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!

The Boy Within Layout

Good evening fellow scrappers! It's time for a new challenge over at Color Combos Galore (CCG). The inspirational challenge was to scrap an incredible kid in your life--the designer's challenge was to journal about what makes your chosen child so incredible.

Well at first, this posted a bit of a challenge for me since me & the hubby do not have kiddies of our own yet. Then when I started thinking about it--we're pretty kiddie free! None of our close friends have kids yet & the few kids we do mingle with we do so on only very rare occasions. So I thought a bit 'outside of the box' as they say & scrapped the inner boy living within my husband.

So this is him at approximately 11 years of age. The middle photo is him today. My husband is still very much a kid at heart & that little boy still lives very much within him. My journaling focused on how keeping 'the boy within' a live has kept him young at heart & even a little innocent/naive at times.

Here's the color palette my page is based on. The various hues of browns/tans with a splash of blue just screamed 'boy' to me. So I knew it had to lean more towards a masculine page.
The photos are matted with some Tim Holtz glassine that I wrinkled up & then randomly inked with Walnut distress ink--a bit of torn up corrugated cardboard that I spritzed with some light brown glimmer mist and inked the edges with some dark brown chalk ink and a bit of cheese cloth.

The crochet doily is from my stash. I tucked a small glass vial full of blue beads from my stash. The black flourish is a stamp. I stamped the image on a transparency with black Staz On--cut out the image & then adhered as shown.

The ticket behind the large brown flower is by Tim Holtz. There's also just a bit of brown tulle peeking out from behind the large flower to slightly soften the page. The brown beaded vine is by Prima. It was one vine that I cut into two pieces.

The film strip is also by Tim Holtz. I gave it a small loop on top for a bit of added dimension.

The journaling is tucked behind the first photo on top and keep it in place with a Tim Holtz clip.

The pen nib is also by Tim Holtz & the old fashioned car is a glimmer glass by Tattered Angels.

I based the overall design of my page on a sketch by Nadia Cannizzo. This sketch is being used for the March sketch challenge going on over at C'est Magnifique.

Thanks to all of you who stop by for a visit. Do swing by the CCG blog and check out the other talented DT's take on this challenge & to play along if you can!

Puppy Love Layout

Good evening fellow scrappers! I'm a bit late in posting this page. This was done for Color Combos Galore (CCG) Challenge #221.

This would be me & my fur-baby Toby. Toby was barely 4 months old here! Sometimes I can't believe that he was this tiny. Now he weighs a whopping 16 lbs! No matter how much he grows though...he'll always be my 'little boy'.

Here's the CCG challenge my page is based on. I used all the colors from the palette & incorporated a few wooden embellies & a couple of owls as inspired by the wooden owls in the challenge.

The background of the layout was hand cut. I just traced a large scallop mask I have over plain ivory card stock and hand cut it out. I then inked the edges with a bit of Peeled Paint distress ink.

The half heart circle is made out of wood. The flocked pup is from my stash.

You can see a bit of the hand stitching in this screen shot. I once again combined the zig-zag stitch with the straight stitch to add a bit of texture.

The brown flourishes going straight down my page is actually a stamp by Hampton Art.

The corner grunge stamp is by Stamp Enjoy. I first stamped the image onto a transparency with black Staz On and then cut it out. This way I was able to place the image exactly where I wanted it.

The triple owls is a stamp by Sideshow Stamps. Like my corner stamp--the owls were stamped onto a transparency with black Staz On and then cut out. TIP: stamping images on transparencies allows you to place your images wherever you wish. Just remember to use a permanent ink like Staz On or else your image will smear.

The large owl sitting in my vine is a glimmer glass by Tattered Angels.

The vine is a Color Me vine by Petaloo...it was spritzed with a bit of blue glimmer mist & then randomly inked with some Weathered Wood distress ink. Finally, I further decorated the flowers on the vine by lightly adding a bit of clear Star Dust Stickles along the edges of the flower petals.

Here's a closeup of the stamped flourishes added along the border.

The little fence is also made out of wood. I added a bit of tulle to the large flower (by Prima) in order to soften the layout a bit.

The script seen here is a stamp by Donna Salazar called 'All My Love' & the mulberry flowers are from my stash.

Thanks for stopping by & do pay CCG a visit to see the other DT's interpretation of this challenge and to play along for a chance to win some goodies!

Completely Loved Layout

Good evening fellow scrappers! Today's page comes with an announcement. I'm very happy to say that I've been asked to join the Color Combos Galore (CCG) DT! I've definitely been expanding my experimentation with color lately so when Janet extended an offer to join her DT--I was quite happy to do so. These color palettes take me out of my comfort zone & challenge me to create pages I normally wouldn't. If you look at my earlier pages, I mostly scrapped in browns/tans & earth tone/grungy colors. But as you can see with this debut page for CCG it's anything but earth tones!

This is none other than my fur baby Toby. Even though he's a boy the way he posed for this photo just fit the overall happy colors of pinks, greens & cream. Most of the papers used & a couple of the embellishments were from the February kit called "Roses & Chocolates" by Funtoolas--a very cute Etsy shop specializing in flowers & kits for scrapbooking.

Here's the CCG challenge my page is based on. I took inspiration from the photo to create some of the elements on my page. For example, the spiral fabric flowers reminded me of the lollipops and the stripes in the green ribbon are for the striped mountains and also for the design on the lollipops. In addition, the photo is so very 'child like' which is also why I decided to scrap my little boy for this one. Sure, Toby is a pup but his personality is so very much like that of a child that it really does feel as if he's a little boy instead of a little dog.

The splatters of paint were made with a stamp set called 'Splat' by Recollections. I bought this stamp set at my local Michaels & use it frequently on my pages. I tucked a small velvet dog embellie I've had in my stash for the longest alongside the Prima vine.

I intertwined a rhinestone flourish also by Prima around the vine. I cut around the transparency the flourish was packaged with. This is how I was able to wrap it around the vine.

The journaling was printed on vellum & then cut out into strips. I tucked a bit of light pink tulle on either side of my floral clusters.

The green ribbon was adhered in the form of a 'wave' in order give it some 3D dimension.

Thanks to all of you who take the time to visit. Please do stop by CCG in order to see the other DT's take on this challenge & to play along. These colors are perfect to scrap those belated Valentine's Day photos!