Pink Seashell Scrapbooks

A few more frames

It seems that one of my favorite gifts these days are frames! I have fun picking out papers that will go with pictures and adding a few embellishments. Bare Essentials by Creative Imaginations has some great frames available to cover so I primarily use those. It is easy enough to make your own frames using some chipboard too.

My Mom and sister in law have birthdays a day apart so I wanted to give them each a frame with Ella. For my Mom it was updating frames that had Ella & Theo. My Mom's kitchen is primary blue so I started with that b/c that's where she displays everything. And it just so happened that I had a great picture of Theo & Ella sitting on a navy chair! I have mentioned before that one of my favorite kit suppliers a few years ago was from Scrapologie. I just loved every single kit that Ranjini put together. Her last kit was called Cher Provence and the colors were blues, golds, purples and browns. It was just incredible. I have finally been working on a project with it, but in the meantime that's where I picked out the paper to use for my Mom's frame. The actually paper was from the K& Co. Blue Awning line.

I covered the frame with the paper. Then I made a scalloped edge frame with a coordinating paper - this was easier than it looks. I cut out a mat a little bigger than the opening, used a scallop punch edger and then just cut out a 4x6 area using an exacto knife. It was the only way I could do a mat and I thought the picture needed one. On the bottom left I punched out a few butterflies with different paper and then put Rock Candy Stickles on them at the end. The bottom left corner is a rubon from 7 gypsies that I put on a piece of paper I punched using my Stampin Up Curly Label Punch. I finished with a few Prima flowers at the top. As I had donebefore, I sealed the frame with mod podge. I actually put the Rock Candy Stickles on after the mod podge dried.

For Eunice's frame I had to go back to my new favorite line - Webster's Pages. The designs on these papers are just so beautiful to me. And having the paper be so intricate, I didn't need to embellish much! This is a picture I took of Ella when she was 3 days old - so precious!

This paper comes from theMagical Wishes line of Webster's Pages. As I mentioned, I really didn't need to embellish much. I added someclear stickles to a few things on the paper to make them stand out. Then I added the flowers on the corner of the picture.

July Challenge

In the spring I was asked to be a guest designer for one of our local scrapbook stores - Right At Home Scrapbooking in Attleboro, MA. It was so much fun! Shortly after that they were looking to add to their design team in the shop so I gave them some more stuff I had done and they accepted me in! Soon I should be getting my first assignment and I can't wait to see what's in the 'goody' package!

Part of the design team has already been hard at work through July. If you go to the Right at Home blog, yuo will see many creations from the design team, challenges (usually with prizes!) and tutorials. A very talented group of ladies! Not only do they have the blog, but there is also an interactive site where anyone can have a page to upload their designs or creations, chat with other paper crafters and scrapbookers, see more tutorial videos and stay on top of what is going on. I think all of it is a great way for a community of woman to stay in touch with each other when you can't get into a physical store regularly or participate in a crop.

Here is a lay-out that I did using the July sketch that Frances designed. I have been negligent about posting it ( I did finish it about 2 weeks ago!!) There is still time to go over and look at the sketch and design something!

The background paper is from Daisy D's a few years ago (I still cry thinking they are no longer around!) The other big sheet of paper is from Webster pages last spring - really I think they may be new favorite company! I used one of the big chipboard buttons from Cosmo Cricket as the circle and to the left of that is a journaling tag from Collage Press.  The strip of numbers is from My Minds Eye Christmas collection I think 2 seasons ago! I embellished with some ribbon and word stickers. And one other little note - the bracket at the top highlighting Merry Christmas was the bottom of the journaling tag. I cut it off and then used some distress stickles on it. I couldn't find a bracker that was the right size and that worked!

Advent Calendar

Yes... I know it's December 15! But it's done! I've been working on this since our girls weekend away in November. That weekend I picked out all the papers. Over Thanksgiving weekend I was able to get the papers adhered to each box, sand them down and ink up the edges. Since then I've been decorating each one! That has been the best part.

  The box is byKaren Foster Designs. It's really a great way to have an advent calendar! You can put little treats and notes in each drawer. I hope it lasts for many years.

I used papers by every designer possible - Daisy D's, Basic Grey, Cosmo Cricket, Crate Paper, Anna Griffin, Making Memories (all the ones with the actual numbers on the papers are by Making Memories)and finally the Santa that I used for the 24th is Creative Imaginations.

I would list all the numbers, but I can't remember them! I used a lot of Creative Memories number stickers b/c they were a great size and easy to put Stickles over. Making Memories also has out a line of smaller glitter letter & number stickers that I used and then a few rub-ons here and there. I added flowers, buttons, bling and few Tim Holtz fragments! I had a very small image of his December stamp that I cut and it fit perfectly behind a fragment! That's December 4. I used a few smaller rub-on phrases and LOTS of Stickles!!! I am truly excited about how it came out.

Here are a few close-up images - if you click on them they will show a bigger image.

 

 

Birthday Cards

Just a quick posting with some cards I've been working on this week. Two of my cousins, I only have 5, have birthdays this week. (Yah, that's this week...one will be very late!) I'm really having fun trying out new mediums and textures so I've been applying them to cards.

For the card on the left - I am completely into cupcakes right now... all the fun things you can do to decorate them! Maya Road has the chipboard key chain of cupcakes as well as the tin of cupcakes you can build with - both of which I needed! I recently purchased a kit from my all time favorite kit person, Ranjini of Scrapologie, with the most incredible combination of papers. Some of which I had and would have never put them together! The paper covering the card is Sassafrass Lass and the papers on the cupcake is My Minds Eye. I covered the top of the cupcake with Glossy Accentsto give it a glossy finish and right before it was all dry I added the little pearls. The cherries are also a new fav of mine - a little set from Stampin Up. Stamp and glitter those cute little things! I put foam underneath to raise it up some. Finally I painted a grunge-board 'R' with purple paint, inked the edge with Dusty Concord Distress Ink and also covered it with glossy accents. I cut a few pieces of corresponding ribbon and tied a bow around them and glued that on the R.

The card on the right was pretty easy. The paper is Melissa Frances. The word stamp is "Many Happy Returns from Stampin Up - they put all th words together. I stamped it again on white paper and embossed a few of the words to do some layering. From the "It's A Stretch" set also from Stampin Up I used the presents. I stamped with black on white cardstock and cut it out. I used watercolor pencils to color and added some Stickles - :)! I painted a chipboard heart with metallic silver paint and then inked it with Dusty Concord Distress Ink - a trick learned from Tim this week! It looks really cool. Gives it a shiny finish vs the matte finish of just inking chipboard.

 This card is for a friend of mine. The background paper is Basic Grey - one of the 6x6 books. The scallop circle is a set of cards I bought from Stampin Up. This is one of my favorite stamps - it's from the Outlines Stamp company. The possibilities are ENDLESS! I watercolored, layered a few of the boxes with pop dots and then added tons of Stickles! The Happy Birthday is embossed with white.

 

 

 

 

Stay tuned for the Advent Calendar ( I know it's the 11th!) and some Holiday Cards I've made. I am having so much fun having all this time to play!  

A Christmas Tradition

When I was about 3 years old a tradition started with my parents and their friends around Newburyport. My parents have this group of friends that extends to 30+ people and they truly know how to have fun! I don't know how or why the tradition started - likely they all wanted to do something with the kids and most don't have families around so this started. Christmas Eve we go to the Simkins house - this is a picture of the house in all the glory of the gardens during the summer. At Christmas Richard spares nothing on decorations - wreaths in all the windows in the front of the house with candles, a big tree - it's magical. We get all dressed up and head over for a lovely party, a reading of 'Twas the Night Before Christmas and a visit from Santa. Each year one of the kids reads 'Twas the Night Before Christmas and we all gather in the living room to listen. Jason & I were the oldest so we were 2 of the first to read it and now we are getting into the next generation and soon enough James' boys will be able to read.

About 10 years ago my brother, Stratton, took the reigns of dressing asSanta. Now that he has a little boy it's even more fun. (It will be interesting when Theo recognizes his Daddy's voice, but I guess we'll cross that bridge. The benefit is that he calls Strat "bubba' so maybe no one will figure it out!) A few years ago I took over making the invitations for the party. I spend half the year deciding what I want to do and then scramble before Xmas to do it! This year I am actually done early with plenty of time for the invites to get out (really it's just protocol, everyone knows where they are going on Xmas Eve!) I had a lot of fun doing this years invitation - incorporating a few vintage images, a picture of Theo on 'Santa's' lap from last year, some Tim elements (after all it is the 12 tags of Christmas), and of course glitter and fibers.

Here is a look of the front... I designed it in a matchbook sort of way with a little fold at the bottom that I scallop edge with the new Stampin Up scallop edge punch - love this - and inked with a gold cats eye.The patterned paper I used on this was from the Kaiser holiday line - Deck the Halls. I loved the red with the green holly leaves - simple and pretty. I then layered 2 vintage images - one is the words to A Christmas Carol (otherwise known as Twas the  Night Before Christmas and the other of Santa with his sleigh and reindeer. After putting all the images on the front (I did stickles last), I picked a ribbon - I used a different ribbon on each card b/c I have a problem and I just buy ribbon. Therefore I need to use it. I have to say, the American Crafts ribbons were really easy to work with, the bows tie very nicely.

Once the front and ribbon were done I worked on the inside. Because everyone knows where Christmas Eve is, I don't really have to do the whole Where, What, When, Time, etc. Using a label format in Word, I printed off a quick time, place with Simkins & Nichelmann's (their daughter and her husband) using the Richard Murray font - love this font! I think I got it off dafont about 5 years ago. What was very fun about the inside of the card was that I have the 'December' calendar stamp by Tim so I used that and found a little circle to use in circling the 24th. I stamped the calendar with Peeled Paint Distress Ink and the circle with Black Soot Distress Ink. I let them dry for a minute - found out the hard way that they will smudge! While that would dry I cut the time label, inked the edges with Vintage Photo Distress Ink and distressed the edge a little. The last element of the inside was a sticker from Melissa Frances - again, apparently I have a problem b/c I had several sheets and decided this would be a great way to use them. I put the calendar in with a little fiber around it, inked and distressed then used pop dots to raise it a little.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As mentioned above, the final step was decorating the front with a little stickles- a girls best friend! I used both distress stickles and the good ole glitter stickles!

Here's a look at the products I used:  

Girls weekend away!

This past weekend Heather, Fran, Fran's friend Carrie, and I finally went away to our long-awaited scrapbooking retreat! We planned this way back in the spring... and we are looking forward to a return trip next fall! Everything was so well organized by this very lovely lady, Jackie. The retreat was at the Wachusett Village Inn in Westminster, MA. About an hour from Heather in Pawtucket so that was nice. The inn is set-up with little cottages that hold up to 4 people or the main inn with rooms - where HJR and I stayed. They have a great building with about 5 rooms that Jackie had reserved for all the scrappers! We each had plenty of room to spread out and the lighting was amazing. The 4 of us were placed with some very fun ladies - Michelle, Dianne, Mark-Kate and Deirdre - they shared our love of wine! That was one of the best parts, we got to bring our wine into the cottages and just sip away while scrapping! The food was included in the price - lunch both days, breakfast buffet, a great dinner and snacks in between. We were definitely well taken care of.

For me, along with seeing Heather whom I see a couple of times a month, it was again great to have time with Fran and get to know Carrie better. Fran was going through a troubled again - she's just had too many of them in the past 2 years - because her beloved doggy, Zeus aka Goober, was sick. He was diagnosed with a chronic illness last spring that they have been able to manage. Last week he was then diagnosed with an infection. Fran is a tried and true dog lover - adopting all of her dogs and gives them so much love. Zeus and his companion, Storm, who passed away in March of '07 were Rotweillers. Fran and Bill rescued them and gave them such love. Upon Fran's return from the weekend Zeus just wasn't doing well so they had to lay him to rest yesterday. I am so sorry Fran... it's such a hard thing and you've had to do it twice in the las 20 months. I hope Stormy stays with you for a very long and prosperous life.

Wow... how to follow that... I do want to share what these talented girls accomplished this weekend. Fran's becoming a power scrapper! Getting TONS done in short times. I have yet to accomplish that task. She completed Karen Russel's 10 reason scrapbook and kit... and what a beautiful job she did!

 

Heather and I purchased these Advent Calendars by Karen Foster earlier this fall with the intent of working on them this weekend. Very cute advent calendar with little drawers that you can put notes or small treats in. The nice thing is that the drawer sizes are about and an inch and a half - just perfect for a square punch! Heather accomplished a little more on hers than I did! She got the front of the drawers decorated with papers and embellishments. 

Here is the beginning of mine... I painted the sides with shabby shutters and fired brick distress paints by Tim Holtz and I cut out the papers that will go on the drawers.

Finally... Carrie and I both got a lot of scrapping done... I should say, Carrie got a lot of scrapping done and I got some done! It was nice to sit down and actually scrap for my own books. Use some products that I've been saving FOR ME and be able to put whatever I want on them. For Theo's books that I give to Strat & Euny I can't really use glitter... but I can in my books! Stickles are the greatest invention EVER.

It was a great weekend and I can't wait to do another one! It's nice to not have interruptions or to have put together food!

A little Halloween treat...

The scrapbooking world continued to awe me this year with the addtion of such incredible Halloween papers! I have never been a huge Halloween fan, but admire those that really embrace it. I am creative in some ways, not in others! These companies really stepped up to the plate with Halloween and had me just 'needing' to purchase the products... who would have thought that turquoise, yellow, orange and black would be so appealing for Halloween? Yet what Pink Paislee released was one of my favorites!

Problem = I have NO trick o' treaters that come to the house and no one to dress up even to get my scrapbooking pages! I couldn't resist these products - with lots of glitter and glam to them, so I had to figure out what I could do. What better than use my Bind-It-All machine and make a little album for 2 little girls that I just adore... Julia & Natalie - the daughters to Keith's best friends from college.

  When I say every company had papers and products, I am pretty sure they did! For this album I used most... Little Yellow Bicycle (seen as the skull that I glittered!), Prima (the green with words on it), My Mind's Eye, SEI (great texture on these papers - here it's the orange with black cats), Cosmo Cricket (the cat's head - a sticker on black chipboard), Creative Imaginations... stamps from Tim Holtz... .