The Ongoing Story of My Life

This layout was a delight to create. The colors over at CSI (Color Stories Inspiration) are stunning this week.

If you are a scrapbooker, you would really enjoy playing along in the weekly challenge. Everyone is so nice there as well. I am pretty much addicted to that website!



Here is the title which is a Technique Tuesday clear stamp. The large chipboard is by Blue Fern Studios and the gears are by Leaky Shed Studios.

I love the Frantage Embossing powders by Stampendous! You can see in the photo above, just how much they add texture to a page. They are so much fun to play with.

My friend, Renea Harrison AKA Reneabouquets has opened her own business and sells lovely embellishments from her website. Be sure to check it out. Shipping was very fast....thank you Renea!  She made the little butterfly I used in this layout.

All of the chipboard pieces were painted with gesso. When that dried I spread a coat of Glossy Accents by Tim Holtz, and then sprinkled seed beads on top. When that layer was dry I put a coat of gesso on it, and let it try. The last step was to ink the tops of the beads in the color of choice.

Here is a close-up of the finished chippies. You can see the masking and inking that I did behind the chipboard pieces.

This hardware embellishment and the resin pocket watch are both by Prima. All paper and most of the flower embellies are by Prima. Some of the flowers are by Petaloo.

Techniques used are punching, tearing, painting, 3-D work, embossing, stamping, machine stitching and inking.



I like to tuck a tag close to the top of a layout with journaling on it, so the story about the photo will be saved.

Thank you for stopping by....see you next time!



Adventure by the Sea

 

 

Earlier in my scrapbooking I have featured this photograph, but never have told the full story behind it. Now that I have created another layout similar to the one I gave to my son, I will put this one in a shadow box and hang it in my "Happy Scrappy Place".

What a treat it has been to play along this week at CSI (Color, Stories, Inspiration). Duplicating the green color wasn't the easiest thing in the world, but I think I finally succeeded thanks to papers from Prima and K&Co. I always love the weekly challenges at CSI and have improved my craft by leaps and bounds thanks to the inspiration at that wonderful website!



 

Background work included stamping, masking and painting with a lot of texture worked in. I was going for a grungy look. The mist, flowers  and the majority of the paper are by Prima. In  order to achieve this grunge look, I used a piece of corrugated cardboard and stripped the top layer off. Then, I used Frantage (by Stampendous  with mica chips and a few glass beads scattered here and there to give a suggestion of gold treasure. It bubbled and morphed into a beautifully embossed background!

 

Over the weekend I went shopping for a bit of fishnet, but was unsuccessful at finding any that was the right size and price. Once home, I was rummaging through drawers in my scrapbook room and came across the remains of netting that I had saved from a bag of "Little Cuties" (tiny oranges) last winter. I couldn't have asked for a better embellishment! It even brought in a little red to meet that criteria for the challenge. It has a coat of gesso on it to tone down the red and works wonderfully as fishing net for this layout.

 

The chippie is by Blue Fern Studios and was painted light brown, then I inked the edges for definition.  The little bits of coral are made from a couple of Tim Holtz glassine pockets and one of his die cuts. All metal embellishments are also by Tim Holtz.



 

I just could not do enough inking, painting, fussy cutting, or 3-D work. Is there a twelve step program for this? Somebody help me!!!
 





 

The tiny shells needed a little something special so I painted them with gesso and later inked or spritzed them to achieve the desired colors.

The object on the corrugated cardboard is a glass bead from my stash that I experimented with. I was interested to see if I could emboss it with the same Frantage that I used on the corrugated cardboard, and was pleased with the results.

The centers of the Prima flowers were created with beads from my stash and Ranger's Glossy Accents.





 

At last, I have the whole story in writing! The dotted design was created with bubble wrap packaging and ink. Here it is typed, so you don't have to get wrinkles from squinting: 

 

Enjoying a few days at The Gulf of Mexico was not just a little get-away for Lee. He went there with teachers and fellow students from his university to study and earn credits in two biology classes and another science class. They waded through sections of the coastline and were up to their eyeballs in salt water and seaweed
as they carried buckets in which to collect their treasures. At one point, the gulf floor dipped and Lee thought he would drown. The bucket filled quickly and he had to choose between saving the bucket and saving his life! At the end of the trip, he came back  home with a head full of knowledge and a great tan.



 

On the back side of the tags are more photos from Lee's adventure, a little stamping and an antique style map with a stamped arrow pointing to the location where Lee had his adventure.

 

Thanks so much for your comments. I am always grateful!

 

 

My BFFs Through the Years

I love the colors this week over at Color Stories, Inspiration (CSI). Here's my take on the sketch and Case File # 139:

During the second week of each month, the very talented Emma Stafrace creates a sketch for the members of CSI. The sketch may be followed in whatever way that the paper crafter would like....turn it, flip it, whatever. It can be used to create an easy layout or a more difficult one. 

It was such a joy to work with these photos and memories that I found myself adding more and more techniques....as if I were the victim of  a creative obsession......in truth, it wasn't "as if"......I truly was driven to make this layout more than I ever thought I could. I surprised myself! First, I spritzed the background paper from BoBunny's Enchanted Garden collection, with Prima Color Bloom mists, allowing each color to dry before adding the next. After that, I did some strategically placed stamped musical images by Heidi Swapp. Then, I came in with a Prima stencil and Liquitex Modeling Paste. OK....so this is starting to look good, perhaps needs a little something special. Obsessed moi' swooped in with Stampendous Frantage Embossing Fragments and a heat tool to add a little embossed goodness.....oooh, la, la! Next, came the painting of the strips/banners by K&Co, Prima flowers,  Scrap FX swirly chipboard and wooden Prima embellies. On top of that layer, I stamped some vintage film goodness by Kaisercraft around my photos and popped them up,  ending with a Prima butterfly and heart charm. Voila!

Here is the journaling applied to the back of the layout.

In the three photos above are my BFFs who have gone to The Rainbow Bridge: Herkie (cat) Lady (doxie) and Diamond (horse). In the photo below can be seen my best snuggle bug now, Gracie....my sweet, sweet dachshund, who had her second birthday today. Happy Birthday, Grace Bug!  

I really do appreciate all comments!

Remembering My First Grade Teacher

This layout is my entry for the CSI challenge this week. Doing this project brought back a lot of fond memories from the recesses of my mind. Thanks to Color, Stories, Inspiration, I have been able to journal many  precious memories that probably would not have been saved, otherwise.

For this layout, I used a lot of techniques:

sewing, inking, painting, stenciling, 3-D work, die cutting.

You can see here, where I used Ranger Crackle Paint. This dusty rose color is one of my last crackle paints that hasn't dried up. I really need to reconstitute many of those bottles!

Yes, the photo in this layout is my first grade picture!

Products used:

Girls' Paperie brad

Martha Stewart diecut

October Afternoon paper

Prima Color Blooms

Ranger crackle paint

Simple Stories paper and rub ons

Here is a more legible version of the journaling:

            I Remember First Grade Teacher.

 I will never forget my first grade teacher, Mrs. Thomas. She was such a sweet and caring teacher, and taught us to read and do simple math. I remember learning to read from the Dick and Jane readers and experiencing a feeling of satisfaction after completing each story.  Mrs. Thomas was a grandmotherly teacher who set a tone of kindness, consideration for others and having a joy for learning.

Our classroom was a place for learning about how to treat each other, about the world around us and the basics of reading and math. Sitting on the front row in class was a prized position in the classroom. I would raise my hand to ask or answer a question . The constant hum of the fan in the back of the room somehow helped us to concentrate on our work. It was a quiet, focussed atmosphere filled with the joy of learning. There were no computers, phones or TV's; not even for Mrs. Thomas. We learned to be good listeners, especially during story time and when Mrs. Thomas was giving a lesson. If we had a question we only had to raise a hand and Mrs. Thomas would gladly come to our desk for help.

I don't remember having any trouble makers in our class. Everyone was eager to learn and encouraged to be good citizens.  Shawna was my best friend in class and we got to play together at recess. We loved climbing on the jungle gym and swinging! We would also flip over the bar that held up the see-saw. We would giggle and wonder if anyone noticed our pretty crinoline petticoats!

What a blessing it was to start school in Mrs. Thomas' room! I suspect that the example she set so many years ago still lives on in each and every one of her students.



This is the cute piece of paper where I did my journaling. It has lines that look like a piece of paper from a first or second grade tablet. First, I spritzed it, then did my writing and last, the stitching.  Below, is the little envelope that I used to hold the journaling.

I always appreciate comments!

Happy

For this layout I used Botanical Tea Collection papers by Graphic 45 and a variety of inks and mists to create the background. They include Prima Color Bloom, Recollections Simply Pastel and Wendi Vecchi's 490 Crackle Texture Paste for the pink grid texture. The mask is by Crafter's Workshop.

What a treat it was to work with this case file at CSI! Aren't the colors absolutely stunning? They are definitely summery and gorgeous! I have fun at CSI being inspired by some amazing scrapbookers who have become my friends since I have been playing along in the challenges.

This photo has special meaning for me. The pin was given to me by my mother, who just celebrated her ninety-third birthday last week. The mint green pin was used years ago to attach a corsage given to her by a special beau, I'm sure.

At least one feature in my scrapbooking lately has been popped up. In this case, I loved the little pink wren so much that it was an obvious choice for me.

The little rose petals are by Prima and the thread is by Coats and Clark. It's been in with my sewing supplies since I was in junior high or high school! The stamp used here is by Heidi Swapp and the ink is Archival by Ranger.

Playing with inks, paint and paper make me just as happy as building a nest makes  this little wren feel satisfied....it just comes naturally!

Delight in the Little Things

I fell in love with the color scheme at CSI this week! The bright orange and pink seem to pop off of the page, don't you think?

First, I cut a strip that would become the center of the layout and border punched across the top and bottom of it. Then, I punched more strips,  glued them all together and stitched around the entire page and stitched over the little ribbon ties that would become suspension for the flowers . I used a mask and modeling paste for texture. After that, I spritzed them with Tattered Angels Glimmer mist.

Next, I painted the chipboard beehive shapes and glued them to the middle section of the layout. Popping up the photos and the library pocket gives the piece nice dimension.

The texture and dimension can be seen in the close up, above.

A little bit of cheese cloth helped to soften the layout for a more romantic look.

Below, you can see the library pocket that I created with the little tag on which the journaling reads:

"Oh, delight in the little things such as the bee. No one has told him that aerodynamically he should not be able to fly."

Products used:

American Crafts Elements brad

Dusty Attic die cut chipboard

Glitz Design stickers

K & Co paper

Kaiser Craft paper and die cuts

Liquitex modeling paste

Martha Stewart border punch

Petaloo flower spray

Prima ink, resin swag, mask and paper

Ranger Acrylic Paint Dabber

Tattered Angels glimmer mist

From my stash:

ribbon, white alphabet stickers and cheesecloth

Thanks for taking a peek!