I am an avid reader of Papercrafter's Library and enjoy making my own version of the projects Andrea, Sophia, and Tracey create on their website. Recently I saw a call for design team members and was immediately excited and nervous. Knowing how much I love the website and that I have been following them for years, I certainly got excited about the possibility...and then I started to compare myself to others. I finally decided I would never know the answer unless I tried!
So, here goes - these are a few of my favorite projects from the last year.
This is the Valentine card I made for my darling husband. I challenged myself to make this card a different shape than the regular card. To do this, I folded my Sahara Sand paper in half and cut it with the scallop circle die cut in my Big Shot. I left just a bit of room on the edge where it was folded so it would cut around it.
And since I don't
give him cards that are naked on the inside, here is the inside. I wrote on
there something I saw on a Tim Holz stamp: "When I want to see love defined, I
look at you." At the time, we had recently gone through a miscarriage, so I just
wanted him to know I love him and appreciate him. To convey this feeling, I chose little girl from
Greeting Card Kids to be me - giving him my heart. I know I'm silly....oh well,
I'd rather be crazy in love after 13 years than just plain crazy!
Stamps: Greeting
Card Kids
Ink: Memento Cocoa
Brown
Paper: Whisper
White, Sahara Sand, Rose Red, Pink Pirouette
Accessories:
Scallop Circle Die, Chunky Pink glitter, crystal effects, Pretty in pink Satin
ribbon, heart punch, vintage wallpaper embossing folder, White gel pen, Copic
markers, Doily (Wilton), packaging tape (Making Memories), pin (CTMH)
Another project I just loved this past year was an easel card that I made for my mom for Mother's Day. The picture above shows the card as it is closed.
Here is the card on
it's easel. You can see most of the elements are leftover pieces from another
scrapbook page I made using the Studio Calico Singin' in the Rain kit. I added
a piece of retired ruffled SU ribbon across the front, a sticker from Cosmo
Cricket, a chipboard sun sprayed with Lemonade Mr. Huey, and a little yellow
Crate Paper button. I found this pin on my desk, so I have no idea where it
came from.
Here's a closeup of
it.
Those little
butterflies are Jenni Bowlin Studio stickers with Making Memories rhinestones.
There is also a wood veneer Studio Calico butterfly that I spritzed with Cherry
Limeade Glimmer Mist.
And here is the inside of the card. I put the last scrap of floral paper on the
inside and added a sentiment to a sticker. I added little tiny red rhinestones
to the corner of the sticker and that's it!
Stamps: Stampin' Up!
Ink: Chocolate Chip (Stampin' Up!)
Paper: Crate Paper
Accessories: Singin' in the Rain kit, Wood veneer butterflies, Lemonade Mr. Huey (Studio Calico), Rhinestones (making memories), Cherry Limeade Glimmer Mist (Tattered Angels), Button (Crate Paper), Ribbon (Stampin' Up!), Stickers (Jenni Bowlin Studio, Cosmo Cricket), Chipboard accent (Maya Road), stick pin
As I looked back through the hundreds of scrapbook pages I have made in the past year, I decided to use this one for this post. I don't know if it was the fact that I loved the paper or the memory of going to the Melting Pot, my favorite fondue restaurant.
This layout sticks with my style - not too cluttered, but it also had a little twist of angles that I really liked when I was done.
I used the Lawn Party kit from Studio Calico for this page. Here is the stamp
which I embossed with irridescent ice embossing powder. I colored the 3 with my
Copic marker and a versamarker and embossed it as well. Finally, I used a ruler
and deliberately made straight lines at not so straight angles so if they weren't
perfect it was okay!
Stamps: Numbers Border Stamp (Studio Calico)
Ink: Basic Black, VersaMark (Stampin' Up), Marker (Copic)
Paper: Ash (American Crafts), Pebbles, Fancy Pants
Accessories: Ruler, Basic Black journaling marker, Irridescent ice embossing powder (Stampin' Up!), Stickers (Basic Grey, Martha Stewart), Ribbon (Making memories), Glitter flower brad (Pebbles), Ruler
For my final project, I thought I would include these centerpieces I made for a banquet this summer. I had to make centerpieces for a banquet, but I wanted them to last so I could
use them again in September.
To begin, I used Stampin' Up's
Celebrations DSP so the centerpiece would have a birthday feel. I used basket
filler and hid a foam piece inside to hold the flowers in. I cut out the
pictures and a backing piece using the Top Note die - I cut the pictures on the
perforated edge so they would be matted on the background piece. You will also notice a pennant cut with the Pennant die cut for the Big Shot. I had to make about 10 - 15 of these, so I wanted pretty, but not terribly time consuming!
I used the Fun
Flowers diecut to create the flowers. I curled the ends of the flowers using my
distressing tool - my favorite for curling ends. I hot glued each piece to the
next so it would have super holding power and give it some dimension (only one
finger got glued to a button!!!Ouch!)
Finally, I finished
it all off with some blue organza ribbon that my friend Angel gave me.
Paper: Bashful Blue, Celebrations DSP, Old Olive, Real Red (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Fun Flowers, Top Note, and Pennant die cuts, Big Shot (Stampin' Up!), Floral foam, floral picks, hot glue, hot glue gun, shredded paper filler, glass vase (Craft supply), Organza Ribbon (Offray), Buttons (Basic Grey)
So, there you have it, a recap of a few of my favorite projects from 2011! Here's wishing you a happy and productive (and, of course, scrappy) New Year!
