Creative Embellishments and Scrap Around the World

Creative Embellishment designers are guests at Scrap Around the World and this is the layout I created using their August mood board from where I drew my inspiration from the colors, words and suitcases.  The suitcases made me think of being overseas and ultimately led me to scrap this photo of my Mom standing in the doorway of the house we lived in Verdun, France 1952-1954 when I was a baby.

The mood board from Scrap Around the World.

My Mom is an amazing person and has led such an adventurous life:   I'd like to share my journaling with you.

"Can you imagine moving to Verdun, France with a baby and small child to live in a house with no plumbing in 1952? That's what my Mom did to join my father who was stationed there with the US Army. The front door had bullet holes put there by German soldiers looking for the man of the house. She was a country gal, what must it have been like to be in a strange country? She embraced it and learned to speak French from our landlady. They would sit with the French-English dictionary and "talk". She would go on to live many more adventures as the wife of a military man in Japan and Germany!"

I built a scene using several different pieces of our chipboard. First I masked some bricks onto my paper and added some torn paper strips as well as some stamping with our Distressed Text Stamp.

Then I added the arched window chippy that works so perfectly with the arched door. I used some very inexpensive water colors to paint the frame.

The flourishes and grasses are stained with Lindy's Frosty Forest Green and then embellished with Prima flowers.

The title is stained with Lindy's Mission Bells Brown.

I used these great Creative Embellishment products on my layout:

Distressed Text Stamp

Arched Windows

Flourish 17

Seagrass

Frond Set 1

Adventure Word Set

Thanks for stopping by our blog today!  Don't forget to check in the store and see what's on sale.  Nicolle runs some fabulous specials every day!

Maggi

More projects with the Dec Swirlydoos Kit Club kit.

It's time to bid 2014 a fond adieu!  Can you believe that when you wake up tomorrow it will be 2015?  Seriously, it seems like January 2014, t was just the other day.  I want to wish everyone a very safe and happy new year.  I hope that 2015 is a great year for you!

The Swirlydoos December kit was filled with gorgeous papers from Bo Bunny's Rose Cafe collection. Here I've  layered some scraps under the photo and added some journal pieces from the Rose Cafe collection Noteworthy Journal cards at the bottom of the photo.

I made the flowers using the Prima beads from the kit and Diamond Dust and stamen from my stash. I'll have a video tute on January 3rd to show you how to make these simple flowers.

Supplies:

Patterned paper:  Bo Bunny Rose Cafe collection:  Pink background - Rose Cafe,  brown and floral under photo - Espresso,  Rose Cafe Noteworthy Journaling cards

Diecuts and punches:  Alterations Tattered Floral, Martha Stewart Flourish Lace

Flowers:   handmade

Mist:  Lindy's Starburst Cosmopolitan Pink

Masks:  Prima Decor 1 & 2

Masking paste: 13 Arts  Ayeeda white gesso

Paint:      white

Other:  Diamond Dust, Prima beads, Darice stamen

I created the background on this layout by first tearing off a little strip of paper all along the edges of Bo Bunny's French Roast paper.  Then I inked and furthered distressed the edges a bit.  Next I stamped randomly with Mixed Media stamps and Stazon silver ink.  Then I did some masking in the upper right corner with a Prima Decor mask and Shimmerz Texturez.  I pressed some beads into the masking paste before it dried.  For a final touch to my background, I sprayed on some Shimmerzing Goldie Lox.  That just gives an overall shimmer to my background without adding much color.

I added a piece of cardstock to the back of my layout and I've used embossing enamel around the edges.

Supplies:

Cardstock: Bazzill Gem Onyx
Patterned paper: Bo Bunny Rose Cafe French Roast, Noteworthy Journal Cards,
Laser cuts swirls: Bo Bunny Clockwork Shapes
Embossing powder: Stampendous aged gold
Flowers: Petaloo Sugared Berry Cluster blue, Petaloo Jeweled Flowers Lavender
Ink: Stazon Silver, Distress Gathered Twigs.
Mist: Shimmerzing Goldie Lox
Masks: Prima Decor
Masking paste: Shimmerz Texturez Sandy Stone
Stamps: Stamper's Anonymous Mixed Media
Other: Prima Resins 572358, Bo Buny Film Sticker, Prima Beads - butter

Thanks for taking the time to visit my blog! I sincerely appreciate it! If you are not a Swirlydoos Kit Clubsubscriber, please consider it so that you never miss any of our beautifully coordinated kits. Please visit Swirlydoos Kit Club and click on Join Our Club on the left side bar. Be sure to mention my name, Maggi, when you subscribe because you will receive a 10% discount on your first kit AND a coupon for 30% off an entire purchase in the Swirlydoos store. Your Swirlydoos store purchases are always shipped free when shipped along with your monthly kit. Swirlydoos also maintains a Forum where everyone can share their work, tell stories and have a ton of fun! We have monthly challenges too so please come and join us!

Revealing the December Swirlydoos Kit Club Enchanged Evening kit!

Welcome to:

Swirlydoos Kit Club 

December Scrapbook Kit Reveal!

Thank you for joining our blog hop this month! If you came here from Paulien's blog, then you are on the right track. If not, go back to Swirlydoos' blog and start from there.  Make sure you leave a comment on all blogs for a chance to win a prize! And, make sure you have LIKED & FOLLOWED Swirlydoos on Facebook!!!

Swirlydoos is proud to bring you our beautiful December collection:

Enchanted Evening

And check out these coordinating add ons that perfectly compliment our December scrapbook kit, and a special Christmas project!

​

Are you a subscriber? If so, your kit is on it's way if you don't already have it! If not, check out the Swirlydoos store to see if there are any December kits or add ons in the store!

***All of our monthly scrapbook kits are available in our store while supplies last!***

Has it sold out? - become a subscriber and not only will you never miss a kit again, but you'll also pay less for your monthly scrapbook kits!
*Mention this blog hop and save 10% on your first kit*

We have some absolutely beautiful scrapbook projects for you to see today !!

Our kits always include a sketch and this is my take on the sketch.  Pictured is my sweet little Tisha.  She spied her ball on the table and was so cute sneaking up on the table to claim her ball!  The yellow flowers and papers are all from the kit, I added the pink flowers and white lace from my stash and the letters were in last month's kit.  The gorgeous pink roses are Primas and came from the Swirlydoos store.

This is a paper mache card keeper box that came in the technique kit, it was a fun project to do and quite useful.  I'm using it to keep my Christmas cards in but it would also make a great gift box.  I used Modge Podge on all my papers so that papers would wear well.  Everything is from the technique kit.  I did cut the letters and gold Christmas balls (embossed with gold embossing powder) with my Cameo.  

I kind of went crazy with the mixed media on this one!  I used a lot of masking paste and mists from my stash, on the background.  I really love the Blue Fern chippy that came in the embellie add on!  I painted mine with moonbeam Silks.

I love these sugared blooms from Petaloo!!

You have until midnight, eastern time, 12/17 to complete the hop. Winners will be announced on the Swirlydoos Blog on 12/19. In order to qualify to win here is what you need to do:
1: Visit all of the blogs and leave a comment on each. This way we know you were there. Take your time. There are REALLY beautiful things to see along the way.
2: Before you leave each blog, look for the “special” words and write it down. 
Once you have visited all the blogs and collected all the special words, they will create a sentence. 
3: Finally, go back to the Swirlydoos blog and leave a comment letting us know how much fun you had, tell us the sentence that was created with all of the special words you collected. Can't wait to hear from you.

My special word is : You
The party continues over at Kim's blog. Have fun!

Blog Hop Order:

Helena http://willeascrappar.blogspot.com

Angelica  http://angelicascrappenings.blogspot.com/

Maja http://stokk-eyovine.blogspot.se/

Jamie http://jamiedoughertydesigns.blogspot.com/

Paulien http://paulienvandenbosch.blogspot.com/

Maggi  http://scraptravelbark.blogspot.com/\

Kim www.droopidog.typepad.com

Rae http://scrappingfancy.blogspot.com/

Let's make tags!

I love to make tags; they are such fun little pieces of art and a great way to add a little extra zing to your gifts or to say a  great big thank you!  I also use them much like many people use an art journal.  A tag is where I experiment and try new things.  If I don't like it, then I don't have as much time and product invested as I would have on a 12 x 12 layout.

My tag of choice these days is the extra long Prima tag, I find that they are perfect size (8.5" x 3.5") for the tags I like to make.  But, really you can make your own tags from cardstock, you really don't need to purchase tag blanks.

Last weekend I hosted a weekend "crop camp" at my house with 6 of my favorite scrappy sisters!  I always put together a little kit of some sort for us all to play with and this year it was a tag kit with Bo Bunny's new The Avenues 6 x 6 papers.  I made all of these tags with little bits from that paper line.

I stenciled all my tags using Viva Décor Ferro Metallic Effect Paint.  This paint is stiff enough that you can easily mask/stencil with it.  The colors are great and create a stunning effect!

On this first tag I used Ferro Mother of Pearl Champagne for the stenciling and the image is from Gecko Galz.  The birdcage, Flying Unicorn metal adornment and Spellbinders oval frame are all heat embossed with Stampendous Shabby Chic white or pink embossing enamel.  The flower is one of Petaloo's new flowers, Darjeeling Wild Blossoms, oh how I love them!!

I masked this tag with Prima's new mask, Scales, and Ferro Altgold.   I think it has kind of an art deco look.  Again I've used new Petaloo flowers and a frame embossed with Stampendous Shabby Chic white embossing enamel.

This is a tag that I made for one of the gals.  I used a new Crafter's "Workshop mask and Ferro Graphite paste for the masking and the older Prima mask, Crackle.  I used a new stamp from Stampers Anonymous, Ultimate Grunge for the red checkerboard and Viva Décor 3D Stamp Paint.

Be sure to stop by the Flying Unicorn store and check out all the new products!



Flying Unicorn Round Robin

We're having a Round Robin at the Flying Unicorn this month with 9 teams!  The competition is fierce and everyone is definitely bringing their A game!

I did this layout for my team to scraplift using Bo Bunny Prarie Chic.  I really love how this turned out!  You know Prarie Chic is not a paper that I would typically buy but I guess I was feeling like doing something different when I bought it and I have to say I love this collection!

I painted on some white gesso, most of which is coverd by the photo and matting, in the center and then added some masking with Prima's lattice stencil.  I dabbed on some Lindy's Edelweiss moss green and let that pool over and around the masked elements.  Then I cut some hexes to pop up where there are hex designs on the base paper. 

I used Dusty Attic 0544 Scroll frame that I painted white and then masked with TCW reverse chicken wire and inked the masking to bring out the detail.

Photo is of Dick and I in our back yard where we lived in Denver in front of the pond that we built.

 

Supplies:

Patterned paper:  BoBunny Prarie Chic collection - Green-Rambling Rose 14101675, blue base-Laundry 14101674, scallops - Corral, small scrap at top - Prarie Chic 14101667

Chipboard:  Dusty Attic 0544 Scroll frame

Diecuts and punches: Martha Stewart leaves, wildflowers, swirling lace

Flowers:    Prima Corrine, Kaisercraft paper blooms Sea Breeze, FUL white roses, Prima tiny roses

Ink:  Mix'd Media Inx jasmine

Mist:  Lindy'sEdelweiss moss green

Masks:  Prima lattice stencil, TCW chicken wire reversed

Paint:      gesso, white acrylic

 

Come visit at the Flying Unicorn, we are one of a kind, we sell kits BUT you are very welcomed in our forums and you do not have to use our kits to participate in our challenges.

 

 

Bo Bunny's C'est la Vie and the April Flying Unicorn KOM

Dick and  I are in Charlotte,he is attending a swapmeet and car show. I've turned the  interior of the motorhome into a scrappy studio!  It's  not quite as comfortable as my studio at home but it will certainly do!  I must say that I have a lot of empathy with you gals that have to scrap at the kitchen or ddining table and have to put everything away every night.  Yeah, that really is no fun!

So today I decided to explore the more colorful side of the April Flying Unicorn kit.  I had this one beautiful chartreuse sheet of Bo Bunny C'est la Vie left and a lot of miscellaneous scraps so  I had fun piecing this layout together for Erica's Layers and Dimension challenge at the Flying Unicorn.

First I did a little masking in the corners.  I am loving this Lattice mask, think I've used it on the last several layouts I've done, hmmm guess its time to change that up!  I enhanced the yellow flowers by spraying with the Lindy's Winter Jasmine Gold that came in the Embellishment Add-On.

I took the picture at Mabry Mill along the Blue Ridge Parkway last fall.  I thought the mums were such a  pretty contrast to the dark interior of the old homestead  cabin there.

Supplies:

Patterned paper:  BoBunny C’est la Vie collection:  Base-ArtNouveau, green mat under photo – Epherma, photo mat and tagbanners – Decoupage,  purple –La Vie en Rose, yellow – Couteriere, Layered stickers wihjewels,

Letters:  PrimaLifetime alphabet stickers

Diecuts and punches: EK Success painted flower, MS decofan,MS leaves,Sizzix leafy branch

Flowers:    Manor House Fairy Floss & Taneisha, Petaloo tulip yellow new camellia, Prima Interlude yellow 

Ink:  Mix’d Media Inx Patina, Mossy, Distress Gathered Twigs,

Mist:  Lindy’s WinterJasmine gold

Masks:  Prima Lattice6x6

Come join us at the Flying Unicorn. Every month we have 10 different challenges going and each challenge has a way cool RAK awarded randomly to one lucky player!  

More layouts using Flying Unicorn April KOM

I love the versatility of the April kit, Whispers of Spring, it was really fun to see the myriad of different looks that the design team achieved all with the same kit!

For this first layout, I used papers from all three of the paper lines included in the main kit and paper add-on, Bo Bunny C'est la Vie, Prima Lifetime, and Studio 75 Vintage Memories.  I added the Dusty Attic title chippy from my stash along with the two large flowers, doily, pearls, and a Kaisercraft Lakehousefloral rubon from an earlier kit.

I love this photo that captures a special moment between the groom and his Mother.  Their smiles just say it all don't they?

Supplies

Patterned paper:  Studio75 Vintage Moments Studio 75:  Baserframe-01, green rectangle-07, Prima Lifetime collection: Base-Familia, musicsheet – Voila; Bo Bunny C’est la Vie collection:  circle – Belle

Chipboard:  Dusty Attic 0587 Enjoy the Moments

Embossing powder:  Stampendous Shabby Green

Diecuts and punches: Martha Stewart leaves

Flowers:    Prima565541 Lifetime flowers, Prima Lifetime mini rose stems 565565, FUL large flowers

Ink:  Distress FrayedBurlap

Mist:  Lindy’sPonderosa Pine Olive

Other:  Rubon Kaisercraft Lake House collection

Unknown:  Pearls

This is a picture of my parents taken on the occasion of my 16th birthday.  I used the Prima Lifetime collection on this layout and lots of masking!  I confess I had just received a lot of new masks so I tried out 3 of them on this layout.  In the upper right corner I used a transparencie from my stash that I've had forever!!

  I

Supplies

Cardstock:      Bazzill Blackbird                  

Patterned paper:  PrimaLifetime Collection:  Base Yesterday, large sq-Prima mask packaging, Prima mistable canvas tags- Love, Prima journal stickers

Chipboard:  PetalooColor Me Crazy frame embossed with Stampendous Aged Ivory

Diecuts and punches: Sizzix flourish

Flowers:  Prima Lifetime flowers

Ink:  Mixd Media Inxblack

Masks:  Prima Crackle, Prima Static 564261, TCW Mini Cell Theory TCW357s

Mist:  Glimmer MistBlack Magic; Lindys Blazing Sun  Glitz Spritz, Golden Lump o’ Coal 

Other:  G45 ribbon, Lifetime woodbuttons, Kaisercraft Rubons Mismatch,  Golden crackle paste, Flying Unicorn metal heart & clock adornments

Thanks for visiting my blog, I appreciate it!

Challenges at the Flying Unicorn!

Every month at the Flying Unicorn we have challenges of every sort and each challenge has a RAK awarded to a randomly selected player, sooooo all you have to do is enter the challenge and you've got a chance to win a great RAK from the Flying Unicorn store!  How great is that??

My challenge this month is to Find Your Tool Box!  Head on over to the Challenge Forums to learn more about my challenge and all the other challengees we have going this month.


This is my inspiration for my challenge done with the April KOM, Whispers of Spring.  I think this is such a cute photo of my big brother and a friend of his feeding the pidgeons in Barcelona, Spain back in the early 50's.

Here's the great RAK you could win and I see some great papers under those goodies on top!

The standard challenge rules apply as posted in the Challenges Forum.

Supplies:

Patterned paper:  BoBunny C’est la Vie collection:  dominofussy cut – La Vie Domino,  bluestripe-Crem ce la Crème. Dotted-Epherma; Prima Lifetime collection:  base-Gracia

 Letters:  PrimaLifetime

Diecuts and punches: Cricut birds, Cuttlebug frame and embossing folder

Flowers:    ManorHouse

Ink:  Ranger Archival ink sepia

Mist:  Lindy’s BachelorButton Blue, Winter Jasmine Gold

Paint:  PearlEx gold

Other:  G45 ribbon, Kaisercraft word stamp, Stamper’s Anonymous bubble wrap stamp

Unknown:  dominos

Whispers of Spring-April Flying Unicorn KOM

I love this time of year, the time when the earth seems to refresh itself with the brilliant colors of spring flowers and foliage.  I was out walking in our yard yesterday and noticed that our Japanese cherry trees are right on the verge of blossoming.  I'm hoping that today will be a pretty warm day and the buds will all pop open for there is nothing more beautiful to me than a cherry blossom tree in full bloom.

The colors of spring dance delightfully throughout the April Flying Unicorn kit with the Bo Bunny collection, C'est la Vie.  Add in the nostalgic Prima Lifetime Collection, and Studio 75's Vintage Memories, and you have a kit dressed in colorful vintage tones perfect for preserving all your memories.  The kits sell our really fast, so better grab one now, right here!

For this first layout, I chose Bo Bunny's C'est la Vie collection as it's pastel color palette was perfect for this photo of my sister in law and me taken just before she and my older brother were married.  I think this was taken the day of their wedding rehearsal.  I can't imagine why I would have otherwise had on a dress, LOL!  I added the ScrapFX title chippy, the Dusty Attic flourish chippies and the Manor House yellow pink blooms from my stash.

One of the fun things in the kit is cheesecloth and I love to tucks snippets of it into my floral clusters.

Supplies:

Patterned paper:  Bo Bunny Cest la Vie:  Base – Déjà Vu , yellow – C’est la vie, Blue stripe & purple– la Vie en Rose 7, yellow stripe - Couturiere (all from the kit)

Chipboard:  Scrapfx Memories are Made of This; Dusty Attic Flourish #8 DA 0702

Diecuts and punches: Heartfelt Creations Bella Rose; MS Wild flowers, MS Deco Fan,

Flowers:    ManorHouse yellow flowers Darling

Ink:  Prima  cold ice, blue jay, old rose, dry sand; Distress shabby shutters, tumbled glass, squeezed lemonade

Mist:  Glimmer Mist pearl; Lindy’s Bells of Ireland, Ponderosa Pine Olive, Glitz blazing sun

Paint:      Ranger snow cap dabber

My favorite part of the Flying Unicorn kits and its what makes our kits unique, is the off the page project that is always included with the main kit!  This month the OTP features Kaisercraft's photo frame.

I decided to try out one of the great Paint Systems from Tattered Angels and chose the Precious Stone Marble system.  This was really easy to do, I just followed the directions ,imagine that, LOL!  I added Dusty Attic chippies that I've heat embossed with Stampendous Shabby White embossing enamel.

I mixed some Bo Bunny papers with Studio 75's Vintage Memories collection for this next layout - I love that the papers work so well together.  I mixed in a few flowers from my stash with the  Prima vine (colored with Lindy's Fuzy Navel Peach) that is in the Flower Add-on.  I amso added the ScrapFX title and Fabscraps Manequin chippies from my stash.

The chippies are embossed with Stampendous Aged Ivory embossing enamel.

I wanted the flowers to look more vintage so I sprayed the white Prima vine with Lindy's Fuzy Navel Peach.  The Prima canvas flower underneath is sprayed with Glimmer Mist Old Lace.

Supplies

Patterned paper:  Bo Bunny C’est la Vie collection:  6” sq-Decopage, circle Panache, lg sq-Belle, Bo Bunny Glitter and Jewel accents; Studio 75 Vintage Memories:  base 04, green punched sq 07

Chipboard:  Fabscraps Manequin; ScrapFx wordlet Family embossed with Stampendous Aged Ivory

Flowers:    PrimaBretton vine chronicle, Prima Ballarina bloom Dorae

Ink:  Mixd MediaInx-Vintage, Distress shaded lilac,

Mist:  Lindys FuzyNavel peach, Winter Jasmine gold; Glimmer Mist Old Lace, pearl

Thanks for stopping by, I'll have some more creations for you tomorrow!