Back to scrapbooking

Somehow the days just flew by … I hadn’t realized how long it had been since I last posted.

But, I assure you, I have not been idle.

Like you, I am sure, I have been scouring the net for new products to be released at CHA. I am using Pinterest to keep track of my wish list. There are so many great new products … in addition to pretty papers, there are awesome new stamps and dies from Tim Holtz, Art Parts and stamps from Wendy Vecchi, Liquid Pearls from Ranger and much, much more.

I have also been working on some projects for an upcoming technique-based plan in the works. I can’t tell you all just yet, but I will probably have an announcement in early February.

Of course, I have also been crafting. This is a page I challenged myself to do …

This style — with a small grouping in the middle and a lot of white space — is a popular trend. Personally, I have trouble leaving so much white space. I figure if it’s not needed for journaling, you should add an additional photo or make the pictures bigger. So, following this style was difficult for me, but I think I managed to pull it off …

I used the Martha Stewart Around the Page punches to create the border. The patterned papers are from Memory Box. The green flowers are from Prima. The others are from Bo Bunny and the leaves are from Petaloo. I used Copic to airbrush the large blue flower and the green leaves. Then, I added a few gems and brads from my stash and some chipboard letters from Maya Road, stamped with a Wendy Vecchi background stamp, colored with Distress Stain and then highlighted with Distress Ink.

What do you think?

Framed in flowers

I love Prima flowers, but they are often too dimensional for a scrapbook page.

So, I decided to use them and a cheap Wal-Mart frame and some Art Glitter to create this for Art Glitter’s blog …

I started by adding a strip of Art Glitter’s Double-Sided Sticky Tapearound the frame. I then topped it with Gold Leaf for an elegant addition.

Then, because everything needs to sparkle, I altered some Prima flowers with glitter (518 Oak Microfine Opaque and 517 Aged Gold Microfine Opaque) and Small Clear Glass Beads. This process is really simple – I took Designer Dries Clear Adhesive and dabbed it randomly onto the petals I wanted to sparkle. Some flowers have a tiny bit and others are nearly covered. Then, I used a spoon to pour the glitter or beads onto the flower, shook it upside down and let it dry. It is that simple!

That finished, I began adhering a variety of flowers, charms and buttons to the frame. The birdhouse, birdcharms and all of the flowers, with the exception of the one in the lower left hand corner, are from Prima. The one in the lower left is from Petaloo. The heart charm is from My Mind’s Eye and the sparklers (buttons) are from Webster’s Pages.

I used Designer Dries Clear Adhesive to adhere everything. This is my absolute favorite wet adhesive and I use it all of the time, but I was still impressed when I used it on this project. For starters, everything, including the rather heavy (for papercrafting) bird cage is held on by a tiny drop of the glue. All of it is extremely secure.

But, although I know it “dries clear” I didn’t realize how clear until I used it to attach the clear sparklers. I’ve included a close up photo because you can’t see any adhesive at all … it looks like they are simply floating on the frame. AMAZING!

Even if you don’t go quite as elaborate as I did on this frame, I hope you’ll consider applying some of these techniques to a frame you own to make it special.