Guest Designer for Tresors de Luxe

Good morning and welcome to the weekend! I'm here with you today because I am a guest designer for Tresors de Luxe, and I've created my first art journal page using some of their gorgeous lace trims. 

Now, I must admit- though my first page turned out much like a layout (hey, it's what I'm used to!), I can tell you I created two more pages immediately after this one and am loving this whole art journaling thing. I plan to use mine as a way to record some of the things about myself that I normally don't cover in my layouts, as well as documenting quotes or ideas that inspire me, and even maybe get back into drawing and painting. Back when I was younger, I was pretty darn good at drawing. So I'd really like to get into that. We'll see!

The biggest challenge for me is keeping these pages flat- so that means pretty much no flowers. For me, that's about unheard of. But it's a good challenge and is forcing me to rely on mediums, stamps, and other things to bring my pages together.

So here's my first attempt:

"Harvest"

After just saying the other day how i never use red or orange (while talking with the girls in the C'est Magnifique forum), here I go and use both. AND purple! But I love the autumn feel to this page as unfortunately that is what we're heading into. Obviously blueberry picking is my latest obsession- in fact, I just went out with a friend yesterday afternoon and we picked about another 4 gallons each- way out in the woods up on a cliff. It was awesome. Didn't drag ourselves out of there until about 7:30 last night when we heard something crashing around in the woods and felt we'd better get out of there :).

I had lots of fun playing with mists, watercolors, modeling paste, etc. The purple splotch here reminds me of blueberry juice, lol! In fact, after a day of picking, my hands are just completely stained purple :)

What I especially love about these Tresors de Luxe trims is they are so durable and just full of textures, which makes altering them so much fun! I've used a combination of mists, watercolors, and chalk inks to give these a bit of color. Oh, and some microbeads too.

I must admit, the flower and bow were a final addition to this page. It's tough- because otherwise, it just doesn't look like ME, if you know what I mean? I feel very conscious of that. But I need to get over it because if I'm going to create a full art journal book- my pages need to be flat. And in my next two pages that you'll be seeing over the next few weeks, you can be assured that no flowers or bulky things are present. Super weird.

I felt that the gorgeous "Dreamer" collection from 7 Dots Studio, with just a hint of "Domestic Goddess" {forefont tag} was perfect for this autumn-inspired project.

Products Used:

Ivory Venice (LA-003)

Ivory Venice Lace Heart Trim (LA-004)

Ivory Cotton Trim (LA-036)

Other Products Used:

Dreamer Collection- Drive All Night

Dreamer Collection- Daydreaming

Domestic Goddess Collection- Tags

571115- La Tela- Woodsy Floral

561048- 7x7 Stencil Garden Gate

961015- Big Doily #20 stamp- Vintage Vanity- Finnabair

570514- Stitch Stamps- Lines

 

Thanks for coming over this weekend!- and for bearing with me through my first art journal project. It's a work in progress- I'm slowly "getting" it ;)...take care and see you soon.

Prima: School Memories Collection {Altered Gift Bag}

Good morning! How has your week been? Busy, busy here...blueberry picking continues and this morning I'm picking up my order of baby chickens (yes, not only do I hatch babies myself, but I also enjoy ordering them through the mail!) this morning and just can't wait :). We recently had a wolf get into our chicken house and take our two biggest hens, and with being down to 19 chickens (8 of which are babies)- it was time to supplement the house before winter comes. So 14 little fuzzies will be joining them!

Anyways, back to business, right? I'm here to share with you a project that was on the Prima blog a little while back. Using the new School Memories collection, I altered this cute wooden gift bag that I purchased for almost nothing from a craft store.

"Altered Wooden Gift Bag"

This collection is gorgeous- and works well for non-school related projects too. I covered all sides of this bag with this "Teacher Talk" paper and then sanded down the edges with sandpaper. 

I've added a touch of masking using one of the new Finnabair Elementals stencils (doily). The resin frame was touched up with the "Blue Jay" chalk edger from Ingvild Bolme.

There are a ton of cute embellishments with this collection. I've used some of the School Memories Tickets & Tags, 1" Flair Buttons, and Wood Icons.

Products Used:

846145- School Memories Collection "Teacher Talk"
569556- School Memories Tag Me Tickets and Tags Set
569600- School Memories Wood Icons
569532- School Memories 1" Flair Buttons
570019- Resin Frames
891060- Liquid Chalk Edger "Blue Jay"
960551- Elementals 6.5"x7.25" Stencil
571290- Olivia
571696- Lil Missy
571702- Lil Missy
571757- Abbey
571818- Abbey
571610- Audrey

Have a great Friday! See you back here tomorrow :)

PaperHaus: Layered Tag Tutorial

Good morning!

The weekend is just beginning in my part of the world, and it's the time of year that is very busy for me. It's berry season- blueberries right now and raspberries shortly to come. That means hours spent picking, cleaning, sorting, baking, canning, and freezing. And I LOVE it. It's also time for the garden to be harvested. The peas are ready, the tomatoes will be turning any day which means homemade spaghetti sauce, salsa, and canned tomatoes for chili this winter. Hunting season is on its way, as is apple harvest time- which means more and more canning. Love it. 

So before I venture off into berry picking land today, I want to share with you a layered tag tutorial that I put together for PaperHaus. I hope you enjoy :)

"Love" Shabby Layered Tag

A lot of people like to know how I go about assembling my tags. I do follow a pretty basic structure, so let me walk you through my step-by-step:

Product List:
Patterned Papers: Prima Marketing
Flowers: Prima Marketing
Embellishments: Jolee's
Mask: Heidi Swapp
Stamps: 7 Gypsies
Mist: Tattered Angels
Modeling Paste: Golden
Border Punches: Martha Stewart
Other: trims, tulle, pearls

Thank-you for coming by! Have a great weekend :)

Prima Marketing: "Wonderful Bond" {Step-by-Step Tutorial}

Hi everyone! I hope you're having a great week so far :). I spent the day picking wild blueberries and got myself a whole gallon so I'm excited to make some more blueberry pies and maybe even do some jam! But I'm exhausted- so finally sitting down to get this post typed up and shared with you all :).

I have a step-by-step tutorial of a layout that I created for Prima. It has been broken down into 7 easy steps, and I hope you enjoy!

Here is what we will be creating today:

"Wonderful Bond"

This photo of Wyatt and Aspen just melts my heart :). Precious moments!

Here are the steps I took in putting this layout together:

Products Used:

950699- Delight Collection "Destinations"
950729- Delight Collection "Delicate"
950750- Delight Collection "Discover"
845506- Lifetime Collection "Familia"
845476 - Lifetime Collection "Blue Bayou"
961015- Finnabair Clear Stamps
960780- Finnabair Clear Stamps
960803- Finnabair Clear Stamps
960490 - 12x12 Stencil: Vanishing Circles
570514- Cling Stamps
570385- Say it in Crystals Swirl- Multi
570262- Say it in Crystals Arrow- Multi
569877- Wood Icons in a Box- Gears
570620- Pebbles
569969- Resin- Clocks
563264 - Tiny Alphabet Stickers- Divine
563288 - Tiny Alphabet Stickers- Lyric
571115- La Tela- Woodsy Floral
571153- La Tela- Romantic Lace
571757- Abbey
571825 - Abbey
571399- Scarlett
571504- Le Mia- Cashmere Flower
571559- Le Mia- Lagoon Flower
570668- Anna Marie- Flowers

I love ALL of the new wood icons from Prima- these gears are some of my favorites :) Most of these I've cut in half and stuck into my clusters- always looking for ways to stretch product, right?!

There are LOTS of great new Say it in Crystals varieties!

Thank-you so much for coming over and checking out my little tutorial :). These step-by-steps will be a regular at the Prima blog this month, so don't miss out! 

See you soon- take good care of yourselves :)

7 Dots Studio: "My Inspiration" {9th Wave}

Today I have for you a layout that I created with the brand NEW 9th Wave Collection from 7 Dots Studio! 

If you love using Finn's papers, then you're definitely going to need to add this range to your "must-haves" list. I love the fresh, almost haunting colors paired with her amazing mixed media backgrounds. 

The "Deep Water" sheet is my personal favorite as I love the clean, white center with the shaded patterns around the edges and in the corners. Perfect for creating a layout that directly focuses on this ultra-serious photo of my sweet little girl :). 

"My Inspiration"

 I added a bit of stamping to the upper right and lower left corners and some plain masking to the area around and beneath my photo/cluster work- but other than that, this paper really didn't need anything more!

Products Used:

9th Wave: Deep Water

9th Wave: Golden Sand

9th Wave: 6x6 Designer Pad

All I Ever: Stickers 6x12

 

Other Products Used:

 

 

Quatrefoil Page Panel

I cut apart a section from this 12x12 panel to suit the needs of my design. I left the chipboard raw as it blended so nicely with the rest of my layout :)

 

 Flowers

Stamps

Canvas Alphabet 

 

Thank-you for coming to my blog today! I hope you enjoyed my post.

Take care and see you very soon :)

C'est Magnifique Bits & Pieces Giveaway!

Good morning my scrappy friends :). Just popping in today to share a little giveaway goin' on and then tomorrow I'm back with projects once again. Just wanted to give you all a break after so many of them in a row! But as I said- I've been a creating machine lately, so the projects are piling up!

{So come back tomorrow, okay?}

The order of business today is the giveaway of the Bits & Pieces from Leslie's August kit from C'est Magnifique Kits- and it's a great one this month.  Leslie was away at CHA in July and literally had NO time to scrap - so her Bits & Pieces collection is huge this month!

It's easy to enter our Bits & Pieces Giveaway

1.  You must be a follower of the C'est Magnifique blog.  If you do not already follow, just click 

on the "Join this site" button on the left sidebar and you'll be all set.  

2.  Use the Inlinkz tool at the bottom of the Bits & Pieces post HERE.

3.  We are giving you a chance to enter our giveaway twice!  To enter twice,

share this post on your blog (in a blog post, not your sidebar) and you can 

enter your name again using the Inlinkz tool~

(just be sure to add the link to your blog post). 

The contest will close at midnight, August 12.  

The winner, selected by a random draw, will be announced a few days later.

Good Luck!

Blue Fern Studios: August Sketch Challenge~!

It's time yet again to reveal a NEW sketch challenge for Blue Fern Studios!

Our August Sketch, designed by Michele Singh:

{Isn't it GORGEOUS?!}

So many different ways to do this one- and don't you worry if you don't have the chipboard pieces featured in the sketch- feel free to interpret it as you like with whatever you have :)

As always, we've got a great grab bag of chipboard for one randomly chosen participant:

In addition to our prize winner, we will also select a Top 3 to feature in our winner post!

We have just a few simple rules to follow if you would like to participate in our sketch challenge:

1.) Feel free to interpret the sketch as you please by means of taking it as-is or flipping/turning/mirroring it to suit your needs! **Please note that you can do whatever type of project you please- a layout, card, tag, canvas, altered item- whatever suits your mood and style! We would love to see the different ways our sketch can be used.**

2.) You must use at least one piece of Blue Fern Studios chipboard- but you do not need to use the pieces featured in the sketch! You can find the store nearest you HERE. {Please do not use any other brand of chipboard on your project please!}

3.) Upload your project using the Inlinkz tool at the bottom of the sketch post HERE by midnight EST on August 31st, 2013.

 

We look forward to your entries!

C'est Magnifique Sketch Challenge & Where to Get NEW Prima & 7 Dots!!

Hello! I am here to share with you the latest sketch challenge from C'est Magnifique Kits- AND let you know where you can get your hands on Finn's NEW Prima Mechanicals & Elementals, in addition to the NEW 7 Dots Studio Messy Head & 9th Wave Collections! It's always an exciting time when the CHA goodies start becoming available :)

Let's start with the sketch though, shall we?

C'est Magnifique August Sketch:

We can't wait to see how you will use our sketch.  The Sketch Challenge is open to all our blog readers and you may use any supplies that you have on hand.  No need to be a member of our kit club to participate.  You can flip or rotate the sketch, but please stick with the original design as much as possible.  We want to be able to see the sketch in your layout.

Each month we award two prizes.  The winners will be selected by a random draw.  This month, Leslie has decided to award an August Kit to the winner of the sketch challenge.  The winner of kit will also be able to shop in the C'est Magnifique Store, and have their purchases sent with the prize package, so that means you won't have to pay for shipping.  If you are already a subscriber to our kit club, your next kit will be free!

Our second prize, a $10 gift certificate to the C'est Magnifique Store,  will be awarded randomly to one of our participants who obviously uses one of our kits to create their Sketch Challenge layout. 

We will also chose 5 (or maybe more) layouts to feature on our blog!

You have the entire month of August to submit your layout.

What do you have to do to enter our sketch challenge?

1.  You must be a follower of the C'est Magnifique blog. 

2.  Create a layout using the sketch, and add it to our blog using the Inlinkz tool at the bottom of the sketch post here.  Please link to the blog post where you have uploaded your layout  (not your general blog address). If you do not have a blog, you may link to an online gallery.

 Deadline for entering the sketch challenge is midnight,  August 31, 2013 (US time).

We look forward to seeing your layouts!

***

The C'est Magnifique store often is among the first to get the latest and greatest supplies...so if you're looking to snag some of these brand new goodies for yourself- hurry on over to the store HERE!

7 Dots Studio "Messy Head" Collection Kit, Stickers, & Elements

7 Dots Studio "9th Wave" Collection Kit, Stickers, & Elements

Prima's Finnabair Masks, Stamps, Canvas Sheets, & Metals!

{The C'est Magnifique store has them ALL!~ I just chose to show one sample of each. Each category is linked above, so just click on what you wish and it will take you to the section of the store where you will find them!}

Nothing wrong with a little enabling, right?! ;)

Thanks for stopping over. Hope you have a great weekend- I will be around :)

Take care!