Okay - confession time!  I love creating scrapbook pages - and have developed a total addiction to mixed media / canvas creations, but I never ever make cards.  Never.  Ever.  My kiddos create cards for friends and relatives...  but I ALWAYS buy mine to give...  So...  again - working out of my comfort zone - here's my first go at some Christmas cards.  A few other ideas crashed and burned before these came together.  I have a long way to go on learning, but all in all not too bad to start.
          First, my angel card (Figure 1) in gold and white on a tan background.  I used the beautiful Sissex angel wings die to cut the wings.  Then, I sent them thru a dry emboss press to create the swirls - plus, added some white glitter and high gloss to make them shimmer.  Next, cut out a large heart shape and do an accordion fold for the angel body.  I found a gorgeous pearl loop "button" to use as the head.  The music background is stamped with gold ink and the Joyeux Noel is from a stamp set I purchased last year...  simple and elegant card.

Figure 1

 

          Second, I created a snowflake card (Figure 2).  I started by painting a paper with Sapphire On Ice Luminarte Silk paint.  After it dried, I used a TCW snowflake stencil and mixed high gloss and glitter together and brushed it over the stencil.  AMAZING the beautiful shimmery snowflakes that it created!!!  This photo doesn't show how gorgeous this looks.  Finally, the snowflake on top is created by cutting a toilet paper roll intp 1/2 inch sections and painting it with white paint mixed with glitter.  it turned out so cute!!!  This would be an easy card to make with kids -

   

Figure 2

 

          My third card (Figure 3) was created by using a Sissex Gumball machine die.  This sissex die combined with it's embossing folder - I loved it!  I rubbed a teal blue ink over the 5 cents and gumballs to give it a bit of definition...   and added a fun red ribbon.  The sentiment says...  "Back in the old days..."  "it was the small things that made life BIG" - too fun!

 

Figure 3

 

          My final card was one of my favorite - it is light & fun - and since we live in a tropical climate - appropriate for our Christmas season (Figure 4).  I started with the Sissex Accordian Flip die - and created three sections.  Then, using white paint and high gloss acrylic, I stamped a chevron shape on the middle frame.  Next, I stamped the palm tree/Christmas tree, surfing Santa, and the "tis the season" sentiment - then painted it with Luminarte silk paints.  I have to say I have LOVED working with these gorgeous shimmery paints!!!  On the reverse side I can place three pictures before I send the card out.

 

Figure 4

 

          So I have to say my first experience making cards was a trial run.  It was exciting to try new things - I had a great time!  Hope you all create some on your own too.



Project Life | June 2013

          Welcome back - I'd like to share my Digital Project Life for the month of June with you today!  Take a look at all the beautiful cards that I was able to use and the multitude of pictures that I've included for our family memories... 
           The first week of June was a busy one (Figure 1):  we had a school field trip to see the floating Rubber Duck display in Tsim Sha Tsui at Victoria Harbour, Hong Kong.  It's a 4 story rubber duck!  What a fun experience for the kids.  In addition, the girls had their gymnastics competition.  So much fun to capture them with their friends and 'in action' during the competition.  Congratulations to Annabelle for earning a Gold Medal in the floor competition and a Silver All-Around Medal.  What an amazing experience. 
          I loved using the Persnickety Prints Chalk Cards camera typography in combination with Becky Higgins gorgeous Honey PL cards.  We had a wonderful week and our cool underwater photos show how much we love our pool time!!! 
 

Figure 1

 

          The second week of June was all about Vacation Bible School (VBS) - we finished preparing our props and worked on our photos to send with our books for the children in India.  The Persnickety Prints Chalk Cards came in handy again - this time paired with one of my favorite fonts: sidewalk chalk.  Some of the super ideas for photos this week:  a picture of Annabelle cuddling her baby doll, her Mandarin class in session - using playdough to write Chinese characters, and typical breakfast...  some of our everyday magic (Figure 2).  

Figure 2

 

          The third week of June (Figure 3), our VBS Sundays continued - and I captured some fun photos of the relationships between the kids and their crew leaders.  I continued to use the beautiful Becky Higgins Honey PL cards - I love the primary colors.  This week we were all over the place:  VBS at church, grilling out with Dad, daytrip into Central HK, football awards, Aqua Luna junk boat trip, and squid fishing!  Amazing week in the life... 

Figure 3

 

          Our final week of June, we said a lot of good-byes...  the twins graduated from Sunshine House Kindergarten and we packed up to travel to the USA for 6 weeks...  During this process, I was able to capture some awesome contrasts between the modern DB ferry boat and the antique Bounty ship - amazing (Figure 4)!  A wonderful, busy month for our family.  I love that PL is capturing some of the details that might be lost otherwise.  

Figure 4

           Hope these photos and collections help you as you capture your memories.

HKMC | November Kit Club

          So excited to bring you a new kit for our November Kit Club at HKMC!  Check out this fantastic kit (Figure 1) from October Afternoon - Travel Girl.  We love to travel - so I couldn't wait to start crafting with this one!!! 

Figure 1

 

          The first layout I created was a single page layout (shocker - I know!).  At the HKMC Fall Retreat, we created some tags using the people outline stencils - and I wanted to use one of these tags (Figure 2) on my travel layout. I LOVE the Luminarte Silk Paint - fabulous!!!  

 

Figure 2

 

          One of my new purchases, is the awesome new world map from the digital section of Two Peas in a Bucket.  I used my Sissex eclips to cut it out of blue cardstock.  One of my friends had picked up a beautiful immigration embossing die for me - I embossed white cardstock and ran some orange ink over it...  added a few pieces of paper and stickers.  Normally, I don't use gray much - but I have to say I am loving it - especially with the blue and orange here.  I also included one of my favorite family travel photos and I intentionally let it fade in with the paper since I wanted the girl and the world map to be the focus (Figure 3).  Something else that I enjoyed using were the cling stamps "This Way" and Ali Edwards stamps "fabulous" and "TRAVEL"

Figure 3

 

          Up close shot of the Immigration embossed paper (Figure 4).  

Figure 4

 

 

          My second layout was a double page using the negative of the world map I created for the single page above over the gray street paper from the Travel Girl.  I wanted this layout to show how much fun we've had across the world together as a couple and now as a family.  Love my title that I created on the Sissex eclips machine -  "Oh, the Places You'll GO!" - (Figure 5) especially since I can create it at any size that I would like. 

 

Figure 5

           Using Luminarte Silk paints in Yellow Rose and paste, I painted it over a gorgeous stencil.  Next, I added 13 photos taken from all over the world.  I added the title and the string (Figure 6).  Last touch, I added the wood plane.



 Figure 6

     
           My final layout was a double page about travel, but it specifically focused on the summer fun the kiddos had in our front yard in the USA.  I captured some great photos while the kids played in the sprinkler (Figure 7).

Figure 7

 

          I used some of the red enamel dots and blue arrows to draw attention to the title: travel {home}.  These photos show how carefree the kiddos feel when they are splashing around in the water sprinkler. 

Figure 8

 

 I especially love the one of them dancing (Figure 8)!  Awww - to be young again...   

Project Life | May 2013

           Our family has been in full swing and overbooked with social and school engagements the last few weeks - wheeeew...  it's been fun, but I'm ready for a little breather!  I have to say, posting on the blog has suffered because of this!!!  I have finished thru August in my digital Project Life...  even though I haven't posted it all - so hang on - I'll catch up over the next week or so.

          So let's take a look at May 2013:

          This week was a whirlwind of activity with a baseball homerun derby and awards, Mother's Day event at Sunshine House, and an exciting playdate (Figure 1).  I wanted to use bright fun colors to show how much fun they had...  I made my own title card using some striped paper and a digital stamp.  Something else that I have tried to sprinkle throughout our Project Life are some of the art that the kids and I have created.  This week, I have the invitations that Annabelle and I created for her birthday party, and my crazy (but fun!) painted footprints that we made at the Mother's Day event.  So glad I could capture this!

Figure 1

 

          For Week 20 I bought the digital version of Honey PL by Becky Higgins - I love, love, love the colors!  In addition, I had some cut files that worked out great as filler cards (Figure 2).  These faces make every second of time I spend on our scrapbook memories worth it!

Figure 2

 

          The next week was also full of birthday fun, a splash with friends in the pool, and football practice.  I created some of the filler cards - like Figure 3 - using the shape tool in Photoshop and repeating the 3.  Also added a white arrow shape to a digital paper and clipped it onto the bottom right-hand box to provide some journaling space.     

Figure 3

 

          In Figure 4, the final week of May captures the beginning of our VBS, the little ones meeting their teachers' for next year, and a few creations (canvas and lipgloss!).  It never ceases to amaze me how technology impacts our lives - just having my iPhone available all the time allows me to capture unique memories such as this photo of Annabelle getting a massage.  Awesome!

Figure 4

 

          Hope this inspires you to take more photos and capture your memories today!!

 

Spooktacular Day | Halloween double layout

          Boo to you!  Happy Halloween everyone - hope that you all enjoyed the holiday.  We had a fun couple of events to participate in for Halloween and I look forward to scrapbooking them soon...  In the meantime, I have finally gotten around to finishing my Halloween layout that I started at our HKMC Fall Retreat using last year's pictures!!!  Take a look at the SPOOKtacular Day.
          The Luminarte Silk Paints are one of my new favorite items - and this Pumpkin Spice was the PERFECT orange color for my Halloween layout (Figure 1).  Check out the title - it started out as raw chipboard, but with one coat of this beautiful silk paint... gorgeous!  I used that same paint on my tag that I layered under the Trick or Treat canvas tag that I found in my stash.  In addition, I added my journaling on white cardstock that I decorated with washi tape down the side to give it a little pizzazz.  Then I tied a small bit of black & white twine around the tag to complete this section.

Figure 1

           One final touch that I added once my layout was complete were these two googly eyes to the center of the Os in SPOOK (Figure 2).  TOO FUN!

Figure 2

          My collection of pictures were from three different events around Halloween 2012: 1) creating the haunted house, the pumpkin carving, and the shrunken apple heads; 2) the magician act at our apartment complex and how he kept picking on my two girls and their wigs!; 3) the Halloween party we attended at one of our friends' homes.  I blocked the pictures in the middle of my accents to help unify the different events.  I added one of my Reminisce papers with the green background and adorable spiders down the side of my right page...  I liked the look of the spiders but I only wanted it as an accent - and to make them even cuter - my friend, Jen, suggested I added some glossy accent to each of them!  She was right!!!   I used my exacto knife around a few of the swirls to give the page an added dimension (Figure 3).  All in all it turned out fairly well - what a fun group of memories to collect. 

Figure 3

HKMC | October Kit Club reveal

          I enjoyed working with the MME Up & Away product line - and created three layouts:  two double-page layouts and one single-page layout.  I had given you a sneak peek a few weeks ago but wanted to show you the full reveal today.
          The two double-page layouts are similar as they were created about my twins 5th birthday party...  only one is for a boy and the other for a girl!  So fun to use the same layout and papers but have a different result!!!  My focus was on the mustaches and my son's hilarious painted mustache - so I created this layout, Figure 1, first:

Figure 1

 

          I LOVE that these girly bright papers can be used to create a boy layout by adding some white and black cardstock!  Also, this double layout shows eight photos, but even more photos could be added into the white envelope I made using my new Envelope Punch Board - fabulous!  It also holds my journaling and other pieces from the party, including birthday cards from friends & family and two adorable mustache pennants (Figure 2). 

 

Figure 2

 

          The photos are what drives me with my layouts most times...  and this birthday party is no different.  I wanted to capture the laughter and fun that we created with my kiddos friends that were able to attend.  The pirate and princess theme went over great - with the two big events being the treasure hunt and the cannonball fight (with water balloons!).  So fun, but this whole layout was built around this adorable mustache (Figure 3)!

         

Figure 3

 

          The second double-layout was using the same photos but a different look for my daughter (Figure 4).  Much more girly like a princess:

 

Figure 4

 

          I used one mustache and one camera pennants - and a pirate girl cut from a birthday card.  I put this on another envelope 'pocket' (Figure 5).  Again, I can add additional photos, my journaling and other items. 

 

Figure 5

 

          Now, the final layout was a single page with only one photo.  I loved the way it turned out...  it was simple even though it may not look it at first.  The paper had the layers overlaid already...  so I cut into the top corner and added an actual doily with paint splatters on it.  Plus a little modeling paste design on the bottom left corner and along the side of the picture...  some twine and a grouping of flowers...  ta-da Figure 6!





Figure 6

Hope these layouts give you some inspiration for creating your own! 

HKMC | Fall Retreat Reveal

          So excited to share some new scrapbook products revealed at our HKMC Fall Retreat!  First let me give you an overview of the different tags that the four of us on the design team came up with using the new Luminarte silk paint.  It's AMAZING to see the different looks and designs from each of us - so fun!

Figure 1

 

          This was my favorite tag creation.  First, I mixed the Matte Medium with the Yellow Rose silk paint.  I used this mixture to freehand paint a sunshine in the upper right-hand corner.  After drying this sunshine, I painted the canvas on the right side with Key Lime green and on the left side with Yellow Rose.  The matte medium 'resists' the colors and leaves the design!  Using a Sissix die I cut out this set of beautiful butterfly wings.  Take the wings and dry emboss them with a swirl plate and a number plate...  then paint them with two different colors of blue...  Stamp the phrase on the bottom right side with archival black ink.  Use a 3D diecut to create the flowers from tissue paper.

Figure 2

 

          The next tag that I created was the house tag in Figure 2.  First, I stamped my stamp in some of the Key Lime green paint.  Next, I used this chevron stamp to stamp the image a few times on my card.  After it dried, I painted the entire tage with Teal Zircon.  I allowed this 2nd color to dry - and the lime green 'resisted' the blue and shows through.  Take a stencil (I used a number stencil) and paint on top of the blue and lime green paints with the Sapphire On Ice blue paint.  Then, I used a canvas tag that I hand-cut into the shape of a house.  Using some of my favorite background stamps, I stamped a door, some text to distress it, and the sentiment. 

          The third tag was so fun to create!  I used a beautiful Quatrefoil stencil and painted three different blue Luminarte paints to create a color wash fade - GORGEOUS!!!!  Next, I used my favorite Distress Ink - Vintage Photo to distress the tag.  Then, I added a hot air balloon - I cut three identical circles.  I painted each of them using the beautiful Luminarte silk Pink Azalea paint.  After it dried, I mixed blue glitter with gel medium and used my distressed bubble wrap stamp to create a variegated design on the balloon - the texture is fabulous!   Once it was dry, I folded each in half and glued them back-to-back.  Add two short pieces of baker's twine and a square basket to finish the hot air balloon look.  Finally, add the sentiment to finish off the tag.

         

Figure 3

 

          My fourth and final tag, is shown in Figure 3 above.  First, I painted two different blue paints around the edges of the card and lime green in the middle to highlight the center of the tag.  Second, using gel medium, I added some wonderful music and butterfly tissue paper over some random areas on the tag - I love the way you can see the colors beneath it!  Then, I used our new chalkboard tags - I embossed swirls on the circle tag and left the backing on this self-adhesive tag (otherwise it doesn't hold the embossed design as well).  I again used those gorgeous Luminarte paints to color the swirls and give the tag some texture.  I like the moon-like look of this tag!  I added some tissue flowers in the lower right corner to finish off my tag.  The other tags created by the DT are shown below:

Figure 4

 

          I hope you get the chance to play with these amazing new paints - they are beautiful and create some wonderful artistic designs!