Chantilly In Ruby

Hi all, I'm back again . . . I hope. Google has things set up so I have to have two separate email addresses and I cannot have my blog tied to a Google email address. I'm such a friend of Google because their products are pretty dummied down and that's what I need. But this just does not make sense to me. So I think NOW I know how to access my blog and we will try AGAIN!

But I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow so I can't stay up and post much but I'll leave you with a layout that I love. This is Sam's 16th birthday. I used the Chantilly Workshop on the Go, which isn't available anymore, but I just used the paper out of it and quite a few other products too. So I'll post the photo and add details another day. You can get inspired and copy what you can on your own. After all isn't that why we share things--so others don't have to reinvent the wheel?

For now, this is the Chantilly Paper Pack, with lots of extras. More info coming soon!














Products Used
X7163B Chantilly Paper Pack
Cardstock:  X5927 Ruby      X5639 Sweet Leaf
Z1814 Chantilly Assortment

Other and Discontinued Products Used--I'm on a mission to start using some of my "someday" supplies!

The flowers and butterflies are discontinued CTMH products.
The green lace and sparkly/pearl trims are by Websters Pages
   (I used pieces from theses to add sparkles and pearls to individual flowers & butterflies.)
7 Gypsies Stickers
The doily is one I had on hand. I wish I had more of this one. It is the laciest I have. If you look for doilies online, I was just looking for German doilies and my friend Candice suggested French. There are definitely different patterns.
EK Success Leaf Corner Adorner
Sizzlets Round-A-Bout Alphabet and Glitter Paper




Am I actually able to post something??? Let's Try a Tommy WOTG Main Layout

Hey all, I think I'm back. I haven't been able to post anything in months as you can see. There is something with Google that since I had a Verizon account when I set it up, even though I changed, to Gmail (a google product), I can't change my blog to a gmail address. so all this time It hasn't been letting me sign on. Tonight, I have been futzing with it for an hour and got online. I am hoping it works . . . We'll see?!?!?!?!

 

Tips:

1. When you stamp the tiny little flag banner, across the top--stamp it on your scrap paper first to get a feel for it. I didn't and messed it up near the center. This one is too small to mess with trying to see through the block to get it exactly in the right spot to fix a misstamp.
2. You may want to cut your square instead of using Cricut to cut them. I'm NOT a huge Cricut fan. It is good for some things, but not everything. Evelyn is like a mother to me so when I make a layout, I cut pieces of her supplies and get a layout ready for her to put together. We tease her and say the "stamp fairy" came by! Anyway the "stamp fairy" found it easier to just cut the square and clip the corners with the edge of a circle punch or a Stampin Up corner punch that makes this same design.
3. CTMH had us cut a thin strip of red paper for a "ribbon" for the tag. I used red ribbon instead and then needed to pop-up my tag; it didn't work flat.
4. See the two "arrows" made out of the striped paper? I don't always follow the cutting directions but did time because CTMH shows us how to cut the paper to make these arrows. It is super easy and they look great!
5. Don't freak out when your white stamped image doesn't quite fit on the Cranberry Cardstock. It works when you continue with the following steps, so don't do like I did and smush the edges.
6. My friend Candice gets and saves advertisements where ever she goes and uses them to make great layouts. When we went to Hawaii in November 2012, I copied her and even had my husband help. On this layout, the left page title is from a coupon and the journaling in the Outdoor Denim Square is the definition of the term, also from that coupon. Down at the bottom, I included some trivia about Hilo from one of the sheets we received on the ship. On the right page, on the square with the flags, I affixed two strips cut off of the Macadamia nut box about when the first macadamia nut tree was planted. So most of my journaling was taken care of with trivia about Hilo. When I am finished with all of my Hilo layouts, I will have my husband make some notes and I will make some on both of our highlights, adding tidbits for which I didn't have room.

Products Used:                                                        Discontinued Products Used:

G1058 Tommy WOTG                                                 Cranberry Bigger Brads

Exclusive Inks Stamp Pads                                          Mini Gold Brads (I put 1 where ea

    Z2118 Desert Sand                                                        stamped mini-banner section

    Z2140 Outdoor Denim                                                    met, across the top.) 

Z697 Sponge                                                               Cranberry Grosgrain

Z1114 Piercing Tool Kit                                               Other Products Used:      

Z1151 3-D Foam Tape                                                 Aleene's® Original Tacky Glue®

Z1471 Ruler (grids help make layouts even)                 Stampin Up Corner Clip punch

Z1836 Non-Stick Micro Tip Scissors                              Cricut Expression**

Z1686 Cricut Art Philosophy Collection

 

NOTE ON CRICUT EXPRESSION: For those interested, you can still get the Cricut Expression on Amazon.com. (Click on "Expression" up above, under Products Used.) The Expression 2 is the new one with the printout and stylus that I've been told is  NOT user friendly.  As of 6:47 p.m. on 5/28, this link showed that they had 13 new from $145.00 14 used from $125.00 and 2 refurbished from $159.99. Seems odd that the refurbished is more expensive than a new one.

SUPERHERO, aka Superman . . .NOT

Oh my gosh do I have a lot of catching up to do! The Sonoma special workshop really put me behind. I haven't posted these layouts. This is with our Superhero Paper. The first page shows our son in his little halloween costumes. The fuzzy ones on the lower left page are of him in his Superman costume. I actually made him a Superman costume, complete with a Satin cape. I was so suprised that it turned out great! My title is "Superman NOT" because the next page shows him from a week when we got his Jr High photos (Thank God!), cause I got a call right after I got at work to come pick him up--he had gotten hurt at school. He needed emergency plastic surgery to put his nose back in place after playing around before school and we had to go get one of these photos for the surgeon to take into the operating room with her to try and put his nose back together to look like him!

This next layout is when is younger and wanted to play soccer. Oh my gosh did we have fun and laugh. He was so excited by his little costume. He was truly ADHD. (Meds worked great but he wouldn't take them because the kids teased him. They were the only time he maintained decent grades and learned well in school without disrupting everyone.)  But below, was his first soccer match. It was all I could do to get his photo. He was playing frisbee beforehand. When we got to the field, they put him as a goalee I think it was. That didn't work. He got tired and sat down to look for 4-leaf clovers for awhile. Then when the ball came near, he started running and playing with the other team. We didn't care and were just happy to see him having fun. In one shot you see another playing looking at him when he is sneaking a wave to us. The other team wasn't happy at all. Soccer didn't last--much too serious and competitive and not at all about fun at such a young age. We didn't mind him giving that up at all!

Note: The directions said to sponge everything in black. Black is such a dynamic color, that I learned in art classes, a little goes a long way and it can be overpowering. I sponged in Outdoor Denim--it is much more subtle and lets my faded photos be more dominant which is my ultimate goal.

Products Used

G1037 Superhero Workshop On The Go Includes

      X7152B Superhero Paper Pack

      Exclusive Superhero Stamp Set

      Z1688 Comic Badge Buttons

      Z1680 Dimmensional Elements Stars

      Instructional Brochure

Z1488 Honey Mini-Medley Accents Collections (for Ribbon)

E1022 Hero Alphabet My Acrylix Stamp Set

S1204 April Stamp of the Month, You Are My Acrylix Stamp Set

X5903 Cardstock Shade Packs Light Blue

Z2334 Moonstruck Exclusive Inks Marker

Exclusive Inks Stamp Pads: Z2134 Moonstruck, Z2150 Sunflower, Z2162 Honey, Z2194 Sky,

      Z2116 Cranberry, Z2140 Outdoor Denim,  

Z1151 3-D Foam Tape

Z534 Micro-Tip Scissors

Z1471 Ruler

Z697

Other Products used--I have Arrow brads pointing to our son in the soccer photos.



Happy Anniversary and Is There Such A Thing As Too Many Photos . . .YES!!!

I have so many photos--2 huge boxes printed, that I decided I'm going to try doing Studio J for new ones and traditional scrapbooking for my heritage or printed photos. Well one day when I wokeup with every part of my body hurting (thank you Mr. Fibromonster!), I opened the computer and went to Studio J. I created 12 pages in one afternoon, in my comfy recliner, under a blanket. No moving around, getting up and down to get different things. It was all in one space! Plus I have access to bunches of papers, embellishments, layouts, "inks," stickease, ribbons, and more--FOR FREE!!!

That's right. You can go to My Website and click the links until it takes you to Studio J. You will need to create a password and log in. Once you upload your photos, you have 90 days to play. During that 90 days, you will need to buy one 2-page layout (JUST $6.50 Starting 8/1!) and your 90-day period will start all over again. Plus you'll get a free JPG so you can post your own layouts on your blog or facebook to share with family and friends. There is no software to purchase or memberships to buy. Faster, Simpler, and MUCH EASIER, than the others and I have tried them. You also have access to old papers and layouts.

This first layout was made with Elegant Bouquet. I cannot remember how many paper packs of this one I bought. It was around a few years ago and we were all heart-broken when it was retired.I used it below for photos of when our granddaughter presented us with a beautiful collage she made for us of pictures throughout out 39-years together. On the left page, there is a picture above my husband's head. I wanted to crop it out, but didn't feel like learning how (yes, it does have photo cropping capabilities), so I just built a bouquet of roses with digital My Stickease--just like our paper, cardstock stickers except I don't run out.

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My next layout is with a current and (HURRAH!!!) a future paper pack . . . Victory. This one was my favorite out of the spring/summer book. It is so versatile. You will see from other layouts coming soon that Victory is fantastic for boys, military, camping, or just change a few sheets of paper and you can make it work for girls and as I did--our anniversary. My friend Candice was over and she was going to treat us to dinner. I chose this pack because I like to be different. I also thought it went great with my husband's shirt, my granddaughter's hair, and my jacket. But what to do about our sweaters??? I changed the buttons. When you go to change the buttons, you are given suggested colors. Well, the color I selected isn't one of their choices so they I went outside the box and opted for one that matched the pink of our sweaters almost perfectly.

Our marriage has truly been an "everyday adventure" so the Stickease went perfect with the situation. For journaling, I learned that you have to have a journaling box for each spot you want to "write" on. So in the top right corner, you see I created a little tiny journaling box or journaling spot. In future layouts, you will notice that I got smarter and just left the spot empty and filled in my jounaling later with a marker or pen of my chosing.  

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Studio J was perfect for this layout. I had 3 photos and wanted to use this Cruisin' paper so bad because as you can see--it is PERFECT. However, I didn't want to buy an entire paperpack and Stickease/stamps or a Workshop On The Go for just 3 photos. Plus, I don't print photos in oddball sizes like the one on the left page. I think it really is a magical program. I drag and drop my photos and it enlarges them or shrinks them to the perfect size! No cropping for me. Cruisn' has been retired, but not on Studio J.

 

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One last Studio J layout to share: Roxie. The perfect layout for teens. But I would have rather not shared it with our poor granddaughter hooked up to IV's. However, The Snuggie was a gift to me from my dear friend/like-a-sister Susan--she's up on the right of my blog front page. It is a hug from her when I am hurting and need warmth. BUT Sam couldn't resist those animal stripes and snagged it! When she is in this sort of shape, I have a feeling Susan would rather it be wrapping her up!

 Roxie is such great paper. I really hate to see it go because animal print is still big.plus, look at the plaids and flourishes; Just great. I actually covered the switch plates in Sam's room with Roxie. On this layout, I built some layered Stickease. You cannot tell that they weren't "officially" adjoined." I also left space on the tab on the right page to hand journal. If you want actual thickness to your pages, when you get them home, add some bling, real brads, or real buttons and you're good to go.

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Products Used: Studio J and a journaling pen--how simple is that?

Crop Chocolate's July Challenge

I LOVED doing this Crop Chocolate Challenge!

We had to base a layout on a favored book. Because of these photos, my layout is based on the Bible!

When these photos were taken, there were more things going wrong than right in our life. The only place where we felt peace and comfort was when we went to church. I joked with my friends that I was going to pitch a tent in the church parking lot if we didn't get a break soon so when a new believers class opened up, I just signed us up. It was a review for me, but we met a wonderful couple in the leaders, who had experienced many of the same difficulties we were facing. Our souls were eased, we spent quality time making new friends, and had a good time ourselves.

The bottom line is our marriage has survived 39 + years with God, faith, and love; God's word never fails to keep us going through the bad times!

 Crop Chocolate Products Used

Cardstock: Fancy Pants Lilac House and My Family

      Making Memories Vintage Findings

Embellishments: Making Memories Je t' Adore Embellishment Box

      Making Memories Springtime Shapes Butterfly Brad (In the center of the flower on my photo.)
Making Memories Slice, portable die cutter

Non Crop Chocolate products

Faith Design Card for Slice

The layout pattern is from http://www.sketchsupport.com/

Pemberley Bonus Layout--I Like This One Better!

The Workshps On The Go are so great. You get professional looking layouts and don't have to do the hard work of figuring out what to do--it's all been done for you, complete with dimensions!  Pemberly was one of my favorites from the Spring Summer book and I'm thrilled to Say it IS in the Autumn Winter book.

This is of my dad's cousins. They were such super-nice people. If you look close, the little kid in the photos on the right page--that's me.

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PRODUCTS USED

 

G1033 Pemberley Workshop On The Go Kit Includes the following:

      X7148B Peberley Paper Pack

      Pemberley Stamp Set--exclusive for this set

      Z1694 Bouquet Assortment

      Z1707 Bitty Opaques Pearl Adhesive Gems

      Instructional Brochure T

Z1686 Cricut Art Philosophy Collection
Exclusive Inks Stamp Pads: Z2118 Desert Sand, Z2140 Outdoor Denim, Z2162 Honey
Exclusive Inks Marker: Z2421 Outdoor Denim

Z1327 Sparkles--Blue & Green Assortment

Z1151 3-D Foam Tape

Z534 Micro-Tip Scissors

C697 Sponge

Other products used: Thickers (for the letters)

 

PRODUCT REVIEW: THICKERS

I have to say . . . Thickers are beautiful; they have some fantastic colors. BUT that is where my affection stops for them. I HATE them!!! The adhesive doesn't stick to them I pulled out my trustee Xyron, it didn't stick to them. You basically have to glue each and every letter down to get them to stick. Life it MUCH to short. If I'm doing that, I will be cutting my own letters, thank you very much. I will be donating my Thickers to a preschool.

Pemberly Workshop On The Go, Mary Style!

When I saw Pemberly, I loved it and knew I wanted to use it for special photos. What could be more special than for my dear sister Patty. Patty was always the one I wanted when I got hurt. I wanted Patty to fix me. Patty bought me my first doxie. A red Susie dog for my 2nd birthday. I grew up with Susie. Patty taught me lots of things thoughout my life. For my high school graduation, she got me a Thesaurus that I still have and cherish! I love Patty and I hope she sees that in this layout.

The original layout has a solid scalloped Outdoor Denim Circle, 2 small photos, and one large on the left page, and two wallet-sized photos on the right page. The ladies with which I scrap and I prefer better use of our pages so I promised I'd change that. Here is my version.

I left all the same pieces as Close To My Heart suggesed except for the large round Outdoor Denim Piece. I changed that to take advantage of the Cricut Art Philosophy Cartridge. Instead of leaving it solid, I cut it using the Decorative Layer on Page 31 (Top right corner of your Art Philosophy Book), using the same dimensions as your WOTG suggests.

I also double-sponged the tag, letters, and Desert Sand circles first with Honey, and then with Desert Sand--try this it really gives more dimension. I sponged all Blue circles with Outdoor Denim, and sponged the pages with Desert Sand.

I also created an arc with my photos instead of just two wallets on the far right and the 3 on the left.

The other change was I added 3 blue Sparkles to the first "s" of Sister. Patty deserves a little sparkle!

Oh and one other tip, to affix your decorative layer to your page, use spray adhesive--can get it at your local craft store. It is much easier than trying to glue it and hoping the glue stays wet!

Products Used

G1033 Pemberley Workshop On The Go Kit Includes the following:

     X7148B Peberley Paper Pack

     Pemberley Stamp Set--exclusive for this set

     Z1694 Bouquet Assortment

     Z1707 Bitty Opaques Pearl Adhesive Gems

     Instructional Brochure   

Z1686 Cricut Art Philosophy Collection

Exclusive Inks Stamp Pads: Z2118 Desert Sand, Z2140 Outdoor Denim, Z2162 Honey

Z1327 Sparkles--Blue & Green Assortment

Z1151 3-D Foam Tape

Z534 Micro-Tip Scissors

C697 Sponge

Other products used: Spray adhesive