It's No Fairy Tale Layout

Buenas tardes fellow scrappers! Today's page is a trip down memory lane for yours truly. Yep, that's me in the stroller some many moons ago. This page is actually a letter for my future child(ren). They say scrapbooking can be used to send letters to those that have passed & to those that are yet to come. So with this picture I've taken the opportunity to send a message to my 'to-be-child(ren)' regarding a very important lesson that I've already come to learn. Journaling reads as follows:

I know you don't currently exist & I'm not sure just when you'll arrive. What I do know is that I already have a message or you that I hope to pass onto you when the time comes. You'll refer to this piece of advice quite often in your journey called life.

Unfortunately, life is not a fairy tale. I've discovered that life is more like a storm--you'll find yourself basking in the sun one moment & then be shattered on the rocks the next--but it's what you do in those moments that you're shattered that defines you & makes you stronger. You'll have your ups & your downs--your laughs & your sorrows--& your own mistakes will be your best lessons. Yes, life is no fairy tale--but every second of every minute of every day is so very much worth living.

So I got a bit philosophical or maybe Shakespearean--but I base my advice on my own experience! Before I go on any further--just some tid bits on the supplies used on this page.

Once again I used a sketch from Creative Scrappers to design this page. All papers are from the Bittersweet collection by Basic Grey. I've had these papers just about forever & finally found the right page to use them on.

As usual I stamped the entire background--this seems to have become my 'must' technique on my pages lately. I used a combination of stamps. Here is a closeup of some stamping. The clock & circular texture designs in pink are stamps by Stamp Enjoy. The small script stamp is by Prima.

Other stamps used on this page are by Stampers Anonymous.

On this closeup you can also see the hand stitching I did along the borders of the page.


A closeup of the chipboard flourish. This chippie is by Maxine's Melange. To get the texture you see here, I first painted the chipboard in black acrylic paint. Then I heat embossed it with clear Star Dust embossing powder. In person, this flourish is very 'blingy'!

I added the title along some of the scrolls of the chippie.

A closeup of the flowers. The large dark pink flower is by Prima. The two smaller flowers were handmade by me. I refer them as 'frosted flowers' because the glaze on the vellum give them a frosty look. They were made with hand punches, vellum, inking & some glaze. To see a brief tutorial on how these flowers were made, please go here.

I tucked small white twigs of baby's breath (also known as gyp) underneath the flowers.


Finally a closeup of the lacing. This fabulous lacing technique is by my scrap buddy Natasha. I've been wanting to use her 'twisted lace' technique for a while now & this page gave me the perfect opportunity to do so. If interested in learning this lacing technique, please go to Natasha's post here. She did a great tutorial on this lacing technique. Thank you girl!

Thanks to all of you who stop by--I appreciate your visit so very much! Hope you didn't mind taking this brief trip down memory lane with me.

Frosted Flower Tutorial

Hello again fellow scrappers! This brief tutorial is on how to make the frosted flowers seen on my 'It's No Fairy Tale' page. The flower itself has most likely been done by several scrappers--I simply added a bit of glaze to the vellum. The glaze gives the vellum a 'frosty' look which is how these flowers got thier name.

Here's your basic list of supplies: flower punch, vellum, decorative scissors (optional), ink, paint brush, skewer or pencil for curling the petals, Triple Thick Glaze & glue.

Let's get started...

Bird Chaser Layout

Good evening once again fellow bloggers & scrappers. It's time for another Toby page! I saw the idea for this page in last months Creative Keepsakes magazine. I fail to remember by who it was--but the theme of the page dealt with her pup being a 'bird chaser'. That hit home run right away with my very own pup. Toby is a relentless bird chaser himself. Feathered friends? Not his apparently! No bird can invade his territory--he'll run after it like the wind!

Journaling reads as follows: Isn't this puppy cute? He's a little angel right? Well, photo 1 shows Toby's adorable & innocent face. Photo 2 is Toby after I've scolded him for chasing away the many birds that love hanging out in the backyard. It's not his fault really--he can't help himself! Thier endearing wings & that exhilirating chirping calls to him. He only wishes to play with them...is that really such a sin? My sweet little Toby, will you & birds ever be able to live together in harmony?



The design is based on sketch #151 from Creative Scrappers. I flipped it around to work with my photos & embellies. Lately, thier sketches have really been inspiring me...



As always I did some stamping on this page. I used a combination of Inkadinkado (Dots & Flourishes), Clear Art Stamps (Birdies), Tim Holtz (Birds on a Wire), Hero Arts (Old French Writing) & Prima. I also did some masking & stitching. In this screen shot you can see the zig-zag stitching along the border of both sides of the page.


I printed the journaling on plain white vellum. I inked the edges to make it stand out a little bit on the page.

The large tree branch & bird chippie is by Maxines Melange. The chippie went through a few steps to get the final texture I wanted. It was first inked in Vintage Photo distress ink. Then with my finger I spread some Vintage Photo distress stickles & a bit of Paprika stickles on it. Finally I put a bit of Frosted Lace stickles on the tips of some of the tree branches. The bird was painted in white acrylic paint, inked in Rusty Hinge distress ink, coated in copper perfect pearls & then embossed with clear UTEE (Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel).

Finally this pretty transparent black flower is also a stamp. This is a unique hand crafted petal stamp made by the talented Jessica. She's a fellow Etsy-er & I find her handcrafted stamps just fabulous for making my very own unique flowers. Here's the link to her shop--Green Garden Stamps & her blog: Garden Green Stamps Blog.

I stamped the petal stamp with Staz-On ink on a transparency, cut it out & then with a white gel pen I added white dots along the inside flower design. I then cut the petals in a bit more & bent them upwards for added dimension. I finalized the flower by adding a black Sultan Gem by Prima in the center.

I also tucked a bit of dried copper baby's breath--also known as gyp underneath my flower embellies.

Thanks to all of you who stop by my blog for a visit. I appreciate your time!

Brick Texture Tutorial

I've gotten a couple of inquiries on how I go about achieving that 'brick' look on the brick wall chipboard. Dusty Attic chippies that I've used on both my 'Frankie' & 'Brothers' pages.

I got this technique from Mr. Tim Holtz himself. I slightly altered his technique--but it's his idea that I used in order to achieve this particular texture.

Let's get started!

Frankie Layout

Hello once again fellow scrappers! Today's page is one that I've been meaning to do for quite some time. It's simply titled 'Frankie'. Frankie happens to be my best friend. Sure, it may seem odd that my best friend happens to be a man--but I guess that's what life had in store for me. Sometimes, you don't pick your friends--they pick you! That's exactly how it was w/me & Frankie. I have journaling on the back of this page--it tells how our friendship began: “Why are you eating lunch in your cube like a dork?” Believe it or not, this one question asked by Frankie on my first day of work, started a friendship that is going onto 12 years now.

Meet Frankie—my best friend. I met him in my first real job out of college back in 2000; good ol’ UPS. We’ve shared more laughs than I can even begin to remember & we’ve had our share of arguments as well. Through the years he’s become my ‘unofficial brother’. He brought me out of my shell at UPS, was there on my wedding day & nobody else has taught me so many useless phrases & terminology as he has!

He’s a great guy with a big heart though he doesn’t like to admit it. He can’t stand mustard or pickles & he can’t mix too many toppings on pizza or hotdogs—he’s a simple ‘meat & potatoes’ guy. He eats his candy bars with a fork & knife & is probably THE neatest guy I’ve ever met!?

He’s the Iceman (a nickname he gave himself), he’s Frank the Tank (his drinking nickname), he’s Frankie G. & don’t you forget it…

But to me, he’s simply Frankie—my brotha’ from another motha’ as he would say—my best friend as I would say…

The small quote in the metal trinket reads: "A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out". He's single by the way--so if you knows of anybody that's into George Lopez look-a-likes--give me a shout! :-)


The page was based on Creative Scrappers sketch #150 shown here.  As usual, I did a lot of inking & stamping in the background. I used several stamps on the background by two manufacturers--Stamp Enjoy & Stampers Anonymous.

This fabulous tree chipboard is by Dusty Attic. I inked it in Aged Mahagony distress ink & then spread a combination of distress Stickles & regular Stickles to give it a variety of effects based on the lighting. It has Frosted Lace, Vintage Photo, Paprika & Diamond Stickles.



Here you can see some of the stamping in the background & of the net stitching that makes up the circle. I first saw this net stitching on one of Irene Tan's pages (Scrapperlicous). For this page, I did what I consider half of a net stitch since I only went one way & didn't come back the other way to create a criss cross pattern.



I've used some leftover brick chippies from my 'Brothers' page here. This chipboard is also by Dusty Attic. Here, the chipboard has been inked & embossed in Vintage Photo. I further decorated the bricks by adding Vintage Photo Distressed stickles with my finger.  I have a tutorial on how I gave the brick chipboard it's texture here.


Finally, a close-up of the large flower. The sanded cardstock is by Core'dinations.

Thanks to all who take the time to stop by--I appreciate your stopping by. I also hope this page inspires some of you to scrap your friends along with your family. Sometimes we concentrate so much on family--that we oversee our friends. I believe true friends come in very small numbers--if you're lucky enough to find one, make sure you make the time to pay them a small tribute. It'll be just one more memory to smile about in the years to come.