A Picture in Picture Layout

The Layout
I hope you had a great Mother's Day yesterday! Besides celebrating Mother's Day this weekend, I also went to a National Scrapbook Day crop at my LSS, Pages from the Heart. Before working on any DT projects, I made sure my first project was one just for fun. Here are my two doggies frolicking in the backyard.

The App
I recently installed a free photo app on my phone called PIP Camera, which takes fun picture in pictures. Here are some sample pictures which I took during the NSD crop.

I took this of myself to text to my friend who was late in arriving to the crop. I was kind of embarrassed to be taking a picture of myself, but no one at the crop even batted an eye. I guess selfies are so commonplace.

When my friend, Becky, did arrive I took this to show her the app. 

I see now that she is drinking and texting and not scrapping. The store owner came by and said, "It's Becky in a bottle." And I replied, "Yes, don't rub her the wrong way." So that is a little taste of what goes on at our crops.

The Details

I really love all the sketches on Paper Secrets' blog so I used the May 1st sketch as the starting point for my layout. 

Besides using their sketch, Paper Secrets always add a twist to their challenges. This time the twist is to use a Polaroid on your layout.

I started by taking pictures of my doggies using a frame from the PIP Camera App that looked like a Polaroid picture. Here is a picture of Hanxi that I didn't end up using.

After I had everything laid out, I realized that I had forgotten to pack any letters for the crop. Luckily there was a set of glitter Thickers in the paper kit that I brought. Also luckily, it was the right scale and color for the layout. Becky gave me the mini alphas and another friend, Ruby gave me a key. Thanks ladies!

 

Upon returning home, I looked through some wooden embellishments that I had because I knew I had a camera. What I didn't know was that there was a Polaroid camera too! I added a small piece of photo paper to simulate the photo magically appearing. I remember thinking when I was a kid that Polaroid cameras were so awesome. I guess everything comes full circle. 

Supplies

Cardstock - Bazzill Basics

Patterned Paper - American Crafts (Amy Tangerine, Dear Lizzy 5th & Frolic)

Chipboard Die Cuts - American Crafts (Dear Lizzy Neapolitan)

Wood Die Cut -  Studio Calico

Foam Letters - American Crafts Thickers

Mini Alphabet Stickers - Doodlebug Design Inc. 

Punches - Creative Memories (Hearts), EK Success (paw print)

Ribbon - May Arts

Chalk Ink - Prima Marketing Inc. 

Pen - Sharpie

Dimensional Glaze - Inkssentials (Glossy Accents)

Brads - Creative Impressions

Metal Key - miscellaneous 

I'm entering this in:

Paper Secrets - May 1st Sketch

Incy Wincy Designs Challenge - Animal Antics

Get Inky! Challenge - #4 Die-Cuts

Make it Monday - #140 Anything Goes

Thanks so much for stoppin' by,

Lulu's Arrival Layout

The Reveal

I ordered a Schipperke puppy from Ohio, because I couldn't find a local breeder in Southern California, so I had a few photos of going to the airport to meet and pick up my dog for the first time. She flew in a tiny carrying case and I picked her up from the airline's freight section. I wanted a sunburst in the background to match my welcome to L.A. theme, but it just happened to be a gray and rainy day. I decided to use my initial concept anyways. 

The Tutorial

I worked with Bo Bunny's Detour collection for Pages from the Heart. I was thinking up different ways to utilize the 6 x 6" paper pad. The 6 x 6" size is too small to cover the entire width of a 12" cardstock. What I did was cut out a smaller piece of cardstock around 6 x 10," created the sunburst on the smaller cardstock and stitched it onto the larger background piece.

Here is a mini tutorial on creating your own sunburst or sunrise background. This is a great way to use up all your loose scraps of papers. 

1. On a piece of scratch paper the size of your sunburst, draw out your rays. Number the sections for easier identification later. 
2. Cut along the rays to make some templates. 
3. Place your patterned paper over a piece of the ray and cut according to the template. 
4. Arrange your newly cut pieces and adhere. Stitch along the seams for a quilted look. 

At this point the layout still looked a little plain, so I added a cluster of embellishments. I cut some arrows from the patterned paper and arranged the strips like a row of banners. I used a circle punch on some travel vehicles from another sheet of patterned paper, adhered them onto circular punched cardstock and added some Glossy Accent on top. This made them look like epoxy stickers. 

The Challenges

Last week I entered my New Orleans layout in one photo layout challenge with Scrap Your Story's blog. I was a Top 3 Winner, and you can view the winning layouts here. This week their challenge theme is animals so I am entering Lulu's layout. If you have an animal themed layout, then join in the fun here. 

I'm also entering this in these challenges:

Deep Ocean Challenge Blog - Cute and Cuddly 

Tuesday Alchemy - Anything Goes

Thanks so much for droppin' by,

Paper Made Bakery: Would You Like a Spot of Tea

The Reveal
With this month's stamp set at PMB being beverage themed, I had tea on my mind, so I decided to make a tea packet card. The envelope is the tea packet which you open by lifting the front panel upwards to reveal a pouch inside, in which the tea bag shaped card rests. For more info. and photos about this project, please see today's post at Paper Made Bakery.

Monthly Summary
I made 7 projects this month using my Warms Your Heart Kit. Here is a look at my previous 6 projects.

If you want further details on any of these projects, click on the title below.

• Love Potion #9
• Wine Bottle Topper
• Sweethearts Candy Card
• Always Tag and Envelope
• Dog Layout
• Valentine Spinner Card

My double term with Paper Made Bakery ends today, so these will be the last of my PMB kit projects. I've really enjoyed working with this company and design team, and highly recommend their kits. It has been really fun and a great challenge for me to use a card kit in different ways, beyond just card making.

Stay tuned to see what other endeavors I'll be tackling in the future. 

Thanks so much for stoppin' by,

Paper Made Bakery: Lil' Miss Sunshine

After 14 years together, my fluffy bundle of sunshine passed away last week. What does a scrapper do during the grieving process? The natural reaction is to scrap my memories of her on a layout. Here is Lili in all her doggie glory.

I'm using Sketches in Thyme's January sketch #98.

For my supplies I used, Paper Made Bakery's "Warms Your Heart" card kit. A card kit can easily be adapted into a layout kit by just adding a 12 x 12" cardstock as a base. It was also fun taking a tea/coffee stamp set and using it for a pet theme. For more details on this layout, please see today's post on Paper Made Bakery's blog. 

I'm entering this in Life. Paper. Scrapbook.'s color challenge #1. 

Thanks so much for stoppin' by,

ScrapFIT Reveal: Mini-Pics

The Workout:
It is time for another scrappy workout! The guidelines for today's workout at ScrapFIT are as follows:

Workout #58- Mini Pics 

     It seems when something is smaller than normal size, it makes it better or cuter!  For this Workout you will need to work with Mini Pictures!  They need to be wallet size or smaller – you can have any many or as few as you would like. 

     You will have until December 31st to link up your layout or project to the Mr Linky for a chance to win!  Don't forget about Workout #57 - Word Of The Year - you have until December 31st to enter this Workout as well.

My Reveal:

I love layouts with multiple photos, so I decided to try and see how many I could get away with on one page. So without further ado, let me introduce you to my doggies who graciously posed for this photo spread.

Workout #58: Mini-Pic Layout

The concept behind this was that I've seen a lot of photo templates for sale, especially for digital scrappers. I decided to make my own photo collage using QuarkXPress. Here is a screenshot of what I came up with:

Designing a Photo Collage

I can now change out the photos if I like these measurements for another layout. The photos print out as one giant photo which make it really easy to work with on the page. Usually I have to glue all the little pictures individually and try to get them to line up straight. 

The Details:

At this point, I thought the photos looked too grid-like on the page and needed some cute elements to balance it out. I decided to build a doghouse to surround the collage. I used several different Bella Blvd. lines that had the patterns I wanted, like wood grains and stripes to paper piece the doghouse. 

I cut strips of striped paper and then tore them into smaller pieces to simulate sawed off planks of wood. Then I used Imaginisce Glam Rocks to look like nail heads. 

Wooden planks in the doghouse roof

I raised different elements of the page to make it look more 3D, like the roofline and the doggie door. I also used the door as my title block which I also designed and printed from QuarkXPress.

Doggie door and title block

For the embellishments, I created a scene by cutting out different designs from the patterned papers. I popped up some pieces for a layered look and used Glossy Accents on the dog's eye. 

Scenery embellishment cluster

There wasn't a lot of room for journaling since the photos took up most of the space, so I grouped some journaling spots in a cluster and labeled the basics. 

Journaling spots

The Prize:

If you like working with mini-pics, then link your creation to today's post for a chance to win another great kit from Paper Lovelies, an online crafting supply site.

Sponsor for this workout's prize

The prize this week will feature the "Old School" collection from Pink Paislee.

The prize for Workout #58

Hope you are getting your crafting and Christmas shopping done.

Thanks for stopping by,

A ScrapFIT Reveal: Technically Inclined

The Workout
Here are the details to the workout challenge posted today on ScrapFIT's blog:

Workout #56 -  Technically Inclined 

Oh, how we all love our technical gadgets!  Computer, iPods, iPads, Wii, DS, Smart Phone, Digital SLR Camera and soooo many more!  What technical gadget do you hold dear to your heart? Show us and tell us why you can't live with out it! You will have until November 30th to link your layout to today's post for a chance to win a kit from Burlap & Buttercups!

My Interpretation

I did have a hard time with this topic, even though I use these items, I don't really feel like celebrating them. Usually I'm frustrated with them and admire the Amish and Luddites. This week we had a lot of trouble with our internet and kept getting dropped. After a lot of trouble shooting and text support, our provider sent several technicians out and one ran a new line to our house due to squirrel damage as the line runs through some trees. Who would have thought that was the source of the problem? Nature and technology collide.

Technically Inclined Layout

The Details
After a lot of brainstorming, I finally settled on an iPad game app. I chose the pet theme purely from a design standpoint as I wanted a cute layout. If I chose just the iPad, I didn't want to scrap a photo of an inanimate object. I did paper piece a white iPad and made that my title block. I put letter stickers on a piece of transparency and popped that up over a mirrored silver paper so make it more like a screen. The letters reflect on the surface below. I used some brads and Glam Rocks for the buttons. 

iPad Title Block

For a related embellishment, I made a wifi signal strength icon. I used a felt flower sticker as the base and hand stitched the curved lines for the reception strength. 

Wifi Signal Strength

 To balance out the embellishments, as I like to have three groupings, I put a cluster of hearts along the main photo. There was blue button on the felt heart sticker, which didn't match, so I colored over it with a violet Copic marker, which actually made it look brown. I hand cut two hearts, one slightly smaller than the other and hand stitched them together along the middle seam, for an accompanying 3D embellishment.

Heart Cluster

The paper collection and metal Glam Rocks are from Imaginisce and the felt stickers are from Pebbles. It is actually from a pack of cat themed stickers (don't tell the doggies), but the colors matched so perfectly so I used them in conjunction with Imaginisce's fall line. I used a single paged sketch from Sketch Support. 

Journaling Strips

The Prize

If you are unlike me and really love technology and want to scrap about it, please do so and link your creation by November 30th to today's post on ScrapFIT for a chance to win this gorgeous kit from Burlap & Buttercups. 

Burlap & Buttercups' Prize Package

Take care and happy scrappin',

A Sassy New Design Team

Sassy Lil' Sketches

I've missed being on a sketch design team since I finished my term with Sketchabilities, so I applied and got on another design team called Sassy Lil' Sketches. It is worth is just to be on that team so I can say I'm a Sassy Lil' designer. They release a new sketch every week for cards and layouts, along with DT samples. Feel free to peruse the site for great ideas or you can participate by linking your own creations to the sketch post for a chance to win monthly prizes or load your projects into the gallery. I'll only be posting one layout a month, on the 4th Tuesday, starting at the end of August. I've been using their sketches of late for myself anyways so it won't be too taxing.

Cindy Layout
My recent Cindy layout was based on the June 14th Sassy sketch.

Cindy Layout

Christmas Layout

I also made a Christmas layout after I was inspired by the May 21st reveal. Here is the sketch:

I saw the stacked photos as a column of presents and interspersed the photos among them. I also moved the vertical strips from the right to the left side of the page so it balanced out the stack of presents.  

Christmas Layout

I changed the circle with the journaling on top into a house with journaling since it matched my Christmas theme better. The house was actually the packaging for some ribbon. I glued some small pictures onto the windows. I drew the wood trim with a black pen onto the photos. I cut the shutters so they open a bit. 

Journaling on House Background

Here is a close up of one window.

Window and shutters

On top of the presents, I drew a giant bow and had the ribbon cascade down the presents. I colored it in with some Stickles glitter glue. 

Stickles Bow

Feel free to interpret a sketch however you want. This wasn't specifically a Christmas sketch, nor were these Christmas papers or embellishments. I used the Neighborhood collection from Crate Paper.  

I'll be back with an official Sassy reveal on August 23rd. In the meantime, be sure to check out the site and be inspired by all the versatile sketches and gorgeous layouts. 

Take care,

A Tribute to Cindy

Undeniably Cindy

Last photo of Cindy (black dog)

I wanted to make a better tribute page to Cindy, my little loyal friend who passed away a few years back. I felt a bit undeserving of her fierce loyalty. She'd follow me from room to room and spring into action at any sign of a threat. One vivid memory I can recall was when she was sprawled out in front of my bedroom door, like she was asleep. As soon as my dad approached and knocked, she leapt into action, barked and attacked his socks. It make two holes in them too. I thought he would be mad, but he actually admired her alert guard dog behaviors. She did tear up a lot of sheets and socks with her unnecessary protectiveness towards friends and family, but it did come in handy when I was asleep by myself and burglars broke in. Overall, I appreciated her steadfast loyalty. She would be sitting underneath my desk right now as I type this if she was still here.


Top Ten Reasons to Love Cindy
I typed out a top ten list for Cindy. But mostly the reasons show her concern for me and wouldn't endear her to anyone else. Don't get a schipperke if you want a friendly, social dog that can be easily petted by visitors. People could pet Cindy if they followed a set protocol, but mostly people don't want to follow rules, so she just ignored them. But she was sweet to me, and here she is:

In Memoriam of Cindy

The top ten list:

Reasons to love Cindy

The Details
I layered another banner above the banner printed on the paper and overlapped it with the photo.

3-D banner

Here is the title which I hand cut another black layer underneath to create a shadow. I paper pieced a ball to look like the one she would play with when she was a puppy.

Title and embellishments

The Sketch

I found a new sketch site that has weekly layout and card sketches, along with monthly prizes if you link your projects. This is based on Sassy Lil' Sketches, June 14th reveal. 

Variations:

• I did a mirror image of the sketch because of direction Cindy and I were facing in the main photo. 
• Instead of journaling strips, I made a journaling block because I had more to say. I replaced two of the background blocks with one larger journaling block.
• I added three photos in place of the squares. To break up the look, I added some ribbon, twine and buttons to three of the patterned paper squares. 

Cindy was a good little dog. Thanks for looking.