New YouTube Channel!

I have some exciting news to share... I'm starting a new YouTube channel where I will share process videos, crafting, etc. I'd love for you to stop by and check it out (and subscribe, of course!)

Here is a link to my first video... Scrappy Inspiration with Hip Kit Club

I'm looking forward to creating and sharing with you all - thank you!

Snow/Ice Week = Scraptime!

This past week has been brutal weather-wise! A little snow, ice, and FRIGID temps have caused school to be cancelled all.week.long. Yay for sleeping in, boo to air so cold that you can't breathe. Of course I always look at forced down-time as a gift from the Scrap Gods. :) Today's post is just a few of my recent layouts using Hip Kit Club kits.

I must take a break from scrapping now and do some chores. We have another Winter Storm Warning in effect, starting late this afternoon, please pray for our sanity. :)

Waiting for the Perfect Paper

In 2008, a friend took my daughter to a local museum and captured some adorable photos. Although I love the photos, I could never get inspired to scrap them. When I received February's kit from Hip Kit Club, the Webster's Pages Beautiful Chic (Swatches) immediately caught my eye. I love all the gorgeous circles of color. It reminded me of the buttons on my daughter's headband in the photos. Because I love the paper so much, it took me a few minutes to get the courage to start cutting the circles out. I thought originally I would do a straight line of circles, but decided to just cut a bunch out and then start playing.

Once I cut all the circles out, I decided on a heart shape around the photos. I laid it all out being careful to mix up the patterns and colors around the shape. I then took a photo with my iPad so I could replicate it when it was time to adhere it.

I wanted the background of the heart shape to be a contrasting paper to the white cardstock. I placed tracing paper over the heart shape and traced over the heart. I cut out the heart from the tracing paper and then had a template to use on my patterned paper.

I grabbed some coordinating buttons to match the buttons in my daughter's headband and added those around the heart. With just a few embellishments the layout is complete. I can honestly say that I am so glad I waited to scrap these photos because I LOVE the completed layout. ♥

We've finally been having some winter weather around here, so we have another day off school tomorrow. Of course I'm thrilled, because I will have time to clean up my space. I'm a hot mess when creating, no matter how hard I try to be neat about it. Thanks for stopping by my blog!

Embossing with a Stencil

This month's Color Kit at Hip Kit Club included a Dear Lizzy stencil. It's such a lovely design, full of flowers/leaves and I knew I wanted to individually paint them. Typically stencils are used with paints/mists over them. To enhance the design of the stencil, I used VersaMark on the back side of the stencil and placed it on watercolor paper. A brayer was used to ensure even coverage of the VersaMark. I then poured Zing embossing powder (white) over the image and heat set it. The result is stunning. I almost didn't paint it because it was so pretty with white on white.

The next step was to have fun painting. I used Gelatos and NeoColors to watercolor the image. Since it's white on white, it's initially hard to distinguish the flowers from the leaves. Keep the stencil close at hand to help see the design.

Since the painted page is so colorful, I decided to use minimal embellishments on the page. Watching the pattern come alive as I was painting, was so exciting. That is how I emboss with stencils, you can get a completely different look this way, and the end result is amazing!

Matching Photos with Patterned Paper

Call me old school, but I still love to match photos with patterned paper. This layout is a perfect representation of that. I had a lovely vacation photo of our children at a marina. The soft peachy-pink hue of the sun setting in the sky was absolutely gorgeous that night. When I received Hip Kit Club's January kit, it had lots of the peachy-pink color which made this layout come together so easily.

I wanted to use the green and white paper, but it was a little too green for the photo, plus I wanted a touch of blue to compliment the clothing. I went over some of the v-shaped design with a blue Faber-Castell brush pen and placed vellum over the top to soften it. Vellum is my scrappy friend; it's amazing how it can transform the look of a paper.

We survived January without much winter weather (thankfully!); here's hoping February is the beginning of an early spring!