First Haircut Layout Berry71Bleu April Challenge

Good morning fellow scrappers!  I'm here today presenting my interpretation of April's Berry71Bleu challenge hosted by Tracey.  I've used several products by a few of our generous sponsors on this page.  All the paper used is from 7 Dots Studio 'Illumination' collection.  The chipboard circles, the two flair buttons & the circular stencil I used to create some texture onto my background are all by Um Wow Studio & finally I used a couple of paper images by Dark Room Door.

This is my son getting his very first hair cut.  How time flies!  The four photos showcase his journey through his first cut.  He was a brave little man & shed no tears--he just went along with the flow.  :-)  So the first photo was how he came in, the next two photos were taken as his hair was being cut & the last picture was the end result.  We took forever in making the decision to cut his hair.  You can't tell in the first photo because he was wearing a hat that day & his hair had flattened out but he had these lovely long curly locks of hair.  Many people told us that once we cut his hair he'd lose all his curls.  Everybody except for my mom that is...she insisted that I didn't lose my curls as a baby when she cut my hair and that my son inherited my hair so why would he lose his curls?  Well, I'm glad to say that my mom won!  LOL!  My son did not lose his curls...now that his hair is shorter it's wavy & as it grows again we can tell that those curls will be making a comeback.

 Here's the inspiration board created by Tracey.  It's full of colorful & unique handmade flowers.

 Once again I turned to Page Drafts for a quick mojo jump start on the design of my page.  I knew I wanted to use at least four photos & that I wanted to store a lock of my son's hair somewhere on this page.  Well this sketch fit the bill for the vision in my head.  It worked out perfectly!

My cluster of flowers includes three handmade flowers.  The large purple marigold and the two vellum flowers were handmade.  The rest are all pre made flowers.  The vellum star flower seen in the upper right hand side is a hybrid.  The bottom layers were made by me & I placed a pre made pink organza ribbon flower in the center.

This is my version of a marigold.  I have a tutorial available on my blog for this flower.  If interested, you can find the tutorial here. 

Both vellum flowers were created by stamps.  I stamped the images onto vellum with Staz On which is a permanent ink. TIP: When stamping on vellum it's best to use a permanent ink such as Staz On--using a non permanent ink such as dye or pigment based inks may cause your image to smear.  For the vellum flower shown in this photo, I cut out the flower images and layered them with a pop dot in between in order to give the flower a bit of dimension.  Finally I decorated the outer edges of the petals with Black Diamond Stickles & the center of the flower with Star Dust & Black Diamond Stickles--the finishing touch was a clear rhinestone that I adhered to the center of the flower.

The background has a bit of texture to it which I created with the use of a circle stencil & molding paste.  I also randomly spritzed a bit of white & patina mists onto the background.

Some of the circular chipboard I covered in small light yellow beads.  I applied Glossy Accents to the chippie & then dipped it into the beads & let dry.  You can also use any clear drying adhesive for this technique.

Lots & lots of layering!  How I love my pop dots & foam tape!

As is customary with my pages, I've included journaling & have stored it in this scroll.  If interested on how I make these journaling scrolls you can check out a tutorial I made for them here. 

As previously mentioned I wanted to store a lock of hair from my son's first haircut somewhere on this page as a memento.  So I created a small sliding box that did the trick!  With a circle punch I made a window on the box & placed a small piece of transparency behind the circle to create the window.  So his lock of hair is visible on my page.

Here's how the box opens.  The little drawer inside just slides out & I can take out his hair if I need to or want to.

Supplies: Paper - 7 Dots Studio, Chipboard - Um Wow Studio, Stencil - Um Wow Studio, Flair - Um Wow Studio, Embellishments - 7 Dots Studio, Dark Room Door, Hambly Screen Prints, Mists - Heidi Swapp, Ranger, Other - Handmade Flowers, Mulberry Paper Flowers, Organza Ribbon Flowers, Mini Flocked Teddy Bear, Seed Beads, Molding Paste

Thanks for stopping by & don't forget to check out the other DT's interpretation of the April challenge on the Berry71Bleu blog.  Also, play along if you can--there are some amazing prizes up for grabs!

Take care & enjoy the rest of the week!

Pop Up Easter Card

With Easter just around the corner, I thought I'd share this Easter themed card that I made for Authentique.  I used papers from their 'Promise' collection which is full of Easter themed images & is composed of colors in orange, green, blue & pink tones.

Pop up cards have been around for a very long time.  In fact a few months ago my mom was going through a couple of keepsakes she has from my grammar school days & amongst them was a pop up card that I made during art class.  This brought back memories & decided that it was time to bring back an 'oldie but goodie'.  These are fairly easy to make & add a nice dimensional touch.

 That cute little bunny is a die that I've had in my stash for many years now.  It's by Boss Kut & it's a paper piecing type of die since it cuts out all the different pieces of the bunny & you have to assemble him together.

 I'm always keeping the end user in mind so I provided an area for the sender to write a sentiment to whomever this card will be given to.

 On the cover of the card I have a few flowers, burlap ribbon, a sentiment & little Easter eggs that I fussy cut from one of the sticker elements found in the 'Promise' collection.

To add a bit more glam to my background, I randomly added Stickles to a few of the dots of my background paper.

The apple green organza ribbon star flower seen here is an item from my stash.  I have a few of these in a variety of colors available in my Etsy shop.  Feel free to check it out here if interested. 

Supplies: Paper - Authentique, Sticker Elements - Authentique, Flowers - I Am Roses, Kay's Kreative Korner, Ribbon - May Arts, Die - Boss Kut

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

The Look of Love Layout

Good evening fellow scrappers!  Today I have a page that up till now is up there amongst my favorites.  I just love how it all came together and the expression of my son at just 2 days old here laying in his daddy's arms is priceless to me!  These photos were taken by a photographer onsite at the hospital where my son was born. She managed to capture this fabulous shot which is very close to my heart.

Mind you, this page was done going on 2 months ago now--I just haven't found the opportunity to post it till now.  This page was created as a submission for Emma Stafrace's 'Love is Everywhere' challenge that was going on over at the Page Drafts blog for the month of February. 

 This is the sketch I chose from the several that Em provided.  I followed this one pretty closely since I liked all of the elements that Em included in the sketch.

 All the papers & paper based embellishments are from Authentique's 'Suave' collection.  The elements, colors & designs from this collection are perfect for masculine/boy themed pages.  With a Prima stencil (Bubbles by Finnabair) & texture paste I created the circles in the background...I added additional dots with a white gel pen.

 These transparent butterflies are the latest addition to my 'Glass Butterfly' collection found in my Etsy shop.  These would be No. 14 in the collection.  I have these & many more butterflies in all shapes & colors in my shop.  Feel free to visit my shop here if interested.

In this photo you can see that I highlighted a few of the circles with a silver gel pen to make them pop out a bit more.

 Woo-Hoo!  I finally found a chance to use up a few of these Tim Holtz fragments that I've had in my stash since the beginning of time!  :-)  With a bit of Glossy Accents I adhered the fragments onto a few sayings from the 'Suave' collection in order to make them stand out a bit more. 

 Layers, layers & more layers!  I'm making a couple of scrapbooking companies millionaires with the way I use pop dots & foam tape!  I just love the dimension pop dots & foam tape create...

 My journaling which is a must on all my pages is stored in this white glassine bag.  I used a tag from the 'Suave' collection to hold my journaling & tucked it into my bag.  I filled a tiny glass vial with multi-colored seed beads & adhered it to my glassine bag.

The light blue organza ribbon star flower are embellishments from my own stash.  I have these & a few more in different colors available in my Etsy shop.  Feel free to visit here if interested.

Supplies: Paper - Authentique, Wood Veneer Embellishments - Freckled Fawn, Studio Calico, Stencil - Prima, Die - Tim Holtz, La-La Land Crafts, Cheery Lynn, Fragments - Tim Holtz, Resin Frame - Websters Pages, Other - Mini Flocked Teddy Bear, Glassine Bag, Texture Paste, Spiral Clips, Doily, Mini Glass Vial, Resin Owl

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

Make A Wish Picture Frame

Hello again fellow scrappers!  Today I have a wooden picture frame that I altered with the use of Authentique's 'Wishes' collection.  I felt that this collection was just right to alter a wooden frame that I've had in my stash for quite some time now.  Some of Authentique's papers are so well embellished that it only takes one of the sheets to complete a project.  That was the case with this frame.

With Star Dust Stickles I further dressed up the cupcakes & balloons.  Adding a bit of shimmer to any die cut always adds just a bit of interest to the eye.

My cluster is composed of flowers from my own stash plus flowers from Petaloo & Manor House Creations.

The entire frame was made with the use of the 'Crave' paper from the 'Wishes' collection.  The design of the banner fit perfectly along the top & the cupcakes were fussy cut from the paper.

From the remaining scraps of paper I cut out a few of the banners & placed them over a couple of the ones on my frame with pop dots.  This gave my banner just a bit of dimension.

I applied some iridescent yellow wired tinsel all around the border of the frame.

With a balloon punch I punched out three balloons & added a bit of thin wire to the back.  The pinwheel & the 'Wishes' sticker are all elements from the 'Wishes' collection.

To finish the frame off I applied two types of ribbon.  A bright silk red ribbon & a sheer cream ribbon.

All that's missing from this frame is that perfect birthday photo!  This frame is up for sale in my new Etsy shop--The Kraft Nook.  Feel free to visit if interested.

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

Lucky Me (For Having You) Berry71Bleu March Challenge

Hello, hello fellow scrappers & happy St. Patrick's Day!  Today I'm presenting my take on Cathi's Berry71Bleu challenge for the month of March.

So the challenge consists of three things--green has to be the dominant color, the word or theme of 'luck' or 'lucky' has to be used & doilies or lace have to be included.  Alrighty then...check, check & check!

Now I'll be the first one to admit that green is not my forte.  However, that's why I enjoy challenges so much.  They push you out of your comfort zone & in the end you discover things about yourself that you didn't know.  I discovered with this page that green is now one of my fave colors to work with!  Mix green up with a bit of yellow/gold & tones of brown & you end up with one fabulous color scheme that just 'pops' off the page.

I absolutely love how this page turned out.  I now have it framed in a shadow box & it's decorating my cube at work.  :-)

This would be my son celebrating his first birthday.  I'm quite lucky to have him in my life.  I can now honestly say that my world is 'complete' with him in it.

Here's the inspiration board for March.  How cute are these two little girls?  They're Cathi's girls & I found it to be a fabulous idea to incorporate them into the inspiration board.  When I saw these two cuties...I instantly thought of my own little guy.

Once again, I sought some help from Page Drafts for the design of my page.  I used this sketch to help my mojo get a push start.  My mojo thanks you Em Stafrace!

I've had the 'Origins' collection by Basic Grey in my stash for years now.  The time finally came for me to use it.  The gold doilies used on this page were an excellent match with all of the green, yellow & brown tones that this paper collection consists of. 

My cluster of flowers consists of all types.  I have ribbon, mulberry paper & felt flowers.  The bright green organza ribbon star flower & the small yellow & white ribbon flower are items from my stash.  I have these plus more in a variety of colors in my Etsy shop.  If interested you can find them here.

Unbelievably enough I didn't have one single shamrock in my stash!  I'm not sure how that even happened since I have everything; including bolts & nuts from the kitchen sink in my stash!!  So I had to run out & find some.  Since it's March all the craft stores are full of Irish themed goodies--so I had no problem finding a couple of shamrock stickers to use on my page.  I also found shamrock confetti which I stored inside the mini glass vial found next to my photo.

 For my background I used a combination of a star stencil with modeling paste, star chippies & stamping.  Glimmer Mists in shades of green & yellow were then splattered randomly onto my background.

I also did a bit of paper rolling here.  I rolled up pieces of paper & adhered them side by side to create 'waves of rolls' & to give my page a bit of dimension.

My journaling, which is a must for all my pages, is found on this tag that I tucked underneath one of my layers.

 Lots of layers with an equally amount of foam tape underneath to give them dimension.  I've also used just a bit of Spanish moss that I tangled up into my cluster of flowers.  Spanish moss is my latest craze.  I think it'll be soon popping up again in the near future. 

Here's my usual flocked teddy bear.  Have I stated in previous posts how much I love these little guys!  I look for excuses to include them into my projects!

Don't forget to stop by Berry71Bleu & play along with this months challenge.  There are some fabulous prizes up for grabs...but you gotta be in it to win it!

Supplies: Paper - Basic Grey, Flowers - I Am Roses, Kay's Kreative Korner, The Felt Shoppe, Chipboard - Um Wow Studio, Freckled Fawn, SA Crafts, Stencil - Um Wow Studio, Mists: Tattered Angel, Stamps - Technique Tuesday, Stamping Bella, Flair - Um Wow Studio, Washi Tape - Freckled Fawn, Other: Flocked Teddy Bear, Doilies, Shamrocks, Confetti, Glass Vial

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

1st Birthday Layout

This birthday themed layout is one that I've been wanting to post for some time now.  I made this page with the 'Wishes' collection by Authentique.  It showcases one of the photos taken from my son's 1st Birthday photo shoot.

I cannot believe that 1 entire year has flown by already!  My little pea is now walking, talking & is a little man in training.  I personally do not want him to get any bigger!  Sigh...but one cannot stop the hands of time.

 For my background I used the 'Hallmark' paper from the 'Wishes' collection.  It's a busy, yet colorful background.  I grounded my photo & elements by matting them with solid colored elements.

TIP: I created my own mini flags with the use of a Fiskars Banner Punch & wooden tooth picks!  You can see one in this photo.  If you don't have a banner punch you can cut your own triangle either free form or draw it out.  Then with a little bit of glue adhere them onto tooth picks & voila--you have mini flag embellishments!  You can't tell too well in this photo but I curled the flag in an up & down manner so as to give it the effect of it 'flapping' in the wind.

 Sequins are bits that I've had in my stash since the beginning of time--well looky here--I finally found an excuse to use them!  I just randomly scattered them around my page to give it some bling!

 The bright red organza ribbon star flower & the small light blue ribbon flower shown here are items from my own stash.  I have several of these in a variety of colors up for sale in my Etsy shop.  If interested, feel free to check them out here.

The cupcakes were fussy cut from the 'Crave' paper.  I added some Star Dust Stickles to dress them up a bit more.  Here you also see my 2nd mini flag embellishment.

What would a page based on my son be without one of those cute flocked teddy bears!  Oh how I love these little guys.  I find reasons to add them onto the majority of my projects!  :-)

Spring is just a few days away folks--so hang in there!  Thanks for stopping by & enjoy the rest of the week.