Such a Girl!

This layout was done with my ultra-girlie rock-star DD in mind. It actually started with the flower. I got up early Saturday morning while I was on retreat, got my coffee, sat down at my table, and looked at my supplies. For some reason I felt like making a flower, so I did. And then, of course I needed something to do with it. The page evolved from there. I didn't have any photos with me that fit the theme, but it will feature black-and-white pics.

The three 'buttons' on page 2 are just circles of CS stacked, sanded, and embossed with Iridescent Ice. The middle button also has some Dazzling Diamonds on it. Not thrilled with how that one turned out, but obviously used it anyway.

What I love most about the page is the gloss embossing along the top. It balances the bold stripe along the bottom, and looks really cool in person. (The photo doesn't begin to do it justice.) I'll probably be doing that more--embossing my base papers. Love the textural effect.

Here's a detail pic of that flower. If it looks familiar, you've been paying attention! Whoo! It's a version of the flower I did for my Thanks-a-Daisy card (short tutorial on that post).
Ingredients (all SU! except where noted):
Designer Paper: Flowers For You (retired)
Cardstock: Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose, Whisper White, Kiwi Kiss, So Saffron
Stamp: from Baroque Motifs
Ink: Versamark, Pink Passion, Old Olive
Punches: Large Oval, Photo Corners, 3/4" Circle, Scallop Edge, Curly Label
Other: Markers, sponge wedges, daubers, clear embossing powder, Iridescent Ice embossing powder, Dazzling Diamonds glitter
NON SU: Cricut to cut the title

And finally, here's a sketch for the page.



Thanks for visiting!

I Love Lucy

It's the crud time of year, I guess. First my DD was sick, and now DS is home sick. Nothing like cleaning up after sick kids to squash the creative mojo. Ah, the joys of motherhood.

Since I haven't even had the gumption or energy to even unpack my stuff from retreat, let alone USE it, I'll share one of the layouts I got done while I was there. Check it out:

It's dedicated to our border collie (betcha can't guess what her name is!). She's moody and silly and sweet, just like Ms. Ball's character (though minus the red hair, false eyelashes, and lipstick).

Patterned paper is from the Modern Milan slab by Me & My BIG Ideas. I used my Base Camp Cricut cartridge for the letters, hand-cut the heart. Circle, Round Tab, and Scallop Edge punches are from SU! Baja Breeze, Riding Hood Red, Kiwi Kiss, and Whisper White cardstock also from SU!

Thanks for visiting!

On retreat

Just thought I'd post a quick 'Hello' while I get a wireless signal. I'm currently sitting in a room with nine other ladies; Cricuts are humming, the smell of Un-du is making us a little loopy, the Eagles Reunion 1 tour plays on the television, and we are all industriously working to put these piles of photos into scrapbook pages.

I'll post a couple of photos on Monday of what I've been working on.

Thanks for visiting!

Thanks-a-Daisy

Using up more scraps! This one is for today's demo challenge as SCS. Part of that challenge was NOT to use white or vanilla, which I found remarkably difficult.
What's really neat about these petals is that you can use your Large Oval, Wide Oval, or Round Tab punch to make them! You'll get slightly different petal shapes with each, so choose your favorite.

Ingredients (all SU!):
Paper: Regal Rose, So Saffron, Bashful Blue, Barely Banana, Urban Garden
Stamp: from Short & Sweet set
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Bashful Blue, Pink Passion, So Saffron, Kiwi Kiss, Creamy Caramel
Punches: Large Oval, 1" Circle
Other: Pretty in Pink 1/4" grosgrain ribbon, antique brass brads, sponge daubers, stampin' sponge wedge

Here's how to make the petals:
--Cut a strip of cardstock about an inch wide and score a line lengthwise down the center. Fold away from the score. This will create a little bump on the inside of the fold, which will resemble the center rib in a daisy petal when you're done.
--Put the folded cardstock in your punch with the folded edge inside the punch. If using an oval punch, line up the fold ABOVE the half-way point, and punch!

It's okay if your petals are slightly different sizes--that adds to the organic realism!



Thanks for visiting!

I'm a featured project! And a couple of reminders...

Whoooo! I just noticed that my Vase of Flowers is the SUB gallery featured project this week at Splitcoast Stampers! Wow! That's too cool! Unfortunately you can't see it if you don't have access to the demo forums there, so to the right is a screen shot of the Featured Upload portion of the SU galleries page. I've been a member there more than three years and this is the first time I've had this honor. Whoo!

While I'm here, how about a couple of quick reminders?

• Deadline to order the February Scrapbook Class-in-a-Kit is technically tomorrow, but I'll be packing for retreat and then GOING on retreat (same place as last time, I'm so excited!), so if your order is in my Inbox by the time I get home on Sunday, you'll be fine.
• Deadline for the paper share is Sunday.

Okay, I'd better get this posted while I can. We're iced in and my Internet connection is flickering in and out.

I hope you are all staying warm! Thanks for visiting!

A Tulip (or two) For You

I was chatting online with my youngest sister, Erin, on Saturday about papercrafty-type stuff (she used to be a demo, too), and she mentioned that she never uses black cardstock. And that got me thinking... Hmmm... I don't use black much either. I have a whole pack, but I don't remember when or why I purchased it. So I sat down to stamp, determined to include black in my design. And this is what resulted.

Actually, I was also intent on using the tulip, too. I'd made it last week, and still had yet to do anything with it. I checked a flower-meaning site and found that tulips are general purpose flowers. They don't really mean anything in particular, just make people smile. Hence the generic 'For You' sentiment.

I managed to use a single stamp set (Fresh Cuts) for the whole card. Five stamps come in this set, might as well use them together, right? I used three of the five.

Ingredients (all SU!):
Stamps: Fresh Cuts
Paper: Kiwi Kiss, Pale Plum, Perfect Plum, Basic Black, More Mustard, Very Vanilla, Urban Garden
Ink: Kiwi Kiss, Orchid Opulence, Creamy Caramel, Close to Cocoa, Basic Black
Punches: Wide Oval, Large Oval, Small Oval, Tag Corner
Other: Top Note die, Chocolate Chip marker, pewter jumbo eyelent and mini brad, sponge daubers, 5/8" Old Olive grosgrain ribbon

And just because I know you'll appreciate it, here's a mini tutorial on how I made the tulip.

What you'll need:

• Wide Oval punch
• Large Oval punch
• Small Oval punch
• Scrap of flower-colored cardstock
• Scrap of stem/leaf-colored cardstock
• Sponge daubers and ink for shading

1. Punch one of each oval in your desired bloom color. Here I'm using So Saffron.
2. Put the wide oval punched shape back in the punch as shown, and punch out a DQ-type shape that is about 3/4" at the widest point of the curve.
3. Snip the middle out of the small oval punched shape.
4. Grab a sponge dauber and an ink pad and shade the edges of your pieces as shown. Here I've used Apricot Appeal.
5. Glue your large oval shape onto the wide oval shape, centered in the U made in Step 2, and with the bottom edges even. (You can see that I also added darker 'veining' with Really Rust and an aquapainter)
6. Glue the small oval 'ears' to the back, centered in the V's created by the two larger oval shapes.
7. Cut a straight stem and two leaves from your green cardstock (I'm using Kiwi Kiss). My stem is 1/4" by 3" (or thereabouts). For my leaves, I cut a 2"x3" rectangle, folded it in half length-wise, and cut a long curve through both layers first on one side, then the other.
8. Use a sticky note (cut a hint of a curve on the sticky side) to shield half of a leaf so you can ink the other. Repeat with the other leaf, and add shading to the stem.
9. Assemble your tulip.
Tadaaaa.....!


Here's a super-simple alternate tulip. Not as 'WOW' as the tulip above, but still a tulip. I plan to do a dozen of these along the bottom of a two-page scrapbook layout. Basically, you take a Wide Oval shape and punch off the top with your Scallop Edge punch as shown below. Easy!


Thanks for visiting!

Love You Lilies

My son used to love origami, so we would sit for hours making swans and frogs and cups. It's a terribly good use for a small square piece of paper! The flowers on this card are inspired by those paper-folding sessions. It's SO easy, I'm sure someone else has done it before--essentially it's just the start of a balloon fold on a scallop square punched from cardstock. I've put together a photo tutorial for you--find it at the end of this post.

Here are the card details:

Ingredients (all SU!):
Paper: Pink Pirouette, Kiwi Kiss, Whisper White, Bella Rose
Stamp: grass from Inspired by Nature
Ink: Apricot Appeal, Bashful Blue, Kiwi Kiss
Punches: Scallop Square (flower), Scallop Circle (sponging clouds), Scallop Edge (edge of layered piece), Small Oval (sentiment), 3/4" Circle (collar thingie on the flowers), Ticket Corner
Other: Sponge dauber, Stampin' Sponge wedge, Regal Rose marker (hand-written sentiment), Styled Silver hardware, 5/8" Old Olive grosgrain ribbon.

And check this out! Love this photo.
Since the flowers are 3-dimensional, I decided to try them in a little vase. Instead of folding down just one 'flap' (step 6 below), I folded down both. Poked a hole in the point, stuck a wire through, and finished each flower with some Garden Green cardstock. Last, I finished the vase with some Celery and Pretty in Pink ribbon.

Now... as promised, here is the short photo tutorial.

1. Punch out a scallop square from your desired bloom color. Here I'm using Pink Pirouette. Ink the center with a contrasting color (I used Apricot Appeal). This will be the inside of your flower. Score carefully from one diagonal corner to the other and from second scallop to second scallop, as shown by the blue lines in the photo. (Scoring is not absolutely necessary, but if done carefully, makes for a crisper finished flower.)
2. Turn the scallop square over and score on the back side as shown.
3. Fold in half diagonally on scored line so that the inked side is out (mountain fold).
4. Open and fold in half on one scored line from Step 2, making a rectangle, with inked side in. Open and fold again on the other scored line from Step 2, again with inked side in (valley folds). Open.
5. Holding the scallop square ink-side up, push diagonal folds up and to the center while collapsing the blossom, as shown.
6. Fold down one 'flap' on the remaining score line created in Step 1. This is the front of your flower, and your flower bloom is now done. All it needs is a stem! As a stem transition (i.e. 'collar thingie'), I cut a 3/4" green circle in half, folded a half into quarters and glued the edge closed to make a cup. Then I glued the pointy tip of the flower into the cup.

Thanks for visiting!