Scrapbook Boutique Challenge - Buttons!

It's that time of the month again, with a new Scrapbook Boutique challenge (original post here).  The challenge this month is to create a project using this photo (below) as your inspiration & having 'Buttons, buttons & more buttons - include buttons.

The project can be a card, a scrapbook layout or off the page project......it's totally up to you!

 It seems strange, but again I knew straight away what I wanted to make.  I have had a layout in mind for a while, since our family portrait session last November.  It now seems perfect with this theme of buttons.  I hope you like it!

I absolutely adore the photo of my husband holding my daughter when she was about 2 weeks old.  It was such a tender moment and it warms my heart every time I look at it.  At our family portrait session last November, we thought it would be fun to re-create that photo (mainly with a view to me scrapping a page with them!).

My daughter's nickname as a baby was always "Button Nose" - partly because of how cute she was, but also because in my family, we each have a button-ish looking nose and it's quite a strong trait right throughout my father's family.

With all this in mind, how could I not jump right into Scrapbook Boutique's Button Challenge this month?!!

The funky purple border was created using the Accent Essentials Cricut Cartridge on my Gypsy.  I selected the border on the last row, second button from right and welded it in a row of 3 (at 1.25").  I then copied and rotated it to make a border, welding it all together.  Once it was cut out, I stuck it down (very carefully!) to my paper (just from my 'stash') and highlighted the solid circles with button-holes, and put white stitching around the border piece.

I matted the photos on co-ordinating cardstock.  I then cut a Fancy Frame Die (from My Creative Time), and also used the Fancy Frame Stamp on it, for my sentiment "Tender moment re-created".  I cut out the label die from the My Creative Time - Just Simply Live set, and used the alphabet stamps from that set and some purple VersaColour ink to stamp "BUTTON NOSE".

Using some old rub-ons I recently 'unearthed' from my stash, I used Making Memories - Heidi and Making Memories - Beach (both in black) to put my question "Your nickname as a baby?".

I finished off the project with a bunch of co-ordinating buttons and "Ta-da" - my first scrapbooking page in ages!  Thanks SBB for the mojo to actually complete a page!

Deb.

MCT Challenge - "Host Emma" - Pinterest Inspired Project

Here is my Challenge entry for the new bi-monthly challenge over on My Creative Time with Emma!  http://www.creativetimeforme.com/2012/08/new-challenge-host-emma-pinterest.html 

I have never been on Pinterest, much less really know what it's about, so I thought this Challenge was the perfect time for me to have a look.  After scrolling through for a while, I came across this post on the ravelry website.  The link to my inspiration piece is HERE

When I saw this cute crochet pillow, I knew exactly the card I wanted to make.  Using my Gypsy I created a grid by welding together elongated rectangles from the George and Basic Shapes cartridge.  I made each vertical rectangle 0.3" x 6", and each horizontal rectangle 0.3" x 4".  I then aligned the rectangles as gridlines on the mat grids on the Gypsy to space them 1" apart.

After cutting out my grid using Crab Grass Green Core'dinations cardstock, I then stuck it onto a piece of white cardstock, 4" x 6".  Using my Peachy Keen Assorted Face Stamp Sets (Happy Lashes, Laughy Taffy, Blushing Brides, Cheery-O's, Funshine Faces, Wide-eyed Kids and Boy Mates) I placed different smiling faces in random squares of the grid.  I also used the small flower from the PKS Spring Bouquet Stamp Set in the top left and bottom right corners, and the star from the PKS Decorate Me Christmas Tree set as well.

I cut a label from a My Favourite Things Die on peach-coloured cardstock and stamped a sentiment from the PKS Spring Bouquet Stamp Set - "Thinking of you... makes me smile!" and adhered this to the grid.  I then put a peach-coloured ribbon around one of the horizontal grid lines under the MFT Label.

Using my Copics and my Pebbles Chalks, I coloured in the little faces, and then added some highlights to the star and the grid with some Stickles.  Once it was was dry I adhered the whole 4"x6" piece to a card I had made from Kraft Cardstock, 4.5" x 6.5".  Here is the finished product!  I hope you like it!

xo

Deb.

Flaunt It Friday - Challenge #2: "Deb's Silhouette"

 Good evening Friday Flaunters (it's Saturday here in Melbourne, lol!)  I LOVE this particular Flaunt, as the PDDU cart is pretty much my all-time favourite!  Check out the challenge to 'Flaunt' the sleigh on P.74 of the Paper Doll Dress Up cartridge at  http://flauntitfridays.blogspot.com/2010/12/fif-2-blog-hop-1-winner.html

Oh, and congrats to Erika for last week's win!  Woohoo!!  This blog stuff is fun!! :)

Here is my effort for this week: a 12x12 layout, with "Space" paper from Disney/Pixar as the background, using the cloud-covered moon from the Disney - Princesses Dreams Come True cartridge.  I then used the reindeer from the Christmas cartridge, copied and welded in pairs using my ever-wonderful Gypsy (of course!), and the blackout head and Santa hat from the PDDU cartridge, (welded it into the sleigh) - all in black to give the 'silhouette against the moon' look.  I added some feature to the clouds using Pebbles chalks, and used a some Kindyglitz in Crystalina to highlight the sleigh.  Hope you guys like it!

This layout is inspired by one of my happiest (and possibly earliest) Christmas memories - when I was about 6, I got out of bed on Christmas Eve and looked at the moon, and to this day I still believe I saw the silhouette of Santa's sleigh and reindeer pass by.  It's such a lovely thought, and I wanted to share it!

Deb. xoxo

Then there's the Grade 6 Graduation...

... Bearing in mind my School-aged children are in Grade 2 and Prep next near (respectively), it is only natural that I should work on the Grade 6 Graduation (?!?!!).  Once again, my son's teacher 'volunteered' my services to the lovely Grade 6 teachers - perhaps Deb could help out with the invitations, etc.?

Well, I had just come into possession of the Wild Cards cartridge, and there is the delightful Graduation Hat card and envelope - match made in heaven!  So, with the colour scheme of Magenta Pink, Grape Purple and Silver to work with, and my trusty Left Arm Extension (aka Gypsy), I set about making the graduation invitations.

I set up a production line of willing parents for the construction of the cards, which involved the sticking together of the liner inside the envelope, scoring the envelope fold lines and sticking it together, sticking the information on the inside of the hat and attaching the tassels with mini-brads.  I made the tassels from Anchor stranded cotton. All of the lettering had been pre-prepared and pre-adhered to make it easier - I didn't want the dots of the 'i's to go missing!

The invitations were a huge hit with the students (not to mention their parents and teachers alike!), and it appears that I have been roped in for Grade 6 Graduation committee duties for the next 7 years that my children are associated with the school!!  Happy to do it - this Gypsy and paper crafting stuff is way too much fun!!

Deb.

Roped in to helping the Fundraising Committee...

OK, so I eluded in an earlier post that the Fundraising Committee may be able to use my services, and that of my Gypsy...  how you may ask??  Well, to really reach out to our small school community, and get them amped up for a fantabulous Fundraising BBQ, we need some great signage, right?  Enter the Gypsy, with some A3 paper on my 24x12 Expression Cutting mat, and some Cricut Markers and Cri-Kits gel pens - voila!  (Too many different font cartridges used to name them all!)

We then photocopied this, double-sided, and had the students colour it in to take home and put on their fridges.  We also used additional coloured-in copies to put around the local area in shops, etc, to drum up more interest.

Also occurring around the school at the same time was the annual Disco night, and so an additional poster was required... (using the Hannah Montana cartridge)

My Gypsy and markers were kept very busy in the lead-up to the Fundraising BBQ, as laminated signs for each stall were required.  Here are just a few...

 

 
There were many parents up many nights colouring these ones in, prior to laminating.  There's even a bit of Kindyglitz (similar to Stickles) on each of them for a bit of pizazz!
It was a fantastic night (apart from a thunderstorm that forced the whole event indoors!)

We were only just scratching the surface of what we could now achieve with this little marvel called a Gypsy...
Deb.

Flaunt It Friday - Challenge

OK, this is the first time I've ever taken part in a challenge, so here goes!

I don't have the Winter Frolic cartridge, so I used my Gypsy to create my own version of this adorable little snowman from Page 29.  I used images from the Wild Cards cartridge, George and Basic Shapes, and even used a bumper fender from the Cars cartridge (for the top of the ear muffs!), then hid the parts of the images I didn't want, welded it all together and took a scarf from the Every Day Paper Dolls cartridge.  I finished off with PKS Everyday Character Face Parts for the face and the buttons down the front, and added some KindyGlitz in Crystalina (similar to Stickles, I'm assuming!) for some bling on the scarf and on the ear muffs.  I cut my snowman out 3 times on Bazzill Weave and stuck them together to give some dimension (using my Xyron 5").  The backing paper on the card is Making Memories Glitter Diagonal Stripe, and I cut the sentiment "Greetings" out of the Christmas cartridge on plain black cardstock.

Hope you like him!

Cheers!

D.

Word spread very quickly...

My son's teacher "volunteered" me to help with the decorations for the opening of our new building (courtesy of the Federal Government grants).  Our local member of both federal and state parliament were to attend, as well as other dignitaries, and with my evolving talents courtesy of my Gypsy, I was asked if I would prepare some decorations.  For sure!!!  Anything involving paper, my (new at the time) Gypsy and Expression was right up my alley!!

I made a free-hanging sign to put against a black blinds backdrop "GRAND OPENING 2010!" in our school colours of bottle green and gold, using Plantin Schoolbook capitals and shadows at 11.5" - looked pretty effective behind the lecturn!

Then I made a "Welcome to our School" sign for the entry way, using the Calligraphy Collection font (welded!!), and I made the corner features using rectangles from George & Basic Shapes, and curlicues from the Celebrations cartridge.  The "Welcome to our School" sign is still up today - the kids in the new building, "The Palace" love it!!

So, word was spreading very quickly about this new talent in the school community, and this talent (due predominantly to the Gypsy, IMO) was about to be harnessed for the greater good in the form of the Fundraising Committee...!  Whoa-boy, back up the choo-choo and LOOK OUT!!

D.

As promised - paperdolls at school

As I mentioned in my "I LOVE Paperdolls" post, I have been making 'occupation' paperdolls with my son's Grade 1/2 class at school.  The kids got so much out of it!  We used my Peachy Keen face stamps, chalks and gel pens to highlight all of the different dolls.  A few samples below:

The general idea was to use all the creative features behind each particular key on the Everyday Paper Doll cartridge (with a few specialised ones thrown in - the Cricut cartridges don't seem to have many AFL players and/or football ovals with goal posts - I did have to improvise!)  Then, each child could build a scene relevant to their paperdoll (having drawn an 'occupation' out of the hat).  As you can see, the doctor and nurse were combined, with the hospital in the background, air and ground ambulances arriving, etc.

Tye's Geelong Footballer

Jesse's Clown

My Gypsy made the whole process so much easier, as I was able to pre-cut my cardstock to suit the virtual mat on which the designs were prepared, and my Expression did the rest.

The Peachy Keen stamps were a huge hit, and my old set of chalks got a great workout too (time for some new ones...)

Next stop in the classroom will be Christmas-themed projects starting this Friday - however, I have also been busy with other  projects and there will be more posts to follow this evening, so stay (or become!) tuned!!

[I think I'm starting to get the hang of this blogging stuff!!]

D.

Cards for Nan's Birthday

Today was Nan's 94th birthday, and I decided to make some cards for her.  I'm a scrapbooker generally, rather than cardmaking, but my Gypsy makes the transition so easy!  So, I used some card bases from the Smiley Cards cartridge, and welded in the shadow of a heart from the Stamping Cartridge, a butterfly from the Hannah Montana cartridge and a heart from the Indie Art cartridge.  I then cut out the non-shadow image of each of them in contrasting colours and used my Zig 2-way glue pen to adhere.  I stamped the back of each card with "AUTHENTIC Scrapping Creation".  I reckon they turned out pretty well... for a non-cardmaker (and non-stamper)!

So here I am...

OK, this is my first blog, like EVER!  Bit scary really!!  I plan to use this blogspot for displaying my scrapping/creativity projects only, at this stage.  We'll see how we go.

I love my Expression and couldn't live without my Gypsy.  I am now considering looking at an Imagine - not sure if I can justify the expense, and the ongoing costs with ink cartridges, and new Imagine cartridges - however, Christmas is just around the corner, and I have been a very good girl this year.....

Here are my four fave things - my ExprObsession, decorated with signwriter's vinyl, my Gypsy, my Coffee and the colour Green - all necessary in my day-to-day life!

Hi to anyone who may be interested in stopping by!  I promise it will get more interesting as I learn how this blogging stuff actually works....!!!

Good thing I can type! LOL!

Bye for now!

D.