The Kreative Korner By Kay

Dec 8, 2012

Christmas 2009 (MCS GDT)

Good evening once again! Am back to present my second guest design layout made with the My Creative Scrapbook (MCS) December Main Kit featuring papers by Authentique, Echo Park & Carta Bella.

For this page I went with a simple background & followed a sketch made by Kim Keane.

As mentioned in my previous post--this kit gave me the opportunity to scrap Christmas past--so here's a photo taken in Christmas of 2009.

This is the sketch used as the base for my page. I followed this sketch pretty closely.

Here's the MCS December Main Kit. MCS offers it's customers 4 different kits each month! So talk about variety! They have the Main Kit, Limited Edition Kit, Creative Kit & Album Kit. Make sure to check out their site to see all the other talented designers take on this month's kits.

This pretty red flower is by Prima & came with the kit.

I added more interest to my page by adding many dots of Stickles in Xmas Red, Lime Green & Star Dust.

The dots & stars seen inside my three circles were hand drawn by me. Just take a fine tip marker in the color of your choice & randomly draw little stars & dots. The red snowflakes is a small stamp from my stash. I believe I found it in the dollar bin of my local craft store Michaels!

I used a mask along with Walnut Stain distress ink to create this flourish.

This mask & the Stickles are the only things that did not come with the kit. Everything else seen here was part of the kit.

I have one more project to share--I'll be back soon. In the meantime--thanks for stopping by & enjoy the rest of the weekend!

Dec 6, 2012

Christmas 2008 (MCS GDT)

Good evening fellow scrappers! Today I bring you the first of three pages I've made with the December My Creative Scrapbook (MCS) Main Kit. Yes, I was honored to be asked by Pam, the owner of MCS, to guest design for the month of December. I happily agreed.

My Creative Scrapbook offers it's customers 4 different kits each month! Talk about variety--there's something for everybody in this kit club. You have your Main Kit, Limited Edition Kit, Creative Kit & the Album Kit. Make sure to check out their site to see all the other talented designers take on this month's kits.

This kit gave me the opportunity to scrap pages of holidays long gone. I started off with 2008 which was also the first year we had our pup Toby. He's been religiously posing with us in every Christmas photo thereafter.

For the design of this first page, I went with a similar approach to my 'You Should Know' page. I really like that design & the festive scallop circle that came with the kit lent itself to do a similar design.

Here's the MCS December main kit filled with papers by Authentic, Echo Park & Carta Bella & lots of other embellishments, ribbons & flowers by Petaloo & Prima.

Everything used on this page came with the kit including this sheer green ribbon that I made into a bow. I adhered a red brad to the center of the bow.

The kit came with many sticker sheets with tons of tags, borders, images & sayings. Just about every single sticker I used on this page I first adhered to a transparency & then cut out. TIP: If you want to have the flexibility of placing your stickers anywhere on your page--consider adhering them to transparencies/acrylic first & cutting them out. This way you can position & re-postion them anywhere you want & only adhere them once you're ready.

With all the little Christmas themed embellies...this kit lent itself to do lots & lots of layering. So that's what I did!

This is a close up of the folded corner.

I highlighted the border of the scallop circle with dots of Bisque Liquid Pearls. I also used this same technique to add a bit more visual interest to the frame around my photo.

Another close up of some more layering. I dressed up many of my embellishments & the page itself with dots of Stickles in Xmas Red, Lime Green & Star Dust.

Thanks to all of you who stop by for a visit. I'll be back again soon to present the 2nd page I made with this fabulous kit!

Dec 4, 2012

Send It Clear Christmas Card

Good morning fellow scrappers! Today I bring you an acrylic card by Clear Scraps. I finally found the opportunity to play with one of their Send It Clear cards & I have to say that I really enjoyed the versatility these transparent cards provide.

As the base of my card, I used the Deco Send It Clear Card. To add visual interest to the cover of my card I added a variety of elements such as Stickles, tinsel ribbon, acrylic beads, flowers, a doily, paper etc.

The paper doily you see peeking out from behind the large green fabric flower is actually adhered to the inside of the card. This is where you would write your sentiment. However, since this is an acrylic card--it peeks through and gives the impression of being tucked behind the large flower. That's the beauty of acrylic!

This lovely large green fabric flower I bought from an Etsy shop called Funtoolas. This little shop carries several lovely fabric & silk flowers in addition to coordinated scrapbook kits & other smaller embellishments.

The poinsettia, beaded flower and small white fabric floral spray are from my stash. The mulberry paper white flat flower is by Manor House Creations.

You can see in this screen shot that I highlighted the edges of the cover with dots of Stickles. On the right side I used Xmas Red Stickles & on the left side I used Silver Stickles.

I tucked a brad underneath the green & white flowers. The clear flower gem cabochon I bought from yet another Etsy shop called Oh What Fun. I found this little shop to be fun indeed with tons of cabochons to pick & choose from!

TIP: I highlighted the border in the inside of my card with a bit of Diamond Dust. This gives the border a bit of a snow/tinseled look. I followed the same steps as seen in my Snowy Tinseled Frame Tutorial. Except here--there was only one simple step. Just adhere your double sided tape along the edges--peel off the liner & then apply your Diamond Dust & you're done!

Here's the card with only the left side open--can't get enough of those transparent effects!

Here's the card with the right side open only.

Finally, here's the card fully opened.

I hope this inspired some of you to play with acrylic cards--they really do make for very unique & innovative cards.

Have a great rest of the week!

Nov 28, 2012

Baby Mini Album

Hello once again fellow scrappers & happy belated Thanksgiving to you all. Although it seems that everybody is pretty much already in Christmas mode!

Today's post is a mini album that I made for Clear Scraps. I've used their new Acrylic Recipe Stand 4"x6" Kit & their Acrylic Mini Word Album Baby. What better way to use both these items than for a mini album showcasing my newborn baby boy.

I've embellished this album in numerous ways! Here are just a few: ribbon, alcohol inks, stamps, Stickles, Liquid Pearls, paper, lace, transparent elements, flowers & more...

As always, the cover lends itself to be decorated the most. For the album title of 'Baby' I've embellished the acrylic with alcohol inks. In my opinion alcohol inks really do add the best & most unique texture to acrylic. To keep with the color theme of my album which is white, blue & yellow--I used Sunshine Yellow, Sailboat Blue & just a bit of Silver alcohol inks.

In this close up you can really see the texture the alcohol inks gave the acrylic cover. In person, you can certainly appreciate it much more.

To make my cover stand out more, I highlighted the edges with a white Sharpie paint pen & dots of White Opal Liquid Pearls.

One of my fave embellishments lately has been mini glass vials. I've added one here filled with blue & yellow seed beads. I tied some twine around the neck of the bottle.

The flowers on the cover are a combination of mulberry & beaded flowers. I spelled out my little boy's name with some square alphabet beads that I found at my local A.C. Moore craft store.

I added dimension to my album by adding transparent elements that fall off the page. Don't be afraid to add embellishments that go beyond your page--this is what gives your project extra dimension. My transparent elements are a combination of Hambly Screen Prints & Fancy Pants Designs.

I've used ribbon all over this mini album. I've tied a couple of wide, sheer organza ribbons to the rings holding my album together & I've also cut snippets of ribbon, folded them in half & adhered them to my cover as shown here.

I've punched a couple of holes into the base of my album and run ribbon through them...those are the ribbons you see peeking out from the sides in this close up.

I guess you can say the first photo I had of my son was his ultrasound--so I began my album with this photo. I've embellished the inside of my album mostly with flat embellishments. If I add embellishments with too much dimension--my album will become too bulky. So I've used mostly transparent elements, stamps, Stickles/Liquid Pearls & flat flowers to embellish my pages.

Oh yes, almost forgot. I've also used a couple of paper piecings. I've had these puppy, blue bird & yellow duckling paper piecings in my stash for many moons now. I always knew that one day I'd have the perfect project for them--this mini album was it! On most of the acrylic pages of my album I've added some kind of paper piecing and rub ons to embellish it.

As you can see in this close up--my photo behind the acrylic page peeks through. That's the beauty of acrylic! My little guy was just 1 day old here. :-)

You can get some really unique & creative projects done by strategically placing items on or behind acrylic.

Here's another acrylic page decorated with a blue bird paper piecing and white flourish rub ons. Again you can see my photo peeking out from behind as well as the script stamping I did. The script stamping looks like it's part of the acrylic page--but it's not. I've added the stamping to the page holding my photo.

Behind each page containing my photos I plan to do some lengthy journaling/story telling. Just conveying my thoughts & feelings on the new chapter in my life.

Here I'm showing several more pages from my mini album. As you can see, rub ons is what I've primarily used to decorate my acrylic pages.

As a side note--I love the little yellow duckling paper piecing! :-)

My album still has several blank pages. I'm in the process of taking & developing pictures of my son--however, the album is pretty much prepped! All I have to do is add my photos as I develop them and add a bit of flat flowers, stamping, rub ons and/or transparent elements to add a bit of visual interest to my photos & I'm done.

Also, I'd like to note that on all of my pages I've randomly added dots of either Stickles or Liquid Pearls along the edges. This helps further define the borders of my pages.

To the bottom of my album I've adhered some light blue lace & a bit of white pom-pom ribbon.

Thanks to all of you who stop by for a visit! I hope this project inspires some of you to get creative with acrylic mini albums. Enjoy the rest of the week!

Nov 16, 2012

My Toby Layout

Hello again fellow scrappers. It's time for another reveal over at Once Upon A Sketch (OUAS).

Here's my little fur-baby Toby taking center stage again. It helps a lot that he's all white--it's easy to match him with any color! :-) The page is based on how much our lives has changed since Toby came into our lives. Pets really are like another member of our families that provide us with unconditional love & loyalty. My journaling which is stored in the scroll reads as follows:

My Toby--our Toby really...ever since you became a member of our family you've filled a void we didn't even know we had. You bring sunshine & laughs to our otherwise mundane lives. Your 'childlike' ways never cease to surprise or amaze us--and we'll never figure out how such a small dog can have such an enormously loud bark! You're our Toby--but I see you as 'my' Toby. I was the first one to hold you as a puppy & look into those big brown trusting eyes. When I look at you today, I see a grown dog with eyes that are still trusting, but are now also filled with unconditional love, devotion & loyalty. You belong to our family, but to me you'll always be my wet-nosed confidant, my undercover furry friend...my sweet little Toby.

Here's the sketch provided by Nadia that my page is based on.

I've used doilies, flowers, mushroom birds, nests & lots of ribbons on this page. In fact, most of my background is made up of ribbon. All ribbons & twine seen on this page were sponsored by Scrapbook Fantasies.

The gorgeous light blue flower is by Manor House Creations--I'm loving their flowers more and more lately! I've tucked a bit of aqua & purple tulle underneath my large flower to soften the page a bit.

The butterflies are new designs that will soon be available in my Etsy shop. So keep an eye out for them!

The honeycomb chippie is by Dusty Attic. My title was printed on a transparency, cut out & adhered with clear dry glue.

I really liked this one particular metal word band by Tim Holtz that reads: "live the life you've imagined". That would be my Toby. Oh he really does live a 'dog's life'. Eats all he wants, sleeps all he wants--total pampered pooch...even in the photo he's holding a bone that he happily chewed on for hours and hours!

The pearl flourishes are by Prima. The small glass vial is from my stash--I've filled it with small beads, also from my stash.

Something that has become a trademark with my pages lately is how I store my journaling. It's stored in the form of a scroll as shown here. If interested on how I go about making this scroll journaling--you can find a tutorial for it here.

The background is composed of gesso with random smears of Frozen Lake & Blitzen glimmer mists. The gesso was applied with a small spatula while the glimmer mists were applied with a paint brush. I didn't spray the mists directly onto the paper this time. Instead I sprayed them directly onto my Ranger Non-Stick Craft Sheet & then dipped my paint brush into the ink & painted away.

I've also tucked a bit of cheese cloth behind my trio of pictures.

Thanks for stopping by! Make sure you visit the OUAS blog to see how the other talented DT's interpreted this challenge & sketch.

Enjoy the rest of the week!

Nov 14, 2012

My Little Devil Layout Clear Scraps & Quick Quotes

Hello once again fellow scrappers & bloggers! Today I bring you a page full of both Clear Scraps & Quick Quotes goodies. I know I'm a little late with the Halloween page--but I couldn't resist using these papers & embellishments by Quick Quotes that screamed 'Halloween'.

This would be my pup Toby dressed up as a little devil for Halloween last year. I've been saving these pictures to scrap them with just the right supplies--well this was it!

The base of my page is a square Clear Scraps XL Scallops shape. I've done several techniques in order to give my clear acrylic background some texture.

All the papers seen on this page are by Quick Quotes. They are as follows: Halloween 100, Halloween 200, Halloween 300 & Halloween 400. The 'My Scary Little Monster' cut out is also by Quick Quotes. I hand cut that phrase from the Halloween 500 phrases.

I've used an actual mini frame that I found at my local Michaels for about $1.50 to frame one of my photos. I've tucked a bit of cheese cloth behind my frame.

The fabric flowers are by Webster's Pages & the black vine is by Prima called Holiday Lights Glitter Spray Black Ivy.

All of the chipboard used on this page is by Dusty Attic. To give the chipboard that shimmery look I first painted it with black acrylic paint--except for the moon which I painted a deep orange. Next, I highlighted the bat wings & one side of the haunted house with a white gel pen. Finally, I inked all of the chippies in embossing ink & heat embossed them with Star Dusty transparent embossing powder by Stampendous.

I punched a thin trim with my Martha Stewart Cherish punch. I then did a bit of hand stitching to further define my punched trim. I also dressed up the entire border of my page with dots of Liquid Pearls White Opal & Enamel Accents in Black.

I've distressed the edges to a few of my papers and inked them with Mango Mai Tai Chalk Ink by Quick Quotes.

Half of my page is actually see through--since the base is acrylic. I've inserted a white card stock behind my page so that the texture I gave my background can be seen better.

These random splatters were made with alcohol inks & a can of compressed gas duster! To see a quick tutorial on this--feel free to check it out here.

I used the following alcohol inks on this page: Purple Twilight, Sunset Orange & Citrus.

This vellum quote is by Quick Quotes called Be Afraid...

I also did a bit of stamping on my acrylic base. Those bold black swirls seen in this photo is actually a stamp. I've used Jet Black Staz On to stamp onto my acrylic. Always remember to use a permanent solvent ink like Staz On when stamping on acrylic. Using another kind of ink will cause your image to smear.