Hollywood Stars Layout

Time sure does fly by. It's hard to believe that I haven't been designing or working in the craft industry for 6 months. When I went down to my scrap room to create the other day, it felt so good. It's kind of like exercising. You just need that release, ya know? I was digging through some old photo graphs and found this photo that we took in Hollywood when we went exploring the week after CHA a few years ago. Of course, I needed a photo with Brittney Spears! Who wouldn't? 

Heidi Swapp stickers are my new "go to" for titles. They are so easy and colorful.  I used my trusty plastic plate to make my large circle. My kids always laugh at me when I come upstairs for a plate!

You're the BALM!

So I made these a few months ago for Valentine's Day but a good friend of mind ordered some just for plan old "Thank You" gifts for some friends. I probably sound like a broken record but Core Tags are the easiest for this kind of quick gift.

Here is another, simpler version if you don't want to die cut the letters. I LOVE running my smooth Core Tags through the printer. Is super easy!  I print on a scrap piece of paper, then adhere the tag with some washi tape so I can remove them without tearing. Add some May Arts Ribbon and you are done. 

Something Blue Bridal Shower

One of my best friend's got married this summer and today I have some of the shower photos for you. We decided on the Something Blue theme and it was so perfect, especially since our dresses where a gorgeous blue.

First up, BANNERS! I know, right?  But it's true. They are super easy to make, take two seconds to hang, and just do all the work for you. I love love love them against the trees! This isn't the best photo so I took a close-up below, as well.

Here you can see the Core'dinations Whitewash Cardstock. After it's sanded, the blue comes right through! I flipped it over for the letters, cut them on my Silhouette and then embossed them.  A simple Spellbinder's die cut makes cutting these banners super easy.

And of course her very own Bride banner for her chair.  Some Canvas Corp premade banners make this easy with some Black Magic for the letters and Whitewash for the crown. I mean this is your excuse to crazy with the tulle so why not? My friend's mother-on-law outdid herself on this one, it looks like a dress!

The Something Blue sign.  I ordered this from Te Amo Charlie on Esty.  She has SUPER fast shipping and was so so easy to work with! On this table we also placed the Something Borrowed part of the shower. I made little signs for each table to keep the theme moving along. I ordered some Becky Higgins Project Life cards for guest fill out some "borrowed" advise for the bride and groom. Part of my gift to her (I am still working this part, LOL!) will be to put these all in an album and PL will make that super easy.

Now let's talk desserts!  These represent more of the Something Blue theme. Now, I cannot take credit for any of these desserts. I didn't make them, I am  SO not a baker. The vision that we had for this table is spot on. The vintage/shabby chic stands (thank YOU, Misty!) and the "SWEETS" board is a favorite of mine. I used some Canvas Corp burlap and Maya Road canvas tags and other bits and pieces of my stash. Again, thanks to Pinterest for the inspiration pieces on these cute little "save the date" cookies that Kate made.

The cool thing with the "Sweets" sign is that each one is on wires so you can bend them and make them any shape!

I have to tell you these were the BEST cupcakes. Kristie hit a home run on these after finding this on Pinterest as her inspiration. Blue velvet=YUM! I have to tell you....a burlap table runner might be the easiest way to dress up a table!

I love the vintage soda box crates I scored at a yard sale. We use them for tables around our fires but they were just perfect for this occasion.

The signs were just some Core'dinations Black Magic with a chalkboard marker. I cut kraft cardbases from Core'dinations in half for the tent card bases. Super easy and only takes a few minutes. Thanks to Kate for her nice handwriting!

Each table setting had a mustache and crown for some games and a fan from Te Amo Charlie with all the social media icons.  It was outside in July so we need fans! Each part of the shower had a sign explaining the station...Something Old...Something New...Something Borrowed...Something Blue!

Last but not least, the Something Old part of the shower was photos we gathered of Stacy and Mike throughout their relationship and lives. My Brother-in-law is pretty handy with wood designs so he created this black frame. We strung framing wire and hung the photos from it with little clothespins. Again, the fun vintage soda crates were perfect for the stands. Nothing like a trip down memory lane!

I think everyone can agree that a Bridal Shower is only as smooth as the bridal party putting it together!  We had the BEST group of girls and a fabulous  mother-of-the-bride and mother-in-law that helped it all come together. Please note these that photos are a courtesy of a bunch of ladies at the event. This was a total group effort!  

Darice & Core'dinations Witch Hat

I looooove Halloween! And when I got my hands on this Darice paper mache witch hat, I knew it screamed the need for some  Core'dinations Cardstock.


 

  Torn Cardstock Witch Hat Supplies:

• Black Magic Cardstock
• Jillian Spotted Cardstock
• Vintage Cardstock
• Sand it Gadget and Dust Buddy
• Darice paper mache hat
• misc black paint
• paintbrush
• Xyron Adhesive
• MayArts Ribbon

Step 1: Paint the top and bottom of the hat black just in case any of the base of the hat sneaks through. Basic black craft paint works just fine.

 

 Step 2: Tear different strips of Core'dinations ColorCore cardstock. Paper tearing never gets old! Core is great for this because the color core looks great. For tips on tearing our cardstock, view our videos here. Tear the strips, sand them with Sand it Gadget and white off with Dust Buddy. Using the Dust Buddy is important because it helps the adhesive stick.

 
Step 3: Adhere torn strips, rotating colors and patterns on the top of the hat and finish off with some May Arts Ribbon.

 

Step 4: Place on a pumpkin or other decoration.

 
   

Cards Easy as 1-2-3

So, Brian's brother got engaged to one of the cutest, funniest, nicest girls I know and we couldn't be more excited! I get a sister in-law!!!!!!!! One that likes wine, loves my kids and takes good care of my brother-in-law so who isn't happy about that?  Of course, we had to make them a card. The thing that is great about this David Tutera line is that stuff comes together so quickly and Henry can help me pick out the bits and pieces without any cutting or fussing.

I mean and who doesn't let chevron? I think you can put chevron on anything and it looks good!

I'm here!

I can't believe I am blogging again! 

I couldn't be more excited to be srapbooking and crafting again. 

Life is changing a bit for me and I found the urge to get out and make stuff again. Maybe it's a release, maybe it's because I have more time but most of it's because I MISSED IT.  Life is short and we have to make time for what we love and I love paper. Always have...always will so it was time to get down and dirty again and it felt GREAT!

This layout is for the CSI Case File no. 128 that Core'dinations is sponsoring so head over there for a chance to win some CORE! 

I need to get a handle on my photo editing skills again...you never realize how easy this stuff was and now I'm like, "how did I do that?  AND how did I do that so quickly?" But it feels good. So this little number is about H a.k.a Henry and is first day of sub zero baseball LAST  YEAR. Yep, I am even more behind on photos then that. 

Getting back into the swing of layering is not easy!

And of course banners are still in style! 

And last but not least, my newest favorite obsession...these deco photos from Snapfish! EEEEEEEK, I love love them. They are a bit more expensive than traditional photos but to get a few here and there won't break the bank and it's nice for a change. Plus...you can get square ones which I lurve. 

Well, that's it for now. Back to work on my other THREE layouts I have started!!! Wooop woooop!

We are Cropping! Hard Core, Baby!

Yeah! We are having so  much fun cropping away over at the Core'dinations Hard Core Crop!

There are tons of giveaways up for grabs..over 15 packs of cardstock that value over $300!

CHECK IT OUT HERE!

And all the challenges are posted here, too! AND you can check out my challenge here. It's a good one but you only have until tonight ;)

This layout was Gail's challenge to create your own grid background:

And as you can see I cut two "love" titles from my Silhouette..one was way too big so I figured why waste it!

This one was for Suzanna's 12 DIFFERENT types of Core and I did it! :):):)

Gemstones

two kinds of Vintage

two kinds of Black Magic

Spotted

Whitewash

Core Impressions

three kinds of Core Essentials

a Core Tag 

Glitter Silk

Imaginisce and Core

HI Everyone! If you are here today then you are hopping with Core  and Imaginisce!

I loooooove my i-Rock! I have had it for a few years now and use it a ton. My favorite is the tear drop/rain drops so that is what I used today. 

For the first card, I cut out a sun. Just traced it using a lid and then sanded it. Then I turned my card around and made the "sun lines" with a pencil and then scored. I always scor from the back so the raised images are on the front so you can sand them. So it was easy. I used Vintage Cardstock for this card.

Remember to click on the images to make them larger :)

Then I thought...why not use the negative image from my Silhouette cut? That is what I did for this card and then just did some embossing and more i rock LOVE! I used Brights Collection pack for these fun, bright colors. 

Here's the list for today:

Core Designers:

Ellen http://closeyourears.blogspot.com (that is me!)
Kim www.livingthecircuslife.blogspot.com
Jill http://everydayisanoccasion.com/

Imaginisce Designers:
Fleur Smith http://fleursbydesign.blogspot.ca/ 
Marcia Dehn-Nix http://onescrapatatime-bymumsie.blogspot.ca/ 
Apryl Holland http://onescrappysoul.blogspot.ca/ 
Mary Pat SIeh http://siehledwithakiss.blogspot.ca/

Prize up for grabs! Wahooooo!!!!

Tim Holtz Kraft-Core Shattered

Playing with Core'dinations is always fun! The Tim Holtz Kraft Core Shattered cardstock is SO COOL! It's got a crackle finish on it so you don't  even need patterned paper! 

I looks super cool embossed, too! Of course I used some Sizzix embossing folders from Tim as well. 

And some scoring always goes a long way. And don't forget how cool it looks torn...that kraft core looks so cool!

May Arts ... Core'dinations...AND Stampendous...AGAIN!

We are at it again!!!

Here is the line up today:
Core:
Clare Buswell: http://clare-buswell.blogspot.com
Ellen Sosnoski: http:closeyourears.blogspot.com
Ava Gavloski: http://cottagerca.blogspot.ca


May Arts:
Gini Williams Cagle http://www.ginicagle.blogspot.com/
Jen Shears http://jenshearsdesigns.blogspot.com/
Jenifer Cowles http://stitchcutcreate.blogspot.com/

Stampendous: Cyndi Bundy
http://www.scrappychickcyndi.blogspot.com/

Krissy Fossmeyer:  http://www.paperinkspirations.blogspot.com/
Lea Kimmel:  http://ink-positive.blogspot.com/
Asia King:  http://underacreativespell.blogspot.co.uk/

Now on to my projects....

Remember this stamp?  Yep...using it again. It is so versatile. 

Our new smooth tags are awesome to stamp on. I cannot get enough of any of our tags! So check them out and make sure you ask your retailer to get some for you.

For these tags I used a variety of May Arts ribbon and some Burlap String (loooooove this stuff!). Then the sentiment is from David Tutera Celebrate Step 3...the white and black sentiment stickers.  I love that the ribbon comes in sooooo many different colors that you can match inks perfectly.

You can never have too many gift tags on hand, can you?

So make sure you hop all week long. Core AND May Arts AND Stampendous are giving awayy HUGE prizes AND Core has picked a super secret DT member's blog for another random giveaway!
Check out the Core blog for deets and hints on that. 

Getting back on the horse...thanks to a friend :)

So a friend whom I have grown to love and admire posted the sweetest thing on my FB page the other day about missing my blog. I never knew people really read it and to be honest...that might have been the nicest compliment I have received in a long, long time. I know..a bit cheestastic but it feels good to know it.

xoxoxo Mel :)  

Thank you for brining me back to something I love and missed. Do I scrap as much?  No...but I still do a little and you know I got somethin' to say! LOL!

So wanna see something I made?  I did this layout a little bit ago for Core using our Core Cuts line and it makes me all sortys of happy. We love going to the St Patty's day parade around here and I jsut wanted to play with some colors. FUN and BRIGHT colors like the Core cuts collection pack has. And, of course, Owen brightens my day, too. ;) 

So I am all sorts of happy today. Feeling like I found a piece of me that might have been missing and it is my creative outlet. I need to scrap more. I need to give myself time to be creative and share it like I used to. 

It makes me a better person...captures memories for my family and, most importantly, it may help get some of these unused papers out of my studio! 

{click on images to make the  larger}

That's a bit of our Core Couture sparkly goodness and the shamrock shapes are Lifestyle Crafts dies.

Thanks so much for the push, Mel! I will be back next week I promise!  

We are hopping with May Arts and Stampendous so it's gonna be fun and I have TWO projects for next week. Holla!