Saturday, February 25, 2012

Graphic 45 Design Team 2012 Audition

I have loved creating with Graphic 45 products for a long time and have decided to dip my toes into the DT world and audition :)  The unique and amazing papers that this company produces allows my imagination to soar and inspires my creativity!

Here are some of my designs...single page layouts, double page layouts, cards and a Configurations box.  When designing layouts, I find the papers are so versatile and can be used for both heritage and contemporary photos.

First, I have four older layouts and a Christmas Configurations box that I designed for display at my local scrapbook store.
Romance

Walter


A Proper Vintage Gentleman
Coney Island 1955

  Christmas Configurations Box


My passion is teaching (I have an Education degree and used to teach high school English).....and now I enjoy designing and teaching at Urban Scrapbook, a wonderful store where I live in Edmonton.  Prior to this, I taught classes at Scrap-A-Lot, another lovely scrapbook shop.

Here are some layouts and cards that I've taught in classes over the past couple of years.  These double pages are challenging to view on the blog, but if you click on the photos, they will enlarge, and you can see the elements up close and personal :)
The Mad Hatter

Our Fairytale
The Magic of Oz (Click HERE for tutorial)
Christmas Emporium Cards (Click HERE for tutorial)

Paradise (Click HERE for tutorial)
As well, I'm honoured to be the Guest Designer 2012 for Canadian Scrapbooker magazine.  The following layouts and cards were published in the last two issues....
Dear Santa (Click HERE for tutorial) - Winter 2011 issue
School Days (Spring 2012 issue)
ABC Primer cards (Spring 2012 issue)
Currently, I'm surrounded by "Little Darlings"....the lovely new baby collection that just made its debut at CHA.  I'm designing another double page layout class and couldn't be happier, spending my time looking at the adorable images on the papers.

It would be an amazing experience to be a part of the Graphic 45 Design Team, and I would love the opportunity to work with one of the most innovative, artistic and exciting companies in the industry.






Wednesday, February 22, 2012

GIVEAWAY WINNER!!!!!!

I'm happy to announce the Giveaway Winner of this wonderful e-book of sketches by Kristine Davidson of Creative Scrappers...
A BIG BIG thank you to Kristine for inviting me to participate in designing a layout for one of her sketches in the book!  Kristine also generously sponsored this giveaway!

And the e-book goes to......drum roll.....

Izzyb:   "I love love love your layout! The pinwheels are so fun and festive. Of course I am a follower. I hang on every word!"

Well, hang on THESE words Izzy...you WON!!! 

And if you don't know Izzy, then a trip to her blog is long overdue...she is a super talented scrapbooker and is getting published in ALL the major scrapbook mags in the States.  Check out her blog HERE.

Thanks for joining in the fun everyone :)

Friday, February 17, 2012

Graphic 45....is Paradise

When I first saw the Graphic 45 collection Tropical Travelogue, it was love at first sight.  The rich lush colors and patterns, the gorgeous vibrant images...all spoke to me, and I knew I wanted to design with them.

Knowing we were going to Mexico after Christmas sealed the deal, so I created this double page layout as a class for The Urban Scrapbook, which I titled "Paradise."
The photos are BabyOfTheFamily on the beach in Puerto Vallarta...paradise!
 Here are a few details and close-ups...
I added some Stampendous Mica Flakes to the edges of the beach sign with Glossy Accents, and also covered the palm leaves above the sign with Glossy Accents.   I edged all the fussy cut white flowers with Glossy and added clear chunky glitter.

The waves are super simple to create...just tear and roll the edges of the paper.  I added Martha Stewart clear microbeads along the tops of the "white caps" with Glossy Accents.  (I went through LOTS of Glossy on this layout!)


The Urban Scrapbook has just brought in some amazing and beautiful German Glass Glitter...and the turquoise colour with flecks of red in it were perfect for these papers.  Of course, my husband would say that the Germans make the BEST of EVERYTHING :)
German Glass glitter adhered on the top curve of the umbrella with Glossy Accents....plus I covered her bathing suit and cap with Glossy to achieve that "wet" look.  (Why can't I look that elegant in the water with a bathing cap????)

A glittered and Glossy fish.
These title cards are cut from "Seaside Holiday" and I glittered the top edges.
Is this enough glitter for you?  Nope...I also used Craft & Glitz microfine Glamour Glitter in "Sky Blue" to add sparkly borders to the background papers.

Here's how....
Adhere 1" wide SookWang double sided adhesive tape along one edge of the background.
Remove adhesive backing of tape and get your glitter ready.
It's a good idea to work with this glitter on top of a scrap piece of paper....in your  neighbour's back yard...because microfine glitter gets EVERYWHERE.  (Note:  Do not put your teenage son's clean laundry away, including his basketball uniform, after you have been working with glitter.)

But who cares about the mess...when sparkle is your goal!
Who can resist this gorgeous stuff?!?!
Dump it (yes, that's one of my scrapbooking terms) on top of the exposed Sookwang tape.
Be generous when it comes to glitter...you will get most of it back into your jar.
NOTE:  Avoid working with glitter late at night when you are so tired and need to rub your eyes....because eyeballs and microfine glitter do NOT mix well.
Rub the glitter into the tape in circular motions...this is called "Burnishing".  This will create friction and heat the glitter so it will stick to the tape and NEVER come off.
I use a Martha Stewart glitter brush to wipe the excess glitter off the border. Then just DUMP it back into the jar.
Aside from the glitter mania, I wanted to share a tutorial on how I created the palm tree......so get ready, I went a little overboard with step-by-step photos!

First, the palm leaves....

I learned his technique of altering the Kraft Glassine paper from Tim Holtz's 12 Tags in December...when he made some holly leaves for a tag.
I altered a piece of Kraft Glassine paper with alcohol inks:  Gold Mixative, Oregano and Meadow.
Here is a before and after of the Kraft Glassine....love the Gold shimmer.


TIP:  Heat set the inks into the paper with a heat gun after you apply them.

I freehand drew 5 palm leaves on scrap paper first and used them as tracers. (Yes, sometimes I'm a little bit of a perfectionist :)
After cutting out the leaves, I fringed them by snipping them with fine-tipped scissors.
Now for the trunk.....you need chipboard, Sticky Back canvas (Claudine Helmuth), Vintage Photo Distress ink, and a mini mister of water.
I drew a trunk template and then cut the trunk from chipboard.
Cut a 1/2 inch notches in the bottom of your canvas and rip 5 strips.
WARNING:  It gets pretty noisy when you are ripping canvas..so I don't recommend this technique for you scrappers who are crafting in the middle of the night!
Pull one or two strings off of one edge of each canvas strip to fray the edge.
Start wrapping your chipboard trunk with the strips, leaving about 2 inches extra (to attach leaves later)  Remember to wrap the strips with the FRAYED edge UP.
I have yet another photo....so why not include it??
Wrap tightly all the way down the trunk, with about 1/4 " overlap of layers.

 

The trunk in these photos is for demo only...a "stunt" trunk...because I didn't take photos while I made the REAL trunk :)
After the ENTIRE tree is wrapped, you will ink it with Vintage Photo Distress Ink.


We use Distress Ink on the canvas because the ink reacts when we mist it with water and the color bleeds beautifully through the canvas, giving you a beautiful brown color.
Love the Mini Mister!

After misting (pretend the ENTIRE trunk is wrapped please).
Here you can see the difference between the canvas that is misted (bottom trunk) and the color of the non-misted trunk in the middle.  (yes, "non-misted" is another technical term in the scrapbooking industry).
Let it dry completely, or if you are impatient like me, you can speed things up by gently heating with a heat gun. (I don't like the term "gun").
Now you will add your beautiful leaves at the top and wrap the extra bit of canvas around them.

You then will ink this white extra bit of canvas and mist it to blend in.
To keep the leaves in place, squeeze a little Glossy Accents (if you haven't run out yet!) in behind the canvas at the top of the trunk  in front and behind the leaves.
A final close-up of the leaves on the layout...

And here is the whole enchilada....as the Mexicans would say :)
Thanks for sitting through this extraordinarily loooooong tutorial!  I hope you enjoy this wonderful Graphic 45 collection as much as I did :)





Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Valentine's Day GIVEAWAY!!!

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! 

I'd like to share some "love" by posting a Giveaway today....a wonderful book of sketches just released by the super talented Kristine Davidson of CREATIVE SCRAPPERS.


Kristine is well-known in the industry for designing fantastic sketches for scrapbookers, and I am so excited to tell you that one of my layouts appears in her new book!

Here it is.....
There are both single page and double page sketches in the book, and I really loved working with the double page sketch Kristine sent me!  It was perfect for designing a layout of BabyofTheFamily's 10th Birthday party.  I used Three Bugs in a Rug papers (Ashtyn collection) and some Jillibean soup as well.  The pink pearls are Kaisercraft and that sweet little pink clay birdie beside the journaling spots is handmade by Stephanie Hart, owner of My Little Bit of Whimsey

The ebook version - which is a PDF file (13MB) is available TODAY!
You can download it to your iphone or ipad using your favorite reader, and you can also print your own copy and use it as you wish!

 
The published book is currently in the graphic stages and getting ready for printing. Kristine is doing a pre-order for this publication. Immediate Payment is required and your copy will be mailed to you as soon as it is complete ( Hopefully before March 1)

This publication has 100 plus 1 sketches, featuring layouts from 50 international AMAZING TALENTED SUPER DUPER designers, and 50 fabulous pages of inspiration.

So ....just leave a comment on this blog post and you will be entered to win a copy of "Creative Scrappers - Creating with Sketches" e-book.  Remember, you have to be a Follower of my blog to be eligible to win.

I'll announce the winner on February 22!

This might just be better than eating chocolate hearts and Hersheys Kisses :)