Love and be Loved!

It's linkup time over at The Memory Nest!  CLICK HERE to share some love!  Stop by and link up some of your paper crafting projects and feel the love from all of the admirers that stop by your blog. ;-)  Everyone loves feedback, especially complimentary feedback, so don't be shy!  Link up and get in on some lovin'!

And while you're at it...pay it forward, leave some love on the links, and have a great day!


xoxo,

Shawna

CSI #120 Live...

We have a magical case file at CSI this week!  Fun colors, fun evidence prompts, and great journaling inspiration!

Here's the file.

And here's my take on it.   CLICK HERE to see what the rest of the talented design team came up with.

For my evidence, I chose a mixed media background, gesso and wet medium (gelatos, Heidi Swapp mist in chartreuse, and Mod Podge magic medium in clear).  Then I chose the inspiration prompt to write a haiku...I used that prompt liberally, as the sentiment is more than 3 lines, but it's still where I pulled inspiration from. ;-)

I handcut part of a photo of my daughter kissing a hummingbird that we use as garden decor and popped it up to give it dimension.  Then I made some clouds using modeling paste and the remnants of a sheet of chipboard clouds as a stencil.  I put some directly on the background, and some others on paper, which I then handcut.  The sun and moon are a great little stamp I've had forever, colored with a yellow marker and then glazed with the Mod Podge.

My mom grabbed the flower stamp for my sister's shower (we gave the guests little packets of wildflowers) and I loved it here with the sentiment about growing and laying down roots and memories.  I colored a few of them with gelato.

And there you have it!  I hope you will play along with us.  

Have a great weekend!!

xoxo,

Shawna

New sketch at The Memory Nest!

Happy Thursday!  There's a great (and challenging!) new sketch up over on The Memory Nest blog and I thought I'd give it a go.  There's a twist on this one too; to use one of the phrases on the right as your title or journaling.

Here's the sketch:

And here's my take on it:

I used lots of Maggie Holmes for Crate Paper papers again for this one (actually, all of the paper is MH!), and some fun little embellies and a couple of stamps (Citrus Twist Kits stamp and Tim Holtz stamp, which I cut up so that I could make the phrase fit in the little frame.)  The frames are actually wood which I painted with white acrylic paint, and the letters are Thickers and American Craft.

CLICK HERE to link up your creations using the sketch!  ALSO, The Memory Nest has some great deals for the month of April that you can still take advantage of.  CLICK HERE to see all of the April specials and savings!

Have a great day!!

xoxo,

Shawna

35.75...

So when I got my Citrus Twist goodies this month (Picture Perfect main and Enchantment add on), I was totally in LOVE with the colors...and they go perfectly with this month's mood board over at Life.Paper.Scrapbook.  Been awhile since I've had the time to play along with one of their challenges so I was excited to put this layout together.  Here's the mood board:

And here's my layout.  I was inspired by the triangle shape of the trees, the colors, and the brush script and what it said.  Something that is important to me, is me.  Obviously what is most important to me is my family, but without taking care of me, I can't give my best to them.  The story behind this photo is a fun one, and I will eventually tape the story to the  back of the page.  I won a "Super Mom" photo shoot by the talented Alexis Emm Photograffi and we had a blast breaking the rules, and getting some awesome shots...we may or may not have squeezed through the fence of a closed train station and hopped the train to get this photo.  ;-)  Shhhh....

I didn't go crazy on background work or any mixed media for this one, because the papers had so much going on, and I didn't want the end result to be too busy.

I loved the chalk board background paper from We R Memory Keepers and added a chalk circle around the photo area by tracing around a large bowl.  The little arrows are a fab cheap find for $2 at Michaels.

One of my favorite simple techniques is to line edges with word stamps and I have about a million of them from CTK.  These ones were perfect.  The mistable Heidi Swapp heart was covered with gelato and the large words (celebrate and enjoy) are also Heidi Swapp.

I used my butterfly punch to punch some small butterflies out of the text paper and popped them up on the page.

Come check out the mood board at Life.Paper.Scrapbook. and link up your creations!  Thanks for stopping by!

xoxo,

Shawna

CSI #119 - Explore...

No mixed media for me this week!  The "feel" of this case file felt more vintage-y to me. :)  I loved this case file because it gave me a chance to use many of the older papers that have been sitting in my stash for quite some time.  Plus I had so many fun travel elements that had previously gone unused because, well, we don't really go anywhere!  LOL  

Here's the case file:

CLICK HERE to see what the rest of the design team has come up with!

And here's my take on it.

For evidence, I chose wood, globe/earth, and a tag.  Then I chose to journal on a tag and tucked it behind the photos.  It says:  "You are fascinated by all of the places in the world that we have never been, and each time you learn about a new country, you ask me if we can go there.  One of my wishes for you is that you have the opportunity someday and travel the world and see how much there is "out there" besides our tiny little slice of the earth."

Here are a couple of closeups:

This was the perfect time to use my map letter Thickers and I love the banner stickers that have the airline schedules on them!

Studio Calico wooden veneer sayings always come in handy, as does that 7 Gypsies hot air balloon stamp.  I've gotten soooo much use out of it.  The globe sticker is Heidi Swapp and the kraaft and chalkboard circle behind it is (I think?) The Paper Company.

The stamps you see are from Citrus Twist Kits, and the great scrabble letter stickers are from last month's kit from The Memory Nest.

Thanks for stopping by!  Can't wait to see what you create!

xoxo,

Shawna

Sketchabilities #113 - Magical Fairy Princess...

Sketchabilities has just revealed its latest sketch and it's a beauty!  CLICK HERE to see how the rest of the design team interpreted the sketch, then play along with us for some great prizes!  This month we're being sponsored by Creative Embellishments, an absolutely fabulous company which designs chipboard, wood veneer and stamps.  CLICK HERE to see all of their wonderful products!  Here is the sketch:

And here is my take on it.

I flipped the sketch to the left side of the page and layered up some fantastic papers and Studio Calico ephemera from my Citrus Twist Kit.  The stamps are also Citrus Twist originals, which I layered up and repeated in 2 corners around the main portion of the layout.  I also added some Heidi Swapp Color Shine on the background paper and the photo frames.  The letters are DIYS Thickers, which you can peel and decorate.  I covered them with green shimmery perfect pearls and glitter.  The sticker on the left of the top photo serves as my journaling, as this was my daughter's first fairy dress up outfit, and at this time she became obsessed with fairies and Tinkerbell.  Here are some closeups.

Thanks for having a look!  I hope to see your layouts in the gallery this month!

xoxo,

Shawna

CSI Case File #118 - Puppy Lovin'!

It's that time again!  CSI is back with another great casefile, and this one is accompanied by a fab Em Stafrace sketch!  CLICK HERE to see how the rest of the design team cracked the case!

Here is the case file:

And here's my layout.  Oddly enough, when I saw these colors I envisioned doing a much different layout...but sometimes things decide to go in a much different direction than expected.  That's life, isn't it?  ;-)

So all the colors are there, and for evidence I chose hearts, arrows, animal print, and doodling. I used the "all about me" prompt about what makes me truly happy and wrote about puppies. (I am a serious animal lover and would have a houseful of dogs if the hubs would let me!) Hard to see on the photo but journaling says: "Nothing beats kisses and cuddles from a chunky little puppy...except kisses and cuddles from two chunky little puppies!"

Here's a couple of closeups:

 Happy FRIDAY!  Thanks for stopping by!!

xoxo,

Shawna

Cards!

I love making cards and it was fun to take a break from scrapooking and photos to put together a variety pack of cards for a good cause.  I created this bundle of cards as a raffle donation for my friend's son's preschool fundraiser...I wanted to make a variety of cards because I often find myself wishing that I had cards on hand for various occasions.  So, here is what I came up with.

I have seen so many awesome cards on Pinterest that used buttons...it's so easy and the effect is fabulous.  At Christmas time, I made some cards using buttons as ornaments, and this time, I just spread them across the card for a fun pop of color.

 This is a card I actually made during my March gig as a Guest Designer at Citrus Twist.  Layers and texture make it simple and effective.

This Congratulations baby card was a runner up for shower invites that I made for my sister.  She was having a little girl, but isn't a big fan of pink, and wanted something simple and neutral.  Jute and a great vintage carriage stamp look nice against a neutral cream card.

I found this birthday card idea on Pinterest and put it together here using Heidi Swapp papers and dollar ribbon from Michael's.  I love the whimsical feel of the pieced together cake!

This last card was inspired by a scrapbook layout I came across on Pinterest that used ombre paper strips and hole punched butterflies...I got this great Martha Stewart heart punch, and I colored strips of paper with gelatos and mists, using an acrylic sealer while they were wet to give them a marble effect. Then I popped up a few of the larger hearts to give it a bit of dimension.

I hope you enjoyed checking these out...who knows...maybe one day you will get one of these in the mail from me! :-)  Have a great day!!

xoxo,

Shawna

Me (Currently) - New Challenge at Challenge YOUrself!

Good morning!!  We have an all new challenge for you this month over at Challenge YOUrself!  And a fabulous prize for one lucky winner...all you have to do is create and link up!  CLICK HERE to see what the rest of the talented design team has created!

Here's the challenge:

Challenge Yourself #5:  Something Trendy!

Put those scrapbooking trends to work on your page!  Use a minimum of THREE trendy things on your layout.  List your items.  Don't forget to include a photo of YOU in your layout.

Be brave and get the courage to try something new!

Have fun with this challenge.

And for this month's prize, we have a fabulous 12x12 Hey Kid by Pink Paislee Kre8v Kit!

Here is my layout.  I'm giggling because this WAS me...a couple of week's ago.  Since then, I've chopped all my hair off...so it's not exactly ME, currently.  Anyway, I had fun thinking about all of the trendy things I have seen in papercrafting this past year and for my page, I chose my good old Heidi Swapp mists in Blush, Chartreuse and Teal, washi tape, flair buttons, wooden elements, thread, and a feather, just for good measure. ;-)

I always find myself pulling out word and phrase stamps that come in my Citrus Twist Kits each month...they're so perfect for layering up around photos or, in this case, for becoming an element all on their own.  The "Simple Things" flair button is Recollections, as are the wooden frames (I cut the ones on the left and right side of the page in half).

Another staple in my stash are the cheap and useful Recollections white 4x4 frames.  They're about $2 for a pack of 6 at Michael's and I use them All.The.Time.

The little feather is leftover from an older Studio Calico ephemera pack I had, and the letters are Recollections as well. (Michael's is stepping up its scrappy game, eh?) ;-)

And finally here's a side view to show some of the dimension.

I hope you will come play along with us!  Remember, you have a full month to put your layout together and link it on the blog.  See you soon!

xoxo,

Shawna

Butterfly Kisses...

As promised, it's time for another fabulous case file reveal over at CSI!  The colors were a bit of a challenge for me, but I ultimately ended up with one of my favorite layouts ever!  CLICK HERE to see the rest of the design team's awesome creations and to play along with us!

Here is my layout.  For evidence, I chose circles, metal, ransom style lettering, flowers and butterflies.  Lots and lots of butterflies. :)

I'm still learning about mixed media and it's still blowing my mind.  The imprecise nature of it is so freeing.  While scouring Pinterest for inspiration I came across this tutorial by Ayeeda over at Zeuss and Zoe.  It never ceases to amaze me the way the artists who post these tutorials make everything looks so effortless.  Here's the  video if you are interested in watching!

I thought the use of the tissue weight kraft paper was genius, and I recreated it using a leftover paper bag which I crumpled up and layered with mists and glass bead gel under the photo. For my metal, I took two little plaque like metal embellishments and tucked them under the photo so only the ornate edge detail was exposed.

For my journaling, which I added digitally, I chose a poem I found online (author unknown).

Flutter by,

Butterfly, 

Floating flower

in the sky.

Kiss me with your

Petal wings - 

Whisper secrets,

Tell of Spring.

Then on the back of the layout I told the story of this photo, as follows:

I love that Heather captured this moment between you two girls.  Sitting on the trampoline, in your dress up clothes and with crazy static hair, you decided to show Addison what a butterfly kiss is...such a sweet tender moment captured...but a little bit of humor too, as your conversation went like this:

Ireland: "This is a butterfly kiss, Addi!"

Addison: "That's not a butterfly kiss, that's a kiss from China!"

You girls crack me up.  Leave it to the both of you to turn a sweet tender moment into one of giggles.  - Summer 2013

The blue butterfly was fussy cut from some Heidi Swapp paper and covered with antique tinted All Night Media liquid embossing medium.  I stamped a butterfly off center underneath the blue one, and popped the blue embossed butterfly on top of it.

Lots of fabric trim on here, with ribbon and some doily scraps I had laying around.  For the clock, I fussy cut some more elements from Heidi Swapp paper and repeated what I did with the butterfly using the All Night Media liquid embossing medium.  The swabs of white are modeling paste, misted with Heidi Swapp Color Shine in teal, and then layered with glass bead gel.

Thanks for stopping by and visiting me!  I hope you have found some inspiration and that I will see your layouts in the CSI gallery this week.  In the meantime, enjoy the weekend!

xoxo,

Shawna

Special Scrap 365 Case File at CSI!

We have teamed up with Scrap 365 again to bring you a case file that you will have all month to solve!  The file is fun and bold and I had a blast putting my layout together for this one.  Here's the case!

And here's my take on it.  For my evidence I chose buttons (flair button and soda pop top) and string. (The curly string is actually a sticker that I cut in half and split between the top of the page and the bottom.)  For my journaling, I used the inspiration word "fun" and wrote about our trips to our local library.

Here are a couple of close ups.  I kept this layout fairly simple because I felt that the cut out circle paper and the handcut sunburst with the candy pattern were pretty dominant and I didn't want the rest to look like...a circus freak show. ;-)  Hehehe!

I hope you will play along with us!  In the meantime, don't forget to stop back here tonight to check out my take on CSI's casefile set to be revealed this evening around 6pm...I've done another mixed media layout and will be including a great video tutorial that gave me lots of inspiration!  Have a great Friday!!

xoxo,

Shawna