Tool Talk - Distressing

I don't have any Workspace Wednesday Hints this week, but as I've been slowly cleaning and organizing in my craft room, its lots of fun to find some of those forgotten items (both tools and supplies) that were past favorites.   And sometimes those old favorites work with new goodies to provide inspiration for the perfect layout.  This is a big advantage over a big purge with help from my daughter - she's great about pushing me to purge and keeping me focused,  but she doesn't give me the time to appreciate finds and put them to work.

So last week I came across my Creative Memories distressing tool.  It is really just a blade in a handle with notches that makes it easy to pull along a sheet of paper for fun distressed edges.

 As soon as I saw it, I knew all those pretty papers in the Studio Calico Savannah scrapbook kits just demanded to be used on a pretty "shabby chic" layout.  So I pulled a bunch of papers and scraps and cut rough squares and rectangles in a  variety of sizes.  I ran each piece through the distressing tool on all 4 sides.  I wanted to run an ink pad along the distressed edges for added dimension.  But the charcoal I started with appeared to dark in many instances - so I used gold to accent the distressed edges.

 The papers were really pretty but I wanted to add more details and layers.  I had added two sheets of stickers from the Basic Gray Dear Heart collection to my box and they were perfect for this.  I used the distressing tool and ink on the stickers too - but the gray seemed to work better this time.  I added the stickers between the layers and in a cluster at the bottom of the photo. 

The title is from the Pinkfresh Studios Happy Thing collection and is another goodie I rediscovered recently - I still have a couple of words left there to use up.  (I have determined that the reason my supplies appear to be so out of control is that I never finish anything - so I am trying to finish at least one partial pack of something every week this year.  I don't figure I will do it every week, but I do think I will finish some things if I work on it.)

 I finished the layout with a couple of distressed pieces of paper at the top of the page and added a small embellishment cluster.  The pink rubber banner was from the November Studio Calico kit and the color was perfect for this Thanksgiving layout. 

And the distressing tool - it is now in the tool caddy on my desk - I wouldn't want it to get lost again. 

Hope  you're having a great week. 

Making it My Own

Paper Issues has a scraplift challenge every Sunday.  I don't always complete the challenges, but I never forget to look - it is always eye candy!  This week's layout was by "Orange Gearle" and I loved it!

I loved the basic design, the bold colors, all the mixed media work and all the fun details.  But it was way outside my comfort zone.  "Messy" scares me a little and I have to be in the mood to experiment - otherwise I am just too afraid of ruining a project (totally dumb since I am playing with paper, but still scary).  And I rarely use such bold color combinations - I am generally drawn to soft colors in my own projects.

But the basic design stuck with me - and I had an idea that was definitely inspired by the design in the inspiration piece.

 
See - totally in my own way.  Everything was from my February Studio Calico box (except the shipping tags).  I layered the tags and photo, slid the heart paper underneath after inking the torn edge to add a bit more dimension and slid the woodgrain paper under the gold hearts to help make them pop.  Then I stitched through the tags using a paper piercer and gold thread.

Essentially I replaced the mixed media work with layers of paper.  But I was inspired to dig out one of my all time favorite stamps and do some repetitive stamping using pink and gray ink on the shipping tags.  I created a couple of embellishment clusters (the top one includes the title) to finish my basic design.  The last thing I added were paper strips at the top and bottom of the page to anchor the layout.

Easy -peasy.......And I captured the basic elements of the inspiration layout while adapting it to my own style.  And honestly, it would have gone together in about 30 minutes if I hadn't added the stitching.  I am just a slow sewer. 

Hope your week is going well.  Thanks for stopping by.

Scrappin' My Snow Day Away

Yay!  It's a snow day - alright, I could have gotten to work but instead my husband and I chose to rain on our (teen-age) daughter's parade and join her in a snow day.  Because yesterday was a holiday for me this creates a 4 day weekend and I am having a ball in my scrap room - which brings us to this bonus blog post today. 

A new sketch went up at Stuck?! yesterday and I used it as inspiration for a layout this morning.  And I knew I would forget to link to the Stuck?! blog if I didn't go ahead and post today.  Anyway here is the sketch.

 I loved all the fun layers and couldn't wait to play. And I have to say that I really love my layout. 

Most of the papers came from the SC Savannah kits but I dug in my stash for some greens.  that matched the green dots in the polka dot paper framing the layout.  The title (actually gold but winter light stinks) was from the scrapbook add-on.  It is another one of those things I didn't think I'd use, but it was perfect for this.

I combined this sketch with the LOAW challenge Carson Riutta posted yesterday - finish something on your project.  I finished a pack of white rubber stars and those Pinkfresh wood/enamel chevrons were all by themselves in a package.  So I finished two things.

And finally, a quick tip - That polka dot paper was the perfect frame for my layout, but I kind of love it and it's a kit exclusive.  It was going to be hard to get more and I hated the idea of wasting the whole sheet to create the border around my layout.  So I cut the middle out - I have most of the sheet for another project or projects.

I'm going to go start another project - I have another layout idea and extra time to play.  I hope you are having as much fun as I am today.  Have a great Tuesday!

Not So Pink After All

As I've been playing with my Savannah kits and extras, the papers (or sides of papers) that were not pink started to stand out to me.  So I thought it would be fun to try and make a layout that featured those papers for a really different look from the kit.

Here's what I came up with.

Everything on this layout but the label and the red flag behind the photo came in my Savannah box.  The bright green paper and the jewel tone dots on the My Mind's Eye paper in the paper add-on really changed the feel.  The black and gold paper is a card from the Documenter kit and also helped to create a more masculine tone.

And that big rubber "Yep" that I used for the title - I have to admit thinking I was never going to use it.  But it was perfect for this layout.  And that is my favorite thing about getting kits - finding out that the things I never would have bought are so much fun to play with. 

I'm really loving the Savannah kits and can't wait to play some more.  I'll be back soon to share what I come up with. 

Thanks for stopping by.

Pink for Fall Photos

I got my February kits from Studio Calico last week.  They are really beautiful -- and really pink.  Now I like pink and use a lot of pink in my projects.  But these kits might be the pinkiest kits I ever have seen.

Since I don't take many (read not any) Valentine pictures, these kits are a bit of a challenge for me.  But they are really lovely, so I decided to see what photos I could use that would be a bit of surprise with the pink papers and girly patterns.  I started with a fall photo from a trip to the apple orchard.  My daughteri s wearing a bright red sweatshirt, but it worked well with some of the pink papers.

design inspired by sketch at Citrus Twist kits

The papers I used are a mix from the scrapbook add on and the main kit.  I fell in love with the chipboard in the scrapbook add-on (from Crate Paper Hello Love).  And the pops of yellow helped to balance all the pink.

I'm off to embrace the pink - hope you're finding some time to craft.

Thanks for stopping by.

Saturday Morning Inspiration

I try to schedule some crafty time every weekend - and the more the better.  Most Saturdays I start my weekend by checking out my favorite sites for inspiration.  I let the things I see "sit" in my head while I do some chores and errands.  Then when I have some time, ideas are ready. 

Yesterday I found two of my favorite starting points in my browsing.  It was Sketchy Saturday at Paper Issues......

and 3 to Inspire at Citrus Twist Kits.  The 3 to inspire prompts were using frames, ink splatters and repetitive stamping.  And my first layout of the weekend was inspired by both of those starting points.

I really loved the sketch at Paper Issues and it inspired by design. I used one 4x6 photo and a cluster of frames in place of the three photos.  Otherwise I stayed pretty close to the sketch.  And I love the way the Crate Paper Hello Love papers work perfectly for Christmas.

The 3 to Inspire prompts definitely led me in the direction of the frames.  The pink and gold frame is from the Hello Chipboard and the others are from my stash I backed them with neutral papers to create layers and dimension.  Then I added a large acrylic phrase from Color Cast Designs to the cluster of frames.

I added some other acrylic pieces from the Pinkfresh Christmas collection and we were good to go.

Hope you're having a crafty weekend too.  Thanks for stopping by.