Swap Set: Purple Pretties

This is another swapset for JenniferD's swap on Scrapshare.  The swap is for scrapbook page elements.  The theme for this group is purple.  Purple isn't one of the easiest groups for me to work with, but it's my daughter's favorite color, so I searched my stash and stretched my creativity.   Here's what I came up with.   

The paper is by Basic Grey (Green at Heart collection).  The border is made with an EK Success border punch.  It's one of the newer releases that I've seen hit the stores and just couldn't resist the swirl.  I'm a sucker for swirls.   I mounted the punched layer of purple on top of a printed strip the same witth and then added a green border.   The little flowers are made using a Martha Steward punch.  Lastly, I added some bling to the center of the flowers. 

The butterfly is made with a two layer 4x4 Quickutz die set.   I ran the bottom layer through a xyron machine with the print side down to apply the adhesive to the print side.  I then added the detailed cut top layer and topped off the butterfly with some tinsel glitter.  The tinsel glitter stuck to any of the openings in the butterfly where the bottom adhesive layer showed through.  I've used this technique for applying fine art glitter occasionally throughout the years and it holds up well.   If you look back at some of the Christmas cards I made, there are some tags where I used the same technique.   Oh and I almost forgot about the body of the butterfly. That's cut with yet another piece of paper.  This time an orange print/solid from the pack.  I then colored the body using some Copic markers.  

Last but not least, the medallion is cut with a Spellbinder die.  The die is quite intricate and I ran it through my machine two or three times to make sure I had a good cut.   The flowers are Prima flowers.  The brad is a Build-A-Brad by Stampin' up and I used a 1/2 inch circle punch out from another print in that same Basic Grey set.  

Swap Set: Velvety Black Tulip

This is one of those items that pictures just don't quite capture the feel and visual effect of the real thing.   I tried with the close up though.    These are scrapbook page elements for a swap hosted by my online scrapbooking friend JenniferD on Scrapshare.com.   The theme of this group is black and the elements are designed with a two page spread in mind.   I can picture the border spanning across two pages with about four or five prints mounted just above it and the tulip as an accent.   Add some more black and white printed paper and a title.... voila, the pages should be done. At least that's how I see it in my mind's eye.  I'm sure the recipients of the swap may have some other ideas too.     

There are actually two slightly different versions due to paper constraints.  Notice that the border on the top and the border on the bottom images are slightly different.

I used papers by GCD.   The top layer on the tulip and on the medallion are flocked.  The black on those layers actually has a nice rich texture to it.   That's one of the things that's really hard to capture on film.   The tulip is made with Make the Cut (MTC) software by tracing a clipart image of a tulip.  I created a couple of shadow layers and cut it all out with my KNK Zing.   The borders started out with border strips that came with the paper pack.  I added more layers though and some pearls.   The medallion is made using circle punches from Creative Memories and EK Success, and some Scallop punches from Stampin Up and EKSuccess.

Swap Set : Juicy Summery Orange

These scrapbook page elements are for a swap hosted by my online scrapping buddy JenniferD on Scrapshare.com.   I love swapping with Jennifer and probably signed up for more groups that I should have.  But then again, can you ever have to much of a good thing?   The theme of this swap group is orange.  My son's favorite color is orange, so of course I had to join the Orange group.  If it weren't for orange being my son's favorite color, I'm not sure I would have joined this group.   See what kids make you do.  

The paper is by KI Memories.   It's an older pack, but a classic none the less.  If you follow my blog, you'll see that I really don't care if the paper is new or what someone might call vintage.  I just love it all and enjoy using what I have. 

The border is pretty straight forward.   It's strips of paper adhered together.  The main patterned paper has a gorgeous shimmer to it.   The cardstock is probably smooth Bazzil.  I mix some of my stash.   The striped paper is again from KI Memories, and I scalloped it using a Fiskars border punch. 

The journaling box (or photo border if you choose) is merely layered cardstock and the top white layer is dry embossed using a Cuttlebug folrder.   The orange and lemon slices are paper pieced.  I used circle punches from Creative Memories and EK Success. 

Lastly, the large orange wedge uses solid cardstock and a layer of patterned paper.  I used the Creative Memories Cutting system to cut the pieces.   The orange layer was cut one half inch smaller than the white layer.  That gave me enough room to space out the orange wedges one cut.  The wedges were dry embossed using a different Cuttlebug folder. 

The set is simple and clean, but should be nice and versatile for a summer themed scrapbook page or double page spread.

Swap Set: Lucious Retro Red

I signed up for a swap on Scrapshare.com.   One of my online friends, JenniferD, is hostessing this swap.  I love her work and just couldn't resist signing up for a few groups.   The swap is for elements to be used on a scrapbook page (or two page spread).  This group's theme is RED.   I used a card I made a few weeks back as inspiration (link).   

The gal is stamped using a stamp from the Bombshell Angel from Bombshell Stamps.  I stamped it in Memento Rich Cocoa and colored her with Copic markers.   The dress she's wearing is from a cutting file that I purchased from Bombshell Stamps and cut using Make the Cut (MTC) software and my KNK Zing.   I added some shading to the dress using Ragner/Tim Holtz Distress Inks before adhering the dress to the cut out stamped image.

The border is made using papers from My Mind's Eye (Lost & Found collection).   The ribbon is from Stampin' Up and the brad is also from Stampin' Up.  It's a Build-A-Brad that are discontinued.   The Build-A-Brad has a half inch punched image from one of the paper patterns in the MME collection under the acrylic dome. 

The medallion (for lack of a better term) was created with MTC software by joining a lot of circles very carefully, welding it to a larger circle, replicating and re-welding to each other to make sure that the image is symmetrical.  I then added a couple of shadow layers with a black out of any open spaces on the last shadow layer.   Lasly, I distressed the edges of all of the layers using Ranger/Tim Holtz Distress Ink before adhering the layers together.   The paper used is all from MME - Lost & Found collection.   The paper has small glitter accents that add just the right touch of bling.

Angry Bird Cupcake Topper - Follow Up

My son had his party a few weeks back and it was a huge hit.  I did manage to take pictures of the final brownie cupcakes with the cupcake toppers perched high above.   Well, as a follow up to my earlier post (link), here's the final product before it got devoured by twenty young angry birds.  

 

Porcupine Bow

Here's a fun bow to make with some scrap wrapping paper.   I remember learning how to make this when I was a teenager, or maybe a tween.   It's still fun today.  Here are a couple of pictures.  Given the pattern wrapping paper I used, this porcupine bow almost wants to camouflage into the background.