A few times a year, we are saddened as we say thank you and goodbye to members of the Design Team who are moving onward. Thus we thank and tip our scrappy hat to Cheryl Casas and Rachelle Sigurdson for inspiration at Scraps Of Darkness and Scraps Of Elegance.
In the same breath, we need to celebrate and cheer the joyful new additions to the Team. Please meet the artists:
Michelle Phillips - Mistress of Mayhem and already takin down the house with much mayhem.
For this layout, I used papers from the Pink Paislee Spring Jubilee collection. They are pretty, feminine and soft, just what I needed for this photo I took in Sept 2011. Isn't she a doll?
The kit came with this really interesting pink foil ribbon like little banners so I took advantage of it and used it for a few accents.
The butterfly was part of the Pink Paislee paper that I felt needed a bit of a boost to the spotlight because it was so pretty. I simply cut it out with my craft knife, set a small doily over it and then replced it in the same spot it was originally on the paper. It did get some Prima Say it in pearls bling - lucky little butterfly.
Created using the Scraps of Darkness April kit - wowowowow wee is this a stunning kit. Maybe my favorite thus far? But I probably say that each month as I open my box of goodies and gaze upon the contents. That simply means Melinda, the owner, out does herself each month. Please consider SOD.
This is a photo I took of my husband in March 2012. He is an accomplished musician playing now for over 45 years. He is in a few local bands but dreams of hitting the big time and being on the road touring. While my husband dreams of the road, I know his favorite place to be is at home where his heart is. While it is great be be away, it is better to be home.
This was created for Once Upon a Sketch, using the sketch of the talented and creative Nadia Cannizzo.
The Dusty Attic Hinge was covered in Shimmerz enamelz embossing powder - Molten Metal. I love this stuff.
I made my flowers from some coffee filters I was ready to toss in the trash. Can you believe it? What was I thinking about booting something to the curb so callously. So I punched some flower shapes out with an old EK success flower punch in large and small. Sprayed they with spray starch and hit with my heat gun. The spray starch gives them a feel sot of crispy like rice paper. They look more delicate in real life.
Welcome to Scraps of Darkness April Sakurabana. And what a gorgeous kit this is. Filled with such rich papers and spectacular embellies. Sakurabana means cherry blossom in Japanese, so with that, this kit has that exotic Asian feel to it. If the far east theme is not appealing to you, the wonderful variety in this kit provides such versatility that you are not limited to any theme.
The papers are from Bo Bunny, Fabscraps and Glitz.
Today is reveal day, so lets reveal, shall we?
Good Day for Me
This is me, having a good day. I took a photo before the buds started coming out. The colors in the Bo Bunny papers were such a great pairing for my photo.
The design is based on the April Kit sketch from Charlotte Jenkins, also known in the scrappy world as suepup. Great sketch to play around with because the papers were such fun to layer. I also used the stick pin from Mandy Harrell.
This is a good image of the wonderful stick pin by Mandy Harrell.
Garden Serenity
This is a photo I took in the fall 2011 for my cousins family. The photo may be hard to see, but they are sitting next to a pond and their images are reflected in the water. It felt sort of Asian water garden-y to me. About as Asian as I can get from my little town in upstate NY.
This is a video I made documenting how this page was created.
Spring Haiku
This was created with CSI-Colors, Stories and Inspiration case file #14 in mind. I am having the best time following CSI. It adds such a fun twist to my work and really presents a challenge sometimes to make me think. This case file was a perfect example of stretching my mind with poetry - one of my least favorite forms of expression. I tend not to understand poetry unless it starts with, "roses are red, violets are blue..." Poets operate with a whole different thought process than I do. I tend to think it is more evolved and more sophisticated than how I write. I write about a cat. What does that tell you? Not much sophistication going on - however Escape Kitty may disagree as she truly believes she defines sophistication and evolution.
Enough of Kitty -back to the poetry element of this challenge. One of the elements of the CSI case file this week was to write a Haiku. Well now, since this kit has an Eastern flair to it and the kit is called Sakurabana, I already had the whole Japanese theme going so what the heck. Haiku it is.
A Haiku is a Japanese poem with some distinct characteristics. It usually references nature and is characterized by 17 syllables in total. Those syllables are configured into 3 lines of poetry which must be as follows - 5 syllables, 7 syllables, 5 syllables.
Here is mine:
Spring comes with warm sun
and promises renewal.
A fresh start for all.
This is a photo of the daffodils in my garden....MY garden. Yes, it's the only thing I actually can grow.
I used the Dusty Attic Baroque Frame Set -Circle DA0542 here and painted it with Adirondack paint in Sandal, then inked the edges with some olive colored chalk.
Dreaming of Going on the Road
This is a photo I took of my husband in March 2012. He is an accomplished musician playing now for over 45 years. He is in a few local bands but dreams of hitting the big time and being on the road touring. While my husband dreams of the road, I know his favorite place to be is at home where his heart is.
This was created for Once Upon a Sketch, using the sketch of the talented and creative Nadia Cannizzo.
The Dusty Attic Hinge was covered in Shimmerz enamelz embossing powder - Molten Metal. I love this stuff.
I made my flowers from some coffee filters I was ready to toss in the trash. Can you believe it? What was I thinking about booting something to the curb so callously. So I punched some flower shapes out with an old EK success flower punch in large and small. Sprayed they with spray starch and hit with my heat gun. The spray starch gives them a feel sot of crispy like rice paper. They look more delicate in real life.
Thanks for checking out my images and artwork.
Please consider Scraps of Darkness and joining our scrappy family.
Ahhhh a riddle for you....When is a win still a loss?
When you find out you won the "Once Upon a Sketch" challenge with an emotional piece about losing a child, yet you still feel the pain and sadness. Much thanks to those who voted for this layout.
This was based on the design by Nadia Cannizzo and created using the Scraps Of Darkness Kit. This is an amazing kit with the versatility to fit any scrapping style. Please visit us at Scraps Of Darkness and see how you are inspired.
Once Upon A Sketch - super fun challenge and world class Design Team and sketches.
Thanks again.
This was created using the wonderful Scraps Of Elegance April Kit. The photo is from Graphic Fairy so I have no story to pass along. A story about Escape Kitty would be far more believable than anything I could say about this sad sweet haunting look. But the story about the Scraps Of Elegance Kit being fabulous and jammed with gorgeous coordinating goodies is real and believable, vintage book pages and laces, old postcards = perfection. So come and check us out.
I used the Fabscraps chippy and stained it with Tim Holtz Vintage photo stain -very appropriate color, wouldn't ya say?
Now Kitty has asked that I take a moment for this commercial break.....
consider helping my Kitty out? Like her on Facebook. She wants world domination feline style with a million LIKES but has 21 at this point. Good luck with that!
Thanks a bunch to the great folks at CSI- Colors, Stories and Inspiration for selecting Kitty's layout for case file #13 as the Star Witness for the week. Honored? Oh you bet!
This coveted award is for robust story tellin. Few can weave a story like Kitty.
I interviewed Kitty this morning to tell her the news and get her reaction. Here's how that all "went down"
( well of COURSE there's a STORY behind this award).
The Inside Scoop:
Escape Kitty got me up at 2:45 this morning by her tireless running about the house and jumping on top of me to shake me awake. She's got this cruel, relentless way of waking me when she is hungry and wants me out of bed.
Most Kitties pitter patter about the house. Am I right? Except when Kitty wants me out of bed pronto. She magically pops these horse hooves on and stampedes like a herd in my room. Little Kitty can make the sound of 20 horses clopping down the hallway. How is this even possible?
Alas I get out of bed, escort the Princess to her food bowl, look down and realize it's FULL. I did not need to get up at all. Kitty! Let me go back to bed. No - she simply wants to chat and get on with the day. I am her favorite chatty buddy in the wee hours because I also have that "morning chatty personality". Apparently WE define morning VERY differently - mine starts after 5am, and to most, that probably even sounds generous.
So I am up and googling and typing and writing and drinking. Lot's of strong coffee because it's now ONLY 3am. Wanna take a guess at what Kitty is doing? Napping. Back to bed. She sneaks back to bed, sliding right up cozy next to her daddyman.
Hahahahahahaha, wanna know what I do? I pluck her tiny warm furry Kitty buttend outta bed and pop the wonderful news that "we" won the CSI award for story tellin. It is great news and I am all coffeed up. While my spell check may not be able to find the word "coffeed" I assure you at 3am. it is certainly an essential word. it will be ever important at 3pm today as well. LOL
This is the layout that won. You can find the story here. I'll let her tell the story about Bunny as she does it so much more eloquently than I would.
Thanks also to Teri Pannesi for sending me the photo of Bunny Kitty and playing along with us. You are a super great sport with a handsome hunk of a cat.
So super thanks again to CSI, Teri P, Bunny and YOU for checking me out.
Birthday Card
Snappy title, huh? This is a birthday card I created using the wonderful Scraps Of Darkness March Kit.
This may well be the first card I have ever posted on-line. I love to go to the galleries on sites and browse the cards that some artist are creating. There are some real powerhouses out there in card making that make my head spin. "You can actually get all that detail on a tiny card?"
My workmates, husband and family members often say, "Jen, can you whip me up a card?" Are you kidding me? P-A-I-N-F-U-L! The thought process for me to translate to TINY card size for a 12x12 is painful.
I recently had an occasion where I needed a card, a special card and one that I had to sit and think about, take some time on and make special. This was for a very special relative (yes, all my relatives are special....just in case you happen to be reading this Auntie, Granny and Dear Cousin Jess. LOL)
What better paper choices and embellies to use than the March Scraps Of Darkness Kit with those rich Graphic 45 Olde Curiosity Shoppe papers and coordinating embellies. If you are gonna dabble with card making, G45 is perhaps the easiest way to dip into the pool of handmade cards. Why? Simply because they already have small graphics and such nice patterns to fussy cut.
I hope your birthday was special, Dear Auntie. While it looks like a tiny card, it was made with complete love for you.
Welcome to the Scraps of Elegance Reveal for April. We bring you the Awakening Kit.
This month's kit is just a stunning combination of vintage beauty with the rich chocolaty browns of Moxxie Spring Has Sprung Collection, the pinks and florals of the Glitz Pretty in Pink collection, and some wonderful fresh Spring Jubilee from Pink Paislee. So many great papers masterfully coordinated. Plus some really cool handmade dragon flies by Renea Harrison.
We are also having a DT Call - please check that out here! Good luck!
Yesteryear
This layout was created using the monthly sketch by suepup, Charlotte Jenkins. Thanks Charlotte, for your continued inspiration.
This is a photo of my siblings and I back in 1966. I am the third from the left. The girl with her mouth open -true to life still today! My dad was the photographer here. I recently asked him if he remembered what got us all laughing in this photo. He said he was hopping around the room and rolling on the floor acting all goofy to get us to giggle. Guess it worked. Trust that I'd still crack up the same way even today if my dad was rolling on the floor and hopping around for a laugh.
I feel especially blessed that my dad is still here to ask those questions.
You must use all 5 colors in the color scheme provided and incorporate two elements from the evidence list and one from the testimony list.
My evidence? flowers and a star. My star is the metal on in the top right corner.
My testimony? I decided to have my journal tag get carried away by one of Renea's cool dragon flies.
The back of my journal tag lists the names, date and the clever method my dad used to get us to laugh.
Girl On A swing
This is an old postcard image from Vinclarissa5, Creative Souls. Her name is Miss Mabel Green and she was an actress back in the 1910-1920's. What a beauty.
I used the Dusty Attic Corner Flourish #2 DA0629, cut up and used to fit my page better. Which is why I adore the Dusty Attic product. You can cut. You can alter. You can paint and distress however you like. One this particular piece, I inked with Tim Holtz Vintage Photo stain, added some chunky copper glitter and blue micro beads and then outlined the shape in Cinnamon Stickles glitter glue. .
I made the flowers on the Moxxie papers pop a bit more by inking them first with Tattered Rose distress ink, then grabbed my water pen and painted the flower petals them with Lindy's Stamp Gang Magical in Fuzz Navel Peach. I topped the center of the flower with some chunky copper glitter.
