Gerda Steiner Frog Cards

Hello! Welcome to summer!!! Here in Central Alberta, that means scattered showers, lots of puddles, and FROGS!

This Gerda Steiner stamp set is very cute. The images are sweet and cuddly, (if a frog can ever be.) I stamped all the images today with a neutral grey Hero Arts ink and colored them in a no line style. The challenges are getting the shadows to be enough definition to give the images shape without a line. I'm learning.

 

This first card uses patterned paper from a long ago Scrapshotz card kit, and some narrow navy blue grosgrain ribbon. The frog and lily pad were cut out with the coordinating die and the sentiment from the stamp set was cut out with a SU punch. All are popped up on foam dots. The dots are Nuvo Crystal Drops Gloss - Double Denim.

 

I cut the front panel for this card with a Spellbinders oval die, then put acetate behind it to create the shaker card. The die-cut frog is adhered in the center and I glued a couple of the Studio Katia blooms where I wanted them in the background. Most of them are loose, though, so there is some movement in the card. This frog appears to be jumping for joy so the Congratulations sentiment from the set is appropriate.

 

The goofy smile on this frog is endearing and I love how he is peeking out at you. The sentiment is stamped with Hero Arts Silver Shadow Ink and the Nuvo drops are Crystal Drops Gloss - Green Apple. The twine is from my stash and balances the layout of the card.

I'm going to keep working with these fellas, and I'll be back later in the week with more inspiration with this super versatile stamp set! Get yours today at Scrapshotz.com.

Have a great week!

More Altenew "Live Your Dream'

Hello, gang! It's Lorraine here with you today with a couple of layouts from the fabulous May 2019 Scrapshotz kit, featuring Altenew "Live Your Dream."

 

For this fun layout, I customized the die cut included in the kit and the wooden embellishments with Emerald Creek embossing powder. Wow. That stuff is amazing. I used two different powders, Deep Sea and Patina Oxide. I put multiple layers on and loved the effect. The title uses the Thickers from the kit and I was inspired by Ellen DeGeneres game of the same. Love that font.

This layout has a different mood altogether. The ability to go any way with this line of patterned paper is a big part of it's magic. This is a simple layout with texture added with a ribbon border, wooden buttons and the chipboard accent, mounted with foam squares. The title uses that fabulous font again. This time the color of the thickers would have been lost on the navy blue mat, so I put it on white cardstock and fussy cut around it to make it pop. I find that when I want to cut out around a title, the easiest way is to draw a faint line with a pencil and cut on that. Any lines that are still showing are easily erased.

Thanks for popping in! It's almost time for the June kit to start to make an appearance here. I'm looking forward to seeing it - a great looking line that has lots of potential!

Have a great week!

Originally published on the Scrapshotz blog June 13, 2019.

Altenew "Live Your Dream" - May 2019 Scrap Shotz Kit

Hello! Lorraine here with a couple of layouts created from the May Scrap Shotz kit. This Altenew "Live Your Dream" line is beautiful. The colors are vibrant and bold and the paper has to be held to be appreciated. It's heavy, smooth and luxurious. We recently had a Graduation in the family, and I thought this patterned paper was suitably classic.

The colors in this paper were perfect for the cap and gown photo. Going with the leaf pattern I die cut leaves with the Pretty Pink Posh Stitched Foliage Die and painted some iridescent Ranger Stickles on them. For the title, the American Crafts Thickers that are included with the kit are great, and I wanted to use some iridescent lettering for the banner. I wasn't sure if it would work, but I typed the name of the High School with Word and printed it out on black cardstock with my laser printer. I then used gina K. Fancy Foils in sparkling silver, and it looks amazing!

The opposite page will highlight family and although the pattern is very different, the basic design and the colors will allow them to coordinate in my Graduation album. There are lots of layers here, giving the photos lightness and fun. I used a few more leaves as embellishments to tie the 2 pages together.

My next layout uses very colorful, bright paper and the photos were getting swallowed up by the fun pattern. In order to settle it down a little, I cut out two corners from another pattern and used them on opposite corners of the layout.

The die cut hearts and epoxy wood buttons are perfect accessories.

 

This paper is so amazing that I hated to waste a single corner, so with the scraps leftover from this layout, I made a couple of cards. I stamped and embossed Pinkfresh Studios Scripted Bold Sentiments on the cards. I then tied a bow with May Arts silk ribbon on the "Bravo!" card and with seam binding on the "Thinking of You" card.  Both the sequins and the gold crystals I used are from Studio Katia, available in the Scrap Shotz store.

 

 

I have to admit that the beautiful paper had me a little intimidated at first, but once I started using it, I found the patterns really easy to work with.  They are suitable for so many events and moods, and I'll be back later this week with some more creations with them.

Have a good one!

Originally published on the Scrapshotz blog June 3, 2019.

Mama Elephant Big Happy Birthday!

Hello everyone! Lorraine here to show you some cards I created using the Carta Bella Baseball line and the Mama Elephant Big Happy Birthday die and Birthday messages stamps.

 

The size and simplicity of this ME die make it so easy to work with! I cut a grey and a red die cut out of cardstock and offset layered them to create a shadow effect. I cut some foam into tiny strips to fit behind the letters on the red letters to bring them off the card. Just adding a bit of embellishment (nuvo drops and a piece of ephemera from the Baseball line) completes the project! Perfect for a masculine card!

I used the 6x6 Carta Bella paper for this card with the baseball park scene. I put some enamel dots on for a bit of dimension, cut the die out a few times and layered it to make it pop.

I used some chipboard from the Baseball line for this one. Two layers of die cuts and some baubles from my stash and this one was done. Using cardstock strips in place of ribbon gives the card a bit more of a masculine feel.

For this one, I used some glitter nuvo drops and wrapped the card with twine. The baseball logo is a  chipboard element from the line.

This one is a little different. I adhered the die with a "bubble" in the middle so that it has some dimension without any bulk. The brad is from the Carta Bella line, and the pearl drops are Nuvo.

This shaker card just has a trio of large sequins on the top. The sparkle and movement from behind the die cut are just enough pizzazz on it's own.  To create the shaker, I cut the die out, then put acetate behind the cut out. Then I put the die cut back down and glued all the bits and pieces for the letters down to the acetate before removing the die. It's an easy way to get the look!

Another shaker card, with a sentiment from the Mama Elephant Birthday Messages stamp set popped up on top. I added baseball gloves that were fussy cut from scraps left over from the Baseball line. I put a bit of glossy accents on the baseballs to make them shiny and rounded.

 

This patterned paper is from the 6x6 pad. The smaller size of the pattern are so well suited to cards!

The baseball bat border is from a 12x12 scrap and the dots are nuvo pearl. This one wasn't popped up, and still is really effective.

This die is from Hero Arts and the popped-up sentiment is from the ME Birthday Messages stamp. I put some Nuvo drop accents on it and it was finished.

Thanks for looking. As you can see, there are so many great ways to use these dies and stamps. I used baseball paper, but you can adapt your cards to any sport you'd like for the men in your life. 😎

Have a great day!

Originally published on the Scrapshotz blog May 1, 2019.

Carta Bella Baseball Hits a Home Run!

Oh.My.Goodness.

Carta Bella hit it out of the park with this collection. With 3 grandsons playing and all of us being big fans of baseball, these papers and embellishments are perfect for me. Let's get going with some layouts created with this line.

 

I love the rich vintage looking colors in the line. They are bright, but don't try to take over the layout. Because the boys' uniform colors are mostly red and grey, I stuck mostly to mats in red and navy blue.  I love the large photo in this layout. I cut a mat for the title panel as I wanted it to be prominent and not get lost in the patterns. The alphas are American Crafts Thickers from a past Scrapshotz kit.

 

The patterns in this paper are busy, but with a large mat to park the photos on, they still take center stage. Baseballs from the ephemera pack are the only embellishments needed.

 

This layout is super simple. A strip of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" patterned paper to rest on, more ephemera and a bit of doodling around the outside complete it. 

I had so many different photos from this one game that it had to be a double pager. The layout is the same on both sides, but I used different patterned papers and colors for each side. I matted the photos on each page with the opposite pages base color, and cut out the letters and numbers from cardstock too.

The letters are dies from Pinkfresh Studios "Adore Alpha Set" and the numbers are from Concord and 9th "Notable Numbers Set." If you are looking for dies, Concord & 9th also has awesome double cut alpha and number sets. These dies can be special ordered through Sandy. Just let her know what you are looking for! I cut out both in red and blue, using just the outline of blue on the red letters and shadowing the numbers for depth.

 

The only embellishments on this layout are stickers from the sheet in the collection pack. I love that they are thick enough to pop up and make a real statement on the page with some foam dots.

 

These little swingers are popped up and perfect for this page! 

 

The photo and the title sticker are really popped up. I stacked 2 layers of foam squares under the photo and under the middle of the title, keeping the edges of the title a little less popped with single foam. This gives it a rounded look that suits the shape of it.

This layout was fun to do. A little tedious cutting out the long title, but it was worth it in the end. I used an old Quickutz alpha set that I have had for forever, called "Blossom."

This layout also has lots going on, so a tag from the ephemera pack and some chipboard pieces were the only embellishments.

This final layout is one of my favorites. The single photo with a little bit of bling from the brads scattered down the page with a some ephemera is just what it needed. I cut the journaling block with a spellbinder die and added some Maya Road stars. 

Thanks for sticking with me on this double-header of baseball layouts. I love this collection, and still have a few sheets of patterned paper that may still make it onto another spread or two. 😊

Have a great weekend!

Originally published on the Scrapshotz blog April 26, 2019.