Gramma and Pa

My mom's parents passed away - my grandmother about 8 or 9 years ago and my grandfather about 5 years ago.  My family was very, very close and their parting was very difficult as they were the anchors of the family.  when everyone was so busy going their own ways and doing their own things.... Gramma and Pa were the ones that brought everyone together again. 


I wanted to do something special for my mom with their wedding photo.  I thought a shadowbox would be pretty.  So I restored the photo and scrapped it with some romantic paper.  I made the flowers and added the pearls.  I only used one word - LOVE.  That word sums up everything about them.  Their marriage, their lives, their family...

A few cards

I started making a few Christmas cards the other day.  I don't send too many out so I'm not worried about a late start on them.  I wanted to do something a little different than what I usually do, so I printed out some vintage looking Santa photos and a couple Disney photos with a Christmas theme and used them on the front of the cards.  I am still debating whether or not to stamp a greeting on the front or just put a message on the inside

 

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Much needed break

After tackling that wedding album and making all the invitations for my brother & sister-in-law's wedding, I decided I needed a break.  My husband is leaving again for 6 months, so it was nice to relax an enjoy the time with him and the kids before he deploys.  I wasn't completely idle, though.  I bought myself some knifty knitter looms and started playing with them!  I have three scarves, two hats, a baby blanket/beanie/bootie set and one sock done!  LOL!  I must admit - I am hooked! 

Been decorating for the holidays too.  I have several projects that I need to finish before the weekend as we are Christmasing early so Daddy can be here to open presents with the kids.  I will post pics of everything soon! 

I will be scrapping again soon.  I printed out some pictures for my DD's book.  Only about 150 remain to be printed... not to mention another 200 of my DS. 

Vintage Photo ATC

I have never done one of these before, but I have been looking at ATCs for a while and wanted to try making some.  They are so addictive that I can't await to start doing more!!  On this one I used a lot of scraps I had lying around.  I used a stamp of an old camera that I got from my mom and some scrap squares from some collage paper I had used in another project.  I used a black swirly die cut that I had cut for another project with my cricut (home accent cart - I think).  I added some gold accents to the camera and the swirl.  A few buttons on one of the squares and a little piece of "film" ribbon....and viola!  My very first ATC! 

All You Need Is Love

For the wedding album....   I always do a red and black layout - it's kinda my signature.  For this one, I borrowed from John Lennon and called it "All You Need is Love".  My brother is a huge fan of the Beatles so I thought it was perfect.  I cut the hearts and letters with the cricut and had the black glitter flowers from a pack. 

I didn't have any red glitter paper so I stickled all the red lettering and the red frame on the mats.

The Bride

Ok so here is the page I came up with for the bride....   I had some more of that rely pretty swirly paper that I used on the wedding star card so I used it here and then stuck to a white/silver color scheme. 

Tea Bag Holder card

I got this from splitcoaststampers.com.  I LOVE this idea.  My mom drinks tea like crazy and I thought she could take this and drop it in her purse to have an "emergency tea bag" when she is out of the house.  It holds 2 individually wrapped tea bags ( you could probably fit another pouch in the middle if you wanted to though)

A few more cards

I made a few cards over the last couple of days for the wedding.  Thought I would share!  :)

The first is a collaboration between my sister and myself.  It is the card she will be giving to the happy couple.  It reads a "hundred thousand blessings" in Gaelic.

This one is just one I saw on Splitcoaststampers.com and I thought it was something that I needed to recreate. 

And this is the card I designed for my mother to give to the bride and groom.  This was the hardest because my mom wanted me to use the Irish Blessing and I couldn't figure out what type of card to make to fit it. 

Lingere Bridal Shower card

I made this card for my soon to be sister-in-law's bridal shower.  I have never done this kind of card before and I need to come up with a way to make them a little easier.....  But I think  it turned out really cute!!

 Front

Back

Christmas 09

I have been so busy doing wedding stuff that I decded to take a break last night and catch up on some other things I needed to scrap.  I have the kids' Christmas pictures in each of their books,, but I wanted to have them in a book for myself as well.  So this is what I came up with.

I mostly used my Christmas Solutions cart for this one: the tree, doll, bear, rocking horse, window, candles and gift.  THe title is from Opposites attract and the ornaments are from Plantin Schoolbook.

I put some random "stitches" on the bear to make him look sewn together.

The only part of the gift that was from the cart was the ribbon/bow.  I had to improvise the box part.  But I think it turned out pretty well.  The "lights" on the tree are stickles. 

 

The window actually has "glass" in it!  I used a transparency sheet and cut the window using "blackout"

Star Card Instructions

I have gotten so many requests for instructions on making the star card that I thought I would post them here.

This card looks a lot more complicated than it really is.  It can be made just about any size, though I like to use a standard 5"x7".  ( As long as all the pieces are the same size! )The card stock can be just about anything; single or double sided, and it can be a lighter weight if you want because after adhering all the pieces together, it will be plenty sturdy. 

***  I use my paper cutter and a bone folder to make a score line on card stock to get a cleaner fold.

The outer card is just a half fold to make the basic card shape.   If you are using a plain card stock  - it is a good idea to decorate the inside of this card now.  It is extremely difficult if not impossible to do once it is all assembled.  Or you can use a patterned card for this piece.

The inner card is folded into fourths, accordion style.   Leaving 1 inch at the top and bottom - cut an oval (or any symmetrical shape) out of panels 2 & 3 as shown. 

 

***  I use a  peel off border around the cut out to hide any raw edges

Any decorating of this piece should be done before attaching the hanging decorations.

For the hanging objects, choose your cut and determine what size you need to make it.  It should fill up a lot of the opening, but leave enough room for it to hang freely.  You will need to cut the shape 2 times - one normal cut and one reversed.  Attach the 2 shaped cuts back to back with a length of clear thread between them. 

*** for this step I like to use glue dots or red tape to hold the thread then I use ZIG glue to stick the two pieces together. 

Use a piece of tape to stick the thread inside the crease between panels 2 & 3.  Pull the leftover thread to one side and use a double sided tape to stick it to the solid panel (either side - panel 1 or 4)

Use a good dry adhesive to attach the inner card to the outer card.  I do not recommend using a wet glue for this.  Apply the adhesive to panel 1 and attach to one edge of the outer card.  Do the same for panel 4 on the other edge. 

Now you have 1 section of the star card.  Do the same thing for the other 4 sections.  Once you have all 5 sections
, you can adhere them together.  You can use any dry adhesive you like, however I highly recommend using a very strong tape or glue on the "fold" edge of each section.  I use the Provo Craft red tape for this edge. 

To complete the card, make a front and a back cover the same size as the card.  Before attaching the covers, take a pice of ribbon, string, raffia or any other materiel to tie the card closed, and adhere it to the outside panels of the assembled card. 

***  I use the red tape for this too for extra adhesion

Attach the covers to the card and voila!!  You have a complete star book card!

Wedding Star Card

I made this for my brother's wedding....  sooooooooooo much fun to make!  I used lots and lots of different things on this one! 

I used the Ultimate Crafter's Companion to make the oval cut outs on the "inner" cards.  Lined the background with this really cool paper that felt like fabric with the glittery swirls all over it.  The cut outs each have a "wedding" hanging die cut for which I used my Cricut.  (Plantin Schoolbook, Storybook, Stretch Your Imagination, Mickey and Friends)

I used a bunch of stickers too.  Jolee's Doves and Jolee's silver mini flowers, Silver border lines (around the oval cut outs), silver corners, silver/glitter lace borders, silver flourish borders (front).  The Sentiment is a clear stamp from a wedding collection (the brand escapes me at the moment)

Something...

Old, new, borrowed and blue.....

I made pockets and tags for this layout.  Each of the bride's "somethings" will have a tag for the bride to write a little note about the item. (what is is, where she got it, etc...) 

If music be the food of love, play on.....

LOVE this quote from Shakespeare and I thought it would be great as the title for a layout!  This is another one for the wedding album!

Mr & Mrs page 2

I made a companion page to go with the "Mr & Mrs" page I already made.  I loved the paper and the roses.... then I found these awesome pearls in the perfect colors and knew I had to use them in this album.

wedding invitation

Ok so here is a rough draft of the invitations I am doing for my brother's wedding.  The background is the Farquharson Tartan paper that I had specially made for. 

They will all be in a Celtic font  (below) as it is a Scottish wedding. 

Mr & Mrs

this is another page for the wedding album i am putting together.  It is a little hard to read, but it says "Mr & Mrs".  I used lots of cricut on it.... mostly the leaves and branches around the roses... also the letters and the flourishes

I went back and added a shadow behind the Mr & Mrs.  It needed to pop more. 

I love these swirly flourishes!