March Calendar Page- Stick It Down

Hello! I'm back today with my March calendar layout. I started with the current two page sketch from Stick It Down:

I stuck pretty close to the sketch. I divided a few of the photo spots to get a few more photos on the layout. I thought the design would work well with 6x6 papers, so I pulled out a 6x6 paper pad and used a few sheets. I cut the sheets in half on the diagonal so more of the paper would show above and below the photos. To add some interest to my background cardstock, I used a mask and some Heidi Swapp Color Shine sprays. Instead of a long title, I used a die cut banner the I colored with Abandoned Coral Distress Stain to match my title paper. I then found buttons, stickers, chipboard, die cuts and flair to decorate the banner. I added a few embellishments to the lower corners. I finished off the layout with some light green Nuvo Drops.

 Thanks for stopping by!

Play, Explore, Learn

Hello! I have a new layout to share today! I was inspired by product for this one. The colors of my layout started with the colors of the striped patterned paper I used down the right side of my layout. I pulled other coordinating papers to use on the layout. I use variations of this layout of photos frequently when I am working with four or five photos. This time I decided to place the larger photo near the bottom to give me a large space for my title. I found the three words in Cricut Design Space. The first two are from cartridges I own, the last is from a Paper Issues free cut file. 

I decided my title area needed a little interest so I used a mask and some Distress Inks to make the burst. I then took some spray inks and added some splatters as well.  I embellished my page with some buttons and an epoxy flair from Scrappin Happy Studio (I just ordered a whole bunch and I am excited to use more on my layouts soon!)

 

Valentine

Welcome back! Today I'm sharing the Valentine I made for my husband. I was inspired by the challenge at The Card Concept a few weeks ago:

I loved the pretty cupcakes and wanted to include a cupcake image on my card. I did a little searching in Cricut Design Studio and couldn't find quite what I was looking for, but I found this cute cupcake stamp in my stash. I did find this "love you more" phrase from Cut 2 You and decided to use that for my sentiment. I just got some foil cardstock and cut it from the silver paper. For the background I pulled out some really old whitewash Core dinations cardstock and embossed it. I sanded the embossed areas to make the design pop. I also ripped the bottom portion off (and then used it on the inside of my card for embellishment). I stamped the swirls on black cardstock and heat embossed them with silver embossing powder. I did the same for the cupcake. I finished off the card with light pink Nuvo Drops. 

 

Valentines- One Stamp, Four Ways

Hi all! It has been a bit. I am sharing the Valentines I made for my kids today. One of my kids bought this stamp for me for Christmas this past year and I was finally able to make use of it! I used this stamp from Simon Says Stamp. I started out by stamping the image on several card fronts. I heat embossed two, one on watercolor paper and one on glossy alcohol ink cardstock. I then went to work coloring them.

The first few I colored using a water brush and Gelatos. For this card I just used red for the heart and blue and silver for the outside to make the leaves stand out. (Forgive the brown smudges, this is my youngest's card and he touched it after having some chocolate. 😉)

The cool thing about this stamp is that the center heart pops out and can be stamped separately.  I did this for two cards like this that I gave to my daughters. I used Gelatos for the outside leaves on this card. For the heart, I pressed Distress Inks onto an acrylic block and used a water brush to color in the heat embossed outlines. 

This is the image that I heat embossed on Glossy Cardstock. I painted this one with Alcohol Inks. As you can see, there are places where the color leaked out of the heat embossed outlines. There were some significant spots around the center heart so I decided to cover those with black, but didn't want to do the whole card like that, so I left the spots on the outside. It adds to the artsy, handmade quality, right? 😜

I used Distress Inks and a water brush for this card as well. I think I like how this one turned out the best. 

 I stamped the same sentiment for all of the cards. Some of the strips I left white and a couple I blended with ink.

Thanks for stopping by to check out my cards!

Always Together

Hello all! It's been a bit since I posted! I have made a few layouts and several cards (which I will be sharing soon). Today I wanted to share a layout I made for the current Challenge YOUrself challenge:

I was also inspired by the current 123 Challenge:

I modified the sketch a bit and created a pocket using striped acetate. I put the Valentines my husband I I gave each other in 2013 in the pocket. The acetate allowed the cards to become more of a design element on my page. I wasn't able to find a photo of just the two of us from around that time, so I ended up cropping this photo from my son's Baptism down to just the two of us. I used and older stamp to create the swirls around my page. For the title, I used my Cricut. To embellish my page, I fussy cut some flowers and used a flair badge, enamel hearts and some Liquid Mercury Nuvo Drops.

 Thanks for stopping by to check out my layout!

Kids' Zone- Sketches In Thyme

Hello, I'm back with another layout using another Sketches In Thyme sketch:

I made a two page layout, so I used the sketch for the left hand page. I played around with mists to start this layout. First I did the plastic smooshing technique. I sprayed some mist onto a piece of plastic and then sprayed some water on that and then pressed it onto my paper. I used a circle cutter to make the large circle on the left hand page and kept my smooshing inside that. I then used a lined circle mask and misted pink Color Shine over that. I forgot to cover the edges outside my circle cutter, so I ended up with overspray outside my circle- oops! Finally, I added some ink splatters to my background. Once that dried, I went to work with patterned papers. I tore some strips to run across both pages- I haven't torn paper in so long! Then I cut some circles from the butterfly paper. I embellished my layout with stickers, buttons, gems and sequins. 

 Thanks for stopping by to check out my layout!

Get Moving- Sketches In Thyme

Hello, I have a new layout to share today! When this sketch was revealed at Sketches In Thyme last Friday, I knew I had to use it:

I pulled out these photos of my son at open gym several years ago and went to work. Since there are lots of primary colors in the photos, I looked for papers in the same color scheme. This is a great design for scraps since I just needed a couple of small squares and some strips. I roughed up the bottom edges of my strips for some texture. For my title, I used the "Boys Will Be Boys" Cricut font. Quick tip to get the spacing right for those small pieces of the letters: use the negative cut and glue the small pieces down through the openings that they were cut from. I also cut the letters from chipboard to give them dimension. I found coordinating arrows and cut those out for either side of my title. I then went to work finding embellishments. I used a couple of stickers, a die cut, wood veneers, and some enamel dots to finish off the layout.

 I did some hand journaling directly on one of the paper strips across the bottom so I am entering this in The Studio's handwritten journaling challenge.