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  :)

Life is But a Dream...

Hello! I am thrilled to be sharing my first project with you as a Quick Quotes Designer!

Quick Quotes has so many gorgeous lines of paper out right now and I couldn't wait to get started with designing with them. First up... Tin Type! This line is gorgeous!  The colors and designs are fabulous! Now, when I first saw this line, I thought boy. Everything about it seemed masculine to me. Well, one thing you should know about me is that I like to do the unexpected! So, I challenged myself to make a "girly" layout using this line! And I have to say, I love the results! 

I used a square punch to cut a few squares out of each of the Tin Type papers. Because these are double sided papers, I ended up with twice as many designs! Love that! I inked the squares using Mocha Mama and Green with Envy PowderPuff Chalking Inks. After adhering them to the cardstock background, I used my sewing machine to stich borders on the squares. I matted my photo with a piece of burlap using brads to hold the photo and burlap together.

The butterfly is from the Butterflies Bag O' Chips. I love, love, love these chipboard embellishments! They are light weight and with the butterfly, I could bend the wings up to make it appear as though it is ready to fly right off my layout! I colored this butterfly quickly by using the Mai Tai PowderPuff Chalking Ink. I also used the coordinating phrase from the Tin Type Line. I loved the journaling prompt it gave me. I have a daughter who as major dreams (seriously, if you listened to her, you would never know she is only 9!) and this was perfect for her layout!

Here you can see all the different patterns used! Gorgeous! I also wanted to tell you about the flowers I made. I took a page out of a very old book and inked it up with the Lemonade and Mai Tai Powderpuff Chalking Inks. I then spritzed the page with water and wrinkled it all up. (Warning... the paper will be fragile and tear easily so scrunch with care!) I straightened the paper out and let it dry. Once it was dry, I cut out the flower shape, added a smaller flower on top, denim behind and secured it all together with a brad.

Thanks for stopping by and visiting!

Quick Quotes Supplies used:

Tin Type Paper Collection: TI100, TI200, TI300, TI400, TI500

PowderPuff Chalking Inks: Lemonade, Mai Tai, Green with Envy, Mocha Mama

Bag O'Chips: Butterflies

Other supplies used:

Cardstock: Bazzill

Burlap and Denim fabrics

Flowers: Michaels 

Brads

Machine Stitching

Journal Pen: Copic

Shape it up!

Happy Friday everyone! Do you have any scrappy plans this weekend?! Frosted Designs has a challenge to whip you into shape!! Okay... that might be a bit extreme but our challenge this week is Shape it up x3! We would like to see you take a geometric shape (circle, square, triangle, etc.) and use it at least 3 times on your card, layout, or project! I was seriously blown away by what our design team did with this challenge... make sure you head over to Frosted Designs for some amazing inspiration! Here is my layout...

This was so much fun to do... I used circles multiple times and I also used 3 rectangles (the pictures) for my shape it up challenge! The paper is from Simple Stories... have I told you yet how much I love their paper?! This is the Days of Summer line! Love it!!

The photos are from our camping adventure this summer! My entire family (parents, sisters, brother in laws, neices, nephews, brother...)  went on this trip because this is how my parents wanted to spend their 50th anniversary. I know what you are thinking... seriously?! I know if I make it to my 50 yr. anniversary, it is going to be more of an Italy, Australia, Africa kind of trip!! lol!!

We would love to see you play along with us at Frosted Designs! Be sure to link up your project for a chance to win this week's prize! Click HERE to get the details!

Have a crafty weekend!

Barb  :)

Birthday Cards!

We have a few birthdays coming up in our family so I thought I would get a jump start on making the cards. I recently picked up the Simple Stories Happy Day kit and oh my word!! It has so many great papers and journaling cards and stickers and.... you get the idea! So, after playing around a bit, here is what I created!

This card was quick and easy to make! I love that this paper line works well for masculine cards as well as feminine. Sometimes making cards for the men in my life can be challenging but this line makes it so easy!

This card was a little more challenging but well worth the effort! I used one of the transparencies that came in the kit. I cut a rectangle just smaller than the transparency from the front of my card. I then glued the transparency to the back of the cut out. I found an extra large journaling section and cut out the middle and glued this to the front of the card.

 I pop dotted the title "celebrate" and the cupcake to the front of the card. I then added some details to the inside of the card. This is the part that was tricky because everything can be seen from the front.

I wanted a place to write a message so I added a flap with room to write under the banner section. I also added some swirls for the cupcake and a happy birthday message! When it was finished, I was thrilled with the way it turned out! I really wish I could show it to you IRL... it looks so much nicer! Hopefully the people receiving these cards like them!

Have a happy Tuesday and a great week!

Barb  :)

The Best Recess and Blog Hop Winner!

Thank you to everyone who played along and hopped along during our Frosted Designs Love Is In The Air Blog Hop! I want to welcome my new followers... it's great to see you here and hope that you enjoy the things I share!

It's Friday and that means that there is a new challenge at Frosted Designs! This week we are asking you to use Brads and/or Eyelets on your cards, layouts and projects! Here is a layout I created that uses a variety of brads!

I used brads from several manufacturers on this one.... Making Memories, Fancy Pants, and K&Co.!

We would love to see what you can do with brads and eyelets.

Link up your project over at Frosted Designs for a chance to win this weeks prize!

And as promised... I have a winner from last week's blog hop!

Congratulations to Angi Barrs!

Angi... email (barb.craft@att.net) me your mailing address so that I can get your prize out to you!

Have a great weekend!  :)

Button Wall Art

Wow! It has been a busy week around here! But a good kind of busy! When I finally had a few minutes to sit down in my studio, I really wasn't in the layout mood but knew I wanted to do something creative. I started looking around and stumbled upon a huge tin of buttons that my grandmother had saved. When my dad and his siblings wore out their clothes (which they truly did.... if they out grew it, it got passed on to a sibling who then passed it on... you get the idea!) my grandmother would cut off the buttons and save them. Well, this was good for me because my mother passed this tin on to me and the buttons are amazing! The first night I had them, Lauren and I spent an evening just looking through them! Anyway, I got out the buttons and then found an old frame (that I had painted and sanded and inked!). I created a background out of burlap and got busy! This is what I created...

I made a B since that is the first letter of my parent's last name. I plan to give this to them. I think Dad will like it since all of the buttons belong to him and his siblings!

I added in a few epoxy buttons I made with my Epiphany Craft's button maker. I liked the way I could add some patterned paper to break up the solid colors of the buttons. To fill in some space, I used the pearls that I found in that tin of buttons!

Thanks for stopping by! Be sure to hop on over to Frosted Designs... we announced our new Design team earlier today!

Pin It

Today is my day!

Happy Valentine's Day!

I am so excited! Today is my day to be announced on the Quick Quotes Blog! I would love it if you stopped by and left a nice little comment! You can get there by clicking HERE!

Thanks! Barb  :)

Frosted Designs Love is in the Air Blog Hop!

Happy Friday everyone! Welcome to the Frosted Designs Love is in the Air Blog Hop! I am the first stop on the hop and I am so glad you are here! This week, our challenge is to use the word LOVE on your card, layout or project! How sweet it that?! I recently picked up the new Echo Park Yours Truly Collection. I actually got it to make a few altered art projects for my daughter's Paris themed room but couldn't resist making a layout with it too!

I don't usually use pink when I do layouts that have my husband in them but I really love the way this one turned out! Would you like to win these papers so you can make your own "LOVE" layout?! Well... guess what! I am giving this set away!

This prize includes the complete Echo Park Yours Truly collection pack, Thickers white chipboard alphabet, ribbon and a package of brads!! All you have to do to be entered into the random drawing is become a follower and leave a comment! Easy Peasy!!

Also... to win one of the prize packs on the Frosted Designs Blog, you need to collect a phrase that you will email to Diana. (danica4us@yahoo.com) The first word in the phrase is......

FROSTED

Your next stop is Debbie's blog and you can get there by clicking HERE!

If you get lost along the way, you can find the complete list below or go to the Frosted Designs Blog! You have unitl noon (Central time) Thursday to complete the hop. If you enter a project in the challenge, you will be in the drawing for another prize! Thanks for stopping by and happy hopping!

Frosted Designs

                        Barb - You are here!
Debbie
Ann 

Joanne 

Lydia

Angela

Teresa

Erin R.

Kelly

Erin B

Boys Rule Scropbook

Melissa

Beverly

Some Valentine's Love!

This week has just flown by! I have been really busy with projects but most of them can't be shared here just yet! But.... I do have a few cards I made for my daughter's for Valentine's Day. Would you like to see them?! (I know it is safe to post them here because they never check my blog!!)

The tag is hidden by the bow a bit in the photo but it says "Luv U"!

And here is my "XOXO" card!

I think they are perfect for my two oldest daughters and each card fits their personality! I will send these along with some goodies for Valentine's Day!

Would you like to win the papers I used for these cards?! Stop by tomorrow... it is the first day of the Frosted Designs Love Is In The Air Blog Hop! We will be giving away some great prizes on the Frosted Designs blog and then several of the designers are offering prizes as well! You don't want to miss it!!

And before I go, I wanted to share a few accomplishments this week!

My Winter Fun LO was featured on the Create blog this week! You can see it HERE!

And my Her Heart Belongs to Daddy LO was picked as a Top 10 on the DCWV blog. You can see it HERE!

It is always fun to create but sometimes it's nice to hear that other people like your work too!  :)

The Bestest Grandparents!

Happy Friday everyone! I can't believe it is February already! Where has the time gone?! I am a little happy and sad today... happy that my baby girl (who is actually  my oldest but will always be my baby!) is celebrating her 22nd birthday today! I'm a little sad because that reminds me that I am getting really old!! heehee!! Anyway.... Happy Birthday Courtney!

Now on to this week's challenge at Frosted Designs! We are challenging you to use ribbon and/or twine on your cards, layouts or project. I don't know about you but I have plenty of this laying around my office! My kids are so lucky to have such wonderful grandparents and they are truly blessed to still have all of them in their lives. Both sets of grandparents are healthy and love to do things with the kids! I found these photos of when Lauren was pretty little and we all spent the day at the zoo. For the layout I focused on my parents with Lauren and her cousins Brayden and Emmy!

The photo in the upper right is one of my all time favorites. Lauren wanted to feed the geese so bad but everytime one came near, she would be too afraid to hold her hand out. Finally, my dad went over and held her hand, assuring her that she wouldn't get bitten. Eventually she gave in and when that goose finally ate some corn out of her hand, she squealed with delight! It was such a tender moment! And I also love the photo of my mom walking with Lauren while she took her pony ride! Lauren loved having Grandma (instead of mom) walk with her! I love having these photos to document a special day!

Okay... enough about my family! Now we would love to see what you can do! Stop over at Frosted Designs to check out all the inspiration the Design Team provided and then link up your project for a chance to win this week's prize!

Kauai Layouts!

Even though we have had some amazing weather the past few weeks (70+ degrees), I am still longing to go to a beach! Last year, for spring break, we took the kids to Kauai and had the best time! So... I thought I would share a couple of layouts I created....

We actually got everyone to stand still long enough to get this family shot! Too bad Courtney and Kristin couldn't get away from their college classes to come along. We missed them not being there.

And this picture was taken one evening on the beach. Lauren and I were down playing around and started snapping a few pictures. I love her sweet smile in this photo! I really kept the layout simple. In fact, I didn't even use a title because I wanted all the attention on the photo and not on the embellishments. I think the papers worked great for the sunset!

Thanks for letting me share a few of my vacation pictures with you! I still have plenty of photos to scrap so I am sure you will be seeing more of this vacation!

Have a great week!

barb  :)

Ashley has a Giveaway!!!!

My crafty friend and fellow Design Team member at Frosted Designs is having a Giveaway on her blog! She is trying to reach 150 followers which I know will be no problem at all for her! She is extremely talented and full of great ideas! Be sure to check out her blog HERE for more details on how you can be entered to win this fabulous giveaway!

Good luck!

Winter!

It is Friday and that means that we have a new Fabulous Friday Challenge for you today at Frosted Designs! This week is a Recipe Challenge! I love these! For our challenge, you need to use: 3 Patterned Papers, 2 Buttons, 1 Word Title. It sounds pretty easy but I have to be honest... I really wanted to add in a few more patterned papers, couldn't find a spot where I liked the buttons and could not think of a one word title!! But... I guess that is why they call it a challenge!! :)  Here is the layout I created....

When we were visiting our family in Indiana over Christmas, we took an afternoon to go ice-skating at one of the city parks. This has become an annual outing with Lauren but this year Matt decided to come along. I am so glad he did! We all had so much fun! And then a few weeks ago, I got a phone call from my mother that she has all of these crocheted snowflakes that she was getting rid of and wondered if I wanted them! Uhhh... Yah!! I can't believe she even needed to ask! I couldn't wait to use them and this LO was perfect! I loved layering them with the Me & My Big Ideas acetate snowflakes! I added a few brads to hold it all together! And as you can see, I do have two buttons on here. They are the blue circles in the bottom right corner by the snowflakes. I put a gem on top of them to hide the holes! I love the way everything turned out!

I found this sketch at Creative Scrappers that was perfect for my photos....

We would love to have you join in the fun at Frosted Designs! And since we have 3 challenges (Fabulous Friday Challenge, Layout Sketch Challenge and the Card Sketch Challenge) going all the time, there is something for everyone! Come join the fun! And did I mention that all of our challenges give away great prizes?!! :)

Have a wonderful weekend!

Barb  :)