Happy Girl (Sketchabilities DT Reveal #66 in Prima PPP)

I am so excited to feature today Sketchabilities' newest sketch, #66!

Visit Sketchabilities right away to see my fellow DT members' amazing take on this beautiful sketch and find out how to link up your inspired project for a chance to be featured on the Sketchabilities blog!

Now, i am just as excited to share with you my reveal!

On Saturday, i shared with you this Prima PPP for the month of February:

Here is my layout inspired by these beautiful lovey-dovey colours!

The Prima supplies that i used are papers from Shabby Chic (841102) and Raspberry Tea (841256) collections, Antique Mirror butterfly (551131), Sugar Blooms (549008), Pearl Penache (538477), Say It In Pearls, Say It In Crystals (551391).

 

All chipboard embellishment pieces are from The Dusty Attic.  Some i sprayed with Glimmer Mist, others i covered with Tim Holtz' Distress Crackle Paint followed by Colorbox chalk in some cases.  I love the crackled effect!

  The cute little girl in the picture (which is a few years old) is my oldest niece who will turn 7 next month!

True Love (Creative Scrappers #193)

I am sharing with you today a very special layout that i made as a gift for my Mom and her boyfriend whom i both love very much.   It was inspired by gorgeous Sketch #193 from Creative Scrappers' very own Amarylis Doria:

 

The pattern papers used are primarily from KaiserCraft Madame Boutique collection.  I also used Prima and Petaloo flowers, Dusty Attic chipboard, KaiserCraft wooden shapes, Zva Creative crystals, Bo Bunny trinkets and misc glitter stickers, gems and eyelets.  The Dusty Attic chipboard was distressed using Glimmer Mist and Smooch.

I cannot wait to put this layout in a frame and give it to the happy couple! :)

Prima February PPP

I know this is quite late in the making, but i absolutely wanted to share with you this month's gorgeous Product Pick & Palette from Prima.

Warm pinks, chocolate brown, lavender, earthy tan... what perfect colours for the month of February!  And of course, Prima never disappoints in offering us beautiful flowers and embellishments of all styles and shades.

Last night was our monthly Midnight Crop at my LSS, and today, Mother Nature has blessed us with quite a big snow storm, so needless to say i have spent a lot of time scrapbooking in the last 24 hours.  And guess what colors i've been creating in?

Yes, i have indeed completed my layout inspired by this Prima PPP, but i cannot share it with you just yet, as it is also my next DT reveal for Sketchabilities.  Let me just say that you will not want to miss my post at the end of the month to see Karan's new sketch.  It is a beauty!

Well, while my sweet man is shovelling snow outside (he's the best!), i'm off to scrapbook some more since i want to try to squeeze in a few more challenge entries before the end of February.  :)

Kiss a Frog Card (The Paper Variety "Leap Year" Challenge)

YAY!  I was able again to play with the new challenge at The Paper Variety inspired by the movie 'Leap Year' (i have not seen it yet, but am definitely planning to do so).  

I decided to add a little froggie on my card in honor of the 'leap' theme.

Cute, isn't it?  Perfect for a special little girl in my life whose birthday is coming up really soon!

Thank you for 'leaping' by my blog today! :)

Flashback Friday Challenge 20.0

Was i ever excited when i came accross this challenge blog today!!!

Flashback Friday Challenge

This blog was started by Amy, also owner of the beautiful Tsuruta Designs of which i was already a follower, in order to go back in time a bit to rediscover and share with our blog friends our very first scrapbooking endeavours based on different fun themes every month.  You have to create a 'new post' of your original project as bad and embarrassing as it might be! - hehehe.  It's all for fun and who knows... you might realize that you ALWAYS had the scrapbooking touch! :)  What an awesome idea for a Challenge blog, isn't it!?

This month's challenge, the 20th since the start of this blog, is:

First BLACK & WHITE card

Well, since i have only been blogging for a year and taking pictures of my projects for not much longer than that, i had a hard time finding my first black & white card... especially since i don't tend to scrapbook in black & white a lot.  There's always other colors creeping through - hehe

Speaking of 'creeping', i did find this one though which is really not that old so i'm not sure that it will qualify as a Flashback project (it dates back to October of last year), but it is still the first one i blogged about that met the theme of this challenge the most.

 So am i embarrassed by this card?

Not at all!  hehehe

I promise, for the next Flashback Friday Challenge, i'll really try to dig deeper in my old vault of scrapbooking 'fails'!!! 

Candy's Craft Corner 400 Follower Giveaway!

I was introduced to a new blog today... Candy's Craft Corner, full of inspiring and gorgeous creations.  You just HAVE to check out Candy's adorable cards - she's full of talent!!!

She is currently hosting an amazing GIVEAWAY to celebrate her reaching 400+ followers!

Check out all the goodies in this prize pack!

I will keep the link in my sidebar until the draw on March 19th. 

For details on how you can win, visit Candy's Craft Corner right now!

Birdhouse (A Simple Stories Creation)

Today, i would like to share with you a little piece of Summer!  

No, it's still very much Winter here in Canada, but for the last couple days, it has been Summer in my craftroom.  I have created this adorable birdhouse with the gorgeous Simple Stories collection Life Documented.

Starting with a simple wooden birdhouse shape bought at my local DollarStore, i went to work cutting up and punching papers, misting Dusty Attic and Maya Road chipboard pieces as well as Prima leaves and adding some good ol' fashioned twine.  One simple tip:  LOTS of GlueDots!

 

I'm sure that most of you will agree that Summer cannot come soon enough! 

Can't you hear the bluebirds singing already? :)

Irene Tan's Book Launched Celebration Giveaway!!

Have you ever seen Irene Tan's amazing creations from the Scrapperlicious blog?  If not, i strongly suggest you hop on over to admire her talent right now.  Ever since i started blogging myself, she has been a real inspiration and is one of my favorite designers!

She has just launched her first solo eBook.

 To celebrate, she is hosting an awesome giveaway full of love-inspired goodies!  You have until the end of February to enter to win.  Click HERE to learn how.  

Melts your heart, doesn't it? <3

Good luck to you... and to ME!  ;)

Baby Girl Card (Artful Delight ASC#17)

Just a quick post today to share with you a sweet little card i put together tonight for my friends who recently had a little girl.  I was inspired by ASC#17 at Artful Delight:

What collection would be more perfect than Simple Stories' adorable Baby Steps to make this card!

 I know this card is fairly simple compared to what i normally do, but i was thinking that simple and cute would be perfect for such a special occasion as the birth of a sweet baby girl!

Thanks for visiting! :)

Simply Paper's Spread the love GIVEAWAY!

One of the first blogs that i started visiting regularly is Vicky Alberto's Simply Paper.  In a lot of ways, she was an inspiration to me to start blogging myself! 

 Well, on February 25th, she will be celebrating her 2nd Blogoversary and to thank all her followers (800 and counting), she is giving away some wonderful blog candy!

All you have to do for a chance to win is become a follower of her blog and for a bonus chance... SPREAD THE LOVE! :)

Click HERE for all the details!

Pawprints (Sketchabilities DT Reveal #65 & Winner of CS eBook!)

WOW! I have quite a few things to share with you today...

First of all, i want to wish you all a very HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY with your loved ones!

That being said, it's already the middle of February and that means it's time for another exciting DT reveal with Sketchabilities!  One look at sketch #65 and i bet you you will be running to your craft table to start scrappin'!

Doesn't Karan absolutely rock these sketches?!

You can see my fellow DT members' inspiring creations and link up yours before the end of the month HERE.

Also, before i share my creation with you, i wanted to announce that Sketchabilities is looking for YOU!  Yes, you guessed right... they are looking for new designers to join their design team for a 3-month term starting in April.  Click HERE to know how you can apply!  Take it from me, it is a GREAT team to be a part of!

And now, here is my layout based on sketch #65:

Ever since i saw their very first paper collection, i totally fell in love with Simple Stories.  Just the brand's name is perfect, wouldn't you agree?  One of my scrapbooker's dreams is to one day be able to join such a wonderful company as Simple Stories and be part of their amazing DT.  You never know, my dream may come true as they are having a DT call right now and they're even looking for 'undiscovered talent'!  See the details HERE!

With this layout, i used the Year-o-graphy collection.  I love the earthy colors and all the soft patterns of their paper.  All the journalling elements that they offer with every collection are superb.  The creative possibilities are endless!

I made all the bigger flowers and leaves by hand (the small glittery ones were bought at my local dollar store) using a Tim Holtz die and a couple punches.  For the flowers, the trick is to lightly mist your paper so you can crunch it up and mold it to whatever shape you want.  Adding lots of layers, you get a nice-looking flower that matches perfectly with your layout and didn't cost a thing since you're using up your leftover pattern paper.

I cannot wait to see your take on this wonderful sketch! :)

And now, last but certainly not least, it's time to announce the winner of my Creative Scrappers eBook giveaway!

***DRUMROLL***

Sherri Caramico Feb 13, 2012 06:35 AM

AWESOME LAYOUT! AWESOME BLOG! Such inspiration! So HAPPY I found you! I am now a follower! (feel free to follow me too! <3)

I LOVE a good Challenge, and since finding Kristine's Creative Scrappers I am ADDICTED to sketches!! Would LOVE to WIN!

Congratulations Sherri!  Please email me (nicutopia@hotmail.com) and i will be sure to forward your email address to Kristine, the creator of the eBook.  She is the one who will send you your free PDF copy!

Bliss (My Creative Sketches January)

Despite all the chaos happening around my house the last couple weeks (i am happy to say that the renovations should finally come to an end tomorrow!!!), i still was able to sneak in some scrappin' time.

On the weekend, i played with January's sketch from My Creative Sketches:

I spent quite a while looking in my stash of pictures for one special single shot to scrapbook and then, once i found it, i had to look through my HUGE collection of paper for the perfect patterns to match it.  Pink Paislee's beautiful Butterfly Garden immediately caught my eye!  :)

As you can see, lots of punchwork, handmade stitching and distressing went into this layout.  I especially love the way the Pink Paislee butterflies look with the Kaisercraft wooden cage. 

 The brown chipboard title and other pieces are from K&Company and were originally white but i colored them using my Copic markers.

All flowers are from Prima while the swirly bling is from Zva Creative.

Doesn't it make you long for Spring?!  Well, in the middle of this long and cold Winter, i sure hope it leaves a happy, peaceful and warm feeling in your heart as it does in mine :)

Creating with Sketches Ebook (& giveaway!!!)

I was SO honoured when Kristine Davidson, founder of the famous Creative Scrappers blog and one of my favorite sketch designers, asked me to be part of her first ebook of sketches!

Including 101 amazing sketches and original layouts from 50 talented designers, this ebook is an absolute MUST-HAVE for any scrapbooker who likes to create using sketches. 

A printed version is in the works, but the ebook version - which is a PDF file (13MB), is available TODAY!
Click HERE for all the details!

Now here's the fun part!

If you'd like to win your very own PDF copy of Creative Scrappers: Creating with Sketches, just follow these 2 easy steps:

1.  Become a follower of my blog (if you aren't already)

2.  Leave me a comment letting me know how much you would LOVE to win!

I will pick a winner randomly on Valentine's Day so make sure to come visit again on that day to see if you're the lucky one!  I will then need your email address so that Kristine can send you your prize.

Before i go, here is the double-page layout (with close-ups) that i created inspired by one of Kristine's sketches and which is featured in her ebook:

Hope you enjoy!  Go order your copy right now!