Winter Memories Layout Berry71Bleu November Challenge

Good morning fellow scrappers!  Today's post was my project for November's Berry71Bleu challenge.  November's challenge is currently over, but the December challenge is up & running!  So make sure to check it out for a chance to win some crafty goodies!

November's challenge was a vintage themed challenge.  The DT had the opportunity to work with papers from our primary sponsor for the month of November which was Riddersholm Designs.  I received Christmas themed papers which already had a vintage feel to them--so the papers did most of the work for me!  :-) The papers I used were from Riddersholm's 'Christmas Cosy' collection.

I chose a recent photo of my son for this layout.  It's a winter themed page & therefore this photo of my son posing with a snowy pine tree behind him worked out just right for this project.

My little guy is growing up right before my eyes.  I honestly have issues realizing sometimes how Father Time has turned my little wiggly bundle of joy into this active toddler--a little man in training as I say to myself on most days.

Once again I took inspiration for the design of my page from a sketch by The Nifty Pixel.  I haven't officially announced this on my blog yet--but as of October 2015 I've been part of The Nifty Pixel design team!  Woo-Hoo!!  Am quite happy to have joined this fabulous group of ladies.  I'm certainly a big fan of these sketches & it's no secret that I thoroughly enjoy working with them.

I kept the embellishments used on my page simple for the most part.  I dug through my stash for items that were more on the Winter theme rather than Christmas while keeping it as masculine as I could without getting too 'girly'.  With only men to primarily scrap--I've gotten pretty good at masculine themed projects.  :-)

I had these mini bottle brush trees in my stash.  I trimmed the bottoms & tucked them behind my cluster of embellishments.

Supplies: Paper - Riddersholm Designs, Embellishments - Recollections, Chipboard - Um Wow Studio, Flairs - Recollections, Flowers - Recollections, The Kreative Korner

Thanks for stopping by--let the Holiday season begin!

A 'Legacy' Tri-Fold Mini Album

 

Here's hoping that all of you that celebrate Thanksgiving had a wonderful gathering with friends/family!  

Today I'm sharing a mini album that I made a few months ago with the use of Authentique's 'Legacy' collection. I call this mini a 'Tri-Fold Mini Album'.  It's a relatively simple album to make but provides the access to store several pictures, journaling & even a sentiment if so desired.

These pictures of me & my son were taken this past Mother's Day.  I loved all the different action shots & wanted to showcase them in a quick & simple way.  While navigating through Pinterest, I found a tutorial for this sort of mini album.  I'll supply the list to this tutorial at the end of the post as well as a brief video showcasing this mini.  The tutorial is in French--but luckily with the help of 3 years of French taken at college & the photos provided in the tutorial I was able to easily create this mini.

What I liked the most about this mini is that you can either store it closed or display it on a desk or shelf standing up as shown in this screen shot. I have my mini album displaying on my desk at work.  So this mini also makes for a nice keepsake or gift.

The photo shown here is of the back of the mini where I've included two photos of my son & husband along with 1 pocket to store journaling and 1 sentiment.

This mini is designed to hold 8+ photos--depending on your needs/preferences.  Each square measures 3" inches x 3" inches--so the photos measure about 2 3/4" inches x 2 3/4" inches.  The album itself measures 3 1/4" inches wide by 9" 1/4" inches high & it has medium chipboard covers.

For those of you that are saavy with the paper & scissors--here's the link to the tutorial. UPDATE: It was brought to my attention that the link to the original tutorial I used to create this album is no longer available. Therefore, I created my own video tutorial.  :-) You can find the tutorial here or you can click on the video itself below.

Here's a video showcasing the mini.

Here's the link to the tutorial.

Supplies: Paper - Authentique, Embellishments - Prima, Ribbon - May Arts, Flowers - The Felt Shoppe, Prima, Other - Medium Weight Chipboard

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

The Sweetest Thing Layout

Today's post is one that should've gone out back in July!  Talk about being behind schedule.  This layout was done for the July Berry71bleu challenge.  For some reason, I just never posted it onto my own blog.

So I recently discovered this long awaited page & decided to take the time to finally showcase it.

This would be my son giving me his best 'big boy' pose.  He's a ham & loves the camera.  You figured he'd be modeling for years based on how he can strike a pose in a matter of seconds...

All papers seen on my layout are from Authentique's 'Infused' collection.  Even though the color scheme falls into the category that makes the collection more suitable for girls--I think it can still work for a toddler boy.  My son has a couple of bright colored summer outfits & it just so happens that his bright yellow neon shorts along with his pastel blue shirt went along nicely with the color scheme of this collection.

To make the different patterns of the paper pop against each other--I matted my layers with black card stock.  This helped define each layer since several of the papers have bright patterns on it.

The photo lent itself to be fussy cut--so I did just that, I fussy cut my son out & adhered him with pop dots in order to give the layout a bit more dimension.

For the floral cluster I chose a combination of felt & burlap flowers to add a touch of masculinity to the page.

Supplies: Paper - Authentique, Flowers - Petaloo, Recollections, The Felt Shoppe, Dies: Heartfelt Creations, Mists: Heidi Swapp, Flairs - UmWow Studio, Other: Mini Flocked Teddy Bear, Black Doily, Sprial Paper Clip, White Paper Bag

Thanks for stopping by & enjoy the rest of your week...

The Walking Dead Tag Berry71Bleu September Challenge

The September challenge for Berry71Bleu gave me a fantastic opportunity to not only create a tag (something I haven't done for a while) but to also pay a small homage to one of my fave TV shows 'The Walking Dead'.

I'm one of those rare individuals that love all sorts of scary, spooky & paranormal movies, shows & books.  Which is why Stephen King is one of my all time fave authors.  Along with scary & paranormal come all the monsters & creatures associated with this.  So vampires, werewolves, demons/poltergeists & of course good ol' fashioned zombies!

So when 'The Walking Dead' came out it just automatically became one of my all time favorite shows.  In addition to the fact that the characters themselves are all likable & make for good story telling.

So when I saw that this month's challenge over at Berry71Bleu was to include a 'Forest' theme into your project--this show was the first thing that popped into my head.

I'd say that about 95% of the show takes place in the forest/woods.  The woods are both a haven & a place of insecurity for the show's characters.  At times the woods represents peace, serenity & a sense of safety--then suddenly the woods turn into one scary place to be!  In addition to the whole theme of the show--nobody is truly safe!  Any of the shows main characters can be killed off at any moment.  The uncertainty of this show is one of the many things that make it an interesting show to watch--at least in my book!

So in keeping with the forest theme--I chose papers from 7 Dots Studio 'Nature Walk' collection which is a collection full of earth tones & woodsy images.

A rolled up burlap flower, a mini pine cone & some dried moss makes up my embellishment cluster.

For the background of the tag--I did an old but still very useful technique introduced by Tim Holtz many years ago.  I combined 3 of the new distress pads (Fossilized Amber, Hickory Smoke & Ground Espresso) by smearing them onto my non-stick craft sheet & then spritzing water on them.  Finally I dipped my tag into the inks & spread the inks randomly around the tag in order to create that distressed watercolor effect.

To give the chipboard tree that peeks out from behind the photo it's texture--I painted the chipboard with black acrylic paint.  Once dry I heat embossed it with transparent black sparkle embossing powder by Stampendous.

This publicity photo from the show is one of my faves--I believe it was used to promote Season 4 of 'The Walking Dead'.  It shows a few of the main characters wandering through the woods.

Head on over to Berry71Bleu blog in order to play along with this month's challenge & have the chance to win some cool prizes!

Supplies: Paper - 7 Dots Studio, Chipboard - Dusty Attic, Flowers - Recollections, Prima, Ink: Ranger Distress Inks, Mists - Heidi Swapp, Embossing Powder - Stampendous, Other - Black Tulle, Dried Moss, Black Acrylic Paint

Enjoy the rest of the week!

Fun In The Sun Layout Berry71Bleu August Challenge

Hello fellow crafters!  Today's post is my interpretation of the Berry71Bleu August challenge.  This layout does two things--it satisfies the criteria for the challenge & it's also my 'farewell to summer' page.  I'm obviously behind in posting this since we're already in September--but Berry71Bleu has monthly challenges.  So you can always check out the blog to see what the current challenge is & play along for the chance to win some cool prizes.

The challenge for August was: Yellow...basically to use the color yellow into your work.  For me, whenever I'm given yellow to work with I automatically think of Summer.  Bright sunshine, warm weather, ocean, sand between your toes, bright beach umbrellas, seashells etc...so with this in mind, I created this Summer themed page.

My son recently had a Summer photo shoot done--I thought these pictures were perfect for this layout.  The bright colors of the photo went just right with the overall bright theme of my page.

The design of my page is based on a fabulous sketch by The Nifty Pixel.

The circle chipboard is by Blue Fern Studios.  The chipboard is actually a frame that I've cut apart to accommodate the design of my layout.  Blue Fern was one of our August sponsors for Berry71Bleu.

To give the chipboard that glitter effect, I first painted the chippie with white gesso.  Once dry I applied some red/orange acrylic paint.  Finally I heat embossed it with Star Dust transparent embossing powder.  This technique always gives my chippie a fabulous shimmery effect!

I've tucked a bit of dried moss underneath my flower clusters.  I think the moss gives it more of a 'beachy' feeling.  :-)

All papers used for this page are by Authentique.  I've used papers from their 'Sunkissed' collection which was full of bright colored papers & cut outs.

Supplies: Paper - Authentique, Chipboard - Blue Fern Studios, Flowers - The Kreative Korner, The Felt Shoppe, Other - Dried Moss, Seashells

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

A 'Devoted' File Folder Mini Album

Today's post is a mini album I've made with one of Authentique's latest collections 'Devoted'.   This is a pet themed paper line that I instantly fell in love with as soon as I saw it!  If you have a beloved pet--you'll instantly understand what I'm talking about.

Our dog Toby came into our lives when he was just 12 weeks old.  Since then he's been just like any other member of our family.  Sure he's covered in fur, drools, barks, licks the floor & just about everything else including his own butt--but he's family & nobody in my family loves more unconditionally than Toby.

He's my eldest child--which is what I call him since he was here first before my son and like all members of the family, he's had his ups & downs.  Unfortunately for my little guy he's allergic to several types of food--that combined with low thyroid levels resulted in one itchy, red & blotchy little guy.  So daily he needs to take medicine to help with his allergies.  This is medication that he continuously has to take & I administer daily.

Late last year he got pancreatitis (he got a hold of some juicy but very-bad-for-you chicharrones which is literally fried pork fat) yeah, this didn't sit too well in his already sensitive tummy.  So off to the vet...

Then early this year he tore a knee ligament--hello vet once more!  It's OK though--he's my little furry guy & it's the least I can do in return for the unconditional love he showers me & the rest of my family with.

So needless to say I have many, many photos of Toby.  Yet, I've never put them in any sort of album.  I do have several layouts of him--but I've been wanting to put the best photos I've taken of him in a mini album.  So when I saw the 'Devoted' collection--I knew this was it!

In prowling YouTube & Pinterest (something I do every chance I get) I found a fabulous tutorial by 'Just A Few Designs' where the base of the mini album is 1 file folder.  Not too long ago I had invested in whole box of kraft colored file folders with the idea of making mini albums with them.  So this tutorial couldn't have come along at a better time.

The above photo is the front cover.  The paper was more than enough embellishment for this mini--so both the front & back of the mini is covered with the same paper.

Now, I used the tutorial as a guide.  I had to alter the measurements a bit since my file folders were a slightly different size than the ones used in the tutorial.  Also I added my own twist & creative mix to the file folder.  That's the beauty of this tutorial--the idea is there--but the rest is up to your imagination.  You can keep it simple or you can make it a bit more complex.

From the outside this mini doesn't seem like it can hold much--but there are several pockets for storage plus a few flips and folds that can store extra photos & journaling.

I've created a video show casing this mini.  It's hard to fully understand how this mini works without having the visual.

Please go easy on me with this video--it's the very first time where I actually talk through a video.  I was nervous & I kept stuttering & babbling!  I hope to get better in making videos with a bit more practice...

You can find the tutorial I based my mini album on here.

Enjoy!

Life With You (Is One Amazing Adventure) Berry71Bleu June Challenge

Good morning fellow scrappers!  Needless to say, I'm a bit late in posting this page.  I can't even begin to describe how busy my full time job has been keeping me lately.  It's been non-stop work with no breaks in sight.  I'm in urgent need of a vacation or else I predict a gasket blowing loose any day now...

This page was my interpretation of Berry71Bleu's June challenge: Stamp It Up.  The challenge was to include stamps into your project.  For me, this was a fairly easy task since I've been a fan of stamps for years now.  I have so many of them & just don't use them enough in my opinion.  So for this page I broke out a couple of stamps from my stash.

The photo is a favorite of mine.  It's me with my two boys, my son & my dog Toby.  In Photoshop I applied a 'pencil sketch' effect on my picture which I really like.  My cluster of embellishments are composed of several bits & bobs from my stash such as a small mushroom bird, mini nest, fabric flowers, mulberry flowers & a domino piece.

This scroll, stitches and sentiment are all stamps.

The paper used for my layout is from Authentique's 'Everlasting' collection.  This collection is entirely in black & white.  The designs on several of the pages though, lend themselves to be colored in which is precisely what I did here.  With a couple of Prismacolor markers, I gave my page a splash of color.  I hadn't colored in years & it felt great to go back to basic coloring.  After coloring in my blossoms I further dressed them up by applying a dot of Star Dust Stickles to the center of each one.

The large black flourish seen behind my photos is one big stamp.  It's a foam stamp by Prima that I've had in my stash for an eternity now.  To further dress up the flourish I added Star Dust Stickles along the edges of the flourish.

The bright turquoise organza flowers are items from my own stash.  I have these & a few others in different colors available in my Etsy shop.

This small car image is a stamp by Viva Las Vegastamps which was one of our sponsors for June.  I stamped it onto white card stock, cut the image out & adhered it to my page with a couple of pop dots for some dimension.

Supplies: Paper - Authentique, Stamps - Prima, Viva Las Vegastamps, Technique Tuesday, Markers - Prismacolor, Glitter Glue - Stickles, Flowers - I Am Roses, The Kreative Korner, Other - Mini Mushroom Bird, Mini Bird's Nest, Fabric Flower, Spiral Paper Clip, Domino Piece

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