Happiness Is Dance

Recently Two Peas in a Bucket celebrated Pea1's birthday with a challenge to create a layout inspired by one in Kristina's gallery. Here's Kristina's layout:

And here's mine:

I loved how Kristina built her page with strips of patterned paper that stretched two thirds of the way across the page. I tried to duplicate her layout in a 12x12 format with the beautiful papers and stickers from Pink Paislee's Bayberry collection.

I don't know why "c" in dance looks like it has a different pattern but here's a close-up to prove that the letters are all the same!

In addition to the chipboard letters, I layered tags for the title. Then I used a K & Company rub-on to ground it.

I used Jenni Bowlin butterflies and some bling to create a sense of movement along the page.

Supplies:

Card Stock: American Crafts
Patterned Paper, Clear Sticker. and Die Cut Tags: Pink Paislee (Bayberry Cottage)Wood Alphas: Pink Paislee (Blackberry)
Rub-On: K & Company
Embelishments: Prima rhinestones, Jenni Bowlin butterflies
Punch: Martha Stewart (Double Loops)
Pen: Signo Gel (white)

6 Things

School starts in less than one week, so I thought I would post a layout I recently created using Melissa's 6th grade school picture. When Melissa started middle school last year, her teacher had each student create a flower using six prompts. Each petal of the flower answered a question. I loved that the answers to these questions encapsulated who she was at that moment in time so I thought I would create a layout based on these six facts about Melissa. Here it is:

Journaling reads: In the future, i would like to ... be a teacher. My favorite possession is ... my iPod. In my spare time, I like to ... dance. I worry about ... dying. My favorite place is ... the beach. My pet peeve is ... when people are sick. I have to admit that I laughed out loud when I read that last little tidbit of information about my daughter.

For this layout, I dug through my stash and used papers from Basic Greys' Lily Kate collection which I've had for over a year. I created lots of texture by fussy cutting and popping some of the flowers as well as adding silver gems to the patterned paper designs. I used my new Martha Stewart Modern Garland punch to create even more texture. I love how the tone-on-tone punching looks.

I used my Cricut to create the title. Because I wanted the title to have the dimension of chipboard, I cut out two sets of letters and stacked them before adhering them to the layout. I popped the "6" on foam dimensionals and outlined it with faux stitching for added emphasis. I carried this faux stitching around the purple block to anchor it to the page. Using a flower from the patterned paper to dot the "i" adds a little touch of whimsy.

Supplies

Patterned Paper: Basic Grey (Lily Kate)

Embellishments: Cosmo Cricket ribbon (Fleuriste); Prima Glazed Brad (Sasha); Recollections Metal stickers

Tools: Cricut cartridge (Calligraphy); Martha Steward Punch (Modern Garland)

Pen: Signo White Gel Pen

Turning the Calendar Page

August has come and gone without one single blog post from me. What can I say? August was a crazy month. In addition to vacation, getting Mark ready for camp and back-to-school shopping, the month started off with great sadness. My father-in-law passed away on August 3rd after a long illness. Although we were preparing ourselves for the worse, I've learned that you are never quite prepared when the time comes. There is great comfort in knowing that he is no longer suffering and is at peace. I'm looking forward to scrapping a page about him real soon.

Vive la France

Anyone who knows me knows that my sister, Diane, is a Francophile. Diane loves all things French and probably has more French stamps on her passport than I have pairs of shoes. That's why when, a week before her birthday, I saw this paper...

...I knew I had to buy it. Here's the card I created:

I used both the A and B side of the paper as well as a dot from another paper for the front of my card. To get the Eiffel Tower perfectly centered in my die, I taped the Spellbinder's Nestability to the paper before running it through the Cuttlebug. I used black embossing powder for an understated sentiment on my focal point image. I really wanted this card to be all about the patterned paper! After putting all of the garnet-colored gems onto the scalloped oval, I used foam dimensionals to adhere it to the card.

Here's a look at the inside of the card:

Happy birthday, Diane. Or should I say, "Joyeux Anniversaire!" Hope this glimpse of Paris holds you over until your next trip!

Supplies:

Cardstock : Papertrey Ink

Patterned Paper: Graphic 45

Stamps: Papertrey Ink (happy birthday sentiment from Delightful Dahlia); Hero Arts (Enjoy the Moments)

Ink: VersaMark

Embossing Powder: Ranger (black)

Tools: Fiskars punch (Scallop Sentiment); EK Success punch (Double Embossed Dotted Lace); Spellbinders Nestabilities (Petite Oval --Small, Petite Classic Oval -- Large)

Ribbon: EK Success Adornments (yellow)

Bling: Recollections

Intrepid

Just nine days to go until my annual trip to the Creating Keepsakes Convention in Valley Forge. To make room for all of the new goodies I plan to buy, I've been trying to use my stash more. The layout I am sharing today, uses the Basic Grey's Boxer collection which I bought at my first CKC in 2008. I was actually planning to buy Pink Paislee's new Starlight collection for these pictures but I felt a little guilty about buying a red, white and blue collection when I had this one in my closet. So here's my layout:

The kraft background paper is from Jillibean Soup. (I bought it at Scrapbook Expo in 2009.) JS makes the warmest color kraft papers. I must remember to pick some more up next week. The only piece of new paper on this layout is the white ledger paper from Basic Grey's Basics collection.

I have been wanting to create a banner for a scrapbook page for a while now and I thought that this layout finally gave me the perfect opportunity since the banner would mimic the flags on the ship. I cut the triangles for my banner using the George and Basic Shapes Cricut cartridge. At first, I made all eight triangles using a one-inch cut but some of my letters (notably the "n" and the "d") wouldn't fit. To remedy the situation, I cut four more triangles using a 1.25-inch cut and alternated big and small triangles on my banner.

For added interest, I popped a star on the sticker embellishment. I also used the scraps from my star-punched border to decorate the page.

I didn't journal on this page because I don't remember all of the details of this day in August 2001. What I do remember is how we had planned to go to the World Trade Center later in the day but by the time we finished up at the Intrepid, everyone was tired so we decided to wait for another day. Sadly that day never came. I'm not sure whether or not I should journal this. (If I do, it will be handwritten journaling on the white ledge strip.) What do you think?

Supplies:
Patterned Paper: Basic Grey (Boxer, Basics); Jillibean Soup (Cup of Yak)
Stickers: Basic Grey (Boxer)
Tools: Fiskars Border Punch (Scallop); Martha Stewart Border Punch (Stars); Cricut Cartridge (George and Basic Shapes)
Stamps: Papertrey Ink (numbers from For the Graduate)
Ink: Stampin' Up! (Night of Navy)

Adventure in the Everglades

Today, I have a hybrid layout to share. I made it using a digital collage that I created on Riteaid.com. While I found the site a little more difficult to navigate than Shutterfly or Snapfish, I thought the collage mode was great since it allowed me move pictures around once the original collage was made. It was printed on Fuji paper and the quality is good. The cost was $2.99 which I thought was reasonable. I got it for free with a coupon which is even better! Anyway, here's my layout:

Since the photos were all together on one 8x10-inch collage, the rest of the page came together pretty quickly. I tore the edges of my patterned paper strips to make them look more natural and fit in with the theme of the page. After adhering those to the background paper, I affixed my collage. Photo corners in the upper and lower right-hand corners keep the collage mat grounded. Because there was a lot of white -- or in this case blue -- space in the lower corner, I stamped some greenery and dragonflies using Hero Arts stamps.

For added emphasis, I cut out two dragonflies and popped them on the page. I ran my title across the bottom photos for added interest. I've always wanted to do this but never had the right photos.

Journaling reads: The thrilling fan boat tour of the Florida Everglades was a highlight of our trip to Marco Island. Skimming the surface of the water as we raced through mangrove creeks was just like a scene out of CSI Miami!

Supplies:
Patterned Paper: Pink Paislee (Captivating); Basic Grey (Mellow); My Mind's Eye (Quite Contrary); Making Memories (Passport)
Stamps: Hero Arts (Real Flowers; Antique Engraving; Trees, Birds & Messages)
Ink: Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Shabby Shutters, Walnut Stain)
Letters: American Crafts Thickers (Rocketeer/Leaf)
Canvas Embellishment: Making Memories (Passport)

A Passion for Purple

I am not much of a purple person. Plum, maybe. Eggplant, definitely yes. But lilac, lavender and plain old purple have never been my thing. However, like most girls her age, Melissa has a passion for purple. So when it came to making a birthday card, I reluctantly pulled out my purple inks and began stamping. Here's my card:

Using Papertrey Ink's Dot Spot stamp, I inked the stamp with the lighter purple. Then, I "kissed" the edges of the stamp with the darker purple and stamped. I love how the two colors mixed where they met on the stamp and created a third purple. Here's a close-up:

I stamped my sentiment using Papertrey Ink's Fillable Frames. I just love this concept. To finish off the card, I added a little bling to the center of the spots and the corners of the sentiment.

So as I'm seeing some sneak peaks of products from the upcoming CHA, I'm noticing a LOT of purple. Who knew I'd be ahead of the trend. I only hope there's some plum and eggplant in the new lines!

Supplies:

Card Stock: Papertrey Ink (White)

Stamps: Papertrey Ink (Dot Spot; Fillable Frames #1)

Inks: Stampin' UP! (Orchid Opulence; Lovely Lilac)

Bling: Recollections

Tools: EK Success (Corner Rounder)

Fibers: DMC Floss