DRCC Session 6 Class #9

I had this collection of pictures of my son that were somewhat random. They were all from when he was about a month old to when he was about 3 months old and I never knew how to group them together. I came across this layout idea in the Magic How-To book and thought that it was such a cute layout, how could I not use this in class. It was pretty easy to assemble, just a few pieces of cardstock here and there, then add the stars, pop up couple with 3D foam tape and then fake stitches around the pieces. I added some Washi tape and some star brads as well. I hope you like it as much as I do. Sometimes simple with a bit of a pop works really well. 

DRCC Session 6 Class # 8

The For Always paper pack is so a timeless with the basic black and white with some very nice patterns. This is a fairly simple layout, but the patterned paper makes it look so elegant. It is one of my favorites for sure. I will be making class a little more difficult today as this is a very easy layout to create, I'm having my students cut the paper. I will also be giving them a choice of the color of cardstock as not everyone may want Lagoon to complement their layout. I hope you enjoy. 

DRCC Session 6 Class # 7

This is the very pretty Frosted Paper Pack. I've been borrowing a Cricut from a friend of mine and I've been putting it to good use lately. For this layout, we are visiting several spectrums: die cuts, punches, embossing, and hand cuts. The art of the layout is in the placement of the snowflakes. I hope you like it. 

DRCC Session 6 Class # 6

How is Halloween not the cutest holiday when you have a small child? I like this layout because it doesn't limit the placement of pictures, yet it gives structure to the layout. I used a Cricut to cut out the title and added some button brads and some mesh ribbon tied in a knot as well as some Washi tape to add some embellishment. I cut up the zip strip as it has Halloween words on it to use for journaling strips. 

DRCC Session 6 Class # 5

I originally struggled with the ProPlayer paper pack as I didn't quite know how I could make this useful to every student in my class. Once I received the paper in my shipment, I saw that one of the papers has a hexagonal pattern on it and knew exactly how I could make this paper work. I got inspiration from an old catalogue and the hexagonal stamp set that I had purchased quite some time ago. It was interesting to develop a pattern with the shapes. I finished the layout off with some Washi tape, the red tape is from CTMH and the black chevron was found at Michaels. I cut out the title with my Slice and framed the layout with the zip strips from the paper pack. 

DRCC Session 6 Class #4

Autumn is my favorite season. I love the leaves changing so I always like to include a fall layout for my class. The Huntington paper has seasonal colors in it, but it can also be used as a neutral paper pack. It can also be made very masculine quite easily. 

 I used the technique "Rock the Block", to do this you first stamp your image in the lighter color, then you start on one edge of the stamp on the darker ink and rock the stamp around the outside of the image to create a melding of the colors. You then stamp the image as normal. I repeated this technique for each individual letter of the title.

DRCC Session 6 Class # 3

I love the color combination in the Sarita paper. The vibrant Lagoon blue and the Goldrush orange are striking against the Outdoor denim blue background. I individually cut the mats for the class kits so that each individual would be able to configure their pictures according to their needs. This was also a chance for everyone to practice their pennant angle cutting. All that's left is journalling. That always takes time, but I'll get there, one day soon hopefully!

DRCC Session 6 Class #2

I fell in love with the Babycakes paper. It's so versatile, it doesn't necessarily have to be used only for baby pics, although it did work perfectly with these pictures. You have to check out this paper pack as the backside of the polkadot paper is an alphabet pattern. Perfect for back to school. It might reappear in one of my classes....

For the title, I used this gorgeous stamp from the Babycakes Workshops On The Go stamp set. It is a Cricut compatible shape so I precut the shapes for this stamp with the slate piece just 1/4" bigger as a mat. To make the LOVE stand out, stamped it again in sunset and cut out the letters and adhered them on top with 3D foam. I finished off the layout by using the new chocolate glitter ribbon and the zip strip to create more pennants on the bottom left of the layout and stamping a star in slate ink on the top left side. 

DRCC Session 6 Class #1

Hey everyone, sorry about the lateness of this post but it has been a crazy weekend. I've used the new Laughing Lola paper and today we'll be looking at color combinations, what works and what doesn't and how to put it together. We'll also be doing some heat embossing, which is always fun and even more so with metallics!

Little Monkey

This paper and accessories pack is from Best Creation Inc. called Safari Boy. I think I got this pack just after Archer was born, so over 2 years ago. I had taken these pictures in anticipation of a 2 page spread because this outfit was one of my favourites. I love argyle and I love brown and blue together. Needless to say, my sister know all of this and therefore picked up this adorable outfit when she heard I had had a boy. Then I just had to wait until he was big enough to wear it. At least he could play with the stuffed monkey from the beginning, which he loved! It was a great toy for him to chew on. Lots of arms and legs to go in his mouth. Just what a baby loves. 

For this layout, the pack came with these 2 sheets that I used as my base pages with a scene already on them. I love that certain aspects of the whole kit had glitter on it. Even though its a boy paper pack, the glitter works. I strategically placed the cut out in the centre of the pages to frame the pictures. I used the very appropriate sticker title included and just made a pennant background for it. We do call Archer monkey all the time, because he acts like one! The larger hearts were actually stickers that I dusted baby powder on the backs to get rid of the stickiness and then adhered them with 3D foam tape. I found the argyle ribbon at Michaels one day and knew it would perfectly match this paper pack and this layout. 

Proceeds from July and August sales going towards Calgary Zoo Flood Relief.

Click on this link to donate directly to the zoo

If any of you read my monthly newsletter, you will already know that I promised to donate all of the proceeds from my sales from July and August to the Red Cross. Well since that time I have seen the trouble that the Calgary Zoo is in and I think that the money would be better served by donating to them. I have spent countless hours at the zoo with Archer, my friends and family creating many memories. It holds a special place in my heart because it is such a great place to go for anyone. I have also created many zoo layouts and those are so much fun to make. Please support this wonderful place and organization, either by purchasing Close To My Heart product from me, either directly through me or online on my website, or donate directly to the zoo here. 

Please also stay tuned to my blog as the new Idea Book is coming out August 1, 2013. Please contact me if you would like a copy of the new book. Here's a peek at the cover. Psst - there's a new Cricut Cartridge...

 

DRCC Session 5 Class #12

I had a request to use the For Always paper pack again as several of my students have some New York pictures and baby pictures that work really well with the black and white patterns. I decided to do 2 single page layouts that go together so that they could be combined as a single 2-page layout. You'll notice the scroll that repeats itself throughout the 2 pages plus I used red as my accent color. Instead of using cardstock for colored paper, I only used ink and inked the zipstrip as well as the edges of the cardstock in Ruby. I used the outline from when I cut out the scroll as a mask to create a corner accent with the red ink on the Together page.

On my Graduate page, I kept it fairly basic black and white, but inked some paper flowers red to tie in the red from the picture. I'm looking forward to seeing which colors each of my students will choose to use tomorrow. It will be a fun class to play around with. As another accent, I used a circle punch and cut out the corners of the picture mat and also the mat around the title. I accented both pages with rhinestones to give it some bling.

DRCC Session 5 Class #11

 This is the Unforgettable paper pack from a few years ago. I love the cherry blossom paper and the combination of the sorbet and juniper colors.

I added some 3D cherry blossoms by first stamping the outline from the Aspiration stamp set. I used the second generation stamping technique with the coordinating solid stamp in sorbet to color the petals. I also used the second generation technique for the branches and the flowers on the right side, then finished that piece with some ribbon.

DRCC Session 5 Class #10

This is the Later Sk8r paper from CTMH. It's mainly a boyish themed paper, but we need to represent the males sometimes, don't we? I had some fun with this one as I got to play with my new Fast and Furious stamp set. It has some super cute trucks, cars, accents and the tire tread. I stamped the dump truck twice, once in slate and then just the wheels in lagoon. I then cut out the wheels and adhered them in top of the slate colored truck with 3D foam tape.

For the title, I stamped it first on an extra piece of cardstock using the Posterboard Alphabet. I then scrunched up some tissue paper and dabbed it onto my ink pad then dabbed it on top of the letters. I repeated it with 3 different colors. I then cut the letters out and put them on the page. I like how it gives the layout a paint splattered look without a big mess.

DRCC Session 5 Class #9

For anyone who is visiting my blog from outside of Calgary, you should know that for the first half of July, everyone gets decked out in cowboy boots and hats for the Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth - the Calgary Stampede. If you've never been, it's a really great time and lots of fun. These are some pictures from my son's first visit to the grounds. I used the Sweet Home paper pack, it's quite old, but my dear sister found me some extra paper so I thought it lent a nice quaint western look to my page. I did use the new Kraft paper for the base pages as well as the die cuts. I added some wooden buttons for embellishing as well as stitching the hemp on the bottom of the right page. I cheated and just used a pen to create the stitching on the edges of the base page. 

I had fun with the title. This die cut was from the Farm Life Slice Cartridge. It originally had a lasso extending from the cowboy's arm, but I wanted to put my title inside of the loop so I trimmed it off and used hemp to double as rope. I glued the hemp to the edge of the oval piece of cardstock and then put my title on the inside. I then popped it up on my page using 3D foam. 

DRCC Session 5 Class #8

This is the lovely For Always paper pack from CTMH. The paper pack contains only black and white patterned paper which makes the colors that you choose to co-ordinate with really pop. This layout is from the Scrapbook Generation website (scrapbookgeneration.blogspot.com). I punched out different circles, then used the scissor edging technique to create dimension. I used the new black shimmer trim and the black glitter buttons for the centre of my circles. 

I used my Slice for the title using the shadow function for girl. Instead of using the dots for the i's that came with the die cut, I used some rhinestones to add some extra sparkle. 

DRCC Session 5 Class #7

I used the Surf's Up paper pack this week for my beachy layout. I wanted to tie everything together and add lots of summer elements, so I stamped some surfboards and cut them out to go with my title. I also added some words at the bottom right to add to the overall theme. As well, I inked the umbrella on the top left side in the Sorbet color and then colored the pole with a Desert Sand marker so I would have the 2 colors once I stamped my image. After I stamped it on the page, I then colored in any missing areas with the marker. I added some ribbon to the bottom and cut out some waves and a surfer from the paper and popped the image up with 3D foam tape.

I got my inspiration for parts of this layout from the latest CTMH Idea Book. There is a mini album that had a sun on one end of it and it gave me a great idea to do the same thing with this hidden journalling piece on the left side of the page. I created a template by freehanding a semi-circle on an extra piece of paper, cutting it out and then tracing it onto the folded piece of paper that would be my sun. I then took a circle punch and punched out semi-circles, making sure to overlap the edges so that I had the rays of sun. I then adhered the bottom half of the sun with the fold to the outer edge of the page. To secure the open side of the sun to the page, I used a clear tab with a blue brad to anchor it, this way it doesn't distract from the sun, but my flap doesn't stick up.

I also made a template for the inside journalling area, but I left it in the oval shape so that it still looked like a sun when it's open. 

I used the new clear 3D flowers to add some more dimension. I colored them first by sponging them with White Daisy ink and Lagoon ink. The color seems to have stayed pretty well. 

DRCC Session 5 Class #6

You're probably thinking that I have a serious red, white and blue problem lately, but I really don't. I go where the inspiration leads me and this week it led me to a July/Canada Day post. This may be more of an American theme of paper than some people might like to see, but since I had my little one in red and blue for these photos and they were taken throughout July, not just Canada Day, I thought that it still worked. I stamped a border around the large picture by straightening the original wavy stamp on my block. 

I made my own shadowing here of the stamped title by freehand cutting around the letters and the maple leaf, leaving about an eighth of an inch border around the edges. I did stamp my maple leaf twice, once on the base cardstock in blue and then again in the red and popped it up using 3D foam tape on top of the blue leaf. 

On the right side of the page, the top middle square unties to reveal another picture and a fun colored in stamp image. I only had one extra picture to place on this layout, but it has the potential to have 13 extra pictures using 2 longer pieces of cardstock and both sides of the paper. This is also a great area for private journalling. To get the multi-colored image, I stamped it first in bamboo and then colored everything in with pencil crayons. If you want a sharper look, try using markers instead. I wanted something softer so that's why I chose the pencils. 

DRCC Session 5 Class #5

This is an old paper pack called Aspen. I love the snowflake paper and its definitely a nice gender and age neutral layout. I had also gotten the cotton ball ribbon awhile ago, I think it adds to the playfulness of the layout. I added some Stickles to the corners of the letters in the title to echo frost on the window. I also used the emboss resist technique and made some boot prints in the snow.

DRCC Session 5 Class #4

This week is more advanced than previous classes. I liked this layout as it has a lot of picture space and in order to put more on my layout I've incorporated a fold out of the pictures using half of a photo storage page on the right side. I'll also be demonstrating how to do the scallop edge with a corner rounder. I used the Irresistibles Dimensional Elements for my title. In order to make the emboss resist design already on the chipboard visible, I sponged Twilight ink over top of the letters. I stamped my animal critters on white cardstock, cut them out and then adhered them with 3D foam tape.

Here is the expanded view of the photo storage page mini album. I secured the folded up mini album with ribbon, a ribbon slide and brads. I left it loose enough to slide off of the page in order to expand it. 

This is the other view. I used hinges to adhere the photo storage page to the layout. I chose to put the hinges through my photo so that the picture wouldn't bubble over it, but you could adhere the photo over top of the hinges. I will be cutting the page protector to allow for the expansion of this mini album once the class is over. 

DRCC Session #5 class 3

As you might have noticed, this is class #3 and you might be thinking that I have forgotten to post #2, well no - I'm just waiting to get a picture to add to the layout that is currently in my moms computer that is being fixed (it's got influenza, or some kind of virus). I'll try to get it posted soon, with or without the pic. It's a cute layout using the Tommy paper. 

On to this week's layout, I've used the Claire paper pack. The small squares were easy to modify by rounding 2 of the corners. I copied that aspect with the larger piece in the middle as well as the word puzzle "journaling" piece. 

To give some more whimsy to the page I added to border on the top and bottom using this cute loop border stamp set. It somewhat mirrors the design on the zip strip that I placed on top of the new Outdoor Denim Chevron ribbon that goes across the page. You can see the zip strip and the Chevron ribbon better on the close up pics below. 

To create the word puzzle, I first stamped the 2 corners with the looped stamp so that I would know where to place my words. I then arranged the stamps with the common theme (party) on the piece of paper, moving certain ones around until I had a good fit. I filled in one blank area with a flourish stamp as the space was too small for a word.

I placed one of my bigger blocks on top of the arranged stamps in order to ink them as one. I wanted to do the "It's a Party" stamp in Outdoor Denim, so I removed it from the block, but left the space so that I could fill it in later. 

I then stamped the word puzzle in colonial white and then stamped the missing "It's a Party!" stamp in the blue in the space I had left so that it stood out more. 

This is a great alternative to traditional journaling especially if you don't have a lot to say about the occasion. The clear acrylic stamps make it very easy to arrange and see how all of the stamps will fit. It's also wonderful for a card, I've made several birthday cards using this technique. 

DRCC Session 5 Class #1

Welcome back everyone. It was a busy Christmas and January filled with birthdays. I hope you all had a good holiday.

Spring/Summer 2013 Idea Book Cover art

With the new class comes new paper. There are some really cute papers and new products with the new Idea Book that comes out February 1st.

The first class of this session we will be using the new Buzz and Bumble paper. I borrowed my mom's Cricut to make the scalloped border and to cut out the journaling piece.

To make the banner, I punched circles out of the different cardstock and then folded them in half over the hemp bakers twine and adhered each half together.

I added the new clear flowers to the bottom pennant to give it more dimension.

Come back next week to see some more of the new paper.