Lazy Days

Evening All,

So even though I have the best intentions, sometimes I just don't get round to blogging anymore...whether it be because of work or some other excuse. True, I don't scrap as much as I used to when I lived a life of leasure, but I've still been making pages here and there. Here is one I finished yesterday.

I used Alphabet Soup papers, some neat color coordinated office supplies, buttons, pleated ribbon, and just a few prima flowers. I really like this effect because it reminds me of a memory box. The alphabet card is from October Afternoon.

This page is just all kinds of filled with little knick-knacks that just make the page. The title bar is a strip of patterned paper from the left side of the layout that I repeated the title on. This strip was backed on one side by a cupcake liner....awesome, right?

Thanks ladies for your never-fading support, comments are appreciated as always!

She's Baaaaaaack!!

Hello Everyone,

I am officially back from my hiatus...I hit a little scrapbook "plateau", I got lost in a foreign land where nothing I seemed to create was good enough or ever got finished. It was almost like that recurring dream where my layouts came to life and tried to eat me alive...

I have awakened from that dream, my creative cap is again firmly in place. My experimentation has prompted the firm placement of our sewing machine on my scrapping table. Almost every layout I do now, has some form of stitching (much less labor intensive than all the hand stitching I was doing) And I am now finally ready to unleash my pages for all of you...

This page is one of my latest beauties....it was inspired by the amazing picture of my Mama. I thought she was beautiful in it, and in turn it inspired me to make a very girly page (something I usually avoid) I named in "Fleur de ma coeur" a.k.a "Flower of my heart".
In this page I wanted people to be aware the picture was of my mom so I included one of the alphabet cards from October Afternoon as shown above. The only thing I added to it was some stickles to punch up the M.

I stitched the flower below the picture "free hand" which is why it is uneven in places, I think it adds some character. The other flowers in this page are Prima. The semi circle of paper at the bottom is cut from Dear Lizzy - Spring flowering fields paper. The alphabet stickers are Basic Grey - Eskimo Kisses.

Other than that I added some pearl accents and some journaling.....that's all she wrote!

It's good to be back ladies,

Happy Blogging!

Sick...

Evening All,

Trying to be productive and getting pages done is extremely hard when your body decides to give in to a bug....yes ladies, I have a good ole case of the sniffles, but its been taking a toll. I am miserable.

I hope to be a lot better by tomorrow, I sure don't want to start working like this.

Check this out ladies!!

Good afternoon ladies,

I just spent the morning with some wonderful children at Ashford High School, we had a blast.

Today is a very special day for me....I have my first guest designer spot at Scrappin Silhouettes!

Their sketch was a lot of fun to play with, check it out!

And of course, my take on the sketch:

I hope you all check it out! Have a blessed day!

Siobhan

Finally new post!!

Good evening all!

I have many good things to report:

-First off, I rocked my interview and have subsequently been offered a job today. (I don't care how part time it is, it's a job)

-I have new pages to share....yes ladies and gents, I have been working on new pages and projects, I have just been very tardy with updating my blog.

So here it is...my pride and joy, so cute and pretty that it will be a class at Paper Moon in the month of September! Please check it out!

This class is going to be so much fun! It is a design class, which means no two people are meant to end up with the exact same design of the layout.

I hope to see many of you during my classes!!

Siobhan

Cricut 101

Good morning all,

I will be teaching my first Cricut 101 and subsequently Cricut 102 classes today at Paper Moon.

If you have a Cricut and you still have queries about how to use your machine.... come see me!

If you want to make sure you deciphered the "secret code" that is the technical description in the manual, but you're not quite positive... come see me, I have the decoder ring!

If you feel comfortable turning on and using the machine, but you want to harness its full potential, come play with me in my 102 class!!

Cricut 101 is at 10am this morning, and 102 is at 2pm... if those times are too close to the day for you, no worries. Call Paper Moon to see when the next Cricut classes are available.

Happy Scrappin!

Siobhan

The Holy Grail of pages

Evening again!

This last page qualifies for three challenges:

-The Pink Elephant (sketch)

-Frosted Designs (recipe challenge, my 6 items will be named)

-The Pink Ninjas (selfish)

First off.... if you haven't checked out the Pink Ninjas yet.... do so right away, these girls are gifted! My title qualifies this page for their "selfish" challenge. I wouldn't share my Joey with anyone!

Second of all, this page has been created in the style of the Pink Elephant sketch. I took the projected layering to the next level.

Okay, now for Frosted Designs' recipe challenge... I used 6 of the 10 items listed. They are (not in order):

-Punches (Note the border punch used below)

-Ribbon (two strips of thin, and one strip of wide purple ribbon)

-Felt (the flowers)

-Flowers (aforementioned)

-Purple (one of the main colors)

-Glitter (I used Stickles on the outside of the edge punched strips and on the tips of the brads)


Thank you ladies, hope you enjoy my works....as always please comment!

Goodnight!

Starry Eyed

Evening again!

This second page was for the Paper Niche challenge sketch:

Here is my take on it:
These layers were cut out in a pain staking manner from the Breaking Away line from My Mind's Eye.....I absolutely love the layers!

Happy Scrappin!

Breaking it down...

Evening folks,

I have many pages from the last two days, and some qualify for multiple challenges..... so, I have decided to post them separately.

I'll start at the beginning:

This layout is from Scrappin Silhouettes. I decided to make a negative of the paper that one of the design team members used. The paper behind this area, I am in love with. It is made up of Shakespeare sonnets.

Here is my take on the sketch....

Happy Scrappin!

Ladies and gentlemen....

Just so you can all prepare yourselves mentally.....(wink wink)

I am on the last day of the mini mega crop at Paper Moon, here in Dothan.

I have many things to show all of you....when I get home I will have several pages for you as well as some embellishments. So....tell all of your friends to come check out my blog, I will make it worth your while!

I do have a favor to ask of you... please check out the page of a friend of mine, it is: www.alwayssupportourheroes.com
The page belongs to a lady by the name of Robin Schmidt. She does wonderful things for soldiers who our serving our country overseas. She tries to raise money every year so a platoon can receive calling cards so they can call home for the holidays. Please take the time to read her page and see if you can help in any way.

Thank you for the taking the time!

Siobhan

Ode to life... and the joys of summer

Good afternoon everyone!!

Today is a day of lots of inspiration.... and I chose to seize the moment and scrap. =)

I was going through the challenges thinking about which order I would try to complete them, so true to form I decided to do more than one.

Many blog challenges call for summery items, and I chose the pictures out of my collection that I felt were an ode to summer (and cuteness)... Roxie eating watermelon. I was thinking to myself, "What could be more summery than biting into some watermelon?" These pictures are by far the cutest, and they have made me laugh on many an occasion.

I have been playing around with tags and decoupage for the last couple of days and I decided to incorporate one of them into this page. It in itself encourages you to live to your full potential in every way and I thought it fit very nicely side by side with enjoying summer.

I put together a page that qualifies for multiple challenges:

- Paper Poppy Kit (Love about Summer challenge, I used 2 stickers from the Cosmo Cricket cardstock stickers)

- Practical Scrappers (summer)

- Paper Niche (Embellishments made from paper cut outs)

- Frosted Designs (celebrate life)

To be honest, my pictures haven't been doing the layouts justice lately. Let me walk you through it though. I followed the Paper Poppy Kit sketch by Liz Qualman. I used October Afternoon papers for the most part. I used some Cosmo Cricket stickers from the newest Paper Poppy Kit (which is fabulous!)

The tag was inked, then covered in tissue paper and a Mod Podge solution to fix it. The phrases were done with pre-inked tissue paper in the same way. The last one, however, was inked and then covered with a layer of tissue paper, but this layer was left on flat during the drying process... then I ripped the tissue paper around the edges. I absolutely love this tag!!
I used the Tim Holtz Tattered Florals die to cut out the bottom layer of these flowers out of parchment paper.... I know it's not conventional paper, but it's paper nonetheless. Paper that I spritzed with Tattered Angels glimmer mist and let dry overnight to create the droplet effect.

That is it for today I'm afraid, off to the beach for some more summery pictures!

Happy Scrappin' everyone!!

Siobhan

Things I love about...

Good morning everyone,

Today is a wonderful day and it started out in a productive way for me. I worked on the Scrappin Silhouette sketch for this week, which has been so much fun to make.

I decided to forgo the title in the lower right corner because the "note pad" cut out already had an apt title. I think this page speaks for itself.....
I am in love with pin wheels at the moment...I must have made about 50 of them last night in all different colors and sizes. I almost feel like they are going to be my "signature" embellishment. Instead of fixing this one with a brad, I chose to do a simple cross stitch. It's hard to tell in a photo, but I added some stickles around some of the clouds and lightly misted the pinwheel with some Tattered Angels glimmer mist in Pearl. And I applied just a hint of crackle accents to some of the page elements, like the yellow flower.
Hope you have a lovely Sunday, happy Scrappin'!!

Siobhan

My favorite things...

Evening Everyone,

The past few weeks of my life have seemed kind of hectic to me, so finding the time (and/or energy) for scrapping have been few and far between. I managed to actually get a Practical Scrappers LO challenge done in time (for once), and in many ways it has become one of my favorites... let me explain why:

- It uses one of my all time favorite pictures (left)

- It uses one of my favorite hand made embellishments (bigger flower in the lower left)

- It uses one of my favorite patterned paper lines (My Mind's Eye - Be Loved)

I absolutely love this picture... I was so happy in that moment, and I continue to feel that way every time I look at it.

This flower in the picture below was one of my own creation, and I haven't seen it done anywhere else. I am planning to make this a class for Paper Moon, if you have any interest in knowing how to make them.... please let Autumn know.

Finally, the patterned papers are simply one of my favorites because of the colors, the patterns themselves, and the cute quotes on the card cut-out sheet.
I hope you all like it, and I hope you have a lovely weekend!

Happy Scrappin'!!

Siobhan

Pushing creativity to the next level

Good afternoon all,

It is a rainy day here in Alabama, so what better way to spend it than scrapping? I finished my page for the newest Paper Niche layout challenge....and it is awesome!!

I have to say that my picture of the overall page does not do it justice, I took it in harsh sunlight (better than no light) in between rain showers, so please bear with me. The picture in my layout has been one of our favorites for a while now. We were dogsitting and Gordie (the Yorkie) has the best doggie facial expressions. It almost seemed like he was mimicking Joe.

Okay, on to the page itself... In order to create the edges I wanted to go with something less harsh than paint or ink, so I spritzed the edges with Tattered Angels in Black Magic (which gives it that golden shimmer) I focused the spray on the lower right hand corner and when it was still wet, I blew the mist out over the page creating branch like strips. (this can be done with a straw to make it less random"

I cut out two stars of different sizes using the Cricut - Plantin Schoolbook cartridge. I finished the star off with some hand stitching and some Stickles in Crystal to make it pop. I applied the same stitching in an oval shape around the main subjects of the photo.

Now comes the fun part, I made my own pinwheels using the new BoBunny line (same as the background on the page) and some funky brads to pin down the center. I positioned these pinwheels in the "branches" like flowers. I didn't think the butterflies from the sketch matched my picture, so I went with something a little more original...and I figure these beauties fly in the wind too.
When time permits, I will post an easy "how to" on the making of pinwheels if there is enough interest. Have a great weekend, and happy scrappin'!!

Just in Thyme...?

Evening,

Short post.....trying to make the deadline for Sketches in Thyme. Should also qualify for Practical Scrappers day challenge to use the number 1 in the layout. enjoy!!

Turtle Love

Here it is folks! The newest page from my mind to your eyes....

This page was created for the Scrappin Silhouettes LO challenge. I also used my edge punches, making it eligible for the Paper Niche challenge to use punches. I used pink as my main color because I usually avoid pink like the plague, it was new and even exciting to work with. Check the chipboard negative of the flower on the left page, it was distressed with ink and Stickled.

Here a close-up of the edge punch technique applied, the hand sewing to highlight the edge, and the color match with the ribbon. I outlined the different patterned papers to give them a little depth.

One of my favorite features is the border strip on the right page, I made slits in order to feed through some bright ribbon.
This arrangement is made with almost nothing but paper cut outs, some foam adhesive pads, and some sharpie doodling. I added two pink pins to just give the composition an edge. I chose this composition over a tag and a butterfly because these cut outs were just too perfect for these papers and this layout.

Happy Scrappin!!!

My first Pink Elephant

Good Afternoon Everyone,

Hope that you are all having a great weekend so far. I've been working on the sketch for the Pink Elephant.....I liked it so much, I did it in the color combination specified of Aqua, Black & White. I also created a different page using the same LO but with a different color combination. I love them both, let me know what you think?

This first version was, in a way, already created. I had the title in mind for the picture, and with the LO and color scheme already provided....this page was a cinch to put together.

I am very fond of this page because of the hand stitching and the subtle Stickles elements. Also, the black and white Lush paper from My Mind's Eye is relatively hard to work with so I was exceptionally glad to have found a use for it. Prima flowers just finish it off.
This orange, yellow and green version below will appeal to some people more than the LO above. I love this page especially because the paper just lent itself to the design and with a touch of ribbon, some flowers (with metallic accents) and again, some hand stitching this page has a youthful and even innocent feel about it.
Below is a close-up of my hand stitching and the crackle effect on the letters. Hope you enjoy your weekend! Please please, please me with some comments =)

New Paper Niche submission

Evening Everyone,

Today was not as productive (scrapping-wise anyway) as I would have liked, but I managed to get at least one more page done. Here is the wonderful sketch from this weeks challenge at Paper Niche.
And here is my simple but sweet interpretation. I used a contrasting color scheme of orange and a light teal. I used some Prima flowers with a little touch of some Perfect pearls, some big brassy brads, and some faux stitching for added depth and character.

More to come tomorrow,

Happy Scrapping!!

Siobhan

Second post of the day!!

Evening Everyone!!

So just in time for the Sketches in Thyme challenge.....here is "Turtle Trot."

I really enjoyed making my own interpretation of the sketch, I flipped it sideways and decided to make the pictures pop more by leaving them larger and forgoing the journaling strip. The title speaks enough volumes, don't you think?

Airplanes

Good Afternoon Everyone,

Today I finally have a new page to show off....a page I am entering for both Frosted Design's "Lyrics" challenge, and for Practical Scrappers "7 things" challenge.

The title of this page is Airplanes and was inspired by the song of the same title, which was performed by B.O.B. featuring Hayley Williams.....and this was the result.

I used a lot of different elements that were subtle, but could still pack a big punch in effect. I used at least 7 different items to include; black cardstock, patterned paper by October Afternoon, white gel pen, Stickles in Black Diamond and Stardust, black lace, the Cricut, a distress tool, pearl accents etc. The crackle effect was used in places such as the letters of the title, as shown below.

The line of lyrics that inspired this whole page was "Can we pretend that airplanes in the night sky are like shooting stars?" I used this line in the LO along the bottom of the page.

I used Stickles in many places to highlight the shooting stars, this particular shooting star was cut out using the Cricut Home Decor cartridge. I traced the outline with Black Diamond Stickles then used crackle effect in the very center for some depth of character.

To give this page just a little bit of extra detail, I did a faux stitch around the matting. All in all I am very happy with the result. Happy Scrapping.....and I blog for comments!!