{crafty} Mood Board with Butterfly Reflections Ink

I have a mood board posted today over on the Butterfly Reflections Ink blog! Be sure to check it out for some color inspiration! Here's a peek at the layout I created to go along with it!

{crafty} Be Yourself

Hello there! Have you seen the reveal of Pinkfresh Studio's July embellishment kit? As always, it's a fun one!

The ombre canvas tags are GORGEOUS, I love the exclusive acrylic words from Color Cast Designs. And the gold alphas? A touch of gold is pretty much necessity these days and these alphas are the perfect size too! I also ADORE the doodle heart veneers! I am going to need many, many more of those! Pretty much, I love it all.

I couldn't resist having a little fun with this gorgeously rich paper from the new Happy Things collection. I tried not to overthink this layout, like I tend to do, I just wanted to have fun with it and be my normal random self. Like the layout says: Be True. Choose Joy. Dream Big. & Be Yourself.

If you haven't picked up the kit or the new collection, seriously you SHOULD! Happy Things just begs for whimsy and fun and I can't wait to see what people do with it! I know it is on it's way out to retailers now. One shop I know for sure will have it is Butterfly Reflections Ink.

Thanks for looking!

{crafty} Pinkfresh Studio May Blog Hop

Hello there! Welcome to the Pinkfresh Studio May kit reveal blog hop!  If you came from Agnieszka's blog, you are in the right place! If not, head over to the Pinkfresh blog to start from the beginning.

I had some fun with this kit! I really loved the stamp set this month. Then again I do every month! I started with repeatedly stamping that fun doodle frame to create a grid like pattern for my background. Of course, I can't leave it that simple! I used a couple stencils with paint and modeling paste, stamped, misted, embossed. Pretty much a little of everything. 

I used the glassine envelope that the veneers in the kit came in to create a little confetti pocket layer behind my photo. I filled it with the yellow heart sprinkles as well as the blue square sequin from the March kit.

Epoxy stickers are pretty much my favorite thing ever. I love both the badges and the two tone diamonds in the kit. I had to restrain myself from using more of them on this layout!

Be sure to like Pinkfresh Studio on Facebook and Instagram for more inspiration. Don't forget to stop back at the Pinkfresh Studio blog and leave a comment for a chance to win the May embellishment kit! The winner will be chosen Wednesday the 22nd.

>>>Up next in the hop is Cassandra!<<<

Thanks for looking!

{crafty} Mood Board Challenge with Butterfly Reflections, Ink

Hi again! I have a mood board and layout posted on the Butterfly Reflections, Ink blog today in honor of National Scrapbook Day! Be sure to check it out and enter to win a fabulous prize!

{crafty} Pinkfresh Studio Blog Hop

Welcome to the Pink Fresh Studio February Kit Release Blog Hop! I am so excited to be sharing the February kit with you!  You should have arrived from Agnieszka's blog. If not, you can go back to the PinkFresh Studio Blog to start from the beginning.

I am just having so much fun with these kits! I really wanted to use a little bit of everything on this layout. I loved those watercolor cards and knew instantly that I wanted to use them as a grid type background. All the embellishments worked so well together and really pulled this layout together! 

Have you subscribed to the kits? I have two layouts done so far and have a ton of product left to use! There is so much to work with! What's your favorite embellishment in the February kit? 

Thank you so much for hopping with us today! Next on the hop will be Cassandra! But before you go, Pinkfresh Studio will be giving away one January kit and one February kit!

To be entered to win one of these fabulous kits

1. Comment on the Pinkfresh Blog {February kit release post} 

2. Like Pinkfresh Studio on Facebook 

3. Follow Pinkfresh Studio on Instagram

Winners will be announced on the Pink Fresh Studio Blog Monday February 23rd

“Pinkfresh sneaks start the 5th of every month,

Kit is released on the 15th of every month” get your Pinkfresh Studio Subscription today!

{crafty} Pretty Little Pinkfresh

Hello there! 

Pinkfresh Studio is so excited to join with Pretty Little Studio today to inspire you with some cute creations. You should have come directly from the Pretty Little Studio blog. If not, be sure to head back over there!

It has been so fun to pair these two companies together! While Pinkfresh is normally known for bright and unique items, Pretty Little Studio is known for their fun vintage inspired products!They have definitely combined to create some awesome projects!

For my first layout I new I wanted to use several of the Chrysanthemum Mini Tags from PLS. I layered them on my page before adding a layer of gesso and gelatos. As soon as I decided to orient them at the top of the page I knew I wanted to to add lots of string and falling feathers. I just love how the soft colors and vintage number die cut pairs so nicely with bold color and graphic embellishments from Pinkfresh. 

 Supplies used: Wood Drop Stickers Chevron Brights, Enamel Label Frames Yellow/Blue/Grey, Studio Puffs Gold Scallop Border. Nature Book die cut numbers, Bird Feather stickers, Chrysanthemum Mini Tags, Watercolor Summer Word stickers

My second layout is more linear and structured. I find I tend to go that direction when I want several photos on a layout. Since I have several busy photos I resisted the urge to layer the embellishments and really just tried to let them shine on their own. 

Supplies used: Wood Drop Stickers Chevron Brights, Foil Printed Alphas Mint/Gold, Vacation Chips Wood Veneer, Anya Alpha stamp, Limited Edition kit Studio Puffs. Watercolor Summer Word stickers, Birds Nest Bunting Flags, Peony Paper Ribbons, Wild Berries Paper Ribbons, Clematis tabs, Gold Circle Vellum

Thanks so much for looking today! Your next stop is Agnieszka Piskorz, head on over to her blog to see how she paired these two companies together!  Visit each blog in the hop and comment on each to enter a giveaway including the Pinkfresh Studio blog. One winner will be chosen for each day and winners will receive 30.00 worth of stuff from Pinkfresh Studio and 30.00 GC from Pretty Little Studio. This is going to be 2 days of blog hoping fun. Winners will be announced on 9/15. Good luck!

Pretty little Studio
Amanda De Jong
Agnieszka Piskorz
April Joy Hill
Carole House
Ashley Fowler
Keri Babbitt
Ashley Horton
Lisa Spiegel
Clare Prezzia
Lisa Wilkinson
Pinkfresh Studio

On top of the awesome giveaway I mentioned Pinkfresh Studio and Pretty Little studio are also offering special discounts during the hop! It's a great time to do some shopping!

{crafty} Thankful with Glitz

There are many things I am thankful for but my family and my surroundings are certainly at the top of my list. I am so blessed with an amazing husband and a incredibly quirky son who never fail to bring a smile to my face every day. And while I sometimes take it for granted in the day to day I often find myself in awe of the beauty God has created all around us and it brings so much peace in to my life. I live a truly blessed life. And I am so thankful for it!

What are you thankful for?

Supplies:

Glitz Design "Uncharted Waters" Element Pack 1
Glitz Design "Uncharted Waters" Paper Pack 2
Glitz Design "Dapper Dan" Element Pack 1
Glitz Design "Finnley" Full Digital Kit
Glitz Design "Yours Truly" Element Pack 2

Glitz Design "Yours Truly" Paper Pack
Glitz Design "Sunshine in My Soul" Element Pack
Glitz Design "Wild & Free" Element Pack 1

Other:
One Little Bird staples, Valorie Wibbens bow and stitches, Paislee Press wordart stamp

{crafty} Feathers and a Tutorial

This week Glitz Design is focusing on the current feather trend. Wild & Free and Finnley both have an assortment of fun feathers to choose from so I knew I wanted to pull elements from both of those kits. The woodgrain patterns from Dapper Dan were perfect to balance out the vibrant color from the other collections.

I knew I wanted to take this feather/bird image from Wild & Free and create a large cut out in my background. To do this in PS I opened the image and clicked on "Threshold" to turn the image to strictly black and white.

Next, you duplicate your layer and with the new layer selected click on ctrl + i to invert the image. With the inverted image still selected add a layer mask. Go back to your original image layer and select all and copy. Then hold alt and click on your layer mask from the duplicate layer and paste.

Next you can delete your original layer, the one without the mask, and you will be left with a black and transparent image that you can now use as a clipping mask. 

I open up my paper in a new window and paste my clipping mask over the top to decide on placement. The black area of my clipping mask is where my background paper will be so what I have done here is add black rectangles to fill in the area.

Next, select the shape layers and the feather layer and merge them together. Move the background paper above this layer and with it selected click ctrl + alt + g to clip your paper to the mask. Add your other paper behind it, and that's it! All that is left is to add a drop shadow to create depth. 

I hope that made some sense! I know there were more steps than photos but I tried not to make this too picture heavy. It does seem like a long process but once you do it once or twice it is quite fast. I'd love to hear if anyone has a different method of doing this!

Supply List: 
Glitz Design “Finnley” Full Digital Kit
Glitz Design “Wild & Free” Elements 2
Glitz Design “Dapper Dan” Paper Pack
Other: Valorie Wibbens Sprinkles V14 and By the Thread

Thank you for looking!

{crafty} happy little triangles

It's triangle week over on the Glitz blog and I couldn't be more excited! The triangle trend is by far my favorite when it comes to geometric shapes, I find them so much more versatile and fun than hexagons and arrows.

I know I have said it many times before, but Finnley is by far my favorite Glitz collection and I hadn't had the chance to play with it much. When we got the assignment to create something based on triangles I knew I had to break out this collection! A little while ago I put together a digital template with stacked triangles (which you can download for free here) and I began to use that for my layout but decided I wanted it to take on a different shape. I had this sketch pinned from ScrapFriends and started building a new template from that. I also used the sketchy circle from the Finnley digital stamps to add some background interest as well as paint splatter brushes which are easy to find on the web for free! I repeated the circle elements throughout the page to help balance the angular lines of the triangles.. And there you have it!

I have made my new template available for download as well! Which you can find here. I am pretty new to the template world so hopefully these are easy to use. I left the shadow layers in the template but feel free to delete them and use your own shadow styles. 

Thanks for looking!

{crafty} Wild & Free Blog Hop

It has been one heck of a week filled with back to school night, the first field trip of the school year, custom shop orders and countless errands. Thank goodness it's Friday! Blog hopping with the rest of the Glitz Design digital team showcasing the Wild & Free collection is a great way to end the week! 

This is such a fun and whimsical collection! I used the Giant Roller Doodle X's digital stamp to create a background then clipped the Dream Catcher B-side paper to it to create the gradient color. I added a little more background stamping and misting, minimal paper layers and a small embellishment cluster to keep it light and airy.

Glitz Design will be giving away a Wild & Free digital collection pack to one lucky winner who comments in the hop! Each blog you comment on gains you an entry so be sure to hop along through the rest of the team!  

Amanda De Jong - http://somethingsorta.blogspot.com/
Amanda Resende - http://amandaresendescraps.blogspot.com.br/
Barbara Sokee - http://sokeeb.wordpress.com/
Donna Espiritu - http://www.scrappydonna.blogspot.com/
Emma Poon - http://amazinglyscrapped.wordpress.com/
Fauve Van Maanen - http://www.fauvevanmaanen.blogspot.com/
Jocelyn Olson - http://redballooncards.blogspot.com/
Kym Tsukamoto - http://busybostyn.blogspot.com/
Laura O'Donnell - http://itsallrosie.blogspot.com/
Maria Lacuesta - http://analogpaper.blogspot.com/
Mary Martinez - http://www.marnels.blogspot.com/
Miki Krueger - http://thecountryteacher.wordpress.com/
Smitha Katti - www.smilingcolors.com
Tiffany Wheeler - http://iffycreates.blogspot.com/
Glitz Design Blog - http://glitzitnow.com/blog/

{crafty} Toolbox digital layouts

I signed up for Studio Calico's Toolbox class this month, and I am so glad I did! The first week we went digital with Shanna Noel; using digital elements ranging from papers to brushes to templates for both digital and hybrid pages. I have dabbled a bit in hybrid pages before but I have learned some great new techniques and how to use product in new and different ways.

My first page is a simple digital layout using a chevron template, made by Catherine Davis, that was provided in the class.

My second layout is a hybrid page using several different brushes available from the class and previous Studio Calico releases. I stamped all the circles in black and then went back and randomly clipped color and digital papers. Once those were completed I stamped several other brushes in white over the top of a few of the circles and added the brush strokes and title. I printed my base page out twice so I could cut out a few circles and pop them up on the page for dimension and then added other embellishments, mainly keeping with the circle theme. 

My last page is another all digital page, although I am tempted to add some bits and pieces once I have it printed. I created a template of multiple sizes and layers of triangles and then went back and added my papers and photo using clipping masks just as I did with the last two layouts. I chose a few patterned papers for this layout but did not care for the color. With a quick fill layer of color I was able to customize my digital paper to suit my layout. There are several ways to adjust color for this but my preferred method when I want a tone on tone pattern is to create a new layer, use the bucket tool to fill it with your choice of color and then change the blending mode from Normal to Color. It's that easy! 

Next week in the class starts the mixed media portion with Celine Navarro and I could not be more excited! I hope I have as much time to play as I did with the digital portion this week. 

Thanks for looking!

{crafty} layout share & some news!

Well I sure am a bit late to the party here, but I do have some exciting news to share! I have been asked to join the Craft Warehouse DT! I am such a fan of the Craft Warehouse stores and couldn't be more excited to join them for my first official design team spot! If you haven't had the chance to visit one of these stores in the Pacific Northwest, you sure are missing out. They always carry the latest products and are packed full of inspiration at every aisle. It is definitely one of my favorite places to shop.

Keeping up with all news fun and good I can now share my FIRST and SECOND ever published layouts!

The first was briefly shared and featured at Studio Calico until I received the publication notice and had to have it removed. It was published in the July issue of Scrapbook Trends, which sadly was the first digital only publication for Northridge. I would have loved to get my hands on a print issue of this!

This one is in the current August issue of ST. I have shared it on my blog, again briefly, before I had to remove it. I created the word art in Silhouette Studio and printed it on white woodgrain cardstock, then stitched it to the printed paper to create the base for my page.

The last layout I have to share is my most recent page. I created this during the Studio Calico Inked class using several techniques that were demonstrated. For the background stamping I chose a smaller background stamp and colored it in with three different Tim Holtz Distress Markers, spritzed it with water and then stamped making sure to mask off the areas of the paper I did not want to ink. After I finished stamping I sewed along the edges of the chevron pattern to give it a more finished look.

Thanks for looking!