One Little Spark

One little spark, of inspiration
Is at the heart, of all creation.
Right at the start, of everything that's new.
One little spark, lights up for you.

This card was inspired by Disney Legend and Imagineer Marty Sklar. He championed Walt Disney’s dream of parks that not only entertained, but that through creative ingenuity and attention to detail, would spark or inspire the imagination and dreams in others. Marty was truly one of a kind even within the Disney Corporation, as he worked to keep those ideals central to the Disney brand. A colleague described him  by saying, “He understands the Disney way, because he learned it at Walt's knee. He is the keeper of the keys, the conscience, the Jiminy Cricket for the organization."

The title of his book, One Little Spark, is from an old Epcot attraction called Journey into Imagination and its theme song was written by the Sherman Brothers. Sorry for the ear worm those of you who know it.

Sadly, Marty died suddenly in his home last July and his spark has been greatly missed! 

To make this tribute card I used the following from Tim Holtz and Stampers Anonymous:

Inventor 2 CMS341

Noble Gent CMS301

Crazy Talk CMS236

Tall Text CMS166

Simple Sayings CMS155

Stars THS008 Layering Stencil

The background was made by blending 8 different colors of Distress Oxides together to form the rainbow colors found throughout the Journey into Imagination ride as well as the use of lots of purple, red and gold.

I added stars which are also a popular motif in Journey by using a wet wipe over a stencil that I put over areas of the rainbow background. This made light oxide stars.

Then I stamped the Inventor 2 lightbulb patent onto the rainbow background and also onto a piece of Distress Mixed Media Hardstock. I colored in the bulbs with yellow and Hickory Smoke Distress Oxide. I cut the second two blubs out and popped them up on the stamped ones on the background.

Then I stamped my One (Simple Sayings) Little (Crazy Talk) Spark (Tall Text) on Hardstock that had been colored with the yellow Distress Oxide. Then I cut them out and hand trimmed mats in hardstock colored with red and purple Distress Oxide.

Incase you have never gotten to ride Journey into Imagination, here is a video ride through, but I warn you, that Sherman Brothers song will get stuck in your head....

Imaaaaaaginaaaation, Imaaaaaginaaaaaation,
A dream, can be a dream come true.
With just that spark, in me and you. 

You’re a Cut Above

 This card has several steps to it and uses parts of four stamp sets from Tim Holtz and Stampers Anonymous. They are all great sets and can be very versatile. For the background and the lace edging on the card base and sentiment strip,  I used Patchwork CMS256 and Patchwork Pieces CMS270.

The focal point and sentiment were made using the new Inventor 3 CMS342 stamps and the sentiment is made up of pieces from those found on one of my most favorite sentiment sets - Crazy Talk CMS236

I started by stamping the scissors onto some plain Collage Paper using Ground Espresso Archival Ink. Then I distressed the collage paper a little by adding some Antique Linen Distress Ink onto the stamped side of the collage paper.

The reason I did this is because I stamped the Patchwork background stamp in Ground Espresso Archival as well onto a piece of Distress Mixed Media Heavystock and then colored it with Distress Markers and a waterbrush. It's difficult to tell but even the parts that look white aren't they are Tumbled Glass.
I was thinking it would turn out pretty vibrant which it did and I loved it so I didn't want to completely cover it, but it's just too much for my focal point stamp.
That's where the Collage Paper comes in.  I tried to make it feel a little like a pattern to go with the scissors/patchwork/sewing theme going on here.

I used some Distress Collage Medium to brush on the background stamp and then pressed the stamped collage paper onto it and let it dry.

Once it was dry you could see how much the collage paper beautifully muted the background but still let it shine.  However, the focal point scissors were not standing out enough for me.

I sanded the edges and some of the loose paper came away revealing bits of the background around the edges. Then I inked the edges with Walnut Stain Distress Ink,

To bring more attention to the scissors, I stamped them and cut them out, added some Antique Linen Distress Ink and attached them over the stamped images.

I chose two different stitched border stamps from the Patchwork Pieces stamp set and stamped and embossed with Ranger Antique White Embossing Powder to make the lace edged trim piece for the sentiment and to make a lace trim along the sides of the card base.

To make the sentiment, I decided what I want to say and then stamped several of the sentiments from the Crazy Talk set to be able to piece together what I wanted to say.  This is a really easy technique for making your own sayings to fit your cards. And it makes use of some sentiment stamps that may only get occasional use.  You can see below the sentiment stamps I used before I cut them apart.

Then I added some odds and ends I had in my Ideaology Fasteners stash.

So although there are multiple steps to this card, I really enjoyed making it.  I know some people like just the simple stamp and go cards, and so do I, but I also enjoy getting immersed in the creative process and making a card that is extra special for that extra special person.

Quick Graduation, Promotion and Thank You Cards

It takes just two stamp sets, some paper, ink and a few odds and ends of embellishments and you have yourself a quick graduation, promotion, or thank you card for an educator. 

I used a little cardstock for my card bases and then stamped on Distress Mixed Media paper for the rest.  

The two stamp sets I used are by Tim Holtz and Stampers Anonymous. They are called Pennants CMS330 and Composition and Lined CMS332.

These really couldn't be easier.

1. I stamped all of the composition backgrounds onto the Heavystock with Black Soot Distress Archival Ink. Then once it was dry I went over it with some Antique Linen Distress Ink and a blending tool to age it a bit. Then it was trimmed to 3 3/4" by 5"
2. The Lined background was stamped in Tumbled Glass Distress Ink. Once dry I went over it with Antique Linen on a blending tool as well.  It was trimmed to 3 1/2" and ripped unevenly along the bottom edge. 
3. I attached it to the Composition background and added a small piece of Ruler Ribbon from Ideaology. Them I sewed around the edges and zig-zagged over the ends of the trim.
4. Once I had chosen my color scheme, I cut the card base from that color cardstock, roughed up and inked the edges, then attached the composition and lined piece.
5. I stamped the pennant in a Distress Ink color matching the card base as well as the sentiment. Then I fussy cut the pennant and added dimensional adhesive before attaching. 
6. The final touch was to added a few mini paper clips from Ideaology.

Consider stamping in the school colors, especially for graduation cards.

A Sprig of Myrtle for a Royal Wedding

I spent this week making some things to prepare for the Royal Wedding. I was just planning a little tea here at home with the possibility of my mom joining me for the all night festivities, and then expecting my husband and father to clean up the remainders the when they woke up Saturday morning.
Regardless, sometimes I like to go all out for a celebration and since this is the last of the royal weddings for this generation, I decided to prep all week.

One thin I wanted to make was something to put on the tea table while we were watching that symbolized things from the wedding, so I settled on a Medium Etcetera tag and titled it A Sprig of Myrtle.

I included a piece of antique lace from my grandmother and layered some Funky Floral 3 and Funky Floral 2 die cuts on top to try and make it look like a sprig of myrtle.  In my study of royal bouquets, I learned that the brides all carry a bouquet with a sprig of myrtle from Queen Victoria's myrtle tree. I also learned that royal brides usually have some sort of lace, on their dress or veil so that's where the lace came in.

I added the cross from the Ideaology Milagros Adornments, because it looks like the one the royals wear on their sashes and on the military uniforms and I saw in the ceremony that Prince Harry did indeed have a cross much like this on his uniform.  I added the heart from the Ideaology Treasure Adornments with it and the phrase Trust Your Heart from Ideaology Quote Chips, because I felt like that is what they were doing. They were both stepping out of tradition and trusting their hearts.

The center focal point is a piece of Correspondence Paper, an Ideaology Baseboard Frame, with a Vignette Accent on the top and the wedding couple Paper Dolls.
The background was made with clear texture paste and Distress Resist Spray over the plain tag, then I painted it with Distress paint and wiped the paint off the raised areas. I covered the whole tag with Distress Collage Medium and then added some sparkle (it was tough to photograph!) with Tarnished Brass Distress Crayon. I just love how it turned out!

Here is the dried clear Texture Paste through the Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous Flourish Stencil THS032 pictured on the left and then with the Distress Resist Spray on the right. It was after this step that I painted over it and wiped away the paint from the raised areas.

Here is where it sat on the tea table during the festivities today.

I also used Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous From London to Paris stamp set to make Union Jack napkins by stamping it on them in Distress Paint.
I also used some Cut and Dry Felt to make a custom stamp pad so I could stmp a bunch of Union Jacks on Distress Mixed Media Heavystock to make the small bunting above the TV. I ordered the large triangle bunting from a UK Import store.

Here is the napkin. I also used some silicon molds and royal icing mix from Sugar Veil to make the floating heart doilies.

I sent some tea, edible doilies, a napkin and bunting to my cousin and included this card with all the goodies.
Supplies Used:
Ranger Distress Inks
Ranger Tarnished Brass Distress Stain
Distress Mixed Media Hardstock
*
Stampers Anonymous Stamps Used:
Royal Script CMS016
Paris to London CMS160
SA Classics SCF013

I have a box of leftovers from designing for Creativation, that just didn’t make the cut. I decided not to use them at the time for various reasons...color scheme, a little mess-up, or a design flaw I couldn’t fix. Although I may not have liked them back then, I saved all the scraps, odds and ends, and the “meh” designs anyway.
Last year I got rid of all my scraps, but decided to save them this year.
And I’m glad I did because this piece was practically finished and it came in handy tonight as a quick note card. I’m giving it to a friend along with some loose tea samples so she can taste test them with her daughter during the Royal Wedding.
Supplies:
Ranger Distress Ink
Tarnished Brass Distress Stain
Distress Mixed Media Cardstock
Ideaology paper

Sizzix Alterations:
Mixed Media 5
Shadow Script 1

The Tarnished Brass Distress Stain is hard to photograph but it's on the word love and on the gold trim.

We have cleaned up from the all night tea, and are prepping the sandwiches and Unforgettable Cream Wafer cookies for this afternoon. And then I think we will call all this royal wedding celebration a wrap and return to real life. It's be a delightful week and a delightful diversion.

Disney Scrappers International Scrapbook Day #2

These layouts are more samples for the Disney Scrappers 2018 National Scrapbook Day Crop. Unlike most crops, ours is online and it lasts for the whole week after National Scrapbook Day. 

Walt's Office Studio Tour

Texture Challenge and Layer Challenge - I decided to combine these two challenges since they go so well together. For the texture, I took some canvas, embossed it with an inked Texture Fade, then water colored the circles so they matched the paper. I machine stitched on the paper as well as the denim strips at the top and bottom. I added some corrugated paper and the Mickey embellishment has several layers so it fits the layered challenge.  

For this layout of the door to Walt Disney's office,  I decided to break into my hoard of my beloved vintage Basic Grey paper. This is the Phresh and Phunky line from way back in the day.

The tag dies, arrow, title and shapes under the Mickey are all from Tim Holtz and the Mickey is a die from Hobby Lobby.

The layout itself is based on a sketch by Rochelle Spears with Sketches in Thyme.

I

The following layouts were all may from the same paper kit called Beauty by Authentique and all were based on sketches from Sketch Savvy Blogspot
A Woman is Most Beautiful
Stash busting, or the Hoard Challenge
The first two images are left and right sides of a two page layout.

Outta My Wat Pencilneck! --Benny the Cab
Hoard Challenge - Make more than one layout with the same paper collection. This was my second layout with the Classique Beauty paper collection by Authentique.  The title fonts are Tim Holtz Sizzix Alterations Alphanumeric Marquee and Cutout Upper and lower case letters,

 

Walking in Walt's Footsteps

This layout features the last remnant of original linoleum on the Walt Disney Studios Lot. So this is the only bit of flooring left after all the renovations over the years that still remains from when Walt was here.  Definitely worth featuring on a Disney scrapbook page.

This layout was for Disney Scrappers Challenge #13 - Scraps and White Glove Level Throwback Challenge. 

I used scraps from Authentique Classique Beauty paper line and some Disney Scrappers Cutfiles along with three fonts from Tim Holtz Sizzix Alterations - Alphanumeric Script, Storybook, and Cut Out Script. The layout design is based on Sketch Savvy Sketch #12.

Happy Birthday Tea

This layout is for Disney Scrappers INSD Challenge #5 - Foodie Challenge. 

For my birthday the last few years we have had afternoon tea at Steakhouse 55 in the Disneyland Hotel.

I used Authentique Infused Paper and embellishments. The title fonts and teacups are all Tim Holtz Sizzix Alterations.