Happy Easter!

Wishing you all a glorious Easter Day!

This scrapbook page seemed perfect to share today!

These are some of my favorite photos of my granddaughter, Alyssa!  She was so cute in her Easter dress hunting for Easter eggs on the church lawn.  I really like how the wind twirled her skirt in the center photo. 

I chose 3 - 4 x 6" photos for this page. I've cut the edges of each one with the largest die template from Spellbinders™ S5-090 Romantic Rectangles.  It's the perfect size!  And adds such a nice touch!  Into each corner, I looped some sheer ribbon and fastened the ends behind the photo.  I added a pearl between the loops which makes it resemble a bow.

The border at the bottom of the page is made up of 5 of Spellbinders new Cut-Fold-Tuck shapes.  This one is from S5-011 Angle Approach.  It's the medium size shape in the set. I cut five of them from a soft mint colored paper from Echo Park that has a pink pattern on the back side. When the folds are made, the pink back side of the paper is visible.  I layered each Cut-Fold-Tuck square over a square of pink paper to show through the openings.  Each one is layered over a white square.  I added a tiny pearl from Want2Scrap to the center of each one.

At the very bottom and top of the page, there's a border of diamonds.  I used Spellbinders ES-001 Simplicity M-Bossabilities to emboss that pattern.  I cut the narrow strip of paper first.  Then I aligned it with one row of diamonds in the Simplicity M-Bossabilities folder and embossed it.  I repeated this process moving the strip in the folder until I had the whole thing embossed.  I sanded it lightly to bring out a little of the white core of the paper on the embossed edges.

The title letters were cut with the Spellbinders PP-001 Presto Punch using PT-F01 Plain Jane Capital and PT-F02 Plain Jane (Lower Case) alphabets.  I cut them from white Fun Foam and pink paper.  I glued the paper to the foam letters making my own dimensional letters!

I added a line of journaling under the title.  It's hand printed on a strip of vellum which recedes into the background of the page.

 

Have a wonderful Easter Day celebrating our risen Saviour!

-judy

Tiny Easter Baskets

I made these tiny Easter baskets to send off to my grandkids.  I was pressed for time so these are really simple!!!  I found paper in my stash that sort of coordinated......not that the kids would care!  Each basket is just big enough for a tiny collectible stuffed animal, a couple chocolate bunnies and some M & Ms.
The main part of each basket was cut with Spellbinders™ S5-077 Labels Twenty-Five #5 (#1 being the smallest).  I cut 2 - 2" squares for each end and a handle that's 3/4" x 8 1/2".

You can see the pieces in this photo.  I've made score lines for folding.  Each square is scored 1/4" along two opposite sides and 3/4" on one end across the 1/4" scores.  I've notched the intersection so the pieces will fit together when folded.  One square fits at each end of the basket with the 3/4" folded edges at the bottom. 
The Labels Twenty-Five is scored 3/4" from center on both sides as you see in the photo.  That area is the bottom of the basket. The ends become the sides.

Spellbinders S5-094 Labels and Tags

I used Scor-Tape™ to fasten each end in place as well as the handle.  Very simple! 

I added tags with their names, each tied on with some bakers' twine.  The tags are from Spellbinders S5-094 Labels and Tags, a new set deigned by Becky Fleck.
I tucked the goodies in each basket and slipped each one inside a clear acetate bag. I knew the candies wouldn't stay in the baskets through the mail! 





Wishing you all a blessed Easter!
-judy 

"So Pretty" Scrapbook Page

Hello everyone!   I have a scrapbook page to share today!  This is a page I created for Spellbinders back in January.  It's now in the gallery on their website so I can share it with you! 



I love this photo of my granddaughter!  She seems to be saying "Okay, Mom, I'll pose for a photo but hurry up so I can get back to playing!"  She's peaking out of an old tire at a playground.  She can play rough and tumble and keep up with her brothers or dress up pretty and play dolls.  No matter what, she's so pretty! 

I used 2 sizes of the Grand Dahlia for mats along side my photo.  I sanded the edges which revealed the white core of the paper and really defines the edges.  I also sanded edges of the hearts, title letters and buttons.  Yes, the buttons are die cut of paper, too!  Sanding the edges is one of my favorite techniques after embossing on any paper with a white core!   I used 2 sizes of Romantic Rectangles as mats on the other side of the photo for a touch of "lace"!  The journaling is hand printed on narrow strips of paper and then cut apart.  All the supplies are listed below.

Thanks for stopping!  I promise to have more posts this week!!!!  So stop back soon!

-judy

Supplies:

Spellbinders S5-090 Romantic Rectangles

Spellbinders LF-191 Grand Dahlia

Spellbinders S5-088 Sewing Elements

Spellbinders S5-089 Home Sweet Home

Spellbinders LF-014 Jewel Alphabet

KaiserCraft Lullaby paper

Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L - EZ-Runner

Glue Dots - Mini Glue Dots

White Cardstock

White Pearl Cotton

Black Calligraphy marker

Spellbinders 2012 DT Retreat

I spent a few days last week at the Spellbinders 2012 Design Team Retreat in Phoenix.  We had so much fun!!! What an awesome group of ladies!!!  So talented and so nice!!!  Miss them all!

Donna Salazar taught a class using her Spellbinders S5-085 Mixed Media Elements  and S5-086 Bitty Blossoms die template sets.  Looks like I'm the only one who didn't hold up my creation!!!

We're all dressed in black because it was photo day.

Here's my project!  Donna shared lots of tips for making the Bitty Blossoms.  Fun to play!

Here's a silly photo of my roommate, Teresa Horner, and me!

Heidi Van Laar was my table mate!  We sat next to each other for our class sessions.

Christine Emberson, Teresa, myself, and Iwona Estera out for dinner.

Back to reality......work and projects due!  Plus we're celebrating my dad's 85th birthday this weekend so family is coming on Thursday.  That means a bit of house cleaning, too!  Hoping for lots of creative inspiration to get my scrapbook page done in the next 2 nights!!! 

Thanks for stopping!

hugs,

judy

Happy St. Pat's Day!

A bit o'luck to you!

I've been way too busy with lots of different things in my life lately.......as you can tell as I haven't posted in a while!!!   No time to create somthing just for my blog.....  So I came across this card that I made several years ago.  It's probably the only St. Pat's day card I've ever made!!! 

The message is still good!!!!    

The shamrocks are made with Spellbinders S4-136 Classic Heart.  I used the smallest heart and cut 4 for each shamrock.  You can find my original post of this card and all the details here.

* * * * * * * 

May the sun always shine on your windowpane, May a rainbow be certain to follow each rain,
May the hand of a friend always be near you, May God fill your heart with gladness to cheer you!

Have a wonderful day!
-judy

A Little Art Book

Hello blogger friends!!!
Today, I have a mini book to share.

This little book had its start at CHA.  Whenever there was a tiny lull in booth traffic, I would try some of the new die templates that I hadn't tried at home.  I had been wanting to put together an art doll from Spellbinders S5-087 Mix'd Media Playtime ever since I saw the set!  So I started with her and then decided to put her on a mini book.  
Although the supplies were limited in the booth, there were a few unique products to try.  One was Engraving Art Board from Royal Langnickel.  That's what I used for the doll  cut with Spellbinders S5-087 Mix'd Media Playtime, "create" cut with S5-084 Girlie Grunge Labels, and small star cut with  S5-089 Home Sweet Home.  This product has a black coating over a metallic layer. It cuts and embosses beautifully.  A little sanding reveals the metallic color on all the embossed areas!  So easy!  I used copper but it also comes in gold and silver and several other colors.
The other product I tried was actual thin wood with a paper backing. I don't remember where this came from.  Margie was so kind to tell me the wood paper is from Creative Imaginations!This cut well, too!  I used it for the outer frame of the front cover and the back.  The wood grain isn't too obvious on the front since I added ink to it.  

Here you can see the grain on the back cover.  I think it would take Distress inks beautifully.  I only had pigment ink which is more opaque and didn't really stain the wood as I wanted.  

The top edge was cut with a new die template from Spellbinders S4-359 Office Supplies designed by Becky Fleck.  (My last post used the postage looking shape also from that set.)  This die template cuts the holes and irregular edge on one side.  I used it to cut off one end of the covers and pages that were cut with Spellbinders S5-077 Labels Twenty Five.  I used a piece of copper wire from Artistic Wire to weave through the holes.  It's not a very flexible hinge but I had to improvise!  Besides, I like wire especially copper wire!  Julianna was so kind as to let me have a piece!!!  The front cover is actually a frame cut with #4 and 5 Labels Twenty Five.  I cut a piece of DP to fit  behind. 

That's as much as I got done at CHA.  I added the ART tiles, little black star, gear and verse at home. 

The Scrabble like tiles were cut from black Shrink Plastic with copper StazOn inked through the die template.  Those pieces are also from Spellbinders S5-087 Mix'd Media Playtime.  Love how well the copper ink shows up after shrinking them!

The verse is a rubber stamp I've had in my collection a long time.  It's by Wordsworth.  I stamped it on glossy white paper with Ranger Archival Jet Black ink.  Then I cut it with the rectangular shape from S5-098 Jewel Stones.  Perfect size for this verse!  I inked it with some Distress inks....not sure what colors I used!

The little gear was leftover from some other project.  It was cut from copper color Craft Foil with  one of the gears from S5-048 Sprightly Sprockets.  I inked it with Archival Jet Black ink and then sanded it.

There are only 2 pages in this book.  I've inked them to match the cover.  As yet, I haven't added anything to the pages.  I really should add some inspiring verses or some journaling!

Thanks for stopping!  I hope you've enjoyed your visit! 

Happy creating!

-judy

A Fun Birthday Card

Here's a card I created for the March PageMaps newsletter. 

This card features the postage shape from a new Spellbinders set designed by Becky Fleck called S4-359 Office Supplies. Each month Becky is releasing a new set.  Office Supplies was released for February.   A new set was just released for March.  You can see it on the PageMaps or Spellbinders websites. 

If you'd like to see the March newsletter with more cards and scrapbook pages, click here.  Many of the Spellbinders DT created cards for the newsletter.

For this card, I used paper from Echo Park's Little Boy Collection except for one of the solid colors which is from the Little Girl collection.  The little stars were cut with a die template from Spellbinders S5-089 Home Sweet Home.  I love to sand the edges to bring out the white paper core. 

The pennant is from Spellbinders S5-029 Nested Lacey Pennants.  The birthday greeting is from Flourishes Birthday Pennants.  I stamped it with Ranger Denim ink and clear embossed it.  I've added a little knot of floss to the pennant and each star.

This was a fun card to put together!  I never work from a sketch so it was a new challenge.  It's certainly easier to just pick out the papers and then follow the sketch!   Of course, I did agonize over it a bit!!!  That's just me!

Have a super day! 
-judy

Winter is back

After a day of rain (yes, rain in Minnesota in February!!!) on Tuesday, winter returned! Our trees are covered with ice. Some roads are, too!
I snapped a few photos with my phone.....all unedited.

Branches of this rose bush bend to the ground with all the snow and ice.

....a snowy swing

A snowy garden!

Trees around the garden and weathervane garden art....

Another garden and trees.
It's pretty But i'm hoping for sun and warm temps to melt it all soon! Especially to clear up the roads.
Happy Creating!
Judy

Birthday Flowers

I found some time Monday (a day off from work!!!) to make a card for fun!!! 
Here's a birthday card featuring the new Bitty Blossoms, Spellbinders S5-086 by Donna Salazar.  The flower size is perfect for cards!

There are 3 sizes of flowers along with 3 leaf die templates in the  set.  I've used the 2 smaller flowers for this card.  The pink and yellow one are the same.  I added glitter to them after they were shaped.   For the greeting, I used a long pennant from S5-029 Nested Lacey Pennants.  The verse is from Waltzingmouse Fancy Phrases.  All papers are from the Carmen Collection by Anna Griffin.  I colored the pearl head pin with Copic marker E97.

Happy Creating!

-judy

Supplies:

Spellbinders S5-086 Bitty Blossoms

Spellbinders S5-029 Nested Lacey Pennants

Anna Griffin Carmen Collection paper

Waltzingmouse Fancy Phrases

Sparkle and Sprinkle Glitter - Sunny Daze, Starfire

Sparkle and Sprinkle Brushable Glue

Creative Impressions Yellow ribbon

Versafine Onyx Black ink

Glue Dots

Pearl head pin

Copic marker E97

Ivory Cardstock

Green Chalk

A Soft Blush Sympathy Card

I finally took some time to stamp for myself!  Hooray I have a card to share!

On Friday, after work, I stopped at my favorite stamp store and picked up a new set of JustRite stamps.  I hoped some new stamps would get me inspired to stamp!  I've been doing a lot of creating but mostly paper crafting or mixed media without stamping.  It's time I got back to it!
This card went together fairly quickly once I decided on papers and ink.  (I wish the project I worked on all yesterday afternoon had gone as well.....) 

 

When I bought the new stamps I also picked up a few 6 x 6" papers by Authentique.  Love these new papers created just for card makers......all small prints, all 6 x 6" 2-sided papers.  These 2 soft peachy papers seemed perfect for a sympathy card.  Unfortunately, I've needed a number of those lately.

Supplies:

JustRite "With Sympathy" stamp set

Spellbinders S5-077 Labels Twenty-Five #5-NEW

Spellbinders S4-310 Labels Eighteen #5

Spellbinders S4-110 Classic Ovals LG #3

Authentique Papers - Series One "Blush"
Want2Scrap - Baby Le Creme Pearls
Bazzill Card Base

Ranger Slate ink

Copic E04

White Cardstock

I stamped the frame first with Slate ink.  I was surprised how well this color coordinated with the papers!  Next, I aligned  Spellbinders Label Eighteen #5 around the stamped frame and taped it in place.  Then I placed the Classic Ovals #3 over the opening in the stamped frame, again taping it place.  I cut and embossed it.  I sanded the edges lightly to reveal the white core of the paper.
I stamped the verse on a scrap of white cardstock using Slate ink.  I simply trimmed the edges with a scissors to fit behind the frame and adhered it in place.
Next I cut the background printed paper with Spellbinders Labels Twenty-Five #5.  This is a new set from Spellbinders just released at CHA!  I like how well it layers with Labels Eighteen!  Again, I sanded the edges.  The white edge really adds interest and dimension!  It needed a little something at the top and bottom so I stamped the scrolls. I really like that JustRite included this scroll with a matching reverse image!  To get the placement I wanted, I laid the stamps on the frame just how I wanted them to stamp.  Then I carefully pressed an acrylic block onto the stamps.  Voila!!!  The stamps are aligned and ready to stamp.  I just needed to get them straight when I stamped them.  That's easy to do with clear stamps!  I added a few Want2Scrap pearls to the scrolls.  These I colored with Copic E04 to coordinate with the papers.

The card base is 3 1/2 x 6 1/4".  I stamped the same scrolls at each corner only aligned differetly.  I also stamped them off once before stamping on the card for a very soft color.

The verse with frame is mounted with foam tape.  I added pearls to the corners and on the sides. I stamped one of the verses from this same set on the inside. 

I think I'll make a few more of these out of different colors.  Then I'll have some on hand. 

Thank you for visiting!

Happy Creating!
-judy