Gams

Friday, January 31, 2014

A touch of sass: Card Kitchen Layout

Hi blog friends!  I'm back again today with another recent layout to share.  I was fortunate to win a 6 month subscription to The Card Kitchen kit club, sponsored by a contest for World Cardmaking Day on the Jillibean Soup blog.  It is so much fun to get a box of coordinated paper craft items in the mail each month!  While these kits are intended to cater to card makers, I have been mainly using the contents for scrapbook pages.  But the great thing about these kits is you are given so many supplies you can use them to make many, many different projects.  This one page used up only a very small fraction of what was available in the kit.

I loved one of the LilyBee papers included in the kit, which featured small bits of patterned from the entire collection.  That one single sheet, inspired the direction of my page.  Using a small square punch, I punched pieces from all of the papers in the kit and layered them onto a piece of cardstock that I had cut into a large heart shape.  At this point the patchwork design reminded me of a quilt, so I added zigzag stitching to completed the effect.

Supplies used: LilyBee - patterned paper, sticker label and letter stickers; My Mind's Eye - enamel dots; Simple Stories - snap journaling label; EK Success - border punch; Other: doily, Marmaletta font (title), Veteran Typewriter font (journaling), machine stitching.
I have always had a great fondness for these tiny LilyBee sticker letters, so I was thrilled to have a new set of them included in the kit.  A big, bold script font worked well with them to complete my title.
 

Here's a closer look at that patchwork heart, and the zigzag stitching - which I extended onto the background cardstock in some areas.  If you read the journaling, you'll get a peek into my little girl's personality at two!  Good thing she's so cute! ;)

 
Happy Friday!  Hope to see you back here soon!
 
 

Thursday, January 30, 2014

A layout about : #ME

I can't believe this is officially my first post of 2014!  December got away from me a bit due to a reoccurring case of pneumonia and a couple of days in the hospital over Christmas.  Unfortunately, the month of January has been almost just as much of a wash, as well.  I spent the first part of the month trying to take it easy and recover and the second half of the month has been filled with a billion and one snow days and school delays for my kiddos.  No worries though, I've still been scrapping, just not much time to share until now.

While away from blogging, I've mainly been trying to wrap up my 2013 December Daily album.  I only have two days left to document, so I'll be sharing that here soon.  I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out and even more excited to finally have a COMPLETED December Daily - woot, woot!

Today, however, I'm sharing a page that I made back in the fall.  It's just a page I did for fun to experiment with some artsy techniques - stamping, watercolors, misting, embossing, stencils and gelatos.  It documents a little of what I was thinking/hoping/liking at the time and a recent selfie.

Supplies used: Patterned paper - Fancy Pants - diecuts, felt flower, patterned paper (stripe); Echo Park - patterned paper (chalkboard); Jillibean Soup - stickers (script words); Studio Calico - frame stamp, wood veneers, sequins, Mister Huey gold mist; Heidi Swapp - acrylic letters, stencil; October Afternoon- buttons; American Crafts - embossing powder; Other - gelatos (silver & gold), Stampin Up inks for watercoloring; Century Gothic font.

In the upper left and lower right corner of the page, I used a dotted stencil and some gold shimmery mist to create some subtle added dimension and interest.  To draw a bit attention to this subtle accent, I highlight both areas with a few randomly placed sequins.

 
I tried out some gelatos on this pretty punched butterfly.  I started by stamping the butterfly with a text stamp in versamark ink then embossing it with a clear powder.  I then rubbed and blended gelatos over top of the image, using water to effectively move and blend the colors.  The punched piece make a nice little accent, topped with some of my very favorite October Afternoon buttons.

 
How cute is that slide style frame stamp?  It was an exclusive set for students enrolled in Studio Calico's Inked class.  I stamped and embossed it in black, and used various different inks and a water brush to color each one.  The 'frames' highlight the bits and pieces of my journaling throughout the page and I love how they look scattered down the center.


I'm hoping to be back to a more regular blogging schedule now.  So come back soon to see all that I have to share with you!