Another Completed layout

I just finished the layout I am planning on using for my January Classes.  On the layout I have also included an additional embellishment, Inspired by Tracey Mason's Rolled paper roses which can be found here, http://tmasonstudio.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2010-09-14T10%3A38%3A00-04%3A00&max-results=7   





This is only the second page from our wedding that I have gotten done. 
Guess I better get hopping, maybe our wedding album will be done before our 10th aniversary



Left page

Right side


I had a blast making these flowers.  They all started out as Colonial white cardstock,  For the really dark Vineyard Berry roses I rubbed my ink pad all over the square before I cut it to get my color effect.  I then Sponged the edges after I had cut the paper.  The lighter Roses where first lightly colored using the stipple brush, and then after cutting I sponged all the edges with Vineyard Berry.  The leaves are Sweet Leaf Cardstock folded & then punched using only a corner of my CM heart punch.

Light colored flower, used stipple brush on Colonial White cardstockto give it a hit of color
then sponged the edges after it had been cut 

Dark Vineyard Berry Rose, was rubbed over with the ink pad, and
then the edges where sponged after it was cut.

Scrapbooking Class at Warren Twp Community Center

Do you want to learn how to scrapbook your favorite photos? Plus learn a few techniques that add that WOW factor to your layouts.

Come to my scrapbooking class on Tues. January 11, from 6-8 pm at the Warren Township Community Center. Cost is $5.00

For more info contact Jennifer Smith @ 330-364-3640 or e-mail scrappinjenn@hotmail.com

or Portia King at the Warren Twp Community Center.

Class size limited, so make your reservation early.
 
This is the Layout you will be making.



By completing this layout you will learn a small sampling of Techniques.
Techniques are as follows:
- Using Stipple brush to add color & texture to your paper

- Ink disstressing
- Second Generation Stamping
- Rock and Roll Technique
- Masking
- Making a hiden journal box

   
Now for a Close up of the individual pages:
 

Left Side Page

Right page

Products Used: (All CTMH unless otherwise stated)
Wings Bulk Paper Pack, Vineyard Berry, Sweet Leaf & Colonial White Cardstock
Soul Mates Stamp Set, Large Friendship alphabet
Vineyard Berry Ink, Stipple Brush, Post-It note for masking. Colonial White Grosgrain ribbon from Mini Medley.  Heart Brads from Jo-ann's but they will be replaced with the CTMH Black Button Brads when I get them.  The layout is from Imagine it is "Swing Rhythm" on page 112.
 
I have actually finished this layout  and will post later with Pictures and a few more hand made embellishments.

No Peeking Edition #3 (Mom I know you have already looked :-)

Ok this is the last gift I have done and ready for the H2H challenge.  This is a 6x6 accordian album completed using the Mistletoe Level 1 kit.  I got this Idea from several ladies on the Close  To My Heart Consultant Bulletin Boards, sorry girls I don't remember exactly who you all, but THANKS A MILLION.  This is an album from our Christmas in 2008 when we spent it in the cabin in Tennessee.  It is a gift for my mother-in-law.  Though I like it so much I think I am going to have to recreate it again for me.




 


The inside pages

Front & Back Cover with center pages



The Front cover.  the picture is of an old rake that they have sitting in front of
the cabin with a wreath on it.  Ken remembers having to ride on the seat when making hay.
I only have several pictures of the rake, I take a dozen or so everytime we are there.




This is the first pages.  It shows how my In-Laws had the cabin decorated when we got there.

 




The second set of pages.




the back cover





The center back pages.

 This project came together really quickly.  I did in all the white edges of the album in New England Ivy Ink.  I used the Mistletoe level 1 kit and cut the base pages into 6x6 squares.  Then played around with my pictures and decide on my order. Then went through and double matted all my pictures.  I also matted all the MyStickEase onto at least one sheet of cardstock for dimension and cut out.  The funnest part was Creating the Merry Christmas "M" and the Packages and Holly Embellishments.  For these I stamped the image in New England Ivy on my base  and cut out (for the Merry Christmas I didn't cut it out.)  I then stamped the image again on the Cranberry side of the snowflake B&T, I used New England Ivy for the M and Cranberry for the rest.  I then cut them out (yes I am insane when it comes to fine cutting I enjoy doing it).  Then I paper Pieced the Cranberry over top the same image on the base.  Of course for the Gifts and Holly I thought they needed a little more dimension so i mounted them on Colonial White Cardstock and Cut them out again.  Did I mention that the fine cutting for me is relaxing?  Here is a close up ofthe gift & holly.

Close up of the gifts

Close up of the Holly

Materials Used all CTMH unless otherwise noted:  Mistletoe Level 1 Paper pack and My Stickease.  St. Nick  Stamp Set, Cranberry, New England Ivy, Colonial White Card Stock, Mistletoe Level 2 Assortment, CTMH Cranberry Ribbon, Gold Ribbon I had in my stash, Foam Tape.

Hope you enjoyed viewing all the gifts I have made so far.  Now it is time to hurry back to my craft room to make more wonderful items.  Please feel free to leave a comment.  

No Peekiing Edition #2 (Mom I know you are tempted to take a peek:-)

Okay so I said I managed to get several projects started in Tennessee over Thanksgiving.  Well thanks to Wrestling I not had much time to complete what I had started up until today when my totally full calender was totally cleared off by 10am.  I started the day out with taking Jimmy to the high school to catch the bus for his wrestling match today at 6:15 AM.  Then I came back home and tried to catch another hour's sleep before I left  to go to the match.  The day was to be full, cause I had to leave Jimmy's match at 4:00pm to go home and get ready for a card class at 6:00 pm.  Robbie, Dani & I left for the Wrestling tournament at 8:30 which would get us up to the meet by the 9:00 am start time.  Well thanks to my son thinking he knew a short cut to get there we ended up arriving about 15 minutes late.  As I pulled into the school my phone rang and it was my upline Karen calling to let me know that we were going to have to cancel our card class for the evening.  Whew, now I could spend the day watching Jimmy wrestle and not have to worry about having to leave before he was done.  So we go into the match Robbie and Dani pay to get in while I am still talking on the phone to Karen.  The kids go on in and find Jimmy, only to come immediately back out to tell me that they had a full bracket in Jimmy's weight class with no room for alternates (Jimmy had lost his wrestle off) so Jimmy wasn't wrestling today.  Now we kindly ask the lady taking money if Robbie and Dani can have a refund and we collect Jimmy and head home.  Whew my once Overloaded schedule has now become a free day for Mom.  So of course when I get home I immediately call Karen and we set up a playdate for the afternoon.  I quickly pack my bags and run off to have several hours of kids free paper therapy.  YEEHAW.

One of the projects I had started when I was in Tennessee was to cut up a Notebook Level One kit I had gotten when I first became a consultant 2 years ago.  I had taken this kit out of it's bag several times over the years but never could quite seem to be able to get pictures on it.  I have no clue what it is about Level 1's but I have a very hard time using them to complete pages.  On the Close To My Heart  Bulletin Boards lately some of the very talented consultants have been posting some awesome 6x6 mini My Creations Memory Showcase Accordian Albums and cards made from Level 1 kits, forgive me ladies I have forgotten who all you were.  These  projects inspired my next set of gifts that I have created.

Shhhhh Don't tell them but this is what my Mom and Mother In Law
are getting for  Christmas.

No you are not seeing double, I have created 2 very similar wall hanging for my Mother and MIL.  My Idea started with me cutting up my Notebook Level 1 Paper into 6 inch squares.  I them adhered them to some 6x6 chipboard I had laying around, and since I had 4 pieces of chipboard & Level 1 combo's, and 4 sons I decided to make a wall hanging using some current pictures I had taken of the boys.  Robbie's picture is one of his Sr. Pict's I had taken in October and the other 3 boys are pictures I took in TN over Thanksgiving.  This particulare pattern sheet from the level one looked really good when I alternated the sides the Black was on when laying out the wall hanging.  This project came together really easily as all I had to do was distress all the edges of the Level 1 paper with Desert Sand, then cut my Colonial White and Crystal Blue Mats, Distress the Crystal Blue mats with Crystal Blue ink, and Stamp out each boys' name using "The Works" Stamp Set & Desert Sand Ink.  Once that was done I adhered it all together, punched my holes with a crop-a-dile and then they were ready to assemble.  I couldn't decide on how to connect the 4 boards, as our boys aren't ribbon type of guys and the twill was too big for my holes.  I then thought of the leather lace Ken uses to braid hatbands.  It was perfect, plus it added to the rustic feel the distressed Black and Bamboo cardstock provided,   Of course once I got the first one together I just had to create another one using the exact same pattern, as I loved how well the boys pictures looked with this paper.  My initial plan was use 2 different Level 1's to clean them out of my stash.  Now for my problem, I only had 1 Notebook Level 1 paper pack, and it is not longer available for purchase, not to mention the fact that I was on a roll and wanted the second one done now.  So I decided to recreated the pattern using Bamboo, & Black Cardstock, and a piece of Crystal Blue B&T from the Notebook Level 2 kit.  I sanded the Bamboo & Black cardstock so some of the white was showing like the Level 1 was, I then used a slightly different B&T for the Crystal Blue strip as I no longer had the original pattern used (it was my favorite).  I measured and assembled the second one not quite as quickly but almost as quickly as the first and unless you look closely you can't tell that I didn't use the exact same paper on each.

This is a Picture of Robbie our Oldest.
this one was made using the Notebook Level 1 kit.

And this is the one in which I had to recreate the look and feel of the Level 1 kit
using Cardstock and B&T.  It is really hard to tell the difference. 

And so the rest don't feel left out here is a close up of each of their blocks, from the Level 1 kit.

Jimmy Son #2

Tony Son #3

Dillon our Baby

I still have a couple gifts to show you.  But it is getting late and I have to keep Mom in suspense a little while longer as I know she will not heed my warnings and will have read this post before Christmas. LOL  Mom just act surprised on Christmas when you open your gifts.LOL  Love ya.

No Peeking Edition #1 (Mom this means you :-)

While we were in Tennessee to visit Ken's parents and spend time in our wonderful cabin in the mountains, I started working on some projects I had in mind but was always too busy to try.

Since I had limited room to take supplies down to work on, I actually planned a little and managed to only take what I thought I would need to get those projects started.  I actually had plans to work on Christmas gifts and for the first time in forever I have actually gotten several done with 2 weeks to spare.  I am impressed, guess this old dog can learn some new tricks.

The first project I completed was a set of ornaments for our tree.   Each year I try to buy the boys each a new ornament for the tree, so when they go out on their own they will have a good collection of ornaments to take with them.  With having done this every year since they were born (and even with losing some in the fire in 2000) our tree is quite full, but there is always room on the tree for more special ornaments. This year with funds being tight We really don't have much money to spend on the boys for Christmas, so I decided that they could get handmade ornaments instead.  Now we just need to get it set up.

These are the Close To My Heart Dimensional Elements Ornaments.  This was a simple project and I was able to get all of them mostly done in about 2 hours of working while in TN.  The only thing I would have done different is I would have embossed the tops of the ornaments before I assembled them, but I didn't think about that when I was in TN and my embossing powders and heat gun where in Ohio. So I waited till I got home to emboss the tops using Silver Pearl & Gold Embossing Powders.  Doing this after they were assembled was hard cause I couldn't get the embossing powder to stick to the chipboard close to where the second layer was, which is why they all have some form of a bow on the top of the ornament.

This is Robbie's Ornament,
The picture is one of him and his Fiance' Dani, taken around Christmas time last year.
Product Used All CTMH unless otherwise stated: Mistletoe Paper, Finishing Files,
Bitty Sparkles, Mistletoe Level 2 Assortment, New England Ivy Cardstock (for Leaves)
Misc Ribbon from my stash and Liquid Glass to hold it all together 

This is One of my Ornaments,
Materials Used All CTMH unless othewise stated:
Magnifique Paper, Clear Sparkles, Pacifica Ink
Stickles, finishing files, Ribbon from my stash
and Liquid Glass to hold it all together 

I had initially covered this one in the Magnifique Feather paper, but then decided I didn't like it so I sponged it all Pacifica Blue instead. The inside of the ornament I placed the sky side of one of the papers from Magnifique and Placed the Gem in the center of the design. Well as I was playing I started adding the Stickles and really liked what I was getting so I ended up covering the center patterned paper with sparkles, If you look closely you can still see a little of the sky patterned paper. I also love how the ink bled into the Stickles on several of the ornaments.  I used the same bottle of Stickles on all the ornaments and love the different color effects I got with each one.

Tony's Ornament
Materials Used All CTMH unless otherwise stated
Mistletoe Paper, Opaques Pearls
New England Ivy Ink, Cranberry Ink, Snow Flurries Stamp Set, Finishing Files,
Ribbon & Stickles from my stash
and Liquid Glass to hold it all together 

Jimmy's Ornament
Materials Used:  Mistletoe Paper, Opaques Pearls
New England Ivy Ink, Snow Flurries Stamp Set
Stickles and Ribbon from my stash
and Liquid Glass to hold it all together 



Dillon's Ornament
Materials Used: Cranberry Ink, Mistletoe Paper
Rem Sparkle, Stickles and Ribbon from my stash
and Liquid Glass to hold it all together 



Another One for Mom
Supplies used: Mistletoe Paper
Red Sparkle, Ribbon from my stash.
and Liquid Glass to hold it all together 

Catching Up

Wow It has been almost 3 weeks since my last post.   I had promised myself that when I finally started a blog I would try to post regularly.  Well despite well laid intentions things haven't gone as planned. 

Things have been crazy around here.  The boys (Robbie, Jimmy, and Tony) have started wrestling.  Matches Started on the 4th of December, so that is taking up alot of my time.   Plus I have been trying to increase my hours at work to try to help get some bills paid and have something extra for Christmas.  Throw in a Quick Trip to our cabin in Tennessee for Thanksgiving, and everyone in the house developing colds and bronchitis and you have our normal everyday chaos.  On top of all this I have been working on some Christmas gifts for family which I will be posting on here as they get done.  (Mom  you might not want to read any more posts this month until after Christmas or it will ruin your surprise)

To start you off I am going to show you the two gifts Tony & I threw together in an hour one night before Thanksgiving.  I had walked into my craft room to find Tony stringing thin paper letters on a string to give to a classmate for a class project.  The project was you had to make 2 different handmade gifts for 2 of your fellow students.  Tony had of course put off the project to the last minute and didn't want to bother me, so he was going to create something by himself.  His idea was a string with the students name on it.  Ok I will give him an 8 in the creative department, but when you are sitting in the middle of a craft room with your Dad's handmade leather keyrings hanging on one wall and your mother's papercrafts taking up the rest of the room, you definately can do better.  So with me helping this is what we came up with in less than an hour.  Did I mention that the project was started after 9pm the night before it was due:-) 

First Project:

I found a piece of cork I had laying around from a previous project, We stamped the kids name on it in Holiday Red Ink and a Wrestling shoe and a Football in Black Ink These are the sports he participates in at school. Used Liquid Glass to glue the cork into an old frame that the glass had broken out of I had laying around, and Poof!! Project one is done.

Project Two

Ok so for Project 2 we cheated a little bit.  I had whipped this dry-erase board up in the spring for a Missions Trip fund raiser and it didn't sell.  So  we pulled it out, and took a piece of velcro and used it to attach a dry-erase pen to the board and Wow we got both projects done and Tony was in bed before 10pm.   Guess Tony can't make fun of my hobbies anymore for a long time as they got him an A+ on his project.