Day 241: Dress Form: Embellishments Added

I added some paper flowers by Prima to the bodice of the dress form and painted them silver with a paint dauber by Ranger.  Then I sponged some of the silver color off with a crumpled up piece of tissue, revealing some of the pink from the flowers.

I also added some Tim Holtz charms to the skirt by tying them onto some of the ribbons. I used a porcelain rose (made in England) from a clip earring as an embellishment at the waist line.  The Tim Holtz angel wings fit perfectly beneath the rose.

I am really pleased with how this turned out. While it is neither a scrapbook nor a stamp project, I have been using my supplies and tools and creating. Isn't that what it's all about!?

Day 240: Dress Form: Skirt Made

I used several different ribbons and laces from my stash  (and lots of glue dots) to make the skirt for the dress form. I attached a glue dot to one end of the ribbon, then attached the glue dot to the dress form.   I continued this process until I had added ribbon all around the dress form. I cut my ribbons at various lengths to give the skirt a fun look.

Day 239: Dress Form: Painted

I recently read an article in Somerset Studio about Tim Holtz and some other artists that altered, decorated, and embellished dress forms.  I was really inspired by the article and decided if I found one, I was going to make one too.  As luck would have it, today I was at TJ Maxx and found one on clearance.  The front side was a black and white version of the British flag, but I painted the whole dress form with silver paint by Ranger.  I am letting it dry over night and will work on it more tomorrow.

Day 238: Titles for Calendar Cover Pages

Today I used a variety of coordinating stickers to add my titles to the calendars. I like to use hodge-podge alphabets because it lets me  use up stickers left over from other projects.  I sealed the calendar covers with a coat of Mod Podge, and three Christmas presents are made!

Day 237: Calendars

I am still adding photos to the blank calendars I purchased from Current Catalog.

Leftover school and birthday photos + leftover scrapbook paper = great grandparent gifts!!

Day 238: Dates to Remember Calendar

Since the calendars I purchased from Current Catalog were completely blank, I decided to write all of the family birthdays and anniversaries in the calendars.  This way, the grandparents can keep the calendar and use it from year to year to remember all those special dates. I added all the dates to the calendars tonight and   added card stock from Stampin' Up! to the front and back covers of the calendars.

Day 236: Calendars with Old Photos

I am still working on the calendars for my kids' grandparents.  I am using blank calendars purchased from Current Catalog, scrap papers from my stash, and the kids' leftover school and birthday photos to create calendars for Christmas gifts. Each one is different because I didn't always have three of the same photos to put one in each calendar. I just started using their baby pictures in January and the kids gradually get older each month.  I think the grandparents will have fun seeing the kids "grow" from month to month in this calendar!

Day 235: T-Shirt Birthday Card

A friend and I went to a "make and take" at Pearl Street Stamping in Tremont today.  We used a cute stamp by Just For Fun to make a t-shirt birthday card on printed paper. The sentiment stamps were cling stamps, but I neglected to note the manufacturer.

t-shirt card front

t-shirt card inside

t-shirt card back

Day 234: Calendars for Christmas: Green Gifts

I bought some blank calendars from Current Catalog a few years ago with the idea to make photo calendars as gifts for my kids' grandparents, but I never got around to it until now.  I have lots of extra photos left over from the kids' birthdays and extra school photos that I am using. I am using strips of scrap paper behind the photos to add color to the calendar pages. I can use up excess photos and paper scraps to make gifts!  How great is that!

Day 233: SEI Scrapbook Kit

Tonight I worked on a photo of the family.  I used some quotations from 7Gypsies as a page border.

Day 232: SEI Scrapbook Kit

Two photos scrapped today, one of my husband and me and one of the kids.

Day 231: SEI Scrapbook Kit

Still working on my SEI pages of the family.  Two more done today.

Day 230: Roly Roses Fabric Flowers

I purchased Roly Roses fabric by Imaginisce to make my own flowers.  Already cut out, I just rolled the fabric up around the flower rolling tool, and adhered the rolled flower to the base with a piece of double sided tape. The flower rolling tool can be used with paper too.  I am looking forward to making more fun flowers in fabric and in paper.

pointed petal  flower

large scallop petal  flower

small scallop petal flower

Please note that by rolling the denim two different directions, I achieved  two different looks for the flowers.  The denim flower on the left was rolled with the front side of the denim facing in towards the rolling tool .  The one on the right was rolled with the front side of the denim facing out from the rolling tool. Therefore, you can make darker and lighter versions of the denim flowers. Since the back side of the pink fabric is white,  all the pink flowers were made with the front side of the fabric facing in towards the rolling tool. 

Day 229: Epiphany Crafts Shape Studio Tool

I purchased the Epiphany Crafts Shape Studio Tool and Bubble Caps on clearance at my local Hobby Lobby because I was interested in being able to make my own cute little embellishments. I have lots of punches, so just on the chance I had one the same size as the Bubble Caps I purchased (clear round 14), I pulled out my circle punches.  A 1/2" circle punch makes the perfect size to fit the size 14 Bubble Caps.  Therefore, I will keep the Bubble Caps and return the Shape Studio Tool. Basically it is just a punch that puts the Bubble Cap on top of your image and punches it out at the same time.  If you flip your circle punch upside down, you can select what part of the image will be punched out, and it is very easy to put the Bubble Cap on the image yourself. There are some other shapes in this line that it might be worthwhile to purchase the Studio Tool for, like hearts and ovals, because there is no guarantee that the dimensions of the Bubble Caps would be a perfect fit for punches you have at home already.  You could do as I did and buy the Studio Tool and the Bubble Caps in the shape you want, check your punches, and if you are lucky, maybe they will match up and you can return the Studio Tool to the store.  (Just remember to hold on to your receipt and return it within the store's specified time frame for returns!)

Cute embellishments made from scraps of paper

Day 228: SEI Scrapbook Kit

I worked on a winter page of me and my husband today.  I wanted to use a felt snowflake (Stampin' Up!) as an embellishment on this page, but I did not have a white snowflake.  I tried painting it white, but the red color still peeked through. So, I got out the Mod Podge and coated the snowflake with it and then poured purple glitter from Martha Stewart all over it.  It looks great!

Day 227: SEI Scrapbook Kit

Tonight I completed two pages of family photos using the SEI scrapbook kit.  I am noticing that our family wears blue a lot in photos!  Oh well!  It works with this color palette!!

Day 226: SEI Scrapbook Kit

Today I started working on a scrapbook kit by SEI.  I had purchased it quite a while ago and decided I should put it together.  The pages were already planned out, but honestly, I don't like some of the layouts.  I am using the materials in the kit and putting my own twist on each page.  It is interesting to just work from a certain color palette and scrapbook line for an entire scrapbook.  I rarely do it.  In a way, it is interesting to have to be so limited.  I am getting very creative with using different size papers on a page. I think this kit must have been made before embellishments became more "chunky". I really like the depth that embellishments add to a page, so I am using some from my stash.

The two pages I completed tonight highlighted some family Christmas portrait collages we had made at Sears.

Day 225: Watercolor With Watercolor Pencils

Today I used watercolor pencils to color a rose embossed on watercolor paper. I found it easier to move the color around with the watercolor pencils than the re-inkers. (See Day 224)  I am not too keen on the pink rose, but I love this yellow rose!

Day 224: Watercolor with Re-Inkers

I was inspired by a tutorial on Splitcoaststampers to use my Stampin Up! re-inkers on watercolor paper that I embossed.  I used the roses embossing folder from SU and ran it through my Big Shot 3 or 4 times so the embossing would be deep. I think this is a really pretty look.  I may have to make a whole bouquet of these roses!

Day 223: Anniversary Card

I continued to make the remaining anniversary cards I needed, using the roses from the Elements of Style stamp set and Rich Razzleberry inks, all from Stampin' Up!  See Day 222 for photo.

Day 222: Elements of Style

Tonight I started working on some anniversary cards for friends and family. I used the roses stamp from the Elements of Style stamp set by Stampin' Up! (SU) I stamped the image on white card stock (Georgia Pacific) using Rich Razzleberry ink from SU. I layered it onto a slightly larger piece of Rich Razzleberry card stock from SU. I was inspired by how a friend (MF) had layered two different size ribbons together on one of her cards, and I did that on this card.  I layered a sheer ribbon over a satin ribbon, then tied it around the image. I then layered it on top of a base card made from Rich Razzleberry. I made three of these tonight, but still need to make four more.

Day 221: Monster Truck Card

 My husband and I are very close with my husband's cousin, and her teenage son has a birthday coming up.  I decided a monster truck card might be considered "cool".

I used "chocolate chip" card stock from Stampin' Up! as the card base.  I ran a piece of brown leather look paper from my scrap folder through Cuttlebug's "tire track" embossing folder.  I stamped the Great Impressions monster truck stamp with Memento Ink on Neenah paper, and colored it with my Copic markers. I cut out the truck and  used pop dots to adhere it to the tire tracks.  I layered that on top of a "sand" paper in my scrap folder.  I used my Crop-A-Dile and added 5 black eyelets across the top and bottom of the card to rev it up a little bit.

Day 220: Cards for Boys

My kids got invited to some birthday parties and I needed to make some boy cards.  Tonight I used stickers from Karen Foster, yellow paper from Creative Memories, a background stamp from Great Impressions, ink from Stampin' Up!, and bits and pieces of leftover papers to create these 5 cute cards.

Day 219: Personalized Scrapbook Cover

Tonight I made a "name plate" for one of my son's scrapbook albums.  The album is orange, his favorite color, and I had some chipboard letters by 3 Birds that I wanted to use.  However, I had to align them in a slight stair-step fashion to make them all fit in the space.  Therefore, I simply put them on a piece of green card stock by Stampin' Up! and slid the whole thing into the photo window of his scrapbook album.  And now he has a personalized scrapbook album.

Day 218: Monogrammed Scrapbook Album Cover

A lot of the scrapbook albums now have a window on the album cover for a photo.  I don't usually put photos in them.  I usually use some stickers to spell out the kids' names, or if it is a smaller window, just their initial.  Then I know it is their album.

Tonight I worked on one for one of  my son's albums.  I had a neat paper with circles (by Imagination Project) in just the shade of cornflower blue that matched his album that I used as a background. Since the paper clashed with the stripes on the album cover, I used some double-stick tape to cover the stripes with a green ribbon. I tied ribbons around a metal "d" by Making Memories, and placed it on top of the circle-patterned paper.  Voila, a monogrammed scrapbook album cover.

Day 217: Happy Birthday with Yoda: A Happy Birthday You Must Have

My son wanted to have his photo taken with his Yoda toy for his birthday. I wanted to use Star Wars paper, but all I had was red or blue, and I really needed green because my son was wearing a green shirt, and Yoda is green.  So, I just used some Simply Asparagus paper by My Mind's Eye as the background.

The quote I chose for this page is written the way Yoda speaks:  "8 you are...A Happy Birthday You Must Have".  I used a variety of letter fonts to make this quote, although I did try to stick to the same font for each word so it would be a little more uniform in style.  This was inspired by Trudy Sigurdson's book, Embellished Emotions for Scrapbookers:  Adding Your Personal Touch to Poems, Quotes, and Sayings.

I used my Copic Green Garden marker to color the number "8" (Paperbilities), the "Happy Birthday" plaque (Making Memories), and the chipboard letters in "Have" (unknown). The green "you" stickers are by Heidi Grace. All other letters and numbers were in my stash, manufacturers unknown.  I added the Yoda sticker at the bottom of the quote, just like you might see a famous person's name after a quote. I punched a hexagon shape from green paper with my Creative Memories punch and used it to back the hexagon-shaped Star Wars sticker and placed that above the photo. I made a banner from chipboard pennant pieces by Jenni Bowlin.  I colored the pennant shapes with my Copic marker and attached them to some sparkly green ribbon in my stash. I added three number 8s from my stash onto the pennants, and hung the banner in the upper left corner of the photo.  Star Wars and Yoda stickers by Creative Imaginations.  Journaling pen by Creative Memories.

Day 216: Happy Birthday: Polka Dots

We had this collage made of my son when his photos were taken at Sears Portrait Studios.  I love how the photographer created the saying with the different colored circles.  I decided to use two different color polka dot backgrounds from Stampin' Up! to play off the circles. (The brown polka dot frame is part of the collage!) I also used some cute dot ribbon from DCWV across the bottom of the page.  I punched circles to back three birthday plaques from Making Memories and put those on top of the ribbon. I also punched out some photo corners from the SU dot paper.  Punches are Paper Shapers by EK Success.

Day 215: Second Grade

I really liked the idea of the leaf background for my son's photo.  It just seemed like fall and school photo should go together. Then I bought an embellishment kit from 3 Birds on HSN, and what should be included, but a cute school house and trees with turning leaves!  I added this cute "2nd Grade" laser cut title from Laserline to add to the school feel. I purposely chose fairly quiet background papers from Stampin' Up! so that most of the focus would be on the photo of my son and the cute embellishments.

Day 214: Tag Football

For this football layout, I used paper from Bella Blvd as the background on the left page.  I framed my son's team photo and individual photo with a frame from Wild Asparagus. I used a similar color green card stock from Stampin' Up! as background for the Joe Namath quote and the grid with the chipboard football icons. The grid stamp was actually part of a 6-frame postage stamp by Just for Fun. Ink was StazOn by Tsukineko.The chipboard title and football icons are by Little Yellow Bicycle. The "leather" corner triangles have been in my stash for ages.  They are from Fresh Cuts by Rebecca Sower.

The right page features paper from Jillibean Soup.  I simply added some orange photo corners (paper by Bo Bunny) to bring out the orange shirts of the players and to give a little pop from the busy background. I had some sports stickers in my stash, and added the football and helmet to give the page a little more dimension.

While these two pages aren't matchy-matchy, I think the green on the left page ties in with all the grass in the photos on the right page.  I also needed something to brighten those dark photos, since they were taken in the early evening and the light was not optimal. I think the orange shirts were tied in on both pages with the use of the orange photo corners.

Day 213: Baseball Layout

For this baseball layout for my son, I selected the baseball stitching paper by Echo Park Paper and a baseball collage by Little Yellow Bicycle as my backgrounds.  For the left page, I added the ball glove by Reminisce on top of the stitch paper, added a chipboard "baseball" title from Little Yellow Bicycle to the top of the glove, added the team photo, and then added 4 baseball tokens from Doodlebug Designs to each corner of the photo.  For the right page, I selected 3 photos from one of his games, added 2 of his baseball cards (one front and one back), and embellished the page with a chipboard baseball and bat from Little Yellow Bicycle.