Live Laugh Love Layout

Hello again fellow scrappers!  Today I bring you my very first DT page for Berry71Bleu.

The Berry71Bleu challenge for January is to scrap yourself--the owner of Berry71Bleu--Marivic--described the challenge as scrapping the 'queen' within us.    Scrapping ourselves can be a bit intimidating for many scrappers--I've done several challenges in the past where the subject was ourselves & I'm constantly hearing how this seems to be a tough one for us.  As scrappers, we will consistently document those around us--but we will hardly ever take the time to scrap ourselves.

However, I'm one of those few that actually very much enjoys scrapping myself.  I feel that the most wonderful gift, memory & legacy that we can leave our loved ones behind or pass onto them is ourselves.  Who we are, what we represent.  Our likes & dislikes, our guilty pleasures.  What makes us happy--what makes us sad.  What are our beliefs?  What mottos do we live by?  What defines us?

This layout is me on paper.  I carefully hand picked embellishments that represent me in some shape or form.  The papers I used which is the "Frosted" collection by 13 Arts & who are also sponsoring the winner for this challenge--worked perfectly with my approach.

My background was made with the use of one of Clear Scraps newest releases called Mascils.  It's a mask & stencil all in one.  For this layout, I've used the 12" Numbers Mascil.  All I did was place the mascil against my paper & spritzed a bit of Granite Glimmer Mist & voila!  Instant shimmery background...

I randomly placed words onto my page that define me.  Here you'll see 'imagine' & 'spirit'.

I love butterflies & therefore included them on my page.  Those who know a little about me are aware that butterflies are my fave of embellishments.  They represent change--the start of something new.  They are also so very beautiful & graceful.

The cameo seen here was included because I consider myself an 'old soul'.  I enjoy classic black & white movies...give me a good Humphrey Bogart or Bette Davis movie & I'm good.  When it comes to music--my passion is jazz & swing...we're talking Glenn Miller, Billie Holiday, Etta James etc...sure I enjoy music from today as well--but late at night while scrapping, nothing puts me more at ease than listening to Billie Holiday sing about her latest heart break...

The light bulb speaks for itself.  'CREATE'!  Create indeed!! How I love to create...anything involving art is so very much me!  Not only do I love to create myself--but I also enjoy seeing works of art by others.  Once in a while I'll hop on a train & take a ride into NYC simply because I want to spend the day strolling through the Metropolitan museum.  To me, that's a great way to spend the day.

This tag is just one of many by Berry71Bleu.  They are made with much TLC by Marivic herself.  She made this one with the concept of the 'queen' within us all.  As little girls we are all princesses right?  Well those princesses grow up to be queens!  As women we are someone's daughter, sister, aunt, cousin, mom or grandmother.  We are unique in our own way & touch the lives of those around us simply by being us.

You can find more of Marivic's lovely tags in her Etsy shop here.

Flowers!  What woman doesn't love flowers eh?  Well, I'm no exception...I love them & include them in just about all my work.  I also love the real thing & have a garden full of different flowers that I enjoy tending to--not to mention all the plants that I have inside my home--my home is my little jungle full of plants!  :-)

These bold flowers are actually stamps.  These are the 'Organic Fabric Flourish' stamps by Inkadinkado.  I stamped the images onto a transparency with black Staz On--cut the images out & then adhered them onto my page with clear dry adhesive.  Stamping images onto a transparency ensures that you can place your images anywhere on your page.

Birds is another pleasure of mine.   But I especially love & admire the wise owl.  Therefore, I have him perched right next to me.

The pen nib is there because I love to write.  I started writing short stories when I was in high school simply because I just felt like writing!  I got ideas in my head & put them to paper.  I still tend to write now-a-days although not as much as I'd like since I hardly ever find the time.  But I do enjoy it...

This tag that is part of the 13 Arts "Frosted" collection begged to be included on this page.  It's exactly what I believe in.  Life is indeed so very beautiful--look around, take it in--live, love & just be happy!

I included the 'smile' because those that are close to me know that I'm just a big goofy clown that consistently loves to laugh & is always looking to make others laugh as well.  Laughter is the cure for many things...hey--according to some doctors, laughing even helps you lose weight!  lol  I think we burn about 3 calories with every good hearty laugh.  So laugh it up guys!!

Thanks for visiting!  Do take the time to stop by the Berry71Bleu blog & participate in this month's challenge.  Document something about yourself that you'd enjoy passing down to your loved ones--they'll appreciate it more than you'll ever know...

Recipe For Making Love Layout

Hello fellow scrappers!  With Valentines Day just around the corner (can you believe it?) I'm digging out my wedding photos and/or re-doing wedding pages that I've done in the past & just wasn't 100% happy with.  This one is actually a re-do.

The current challenge going on over at Colors...Stories...Inspiration (C.S.I) triggered this re-do. I found the color palette to be just right for this page.

So here is me & my hubby over 5 years ago on our wedding day.  Yes, it's been 5 years already!  I know for those of you who have been married 10, 15 or 20+ years 5 is probably not such a biggie.  However, I'm more surprised not by the number but by how fast these 5 years have flown by!  It just feels like yesterday that we were exchanging vows & here we are going on our 6th year together.  I'm sure pretty soon I'll be talking about our 10th anniversary--sigh...tick tock tick tock...

Here's the C.S.I challenge I based my page on.

For my evidence I have: tickets, swirls & music pattern

For my testimony I've used the song title & lyrics from a song

I've also based my design on the provided sketch.

The 'Love' part of the title is an Acrylic Expression by Clear Scraps.  I kept the texture of the title simple.  All I did was highlight the edges of the letters with a red Sharpie Oil based Paint pen.  This gave my title the simple & perfect effect I wanted.

The Love tickets are by Tim Holtz.  The lyrics are from Harry Connick Jr.'s song "Recipe For Making Love"--which is also the title for my layout.

We also played this song at our wedding:  A little bit of me & a whole lot of you.  Add a dash of starlight & a dozen roses too.  Then let it rise for a hundred years or two.  And that's the recipe for making love.

We found this to be a very cute song to be part of our wedding--it also helps that I'm a huge jazz fan!  :-)

The light blue pearl string I've had in my stash for ages.  In fact I have various pearl strings in my stash that I really need to use up. So you'll be seeing these trims on several of my projects.

The little glass vial is filled with tiny little red hearts that I had in my stash.  I knew those little hearts would come in handy one day!

The large handmade flower I bought from an Etsy store called More Paper Than Shoes.  Anna the owner, creates various handmade flowers that add a perfect touch to layouts, projects & even weddings!

The little paper rolls are just scraps of left over patterned paper from other projects that I've rolled up & glued to my page.

The floral frame that surrounds my photos is actually a stamp.  It's the large cameo frame stamp by Stampendous.  The stamp itself is much smaller than what you see here--however you can make any stamp to be any size for your needs with the use of a scanner.  So if you have a scanner at home--just do the following.

TIP: If you have a stamp that you wish to use on your project but it's too small or too big--stamp the image with black ink onto a sheet of plain white card stock.  I use Staz On for this step because Staz On tends to provide a very sharp stamped image. Scan your image & import the image to your computer.  Then with a photo/image editing tool like Photoshop or even Picasa resize your image to the size you need.  Then just print the image out & you're done!  For my page, I needed the frame to be transparent.  So I printed it onto a printable transparency sheet--cut the image out & then adhered it to my page.  Voila!  Instant frame!

The wedding couple I cut out from my original take on this page.  I decided to keep this image from my original page & use it here.  You can also see how much my scrapping style has evolved through the years.

I've created the veil for the bride by adhering a bit of black tulle to a decorative brad & then attaching it to her head.

Thanks for stopping by & enjoy the rest of the week!

My Promise Layout

Hello once again fellow scrappers!  Today I bring you a page I made with a couple of new releases by Clear Scraps.  I kept the design of this page fairly simple by utilizing white space & letting the elements of the page shine through.

This would be my newborn son when he was about 2 days old.  It's amazing how they change from when they're first born.  He's currently a little over 2 months & I can't say he looks the same as in this picture.

The theme of my page is 'My Promise' to him as his mom.  My journaling consists of items that I pledge to provide as his mom throughout his life time & as one of the main influential persons in his life.  The journaling is meant for his eyes only.  Once he's old enough to comprehend I'll let him read it.  Maybe by then he'll also let me know if I'm keeping some of my promises or not!  :-)

Here is a sample of one of Clear Scraps brand new releases--Acrylic Borders.  I used the Square Acrylic Border on this page.

To give the border it's texture, I first highlighted the edges of a couple of the squares with a black Sharpie.  I then painted the border with orange & yellow alcohol inks.  Finally, I dressed up the squares by adding dots of Bisque Liquid Pearls on the corners of each square.  A couple of mosaic pieces (some by Prima some from my own stash) were adhered to a few of the square boxes.

This lovely large flower is by Manor House Creations.

I'm loving these very cute velvet teddy bears that I found at my local craft store A.C. Moore.  They're perfect for baby/children themed pages!

For my background I sprayed a couple of quick bursts of RipTide glimmer mist & randomly added dots of Star Dust Stickles.

This square frame is also part of a new release by Clear Scraps--the 'Clearly Framed' collection.  I've used the Small Rectangle Frame which I've covered with patterned paper, inked the edges with Vintage Photo distress ink & dressed up the corners with a couple of Black Diamond Stickles dots.  A small corner from a paper white doily was cut & adhered to the inside of the frame.

I've tucked a bit of light blue & yellow tulle underneath the large Manor House flower.  I feel that tulle tends to add a soft & delicate touch to a page.

Here's the bottom half of the Square Acrylic Border.  You just can't go wrong with alcohol inks when it comes to acrylic--it adds a fabulous texture to it!

As usual, a big thank you to all of you who stop by for a visit.

Enjoy the rest of the week!