More May Flowers…

I have been on quite the flower kick in my paper crafting lately! I finally got my hands on the Sizzix Accordion Flip 3-D die and gave it a whirl making this card.

This die is so much fun. It actually cuts one panel at a time and you can chain them together to make it as long as you want. You can see how they all go together in this video that Karen Burniston did explaining the whole process. There is also a companion die that goes with this, the Frame & Label die. This cuts outside frames and pieces that fit onto the center flip panels too. For my card, I cut outside frames using tan Kraft Core paper and embossed it in the Bricked embossing folder. The whole width won't fit into the folder, but it's not hard to emboss part of it and then move the frame over and run it through again. After embossing, I sanded it a bit and then inked it with various "brick" colors of Distress ink. For a final layer of color and texture, I made little puddles of Distress Paint (see colors below) on my non-stick craft sheet and then rubbed it onto the brick pattern using my finger. That made it easier to control the application and blend colors together.

Before I adhered the brick frames to the accordion panels, I did some stamping on the center panel parts. This is much easier while the whole thing is flat of course! The  images are from the Tim Holtz Visual Artistry sets Lost & Found and Flights of Fancy. The quote is a favorite of mine and pretty much sums up how I feel about gardening. =) And that brings me to a mention of the May challenge at the Inspiration Journal. You still have a few days left to link up your project that features a favorite quote. You could win $50 to spend at Inspiration Emporium! Check out the link for details and see all the inspiring projects people have shared.

Most of the supplies I used for this can be found at Inspiration Emporium. Follow the links below and use my code JUICE to save 10% if you go shopping.

April Flowers Bring May Flowers…

Last year my friend Shar made this wonderful wreath and I was inspired to make one for myself. It took me a year, but I finally got around to making one!

I went crazy making all sorts of flowers. It's a diecut explosion! I mostly used Tim Holtz dies Tattered Florals and Tattered Floral Garland but also made some with Spellbinder dies. (All the dies I used are in the supply list at the bottom of the post.) Here are some closeups - there is a lot going on in this project!

Flower #1 was made using the Spellbinders Spiral Blossom One. I found a helpful video here on how to roll the flowers easily. For flower #2 I used the Tattered Pinecone Die (yes, you can make more than just pinecones!) Aren't these little roses great? Tim Holtz has a great video on his website that shows you how to make them.

The butterfly is a Heidi Swapp ghost shape backed with colored and stamped coffee filter paper. I spread the back of the shape with Glossy Accents and stuck it down on the paper (make sure it is on a non-stick mat, some of the GA soaked through). When it was dry I cut around the shape.

For flower #3, the Chrysanthemum, I cut several of the long petaled flower from the Tattered Florals die out of coffee filters. I colored them with Mustard Seed Distress stain and various inks and mists. Once they were dry, I stacked about 6 of them up and stapled through the center with the tiny attacher. Then I fluffed the petals up to form the flower.

Flower #4, the peony,  is based on one that Shelly Hickox shared on her blog. For mine, I colored the flower parts first (misting and Seedless Preserves stain). I also left part of the styrofoam ball showing after painting the top of it yellow.

A few more notes on this project. For the base I cut a ring out of foamcore board and clipped the painted and stamped clothespins around the rim. Also, did you know you can make custom mists using Distress Ink re-inkers and Perfect Pearls? Check out the video on how to do this. You can mist everything in sight, lol.

I hope you have been inspired by my May flowers wreath! It makes me happy every time I go in my front door. =) Most of the supplies I used for this can be found at Inspiration Emporium. Follow the links below and use my code JUICE to save 10% if you go shopping.

Bubble Trouble and a Sketch Challenge

Howdy all! We have a lovely May sketch challenge for you at Scrapping Everyday Miracles and once again, you have the choice to use the layout or card sketch (or do both for two chances to win!) I chose the layout this month:

and my take on it:

This is a hybrid layout that ended up being even more hybrid than I had intended! I got the idea to try making bubble prints on the layout. Perfect for a bath theme right? Well the technique worked fine on my regular cardstock I was testing it on. But when I used the 12 x 12 Epson Matte scrapbook paper that I had printed the photo out on it did not behave! The coating on the paper would not take the prints. I ended up with some tiny bubble marks and lots of blotches and yuckiness. Bleh! So I made my bubble prints on regular cardstock sans photo and then scanned the page. I then stitched the halves of the bubble paper scans together and layered it with the photo in my Photoshop document. Then I printed that out and continued on. The chevron masking was done right on the printout (whew, so glad the specialty paper took the Distress ink well!) I spritzed it with a bit of Perfect Pearls Sunflower Sparkle, using a flattened coffee filter to cover the face. That little bit of bling is really nice but alas it doesn't photograph well. The duck graphic I created in Photoshop as well, starting with just a plain photo of a rubber duck. I did mysterious Photoshop things to it to "fancy it up". ;-) Please go and check out what the other ladies on the DT did for this challenge. I think you will find lots of inspiration! Link up your work there by the end of May for a chance to win the big monthly prize!

Many of the supplies I used here can be found at Inspiration Emporium. Use my code JUICE if you go shopping there and save 10% off your order. =)

Guest Post for Inspiration Journal

Hello everyone, today I am honored to be the guest poster at the Inspiration Journal! My project makes a nice little gift. I gave these to my Mom and Mother-in-law for Mother’s Day but you could also make some to give as an end of the year gift to the kids’ teachers. Somewhere I read that the larger matchbook of Tim Holtz’s Matchbook Set die perfectly fits a standard Post-It pad. By golly, it’s true! Take a look:

 

If you'd like to see how I made these, head on over to Inspiration Journal and catch all the details. Don’t forget about the May challenge this month, Don’t Quote Me. Check it out and link up your project by the end of the month for a chance to win $50 to spend at Inspiration Emporium!

Most of the supplies I used here can be found at Inspiration Emporium. Use my code JUICE if you go shopping there and save 10% off your order. =)

What's New?

It's that time again, the May challenge for Scrapping Everyday Miracles is here! This month we are focusing on a project that represents something new in your life. This was a thought-provoking project for me. It feels like life is the same old thing lately! I need a change of perspective though and that is my prayer.

The journaling on the pull out card reads:
I have definitely been feeling stuck in old ways of thinking and going through the  motions of life. I long to be transformed on a daily basis and be renewed. I feel like I’ve been in the desert (spiritually speaking), and I’m not quite sure how to find the way out. I want to be able to truly see what God’s good, pleasing, and perfect will for me is. I am so thankful that He cares about me and that He will change me for the better. My prayer is that God will start a new thing in my life and help me to get on board with it.  

The twist for May's challenge is to have something on the project that is old and something that is new as of this year. Pretty much everything I used is stuff that has been stashed in my stash for quite a while! (paper, flowers, embellishments) The really old stuff is the page of music I tore out of an old hymnal and the strip of lace that I colorized using Distress stains. The "new" items are the cameo and rectangle dies I used, the honeycomb embossing folder, and the new Tim Holtz Distress Paint. (fun new toys!) The paint is really quite fabulous. Here's a detail of the shabby chic, distressed look you can get with it:

To create this frame, I first adhered a sheet of the Ranger foil tape sheets onto a piece of chipboard. I then embossed the whole piece with the honeycomb folder. Then I used the embossed piece and cut out the cameo frame shape. Then the fun really began. I dabbed on Victorian Velvet, Broken China and Antique Bronze and blended them a bit with my finger and a few light spritzes of water. I mostly dried it (leave a few wet spots) with my heat gun and then added some layers of Walnut Stain and Vintage Photo. I partially dried that and then went back with a cloth and rubbed away part of the paint, exposing the colors underneath and even the foil tape in parts. I played around with some more layers of color and then did a final layer of Black Soot which I mostly wiped off again, just leaving some black in the nooks and crannies for definition. I'll have to do more of this because it was so much fun! The metal bird I colored using alcohol inks (Snow Cap and Cloudy Blue).

I hope you go and check out all the challenge details at SEM and to see the wonderful projects the rest of the DT has done. You have until the end of the month to link up your project and you'll have a chance at winning our sponsor prize, a gift certificate to BlueMoonscrapbooking.com!

Most of the supplies I used here can be found at Inspiration Emporium. Use my code JUICE if you go shopping there and save 10% off your order. =)

Mother's Day… it's coming!

Well, I was looking at my calendar last week and said, "Holy smokes, Mother's Day is in two weeks!! (So that means it is LESS than two weeks now! Just as a heads up you know.) I'd better get crackin' with my projects!" I've made a good start with these cards for my Mom and Mother-in-law (Don't look Mom!)

At Inspiration Journal the May challenge is to create a project with a quote in it so I chose some great "mom" quotes for my cards. One is tongue in cheek but that's to be expected in a quote from Phyllis Diller. ;-) I am so thankful for these two women who are in my life. Of course my Mom has always been wonderful and such an important part of my life. I feel so blessed also that my MIL is a wonderful person and we get along well. She did a great job with my husband, lol. Thank you ladies for all the love, support and help you give me!

Most of the supplies I used here can be found at Inspiration Emporium. Use my code JUICE if you go shopping there and save 10% off your order. =)