Cambria

Made this layout for Week Three of Club Scrap's PSL challenge. Kits used are Boardwalk and Concrete Jungle. The challenge was to use two colors. I chose red and blue. The cut file was from Ashley Horton through Big Picture Classes.  Thanks for taking a look.

By The Seashore

Made this layout for the Technique Challenge over at Club Scrap. We were asked to make handmade embellishments for our scrapbook page. I used new Scribble dies, Starfish and Sand Dollar Quickutz dies as well as old chipboard seashells and tiny seashells from the Club Scrap Castaway kit. The sketch is based the Jack of Hearts card from the Assembly Line Scrapbooking Idea Deck. Overall I'm pleased with the results.  Photos taken at Nye Beach in Oregon.

Saint Francis

Made this layout for a challenge at Club Scrap to use a technique to make the appearance of a faux patina on your layout. Since I did this exact thing on my St. Francis statue last summer, I thought those photos would be the perfect choice for this challenge. I actually think I did a better job on St. Francis but here's the result on my layout. I used black embossing paste through the Adobe stencil and then applied turquoise and copper paint over the dried embossing paste. It sorta works. I used the 5 of Spades sketch from the Idea Deck for the layout. Papers from Refresh the Soul and Common Threads kits. Thanks for looking.

Stained Glass Technique

The Technique Challenge this month over at Club Scrap is to create a stained glass look. I made this circular element a few months ago with Colorburst and finally got around to adding it to a card. Once it was dry, I used an embossing folder to create the design and then inked it with archival black ink. I loved the results. Thanks for stopping by.

Happy Belated Birthday

Just posting this Club Scrap challenge card in order to enter into Club Scrap's February Technique Challenge Linky Party. Made using blue painters tape as a stamp to create the stripes. Cupcake from 50's Kitchen stencil. Colored using Zig Clean Color pens. Thanks for stopping by.

Love Knot Wedding Layouts

Two wedding layouts created from Club Scrap's Love Knot collection. The designs on these papers suggest you can color them in to match the wedding colors you are scrapping. In my case, for my sister's wedding, I used green to go with the Celtic theme of the wedding. For the second layout depicting Mallory's wedding in the Southwest, I used a kind of coral orange-y color to mimic the flowers in the bridesmaids' bouquets. It's a great kit to use for wedding photos. I am also posting these layouts in the Club Scrap PSL for Week Two (fibers) and Week Three (metal)(using metallic paper for the Celtic symbols). Thanks for dropping by for the Love Knot Linky Party.

Club Scrap Crewel & Unusual Blog Hop

Layout created with the Club Scrap kit Crewel & Unusual for the February Blog Hop. Photos taken Thanksgiving 2014. Sketch found on Paper Issues. Also submitted for Week Three of PSL at Club Scrap using the metal heart tag on the journaling card. Die cuts made with dies from Technique Tuesday. Thanks for stopping by.

Let's Celebrate

Layout created with Club Scrap's Celebrate Lite kit, using templates from Kiwi Lane. Photos depict the Mallory and family celebrating New Year's Eve in Paris after a day at Versailles. What a holiday!!!

Club Scrap Watercolor Christmas Blog Hop

I have resurrected my blog to take part in a Club Scrap blog hop featuring their 2015 Holiday kit called Watercolor Christmas. This gorgeous kit was created with artwork by Swarup Murthy whom I have been following for several years. Please take some time to visit her blog The Storyteller. Her watercolor artwork is exquisite. I can only hope to try to do it justice with my cards and layouts using this kit. For more information about the artist and Club Scrap, please read the blog post written by Tricia Morris.

You may be hopping in from the blog of Debby Hernandez. If not, be sure to step backwards and see what she has prepared for us.

After I agreed to join in, I thought I must be crazy. I don't make elaborate projects with my kits. All I do is make cards and layouts. And this month, with the December Daily project going on, all I could eke out was three cards using the digi components. I want to save every scrap of my kit for layouts. The source for all images was the digi kit. Cardstock is from past Club Scrap kits such as Evergreen, Raku, etc. All old POPs I am desperately trying to use.

The first card uses the tree-shaped greeting which I adore. I used a few filters in Photoshop to change it up a bit from a simple stamped image. Decorated with Stickles which are my go to embellishment. And die cut a star from sparkly paper to top the tree.

My second card features the fabulous cardinal image created by Swarup. I printed the digital stamp on watercolor paper using a very pale image and then did my own coloring with Zig Clean Color pens and Inktense watercolor pencils. I was overjoyed with the result. Having no artistic talent of my own, I was thrilled to create something which actually looked like a created it. Sorry, Swarup. Although I have been a California girl for forty years, I started out my life as a Kentucky girl, I simply had to own this cardinal. I realize it is a standard holiday motif, but for me, the representation of a cardinal goes much deeper. I used a Sizzix die to create the corners from gold paper (an excellent suggestion from my hubby when I showed the in-progress card to him for approval). This is one of those rare occasions when I am tickled with a card I created.

My final card uses that oh-too-cute snowman. Again, I started with a faint inkjet image and then (a la Tricia) I used Intense watercolor pencils to color him up. Since I had finished all the Christmas cards I needed (or wanted) to make, I decided to send this card in the new year. There are snowmen in January, right? Again, Frosty's panel was decorated with Stickles to give the impression of falling snow. The panel behind him is the plaid from the kit. Again, digi.

Thanks so much for hopping along with us. Please travel on to see another California girl Lisa Dolezal. She always makes beautiful things. If you have gotten lost along the way, you can always go back to the beginning at the Club Scrap blog and follow the yellow brick road. Happy Holidays and have a grand 2016.

Benicia Road Trip

Working on Week Ten of Hello Story. This week we were challenged to use the 5 W's as our story structure. Back to the basics in journalism. My layout is another direct copy of Ali's sample. Stamps are from Club Scrap's Road Trip (gifted by Squirrel Nancy). Paper is from DCWV Seaworthy stack. The shapes provided by Ali in this wonderful class were cut on my Silhouette. The photos were taken in Benicia earlier this year on a little day trip with hubby. I've lived here 39 years and had never visited one of the early capitals of California.  I'm cheating a bit but the journal notes are on the opposite side which will be a pocket page. Thanks for looking.

Boondocks

Back to scrapping the 2013 trip to South Dakota. Mom and I stumbled onto this Roadside America find quite by accident on our way to Deadwood. The smell of grease permeated the air inside the diner so we chose not to eat there but we did enjoy looking at all the artifacts. I used Cruisin', the old diner standby from Club Scrap. Always thinking outside the box. Snort!!! The stamps and dies are from the Going Places set from Technique Tuesday's Memory Keepers Studio.

An Enchanted Evening

I was so disappointed about an error I made in the Photoshop preparation of this digi/hybrid layout that I became blocked about finishing it and posting it. I didn't want to fix it and spent another couple of bucks at Costco to repair it so I am posting it as is. Let me know if you see my mistake. Insane I know, but these little things (mistakes) in my scrapbooks make me crazy. I'm such a perfectionist.

So I created the template in Photoshop. Used Club Scrap Tribal paper for the background and cut the shapes on my Silhouette. The Hello Story lesson in Week 5 is Mathematics. Ali's layout used plus signs to link a series of photos. I pretty much copied her design directly but her layout seems much more impressive. Oh, well......it's done. On to the next one.

Thanks for dropping by. I also used this layout for the monthly scrapbook sketch over at Paperartistsonline.

Happy Birthday, Sherry

I was on a roll with these water colored cats so I made two cards, just to give her Dad a choice as to which one to send to his daughter. I think he chose the other one. This one is actually my favorite. Same techniques. Same stamps. Same papers, as my post last Tuesday. This one follows the May sketch for Paperartistsonline. Thanks for looking.

Cambria

This is the title page for the section covering our recent trip to Cambria. I am still plugging away at my Hello Story class. For Week 3, Ali gave us these cool arrows in our digital element package. I really like the results although my dear hubby pointed out to me (once the layout was completed) that the two solo photos of us should have been on the same side, pointing at the photo of us together. Oh, well, it's done and I'm still happy with it. Club Scrap paper. Office supply metal-rimmed tags and gold Hardcover Thickers are my only embellishments. Thanks for looking.

Kooky Kats

It's that time of year to make a birthday card for my step-daughter. She is a confirmed Cat Lady so it was a MUST to use cat stamps. I used this same set from Gourmet Rubber Stamps last year for her birthday card, but I did use them in a totally different way so I hope it's all right to repeat the set. My dear friends Nancy and Farley are both taking the current Onlinecardclass featuring watercolor techniques. I couldn't be left out in the cold so I did my best to replicate what they are learning in their class, based upon their samples, and those of others around the Internet. Nothing new under the sun, just a reminder of all the various techniques available to rubber stampers. On the cats, I used a combination of Inktense pencils and Gelatos. The background was done with Ranger Distress Inks. Cardstock from Club Scrap. I used my old Hexagon punch from Creative Memories. Ever the multi-tasker, this card is being posted for the weekly sketch  at Operation Write Home. This one is #224. They used squares but I'm going with the hex look. Thanks for dropping in.

Hello Story - Newport

The next timeline from Ali Edwards and Hello Story is a circular pie chart. I am really loving this design and will be using it again and again. This one will be the opening page for a trip hubby and I took to Newport, Oregon, last August. A little bit of journaling telling about each day's highlights. I shamelessly copied Ali's technique of cutting sections of each pie slice and raising it. Doesn't show much in the photos but I think it's fab. All supplies are Club Scrap except for arrow stamps from Close to My Heart and letter stamps and brads from my stash. Thanks for looking.

Lexi 'n Me

Still working in Week One of Hello Story with Ali Edwards at Big Picture Classes. The topic is Timelines. For this one, I decided to do a layout showing photos of my niece, Lexi and me during our infrequent visits. I used the Papillon kit from Club Scrap and two Embosslits from Stampin' Up for the butterflies and hearts. The word stamps are from various sets, mostly The Stamps of Life. The arrows are from Close to My Heart. I'm very pleased with how this turned out and I thank Ali for her inspiration. Although Ali's sample was done on white and kraft giving a very crisp look. I will use that in the future for another story. But my goal this month, in keeping with my motif self-assignment, was to use my stash and "winged things." The locations have been blurred to protect the innocent. Thanks for looking.

Blue Bell Lodge

Another South Dakota layout. This one shows Blue Bell Lodge in Custer State Park. It had such a rustic old-timey feel. I loved everything about it. The kit used was Lodge from Club Scrap. No particular sketch. Just wanted to get the photos down and maximize the beautiful design on the paper. Title is computer generated and embellished with a Lodge stamp along with a dragonfly brad. This month I'm doing "things with wings" so I used a dragonfly. I'm not really much for embellishing. One little brad is enough for me. Thanks for stopping in.

Hanblecheyapi

Multi-tasking once again. It is past time for me to post the April scrapbook sketch over at Paperartistsonline. I realized I could use this layout I finished last night so I dug up the sketch and posted it. After the fact. Is that cheating?

Also, I used die cuts from The Stamps of Life so I will be posting it over there for the monthly challenge. The Crazy Daisy dies were colored with gelatos to simulate a stained glass look. 

Again I used gelatos with Club Scrap's Tilescapes stamps to create a bit of texture on the plain blue paper. All papers are from Club Scrap, the same kit. 

The photos were taken at Our Lady of the Sioux in Chamberlain, South Dakota. I was a bit excited to see a stained glass of Kateri Tekakwitha whose biography I read as a child back at Corpus Christi. I thought the Tilescapes paper and stamps worked well with the images. Very daring of me, I handwrote my own journaling. I really don't like to do that but I'm forcing myself to do it. To put a bit of me on my pages. I assume in twenty years, I will say, hey, my handwriting was good back then. Thanks for looking.

Take Another Shot

I loved all of the neon signs in Rapid City so, of course, I had to photograph them. Now that I'm posting, I realize I didn't create any notes describing where these signs are located. So I'll have to get on that. But the layout is essentially finished. I used the Club Scrap Get The Picture kit along with some photography stickers from my stash. And another wood veneer camera from my stash. Perhaps I should copy Shimelle and place a camera on every one of these South Dakota layouts. Perhaps I already have? I should check that. Anyway, I ramble on. Thanks for stopping by.