Enjoy the Journey - Burlap Panels

Happy Mother's Day everyone!  Hope you are having a wonderful day with your families!

I have a tutorial today on the Sizzix blog, hope you join me there!  Here's a sneak peek:

After die cutting the Sizzix Tapered Fringe strip on this project, I was inspired by the shape to use it on these two tags:

I die cut two tags using the Sizzix Tim Holtz Tag die and the Tapered Fringe.  

Next, I glued the fringe to the tags, cutting the fringe apart.

I completely covered the tag with black crackle paint.

Now comes the fun part!  Using Viva Colour's Inka Gold Metallic Rub first and then to highlight the colour, Silks Acrylic Glaze, I applied the colour.  Love this metallic rub!

I just rubbed a very small amount on my tag using my finger.  You can't tell in the photo, but it has a beautiful shimmer to it.  

I added a small amount of the Silks glaze for extra colour.  On this tag, I added a Tim Holtz rub-on in the corner.

After the tags were dry, I added in my embellishments.  With this one, I die-cut flowers from Sizzix's Tattered Flower Garland Decorative Strip with very thin chipboard.  I painted these also with Black Crackle paint and then glued to my tag.  Once they were on my tag, I applied the metallic rub to these also.  I added a Tim Holtz metal embellishment and ribbon to finish it off.

With this tag, I die-cut a patterned piece of paper with the Sizzix On the Edge Torn Notebook die and cut out the number one using Sizzix's Movers and Shapers Number Set.  I die cut the number one out of chipboard, painted, then applied a rub-on to that.  I glued it to the tag, matching the negative space in my paper.  I also cut out Sizzix's Mini Pocket Watch out of chipboard, applied the Metallic Rub and then attached a Tim Holtz compass coin embellishment to the middle (it fits perfect inside the watch).  Add in a few more embellishments, ribbon, and you are done!

I love the effect the fringe die has when you use it this way.  I need to look at my other dies and see what they would look like using this technique!

Don't forget to visit me at the Sizzix blog!

Hope you have a great day,

Jan

May's Monthly Layout

It's time for Urban Scrapbook's Monthly Layout!  This month's kit is filled with beautiful papers and embellishments from Pink Paislee, Heidi Swapp, Prima, and a few others. The Urban Design Team came up with some amazing layouts, as usual.  You can see them here. Here's my layout:

I thought this photo of my daughter, Cassandra was perfect for these Pink Paislee papers.  My layout was chosen for the kit that is for sale, so a photo and directions on how I made it are included. These monthly kits are popular and sell out fast in case you are interested!

I can't believe it's almost over for "Fashion Star". There are only two episodes left and tomorrow we find out if Cassandra has made it as one of the final three for the finale.  There's been a few times that we thought she wasn't going to go on, but she hung in there!

I tell her all the time, how many of you that visit the Urban Scrapbook are cheering her on, and she is so grateful and surprised!  Thanks everyone and I know she appreciates your support!  Don't forget to watch tomorrow night!

Have a great weekend!

Jan

Tea Time!

It feels like a long time since I have posted.  This month has flown by!  It seems like I say that every month, I wonder if life will ever slow down?  To start with, there were seven birthdays in my family this month, a trip to Vancouver Island, and of course, Fashion Star Fridays!  Added to that, our printer had to be replaced and the following week, we purchased a new computer after realizing that it was so old that it couldn't handle any new programs.  So, it was a busy month and also very expensive!
That being said, I'm still getting used to the computer and the upgraded programs.  We switched to a trackpad instead of a mouse, which  has been very challenging, not sure if I'm 100% on this one!   It's so touchy, and I've lost a few things, just by resting too many fingers on it and too heavy!
So finally, here is something I've created using the beautiful new Tea Cup die from Sizzix's Brenda Walton:

I just have to mention that these dies come in beautiful boxes and I'm such a sucker for awesome packaging that I would buy it just for that!  I did have more photos of how I made my tea cup, but somehow they have disappeared in the transferring of all our files to the new computer!
Long story, but for awhile there, I thought all my photos were lost, they wouldn't load onto my Aperture Program!  Yikes!

Anyways, these tea cups are easy to assemble and would make great Mother's Day gifts, filled with goodies.

After assembling, I applied small dots of Ranger's Liquid Pearls around the rim on both sides, the handle, and above the base.  Once that was dried, I die cut flowers from Sizzix's Scrappy Cat Flower Bloom/leaves die.  I use a lot of flowers on my projects and I think this one is a great addition to my flower die collection.  I also cut out a few small flowers from my patterned paper (Authentique's Grace collection) and tucked them among my die cut flowers.  To finish off my project I die cut a doily from Sizzix's Doily die, to sit under my tea cup.  I have used this die so many times, it's my go to doily die!  It measures about 4 1/2" in diameter, perfect for cards or layouts.

I can think of so many uses for this tea cup die, but if you have any, feel free to pass them along!

And because, here in Alberta, we are once again back to winter weather; here's a couple of photos of my favorite place to visit, Buchart Gardens in Victoria. Hope it gets your mind off the snow!  Yes, for those of you who are lucky enough to live in warmer climates, we had snow yesterday and -5C.  Just days ago, we were at +21C.  By this weekend we are expected back to double digits!  Crazy!

Even though it was raining, it was so nice to wander along the paths.  Usually we go in the summer, and it is packed full of tourists, but look how quiet it was!

Hope you have a great week!

Jan

Hummingbirds & Sizzix!

I have a tutorial today over at the Sizzix Blog.  I'm showing how I created this layout:

Hope you visit me there!

Have a great weekend,

Jan

Colorful Creations Guest Designer

I have been invited to be a guest designer on the Colorful Creations Website!  If you are looking for inspiration, scrapbook challenges and lots of sketches, you have to check them out!             

Here is the layout I was asked to create for the sketch that is featured:

For this layout, I used Cosmo Cricket's new collection, "Honky Tonk".  Love the woodgrain papers!
Honeycomb or chicken wire is still one of my favorite types of embellishment, and in this layout I used a stencil, modeling paste (colored with distress stain) and finally to add a bit of interest in some areas, Lindy's Stamp Gang Magical Powder paints.

I used Tim Holtz's new mini ticket and film strip Decorative strip die, his Tattered Flower Bigz die, and Tattered Flower Decorative Strip die for the paper embellishments. Besides my photos, I just added in some twine, Tim Holtz Film strip, and Cosmo Cricket Chipboard word banners, Prima letters and a few hand cut flowers to complete my layout!

Hope you visit me at Colorful Creations and check out their site!

Have a great week,

Jan

Urban Scrapbook's Monthly Layout

This year, despite our horrible weather, seems to be flying by.  I am posting my Urban Scrapbook Monthly Challenge layout today, but realized that I haven't shown my March one!
I'm starting off with my layout from April's kit, which is available for purchase at the store:

In this kit, the papers, metallic flowers, buttons, and clothespins are from Prima's Engraver collection.  There's also some American Craft letters, ribbon, and wood embellishments.  I think I'm addicted to Stampendous Aged Embossing Enamel!  I used the Black color for my wood ring border and the edge of my paper circle.  These embossing enamels have flecks of gold in with the color and they are quite chunky.  The store has all the colors now, so I think I need a few more!  Sorry, I didn't take a close-up photo of the embossing to show how cool it looks.
My paper flowers were cut out with Sizzix's Tattered flower Decorative Strip and Sizzix's Flower with Heart Petals.  The black die-cut with circles was cut out with Crafter's Workshop Circle template.
My layout this month is about my oldest son who was born the day after my birthday.  He wasn't supposed to arrive for another two weeks, I guess he couldn't wait!

Here is my layout for the March Monthly kit:

 Love the papers in this kit!  They were all from Authentique's "Renew" collection. There were also some Prima Flowers, metal flowers, wood Maya Road birds, burlap ribbon, and corrugated letters (cut out from Sizzix's "Word Play" Alphabet Bigz die.  The window, shutters, flower sprigs and circles with swirls are all cut out with Memory Box dies.  My wood birds were embossed with Ranger's Antiquities Verdigris embossing powder, and while hot, a rubber stamp pressed into the melted powder.  I then lightly applied white paint to the edges and raised areas.  This kit was really popular, it sold out the first week!  On Urban's website, there is a gallery where you can find all the design team's monthly layouts. There is lots of inspiration and gorgeous layouts to look at!

I've been a little distracted this past month.  Some of you that know me, know that our daughter is on a television show that started airing in March, called "Fashion Star".  It is a reality show for Fashion Designers, and every week one is eliminated.  Tomorrow night is week 5 and Cassandra is still in it!  Every week the designers are asked to design two outfits, and there are three "buyers"; Macy's, Saks Fifth Avenue, and Express, who bid on the clothes if they like them.  If a designer doesn't get a sale, then they are up for elimination.  After the show airs, the clothes are for sale online from the store that bid on them.  It's been pretty exciting for our family and everyone gathers at our house Friday nights for the show!  And then after the show is over, we watch it again! lol!  Let's hope she makes it through again tomorrow night!

Have a great weekend,

Jan

Sizzix Design Team

I'm happy to announce that I have been asked to stay on for another year as part of the Sizzix 2013 Design Team!  But what's even better, there are an additional 10 new designers who have been added to our team!  I can't wait to see what these talented designers create.  So make sure you check out the Sizzix Blog for more info on this team and lots of inspiration!

I can't post something without a little bit of inspiration, so here is a card that I created for Urban Scrapbook!

Love this new line by Fancy Pants, called, "Swagger".   Perfect for those "guy" cards and layouts!
I cut out three small pieces of patterned paper and die-cut the edges with Sizzix's Tim Holtz On the Edge Torn and Notebook die.  I have been using this one quite a bit lately, love the "On the Edge" dies, turns those plain pieces into something a little more interesting!  Using the new Tim Holtz Pocket Watch Frame die and Magnetic Circle die, I cut out my pocket watch with chipboard.  Next, I ran it through my machine with the Sizzix Rivet Texture Fade Embossing folder (one of my favorites!).  Using the technique I have used many times, like here or here, I painted my watch and added a piece of patterned paper with matching rub-ons on the back.  Add in a few coordinating buttons and chipboard banners and you have your card!

Have a great day and check out the Sizzix Design team for lots of inspiration!

Jan