Best Buds

Today, I am sharing a layout that I made for Creative Scrappers, sketch # 195.
The sketch:

The layout:

 A close-up look at the embellishments:

I used papers from my February Counterfeit Kit, and from my scrap basket: background paper is a beautiful embossed with glossy hearts by Coud 9, cork paper, striped paper from Cloud 9, scraps from Basic Grey, Cloud 9, and chatterbox, a die cut tag, wood button, and crochet flower- all leftovers from my December Daily "Cozy Christmas" kit, clear acrylic heart shapes from Heidi Grace, October Afternoon Sidewalks buttons, letter stickers from Pink Paislee, and kraft letters that I diecut with my Cricut and Plantain Schoolbook cart, and corrugated with my Fiskars crimper.

Time to Start Sharing!

February has been such a busy month for me! But I do want to share what I have been working on!
I made this layout for the sketch challenge at Creative Craft World:

The sketch:

Supplies I used were all from my February kits:  patterned paper from Making Memories and Cosmo Cricket, paper doily from Wilton's that I inked, journaling card from Cosmo Cricket, October Afternoon Little Flyers and Chipboard Journaling spot to be filled out, Martha Stewart heart doily stickers, and corrugated letters that I made with my Cricut, Plantain Schoolbook cart, and crimped with my Fiskars crimper, then brushed with bit of white paint.

Next to share: My projects for the Counterfeit Kit Club Doily Challenge!

We were told:

Challenge #2: Doiley Challenge! Glue it, punch it, stamp it, but use it on a project! Let's see how many uses we can find for doileys!

Here are my layouts for the challenge:

paper layout:

For this layout, I combined the doily challenge with the February Sketch Challenge at Sketches 4 All: (with a love or Valentine theme)

Isn't it a beautiful sketch?You still have a few days (till midnight on the 29th of February) to submit an entry for a chance at an RAK!



Supplies used: Basic Grey and Chatterbox{this came from my ancient stash but I still love it} patterned paper, Making Memories rub ons, Wilton's paper doily, Cosmo Cricket word and border  stickers, printed chevron digi paper was die cut into hearts using my cricut and Plantain Schoolbook cart, pink scalloped felt border (I also die cut this for my February kit with my cricut),Martha Stewart pink heart doily sticker, Lush stick on rhinestones by My Mind's Eye, Heidi Grace clear heart attached with Glossy Accents, stamped "Love" ticket was die cut with SCAL, and flowers are from Petaloo and my stash.

Here is my digi page for this challenge:

I used my February Counterfeit Digi kit for this one! Most of the papers are from Design House Digital, by Agnes Biro.I used the typewriter key alphas from my January digi kit for the title.
 My hubs hates this photo of himself because of the scruffy beard, but the emotion behind it is so precious to me!!
More sharing to come!

Candy's Craft Corner: 400 Follower Giveaway!!

Candy's Craft Corner: 400 Follower Giveaway!!: Hey everyone! Hope you are all having a fantastic day! I can't believe I am almost at 400 followers ! That is so amazing! So to celebrate I ...

2 for Friday

Today, I am sharing a layout that I made and shared on Sketches 4 All, but I haven't shared here yet.
For my Pinterest Inspired Challenge Group, I am challenging everyone to use this sketch:

 http://pinterest.com/pin/8585055509541234/

My Layout:

Since this sketch was pinned from the October Afternoon blog, I was inspired to use some of the fantastic OA goodies I had in my Counterfeit kit, including the 8x8 paper pad, stick on chipboard, and buttons.

A closer look at my embellies (I also added some Echo Park and Pink Paislee letter stickers, EP flower sticker, a crochet flower, and some Denim baker's twine):

  And sharing a "Boy" birthday card I threw together from some past and present Counterfeit kit scraps:

The background is DCWV, the grid paper is October Afternoon, with green twine (from the Twinery, I think), and Echo Park banner stickers with Making Memories letter stickers.

Love Notes

Well, I know Valentine's Day is past, but I still have lots of Valentine's day layouts and projects with my Counterfeit kit that I haven't shared yet, and that doesn't even count the pictures I haven't printed yet from this year!So, I guess you get to share the love with me for a little while longer ;-) Today's layout is one that I did for the Counterfeit Kit challenge blog. They challenged us:
LOVE LETTER CHALLENGE: Include a "love" letter on your layout to let that person know how much they mean to you.
Here is my layout:

I used the February 1st sketch from Stuck Sketches:

I chose to write a "Love Note" to my son-I worry sometimes that I don't tell him often enough how much I love and appreciate him, so I jumped at the chance and I am so glad I did!!

Supplies used: patterned papers from Teresa Collins, Making Memories, and Basic Grey, with stickers/embellishments from Cosmo Cricket, Martha Stewart, Echo Park, Pink Paislee, and Heidi Grace. The corrugated letters are cut from kraft paper with my Cricut and Plantain Schoolbook cart, and run through my Fiskars crimper.

The beautiful photograph was taken by a photographer friend of mine, Nicole McCoy.Love how it shows his soul in his eyes! And I have always loved his eyes!

Valentine's Day Treat...

Or diet drink?
You be the judge!
My Red Velvet Brownie Body By Vi shake:

I have to say, this is the yummiest, most filling diet shakes I have ever had! Alot of my friends are doing the program, so I thought I would try it, too, since my weight loss kind of stalled a bit... The Body By Vi Shake mix smells and tastes like cake mix... SOO GOOD! There are so many recipes to try, but this one (I made it up) is my favorite so far! The recipe:2 scoops of Body By Vi Shake mix, 1 Tbsp cocoa powder, 1/2 container red velvet yogurt, 8 oz fat free milk (I used unsweetened light vanilla almond milk by Silk), 1 Tbsp fat free sugar free cheesecake pudding mix, several drops red food coloring, and about 6-8 ice cubes, and blend! So yummy!(oops I think I said that already!) If you are interested in finding out more about Body by Vi, click the link to be taken to my Body By Vi website:

If you are doing Body By Vi already, I would like to know it's working for you and if you have any favorite recipes!

Making Your Own Patterned Paper: A Tutorial

Today, I am goingto share my "Counterfeits" of a few of the papers that were included in the Scrapbook Circle kits-just because I loved them so much!

The first (and probably my favorite) was the My Mind's Eye Kraft Funday Streamers:

And this is how I made my "knock-off":

Started with plain ol' kraft cardstock, and some Tim Holtz Tissue tape:

Grabbed a pair of decorative edge scissors- remember these ;-)? Yes, I kept mine!

I cut the bottom edge of the tape with my scissors and attached it to the cardstock, leaving gaps between the strips, and remembering the top edge:

Now, I thought it looked pretty good, but I wanted to soften it and make it blend together a little better:

So I pulled out some chalk ink (don't judge the smudged case, I use my supplies!):

...smudged on a little light brown over the tissue tape:

And the edges:

And violia, awesome patterned paper (if I do say so myself!):

Next up to "Counterfeit", Fancy Pants Love Story "One Heart":

I knew I couldn't do an exact replica, but I could get something similar! So, I gathered my heart stamps and Staz-On Black ink, along with some smooth white cardstock:

 Stamped them, making sure to "bleed them" off of the edges (not sure if that's exactly the right term, but we're going with it):

 Kept on stamping and staggering the types of stamps used:

 And this is the finished product that I came up with:

 Last on the list, the Pebbles With Love "Dear Valentine":

Again, I started with kraft cardstock (and some red pens, and quote stickers):

 I put the stickers on randomly, but evenly spaced, allowing some to "bleed" off the edges:

 Trimmed the overhangs with my trusty Cutterbee scissors:

 Outlined the stickers:

Looks good, but a little bare:

 So, I rummaged through my stash and found some partially used packs of rub-ons and glitter stickers:

 Added them to the empty spaces:

 And came up with a finished paper that I like very much:

I also loved the My Mind's Eye Kraft Funday Ziggity paper:

So, I printed a black chevron digi paper on kraft 8 1/2 x 11 cardstock:

Up in a day or two-I promise, I start sharing how I am using my kit!

Forging Into February...

I was so excited when we got the email about our kits this month (well, I always am, lol!)

This Month's Inspiration Kit...

The February 2012 Inspiration Kit is your choice of two kits released in January and February by Scrapbook Circle. The first choice is their Valentine's Themed Kit called "You and Me", the second choice is their December Kit called "Note to Self". Feel free to counterfeit one or both kits!

Here is the Scrapbook Circle "You and Me" kit:

And my kit, "Me +You" (I usually try to name my kits something a little different from the inspiration kit, but I had that awesome arrow digi that was begging to be printed and used!)

A closer look at my papers (I actually made some of these, see if you can pick out which ones they are!):

A collection of fun handmade borders and banners that I made for this kit:

My fun little digi arrow that I printed and cut out:

Some yummy bling that I can't wait to use:

Hexagon journaling spots from Creativity Prompt: (free printable)

Valentine's ribbons and vintage trim from my Grandma's sewing box:

A Fun collection of Valentine's and Love Stamps:

Since I didn't have the Kraft Glassine Papers, I made my own, with scraps of kraft cardstock that I misted with a homemade marshmallow shimmer mist, crumpled and smoothed out while wet-it gave me this lovely paper with texture and shimmer-the photo doesn't do it justice!:

I put together a Digi Counterfeit Kit, too, which I called "Love Letters":

And I had to "Counterfeit" the "Note to Self" kit, too, since I had a lot of the goodies in that kit!
Scrapbook Circle's "Note To Self":

My kit, "Fifties Style Fun":

 I love all of the Echo Park, Jenni Bowlin, and October Afernoon goodies in this kit! 

 A Closer look at my kit papers:

  My handmade felt flowers(I found a tutorial for making them here):

Some AWESOME Jenni Bowlin foam stamps:

   

Some digital journaling cards that I printed:

A couple of Index tabs that I punched from scrap paper:

 Thanks for looking at my kit, now hop along to the other designers to see the gorgeous kits that that they have put together to create with this month:

Guest Designer: Brenda Smithhttp://theimperfectscrapper.blogspot.com/

Crystal http://crystalscraftycreations.blogspot.com/

Glinda http://razzledscrapper.blogspot.com/

Helen http://craftimperfect.blogspot.com/

Jemma http://just-jimjams.blogspot.com/

Jen http://mypair-a-dice.blogspot.com/

Julie Ann http://julieannshahin2.blogspot.com/

Lisa http://lisahausmann.blogspot.com/

Margie http://scrappinmargie.blogspot.com/ *YOU ARE HERE*

Milissa http://millermall.blogspot.com/ (Go HERE next)

Rebecca http://howiburb.blogspot.com/

Susanne http://www.snapsandsnippets.blogspot.com/

Bethany http://inspiredscrapper-bethany.blogspot.com/

Meridy http://www.meridy77.blogspot.com/