My Natural Town

Hi all!
Teri here, and I’m happy to be back the GCD Studios blog today.
Heidi asked us this month to create layout based on our hometown.
She got our minds brewing with this beautful set of pictures.

She asked us:
WHAT makes your town special?
Why do you love living where you live?
What is your favorite thing to do in town?

This was an easy one to do because it worked so well with photos I’ve been compiling all summer long while exploring the outdoor attractions in and near my hometown.
To be 100 percent honest here, I like the outdoors, but I am a couch potato deep down. I will never be the girl signing up for marathon or climbing a mountain. I like simple, easy activities that you don't feel like you had to train to do.
There are a lot of fun outdoor activites in my hometown that are easy to enjoy and take part in. That makes my hometown a good place to live.
This summer, I’ve spent evenings walking through a small forest next to a local lake. I’ve spent many afternoons wandering through local gardens and taking in the scent of the flowers. And I’ve even been one of our waterfalls a couple times, walking up to the top and taking a litany of pictures of the nature seen on the way each time.

Here’s a layout I made with a few pictures from my hometown explorations.

I used a few of the border strips form the Artsy Urban collection. I actually layered pieces together for my layout. I finished it off by adding a number of brads.


That’s all for now. I’ll be back again soon.
Teri

Butterfly House...

Hi all! Its Windy here today to share my layout based on this inspiration...

... and the prompts: What makes your town special? Why do you love living where you do? What is your favorite thing to do in town?

After thinking long and hard about what approach to take... I decided to poll the kids and see what their answers were to the questions. Because in reality... what is true in my life right now is them and what they love to do. As a result of that conversation, I decided to create a layout about our favorite spot in Cincinnati...

Patterned papers (Homespun Chic collection); border strips (Artsy Urban & Homespun Chic collections), brads (Homespun Chic collection, butterflies (Artsy Urban collection)

...I'm certain it will change... probably every year... but I love knowing (and having it documented) that this is their favorite 3 and 5 year old spot. Perhaps this will start a new tradition for me of scrapping our favorite spot in the city every year?

button holes

Hi all!

I've got another technique to share today...faux buttons with button holes. I love the look of a tidy row of buttons esp. like you'd see on a wedding dress or old fashioned button up boots. There is just something about them that makes me happy. I wanted to recreate a look like this, but with a modern twist. This is what I came up with...

The great hing about it is, you don't even have to use real buttons, brads, adhesive gems or pearls will work perfectly!

You will, however, need to have (or be able to borrow) a sewing machine with a button hole function.

Step 1. Use a punch or decorative edge scissor to create a scalloped edge. (you can skip this step if you want. I just like the way it looks)

Step 2. Lightly, with pencil, mark where you would like you button hole to be. I eyeballed it, but if measuring is what works for you...go for it!

Step 3. Time to break out that machine! Everyone is different, so simply follow the instructions to create a button hole for the machine you are using. Remember, you don't need to cut the center of the button hole...these are faux after all.
Step 4. Erase any of your pencil guide line that might remain.
Step 5. Add the brads etc. to create the "buttons"
That's it, simply add to your project!

This first card I created uses a panel just like the one I created above.
Supplies:
Cardstock: (red, white) The Paper Co., Patterned Papers: (from the 8x8 Homespun Chic Pad)
GCD Studios, Brads: (Homespun Chic Fabric Brads) GCD Studios, Ribbon: Offray, Rub-On: Basic Grey
Size: 5 1/2"x4 1/4"

I printed the sentiment before I created the button hole, and then added a rub-on and matted with red cardstock before adding to my project.

For this next card I created the look of a belt or wrap by layering the strip with the "buttons" over another strip that continues off the other side.
Supplies:
Cardstock: (blak, white) the Paper Co., Patterned Papers: (Blue Floral, Book Page: Artsy Urban) GCD Studios, Chip board Accent:(Vintage Labels: Homespun Chic) GCD Studios, Stickers: (clear Stickers: Artsy Urban) GCD Studios, (alphabet) Making Memories, Brads: (Homespun Chic Fabric Brads),
Size: 5"x7"

I'd love to see you give this a try. It's such a fun detail to add to a project!

Thanks!
Heidi V

"The Burbs"

Hi all,Mimi here again! Heidi challenged the GCD Studios DT to do a layout about our hometown. Love this great collage she inspired us with...

I decided to focus on some of the things I love about our hometown and the area we live in. Wallet sized photos worked great for this challenge since I wanted to add several photos to the layout. I focused on our home, the local parks, and nature areas. I also talked a bit about our proximity to big events even though we live in "The Burbs" and the fact that we enjoy all four season here in Pennsylvania.


I numbered each photo and wrote a corresponding journaling box for each one with details about why that is important to me. Here are a few details...



I had never done a layout with this theme and am now so glad I did...so go ahead and show off your town in a layout!

Thanks for popping by!

celebrating our hometowns

This month at GCD Studios we are celebrating our hometowns.

Our little family took an early Sunday stroll through my hometown after some bagels and coffee. It was so nice to see it slowly start to wake up for a busy day.

After adding a cardstock piece of blue to my white background, I added strips of Artsy Urban papers. I also took some of these Sticky Note Journal Cards, and folded them over a black piece of twine. It makes a fun and unique looking banner.

I also added some Glittered Clear stickers, a Glass PaperClip and Epoxy sticker (Artsy Urban line)to the banners.

At the top of the layout, I added this Layered Chipboard flower to finish off the decor. I added chipboard letters and finished my journaling then printed it out.

Maybe you can take a day to become a tourist in your hometown, and view the sites and attractions in a new way.
Have a terrific day!
kris

Stamp and layer

Hi everyone!! I seem to rack my brain every month, trying to think of what to do for my technique assignment. I will admit...I am not the most technique oriented card maker. I LOVE product...especially patterned paper & ribbon and small accents! But, there is one other thing that I really LOVE to do, and that is stamp. But, even my stamping tends to be really basic. I have a really simple stamping technique that I use often on my projects, and it just adds so much to the stamping....and that is stamping part of the image to patterned paper and then glittering it.

Here is a little how to! First, stamp the image directly on the main surface of your project. On this one, I have stamped it to a cream cardstock block that I already put a scalloped edge on.

I would suggest using an ink that dries quickly, like Versafine or Staz-On. I prefer versafine because it stamps images with perfect detail and crisp lines. Definitely stay away from pigment ink, because it takes awhile to dry and smears very easily. Now, set this stamped image aside, and stamp the same image to patterned paper.

I prefer to use patterned paper that has a smaller pattern to it. GCD Studios has many papers that would work perfectly for this!! Since this ink dries so quickly, you can immediately start cutting out the image. For this card, I am only cutting out the actual flowers from the stamped image.

Once you have cut out all of the flowers, spray them down with adhesive and cover them in glitter. I use a very fine glitter by DecoArt called Glamour Dust. I have had it forever, and it is my favorite! I am just hoping that I can find it the next time I need to buy it!

After that, you just need to put your card together and adhere the glittered pieces to the top of the original stamped image. Here is how my card turned out!

You can also just stamp directly to patterned paper and cut out, without having an original image stamped anywhere. I have done that on this example:

GCD Studios adds glitter to a lot of their product, so this glittering technique goes perfectly with their product!! So, break out your patterned paper, your favorite stamps and some glitter...and go to town! It is a lot of fun!

Product: Paper, paper frill, brad, journal tag & sentiment tag all from the Homespun Chic line by GCD Studios.

Until later,
~Lea L>

What do you love about your town?

This month's theme is focused on telling the story of what we love about our town.

By far, our favorite things to do outdoors in our town, revolve around our trail system. We can count on the trails to be a shady retreat in the summer, a brilliant display of color in the fall and until the first snow fall, the trees provide a protective screen from the winter winds.

Several times a year we ride our bikes on the trail as a family. We bike all the way downtown and have lunch at a terrific local pub and grill. I also try to run the trail as often as I can.

Here's the layout I created to tell our trail story.

And as you can see, even our dog, Tucker, had to be included. I just say, "Let's go to the trail!" and he is ready to go.

Here's another close-up.

So, what's your favorite thing to do in your town?

Leslie

Leave a comment by Friday the 27th and one winner will win the Lydia collection.

A beautiful Banner and a layout

Today I have two beautiful projects from our guest designer Stephanie.

Stephanie has such a beautiful and bright style. You can tell she loves colors!

Check out this Banner and layout. The Layout goes along with our theme this month.

Also DON'T forget to check out our BIG contest here

for your chance to win the CHIPART TOOL!

You only have 6 more days to get in your projects!

Thanks and have a great day everyone!

~H

photography is an art of observation

“To me, photography is an art of observation. it's about finding something interesting in an ordinary place... i've found it has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them.” ~ Elliott Erwitt

This is a long time favorite quote of mine. I love photography. I love collecting some of the older cameras – they have such character! My most recent purchase was a sweet little Ansco Rediflex from Ebay. I paid a total of $10.99 for it. Hence, the inspiration for this layout. I took a series of photos of the camera a couple of weeks ago [I was practicing with some different exposure settings], and there were a pile of freshly printed photos on my desk when I sat down to do this layout and so I present “Ansco Love”. :-)

My technique this month is a very simple one. I've been searching for some different ways to use the fabulous chip art tool. After a not-so-good experiment with beeswax [totally my fault though – that stuff gets VERY hot], I settled on some regular old cardstock, a chipart stamp, & some distress ink. Basically, just stamped the chipart stamp onto the ink pad, and then “stamped” the cardstock – then punched out the image using a Martha Stewart scalloped circle punch. I tucked them into a couple of spots on my layout for a quick, easy embellishment.

SUPPLIES USED:

Bazzill & Kraft Cardstock
GCD Studios Patterned Paper, Felt Trim, Chipboard Label
Thread
Typewriter
Martha Stewart Butterfly, Loop, Circle, & Lace Punches
Making Memories Metal Flower Embellishments
Basic Grey Faux Pearls
Studio Calico & October Afternoon Alphabet
Tim Holtz Distress Ink
Amy Butler Fabric
Pop-Dots
Gesso

Using Gesso

Good Morning !

This month, let's get inspired by this picture montage.
and the theme this month ? Get around my town and show you blog readers a little about my country Singapore ...



If you ever plan on having a holiday where it is perenially hot (sans occassional monsoon), Singapore could be a right destination :) You can read how diverse in culture and activities HERE. There are constantly new ideas to promote Singapore as a vacation-worthy place. Recently, our First Downtown reservoir was build in the heart of the city
and our family was pretty excited to visit this urbanised water catchment area.

and in honor of our trip to the Marina Barrage, a layout was created.



I love to create with pattern papers with busy designs and here on my layout, i made use of several pieces (from GCD Studio Artsy Urban) with wonderful details. Bearing in mind my pictures should speak "louder" than my papers, I toned down the colors and overall look of the pattern paper (Green) by applying Gesso. This dilute the background and made it look less busy.



Mediums work wonders most of the time .
Have a Great Day !

scallops and stars

This month's theme still echoes in my mind and I am inspired to create another layout using the same theme. Coincidentally August is also my Nation's (Singapore) birthday and this year, we celebrate our 45th year of Independence.

I treated the chipboard star with some mediums.
Specifically Gesso, White paint, pigment ink and black crayon (a good substitute would be graphite pencil) and of course GCD Studios Chip Art Tools !

Here are some brief steps i took to create a grunge looking star on my NDP (National Day Parade) layout :

- coat chipboard star with gesso.
- deboss chipboard with GCD Studio Chip Art Tool (Ornamental)
- coat a thin layer of white paint. (too much paint may reduce the visibility of the debossed image)
- Lightly and gently dab ink pad around the chipboard.
- Create contrast by shading with black crayon or black graphite pencil.

Lastly, to add contrast, I matt the chipboard star onto a white cardstock. Using a scalloped decorative scissors, I trimmed around the edgest. This gives the chipboard star a little extra detail and depth.
Hope you'll find some time to create today !

A Photo Technique

For my technique this month I want to share how to use the "white space" of a photo. I took this photo in my front flower bed leaving "empty" space on the right hand side so I had a place for the title, journaling, etc. I had the photo printed in a 9x12 size at mpix.com & it cost about $3.99.

With a few of the beautiful GCD papers & embellishments it made for a quick layout with a big impact.

Here are a few other examples of photos that could be used this way.

I hope this inspires you to try out this photo technique!

Megan Klauer