Using up some Eyelets!

Today's post on the Practical Scrappers blog is unique ways to use eyelets and brads.  Lord knows I have a ton of them from when I first started scrapping, so it felt good to dig some out and use them up!

I created these next two pages using the We R Memory Keepers "Anthologie" collection that I got at my LSS, Scrapp'n Savvy, where I will be teaching these layouts on Wednesday.  I really really love the colors in this line!!!  They are great for any type of page.

My favorite color is green, especially this shade that I used from my background.

Whenever we go to the playground and Charlotte goes down the slide, she gets static hair head and it is soo funny cause her hair is so long!

I splattered with some white paint and used some eyelets to scattered randomly on the page, too.  I actually use my Big Bite for once....

I fussy cut a whole bunch of circles from the patterned paper and added some eyelets to the center of those, too.

And here is a sneak of another way that I used eyelets.  I can't show the whole layout yet until a reveal on the 15th!  I first drew some lines to create small grid patterns and then punched an eyelet at the ends of each line.  I threaded them with twine to create some interesting elements for my page!

And finally, a double pager that I really wanted to get documented.  We had a pool party at our house a few weekends ago and it was the first time that we have really entertained like this!  We had a great time with the family's in our mom's group.

The background is simple: some dark blue paper that I covered with a circle stencil and added some white paint for texture.  I cut a whole punch of circles and rings with my Big Shot and added them to the page as well.  I stitched a large central circle for my title and journaling.

Hope you are inspired to dig out some of your old eyelets!!!

June Edition of "The Paper Cut" magazine! GCD Studios

Can you believe it is June already?  The June edition of "The Paper Cut" from GCD Studios has been released!!  I can honestly say, I have never seen a manufacturer's magazine like this one.  It is so beautifully put together and the pages and projects in there will just WOW you!!!

Open publication - Free publishing - More art

I decided to alter this months sketch be changing it from a single page to a double page spread so that I could add larger photos so you can see the details.

I kept the layout pretty much the same, but added another column for another photo.  I also switched where the title and journaling went and added the journaling under the main photo.

To accent the main photo, I machine stitched on the photo itself, creating a border on the inside.

The accents I cut on my Cricut from some free cutting files I found on the internet.  I created some “tendrils” by cutting very very thin strips of paper, wetting them, and curling them around a pencil to give them some shape. Once dry, they retain the curled shape.

When we went berry picking back in April, Charlotte did very good about picking berries that were good to eat (and not covered with bugs)!  However, as her bag got fuller, she was dragging it on the ground.  By the time we got back to the register to check out, the bag was pretty much mush! :)  The lady didn't even charge us for them!  We went home and turned them into a yummy sauce for ice cream!

Supplies:

Papers-GCD Studios: Country Charm  “Picnic Basket” #1509,  Country Charm “Weekend Fun” # 1515, Country Charm “HandyCraft” #1508, Country Charm “Strawberry Jam” #1510, Bonjour “Bouquet” #1535. Punches: EK Success. Mist: Tattered Angels. Chipboard Alphas: American Crafts. Stickers: Jillibean Soup

Tutorial-Using Pre-made Flowers for a Watercolor Technique

I love happy accidents and A-HA! moments. I have a huge stash of pre-made flowers sitting around and this technique is a great use for them!

 Here's the story:
 I had a few boxes of these bright Prima flowers and I usually don't use them a lot on my pages. Charlotte saw them and asked if she could play with them. I stuck a few glue dots on the back of some and she had fun sticking them to her stuffed animals and to some paper. She also decided to decorate mommy, too.

 Later that night I was doing dishes and one of the large flowers fell off (yes I was still wearing them) and got into the water. I took it out and placed it on a paper towel to dry. When I went to remove it, there was a beautiful orange watercolor flower design on the paper towel (and the flower itself was still good, too). I decided I wanted to try this technique as a background for a layout!

1. I used white cardstock and an old glimmer mist bottle that is just filled with water plus an assortment of flowers. I used Prima's, but I am sure other brands would work as well. It is also handy if you have a splat mat.

2. I sprayed a flower liberally with water until it was pretty drenched, but not dripping.  I sprayed on my mat, but you can spray it directly on your paper as well.

3. Take the wet flower and lay it on your cardstock where you want it.  Then press it in place so that the water can seep into the cardstock.  Let it sit for a few minutes to get a really saturated colored flower. Here you can see I already did the large yellow on and added a few more small ones.  You can use the same flower about 3 times before the color really starts to fade.

4. I also noticed that when I sprayed the flower on my mat, the resulting water droplets from where I picked up the flower were colored, and I actually used them to paint a little bit on my page!

5.  If you really soak the flower, you can hold the paper upright and gently tap it on the table to make the water drip down the page.  If you don't like the look of the drips, keep the paper flat.

After my paper dried, I tried to be a little artsy and doodle some of the flower shapes with a black pen.  It came out OK, but I am not quite sure I want to use it like it is for a background.  It's a bit too much..

After my first attempt, I tried it again with less flowers and drips and didn't add the doodling yet. I also added a few splatters of paint, too.  This page seems more useable to me.

A close up showing the blending of the colors, which I love!

Charlotte had so much fun playing around with me, and I gave her some scrap paper to do some "flower painting" on.  Some of her prints came out better than mine!!

Finally, here are a few more projects that I did with the Amy Tan Sketchbook collection!

A page for a challenge at Cocoa Daisy to show "movement".  Don't you love those blurry photos of Charlotte spinning?

The "she" phrases are from the She Art paper line by Pink Paislee.  I added some machine stitched swirls and swirled twine as well.

This page is a simple page, but I still love it.  I played with some of the frames papers for title and journaling blocks and then covered them a bit with some Dear Lizzy Crepe paper layered papers.

The flowers are again from the She Art line and I popped them with pop dots.

I stitched through the foam letters, which you have to be careful with because the machine foot can cause them to pull a bit.  A zig zag stitch works better I found.

And lastly a bright, monochromatic card with bits of black and white.

All supplies are from the May Birds of a Feather kit!!!  Check it out HERE!

More quilt inspiration and a speedy, standing little guy

Here are a few pages I did a couple weeks ago but am just now getting around to posting!  I have been so busy the last two weeks.  Charlotte turned 3 last week (which I can't believe) and this 10 month old little guy is all over the place!!!!  He is climbing steps and putting everything imaginable in his mouth.  It's funny because from the time I take these photos, to the time it takes me to make a layout and then get the layout posted on my blog, almost a month can go by!!!  

I first saw Kyler standing in his crib on April 28th.  I knew he had done it before because I had heard him fall, and then there was the incident of the quilt being pulled off the wall.  I don't think the dust bunnies did that....

This was for a challenge at the Cocoa Daisy crop weeks ago and I had to create a grid, use 3 photos, the same stamp 3 times, and three of the same embellishment.

I decided not to center my grid and instead drag it all the way to the corner.  I used different squares for stamping, journaling, and adding paper.  These bright, fantastic papers are from Jillibean Soup.

Another challenge was based on some quilt inspiration.  I think the Priarie Hill line from Pink Paislee has some great, masculine colors.

This onesie that Kyler is wearing says "Speedy" on it.  I love the way his knees are bent in the bottom two photos to show how he is speedin' around. (And since these photo, he is now crawling on his hands and knees!)

These little circle shapes I made by cutting the papers in uneven wedges and then stitching the edges and cutting into a circle.  I also added a circle to the middle and stitched that, too.

We will be leaving in a few weeks to travel to NY state for the summer, so I am trying to get a lot of projects done before we leave!  I hate packing!!!!!!!!!

Celebrating Mom's and Babies with Glitz!

Hello everyone!  A special belated Mother's Day to all you hard working and crafty moms!!!  Audrey here to share my take on this months' challenge.

Since my mom got an iPhone, she takes photos of herself and stuff around her all the time and send them to me to share with my daughter.  So I grabbed one of my favorite photos from my phone and made a page about it!  She is a fantastic mother, but an even better Grandma.  My daughter misses her so (we are 1700 miles apart).  Anyways, I wanted to use some bright girly colors so I went with this palette:

I actually have been using my Cricut a lot lately, and I used it to cut out this lacy pattern from some bright yellow paper from Vintage Blue.  I also really liked the inside shapes, too, so I added them to my page as well.

I added a few dabs of Stickles here and there for some sparkle and this phrase is totally something my mom would say!  :)

I found this wooden word in my stash and misted it to match the papers and stickers.  I just love these teeny alphas, too!

We wouldn't be called "moms" if we didn't have these precious things to make us who we are.  I'm talking about sweet babies!

I also put my Cricut to work on this page, too, cutting out these doilies from an free svg file I found online.  I just resized them and cut three of them to place on my page. A small maroon punched flower and a rhinestone are in the center, and I used some jute twine and wrapped it around the page.

I had a lot of fun layer some of the chipboard stickers, transparencies, and epoxy stickers, too.

And I don't often use premade titles for my pages, but the word "Joli" just seemed to capture my sweet little guys' personality!  I stitched the stickers over one of the small doilies on the edge of the page.

Thanks for joining me today!

Supplies:

"Grandma Talk"

Vintage Blue Toile Paper

Happy Travels Polka Paper

Pretty in Pink Polka Paper

Pretty in Pink Music Paper

Pretty in Pink Paper Layers

Pretty in Pink Peek-a-Boos

Pretty In Pink Teeny Alphas Pink

Pretty in Pink Glitzers

Pretty in Pink Epoxy Stickers

Happy Travels Glitzers Stickers

Happy Travels Giant Rhinestones

Happy Travels Journaling Stickers

French Kiss Epoxy Stickers

"Joli"

Happy Travels Floral Paper

Happy Travels Stripe Paper

Vintage Blue Toile Paper

French Kiss Floral Paper

Happy Travels Paper Layers

French Kiss Layered Cardstock Stickers

Happy Travels Giant Rhinestones

Happy Travels Epoxy Stickers

Happy Travels Peek-a-boos

Pretty in Pink Layered Stickers