Farewell Graphic 45 DT, Hello Graphic 45 project designer!

I am so thrilled that instead of leaving Graphic 45 after my two years on the design team, I will be staying on as a special project designer.  Woo Hoo!!!  That's is so exciting for me.  I'll be designing projects for the monthly class series as well as projects for special events.

Today I want to share with you my last project as a design tem member for Graphic 45 and it's from one of my favorite collections!  How exciting that French Country is coming back as a Deluxe Collector's Edition! I had this dreary black cabinet hanging around and decided it would be perfect to repurpose using the French Country DCE. I love how it's now a cheerful piece covered with sunflowers.

                           

I wanted it to have a distressed vintage look and to achieve that, I first painted the wood that would show with vintage white paint. Then I covered those surfaces with Crackle Accents and finally, I rubbed Distress ink into the cracks to give it an aged look. After finishing the wood, I used the beautiful blues from the collection and chose the sunflower paper, Abundance, as my focal paper. I love the imagery on this paper.

Use matte medium to adhere and cover your papers. You'll get a really nice smooth finish and your paper will be protected from snags and scratches.

The flowers I used at the top are a combination of some older Prima vines and vines that I made. Here's a tutorial I did some time ago to make these vines.

You can give your project a different look by changing out the hardware. My cabinet had wooden painted knobs on it. I changed those out for glass knobs that looked so much more vintage.

Graphic 45 Supplies:

Graphic 45 French Country DCE:

Provance

Abundance

Deja Vu

Grandeur

Other Supplies:

Prima Mountain Lily Vine

Knobs from Hobby Lobby

Distress Ink - Gathered Twigs

Vintage white acrylic paint

Crackle Accents

Spellbinders Nested Leaves Die

Spellbinders Blossom 2 Die

Microbeads

Tiny daisy like flower punch

Wire

Imagine...with Cheery Lynn Designs

I'm sharing a fun all occasion card today.  The word, imagine, brings so many thoughts to mind; I could use this card for a birthday, graduation, a fun hello card, the possibilities are endlesss!  

Cheery Lynn dies and the colorful cut-apart card from Graphic 45's World's Fair collection worked so well together to make this vibrant card.  I used design papers from the collection to die cut all the layers for my card.  It's a large card, about 5 1/2" x 7 3/8".  I began by layering the blue paper that I diecut with the Coved Rectangle Stitch And Cut Tool .  Next layer is the floral layer diecut with the Horizon Coved Rectangle Boutique Stacker Frame set.  Then a bright orange layer cut with Card Maker Rectangle Scalloped 6 Piece Die Set and finally the floral oval layer cut with Polynesian Sails Oval Die.

Of course, I had to add some flowers and these I made with the Bohemian Collection - Indie Bouquet - 6 Die Set.  They are so easy to make, I just cut 3 different flowers from the die set, gave the petals a twist with my tweezers to give the flowers some body and stacked and glued them.  Then I added some leaves from the Flourish Leaf Strip 5 Piece Die Set and that's it!

Cheery Lynn Designs dies used:

Bohemian Collection - Indie Bouquet - 6 Die Set - B874

Flourish Leaf Strip 5 Piece Die Set - B178

Coved Rectangle Stitch And Cut Tool - LG Silver Stitch Tool 6 Piece Die Set - LSC10

Horizon Coved Rectangle Boutique Stacker Frames Die - DL251

Polynesian Sails Oval Die - DL153

Card Maker Rectangle Scalloped 6 Piece Die Set - CM2

Thanks for joining me today, I apreciate it!

Hello Summer Blog Hop with Cheery Lynn Designs

Welcome to the Cheery Lynn Designs May Hello Summer Blog Hop.  We are so excited to showcase some of our favorite summer themed dies with you that you can find right here.  If you arrived from Amy's Blog you are on the right track. If not, head on back to the Cheery Lynn Designs Blog and start from the beginning so you don't miss seeing any of the design team's great summer project ideas.

Summertime, fun time, it's vacation time!  I love a great road trip and so I've put together a fun card to wish a friend a great road trip and adventure using some of our summer themed dies.

I love this Groovy Bus die, reminds me of my college days! ☺ I traced around the die and cut the black cardstock to back up the die so the busy pattern of the paper behind it wouldn't show through.

I used the Shasta Daisy 6 Piece Die Set to make the flowers and then spritzed them with a little gold mist just to "antique" them a bit.

 I used Authentique Explore collection to make my card and I love the little road trip sticker.  I mounted that on a Nesting Doll- Circles #1 diecut so that it would stand out.

Cheery Lynn Designs dies used:

Shasta Daisy 6 Piece Die Set - B310

Groovy Bus die - B655

Horizon French Flair Boutique Stacker - DL 271

Horizon Coved Rectangle Boutique Stacker - DL 251

Nesting Doll- Circles #1 - 3 Piece Die Set - CASO15

Remember, there is a $20 Cheery Lynn gift certificate prize to be won by some lucky person!  It is awarded randomly to a lucky commenter who answers one or more of the questions on the Cheery Lynn blog. So, be sure to follow the hop and leave a comment and answer the question(s) on the Cheery Lynn blog to be entered to win.

Your next stop on the blog hop is Cheryl's Blog so hop on over and see her fantastic creation!

Thanks so much for stopping by today.  Do leave a comment so I'll know you were here and remember to leave a comment on the Cheery Lynn blog for a chance to win.

Layout for Creative Embellishments

I'm sharing a fun layout today that I made for Creative Embellishments.  One of my favorite things to scrap is dog photos, they're just so "doggone cute"!  Meet Lola, she belongs to my niece and her family. 

I started my layout by using Creative Embellishments' Muddy Paws stencil on the background with black distress ink.  Then I layered up some great papers from Graphic 45's Raining Dogs & Cats collection, that's a favorite of mine! 

I've framed Lola with a birdhouse frame, I think it makes a great dog house!  I used Lindy's Mission Bells Brown mist to color the birdhouse.  Its a great color when you just want to lightly tint the chipboard.

  Next  to the dog "bird" house  I added a picket fence, also colored with Lindy's.  A grass border completes the scene.  

The title is heat embossed with black detail embossing powder.  And of course, to finish it off, I added pretty Petaloo blooms in red and teal!

Creative Embellishments products:

Muddy Paws Stencil

Puppy Love Word Set

Bird House Frame

Grass Border

Picket Fence

Other Products:

Graphic 45 Raining Dogs & Cats collection

Petaloo Textured Elements teal

Darjeeling mini mix

Thanks for stopping by the blog today.  Be sure to stop by the store, 

Nicolle has added some great new designs!

Cheery Lynn Designs and Maja Designs Card

I used some great dies from Cheery Lynn Designs to make this fun card.  My favorite color is red and I love this Summertime collection from Maja Designs.  

 I love all the flower dies that Cheery Lynn carries but this one, Judy's Blooms, is a favorite.  I stacked 3 blooms and topped with a pearl to make these lovely flowers.  I  used patterned and solid papers to cut the flowers, I think that makes an interesting looking bloom!

Cheery Lynn Designs dies used:

Fiona's Magic Window - FRM 140

Celtic Rectangle Boutique Stacker - DL 273

Judy's Blooms - C184

Flourish 11 - CAFLRS11

Be sure and join in our blog hop tomorrow, we'll be showing lots of summer themed projects.  It all starts on the Cheery Lynn blog.

Spring roses with Petaloo!

I've pulled together some of my current favorite things  to show off Petaloo's new and ever so fabulous roses!  I started out with a ginormous Tim Holtz Etcetera tag; it's 6.5" x 12".  Lots of real estate for creating!

Then I stenciled on a background with some modeling paste.  Next I grabbed my new favorite Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Inks and created a background of pinks and purples.  I streaked on some Prima Vintage Gold wax to give it some highlites!

Now I just love that giant sun, Helios I, from Sandra Evertson.  I actually used the backside because I love all the wood burned detail.  But what really makes this piece shine, are all the gorgeous Petaloo roses.

.

I used a mix of Garden Roses in guava and Fairy Rose Buds in Lavender/purple.  These flowers are just so delicate and lifelike.

Graphic 45's Place in Time had the perfect spring images to embellish my spring tag.  They go so perfectly with the lovely Petaloo roses!

Petaloo 

Fairy Rose Bud - Lav/Purple 5013-205

Garden Roses - Guava 5019-250

Other Products

Sandra Evertson Relics & Artifacts Helios I

Graphic 45 Place in Time DCE

Tim Holtz Etcetera tag

Prima Vintage Gold Alchemy Wax

Ranger Distress Oxide Ink - wilted violet, worn lipstick

Thanks for joining me today.  Look for these roses at your favorite craft store or online!

Cheery Lynn - A Basket for Mom

Well this should have been an Easter basket but I'm a day late and a dollar short as they say, so I turned it into a Mother's Day basket filled with my Mom's favorite chocolates!  She'll love it!

To start my design, I used Coved Rectangle Stitch Nesting Set - SM Silver Stitch Nesting Set 6 Piece Die Set - MS10 to cut panels for the front and back of the basket.  I just cut rectangles for the side panels and used a corner chomper to memic the coved corner on the front panels.  Then I added Border #7 Die - CABRD7  in the center.  I cut a little tag with the smallest of the  Horizon Fishtail Banners 3 Piece Die Set - DL278 and stamped a simple greeting.

I used several different flower dies (listed below) to make the flowers that embellish the front and back panels.  I always like to tuck in a few leaves to my floral clusters and one of my favorite dies for making leaves is Flourish Leaf Strip 5 Piece Die Set - B178.

The handle is "gussied up" with more flowers, a seam binding ribblon and  beautiful flourishes cut with  Flourish #1 Die - CAFLRS1.

On this side view you can really see how pretty that leafy flourish looks cascading down the side.  The papers I used are from Graphic 45's DCE Once Upon a  Springtime.  The pinks and greens are perfect for this springy Mom's Day project don't you think?

That's it for me today!  What are you making for your Mom for Mother's Day?

Coved Rectangle Stitch Nesting Set - SM Silver Stitch Nesting Set 6 Piece Die Set - MS10

Border #7 Die - CABRD7

Flourish Leaf Strip 5 Piece Die Set - B178

Cherry Blossom 2 Piece Die Set - B129

Bohemian Collection - Indie Bouquet - 6 Die Set - B874

Judy's Blooms Die - C184

Flourish #1 Die - CAFLRS1

Horizon Fishtail Banners 3 Piece Die Set - DL278

Graphic 45 Once Upon a  Springtime DCE

Really Reasonable Ribbon seam binding

Loving this Triptych from Creative Embellishments!

I love this this chipboard Creative Embellishments triptych!  The arched shape is just so fun and works so well with Graphic 45's Vintage Hollywood collection.  The chipboard stars are perfect!  Imagine a couple photos of some of you favorite people in place of these Hollywood stars from yesteryear.

I used CE's nested stars along with some fussy cut stars from the collection.  I heat embossed the trim around the triptych, stars, and words  with Stampendous aged gold embossing enamel.  

I used the word Magic from the Shine Word Set,

and Inspire from the Inspire Word set.

The triptych is 3 separate panels and I thought I'd show you how I put them together.  I diecut some hinges from felt because felt is stronger than paper and glued the hinges to the back of the panels.

Creative Embellishments products used:

Triptych

Nested Stars

Inspire Word Set

Shine Word Set

Nicolle has been busy adding new designs to the store so be sure to stop by!  I am loving the new corner flourishes she is doing.  Check it out here!

Celebrating National Scrapbook Day with a double page layout for Graphic 45!

National Scrapbook Day is tomorrow, Saturday, May 6th and what better way to celebrate than with a double page layout? Like many of us in this hobby, I started out making double page layouts as that is such a great format for displaying multiple photos and telling the story behind the pictures.

Here's a Snapguide tutorial for making this two page layout.

Check out How to Make Graphic 45 Double Page Layout by Maggi HARDING on Snapguide.

Two photos on the left page and three on the right page tell the story of our trip to see the giant redwoods and sequoias in California.  I still need to jot down some journaling on the ephemera card I added to this page.

Your two pages don't have to be mirror images of each other, instead use the same papers on each page to pull the two pages together.

Follow the odd numbers rule, i.e. use an odd number of photos as odd numbers of things tend to arrange in a more pleasing manner. Of course this is just a general rule, sometimes even numbers work too!  Lots of examples on this spread, 3 ladybug chippies, 11 flowers and 5 photos.

Make your general design for both pages at the same time so that you can see the flow of the page.

Use the same or similar embellishments on both pages. For example, use the same flowers on both pages.


Graphic 45 Nature Sketchbook 12 x 12 Collection: 

Plant Kingdom
   Wildflower Bouquet
   Every Blooming Thing
   Flora Fascination
   Nature Sketchbook
   Diary of a Botanist
   Seasonal Splendor
Ephemera Cards
Monarch Majesty
Decorative Chipboard
Patterns & Solids Pad or green cardstock to mat photos

Other Supplies:
Petaloo Briar Roses - teal
EK Success Pointed Flower border punch

I hope you are able to take some time this weekend and create something fun and special to celebrate National Scrapbook Day.  It was really fun for me to make this double page layout, haven't done that in long long time and it was fun to get "back to my roots"!

Thanks for stopping by!