{Every Summer Has a Story} - Creative Scrappers Sketch 299 Reveal

Happy October, y'all!  Today I'm sharing a fun multi-photo layout for Creative Scrappers sketch 299 reveal.  I had so much fun creating this layout - all the goodies from Cocoa Vanilla Studio (including the star cut file!).  This gave me the chance to scrap some more photos from our trip to Banff in June.  Here's the full layout.

 The blue and green paper goes so well with my photos, and I opted to include some of the orange papers for just a bit of contrast.  I used some Distress Ink to watercolor some of the stars in the paper and created a strip for the right of the photo area as well as for part of my title.

 I cut out and distressed the colored papers, then sewed along the edges of each.  I used some Color Shine sprays to drop some ink splatters as well - I had to custom blend a few different inks to get the right orange color!  For the stars, I cut several sizes of the Cocoa Vanilla Studio star and then sewed each one.

I had some accents from Evalicious that matched as well - some arrows, stars, and a phrase.

For the title, I downloaded the Every Summer has a Story cut file from Just Nick Studio.  I cut it out twice - once using white textured cardstock and a second time using the stars paper.  Then I trimmed the stars paper for the words I wanted, watercolored, and glued on top of the white title.  I popped up the whole title with 3D tape.

Finally I added journal strips with gray text.

Here's the sketch:

Head over the Creative Scrappers blog to see the other designers' layouts, and definitely create your own layout with the sketch to link up during October.

Have a great week!!

Majken

Our New Happy Place - Creative Scrappers Sketch 298 Design Team Reveal

Hello, hello, lovely scrappers out in scrappy-land!  I hope you have come with a serving of chocolate to see what I (and the rest of the Creative Scrappers Design Team) have designed for you today.  This month we are partnering with Cuts 2 Luv, makers of some really fun badges!  I've used a few on my layout for this month.

In June, our family made the extraordinary trip to Banff, Alberta, Canada.  It was absolutely stunning - our favorite vacation we've ever had the fortune to have.  So much so that it is definitely our new happy place.  For real...we are already hoping to go back. 

So today's layout is in honor of this new happy place of ours.  The photo I chose of me and my husband was perfect to pair with various blues.  I pulled two pieces of paper from the Echo Park Summer Party collection - the ombre "swimming" paper (which is the largest circle in the center) and the pink/blue solid paper - I used the blue side of course.  Here is the full layout: 

To start, I took a piece of AC white textured cardstock and cut a circle from it using my Cameo - it was about 7 1/2" in diameter.  At this point, I played with many different papers and thoughts - it took a while to come together.  Does that ever happen to you?  I hope I'm not alone!  In any case, I settled on using a piece of ombre cardstock from Echo Park's Summer Party called "Swimming Fish" (the B side) and layered that behind the cut circle.  Next I used my Tim Holtz Distress Inks to watercolor the trimmed left edge of my white cardstock.  I layered 4 different colors to help blend the blue from the sky in the photo to the patterned paper and the navy pieces (Dark Blue paper also from Echo Park Summer Party).

To finish the circles, I cut a smaller circle from vellum with gold stars as well as a thin circle from the dark blue paper.  Then I got to stitching!  I used gold thread to stitch around the circles, along the left edge, and in the embellishment area in the bottom left (shown above).  I love that "love" badge from Cuts 2 Luv above and the blue ombre one shown below.

Here's a quick look at the stitching on the left as well as the journaling area.  I used several pieces of ephemera from the Pink Paislee Citrus Bliss.

Here's a peek at our "perfect photo" and my title.  I used alphas from BasicGrey Urban Luxe and Simple Stories then cut the "happy" using my Cameo.

Take a look at the top right embellishment area.  I used "beautiful" from Citrus Bliss and BasicGrey alpha to create "Banff".  I stitched some more and then added some acrylic stars and enamel dots.

Here is sketch 298:

That's all for me - now go create your own version to link up on the Creative Scrappers site.  We'd love to have you play along!  And please check back with the Creative Scrappers blog on Sept. 15th to see what the Cuts 2 Luv team creates!

Have a lovely week and Labor/Labour Day weekend if you are in US/Canada!

xoxo,
Majken


Materials used:
Papers:  American Crafts, Echo Park Summer Party
Distress inks:  Salty Ocean, Evergreen Bough, Faded Jeans, Scattered Straw
Embellishments:  Cuts 2 Luv, Pink Paislee Citrus Bliss, Simple Stories I Am, Jen Hadfield Home Made, American Crafts
Alphas:  BasicGrey Urban Luxe, Simple Stories
Other:  Gold thread, unknown vellum; Gems - Queen & Co and CTMH

Dolphin Encounter - Creative Scrappers Sketch 295 Reveal!

Hello scrappy friends!  I'm so excited to share my first layout as part of the Creative Scrappers design team.  It's such an honor to be a part of this team!  And how great is it for Kristine to bring back the sketches - they are so fun to create with.  You can rotate them, mirror them, change the # of photos, etc. though mine usually end up around 90% similar to the original sketch.  

For this layout, I dug back in to some more honeymoon photos.  Remember, I'm still on a honeymoon bloggy time warp!  Don't be shocked if you see more honeymoon getting scrapped in the next six months.  :)  In April I shared another honeymoon layout also using Simple Stories You Are Here - it's so pretty!  It captures the laid back beachy feel that makes me think fondly of that trip 16 years ago.  Okay, so on to the layout!

I had such fun with this sketch creating all kinds of texture.  First up was trimming some CTMH Lagoon cardstock for the main mat area and then trimming a couple of the Simple Stories papers for the base of the photos.  After pulling together those main pieces, I distressed the cardstock, sewed it to textured white cardstock close to its distressed edges, and then curled up a few edges with my finger.  

Then I adhered the Simple Stories papers and my matted photos.  I felt something was missing, so I trimmed a strip of Heavenly Blue cardstock.  But it seemed "flat".  Inspiration came in the form of Martha Stewart fringe scissors.  I used them on another summer layout in 2014.  Doesn't it make you think of a tiki bar and a refreshing drink with an umbrella in it?  Ahhhh....

So the base part of the layout came together quickly, but I knew I needed some embellishment areas.  Enter in Just Nick Studios' Broken Heart Background.  I cut out three in different sizes to use in lieu of the stars on the sketch.  After I cut them out, I backed each "window" with different papers from the collection for a fun mosaic look. I also popped them up with foam tape! Here's the large one at an angle (and I love the Simple Stories New Bradz and photo stickers!):

Now that I had the main part done, I felt the bottom left corner was sparse.  Yet, I didn't want to deviate from the sketch drastically or draw attention away from the photos.  I decided it would be a cool effect to cut some waves in white and sew them to the bottom.  I used an Echo Park cut file and modified it to stretch to 12".  White on white can be powerful!  But in this case, I felt it still needed something.  Enter in some watercoloring -- using Tim Holtz Distress Inks (Peacock Feathers and Evergreen Bough) and my CTMH watercolor pen -- along the stitched edges, similar to some cards I did recently.

I think the subtle color was just enough to anchor the layout.  I love it when a plan comes together!  I then used the alpha stickers from the collection for the title, and you can see another heart here, too.  Note to self:  go put a dab of glue under the rebel orange letters that don't want to stay stuck.  ;)

All that was missing now was the journaling strips, and I printed some out using the brown/gray color on more textured white cardstock.  If you are stuck on how to match font colors to your layout, I have a little how-to tutorial.

That's it for me!  I hope this inspires you to grab that sketch and link up on Creative Scrappers InLinkz for a chance at some goodies from our sponsor, Jillibean Soup.  Don't forget to check out the other design team members' layouts for more inspiration, too!

Have a great day!
Majken

{We Are Better Together]

Hello everyone and welcome! I hope you can grab yourself a bit of chocolate and check out this layout where I scrapped an old photo of me with my now-husband from around 1987/1988 that my mom found. It's so fun to come across older photos like this and realize just how long ago it seems (or sometimes it seems like yesterday, right?).  I chose to use the Simple Stories We Are...Family collection, a February sketch by Stuck? Sketches, and the Take 5 Challenge from Paper Issues (using the color red, the color pink, a heart, patterned paper, and ink/mist/paint - I actually used more than 5 suggested elements!).

I opted to watercolor and stitch a heart behind the photo area instead of the circles shown in the sketch.  I lightly traced a large heart to provide a guide for my watercoloring using Tim Holtz Distress Inks and a watercolor pen.  Then I let it dry and stitched around it.

Tip: when using water on a layout, to prevent it from curling up, first lightly mist the back of the cardstock.  On this layout, I didn't mist first, and it dried with a slight curl.  After my layout was complete, I misted it on the back and lightly flattened it until it was flat again.

I subbed one of the photos in the sketch with the "love" journal card that I punched with a cross-stitch die (the Simple Stories collection uses a cross-stitch element so I brought it into the layout that way as well).

I used several of the patterned paper, so stickers, so chipboard elements to create the mat, and I used the coordinating alpha stickers for the title.

Next I decided the layout needed to be "grounded" so I created a border with a border sticker, some chipboard and cardstock hearts, and stitching.

Finally, I included the embellishment cluster on the top left instead of on the circle shown in the sketch.

Here is the sketch:

Thanks for stopping by! I'm so glad you could come visit, and I hope this inspired you to do something a little different with a sketch.

Majken

Confetti Cards - Scrapping our Stash Blog Hop with Giveaway

Hello crafty people out there!  Welcome back for this month's Scrapping Our Stash blog hop, where we pull out the crafty materials we've been hoarding and USE them to showcase the last weekend of the month.  You probably arrived from Alison's blog and those cute treat bags -- I'm so glad you hopped over!  Read on and then enter for your chance at my giveaway below.

This month, I worked on some cards instead of a layout because my card stash is getting low.  I chose the Crate Paper Confetti collection by Maggie Holmes released in January.

Great black and gold elements combined with the pretty colors!  The first thing I did was create a shaker card filled with...confetti of course!!

I started with black textured cardstock and a "happy birthday" 4x6 card from the "Party" paper.  I trimmed the "happy birthday" out from the pocket card and set it aside for another card.  I punched confetti and sprinkled some chunky gold glitter in between two pieces of acetate from some packaging and adhered them together.  I layered the windowed pocket card over the confetti and stitched around it twice with gold thread.  Finally I adhered the "Celebrate" Thicker over the shaker area and stuck a Maggie Holmes bow from my stash below the window.  Quick, easy, and best of all...fun!

Next up - the happy birthday card using the piece I cut from the pocket card above.

Black textured cardstock is the base again.  I trimmed the party hat "Surprise" paper just smaller than the base and stitched in gold around the edge.  I used a waterbrush pen to watercolor over the sentiment in a peachy-pink color to match the collection, adhered to a piece of black cardstock, and stitched around the edge.  Then I watercolored around the outside edge of the stitching in light green and adhered that to the card base using 3D foam tape.  I added the "yay" Thicker and a gold sequin to finish.

"Yay" for the next card!  

I trimmed another piece of the party hat paper and stitched around the edge onto black cardstock.  I watercolored light green onto the outside edge.  Next, I trimmed the black "yay!" pocket card from the "Party" paper and stitched around it.  I tied some twine around the top, adhered it to the card, and put the "Celebrate" Thicker on the bottom.

Last but not least, "happy day":  

I trimmed a piece of the words paper from "Backdrop", stitched to black cardstock, and then watercolored in light green around the edge and to highlight a couple of the phrases.  I cut a few of the banner pieces from the "Party" paper and stitched through the center one.  I finished the card with tiny alpha stickers from Tim Holtz and a few Confetti gold sequins.

Well, that's all for me today!  I'm happy to have a few more cards in my stash, and this was the perfect collection for them.  

****Giveaway Time!****

I'm giving away one $15 e-gift certificate to My Scraps & More.  All you have to do is:

• Follow my blog with Google Friend Connect, Google+, or Bloglovin AND
• Leave a comment on this blog post with your favorite type of card to make

Simple!  You have until Monday, Sept. 28th at noon Central time to enter for your chance to win.  International entries are fine.  I use random.com to choose the winner.  I'll announce the winner here on my blog on Tuesday, Sept. 29th.  Good luck, and now it's time to hop along to Katrina's blog to check out her pretty project!

xoxo,

Majken

The full list:

Lee-Anne  http://lee-annelovethejourney.blogspot.com

Alison  http://alisondaydesigns.com/

Majken http://chocoscrapaholic.blogspot.com/   ***YOU ARE HERE***

Katrina http://paperscissorsandglue.blogspot.com/  ***GO HERE NEXT***

Cheryl http://patchesandscraps.blogspot.com

Suzanna http://lifestrivialities.typepad.com

Wendy C www.stampingrules.com