Housewarming card and tag for Gina's Designs

Hi and happy September,folks! I have to admit that time has been flying by so quickly that I still haven't quite figured out what happened to May and June yet, and now autumn is on the way.

While I'm experiencing the "empty nest" right now and feeling a little lost, I'm also excited that my very best friend is going to be moving into a new "nest" in a couple weeks, and rather than 45 minutes away from me, she will be only about 3 minutes away! That makes me a happy little birdie, so I made this card and gift tag for her to celebrate the occasion:

I used the beautiful Blue Fern Studios' "Frolic" paper collection which inspired me with the bird theme, and the sweet chipboard frames and flourish from Gina's set them off perfectly. I painted the pieces with light tan acrylic paint, then dry-brushed them lightly with blue and black to coordinate with the papers. Super-simple, but I was happy with the effect!

Thanks so much for stopping by, and may your autumn-and your nest-be blessed!

Gina's Items Used
Scribble Frame-Birds
Delicate Frames & Ornaments Shape Set

Other Items Used
Blue Fern Papers
Prima resin birdhouse

spanish moss

acrylic paint
Martha Stewart punch

layout and altered organizer for Scraps of Elegance

hi! I've been so enjoying playing with my August DT kit, "Mallika's Whimsy". that I missed a blog post, so I thought I'd share my two latest projects now!

I created a layout with lots of stencilling and fussy-cutting-there were lovely frames printed on one of the papers, and I cut them out then flipped them over to the pink side to create my frame collage.

 I used some of the gorgeous Prima flowers included in the kit, inked the edges of my frames and other elements,and popped some of them up with foam tape.

A little Mister Huey's Cameo mist and frayed cheesecloth completed the look.

My other project started out as a little plastic dollar store desk organizer:

 I cut papers to fit, distressed and inked the edges, and added bits of random stencilling with Prima stencils and homemade texture paste.

The tulle,flowers,paper bow and fussy-cut butterflies were just the dimension the top of the organizer needed,and I think it looks much better on the shelf in my scrap room now! Thanks so much for stopping by and checking out my latest creations! Have a wonderful weekend:)

Catch your Dreams canvas for Gina's Designs

hi crafty people! This week I decided to create a mixed media canvas with a quote from a sheet of Kaisercraft Be-YOU-tiful paper and lots of awesome Gina's goodies, as well as a few metal bits from my stash.

 After figuring out where I wanted everything and adding the strenciling,I primed the canvas and all the pieces with gesso, then glued them on. I then painted the entire project with gold acrylic paint before adding several different colours of mist. Some I dried between colours and others I didn't, to create a marbled effect is some spots.I also dabbed at some areas with a wad of paper towel to create a mottled effect and remove larger spots of mist. To define the edges a bit more, I dry brushed the pieces with black acrylic paint.

After everything was dry, I slid the quote into place (I had glued only the top of the arrow one side of the flowers, and only part of the key so this would be possible). I had a great time putting this together and getting messy with the mist and paint was so mcch fun! Have yourself a terrific weekend and be sure to find time to get messy!

Gina's Items Used

Balloons-Birthday Shape Set

Cardstock Doily Set 1

Wooden Decorative Keys

Texture Sheet Flourished

Other Items Used

Kaisercraft Be-YOU-tiful paper

gold and black acrylic paints

misc spray mists

Tim Holtz metal arrow

Prima metal shape

Prima and Crafter's Workshop stencils

Lily-a layout for Gina's Designs and the Robin's Nest

When I saw the warm orange tones in these lovely papers from The Robin's Nest, my very first thought was autumn, but I'm really not quite ready to think about that yet, as I'm still really really enjoying summer. My second thought, though, was my beautiful calico kitty, Lily (short for Princess Tiger Lily) who has a wonderful mix of orange tones in her markings.

I loved that the two sheets of paper were identical except for the shade, so I layered them where the patterns would line up closely, after tearing, distressing and inking the edges (with layers of Ranger ink in Spiced Marmalade and Gathered Twigs)

I wanted to use the Deco Lattice Panel as a frame, but since I didn't want to cover up the gorgeous lattice, I cut it out and used pieces of it as embellishments peeking out from the layers of paper. The frame was painted with acrylics then a design stamped with Versamark ink was added with clear embossing powder. The lattice pieces were painted, then entirely embossed in a clear finish

The cats were painted with acrylics, then rubbed with 3 shades of metallic Gelatos for a "calico" sort of effect-I love these cute kitty shapes!

Stenciling with homemade texture paste , some random strips of punchwork and a few cute flowers just about finished the page...then I added a few Dew Drops from The Robin's Nest and-voila-all done! They're so much fun and come in an amazing variety of colours, along with Dew Dew Glue, which are tiny little adhesive dots made especially for these itty-bitty embellishments.

Thanks heaps for stopping by today; have a wonderful week and I hope you find some time to create!

Gina's Products Used

Deco Lattice Panel 1

Cats shape set

Robin's Nest Products Used

Honeycomb Fleur cardstock

Dew Drops

Dew Dew Glue

fun with Scraps of Elegance

hi! I just got my gorgeous August DT kit from Scraps of Elegance last week and have been enjoying it so much! My first project was a layout with photos taken at Niagara Falls the September before last; I thought the blues and greens in these papers set them off perfectly.

I used homemade texture paste for the stenciling, a little Silks paint for the splashes of bright green (the chipboard was also painted with Silks in Iridescent Green after being primed with blue-white acrylic paint.) I used microbeads on the foam title letters and also added them randomly in little patches on the page.

My second project is an altered birdhouse. I picked it up at Dollarama  ages ago intending to use one of my kits on it, and this one was just perfect with fresh colours and the bird motifs on some of the paper.

I punched scalloped strips for the roof pieces and fussy-cut the birds and butterflies. A little inking, stenciling and die-cutting (leaves) were all I needed to finish the main structure before adding Spanish moss and a few flowers. I have a row of birdhouses above the bay window in my dining room, and this one will fit in perfectly!

Thanks so much for stopping by; I'll be putting at least a couple more projects together with this gorgeous kit, so be sure to visit again! :)

Elegant Chic Trim Organizer for Gina's Designs

Even though I'm not exactly the most organized person in the world in a lot of ways, I LOVE organizers!! Lynne here with my version of the trim organizer from Gina's store; my scraproom is painted pale grey, so these FabScraps papers were perfect for this project.

After assembling the box (which is delightfully easy!) and papering it all, I sanded the edges, then inked them with Ranger distress ink in Weathered Wood. After adding a strip of lace and the word tag, I painted the Feathery Flourishes and the wooden beads (which were used for feet) with acrylic paint and attached them, then finished the project with strands of clear iridescent pearls.

The cards were papered and inked with the same products, then I had fun filling them with some gorgeous laces and trims from my stash (which incidentally freed up a drawer for more chippies! yay me!)

I kept the decoration of my organizer fairly simple, but the sky's the limit! You could use any papers or mediums to cover it, and you could add all sorts of different embellishments to create any look you want; I hope you stop by Gina's store to have a look at this and other great organizers! Have a terrific week!

Gina's Products Used

Trim Organizer

Feathery Flourishes set

Other Products Used

FabScraps papers

Ranger ink-weathered wood

Wooden beads

acrylic paint

pearl strands

Cute As A Button-for Gina's Designs

hi there! Can you believe it's August already? I'm still trying to figure out what happened to May and June! Time sure does fly, and this page sure illustrates that-I created a layout of my son Graham's first portrait sitting....and this "little guy" is 23 years old now!

Since the lovely Prima Epiphany paper I chose had edge details, I kept my design fairly simple, keeping the focus on the photo and the chipboard accents. I did some script stencilling on the background in white for added texture. The title piece, was painted black, then heat embossed in black with a grid-patterned design.                       I then brushed it lightly with Iridescent green Silks.

As soon as I saw the Buttons shape set, I thought they'd be perfect for banners. I dry-embossed them with  plaid-patterned and flourish-patterned embossing folders, then painted them with acrylic paints in muted colours that echoed shades in the paper. I rubbed black ink over top to make the patterns stand out a bit more, then brushed on the same green Silks as I used on the title piece. They were popped up with foam dots for dimension

While I enjoy creating card, canvases and altered art projects, scrapbooking is my first love-it means a lot to preserve memories of times that pass all too quickly...have a wonderful week and make a memory or two or three!