(Because I) Adore You Layout

 Good morning!  I'm back with a page I just created for the Berry71Bleu September challenge.  For this month's challenge you have to use the provided sketch plus any kind of  mixed media.

All the papers used were provided by this month's sponsor Maja Design.  We were given their 'Walking In The Forest' collection which consists of Autumn themed papers in shades of blue, brown, yellow & just a hint of green.

This would be my son giving me his winning smile.  It's amazing how much my little guy actually looks like me when I was a baby.  I had the same dark curly hair, the same huge eyes, the same button nose.  The only two differences is that I have a tan & he's fair skinned plus I have a big mouth to go along with my big eyes.  My son ended up with my husband's tiny little mouth.  However, he's all mom in this one particular photo.

 All chipboard used on this page are by Scrapiniec.  I have to say that out of all the chippies I've used--this is the one that has absorbed mists the best.  I ended up giving all my chippies their texture & shimmer simply by applying a variety of mists in different colors.  I used brown, yellow, orange & tan mists.

 Something that has become customary for me is to store my journaling in the form of a scroll.  So once again--here's the story behind this photo stored on a bit of green vellum & rolled into a scroll.  I have to say--I'm in love with this form of journaling & am consistently using it in all my work.

For a tutorial on how to make these scrolls go here.

 Here's a closeup of the other chippies--I did add dabs of orange paint to these.  I wanted them to stand out just a bit more.

The bubble wrap image is a stamp by Donna Salazar. It was stamped with Versamark embossing ink & then it was heat embossed with a bit of Marmalade Distressed Embossing powder by Tim Holtz.

 Several types of mixed media were used to give the background some texture.  Here I combined white, gold & brown chunky embossing powder by Stampendous.  I mixed them up a bit & heat embossed them.  Next I randomly applied some transparent glass beads ontop.  This glass bead mixture can be found in any arts & crafts store.

 With some black StazOn I stamped right on top of my mixed media once dry with a script stamp.  That's the beauty of permanent ink--it sticks onto anything!

My cluster of bright yellow & orange flowers with a touch of bright blue.  I love these little flocked teddy bears that I find at my local AC Moore.  I have a ton of them in all different colors.  They are perfect embellishments for baby/children themed projects.

Thanks for stopping by--don't forget to check out this month's challenge over at Berry71Bleu & play along for the chance to win some prizes from this month's sponsor.

Enjoy the rest of the week!

Precious Memories Layout

Good afternoon fellow scrappers!  It's a crisp fall-like day here in the East Coast today--ahhhhh Autumn is almost here which is my most favorite season!  I can't wait until the leaves start turning colors & am more than ready for a pumpkin spice latte by Starbucks!

 Today I have a page I created for Authentique some time ago & have never posted.  For this layout I used Authentique's Irresistible collection which I felt was perfect for a wedding themed layout.

Of course I have been married almost 6 years now and still have photos I haven't scrapped yet from that memorable day...so finding the right photos for this was fairly easy.

I've also incorporated a small 'Memories' acrylic title by Clear Scraps.

I designed my page based on a sketch from Page Drafts.  Here's the sketch I based it on.

The Irresistible collection is all in black & white--I kept it predominantly with these colors & just decided to add splashes of red here and there.

The organza star flower shown here are items from my own stash.  I have an abundance of these flowers in different colors--so many in fact, that I've put some of them up for sale in my Etsy shop.  Feel free to take a look if interested.  

Adding dots of liquid pearls along any border adds a nice subtle visual touch--here I decided to highlight the border of the circular photo with Bisque Liquid Pearls.

The resin birds & bird bath are by Prima...all of the other elements are part of the Irresistible collection.  I'm a big fan of storing small nick knacks in tiny glass vials.  I've had little red heart confetti for the longest time and I finally found some use for them!

The shimmery red hearts are dollar items I found at my local Michaels store.  I'm guilty of buying miscellaneous items such as these when on clearance.  You never know when the perfect opportunity will arise to use them!

How I love acrylic!  You can do so much with it.  For the 'Memories' acrylic title I first highlighted the edges with a black Sharpie marker.  Next I dry embossed the title--embossing is one of the best ways to add a bit of texture to your acrylic elements.  Finally I went along the edges again but this time with Star Dust Stickles to give it a bit of a shine.

Embroidery floss was added for a different kind of embellishment to the background of my page.  I made this by creating some very, very, VERY long stitches!  lol  If interested on how I created these 'strings' I have a tutorial for it here.  The heart banner is a die by La-La Land Crafts.

Thanks to all of you who stop by for a visit...enjoy the rest of the week!

Embroidery Floss Embellishment Tutorial

For a recent page I did for Authentique, I created large embroidery floss stitches behind my photo in order to add a bit of visual interest to my page.  You can see the full layout here.

Let's get started with the tutorial...

Welcome To Embrace Serendipity

Welcome to my new blog--Embrace Serendipity!  With a new home, I decided to acquire a new blog with one amazing make over.  A very huge thank you to the talented Emma Stafrace for making this blog such a beautiful work of art!  I'm in love with every single aspect of my new virtual home.

So why Embrace Serendipity you may wonder? Well, serendipity is something that has added many wonderful things to my life. If you look up the definition for serendipity--it's defined as 'finding something good without looking for it'. That pretty much sums up the story of my life!

 I stumbled upon scrapbooking when I needed a creative escape, I discovered my day time job as a Quality Assurance Engineer without even knowing what a Quality Assurance Engineer was! I found my husband when I wasn't even looking for him. I uncovered an amazing love for dancing when I decided to take a Zumba class just because it 'looked like a lot of fun'! Now, I'm even a certified Zumba instructor. The list goes on...so as you can see, serendipity has played a big part in my life & that's how my new blog earned it's name.

I'm still fine-tuning my new blog--but for the most part it's pretty complete.  If you enjoyed my work on Kay's Kreative Korner--then please do remember to continue following me via Embrace Serendipity.

I'll be back soon with a few older projects that I haven't been able to post & stay tuned for many new projects that are in the works for the near future!

My Firecracker Mini Album Tutorial

Hello once again!  Kay here with a mini album made with the fabulous 'Pride' collection by Authentique.  Even though this collection is designed for Independence Day I wanted to show that it can be used for other themes. What came about by accident was the design of this mini.  When I finished it & showed it to my husband, he was the one who pointed out that when the mini is closed it actually looks like a little firecracker.  The way the tulle puffs out on the top imitates the sparkles of a little firecracker.  So conveniently enough, this mini 'Firecracker' album reflects it's own name.

As many of you most likely know there are many, many tutorials out there for mini albums--so I guess I'll be adding to this collection!  We all have our own take on shared techniques--so this would be mine.  This little album holds a total of 8 tags that I've used to mat 8 photos of my son when he was about 2 months old.  Each tag was made with Core'dinations cardstock from their Whitewash & Tim Holtz Kraft-Core collections.

I strung different colored tulle onto each tag to make it easier to pull the tags in & out.  You can put journaling behind each tag or you can even add another photo on the backside of the tag for a total of 16 photos.  The banners seen on each pocket were cut from leftover 'Pride' scraps by using one of the sticker banners that came with the Pride collection as a template.  I just added a bit of rub ons & dots of clear Stickles to decorate them a bit more.

Let's get started with the tutorial...