"The Journey" Once Upon A...Sketch October Challenge

Hello everyone!! This is my second post of the day. If you would like to view my Grungy Jute Rope and Burlap Ribbon Flower Tutorials for Really Reasonable Ribbon go here.

Today I'm here to share my first layout for Once Upon A...Sketch. What a delight to be working on Nadia's team. This month's sketch and journaling challenge gave me the opportunity to create a page I've been wanting to put together for a couple years now. I knew what photos I wanted to use, but locating them was quite a challenge since they are from 2000 to 2008. One of them had been mailed to me and misplaced 5 years ago. I'm so excited that I was able to locate it. Do I have your curiosity up? Here's my page about our daughter, Grace, and her dog, Ellie.

"The Journey"

Journaling theme: "The Journey . . ."

You are free to interpret our theme ANY WAY you like. It is for your inspiration and this theme word DOES NOT need to be part of your title or journaling. But please make sure your layout is based on the sketch below and includes journaling (hidden journaling is fine). Acceptable journaling is MORE than just a sentence, or generic writing such as date/place etc. It need to be present and at least 3 lines long. Remember, hidden journaling is perfectly fine but please DO let us know in your post where your journaling is! 

The Once Upon A...Sketch Challenges are designed to encourage us to journal. Sometimes the most important pages we create are not those with the most beautiful photos, but those that document important life events. That's the case for the page I created this month. I shed tears as I wrote up my memories of the amazing journey traveled by Grace and Ellie, reflecting on their special relationship as they achieved some pretty remarkable accomplishments together. Since I provided transportation, I was there for much of the training and all the dog shows. Ellie is no longer with us, and Grace now has a new Border Collie pup, Breezy. God has given her an amazing gift to read and train dogs. She will be teaching her first dog obedience classed this fall. Those who take her classes are fortunate indeed. I can't wait to see the journey you document in your scrapbooking this month for Once Upon A...Sketch.

Tips and Techniques:

My journaling says: "What started as a dream turned into an amazing journey just because you believed that you could accomplish great things with Ellie"

I have included this small amount of journaling below the photos, and wrote a "book" to include on the back:

I didn't include a close-up but the stamping in the corner says: To be all that is possible we must attempt the impossible. To be all that we can be we must dream of being more. A subtle reverence to this journey. 

A mix of Prima and Really Reasonable Ribbon Wild Orchid Crafts flowers. They were misted with glimmery lavender and gold. 

The clock in the background is a Tim Holtz, Sizzix die cut from chipboard. It was dry embossed with a crackle design, then painted and inked. 

I enjoy using jewelry findings on my LO's. This sweet butterfly charm was gessoed and then misted.

You can see some of the mixed media texture below the butterfly with sheetrock mesh, molding paste, and drippy mist. 

I laid out and penciled in my design, then stamped around the design as seen here. This prima clock face was gessoed and inked. 

A close-up of he prima Typo Bulb, flower and Dusty Attic chipboard border. You can also see a hint of the washi tape I layered onto the page. 

More stamping around these Prima metal findings. I applied gesso, mists, and rhinestones to these lovely pieces!

Here you can see more of my mixed medial texture achieved with Golden Glass Bead Gel applied through a Prima stencil. The Dusty Attic border was dabbed and painted with a mix of metallic paints using an ombre effect. 

I hope you'll play along with the OUAS October sketch challenge and create a page about a special journey in your life and document that journey in your journaling. Don't forget to share your layout on the OUAS Facebook Page.

Product List:

Paper

Maja Vintage Spring Basics ~ 1st of March, 2nd of April, 9th of April

Chipboard

Dusty Attic ~ French Garden Border 

Flowers

Really Reasonable Ribbon ~ Wild Orchid Crafts: 25mm Cottage Rose - Mixed Purple/Lilac

Really Reasonable Ribbon ~ Wild Orchid Crafts: Cosmos Daisy Stem Flowers - Purple/White

Really Reasonable Ribbon ~ Wild Orchid Crafts: Sweatheart Blossoms - White

Really Reasonable Ribbon ~ Wild Orchid Crafts: 20mm Open Roses ~ White

Prima ~ Troika, White #566869

Embellishments

Prima ~ Sunrise Sunset Vintage Trinkets #960278

Prima ~ Sunrise Sunset Vintage Trinkets #960346

Prima ~ Pebbles #655350

Recollections Resin #205888

Tim Holtz ~ Tissue Tape

K & Company ~ BW Neopolitan Adhesive Rhinestones

Butterfly Charm ~ Stash

Inks/Mists/Embossing Powder

Clearsnap ~ Donna Salazar Designs - Mix'd Media Inx: Berries

Clearsnap ~ Donna Salazar Designs - Mix'd Media Inx CHOX: Driftwood, Sparrow

Ranger Distress Ink ~ Shaded LIlac, Vintage Photo, Walnut Stain, Dusty Concord

Heidi Swapp ~ Color Shine: Gold

Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist ~ Purple Pansy, Blackberry Cordial

Zing ~ Clear Embossing Powder

Mixed Media

Golden ~ Light Molding Paste

Liquitex ~ Gesso

Liquitex ~ Glass Bead Gel

Lumiere Metallic Paint ~ Halo Violet Gold, Pearlescent White

DecoArt ~ Dazzling Metallics Paint: Splendid Gold

Stamps

Tim Holtz ~ Purely Random, Lost and Found, Flights of Fancy, Nature's Elements, Life's Possibilties

Stencils

Prima ~ Lattice #564766

The Crafter's Workshop ~ Ledger

Dies/Embossing Folders

Sizzix ~ Tim Holtz Clock Die, Gear

Darice ~ Crackle Embossing Folder

Adhesives

Helmar ~ 450 Quick Dry Adhesive

Helmar ~ Premium Craft Glue

Helmar ~ Zap Dots: 1/2" Square White

Helmar ~ Zap Dots: 1/4" Clear Square

Tools

Tim Holtz ~ Grid Blocks

Darice ~ Heat Tool

Thanks for stopping by! I treasure your comments.

~ Blessings ~

Grungy Jute Rope and Burlap Flower Tutorials for Really Reasonable Ribbon

I'm back to share the double grungy flower tutorial I promised you earlier this month when I posted this "My Hero" page. I love coming up with grungy masculine flowers I can use on my guy pages and want to share a couple with you today featuring natural fibers from the Really Reasonable Ribbon Store seen on this layout I recently created for Donna Salazar Designs. For more details and close-ups of this layout go here. 

"My Hero"

Really Reasonable Ribbon Products:

Burlap Woven Ribbon - Natural
Jute Rope - Natural
Jute Ribbon - Natural 1.5 inches

Grungy Twine and Burlap Flower Tutorials

I created two similar flowers made from two different natural fiber products from RRR.

Supplies

Supplies:

Burlap Woven Ribbon - Natural

Jute Rope - Natural

Circle punches

Cardstock coordinating with fiber of choice

Helmar Fabric Glue

Mix'd Media Inx CHOX Midnight (Not pictured)

Vintage screws, washers, and hex nuts (Not pictured)

Grungy Coiled Jute Rope Flower Tutorial

Step 1. Punch one circle for each flower from coordinating cardstock. For this natural color jute rope, I used kraft cardstock. For the jute rope flower I used a 1 inch circle.

Step 2. Apply Fabric Glue to top of cardstock circle.

Step 3. Coil the jute rope in your fingers until it is approximately the same diameter as your 1 inch circle.

Step 4. Lay the coil on the glue covered cardstock circle.

Step 5. Wrap the end to the back and glue in place.

Step 6. Add small screw or other embellishment to center of flower. 

Step 7. Apply black ink to flower.

Completed flower

Grungy Rolled Burlap Flower Tutorial

Step 1. Punch one circle for each flower from coordinating cardstock. For this natural color 
Burlap Woven Ribbon, I used kraft cardstock punched with a 1.5 inch circle.

Step 2. Glue the end of the Burlap Woven Ribbon to the center of the cardstock circle.

Step 3. Twist the burlap ribbon and coil around the center, gluing down as you go.

Step 4. Continue to twist, coil and glue until the entire cardstock circle is covered.

Step 5. Wrap the end to the back and glue in place.

Step 6. Add small vintage nuts and washers or other embellishments to center of flower. 

Step 7. Apply black ink to flower.

Completed Flower

I hope you'll give these grungy guy flowers a try. For more details and close-ups for "My Hero" including a tutorial for the Grungy Gear Flowers you can go here. 

Thanks for stopping by! I treasure your comments.

~ Blessings ~

Sneak Peek and OUAS Winners

The fall colors are starting to paint the trees here in Ohio. I had so much fun yesterday going with my friends, Mandy and Barb, to an Auction. Every Friday people bring items they want to sell, odd lots of things, to the site in the morning and that afternoon, it is all auctioned one lot at a time. I didn't buy much, but my favorite find of the day was a basket of old and well used artist paint brushes. You just never know when one or more might end up on some of my projects!! 

The winners of the October sketch and Lucky Journaling Challenge have been posted over at Once Upon A...Sketch, so be sure to head over to check out the winning entries. You are sure to be inspired. I know I was!! 

The new challenge will go up October 1, so stop back by on the first to see my first DT project for OUAS. Here are a couple sneak peeks:

See you on October 1!

Thanks for stopping by! I treasure your comments.

~ Blessings ~

Really Reasonable Ribbon Sale through Sunday

I hope everyone is having a lovely week. I've been busy paper crafting and will have lots to show you soon. 

If you need any ribbon, twine, lace, and/or Wild Orchid Crafts flowers . . . Now's the time to stock up. Bonnie, at Really Reasonable Ribbon is having a sale through midnight, Sunday September 29 EDT. Hop on over to the Really Reasonable Ribbon Blog to get your coupon code.

Just look at some of the great offerings at Really Reasonable Ribbon:

The brand new Zutter Bow-it-All

Assortment packs like this Christmas collection:

Wild Orchid Crafts flowers:

And your coupon code even works for your first month off a new Ribbon Club subscription. 

Look at the beautiful September Ribbon Club Assortment:

Thanks for stopping by! I treasure your comments.

~ Blessings ~

"My Hero" and Grungy Gear Flower Tutorial for Donna Salazar Designs

I so appreciate my dad and am so blessed that he has always been there for me. He's also a wonderful grandpa for our children. This candid shot was taken during one of our family Memorial Day gatherings at my parent's lakeside home. He served in the photo mapping division of the Air Force before marrying my mom. If you look closely, you can see he is wearing his Air Force cap. Not only is he a hero in my eyes for his service to our country, but for being a wonderful dad over the years. 

My layout features a variety of Donna Salazar Designs products from her GCD Studios papers to Clearsnap Mix'd Media Inx. I've also posted a tutorial for my Grungy Gear Flowers using her Want2Scrap Corrugated Board. 

"My Hero"

Tips and Techniques:

I tried to keep my embellishments masculine for this page, but a girl's got to put some flowers on her pages, so I created more of my Grungy Gear Flowers. Scroll down to find my tutorial for these flowers. 

I've used Donna's Want2Scrap Corrugated Board in several different ways including the gears, Grungy Gear Flowers, and torn strips to help frame my photo. 

The glitter on my charm needed toned down a bit, so I rubbed it with Donna's Clearsnap Stormy Mix'd Media Inx. I just adore this new color in Donna's MMI collection, a perfect grungy gray!!  

Above is a shot of my smaller cluster including a Grungy Gear Flower. I created the rolled twine and burlap ribbon flowers using twine from Really Reasonable Ribbon, then grunged them up by rubbing with MMI.

I've used the Donna Salazar Designs Art Gone Wild Chicken Wire stamp next to the photo and on the outer page border. 

Donna's products are just amazing for adding texture and dimension to my pages. Here I used molding paste with her Want2Scrap Houndstooth Stencil. I wanted to add some pewter/grey mist, so I rubbed Clearsnap Stormy Mix'd Media Inx onto a craft mat, spritzed with water and placed the solution into a misting bottle so that I could mist the houndstooth design and drip it down my page. Once dry, I lightly rubbed Jasmine MMI onto the peaks of the houndstooth design. For the photo mats, I stamped the outer mat with Dear Sir and the mat next to the photo with Ruler overlapping the Woodgrain stamp. Of course I used my favorite scrappy tool, the DSD Zutter Distrezz-it-All on all my edges. 

I used Donna's GCD Studio's Family Jeans Chipboard Alpha's here for my title. I just rubbed some Stormy MMI across the letters to grunge them up. My papers are from the GCD Family Jeans and Natural Beauty Collections. In the corners I also added strips of dictionary paper from the Mixed Media Stax2 which you can see in the full shot of my page. 

Grungy Gear Flower Tutorial

Supplies:

Supplies List:

Want2Scrap ~ Donna Salazar Designs - Corrugated Board

Spellbinders - Artisan X-plorer

Spellbinders ~ Donna Salazar Designs - Sprightly Sprockets Dies

Colorsnap ~ Donna Salazar Designs - Mixed Media Inx, Jasmine

Colorsnap ~ Donna Salazar Designs - Mixed Media Inx Embossing Powder, Black

Vintage gears/hex nuts - my stash

Heat Tool - not pictured

Step 1. Cut a gear from corrugated board using the Sprightly Sprockets Gear die shown in the Supplies List photo, then trim the outer section into petals as shown below. 

Step 2. Lay the die cut gear onto the Jasmine MMI pad and press it randomly down into the ink, allowing some of the natural cardboard to show through. 

Step 3. Lightly sprinkle black MMI Embossing Powder across the inked gear. Sprinkle fairly heavily in some areas and lighter in others to give a grungy texture. 

 

Use tweezers to hold the piece for the next step.

Step 4. Heat with a heat tool, just until the embossing powder melts.

Step 5. Curl the "petals" and add vintage gears or other elements of your choice to the center or even leave it plain.

A side view:

Here's a Grungy Gear Flower from a previous project using black cardstock rubbed with Viva Inka Gold:

As you can see, you could make these flowers with a variety of materials and change up the grungy inking and effects to go with the page you are creating. I hope you will try some out on that next grungy guy page you create, or a girlie grunge layout for that matter!! 

Product List:

Paper

GCD Studios ~ Donna Salazar Designs - Natural Beauty, Wall Vines B

GCD Studios ~ Donna Salazar Designs - Natural Beauty, 6" x 6" Pad

GCD Studios ~ Donna Salazar Designs - Family Jeans, Denim Stipe B

GCD Studios ~ Donna Salazar Designs - Mix'd Media Stax2

Want2Scrap ~ Donna Salazar Designs - Corrugated Board

Chipboard

GCD Studios ~ Donna Salazar Designs - Family Jeans, Alphas

Stamps

Art Gone Wild ~ Donna Salazar Designs - Chicken Wire

Art Gone Wild ~ Donna Salazar Designs - Ruler

Art Gone Wild ~ Donna Salazar Designs - Dear Sir

Art Gone Wild ~ Donna Salazar Designs - Woodgrain

Colors/InksArt 

Clearsnap ~ Donna Salazar Designs - Mix'd Media Inx, Jasmine, Stormy

Clearsnap ~ Donna Salazar Designs - Mix'd Media Inx Embossing Powder, Black

DecoArt - Renaissance Brown Acrylic Paint

Lumiere - Metallic Bronze Acrylic Paint

Stencils

Want2Scrap ~ Donna Salazar Designs - Houndstooth Stencil

Dies

Spellbinders ~ Donna Salazar Designs - Sprightly Sprockets

Punches

Fiskars - 1 1/2" Circle Punch

EK Success - 1" Circle Punch

Embellishments

Vintage gears/hex nuts/screw/button - Earl Hennis' Workshop - Thanks Mandy!

Art.i.cake by Amy Labbe - Charms with Glass Accents

Ribbons/Fibers

Really Reasonable Ribbon - Jute Rope, Natural

Really Reasonable Ribbon - Jute Ribbon, Natural 5/8"

Really Reasonable Ribbon - Burlap Woven Ribbon 1.5"

Adhesives

Helmar - 450 Quick Dry Adhesive

Helmar - Fabric Glue

Helmar Premium Craft Glue

Tools

Zutter ~ Donna Salazar Designs - Distrezz-it-All

Spellbinders - Artisan X-plorer

Darice - Heat Tool

Ranger - Craft Sheet

Thanks for stopping by! I treasure your comments.

~ Blessings ~