Friday, January 14, 2011

***Heartfelt Creations Wednesday*** and Swirlydoos***

Reveal for Heartfelt Creations was this past Wednesday, and this is my contribution for this week which happens to be the Release of the brand new Heartfelt Creations Springtime Medley Collection Debut!! Think Spring flowers from tulips to Exotic Fuchsia... And the beautiful hummingbird is precious!! The stamps are beautiful. I used part of the Angel Trumpet Flower PreCut Set to stamp my background paper in all 4 corners and around the edges. Then I painted the leaves and flowers using Glimmer Mist. I also used the HCPC 2254 Leafy Swirls Precut Set and HCD 701 Posy Die from Heartfelt Creations to complete the LO. Go check out what the rest of the amazing design team has done with the new releases!! They are the most fabulous cardmakers!!
Of course I used my Retro Tapestry kit from Swirlydoos to create this LO. I love the rich colors and all the great accessories available to coordinate with the kit!! I have a TON of Dusty Attic, that I purchase from Swirlydoos when Krissy puts in her special orders in for us. I really have to start using it!! I did in this LO. The new vines are to die for, and you know how I love my vines and leaves!!! Just as much as I love flowers!! Another shipment of Dusty Attic is headed for my door this morning! (it includes my ibond cordless glue gun..Thanks Krissy!!!!!)I'm tracking my package!! and Thanks Mr Man in the Big Brown Truck!!! I love you when you bring me packages!!! See you later!!


I stamped the flowers on cardstock embellished them, cut them out, and layered them over the stamped image. I also created some flowers using my Tattered flowers die and my McGill starburst punch. The jewel centers are in the Retro Tapestry kit.
I created the faux scrabble tiles from a tutorial I did. I love seeing what everyone is doing with theirs!!! Makes my heart sing!! They are coming out so awesome!! Go check out Denise Jensens LO using the tiles..It is just magically enchanting!!
Just a closeup.

Monday, January 10, 2011

***Simplify***

I am just loving the vibrant colors in Swirlydoos Retro Tapestry Kit this month. The blues and the yellows are beautiful. The pop of orange is a nice surprise. With my LO "Simplify",
I decided to make all of the flowers from the card stock add on. I used Oriental Poppy glimmer mist to enhance the orange and Viva Pink to color the cream card stock. The photomat was from a *g*c*d* Melody Ross paper pack that came in the embellishments kit. They were the perfect size to mat 4 x 6 photo's. The title was cut with my Cricut Expression and the Home Decor cartridge. I did some tearing and then stitching with embroidery floss. The photo was taken in the woods behind my home. The lighting from the shade of the trees, deep in the woods, was perfect. But it started to rain, and my photo session was cut short. Till next time...

I clustered the flowers with the Heartfelt Creations leaf stamp I so love doing. A little glimmer mist and the leaves come to life.
I used a single punched bloom to make the buds and then just tucked a McGill Starburst punched from card stock in the middle.
Just some more closeups of the card stock flowers. They almost look like poppies. Well that just gave me an idea to go create a tutorial to make poppies. RED POPPIES....ooooohhhhh... I'll be back!!

Friday, January 7, 2011

Cropping Your Photo's

Dont forget to crop your photo's to get a different photo. Very simple way to make your photo new and different. !! Here is a cropped photo side by side. On the closeup photo, I added the Florabella Action Gypsy at 20% from the Luxe set...Get up close and personal...You get the beautiful details. Dont forget to smooth skin and enhance eyes for glamour effect.

New Prima...Oh my...

The ideas are spinning in my head...And out comes the organza and the candle.....Stay Tuned...

Thursday, January 6, 2011

FAUX SCRABBLE LETTERS TUTORIAL


This is just a quick way to make some faux scrabble letters. if you print it out letter size without fitting to page on your printer, each tile is 1 inch. You could also print out on a 5 x 7 card stock and get a smaller letter. Either way, these are so cute!! I created these when I couldn't find my tiny scrabble letters when I was making my Configurations box. I wanted to spell the word "SEW". This is what I came up with. Here are the files for the letters. I print the letters on heavy weight card stock.




~~~Product List~~~

Chip Board or Grunge board
Glossy Accents or Glossy medium like Mod Podge
Brayer
Glue
Foam paint brush
Black Ink
small paint brush
Ruler
paper cutter or craft knife


Cut the Strips of tiles apart lengthwise.

Cut your chip board the same width as the strips of scrabble tiles. They should be 1 inch.


Spread some glue on the back of the strips of letters and spread evenly to the edges using a foam brush.

Place the strip of letters over the chip board and use a brayer to flatten completely letting any air bubbles out. If you don't have a brayer, you can use a bone folder to do the same.

Once the strip is dry, cut the letters apart and ink the edges.
Using a small paint brush, paint on the glossy accents evenly onto each tile.
You can use Pop Dots to pop the letters off the page as I did in the top picture and really give them dimension. The letters are really cute and would look great on your guy pages!! I used them in my configurations box, just created a little pop up stand in back of each letter here. I hope you use these in your projects. I would love to see what you do!!
You can use Pop Dots to pop the letters off the page and really give them dimension. The letters are really cute and would look great on your guy pages!! I hope you use these in your projects.

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Get In Front Of the Camera

I have been thinking a lot lately about my next birthday...Now, I am not a fan of cosmetic surgery, and never want to end up as someones punchline about "if my face were any tighter, then....well nevermind. "I" am going to grow old gracefully...Laugh lines only show that I have laughed a lot in my life.
So anyway, about that next birthday..I will be...50..There, I said it..50. Well 50 is the new 40 right?? Or something like that. To tell you the truth?? I dont feel like I am going to be 50. What am I suppose to feel like?? I have more wisdom than I had at 25, if I walk out of the house without any makeup on...who cares!! I certainly don't. I dont worry about what other people think about me. I know who I am. I have accomplished so much, with more to be accomplished.
So where are all of the pictures of me?? Oh yea, "I" am always the one in back of the camera. So now it's time to get in front of the camera. Before it all goes "SOUTH"...
For those of you who are the picture taking historians in the family...Dont forget to include yourself. If you cant get anyone to take your picture...Get a wireless remote for your camera. Take them yourself, and include yourself in that family portraits...I went deep into the woods behind my home today...Dragging along my camera on a tripod and a wireless remote in my hand. The lighting was fantastic. And it was cloudy and dreary. The next time I come into the woods, I will do it when the sun is spilling through the trees. Now that light is probably fantastic!! Get in front of the camera...Only you know how you want to see yourself. Me?? How old am I going to be?? I am 29.99 plus shipping and handling...


This me..4 years old... Even then, I had to have the camera...

Heartfelt Creations Wednesday



I just wanted to share with you the Heartfelt Creations Reveal that I did for this week. And for you stamp lovers, Next week will be the debut of the Spring Medley Collection. The Floral stamps are gorgeous!! In this layout I used the following products from Heartfelt Creations.
HCPC 2272 Vintage Wildflower 2 Precut Set
Peony Nestabilities
HCPC 2254 Leafy Swirls Precut Set
The beauty of a lot of their stamps is that they coordinate with Spellbinders dies, and they also have Spellbinders custom make dies specifically for them as well. So no fussy cutting these flowers, I just ran it through my Cuttlebug and stamped.
Please visit the Heartfelt Creations blog where you can see what the Design Team has created and also share how each project was assembled step by step. And Emma Lou demonstrates the Window Scene Die technique and a quick beautiful card to make in less than 10 minutes!! Browse the website. The stamps are just beautiful!! Something for everyone!!

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Swirlydoos Retro Tapestry Reveal

The beautiful bold bright colors of Retro Tapestry are just divine. The yellows, blues, and reds get us out of those wintry doldrums. The papers can be dressed up, or dressed down. They can be feminine or masculine. Either way the kit is very versatile and was wonderful to work with. The holidays cut into the Design Teams Scrap time, but they have proven once again, that it is not quantity, but quality. And the Layouts and projects have proved to be the best!! The technique project this month is the Tim Holtz Configuration Box and it is Off The Hook incredibly awesome. I loved putting mine together. My wonderful scrappy friend Zandra from (Scraps to Beauty By Zandra )had sent me a gorgeous purse album she created and with it she sent all of the little extra bits of ribbon and flowers she used in the album. I used the ribbons she sent me to wrap around the wooden spools that came with the tech kit. they went so well with the theme. so head on over to Swirlydoos to see what we created with the kit. And check out the store to order one of your own. Krissy never disappoints when it comes to quality. And never disappoints in customer service. You will always be satisfied. So here are the few layouts I created, and the Configurations box with all of the details. I think I am going to create another.



I used the Prima Build a Frame Stamps to dress up the yellow car stock and create my own paper. Love the big butterfly paper...

I created the flowers from scraps of paper in the kit. Used my Tim Holtz Tattered Flowers die, and my McGill Starburst punch for the stamen and dotted the small circles with the liquid pearls in Cantelope from the add on embellishment kit. Then used the beautiful blue jeweled vintage brads for the centers.
I wrote the journaling using a Zig pen and did some machine sewing around the paper.
I used a Sizzix die for the little flourishes and clustered the flowers.
I am not a fan of banners, but had to try one for this LO. I think I really like them now..hehe.The photo is Gabrielle at 13 years old. Once again I stamped the paper with my Prima Build a Frame stamps. I also changed the middle of the Petaloos flower and inked the yellow flowers a bit. Both are from the flowers add on kit. I uses the corner punch decorative circles technique I created for the circle and cut out the little acetate birds to fly the banner.
Just a closeup of the flowers. The trim in the kit is also very beautiful.
Closeup of stamping and punched circle.
Closeup of the sweet banner. I cut out and matted the cut triangles then used my tiny scallop deco scissors to trim them. I painted the letters in the kit with Lumiere paint and adhered to the triangles.
Closeup of the flower cluster. The tiny leaves are a Sizzix Sizzlets set cut from the add on cardstock.
There was a time when Gabrielle was into shopping at Hot Topic for her clothes. Drove me nuts, but it was a passing fade, thank goodness. That same year she created her own Halloween costume from an old black dress she had. She ripped and gathered and sewed. She added tulle and red ribbon and tied a big fat red satin sash around the waist. I was impressed. I played with the photo in Photoshop, added a texture layer, and brushed on some dark wings to give it a Gothic feel.
I used the Prima mask and some black chalk ink. I cut out the vines which you can find at Swirlydoos in all sorts of colors. The cut the smaller blooms in half and folded them to make the buds.
Cut and layered more flowers and ripped the paper then used Embroidery floss to sew it back together. Altering it the same way Gabbie altered her sweet party dress.
This is my Configuration box. I decided to do a sew theme, since that is another one of my passionate hobbies.
I dressed the spool with ribbon, a beautiful button. The pin as well as the ribbon came from Zandra.
I thought I had little scrabble tiles, but they were to big, so I created my own in a smaller version. Love the way they came out. I photocopied the tiles, cut them out, backed them with chip board and accented them with Glossy Accents to give them sheen. Then I created a hidden stand in back of each letter to stand the letters at an angle,just like on a scrabble stand. They look like wood. But are just pictures of the tiles. I think I will be using this technique more often. Look for a tutorial this week on step by step instructions. I will even provide files of the alphabet tiles for you.
The big beautiful button came from my Grandmas button box that she gave me years ago. It really is a beautiful piece. The tiny doily was made by my Aunt years ago. I have kept 10 of them for soooo long. This was the perfect project to use the smallest one. The paper rose is Prima.
The sewing machine is part of a collection I have of miniature sewing machines. It is even imprinted with the Singer name in gold. Just like my real vintage Singer.I had the tape ribbon in my stash forever as well.
I just stuffed in one of my organza flowers that I made months ago when I did the tutorial on them. I may have to recreate the tutorial as it got lost in Cyber space when the original Swirlydoos site was hacked...
The ribbon and the beautiful bobby pin is also from Zandra.I glued the tiny button on it. And I glued a button on the wooden spool as well.
I poured some tiny buttons in the bottle that came in the kit and tied a ribbon on its rim. Added some more ribbon Zandra sent me and placed a corsage pin through it to hold it on the spool. Just tucked a little May Arts Vine Ribbon in the box.

The flower also came from Zandra, and the silver bobbin is from my grandmas old Singer sewing machine and I just topped it with a tiny ribbon bud.
The cameo was from a Swirlydoos past kit that I didn't get to use on a layout.
I couldn't help but to add some Timmy Feet!!! They just added all the elegance the box needed.
And of course the Timmy corners finished off the top. I hope you enjoyed the journey through my box as much as I enjoyed creating it!! If you have created one, leave a comment with a link. I would love to see it!! Swirlydoos has the most beautiful Tech Projects each month. You will learn to create outside of the box!! Or inside in this case!! lol. And as T!M always says...When creating, Just enjoy the journey...I know I do!!