London Calling

I had a blast making this LO for my sister-in-law of her recent trip to England! What better challenge to enter this in, than the British challenge at Scrapbook.com. It's also for the multi-pic challenge, and my example for the Sewing Challenge that I host. The twist that I gave was to stitch your title. I used some old chipboard letters to trace my title and hand-stitched it in blue. I did lots of masking and stamping on this page. My favorite part though is the phone booth that I made out of a shirt gift box. I used an exacto knife to cut it out, and then painted it red before adding a shiny top coat. The windows on the sides are backed with clear transparency paper. I cut the crown out with my Cricut (home decor cartridge), and actually used the back of an old envelope that was gold. I love when I can recycle things into my work! Besides the blue background paper all the other papers are from Tim Holtz Lost and found collection.

Here's some close-ups. The stamped Big Ben started out as a mistake. I stamped it in black ink, but it didn't take in the middle. At first I was just going to cover the whole image with the gold embossed framed and colored image, but I liked the way it looked angled off of the original stamp. Sometimes mistakes can turn into something even better than you had imagined. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Memorial Day!

I hope everyone's enjoying the rest of the 3 day weekend! I have another page to share, but first I'd like to thank all the men and women who have served our country, fought,  and given their lives for our freedom! So thank you!!!

I made this page from my son's 10th birthday for the Chocolate challenge going on at Scrapbook.com. I started by editing the photos in Photoshop, so that just the cake is in color. I did some punching and machine stitching. It's pretty simple for me, but at least I finished it pretty quick. TFL!

Fashion Layout Challenge

    Hello! Don't you just LOVE these adorable photos of my cousin Janie's little girl? She's so cute!!! As soon as I saw these pics on facebook, I knew I had to scrap them. I played with them in Photoshop, making them black and white with a pop of pink, revealing the flower in her hair.
   This is my entry for the Spring Splurge Challenge going on @ Scrapbook.com. I missed the last few weeks, but had to jump in for the Fashion Layout week. This is also my entry for Funtoolas May color challenge to use black, white, and pink.

I created the mirror by cutting the frame using my Cricut (Storybook cartridge). I cut 2 strips of white cardstock to create the legs, topping them both off with Diamond stickles. I thought the circles on top looked like lights, so I backed them with black cardstock and applied Glossy Accents to make light bulbs. The mirror was cut using a smokey silver shiny paper. It looks much better in real life and actually reflects like a mirror. I created the background paper with stamps and markers. The rest of the papers are Bo Bunny's Enchanted line. I can't remember where I got the hangar, but have had it for a while now.

I made the flower using this tutorial from my friend Wendy. http://wendysscrappincorner.blogspot.com/2010/07/tutorial.html

I printed the quote in photoshop, which my cousin had originally used on one of the photos. I outlined it with Diamond stickles, and thought it was just PERFECT for these pics! "Give a girl the right shoes and she can conquer the world."- Marilyn Monroe

A Mother's Love

I found this photo of my mother-in-law with her mom in a stack of old photos that my husband had. I've been meaning to scrap it for years, and thought Mother's Day would be the perfect time to do so. I assumed that my mother-in-law gave this photo to my husband, but she had never seen it. She did know that it was near the time that her mother had passed. Unfortunately, I never got the chance to meet my husbands Grandmother, but I know she was loved and very special. It was an honor to make this for my Mother-in-law, and I know she'll treasure it forever.

I made all the blue flowers, stamping some. I also stamped the floral border on the bottom. The background  started out as a light peach, before I added a mask, gesso, and some glimmer mists. I felt that these older BoBunny (Gypsy) pp's worked perfectly with this photo. I've been hoarding these papers forever, and only used them once before, so it felt good to play with this line. Here's a close-up of some of the flowers.

Here's a close-up of the stamped border.

Thanks for stopping by!

Pinkish Pleated Flower Tutorial

I'm back with another flower tutorial as promised. I made this LO for my mom for Mother's Day, of her mom back in the day. I'm entering it into quite a few challenges:heritage photo,distressed, and May Flowers at Scrapbook.com, embossing challenge at Funtoolas, scrap for help, pick your bouquet at Flying Unicorn, and the Paper Mixing Bowl.

Here was the recipe I used from the Paper Mixing Bowl.

Utensils:
*rub-ons/stamps-I stamped the chain link looking fence on the paper on the left. I also stamped and embossed the smaller flowers.
*Flowers-I made 3 different styles of flowers, and added 2 silk ones.So I guess I get brownie points.
*Paint or mist-I used paint and mist on the cardboard background, and an antique bronze glaze for the pearls and some of the flower centers.
*buttons-I used a couple of my Grandma's buttons on here.
*Weaving-I wove embroidery floss on the mini card that I made, which is tucked under the photo on the right.

Directions:
I used the inspirational word mother and made a mini folded card. Here's the inside of it.

For Funtoola's http://funtoolas.ning.com/forum/topics/may-embossing-challenge I embossed the small flowers and key.

The old envelope under the key was a requirement for Scrap for help, and I printed it from a list on their blog.http://scrapforhelp.blogspot.ca/ You also had to use something recycled, so  I used the cardboard and a brown shopping bag behind the photo, and for some of the small embossed flowers.

Now for the tutorial! Here's a close-up of the large flower I'll be making.

Supplies:
Cricut-Plantin Schoolbook cartridge
white cardstock
blending tool
Distressed ink pads (victorian velvet, aged mahogany, tea dye, and frayed burlap)
Scissors
glue
brad for the center

First cut your flowers with your cricut onto white cardstock at 4", 3", 2 1/2", 2", 1 1/2", and 1".

Then use your scissors to cut the ends of the petals so they're more natural and not so straight.

Using your blending tool, apply distress ink onto the flowers using tea dye, victorian velvet, and aged mahogany.

Using the largest flower, spray with water and fold in half. The water will react with the ink, blending the colors together.

Now just fold your petals like an accordian, back and forth. You might have to spray your petals again if they're not wet enough, but don't get them too wet cause they can tear or rip.

Carefully open up your flower. It should look something like this.

Then use your blending tool to apply frayed burlap distress ink onto the pleats that you just created.

Next shape your flower curling your petals out and down like this.

Now take the next 2 smaller sized flowers, and repeat the steps above, up until shaping the flower. This time you want to curl your petals up and  inwards like this.

Make the next 2 smaller sized flowers exactly like the large one, curling your petals out and down.

The smallest flower gets curled inwards. Glue all the layers together starting with the largest flower on the bottom. Add a brad through the center to finish it off.

You can make so many different variations of this just by changing the colors, and playing with your inks. I know I'll be trying it!

Happy belated Mother's Day!

I just wanted to say happy belated Mother's Day to all those mother's out there who just happen to read my blog! I had a relaxing and laid back day, starting with a great breakfast cooked and prepared by my  husband and son. My husband was so sweet to make  me a card for the first time, using my own scrap supplies. It was the best card I ever got from him, and what he wrote on the inside was even better! He stamped it himself and got into my box of hand-made flowers. I just wish I would've been there to take pictures. Hehe!!

But the thing I'll treasure most was this adorable note from my son attached to my gift bag! He's so funny, and you never know what'll come out of his mouth!

I'll be sharing my Mother's day projects over the next week. I'll also have a new flower tutorial for you, so stay tuned. 

Happy National Scrapbook Day

Happy National Scrapbook Day! I know I haven't posted in awhile, but I've been busy working on some gifts, which I'll post in a few weeks. I've also decided to start my own business scrapping for others. I still have lots to do,  but if you have some special photos you want done, just email me at drea313s@yahoo.com.

C.S.I. Case File #15

Hello! I finally got C.S.I. Case File #15 done! All week I've had to battle running out of color ink in my printer, spring cleaning, and having a broken monitor last night. New monitor, new ink, and finished LO, so I can get back to my spring cleaning. These photos of my nephew Neo were just meant for this Case File!  I printed out the attachments from the blog, and had so much fun using the monsters and other embellies on these pages. This was based on  a January 2012 pagemaps sketch.

Here's a look at the Case File.

From the evidence I chose:
*monsters-I printed and hand-cut them.
*metal-Paper clip on the tickets
*zigzags-They're everywhere here, from the hand-stitching, rick rack, matting, and the masked zig zag paper I created on the left and on the circle.
*stacking/layers
*frame the page-I'm not sure if it counts, but I used the orange frame under the large photo.

From the testimony I chose:
*To start my journaling with Let the wild rumpus begin!
*I also used the IW wild, and fun

Thanks for looking!!

Opening Day

Spring is here, and besides flowers blooming, and birds chirping, it's also the start of the baseball season. Every time I mention to my husband that I can't decide what to scrap next, he always says his baseball photos, so I think he was surprised when I actually agreed this time. I've been slowly working on an album from his baseball glory days, but I'm not a sports fan, and always have the hardest time creating his pages. It's hard finding baseball papers, especially in these colors, so I had to be creative.

I started with this sketch that I used for the April 2 page sketch challenge at Scrapbook.com taken from Pagemaps.

This is also my 2nd entry into the April Paint it on challenge, at Flying Unicorn, and my entry for the banner challenge going on at Funtoolas. I used plain cardstock to make this 2 pager. I started with white, and used a combination of masking, painting, doodling (the black splotches), and inking.  The tag with the date and the row of black circles on top were stamped. I made the banner using my bunting banner tutorial found here. http://dreasscrapsofinspiration.blogspot.com/2011/08/bunting-banner-tutorial-and-contest.html I made this one bigger and cut out the 2 black ovals at 4 1/2", and the 2 yellow ovals at 3 1/2". I also distressed the edges.

I hand stitched the red laces in between the photos.

I made the frame from cardboard and paint.

Thanks for stopping by, and enjoy the weekend!

$100 Scrapbook.com Gift Certificate

I just found this awesome new blog with a very generous $100 gift certificate to a lucky new follower! Here's her site!
http://kristinwilsonhandmade.blogspot.com/2012/03/huge-100.html#comment-form

Hoppy Easter

Happy Easter everyone!!!Here's some pics of my son 3 years ago, with the Easter Bunny. I had so much fun cooking this up for the second challenge at The Paper Mixing Bowl!

You start out with the main ingredient, which was white, a list of ingredients, measurements (a sketch), and directions (journaling). Here's a look at the recipe.

Utensils:
*Chipboard elements-I used chipboard in my title and the 3 small circles on my doilies.
*Stitching-the blue background paper was already stitched, so I did a straight machine stitch around the scalloped white cardstock.
*Corner/edge punches or decorative scissors-I used 2 different Martha Stewart edge punches, and decorative scissors around the blue cardstock under the doilies.
*Doilies-Got it.
*stickles/liquid pearls-I'm not sure if it counts, but I used puffy paint to make the white bling.
*Oval elements-Egg shapes behind the large doily.

Directions:
I used the inspirational words fresh, and Spring, in my journaling, which I did on an oval shape.

Now that's my kind of cooking! Thanks for stopping by, and enjoy the rest of your Easter!

C.S.I. Case File #13

Hello! I hope you're all enjoying your week. I can't believe Easter is  this weekend! I wanted to share another page I did for C.S.I. Case File #13.  This was based on a sketch at Funtoolas. I'm also entering it in the  Paint it on Challenge at Flying Unicorn, and the  April Showers and one-pic challenges at Scrapbook.com. I love when I can combine challenges!

Here's a look at the case file.

This is such a beautiful color scheme and makes for some great nature photos! At first I struggled with the evidence, so I surprised myself by using 5 out of the 7.

Evidence:

*string/yarn/fiber-That was easy and right up my ally. I used yarns and fiber on my journaling tag. I also used embroidery floss to hand-stitch the butterflies, and for the circle using my twisted stitching technique found here.http://dreasscrapsofinspiration.blogspot.com/2011/06/pages-in-time-interactive-blog-hop.html

*map print-I cut up a travel brochure that I picked up while on vacation and sewed a pocket out of it.

*jewels-The light blue rhinestones I used on the flourishes that I stamped and embossed using clear embossing powder.

*spiral flower- The big green and light blue flowers I made out of a brown shopping bag using paint for the edges like I did for the background. 

*tuck in a little surprise-I cut out a seahorse using my Cricut (Life is a beach cartridge) which I tucked into my map pocket, so when you take the tag out it's a little hidden surprise.

Testimony:
*Partially hidden journaling- I made a tag.
*Inspiration word-I used the word delight in my journaling.

I just want to give a thank you to Krista AKA Puppet for the butterflies! I inked and stitched them.Thanks for stopping by!

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!