{watercolored butterflies}

Its been a very gloomy, dreary day here, so lots of blacks in my photographs. So very dramatic :)

Pulled out my watercolors and butterfly punches for these. I didn't use my paints directly, but instead added a little paint to water do get some light color.

Used a punched butterfly negative here as a mask. I then spritzed some yellowy water all over...

Finally, I did random brush strokes on a waste paper, and punched my butterflies out of that.

This would make a beautiful scrapbook layout too, will be making one as soon as I can! Happy Friday to you all :)

Masking made easy!

Hello scrappers! I know there are a few of you who are afraid to use mist on your layouts but let me share with you how fun and easy it can be! This month, Rachel has some fun things in the SFTIO Kit! There's mist by Smooch Spritz and a 6X6 template by Crafter's Workshop and lots of other fun stuff! But my main focus today is to show you how fun and easy these two things can be together!

The first thing I did was place the template on my cardstock. Then I cover the areas outside of the templates with scraps so that when I spray the mist, it doesn't go all over the layout.

Once the areas were covered, I sprayed the mists onto the template. Be sure to spray several coats so the color is rich.

After I sprayed the pattern on my cardstock, I carefully removed all of the scraps and then I gently picked up the template and flipped the side with the mist in a different area on my layout. I used my paper piercer to rub the template to make sure I got all the mist off the template and onto the cardstock. I then gently removed the template and let it sit a few minutes. Then I layed a book on top of the cardstock to keep the cardstock from bulking up from all the mist.

And here is my final layout! I love this... even with all the purple :) (which is a color I rarely use).

Shape Up

Greetings!  

Below are some page I've created using circular photos.  By using a shape other than square or rectangle, you can give your page a totally different look!  And thanks to digital software, cropping a picture in a circle shape is easy-peasy!

 Kit Credit:  Lucky in Green by Pretty In Green and Bring Me a Rainbow by Pixel by Jen

 Kit Credit:  Precious Moments by Keep In Touch Designs

 

Kit Credit:  For Us by Pretty In Green

 

Kit Credit:  Love Struck by LDrag Designs

 

 

Kit Credit:  Happy Hopscotch Elements by Valarie Ostrom, Happy Hopscotch Alpha and Paper Pack by Luv Ewe Designs

 Kit Credit:  Doodle Girl 2 by Nicole Young

 

Kit Credit:  February 2011 Digital Scrapbook Place Club Digital

I hope you've gathered a little inspiration from my pages ... thanks for stopping by!!

 

New Releases Coming Soon!!

Hi everyone. Normally I'm not one for a big sales pitch, but when it comes to crafting yummies,bring it! If you're anything like me, you get really excited when companies release new goodies!! During CHA, I visit every blog I can to find about the latest and greatest stamps, inks, papers, tools and any other new yummies. I read the reviews, watch video demos, scour the blogosphere for pictures ... Yeah, you could say I'm a junkie. Just a little bit.  One of these days I hope to actually visit CHA and witness all the exciting news first hand!

In the meantime, I'm glad the virtual world offers an opportunity to keep up with the latest trends, techniques and hot new products. Scrapbook manufacturers have gotten really good at using the Web to not just share, but interact with its global customers. Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, company websites and blogs, message boards, paper crafting communities and, of course, digi magazines like ScrapStreet have opened up the world to us! We can share our work, comment on projects, enter challenges, contribute articles and so much more. We can also access a huge array of supplies made available for purchase online. You don't have to live in a big metropolis to get your scrap on anymore!

I have learned so many techniques from watching YouTube videos or reading tutorials online. I just Google "How to [fill in the blank]", and I usually find what I want on the first page.  If I didn't have this virtual world, I don't think I would have been able to grow and hone my skills. I certainly wouldn't have all the awesome tools I have because I would have never heard of them. Copics? Silhouette Cameo? Crop-a-dile? What are those? Not only do I know what they are, I own them!! And if you have a limited budget, there are so many articles and tutorials that can really teach you how to stretch your crafting dollars!

I have a little confession. I have somewhat of an ulterior motive for this post about how helpful the Web is for paper crafters. I am also announcing a blog hop and live UStream event that takes place one week from today announcing new releases for Pink by Design Stamps, where I am honored to be on the design team. There are some really neat stamps coming out. I am super excited about it. During the hop, we will be sharing projects using the new releases. Later that day, at 9 p.m. CST, Sarah Hamer (owner of Pink by Design) will do a live webcast to show everyone all the fun new sets. You will have the opportunity to live chat with her and everyone else at the event. It's actually really fun. My husband even enjoys it and he doesn't scrapbook!! All the details will be listed on the Pink by Design site. I hope you can join us.

I really do think the paper craft world has evolved because of the Internet and I encourage you to take advantage of all the opportunities it has to offer, although if you're reading this post, you probably already are!! LOL!

Feeling lucky?

So, all of our neighbors and us went in on some Lotto tickets when the pay-off hit 600 million a few weeks ago.  We were not lucky...unless you count $5 between 10 families lucky...50 cents each...hmmph.

However, I was feeling a little lucky when my mom surprised me with two new LUCKY 8 punches from We R Memory Keepers for my birthday. Actually, she is a HSN-aholic, and ordered them not really expecting them to be so big and heavy. She told me she had ordered some punches, but was going to send them back if I didn't want them. When I saw them, I swooned. I had been secretly wanting to see, try, and buy these. It was kismet. They became my birthday present!

The one that I used on this layout and card is called Lace Kerchief (I'll save the other one for another post). With 8 or less punches, I got the look of laser cut and shaped paper with paper I already had. For the layout about "my track star", I used just the outer cut on a 12x12 sheet of cardstock. I made a punch in each corner, then flipped the paper over and punched the opposite four corners. For the card, I used both the inner and outer cut combined on a 7x7 sheet (no need to flip for this size, just four quick punches and I was done).

Now, if I'm going to be picky (which I have a tendency to do), my only complaint is that I would have liked a crisper cut on my paper. I used a cardstock with a slight woven texture from American Crafts for both the layout and the card, and I can see some fray on both. Can I live with it? Yes. Should it happen? I don't think so.

Is it worth it to be able to create all of these paper shapes from a few punches?...I think yes. Is it a good birthday surprise?...I think yes. I'd like to hear your review if you've tried the Lucky 8 punches, and do you have a favorite shape?

~Kelly

Art folders again~

Hi everyone!!! I want to show you the last two Art folders using  Authentique bi-fold cardstock like papers. These are easy to make~Authentique does the work for you because they are 12"x24" and scored to be folded and all you do is glue the sides together..

I used Helmar 450 Quick Dry to glue the sides together. Easy!!!

I used some Jillibean Soup on this along with Vintage Street Market and American Crafts! Here is another one~

When they get full I will make them another one.  These will fit just fine in a page protector and stored with my other pages in an American Crafts 3 ring binder album.

Thanks for stopping in today and have a good one. See ya soon!! by: C. Mercer

Spring is in the air!

Hello! Nicole here and today I would like to share with you a friendship mini album that I created using lots of yummy new Glitz Design product. I adore this and hope you do too!









Supplies:

Glitz Designs "Pretty in Pink" Patterned Paper
Glitz Designs "Pretty in Pink" Rhinestones
Glitz Designs "Pretty in Pink", "French Kiss" Cardstock Stickers
Glitz Designs "Pretty in Pink" Teeny alphas
Glitz Designs "Pretty in Pink" Glitzers
Glitz Designs "Pretty in Pink" Whatnots


Other:
Baker's Twine: Scrap Pantry (Esty)
Buttons: Epiphany Crafts
Word stickers: Cosmo Cricket
Die cut machine: Cricut
Cartridge: Stamp
Pearls: Zva Creative
Flower: Zva Creative
Pen: Adhesives: Creative Memories