My First Attempt At Moxie

I thought I would share my first attempt at the Moxie Fab World challenge for last week. You may recall, from my earlier post, that Cath showed us a gorgeous room scene in the colors of turquoise, white and gold. I created a winter scene using BoBunny's "Falling 4U Clearly Stamps" set, and stamped/embossed onto turquoise damask pattern (picking up the damask pattern in the wallpaper trigger) from BoBunny's Tis the Season striped paper.

It turned out pretty, but not very moxie, I don't think. I used an embossing pen to draw in some little trees, to fill in my wooded winter scene. Note how the little trees are reaching for sunlight through the big trees? Ok, that's my thought, or cover up for the fact they are not standing perfectly straight. But I do notice, in our backyard, that the little trees are always leaning, trying to grasp sunlight wherever they can when the larger trees cast shadows over them. (LOL) I also used my fine tip embossing ink pen to add some extra branches to the stamped trees, as no two trees are identical in real life.

To get the variance in turquoise shading, I covered the top portion of the card with scrap paper and used Turquoise Glimmer Mist on the lower part, to create a shimmery landscape of snow reflecting the blue sky. Using the pen, I created the illusion of gentle slopes and a horizon. A little Hampton Arts stamp provided the sentiment, stamped, and also misted in turqouoise, and set upon a 3D foam adhesive square for dimension, and accented with pearls.

I will confess, I attempted to add gold accents for Moxie Fab World Tuesday Trigger. What I came up with were three small gold rivets in the lower right corner. However, I squeezed too hard on my last rivet being set with my Crop-o-Dile, and a portion of it went through the paper. Ooops! I cut it off, and decided to use a border punch to add some interest, and fill in the space created by having to chop off my oops.

The resulting card is pretty and peaceful. Our friend Marv is celebrating his 75th birthday today. He has been battling cancer in his bones, and has been pretty weak. We know his time to be with the Lord is nearer with each passing day. When I see this card I think of the verse from Ecclesiastes 3:1 "“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven...”

Wishing HAPPY BIRTHDAY to a man who is not feeling well and dying seemed out of place to me. Instead, I focused on the verse above, included it in the card with this message:

Life is a journey.

It does not matter how many rocks we’ve stumbled over to get on the good and righteous path, what matters is that we allow God to pick us up, and set us straight again.

God has raised you up.

He has washed you and made you purer than snow. As your journey ends, your heart will be filled with joy and gladness.

On your 75th birthday our prayer is that it overflows with blessings, and that the Lord shine His favor down upon you.

 

 

Marv looked great this morning. New medicines have been a great help with all the pain he was experiencing in his stomach. I know it did my heart good to see him looking well. I realize that in all likelihood, this is the last birthday we will celebrate with Marv. I think one of Marv's greatest joys today will be Abby reading his card to him, as his eyes have not focused for months due to the meds. I needed to help her with words such as "righteous" and "purer" - not words a seven year old encounters everyday.  She read his card so well, and I could see how pleased Marv was to have her so near to him. Abby is a ray of sunshine, but likes her space and is reluctant to let anyone hug or cuddle with her. I was happy that the four of us could enjoy a short visit, and celebrate a small part of his "God brought me into the world" day.

As we live day to day, we never know if our visit will loved ones will be the last. I encourage you to part in love, knowing that if it is your last, that your heart is at peace with your departure. The phrase, "live each day as if it were your last" is a good reminder that never know the day or the time - never end a day with regret.

 

A reminder that you can post in the thread below to win a collection of BoBunny's Love Bandit. February 10 is the last day you may leave a comment.  Also, I have reached 100 followers!  Yeah! Thanks to each and every one - a name will be drawn, hopefully before the weekend is out, to see who will be receiving BoBunny's new Paradise collection.

A Rainbow of BoB Ribbon! (Give Away Thread)

Thanks for visiting Colorfully Creating. If you have hopped over from the BoBunny blog, ACOT or Scrapbook.com - welcome! Before I get started with today's project I want to announce that everyone who is a FOLLOWER of my blog will be put in a drawing to win BoBunny's new PARADISE collection! The drawing will take place when I reach 100 followers, OR when the new product arrives at my door from BoBunny. Happy mail for me means happy mail for you is sure to follow!

Our daughter, Abby, is seven, and the subject of many of my scrapbooking projects. She has a wonderful imagination, is almost always doing something artsy, writes and illustrates short stories, loves to read - especially of horses and unicorns, and has the best horse neigh I have ever heard - they come running when she neighs! Some of my favorite moments are putting her to bed at night, and starting our day together in the morning. I love our conversations, and one that especially stood out was her recent excitement of a dream in which unicorns had wings and were flying around her room with butterflies and birds.

Today's project preserves that conversation in a project that also graces her bedroom door. I wrote a little poem about her dream, her talent and imagination, and created a door hanger that includes all of the things she loves: winged unicorns, birds, butterflies, pretty ribbons and as much bling as I could come up with. The poem is printed on Love Bandit "Bee Mine" paper prior to being punched with a 3" scallop circle punch. The tree trunk is made from layered strips of Coffee Dot cardstock, each strip inked, and stitches added for extra dimension.

Supplies Used:
Bo Bunny products
Cardstock: Coffee, Sunflower Dot
Blush Cascading Album – last page
Ribbon: Wild Berry, Burnt Orange, Buttercup, Clover, Brilliant Blue, Concord, Aquamarine
Persuasion papers: Persuasion paper, Combo stickers – alphabet
Love Bandit – Bee Mine paper, Combo Stickers Alphabet, U Stole My Heart rub-ons (birds)
Persuasion and Love Bandit Buttons & Bling
Stamp & Store Fancy Frills
Other:
Chipboard Unicorn shape: Magistical Memories
Ink - Colorbox Fluid Chalk Ink
Embossing Powder: Ranger Poly Sparkle, Stampendous
Paint: Lumiere Sunset Gold by Jacquar, Liquitex Titanium White
Glitter Mist: Glimmer Mist Golden Terra Cotta
Thread: Sulky Metallic Monofilament, Coats & Clark
Staples: Making Memories
Craft felt

Some ideas to note about this project... I used the last page of a pink BoBunny Edgy album as a base, and coated it first with a sparkle medium. The grid side of Persuasion patterned paper was used on top of the album page, and stitched along outside edges for added durability - as the project is intended for a "high traffic" area in our home.

HOW TO:
1. Utilize the last page from BoBunny's pink “Edgy album” as the base. Paint with sparkle Mod Podge if extra bling is desired. Chipboard page measures approximately 5” x 11.25”.

2. From Persuasion patterned paper trim section 4 5/8” x 10.25”. If desired, stitch around edges with brown thread, ink edges, and adhere to Edgy page using Mod Podge. Note: Some machines may be heavy duty enough to stitch through the notably thick chipboard of an Edgy page, but I did not want to risk it.

3. Use circle templates, or round items to sketch rainbow onto thin chipboard or white cardstock. I used the medium and small circle templates of my Creating Memories set. However, on the smaller, inside circle I widened the base on each side of the rainbow. My chipboard arch measures approximately 4” wide and 2.5” high. This piece will serve as a base to assemble the ribbon strips onto.

4. Gather 3/8” Double Dot ribbons in the colors of the rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple. I opted to fold the ribbons as I went around the arch, beginning with purple on the inside and working my way around to the red. Perfection is not necessary in regards to equal spacing between the folds. Folds will help you angle the ribbon to follow the arch shape. You may secure with temporary adhesive, if planning to stitch into place, however, your needle can eventually become sticky and I found it best to work slowly and deliberately while sewing on each ribbon. Monofilament thread was used to give the rainbow sparkle. If you do not wish to sew, a strong double sided tape should work quite well for this application. Set rainbow aside.

5. If you wish to have a tree with a quote or phrase on the door hanger, pre-print onto a piece of 4x6 Love Bandit “Bee Mine” paper, green side up. (length may be determined by what works best with your specific printer.) Use a 3” scallop circle punch or other, and punch with the text in the center. Punch a second shape if desired if you would like to add offset dimension to your tree top. (Option: A rub-on phrase or sticker may also be used to add text to the tree top.) Set tree top(s) aside.
6. To create the tree trunk cut several strips from Coffee Dot cardstock approximately 3” in length and 1/4” - 3/8” wide. (This is a great opportunity to utilize skinny scraps of brown cardstock!) Ink edges brown for even greater dimensional effect. Assemble tree trunk by layering the brown strips about 1/25” from bottom scallop of Edgy album page. Position so that the tree top(s), once centered on the trunk, will hang off the side of the door hanger just a little bit. Stitch tree trunk if desired – this really gives it a wonderful “bark” appearance.

7. Add tree tops, dotting scallops with green bling if desired. If you would like to add birds to your tree top, rub the “U Stole My Heart” rub-on birds onto a piece of Persuasion, blue grid side, and cut out with micro tip scissors. The reason I chose to rub on the grid paper was to allow my cut-out to be imperfect, yet it would blend into the grid paper background. Yes, there is a method to my madness! (LOL) Note that one bird is positioned on the front of the tree top with one piece of foam adhesive, whereas the bird on the right is positioned behind the first tree top, with 2 stacked pieces of foamed adhesive. The tree is now complete!

8. Onto the unicorn – paint a Magistical Memories Unicorn from the Retro Set (rainbow, cloud and unicorn) white. Depending upon the thickness of your paint, two coats may be needed. Use gold embossing powder to paint hooves and horn gold. If you do not care to heat emboss use a gold Krylon paint instead. Coat the unicorn with sparkle Mod Podge and add tiny blue gem at this time – the Mod Podge will also serve as adhesive to keep the eye in place.

9. Use white craft felt to fashion yourself a couple of white clouds and two wings for the unicorn. Remember that clouds and wings are not perfect shapes – clouds are puffy and feathers on wings can have a ragged appearance – play with it until you have a shape you are happy with. (Optional: to add more detail to the wings I stitched curved lines with monofilament thread.) The wings are stitched onto the unicorn chipboard, with one in front and one in back, offset a bit so both wings are visible from the front. Coat both the clouds and wings with sparkle Mod Podge, if extra bling is desired. Place a small foam adhesive square/dot between the two wings to give space between them and angle the top wing outward.


10. Use a 2” circle punch to make “sun” from Sunflower Double Dot cardstock. I chose to mist mine with Terracotta Gold Glimmer Mist by Tattering Angels, which broadens the warm color range. The edges are lightly inked in brown.

11. Cut an 8” piece of 5/8” Wild Berry Double Dot ribbon to use as the hanger. Use tape to hold in place and test on a door knob to ensure the loop created is large enough. Once the right length is determined, staple the ribbon into place. I recommend using two staples on each side to ensure the ribbon is secure.

12. Now that the unicorn, rainbow, clouds and sun are all made, it is time to position the pieces onto your “canvas”. Feel free to set them down, move them around and play a bit before securing permanently. Foam adhesive squares were used on all items except for the rainbow, which is glued chipboard backside direct to blue grid paper. Note the sun has foam adhesive on the upper portion only as bottom is tucked behind rainbow, and the clouds have stacked foam adhesive for extra lift.

13. Add strip of 5/8” Aquamarine Double Dot ribbon along the bottom, decorating with Buttons and Bling from Persuasion collection. Note: Because I had stitching around the blue grid paper, I chose to run the ribbon through the sewing machine to place brown stitches down the center lengthwise, before adhering to the project. Turquoise staples were also used for added interest.

14. Use letter stickers from Persuasion and Love Bandit collections to add your child's name to the door hanger, and the word “room” if space is available and desired. Outline with fine point brown marker for extra definition.

15. If desired, fill some “holes” in the sky with little butterflies. The smallest butterflies in BoBunny’s Stamp and Store Fancy Frills set was used, along with Staz-On teal ink. One small butterfly was stamped on white cardstock and cut out to set upon the unicorn’s hindquarters, and a larger butterfly was stamped and cut out to alight onto the cloud. For a little extra sparkle, all butterflies were heat embossed with Poly Sparkle embossing powder. Other alternatives include painting over the top with sparkle Mod Podge, or Shimmerz paint in turquoise. (I had actually ordered this product with this project in mind, but it did not arrive in time.) Embellish the centers of the butterflies with small brown pearl stickers. Use a fine point brown marker to draw antennae on the butterflies stamped directly onto the blue grid paper.

With all winged creatures and beauties of nature in place, this door hanger is now ready to grace the entrance to the princess' room in your household.

If you have created a special project for a loved one using BoBunny products, please comment and share a link to your project. It can be older product or newer - it doesn't matter! From the comments there will be a random drawing to win LOVE BANDIT! Be sure you include a way for me to contact you. Anonymous winners have missed out before!

Happy Creating,
Rita S.

BoBunny Love Bandit - Gotta love nuts!

It's not unusual for me to be inspired by the designs found right in the BoBunny products. Obviously the inspiration for this acorn-shaped card are the acorns found in BoB's adorable Love Bandit collection!

Here are some ideas...
• Acorn cap shape was also cut from cardboard, and used under patterned paper to create dimension.

• Cut shapes in cardstock stickers out from the finished design (often built into a rectangle or circle shape), and use as a page embellishment

• Apply -ons to cardstock, cut out shape and pop with foam adhesive to create dimensional accent

• For shaped cards, create front shape and trace outline onto solid cardstock to create back (or inside) of card. Hole punch along top and stitch together with embroidery floss. In this example the card shape in whole was cut from pink patterned paper, holes punched and floss attached to card backing. The cardboard and brown PP hide the stitching from the front.

Supplies:
Cardstock: BoBunny Double Dot Cardstock Frost, Coffee Dot
Patterned Paper, Cardstock Stickers, buttons and bling, rub-ons “u stole my heart”: BoBunny Love Bandit
Glitter: Ranger Stickles
Ink: Colorbox Fluid Chalk Ink

Thread: Coats and Clark

Moxie Fab Turquoise - Love it!!!

Turquoise. love Love LOVE it!! Ask me to choose between gecko green and turquoise and I might actually be tongue tied. Green used to dominate my closet, but I have definitely noticed a shift in the waves towards turquoise, teal and aqua. And I definitely have jewelry in those shades as well. I should take pics to share as they are definitely moxie!

Once in a while I get a chance to hop over to Moxie Fab World and see what Cath is up to. Often I seem to get an error when I go to post a comment, but it doesn't keep me from popping in. Glad to say tonight I could at last comment. I did mention something to hubby about problems with the "word verification" thingy, so maybe he changed a setting. On Tuesdays Cath usually posts a trigger to get your mojo flowing, and when I happened on it last week I was more than excited to see the color scheme in the Tuesday Trigger - check it out!

Note the inspiration photo came from a site called House of Turquoise. Took me all of about 2 seconds to become a follower of that blog I tell ya - I was drooling and swooning over the many cool blue shades of home decor. Of course I was totally inspired after a tour at the House of Turquoise. A turquoise and white card had been on my brain since buying several holiday close out ribbon spools at Michaels a few weeks ago. (I've already shared some of those ribbon finds with you earlier.) Granted, brown is a part of that equation, but I can change it out to gold. My greatest problem is having a vision, but not having the supplies on hand to make it come to life. I have so many decorative acrylic stamp shapes, but could not find a one that would help me duplicate the damask design on the wall - it would have been so pretty, too! Textured white cardstock was my next choice, but alas my Cuttlebug only makes a 5.5 x 4.25" card, and my vision for an all white card with turquoise accents demanded a larger canvas of 5x7. Off to Archivers I went, and although I could not find exactly what I wanted, I brought home a snowflake varnished cardstock, as well as a textured cardstock that currently has a card project in aqua happening at my creative space. I keep wishing for BoBunny Double Dot cardstock in white - I think a white on white dot could be very moxie, don't you?

Note how the turquoise accents just POP off that furniture in the Moxie room scene? Once I had the "stark white" card I envisioned, with a big turquoise bow, it was time to come up with my own pop of turquoise. I wanted something unexpected to fly off the snowflake patterned cardstock. No snowflakes, snowman, or snow anything. I chose one of my favorite card accents - a bird in flight by Inkadinkadoo. The word "snowbird" popped into my head, and I set about transforming the floral designs in the acrylic bird stamp to snowflakes. I can tell you that using glue dots to cover flowers with tiny snowflake punch shapes, coating with ink and stamping does not work. I thought it was a clever idea at first, but my stamped turquoise bird with gaping white holes said otherwise. Plan B - stamp onto the varnished cardstock. Then utilize a nub to remove ink from the varnish design, aka resist. However, all my nubs were in use and I had not a one to remove ink from the fine lines of the snowflake designs. Onto Plan C - stamp the bird and cover the flower designs with various shades of little snowflakes. The little snowflake punches were derived from BoBunny's Tis the Season stripe, with turquoise backside, and scraps of photo stock - thus already glossy, or varnished. Turquoise Shimmerz was painted on top of the stamped bird, and the snowflakes used on the card. The bird was also coated with sparkle Mod Podge, and while that was wet I added a small turquoise pearl sticker for added adhesion. With all snowflakes in place I cut out the bird shape and popped it up on the card with foam adhesive. All in all I am quite pleased with how my little turquoise snowbird turned out!

You can see a bit of resist where the varnished snowflakes take place, becoming a shade of aqua in a sea of darker tone.

In my opinion, if a flighted creature is used on a crafting project, it needs movement. Prima's "Say It With Pearls" provided a great flourish of movement.


A foil snowflake, left from a Christmas project, was added to the center of the bow, layered with a smaller flake punch on top, and a pearl sticker. I admit, lately I have developed a fetish for wider ribbons to add larger bows to my layouts and cards.


Want to know a secret? I spotted gold glitter paper at Archivers. The thought of saving me the time of embossing the edges in gold was very attractive, so I picked up a sheet. It was not until I went to use it that I realized it was a sticker sheet. Sweet! not only will it save a step in heat embossing, it won't be glittering in the lap of the person whom one day receives the card.

I hope you enjoy this not so little post of my attempts at creating a MOXIE card. I had another to show you, but after explaining my card making approach, I am sure you have had enough for the day! In two days I will be posting details on a project being revealed on the BoBunny blog, with a fun idea on creating a unique ribbon embellishment. I think you will enjoy it, so come on back soon! Thanks for popping by, and as always happy creating!

Brrrr.... with BoBunny Winter Serenade

BoBunny's Winter Serenade is such a gorgeous line one can scrap a landscape photo in a relatively short amount of time.

Dragging myself out of bed two weeks ago, temps were -10 below. I knew it would be one of my only chances to get out there and capture the landscape under a fresh blanket fo snow - so I forced myeslf out the door.



Here is another close up of fabulous ribbon I found on Michael's holiday clearance for 70% off. Totally LOVE this one!

20 minute Card - "Scrap Fast"!

A Cherry On Top has been hosting weekly "scrap fast" challenges. This is a fairly new "game", and I have only been able to participate twice. This week and last. I can't recall exactly how much time we are given upon reveal of the challenge criteria. Last week the challenge was "black and white", and I decided to use my Cuttlebug, which is not set up all the time due to lack of space - so that was a bit more than a scramble. I also answered the phone, twice, which hindered the creative process. AND for another unknown, insane reason - I decided to use my new Soot Shimmerz Mist, which then required drying time. I ended up posting my final card a few minutes past the "fast scrap" cut-off. I made a mental note to keep it more simple next time.


This week included some uncanny instances. For instance, I was browsing and popped over to Moxie Fab blog about an hour before Fast Scrap time. From there I perused the wonderful "house of turquoise" blog - I LOVE turquoise! As I sat there drooling over all things turquoise and aqua, I kept telling myself to get off the PC and go play with the wonderful holiday clearance ribbon from Michaels - in brown and aqua and brown and turquoise. I had a vision for cards as soon as I spotted the ribbon. It is gorgeous stuff, and the light wire makes for a very pretty bow.

I then check into "fast scrap", a few minutes after it began, as it is easy to go astray at "house of turquoise". Lo an behold, we are given about 5 color combos, as I recall, with instructions to pick one and make a card. One combo is brown, turqoise and white. Amazing!! It was an obvious choice.

I skipped the Cuttlebug, as I knew it would take me too long to set up. I grabbed a Fiskars texture plate and began rubbing the bubble pattern on to white CS. I had just been scrapping out of my creative space, which meant all my tools had not yet been returned, including my Empressor tool, which I love for transfering texture to cardstock. I snatched a tool not meant for the job, but fortunately did not poke holes through the cardstock. A stamp to fit the lower right quadrant was found, and I used teal Staz-on to add a sentiment. The gorgeous clearance ribbon is wrapped and fashined into a gorgeous bow.

Chocolate and turquoise - it is definitely in my top three of all time color combinations. I used a bit of Zingzz embossing powder to add more turquoise, and the fine powder made a fine mess on my area. Oh well! FAST SCRAP = FAST MESS! as far s I am concerned. (LOL) No matter your speed while creating, have fun doing it!

BoBunny Persuasion - the PERFECT Valentine line

So often Valentine themed papers are good for highlighting one day of the year - February 14th. BoBunny's Persuasion collection is not only beautiful to showcase Valentine memories, and create meaningful lovenotes for loved ones, the designs lend themselves to creating memories for the remaining 364 days of the year as well.

The BoBunny Design team was asked to create cards with the word "love" in them. A number of team members created multiple card sets, quick to put together using the wonderful cardstock stickers accompanying every BoBunny collection. If you missed the "love notes" post on the BoBunny blog last week be sure to revisit for ideas.

I decided to create a card with lots of detail, and as slow as I can be when putzing with my craft - I would not be surprised if this one card took me as long to do as some of the multiple sets of four. (LOL) My card is intended for a special couple I know, soon to be betrothed. My sewing machine is always set to go with either black or brown thread, but for this card I decided to put in a spool of pink thread. The result is a card in which the paper looks like fabric. (Actually, that comment came from another team member, as I had not considered that until it was mentioned.)

I used the Persuasion Happily Ever After rub-ons on top of Double Dot cardstock to create what appears to be another patterned paper in the lower portion of the card. If you have a lot of rub-ons sitting in your stash at home, don't be afraid to mix them up and add them them to cardstock, either randomly or in linear fashion, to create your own custom patterned paper look. I purposely selected the definitions that were appropriate for a wedding card.


I find that stitching ribbon onto a card ensures that it will still be in place when it arrives at its destination. To continue the homespun look, the "Love to last a lifetime" cardstock sticker was matted on cardstock and I used a zig zag stitch to go around. Embrace imperfections! Do not think that your stitching, either by hand or machine, has to be perfect. Perfectionism hinders creativity! I wanted to be able to turn a corner within an envisioned margin on this card, and shortened my stitch length to allow me to reach that turning point. Foam adhesive lifts the sticker above the ribbon. Keep in mind that in order to be mailed, your card needs to be 1/4" thickness or less, and this card does meet that requirement.

Supplies used:
Cardstock: BoBunny Double Dot Cardstock
Patterned Paper Whoo Loves You, Bee Mine; Cardstock Sticker, flowers: BoBunny Love Bandit
Rub-ons: BoBunny Persuasion Happily Ever After
Ribbon: BoBunny Chocolate
Pearl Sticker: Bazzill?
Glitter: Ranger Stickles
Ink: Colorbox Fluid Chalk Ink
Thread: Coats and Clark

Today is the last day for antoher fabulous CHA reveal on the BoBunny blog, be sure to head over for a chance to win. Also, a word to my blog readers...soon I will be doing a giveaway with one of the new collections and some other BoBunny goodness - and the winners will be chosen from my list of followers. If you haven't yet become a follower, and you would like a chance to win a new collection - don't wait too long! Thanks for coming by, and happy creating!

Need some new BoBunny papers??

Are you still scrapping with the "old" BoBunny papers? Not that there is anything wrong with that - I still have some fun, Calypso left...and once in a while I feel like scrapping summer photos just to warm up! (LOL)

However, if you want a chance at the newest BoBunny releases, which I honestly think is the best overall release yet, with lots of new products - hop over to the BoBunny blog, twitter and facebook for multiple chances to win one of the new collections! Of course I am partial to BoBunny - their style fits me to a "T", but I truly think the BoBunny release is better than any sneak peek I have seen. Today you may lose your breath when you see the beautiful purples and greens in Jazmyne. My personal favorite, Mama-Razzi, is a must for anyone who takes photos. And hey, picture taking is a part of what we do in order to preserve memories, right? I have so many ideas for this line!

A few thoughts on today's layout - "Lake Ripples". I used BoBunny's "Write On" acrylic stamp to add a border around the the photo. I used Staz-On Azure ink, and it does a wonderful drop of creating water motion. I also used pieces of Magistical Memories and BoBunny acrylic flourishes left from a previous project.

I misted the BoBunny acrylic letters with a mixture of white Perfect Pearls powder by Ranger, alcohol ink in Stream, and water. This was pre-mixed and on hand in a mini mister also offered by Tim Holtz's line of goodies. I wanted to bump up the blue, and had a bottle of blue dye ink on hand. I added some drops to intensify the color. I love the resulting look. On the opposite side of the mist I used my finger to dab on sparkle Mod Podge by Plaid. Finger dabbing avoids brushstrokes, and it is fun to peel off when dried. (LOL) We have my company's holiday party this weekend - I seriously am thinking of blinging my nails with sparkle Mod Podge. Why not?!


Sometimes cutting a subject from a photo just WORKS. Here it definitely does as it makes it look as though he is riding the waves, tucked in behind a wave. The oars are raised, as is Kyle, with foam adhesive.


Journaling strips in yellow help create a visual triangle to give balance to the layout.


I wanted a fish to go with my journaling, and add a fun accent piece to the layout. I used Cosmo Crickets Snorkel chipboard sheet as a template...at one time there was a fish, but it has long since been utilized. Using a pencil I traced the fish shape onto lemon Double Dot Cardstock, cut it out and blinged with sparkle Mod Podge. I also added a BoBunny googly eye. Way cute!


It would be so fun if one of my blog readers is a winner in the BoBunny new release give aways. If you win, be sure to stop back and let me know. I cannot wait for the new product to arrive on my doorstep in a few weeks. I plan to offer a giveaway here before Valentine's day and share the love!

BoB Sneak Peeks and Winter Serenade Layout

Compassion. I created this layout on Sunday, before the earthquakes in Haiti. For the past 48 hours it is a word that has been in the forefront of my mind. Yesterday Abby came to me, sad, once again, for people who don't have clean drinking water and those who need wheelchairs. This concern comes directly from participating in Advent Conspiracy at Blackhawk Church. She has been made aware that there are many people in this world who are without the very basic of needs. As you can imagine, with the news coverage of the earthquake, she had some pretty big questions and concerns before bedtime last night. There is much to pray about.

This layout was inspired in part by the BoBunny "cold hands, warm heart" sticker. My hands were always freezing when I was younger, and I heard this saying often. I was also inspired by the January GCT scraplift challenge at ACOT - one small photo surrounded by stickers is perfect for the beautiful BoBunny Winter Serenade papers, in particular when using Overture as a backdrop to build upon. I also incorporated a couple of challenges from Scrapbook.com - specifically I doodled wtih a glitter pen, and added trailing butterflies. The Winter Night paper is just perfect for blingy butterflies, and I used BoBunny acrylic scrolls, coated with Glimmer Mist, and pearl accents, as the trails.

Winter Night was also used to punch snowflake shapes. I selected an "ancient" fiber from my stash, a fuzzy white string to thread through the buttonholes, as it tied in with Abby's fuzzy hat in the photo.


Smaller snowflakes with pearl gem accents, and 2nd butterfly create a cluster on the left side of the photo.


Clearance ribbon - seriously, now is the time to stock up on a few spools of lightly wired holiday ribbons. (ok, you may have missed out this year - but watch for things like this after holidays!) Holiday colors extend way beyond red, green and white. I noted turquoise paired with milk chocolate, several shades of plum, pink, aqua all a part of this year's holiday ribbon offerings at Michaels. Personally I plan to use the aqua on summer paper craft projects. The light wire allows me to tie a bow and have control over its foof and dimension. I wove in a short string of pearls in my stash from creating for our wedding - almost 20 years ago! (LOL)


There are a few things I wish to point out about the journaling block. First, note the title written above. I held my breath as I hand-wrote the title. No white rub-ons exist in my stash that I hoped I would find. You can barely seem them in the photo, but I used a gold glitter pen to doodle some starbursts, that I hope people will think of snowflakes. In addition to taking a lightly loaded flat paintbrush with Liquitext Titanium white, around the photo edges, I chose to skritch and scratch with the gold glitter pen directly on the photo as well, to create a double border.


I am very much enjoying every moment of creating with BoBunny's Winter Serenade. Just when I thought it could not get any better, I catch a glimpse of the BoBunny new releases and am blown away. Just wait until you see it! When? How about now? Visit BoBunny's blog starting Friday, January 15 for peeks at the new releases. Starting next Monday there will be bigger peeks and some giveaways. Be sure to check it out! If you are not already following BoBunny on Facebook or Twitter - don't wait another day! BoB followers will also have a chance at a giveaway.

More reflection on the Haitian earthquake. I watched a bit of the news this morning and the scenes were horrendous. I've also been reading news/messages sent to Lifeline Christian organization by e-mail from Gretchen, wife of founder Bob DeVoe. More than 50 women from the United States were already in Haiti at their mission village in Frand Goave, about 5 miles from Port au Prince. Last I heard some women are still missing. The Lifeline clinic is still standing, and with the nearest hospital in a pile of rubble, you can only imagine the droves of injured coming to their ill-equiped facility. My sister and her husband had plans for the past 6 mo. or more, planned to return to Lifelines mission compound in Grand Goave Haiti. Originally they were to be flying to Haiti with departure set for Wednesday. Now, with the airfields congested and flights cancelled, they await news on whether or not they will be leaving Wednesday. I know my sister, an R.N., is more than willing to extend her originally planned stay to and help the Haitian people, whom she has grown to love after several trips to Grand Goave these past years. Consider how you might find a way to help in the relief efforts. It can be donating formula, shoes, bandages... I have heard that organizations and churches across the country will be setting up collection sites. It can be monetary. Donations can be made to Lifeline by sending a personal check (thereby eliminating credit card companies getting their percentage - personally, I think in a time of crisis CC companies should abstain from any fees for non-profit organizations), or of course, any organization of your choice. No doubt churches will be taking up collections as well. Perhaps you are a prayer warrior and God is or has called on you to pray for everyone involved. With continued after shocks, and risk of disease, those who are providing relief efforts need warriors praying for their safety.

Meanwhile, I am praising God that we are not situated on a fault line here in southern Wisconsin. Remember to never take a day for granted, and happy creating!

Addicted to Shimmerz!

Hey gals - I am having so much fun playing with my new Shimmerz Blingz, mist and original Shimmerz! Today a new release was announced along with a giveaway every hour from 10-10! Fortunately I got home in time, on FB after dinner to see this and am setting up for the last few drawings. You still have time! Post the Shimmerz blinkie on your site and send the link - visit Shimmerz for the new release video and contact info!

I finished two more projects last night - both use Shimmerz. Hopefully I will get one shared later on, but right now DS needs me for homework.

Snowy Creativity with BoBunny

Have you visited the BoBunny blog today? If not, be sure to hop on over because the designers have really gone all out to share some ideas of the snowy, wintry kind.
I did a little snowy themed scrapping as well, using BoBunny's Tis the Season line. Guess what? It's a two pager! I keep these pretty simple as creating a 2 pager for me, in itself, is a challenge. The matted photo collages were created digitally. Doing this I could vignette, or feather, my green mat border into the photos, which I think adds to the look of winter. Also, I received my Shimmerz this weekend, after a LONG backorder! Finally, I get to play - this is my first project. I only wish I had ordered more colors - Shimmerz are quickly addicting!

No more excuses. Once Santa brought the family a new, adult sized, sled - I had no more reason to stay behind the camera. It was great to go sledding again after all these years! Kyle was happy to take pictures, and when he was asked to give a push, his dad took over behind the camera. We had a blast, and I learned that as much as you try to steer those things, they pretty much have a mind of their own. (LOL)


I coated the BoBunny Chunky Alpha chip with Shimmerz Blingz topped with Sparkle Mod Podge. Throughout this layout you will see "smears" and strokes of the Shimmerz Blingz on the patterned paper, as well as Sparkle Mod Podge. Snowflake scraps from the border punch were added to the letters as well, secured and blinged with Sparkle Mod Podge. I dabbed some sparkle on the bracket shaped cardstock sticker as well.

A pretty layered embellishment. The chipboard snowflake by Magistical Memories was already in my stash painted white. Often when I am painting a snowflake for a project, it's pretty much a given I will need more for future projects. So I paint several at a time and set the spares aside. It's a great time saver. I blinged the chipboard with Shimmerz Blingz and went over that with Sparkle Mod Podge because I like LOTS of shine! I did an easy trim around a snowflake from the patterned paper, did the podge thing, layered and topped with a BoB gem.


Used my CTMH circle cutters to cut these snowflake designs out of BoBunny paper, then used a Fiskars squeeze punch to punch larger circles out of red dot PP. Stress the edges, bling with Mod Podge, layer with foam adhesive and you have a lollipop style snowflake!


So hey, I encourage you - if you are like me and tend to always be behind the camera - get out in front of it and let your family take a few shots. Afterall, we owe it to them! (LOL)

Happy creating!

Winter White Out! Masking Technique

When we had 12-14" dumped on us in mid-December we had not only a snow day, but a bit of time outdoors. Lots of time, actually, for my husband who probably spent 4 hours minimum shoveling the driveway. Abby had a small shovel and was happy to be a helper. One of our snow shovels broke, so Kyle seems to be getting out of shoveling snow this year. He did venture out to take out compost and get the mail, and as he returned from the mailbox, one of many large gusts of windows gathered up snow and blew it right in his face. I happened to be out photography helper Abby, and was able to turn quick for a few "white out" snap shots.

Scrapbook.com has a cajillion challenges ever month - I can't believe how many there are! Good news...one layout can qualify for multiple challenges. I took care of quite a few with this layout, challenges include: border punch, paint, no patterned paper, loose glitter, stamp with embossing, and possibly the doodling challenge if dotting and tracing count. A Cherry On Top also had a number of challenges to spur your mojo each week. "White Out" covers the one word challenge, having used "winter" in the journaling.

Steps to create this layout:
1. Position photos with temporary adhesive. Trace around photos lightly with #2 pencil.
2. Stamp and emboss white snowflakes as desired on white cardstock. Using white stamp ink pad rub over raw chipboard snowflake.
3. Position title letters as shown with temporary adhesive, using pencil guides as an aid to position letters. Letters were obtained from a variety of manufacturers.
4. Spritz with a pearlescent blue mist (Glimmer Mist, Shimmerz or in this case- a homemade brew). Spritz chipboard snowflake as well. Allow to dry completely.
5. In lieu of photo mats trace with black fine point marker over top of pencil marks. Adhere photos.
6. If the layout does not show enough white after misting, use white paint marker or other to dot white snow randomly.

7. Punch snowflake borders from white cardstock. Coat heavily with sparkle Mod Podge and sprinkle generously with coarse white glitter. Allow to dry completely, tear one side – then position as shown.

8. Stamp journal spot, add writing, cut out, and position with foam adhesive.

9. Use sparkle Mod Podge to add bling to a wintry layout. For “White Out” the title letters were brushed with Pod Podge, the cardstock sticker and journal spot had dabs painted on, thicker amounts were used in lower corner and area to right of first photo to add glitter medium, and sparkle Mod Podge was used to adhere small snowflakes, scraps from the border punch, randomly on the layout with top coat to ensure snowflakes stay in place.
10. Layer snowflake chipboard with cardstock, add bling to center and position with foam adhesive.

Supplies:
Cardstock: Bazzill
Masking Alpha: BoBunny, Basic Grey, Scenic Route
Snowflake Chipboard: Magistical Memories
Cardstock Sticker: BoBunny Winter Serenade collection
Acrylic Snowflake Stamps: BoBunny Winer Lace, CTMH
Journaling Stamp: Stampology by Autumn Leaves
Ink: Brilliance White Cloud and by Tsukineko, Prussian Blue by Colorbox
Embossing Powder: Stampendous Detail White Opaque
Mediums: Pearl Ex mixed with Posh Rainbow Dye Ink in Denim by Ranger, water (topping off pre-mixed portion of Ranger Stream Alcohol Ink)
Glitter Mediums: Sparkle Mod Podge by Plaid, Crystal Scintillement Brillo Glitter by Glitterex Corp
Gem: BoBunny Bling
Border Punch: Fiskars
Paint: Liquitex titanium White, Sharpie white paint pen
Pen: American Crafts

I admit, when I first saw the "no patterned paper" challenge at Scrapbook.com I thought, "whoa nelly!" - don't know if I can manage that one! However, it encouraged me to get out my messy mediums and have fun. I hope you do, too! Happy creating.

Relive the Magic With BoB Tis the Season!

It's time for the January BoBunny sketch challenge! Do you have one Christmas photo in particular that you are super fond of? Use this sketch as inspiration and let's see what you come up with!

Be sure to share your layout, using BoBunny products (does not have to be the latest) and link your layout posting to the BoBunny blog - Julia will be drawing a name to win a fab prize of BoBunny product!

Grab your BoBunny Chiffon chunky chipboard letters and mist them with a shimmer spray! For this effect I used Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist in turquoise blue. Mist lightly and allow that cream color to show through for a delightful mottled effect! I also could not resist dabbing my finger in the sparkle Mod Podge jar and dabbing some on here and there.


Not sure what to do with clear buttons? There are so many ways to dress them up - some ideas include: coating with glitter glue, use a circle punch to place patterned paper beneath, use a Sakura Souffle pen to make polka dots (super cute!), OR use BoBunny cardstock stickers underneath, as I did here!

I am sure it is no accident that there are often times circle cardstock stickers in the BoBunny collections that match the size of their clear buttons. I prefer to use KI Gloo to adhere the button on top of the sticker. Just a little dab is all that is needed - it is made for acrylic embellishments and dries clear.

In the cluster close up you might notice some other details...the BoB star bling is adhered with foam adhesive, which raises it above the button so it can overlap on the layout. The hint of sparkle you see on the ornaments in the cut out shape design is sparkle Mod Podge, which was painted not only on the ornaments, but was also used on the entire turquoise border of this layout. Once I have a jar of sparkle Mod Podge open I find it hard to hold back... it was also used on the Xmas tree rub-on, the ornament rub-on (both cut out and added to the layout with dimensional adhesive), and on the red chipboard scrolls.

BoBunny's three dimensional stickers provide an easy, yet beautiful embellishment. Even in this close up photo the sticker appears to be made of dimensional product. For this particular layout, the sticker cover a plastic stool in the corner of the photo. When your photos have distracting elements in them - consider a cardstock sticker as a cover up. Lift it off the page with foam dimensional adhesive to add interest.


Do you have any of BoBunny's "Stamp & Store" acrylic stamp sets? No? Well, if you had to choose only one (although that is SO hard to do!) - I am finding the "Write On!" set to be very versatile. I love the journaling lines - longer than many available, and if you are familiar with my style, you know I usually have a story to tell. The set has circles, swirls and a little paint splattered grunge - because the shapes are individual, you can pick and choose which you want to use. "Write On!" is a must have!


Product listing for this layout:
BoBunny Tis the Season papers: Chorus Die Cut, Stripe (turqouise), Yuletide, Cut Outs, Combo Stickers
BoBunny Holiday Dream Rub-on
BoBunny Tis the Season Buttons & Bling
BoBunny Stamp & Store "Write On!" (stamped journaling lines)
BoBunny Double Dot ribbon in Clover
BoBunny Chunky Chips alpha in Chiffon
BoBunny Chunky CB Swirls and Brackets in Wildberry

Other:
Scrapworks Alpha Rub-ons
Heidi Grace for Fiskars Rub-ons (believe)
Colorbox Fluid Chalk Ink
Staz-on cactus green ink by Tsukineko
Sparkle Mod Podge by Plaid
Misc. gem stickers by Kaiser Crafts, Making Memories, and from Abby's stash (tree ornaments)
Zig Memory Writer pen in brown

When BoBunny's "Tis The Season" collection first arrived at our house I immediately thought of the old photo used in this layout. The papers, stickers and embellishments were the perfect choice to scrap this precious memory of Kyle crawling under the tree. This was the first of 10 yrs. where Kyle would sleep "under the tree" on Christmas night. It was his very own tradition and one I cherished. Sadly, kids grow up. Now 12, Kyle received an electric mattress pad this past Christmas. He immediately became accustomed to sleeping in warmth and comfort, and the thought of sleeping in our living room, on a cold air bed, next to the tree - seemed to lack all its charm of previous years. I am sure he has no idea how bummed I am that his tradition has ended. I guess this is one reason we preserve these memories forever through scrapbooking, because even the most cherished memories can be forgotten over time. Don't forget - not all memories need 3, 6 or a dozen photos to tell the story. One photo, papers and embellishments that help tell the story, and the all important journaling - if only a few lines, can say a thousand words. Don't forget to scrap a story based on the sketch above, and share it with a link at BoBunny, or send directly to Julia via e-mail. Happy creating!