Endless Love Layout

Good evening fellow scrappers!  Happy May--to me May is equivalent with mom.  This particular Mother's Day was very specifal for me because it's the first Mother's Day that I'll be celebrating being a mom myself!  What an incredibly rewarding feeling this is!  So in honor of this speciall event here's a page made with me & my little guy.  This is a DT page that I've made for Authentique & Clear Scraps.  I've used Authentique's lovely papers from the 'Grace' collection. 'Grace' is geared towards mothers, sisters, daughters, grandmothers or friend.  It's lovely mixture of florals, feminine patters & sweet sentiments which made it just right for this layout based on myself with my little guy.

As my son gets a bit older it's become quite clear that he's got my eyes.  They are large, a bit on the almond shaped side & a perfect shade of dark brown.  My husband's eyes are blue & I remember that I wished so much for my son's eyes to have my husbands ocean blue eyes.  But fate decided that he would have his mother's eyes--and I'm so happy it turned out this way!  I feel so very connected with him in many ways--but the fact that he has his mother's eyes adds one very extra special connection to me.

I've also used one of Clear Scraps newest additions--a Clearly Framed Medium Circle Scallop Frame on this page.


As you can see, I've become addicted to these tiny flocked teddy bears that I buy at my local AC Moore.  I've bought many of them in all different colors!  They make for the cutest embellishments for child or baby themed pages!

The wooden sentiment spoke to me in a special way--basically because since my son was born I've always sang to him "You Are My Sunshine".  Whether it's to soothe him from crying, to put him to sleep or to make him smile--the song does wonders for him.

I've once again used the hot air balloon die by La-La Land Crafts!   I feel that it's the cutest die & can be decorated in several ways.

To make the waved border seen in the background of my page, I've used a template by Kiwi Lane called Paisley Place.   To further decorate this border I've adhered a bit of lace to the bottom layer & edge of the top layer is distressed & inked.

Here you can see several papers from the 'Grace' collection layered to form my background as well as one of their many stickers that are part of & coordinate with this collection.

Here's a close up of the Clear Scraps Scallop Circle Frame.  I first highlighted the border of the frame with a permanent white Sharpie Oil Based Paint Marker.  I then cut the frame in half--ran each half through my Big Shot in order to dry emboss it & give it a bit of dimension & texture & I was done!  This is a very simple technique for acrylic but adds a really nice subtle touch to any project.

The butterflies are items from my small Etsy shop--these would be the 'Vintage Flair' butterflies.  I have these & many other butterflies available in shop here if interested.

This lovely handmade flower was bought from yet another Etsy shop titled 'More Paper Than Shoes'.  Anna, the owner, makes many beautiful & delicate handmade flowers--not just for crafting but for weddings, corsages and more!  You can check out her shop here if interested.

I really enjoy all the little sentiments that came with this collection.  I didn't have many coordinating embellies on hand for this page--but when I saw all of the little sentiments & stickers that came with 'Grace' I realized that I had nothing to worry about.

Thanks for taking the time to stop by--hope you all had a wonderful Mother's Day.  Enjoy the rest of the week!

Like Father Like Son Layout

Good evening fellow scrappers!  Today I'm sharing a page that recently went up on the Authentique blog.  I've used papers from their fabulous 'Strong' collection.  The patterns, designs & colors of this collection are absolutely perfect for masculine themed pages.

Lately I've been taken several photos of my husband & son together & this one is my most recent favorite.  Here they are on Superbowl Sunday posing in matching NY Giants jerseys.  Eli Manning jerseys to be exact!  My husband is making sure that my son is a die hard NY Giants fan from very early on.

From a scrapper's point of view I noticed that the bright blue colors of the jerseys went along perfectly with the colors in the 'Strong' collection.  :-)  That's how I see most of my photos...what's the predominant color in the photo and which papers fit that photo best.

I'm sure many of you are used to seeing my journaling stored in the form of a scroll.  I just can't get enough of this way of storing journaling.  I love it!!  Can you tell? I only seem to use it in just about every other layout I do.  For me it's been a life saver since I tend to tell a story with all of my pages.  I had to always adhere my story to the back and I didn't really want to do that--being able to store my story as part of my page, keeping it private & being able to add a unique type of embellishment to my page satisfies all my needs!  So I think you'll be seeing these little scrolls for a bit longer!

If anyone is interested, I did make a tutorial on how I go about making these scrolls.  You can find that tutorial here.

I framed my photo with elements & die cuts that come with the 'Strong' collection.  I just inked the edges a bit and highlighted the polka dots on the patterned paper by adding a bit of Star Dust Stickles to them.

The splatters were made with a stamp by Vilda Stamps conveniently called 'Splatter'.  I also added dots of dark blue acrylic paint to the splatters.  I randomly adhered a bit of pearls & rhinestones onto my background.

I decided to do a bit of fancy stitching on this page.  I combined both bakers twine & embroidery floss to create these very long stitches.

With a paper piercer I've pierced holes along the border.  I used the 12" Design Ruler by Tim Holtz to pierce the holes.  This ruler has holes in it just for this purpose.  I pierced every other hole in order to space out my twine/floss.  I then strung the twine through a needle and this is how I thread my twine/floss through the pierced hole & the mini note that is holding my title as well.

With a 3/16" circle hand punch, I've punched a hole in the middle of the mini note (elements that also come with the 'Strong' collection) and converted the mini note into a tag.  Instead of stringing ribbon through the hole--I instead reinforced the punched hole with an eyelet & strung the baker's twine & embroidery floss through it.  I then covered all that strung twine & floss with a brown mulberry paper daisy.

Thanks for stopping by--your visits are always truly appreciated.  Enjoy the rest of the week!

Dance In The Rain Layout

Good evening fellow scrappers!  Today's post consists of a page I made for Clear Scraps a couple of months ago when we did a cross promotion with SEI, but never got around to posting.

All the papers seen here are by SEI and I've used an XL Dazed Shape & an acrylic Fleur-d-Lis by Clear Scraps.

This is my little Toby as a puppy back in 2008.  He had just finished running around or 'dancing' as I like to think of it as--in a summer rainstorm with me.  It's one of my fondest memories of him as a puppy.

Dancing in at least one summer rainstorm is kind of a tradition of mine.  This was the first time I actually had someone join me!  He ran all around the backyard in his yellow slicker--chasing me around & just enjoying life & the fabulous rain.  Needless to say, I looked just as drenched as he did after it was all over.  :-)  We had a lot of fun that day...

I'm also happy to say that this was the layout that was printed in the PaperHaus Spring Issue 2013!  I was quite honored & happy to be selected along with other such wonderful talent.

The SEI papers are from their Vanilla Sunshine collection.  It's such a bright and happy collection--I really enjoyed working with it!

The lovely ruffled light blue flower seen here I bought from an Etsy shop called More Paper Than Shoes.  Anna the owner, has many absolutely gorgeous handmade paper flowers for all sorts of occasions in this shop--she does lovely work.

The vellum flowers were handmade by me & the light blue organza star flower seen in the bottom right hand corner are flowers from my stash.   I have many of these flowers in all different colors currently available in my own Etsy shop if anyone is interested.

I tucked a bit of yellow tulle from underneath my large yellow flower--right next to it is a cute little mushroom bird. 

I feel that adding a bit of tulle to your pages softens it a bit--at least this is the impression tulle gives me.

A combination of Prima & handmade flowers.  The buttons seen here are by an Etsy shop called Zeus & Zoe.  The owner Marivic has these & many other fabulous items for crafting in her shop!

This acrylic Fleur-d-Lis is one of Clear Scraps Clearly Accent Embellishments.  I've applied drops of blue & yellow alcohol inks directly onto the acrylic in order to give it a bolder effect.  I highlighted the edges with a black Sharpie Oil Based Paint Pen.

I've stamped an image by Stampers Anonymous directly onto my acrylic background with jet black Staz On ink.  As always, do remember to use solvent ink whenever stamping onto your acrylic.  Using any other kind of ink will cause your image to smear.

I've used two punches by Martha Stewart to create this border--the deep edge Scroll Heart & the Deco Fan.  I've inked the edges & dressed up the designs of the punch with dots of Stickles & Liquid Pearls.

I applied the same technique to the edge of the acrylic XL Dazed Shape in the background--I accentuated the border with a yellow Sharpie Oil Based Paint Pen & dots of blue Liquid Pearls.

As usual, I've decided to store my journaling in the form of a scroll.  I wanted to document exactly how Toby decided to 'dance' with me in the rain that one stormy summer afternoon.

If interested in how I make these journaling scrolls--you can find a tutorial here.

As you can see, I sometimes even keep the fortunes from my fortune cookies & use them as embellishments!  I was in the process of creating this layout when we decided to get Chinese one lazy afternoon.  When I got this fortune I felt it was just right for my layout--I just inked the edges & adhered it.

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

Complete Love Layout

Good afternoon fellow scrappers!  It's time for another challenge over at OUAS & as usual Nadia has picked a fabulous theme.  April's theme is: The Best Day of Your Life

This can be any day that is of significance importance to you.  Anything from a child's birth, wedding, buying your first home, to getting that much deserved promotion or landing your dream job there really is no right or wrong.

From my perspective, I've picked the recent birth of my first son.  As the title implies, having him come into our lives felt as if our family was finally 'complete'.  It's been my husband, my fur pup Toby & myself for 5 years now.  Having my son was like finding that missing piece to a puzzle.  Our family now feels complete as well as our circle of love.

The very large 'Love' is one of Clear Scraps acrylic expressions.  This would be their Large 'Love' Expressions.  I've also used a 6"x6" mascil by Clear Scraps titled Quarterfoil to add a bit of texture to my background.

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

I've cut the acrylic 'Love' in half in order to fit it onto my page.  I traced the letters onto patterned paper, cut them out and adhered the paper to my letters.  I wanted to accentuate the edges of my letters a bit more--so I went around all the edges with a white gel pen and then added a bit of shimmer by going along the edges with Star Dust Stickles.

The chipboard hearts & banner are by Imaginarium Designs.  To give the chippies thier texture, I've inked them in embossing ink & heat embossed them with gray embossing powder.  I tend to give my chippies a bit of glimmer.  So I decided to heat emboss my chippies again but this time with clear Star Dust Embossing Powder by Stampendous.  In person, these chippies have a fabulous shimmer!

The two center hearts shown in this screen shot I inked with Pumice Stone Distress Ink and then added a thick layer of Pewter Distress Stickles.

Aren't these little mushroom birds the cutest?  Wherever I find them, I tend to buy a few.  I love adding them as little embellies here n' there to my projects.

The light blue flowers are part of a Prima vine that I cut in half in order to place the flowers on both sides of my photos.

The pink organza star flower are items from my stash.  I have many of these in all colors & have recently decided to add them to my Etsy shop--so they're up for grabs if interested!

My journaling is stored in the tag shown here.  I added a bit of gray tulle to the tag.

I found these silver foil doilies that really add a nice 'silvery' touch to any projects that have a grayish tone in their color scheme.  This is the first time I had the chance to work with these silver foil doilies & I loved the effect they gave my page!

Here's a close up of the masking made with Clear Scraps Quarterfoil mascil.  I used Weathered Wood Distress ink & added a dot of Silver Stickles in between each design.

As always a big thanks to all of you who stop by for a visit.  Make sure you all stop by the OUAS blog to check out the other talented DT's take on this challenge.  Do play along if you can!  There are several fabulous prizes for some lucky winners.  Enjoy the rest of the week!

My Sweet Little Lamb Layout

Good evening fellow scrappers!  Today I bring to you my debut page for Authentique!  I was very much looking forward to working with their wonderful products--Authentique is known for their thick heavy weight paper & I utilized this characteristic to create some very simple handmade embellishments in the form of paper scrolls.  Before I go on any further though--just a bit about the theme of this page.

This would be my newborn son at approximately 1 month & 1/2 of age wearing his very cute lil' blue elf hat.  These photos were taken in December of 2012 & I remember that day vividly.  He was actually quite the tiny cranky pants that day because we decided to take pictures of him too close to his scheduled dinner time.  You can see the poutiness creeping up on his face--needless to say we kept this photo shoot short--but did manage to take a few pics--this being one of them.

For this page I've used Authentique's Hope Collection.  This collection is geared towards Easter but I wanted to show that these papers can be used for other themes as well.  In fact, they work perfectly for masculine/boy themed pages.  I chose bold embellishments that would bring out the primary colors of the Hope papers.

The large silk light yellow flower shown here is from Funtoolas Etsy shop.  There are many more lovely fabric flowers in this shop along with a few other crafting embellishments in this shop if interested.

I found this quote online & found it to go along nicely with my page.  I found it to be so very true & printed the quote directly onto my photo.

The banners are cutouts from a Hambly Print overlay...the resin domino pieces are embellies from my stash--if I remember correctly, I found them in the clearance bin at my local Michaels--they're actually considered beads since they have holes in them & you can run string through.  Personally, I saw them as really cute embellishments for scrappy projects!

Sometimes, the best embellishments are the paper themselves & with the simplest of techniques.   Authentique's paper has a perfect thick texture to them in order to create sturdy paper scrolls.  I've taken several pieces from the Hope collection & have rolled them to create random scrolls onto my page.  These little rolls of paper make for an interesting visual embellishment on your layouts & are also a great way to use up leftover scraps.  I've spread several of these scrolls throughout my page & have made them in different sizes.  When adhering these paper scrolls, try not to adhere them in any particular order--just randomly adhere them & you'll notice that this looks more visually appealing to the eye.

Take a closer look at the third scroll from the bottom. This scroll also happens to be my journaling.  Storing journaling on scrolls has become almost a trademark on my pages.  TIP: This is a great way to store large journaling or stories without taking too much space on your pages.  I typed up my journaling on my computer & printed it onto vellum--then I rolled it up & adhered it to my page with a leftover strip of scrap paper that I use to keep my scroll in place.

If interested on how I go about making these scrolls--feel free to check out the tutorial here.  

Isn't this the cutest fuzzy teddy bear embellishment?  I bought several of these in different colors.  I find them to be the perfect embellishment for baby themed pages!

These are the my latest butterflies & will be added to my small Etsy shop very soon.  To see more butterfly embellishments--feel free to visit my shop here.

More paper scrolls, strategically placed onto the background of my layout.

The majority of the embellishments used on this page are from Hope's Details & Statements sticker elements. If your scrap approach is anything like mine, you tend to arrange & re-arrange the many embellishments on your page at least 101 times!  So being able to freely move sticker elements around without worrying about them sticking to your page adds flexibility during your page design.  TIP: Something I tend to do with sticker elements is to stick them onto transparencies.  This way I can cut them out & then adhere them anywhere onto my page without having to worry about making a mistake as to where I place my stickers.  If you wish to eliminate an extra step, Authentique's DT Coordinator, Emily gave me yet another tip.  Sprinkle a bit of baby powder to the back of the stickers to remove the stickiness.  Either way will work!

So all of the stickers seen on this page have been adhered to transparencies first, cut out & then adhered with your basic glue or pop dots to my page in order to give them more dimension.

As always, many thanks for those of you who stop by for a visit.  Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Your Everything Layout

Hello once again fellow scrappers! Happy belated Valentine's Day to you all. I hope many of you gave & received much TLC to all your loved ones yesterday & every day! Why just keep it to just one day right? Spread the love daily is what I say! :-) On that note--this page is a bit on the romantic side.

This would be me & my husband on our wedding day.  I titled this layout 'Your Everything' which is the song that was playing when this photo was taken.  My husband requested the DJ to play this song by Keith Urban & then proceeded to dance & sing it to me.  It came as a bit of a surprise since I didn't know he was going to ask for this special request.  This would be my husband at his best!  :-)

This page was made with two products that are part of Clear Scraps newest releases--the Hearts Acrylic Border & the 6" Chicken Wire mascil.


This large sheer organza ribbon is actually two bows that I hot glued together in the form of a cross.  So it looks fancier than what it really is.

Underneath it is a Prima vine that I tore apart & adhered strategically underneath it.


All papers & the stamped images are by My Mind's Eye (Follow Your Heart - Be Happy Collection). Here you can see the large floral stamped image and the honeycomb image that I randomly stamped in the bottom right hand corner.


Here's a closeup of the Chicken Wire mascil. I placed the mascil in the corners of my page & spritzed Graphite Glimmer Mist & just a hint of My Bleeding Heart Coloringz by Shimmerz over it. Next I removed my mask & LISTO! Instant decorative & shimmery background!

The large leaf flourish die is the Mega Fanciful Flourish by Cheery Lynn Designs.  I further decorated the flourish die by adding dots of acrylic paint to the ends of the swirls.

You can also see in this close up that I randomly added dots of Diamond Stickles to my background.  Adding dots of light colored shimmer adds a nice touch to your background.


Here's a closeup of the Hearts Acrylic Border.  To give this border it's texture--I first highlighted the edges with a black Sharpie Oil Based Paint Pen--then I colored the border with Red Pepper & Silver alcohol inks.  Finally I stamped the word 'love.' with black Staz On ink to the hearts.  TIP: Always remember to use solvent inks & permanent markers with acrylic.  Using any other kind of inks or markers will cause your work to smear.


The paper heart border was made with Martha Stewart's Lattice Heart deep edge punch.  I accentuated the design with dots of pink acrylic paint.


These butterflies are a fairly new addition to my Etsy shop.  They are called 'Angelus' & like all the butterflies in my shop come in sets of  3.  Although they can be made in any size!  If interested in these or any other kind of butterflies--feel free to visit my shop.

A big thanks to all of you who stopped by for a visit.  An even bigger thanks for those of you who leave a comment.  I always appreciate the gesture!

Hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's--enjoy the rest of the weekend!