Quick Card Share & welcome October

Hi friends!! It's been entirely too long since I've updated here. Life has been hectic to say the least! I got a big promotion at work and with me transferring stores I've got a much longer commute- which means less crafty time at night & earlier mornings. I'm happy where I'm at and I know it's a move in the right direction for us financially. We are still hoping to buy our first home the end of next year if all goes well.

A few weeks ago i made this birthday card for a co-worker of mine, Nina. She loved it! I am really happy with how it turned out considering it only took me 35 mins in the mornjng before work. I used a pre-made tag from scrsp convention a few years ago. I added some more flowers and buttons, vintsge of course. I love sharing art i have made with other people, especially for their special day.Here are a few pics:

Well, that is about all for today! I'm off to finish my Halloween decor and msybe start on Tim's Tags for 2014... yep im almost a year behind! I might skip around and just do the October one. I hsve so many projects i want to start, just less time now to do them.

Hope you have a great week! Check back tomorrow for more inspiration.. i promise to not be away for so long again!!

love.of.rock.....out.of.print. by BG

Hi friends! I am here today again to share another layout I did the week after the wedding. I was so excited to get to scrap some girl's weekend photos and do an LO that was not for the design team. I say that now and yet I have been away from my DT girls for a little over a month and I am totally missing them!!! I can't wait for the next meeting and to get our kit and blog assignments..ready to get creative this month!! Check back with me daily as I challenging myself to post at least 2 times a week for November! I totally think I can do it!!! Ok, onto the photos:

Here is a view of the whole thing, photo I took on instagram :) my love!!

 Here a few close ups. I used several different things from my stash for my clusters. Retro wooden buttons from my Purple Pumpkin lucky dip, twine, felt borders, resin flowers, fussy cut camera, a film strip that i inked and heat embossed, flowers and bling o' course!!

this photo shows the larger cluster that i started layering first by using the heat embossed film strip cutout, then felt border, then flowers, then some smaller elements, wooden button and another Tim Holtz fragment that I made with Monica at convention. Off to the side of my cluster I stuck some tiny white apoxy heart stickers and doodled around them with my Tim Holtz distress marker in picket fence. I also used a large dew drop that I modge podged some chevron paper to the back of. The other paper I used is Echo Park note to self from the 6x6 pad.

I really like how the bright colors I chose pop off this page with the black background...really goes well with our Hard Rock Casino photos too that I took and printed all with instagram!!!!

Again I used a basic manila tag for my journaling... guess I need to spice things up when it comes to my journaling blocks but I am totally obsessed with these little tags lately!! LOL

Sorry, this photo didn't rotate! It's the title using Thickers Dear Lizzy- Serendipity. I guess that is it for today! I hope I have inspired some of you to get snapping with your phone and use those instagrams for your layouts...they are always the perfect size and you can get so many on a page which I love! Also another tip from today: use a black background to really make your photos and embellishment colors POP off your page! Until next time friends, Peace Y'all~ VV

Supplies Used:

Basic Grey 'Out of Print'

manila shipping tag by The Paper Studio

cream and black cardstock by Bazzil

Echo Park 'Note to Self' 6x6 paper pad

retro wood buttons, black resin rose, teal and white twine- Purple Pumpkin

hot pink stars felt border-Michael's

large dew drops- The Robin's Nest

pink chevron paper, fussy cut camera from Amy Tangerine ' Sketchbook' paper by AC

flowers and brads- Oriental Trading Co.

Tim Holtz distress marker picket fence

Tim Holtz fragments- decorated at convention

Smooch Spritz by  Clearsnap in 'river mossy' and 'pralines and cream'

Colorbox chalk ink by Clearsnap in 'blush rose' and black

Stickles by Ranger in Aqua

Thickers by American Crafts Dear Lizzy 'serendipity'

crown mini stamp- Prima Marketing

"Greetings from Delray Beach" ( I LOVE Authentique}

Good afternoon blogland! I am here today to share with you a quick project I did using the new Authentique  "Fresh" line available now at Scrapping Frenzy!! The mini cardboard travel case was given to me by a friend a while back as a gift at a crop we attended, and I have been waiting to do something fun with it! When I saw this paper, I instantly thought about these old photos I had of my 2 grandmothers back in the day..in their bathing suits! It was perfect and it will be a keepsake that I'll always have around to remind me of them. Okay, so on with the photos!!!

 For the inside of the case, there were several little compartments that I decorated differently. First I cut some plain white cardstock using the Cricut beach cartridge and made the sandollar border, which I then inked using Clearsnap's colorbox fluid chalk inks in grey whale, and azurite. After that I cut the border apart a bit and double-pop dotted it (is that an official scrapping term? LOL) with one sand dollar above the rest for dimension. Also I colored in the little sea stars with a gold paint pen.

 This is the inside top largest compartment. I covered the whole back with teal solid paper and then used some of the decorative tape to give it color. Then I layered another sand dollar, a vintage button from my stash, some red tickets, and an earring which I actually lost the other one to-tied with red baker's twine. I love using random things from around the house in scrapbooking! Then I put her initials next to a cute cabachon by Jolee's boutique.

This is a full view of all the compartments:

 Still my favorite shot, the front of the box which I did using the Authentique paper, an acetate frame by K&Co and some xmas red stickles. Of course I had to add textural elements, a paper flower, more sand dollars, some twine, and a button of course (i love buttons in case you haven't noticed)

 This is the side of the box which I did using the decorative tape and some stickles in Aqua.

 And the back of the case, I layered the Authentique paper and some red tickets.

 This is the case standing up!

 To go inside, I made this mini thing to keep beach things in, like little sea shells that you find walking along the beach. I used this magnet holder thing that I have been keeping cause I thought it was cool. 

 This is the back of the little case thingy.

 And the other compartment, using more Authentique paper and some baker's twine.

Okay, well that's it for today!!! Back tomorrow with some more fun stuff to share!! 

Until next time, peace y'all~ VV

Supplies List:

Authentique 'Fresh' line patterned paper

red/white and teal/white baker's twine by Queen & Company

white and turquoise cardstock

Clearsnap Colorbox fluid chalk ink- grey whale, dark brown, azurite

Tim Holtz distress ink-vintage photo, fired brick

Stickles by Ranger in Xmas red and Aqua

Cricut beach cartridge

red damask decorative tape-Micheal's

Tim Holtz paper distresser

K&Co clear acetate photo frame

Zig writer in brown

gold paint pen

red/teal cabachons by Jolee's Boutique

teal paper flower by Recollections

red tickets, leftover earring clear drop,& red vintage buttons from my stash

{super-mini 4x4 album} :Sunny Dayz!!

Good evening, blogland! I'm here tonight to share a super-cute super-quick super-mini album that I made this afternoon as part of my shares for the 'Meet the DT' party this Saturday at Scrapping Frenzy! We are supposed to make a board of some sort, talking about what products we like, what we like about scrapbooking, etc. and also bring some projects. Well everything I turned in is still up at the store, so I haven't had a chance to photograph it and share it here, but I wanted to have a new project or two to share, so I had to come up with something! I was digging thru an old storage box and I found this pretty basic old school mini album kit by We R Memory Keepers. I think I might have won it at a crop a few years ago. It came with 3 sheets of 6x6 paper, 2 chipboard covers, some 4x4 plain white papers, 2 paper flowers, and 2 binder rings. So I thought man, this would be super cute to add stuff to and make a super mini album! I love making minis but this is the first time I worked with this size- 4x4, and I loved it! I was able to complete the entire thing in about 4 hours this afternoon with breaks in between! I really like how it turned out. I wasn't exactly sure what photos I was going to use at first I just started pulling out papers and embellishments from my stash that I thought would complement what it already came with. So this is what I came up with- the title of it is 'Sunny Days':

 You can see how fat it is with all the embellishments!! It stands up on it's own!

 I had these old letter stickers in my stash and to re vamp them a little I smudged some glossy accents on top of them to make it look a little more dimensional.

 I love the look of the yellow baker's twine tied thru the buttons!!

 And my fav, a baker's twine bow! looks so great next to a few flowers and some buttons, of course!

 This is my favorite 2 pages! I love this picture of  Jimmy and I and also I like the cluster I did.

 oops! this one is upside down!

 And the back of the super-mini!

That's all for tonite folks! I hope to have something else to share in the next few days- this is going to be a creative week I can already tell! Glad I got the MOJO going again! If you live in the Mobile/Daphne area, come by Scrapping Frenzy on Saturday morning from 10-2 and have a little party with us! It's all about meeting the new design team and sharing techniques and projects! I can't wait! Goodnight y'all~ VV

Supplies List:

We R Memory Keepers 4x4 mini album kit- 3 patterned papers, 2 chipboard covers, 1 sheet vellium sentiments, 2 paper flowers, 2 binder rings

floral paper- unknown from stash

Tim Holtz distress ink in 'antique linen'

Tim Holtz paper distressing tool

DCWV textured cardstock mat stack- neutrals (yellow, light yellow, green, cream)

Colorbox chalk ink cat's eye in dark brown

Recollections- yellow paper roses, yellow rose cabachons, metal buttons

vintage buttons, clear postage stickers, blingy flower stickers, chipboard tag-from stash

stickles-yellow
large layered flower w/ corduroy button- K&Company

caramel colored gel ink pen

brown/white ribbon, blue dot ribbon, and fuzzy ribbon, metal anchor buttons-from stash

yellow and white baker's twine- Scrapping Frenzy

XL Vintage Girl button- Purple Pumpkin Crafts

DIY bouquet charms & a PP sketch challenge!

WARNING: PHOTO-HEAVY POST AHEAD!!

Good evening, everyone! I feel like I have really been out of the loop this month with everyone and everything out there in crafty blog land. That's mostly because I have gone to working 6-day work weeks during prom season. I still have a little less than 3 weeks to go, and although I love what I do, I'm starting to get a little burnt out. I just really need those 2 days a week to do errands, keep my house clean, grocery shop, pay bills,  not to mention have some me time and down time and fun time. I know I've got to keep pushing through and it's only gonna get worse if I don't make the best of it, so that's what I'm trying to do right now. Today was my first day off since last Sunday and I was able to get a lil' crafty time in. I also got to eat lunch at one of my fav restaurants- California Dreaming, and I finally got a new phone!! An iPhone 4S. Super excited about it....been wanting one for a while and finally broke down and spent the money to get one. I know it will be worth it though, in the long run of planning this wedding, J and I are going to need these phones!!!

Alright, enough of my babbling on. A few weeks back I decided to tackle one of the crafts I wanted to make for the wedding day, DIY bouquet charms. I have seen a few different versions, mostly here . I was inspired my Mrs.Crab Cake over at the Hive. I have seen other ones, but I thought taking this idea I could make another version similar to it and get the same effect. Overall I'm really happy with how they turned out, even though they show a few imperfections I think I will probably not re-do them because everyone I have asked says that they show 'character' and it makes them look old, which is kind of what I was going for- vintage, right?? So without further ado- here is my complete tutorial:

1. The first thing you should do is select your photos. I used head shots from a few old pictures that I happened to have in a large bin of old family photos and had them re touched at a kiosk at  Walmart. This was the simplest way for me, however if you're photo shop wiz which I am not, you could certainly do them yourself and print at home on photo paper. At the kiosk, I retouched them and printed them all in wallet size for the purpose of the size of the charms and also they were all changed over to 'sepia' which I liked more than the black and white option. 

 2. The second step is to cut all your photos down to size, the easiest method to do this is to measure using the glass scrabble tiles/ jewelry findings or whatever you are using for your backings and trim it down from there if you have to. For mine, I made 2 larger circle ones and 4 smaller rounded squares, basically 2 sets because I wanted to give one set to my sister. For the squares, I cut them down as close to size as I could and used a corner rounder to give them that rounded edge. Even on a small scale, I think it worked pretty well! 

 Here is a close up on one side of the circle ones- 

 And the other side of the circle charms- backed with glass so I used 2 photos back to back that I double sided and taped together.

And here is a closie of the rounded square ones, not perfectly matched but I LOVE these!

 3. Next, to add dimension to them, I decided to put a slate blue mini pearl on each one. None of the examples I saw had these, but for some reason I just thought it made them look more 'bridal'. I tried to stick them each in the same spot so they would all be uniform.  I didn't take a photo here of the circle one, but i added a larger pearl to it as well. 

 4. The last step in my opinion, is the hardest. I used glossy accents or 'liquid glass' as some of you call it to cover over the entire charm. I was very careful in the beginning to do an even coat and make sure bubbles were popped, but I found that hard to do since I wasn't sitting there watching them dry. I even dried one coat with my heat tool and then did another coat to make it a little thicker and there were still tiny bubbles. Obviously if you were using glass scrabble tiles in this step that would be avoided, but I already had the liquid glass on hand and I was trying to buy as little as possible for this project. 

 Here is a close up of them before they were dry. As you can see here it looks like most of the bubbles were gone, but they will still pop up over the drying period. So annoying! Although, everyone in my family that I have showed them to says that makes them look vintage and old and have character, so I guess I'm cool with it! LOL!

5. The last thing you have to do of course is find the type of ribbon you want to tie them to your bouquet with, I was able to find this super cute velvet ribbon in the 'malibu' color for my wedding, and it worked perfectly as far as the thickness I needed. Here are a few close ups of what they turned out like!! Voila:

  Ok, so the last thing I will share with you tonite is a quick little LO I did at the last minute to get in on the sketch challenge over at Purple Pumpkin Crafts.  I absolutely LOVE their handmade embellishments and their March Sale is actually tonite, about 3:30am Central Standard time...if I didn't have work so early in the am I would be getting up at that crazy hour to make an order. I still have quite a stash from the last one and I need to really get in my crafts room and organize....ahh another day. There's alot of stuff in there that I forgot that I have, don't you love when that happens?? Ok, so here was the sketch we were supposed to use:

I apologize for these photos, some of the first ones I've taken with my iPhone  today and I can't figure out how to rotate these, so this will have to do for now!! 

 Ok folks, that's about it for me tonite. Thank you once again for stopping by and I promise I will be leaving some comments on all your blogs very, very soon. Feels great though to have another LO out in the world... I am on my way to making a facebook page all about scrapbook consulting, technique teaching, and maybe even doing personalized books for anyone if they are interested. We'll see how it goes...def not my full time job right now but I would LOVE if it was. Good night, and PEACE Y'ALL~ VV

Supplies List:

Bouquet Charms:

The Jewelry Shoppe findings- Hobby Lobby -

 18mm square stamping blanks x 4

1 1/4 round frames w/ glass x 2

steele blue stick on mini pearls- Michael's

Tim Holtz distress ink in Vintage Photo

corner rounder

fine tipped scissors

Glossy Accents 'liquid glass'

double sided tape

ribbon of choice

Layout:

background paper- unknown from stash

12 x12 sheet used for scalloped square- Bo Bunny 'Ad Libs Verbiage' #12

My Mind's Eye- 'Stella Rose' collection title words - 'Mabel So Sweet'

Recollections Signature floral embellishments- browns

teal and dark brown cardstock from stash

fabric covered buttons- Purple Pumpkin Crafts

yellow stickles

Smooch Spritz in gold glow

Tim Holtz distress ink in Tea Dye

dark brown cat eye- Colorbox

Tim Holtz paper distressing tool

The Jewelry Shoppe- 2.5mm flower cabochans

fabric pieces- straps from an old sundress (bought @ Buffalo Exchange in Portland, OR)

stick on pearls in white, dark brown, and dark teal- Micheal's

brown Zig marker

pop dots