free to be me

the three layouts below are all from the same CTMH paper pack - Free to be Me and yet are all very different... I love how they turned out and that I was able to add so may pictures to each of them...  scrap happy...

step panel card

saw a post from Simone in the CTMH Artwork group for a step panel card which she had created from Dawn's You Tube tutorial and of course, I just had to make one too :) They are really cute and lots of fun to make! Simone made some alterations and you can check out her version here. The smaller size gives you the opportunity to use up some of those pesky scraps that you can't seem to throw away. scrap happy...

inspirational tag mini

Pootles Papercraft has a tutorial for doing up this cute little gift box (2" x 4" x 1") which I thought would make a cute inspirational tag journal. While I did add a ribbon to the front, my box closes with a magnet instead of ribbon. I added ten tags which are 3 3/4" tall and in hindsight, they should have been a little shorter in order to allow head space for the ribbon. I added a background script to quite of few of the tags and most of the backs have journal lines on them. Quite a bit of the rest of the stamping has been clear embossed and I used both CTMH's Twilight ink and Tim Holtz's Wild Honey Distress Ink throughout. As I want the focus to be on the sentiments, I have not done any other embellishing... scrap happy!!

 

"happy" pocket mini album...

hey there, it has been such a long time with no really good excuse so please take a look at a mini that I have just completed...  it is based on a tutorial from CorenesCreations and her instructions are really very good.  I used the Plus One 6x6 paper pad from Amy Tangerine which is full of wonderful colours and lots of cut apart pages for tags and embellishing.  I used a couple of punches, a little bling on the cover and then added some 4x6 and 3x4 journaling / project life cards that I had in my stash. This will also hold 4x6 pictures for a particular event or recipe cards, etc. etc. etc...  happy scrapping... :)

happy easter!

Happy Easter!  I created this card to send off to my boys out west.  I love the clean and simple look.  The stamps are from Close to My Heart and I cut the eggs with CTMH's Art Philosophy cartridge.  The butterfly is one of a set of three die cuts from Cheery Lynn Designs.  Using a zigzag embossing folder and fringe give the illusion of a basket for the eggs. 

This topiary was created using flowers also cut from CTMH's Art Philosophy and there are also several of the Cheery Lynn butterflies.  I stuck them in a styrofoam ball using straight pins and hot glue.  The dowel is covered with the same ribbon as the bow and I found the pot at a garage sale.  The little Easter baskets have chocolate eggs inside and the tutorial to create them can be found at Pootles Papercraft.  Sam is a an independant UK Stampin Up Demonstrator and she has some awesome tutorials.  Please check her out!  I did up about three dozen of these delightful baskets and am off to drop them and the topiary at a retirement home here in my community.  scrap happy...

ambrosia

I have always liked Bo Bunny's Ambrosia Collection and picked up this mini album on sale at my local scrapbook store which unfortunately has now closed their doors (so sad).  I fell in love with all of the colours in it but they do not go with all of my boy pictures so this will be given to a special girl I know.  I am entering this in ScrapbookPal.com's Share Your Project Challenge.  (This is where I get my "Scrappy Tape" from which I use on all of my projects.) I embellished it using papers, rub-ons, buttons and metal pieces from the collection.  The butterflies were created with a Martha Stewart punch and a Cherry-Lynn Die.  The doilies are from Dollarama and the bling and ribbons are from my stash.  Finally, I used my Cricut and CTMH's Art Philosophy cartridge to cut out the various flowers in the album as well as some of the photo mats.   The rolled flowers were cut at 2", 2.5" and 3" using the flowers at shift row 5 column 9 and column 10.  I rolled them up using my quilling tool, which makes the rolling fast and easy and then added some hot glue to the bottom.  The beige flowers were cut using the flower (r3c10) at 1", 1.25" and 1.5 inches.  I sprayed them with water, crinkled them up and then unfolded, inked the edges and glued them together.    It is surprising how much enjoyment you can get from creating something with such beautiful colours!  scrap happy...

 

 

 

still the same...

I saw Canadian Scrapbooker Magazine's sketch challenge for March on Facebook yesterday and immediately thought of a piece of paper that my good friend Jan Moxey gave me that would be perfect to be used with this sketch.  In fact everything about this layout came together easily.  The rest of the paper is from CTMH's Huntington collection as are the wooden buttons.  When I came across this photo of my sister and I, the song "Still the Same" started playing in my head and I knew it should be the title.  While we are many years older, most people who have seen this picture have commented on how much alike we still are. Unfortunately my memory is not so good that I can remember when the picture was taken but I absolutely love this picture and my sister!  scrap happy...

valentine minions

my grandson is six and for the past several years I have made valentine's for his classmates.  This year I made minions and he loved them. This post sharing a free printable minion valentine from Jonie Sumsion was in my facebook feed back on January 27th and I thought they would be the coolest of valentines especially if you love the Despicable Me movies.  All I had to do was print out the template on cardstock (there were 4 per page) and then cut around the overalls and eyes so that you could fit in a hostess ho ho.  Seemed simple enough...  however, ho ho's are not nut free so I had to improvise with wrapping granola bars in yellow cardstock.  The sentiment says "Friends like you are one in a minion"  lol  Trent added his classmates names as well as his own and did all the stuffing.  It was lots of fun to help make his Valentines special as everyone likes to feel special don't they...  scrap happy!

bohemian birthday and a bit of cheering up...

I picked up the 8"x8" Bohemian paper pad by Graphic 45 when I was in the States back in September and scraplifted this different fold style from a card I saw on Pinterest which I just spent an hour looking for again... lol.  My card is a smaller version (4.5" tall) of the one by Roni of Ink Stains (6" tall) and at the time I didn't realize there was a tutorial and played my way to getting the same look.  The paper is so funky I decided to distress all of the edges of the cardstock (120 lb weight from Michaels).   I also fussy cut duplicates of the flowers to pop on top for added dimension.  It didn't want to close up so I attached ribbon to keep it together. 

 

 

This card is one of two that I made at a crop I went to last month.  One of the challenges was to use at least one of the patterned papers we were given.  Except for the cardstock and some bling, this is all made with one 12"x"12 piece of paper.  The sentiment is perfect as it is a very cheerful card!!  scrap happy...

 



tone on tone birthdays

my middle son celebrated his 33rd birthday this past week and doesn't that make me feel old... lol...  I thought I would like to create something out of kraft cardstock (Reflections) and just use my embossing folders for texture.  I popped up the layers for definition and just added some bling around the sentiment.  I was so pleased with the results that I made a second one for his father who celebrated a milestone birthday!  Here I used my cricut to cut out the numbers layer and then popped it up on top of a DCWV metallic cardstock and added some Studio Calico washi tape to the sides.  These clean and simple cards went together quite easily.  happy scrapping...

 
     

honeymoon mini...

happy thanksgiving / columbus day!   I was asked to create this mini for a wedding gift with the idea being that the bride and groom would use if for their honeymoon pictures.  I wanted to create something elegant but yet fun.    I used K&Co papers (several collections combined) as well as a couple from Echo Park that I had left in my stash.  Pops of turquoise and green add the fun. The majority of the flowers throughout the album are handmade.  My favourite (and also easiest to make) is the fringed flower which is on the cover below (bottom second from the left) .  These always turn out great and are quite a showpiece.  Simply take a 12" strip (width will depend on how large a flower you want), fold in half and adhere the long edge with 1/8" double sided tape.  Cut into the folded edge at 1/8' intervals making the fringe.  Add another length of 1/8" double sided tape all the way down the uncut edge and, using either a button or something round (in this case I used a resin flower) , wrap the strip around and around until done.  Curl your edges down and there you have it!  happy scrapping...

more laughing lola...

the Laughing Lola paper collection from Close to My Heart is one of my all time favourites.  I love the colours (purple, gold and green) and that it can be used for both feminine and masculine cards.  Today's card can be either a thinking of you card or as I used it - a birthday card.  The sentiment is from CTMH and it is embossed in gold.  The bling is also CTMH.  I was very pleased with how my bow turned out as they almost always give me grief and I have to thank Monica Gale of MonicasPassions for her great tutorial.  I also wanted to share with you how I created a pocket behind the inside sentiment for either a hidden message or a gift card, but in my haste to get it on its way I forgot to take the picture so I will have to save that tip for another time.  scrap happy...

six years old!

my little grandson is turning six years old today - can you imagine?  His mother, who also happens to be very crafty, made him a Yoda cake which is way cool... so I thought I would stick with the space theme for his card.  I used my cricut and gypsy to make a number card - just put two of the same images (a 6 in this case) on the gypsy, lay one on top of the other, then flip one of them and move it over until they are just touching in the middle; weld and cut.  Because I made the "six" wider than the original, I had to fuss with the pattern paper image in order to get the right size but I think it worked out okay.  I cut some of the spaceships and stars out of the leftover paper to give the card some dimension and then put glossy accents on them to make them stand out even more.  The sentiment was cut from a Cuttlebug die.  Here's to little man having a birthday that's out of this world!  scrap happy...

thinking of you...

summer's over and it's time to get back to scrapping...  I made this card this morning with CTMH's new collection Laughing Lola and a stamp from Hero Arts which just says it all.  The card base is made using Michaels new 110lb cardstock which I have to say I love for cards - really puts them up a notch.  Anyways, back to it - scrap happy!!

a special birthday...

my friend recently turned 60 and I wanted to create a card worthy of that event and special to her.  She is most fond of daisies and when I saw this image from Karen at The Graphics Fairy I knew it would be the focal piece on her card - it was fussy cut and then popped up on the left side.  Webster's Pages had the perfect paper to go with it (from one of their older collections - Your Life Beautiful) which I added to the front and also fussy cut the piece on the inside.  The cardstock is Bazzill.  The ribbon and sentiment are from Close to My Heart.  I used a Martha Stewart border punch and inked the edges in Tim Holtz's vintage photo distress ink and called it done - no bling required!!  The pictures really show the difference in the lighting as the sun disappeared while I was taking them and they all look different - I think I need some lessons.  lol  scrap happy...