A Little Boy

I created this layout of my son, when he was just 7 months old.  Looking at this picture of him in his overalls, reminding myself that yes, he once was a little boy.

I used the Jenni Bowlin Studio March 2013 Papercrafting Kit in making this layout.  The Jenni Bowlin Studio Quilt Star Punch inspired me to create a quilt for the lower half of the page.  There was so many wonderful colorful patterned papers in this kit that I thought were perfect for the quilt idea.  And I just have to mention that the amazing background paper is by Crate Paper.

This detail of the quilt shows that I also used the Jenni Bowlin Studio Vintage Stlye Buttons in white.  To give them a unique finish, I brushed on Liquitex acrylic paint in raw umber, then buffed some of the paint off with a paper towel.

The layered title was made with a Vintage Payroll Sheet, ribbon by May Arts, and Dear Lizzy thickers all from the March kit.

A few other supplies that I used are:  Gesso by Claudine Hellmuth Studio, tiny alpha stickers from Echo Park Paper Company, Archival Ink by Ranger, Tiny Attacher by Tim Holtz, and corner punch from Martha Stewart Crafts.

As of late, I have been doing a few baby layouts.  I had purchased a past baby themed mini-kit, designed by Doris Sander, from JBS and have been working on it as a side project.  This got me looking at baby photos and the ideas started coming.  There is something to be said for not scrapping chronologically…I think.  Layouts are filled with nostalgic feelings and a gentle reminder of how precious life is comes to the surface. 

I have also submitted this layout to the Bird is the Word Challenge Blog.  The new word(s) for this month is He/She/Him/Her.

Have a joyful day!

xo Evie

We are so in LOVE with you.

I created this layout for the My Mind’s Eye/Jenni Bowlin Studio Recipe Challenge at JBS Mercantile Forum.  Here is the Recipe:

1. Combine at least two MME products to create a unique handmade embellishment.
2. Focus on the journaling in a creative way.
3. Get painterly.

I ended up creating three embellishments with the following My Mind’s Eye products:  From the Collectable line: 1 sheet of 2-sided pattern paper (yellow, stripes), acrylic stamps (swirls, flowers, numbers); From  The Sweetest Thing line: 2 die-cuts (1 as part of the title, 1 tucked behind the photo), chipboard (banner flag).

I created this layered banner flag with the MME chipboard piece and the MME patterned paper. 

I stamped with acrylic paint,  the MME stamp on to Studio Calico vellum and added some pearls cut from a JBS Pearl Flower.

A collage of “sweet” hearts and a JBS butterfly.

For the painterly technique, I started by painting gesso over this awesome JBS Stamp Kraft paper.  I applied the gesso thicker in certain areas and then stamped an un-inked MME stamp into the gesso, therefore lifting some of it off.  After the gesso dried, I then painted a wash of acrylic paint over it.  I love how the paint seeped into the perferated lines of the paper and the variation of color I got on the page!

To get creative with the journaling, I used a craft knife to cut open 1,2,3 rectangles in which to house my words.  I thought the background I created looked like an old plaster wall, so to go along with that feel I sanded almost everything on the layout.  I even sanded over top of the journaling!

The JBS products I used: Stamp Kraft paper; Journal block  and label from the Magpie Accessory Sheet; label stamp from the Feb. kit;  “File This” and “Main Street” punches; Alphas, Pearl Flower, sticker.  To frame the page I used a sheet of Elle’s Studio patterned paper from the April kit.  This worked out perfect for the journaling , too!

The gesso, slow-dry medium (which I added to the gesso), acrylic paints, and multi-medium all are from Claudine Hellmuth Studio.

Love This Guy

Hello everyone!  I’m playing catch-up with sharing my layouts, as I made this one in March.  It features a shot of my son that I took in the car, as we were heading to a weekend in the moutains.  I used Modern Mercantile patterned papers from the Jenni Bowlin Studio Feb. 2013 Papercrafting kit, Bazzill cardstock, and vellum.

I made this embellishment with a couple of JBS Feather tags, a JBS red Doily Flower, a piece of flair from A Flair For Buttons, and a few punched hearts.

I painted the white cardstock with French Ultramarine blue Winsor and Newton watercolor paint  and stamped over it in areas with Frost White pigment ink, by Clearsnap, using the little acrylic heart stamp that came with the exclusive JBS Feb. Mercantile stamp.  I love that heart stamp!!

I punched a heart in the JBS “File This’ punch, which is now one of my favorite things to do!  I rubbed a little of the Frost White ink over it to pick up the texture of the cardstock and doodled a red faux stitch line (my other favorite thing to do!).

The chipboard heart is by Bella Blvd., the letter stickers are from Echo Park Paper Company, and there is a bit of Amy Tangerine in the upper right corner <<.

Thanks for stopping by!!!

Happy Mother’s Day!

Need a last minute card to go with Mom’s flowers?  I made these 3 petites in minutes and everything was from my “older” stash.  A little cardstock, patterned paper, a couple of punches, and some dimensional stickers…voila!  I am going to attach them to the flowers with a mini clothes pin or you could punch a whole through one corner and tie it on with a beautiful cut of ribbon.

Wishing you a lovely Mother’s Day!

xo Evie

Simple and Sweet

Today I am sharing a  simple Quick and Cost Effective card I made for my cousin who recently had a baby girl.

Quick, because I set my timer for 30 minutes, but only took 20.  Cost Effective, because all supplies came from Claudine Hellmuth’s Welcome to Swellsville card making kit (under a dollar a card).         

Card making kits are the way to go.  Everything is right in front of you and you don’t have to dig around through your entire stash.  With this card, I made a point of using the items that worked first and resisted even looking through everything in the kit before I starting gluing and sticking down.  Not only did it make things go quicker, but I had to improvise with my own drawing/doodling (YAY !).  For example, after I stuck that thought bubble down I though it could use some kind of border running along the card and behind it… so I drew my own border.  Also, I wanted to ground that cute pink bear.  She seemed to be floating in space, so I drew a line on either side of her and wasn’t quite happy with that…so I kept going with a controlled scribble.  I really like how the scribble came out between the bear’s legs, by then I think I figured out what I was doing.

A quick thought:  Create your own card making kit!  Dig through your stash and gather all the items you might need to make some fabulous greeting cards and or gift tags and put it in a wonderful  box.  Or…as I plan to do, replenish a purchased card making kit as certain supplies dwindle.

I just created a new Quick and Cost Effective Category in my side bar, so just click on it to see all Quick and Cost Effective posts!!

xo Evie

UFO, done(!) and a crafty tip.

As promised, I am sharing my now updated UFO.  I had finished this Santa album last month during Calvinball over at JBS Mercantile Forum, but just hadn’t gotten to photographing it.  I will begin with the album cover.  Daisy on the cover no more (Doris)!  Click here to a previous post to see the cover in its original state and a bit more of an explanation of what  I am talking about in general.

To gussy up this basic 8×8 Pioneer album I used some awesome Christmas goodies from Jenni Bowlin Studio.  I started with the red dotted pattern paper, which is the B side of the Christmas 2012 Accessory Sheet, stamped the JBS Perf Marks clear stamp in black ink, and layered on the Vintage Christmas Chipboard Buttons with a bit of ribbon from my stash.  I just had to add the faux stitching with a brown marker and finish it off with the large plaid ribbon that  most likely topped a package from Christmas’ past.

In order not to bore, I’m only showing 2 of the 8  layouts included in this album thus far.  But, just know that I did add a bit of JBS to spruce up each page.

A little history, behind this project:  Back in, I don’t know, 2005 when vintage was just becoming popular in scrapbooking, I used my Michaels coupon to purchase a K and Company Christmas 12×12 album kit, that came with 12×12 patterned papers and stickers designed by Elizabeth Brownd.  While, I admired this fabulous kit, I never used it.  A couple of years later, I decided to make a small album to hold the photos of my son’s yearly visits to Santa that I could display each Christmas season.  Well, I was in a “use what I have mode” and decide to use the papers and stickers from the  K and Co. kit.  I wanted to do simple consistent layouts so that I would keep up with it each year, but I still didn’t.  Calvinball gave me the motivation to get it done!  Also, although I loved the vintage paper I never quite thought it went well with the photos.   But, when I decided to add the JBS items it all came together for me.  Even though Jenni is vintage, her reds are quite rich and bright, so my JBS additions now connected the photos to the pages.  Yay!!

Okay, so now the big question.  There is still pages left in this album and my son is getting older…hmm…I think we’ll have to start getting the dog involved…maybe that will buy me a few more years??

And now to complete a Centipede Challenge issued by Betsy, here is a crafty tip.  Cut apart your bling!

I used the Powdered Sugar(white) Pearl Flowers in the layouts above.  In the first layout, I used one pearl flower whole atop a Red Doily Flower.  In the second layout,  I cut one pearl flower apart  to use the individual pearls to adorn the ornament sticker.  I also cut apart the Maraschino(red) Pearl Flowers and added some of the individual pearls  to some of the Santa layouts not shown.  I love this idea, especially for bling you may have in your stash that you don’t see yourself using as a whole anymore.  The cut apart gems will have a multitude of uses…clustered in the center of a flower, as punctuation, dotted along a border strip, etc.

.1,..2,..3,..4       That’s 4 segments for my JBS Centipede!

Thanks so much for stopping by today, xo!!!

No Pumpkin Guts, No Jack-O-Lantern Glory.

How about some pumpkin guts in the SPRING…

I had an awesome time making this layout…splashing around watercolor paint on top of the black Bazzill cardstock, creating a jar of pumpkin guts, and layering distressed and stitched spooky patterned paper from  Echo Park Paper Company’s Chillingsworth Manor 6×6 pad.

I used the exclusive  Mercantile Mason Jar stamp from the Feb. 2013 Jenni Bowlin Studio Papercrafting Kit to make this lovely jar of pumpkin guts.  I first painted the pumpkin guts on to watercolor paper.  I used Art Masking Fluid to create and mask off the shape of the seeds before I began with the orange paint.  When all was dry and the masking fluid rubbed off, I stamp the jar over top with black StazOn ink and trimed out the jar.  The jar label is part of the exclusive stamp, so I used it and some alpha stamps on top of some of the lighter Echo Park patterned  paper, trimmed it out and adhered it to the jar.  After using a bit of twine to finish off the jar, I layered it over these fun chipboard stars from Bella BLVD. 

For the title, I used awesome glittery green thickers from American Crafts and the perfect little round alpha stickers from Jenni Bowlin Studio.  You can see, in the background, the different effects I got with the watercolor paint.  This is achieved by the varied amounts of water I added to the paint before I began to splash with wild abandon!!

Now,…how do I incorporate this post into the JBS Centipede game?

Well, Doris issued a challenge to blog your favorite recipe, but I’m not too much of a cook, so I don’t really have one.  Although, if  I’m in the mood, after carving the pumpkin, I will roast the pumpkin seeds.  I just seperate the seeds from the orange goo, now known as guts, rinse them off  and spread them out on a cookie sheet and let them dry.  I then spritz them with water and  sprinkle them with salt.  The water spritzing makes the salt stick ( I think I saw that on The Martha Stewart Show).  Then, I just pop them in the oven for a bit and viola roasted pumpkin seeds that no one ever eats…lol!!  Well, I know you can hardly call that a recipe, so I’ll leave you with one that sounds pretty good and maybe I’ll really try it come Halloween 2013.

Pumpkin Pie Seeds

• 1 cup pumpkin seeds, rinsed and dried
• 1/2 t. pumpkin pie spice
• 1/4 t. salt
• 2 t. sugar
• 1 T. vegetable oil

Spread the pumpkin seeds in a single layer on a large baking sheet and roast them in 250 degree oven for 45 minutes or until the seeds are completely dry and lightly browned.  In a large bowl combine pumpkin spice, salt and 2 teaspoons of sugar.  Heat oil and sugar mixture in a large non-stick skillet, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon until sugar melts, about 45 seconds.  Scrape seeds into the pumpkin pie spice mixture and coat the seeds.  Allow the seeds to cool before eating and store in an airtight container.  Makes 3 to 4 servings.

So, now that makes  :D.1..2..3..  segments for my centipede!