Some Gardening Pages

Good Morning and Happy Thursday!

We are settling in nicely to a new routine here with school back in session and I am finding it easier to make time for scrapbooking again.  YAY!   Here are a couple of my latest pages.  I feel a little rusty, I must admit, but it's a start.

"Home Grown"

Supplies: Paper (KI Memories, Cosmo Cricket), Journaling Sprouts (Jillibean Soup), Letters (October Afternoon), Chipboard (Cosmo Cricket)

"Ready Set Grow"

Supplies:  Paper (Lily Bee Designs, Cosmo Cricket), Ribbon (Cosmo Cricket), Trim (Makign Memories), Buttons & Button Tool (Epiphany Crafts), Stamp (Artful Stamper), Floss (Karen Foster)

Check out all the fun little buttons I made to add some dimension to the paper border.  I used the Round 14 Button Studio Tool by Epiphany Crafts.

I'll leave you with that for today.  Thanks, as always, for visiting.

EDITED TO ADD:

Look for these pages in

Scrapbooking & Beyond:  Summer, 2012

&

Scrapbook Trends: May, 2012 respectively

Happy Harvest - NEW Release from Imaginisce

The day has finally arrived where I can share with you what I have been up to with Imaginisce's new Happy Harvert collection.  I think you'll agree that this line is totally adorable and pefectly suited for any kind of fall project you could possibly imagine.

The first project uses my most favourite mini album design of all time.  It is called the "Happy Tree Book" by Magistical Memories.  I dug out my trusty brown spray paint to paint the cover.  That is my "go to" method of covering intricate chipboard pieces.  There is zero run off down the sides and the finish looks almost as though it was factory done.

The glamed-up border you see around the cover was made using the i-Rock and d-Stress tools with the Metallic Pearl Glam Rocks.  Because the paint finish is glossy, I roughed up the surface where I wanted to add a Glam Rock with the d-Stress tool.  This gave the glue on the Glam Rocks something to grab onto and therefore created a stronger bond once heat set with the i-Rock. 

Supplies:  Paper, Chipboard, Stickers, Glam Rocks & i-Rock (Imaginisce), Felt (Basic Grey), Acrylic Star (Pink Paislee), Album (Magistical Memories), Envelope (Maya Roads)

In case you haven't notice, I add dangles to 90% of all my mini albums.  They just don't seem complete otherwise.

EDITED TO ADD:  Look for this mini album in the Fall, 2012 edition of Canadian Scrapbooker Magainze.

The next project is a fall wall hanging that I made using Maya Roads' kraft envelopes as the base.  I embossed parts of them with some Tim Holtz's embossing folders. I really love what the embossing adds to the overall look of the piece.  The envelopes are covered with a variety of Happy Harvest goodies. I think the fox is my favourite.  I also love the die cut titles, like the one you see here.

Supplies:  Paper, Die Cuts, Chipboard (Imaginisce), Epoxy (Epiphany Crafts), Bulb Safety Pins (Fancy Pants), Trinket Pins (Little Yellow Bicycle), Envelopes (Maya Roads), Embossing Folder (Tim Holtz)

All the little dangles you see on this project were made with the round 25 epoxy shape studio tool by Epiphany Crafts.  I fussy cut the little critters and adhered them to teal cardstock.  I doodled a faux stitched border and then used my studio tool to make epoxy embellishments.  That is the beauty of these tools. I can create custom embellishments to match any line I am working with.  The Crop-a-Dile punched right through the epoxy to make a hole for hanging. 

If you look closely, you will also see a felt flower, vintage setting and mini epoxy apple that are all part of the Epiphany Crafts line up.  I used them to top an accordian flower made with a piece of the Happy Harvest paper.

That's all for today.  Don't forget to stop by the Imaginisce blog.  You won't be disappointed. The girls have all kinds of fall goodies like these to share.  Have a wonderful Monday!

Accenting with Liquid Pearls

Last week, when working on my June Upsy Daisy Designs assignment, I rediscovered my Liquid Pearls.  I have no idea why they got pushed to the back shelf, but now that I have taken them out again, you can expect to see them used a whole lot more.

Liquid Pearls are a cost effective way to add texture and interest to a page.  Take a peek at the two pages I have to share today for some examples of how I like to accenutate with liquid pearls.

"Almost  4"

Supplies:  Paper (Upsy Daisy), Flowers (Prima), Tape (Pink Paislee), Journaling Sprouts (Jillibean Soup), Liquid Pearls (Ranger), Chipboard (Basic Grey), Rub-ons (Black River Designs)

Notice how I created a border around my shaped paper and also added some texture to my chipboard number '4'. 

"Happy"

Supplies:  Paper (Upsy Daisy Designs), Epoxy & Felt Flower (Epiphany Crafts), Journaling Sprouts (Jillibean Soup), Brads (DCWV), Stamp & Ink (Stampin' Up), Liquid Pearls (Ranger)

I am in love with this stamp. It is the Medallion stamp by Stampin' Up.  I used some Liquid Pearls on this one to highlight some of the designs on the stamp.  That beautiful felt flower and epoxy bird you see are by Epiphany Crafts.  The Shape Studio Tool Round 14 allowed me to turn regular patterned paper in to a 3D embellishment.

I also used a mix of custom epoxy shapes (Heart 14), Liquid Pearls and brads to create a frame around my photo.  Again, this was a quick and inexpensive way to add some interest to my layout.

Liquid Pearls Tips:
-Always add your pearls last.  This way you can leave your page to dry and not risk smudging them.  I also recommend placing the wet page up high away from your craft table.  I've put a page to the side before thinking it would be fine and placed a sheet of paper on top by accident.

-Liquid Pearls are not meant to be perfect.  They really aren't.  Try and use a steady hand and very small amount for each dot and it will look great.  Don't worry if you make a dot too big.  You can wipe it right off when it is wet with little to no damage.  If you look closely at my dots, you will see they are not all entirely perfect but it really doesn't take away from the effect at all.

-If you are not entirely confident creating your own free-hand border, try highlighting existing borders on patterened paper or embellishments like I did above.  The vertical column of pearls on the first page is a mere highlight of a dotted border that was pre-printed on the paper.  The same holds true for the stamped medallion. I highlighted dots that were part of the stamped design.

-Try mixing things up with more than one colour.


So there you have it.  A fun little introduction to (or reminder to dig out) those Liquid Pearls.

Splash Fun

One of the new lines released by Best Creation Inc. is called "Splash Fun", just in time for summer to start.  They are celebrating all weekend long with lots of projects and giveaways on their blog.

 Here are a few things I made with the line:

Supplies:  Paper, Chipboard (Best Creation Inc.), Buttons Vintage Setting & Epoxy (Epiphany Crafts), Flourishes (Cricut Cindy Loo Cartridge), Brads (DCWV), Twine (The Twinery), Pins (Little Yellow Bicycle)

Check out all the Epiphany Crafts goodies on this one.  Don't you just love that vintage setting and little epoxy ducky?

EDITED TO ADD:  Look for this page in the April, 2012 issue of Cricut Magazine's Quick & Easy Idea Book.

 The next project is a mini album called "Make a Splash".  It is full of photos from our summer last year.

 

Supplies:  Paper, Stickers & Chipboard (Best Creation Inc.), Album (Clear Scraps), Baubles (Stamping Bella), Water Drops (Imaginisce), Bind it All (Zutter), Felt (Creative Café)

Thanks so much for visitng.  Don't forget to pop on over to the Best Creation Inc.'s blog for more fun projects a chance to win.

EDITED TO ADD:

Look for the "Water Fun" page in the Cricut Quick & Easy Idea Book in April, 2012.

Look for the mini album in the Summer, 2012 issue of Canadian Scrapbooker Magazine.

Living Proof

Supplies:  Paper, Die Cuts & Transparencies (My Mind's Eye), Felt (Epiphany Crafts & Prima), Brads (GCD Studios), Flower Center (Prima), Epoxy (Epiphany Crafts), Sheer Flowers (Imaginisce)

These felt flowers by Epiphany Crafts are really wonderful.  They are XL and have so many layers. Love them

I made the flower centers with the round 25 shape studio tool.  The two sizes of round epoxy tools (14 and 25) are my most used Epiphany Crafts tools. 

I'll leave you with that and a wish for a wonderful day.  Thanks, as always, for visiting. I truly appreciate it.

"Hello" Card

I have a quick post for you today, a card.  As you might notice in the photo, the rain is streaming down the window.  It has rained for the better part of this month so I decided to make a happy card with some fun colours and flowers.  I used the "Gone Camping" line by Best Creation Inc. in conjunction with a few of our product partners:  Helmar adhesive, Spellbinders dies and Epiphany Crafts' Shape Studio Tools.

Before I sign off, I want to share with you one other photo.  We have asparagus growing in our garden this year for the very first time.

I think next to the warm weather, our vegetable garden is my most favourite part of summer.  You can expect more of these kinds of photos as the season unfolds.

Thanks so much for visiting.

Epiphany Crafts Meets Glue Arts

Whew!  What a week we have had.  You wouldn't know if from my blog postings this week but we have been down and out with the flu, all five of us.  Luckly I pre-scheduled all my posts this week before we left for the Easter weekend because last night was the first night I've felt like been crafty since early last week.  It feels great to be back and as an added bonus, I got to play with some Glue Arts goodies.

When I was at the trade show in January, I fell in love with Glue Arts products, especially their Extreme Tac line.  You may even remember me including it my favourite CHA finds.  This week Glue Arts has teamed up with Epiphany Crafts and I couldn't be more thrilled.  My first project is a layout, "Farewell Mister Snowman".

Supplies:  Paper (Jillibean Soup), Transparencies (Heidi Swapp, Hambly), Buttons & Epoxy (Epiphany Crafts), Letters (Heidi Swapp, My Little Shoebox, Basic Grey), Die (Spellbinders), Punches (Marvy Uchida), Adhesive (Glue Arts)

Journaling Reads:
April 2, 2011 - The snow was all but gone, the snowsuits were packed away.  Then it SNOWED.  The girls happily made one last, mini snowman.

(I left out the part where Mommy wasn't so happy!)

1

To create the title I mounted mini micro stickers onto kraft cardstock, outlined them in red ink and then punched them out with the round 14 epoxy tool.  This is a great way to add some pizazz to those ordinary letter stickers, rub-ons or alphabet stamps.  The banner was also custom made with round and scallop punches from Marvy Uchida.  Notice also the flower button above the title.  There are a couple on the page and I made those with a Hambly snowflake transparency.  I know flowers don't normally go with a snow themed page but in this case, I think it works.  First of all, the pictures were taken in April when we should be looking at flowers and not snowmen.  Second, I think the shape is somewhat similar to snowflakes and I added the snowflake design underneath with the transparency to further the theme.

The XL epoxy shape you see here was also made with the snowflake transparency and the Round 25 Epoxy Tool.

Every single thing on this page (with the exception of the small epoxy) was adhered with Glue Arts' Glue Glider Pro Perma Tac runner.  Seriously.  Even the transparencies!  To glue down the small epoxies, I used the Mini Extreme Tac Adhesive Squares.  I can't say enough about how well both of these products adhere and stay put.

My next project is a new one for this blog, a necklace.  You read that right, a necklace.  I wanted to do something different and since Epiphany Crafts sent me some of their new vintage settings, I thought I'd give it a try.

Supplies:  Wooden Frame (K & Company), Blub Safety Pin  (Fancy Pants), Paper (Jillibean Soup), Vintage Settings & Epoxy (Epiphany Crafts), Adhesive (Glue Arts), Misc. Beads, Ribbon & Necklace Clasp

Here in the detail shot, you can see the vintage setting with the round epoxy center.  I used mini adhesive squares on this project, too.

Before I sign off for today, I want to share with you a couple of photos of my youngest daughter sporting her Epiphany Crafts hair clip.  You might remember them from the Make and Take at CHA.

And then the clip was ripped out.  I wish she would leave barrettes in her hair as they look so cute.  I'll leave you with that for today.  Thanks so much to Glue Arts and Epiphany Crafts for making such great products.  Thanks also to you for visiting.

Hippity Hoppity

As promised, the Best Creation In. Design Team has a fun blog hop today with punches as our theme.  If you have just happened upon my blog today, you may want to go to the start of the blog hop so you don't miss a single one of the fun ideas we have to share today.  If you have arrived here from Karen Thind's blog, you are in the right place.

I chose to make some textured background paper with my border punches.  For those of you who are tactile like me, this idea is really going to appeal to you. 

"A Very Bunny Day"

Supplies:  Paper (Best Creation Inc.), Button (Epiphany Crafts), Letters (American Crafts), Flower (Recollections), Punches (EK Success, Fiskars, Martha Stewart), Trims (Bo Bunny, Prima)

To create this look, simply punch a series of borders in different styles and widths and attach to your background paper.  I chose to do white on white because I really love the effect but you could do any colour combination you wish.  Once the borders are adhered, stitch them all down.  This not only acts are a great way to keep everything in place, it adds another really interesting design element.

You can get a closer look at the borders and stitching in this detail shot.  Notice also the custom Epiphany Crafts buttons I made for the page.

Before you go to the next stop on your blog hop, TINA McDONALD, the letter you need from me is E.  Thanks so much for visitng and Happy Hopping!

EDITED TO ADD:

Look for this page in the Spring, 2012 issue of Canadian Scrapbooker Magazine

Happy Easter

Believe it or not, these projects were all made in December for the trade show last January. They were made using the "Bunny Love" line by Best Creation Inc.  I will admit it was very hard to get my head around Easter when Christmas was almost upon me, but you do what you've got to do.  On the bright side, it kept me on my toes and prepared well in advance when Easter finally arrives.  So without further rambling, here they are:

"I adore your baby blues"

(Absolutely nothing to do with Easter but it uses Easter paper just the same.)

Supplies:  Paper, Stickers (Best Creation Inc.), Letters (Best Creation Inc., American Crafts), Buttons (Epiphany Crafts & Stampin' Up), Border Punch (Fiskars), Lace (Dollarama)

"Hippity Hoppity" Frame

Supplies:  Paper, Stickers, Chipboard (Best Creation Inc.), Doily (Kaisercrafts)

Easter Table Top Decoration

Supplies:  Paper, Chipboard, Stickers (Best Creation Inc.), Flowers (Imaginisce), Beer Coasters, Bind-it-All (Zutter)

This decoration was actually made with beer coasters.  I attached them all together with my Bind-it-All once decorated and was able to make a quick Easter decoration, perfect for a mantle or window ledge.

"Happy Easter" Card

Supplies:  Paper, Chipboard (Best Creation Inc.), Die (Spellbinders), Ribbon & Pins (Michaels)

I made the Easter card this month for a cross promotion with Best Creation Inc. and Spellbinders.  Love their dies, especially this one.  Doilies are really popular right now and make the  perfect backdrop for a photo or sentiment like on this card.

There you have it, a flury of Bunny Love projects as we start the long Easter weekend.  Thanks so much for visiting and look for most Easter themed goodies on Monday as the Best Creation Inc. Design Team shows you all kinds of fun ways to use your punches. 

Until then, HAPPY EASTER!

EDITED TO ADD:

Look for this card in the Spring, 2012 issue of Canadian Scrapbooker magazine.

Radiant

I have another project to share today made with the "Ballet Princess" line by Best Creation Inc.  As I mentioned yesterday, this page has absolutely nothing to do with ballet.  I'm rebellious like that sometimes! Grin.

"Radiant"

Supplies:  Paper, Glitter Cardstock & Stickers (Best Creation Inc.), Epoxy (Epiphany Crafts), Trim (Prima), Flower (Pink Paislee), Letters (American Crafts), Border Punch (EK Success)

Check out all the custom epoxy embellishments made using an Epiphany Crafts shape studio tool.  If you have yet to try one of these bad boys out, you really need to get your hands on one.  I always have embellishments to match my paper now.

Tomorrow I have some Easter goodies to share made with another Best Creation Inc. line.  Until then, have a wonderful day!

More Safari Girl Projects

As promised here are a couple of more baby themed projects using the adorable Safari Girl line by Best Creation Inc.

A Baby Gift Bag

and a Happy 1st Birthday card I made for Daphne a few weeks ago:

Supplies:  Paper, Chipboard (Best Creation Inc.), Twine (Martha Stewart), Rub-Ons (Upsy Daisy, Jenni Bowlin), Epoxy (Epiphany Crafts)

Don't forget to come back on Friday for a fun twist on a "made from scratch" mini album.

Safari Girl Collection by Best Creation Inc.

I have all kinds of goodies to share with you all this week from the adorable baby girl collection by Best Creation Inc.  I also stepped outside of my comfort zone and created a two page layout.  I really need to do this more.

"My Sweet Baby Girl @ 8 Mos"

Supplies: Paper, Stickers & Chipboard (Best Creation Inc.), Flowers (Petaloo), Pin (Making Memories), Letters (Scenic Route)

I love all the coordinating chipboard and sticker shapes that accompany this line.  Having the basic dot paper available in so many colours also makes matching any Best Creation line a breeze.

One thing I like to do wtih alphabet stickers to give them a little extra punch is to outline them in a contrasting colour on the page.

"My Babies"

My Mom took this photo when Daphne first came home from the hospital.  Some people have to take a second look to see what/who Julia is actually holding. 

Supplies:  Paper, Stickers & Chipboard (Best Creation Inc.), Flowers (Prima), Doily (Dollar Store), Rub-Ons (Jenni Bowlin), Epoxy (Epiphany Crafts), Letters (My Little Shoebox)

I gave the owls' eyes a little dimension with some epoxy shapes.

I'll leave you with that for today.  Be sure to check out the Best Creations's blog for more projects by the Design Team with this cute line.  There will be more  more Safari Girl projects here and there on Wednesday and on Friday we are having a mini album blog hop you won't want to miss. 

Hopes & Dreams

Today's page was made with my new favourite photos of Daphne.  I was experimenting with my camera and was thrilled to get these shots.  She has the most adorable little face. 

I used Upsy Daisy's "Home Sweet Home" line for this page.  The quote written on the green strip across the middle of the page was the inspiration for the layout.  It reads:  "Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, but learning to dance in the rain..."  I need to say that again:   "Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, but learning to dance in the rain..."  I like that.  I like it alot.

So without any further rambling, here it is:

"Hopes & Dreams"

Supplies:  Paper, Brad (Upsy Daisy Designs), Chipboard Flourish (Magistical Memories), Chipboard Word (American Crafts), Letters (Websters Pages), Epoxy (Epiphany Crafts)

There is rarely a project that goes by that doesn't incorporate buttons or epoxies of some sort and this page is no exception.

That's it, that's all for today.  I'm got all kinds of activites packed into the next two days, the first being a pregnancy photo shoot for my sister followed by a visit from my brother and sister in-law and their family.  Whatever you are doing this weekend, Enjoy!  I'll see you again next week.