Moments Together mini album

Time to share something not Christmassy again! I actually made this months ago and never got around to posting it, it was made for a class that I taught this past weekend. 

Some of the pages/close ups are out of order because I simply don't remember which way I put them in the book!

 The base of the book is MME Lost and Found Record It! and I have to say that I love how much glitter the kit had on it, the glitter lends some fun texture and shine. 

In addition to the paper and matching brads I added some Pink Paislee mistable shapes and ribbon. 

The blue washi on the edges is an older one from MME but I don't remember which line, it got picked because I punched the holes to close to the edges and had to patch them up so I could rethread the coil into the binding. 

I love how the simple, classic colors in the papers look with the pops of color from the customized embellishments. 

Such a Silly

Mixed media is a major focus at my local scrapbook store and some of the ladies who've gotten into the techniques are wanting ways to incorporate them into their layouts. We've done a few other themes, but this one is using masks to create the title. 

For the background I paintedFaber-Castell gelatoes through a Prima stencil and let it dry. Then I adhered my Hazel & Ruby alphabet masks and placed a The Crafter's Workshop stencil over the letters. I smeared modeling paste over the stencil/masks and let it dry, then dripped a whole bunch of green Studio Calico mist over the title block. I used modeling paste and the same green on the corrugated cardstock on the left side of the page. 

In the bottom right, I built up layers of embellishments to highlight the silly photo of Vance when he was two. 

Beautiful Place Canvas

Remember how I've talked about how into mixed media techniques my local scrapbook store is? Well, I tried my hand at another canvas for them. The only things Dala asked me to use were some Bo Bunny embellishments and the new(ish) Mod Podge molds, the rest was up to me. 

There's lots of tissue and modeling paste. I don't know what those gem things are but I got them for super cheap when Archivers was going out of business.

Here you can read the sentiment a little better, it's from a Donna Downey Unity Stamp. And check out that little pink frame! That's one of those Mod Podge molded shapes, I just painted over it. 

The creamy colored border here is another of the Mod Podge shapes in the original color. I love that the texture is so rich with these things! If you have no idea what I'm talking about - Mod Podge released a series of silicon molds that you use with their special glue sticks. You use a high temp glue gun and squeeze the glue into the mold. I've read about people using regular glue sticks with so so success (I'd definitely want to paint them if I did that!). This was my first time using them though so I didn't play around at that level, plus the molds were ones I'd borrowed from the store. Now that I have my own...

Authentique Seasons Calendar

My friends, I am so beyond excited about today's post! Scrapbooksteals sent me some of the most delicious Authentique papers for my design team post today - it was mostly from the Seasons Petite Collections, and oh was it fun to come up with a use for all that goodness. There's so much paper in today's steal that even after my project (which used a lot) I have plenty of leftover paper and stickers to hoard for some cards and layouts.

The biggest quandary I faced was how to use the paper to feature all four seasons at the same time. Teaching my five year old about months and seasons must have gotten to me because I decided on a calendar. You'll see that I used this as an excuse to play with a friend's WRMK Cinch (still on my wishlist because Santa apparently didn't like me that much this year) and used the calendar pages from Graphic 45 Place in Time to complement my layouts.

It's photo heavy today, go grab a coffee and plan to sit a spell because I really want you to see how much fun there is to be had with this kit!

January - in addition to the Winter Petite Collection I used some buttons from KI Memories, flowers from Prima, and twine from MME.

As a Midwesterner, I don't perceive seasons as a fixed point. There's an ebb and flow with hints of the previous and future season and I wanted to bring that into my calendar, very few months have only one season represented.

February - uses both Winter and bits of Sweetness (for that touch of Valentine's pink). I also added some MME twine, Prima flowers, and used a WRMK Lucky 8 punch.

March - features Sweetness with a touch of Winter. There's also ribbon from Paper Studio and American Crafts, KI Memories buttons, Stazon Ink, and a MME transparency.

April - more of Sweetness with a touch of Winter. There's a custom rosette from fussy cutting the ice cream parlor banner from one of the pages with a random button on top, an American Crafts rosette and some stashed ribbon paired with modeling paste, a TCW stencil, and Mister Huey's pulled in some of the blues from other pages but kept it springy.

May - Sweetness paired with Summer papers and embellishments. I also used some stickers from Authentique's Original. In addition, I pulled in a Pink Paislee Artisan Element, Lawn Fawn flower bobby pin, and stash ribbon. The shiny word bracket was cut out of packaging from those Prima flowers I used on winter pages, I used a Tim Holtz die and then covered it with Glossy Accents. The background was customized with a TCW stencil, modeling paste and then Peacock Feathers and Worn Lipstick Distress Inks.

June - my first Summer layout, you'll notice I pulled in a bit of Sweetness. There's also another Lawn Fawn bobby pin, and more MME twine. The wooden sun is a MME veneer that was misted with Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist.

July - Summer and Autumn with a few pieces of Glory and Original because I couldn't stay away from the 4th of July idea. 

August - Summer and Autumn again, but to evoke the haziness of a Missouri August I used my hand to apply modeling paste in one corner and as it dried misted October Afternoon Sprinklers across the page. 

September - Autumn, Summer, and Winter. There's also more of those KI Memories button and a Graphic 45 Staples flower.

October - Autumn with some fussy cutting out of a sheet of Enchanting to make the page "spookier." I also worked some MME twine into a spider's web and accented the page with Girl's Paperie Toil and Trouble charms. 

November - Autumn papers. I added in some torn papers, leaf die cuts, KI Memories buttons, and MME twine. 

December - Winter with a few touches of Autumn reds and Festive stickers. To make the banners I used a Glitz Design stamp and fussy cut and sewed them together. The other embellishments on the page are Pink Paislee Luxe stars, Prima flower, and stash buttons. 

As you can see I used a lot of paper on each page, this kit is loaded! I'm so glad that Steals sent this particular kit to me, now I get to hang this little beauty in my kitchen. *happy dance* Now to decide which photos to put into the layouts. 

Odds and ends - It's All in the Details

We all have them, that sheet of stickers with just one or two left on it, or a sequence of other embellishments that baffle you so you stash them away, well at Use It Tuesday we're asking you to use up some of those Odds, Ends, Scrap, and Pieces just make sure you tell us which products are hoarded!

I bought the stickers on this page over a year ago at my first Scrapbooksteals Retreat. They were part of a birthday pack from Glitz Designs and I just couldn't figure out a good way to use the numbered stickers. Finally, I was looking at them on the sheet and realized I could just relocate them as is onto a layout to create a border strip. The title is also from the same sheet, I just stuck it to a piece of paper and then fussy cut around it and popped it up on dots.

While those stickers are old-ish, the oldies on this layout are the brads - over 3 years old and lots more where they came from!

I'd like to point out that the layout is about Rylan's fashion choices. He came down from naptime (have I mentioned that he's practically a nudist?) wearing his brother's shirt, some blue plaid shorts that don't quite match, and two socks that were only half on. I was so tickled that I had to take a picture! He had also recently turned three so I wanted to make sure, without throwing the balance off, to have the washi line under the three. 

Mists: October Afternoon Sprinklers, Mister Huey's

Mask: Studio Calico

Stickers: Glitz Designs

Brads: 7Gypsies

Washi: MME and WRMK

Practical Scrappers - 10 Things Tuesday - Scallops

It's Ten Things Tuesday so that means Practical Scrappers is bringing you 10 fun things to do with Scallops today! When you're done checking this out, head on over and see what else the design team has in store for you.

There's a lot out there in the way of scallops. I sort of went a little technique crazy with mine and you'll see there's a lot of scallop action on this page.

Let's start with the fact that I used this Studio Calico Mask to create the background. Scalloped pendants on a banner (which could also be considered a curved scallop).

I misted it in three colors (OA Sprinklers Screen Door and Sidewalk and Mister Huey's Clover), moving the mask and attempting to line it up in rows across the page. I got my idea from something Emily Pitts had posted on Scrapbook and Cards Today's blog.

Once the background was mostly dry I used that mask again and wiped some modeling paste over the top, applying with my finger. After that dried, a little Ranger Distress Faded Denim inking helped bring some depth to the banner.

There's another scallop though - scroll back up and check out that border at the bottom of the page. It's just a die-cut from Authentique's Journey but the die cuts from the kit were a perfect complement to the photo of David pulling Vance on a family bicycle outing.

The idea of using all those little Authentique pieces came from my friend Michele, who posted a similarly styled page on the Scrapbooksteals Facebook page recently.

And if anyone can tell me how to use mists and such without major page warping I'd love them forever!