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Saturday, January 24, 2015

Nature (2Crafty DT Reveal & Prima January BAP)

As promised yesterday, I'm back with another 2Crafty-filled layout to show you!

This one was also inspired by the January Build-A-Page challenge from Prima.



The Prima paper used as my background is "Lemon Ginger" from the Sun Kiss Collection.

To create the title, I used some of the pretty cursive words from the 2Crafty "Mini Word Set 1",
as well as Prima Cardstock Alphabet Stickers and Lace Sticker - Beauty.
You can also see the beautiful bird house, also from Prima.


I completed the title using the 2Crafty "LowerCase Everyday Font" to spell out the word 'nature'
and treated the letters with coats of yellow paint and stain,
and then dusted them with a little yellow glitter, followed by dabs of white paint.


Inspired by the oval shape on the Prima sketch, I used as focal point
the 2Crafty "Madeline's Flourish Frame", treated in green stains and glazes, right under my pictures.
Underneath, on my background, I added some stenciling using a Prima stencil 
and molding paste and then topped it off with
a chipboard "Butterfly Frame" which I simply painted black and dabbed with white.


In my last close-up, you can see how I cut apart the "Diamond Panel"
and added the pieces on different parts of my page, to give the illusion of a garden trellis.

I also cut in two a "Formal Flourish 2" and tucked each piece behind my 2 Prima flower clusters,
which include Cigar Box Secrets - Maduro, Free Spirit - Flower Power,
Solid Coordinates - Paisley Road and more,
adorned with leaves cut with the Prima metal dies and Say It In Crystal flourish.


To learn more about 2Crafty chipboard, click HERE.

And remember, to find a 2Crafty stockist near you, drop an email to...
salesat2crafty@optusnet.com.au
 
To see once again the Prima BAP, click HERE.
You have until the end of the month to link up your project!
 
Thank you for dropping by!
 

Friday, January 23, 2015

Good Day (2Crafty DT Reveal)

It's DT reveal time for 2Crafty Chipboard!
 
I have a very bright layout to share with you today.
 

This layout is full of bright pinks and oranges with just a touch of green
and features one of my favorite pictures of my nieces Ella and Daphne
during a Summer stroll which dates back a couple years.


I chose one of the "Line Words - Happiness Borders" for my title
which I lined vertically on the right edge of my page.
I simply painted it pink with a bit of acrylic paint, topped with a little glaze.


I love bracket shapes so I used 2 of them, including the one of the larger "Frame Bracket Borders" 
and a "Journalling Frame" that you can see a bit later.  
Tucked behind my flower cluster is a pretty flourish from the "Leafy Shrub Set 2"
I added layer upon layer of different paints and stains to obtain
the perfect shades of pink and orange to go along with my page and added green to the leaf part.

I also added the word enjoy from the "Mini Word Set 1" to my journalling tag.


These "Kites" went along so well with the theme of my layout.
I basically dabbed them with all shades of pink and orange stains I own,
then adorned them with cute little hearts from the "ATC Hearts and Stars" pack.


Here is the "Journalling Frame" I mentioned above.  I dried embossed it using my Cuttlebug
and added the same stain treatment as with the kites.
  
 
One little thing you might have not noticed... 
the green leaves used on this page were punched out of the 2Crafty chipboard packaging.
 It was just the right shade of green and I love the swirly design on the cardboard, 
so why not use it for all that it's worth!
 
Come back tomorrow and I'll have another 2Crafty-filled layout to show you!

Thursday, January 22, 2015

A Cat's Life (January SOS Sketch DT Reveal)

It's time for another DT reveal for Scrap Our Stash!

This year, Scrap Our Stash is introducing something new...
a mid-month Guest Sketch Artist Challenge!
Every month, SOS will be featuring one talented sketch artist
and use one of their sketches for the challenge.

The January Sketch Artist is Bev Code and here is her sketch:


So Challenge #22 is to use Bev's sketch as inspiration, and for the stash item, sequins.

Click HERE for all the details and to link up your project by January 29th.

This month's sponsor is 17turtles,
a digital cute file Etsy shop owned by Juliana Michaels,
who has also donated one of her fabulous cut files to each of the DT.  


Of the many fabulous designs offered by 17turtles, this is the one that I chose:


Now let's take a look at my layout!
 

I'm very happy today to share with you this layout of my kitty cat Sugar 
doing what cats do best... napping!  Yes, I woke her up while taking the photo. Bad Mommy!  
 
 

I based my layout on Bev's sketch using different big block of pattern paper
on a pattern background. I digged in my paper scraps and found 
an old stash of My Mind's Eye "Indie Chic" which went well with the picture.

 

I also love how the 17turtles' cut file "Good Kitty", designed by Juliana Michaels, 
gave me awesome layered paper embellishments to complement the photo and the sketch.
 
 

I also added several black and green sequins, as required by the challenge!


I would love to hear what you think about my layout.

And don't forget my January Blog Giveaway right HERE!!!



This year we are excited to announce something new our
mid-month Guest Sketch Artist Challenge!
Every month we will introduce one talented artist and have the pleasure of using one of their fantastic sketches for our challenge!  This month, SOS would love to welcome....

BEV CODE
"My name is Bev Code and I have been scrapping about 5+ years. I am a wife, mother and gramma that loves being retired and now have time to scrap to my heart's content. I love scrapbooking along with fun things it entails with online friends, forums and FB. The learning process has been interesting and creative also. Other crafts I love also are needlepoint, sewing, knitting, crochet and taking lots of photos. Family and friends are the subjects of my scrapping along with nature, ancestry and vacation sites. I live in Conestogo, Ontario and spend some time in Florida where I take my scrapping with me for the extended time.

CHALLENGE: 
Your challenge is to create a layout using Bev Code’s Sketch as your inspiration:

AND for your stash item... you are to use SEQUINS on your layout. 

One more important thing...click HERE for the SOS Challenge Guidelines!!! 
Make sure to link your layout to Mr. Linky on our side bar by Jan 29th at midnight PST.

Don’t forget ... January’s monthly prize is:
- See more at: http://scrapourstash.blogspot.ca/#sthash.secvLHP4.dpuf
This year we are excited to announce something new our
mid-month Guest Sketch Artist Challenge!
Every month we will introduce one talented artist and have the pleasure of using one of their fantastic sketches for our challenge!  This month, SOS would love to welcome....

BEV CODE
"My name is Bev Code and I have been scrapping about 5+ years. I am a wife, mother and gramma that loves being retired and now have time to scrap to my heart's content. I love scrapbooking along with fun things it entails with online friends, forums and FB. The learning process has been interesting and creative also. Other crafts I love also are needlepoint, sewing, knitting, crochet and taking lots of photos. Family and friends are the subjects of my scrapping along with nature, ancestry and vacation sites. I live in Conestogo, Ontario and spend some time in Florida where I take my scrapping with me for the extended time.

CHALLENGE: 
Your challenge is to create a layout using Bev Code’s Sketch as your inspiration:

AND for your stash item... you are to use SEQUINS on your layout. 

One more important thing...click HERE for the SOS Challenge Guidelines!!! 
Make sure to link your layout to Mr. Linky on our side bar by Jan 29th at midnight PST.

Don’t forget ... January’s monthly prize is:
- See more at: http://scrapourstash.blogspot.ca/#sthash.secvLHP4.dpuf

Monday, January 19, 2015

Love That Smile (Prima January PPP)

Do you believe in love at first sight?
 
Well, I do!
 
I fell in love the January Prima Product Pick the second I laid eyes upon it.
 

I couldn't pass by the opportunity of playing along 
so I created this shabby chic layout featuring Celeste,
the pretty daughter of good friends.
 

I opted for a soft and sweet background, using the "Rosalee" paper from the Madeline collection
 and layered strips of  "Sun Dried" from the Sun Kiss collection.
I added some texture to the background with a Prima stencil and some molding paste.
 
I created the title by combining some 2Crafty chipboard
(Word Circles Set 1 & Smile Loopy Font)
with Prima Cardstock Alphabet Stickers that I popped up with 3D foam dots.


I adorned the inside of my chipboard circles (Circle Stack
and the vertical strips of paper
with Prima Say It In Crystals gems and black arrowheads.


Here you see some more Say It In Crystals as well as a butterfly I created
using the Stamp-N-Add Butterfly Wings set.  I colored the metal key black with alcohol ink.

I added some more details to my page by slipping pieces of the 2Crafty Interlocking Grid Panel
that I covered with black embossing powder.
I also cut out some fancy leaves using the Prima leaves metal die.

 
And one final close-up of the Prima flowers,
including Avante - Teal, Cigar Box Secrets - Ligaro,
 Forever Green - Herb, Flower Market - North Country... and several more!
 

I hope you enjoyed my layout.
 
To learn more about the Prima Product Pick, click HERE
and to see more beautiful designs offered by 2Crafty Chipboard, click HERE.



Don't forget my January Blog Giveaway that ends on February 13th!



Sunday, January 18, 2015

January sketch challenge at My Creative Sketches

A new sketch challenge was revealed over on the My Creative Sketches blog
and one of my layouts created with the January Main kit from My Creative Scrapbook
was inspired by it.



Hoping that you will decide to play along for a chance to win a fabulous prize!



Link up HERE by February 14th for a chance to win!

Friday, January 16, 2015

My Very First Scrap Around the World DT Reveal

I never could have imagined that this day would come...

Sharing with you a project based on the current Scrap Around the World mood board,
not as a challenge participant, but as a DT member!

After having participated in the SATW monthly challenges for almost 2 years,
I was always amazed by the talented ladies on the DT, and I have to admit, a tad bit intimidated.
Every single month, the bar went up higher as their projects turned out more and more beautiful,
not withstanding the quality of their 100some challenge entries from artists all over the world.

Well, it's my turn now to be able to inspire you with my project
as part of this incredible design team and wonderful creative community.

Let's take another look at the beautiful shabby chic vintage mood board 
designed by Karita Vainio from Finland. 


Click HERE to the first of the month reveal and HERE for today's mid-month reveal.
You will see some amazing inspiration from all the DT ladies.

As the Scrap Around the World mid-month reveal Canvas Specialist,
I obviously created a... CANVAS!  :)



My inspiration from the mood board is quite obvious I think.
In short, I was inspired by EVERYTHING about it...

 beautiful chalky colours, metallics, time-aged rust, vintage frames
clock images, romantic flowers with a touch of pink, ornate trimmings 
and the quote that basically means to me 'Love Life' the good and the bad. 

To create my canvas, I started by covering the 10 x 8 inches base with a coat of white gesso,
and then I added some stencilling with molding paste to create a textured background.

I finished the background with a few sprays
from Teal, Turquoise and Wheatfields Glimmer Mist,
and more white gesso dabbed over everything to soften it up.



This metal clock is from Momenta and was originally of a pewter finish.
I dabbed it with copper metallic paint to give it more of a rusted look,
as I did with the other metal trinkets and some of the chipboard.

As you can see, I usually dab white paint over my embellishments too
as I love the sparkle whitewash effect it gives my projects.



It wouldn't be shabby chic if there wasn't lots of sweet pretty flowers,
in feminine lace, tule and satin with pearly centers.
I added chipboard pieces of the 2Crafty "Moroccan Panel".
The "Life Line Border" used in the title is also from 2Crafty.


You can see here a side view of the bottom left corner with more flowers...


and the upper right corner with
the resin frames from Prima (I added some mists and stains on a couple)
and a beautiful metal key from Maya Road.

 
I hope you enjoyed my very first canvas designed for Scrap Around the World
and that you will play along with this mood board.

Find out all about the challenge HERE and
make sure to familiarize yourself with the challenge rules beforehand.

There are awesome prizes up for grabs from these sponsors:


The deadline for this challenge is SATURDAY, January 31st.

 

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Scrap-Utopia's January Blog Giveaway!


Yes! You read right in my blog post title!

It's GIVEAWAY time!

If you are a serious and, quite frankly, obsessed scrapbooker like me, 
you know how shopping and hoarding scrapbooking supplies can get as exciting (and overwhelming)
 as actually creating projects.  Over the years, I've accumulated so much goodies
 that it would be impossible for me to use it all, even if I lived to be 200 years old!

So I decided to give some of these goodies away, 
and to who else should I give these away, but to my loyal and fabulous blog followers?!

So for the next few months, and maybe even for the entire year, 
I will be hosting a giveaway on the 13th of each month 
(who said the number 13 had to mean bad luck!?).  
Some months, the prize might be bigger than others, 
but nonetheless, I'm hoping that you will enjoy participating.

Here is my January giveaway!

 

This prize pack includes:  Bo Bunny Timepiece collection (papers, combo stickers, cardstock stickers, layered chipboard, brads, jewels, petals, lace), Tim Holtz Idea-ology mask, Imaginisce Roly Rosies, Prima flowers, Craft Essentials silk flowers, other miscellaneous flowers, large & medium doilies, Forever in Time clear foil stickers and vintage embossed stickers, various laser-cut chipboard pieces, pearls & jewels combo, metal trinkets, resin frame, resist canvas leafy flourishes, miscellaneous ribbons and trims.





How to win, you ask?

It's easy!
 You just have to follow these 2 simple rules:

1. Be a follower of my blog.
2. Leave a comment on this blog post.

You are welcome to share a picture of this giveaway
on your blog, in a post or on your sidebar, or share with your friends on Facebook.  
Just make sure to link back to this post.
 
However, doing so is not mandatory to win.

If you like my creations and would like to also follow me on Facebook
on Pinterest and on Instagram, I would be very thankful. :)

This giveaway is open internationally.

You have until midnight EST on February 12th to enter!
I will randomly pick a winner who will be announced right here on my blog on February 13th
just in time for the reveal of my February giveaway.

The winner will then have 2 weeks to contact me
or else I will have to pick a new winner.

Good luck!

Thursday, January 8, 2015

Little Star (Scrap Our Stash Challenge #22)

A new stash challenge was released on the Scrap Our Stash blog
on January 1st and today is my turn to share with you my DT take on it!


Click HERE for all the details on how to play along.

  Here is the layout I made for this brand new challenge!


I know that double-page layouts are not necessarily the trend these days, but when I started
 scrapbooking back in 2004, that is all I made, and I have to say that I still enjoy them a lot. 
Double the layout, double the fun! 



My layout was based on this sketch by Kelly Klapstein
provided on the Canadian Scrapbooker blog



This stash challenge was also a lot of fun! I got stuck on a couple letters, but with a little help from my friends (thank you SOS DT gals), I found some cool stash items for every letter in the word T-W-I-N-E.

 Let's start with 'T'.
Aside from the obvious twine, I used TAGS on my page. 

 The 'W' is represented by WOOD VENEER shapes.

 
For the letter 'I', I thought of adding some faux stitching with white INK.  


 As for 'N', the overall theme of my layout was inspired by the NURSERY RHYME 'Twinkle, twinkle, little star'.  Words from the famous rhyme just happened to be printed all over the pattern papers used 
from My Mind's Eye 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Boy' and Carta Bella 'Baby Mine'.


And last but not least, I included EYELETS to represent the letter 'E'.


I can't wait to see what words you will come up with! 


The January sponsor for this challenge is 17 Turtles
so link up HERE by the end of the month for a chance to win!