Soft Side of Sandi: April 2013

"My name is Gabrielle Pollacco, I'm a mom of 2 sweet girls, happily married to my husband Steve and we have one big fluffy Labradoodle named Zoe, that sometimes makes her way into our family photos! I've had the privilege of being a Guest Designer for Scrap That! in the past year and was delighted to come back to scrap with this year's Anniversary kit!

My blog: http://gabriellepollacco.blogspot.ca/"

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We are also so happy to announce our latest addition

to the Design team as our Video Educator,

Kelly Klapstein !

Some of you may know me online as "Kelly Creates." I am a Canadian scrapbooker living in Edmonton, Alberta. I'm excited about sharing my designs and techniques with you through my video tutorials!"

You can subscribe to my YouTube Channel at www.youtube.com/user/kellycreates

Now, without further ado,
introducing our fabulous May Anniversary Kit,
"Spring into May"

And what a Spring it is! We wanted a very special anniversary kit and this kit is packed with so many fresh and lovely goodies featuring Prima's Divine Collection. There are fabulous textures and soft bling to bring out your creativity!

Take a look:

Main Kit

Embellishment Add-On

Flower Add-On

Paper Add-On

More details on this collection can be seen here: ScrapThat! Store

We are currently accepting new

Kit Club Members.

For more information,

complete the form on the link below:

New Subscriber

Look at the beautiful sketch Amarilys has created for May:

See details about the challenge here: Sketch Challenges

Be sure to also check out the details of our monthly DT challenge

hosted in May by Sarah here: DT Challenge
We have a Round Robin Challenge to celebrate National Scrapbooking Day this month as well hosted by Tracey G. It looks like it will be a blast!

Everyone is welcome to participate.

All entries for both challenges are due by Wednesday, May 29.

All winners of our challenges, including Layout of the Week, are eligible to receive 10% off any 2012 Kits ~ including Add-ons!
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*** Now, it's time to share what I've created using Amy's sketch! ***

"Praising God So Stones Don't Have To"

Based on Amarylis's sketch using the MK, FAO and EAO

This is a 12x12 canvas that I did based on Amy's great sketch! I'm telling you ... this was the most fun I've had in a while! I've been wanting to do a canvas with this title/message on it and when I saw these papers, I thought it was a perfect opportunity! I was deeply inspired by those inner feelings and had a blast "getting inky!" I've used about a half dozen different mists and sprays after applying my Gesso base. I've let the paints run, merge and drip as they wished. Then I've used a TCW Tile Textures stencil and molding paste. Along with some fussy cut pieces, a bit of the transparency and embellishments from the kit, I now have a favorite piece to hang in my scrap room. The mists, canvas and Gelatos (purple edges) are from my stash.

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Next ...

"Pea"

MK, FAO, EAO

I am so in love with this kit! The Prima Divine collection has such beautiful papers and the matching embellishments just make for such great pages! My photography is a bit crooked here although my page is actually very straight! =) I've made a a messy punched border and added a pleated paper inset that I'll be doing a tutorial on May 8th. Just a fun little something that I haven't done in a while! That is our super cute, ggdg Peyton in the photo. (The paper doilies are from my stash.)

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And last ..

"Kisses, Kisses, Kisses"

Main Kit only layout (plus bits of personal stash)

(Sketch by Nanne' Harry @ Stuck on U Sketches

This was a special page for me as well! I'm in love with this photo of my youngest daughter with her hubby. Although technically it is not a photographer's dream, I love the happy expression on her face and her long hair cascading down. But also, Im head over heels about the printed background paper! So, I wanted to use as large a piece as I could. It's not a print I'd use in my home necessarily but it makes a fabulously unique scrapbook page! I've made some of my own blooms for this page using my Grand Peonies die and some flowers from the kit. Don't you love those great Petaloo CMC butterflies! Just spray them any color that you want! (The twine and doily are from my stash.)

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And the rest of the Blog Hop details ...
Our Blog Hop features 9 fabulous hop sites including our Design Team blogs.

We have been scrapping away and are so excited to show you our creations!

The May Blog Hop Prize is our 2012 Main Kit, Prima's Nature Garden

To qualify for this month's FABULOUS Prize,

you must complete the following:

* Visit each blog listed on the hop to see what each designer has created using this month's kit and sketch (comments are very much appreciated).

* Each designer's blog hop post will feature a word to make up a secret sentence,
collect these words along the way.

* You must become a FOLLOWER of each blog along the way
and LIKE us on our Facebook Page!

* Post the ScrapThat! Blinkie on your blog.

* For your last stop on our Blog Hop return here to the ScrapThat! Chat Blog.

Leave a comment letting us know you have

completed the hop.

(Please do NOT include the secret sentence in your comments.)

*Email the secret sentence to Tracey Sabella:tracey@scrapthat.ca

The Blog Hop ends Sunday, April 28 at Midnight EST.

The prize MUST be claimed within 3 days of the forum announcement which will also be made on the ScrapThat! Blog.

~ If left unclaimed a NEW winner will be chosen ~
**Winner will pay actual shipping costs for sending the kit from Canada.**
Shipping costs will be invoiced via PayPal unless you are a kit member,
then your prize will be shipped with your monthly kit.

Prizes won during the month will be mailed out the first week of the following month.

Due to Customs clearance, International mailings sometimes take 30-75 days to receive.

Finally:

My secret word is:

"a"

Next hop on over to

Laura Gilhully

For your final stop, return to the ScrapThat! Blog

to let us know you have completed the hop.

Remember ~ only send the secret sentence to tracey@scrapthat.ca

Happy Hopping!

Thanks for coming by!

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Scrap That! May Kit Sneak Peeks and a new Design Team member ...

It is nearing the last Friday of the month and it is almost time to reveal our May Scrap That! 2013 Anniversary Kit "Spring into May." Our designers have been super busy designing with this awesome new kit!

We are all excited to share a few sneak peeks of their gorgeous work:

Stay tuned for our Blog Hop and May Kit reveal on Friday, April 26th, 6:30 AM EST.

You will want to visit all the designer's blogs to see their amazing work with this month's kit ...
and for a chance to win our grand prize this month, the May 2012 Scrap That! Kit featuring Prima's Nature's Garden..

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Here are a few of my personal sneaks:

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Now on to more exciting news .. Scrap That! is excited to welcome our newest Design Team member and new Video Educator, Kelly Klapstein.

Here is a little about Kelly:

"Some of you may know me online as "Kelly Creates." I am a Canadian scrapbooker living in Edmonton, Alberta. My 3 teenagers keep me busy with their sports, and my husband and I will celebrate 25 years of marriage in 2014! My passions are teaching and writing, and I'm a former high school English teacher. Now I enjoy designing and teaching scrapbooking classes across Canada! My dream came true when I was invited to design and write for Canadian Scrapbooker magazine in 2011. I'm excited about sharing my designs and techniques with you through my video tutorials!"

We hope that you will subscribe to Kelly's YouTube Channel. Here is the link. http://www.youtube.com/user/kellycreates

Also please check out her blog: http://kellycreates.blogspot.com/

Welcome aboard, Kelly!

~ That's it for today! See you Friday! ~

Thursday, April 18, 2013

Scrap That! Burlap Banner Tutorial

Happy Thursday, crafters! Sandi here today to share with you how I created this simple banner for my "Bobby" layout from the April kit.

I started by simply cutting some scalloped ovals using my Spellbinders Classic Scalloped Ovals Large dies. For the burlap portion, I've used the next to the largest die and my Big Kick die cutter. I was not necessarily going for the scallops on these pieces since I knew they would ravel anyway. However, I wanted to stay consistent with the shape used in the next step.

After cutting 4 of the burlap ovals, I cut 4 larger pieces from the woodgrain card stock from the kit using the largest matching Spellbinders die.

Then I adhered my burlap pieces to my card stock using a spray adhesive. My original plan was to simply tack the pieces together and then put some Fraycheck on the burlap edges to keep them from fraying. I opted for this technique instead to reduce the fraying to a bare minimum.

Next I inked my edges heavily with some Quick Quotes Powder Puff Amaretto chalking ink. I also did a bit of doodling on the scallops to reinforce the curves lines.

After that was complete, I folded all my ovals in half.

Then I placed them in a single layer on the rope that came in the kit. If I had had more burlap to work with, I probably would have done multiple layers for a fuller, fluffier banner. However, I wanted to demonstrate what was reasonable with the amount of burlap that came in the kit, keeping in mind that I've used some of it on all 3 of my layouts.

Once my pieces were in place, I hot glued some buttons from a previous kit onto the rope and in between the folded ovals. These served as a nice base for attaching some jute bows and giving the banner some punch! The banner itself is actually hot glued to the page and the rope ends were snipped off beyond the page.

Once again, here is the completed banner and layout! I hope you'll give this a try soon! It was really quick and easy once I got started!

Thanks for coming by today!

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Design Team Call for Stuck on U Sketches!

Hi crafty friends!

We are so excited to be announcing some new spots

opening up over at Stuck on U Sketches!

We are looking to grow our team which means even more

inspiration when you come by and visit!

Some of those changes mean missing some incredible designers

that will be leaving us. However we are excited for some

new talent to join us!

Will that be you?

We have a small opening with our Layout Sketch Team

and are looking for 2 new Design Team members.

You'll be creating with our original sketches every other Friday.

And with our Die Cut Team we are looking for 4 new

Design Team members!

Again, you'll be creating every other Friday with a chosen

Die Cut Challenge. The great part about this is that you may

use ANY die cutting machine. Electronic, metal dies, etc.

You can take a peek around the SITE to get a better idea

on the challenges we do and if you have enough imagery

to join our challenges!

We are also looking for someone who would be interested

in being a Sponsor Coordinator.

Design Team Call will be open until May 3
and new teams will start in June!

Any questions? Please let us know!

We are asking for 6 month commitments to the teams.
You must be able to comment on all entires for your challenge.

We are very excited to also share a little tease and let you know

that we are planning some other changes for our site!

We hope this will be the inspiration and fun that will

cause us all to really get excited about our awesome hobby!

We can't wait to share these changes and to see

who wants to join this amazing team!

Please email Leah at mrsbealash@aol.com
with your name, which team you'd like to be on,
your blog link and any gallery links.

Thanks so much!

Sandi, Leah and Nanne'

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

... details for Sandi's April Kit Creations!

Happy Tuesday, everyone! I'm here today to share more details on my Scrap That! Kit creations using the gorgeous April Kit "Within Nature."

First is the layout I created based on Amy's sketch this month:

"Bobby" Main kit only, personal stash

Believe it or not, this was a difficult page for me and literally took days before it all finally came together for me! I was really trying to avoid using any flowers but in the end, I did settle for one large bloom that I stained and placed in a crevice between my burlap banner and the Dusty Attic grass.

I've used the Main kit only along with a couple of things from my stash (a crochet doily, Dusty Attic grass cluster chippys.) I adore this photo of my little gs Bobby running away from the photographer (Kristen Alexander) and thought these papers were a wonderful backdrop along with the natural elements in the kit.

I've created a crackle background using a Prima stencil and Smooch Spray in Green Olive. I also have a light dusting of Smooch Spray in Holly Berries around where I've placed my doily.

The Fabscraps sign post was treated with white Gesso, PowderPuff Amaretto chalk ink, Rangers Clear Rock Candy Distress Stickles as well as a final coat of Ranger's Crackle Accents. Lastly, I smeared a bit of Patina Rub and Buff in random places. My letters were from a previous Scrap That! kit and are Webster's Pages Poetry alphas. Of course, I had to take one last swipe with the Amaretto ink.

The Dusty Attic grass clusters chipboard were treated in much the same way as the Fabscraps chippy. However, the base is white Gesso and then Smooch Spray in Green Olive.

Of course, there is lots of distressing, a bit of punch work (MS Wild Flowers PAP) and fussy cutting of my butterflies from the designer papers where I've used a bit more Rock Candy.

I'll be presenting a tutorial on how I created the burlap banner on April 18th. Thank you for all your kind comments about it.

A few close-ups:

Love inking the edges of my flowers!

Some fussy cut butterflies.

The burlap banner anchors the page.

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Next, a sweet girly page!

"Lots of Reasons to Smile" Mk, EAO, FAO

You can see that I love scrapping my grandkids! Their sweet smiles just get me every time! This was actually the first project that I created with the kit and I had a blast!

I've used some Donna Salazar stamps that I already had on hand. I thought that her "Twiggy" stamp went perfectly with the "Twig" paper in the collection, so I enhanced the bottom border with some Twiggy stamping! Fun, fun, fun! I also used Donna's "Sunflower" stamp (from the Grandma's Garden collection) in the upper left corner.

Lots of distressing and punch work were done before completing the page with florals from the add-ons, Maya Road trinkets (used as blooms) and Prima corded hearts from the EAO were tucked in the cluster. (The peach ribbon is from my personal stash as are the pink pearls.) I've used a Tim Holtz Alterations Distressed Doily Die as well as the Martha Stewart Deep edged Garden Gate punch and her Floral Vine punch. And of course, my Distrezz-it-all!

I fussy cut the pink birds from my Paper Add-on and mounted them with foam squares on top of the birds on this photo panel. Strategic planning got my birdies perfectly placed around my photo! =)

The alphas in this kit are part of the Natural Beauty collection and they are an all-time fave of mine now! Perfect size, shape and have a neat script on them.

And a few close-ups!

I loved adding the tiny pearls to my flowers this time!

Computer-generated part of my title!

Loving all the different textures, burlap, canvas, wood and silk.

Can't forget to show you that Timmy Die!

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Last but not least ...

"Fun" MK, FAO, EAO

Have you ever had a layout that practically scrapped itself? Well, this one sure did for me! Of course, I had another fabulous photo to work with along with a great kit!

I started with some modeling paste and a Donna Downey Poppies stencil ... although I only used a portion of it in the end. I've saved the remainder for another project! You can see it on the bottom left of the layout. I enhanced it with some Baja Blue chalk ink after misting with the Mixed Berries Smooch Spray. I also fussy cut the birdcage for my cluster.

Then I layered, did a bit of punch work and focused on a great embellishment cluster with my Petaloo Darjeeling blooms intertwined with the Prima Vine and Prima corded hearts. I loved how the Maya Road metal trinkets looked on the denim paper .. so authentic! A little fussy cutting, a few more layers, some pearl "dotting" and I called this one done!

Not one single bit of distressing except for inking, can you believe that? And if my grandson's Dad asks, that is peach at the top, not pink, right? LOL Works for me!

Two more close-ups:

Love the color combination!

Another fussy cut butterfly and a close-up of the MS swirling lace punch work.

That's it from me this time! Thanks so much for stopping by!