My try at flower layering

A short post as my hubby is back from a long business trip. I co-worker wore a great neutral outfit today and I was inspired to make this card. The pattern paper is prima as are the flowers. I think there needs to be another flower between teh small one and the crocheted one though. The sentiment is PTI. The background we sponged along the edges with some beautiful neutral distress ink and then the patterned paper was sprayed with some gold glimmer mist for a little something extra.

A Pretty Little Frame

I've got a pretty little frame for ya'll today. I took a simple (and cheap) frame and attacked it with lots of Prima goodness from YMH. I covered the frame with some Prima paper using Glaudine Hellmuth's Multi-medium. After I did that I went back and forth about sponging on ink or not. I finally decided not to. The next step was to for some bling to act as leaves in a way. I took several swirls and just cut them apart and layed them down where I wanted them. The flowers were colored using some glimmer mist except the cream color one. That came from a flower/butterfly combo. I had used the butterfly on a previous project and haven't known what to do with the flower. Today I took the center bling off and layered my other flower onto it. Now I need to find a quote to go in to for my home :)

Simple Christmas

A simple girl with a simple card for ya'll today. My want to create is being hurt by the lack of time I have. DH is getting ready for a long business trip so I am trying to spend more time with him. I have been doing so much extra stuff lately that for my post this week I wanted to scale things back some and just create some simple. Prima's paper selection is perfect for this as they work just as well alone as they do in an eleborate project. Add just a touch of some bling and the card gets a little dressed up. YMH has a great selection on paper and bling to fit whaterver your theme is too.

Enjoy your day and every moment, whether they are simple or eleborate :)

Fun with Distress

I love my distress inks. One of my favorite ways to use them is sponging them onto cardstock to give it an aged look. They also work really well to color cardstock too. The thin darker brown cardstock strips are a perfect example of that. I used kraft cardstock as the base and then layered one Vintage Photo, Antique Linen, and a touch of Walnut Stain. It really gave the c/s a leather look to it; perfect for a western layout. Another use of Distress Inks is to color plain chipboard. The color goes on so smoothly and by layering them it added shadows and highlights with ease. Be sure you check out YMH for their Distress Ink collection, including the newest limited edition fall colors.

Always and forever, a honeymoon

I created this layout for a LOAD assignment over at BPS but had ya'll in mind. I used LOTS of prima paper goodies and even some Tattered Angles Glimmer Mist. The picture itself is from our honeymoon to Disneyworld (a place we want to take the boys to in 3-4 years). I have scrapped only ONE other honeymoon picture and though it was high time to scrap another one. I love how this looks in real life as the photo so isn't doing much. The paper is all Prima; however, the piece with the brown scroll work towards the top is really a Prima notecard. I love how perfect it went with the layout, so I just cut the piece I wanted. I sprayed my base of the layout with some TA Glimmer Mist in gold for a subtle effect and then roughed up the edges and sponged some vintage photo along the edges. The title is from WMS and I really like how it seem to fit perfectly.

OLW Blog Hop

It's time for another OLW blog hop. This month was kept rather simple as a chance to catch our breath and reflect on our word in our life. This month is usually a rather hetic month with the start of a new school year and trying to get back into a school/groove. This year is even busier as my oldest has started Kinder and our test has decided to impliment a new state test and it goes live in the level I teach. Usually at this time I am starting to freak out. However, this year it feels different, a good different. I am not as stressed (granted it is only the second week of school) and have been doing pretty good with leaving work at school. There are things I need to work on balance-wise once I get home, but I really feel like I am on the right path. The picture I took this year isn't complete. In fact, it will most likely get redone as my DH couldn't get the flash to work right and it isn't too flattering. What I like about the picture is that it is on the first day of school. This weekend I've set some time aside to work on this (and of course take some fun pictures of the rest of my family. Enjoy the rest of the hop.

Blog Hop List:
Margie
Monica B
Julie Ann
Jill
Cheri
Melissa
Kathryn
Amanda
Sam
Chrissy
Lynn
Lisa
Jen
Nikki
Cassie THAT'S ME :)
Jamie
Cindy

Yummy, yummy cupcake

Ok, so this cupcake isn't for eating, but it sure can help a sweet tooth. It is a cupcake giftcard holder. Cute, right?! The wrapper is pleated Prima paper. The icing is a combo of white ribbon and white Prima flowers I sprayed with TA's Glimmer Mist to match the pattern paper. I hope to make more of these and I am sure that with practice, perfection will come. I will taking this sweet little thing with me when I meet with someone this Sat (I hope) about selling some of my crafts. Wish me luck :)

On a personal note, my oldest has started Kinder and is loving it. I have started another school year too. I am praying that it goes well for us both, but my biggest prayer is to get out of debt. I hope everyone who has gone back to school/work will have a good one.

A Chance for some Blog Candy

Who doesn't like a chance for some paper goodness. Amy of A Thousond Sheets of Paper is having an amazing give-away on her blog. It's a chance to win some amazing paper from her 1000 paper stack as well as some amazing stamp goodness. The deadline for this great chance is September 23rd.

A Little Treat For the Teacher

I've got a quick post for ya'll today. Tonight is a meet-the-teacher night for my son who is starting Kindergarden this year. We will be giving a little gift to his teacher. I made this cute little backpack using some Prima paper from YMH. I put in a little pen, a mini tide stick, and a mini hand sanitizar. In the little front pocket my son will write his new teacher a little welcome note.

Journal with a Secret

I was reading through my blog reader the other day and came arcoss this. I love the secret little pen/pencil holder in the journal and knew I had to create my own. I kept it on the simple side as I will carring this around with me and using it almost daily writing lit bits here and there about things/stories/thoughts I want to scrap. The main paper is some Prima pattern goodness and I just found ribbon and cardstock that would match it. Love the paper choices YMH has and just may have to do this again with another sheet.

I've bee scrapping

It has been a long time since I have been scrapbooking on a regular basis, but I am doing it right now. I am in the middle of a class at Big Picture Classes called The Mother LOAD and this is what is helping me scrap again. Right now we are gearing up for the big LOAD (layout a day) project in September. School is just around the corner (I have two day of inservice today and then I offically start back on Tuesday next week) and with that comes less time to craft. I am trying to get in a little craft time each night and building up my scrapping skills so that I can pull this off. I will start sharing some of my pages with ya'll starting with this one.

The challenge for week one was to scrap a page about why we scrapbook. I found this one very interesting and fun to create.

The striped paper is an old one from my stash while the banner was made from a WMS stamp set called Bitty Banners and then sewed into place.

OLW Blog Hop - August

I am finally able to join in the OLW (one little word) blog hop again. I will be honest and say that this was put on the back bunner for one reason and another for several months. My word, BALANCE, was usually in my mind, but applying it to my life wasn't. Ok, that's not fully right either. Trying to get out of debt and being balanced in our money was starting to take over. I am trying to deal with that now by applying my word to my entire life (not just money). It's hard and some days are better than others, but it is something that I am trying to get better with. With that being said I wanted to share with you my June and July pages. I have caught up in my assignments, but thought the last two were worth sharing with you.

For my June page we were challenged with creating 9 small canvas that represented our word. Think of them as mini-art journals. I kept the color in mind and kept with the cooler, calmer colors of blues, greens, and purples. I tend to equates these colors with calm and clamness with a sense of balance. I gave my two boys a canvas each to create what they wanted. These represent the balance I want with my family. The butterflies and bird represent balance as they can hover and balance on the smallest of twigs/leaves. The doily is the fragile part of balance as the slightest chance can cause a big shift while the single splash of red can symbolize that the shift isn't always a bad thing and can, in fact, help re-establish balance in another part of life.

The July challenge was to focus on music. I love music and how it can remind me of times and people in my life. I use music for getting me into a crafty mood sometimes, to inspire my students to write, to understand why I feel what I am feeling, etc. For this month I wanted to focus on how music could represent my word. This proved much more difficult than I had originally thought. It took me over a week to decide on some songs and a little longer to choose to nine to showcase in the nine mini-canvases. For the center of the CD I used a bumble bee as the music for the overlay is from Korsakov's "Flight of the Bumblebee" (with which I repeated the bee for the center. I decided to add some journaling in the side pockets to explain a rather fast song as well as list out the songs I chose.

The journaling with the overlay talks about how the song makes me think of my Grandpa and how he always seemed to enjoy his moments and didn't really do the whole fast paced living thing (the way I tend to live my life). By the end of the song I am actually clamed down and more relaxed.

The songs that are listed out next to the CD are:
The Flight of the Bumblebee
Greatest Day Ever by Wayne Kerr (this song makes me smile and feel good)
What if I Stumble by DC Talk (a song that reminds me that God isn't counting how many times I fall down but that I get up)
Friends by Michael W Smith (a song that takes me back to my childhood)
Unwritten by Natasha Bedingfield
Feel Good Song by Wayne Kerr (the title says it all, lol)
Beautiful Day by Zigg Marley (a reminder to enjoy the days and to take time for that inner peace)
We Are Family by Sister Sledge (family is important)
Circle of Life from The Lion King (we are all searching for out path/balance in life)
Get Happy Now by Wayne Kerr (again, the title says it all)
Declaration (This Is It) by Kirk Franklin (Each day is a new day and a new chance to live it the way we should)
Be Good to Yourself by Journey (a reminder to turn off my distractions and focus on what needs my attention)
Moon Days by Cindy Morgan (a reminder that balance is something that many seek in the midst of daily living)
Back to You by Wayne Kerr (a reminder to find my way back to my Heavenly Father and a sweet reminder that my husband is also important)
Young at Heart by Frank Sinatra (even if life throws a curve-ball, you can handle it when you are more calm and enjoying life - the good and bad)
Balance by Ted Winn (the whole song is about getting the balance we need)
Jesus Help Me to Stand by Alison Krauss (sometimes it is a matter of hope and faith in God/Jesus to find a moment of balance)
Fragile Balance by Dan's Nature (I love listening to nature songs and classical music for a calming effect - something of which I need in a fast paced world)

The blog hop list:
Margie http://xnomads.typepad.com/blog
Nikki http://www.inkyart.com.au/
Monica B http://questtoperfectimperfection.blogspot.com/
Cheri http://cheriandrews.blogspot.com
Jamie http://jmpgirl.blogspot.com
Jill http://jillconyers.typepad.com/
Monica B1 http://Scraplifters.blogspot.com
Lynn www.crafty-creativity.blogspot.com
Melissa http://blog.mshanhun.com
Sam http://learncreatedo.wordpress.com/
Jenn www.studiojenn.blogspot.com
Maureen http://cookingmylife.blogspot.com
Chrissy http://getcraftywithchrissy.blogspot.com/
Jan http://mysimplelittlelife.typepad.com
Kimberly http://foreverdaisies.blogspot.com/
Kathryn http://www.katlodesigns.com
Lisa http://backtoallen.com/writers_blog
Amanda http://scrappnbee.blogspot.com
Cassie http://craftycassiescorner.blogspot.com/

Stars Shine Brightly

At least on my card, lol. Before I get into my card I would like to ask for some prayers please. Tuesday I will be going for some gum grafting and I am really nervous (a.k.a scared) about it. The doctor is good and even took his time explaining everything to me but the idea of it still scares me. I would like some of my nerves to go away between now and then and that the healing will be good and fast.

Ok, now that that little tidbit is done we can get down to the real reason you are here...the project. One of the many blogs I read is Amazing Paper Grace by Becca, and on it I have seen her tutorial on creating a pleated background. Ever since I saw it I have been wanting to try it out. Now was my chance I decided. The card is much larger than I usually do (it is 5 x 7), but I think it would look great framed too (guess that means it could be a gift and a card, nice). The paper I used for it and the stip the ribbon and stars are on came from a Tattered Angels kit from Your Memories Here. I followed the directions as well as I could, but had a little trouble with getting it to stay for me as I was going around. Once I got the pleats where and how I wanted them I added some Helmar's 450 to the inside edges to help insure the pleats would stay in place and place a couple of my ink pads on top until the glue dried just in case. While that was drying I went to word on the light blue layer. First I inked up a music stamp from WMS's Musical Backgrounds set with Versamark and then brushed some Perfect Pearls "Perfect Pearls" over it to give it a nice subtle shine. Then I used the largest die from the Labels 14 Nestie set to cut out and emboss the center. I used some foam dots to get the depth I needed for it to lay flat over the pleats. To cover up the part that doesn't have pleats I used a strip of paper that was left over from cutting out the strips for the pleats and layered a white sheer and grosgain ribbon over it. To cover the center of the pleats I used the Star Nesties to die cute and emboss some stars (they were also used for the strip with ribbon). I decided I needed some sparkle for my stars so I coated the center one with Tattered Angles Glitter Glam Chandelier and then added a little glitter (the glam acts as the glue and holds the extra glitter so well). Over that center star I punched out the circle and sentiment from WMS's Seasons of Love set (after I had embossed them in white). On top of that I layered the smalled star from the Nestie set and coated the center of it with some glossy accent. To spruce up that layered strip I sparkled up another star glued it down. It still looked kinda plain so I layered another star that I not only die cutted out but used a smalled star to get the center out and embossed. I left this layer plain so break up the sparkles some. I thought I was done, but as I was getting ready to snap a picture of it I decided at the last minute that it just needed more sparkles. I cut up some Prima Say It With Swirls and used it as a tail for the star. I LOVE how it turned out. I also sponged the edges of the light blue paper as well as the paper strip with several shades of blue Distress Ink and the navy blue base with some white ink.

Now comes the question, do I give it away or keep it in a frame for myself...

Challenges used:
Cupcake Craft Challenges: include stars
WMCC - use stars
Simon Says Stamp - embossing
Paper Cutz Cahllenges: anything goes
Stamp Something: favorite embellishments (I love bling and glitter)

WMS Blog Hop: Birthdays

I've got a quick post for the WMS monthly blog hop. This month's theme is birthdays and since mine just happed, I thought I would use the new WMS stamps I just got. I used the Say it Loud and Dainty Doilies 2 (as well a stamp from Musical Backgrounds). I even dressed up a little tea light candle for the hop (this would look really cute with a electronic tea light, but I didn't have one handy).

Challenges used:

WMS sketch challenge

Faux Embossed Metal Mat

I promsied ya'll last week that I would show you what I had in store for my sample I created for that Faux Embossed Metal look I learned from Live with Prima. I am here to deliver that promise now. After completeing this one, I don't know which is my favorite. But I do know that both are going to work with me when school starts back up, lol. Most of the supplies you will be able to get from Your Memories Here. Also, Kristina at YMH is offering up several different types of NEW Prima Grab boxes as a pre-order. This is a great way to some NEW Prima goodies. These won't be shipped until late August to Mid September since the products aren't even coming out until the summer CHA.

I knew once I finished the sample wood metal (I had to test out the base color with the silver to see which one I liked better: white or black) that it HAD to get used as a backing for something stunning. It was just too good to throw it out, lol. I saw a really cheap wooden frame laying around (gotten, I'm sure, at Micheal's). I talked about how I created that metal embossed look here, so I think this post will be a little shorter for ya'll. Because I had this stunning, pink-ish, large flower that I just knew I wanted to use to go on top of that sample piece, I thought it might be nice if I added a slight wash in Golden's Magenta paint to the edge of the frame as well as painting the background piece. Loved how it turned out on the frame but not so much on the mat. On the mat it look REALLY pink and didn't got with the vintage feel the whole project was starting to take. Then I got the brilliant idea to give a sliver was over the magenta. Match made in heaven! I loved how it gave the mat an aged metal look without looking "dirty". I used some Helmar's 450 to glue the embossed sample wood piece on top of the magenta "tin" mat and then used that glue again to attach the beautiful Prima flower. After looking at it, I decdided it was too much "pink" and I need to soften it up some too. Out comes that amazingly stunning Prima butterfly. Love how it gave the project a touch of glam/bling withough taking away form the other details. To give depth to the butterfly, I attached it with Helmar's scrapdots. LOVE this!

look at that beautiful shine :)



Challenges used:
Crafty Catz Weekly: Vintage Look (The faux embossed frame reminds me of those tin tile that was used around the 20s - I think, as well as the aged pink background)
PaperPlay Challenges: Things with Wings (the butterfly)
Creatalicious Challenge: 20's inspired (the embossed metal and the pop of pink reminds me of the Flappers of the time as they were the "loud" girls of the time)
Simon Says Challenges: Anything Goes
Cupcake Craft Challenge: Choose your favorite Cupcake Challenge (I chose #19 - Alter something)

Oh, and because I just LOVE this technique, I just had to create a faux embossed metal K for my now growing monogram collection, lol.




And now to see what my desk looks like as I am doing about four different projects all at the same time. Hmmm, maybe I should only do one thing at a time, lol

Antique Mirror...Prima style

Before I get into my project post, I want to let ya'll know that YMH is letting customers to pre-order a grab box as it were of NEW Prima goodness that will be released at the Summer CHA show. Kristina has three sizes of boxes that will hold a range of Prima goodies and even an option to get your goodies from just one collection. Be sure to place ya'll Prima Pre-Order soon (shipping on them won't happen until late August to mid September.

I've got another Live with Prima inspired project for ya'll today. This one is inspired by Julie's Antique frame show on June 20th. I really like how she used a Prima stencil to transfor a plain wooden from into a work of art. Of course this meant I had to try it too, but since I am more of a silver person I tweaked it some. Before I worked on the frame I bought a cheap wooden oval (under $1) from Michael's to test wether I wanted white or black gesso as my base. (You'll see what I am going to do with the oval next week). The test revealed that a black base still works the best with the silver, so off I went making an antique, punch metal inspired frame for a cheap mirror from Micheale's. I left the mirror in when I took the picture and that resulted in seeing me, the camera, and the sticky-note. I am really happy with the end product and so glad I decided to try out the technique Julie showed us :) Drying time between the different coats took the longest time, but using a heat gun does spead it up.

I used some seam binding and twine to wrap around the frame in the corner and the bow. I secured the ribbon on the back with Helmar's 450 quick dry glue. A great thing about Prima's vines is that it doesn't take much make a project shine. It was tacked down with Helmar's 450 too. I sprayed a white Prima flower with several differnt colors of TA's Glimmer Mist to match it as close as I could to the purple-y color flower at the top of the vine for the center of the bow and glued it to the center of the bow with Helmar's 450 (gotta love this stuff).

I couldn't let this sweet frame be complete without a sweet little butterfly. I took one of Prima's Vlinder butterflies and several colors of Glimmer Mist again and colored the butterfly to match a little more. After it was dried, I then took some TA's Chandiler Glitter Glam and painted the butterfly with it to really shine. I attached this little beauty with Helmar's scrapdots to help it lift off from behind the vine.

Finally, here's a shopt of the detail of the frame itself. I used Prima's Stencil Mask Set, Sublime Mix Screens - Mix 3 for the details. I believe Julie used gesso to cover the screen with, but I found some molding paste (with a 40% off coupon) and used that instead. Once the molding paste was dried I brushed on some silver paint making sure to at least cover all of the white paste. When I was happy with that (and I did paint the edges too) I too some very watered down balck paint (like shown in the video) and washed it over the silver. It dulled it down and even puddled in parts. I love how forgiving this was. And if I didn't like it I could just paint over it or even wipe it up if it wasn't dry yet.

Challenges used:
The ABC Challenge: ribbon crossing (the ribbon crossed over eachother when I wraped the corner and then again when I made the bow)
Crafty Catz: Vintage look
Stamp Something: bugs or butterflies
Stampin' for the Weekend: wings and things
Charisma Cards: all about flowers (I know this isn't a card but still...)
Flutter by Wed: open, must include a butterlfy, angel, or fairy

Sweet Box

I've got a sweet box to share with ya'll today. I've had this box in mind for several months. In fact, it is inspired by an article I read title "God's Box" In the article, a lady is talking about the discovery of her late mother's box of prayers that had been labeled God's Box. She described how her mother would say prayers, big and little, write them down, and leave them with God. I really like the idea and started thinking that maybe, just maybe, it'll help me leave my problems with God instead of trying to take them back. The box is from Hobby Lobby with the products are mostly Prima. I don't think I'm am finished with it yet as I am trying to decide about putting the name of the box on there or not and about putting feet on it as well.

The first thing I did was paint both the box and lid with white gesso. After that was dry I used some multi-medium to glue down the Prima Sparkling Spring papers. Once dried I used a fan brush to edge all side with some slightly watered-down white paint so the edge of the paper wasn't so harsh and then gave a top protective coat with the same clear, matte multi-medium. The bottom was then complete (more or less) and that left the top. I really wanted to dress that up and even give it a handle. I used a knob from Tim Holtz's Curio Knobs for my handle and lots of Prima goodness for everything else.

I glued a leftover flower from a Live with Prima kit in the lower right corner and then added a sweet and sparkly Prima butterfly over it. To give it some movement I glued the butterfly on with some Helmar's Scrapdots for a angled height. In the upper left corner I first layed down some Prima bling and then layered the large white flower that came with the butterfly. Next, I took another Prima butterfly and layered it with Tattered Angles Chandelier Glitter Glam and water down pink paint. Then, I sprayed some white Prima flowers with some pink glimmer mist and then took my pink paint water and dyed them. Once dried I used Helmar's 450 Quick Dry to glue them down (as I did with the other two flowers) as well with the Prima leaves.

One of my favorite things on this box is the edge of the top. I used some Prima paper to create a box pleated ribbon effect as shown from this LWP show. Once that was done and glued down I added some Prima trim to add to the ribbon look since I wasn't in a sewing mood, lol.

Challenges used:
Stampin' for the Weekend: use your favorite things (love me some Prima goodness and glimmer mist)
There She Goes: Glitter, Glitz, & Bling
Allsorts Challenge: free and easy
Papertake Weekly: anything goes