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!

A Mother's Love Layout

Greetings fellow scrappers!  It's time for another challenge over at Once Upon A...Sketch (OUAS)!  This month's challenge is 'love' & how appropriate since February is known for Valentine's Day & love of all kinds in many parts of the world.

As mentioned in the OUAS blog--love comes in many forms.  Love for your children, love for your parents, love for your significant other, the love shared between good friends...even the love you have for your pets!

Since I recently became a mom--I based my page on the love shared between a mother & her children.  I can finally say I truly understand my own mother & her never ending concern for me.  I'm 35 years old & she still worries about me when I go out late at night or when I'm late coming home from work.  I never understood exactly 'why' since I'm no longer a child myself.  However, with the birth of my son--it all just 'clicked'.  He's barely 3 months old but the need to protect him from harm, the fear that something may happen to him, the love I have for him has no age limits.  I truly do not see myself feeling any less worried for him even when he's 30 years old.  The love a parent has for their children truly is something quite strong, unbreakable & with no limits.

So here's my take on the challenge & on Nadia's fabulous sketch!

Here's Nadia's sketch & what I based my design on.

I stored my journaling in the tag seen inside the kraft envelope.  My journaling is meant for my son's eyes only.  I hope he'll enjoy reading all of these little messages I have for him within my pages!  I've been making many of these lately...

I stamped several images by Prima onto transparencies with Staz On--cut them out and adhered them throughout my page.  In this screen shot you see a butterfly & gazebo.

I love these mini spools!  They really add just the right little touch to these pages.  I wrapped a bit of thread around them & linked the two spools with the same thread.

I used a deep edge punch by Martha Stewart called "Wild Flowers" for the border seen in the background.  I further decorated the images of the punched border with glittered brads, Lavender Stickles & acrylic paint dots.

The base for my entire page is actually a 12" x 12" Acrylic Sheet by Clear Scraps.  The corrugated board seen in this screen shot is behind the acrylic base.  This card board can be removed & the page takes on a completely different look.

I also did a bit of hand stitching along the top & bottom borders.

The flowers are a combination of mulberry paper flowers & fabric flowers.  The fabric flowers I found at my local craft store in the clearance bin for $1.00.  What a great bargain & the color scheme was perfect for this page!

The large acrylic heart is also by Clear Scraps.  This would be the XL Hearts.

I punched a couple of holes into the bottom of the acrylic heart with my crop-a-dile & thread a bit of yellow & purple tulle through these holes.  The tulle peeks out from underneath the bird's nest.

The border of the acrylic heart was colored with alcohol inks.  I used a combination of Purple Twilight & Sunshine Yellow alcohol inks.  I then spread a bit of clear dry adhesive with a thin paint brush all along the edge of the heart  & sprinkled some Diamond Dust on it.  This was the end result.  I was going to leave the heart without the Diamond Dust--but I wanted the heart to stand out just a bit more without being too over bearing--so I decided to go with the Diamond Dust.

All of the ribbon used on this page was kindly sponsored by Scrapbook Fantasies.

In this screen shot, I adhered one dark purple ribbon on top of a wider sheer lilac ribbon.  I then adhered it to my page with a bit of a 'ruffle' to it to give it more dimension.

The title is by Dusty Attic.  I simply painted the chippie with  purple metallic acrylic paint.  In person, this title has a bit of a shimmer to it.

I found this quote online & found it to be perfect for my page.

"A mother holds her child's hand for just a short time.  But holds their hearts forever..."

I printed the quote onto a transparency, cut it out & adhered it to my page with a bit of clear dry adhesive.

As always, a big thank you to those who stop by for a visit.  Your visit & comments are always very much appreciated.

Make sure you stop by the OUAS blog and check out the other DT's take on this challenge--& do play along if you have the time!

Have a great rest of the week.

Family Layout

Good evening fellow scrappers!  It's time for another Once Upon A Sketch (OUAS) reveal!  This month's theme was "It's December".  December is a month full of different celebrations based on culture & religion.  In my family, December is all about celebrating Christmas & in spending quality time with family.  For me though, it's all about the family.

I've also decided to submit this page to the December White Christmas challenge going on this month over at Berry71Bleu.

This particular Christmas will be extra special since our family has grown with the addition of my newborn son.  :-)  So I decided to scrap our very first 'family' Christmas photos.

I went with a white, blue & silver theme for my page.  I wanted to try a different holiday color palette other than your basic red & green.  I really liked the end result!

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

The title is an Expressions Clear Word Title--Family by Clear Scraps.

To give the title it's texture, I first highlighted the edges of the letters with a black Sharpie.  I then spread adhesive onto the letters & applied Diamond Dust.  Once dry I applied Stonewash & Silver alcohol inks directly onto the Diamond Dust.

In person, this technique gives off an amazing shimmer.  To see a more detailed tutorial on this technique, please go here.

The chipboard frame & border is by Imaginarium Designs.  The frame is called Four Circles Border With Lines. & the frame is called Swirly Frame 3" x 2".

For the chipboard--I painted them both with metallic periwinkle acrylic paint & then randomly applied acrylic Silver paint.  I further dressed up both chippies with dots of Opal White liquid pearls & on the border I applied a couple of clear rhinestones.

The silver leaves are by Prima.  The flowers consist of items from Prima & Manor House Creations in addition to mulberry, organza ribbon & jewel cabochon flowers from my stash.

As what has become a kind of tradition with me, my journaling is stored in the scroll.  Lately I've been thoroughly documenting the photos that I've been scrapping--my journaling is more like story telling lately!  A scroll allows me to tell a lot without taking too much space--so I've been using this technique on just about all my pages lately.  If interested in a tutorial on how I make these scrolls--you can find it here.

I got a bit messy with the background!  I first spritzed it with Anchor's Away Coloringz by Shimmerz.  I then applied gesso--I spread it heavily in certain areas.  In the areas where I heavily applied it I added beads, silver chunky leaf glitter by Martha Stewart & shaved ice by Stampendous.

Once everything dried...I applied a bit more Anchor's Away Coloringz & I was finally done!  Loved the texture all of this gave me!

Behind my photos is vellum that I manually ripped, inked the edges & then wrinkled up.  Wrinkling vellum & then unfolding it almost gives off this 'icy' effect which worked great for the theme of my page.

The large silver poinsettia is by Prima.  There's actually a bit of white tulle tucked underneath the poinsettia--but it's barely noticeable in the photo.  You can however, see the thin silver ribbon that I curled & also tucked behind my poinsettia.

Thanks to all of you who stop by for a visit.  Make sure to visit the OUAS blog & check out the other talented DT's take on this month's challenge--do play along if you can!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

My Toby Layout

Hello again fellow scrappers.  It's time for another reveal over at Once Upon A Sketch (OUAS).

Here's my little fur-baby Toby taking center stage again.  It helps a lot that he's all white--it's easy to match him with any color!  :-)  The page is based on how much our lives has changed since Toby came into our lives.  Pets really are like another member of our families that provide us with unconditional love & loyalty.  My journaling which is stored in the scroll reads as follows:

My Toby--our Toby really...ever since you became a member of our family you've filled a void we didn't even know we had.  You bring sunshine & laughs to our otherwise mundane lives.  Your 'childlike' ways never cease to surprise or amaze us--and we'll never figure out how such a small dog can have such an enormously loud bark!  You're our Toby--but I see you as 'my' Toby.  I was the first one to hold you as a puppy & look into those big brown trusting eyes.  When I look at you today, I see a grown dog with eyes that are still trusting, but are now also filled with unconditional love, devotion & loyalty.  You belong to our family, but to me you'll always be my wet-nosed confidant, my undercover furry friend...my sweet little Toby.

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

I've used doilies, flowers, mushroom birds, nests & lots of ribbons on this page.  In fact, most of my background is made up of ribbon.  All ribbons & twine seen on this page were sponsored by Scrapbook Fantasies.

The gorgeous light blue flower is by Manor House Creations--I'm loving their flowers more and more lately!  I've tucked a bit of aqua & purple tulle underneath my large flower to soften the page a bit.

The butterflies are new designs that will soon be available in my Etsy shop.  So keep an eye out for them!

The honeycomb chippie is by Dusty Attic.  My title was printed on a transparency, cut out & adhered with clear dry glue.

I really liked this one particular metal word band by Tim Holtz that reads: "live the life you've imagined".  That would be my Toby.  Oh he really does live a 'dog's life'.  Eats all he wants, sleeps all he wants--total pampered pooch...even in the photo he's holding a bone that he happily chewed on for hours and hours!

The pearl flourishes are by Prima.  The small glass vial is from my stash--I've filled it with small beads, also from my stash.

Something that has become a trademark with my pages lately is how I store my journaling.  It's stored in the form of a scroll as shown here.  If interested on how I go about making this scroll journaling--you can find a tutorial for it here.

The background is composed of gesso with random smears of Frozen Lake & Blitzen glimmer mists.  The gesso was applied with a small spatula while the glimmer mists were applied with a paint brush.  I didn't spray the mists directly onto the paper this time.  Instead I sprayed them directly onto my Ranger Non-Stick Craft Sheet & then dipped my paint brush into the ink & painted away.

I've also tucked a bit of cheese cloth behind my trio of pictures.

Thanks for stopping by!  Make sure you visit the OUAS blog to see how the other talented DT's interpreted this challenge & sketch.

Enjoy the rest of the week!

Capture the Good Times Layout

Hello once again fellow scrappers!  Time to reveal yet another page for the latest Once Upon A Sketch (OUAS) challenge.  The challenge for this month was to use a quote in combination with the usual provided sketch.  We could interpret the quote anyway we wanted.

I've also used an XL acrylic Deco shape by Clear Scraps on this page.

All paper used on this page was sponsored by Riddersholm Design & is from their Christmas Story collection.  I wanted to show how versatile these papers were in using them in a non-Christmas themed layout.  They are beautiful papers for either Christmas or non-Christmas themed projects!

Not many know this--but I suppose this is a good time as any to tell.  I'm actually expecting my first child & he's due in a few weeks time (yes, it's a boy).  To us though our fur-baby Toby is our 'eldest' son.  My family are huge animal lovers and ever since I can remember we always saw the pets in our household as simply another member of the family.  Plus it doesn't help that Toby really does act like he's a child trapped in a furry body.  Here is just one example of that.  Toby has been curious about my growing belly for some time now.  Well this October afternoon he simply came up to me and started sniffing around my tummy--eventually he just stood up & felt it--as if he were trying to figure out what's going on inside this growing tummy.  Luckily my husband was around & he snapped this photo.

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

Here's the quote that was provided.  I focused more on the 'capture the good times' part of the quote.  I felt that this photo was very candid, sweet & am very grateful that I was able to capture this one moment.  It's one I don't wish to forget.

I used an actual negative from a film strip that I had in my stash as  part of my embellishments.  The burgundy ribbon was sponsored by Scrapbooking Fantasies & I used it on both my journaling tag and for this arrangement of flowers, beaded vines & twine.  There's a bit of moss jute ribbon in the background, mini pine cones (since this photo was taken in Autumn--my fave season!) a small glass vial full of black glass beads & a light bulb trinket by Prima.  The twine & white mulberry paper roses were also sponsored by Riddersholm Design.

To give my large acrylic shape some texture I first randomly inked along all the edges with Pesto, Currant & Silver alcohol ink.  I then broke out my stamps & stamped some images with jet black StazOn.  TIP: Always remember to use permanent solvent ink when stamping on non-pourous surfaces such as acrylic.  I've always used StazOn for this kind of stamping.  Using other kind of ink such as pigment or dye will cause your image to smear.

A close up of more stamping.  This is the beauty of acrylic...it's see through--so any images you put on it or behind it show.  In this close up you can see some random splatter stamping that I did on the background paper with brown ink as well as my black stamping that was done directly on the acrylic.

A close up of the alcohol ink--that Silver ink really adds a nice sheen to the edges!  To dress up my border a bit more I added some dots of Silver Stickles as well.

I tucked a bit of ivory tulle underneath this very pretty handmade flower.  This flower is from an Etsy shop called More Paper Than Shoes.  Anna, the owner, makes many lovely handmade flowers such as these.

This tag holds my journaling (it's on the backside of the tag).  It's actually a journaling ticket by Tim Holtz that I turned into a tag.  I just punched a hole on the top & ran some ribbon through.  The edges were inked with a bit of Vintage Photo distress ink.

This lovely large burgundy flower is by Manor House Creations.

Thanks to all of you who stop by for a visit--it's always very much appreciated.  Do remember to swing by the OUAS blog & see the other DT's interpretation of the current challenge & do play along if you can!

Also, I hope this post inspired some of you to get creative with your acrylic--break out those stamps and alcohol inks & just get messy!  You can always find this & many more acrylic goodies at Clear Scraps.

Have a great rest of the week!

She Gave Me Wings Layout

Hello fellow scrappers!  I'm sure you're all aware by now that during this month of September, Once Upon A Sketch (OUAS) has teamed up with CSI.  It's finally my turn to present my project!  I thoroughly enjoy CSI & have been a fan since it's debut.  I play along whenever I can--so for me this was a very fun experience!

I also recently discovered Berry71Bleu & saw that they're having a mixed media challenge this month--I decided to submit this page to their challenge as well.

I decided to do a page based on my mom.  That would be her in the photo and believe it or not, that's me she's holding!  :-)  I was about 3 months old in this photo. Up to a certain point in my life--my mom raised me by herself.  She played a big role in shaping the person that I am today.  She made me to be very strong, independent, proud & ambitious. She was big on education--and thanks to her support I'm the first in my family to earn a college degree.  I didn't stop at a Bachelors either--I have both my Bachelors & my Masters in Management Information Systems.  She's also to thank for me being fluent in Spanish.  Being 100% bilingual has been extremely beneficial in both my personal & professional career.  It's no surprise that most mothers play an important & loving role in our lives--mine is no exception and this is my tribute to the role she played in mine.

Here's the CSI challenge & the sketch provided by Nadia from OUAS that my page is based on.  I absolutely loved the color palette for this one.  To me they were bright, happy & just right for the theme of my page.

For my evidence I included: bird, little bits & pieces & a frame.  For my testimony I have: my journaling in the form of a booklet.

Here's one of the two birds I included on my page.  The resin bird is by Prima as is the cute little nest.  I included a glass vial as part of my random embellies filled with beads from my stash.  I also included some tiles that I've had in my stash for ages.  The title was printed on a transparency.

Here's my little hand made journaling booklet.  I have made a brief tutorial on how I went about creating this booklet.  I loved the idea!  This is yet another way of including large journaling on your layout where the journaling doesn't crowd your page, you can keep it private & it actually adds a unique embellishment to your layout.  You can find the tutorial here.

You can see my 2nd bird here.  This bird is an image I printed via my own computer.

Here are my bits & pieces embedded into my background which is full of texture.  I absolutely loved how my background came out!  It was the first time I got dirty & messy with gesso.  A big thanks goes to Nadia Cannizzo who provided a tutorial on her blog on how to create mesh & gesso backgrounds.  You can find that tutorial here.  The only thing I did differently was that while the gesso was still wet, I added both chunky leaf glitter by Martha Stewart and beads from my stash to add even more texture.  I then let it dry overnight.  TIP: make sure that in the areas that you plan on adding beads or glitter or any other bits & bobs; that you are very generous with your gesso.  You want your items to sink into your gesso without being drowned so that when they dry--they stick & stay!  I colored my background with a mixture of Riptide & Yellow Daisy glimmer mists.

This very pretty flower I bought from an Etsy shop called Funtoolas.  It's fairly large, made out of fabric and very colorful & bright in person.  I tucked a bit of light aqua tulle underneath my flower as well as a yellow & teal feather.

The chippie frame around my photo is by Imaginarium Designs.  It was inked in both a light & dark orange acrylic paint then heat embossed with Star Dust transparent embossing powder by Stampendous.  In person this frame is very shimmery & blingy!

Here's what my journaling booklet looks like when unfolded.  See how much info you can store in this lil' booklet?  Love it!

Thanks for stopping by--I very much appreciate your visit.  Do take the time to visit both the CSI & OUAS blogs to check out what the other talented DT members did with this challenge--you won't be disappointed!  As always, do play along if you can!

Have a great day!