March Cards

I had a few cards to make this month. First up was two confirmation cards for my daughter and my nephew. I started with some scraps of watercolor paper. I painted waves on them in red, orange and yellow with shimmer watercolors. I then added some splatters of red before it was dry. Once it was dry, I stamped some texture onto the background in a yellow shade of Distress Oxide ink. I finished it off with some splatters of gold ink. for the card base, I stamped a script background stamp with gold ink. Once that was dry, I stamped and heat embossed the sentiment with embossing powder. I cut the dove and cross combo using my Cricut from cream shimmer cardstock. 

Next up is a birthday card. I started with a watercolor patterned paper in blue and green. I layered blue distress ink through a mask over the top. I cut the wheat branches using my Cricut and added some inking for depth. I stamped, heat embossed and fussy cut the banner. I added some gold splatters to the background for some interest and a double bow of embroidery floss to the wheat bundle.

 

Vive Le Swing- Dance Layout

Hi all! I have my last dance page (for a bit) to share! For this page, I started with this sketch from Sketches in Thyme:

I changed the layout of the photos a bit and placed them over the top of the papers. I also moved the title to an area that had more space. The larger pieces of paper on either side are watercolor papers with resist on them. I started by using some Distress Inks on them. The color wasn't vibrant enough, so I then sprayed them with red spray ink. I let that dry and then went to wipe the excess off the resist areas. That resulted in very vibrant red all over everything. I was bummed at first, but the vibrant red goes much better with with photos, so it worked out. For the title, I cut it with the Cricut from gold foil cardstock once and kraft cardstock two more times and stacked them up for dimension. I used a couple of premade embellishments and some gold gems to finish off the page.

 Now we just wait until she gets her dance photos from this year- then it will be crunch time before graduation!

Cross the Line- Dance Layout

Hello! I have another layout to share today! I only have one left to make before I am caught up on these, at least until she take photos for this year!

One of the challenges this month at Lasting Memories is to make a wreath on your layout using punched or die cut circles. This dance made me think of pom style dance, even though they didn't use poms, so I punched a bunch of scalloped circles to create the wreath of "poms" around my page. I then stamped the starbursts around that. I cut the title with my Cricut and wrote the journaling on a small journaling spot. I finished off the page with some clear iridescent sequins.

 

A New Layout and Cards

Hello, I have a few new project sto share today. First up is another dance layout for my daughter's album. I had been thinking about how to create this layout for a while. I wanted to try something with inkpads to make a modern, geometric background. I started by pressing a black inkpad onto the background paper. Then I took a pink inkpad and drug it across in different directions (This would be even more effective with an inkpad that has a little more ink in it, mine was a little dry.) I then matted the photos with black and pink cardstock. I then cut the title with my Cricut. I wanted to add some more silver to my layout (the shadow around the title it silver). I have some silver foil sheets and I tried running a strip of adhesive on some scrap paper and rubbing the foil over it and I loved the effect. So I added some strips of silver around the page. I love how the adhesive runner gives a ragged end to the strip. I then finished off the layout with a journaling tag and a die cut.

Next up, I made some thank you cards for some choreographers that helped with an outreach program our studio does. First up is a card for the director of the program who had a baby last month, so this card is a thank you/welcome baby card. This was a quick and easy card to make. I cut some patterned papers and an embellishment card. The card was the same color as the background I wanted to place it on, so I matted it in a coordinating color of cardstock. I added some gold Liquid Pearl to the crown and bowtie on the lions, the crown on the alligator and some dots around the animal patterned paper. I finished off this card with a fiber ribbon across the seam between the patterned papers.
 

For my next card, I used the "Marbled" Turnabout stamp on cream shimmer paper. This card is 5x7 and the stamp is 6x6, so I trimmed down the stamped panel to 4 3/4" wide and then cut it about 2/3 of the way down to create a gap which I filled with a plain strip of cardstock. I then stamped the dancer with Versamark cardstock and heat embossed it with navy embossing powder. I cut the sentiment and shaddow with my Cricut.  I adhered those together and to my card. I decided I wanted to add some of the turquoise glitter paper to the card, so I cut a couple of thin strips and added them to the card front.

I used a set of masks and blended directly on my card front for the next card. I had taped off the edges to creat the border. There was a gap between the mask and the tape on the bottom so I had ended up with a thin dark blue line across the bottom of the inking, so I used a pen and drew the blue border all the way around the design. I finished off this card with a cut dancer and sentiment.

For my final card, I used the Triangles Turnabout stamp. This is another stamp that creates a 6x6 panel, so I again trimmed down the sides. I then trimmed down the pieces I had trimmed off and added them on either end of the large panel. I then cut the dancer and sentiment using my Cricut.

Hey There, Pumpkin- Stick It Down

Hello! I have a new layout to share! I started with the single page sketch from Stick It Down:

I had four photos instead of three, so I just added it to the inside column. Instead of the triangle bursts, I used my Cricut to cut some large leaves from patterned paper. I used the same patterned papes to add photo mats. I used my Cricut again for the title. I used a journaling stamp to make the lines for my journaling. To embellish the page, I used some old chipboard buttons and some new puffy stickers. I finished the whole thing off with some gold ink splatter.

 

Beach Medley- Dance Layout

Hi all! I have a new dance layout to share. This one started with the current sketch from Rochelle Spears:

This sketch went on a bit of the journey. I started by extending the photos in both directions, then I rotated the paper strips because I wanted the illusion of waves, finally, I shifted the embellishments a bit to fit with the other changes I made. I chose blue and pink patterned papers for my background and found a few that had waves or looked like waves. I cut the title with my Cricut and adhered "Beach" with foam adhesive. For the tag and journaling spot, I stamped and heat embossed with white powder. To prevent smudging, I used a ultra fine tipped Sharpie for my journaling. The rest of the embellishments included washi tape, stickers, puffy stickers and some gold ink splatters.

I also did the Scrap With Stacy Tic Tac Toe challenge:

I used the top left to lower right diagonal- ink splatter, tag, and stamping.

 

A Couple New Layouts

Hello! I have a couple of new layouts to share! First up is one for my second youngest's book. He was such a busy baby and toddler- as you can see from the photos! I've had this star patterned paper for quite a while, waiting for the right photos. When I figured out I could surround the star with these photos, I went to work! . I didn't have to add a whole lot to this page since the background paper has quite a bit going on. I added some cut apart phrases and stickers. I cut my title with my Cricut. I wanted to add some more navy to the layout, so I pulled out some phrase stamps and stamped them in a few spots around my page. To finish things off, I added a few puffy stickers and some light green ink splatters. The background paper was the starting point for this layout, but I was also inspired by this color scheme from Paper Issues:

 Next is another layout for my daughter's dance album- I only have a few pages left to be caught up! I started with this sketch from Paper Issues:

I wanted a big sun in the place of the heart, so I created it. I started by making a large circle mask and ink blending it. I then took a water brush and a couple of the ink colors and made the rays. I finally added some splatters with some shimmer watercolors. I cut the title with my Cricut and used the black and gray papers for my photo mats. For the clusters, I dug into my stash and used some rub ons, felt pieces and journaling spots. I punched a couple of tags for an added layer.