NAtional Scrapbooking Day RAK

Happy Cinco de Mayo and HAPPY NATIONAL SCRAPBOOKING DAY!!!!  As a scrapper, NSD has quickly become one of my favorite holidays!  I love having an excuse to do nothing but scrap all day and participate in different challenges.  Even better, I love all of the generosity in the air.  I will be hanging out over at scrapbook.com because they always have great NSD challenges and their prizes rock....I know because I won a RAK last year (and a few years ago).

This holiday puts me in a giving mood, too.   At the end of this post, you will find info on how you can enter to win my NSD RAK...but first I have a few projects to share.

This is a special project for a special lady. I'm sure you are aware that April is over, which means Mother's Day is right around the corner.

I used my 2 new favorite (for now) WOW Embossing powders, Clear Gloss Ultra High and Neutral Ultra Shimmer glitter and the Flowers background stamp to create this canvas for mom. 

I used Neutral Ultra Shimmer Embossing Glitter on the flowers, the canvas background and the photo corners. I love how the powders melt to clear glittery gloss allowing the color of the embellishments to shine through.

I sporadically stamped the background with the stamp and embossed with Clear Gloss Ultra High. I used several different inks to add color to the canvas and then used a damp paper towel to remove the ink from the embossing leaving a masked look.

I have to admit, these 2 powders are addictive! I literally had to stop myself from covering the entire canvas in glitter!

I created this next project for WOW Embossing Powders and the product swap week between Pink Paislee and Basically Bare. Anyone who knows me knows that I am a big Pink Paislee fan, so getting to work with the Indigo Bleu line AND my favorite Basically Bare products made creating this layout extra fun!
I used Basically Bare Pennants (large), Dress Form, Blossoms & Leaves, Fanciful Frames, and Birds as well as stamps and embossing powders from WOW.

These pennants are some of my new faves!! I covered them with patterned paper, heat embossed using WOW’s neutral ultra shimmer embossing glitter and then layered with wood embellishments and flowers. I used the same powder on the canvas leaf and then outlined with Zig Memory System Millennium pen.

I swear, I can’t get enough of the dress forms!! I peeled the top layer of cardboard off of the bodice, swiped with white acrylic paint and then covered with patterned paper, lace, and a wooden button.

I like to add plain chipboard to a lot of my projects. I think the neutral kraft color gives the viewer’s eye a break.

The Fanciful Frame is the perfect size for a 4×6 photo. I coated the one here with WOW’s Black Glint Embossing Glitter — love that shine!

Last but certainly not least, is the acrylic birdie nestled among the flowers. I use a stamp from WOW Call Me stamp set and staz-on ink to stamp the script writing. I embossed the felt wing with embossing glittered and added a pearl to the eye.

That's all the project sharing today, now on to the RAK!   (there are more flowers included in the RAK, just couldn't fit them all in the photo)

All you have to do is leave a comment here by 11:59 EST May 6th and you will be entered to win.  I will randomly choose one winner on Monday May 7th.

HAPPY SCRAPPING!!!

Latest CI Projects

I know, I know...I've been a lackadaisical blogger of late.  I have so many balls in the air and am trying to juggle the best I can. 

It's been nearly 3 months since I returned to work;  I'm trying to keep up with the boys' schedules, keep up with DT assignments (which has proven to be a struggle), appointments, housework, etc, etc... and still make it to bed at a decent time, which judging by the bags under my eyes, isn't happening!   But, I am hanging in there!  I'm determined to get on a manageable schedule.

I have created quite a few projects that I HOPE to share throughout the week,  :)  starting with my latest creations from Creative Imaginations.

I made this little ditty for my godson who's loves counting and reading books.  The bare elements chipboard album is very sturdy and the pages are very easy for little fingers to turn.

One of my favorite ways to use ribbon is on gift packaging. I love that I can add that extra special touch without having to take a trip to the store. I used May Arts Silky/Crush ribbon in white and blue/white baker's twine and the gorgeous Sakura line by Christine Adolph for this birthday gift and card. To make my gift set sparkle, I spritzed the card and the front of the gift box with red pearl Luminarte Radiant Rain mist.

 

I create this card for a friend. I embossed a piece of wood paper and then inked the raised design and then embellished with twine and a die cut.

Have you ever come across one of those collections that is just so pretty that you don't even want to cut into it? That's exactly how I felt about Christine Adolph's Sakura collection. The beautiful colors and patterns are suitable for framing!

As you can see, I eventually decided to cut into those pretty papers to create this layout. I used the die cut paper as my background and cut the lanterns from patterned paper to use as a decorative element across the top of the layout.

I brought out the purple in the papers by painting a strip of Paint It papers with sugar plum Luminarte Twinking H2Os. I further embellished with die cuts, layered stickers, and a border punched strip of real wood paper.

 

Thanks for stopping by today!!

CHA Winter 2012: Creative Imaginations

Have you visited Creative Imaginations' blog lately? They've started posting the new releases and they're fabulous!! Today. I'm sharing 2 projects that I created with the new Nautical line designed by Samantha Walker and the new Oceana line designed by Christine Adolph.

Don't you just love this color combo? Nautical is perfect for all of those Summer holiday layouts, beach photos, family vacation, and the sailboats are great for all of those little boy pages!

Layering the stickers and die cuts are a great way to create your own embellishments.




This next layout was created using Oceana. The variegated blues and browns will add a soft vintage flair to your beach themed projects. The delicate butterflies and dragonflies add to the versatility of this line. This collection is perfect for boy, girl, and adult scrapbook pages.

I created a frame by cutting the center from a die cut.

How gorgeous are those butterflies?


Stop by CI's blog to see the rest of the new releases and to check out what the rest of the design team created!

Until next post, happy scrapping!!

Scrap Yourself

...that has been my scrapping motto for a long time now. That was also one of the motivating forces behind my participation in the 52 Week Project--so I'd have updated pictures for the scrapbooking pages about me. I believe that it is equally important to document my story as it in my family's.

Having said that, I have a layout to share featuring one of the pictures that I took last month. I used a couple of Basically Bare pieces: canvas leaves from the Blossoms & Leaves set and the film strip border from the Paparazzi Set.

I cut the film strip into pieces in order to use a strip as a border on my layout. I set aside the rest to use on another project.

I added crackle accents to the border strip for added interest.

The chipboard "48" was originally black and glittered, but I peeled the top layer off and then embossed using WOW embossing Powder in earthtone honey from the Suzy West collection. I just love the deeply textured look!

I took 2 leaves from the package, folded them in half and stapled close to the fold. I then used WOW’s “Call Me” stamp set to stamp the leaves.

Here’s a close up of one of the canvas leaves and the scalloped border that I stamped and embossed with WOW embossing powder in earth tone honey.

Creating the border was really easy. I pressed the cap of the embossing powder jar into my embossing ink and then stamped on my page as I would using any regular stamp.


I poured earthtone honey over the stamped image, dumped off the excess and heat embossed until completely melted.

That's all for today!! I will have tons of CHA projects to share...soon enough! Have a great day!

52 Week Project - December Photos

Well...I did it!! I started this journey 52 weeks ago and I managed to see it all the way through. Granted some photos were taken a little late, a couple of photos are stuck on my cell phone, some I rushed through, and others I put a little more time and thought into, but I stuck with it and ended up with some pretty cool self portraits. Here' s the last of the bunch:

Week 48/52 taken 12.5.11 Shades of grey with a pop of color

Week 49/52 taken 12.10.11 A wise woman once said...

Week 50/52 taken 12.18.11 Decorating my Christmas tree in my pajamas and head scarf.

Week 51/52 taken 12.21.11 Last day of Autumn

Week 52/52 taken 12.31.11 I started started this 52 week journey with this photo captioned "feeling quite blah", but I'm finishing it with this photo of me with a big ole smile on my face because through it all, the good times and bad, I am still standing and feeling stronger than ever. I have a feeling that 2012 is going to be a great year!!

See ya next year!!