Stamp Something Scrapbook Challenge

Since I've been in scrappin' mode lately I had to take part in this weeks challenge at the Stamp Something blog. This was kind of a tough one because the layout had to be about yourself. I've done layouts with an occasional photo of myself (along with everyone else) but never a page just about me. I had a hard time even thinking up a title...but once I got going it wasn't too hard. Here are the elements the layout must contain:

• Three Buttons


• Four Brads


• Two different ribbons


• Some sort of lettering for the title


• At least two stamped items


• Make the page about YOU with at least five facts listed on your page!

I think I met all the requirements, but in case you are counting...I admit that I did have to use an extra brad. Hope it was OK to go over.

Here is my favorite element on the page:

I used one of the largest flower from the pretties kit and dyed it with the new Pink Pirouette reinker and my aqua painter. I punched out a circle of Berry Bliss paper and adhered it to a chipboard circle and covered it with Crystal Effects. When these were dry I attached them together with a pink rhinestone brad.

The big L is clear embossed on a piece of Berry Bliss patterned paper, but that doesn't really show up too well here. I had fun making this layout because I never get to do really girly pages since I live in a house full of guys.

Stamps: Baroque Motifs, Outline & Typeset alphabets, Monogram L
Card stock: Pretty in Pink, Pink Pirouette, Close to Cocoa & Berry Bliss DP
Ink: Close to Cocoa, Pink Pirouette & VersaMark
Accessories: Clear EP, Soft Subtle Buttons, Pretties kit, chocolate & pink organdy ribbons, rhinestone brads, various punches

Thanks for another fun challenge!

Simply Magical

When I think of Disney World, the image of the beautiful castle at the Magic Kingdom always pops into my mind first. So, I think this is the perfect opening page for my Disney scrapbook. I just love the bronze statue of Walt Disney holding Mickey's hand so I wanted to emphasize that. I cut the close up photo I took of the statue into a circle and placed it over the spot on the 8x10 photo that the statue actually was. Our tickets are shown at the top right of the photo.

This layout came together pretty easy since there are not too many elements to the page, but the title ended up being a bit tedious and time consuming. I stamped the title onto one of the Soft Sky designer prints papers using Blue Bayou ink and then cut it out. However...after all my cutting, there wasn't enough contrast between the letters and the photo, and they just didn't pop the way I wanted. Luckily my friend was here scrappin' with me and she said I should try sponging the letters with some Blue Bayou ink. That worked like a charm...thanks Rach! After sponging I also added highlights to the letters with my white gel pen. That looked good, but Rachel said they would look even better if I used a glitter pen to add some sparkle. That was another great idea, because now the letters have a nice shimmer to them...just what I needed on my magical themed layout!

Stamps: Outline alphabet & Baroque Motifs
Card stock: Soft Sky textured, Blue Bayou & Soft Sky Prints
Ink: Blue Bayou & Soft Sky
Accessories: Silver edged white organdy ribbon

Thanks for stopping by...have a magical day!

Glowing With Happiness

This layout showcases some photos I took of my Aunt and cousins along with some of my favorite Designer paper SU! has put out so far...Afternoon Tea.

The sketch I used for inspiration used one large photo on the left, but I didn't have a large single photo to use, so I just matted two photos together separated by some ribbon. The title uses the Outline Alphabet set along with the word "happiness" from the new Heard From the Heart stamp set. I used my stamp-a-ma-jig to get the title how I wanted it. I used my Exact-o knife to cut the "l" and the dot from the "i" so that it overlapped onto my photo. This came about after I went to place my matted photos on the page and wished I'd stamped the title a little lower. My little mistake turned into a nice design detail that I otherwise wouldn't have thought of.
Here is the right side of the layout:

The stripes on the paper came in handy for my journaling. I also got to play with my new scalloped border punch. The sketch I used for inspiration was found somewhere...SCS or somebodies blog maybe? I'm sorry, but I do not remember, so I cannot give proper credit. (If you have an idea where this sketch came from...let me know) Here's the sketch:

Stamps: Outline Alpha, Heard From the Heart, & Define Your Life
Card stock: Groovy Guava textured, Wild Wasabi & Afternoon Tea DP
Ink: Chocolate Chip
Accessories: Wild Wasabi & Groovy Guava Double stitched ribbon, Scalloped border punch & various circle punches

Thanks for stopping by...enjoy your day!

Strike a Pose!

I've been doing a lot of scrappin' lately...here's one of the layouts I created as inspiration for a little scrapbooking pj party I had this past week. I took these photos of my husband and 2 sons on Father's Day. I wanted a nice photo, but they turned it into a crazy photo shoot.

The journaling reads: All I asked was for my three guys to POSE for a nice photo out back. I got more than I bargained for! I think maybe they watched the movie ZOOLANDER one too many times! You can tell from these photos that they had a good time HAMMING IT UP for the camera.

The journaling was printed from the computer right onto a piece of patterned paper. To do that all I did was print it once on plain copy paper to check the size. Then I used some temporary adhesive and put my patterned paper in place over the first print out and put it back through the printer. Just be sure you are putting it back in the right way! hehehe (don't ask we how I know this!)

I need some practice photographing layouts, but here's another shot of the left side:
Here's the right:The quote at the bottom reads: “Have you ever wondered if there was more to life, other than being really, really, ridiculously good looking?” ~Derek Zoolander ~

If you haven't guessed already, Zoolander is one of my boys favorite movies...I must admit, I like it too. ;-)

The inspiration for this page came from a sketch I found on page 96 of Scrapbooks Etc Page Planner book.

Stamps: Well Worn Alphabet & Big Flowers
Card stock: Wild Wasabi textured, Blue Bayou, Tangerine Tango & Porcelain Prints DP
Ink: Blue Bayou, Wild Wasabi & Tangerine Tango
Accessories: Blue Bayou Double stitched ribbon, Vintage brads, Photo corner & various circle punches

Big Flowers - New In Colors!

Well, I tried to hold off playing with my new goodies until I finished my other projects...but I just had to try out the new colors! ...and the cool new scallop border punch! ...and one of the new sets... Here's a quick card I made using a few of the new colors.

They are all so pretty! I'm loving the new Baja Breeze...it's darker than my beloved Soft Sky, which I am sad to see go. Wasn't sure if I'd like Tangerine Tango or not...but I must say it's one of my favs. I've already incorporated into a scrapbook page as well as this card. The middle flower above was stamped in Riding Hood Red...I'm sure I'll be using this a lot for upcoming Christmas cards. I love most shades of green, so I knew I'd like Kiwi Kiss...it's a shade right between Certainly Celery & Old Olive. Although it is not used on this card, another new color that is destined to be one of my new favorites is Pacific Point. It's a deep, rich shade of blue. My three guys all picked it as their favorite when I showed them the new colors. So I know it will be perfect for guy cards.

The ribbon shown in photo is White Taffeta dyed with Tangerine Tango reinker. I ended up not using it on my card, but I'm sure I'll find a use for it! Dying ribbon with your reinkers is a great way to have matching ribbon when you may otherwise not have any on hand.

Stamps: Big Flowers, Heard From the Heart, Canvas background
Ink: Kiwi Kiss, Tangerine Tango, Baja Breeze, Riding Hood Red & VersaMark
Card stock: Kiwi Kiss, Tangerine Tango & Baja Breeze
Accessories: Winter White Embossing Powder, Scallop Border, Scallop Circle, 1 - 1/4" Circle & 1/2" circle punches

Now that I've played a bit, back to my scrappin'! have a good one!

New Goodies!

I've gotten a few emails asking if everything was OK since it's been a while since I've posted...sorry about that! Everything is going great here. My hubby has been on vacation and we've been enjoying the beautiful Michigan summer. It goes by so quickly, we must take advantage of nice weather while we have it!

I got a box full of goodies today from Stampin' Up! that I can't wait to play with! However, the past 10 days or so, any spare time I've had for stampin' I've been busy working on scrapbook pages because I'm having a scappin' party next week. I've been working mainly with this years In Colors and have been using up some of the designer papers I've been hoarding. So, unfortunately I know myself well enough not to get started with all these new goodies before I finish up these other projects...but it's killin' me! (maybe I'll make just one card to try out the beautiful new colors. ;-)

When my hubby came down to tell me the UPS guy left a package for me he warned me that I wasn't going to be happy. Look at what my long awaited package looked like when it showed up on my doorstep! I had pre-ordered the whole set of the new In Colors which included all the re-inkers, plus some other little stuff. Jeez...even big items could fall out of that hole! I thought for sure many items had been lost in transit, and those that made it were probably damaged. Luckily I worried for nothing...can you believe every item was there and accounted for!? I was also happy to see that everything was in good condition as well. Here's some of what was in the box of goodies:

I'm happy to say that the colors are even prettier in real life than photos I have seen. I can't wait to start creating with my new toys. The stamp set shown at top of photo is called Serene Spring and it is a new Level 2 Hostess set. It is just ADORABLE! I especially love that little bunny. I sure am looking forward to coloring it! But...I must be good and finish my other projects first.

Here are a few photos I took in my garden this week. My purple coneflowers & beesbalm are in full bloom. I cannot believe I got such a good shot of that bee! I was a little bit nervous standing in there because the bees were buzzing all around me. They love that stuff! Luckily I didn't get stung!

I got a couple nice messages since I posted last from some blogging friends who nominated my blog for an award. Thank you so much! I'm very grateful and did not intend to ignore you! I just haven't had much time to do any blogging or get out there and blog hop. I guess since my hubby has been home I have to look like I do other stuff than just sit at the computer or stamp...I'm sure you can relate! hehe ;-)

Hope to be back posting regularly real soon! Thanks for checking in!

Boho Double Pocket Card

On my last post I shared a gift set I was giving to my Aunt for her birthday. Today I'm sharing the card I made to go with it. I knew I wanted to make her a cute Boho Bookmark, so I thought it was the perfect time to try one of those cute double pocket cards to put the bookmark in. There is a great tutorial on SCS for the double pocket card, and those were the instructions that I followed...it was way easier than I thought! One tip I learned is to really make sure of your final layout & complete all embellishments on your card front before adhering the pockets with the sticky strip! Don't ask how I found that out! lol

These are the what the inserts look like outside of the pockets:

Stamps: Boho Backgrounds, So Many Scallops & It's Your Birthday

Ink: Soft Sky, Blue Bayou & Purely Pomegranate

Card stock: Soft Sky, Blue Bayou, Purely Pomegranate & Soft Sky DSP

Accessories: Seeing Spots Classy Brass Template (for piercing around circle), Pomegranate ribbon, Jumbo Pewter eyelets, Pewter Hodgepodge, Scallop, 1- 1/4" circle & Boho Blossoms punches, sticky rhinestone embellishments

I hope you all had a nice 4th of July yesterday! Ours was really nice. We enjoyed a beautiful day at the lake with family. My Aunt had a lovely birthday celebration and she loved this card and of course the stamps and scallop punch we gave her. Looks like another gorgeous day today...ENJOY!

Stamp Something Red, White & Blue...

...and it can be anything but a card! That was the challenge made by the talented stampers over at the Stamp Something blog this week. That challenge was just perfect for me to try because I had to make a gift bag for a birthday/4th of July celebration I am going to tomorrow. The gift is for my super sweet Auntie who loves to stamp. (hopefully she will not look at my blog!) During SAB she was torn as to which set to choose because she loved the So Many Scallops set, but did not have the scallop punch. I can't wait to give her this...she will be so excited!


I used a white lunch bag that SU! used to sell. I cut about 3" off the top and then stamped it all over in Pomegranate ink with the cute flower stamp from Boho Backgrounds. The quilt-like pattern on the front was created by stamping the medallion from the same set several times on different colors and punching out with the 1- 3/8" square and 1- 1/4" circle punches. The tiny center was stamped on white and punched with the 1/4" punch. The center piece is layered on a double punched scallop to create a star-burst pattern. (see photo below) I also used my Boho Blossoms punch to cut out the center flower, and then the 1/2" circle to cut out the center for the build-a-brad. Can you tell I LOVE my punches!? I'm super excited to get my scallop border punch that will be out in the next catalog. Demos were able to order them on a pre-order starting on July 1st.

Here's a photo to better show you what I was describing above on how to use the scallop punch to create the star burst.

To do this, punch out your scallop, then use a post it note as a handle to reinsert the scallop shape back into the punch, turning it a bit created a pointed edge.

While I was at it, I also created this little Boho Bag-a-lope to hold a little something for a friend of mine. Isn't it cute? I was amazed the first time my upline showed me how to make a cute little bag out of a regular old envelope. Whoever first came up with that idea is a creative genius in my book!

I still need to make my Aunt's birthday card, so hopefully I'll have time to post it tomorrow morning. If not...Have a wonderful 4th of July holiday!

Another Touch of Nature

I'm sure you all have figured out that I just LOVE this set! Since it's retiring soon I've been using it a lot. It seems once a set retires I just don't show it as much love as I should. Anyways...this is basically the same card as I shared here but I changed the images, so this was a little more complex cutting wise.

See the branch the little birdie is sitting on? I didn't want to have to cut out the branch and his legs, so I also stamped the image on the Eggplant layer and then using a little bleach to wet a fine tipped brush I colored the branch, feet and legs. When the bleach had dried the Eggplant card stock was white in that area and perfect for adding the colors I wanted.

With all the cutting and water coloring, this card is a bit detailed and time consuming, but this layout works great for quick & easy cards too. The cards I shared here use a bold image stamp, so there is no water coloring. Just stamp, punch & embellish.

Stamps: Touch of Nature, Canvas & Lots of Thoughts
Card stock: Artichoke, Eggplant, Burgundy, Pumpkin & Basic Black
Ink: Black Stazon, Pumpkin, Artichoke & various for water coloring
Accessories: 1 - 3/8" square punch, black polka dot ribbon

I got the nicest email yesterday from Wendy, a fellow blogger, telling me that she nominated me for this Kreativ Blogger Award on her blog. That made my day! You really need to stop by and visit her blog: It's All About Stampin' she is very talented and has lots of beautiful projects on her blog. Make sure to leave her a comment! I know that if it were not for all the nice emails & comments I have received from you all that I probably wouldn't have stuck with this blogging thing because I would have just assumed nobody read it or just didn't like my stuff enough to comment...so thanks again to all who take time to leave me a message from time to time. I love hearing from you all!

As part of this Kreative Blogger award, I am supposed to post a list of other bloggers who inspire me. There are so many, it is hard to choose! For now, take a look at my blog roll to the right...there are so many wonderfully creative blogs included there that I love to browse. I need to do a bit of browsing myself to see who has not already received this award...will be back later. :-) Have a great day!