Always Layout - Pion Design

I've been eager to use this sheet of paper from Pion's "Studio of Memories" collection but I wanted to wait until I had the right photo in mind. Then, after looking though my wedding album for another layout (and with a little help from my Dusty Attic stash - see my Etsy shop for more available pieces of chipboard)... I finally had the right concept for this layout. The flowers are Prima and the bling is one ZVA flourish that I split into 3 (thanks to my Calgarian friend Bonnie for the bling!). I simply used white and light gray chalk inks on the DA frame.

Design Tip: Using gesso and a soft paintbrush, lightly "stipple" the edge of you picture for soft dreamy effect and to give the sanded chipboard edge a nice finish.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Sugarplum Flowers

Here is my version of Prima's sweet little sugarplum flowers. I just can't justify the $5.00 price tag for 9 of these when I can so easily make them in just a few minutes, in any color I want, and at a tenth of the price! Here I used some of my Pion Design scraps from the "fairytale of spring" collection.

Materials: Three small (one-inch) punched/die cut flowers and three mini (half-inch) flowers, water to mist, glue, deco scissors, a stylus (or end of a thin paintbrush) and a foam mat (like a mouse pad). I used my EK Success retro punches but any five petal flower will do. 

Step 1: Trim the very tips of the 3 larger flowers with your deco scissors.

Step 2: Very lightly water mist all 6 flowers and crumple. Do not over wet them or they will rip.

 Step 3: Open them up while still damp.

Step 4: Glue the 3 larger flowers (off-set the petals) together and press into the foam mat to lift the petals.

Step 4: Glue 2 of the mini flowers (off-set the petals) in the middle and press again into the mat. It should look like this:

Step 5: Pinch together the last mini flower and glue into the middle.

Step 6: Slightly smash the center and let completely dry.

That's it! Super easy flowers and so cute on shabby layouts.

Here was my Prima inspiration, pretty close to the real thing don't you think? Mine are just a tiny bit smaller than theirs since I clipped off the ends of the petals.

Thanks for stopping by... let me know you were here :)

Stunning Christmas Sneak - Pion Design

This sneak just blew me away. Right about now I am REALLY thrilled that I am on the DT for Pion Design because take a look at this Christmas collection sneak...

It is soooooo gorgeous. OMGosh I can't wait to get my hands on this!!!

IFS Sketch

I've been meaning to post this layout but just finally got around to it. Each month, Ideas for Scrapbookers always provides several great sketches and digital templates created by my fellow DT members. In June, I used Heather's fantastic sketch for this layout. I will be honest that the base of this layout was an old one I had done 3 years ago. I always liked the picture and colours (really old MME papers) and when I saw the gorgeous June sketch... it was my motivation to update it. I added a lot of depth, dimension and contrast that was originally lacking. The mini Dusty Attic clock was a perfect touch (I will have more of these in my Etsy in a couple of weeks) and I made some of my lily style flowers (flower tutorials in right sidebar of this blog). The paw print was his actual stamped print on a card sent to me in the mail from the vet after they put him out of his misery. He was 16 years old with severe epilepsy and liver damage from medication. We still miss him. 

To see the sketch and what others created visit http://ideasforscrapbookers.blogspot.com/2011/06/heathers-june-sketch-two.html.

85 Dusty Attic listings!

HAPPY CANADA DAY EVERYONE!

Well, after a month of not being able to ship, I was finally able to re-open my shop (http://www.etsy.com/shop/vickyalberto) for Dusty Attic chipboard orders... with a whopping 85 listings! Thank you so much everyone for your patience during our frustrating postal strike. I am so VERY happy it is over.

Anyone who has a pending custom order - I will be contacting you via e-mail shortly.

Wild Roses Tutorial

I have been wanting to do this flower for a while but needed the right technique. Then, I saw some gorgeous flowers made by Charlotte Ravn and she was so sweet and shared how she got the precise wrinkled look to her flowers. This, combined with some modifications ended up looking like the wild roses I was trying to achieve.

Here is what you will need: 3 large, 2 medium and one small flower (I used my retro flower punches but any similar die or punch will do). Ink for the edges, water to mist, glue, a few thin items like paintbrush and skewer, plus a foam mat.

Step 1: Heavily mist the flowers (I had lightly inked the tips first) and curl around a smooth item, then while holding the petal around the paintbrush, GENTLY pinch each petal to wrinkle. This will not work if it is not wet enough. This was the awesome technique tip from Charlotte - curl, hold and pinch - genius! Then, let dry a little. You won't be able to do this with the smallest flower so just smash up the petals a little with your fingers.

Step 2: When almost dry, press into a foam mat to lift the petals. If still too wet, the paper will rip. Let completely dry.

Step 3: Glue all your layers from largest to smallest, while off-setting the petals. The skewer comes in handy to push the small flower into the middle. TIP: Once the glue dries, I like to slightly pinch a few petal ends and re-ink a few tips to give a more realistic look.

Here is a picture of Charlotte's gardenia style flowers that I used for inspiration. I suspect she used 2 large, 2 medium and 2 small flowers and moulded the ends while they were wet to get this look. I left mine to dry curled.

Thanks for stopping by today, let me know what you think!

2 hearts layout

I couldn't resist the Glitz Design Sketch Challenge this month. I dug up my very last papers of my favorite "love nest" collection (from the Feb Scrap That! kit). At the same time, Dusty Attic is having a challenge on making a layout in Gabrielle's style (one of their DT members). This layout, about my hubby and I the day before our wedding, is the result of combining these two challenges.

I distressed inked the doily and the chipboard then added gold Stickles to the Dusty Attic pieces. I also chalk inked cream lace to better match the layout.

Here is the gorgeous sketch if you want to give it a try. I flipped the sketch to better suit my layout.

Doing two challenges on one layout was not an easy task and took me a very long time to scrap. I'm happy with the result though.

Creative Scrappers #161 & Pion Design

Today is the last post for my Creative Scrappers term. I am exploring some great opportunities in the upcoming months so stay tuned. This week's sketch #161, by Kristine Davidson, was a fun challenge and I stared at it for a long time before touching any paper (but I think this is my fave of all the CS layouts I have done).

This is a picture of my husband and I on our wedding day. I challenged myself to do a mostly white layout. I've seen some really gorgeous white plus one color layouts lately so I thought I would give it a go. The paper is from the Pion Design "studio of memories" collection. I took inspiration from the white railing in the picture and painted a Dusty Attic swirly chipboard frame in white crackle paint. I also got some use out of my Martha Stewart punch by double layering the butterflies with a lavender shadow behind the white.

Here is a close-up of the frame and the flower I made (then added a rosette as the center).

Here is the great sketch I used this week...

Thanks for stopping by today!

Handmade Pearl Flourishes

I had shared this technique on Ideas for Scrapbookers a while back but thought I would archive it here too. Here is a quick trick... use any flourish stamp and a watermark ink pad as a guide to follow along with pearl paint for an easy handmade bling flourish. Ranger liquid pearls or good quality fabric paint will work (the cheap stuff may bleed a little - test on a scrap first). I use the Inkadinkado Dot Flourishes set because the lines are thin and the watermark image is no wider than an adhesive strip on bought flourishes. You can GENTLY tap the back of the paper to flatten the paint dots if you want more rounded "pearls" without peaks. So fast and easy!

One sheet of paper card w/instructions

I did this fun little project for an Ideas for Scrapbookers post about "What can you make with only one sheet of paper?".

Sometimes we only have one sheet of paper left over from a collection or we need a quick card for a last-minute gift. Here is an idea... a pre-loaded gift card holder.

This cute little self-standing purse card was made using only ONE sheet of double-sided Pion Design papers from the "fairytale of Spring" collection... including the handmade flower!

I cut a 12x12 inch sheet to have an 8x12 piece and reserved the left-over 4x12 piece for the card holder and to make the flower. I made my folds, cut the top curve and glued the gift holder (faux stitching explained below) with a stamped "happy birthday" saying. There is plenty of space below for a personal hand-written message too!

Next I glued a piece of ribbon to resemble a clutch style purse and added self-adhesive Velcro to keep closed. I also lightly scraped the paper edge with a distressing tool.

 Then, I added faux stitching by paper piercing and connecting the holes with a fine scrapbooking marker. This is a nice alternative when you don't have a sewing machine handy or if you're like me... don't ever sew anything at all!

 Lastly, with the scraps I made a lily flower using my tutorial and the reverse side of the paper (same as inside the card).  Check out all of the flower tutorials in the right sidebar of my blog - any style of flower would look nice. Tip: make your flower first and let it dry while you are making the card.

Can you believe this card only took me about half an hour to make from start to finish?

Creative Scrappers #159 & Pion Design

(For the SCRAP THAT! blog hop, please click link or scroll to next post)

Back for another Creative Scrappers reveal using the wonderful sketch #159 by Nicole Nowosad and gorgeous Pion Design Papers.

My "together" layout was created from the "Studio of Memories" collection. I tried something a little different and left a lot of negative space on this layout for a change. This is a picture of my grandfather when he met his newest great grandson (and his older brother) for the first time. My grandfather's favorite color is blue and he adores birds so this collection is a perfect reflection of him. He has fed hundreds of thousands of birds with his numerous feeders and bird houses in his yard over his lifetime.

Here is a close-up of a butterfly cut-out and the flower style used on my layout. These flowers are actually produced for bridal decor but since they are made of acid-free mulberry paper, they are safe to use for scrapbooking.

Here is the beautiful sketch that I flipped...

I also used TCR palette #50 as inspiration...

 Thanks for taking a look at my work today!

Scrap That! June Kit/Blog Hop

Wow, June is already here and it's time for another kit reveal and blog hop! We have SEVEN AMAZING blogs for you to visit today, each with a some beautiful projects that were created using the Scrap That! June "Afternoon Tea" kit. f you have just arrived here from Robinʼs blog (our amazing guest designer this month!) you are in the correct place. If not, head back to the Scrap That! blog and join us.  All qualifying entries will be entered into a draw for the GRAND PRIZE, a Scrap That! kit.

For my first layout "Friends", I used the gorgeous kit sketch by LG Belarmino. These blue and green Websters papers from the Ladies and Gents collection were my favorite and a perfect background for this picture of my boys goofing around while we were testing our camera. I added a heart doily (distress inked it) and a Dusty Attic title chippie from my stash but everything else is from the kit... including the chipboard clock and matching green background cardstock!

Design Tip: Cut-off stamens on a large flower and layer a smaller one in the middle instead for a pretty focal flower.

For my "so sweet" layout, I fussy cut the main paper and layered on some doilies from my stash to make the pink circle pop against the texture. These were perfect papers for this candid chubby baby shot of my daughter in her stroller (two years ago).

Design Tip:  Use the kit technique product which is white FlowerSoft this month, to give cool texture to the paper flowers in the kit.

My last layout with the kit, "my hunny bunny" is my daughter as an infant. I can't resist to add pink to layouts about her. I made four large flowers using the plain white cardstock in the kit and various techniques from my my flower tutorials (quick link found in the right sidebar of this blog). Everything you see on this page is from the main kit - NO add-on embellies or stash items used at all!

Design Tip: Add flowers to floral paper for a gorgeous full garden effect.

REMEMBER: To qualify for the Grand Prize of a Fully Loaded Scrap That! Paper Crafting Kit you must...

1) VISIT ALL SEVEN BLOGS ON THE HOP, LEAVE A COMMENT AND BECOME A FOLLOWER OF EACH BOG
2) GO TO SCRAP THAT! FACEBOOK PAGE AND BECOME A FRIEND
3) GO TO THE SCRAP THAT! NING COMMUNITY AND BECOME A MEMBER

We hope you all had good fun hopping with us today, thank you so much for playing along!
The hop ends on Sunday, June 5th at midnight MST.
Watch for the Scrap That! newsletter on June 22nd to see if you are one of the lucky winners!


In case you got lost on the way...
Scrap That! - http://www.scrapthatchat.blogspot.com
Ivana - http://papergirlcrafts.blogspot.com
Janis - http://thereluctantscrapper.blogspot.com
Karen - http://agirlsscrapobsession.blogspot.com
LG - http://scrappinworld.blogspot.com
Lisa - http://kaye2222.blogspot.com
Robin - http://robinshakoor.blogspot.com
Vicky - http://simplypaperandcreativity.blogspot.com

Pion Design Frame

My cousin is having a baby girl this Fall so I wanted to make a little pink frame to match her room. Then, I saw The Color Room palette #60 and knew I had my inspiration.

The wooden frame is covered with a Pion Design pink paper from the "Fairytale of Spring"collection as well as the large handmade flower. I also used various other Pion Design collections for the vintage image, background paper and butterflies. I just love how all the collections blend well together.

Here is a close-up of the embellies and the handmade flower (see my flower tutorial).

This is the palette I used, which just happens to be sponsored by Scrap That! this month.

Thanks for taking a peek!

Scrap That! June Sneaks

The June Scrap That! kit reveal will be on Friday, June 3rd, along with a 3-day blog hop -- starting at 10 am MST on Friday and ending at midnight MST on Sunday. Here is a little tease from the design team...

My Etsy Shop Status

Last week I had to put the shop on vacation mode due to my daughter's eye surgery and now there is a potential postal strike threat this week. So, the shop is on hold for now ("vacation mode"). I don't want to risk any parcels getting hung-up in nowhere land!

I'll still be placing a Dusty Attic chipboard order next week since it takes them a while to cut it... so I should have more of the new styles (from the April release) at the end of June (or beginning of July depending if the postal workers settle quickly). For any custom orders, I just need the product name and code from the DA site http://www.dustyattic.com.au e-mailed directly to vickya@shaw.ca.

Thanks again for making my new business a success! Now... I just need Canada post to cooperate!