Reveal is only a few days away!

Check back the day after Christmas for the full Scrap That! January kit reveal... here is a little teaser in the meantime. I would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas - see you back here on the 26th!

Teacher Gifts

Each year I get the kids to help me make a special teacher gift (that can actually be used or displayed without embarrassment, LOL). Some tiny Prima flowers that I had ordered came in fabulous glass jars and display case. The packaging was plain, dark brown and the perfect background "canvas". I refilled the jars with Epsom salts as I am not sure of scent allergies. The kids helped me fill the jars and make the 3 large flowers using my Vintage Flowers Tutorial. Here is the result...

For the first one, I chose a Graphic 45 "Le Romantique" scraps, lace, string pearls and a soft pink ribbon. I also glued 3 pink shabby flowers to each jar . I used the ribbon to wrap it and tied a bow at the top and glued the large flower and tag to the ribbon so that it comes apart easily and the jars can be refilled.

For the second one, I chose G45 "Steampunk" scraps from my Oct. Scrap That! kit, and added a few "Romantique" tags tied around each jar. It looked a little plain compared to the first one so I added some adhesive pearls to dress it up.

Lastly, I used a Websters calendar page for the third one, then did some fussy cutting and glued a bird to the top of the flower to make it look like a nest.

Well, thanks for stopping by and for all the sweet comments you always leave.

Have you seen the ST mini?

Tara Orr designed an amazing album using the Scrap That! mini kit and best of all the Bo Bunny Noel papers are already cut to fit the chipboard! What an easy and beautiful project. Be sure to get one before they are all gone!

Here is Tara's album cover, all of the pages are posted at http://scrapthat.ning.com in the gallery if you want to check them out.

Scrap That! Dec Kit Contents

Well, you've seen the design reveal, now here is a picture of the main kit and content details. The embellie add-on is already sold out so hurry fast before the kits are all gone too! Visit www.scrapthat.ca to purchase this kit or e-mail sales@scrapthat.ca to subscribe for 6 months and receive a discounted monthly price.

Scrap That!“Holiday Magic” Kit

Crisp white mornings, a cozy fire, twinkling lights, the smell of pine and fresh baking. Surrounded by family and friends, the holidays are a magical time of celebration. We are so pleased to present our "Holiday Magic" kit featuring the Night Divine paper collection by IOD. With rich, romantic colors, and floral elements, this collection transcends the holidays and can be used for themes such as, heritage, romance/wedding and Winter!

6 IOD Night Divine Papers 1 IOD Gold Music Notes Foil Paper Bazzill Basics Forest Green Cardstock Bazzill Basics AMM Barkley Cardstock Bazzill Basics Birchtone Dark Cardstock Daisy D’s Timeless Holidays Papers 1 Sheet IOD Night Divine Elements 1 IOD Night Divine Die Cut Pack 1 Bo Bunny Cranberry Rose Trim 1 Prima Gala Holiday Poinsettia 1 Prima Winter Branches, Grapes 1 Handmade Green Organza Flower - ETSY www.etsy.com/shop/supplier 1 Ranger Stickles Holly 4 Prima Snowdrop Holiday Celebration Flowers 4 Bazzill Flower Pot Flowers - Red Carpet 3 Making Memories Mini Gold Brads Length of Green Tara Lace 4 Pieces May Road Chipboard

Scrap That! December Reveal

I am so excited about this Scrap That! reveal. When you mix my favorite holiday with my favorite paper line released at the last CHA, combined with fabulous embellies... you get the perfect kit! The December kit features the Creative Imaginations IOD Night Divine collection and a wealth of gorgeous embellies. I couldn't stop scrapping and ended up with 5 layouts!

My first layout "Merry Christmas" is of a picture taken on my daughter's first Christmas. I wanted a simple and elegant feel so I double layered some doilies and made a big bow out of the stunning Bo Bunny ribbon. Heavy edge distressing and a simple IOD tag for the title to polish it off. All items shown are in the kit except the doilies. I loved the cardstock choices this month.

Design tip: Dress-up the middle of a bow with a flower for simple elegance.

In my second layout "Noel", this is me at almost 2 years old - looks exactly like my daughter at that age except for the black hair, hers is light brown. I scanned the picture to have a copy but used the original here because the photo finish went better with the vintage papers (see the "vintage" scratch on it? LOL). I made all the flowers using my new tutorials (winter roses and vintage style flower) to dress-up the prima berry vine. I added some of the kit's glorious trim around the circle and hung the title tag on the branch. The cheesecloth and two white leaves were from my stash.
Design tip: Tuck some cheesecloth behind a deep paper tear to add soft texture.

In my third layout "Spirit of the Season", this is my family a few months before my daughter was born. I water distressed two layers then accessorized with so many beautiful embellies from the kit. The only embellie I used from my stash was a bit of lace. I used the wonderful sketch by our extremely talented team member, LG Belarmino.
Design tip: Create a shabby cut out circle edge by tucking some lace trim behind it so it faces inwards.

My fourth layout "Wonderful Time" is of my first son on his first Christmas morning. I used a scrip stamp to create the faded stamped background, then did a whole lot of edge punching and used more gorgeous embellies from the kit. The black chipboard frame was from my stash (from the October kit).
Design tip: Add Stickles to black chipboard to jazz it up a bit.

For my last layout, I had one piece of IOD paper, one piece of green cardstock and one green trim left from the kit. I wanted to make a pre-made layout for a good friend of mine so I added my own embellies and doilies for a really quick layout. The colours are perfect for her home's holiday decor.
Design tip: Add mini roses to the middle of crochet flowers to dress them up.

As you can see this Scrap That! kit is so packed with gorgeous stuff so hurry fast before it is sold out! Thanks for stopping by and thank you for all the wonderful comments you leave, they are so appreciated.

Scrap That! December Sneaks

Just a few more days until the Dec. kit reveal on the 26th... take a look at some of the gorgeous sneaks sent by all the DT!

Winter Roses Tutorial

Roses are my weakness - I admit it! I've been waiting to post this tutorial for a while because I needed my local Michael's Diamond Dust shipment to arrive. These flowers are so easy that you'll kick yourself for ever having paid full price for a pack. I figure each flower costs me under ten cents to make and they take very little time to do.

Here is what you will need: Two large punched flowers and three small (mine are 1 and 2 inches). All that matters is that there are 5 petals with separation and an inch difference between the large and small ones - so use whatever punch/dies you have. I used EK retro punches. You'll also need water to mist, clear glue or glitter glue, strong craft glue, Diamond Dust or chunky glitter, a thick rounded pen or paintbrush, a thin skewer or paintbrush and a foam pad/mouse pad. You can also punch a green pointed tip flower to act as your leaves later on.

Step 1: Water mist all the flowers and press the middles into the foam mat with the end of a wide rounded pen or paintbrush. Cup the small ones around the pen. Pinch one a bit and another a lot to form your bud.

Step 2: Using the skewer, tightly curl the petals of one large flower inwards and for the other do it outwards, as shown below. Doing it in opposition like this is what prevents flattening later on. Let all 5 flowers dry completely - this stiffens the paper to hold the shape.

Step 3: Glue the outwardly curled petals to the greenery and then the inwardly curled petals on top. Press all together into the foam mat with your pen to ensure glue stiffens in the "cup" shape - this is needed for your center.

Step 4: Glue the 3 small flowers into the middle, be generous with your glue as this will stiffen the flower and help with durability. Let the glue dry before moving on.

Step 5: Add a thin layer of clear glue or glitter glue where desired and then immediately press into Diamond Dust. Shake off excess. This will also stiffen the flower prevent damage.

That's it! Here is my finished rose.

Here is my rose beside a Prima brand "Marble Ice" one. You could always add a third layer to the bottom... but I like my flowers less bulky for layouts.

Thanks for stopping by. As always, your support means a lot to me so thank you for all the wonderful comments you leave - really makes my day to read them!

Vintage Style Flower Tutorial

Sorry it took me so long to get this tutorial up, but here it is!

I was inspired by Donna Salazar's layered flowers (hers are more grunge style with 4-5 layers of old maps and book pages) and wanted to create a soft delicate, vintage looking flower that was a little easier to manipulate with a whopping 10 layers of various materials. My finished size is 5 inches in diameter. I've seen a similar paper flower technique used with only cardstock on several blogs... but using different paper weights and sheer materials is what gives this flower the shabby vintage look.

What you need is 10 circles (whatever size you want the flower to be) of various materials that you can get a brad through all the 10 layers. Good choices are doilies, tulle, tissue paper, cardstock, mulberry paper, vellum, book pages, etc. You want the layers to vary slightly in size and be of different paper/material weights for amazing texture.

Here is what I used, two tulle circles roughly cut to 5 inches, three layers of thin mulberry paper (can use tissue paper) wet torn to 4 inches for a fuzzy edge, a small 4 inch doily, a few white cardstock circles cut with deco scissors and punched with MS lace border punch 4-5 inches, the inner circle of a larger doily 6 inches. I also inked the edges of the cardstock papers in brown, used bronze glimmer mist, water mist and a large brad.

Step 1: Mist the doilies and mulberry paper on one side and gently crumple. Glimmer mist the cardstock on both sides and crumple.

Step 2: Gently unravel (be careful with the thin papers) and layer onto brad alternating materials.

Step 3: Crumple each layer at a time towards the center, starting with the top layer. Let it dry a little.

Step 4: Before it completely dries, gently unravel the layers, starting with the bottom and place as desired to reveal all the gorgeous textures. You can leave the last layer closed if you prefer.

Here is my finished flower with the middle opened to reveal the brad. So fast and easy to do!

Experiment and have fun using different papers and materials too. Happy Scrapping! Your support means so much to me. Thank you for all the lovely comments everyone leaves for me.

Three Scrap That! layouts and one just for fun!

OK, now this month's Scrap That! kit SERIOUSLY rocks. It features the spectacular Pink Paislee Parisian Anthology papers combined with some of the MME Portobello Road ones... then mix in coordinating Pink Paislee embellies, gorgeous Prima flowers and bling, plus ink - the list goes on and on and on! Please bear with me, It's been cloudy and foggy for three days now so these are the best of a million layout shots I could get.

My first layout "Lucky Me" was a challenge that I gave myself - to scrap with mostly PLAIN cardstock. This was pretty easy to do given the amazing embellies I had to work with and the beautiful blue cardstock in this kit. This is a picture of me at 8 months pregnant with the little girl I had always dreamed of having. The string pearls were a gift from my friend and fellow DT member Ivana. The handmade bling was actually featured in the October kit and you can find Sandi Smith's tutorial on the Scrap That! Blog to make your own paint flourish.

Design Tip: Use high contrast/bold colors when scrapping black and white pictures so that your picture doesn't just fade into the layout.

My second layout "Happiness" is my husband the night before our wedding at sunset in the Bahamas (where we got married). I used the gorgeous MME papers, cut the banner out of it and added a wealth of embellies from the glorious kit. Please note, the butterfly and pleated ribbon were from past kits.

Design tip: Layer ribbons to add extra dimension and contrast.

My third layout "Pretty Darling" is of my mom and I on my wedding day. The MME paper was the perfect color to go with this picture. The over the top gorgeous Prima bling and large flower plus the amazing Pink Paislee broach brad were enough to frame the picture that I didn't bother matting it with cardstock. The butterfly was bought at my local dollar store.

Design tip: Add pleated ribbon to the bottom of paper to "anchor" the page.

This last layout was a design I had brewing in my head for quite a while and the November kit had the right paper and embellies to finish it. It's my mom on her wedding day. I used half kit contents and the rest from my stash for this one. I combined the Pink Paislee Papers from the kit with some K and Co (ancestry) and Pink Pailsee (queen bee). The three brownish roses and the beautiful white frame were all from the kit. I wanted a true vintage/shabby feel and am glad I waited for the right supplies to work with.

Now let's talk about the large handmade flower (yes I will do a tutorial this week, LOL). I was inspired by Donna Salazar's layered flowers but wanted a softer look with more textured layers and used an easier technique to put it all together - stay tuned for the flower tutorial in the next day or two!

Thanks for stopping by see you soon!

Scrap That! Mini Album Available Now!

You've gotta check out the amazing mini album that Tara Orr put together this month for Scrap That! All the incredibly designed pages can be viewed at http://scrapthat.ning.com and the Halloween kit is now available for purchase too - with full step-by-step instructions!

Oct. Scrap That! Contest - Win a kit!

It is that time again for the monthly contest and the best part is that you can scrap with your stash. Just be sure that the main three colors of your project are the three main colors of the Scrap That! October kit... see details below and good luck!

Sweet Rose Tutorial

I adore the look of all the cabbage roses people make but I find them too bulky for a scrapbook album and they get easily crushed... so I decided to take inspiration from the Prima tea roses and create my own with an extra layer (and for about a tenth of the price, LOL!) that are a little more durable in an album.

You will need 3 two-inch punched flowers and 4 one-inch flowers. Any flower punch or die with separated petals will do. I used my retro flower punches (by EK Success). Ink for the edges, water to mist, glue, a foam mouse pad, three sizes of pen thickness with rounded ends (or paintbrushes) and glitter glue to polish off (if desired). If you want your flowers to look exactly like the Prima tea roses, then only use two large flowers. I like a more ruffled look.

Step 1: Ink all your flower edges, lightly water mist (or glimmer mist) them all and press the centers into the foam mat with a rounded pen end. Here is a close-up of a few. If you over wet them, they will rip in the next step.

Step 2: Cup the large ones around the end of your sharpie thickness item and roll against the side. Use the smallest sized pen for the smaller flowers. They should all look like this and now you let them dry 100% before moving on.

Step 3: Once all dry, roll a small flower between your thumb and index to create the bud center. Slightly open the 3 larger flowers and one small one. Glue the small ones into each other (opened one at the bottom) and set aside. Do the same with the large ones and remember to off-set the petals. Let glue dry completely before moving on.

Step 4: Once dry, gently fold back the petals of the large flower and then press the large glued flower into the mat with the mid sized pen to ensure the "cup" shape.

Step 5: Glue the center flower and arrange petals if necessary. Also, the center can be used as a flower on its own like you would a baby Prima rose (just add a green star punch to the bottom for the leaves). You can add another punched flower layer to the bottom for more fullness too.

Step 6: Once the glue dries, pinch each large petal to give it a realistic look. Some people may just prefer the perfect look above though.

Step 7: This part is optional depending on your project style... add glitter glue to the large petal edges for a dewey polished look and add leaves to the bottom. I just used a daisy flower punch and inked and pinched the ends. Martha Stewart makes a really nice rose leaf punch too.

That's it, you're done! Here is a close-up of the finished 2-inch diameter rose... the same size as a Prima tea rose!

To prove this works with any punch, here is the flower I just made beside two others I did with my Marvy brand 3 petal pansy punch (3 inch) and my McGill heart clover punch (2.5 inch). I used a pre-made rose for the pink center and my simple flower tutorial for the white center to better match the flower styles. Experiment and have fun with any die or punch you have. I bet some of you with the Tim Holtz tattered flower dies will end up with flowers looking like the new Prima sugarplum roses. And if you used 8-petal daisy punches/dies, you'd get a peony style flower.

Thanks for stopping by and remember to leave some love if you like these. Also, if you happen to give these a go, I would love to see your results. All I ask is that when possible you give credit where due to any artist's tutorial because they do take a bit of effort to do. Thank you.