Making waves

Hello! I made this 2 pager for a challenge over at Scrapbook.com to make waves on your LO. I made this entirely out of cardstock. I started with white for the background and did a lot of inking and water distressing.To make the waves, I used 3 different colored blue cardstocks which were inked first with distressing ink, and cut strips using some decorative scissors. Then I wet the waves and shaped them. After they were dry I added rock candy stickles to the tops.

Here's a close-up of the waves.

TFL! Have a great weekend!

Brown Paperbag Birdcage Tutorial

Hello everyone! I just finished a DT challenge for Pages in Time, where we had to use a birdcage. Even though I have quite a few birdcages on some of my Cricut cartridges, I kept picturing this woodsy, twiggy birdcage. So I decided to make one myself. Here's my page. I chose this photo of me, my dad, and brother from last Father's day.I did a lot of water distressing and machine stitching on here. I masked 2 of the birds and the barbed wire.Now for the tutorial!

Here's what you'll need.
Brown paper bag
Decoupage glue
Fast Grab Tacky Glue or Glue Gun
Distress ink (Walnut Stain)
Beige embroidery floss

First tear strips from your paper bag measuring about 4-5" long and 1/2-1" wide. You'll need 8 of them.Then ink both sides with Walnut Stain distress ink.

Now drench your strip into the decoupage glue and starting on one long end, start rolling your twig together. Do this for all your pieces.

As it starts to dry, it's still pliable which helps to shape your twigs.To make the outside frame, start with your longest pieces and curve them inward towards the top. Glue at the top.I used Fast Grab Tacky Glue, but I'm sure a glue gun would work great too.

Slightly curve your next two pieces and glue at the top.

 For the middle, I start with a straight long piece, and slightly curve in two more  pieces gluing on each side on the top.

Now glue the center into the frame of your birdcage.

Glue your bottom twig, cutting 2 small pieces for your opening.

Now you can trim the excess twigs with scissors. Take your embroidery floss and secure the bottom end pieces in a X. On top I just wrapped and glued the floss around the cage.

Now add your small twigs on the bottom in between 2 twigs to make your opening. Then wrap your embroidery floss making more X's.

Now you can leave it as it is, or decorate how you want. I added some green fiber, but little flowers would look great too. I also think painting your twigs white would give it a completely different look. So experiment and have fun! Here's a close-up on my LO.

Pages in Time Thursday Sketch of the Week 8.18-25

Hello! Here's the Thursday Sketch of the Week for Pages in Time.

Here's my take. I just LOVE these adorable photos of my brother with his son! I used a texture medium and some stencils to make the yellow stars.

Hot August Nights

Hi everyone! I just finished my entry for the 2 page sketch challenge over at Scrapbook.com. Here's the sketch.

Here's my take.

I'm also entering this into the August Monochrome challenge to use fire engine red, with silver and black accents. The lines of stripes are actually black and silver metallic paper. The writing that reads, Reno, Nevada is actually a red metallic paper. It's hard to see in this scan.I also used a silver Sharpie to outline the banner, the marquis behind the journaling, and the Reno, Nevada marquis.Thanks for stopping by!

The Color Room Palette #70

I decided to try this clean and fresh color palette at the Color Room. Here are the colors.

Here's what I did. I used an old photo of me in Hawaii and added all kinds of flowers. The white and pink paper flowers were a RAK from my sweet friend Stacey Schwiet that she made herself. They look just like the flower I had in my hair. This is also my example for the stamping challenge that I'm hosting at Pages in Time. I stamped the journaling piece, the floral border, and fern border around the photo. TFL!

Bunting Banner Tutorial and Contest

I did this page for a really cool challenge at Scrapbook.com inspired by the painted bunting bird. We had to use bright red, green, and blue, use paint, and make a bunting banner.I struggled with my bunting for a couple of hours before I finally figured it out. So I thought I'd share my technique with you.

Supplies you'll need.
Cardstock in 2 different colors
glue
stylus
ruler
Cricut
Button
white embroidery thread

First you'll need to cut your ovals. For this tutorial I'll be showing you how to do one scallop. For each oval you'll get 2 scallops. I cut my ovals with my Cricut machine at 2 3/4" for the blue oval and 1 3/4" for the green oval.

Then glue the green oval in the middle of the blue one.

Use your cutting tool to slice down the middle lengthwise. You now have 2 scallops to work with.

Next you'll want to use your stylus and ruler to make your creases. I start by scoring my scallop with a line down the center.

Then I score all of my lines making them slightly narrower towards the green center.They should look like this.

Then I fold the scallop in the center before making all my creases, folding it like a fan.

Then use some glue or a glue gun to glue the green center folds together creating a radiating effect.I then used white embroidery floss to stitch the X in the middle of my button. Glue your button towards the green center overlapping the button a little. I stitched the red and green line using my twisted stitching technique that I've shared here on my Blog hop post.Here's a close up.

So now that you know HOW to make a bunting banner, I'd love to see yours. If you try this technique just send me an email drea313s@yahoo.com and I'll post it here on my blog. Leave me a comment and become a follower, if you aren't already, and I'll pick a random winner to receive some of my hand made embellies. I know school will be starting again soon, so I'll give you until September 15th to play along.

Sketch of the Week 8.4.11

Hello everyone! It's time for the new sketch of the week designed by Traci Thiel for Pages in Time.Here it is.

Here's my take.

I glimmer misted over the tree stencils and used paint and mist over the cardboard.The flowers I made out of cotton fabric using this tutorial from my dear friend Wendy G.
http://wendysscrappincorner.blogspot.com/2011/06/tutorial-grunge-delight.html

Stamping Challenge

Wow! I can't believe we're already in August! This summer sure is going quickly. I remember my New Year's scrappy resolution was to start using my stamps more often. I've even been buying more stamps to get me inspired. So I decided to host a stamping challenge at Pages in Time, and would love to see you there!
http://pagesintimestoresite.ning.com/forum/topics/august-stamping-challenge