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Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Join Us!! For the Bo Bunny Blog Hop!!

Welcome to the Bo Bunny Blog Hop!!  As most of you must know by now, the Blog Hop starts at the Bo Bunny Blog and then will continue on the blog sites of 7 of today's featured Bo Bunny Designers.  The Bo Bunny blog will link you to the next designer's blog included in the hop and each designers site will link you to the next.  So if you have come to my site first you may want to hop on over to the Bo Bunny Blog site first and make your way through the list.  I know you will be inspired by the beautiful work of each of our designers! Here is the order of the hop incase any of you have gotten lost along the way....

Robbie http://robbiesphotoblog.blogspot.com/


Jolanda http://www.jolandameurs.blogspot.com/

Luz http://luzmasscraplace.blogspot.com/

Patti http://pattimilazzo.blogspot.com/

Gabi http://gabriellepollacco.blogspot.com/

Mireille http://amberennoah.blogspot.com/

Shanna http://artmadewithheart.blogspot.com/


And now for the Blog Hop prizes! Leave a comment on each designer's blog. Bo Bunny will choose one designer's blog to pick a comment at random. You don't know which blog they will picking from so make sure to leave a comment on them all. To be eligible for the second prize leave a comment on the Bo Bunny blog too as one winner will be chosen at random from the Bo Bunny blog site too.  The winners will be announced next Wednesday on the  Bo Bunny blog.

For my project for the blog hop I thought I would share a layout (above) I made for a Creating Keepsakes ad using the new Barefoot & Bliss collection.   I just love the fun fresh colors in this collection, I could almost smell the beach while working on this layout!  I didn't have all the amazing embellishments that come with this collection at the time of making up this page so I improvised by making some handmade blooms using recycled dryer sheets (lightly tinted with some food coloring & water).  I just cut some strips and gathered the long edges to make the sheer appricot color blooms.  I used some Bo Bunny trinkets and pearls as centers for the blooms.  Here are some close-up pic's of the page....


 I recently got all three of the new Bo Bunny collections in the mail and I can't wait to play and share my projects with you all using these gorgeous collections! 

Okay, ....on to some more inspiration!  Don't forget to leave a comment to be eligible for the prize and then hop on over to see something awesome by my dear friend and team mate, the oh so talented.....

Mireille's Blog

Thanks so much for stopping by!!

~Gabrielle xx

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Bloom Tutorial done with Websters Pages Netting & Whimsies!

I recently had some fun with the Websters Pages Netting/Fabric Swatches and the cute pink rosettes called Whimsies also by Websters Pages.  Here is a step by step tutorial on how I made these folded blooms.....










Here is a picture of my finished layout using these blooms.  I also used some of the Websters Country Estate collection to make up this layout along with one of their cute cameo's, their Unity Stamps and some of their Fabric Borders. 

I also added a few Dusty Attic laser cut chipobard pieces to this layout!  The top right corner design is one of the newest DA pieces.  I was going for a sort of Shabby Chic look for this page so I wanted the look of aged white paint on the pieces (the corner design and frame)  Here is a quick step by step on how I did the finish on the chipboard pieces.....



Here is a close-up of what the finish will look like (I just LOVE the Tim Holtz Rock Candy, it works quick and easy!  I used a blow dryer to quicken the dry time and still got a good crackle effect! ....NOTE:  The thicker you put the finish on, the larger your crackles will be....also, try to swipe on the crackle medium with the least amount of brush strokes as possible as the more you go over it, the smaller your crackling will appear).....

Thanks for stopping by!  Hope everyone is enjoying the balmy Spring weather!  (We just got our new puppy and boy! is she a handful! lol!)

~Gabrielle xx

Saturday, May 14, 2011

A little more Bo Bunny...























I made this one for a Bo Bunny assigment to make a l/o after a sketch.  This sketch was made up by Tara Orr, one of my fellow designteam members.  I used a combination of collections here ..Timepiece, Gabrielle & Vicki B.  I thought it would be nice to do a layout for my dear husband because it's our 30th wedding anniversary this month.  The crochetted bloom is the bottom part of the Gabrielle bloom, I tinted up the center part with the some pink Perfect Pearls.  I just took a paint brush and dusted on some in the center and smudged it out....















If you would like to see the sketch and more layouts done by the designteam using this sketch you can check out the Bo Bunny blog for today ~~>  Bo Bunny Blog

Bo Bunny Products used for this layout::
Timepiece Dot, Gabrielle Mocha Die Cut, Gabrielle Elegance, and Vicky B. Perky Patterned Papers; Gabrielle 6x6 paper pad; Timpiece Chipboard; Gabrielle Grow Love Cardstock Stickers;
Gabrielle Layered Chipboard; Gabrielle Petals (doily); Timepiece Combo Stickers

Thanks for having a peek!

~Gabrielle xx

Friday, May 6, 2011

Botanicals & Butterflies! & Awesome Webster's Pages!!

This will be my last post for My Creative Scrapbook kit club, I made the decision last month to step down from the DT and make a few changes.  It was such a hard decsion to make as I've been designing for MCS for exactly 3 years now.  I've grown so close to the girls on the design team and gotten to know so many wonderful people through this experience.  Happily I know I will keep in touch with the dear friends I've made through my blog, galleries and other design teams.  Thank you to all my dear friends for their kind words and support, they've meant a lot to me.

So, moving on, I have to say it was nice to go out working with some of my favourite things, botanicals and butterflies!!  I just love Pink Paislee's Butterfly Garden collection!  The photo above is one I took of my two girls when we were out on a walk a few weeks ago.  We've been having strange weather but this was one of those balmy lovely days just cast into the middle of a whole lotta rainy miserable days.  I love the butterflies that coordinate with this collection...the transparent layer over the butterfly image is so beautiful in real life.  Here are a few close-up pic's of this layout....

  I often hear people say how much they like my photo's and how cooperative my girls are about having their photo's taken.  But I  always say...I take a ton of pic's to get the ones I actually use.  Below is a l/o I made to give you a little more accurate idea of how things go when I'm trying to get pic's of my girls.....

This was the next shot I got  after the one I scrapped above lol!  Hence the title 'Real' Sisters. Ah well, they still make me laugh with their silly antics and aside from the odd spat or two they do get along pretty well.  I used the Webster's Pages Ladies & Gents collection for this one.  This is such a versatile paper collection because it allows for both masculine and feminine style pages.  For the little dress forms in the corner I gathered some sheer ribbons to make the skirts and painted the dress forms white.  I inked the edges of the dress forms with some brown chalk ink and then put some Stardust Stickles over it to give them some shimmer & shine. The vine I made from some of the loose stemmed blooms, you can find a little demonstration I made up on how to make your own vines HERE.   Here is a close-up pic....
Another photo I took on our outing together was this one below of my oldest daughter Chloe.  I used the Prima papers (Botanicals collection) mixed with some more of the Pink Paislee Butterfly Garden collection to compliment the soft floral top she was wearing in the photo.

It's been a while since I've done the corset lacing design on my layouts (a couple years ago, I used the corset lacing on so many of my l/o's, funny how you move on to different things for a while and then pull out a favourite again!)  Although I used a ribbon for my corset lacing, I recommend you use something a little less thick, like string, cording, something finer as trying to get the thick ribbon through the eyelets is not so easy!  The button I used in the center of the brown bloom was in the kit, but the center was missing....I guess it had popped out?  So I created my own 'jewel' for it by adding a couple of layers of blue 'Waterfall' Stickles, let it dry and then added a nice mound of Tim Holtz Glossy Accents.  The finished effect is almost like an opal!  Here are some close-ups of the above page....

The frayed bit beside the large bloom is sort of an accident thing lol!....I was fiddling with one of the trims in the kit and it just started unraveling on me before I could tape off the end.  So I chopped off the ravelled bit and just stuck it on the page....almost like a little bit of nest :)
I really love the pretty botanical design in the PP paper below;  The frame around the photo is made from a sheet of lace paper by BasicGrey layered over some simple pink cardstock.  The edging around the photo was made with another style of decorative scissors and a white gel pen (Signo Unibal)
The tiny white/yellow blooms were made using the EK Success retro flower punch in the mini size.  I just inked the centers with some yellow chalk ink and added a liquid pearl drop in the center. Here are a couple of close-up shots of the above page...


And finally the last page I made was of me and my girls, my dear husband took this photo of the 3 of us while we were out on our little beach/forest walk.  I used more of the beautiful Ladies & Gents collection to make up this page.....
The lolipop blooms on this page of course are the Websters Pages Pincess Petals (LOVE these!) and the soft pink blooms are ones I again made using recycled dryer sheets (see some tutorial instructions in the rightside column of my blog)...

If I've missed explaining anything I did on these layouts or if you have any product questions don't be shy to ask I'm always happy to answer any questions! :)   ....thanks for stopping by again, I'm always happy to hear from my friends here!

~Gabrielle xx

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Bo Bunny ~ Focus on Flowers! & Some NEW Dusty Attic!!

I was so happy to be one of the DT girls asked to do the flower assignment for Bo Bunny!  As  most of you know I love to add blooms to my work and it was fun to make up a page that focused on pairing blooms with a Bo Bunny collection.  For my layout I used the crochetted bloom from the Bo Bunny Noel collection and then made up some shimmery/sheer aqua blooms using a trim strip from the  Bo Bunny Hooligan's collection.  I just love the feel of this trim, it is not stiff but actually a very soft pliable fabric strip and the shimmer is so pretty in real life!  All I did to make up these blooms is run a little slip stitch up one side to gather the blooms....easy peasy.  Then I glued a small circle of cardstock behind the bloom and put 3 pearl beads in the center of each flower.  For the large bloom I added a small aqua ruffle to bring all the blooms together.  The tiny white/aqua blooms were made with the small EK Success retro flower punch, I just lightly inked the center with some blue chalk ink and added an adheasive pearl from the Jewels package from the BB Gabrielle collection.   This layout was about how us Mom's often turn into the pack mule of the family.  My kids want to take with all sorts of things when we go on an outing....sunglasses, water bottles, camera's, sweaters, phones, blankets and yes! even their stuffed toys! ...and who ends up having to carry it?  Mom of course! lol!  Chloe took this pic of me on our last outing :)  Here are a few close-up pic's....




I also added some Dusty Attic embellishments to the page, the scroll design directly below the photo (Decorative Trim DA0435) and the Fancy Trim border DA0433 (top right corner).  I gave both pieces the Verdigris finish I shared over at Dusty Attic a little while back (to view the little tutorial on how to do a Verdigris (aged metal) finish just click on this link Verdigris Patina

I'm really excited to say that Dusty Attic has come out with some new designs!  Some of my favourites in the new releases are the Peacock Feathers, Topiaries and the Baroque Frame sets!  Can't wait to get my hot little hands on some of these gorgeous designs! (I hear they are on their way! yippee!!)  Here is a little peek at some of the new designs......



I know you are all going to want to play with these designs as much as I want to!  So to get these new goodies be sure to ask your local scrapstores to put in an order!  And for those of you who like to order online from US & Canadian sources you can find many of these awesome goodies for sale at these links....
ScrapThat (Canada)
Here is the Dusty Attic Retailers lists so you can find a dealer near you DA Retailers

And a little more Bo Bunny NEWS!  Yep! they are coming out with 3 beautiful new collections for their mid-season releases!!  For a peek at the newest collections check out their blog posts from the past few days!

Thanks for stopping by!
~Gabrielle xx

Monday, May 2, 2011

Webster's Pages & Dusty Attic

Each month Webster's Pages features a new Guest Designer and the Design Team members are asked to create a project inspired by one of the the Guest Design Team member's projects.  This month our Guest is Nadia Cannizzo, her work is really beautiful and she has a uniuqe and lovely style.  I noticed that she often journals by hand directly onto her layout backgrounds and also likes to use some soft inking on her layouts, so that is what I picked up from her work when making the above page.  Here are a few close-up shots....




I used a variety of papers and embellishments from the Webster's Yacht Club collection to make up this page along with a few Dusty Attic pieces, along with some fun WP rubber stamps, love these they give such a nice crisp image (the word 'Beauty' and the floral branch in the top left corner).  Here is a basic list of the products used on this layout:

~Websters Pages Yacht Club papers
~Websters Princess Petals (Blue & Yellow lollipop blooms)
~Websters Sparklers (pearly gems)
~Websters Silhouettes (Cameo)
~Websters Designer Threads (Embroidery pieces ...behind cameo)
~Websters Trim (Holiday collection)
~Websters Alpha Stickers (from Natures Storybook Collection)
~Butterflies (I scanned the butterfly on the paper called 'Grace' from the Life's Portrait collection and made up a contact sheet of this butterfly in different sizes and printed it off on some white glossy cardstock)
~Websters Unity Stamps (unmounted rubber stamps....Beauty
~Dusty Attic ~ Paris Post Mark #DA0320 & Shells DA0048
~other (fish netting from Michaels)

To see Nadia's projects as Guest Designer for this month as well as the other layoutst made by the Websters Design Team that were inspired by Nadia's work please check out this link ~~> May Guest Designer

If you'd love to have some awesome Dusty Attic goodies another of our Design Team members at DA (Mai) is having a giveaway this month, you can find the link here http://maimaipiano.blogspot.com/2011/05/dusty-attic-giveaway.html

Thanks so much for all your kind comments, I read them all!!  Hopefully I've answered some of your product questions with this post....I know a few of you have asked about the little butterflies I use on my layouts.  One of my favourites is the dotted yellow one I scanned from one of the Webster's collections...I've listed the details in my product list above.  Please feel free to ask me any questions if I've forgotten to list something :)

~Gabrielle xx