July Calendar Page- Stick It Down

Hello! I have my July calendar page ready to share! I was inspired by the current sketch at Stick It Down:

I adjusted my photo sizes and orientations to work with the photos I had. This meant that I didn't have space for my title in the middle of my page so I moved that to the right hand page. Once I had my patterned papers attached to my background, I used a mask and Glitz glitter gel for some stars. After those dried, I attached my photos. I printed my journaling and cut it into strips. I had stuck one of the stips on top of the left hand page when I was working on placement and then decided to move it. It roughed up the paper when I pulled it off, so I added the ribbon across the top of my layout to cover that spot. I finished off the layout with some punched blue stars. I considered adding more, but I felt there was enough going on at this point that I left it as is.

Happy Birthday- Sketch Saturday

Hello again! I have two more new cards to share today! Both of these were based off the same sketch, the current one at Sketch Saturday:

I started by making this masculine version. I pulled coordinating scraps out. For the background, I used a background stamp and white ink to add some interest. I attached the sentiment and patterned piece behind it with foam tape for dimension. For the stars I used a couple of star punches and outlined the stars with a silver pen to make them stand out a bit more and coordinate with the silver heat embossed sentiment. I finished things off with a few silver Nuvo Drops.

Next up is this feminine version. I used scraps for this as well. I ended up flipping the sketch becase my background stamp wasn't wide enough, so I had to stamp it twice and the gap was on the left side of my card. I followed a similar process as the card above, except that I used some premade flowers instead of stars as my accents for this one.

Birthday Card- Stick It Down

Hello! I have a new card to share today! I started with this card sketch from Stick It Down:

I pulled out some scraps and some neglected stamps and went to work. The polka dot paper was the inspiration for my colors. I didn't have a pink ink that was lighter, so I went with this darker color and then matched my card base to it. After stamping the carousel horse, I colored it with a water brush and Gelatos so it has a nice shimmer to it. The flower circle is attached to the card with foam tape for dimension. I decided not to put a sentiment on the front since there was quite a bit going on already. I finished things off with some Stickles in the center of the flowers.

Snow Adorable

Hello, I have a new layout to share! It is a two pager, but I used a single page sketch for the left hand page. I used this sketch from Sketches in Thyme:

I have a winter collection of papers, but it is blue white and reds, which clashes with my daughter's pink coat in these photos, so I had to go searching for some other papers. I found the heart paper with the pink backside first. Then I went to my scraps and pulled some pinks and blues that went with the colors of the kids' coats. It was fun to use up some really old scraps on this one! I added some texture to my cardstock background with some ink splatters and stamping. Once I had everything stuck down, I created my title with some Thickers and my Cricut. I wrote my journaling in the open space under my title. I added some stickers and rub ons to my clusters. And, as I seem to be doing on all of my layouts right now, I finished things off with some little embellishments: white dew drops and sequins. The combination of mist, stamping, dew drops and sequins is perfect for the Lasting Memories "confetti" challenge!

Happy (Beach) Birthday

Hello again! I guess I was feeling the water theme, because I ended up creating two cards with a beachy theme.  I started with the inspiration from Fusion:

I started by watering down some blue distress inks and dragging my paper through it. I dried each layer so the colors would layer instead of blend. After they were dry, I used a stencil and glitz glitter gel to make the sea creatures. I found some patterned paper scraps and used those to embellish the page. I stamped my sentiment and the cards were finished!

Under the Sea

Hello, I have a new layout to share today! I used the current challenge from The Joy of Sets for inspiration:

I decided to use the right column of items for my layout. I knew I had this ombre water paper in my stash and it worked perfectly for this layout! I fussy cut the fish and turtle from a sheet of patterned paper. The starfish strip was the branding strip on the bottom of the sheet of patterned paper so I was happy to put that to use right away too! I had kept one of the wristbands from our trip, so I used that across the bottom. For my title, I used a Paper Issues cut file for the words "Under the" and then cut the word "sea" from this fun font with the fish in it. To make the word "sea" shine (which is hard to see here) I heat embossed it with clear powder. The red of the crab was so vibrant that I needed to bring that to a couple other places on my layout, so I used a couple of pieces of red washi tape in my clusters. I finished things off with some stickers and enamel dots.

Fast and Furious

Hello! I have a new layout to share that I completed over the weekend. I started with this sketch from Paper Issues:

I added in the "Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!" challenge also from Paper Issues, which was to use a movie title or quote. Since my page is about a car show, I thought this movie title worked well. I used the free cowboy cut file for the big wheel in the bottom corner. Even though it is meant to be a wagon wheel, it worked well here. For the banner, I punched the shape from patterned paper and then punched 3 more for each banner from scratch cardstock. I stacked and adhered the banners to give them dimension. I also used my Cricut to cut the title. After I had attached everything, I felt like my embellishment clusters needed a little more. I used silver Nuvo Drops and smudged them with my finger to give a greasy look.

Thanks for stopping by to see my layout!

Happy Anniversary- The Card Concept

I have another card to share today! This card was inspired by the current challenge at The Card Concept:

So, I thought the color of my cardstock matched the background of the inspiration photo than it actually does. 🤷 I loved the texture of the tiles, so I dry embossed the cardstock and then brought out the texture by lightly brushing some gesso over the top to bring out the texture and give it a more distressed feel. The flowers were stamped and heat embossed with clear ink. I then fussy cut them and inked them with coordinating colors in the centers. After attaching the flowers, I stamped the sentiment on a scrap of cardstock and attached that. To add a little sparkle to the card, I finished things off with some sequins. 

Happy Birthday- CAS(E) This Sketch

Hello, happy weekend! I have a new card to share today. I will be sharing more cards in the weeks to come as this is the time of year when we have lots of birthdays and anniversaries in our family. I used this sketch from CAS(E) this Sketch for inspiration:

I stamped and colored the background on this card last summer and finally deciced to use it. With that done already, this card came together quite quickly. I cut the vellum and cut and stamped the sentiment piece. I originally wasn't going to stamp on the vellum, but decided it needed a little something, so I stamped the scroll with Worn Lipstick Distress Oxide ink and then heat embossed it with sparkle embossing powder. I attached the sentiment piece with some foam behind it for some dimension. I finished off the card with dots of Stickles in the center of the flowers.

Sweet Beginnings

Hi all! My kids finished up school yesterday, so hopefully I'll be able to get to my crafting desk a little more easily now! I have a layout to share that I created over the last few days. I was ispired by a few challenges. First up was the "Mood Board" Challenge at Paper Issues:

I loved the blues and ombre in this inspiration image, so I worked with those on my layout. The other challenge I did was the Bingo Challenge at Lasting Memories: 

I used the center column: chipboard (the hearts), circle, free space, 5 or more patterned papers (the 5th was used for the word "beginnings'), and die cuts. I started my layout by backing my photos with blocks of patterned paper. I had the big open space down the left side, so I decided to add some inking for interest. First I put down a layer of gesso to try to prevent my cardstock from warping and to soften the colors. I then took my blue distress inks and brushed them on with a wet paintbrush. I ended up going further than where the gesso was, but I like the added depth and interest it gives the colors. I decided to then add some ink splatters. After all of that was dray, I adhereed my patterned papers and photos. For my title, I cut the word "sweet" from cardstock three times and stacked them to add some dimension. I found a journaling sticker that was a coordinating blue color and added that- this sticker had a picture on the top of it that didn't go with my layout, so I just used the sticker upside down and tucked the picture part under my patterned paper. The title needed a little something more, so I pulled out my sewing machine and stitched a couple of circles around it. I embellished the page with die cuts, chipboard, enamel shapes, washi tape, brads, and some Nuvo drops.