Saturday, June 27, 2009

Me...Unzipped

I am in love with the 7 Gypsies "Gypsy Market" collection! I bought the papers and was so excited, and then a creative roadblock hit. The paper was so beautiful, what would I do with it? What if it didn't turn out as amazing as I had hoped? So I mulled it over for weeks. I was wandering around Michaels, when it hit me....a jean zipper! This, is where it lead me:
I tore the paper and then stitched in the zipper, put the photo in place and backed it up with another piece of patterned paper. The embellishments are mostly Tim Holtz. I used a Tim Holst mask in the corner, as well as grunge board key and lock. The key and lock are distressed with Perfect Pearls Aged Patina. The green rose is hand made (see my Paper Rose Tutorial!). The title is Cricuit Stone Script. The florishes are also Cricut, Storybook. I used Heidi Swapp Clock Stamps in the corner, and some Prima Flowers alongside the one I made. The journal box was distressed with Walnut Stain, Tea Stain, and Firebrick Distress Inks.
A lot of time and effort went into this page, and I am so pleased with how it turned out!
Try a zipper on your next page!

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Fairy Wonderland

This weekend I had a good friend visit for her birthday. I made her a special birthday card, she loves butterflies!

I also made her a Fairy Wonderland cake! Its my current favorite combo of French Vanilla Cake with Almond filling. It was quite challenging to make, but I love how it turned out!

Here is a view from the top:

A little pink fairy welcoming you to her humble home!

This was so much fun, I can't wait for the next cake challenge!!








Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Just Call Me Betty....

I am having a GREAT time baking and decorating cakes!! This week I made two birthday cakes for some co-workers. This one is my Pink Stripe Birthday Cake. Its marble cake, filled with vanilla buttercream, and covered in vanilla fondant.

Here is a close up!

My second cake is based on an inside joke with a co-worker regarding the nickname "Sunshine". He loved it!

The cake is marble again, with vanilla buttercream, and vanilla fondant. The sun is white chocolate. It was so much fun to make!

I even added a few chocolate clouds.
I've decided I officially love working with fondant! The possibilities are endless!


Sunday, May 31, 2009

Puppies at the Beach

This weekend I took a break from scrapping and instead did some baking! My friend Heather is in charge of bringing the dessert to her sister's tropical themed bridal shower. She came over and we experimented with an idea. Beach Cupcakes!!

We made coconut cupcakes with vanilla frosting. We also used almond buttercream for the flowers.

Don't they look delicious?! They were fun to make and tasted great too. They are going to be a hit at the bridal shower!!

I wanted to try to make some puppy cakes that I saw in a book. Heather agreed to help with that too. While we waited for the next batch to bake, we indulged in a little wine. How perfect is this.....Cupcake Wine?!

Life doesn't get any more perfect that a beach cupcake washed down with a glass of Sauvignon Blanc "Cupcake" wine!
Once the new batch was cool, we got to work on these little cuties!!

Here is a close up....don't you just want to pet him?

And of course, it wouldn't be complete without a little puppy love....

We had a blast making these!
This week I start another Wilton Course. This time I'm taking the Fondant class! So stay tuned for more culinary creations!

Thursday, May 28, 2009

ATC's

My newest obsession is participating in ATC swaps! I am a member of the website Inspire Swap Chat (check it out http://www.inspireswapchat.com/) and the ladies over there have turned me on to swapping!
Recently I've participated in a couple of swaps. Check out my first few ATCs!
I created this one for a beach themed swap. Don't you just love the little shark?!
This one is my current favorite. The theme was butterflies. I tried the hole punching distress technique on the first layer. I used the Paper Rose technique on the floral embellishment. Then I hand cut butterflies from patterned paper and accented with stickles!
Swapping is fun! I love sharing my work with others, but also seeing what people do with the same theme. The possibilities are endless!

Thursday, May 21, 2009

New Layouts

Two posts in one day, can you believe it?! I wanted to share some of my newest layouts!
My friend has the most adorable twins, so when I saw there 4 year old photos, I couldn't help but scrap them. I hand cut all of the embellishments from American Crafts papers. Don't you just want to pinch their cheeks?!
I love love love Basic Grey! It was perfect for a layout celebrating Ladies Night Out!!
Have a great holiday weekend everyone!

Vintage Vine Tutorial

I'm back from my trip to Dallas, TX and now have time to post the tutorial on my "Vintage Vine". It takes a little time and effort, but the end result is a beautiful hand made creation perfectly coordinated for your page!

Materials:

You will need two colors of paper. I chose patterned paper, but you can use just plain cardstock too. You will want two colors of ink to coordinate with your paper choice. Scissors, floral wire, clear tape, and glue dots.

Step One:

You will need to make the base vine. I chose to make mine 7 inches in length. Cut 7 inches of floral wire. Take your 12x12 paper, and cut a three inch wide strip. Tightly roll your wire in the paper, pattern side out. I did this in three sections, taping off each section with clear tape.

Step 2:

Step two is to create the vine branches. This time, cut 2 strips of 3 inch floral wire. Use your remaining paper to roll each one, taping it off. Once the wire is covered in paper, you can wrap it around the base vine.

Step Three:

You should still have a remaining piece of patterned paper from wrapping the vines. On the backside draw out any leaves you want to add to the vine. I made 8 leaves.

Step 4:

Cut out each leaf and ink the edges.


Step 5:

Using your glue dots, attach to each of the vines, however you would like.

Step 6:

Now we will move on to making the blooms. You will need another color of paper, scissors and a pencil.

Step 7:

On the backside of the paper you will need to draw your petals. For the top of the vine, I used three blooms. For each branch I used two. In the photo above notice the arrow. Its pointing out three slightly larger teardrop shapes. That is for the base of each bloom. To make your vine like mine you will need a total of 7 larger petals. Each large petal then has 4 smaller ones, so you will need a total of 28 small petals.

Step 8:

Cut out all of your petals and ink the edges.

Step 9:

Set aside the small petals. Taking each large petal, roll into a cylinder and tape at the bottom.


Step 10:

Using your glue dots you will add the smaller petals to each rolled center. Put your glue dot on the patterned side, right at the tip of the petal. Start by putting the rolled center in the middle of your first petal. Then add a petal to the left and to the right side of the center. Add your final petal slightly above the center one. You have now completed your bloom!

Step 11:

Using your glue dots at the base of each bloom, add to the vines.


Step 12:

You have now made your very own Vintage Vine. Attach to your scrapbook page with glue dots on the back of the vines and blooms!
With just a little bit of elbow grease you have a beautiful, and coordinated vine for your page! Have fun!











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