Friends Furever Layout

Good evening once again fellow scrappers & bloggers! Today's page is one I did for Stamp Enjoy. It's also a remake of an older page titled "Just the 2 of Us". I felt my original page was a bit too feminine--so I re-did it while keeping only certain elements but adding more of a 'grungy' masculine theme.

This is my husband & my little fur-pup Toby. These two are 'my boys'--the men in my life! This photo captures the bond & special friendship these two share. Yes, it's true that my husband isn't exactly a 'little boy' anymore. But the friendship they share is the typical 'boy & his beloved dog' that we've all heard about since the Little House & the Prairie days. As usual, Toby seems to be smiling in this picture. How he pulls that off is beyond me...but he somehow manages to smile in the majority of his pics!

As previously mentioned, I tried to keep this on the masculine side; therefore you'll notice a bit of 'grunge' in the style of this page. However, I did manage to include flowers in order to soften it just a bit. They are what I call 'man flowers'. :-)

I used a corrugated 'flute' cardboard by Canvas Corp for the background. I did a lot of embossing/painting on the corrugated cardboard. I also did a bit of stitching & went a little tag crazy in the upper left hand corner! :-)

Here's a close up of one of the two beaded flowers with burlap bottoms. The burlap portion of the flower I made by doing my 'burlap flower' tutorial found here. The beaded flower is an item you can find in my Etsy shop. I have several beaded flowers in a variety of colors. So if interested, please do feel free to stop by. These beaded flowers really do add a nice finishing touch to any project. The metal string circle around the beaded flower is an item I found at my local Michaels in the clearance section. I thought they'd be perfect for masculine themed pages.

A close up of the brick wall & my stamped little guy with his pup. The brick wall is a chippie by Dusty Attic. I used the 'brick texture' technique to give it that rustic brick look. I have a brief tutorial for this on my blog. If interested, you can check it out here.

Here you can see my cluster of tags. I made the folded corner act as a makeshift pocket for my tags.

A close up of the flourish. The flourish was die cut with Tim Holtz's Elegant Flourish die on grunge board. I spread a thin layer of molding paste on the grungeboard & then heat embossed with Enamelz by Shimmerz. Enamelz is a thicker embossing powder than your regular embossing powder--so it adds a really nice effect when combined with other media.

Here's my background. It was first completely painted with an olive acrylic paint. Once dry then I randomly spread a bit of molding paste. Finally I sprinkled a bit of silver Enamelz (Silver Fox) & heat embossed it. This gave me a fabulous background. After looking at it for a bit I realized that this would also look really nice for a Christmas themed paged.

I used a piece of burlap from Canvas Corp to put behind my photo. I also again did a combination of zig-zag stitching & straight stitching. I first used this stitch in my 'Essential Cog' page & really liked the look of it.

Thanks to all of you who stop by for a visit! Enjoy the weekend...

Year 4 Layout

Hello once again fellow bloggers & scrappers! Today's page displays my most recent favorite picture of my hubby & me. This photo was taken on our recent vacation to Puerto Rico & in celebration of our 4th wedding anniversary. Four years. Has it really already been four years!? It honestly feels like just yesterday that I was taking my vows. Where does time go?

I used papers from Bo Bunny's Gabrielle collection. The entire background is stamped & I added additional stamping to my main page. I also went Distress Stickles happy when adding texture to the brick chippies! Distress Stickles really add amazing texture to just about any chippie.

The design of the page is based on Once Upon A Sketch's October 1st challenge sketch. The requirement for this sketch was to have at least one sentence of journaling noting why the event that was being scrapped was noteworthy. My journaling reads: This picture was taken on our very first day out exploring Puerto Rico & on the eve of our 4th wedding anniversary. A memory captured eternally against the walls of a historic fort that is centuries old.

I used white acrylic paint to stamp the brick wall in the background. With a brush apply the paint to your stamp. Apply a thin layer...do not glob your paint on or else you'll have globs on your page as well! TIP: Remember to clean your stamp as soon as you're done stamping. Once the paint dries it'll be much harder to clean. Stamp used is by Layers of Color (Brick Wall).

Even with a thin layer of acrylic white paint, the wall dried with an amazing raised texture. In person, it's almost like an embossed white brick wall in the background.

I cut out two pages in the same bracket shape & off set them slightly. I tried to bring out the subtle orange hues of this paper line. This is why you see the bright orange splashes throughout the page.

I stitched along the bracket border & added dots of Orange Peel stickles along the edge.

The chain bridge is by Dusty Attic. I painted this with a dark brown acrylic paint & then added Cinnamon Stickles.

The journaling was printed on ivory vellum. I then adhered the vellum to cream colored cardstock & inked the edges. I then stamped some splatters on the journaling with Tea Dye distress ink. The journaling is adhered with pop dots for added dimension.

The loop flower is hand made. I used Martha Stewarts corner Loop punch to make it. I've made a tutorial on how to make these corner punch flowers. If interested, you can find the tutorial here.

In the bottom corner you can catch glimpses of the script stamping. This stamp is from Tim Holtz's Mini Ornate collection.

This butterfly can be found in my Etsy shop. It's one of the new 'fall' butterfly additions to my shop. The splash of bright orange against the dark brown was just right for this page. I adhered the butterfly to the daisy with hot glue...it's a quick way to adhere an embellishment in precisely the right spot.

Finally, a close up of the brick wall also by Dusty Attic. I used two shades of orange for the brick walls. The upper bricks were painted in a bright orange acrylic paint. I then applied a thick layer of Spiced Marmalade Distress Stickles. The bottom bricks were painted with a darker orange/brown acrylic paint. I used Rusty Hinge Distress Stickles for these bricks.

Thanks for stopping by & for taking the time to visit!

Artist Layout

Good evening once again fellow scrappers & bloggers! Today's post is one based on yours truly. That's me at a very young age doing what I've always loved to do...draw! Gotta love the big ol' bow in my hair & the so very 70's wall paper! :-)

As usual, I did an overload of stamping on this page. The entire background is stamped including the large flourish scroll border you see at the bottom. This is a DT page for Stamp Enjoy. I've also used stamps by Tattered Angels & Stampers Anonymous. Some stitching, misting & Stickles to accentuate my stamped images added the final touches to the background.

The 'artist' sentiment that I stamped directly onto my photo is by Stampers Anonymous. Ensure that any stamping done directly on photos is with permanent inks such as StazOn or else your stamped image will smear.

The red velvet flowers were by Petaloo & the silver ones by Prima. Here you can see a close up of the stamped flourish border & how I dressed up the flourishes with a bit of Diamond Stickles. The flourish stamp is from a set called Architectural Trims by Tattered Angels.

This next screen shot shows a bit of the zig-zag stitching I did & a texture stamp by Stamp Enjoy titled Volutes et Ronds. I have to say that I'm in love with this stamp. I've used it in just about all my backgrounds because it adds just the right amount of grungy texture.

Tip: Dress up your stitching with a bit of Stickles. I added two drops of Silver Stickles in between each zig-zag stitch to give the stitching a different look.

Here's a close up of some heavy hole punch distressing that I did to the corner of my photo. Just take hole punches of different sizes & randomly punch away at a corner--then ink it up with some distress inks. I used Tea Dye distress ink on my photo. This technique I got from Irene Tan better known as Scrapperlicious.

This very cute little 'artist' stamp is by Stamp Enjoy titled Abreen Artiste. I colored her with Prismacolor markers & dressed her up with Stickles. I used a bit of light pink chalk to add the pink glow on her cheeks.

This final screen shot shows again the Volutes et Ronds stamp as well as the corner angle stamp by Stamp Enjoy titled Naturel. Once again, you can see in this screen shot how I used the Stickles to dress up my stamped images.

Thanks to all of you who take the time to stop by. I hope this page inspires some of you to create your own backgrounds with stamps!

Reflection Layout

Good evening fellow scrappers! I was due for a Toby page & here he is! Admiring himself in the mirror. He does this a lot. Call him vain but he's always checking himself out. I was lucky enough to finally capture him doing this in a perfect angle.

This is a DT page for Stamp Enjoy. It showcases just a few of thier fabulous stamps which I think are excellent for making your own personalized backgrounds.

The majority of the chipboard is by Dusty Attic (except for the glitzy owl). In addition to the stamping; the background was spritzed with Olive Smooch & the edges inked with Burnt Sienna chalk ink.

I've used the Creative Scrappers sketch # 157 shown here. I just flipped the design...

Here's a closeup of the Dusty Attic brick chipboard. I used the Brick Texture technique on these chippies to give it that rustic look. You can find a brief tutorial on how to achieve this 'brick' look here.

A closeup of additional Dusty Attic chippies. For these, I painted them in white acrylic paint & then heat embossed them with Star Dust clear embossing powder. In real life, these chippies give off a beautiful glimmer!

I added a row of gold eyelets as a border. Am so grateful to my scrap buddy Natasha for making me realize the possibilities of eyelets! Till she came along, I thought they were only good for keeping the laces on my sneaks on tight...who would've thought eyelets could be used for so many other things!

I used Tim Holtz's Scrollwork die for the swirly border.

Here's my owl! This little guy is actually made out of wood. These wooden embellishments are from Scrap Desirs. They're thicker than regular chipboard & add fabulous dimension to your projects. I actually colored the branch with a permanent brown marker & then added clear iridescent glitter. I applied Martha Stewart brown leaf glitter to the owl itself. I used little yellow rhinestones for the owls' eyes & beak.

More Dusty Attic chipboard. This screen shot also shows one of Stamp Enjoy's stamps titled Border Corner 2. Quick Tip: to add more dimension to your stamping, accentuate the design with Stickles or glitter as shown here.

Here's another stamp by Stamp Enjoy. This one is titled Volutes et Ronds. As you can see I accentuated the stamps design by adding Stickles to it.

One more closeup of yet another Stamp Enjoy stamp. This one is called Lantern 1.

Before I wrap this post up--here are the Stamp Enjoy stamps I've used on my page.

Thanks to all of you who stop by. I appreciate you taking the time!

Be Unique Layout & Announcement

Good evening fellow scrappers & bloggers! I had momentarily lost my scrapping mojo for a bit there--but I blame work. Things have calmed down just enough for me to magically regain my mojo & it has come back with a vengeance!

Today's page is titled 'Be Unique'. This cute little brown eyed girl is actually the daughter of a good friend of mine. Gotta love those chubby cheeks & that fabulous smile!

The message I was giving this little one was to be yourself no matter what--to be a leader not a follower. That's the message I was trying to convey with the butterflies. Notice how all of them are the same except for one & it's the prettiest one out of them all. :-)

I did a lot of inking, misting & stamping on this one. I used a combination of Worn Lipstick & Shabby Shutters distress inks for the background along with Graphite glimmer mist. Pretty much all the stamps you see here are by Stamp Enjoy. Thier stamps are absolutely perfect for creating your own backgrounds.

Here's a closeup of one of Stamp Enjoy's texture stamps called Volutes et Ronds. In this shot you also see a bit of masking & a couple of the butterflies.

Here's a closeup of the lacing. After playing around with 2 strands of different colored ribbon for about 1 hour--I came up with this combination of lacing styles. I hope to soon post a tutorial on this lacing--if I can remember how I went about it! Mind you I was doing this lacing at about 1:30 in the morning...

The very pretty stick pin I bought from Mandy's (Craftysprinkles) Etsy store.

Here's a closeup of the transparent butterfly. The butterfly is an image that was printed on a transparency. I then added a bit of Stickles to the wings & glittered the body. I have a couple of diverse transparent or 'glass' butterflies in my small Etsy shop. These butterflies add a nice & unique touch to pages because of thier clear nature.

A close up of the large flower cluster & the journaling. I tucked a bit of baby's breath (a.k.a gyp) behind the large flower. Baby's breath adds such a delicate touch to girl themed pages.

Finally a closeup of another stamp by Stamp Enjoy. This one is called Cage 1.

Speaking of Stamp Enjoy--I have some fabulous news to share. I've been asked to be part of their DT & I'm so very happy to have accepted! I've used their stamps to create my own backgrounds for several of my pages & I love how you can create your own mini 'works of art' by combining thier stamps with inks & mists. I'm looking forward to utilizing thier stamps for many more creations.

Thanks to all of you who stop by & visit--I very much appreciate you taking the time.

It's No Fairy Tale Layout

Buenas tardes fellow scrappers! Today's page is a trip down memory lane for yours truly. Yep, that's me in the stroller some many moons ago. This page is actually a letter for my future child(ren). They say scrapbooking can be used to send letters to those that have passed & to those that are yet to come. So with this picture I've taken the opportunity to send a message to my 'to-be-child(ren)' regarding a very important lesson that I've already come to learn. Journaling reads as follows:

I know you don't currently exist & I'm not sure just when you'll arrive. What I do know is that I already have a message or you that I hope to pass onto you when the time comes. You'll refer to this piece of advice quite often in your journey called life.

Unfortunately, life is not a fairy tale. I've discovered that life is more like a storm--you'll find yourself basking in the sun one moment & then be shattered on the rocks the next--but it's what you do in those moments that you're shattered that defines you & makes you stronger. You'll have your ups & your downs--your laughs & your sorrows--& your own mistakes will be your best lessons. Yes, life is no fairy tale--but every second of every minute of every day is so very much worth living.

So I got a bit philosophical or maybe Shakespearean--but I base my advice on my own experience! Before I go on any further--just some tid bits on the supplies used on this page.

Once again I used a sketch from Creative Scrappers to design this page. All papers are from the Bittersweet collection by Basic Grey. I've had these papers just about forever & finally found the right page to use them on.

As usual I stamped the entire background--this seems to have become my 'must' technique on my pages lately. I used a combination of stamps. Here is a closeup of some stamping. The clock & circular texture designs in pink are stamps by Stamp Enjoy. The small script stamp is by Prima.

Other stamps used on this page are by Stampers Anonymous.

On this closeup you can also see the hand stitching I did along the borders of the page.


A closeup of the chipboard flourish. This chippie is by Maxine's Melange. To get the texture you see here, I first painted the chipboard in black acrylic paint. Then I heat embossed it with clear Star Dust embossing powder. In person, this flourish is very 'blingy'!

I added the title along some of the scrolls of the chippie.

A closeup of the flowers. The large dark pink flower is by Prima. The two smaller flowers were handmade by me. I refer them as 'frosted flowers' because the glaze on the vellum give them a frosty look. They were made with hand punches, vellum, inking & some glaze. To see a brief tutorial on how these flowers were made, please go here.

I tucked small white twigs of baby's breath (also known as gyp) underneath the flowers.


Finally a closeup of the lacing. This fabulous lacing technique is by my scrap buddy Natasha. I've been wanting to use her 'twisted lace' technique for a while now & this page gave me the perfect opportunity to do so. If interested in learning this lacing technique, please go to Natasha's post here. She did a great tutorial on this lacing technique. Thank you girl!

Thanks to all of you who stop by--I appreciate your visit so very much! Hope you didn't mind taking this brief trip down memory lane with me.

Frankie Layout

Hello once again fellow scrappers! Today's page is one that I've been meaning to do for quite some time. It's simply titled 'Frankie'. Frankie happens to be my best friend. Sure, it may seem odd that my best friend happens to be a man--but I guess that's what life had in store for me. Sometimes, you don't pick your friends--they pick you! That's exactly how it was w/me & Frankie. I have journaling on the back of this page--it tells how our friendship began: “Why are you eating lunch in your cube like a dork?” Believe it or not, this one question asked by Frankie on my first day of work, started a friendship that is going onto 12 years now.

Meet Frankie—my best friend. I met him in my first real job out of college back in 2000; good ol’ UPS. We’ve shared more laughs than I can even begin to remember & we’ve had our share of arguments as well. Through the years he’s become my ‘unofficial brother’. He brought me out of my shell at UPS, was there on my wedding day & nobody else has taught me so many useless phrases & terminology as he has!

He’s a great guy with a big heart though he doesn’t like to admit it. He can’t stand mustard or pickles & he can’t mix too many toppings on pizza or hotdogs—he’s a simple ‘meat & potatoes’ guy. He eats his candy bars with a fork & knife & is probably THE neatest guy I’ve ever met!?

He’s the Iceman (a nickname he gave himself), he’s Frank the Tank (his drinking nickname), he’s Frankie G. & don’t you forget it…

But to me, he’s simply Frankie—my brotha’ from another motha’ as he would say—my best friend as I would say…

The small quote in the metal trinket reads: "A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out". He's single by the way--so if you knows of anybody that's into George Lopez look-a-likes--give me a shout! :-)


The page was based on Creative Scrappers sketch #150 shown here.  As usual, I did a lot of inking & stamping in the background. I used several stamps on the background by two manufacturers--Stamp Enjoy & Stampers Anonymous.

This fabulous tree chipboard is by Dusty Attic. I inked it in Aged Mahagony distress ink & then spread a combination of distress Stickles & regular Stickles to give it a variety of effects based on the lighting. It has Frosted Lace, Vintage Photo, Paprika & Diamond Stickles.



Here you can see some of the stamping in the background & of the net stitching that makes up the circle. I first saw this net stitching on one of Irene Tan's pages (Scrapperlicous). For this page, I did what I consider half of a net stitch since I only went one way & didn't come back the other way to create a criss cross pattern.



I've used some leftover brick chippies from my 'Brothers' page here. This chipboard is also by Dusty Attic. Here, the chipboard has been inked & embossed in Vintage Photo. I further decorated the bricks by adding Vintage Photo Distressed stickles with my finger.  I have a tutorial on how I gave the brick chipboard it's texture here.


Finally, a close-up of the large flower. The sanded cardstock is by Core'dinations.

Thanks to all who take the time to stop by--I appreciate your stopping by. I also hope this page inspires some of you to scrap your friends along with your family. Sometimes we concentrate so much on family--that we oversee our friends. I believe true friends come in very small numbers--if you're lucky enough to find one, make sure you make the time to pay them a small tribute. It'll be just one more memory to smile about in the years to come.