MyMadkow

Monday Mojo

Hi everyone!!! I'm so excited!! My first Monday Mojo post is up at Scrapbudz!!

I chose to do a mini album.....with a twist!! Actually, it will be my new 'Scrapbook Organizer'. Something I can have in my scrap room, which will be especially useful when I'm online ordering more goodies!! Or I can even take with me when I go to Michaels, or Hobby Lobby, etc. Here's the cover.....

 
Want the deets? Then head on over to Scrapbudz!!! And while you're there, check out the April Sketch Challenge!!!

 

Love ya,

Lynne

Mom & A Resolution

I haven't made very many LO's of my Mom.....for the same reason that I don't scrap myself. It's a weird thing, but, neither one of us photographs very well. For that matter, neither did my Gma (Mom's Mom)!! So, there are not very many pics of us, because, well.....we don't like having our pictures taken, for this very reason!!

Strange thing is, that we were on Skype last night, with DD & DGS (for the first time!!), and video seems to be okay. Neither one of us looked like we were ready to kill!! Yep, that's exactly how we photograph!!

Anyways, I did find one pic of my Mom, from last summer, that I scrapped. Here it is......

 
Pic turned out great.....pic of LO is off!! Okay, so I got an artist easel for Christmas, the kind that opens up to about six foot tall. My Dad thought that it would be easier to take pics, while standing up, instead of having to bend down & over like I was doing!! Soooo, I'm trying to figure out the best angle to take my pics, and apparently, I still need to work on that!! But not with this one......I've photographed this LO about 10 different times already, and I'm not doing it again!!

I made this  shortly after Christmas, with the November Swirlydoos kit!!! I know! Can you believe that I hadn't used up every piece before then? Well, I saved up some of the House of Three/Pink Paislee & Heidi Swapp papers for something special. I think that Mom is special!!

I cut a small strip off of the Heidi Swapp paper, distressed and inked the edge, and then added a border from the House of Three paper behind it. Love the combination of colors. I've been finding that I'm using colors that I've rarely used before...such as yellow!! I've always found it to be a very hard color to work with!!

So here's a closeup of the frame.....

 
I cut the frame from one of the pp, and stickled (is that a word) all of the black, and then raised it with sticky-back foam, and tucked in some black ribbon blooms from May Arts.

 
The butterfly is K&CO, and those little daisies, are Martha Stewart, and are as old as the hills!!! One of the first embellies that I bought a few years ago!!

I guess that's part of my New Year's Resolution ......use what you've got, and use up your stash!!! I have way too much stuff, and it's gotten to the point that I forget what I have. Honestly, it's hard to go back and use up what you have.....especially with all of the new gorgeous products coming out!! But I'm working on it......I'm attempting to use up at least one older embellie on each new LO/project that I make!!

All of the stamps are from the Rockin' Renaissance collection from Tattered Angels. LOVE these stamps!!! Alphas are from MME's Lush collection.

 
Another fave (maybe I should do a post on that!), the birdcage die from Tim!! This time, I used some packaging from a Jolee's bead pack!! I love that it was already printed, and shaded. I just used a bit of Distress Ink on the edges. The little bird was made from scraps. Flowers are handmade. I mixed up a few flower tutorials from Lisa at What A Beautiful Mess to get the look I wanted. I used cardstock from SEI, yeah it's not doubled sided......older piece, but the white breaks up the yellow a bit. I cut the flowers with the Home Decor cartridge on my Cricut. I used a bit of homemade glitter mist, and then added some aqua beads for the centers and stickled the edges. 

Here's a better closeup of the beading.....

 
The dangles.....love this!! Again using up my stash. The large black dangle is one piece from Blingage by Teresa Collins. I took it apart, because the whole thing was just too big. And yes, that also came in the kit. The itty bitty journal card is also House of Three/Pink Paislee.

Okay, one more......

 
Have I told you, how much I love these stamps? OMG! Yes, they're on the small size, but the detail on them is amazing!! Brad is also MME from their Lush collection.

So that's it for today. Remember, use up your stash!! Mix your oldies with your newbies!! Start using up all of that stuff you've been saving for something special!! And in the process, you'll gain room for more!!!   LOLOLOLOL

Love ya,

Lynne

Retrospective

Warning: Pic intensive!

So, I decided to jump on the bandwagon!! Quite a few, of the many blogs that I visit, are doing their top ten (twelve) favorites for 2010. Sounded like a good idea....but not so easy to do!! I have so many faves, that it was really hard to narrow down. Plus, I wanted to show you where my inspiration comes from, so that made it even harder to pick which LOs or projects I wanted to show. But I got it down to twelve! Yes, twelve....there was no way I could do just ten!

I also decided to show them to you in alphabetical order, by name, of those bloggers who have most affected my work. Again, no easy task, as there are sooo many!!

So here we go.......

Charlene at Paper and Ink Playground. Love all of the gorgeous cards, gift boxes and sets, that she makes!! I would never have thought to make something like this gift card holder, were it not for her.

 

Denise at Vintage Scrappin. Denise's LOs are stunning!! She has a knack for adding gorgeous details to all of her projects. I'm sure that she's not aware, of how much of an influence that she has been on the evolution of my scrapping.

 

 
Dyan Reaveley at Art and Soul. Love her quirky style and sense of humor!! Dyan is an art journaler; and she says it like it is. Of course, she inspired me to do this LO.

 

Ingvild at Spinnvild. That woman is so talented!! Her style is fresh & funky, and filled with beautiful flowers, and embellishments.

 

Irene at Scrapperlicious. Her style varies so much, and I love it!! Just when I think that I've figured out her style, she does something totally different. I never know what she's going to come up with, and that's motivating!

 

 
Karola at Karola Kraftuje. Love her gorgeous LOs and projects!! No matter what products she uses, her projects are always romantic & very feminine.

 

Lisa at What A Beautiful Mess. If you've ever wanted to make your own flowers, or you want to learn some new techniques....this is definitely the blog to go to!! Awesome tutorials!!

 

 
Lynne at The Next Best Thing by Lynne. From romantic to clean & simple. From vintage to retro. Lynne's style is all her own!! Gorgeous projects and LOs, from a fresh perspective.

 

Melissa Phillips at Lilybean's Paperie. Full of vintage, romantic, sugary, glittery projects!! Amazing projects, for any occasion!

 

Paulien at Paulien Van Den Bosch. One of the first blogs I came across. Love her style!! This woman does it all, and does it very well!!  

 

 

The Snobby Walrus DTs. These ladies are some of the most talented scrappers around!! I learned a lot while working with them!! Check out their blogs..... Birgit, Ilene, JJ, Keri, and Ria.

 

 
Tim Holtz. What can I say....the man is uber talented!!!

Thank you all for sharing your LOs, & projects!! For being real, open-hearted and quick to share your ideas and techniques.....you've changed my life, for the better, in more ways, than you'll ever know. Thank you!!

I'm sure that there are many, many more scrappers & bloggers, that have inspired me over the last year!! But these are by far, the best & most talented folks out there!! Soooooo, check out their blogs.....I know you'll be as inspired as I was!

 

Love ya,

Lynne

 

 

 

Older & Wiser?

Okay, so I'm a year older.....yesterday was my 51st birthday!! Ack!! I can't believe I said that!! So...I'm definitely older. But wiser? Well, if you count the grey hairs, hot flashes & get out of my face comments, well, then yes!! I am learning to let me, be me!! About time, don't you think?

Speaking of learning, I got the most wonderful gift from my parents this Christmas.....Adobe Photoshop Elements 9!!! Sooooo freaking excited about that!! I've been working on it a little bit at a time. That's about all I can handle!! I had Elements 2.....OMG, I couldn't even get a book for that one!!! Everything I tried to do on this program, was a chore. Though, I am thankful & grateful that Kevin allowed me to use it, and that I started using v.9 with some understanding & knowledge. Looking forward to learning how to use all of the cool effects & maybe start doing digital LOs!!

I know that I haven't talked much about this Christmas....it was hard to not have all of my kids here. I suppose that by not talking about it, I didn't have to face the fact that I miss them sooooo verrry, verrry much!! -- getting teary eyed! So, all things considered, it turned out to be very nice, but quiet. And with a few special surprises thrown in for good measure!! More on that later!

Okay, enough of the sappy stuff....on to the project.......

More Precious Than Gold

 
Love this pic of my DD Ashley, it was taken this summer, when she came to visit, before setting off for El Paso. I love this pic of her....she may not agree...and that's okay!! I chose the colors from her shirt....purple, very regal. And naturally, the title came easily, after that. Besides...she is more precious than gold!!!

I've been having a hard time getting good pics of my LOs, lately....the sun hasn't been out much.......that really doesn't help....I think it's just more depressing. 

Using up my  Swirlydoos 'Irresistible' kit.....love this one!! That gorgeous House of Three/Pink Paislee paper, is slathered in gold Ranger Perfect Pearls Mist! I also added lots of Prima flowers & more flowers, ribbons & doodads from Flights of Fancy.

Here's a collage (thank you Adobe!!) of the closeups.....

Okay, so I'm still learning!!! I've seen this on other blogs, and thought it was so cool, I just had to learn this one first! I also used Lisa's circle corner punch technique, on the paper, only I reversed the effect. Love this technique.....you gotta check out her blog for the tut, and then try it!! So simple, you'll wonder why you didn't think of it first!! I sure did!! LOL I'll post the direct link on my sidebar.

I used a gold leafing pen, by Krylon on the frame from Teresa Collins. Gold resin swirls are from Jolee's. Vintage corset image is from Altered Pages, via one of my Snobby Walrus kits. Speaking of, I really miss SW, Tracy & the DTs!!!! Hoping that everything is okay, and that everyone will be back soon!! 

Don't feel too bad for me....I get to visit DD & my grand-son Mason in a couple of weeks!! Can't wait!!! Going to Puerto Rico to see Kevin, will be more challenging. Somehow, it will work out. BTW, did you apply for the Webster's Pages DT call? I sure did, just in the nick of time! Will I make it? Only if it's meant to be!!!

And don't forget to enter my Second Chance RAK!! Only a few more days left!!

That's it for now, gotta get some sleep before going to work tonight!! Ugh!! First night is always tough!!

Love ya,

Lynne

 

 

It's The Simple Things

As you all know by now, I blog hop a lot. A while back I stumbled onto the Let's Get Shabby blog, and a few days later, I realized that they do challenges. Okay, so somewhere along the way I totally missed that!! But kudos to me for finding it eventually!! LOL And kudos to them for an awesome challenge!

So, what's my point? Well, I've decided to enter one of their challenges. To be specific....Challenge # 11 It's All About Color. Although it's not the first challenge I've ever entered....it's been a long time since I've done that. And I actually didn't decide to do this LO of Mason for the challenge, it came about the other way around. 

I made this LO last week. It started out to be based on a sketch that I saw somewhere....can't remember exactly which blog. But that doesn't matter, since I totally strayed away from the sketch!! At the time, I was looking to do something fun & different....so, lots of color here. I also wanted my mat to hold 2 pics, and to have a bit of flair to it. Not sure if I accomplished the last part, but I'm happy with the results. How did I come about entering it in the challenge? Well, this morning, I decided to check out some of my fave blogs, including Let's Get Shabby, and I realized that my LO would be perfect for the challenge!

So here's the LO........

Mason is a hoot! It really doesn't take much to make him happy! Usually!!!! Anyways, he loves being outside, and he loves to carry anything, keys, flowers, magnets, etc., hence the title! This time, he's got Mom's keys. This pic was taken in December, just before they moved to Vermont. Little did he know that he would be spending the winter inside....he hates the snow!!!! And that doesn't make him happy!!

Here's a closeup of the flowers.....

 
Because the yellow flowers just got lost in the background, I decided to layer them over a punched yellow circle. My pic really doesn't do them any justice. How do you like the faux stitching? Got that one from Pinky. I have included a link to her tutorial for this technique in the left sidebar.

I used a lot of older papers here, including Bazzill Cardstock, K&Co, Teresa Collins, My Little Shoebox & American Crafts. Brads are by Basic Grey, Border sticker (green paisley) is by K&Co. Flowers & Ladybugs are EKSuccess & Alphas are from Heidi Swapp & Cosmo Cricket. As a sidebar, I am so loving Cosmo Cricket these days!!!

Well, that's it for now. I'm off to get a haircut (maybe)...long story of really bad haircuts!! And I might just hit Michaels, and def Stein Mart....I need some summer clothes!

Thanks for stopping by,

Love ya,

Lynne

My Crafty Little Secret

Shhhh!! Don't tell anyone......okay, tell everyone!! I made DT at Snobby Walrus!! I am sooo freaking excited about this!!! And very honored to be a part of such a great site & team!! So what is Snobby Walrus, you ask? I'll tell you....they are an amazing online store & monthly kit club. They are new, but you wouldn't believe the number of followers they already have. I still cannot believe this!!

Actually, I can't believe that I didn't let this out earlier!!! Yep, I knew a week ago. Here's the scoop....I've been checking out Scrapbook Calls & Contests, just to see what was out there, I do this periodically. I wavered back and forth about attempting to get on another Design Team, I'm already on the Posh team; and let's face it, one DT spot can be a lot of work!!!

Anyways, I checked out Snobby Walrus, and totally fell in love with the products that they carry in their store. That's when I decided that I would give it a go. I sent in my app, along with 3 LOs, and waited patiently. I never really thought that it would happen. About 2 weeks later, I finally caved in to my 'need' for more scrappy goods, and ordered some stuff from them.

Well, about a week ago, I got this email from Andrew (owner of SW), advising me that some of the stuff that I ordered, was going to be in the May kit, and since I was going to be receiving the kit, did I still want to order those same items? He says, "you'll be receiving this kit because, you have been chosen to be one of our new DTs"!!! I nearly fell off my chair!!! Not only because of the news, but also because I almost deleted his email since I had NO clue as to who he was!!!! LOL

SOoooo, I've been trying very hard to not tell, I think I did pretty good!! Now, I just have to re-write my 'resume'...only, I have to do it from the third-person point of view!!! This will def be interesting!! I am not a fan of 'essays', and even worse when it's about myself!!! But, I'm still excited!!!

I did get the kit, along with a few things that I ordered, and I thought that I would give you a sneak peek:

This kit is just gorgeous!!! There's def something in there for everyone!!! Go check it out for yourself. You won't be disappointed.

I gotta tell you, I've already done 3 LOs, and there's still so much left in the kit, that I can probably do another 4 to 5 more!!! How awesome is that!!! Will probably use some stuff to make DDs recipe album!! I actually decided that I would make 2 albums for her! One for chocolate, and the other for everything else!!! She'll love it...she's def a chocolate fiend!! I finally broke down and bought a mini album for the 'choco' one. I wouldn't want to overload her with recipes!! I will probably do the 'vintage' book cover for the other one! Gotta get a binder mechanism first.

Sooo that's my very exciting news!!! Okay, it is for me!!! Go check out Snobby Walrus, and while you're at it, check out some of the other DT's blogs:

Birgit

Ilene

JJ

KeriJade

Ria

That's about it for me today!! I know....no pics, no LOs, no cards!! What was I thinking?! Well, I wasn't....I'm too freaking excited to do that!!! Plus, I can't show you my Snobby Walrus projects yet!! You'll have to wait!!! Yep...this is def going to be difficult!!!

Love ya,

Lynne

WAIT!!!! I almost forgot!!! I do have something for you......go check out this 'Faux Stitching' video by Pinky. It's amazing that it looks sooo real!!! In case you forget where it might be in blogland (like me), I will post the link in the Tutorials section in the left sidebar.

Happy crafting 

It's Wonderful

Feeling like I've been neglecting my poor little blog!! Probably have. Been real busy. Trying to get my posts for Posh done. Working on a mini album for Kevin's girlfriend.  Have another commitment, that I've been working on, remember my little secret? Ashley wants a recipe album. For Easter, no less!!! That's probably NOT going to happen!!! LOL. At least she realizes that, but I will get started on it. Got a great idea to use the cover of a vintage book, and add a binder mechanism to make the album. I love the idea of doing this!! But then I love vintage, soooo....hopefully, Ashley will love it too, providing I can find the right album cover!!!

I added a few more blogs to my faves:

Much Ado About Nothing with Pinky. I thought for sure that I had this one up; my bad!! I have her other blog Dirty Scraps up.

Snobby Walrus You gotta check this one out!!!

The Graphics Fairy This one's a no brainer!! I just keep forgetting to put it in my list...in my defense, I do have their blinkie up!!!

Wendela this one replaces her old blog Creawen, which is still up & running. Lots of great stuff here.  

Plus......I joined another NING site!! Like I need more to do!!! I love it! It's called Scrappers of the Brier. It's soooo new, that there are only five of us as members!!! But, this one was founded by Angela Holt. Some of you know her from Pages In Time. That girl is soooo talented!!! You should see some of the blog headers, blinkies and avatars, that she has made. She also has quite a few videos & her LO's & projects are gorgeous!!

Also been thinking about doing my own blinkie. I've got an idea about what to do (pic, that is)....I just have to get it done!! No wonder, I've neglected the 'kow!! Been way too busy. The upside (well, for me anyways), is that tomorrow, I'm off shopping with DIL!! You know we're going to hit the craft stores!!! Esp the scrap stores! Soooooo...........

Here's an LO of my DD Ashley. Did this one for my DT post at Posh.

I always loved these pics that Kev took!! But, they are Polaroid shots!! Finally figured out that you can still scrap them. You just have to be careful to NOT cut or tear them. Cause the insides will ooze out onto your LO/project, and that will most def ruin your work!!

Just love the Cosmo Cricket paper!!! That company's scrappy stuff is sooo under-rated!!! I've passed them up soo many times, cause I was thinking, it's kids stuff. Wrong!!! Okay, some of it is. But a lot can be used for adult LOs too!! Check out my Warning! Warning!! Warning!!! post. Or, how about the Don't Try This At Home  post!!!!

Loving their scrappy stuff more and more every day!!!! I think my style is evolving too!! As much as I love vintage, I've been finding myself doing a lot more 'bright colored' pages.

Okay....I also used bits of K&Co paper & lots of their die-cuts (love!), and a Pink Paisley rubon. A few Prima flowers & some glimmer mist on the rolled fabric flower.

Got the flower idea from Rhonna Farrer at House of 3. Oh yeah!!! Almost forgot to tell you....I've also added a new list to the left sidebar, appropriately titled 'Tutorials'. I will add new and informative links to these great videos, as I find them, or in my case, re-find them!! I am soo bad at remembering where I got ideas/stuff from....so, this will be good for me!!!

I used home-made glitter mist on the rolled flower, and added a brad from Michaels (legs cut off) to the center. Here's another look.....

Home-Made Glitter Spray Recipe

 

You will need the following:

• Small spray bottle, travel size is best (I got mine at Wal-Mart)
• Rubbing Alcohol
• Alcohol Inks
• Perfect Pearls or Pearl Ex powders.

Open your spray bottle and pour rubbing alcohol into it, filling it about 3/4 of the way up.
Add three to five drops (you can use more to get a deeper color) of alcohol ink, in your choice of color.
I used two different greens to get the color I wanted.
Add about 1/2 teaspoon of pearl powder into bottle. Replace cap, and shake sideways!!!

Tip: If you shake it in an up and down motion, the pearl powders will clog the little tube in the sprayer, so make sure to always shake sideways!

This is definitely not an exact science. Okay, maybe for some of you!! LOL!! Just experiment with different colors & amounts of ink & pearl powders. You'll be amazed at the results!!! And you'll save lots of $$$.

Okay....one more pic...........

That little flourish, is a K&Co acrylic die-cut!! I layered it over packaging from Prima flowers, and then cut around it!!! Colors were perfect...the packaging really brings out the green in the die-cut!! Then I added 3 Martha Stewart black pearls to finish it off.

I've got a few more LOs in the works, plus.....all of the other stuff!! Hoping to be able to share my little secret soon!!! Meanwhile, I'll see you on your blogs!! Happy scrappin!!!

Love ya,

Lynne
 
 
 

Journey

Today is a good day!!! LOL, I guess you don't hear me say that too often!! I just got some good news.....and can't wait to share it with you. But,................I can't right now!!!! Maybe in the next couple of weeks, I'll be able to let you in on my little secret! But, until then.....

I have been shopping!!! Lots & lots of shopping. Online of course. And a lot of it was 'windows' shopping (get it?), but it's still shopping. I actually have a bunch of stuff coming soon. Am trying to figure out what I really want!! There's lots of new Cricut cartridges, all the new Tim Holtz stuff, all the new Prima, I want some Copic markers. Then there's all the new Webster's Pages, & Graphic 45!! Ugh, I could spend thousands...hence the 'windows' shopping!! Been thinking about a video camera, and a Big Shot Pro. Haven't quite decided on either yet.

Okay, so your probably wondering if I'm independently wealthy...I'm not! I just got my yearly bonus (not that great & taxes ate half!), and I decided that I needed to splurge a little! Will def put most $$ in savings, but have allowed myself a small chunk for scrappy goodness. So, you're probably also wondering why I'm spending $$ if I have to move. Well, I am not moving!! At least not til August & most likely not til the new year!!!!

Dan & Carol have also made some big decisions in their life!! And part of that is staying with me at least til August, possibly January!!! Think engineering!!!

Kevin's girlfriend, Arelys was here with us for a few days. It was real good to see her again!! She's almost done with studies, and will begin her 'internship' in the summer. Yep, she's going to be a doctor!! Kevin will probably be going to Puerto Rico soon! He's got a few jobs lined up....I know it will be totally different for him (& us), but this will be good for both of them!!

That's some of the big news in my little world! So on with the pics.......

Here's a card I made for the PDSS Sketch Challenge #11....

Papers, ribbon & lace are from my scrap stash. Flourishes are from Making Memories. I used Marvy-Uchida punches for the plain & scalloped circles. Philosophy tag is from Tim Holtz, & butterfly from Heidi Swapp.

Here's a close-up....

The smaller circle was clear embossed (TH stamp) on white cardstock. Then I stamped some distress inks on my non-stick craft sheet, spritz the ink with water & then swiped my circle through them.  

I used alcohol inks on a blending tool and stamped on the backside of the butterfly. I then glued it down on a vintage dictionary page with Glossy Accents (Ranger). Next I cut around the butterfly, and used a metallic silver pen around the edge. Easy to do!!! Just more involved. Love the alcohol inks on clear acrylic...def have to do more of that!!!

Next, I have another LO, in the "Family Photo Shoot" series......be warned.....pics are not that great!! I must have tried a dozen different times, in different lighting to get these. No matter what I did, the colors were off!! Tried to fix in Photoshop, but totally unsuccessful, as pics actually looked black & white!! So, I didn't get many 'decent' shots, and def fewer close-ups!!

The aqua is def more pronounced in reality!!!

Just so you can put faces to the names, here's the who's who of our family:

From left to right in the Back Row: Kevin (oldest son) & Mike (son-in-law).

Again from left to right in the Front Row: Grand-pa Moe (my Dad), Grand-ma Pete (my Mom), Ashley (daughter), holding Mason (grand-son), me, Carol (daughter-in-law) & Dan (youngest son). Are we cute or what?!!! LOL  Can you believe what Kevin had to do to take these pics?!! See the Don't Try This At Home post for more!! 

Okay....papers are K&Co, Bazzill Cardstock & Coredinations. Die-cuts are from G45, K&Co, & Making Memories. Bling from Martha Stewart, My Mind's Eye & Prima. Chipboard & Glimmer Mist are from Tattered Angels. Alphas are from MME. Flowers are from K&Co & MyMadkow. Distress Inks & Distress Stickles are from Tim Holtz.

Here's a close-up.......

Flower is made by following Rhonna Farrer's technique on House of 3. These are easy to do!!! Love them!!! Still working on which glues work best, but so far, I have to say Aleene's Tacky is the best!! Rhonna used Fantastic Fabric Tack....have to find some!! I used a button cover kit with a different fabric, for the middle of the flower, and then added some Prima bling to the top of it.

I have decided that I would start adding some of these great tutorials on my blog...I will link them in the sidebar under Tutorials, for you to check out! I figured, that some tutorials are harder to find (well, for me anyways!), and I'm always going back the different sites & You Tube to find them. This will def be easier for me!!

Hope you enjoyed these. Thanks for stopping by!!

Love ya,

Lynne
 

 

Warning! Warning!! Warning!!!

I'm back with one more LO from our annual 'Family Photo' shoot. This one is, well....a bit different!! And when I say different, I mean......okay......my kids are crazy!! It's a bit difficult to explain, you'd really have to be there to understand! Every family has their normal sibling rivalry, and 'dysfunctional-ness' (is that word?), and I'm sure that your family has that one kid, that just 'has to' show his feelings. Well, mine is no different. On the plus side, when this happens at a family photo shoot, while the photographer is taking pics, you really get 'reality'!! I love those pics!! It's not just posed, it's real...more normal.....well, if you consider some of these normal!.....and this year I got some doozies!!

So, here we go...............

 
Okay......I warned you!!!!

That's Dan, my youngest son......he's my brat, my troublemaker, and one of the best kids you could ever have!! He has such a big heart, and he can be sooooo sweet, but he's def got his moments. And this was one of them!!!!

I'm quite sure that Kevin (my oldest & the photographer) was prodding him, soooo, he told him off! I found it funny to see that Carol (DIL) & Mason (grand-son), just happened to stick their arms out at the same time! Almost like they were planning on doing the same thing!! And the looks on their faces......well, what can I say? I love this pic!!! I HAD to do an LO of it!! And Dan thought that it was just 'awesome'!! He doesn't say that too often!!

Here's a closeup........

Lots, and lots of Tim Holtz (love, love, love) products!! There's grungeboard (hearts, hinges, flourish, and skull & crossbones), distress inks, philosophy tag, clear acrylic fragment, alcohol inks, and Ranger Glossy Accents.

Papers are Me & My Big Ideas (blue pola dot) & K&Co (floral). Diecuts are from Graphic 45, Me & My Big Ideas and Cosmo Cricket (sentiment). Frame & key are from K&Co. Chain, wire & beads are from my stash. Leaves are from Prima, and wax & seal from 7 Gypsies.

I used Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist over the blue polka dot paper, and then distressed the torn edges. Then layered the pic over 2 pieces from my stash. The alphas are naked chipboard from Basic Grey, which I stamped with Staz-On inks, and then embossed with UTEE (3 times). The grungeboard was 'painted' using distress inks, Staz-On ink, acrylic paints and Adirondak paint dabbers.

The flowers were handmade using a paper bag. I got the idea from Rosanne at roxycar11. Love these!!!

Here's her You Tube video tutorial........

 

Sooooo easy to make!!! Love these!!! Check out more video's from Rosanne on  You Tube.

Well, that's about it for now. I was actually thinking that I would do a 'Resolution' review along with this post, but I have been having so many issues with Typepad (I've re-started a dozen times), that I think I will do it later!!!

Thanks for stopping by!!!

Love ya,

Lynne

Crazy Good

Woohoo!! Got my first layout & DT post up at Posh!!!! So exciting!!!

This LO is of my daughter Ashley & my son-in-law Mike....needless to say they were goofing off!!! My dearest son Dan, naturally had to get in on the fun!!! Pic by my oldest son Kevin!

Beautiful K&Co, Graphic 45, SEI & My Mind's Eye papers. Diecuts are by Basic Grey and K&Co...from their new Tim Coffey collection (just gorgeous), with alphas, also by K&Co.

Flourish & heart were cut on Cricut, using Storybook cartridge. Flower was cut using Plantin Schoolbook cartridge. Here's a closeup......

And the flourish........

 
Lots of layering on this one!!! Love that look. I inked the edges of all papers with TH Distress Inks. I also used the Walnut Stain Ink on the flourish & heart.

I did a tutorial for the flower and it is posted at Posh, as well as here on the left sidebar.

So it seems like I don't have much to talk about tonight......that's new & different!!! Well, at least it'll be a short one!!

Love ya,

Lynne

Owl Always Love You

Okay, it's cheesy!!! I know it, you know it, but I couldn't help myself!! Want to know why? See for yourself......

Of course, I'll always love him...Mason, my grand-son that is! I did this LO for G45 February Guest DT spot. I wanted to make something for Valentine's Day, and since there is no significant other in my life...Mason is my Valentine! I love that little boy so much!! And I miss him very much...he's in Vermont with DD Ashley while SIL is in Basic Training. Ugh!!

Anyways....naturally I used G45 papers. The circle is cut from a paper bag and I used TH distress inks  (though you can't see it very well on pic) on the edge. The scalloped edge was soooo easy to do. I used my M-U 2 1/2" circle punch, and cut each circle in half. I then adhered each half-circle to the under side of the paper bag circle. Then glued on some narrow lace on the edge. I also added TH distress stickles dots on each scallop.

Pic is framed with cardboard that's been sprayed with my own mix of acrylic paint, water & Pearlex. I added a piece of G45 scrap as a border at the bottom edge; I used a Martha Stewart edge punch on it. Then layered a piece of lace over top. Chipboard heart is K&Co.

Owl was very easy. I cut a rectangle of G45 paper, and used my circle punch to cut the top off of it...this makes the pointy ears. Used TH distress inks on the edges. I added a much smaller rectangle to make his face, and topped it off with 2 small chipboard flowers from K&Co. For the body, I punched some small hearts, curled them a bit, and adhered them to large rectangle. I kept layering them until body was covered.

The wings were made from 6 petaled flowers that I cut on Cricut with Plantin Schoolbook cartridge. These were leftovers from previous G45 LO. I cut one flower in half, then cut 2 two petaled pieces from another flower. I layered the pieces, used TH distress inks on the edges, and attached to body with a brad. Owl's nose is actually a piece from Dymo label. 'Love' is from K&Co., but I added TH distress inks in Weathered Wood  on top to tone down the brightness of the blue.

Pretty simple LO. Actually, I've done a few of these lately...hmmm!! I still prefer the Vintage Romantic Chic style though!! Next project for G45 is a birdhouse!! I had a lot of fun doing that!!! Want a peek?

You'll have to wait to see the rest!!! Plus, I have another LO in the works, for G45. And am def working on DT calls, one for G45 and another for Posh Designs Scrapbook Store. It will be interesting to see what happens. Needless to say, I'm stressing over it.....and that does not make for fun scrapping!!! I keep telling myself, that I'm not doing this for 'profit' --- I'm using that term lightly, of course. Hey, it's always great to get scrap love, but that isn't the reason I do this. Scrapping/crafting/home dec, keeps me sane!!! Okay, maybe there's a part of me that does it for a bit of scrap love....I guess that's why I have a blog!!! LOL  Wow, the things you realize, when you start writing!! 

But that's another story. Lately, I've been thinking about scrapping emotions.... mine!! Now, THAT could be scary!!! LOL Til next time.....

Love ya,

Lynne

 
 

Would You Like Some Cheese With That Whine?

Ugh!!! Yep, I'm the one whining!! You know how it is...... you've got your scheduled days off, you've got plans, things that you need to do, things you want to do, etc. Next thing you know, your schedule has been changed, and you didn't know anything about it!!!! Well, that's pretty much what's happened to me in the last 2 weeks. I got pretty bummed about it, until I was able to get with upper mgt to get it changed, so that I wasn't working 9 days straight! Still, my rotation is all messed up, and I don't know if I'm coming or going!!!! Plus, I wasn't able to do the things I had planned on!!

Like....I couldn't join in on the online Valentine's Crop at PIT. I was looking forward to that!! My house is a total disaster!! I've been trying to get some projects done for a couple of DT calls! I still have a mini album that's unfinished for the Guest DT spot at G45!! And it took forever and a day to get my LO finished, for Ann's Scraplift Challenge - also at PIT!! Ugh, just frustrated!!

Okay, I'm done!!! And yes I want some cheese, and I'll probably also have some WINE!!!!! LOL, yep, I feel better now! I did get that LO done for the challenge, and that's what I'm going to share with you today!!! Here it is.....

That's my grand-son Mason, but you knew that!!!  LOL, Do I really use his pics that much?!! This LO is a little bit different than what I normally do, but I think it turned out pretty good!!

I forgot to mention that I was going to get with Angela (PIT), to see if I could put her LO on here, so that you could see the original (hers) & the lift (mine) together. Unfortunately, I didn't (see above!!), so you don't get to see the original unless you go to Pages In Time -> Forum -> Scraplift Challenge. 

Very easy LO, it took me longer to choose the pics & paper than to make the page!!! I used SEI cardstock, layered SEI bird paper over top. Added a rectangle of (yea, you guessed it) SEI stripe at the top. Next, I layered a piece from a vintage atlas over top. Pics were framed using (no!!) Creative Imaginations Love paper. Before adhering, I distressed the edges of all papers, and then used TH distress ink in Vintage Photo, over top.

The little birds were a bit more complicated, since I couldn't use my cricut....I was working on this at 3am, while everyone else in the house was sleeping!!! So I used my 2 1/2" circle punch from Marvy-Uchida. I based the design of my birds on the SEI paper. So, I took out a quarter, placed it on back side of PP and on the edge, and traced the quarter about 3/4 of the way down. Then I drew a straight line from my little circle to the next edge; you're pretty much cutting out an L shape, only rounded. I cut the bird out of PP from SEI, 7 Gypsies, MME, and cardstock, layered together; this will give more stability if you use pop dots to adhere to LO. I used the Vintage Photo Distress Inks around the edges of the birds and wings as well.

Wings were punched (yea, I know!!) from Fiskars paisley punch, in 2 colorways for each bird. I staggered the wings and glued them together, before attaching to bird. I added a small brad for the eyes, and beak was made by punching just the tip of the paisley punch. His legs are 1/8" ribbon folded in half and taped to back side. Then I cut smaller pieces of ribbon and tied to the bottom of each leg; now it looks like he has feet!!

I typed my journaling and adhered to a scrap of K&Co paper, used distress inks on the edges, and added to LO. Title was made on Dymo Label Maker.

So are you wondering yet, why this LO is titled "For The Birds"?? Well....Mason loves birds, if he sees one, he will continue watching it until the bird is out of his eyesight!! He's pretty much the same with airplanes too!! Only, I didn't have any cute airplane paper!!! LOL

Well, that's my story and yes, I'm sticking to it!!! I do have one more thing for you. Have you seen the new 'Artistic Papers' by Donna Salazar yet? OMG!!! They are gorgeous!!! They are not up on her site yet....and I don't have a pic (see above!!). They are embossed cream cardstock, with a vintage black print. There are pages, panels, journaling cards, etc. I saw these at my LSS a couple of weeks ago, and HAD to buy them!!! Planning on doing an LO with these soon!!

BTW, don't forget about the Valentine Goodie RAK, you have til midnight on February 14th. And just in case you missed it, read the 'Graphic 45 Guest Designer' post.....there's another RAK for a pad of their Le' Romantique papers!!! Hope you enjoyed this one!!

Love ya,

Lynne

Graphic 45 Guest Designer

Whoo hoo!!! Can't believe it's here already!! It seems like years ago, that I was contacted about being a guest designer for the G45 blog. Okay, so it's only been a few months...it just feels like ages!!! I gotta admit that even though I was very excited and couldn't wait to start on my projects for them, it really did sneak up on me!!!

I am so thankful to G45 for giving me this opportunity!! You all know that their papers are my faves, and even if I use other papers, I try to incorporate a bit of G45 into my layouts. That's how much I love them!! No other paper company has come close to matching the vintage look and feel that they offer. Everytime I look at them, it brings me back to my childhood. Now, THAT was a long time ago!!! 

I really do love G45!!! And I'm not saying that because they asked me to be a guest designer, or because they may be watching!!! Anyways.........., I have already submitted two layouts to them and have two more projects in the works. One is almost done...that is, if I can figure out where to put the darn bow!! Sometimes it's the easy stuff that gives you the most headaches!!

Because no one had the new collections in stock, I've had to use the older papers for my projects. I'm telling you, that I can't wait to get my hands on the new collections!!! Especially 'Le' Romantique', even if there's no 'significant other' in my life!! I could use them for wedding LO's or girlie-girl LOs!!  'On the Boardwalk' would be perfect, since I live in Florida. And then there's "A Proper Gentleman', they would be perfect for LO's of my sons!!! Okay, I want them all!!! My LSS is saying mid-March, but.....I found two online stores that actually have them in stock right now!!! Okay, I'll share!!! For paper packs, go to Eclectic Paperie. And if you prefer single sheets, you gotta go to Scrapbook.com. I really didn't set out to brag on these online shops, and they don't know that I'm doing this, and no, they are not giving me anything in return. I just want everyone to be able to get the new papers!!

Wow, talk about going off track!!! So on with the show....

That's me in the pic, circa 1965!!! I told you I was old!!! I guess that explains the love of all things vintage!!! LOL!! Hey, I gotta laugh!!!

First the background: Going diagonally and at every gold line, I cut the plaid paper (about 5" in, at widest point), so that I could weave (over 2, under 1 & staggered) my black floral strips into it. Every other section is raised. If you decide to do this, use pencils to hold your pieces up....and tape the back (painter's tape)....trust me!!!

Foreground & embellies: Of course, layering & distressing (Tim's...love that man) of papers from several collections. Lace and ribbon from my stash. Brad is BoBunny. 'Time' word stick from TH. 'i wish' is cut from Blackletter cartridge on Cricut....I used 3 layers (1 from pp & 2 from cardstock) to bulk it up.

Here's a closeup, and mini tutorial on flowers & leaves........

Flowers: Go to Tim's blog, find the 12th tag from 2009 12 Tags of Christmas. That's where I got the technique. But....you know that I had to make it my own!! I cut 5 to six 'flowers' (Plantin Schoolbook Cartridge for Cricut users), 3 different sizes, this is for larger roses...then I inked the edges and followed his instructions to make them. For the smaller roses, I used 2 different sizes. These are glued together...and I'm addicted to making them!!! It's unbelievable how easy they are to make!!! I thought about showing you this technique and then decided that he has done a much better job of it, than I could ever do!!

Leaves: Get you a vintage dictionay page (or anything else you want to use). Tear (do not cut) a leaf shape. Scrunch it and wet it. Carefully open it up and lay it on a clean piece of paper. Play with layering the shape until you get a vein running through the middle. Once you're happy with it, place another clean piece of paper over top, and let air dry, or, or for those of you who are as impatient as I am, iron dry. Then run your distress ink pad over top...I used Vintage Photo & Antique Lace.

Now glue your roses in place on your LO. Keep in mind that these flowers are fairly thick...so you might have issues with putting your LO in a protective sleeve.

So, that's the first one!! I wil post specifics & instructions for every one of my projects that G45 features on their blog. Although, it's killing me to have to hold off. No, they didn't ask or tell me to do that, I'm just choosing to let G45 blog readers get a first look, esp. since I'm doing this for them!!

Okay, so there's a bit of 'ME' in there!!!  LOL. I hope that you will visit the G45 blog & leave comments. Not only do I appreciate the blog love, but you know G45 does too!!!! After all, it is about G45 and their gorgeous papers!! Plus, there's always new techniques, and projects from their Design Team, Guest Designers and Featured Artists. Who knows, you could be the next Guest Designer!!!

Okay....one more thing......I'm going to give out a paper pack (22 sheets - 2 of each single page & 2 diecuts) of Le' Romantique (in honor of the month of love) to one person who can give me the correct response to........how many times did I mention Graphic 45 on this post!!! Leave your comment to win!! Will select winner on March 1st. If there is more than 1 correct answer, I will use Random.org to determine the winner.

Okay, back to that bow!!!

Love ya,

Lynne
 

Vermont

It's been fairly warm here on the Treasure Coast, running about 75F during the day.....but my thoughts wander to Vermont and the snow....and my DD Ashley & DGS Mason!!! They have recently moved to St. Albans, and will probably be there for about six months, while SIL is in Basic & Specialty Training. I miss them so very much :( But, I did get pics!!!

Ashley has been having computer problems, and has had to send me the pics that she has taken with her cell phone!! LOL Ain't technology grand?!!! Who would have thought that 20 years ago. Or how about 40 years ago, when I was younger (much, much, much younger)!!! That was when the Easy-Bake Oven was a real marvel, and color TV was just coming into it's own!!!! There was no such thing as home PCs or IPODs, and you listened to music on the radio or you played your LPs & 45s!! And playing games meant being outside with your friends playing hide-n-seek, not Mario Cart on your XBox!! Life was much simpler then!! WOW!! We are definitely living in a new era!!

Got off track a little.....so, Ashley sent me a pic of the snow covered road that she had her first driving experience on. She's a little scared of driving in the white stuff!!! Don't blame her, but she'll get used to it. Naturally, I had to do an LO.......and here it is.........

I know, it's a little hard to see, but there IS a road there!!!! Gorgeous isn't it! I do miss the snow (I'm originally from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada), just not the COLD!! I can still smell the crispness that hangs in the air, just before it snows!! Crazy!!

Back to the LO.....I used Basic Grey Halloween paper for the background, the colors were perfect!! I printed the pics (one 8 x 10 and one 4 x 6), on ordinary 110 lb cardstock that you get in any stationery aisle at your Wal-Mart, Kmart, etc. Also used Basic Grey paper for the frame around the smaller pic. I wet smooshed a vintage dictionary page (see 'Loosely Based' post for instructions), and then used TH Distress Ink on the dry page, and edge of frame. I cut 'Vermont' with Cricut and Plantin Schoolbook cart and Basic Grey paper in a midnight blue. I've actually been cutting 1 with PP and 1 with cardstock, to give more weight to die cuts. I could probably use 2 of cardstock, to give more of a chipboard thickness.

Also cut the flower with same cart using Martha Stewart pp. I just started making these roses. Got the idea from the rose that Tim Holtz made for the 12th tag in his 2009 12 Tags of Christmas. It took me a few tries to get this down. Yeah, I'm a little slow, AND, these are from the first batch!! So if I can make these....anybody can!! LOL. Now, I'm addicted!!!! I love these flowers and they really are sooooo easy to make!! Plus, you don't need a die-cutting machine; these can be hand cut from ANY 6 petal flower pattern. Here's a closeup.....

Once I had the flower made, I just layered the 'V' over the smooshed dictionary page, placed these on top of the large pic, and then layered the smaller framed pic over top. I added the flower, some Making Memories glittered flourishes, 2 large crystal brads from Recollections (Michaels brand), and a quote that I made on PC. The rubon (Peace on Earth) is from Anna Griffin.

The quote is "There is nothing so beautiful as the fresh snow, falling from the heavens". The quote and rubon pretty much sum up how I've always felt when it was snowing. Maybe not so much when it was over...you gotta shovel the driveway, dodge the crazy drivers, and then it usually gets colder!!!

Hope you enjoyed this one, and make sure you head over to Tim's place to get the instructions for making those gorgeous roses!!  PS, I'm sure that pretty much everyone who scraps, has already been there, but just in case........that you may be the one who hasn't......check it out!!!

PS, I've also updated the Blog Treasure list for this week (see featured RAK post). Check those out too!!! Who knows, your blog could be next!!

Love ya,

Lynne

Loosely Based .....

It's another day! I'm in a great mood!! Don't know why, cause, I gotta go to work tonight. Oh well, I'll take it anyways!!! A good day with a great mood...that doesn't happen too often!! LOL

So, have you ever been in a scrap funk? What do you do? Do you ignore it and go on with your life, until some scrap karma floats down on you? Do you fight through it, and insist that you're going to scrap something anyways, even though you know it's going to be horrendous? Do you blog hop, look through mags, and/or look at your old layouts to get some kind of idea? And then hope that it works out!!!

Well, that's where I was yesterday!! My scrap juju left the building, and I swear it took one of my pics that I was planning on doing an LO with!!!! Really, I can't find the pic!! It was there 2 days ago!! I looked everywhere and through everything.... and I can't find it!!!! Help....someone's taken my pic!!!! SOS!!! May-day!!! LOL!!! Good thing I can make another copy!!!

As I was saying...I just couldn't come up with any ideas...of course, it didn't help that I was missing the pic for the LO I was planning on doing. Ugh. So, I tried to fight through it....I usually don't give in and go on with my life....cause scrapping is a big part of my life!! Well, I couldn't come up with any ideas. So, I decided to blog hop, maybe find an idea....that didn't work. So I got out my mags, and lo and behold there on page 18 was an LO that I'd seen about a year ago, and wanted to do!!!! But, I thought, this is too involved, I want something easy!!! So back to blog hopping I went. Stumbled on one blog that I visit frequently, and didn't notice before, but she has a sketch blog too!!!! Well, I had to check that out. Found a sketch!!! Of course, it doesn't end there, cause once I found the sketch, I had to play with alcohol inks (you'll see) and my Cricut, and more time consuming!!!! So I went back to the first idea!!

Okay, here's the LO from the mag......

Sorry, it's a bad pic!!! I don't have a scanner and I couldn't get a copy online. This LO was made by Elizabeth Kartchner and published in Creating Keepsakes September 2008 issue. This LO is also published in the Creating Keepsakes February 2010 issue, under A Reader's Take on a Published Layout.

I have loved this LO since I first saw it, and had planned on scraplifting it a long time ago.....but I guess I got busy and totally forgot about it. I love all of the details on this page, and it would definitely make a great Child Page!!! Well, believe it or not...I really don't have any Mason pics to use for this!!! I probably have at least 2,000 or (if you include pics that Kevin took) more of him, but not one that I want to use for this.

What I really love about this page is the diamonds. I think that they are way cool!!! So I decided to use a pic of Kevin and make something 'loosely based' on this LO. See for yourself....

Before I forget.....this is a lonnnnng post!!! Trust me!!

So, it's really 'loosely based' isn't it?!  I started off with G45 paper (my fave) as the background. I was trying to figure out how to make the diamonds, without getting into any 'real' math!!! That's what I meant by involved. So I got out my punches (no, I don't have a diamond one...though that would be great - just think of the possibilities!), and chose a 1 1/2 by 1 1/2 inch square from Marvy-Uchida. I punched my square from Basic Grey paper (Indian Summer Collection). But that gave me squares....so, I got out my Corner Chomper and cut the opposing corners from each square!! Brilliant, ain't I?!!! With the corners missing (1/2' corner, BTW), my little squares look more like diamonds.

Next step, cut some black cardstock....no punching here!! But it was easy...I just decided how much black I wanted to show, and cut long strips, and then the strips into squares. And guess what? Then I punched their opposing corners too!!! Glued (taped, whatever) the squares to each other, and then had to figure out placement. I do love the 'white space' on Elizabeth's LO, but after playing with my little diamonds, I decided to go right up to the edge of the paper. Then it was just a matter of drawing a straight line for each column of diamonds (it's easier to line up) that I wanted. I'm a little off in spots, but....well....I really don't care. It's the essence of the page not the perfection of it that I wanted. Wow, did I just write that? Wow!!! I'm impressed!!! Never would have said that before!!

Now it was time to move on to the brads. A few weeks ago, I picked up these big lime green Bazzill (I know! Who knew?) brads for a song - yeah they were on clearance!! Okay it's because they are lime green!! Anyways, they fit perfect with the rest of the page!! But....I only had six, and I needed seven!!! What to do? I really wanted to use those! Of course! Put a portion of the book page on top of one junction!! I told you I was brilliant!!! (You know this is going to bite me, don't you?!) Anyways, here's a close-up........

 
And that leads me to the other part of the LO that I really liked, which is the page from a child's book. Well I very well couldn't use a page from an Elmo book for a Kevin layout, or could I? Uhm, got me thinking here.......

Never mind, that's another layout!!! I decided to use a page from a vintage dictionary instead. I'm sure Kevin will appreciate that!!! I balled up the sheet, wet it real good, uncrumpled it a bit and smooshed it down on a piece of paper (I didn't want it smoothed out), and left it to dry --- that was slow, so I got out my heat gun! Oh yeah!!! I used a bit of Antique Linen Distress Ink, to age the page a bit more.

Now, keep in mind, that most of my LO is still blank at this point. I have the pic and I have the dictionary page, but no real plan, except my little inspirational pic from the mag!!! If you look real close at the left side of that LO, you'll see a little strip of torn paper. Well, believe it or not, this is the part that took me the longest to do!!!!! Really it did. I must have tried about 6 different strips of paper, and as many ribbons, I even tried different stickers. I spent about 2 hours on that part alone. Glueing (taping) and unglueing, and trying something else. Well, when you pick out a good paper, stick with it!!!! And that's what I finally did, I got out my scraps of the BG paper, cut a little strip and applied to left side of the page (not dictionary sheet).

Now, I had to embellish it...you know, this was a lot of work. With the exception of the diamonds, I really don't think that any part of this LO came easily to me. So, it's a guy page....get out your Tim Holtz (God bless him) stuff!!! Tickets (peeled paint distress ink), stitched on with embroidery floss, Grunge board hinges which were alcohol inked and then distress inked until they looked like leather!! Still, I was missing something....and I couldn't figure out what! So, back to my stash of stuff I went. Found this cool faux leather ribbon, well that was too perfect! And you know I had to attach it with copper colored staples (sorry Tim, I don't have a tiny attacher). Had to add the philosophy tag in the upper left corner of pic. And I was still missing something....so again, I played in my stash....found this cool lacy type stuff, but it sparkled!!! Well, you can't tell on the pic, and I really can't see it on the LO....probably cause I scrunched it up before I stapled it on. It was all finally coming together!! Check out the close-ups.....

I just needed to journal something. Of course, even this was hard!! All I could think of, was Kevein being goofy in front of the camera ----he's a photographer...he's usually on the other side of the lens --- he was playing and testing his lighting before he took pics of us!!! And naturally, he was goofing around!!!  I have a set of 3 more pics that I have to do a 2 page LO -- these are hysterical, but that's another LO!!!

So, are you tired of reading yet? Well, I'm tired of typing!! So use the bathroom (you know you need to), then grab a snack and a drink, and come back for round two!!! I told you it was going to be a long post!!!!!

So the second 'loosely based' is from a sketch by Aymee Gandy. Check out her blog at A Scraphappy Southernbelle - top right side bar is her sketch blog!!! Click on that, and you'll find many sketches, including this one......

Cool, isn't it!!! I know, it's a Halloween sketch, but hey, it's a good one!! And it gave me a great idea for an LO of a family pic from DS Dan & DIL Carol's wedding pics. Here's my take on it......

When I say 'loosely based', I do mean "loosely"!! I had been playing with die-cutting some major pieces with my Cricut. Plus a while back I made these alcohol inked (thank you for Tim!) transparencies, and I wanted to put the two together.

So, get out a transparency, and on the side that you would normally print on, start squeezing out some alcohol inks and blending solution. Play with your colors until you achieve the look you want. Let dry!!! Very important to NOT put a wet transparency into Cricut (this is my safety advice -- plus you don't want to void the warranty!). I chose this floral flourish from Home Accents Cartridge!! Love how it turned out!!

 
Now, I wanted to add another flourish on top of it (like the sketch) but nothing I tried, looked good...so I gave up on that. So the next part was to get the pic (Basic Grey paper mat) and the laces onto the background paper (Bazzill cardstock). I found a few pieces (SEI & Making Memories) in my stash that worked well with pic. Then I got stuck!! I tried so many different things, too many to mention! Nothing was working...so I walked away for a bit. When I finally came back, I decided to try rubons, just to add a little something (esp black), since I couldn't use another flourish! Well the corner Gothic looking rubon is from Daisy D's, and the sentiment at the bottom is from Kaiser Craft. I even applied a rubon on the left edge of the page...ugh that was ugly!!! But now, I was stuck -- I already had the rubon on the paper, and I couldn't undo everything else (yes, I actually used glue for the lace!!!!), so what was I going to do!!! Plus, everything was looking out of whack!!

So.....I said it before, when you get a paper you like, use it!!! so I cut a strip of BG, just big enough to cover the rubon!! What a waste of a rubon...oh well....not every layout comes together easily!!! Now, you can't see it, but the edges of the lace & ribbons looked like crap!! It just looked unfinished! Well, I love flowers, so I started playing around with some, but nothing was working. I tried yellow, orange, looked for black, but I really had nothing in my Prima stash or my own handmade stash!! Back to the drawing board.....what was I going to do?! After I had exhausted every possibility, I happened to look up on my shelf, and what did I see?!!!!  Some cream faux silk flowers that were left-over from another project!!! Well, I was sold! If you buy faux or real silk flowers, you know that their centers are usually thick and bulky. Not conducive to putting in an album....well take out those centers and use brads instead!!! I love those K&Co brads from their Que Sera Sera Collection!!! And the colors are perfect & I even had 2 packs, so enough to do 3 flowers!! Here's a close-up.....

 
Okay, we're almost done!!! LOL! Next step, play with placement!! I tried several different ways, including lining them up in a row, right on top of the lace. That actually looked pretty good, AND it covered both edges. But, I still had to add my title, and placement of that was important too!! I tried the top right side, but that was goofy looking! Stuck again!!! Finally, I gave up on it...yes I did!! I didn't have any black alphas, the ribbon edges were yucky, and I couldn't decide where to put the flowers. Plus, the left edge looked unfinished.

That's when I decided to start cleaning up and start putting everything away. I figured that it just wasn't meant to be finished right then. While I was in the process, I picked up some scraps of the BG paper, and it occured to me, that I needed to add more of that on the layout.....so, I tried diamonds (that's the pattern on this paper! (weird huh?). Nope. Then I decided to punch some circles...maybe that would help with the edges....nope! So, I cut them in half....that didn't work for the lace edges, but it looked good around the pic and the left edge strip! Sold. Plus, it gave me that other flourish...I know it's not, but it gives the same effect, sort of! That's what I did...and then I packed everything up and said, "I'll finish it when I get some black alphas". Done!

Nope, I got up this morning, and there was the LO starring at me (my studio is in my bedroom) and mocking me with "so you gave up! you're not going to finish me, are you?" I ignored it, and went about my business!!! Did some blog hopping, checked emails, paid bills, ate, packed up some scrappy goodies for a SWAP and a Kit Challenge at PIT, & finally mailed off my last RAK to Denise! (Erika never emailed me with her address - so Denise was next!! And she emailed me right away!!!)

Now, I'm at the computer, and it dawned on me that I could just type a title!!! I knew about what font (Pristina) that I wanted and the color was easy, so why not try it!! Once printed and cut, I tried stamping on the corners, but that didn't look right. I tried plain...that was, well too plain!! Finally I remembered that I still had bits & pieces left from that Daisy D's rubon pack...so that's what I did! Pretty easy, right?! LOL, definitely not for the last day of scrapping!

So what do you think? I know, lonnnng post!!! Okay, next time I promise to cut it into 2 posts (had to do it this way - gotta go to work tonight, and won't be blogging again til next week!), really I promise!

Aside from that....we all scraplift at one time or another!! Because, we all need inspiration, we all have days when our scrap juju, mojo, muse, etc, is not there! And let's face it, we can't always be cranking out stunning layouts. Okay, maybe Ingvild can...check our her blog My Paper Art - see what I mean!!!  You know, I could name a few more & you know who you are! So let me know...do you have days like mine? Cause I really wonder if the Paulien's and the  Wendela's and the Nike's of the world have those kind of days? It would be interesting to find out!!

But that takes me away from making my point....which is 'loosely based'!  So we scraplift, and we try to keep it just like the LO we just lifted!! You don't have to!!!! Have fun with it (or in my case, don't), play with it, move things around, change the colors, etc. It's not like someone else's LO or sketch is written in stone! It's just their point of view and how they put it on paper! Pun intended!!! So, use what you can, throw away what you don't want or like (or in my case, doesn't work) and make it your own!!! The whole point is to get you going again!!

Well, I hope that you enjoyed this post, and that it will help you. So what are you waiting for, get scraplifting....'loosely based'!!

Love ya,

Lynne

Vintage Paper Flower Tutorial

When I posted the "Mr. Bunny" LO, I had a few people ask me to do a tutorial on the flowers. Each flower on the LO was handmade with Jenni Bowlin papers. For the tutorial, I used Vintage Sheet Music. Since that was a few posts ago, here's a closeup of the flowers on that LO......

 

These are the materials that you wil need:

Vintage sheet music or old book pages – but you could use PP or light cardstock

Circle punches, at least 3, - I used some scalloped circles as well (whatever you have on hand will work)

Glimmer Mist - I used Chocolate Covered Cherries, Crème de Rouge & Pearl

Hole Punch – size depends on brads

Brads

Latex Gloves – not necessary, but this process can be messy

 

Step 1

Grab your punches

 
Step 2

For each individual flower, you punch at least 1 circle – I did 2 of each size for the tutorial, although on the LO, I used 1 of each size. You can do either, it really depends on the look you want.

Step 3

Crumple up your circles and then un-crumple them. I know, it sounds weird, but the crease help to age your papers

 

Step 4

Spray the biggest circle with Chocolate Covered Cherries Glimmer Mist. Please note that you could use just one color for all of the circles.

 
 Step 5

Spray the rest of the circles with Crème de Rouge Glimmer Mist

 

Step 6

This is what your ‘petals’ will look like

 

Step 7

Very carefully & while your circles are still damp, crumple your circles again.

 
Step 8

Very carefully, un-crumple (that’s a word right?!) your circles (Make sure that you don’t flatten them out completely) and let dry thoroughly.

 
Step 9

Spray your circles again with the same colors you used previously, and let dry completely.

 
Step 10

For each flower, you will stack your circles on top of each other. Make sure you put the big ones at the bottom, and the little ones at the top. Use your hole punch to punch a small hole in the middle of the flower (I actually punched the hole just a little off center).

 
Step 11

Insert your brad into the flower. You can add a dot of glue between the petals, but it’s really not necessary, as the crumpling does a good job of holding the petals in place.

This is a very, very bad pic....but you get the idea. LOL

Step 12

Now you’re going to spray each flower with Pearl Glimmer Mist. Yep, all layers.

 
Step 13

While your flower is still damp, carefully crumple & shape the petals and let dry thoroughly.

Lots of crumpling involved...this is the messy part. But each time you crumple and flatten out, you make ridges on your paper. This all adds to the vintage look, plus it makes the flowers look more realistic!!

Hope you try these out, and let me know how yours came out!!!

Love ya,

Lynne