Cardabilities DT Reveal - Sketch #74

This new sketch from Karan Gerber at Cardabilities is soooo much fun.  Take a look!

How adorable is Sketch #74!?

Here is the card that it inspired:

I was a bit afraid when i saw myself going bright and bold with this card, but i love the finished result.  That tule ribbon from Webster's Pages is so pretty and it fits perfectly with the Crate Paper Pretty Party collection and dimensional stickers from My Mind's Eye Miss Caroline.  A great mash-up of awesome products!

To play along with this sketch, visit Cardabilities and link up!  You'll also be able to see the gorgeous creations of the other DT girls and get inspired by all the past sketches!

I'm also entering this card into the current Simon Says Stamp Challenge which is : Anything Goes! :)

Sugar & Spice (My Mind's Eye April Sketch Challenge)

Most of you have met Sugar, our fur baby, already!  She is a sweet (hence the name), cuddly 2 year-old kitty who loves to eat shrimp treats and play hide and seek with her humans. We adopted her in October 2012 and she has brought us joy and purrs (and a LOT of cat hair) every since.

You will probably recognize a lot of My Mind's Eye goodies on this layout!  I used the Lost and Found 3 Oliver collection including papers, brads, decorative tape and stickers as well as buttons, paper clips, enamel dots and wooden shapes from older collections.

The MME April Sketch Challenge served as inspiration for the design:

 

Like in the sketch, i used a lot of flags on my layout trying to capture all the gorgeous designs of the papers. I used a mask and different distress inks to create the background.

I used 3d foam dots to create various layers.

The brads and enamel dots add the perfect touches of color to my layout.

This layout differs a bit from the shabby chic style i tend to go for the most lately, but as mentioned before, i love all kinds of scrapbooking styles.  My style varies all the time according to my moods and the products and photos that i'm working with.  When i saw the MME sketch, i thought Sweet Adorable Fun... and then i thought of Sugar :)

So, which do you prefer, my shabby chic pages or my fun and colorful layouts?

I would love your feedback. :)

My Creative Scrapbook Tutorial Day - Part 4

After already having shared with you 3 flower tutorials today here and on the My Creative Scrapbook blog (make sure to scroll back to my past posts to see these), i saved the best for last!

Pie Charts!

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If you visit regular scrapbooking blogs, you will have noticed that Pie Charts are a popular new trend in scrapbooking.  When I saw the patterned paper in the LE kit, I instantly thought of creating some for one of my layouts. 

All these triangle-shaped flags on the Prima paper would make beautiful pie charts.

After cutting out a couple dozen flags, I looked through my cardstock scraps and fished out a piece of white cardstock as the base.

I then proceeded to glue each flag to the cardstock, alternating in patterns and colors.

Now is there a name for a 11-sided shape as this one?  An elevenagon, maybe?  :P  If someone happens to know, please educate me in my comments!

Since I wanted my pie charts to be round, I used a circle Spellbinder die to cut out a circle using the center as a guide.

 I then decided to cut out another circle shape out of the outer edge of the pie with a bigger circle die.

I ended up making 2 pie charts with 2 circle edges which I found added lots of cool colors and dimension to my layout.

Here are the pie charts (some of them i cut in half) on my layout:

Thank you for visiting today!  I hope that these series of posts proved useful for you and your future scrapbooking creations.

Don't forget to visit My Creative Scrapbook to find out more about their kits!

My Creative Scrapbook Tutorial Day - Part 3

Here is Part 3 of my Tutorial Day at My Creative Scrapbook.

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I modified the large blue flower as well that you can see on my Good Times layout.

This one was quick  and easy to make.

I simply picked the flower apart and kept the bottom and center blue petals.  I created more petals by splitting each larger one in half.  I then crunched each petal.

 I used a brad as the center.

I then lightly curled each petal to make it look like a 'blue' daisy.

Let me remind you that my Good Times layout was inspired by the April sketch at My Creative Sketches.  There's a gorgeous prize to win if you play along, and i really hope you will!  Click HERE for details and more inspiration by the DT.

I will be back a little later to share the final part of this Tutorial Day at MCS!

My Creative Scrapbook Tutorial Day - Part 2

Time for Part 2 of my Tutorial Day at My Creative Scrapbook.

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Another flower I created is this one used on my Hello Kitty layout:

I picked apart the big yellow flower from Prima that came with the kit, just taking off the petals one by one, and saving the center part to make another flower.

 I then cut a v-like shape into all the petals so that they resembled hearts.

 Using only the striped petals, I inked them all with some distress ink.  (The plain yellow petals were used to create the flower on my Happy Birthday card which I made following this same technique that you can see HERE.)

 I punched a circle out of some scrap paper and covered it with glue tape.

 The circle serving as base for my flower, I proceeded to scrunch up each petal and stuck the larger ones around the base, then added the smaller ones with glue dots to form a second layer.

 I then scrunched up the entire flower and molded the petals into shape.  I added some more distress ink.

I used a large pearl (not included in the kit) as the center of the flower, and then added some clear and yellow Stickles on each petal, adding some to the other yellow flower in the kit.

Here is my Hello Kitty layout on which these flowers were used:

Another flower tutorial is coming up shortly followed by a step-by-step technique on how i created the pie charts on this same layout.  Stay tuned!

My Creative Scrapbook Tutorial Day - Part 1

All month long, you are able to find great inspiration and technique tutorials on the My Creative Scrapbook blog shared with you by their fabulous DT and GDT.

Today it is my turn to share with you some tricks of the trade. Here is once again the Limited Edition kit that I was sent to play with this month:

You can see all the gorgeous MCS kits by clicking HERE.

My #1 embellishment to use on any crafty project is flowers!  There can never be enough flowers on any layout or card I create.  The April Limited Edition kit is full of gorgeous blooms and I was able to make more by using already available flowers and modifying them a little.  Here are a few tricks on how i created a few flowers off my layouts.

 I wanted a big pink flower to pop out of my B'Day Girls layout.  I took the big Prima bloom, some gesso, embossing paste as well as mists and inks and went to work on it.

I started by covering it with gesso,

followed by embossing paste,

 and then a mixture of different Glimmer Mists shades.

To achieve the color I wanted, I decided to add some Distress ink.  I then sprayed on some more Glimmer Mists until I got the desired shade.

 I then decided to do the same for the center of another bloom to match the first one.

These flowers can be found on my B'Day Girls layout shared with you earlier this month:

 Keep checking in all day for more tutorials!

My Creative Sketches April Sketch Reveal

At the beginning of the month, i shared with you 4 of my projects created with the April Limited Edition kit from My Creative Scrapbook.  Click HERE, HERE and HERE to revisit those posts.  

Today, i can share with you my final project, a layout inspired by the April sketch from My Creative Sketches.  This sketch challenge opens today and offers an amazing prize to one lucky winner.  You have until May 14th to link up your layout based on this fabulous sketch:

I bet you will have to wipe the drool off your chin looking at the prize that is up for grabs!  Now you KNOW you have to play along!

Now let's see the layout that i created:

 When i look at this photo, it brings back so many fun memories of nice Summer afternoons spent with these wonderful ladies!  Nothing like a good ol' BBQ under the sun with great friends!

I wanted to give the feel of Summer to my layout and the Prima Divine collection was just perfect for that.  The banners that i created using different border punches and the chipboard winner's ribbon that i covered with black crackle paint give an air of celebration which is what that day back in 2005 was all about... a celebration of Summer and special friendships!

I do hope that you will be inspired by this sketch and my layout and that you will play along with the My Creative Sketches challenge!  Click HERE for more details.