Well hello there crafty friends! I hope you are having a lovely July in your neck of the woods. The family and I just got back from a getaway in Boulder, Colorado. We had many adventures, and now I'm so tired that I need a day off - ha! I haven't printed out or had the chance to scrap anything from our week in Colorado, but I thought I'd share a layout from a vacation hubby and I took in 2008. Take a look:
I used the Scrapbook & Cards Today sketch here.
I love the Dear Lizzy Lovely Day collection!! The colors are just...muah! I printed my black and white photos in a grid using the Pic Stitch app, then printed it out as a 4x4 photo.
Next I cut the Just Nick Studio cut file "Love Actually" from white textured cardstock. But instead of doing white-on-white, I decided to lightly brush the cut files with CTMH Juniper ink using my ClarityStamp Stencil Brushes. They are fun to use (you can see how I used them on this layout as well), and you don't need a lot of ink or pressure to see a subtle effect. My strips got darker as they go down the page. Here's a close up.
Here's a quick look at my journaling strips. I used the KG Only Human font, and I matched the blue from the collection for my font color easily with a tip I've shared before.
How fun is that gold foil "love" ephemera piece? I also find it fun to do a diagonal piece along the edges - I think it gives some extra interest to a square layout. And I love to sew on my layouts - this one has stitching along the inside edge of the white cardstock. Enamel dots are also great to use!
I hope you have had some down time this summer (or whatever season it may be in your area!). Don't forget to document those fun times!
Have a great week (make sure it includes chocolate ;) ),
Majken
Hello everyone! Welcome to November. I can't believe it's November either. Lots to do in the next two months!! But first, grab just a few minutes and a tea or coffee to see a new sketch from Creative Scrappers. It's a fabulous grid design!
This month's partner is My Creative Scrapbook, and I opted to create with their October Creative Kit which has a lot of Doodlebug Design Flea Market. The colors are so bright and cheerful! I chose my kitty Oreo as my layout subject.
The first thing I did was cut the Creative Scrappers Lucky Stars cut file from textured white cardstock, peel out the star cuts, and then sew over another piece of white cardstock. On the top, I created a border from a strip of paper with clouds and sewed over it as well. See the lightly inked star? I'll share how I did that later in the post.
Then I trimmed my photos and started creating my grid. I used a few of my die cuts to create with: Papertrey Ink's Noted: Scalloped Square and Technique Tuesday's Flair Maker. Here's a little banner I made from the flair set. You can see a couple more lightly inked stars...
Those faux stitch lines are awesome on the Noted set! I added more machine stitching as well as a Heidi Swapp "noted" wood veneer from the kit...plus a couple of the white cardstock stars that were cut from the background.
How cute is this mouse in the bottom left corner? And another grid square with some stickers, flair die cut, star, and enamel dot.
And a grid with a circle, some stickers, a star, the heart from the center of one of the flair banners, and another enamel dot. More lightly inked stars in the background...
I used my Cameo to cut the title "2 cute". I layered the other centers of flair to use as flower centers, then added more enamel dots.
Can't forget the cute birdie in the top right corner looking over my kitty! I used 3D foam tape to pop up one of the cloud stickers.
I used the typewriter for a cute journaling spot!
Once I had the grid layed out most of the way and before I adhered everything, I chose a few stars to lightly "paint" with ink using my new Claritystamp Clarity Stencil Brushes - they ink so gently and subtly for a beautiful finish - though you can add heavier ink if you wish just by adding more ink and brushing repeatedly. I used CTMH Lagoon, Pear, and Creme Brulee. And then I glued the stars into a few places left open in the cut background where I wanted them.
Here's the wonderful sketch Kristine created:
That's all for me, creative sweeties! Don't forget to head over to the Creative Scrappers blog to see the other designers' takes on the sketch. And create your own layout to link up!
Have a great week!
Majken
