A Peek Into My Stamping Room

Sparkle & Shine!

Happy New Year!!  Hope you all had a great New Year's Eve...we had a great time with good friends and family.  I don't know about you but I was ready to see 2011 go and can't wait to see what is in store for us in 2012.  I think its going to be a great year!

Before the big party started, I took some time in my craft room and created a layout using a great picture of my oldest daughter.  She is posing in front of a covered bridge that is close to our house.  I love this picture!

This is a 12 x 12 layout.  Remember, you can click on the picture for a bigger, better look!

I had actually been playing around with some old music pages from an old hymnal I found at the thrift store.  I tore the pages and started putting them onto some heavy cardstock using Matte Medium.  After I had the whole page covered, I applied another light coating of the Matte Medium and allowed it to dry.  It didn't take too long....After it was dry, I used the Labels One Grand Nestabilities #5 (#1 being the smallest) to cut out the music layer.  I then matted that onto a piece of Kraft cardstock cut/embossed from Labels One Grand Nestabilities #6 (which is the largest in the set).  The "Sparkle & Shine" was printed onto Simply Smooth Vanilla cardstock using my computer printer. I matted it onto some Donna Salazar's Antiquities paper and put it into a cute copper metal frame.  I die cut some Zutter corrugated board using the Spellbinders Creative Book Pages die #2.  I attached a large brad at the top of this die cut and tied the copper frame to the corrugated board using tulle ribbon.  I added the Bling Flourish after it was glued to the layout.  For these bigger, heavier embellishments, I have found that Beacon's 3 In 1 Advanced Craft Glue works great for keeping things right where you want them.  Plus this liquid glue is Acid Free!

I had alot of fun just creating something for my daughter's scrapbook.  I have really been getting back into the swing of scrapbooking.  Maybe one of my New Year's resolutions could be creating at least one layout every week....remember, I said maybe!!  LOL 

Have a great first week of the new year!!

It's Virtual Stamp Night on SCS!!

Yep, its that time again.....Virtual Stamp Night on Splitcoaststampers.  I always tell myself I am going to do a bunch of the challenges and then I only end up getting one or two done.  Well, I got off to a great start last night!  I completed 2 challenges and plan to do some more tonight.  There will be a challenge announced every hour on Splitcoast from 12 pm until 11 pm (eastern time) today ....HERE is a link to the Master Challenge thread so you can participate in all the fun!

Here is my first card for the "No Business Like Snow Business Challenge" from last night.  Remember, you have 45 minutes to complete the challenge AND challenges can't be combined!

Supplies Used:

• Stamps - Snowflakes background stamp -November Kit of the Month (Unity); sentiment (Hero Arts)
• Cardstock - Neenah Solar White #110, Blue #67 - www.discountcardstock.com
• Ink - Jasmine Mix'd Media Inx (Colorbox); Tuxedo Black Memento Ink
• Accessories - Cool glittery snowflake - For Keeps Sakes goody bag!!; velvet ribbon (PTI), Rhinestones (Want2Scrap)

 

Here is my card for the "Jack Frost - Frosted Image Tech" Challenge.  This is a new technique for me and it was alot of fun.

Supplies Used:

• Stamps - Fabulous Flourish (Hero Arts); sentiment (Heartfelt Creations)
• Cardstock - Gray Cardstock #67, Simply Smooth Ivory
• Ink - Jasmine & Chiffon Mix'd Media Inx (Colorbox); Tuxedo Black Memento
• Accessories - Lacey & Nested Pennant die, Banner die (Spellbinders Paper Arts); Pennants Rhinestone Nestabling (Want2Scrap), Tulle, Fancy Button

I hope you will join me for some Virtual Stamp Night fun tonight!!  I will share what I got done in the next couple of days.  But before I get to have fun creating stuff......I gotta bake some holiday goodies!!  Wish me luck!  LOL

 

Altered Clipboard for Want2Scrap™!

Hello everyone and hope you are having a great weekend!  Today I have my final Want2Scrap™ Guest Designer project for you.  I had so much fun altering this clipboard I found at the $Dollar Store.  I am going to give it to my daughter to use outside her dorm room for messages and such.

The first thing I did was to sponge the edges of the clipboard using Seedless Preserves Distress Ink.  Then using Matte Gel Medium (Liquitex), I applied a piece of patterned paper.  Don't you just love the music notes?  I know my daughter, the college music major, will love this!   I covered Want2Scrap™ Lattice Rectangle Nestaboard™ (the largest one in the set) with Simply Smooth Ivory cardstock and sponged with the Seedless Preserves Distress ink.  Then I added the Want2Scrap™ Nestabling™ Lattice Rectangle Eggplant Pearl.  Don't be afraid of these detailed pearls because they are a breeze to attach to your project!  I did the same steps for the next layer of Nestaboard and added the Layered Butterflies tied together with twine and a heart charm.

Here are some close ups.

Here are a couple more close-ups of the rose I made for this clipboard.  I used the S5-050 Rose Creations dies (Spellbinders™ Paper Arts) designed by Donna Salazar.  Matter of fact, these roses where made in the "Donna" style!   All the patterned paper is from the Donna Salazar Antiquities Collection.

I have had a great month being a Guest Designer for Want2Scrap.  It's been great working with all their wonderful products!  Thanks so much to Heidi Blankenship - W2S Dt Coordinator and to the Want2Scrap team for having me!

Want2Scrap™ Supplies Used:
Model 9316 Lattice Rectangles Nestaboard
Model 9060 Lattice Rectangle Eggplant Pearl Nestabling

• Dies:  Spellbinders™ Grand Calibur™, Dies - S5-050 Rose Creations, S4-319 Lattice Rectangles, S5-034 Parisian Accents, S4-320 Nested Butterflies, S4-328 Foliage
• Beacon Adhesives:  3 in 1 Advanced Craft Glue
• Patterned Paper - Harmony - Antiquities Line - Donna Salazar/GCD Studios
• Cardstock - Simply Smooth Ivory, Posh Green Crepe (Discount Cardstock)
• Ink - Seedless Preserves Distress Ink Pad (Ranger); Pink Bubblegum, Deep Plum Glimmer Mists (Tattered Angels)
• 3d Foam Squares (Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L)
• Accessories - White twine, silver heart charm, clipboard from $Dollar Store

Flower Soft Orange & Black Challenge!

Hello!  Today I have a Flower Soft project for you.  Our challenge this week was to use Orange and Black in our project.   To see what the other Flower Soft Design Team members made for this challenge, just check out the Flower Soft Blog.  

This challenge worked out pretty well for me because my daughter (who is in college) called and asked me to make her some Halloween decorations for her dorm room.  I think this wall hanging will work, don't you?

For the base of my wall hanging, I used the largest die in the Creative Book Pages die set from Spellbinders Paper Arts™.   I cut out 2 piece of lightweight chipboard (cereal boxes, LOL) and glued them together.  Then I covered them with Posh Black Linen Cardstock.  I added layers of Posh White Linen cardstock and patterned paper (Haunted Hallows from Teresa Collins) all cut/embossed from the Creative Book Pages set.  The graduated sizes in that die set really work for this wall hanging.

To make the Jack-O-Lantern, I cut/embossed  the largest pumpkin in the Nested Pumpkin set from Spellbinders™.  Using Flower Soft glue, I drew the eyes/nose/mouth and added Flower Soft Ultra Fine Black.  I think it turned out really cute.  Here is a close-up of the Jack-O-Lantern.

I actually used Flower Soft glue for this whole project.  Liquid Adhesive works great for projects like this.  Plus I know that this particular project will be put thru alot and I want it to stay together!

Here are a few more close-ups!

Here you can see the Nested Lacey Pennants I used for my letters.  I also used the Lacey Circles to create rosettes out of white cardstock.  The letters are stickers that I added some black ink to the edges using a sponge.

That's all for today!  Hope you have a great day and rest of the week is good, too.  I was excited to get my designer copy of the November CardMaker magazine in the mail last week.  I have a Christmas project in the issue.  Talk to you soon!

 

Make Beautiful Music!

Wow, this summer has really gotten off to a fast start for me.  I sure you remember that my oldest daughter graduated from high school and is now preparing for college.  Well, this weekend is the big congratulations party for her and I have been running around like a crazy woman trying to get everthing done.  Today I sat down at my crafty table and made her a memory book for the party.  This will be a book that everyone attending the party can write a note to her with advice or just telling her how much she is loved.  Hopefully, she will take it with her to college and look at it when feeling down or homesick.

I got to use my new Bind-It-All for the first time.  I was a semi-successful.......just a couple of crooked ones.  I also used a new set of dies from Spellbinders and lots of bling!!

 I used Spellbinders Creative Book Pages dies to create the book.  After layering the Donna Salazar Antiquities papers onto the front and back of the book, I used my Bind-it-all to put everything together.  I just put about 20 blank white pages inside the book for people to write on. 

Here are a few close-ups!

My daughter will be studying music while in college so I thought all these music themed papers and embellishments where perfect.  I printed the message onto some Simply Smooth White cardstock using my computer.

The flowers were made from an old hymnal and die cut using the Blossom Three dies from Spellbinders.  I misted and scrunched them and let them dry.  Then I stacked them together and added the pearls.

I hope to stop making excuses and get back to regular blog posts next week.  I am very thankful to be able to take some time off and that you will still come read my blog!  Hang in there........I promise there is some good stuff on the way!  Remember, CHA is coming (wink, wink)!! 
 

Let's Make An ARTSY Banner!

My next class at For Keeps Sake Scrapbook Store will be on Saturday, July 16 at 10:30-12:30pm.  I will be showing you how to make the Artsy Banner I showed you a few days ago.  The banner uses great papers from Donna Salazar plus the Nested Lacey Pennants, Lacey Ovals and Blossom Three die templates from Spellbinders Paper Arts.  Here are a few pictures of the Artsy Banner!

 
Here is a close-up.  The papers from Donna Salazar's Antiquities line has some shapes that are compatible with Spellbinders die templates.  This will be a fun class where we will get inky and misty plus more die cutting using our favorite Spellbinder's die templates!  Hope you will join me!

 

 

Having Fun In My Craft Room.......Finally!!

Before I got sick I visited my local scrapbook store, For Keeps Sake and got some really cool supplies.  The new Antiquities paper from Donna Salazar had just come in and I couldn't wait to play!.  What's really neat about these papers is that they are totally compatible with Spellbinders Lacey Pennant & Lacey Ovals/Circle dies.  I started on a banner using these supplies and unfortunately got sick.  But the good news is a finished it Today! I sure didn't come up with anything new - I used the idea from Donna Salazar's Blog to make this.  I also have had a Crafty Chronicle for so long it was gathering dust.  I had to take the pictures outside because the banner was pretty big!

 Here are some close-ups!

 
  
 The woodgrain Lacey Pennants and the Lacey Ovals all came ready for me to cut/emboss on one sheet of 12 x 12 paper.  The kraft Pennants I cut myself.  The alphabet is from Pink Paislee.  The crumpled flowers are made from Donna's Crafty Chronicle and Blossom 3 die templates.  The instructions for making the flowers were inside the Chronicle!  I added some pearls and Ivory Tulle and it was finished. This was alot of fun to make.  I am going to drop it off at For Keeps Sake tomorrow.  Have a great day!