Thursday, May 28, 2015

A Couple of Lori Whitlock Digital Summer Scrapbook Layouts

Just popping in to share a new summer themed layout up on Lori Whitlock's blog using her newest digital collection being released today called Island Paradise (which is available for purchase at Snap.Click.Supply).  :)

To create my layout I turned to a fun sketch by the gals at Scrapbook Generation.  It made the design process super quick and I just loved working with these bright and fun digital papers and elements!


While I'm here I thought I would share a second layout I created a month or two back for Lori using her Patchwork Layout Template 2 and her Home Sweet Home collection.  These templates were so much fun to work with and I just love the impact they have with so little effort!


If you've never tried your hand at digital scrapbooking, I would totally recommended dipping your toe in with one of these fun templates.  I am making these in an effort to get a head start on my custom path Shutterfly photo books I make for my family every Christmas.  :)

Thanks for stopping by.  :)

Tuesday, May 26, 2015

Lawnscaping Challenge: Lawn Fawn Cards & New Techniques

Hello there!  It took me a bit longer than planned, but I'm back with three more cards that I created over the long weekend for a couple different fun online challenges including the Simon Says Stamp Wedesday Challenge Blog where this week anything goes and the Lawnscaping Challenge No. 106 which challenges followers to create Lawn Fawn Cards using techniques you've never tried before.  This was just the push I needed to get out of my comfort zone and finally try some cool things that I've been pinning in recent weeks.



Card No. 1:  For this card I decided to try a debossing technique using some Lawn Fawn cloud dies and an embossing mat.  I am ashamed to admit that I bought some Spellbinder embossing mats years ago that I had never even opened until now.  I think I forgot what I was supposed to do with them, but then this weekend Jennifer McGuire shared a video HERE that reinvigorated me to try them.  After I debossed the surface repeatedly with the three cloud dies, I cut them again from masking material, laid them over the other clouds and airbrushed my background.  It's hard to tell in my photo, but I love the way it looks like the clouds have been embossed in person without all the extra bulk.  :)


Card No. 2:  For this card I tried another technique that was new to me which is mirror stamping (learned from Chari Moss HERE).  The adorable flamingo only faces to the left so I stamped an extra using the back of my woodgrain backdrops stamp and then traced over it with a Copic Multiliner pen after I was done coloring him (and he was completely dry).

For the heart I die-cut a heart from masking material and then blended three colors of distress ink (linked below) using my mini ink blending tool.  I used those same inks to dye the scalloped die-cuts to match.  As a final finishing touch I created a custom sentiment (another first for me) using Lawn Fawn's Harold's ABC stamps.  :)


Card No. 3:  My last card was created with two challenges in mind.  I made a thank you card for the challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog as well as trying yet another new technique for the Lawnscaping Challenge No. 106.

For my "new" technique I colored my images using a stippling technique inspired once again by the amazing Jennifer McGuire seen HERE (if you don't follow her, you really must--She's seriously inspiring).  I found the stippling to be especially awesome for coloring in the cow's spots because I kept making them bleed past the outlines when I colored them in the standard way with the same colors.

I cut my speech bubble using a Lawn Fawn border die and then inked it up with some Wild Honey and Rusty Hinge distress ink.  I then stamped over it using the Woodgrain Backdrops stamp and cut the Scripty Thanks sentiment from it using the negative space.  I finished it off with another custom stamped sentiment using the same Harold's ABC's alphabet set.


Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge BlogSimon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Blog

Make sure to head over to the Lawnscaping Challenge Blog, the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog and the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Blog to see all the inspiration from this week's challenges.  There are so many adorable and cool ideas!  I would encourage you to play along too--They have some pretty cool prizes up for grabs!  ;)


Supplies Used (available at Simon Says Stamp)

Supplies Used (available at Scrapbook.com)



Pebbles Inc. Cottage Living Quick & Simple Die-cut Cards

How are you guys?  Are you starting to feel a little bit crazy with all the end of Spring activities and nice weather?  I know your time is valuable and today's cards are all about being quick and easy using Pebbles elegant Cottage Living collection.  For my card set I turned to die-cuts to create repetition and eye-catching patterns with very little effort.


Up first I have a sweet little card where I cut out a number of hearts using the coordinating Cottage Living dies from a variety of patterned papers.  I arranged them on the diagonal from darkest to lightest to create an ombre effect.  To add a little extra interest I then stitched around the last row of hearts on my sewing machine and heat embossed my stamped sentiment with white embossing powder.


For my next card, I lined up the chevron arrow die-cuts in two different sizes, cut from a variety of patterns in the 6x6 pad.  I decided to look for patterns with the same color to provide a cohesive look while still adding interest.  I then stamped my sentiment in black ink on both the gold tipped tag and again on the die-cut scalloped circle, lining them up with a layer of foam tape between them.  To tie in the gold on my small tag, I added a strip of gold glitter tape along the far right edge and topped my tag with a matching gold brad.


My next card was so easy to make, but it's one of my favorites!  To create it I die-cut a number of arrows from several of the colorful tone-on-tone prints from the 6x6 pad and then once again lined them up on the diagonal, alternating the direction between rows.  To help keep my rows straight, I used a clear ruler and drew light pencil lines that would be easy to erase when I was done.  As a finishing touch I decided to stitch through each row using my sewing machine.  I love how that simple step adds so much texture and interest!

Before moving onto my last card I just have to say, isn't that sentiment amazing?!  I stamped it using another coordinating stamp from the collection.  I love how beautiful and versatile this little set is--It's a must have for sure!  To make my sentiment stand out against my black background, I chose to stamp it with clear VersaMark ink and heat embossed it again with white embossing powder.


For my final card I wanted to repeat my die-cut sentiments and give them the look of glossy epoxy embellishments that are so trendy right now.  There are so many different ways to achieve this cool look with glossy accents and such, but I decided to try something a little different this time around so I turned to my heat gun.



Make sure to head over to Pebbles blog for a mini tutorial on how I transformed my die-cuts using supplies you may already have on hand.  I hope I've inspired you to look at your dies in a new way today!  :)

Supplies Used (available at Simon Says Stamp)

Supplies Used (available at Scrapbook.com):

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