Eeeewwweeee.....worms.....

Yes.  I pick worms.  I have since I was at least 3 years old.  My mother used to take me outside with an old coffee can and a flashlight and we would fill that can!  Then we would use them for fishing.

Well I tried to teach my daughter all about it this summer.  These photos were from back in June, and she pretty much liked the idea, but didn't want to actually touch the worms.  Fast forward to the end of the summer where she is putting worms on a hook all by herself and taking the fish off the line, too.  She even thinks the worms are "so cute".

So I used this months' kit from Scrapbook Circle, which features a lot of the speech bubbles, and am entering this for their speech bubbles challenge, too! I went with a black, brown, and cream color combo because, well, those colors remind me of worms!

I fussy cut the Glitz black hexagon papers and then added strips of the gold airmail washi tape and some strips of the Lily Bee Persnickity papers.  On my title letters, I misted them brown, and noticed the mist wasn't soaking in well.  When I stood the letters up, the mist started to run down and pool at the bottom of the letters.  LOVE the way this turned out...very worm like....

For a pop of color, I used the reddish orange stickers, papers, and die cuts.   I'm having so much fun playing with this kit!  :)

Fancy Pants Country Boutique for My S&M

For the month of Sept, us DT girls at My Scraps & More got to work with the unique Fancy Pants "Country Boutique" line.  I have to say that it isn't something that I would pick up right away, and I was worried about using such a neutral palette.  But after working with it for a bit, I love how the neutral colors really make your photos stand out.

I really wanted to use a landscape photo with these papers.  I thought that the blues and greens would just stand out perfectly against the browns and greys.

I took this shot of Cayuga Lake (in the Finger Lakes of NY) as I traveled there for the first time this summer back in June.  My parents have a cottage on the lake and we spend a lot of time there!

I based my page off of a sketch on the Fancy Pants blog.

This is a rather clean page for me, but I still added my bits of misting and inking, and some wrapped twine.

These are some photos of my brother and my little Ky Guy after they had gotten some buzz cuts by my hubby.  This was Kyler's FIFTH haircut, although the first time he got buzzed! When I thought of buzz cuts, I thought of zig zags and when I thought of zig zags, I thought of chevron!

Under the chevron papers, I layered a whole bunch of banners from the banner die cut sheet, and also a mini file folder that came with the title die cuts.   I wanted to ground my photos a bit more, so I added some black circles, too.

I was holding my paintbrush a different way when splattering my paint this time, and I really like how it landed on the page.  I really want to experiment more with getting paint splatters just right!

Lastly, with the great die cut banner sheet, I just had to make an actual banner.  But because I used some on my previous layout, I only had a few left, and had to think of a creative way to put my letters on three pennants.  It was either a 3 letter word, a 6 letter word, or a 3 word phrase.  I decided on FA MI LY.

 I bought this cheap frame at Wal Mart for $3.  I painted it white a few times, but I love that you can still see the pattern on it a bit. Behind the banner I simply wrapped a piece of the black patterned paper from this line with some twine and placed it in the frame, removing the glass.

I made some accordian flowers to mount my letters on, and the other pennants got some fussy cut hearts that i inked and covered with crackle paint.

The banner was a bit big for the frame, but that was totally fine by me!  I love the natural feel of this with the colors, the white washed frame, and the twine.

I have been a scrappn' fool this month, and think I have done at least 20 pages.  Just finished 4 last night that I have to photograph.  I am hoping to go to an all day crop next Saturday at a local store (which I have never been to).  We will see!

Also, I just sent my registration in today for a 3 day retreat in Ogdensburg, NY!  It's called Crop til You Drop, which I'm sure I will!  WOO HOO!

O is for Overlays- GCD Studios ABC's

Overlays, like vellum and transparencies, can add layers to your projects, yet still give you the ability to see what else is going on your page underneath.  There are lots of ways you can alter them, too.

On my layout I used 3 different transparencies. The alphabet one I just cut into large rectangles and layered behind my photos. The yellow zig zag one I fussy cut out and layered some below and some above.  You can see that I used some mists and paints on my overlays, too.

Finally, I cut thin strips in a third, white-striped one and stitched and punched some small hearts.

Here are some more ideas of how you can use transparencies:

• paint them
• stamp on the (with StazOn inks)
• mist on them (but they take forever to dry and will smear a bit...)
• emboss them
• punch them
• use them in a die cutting machine
• melt them with a heat tool (CAREFULLY because they can catch on fire!)
• stitch over them

Now go get those overlays and get creative!

Supplies:

GCD Studios Papers: Flower Child "Hippie Plaid" 1643, Flower Child "Wondering Geo" 1638, Country Charm "Picnic Blanket" 1509, Storybook "Gold Stars" 1740

Other: alphabet transparency-Fancy Pants, Yellow chevron and white stripes tranparencies-Hambly, Mists-Maya Road

L is for Layers....GCD Studios

Lots and lots of layers!  I love to add layers to my pages, and not just with paper.  Stitching, painting, misting, embellishing...all of these can be used to add dimension to your pages.

I thought I would share with you today how I create a layout and the layers that I add to it as I go.

First, I start with the photos I want to scrap and usually an idea for a sketch.  I had this idea of doing layers flowers in circles (inspired by a board book my kids have), so I jotted that idea down and a simple sketch of my plan.

Next I chose my papers and started stitching some line on my background paper.  Most times I stitch last on my pages, but this time I thought I would start with some stitches instead.

Next I added some paint.  I used a white paint with a chevron print stencil, and then splattered some light blue paint on when that was dry.

To created my layered circles, I used the Sure Cuts A Lot 2 software with my Cricut.  I cut these out on different papers on my machine and then layered the circles together.

I gathered a few other strips of paper and some fussy cut papers for my page and laid everything out.

And here is my finished page!

After I laid everything out, I went back and added a bit more stitching to the strips on the top and bottom of the page and on the title, too.  I also took a black pen and traced some of the chevron pattern on the white painted areas.

I cut some more of the flowers and layered them upon the larger flowers and added a layer of stickles on the stamens for some sparkle.

And here you can see the details of the layers in the flowers.

I really enjoyed making this page and adding all the different layers!  If you use layers a lot, try mixing them up and adding them in a different order than you usually to mix things up a bit!

Supplies:
GCD Studios papers used-
Splendor "Letter Tiles" 1680
Splendor "Candytuft" 1676
Country Charm "Country Bloom" 1505
Country Charm "Picnic Blanket" 1509
Country Charm "SuperStar" 1511
Country Charm "Weekend Fun" 1515
Bonjour "Paris Je T'aime" 1541
Other: alphas-Crate Paper, Stickles (Ranger)

Inspiration Elevator- Vintage Findings

You may recall from lastmonth's challenge that the purpose of this challenge group was to take our scrapbooking to the next level, to stretch our creative process and to grow as artists by embracing challenges that make us think, work and grow. 

This month our challenger was the very talented Laurel Seabrook. Laurel loves flea markets and garage sales and would love to incorporate more of those items into her art. In fact, we have invited a valued guest designer to join us this month; her name is Christy Riopel. We welcome, Christy from her regular writing and creating job at Canadian Scrapbooker magazine.

Here's a bit of what Laurel had to say in her challenge this month.

"I love going to garage sales, flea markets and thrift shops to find fun items for me to upcycle into something else either for my own home or to give as a gift. I also love just to pick up some old things that appear to have some sort of story to them. I love the shabbiness of old, worn items and the warm comforting feeling they evoke.

My challenge for you is to scrap an old photo/photos. Not only that I want you to incorporate something that is not normally a scrapping item, upcycle/recycle something to include on your layout. Vintage is definitely not my style when it comes to paper crafting. I like clean and simple so this will be a challenge for me."

I'm not much of a vintage scrapper, so this was for sure a challenge for me.  But I was up for it!

To start this challenge, I was going to go through some old photos to look for the perfect photo, but I happened to be going through a desk of my mother's that contained old sewing stuff, and I found an old doily.  I asked my mom who made it and she said my grandmother.  I knew this was the item I had to use!   I also found this old plastic heart that looks like it may have been a button or something, and some old brass brads that were a bit scruffed up.  All of these were in an old tin of sewing notions, and I think they are quite old.

So then to search for the perfect photo.  My mother has bins and bins of old photos, somewhat neatly kept.  I spent hours and hours pouring over them, looking at the details, trying to remember names and places.  It was such a great journey!  I chose a few photos, but I didn't feel like I had one that matched the doily and other tidbits I found.

One of the last small containers I looked in had some really really old photos of my parents when thy were born, and even of my grandparents before they had children.  And then I saw this photo.  I didn't care who it was, but the look in the eyes of the woman looking at her child was just so special to me.  I loved this photo.  And as I stared at it longer and longer, I realized that that little girl was my mother, and the woman my grandmother (who passed away in 1992).  My mother reminds me so much of my own daughter in this photo.

I used a wood frame from MME and added the brads to the ends. The heart is the plastic one I found in the sewing tin, already distressed!  :) I couldn't bring myself to put glue on the doily or cut it in anyway, so I tacked it down with some small stitches.

Even the background paper on this page has special meaning for me.  It is a light print of a cross stitch pattern, and my grandmother is the one who taught me how to cross stitch. So instead of machine stitching on my page, I actually did some small cross stitch patterns here and there. Thanks Grandma!   It is difficult to see in these photos, but the edges of my page are also covered with clear crackle finish.

I used some cream paint and a herringbone stencil, and splattered some gold mist to accent the gold brads.  There are some bits and some papers from Studio Calico Heyday collection as well.

My journaling is hidden behind the photo.  I wrote about how good mothers raise more good mothers, and a few memories of my grandma.

I have TRULY enjoyed this challenge, and have even dug out a few more old photos to scrap in the future.

I hope you will stop by and see what the designers on this adventure have created:

Laurel Seabrook

athy Harper

Sue Sykes

Lisa Spiegel

Joanne Burton

Ann Jobes

Christa Uttley

Laura Whitaker 
 Audrey Yeager
 Lisa Moen
Guest Designer, Christy Riopel 

 We would love to see what you are inspired to create. Add your comment below with a link, I will be sure to drop by and say hello.

Stretching a kit and a sketch!

Well I was able to squeeze out one more page with my August Gossamer Blue kit!  I used the tissue paper the kit came wrapped in and some Mod Podge for my background.

I drizzeled some white paint in some circles and added some stamped stitching and arrow with a We R stamp tool and some stamps from Studio Calico.

I used the Heidi Swapp banners in the kit to make this starburst flower and *gasp* just left them white without any color! A bit of Flair for the center (not included in the kit) from A Flair for Buttons.

I stumbled across the blog Skissedilla from Ashli's blog and use the sketch below as a basis for my page.  LOVE the sketches here!  You've got to check them out!

Some challenges for My Scraps & More Crop...golf cart rides and lots o

We are right in the middle of the Back 2 Class crop at My Scraps & More!  There are TWENTY challenges to get your scrappy mojo going, and the response to the crop has been fantastic so far!!

Here are some layouts for 2 of the challenges that I posted.

This first page was based on "Shop" class.  My fondest memory of a "shop" class was in high school, and it was auto shop. No, I wasn't in the class, but I had a class right across the hall from the "garage" where they held the class (it was really just a huge classroom with garage doors to the outside). There was always such a strong smell of grease, loud grinding noises, and all kinds of vehicles in there! 

SO my challenge was to use something on your page with wheels on it and some "grease"- black paint, ink, or mist.

On my page, I used some fun photos of my brothers and my kids on our golf cart that we drive around our camp.  The whole purpose of this golf cart is just to go for rides!  It passes the time and it is fun to have the wind blow in your hair as you speed down the road.  :)  

I used a old kit from Scrapbook Circle (April or May, maybe?) which had papers from Studio Calico Abroad, Echo Park This and That, and Heidi Swapp. I did a bit of machine stitching here and there with a zig zag stitch and doodled a few arrows, too.

My "grease" was some black mist splatters and I inked around some of the edges of the papers, too.

This page is for my "Health" challenge where you have to show your BODY...well, not your REAL body...but you have to use items on your page that start with the letters B, O, D, and Y.  On this page of Kyler, I used Buttons, One photo, Distressing, and Yellow.

Let me tell you...this kid can PACK the food away.  He seriously eats adult sized portions sometimes.  And he is only in the 10th % for weight!  His favorite is Mac n' Cheese.  :)

I used the new Paper Cottage line from Basic Grey.  It has some cute dining elements on it like the plate with the utensils.  I loved these colors, too.  I also incorporated some arrows for this months BG blog challenge.

 I used my herringbone stencil with some white paint and created some arrows by hand cutting them from red paper.

Some fussy cutting of the doilies and layering of stickers, doodles, and stitches.

Be sure to stop by the forum to check out the crop!

3 layouts with a Gossamer Blue kit..

A few weeks ago I was the LUCKY WINNER of a 3 month subscription to the new Gossamer Blue Kit Club!!!!  The day I sent in my email with my mailing info, it was sent out and I got it 2 days later.

The kit came in a light grey paper bag with a beautiful logo sticker and sealed with washi tape.  Inside, the kit was wrapped in a teal tissue paper wrapped with twine.  The other awesome thing about this kit is that it comes with a coupon code to download FREE SVG files to cut with your die cutting machine from Lori Whitlock's store!!  How awesome is that???

The colors of this kit are perfect for some of my summer photos!

Here is a page about my kiddos and their cousins...the only ones they have, really....it was the first time the 5 of them were together.  Aren't they a cute bunch?

 I really wanted to use a lot of the Heidi Swapp banners on my background to add an element of texture.  So I misted a few of the banner strips, cut them into smaller pieces, and then arranged them on the background paper.  The colors were a bit too bright, so I did a white wash over them with white paint.  I wish the colors stood out a bit more, but it is what it is, and I kinda like the way they just blend in to the white.

I cut out the little area AROUND the label stickers (yes, it was tedious) and used them as small frames on the page.  I also used a Crafter's Workshop heart stencil and inked up a few hearts.  Some of them I outlined with a black pen.

I just love this photo of Kyler on the beach at my M.I.L's cottage in the 1000 Islands!  He had so much fun in the sand, but it gets EVERYWHERE!!!   Oh well....I guess it's worth it to watch him have so much fun.

I tore some strips of papers and then layered them together.  I used the Blazonry stencil and some white paint over them, and then some splatters of  Navy mist.

I used the large glassine envelope and cut it in half.  The top half I used for a journaling card.  I stitched the bottom closed and then added some punch bits inside, along with the card.

The bottom half I added some punched bits, a label sticker, and a banner piece that I misted in Navy, too.  Then I stitched the banner in place (and the envelope closed).  Finally I stitched a circle to frame my photo on.

And last but not least, here is another favorite photo of mine.  Right near MIL's cottage is a big field with cows that we like to go visit.  There is one lone brown cow in the bunch, and he has a habit of getting out of the fence somehow!  :)  I was trying to teach Charlotte how to say "How Now Brown Cow", but she would say something like "How Brow Cow Cow".  It took a while but she finally got it!  :)

I used a texture stencil and white paint, and then the chicken wire stencil and some grey mist from SC.  The blue flowers I actually made from the tissue paper that the kit comes wrapped in!  I just cut long scalloped strips and spiraled them into a flower, then added a button for the center.
You will also notice that I did some paper weaving of the white text papers, then I just cut some circles out of it.

The journaling card pocket is also upcycled from some packaging in the kit!  I used the package from the Heidi Swapp banners. I added some paper to the inside, stitched around the sides and top, and then covered up the logo with a circle!

So as you can see, I was super busy with this kit and just LOVED it!!  You must go check them out!