Family Layout

Hello once again fellow scrappers! Today's page is a favorite of mine. I absolutely love this candid shot of myself with my two fave guys--my husband & my little fur-baby Toby.

I used papers by Kaisercraft's Chapter One collection. It coordinated perfectly with the colors in the photo itself. The colors also went just right for Case File #4 going on over at C.S.I. To create the inner frame--I cut a large triangular shape into my paper and then 'peeled' it back, rolled it once and just left the outer corner out. (I hope that makes sense!) Oh & prior to adhering everything down I inked all the edges to make them stand out more.

This is the challenge from C.S.I my page is based on.

This is a stamp by Stamp Enjoy. I further decorated the image with Stickles & inked the edges to make it stand out more.

I used Martha Stewart's Deco Flowers punch for the border. The edges were inked to allow them to stand out more. I further highlighted the border with dots of white opal liquid pearls.

The flourish chipboard frame seen here is by Dusty Attic. I painted it first with white acrylic paint & then heat embossed it with clear Star Dust embossing powder by Stampendous.

Another very cute stamp by Stamp Enjoy. The large spray is by Petaloo. It's one of their Color Me Crazy Sprays...I spritzed it with a teal glimmer mist so it would match my page.

The label holding my title is also by Dusty Attic. The label went through a couple extra steps in order to give it more texture. It was first painted with a teal/blue metallic acrylic paint. I then gave it a coat of clear crackle paint (Rock Candy). Once dry I lightly spread a bit of Frosted Lace Stickles on it with my finger. I added more Frosted Lace in the center of the label & spread it out thinner with my finger towards the edges. I next highlighted the edges of the label with Stickles and finished it up by adding two rhinestones.

Thanks to all of you who stop by for a visit and I hope you all have a fabulous weekend!

Friends Furever Layout

Good evening once again fellow scrappers & bloggers! Today's page is one I did for Stamp Enjoy. It's also a remake of an older page titled "Just the 2 of Us". I felt my original page was a bit too feminine--so I re-did it while keeping only certain elements but adding more of a 'grungy' masculine theme.

This is my husband & my little fur-pup Toby. These two are 'my boys'--the men in my life! This photo captures the bond & special friendship these two share. Yes, it's true that my husband isn't exactly a 'little boy' anymore. But the friendship they share is the typical 'boy & his beloved dog' that we've all heard about since the Little House & the Prairie days. As usual, Toby seems to be smiling in this picture. How he pulls that off is beyond me...but he somehow manages to smile in the majority of his pics!

As previously mentioned, I tried to keep this on the masculine side; therefore you'll notice a bit of 'grunge' in the style of this page. However, I did manage to include flowers in order to soften it just a bit. They are what I call 'man flowers'. :-)

I used a corrugated 'flute' cardboard by Canvas Corp for the background. I did a lot of embossing/painting on the corrugated cardboard. I also did a bit of stitching & went a little tag crazy in the upper left hand corner! :-)

Here's a close up of one of the two beaded flowers with burlap bottoms. The burlap portion of the flower I made by doing my 'burlap flower' tutorial found here. The beaded flower is an item you can find in my Etsy shop. I have several beaded flowers in a variety of colors. So if interested, please do feel free to stop by. These beaded flowers really do add a nice finishing touch to any project. The metal string circle around the beaded flower is an item I found at my local Michaels in the clearance section. I thought they'd be perfect for masculine themed pages.

A close up of the brick wall & my stamped little guy with his pup. The brick wall is a chippie by Dusty Attic. I used the 'brick texture' technique to give it that rustic brick look. I have a brief tutorial for this on my blog. If interested, you can check it out here.

Here you can see my cluster of tags. I made the folded corner act as a makeshift pocket for my tags.

A close up of the flourish. The flourish was die cut with Tim Holtz's Elegant Flourish die on grunge board. I spread a thin layer of molding paste on the grungeboard & then heat embossed with Enamelz by Shimmerz. Enamelz is a thicker embossing powder than your regular embossing powder--so it adds a really nice effect when combined with other media.

Here's my background. It was first completely painted with an olive acrylic paint. Once dry then I randomly spread a bit of molding paste. Finally I sprinkled a bit of silver Enamelz (Silver Fox) & heat embossed it. This gave me a fabulous background. After looking at it for a bit I realized that this would also look really nice for a Christmas themed paged.

I used a piece of burlap from Canvas Corp to put behind my photo. I also again did a combination of zig-zag stitching & straight stitching. I first used this stitch in my 'Essential Cog' page & really liked the look of it.

Thanks to all of you who stop by for a visit! Enjoy the weekend...

Harry Potter Layout

Calling all Harry Potter fans! :-) I've had this page done about two months ago & simply haven't had the chance to upload it.

I'm a bonafide Harry Potter fan--I call myself a Potterhead. I've read all the books & seen all the movies. Am actually quite upset that the series ended. But what a fabulous ride those years were! So when I heard that the Harry Potter exhibit was going to be in NYC--you know I just HAD to go! So here I am standing outside the exit to the exhibit. They had this large poster with the three main characters & it was the perfect spot to have my photo taken.

As for the exhibit...it was fabulous! I got to pull Mandrakes, sit in Hagrids chair & throw a Quaffle! All you fellow Potterheads out there will know 'exactly' what I'm talking about! **wink wink**

Since this was all about HP--what better line for this page than the Harry Potter collection by Creative Imaginations. This line is filled with HP goodies and when it came time to put my page together it was all about layering, layering & oh yeah...more layering.

Here I am! Quite happy...like a kid in a toy factory! lol I punched the corner of the photo with different hand held circle punches & then inked over the punched holes with Tea Dye distress ink.

The corner stamp is by Stamp Enjoy. I stamped it with embossing ink & then heat embossed it with opaque white embossing powder.

A close up of the partial hand stitching I did in the corners. The photo seen in the frame is actually what the outside to the exhibit looked like. They had the actual flying Ford Anglia seen in the 2nd movie hanging above the entrance to the exhibit! I loved it!

The second essential part to this layout were the HP stickers that came with this collection. The sorting hat, the various bottles of potions, the Nimbus 2000, fire bolt, Hedwig, Harry Potter wanted poster etc...these are all stickers.

My love for this magical world is something that I definitely hope to pass onto my children one day. So it seemed only fit to scrap it at least once. I hope this inspires all of you fellow Potterheads out there to scrap your love for this magical wizard!

Capture The Present Instance Layout

Hello once again fellow scrappers! Today's page is one I made for Stamp Enjoy. I did some masking, stitching & as usual, a bit of stamping for this one.

The photos are of me & my husband while on a brief weekend getaway to Cape May, NJ. While walking around I found one of those photo booths that take continuous shots--I've always wanted to try these photo booths & make various funny faces as the camera went off--well here's the result of my little adventure! I think I'll be specifically seeking these photo booths out in the future b/c they make for great memories, fabulous candid shots & an excuse to scrap really fun pages.

This is a close up of the Roses stamp by Stamp Enjoy. I added Crystal Stickles to the image to dress it up a bit more.

The title is also a stamp by Stamp Enjoy. As you can see, I have a tendency of dressing up my stamps with either Star Dust or Crystal Stickles. I really like the added dimension the Stickles add to my stamped images.

A close up of the stamped flourish. This stamp is by Prima & is from their Build-A-Swirl stamp line. I used black Staz-On to stamp the image...this gives the image a crisp sharp look. I also further dressed up the swirl with Crystal Stickles.

On this screen shot you can also see the circle stitching & the scalloped circle masking.

A close up of one of the three shimmery flowers. I made these flowers with water color paper. I have a brief tutorial on how I went about making this flower. If interested, please feel free to view the tutorial here.

The bird cage is also a stamp by Stamp Enjoy. For this image I first stamped it onto a transparency with black Staz-On & cut it out. This way I was able to position it exactly where I wanted on my page & the stitching & masking was underneath the stamped image instead of above it.

Finally, a close up of the kissing couple. This is actually not chipboard--these are laser cut wooden images that I ordered from a French company called Scrap Desirs. I did not color in the design at all. I left it it's natural color. To give it that 'epoxy' look. I first inked it with embossing ink & heat embossed it with Kaleidoscope transparent embossing powder by Stampendous. I then embossed it three times more with Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel (UTEE). UTEE is what gave the design a thick epoxy look & the Kaleidoscope embossing powder is what gives the image it's bling.

The 'fence' the kissing couple is standing on is a chippie by Dusty Attic. I painted the chippie with a dark turquoise metallic paint.

TIP: To give any chipboard, cardstock or even flowers an 'epoxy' look--try embossing it with UTEE.

Thanks to all of you who drop by for a visit! I hope this inspired some of you to try UTEE in your next project.

My Sweet Little Boy Layout

Good evening fellow scrappers! Today's page is one based on my little Toby. He's my very first dog & he never ceases to amaze me. It's like he's a 2 year old little boy trapped in a furry body. You can always tell what he's feeling or trying to convey with his facial expressions. He understands everything you tell him & he even seems to be bilingual since my husband always speaks to him in English & both my mom & I speak to him in Spanish. Regardless, he understands what we're telling him! To me, he's my sweet little boy & always will be.

This is a DT project for Stamp Enjoy. Once again the entire background is stamped/misted or inked.

Here's a close up of one of the 2 large flowers seen on this page. I have a brief tutorial here on how to make these flowers if interested. They're very simple, but add a nice touch.

This page is also for the "Stick With Helmar September Challenge". My friend Natasha gave me the heads up about this site & I went simply to be nosy! :-) However, when I saw this sketch I absolutely LOVED it & found that these pictures of me & Toby that I've been wanting to scrap for a while were just right for this sketch. I was lucky enough to have a bottle of Helmar's 450 Quick Dry adhesive in my stash (sometimes it pays to just buy everything in sight) & decided to give this sketch challenge a try.

I used safety pins as embellies. I have tons of safety pins that I bought ages ago & never figured out how to incorporate them into my pages. Well, this is a very simple way to add a couple to a page. So I used about 8 pins out of my 800...it's a start! :-)

A close up of one of the stamps by Stamp Enjoy. This one is called Petit Rond 1. All of the splashes & splats seen in the background are made with stamps. I used a combination of Vintage Photo distress ink & Anchor's Away Coloringz by Shimmerz for my stamping.

The largest circle was cut out of corrugated cardboard. I spread some Midnight Blue Stickles all over it with my finger.

A close up of the 'Puppy Love' tag.

This large circle is a stamp by Stamp Enjoy. It's called Bordure Rond 3. TIP: I wanted this stamp to be in a very specific spot. So instead of stressing myself out on the exact placement of the stamp--I stamped it onto a transparency with black Staz On & cut the image out. This way I was able to position the image exactly where I wanted.

A close up of the title. The chippie is from A2Z Scraplets. I kept the texture of the title simple. I painted it with navy blue acrylic paint--once dry I inked it with embossing powder & heat embossed it with Kaleidoscope transparent embossing powder by Stampendous. In person the title has an amazing shimmer.

Thanks to all of you who take the time to drop by...

Ur Eyes (Say All) Layout

Good evening fellow scrappers! Today's page is one that I had absolutely no design mapped out in my head for--all I knew was that I wanted to scrap these two pictures of my husband. I just grabbed my stamps & stamped away & this was the end result.

This is a DT project for Stamp Enjoy.

My husband has these deep blue eyes. The complete opposite from my dark brown. At times, especially in the morning--they are crystal blue. I took these pics during one of these mornings. I told him to give me one of his 'sexy' poses. Well...this is a sexy as he gets folks! :-)

As mentioned, I did a lot of stamping & misting on this one. Just about the entire background is stamped. I used stamps from Stampin' Up, Tim Holtz & Stamp Enjoy.

In this close up you can see a combination of 3 stamps. Both round stamps are from Stamp Enjoy. They are Petit Rond 1 & Bordure Rond 3. The script stamp is by Tim Holtz.

Another close up of the same two stamps by Stamp Enjoy. The birds in flight stamp is by Tim Holtz. In the corners I punched multiple times with McGill hand punches of various round sizes. I think inked over the punched holes with yellow ink. Finally I filled the holes with Black Diamond Stickles.

A close up of the large chippie. This chipboard is by Dusty Attic. I painted the chippie with yellow acrylic paint. Once dry I dabbed embossing ink on it & then heat embossed it with Star Dust transparent embossing powder by Stampendous. This technique gives the chippie an amazing shimmer that is appreciated better in real life.

The metal flowers are by Prima.

This vintage car stamp is also by Stamp Enjoy called Voiture Ancienne. The stamp of the city skyline is by Tim Holtz.

Finally a close up of the 'bead stitching' I did. Basically these are just very large stitches & I thread multi-colored beads onto every other stitch.

Thanks to all of you who stop by--the visit is always very much appreciated.