MAS Sketch Challenge

Real quick post today.  Recently, Mini Album Scraps posted a new sketch challenge.  The posted sketch can be found here.  If you wanna play along, please come and join me at Mini Album Scraps.  And this is my interpretation:

I have been working on doing some mix and matching of patterned papers to stretch my own skill really.  And this was my first attempt.  I must say that doing masculine layouts is hard - given the nature of scrapbooking being more female dominated..... and then adding mixing and matching......  I came to the conclusion that I needed more scrapbook paper!  in a masculine theme of course!  That's it for today!  Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:  Pattern Paper (Basic Grey; DCWV); Cardstock (Bazzill, Recollections); Dies (Spellbinders)

Man vs. S'mores

Last summer for my husband's birthday and our anniversary, we went out to my families cabin.  I had been dying to have some s'mores, and spent the whole week previously talking about how I was dying to have them.  The whole time, I could not understand how my dear husband was not excited about s'mores.  Well, once we got to the cabin and started the fire he started our conversation with "I have a confession to make."  At that point, I was thinking "what is he going to drop on me?"  To which he stated "I've never had a s'more."  I was floored!  He had no idea what a s'more was, how to make one, nothing.  And being the scrapbooker I am, I had two thoughts 1) this was a momentous moment in our marriage, I mean seriously, how did he get to 29 years old and not have a s'more and 2) this is totally photo worthy.  And here is what I came up with:

The first Marshmallow that my loved one "roasted" he more like crispified, and then he lit it on fire and flung it as far as he could, you know, Denis the Menace style.  I thought it would be fun to reflect this in the layout so I ran the edge of the smaller mallows through my Versamark and then dipped in some Tim Holtz Distress Embossing Powder in  Black Soot.   It gave it that perfect crispy look that toasted mallows get.  For the title, I used some Foam sticker letters from Pink Paislee in brown and white.  The white ones I then colored with two different shades of ink to get the gradient effect.  I did this with the marshmallows as well.

On a related note, if you are in the market for some really good outdoor/camping/hiking themed papers, I suggest you run to your nearest Michaels and get the SEI Outdoor Adventures paper pack. I love it.  That s'mores paper that you see on my layout it's from that pack as is the manly plaid.  I'm thinking of going and getting another pack.......

Supplies:  Sketch (PageMaps); Cardstock (Stampin' Up!, Bazzill); Patterned Paper (SEI Outdoor Adventures); Ink (Stampin' Up!); Alphabet (Pink Paislee); Tools (EK Success, Fiskars); Other (Tim Holtz/ Ranger Distress Embossing Powder)

Easel Card Box

A while back, Mini Album Scraps had a uStream show taught by one of the members (Deann) on how to make an easel card box.  I LOVED the idea of a card and a box of candy all in the same package.  I am unsure of the size the original template was supposed to make, but I altered it to a 12x12 piece of cardstock.  I made this one for Mother's Day, I know it's May, but a share is a share!

The pocket holds the place for the sentiment, and I used the new Stampin Up!  Sizzix Famelits for the sentiment/image and the window in my box.

Supplies:  Cardstock (Unknown, Bazzil, Stampin' Up!); Pattern Paper (Chatter Box); Stamps (Stampin' Up! Blessed Mother - Retired, Paper Trey Ink); Ribbon (Unknown); Ink (Stampin' Up!); Die Cut (Stampin' Up! Sizzix Framelits)

Introducing George and Friends

I'm just gonna warn you ahead of time, this is a super bragging about my goodies and my family post.  If you're not interested, skip down to see what my new fun toys are.  If you're interested in the story, please continue reading.  A few months ago (we'll say oh in February), my dear, sweet, thoughtful hubby bought me one of these:

His name is George.  I shall call him George, and he will be my George.  I only name tools that I am very very fond of.   Seriously.  And at this point I am going to take a moment to brag about my husband, who is a super awesome Michael's couponer.  My husband and I have been doing long distance the last year, and while I was up visiting him, he took me to Michaels - I like to go to Michaels and just look around.  While I was in there, I spotted George (when did Michael's start getting Spellbinders?).  I was so excited - George has been on my wish list for every birthday, christmas, anniversary, and other gift giving holidays for over two years.  But as you know, George and his close relatives are expensive with a retail price of $149.00 before tax.  Hubby said "Don't you have a coupon for Michaels?"  To which I stated "Well I don't think they apply to the Spellbinders."  While I feverishly checked the coupon exemptions and found out Spellbinders are not exempted from the coupons!  Score!  But, Michaels didn't have a coupon that week.  To which hubby then said "Don't you have a 50% off coupon from Joann's?"  And the LIGHT WENT ON.  My husband is a GENIUS, I mean seriously, I taught him well.  It was moment of pride, over riding pride.  So, I got my early, very early present, for $75.00 including the tax.  If you've been thinking about a Grand Calibur, wait till there is a coupon and then hit Michaels up!  Seriously.  It's May when I'm writing this and I am still beaming with joy at my husband's genius.  And so show you he has even more genius, fast forward to April.

My birthday is in April, and this year, my brothers asked my husband, rather than me, about  what I wanted for my birthday.  Side Note: Although I got my George in February, I wasn't able to play with him until I got some Grand Nestabilities - and time (my dear sweetie was aware of this).  A few days later I got a call from my brother that went something like this:

B:  So I talked to (husband) about what you wanted for your birthday.  He said you recently got a new tool but none of the supplies to go with it.  

M: Yep. He got me George.

B:  Who is George?

M:  A die cut machine.

B: Oh well, either way, we were wondering what you need in order to be able to use your new toy.

M:  Well there are a few things.

B:  Send us an email with the things that you want.

And this is what I got in the mail:

  

I was super stoked and totally not expecting all of that!  I have not had a chance to play with them yet, that is coming up shortly.  My husband is a genius.  And my brothers - best birthday gift ever.  Aside from my Madonna and Vangelis CDs.

Hello and a Share

I know.  I know.  It's been ages since I have posted anything for all you lovely ladies, I express my apologies!  Things have been very busy for me over the last few months and to be honest, I have had NO TIME to play, and I mean none.  It has resulted in serious paper play withdrawal - shakes, shivers, and jonsing and all, serious.  Anyway, this last weekend I had some down time and got a chance to do a little bit of playing.  I thought I would share with you all what I have been up to.  So, here it is:

Isn't she lovely?  I made this for a mini album swap over at Mini Album Scraps for my partner.  She had wanted a shabby chic vintage like mini album.  This was a tough one for me as I have never really done shabby chic or vintage, it is definitely not my strong point.  Despite that, I had a lot of fun making this little mini.  If you have made it this far, you're probably wondering about the juicy details on how I made this little bad girl.

1. This is an upcycle album - the corrugated board, is cardboard I used from a box I got in the mail.  I cut it down and then tore off the covers to get the fluting to show through.
2.  I made my own envelopes.  I cut them and creased them, and then I stamped them with two different background stamps.  I have a love obsession with the envelope dealies that have the strings, they remind me of the 1950s for whatever reason.
3.  I hand stamped my postcards.
4.  The stickpin are from a previous swap at Mini Album Scraps.
5.  I used the Stampin' Up! Spritzer Tool to add more distressing and ink spray to my project. As a side note, I LOVE that tool.  It's way cheaper than an airbrush system and adds a nice distress/vintage look to your projects.  I like the ink splatter look.  This is a definite must have in my tool box.
6.  The distressing was done with the Zutter Distrezz It All, another must have in my tool box.

Supplies:  Cardstock (Recollections, Bazzill, Stampin' Up!); Pattern Paper (Unknown); Trims (PinkPaperTree-Etsy, Unknown); Stamps (Stampin' Up!; Impression Obsession; Tim Holtz Postcard; Paper Trey Ink; Unity Stamp Co.); Ink (Stampin' Up!); Pain (Tim Holtz); Trims (Unknown); Eyelets (We R Memory Keepers, Unknown)

Another Home Decor Min Album Scrapbook Frame

I love mini albums, but to be honest, I've been making TONS of them lately.  And although I love them dearly, they get very tedious SOMETIMES.  And unforuneately, or fortunately, I was feeling the monotony of mini albums during recent assignment at Scrapjazz for an album with the theme of "friends." My thoughts revolved around how to take the concept of an "album" outside the box of an album, and well I came up with, why not lay the album out for display?  This translated into this:

I took a backless frame and a piece of thin canvas board from the craft store to create it.  The canvas was covered with a shimmery cream fabric which I then overlaid with lace.  This was then placed in the back of the frame.  I took 4x4 pieces of chipboard that I had left over from a previous project (yay leftovers!) and covered them with various scraps from my scrap box.  I then found small photos of my me and my friends, and created mini album layouts, using random bits and pieces of left overs - some of the embellishments came from a junk tub that I keep on my desk.  And because I am going through a "everything with banners is better phase" I decided that this piece had to have a title Banner Style.  This is the finished product:

 

And a close up of the fun banner pieces that were also made with left overs and random alphabet pieces from American Crafts and Pink Paislee:

 

 The pennant shape was cut from the Pennants SVG file from Lettering Delights and can be found here.  The Octagon shape was cut using Spellbinders Dies, and the rope is from Stampin' Up!  All the paper that I used in this project are left overs from my scraps.  Pretty awesome huh?

Jewelry Frame Home Decor Project

Just a quick drop in to show you a project I have been working on for Scrapjazz.  This project was made with the theme of French Inspiration.  When I saw the theme assignment, I instantly thought of the Boudoir craze and then to the jewelry Hanging frame I had been meaning to make for ages.  With that in mind, I set to work and came up with this:

I used a shadow frame that opens for this project and couldn't be happier.  Although I love all the beautiful jewelry frames out there, I couldn't get over the fact that I would have to get two frames in order to have one for my earrings and one for my necklaces, and I couldn't find a satisfiable solution to my earrings that are not dangely - you know the ones you need to have posts for.  With this, I can hang all my earrings and still easily access the ones with posts without a huge hassle, just opening the door!  I did some damage to the front of the frame while attempting to nail the mesh to the front...... After trial and error and much consultation with Google, I decided that my Staple Gun would be a better option.  But I was still left with a destroyed frame finish.  I easily covered that up with some beautiful trims in my stash, and then added the beautiful Couch and background Eiffel tower from the Summer in Paris Cricut Cartridge.  The flower is from Pink Paislee.  I seriously love this thing!  It's not on my wall yet as I will be moving at some point and don't want to add another hole only to immediately be covering it up.