Cherish

Another layout to share which was recently featured in the April issue of 

Scrapbook News and Review.

Kaisercraft paper was crumpled and distressed along the edges.

A whitewash of Gesso applied over the pattern to tone everything down.

My photo was adhered to the page and then Moldeling Paste applied along 2 of the corners and out a bit.

I used a palette knife and frosted the paper almost like a cake to get some peaks and valleys.

When the paste was dry I added some color with Silks Acrylic Glazes then stamped all ver the page with a Recollections scripts stamp and Staz On in Jet Black.

The hexagons are stickers from Kaisercraft.

After placing them down I outlined each one with a charcoal pencil and smudged it a bit with my finger.

The chipboard flourishes are from Dusty Attic.

A little flower cluster with the additions of some metal trinkets I had in my stash.

There is also a bit more stamping with a "noise" stamp from Club Scrap.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Scrapping Everyday Miracles Birthday Blog Hop Coming Soon!

Look what is coming July 11th!

Have you heard we are getting ready for our Second birthday.  We have planned a huge celebration both here on the SEM blog and over at our facebook group Scrapping Everday Miracles Chit Chat Group.  To kick off the celebration we would like to have a little pre-party fun.  So I have a great prizes to giveaway from 3 Scrappy Boys

  3 Scrappy Boys is a monthly kit club and store. We offer 3 kits per month that can be purchased individually or as a subscription. Subscribing comes with benefits like 10% off your kit cost and store purchases. We also have a facebook page where you can follow all the happenings at 3 Scrappy Boys like sales, crops, and challenges.

Blog: http://www.3scrappyboys.com/shop/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/3-Scrappy-Boys/160870820644332

Wanna see the wonderful prize we are giving away?

Here is what you gotta do to enter... we would like for you to share about the Celebration...

One entry for sharing in a post on your blog

One entry for joining SEM's Chit Chat group on Facebook

One entry for visiting 3 Scrappy Boys on Facebook and telling them SEM sent you.

One entry for sharing on Facebook, Pinterest or anywhere else that allows you to.

You can either share the advertisement found at the top of the post or this one below...

You have until Sunday July 14th 11:59pm PST to link up... and dont forget to head over to our Facebook group http://www.facebook.com/groups/200817343359030/  and join so you are all ready for the big day!

The Birthday Celebration will kick off July 11th on both the SEM blog and on the FB group so make sure that you have joined the FB group before that!!!!!  We cant wait to party with you!

Keep on playing...

Today's art journal page started out as play and then a keep on working until you are happy with it kind of moment.

The base was a grid of color created with my Gelatos over Gesso.

In the land of "one layer is never enough" I kept adding more.

First some script stamping.

Then I put Gesso through a Dylusions stencil and outlined the circles.

ICK.

This is not looking good!

Followed by me blowing Ayeed Water Inks across my page with a straw.

(now I've reached the what in the world am I doing stage)

I dipped my paintbrush in Black Marble Dylusions mist and outlined my color grid and the circles again.

Better...maybe.

Stamped my favorite flower stamp (from Unity) and outlined it with black Sharpie. Painted the inside with Gesso to give a more neutral surface and colored over that with a Faber Castell Pitt Pen.

Outlined AGAIN with a Sharpie the highlites with a white gel pen.

Starting to like...

Added a quote onto a small piece of a Gelli Print.

Be Your Own Kind of Beautiful

 Kind of along the lines I worked and worked until I managed to get something I actually like.

It made me happy.

And finally some big black flourishes, mostly to tone the color down even more.

So my advice to you; don't give up when creating. Keep plugging away and you may end up with something that makes you happy.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Keep your feet on the ground...

Just doing a quick share today of a layout featured in the April issue of 

Scrapbook News and Review.

The patterned paper is from Kaisercraft. 

Gesso was used around the photo to blend it into the background.

Stenciling using a Crafter's Workshop stencil and Golden Fluid Acrylics to create the diamond pattern.

A handmade banner and doily cut in half finish off the layout.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Dream.

Today I'd like to share another mixed media scrapbook page that features NO patterned paper.

I really enjoy taking cardstock and turning into unique backgrounds for my layouts.

This one started as a piece of green cardstock from Bazzill.

Gesso was scrapped randomly across the paper and allowed to dry.

Black acrylic paint was flicked across the page for a splattered effect.

Drywall mesh tape,  black tulle, and a piece of transparency were layered under the photo.

I did some random stamping with a Clearsnap stamp and Jet Black Staz On.

Using a Club Scrap stencil I created the title DREAM by sponging black paint through it.

The flourishes were actually one large piece that I painted with black acrylic paint and covered with Holographic Embossing Powder from Ranger.

Once everything was dry & melted I cut it into 3 pieces for my layout.

You can see the tulle pretty well in this photo as well.

another closeup where you can see the transparency.

Next time you don't have a piece of patterned paper to match your photo, try making your own.

You might even find yourself doing it over and over again.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Note to self...

Dare to be Different!

This is an art journal page for a friend's aj.

The tag and orange chevron paper were already on the page as a base.

I added to it.

The image is from 7Gypsies.

Lake Mist paint dauber through a Crafter's Workshop stencil. Some stamping over that with a bubble wrap stamp.

                             

Orange ink through a Stencil Girl stencil (I'm loving this ink color)

That's it for today. A short and sweet post lol.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

On the road again...

Last week we spent traveling up North. Spending most of our time in PA we took some time to visit Longwood Gardens located in Kennett  Square, PA.

This is an absolutely beautiful spot right off of Route . You can spend hours here if you have the time.

Unfortunately for us we only had a little over an hour.

What did we do?

We headed straight for the Conservatory which is a short walk from the main entrance.

The Conservatory was constructed between 1919 and 1921. It covers over 4 acres of beautiful gardens all under glass.

There are over 20 rooms located inside, from a beautiful Children's garden, with lots of hands on activities, to fruit gardens, rose gardens waterlilies and more.

Around every corner is a new site to take in.

One of the first stops is always to the Children's Garden.

There are fountains everywhere in this room begging to be touched and played in, no worries about cold water either, they keep it warm for the little ones.

Fountains from up high...

and down low...

A small maze to walk through filled with color and light.

Extremely detailed.

and just fun to splash.

I love this peacock!

Leaving the Children's Garden you come to one of the larger rooms.

Plenty of chairs to sit in and take the view.

Look at this!!!!

Can you believe it is inside?????

Continuing our walk...

This is a sunken floor room that they actually flood on purpose to help add moisture to the air.

Lots of fruits here too. From nectarines and figs, oranges to grapes.

All grown in small spaces.

More fountains (my DH wants to do this in our backyard)

and on to The Silver Garden.

This was so cool to see. Even without the brightly colored flowers and foliage found elsewhere it still causes you to pause and take it all in.

more

We went from lush tropical to dry desert all in the same building.

My favorite flowers...

And out the front doors to this huge fountain display.

Periodically during the day the fountains will put on shows set to music skyrocketing water into the air.

If you go at night it also includes fireworks with the displays.

If you are ever in the area I highly recommend stopping in for a visit.

Even on a short trip through you still can see so much!

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Swirlydoos Round Robin

It's time once again for a Round Robin entry for Swirlydoos.

This month the the layouts needed to feature only men in honor of June & Father's Day.

The twist was to somehow add doilies & lace to the masculine layout.

For me the twist was easy, it was the only men aspect that had me digging through piles of photos.

I scrap girls, lots and lots of layouts with girls. My poor DH gets left in the dust when it comes to them lol.

I finally found a photo that wound up being perfect for my page.

I used The March kit Vintage Chic from Swirlydoos for my page.

The layout features papers from the Prima Engraver line and Authentique papers.

I misted my page with Ethereal Emerald MoonShadow Mist from Lindy's Stamp Gang. The doily was also heavily misted to help it blend into my page and not be as "girly".

Closeup of my doily. I love how the mist created veins of color across the center of it.

The layout I lifted had a large chain across the bottom. I didn't have anything that worked like it so I created a banner across the bottom. I added some Prima metal trinkets in place of flowers.

The quote is from a sticker by BoBunny.

It's perfect for my Dad's day layout.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Scrapping Everyday Miracles June Sketch

It's time for another sketch challenge over at 

Scrapping Everyday Miracles.

This month's sketch is being hosted by our own Tracey G., and this is what she has to say;

Tracey G. here with this month's sketch challenge! Hope your June is finding you productive and happy! If you need a little scrappy mojo-I present to you these lovely sketches from the designing mind of Leah Schaeffer. Leah is one of the co-founders of Stuck on U Sketches, where I am lucky enough to be on the DT with these talented ladies. SOUS has loads of inspiration and challenges-check it out when you get the chance!

You may create either the Layout or the card sketch and the scrap twist is to include at least one handmade flower-any material is fine!

and here are the sketches...

For my interpretation I used the layout sketch and created this page.

A while back I shared how, after being inspired on Pinterest by someone who created new sheets of paper using all her scraps, I made my own. 

Sewing a bunch of leftovers to create my own 12x12 pieces of paper.

These papers have been sitting on my desk until this challenge came up.

I took one of the papers, scraped some Gesso over it to tone down some of the patterns and went to work.

I added word stickers

Letter stickers to spell out my title (my 2 youngest at the Women's World Cup in Germany)

Some felt flourishes AND my handmade flower.

I have to say, for me this was the toughest twist. I never make my own flowers, I tend to be far to critical of what I create.

I went back to Pinterest again looking for inspiration, when I saw these cute ribbon flowers.

They looked fairly easy, I tacked the loops together with a needle and thread and then finished it off with an old wood button.

                                                 Our sponsor this month is Citrus Twist.

Citrus Twist Kits grew out of one girl’s love of all things crafty, with just a little love of vintage thrown in. Here is the story: My mom and I shared a love of the art world. I grew up tagging along to Art in the Park shows, quilting fairs and more. Early in 2012 my mom passed away and as I was going through her lifetime of art and crafts supplies, the idea for Citrus Twist Kits was born. It was the vintage scraps that inspired the handcrafted item that goes into each main kit.

Citrus Twist Kits are color-based, inspired and great value for your money. A box arrives on your doorstep each month filled with scrapbooking gifts to keep you playing all month long.

LINK:

http://www.citrustwistkits.com

http://www.citrustwistkits.com/blog/

 Trina has provided us not one, but TWO prizes to give away this month!  The first is the May Project Life Kit:

And the second is the April main kit:

Awesome, right?!  You can win one of these fabulous kits by linking your project(s) to one of our June challenges. 

Subscriber special, for our site members, June only: Free alphabet set with 3- or 6-month sub.

You will need to mention in the comments box at checkout that you are a member of our site and want the promo that will ship with your first kit.

**NOTE: You may submit the project you create for Scrapping Everyday Miracles to other challenge blogs but your project must be mainly created for the Scrapping Everyday Miracles challenge in order to win the sponsor prize and/or be one of Top 3**

 All entries must be linked HERE by June 30th, 11:59pm PST.

*Important: Make sure your link is to the blog post with your project & not just your blog in general...and be sure to remember the SCRAP TWIST!

Link your projects here...

Scrapping Everyday Miracles