I'm This Month's Guest Designer at Scraps of Elegance!!

I was so delighted when I received my guest design team package from Scraps of Elegance Kit Club for the month of June!  This kit was packed with gorgeous papers (2 of each! love that!) and so many beautiful and fun embellishments and mixed media elements as well!   

 

For my first project with this kit I made this layout of one of my daughters (Chloe) and her BFF Peyton.  I made it according to the sketch design for June.  The sketch is made by their talented sketch designer Suepup!  Here is a copy of her lovely sketch (below) 

I love the way SOE combines many different paper collections (there are 3 in this kit) and has them all matching perfectly!  Sometimes it's not easy to match pink tones, but each paper is a perfect compliment to the other in this kit!  I love the Prima blooms in this kit, so I combined these with some fussy cut flowers in the Websters Pages papers.  I added a couple of Dusty Attic chipboard pieces to finish off the page (an ornate frame and a corner vine).  For the frame, I painted the whole thing white, then gave the edges some soft distressing with some brown chalk ink and then used a pearly white 3D paint (Scribbles, found in the Tshirt section at Michaels) to give the frame a resin look.

Don't you just love these shabby-chic little tags in this kit?  They come blank so that you can add any design that you like to them.  For this page I just cut out a small rose design from one of the patterned papers and glued it to the tag.  You can use stamps and rub-on's as well to decorate these tags! 

Here's a close-up of the Dusty Attic vine corner I added tot he page.  For this I kept it really simple and just used a green ink pad to tint the piece, a super easy way to color an very intricate chipboard design.

There is also a package of these cute cute music note paper clips from Prima's Lyric collection in the kit.  I dressed up mine with a couple of adhesive gems.

For my second project I used this really cool Crafter's Workshop mask that was in the kit.  It has a fan shape with a vine/flourish design.  This combined with the awesome Lindy's Stamp Gang Starburst spray (also in the kit) inspired me to create a mixed media style page!  I began my design by first doing some random stamping on the page with some script/text stamps from my stash (Bo Bunny background stamps, 7Gypsies Distress Stamps).  I then did some random spritzing with the Lindy's spray (around the area of my photo placement) and added a little bit of Donna Salazar Mixed Media Distress Ink (Honey). 

I then took the Crafters Workshop mask and using the home-made texture paste recipe (you can find the recipe in the side column of my blog under tutorials), I applied the paste to the mask, allowing bits of my stampwork to show through underneath.  I added a bit more spray and ink with the paste dried. 

In the photo above you can see how I used a rub-on to add a coordinating design to the Tim Holtz tag from the hit.  There is also some really fun color chipboard in the kit, I love the polka dot arrow design in the chipboard collection included in the kit! (the title is a sticker from my stash - Heidi Swapp). 

I added a couple of chipboard pieces from my own stash as well.  The circle frame is Dusty Attic as is the vine/flourish....the flourish is acutally a corner flourish that I cut to suit my page design.  I again ust inked the piece with green ink and edged with a chocolate brown.  I then used Dusty Attic Gloss Medium to add a glossy texture...I applied it randomly rather than in one smooth finish.

 

And finally I made this page using one of the pretty patterned papers in the kit from Prima.  My husband and I celebrated our 33 wedding anniversary last week and I wanted to save the beautiful cards I got from my girls and my dear husband, so I made up this page, with a pocket on the back inwhich I could keep the cards.

There are some cute butterflies in this kit from the awesome and talented Renea Bouquet (Renea Harrison) in this kit!  I used one of her butterflies and the actual packaging (the black flourish design above the photo) to decorate the page. 

I used a used a small chipboard accent from Dusty attic to underscore the photo (again, just painted white, edged with brown chalk ink and finished with Dusty Attic Crackle Medium)

 

If you would like to get your hands on this gorgeous June Kit, you can find more information on the kit HERE.  I know you'll enjoy it as much as I have!

 

Bo Bunny's Little Secret is.......!

 

What do you need?  Well, a little of this and that…but the most important thing…you must LOVE BoBunny products.  If you love to scrapbook and create, can work with monthly assignments, are easy to get along with, and LOVE BoBunny products...then please apply!

Here’s what you need to do:

1.  Create two layouts, two cards and one item of your choice using 75% BoBunny products.  The item of your   choice can be an altered item, mini book, home décor or mixed media.  Be true to your own style, we are looking for a variety of styles on our team.

2.  Let us know if you have a blog and the address.
3.  Are you active on any forums or social media? If so, which ones?

4.  Do you have an online gallery? If so, please share the link(s).

5.  Are you currently on any other design teams? If so, which ones?

6.  Have you been published?  Are you open to submitting your work?
 

After you complete the above requirements, send it to bobuunyauditions@gmail.com 

by Midnight on June 16^th, MST.  Please keep the image sizes under 1mb each.  

We hope to announce the new team by Thursday, August 1^st.

 

Now that you know what you need to do, here’s what we do for our design team members:

1.   Designers will serve a period of at least one year on the team.

2.   Designers are compensated generously with BoBunny products.

3.   Designers receive compensation for published work in print publications, catalog work and other requested projects.
 

If you have any questions at all, please do not hesitate to ask!

We look forward to seeing your submissions!

 

Making a DIY Bird Nest Embellishment {With Bo Bunny}

Last month our family was invited by a friend to join in a photo contest/party they were throwing, we were given 6 photo catagories to enter our photos into, one of which was 'Words'. I saw this cute idea of using shoe laces to create a word on Pinterest, so we made our own 'Family' photo using the laces from our running shoes (and the girls even coaxed our puppy to add her paw to the family photo (top left corner :)

 

I used the new midseason release by Bo Bunny called Anthem to make up this page, mixed with a little bit of C'est La Vie.  The zippers are all Dusty Attic chipboard pieces (I didn't even have to cut up old jeans for this one lol!).  Here are a few close-ups of the page elements.... 

 

I made this little birds nest design using a little burlap, hemp/twine and some Bo Bunny adhesive pearls.  Here is an easy little step by step on how to make this nature embellishment....

 

DIY Birds Nest Embellishment 

NOTE: I used Tombo liquid adhesive here, you just apply it to the burlap and let it begin to dry and get tacky, when it starts to get clear you can add the next step without getting your fingers covered in a lot of wet glue. 

Add Bo Bunny Adhesive pearls as 'eggs' and your nest is ready to apply to your page as an embellishment.

Supplies:
Patterned Paper - Anthem (Celebration, Nation), C'est La Vie (Panache)
Cardstock - Island Mist Dot (matting and for butterfly)
Jewels - Prairie Chic, Blitzen
Trinkets - C'est La Vie
Brads - Welcome Home
Blossoms - Denim Blue Zinnia
Other - Hemp twine, burlap, texture paste & mask

 

We had so much fun taking the photos for this contest, ....don't even ask what we did for the catagory 'Fire'!  Let's just say that 2 nights before the photo's were due we were out on our sidewalk with a bottle of nailpolish remover, matches and a camera!  Here are a couple of the shots we came up with...

Hope you give the birds nest embellishment a try, it's eays to do! xo

Bo Bunny Has a Secret!! {Can You Guess It??}

Have you seen today's Bo Bunny blog?  They put up a litte teaser!  There is some exciting news coming soon!.....Can you guess?  My lips are sealed but I know you guys will be excited to hear this news, be sure to check in again on May 31st! :) :)

Scrapping a Favorite Photo with Maja! {PLUS Corset Template!}

Hello, it's Gabrielle here with you today! I recently took this photo of my girls (Chloe, Meagan and Chloe's best friend Peyton) at a festival we took the girls to.  It's not always easy to get at photo where everyone is co-operating, so I was thrilled to get this one of the 3 of them.  I had actually started out this project as a card!  I wanted to do a corset design, but once I had the corset done, it occurred to me that I would like to use it as an accent on a page instead.  I made the corset by first drawing out a design on a piece of white paper.  I know not everyone is comfortable with sketching a design so I have posted my sketch/template below, I made it to fit easily on one of the 6x6 inch patterned papers that are one of the sizes offered by Maja Design.  Just set your printer for 6x6 and print directly onto you patterned paper, or you can just print it on white paper and cut out and trace onto patterned paper (this is a good method for when you have scrap bits of paper you want to use up!) 

Here are some quick and easy steps in creating this corset design.  First print off  the corset design above.

Trace out template onto your choice of patterned paper (I used the '7th of May-bs' of Vintage Spring Basics for my design).  I cut a small groove into the top and bottom of the corset so that when I lace it up it looks like two seperate pieces lining up (you don't want to seperate the two pieces entirely as this makes it harder to to the lacing up).  Then Ink all the edges with a complimentary ink color (I used Tim Holtz Victorian Velvet).

Do some machine stitching on the piece, zig-zag along top and bottom edges and straight stitch on marked lines to resemble boning on the corset. (see above)

I use a thick gage needle with a large eyehole to pre-punch the holes for the corset lacing.  Just cross-stitch an 'X' pattern and tie off at the top.  Adhere blooms, lace along edges and add pearl accents as desired to finish up your corset design.  Here are some close-up peeks at the rest of the page....

I really like combining intricately cut chipboard pieces with my Maja Design papers, I think the detailed looking chipboard works so well with the vintage style of Maja designs.  For my piece above I added extra detailing by using some 3D pearl paint (Scribbles) in white, to add even more texture to the design.

Above is another close-up view of the handmade corset embellishment.  I added a little tuft of netting/cheescloth to create a skirt design under the corset.  Add some lace and buttons to complete the vintage look!

Supplies:

  Patterned Paper - Vintage Spring Basics (1st of May, 7th of May-bs, 4th of May, 4th of May-bs, 10th of March, 6th of May). 

Chipboard - Dusty Attic Designs (Baroque Corners, Corrugated card).

Lace paper doily. 

Circle Frame and Dress form stand - Pink Paislee Artisans Collection.

Flowers and Flourishes -  Prima, Dusty Attic.

Alphabet Stickers - Websters Pages Designs (Beautiful collection).

Other: Loose Buttons, Lace.

 

I hope you enjoyed my project for today and hope you will give my template a try!  It can be used on tags and cards as well!

Making Roses with Translucent Vellum!

Hi there!  A couple weeks back I shared with you my projects made with the ScrapThat! May Anniversary kit and I mentioned that I would be sharing a little tutorial with you all, a little step by step on how I made these vellum roses (pictured above) with the sheet of translucent vellum in the May ScrapThat! kit!  I always love to find unique items to work with in a kit and when I saw the sheet of vellum, I knew I had to make something fun with it!

 

Step 1:  I began by cutting out a small section of the vellum and running it through my Quickutz Revolution machine using the Spellbinders "Spiral Blossom #1" die cut. 

 

This is what the cut vellum will look like when you pull it out of the die (above)

Step 2:   I took a little make-up sponge and dabbed some Tim Holtz "Victorian Velvet" Distress Ink on the petals (you can use any color ink you like, I just used an aged pink color to suit my layout).  I just worked the ink from the flat edge up.....you want it to fade out slightly, it doesn't have to be a perfect fade, when it use rolled up the effect will be just fine.

Step 3:  Finally the last thing you should do before rolling it all up is to lightly curl the tips of the petals with your finger tips, the vellum will hold the shape.  Now you just begin rolling up the whole thing working from the outside of the spiral in.   See, the sort of rounded center of the spiral?  This is your base for the flower.  I just gave this a good coating of Tombow liquid adhesive.  This stuff is great!  You just wait for it to turn clear (it starts out white)....when it's clear, it has a nice strong tackiness.  So when you roll up your bloom just press the whole design down onto the glue patch at the end.  Hold it for about a minute to insure a good hold.    You may need to crinkle the sections between the petals to get a nice shape to your bloom, I ended up with a little pleat in between each petal.   Now just add the leaves in the kit and decorate with some of the sweet little pearl swirls and  you have yourself a great little embellishment!

 

Here are the blooms on the finished layout...

 



Country Life {With Dusty Attic}

 As soon as I saw this cute 'Rustic Farm Fence' chippie from Dusty Attic I knew I had found the perfect centerpiece design to build around this photo of my oldest daughter Chloe and her best friend Peyton with her horse.  There are so many fun country/rustic chipboard designs, from wood birdhouses, wagon wheels, tall grasses, birds nests, and I added a big Leafy Scroll in the top left corner. 

I began by giving all of my chipboard a good coat of Gesso.  I like to do this so that all the paint colors or inks I hit them with will show up nicely.  For the above Leafy Scroll I used some watered down Dusty Attic Paints in Pesto and Mountain Meadow on the leafy area. 

I just love the little Dusty Attic Birdhouses!  Here I just painted it white and rubbed some brown chalk ink (Colorbox, chestnut) on the edges.  I have a Tombow brown ink pen that I used to stroke on some lines to give the birdhouse an aged cracked look. 

For the fence I painted it with Dusty Attic 'Bisque' paint and then dry brushed some DA Hot Chocolate, Storm Cloud and Pesto, to give a weathered wood look to the fence.  Storm Cloud was used for the barb wire, and Hot Chocolate on the cross sections to give a rusted look.  I then added some Bronze Distress Stickles on the barb wire to get a textured rust look.  Below is my supplies list

 

Supplies: 

Dusty in Color:  Bisque, Hot Chocolate, Mountain Meadow, Pesto, Navajo White, Storm Cloud.

Dusty Attic Supplies:

~ Rustic Farm Fence

~ Leafy Scroll

~ Bird Houses

~ Wagon Wheels

~ Grass Cluster #1

~ Bird Nests #1

~ Dusty In Bloom (Leaves)

Other: Patterned Paper- Prima (Sun Kissed), Burlap, Websters Pages Alpha stickers.

 

Hope you enjoyed my project and that you'll give some of the beautiful rustic/country chippies a try! xo 

I'll Love You Forever {Maja Design Mood Board Inspiration}

Today I'm sharing a layout I made inspired by the  Maja Design May Mood Board.   I chose the soft greens in the Mood Board (shown below) and let the words like 'checkered table cloth', 'green', 'scent of grass', 'fabric', 'white' and 'flowers' be my inspirational words.  The title of this layout comes from one of my favourite childrens books that I used to read to my girls called "I'll Love You Forever" by Robert Munsch, a well known Canadian author.  It's one of those sweet books that is a challenge to read without getting teary eyed. 

 

 

I used a variety of papers from the "Life in the Country Collection to make my little heart designs.  I really like the little 6x6 paper pad for making little designs like these if I don't have little scraps from my 12x12 papers to work with.

Funny how sometimes some designs just create themselves: I had machine stitched each of the heart designs, planning to cut off the excess threads but when I placed them down on the page to see what order I'd put them in I realized I liked the look of the threads hanging there like that, looking like soft little streamers hanging from the blooms!

 

I chose to go with a monochromatic color scheme for this page, so all the embellishments and blooms I picked were in the fresh white or soft green color spectrum.  I wanted to keep the page soft and delicate so I picked some very intricate pieces of chipboard to pair up with the embellishments from from Dusty Attic.  I finished the design with tiny cut butterflies from the "Vintage Spring Basic's" collection.

Supplies: Patterned Paper: Life In the Country (Summer Fields-bs, Sowing Seeds-bs, Kitchen Garden, Kitchen Garden-bs, In the Hammock, In the Hammock-bs), Vintage Spring Basics (6th of May, 7th of April-bs).  Rub-on's: Basic Grey Flourishes.  Chipboard: Dusty Attic Designs (Vine Border, Ornate Arched WIndows, Cameo Ribbon Slides and Decorative Frame #1).  Flowers: Dusty Attic (Dusty In Bloom, Grassy Knoll, Dusty Leaves), White blooms (Michael's bargain bin).  Cameo: Websters Pages.  Other: Burlap, twine, lace. Alpha's: Websters Pages Storytellers.

 

There is so much inspiration to be had from the Mood Board!  I loved the fresh and pretty summery colors, berry reds, grass greens and bright whites.  I used these colors and the sweet poem and inspirational words to create the card below...

Again, I used a variety of papers from the "Life in the Country" collection and layered them on for this card.  I wanted to incorporate a berry design on the page and even went to the trouble of looking for berry elements or stickers at my local craft store....but couldn't find a thing!  So when I got home I started digging through a jar of odds and ends that I have and found these two glass drops! Perfect to make cherries!

 

I hope you give this fun May Mood Board a try!  For full details on the Mood Board Challenge you can find it here at the Maja Blog!  And don't forget to check out all the other designs our talented design team girls came up with for this board! xo