Cotton Candy is awesome

Layout #7 of 20 from last week's all-day scrapbook marathon. The layout design is again from Jennifer at Scrapbook Adventures. The papers and stickers are Basic Grey (I put the star & arrow on cardstock and then cut them out so that I could pop them up). I love how well the papers pick up the idea of fun & summer! Cotton candy always makes me think of fairs & carnivals which, of course, are one of the best parts of summer! I thought about adding a title, but in the end figured that the patterned word paper really said it all.

Challenges:

• Amber's Crafts & Stuff - summer
• Anything Goes - summer
• Aud Sentiments - food or drink (cotton candy) *does word pp count as a sentiment?
• Craft Us Crazy - summertime
• Crafting for all Seasons - summer
• Pal's Paper Arts - stars
• Papertake Weekly - here comes the sum
• Scrapbook Sisters - anything goes
• The Paper Variety - summer layout

Gamer Growl

Scrapbook marathon - layout #5 of 20

As mentioned in my last post, I attended a workshop called "Use Your Own Stash" which was really more of a scrapbook marathon. Over the course of one day, Jennifer from Scrapbookin' Adventures, took us through the creation of 20 layouts! I'm busily finishing off each layout by adding pictures, titles and journalling (although let's be honest, journalling is pretty minimal in my albums!).


This layout is one of my favourites from the day and I call it "Gamer Growl" because that is exactly what my DS is doing in the top & bottom pictures. Both my kids are huge gamers; here they are playing a role-playing game called Creepy Freaks.

The layout was pretty simple to put together, especially since all the components, except for the top alphas (which are Basic Grey), came in a "Toonie Projects" kit from Photo Express.

Challenges:

• Aly's Sunday Challenge - kids
• Craft Us Crazy - masculine
• Going Grey with Scrap-Creations - animals or jungle
• Simply Create - wings (the pterodactyl)
• Totally Papercrafts - die cuts & punches (dinosaurs and "growl" are die cuts)

Scrapbooking marathon - layout #1

Yesterday I participated in a workshop called "Use Your Own Stash" which was really more of a scrapbook marathon. Over the course of one day, Jennifer from Scrapbookin' Adventures, took us through the creation of 20 layouts! Yes, I really said 20 layouts in a single day!!! Jennifer's workshop promotes doing single page 12 x 12 layouts (which I converted to 8-1/2 x 11) using stash that you already have. Many of the embellishments are hand-made (like the paper "ribbon" in my layout below) and the designs themselves are interesting and suitable for any theme depending on the papers you choose.

I worried like crazy about the workshop and making my kits was tough. How could I pick papers & embellishmets without seeing the layouts in advance? What if the layout didn't suit the theme of my kit? What if I hated all of the designs!

Well, it turned out my worries were unfounded. The workshop was very fast-paced (about 1 layout every 20-30 mins) and pretty well all of my kits worked out just fine. I won't mislead you - most of my layouts aren't quite finished yet - most are lacking titles and almost none contain pictures yet, but it was still a huge achievement in a single day. Now I just have to keep up the momentum to finish the layouts so that they can actually go into my albums.

Here is the first complete layout to share with you:

For this layout I used My Mind's Eye "Colorful Christmas" paper and chipboard embellishments. After getting it home I added some Glossy Accents to the snowmen snowmen and tree and this one was complete. My favourite part of this layout is the pleated orange polka dot paper ribbon strip with the giant brads.

Challenges:
Challenge Up Your Life - circles (circles in the paper and of course the brads)
Play Date Cafe - hollyhock pink, orange, sky blue (the colours in my layout match a lot better in real life)

Scrapalicious - smile (check out my DS missing tooth grin)
Sparkles Forum Christmas - snowmen

Hanging out on Father's Day

It's Father's Day on Sunday and unfortunately I can't mail this card that I made to my Dad (Canada Post is on strike) but at least he can see it online.

I used a digital stamp from Bugaboo which I coloured using Copic markers. I tried a different (for me) technique for the bathrobe - I coloured it with blue and then dabbed at it with the blender pen to get a fuzzy-looking texture. I also coloured the dewdrops (they started clear) which are placed in the corners. The image is framed with a Spellbinders' diecut with a couple of matting layers. The card design is this week's Midnight Madness sketch challenge.

Challenges:

• Blogger's Challenge - masculine
• Craft Us Crazy - masculine
• Cupcake Craft - for Dad
• Dutch Dare - masculine
• Fashionista Friday - masculine
• Glitter Geeks - Father's Day
• Just Add Ink - Colouring
• Little Red Wagon - for Dad
• Papertake Weekly - for Dad
• Partytime Tuesday - for Dad
• Sisterhood of Crafters - for Dad
• Stamptacular Sunday - for Dad
• Totally Papercraft - die cuts/punches

Then & now

My husband's nephew is getting married in a couple of weeks and as a gift, his mother-in-law-to-be is putting together a scrapbook album for the couple. I created the following double-page layout documenting how Christopher has grown over the years. I chose pictures of him at various ages, with a picture of the couple as the main picture. My husband wrote a message where he talks about how proud he is of his nephew which I turned into a letter and used as my journalling.

The page layout is based on the current Stuck On U Sketches challenge. I kept very true to the sketch while adjusting it to a 2-page 8-1/2 x 11" layout. The page elements include:

• Ezee Pzee chipboard - Shelley's Borders: Swirlies (coloured with Copic marker and a layer of Glossy Accents added for shine)
• Bo Bunny rub-ons, sticker strips, title (layered throughout)
• Martha Stewart border punch (for the journalling block)
• Fabric leaves, unknown
• Lace flower ribbon, unknown (used as a strip but also cut and coloured with Copic)
• Copic markers
• Glossy Accents

Challenges:

• Divas By Design - anything but a card
• Moving Along With the Times - anything but a card
• Papercraft Star - STAR (swirls, title, adhesive, rubons)
• Shopping Our Stash - things starting with "S" (scrapbook, swirls, stickers strips)



Stuck On U Sketches

• Stuck On U Sketches - sketch challenge
• Top Tip Tuesday - anything goes
• Tuesday Throwdown - choose any 3 past challenges (anything but a card, chipboard, nature)
• Use It Tuesday - unused punch, die cut, or cut-out (dusty border punch) 

Bla bla bla

Journal (Before)

I've been wanting to try my hand at making an art journal and I had the opportunity this past weekend when I created a journal for my niece. I picked up a couple of journals at Michaels for $1.50 each (practically a steal!) and decided to recover them. The picture to the right shows the album as it started, and the picture following is what I ended up with.

Journal (After)

Talk about a change in look & feel!!! I started by covering the journal with a green paper that I distressed and inked. I tried my hand at creating my own patterned paper - starting with white cardstock that I stamped, inked, spritzed and splattered until I was (somewhat) happy. I stamped this wonderful Stampotique image "Karin" over top of the patterned paper and then added some colouring with Copic markers.

The finished product is kind of weird but it is for my pre-teen niece and I expect she'll think it is just perfect!

Challenges:

• Amber's Crafts & Stuff - teen related
• Craft Room Challenge - anything goes
• Craft Your Passion - anything goes
• Dream Valley Challenges - stamp something
• Everybody Art - distress
• Fab 'N Funky - anything goes
• Haunted Design House Macabre Monday - pleasure (love colouring stamps) & pain (hate random spritzing/stamping)
• Moving Along With the Times - no designer paper
• Papertake Weekly - anything goes

Ezee Pzee product reveal for June

The Dezign Team was given the absolute best collection of Ezee Pzee products for this month's reveal. I had such a great time working with the frames and embellishments that I'm actually sad that the project is done. So, here is what the team received:

We were encouraged to create a canvas - something that we could hang on our wall with pride - so I purchased a couple of art canvases at Michaels (on sale!) and got to work. My plan was to combine a central canvas with smaller framed pieces around it. 

I created the first canvas by painting it with a flat yellow paint. I then layered patterned paper (from Bo Bunny), stickers, and other embellishments to create a collage of sorts. The central Ezee Pzee frame is covered with paper and then I added Basic Grey rub-ons for extra pattern.

So, my first piece was done but it didn't want to be hung on the wall - it really, really wanted to be the cover of a mini album. Well, I wasn't about to argue with the creative muse since she has been absent so many times in the past. I decided to use the two canvases as the front & back of a mini album, with the interior pages nesting inside. This is what it looks like from the side:

I created a series of pages and attached them accordian style using twine:

Open album (inside)

Open album (outside)

I used Bo Bunny papers and stickers throughout the pages, along with Ezee Pzee frames and embellishments. The most elaborate pages are inset into the front and back covers of the album:

First page, inset into front cover

Last page, inset into back cover

The interior pages are a mix of simple (for larger photos) and somewhat elaborate (for small photos or decoration).

Key to heart page: I painted & distressed an Ezee Pzee heart and then overlaid it on a painted Ezee Pzee key. The swirls on the bottom of the key are Basic Grey rub-ons. For the page itself I used some scrap cardboard (I tore the outside layer off to reveal the corrugation, then inked and distressed it).

Birdcage page: The birdcage is cut from a Tim Holtz die and is painted and popped up in the middle to give dimension. The bird and branch are both Ezee Pzee. I love when I can mix & match embellishments from different designers!

Butterfly page: This is my favourite page because it is so subtle. I misted the Ezee Pzee birdcage and butterfly wth a mix of green, terra cotta and pearl mists. I used the same twine to create the bow on the cage as I used to attach the pages in the album. The border strip and small journalling spot are both Bo Bunny stickers.

Thanks so much for visiting my blog and looking at my latest Ezee Pzee Dezign project. I encourage you to check out what the rest of the team did with the materials (trust me, you won't be disappointed because these ladies totally rock!).

Ezee Pzee Dezign Team

• Jennifer

• Rena

• Diana

• Dana

• Katie

Challenges:

• Basic Grey Challenge - Shabby chic (& BG rub-ons)
• City Crafter Challenge - Use paint and recycled cardboard
• Fairy Tale Challenge - Anything but a card
• One Stop Craft - Texture
• Papercrafting Journey - Anything goes
• Partytime Tuesdays - Anything goes
• Scrapmaster's Paradise - Colour combo (one of my favourite colour combos as you can see from the album)
• Tuesday Throwdown - DIY embellishments

Tulips for my mother

Here's another card made using peel-off outline stickers. In this case I used Copic markers to colour in the different elements - I'm really happy with how the plant pot looks against the kraft cardstock! For my design I used this week's sketch from Cardmadfairy - I can't enter the card into the challenge because I didn't use a digi but I loved the sketch and wanted to use it anyway. The papers (except for the kraft cardstock) are all from Bo Bunny.

Challenges:

• 2 Sisters - Anything goes
• A Spoonfull of Sugar - Flower power
• Crafty Purple Frog - Things of beauty
• Divas by Design - Florals
• Emerald Faeries - Anything goes
• Outlawz Copic Challenge - Anything goes
• Paper Play - Blossoms & blooms