Sunday, December 30, 2012

Faimly Time ~ Scraps of Darkness

I truly hope you all had a wonderful Christmas with your families & friends.  I myself had an ongoing 3 days of never ending "excitement".  I really crashed afterward.  I am hoping for a relaxing New Year and wish you all the same.
I made this page for my family Christmas party that has been skipped the past 2 years due to my mom's passing on Dec 20, 2010.  Shame on us kids for skipping it last year!  Finally we came through and had one.  This page was my white elephant gift, which I did frame.  I wanted to see my siblings fight tooth and nail over this, since it is a very special memory of my mom's last Christmas in 2009, and of course because I made this lol.  My SIL is the one who unwrapped this and ran down the hallway to hide it, so no one would "steal" it from her.  Great reaction, right lol?
 
The papers, burlap and the Artisan swirl for used for the title are from previous Scraps of Darkness kits. 

I made this bow embrace the page, letting it flow some for 3D effects.  I tried to add different elements for 3D effects, since this was going to be framed, I had no worries of bulkiness.

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Altered Bird Cage

 So today, I am sharing with you, my first altered project I have ever done.  I altered this bird cage to match my niece's baby room which is decorated with Jill McDonald's Lullaby Breeze collection.  I made a video tutorial on all the steps I took to make this cage, as well as adding closeups of all the details.
 (This is how the cage looked before it was altered.)
(This is how the cage looked when I was finished.)
I turned the cage into a diaper holder to give to her as a baby shower gift and it was a big hit. So please watch my video, if you are interested:
If you are interested in how I made the long bow,  I made a tutorial on that as well.  Here is the video:

Thursday, December 6, 2012

Hidden Deep

 It has been too long (half a year) since I have made a page.  I have had many friends ask why?  Well, it is time for me to come out and explain my absence.  I was diagnosed with auto immune disease and fibromyalgia at the beginning of the year, which has also put me in a massive depression since then.  For those of you who aren't familiar with what I have, the best way I can describe it it is chronic wide spread pain all over the body.  It is hard for me to sit and concentrate on anything when my body is constantly screaming at me, even just the normal day to day things.  Therefore, I just haven't had it in me to scrap.  I started the idea of this page in July, so you can see it has taken me a very long time to put it together.  I take one day at a time, many of which I am bedridden so I have taken to reading novels again.  I have been trying different treatments and meds.  Nothing has helped yet.  Because of this disability, I lost my job as a massage therapist, which was really hard to endure.  So as you can tell by now, I am in pain in many different ways.
Hence, the reason behind this page...I had my dd1 take this photo of me, in July 2012, on top of a large cage, for the cold hardness of being trapped.  I darkened the photo and used some flames coming out of me to represent the burning pain.  I used a functioning zipper to hide the title and journaling since I have been in hiding and am now coming out with my disease.  Of course the severe distressing and punched cracks are for the all anguish and suffering I have been going through.
I did this page, not for sympathy, but just for my own therapy as well as wanting to share what is going on with my friends.  I greatly appreciate all of you who have inquired about my pages over these past months.
 This is the zipper up and covering the journaling.
Here the zipper is all the way down, revealing the journaling.


Journal:  "Hidden Deep within my own shadows...there is no escape from all my pain."  The paper which holds the zipper was only one sided, so I had to glue a different piece behind it.  I added the fibers to cover the part that was still exposed at the top.
The red net was from a popsicle bag.  I glued it down in certain areas using mod podge.  Instead of using one punch around the page I used two.  I even used some of the cracks that were punched out here and there.
(Not pictured here) is the black circle next to my photo and that is a CD protector that I nabbed from my dh.
 
                          Hugs to you all and always, thank you for your support!!!

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

One Sunny Day ~ Scraps of Elegance

Hello friends!  Again, I know I am taking forever to create...but little by little I try.  So here is the page that took me about 2 weeks to finish.  I used Scraps of Elegance products to make this page, following the Dusty Attic May sketch that I flipped around.  Those children in the photo are my aunt and uncle (my mom's siblings) in the late 1920s, I believe.  Sadly, I never had a chance to meet them, they passed away before I was born.  
I used Smooch paint to color the DA chipboard.  I laced up the paper over some actual lace.  Lots of delicate touches here and there, all over the page.

Friday, May 11, 2012

She is Beautiful ~ Scraps of Elegance

Following the last page I made, that was super BOYISH, I went to the opposite side of my creative mind and pulled a super GIRLIE page out of my head.  I used a mix of items from Scraps of Elegance to make this page of my pretty little Angel.  Isn't she so sweet, with that pink bow on her head?  And yes, I did the photo editing, softening up the photo, adding a splash of color after making it all black & white!  Feb 2012 
 I received a very nice RAK from Girlie Grunge, and used quite a few of those things on my page, such as the corner bling, chipboard flourishes, the jean words and the GG symbol.
This is the sketch I followed for the May Girlie Grunge challenge.

At first I stamped the flourish with white script.  But the wood color was throwing the page off, so painted over it with Lindy's Magicals (Pink).  It shimmerz quite nicely.  The cardboard under the photo, was first painted with a mix of white gesso and clear molding paste, then sprinkled with some clear loose glitter.  It stuck very nicely.  Then I added some lace to the bottom.

Monday, May 7, 2012

Fade

It has been awhile since I have posted anything, I feel like I have lost connection or something lol.  This page was simple, but it took me forever to get it going.  I used some of the TH Lost and Found papers, cutting them up and putting them on top of cardboard, that I painted with black and white gesso.  I used some Scrapmatts chipboard gears and a large Dusty Attic cog.  I used hemp twine around the page to frame it all.   Andrew got his hair cut with a star design...something a little different and cool.  I used Photobucket to edit the photo myself.    April 2012.

For my gears/cog I painted them with white gesso (here and there, not covering the whole area), then used some Lindy's stamp dabber (Golden Lump o'Coal) to darken it up.  I used some Crackle Accents to gloss it over a bit.  Once it was dry, I dabbed again with Lindy's dabber, to show off the cracks.
 The title is a rub on, I put on the photo.
Lots of inking, distressing and layering going on!!!  All grunge baby!

Monday, April 30, 2012

Scraps of Darkness *April Kit* ~ Wherever you Go

 This is the April Dusty Attic Sketch.
Here is my take on the sketch.  I used the April Scraps of Darkness Kit.  The DA frame is from my stash and it is covered in beads, glued down by mod podge.  This is my dh and I on Feb 29, 2012.

This is a Kaisercraft rub on.

A close up of beads on the DA frame.

Friday, April 27, 2012

Scraps of Darkness *April Kit* ~ Tender Love

 This page was made using the April kit called "Sakurabana" from Scraps of Darkness.  The dark colors are my favorite...you know me and my Gothic style pages!!  I wanted the photo to flow right onto the page.  So I created this design with the heart enveloped/hugged in a corset, just like the way my dh is holding me.  The feathers are representing the softness of his gentle kiss on that sensitive neck area :)  I used Fabscraps papers with some Bo Bunny.  This is us on our 2nd Anniversary of being married for 8 years, on Feb 29, 2012.

  I punched my 'lace' trim to add to the top of my corset.  The heart charm at the bottom of the lacing is from a broken necklace.

This Prima flower was a little too bright, so I toned it down with some black mist.  Those metal flowers are trinkets from Prima.

I just wanted to thank you all for your wonderful support over this last year.  For this month's kit is the last one I am officially designing with for SOD.  It doesn't mean I won't be scrapping with SOD products/kits, it is just that I am stepping down to take a break from deadlines so I can spend some more time with my kiddos :)

Sunday, April 15, 2012

Scraps of Darkness Reveal *April Kit*

It is the best time of the month again!  Reveal Day, over at Scraps of Darkness.  This April kit is called "Sakurabana" meaning cherry blossom in Japanese.  "The perfect blossom is a rare thing. You could spend your life looking for one, and it
would not be a wasted life". ~ quote from The Last Samurai, spoken by Katsumoto

This kit contains  papers from Bo Bunny's Serenity collection,  papers from
Glitz Design's Happy Travels collection and papers from Fabscrap's
Classic collection.  Also, new Prima, Zva and of course some unique items as well.  Don't forget, add-ons!!!

This is the monthly sketch by Suepup, which never disappoints!

This is my take on the sketch.  The tones in my photo inspired the paper selection for this page.  I titled this "Devotion".  The photo was taken on our anniversary on Feb 29, 2012.
I used some of the Bo Bunny papers mixed with Fabscraps lots of Zva bling and some of the new Prima. 

I colored my Dusty Attic flourish with Lindy's mist (color add-on) and placed some Zva bling for added interest.  Those flowers and leaves are from the Flora & Fauna add-on.

Those felt flowers are the new Prima in the main kit.






















Of course with the darker colors, I had to make a dark romantic lo.  I used more Fabscraps papers with one from Bo Bunny.  I designed this to be a sideways corset.  The title "A Decade of Love" refers to the length of time we have been together.  The photo was taken on our anniversary, Feb 29, 2012.
That gorgeous big flower is by Prima (flora & fauna add-on).  The black flowers are also part of the flora & fauna add-on.  The metal black flower is a Bo Bunny trinket  (romance add-on).   The black lace was part of the romance add-on as well.
 This beautiful locket is a Prima trinket (romance add-on), that holds photos of my dh and I when we first met, hence a decade of love.  The pin is by Craftysprinkles and is part of the romance add-on every month.  The sparkly black flower is Prima (flora & fauna add-on).  The Zva bling is part of the main kit.

Monday, April 9, 2012

Pause ~ Scraps of Elegance

This is the Stuck on U Sketch I used.
I made this page as an example for the Butterflies & Bling Challenge over at Scraps of Elegance.  I used the gorgeous April kit called "Awakening" with some dictionary papers from a previous SOE kit, and other items from my stash.  This month's variable for the challenge is: Use at least one punch!! It can be a border or shape punch.
Journal: "You can only be who you allow yourself to become."
This is a photo of me in Sep 2011.
Those felt flowers and bows are some of the new Prima. The frame around the photo and papers are by Glitz- Pretty in Pink line.

Saturday, April 7, 2012

Lullaby ~ The Paper Mixing Bowl

I was asked to be the Guest Designer, for April, for the new challenge blog called "The Paper Mixing Bowl".  If you haven't heard of this cute challenge blog, go and take a look because it will give you some major inspiration with their Recipe Cards.  This Recipe Card is their second challenge. It gives you a sketch, a main color to use, some items/techniques to go by and some journaling ideas. When you are lost with ideas, this definitely gives you direction.

This is what I created, using a lot of Scraps of Elegance items mixed with some of my own.  I put a lot of care and time making this delicate page.  The main ingredient is white icing, so I really liked the idea of using white, and decided to use basically that color alone with a little cream and silver for my page.  For the utensils, I managed to use everything listed.  This precious baby is my mom in 1940.   

This beautiful clay embellish by Melissa Frances was painted with Liquid Pearls for an extra shine.


Journal:  A baby's smile is a new beginning to many happy moments throughout a lifetime.  These are the moments that will be cherished forever. 

For oval shapes I used 2 wooden frames by Kaisercraft, tucked slightly behind the photo, painted a tad with white gesso.

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Scraps of Darkness *Mar Kit* ~ Twice as Cute

 For this Scraps of Darkness page, I went to The Paper Mixing Bowl and got some major inspiration!!  If you haven't heard of this cute challenge blog, go and take a look.  This Recipe Card, is the first challenge they had.  It gives you a sketch, a main color to use, some items/techniques to go by and some journaling ideas.  When you are lost with ideas, this definitely gives you direction.

So this is what I came up with from the Recipe Card.  I used the March "Needful Things" kit which withholds the New Graphic 45 Olde Curiosity Shoppe Collection and SEI Field Notes Collection.  Lots of different directions you can take this fun kit.  This page is for the Too Cute! (Challenge) over at SOD.  These are my puppies the day we brought them home.  April 29, 2011.
The kit came with a FabScraps chipboard frame, that was in the shape of a long strip.  I cut it in half to work with the sketch I was using.  I used some different mists and ink on the frame, then painted some Shimmerz Antique Lace over it, that was also part of the kit.  I used some brads to decorate the top of the frames.

The butterfly is a die cut from the SEI Field Notes collection.

The journaling says:  I really wanted a puppy and when the day came to buying one, my husband said "Pick one".  So we came home with the 2 that were left. 

Sunday, April 1, 2012

Scraps of Elegance April Reveal

It is reveal day for Scraps of Darkness' sister club, called Scraps of Elegance. Be sure you stop by to see what the DT made and get a good look at this gorgeous kit called "Awakening".

And don't forget, SOD & SOE are both having a DT call.  You may find out the details on either blog or one of the websites.