Friday, May 30, 2014

Are You On The Hunt for Classic Calico Wood Veneer Stars?

It's no secret that I am a wood veneer addict. But, I especially love these Studio Calico tiny stars from the Classic Calico 2 collection!! They are the perfect final detail to any project. And they are HARD TO FIND. They are always sold out at the "big" stores but Frosted Designs has them in stock!!

 And I wanted to share a recent layout where I used the stars as a finishing detail!
 And here is a closeup!

Thursday, May 22, 2014

So Suave with Authentique!

Hello all! It's my turn over on the Frosted Designs blog today!

So, when I was originally planning this post, my intention was to use totally different product. Then, one late night, I found myself browsing through the store and I stumbled upon the Authentique Suave collection. I just couldn't resist the awesome shades of blues, greens and grays in this line along with the vintage patterns and nostalgic little boy images and sayings. Being the mom of a 2-year-old boy, I just knew I could put this collection to good use. Both of my layouts feature photos from a professional photo session done a couple months ago and we wore outfits in various shades of blue and gray, which was perfect for coordinating with this line!

This first layout is of my little guy, Liam, and my husband, Andrew. I knew I wanted to pull the lime green out from the collection to help highlight the pop of green in the photo from the grass behind them. I also love that the train tracks in this photo add to the vintage, nostalgic vibe of this collection. I started with the bright green leaf American Crafts cardstock and the woodgrain paper then built my layout up from there. I splattered the background with some navy blue mist, kept adding layers and elements to my clusters and finished with some of the wood veneer stars that I had tinted with blue patina mist. Oh, and see the blue circle behind the upper left corner of the large sentiment die-cut? That is actually one of the other die-cut circles from the collection, flipped over. Authentique was so smart and put a subtle print on the back of all the die-cuts in the collection so that if one contains an image or saying that isn't to your liking, you can just flip it over and use the backside - pure genius on their part!

Here are some closeups. I really like how the blue patina mist gives the stars just a bit of tint and shimmer and I love how easy it was to color the Heidi Swapp resist alphas with the navy blue mist to get a perfect match for my page.

My second layout is one of my favorite photos of Liam from the photo session. Because I love this shot so much, I wanted to keep the layout fairly clean and simple so the photo could really shine. I decided to go for a grid-style design and, along with the photo, wanted the awesome black diamond print paper be the star. I also opted for an extra-large title using the corrugated Thickers in Robin's Egg which perfectly match this collection.

And now for some closeups of this layout. I love all the cardstock stickers in this collection and had a tough time choosing which ones to use on this page. This time around, I colored my wood veneers with some aqua and black pigment ink for a richer, deeper color. 

So, there you have it. My first two layouts with the Authentique Suave collection! I have to say, besides liking the colors, prints and theme of this particular collection, I really love Authentique's heavy-weight, textured papers. I am so excited to create even more with this fabulous line!


Products used from the Frosted Designs store:




Sunday, May 18, 2014

Project Life 2014: Title Page

Yes, I am way behind in Project Life...both for 2013 and 2014. But, I wanted to at least start on 2014, maybe catchup there and stay caught up and then go back to 2013. So that's the plan...for now. I could always change my mind. 

But, for now, here's my 2014 title page. The 2014 title card is from Scrapbook Printables. This year, I am using the Jade Edition core kit which is quite a departure from the deep colors and clean, graphic style of last year's Turquoise Edition. I like that they are so different! The family photos on this page are all from our family photo session done this past February and the photos of Portland and Milwaukee were acquired via Google searches.


Thursday, May 15, 2014

My Scrapbooking Facebook Page Is Live!

Hi all! I just wanted to let you all know that I have finally taken the plunge and decided to create a FaceBook page solely for scrapbooking. I decided I didn't want to overload my family and friends Facebook feeds with scrapbooking stuff if they aren't into it. So, I decided this was the best way to still post all things scrappy on FaceBook and allow those friends and family who want to see this information to opt into it. So, if you want to "like" my page, that would be awesome!

Monday, May 12, 2014

Project Life: Week 27

Yep. I am still doing Project Life. Even though I am about 10 months behind right now...oh well. I will eventually catch up and I am still enjoying it immensely. I am just thankful that I jot down daily notes, organize the photos I want to use on a weekly basis and keep up on writing up my weekly recaps. It makes going back in time soooo much easier...and enjoyable. This past week, I got 2013 Week 27 done and my title page for 2014 done. 

Today I am sharing Week 27. Fourth of July Week. Because of this, I really focused on sticking with red, white and blue and pulled out the red, aqua and blue journaling cards from my Turquoise Edition Project Life kit. Then, I chose other elements to compliment those colors and recolored some digital files in PSE. I did include some other color (like the green "summer") just to break things up a bit.

Here's a closer look at the left side. I picked up a pack of Studio Calico label stickers (one is used here on the ice cream making photo) and I think they are going to be awesome for Project Life. And if you can't tell, I love adding a camera wood veneer to the "O" in the "Snapshot" overlay...I think this is my third of fourth time doing this!

I'm keeping consistency by including a subway art card for each holiday week in this album. I really love this Fourth of July one. Okay, and the cute October Afternoon Daily Flash alpha stickers I used for Huey Lewis and the News...a new fave for sure! Oh, and I really haven't used the journaling cards from my kit that have half of the alphabet on each one...but put in a line with the Design B page protector like I have at the bottom, I really like!

Sunday, May 11, 2014

May's Frosted Designs Kit is "Simply Sweet!"

Happy Mother's Day everyone!!

Did you know that besides an awesome selection of mixed media and scrapbooking supplies, Frosted Designs has monthly kits available for purchase? Each kit is chock full of fun goodies and then you get to customize your kit to your liking by choosing either the "messy fun" option or "clean fun" option! If you haven't had the chance yet, pop over to the Frosted Designs store to check out the kits for sale!

Well, this month's kit is a true beauty. Appropriately named "Simply Sweet," it's brimming with beautiful Heidi Swapp patterned papers, Prima flowers, a stencil, trim, and so much more!

Also, to go along with each monthly kit, there is a monthly kit challenge! This month, Brandi is challenging you to create any project you'd like with any Frosted Designs kit, past or present. Check out the full challenge description and Brandi's gorgeous examples on the Frosted Designs blog. Each entry into the challenge gets you the chance to win a gift certificate from Dies R Us!

Oh, and one more thing...anyone who signs up for a kit subscription during the month of May gets this awesome bonus gift as a thank you!

Friday, May 9, 2014

A Mother's Day Mood Board Challenge

Hi all! It's time for another challenge over at Frosted Designs! Twice a month, Frosted Designs issues a fun challenge. Not only do they get you thinking outside your creative box but there's recognition to be earned if chosen as one of the Top 3 and there's always an awesome prize to be had by one lucky random winner!

Today it's Katie's turn to issue up an inspiring challenge and if you play along, you have the chance to win an awesome prize from Close To My Heart, courtesy of consultant Amanda Armitage!

The challenge this week is all about Mom! Whether you are a mom, stepmom, grandmother, or just hope to become a mother one day, sooner or later we all quote our mothers and we all hold them dear to our heart as fabulous women in our lives. For this challenge we would like you to create a project using our Mood Board as inspiration! You can create any type of project...layout, card, art journal page or off the page project for this challenge! Here is our lovely, yummy mood board to get your creative juices flowing :

Here is my card for the challenge. I was inspired by the quote, the orange, all the flowers and the touches of gold.

You have until noon (central time) Wednesday, May 21st to link up your project to the Frosted Designs blog!