Proud to be Artsy - Webster's Pages, Melody Ross & Prima Flowers

I seldom make a layout about myself, but I started a challenge last summer to write a layout about why I scrapbook, what it is I like the most about what I do.  This is why I made this Proud to be Artsy layout.

The journaling is on a little tag and it reads:
"It takes my breath away when colors coordinate just perfectly.  Frilly Fibers excite me.  Glimmery items just thrill me.  Art is Emotion!"

That says it all!

This layout is created with Webster's Pages Life's Portrait line papers.  I cut the border freehand, distressed the inner edges and inked it all over.  I finished it off by attaching some delicate light blue lace to the bottom along the ridges using brads.  The inside paper is must brighter for contrast.  The picture of myself is circled with three embellishment clusters and anchored at the bottom by layers of lace and ribbon.  The title, Proud to be Artsy, is a textile tag by Melody Ross, and the flowers around it are all Prima flowers.  I colored three white flowers using various inks in colors match my layout.  Then a big blue flourish sits above it.  On the opposite edge of the photo is my journaling tag.  I started with a plain manila tag and then inked it in the same colors to match.  I finished it with ribbon at the top and lace at the bottom.  Then added flowers all around it.  Then at the top are three roses over a Webster's pages canvas tag.  I finished it off by stamping the word Artist vertically using a Tim Holtz stamp, and tracing the inside with a gelly roll glitter pen.

Products Used:

Webster's Pages Lifes Portrait - Love Yourself Paper
Webster's Pages Designer Trim - Delicate Pink
Prima Innoscence White Flowers
Melody Ross Designer Collection - Textile Tags

My Adventures at Scrapbook Expo

Scrapbook Expo came to my part of town for the first time ever, and I was so thrilled to take part in this event.  It was very exciting to see all these companies and manufacturers come to sell all the latest products in the industry that I love.  I had the best weekend!

I started the weekend working as a teaching assistant in the Tattered Angels class.  These classes were mindblowing!  So many great techniques, so many beautiful effects, so much shimmer and shine.  The first class I was in was called Glimmer Mist 101 and it was a technique class where they teach you tons of different ways to get different looks from the Glimmer mist products.  Each student left the class with a three ring binder full of over 25 pages of techniques that they got to play with during the class.  This was an excellent learning experience, and everyone in the class had a blast.  Our teacher Nanette was awesome and super fun.

The second class was using the Heidi Swap Fascinations products.  These were products with resist built in and it was like magic in the making.  As you sprayed and wiped, different images just appeared like magic.  The papers were treated with resist images that made the most awesome effects.  It was surprisingly easy to make something look spectacular.  This class was also taught by the gracious Nanette.

After class time was shopping time!  I loved walking through the vendor area and seeing all the awesome products that I had only seen online until that point.  Manufacturers like Creative Imaginations, Pazzles and of course, Tattered Angels were there.  Plus rows of other vendors with stuff from multiple manufacturers.  I went to my hotel room with lots of new goodies to play with.  And play I did.

The next morning, I entered the Expo's Creativity Contest and submitted the desktop plaque that you see above.  It looks like they liked it because I won third place!  I won a Slice die cutting machine, a $149 value!  My very first electronic cutter!  I was over the moon!

That afternoon I worked at at one of the booths for a company called Eyelet Outlet.  This company had a huge variety of colored and shaped brads like nothing I had seen before.  It was amazing to see all the really cool brads.  Plus they are the manufacturers of Quicklets, an eyelet that you can attach with just a pen, no special tools needed.  Really easy. 

I really enjoyed myself working at the booth.  I demo-ed the products and met so many wonderful people, just as excited about papercrafting as I am.  It was so much fun.

At the end of the night, I got to work at the crop.  It was so much fun to be part of the party, for free!  Tons of giveaways, tons of fun.  I had a really good time. 

Can't wait for the expo to come back next year!

Breast Cancer Awareness Month Finale

Thanks so much for visiting this month and reading my Breast Cancer Awareness Month posts. I am finishing up the month with the last pages from the grungeboard minibook that I made for someone special.

Please join me, if you have not already, in my fundraising activity benefiting the Susan Komen society.  Click on this link and give to their efforts to find a cure.  Any amount will do, even if you can only give very little.  You too can make a difference.  Please give what you can.

Breast Cancer: Live to Remember

Continuing on with my series of posts in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, I am posting another page from my grungeboard minibook.  This page says "Survive to Remember".  It is not until long after you conquer the battle against Cancer that you get to recognize how significant and positive it was to go through that experience.  You become a stronger person because of it, and remembering what you went through, and what you won the battle against becomes a testament of your courage and determination. 

Please join me in my fundraising activity benefiting the Susan Komen society.  Click on this link and give to their efforts to find a cure.  Any amount will do, even if you can only give very little.  You too can make a difference.  Please give what you can.

Breast Cancer: New Perspective

One really positive thing that one gains from being diagnosed with a potentially terminal illness is a new perspective on life. Suddenly things that were all-consuming and top priority in life may not be all that important anymore. You start to measure your success in life not by monetary gain, but by the relationships that you have made, the family that is standing beside you showing support, and the friends that send positive supportive messages.

It becomes so clear suddenly, what really matters in life, and what you hold most precious. Celebrate your riches, celebrate your ability to see things anew. Celebrate your new perspective.

Please join me in my fundraising activity benefiting the Susan Komen society.  Click on this link and give to their efforts to find a cure.  Any amount will do, even if you can only give very little.  You too can make a difference.  Please give what you can.

Don't forget that there is Blog Candy being given away on this blog! I am giving away two stazOn ink pads. One in Timber Brown, and another in Jet Black. Just comment on this post for one chance to win, donate to my Susan G. Komen fundraiser with the link above for a second chance to win, and subscribe to my blog using the links on the right for a third chance to win!

Breast Cancer: Finding that inner Strength!

Continuing on today with my posts for National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. I am showing off a new page today of the album I made for Sherry Goodloe. This page is dedicated to finding the strength inside oneself to put up a fight, even when things become unbareable! It is so important that a patient in cancer treatment, or anyone dealing with anything difficult in life, to really find that inner Strength and let it hold you up.

Please join me in my fundraising activity benefiting the Susan Komen society.  Click on this link and give to their efforts to find a cure.  Any amount will do, even if you can only give very little.  You too can make a difference.  Please give what you can.

Don't forget that there is Blog Candy being given away on this blog! I am giving away two stazOn ink pads. One in Timber Brown, and another in Jet Black. Just comment on this post for one chance to win, donate to my Susan G. Komen fundraiser with the link above for a second chance to win, and subscribe to my blog using the links on the right for a third chance to win!

Queen Kat Designs Stamp Company & Blog Candy!!

Welcome!

I am so glad that you are here!

Didn't you just love Kapree's blog, your last stop before mind on the QKD blog hop?  Her blog is designed so impressively, I just loved visiting it.

The Queen Kat Designs Stamp Company (QKD) challenged me to do a fall themed hand stamped card.  I did a fun little play on words and did a motivational card with the quote:

"Turn your face to the sun and the shadows FALL behind you."

I added a few more fall themed elements to the card with a shedding tree stamp, and handstamped a leaf from my yard on paper to create the leaf in the background.  All these are surrounded by beautiful shiny copper!  My absolute favorite crafting color.  I used a copper leafing pen to shade some Tim Holtz Idea-ology embellishments in more of a copper color.  Lastly, some vintage lace trims the page at the bottom for just a little charm.

This motivational card goes perfectly with my current series of posts in honor of National Breast Cancer Awareness month.  I have been posting some pictures of gift projects that I have been making for breast cancer patients and survivors.  I'll have to send this card out to someone special that I know who is affected by this horrible disease.  Hopefully it will cheer her up.

Scroll down to see my previous posts for more inspiring projects.

BLOG CANDY!!

I am giving away some Blog Candy this month!  Read below for instructions on how you can win.  One name will be selected at random and posted at this blog on Sunday, October 17th.

One prize will be awarded which contains two StazOn ink pads.  One in Timber Brown, and the other in Jet Black.  Enter today for your chance to win.  You have three chances to win.  Here is how:

1.  Just simply comment below for your chance to win.  One comment per person, please.

2.  Contribute to my Breast Cancer research fundraiser benefiting the Susan G. Komen society for an additional chance to win.  Click on this link and give to their efforts to find a cure.  Any amount will do, even if you can only give very little.  You too can make a difference.  Please give what you can.

3.  Subscribe to my blog for an additional chance to win.  Simply click on this link below and subscribe today.

Thanks for stopping by!  Check out Penny Hartley's blog next by clicking here.  Her blog is beautiful!

Please use the links below to share this post with friends via facebook, twitter, Google Buzz, or email.

Breast Cancer: Find the Laughter

I love, love, love this quote from Bill Cosby:

"Through humor, you can soften some of the worst blows that life delivers. And once you find laughter, no matter how painful your situation might be, you can survive it."

Remember to laugh, surround yourself by those you love and enjoy each other's stories, jokes, and laughter.

Please join me in my fundraising activity benefiting the Susan Komen society.  Click on this link and give to their efforts to find a cure.  Any amount will do, even if you can only give very little.  You too can make a difference.  Please give what you can.

Breast Cancer: Surviving with Hope

I love the famous quote from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe that says:

"In all things it is better to hope than to despair."


There is no doubt that Breast Cancer Treatment is difficult and grueling. Multiple people in my life have told me that there were moments that they just wanted to die. Its a pain that no one should have to go through.

If there is one thing that I can offer is hope. It is so important to hold on to hope in such a difficult time. Hope that you WILL get through this. Hope that it will all be over soon. And hope that there will be a cure soon.

Please join me in my fundraising activity benefiting the Susan Komen society.  Click on this link and give to their efforts to find a cure.  Any amount will do, even if you can only give very little.  You too can make a difference.  Please give what you can.

Breast Cancer: Yes, there is a Silver Lining

I always like to focus on the positive. And this mini-book is no exception. The book brings to light the good things gained from the breast cancer experience. Its sometimes hard to see them, especially when going through such a difficult treatment, so I wanted to point each of them out on a page in this book.

The cover is made of grungeboard that I painted pink using the Ranger Paint Dabbers. Then I painted and embossed several grungeboard flourishes. Lastly I added several silver embellishments including a clock face, a tag and other metal findings.

On the back, I used distressed inks straight to paper to add a bit of color. Then I addes a huge 'My Life' sticker, a round journalling sticker, and a beautiful 3D glittery butterfly. Then I finished it off with some pretty flowers.

Please join me in my fundraising activity benefiting the Susan Komen society.  Click on this link and give to their efforts to find a cure.  Any amount will do, even if you can only give very little.  You too can make a difference.  Please give what you can.

Breast Cancer: Silver Lining Mini-book

I wanted to start off my series for Breast Cancer Awareness Month with some pages from a mini book I made recently.  This was a R.A.K. gift that I made for Sherry Goodloe.  She and I are big fans of Tim Holtz and in the All Things Tim group and this album is made from grungeboard pages and many additional Tim Holtz embellishments all throughout the pages.  I really enjoyed making this book and layering multiple of things on each page, including prima flowers and bling!  Then I finished the album off with tons of fibers on the binding rings.

Sherry is going through Breast Cancer Treatment right now, and I hope that this book brings her some happiness in her tough time.  I hope the words on each page inspire her and give her strength and hope.  And I hope she feels the warmth of all the love that I put into each page.  The next several posts have detailed images of each of the pages.  Hopefully I can inspire you too!

Please join me in my fundraising activity benefiting the Susan Komen society.  Click on this link and give to their efforts to find a cure.  Any amount will do, even if you can only give very little.  You too can make a difference.  Please give what you can.

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month!

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month and I am posting to tell you that you can make a difference.  Yes, you!

My current series of posts will be dedicated to Breast Cancer Awareness.  I'll be posting several projects that I have done to honor special people who are battling through the journey that is Breast Cancer Treatment.  These people need some strong inspiration to be brave, and hold on to hope, and know that others really do care about them.  Hopefully these projects will inspire you too.

I seriously feel that everyone is affected by this.  All of us get worried about it.  And it is over us like a gloomy cloud of concern.  Just imagine if we could find a cure.  Just imagine if we did not have to worry about it any more.  Just imagine if no one needs to suffer through the treatment any more.

Please join me in my fundraising activity benefiting the Susan Komen society.  Click on this link and give to their efforts to find a cure.  Any amount will do, even if you can only give very little.  You too can make a difference.  Please give what you can.

Lollipop, Lollipop!

I decided to pick up a treat for my little girl when I was at a store just before picking her up.  I chose this huge lollipop and could not wait to give it to her.  She hardly ever gets candy, so at first she tried to take a bite out of it, and it was puzzling her that she could not.  I tried to show her to lick it instead, but she just kept trying everything until she got some.  I thought it was the cutest thing ever, so I sat her down in the front yard and started snapping pictures with my camera. 

My sister says that the pictures look like something out of a magazine, but all I can see is my cutey-pie enjoying her lollipop discovery.  She clearly started saying the word lollipop on this day.

I used several swirl stamps on this page, and finished it with a huge yellow ribbon with a metal embellishment in the center.  Then I added lots of journaling all around the page in the inner most matting.

Sunshine

I just love how my little girl looks in pigtails.  She was just as adorable as can be riding her new tricycle and I just had to pull out my camera.  I think her smile says it all.

In this page, I started with a gorgeous background paper from 7gypsies.  Added some scraps and cutouts from Bo Bunny and My Minds Eye.  And then I added three of the photos I took of my little girl on her trike.  I placed then at a slight diagonal just for a whimsical look.  Then I added bright beautiful Prima flowers to match her bright beautiful smile.

The color combinations on this page is just so cheerful.  This is truly my favorite layout so far!  I hope you enjoy it too.

Retro Photo and Webster's Pages

I was brushing my daughter's hair after a bath as she was distracted watching TV. I looked down and noticed that she was sitting there in her towel with her gorgeous hair and it reminded me of some old famous painting of a woman in her towel. So I had to pull out my phone and snap a picture of my beauty. I took a regular photo, followed by a photo using hipstamatic, an iphone app that makes my pictures look like they were taken in the 70s. Of course, the hipstamatic photo was the best one. And to my surprise, it came out perfect when I enlarged it to 8x8 and printed it out at my local 1 hour photo place.

This layout was created using Webster's pages products. I love their lines because everything is so very dreamy. The bottom of the layout has a row of Webster's bloomers and along the side I have a set of prima vines decorated with various little embellishments here and there. I especially enjoyed using the Melissa Frances tiny frames.  They are so cute.  I absolutely love this layout, and I truly love how much my little girl amazes me each and every day.

Websters Pages - Bloomers - Flower and Trim Ribbons - Green
Websters Pages - Lifes Portrait Collection - Imagine your Life
Websters Pages - Lifes Portrait Collection - Light the Way
Websters Pages - Lullaby Lane Collection - Dreamland
Prima - Valentine Vine Collection

Vintage Dad & Me - Graphic 45

My son only went to summer camp for part of the summer this year. He spent the rest of the time at the office with Dad. He takes his Nintendo DS with him to keep him busy, and Dad lets him use a computer at work sometimes too.

These photos were taken with an iphone app called Hipstamatic that gives pictures a 70s look to them. I just love how well they came out once printed!

I used a sanding and inking technique to give all the graphic 45 papers even more of an antique look and feel. Then I placed then on a contrasting black background and added several embellishments that I inked and gathered into interesting clusters of embellies!

I finished it off with a title created with graphic 45 letters and a stunning Rusty Pickle diecut tag and buckle.

Colors, colors everywhere!

I recently had some alone time with my little girl and I took her to a new park in the area. We had the place to ourselves, and she wanted to go exploring. She tried out each structure in the playground and then noticed a path leading into several rows of newly planted trees. She walked down the path with Mommy a few steps behind her, snapping photos with her iPhone. Up and own the various paths she went, picking up rocks and examining each twig on the grown. She's my little explorer!

I had to use lots of colors for this layout. Then i had to pick just a few photos to use, which was almost impossible with a cutie like this. So picked out my favorite 7 photos, lol! I created two separate clusters of embellishments, at opposite corners, and used chipboard letters to spell out my title: Play.

This layout definitely is all about having fun! I sure enjoyed making it.

Papercrafting and Altered Arts - at Scrapbook Update

I am so honored to have been featured as a guest blogger on the scrapbooking industry's leading news blog, scrapbook update.  My article discusses how you can take your papercrafting supplies out of your crafting table, and use them around the house and when creating gifts to create something of your own design that would be used over and over.  Any papercrafter can create altered arts projects.  You simply use the same products and techniques that you are using today in your scrapbook pages.  Please read my article here and step into the world of altered arts. Click here to read the article.

Rusty Pickle Class with Lance Anderson

Oh my!  I had so much fun at the Rusty Pickle class with Lance Anderson, himself!  It was at my local scrapbook store, Cherry Blossom Studio.  We did this amazing chipboard mini book with a tropical theme.  The best part was a pop-up Tiki house!  You just have to look through the pictures to see what I mean.  It was just an amazing project!

Meeting Lance Anderson was a treat in itself.  He was such a normal chilled and laid back kind of guy.   So fun to talk to and so fun to craft with.  He shared his story of how he fell in love with paper design and started his company and is looking to keep things going via his blog.  He also shared a funny story about his black crop-a-dile tools.  One of my classmates asked how he got ones that were not pink and he said that he went back to the company that makes them and complained and complained until they made a pair in black just for him!  Funny story!

Much of our conversation was about literature.  Lance is an avid reader and loves getting book recommendations from the people he meets in his travels.  He highly recommended the book Ender's Game  by Orson Scott Card, especially as a great book for young boy readers.  I made a note of it to buy it for my son to read.  I think he's gonna like it.

Another really cool thing I learned about Lance Anderson is that he speaks Portuguese!  There were a couple ladies there from Brazil and he would speak to them in their language, and it won them over right away.  They had so much fun in the class too!

The project was a 5 page mini book.  Each page was the most amazing, thick chipboard!  Really sturdy!  We covered both sides of each page with rusty pickle patterened papers and stickers, and then added a Sizzix die cut popup house.  Used rafia to turn it into a super cool tiki hut, and completed the project with fibers all along the rings.  I just love my new mini book and cannot wait to take a vacation so I can use it!! lol!

So if you ever get a chance to meet Lance Anderson or take one of his amazing classes, I highly recommend it.  And be sure to ask him what he's been reading lately.

Almost 2 - Layout with Little Yellow Bicycle

I love this line by Little Yellow Bicycle. Its called Vita Bella and I went kinda nuts and purchased every sheet and every embellishment for this line. Its all gorgeous!

So when I pulled out this beautiful photo of my daughter wearing blue, and looked through my stash of blue papers to find the perfect one, I just had to go with the Vita Bella line.

I added to this paper a blue ornate sticker and some lace paper from KI Memories, and finished it off with some white prima flowers inked to match. I also inked the blue lace paper to make it match even better.

I love this layout because it has so many customizations and I feel that its one of my more artsy layouts.

Try it yourself. I used the following:

Little Yellow Bicycle - Vita Bella Collection
Prima Innoscence Small Flower Mix 35
Prima Innoscence Large Flower Mix 36

Webster's Pages - Garden Gala and Life's Portrait

I was in pure heaven making this layout, surrounded by all my stash of lace and flowers and mixing and matching until I created the most adorable layout of my little girl. For this layout, i started with Webster's Pages Tea Time paper from their Garden Gala line and then cut a strip of circle patterned paper for the background from the Refreshing paper from that same line. I added a strip of mauve colored cardstock under it with rounded corners and separated with some green Prima lace ribbon. I diecut a pair of flourishes in the same mauve cardstock and added it to each side, layered with miscellaneous matching scraps. Then I topped it all off with the most amazing bouquet of flowers. I started off with a Prima leaf on each side and loaded each one with several e-Line mixed vintage flowers (love the price of those e-Line flowers) and then topped each one with a Flora Doodles Petaloo Jolly Christmas Mini Florettes (each has a cute gem in the middle) Then I made a popped up journaling oval for my title, and added a 3-D mini butterfly on it with tiny gems on it. I used American Crafts mini marks to rub in the word "My Beauty" as the title. I then cut out several elements from the Webster's Pages Pure Grace paper from the Life's Portrait line. That included the flower cluster above the ribbon and the ornate circles that I used behind the photos. I used my Martha Stewart ribbon punch on the strip between the photos, and added Prima packaging as a photo mat. Lastly, I used a tab that reads Memories from Cosmo Cricket and topped it all off with a gorgeous red butterfly from Prima.

Websters Pages - Garden Gala Collection - Refreshing
Websters Pages - Garden Gala Collection - Tea Time
Websters Pages - Lifes Portrait Collection - Pure Grace

Graphic 45 Communique Layout

2009 was the year that I was introduced to Graphic 45 papers by my friend Gine. She told me all about the beautiful papers while we were at a friends house, and as soon as I got home I had to pull up the website and see for myself. She was right, the papers were just breathtaking! So beautiful, a combination of vintage and brights mixed together to create very graphic classy pages. I fell in love immediately.

The last of my favorite layouts from 2009 was this layout made with Graphic 45's Communique line. It showcases a picture of my mother in law with her two daughters and her granddaughter. I thought it went perfectly with the society page's clipping about the world's prettiest girls. At the top corner I created a larger clustering of many of the collection's tags and other embellishments all inked to matched the antique look of this layout. The journaling block was a piece of white cardstock that I aged with different shades of brown ink. And then i finished off the page with a border of Prima ribbon. I feel pretty proud of my first vintage layout.

Supplies used in this layout:

Graphic 45 - Communique Collection - Society Page
Graphic 45 - Communique Collection - Pen in Hand
Graphic 45 - Communique Collection - Die Cuts - Tags

Prima Natural Obsessions Collection Layout - Curly Top

This layout is most amazing to see in person, and its because of the amazing paper line from Prima called the Natural Obsessions Collection. Its a thick texture rich paper that adds so much dimension to the page. Its just amazing. This is my second favorite layout of the ones I did in 2009.

At the bottom I have a strip of Prima Voila to anchor the page.

In this layout I also added some prima flowers and a prima ribbon that I losely curled and looped to add even more dimension. I just love how this layout came out. And the contrasting yellow letters just pop!

Again, I do not like the photos that much, I wish they were not so dark.

Products Used:

Prima - Natural Obsessions Collection
Prima - Prairie Flowers Collection

My Craft Projects were Published!

I was so excited to see my crafts published in a big local magazine called the Parklander. They ran an article about giving crafts as gifts for the holidays and two of my craft projects were photographed for the article. What a thrill!

The first project shown in the article is a rear view mirror ornament I made with pictures of my kids. I gave these to my parents for them to hang in their car and they just love them! They are made with an acrylic flower, stamped swirls, and a flower that I affixed with a rhinestone brad and my crop-a-dile.

The second project is a mobile I made for Tim Holtz using different Idea-ology products and vintage music themed paper.

Here is a link to the whole article:

Basic Grey Urban Prairie Layout - Clustering of Embellishments

Now that a new year is here, I was looking through my 2009 layouts and noticing some special moments when I tried new techniques, and attempted to step things up a notch in terms of layout design. I picked my three favorite layouts out of all the ones I did in 2009 and will be sharing them with you here on my blog this month.

My third favorite layout is one I did using a paper pack from Basic Grey's Urban Prairie line. This line of paper had several butterflies and girly colors which went perfectly for my baby girl's photos. In this layout, I was experimenting with clustering of embellishments to create a point of interest on the page. You can see where my title is that several coordinating embellishments are grouped together to make this cute area with tons of interesting things to look at.

What I learned in this layout was to be patient when cutting out paper butterflies from a 12x12 sheet, because it is so worth it once you pop them up and add that sense of dimension. I also learned how much a not-quite-perfect photo can distract from a pretty layout. The lighting could have been better in the photos.

Overall, I am proud of how it looks and I would not change a thing. I challenged myself to design a layout that is a step above what I was doing at the time, and I feel proud of the outcome.

So I humbly present to you, this layout as one of my favorite works from 2009.