With simply paper and creativity anyone can create art


Saturday, April 30, 2011

Creative Scrappers Birthday Blog Hop

Good Morning Creative Scrappers & Welcome to the Birthday Blog Hop!

We are celebrating 3 years of Creativity at Creative Scrappers this weekend and glad you could join us. Our Creative Team members EACH have a UNIQUE SKETCH from our Sketch Designers to showcase on their blogs. Visit each blog for inspiration and please visit the Creative Scrappers blog and add your name to our Mr. Linky list to be entered to win 1 of 4 prizes from Let's Capture Our Memories, Scrap Attack Scrapbooking, Nicole Lombardo, as well as My Little Bit of Whimsy.



 My "cute" layout was created by using an amazing sketch from Amarilys Doria. I don't think this lady has created a sketch that I don't like. My layout also features mostly Scrap That! May kit contents except for the Dusty Attic bracket frame and the title. Everything else is from the incredible "Romantic Spring" kit which features Pink Paislee and Prima papers. I used mostly PP Butterfly Garden collection and the chipboard was painted with pink acrylic and then stickled & glimmer misted with light gold tones for sheen. The candid shot is of my daughter a few years ago sitting pretty on the front lawn.

Here is a close up of the awesome ribbon and flowers from my kit. The two little postcards were cut from a Prima paper in the kit too.
As you can see, the sketch is so fantastic I hardly deviated from it at all.
Now you will want to check-out the other 17 sketches and coordinating layouts. Click the links below which will take you to the other blogs. What an awesome way to celebrate 3 years for Creative Scrappers... with TONS of creativity of course!

Amélie Jutras
Ana Castro
Carla Tarabus
Caroline Parent
Christiane Müller
Elizabeth Carney
Jenny Linden
Jody Rogers
Kim Jeffress
Mija Comstad
Natalia Danilina
Nicole Nowosad
Pamella Brown
Sarah Webb
Shannon Morgan
Vicky Alberto - ME!
Yukiko Ochi
Yuko Tanaka

Kristine Davidson (to download all our Blog Hop Sketches in a PDF file)

Thank you for supporting Creative Scrappers and don't forget to enter to win on the CS BLOG! A
dd your name to our Mr. Linky list to be entered to win 1 of 4 prizes from Let's Capture Our Memories, Scrap Attack Scrapbooking, Nicole Lombardo, as well as My Little Bit of Whimsy.

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Scrap That! One-Year Anniversary Blog Hop

Today marks the one-year anniversary of Scrap That! reveals. I can't believe it has been a year already since I started this adventure with Lori Brown (owner of Scrap That!). There are so many exciting things and BONUS PRIZES to be won this time so bear with me in this long post...

My blog is the last one on the blog hop list and you should have arrived from Tina's blog, this month's guest designer. Today I am sharing only two layouts for the May kit reveal because I have another 2 coming VERY soon using this kit for very exciting reasons as you will read further on. OK, so a bit about the May kit - Romantic Spring. It features my two favorite collections from the winter CHA releases - Pink Paislee Butterfly Garden and Prima Botanical (hmmmm, I may have had a little to do with this one, wink :). The kit name says it all... soft romantic papers with a touch of vintage, tons of beautiful spring flowers and the coolest technique item we've had - A Prima canvas with a Ranger mist.


My first layout is the Prima canvas. So as I mentioned we got a blue mist plus we received a Dusty Attic dress form (I only have 3 of these left in my Etsy shop right now but will be getting more). I used a K and Co. cardstock die cut as a mask (since I needed it blue for another layout :) and added two more little chippies from my stash to complete this. Painted and stickled all of the chipboard pink to complement the gorgeous pink Prima flowers in the kit. I will admit that the picture is not glued down as I want to give this as a gift but wanted a picture here for the reveal.

Design Tip: Mist lightly and let the canvas dry between coats. The canvas is VERY absorbent and the color does not lighten as it dries so a little mist goes a long way. Karen also told me to iron it when done to stay flat - awesome advice as the corners tend to curl a bit once sprayed.

My second layout "true love" is of my parents on their wedding day. I also used the fabulous kit sketch (by LG) pictured below for inspiration. Her sketches are so awesome! I hand cut the PP doily paper and combined it with the blue Prima paper. The two collections go so well together! I just love the white flowers in this kit - so Prima good! This layout was a good excuse to buy another Martha punch too :)

Design Tip: Add a little lacing to layouts for a sweet delicate look.

This is the terrific sketch this month by LG!

OK, so as I said only 2 layouts revealed today because in just a few days, on April 30th, it's the Creative Scrappers 3-year anniversary blog hop. Each designer was given their OWN exclusive sketch (so cool!). Here is a little peek of my layout using the May Scrap That! kit...

Scrap That! is also EXTREMELY EXCITED to share with you that we are sponsoring The Color Room for the month of May! I will use my kit to play along with one of the palettes since I have soooo much stuff left over. These kit are such awesome value that I usually get 5 layouts out of them!

If you are not familiar with The Color Room, they are a fabulous online community of over 3,000 like minded people. They inspire creativity by offering a sketch and a color palette each and every week.  They also have tons of tutorials to push you even further!

The color palettes during May will all be created from the colors of the ScrapThat! Kits!

It's a great place to spend some time, share your art and push yourself to be more creative and confident in this craft we call scrapbooking.  It's so much more than paper and glue!!  We invite you to play along during the month of May, for a chance to win some goodies from The Color Room.

 ~  Simply upload your work to The Color Room and the Scrap That! galleries each week to be considered for a RAK or a Spotlight Feature.  You will need to use EACH color in the revealed palette.  (you can add base colors of white, cream, black, brown or kraft) Use the sketch if you like, but it is not required.
~ Resize your image to  750 pixels, and no larger than 250kb.
~  Post your project before the next Friday palette reveal.


We hope you enjoy everything The Color Room has to offer and have fun participating!
Happy Scrapping!


Here is a picture of the main "Romantic Spring" kit. This is a must have kit!

May “Romantic Spring” Contents List:
Pink Paislee - Butterfly Garden Collection Prima - Botanical Collection - From the Heart / Far Far Away / True Words Bazzill Cardstock - Simon / French Vanilla / Mudpie Websterʼs Alphas - Country Estate Prima - Mistable Canvas ZVA Bling 1 Websterʼs Princess Petals - Ladies & Gents 2 Websterʼs Medallion Sparklers - Aqua 8 Petaloo Chantilly Collection Velvet Hydrangeas - Blue 7 Prima Pearl Panache - Candle Glow Websterʼs Bloomers - Celery Dusty Attic - Wire Dress Form (generously donated by Dusty Attic) Ranger Perfect Pearls Mist - Blue Smoke Maya Road Satin Pleat Ribbon - Cream

Here is a picture of the "Romantic Spring" embellie add-on - so perfectly coordinated for this kit!
Embellishment Add -On Kit Prima Annette Collection - French Silk Prima Aire Prima Arcadian Collection - Blush

My secret word for this hop, is RETAILER.
Now e-mail the secret sentence to friends@scrapthat.ca before midnight (MST) on April 28th to be entered the grand draw!

**Remember, that in order to qualify for the Grand Prize of a Fully Loaded Scrap That! Paper Crafting Kit you must:
1) VISIT ALL EIGHT BLOGS ON THE HOP, LEAVE A COMMENT AND BECOME A FOLLOWER OF EACH OF THEM - see rotation below
2) GO TO SCRAP THAT! FACEBOOK PAGE AND BECOME A FRIEND
3) GO TO THE SCRAP THAT! SOCIAL COMMUNITY AND BECOME A MEMBER
4) EMAIL THE SECRET SENTENCE TO friends@scrapthat.ca


This month we are offering a BONUS PRIZE of some delicious Dusty Attic chipboard! We want to give a special thank you to our good friends over at DUSTY ATTIC for their generous contribution of the gorgeous laser chipboard dress form in our May Kit. Visit their NING community and become a member, then leave a comment in the thread under Scrap That! BLOG HOP which you will find under FORUM - “Featured Discussions” We will draw a random winner from all who leave a comment.
We hope you all had good fun hopping with us today, thank you so much for playing along! Watch the Scrap That! newsletter on May 21st to see if you are one of the lucky winners!


Blog hop rotation (in case you missed one)
Vicky - YOU ARE HERE!


I'll be back with my other layout in a few days and then one more using a May Color Room Palette too!

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Creative Scrappers #153/Pion Design

Happy Easter!

Today is reveal day for the Creative Scrappers sketch #153 designed by Michelle Fowler. At first I was very intimidated by this sketch. I rarely scrap more than one photo or have multiple focal points. Then, when I stepped away from the sketch, from far away it looked like one big focal point with wheels. I thought it kinda looked like a baby carriage. A day later I saw a Kaiser Craft carriage chipboard piece and then I knew I had to scrap this layout.

The picture is of my daughter as newborn. I couldn't resist scrapping my favorite color - PINK, using the Pion design "Fairy tale of Spring" collection and my chipboard butterflies from an old K and Co line matched perfectly. I simply cannot tell you how beautiful these papers are in real light. I did not do any masking on the edges, the papers come that way - so beautiful.


The two large handmade flowers are from my recent Frosted Pion Flower Tutorial.

Here is the really cool sketch I used...


Thanks for stopping by I will be back in a few days on the 26th for the Scrap That! kit reveal. In the meantime, don't forget to stop over at Creative Scrappers to see what the rest of the DT created with this sketch!

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Spring Romance Sneak Peek

Here is a sneak peek of the Scrap That! DT reveal for the May "Spring Romance" kit. Be sure to come back on April 26th for the full reveal and the monthly blog hop to win some fabulous prizes! May will also mark the one-year anniversary for Scrap That! and we have some amazing surprises in store... so stay tuned!!!



Sunday, April 17, 2011

Pion Design Baby Boy Frame

My cousin is having a baby boy early this summer and this paper from the Pion Design "forget me not" collection was a perfect compliment to the Tattered Angels glimmer chips that I inked with light brown chalk ink. For project photography, I just put a picture of one of my kids. This is actually my newborn daughter in one of her brothers old baby sleepers... must have been a busy week and I ran out of clean PJ's, LOL. I covered a little wooden frame that I bought at Michaels and embellished it - so easy. I hope my cousin likes it!



Design Tip: Don't use Tattered Angels glimmer mist on glimmer chips. I ruined a cute little train I was going to use on this frame (instead of the adventure sign). It turned out flat looking and way too dark. Diffusing chalk ink onto a Q-tip worked like a charm to show the embossing on the chipboard. 

Thanks for stopping by and I will be back on Sunday with another Pion Design project using a new Creative Scrappers sketch.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

April Prima BAP Challenge

Well, I had these great Prima Life in Colors papers in my stash that I recall buying on clearance for fifty cents each :) I also had some amazing Prima embellies left over from various past Scrap That! kits. Add a Prima sketch and some Dusty Attic chipboard and a layout seemed to instantly appear. I had used a DA clock in my last project and this large one was calling my name, LOL.

I love this picture of my boys from a few years ago, they are about 3 and 5 years old in this one. My youngest loves to wear orange and the oldest still loves blue. These papers are a perfect representation of these kids. They were giggling on the couch when I snapped this picture. I've been scrapping so many pastel layouts lately that it felt good to go to the "dark side".


Here is a close-up of the wonderful Prima flowers I layered... I love those feather flowers! I just used plain old acrylic paint on the chipboard.

And here is the awesome sketch...

Lastly, here is this month's pick and palette challenge which I didn't submit for but maybe some of you want to give that one a go.
Thanks for stopping by!

Monday, April 11, 2011

My First Pion Design Layout

Actually, this is my second Pion Design layout but the other one is not due to reveal on Creative Scrappers until April 23rd. OK, so now that I am retailing Dusty Attic, I have been dying to use the skeleton clock faces (BTW I have a few of these in stock, just e-mail me).

For this layout I used the gorgeous Fairytale of Spring collection. I wanted to scrap this photo of hubby and I on our wedding day with my mom and dad because the green tones of the papers were perfect. A little distressing, a doily, some Dusty Attic chipboard and a few flowers from my stash then voila a fast yet elegant layout. I used the Color Room palette #36 as inspiration for this layout.


On the Dusty Attic chipboard I simply used some chalk ink. Here is a close-up.

Thanks for stopping by and I'll be back on the 23rd with another layout using this gorgeous collection (hint: the soft pink in this collection is to die for!).

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Creative Scrappers Sketch #151 reveal

Time for another Sunday Creative Scrappers DT reveal. I think I scrapped this layout the very same day I received the fabulous sketch created by Nicole Nowosad. I was so excited because I have had in mind to do a layout using my daughter's little shoes for a shadow box... and this sketch was the perfect push to get it done. The papers are a mix of old SEI Mimosa and BG Porcelain from my stash. A special thank you to Tara Orr for spotting me the Zva bling too (so hard to find in Western Canada).

This is my daughter at about 4-5 months old and it is my fave infant picture of her. The flowers are Prima, the butterfly from Michaels and oh the shoes... one of the best baby gifts received.


I couldn't resist using Dusty Attic chipboard (French Window, available in my Etsy shop) and some delicate lacing to compliment the overly girly layout. I used TH crackle paint on the chipboard.


Here is is awesome sketch used for inspiration, you may want to give it a go yourself!

Don't forget to check out what the rest of the Creative Scrappers team did with this great sketch!

I'll be back soon with my first Pion Design layout in a day or two so stay tuned :)

Monday, April 4, 2011

Upgrading

I'm doing a little series for the Ideas For Scrapbookers blog on turning some of your old "newbie" scrapbooking layouts from lacking to lavish. Sometimes the original design concept is good but the layout lacks in dimension, texture and details. I won't be blogging about all the layouts I update for this feature series but this one I changed so much that it even warranted a re-post in my scrapbook.com gallery... so I thought I would post it here too. The original layout was inspired by Gabrielle Pollacco, but now with all the changes I really made it my own. Head over the the Ideas For Scrapbookers blog to see the before on this one and the other layout I updated too. The papers are Prima and the vine I won from a challenge on scrapbook.com from WendyG-SA a few months ago (she purchased the vine on from Etsy.com at http://www.etsy.com/shop/KatiesKreations4U). Thanks Wendy! BTW the wavy distressed edge was created with a Fiskars tearing ruler - so easy and no messy edge distressing tool needed.


If you're curious, the first post in this series can be found here too from last month:

Thanks for stopping by!

Friday, April 1, 2011

Dusty Attic Winner!

Thank you everyone for helping spread the word of my new retail "adventure". Drum roll please...
My Dusty Attic Giveaway Winner:
True Random Number Generator
  9Powered by RANDOM.ORG

Congratulations to...

Nicole said...

Congratulations Vicky!
I am sooo addicted to Dusty Attic chipboard that they might have to put me on A&E Intervention soon! Here is a link to my blog post about your excellent news and generous giveaway http://scrap-utopia.blogspot.com/2011/02/dusty-attic-blog-candy-from-simply.html

What I prefer about Dusty Attic are the chipboard titles! I adore them!

Thursday, March 31, 2011

Scrap That! Hop Winner

Thank you to everyone who participated in the Scrap That! Blog Hop. We hope you enjoyed it and found lots of inspiration along the way. The best part for us was making some new friends!

We have picked one comment winner from each blog to win a package of Prima goodies just for stopping by! The randomly drawn winner for my blog is:
True Random Number Generator  14Powered by RANDOM.ORG

Colleen said...



Your layouts are stunning! So very beautiful! What a precious "honey" among the flowers :)

Please email friends@scrapthat.ca with your mailing address so we can get your Prima package out to you in the mail!

Don't forget to stop by the Scrap That! Blog and see if you won the Grand Prize of a "Madame Butterfly" Kit. We hope the lucky winner enjoys creating with it. We look forward to seeing what you come up with! Join us again when we release our May Kit!

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Dusty Attic Now Available!

DUSTY ATTIC NOW AVAILABLE IN MY ETSY SHOP!
Let the shopping begin! The product is now available for purchase at http://www.etsy.com/shop/vickyalberto
NOTE: I do have more quantities and as things run out I will post more. Also, I do have oversized items that are not listed such as the skeleton clock faces, nesting brackets and the large chicken wire panel. Due to the size/shipping price these must be part of a custom order (see below) to be cost effective to ship.


Here is a sneak peek of a layout I submitted to Pion Design for their DT Call. The layout will reveal in April for Creative Scrappers and here on my blog of course. Notice the yummy Dusty Attic, LOL?

New Pion Design Release

The new Pion Design Collection Minnenas Ateljé (Studio of Memories) has been released. I can't wait for this to arrive in the mail to me soon. The vintage colors combined with elegant birds and butterflies will surely make for heavenly project results.




Monday, March 28, 2011

Frosted Pion Flower

I created a new handmade flower to complement the romantic Pion Design style papers I am working with. What I like about these is that you don't necessarily need to own a paper punch or die cutting machine to create them and they do not get damaged in a scrapbook.


Supplies you will need:
- Three same sized 3-petal flower shapes. I used the Marvy Uchida "Pansy" punch (2-inch)... but see next step if you do not have a punch or die cut like this.
- Water to mist
- Paint: Snow Writer (DecoArt brand), dimensional paint (like Liquid Pearls) or fabric puff paint. A heat gun is required if using fabric paint to make puffy. I used Snow Writer on mine because I love the thick texture (and it is acid-free).
- A decorative centre (mini rose, button, large brad etc.)
- A rounded tip object like a marker or thick pen
- A foam mat (like a computer mouse pad)
- Some liquid glue of choice


If you do not have a 3-petal flower punch or want a different flower size, then use a circle and draw the shape and cut it. As shown below, it is very easy to get a similar shape to my pink punched flower. The pink Tulip Bud paper from Pion Design's Fairytale of Spring collection is featured in this tutorial.

Step 1: Mist your 3 flowers with water and pleat fold your petals (like an accordion).

Step 2: With your rounded pen, press into the middle into a foam mat to form a cup shape. Let completely dry. 

Step 3: Once dry, pull the petals open and frost the edges with your paint and let dry.

Step 4: Glue your 3 layers together and while the glue is still wet press entire flower into the foam mat to raise the petals. Let glue completely dry.

Step 5: Add a decorative center. You can also add ink to the painted edges for rustic layouts. I did not for this tutorial.

Five easy steps and you're done! BTW - the custom blue resin button was made by my friend Ivana Camdzic.

Thanks for stopping by. As always, I am more than happy to share how I make my flowers but should you make them yourself and post online, please give credit where due (as these tutorials do take a fair bit of time to produce). TFL!

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Creative Scrappers Sketch #149 Reveal

(Scrap That! Blog Hop - scroll to next post)

It's Sunday, DT reveal day for Creative Scrappers! I haven't done a "clean" (non-shabby) layout in a while so I thought I'd switch it up a bit. I used the very last scraps from my January Scrap That! kit since the colors were perfect for my son's very fist school photo (pre-school, LOL).

The papers are MME Lost and Found - Union Square (love these!). Aphra Bolyer's sketch was so easy to work with but my bling was not. I tried some dollar store bling - pretty but VERY difficult to work with (you get what you pay for!). The butterfly was also from my wonderful dollar store. I made the wheel "flowers" with scraps too - great embellie for guy lo's.


Notice the Dusty Attic fence? It's listed in my Etsy (http://www.etsy.com/shop/vickyalberto) along with the rest of my shipment from Australia. I just used some chalk ink on it - love the texture it gives my page.


Here is the wonderful CS sketch #149 this week.

Don't forget to head over to Creative Scrappers (http://creativescrappers.blogspot.com) to check out what the rest of the team created this week too!

Friday, March 25, 2011

Scrap That! Reveal & Blog Hop

March Blog Hop Adventure!
If you have just arrived here from TINA’s blog (our GDT this month), you are in the correct place!  If not, head back to the Scrap That! blog and join us.

We're revealing a day early to coincide with the release of the PageMaps sketch included in this kit. Let's get the reveal started and the blog hop info is at the bottom of this post. The March "Madame Butterfly" features the GORGEOUS Bo Bunny Gabrielle collection and some of the most beautiful blooms I've ever worked with.

My first layout "among the flowers", is my son as a toddler. I added the little blue flowers and leaves from my stash to compliment the kit flowers here (Prima) and papers. I just love all the butterflies you can cut out in this collection. The teal went perfectly with my son's eyes too!


Design tip: Layer your flowers for a gorgeous big flower focus.

My second layout "eternal" is of my wedding day. I added white and clear accents (flowers, doily and bling) to compliment the over the top gorgeous blooms in this month's embellie add-on kit (mix of Petaloo and Prima on here).


Design tip: Use small flowers instead of leaves to cluster around lager flowers on layouts when greenery doesn't work with the color scheme.

For my third layout "butterfly kiss", I used a picture that is over 40 years old of my mother-in-law with hubby's older brothers. The picture is dark and poor quality but it's the best I could correct it. I think it works well with the colors in this collection and the shabby feel to the papers though. I used some doilies and small flowers from my stash to polish this one off. Is it wrong to scraplift yourself? I did a pre-made page for a friend with a very similar design using the December kit, LOL.


Design tip: Layer your doilies to add a lot of texture to your pages and overlap with fussy cutting to break-up the round shape.

My last layout for this reveal, "butterfly lullaby" features my handmade Fuzzy Lollipop Flowers made from mulberry paper that is INCLUDED in this kit. This kit features Dusty Attic dress forms but my picture wasn't girly so I opted to put my own DA piece on here which is a scroll frame that I cut in half and topped with crackle paint and chalk ink. Looks way better in real light. I also used the March Dusty Attic sketch for this layout.


Design tip: Use my Fuzzy Lollipop Flower tutorial to make your own! These were the actual flowers made for the tutorial... no use in wasting them, right?

Here is a picture of the main kit (without the embellie add-on)... as you can tell I still have a lot of leftovers from this kit. Haven't touched the chipboard, trim and some of the papers yet. There is so much value in these kits and with the embellie add-on... I ALWAYS manage to get 5 layouts done with each kit (eventually, LOL). FYI - the mulberry paper is not pictured here because it is a late addition (after this photo was taken).

Now for the hop information...

Before you hop along to the final blog - PageMaps - you will want my secret word, which is ANNIVERSARY.  Now head over to PageMaps for your final stop.

MAKE SURE YOU...

1) VISIT ALL NINE BLOGS ON THE HOP, LEAVE A COMMENT AND BECOME A FOLLOWER OF EACH

2) GO TO SCRAP THAT! FACEBOOK PAGE AND BECOME A FRIEND

3) GO TO THE SCRAP THAT! SOCIAL COMMUNITY AND BECOME A MEMBER

EMAIL THE SECRET SENTENCE TO friends@scrapthat.ca to qualify for the grand prize - an autographed PageMaps hardcover book generously donated by Beck Fleck! 

We hope you all had good fun hopping with us today, thank you so much for playing along. Good luck to all participants! The hop ends at midnight on March 27th (MST).


(International hoppers outside of Canada and USA must pay shipping on any prizes won)
Here is the blog sequence you should have done:

1) Scrap That!
2) Ivana
3) Janis
4) Karen
5) Lisa
6) Tara
7) Tina
8) Vicky (ME!)
9) PageMaps

DON'T FORGET... TO ENTER MY DUSTY ATTIC CHIPBOARD GIVEAWAY! View the prize image at the top of this blog in the right sidebar. I will be drawing on April 1st.