Missy and Mom Scrapbook Page

On one of the hottest days last week, with the heat index well over 100 degrees, my Boxer Missy and I had a mini-photo shoot. She had asked nicely to go outside, so I slipped on my flip flops and headed out the door with her. My camera was sitting on the counter, and on a whim I grabbed it. Usually I am on the other end of the camera, but on this day my son agreed to take a few shots. Quick with the shutter, he captured one of my favorite shots, the “doggie kiss”, which is mounted in the center position. Despite the heat, Missy was quite expressive, and he captured several photos which I know we will cherish for many years. For those of you who think that Stampin’ Up! is strictly for cards, this scrapbook page features only Stampin’ Up! products (with the exception of the printed label), including one of the new stamp sets, Circle Circus!
  • This layout incorporates 1- 5″ x 7″ print, and 2- 4″ x 6″ prints (cropped). The prints are matted on Barely Banana, and the 5″ x 7″ is matted again with Certainly Celery. Photo corners are punched from Regal Rose and applied as shown.

  • For my page base, I used textured Certainly Celery. Because I wanted to use up some of my retired Designer Series Paper, I pulled out two selections from Bella Birds. I ran a very wide block horizontally the width of the paper, and a narrower block vertically.

  • Three circles (4-1/4″, 3″, 2-1/2″) are cut from Certainly Celery using the Circle Scissors Plus. Three slightly smaller circles are cut from Barely Banana.

  • Selected stamps from Circle Circus are inked with Close to Cocoa and randomly stamped onto the medium and large sized Barely Banana circles, which are then offset layered onto the Certainly Celery circles.

  • Regal Rose 5/8″ Grosgrain Ribbon is ran across the bottom of the page base, and also down the vertical strip.

  • The photographs and circles are now positioned and adhered to the page base.

  • For finishing touches, the Flower, Daisies #2 Bigz Die and the Big Shot are used to cut the larger petals from Regal Rose and Pretty in Pink. A Filigree Brad, with a pink Circle Fire Brad through it’s center, serves as the center of the flower. The daisy is adhered off-center on the smallest of the layered Barely Banana-Certainly Celery circles. Three brads from the Styled Silver Hodgepodge Hardware are attached to the lower right hand corner.

  • As a final step, I used my computer to print “Missy and Mom” onto Whisper White card stock, punched it out with the Designer Label Punch and mounted in a Raised Dot Designer Holder, also from the Hodgepodge Hardware collection.
Scrapbooking is one of the ways that we have of preserving memories. I know that whenever I view this page, I will always remember our quick little “Mommy-Daughter” photo shoot in our front yard!
The Stampin’ Schach Tip of the Day: I used recurring themes to develop unity in this layout. Notice that we are using Circle Circus, plus we have them stamped on circles, and there are three circular brads. In fact, the entire photo block is roughly the shape of a circle. In selecting the colors, I let the photos dictate the major colors. The brown goes with the brown shirt that I am wearing and Missy’s brindle “fur coat”. The yellows and greens are from the foliage and my bracelet. And the pink…Why it’s from that incredible pink Boxer tongue!
As always, your comments are important to me and help me grow as a paper artist. Please feel free to leave me a comment. Until next time…

Order Your Stampin’ Up! Supplies Now!
Stamp Set: Circle Circus (115778)
Inks: Close to Cocoa (103139)
Designer Series Paper: Bella Birds
Card Stock: Certainly Celery Textured (108695—Soft Subtle Assorted Pack), Certainly Celery (105125), Barely Banana (102701), Regal Rose (105130), Pretty in Pink (100459)
Tools: Flower, Daisies #2 Bigz Die (114520), Big Shot (113439), Designer Label Punch (107590), Circle Scissors Plus (112530), Glass Mat (112531), Photo Corners Punch (109042)
Embellishments: Regal Rose 5/8” Grosgrain Ribbon (109056), Filigree Brads (112577), Circle Fire Brads (109110), Styled Silver Hodgepodge Hardware (111325)

Join My Group

Do you love card making and scrapbooking? Would you like to receive a 20% discount on all your favorite Stampin’ Up! products? If you answered yes to either of these questions, then you may want to consider taking advantage of Stampin’ Up!s Mini Starter Kit Special. From July 15th through August 31st, you can start your own Stampin’ Up! business for only $85. Here is what you will receive for your investment:

  • For All You Do stamp set

  • All six In-Color Classic Stampin’ Pads (Bahama Bay, Crushed Curry, Dusty Durango, Melon Mambo, Rich Razzleberry, Soft Suede)

  • Whisper White Card Stock (8-1/2” x 11”)

  • In-Color Assorted Card Stock (8-1/2” x 11”)

  • Business Tools including (8) 2009-2010 Idea Book and Catalogs, 8 Holiday Mini catalogs, 50 Customer forms, Getting Started DVD and more!

And if this is not enough, the Standard Starter Kit is available for $199…with incentives including all 6 In-Color Stamp Pads plus a package of 8-1/2” x 11” Assorted In-Color Card Stock…a $43.65 value! The Standard Starter Kit contains:

  • Four Stamp Sets: Fun & Fast Notes, On a Pedestal, Eastern Blooms, Fundamental Phrases, Teeny Tiny Wishes, plus Elegant Thank You (Note: You can substitute for sets of your choice up to the value of the substituted set)

  • Stampin’ Around Wheel: Fast Flowers (or standard wheel of your choice)

  • Stampin’ Around Wheel Handle

  • Stampin’ Around Ink Cartridge in Pixie Pink (or color of your choice)

  • Stampin’ Pastels

  • Blender Pens

  • VersaMark Ink

  • 5 Classic Stampin’ Pads (Basic Black, Real Red, Brilliant Blue, Green Galore, Pixie Pink or five colors of your choice)

  • Stampin’ Scrub and Stampin’ Mist

  • 2 packages of Bold Brights 8-1/2” x 11” Card Stock, or color family of your choice

  • Whisper White Card Stock or color of your choice (up to $7.50)

  • SNAIL Adhesive

  • Décor Elements Medium Chocolate Eastern Blooms and Décor Elements Applicator

  • 8 Catalogs, plus forms and business tools

All of this, plus the incentives, is only $199, plus tax…SHIPPING IS INCLUDED!

You might be thinking, “I would love the products, but I really do not want to do workshops.” There is no obligation to hold workshops and no penalty for dropping your demonstrator status. However, to keep your demonstrator benefits and discounts, you will need to reach a $300 quarterly minimum. This can be achieved either through workshops or personal purchases. If you join my group, I will be there every step of the way to coach you and answer your questions. The first TEN people to contact me for the necessary password to order your Starter Kit will receive a free, retired unmounted SAB stamp set from my “collection” AND if you are among the first FIVE to join my group, I will provide you with a free set of In-Color Markers, too! Remember, this promotion begins on July 15th! Email me if you have questions about becoming a Stampin’ Up! demonstrator.

Tomorrow it’s back to the cards! Until then…

A Cup of Tea

One of the stamp sets that I received in my “Starter Kit” when I became a Stampin‘ Up! demonstrator was “Define Your Life”. I knew that it would be perfect for scrapbooking pages of my son, and today it proved to be just what I needed to create this card for him. Listening to him prepare his audition music this evening was just the inspiration that I needed to get me out of my creative block. The music on this card is from Alexander Goedicke’s “Concert Etude”. Brady played this piece to perfection last spring, and was named “Best of Center” at the Iowa High School Music Association Solo and Ensemble contest. I “tea” stained the music, stamped blocks, and the Tall Tales Designer Series Paper to “age” them. This technique isn’t everyone’s “cup of tea”, but sometimes it is fun to do something a little different! And as far as Brady’s assessment of the card…we are framing it tomorrow! So, let’s have a little spot of tea, shall we?

  • Prepare a 5-1/2″ x 5-1/2″ card base from Dusty Durango. (I aged the edges of the paper with a Sponge Dauber and Soft Suede ink.)

  • Layer with a selection of Tall Tales Designer Series Paper. I selected the Old Olive tiny circle pattern, which I aged with a wash of Soft Suede ink and water. I then used a blow dryer to dry the slightly damp paper and ironed it flat with a cool iron.

  • Ink the “Create” stamp from Define Your Life with Soft Suede and stamp onto Very Vanilla card stock. Tear the edges, and the age the paper with a mixture of Tea Dye Distress Ink by Ranger and the Soft Suede wash from the previous step. Repeat this process with the “Cc” stamp from Defining Alphabet and the “Violin” image from Music Expressions. Curl up the edges of the images to add texture. (I added just a smidge of color to the Violin image by using Old Olive ink and a Blender Pen.)

  • Next take the sheet music and “paint” it with reconstituted Walnut Ink Crystals by Little Scraps of Time and Tea Dye Distress Ink. Dry with a blow dryer. (Tip: I distressed the sheet music by crumpling it first and then smoothing it out before applying the wash.) I then rolled up two small pieces of the music into two tubes.

  • Punch a section of the sheet music using the Photo Corner Punch, and apply to opposite corners of the card base.

  • Adhere the images to the card base as illustrated. The letter block and the definition block are popped up on Stampin‘ Dimensionals, and are accented with buttons from the Button Latte collection. (Tip: Use a snippet of Dusty Durango card stock to give a finishing touch to the buttons. Plus, Mini Glue Dots are just the ticket to hold the buttons firmly in place.)

I had fun releasing my stress by distressing and aging this card! I guess you would say that I was “de-stressing” by “distressing”! If you have any questions at all about the technique used in today’s card, please Email Me.

Please feel free to leave me a comment and tell me what you think of today’s card. Your comments are very important to me! Until next time…

Order Your Stampin‘ Up! Supplies Now!

Stamp Set: Define Your Life (114950), Defining Alphabet (114952), Music Expressions (113718)
Ink: Soft Suede (115657), Old Olive (102277), Walnut Ink Crystals (Scraps of Time), Tea Dye Distress Ink (Ranger)
Designer Series Paper: Tall Tales (115678)
Card Stock: Dusty Durango (115321)
Tools: Photo Corners Punch (109042)
Embellishments: Button Latte Collection (114333)
Other: Blender Pens (102845), Stampin’ Dimensionals (104430), Mini Glue Dots (103683), Sheet Music