Friday, February 17, 2012

Add-on Sketch Week

TGIF!  I am SO looking forward to this weekend ... this long weekend.  Hurray for Family Day!

My project for the Feb Add-on Sketch went up today ... http://www.sketchsupport.com/2012/02/add-on-week-part-5.html

So, here's the sketch ...

Add-on Sketch #14



And here is what I did with it ...

"Garden Beauty" by Michele Edwards
Supplies - Cardstock: American Crafts, Bazzill; Patterned paper: Jillibean, ProvoCraft; Embellishments: Recollections (small sunflowers), Jolees (ladybug and ant stickers); Alphabets: Cricut (Plantin Schoolbook and Calligraphy Collection); Ink: Tim Holz; Floss: DMC; Sketch: Scrapbook Generation

Every year it happens, the winter blues. I long for the bright sunny days, and for my garden. I confess that I've spend hours looking at the online seed catalogues, planning my next garden!

Variations

1. I used the add-on to embellish a two-page layout.

2. Instead of hearts, I created stems with leaves and flowers. I made an accordian sun-flower, and re-created the swirl in the seeds using string.


Thanks for looking!  Enjoy your weekend!

Saturday, February 11, 2012

Two-Page Sketch Week

I'm a little late posting this week, another crazy week.

My layout went up on Sketch Support on Tuesday, but I've not had a chance to post it myself.  I barely got my next project into Allison before the deadline!

Here it is, Two-Page Sketch #25.



Oh, I love this sketch!  I had all kinds of great ideas.  I was going to combine the photoblock into one giant picture ... and I even printed that picture, and then cut it wrong.  I didn't have the time to deal with it.  So I ended up with just this one ... which is so very cute!  These pictures were taken during the early part of March 2011 when Alfie was still the new guy!


"Puppy Love" by Michele Edwards
Supplies - Cardstock: Bazzill, Bo Bunny; Patterned Paper: Basic Grey; Embellishments: Micro Beads from DeSerres, Paw prints are Jolees; Ribbon: KaiserCraft; Alphabets: Cricut (Plantin Schoolbook); Floss: DMC; Misc: Glossy Accents

Variations

1. I loved the photo sizes in the sketch, and so didn't change them, I simply rearranged a few of them. I matted the entire photo block.

2. I used ribbon for the vertical paper strips on the left side of the page. I tied a cute little bow near the top.

3. I wanted the title to appear wet, like the letters were just lavished with puppy kisses, so I coated them with Glossy Accents.


I used the microbead encrusted heart as the 'O' in the word LOVE, and floated the letters over the layout.

4. I removed the journaling strips.

5. Instead of flower embellishments on the right page, I stitched a curvey line across the layout and then placed little paw prints along its length.

Enjoy!

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Sketch Support - Feb Card Sketch (and some extra info)

It's card sketch week over at sketch support ... and it's all about hearts, lots and lots of hearts!  Please, pleeeese, head over to sketch support and have a look at what the creative team has done with this!  http://www.sketchsupport.com/2012/02/card-week-part-4.html

I made a special layout featuring my husband!  And for anyone who wants to know how I made my accordian hearts, stick around!

So, here's the sketch ...

Card Sketch #16



And here's my take on it ...


"MAN, Ohhh Man" by Michele Edwards
Supplies - Cardstock: Bazzill; Patterned Paper: Basic Grey and Fancy Pants; Embellishments: Bling by Basic Grey; Alphabets: Cricut (Plantin Schoolbook and Calligraphy Collection); Floss: DMC.

My husband and I celebrated our 20th year together last week and I wanted to make a layout just for him! I love how this turned out.

Grid Variations

1. Instead of a card, I made a two-page layout.

2. I made a grid with nine squares on the right page and filled each grid with square of paper and either a heart shaped photo or an accordian heart with a bling center.


I made the accordian hearts while at a crop at my favorite scrapbook store.  I sat next to an extremely talented designer, Shelby, who said that I'd better be ready to explain how I made them.  She's so good for my confidence!  I am still a little surprised ... I'd like to thank everyone for their very kind comments.

So, without further ado, a very quick lesson.

Really, all you need is a template.  I cut a strip of paper ~1.5" by 12" and folded it length-wise.  Then I used my template and marked my heart ... the fold will be the bottom tip.  Then I cut along the curvy line.


The rest is pretty much the same as an accordian flower.  I used a score-pal, but you don't need to ... I scored the paper every 1/4" along it's length.


Then I folded it in the classic accordian style.  I think you can see where this is going!



I glued the two ends together ... let it dry thoughly, this is the weakest link and if you don't glue it well and let it dry, it'll pop open later.  While it's drying you'll need some waste paper, round pop-dots and Glossy Accents.  I cut a circle with my waste paper and adhered a pop-dot in the center.  Believe me, it's easier to have the pop-dot, it helps maintain the shape of the heart for the next step.


Now, practice ... place your accordian over the pop-dot and gently push the center together until all the folds touch the pop-dot in the center.  Once you have a feel for it, remove the accordian and squeeze a thick band of Glossy Accents around the circle about mid-way between the pop-dot and the edge of the circle.  You could use glue, but glue takes longer to dry.  Again, gently position the heart around the pop-dot (and onto the bead of Glossy Accents) and hold until dry (yeah, that's the fun part!)  If you are using Glossy Accents it does not take more than a few minutes.  The picture on the left shows the glued / dryed heart.  Finally, adhere some bling or a button, or whatever makes you happy ... cause you're DONE.


I realized (now) that I've gone on and on ... but I made a lot of mess before I got the first one finished.  If you can improve on this, I'd love to hear about it.

Finally, the big red heart on my layout was made with cardstock.  A word here ... DON'T do that, it's just too thick and it's a real battle to glue together.  For that, I used a scrap paper almost as big as the heart ... and lots of Glossy Accents.

Enjoy!