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Slowing Down

Quilting. I spent the quiet evening last night preparing squares for Ethan's quilt. I prepped the fabric, cut the squares, and sorted them in organized piles on my kitchen table. My plan is to start sewing the pieces together next week. This week is already over scheduled. I decided to keep this quilt simple. No complex, fancy patterns. I was tempted, but I knew if I didn't keep it simple, it would never get done. Quilting is different from scrapbooking in that way..it takes time and lots of it. It also takes a great deal of patience, which is something I lost the moment I started scrapbooking. I'm all about instant gratification. Life is easier that way. I think it's still important to slow down and focus on the details. I still try to do this with scrapbooking. My quilting habits have transferred over into my scrapbooking regime. I still like to take my time. Not be rushed. Though, finishing a page doesn't take nearly as long as finishing a quilt. A quilt can take months to create, which is something I'm not particularly used to anymore. I do miss it, but scrapbooking allows me more creative opportunity. Here's what I finished last night:

And a little pile to bring with me into my scrapbook room. I plan on using these for scrapbooking. The colors are pure eye candy. That red makes my heart skip a beat. I just love how it pops out at you and beckons to be used.

There were many of you that asked me to post pictures of how I store my chipboard/small scrapbook supply items. You know, those little pieces that you can never keep track of. We collect piles of them and often times, we don't use them because we can't access them easily as we can our paper, stamps, rub-ons, etc. Well, here is my solution to storing the itty bitty stuff. The drawers are from Target and I've color categorized each drawer:

Notice how I even throw in those small epoxy pieces from Making memories. I figure I'll be more apt to use them if I can see them directly by opening a drawer. Same goes with all the other stuff, including felt diecuts.

I store my small transparency pieces the same way. I've been building a stash of transparency diecuts for a while, but I never really sorted through them. Seeing the collection of items has really inspired me creatively. Looking at our supplies re-familiarizes us with our scrapbook collection. This has been a good way for me to identify what I own and what I should use on future layouts. It's also been a great excuse for recycling those things I no longer use.

I've also done the same thing with my buttons:

For all my labels, diecuts, and titles, I purchased some smaller drawer sets from Target. You can see the set-up below:

I've definitely been paying more attention to these itty bitty items since I organized them a few weeks ago. I'm so glad I made the transition to store them in drawers. I keep them out on my desk and within hand's reach. It makes the whole process that much easier. It also makes using what I buy a standard practice for me.

I have thought about the next tutorial. I went through my supplies and found a pile of these..borders. There are a various kinds from stickers, stamps, to rub-ons. I'm going to focus my attention on "edges", not just sticker borders. "The Edge" tutorial will be posted next week.

I quickly want to share these..I found them at a quaint stamp shop today. Memory Box Acrylic Stamps and Paper. The stamps are small, but beautiful. The paper is 6" x 6" only..no 12" x 12". Their focus is mainly cardmakers. I couldn't resist the bird pattern papers. They sort of remind me of the Basic Grey pattern paper collections, but these patterns have a more whimsical feel. You can find them online at "Stamping Cottage" (both stamps and paper).

I think we are all thankful that Summer is here. I hope the many of you are enjoying it..we certainly are. Have a great day everyone! Take care.

Couldn't Resist...

I've mentioned it a few times here and there. I have a long history with fabric. I was a quilter for years before jumping into the scrapbook arena. It hasn't called me for quite some time. I haven't been bitten by the quilting bug since I started scrapbooking. Then, along came this years Spring "Quilt Market". Oh boy, how do I resist so much temptation that has found it's way into my heart as I browse the various trade show booths online? So many photos of colorful vibrant fabrics, bold patterns, and gorgeous quilts. M-U-S-T resist! I lack will power..I found some new fabric yesterday online and I'm going to piece together something for Ethan. It's designed by Anna Maria Horner and she sells it sweet, little bundles of it at her shop:

Isn't this stack delightful? Don't you just want to wrap yourself in all that color? Imagine having a house decorated in these lively colors? I would so be in heaven! I think I feel some new scrapbook color combos brewing in my brain as I look at all this goodness. Can't wait for this stack to reach my mailbox. Check out her booth at show:

Those chairs live in her home. I've linked her up once or twice now here at my blog, but she's posted more on her blog since then..check out her studio while you're there. I wonder if she would let me move in? Smile. She's got a great sense of style.

Speaking of things arriving at my front door, these are just some of the buttons that came my way today. I picked these up at Ebay. They didn't look this good in the photo posted at auction, but I took a chance and bought them anyway. They cost me all of "two bucks". Can you believe it? So glad I bought these! The real pile of buttons is four times the size of this collection. I have a ton more buttons on order also. I've been craving them lately...every time my button collection starts to feel "dry", I run out and buy more vintage buttons. They're laden with history. They simply don't make buttons this cool anymore. My faves are the "art deco" buttons. I also like the plastic, molded flower buttons. Those are a bit tougher to find. If you're ever in the market for funky vintage buttons, ebay's the place to find them.

Finished up a final layout for Prima this month. It was so unexpected. I didn't pre-plan this layout. It was a spontaneous creation. The "Rose" transparency was sitting on my desk. While at Michaels craft store the other day, I found this paint that's made to be used on plastic. I bought a set (it was on clearance) and decided to try it out on the transparency. I painted the back side of the transparency by following the lines of the drawing. I wasn't particularly picky about hues..as long as there was some variation of dark and light tones, I was ok with the results. To my surprise, the painting turned out better than I expected. It was a little difficult using the plastic paints-they were a tad bit clumpy, but I watered them down some and they worked out fine. They also dried fairly quickly, which was a nice surprise. Here's a close-up shot:

That sweet little guy in the photo is my nephew "Jackson". He's got the most beautiful blue eyes I've ever seen and he captures the camera's attention instantly the moment it finds him. He's absolutely adorable.

*Crate Paper will soon be announcing their new design team. We are currently in the process of contacting people and will make the final announcement once we've contacted everyone. Thank you for your patience to those waiting to hear from us!

Spring Cleaning & Two Prima Layouts

Getting ready for Summer..finally. We've said good-bye to Winter and now we're making room for brighter days. The air is warming up and my lawn is turning into a dandelion haven. I spent a lot of time this weekend sprucing up the yard. My family came over to help me out. It's now become a group task because I can't manage it on my own anymore. My yard is big enough to be a parking lot for the local Target. My family volunteered to help me out with it. We tidied it up a bit. We got the bushes trimmed, the porch cleaned, the lawn mowed, put out flower baskets, added cushions to the front porch chairs, and set-up new landscape lighting along the side walk to my front door. It looks a hundred times better than it did last Fall. I'm really happy with the way it turned out. Of course, it's not professionally landscaped, but that wasn't the goal. I just wanted it to look a little more inviting. I think we pulled it off. I'm definitely ready for Summer now...can hardly wait for it.  

I've been staying up late again these last few nights. It's the ideal time to scrapbook..the house is quiet and there's uninterrupted time for my favorite activities. I put together two layouts for Prima. They're complete opposites of one another, but I felt like doing something a little different. They're simpler and less layered. One is very graphic and was inspired by a home interior photo I found in the latest issue of "Domino" magazine. You can see it below:

I'd love to have an office like this...but, I could hardly afford the chair..laugh. That's why photos like these are so great. You still get to see the room, but you don't have to buy the furniture. Plus, my interior design preferences change so quickly that owning the office might not be the best solution to me liking this room. In another week, I'll find a new office I'll want to create in...creative minds never settle.

This is a really bright photo..I couldn't get my exposure right for the life of me. Please excuse the fluorescent pink paper..it doesn't glow in real life. Laugh. This is the layout inspired by the magazine ad above.

I like the contrast between the black felt and the pink cardstock. I've not combined bright pink and black before. It's not something I would of thought of on my own. This gives me good reason to seek inspiration from places I don't normally visit while scrapbooking. Most of the product on this layout is Prima, including the black felt overlay and flowers. The yellow paper is SEI, which is new and only sold at Michaels. I just found it a few days ago.

More Prima goodness and Ethan's first pair of Summer Sandals.

Going to finish this post with a few photos I'll be adding to my inspiration binder for future projects. You can find more at Domino Magazine's website: HERE.

These photos should make you think "Summer". More later!

Love Forever

Sure enough, the Internet Explorer browser window closed after attempting a post with Typepad. I really miss the old version of the compose window. I know a number of people love it, but I'm not fan. I like my compose window user friendly and open. I'm going to attempt this one more time...

I finished it last night. This layout was a huge challenge for me, but well worth the effort. Laugh. How does one balance a layout with a big circle in the center of it? It felt empty to me with only the circle. It needed some direction...lines. Lines guide the eye. Without them, a layout lacks boundaries. The viewer will be unable to keep their eyes on the page. So, as I sat looking at this thing last night, I kept thinking to myself "how on earth I'm I going to deal with this issue?" 1:00 am rolled around and my brain went into sleep mode. Still, the same question lingered.  I thought I was going to have to put toothpicks in my eyes to keep them open. I wanted to get this layout done. I new if I didn't, it would sit on my desk for weeks without completion. I finally decided on a simple title, some drawn lines, a slice of green pattern paper, and a few scallop edges. There was already a lot going on in the center of the layout. I wanted to keep whatever was around it simple and clean. I think I made ok choices here. I decided to keep this layout on my bedside table for a while. I like the colors and the attention to detail. I also like the multi-circle concept. It's new, fresh, and something different from what I normally do. I'm glad to be doing the tutorials..I think they'll help me expand my design horizons. Here's a few close-ups:

The vintage peach button took me by surprise. I hadn't planned on bringing this color into the layout. I like combining things that don't totally match. Whether that be color, pattern, texture, etc, variety is key for me. I like combining things in a way that creates surprise and unexpected contrast. I intentionally choose non-matching items when creating a layout. Design benefits from variety. That's my motto.

I decided it was time to reorganize my chipboard, die-cuts, labels, note cards, and all the other little scrapbook pieces that were sitting in piles on my shelves. I think these are some of the hardest supply items to keep organized. I ran to Target and picked up some storage drawers (the mini ones). Each type of item is organized by color. I have a set of three drawers for chipboard, six for die-cuts, three for transparency die-cuts, and a few misc. drawers for some other small items. I wanted to have these items quickly accessible to me. All I have to do now is pull out one of the mini drawers and put it on my desk when I'm working on a layout. It's working out really well so far. Glad I took the initiative to get this done. I've been putting it off for a long time. Now, whenever I buy one of those K & Company mixed bag of die-cuts, I can sort them out by color and throw them in to their appropriate drawers. So easy. I'll post pics of the system tomorrow or Monday.

My next plan of action is to start working on some Prima design assignments. I'll also post those later this week. Hope all of you are having a wonderful Memorial Weekend! Be safe & enjoy the holiday!

Bi-Weekly Tutorial: Circle Punches

(Sending my apologies ahead of time for the appearance of this post. Typepad is making some big changes to the "compose window" and it's not working as it should. It's driving me mad!)

I know many of you have been waiting for my first bi-weekly tutorial. I just finished taking the last of the photos for the tutorial this morning and I’ve decided to post the tutorial today. I actually had the first part of the tutorial written up, but lost it when my browser closed on me due to a strange “error”, which I’m sure has something to do with Typepad’s new compose window. I’m going to start this once again, but this time around, I’m going to type it in Microsoft Word first. Laugh. Maybe this time around I won’t lose everything I’ve written..lesson learned.

I have a rather large basket sitting next to my desk that is full of misc. shape paper punches. I’m a paper punch hoarder. I didn’t used to be. I actually didn’t use paper punches very often when I first started scrapbooking. It wasn’t until I started doing design work that I realized their full potential. Designers are often faced with limited choices when scrapbooking. Supplies usually consist of pattern paper, cardstock, and a few embellishments. We usually have to rely on basic scrapbook supplies to help us create and implement ideas for layouts and projects.  I’ve come to depend on my paper punches and my handy dandy scissors for layout designs. Without them, I’d be lost and my creating abilities would be extremely limited.  I regularly turn to my circle paper punches when working on a layout. Circle punches are quick and easy tools to use in creating one-of-a-kind handmade embellishments. They’re also perfect for bringing softness to a strong angular design. I’ve been experimenting a lot with circles over the last few months. They resonant energy and bring a sense of movement to a layout/project.  You can layer them, cut them up, glue them back together, and make them any size you want. It’s a versatile shape and even easier to create using paper punch tools. In the photo below, you’ll see an assortment of circle paper punches. All of these were used for this tutorial.

Sizes include 5/8”, 1”, 1.5” & 2.5”

Like many of you, I have a number of magazine subscriptions that I refer to for design ideas. I’m always ripping out articles and pictures to add to my idea binder. This particular purse caught my eye after I noticed the pattern on the fabric. I love how the circles come together to create a large circle. I decided that this would be my first demonstration in using circle punches. Circle punches can easily be used to create a personalized pattern on a layout. I took this particular pattern and added it to the layout below. Note how it was done:

First, I created an open space on the layout to make room for the pattern.

I used a canister top as a template for outlining circles on the layout. I carefully chose the placement of the circles so that the circles were aligned and off center. These drawn circles will be used as a guide for gluing punched circles to the page.

Next, I punched out 50 + 5/8" circles from cardstock. I adhered to them to the page as shown in the photo below. The layout is now partially completed. Note that this technique takes a little practice, but it's worth the time and effort. You have to carefully watch the placement of the punched circles as you adhere them to the page. Once you've developed a rhythm, it's pretty simple to do. I'll complete this layout next week. 

My next idea for using circle punches was inspired by another magazine article. I didn't take a picture of it, but it's one of my favorite techniques so far. I even managed to bring a new writing tool to the table for this project. I combined a cluster of various size punched paper circles to create one large circle. I included photos of Ethan within the cluster of circles. There wasn't room within this design for a large photo'(s), so I turned to my circle punches to help me out. Here's how to start this technique:

First, create a base for the design. I used green scallop cardstock for edging and a sheet of ivory cardstock for the background. I brought out a large Rubbermade container to use as a template for drawing a large circle on the layout. I lightly drew around the base of the container (Very Lightly!) with a pencil. I even went back and erased the pencil so the outline was barely noticeable. I drew over the outline with a brown .05 Zig Writer Marker. I drew over the outline (in a messy fashion) three to four times. Using a gold gel pen, I filled in the open outlines of the circle. Refer to photo below:

Next, using various size circle punches, I cut out circles from various sheets of pattern paper. Using a Gold Leaf Pen, I painted the edges of each circle (to create the illusion of a border) Gold.

Each circle was adhered to the layout as shown below. Some of the circles were adhered to the layout using Foam Core Pop Dots. In doing this, I wanted to bring another layer to the pattern and make it appear lively and fun.

This layout is not yet complete, but it will find its way to the finishing line next week. I'll post it then.

I was reading in my newly subscribed "Domino" issue that the "Fish Scale" pattern is making a comeback in home interior design. After thinking about this pattern for a few minutes, I thought it would be an interesting texture to bring to layout. It can easily be done using paper punches. I know we're not all running out to buy paper punches to create "fish scales" on our layouts, but the effect is actually quite appealing. Take a look:

Using a 2.5" circle punch, I punched out one large circle from a bold pattern paper and another from a lightly colored pattern paper. I cut each one in fourths and arranged & adhered them on white cardstock in a fish scale fashion as shown below:

I'm going to work this into a layout in the next few weeks. I love how this turned out!

With summer just around the corner, how can one resist creating some fun, funky flowers? I'll be adding these to the first layout introduced in this tutorial. Here's what they look like:

Using a 2.5" circle punch, I cut a circle from a pink polka dot piece of Amy Butler paper. I then cut the same size circle from a red piece of Amy Butler paper. I cut the red circle in sixths. I adhered five sections of the cut red circle to the pink circle using Foam Core Pop Dots and then added a 1" light turquoise circle to the center of it. I topped it off with a cream color vintage button and rhinestone.

 

This one is similar to the one above, though the circles were adhered in a different order. It's pretty much the same concept, but with different paper.

One last technique before finishing this tutorial, I've seen this technique done elsewhere, but I thought I'd include it here anyway. I have a lot of lace paper sitting around. I don't use it very often, but I thought this was a creative, unique way to use it on a layout/project. Punch circles from lace paper and back with cardstock. To make them more dimensional, add another layer of cardstock and a few embellishments. Here are a few that I made last evening:

 I hope you've made use of the tutorial. I really learned a lot by putting this tutorial together. It's getting me to think outside the box, which is good for flexing those creative muscles. I'll post another in two weeks. Enjoy! 

I think this is the longest I've gone without updating the blog. There's a reason for my absence and it's a good one. I've started my new job with Crate Paper Inc. and right now, I'm investing a great deal of time in the new position. I'm the new Design Team Coordinator & Blog Manager for Crate Paper Inc. I accepted the position two weeks ago and will be working from home. I can't even begin to tell all of you how excited I am to work for Crate Paper! It's an amazing opportunity and is playing a major role in helping me rebuild my life. With that said, I'm now busy putting together a new design team for Crate Paper and later on, you'll be able to find me here and at Crate Paper. As always, I'll continue to design on the side for various companies and work on personal projects and tutorials for my blog. Maybe some day I'll be able to squeeze in a book, but that's an entirely different topic. Laugh. Right now, I'm focusing most of my energy on Crate Paper and the weekly tutorial. Both have been keeping me very busy, especially these last couple of evenings. Speaking of tutorials..

I'm almost done with this week's tutorial. After spending two nights on it, I've decided I'm going to present one tutorial every two weeks instead of one tutorial a week. I want give each tutorial a 100% and have them be informative and fresh. As mentioned before, each tutorial will focus on a tool or scrapbook supply item. This week, I've been playing around with various size circle punches. I've already gathered technique ideas using this basic scrapbook supply item, though I've not finished implementing them on paper. I will have the tutorial ready to post by Thursday or Friday. While waiting, start taking out those dusty circle punches and get them ready for this week's tutorial. I'll post some sneak peeks of this week's tutorial tomorrow evening. Thank you for being so patient with me these last few days! More tomorrow. 

A New Weekly Tutorial Series

First off, thank you for all the responses to the last post. Many of you have shown interest in a weekly technique tutorial. So, I've decided to move forward with the idea and starting next week, the focus of the first technique tutorial will be "circle punches". I'll demonstrate using photos and written instructions, how to use circle punches in new, fun exciting ways to enhance your layout designs. I'll post the tutorial late next week here at my blog. Thank you again for providing me feedback on this topic.

Lately, I've developed a growing interest for Turquoise & Red. They're a happy medium. One is a bit on the "cool" side of the color wheel and the other hangs out on the warm side of the color wheel. Together, they make the perfect pair. Both colors come alive when used together. They give off a vintage flair and remind me of the quilts my grandmother used to make. So, two nights ago, I took out a new Amy Butler pattern sheet of paper (Red floral circles) and a softly spoken, Jenny Bowlin polka-dotted piece of pattern paper and started working on the layout above. I did a lot of experimenting with this layout and tried on a few new techniques using "circle punches"...go figure.

A K & Company label sticker sits behind the title of this page, "Say Hello To My Little Guy". I distressed the label sticker with a nail file and Ranger Distress Ink (Walnut) before adding it the layout. The label itself sits on top of a small strip of "Vanilla" cardstock. I did this because I needed to extend the length of the label to make room for the title. If you find yourself wanting to use a label on a page/project and it's not large enough for what you need to do, make it bigger by adhering it to a piece of cardstock neutral in color. Going "over" the edge of a sticker with writing or other elements is ok. Not everything should have to fit in a tidy box.

Pieces. Pieces. More Pieces. Never accept the way anything appears. This can be said about any scrapbook product. Whether it be a bold piece of pattern paper or a label sticker, cut it up. You don't have to use these things as "is". Play up your favorite scrapbook product by using the part of the product you love the most. Skip the pressure of using something as a whole and make it your own instead.

You might have noticed the blue scallop frames on the layout. These are "Just Edges" from Bazzill. I was first introduced to them by Studio Calico when working with one of their kits a few months ago. I'm sort of addicted to them now and I've collected quite a few colors since their release. These frames were "cut to size" from two scallop blue edges. When I was putting together the frames, I hand-cut the corners to make them rounded. It was a little tricky, but I didn't want to lose the affect of a nicely shaped corner, so I spent a little extra time on this part of the layout.

A red floral border goes a long way on a layout. This border sort of happened by accident. I was playing around with punches and started cutting out circles from the Amy Butler pattern paper. I then started cutting out circles from the punched circles. Before I knew it, I had circles upon circles to play with and to layer on top of each other. Some of the circles were adhered to Sand color cardstock and "re-punched" out. I adhered the floral pattern circles to the page as shown using a combination of pop-dots and wet adhesive. I then stamped around some of the floral circles using a Fontwerks scallop frame stamp and Sand color ink in an attempt to bring another layer to the already lively border. The border itself serves to keep the viewers eye from falling off the bottom of the page and and it also introduces the title. It's the first thing you notice when looking at the layout.

I'm retiring for the evening. Going to work on the tutorial and some other projects I have going on right now over the weekend. I'll be back to post on Sunday evening. Have a great weekend everyone!

A Surprise Find

Many of the local scrapbook stores have been closing in the Twin Cities Metro Area over the last year or so. We're now mostly surrounded by Archiver stores and other large chains selling scrapbook product. There's been a loss in selection with the closing of the little shops. It's getting harder to find specialized scrapbook product and smaller company items. So, when I visited "Anchor Paper" today, I was pleased to find "Kaiser Craft" product and various other new products being sold on their store shelves. I brought home new Prima Belle Fleurs, lots of new Kaiser Craft product, gold foil stickers, new American Craft chipboard, Basic Grey paper and stickers, Making Memories letter stickers, and more. I will add, that we are fortunate here in the cities to have some awesome scrapbook stores still with us, those include "The Scrapbook Shop", "The Pine City Scrapbooking Company", "Scrapbooks Ltd.", "Artsy Tartsy", and other various small scrapbook stores in the area.  All of them offer something different and unique, which calls for an occasional visit. I love collecting scrapbook "stuff". Smile.

Love these colors!!!

Metallics..lots of possibilities here.

The Keiser Craft paper flowers have a distressed look. They're also available in unique colors, such as this Dusty Pink color. Very vintage.

Keiser Craft Rhinestones are very affordable for those of you that like a bargain. They're also available in an array of colors that have not been available previously.

Wood Butterflies. Need I say more? So delicate and whimsical.

Paper from K & Company, Kaiser Craft, and Basic Grey. Num.

Cute Chipboard Sticker Animals from Basic Grey's new "Sugared Line". Normally, I wouldn't have an excuse to use these, but I'm a softy when it comes to animals. I couldn't pass these ones up :)

Lastly, I'm thinking about posting a weekly technique session on my blog for those of you looking for new ideas using various scrapbook products. I would focus on one product a week and show various ways in which to use the product. If this is something that interests you, please mention it in the comment section of this post. Thanks so much!

2:00 a.m.

2:00 am. When was the last time you stayed up till 2:00 am? Are you able to stay up till 2:00 am? I didn't think I was capable of staying up this late anymore, but last night, I finally retreated from my desk at around 2:00am to go to bed. I gave myself permission to spend some late evening hours scrapbooking. I spent the earlier part of the evening working. I recently accepted a new position with Crate Paper. I can't share the full details just yet, but I'm excited for change. I'll share a little bit more about that later. So, after enlisting in a few hours of work, it felt appropriate to sit and create late into the evening. I pulled out some Prima product along with some Amy Butler stickers, and the new Fancy Pant's transparent die-cuts. I kept it simple. One pattern piece of paper, a couple photos, and one small section of embellishments. I also went with soft, muted colors; Mint Green, Yellow, and Bird's Egg Blue. Here's a close-up of the layout:

Most of the layouts I create have at least one or two flowers on them. Flowers lend texture and dimension to a page. They can be used in a multitude of ways and can be further embellished with buttons, rhinestones, ink, paint, rub-ons, and more. They're extremely versatile in nature. At Winter CHA, 2008, Prima released these gorgeous, silk flowers called "Belle Fleurs". I've been using them a lot lately on my projects (including on that mini album I just posted a few weeks ago). They're shiny and have a nice reflective quality about them. They combine well with matte paper flowers and rhinestones.  I combined the silk flowers above with a light green paper flower and a fabric rhinestone embellished brad. I surrounded it with white rhinestone swirls and a few other embellishments.

There's been one technique I've been wanting to try these last few weeks. It's a simple graphic design technique where two elements of the same color are combined to create a design. Above, I combined two pieces of ivory cardstock and sat them side by side on the layout. Even though they're identical in color, because one sits higher than the other, they feel separate. This technique is  a crisp, clean & subtle way to create layers on a layout . This same technique can be applied with letters, flowers, borders, shapes, and more.

On the Prima Blog, you'll find a host of beautiful Mother's Day cards on display. You can see them Here. I contributed a card to the collection. I've posted it below:

Thank you to everyone that left me a link to their favorite inspirational blog (or their own blog). I've been looking at them today and adding new blogs to my faves list.  Feel free to keep sharing. :)

Comments & Links

I enjoy reading the many comments that are posted on my blog. I know there are a lot of talented people that visit and leave comments. Sometimes, a viewer will leave a comment with a link to their blog. Because I'm an avid blog addict like the many of you out there, I visit these links whenever I get a chance. Yesterday, Aida Haron left a sweet comment for my last post. I went and checked out her blog and immediately fell in love with her work. I also noticed she designs for Luxe Designs & Cocoa Daisy Kits (and a few other companies). Why is it I didn't notice her sooner? She's another layer & detail scrapbooker. Thank you Aida for leaving me a comment. I'm so glad to have found your blog. Your work is beautiful! So, if you're leaving a comment and you have a blog or a gallery, I'd love to see it. Leave me a link and I'll be sure to visit..In the coming months, I'm going to be sharing other scrapbook blogs I enjoy reading. There's a lot of inspiration to be had and stories being told that I visit on a regular basis. I want to share some of those here..

If you would like to share a blog that inspires you creatively, please post the link in the comment section. Maybe it's your own site or someone who lives on the other side of the world. Whoever it is, share it here below.

From Aida's blog, I navigated my way to a Singapore scrapbook store called "Made With Love". They have a blog and they update it with photos of new, incoming product (by the way, the store looks sooo inviting). While checking out the photos, I noticed a photo of wood mounted stamps. I hadn't seen them before (and maybe it's because I live a sheltered life..laugh.), but the manufacturers name was familiar to me - "Memory Box". They're a stamp/paper manufacturer and their stamps are adorable. I realized after much thought that the reason I may not of remembered this company is because I'm not a "big stamper". I don't do a lot of stamping (even though I enjoy collecting them) and Minnesota doesn't have a lot of stamp stores. When I saw the photo of stamps, I immediately went searching for the company. I also found a great online store to buy them from called "Stamping Cottage". My fave so far our their "swirl" style stamps. Very pretty. I think I might get a few of them. I also noticed a few more lines coming out from K & Company. You can see photos of the product at "Made With Love". It's a fun place. Go visit.

This is what I've been working on for the last week. I created the three layouts using the "All Moments Remembered" May Kit. I believe it's sold out already. I was late on turning in my layouts, so that would explain the delay and "sold out" part. I had a wonderful time putting these layouts together. I really pushed myself to do some different things here, including using Tim Holtz Crackle Paint, which I've not used before (and now I'm addicted).

The large newsprint scallop circles were sent to me as part of the kit. I distressed and layered with them to create the large circle flowers above. First, I crumpled each of the scallop circle into a ball. I opened them up and used a Ranger Distress Ink Pad to distress them (pad to paper and swipe). When I glued each of the scallop circles to the layout, I left the edges unglued. I didn't want the edges lying flat on the page. I like the dimension of them coming "off" the page. I freehand cut imperfect orange cardstock circles. I curled the edges of them and distressed them with ink. I then adhered them to the scallop circles as shown. I cut out more circles from various kinds of paper and used Creative Imaginations circle frame cardstock stickers to further embellish the flowers. I added glitter using Diamond Glaze and Martha Stewart glitter to finish the flowers off.

Crackle Paint. I had to prepaint the oval chipboard and let it dry for a few hours (if you have a heat gun, you can get it dry and crack faster). I distressed it with Ranger Distress Ink (Walnut). I attached a Making Memories white metal tag to the chipboard, which was distressed with Ranger Distress Ink and Making Memories Chocolate acrylic paint, using a brad. I punched a 1.5" scallop circle using Marvy's Scallop Circle Punch from a pattern piece of paper. I distressed it, cut it in half, and glued it behind the chipboard Oval as shown above. These are some of the simple details that are a part of this layout.

The cut-out butterfly and twig was adhered to the page using Foam Core Pop Dots, providing depth to the layout.

This is a very simple layout for me. Only a few small details and the photo says the rest. The black flowers are a Bo Bunny rub-on that I used on a cream color pattern paper. I placed the rub-on on  paper first and then I trimmed it to size to fit on the page as shown.

Can you tell that I love the Uchida Scallop Circle Punches? They're an economical way to decorate and embellish flowers. They're also great for doodling on and using as frames for plain circles and buttons.

That's all for today!