All Dressed with Time to Play ~ The Stamping Scrapper December Sketch Reveal

I enjoyed using Shannon’s fabulous sketch to create this layout of Joseph and his groomsmen having some fun after getting dressed and ready for the wedding.

Here is The Stamping Scrapper Sketch for December:

Be sure to head on over the The Stamping Scrapper to see what Shannon’s talented Design Team did with her sketch. I hope you’ll be inspired to try out her sketch as well.

Techniques:

I stuck with the basics on this one.

Inking – I inked the edges of each paper to give a little more  dimension. If you are using chalk ink, you can apply the ink directly from the ink pad to the paper. I’ve been using mostly distress inks these days and have found for a lighter touch I like using a foam applicator in the form of a make-up wedge to apply the ink. While other inks can be applied with a variety of applicator materials, distress inks work best with some type of foam.

The outer B/W floral paper was from a different collection and the white portions were too white so I just used the Ranger foam applicator to apply some pumice stone Distress Ink over the portion that would be showing. Often a paper that is a little off in color can be corrected by rubbing some distress ink over the paper. If in doubt try it out on a piece of scrap paper.

Die Cut Border Strips ~ These come in such large quantities that I rarely buy them. These came from a scrapping buddy who had more than they needed. Don’t you love to trade extras with scrappy friends?? Instead of using the entire strip, I cut two of them into pieces to use around the layout. I can be a little OCD when it comes to scrapping and didn’t like the white edge which would be obvious between the black/grey borders and the red backgrounds, so I used a brush marker to ink the edges of the border strips before applying to the page. 


I've entered this layout in Bird is the Word ~ Time challenge.

Thanks for stopping by! I treasure your comments.

~ Blessings ~

Wedding Box ~ ScrapFIT Workout #58 ~ Mini Pics Reveal

It's time for a fabulous new Workout at ScrapFIT!!

Workout #58 ~ Mini Pics

It seems when something is smaller than normal size it makes it better or cuter! For this Workout you will need to work with Mini Pictures! Then need to be wallet size or smaller - you can have as many or as few as you would like. 

Rachel and Joseph had a beautiful wedding on December 10. I decided instead of a layout like I usually do, I would create a card box for the reception. I placed tiny black and white photos individually matted in a red glitter paper, from their engagement photos and one of Rachel's favorites from Thanksgiving on the edge of the box lid. I so appreciate the wonderful Workouts at ScrapFIT. I'm sure I would have never thought of this idea without this fabulous prompt. So I hope you will join me in embracing this Workout challenge. I can't wait to see what you post on Mister Linky at ScrapFIT!!

We are blessed again to have

as our sponsor for Workout #58

The winner for Workout #58 will receive this WONDERFUL "Old School" kit featuring Pink Paislee!!!

Be sure to stop by the store and check out their monthly kits for only $15 each!!

Now, hop on over to ScrapFIT to see the Design Team inspiration. 

Don't forget, Sara is looking for the next ScrapFIT Design Team and submissions are due by January 1.

Techniques:

Box ~ I used a plain cardboard box that had the shape I was looking for. I cut the top flaps off and used another large piece of cardboard to create the lid with a two inch edge. I cut the card slot, then covered the lid in black moleskin fabric. I used my Scotch ATG to adhere the fabric. I then sprayed the box one side at a time starting with the smaller sides as well as the back of the paper to adhere to the box. I went back and used the red backed tape to secure the edges of the paper as they were a little loose with just the spray adhesive. Then around the bottom, I used a band of black grosgrain ribbon.

Flowers ~ I created these flowers with the Spellbinders Rose Creations die. First I created and glued together the center "bud." Then I used 3 more of the small size petals, and 4 each of 3 larger size petals - your petal size selection will determine the final size of your roses. I inked the petal edges then spritzed them with water and scrunched around the center (I re-spritzed every few petal layers to make sure all the petals were damp. When dry, I arranged the petals so they were in different positions to give nice fullness and then painted translucent medium on the edges with a fine paint brush. I further embellished with wired Christmas berries and rose leaves rescued form the floral department trash at my favorite craft store, Pat Catan's. These roses were quite time consuming, but worth the effort. 

Photos ~ I converted the photos to black and white and sized them at 1 3/4 inches in height - not worrying about the width. I matted each with about 1/8 inch red sparkle paper then evenly spaced them across the front of the lid. 

Thanks for dropping by. I treasure your comments!

~ Blessings ~

Family ~ ScrapFIT Workout #57 Reveal

It's time for another fabulous ScrapFIT reveal. The first Workout for December is Word of the Year.

Workout #57 ~ Word of the Year

It's almost a new year!!! What single word best describes how you want to embrace the new year? Here's your chance to think about how you want to change, improve, create, define or challenge the new year! Share with us a layout or altered project that showcases your Word of the Year!

The word I selected is Family. There are so many changes going on in our family, and I want to embrace the new directions our family is taking. Our son, Joseph, is getting married on December 10 and giving us a lovely new daughter, Rachel (bottom right photo). These photos were taken last week during our Thanksgiving celebration with extended family. We weren't all there at the same time, so I created a collage of photos to include everyone. 

We have a gorgeous Echo Park kit to give to the winner of Workout #57 donated by Paper Lovelies. Be sure to stop by their store and check out their monthly kits for only $15 each!!

I hope you'll join us in creating a project to embrace the new year. Be sure to hop on over to ScrapFIT to see the inspiration by our fabulous design team and to link up your creation. 

Techniques:

Hand Crafted Flowers ~ I used the Spellbinders Rose Creations Die to cut both the petals and rose leaves for these flowers. I just love all the different sizes and that the petals are not all exactly the same shape. This makes for more realistic flowers. 

For each blossom, I cut 3 sizes of the petals and 4 sizes for the largest flower. I wanted to use the two papers from the background, so I alternated the papers for each size. I cut two petal shapes for the largest size used for that particular flower and one of each of the other sizes. I tried two of each size initially, but found the finished flower to be more thick and fluffy than I wanted for this page. 

To get the texture, I wet the cut petals by dipping them in water. You want them damp but not sopping wet. With my fingers, I pleated each petal, then lightly twisted them together to form a bud-like shape. You can set them aside to dry over night, or if you're like me, hold them with tweezers and dry them with your heat tool. If you use the heat tool, they may not be all the way dry in spots - so be very careful in opening them, because the damp spots will tear very easily. (The completely air dried ones can rip too, but not quite as readily.) 

At this point I inked the petal edges and on the yellow petals inked lightly over the entire petal to give more visual dimension. I wanted the pattern on the black/tan paper to be prominent, so I only inked the edges of those petals. 

I put the blossoms together with a decorative brad, and arranged the petals before closing up the back of the brad. You could also use glue or glue dots to hold them together and use a stick-on decorative center as well. 

For the leaves, I fold them in half to get a center vein, then use my fingers to pinch along each side to get the smaller veins you would find in a real leaf. Then I ink the edges and lightly across the entire leaf. 

Fabric Ruffle ~ This is so easy peasy!! I just tore a strip of fabric (make little snips on the edge of the fabric the width you desire and simply rip the fabric). I machine basted down the center and then lightly gathered it up to make the ruffle. (If you don't have a sewing machine, a quick run of hand basted stitches down the center will work just as well.) I pulled some of the threads off the edges to give a rustic look. I used 3 rows of my Scotch Tape Runner to adhere it to the page.

Fussy Cutting ~ I fussy cut the bracket mat under the flower cluster and hid the bird (that I didn't think went with this layout) under the flowers and leaves. 

I want to say thanks to Amy Gaskins for the fabulous inspiration. The wonderful November Scrap-Friendzy challenges were focused on scraplifting pages from our gallery, and I selected one of Amy's gorgeous pages to lift. If you're looking for a fun forum based scrappy place to hang out with 3 challenges each week, run don't walk to ScrapFriendzy and join our uplifting group of girlz for loads of scrappy fun. December's theme is Scrap Your Stash. 

Paper:

My Mind's Eye ~ Lost & Found Two Sunshine Collection - 

"Memories" Blossoms, "Lovely" Plaid, "Sunshine" Music

Authentique ~ Foundations

Basic Grey ~ Fruitcake - Pine

Embellishments:

Tan Loose Weave Fabric - Stash

The Paper Studio ~ Spare-Parts - Brad Assortment Browns

Zva Creative - Adhesive Pearl Swirls

Technique Products:

Spellbinders ~ Donna Salazar - Rose Creations Dies

Ranger Distress Inks ~ Pumice Stone, Walnut Stain, Forest Moss

TPC Studio ~  Clearly Better - Chocolate

Hot Off the Press ~ Artful Collection acrylic stamps

7gypsies ~ Clear Stamp Ink - Family

Tools:

Tonic Studios ~ Paper Distresser

Sizzix ~ Big Shot

Visual Artestry ~ Stamp Gird Blocks

Fiskars ~ Kraft Knife

Fiskars ~ Self Healing Craft Mat

EK Success ~ Honey Bee Scissors (My favorite for fussy cutting)

Thanks for stopping by! I treasure your comments.

~ Blessings ~

Adore

I created this layout for "The Scrapping Stamper's" Fabulous November Sketch.

This is our son Joseph and his bride to be. I was fortunate enough to be asked to take a fall engagement photo shoot for them, and this is one of the photos taken that day. The wedding is a week from Saturday - December 10.

Here's Shannon's wonderful November sketch:

Be sure to head on over to Shannon's blog to see the fabulous inspiration by her design team.

Techniques:

Hand Stitching ~ I drew a heart template using a double wavy crisscrossing line around the edges to look like ribbon. I cut the pink paper around the outside edge and penciled in the inner line. I applied the heart to the background paper being sure not to put the adhesive where I would be stitching. I pierced holes on both lines, then used a red Copic marker to color between the two lines. Then I stitched around the heart creating the look of a wavy ribbon. 

Tattered Florals Flower ~  I'm not sure why this flower was so difficult to photograph in the context of the whole layout, but here is a much better shot. I cut two of each size Tattered Florals petals except the large daisy, which I cut from black tulle. I water distressed and inked the edges. On the largest petals, I applied Art Glitter Dries Clear Adhesive and sprinkled with ultra fine glitter. In the past when I tried to use glitter, it didn't stay put very well and made a big mess all over my page. This glue really holds onto the glitter and now I don't mind using glitter.

"Frosted" Chipboard ~ This technique is actually quite easy if you have the right supplies. I used my Crop-A-Dile Big Bite to punch holes in the chipboard hearts so that I would be able lace them together, and sanded the edges. I put a good size dab of modeling paste on my craft mat and mixed in a few drops of acrylic paint to get the pink color. I used a small paint brush (not foam) to apply a thick coat on each heart, swirling the paste to look like frosting on a sugar cookie - that was the goal anyway!! Since this is on chipboard which is a fairly stable surface - you can use either regular modeling paste or flexible modeling paste. If you apply it to cardstock, you would need to use the flexible type. (Yes, I learned this the hard way!!) No need to have both types in your stash, so if you're going out to buy some, I would recommend the flexible kind, which can be found at an art supply store. 

"Sugared Chipboard" ~ I had these grunge board letters in my stash that were the perfect size and shape for my title. I painted them a creamy white and when dry, brushed them with Mod Podge and while wet sprinkled with Diamond Dust (chunky glass glitter). Another easy technique. 

Tulle Flowers ~ I was cutting some tulle to put in my flower and decided the red didn't provide enough contrast, and set it aside - right on top of the pink heart. Wouldn't you know that I was looking for a way to add dimension/texture to the heart and this was just perfect, so I cut some more tulle using my Tattered Florals Die. I sprayed adhesive on the back to adhere them to the page. 

Paper

Basic Grey ~ Hello Lucious - Honeyed, Simply Grand

Red scrap of Basic Grey ~ Scrap Stash

Basic Grey ~ Fruit Cake - Pine

Embellishments

Pelaloo ~ Flora Doodles Brads - Retro Rage Round Gems

Martha Stewart ~ Gemstone Glitter - Onyx

Black and Dark Red Tulle ~ Stash

Cotton Twine

Zva Crystal Swirl

Technique

DMC ~ Floss - #761

Copic Ciao ~ #R59

Deco Art Crafter's Acrlic Paint ~ Redbird, Fun Fuchsia

Liquitex ~ Modeling Pase

Ranger ~ Distress Ink- Aged Mahogany, Victorian Velvet, Forest Moss

Y&C Gel Xtreme 0.7 gold

Art Glitter Dries Clear Adhesive

Tools

Sizzix Die ~ Alterations - Tattered Florals

Sizzix ~ Big Shot

EK Success ~ Honey Bee Scissors

Sizzix ~ Branch w/Leaves die

I've entered this in:

BasicGrey Challenges ~ #58 Lost and Found - My found object is the twine tying the heart banner together, and my Basic Grey project is the paper.

Thanks for stopping by!! I treasure your comments

~ Blessings ~