C.S.I. Case File #12

I was SO inspired by this case file as soon as I saw it! I just LOVE the gorgeous monochromatic color scheme, and was immediately inspired by the balloon paper that I printed from the site. I also printed the banners and journaling tag, which is hidden behind the photo of my adorable son when he was just 2 months old.

Here's a look at the case file and how I approached it.

Evidence:

*hot-air balloon image - I cut my balloon with my Cricut (Summer in Paris cartridge) and  hand stitched the netting with beads.

*something fluffy -I used white yarn around the border.

*stars -I made the background paper from white cardstock, masking stars, sprayed with Glimmer Mists, in Bahama Blue and Snowy Pine.

Testimony:

*use string on your journaling spot - I machine stitched around the journaling. 

*I used the inpsirational word magic,  using magical in my journaling seen here.

Here's a close-up of the balloon.

Thanks for looking!

Nothing can compare to Paris

   Nothing can compare to Paris! That's what my French title translates to in English. I  knew that these photos that my late Uncle took in 1974, would be perfect for a couple of March challenges at Scrapbook.com. The first one, Distressed in March, had some tutorials to choose from for a twist, including my Enchanted love blooms, but I chose the ruffled flower border found here.  http://www.scrapality.com/2012/02/using-flowers-to-create-ruffled-border.html I made the flowers using my new French script stamp on the petals. The rest of the flowers I found in my stash, including the dark roses, which I made some time ago. I did a lot of water distressing and machine sewing on here.

   The second challenge, Feeling French, gave us a list of French items to include, and we had to use at least 3. 

 I chose an Eiffel tower, which I cut with my Cricut, (Summer in Paris cartridge) French word or phrase, (My title), a fleur de lis, (the pp), and lace, which I sprayed with Cranberry Glimmer Mist. I added silver hooks to my paper to create the lacing. I stamped the Can-can girls, pink flower, ticket, and french script on the flowers and pink paper behind the Eiffel tower.

Here's some close-ups.

Thanks for looking!Have a great weekend!

Liebster Blog Award

I got a really nice surprise today from a friend and fellow scrapper, Lisa Duke. She presented me with this Liebster Blog Award. I'm SO honored!! Just click on her name to check out her fabulous blog. Thanks so much Lisa!!

"Liebster" is German for "Dearest". The award is a  "Share the love arrangement", given to inspirational bloggers with less than 200 followers. Here is the to do list for any of the  "Liebster" blog award recipients. 

1. Thank your Liebster Blog award presenter on your blog.

2. Link back to the blogger who presented you the award.

3.Copy and paste the award on your blog.

4. Present the Liebster Blog Award to 5 bloggers with less than 200 followers.

5. Let them know they have been chosen by leaving a comment on their blog.

I am happy to now honor some fairly new bloggers with this award...

Misty
Adriana
Cindy
Jessica
Lisa

Serenity Blooms Tutorial

  I just couldn't wait to get my hands on this new Serenity line from Bo Bunny! I knew they'd be perfect for these photos! It's been over two months since I've done a 2 pager, and it felt good to do one again. I started by cutting the lantern pp on the ends, and cut 1/2" strips in some places which I rolled and glued.I hand cut the red scallop paper and stamped the circle design along each scallop. I also stamped the flower centers and 3 of the lanterns. I used my twisted stitch to make the circle around the photo of me and my honey.

Here's a look at the journaling.

This is one of the lanterns that I stamped and cut out.

Here's a look at one of the flowers I'll be showing you how to make.

I made these in small, medium, and large. I'll be demonstrating  how to make the large red flower, but I'll give you the sizes for all of them.

Supplies:

Paper, Cricut (Mother's Day Bouquet cartridge), BoBunny Serenity Stamps, black ink, and black puffy paint.

First cut flower #7 using the Mother's Day Bouquet Cricut cartridge in whatever pp you're using. For the large flower cut one at 2 1/2" and one at 1 1/2". For the medium one I cut 2" and 1 1/4", and for the small flower I cut 1 1/2" and 1".

Then I used black distress ink on all the edges.

Now to curl your flowers. I dipped my bigger flower into water and used the end of a paintbrush to curl the petals down. For the smaller flower, curl your petals towards the center, and dry with a heat gun. 

The Serenity stamps have two small flowers which I used for my centers. The larger one I used for the large and medium flowers, and the smaller one I used on all the small flowers. Using the same paper you're making your flowers from, stamp the larger flower using black ink, and cut it out leaving a little of the paper around the edges.

 Without using water, I curled up the edges of the center.

Now just layer and glue all your flowers together starting with the largest on the bottom.

To finish it off I added a drop of black puffy paint in the middle.

Thanks for stopping by!

C.S.I. Case File #9

Hello! I hope you're all having a great weekend! I just wanted to share my latest page for C.S.I. I was very inspired by this case file and had to go with a  pic of myself for this one.

Here's a look at Case File #9.

From the evidence I chose:
*text pattern ( I made the background from cream cardstock, gesso, mists, inks, and torn up dictionary pages.)
*bird accent (I used my Cricut (Home Accents)
*Hot air balloon accent ( I used my Cricut Summer in Paris)
*Mesh ( I stamped a mesh pattern on my background.)
*Something translucent ( I used sheer ribbon tied in bows around the border)

From the testimony I chose:
*Document a journey
*six word memoir (My title)
*Inspiration words:Wing, ( I painted the chipboard butterfly wind and attached it to myself, and I also have the definition for wing on the lower right hand side of my background paper), roam, also on the background but mainly on my title, and surround which is in the first sentence of my journaling.

Here's a closer look at my journaling.

And a closer look at a cloud and the background.

I had a lot of fun with this case file! If you haven't had a chance yet to check out C.S.I., I highly recommend it! 

Lemon Flower Tutorial

Hello! Here's a page I did for C.S.I. Case File #8. I also have another flower tutorial for you.

Here's the case file. I just LOVE this color palette! 

Here's what I did with the evidence:
*Liquid mediums (I used Glimmer mist on the light blue cardstock and on my journaling, which was done on white cardstock)
*Something that sparkles (The light green bling in the center of the flowers)
*Solid background (The light blue cardstock)
*Use the composition (I positioned my flowers similar to the glasses from the scene)
*Embellishment slice (The flowers were inspired by lemon slices as well as the scallop border I made on the left)

The testimony I used was recipe, and I included a lemonade recipe.

Here's a look at the journaling.

For the lemon flowers I'll show you how to make the larger flower on the left.

Supplies:
Yellow and white cardstock, Cricut (Mother's Day Bouquet), ink, glue, and bling or brad for the centers.

Instructions:
Using your Cricut machine with the Mother's Day Bouquet cartridge, cut out 3 flowers #12 from yellow cardstock at  2", 2 1/2", and 3".
From the white cardstock cut out 3 circles at 2 1/4", 2 3/4" and 3 1/4".

Then ink the edges of the yellow flowers with whatever ink you want. I used an olive green on mine.

Now glue your yellow flowers onto the white circles.  Then distress all the edges using a distressing tool or scissors. After distressing around the whole circle, I used my nails to create creases next to the scallops. 

Next you'll need to shape your flower. I used the ends of a paintbrush along the white lines to shape it. I shaped the petals up and down holding the brush on top of the flower and then shaping the one next to it, under the flower. It will easily crease and make pleats, which is why I use the paintbrush to give it more of a curvy look.

Then glue all your layers together starting with the largest on the bottom.I used a green rhinestone for the center, but a brad or button would also look good. 

Here's your finished flower.

For the other 2 flowers I used a smaller flower center and cut it out at 1 1/2". I hope you enjoyed this tutorial! Thanks for stopping by!

Seize the day

I was going through my Uncle Bob's photo albums again, and found these photos that worked perfectly with Bobunny's Etc. line. I wish I knew where this was! I do know it's in Europe somewhere. I masked the compass on top, embossed the key and globe, and stamped the small postcards on the right. I printed the column from an image I found on-line, and then inked it with my distress inks.The blue and cream roses I had in my stash of homemade flowers, and I misted them to dull them out a little. Along the right I also did some hand stitching, with a zigzag stitch. This was done for a challenge at Flying Unicorn, to use neutrals+one other color. Obviously I used blue. I also did a lot of fussy cutting with the column, and embellies, so I'm also entering it into Funtoolas February challenge for fussy cutting, which you can find here.
http://funtoolas.ning.com/forum/topics/february-fussy-cutting-challenge.

Here's a close-up of the embossed key. I wanted it to look rusty and old.

I also made the bling using liquid pearls in gold and baby blue.

Thanks for stopping by!

C.S.I. Case File #7

Even though last week's colors for C.S.I. Case File #7 were WAY out of my comfort zone, after coming across this photo that my late uncle took, I knew I had to give it a go.

Here's a look at the case file.

This is how I used the
Evidence:
*Distressing
*Metals (the red brads)
*Container (I have hidden journaling behind the photo)
*Stripes (the ribbon on my tag)
*Cluster similar things ( I clustered the flamingo's, flowers, and leaves
*I have organic shapes with the large heart, and curvy lines

Testimony:
I used the inspiration word Natural in my title.

Here's a photo of my journaling tag.

I made the leaves by painting pink around the edges and finishing with stickles. I used lilac Glimmer mist for the background paper, and for the Prima floral mask that I used on a very light green pp.

I cut the flamingo's using my Cricut Life's a beach cartridge. I used charcoal grey puffy paint to make the eyes.

I'm so happy I challenged myself to do something I wouldn't have done on my own. It's through challenging ourselves that we can grow and learn. As for the new case file, I'm LOVING the colors, and can't wait to play again!

Unique Crafter's Spotlight

Woo hoo!!! I've been selected by Unique Crafter's for a special spotlight, featuring my California Happy Cows LO. Here's the link. http://uniquecrafterschallenge.blogspot.com/2012/02/spotlight.html

Here's a link to my original post with a flower tutorial.

http://dreasscrapsofinspiration.blogspot.com/2011/09/country-time-flower-tutorial.html

Valentine's Day Card

I hope you all had a good Valentine's Day! Unfortunately I've been fighting a very bad fever and cold since last Sunday. At least I was able to enjoy my birthday. I did manage to make this card for my very sweet husband. I stamped and cut out all the hearts using decorative scissors. This is also my entry for the February Card Challenge at Funtoolas. Come check it out!http://funtoolas.ning.com/forum/topics/february-card-challenge

C.S.I. Case File #5

I hope you all enjoyed your weekend! I celebrated a fabulous birthday yesterday! Here's a page I did for C.S.I. Case File #5. I struggled with this all week,  just letting it sit on my scrap table. Finally it all came together over the weekend. I started by painting the floral mask onto muslin fabric.

Here's the Case File.

For my evidence I used frames, cutting tools, (border punch, floral punch, and Cricut,) leaves, and corners. I made the frame around the whole page out of yarn, leaves, and flowers, which I made. I used my Mini Wildflowers Tutorial to make the centers http://dreasscrapsofinspiration.blogspot.com/2011/07/mini-wildflowers.html. The outside layers are flower #3 cut from the Mother's Day Bouquet Cartridge for the Cricut. I journaled around the frame which I have hidden behind the top photo. I also used the IW hidden.

TFL!

Enchanted Love Blooms Tutorial

Hello! I've been on a roll lately making flowers, so I have another flower tutorial for you. I scrapped this photo of me and my hubby from our last wedding anniversary. I really wanted to incorporate the colors and gems for our 10 year anniversary. The colors were silver and blue, and since the gems were diamonds and sapphires, I choose to use a sapphire blue to accent these beautiful Bo Bunny papers from their Enchanted collection. All of the blue you see except for the bling and sparkly paper behind the photo is paint. I started by painting around the edges of the whole page, and used the same technique to paint my flowers.

Here's some close-ups of the flowers.

To make these you'll need some black and white cardstock, black ink, silver embossing powder, paint, a script stamp, a flourish or swirl stamp, and the Mother's Day Bouquet cartridge for your Cricut.For the purposes of this tutorial I'll be showing you how to make the largest black and silver flower. To make the white ones, you'll follow the same steps, but just omit the embossing and use black ink. So they're actually easier. I cut out 2 flowers #25 at 4" and 4 flowers #14 at 3/4", 1", 1 1/4", and 1 1/2" out of black cardstock.

Take the largest 2 flowers and stamp and emboss with silver, using any kind of flourish or swirl stamp. I used Basic Grey's Flourish Edges on mine.

Then do the same with the smaller flowers using a script stamp. If you don't have one, just use the same flourish or swirl stamps. 

Then paint around all the edges of your flower using a contrasting color of paint.

Take the larger flowers and curl the petals up, giving a slight pinch at the ends. 

Curl up all your petals on the smaller flowers too. 

Now just glue all your layers together starting from largest to smallest. I added a rhinestone in the center. I love how elegant these flowers look! Thanks for stopping by!