Recipe For Making Love Layout

Hello fellow scrappers!  With Valentines Day just around the corner (can you believe it?) I'm digging out my wedding photos and/or re-doing wedding pages that I've done in the past & just wasn't 100% happy with.  This one is actually a re-do.

The current challenge going on over at Colors...Stories...Inspiration (C.S.I) triggered this re-do. I found the color palette to be just right for this page.

So here is me & my hubby over 5 years ago on our wedding day.  Yes, it's been 5 years already!  I know for those of you who have been married 10, 15 or 20+ years 5 is probably not such a biggie.  However, I'm more surprised not by the number but by how fast these 5 years have flown by!  It just feels like yesterday that we were exchanging vows & here we are going on our 6th year together.  I'm sure pretty soon I'll be talking about our 10th anniversary--sigh...tick tock tick tock...

Here's the C.S.I challenge I based my page on.

For my evidence I have: tickets, swirls & music pattern

For my testimony I've used the song title & lyrics from a song

I've also based my design on the provided sketch.

The 'Love' part of the title is an Acrylic Expression by Clear Scraps.  I kept the texture of the title simple.  All I did was highlight the edges of the letters with a red Sharpie Oil based Paint pen.  This gave my title the simple & perfect effect I wanted.

The Love tickets are by Tim Holtz.  The lyrics are from Harry Connick Jr.'s song "Recipe For Making Love"--which is also the title for my layout.

We also played this song at our wedding:  A little bit of me & a whole lot of you.  Add a dash of starlight & a dozen roses too.  Then let it rise for a hundred years or two.  And that's the recipe for making love.

We found this to be a very cute song to be part of our wedding--it also helps that I'm a huge jazz fan!  :-)

The light blue pearl string I've had in my stash for ages.  In fact I have various pearl strings in my stash that I really need to use up. So you'll be seeing these trims on several of my projects.

The little glass vial is filled with tiny little red hearts that I had in my stash.  I knew those little hearts would come in handy one day!

The large handmade flower I bought from an Etsy store called More Paper Than Shoes.  Anna the owner, creates various handmade flowers that add a perfect touch to layouts, projects & even weddings!

The little paper rolls are just scraps of left over patterned paper from other projects that I've rolled up & glued to my page.

The floral frame that surrounds my photos is actually a stamp.  It's the large cameo frame stamp by Stampendous.  The stamp itself is much smaller than what you see here--however you can make any stamp to be any size for your needs with the use of a scanner.  So if you have a scanner at home--just do the following.

TIP: If you have a stamp that you wish to use on your project but it's too small or too big--stamp the image with black ink onto a sheet of plain white card stock.  I use Staz On for this step because Staz On tends to provide a very sharp stamped image. Scan your image & import the image to your computer.  Then with a photo/image editing tool like Photoshop or even Picasa resize your image to the size you need.  Then just print the image out & you're done!  For my page, I needed the frame to be transparent.  So I printed it onto a printable transparency sheet--cut the image out & then adhered it to my page.  Voila!  Instant frame!

The wedding couple I cut out from my original page.  If interested you can see my original take on this page here.  I decided to keep this image from my original page & use it here.  You can also see how much my scrapping style has evolved through the years.

I've created the veil for the bride by adhering a bit of black tulle to a decorative brad & then attaching it to her head.

Thanks for stopping by & enjoy the rest of the week!

My Greatest Gift Layout

Good evening fellow scrappers!  For those of you that celebrate it--I hope you had a very Merry Christmas alongside your family/loved ones!

I had a peaceful one at home with my parents, husband, our furry son Toby & newborn son.  This was a special Christmas for us all since my husband & I were celebrating it alongside our first child & for my parents their very first grandchild.  :-)

So when I read about the latest challenge going on over at Colors...Stories...Inspiration (C.S.I)--I decided to set some time aside to play along.  One of the journaling Christmas prompts instantly grabbed me which was 'What was the best Christmas gift you ever received?' Well for me, it's been my son--so I based this page on him.

Here's the case this challenge is based on.

For my evidence I used: snowflakes, beads, texture paste, something shiny & puffy paint.

For my testimony I used: Xmas prompts--the best Christmas gift you ever received.

This pink flower is handmade.  I made it by using the Carnation tutorial that I did a while back.  If interested in this tutorial--please go here.

As usual, I had a story to tell with this page--a lengthy one!  So I stored it in a scroll which has become my fave way of storing my journaling.  I have a brief tutorial on this as well.  If interested, you can find a tutorial for these journaling scrolls here.

Most of these flowers are from my stash.  The large turquoise fabric flower was plain--I added the gold glitter with Stickles to some of it's petals to match the Prima turquoise poinsettia in the upper left hand corner.

As previously mentioned, this poinsettia is by Prima.

The large snowflakes used on this page I bought at my local Target.  Every year for Christmas they stock these in all colors.  They are meant for Christmas trees but they also work wonderfully for Christmas or Winter themed scrapbook pages.  They come in packs of 4 for $1.00.  Sold!

The background was made by using a combination of splatter stamps, glimmer mist & Shimmerz.  I used the Splats stamp set by Recollections & a grungy splatter stamp by Vilda Stamps. I randomly spritzed the background with Riptide glimmer mist & Cotton Candy Spritz.

Here's my smallest winter tree--both flowers seen here are from my crafty stash.

Here are my two larger chipboard winter trees.  These chippies are by Dusty Attic.

I gave these trees a lot of texture by using several techniques & mixed media.  You can find a tutorial on these trees here if interested.

Thanks to all of you who stop by for a visit--as always...it's greatly appreciated!

Enjoy the rest of the week, have a wonderful New Year & I'll be back in 2013!

You Should Know... Layout

Good evening fellow scrappers!  Well, first it was hurricane Sandy--now we're going through a snow-storm.  Hmmm...Mother Nature doesn't seem happy with the East Coast lately.  :-(

Being snowed in though did give me time to play along with the latest challenge going on over at Color...Stories...Inspiration (C.S.I).  I actually finished this page in one sitting.  It was just a burst of inspiration--don't you just love it when you get those!

I'm also entering this in the current 'Go Crazy' challenge for Berry71bleu.  I used bold colors on this page, combined several different elements onto one page & actually did a first which was to spray the entire page with a shimmering mist--more details on this coming up.

This page is actually about me.  Once in a while I'll do a page on just lil' ol' me.  Simply because us scrappers hardly ever do that.  If you think about it though--if there's one bit of legacy you wish to pass down to your future generations; what better legacy than yourself?  So that's exactly what I'm doing here.  Now that I'm actually going to start a new chapter in my life--that of a mom--I keep thinking to myself what would I want my child to know about me?  As parents we spend the majority of our lives trying to understand, guide & just plain figure our kids out.  But our kids don't really figure us out or truly understand us until they become young adults themselves.  At least that's how it was for me.  I didn't really understand my mom & all her hard work until I was in my early 20's.

So the journaling on this page consists of four things that I'd like my future child to know about me.  It's a bit on the private side--meant for his eyes only--but like the title of my page states--it's four things about me that I feel he 'should know'.

Here's the case file my page is based on.

For my evidence I have the following: stripes, flowers, swirls, transparent element, doily pattern & something that rolls up

For my testimony: I journaled 4 things about my subject--which is me

I actually cut one large doily in half & positioned both halves to make it look like one extra large doily in the background.

My title was printed on a transparency & adhered with clear dry glue.

As previously mentioned, I actually did a first on this page too--I spritzed it entirely (except for the photos) with Shimmeringz Bronzed Bombshell.  It actually added this nice soft brown/goldish shimmer to my entire page that I really loved.  You can kind of see that shimmer in this photo.

I combined several elements on this page when it comes to embellishments.  I had this large felt flower in my stash that I had been itching to use & I finally found the chance to do so on this page.  I bought several of these lovely felt flowers from an Etsy shop called KnockKnocking.

The grey & orange flowers are by Prima as are the flourishes, the light bulb & the wooden 'dreams' trinket.

Including something that rolls up on my page was easy enough!  I've been doing that a lot lately on my pages in the form of my journaling which I tend to store as a scroll.  Here's my journaling once again tucked away in a scroll.  You can find a tutorial on how I go about making this scroll journaling on my blog here.

The cute little resin bird is also by Prima.

I tucked a bit of cheese cloth behind my photos.  The transparent black, swirl frame was by Hambly Screen Prints.

Another little embellishment that has become customary on my pages lately are my little glass vials full of beads.  I've adhered one here yet again right next to one of my photos.

I've tucked two organza ribbons underneath my large felt flower.

The grey resin cameo tucked underneath my ribbons is by Webster's Pages.

A closeup of the other half of my doily peeking out from the rolled paper.

Thanks to all of you who stop by for a visit!  Enjoy the rest of the your week...

Then & Now Layout

Hello once again fellow scrappers!  Phew...here in NJ we are starting to slowly recover from hurricane Sandy.  It hit NJ hard especially towards the south of Jersey and our Jersey shores.  Looks like our shores will never be the same again.  :-(  However, my family & I are thankful that we made it through without any major issues.  My small house hung in there--even though at times the gusts of wind were so strong that my entire house would shake & the lights would flicker.  We were also one of the very few lucky ones that didn't lose power (knock on wood)--and when I say 'few' lucky ones--I mean exactly that.

I found some time to scrap this quick page of my husband for the latest challenge going on over at Color...Stories...Inspiration (C.S.I) case file #43.  Who says you can't use flowers for a male page?  I found myself bold enough to do just that with this page & I think it turned out ok.  Even when I showed it to my husband--he didn't think it was too 'girly' at all.  I think it's all about the colors you use and the material of the flowers.  Using anything sheer may have given this page a bit of a feminine appeal which I didn't want.  So I stayed away from organza or sheer flowers.

Both of these photos is my husband.  The one in the background is him at approximately 12 years of age.  The main photo is him today.  My page is about letting my husband know to always keep the 'kid' in him living within his heart.

Here's case file #43 that my page is based on.

I used the following for my evidence: damask, ribbons, frames, something transparent & rub-ons

For my testimony I tied the past to the present.

I found this plate to hold my title.  I adhered some alpha stickers by Glitz Design to a bit of vellum for the title.

My journaling is stored in the scroll.  Something that has become a trademark lately of my pages.  All the pages I've been scrapping lately have a story to tell--& I find that storing my journaling in the form of a scroll is the most convenient way to store it & I love the cute little embellishment it provides my pages.  You can find a tutorial on how I make these scrolls here.

My journaling reads as follows:

I absolutely love this childhood photo of you.  At that point of your life --you were no longer a boy--but you were not quite yet a man.  You were approximately 12 years old here & it amazes me sometimes how I still see that young 'teen' within you at your current age of 42.  Yes, time has taken its toll & physically you are no longer 12--but I still see that kid in your eyes.  That's where he lives.  He also makes guest appearances once in a while within your playful personality.  You stress with the demands that adulthood brings--but once in a while you take the time to touch base with that 12 year old pre-teen.  He's a part of your past--but he still lives within you--don't ever forget to take that kid within your heart always.

I recently bought myself a splatter stamp by Vilda Stamps.  I instantly put it to good use!  Love the paint splatter effect it gave me.  I used Jasmine Mix'd Media Inx by Donna Salazar to stamp my image--then with a white gel pen I colored in some of the splatters to make them pop off the page a bit more.

The background is composed of some hand stitching & ribbons as shown here.

A close up of my cluster of flowers.  The flowers here are composed of Manor House Creations, Wild Orchid Crafts, I Am Roses & resin flowers from my stash.

This gorgeous large flower is by Manor House Creations.  You can see one of my rub-on frames tucked underneath the large flower here.  I applied the rub-on frames to vellum and then cut them out.

The flourish chippies are by Dusty Attic.  I kept the texture of these flourishes simple.  I first painted them with gesso, then inked them with embossing ink & finally heat embossed them with Star Dust transparent embossing powder by Stampendous.  In person, these flourishes give off a fabulous shimmer.

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!  Enjoy the rest of your week.

To Catch A Thief Layout

Hello again fellow scrappers!  Today I'm presenting a page that I made for the latest C.S.I Challenge.  I'm also entering this into the Berry71bleu mixed media challenge going on during this month.  Similar to my 'She Gave Me Wings' page, I once again ended up using several mixed media to achieve the texture you see in my background.

I had actually made this page previously but have been wanting to remake it for some time now since my scrapbooking style has evolved so much during this past year or so.  You can see my original page here.  I was amazed myself when I saw how different my style is today than it was about 2 years ago.  When I first started scrapbooking I kept it safe & simple.  Now, I'm definitely more diverse & take more risks.  I also tend to make my own backgrounds with either stamps or with the use of mixed media.

The theme of this page hasn't changed at all these past few years though--I'm still very much a pen thief and am notorious for swiping them when you least expect it!  :-) I honestly don't mean to do it though--it's just a very bad habit of mine.  My journaling explains it all which is stored in the little pocket on a tag that is pulled out with the use of the tassel.  Journaling reads:

Pens...I buy them, I collect them & yes, I unintentionally steal them. There isn't one cube in my office that I haven't hit. They are left carelessly thrown on top of desks & on shelves. When I visit, I tend to pick these pens up & play with them in my hands while I talk shop. When I walk out of the cube--the pen is still in my hand. It eventually lands into one of the 3 mugs I have on my desk that I use to hold all of my pens. Sometimes, the pen makes it's way back to it's original owner--but most of the time it stays with me & added to my always-growing collection both in the office & at home.

Keep your pens locked up my friends, I come when unexpected & I'm a quiet thief unknown to most including myself. It's a habit I cannot break nor control. I strike by day or night, early or late...

Catch me, if you can...

Here's the C.S.I Case File that I based my page on.

Evidence is as follows: gold elements, texture & tassels

Testimony: I used the 'Journal of Secrets' since this is a secret that I'm willing to share

The chippies are by the Dusty Attic.  I added a couple of elements to these guys as well in order to give them a bit of texture.  I started off by painting them with gesso--once dry I randomly spread Peachy Keen Shimmerz paint & Sunkissed Peach glimmer mist all along my chippies with a thin paint brush.  I then hit my chippies with my heat gun.  Finally, I added Glossy Accents by Ranger to my chippies to give them that epoxy look.

I used a couple of pen nibs by Tim Holtz to convey the theme of my page.  You can see my tag & journaling peeking out from it's pocket here.  The tassel is used to pull the tag out of it's pocket.

I edited my photo with Photoshop.  I felt that turning my photo into a 'pencil sketch' went along with the theme of this page as well.

The doilies I bought from JoAnne's Fabric store.  Resin bird is by Prima.

The metal plate is by Tim Holtz & I felt the statement fit this page perfectly.  'Embrace Imperfection'.  Lord knows I'm anything but perfect & have several bad habits such as this one!

I also randomly added dots of Crystal Ice Stickles & mint rhinestones to my background.  You can find them scattered around here and there.

Large rhinestone button is by Zeus & Zoe.

To give my background some texture I started off with randomly spreading gesso with a sponge.  While the gesso was still wet, I applied the following: gold embossing powder by Stampendous, Dried Marigold & Spiced Marmalade distress embossing powder, gold chunky leaf glitter by Martha Stewart & Gilded Mica fragments by Stampendous.  I then hit the entire background with my heat gun in order to melt the embossing powders.  Once my background was dry I randomly spritzed some Sunkissed Peach glimmer mist & wrapped it all up by randomly spreading some Frosty's Got The Blues Shimmerz paint.  Phew...all that for one background!

The large light peach flower is by Manor House Creations.  Wooden clocks are by Prima.

Thanks to all of you who stop by for a visit.  Have a great weekend everybody!

Abuelita Layout

Hello again fellow scrappers & bloggers!  Today I bring you my debut DT page for Clear Scraps.

I used the 12x12 acrylic sheet as the background for my page & implemented a couple of techniques to give it some color & texture.

This page is a tribute to my grandmother who left my side in 2006 (but not my heart).  She came from Chile to help my mom raise me when I was 3 years old.  In this photo I'm approximately 3 years old.  As you can see, even though I had just recently met her--I was already quite close to her.  She was by my side till the very end. I have been looking for just the right project to showcase this picture of us--and this turned out to be it.

Since the background is completely transparent--this was a bit hard to photograph just right.  I ended up putting the layout against my hard wood floors.  So that's actually my floor you see coming through the background--not really part of my page.  Love the effect acrylic gives!  Adding paints, textures & embellishments take on a whole new look when your background is transparent.

I also ended up submitting this for the CSI challenge, case #38.  I liked the color palette for this case & felt that it would suite my project perfectly.

Here's the CSI challenge & sketch provided by Nadia from OUAS that my page is based on.  For this month only CSI & OUAS has joined forces--so in addition to the color palette we had Nadia's lovely sketches to incorporate into our work.

For my evidence I have: birds, flowers & a border.

For my testimony I have: inspiration words--I used 'together' on my page & also used together in my journaling

Here's a close up of how I gave my acrylic background a bit of texture.

First the border was made with a large home made mask.  My mask covered most of my page.  I then dabbed copper, lettuce, slate & sandal alcohol inks all along the border.  To further accentuate my masked border I added Bisque Liquid Pearl dots.

Next I used a misting mask by Pink Paislee to create the design going down the center of my page.  This was done by dabbing an olive colored acrylic paint along my mask.  While the paint was still wet I sprinkled some Pralines & Cream fairy dust glitter by Donna Salazar & copper chunky leaf glitter by Martha Stewart on it.

My flowers are a combination of fabric, resin & mulberry flowers. The grayish blue flower seen here is by Prima as is the tiny green resin flower peeking out from underneath it.  The little nest is also by Prima as are the rhinestone flourishes.

This very lovely large green flower is by Manor House Creations.  This is from their Winter Song collection called 'Log Cabin'.   I've tucked a bit of off white tulle underneath my flower--this has become a bit of a tradition for me lately.  Adding tulle underneath flowers adds a nice soft touch to my pages.

I've stored my journaling in the form of a scroll.  You can find a tutorial on how I make my scroll journaling here.

I managed to get my hands on some paper cord--also called jute and made a make shift circle frame around my photos.   My photos are matted on a piece of corrugated cardboard and some glassine paper by Tim Holtz.  The glassine has been wrinkled by hand several times & I then smeared some Walnut Stain Distress ink on it.  The ink is 'baked' into the glassine by heat setting it.  A tip I got from Mr. Tim Holtz himself.

This is one of my newest butterflies that will be added to my Etsy shop soon.  I really like the 'Autumn' feel of these little guys.

A close up of the texture added to the corrugated cardboard.  This was done by randomly applying a bit of gesso--while wet I spread some Weathered Wood Distress embossing powder &  Molten Metal enamelz by Shimmerz & heat set it.  To wrap it up I inked the edges with a bit of Walnut Stain & Aged Mahogany distress inks & spritzed the entire corrugated cardboard with Biscotti Perfect Pearl mists.

Thanks to all of you who stop by!

Enjoy the rest of the week...