You Are So Loved Layout

Today's page is a simple one--made with one of Authentique's latest collection - Cuddle: Boy.  As soon as I saw this baby boy themed collection, I knew I had to document one of my little guy's first photos.  He was just a few days old when this photo was taken.

I kept the design simple with a few embellishments adhered with pop dots to add a bit of dimension.

For once I decided to add my own flair to the design paper & simply scribbled onto the background of the page with a fine tipped black marker.  I actually like the random end result!

With some stamps & rhinestones, I added more interest to the background & added a sentiment along the center of the page which is exactly the thought this photo of my little guy brings to my mind.

With the photo itself, I wanted to do a puzzle sort of effect.  So I cut the photo into three random squares/rectangles--matted them & then pieced them back together.  It added a different effect to the photo.

Supplies: Paper - Autthentique, Stamps - Technique Tuesday, Sodalicious, Embellishments - Authentique, Other - Spiral Paper Clips, Rhinestones, Brads
Thanks for stopping by & enjoy the rest of the week!

Dream Big Layout

Today I'm sharing a page I made a few months ago & have not posted till now.  It's been a rough Winter health wise for me this year.  I've been sick on & off for the past month or so.  Not sure what crazy bug is going around--but it's not a pretty one!  I can finally say that I'm recovering after three different rounds of antibiotics...phew!

So, this would be my little guy celebrating his 3rd birthday just this past November.  Time is flying by way too fast for my liking.  He's getting so big & developing an even bigger personality to go along with him.  :-)

I've mostly used papers by Authentique & the design of my page is based on a sketch by The Nifty Pixel.  

Here's the sketch by The Nifty Pixel that I've used as the design for my page.  The link will take you directly to the 'Life of Pie' projects & will show case several other 'pie' themed sketches & the design teams interpretations of these fabulous sketches.

I made the circle embellishments with the use of some leftover scraps.  I made them uneven on purpose.  These are one of those elements where the more uneven they are, the better they look.

Paper clips.  Now that's something I wouldn't have thought would make a nice random embellishment...but as you can see here--I've inserted one in between my circles & it actually works!

One of my trademarks on layouts is to use a combination of several different random bits & bobs.  I've used a combination of all sorts of flowers, from burlap to felt--chipboard elements, arrows, epoxy stickers & one mini felt teddy bear. 

Supplies: Paper - Authentique, Random Left Over Scraps, Flowers - The Felt Shoppe, I Am Roses, The Kreative Korner, Embellishments - Prima, Tim Holtz, Arrow Paper Clip - Freckled Fawn, Other - Mini Felt Teddy Bear, String, Paper Clip, Wooden Banner, Burlap Flower

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

Jingle All The Way Layout

Good afternoon crafters!  I hope everybody is having a fabulous start to 2016!  I know that my last 2 weeks in December were exactly how I wanted them to be--peaceful & quiet!  

Today's post is a page I created for both Berry71Bleu & The Nifty Pixel.  This was my last project for Berry71Bleu.  After being on their DT for 3 years, I've decided to step down.  It's a wonderful DT & I enjoyed my time there & am grateful for the opportunity to have been a part of such a fabulous team! 

This layout features my little guy giving me one of my favorite Christmas themed poses up to date.  He's such a ham & loves to take pictures.  The photographers always have a field day with him since he seems to pose in whichever way they ask him to & holding whatever prop they give him.  I went with the traditional red & green Christmas colors for this page with splashes of gold here & there.

The design of my page is based on a sketch by The Nifty Pixel.  Further down I have a photo showcasing how I've included a digital element from the Berry & Fawn collection by The Nifty Pixel onto my page--in turn creating a 'hybrid' page.

I found these mini spools at my local Michaels during Christmas time & bought them with the idea that they'd make really unique embellishments on a Christmas themed page--and I was right!  I just rolled some twine onto this mini spool & spread the twine randomly across my page to give it a small 3D effect on my layout.

In this photo you can see the red deer which is a digital element that I've printed, cut out & used on my page.  This deer is part of the 'Berry & Fawn' digital collection by The Nifty Pixel.

I've stored my journaling in this scroll which has by far, become my favorite way of storing my journaling onto my pages. You can find a brief tutorial on how I create these scrolls right here.

Supplies: Paper - Authentique, Digital Elements - The Nifty Pixel, Flowers - Manor House, The Kreative Korner, Chipboard - Um Wow Studio, Other - Gold Doily, Mini Gift Box, Mini Pine Cone Spray, Spiral Clips, Spiral Sequin Spray, Mini Spool, Twine

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

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!