Embellishing With Paper

Today I'm sharing two pages that were featured on the American Crafts blog last week. 

On this first page, I took clues from the photo for my color scheme, and ended up with lots of blues, as well as a few distinctive pops of red. A fun accent is the garland that runs across the page, where hearts, punched from one of the patterned papers, were sewn together and popped up with adhesive dots. The title combines a negative die-cut with corrugated Thickers that were embellished with a brushing of glitter glue.

Supplies (all by American Crafts): Dear Lizzy Lucky Charm patterned paper, Zazz glitter glue, twine, Knock-Outs border punch, Precision Pen, and corrugated Thickers.

The second page combines one photo with two decorative elements.

Supplies (all by American Crafts): Dear Lizzy Lucky Charm patterned paper, 5th and Frolic patterned paper, twine, Knock-Outs border punch, Precision Pen, and Thickers.

A layered circular accent features a fussy cut mason jar with heart, branch, banners and twine, a punched border and lots of machine stitching to hold it all together.

The bottom half of the page holds a fringe of woven paper, whose colors bring out those in the photo.

Both of these layouts demonstrate ways to embellish a page using nothing more than patterned paper!

Falling For Stripes

One of my favorite papers lately is this little gem from the Scraptastic September "Everybody Talks" add-on. The paper, from Maggie Holmes' Flea Market collection, has black and white diagonal stripes on one side, and a pretty heart print on the other. I've fallen head over heels for it:

Although I only have one sheet, a little strategic cutting enabled me to use it on two cards and a layout, and that's what I have to show you today.

First up are two much-needed birthday cards, as this is birthday season in our family! This one went to my eldest daughter:

I LOVE the contrast of black and white with pink and aqua...so pretty! Another take:

More of the same colors are used on a layout about our love of roller coasters:

All cardstock, papers, stickers, enamel dots, and die-cuts are from the Scraptastic Everybody Talks kit and add-on. Aqua Thickers and the bicycle brad are from a previous kit. The heart flag stamp is from last month's Classy Girls stamp set from Scraptastic.


***The Zephyr Roller Coaster was a well-loved ride at the now extinct Pontchartrain Beach Amusement Park in New Orleans. I had my son and his friend pose in front of the ride's peak, remnants rescued when the coaster was dismantled many years ago. He would have loved that ride!

Slice of Summer

I don't know about you, but I am a summer person. Hot days, cool pools, good books, cold drinks, sun-kissed smiles and relaxing homework-free evenings are what it's about. And today's projects, with their riotous use of color and pattern, symbolize what summer feels like to me.

Before I get to my projects, I want to share the set of whimsical canvases that inspired me. Can you believe these were created by 4th graders? That is some amazing artwork, each one so unique! 

Here is my layout, wherein a crazy and colorful sun becomes the perfect backdrop for a photo of my youngest, slurping a smoothie before swimming in his last big meet of the season. 

 

I always say when something works once, why not try it again...maybe in miniature!?

Scraps of the same papers were arranged for a cheerful card. So easy, no thinking required! All of these American Crafts papers (scraps from several different collections!) were already spread out on my desk, and now I have less leftover. Love that! 

And We Have A Winner!

Thank you all for participating in the 2012-2013 American Crafts Design Team Blog Hop over the past weekend. Weren't the projects fun?! Before sharing the winner of my giveaway, here's a peek at a layout I created from older American Crafts patterned papers:

Check back tomorrow for my blog post about this project, a similarly designed card, and the inspiration for them both!

And now on to the giveaway, a sampler of American Crafts goodness: Dear Lizzy Polka Dot party clothespins, die-cut frame, die-cut shape, wood veneer arrow, and extra large tag, Amy Tangerine Cut & Paste adhesive chipboard icons, resin bows, and punched tag, as well as a pack of glitter Thickers and a Precision Pen, my favorite for journaling.

According to the Random Number Generator, the winner is:

Comment #55:

Teddi said...
i like how you thought to put the things you like on the twine like a banner. it's very clever! :)

September 7, 2013 at 8:04 PM

Congratulations Teddi! Please send an email to me at MadelineFox[at]cox[dot]net with your mailing address and I will get those goodies out to you right away.

2013-2014 American Crafts Design Team Blog Hop

Welcome to the 2013-2014 American Crafts Design Team Blog Hop, where we will each share a layout focusing on...gulp...ourselves!

I have to admit, the assignment was a little unnerving and I pondered long and hard about which direction to take with this page. It’s so easy to scrap a page about someone else…but ME? Yikes!

Then one day, sitting in the car, waiting for my son to exit school, I began a list. It was a simple list, just 10 things. They were things that I enjoy, things that matter, random and in no particular order. And that is the basis of my page. This isn’t THE list and on a different day I could probably come up with a whole other 10 Things, but this is what counts, right now.

 

10 Things I *heart* features papers, stickers, diecuts, ribbon, Thickers and a stamp from  the new and colorful Amy Tangerine collection, Cut & Paste. Fun stuff!

 

Oooo...almost forgot! Leave a comment below by Sunday 10:00PM EST and a winner will be randomly selected to receive this little "sampler" of American Crafts goodies, including my very favorite fine tip journaling pen.

Next up, head on over to see what Elizabeth Gardner has created. If you get lost, hop back here, consult the list below, and pick up where you left off. Here are links to all of the design team participants:

Becki Adams

Meghan Andrew

Jill Cornell

Lilith Eeckels

Katie Ehmann

Paige Evans

Davinie Fiero

Madeline Fox

Elizabeth Gardner

Kelly Goree

Angie Gutshall

Ashley Horton

Corrie Jones

Heather Leopard

Gina Lideros

Patricia Roebuck

Erin Stewart

Diana Waite

Allison Waken

Janna Werner

American Crafts

Thanks for joining us today. I hope you enjoy getting to know a little bit more about each of us!

1 Dog, 2 Dogs, Yellow Dog, Blue Dogs

Cajun artist George Rodrigue paints his whimsical pop art Blue Dog in all sorts of situations and locations. Here are some of my favorites:

 

 Who Dat?!

Here's my tribute to Blue (no relation to the Blue's Clues canine), using remnants from several Scraptastic kits:

The inspiration for my log cabin designed blocks came from this fabric quilt spotted on Pinterest:

I love the bright updated look of this log cabin designed quilt, and it worked really well with all my Scraptastic scraps!

THIS Will Be A Scrapbook Page One Day-Funny!

It's like that picture of a pencil and a cassette.

We're trying to figure out what to do with all our old audio equipment. You know...component systems, oversized and outdated:

There's really no need to keep any of it. Do you think I'll suddenly want to play those LPs from the 70s...on a turntable!? Nah...doubt it.

I already threw out all our old cassettes so the dinosaur cassette deck is a real waste of space.

Consider the set of gargantuan speakers that flank the equally obsolete entertainment center. Just give me some tiny Bose instead. Once that big piece of furniture is emptied, it's going too. Maybe we'll keep the CD changer...but maybe not.

 

So...we're talking about all this obsolete equipment and my 13 year old asks "What's a cassette?"

I happen to have some in a box for Goodwill, so I take one out to show him. He looks at it, kinda remembers seeing these before, and wonders aloud,

"Where's the ON button?"

Seriously! We were killing ourselves laughing. Wow.