Our Wish

Hello scrappy friends! Today, I'm sharing a layout for the CSI Design Team. This work of heart is so very important to me. Our son recently graduated from his university with a degree in biology and his dad and I couldn't be any more proud! 

I think I got my colors off a little. Most Texas Aggies (not that I am one) would say the color above is more of a dark burnt orange than a maroon. But what do I know? I'm a TCU girl myself! My apologies to CSI and Debbi Tehrani for the misunderstanding. I will do my best to get my colors right in the future. 

I am entering this layout in the February drawing at Blue Fern Studios Blog. Fingers crossed! There is always a lot of competition in their drawings, so we will see how it turns out. 

Here, you can see a little of the texture work I did with  modeling paste and a template, as well as splatters of water color. 

I enjoy using embossing powders on my layouts and you can see the results on the background, on the layered papers and on the chipboard birdcage. 

You can see the use of one of the brand new Blue Fern Studios cling mounted stamps and their embossing powder on the dark gray paper. Can you tell that I love Blue Fern products?  

More embossing here with 3-D work gives the layout depth. 

Products:

Blue Fern Studios chipboard, embossing powder,       stamp and paper: Timeless Collection,
      Abode 
Crafter's Workshop template
Liquitex modeling paste
Petaloo flowers
Prima Color Bloom Spray
Stampendous embossing products
StazOn ink

The journaling reads, "Dear Lee, It has long been our desire that you would earn your college degree, and perhaps beyond. After some growing up and a lot of hard work you have made our wish come true. Thank you, Honey! Love, Dad and Mom."

See you next time, friends! 

Decorated Box

Hello scrappy friends! Today I am sharing a little box that I decorated. Originally, it was just a little black, balsa wood crate. 

   

First, I painted the box with gesso, then white paint, leaving the inside as it was when I bought it. Next came a little stamping in random places with a Blue Fern Studios clear stamp. Then, I used modeling paste and a stencil to get a little texture going on the outer sides of the box. The last step in preparing the box was to spritz the box with a little spray on color. 

Recently, I have discovered the amazing Blue Fern Studios Imagine Ink Embossing Powder. It is ultra fine and adheres to chipboard or paper in a minimum amount of time. This product is fast and easy to use! The trick is to apply Perfect Medium to the chipboard, then dust with the embossing powder before heating each piece. you can see the embossed Blue Fern chipboard in the area around and behind the lightbulb. 

All metal embellishments were painted with gesso before painting with white paint, then spritzed or painted again.

Products:

Blue Fern Studios stamp, embossing powder and
     chipboard
Graphic 45 metal feet
Prima butterfly, frame, lightbulb embellishment,
     stencil
Ranger /Tim Holtz vial, clear knob, crystal,
     Perfect Medium, pearl with tassle
StazOn ink
From my stash:
     milnery flowers, gold glitter 

Thanks for taking a peek. See you next time! 

Love

Hello blog friends! I hope everyone is enjoying a lovely weekend and has some sort of Valentine's Day Celebration, whether it be with friends, family or with someone extra special.

Today, I am sharing with you, a layout I did for the CSI Design Team. It is about my daughter, who is a lovely young lady. She enjoys life, loves to travel and is always the life of the party. One thing I love about her is she is anything but ordinary. My daughter, Elizabeth, enjoys hula hooping for exercise. I don't know of anyone else who does that anymore! In the photos you can see her hula hoop that lights up and has a multitude of designs that are programmed on line. She loads the information onto a USB and then plugs it into her hula hoop! Technology follows us everywhere! 

Over at CSI, we are excited to welcome a second permanent sponsor for 2016, Maja Designs! Our long standing permanent sponsor, Flying Unicorn will always be our Valentine!  

As always, I start my layouts with the background. Once I know where the photo(s) and 3-D elements will be, I prepare the background in the area around it. 

You can see here, where I did some misting in blue, stamping and texture work.

In this photo, you will see a little embossing of the background. I love making my backgrounds beautiful and with plenty to look at! 

After preparing my background I begin work on my 3-D elements by fussy cutting them, going around the edges with a marker of the same colors on the paper. The reason I do this is so you won't see white edges. It simply looks more natural. 

Next, I prepare the chipboard shapes by heat embossing them. Here, I decided to pop up the diamond shape inside of the little circle. I will definitely use that idea again! 

Products:

Blue Fern Studio chipboard, embossing powder,
    stamps and paper (Montage Collection,
    Invitation)
Crafter's Workshop template
Liquitex Modeling paste
Paper Studios pink heart
Petaloo flowers
Recollections spray mist
Ranger Perfect Medium
Stampendous embossing products
StazOn ink
From my stash, white thread and sequins

Here is my journaling for this page: "Elizabeth, I love that there is nothing ordinary about you!"

Thanks so much for stopping by...see you next time! 

Camp Lavoys

Hello scrapbooking friends! Sharing a little mini album that I created a while back. It was a gift to my mother in law and the intent was to thank her for being such a wonderful grandmother to our two children through the years. We have had to limit how many of her belongings she can have at her nursing home, so I got this back and can now upload the photos to my blog. It is a poignant reminder of how quickly life goes by, how important it is to save every precious memory and story for future generations and to tell those we love just how important they are to us. 

The little album is filled with pockets and hiding places to add stories and notes. My adult children are both excellent writers and most importantly are loving, so it came as no surprise to me to read their cherished memories written to honor their paternal grandmother in such a sweet and loving way. The letter above is from our son, Lee. 

I added embellishments to bring attention and interest to each of the pages.

Each page and booklet was inked in black to make it pop. 

Here, you can see a small portion of my husband's and my sentiments. 

Grandmother always made sure there were other children for Lee and Liz to play with....whether cousins or neighbors. She also had games, coloring books and plenty of toys as well as activities planned! Of course, there was always fun to be had in the swimming pool! Marco Polo was the favorite game to play while swimming. 

Here are two small booklets I used to include special memories and notes.  

Products:

Graphic 45 mini album
Maya Road baker's twine
Prima paper, embellies, flowers and ink
Ranger knob
From my stash: gray elastic

The letter above is from Liz. Thank you for stopping by today!