Jubilation - June SOTM Blog Hop

Welcome to the June Stamp of the Month blog hop!  This month we have over 50 consultants participating to give you lots of great ideas with this versatile stamp set.  If you've arrived here from Annette's Creative Journey, you're in the right place.  When you're done here, you'll hop along to Fancy Melissa and check out what she made this month.

The 24 stamps in this month's set are so awesome!  I am picturing all kinds of uses for them, but I have to admit that my first thought when I saw this set was Mayberry.  I really really wanted to combine these stamps with the Mayberry papers!  And this is the result:

"Golden Section" pattern, pp 80-81 in Cherish - blank spot for journaling

I just love the way this layout turned out!  It's hard to believe that the not-yet-2yo in those pictures is now TEN.  But I think it's really paid off that I wait until I feel I have just the perfect things to use with my pictures instead of just slapping them on whatever paper I like at the time.  It's hard to tell here, but everything coordinates so well with her clothes in these pictures... I'm a little anal retentive about things like that!

Here's a little tool tip for today:   After stamping the flowers and cutting them out, I flipped them over on top of the back side of my Versamat.  I used the Embossing Stylus to round all of the flower petals, then flipped the flowers back right side up.  Then I pressed the embossing stylus into the center of the flower to push it back down while leaving the petals rounded.

Stamped flower petals rounded with embossing stylus on left; canvas badge button on right

In addition to the stamp of the month and the Mayberry papers, I used the following supplies:

• Exclusive inks in Smoothie and Cocoa
• Canvas Badge Buttons
• Designer Ribbon, Pink Collection
• Sparkles in Red, Pink, & Purple
• Opaques Pearls
• Micro-Tip Scissors
• Bohemian Alphabet
• Chocolate Alphabet Large
• Medium Embossing Stylus
• Cherish

Now make sure you head over to Fancy Melissa's for the next project!

Blog Candy Week Winners!

Today I have the winners from Blog Candy Week!  Since I have multiple prizes, they will be awarded in the order chosen by random.org.  All winners need to contact me within 24 hours or winners will bump up the list and I will choose an alternate.

Please email me with your top 3 prize choices, or if you're not interested in the Cricut prizes just let me know that.  Prize choices include a Green Scrap'n Tote, a Pink Scrap'n Tote; a Tags, Bags, Boxes, & More cartridge (used but NOT linked to a Gypsy), and "other".

1. Isabel Z.- I do not have an email for you, so please contact me ASAP
2. Manhattan Mandie
3. pt8597
4. Sheri
5. Laura aka scrapaddict
6. CRAZY4CHRIST

Mod Podge to the Rescue!

Most of you probably don't know that I am a "garbage picker" - I have rescued chairs from a neighbor's garbage and, with hubby's assistance, refinished them and reupholstered them.  So, I thought nothing of jumping at an old dresser on my local Freecycle group.  We REALLY needed some storage in our living/dining room to get some kid games and some puzzles out of sight and out of my china cabinet.

I wish I had taken some "before" pictures, but I just plain forgot in my excitement to get to it.  Just imagine your average real wood dresser, probably from the 50's, that had been in someone's garage for a while.  A little dusty, a little musty, but overall in decent shape.  We removed a mirror from it that we don't need or have room for, and I started stripping.  I happen to have a short attention span, and hubby is a procrastinator, so while I started things, he wound up finishing.  He used a black Minwax stain on it, which turned out pretty well as it matches the chairs I rescued from the neighbor's garbage.

Originally, I had wanted to cover the drawer fronts with old maps (or paper that looks like a map) because this big room has a kind of France/travel theme.  (I'm convinced that if I expose hubby to it daily that eventually he'll take me there!)  I couldn't find anything near what I envisioned, but I happened upon some travel paper on clearance at my local Michael's that I thought was pretty cool.  It's a K&Co paper called On The Road Luggage Labels.  It has the vintage travel feel I was going for, and the colors worked.  So, here's how it turned out:

The bonus to the paper design is that it's difficult to see the seams, so I just left them straight, no messing with  overlapping cuts, etc.  I just brushed on my Mod Podge, laid on the papers, smoothed them out, then topped with more Mod Podge.  Quick & Easy!

Here's a closeup, so I can show you what I did with the knobs:

I picked up these knobs a while back from the $1 bins at Michael's.  Because they were glossy bright white, they didn't really match the vintage feel of the dresser and paper design.  So, I whipped out a sponge and some Staz-on ink in Timber Brown and "dirtied " them up a little bit.

We've already got those drawers loaded with games & puzzles, and things are looking considerable neater.  If you've got an old piece of furniture you're looking to rescue, I highly recommend the "Mod Podge method" - it can cover up all manner of imperfections!

Girls Night

Welcome to the final day of Blog Candy Week!  I will leave all comments open until Midnight Central Time on Sunday.  Winners will be announced on Tuesday.

Today I have another sketch-based two-page layout to share, along with a few tips. 

I apologize for the poor photo - if the light is better in the morning I'll replace it! Update: New photo is in place.  I can tell I don't use pastels much anymore, because this was h-a-r-d to get a decent picture of!  Be sure to click on the pic to enlarge it.

This is another Sketch Support sketch, which I followed almost exactly.  Just a few tips on how I added some easy texture & dimension to this.  First, I replaced a cardstock strip with the pink crocheted ribbon at the bottom.  Ribbon is a quick & easy way to add texture.  The best way to adhere an uneven surface like crochet is to use Scor-Tape; the 1/8" width was perfect for the top edge of this one.

Second, the sketch called for some stitching around the main square (the alpha paper).  To keep the feel without taking the time to actually stitch, I just poked holes with my paper piercer.  I could also add pen stitching between the holes, but I opted to leave it plain for this layout.

Third, I popped up my cardstock stickers on pop dots.  To prevent them from sticking where they shouldn't, you simply place the pop dot(s) on the back without removing the top paper, then cover the remaining adhesive on the sticker with baby powder (or use an embossing buddy).   Finally, to help tie in the stickers with the rhinestone flourish, I added some rhinestones as flower centers/buds in each embellishment group.

Oh, one last note: did you notice that (following the sketch) there are three groups of embellishments on the layout, arranged in a triangle?  As was repeated in every art class I took in college, there are certain things that make a design pleasing to the eye.  Odd numbers are more pleasing than even, especially threes.  Also, arranging items in a triangular shape across a design like this helps your eye flow through the layout rather than getting "stuck".  And repetition is very pleasing: same shape and/or same color, etc. are enjoyable to look at.

I hope you've had fun here this week!  I am totally looking forward to drawing names of winners!  Hope to see you back here soon.

Moxie Fab Chevron Card

 Wow!  It's already day #6 of Blog Candy Week!  I hope you're enjoying the projects so far; I'm really looking forward to announcing the winners.  If this is your first visit here this week, be sure you go visit this post and find out how to enter for some big prizes.

So, the current challenge at Moxie Fab World is Chevron Chic.  Chevrons, or zigzag stripes, are all over the place right now and they're lots of fun.  So, for this challenge, I opted for a quickie card and let the chevrons take center stage.

I used cardstock from Close To My Heart in Black, Sunflower, and Cotton Candy.  The chevrons were cut using Make The Cut software and the Basic Borders SVG set from Lettering Delights, and adhered using my Xyron.  The image is from the Be Yourself stamp set from Close To My Heart.  The image is stamped in white pigment ink on black CS and heat embossed.  I then trimmed around the image and adhered it to the card front.  Finally, I added some paper flowers with brad centers.  These paper flowers from Close To My Heart are discontinued, but there are some similar ones in the While Supplies Last discounted section of the online store.

The Chevron Chic Challenge in the Moxie Fab World is open until midnight on Monday, May 30 so you still have time to play!  The winners will be announed June 1, and there are prizes to be won.

Be sure to come back tomorrow for the final day of Blog Candy Week.  I plan to have another 2-page layout to share with you as well.  I'll be leaving all of the comments open until Sunday night at midnight Central time (May 29), and winners will be announced here on Tuesday May 31.

Magical Knight

Welcome all to day #5 of Blog Candy Week here at Saving My...  I can't wait to give away all of the fun goodies I have stashed away!  If this is your first visit, be sure to go back to this post and find out how you can win.  Now, on to today's project:

Every princess should have her knight in shining armor, and when you're young there's no one better for that role than Daddy.  This is the second time I've scrapped pictures from this event; I did a layout for my older daughter's scrapbook previously.  Our younger daughter has such a loving and playful personality that I thought lots of hearts would be perfect for her pages.

I started with a sketch from Sketch Support for this layout, sticking pretty close to the original other than changing the stars to hearts and eliminating some stitching and strip journaling.  I also replaced one of the indicated small photos with an additional, larger, heart.

I chose to use papers from BasicGrey's Bittersweet line for most of my patterns, so I started with a base of Blush cardstock from Close To My Heart.  Since I only had single sheets of the Bittersweet papers, I opted to replace the large background of pattern paper in the sketch with a lacy cutwork paper, a K&Co Silhouette, in a darker pink.  I added the BG pattern strips, cutting scallops for the bottom strip using my Cricut.  I decided to add some interest in my grouping of hearts by using various textures, including vellum and some American Crafts glitter cardstock, all cut with the Cricut.  I added some heart brads to the vellum to attach them to the page, then adhered the remaining hearts using pop dots for dimension.  For balance, I also popped up the larger heart on the opposite page, and added a heart stick pin (K&CO) to my journaling area.  My title is cut using my Cricut and the Stone Script and Opposites Attract cartridges.  Finally, I added a few final touches using my i-rock and pink gems.

I hope I gave you a few ideas to use in your layouts today!  Sketches are really my go-to for getting things done - it's so much easier to change a few things to make them my own rather than starting from scratch every time.  I hope you'll take the time to enter for this week's prizes, and hope to see you back tomorrow!

Disney Keepsake Frame

Welcome to day #4 of Blog Candy Week!  Be sure to check this blog post to find out how you can win big!

So, frugal ol' me found these great embellishment sets at Tuesday Morning a while back.  They are from Making Memories, and match that travel line they had out a while back.  The best part, aside from the price, was that they came in these great paperboard "suitcases" with a window on one side.  According to Tuesday Morning's price tag, original retail on these babies was $12, but I paid the exorbitant price of $1.99 each.  Since they've probably been around for a while, they were a little worse for wear; the windows were falling in on all of them.

Anyway, after I took out the goodies and cleaned the dust off the plastic "window", I got out my Scor-Tape and reassembled things.  I decided that one of these babies would make a great little decor piece for a vacation photo, with room to store some bits and bobs inside the box.  So, I immediately made a display for a Disney picture.  It will be a great place to stash some of the little Disney goodies that are spread here & there around the house.

I decided to go with a general Cinderella's Castle theme:

I tried to keep it simple so I won't block anything important in whatever picture I decide to put in there.  Also, since the opening is a bit of an odd size, I thought it easiest if I backed it with cardstock.  I again used my Scor-Tape, on three sides, leaving the bottom open to insert the picture.  (Can't insert it from the top because of the side of the suitcase being in the way.)

For this particular frame, I decided to use my Make The Cut software along with some SVG files from Lettering Delights.  I used the Provencial Princess set for the castle, Basic Borders for the diamond borders, and Weather Girl for the sun & clouds.  FYI, Lettering Delights has a home decor contest going on right now, and they also have graphics, digital papers, and fonts as well, so you don't have to use SVGs to enter!  (I've seen some great subway art in their gallery.)

Well, this little project was pretty fun & easy.  I think I might have to make some more, go a little more "fancy" and put some up in my empty etsy store finally!  I have some Hawaiian-type papers that I'd love to doll one of these up with - and since I don't see Hawaii in MY future anytime soon... well, it would be fun to make for SOMEONE!

Hope to see you back tomorrow, when I'll have an actual scrapbook layout to share with you... seems like it's been a while!