"Share Croppers" ~ Stuck on U Sketches 10-29 Halloween challenge

It's woo-hoo Friday and I couldn't be more excited! I just love Fridays because it's the beginning of a new weekend .. time to refresh and be renewed. And this week it is time for another reveal at Stuck on U Sketches .  

Nanne is our hostess this month and for today she chose a Halloween theme along with a 2 page sketch. We were to make a spooky (or fun) Halloween page or just use Halloween colors.  Good thing she threw in that last part for those who don't celebrate the event.   We don't do much here anymore now that our kids are grown.

So, I decided to just go for the colors .. and then realized that last year I had been to a scrapbook retreat the weekend of Halloween.  One of the gals brought her really cool witch's hat and did some posing for the camera! Since I didn't have many photos, I decided to make the 2 page sketch a one page.

Here's the original sketch:

And here's my version:

I used some awesome black trim beneath my photo and added some pearls accents. Then I used these really cool "bats" that I bought at Michael's.  (That's about as Halloween-y as I got. LOL) I cut my title using the Cricut Blackletter font cartridge.  This close-up also shows the Creative Imaginations doily that I used in place of the circle.  The doily was a brown-patterned one that I painted black to suit my page.  How fun is that? On the far left you can see just a bit of the Prima bling I used throughout.

Some more black trim above the photo as well as some black glitter paper by Doodlebug (?)  I think .. it was a scrap and I can't recall for sure who made it.  (I bet Fern will know!) Loved these black roses that came in one of my Swirlydoos kits. Finally got a chance to use them! They are pretty bulky though, so I actually stepped on them to squash them a bit before putting this page in an album.  Crazy, huh? There's a bit more of that Prima bling here as well.

Well, of course because it's Halloween, I thought the chandelier from French Manor would be perfect! I first cut it from chipboard, then from cardstock.  Added a few rhinestones for glimmer as well as Black Diamond Stickles.

This is the upper left corner which I felt needed a little something to balance the page. So I used more black trim and a rose.  This is also a great close-up of one of those bats that I just had to have!! I was actually kind of sick the day I went and got these .. and nearly passed out in the store.  Oh, the craziness of hunting for the perfect scrappy supplies!  

So, I think that is about it. I apologize for the glare on the photo but I photographed this page multiple times on multiple days and never got a really great shot. I decided to go with this one because it was relatively straight and you could see the trim more distinctly. The colors were also fairly true.  (That's me, second from the right.)

I wish you a happy and safe weekend. And I hope that you will join the challenge this time and link up your layout. Can't wait to see your ghosts and goblins! Or your "Halloween colors" page!

Birthday cards and a pretty Corsage embellishment

So sorry I have not been posting more to my blog but I HAVE been busy .. just working on DT stuff and trying to stay ahead a litle bit. As soon as the holiday season starts, my crafting time drops to nada, so a head start is almost imperative.  However, I did have to stop and take time to make a birthday card for my sweet SIL Susanna, who actually got me started with this crazy hobby/passion of mine. She is a fantastic card maker, so I wanted it to be pretty! But you all know my cardmaking skills are not top-notch. But there is lots of love for her in this one anyway.

I used Bo Bunny's Olivia papers for Susanna's card, as well as the BB Olivia cut-outs and the matching chocolate ribbon trim that matches the collection. I did a little punchwork on one of the layers and embossing the Happy Birthday sentiment with  a Cuttleug folder, then sanded it a bit to make the white more dominant.  I added 2 Prima Faience blooms, one is Emily, the other is Bradstreet. I also made one flower with a Creative Memories punch because Suz was a consultant for them at one time.  Thought that just personalized it more!

The inside sentiment is computer generated

 and of course expressed my well wishes!

Just s side view to show you how fluffy but soft the fabric flowers are.  I love those things!

Well, after I made the first one .. which took some time (for me),  I decided to whip together a couple more  very simple cards ..   like 5 minute cards .. seriously. But now I have them on hand for some other birthday folks.

Again, some more enbossing on one of the cutouts.  And another Prima bloom.

Sideview

Last card  .. this one is not my fave but oh, well! 

So, then I decided to make one of those floral corsages that everyone is wearing. I took some old lace and re-purposed it to be the base. I then made a gold ribbon flower and put 3 flowers on the corsage piece.  Added in a broach from my jewelry box and I have something really cool to wear on my denim jacket or whatever! Super easy and saves a bunch of money if you go price these things in the stores.

Anyway, Floren from Generations Crafting.  asked if I would work with these Prima Faience blooms and I jumped at the chance! And I am so glad I did! They are fabulous. And because they are soft, you can use them in your albums without excess bulk.

Now for the really good news. On Thursday, Floren will be running a flower give-away, so be sure to check her BLOG on Thursday of this week for the details.  Free flowers! Gotta love that!

Hope you will check back here on Friday for my Stuck on U Sketches post. We are featuring something kind of "spooky"  this week. You won't want to miss it!

Starting School ~ DT project for Generations Crafting

Happy Wednesday! This is hump day for me and a day when I usually try to get a litle crafting done if my errand list is not too long!

This is a project that I did last week from my own stash and submitted as a DT project for Generations Crafting. I used lots of the new Webster's Pages WonderFall collection.  This is such a unique collection with lots of nice bold color. I did lots of fussy cutting, machine stitching and paper layering.

The photo is of myself when I was about 6 years old.

Sorry I am ind of late in getting this posted but .. you know how it goes sometimes! Life gets busy!

Hope you are having a great week!

Picture Perfect ~ SOUS Oct 15th

Yay, it's Friday again! And I am so glad to see the weekend come!

This Friday it's time for another Stuck on U Sketches reveal. Nanne is our host this month and she chose a round sketch from Pagemaps for you .. how fun is that?  And here it is:

Told you it was fun! For my project, I chose a die cut from Webster's Pages Lullaby Lane collection that has a scalloped round shape. I photographed it on a solid piece of cardstock to provide some definition to the edges.  I will also probably store it this way in my album.

The photos are of dgd Peyton taking some self-portraits (LOL) with her Gigi's Iphone.  Gigi snapped a few herself and sent them to me. These are not the greatest photos but they are sweet to me.  I wanted to scrap them but hadn't yet because of their poorer quality.  But when I saw this multi-photo layout, I knew this was the perfect opportunity to use them!

The pseudo-journaling is a rub-on from one of my scrapbook kits. For matting my photos, I have used some solid cardstock and some leftover Webster's Pages.  Both the scalloped strip and my butterfly are also WP. The butterfly was a sticker that I rubbed talcum on to remove the adhesive. Then I glammed it up with some Stickles and pearls.

There didn't seem to be much room for my title, so I used some small black MM alphas.  It was more important to me to "anchor" the 3 smaller photos which I did by grouping 3 sheer peach polka dot ribbons and bringing them up towards the larger photo. The technique reminded me of a Christmas card I received from one of my nieces that had small photos dangling from a ribbon tucked inside her Christmas letter. (Thanks, Karen!)

I finished things off with some Prima flowers from my stash. Then added some more pearls around the edges. And of course, one of my larger photos has some of those awesome Webster's Bloomers along the bottom .. love those things!

I really enjoyed doing this little project! It certainly helped me get some photos scrapped that I had put off for a while.  And I enjoyed doing somethings a little bit different!

  If you haven't visited Stuck on U Sketches yet, hurry on over and see what the other designers have done!

We hope that you will play slong with us this time.

Unlimited Potential

Hi, there! Me again! This is one of my many posts this weeks!  Just sharing another one of my WP Hollywood Vogue layouts. This is dgd Peyton (again) at her 18 month photo shoot. 

I did lots of layering, a small bit of cutwork and distressing but kept it fairly simple overall. I just wanted to frame the photo in a nice way and let her sweet smile take center stage.  Sometimes I find it more relaxing to just play and not worry about techniques or trying to challenge myself.   This photo has been on my desk awhile, so it was time to get it scrapped and in the book!

Oh. I will take this opportunity to mention that my Real Deal Layout was featured last week on the Webster's Pages ning site. That was kind of exciting!  If you haven't see it, you will find it about 3 posts down.

Thanks for coming by.  Hope you can come back on Friday for a little scrappy something I put together for Scrap Pink!

~ My Love ~ Acrylic LO ~ SOUS DT 10-01

Happy Friday, everyone! Today is reveal day for Stuck on U Sketches and I am REALLY excited about my submission for this week's sketch challenge.

I decided to change things up a bit and do a layout on an acrylic piece that was in one of my latest Swirlydoos kits.  I photographed this one outside in amongst some hedges in hopes that you can see the transparency of the acrylic .. more so on the left side of the layout.  It is so cool to look "through" your layout to the objects behind it! Talk about a perfect way to glam up a wedding layout. That gorgeous bride is my cousin Marilyn on the arm of her hubby Bob.

The first thing I did was to highlight the edges of the acrylic with some light moss green paint that is sponged on. I also put some paint behind the acrylic where I planned to place the Dusty Attic chandelier piece.

After that dried, I simply followed this week's sketch .. btw .. what a wonderful way to use up scraps of those papers that you LOVE! I will definitely do this again sometime!  It took awhile to get my photos just the right size to fit on the acrylic shape but I'm happy with the outcome. The photo are off of Facebook so the colors are not optimal but they are better IRL than they photographed.

I chose a black polka dot ribbon to serve as the sketch's ric rac pieces and my flower represents the circle.  I didn't feel that I needed much of a title but used a sticker from my SD kit. I put talcum on the back of the sticker to get rid of the adhesive .. works great! Then I put foam squares behind it and tucked it behind my flower (Prima Rosetti.)  For the flourish I used a Prima Say it in Pearls and Roses in Pewter .. looks wonderful with the black, white, red and pale green colors!

The chandelier is a Dusty Attic piece that I inked with TH Vintage Photo and then painted with Cinnamon Stickles. All in all, this was a really fun and rewarding project!

I hope you will visit Stuck on U Sketches if you haven't already to see what the other designers have done. Talk about alot of talent!  

Have a fabulous Fall weekend!  Thanks for always leaving such sweet comments.  I love reading them!