Camera Photo Album & Fleur De Lis Candle Bowl

A very good friend of ours was having some visitors in from out of town.  It was their first visit to see them & to our city.  She had asked me to make something for them as a memento.  For the mother she wanted to give her one of my candle dishes that I etched with fleur-de-lis.  I used the fleur-de-lis on the Wild Card Cricut Cartridge.

The daughter likes to take a lot of pictures.  So I figured I would make a photo album.  It had 10 pages (front & back) that I made out of water color paper and painted with acrylic paints.  I then painted cardstock and adhered it to the pages, so that it added room for at least 3 pics per page.  The front & back covers were made from corrugated cardboard that I cut up from a box.  I painted each of these with white Gesso & then acrylic paints.

The pages & covers are 5x7.  The cardstock is 4.5 x 12 & folded so that each part of the cardstock can fit a 4x6 picture or journaling if she wishes.

I cut the camera pieces & painted them with acrylic paint as well.  I added her initials & a fleur de lis as a symbol of our city.  I used heat embossing with UTEE on the fleur de lis to make it glossy & to add dimension.

 

Cartridges Used:  Create A Critter (Camera), Accent Essentials (Fleur de lis), Cuttin' Up (Initials), George & Basic Shapes (Background Rectangle for the initials)
All pieces of the camera were cut from water color paper & painted with acrylic paint.  After assembling the camera, I sealed it with Krylon Preserve It.  I then added the fleur de lis that was heat embossed with UTEE to add dimension & shine.
Thanks for looking. Questions & comments are always welcomed. Lori

Tyler "T"

A friend requested this letter for her nephew.  I will be very interested in his response to getting this as a gift.  I know young boys would probably like these letters, but this is for a sophomore in High School.  He plays baseball at the playground and is into bowling.  I did his name in his school colors.

Details:
I used my Gypsy & Cricut to design & decorate this letter.
Cartridges used:  Sports Mania (Glove, Bats, & Baseball), Paper Doll Dress Up & George & Basic Shapes (Bowling Ball & Pins)  The pins are actually the caveman's club.  I just stretched it a bit & added a rectangle for the stripe.
Thanks for looking. Questions & comments are always welcomed. Lori

Flower Tag

I made this tag for Practical Scrappers Flower Challenge. I didn't have time to post it in time for the deadline, cut I still wanted to show it.
I cut the tag from the Tags, Bags, Boxes & More Cartridge. I cut it twice for a little extra stability. I also add the back layer to my tags after all of the inking, edging, & decorating is done for a cleaner look on the back of the tag. I used a stamp set (Love) that I picked up at Wal-Mart & stamped it with acrylic paint, the same paint that I used to edge the tag. I used another stamp set for the flowered background & stamped it with distress ink. I built the flower with bridal flower petals, painted them w/ acrylic paint & homemade glimmer mist. Then I added other misc. flower pieces that I also used homemade glimmer mist on. I made a hat pin & added that to the flower. Added fiber & ta da!!

Thanks for looking. Questions & comments are always welcomed. Lori

Sailboat Card

I made this card for Challenge #15 Summer time At The Beach over at Fantabulous Cricut.  The challenge was to make any project of something you would find at the beach.  When I started this card, I really didn't know where I was going with it. It started out with just a blue background with a white edge (the card base).  Then I decided to wet the blue cardstock & crumple it up.  I liked it, but it still wasn't quite right.  So them I inked the wrinkled paper with vintage photo distress ink.  I just didn't like the white anymore.  It still just didn't feel right.  So I ripped the blue cardstock & thought "Hey, this could be the sky & water."  But I still didn't like the white background so I inked the card base with vintage photo too.  I then glued the blue pieces down.  This is where the sun & sailboat come in.  I cut, inked, & assembled them.  I edged around the card base with white acrylic paint (in a dauber bottle).  Then added some of the white acrylic paint to the sky & water.  I also added some pool blue acrylic paint to the water.
I used my Gypsy & Cricut to design & create this card.

Cartridges used: Life Is A Beach (Sailboat) & Create A Critter (Sun)
Sorry this was so long. I just thought I would take you along for the ride of my thought process for this card.  It was super fun to figure it all out.
Thanks for looking. Questions & comments are always welcomed. Lori

Kindergarten Teacher Wall Letter

A friend of mine wanted a special "End of School Year' gift for her daughter's Kindergarten teacher.  So she asked me to make one.  The school colors are dark green and red.  This is the final result.
Lisa, thank you and I hope she likes it.
Details:
Carts, A Child's Year, Locker Talk, and Pooh Font Set
Everything is sized to fit the letter by using my Gypsy and is cut with my Cricut.
I used Liquid Embossing on almost all of the pieces.
The letter is painted with acrylic paint & sealed with Krylon Preserve It.
All of the cardstock pieces are also sealed with Krylon Preserve It.
Thanks for looking. Questions & comments are always welcomed. Lori

Morgan's M & Giftbag

I made these in March for Morgan. A precious little girl that we know that was turning 4.

Details:

Letter:

White wooden M from Michael's painted with acrylic paint. Sprayed w/ Krylon Preserve It along with all of the pieces that were added to the letter.

Name was cut using SCAL.

Princess - Hat was cut from the Sweet Treats cart. Head & hair were cut from the Paper Doll Dress Up cart. face is peachy Keen Stamps. Ribbon is an old hair ribbon that my daughter did not use anymore. Flower is one of my Phone Book Page Flowers.

Giftbag:

Cuttlebug using the Swiss Dots, Happy Birthday & Devine Swirls Embossing Folders

Mini Monograms for the tag w/ My Pink Stamper Stamps.

Cupcake on bag is from the Sweet Treats cart.

Thanks for looking. Questions & comments are always welcomed.
Lori

4 More Wall Letters - K, T, G, J

I made wall letters for my niece & 3 nephews for Easter. I still find it a little bit of a challenge to make these for boys, but I think they are turning out pretty good.

"K" for Karissa
She will be 2 in July. Everything we have done for her has been pink & purple & involves butterflies. I used the Gypsy Wanderings cart for the butterflies, Home Accents cart for the branch & flowers, & the Alphalicious Cart. for her name.

"T" for Trent
He will be 1 in July. I knew I was going with 2 shades of blue. With him being so young, I knew that whatever I did - he will eventually grow out of it. So, I went with a truck & a train from the New Arrivals Cart. His name was cut using the Plantin Schoolbook Cart.

"G" for Garrett
He made 3 in January. He just loves anything to do with balls. So what better cart to use than the Sports Mania Cart. His name was cut using the Plantin Schoolbook Cart.

"J" for Jason
Jason is going to be 8 in October. He is a wiz with putting puzzles together and he loves Spiderman. I found some Spiderman comic books (new ones - not collectibles) and cut some of the Spideys out. I sprayed them with Krylon Preserve It so that they will last. Then for the puzzles, I painted some pieces red, freehand painted some spider webs, & coated them with Triple Thick. I cut his name from SCAL.

Thanks for looking. Questions & comments are always welcomed.
Lori

Celia's "C" Wall Letter

A friend of mine (one of Alexis' classmates' mom) asked me to make a wall letter for her daughter. She wanted pink and she loves dogs. So this is what it ended up like. I am happy to say that they both loved it!!

Details:
I painted the entire letter light pink. Then I painted the edges a darker shade of pink. I painted some large bubble bubble wrap with the darker pink paint, & stamped it on the front of the letter. I thought it just gave some texture & broke up all of that lighter pink. But, some people told me that the spots looked like flowers & Liz (the mom) said that some of them looked like paw prints - so that technique was a hit.
I added some dog buttons that I had in my stash.
The name & I{heart}Dogs was from SCAL. I used Triple Thick over the heart to make it dimensional and shiny.
Cricut Carts:
Animal Kingdom - Dachshund & "Spot" dog head
The dachshund was given some texture by using Dawn's Faux Suede Technique. I colored the body w/ distress ink (Vintage Photo) & brown pigment ink. The card & tail were colored w/ distress ink (Weathered Wood)
Cricut Sampler (Paper Pups) - Poodle
The poodle was spritzed w/ homemade glimmer mist (pearl-ex macropearl)
All paper embellishment pieces & the letter was sprayed (front & back) with Krylon Preserve It.

This is just a little 3x3 Thank You card that I made for them for ordering one of my letters.

Details:
3x6 cardstock folded at 3"
2 1/4 x 2x1/4 cardstock spritzed w. homemade glimmer mist (pearl-ex flamingo pink)
Mini Monograms Cricut Cart:
I cut 5 scallop circles @ real dial size 2 1/4, 2, 1 3/4, 1 1/2, & 1 1/4
I colored them with varying shades of pink with chalk ink.
I spritzed them with home made glimmer mist (pearl-ex flamingo pink & Duo Red-Blue)
Scrunched up, unfolded, added a brad to the center & formed with my fingers to my liking.
Spritzed again w/ homemade glimmer mist (pearl-ex macropearl)
Then I dried it with my heat gun.
Again - I can't remember the stamp set that the Thank You came from.

I just wish the glimmer showed up in the pics. It is really pretty in person.

Thanks for looking. Questions & comments are always welcomed.
Lori

A for Alyssa

This wall letter is for my daughter's friend. Her birthday party is next weekend and this is what my daughter wanted me to make for her. Alexis loved it, so let's hope Alyssa will feel the same way. I'm seriously not too worried about that though. Click HERE and HERE to see what I made for her last year. Her favorite colors are pink & brown and her room is done is those colors too.

White wooden wall letter. (Letter & all embellishments were coated with Krylon Preserve It - Glossy before adhering to make sure they will last.)
Acrylic paint: base color is brown. 2 shades of pink was dabbed all over the brown using a crumpled up plastic grocery bag dipped in the paint.
Name was cut out using SCAL and my Cricut. I Cuttlebugged w/ Floral Fantasy Embossing Folder the top layer of letters & coated with Triple Thick Glaze - thanks to Yoliebean.
The little brown flowers were cut from the George & Basic Shapes Cricut Cart. I glittered them with Martha Stewart Brownstone glitter and added different sized & shades of pink rhinestones in the centers. This is one of my phone book page flowers with a rhinestone center. It's a little hard to tell in the pic, but I added some Diamond Dust randomly to the flower to give the impression of dew. You can check out Scrapsofmine's Video on how to do this. The only thing I do differently is after it is all dry, I add a coat of Glossy Mod Podge over the top to make sure none of the Diamond Dust falls off. These things are like very tiny shards of glass & hurt if stepped on. Ask me how I know!!!!
The butterfly is from the Amanda Blu Summer Solstice paper stack. I cut out 2 matching butterflies, layered them 0 attaching in the center. I curled the wings a bit & attached near the flower.
This flower was made using the grunge flower technique. The flower that I used was cut from the Sweet Treats Cricut Cart. I used 2 different printed cardstocks, inked the edges & the back sides of the flowers. I added Martha Stewart Tourmaline glitter for some sparkle.

Thanks for looking. Questions & comments are always welcomed.
Lori

Making Embellishments - Paper Flowers

As you may or may not know I am trying to get together some inventory to do craft fairs in my area. I still want to make some projects to have on hand to sell. But, I also had a thought to make embellishments to sell also. I know I go to craft shows a lot of the time to get ideas. I'm sure I am not the only one. It's good to have our crafts for those that don't crafts. But I thought that it would be nice to have some handmade embellishments for those that do craft. I mean - we all still buy embellishments that we see & like even though we can make them. I think that is the nature of the beast we call crafting - LOL.

So last night I sat down to make some paper flowers. This VIDEO is what first inspired me to make these flowers. Then Donna came out with VIDEO 2. You really need to see both videos that are wonderful. Although I did put my spin on them. I don't have all of the materials that Donna has, so I improvised & I think I really like how they came out.

I used a roll of electrical tape and one of my rolls of sticky strip as a guide to cut the circles. I was not worried about them being perfect. I just tore the paper while holding down the rolls of tape.

For this one, I made the flowers with the bare paper. Then (The colors are off in this pic. They are actually lt. purple & lt. pink.), I watered down some acrylic paint and just kind of splattered it on them. I used my heat gun to help dry them faster (I tend to be impatient.). I then glues them together, painted a button with the acrylic paint, threaded it with some hemp twine, and coated the button with Mod Podge & attached to the center of the flower.

The following 2 were done a little differently & I think I like this method better. I watered down the paint, dried it, crumpled it, then went over it again with wither a lighter or darker paint color. I did this until I liked the look of the paper. Then after the circles were torn, I went around them with wavy deco edges scissors.

This one is Alexis' very first paper flower. She did hers as I showed her while making mine. Its a little more flat, but that's how she wanted it. I think she did a wonderful job for her first time trying. I actually think it looks better than my first paper flower. My first one can be seen HERE.

I really like the rustic look about these flowers. I am in the process of making many different colored ones. Forgot to mention, the paper I am using is old phone book pages. Way to RECYCLE, and it's FREE!!!!

Thanks for looking. Questions & comments are always welcomed.

Lori

Wall Letter K - Kayla

I can finally show this post. I had to wait until I could give this to my niece.
Ok so this is about the 5th Wall Letter that I have done. I love doing them, but I stress myself out trying to make them fit the person that they are for. Last time I got the first boy one out of the way. Now this one is for my niece, but she is 20 years old. I tried to capture her personality & her interests in this. I hope I did good. She is a very good artist, so I am just praying that she will like it. What was I thinking, trying to give a craft gift to someone that is so talented herself? I can't wait for her to get this to finally stop stressing.

Details:

White wooden letter from Michael's.

SCAL for the letters.

Indie Art Cricut Cart. for the heart and the skull.

Stretch Your Imagination Cricut Cart. for the music symbol.

I painted the letter with black acrylic paint.

I used Tim Holtz Distress Paint (Brushed Pewter) on the top of the letter. I used my fingers to give it some texture. When that dried I brushed over it with Tim Holtz Distress Ink pad (Worn Lipstick). My niece's favorite colors are pink & black. I did the same to the cross bones of the skull.

I used UTEE mixed with glitter and heat embossed that to the top layer of the heart.

After everything was adhered to the letter, I put a layer of Mod Podge over it. Then I sprayed it with Krylon Preserve It for extra protection.

Now for the reaction:
I think she really liked it. I felt really good when she opened it and said "Wow, how did you do that?" Her brother gave me a very good compliment on it too. He said that if he could capture Kayla and put her on a letter, this would be exactly it.
Glad that is over. I think I need to have more confidence in my work. I stress over it too much. I just want the people that I am making things for to really like them.
Thanks for looking. Questions & comments are always welcomed.
Lori