Birthday Inspiration

What a happy inspiration piece this month!

I was specifically drawn to the aqua and red vignette.  The color palette is just so yummy and the candy looks delicious too!  And if you’re like me, you always have birthday photos to scrap!

Here’s the layout I created.

I began by collecting papers and embellishments with the same colors as the inspiration piece and starting moving pieces around, eventually it all fell into place. :)

A few little things to note:

I gave the sticker banner dimension by adding foam adhesive behind a couple of the flags. I punched two small holes where the banner looked like it should be strung up and threaded baker’s twine through the holes and tied it up in little bows. 

The little additions of yellow bring a bright touch to this complimentary color palette too.

Hope you have been inspired to get those birthday photos scrapbooked!!

Leslie

Supplies:
Patterned papers: GCD Studios Homespun Chic collection by Melody Ross. Buttons: GCD Studios. Stickers, Chipboard & flowers: Sassafrass. Photo Frames: K & Company. Stamps & Sticker letters: Studio Calico.  Artisan Tape: Pink Paislee. Baker’s Twine: Martha Stewart.  Rhinestones: Studio 18.

up in the air

Yesterday, I was making a run to the grocery store to restock the fridge after being gone for a week and this balloon flew right over me.  I pulled off the road and snapped this photo.  LOve It!!

I'll be back soon with a recap of our tour of the south trip,  aka "the eating tour of the south!"  We drove down to Louisiana to visit family and friends and I swear I feel like all we did was eat!! We are in major detox mode here!!

I have a mini/tag book I'm working on for a little class I'm teaching this week, so everything really feels up in the air with some unpacking, laundry and household things still to do.

Hope your Monday is off to a good start. :)

Love Being Hip(stamatic)

Here are a few of my favorite shots from my Hipstamtic App from my iPhone.  There's just something about the photos that I just love. I think it's a combination of the square shape and the distressed edges.

Really, the best part is that I almost always have my phone with me.  I just need remember to actually use it.

These shots might have ordinarily been missed. They were taken on a recent walk on a trail in Bloomington, Il.  Not a time I would have wanted to lug around my Canon.

As further proof how fun Hipstamatic photos are, here is a basic iPhone photo taken from the same hike.

Nice shot, sure. It saved the memory of the moment, but it just seems so plain.

All seasons come to an end

Early morning practices, wet towels and suits tossed all over the laundry room and Wednesday night swim meets have come to an end.  As much as we enjoy summer swim team, we are happy to have moved into a low-key summer schedule.

And while we look forward to swim team each year, we all feel like the lazy days of summer really don't start until the swim season is over.   A collective "sigh" rolls across us at the end of the last meet.

Hopefully, we'll feel more like hanging out at the pool, just to cool off and relax,  instead of lapping the pool like this.

It was a fun season with lots of improvement, but I'm definitely cheering, "Here's to the rest of the summer!!"

Happy Fourth of July GCD Blog Giveaway!!

This week, we have one BIG give away for our FUN News Letter!

Heidi and Heather in house just finished our July issue and it's ready to email! We are so excited about it, because it's our best issue yet! (Yours truly might have a layout featured.)

Here's how it works:

1)Sign up for the news letter here.... Inthestudio@gcdstudois.com

2)Then Leave a comment here over at GCD Studios Blog. (look for the post that says GIVE AWAY+ HAPPY 4th)

In the News letter you'll see the prize :)

Then on July 12th... Heidi will pick the winner!

Creating a Mask and a Challenge

Creating a mask is a great technique to use with acrylic paint or mist. And today, I’m going to show you how I did both!

I wanted to use a star theme on these "Rock Star" photos of my son with his new electric guitar. Here’s what I created.

To create my extra large star mask I started in my publishing software program, Pages, and made a star as big as would fit on an 8.5” x 11” paper. 

Once this printed I placed it on top of a scrap piece of 12” x 12” paper, and used a ruler to enlarge my star to fill up most of the paper, then I cut new star out.

Then I cut the star out using a craft knife so I could have a negative space to paint in. Again, I cut the star out leaving an additional border, to enlarge it further. 

Next, I adhered the star to my background paper (which had been previously misted with Cream Metallic and Brown Mist).  Using an old paint brush, I dry brushed slightly watered down paint to the inside of the star.

Once I finished painting, I removed my mask and used it to cut out the same star shape on my patterned paper.  I began by cutting all around the inside of the mask and once this was finished I used scissors to cut on the outside of the mask. 

Then I was ready to adhere the cut star on top of the painted star. I decided to machine stitch around the paper star to further highlight it. Here’s a closer look.

I used the Melody Ross Chip Art tool to de-boss a tiny star inside a larger one and painted it with the same blue paint I used in the mask and in droplets on the background.

Supplies:
Patterned Paper and Transparency Designs: GCD Studios Artsy Urban by Melody Ross. Chipboard letters: American Crafts. Chipboard: Maya Roads.  Mist: Maya Mist. Paint: Folk Art {Midnight Blue}. Stamps & Rip Strips: Studio Calico. Ink: Ranger Distress Ink {Fired Brick, Tea Dye}. Rhinestones: Studio 18.

I hope this inspires you to create your own mask, whether it’s oversized or just cut with die cut machine or a punch.  Mist works just as great as paint.  It all depends on the look you are trying to achieve.

Check out this challenge posting at Scrapbooks.com for more details.  The prize is the complete Independence collection!

I hope you join me in this challenge!! I'm looking forward to seeing what you create!