Soft Side of Sandi: May 2013

Hey, my name is Zoe Nemburt, and I am absolutely thrilled to be asked to design as a guest for ScrapThat! this month. I started scrapbooking in 2009 and seriously never looked back. I felt I had finally found my crafty passion!! Super Excited to be here for the month of June with the ScrapThat! team and I really hope to inspire you to create something fabulous.

Be sure to stop by Zoe's blog, Designs by Zoe, to be inspired by her gorgeous work!

We are sad to say farewell to our talented DT Member, Sarah Routledge.

We have been inspired by your creativity and learned so much from your tutorials.

With your optimism and talent, we are sure you will reach every dream.

You will be missed.

We wish you luck on your new endeavors!

Now, without further ado....

Introducing our June Kit,

"From Sunrise to Sunset"

Featuring the designs of the fabulous Anna Dabrowska (a.k.a. Finnabair) we present a collection of rich colors and designs that run from brights to neutrals. Whatever your scrapping style is, you will love this kit that is just chock-full of Prima goodies!

Take a look:

Main Kit

Paper Add-On

Flower Add-On

Embellishment Add-On

More details on this collection can be found 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 June:

See details about the challenge here: Sketch Challenges

We have something new for June!
In addition to Amy's sketch challenge,
other members of the DT will also be hosting challenges!

Tracey G.'s challenge: "Scrap out of your comfort zone"
Laura's Challenge: "Using a long title"
Sandi's Challenge: "Color Challenge"
Tracey S.'s Challenge: "Use a stencil"

Check them out here.
Everyone is welcome to participate.

Entries for all challenges are due by Wednesday, June 26.

All winners of our challenges, including Layout of the Week, are eligible to receive 10% off any 2012 Kits ~ including Add-ons!
******

Here is what I have done with Amy's sketch this month and using the Main Kit.

"Santa Fe Sunset" Main kit, personal stash

Although I didn't want my layouts to be too cliche, I thought this was the perfect opportunity to scrap some photos about a trip to Santa Fe last year (snagged from the Inn on the Alameda Blog to augment my own photos from the trip. I did a ton of paper layering and distressing on this one! Amy's great sketch is perfect for getting in lots of luscious layers. I painted my largest doily with some black paint to complement the darker color in my photo and then split it in half so that I could let it peek out in a couple of places. You'll see that I hand crafted some one layer flowers that I've named the "Pueblo Rose." They are meant to loosely resemble the Scarlet Globe mallow. I'll be doing a tutorial on making them in June but I will note that their color was achieved with lots of Lindy's Stamp Gang mists. =) I've also added in some bits of a vintage Prima vine from my stash. I printed my photo 3 times and layered them for a more dramatic effect. Isn't the black mesh from the Kit a perfect backdrop?!

"A Moment in Time" MK, EAO, FAO, stash

Next up is a "softer" page that I really, really love. It is so pretty IRL. The photo is a night time view of Santa Fe that had great colors but in the long run I opted to convert it to black and white for a "frosty" look. I've done a few layers here as well and did a wet distressing technique with these. On the last layer, I've used some Lindy's Stamp Gang in Autumn Maple Crimson, then topped that with some molding paste and a Prima Donna Downey Poppies and Peonies stencil. While experimenting with my ribbon, I came up with this squiggly effect that reminded me of the mountains, so I decided it was a keeper and then added my pearls in fashion and adorned them both with my blooms. The title chippy is a Blue Fern product that I inked and stained so many shades of brown that I lost track! =) It sure does shine though! I wanted that wintry look to my page, so the Dress it Up flats were perfect to for adding more shimmer. I tucked in the small doily from the Kit as well as some cheesecloth from my stash. My Maya Road butterflies were left untreated except for some Rub and Buff.

"Inn on the Alameda" MK, FAO, EAO, stash

For my last project, I had some fun with my Lindy's Stamp Gang inks and let the colors drip as they wanted. So yummy and fun! After getting a general idea of how I wanted my page to look, I took to my favorite way to distress my papers .. FIRE! First, I must say that I only do this when the hubby is home, just to be on the safe side! One can never be too careful!!! I stand over the kitchen sink and use the flame of a candle on the edges and let it burn until I'm happy with the amount it has burned away. Then I blow the fire out. These papers wanted to smolder a bit longer than most, so I left my project on the counter for awhile after dampening the burned edges a tiny bit. You can see that I've used a few different punches (4) and once again some molding paste and my Tile Textures stencil. I'm counting 8 paper layers, how about you?

I also had fun with my chipboard flourish that I treated with Gesso, inks and a Prima Firefly stamp. I finished it off with Ranger's Clear Rock Candy Crackle paint. While arranging my flowers, I decided to add in a few wisps of sewing thread that was tangled up in my mending basket and used it there as well as on my Dusty Attic title chippy. (The title chippy and ecru lace are from my stash.) I finished up with wood buttons from the Kit as well as the Prima crystals which cut up and used in various place.

*****

Now, back to the Hop details: The June Blog Hop Prize is our "Life's Muse" Main Kit featuring Webster's Pages Everyday Poetry Collection (Webster's Poetry)

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 or two that will 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!
Subscribe to Kelly's YouTube Channel at http://www.youtube.com/user/kellycreates
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, June 2 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.

My secret words are:

kindness can

Next hop on over to

Laura Gilhully's Blog

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

Thanks for coming by!

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Scrap That! June Kit sneak peeks! "From Sunrise to Sunset"

Sandi here today to share some Sneak Peeks of our June, 2013 Scrap That! Kit aptly named "From Sunrise to Sunset." You are really going to love this kit!

The DT has been creating away and are so ready to share a few sneak peeks of their gorgeous work. Lucky me, I get to see them first! Here they are!

We hope you will join our Blog Hop and June Kit Reveal on Friday, May 31st, 6:30 AM EST.

You will want to visit all the designer's blogs to see their inspiring work with this month's kit. They never cease to amaze!

You will have a chance to win our Grand Prize this month, the "Life's Muse" Scrap That! Kit featuring Webster's Pages "Everyday Poetry" collection. Having designed with this kit, I can vouch for how truly gorgeous it is!

While you're here, let me share a few of my sneaks:

Well, I guess that's it for today! Hope to see you Friday!

Sunday, May 26, 2013

Scrap That! Design Team Call

ScrapThat! ~ Canada's Best Kit Club, is looking for a designer to join our Team!

Design Team members receive:

1. FREE PRODUCT - A full monthly kit plus the embellishment add-on kit, valued at well over $50 retail.

2. GENEROUS DISCOUNT - A 30% discount on all product purchases that will fit in the box with your kit to ship free of charge!

3. FAME & GLORY - Your photo and bio on our Design Team page!

What we ask of you:

A 6-month term
Design exclusivity to ScrapThat! Product manufacturer sites are fine, but we must be the only online store/kit club that you design for.
You must have a blog and Facebook account and update it regularly each week including posts about projects you’ve created from the kit, design tips etc. We ask that you also have links to our site on your blog and any other sites you are involved with where allowable.
Minimum of 3 projects created every month with the kit. One layout must use the main kit contents only, (no items from the add on kits). 90% of each project must contain kit contents.
Post your 3 kit designs, plus an additional two projects of your choice (made with your stash) in our gallery every month as well as to one other large gallery site, either www.Scrapbook.com or www.TwoPeasinaBucket.com. Postings on these sites must include *ScrapThat! Kit* in the title line.
Projects must be well photographed; standard size we are using on the website is 640 x 480 rectangular & horizontal…no text or frames please. Have cropped and ready to be uploaded on our site (and your blog) the last Friday of each month.
Submit your kit design work for publication when applicable to open calls. Where possible, credit must always be given for projects created using our kits.
Active participation in the ScrapThat! forum and gallery. This is quite possibly the most important thing! We have a terrific on-line community and our members are of the utmost importance to us, so this is huge!

Should this be of interest, kindly apply and submit:

Full Name, E-Mail Address, Country
A paragraph about who you are and why you want to be a part of the ScrapThat! team.
Attach three projects that best showcase your style sized to 650 pixels. (You may also provide links to these projects on your blog and/or gallery.)
Blog Link
Links to Current Online Galleries including Scrapbook.com and/or Two Peas in a Bucket.
List of all Design Teams you are currently serving on with links. (including manufacturers, wholesalers, stores, challenge blogs, kit clubs, etc.)
List of Former Design Teams

E-mail: kaitlyn@scrapthat.ca with "ScrapThat! DT Application" in the subject line by Friday, May 31.

Please note: at this time, this opportunity is only open only to those applicants with shipping addresses in Canada and the USA.

Friday, May 24, 2013

"Our Journey" ~ SOUS

Happy Friday, all! It's my favorite day of the week!

I am back today with a quick little number done for Stuck on U Sketches. We have a great new sketch by our very own Leah Schaeffer. You'll have to hop on over there for the sketch and to see what the DT has done this time! Amazing work as always!

Now, this is one of those pages that didn't quite turn out the way I had planned! It started with a quiet tribute to the journey that Nanne, Leah and I have taken these past 3.5 years. But somewhere along the way in the paper selection and the masking, I am less than pleased. I will try again sometime to give this tribute a better voice! Maybe some softer colors for starters ..

But anyway, here you have it with some Prima Engraver papers, LSG Tiger Lily Red Orange and Creme Brûlée along with a TCW stencil, some rare machine stitching (go, me!) and even some washi tape .. even rarer for me!

Anyway, I do love these 2 gals and am so proud of where we've been and where we're headed! We've had some super talented DT members and more new talent coming alongside us in June. They have contributed so much to the success of Stuck on U! And of course, we'd be nowhere without our faithful followers! So, if you are one, thank you from the bottom of my heart! And if this is your first visit, welcome .. and I hope you will join in the fun! As always, you will have 2 weeks to upload your project using the linking tool for a chance at being in our Top 3! Stay tuned for June and then July when we will be rolling out some new product-oriented posts as well as our new Project Life challenges.

To all you folks in the States, have a great Memorial Day weekend! Have fun but be safe!

Happy scrapping!

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

New DT announcement at Stuck on U Sketches ~

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Scrap That! May Kit Creations ~ with detail ~

"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 Crafter's Workshop Tile Textures stencil and Golden 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. I was so excited about the little car full of flowers, that I took that piece as inspiration for my project. It is mounted on a couple of pieces of corrugated cardboard for height to allow for placing the yellow flowers underneath it. The mists, canvas and Gelatos (purple edges) are from my stash.

If you have never done a canvas and had some fun with your mists, I highly recommend it! Let that inner artist emerge! Originally meant to be a piece celebrating May Day, this piece became something entirely different as I went through the process.

Here are a few close-ups!

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 "messy" punched border with my Martha Stewart Swirling Lace punch and added a pleated paper inset that I did a tutorial on May 8th on the Scrap That! Chat blog. 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.)

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 (Rosebuds)! 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 Spellbinders Grand Peonies die and some flowers from the kit. Of course, I had to add in some of that pretty bling from the kit!

Don't you love those great Petaloo CMC butterflies! Just spray them any color that you want! I finished off the page with a banner cut from one of the designer papers and added some twine from my stash(The twine, title strips and doily are from my stash.)

I think that about wraps it up for this time. Thanks for coming by today! I always enjoy your taking the time to visit and comment on my work.

Friday, May 10, 2013

May 10th Sketch is up at SOUS "Postcard Perfect"

Happy Friday, everyone! My favorite day of the week!!

And it's time for a new Sketch Challenge over at Stuck on U Sketches. I was so excited about giving this one a go! It has been about 2 months since I created this one though, so I hope I can remember a few of the details for you! LOL! You may have noticed that I took a bit of a break from SOUS .. thanks to my sweet co-leaders and friends Leah and Nanne.' It gave me a wonderful opportunity to get some things done around the home that I've seriously been needing to do!

The photos are of my lovely granddaughters and were taken by a family friend of theirs. (Thanks, Kristen!) Just too cute not to scrap! I've used some of the newer Kaisercraft Base Coat and 75 cents collections! Aren't they just fabulous?! I can't wait to create a few more pages with what I have left!

I used my fave Martha Stewart Scroll Hearts punch as well as her Floral Vine punch. I made a few of my own flowers using the Spellbinders/Donna Salazar Bitty Blossoms Die. They are such fun to make! I've also added a few Prima and Petaloo.

I've been dying to do a large corner peek-a-boo page for awhile! I think I first saw it done by the awesome Lisa Valentine although I have seen other artists use it as well. It also reminds me of a few done by scrappy friend Marilyn Rivera.

I've added a few artsy touches with both black (circles) Gesso and white (flowers) Gesso. Then finished off the flowers with some jute bows for texture.

Thanks for coming by today! Remember that you will have 2 weeks to create a challenge page using the sketch and upload it at SOUS using the Inlinz Tool! Can't wait to see what you create!

Thanks for all your sweet comments! I read them all and appreciate them alot~ Have a great weekend!!

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Sandi's Paper Folding Tutorial for Scrap That!

Hi, Scrap That! fans! Sandi here today to show you how I did the folding of the green polks dot paper on my layout from the May Kit Reveal. This was something I learned from friend and previous DT colleague Tammy Henderson. It is actually a little bit of work but so worth it to achieve something a bit different on an occasional page. I hope you'll try it!

You will need:
A sheet of 12x12 paper, preferably one that has a lighter patterned side B so that you can see your markings.
Pencil
Ruler
Scoring tool and/or bone folder
Brayer, optional

First of all, make sure that you work on the Back side of your paper as you don't want your markings to show on your completed project.

Make an X on the Top Left corner of your paper, as well as on the Bottom Right. This will be useful as we move through our folding.

Then make tick marks across the Top of your paper at these intervals:

2 in, 2 1/4 in, 6 in, 6 1/4 in, 10 in and 10 1/4 inches.

(For the purpose of my tutorial, I am using an older piece of paper that was not included in the kit.)

Then do the same thing going down the Left hand side of the paper. I make an arrow to help me keep track of my page's orientation. When you get to the bottom, you can turn your page to where the X is now in the Top Right position and continue marking your other 2 sides.

Next, begin connecting the tick marks until you get to the last set.

This is what it should look like at that point.

Next, turn the paper until the Top Left X is at the Top Right. Then begin connecting that set of tick marks.

This shows how you page will look when you have connected all your marks.

Now you will want to start scoring your marked lines. I find it easier to use my ruler as I go along. You may be tempted to skip this step but it is critical to making your folding look crisp and uniform.

Time to actually start folding! Begin with the X in the Top Left corner again. You will be folding from the Top Left to the Bottom Right. Your FIRST fold is at the SECOND line and you will fold INTO the page as shown above.

Next fold at the FIRST line as shown above and making the corner go back up toward the Top Left.

Go all the way down your page folding first the SECOND line, then the FIRST. You can see where the scoring pays off, right?

This is how the paper looks when you've completed one direction. This is a good time to smooth everything down with your brayer.

Now you will turn the paper until the Top X is in the Upper Right corner. Then begin folding just as you did the first time around.

On this photo you can see that I've completed 2 sets of rows going in this direction. When you've finished all your folds, you may want to use your brayer again to make all the folds nice and crisp. Some people will use a bit of tape to hold everything in place although that is optional.

Now flip over to the right side of the paper and you are ready to use your folded project on a layout! I do like to ink my folded edges.

Once again, here is the layout I've done with my folded paper. I've added pearls at some of the intersecting folds to help emphasize them. Paper folding is just something a bit different to use now and again for a litle added zip!

Thanks for coming by and be sure and let me know if you have any questions!

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

May 1st card sketch ~ SOUS ~

Hello and happy hump day to all you bloggers out there! Today we have a new Card Sketch Challenge up over at Stuck on U Sketches. This is a really great sketch by our own Leah Schaeffer. It's one that I think I'll be using over and again!

Today's card was kind of a quick one for me, done using some yummy Graphic 45 Place in Time papers, pale yellow Webster's Pages Bloomers and some Prima Rosario flowers. The bling is a scrap I was keeping for just such an occasion. I love making square cards but usually reserve that size for the ones I am handing out in person since the post office wants to charge extra. Go figure!

Anyway, you will have 2 weeks to play along with our challenge and upload your project for a chance at winning a Top 3 recognition. We hope that you will have time to play along!

Thanks for coming by!