The Shabby Chicness I Have Hidden Inside of Me

I totally LOVE the look of Shabby Chic.  Give me some ink, fiber, anything with texture and I'm a happy scrapper. I drool over other blogger sites that feature shabby chicness in their artwork.   But, I feel I rarely have the time to go all out with the shabby chic person I truly am. 
This past weekend I took the time to go shabby all over this layout. 

The beautiful pictures of my sweet granddaughter totally inspired me.  I started with a basic layout inspired by a fellow CTMH artist, Pam Thorn.  Then i pulled out paint, fiber, acrylic overlays, buttons, ink, and anything else I could think of that fit the color scheme and had the shabby chic feel to it.  Then I just got started.  Most of the piece came together as I played with the art mediums.  Here is part of the piece that Pam designed and was already included on the original layout.

Don't you just love that flower cluster?  It's totally done with stamps.  I added a bit of bling and ohhh la la! 
Here are a few things that came together as I played.

Wired Ribbon Flower and a fiber rich border strip. And don't forget the bling, button and more fiber. You can never have too much fiber on a shabby chic project...or too much bling, or too much of anything! 

This little piece was done with a Sizzex Die and CTMH stamp.  I love the way that turned out. 

Everything on the piece was accented either in ink or paint.  The strips you see here were cut from CTMH's Sophia paper pack.  I distressed the edges, added ink and it totally gave me the look I wanted. 
I am so pleased with the way this turned out and I had a total blast creating it.  So let your shabby chicness loose and create something too.  I'd love to hear if this creation inspired you to create your own. 
Until next time,
Happy Scrappin.

Becca

CTMH Technique Blog Hope

Welcome to our Technique Blog Hop!  This month there are 13 of us highlighting the “Glossy Dimensions " Technique as shown on page 23 in the Autumn/Winter 2011 Idea Book!  This blog hop is a great big circle so you can start wherever you want and continue through to see all the fabulous artwork incorporating this technique.  If you would like to start from the beginning, please visit this link Debi Barber's Page.  While there you will also find a listing of all participants and their blog addresses if you should get lost or want to reference a blog along the way.  Let’s get started!

If you are coming from Sheila's  Blog, you are on the right track! 

I had a lot of fun with this technique.  Sadly to say, I have had a bottle of liquid glass sitting on my art table for a long time and never think to pick it up and use it...do you ever do that?  Anyway, when presented with the challenge to use it, I couldn't wait.  You can see how mixing it with the Moonstruck re-inker really made the letter pop and added a real bang to the overall card.  This is definately an art medium that I will go back to. 

 The card design is called Inner Court and can be found on pg. 23 of Wishes.  I love blue and brown, they are my go to colors of choice, so I used elements from Magnifique-one of my all time favorite paper packs.  The bicycle is from the stamp set Pair a Phrase, an exclusive stamp set that you can only get from Close To My Heart.  To celebrate national scrapbooking month CTMH is making this doubel stamp set available to customers.  Well, enough of that time to get hoppin...

Now continue on to Debi's Blog where you will find some additional artwork highlighting this technique!  Be sure to leave a comment and let me know what you thought of my variation and happy hopping!

 Becca

Layouts with Sophia-and Video on Button Flowers

Last weekend my honey and I loaded up the camper and spent the weekend at Tyler State Park.  It's one of our favorite mini-vacation spots.  It's so pretty and relaxing- we go as often as we can. 

Lot's of times when we go, I get to have a little scrapbook retreat. Friday I was able to do just that-here's a couple of layouts.

See my little button flowers?  So easy to make with just a strip of 1x12 inch paper.  Check out the video here to learn how.  Thanks conniemac!

Don't you just love the pic in this layout?  Ella is so full of suprises! 

I really love this layout too. I may add a bit more to the accent box in the upper right corner. 

A preview of a few new items coming in August!

Only a few short days and I will be able to share with you all the  wonderful items that are in the new idea book from Close To My Heart.  But to give a taste of what's to come.  Check out this latest youtube video featuring the new Cricut Cartridge and "Dreamin'" a Workshop on the Go Kits.

Stay tuned for some really great deals in August!

Until then...
Happy Scrappin'
Becca

Cotton Candy Smiles

I had a little time to play this past weekend and I put this page together.  I added the finishing touches today and was very pleased with the results. 

I used Close To My Heart's Sophia paper and it worked perfectly with this pic.  But of course Ella's "Cotton Candy Smile" steals the show.  I pulled out a dimensional element border and button from my stash and inked them in Blush and Goldrush to match the paper.  I love how they take the ink.  These things are great! 

Well, getting late here...hope you enjoy!

Happy Scrappin'

Becca

Shower Her In Acrylic!

Mom, Brandy and Me.  We didn't even plan the our clothes would coordinate.  I guess we think alike!

I spent my day yesterday with my beautiful daughter Brandy and awesome mom Carlyn.  We had the rare occasion of hanging out together in Dallas. 

Brandy has the honor and privilege of serving as her lifelong best friends Matron of Honor in September.  Yesterday was the shower.  Because Brandy is so creative and loves Melissa so much she wanted to make the shower extra special ....no ordinary gathering would do. 

Brandy setting up for the shower

Brandy booked an art class session @ Painting With a Twist.  This is no ordinary shower!  Each person in attendance creates their very own piece of art. 

Brandy stopping traffic waiting for the Bride To Be to arrive.  Can you tell the sign is handmade?  LOL



Gail, Melissa and Brandy-BFF!

Let the party begin.  Each person receives a canvas, paint brushes and a palette of paint.  We follow the instructions of our very own personal artist to create a beautiful acrylic painting!  Remember it's art! 

Let the fun begin!

Coming along nicely

Great shading Melissa! 

Through out the afternoon we gave our well wishes and best advise to Melissa.  We showered her with gifts, champagne and cake and all left feeling like we needed to head to the nearest craft store!  (jk!)

Our artwork!  Aren't they "fabulous"?!

Here's a close up of mine!  Please be gentle...use your imagination...it's art.  I think I'll stick to scrapbooking!

Until then-
Happy Scrappin'
Becca

Something Cold and Sweet For You!

This summer has been truly amazing!  I have had the best time with a great group of young people.  These guys have committed their summer to hanging out with me and sharing Christ with kids through out the community. I wanted to make them each a card to show my appreciation.  Here's what I came up with-

I embossed a couple of pieces of CTMH's Outdoor Denim and Olive Cardstock.  Attached those to a card base.  I box folded a 1 inch piece of CTMH's Barn Red Cardstock and attached it to divide the two colors.  I stamped the cloud images in Sky ink and the sun image in Autumn TerraCotta ink.  Cut those out and attached those.  I popped up one of the clouds to add a bit of dimension. I found  the bunny stamp at Hobby Lobby and colored him using PrismaColor Pencils and attached to the front.  Made a bow and there ya go.  A handmade card that lets them know how much I appreciate them. 

This is the sentiment I stamped on the inside using various stamps in my stash. 

I plan to send them a Dairy Queen gift card so they can get something sweet to eat!  They definitely deserve it. 

This week is our last week of Summer Outreach.  It has been a summer I will never forget. 

Happy Scrappin,

Becca