Happy Birthday- Fusion

Hello, I have one more card to share today! This time, I was inspired by the challenge at Fusion:

How fun is that inspiration photo? I found a popcicle stamp in my stash and decided to work with that. I stamped and heat embossed the popcicles and then painted them with Gelatos. They have a fun shimmer that is hard to see in the photo. I attached them over a patterned paper strip to my card front. I cut the sentiment from patterned paper and attached that. I felt like the card front needed a bit more, so I used my sewing machine and stitched a border around it.

HBD- Bitten by the Bug 2

Hello again! I have another card to share today! For this one, I was inspired by a couple of challenges. First up, I was inspired by the current sketch at Sketch Saturday:

I was also inspired by the Cute Critters challenge at Bitten by the Bug 2.  I made this card for my nephew who just spent the last several months taking the family dog (a golden retriever) to obedience training, so I colored the dog to look like their dog. The dog cut is from the "A Quilted Christmas" cartridge. The cut included a Christmas ornament on the dog's nose that I cut off. I cut banners to go across the background to add some festive interest. For the sentiment, I cut "HBD" to fit in the the bottom row of banners. I finished off the card front with some eyelets. 

Happy Birthday cards- CAS(E) This Sketch

Hello! We have a big family birthday party coming up in about a week, so I made several cards for that using the current sketch from CAS(E) This Sketch:

I started all of these cards by stamping and coloring the cute little animals. I then fussy cut them out. Then I got creative with the backgrounds. For my first card, I used patterned paper matted on cardstock for my background. It is hard to see in the photo, but I did a little smoosh of light blue ink on the background behind where I put the dog to ground him a bit. The sentiment is cut from patterned paper and mounted on cardstock. I felt like I need a little something across the bottom, so I used a border stamp and added the swirly border. To add a little fun to the dog, I used a Versamark pen and heat embossed the nose with black embossing powder.

For my next card, I used the ink smooshing technique and different shade of blue on my background cardstock. Once that was dry, I dry embossed the background with dots because they reminded me of bubbles. For the whale (again, hard to see in the photo), I pressed it into Versamark ink and heat embossed it with clear embossing powder three times to give it a smooth, shiny appearance. I stamped the sentiment with Distress Oxide ink to make it stand out on the dark cardstock strip.

For my final card, I stamped the background with a Turnabout stamp. I then inked the edges to give it a more finished look. For the cat, I covered the lens area of the glasses with Versamark pan and heat embossed it with clear powder. I absolutely LOVE the way the glasses turned out on this guy! I stamped the sentiment on a coordinating piece of cardstock and inked the end of it before attaching it to my card.

Thanks for stopping by and checking out my cards!

Sweet Dreams

Hello and happy weekend! I have a new layout to share today! For this layout, I was inspired by this sketch from Sketches In Thyme:

I was also inspired by the "This or That" challenge at Paper Issues:

I started my layout by smooshing watered down gesso on my cardstock. I then splattered some gold spray ink over my page. I smooshed some of those spots as well for more texture. I had one more photo than the sketch, but I still managed to arrange them in a similar way. Once I had all of my patterned papers and photos arranged and attached, I went to work on the title. I used my Cricut to cut both words. After "sweet" was cut, I heat embossed it with gold powder to match the golds on my page. The word "dreams" was attached with foam adhesive for some dimension. I didn't have anything to say specifically about the photos, so I found a bible verse that talks about sleep and printed that on some vellum. A scattering of buttons and star sequins finished off the layout. From the Paper Issues list, I used stars, blue, button, circle, paperclip (it's the gold heart in the bottom right), sequins, and stripes.

Thanks for stopping by to check out my layout!

Flip Out

Hello! I'm on a roll and completed another layout! This time I was inspired by this sketch from Sketches In Thyme:

I was also inspired by the Stars and Streaks challenge from Paper Issues. I decided to use Distress Stains that coordinated with the colors on the "Wild Child" card. I took them directly to the paper and drew the rays. I had a few more photos than what was shown in the sketch, but I just made a cluster of them along the bottom. I moved the title higher since I had so many photos. Once I had my photos, papers, title and journaling down, I decided the top needed more. I've seen some fun layouts using embellishments of the same color and decided to try that here in my rays. I pulled out my Shimelle #stickerbook and used cordinating stickers.

Thanks for stopping by to see my layout!

Splish Splash

Hello, I have a new layout to share! I was inspired by this sketch from Paper Issues:

I adjusted the sketch to fit these four photos of my son in the tub as a baby. For my title, I cut the words using my Cricut. To bring some blue into my title area, I stamped and heat embossed some "paint streaks." It is hard to see in the photo, but I also used Glossy Accents on the words to give them dimension and shine. Once everything was adhered, I decided that I wanted some splatters on my page, so I ended up peeling up a couple of the photos and added the splatter stamps. I finished off the embellishing with some buttons. 

Thanks for stopping by to check out my layout!

Snow Much Fun

I know, I know, snow in July?! I still had these photos to scrap, and they worked for a couple of challenges, so I went with it! The first challenge is this color palette challenge from The Studio:

I knew I was going to make a two page layout, but thought I would use a sketch for one of the pages. I used this one from Paper Issues:

The colors of the palette went so well with the colors of my kids' coats, I just had to find papers to go with it! I started with black cardstock and created masks with an old paper bag. I used temporary adhesive to attach them to my cardstock and then stamped and heat embossed the snowflakes. Then I took Perfect Pearls mist and sprayed that to give the paper a shimmer. I then spritzed and splatter some white spray ink. I finished off the masking with a dot stamp that I stamped in a very light pink color. I like how it made the appearance of a snow hill or the top of a heart. I then went to work with my photos and scraps in the colors of the palette. I used up so many scraps on this layout! Does anyone else get excited to use up scraps? After everything was adhered, I cut the word "snow" using my Cricut and used rub ons for the rest of my title. I finished off my layout with some stickers, chipboard pieces, a piece of washi tape, and a flair button.

Thanks for stopping by to check out my layout!

Leaps and Bounds

Hello! I have a new layout to share, along with a little glimpse into the process that led to the final product. I started with this PageMaps sketch that is one of the challenges this month at Lasting Memoires:

I typically end up using more photos than a sketch suggests, but this time I used fewer! My photos were different dimensions than the ones in the sketch, but they worked. Because they took almost the full vertical space, I ended up making the vertical patterned paper panel horizontal so that you could see more of it. To fill in the right hand side of the page, I used ink splatters, gromlets and buttons. Even with all of that, my layout still felt unbalanced. I photographed it anyway:

While I was photographing it, I realized I didn't have any journaling on the page, so I brought it back to my table and found a journaling sticker. Once that was in place, wondered if bringing the cluster of embellishments at the top of my layout over to above my journaling would help balance things. I was excited that I was able to pull up the big sticker that was attached with foam adhesive without causing any damage. I moved all the pieces over and I'm so happy I did! I am much happier with my final product!

Brave- Scrap Our Stash

Hello! I have a layout to share today! You may remember a similar layout I created for my other daughter. This is from the same party, just focused on my younger daughter. I used an almost identical design because it worked well for the elements of the layout. I was inspired by a couple of challenge for this layout. First was the Happy 4th challenge from Paper Issues. The second is the "Pick Your Word" challenge at Scrap Our Stash.

I chose the word "Brave" and then tied in my journaling. I was originally going to try to match the blue of my daughter's dress with my papers, but then I found this forest paper in the Shimelle "Never Grow Up" collection and I thought it worked with the story. The other part of the Scrap Our Stash challenge was to use an item that started with each letter of the word you chose. Here are mine:

B- buttons

R- rub ons

A- American Crafts

V- vellum (journaling spot)

E- ephemera (the certificate)

I have a pack of Renaissance embellishments that went well with the imagery on the certificate. I used a piece of damask crepe paper and a crest that I colored with Cracked Pistachio Distress Stain. I also painted some gold Gelato onto the crest and the lions on the certificate. I found a couple of gold arrow rub ons in my stash and placed them on either side of the crest. To finish things off I added some gold sequins around the page.

Celebrate! birthday cards

Hello again! I have a new pair of cards to share. I was also inspired by a pair of challenges. First was the current card sketch at Stick It Down:

Second was the pretty inspiration photo from The Card Concept:

I started my mixed media style card by stamping the background with three painted style flower stamps. I did an ombre effect with four colors of pink inks. I then stamped the leaves in a couple of different greens. I also stamped and heat embossed the sentiment. Then I attached the sentiment with foam tape. I tucked the leaves under the sentiment. To finish off the card, I put some Stickles in the middle of the biggest flowers.

August Calendar Page- Stick It Down Guest Designer!

Hi all! I have exciting news! My layout using the May double page sketch was chosen as a winner at Stick It Down and so this month I am guest designer! I got to use this fabulous sketch:

And here's what I made:

I bought some Echo Park collections during their warehouse sale a couple of months ago and I finally had the chance to dig into this collection. I loved the coral and peach speckled paper and I was happy I was able to use it on this layout. I used a whole sheet of the floral patterned paper on my background. To add interest to my background cardstock, I stamped and heat embossed big flowers. Then I watercolored them with Abandoned Coral Distress Stain and Wild Honey Distress Ink. Once that was dry, I added some splatters of those same colors for added interest. For my large journaling block, I used a journaling card. I wrote captions for the photos on cardstock strips. My title was cut using the Cricut. For my clusters, I cut apart a big flower sticker into smaller pieces that I put in three places around my layout. I added stickers that had some greens and blues in them, attaching them with foam adhesive. Then I found some fun wood veneer pieces for each cluster. I finished things off with silver Nuvo Drops as drops as well as lenses for the glasses and hubcaps on the wheels of the car.

Thanks for stopping by to check out my layout! You can see my work on the Stick It Down blog here.

Yo-da Best- Bitten by the Bug

Hello! I have a new card to share today! It is my son's 10th birthday and he is a big Star Wars fan, so I went with that for my theme. I cut the star trail from black cardstock to add some subtle texture to my background. I sprayed the cut piece with Perfect Pearls mist. for the heart and sentiment, I cut them first from yellow cardstock and then twice from thin cardboard and layered the pieces together for dimension. To give the light sabres color, I used vellum and swiped alcohol ink over the piece before gluing it in place. To add more "stars" to the bathroom, I used a Wink of Stella pen and Stickles. To finish off the front, I used silver Nuvo drops for the details on the handles of the light sabres.

I am entering this card in the Bitten by the Bug 2: In the Stars challenge.

Sleepy Daddy Snuggles- The Studio Challenges

Hello again! I have a new layout to share today! I was inspired by the sketch at The Studio Challenges for this one: 

Since my photos were all vertical, I rotated the sketch 90 degrees. I wanted to add some interest to my background cardstock so I ink blended some stars. Then I added my patterned paper and photos. The title was cut using the Cricut. To embellish the page, I fussy cut some stars from a sheet of patterned paper, used some gem stars and a few star sequins. I have a book a of vellum baby phrases that I pulled the "nap" and "sleep my child" pieces from. 

Thanks for stopping by to check out my layout!

Happy Birthday- CAS(E) This Sketch

Hello! I have a new set of cards to share today! I was inspired by this sketch from CAS(E) This Sketch:

I stamped the backgrounds of these cards using the triangle turnabout stamp by Concord and 9th. Once I had the backgrounds stamped, I stamped the sentiment strips on coordinating cardstock. I attached the sentiments to my card fronts and trimmed the excess. After I attached ti to the front of the cards, I finished the cards off with sequins.

One and Only- Fusion

Hello! I have a new card to share today! For this card, I was inspired by the current challenge at Fusion:

I liked the bright, airy colors in the inspiration photo, so I started with those. I used my Cricut to make the background cut. I used a layer stamp set by Altenew for the roses, where I brought in the yellow from the photo. I stamped and heat embossed the sentiment onto vellum, bringing in the green. When I laid the vellum over the background cut, the sentiment was a little hard to read, so I smudged some white paint across the back of the vellum behind the sentiment to make it stand out more. I finished off the card with some self adhesive pearls and liquid pearls.