Sunday, July 31, 2011

Sexy Summer Invite & Stampin' Royalty Challenge #82

We've had some crazy summer storms over the weekend. Rain, wind, lightening, thunder, and a bit of hail. Worst part of it, we lost all Internet, cable, and phone service for about 20 hours. Then we lost power for close to 9 hours. Once all the utilities were back on this morning I needed something to cheer me up. Searching blogs always does that to me. Stampin' Royalty's current challenge is to create a card, scrapbook layout, 3D project or digital design related to summer. With all the rain and yucky weather I really needed a reminder that it was still summer, after all.


This first picture was with the camera flash on. The second was with the flash off.


All the card stock and patterned paper (bikini) were scraps from my latest projects. The sand paper is from my husband's garage. The beach towel is a scrap of fabric left over from a quilt project. I just frayed one edge to make it look like fringe. The sun, sky, and water were sponged.



One of the things I like to do is to make sure the inside of my cards are just as cute as the outside. I sponged the sand, water, and sun. Then I stamped a sand castle and seashell. Lastly, I drew a double line all the way around the card stock.


This picture shows the dimension of the bikini girl, tanning lotion and sand. The bikini girl is popped up using Stampin' Dimensionals by SU!

Card recipe:
Cardstock and patterned paper - SU!
Ink, journal writer, stampin' dimensionals, and dazzling diamond glitter - SU!
Copic markers used in bikini girl
You're invited stamp - SU!
Bikini girl, sand castle, seashell, tanning lotion stamps - Hanna Stamps
Bird stamp - unknown
Sandpaper and fabric scrap

Be sure to head on over to Stampin' Royalty and check out all the wonderful entries from so many talented ladies.

Thanks for looking.
Happy stampin' & scrap pin',
Marlo



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Green, Black, and White...Can't Be Stopped!

I recently made 3 scrapbook albums showcasing Mystic All-Star Cheer for the 2010-2011 year. One was for my daughter's coach, Devon. One for my son's girlfriend, Aby, who also cheers with my daughter. And the third for Tiff, my daughter.


Tiff & Aby

Since Mystic's colors are green, black, and white, I made the albums to coordinate. Let's just say that after the third album I had tons of scraps and I was sick of these colors. Although I swore I didn't want to see those colors for awhile, I needed to use up the scraps.



I love to spend time making cards, it's stress therapy for me. The following cards are 4x4. All card stock is from the scrap box. Some of the card stock is Stampin' Up! And some was bought at Joann's. Border and scallop punch are by Stampin' Up, ribbon and rhinestones from the Fabric Barn. The stamps are from CTMH. The zebra paper was bought at Joann's. It has a velvety texture to it.


The card bases were cut from a lime green cardstock. The lighter green is a glitter cardstock purchased from Joann's.


The scallop is popped up using Stampin' Dimensionals by SU!







I believe I made over 20 cards so far using only scraps. I think I can get a few more before calling it quits or really not wanting to see these colors again.

Thanks for looking.
Happy Stampin' & Scrappin',
Marlo

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Friday, July 29, 2011

Hello Kitty Friends Scrapbook Album

A few weeks ago I came across a scrapbooking blog that I instantly fell in love with, bugjunkie.blogspot.com. Bug Junkie does some beautiful work and creations using the Cricut. Next thing I knew I was on YouTube watching all of her videos.

I found myself on the treadmill watching the videos and losing track of time. She has a series of videos that shows how to use The Design Studio with your Cricut. I was hooked and knew I needed this. I first tried the demo version to see if it was user friendly...and yes, it was! I made a shaped book using the trial version, but I was limited. So, I bought the full version of The Design Studio and I've been locked in my scrap house since.

Using The Design Studio, the Cricut, and my computer I was able to design the cutest Hello Kitty shaped scrapbook album. All I needed was lots of chipboard, tons of card stock and patterned paper, ribbon, rhinestones, a whole lot of adhesive, plenty of time, and an abundance of patience. I love, love, love the finished product.




It's this just adorable? Lots of texture and 3 dimensional stuff going on here.



There are 22 pages of cuteness and approximately 66 places for pictures from 3x3 to 5x7.






The zebra printed paper is velvety in texture. The cool combination of pink, red, black, and white is so trendy and fun.






There is a combination of slider cards, trifolds, pockets, tags, books, and photo mats.






It was a blast putting this together. I love my Cricut even more now and The Design Studio...I don't know how I lived without it all this time.














Now to move on to some other shaped books that I've designed. My next one is a Mickey Mouse album.

Thanks for looking!
Happy scrapping,
Marlo

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Wednesday, July 20, 2011

River Fun and Scrapbook Challenge

We spent the fourth of July weekend at the river enjoying the water. The weather was perfect, 118 degrees. The kids had a ton of fun and we even got to enjoy a cruise down the river. We spent Friday cruising through the Topock Gorge. It is such a beautiful area. We made our way to Havasu Lake and the London Bridge.



We enjoyed relaxing while Stevie drove. The kids tubed and played in the water. So much fun was had by all. My family has been going to the river for many, many years. As well,so has Stevie's family, yet we never spent the time together. This weekend was a rarity.



Back home after a week at the river gave me time to recoup, which means time to scrap. I knew I wanted to scrapbook my river pictures but I wasn't sure what i wanted to do quite yet. Then Jim solved my dilemma. While at the river, my niece Samantha turned 14 years old. She had a birthday brunch upon her return home from the river. With short notice of the party, I got a crazy idea to a make her a scrapbook of our river trip. I needed a bit of inspiration so I perused several of my favorite blogs and found a challenge on My Pink Stamper. This helped me coordinate my color scheme.



Hahaha! I had less than 48 hours and besides working on the scrapbook, I had a test to study for. I know, call me crazy. As I quickly planned I realized I didn't have an album so I opted for a paper bag album. Yeah, still not a great idea because I didn't have brown paper bags. Thank goodness for 24 hour supermarkets. I headed to the market and asked for paper bags. They were a bit bigger than lunch bag size, but perfect for what I wanted to do.



Unfortunately, I didn't get it done on time because I ran out of adhesive. I did get the album done and Jim delivered it to his brother. My niece called me later that evening and was so excited about her scrapbook. She loved it. And, I loved that she loved it.



I used a total of 9 paper bags. This gave me over 54 places for pictures and journalling. Each page has multiple pockets and interactive pages. A lot of work, but so fun. I tried to keep the embellishments simple since I was using bold colors.



Recipe:

Cardstock from Stampin' Up! - pink passion, tempting torquiose, pumpkin pie, old olive, basic black, white, creamy caramel, and chocolate chip.

Pattern paper from Stamapin' Up! - summer days scrapbook kit

Bind It All

Cricut cartridges - Everyday Paper Dolls, H2O, Summer Vacation, and Plantin

Cricut Design studio to weld letters.

Inks, brad, glitter, crystal lacquer, and chalk from Stampin' Up!

Sticker letters and die cuts from my scrap drawer.

Rub on words from Making Memories

Punches - flower (su!), sun and paint splat from Nankok Industries











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