Reveal Day for March My Creative Scrapbook kits!!!

This months Main kit from MCS was just packed with punchy, colorful papers and just the cutest emebellishments!!  Although there is quite a variety in colors in the featured paper collection this month, what really caught my eye was the yellows and black!  So I designed a layout that featured just these colours.  The photo is of my little great-niece Jade (who you often see in my layouts) and her sweet mom Danielle.  There are these awesome transparent doily's in the kit that really pack a punch on a page!  I mixed them with a little bit of inking on the paper with some yellow chalk ink and for the title I hand stitched it with some black DMC thread.  
TIP:  If you are confident with your handwriting, just pencil out the titlework and get stitching.  If you are a little more timid about your handwriting try using a word stamp as I did here and use it as a guide for your stitching.

A second layout I made with this kit is another pic of my little niece Jade.  When I saw the intricate design on the black paper in the kit I thought it was a great match to the top she is wearing.......

The blooms in this kit are so pretty!!  You have to see them IRL! shimmery and rich in color!  I simply cut some of the white paper blooms from one of the patterned papers as 'extra' blooms to cluster with the pinkish/red blooms......

Another kit I had a blast working with this month is the Limited Edition Kit!  This one featured the Gorgeous new collection by Webster's Pages called Spring Market!  It made me just long for spring scrapping with the goodies in this kit!  For my first l/o I scrapped a photo of Chloe doing some gardening a couple of years back.  She's always been one of those 'happy to get her hands dirty' kinda girl.....

I just love the cute botanical designs in this collection!!  The paper with the seed packets is one of my favourites for embellishing with.  And those  cute gingham blooms, they just add the sweetest touch to a page....

A second l/o I made with this page I went with the cheery yellow and reds in this collection.  I got this really cute photo of my niece Jade.....although it has it's blurry parts (moving hands)...I thought the photo of her face was so expressive and cute!  And I thought the title fit the fact that so is such an active little girl.....

I'm just crazy about those Princess Petals by Websters Pages....layers and layers of sheer frabric, the effect is so beautiful IRL!  FOr this l/o al I added was a little tulip bouquet and some fussy cut blooms cut from the patterened paper.....

Another layout I made with this kit is one of my Meagan when she was just a little toddler.  I have to laugh, because whenever she see's photos of herself as a baby she asks me who the little boy is!  She had ridiculously long hair from early on so she's always surpised to see herself with short hair as a baby.....

I did a bit of hand stitching on this page....I simply followed the outline on the patterend paper for the outer edge design. 

TIP:  I often split up my crystal flourish to use on different layouts.  I used half the crystal flourish on the 'Live Out Loud' page. So for this page I first layed the flourish still attached to the plastic backing on my layout and used a pin to follow the outline of the missing piece of crystal flourish, poking through the plastic into the paper beneath.  I then followed this poked holes to make my stitched flourish....I then completed the florish by tinting the left over crystal flourishes with a red Sharpie (you can use Copic markers for this too) and attached it just above my stitched flourish (see this months 'How did they do that?' thread at the MCS forums for a more details set of instructions....this tip thread is posted around th 10th of the month).....

And finally one other kit I just dabbled with a little this month is the Album kit.  This kit has such soft pretty and subltle colours of blues/greens/browns.  I scrapped a photo of my niece (brothers daughter) when she was a baby, looking through a fence at her sister riding her horse.

Thanks so much for stopping by my blog!  For more inspiration with these kits be sure to check out the Design Team Gallery at MCS to see the beautiful work of my fellow Designers.....they really did an amazing job  with this months kits!  ~~>  Design Team Gallery

I'm often asked to list all the ingredients on my pages.  I use only the goodies supplied in the kits (with perhaps the addition of some carstock and ink) ....so I don't bother listing all the products in the kits as you can find them listed if you go to the My Creative Scrapbook homepage, click on the photo of the kit and a list will pop up with all the items in the kit with the name of each of the manufacturers.

~Gabrielle xx



Recycled Dryer Sheet Blooms ~ Tutorial!!

I had so much fun making up this layout for a Bo Bunny assignment to Recycle/Re-use.   For my project I decided to make embellishments using recyled dryer sheets!!  They come out looking so sheer and pretty...and the nice part is that you can tint them whatever colors will work well for the papers you want to use.  Here are the 'ingredients' you'll need to make these:
~ used dryer sheets (yes! go ahead and use them for your laundry first!)
~ Glimmer Mist in any shades you'd like your blooms to be
~ Stickles or any type of glitter glue
~ scissors and glue or adhesive tape
~ Gems or Trinkets for the centers (I used Bo Bunny Jewels and Trinkets fromt the Timepiece collection)

Step 1
~ Layer your dryer sheets and cut out circles in varying sizes from large to small.  I made 4 circle, each just a little smaller than the other.   You don't have to be very exacting with cutting your circles, just take a pair of scissors and cut.  The circles do not have to be perfect, in fact I think they come out nicer if they are not perfect.

Step 2
~ Spritz your circles with some Glimmer Mist....you can use Tattered Angels or make up your own, (I've made my own using a small spray bottle filled with a little distilled water, a few drops of alcohol ink and a pinch of Perfect Pearls (or Pearlex) mica powder).   Allow them to dry.  You can speed up this process by just dabbing them with a paper towel to remove excess moisture.

Step 3
~ Rim each circle with some glitter glue.  Allow it to dry before stacking the layers together.  I applied a little bit of two-sided sticky tape between the layers and added the Bo Bunny Jewels and Trinkets to the center.  Here are the finished blooms close-up....

I made up this page using the new Bo Bunny collection called Timpiece! Love this collection...just filled with wonderful vintage elements and lots of flourishes!  I also embellished with the fabulous Dusty Attic Laser cuts....for this page I used the new hinges and one of the ornate corner brackets.  I gave the hing an embossed look by painting some 3D paint (thickly) onto the hinge and then taking a swirly stamp and pushing it into the wet paint....here is a close-up look at the finish....

For the corner bracket I simply rubbed some brown chalk ink onto the design and touched it with some Distress Stickles by Tim Holtz....it gives the piece a kind of 'rusted' look.....

For more recycling product ideas check out the Bo Bunny blog for today and for more Dusty Attic inspiration check out the Dusty Attic Ning site.  Hope you give these fun blooms a try!

I've added another type of flower I made with the dryer sheets .....Here's a pic of them....

The pink blooms I again made from recycled dryer sheets. Again, super easy to do....just put a few drops of alcohol ink (I used Time Holtz Pink Sherbert for these blooms) or some food coloring in a small cup of water. Dunk your used dryer sheets in the mixture and just blot off on a paper towel..


TIP: IF you find the dryer sheet a bit to wrinkled to use nicely for your bloom and don't want to pull out your ironing board and iron a quick way I smooth out my swatches is to us my hair flattening iron. I just give it a quick smooth with the flattening iron and the piece is ready to work with (also helps dry it quicker too)

....so the next step is to cut some strips from the swatch and gather the two long edges using a needle & thread (I use about 2 and a half strips for the large flower). My daughter made me the flower centers using some bling from the Bo Bunny's Buttons & Bling packages and some seed beads.
~Gabrielle xxx

Dusty Attic Blog Prize WINNER!! & Webster's Pages SHOPPING SPREE!!

Hi everyone,

I just did my draw at Random.org for the winner of the amazing Dusty Attic goodies! Thanks for the overwhelming response by all of you!! Here is the number that got pulled up from Random.org (I've copied and pasted the results below...sorry don't know how to do a screen capture :) .....

True Random Number Generator
Min: 1
Max: 293
Result:
278
Powered by RANDOM.ORG

The post is by Tiffany!! Here is her comment "Love all your work Gabrielle and have been following for a while. Fun seeing your take now on the Webster's PAges. Thanks for the chance to win!"

CONGRATS TIFFANY!!  Tiffany please send me your mailing address to gpollacco@aol.com  ..thank you! ........Okay....hope you all have kept reading on....because, don't dispair!! The Dusty Attic Design Team girls will be doing more and more giveaways. The next person in line is Mandy ....Jump on over to Iris's Blog, and Mandys Blog for another chance to win! Yay!

KEEP READING......MORE EXCITING NEWS!!!! WHO DOESN'T LOVE A SHOPPING SPREE?!!!! A WEBSTER'S PAGES SPREE!!!

The wonderfully generous owner of Webster's Pages Brandin O'Neill has launched a new schedule for her Websters Pages blog posts. Each day of the week will be dedicated to an inspiring subject, ranging from featured work from you the members of the Webster's Pages Inspire Me site to sharing work from the design team.....and finally culminating in FREEBIE FRIDAY!!! This is a day that Brandin will be featuring different Webster's Pages products and offering AWESOME GIVEAWAYS!! This week she is offereing a $25.00 Shopping Spree....check out her blog for details!! Here ~~> Webster's Pages Blog What products would you choose if you won? *sigh!* ...so many lovely things to choose from!

Here is a layout I just finished using the beautiful new collection 'Trendsetter'. This month's Featured Artist is Sarah Mulllinax.....the Design Team was asked to lift one of Sarah's lovely layouts....below is my take on her layout called Splash....

I am just in love with those delicate and pretty Princess Petals!! Check out Sarah's layouts and the lifts the rest of the Design Team made up at this link Featured Artist   Just a little more Webster's info! Every month one member of the Websters Pages Design Team will be hosting a challenge. This month Gerry Van Gent will be hosting it. To find the monthly challenge just click on the Webster's Pages Challenge Icon to take you there ....you can find the icon in the right column of my blog! And for you digi Scrappers there will also be a monthly Digi Challenge! This month it is being hosted by Julie Walton.

So come out to join us in loads of inspiring fun and amazing prizes!!

~Gabrielle xx

My Creative Scrapbook Guest Design Team Call!!!

Remember I said a few days ago that I have some news to share?   Well here it is!!......

OK, Just because so many of you have asked so many times…


My Creative Scrapbook is happy to announce:

Our First Ever Public Guest Design Team Call

The call is open from February 15, 2011 through March 16, 2011.

We will announce the new Guest Design Team on our blog and in our forum on April 5, 2011.

We are looking to fill spots for Guest Design Team positions but hint, hint, we have chosen our permanent DT members from our past Guest DT members.

Within these positions we are looking for skills in creating layouts, mini albums, cards, altered items and sketches.

We would like to have 2 Guest designers per month and we are hoping to find enough fantastic designers to create with us for 6 months. So that means that we need 12 Guest Designers total. Once we have made our choices then we will assign each Guest Designer their month.

We want you…”if”…you are a creative, energetic, and ambitious and want to have fun creating with us.

Our Expectations of Guest Designers:

- Open communication skill.

- Consistent style and range and ability to design and showcase our kit supplies.

- Teamwork, cooperation and the ability to meet deadlines.

- Ability to create layouts, cards and altered projects on a more experienced skill level.

- Ability to teach techniques with written instructions and/or step by step photos or video.

- Photography skills to produce clear and accurate photos of your projects.

Guest Design Team Requirements:

- Active participation in our forum including the message board and galleries. (This is a must for all.)

- 3 Layouts and 1 card/altered item per kit per month.

- Step by step picture or video tutorial to share with our members in our forum on a rotating basis using a kit.

- Head up challenges for our members in our forum on a rotating basis.

- Give a tip each month from a project you created using our kit.

- Note: We ask that you “not” Design/Guest Design for another kit club while with My Creative Scrapbook but MFG teams and Online Sketch sites…etc. are fine.

What’s in it for you?

- Each month you will receive a kit packed with the latest and greatest products to create with.

- We will post your projects in our Main DT Gallery.

- We will submit your DT projects to the Manufacturers for appreciation and exposure.

- We have a drama free environment and have lots of fun.

- You will be working with a great group of friendly and talented designers that work together to inspire and uplift one another.

Please submit:

- 3 Layouts and 1 card/altered project that bests represents your style. Files should be 500 pixels.

(Please share any specialties, such as mini albums, sketches…etc.)

- Your Name

- Email address

- Address

- Phone Number

- Link to your Online Gallery

- Link to your Blog

- List of Past and Present Design Teams (list all requirements for the present teams you are on).

- We would like to know a little about you and why you would like to join us here at My Creative Scrapbook.

*You need to register in the My Creative Scrapbook forum while the call is going on if you’re not already a member. Please make your presence known in the forum in the Introduction Thread. We would like to get to know you and allow you to get to know us.

Site Link: mycreativescrapbook.com

Please send all submissions to:  mycreativescrapbook@yahoo.com

**International designers are welcome to apply**

My First Webster's Pages DT l/o & Some Dusty Attic

So I hear that my Webster's Pages awesome Design Team package has been shipped and is on it's way!!  In the mean time I thought I would play a little with some lovely pieces of Webster's that I still have in my stash.  I made this layout using the Websters Pages Hollywood Vogue collection and even mixed in one of their first collections Called Raspeberry Truffle (the Circle cut paper behind the photo).  I also gave a little bit of their awesome Digital collection a try for this one (the Peacock feather/blooms to the right of the photo is a digital image of theirs that I printed on some glossy cardstock and cut out!  You can find Webster's Digital Images HERE)  Here are a few close-up shots of the page....

I also added in a few of the newest goodies from Dusty Attic!!  I love the new Foilage Chippies (DA0506)....I just painted them a sage green color and then used a brown chalk ink on the edges to give them a little more depth.  You can find their lastest releases HERE    So many cute new things in the Winter 2011 releases!!  PSSST!!  I know so many of you say you want to get your hands on some Dusty Attic.....Keep an eye on my blog....I'm going to have a nice Blog Candy Giveaway coming up soon!!

One more project that I tried my hand at was playing with the Webster's Pages Digital Images.  Steph Devlin is hosting a challenge this month on at the new Digital Forum at Websters.....scrap something you are celebrating ....the key is to use Webster's Digital files on your project to create a Digi or Hybrid project.  You can find the challenge here ~~> Digital/Hybrid Challenge.   We're celebrating my parents wedding anniversary this month so I thought I would try my hand at making a card!  It was so much fun and really quit easy using the beautiful digi images you can find at the Websters site!  I used some Lullaby Lane,  Postcards from Paris and Ladies & Gents to make up this Card.....

I did a little bit of machine stitching on the image after I printed it to give it more texture and added some Websters Trim and some blooms.  I also printed the butterfly design directly to the card I printed off and then I printed some extra butterflies that I cut out and adhered on top of the printed images on the cards to give a more 3D effect......

 Thanks so much for stopping by and checking out my latest little projects!  I've got lot's of exciting news and giveaways to share with you all this month so pop back in.....you'll be happy you did! **wink, wink** (how's that for a teaser! lol!)

~Gabrielle xx

Whimsical & Romantic February Kits ~ My Creative Scrapbook!

I have to admit I am a big fan of whimsical papers that allow for lot's of fussy cutting and the papers in the Limited Edition Kit for February from My Creative Scrapbook totally fit the bill!!  I was totally in my element with these Graphic45 papers and the embellishments in this kit are awesome too!  Loads of Prima blooms and floral vines, vintage style buttons, lace and yep! my favourite green vine ribbon too!   For the above layout of my little great niece Kiera I did a bit of machine stitching and some fussy cutting.

TIP:  When doing machine stitching, don't feel that you have to attach the paper you are stitching to the one beneath it.  For both of the papers I machine stitched above I just sewed on the one piece of paper and then adhered it to the one beneath with some 2-sided sticky tape.  This way you don't have to worry about the paper slipping while you are sewing.

Here are a couple of close-up pic's of the above page....

For the next l/o I made using this pretty kit I went with the aqua tones/papers.  I love the variety of looks you can get with this collection.  The photo is of Meagan my youngest daughter, that child is still all about whimsy, love that about her.....

There is a wonderful pearl flourish included in the kit, I mixed it up with the variety of blooms also found in the kit and did a little fussy cutting of one of the floral papers to make the floral design.  Here are a couple of close-up pic's of the page...

TIP:  After I cut out the little fairy shapes I like to adhere them with foam pop dots so that they stand off the page a little and then touch it here and there with some Stickles.  If you don't want to invest in a bunch of different Stickles colours, just pick up a bottle of the plain glitter type like 'Star Dust' or Diamond.  When you used them they take on the colors of the paper beneath them so they always seem like a new color.

A Third layout I made with this kit I went with the coral and sage greens in the kit.  I love the way Pam pairs a variety of patterned papers to make up her kits.  The green Pink Paislee paper was a nice compliment to this collection. 

Adding lot's of machine stitching and some fabric elements like lace and the pearly buttons (all found in the kit), helps give this page a more vintage appeal.  Here is a close-up detail shot of the page....

This kit was so packed I couldn't resist making a 3rd l/o with it.  This is a photo I took of Meagan when we were out on one of our 'feed the ducks' outings. 

TIP:  Don't throw away the paper backing to your chipboard adhesives.  I did double duty with the vine flourish chipboard in the kit by first using it on the layout called 'Explore' then I used it on the l/o above as a mask....here are some pic's to show how I created the mask effect on the l/o above...all you need is a little chalk ink and a white gel pen (sorry about the yellow glow on the photos, I took the pic's indoors)....

And then I still had so many fun paper designs and embellishments left that I went ahead and made 3 cards too!  I rarely ever make cards but these were so easy peasy because of the pop-out pieces in the kit.....

Another romantic and beautiful kit I got to work with this month was the Main Kit.  If you are a fan of pink/blacks/greys you'll love this one!  I loved the sweet embellishments that came with this one....the sugared roses...just love them!  I recently found some very rare photos of my mom and dads wedding day.  They were so very young when they came to Canada from Germany, my mom was only 19 when she got married.  The photos are somewhat blurry and poor quality but I still cherish them....

There's loads of bling and blooms in this kit and some fun fabric elements like the black Tulle that I used to frame the blooms in this layout.  Here is a  close-up detail of the page....

The second l/o I made with this kit was for another wedding picture from my parents. (It's their anniversary this month so I'm so thrilled to put these pages together for them)......

I created the larger bloom in the layout above by rubbon the floral rubon (in the kit) onto a piece of the black Tulle and cut it out.  I layered it over some water distressed cardstock petals and more layers of Tulle and then finally added a large gem (also in the kit) to the center. The Gem I tinted with some Tim Holtz Alcohol ink (Pink Sherbert).

A third layout I made with the Main kit is of my little niece Kiera (a little older in this photo).  There are some really fun lace rub-on accents in this kit that I used on this page.

And finally a 3rd kit I got to work with this month (Album Kit) is dear to my heart because it features the Bo Bunny Collection 'Crazy Love'!  Here is the first l/o I made with this kit....

I needed a couple of butterflies for this l/o since the picture is one of Meagan with a real live butterfly on her hand when we went to visit a butterfly conservatory.

TIP: I made the butterflies by first cutting out a butterfly shape with a pair of scissors and then tinting the center with some yellow chalk ink (Colorbox 'Wheat' color) I added a few details with a fine tip brown pen (Martha Stewart) and finished with some Platinum color Stickles (see above pic's).....
And finally I made one more l/o with the Album kit, I snagged a couple of photos of Pam's (the owner of MCS) sweet little grandbaby Maeve....

The pinkish roses in this l/o were handmade using the 6 Petal Punch Technique (you can find it in the right column of my blog under the Tutorials).  I finally found me some Diamond Dust at Michaels and did a little sugaring on the roses (just put a dab of adhesive on the petals and dunk them in the Diamond Dust).

Whew!!  All done with this post!....and believe me this post took me crazy long to do....I tried the new uploading system from blogger and it gave me all sorts of problems!  I think I'll just go back to the old way!  I'm having problems alligning all my pic's and text.    Thanks to all of you for stopping by and reading through this HUGE post again :)   I always appreciate your kind comments and hope to stop by your blogs to catch up too!

~Gabrielle xx

Bo Bunny Lift the Design Team!!

Although we tend to make up our own creations when making up a page, sometimes it's fun to do a scraplift isn't it!  A few of the Bo Bunny design team girls were asked to scraplift a project from one of their fellow designers.  I chose to scraplift the stylish page of Mahlin Wiggur's called 'Organize'.  I loved her way of using inks and how she stitches over her page elements.   The page above is kind of a joke page.  Everyone who knows me, know how much I love my blooms for scrap pages.  When my scrapfriends ask me what I do with all the blooms I get, I jokingly tell them I scatter them on my bed and roll in them (kinda like people do when they win a huge amount of money).   So I took this kind of fun photo to make up this l/o.   Here is the page I scraplifted from Mahlin....

I used about 5 different Bo Bunny collections to make up this layout.  Here is a list of the BB products I used:  Patterned Paper: Noel Holiday Die Cut, Paradise Locals, Learning Curve Cut Outs, Crush Flirt, Crush Darling, Crazy Love Fudge and Flowers, Noel Rejoice.  Crazy Love Combo Stickers (title), Crazy Love Noteworthy, Pink Parfait Petals, Midnight Frost Clear Stamps (script stamp).  Bo Bunny Buttons & Bling.  Other extra's on the page are some Zva Crystal flourishes (pink) and some Prima blooms.  Here are a few close-ups of  my page.....

 


 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
TIP:  When machine stitching on your page, don't glue down any of your page elements until you've decided where you are going to stitch.  Page adhesive and sewing machines are not friends.  Once you decide where you want to place your page elements, add a small amount of sticky tape behind the element where you will not be stitching.
 
Thanks everyone for all the wonderful comments you've been leaving at my blog site.  I read each and everyone of them ....even on blog hop days!  They really mean a lot to me!  Remember,  Websters Pages will be announcing the winner of the blog hop today at the Inspire Me site!
 
Thanks!!
 
~Gabrielle xx