bohemian birthday and a bit of cheering up...

I picked up the 8"x8" Bohemian paper pad by Graphic 45 when I was in the States back in September and scraplifted this different fold style from a card I saw on Pinterest which I just spent an hour looking for again... lol.  My card is a smaller version (4.5" tall) of the one by Roni of Ink Stains (6" tall) and at the time I didn't realize there was a tutorial and played my way to getting the same look.  The paper is so funky I decided to distress all of the edges of the cardstock (120 lb weight from Michaels).   I also fussy cut duplicates of the flowers to pop on top for added dimension.  It didn't want to close up so I attached ribbon to keep it together. 

 

 

This card is one of two that I made at a crop I went to last month.  One of the challenges was to use at least one of the patterned papers we were given.  Except for the cardstock and some bling, this is all made with one 12"x"12 piece of paper.  The sentiment is perfect as it is a very cheerful card!!  scrap happy...

 



tone on tone birthdays

my middle son celebrated his 33rd birthday this past week and doesn't that make me feel old... lol...  I thought I would like to create something out of kraft cardstock (Reflections) and just use my embossing folders for texture.  I popped up the layers for definition and just added some bling around the sentiment.  I was so pleased with the results that I made a second one for his father who celebrated a milestone birthday!  Here I used my cricut to cut out the numbers layer and then popped it up on top of a DCWV metallic cardstock and added some Studio Calico washi tape to the sides.  These clean and simple cards went together quite easily.  happy scrapping...

 
     

honeymoon mini...

happy thanksgiving / columbus day!   I was asked to create this mini for a wedding gift with the idea being that the bride and groom would use if for their honeymoon pictures.  I wanted to create something elegant but yet fun.    I used K&Co papers (several collections combined) as well as a couple from Echo Park that I had left in my stash.  Pops of turquoise and green add the fun. The majority of the flowers throughout the album are handmade.  My favourite (and also easiest to make) is the fringed flower which is on the cover below (bottom second from the left) .  These always turn out great and are quite a showpiece.  Simply take a 12" strip (width will depend on how large a flower you want), fold in half and adhere the long edge with 1/8" double sided tape.  Cut into the folded edge at 1/8' intervals making the fringe.  Add another length of 1/8" double sided tape all the way down the uncut edge and, using either a button or something round (in this case I used a resin flower) , wrap the strip around and around until done.  Curl your edges down and there you have it!  happy scrapping...

more laughing lola...

the Laughing Lola paper collection from Close to My Heart is one of my all time favourites.  I love the colours (purple, gold and green) and that it can be used for both feminine and masculine cards.  Today's card can be either a thinking of you card or as I used it - a birthday card.  The sentiment is from CTMH and it is embossed in gold.  The bling is also CTMH.  I was very pleased with how my bow turned out as they almost always give me grief and I have to thank Monica Gale of MonicasPassions for her great tutorial.  I also wanted to share with you how I created a pocket behind the inside sentiment for either a hidden message or a gift card, but in my haste to get it on its way I forgot to take the picture so I will have to save that tip for another time.  scrap happy...

six years old!

my little grandson is turning six years old today - can you imagine?  His mother, who also happens to be very crafty, made him a Yoda cake which is way cool... so I thought I would stick with the space theme for his card.  I used my cricut and gypsy to make a number card - just put two of the same images (a 6 in this case) on the gypsy, lay one on top of the other, then flip one of them and move it over until they are just touching in the middle; weld and cut.  Because I made the "six" wider than the original, I had to fuss with the pattern paper image in order to get the right size but I think it worked out okay.  I cut some of the spaceships and stars out of the leftover paper to give the card some dimension and then put glossy accents on them to make them stand out even more.  The sentiment was cut from a Cuttlebug die.  Here's to little man having a birthday that's out of this world!  scrap happy...

thinking of you...

summer's over and it's time to get back to scrapping...  I made this card this morning with CTMH's new collection Laughing Lola and a stamp from Hero Arts which just says it all.  The card base is made using Michaels new 110lb cardstock which I have to say I love for cards - really puts them up a notch.  Anyways, back to it - scrap happy!!

a special birthday...

my friend recently turned 60 and I wanted to create a card worthy of that event and special to her.  She is most fond of daisies and when I saw this image from Karen at The Graphics Fairy I knew it would be the focal piece on her card - it was fussy cut and then popped up on the left side.  Webster's Pages had the perfect paper to go with it (from one of their older collections - Your Life Beautiful) which I added to the front and also fussy cut the piece on the inside.  The cardstock is Bazzill.  The ribbon and sentiment are from Close to My Heart.  I used a Martha Stewart border punch and inked the edges in Tim Holtz's vintage photo distress ink and called it done - no bling required!!  The pictures really show the difference in the lighting as the sun disappeared while I was taking them and they all look different - I think I need some lessons.  lol  scrap happy...

 

inspirational pocket box mini

has it really been almost a month!!!  time does fly... 
I was inspired to create this mini one night after watching a Prima YouTube video for a mini by Steff Miller although I did not use the Prima papers.  Instead I used leftovers from a Basic Grey layout kit with the Kioshi collection and can you believe I still have enough paper left to make a few cards.  More scraps put to good use!!  The base is made from one piece of cardstock which has a "booklet" attached to the middle and is approximately 4" x 6".   I have used magnets to the keep the top and bottom closed and then also to keep the sides closed when not open.  I embellished it with some of the Kioshi chipboard and stickers and also created flowers using the paper.  A few of the journaling spots and most of the sentiments are from my stash.  The stickpin on the cover is my own. I really quite enjoyed creating the rather "untraditional" booklet which has different sizes of paper tucked here and there, pages that open both to the left and right and a couple of pockets for good measure.  thanks for taking a look and scrap happy...

Front of Mini

   

top/bottom opened up

and then the sides open to show the booklet





some of the inner pages of the booklet

the booklet open to show the bottom

carousel birthday

my sister is very fond of carousels so when I saw the carousel on CTMH's Artiste Cricut Cartridge I knew I had to have it!!  The paper is once again from CTMH's Dream Pop collection.  It makes me happy just looking at it!  I welded the front and back together attaching them only at the bottom left which means it doesn't stand very well but I didn't want to spoil the look by making the front the same width as the back.  Although it's hard to tell, the front of the card is just the upside down triangle paper and the orange base of the carousel.  I tied some embroidery cotton in bows around the horses necks and added a few gems.  The flower that is peeking out in the centre opens up so the inside sentiment doesn't show through to the front.  The white cardstock is DCWV glitter cardstock and unfortunately you really cannot tell how shiny the orange cardstock is nor the texture that it has.  Here's to hoping it is a new product coming soon from Close to My Heart!   scrap happy...

dream pop happy birthday

I spent a wonderful day on Friday, at my friend Jan Moxey's (Close to My Heart consultant), working with the Dream Pop collection - CTMH's special promotion for May in honour of National Scrapbooking Month.  It really does pop!  I love that the cardstock is shiny and detailed on one side (you can see the diagonal lines showing on the pink cardstock) but it is so pretty that it is difficult to use it..  lol   The sentiment comes from an older CTMH stamp set and the bling is from Michael's.  The flowers are all made using Martha Stewart punches.  The one on the left (large embroidery double punch) is my favourite although it is hard to see the cutout details in the picture.  I left the inside simple and instead of covering up such pretty paper, it lifts up to find the greeting underneath. I have submitted this card in the Heart 2 Heart Challenge blog's May Flowers challenge.  You will be seeing more of this paper to be sure!   scrap happy...

 

masculine cards from scraps

with Father's Day just around the corner, I thought it would be a good time to do up some masculine cards.  These were made with scraps from a mini album I made for my brother-in-law so I didn't have to look too hard to find some masculine looking papers.  I love the style of this card with all of its layers yet it is still very clean looking so I ended up making a half a dozen or so.   As there is so much pattern going on, there really was no need for further embellishing - a little bit of ink was all that was required.  scrap happy...



retirement

I was asked to do up a retirement card and I was flipping through my stamps trying to find the perfect sentiment and by jove I think I did!  This is a CTMH stamp that says "the winds of change bring treasures unknown... embrace change".  I really like that and love the way it curls around.  Along with using up my scraps I have also challenged myself to use my Cuttlebug more and have used the divine swirls embossing folder to give the effect of clouds in the sky.  The ribbon and roses are from my stash.  The butterflies I believe are all K and Company.  The stickpins I made myself after watching some great tutorials from Fiona (Jennings644 onYouTube).  They can become addicting!  scrap happy...

mini album in a box...

I thought I would share a couple of mini albums in a box that I did up a while back.  I picked up the written tutorial from Kathryn of Life on the Scrapbeach when she did a Ustream class showing how to put one together for National Scrapbooking Day last year.  I have to say that her tutorials (written and video) are well done and easy to follow along (and very fun).  As you can see in the images, when you open the box, the one side is actually the spine of the mini and it folds down when you want to look at the album.  Everything except the lid stays dustfree.  There are lots of pockets and places to tuck tags and little trinkets right along with any photos.  Please take a look...

This first one uses K & Company and Recollection papers.  I love the look of the bright blue with the black and cream.  Most of the flowers are made from the same papers. My favourite is the black fringed flower on the cover with blue centre and it is so simple to create!

 

 

 

 

This second album is made using an older Prima stack called First Blush.  I love the colour combination even if there is no purple to be found!  While the photos for the other album were taken without the tags, here you can see the tops of the large tags that are inside each of the "paper bags".  Flowers are again handmade from the papers in the collection.  Thanks for looking and scrap happy!

milestone birthday...

I think milestone birthdays should be celebrated in style and of course, should have cards that are worthy of such milestones.  I saw this card style on Pinterest and immediately fell in love with it.  The card was created by Marlene Ashby and she has a tutorial that you can find here.  The cardstock and ribbon are from my stash.  The butterlies and bling are from the dollar store (the middle one is actually metal).  The roses are a combination of Prima and Recollections.  I made the tissue flower in the bottom left.  I printed the doily on my computer and went over the "70" with glossy accents to make it stand out.  The birthday sentiment is from Close to My Heart and I embossed it with silver.  happy scrapping...

wedding scraps...

When I pulled out my scraps this past weekend, these particular scraps just felt like wedding material and the sentiment literally popped into my head.  It is hard to see but the two larger pieces are both popped up from the 5.5" x 8.25' card base (sized for envelopes that I have).  The flowers actually had orange gems in the middle which didn't quite go and so I carefully removed them and added the pale green pearls instead. Never be afraid to alter  your embellishments to fit your project.  I also didn't have enough of the pattern paper for the inside but I quite like how it turned out just by adding a little bit of blue card stock with the lace on another piece of white card stock.  I apologize for not remembering where online I found the verse but have had it for quite some time.  I did try to google it without any success.    happy scrapping...

 

a surprise birthday

My sister came to visit for Easter and I took the opportunity to surprise my brother-in-law with an early birthday celebration.  Masculine cards can be difficult to create as  you don't want to pretty them up with flowers and bling but you still want them to be showstoppers.  I scraplifted the design from Tara Orr who is on the design team for Graphic 45.  The papers are from my scrap stash (one of my resolutions this year was to go to my scraps first) and the stamp is from Close to My Heart.  The glitter ribbon is also from my stash and the butterfly is an acrylic die cut from K & Company.    happy scrapping

welcome home...

I love the colours in this card that was made with some older CTMH papers and a stamp by Karen Ellis of The Art House Studio which I paper pieced.  Of course I had to add some butterflies!  happy scrapping...

alive and well and happy to be back!!!

wow, it has been a very long time...  not that I haven't been scrapping just not blogging...  I have been wanting to get back to my blog for quite some time but just wasn't sure how to go about it (sounds silly I know... but there you have it).  Back in January I signed up for Ali Edward's One Little Word class (my word is BE) at Big Picture Classes and March's prompt is to "take action" - this is my action!!   so here I am happy to be sharing once again!  For anyone that is looking for motivation/direction/assistance in creating change in their life, I highly recommend this process.  Whether it is coincidence, mind over matter, or that I was just ready, since I chose my word and put my intentions out there - things are happening!  Here is my layout introducing my word and my intentions for the year...  The idea was to use an 8.5" x 11" album and divided page protectors which I don't have; instead I will stick with doing 12" x 12" layouts.  The papers are all pulled from my stash and the monthly intentions were found on Pinterest.     scrap happy and just be...


BE - One Little Word 2013