A Craft Box and 2 Layouts

Tonight was productive! I started out by working on the labels for a gift for my daughter's friend - she is having a birthday party tomorrow. I bought a plastic container that will be filled with craft items. Because she loves butterflies, this is what the labels looks like:

I used Bo Bunny's new line Primrose because I didn't want the butterflies to be too "young" looking. Tyra is turning 6 and I want this to be a box she can use as she grows up. I fussy cut the butterflies and stuck them on the honeycomb patterned paper. I then used different alphas to stamp out the title. I have no idea what lines they were as they were part of the stash at my LSS. I inked the edges and then stuck the labels on each side. I hope Tyra likes her gift!

Then I moved on to layouts. I had 3 Mojos to catch up on for Scrapbook Steals and managed to get them all done tonight. Here is the first one I did. It is based on Rose #3 and #6.

I used the following papers: My Mind's Eye Abbey Road (Let's Go), Fancy Pants Rusted Sun (Indian Summer) and Crate Paper Pink Plum Collection (Peach). They all worked beautifully together. I used Tim Holtz's Distress Ink in Vintage Photo to ink all the paper edges. This was fun to put together and allowed me to scrap some old pictures.

My next layout was for Rose #2. I decided to try working with colors I don't normally put together. At first I thought it was going to be hard, but once I got started, it came together pretty quickly:

Funny thing, the day of this mojo posting, they were featuring Echo Park papers. Go figure that I ended up using Echo Park's For the Record line for this one. The cardstock is Bazzil and I used a black marker to outline everything. I love that picture because it shows the playfulness of my oldest daughter. She is too funny!

So another Friday night come and gone...I am glad I got a few things done!

This week's Projects

Two nights ago I decided I wanted to work on some Mojo sketches from Scrapbook Steals. I did a double layout using Rose #1 and Rose #4:

Here is the list of products I used:

• Patterned papers: Doodlebug Design Inc (the blue and green striped sheets), Moxxie ("costume change" - background papers), Fresh Print (plum stripes), Paper Pizazz (the purple sponge finish) and another one from my stash that I couldn't identify
• Tag: My Mind's Eye (So Sophie)
• Alphabet stickers: My Little Shoebox (mini alphas in mermaid), Making Memories (tiny alphas in pink ledger), AC Thickers (glitter foam in Lullaby)
• Ink: Tim Holtz Distress Ink (black soot)

All that is left on this layout is to add the date.

Here is a layout I did tonight based on Rose #5:

 This one was fun to do because I used one kit, so literally all the pieces on this came from Authentique (Gathering). I must admit that I normally am not a fan of their papers because I find the colors too muted and subtle, but this kit was one that I got in a swap and they are definitely colors I like to work with. I am really happy with the end result (especially with the fussy cut flowers from one of the sheets). Orange is such a happy color and the light aqua off-sets it quite nicely.

Then I moved on to making 2 birthday cards tonight. They are very simple (again, I struggle with cards). I am happy with how they look. They will be added to the stash at work for colleagues' birthdays:

I started with a more masculine card because those tend to be the hardest for me. I used papers in my stash (no idea of what lines I used) and then used the sentiment stamp from Stampin' Up and a tree stamp at Scrapbook Centrale. Inked the edges with Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Vintage Photo and voilà! Next I did a more feminine card and again, did not know what papers I was using. This one was easier for me to put together because I loved the colors:

I added a chipboard flower and doodled around the edges of it with a black pen. The edges of the papers were stippled with paint. Easy to put together, but still pretty.

And now it is time to go to bed...phew! That was a lot of creativity in a short period! Just wait until I post the canvases I started working on tonight...

March ATCs

Another ATC swap this month. There was a vote on the theme and I wanted Mardi Gras, but the majority went with spring. Since we can choose not to do the theme, I decided I still wanted to go with Mardi Gras. Here is the first step:

I started with cardstock in limeade (my favorite green in all the cardstock - I have used it for a ton of projects). I then painted with green and purple Maya paints. I decided to go to the Book Market and buy a cheap used book to use the pages for projects. I made my own template for a mask and cut it out. I adhered it to the card with matte gel medium (from Golden). Then I decided to use a new product I just bought:

This stuff is A-MA-ZING! It goes on looking all dull and grey, but when it dries...

I love texture, so I love the effect the black lava gives. I then decided I needed something to finish off the edges. Stamp and ink were the next ingredients:

Now, what is Mardi Gras without some beads? Enter Golden's glass bead gel. Now this effect is much more subtle, but gives a cool texture as well. I added just a bit to each card (in 3 spots). Here is what it looks like:

I like it! And here are all the finished cards:

I will be shipping them off this weekend (on time!). I can't wait to see what others came up with :)

Mixed Media ATCs

I am once again part of an ATC swap. For the month of February the theme was "Alice in Wonderland". This made me think of the Cheshire cat and his big, bright smile. This led me to thinking about bright, almost disturbing images...and that's where I went...

I started out with a page from the Glam Gal stack from DCWV as my background (I love the teal color). I then used a black marker and the stencil Edith & Maude from The Crafters Workshop. Once the silhouettes were done (and notice I did them all off center and slightly different from each other), I added some color with my Gelly Roll pens. I then flicked some spattered gesso onto them. The last step was adding Liquitex Opaque Flakes for some texture and...Voilà! I am done! I am going to have to use those stencils more often. I really enjoyed using them :)

Back To Scrapbooking...

Between last Sunday and this past Friday I managed to bang out 5 layouts. I am very pleased with that since I really want to get back into my scrapbooking. If only there was more time to craft during the week (darn job is keeping me from crafting - lol). Here are the first 2 I started with:

  

You can clearly see that I used the same picture twice. That's because they are going into 2 different albums (one for each of my girls). The top one is a layout of my own design. The bottom one if a Midweek Mojo from Scrapbook Steals (Iolite #7). I used papers from To the Moon by Fancy Pants. I just thought they were fun and thought it might be nice to do something not so girly (in honor of my nephew who is surrounded by girls when all the cousins get together).

Then I did these 3 on Friday night:

For these, I used papers from some stacks I have (I will have to look them up) as well as papers I received in some swaps in the past (I do not know the makes off-hand). Oh well...at least I can tell you that these are based off of more Scrapbook Steals mojos: Iolite #6, #4 and #1. You can see I took some liberties with them, but they are what inspired each of these layouts. These were fun to do and I was excited to get them done :)

I am also going to try my hand at a Project Life kind of style this year. We'll see how that goes...

Snow Themes

I love snow-themed papers and have been holding onto some nice ones in anticipation of pictures outside with the family. Last weekend, I decided I wanted to scrap some pictures from my youngest's birthday in December. I knew exactly what line I wanted to use - Powder Mountain by Bo Bunny!! So here are the 2 layouts I did:

I love the textured look of the white fencing on these papers. However, I didn't want it to be so light that everything got lost in the layout, so I used a paper that had the wood fencing and fussy cut the pinecone basket so that I would not lose the pattern behind the strip I added to the page. These pictures are of my little one going for her first sledding experience. She did not quite get it the first few runs, but by the end she was a pro!

Here is the second layout I did with the same line of paper:

These 2 play really well together and were just happy to be out in the snow. Such cute cousins! I was happy to use my date stamps on both layouts (I have about 5 of them with different sayings on them). What a nice and subtle way to document the dates.

I seem to be wanting to scrap more these days. I guess staying away from it for a while has given me the chance to allow the creative juices to flow in that domain again. I find myself thinking about what pictures I want to do next - a very good thing!

New Year - New Projects

Happy New Year! I am a few days late, but that's okay. I got together with 2 of my dear scrappy pals on Saturday and finished a bunch of ATCs, cards and an art journal page. Here is what I took a picture of:

At work, our department sends cards around for each birthday. I told the person who takes care of the stash that I would be willing to make some cards to add to said stash and above are the first 3 that I have made. When I brought them in today, she said they were beautiful and was very thankful for them. I am glad they turned out well :)

This year I hope to get more scrapbooking done and am going to try my hand at Project Life so that I can have an album done at the end of the year (and it will be for me - not the girls!). Let's hope it goes well and that I keep up with it...