Happy Easter

 He Is Risen Indeed!

May you and your family have a very Blessed Easter.

More Millie Scrapbook Pages

Day two of the final pages in Millie's scrapbook that I finished this month.  I think the two page spread above is so bright and fun...and it was fun to put together too...lots of texture and elements.

The background paper is from Crate Paper's Cottage Collection (Rose Garden and Picket Fence).

I used half of a journaling card from MME and the "D"s came from Making Memories Jigsaw Alphabet.  I "grunged up" the large yellow rick rack by soaking it in water and then liberally applying Vintage Photo Distress Stain.  Once it was dry, I used Glossy Accents to securely attach it to the page and on the cut edges so it wouldn't unravel.

I used acrylic paint to make the D's match the paper.  Then I stamped and distressed them using more acrylic paint and inks.  I added cream paper behind the cut out D.  The rest of the letters were cut using SCAL/Cricut and a textured look was added with stamps and ink. 

 Millie wasn't a big fan of the lake...she preferred being held (or floated) and cooling her belly in the shallows. 

Other elements on the page are this frame I had in my stash and plain white flowers topped off with bright buttons. (Thanks to my creative sis--the PAPER SQUIRREL for finally suggesting the simple look!)

 

I finished off Millie's book with this last page.  As with my other two bulldogs, I had had this special paper made a while back at a crop I attended and saved it until the time came.  On velum, I printed a recap of all the wonderful things I wanted to remember about her.  A fitting tribute to a great girl!  Millie's book now joins those of her brothers Mack and Louie on the shelf in my studio.  It was bittersweet finishing it.  But I'm looking forward to starting Gus's and it being many years before I need to do a final page for him.

Entered into the following Challenges:

Simon Says Stamp--Anything Goes

Millie Scrapbook Pages

I managed to complete Millie's scrapbook during my "Girl's Creative Weekend".  I thought I'd show you the final pages.  I love the paper on this layout...kind of matches her hat!  I cut the title using my SCAL/Cricut and used portions of a doily under it.  The top journaling frame was created using a Spellbinder's die and the Big Shot. 

This flower was created using petals held together with a large pearl brad.  Another portion of the doily layered underneath.  I swiped both doilies with Vintage Photo Distress Ink to antique them and match the tone of the background paper.

A simple layout using the K & Company frames.  (Recognize the top right photo?!)  I used rub on letters and  frame with the inside left in (taped on the back to hold), to add her name to the page. 

I cut the bone using a SVG file from my DOG ELEMENTS file

(That's the beauty of SVG files...you can alter them to fit virtually anything!)

The black border was created  using a little bone punch and then attaching a strip of the lighter paper behind it...easier than gluing on all those little bones!

Hope you enjoyed seeing my girl when she was in her prime.  I'll have a few more layouts of Millie to share tomorrow.

Entered into the following Challenges:

Sincerely Yours Creations--#4 Dogs and Cats

Redd and Rosies--#3 Vintage/Shabby

Simon Says Stamp--Anything Goes

More Tattered Florals

Believe it or not, I did get out my needle and thread to make these tattered florals.  Check out this POST for details on these die cut flowers.

I cut the petals from the same fabric but added more layers.  On the larger flower I distressed the edges.  I didn't have a special distress tool, just used a large needle to pull the threads.

I then sewed on a variety of beads--a large light pink center bead, clear smaller beads and little dark pink beads.  The smaller flowers were done similarly.  I added a pin back to the larger flower and will use the small ones on a card or scrapbook layout.

Memo Pad Project

A few days ago I held my (almost) annual "Girl's Crafting Weekend".  I clean the studio, turn the house into a B & B and invite family and friends for a long weekend of scrapping, card making and crafting.  Some times we'll have a massage therapist come in, sometimes we'll have a card challenge and sometimes we'll spend time collaborating on a project.  One thing we ALWAYS have (besides lots of food and no sleep!) is little gifts for each other.  I usually make something and this year it was these memo pads.  These are super easy to make, extremely inexpensive and lots of fun to personalize.  Here's how you can make your own:

1.  Buy a pack of Memo Pads.  I got mine at WalMart and you can also pick them up at the Dollar Store (3 for $1).  Since the back of the pads I used were white, I made that side the "front of the pad".  I then used Distress Inks or acrylic paint to make the area inside the coil match the base paper I applied to the cover.  Use a strong adhesive (tape runner, multi-medium, Glossy Accents) to attach the decorative paper to the covers.  Pay extra attention to all the edges.  Butt the paper up to the coils.

2.  Embellish!  On the sample at the top, I used yellow designer paper for the base and embellished with various stamps and Distress Markers.  The lower right circular stamp has a center that looks like a gem.  It's actually Glossy Accents as I didn't want anything that could easily fall off (since it will probably be carried in a purse).  I used the "things to remember" stamp on all the pad's fronts.

3.  Finish the back (or the former front) in the same manner.  I chose paper that would coordinate with the front and look okay with the color of the former cover.  Again I used stamps to decorate.

This one has doilies stamped and embossed with white embossing powder.

This one has the same paper on the back as on the banner.

I used Glossy Accents on the bee's wings to give them dimension.

Be sure and use a strong adhesive for any layers of paper added to the cover.  

I used Glossy Accents.

Entered into the following Challenges:

All My Crafts--#4 Anything Goes (except a card)

My Grafico--Anything Goes

Paper Playtime--Use A Bee

Pause, Dream, Enjoy--#6 Anything Goes

Simon Says Stamp--Quotable

Drunken Stampers--For the Birds

Sugar Creek Hollow--An Altered State

Rhedd and Rosies--#2 For the Birds

Snowmobile Layout DT Submission

I know spring is in just a few days so it seems strange to post a page dedicated to snow!  But for my CREATIVE CUTTING CHALLENGE BLOG "Anything Goes"post, I decided to put together this scrapbook layout using three of my SVG files:  PINE TREES & PINE CONE, SNOWMOBILE SET, and SNOWFLAKE SET.  

The design paper is Little Yellow Bicycle's "Winterings".  It's hard to see in the photo but it has a really lovely and subtle print of pine trees all over it....perfect to layer my tree diecuts on top of.  And in front of the trees, a sled silhouette.  Here and there are scattered snowflakes cut from white cardstock and accented with Frosted Lace Stickles.  The top "SNOW" and side "fun" titles are from Making Memories (Clear Alpha Garden Party).  They are printed acetate and have some shine to them (best shown in the side title).  In order to make the titles show up even more, I blended Antique Linen Distress Ink on the paper in the areas I placed them.

If you use SVG (or similar electronic cutting files), I hope you'll join us over at Creative Cutting Challenge and play along.  You just might win!  And if you're not using SVGs (yet!) click over to see some awesome DT inspiration...you can apply the ideas to any method of paper crafting.

Entered into the following Challenges:

BASTEL-TRAUM--WEATHER RELATED

HOTSHOT CRAFT--ANYTHING BUT A CARD

PAPER CRAFTING JOURNEY--ANYTHING BUT A CARD

PAPERTAKE WEEKLY--1, 2, 3

1 Designer Paper, 2 Types of Die Cuts, 3 photos
MY GRAFICO--ANYTHING GOES
PAUSE DREAM ENJOY--ANYTHING GOES

Snowflake Heading SVG Freebie!

Well, Spring is next week...yippee!  So many of us went through quite an eventful winter.  If you plan on scrapping the snow storms of 2013, this heading is for you!  I even included a file with a plain center so you can use the element to journal or create your own heading.  Get it HERE FREE for one week only!

(Offer expires midnight 3-24-13 EST)

And if you're looking for more design elements, I have a brand new snowman face in the shop: 

Get it HERE

I have three other "Winter" themed SVGs to help you scrap those snowy memories:

Get it HERE

 

Get it HERE

 

Get it HERE

 And if you're looking for a set to "bowl you over"  (insert groan here!), you'll love the BOWLING SET that is brand new in the store.  Lots of fun alley elements!

Get it HERE

REJOICE Easter Card

Rejoice!  Is there any better word to describe our feelings at Easter?  As today's designer over at CARD A DAY BLOG, I created this card for our Easter theme.  The "REJOICE" die cut is from my EASTER HEADINGS SVG set.  I cut it from cardstock.  The card base is white cardstock covered with a yellowish designer paper.  Over that I layered light green cardstock that I ran through the Big Shot in an embossing folder.  I swiped on Scattered Straw Distress Ink with a blending tool.  Using punches, I rounded the top corners and created the lacy bottom  A green ribbon was added.  I wanted to add a gold cross charm but didn't have one.  What to do? hmmmmmm...

My bead case was sitting out so I figured I'd make a charm using wire and beads.  I think it turned out just fine!  Nothing like solving a creative problem using products on hand.  (I used Glossy Accents to attach it to the card so that the charm would stay flat.) 

Entered into the following Challenges:

PAPERCRAFT STAR--GREEN

RUBY'S RAINBOW--#49 YELLOW & GREEN

SISTERHOOD OF CRAFTERS--GREEN

DIE CUTTIN DIVAS--GREEN & GOLD

FLOURISHES TIMELESS TUESDAY--GO GREEN

MY GRAFICO--ANYTHING GOES

PAPER PLAYTIME--ANYTHING GOES

PLATYPUS CREEK DIGITAL--EASTER IS ON THE WAY

CRAFTY CALENDAR--EASTER EGG-STRAVAGANZA

Tim's Tattered Floral Challenge Entry

I wanted to play along with Tim Holtz's recent CHALLENGE which is using his Tattered Florals die and creating something "spring-y".  I thought that this would be a great time to experiment cutting fabric with this die.  A few posts back, I cut grunge board using these dies (See it HERE) for a scrapbook layout.  This time around I got out scrap fabric in white and pink plus some muslin.  I used Distress Stains to add a bit of color.

I stiffened the fabric by painting Triple Thick Varnish and Mod Podge on the backs (Experimenting to see which would work best.  They turned out about the same.  I think I need to get some of Aleene's Stiffy to get the best results)  I punched holes in the centers of each layer and then stacked and held using a sparkly gem brad.  I attached bar pins to the back using Glossy Accents (because there is no way I'm sewing!) and I now have two nice lapel pins!

Then I decided to try a few other things.  I cut the petals using scrap acetate.  Alcohol inks were pounced on the back and I stamped on the front using Jet Black Archival Ink.  

 While drying the ink with the heat gun, I noticed that the acetate softened and I could manipulate each petal.  Pretty cool as it gave each flower some nice dimension.  Again I punched holes in the center.  These didn't look good layered so I just added brads for centers.  I colored the brads with black patina.  Below is another view better showing the curls and folds of the petals.

I also got out felt and liked how that turned out.  I added Stickles to the petals.

There was one technique that didn't turn out quite as nice.  I put together a fabric flower just like the ones at the top.  I thought it might be cool to dip it into the Melting Pot filled with melted UTEE.  Nope, didn't turn out very nice at all.  Oh well, sometimes that happens....

I have some other materials I want to die cut using Tattered Florals.  We'll see how they turn out and of course, I'll share it with you....the good, the bad and the ugly!!

"Kitty in the House" Layout

It's a rare thing that any animal other than a bulldog is in our house.  However a few summers ago, my sister came up for her annual "Scrap-cation" and had to bring her cats.  One was deathly ill (he did recover) and the other was a sickly kitten on meds.  Neither could be left home or with Grandma.  As hubby is allergic to cats, they spent the week in the studio--which is where we were most of the time anyway.  At that time I had both Louie and Millie (bulldogs) and it was fun to see how they interacted with the cats.  Louie had to be gated out of the room but Millie and Dodger the kitten took a shine to each other. 

I documented them together in a layout for Millie's scrapbook.  I used the cat silhouette from my CATS SVG set to lead off the heading.  The house on the second page was created using SCAL shapes. 

This is also the first time I ever cut a photo in half and used one piece on each page of a double page layout.  Don't know why I've never done this before...probably because I'm a little uptight!  lol  But this picture worked perfectly for that technique.

Entered into the following Challenges:

HOT SHOT CRAFT--ANYTHING BUT A CARD

PAPER CRAFTING JOURNEY--ANYTHING BUT A CARD

THROUGH THE CRAFTROOM DOOR--ANYTHING GOES

"HOPE" Card

I found a great stamp set to use to send hope and blessing to family and friends fighting cancer.  This sweet set is from Pure Innocence--Have Hope and I love all the sentiments that come with it.

For the card above, I stamped the little girl on cream cardstock using jet black Archival Ink.  I used Distress Markers and a water pen to color her in.  Once dry, I added Glossy Accents to the heart to give it dimension and shine.  The sides were created using a Martha Stewart punch.  I layered this over pink cardstock and distressed the edges with Vintage Photo Distress Ink.  This was layered over the designer paper that was also distressed with Vintage Photo.  Inside I stamped the "Have Hope" sentiment.  Simple but hopefully effective in putting some sunshine and hope in the recipient's day!

Entered into the following Challenges:

CITY CRAFTER--SHADES OF PINK

CRAFTY SENTIMENTS--PRETTY IN PINK

SHOPPING OUR STASH--BORDER PUNCHES

PAPER PLAYTIME--ANYTHING GOES

Wobbly Bunny Easter Card

I bought a pack of Action Wobble Springs from the dollar store a few months back and was looking for a way to use them.  So when I created the new HOPPY EASTER BUNNY SVG set, I knew I'd get a chance.   I designed the card base so that the ears of the bunny would extend past the fold (yet still fit into an A2 envelope).  I used two coordinating pink/brown/white scrap pieces of paper. Between the two papers, I attached a brown velvet ribbon.  I stamped the sentiment (Stampabilities) on white cardstock using brown ink.  I added foam pieces under the bottom of the sentiment box (to keep it level) and attached it as shown.  I cut out the bunny, assembled him using a glue stick and then added White Opal Liquid Pearl highlights in his eyes.  I added the spring to the back of the bunny and then attached him to the card...he wobbles just wonderfully!    I'll be sending this card to my four year old nephew.  Hope he likes it!

This card is my Design Team submission over at CREATIVE CUTTING CHALLENGE.  If you use SVG (or similiar) files, I hope you'll join us for the "Easter Card" Challenge going on now.  You just might win!

I got my Wobble Springs (5 for $3) at Dollar Daze.  I know there are YouTube videos showing how to make your own.  Just do a search if you feel like giving it a try!

Entered into the following Challenges:

PLATYPUS CREEK--EASTER IS ON IT'S WAY

THAT CRAFT PLACE--ANYTHING GOES
TOTAL GORJUSS--ANYTHING GOES WITH PINK
EMERGENCY CRAFTERS--MARCH HARES
NATALIE AND AMY--DIE CUTS
AVADARES--EASTER OR SPRING
ART IMPRESSIONS STAMPS--WOBBLE IT
AUD SENTIMENTS--EASTER
CRAFTING FOR ALL SEASONS--DIECUTS & PUNCHES
DIVAS BY DESIGN--ANYTHING GOES
SIMON SAYS STAMP--ANYTHING GOES
PAPER PLAYTIME--ANYTHING GOES