Eclectic Snowflakes

It's time for a new challenge at Eclectic Ellapu and this time it's Snow Much fun! I decided to go with snowflakes! I decided to make an LO with some Bo Bunny paper. I love the snowflakes on the top right! The cute little lady in the photo is my late grandmother. 

I loved the sentiment behind the LO is really special to me. Wait til you see the hidden journaling!

I love this Teresa Collins' trinket and thought it looked like a snowflake. But, I could not help but add a blue Close to My Heart Sparkle!

There's nothing I love more than sparkles and bling! I like adding them to ink spatters!

This awesome paper clip is made by using a paper clip and two brads!

This Heidi Swapp "open-able" is  super fun for adding hidden journaling!

The open-able opens up to a heart shape and there is tons of journaling space!

My Mind's Eye December Sketch

I am entering this in the My Mind's Eye December Sketch. This is an awesome sketch! It's perfectly simple.

I love the sentiment on this paper and thought it went well with my going away party from when I moved!

I love this thought!

"I feel like a tiny bird with a big song." This paper from My Mind's Eye is so pretty!

I used some of the print off of the cut off strip from the paper. "Follow Your Heart."

"The Road Less Traveled." This little cluster has some pretty pink lace from My Mind's Eye.

These little enamel dots are so fun...

...and they come in many sizes and colors!

I love adding waxed floss to buttons!

Prima: CHA 2013 Sneak Peek 2!

Prima: CHA 2013 Sneak Peek 2!

 The engraver collection is sooooooo pretty!!!!

Flamingo Four

What is Flamingo Four? You take four different crafting products, give them to four different designers and see what they come up with. The designers can add products to complete the project. It's really fun to see how different everyone's take on the same products are. The versatility and creativity of the products really shine here. 

 

I was asked to participate in the December Flamingo Four.  Here's my Flamingo Four for December. Here's the products we were given:

1. Patterned Paper from Crate Paper's Portrait collection
2. Maya Road chipboard frames
3. Jenni Bowlin card (mine says "cry")
4. Wooden letter from MDF (mine was "D")

 

 

Since this was the first time I have participated, I was a little bit unsure at first what I was going to do. But after I came up with the basic idea (with a suggestion from my cutie hubs), the project really came together.

I used the D as door hanger and thought it could represent the month of December. I love mixing greens, blues and turquoises with reds. I think they just look really happy and fresh and inspiring together. I misted the "D" with a red spray and then ever so slightly inked all the corners to give it a vintage-y feel. I stacked the frames on top of the "Cry" card to make a nice cluster that draws the eye to the phrase on the right side. Stacking the frames gave some dimension and depth to the project as well. I don't like when my projects look one dimensional and flat! I thought the puffy garland in white and blue looked like snow!

I love snow! It makes everything so pretty and clean looking. After the leaves come off the trees and everything turns brown, the snow just comes in and paints everything sparkly and elegant again!

I had to add a little extra bling to these snowflakes...

...and to these banners I cut out from the papers! What can I say? I love sparkles!

These papers were so pretty! They were nice and thick, and double sided so I used both sides! I like mixing things up and so I loved the variety these papers added to the overall look of the door hanger. To make this banner I simply cut the papers in random triangles and ribbon cut shapes, inked the edges and stitched them together with my sewing machine. Then, I added the letter stickers and the blings!

I had a great time playing with this project! I really get happy when I envision something and the final project comes out looking better than I had imagined!

Be sure to visit the Flamingo Four blog to see the other DT Flamingo Four creations

Pink Paislee Mistable Papers with Heidi Swapp Color Shine

I love to do double page layouts. I think it looks nice when you put them in the book side by side. The papers don't necessarily have to match, but they definitely need to coordinate. These customizable papers by Pink Paislee are called Mistables. There are several styles that come in a package. These papers come in white and sometimes there is a slight print on them, like this one had some handwriting kinda faded in from the edges. They all have a resist pattern. What that means is when you ink, mist, color with markers, paint with water colors, etc, the paper resists the color in some places and absorbs in others. The end result is you have patterned paper in any color you want! You can see here the pretty damask pattern showed up when I randomly sprayed Heidi Swapp Tinsel and Sweet Cherry Color Shine Mists on the papers. The sweet cherry gets much more intense if you dry it completely before wiping the excess off. But, for this page I wanted a softer touch so I sprayed and immediately wiped it off. I like combining colors to give a soft fluid water color effect.

I used more of the Tinsel in the bottom left corner and more of the Sweet Cherry in the top right corner. The pics don't pic up near as much shine, or shimmer as this color gives off. Adding Washi tape as a sort of photo corner contributes to the focus of the eye going toward the main picture.

This is a fun embellishment cluster made from a few strips of Teresa Collins Now and Then papers cut into a ribbon cut banner shape, topped with Some Heidi Swapp Sugar Chic paper cut into the tiniest hexagons, stapled together onto the paper and topped with thread and a butterfly.

Popping up the hexagon shapes with pop up adhesive squares adds some dimension and depth. These little hexagons are fussy cut from some Heidi Swapp Sugar Chic paper. I wanted an ink spatter look but, knowing the resist pattern wouldn't accept the ink, I scattered varying sizes and colors of bling in an ink spatter pattern. It achieves the same look with a little more glam and drama.

My bestest friend ever!

These little blings add interest to the hexagon banner.

Again, I used the blings in an ink spatter pattern across the hexagon. I like how they sort of follow the butterfly!

The second page has more of the Sweet Cherry color than the Tinsel. The mat behind the main photo is actually another paper from the Mistable collection. I just left it white for a nice contrast. These were all "outtakes", not posed shots, but they were fun, so I edited and kept them!

Again, using the blings as a substitute for the ink spatter here. I like how you can create an invisible "line" that draws the eye to your focal picture with the ink spatter look.

I just try to imagine how the ink would fall and what it would look like, then apply the blings. Teresa Collins brand blings are really nice. They actually stick! You know how you get some that sort of stick and then you are looking thru your scrapbook album a few months later and they are all at the bottom of the page protector? Yeah, Teresa Collins' blings wont do that! I promise!

I just love my butterflies!

This photo actually becomes an embellishment when you staple it on the page with a ribbon cut banner! This banner is made from one of the other patterns of the Mistable papers. I left it white and barely inked the edges for some added contrast. This bridesmaid, Brooke, carried our bag of shoes! we all brought house shoes or slippers to the photo session because you know how it is to stand around in heels all day. Thank you Brooke for carrying all of that stuff around!

Be sure to check out the Flamingo Scraps store here and pick up some Pink Paislee Mistable papers and some Heidi Swapp Color Shine to make your own customized patterned papers!

Husband Wanted: Those with No Cooking Experience Need Not Apply

Ok, so, I didn't exactly marry my husband because he can cook better then Emeril Lagasse. But, it certainly doesn't hurt my feelings either!

I had dated, and dated. I was getting super bored and tired of meeting the same guy with a different face over and over again. But, Jerad was different from the start. On our first date he cooked dinner for me and my friend Mandy and his best friend Lucas and his wife Rachel (yes it was a group thing, but a first date for us). When he told me his plan, I was a little nervous for him. I mean, cooking on a first date could have been truly disastrous. How many things could go wrong!?!?!

But, he pulled it off quite nicely. He had the table set with all the linens and forks. He got flowers for the table, a perfect wine and even had appetizers ready when I arrived. Every detail was perfect! The main dish was the recipe here: Shrimp Fra Diavolo. Its a little bit spicy and a whole lot yummy. A perfect choice.

Mandy is NOT a fan of seafood. But, she ate it anyway (gotta love her!) She even said it wasn't that bad. If you can get Mandy to eat shrimp, you got serious skillz!

The dinner went well and, as they say, the rest is history. He still cooks several nights a week. It's super nice to have a personal chef!!!! Like I said, that's not why I married him, but it certainly didn't hurt, lol

Since this was such a special dish, I had to scrapbook it into my recipe scrapbook! Here is the scrapbook page of the famous dish!

Versatile Heidi Swapp Foto Stack

This super cute Foto Stack is meant to be glued into a Memory File Folder or a scrapbook page. I thought it would make a cute mini album, though. All I did was add a sort of cover to it with a Teresa Collins paper and then fill it with photos!

This hexagon sticker gets dressed up with some bling and a word sticker.

A simple banner is enhanced with buttons

This chipboard word is attached to a paper binder clip.

Using two different colors of inks here makes the sentiment really stand out.

 

Some of the pages in the Foto Stack are actually transparent photo sleeves. You can slide photos right in and add sticker, chipboard, flowers etc to the outside.

Heidi Swapp Instaframes add instant fun to your photos!

This embellishment cluster of buttons are framed in nicely with a Teresa Collins chipboard frame.

Adding border punches give the Foto Stack pages variety.