Home Is Where The Heart Is Layout

Hello once again fellow bloggers & scrappers!  Today's page is one I'm submitting for the April challenge going on over at Once Upon A Sketch (OAUS).  The theme of the challenge is 'home'--to scrap however you'd like to interpret what 'home' means to you.

So here's my interpretation of both Nadia's sketch that she provides along with the challenge & the theme of 'home'. To me, home is my husband & my little fur-baby Toby.  Wherever these two are--that's my home.  They provide all the comfort & love I need.

I used papers & a couple of embellishments from the April kit by C'est Magnifique.  Most of the papers are by the ScrapCake.

Here's the sketch Nadia provided for this month's challenge.

My journaling is tucked away in the form of a tag.  The cute tag along with the envelope are embellishments that came with the C'est Magnifique kit.  I added a bit of tulle to the tag & inked it's edges with Tea Dye distress ink.

The rhinestone flourish is by Prima.  I left the flourish adhered to the transparency it comes packaged in.  I simply cut around it.  TIP:  If you want to add flourishes on top of bulky layers of paper or other embellishments, leave them adhered to the transparency they come on & just cut the flourish out.  This way you can place the flourish just about anywhere on your page.

The splatters seen randomly around my page are stamps.  I bought this 'splatter' stamp set at my local Michaels.  The set is by Recollections & I use it frequently on my pages.

The hearts are a combination of a Fiskars heart punch and a Spellbinders Nestabilities heart die.  I hand sewn along the center of each heart in order to lift either side up & give the page a bit more dimension.

The edges of the page were all distressed with my Zutter Distrezz-It-All then lightly inked with Tea Dye distress ink.

This wooden sign is by Kaisercraft & also came with the kit.  I painted it with yellow acrylic paint & then heat embossed it with Star Dust transparent embossing powder by Stampendous.  I added 3 dots of Liquid Pearls on either side of the sign to further decorate it.

The floral cluster is a combination of mulberry, resin & fabric flowers.  The two large light pink/yellow mulberry flowers came with the kit.  The two small yellow flowers are from my own stash.  The large purple flower is by Prima & the resin flowers are by Webster's Pages.

The chippie frame is by Dusty Attic.  I treated the frame the same way I treated the wooden post.  I really like the shimmer that the Star Dust embossing powder adds.  In person, items treated with this kind of transparent embossing powder really give off a nice shimmer & adds lots of texture/dimension to your pages.

The cute little mushroom bird is from my stash.  I have several of these & love tucking them around my pages!

Thanks to all of you who stop by for a visit!  May you all have a great weekend!

Look Within Yourself Layout BITW Guest Designer

Good evening fellow scrappers!  Today I'm sharing a page that I made for the latest challenge going on over at Bird Is The Word (BITW).

I was given the opportunity to guest design for them & I'm very grateful for the chance!  Thank you again Wendy.

I received an either/or challenge. I had to use either the word 'Look' or 'See'.  As you can tell from my title...I went with 'Look'.

I went back to one of my original & fave scrapbook styles which is grungy.  This young guy is actually a co-worker/friend of mine.  He's a sweetheart & has a heart of gold--all he has to do is believe a little bit more in his own capabilities.  So when I rec'd this challenge the first phrase that popped into my head was 'Look Within Yourself' and followed closely by that was my co-worker.  The piece of advice I'm giving him is in the journaling/title which reads: To find the answers to your questions...If searching for the strength to push ahead...When seeking for a reason to smile...Simply Look Within Yourself

I did much distressing, ripping & wrinkling on this page.  The edges of the page were distressed with my Zutter Distrezz-It-All.

TIP: To create the large wrinkle effects shown in this close up--first wet the paper with water.  I have a 2 oz mister bottle by Ranger that does a great job at wetting the paper just right for this kind of technique.  Once the paper is wet simply wrinkle it up with your own fingers.  Don't be afraid to scrunch away.  Once you get the wrinkles just how you want them take a heat gun to it & dry it up.  The paper dries wrinkled & stays that way.

The chippie is by Dusty Attic.  I left it raw for this page--meaning I didn't ink or paint it.  All I did was heat emboss it with some Star Dust transparent embossing powder by Stampendous & added a couple of rhinestones to further decorate it.

The clock was cut with Tim Holtz's die called Weathered Clock & grungeboard.  I then inked it with a medium coat of molding paste and randomly spread a bit of gold embossing powder & Fake Bake Enamelz by Shimmerz.  Then I took my heat gun to it & heat embossed it.  By using the molding paste the embossing powders dry with a much more 'puffier' texture which I really enjoy on masculine pages.

A closeup of the journaling & the metal flowers.

Journaling was printed on vellum from my computer & then manually ripped out.  The rest of the title was done with my Dymo Caption Maker & letters from my stash.

The flowers are a combination of metal mesh & mulberry flowers.  I have thin metal mesh in my stash that I used with my Big Shot & the Tattered Floral die by Tim Holtz.  To define the petals of the metal flowers I added a bit of puffy paint to the edges & heat set them.

I printed the photo four times & randomly layered them.  The photo is matted with scraps of paper that I manually & randomly ripped.  I also tucked a bit of burlap in either corner.

Here you can also see the large metal mesh flower that I combined with aluminum foil.  The aluminum foil layer of the flower was made by utilizing the same technique I showed in my 'Faux Metal & Acrylic Flower' tutorial.  You can find that tutorial here.  Only difference is that for this photo I did not incorporate any acrylic.

Thanks to all of you who stop by for a visit.  Your time is always greatly appreciated.  Do feel free to stop by BITW & check out their challenges.

The Beauty Within Layout

Good evening fellow scrappers!  Time for another reveal over at Color Combos Galore (CCG).  The challenge for this inspiration was to use frames or framed objects to draw focus to elements on the page.  Based on this, I used a chipboard frame by Dusty Attic to frame my photo. This is me sitting on a beach in El Dorado Puerto Rico last September. My page is based on how I was finally able to make peace with myself--how I'm content with both the inside as well as the outside. A few years ago I never would've scrapped a photo of me in my bathing suit.  Now I can & am content I did!  The journey to loving yourself completely can sometimes be a long one.  But when you reach the end of that journey--it's a very fulfilling feeling.

Here's the CCG challenge with all the details.

I once again did my journaling in the form of a scroll.  Am getting very fond of this form of journaling b/c I can write a lot & at the same time add a unique embellishment to my page.

Here's the scroll rolled open.

The butterflies are from my Etsy shop.  I have a variety of different butterflies in my small shop.  If interested--feel free to pay my shop a visit here.

I also did some stamping in the background.  It's a combination of a crackle stamp by Donna Salazar, script stamp by Unity Stamps & splatter stamps by Recollections.

Here you can see my scroll journaling tucked in it's resting place.  The makeshift 'straps' are made out of sturdy card stock.  The journaling is printed on vellum.

I combined several embellies to make up the the cluster of flowers going along the side.  I used a rhinestone vine & flower vine by Prima and a couple of ribbon, mulberry & beaded flowers from my stash.

For the chipboard frame it was first painted with a light green acrylic paint then covered with a semi-thick layer of crackle paint.

I used my Dymo caption maker for part of my title.  This is the first time I incorporate a banner into my page--I thought it fit this page & served as a holding place for part of my title.

More embellies mixed in within my cluster of bits & bobs.  The resin cabachons are by Websters Pages and the little nest with eggs is by Prima.

Thanks to all of you who stop by for a visit.  Do remember to swing by the CCG blog to see the other DT's take on this challenge & to play along!