Making Gifts for Life

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Amigurumi Owl

Amigurumi Owl -
This little guy was made as a Christmas gift for my hubby's uncle. He is obsessed with owls, and needless to say, I thought this would make the perfect gift.
He was fairly easy to crochet, the pattern was from a book, so I can not give it out, it is not my own. If you want the name of the book feel free to comment and I will email it to you.
I just wanted to share because he is adorable.
I will post more amigurumi that I have made later, right now I am making a little piggie for my son, who is 16. (He loves pigs.)

Sunday, December 25, 2011

Christmas Tree Excursion - All is Merry and Bright

All is Merry and Bright -
We have always had a fake Christmas tree and this year we decided to get a real one. We went with my bff and her family to a farm and we picked a good one. It is a beautiful Frasier Fur.

I made this nice layout when we got home, although with all the stuff going on this month, I haven't had time to post.

I used papers from My Mind's Eye. And I have a bunch of snowflakes embellies that I have been meaning to use.The title is a punch out, that came with the papers, and I just pop dotted. Behind the "no peaking" circle, is a metal snowflake, and some Prima flowers layered on top of each other. In between each paper I added white cardstock to separate the patterns, so that it was more visually appealing.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday. Enjoy your families and make many memories. Love to all.

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Thanksgiving Layout

Thanksgiving Layout -
I didn't have a scalloped edge paper that matched this layout, so I traced one and cut it out. Then I cut an 8 inch square out of the center, inked the inside and outside edges. Cut two pieces of paper into 7.5 inch squares, cut the striped one with a decorative paper trimmer.
The photo mat is 4.5 x 6.5, and cut from dark green cardstock. I used the Making Memories Slice Machine to cut the banner out, and I added the letters using rub ons. Used twine tied into knots for the ends and added black dots in between each flag on the banner.
The flowers are Prima, layered 5 flowers in different sizes, then I added a decorative brad. The leaves are off some silk flowers I bought.
The heart is from the same cardstock that the banner and the paper behind the striped paper are from. I cut a 3 1/2 inch heart, then used the paper crimper to crimp it horizontally. I added some lace on the bottom of the photo mat and a ribbon to the heart to complete the page.

Monday, December 5, 2011

The holidays and gift making

Now is the time to enjoy the holidays, the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas can be quite busy and filled with tons to do. But we all need to slow down and take a breath. Really look at what your kids are experiencing and what they find joy in. When we started decorating this weekend, I thought the kids were too old to make a gingerbread house, want to make cookies with mom or decorate the tree as a family. But they surprised me with wanting to do all that. My son didn't get to do as much as he wanted, he had prior commitments but it turned out to be a whole lot of fun, and we even got a real Christmas tree for the first time this year. We went to Stokoe Farms and walked the tree field until we found the perfect tree, a Frasier Fur. The tree is lean and tall so we could fit it in a small spot this year. I also was able to get enough left over branches to make some crafts with, I haven't done so yet but planning on doing that today.

I have however made a really cool craft, that could be an anytime of year craft but really works well with the Christmas season. I made these wonderful candy wreaths. I saw the idea on a Martha Stewart video and had to try it, surprisingly enough, they are very easy and take little to no creativeness. You start with a wire wreath form, you only need it to be one piece of wire, there are some that have two - four different size circles all attached together. You just need the really cheap ones, they should be about 20 cents or so. 8 inch is a good size, you will need 2lbs of cellophane wrapped candy and some embroidery thread. I use a color that matches whatever candy I decide on. The strawberry candies with the green and red wrappers and the peppermint candies with the clear cellophane, make gorgeous wreaths.

I also am making one with mary jane candies on it, they aren't in cellophane wrappers, so it's a little more difficult, because these wrappers are wax paper and they rip very easily. But my mom loves mary jane's and I thought it would be a cool gift for her. I hope she loves it.


Monday, November 21, 2011

A little later then anticipated.... Halloween Layout

Halloween 2011 -
If you are anything like me, you try to be prepared, or ready for the season, but fall short sometimes. I know it's way past Halloween, but here is the layout I was gonna post. Sometimes the time I have does not allow for me to do what I want, especially when my kids are involved. What I mean is, when they come home from school, all bets are off, time flies, and I can't get it back.

For this layout, mostly I used the Slice machine. I made the chandelier, fence frame and awesome scroll with it. The "Trick or Treat" sticker is an epoxy sticker from that sheet I used for the Haunted House books, by Creative Imaginations. I absolutely love them. The flower is Spare Parts and the papers, are what is left over from that My Mind's Eye "The Spider's Web".

I like how the layout turned out, except, I really would have liked to do black and white photos, these photos are very bright and colorful, taking away from the pretty layout. But in order to see the greatness of my daughter's costume, I couldn't do that. In black and white, the full effect would have been lost. And my son's scariness, as a scarecrow, would have not prevailed.

Anyway, a day late, a dollar short, here is my Halloween layout. If interested check back way after Thanksgiving, for that layout. HA!

Monday, November 7, 2011

What are you thankful for?

Happy November everyone. We fell back in time yesterday and now I feel like I am all messed up. I know I didn't get that Halloween layout up here. I wanted too, but I haven't finished it yet. Things around here got really busy and haven't stopped.

But some good news, I finally got a photo printer again, one that will print large format also. I am so happy. It's been like a year now, that I have gone without. I have so many layouts that are waiting for photos. I just hate spending money on stuff like that when I had one that worked perfectly, then one day just stopped printing. It ran like it was printing, used ink like it was printing, but the pages were always blank. Anyway! Enough of that.

So, hopefully I will be more motivated to scrapbook.

Thanksgiving is coming soon. So I thought it would be nice to post a comment about what you are thankful for. Please post away!!

What am I thankful for? I am thankful for my family and friends. Without them, it wouldn't matter what I do, who I am, or how much I accomplish, they are truly the most wonderful thing about my life.

Have a very blessed day.

Monday, October 31, 2011

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween everyone. I just wanted to wish everyone a safe and happy holiday, to those that celebrate. Don't eat too much candy!!!!

I will hopefully be posting a Halloween layout later today. I still have lots to do and I am not very motivated.


BOO!!!!

:)

Friday, October 21, 2011

Concert

Concert -
This is a pretty layout of my daughter. My MIL bought me some papers with the decorative edge and I wanted to use one on this layout but none of the papers matched my layout. So I used it face down.

I can't rememer what paper line these papers were from, but I loved them and knew I had to use them on a layout for my daughter.

These picks were from a couple of years ago when she used to play violin.

10

10
This is a simple layout that I made a while ago. I love the yummy papers. And because I didn't want the colors to compete with the photo, I made it black and white.
The stamp shaped frame is by Technique Tuesday. They are tiles. They come in all different sizes.

I just added paper to it, cut around it then sanded it a little for a finished look.

The number 10 is chipboard and I love the shape of them.

The papers are from Cosmo Cricket, a line called Early Bird.

Sunday, October 9, 2011

Halloween Mini Album

The Halloween Min Album I made is just adorable. I love it. I used vintage Halloween papers, it's a line by My Mind's Eye called The Spider's Web.

The front cover is made using the cream grunge paper, I trimmed the peak of the house with black trim from Joann's. The flourish, bat and the cat are all die cuts made using the Slice machine. The flowers throughout the book are Prima, all except one flower. And the fence on the front page is made by K & Company, it's border stickers for Halloween. I also inked all the edges with Tim Holtz's Black Soot Distressed Ink pad.

The first interior page is the SPIDER page. At the top it is trimmed with regular black cardstock strips. Then with the Slice machine I cut 3 spider webs, with 3 outline cuts in the same paper as the background paper. I glued each web to it's outline and then made a border with it. I stamped a spider's web up at the peak of the house, then I added a Jolee's glitter spider. I made four tags with various supplies, a sticker tag, a tag made from those Recollections journaling pad and two tags made from the paper line. I tucked all those in the pocket I made.

This is the second page. First I cut black paper to cover, then cut the orange patterned paper small, so it's framed in black. Stamped spooky swirls in opposing corners, added a Making Memories metal bat to one corner, two Prima flowers to the other, along with two small tags, that I punched with a Martha Stewart punch.
I also added a small binder clip at the top of the page with ribbons tied on it.



This is the third page. The orange paper frames black and white striped paper, that acts as a mat. The two tags come out so you can add more photos or journaling to them. The skinny tag came with the paper line. The fatter tag is from the Recollections journaling cards, at Michael's. I added a epoxy sticker from Creative Imaginations and two Prima flowers.

This is the fourth page. The top is trimmed with one of the K&Company borders. I cut the chandelier and the frame using the Spooky Alley Slice Card. "Our Costumes" is a paper title block that came with the paper line, I applied tape runner to the back of the piece, then added fun fur, and then popped it up on foam. The journaling tag came from the paper pack. I added an epoxy sticker from Creative Imaginations and some ribbon.
   The is the fifth page. The roof is trimmed with zig zag ribbon, as well as the pocket. I made a mat with the paper from the pack. I also made a pocket to house the tags. The moon tag is from the paper pack, the vintage pumpkin tag is from Rusty Pickle and the other tag is one of the Recollections journaling cards. On the pocket itself I stamped the witch and trick or treat. I used stickles on the tirck or treat words and one star in the the witch. Finished off with a Prima flower, in the center of the flower is a Spare Parts brad.
This is the sixth page. I edged the roof with black cardstock that I cut useing a border punch. I made a mat with papers from the paper pack, added black glitter glue to the swirls on the paper. I used a Tim Holtz's bookplate with "spooky" rub on. Finishing with two Prima flowers.

This is the seventh page. I trimmed the roof with one of the glitter bat borders from K&Company. I made a pocket with black patterned paper. I cut the word Spells out with the Slice Machine, using the Spooky Alley card. Then I added liquid glue to the word and flocking. Waited til it dried and then shook off the excess. The charm is a witch's hat, added two Prima flowers and a framed EEK. The tags are the journaling cards from Recollections and then one is a vintage piece from Rusty Pickle.

This is the eighth page. Backed with orange paper from the paper pack, I inked around the edges, stamped a fall leave flourish in the upper left corner. I made a pocket with a border strip that came with the paper pack. On the border strip I used brown and orange glitter glue to color the stripes on the border. The tags are all from the paper pack. And at the top of the page, I have a binder clip with ribbon tied to it. I added a Spare Parts flower with two small tags, cut with the Martha Stewart punch.
This is the ninth page. Backed in black paper with a black and white striped mat. I inked the edge of the mat with white ink, Added a white cardstock flourish that I cut with the Slice Machine, using the Basics 3 card. The two little circle embellishments are from the paper pack. The flower is Prima with a Spare Parts brad. The "Boo!" is from Making Memories.
This is the tenth and final page. I trimmed the roof in black cardstock that I punch with an edge punch. I made a pocket with orange paper and the black bat cardstock border, I cut using an EK Success border punch. I topped the pocket with ribbon, added a Prima flower with a Spare Parts brad and some Making Memories ribbon, also added two small tags punched with the Martha Stewart tag punch. I made various tags, one is a sticker that I backed with paper, inked around the edge and stamped a swirl in the corner. One tag is made with Recollections journaling cards. And the other two tags are paper tags I made from left over paper, from the paper pack. There are also two photo mats on this page. And in the middle of them I used a small circle tag from the paper pack.

The back page is just done in black paper which I left plain.

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Dreams are Whispers on your Soul Layout

A very blue monochromatic layout. For the most part the only colors are this layout are blue. There is a small amount of yellow and cream to give the layout some balance. The two small butterflies were stamped then cut out, I rolled the wings over a paintbrush end and gave them a little dimension. The music paper was stamped and torn. The bird is a die cut made with my Making Memories Slice machine, then I inked the edges with Blue Iris Cat's Eye Queue Chalk Ink by Colorbox. Most of the flowers are Prima or Recollections. The blue flower paper, the dark blue paper, and the light blue paper are Scrapbook Walls paper. The bigger butterfly is Prima.
Please post a comment if you would liek to ask a question about this layout. I am very happy to assist with any and all questions or comments.

October/Autumn Layout

October/Autumn Layout - This layout is very simple and easy to do with little to no products. I wanted to make a page that was cheap, but cute, in these economic times it's hard to buy so many embellishments for just one page. SO I decided to do a budget worthy layout. I think it came out very cute and I will show you how to do it, what costs were and what the total cost for the entire page was. (Besides not purchasing anything to make this layout, I also tried to use things that I have had around in my stash for sometime but haven't used.)
The two background papers are from one stack by SEI. I didn't have the scalloped striped piece so I made one myself, that is one way to stay furgile. I traced another scalloped piece that I liked the shape of and cut it out and inked it. Paper cost for background papers: $.85
Felt Border in brown: $1.00
I used scraps for all the die cuts and the mat. Cost of scrap: $.25
I made all the die cuts with the Slice machine, and since I already own that, cost of die cuts: free.
The chipboard corner, october and autumn sticker were from the Seasons chipboard box by DCWV a long time ago. I have been dying to use them, because they are simple and they matched this layout perfect. I happened to also get the entire set on clearance, cost: $.11
The flowers are made by Kaiser scrapbook, they are made out of paper and come 60 flowers to a package, I used 4 on this layout, 2 small ones and 2 medium (which I layered), cost: $.33.
The pearl stickies are by Hero Arts, they come 36 to a package and cost: $.21.
Total cost of the entire page is: $2.75!!!!!
Can you believe it?

Post any questions or comments about this page below int he comments section.

Thank you for viewing my blog and have a splendid day!

Enjoy The Day Layout

Enjoy The Day Layout -  This layout is very simple. White cardstock is the base. The dark gray paper with pink flowers is cut to 3 x 10.5. The light gray paper is cut to 6 x 8. Then they were distrssed with the Zutter distressing tool and inked with black ink. I found in my stash a metal tile that said "life", a little epoxy sticker that said "live laugh love", a silver heart brad, some clear bubble like dimensional babbles, silk flowers (I added the pearl centers) and a black flourish from Prima. The banner and bird come from the same stamp set as the "enjoy the day" title, they were all made by The Girls Paperie, they are an arcylic set of stamps in the vintage whimsy line.

Please post an comments or question you may have in the comments section below this posting.

Thank you for visiting my blog and have a great day!

Young Layout

Young Layout - Papers are Bo Bunny, it's their new line called: Timepiece Collection.
I cut the cog paper into an 11.5 x 11.5 square, layered onto a 12 x 12 piece of brown antiqued paper. The cream paper is cut into 3.5 x 10.75, and the red paper is 2.75 x 9. The cream script paper is 5 x 5 square. All the pieces were distressed with the Zutter distressing tool, then inked with dark brown ink. The pocket watches are cut from one of the other Bo Bunny patterned paper  from the Timepiece Collection line. The flowers are cut from dark vellum with my Slice machine. The cogs are cut from the same paper as the background. The title is old scrabble tiles.

Please post any comments or questions, that you might have.

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Our Story Layout

Our Story -
For this layout you will need a coupleof items, unless of course you already own them.
All papers are by Bo Bunny
Clock stamp by Bo Bunny
Flowers are Prima
Metal bookplate by Tim Holtz
Brown Pearl Swirls by Prima
Lace trim
Die cutting machine or small scallop scissors

Starting with a 10.5  inch brown circle as the base. You will need 19 half circles, one white and one brown slightly larger then the white. For the white circles, I stamped clock shapes on then, then matted them on the brown circle, but because my die cutting machine didn't cut the scallop I wanted, I hand cut each of them. Then adhred them all the way around the 10.5 brown circle.
I them took the Bo Bunny tree paper and cut it into a 9 inch circle, wet the edges all around and rolled them slightly inward. After the tree circle dried, I turned it over and glue the lace trim to the back, then glued it to the center of the 10.5 brown circle.
Then I took the Bo Bunny matching journaling pade and used two sheets for the paper embellishments, the ones in the back with the scalloped edge and the stitching. When you first get the pad, the edge of the scalloped piece is maroon, but also in the pack is another piece that looks similar, but it has a brown edge, so I just cut the edge off the brown one and added itto this piece, followed by adding stitching with a white gel pen.
The vintage style frame layered on top of the brown scalloped piece is from the same paper as the tree, O i just cut it out and inked the edges with brown ink.
Next are two pieces of paper, cut and torn then inkedand layered.
You can't see much of the gold colored paper, but it's enough to give the layout a little pop. The bookplate is by Tim Holtz's, I just love their vintage look and the add just a different texture to the layout. "Our Story" was also cut out of the tree paper, but it was from the backside/reverse side. The butterflies were trimmed out of the Tree paper alos, using the reverse side. The I added some lines with a embossing tool and then I took the left over brown pearls from the Prima swirl I cut apart and made butterfly bodies, also I curled the wings just a little to give it depth.

This is a side view so you can see the depth. I used pop dots to give the sentiment "our story" some depth.





This is a side view of the gorgeous Prima flowers, I inked the slightly bigger one with lite brown ink, because it was cream with pink on the edges and I wanted it for my layout. It covered well and you can't tell. The small brown flowers I made myself, by taking five of the same size brown flowers by Kaiser scrapbook, and layering them. I will put a tutorial on later to show you how I did it.

I hope you like this page, I think it came out beautiful.
Have a great day and thank you for visiting.

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Love Layout

Love Layout - This is a 12 x 12 page. I took all these papers from the DCWV Mediterranean Stack.
I love the colors. I am very into teal now. Not sure why, when before it wasn't one of my favorite colors, but I can't seem to get enough of it. The white cardstock on the layout is to represent a photo. (My printer is still not working, I think I am giving in and gonna have some printed at Walgreens. I just had to edit a bunch of them first. Talk about an all day job!)
I left the background paper untouched, then I took another 12 x 12 sheet and trimmed it to 11 x 11, distressed it using the Zutter distressing tool and I inked it with olive ink from Colorbox. Then the teal paper I cut into a 9 x 9 square, distressed it and inked it with celadon ink by Colorbox.
Next step, I cut a scalloped square with my Making Memories Slice Machine, and stamped it with Inkadinkadoo clear stamps, and the same olive ink. Next I looked around for other embellies I could use and I found a felt border I just bought at the CKC in Buffalo, NY. Also I found some pearl brads and die cuts shapes from the CKC also. I cut the border in 2 sections, one a tad longer then the other. I made 3 orange flowers with cardstock, because to be honest, I don't have much orange embellies laying around. I made 2 butterflies out of the background cardboard piece in the Prima "say it with pearls" packaging. I took a little FIMO clay, this just happened to be sparkly white, and I kneaded it with my hand til it was soft, then I rolled it around piece of wire I folded in half, with ends long enough to stick out so I could make antenna. I bake them according to the packages directions. I cut the cute butterflies out of scrap paper first with my Slice machine, then I traced them onto the heavier cardboard and cut them with scissors. I used a stylist to draw some lines on the back of the butteflies, added the bodies I made with clay and then you have cute butterflies. All I did to them after that is curl their antenna with round nose pliers.
I made the 3 orange flowers using the same type of technique I posted at an earlier date. The teal flowers are made by Prima and I added pearl centers. I have a few die cut embellies on here, that are actually from a SEI pack I bought at CKC last year.
The teal felt border, I did not take the backing off where the picture will be, that way I can slide the picture in there fairly simple without having to peel off the felt border.

I also sewed all each of the two squares, with my sewing machine. Just a quick straight stitch, no need to be perfect, but I tried to keep it as straight as possible, for this design.
I added two orange epoxy stickers to complete the layout, making a visual triangle. It leads the eye around the page, making for a visually appealing layout.
If you have any questions, or comments pls post them in the comment section below.
Thank you for viewing my blog.

Friday, July 15, 2011

It's Mid-July!!!

For those of you that live in NY, it's just starting to get warm out, but the nights have been strangely cool. I woke up at 230am this morning to 52 degrees. I can't even believe that. It's nuts. I mean it is July right?

Anyway on to the good stuff. I don't have many followers of my blog, not sure why, but I want to change that. I am going to do a give away. Yes, I said it ---- a GIVE AWAY!!!

For all of those who become a follower, post a comment, this Give Away will apply. I am giving away some great papers, embellishments, and more. There are no pics, it will be a total surprise. So if you want to win, become a follower and post a comment about the give away. I will use random.org to pick the winner.

Prizes will include (but aren't limited to): MME, Paper Loft, Bo Bunny, DCWV papers, stickers, brads, trinkets, embellishments, and more...

It's my way of saying thank you for reading my blog, and becoming a follower. Now get to it, read on, become a follower, and post a comment. (Otherwise you can't win the give away.)

More pages will be posted soon.

Have a blessed day!

Saturday, July 2, 2011

Teal Antiqued Page -
I ran each layer through the Zutter distressing tool, and then inked the edges with the chestnut roan ink from Colorbox. I tore a page from a book and antiqued the edges. I made my own leaves, used a embossing tool to add definition then added some veins with a gel pen, I also inked the edges of each leaf with celadon ink from Colorbox. Added some Prima flowers all in white. And my page was complete. No title yet, as there is no picture, printer is still having issues. :(

I hope you like my page. Thank you for visiting my blog.

Friday, May 20, 2011

Scalloped Circle Layout

Scalloped Circle Layout - I loved this paper as soon as I got it. My GF picked it up at the store for me and I just knew I had to use it for a pretty layout. I think it came out very nice. I used new Prima teal pearls, K&Company butterfly, La.di.dah buttons, Kaisercrafts flowers, paper is MME, and Tim Holtz metal embellishments. I used the Zutter distressing tool to distress all the paper on the layout, I didn't distress the circle itself. @copyrighted designed, pls only copy for personal use.


Thursday, May 19, 2011

Joyful Memories Layout

Joyful Memories Layout - The wood patterned paper is by Cosmo Cricket. The teal, birdie and red leaf papers are all DCWV"s Green Stack, which I absolutely love. The bookplate and brown flower are both cut with the Making Memories Slice Machine. The little flowers are Prima.To make the scalloped edge on the birdie paper, I used a 1 1/2" punch and cut eight circles, which I then inked lightly. The "joyful memories" sentiment and "happy" word are by SEI, they are rub-ons. Every paper piece was lightly inked to give it definition from the other elements.
I really like how the die cut flower came out, after I inked the edges.

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Lace Butterfly Layout

Lace Butterfly Layout - All these beautiful papers are from the DCWV Lemon Flower Stack. Two black 1 inch strips, one for the top and one for the bottom, I then punched the top strip with a Martha Stewart lace edge punch. The green paper is punched with the Martha Stewart Garden Lattice Punch. I distressed the top of the green paper with the Zutter distressing machine. The white patterned paper is trimmed with a EK Success wide scalloped punch and inked with cat's eye queue charcoal ink by Colorbox. I used Prima jewel flourishes and Martha Stewart crocheted butterflies. Flowers are Prima.

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Time Layout

Time Layout -  This layout uses 4 pieces of coordinating papers. Two pieces are little to no pattern and the other two pieces are patterned. The floral sprigs I used were green but I colored them with a permanent brown marker to match the color palette. Tim Holtz hinges colored brown with the cat's eye queue chestnut roan ink by Colorbox. And the clock is stamped and cut out. All the papers were distressed with the Zutter distressing machine and inked. Pages from a book (my hubby's) were added in the background. Every corner on all the different layers were rounded with the 1/4" corner rounder by Creative Memories. Add Prima flowers and you have a beautiful finished page.

Happy layout

I love this new paper pack by DCWV, called lemon flower stack. All the papers on this page came from the stack, except for the black cardstock background paper. I really like the results. The flowers are by Prima and Spare Parts. Buttons are also by Spare Parts, and the pearl brads as well. All the papers were distressed with the Zutter distressing tool. I also used the Marhta Stewart lace punch to punch some black cardstock, which i then cut apart in small sections and overlapped. A couple stamped leaves, and some punched silver leaves finish this layout and give you these results.

Monday, May 16, 2011

Owl Layout

Owl Layout - Papers are from My Mind's Eye. The background paper came with the scalloped edge already, I just had to pop the holes out. The brown and green patterned papers are actually just one sheet, that is double sided. I cut four strips of white cardstock and used the Martha Stewart Laurel Leaf Punch, then layered them on top of each other. Using the Making Memories Slice Machine, I cut the owl and added white cardstock behind it for the eyes and I also cut the two scalloped circles. The green plain paper I cut with a template I made, and inked the edges with cat's eye chestnut roan ink by Colorbox. Flowers are Prima flowers.

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Puppy layout

Super easy layout, but it had great results. Firstly you spray the white background paper with glitter mist, antiquing spray or paint. Whatever you have handy. Then set aside to dry. You can then get all the other things together for the layout. Pick apart the items one at a time. You need a piece of notebook paper, a piece of red paper, a blue paper with a light pattern on it, some lace, cream cardstock, a flower, a fabric covered brad, some chipboard sentiments,  stickles, three buttons and a leaf stamp. After you get all the items you need the page goes together really fast. The red paper, blue patterned piece and the small strip of notebook paper are all distressed and then inked with brown ink. As well as the strip punched with the Martha Stewart lace punch.

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Natural layout

I love this layout. My girlfriend and I scraplifted this one off scrapbook.com, but we did change some aspects of the layout. She made some burlap flowers by cutting circles in different sizes and gluing them on top of one another. And I took some springs of white flowers and colored them brown, with a brown permanent marker, they were green to start with. Coloring the sprigs actually was the most time consuming part of the layout. I used the Zutter Distressing machine to distress all the edges of everything.

Monday, May 9, 2011

Spring layout

More of the grid paper, but used as an accent here. The purple butterfly was homemade with some silver wire, a piece of plastic and a flower. I used some small scalloped scissors to cut the wings. For the edge on the grid paper, I used Martha Stewart's double loop punch. I cut the green paper with large scallop scissors, then cut slits in every valley and rolled each strip up, to create a curl.

Black and White Page

Lately you are seeing alot of grid like papers, or ledger papers used as the background paper in layouts. I really like the affect that is provides without over powering the layout too much. All the flowers on this layout are Prima, as well as the jewel flourishes.
BOY page - This page went together fairly fast. I used a punch for the two paper strips but the holes weren't big enough so I then used a whol punch to make them bigger. The blue embellishment was in a winter pack that I had, but I think it worked on here. I used eyelets which I haven't used lately and then laced jute threw them and tied it in a knot at the top. The three tags with the letters that spell out boy are a tag I cut out with the slice machine and then I cut v's in the bottom of them.


Thursday, April 14, 2011

New addition to our family.

This is Dante, he is the new addition to our family. And boy does he fit right in. He is a red nose pure breed pitlbull. He likes long walks and only doggy sandwich cookies for treats (picky).

He is super sweet, hardly barks and loves everyone. He has taken over the house, except the couch and chairs, those are still Piper's (our little lhasa), and she tells him what's up. Dante is slightly scared of her, but he keeps picking on her, cause he is thick headed. :)

We are completely in love with him and he is giving me good exercise! Welcome buddy!

Goodbye 2010

This is a layout I designed that is dedicated to the heartache I went through last year. There are no pictures, because the words I wrote are enough. There isn't a picture that would express how I felt and I needed to put my thoughts into words, and then my words on paper. It's may way of saying goodbye to 2010 and good reddens. I wasn't exactly proud of myself or the way I handled what was was thrown at me, my kids and my girlfriend helped me so much, and if it wasn't for them, I don't know what I would have done. I am just really glad it's over, that we have all moved on and I think have become a stronger family for it.

I used the Immortal Stack by DCWV for the two background pieces. I used the Martha Stewart Garden Trellis punch for the sides of the checkered piece of paper. Then I distressed it a little. The heart was hand drawn onto red cardstock, cut out and distressed, then inked with ColorBox black ink. I stamped a little around the heart, used a large "L" to start of the journaling, and stamped butterflies, cut them out and added stickles to make them stand out. The flowers are Prima, and the brads are by Making Memories. The tears falling from the heart are also hand drawn, then I added stickles to them, and cut them out.

I hope you like the layout, it's very personal to me, I didn't really go by what looked good, just what felt right.

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Doggy Page

Doggy -

This page is for my awesome, lovable dog Piper. She is a 12 year old Lhasa Poo. And she has to be the best dog I have ever owned. She is so sweet and loving. She is still extremely playful at 12 years old. This page uses the exact layout that I used on the other page I posted last week, so if you want to make this page, just follow those instructions. The page looks different when using different papers. That is what is so cool about layouts! You can just change up the paper and you get a totally different page.
Also I turned the mat so it will hold a horizontal picture instead.




And I added some chipboard embellishments along with the flowers.

This page is copyrighted by Tina Smith.

Happiness Page

HappiNess -
I made this page for my daughter. Her name is Vanessa, or Ness for short and she is almost always happy. :) (I, even unlined her name with a decorative sticker.)
Again this page is very simple, but the page is really pretty.

I made the shaped background paper. I took a regular 12 x 12 piece and cut it down to 10 x 10. Then I took a 1 1/2 inch circle punch and punched a semi circle into each corner. The striped paper is 2 x 10.5. The dark brown paper is 6 x 9. The white mat behind the tan page is 4.5 x 6.5, the tan paper is 4.25 x 6.25. The tan patterned paper, and the tan mat are inked with the dark brown cat's eye queue ink bu Colorbox. The striped paper is inked with burgundy ink, from cat's eye queue ink by Colorbox.

The "happiness" title is from the one dollar bin at Michael's. I kept it in plain chipboard, I thought about adding color to it, but it looked good as is, and one u color it, you can't really go back.









The flowers are prima flowers with antique metal flower over the top, with pearl centers.














The three butterflies are a stamped image, cut out and I added Stickles by Ranger Ink on each of them.

This page is copyrighted by Tina Smith.


Beauty Page

Beauty -
This page was not very hard to make. It's very simplistic, but I think the page came out well. I made the postage stamp paper myself with a circle punch. The teal swirls came from my BFF, she just happened to have a felt border that matched the color scheme perfectly. The "beauty" word was in the one dollar bin at Michael's. And because I am super thrifty, the square of green for the picture mat is used from the background paper.








 
I cut the gray paper to 11 x 11, then evenly spaced 11 half circles on each of the four sides to create the postage stamp look. The white patterned paper is 3 x 9. The green mat is 4 x 4. I inked both the white patterned and the gray patterned with charcoal cat's queue ink by Colorbox. There is a strip of the gray paper, 1/2 x 10, behind the teal felt swirl.




I adorned the butterfly and made the butterfly's trail with stickles by Ranger Ink.

This page is copyrighted by Tina Smith.