Three Time UKC Champions/Perfect Summer Day

Those of you familiar with our family know that our girls are involved in United Kennel Club obedience with their dogs. We got back last week from the UKC National Invitational where Maria and her Australian Shepherd, Tori participated in the National Junior Top 10 Obedience invitational. They captured 1st place honors for the third year in a row. Here is the page I created for this accomplishment:

Here is a close-up of the flower that I created using the patterned paper 

I trimmed out from behind the other layers and a scrap of black cardstock. 

I cut a flourish into three pieces to spread out around the flower 

(and still have some left for another project):

For the embellishment cluster, I used one of my new Jenni Bowlin 

buttons. Normally I use vintage buttons from my stash, 

but these were so pretty, I had to have them. 

The medallion behind the button was stamped with a 

MME stamp in black on white cardstock and 

certain areas colored in with red marker:

I created this layout for the Tic Tac Toe challenge at From Here 2 Scrapternity First Summer Crop using Flowers, Red, One Large Photo, and Paint (on the brad - it just wasn't quite the right color, so I painted it black and rubbed off a bit so the bronze paint underneath would show through just a little). 

I also had in mind the Frosted Designs Fabulous Friday Challenge! Black & White + 1! The challenge is to create a LO or card using b/w plus one other color - red for this layout.

Techniques/Tips:

When using a sewing machine on your page, use a small diameter needle designed for lingerie, and use a stitch length that does not put the stitches too close together, so your paper does not perforate and tear. For this layout, I stitched on the red paper before adhering to the black backing paper. You can stitch through multiple pages as well. 

Prepackaged rhinestone flourishes can be cut apart and to spread out and sometimes there is enough to use on multiple projects. 

If a piece of ribbon is not quite the right color, you can dab a bit of distress ink onto the ribbon to alter the color. The red ribbon in the cluster was too light and bright, so I used a paint brush to add some pumice stone distress ink to tone it down a bit. 

Paper punched flowers can be spritzed with water and crumpled to add a more realistic texture to your paper flowers. Just be sure they are completely dry before opening them up because damp paper tears easily. They can air dry over night, or with a heat tool if you need them faster. 

Products used to create this layout:

Papers:

Basic Grey Boxer ~ Long Underwear

Basic Grey Granola ~ Brown Sugar

Imaginisce To Love & Cherish ~ Diana

K&Company ~ Love's Journey pad

Paper Pizazz ~ Black/Gray Stripe

DCWV from stash

Black Cardstock ~ scrap

White Cardstock ~ scrap

Other:

Tim Holtz Idea-ology ~ Muse Token, Excellence

Jenni Bowlin Studio ~ Vintage Style Buttons, Black

Want 2 Scrap Bling ~ black rhinestone flourish

Queen & Company Pearls ~ Classy Red

Marvy le Plume Marker ~ #65 Cherry

Tombo NIS Marker ~ Black

Ranger Distress Ink ~ Black Soot, Pumice Stone

DecoArt Crafter Acrylic Paint ~ Black

Ribbons in Red/Black/Gold ~ Stash

Black linked crystals ~ stash

DMC Embroidery Floss ~ stash

Tools:

My Mind's Eye ~ Stella Rose stamp

Martha Stewart Punch ~ Cornflower

EK Success XLarge Punch ~ Daisy Flower

EK Success Edger Punch ~ Dotted Wave

Tim Holtz ~ Distress Tool

Sewing Machine & Thread

Gazelle to cut title

Perfect Summer Day:

This next layout is of my niece relaxing by the lake at my parents' home last Labor Day with her dog, Nitro.

Here is a close up of some of the journaling around the cutout photo mat circle:

I created this layout for the From Here 2 Scrapternity First Summer Crop Journaling Challenge to use the title "Perfect Summer Day" and use at least 10 words of journaling. I also had in mind the Scrap-Friendzy Day at the Spa Challenge #13 to create a layout having anything to do with water when I selected this photo by the lake. I used this lovely sketch from City Crafter Challenge Blog Week #63 (CCCB#63):

Techniques/Tips:

I enjoy using Ranger Alcohol Inks. They can be used to alter the color of metal, glass, plastic - any hard surface item you use in scrapping. 

On this page, I altered the clear glass pebbles which can be found in the floral department of most craft stores. To alter small items like this, place the object(s) in a zip baggie with a few drops of alcohol ink and swish them around. In seconds you have colored objects you can use on your projects. If you don't have the exact color you want, you can try mixing two or more colors to get the color you desire.

For larger items like the die cut sun, swirl, and hello brad, I used the Ranger alcohol ink applicator and felt pad. (You can use a block of wood with a strip of velcro and cut felt sheets or felt by the yard to size.) Just squeeze a few drops of alcohol ink into the felt in whatever color combination you like and dab onto your surface.  The more you dab, the smaller the ink splotches become, so you can get a lot of different looks depending on the colors you choose and the amount of dabbing you do. 

The wonderful think about alcohol ink is that if you don't like it, wipe your surface off with some blending solution and you have a clean slate to try again. The other nice thing about alcohol ink is that it dries so fast you can use your altered supplies right away.

Alcohol ink does stain, so be sure to work on a craft mat, glass, or throw away surface like wax paper or aluminum foil. You might also want to wear rubber gloves, unless you don't mind ink stained fingers. 

Products used to create this layout:

Paper:

Basic Grey Wander ~ Lost Luggage

Basic Grey Wander ~ GPS

Basic Grey Hello Luscious ~ Dazzling

Basic Grey Lime Rickey ~ Rob Roy

Black Cardstock ~ Stash

Other:

Ranger Alcohol Ink ~ Sunshine Yellow, Sunset Orange, Caramel

Clear Gems ~ from floral department

Reflections ~ Rhinestone stickers

EK Success Fastenater ~ Basic Shapes

Around the Block ~ Flair Big Metal Brads

Versa Magic Chalk Ink ~ Midnight Black

Tombo Marker #346

Zig Millenium 05 ~ Pure Black

Blue Rhinestone from stash

Tools:

QuicKutz ~ Sunshine Alphabet Dies

QuicKutz ~ Revolution 

Gazelle to cut scalloped circle and title

Thanks for stopping by. I enjoy reading your comments!

~ Blessings ~