This is our story by Virág Réti with video tutorial

Hi My Crafty Friends,

Today I am going to show you my brand new mixed media layout. I do not like using vivid embellishments and the shades of pink and purple, but the monthly moodboard inspired me. 

I cut out flourish motif, butterflies and pigeons from a printable sheet and started to decorate the page. I must say that the result is totally out of my comfort zone, but I really like this page. 

This is the first memory that I keep from the new chapter of my life. 

So many of my smiles begin with this layout, because our story has started... :)

Here is the process video: 

Here are some close-ups: 

Don't forget to join our monthly challenge!

More info: here

Let's see our beautiful vivid moodboard that can easily inspire you:

Thanks for stopping by! 

This months sponsor is:

Scrap and Craft specializes in scrapbooking products made in Poland.

We stock many Polish, leading brands like Studio75, Scrapiniec, The Mini Art and others.

In our offer we have scrapbooking papers, hidden hinge albums, die cut chipboard, foamiran 

Our mission is provide worldwide scrapbookers with unique items and make you happy with crafting.

Keep calm and craft on !

Online store: www.scrapandcraft.co.uk 

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Scrap & Craft kindly sponsor us with this prize!

Flower Tutorial By Anita

Guest Designer Anita Scroggins has a wonderful flower tutorial to share today 

using Faber-Castell® Gelatos®

Begin by stamping and heat embossing your flowers and cutting
 them out. I used Heartfelt Creations Open Vintage Floret
 Precut Stamp set and Vintage Floret Die set. They have
an awesome tutorial on how to use their stamps and dies on their
 blog, so please check them out!

I used 4 colors of my Faber-Castell® Gelatos® to color my flowers,
 Teal Metal, Blue Metal, Aqua Dolce, and Spearmint. I applied the
Gelatos® directly to the flowers, blending them with a slightly
damp sponge.

I kept adding color in layers until I achieved
the depth that I wanted.

Next up is shaping the flowers - real flowers have curved petals
and do not lay flat - we want our flowers to look the same.
 I rolled the edges back using my paper piercer and cupped
the centers using a ball tool. 

The last step is to assemble the layers together, add a brad for
the center and place them on your project. I am using these on
a layout.

And here is my finished layout.

June Guest Designer - Dana Tatar

Hi! My name is Dana Tatar and I am a stay-at-home mom currently living in Florida with my husband and two young daughters. I started scrapbooking to preserve memories after the birth of my first daughter and now I enjoy the creative outlet. I love to mix products from different collections on my projects and I frequently find inspiration in music, poetry and pop culture. I'm an active blogger and I like to share my tips and ideas. I create a little of everything, including layouts, cards, tags, artist trading cards, arches and small gift and home decor items.

I am so excited to be a Guest Designer for Berry71Bleu this month! I'm currently a designer for Marivic's sister site, Zeus and Zoe. I love visitors, so please stop by my blog, They Call Me Tatar Salad!

I've created two projects to share today, a layout and a tag. The wonderful products from the sponsors for this month, 7 Dots Studios and Jacquard, were just too fun to work with to stop at one piece!

Marylin's Challenge for this month is all about documenting your favorite Summer activities. I'm always up for a trip to the beach! The fabulous white sand beaches of Florida are absolutely breathtaking year round. I created this page with the 7 Dots Studios Dreamer Collection and some watercolor paint that I mixed up with Jacquard Pearl Ex Powdered Pigments.

I love to use stickers on my projects! The 7 Dots Studios Dreamer Stickers matched my paint perfectly!

I added some fun texture to this page with fishing net, cheese cloth, molding paste, masking tape and some of my favorite beach finds, starfish and shells. The fun heart charm and seashell key (shown above) came in my Zeus and Zoe Kit. If you're looking for a fabulous kit packed with vintage items that is truly one-of-a-kind, email Marivic or stop by the Zeus and Zoe Etsy Shop and check out the NEW Mini Collection Embellishment Project Kits.

If you haven't worked with Pearl Ex Powdered Pigments before, the brilliant shine is fabulous in real life! The shimmer reminds me of the opalescent finish found on oyster shells, the perfect look for a beach themed layout!

I also created this beach themed tag with products from 7 Dots Studios and Jacquard and I'm going to share my step-by-step process!

Step 1. Build up layers of texture on a shipping tag with crepe paper, cheese cloth and masking tape. Note: Don't think too hard during this step! Apply pieces of different materials randomly until the tag is covered.

Step 2. For even more texture and dimension, add a fun design with Jacquard Lumiere 3D Dimensional Metallic Paint & Adhesive to the tag and set aside to dry.

Step 3. Cover the tag with a light coat of gesso and let dry.

Step 4. Mix up several colors of paint using equal parts liquid gum arabic (binder) and Pearl Ex Powdered Pigment and a small amount of water. Note: I used Duo Violet-Brass (693) and Duo Green-Purple (692) Pearl Ex Pigment Powder. If you are using powdered gum arabic, combine 1 part gum arabic to 4 parts powdered pigment. To test the solution, paint a small area on a piece of paper and allow it to dry. If the pigment doesn't rub off when dry, then you have a usable paint. If the pigment does rub off, add more binder.

Step 5. Add some gold highlights and let dry. Note: I used Sparkle Gold (657) Pearl Ex Pigment Powder that I mixed using the same ratio of ingredients as mentioned in the previous step.

Step 6. Paint over the 3D pattern from Step 2 with gold alcohol ink. Once dry, embellish the tag to finish. Note: I used Jacquard Pinata Color in Rich Gold.

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I hope I have inspired you! If you have any questions about the techniques I used on my projects, leave a note in the comments section of this post or send me an email and I'll do my best to answer them. Also, I'd love to have you stop by the Zeus and Zoe Blog and link up a project for the June Favorite Things Challenge!

Home Made Rub On Tutorial By Debbie

Hi Debbie here today to share with you how I made the rub on title for my April Challenge layout:

Sometimes I don't have the perfect alphabet to match my layout, or it may be just a matter of how much space there is on my layout.  I love the vintage look of Inkido's Beautiful Memories papers and wanted my title to tie in with the papers so I made my own rub on title.  

It's really easy and here are the steps for creating your own rub ons:

1.  I used Photo Shop Elements to type my title. The font I used is called JoeHand2.
Lots of free fonts on this site:
http://www.dafont.com/joehand-2.font

2.  Next, I flipped my title horizontally:

3.  I used a plastic wrapping from a paper collection to print my title on.

Cut out a piece of the plastic wrapping large enough to cover your title
 and tape it down to your paper. Place your paper in your printer try and print.

4.  After your title has printed make sure that you let it complete dry.
 I let mine sit for about an hour.

5. Remove the plastic wrapping and place it  face down on your layout and use your rub on tool or a wooden popsicle stick and rub your title.  

Remove the plastic wrapping and there you have it!

Quick and easy!

Hope you enjoyed my tutorial!

. . . Debbie

Tutorial from Emma

HOW TO MAKE A CUSTOMISED STENCIL

Have you ever used a stencil or template in your project, if so do you love the effects you can create using them? In this tutorial we will look at how to create your very own unique re-usable stencil so that you can customise and add some extra points of interest to your projects.

Materials needed:
12X12 plastic stencil sheeting
Craft Knife
Ruler
Marker Pen
Photocopied Image of design

Step 1:
Mark your 12"x 12" border on the plastic sheeting; this acts as a guide for your overall size of template.

Step 2:
You could draw your design directly onto the sheeting or create a design in a photo-editing programme like Photoshop or PSE. If you choose this option, print out your image and use that as your design guide just as I have here.

Step 3:
When you are happy with your design align it underneath your plastic sheeting making sure the image remains confined within the outlined 12X12 border. Tape it along with the sheeting to your cutting mat to prevent it from moving then begin the careful cutting process.

Hope you find this tutorial a fun way to add that little extra something to your layouts and projects.
Happy stencilling!
Em Stafrace
©2011

Here is what Emma made with the stencil:

And an extra bonus from Emma: Thank you EMMA!!

Visit Emma's blog by clicking HERE