Hangin' Out!

Is it just me or are these week's flying by?! It is Friday again which means we have a new challenge up for you at Frosted Designs! This week we are asking you to use Grids on your cards, layouts, altered art, mixed media, or anything else you can think of! Here is my layout....

Aren't these girls the cutest?! This photo of Lauren, Abby and Natali was taken when we were back visiting Indiana last October. Lauren was so excited to reconnect with her friends! It is amazing... we have lived away from them for nearly 2 years now and when these girls get back together, it is like they were never apart! They are so sweet!

For the background grid, I penciled in the ends of each of the lines and then lined up a ruler and used my paper piercer to evenly space holes along the lines. After I had all of my lines punched, I used some embroidery floss to sew in the lines! I LOVE how this one turned out! I think it is fun and youthful and perfect for a tween layout!

Now we would love to see what you can do! The Frosted Designs Design Team has created a variety of projects to inspire you! Be sure to check them out HERE! And... Oh My Crafts is sponsoring this week's challenge with a $25 gift certificate! You know you would like to win that prize!   :)

Have a great weekend!

New Beginnings

Hello everyone! I am sorry my blog has been a little quiet this week but our family is wrapping up our Spring Vacation trip! We had a wonderful time with a great mix of play, relaxing, and great food! I will show you some pictures next week!

It's Friday, and that means there is a new challenge up at Frosted Designs! We thought we would celebrate the fact that spring is just around the corner and challenge you to use something with wings on your card, layout or project! It can be anything at all, as long as it has wing... butterflies, birds, angels, dragonflies, etc. Here is my layout....

This isn't my usual style but I really had fun creating it and love the way it turned out! The picture is of my oldest daughter (Courtney) who is in the orange dress. Without planning it, her and all of her friends each picked a different color of the rainbow so when they all lined up for photos, it was so pretty! And of course, they all had to have these very long, very full dresses! As they were walking to get closer to the lake, I snapped this photo. It really made me think about how even though they had been best friends through high school, each one had different plans after graduation and it would be a whole new beginning for each of them... thus the title.  

I cut out several butterflies of various sizes using my Cricut machine. I then placed them on the LO where I wanted them using repositional tape. Once I had them where I wanted them, I misted the white background with 3 different colors of Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist. After giving it a few minutes to dry, I removed the repositional tape from each butterfly and glued it to the layout by the center of the body. This way I could lift the wings. To keep the focus on the photo, I decided to add a simple title and a simple bow.

Be sure to stop by Frosted Designs... the Design Team created some AMAZING projects for this challenge! You don't want to miss them!

Thank you for stopping by today!

Barb  :)

Amazed by You!

Good Sunday Morning to you!  I am back to share a layout I created with the Dreamscape line. I love this line of paper... the yellows with the purples and blues are gorgeous!

These pictures were taken on a recent trip to Cabo. I apologize for the glare... it has been very cloudy and rainy here and that has made it nearly impossible to get a decent photo!

The flowers are from the Quick Quotes Bag 'O Chips - Stackable Flowers. I used my PowderPuff Chalking Inks in Mango Mai Tai, Blue Moon, Very Berry and Purple Passion to color the flowers. I then added foam adhesive between the layers to give it even more dimension.

The banner that is draped across the middle of my layout was easy to make. I ran a piece of vellum through my embosser, cut out the circles and then inked them up! I used the PowderPuff Chalking Inks for this.... Blue Moon on one side, Purple Passion on the other. I then stitched them together with my sewing machine to make the banner.

I hope you have a wonderful Sunday and you get to spend some time with family and friends!

Quick Quotes Supplies Used:

Dreamscape 100, 400, 500

PowderPuff Chalking Inks: Very Berry, Mango Mai Tai, Blue Moon, Purple Passion

Bag 'O Chips: Stackable Flowers

Other Supplies Used:

Cuttlebug: Demask

Punch: Martha Stewart

Gems: Creative Charms

Flowers: Michaels

Other: Brads, vellum, machine stitching

Grill Master

Is it really Friday already?! lol!! These weeks are flying by! And I am so excited to share that we are introducing the other Fabulous Friday Design Team this week at Frosted Designs! We have some seriously talented ladies on all of our teams so be sure to stop over and check them out!

This week our challenge at Frosted Designs is all about kraft paper! Use kraft paper on your card, layout or project! Easy Peasey!  :)  Here is my layout....

This was a quick little layout I put together. My father is always at the grill for every get together we have. And of course, none of us can do it better so why not let him?! The fork, knife, watermelon,and word Grill was fussy cut from patterned paper. I added some fabric because I thought it added to the picnic feel of the layout. Those darling little ants were clear beads that I painted with a black marker and drew in the legs. I love those little critters! (at least here on my layout... not in real life!!)

Now it is your turn... head over to Frosted Designs for some inspiration and then make your own project using Kraft paper! Be sure to link it up for a chance to win!

Have a wonderful weekend! I will be back Sunday with my next Quick Quotes post!

Barb  :)

4 Generations

I am excited to share that this post I created for Quick Quotes is being featured at FaveCrafts Blog! You can find it HERE!

There are two things I like most about being part of the Quick Quotes Design Team... the PowderPuff Chalking Inks and the Chipboard! Both are amazing products and today, I am going to show you how to use them on your layouts.

It isn't often we are blessed enough to get a photo that spans 4 generations with 90 years difference from the youngest to the oldest and I wanted a special layout for this memory. The Quick Quotes Chipboard Clock was the perfect embellishment for my layout. Let me show you how I did it...

Step One: I started by deciding on the basic design of my layout. Once that was decided, I pulled the chipboard from it's packaging and was ready to go to work.

Step Two: I knew exactly where I was going to place the chipboard piece and I also knew that there would be a piece that was hidden behind a photo. I decided to cut that part out so that I could save it to use on a future project. (This chipboard is so great you won't want to waste any of it!)

Step Three: I placed a plain piece of scrap paper uner the chipboard I was working with. I then inked the chipboard with watermark ink. This ink doesn't have any color. It's job is to hold the embossing powder.

Step Four: Once you have completely covered the chipboard with the watermark ink, remove the first piece of scrap paper and replace it with a new piece. (The first piece will mostly likely have ink on it from the last step.) Sprinkle the embossing powder over the chipboard making sure to cover all of it. The embossing powder is going to stick to the ink. Shake off any excess embossing powder onto your piece of scrap paper. Remove this paper from your work area. The extra powder can be placed back into the container to be used later. 

Step Five: You need to heat the powder so that it begins to melt. (You will want to use a special heating tool for this. A household blow dryer will not get hot enough.) You will be able to see the embossing powder melt. Be sure to move the heat source around. If you leave it in one spot too long, you can "over cook" it. I also recommend that you protect your work surface when doing this step. If not, you could cause damage from the heat.

Step Six: I didn't want a really smooth, even surface so while parts of the embossed area was still hot, I sprinkled on a little more embossing powder in a few random places and heated it again. As you can see in this photo, there are places where the embossed part is thicker than in other places. Just the look I was going for!

Step Seven: To complete the distressed look, I pulled out my PowderPuff Chalking Ink in Mocha Mama to ink around various places of the clock.

Here is the completed clock on my layout. As you can see, I also embossed the clock hands and attached them with a brad. The clock hands make a nice "photo corner" for my photo.

And finally, one more close up of the clock. This picture shows you the areas that were embossed a little more and the ones that were distressed with the chalking inks. The combination of the two makes for a beautiful, aged embellishment!

Quick Quote Supplies Used:

Copper Kettle 100

Copper Kettle 200

Copper Kettle 300

Vellum Quote F81 Family Is

Chipboard: Clocks

PowderPuff Chalking Inks - Mocha Mama

PowderPuff Chalking Inks - Amaretto

PowderPuff Chalking Inks - Bloody Mary

Other Supplies Used:

Rub-Ons: American Crafts

Flowers, Flourishes: Prima

Gems: Creative Charms

Crackle Accents: Ranger

Embossing Powder: Hampton Arts

Metal: Making Memories

Other: Cardstock, brad, tulle, lace,

Memories

Happy Saturday! I am back with another Tin Type project! The last time I posted at Quick Quotes, I showed you how to make a girly layout out of the Tin Type Line. This time, I decided to make a page for my son's scrapbook so this one is definitely more masculine!

These pictures were taken during a stop on our Spring Break Cruise in 2010 to San Juan Puerto Rico. The walls, windows and doorways of this old fort made the perfect background for photos. The Tin Type Paper Collection had the perfect colors to complement the photos!

I love this bird! It is part of the Bag O' Chips Birds collection. I colored him by using PowderPuff Chalking Inks. I started by inking the belly of the bird with Lemonade. I then inked the rest of the bird with Blue Moon. I added some fabric accents to perch him on!

I made this banner with white muslin that I inked with PowderPuff Chalking Ink in Mango Mai Tai. After the banner was assembled, I added a little Mocha Mama around the edges! I added a little denim with copper brads and my banner was complete!

Did you notice the way I matted the main photo? I layered a lot of the darker shades of Tin Type paper for this layout and I wanted something that was a lighter shade for showcasing the photo but white cardstock was too stark. Here is a little trick that I sometimes like to use!

I started by ripping a page out of a really old book. (It really doesn't matter what it says because you won't be able to read it when you are done!) I also picked out 2 coordinating colors of PowderPuff Ink Chalks.

Starting with the lighter color (I used Green with Envy) lightly ink around the edges of the page. There is no need to ink the center of the page since it will be hidden behind the photo.

Next I took the darker shade (Blue Moon) and inked the very edge of the paper applying a little more on the corners.

Once I was done inking the page, I lightly misted it with water.

 I then carefully scrunched the corners and edges of the paper. During this process, your colors will start to blend together and have a much softer look. The paper will tear easily when it is wet so handle with care!

Once you have it all wrinkled up just the way you like it, it is time to flatten the paper out. This is also a great time to add a few tears and distressing marks along the edges to really give it that aged and distressed look. Allow to dry completely before adhering it to your layout.

This is the same technique I used to make the flowers on this layout. You can find the entire post Here!

I hope you enjoyed my tips! Have a great weekend!

Barb :) 

Quick Quotes Products Used:

Tin Type - 100, 200, 300, 400

Quote - Tin Type 500

PowderPuff Chalking Inks -  Amaretto, Green with Envy, Blue Moon, Mango Mai Tai, Lemonade, Biscotti, Mocha Mama

Chipboard - Bag O' Chips Birds

Other Supplies Used:

Denim

Muslin

Brads

Page of book

3 Reasons

Happy Friday everyone! I have been anxiously waiting for today to arrive! We are introducing one of our New Design Teams over at Frosted Designs! This may quite possibly be the most talented team of designers we have put together and we can't wait to share them with you! Be sure to check them out Here!

Alright... time to talk about our new challenge! This week for Frosted Designs Fabulous Friday challenge, we are asking you to use Numbers! That's it! Our design team came up with some very creative ways of doing this from number words to calendars to clocks to book marks!

For my layout, I decided to do a Top 3 list. Lauren completely, and totally adored her third grade teach, Mrs. Parker, so I had to do a layout about it!

I recently invested in a couple Epiphany Crafts button makers and I am completely in love with them! I used the square one to make the numbers stand out on the layout! Love it!

Thanks for stopping by today and be sure to stop over at Frosted Designs to see the first of four teams we will be introducing to you in the next few week!

I will be back tomorrow with a Quick Quotes post!

Barb  :)