Thursday, September 30, 2010

Card Making Continued

Friday is the BIG day for Cardmakers! I whipped up this little friendship card to celebrate this National holiday. Can you not get enough of these gorgeous Sassafras papers and cardstock stickers in the September Kit at The Paper Poppy Kit Co.??? OMWord - I am so inspired by this kit!!! Please pop to the STORE to pick one up if you haven't already...

I just picked up the new Christmas Card cartridge for my Cricut and used it to cut the textured borders on my cardstock and the corresponding patterned paper. Then I found this Bo Bunny rub-on in my stash and added it to the Sassafras journal card in the kit and was super excited at how well they lined up. It was like they were made to go together. The numbered border is meant to show the "distance" in the quote on the card.
Thank you so much for stopping by -

September Sketch Challenge

I know, I know...I am sooooooooo very late posting this - but, there is still time to link up any sketches you have used for the month of September to Mr.Linky below to be entered into a Random drawing. Any sketch used from the current month (Sunday or Bonus) is eligible to be entered and linked to this post. Everyone, including guest designers, can play along and the more sketches used, the more chances to win. So be sure to link up each sketch used from the current month.

I'll leave this up for a week, so get posting - Eligible sketches include: 9/5/10, 9/12/10, 9/19/10, Bonus Sketch...


Wednesday, September 29, 2010

National Card Making Week...

The leaves are starting to fall off the Trees where I live, even though we are experiencing a bit of a heat wave with temperatures in the high 80's. You should see the gorgeous Aspen Groves with their bright yellow leaves. I know...I should get off my butt and take a photo, so you can really see it... maybe this weekend. To celebrate this time of year I created these cards with the Imaginisce Apple Cider Collection which is the perfect fall palette of colors and icons. For the card above, I used my Christmas Cards Cricut Cartridge to cut the shape in various sizes to stack on one another.

This card is featured in the Fall issue of Scrapbooking and Cards Today. Click here to download the magazine online.

Thank you so much for stopping by -

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Bonus Sketch & Layout

I know I owe you all a sketch as I missed posting one last Sunday, so here is the one from the September Sweet Peach Crop Shop Kit.  I was guest designing for them through the summer and this is sadly my last sketch for that club.  Life is just a bit too busy right now...
My layout Girl Twirls was inspired by fun photos of my daughter spinning and the awesome sticker banners from Sassafras Lass’s Indie Girl collection.  It’s like a match made in heaven and the pink in the papers was the perfect complement to my daughters floral dress.
Aren’t these Thickers a gorgeous color?  They are a beautiful partner for the Indie Girl papers and especially the beautiful music note paper.  I even love the way they look against the darker blue cardstock.
I cut apart the banners and interchanged them on my layout to add more interest and to spread out the two rows I included in the sketch.  I also pop-dotted the top layer to make it stand out just a tad bit more from the row on the bottom, especially where they cross on the layout for the journal card.  The Maya Road ribbon buckles make a really beautiful embellishment.

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Thursday, September 23, 2010

More From Paper Poppy

The amazing September kit from The Paper Poppy Kit Co. had so much to offer this month. I really loved the cardstock stickers that came with the Sassafras Indie Girl Collection. One whole sheet of banners and one whole sheet of journal spots is like a little piece of heaven. And...I love the soft colors of this collection and really played up the pink in this layout about my daughter. It was the perfect color palette to capture this moment and a great contrast to the blue and pink layout I posted earlier.
I also love these little Bingo cards from Jenni Bowlin that are included in the kit. They make the perfect accent in a cluster and since the chipboard stars are fairly large, the bingo card was a nice grounding element. You can also see a little square cardstock sticker with one of the adhesive buttons from Jenni Bowlin. Talk about being able to be LAZY - you just have to peel and stick those little suckers wherever you want.
Here you can see the cardstock banner stickers. I pop dotted them with foam to make the stand out and then I added a little adhesive to the tops to stick on the string that "holds" them all together. You can also see the dictionary page that Aphra included in my kit. I loved that the first word on this page was mischief, since I seem to deal with a lot of it from my little lady.
Something else I love is that a lot of the products in Aphra's past kits look awesome with her latest ones. I used these Cosmo Cricket Chipboard letters from the March Kit and the Pink Paislee cardstock alphas from the April Kit to go with my layout - they are a perfect match. Reuse, Recycle and all that jazz....

Thank you so much for stopping by -

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Mess with Me and...

...I'll mess you up - is kind of the face I get from my daughter a lot these days.  Is this typical of a seven year old?  Somebody should let me know as this is my first born and we try very hard not to damage her as we figure out this parenting thing.  Isn't it amazing how fast kids can change their moods? My son is actually a Gemini, so we expect it from him, but our daughter can turn it on and off just as quickly.  What will I do when she gets to middle school?   But, enough of me ranting, because no matter what my daughter's mood, Aphra at the Paper Poppy Kit Co.  can pick a kit that clearly scraps the moment perfectly.
Can you say large doily, pink crepe paper and cardstock sticker journal cards?  It's a recipe made in Heaven!  This page came together so quickly, I had to check my clock to make sure that it was really the right time.
The felt flowers and blue Thickers are such a nice compliment to the soft and beautiful papers from Sassafras.  They just ooze femininity.  I also love the cool border strips that come with the Sassfras papers.

Thank you so much for stopping by - 



Monday, September 20, 2010

Boo-tiful Nikki

Halloween is definitely one of my very favorite holidays to scrapbook.  The colors are bright and fun.  The patterns are totally funky and there is a lot of creative freedom in coming up with "spooky" designs.  Nikki Sivils has some really fun Halloween themed products like her Boo-tiful collection.  I used the 6x6 striped Frightening paper for the back ground of my card.   Then I added the ghost using one page from her awesome Ghost Chipboard Album. The "boo" glasses are actually a felt embellishment from Little Yellow Bicycle, but the rest of the card is all Nikki Sivils - Come check out her amazing products at her site.  In fact her stuff is so cute that the little ghost chipboard album made it into Creating Keepsakes Latest and Greatest list in the October issue at the NUMBER 1 spot!  Check it out below...

Thank you so much for stopping by -

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Sunday Sketch and Guest Designers

Take a look at what the guest designers did with the sketch this week. I am always so impressed with how creative they all are with my sketches. I will post the September challenge soon. Still a little bit behind this month.
Myriam Mantion is our featured designer this week and brings us a beautiful version of the sketch. Here is a little bit about her, "I am 43 and have three children who you can see on almost all of my work. I have been scrapbooking for more than six years and love it so much! I work in a craft shop in France calle CreaCouleurs, and my great pleasure is to scrap with the stuff I have just received from the shop. I absolutely love vintage papers, flowers, stamps and ink. In my opinion, scrapping is for creating, personal pleasure and leaving something for the future..."
This what Myriam had to say about working with the sketch, "I was first surprised by this sketch because I usualy don't work with large pictures. I thought about using two pictures side by side, but then decided to challenge myself with the one. Thank you Liz for the marvelous sketches! I am sure everyone will enjoy playing with this one."
Close Ups of Myriam's Work

Please visit Myriam's blog myriammgscrap for more information about her and details about her work.

Aymee Gandy is back with us this week with her gorgeous interpretation of the sketch. Here is what she had to say about working with it, "As with all of the sketches from Liz, I simply adored this one when I saw it. I just love using any type of circular action on my pages. So this sketch was perfect for me to highlight our recent trip to Coney Island. I used a combination of patterned papers and embellishments from Jenni Bowlin. I also did a bit of distressing and stitching around the edge of my page. I also pulled out my Cuttlebug for this layout. I used the 'Victorian' embossing folder on the blue strip of paper."
Please visit Aymee's blog Southern Belle Scrapper for more information about her and details about her work.

Pearl Liu is also sharing her wonderful work again this week. Here is what she had to say about using the sketch, "I had some new product in my stash that I really wanted to use so that was my primary focus with this sketch. Using the Jillibean Soup Monster Stew papers , I chose to use 2 of the scalloped frames in the line, instead of using the semi circles as prompted by the sketch. I built up the layout design from there - picking a photo of my son to match the paper . I often have difficulty embellishing boy layouts - so I turned to some new Tattered Angels Glimmer Glaze that I have to create a unique background with a drippy paint technique. After the Glaze drips had dried I also misted on some new Chalkboard Glimmer Mists to add a little subtle color to the background. Lastly, I couldn't resist painting on some Gold Gimmer Glam below the title . I cut out some fun monster faces as embellies as well as added some Such Sweet Tierney handmade chipboard buttons."
Please visit Pearl's blog Pearl's Paperfections for more information about her and details about her work.

Thank you so much for stopping by -

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Little Yellow Bicycle Layout Challenge

I am so excited to share that I am one of the prize pack winners of the Little Yellow Bicycle Layout Challenge at 2 Peas.  I am floating right now, because there was some really stiff talent and it is an honor to be chosen for this layout of my little girl.  This is my little blondie dressed up as a wicked witch with a big black wig. She had to have all of the accessories, so the straw broom front and center is the perfect embellishment. I just love the Little Yellow Bicycle Boo-ville paper and embellishments - perfect for this photo.
I used my Cricut Blackletter cartridge to cut the title to mirror the font LYB chose for the journal cards.  I also like to use the shadow feature to outline the letters and then pop dot them to make the jump off the page.  The little green letters are Fabric Delight Thickers. 
I also used my Imaginisce iRock to add the orange gems on my border at the bottom of the purple paper.  This tool is so easy and so much fun to use.  I find myself including a little bling on just about every project.

Thank you so much for stopping by - 

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Sunday Sketch and Guest Designers

This week's sketch is an attempt to utilize different elements. I have to say that I am lucky to have such creative guest designers, because sometimes I struggle to put together a sketch and they always take what I send them and work magic with it. This week is no exception...
Lisa Watson joins us this week as the primary designer. Here is a little bit about her, "I've been scrapping for 8 years thanks to my husband who literally drove me to the first scrapbook store and made me start this hobby. It wasn't til the last 2 years that I have become completely OBSESSED with our fabulous hobby, thanks to the world of online forums and blogs. I now scrap just about everyday and LOVE it! I have 3 kids which comprise the majority of my scrapping. I love creating layouts and capturing my families memories for years to come. I am on the DT over at Scrapdango and My Sketch World and a contributing writer for a paper magazine, Michigan Scrapbooker Magazine."
This is what Lisa had to say about working with the sketch, "I started off using these great papers from Echo Park's A Walk in the Park Collection. The colors felt like school colors. The journaling spot was perfect for this school layout. I cut the green stars from the Cricut and then made them 3d by taking my stylus on the back from each point to the center and then lightly ink the lines to make them stand out a little more, added 3d tape underneath and its an easy 3d embellishment. The Jenni Bowlin Chalkboard Alpha stickers are fantastic for every school layout. The pencil was the final touch because it needed something else, who knows how long I've had that pencil but it was a very long time. "
Close Ups of Lisa's Work
Please visit Lisa's blog My Pictures 2 Pages for more information about her and details about her work.

Metal Minish is back for another week with his inspiring work. I love how he blends his passion for gaming with Webster's Pages. Brandin needs to see this :) Here is what he had to say about working with the sketch, "I looked at the sketch and wondered what would look good with it... Is it best for a less-is-more type of LO? A playful and colorful one perhaps? As I looked through my bunches of photos, and found this one of me cosplaying Link from The Legend of Zelda, it hit me... This is perfect for a nature/fantasy type LO! Or well, that is how I saw it, hehe~ So here I used lots of Webster's, which suited my wanted theme perfectly. To further make things match, and to fake an aged look, I stained the papers with some coffee using an old toothbrush."
Please visit his blog Nerd Scrap for more information about him and details about his work.

Lisa Jamerson is also back this week with her inspiring work. She said this about working with the sketch, "I loved, loved, loved this sketch! It was perfect so I didn't change much of anything. For the flourishes in the sketch I just used remnants of the paper from my trimmer and glued them by the flowers. That is probably my favorite component."
Please visit her blog Cut, Create and Care for more information about him and details about his work.

Thank you for stopping by -


August Sketch Challenge Winner

Wendy Rasbach created this amazing layout based on this sketch...
Gorgeous work Wendy!  I love how you used a large journal card instead of a 2nd photo.  Please email me and I will get a RAK out to you soon :)  lizqualman@gmail.com
Please visit Wendy's blog Scrapping with a Type A Personality for more information about her and details about her work.

Thank you so much for stopping by - 

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Collaborating with Adornit

Does this layout not crack you up??? My son is such a little stinker :) I'm very excited to share that this project is part of a collaboration with the very talented Georgana Hall from Adornit. She wrote an article for Ella Publishing called Make it Masculine and sent me a formula to create this layout as an example. Click {HERE} to read the article and learn more about how to make awesome "boy" pages. My wonderful friend Suzanne Sergi is also part of this collaboration and her page is absolutely marvelous. Georgana also has a few amazing pages of her own to share, full of masculine ideas.
One of Georgana's suggestions is to use over-sized letters, which is what I did with my Cricut and the Feeling Groovy cartridge. I also shadowed and pop dotted a few of the letters to make them stand out more.
In keeping with the over-sized theme, I also used my Cricut Plantin Schoolbook cartridge to cut the very large ric rac for some movement and interest. I love the gorgeous blues, greens and oranges in the many of the Adornit collections and how they all complement each other. I think I have four different collections represented in this layout.
I love to create journal strips and find myself reaching for my Dymo label maker, mostly because it is convenient. I should probably get off my butt and use my computer, but it is at the opposite end of my house from my scrap space, so label maker = efficient.


Thank you so much for stopping by -