She Sews a Fine Seam

Happy 5th Monday, everyone! I'm Sandi of Soft Side of Sandi  (personal blog) and also Stuck on U Sketches  challenge blog. I was so flattered when Sheila asked me to do a Guest Designer spot for her. My approach may be a little less "technical"  than you normally see here at She's a Sassy Lady  ... but I figure that's okay. I mainly do layouts and only a few other types of paper crafting projects as needed. So, I decided I would just walk you through how I usually approach a layout and share my cut file.  First, let me show you the finished product:

My first step in doing a page is to decide upon the photo (or photos) I will use and then to select papers to go with my them. That for me is the hardest part! I love paper and have far too many options! On this page I wanted to keep the photo as a color photo and chose to match my mom's blouse. TIP: When I first began to scrap, I would rely on my Color Wheel quite frequently for assistance. Over time, I use it less and less .. and bend the rules somewhat to meet my needs. But if you are new to paper crafting, I highly recommend using one.  Here's a pic of the papers I chose:

Love using purple and teal together! Today I've used Webster's Pages Shine a Light and Foo on Film, as well as misc cardstock.

Next, I usually select a sketch to go with the number of photos I will be using. I also have a few fall-back sketches memorized that I use when the mood strikes, like with this page. (TIP: There are lots of great sketch sites online.  I have even recently downloaded some sketches to my I-phone from the App store. You may at first feel limited when using a sketch ... until you see how it can improve your results.)  Then I start designing either on my Gypsy or in Design Studio to see if my page elements will fit and look balanced. This was how my page looked in DS:

Here's a few photos of some of the cut elements:

Next, I used my Zutter Distress-it-all to distress my 12x12 paper edges, then inked them with Tim Holtz Chipped Sapphire Distress Ink. I normally do more layers on my pages but since I was using a large photomat, a large title and the dressform cut, I decided I would like to stay with one continuous paper.  After distressing my edges and inking them, I adhered the purple paper to black cardstock. TIP:  If you do not have a distressing tool, you can always just use the edge of your scissor blade.

I scanned the photo of my mom and did some photo editing before printing it and adhering it to the photomat which was cut using the Cricut Sentimentals cartridge. TIP: Scan your photos before using them so that you will have digital storage and will not have to use your originals. Before I adhered it to my paper, I assembled my title and the shadow layer using my Zig 2 way pen. Those were cut using the Nursey Rhyme cartridge. Then, after inking my edges with Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Broken China.  I adhered my photo and title to my page, as well as the black corner scrolls which were cut from the Cricut Heritage cartridge.

My dressform was cut multiple times using the Cricut Forever Young cartridge to make it thicker without stopping to cut some chipboard. Then I decorated "her" a bit with some ribbon for her skirt and flat-backed adhesive pearls at her neck. TIP: Foam squares were used on the backside of the dressform to provide some dimension and lift it off the page.

Before placing my flowers on my page, I used Terrifically Tacky Tape along the bottom of my photo and attached some black trim from my stash. Once the flowes were in place, the scissors (also from Sentimentals) were glued to my flower cluster. My flowers are a mix of Prima Guava Peony Etude and Petaloo Chantilly Mixed Blooms in Great. TIP: You could also easily use your favorite hand made paper or fabric flowers.

Lastly, I added some purple crystals to the chandelier, pearls to my photomat and a single Jolee's purple Fluer-di-lis on the right side of my black trim.  I did journal beneath my photo after taking a photo for this tutorial. The crystals and pearls are the Prima E-line variety from my stash. TIP: I use a flat blade like a wallpaper knife to lift my stones from the packaging and to transfer then to my paper. Works great for me!


If you are interested, here is the link to the DS cut file: http://www.box.net/shared/9yv1ntpnti
And here is the link for the Gypsy version of the file: http://www.box.net/shared/2gjydfef51

In closing, I just want to thank Sheila for having me here today.  I hope you enjoyed hearing about how I made my little project! Please let me know if you have any questions.  Sandi

Baby x 2, SOUS 1-21-11

Happy Friday, everyone! My favorite day of the week! And always made extra special on Stuck on U Sketches reveal day! So, thanks for dropping by!

This week we have a fab sketch by designer Patti Hutch.  We hope you can play along with us this time .. you will love how adaptable this sketch is.

This layout is a bit different for me, huh? I don't get to do too many of these baby pages anymore .. well, unless I wanted to go back and start at the very beginning. Not! But any who ...  my dd Dara is expecting twins in the next few weeks. As a matter of fact she is (as of Wednesday) now on complete bed rest (and hating it!) until it's time for those BOYS to be born!  Dara inherited the "busy" gene, so bedrest is killing her!

Well, back to the layout ... this one took some time to do although I'm not really sure why. Part of that was just choosing the right papers and then changing my mind a couple of times.  LOL These are all from Webster's Pages except for the brown cardstock which I used to frame my whole page and for the inside of my letter blocks. I liked the combination of pale blue with the creamy yellow and a bit of stark white.

Instead of using a circle, I had the bright idea of doing a round shape of some kind and first came up with the idea of using a baby carriage image but switched to the bassinet because I thought it was so cute. Of course, I had to make it really big to go along with the sketch .. and love the outcome! This image, as well as the title and subtitle "twins," came from the New Arrival cartridge.  First time I've ever used it!

All the supplies, ribbon, brads, buttons and flowers are from my stash.  That awesome Prima floral  vine is called Mountain Lily, in Robins Egg Blue.  The large cream button is Jenni Bowlin. The brad I used to dangle the "twins" cut from is a Basic Grey Kioshi brad ..a gift from Floren at Generations Crafting. That's also where I bought all of my Websters!

Just another angle and close-up. I only used 2 photos ... for obvious reasons and because I didn't have a suitable third photo.  That's twin A in the top photo and twin B in the lower sonogram photo .. although that is a reversal of their position in utero.  Since Dara and Kevin are having twin boys, they decided to name them after both Grandpas. Isn't that sweet? My husband is grinning from ear to ear!

I fussy cut these 2 cute little guys from some more Webster's Pages, WonderFall .. thought it was perfect to use them!  As usual, there is lots of inking but otherwise, less distressing than is the norm for me.

I think that about wraps it up for this time.  Be sure to check out what all the designers have done this time! Remember you have 2 weeks to link up your project. We can't wait to see what you do! Thanks for all the lovely comments! I read every one ... and cherish them!

Diva!

Happy Friday, everyone! I thought I would just share this ultra quick project that I did Wednesday evening. I'd had this photo of dgd Peyton laying on my desk for awhile with plans to scrap it but always got side-tracked on to something else.

So, Wednesday I decided to just get it on paper and maybe do a title, then file it away in my album. Well, I ending up doing a tad bit more but seriously this is one of the fastest pages I have ever done! I used some awesome Prima papers from the Annalee collection, did some punching with one of my deep edged Martha Stewart punches (got to start remembering those names or labeling them!)  and then added my flowers and bling.  I had been hoarding these Prima flowers for a while, so I threw caution to the wind! (I think they call this the Prima sneeze! LOL) I wanted the whole page to be very soft and neutral but I did add that pop of hot pink to compliment Peyton's little tutu that her Gigi made.

My journaling tag is also from the Annalee collection. I softened it by adding a sheer ribbon.  That DIVA title was cut with my Cricut using my new Rock Princess cartridge.  And the 3 little butterflies were just fussy cut from the DCWV Mariposa stack.  There's some inking, distressing and bling but within an hour I was done! Wish I could do more of them that quickly. That way I might get caught up .. someday!

I hope you have a great weekend. Congrats to those of you who have a nice long 3 day weekend!

Happy Birthday to my bro!

Just a quick post to send a huge birthday greeting to one terrific brother! Love you, Scott! Thanks for all the wonderful memories throughout the years. You're the best!

We come like trees ... we all have roots! Family Tradition! ~SOUS 1-07-11

Hey, it's Friday and time for a new weekend ... and a new Stuck on U Sketches  reveal!  If you are new to our challenge blog, we welcome you. If you are a veteran, we are so grateful for you!

Boy, did I have fun with this one! At first, it was hard to get back into the rythmn of scrapping.  I wanted to badly enough ... but I felt a bit like I was starting all over again.  As much as I loved those Christmas holidays, they threw me off kilter a bit.  LOL

Anyway, since the sketch called for one photo, I chose one from last Thanksgiving of my little granddaughter Marianne putting her handprint  on our Family Tree canvas. This was an old piece of artwork with large sunflowers on it, remember those days?  When I started having grandkids, I decided to paint the canvas white and put the family's handprints on there, starting with my hubby and I, then our kids and grandkids ... even a few foreign exchange students. At the time I only had 2 grandchildren but that has grown over the years to 14 and counting.

It has become an awesome family experience to watch as new handprints go up on the canvas.  Last Thanksgiving, my heart just burst with joy (and the tears flowed) as I looked up one side of the hallway and down the other side ... and saw every single member of the family craning their necks to watch!  Isn't that the great thing about family? Everyone wanting to cheer for one another.

So, there is lots of Cricut action on this page. I made a pact with one of my teamies to start using our Cricut cartridges more. For this page, I ended up using 8 without really trying. Okay, here our a few close-ups.

I used my new MS punch all around the page. My papers are a mix of MME Fall in Love Glitter stack, Bo Bunny Noel and and Creative Memories cardstock.  Love that I took time to emboss my cloud which was cut from Everyday Paper Dolls. The tree is from Stretch Your Imagination and the birds are from Straight from the Nest. That cute little sun is from Just Because Cards.  My title was cut from Heritage (Family) and Reminisce Accents (Tradition.)  There is lots of inking all around and use of adhesive foam squares to lift things off the page.  In place of dots for my "i"s," I used flat backed pearls.

Love the grass on that Zooballoo cart, don't you? It was cut multiple times and layered.

The last thing I did on my page was to wrap my tree with some ribbon from my stash and thought it was the perfect finishing touch!

My pearl backed butterfly is, of course, from Indie Art.  I always keep going back to that one.  Here you can see one of my K and Company frames with the saying which I computer-generated. " We come like trees .. we all have roots."  I have that motto on my albums about my own grandparents.

I can't close without throwing in a few photos of 3 other kiddos that got to put their hand on the tree this year ... Peyton  (who is the subject of many of my pages) and the 2 new boys from Ethiopia, Isaac and Jeremiah.  That part was kind of impromptu, so everyone used the pinkish paint I had hurriedly grabbed for Peyton.

Peyton, assisted by her mommy, Brendi

Isaac with the help of his sister MacKenzie

Jeremiah and me

Sorry for the long post today!  Sure hope you find time to play along with the sketch this time! Remember you have 2 weeks to upload you project! If you haven't already seen what the other designers have done, I hope you will pay them a visit.

Thanks for coming. I always love reading your sweet comments!

Cuties! DT work for Generations Crafting

Sunday afternoon I took a bit of time to work on a DT project for Generations Crafting. This photo of my silly grand-babes was actually taken on Thanksgiving Day but I drew inspiration from the red in their clothes and dug in to my Bo Bunny Crush Papers.  Perfect for scrapping those Valentine's photos .. or in my case, my little sweethearts!  (Sorry for the blurry photo .. don't know what's up with that.  Think I was in a bit of a hurry.)

Used Lisa Gregory's corner punch technique on one of my circles.  Here you can also see the black and red Prima pearl flourish.

In the upper corner I used one of my Donna Salazar lacey stamps and added some Petaloo magnolia blooms to the design.

Fussy cut my birdcage, popped it and added a small bow.

The large black netting flower is also BoBunny as is the black lace beneath the photo.  I added a few pearls and a popped up journaling square to balance things out.  My title was done with MM tiny alphas.

Lastly, I just painted some Stickles here and there for glimmer.

These are certainly not colors that I'm really comfortable with .. but I love how the page turned out!

Hope to see you back Friday for my Stuck on U Sketches reveal. And you'll never believe it but I actually dusted off the Cricut and used it for Friday's project. 

 Have a great week!