I Just Couldn't Resist

As soon as I received this Hero Arts Poppy Background stamp as part of my Fresh Face Winner shopping spree, I knew I couldn't resist trying my hand at the embossed resist technique that I have seen so many designers do.

To create my stamped image, I started with a piece of plain card stock and distressed the edges lightly with Scattered Straw Distress Ink. Next, I inked up my Old Letter Writing stamp with some brown ink and stamped the text background. Since the Background Poppy stamp highlights the negative part of the image, I inked it with Versa Mark ink and then used clear embossing powder. Now came the fun part! I just kept blending the blue and green distress ink onto the card until the flowers were the color I wanted. After wiping the image with a dry tissue to remove the ink from the embossed image, I sprayed the entire image with a mixture of Perfect Pearls and water. This last step gave my image a nice pearlized shine. Here is a closer look:

See how the Perfect Pearls makes the card shimmer!

Jennifer McGuire has a great video tutorial on this technique posted her blog. You can see it here: http://jennifermcguireink.typepad.com/my_weblog/2010/02/cool-links-for-ya-tonight--lovin-this-first-layout.html.

Supplies

Card Stock: Stampin' Up!

Patterned Paper: K & Company (Brenda Walton)

Stamps: Hero Arts (Poppy Background; Old Letter Writing; Scroll Frames & Messages)

Ink: Ranger Archival Ink (Coffee); Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Broken China, Shabby Shutters, Scattered Straw); Versa Mark

Tools: Stampin' Up! punch (Scapllop)

Embelishments: Cosmo Cricket ribbon (Fleuriste); Making Memories button (Vintage); Recollections Pearls

Misc.: Ranger Perfect Pearls; Stamp 'N Stuff Embossing Powder (Detail Clear)

#1 Fan

As a latecomer to the scrapbooking hobby, I know that I will never be able to scrap all of my pictures. Therefore, I am always looking for ways to combine more than one story on one layout. Recently, I came across a picture from Mark's first baseball game and I immediately thought to juxtapose it with one from a more recent game. Instead of creating a layout about going to two individual games, I decided to tell a story about what these games had in common -- the concession stand. Here's my layout:

The journaling reads: From your very first baseball game in the Summer of 2000 to your first game in the new Yankee Stadium, you have always been a Yankee fan just like Dad. But I think you love the concession stand more than watching the game. In just 9 innings, you can eat a hot dog, pretzel, popcorn, peanuts and ice cream. No matter what the score is at the end of the game, you always come home the winner!

The inspiration for this layout came from a beautiful layout titled "how" which I saw on the talented Stephanie Howell's blog. You can see my inspiration here: http://stephaniehowell.typepad.com/my_weblog/2010/01/bakers-dozen.html. When I saw the layout featured again as Studio Calico's Sunday sketch (http://studiocalico.blogspot.com/2010/02/sunday-sketch_28.html), I knew I had to give it a try.

You may notice that I've been using a lot of different patterned papers on my layouts lately. Thanks to my friend Lissette, I've been challenging myself to use as many different patterns on one layout as possible. I love how this transforms the page and uses up some of my stash! In this layout, I used five different patterns from five different manufacturers! Since I wanted to journal right on the page, I used a Cosmo Cricket ledger print for my top layer. Since the original was a little more yellow than I wanted it, I whitewashed it with white ink and finished of the edge with the notebook punch. The chipboard embellishments came from a K & Company set that I got on clearance last summer. The colors were just perfect with that spice-colored background. What a happy accident! I made the inaugural season embellishment by cutting the image from the computer-printed ticket and covering it with Glossy Accents. i used two journaling stickers as accents. The one on top of the store gave me a spot to add a rub-on. The other one grounds the chipboard accent in the title. A little faux stitching around the star and lines drawn around the page were the finishing touches.

Supplies
Card Stock: American Crafts

Patterned Paper: Little Yellow Bicycle Traveler (spice); Basic Grey Boxer (zig zag); Cosmos Cricket The Boyfriend (ledger); and Bo Bunny Back to Basics (navy)

Embellishments: American Crafts Thickers; K & Company (Wild Saffron); October Afternoon jouraling stickers (Cherry Hill); and 7 Gypsies rub-ons (Calais Fortunes)

Tools: Stampin' Up punch (Spiral); EK Success (Corner Rounder); Cricut (George and Basic Shapes); Glossy Accents

Pen: Stampin' Up!

Snow Predictable!

Ever since Melissa was a little girl, the first thing she would do when she went out to play in the snow was slide down the snow-covered slide. Since she is outgrowing the slide, I thought I would capture the moment from the December 2009 snowstorm in a layout. Here it is:

This is my first attempt at a hybrid layout if you don't count the journaling I have done on the computer in the past. I used snapfish.com to create the photo collage. Easy peasy! Well at least that part was. The time I saved on laying out the photos was spent on creating the background paper. I created several snowflakes masks using my Cricut, affixed them to the page with temporary adhesive and then sprayed the page with Glimmer Mist. I let the mist dry before removing them and Voila!... custom background paper. Here's a close-up of the paper:

To add a touch of whimsy to the page I swapped out the "o" in snow for a snowflake. You'll also notice that I took advantage of some of the white space in my pictures to place the title and draw the eye across the page. Three scalloped borders anchor the photo collage.

Supplies:

Card Stock: American Crafts

Patterned Paper: Stampin' Up!

Ink: Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist (Frost)

Die Cuts masks: Cricut (Winter Woodland)

Chipboard Letters: Heidi Swapp

Embelishments: Me and My Big Ideas

Bling: Recollections