Nature's Beauty

 
Just dipping my toes into the world of stencils. I recently joined the Stencilgirl Club and receive a fabulous set of stencils each month. I haven't used stencils much in my scrapping, even though I continue to buy them. What's up with that??? So I thought I would try out a stencil on this layout. I also used a new tool, received from Farley for my birthday. Tim Holtz Spritzer. I like it although it can be fiddly to use. This time I used one of my Bic Mark-it pens to create a subtle background on the white base pages. All the papers are from BoBunny's Enchanted Garden 6x6 paper pad. The sketch is from Allison Davis. The flower stamps are from Stampin' Up. The photos show our yard in the spring of this year. This first attempt has cured me of my fear of stencils and I think you will be seeing more of them on my pages. Oh, by the way, you probably can't see it, but I did use an embossing folder on both mats on each side of the layout. Thanks for stopping by.

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.

Walk on the Wild Side

Another sketch from Allison Davis and Sketch Support. I love her style. Clean and graphic. This is some paper I bought a jillion years ago by Bo-Bunny Press. Perfect for zoo pages. Mom, Lexi and I spent a very hot morning at the Folsom City Zoo and Sanctuary. This has been on my list for years as I hadn't been there since Mallory was a toddler. I would like to return to spend more time but it was just too darned hot on that June day. Thanks for looking.

Moonlight Swim

Now we're back to 2013 but no longer doing a Double Take. This sketch is from Allison Davis and her class called Sketch Support. I used papers from my a DCWV paper stack called Immortal Love which is a take on the Twilight movie series. I don't have many vampire layouts to make but I did love many of the designs and found them easy to convert to more warm-blooded layouts. The full moon, for instance. This paper works perfectly for a moonlight swim Mom, Lexi and I took at the motel after a long, hot day in the sun. Perfect.

Club Scrap June Hopes Blog Hop

Here we are again for another adventure hopping through the Blogosphere. If you are hopping along, you have joined me from Shonascraps. This month we are creating projects from the June kit called Hopes. Here's a link if you'd like to check it out. I made a layout and a card from the digi kit. All digi images were printed with my Canon inkjet printer on Bristol Smooth. 

Another layout using the Allison Davis 6x6 sketch class. I created 6x6 papers using the digi papers in the kit. Then I cut them down to 2 inch squares for this particular layout. I'm just too cheap to print anything larger than 6x6 on my home inkjet printer. I'm also not that impressed with the results of printing "paper" on that printer so I think any future digi work will be ALL digi or else using graphics only. The layout base and square embellishments were from the Rhapsody and Henna kits. I used Distress Inks to ink all of the edges. The card base was also from Rhapsody. The squares were created using my old square Creative Memories Shape Maker. And the Heart is from a Stampin' Up Embosslit.

Thank so much for coming by to see my stuff. If you want to continue on the hop, please take a leap over to visit Debby at Masculine Inspirations. If you've wandered in here while cruising down a rabbit hole in the blogosphere, head back to Club Scrap Creates were this hop starts. You don't want to miss the wonderful goodies prepared by my Club Scrap friends.

Another Sneaky Peeky

Still trying to drum up interest in the Club Scrap Blog Hop on Wednesday, June 26. Hope to see you hopping around the Blogosphere.

Blog Hop Sneak Peek

Another Club Scrap Blog Hop takes place this coming Wednesday. Been working on another layout using the Club Scrap Hopes kit and here's a little sneaky peeky for you. Hope this whets your appetite. Look forward to seeing you on Wednesday.

Club Scrap Spring Chorus Blog Hop

Here we are again on another hopping adventure through Club Scrap-land. If you are hopping along, you have joined me from Anne at Crzymom's Tidbits. Thanks for joining us. This month we are creating projects from the April kit called Spring Chorus. Here's a link if you'd like to check it out. For my first contribution, I created a layout about the goldfinches we feed in our back yard. Since we lost our Cairn terrier two years ago, these birds are our only pets. We love to watch them as they play and squabble over the thistle before and after bathing in our birdbath. 

Now for a little about the layout. My base pages were a plain white cardstock from the Destinations kit. I colored the background using the fern stencil from Spring Chorus with a homemade cocktail of  Faber Castell Gelato in green, Tim Holtz Ranger Shabby Shutters Distress Stain and Tattered Angels Garden Fairy Glimmer Mist. First I sprayed over the stencil to create an overall wash of color. Then I used the wet stencil to make another bolder impression on top of that. Not certain it is visible to those who don't know it's there, but there's a lovely shimmer to the paper. After that dried, I edged the perimeter with Ranger Shabby Shutters Distress Ink. 

In keeping with the latest trend of 6x6 paper pads for all popular paper lines, I created my own 6x6 papers using the digital Spring Chorus kit. I then assembled those pages following a sketch from an Allison Davis class at Scrapbook Generation. In addition, I used the digi graphics from Spring Chorus to make transparencies for both sides of the layout.

Lastly, I used my Silhouette to create a title using a Blackout font which I then filled in with Ranger Scattered Straw and Diamond Stickles to achieve a golden look. A bit of computer-generated journaling, a little birdie cut with the Spellbinders Nested Bird die, Distress Ink on all edges and the layout was complete.

I couldn't stop with just a layout so I also made a quick card. I used Sketch #168 from Operation Write Home to put together a greeting using digi paper and graphics from Spring Chorus along with supplies from additional Club Scrap kits: Stratosphere, Haberdashery, Evergreen and Rhapsody. All edges inked with Distress Ink, as usual.

Thanks so much for looking in here. Please leave a comment to let me know your thoughts. I hope you will continue on your merry way to the next stop on this hop to visit Debby at Masculine Inspirations. Have a crafty day!!!