Thursday, October 13, 2011

Bar Mitzvah card!

This card was definitely a challenge, in terms of trying to think of anything else to put on it besides the star of David. Luckily we got a beautiful invitation, and a light bulb went on inside my head and I determined I could use whatever the image was on the invitation, plus it was on such nice card stock that I couldn't just throw it away!


The "window" portion of the idea came from this cool blog entry.


The hardest part was cutting out the square with the exacto knife - having to cut through both the heavy card stock and the Kraft paper, but I love how it turned out!




HOW-TO:
  • The Kraft cardstock was cut to 8.5x6" folded in half to make the front 4.25x6"
  • Cut (invitation) blue card stock to 4x5.75" and wrapped Jillibean Soup twine around the bottom a few times
  • Using a Studio Calico wood veneer frame, I tried to mist it a little with Mister Huey's Clay mist, but realized quickly that it doesn't really stick well to the frame, but didn't want to end up inking it too dark, so after that attempt I just left it as it was
  • I laid the frame down to where I was going to place it, and traced with pencil along the inside square, where to cut out
  • Took the exacto knife and cut out the inner square, peeled off the back of the frame and placed it down, then cut a little extra along the inside of the frame to make sure it matched perfectly!
  • Inside the card, I added the image from the invitation and placed it to show a bit off center through the window
  • The letters are chipboard alphas from Studio Calico
  • The little metal button was an afterthought, so I had to pull up the paper a bit, cut the twine from the back, loop through the button from My Mind's Eye Lost and Found collection and re-adhere everything back down!


Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Fall Bash Layouts!

This year, I participated in Fall Bash, which was an all day scrapbooking event at Mendon GC, about half an hour away. It was so much fun!! Hmm, what was my favorite part? The friends, the extra amount of space than we usually have at the retreats, getting to come home to my own bed or the wait staff?? I can't decide, but it was great and I'm hoping Terri (from Scrapbook Creations who hosts these events) does another next year!


OK this first layout didn't take too long to figure out, but sat in front of me all morning before lunch. I love the colors in the Sassafras paper on the left!


I misted the paper on the right side to draw in the cool blue colors from the left. I love spray mists and convinced some friends there to try it!


HOW-TO:
  • The main paper is Enlighten from the Sunshine Broadcast collection by Sassafras on the left and on the right is New York from the Boarding Pass collection by October Afternoon
  • I used those same Amy Tangerine by American Crafts Thickers for the letter stickers on the left from the previous layout I posted
  • I used Mister Huey's Bluegrass to mist the right side
  • The chipboard clouds are from Studio Calico as well as the trim called Scraps from their Memoir collection
  • The entwined bloom embellishment is Turkish turquoise from Sassafras


This layout was really fun and easy! I finally got to use the American Made collection paper from My Mind's Eye, and created my very own homemade embellishments to match, by making the pinwheels that were pulled from the pattern on the paper!


Several people at the bash asked me how I made the pinwheels, and after seeing how they came out, I am addicted! I joked that I wanted to make pinwheels on every page layout from now on!


The best part is that you can make them to any size really. I wanted to make mine a bit large to cover more area on my page.


HOW-TO:
  • The patterned paper on the left as well as the punchout banner along the top are from the American Made collection by My Mind's Eye
  • The cardstock on the left I bought while at the bash, I believe is called Midnight or something like that, from Bazzill
  • TO MAKE THE PINWHEELS:
  • Cut 2 2x2 inch squares from double-sided patterned paper
  • Cut each square in half to make 4 triangles
  • Fold up one edge of each triangle towards the middle
  • Cut one more 2x2 inch square from plain paper that you don't care about and add adhesive to one side
  • Place the 4 folded triangles lined up against the plain square
  • You should be left with little to no excess of the plain square showing through, but cut any that you see off with scissors
  • I used a button from the Stella & Rose collection by My Mind's Eye with a glue dot to the middle of the pinwheel to hold it down
  • Voila! Easy homemade embellishment!


Finally, this last layout I was getting really tired, and had to complete it at home, but I still like it!


I dusted off the old hexagon maker from Creative Memories, to create the honeycomb pattern, which I accidentally sprayed with mist that was a bit too dark, so I tried to cover it up with little butterfly embellishments. I guess I could've made some die cut bees, but was too tired, so the butterflies took over their nest!


HOW-TO:
  • The left side paper is from the Hello Sunshine collection by American Crafts and the right side is a newer paper from Pebbles that came in the Glee Club kit from Studio Calico
  • The letters on the left are Chipboard alphas from Studio Calico and the butterflies are Sunbeam delights by American Crafts
  • I basically just punched out hexagons in various sizes out of Kraft cardstock and lined them up fairly randomly on the page to fill the area I needed

For the retreat in November, I am def going to drink more coffee and bring more projects to work on so I don't get to that stopping point! I am so excited though, especially since this one day event was like a warm-up for the 2.5 day retreat!