"Fanta"-stic Fun

No one in my family is much of a pop drinker, but we do love pineapple.  Therefore, we got excited when we came across pineapple-flavored Fanta for the first time.  We split one bottle among the three of us, just to try it out, and we liked it.  It was so syrupy-sweet that just 1/3 of a bottle was the right amount. 

Of course I had to save that Fanta bottle cap and do something creative with it.  I decided to make it into a sunflower.  I used decorative tape and twist ties (from bread wrappers) to fashion a stem and leaves for the flower.  It was a fun and symbolic embellishment to use on this scrapbook page about my son's growth in his martial arts class.

Supplies: cardstock from Neenah Paper; alphabet stickers, die cuts, patterned paper, & enamel shapes from October Afternoon; tape from Scotch/3M; decorative scissors from Fiskars; pens from Zig; household mini stapler, paper clip, twist ties, pencil, & bottle cap; sequin from my stash.

There is nothing wrong with your screen.  Do not attempt to adjust the picture... :)  My journaling on this scrapbook page explains: "A. told me I could only photograph his red belt test if I used Photo Booth.  It was fun, and he passed with flying colors!"

Photo booth is a fun app, and I love the silly pictures that it gave me.  My favorite is the one above, where it looks like my son is sparring with himself.  (He told me that's his evil twin.)  I hope that this scrapbook page brought a smile to your face.  :)

Autumn: Light Side (B71B)

Hi, I'm Princess Leia, and I'm taking over Denise's blog temporarily.  This is the first of two autumn-themed posts that I'll be making. 

Supplies: decorative papers from Simple Stories; kraft cardstock from Wausau Paper; teal cardstock from Bazzill; stickers from October Afternoon; die cuts from Doodlebug Design; Candi dots from Craftwork; pen from Foray; ink from Hero Arts; upcycled wrapping tissue; upcycled bubble wrap; household pencil.

Autumn is like the Force--it has a light side and a dark side.  Here (above) is a layout that Denise made about the light, bright, colorful side of autumn.

Denise drew inspiration from the October Berry 71 Bleu mood board.  It inspired Denise to scrap many photos of autumn leaves. The individual photos are rather small, but as Master Yoda reminds us, "Size matters not."  In fact, by collaging photos onto regular 4x6" prints, Denise was able to fit twelve--count 'em, twelve--photos onto the layout and still have room for patterned paper and embellishments. 

The flowers in the mood board influenced Denise's choice of a flowery background paper.  She also made her own flowers out of upcycled teal wrapping tissue stamped lightly with bubble wrap.

One of the most striking features of the mood board was the way it contrasted cool blue-green (teal) tones with warm autumn colors.  Denise created similar contrast on her page through the use of layered teal cardstock scraps, a few teal stickers, and the aforementioned teal flowers.

The bright colors of October are fleeting, for they soon give way to the grey tones of November.  That path leads to the Dark Side.  If you're not afraid of the Dark Side, then come back tomorrow for my second post on Denise's blog.  I'll leave you here for now.  May the Force be with you!

As Promised

I promised I'd show an example of how I've been using the embellishments I made with my "Ten on the Tenth" leftovers.  And I'm the sort of person who keeps her promises.  :)

Supplies: tags from Kaisercraft; stickers & all patterned paper from October Afternoon; white cardstock from American Crafts; patterned kraft cardstock from Neenah Paper; button stamp & green paper from My Mind's Eye; green & black inks from Hero Arts; brown ink from Tsukineko; tape from Scotch/3M; pen from Foray; corrugated cardboard upcycled from old box.

On this scrapbook page I used one of the flower embellishments that I made.  As you see, I fashioned the petals from scraps of patterned cardstock and the leaves from corrugated cardboard.  I used a tiny button stamp to create the center of the flower.

This page is entitled ".ru".  You know how Canadian web addresses end in .ca, and French web addresses end in .fr?  Well Russian web addresses end in, you guessed it, .ru.  My computer expert husband tells me that these thingies are called top level domains.  No matter what you call them, I thought that .ru would be a fun, different, twenty-first century name for this scrapbook page.

The journaling on the page tells how much it means to me to share bits of Russian culture with my son.  In the photos he is standing by a replica Siberian mammoth dig (top photo) and a replica traditional Russian cottage called an izba (bottom photo).  These photos were taken at one of our local zoos, which has a whole Russian section.  Since an actual trip to Russia is not feasible for us right now, this is the next best thing.  Hope you've enjoyed seeing the page!

Purple Cards, Purple Tea

Hello!  I hope that all the moms out there had a Happy Mother's Day yesterday.  Today seems like a good day to show some more Mother's Day cards that I recently made, plus a birthday card as well.
 

Supplies for all cards: cardstock from Colorbok; dark purple ink from Hero Arts; light purple ink from Clearsnap; shimmer paint from Smooch; foam tape from 3M/Scotch; foam flower stickers from Darice; chipboard word from Studio G; sentiment stamps from Lawn Fawn; rhinestone from Beads by Dee; corner punch from Creative Memories.

I was inspired by the book Stamp It!  DIY Printing with Handmade Stamps, edited by Jenny Doh.  One of the ideas in the book was to make a stamp out of foam tape.  The project in the book was to make a chevron stamp, but I put my own spin on the idea and made a banner stamp instead.  You can see the stamp in the above photo.  I also used a few Darice foam flower stickers as stamps.

For my first card, I used light purple ink for the stamped elements.  I've been putting tiny rhinestones on almost every project lately, and this one was no exception, as I used one in the center of the flower.

For the next card I repeated the same design, but I used a darker ink color.  I also restrained myself and used shimmer paint, instead of a rhinestone, in the center of the flower.

For my third card, I went for a Clean & Simple look, employing lots of white space and leaving off the banner.

For the last card, I went a little crazy and made a purple explosion of birthday happiness.  I really enjoyed making all four cards, and I'm eager to try using my banner stamp on more projects in the future.  Maybe next time I'll try it on a scrapbook page.

I'm also really enjoying the Stamp It book that inspired me.  It's fun to curl up with a book and a cup of tea and discover new artsy ideas to try.  After making all those purple cards, I just had to have a purple-ish tea: northwestern blackberry flavor.  Yum!  Wish I could share a cup with all of you.  If you're interested in more tea/beverage-related posts, do stop by Elizabeth and Bleubeard's blog for T-Day.  I'll be linking up there.

Take care and enjoy your day! 

10 on the 10th: Neutrals

Hello!  If you are reading this as it is going live, then I hope you're having a nice weekend so far.  Today is the tenth of the month, so it's time for the latest installment of my destashing series, "Ten on the Tenth."  This month I chose to work with ten neutral, go-with-anything supplies from my stash.  

 Supply list for May:

1. cardstock: kraft cardstock from Bazzill
2. cardstock: white cardstock from Bazzill
3. patterned paper: kraft dot/heart pattern from Elle's Studio (red striped B-side, not shown in photo)
4. patterned paper: graph paper from October Afternoon (red floral B-side, not shown in photo)
5. embellishment: border sticker sheet from Doodlebug Design
6. embellishment: alphabet sticker sheet from Jillibean Soup
7. nonconsumable: background stamp from Paper Inspirations
8. nonconsumable: hedgehog stamp from Skull & Crossbuns
9. throwaway item: denim scrap from torn jeans
10. throwaway item: wrappers from 4 Ferrero Rocher candies

And here are the three projects that I made from these supplies...

First up is a layout, which I have already shown in a previous post.  The layout uses the white cardstock, as well as bits of the kraft cardstock and patterned papers.
 

Additional supplies for card: ink from Tsukineko; paint from Ranger; household twine.

Next is a playful birthday card done in monochromatic brown/kraft tones.  Its long, tall shape would make it perfect for enclosing money as a birthday gift for the recipient.

To make the funky flower, I layered together two candy wrappers, trimmed fringe along the edges, embroidered a twine star in the center, and added detail with swipes of gold ink, dots of tan paint, and a twine bow.
 

~white pen from Ranger; black pen from Foray~

The hedgehog makes an appearance on the inside of the card, as do some of the Jillibean stickers.
 

Additional supplies for page: green cardstock from Bazzill; leaf stickers from Doodlebug; spray ink & title alphabet stickers from October Afternoon; green ink & black ink from Hero Arts; gold ink from Tsukinko; white pen & tan paint from Ranger; watercolor paints from Angora; black pen from Foray; tape from We Call Her Happydaks etsy.

For my final project, I made another layout.  I misted, stenciled, and masked with the remaining border and alphabet stickers, in order to create a mixed media background.  Then I layered up my remaining supplies for a casual, collaged page design.

I'll leave you with a foursome of detail shots from the page.  Hope you've enjoyed seeing how I use up supplies from my stash.  Thanks for stopping by my blog today!

April Showers Bring May Flowers

Hi, everyone!  Thanks for all your kind comments on my last post.  A few people even said that they liked the shirt I was wearing in my photo, which was a nice surprise.  I realized that I had not yet scrapped that photo, so I got to work on it, and this is the result...

Supplies: background paper from Carolee's Creations; vellum from Studio Calico; button, die cut arrow, spray mist, rubber frame, & all other paper from October Afternoon; tulle from Wyla; thread from DMC; sticker from My Mind's Eye; rubber stamp & paper rosebud from We Call Her Happydaks etsy; stamping ink from Stampology; Candi dots from Craftwork; rhinestones from Beads by Dee; household paper clips and pencil.

I'm entering this page in the April Berry71Bleu challenge, since I made the big tulle flower myself.
 

~April Berry71Bleu mood board~

My hand-sewn flower is frilly, pouffy, and dimensional, but it will still flatten out enough to slide into a page protector.

As far as other details on my page go, I used a lot of camera imagery...
 

...and I combined embellishments with a variety of textures, including thread, rubber, vellum, metal, plastic, cardstock, etc.
 

Thanks for stopping by my blog today!

Thanksgiving Card (B71B)

Hello, all!  I'm continuing to enjoy fall to its fullest, and I have a Thanksgiving card to share today.  The card is my entry for the Berry 71 Bleu October Challenge.  This challenge is to make a project that incorporates fall colors, and challenge hostess Marivic provided this wonderfully inspirational mood board.

What I like about this mood board is that it doesn't just feature a few autumn colors (i.e., the typical reds and golds); instead, it has a whole spectrum of fall colors.  I wanted to use that spectrum effect in my card, so I arranged some Doodlebug die cut flowers loosely in rainbow order.  Here's my card:

Supplies: cardstock base from Neenah Paper; burgundy woodgrain paper, tan scalloped border sticker, & flower/leaf die cuts from Doodlebug Design; sentiment stickers from Bella Blvd.

And now I am ready ahead of time with a Thanksgiving card!  It's nice to be ahead of the game for once.  :)

Now, I'm off to enjoy my weekend.  Thanks for stopping by my blog today!

Осенняя прогулка/Autumn Walk (Bilingual Post)

Материалы/materials: наклейки и скрап бумага/stickers & patterned paper (Authentique); краски и глазури/paints & glazes (Ranger); мел/chalk (Stampin' Up); картон/cardstock (Wausau Paper); тэг/tag (October Afternoon); блокнотные листья/notebook paper (Cachet); ручка/pen (Zig); декоративные ножницы/decorative scissors (Fiskars); ассортимент ленты, пуговиц, бусинок и пайеток/assorted ribbon, buttons, beads, & sequins.

Здравствуйте всем!  Я сегодня впервые участвую в задании блога АртУголок.  Моя страничка называется "Осенняя прогулка".  На фотографиях моя семья гуляет на улице в ноябре 2011.

Hello, everyone!  Today I'm participating for the first time in a challenge from the Russian language blog АртУголок (Art Corner).    My scrapbook page is called "Autumn Walk."  The photos on the page show my family out for a walk in November of 2011.

http://blog.artugolok.ru/2013/09/13-2013.html

Я страничку сделала по этому скетчу (поворот на девяноста градусов).

I used this sketch (rotated ninety degrees) to create my page. 

Я с удоволствием тратила много времени на эту страничку.  Пила чай и спокойно делала элементы "хэнд мейд" из разных штук.  Хорошо отдохнула.

I gladly took my time making this page.  I sipped tea and fashioned handmade page elements from a variety of "stuff."  It was totally relaxing.

С помощью краски и ленты, я превратила простые, бежевые пуговицы (из старой одежды) в цветы.

Using paint and ribbon, I turned plain, beige buttons (from old clothing) into flowers. 

Я применила жёлтую краску, бусинки, пайетки и разные глазури к краям фотографий, для того, чтобы получить "инкрустированный" вид. Кстати, 55 градусов по Фаренгейту составляет 13 градусов по Цельсию. В своём журналинге я объяснила, что эта температура для нас необычная. Наша семья редко гуляет на улице в ноябре, т.к. температура здесь, как правило, значительно ниже.

I applied yellow paint, beads, sequins, and some glazes to the edges of the photos, in order to get the "encrusted" look.  By the way, 55 degrees Fahrenheit is 13 degrees Celsius.  In my journaling I remarked on how unusual that temperature is.  Our family rarely takes walks in November, since the temps here are usually significantly colder than 55 degrees F.

Я употребила настоящие растения как штамп с жёлтой краской.  Флажки по кругу вырезаны из маленьких кусочков бумаги.

I stamped with yellow paint and real plants.  The banners around the circle are cut from scraps of paper.

Спасибо, что заглянули на мою страничку сегодня.  Извиняюсь за ошибки с языком.  Русский--не мой родной язык.

Thanks for looking at my page today.  I apologize for any Russian mistakes I may have made; Russian is my second language.  :)

Pretty Good Month

Today is August 1, and as I look back on the month of July, I have to say that it was an exciting month for me, in terms of scrapbooking news.  Would you mind if I shared my good news with you?  

• My layout "Zoo ZZZZZZ" won second place at Child's Play Challenges (so watch for my guest designer post there later this month).  
• My layout "Delicate" won at From Scrappers, For Scrappers.  (I'll be guest designing there in October.) 
• Furthermore, I was also the random winner at CSI.  My winning CSI entry, entitled "Magic Moment," is one that I have not yet shared on my blog.  I think it's high time I shared it!  So, without  further ado, here it is.

 

Supplies: background paper, alphabet stickers, word stickers, tab stickers, & round sticker from Lily Bee; distressed green paper from Fab Scraps; grey swirl paper & number stickers from My Mind's Eye; quote paper from Graphic 45; grey woodgrain paper from KaiserCraft; fussy-cut paper (used as flower stencil) from Authentique; burlap from Canvas Corp.;border sticker from Doodlebug Design; leaf stickers from Simple Stories; round frame stickers from Basic Grey; stamp & dark green ink from Hero Arts; brown ink from Tsukineko; all other ink from Clearsnap; white cardstock from Pulp; pen from Zig; vintage twine; upcycled admission wristband.

Here are a few detail shots and notes...
 

~the wristband I used to make the banner~

 

~the banner itself~

 

~my journaling box~

 

I saved a scrap of paper that I had used for fussy cutting on a previous project.  I used it as a stencil with various inks to decorate my journaling spot.

 

What could be more fun than lime green burlap!?!

 

I pulled a couple strings out of a burlap scrap and used these strings to turn a round sticker into a floral embellishment.

I hope you liked my "prehistoric page!"  :)  Thanks for letting me share all my good news with you.  I hope that good luck is in your future!