Christmas Red; Liquid Pearls in Gold Pearl; Fabric; Cheesecloth; Eyelets (from stash); DFN Craft Thread (light orange); Fiskars Edge Punch; American Crafts This to That Glue Runner.

"Roar?"

There are so many cute baby-related collections on the market - I just love Little Yellow Bicycle's new Baby Saurus collection - so I grabbed some of it to scrap some photos of my son. This layout is based on Creative Scrappers Sketch #154. The photos of my son are the "progression of a yawn" and were taken when he was almost 3-weeks old.

This is a very simple layout -- not a lot of techniques -- just some distressing and misting. The main papers are from Little Yellow Bicycle's Snugglebug Collection. The photo mat and title use Bo Bunny Double Dot paper and the title and journaling have some Bazzill Basics textured cardstock as well. The Chipboard Stickers are from the Little Yellow Bicycle Baby Saurus collection. I lightly distressed the edges of all the papers. I cut the dinosaur tracks on my Silhouette and used the negative cut-out to mist the tracks onto the page.

 I printed the journalling and cut it into strips and matted it on the Bazzill textured cardstock. I used 3D foam adhesive to attach the journaling to the page. The title was cut on my Silhouette - I thought it looked a little flat so I grabbed my Sakura Glaze pen and added the orange dots on top of all the dots in the Bo Bunny paper (I  then went back and added the orange dots to the photo mat too).

TFL,
Sarah

Materials Used:
Papers: Little Yellow Bicycle Snugglebug Collection - "Boy Green Flannel" and "Girl Orange Flannel"; Bo Bunny Double Dot Paper Powder Blue Dot; Bazzill Basics Textured Cardstock (Orange); Recollections White Cardstock; Little Yellow Bicycle Baby Saurus Chipboard Stickers; Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist in Forest Green; Sakura Glaze Pen in Orange; 3D Foam Adhesive; Xyron 1.5" Create a Sticker; Memory Tape Runner XL.

"Remember" - Our First Dance

This layout is my interpretation of the May 15 sketch from Once Upon a . . .Sketch. I used The Color Room's Palette #59. The picture is of my husband and me  -- our first dance as a married couple.

 

The background paper is from Pink Paislee’s Butterfly Gardens collection (love this collection). I’ve added some chocolate brown textured cardstock, which I punched with a Fiskars edge punch, and some green and white polka dot paper from Making Memories Vintage Findings Home Kit; the sheer envelope is also from this kit. The postcards are cut from a Making Memories Embellishment Paper (Passport Collection). The "Remember" card is from Glitz Designs Love Nest Whatnot. All the papers were distressed and I inked the edges of everything except the background page with Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Walnut Stain.

I printed the journaling on vellum and then cut it to fit the shape of the fancy circular green and white polka-dot cut-out.  The journaling reads, "Our first dance together as husband and wife. Our song was Andrea Bocelli's Con te Partiro."

The floral embellishments on this page are handmade – simple gathered ruffle flowers. I saw some lace flowers on a layout by IngridG on Scrapbook.com – I fell in love with them and just had to try making my own. I love how this flower turned out, especially how the cameo centre completes it! I added a couple of peek-a-boos at the edge of the layout using the same lace as in this flower. The green flowers are made with some ribbon from the Making Memories Vintage Findings Home Kit and I’ve added a simple glass pearl as the centre. The pearl sprays are from A Bride’s Wish Wedding Collection.

I love the Dusty Attic hinges and have been wanting to use one on a layout for a while. I thought the heart shape of this one was perfect for this layout. I first inked the hinge with  Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Walnut Stain and then misted it with Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist in Marshmallow. I then gave it a thick coat of Ranger Crackle Accents. I really like how this turned out – but I think next time I’ll try Irene Tan's tutorial for creating a metallic hinge look.

TFL,

Sarah

Materials Used:

Patterned Paper: Pink Paislee Butterfly Gardens – “Botanical Gardens”, Making Memories Embellishment Paper – Passport collection Making Memories Vintage Findings Home Kit – Green and White Polka Dot Paper, Sheer Envelope and Green Ribbon; Bazzill Basics Chocolate Brown Textured Cardstock; Vellum; Glitz Love Nest Whatnot; Creative Décor Lace, We R Memory Keepers Cameo; Glass Pearl Beads; A Bride’s  Wish Wedding Collection Pearl Sprays; Dusty Attic Hinge; Tim Holtz Distress Ink – Walnut Stain; Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist – Marshmallow; Ranger Crackle Accents; Fiskars Edge Punch; Memory Tape Runner XL; Glue Dots – Memory Book and Mini.

"Meow"

This is my LO to play along with the Scrap That! May "Misting" challenge. I based my LO on the May 1 sketch from Stuck?! Sketches. This layout is a total departure from my normal style (way more white space than I'm used to) but a good exercise to get me out of my comfort zone. The photo is of my cat when he was about 15 weeks old.

I started this layout by misting the two corners of the white background page with Smooch Spritz in Log Cabin. The paper strips were simply some leftover scraps I had saved. The layout looked a little flat - so I used my paper crimper on the strips to add some texture and dimension. The pattern paper is from Basic Grey's "Max and Whiskers" collection; I love the cats on this paper and made sure to cut the smaller circle with the orange cat as the central image. I cut the "meow" title using my silhouette - I cut it twice and layered the two titles to make it stand out a bit better. The small letters in the journaling (if you can call it that) are by Jillibean Soup - I love these mini alphas they have out right now.

I have a stash of pet themed papers and embellishments - so I raided it for this layout. In addition to the paper, I've used some heartsy/pawsy ribbon, cat brads, a "best friend" brad that is actually from a Dog brads collection, and a large image brad from Karen Foster Designs' "Cat" collection.

That's it - a short list of materials and techniques. I still think its a darn cute layout though...

TFL,
Sarah

Materials Used:
Patterned Paper: Basic Grey - "Max and Whiskers" collection - Lightening, Coloured Cardstock - misc. from stash, Smooch Spritz in Log Cabin,  Jillibean Soup Kraft Mini Brown Alphas, Around the Block Paper Treats - "Best Friend" Brad, Eyelet Outlet Cat Back Brads, Michael's Special Value Ribbon, Westcott Paper Crimper, Quickutz Silhouette, Memory Tape Runner XL.

"Beloved"

I got my May Scrap That! kit this weekend and just love the Pink Paislee papers (alliteration anyone?!) - they're so romantic and perfect for a Wedding layout. I created this layout, which I've entitled "Beloved", based on The Color Room's Palette #58, as well as my interpretation of Sketch #155 at Creative Scrappers.

The Butterfly Garden papers by Pink Paislee are so gorgeous that they need very little embellishment; I used one sheet as the base page and fussy cut sections from another sheet to create the cluster of images on the lower left side of the page. I used a corner rounder on the papers and photo to soften the look and then inked the papers with Distress Ink in Walnut Stain. The doilies (behind photo and title card) were misted with Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist in Denim Blue, which was the perfect colour to match the hints of blue in the base page.

I found the paper flowers at a local surplus store for less than $2/pkg (wow!);  they're all from A Bride's Wish  (Wedding Collection).  I love the soft blue and white combination.

The title card is a Glitz Designs Whatnot piece from the Love Nest collection. The shape perfectly mimics the shape of the "Rose" emblem from the larger paper cutout and was just right for this page.

TFL,
Sarah

Materials Used:
Patterned Papers: Pink Paislee Butterfly Garden - "Botanical Gardens" and "Flower Blooms"; Glitz Love Nest Whatnot Card; EK Success Sticko Stickers - Mini Black Letters; Paper Doilies by We R Memory Keepers; Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist in Denim Blue; Zva Creative Self Adhesive Pearl; Flowers - A Bride's Wish  (Wedding Collection) - Wild Peony, Essentials, Wild Open Rose;  Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Walnut Stain; EK Success Corner Punch; Glue Dots - Memory Book; Memory Tape Runner XL.

"Me"

It is not often I find a photo of myself that I really love and definitely not often that I would scrap a photo of just myself - but I just love this photo that was taken by our wedding photographer when my husband and I were on our honeymoon! So, I decided to use the photo to play along with a couple of challenges:  I've based the design of this layout on The Dusty Attic May Sketch and am using The Color Room's Palette #57.

I just love the Laura Ashley velvet paper (base page) - it is so elegant and has such beautiful texture. On top of the velvet paper I've used some My Mind's Eye (MME) paper from the "Lost and Found" collection.  I stamped a row of flourishes along the left side of the MME paper; I also randomly stamped some smaller flourishes around the page. I added Distress Stickles in "Walnut Stain" to the stamped images to add some sparkle and texture. I edge distressed the MME paper and added some "Vintage Photo" Distress Ink and then scrunched the bottom left corner so that I could really bring attention to the Dusty Attic Chipboard Corner.

The red and cream circle is also a MME paper and was also distressed and inked. The paper on top of the circle was created by using simple kraft cardstock, a Prima mask and Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist in "Candy Apple Red". After the misted image dried, I fussy-cut around the mask's pattern and inked the edges of the cut-out shape. The velvet border behind the circle was made with a Fiskar's punch and some crushed velvet cardstock.

Most of the detail for this layout is in the papers - so I made some simple lollipop flowers out of coordinating papers as embellishments. The flower centres are simply some old brads from my stash that I painted with Smooch Pearlized Accent Ink in "Snickerdoodle".

I painted the Dusty Attic Ornate Corner with Distress Crackle Paint in "Tarnished Brass" and then added some Smooch in "Snickerdoodle" to portions of the corner. The title was cut out of plain white cardstock (using my Silhouette) and then also painted with the "Tarnished Brass" Crackle Paint.

TFL,
Sarah

Materials Used:
Patterned Paper: My Mind's Eye Lost and Found Collection - "Union Square Home Sweet Home Collage Paper" and "Union Square Favorite Union Station Paper"; Laura Ashley Velvet Paper; Doodlebug Designs Crushed Velvet Cardstock; Recollections Cardstock in Kraft and White; Bo Bunny Timepiece Collection "Moments"; Prima 8x8 Mask; Dusty Attic Ornate Corner #5; Fiskar's "Lace" Edge Punch; Tim Holtz Distress Ink in "Vintage Photo"; Distress Crackle Paint in "Tarnished Brass"; Distress Stickles in "Walnut Stain"; Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist in "Candy Apple Red"; Smooch Pearlized Accent Ink in "Snickerdoodle"; Kimberly Poloson Clear Stamps - Flourishes; Memento "Rich Cocoa" Stamp Pad; Xyron 1.5 in. create-a-sticker; Terrifically Tacky Tape; Dot Glue Runner (AdTech); misc. brads.

"Adoration"

Happy Thursday of a long weekend - and welcome to my blog! I've completed a new layout, which I'm calling "Adoration". The picture is of me and my son when he was just 3-days old!

I've done a lot of layering on this layout using a combination of Bo Bunny Gabrielle and DCWV The Mariposa Stack papers - these papers are so complementary! I cut all the layers (with the exception of the base page) with wavy edge scissors. All the layers have been tool distressed and inked with Tim Holtz Tea Dye Distress Ink; I also water distressed the peach-coloured page. On top of the patterned paper layers, I added a Gabrielle Cut-Out and small paper doily, which I inked with Antique Linen and Tea Dye Distress Inks. The final touches on the layering are the beautiful Gabrielle Trinket, which I think looks so pretty on top of the doily, and the mini crochet doily that I tucked under the water-distressed paper.

The title is a chipboard word by Maya Road that I painted with Tim Holtz Distress Crackle Paint in Antique Bronze. That wasn't quite crackle-y enough for me so I topped that off with some Ranger Crackle Accents. I did a lot of fussy-cutting of butterflies for this layout - I love the tiny butterflies from the DCWV paper!

I handmade all the flowers on this layout. The large flower was made with individual petals stitched together around a cluster of artificial flower stamens. (The stamens were surprisingly hard to find - I ended up ordering a bunch on ebay from Malaysia!) This is the first time I've made this type of flower and it took a LONG time. I'm pretty happy with the result - but hoping to improve my technique.

The smaller flowers were each made from a single piece of ribbon using a U-gathering stitch. They were then wrapped around and stitched to the small cluster of flower stamens and the petals were also stitched together. Don't they look pretty on the Zva pearl swirl? These flowers were super-easy to make and can be made in 3-5 petal varieties and in a lot of different sizes depending on the width of ribbon you use.

That's all for today. Have a great Holiday weekend!

TFL,
Sarah

Materials Used:
Patterned Papers - Bo Bunny Gabrielle Collection - Gabrielle Dot, Gabrielle Cut-Outs; DCWV The Mariposa Stack; Chipboard Title by Maya Road; Tim Holtz Distress Crackle Paint in Antique Bronze; Tim Holtz Distress Inks in Tea Dye and Antique Linen; Ranger Inkssentials Crackle Accents; Recollections Boutique Fleur Mini Crochet Doily; Small Paper Doily by Wilton Enterprises; Bo Bunny Gabrielle Trinket; Smooch Pearlized Accent Ink in Tuxedo (used on the larger butterflies to accent the black areas); Michael's Special Value Ribbon; Artificial Flower Stamens; Zva Creative Adhesive Pearls; Glue Dots - Mini and Memory Book; American Crafts This to That Glue Runner.