CropChocolate Design Team June Layout

This month's theme is 'All About Me'. I needed that since this is the one person I rarely focus on in my pages. Here is my take shown on this two page layout. I decided to go with the musical notes and took liberty with the ME.

All papers and alphas are from Fancy Pants.  The music notes are Recollections and the flowers --I can't recall.

This is the base paper used and I tried to mimic the lines of a staff although they get buried under the photos. I used the Martha Stewart Crown border punch.

Next, I added the photos after matting them to white card embossed with the TH Music Texture Fade Folder.

Both of the larger photos are cards with space underneath for hidden journaling and/or personal photos. I die cut the center and turned it around and glued it back into place to add a decorative element. The butterflies and leaves are from Mrs. Elizabeth's line. One opens to the left and the other to the right.

The remaining elements were added. The 'All About' are Making Memories flat sticker alphas and I matted them to black to bring them out a bit. Wanted to use my white Thickers but had packed them away. 

These are photos of me over the years. Many taken at school and I never know quite what to do with the leftovers. Well, here they are!!! There are more small ones that will go inside the card...So how many looks can one person have? If you are judging by me....MANY!!! I love changing my look. The most recent photo is the one under the word Smart. It was taken in Feb/March of this year.


Thanks for stopping by. Remember to keep inking in the name of LOVE.
Until then.

CropChocolate Design Team May Layout

Hello everyone. I wanted to share with you the project I created for CropChocolate. I had purchased one of their Basic Grey grab bags and grabbed the Obscure Collection. Can I say that this is the one I did NOT want? I had to find a way to be creative with it and make the collection work for me. This is what resulted.

I started by preparing my photos and their mats. I cut using the largest label and then drew around the outside of the die to get the layering mat. I roughed up the edges and used Walnut Stain Distress ink.

Three different Martha Stewart punches were used to add accents to the layout.

This is what it looked like prior to adding in the torn black cardstock. All of the other paper is Basic Grey.

The photos were layered on top of the black. I used a white pen to add stitch lines around the bottom of the photos and to write the date.

The letters are also from the collection and I added dots to one side of them just for a little bit of pizazz since it was sitting on the black and looking a bit dull.

I used the arrow on the right with the dots on the opposite side to push your eye back to the finished design.

This was definitely work for me on this one. I wanted to only feature the collection. On that note Mission Possible and Accomplished. I was so jazzed that I pulled five more photos that I plan to use for 2 two-page layouts using Obscure. 


Until then.

Punch and Acetate Projects

Hello everyone. I hope your day went well and that your evening will only get better. As promised here are a couple of mock-ups that I did using the techniques from the past few Vee-dios. These won't go out to anyone as each has its own flaw, but they make great samples to work from.

This first one uses the Martha Stewart Corner punch to go around an oval or circle. I just adore the Iron Gate. The quote is from a set of Miss Elizabeth's stickers from the Dollar Tree and is mounted onto one of the Nestability labels cut from watercolor paper. The floral stamp is from Heidi Swapp, I think.

The next two cards combine the border punch with the alcohol acetate technique. I did put the piece through the Cuttlebug with a Sizzix die and then swiped the raised portions with Purple Staz-On.The journaling circle is from 3 Birds Sticky Sparkly letters and shapes.

The final one is using the alcohol inked acetate to make some flowers from a Sizzix die. I layered one on white and two on black. It totally changes the look of the flowers. I attempted to use Perfect Pearls around the center, but even after setting them, it still pulled away from the acetate. I should look for some heat embossable acetate. Anyway, I like how they turned out. The stamp is from Hero Arts and the brads are Hot Off the Press and the punch is Martha Stewart Daisy border punch. As for the paper, did you have to ask? Fancy Pants of course.

Thanks again for stopping by. I realized last night that my two year blog anniversary is fast approaching. Watch this space for some exciting events.
Until then.

Corner Punch TKO

This was to be my final bout with the punches--hence the TKO. Just as I finished uploading that Vee-dio another idea popped into my head. I am hoping I can get it done. In all fairness I had to place it on my list because there were a few things ahead of it. Vee-dio is embedded below if you have not seen it.

Below are just a few examples of some of the things I did with the corner punches on the 4 ¼ x 5 ½ pieces of paper.

I went into my container of folders and just randomly selected a few. As you will notice, several of them were done without getting the embossing on the punched pieces. I will share how to do that at a later date. I did not think to show that while doing the Vee-dio and then it came to me later. Again, I had to put it on the list.

Now on to making the strips. This same method would work on a 12 x 12 sheet of cardstock cut into strips. It takes just a small amount of measuring to ensure that your punches are even and accurate.

This was cut at 2 inches wide with 1 inch spacing.

This strip was cut at 2 ¼ inches wide with 1 inch spacing.

Here you can compare them side by side. It still amazes me how much difference a quarter of an inch makes. Lol.

 

The same treatment was done with the Double Loops corner punch. The measurements are 2 ¼ inches wide and punched every 1 inch.

Another comparison between two strips both cut at 2 inch widths. The one on the left was eyeballed and you can clearly see what happened. Whereas, the strip to the right was measured for one inch spacing.

By simply putting in a bit of work in the beginning you will certainly reap the rewards in the end. If you know you want to do a lot of strips, mark your paper first and then cut it to the desired widths. I love how the Layered Arch punch turned out. Cool.

My final punch was the new Heartbeat from Martha Stewart. I can really see using the strip technique on this one and wrapping it around a box of chocolates. That strip along with the leftover confetti sprinkled on would be awesome. 

Thanks for stopping by today. Hope I was able to help you look at your punches in a new way. I love punching and embossing in white because I can make it whatever color I want it to be. Try this same technique on patterned paper and I am sure you will be just as pleased. Do me a favor and add a bit of ink here and there.

Until then.