Christmas Joy

What is more Christmas-y than gathering around the tree for a family photo? This layout was a Joy to do! I used the December My Creative Scrapbook kit. It features the Little Yellow Bicycle's "Magic of Christmas" Collection.

I hand scalloped edges of printed paper,& distressed with Tim Holtz's

red mahogany distress ink. I punched the scallops with a Christmas tree punch & used my

Easy Filled Punch Technique to fill in the punched trees. This was adhered to the beautiful card stock made by Bazzil. ( I have to admit, I love love love Bazzil card stock!!)

Little Yellow Bicycle rub-ons were added to the picture. I distressed the photo edges using Tim Holtz vintage photo distress ink.

My lettering was white, and I wanted to bring the festive feel to them also! So I simply wiped the edges with Tim Holtz Distress Ink, red mahogany. As I was distressing the edges, I pulled the ink to the letter top so it would"spill" over on the front. I also did the same with the white flourishes. Gold Stickles highlight the curves to the lettering!

The flower was made with silks included in the kit, and from papers used in the layout. I made the paper flowers with my Sizzix Big Shot. Gold & Christmas Red Stickles were added to flower to separate layers & add sparkle!

The chipboard ornaments were white glossy chipboard that I covered with the printed papers. the Covered Chipboard technique is something that I do all the time!! The edges were distressed with Tim Holtz Red Mahogany Distress ink. I added glitter stars & Stickles! I then attached ribbon & ran it under printed papers on top to give the "hanging" feel!

This layout was fun to do! I hope you enjoyed it!

Thanks for taking a look!

Wishing You A Merry Christmas !

I wanted to take this opportunity to wish everyone a Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays. Please keep safe, enjoy your loved ones & take time from the busy days to enjoy the simple pleasures! It is really such a wonderful season... So enjoy! Thanks for visiting my blog! :D

Make Those Gift Cards Special!

I was determined to add a personal touch to a batch of gift cards I purchased. So I grabbed my Basic Grey Figgy Pudding & Wassail Collections & here is what I came up with!

The basic supplies I used are shown above. Corner rounder, corner rounder w/slit, threading water punch, & bone folder for scoring!
After some trial & error I found that this really works best with 2 sided paper! I cut my paper 4"x7" & an additional flap piece cut 1.5" X 4 ".

I scored & folded my paper at 2.5" from bottom & 5.5" from bottom.

I then punched using threading water punch on top flap & corner rounder with slit on bottom.

The slit holds the gift card. If you do not have a rounder w/slit , You can do this with a regular rounder & cutting along curve with craft knife!

I then took the additional cut flap piece & adhered it to inside score with opposite side showing as an accent!

Next I rounded the accented papers corners & added 4 eyelets as shown below! This was not measured, just eyeballed! Just remember to have them on the flap & directly under the flap. It does not have to be perfect !

I also distress all raw edges, including the scoring. I think it adds a nice finished touch!

I ran ribbon through the eyelets.

I have also done some with fibers, cord etc! I think twine would look great too!

Now just fold over & pull ribbon to sides! Presto!

Embellish, Stickle, Ink, and you are good to go!

I hope you have enjoyed making those gift cards special!

Thanks for taking a look!!!

FRIENDS FUR-EVER

This layout was the third layout that I did using the November My Creative Scrapbook kit. The kit featured Crate paper- Prudence collection. I loved the colors & found myself altering the pics to really show the beautiful tones in the paper.

The paper came with punched edges. I distressed them & matted to solid card stock. I then added the printed paper, rounding the corners to fit in with the circles in the background. I then made the scalloped edge mat, using the Filled Punch Technique. Jeweled bling was added to highlight the edges of layout & photo.

The butterflies are stamped & cut from the same same card stock used in layout. I added wire antenna's, jewels, & some Lime Green & Black Diamond Stickles to highlight! The lettering is Basic Grey Wilma, covered with Stazon Black ink.

The flower was made with different papers used in layout & my Big Shot machine. I layer the flowers, distressed & added the Lime Green Stickle highlights. A black button was used as the flower center. All flourishes are black card stock & made with my Big Shot machine.

All raw edges were distressed using Tim Holtz Black Soot & Peeled Paint Distress Ink.

I really enjoyed this kit. Here is a link if you would like to see the kits they have to offer.

http://www.mycreativescrapbook.com/

Thanks for taking a look at my blog!

Easy Filled-Punched Scallop Technique

This is a simple way to add some color contrast to punched scallops! I like to do this when I want to have another color, other than the card stock or printed paper that would normally show through.
In this example, I have made a scallop-edged mat as a backing on a photo. Using the color I want as my "punch filler" I punched the scallops with the "paw print" punch and also punched round circles (slightly smaller than the actual scallop),

Next step is to simply glue the circles on the backside of scalloped mat. I find it easier to place the glue on the scallop vs the punch. This way I am certain that the glue will not show through.

Then, just flip over & put it in place! I think it looks better to distress the punch shape a bit with the same ink as the scalloped edges. But then again I distress everything! I would distress this blog if I could figure out how!!! LoL

Thanks so much for taking a look :)

Count Your Lucky Stars

The inspiration for this layout is my daughter-in-law, Stephanie. She is a great person & I could not ask for a better person for my son! We get along wonderfully, and every day I am thankful & count my lucky stars! The layout was selected to be in the October 2008 Scrapbook News & Review Ezine!

The printed paper is from the BasicGrey Mellow collection. It was distressed with Tim Holtz aged mahogany ink. The circle printed paper was from the Prima Kilarney collection. I used the old "bowl" circle template, hand cut & distressed with aged mahogany distress ink!

Layered flowers were made from distressed patterned papers, & the Imaginese Build a Blossom set , A gold button was added to the center.

Stars were made using covered chipboard distressing

The solid card stock is Bazzill. Bazzill has some wonderfully rich tones!

The Fancy Pants flourishes were inked with Tim Holtz Peeled Paint distress ink & dabbed with a bit of the aged mahogany. The picture flourishes were cut with my Big hot using a Cuttlebug die.

I added a few springs in the layout for some dimension & as fillers. This was a fun layout to do!

Thanks so much for taking a look :)

THE HEART THAT LOVE IS ALWAYS YOUNG

This layout was done using the My Creative Scrapbook November Kit. (Link at bottom of post). The papers are Crate, from the Prudence collection & coordinated beautifully! My niece & nephew were plopped on my bed with the pooch & it made for a great picture! I used photoshop to alter the photo to a sepia tone. The papers were distressed with Adirondack espresso ink. The alpha was included with the kit- it is Maya Road, and it to was inked with espresso ink.

I added an Imaginese timepiece rub-on to card stock, then adhered to the silk & chipboard included in kit. I also made flower layers with my BigShot, distressed & highlighted with Eucalyptus & Cinnamon Stickles.

The hearts were stamped card stock, adhered to raw chip hearts & distressed around the edges.
I added card stock flourishes & highlighted them with the eucalyptus & cinnamon Stickles.

The same method was used for the corner hearts & raw chip tear drops were inked with the espresso ink. This was a very fun kit to work with. Everything was from the kit with exception of timepiece rub-on, flourishes, hearts & teardrops. Thanks for taking a look!

My Creative Scrapbook link http://www.mycreativescrapbook.com/

Remember the Moments

The inspiration for this layout is my great hubby Kevin & our sweet pooch Sami. The layout was done using the "My Creative Scrapbook" November kit. It is my first monthly kit from them & I was very happy with the amount & quality of the product in the kit. I still have much left over & will be doing at least 2 more layouts with the kit. The papers are Dream Street & Crate paper. I added Bazzill black card stock , Stickles & few jewels. Everything else was part of, or made from the kit. The lettering was Maya Road inked with StazOn black ink. I also altered the photo in Photoshop to go with the paper.

I did cut work with the patterned paper, distressing all raw edges with Tim Holtz Distress black soot ink. I then highlighted the paper with eucalyptus Stickles. Rub ons were added on the photo!

A stamped bird was distressed & added to fill an empty space! Rubber stamps make such good fillers!!! The small circles on the background were punched from the same paper used in cut work. I elevated them with small foam squares for dimension.I added some clear jewels that were colored with Tim Holtz Alcohol ink-latte. I have used this technique several times Its a great way to get different colors!

The flower was made using silks that were included in the kit. The paper layers & flourishes were made with my Big Shot, also using papers from the kit. All flower layers were distressed with black soot ink & then highlighted with eucalyptus Stickles. I think

I really enjoyed working with the kit!

Here is a link if you are interested in the My Creative Scrapbook monthly kit

http://www.mycreativescrapbook.com/

Internet Buy of the Week

This weeks Internet buy is a great find! It is the Imaginisice Build a Blossom kit for 19.99 on Scrapbook.com! (Link is at bottom of this post).

This is a must have for anyone who likes to add flowers to their layouts, cards or altered art. The kit has a huge amount flowers, 580 total! Is also comes with 325 embellishments, jewels & brads in various colors! The flowers range from 1.5 inch to 4.5 inch! Just a great deal! Check out the reviews on Scrapbook.com & you can see that everyone is pleased with this kit! I think I just talked myself into ordering another!

The link is

http://store.scrapbook.com/im-f02733.html

2 LITTLE BOWS

This layout is based on a Liz Qualman sketch for the November Sketch Challenge at My Creative Scrapbook.(I have placed a link at bottom of this post) It was really a challenge as I have a difficult time with sketches! They never end up looking like the sketch! I used the BasicGrey Urban Prairie collection of paper. Such great colors!
I distressed all raw edges with Tim Holtz black soot & worn lipstick distress ink. I also used the Adirondack pool blue ink for the blues distressing. For the letters & flourish I used StazOn black.

I used a clip art bird image as a template for my bird. I cut it out of cardboard & covered with some Urban Prairie paper. The wing was made from a petal shape chip, covered & distressed. A jewel was added as an eye, & dotted turquoise Stickle highlights were placed on flourish.

I hand scalloped & cut the scallop paper, punched the scallops & distressed all raw edges. The flowers were layers cut with my Sizzix Big Shot, using all papers in the lo. I used fruit punch & turquoise Stickles on the petal of the flowers. The flower centers was made with Liquid Pearls covered with fruit punch Stickles. Flourishes from card stock are used to fill in the flowers.


Border sticker from the Urban Prairie collection is highlighted with smaller layered flowers. Decorative borders from Cuttlebug dies (used w/ my Big Shot) is cut & placed around photo. Two little bows are placed on photo! Thanks to my sweet Niece for being such a cutey!!!
Thanks for taking a look!!

http://mycreativescrapbook.invisionzone.com/index.php?showtopic=480

Internet Buy of the Week!

I love to shop online! I am always looking for good scrap booking bargains to stretch my budget. I thought I would start posting an Internet bargain on a weekly basis. I will be looking for quality items for a good price. I also will try to find items that can be shipped to various destinations! If you find something that you think is a great deal & would like to share it, please leave a comment!

My first great find is going to be something I have bought several times over. It is such a great deal! It is 160, yes 160 sheets of Bazzill Basics assorted card stock for $30.72 on QVC. That figures out to be around .20 per sheet!!!! Wow. It is a great pack & has a great assortment of colors. Muted, earth tones, pastels, brights, all are included. Most importantly, is that great Bazzill quality! So this is my Internet buy of the week! Here is a link to the site! Thanks for taking a look!

http://www.qvc.com/qic/qvcapp.aspx/view.2/app.detail/params.item.F04382.desc.Bazzill-160piece-Assorted-Color-and-Textured-Cardstock-Pack

Cover that old chipboard!

If you are like me, you have a variety of never used chipboard from sets, kits or special buys laying around not getting used because of color, print, or just plain ugly!!
It is so easy to cover it & make it a great part of your layout, card or altered art.

Just add adhesive to the chip( I have chose to cover the pre-printed side).
Then place adhesive side down on the backside of paper.
Let dry.






Cut around shape.. it does not have to be perfect!








Next I file the edges of the chip shape with a nail file! I find this gives me smooth edges, allows the paper to be distressed easily & can get into tiny spots!








Next, distress the edges to finish off the chipboard. I have made this one-time flower green to be used as leaves.






I then add other layers of covered chip flowers that have been cut,
filed & distressed. Some Stickles on top finish off the flower!







You can do this technique with all shapes! I find it is a great way to use those" less than loved " chip pieces.
Quick, easy & takes little materials!

2009 CK Conventions

If you are close to one of the cities hosting a Creating Keepsakes Scrapbooking Convention, try to make it! It is tons of fun ! Here is the link to the 2009 schedule!

http://www.ckscrapbookevents.com/

I WISH TO HEAR HER MUSIC

The inspiration for this layout is my Grandma. She played music as a child & young woman. This picture was taken in the early 1920's. She played most stringed instruments & is pictured here playing the fiddle in a band. After she married she never played. I guess it was different times... I know she loved her music , and I wish I could her heard her play & see the joy it had brought to her!


The paper used is from the BasicGrey Stella Ruby collection. It is full of rich colors that scream heritage!!



I distressed the border to the layout using the wonderful Tim Holtz walnut stain, and aged mahogany Distress Ink. Chocolate Bazzill cardstock was just the color I was wanting to use for the background!




The photo was altered to a rose tint.I swiped the edges of the pic with the aged mahogany ink. I then matted the photo with contrasting cardstock. I also made swirls of the same contrasting colors & lightly distressed. The flourishes were FancyPants raw chip & the lettering was BasicGrey. Both were done with the same method. I applied the aged mahogany distress ink & allowed it to dry. I then sprayed Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist in a foil pie pan & applied with an artist brush. While it was still wet, I added small highlights of burgundy Stickles. Then when it dried I added a small amount of black diamond Stickles to highlight. The scalloped paper was hand cut, punched & distress with walnut stain Distress Ink.

I distressed Prima flowers & layered with cardstock flowers also distressed in a lighter shade-worn lipstick. I then added a button, and pink Glimmer Mist mixed with burgundy Stickles for the flower centers.

I know that Stickles take a while to dry, but I find they are worth the wait!

Thanks for taking a look!