Curl UP SUNDAY!

Hi friends. So today is just one of those days...you want to stay inside all day and watch movies and bake cookies-in your PJ's kind of day. It's super wet and rainy out, and staying at home all day is really what I'd like to be doing but, I have my bridal shower this afternoon! So I will have to get out in the weather unfortunatley, but I think it will be worth it! This weekend has been full of scrappy time and girl time, I was at Scrapping Frenzy's convention Thurs, Fri and Sat and I did this page for my own personal book, non-DT related! So that is good...I also was able to complete 2 of the 3 posts that are due for Oct which is good, I need to get ahead and get all my ducks in a row the next 2 weeks, cause we will be getting MARRIED on Oct 19th and I start my 3 1/2 week vacy on Oct 14th so, it will be a crazy next 2 weeks for sure! Ok enough of my blabbering... wanted to share with you a cute layout I did about our kitty, Carmella, these are some instagrams I took of her a while back and I finally had some printed so I thought I'd do a soft, girly layout about her. Here are pics:

okay, well that's all for now! I gotta get going to this bridal shower... guess it's ok cause I get presents, right?! Until next time my scrappy friends, Peace Y'all~ VV

Supplies Used:

Pink paper by American Crafts, Smooch in Tea Party and Pralines n' Cream, Grey cardstock, lemon cardstock, scraps of Basic Grey paper- 'pink lemonade' line. Basic Grey Element stickers 'pink lemonade collection. Prima flowers, vintage buttons, mini pearls, heart apoxy stickers, kitty stamp by Micheal's, Amy Tangerine turquoise Thickers, cheesecloth, Tim Holtz distress ink in antique linen, UTEE and watermark ink.

{Star Quality} with BG 'Out of Print'

Hi everyone! I am here today to share a very special layout I did this month using one of my favorite paper lines, Basic Grey, the 'Out of Print' collection. This is my last post this month for my LSS, Scrapping Frenzy. I think the name of this line is really very fitting since I swear I own probably every sheet in double but I can't seem to get enough of it when I see it I always buy more! LOL! So now you know why it's called 'out of print'!! Another special thing about this layout is that I used a very old photo of my Meemaw sitting on Orange Street pier in Fairhope, Alabama. I love this photo and the expression on her face, even though I didn't know her back then it really shows her grace and personality!! I knew it would be perfect for the type of layout I was wanting to do. So, here's a peek of the whole thing:

 To start the layering under my photo, I first matted it with one side of the BG paper and distressed the edges, then inked that. Under that I layered a piece of black cardstock to make the photo 'pop' off the page. I didn't want alot of dark colors going on but I knew I would have to tie in the black somehow into other elements of the page so I used a black paper flower, the black cut out words from the Carte Bella paper, and the black also came in on the Echo park paper with the film reels.

This photo was a sneaky-peek I took with instagram! I love that app, just need a figure out a cheap way to order some of my prints from them that will be printed square!!

I would have to say my favorite thing about scrapping is 'building' my cluster, to me it's the best part about working on a page, digging through your stash and combining just the perfect mix of embellishments to get the look you want. For this cluster, I started off with a grey tulle flower from Webster's pages 'Florettes' then I added some color- drawing most of my color scheme from the flower paper behind the cluster. I used the yellow, pink, and pale green to complement the grey flower and off course topped it off with some stickles and pearls! My fav :D !!

For the title, I used some Tim Holtz type-writer looking salvage stickers to add to the vintage look. I underlined each one with stickles in 'platinum'.

And this is my favorite shot! The light was really great in the window when I snapped this one :)

 Well, that is all for today. If you don't already have this line, Basic Grey 'Out of Print' stop by the store today and get some! It is really so versatile and by far probably one of my favorite paper collections. Until next time my scrappy gal pals~ Peace Y'all~VV

Supplies used: Basic Grey 'Out of Print'- storyteller and , Echo Park 'Note to Self' 6x6 papers, Black cardstock by Bazzil, Colorbox pigment inks in blush, lipstick, and black. Smooch Spritz in 'Pralines and Cream', Tim Holtz distress stickles- 'dried marigold' and 'scattered straw' also Glitz stickles in 'platinum'. Webster's pages Florettes-grey tulle flower, Queen &Co twine-brown/white and yellow/white. Carte Bella 'life is beautiful' word sentiments. Crate paper cardstock cutouts-American Beauty and stamp, Sticky Thumb pop dots, paper flowers/roses- Prima and Recollections, pearls-Michael's, vintage buttons, rhinestone ruffle- Prima, Tim Holtz salvage stickers 'crowded attic'. Pier 1 paperclip flower, vintage buttons, cardboard piece and fabric from my stash.

Back into the Swing! {Frosted Designs Sketch #45}

Happy hump day everyone! It doesn't feel like mid-week to me though because I start my 6-day stretch in my retail life today, so my next off day is next Tuesday. But the good thing is that I have mostly evening shifts which allows me to stay up late scrapping if I want and sleep in!! For the next 3 weeks, I will be working about 5-7 more hours per week because my boss will be on vacation, and the asst manager and I have to run the store without her! But I think it will be fine...not the first time we've done it! I have to admit I don't mind getting some overtime, any extra money I can get right now will just allow me to check some more wedding things off my list!! So I am here today to share a layout I did the other night, I started the process of organizing my photos and a bunch of layouts I've done recently and I realized that I need to print more pictures that I have taken this year. Everything else I have printed up is from 2011 and 2010. So I started that process and I found these pics of my visit to Santa Cruz, CA for our annual management meetings in March 2011. I used the sketch over at Frosted Designs, I am trying to get back in the swing of sketch challenges as well as DT stuff because I find that I get more scrapping done when I have deadlines! LOL! ?Here is the sketch: 

So here is my layout:

 Another full page shot:

 For my cluster, I dug through my stash and put together lots of different things, including a pink crochet doily and fabric buttons from Purple Pumpkin, some vinyl embellishments, chipboard flowers, and pink fibers. I layered the 'women' symbol from a Crate paper sheet on top of a chipboard sticker that didn't match my papers and then added stickles to out line the edges of it. 

 The large tag is from Me & My Big Ideas and I outlined it in stickles as well.

 For the dots, I used Pebbles Crystal Candy dots.

Well that is all for today, I hope I have inspired you to get back into some scrapping... I know when I get home from work tonight that is what I will be doing!! And I don't wanna go to work right now but I have no choice...so off I go! Have a great Wednesday, until next time, Peace Y'all~VV

Supplies Used:

Basic Grey papers, misc embellishments and vintage buttons from my stash, Me&My Big Ideas sentiment tag, Ranger Stickles in fruit punch and tropical tangerine, misc fibers from ebay, Crate paper 'women symbol' embellishment, photo corners and flower, American Crafts white vinyl-townhouse, Purple Pumpkin Crafts fabric buttons and pink crochet circle, Pebbles crystal candy dots-green and pink, K&Company alphas. 

{Inner Beauty} July Sketch at HBS

Good afternoon friends! I am here today to share another non-DT layout I did late last night, I had caught the creative bug after going to our meeting at my LSS, Scrapping Frenzy. We were supposed to crop afterwards but everyone was pretty tired except me! So I came home and unpacked and got organized for my next few weeks of submissions, and decided to finish the LO that I started at the store. I am really, really happy with the way it turned out. I was inspired once again by a fellow DT member, Suzanne, who is the master of layering on her LO's!!! She puts everything under the sun on her pages...lace, freezer paper, cardboard, burlap, cheesecloth...LOL! Well I went digging through my stash and found a few things to layer, and I really wanted to brighten up this green/brown/black paper so I added some pinks in, to tye in my photo of my cousin Kate. I used the July Sketch that's up over at Handmade by Suzanne, my first submission for their challenges, but the winner gets a $40 voucher!! WHOO HOO!! Let's hope I win, there are sooo many awesome pages in their gallery!! Here is the sketch:

And this is how my LO turned out:

I decided to try my hand at a little layering of materials again. I used cardboard, several patterned papers, a shipping tag, a felt border, some satin material from a flower I took apart, buttons, and of course other yummy stuff. I have been holding onto some of these Basic Grey papers for a while, and I liked mixing them together, but I wanted to tie in the pink like her shirt in the photo, so I added the border and went from there! I really like how the unexpected color palette of browns, greens, blacks and cream mix with the light pinks! Perfect for the photo :D Here are a few close ups:

So that's all for me today. I hope you had a great weekend... I had to work but I also got a free day and was able to fit in a little 'relaxtion' time with friends which is always good for the soul, so I'm feeling great heading into the start of this week! I'll be back again soon to share another sketch challenge and maybe a wedding craft or two :D Until next time, Peace y'all~VV

Supplies Used:

pink cardstock-Bazzil

Echo Park 6x6 mini papers 'Note to Self'

leopard print paper- The Paper Studio

Basic Grey- Ambrosia 'Quince'

Basic Grey-Out of Print 'Odds 'n Ends'

pink felt flower border- Queen & Co

manila shipping tag

brown baker's twine- Queen & Co

pink and gold pearls- Michael's

Thicker's brown foam alphas

dew drops by The Robin's Nest

small circle, resin embellishment, silk piece, cardboard, vintage buttons, flowers, and brads- mystash

fabric button- Purple Pumpkin Crafts

Ranger Stickles in gold

Tim Holtz distress stickles - peeled paint

Colorbox cat's eye inks in chestnut, dark brown, black, and dark moss

Smooch Spritz by Clearsnap in 'emerald sprinkle'

brown ZIG marker

Tim Holtz distress marker in 'picket fence'

A Lil' Girlie OWL ART!!!

Happy Friday!! (the 13th OOH spooky!)  I am here to share with you a special project that I did this month for Scrapping Frenzy! I used some of my leftover scraps of patterned paper, a little paint, a canvas, and just a little creativity! I had originally thought it would be kind of challenging to come up with something to make, and then I just started browsing through my scrapbook magazines. In the newest issue of Scrapbooks, Etc. this project was featured in the back! So I can't take full credit for the idea, but I did totally make it my own and add a few things! This little art piece would make a great gift for a girl's birthday and that is what I plan on doing with it, for my little niece, Zoe!

To start, this is the page that inspired me in the magazine:

So I started sorting through my scraps and I mixed and matched several lines of paper to come up with quite a colorful palette. I first cut out all the circles, distressed and inked them, then hand drew the eyes, and the top of the head with ears. I glued the top piece down first to a thicker piece of cardstock, then started layering my circles. I moved them around quite a bit until I was happy with the color arrangement. Last I glued down the eye piece on top of the circles and added a small triangle for the nose. This is what it looked like before embellishments:

The last pieces I did were the wings, which I hand drew basing them on the thicker brown wings from the magazine page. I glued them on top of the circles, then started layering on some feathers. I thought it would be a nice addition of more texture so I picked maroon, cream, and natural looking feathers and mixed them together to come up with the 'wings'. I first tried using glossy accents to adhere them, which didn't work, then a tape runner, and in the end I figured out that large glue dots worked best!! This is how it turned out after I added everything!!

I really wanted it to be colorful, so I chose 2 different colors of blue for my canvas instead of grey or white. also I layered some large dew drops and xl brown buttons for eyes along with a tulle bow to the flower. I tied the bow by hand and used my fingers to smear some stickles in 'tropical tangerine' over it to add some sparkle!

To the otherside I added a grungeboard butterfly covered with stickles and a mini chalkboard. I used Tim Holtz distress markers in 'picket fence' to write on the chalkboard but it didn't come out too clearly so I went over it with some old school puff paint!! LOL

So here is another shot of the whole thing! I am really happy with the end result, even after all my stressing :D and I can't wait to give it to my little niece!!

So I hope I have inspired you today to step out of your scrapbooking comfort zone of layouts and cards and make something really special for your family or friends! Scrapbooking supplies can always be used for something great, like wall art!! I am taking a personal day today to get ready for a DT meeting and private crop at Scrapping Frenzy, can't wait to see my friends and get the creative mojo flowing again! I'll be back soon to share some more lovely LO's from tonite (depending on how much I get done, LOL)!! 

Until next time, Peace y'all~ VV

Supplies: cream, white, pink, orange, and brown cardstock- Bazzil, misc. patterned papers including; Basic Grey 'Out of Print', Bo Bunny 'a Gift of Love', American Crafts 'Neopolitan' line, and Crate paper. Clearsnap Smooch Spritz in 'caramel mocha'. Colorbox fluid chalk inks- creamy brown, pumpkin pie, Ranger Stickles 'tropical tangerine', paper doily- Crate paper, Tim Holtz distress markers 'picket fence' and 'antique linen'. Large clear dew drops by The Robin's Nest,Tim Holtz paper distressing tool, Tim Holtz grungeboard, turquoise-colored tulle, large brown antique buttons, mini chalkboard, misc. feathers-from stash. large pink  flower- purple pumpkin crafts, Modge Podge, Folk Art Acrylic paint in 'calypso blue' and 'turquoise', mint colored puff paint, foam brushes, and square canvas from art supply store.

remember this day.. {BG 2.06 sketch challenge}

Good evening, bloggers! It's been almost a week since my last post, and it's been a busy one! Mardi Gras season and 45-50 hr work weeks are in full swing! Thankfully only about another 2 weeks and it's over. I have still been trying to squeeze in wedding planning, along with keeping the house tidy (which is difficult sometimes!) working like crazy, not to mention all the many, many things to do on my crafty list. There is just never enough time it seems. I find more and more though that making time for it in my busy schedule really makes me happy and helps me relax at the end of a day or week. I find that my brain is so wound up at the end of a work day that it takes a little while to decompress all the millions of thoughts in my head. The other night I totally couldn't sleep because my mind was wrestling/tossing back and forth millions of wedding ideas/projects/things I've seen on pinterest, and I think it took me a good 2 hrs to fall back asleep. So last night, as J was getting in the bed early for an opening shift the next day, I spent about 3 hrs in my craft room working on this LO for the Basic Grey sketch challenge. It really helped me 'decompress' my thoughts and just relax and be able to create...it really helped me get to sleep after that! 

So here it goes, this was the original sketch:

And this is my take on it:

 For this LO, I mixed the 'out of print' line and the 'lemonade' line from Basic Grey. I seriously LOVE their papers, with the extra $$ I make this month I may break down and buy the kissing booth  and picadilly line. I have to splurge on something for myself after working so hard, right?! The larger paper strip is from Out of Print and the scallopped paper strips, as well as the argyle sticker and green argyle paper are from Lemonade. Here are a few closies:

 I used 2 fabric buttons from my Purple Pumpkin stash (lucky dip bag ordered in Nov) and it just keeps giving back! There is almost NEVER an LO that doesn't need a little PP love on it. I placed an order in the Jan. sale and am still anticipating my goodies!! Can't wait till it arrives!! I used a pink spotty button, as well as a little girl button that I 'punked' up a bit by inking them both with Tim Holtz distress ink in antique linen, then I put sunbeam yellow stickles on top of the girl button and added a heart sticker on top of the spotty button. I love the way they turned out!

 For the title, I flipped over a foil stamped chipboard embellishment and used some of the element stickers from the Lemonade line then doodled around it in black felt tip pen. I added some more of the stickers that I put on cardstock and then fussy cut and inked with antique linen again. The felt cutout heart was from my stash and I added stickles to it too.

 For the bees, they were element stickers too that I put on cardstock and inked, then popped up with some pop dots. I did a combo of heart puffy stickers and rub ons for the floating hearts above them. 

 I love this little bee with the hearts!! totally cute and lots of personality!!

 Here is a close up of the pic of me and my Meemaw, I was 6, my sister was 4. We were at a family reunion in the summer at the local beach. I was always such a ham for the camera! For this photo, I matted it and then over it put a clear rub on frame that I added yellow stickles to the edges of. I love how it turned out! Really makes this photo pop off the page!! Probably one of my fav pics of all time of me and my meemaw :) Man I still miss her like crazy!!

 And a close up of the journaling strips, green argyle paper popped up with lots of pop dots! I used like half a sheet on this page! LOL!

Alright friends, that is all for tonite. It's getting pretty late here and my hunny is already in the bed. I will be submitting this one for the BG 2.06 sketch challenge and I hope I win!! I really need some more of their paper, that would just be like the best late bday present ever!!!  I will leave you with a pic of me and my hunny bear after the Mardi Gras parade this past Friday night... it was alot of fun and a good break from our usual 'stay in' routine. It's good to get out and see why you are working so hard, right?! Until next time, Peace Y'all~ VV

Supplies List:

background paper- Oriental Trading Co

wider paper strip- Basic Grey 'out of print'

scalloped paper strips, green argyle paper- Basic Grey 'lemonade'

bees, cutout flowers, argyle strip, sticker letters- Basic Grey element stickers 'lemonade'

white cardstock

Tim Holtz paper distresser

Tim Holtz distress ink in 'antique linen'

stickles in sunbeam yellow

3 layer paper flower- K & Company

fabric covered buttons- Purple Pumpkin Crafts

tiny pearls/pink/mint green- Michaels

chipboard journal block (title)-American Crafts

vellium heart stickers, puffy heart stickers- Stickopatomus

black rub ons, clear grid frame, felt cut out heart-stash

glue stick, black felt tip pen, pop dots