Wild One

Hello, I'm sharing another layout from the Creative Memories virtual crop today! I started with this sketch:

I used some photos from my son at the zoo. I started by selecting my papers and then cut the zebra border with my Cricut. I had cut another border for the bottom, but it didn't cut well, so I used the leopard print ricrac instead. I cut and adhered the title. Then I went to work embellishing. I pulled out a couple of printed chipboard pieces that worked. I then searched Design Space for some animals to cut and add to my layout. I finished things off with some homemade green enamel dots. 

 I am also entering this in the Lasting Memories band design challenge.

March Calendar Page

Hello! I'm here today with my March calendar page. I used this sketch from the Creative Memories virtual crop:

I started by cutting the large patterned paper down to size for the background. I matted the photos on the outside with a coordinating color of cardstock. For the borders, I punched a bunch of flowers with two punches. I ran a line of adhesive down the edge of the patterned paper and stuck the flowers on it, alternating the colors. I used journaling strips and stamped lines to add the captions and journaling. I embellished the page with some washi tape, epoxy and canvas flair, and ink splatters. To finish things off, I added blue liquid pearls to the centers of the flowers in my borders.

 

Two More Dance Layouts

Hello! I've been creating again but not posting, so I need to catch up! Today I'm sharing a couple of dance layouts.

For the first, I was inspired by this sketch from Paper Issues' January daily sketches:

I started by using a 6x6 background stamp and stamping it 4 times on my background. I did my best to line it up to make the seams unnoticeable. It helps that my photos are big and cover most of it up. I splattered some silver and red ink in the corners. I then matted the group photo on glitter cardstock and adhered all my photos to the page. I cut the title and bow tie using my Cricut. I didn't do much for embellishments since the background is pretty busy. I added a journaling sticker and cut the "2" off of a 2007 sticker to add the little "007" detail under the bow tie.

 Two weeks ago I discovered there is a Creative Memories group on Facebook that hosts a virtual crop each month. They post 4 sketches and you get to create with them! I started with this sketch: 

I moved things around a bit on this one. I flipped the circle placement so the largest piece would be visible. My photos are larger. Instead of a full border across the top, I used my sewing machine to create flying trails for my bees. For the embellishment clusters, I stamped flowers with coordinating ink and then layered flowers that I cut with my Cricut over them. I used gems and buttons for my flower centers. The title was cut with the Cricut and I finished everything off with some puffy bee stickers.

Valentines With Non Traditional colors

Hello! I'm sharing my last two Valentines today. While these cards include some pinks and reds, they also have some less traditional colors. 

First up is this card. I had picked up a set of green Distress Oxide sprays a few weeks ago and wanted to use them. I started by taking two of the colors ( Peeled Paint and Mowed Lawn and sprayed them over a panel of watercolor paper. Once that was dry, I stamped the leave heart over the background with just water. I did this by misting the stamp with a spray bottle and then pressing the stamp onto the background. I ended up doing this a few times because it didn't show up as much as I had hoped. I then stamped with Versamark (those are the darker ones). Finally, I stamped with a script background stamp with white ink and some water. I also stamped the heart on watercolor paper with Versamark and heat embossed it with white embossing powder. I used some inks and a water brush to color them in. I fussy cut the flower and attached it with foam adhesive. To finish off the card, I cut and adhered the "i" and the "u".

 For my last card, I found this cute Cricut cut and decided to use it. For the background, I used a piece of blue cardstock. I tore an edge off a scrap piece of paper and then blended ink over the edge to create the ground. I then assembled the truck.

Valentines With Black Backgrounds

Hello! I'm back with a couple more Valentines to share (I make them for my husband and each of my kids, so I make a bunch). Today's cards started with black cardstock for the background. First up, I stamped this circle stamp with white pigment ink and then heat embossed with white embossing powder. I forgot to run an anti static tool over the cardstock before I stamped, so I ended up with quite a bit of stray embossing powder. I was able to brush some off, in the open areas, but was left with some. I then cut some hearts from a couple of different papers using my Cricut. I placed the hearts in circles, using foam adhesive for the glitter ones. I used my Cricut and a pen to create the sentiment strip.

For my second card, I used a mask and blended white pigment ink and Lumberjack Plaid Distress Oxide ink over the mask. I cut the heart and sentiment with my Cricut. I ran the heart through an embossing folder for some added dimension and interest. I finished off this card with some red Nuvo drops.

 

Two Cards With Similar Design

Hello again! I have more cards to share today. I used similar colors to the ones I shared yesterday. This time I used the triangle Turnabout stamp (it appears this one is no longer available). I stamped both of these at the same time, just alternating between the two pieces of paper with each ink color. I then cut stamped the little animals with balloons. I colored each one with watercolor pencils and blended the color with a water brush. I used cardstock for the first card and watercolor paper for the second. You can see the color blended better on the watercolor paper.

For the first card, I then cut some hearts using the Circut to go behind the balloon. I stamped the sentiment on the balloon and then adhered it over the top of the other hearts. 

I finished off both cards with a sprinkling of sequins.

 

Valentines- Sketch Saturday

Hi all! I've been busy making cards the last few days! First up is a pair of Valentines for my daughters, inspired by the current sketch at Sketch Saturday:

I started by inking the background with a new set of masks. This is such a fun set! I cut the strips of vellum and added them to my card. I then cut the "Love" sentiement from glitter cardstock using my Cricut. I also cut the little hearts with the Cricut. To transfer the "Love" sentiment from the mat to the card and keep the spacing, I used press and seal to lift it off the mat, put glut on the back of the pieces and then glued it onto the card front. To complete the sentiment, I stamped the word "you" on a strip of white cardstock and layered that over the heart.

 

Another Dance Layout

Hi all! I got another dance layout done for my oldest daughter's album. For this one I started with the current single page sketch from Stick It Down:

I stuck to the main idea of the banners coming out of the center, but didn't cut my photos into a circle. For the banners, I went through my stash and found blue and cream paper scraps and cut them into the banner shape. I drew a large circle on my background with a pencil to help line up the banners. To adhere them to the page, I started with the vertical and horizontal banners and then did the ones that fell between so I could get even spacing. I then adhered my photos. I cut the title with my Cricut. When I went to stick it on my layout, I realized the color of cardstock matched the dark blue on the floral banner behind it. To make the letters stand out more, I went in with a white gel pen to outline the letters and color in some of the blue on the patterned paper. I embellished the page with some punched flowers and clear gems.

 

More Dance Pages

I have a couple more layouts to share today that I made over the weekend. For my first layout, I used one of the sketches from Paper Issues:

I decided to use some ink pads to create stripes on my paper for this layout. I drug them each across a sheet of smooth mixed media paper. I set that aside to dry and went to work cutting the title. I cut it three times using my Cricut, twice from plain black cardstock and once from black shimmer cardstock. I layered up the cut and put the shimmer cardstock on top. I then went to work embellishing. I pulled out some rub ons that had colors that went with my inks. I cut a frame rub on in half to create the corners. I then layers buttons, brads and gems over them. To finish off the layout, I splattered some black ink for some interest next to my photos.

I saw this sketch yesterday shortly after it was posted by Sketches In Thyme and immediately went to work.

I knew this sketch would work perfectly for this headshot of my daughter. I pulled out the collection that I used for my Feburary calendar page and cut the strips and triangles. I used my Cricut to outline and cut the title. I got all of that adhered down and embellished the page with some paper flowers and sequins.

 

February Calendar Page

Hello! I have my February calendar page to share today! I started with this two page sketch from Stick It Down:

This is a great sketch for scraps. I found a collection that is getting low to create my layout and went to work cutting strips 1-2' wide and then cut the banner ends. I then worked on layering the strips over the background. I had lots of strips that weren't wide enough, so I hid that by cutting them somewhere in the middle and hiding the gap under my photos. This is a little more work, but it stretches my supplies. I matted my photos on yellow and cream cardstock and added them as I went so I could make sure I was covering the gaps in my papers. Once the strips and photos were all adhered, I cut my title with the Cricut and created journaling strips. I embellished the page with stickers from teh collection. I finished things off with some pink ink splatters.

 

Card Recap

Hello! I'm here today to share the last few cards I've created. I've been sneaking in some creative time, but not taking the time to share things here, so I'm going to catch up over the next few days.

First up is a birthday card. During January, Paper Issues released a new sketch each day on Facebook in their group. They were layout sketches, but I ended up using this one for a card:

I've had a sheet of patterned paper with these cute robots for a long time and I finally decided to use it for this card. I fussy cut the robots. I dug through my stash to find patterned papers with colors that went with my robots. I cut those up for my background and inked the edges with dark red ink since that was the color around the edges of my robots. I stamped the sentiment on the blocks below the robots and then I added the robots to my card front with foam adhesive. I added some homemade enamel dots (made from Perler beads) and some leftover diamond art gems to embellish my card.

Next up is a card I made for a couple of people receiving first sacraments at our church (I made two like this). I started by using sheer Yupo paper and squirted red, yellow, and orange alcohol inks on my paper, along with some gold and white mixatives. I used a felt piece on a blending tool and twisted the tool on the ink, making swirls. Once I was happy with how it looked, I set it aside to let it completely dry. I then used my Cricut to cut the dove. I didn't have two colors of the shimmery cream cardstock, so I blended a light tan ink over the back wing to add some dimension. I colored in the eye and the beak with a couple of pens. For the card base, I used a script background stamp and used the same light tan color to stamp in on my card. I layered the inked Yupo over the top and stamped the sentiment with Archival ink. I then added the dove.

Last, I have a Baptism card that I made for my nephew. His Baptism was on the Feast of the Baptism of Our Lord, so I decded to use this Cricut cut of John the Baptist baptizing Jesus. For the background, I used an embossing folder and pressed an ombre inkpad over the raised part and ran it through the machine, I had to do it twice, with a spritz of water. The water made the ink bleed a bit, but it added some interest. For the sentiment, I stamped with VersaMark on some vellum and heat embossed it with gold powder. I wrapped the strip around the card front and adhered it to the back. I used a colored pencil and some chalk to add some details to the robes on the cut out, and a blue glitter pen for the water ripples.