Scrappin' Sunday #3 - Homemade Pre-mades

Similar to last week's entry, these are pages that were made long before the pictures were added. A couple of years ago when my mom, my sister and I got together we had a scrapbook page swap. I added pictures to these pages these past February during our scrapbook fest.

Soon I'll add these pages to a real album and won't that look nice!!! Sadly, I have to admit that I have the albums on my shelf, but I haven't taken the time to actually put it all together.

Enjoy!

Julie Cluff

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More Stampin' Challenges

Three for one: SCS sketch challenge, SCS color challenge and Stampin' B challenge.



I started by punching 3 - 1 1/2" and then stamping the blossom from Kind & Caring Thoughts at different angles with the Not Quite Navy. I used an aqua painter to pull the NQN ink onto the blossom and then finished with Pretty in Pink, Really Rust, Mellow Moss, and Old Olive. I used a versamark pen and clear embossing powder to emboss the painted flowers and leaves, before sponging with Pretty in Pink and sponging the edges with Really Rust.

The blossoms were layered on squares of Not Quite Navy, which was layered on the Pretty in Pink strip that was sponged with Really Rust. The white organza ribbon was tied on with a silver flower from the Hodgepodge Hardware.

The background is Whisper White, and the top is embossed with the big shot and SU texture plate. The texture was sponged with Not Quite Navy, then the piece was layered on Pretty in Pink and Not Quite Navy.

The little butterfly was white embossed on Really Rust, cut out and adhered with a glue dot. The sentiment from Teeny Tiny Wishes was stamped in the bottom corner with Not Quite Navy.

Enjoy!
Julie
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Request for Two Wonderful Families

It has been a difficult week. My cousin, Scott, who I haven't seen in many years, drowned in a heroic effort to save his two young sons. You can read a little more about it here. And a little more about Scott here. The services are today. Please pray for his family. I cannot even imagine how difficult this is for them. (A trust fund has been set up for his three boys.)

On a little happier note, Scott was an actor/entertainer. He worked as a MRI technician and here is a fun video of the Napoleon Dynamite Dance he did for his coworkers.

Also, sadly, a dear friend is battling cancer and received some devastating news yesterday. Just when she thought she had seen the last of it, she found out that it has spread to her brain. She was admitted into the hospital last night. She is a wife and a mother of a grown son and a teenage daughter.

Lori is a friend in my neighborhood and the captain of our tennis team and one of our best players too. Our team won a spot in a tournament in Corpus Christi in August, and as of last week, Lori was expecting to get a release from the doctor in time to get back on the courts before the tournament. We were all looking forward to a fun, rewarding trip, and now we are just crushed that Lori and her family are having to deal with this horrible turn of events.

Please prayer for these two wonderful families!

Mojo Monday 96

I would love to know who came up with the name Rich Razzleberry for this fun purple. I was so excited to see a new purple in the in-colors this year.

This card is for the Mojo Monday challenge that you can see here. I used Razzleberry Lemonade paper for the three paper panels in the back ground. These strips were adhered to a black 4" square and black brads were added to the top and bottom of each piece. Then this was attached to a 4 1/4" white card base.

The flower image is from SU!'s hostess set Kind & Caring Thoughts is so is the word phrase. A white circle and a slightly larger black circle were cut out with SU!'s circle cutter and glass mat. The flower was stamped with versamark and Rich Razzleberry twice without reinking, then embossed with clear ep. I added some black outlining to the underside of the flower petals and stem for more dimension. This image was then sponged with Bashful Blue and Old Olive, and the edge sponged with black.

The card was wrapped in wide Old Olive grosgrain ribbon and the circle image adhere on top with dimensionals. The words were selected from the word's on one of the sentiments from the set. The specific words were markered with black marker and then punched out. HINT: With Stampin' Up's great lever punches it's easy to stamp your image and then turn the punch over to center your stamped image in the punch for perfect, centered punching!

The oval label was made with the small oval punch, sponged with Bashful Blue, and layered on the Razzleberry cs punched word window with pewter brads from the vintage brads on each side.

Hope you like it!
Enjoy!
Julie
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Clean and Simple 24!

This is a combined clean and simple (CAS) challenge from SplitcoastStampers. Last week's was an inspiration challenge and I chose this art work to inspire this simple no-layer card. This week's is a color challenge - turquoise, orange and yellow. So I combined the two and this is what I came up with.

I love these challenges - so simple! I know I've mentioned this before, but when I have no time for stamping I ALWAYS have time for a CAS card.

I quickly stamped the 3 flowers from Fifth Avenue Florals in the three colors, added lines vertically and horizontally to the side and bottom with a ruler and a Tempting Turquoise marker, stamped the sentiment from Teeny Tiny Wishes and added glitter to the centers of the flowers. Done! Easy peasy!

HINT: When adding dazzling diamonds glitter with two way glue, don't overdo the glue. Just use the corner of the tip to apply it. Because it goes on almost transparent it is hard to tell how much you are adding and very little glue (and glitter) is necessary for BIG impact. This way you can add the bling and it will still look sophisticated.

Enjoy!

Julie

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Cool checkbook cover

Another blast from the past. Stampin' Up! used to sell these clear checkbook covers that were perfect for adding your stamped artwork. I found another place you can get them here. A little disclaimer: I have never ordered from them so order at your own risk. :)

This was quite simple. I stamped the quote, "The secret to having it all is believing that you already do!" on pattern paper and layered that on more pattern paper. Then added the punched flower and button. Isn't this the perfect quote for a checkbook cover?!? HINT: Stampin' Up!'s pattern paper is perfect for this project because it's sturdy and 2 sided so the inside of the cover looks great too.

Enjoy!
Julie
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Scrappin' Sunday #2: The Super-Secret-Strategic Plan Or...

The Triple S Plan for short.

Tuesday I wrote: "Last month my daughter and I scrapbooked her 3-week trip to Europe in just 3 evenings - 70 pages! Now that's super-mega-power scrapbooking. I'll show some of that later and share the super-secret-strategic plan...."

So here is the Triple S Plan for Super-Mega-Power scrapbooking:

1. Print and organize pictures chronologically and in themes

2. Print itinerary on card stock and trim left edge with spiral punch

3. Cut a stack of picture mats in white and a few in a couple other coordinating colors

4. Create a stack of very simple pages with strips of accent paper, color blocking and coordinated page elements. (The Simply Scrappin' kits are AWESOME for doing this!)

5. Adhere itinerary, pictures and memorabilia to pages.

Five easy steps to Super-Mega-Power Scrapbooking. My daughter Kristin printed and organized her pictures and photocopied her itinerary. I made a stack of photo mats and a stack of simple pages to place the pictures on. We did very little cropping of the pictures to keep it simple.

We chose to do it this way because she had very little time between semesters at college, and she wanted to get it in a book while the memories of the trip were still very fresh.

Enjoy!

Julie

Looking Back - Notepads

Here's a blast from the past. These cute little notepads were made with the small black composition books. I made these a while back and used the Linen Print designer paper which is now retired. HINT: Stampin' Up!'s two sided paper is perfect for this project: the paper is sturdy and using one side of the paper for the covers and the other side of the paper for the binding gives you perfectly coordinated books every time!

These are simple to make. Trace the front cover and the back cover on the back side of the pattern you want on your front and back. After cutting out the front and back, adhere it to the cover with liquid glue. I use the Tombow Mono Multi. HINT: Use a foam brush to spread the glue to the edges for complete coverage.

Cut the binding strip 2 1/2" x 6", apply glue using the same method, and wrap the binding. HINT: Use a bone folder to wrap the strip tightly around the binding. Use the tip of the bone folder to score the corners and the side of the bone folder to press the paper to the book on all sides.

Then decorate the cover. I stamped titles along the binding on each notebook, color on color, and added a label to the front.

Enjoy!

Julie

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Scrappin' Sunday #1

This is a page I made during my last scrapbooking fest with my sister in Feb. of this year. I didn't take the pages out of the covers to photograph them so they are a little hard to see, but if you click on the image you will be able to see a larger picture. And I haven't put it in a proper album yet either.

This is a pretty simple page. I used various stamp sets and the Big Shot Die Machine to make the tags. The main title "Scrapbooking Fest" is printed on the cards stock, then cut out and over stamped "2009" in large Groovy Guava numbers. The flowers are punched with the Stampin' Up! flower punches and layered. I used Wild Wasabi and Guava for this page, which are now retired.

But I know the first thing you asked yourself after reading the title of this post is "Why Sunday?" Because I intended to post this on Sunday and make scrapbooking my theme every Sunday, but it's now Tuesday and I wanted to share it NOW, so....there you have it! Of course, now you're thinking - "that's not a very good explanation" - and you would be right!Everyone has a different approach to scrapbooking. My sister and I get together usually at least once a year for a week or two just to scrapbook. We finish 75-100 pages during our scrapbooking fests. That is my "Scrapbooking Strategy."

The philosophy behind this is that it takes a special kind of creative energy to scrapbook, and it makes a special kind of mess, so we get it over with in one big BANG. And you can see we make quite a mess! (Would you like to see what is in that closet at the back of this picture? Here's a clue: it is not just a closet; it is a to-die-for work station and storage haven. I'll share pictures of it later if you would like to see them.) I'm on the right; my sister Kari is to your left.

This is me eating at my scrapbooking table. Literally, all we do is sleep, eat and MOSTLY scrapbook! We did go to a couple of movies and watch American Idol.

I made 76 pages that week!

Last month my daughter and I scrapbooked her 3-week trip to Europe in just 3 evenings - 70 pages! Now that's super-mega-power scrapbooking. I'll show some of that later and share the super-secret-strategic plan....

Enjoy,

Julie

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Razzle Dazzle Sketch

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Here's the latest splitcoaststampers sketch. It came out on Wednesday and I'm being very slow about getting it done! This cards has been at different points of development on my desk for a couple of days!

It's been a busy week. I'm starting a school at my home for grades 6-12 this fall and I've been busy trying to get everything in order. Wednesday night I had an information meeting for parents at my house and Thursday I spent the day in training. Busy, busy, busy.

I've been homeschooling my kids for 14 years. My two oldest daughters are in college, but I still have my sons, ages 14 and 17 at home. We're inviting 4-6 more kids to come do school with us using the New American School curriculum. It's a achievement-oriented program that I've been using with my boys for the past year. And I love it!

So here is my rendition of this weeks sketch! Hope you like it.
Because I made this card is numerous short stamping sessions, it is a interesting design mix from SU! Razzle Dazzle set. I started with the center piece in which I stamped the background block on Whisper White cs with second generation Crushed Curry. HINT: 2nd generation means that I inked the stamp and stamped it once on scrap paper before stamping on my project.This is sometimes referred to as stamping off.

The flower was then stamped over the Crushed Curry in Melon Mambo. I added glitter to the Melon flowers using 2-way glue and dazzling diamonds glitter.

The base of the card is white layered with black. The black looked plain so I stamped the small flower with white craft ink. On top of the black I layered pieces from the Razzleberry Lemonade. Then I added Crushed Curry cs on black cs and wrapped the polka dot Melon Mambo ribbon around the front of the card. HINT: I used the crop-a-dile to punch a hole off the left side of the card to thread the ribbon through.

The main piece was then added to the front with dimensionals. I stamped the sentiment on Crushed Curry with black stazon and punched it out with the word window punch. I punched the Melon dp with the large oval punch and punched the black cs with the designer label punch. These were layered with the stylized silver hodgepodge label plate. The large silver brads in the top left corner are from the same hodgepodge set.

I hope you like it!

Enjoy!

Julie
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Butterfly Dream

A color challenge: Tempting Apricot Cocoa Breezes (Tempting Turquoise, Apricot Appeal, Close t Cocoa and Baja Breeze). I have not used Apricot Appeal in ages even though it used to be a favorite. I pulled all the stamp pads out to work on this challenge in the morning and before you know it I was on a roll and couldn't stop. Then once I finished it, I had to get it posted before I went to bed. LOL

I used a retired SU set, Happiness Always, that I never got to play with much when it was current, so I decided to pull it out and see what I could do. I stamped the butterflies in Apricot Appeal and then Close to Cocoa with the detail stamp. The flowers are Baja Breeze overstamped with Tempting turquiose with an Apricot Appeal center.

The butterflies were cut out, glittered and then adhered with glue dots in the center so their wings are free to fly....The Baja Breeze layer was embossed with polka dots with the Big Shot from Stampin' Up!

Enjoy!

Julie

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Birthday Circles

I'm so excited! Lauraos mentioned my card as a favorite at the Splitcoaststampers CAS (Clean and Simple) favorites forum. Isn't that nice? And I didn't even know that forum existed.

Here's my CAS entry for this week. The challenge was birthday cards. I used the new Circle Circus set and stamped with the new IN colors: Melon Mambo and Soft Suede. Pretty clean and simple!

I added Dazzling Diamonds glitter to the flowers on the Melon Mambo circles and tied some polka dot Melon Mambo ribbon around the Melon paper strip that goes across the middle of the card. I snipped the ribbon a little differently than I usually do for added interest. Hope you like it!

I can tell this is going to be a "go-to" set because of the versatility. You stamp in pastels you have a baby card, stamp in red & green - Christmas, orange & black - Halloween...you get the idea.

Enjoy!

Julie

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Other Tidbits - Sea World in June

Before Kristin returned to college a couple of weeks ago, Ron and I took a weekend trip to San Antonio to visit Sea World with Kristin (20) and James (14). Unfortunately, Dallin (17) had to work so he wasn't able to make the trip with us...and, sadly, as it turned out, they changed his schedule, and he probably could have gone with us anyway!

Here's a few pictures of our day. We spent the first part of the day at the waterpark (which explains the messy-hair/no-makeup look), and we spent the second half of the day watching the shows and riding the rides. We've learned from experience that the water park is packed in the hot afternoons. Of course, it's hot all the time so there is no bad time for water!!

Ready for the Sea Lion and Walrus show!

Waiting for Shamu!

Enjoy!

Julie

Happy July 4th!!!

Happy Independence Day! Here's my contribution to your 4th of July celebration.

I woke up this morning with this card in my head. The Asian Artistry 'grasses' were stamped in black craft ink and embossed with clear ep. Then I used Ruby Red and Not Quite Navy markers to color this flag from Star-Spangled Banner (retired SU) and stamped it on the whisper white card stock above the grasses.

I used a black pen to underline the red stripes on the flag and added a little white highlights with my white gel pen to add depth. I then colored the whole image with a VersaMarker and embossed with clear ep. I used a black pen and ruler to add the flag poll.

I brayered starting from the top of the card with Baja Breeze down 3/4 of the card. Then I used Not Quite Navy to brayer the top. From the bottom I brayered Creamy Carmel. The edges were sponged with black stazon. It was then layered on white, Ruby Red and Not Quite Navy cardstock.

A brad was added to the top of the flag pole. The tag label was made with the tag corner punch with brads added to each end and then the label was attached with dimensionals.

Enjoy!

Julie
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Bold and Bright Flamingos with NO Flamingos...

I saw the Bold and Bright challenge on Splitcoaststampers.com "Ways to Use It" forum several days ago and I pulled out the Pink Flamingo Designer Series Paper from Stampin' Up! This pack of paper has sat on my desk just waiting for me to figure out how I wanted to use it. Well I saw the sketch challenge yesterday (picture at the top of the page), and I decided this was my chance to do both! So here it is.

So I punched out all these little circles from the designer paper, but the flamingos on the paper were too big for these 1" circles; thus, we have Pink Flamingo with NO flamingo.

The only thing stamped on this 5" square card is the little greeting at the bottom right from the new SU set Teeny Tiny Wishes stamped in Close to Cocoa. The circles are 1" punched from the Pink Flamingo paper. I then added LOTS of glitter and a glitter brad to the center flower. (My 20 yo daughter would be proud. She loves glitter.) HINT: To make a glitter brad, roll the head of your brad on a glue dot and then dip it in Dazzling Diamonds glitter. Easy, easy with fun results.

Each circle was attached to a Chocolate Chip cs scallop circle (Martha Stewart 1" scallop punch) and then adhered to the card with dimensionals. The Summer Sun pattern paper is also from Pink Flamingo. That was attached to a square of Chocolate Chip cs and then attached to the Whisper White cs base.

Here's a close up at a different angle.

Enjoy!

Julie
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"Happy Birthday, Human"

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Don't you love that - "Happy Birthday, Human." I can think of some computer gurus that would get a kick out of this card and image. Or maybe Trekkies or Star Wars junkies. I don't know, but I think it is so cute.


These images are from the brand new Stampin' Up! set Lots of Bots. The robot is stamped in black stazon and colored with the fabulous SU markers. Now I have no idea why it photographed this way, but in real life the blue on this robot is much darker and matches better. I colored the robot with Ballet Blue marker, Summer Sun, Real Red, Only Orange and Bashful Blue. I added some glitter to him and he is so cute in his glitter, but I know you can barely see it. Look closely in this detail shot.



The colors came from the splitcoaststampers.com color challenge: Kraft, So Saffron and Night of Navy. Again the blue is very bright in the picture, not the color it is on the card itself. Anyway, I punched him out with a 2 1/2 " punch and layered on a scallop circle of So Saffron pattern paper and Night of Navy circle. I punched the So Saffron and the Night of Navy with a 3" circle punch, then took the guard off my corner rounder and scalloped the edges of the So Saffron piece. It makes a perfect layer. The scallops didn't meet up exactly right so I positioned it under the "Happy Birthday, Human" tag.


I stamped the computer coding text in Night of Navy on Kraft paper, punched the corners with the tag punch, layered it on Night of Navy cs and added colorful brads. The Night of Navy card base was layered with Whisper White and So Saffron pattern paper and the colored brads were added to the top right hand corner.


I started making this card and realized that the Mojo Monday sketch this week was perfect for this card so I used their sketch and modified it slightly.

Enjoy!

Julie
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