Tim Holtz 12 Tags of Christmas 2009!

If you haven't already been following Tim Holtz on his 12 Tags of Christmas for 2009, you are definitely missing out! As always, they are fabulous and challenging. I have been making a list of all the supplies and gathering things I need so I can give all 12 tags a shot this year.

As usual, it is a little busy in December, but I really wanted to make time to try and do this if I could. Since several of my scrapping friends are interested in giving this a try, we decided it would be fun to try it together and to kind of spur each other on. So, we're all getting together at my house next weekend and having a Tim Holtz 12 Tags of Christmas Extravaganza! (it will probably be more a chaotic mess of distress, but it will be FUN!)

As soon as I start getting them done, I will post them for you to see.

If you haven't already - click the logo above and head on over to Tim's blog to check out his tags. and while you're at it, leave a comment. You just may win something from him. I did!!

An Album for Malachi

My friends Wes and Rachel had a little boy, Malachi, who was battling a form of leukemia. Almost three weeks ago he quietly passed from his mother's arms into the arms of Jesus. He had a wonderful smile and his mom posted so many adorable pictures of his happy face on her blog that I really wanted to make an album for Malachi and Wes and Rachel so that they could cherish the wonderful memories they had with him. This was a task I knew I could never complete alone, so I called on my scrapbooking friends, some of whom called on their scrapbooking friends, and together, we made this album of memories for Kai's family.

Many thanks to the ladies who contributed pages to this album.
Sandy Kim Tiffany Noli Janice R Suzy
Janice L Susan Sue Colleen Dawn Alisa
Linda Allison Brenda Jan Terry Heather

Kai had an amazing way of affecting people he never even met with his sweet spirit, and Wes and Rachel touched many people they never met with their strength and courage. If you would like to read more about Kai and his journey, please visit their Caring Bridge site and follow their story there.

More Halloween!

I am always so inspired by Disneyland's Halloween Time decorations, especially the ones on Main Street, that I took lots of pictures last year and decided that I wanted to try and replicate some of them in my own home. I had several parties planned for different things here at my house, so I figured that this was the best year to give it a try!

Not only did I decorate for Halloween, but I made name plates, a mini book and some treat giveaways that I learned to make from a friend who has a CTMH business. (Thanks Janice!)

First, here is the mini book I made using Tim Holtz Distress inks and crackle paints, QuicKutz dies and Teresa Collins bracket book covers and Halloween die cut pages. It was such fun to make and we even used the Bind-it-All to put it together.



I made place cards for everyone with the QuicKutz Haunted House die and Haunted alpha, abd my friend Noli made the treat bags.


I learned to make these adorable treats from my CTMH friend and consultant, Janice. Rather than stamping, I added the vintage postcard to the front of the treat (I used several different styles of postcards) and then in various spots, for a little shine, I added some Rock Candy Distress Stickles. It looks like that old glass glitter.



When you open the folder, the treat pops out! So cute and fun!



Now for the decorations. I wanted to keep that vintage Halloween feel, so i continued with the antique postcard theme, just like Disneyland.
Here is this year's front door wreath....but I already have plans to change it for next year.


This is the wall over the entrance table as you come in the door.


Coffee table in the living room.


And I didn't make this, but I found this adorable pumpkin at Vons! Couldn't pass it up, so I included it here b/c it is just so darn cute!


Well, that was it for my Halloween decor for this year -- but you know me, I'll be adding to it next year!

Disney's Halloween Time!

I promised my friends that I would plan some Halloween Time Disney pages for them, so here are the two for this month. I had a couple of problems, one being that some of the paper I ordered from this Making Memories Spooktacular Halloween line didn't come in, so I had to come up with an alternative for it. I have the techniques I used at the end of this post, but for now, here are the two layouts I came up with.




For this layout, I borrowed the tag design from Tim Holtz's Technique Challenge for October 2008.


I didn't want to use ribbon for the tag, so I dyed some cheesecloth using Ranger products. I also got inspiration from a funny layout by my friend Susan Stringfellow. She used google eyes in a circle on her layout about antique fake eyeballs. I loved it and wanted to used it on a Halloween layouts, so here is my version of her google eye circle.




The second layout uses some of the new Halloween QuicKutz. The title and adorable curved swirly border and from QK. The rest of the embellishments are either stamped, or the ticket I created on my computer using Microsoft Word.



The medallions on both pages were made by adhereing circles to colored paper clips and then tying some dyed cheese cloth to the tops of each.





Because part of my paper didn't come in, I had to adapt. So, I ran to JoAnn's and found this wedding paper. I got out my Ranger Distress Inks and inked the paper so that it looked dramatically different once I was finished.



And just like that, wedding paper becomes Halloween paper!



Then I needed some colored cheese cloth for my tags on both pages. I used Adirondack ColorWash to dye the white cheese cloth, then as I dried it with a heating tool, I spritzed it with Ranger Distress Re-inkers to add depth to the color and to make them look a little more uneven. I loved how they turned out.




Supplies:
Making Memories, Ranger Distress Inks, Adirondack Color Wash, QuicKutz, Cricut (Arrr Matey font), Martha Stewart edge punch, Stamps - Close to My Heart, Inque Boutique - Darice, Tim Holtz - Stampers Anonymous, cheese cloth, paper clips, google eyes

A Very Merry UnBirthday to YOU!

I made this stuff for a get-together I had at my house with some friends. I wanted to use some of the QuicKutz birthday dies and Basic Gray Lime Rickey paper. This was a lot of fun to do.

First, I decorated the table with nameplates and fry holders filled with skittles. One of my friends made the cute cupcake in the center to add to the festivities.


This is the card we made.


It's a pop up card, so when you pull the bottom of the navy strip, the top pops up to reveal this candle with the tag that reads "Wishing you a..."


then the inside of the card finishes the sentiment with "...Happy Birthday."


Supplies:
Basic Gray Lime Rickey (and a strip of Two Scoops)
Martha Stewart white opaque pen
Fun Foam
QuicKutz used:
CARD:
Cake REV-0159-S
Candles REV-0156-S
Happy Birthday REV-0157-S
QuicKutz Club Tab - QC-0015
QuicKutz Club Tag - QC-0016
NAMEPLATES:
Nesting Squares CC-SQUARES-01
Nesting Balloons CC-BALLOONS-01
FRY CONTAINER:
Nesting Flowers CC-FLOWERS-01
Candles REV-0156-S

Hello Friend - Basic Grey Challenge #1

Okay, unlike my last post, this is the real deal! I actually used Basic Grey paper and a Basic Grey Brad for this card so it fits the challenge.

We were to make a card using mostly Basic Grey product and we were to follow this sketch.

I used Basic Grey Eve Collection for my paper and an Eve brad in the middle of the flower.



The flower is cut from actual sewing patterns using 3 different sized scalloped circles. I attached them through the center and then crinkled them and spritzed them with Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist in Sherbet and Scarlet. I got the idea from Annabelle at Bits and Pieces.

I also spritzed the BG pink paper with some glimmer mist so it coordinated with the flower. The BG letters, flourishes and the leaf were all covered with Ranger Crackle Glossy Accents.



Supplies:
Paper: Basic Grey Eve
Cardstock Base: Bazzill
Brad: Basic Grey Eve
Letters and Flourish: Basic Grey Eve
Ribbon: May Arts
Flower: Sewing Pattern, Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist

How Oar You?

I decided I wanted to try and do the new and improved Basic Grey Challenge. They posted this sketch for us to follow for this week. The only rules are that it needs to be a majority of BG product.



Well, somewhere between me printing off the sketch last night and waking up this morning, it took on a life of its own. I ordered a bunch of Cosmo Cricket paper a few months ago and they sent me some fun little packets of paper scraps, ribbon scraps, and a few chipboard elements. I already used the Halloween stuff in a card in an earlier post, but I had a packet left with camping stuff from their Mr. Campy line. I was baffled by this packet as I couldn't think of what kind of card you would give to someone who was going camping. And on top of it, one that uses chipboard oars. Who uses chipboard oars?

I went to bed with this sketch in mind and that packet of goodies (even though I knew it was supposed to be a Basic Grey card, I couldn't get that little packet of CC camping stuff out of my head.) Guess what? Sleeping on a problem sometimes works out! I woke up this morning with a card all worked out that I can give to anyone, anytime!

Here it is!



For the wood grain (it's hard to see in the picture) on the oars, I stamped the black chipboard with clear embossing ink, then embossed with clear embossing powder, then covered with paint and once it was partially dry, I wiped the paint off the embossed areas, leaving the paint in the areas that were raw chipboard. I learned this technique from Tim Holtz, but saw my friend Susan use it on these very same oars on a layout she did.

Now, I have to go back to my room and make a Basic Grey card to fit the challenge so I'm in the running to win some prizes.

Supplies:
Patterned Paper: Cosmo Cricket "Mr. Campy"
Cardstock: Bazzill
Ribbon: Cosmo Cricket
Chipboard: Cosmo Cricket
Font: QK Chicken Noodle (limited edition)
Stamp: Hero Arts Wood Grain
Ink: Ranger Vintage Photo Distress Ink
Paint: Adirondack Paint Dabbers (Espresso and Butternut)

Soarin' Over California

This one I think I'm just going to leave as is. It turned out a little busier than I was planning, but I was having so much fun making propellers and cutting arrows that I just couldn't stop. This is another one for my Disney class.



All the pictures here were taken without a flash, and the CM said I could take them (unlike the first time I rode the darn ride and they chastised me for taking pictures without a flash.)



The tag, gears, and propellers were cut with QuicKutz dies using QK self adhesive metal and painted with Ranger crackle paint in Shabby Shutters and Fired Brick colors.


The small propeller is a QK flower and the large propeller is the handle of the hammer (cut 3x) I made the centers by punching circles from the metal and cutting to the center, then folding it back on itself to form a cone.




Supplies:
Paper - Cosmo Cricket "Get Happy"
Ranger Crackle Paint - Shabby Shutters, Fired Brick
QuicKutz-
Metal Sheets
Gears 0340
Hammer 0443
Flower 0376
Tag REV 0015
Embossing Folder GBP-REV-003
Arrows (Archiver's Exclusive) C-0049
Dots Border CC-BDR-007
Squares & Dots Border CC-BDR-013

Ticket 2 Drive

These are some pages I am working on for a class next week. I usually don't post them in this state as I like to go back after class and add some additional embellishments or things I have from my stash that I don't have enough of for a whole class, or that I don't want to use because it would complicate things too much for a class setting. That is why I hardly ever finish any of my Disney pages - I get them to the basic stage and then never get back to finishing them.

I was inspired by this layout from Two Peas in a Bucket and turned it into a two page layout with a different theme. After it is all said and done, I like the original better than mine, but it was fun to take something and try to change up the theme a little!

Anyway - here is one two-page layout that I just finished for Autopia.




I wrapped metal wire around the circles instead of the string in the inspiration piece.


Instead of the buttons used in the inspiration piece I used metal charms are from Karen Foster and I cut off the top loops and sanded down the edge so they didn't look like charms.


Journaling about our fun "Girl's Day" at Disneyland.



Supplies:
Cosmo Cricket - Get Happy paper
Karen Foster Charms
Tim Holtz Journaling Ticket
QuicKutz Zelda Grand for title
Black Soot Distress Ink

More Cards

I made these cards recently using a new nameplate die that I got.

The first card is inspired by Melissa Phillips I just love her style!



These are just a couple of simple cards using several different QuicKutz dies.





I enjoyed making these cards. It is actually fun to plan on a much smaller scale than 12x12 layouts. You might be seeing more cards from me in the future!

Supplies:
Paper: Anna Griffin
Trim and Ribbon (Westrim, Offray, Martha Stewart)
Flower Punches (EK Success)

Quickutz Dies Used:
Nesting Circles CC-CIRCLES-01
Nesting Flowers CC-FLOWERS-01
Nesting Hearts CC-HEARTS-01
Nesting label CC-SHAPE-3-028
Basic Phrases CC-PHRASE-01
Leaves REV-0064
Blossom Mini Asterisk (for flower - retired)
Nameplate (exclusive club die)

Sympathy Card

This is a card I made for a colleague from our team at work who recently lost her father. Her dad planted roses for her, so we got her a rose tree for her garden. I thought roses on the card would be a nice touch, along with adding a copy of a hymn that was sung at both her parent's memorial services. It reminds her of a funny family memory.

I didn't want it to be too feminine since it was in memory of her dad, so I opted for some masculine stripes and roses.

A tutorial on these roses can be found on designer Nancy Burke's blog.

I pretty much followed the tutorial, except that once the roses were made and secured, I spritzed them with some Fired Brick Distress Ink with Red perfect pearls to give it a deep rich color and a sheen. I also spritzed the Prima leaves with Lettuce Color Wash from Ranger and a little gold Perfect Pearls. You may see the tiniest sheen of a swirl on the paper. I stamped a flourish from an Inque Boutique/Darice stamp set and covered it with gold perfect pearls for a hint of a glimmery pattern. Then I spritzed the whole thing with gold Perfect Pearls mixed in Water.

Thinking Inking Week 2 Part 1

This week we are focusing more on embossing powders than we are the inks, but that's okay, it was fun to try a few of these things. The main focus Jennifer had for this part was to have us experiment with embossing powders without using stamps.

There were several things she wanted us to do, so I made three cards with the different techniques.

This first project I made kind of cracks me up! I don't really celebrate Halloween, but I ordered a bunch of paper from Cosmo Cricket last week and they sent me a few little baggies with some of their paper pieces, chipboard and ribbon. Not a lot, but just enough to make a card. So since one of them had Halloween paper, and I had just bought a Tim Holtz Halloween stamp set for the barbed wire stamp (stay tuned for that card which is in progress!) I decided to give it a shot and I love it!


This technique we were to put clear embossing gel on the flower, and then cover the flower in clear embossing powder. When heated, it gives the flower a very shiny appearance. I also stamped the bats in Spiced Marmalade and embossed them with black embossing powder. The Happy Halloween is inked in Worn Lipstick Distress Ink and embossed with Concord Grape Distress Embossing Powder. Thanks Cosmo Cricket for the free stuff!



This technique we were supposed to use Utee on an embellishment to make it look like a faux acrylic embellishment. I bought the wrong kind of Utee - the pearlized instead of the clear (I didn't know there were different kinds!) I finished the technique anyway and it goes with the cream in the paper, so it's all good!



This last card is currently my favorite. I took some really old, cheesy paper I had and inked it all with Antique Linen Distress Ink. Then I copied an old vintage 4th postcard. I liked the way it said 4th of July already on the card, so I carefully went over it with an embossing ink pen and embossed it with antique gold embossing powder so it would stand out. Then we were to take a circle of paper and keep embossing it over and over with embossing powder until it was thick and gooey, then stamp an image in the center to make a faux wax seal. I used antique gold again and a star. For Week 2 part 3 we were to emboss on metal. I took three very bright metal stars and heated them and then dipped them in the antique gold embossing powder until they matched the seal.

I think I like this one so much that I may not be able to give it away.

Lots more fun projects from Jennifer and today begins week 3!

Thinking Inking Week 1 Part 3

Part three of week one was a little messy. You put ink from three different colored ink pads onto a nonstick craft mat, then spritz with water and carefully place your papers into the wet ink. This lightly colors your paper pieces and gives them an interesting look. We also did the water color stamping this week again.

Here is my take on this technique and my scraplift of Jennifer's card.


I made a celebrate card and used Scattered Straw, Faded Jeans, and Fired Brick Distress Inks to make make card and to stamp. I wanted it to have a fun, happy feel, and one that kind of fit with Disney's Celebrate theme this year, so that was my inspiration.

Only a couple more techniques and I will be caught up with the rest of the gang!

Thinking Inking Week 1 Part 2

Week two of the Thinking Inking class was to use Distress Inks in stamping. So Jennifer wanted us to use several techniques to do this. Her sample was a layout that displayed all of the techniques, I just made a card instead. Again, if you are interested in the class, the title of this blog entry is a link to the thread on Two Peas in a Bucket.



I will describe the techniques from upper left to right and then lower left to right. I used two stamps from Inque Boutique/Darice.

1. Stamp with Fired Brick Distress Ink, then rub on some red perfect pearls. The perfect pearls give it a great shimmer.

2. Stamp with Peeled Paint Distress Ink and then cover with clear embossing powder to bring out the color.

3. Stamp with Spiced Marmalade Distress Ink and them embossed with bronze embossing powder.

4. Ink the stamp with Scattered Straw Distress Ink, then add a little Tea Dye Distress Ink around the edges. Spritz the stamp with water and it makes a water color image.

5. Just stamped with Fired Brick Distress Ink.

6. Same technique as #4 - inked stamp with Dried Marigold Distress Ink, then added a little Vintage Photo around the edges, spritzed with water, then stamp. Makes a water color stamped image.

7. Is the the family stamp in the middle of the card. She wanted us to stamp on cork and see how the ink showed so well on it.

I'm having a great time playing with all my Ranger/Tim Holtz goodies and actually using a lot of the stamps I have that I never use!

Thinking Inking Week 1 Part 1 Distress Inks

Two Peas in a Bucket has asked Jennifer McGuire to do a 9 week class on Distress Inks, Stamping, Embossing Powders and such. I got to the party a little late as they are in the second week, but I am going to plod along and finish as much as I can. The title of this blog entry will link you directly to the thread on Two Peas.

These are my projects for Week 1 Part 1.


One of the first techniques was just to apply distress ink to paper so you could see how it changes the look of something. We were to take a bright colored paper and see how it could alter it just by applying some ink. I covered some old American Crafts and some Basic Grey paper with Vintage Photo Distress Ink.


The stamp is from Close to My Heart.


This technique is called Water Splotching. I inked up a tag and then you sprinkle water onto the tag and it creates these cool splotches. Then we were to stamp in a paper flower. The Thank You and flower stamp are both from Inque Boutique/Darice.


I really liked this technique. I inked a tag with three different colors (Concord Grap, Spiced Marmalade and Worn Lipstick) then you ink up a stamp with clear embossing ink and spritz it with water (this is a Tim Holtz flourish stamp.) Once it is sufficiently wet, you stamp n the ink and let it work its magic. I also used the fist technique here as well and inked the bright Basic Grey paper with Spiced Marmalade.



The last technique was masking. Since I didn't have any masks handy, I made some. I took an old Bo Bunny cardstock sticker and punched out various circles. I inked the tag with some Broken China and a little Shabby Shutters. then I applied the mask circles and covered the entire tag with Faded Jeans. Since I decided to make this an underwater feeling card, I stamped the card front with the Tim Holtz flourish stamp using the water technique and also with some ink so I could apply some perfect pearls to the top. This card needed some shimmer. The shells are QuicKutz and when I was all done, I spritzed the entire thing with a light misting of white Perfect Pearls. I curled the ribbon by heating it with my heat tool.


What a great class! Jen is really creative and I am having a blast! Stay tuned for more Thinking Ink projects from me shortly!

Twinchies

A scrapbooking friend of mine posted some wonderful little things called TWINCHIES on her blog about a year ago and I have to tell you, the minute I saw them I was enthralled. Twinchies are little 2 inch x 2 inch squares that are stamped, painted, collaged or otherwise decorated. I began dreaming of twinchies as I slept, planning all the wonderful little ways I could fit as much cuteness as possible onto one 2" square.

Twinchies grew out of what was originally the ATC craze. ATC (Artist Trading Cards) are 2.5 inch x 3.5 inch "Cards" that are stamped, painted, collage or otherwise decorated. There are many paper crafters who alter ATC's and trade them with people in their area, the internet, even world wide.

Next came the Inchie craze. Inchies are little 1 inch x 1 inch squares that are stamped, painted, collaged, or otherwise decorated. A one inch square doesn't leave a lot of room for embellishment, but I am quite surprised at the amount of decor some paper crafters can fit on an inch.

For those of us who like a little bit bigger canvas to work with, the Twinchies were just the thing. I talked to a group of friends who do Disney scrapping with me and they were game to have a Twinchie swap. The only rules for the swap were that the Twinchie had to be exactly 2x2 and that it was Disney related. Here are my Disney Twinchies. Just so you know, it is very difficult to take a good picture of something that is only two inches big, so please bear with the results.

I made two versions of this Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln before I decided on the second one for the swap.


I had the same problem with the Tiki Room Twinchies - I made the first one with the beads, but went with the second version with the bamboo and flowers for the swap.


I had a lot of fun with this one! I copied an idea I had used on my Monsters, Inc. ride layout and I made Boo's door for all the twinchies.

This twinchie is interactive - it opens up and reveals one of the monsters from the movie. I used the EK Success sticker packs and so each person got a different monster.


The rest of these twinchies were my initial attempts at them. I used old attraction posters from Disneyland and other left over odds and ends.




One of my favorite extinct rides. On this one I used aluminum foil duct tape on cardstock and embossed it.


This is one I made as a blog give-away on my Disneyland blog last summer. For everyone who posted a comment, I put their name in a drawing for an Indy twinchie. I was doing a review of the Summer of Indian Jones in Disneyland's Adventureland.



Then I decided to make some to use on layouts. These three were for a Grizzly River Run layout that I never finished (some day!)



These I made for a Splash Mountain layout which you can see below.



So that has been my venture into the world of twinchies. I really love making them and hope to make a few more when I get a little more time.

BEWARE! Once you begin making these little artistic wonders, you will become addicted and may loose sleep due to hours of dreaming about new designs for them!

Storytellers Cafe Critter Breakfast - Disneyland

This is a layout I just finished about the Storytellers Cafe Critter Breakfast we attended for my birthday in January. I have a lot of photos still to scrap, one or two more two-pagers, but this was a good start!

I linked the title of this entry to my Disneyland blog so you can read more about it if you are interested in attending one yourself. But since this is a scrapping blog, I figured I would focus on the pages, not the topic of the pages.

I ended up purchasing about 12 different papers for this layout and this is what I finally ended up with. It is kind of a hodge podge of old, outdated paper and I always love the challenge of putting old stuff to good use.

First, I needed some good background paper. I tried several different papers, and ended up making my own. I used cream cardstock and then a Tim Holtz technique of spritzing the paper with Distress Inks and Color Wash ink.

To do this I put 3 drops of Scattered Straw, and 3 drops of Vintage photo Distress Reinkers into a Ranger Mini Mister, then filled with water.

I spritzed the entire paper and dried.


Then I VERY lightly misted the paper with the Espresso Color Wash. Be sure to do this lightly as it will easily beome way too much and overwhelm the paper. I just wanted a few dark brown spots to make the background interesting.


As you can see, the spritzed paper looks a lot different than it did when I started. It did tend to curl the sides up even when I dried it with a heat tool, so I ironed it with a dry iron once all the ink had dried.


When the base was finished, I added the pieces of patterened paper and sewed them on with my machine. As I said before, I used a lot of old patterned paper for this because I like the challenge of taking something old and making it a little different so I can use it. The plaid paper is by Junkitz, typed paper is Jenni Bowlin (this is the only new line), dot paper is My Mind's Eye, and all of the ginham paper is very old Paper Patch. I inked all of the older gingham paper and the dot paper with Ranger Distress Ink Antique Paper. This gave it a different look and it went with the feel I had in mind for the page.


The leaves are cut from some colored cardstock called Coredinations by Reminisce. When you sand the edges or if you emboss it and then sand it, the color on top comes off revealing the core color of the cardstock underneath. I love it! It comes in White Wash, Chocolate and Black too!



Lastly, I punched flowers from the gingham paper and some black corrugated paper and layered them with buttons over some burlap squares that I also tinted with the Espresso Color Wash. I layered some tags from an old tag set I bought at Walmart and journaled on a Tim Holtz Journaling Ticket. The small tag is a plain brown tag that I stamped with a Tim Holtz stamp from Stamper's Anonymous and the Mickey tag is punched from some old type paper.

I distressed the pictures by scraping along the side of each one several times with an awl and then sanding them lightly before adding a little Antique Paper Distress Ink.

Baby Buggie Favor Boxes

I made these for a friend's baby shower. I found the design on Denise's Scrapbooking, a blog that showcases free and affordable SCAL designs for the Cricut. She had designed four or five baby items that could be used for table decorations or favor boxes at a baby shower. My mom and I purchased the set for $5 and Mom cut them out for me on her Cricut Expression. I then assembled them and decorated. It was a lot of fun, and once the original buggie was decorated, the rest were easy. It took me 3-4 hours for these.

For decorating, I used lots of odds and ends of lace, trims, buttons and ribbon. I even added some sequin butterflies to go with her nursery theme.

Sleeping Beauty's Castle

Did I ever have fun with the techniques on this one! My friend Susan has a fantastic scrapbooking blog and she often posts tutorials based on the techniques she uses. That is how this page got it's start. I read her "Make Your Chipboard Shine" tutorial found here. (you have to scroll down a few entries to find it) Then I purchased some Cosmo Cricket Sweet Mix chipboard letters and got to work. The paper is Melissa Francis, and I used Inque Boutique stamps instead of the Basic Grey stamps shown in Susan 's tutorial.



Then it was on to the second page. I think embellishing page two is often more difficult because you don't have a title to take up space. But I think the Prima Say it in Pearls embellishments really did the job! I wanted to document when I took these pictures of the castle, so I figured a stamp border and some Quickutz letters would be just the thing, but the stamped border needed some shine. That is when Tim Holtz came to the rescue with his current blog technique. He stamped with distress ink and then just wiped perfect pearls over the stamp and brushed off the excess. It gave the stamped image a pearly look that was perfect. You can see Tim demonstrate his technique here.



You can barely see the shimmer of the border, then I backed it with Bazzill bling and cut the letters out in Bazzill Bling.


Really fun techniques! Thanks Tim and Susan!

Pocahontas

This is a page I really had fun making! When I saw the blue Saffron paper by K & Co. I had "Colors of the Wind" in my head. For some reason it just screamed Pocahontas to me. So, I cut out the windy swirls and set about making a page that fit this Native American Princess. This was a page that sat on my scrap table for a couple of days until I realized what it needed - beads! So off to the bead store for some beading needles and seed beads.

I decided to put beads in several locations. I threaded multiple beads onto the jute that is tied through the end of the journaling tag.



Then I poked holes through the paper with an awl and sewed the tiny seed beads all along the border of the brown paper. This added just the texture I was looking for. But It needed just a little more, so I cut out the butterflies and rolled their wings around a pencil to make them stand out. Then I attached a bead to each end of a 2" piece of wire and folded it in half to form the butterfly antennae. For the body I used a bit of Ranger Distress Stickles in Walnut Ink color. I used an EK Sucess sticker set for Pocahontas and the title and I was done. I love when a page is fun to put together and you like it when it's done!

Baby Shower Invitations

I am admittedly not a card maker, so I know there is probably nothing original on these invitations, but I had a fun time making them and trying to be creative as I did it. My boss, Linda, asked me to help her with a couple of invitations for baby showers she is throwing. One is for her daughter, and another for her daughter's friend. I agreed and started looking around for inspiration.


The first invitation was for a boy. I had purchased a bunch of Daisy D's baby paper for some Ariel layouts - I thought the colors and circles went well with an under the sea feel. Anyway, I had some left over and thought it would be perfect for a rustic baby boy invitation. I had picked up ideas from layouts and other cards and decided to add them in. One was the corrugated heart on the front. I only had some bright yellow corrugated paper, so I mixed my paints and then painted all the paper, distressed it by sanding and scratching it, then I cut out the hearts and letters. To add a little texture, I sewed around the edges of all the hearts. I had to dye the twill and the bears for the inside. Then we sewed around the edges of all the papers and crinkled them. It took three of us two days to put these together and that was with all the elements cut, punched, painted, dyed, and ready for assembly.



Then on to the baby shower invitations for my boss's new baby granddaughter. I wanted these to have a warm, baby quilt, feminine, vintage feel to them. I used Basic Grey Two scoops for this card, and added lace, velvet ribbon, clear glass beads and some sewing. Instead of inking and crinkling, I decided to sand the edges of everything to give it a soft worn look. Then we sew just around the edges of the front and the inside of the invitation.



For the inside we decided to borrow an element from the first card, the heart and stork tag. But since the feel of this card was so different, I didn't think corrugated paper was what I wanted to use. So, I cut some different papers from the line and glued them on to card stock. Then I used a zig zag stitch to sew across all of the intersecting edges, horizontal, vertical and diagonal. Once that was done, I traced a heart onto the paper and cut out all the hearts, then sewed around the edges of each one with a straght stitch. I think the little quilted paper hearts are just the feeling and look I was hoping for.



These took three of us (four of us one night) three different evenings to finish. And again, that was with everything cut, printed, and prepped for assembly.

Despite all the work, we had a great time making these, and my boss was bitten by the scrapbooking bug. With all the techniques she used on these cards, she kind of got a baptism of fire into the realm of scrapbooking, but she loves it anyway!

Disneyland Main Street

My DH loves trains and Disneyland, so of course, the Disneyland Train and Station are two of his favorite things. This is a layout focusing on the Main Street Station and the memorabilia inside, like the model of the "Lilly Belle" engine on display just inside the doors. Walt and others built this 1/8th scale train at the Disney Studios and then installed it in his yard at the Disney home on Carolwood Drive. It is still around and you can actually go out and see the original at Walt's barn which has been moved to Griffith Park.

Main Street Station Page 1
When I saw these Cosmo Cricket papers, I knew that I would have to use them for something on Main Street. My husband is a train man and so we inevitably end up either in the train station or on the train each trip. This particular day we were waiting for a tender pass so we could ride up front with the engineers, so my husband asked me to take pictures of all of the Disney train memorabilia for him. As I contemplated this layout, I was inspired by a title I saw on a layout in an online gallery. I liked the use of the tall, straight font mixed with a script font. The only other things I wanted to do were to incorporate some trim and to give it a turn of the century feel. I tried to accomplish this with the scalloped strip, patterned paper choice and the journaling box. As do most all of my Disney layouts, there is a Mickey shape somewhere, and on this page I have it peeking out from behind the journaling.


Main Street Station Page 2
This page is a continuation of Page 1. I felt this page need a bit of embellishment, so I added some die cuts from Cosmo Cricket, a flower and a miniature version of the Disneyland Railroad poster printed on paper so it looks old and worn. On both pages, inking was an essential technique. I used Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Inks in Walnut and Vintage Photo. Using the blending tool and blending foam, I pressed the foam onto the ink pad and then worked the ink onto the paper in a circular fashion. It is important not to press too hard or it will leave a distinct dark border around the page and edge of the patterned paper. To get an antiqued look, you just need to work a little ink onto the page. That way it looks authentically old.

Supplies:
Cardstock: Harvest, French Silk (Bazzill Basics Paper)
Die Cuts: Abigail font, Beauty Queen font, Archiver's exclusive flower (Quickutz)
Ink: Walnut and Vintage Photo Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Ranger)
Misc. embellishments: button, 1/8 brown ribbon, metal disk (K & Co.)
Punch: Mickey large(EK Success)
Paper Clips: Heart and Swirl (Creative Impressions)
Patterned Paper: Gretel (Cosmo Cricket)
Trim: Westrim
Trimmer and Blade: 12" Cutterpede scalloped blade (EK Success)

Directions:
1. Lightly ink Harvest cardstock with Distress Ink.
2. Cut two pieces of Gingerbread Gretel into 3x12 strips -- one for the left side, and one for the right side.
3. Cut two pieces of Autumn Gretel into 1x12 strips using a scalloped edge cutter.
4. Cut one piece of 6x12 Fairy Tales Gretel. This will be placed over some smaller pieces across the center of both papers, but it should be slightly off center. So Page 1 may have a 6x5 piece and Page 2 a 6x7 piece.
5. Cut one 4x12 strip of Hansel Gretel. Then cut it into a 3x4 piece and a 9x4 piece. The smaller piece goes near the bottom right corner of Page 2 and the large piece goes near the top right side of page 1.
6. Cut one 5x12 piece of Woodland (solid blue side). Then cut it into 4x5 and 8x5. The larger piece will be placed near the bottom of Page 2 and the smaller piece will be near the center of Page 1.
7. Cut a 12" piece of cream trim to go along the bottom of the piece of Fairy Tales paper.
8. Title was cut from French Silk cardstock and Hansel Gretel paper.
9. Flower was cut using a 4x4 Quickutz Flower die exclusive to Archivers. Shadow was cut from French Silk Cardstock and the flower from Hansel Gretel paper.
10. Two Gretel Die Cut elements were placed behind the flower.
11. The flower center was made by layering a metal disk, button and a knot of brown ribbon.
12. Journaling tag was made by hand drawing the design on the top of a piece of Gingerbread Gretel (use the cream colored solid side) then hand cutting a matching mat from Hansel Gretel. Attach a small ½" strip of Autumn Gretel to the bottom of the tag.
13. The heart clip goes over the top of the tag and the swirl clip goes along the bottom of the tag.
14. For added interest and texture, I did sew a straight stitch around the piece of fairy Tales in the middle of the layout.


This is a layout about my favorite little cafe on Main Street at Disneyland. The Carnation Cafe is next to the Bakery and under the directions of Chef Oscar Martinez, serves a great breakfast, and for lunch and dinner they have a wonderful loaded potato soup! We usually eat here when we go down for date nights and at least once on any other trips.

Carnation Café Page 1
This is one of our favorite places to eat along Main Street in Disneyland. When I saw this Cosmo Cricket paper, I just knew that it would be perfect for the Carnation. I really had fun playing with techniques on this page. First, on both pages, inking was an essential technique. I used Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Inks in Walnut and Vintage Photo. Using the blending tool and blending foam, I pressed the foam onto the ink pad and then worked the ink onto the paper in a circular fashion. It is important not to press too hard or it will leave a distinct dark border around the page and edge of the patterned paper. To get an antiqued look, you just need to work a little ink onto the page. That way it looks authentically old. Another technique I used was the scalloped circle. I cut a 5 ¾" circle, then using my corner rounder, I was able to make the scalloped edge. There are directions for this on the back of the corner rounder and in the current Close to My Heart Catalog. I added a mini poster of the Gibson Girl Ice Cream Parlour that is also an eating establishment on Main Street.



Carnation Café Page 2
Because this is the continuation of Page 1, I used the same techniques on each page. On this page I stamped in the corner on the cardstock using Paint Dabbers. I also stamped on the tan paper and the journaling box using liquid chalk. I sewed on one corner of each page, up to the stamp to add a little interest.

Supplies:
Cardstock: Maraschino, French Silk (Bazzill Basics Paper)
Chalk: Chestnut Roan Colorbox Chalk Ink (Clearsnap)
Corner Rounder: large (EK Success)
Die Cuts: Fiesta font, tag (Quickutz)
Flowers: Bazzill Basics, Prima Marketing, Inc.
Ink: Walnut and Vintage Photo Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Ranger)
Punches: Mickey large (EK Success), Floral Lace Edge Punch (Martha Stewart Crafts)
Patterned Paper: Gretel (Cosmo Cricket)
Stamps: Savoir Faire French Quarter, Mini Majestic Flight, Narrative Elements (Inque Boutique)

Directions:
1. Ink two piece of Maraschino cardstock to age the paper.
2. Cut one piece of Butterflies Gretel in half vertically (with the stripes). Then cut 2" off the bottom of the left side leaving the majority of the butterflies along the top. Cut 2" off the top of the right side, leaving the majority of the butterflies along the bottom.
3. Cut two 5 ¾" circles from Woodlands Gretel paper. Scallop using a corner rounder.
4. Cut two 5x6 pieces of Autumn Gretel. Stamp a French Quarter corner border along each corner using Colorbox Liquid Chalk.
5. Apply paint dabber to Majestic Flight corner stamp and stamp onto upper left and lower right corners.
6. After paint dries, sew from the stamp, down the left side and across the bottom of Page 1, and across the top and down the right side up to the stamp on Page 2.
7. Cut one 1"x12" piece of Gingerbread Gretel (solid side) punch with Floral Lace Edge Border punch
8. Stamp Narrative Elements journaling box stamp onto a piece of Gingerbread Gretel with Colorbox Liquid Chalk and cut out by hand.
9. Title and photo mats are cut from French Silk cardstock.
10. Adhere all elements to page as seen in photo.

Jack and Sally and some cool paper flowers!

I regularly check many of the websites I have linked to this blog and on the Cosmo Cricket website last week I noticed that Julie had posted a you tube video demo by Natasja, one of their DT members. In it she showed how she made some paper flowers for embellishments. I thought they were so great and I wanted to use them on the very next layout I made. It just so happened that I was working on another Basic Grey Challenge layout using the Black Tie line and I thought they might just be a fun element to add to the page. So, here is my attempt at Natasja's flowers. I also lifted the torn corrugated paper corner idea from designer Susan Stringfellow.

A little about this layout, we were visiting Disneyland in October of 2008 and while pressing a quarter of the Nightmare Before Christmas 15 year Anniversay, we noticed Jack and Sally hanging out in a back, hidden atrium in New Orlean's Square. We followed them out and got this picture with them. I believe it was a very rare occurrence as we never saw them out again.

My Scrap Sty. Where it all happens!

My friend Susan challenge a few of us to drop everything and take a picture of our scraproom as it was at that very moment, then to make a layout of it. We were not supposed to stage or clean up at all. She wanted us to record what a real, live, well-used scrapbook room looks like. Despite my desire to tidy and take the trash out (I had bags of trash as I had been cleaning for about two weeks straight) I followed the directions to a T.

So, here it is--my scrap sty.











I just used stuff I had in my stash. Paper is Basic Grey Color Me Silly, tickets are from a bulk roll from the office store, letters were chipboard and metal letters I bought years ago and don't remember the manufacturer. I made the punches and letters shiny by putting Ranger Glossy Accents on them.