latest PageMaps sketch contest

Here's the sketch..... And here's my take! I converted the sketch to a 12x12 format and and in doing so I ended up with enough room to add another photo. I love these pictures of Gracie, taken on July 4th last year. She is such a free spirit!

Thanks for looking!

KNK March Kit reveal #1

Have I mentioned how much I love the paper in this kit? I have? Well, in case you missed it before I really REALLY love these new papers from Shabby Green Door (In fact I think I have a new favorite manufacturer). I've barely begun working with these papers and I already can't wait to see what SGD will release next!

These photos of my daughter have always spoken to me. Sometimes you catch a glimpse of what's to come in your baby's eyes... someone else might not see it, but being her Momma these pics speak volumes to me! I've been saving them for the right paper, and this paper is definitely it! I used elements from three different papers and just a little bit of pale blue cardstock.

For each flower, I traced a Petaloo "Color Me" flower onto the sheet music vellum and set the vellum aside. Then I added some pink acrylic paint to the center of each Petaloo flower, and "pulled" the paint with a small brush toward the end of each petal as I didn't want to cover the flower completely but just add a little color. Then I took a white pearl medium and painted that over each petal to soften the pink a bit. Once the flowers were dry, I cut the traced flowers from the vellum and layered them over the painted flowers. For a little added interest I used a tiny white Prima flower and a brad for a center. A little Frosted Lace Distress Stickles tipped all of the petals, and they are really pretty close-up!

The pearls were initially pink, and that would have been fine if the primary color in the layout had been pink. However, the pink pearls looked too shocking against that pale blue, so I took the pearl medium I used on the flowers and painted the pearls with it. As you might imagine, this is easier said than done LOL.... I ended up having to clip them to the pull chain on my ceiling fan just to get enough leverage to make them hold still for the paint brush! It was worth it though, the pearls ended up a gorgeous color with just the slightest hint of pink -- exactly what I had hoped! Once dry, I shaped them into a flourish around the flowers and held them in place with a few simple stitches.

The chipboard Barndoors are so incredibly versatile, I only did the basics with one and covered it with paper, sanded and inked. There are so many possiblities for altering these!!
I threw this card together very quickly with some scraps I had left over from creating the layout. I used the paper as-is.... just used the music background stamp on the notepaper to make it look like sheet music and I love that stamp! I am not ordinarily a stamp-user for the most part but I see myself using this one over and over on vintage layouts.

After stamping, I just added the sentiment "Just A Note To Say..." and a couple of flowers. I already know who I am sending this to :)

I've already got some things in progress for my next reveal, so stay tuned if you are interested! And thanks for stopping by!

KNK March Kit

I am especially excited about KnK's March kit, because I was asked to pick out the papers for it! With CHA just behind us, the amount of new product to choose from was a little daunting (but oh so fun to search through!), and I finally landed on Shabby Green Door's "Wings of a Dream" line. It's so soft and pretty and vintage. Some wonderful products were added to it, such as self-adhesive canvas paper, Petaloo "Color Me" flowers (which I can't wait to do some stamping and painting on), pretty sheer ribbon from May Arts, and gorgeous sheet music vellum, to name a few. And as if that weren't enough, the embellishment add-on kit has a gorgeous vintage-style background stamp (from Shabby Green Door) and some Barndoors by PiggyTales. I am so inspired!! Go check it out! www.knkclub.com

KNK February Kit Reveal #2

These photos of my daughter were taken before we had a digital camera. I had lots of cute shots, but none were able to be enlarged without sacrificing clarity. So I chose to use them all! Since the focus of the layout is my baby discovering and enjoying the beach, I had no problem at all cropping out the scenery from the photos (if you've ever been to the Oregon coast, you know how beautiful it is). Besides, I have plenty of other photos featuring the landscape. This grid design made it very easy to use multiple photos. Did you notice the little blue flowers? Those were cut from one of the Lily Bee papers (shown in the upper-right block in the grid) and as you can see, were initially white. I used Nautical Blue Smooch Ink to color them, and really love the effect. This ink gave them a pearly finish and up close almost look like fabric! Then, for the centers, I cut three little ball-links from the metal chain included in the kit and adhered them with half of a mini glue-dot. This took a little patience, but the results were worth it. I think the little details are so important.

I made a card with some of the scraps I was left with after three layouts. The flower "stems" are what was left of the Prima flourish after I had cut it all to pieces (for multiple accents on my double layout in my first reveal). When I realized that I had basically straight pieces left, this seemed like a good way to use them!Thanks for having a look. I have really enjoyed working with this kit! For a closer look at everything included, visit www.knkclub.com .

Today's Post....

...can be found HERE.

Have a great day!

KNK February Kit Reveal #1

I can always tell when I am really feeling the need to go see my grandmother, who lives in Minnesota (I am on the West coast -- not exactly a day trip). I've done three layouts of her in the last two weeks! This photo of her with my grandpa (technically my step-Grandpa, but the only one I ever knew) was their wedding portrait and went so well with the Lily Bee papers that I just had to use it for a page.And, after a little digging through some boxes of old photos, I found their wedding invitation and even the newspaper clipping containing their marriage announcement.For me, this is what scrapbooking is all about. Preserving the memories, telling the stories. Of course I have tons of pages that showcase one or two fantastic photos with a clever title and one or two lines of journaling that say how cute I think my kids are (and don't get me wrong, I love doing those pages too!), but these old photographs and other bits of history are much of why I started scrapbooking in the first place. Getting my heritage preserved in books for future generations; it really means something to me. I want my children to know where they came from.

But as I said before, I love doing the current pages as well! This double layout shows some really cute interaction between my two daughters on a school field trip back in November '09. So in 10 years when they are fighting over boyfriends and whose clothes are whose, I'll just pull out the scrapbooks and remind them of how much they used to love being together! Do you think it'll work....?
I am still having lots of fun with this kit, I have another reveal coming up in a little over a week as well as a bonus layout with a challenge that I'll be sharing with you in a day or two! Thanks for stopping by!