Photos of Christmas at St. Joe’s

This layout was created with two challenges in mind. One was the Christmas challenge over at A Cherry on Top. I also chose to use Graphic 45 as the main manufacturer. Being a G45 junkie I have plenty, and what you see here are only scrap pieces!

I picked this sketch (#180) from Sketch ~ N ~ Scrap. It all came together so well. I have these two photos left over from my 2017 Christmas photos and had figured I just wouldn’t ever get any thing done with them. Until these challenges!

My paper pieces are too big. My photos wouldn’t cut down any more for me. My title got out of hand. But – you should be able to see my inspiration using the sketch. I sponged all the paper edges with a ColorBox ink pad, ‘cocoa’, and it was old. It was still inky but the pad was ever so crumbly. I got those crumbs all over the place. As soon as I was sure I didn’t have anymore edges to ink, that pad went into the trash. Titles was cut with Cricut Explore Air and the sub title strip on the G45 sticker was cut right out of an old bulletin.

Some HB Photos from May 2014

I developed photos from Greg’s birthday cake and ice cream celebration and used the Honey Comb stencil by Lea France to create this layout.

This was a fun way to fit so many photos on a page without it feeling too cluttered.  I first pasted the cut out photos on to a sheet of SU black cardstock – has a firm weight so it works the best. – then hand cut around the shape leaving a slight border.  The base paper is Graphic 45.  I went for a collage look for the embellishments from paper cuts, stamping, punches, and some washi tape.  Nothing blingy.  I let the title be the “H’ and “B” on the banner punched out pieces, even have eyelets.  I stuck the 3 and 9 in there from a TH pad for fun – you know how everyone says they are “39” instead of their real age right?  I journaled that “Remember you’re as old as me for the next 6 months. Haha”.  When I first showed this initial design without the collaged embellishments, Kris said it looked like a flower.  I said it will look more like a celebration with a cake – or that’s what I was hoping for.

He looks happy.  That is what matters.  Happy birthday Greg.  And you’re not 39!  But that’s okay.

Three Cards to Honor Kim

The Queen for the Day Challenge 207 at SplitcoastStampers honors Kim this week.  I love her gallery and have CASE’d 3 of her cards today.

Here is the first card I used for inspiration: “Praying for a Friend”

I dug into my scrap bins, except for the Garden Green card. I black embossed the hands on a patterned piece, mounted it, then added it to a piece of Sahara Sand with the sentiment from SU’s Praying for You set.  The green rhinestones are from Pizzaz a Plenty.

Next up is Kim’s “Warm Wishes”

For this card I embossed the Graphic 45 panel with SU’s chevron folder and rubbed a Dew Drop ink pad over it.  The stamps are Stampin’ Up sets – Morning Cup and Pursuit of Happiness.  The panels (very vanilla and chocolate chip) are cut with SU’s Labels Collection die set.  I made a flag out of a scrap of SU’s striped ribbon, added the postage stamp piece with staples.  The postage stamp is actually the back side of the base panel from G45 that I cut out from underneath the main image panel.  This sentiment reflects what I have come to realize in the recent past few months.  It seems like “happiness” was forever to be elusive for me until I came to grips with the concept of living in the now.  I had to let go of the past, refuse to worry about the future, and then accept the reality of there being happiness in the present.  It is working, although when I catch myself sliding I have to remind myself  to just “be in the now and be happy”.  Part of my problem has been that I can’t change the past, going over it and over it in my head will not, ever, change it.  I read something in a book by Eckhart Tolle about over thinking life and how destructive that can be – and it was for me.  I can be an obsessive thinker!  So, to find some quite moments where I don’t think has turned out to be much more rewarding.  Actually, the muse is more likely to speak to us “artists” in those quiet moments too, btw.

Finally, I was happy to use Kim’s “Starfruit Sketch” to create my Happy card.

Kim used a sentiment that I really like – “A friend is someone who strengths you with prayers, blesses you with love, and encourages you with hope” but on my way to find that stamp set I decided I wanted a card that could be sent for a casual reason of just saying “hello”.  I went through a few trials before before I settled on the elements of this card.  I inked the embossed back and didn’t like so much contrast with the papers I definitely wanted to use.  So I flipped it over.  My reds aren’t real matchy matchy but it still works for me – from the scrap bin, mind you.  My sentiment is from Su’s Lots of Thoughts set.  All the papers, punch, embosslit, and ribbon are SU.  The embossing folder is Cuddlebug.  Notice the butterflies and the little fussy-cut flower? The are the back side of the back floral dsp.  I want to spontaneously send cards to loved ones and friends, not just for special occasions.  This will be a good card for that, and it’s bright and cheery.

Hope my cards have found favor with you and maybe offered a bit of inspiration.  Thanks for stopping by, I would love to hear from you if you have the time to comment.

Latest Two Scrapbook Pages to Share

With the newly formed partnership with my daughter’s decision to become a Stampin’ Up! demonstrator I have been busy thinking and planning the workshops to come.  I love setting this all up, the designing and figuring out what to demo, etc.  Kristy is the social guru and is totally awesome at talking to people and getting them involved and excited about the craft.  So, next Sunday we have an open house to announce the start of a card ministry we plan to create for our church.  I hope to reveal some good and compelling reasons for folks to want to learn to personally make cards that they will want to attend future workshops and hopefully some of them will also become hooked, as we did, when were were first introduced at our church in Virginia Beach way back when.

With all this going on I have managed to create some scrapbook layouts.  My time as a Design Team member with Let’s Scrap has come to an end so I am not under the gun to get pages completed. 

I actually used a Let’s Scrap sketch and a challenge from the site for this page.  The challenge was to use 1 pp, 1 solid cs, spritz, 6 eyelets, letters. The background is Graphic 45. Solid is unknown-way old and poor quality, but it suited the purpose here. Here is the LS sketch:

I used a sewing machine to make the circle on the square so I could use a 4 x 6 photo.  I used the 2 1/2 inch punch for the 3 circle photos.  Oh, forgot, had to use rub-ons. They were all the rage at one time, I never became a fan, so I still had some I could use for this challenge.  The centers of the white flowers have a stamped and punched little bitty flower and it is all put together with an eyelet.  I’m still a fan of eyelets.  There are a few scattered littles as well.  I added one die cut stem and the stamped (Stampibilites) journaling spot. The sprays are a Tattered Angels Leather something and a spray from Glimmer Mist in gold. The Tattered Angels never did spray right so I had to put some in another little mister bottle in order to use it.  It is so much easier to just use a little SU reinker in a bottle when I need a spray but I wanted to try to use up some of the bad stuff too.  The title is stamped with the Morning Post set, I got the letters I little too light, but it still matches the color of the G45 paper. Just some cute picks of when the feathered girls were still quite young.

Now this was a fun page to do.  The photos were taken when we went to meet Kara in Kissimmee the end of July.  We had a stroll around the little tourist area of Old Town and came across this spook house, but it wasn’t open.  Still, it was fun to take some fun photos of Kris fooling around.  She isn’t lying down in the bottom photo, btw.  The patterned sheet is an old piece from a retired SU Halloween pack.  I used the SU distress tool for the first time and love it, so much easier than anything I’ve been using.  The house is heat embossed with black powder on vellum and is from the new Best of 25 Set.  The shoes and the hat I popped up on Kris’ photo are from the Wicked Cool set.  I didn’t think of adding the shoes and hat until after the photos were glued down or I would have moved the vertical photo a bit further down.  Oh well, must make do and make a mental note to plan better before pasting down next time.  The skull, white embossed on vellum, is from a Smeared Ink stamp set Quoth the Raven.  The washi tape is SU’s new holiday tape too.  The swirles are double cut in gray and black from a Tim Holtz Elegant Flourishes die.  I overlapped them slightly and the dimension works better irl, not so much in the photo here.  Kristy suggested the white dots with the Signo pen – yep, that adds just the right amount of interest to make the flourishes noticeable.

I invite you all to visit our website and look for some “wicked cool” deals!  Check out our blog posts, and keep coming back as I make more of them to share ideas.  When you are on the right website it will have my daughter’s name KristyLee Deyette up top.  If it doesn’t, just search for her as a demonstrator in Florida.  You should be able to find her ok.

Thanks for stopping by!

Have a sweet and crafty day, hugs Joyce

Surprise at StampFest Orlando

The crowd was tight.  I could not see over anyone’s head.  These women were not budging an inch.  Waiting for someone to kindly move out to allow someone else a chance to see wasn’t on any of these women’s agenda.  All I could do was hold my camera up high and over as much as my little short arms could reach and snap.

Here is the layout from some of those pictures.   Oh, and yes, the bag Kristy is holding was signed by Tim!

I had a fun time creating as much little extras as I could for these pages.  First I used a

Let’s Scrap sketch,  and worked out the DT Challenge from Michelle to make my own music sheet paper, which I printed off the computer, placed in a pan, and poured strong tea over it.  I then stamped it with a background stamp or two. The golden flowers I made by twisting a strip of taffeta and pasting it down on a circle of cs.

Supplies:  Paper – Glitz, Authentique, G45, Recollections, DCWV, solid cs by SU, matted with Fox River confetti sand.

Stamps – Tim Holtz, Inkadinkadoo, Stampin’ Up!.   Inks – TH, SU!

TH Iron Gate die cut. SU! cog, ticket, circle punches. Various craft tape. Fiskars circle  template & cutter.

Song title is by Herman’s Hermits and was cut with Cricut.

Country Girls Layout with Graphic 45

This layout went “live” today at Let’s Scrap as a DT sample.

I created my layout from this sketch:

Such a gorgeous collection of patterns in this set from Graphic 45, it really makes me happy to look at it.  The solid is Cherry Cobbler from Stampin’ Up!.  I cut the title words on my Cricut, the titles under the individual photos are computer generated and punched with SU punch.  The little charm (bottom right) was stamped, colored and punched with a new tool that automatically centers the clear cover.  Kris add the hole and ring so I could tie on the sheer ribbon (SU).  I have added some sparklely embellishment Kris bought at the Scrapbook Expo, doesn’t show much with the detailed and busy pattern, but irl it looks pretty good.

Hope you will think it pretty too.  If you read yesterday’s post, you will see an error, but this was already finished, uploaded to Let’s Scrap as part of my Design Team duty.

Two for SCS VSN

I did two challenges last night for the Splitcoast Virtual Stamp Night.  It is such a fun event with new challenges going up all the time over the weekend.  Yesterday was spent going to a craft show and a huge rummage sale at the local mega-church.  Kris and I found some fun things for sure.

The first challenge was to use a trellis and flowers.

A player may only spend 45 minutes or less on the making of a card.  I knew I wanted to use my Stampin’ Up die, which I had never used before.  I decided to spray some Tattered Angels heirloom gold spritz on it.  Being that I needed to get on with it, and didn’t want to paste the wet die cut down, I took it to the heat gun.  I have a piece of aluminum covered cardboard used for support and heat transfer for images.  What I didn’t know is that it had something on it, like a wax of some sort, I think.  It wasn’t until it had melted and seeped onto my piece that I realized it.  I decided it would just have to be, and called it “adding character”.  I then stamped three of the white flowers with my favorite star burst stamp, from Heartfelt Impressions, with the same summer starfruit ink as the panel; glued them down and added a clear rhinestone.  For added embellishments I added a Graphic 45 cut out and a die cut a stem from the SU Secret Garden set.  Then the stamped and punched sentiment.

The second challenge I participated in was to take my inspiration for a card from the old song “Lazy, Hazy, Crazy Days of Summer”.  I immediately thought about the woman in the boat from the Summer by the Sea SU stamp set.  I chose patterns from my scrap bin for this one, after selection a sketch to work with from the collection at the SCS site.  I stamped the green grid paper with a script from the Open Sea set.  Instead of a strip of paper or a ribbon I cut some fabric, added a Bo Bunny brad for the final panel.  The image was stamped with Timber Brown Stazon, onto watercolor paper and colored with SU watercolor pencils.

These are both nice for mailing because they are relatively flat. I don’t have anybody in mind though.  But, I will have them on hand.

My Speck of Planet Earth

That’s the theme for my DT challenge at Let’s Scrap today.  Players will have 2 weeks to post their layout in my challenge.  It’s all about scraping what is around us in the neighborhood, not just when we go on vacation or the people at home.  Here I’ve presented views of the front and back of my property.  Each of the 4 directions – front/back, east/west – were printed and pasted on the photos.  Others are just fillers to add to the feel of the area.

My dragonfly was stamped twice.  I cut an extra set of wings.

My base is Handsome Hunter.   Top strip is Stampin’ Up! and I can’t remember where the bottom strip is from. The wavy lined panel is Graphic 45.  I cut the border with a Creative Memories border punch system.  SU paper clip – I actually thought it was a house while viewing it in the box, once I got it out and handled it I realized it was an arrow – I used it anyway.

The title letters were cut with Cricut, the flower is washi tape with a SU punched flower.  More washi tape to give it a bit more embellishment since I had so little on this layout.

Perhaps someday my speck of planet earth will be populated, today it is not.

I hope you will come a scrap your speck of planet earth and share it with us.

Let’s Scrap DT Layout – Build a Coop

For my DT challenge this week I scrapped photos of me building a coop for our chickies.  I bought the kit from Tractor Supply and was very pleased with the ease of putting it together.  The company had all the screws perfectly labeled so it was easy to know which screw went where.  Then when Greg came over to help with the roof he took the last two sets of screws off the cardboard and we had to re-do some of them because we guessed wrong about which length went where.  Worked out in the end and I appreciated his help.

I did a single page this time.  The patterned papers are Graphic 45, solid card stock is Stampin’ Up.  I scored the circle I cut with my Fiskars templates and circle cutter.  I added embellishments with various punches, die cuts and stamping.

Beneath the Glass Atrium Layout

Part of the photos I took when we went to the Scrapbook Expo are here.  I still have plenty more – lol.  My BG is Graphic 45.  This was a fun challenge held at Let’s Scrap.  It was a “Build a Layout” that revealed elements over a few days.  We started with the sketch. Little by little the next requirement came one day at a time.  Use a digi stamp – my cameras.  Use fabric – flower bottom right. Something recycled – plastic under the title banner and the flower on the right of it. Use washi tape – upper left, lower right. Use metal – brad and eyelet. Use ribbon – under the title.

lest side:right side:

This layout is the product of a Let’s Scrap challenge to used scraps.  The koi were at the Gaylord Resort pond in the atrium.  The upper photo was the first photo I took with my new underwater camera.  I am so glad I had it in my purse.  I was so afraid someone from the hotel would come along and tell me to get my hands out of the water, but they didn’t.  Pretty good for a very hurried job.