Use Your Stuff!

Welcome to the Studio!

I've been cranking out layouts lately like a madwoman.  It feels REALLY good to get some done.  I'm so far behind it ain't even funny.  I want to finish my wedding album before our 10th anniversary.  A few years ago, that sounded like a joke; but we'll be celebrating that 10th anniversary in March of next year.  I need to get my rear in gear for sure!

I've recently found a challenge blog that I just adore and really gets me motivated.  It's Use Your Stuff.  Each week they have a new challenge that gets you to, well, use your stuff.  And believe me, I NEED to use what I have so I can make room for the new stuff I want.  The challenge this week is #38, Make It By Hand.  And I enjoy making my own embies when the usual store-bought stuff just doesn't work.

Well, I'm by no means bragging when I say that I used Scenic Route Paper, Charlotte Collection, for this layout.  I don't even think that company exists any more, but I'm just now getting around to using the paper I purchased like four or five years ago, if not longer than that.  I love the browns, reds, and peachy-pinks.

I used Heartfelt Creations Posey Patch stamp and die sets.  I stamped the flowers first, cut them out with the Spellbinders/Heartfelt dies, and then inked the edges before layering them and adding a bit of bling to the center.

I used CTMH Garnet to stamp the smaller flower (top pic) and inked with CTMH Smoothie and for the larger flower (bottom pic) I did just the opposite.  I also diecut my own ticket shape and added it as well.  Several of the circles are popped up on foam tape to give the layout some lumpiness and texture.

Supply List:
Cardstock: CTMH Garnet, Smoothie, and Colonial White
Inks:  CTMH Garnet and Smoothie
Stamps:  Posey Patch, Heartfelt Creations; CTMH, Just The Ticket SOTM
Pattern Paper: Charlotte by Scenic Route
Dies:  Heartfelt/Spellbinders, Posey; Spellbinders circles and scallop circles
Embossing folder: Provo Craft
Bling:  Recollections
Other:  Ticket cut file from Silhouette, converted and used with MTC & Ba-Zing-A, the Knk Zing 
             and well as my own creation for the Title/journaling block.
Sketch:  Becky Fleck, PageMaps 2

Thanks so much for stopping by.  Until next time, Scrap Sassy and Use Your Stuff;)

Bailey's First Layout

Welcome to the Studio!

I've finally gotten to several layouts that have been rolling around in my brain, one of which is a layout of Bailey, my Silky Terrier and newest fur baby.  She's a sweetie and I love her to pieces.  But as you may notice in this photo, she's got a bit of "wild child" in her.  This is my first layout of our little darling.  We got her from the Fairy Dog Mother Rescue at the end of March and we couldn't be happier.  Bailey also just "graduated" from puppy school at our local Petsmart.  I'll have a graduation layout up soon;)

I participated in Got Sketch Express 3 with Valerie Salmon and based this layout on one of the class sketches.  She is an awesome layout and card sketch artist.  I just love her sketches and this was the second class I took with her, and definitely not the last!

My paper choice for this layout was from Simple Stories and called Summer Fresh.  I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this paper.  For me, it evokes the feeling of summer in the country and a granny's kitchen.  I used one flower made by Jolee's Boutique (bottom right-hand corner).  I must say, I'm just loving the direction Jolee's is going in.  They have been my favorite since I started scrapbooking, but the selection was starting to get a little stale for me.

The small rolled rose is a Sizzix 3D flower die.  I cut it out of canvas, and after it was rolled, I inked the edges a little with a sponge dauber and some CTMH chocolate ink.  And here's the fun part...Bailey helped.  She jumped up in the chair at my scrap desk and took off with the little flower in her mouth, which was quickly followed by me frantically saying "drop it."  Thanks to Bailey's expert distressing technique (and a bit of puppy slobber), it was perfect.  The final flower is an inked and distressed Recollections flower and a crochet flower from the same package.  The small, vintage brad with the yellow marble center is from Creative Charms.

The diecut borders on top and bottom were cut out using my Zing and a Silhouette border image that I converted for use with Make The Cut.  I used alpha stickers for "Bailey" on a border strip included in the paper pack.  I used SU seam binding in Cherry Cobbler at the top with a bow.  My background paper is CTMH ivory cardstock distressed with SU Crumb Cake ink and a sponge dauber around the edges and an SU Stampin Wheel.  Unfortunately, the stamp is retired:(  For the date, I used a CTMH stamp set and Outdoor Denim ink.

If you have any layouts or projects of your pet(s) or fur babies, there's still time to join the Furry Four Legged Family challenge over at Craft Room Challenge.  You'll see Bailey's sweet, lil mug over there!
I hope you enjoyed your visit.  Until next time, Scrap Sassy!

Get Well Soon Easel

Welcome to the Studio! Thanks for stopping by. If you’re visiting from the Card A Day Blog, I hope you’ll stop by again. If you haven’t been to the CADB, be sure to stop by for a daily dose of inspiration. Our theme for this week is get well cards. And let’s face it, with cold and flu season in full swing, not to mention all the crazy weather we’ve been having in the southeastern United States lately, we all know somebody who could use a cheerful, get well pick-me-up.

For this card, I purchased a package of round notecards and envelopes from Oriental Trading. Their prices are good and the quality is the same as what’s available in the chain craft stores. But since it was a round notecard (i.e. it’s one piece and doesn’t open) I needed a clever way to turn it into a card. So my light bulb moment, why not add an easel? Next question, where do I find an easel shape? The Make The Cut Gallery, with all its freebies, had the perfect easel. And did you catch that it was FREE? That’s a price you can’t beat.


I used my Zing to cut the easel from some 110 lb. cardstock. I used something heavier than usual so it could support the weight of the flowers and paper on the front of the card. With MTC and Bazinga (my Zing) I cut out two circles, one of patterned paper the other of cardstock. The Get Well Soon sentiment is from a Hero Arts all occasion card stamp set. The oval and scalloped oval are Spellbinders dies. The patterned paper I used is KI Memories from one of the big combo packs at Hobby Lobby. The flowers are from American Crafts and I’ve had them for quite some time and couldn’t figure out what to do with them. They are kind of a shiny plastic. They just worked perfectly with the funky little blossoms on the paper. I did trim the very bottom of the round notecard base just so the card would stand up a bit better. I thought this would be a nice way to cheer up a friend or loved one who isn’t feeling well. And there is plenty of room on the back to write a personal message too.

I hope you enjoyed today’s project. Until next time, Scrap Sassy!

Zing Is In Da House!!!

Welcome to the Studio!

It's an exciting day here. The wait is finally over and my new baby, BaZINGa, has arrived. She's sleek, slim, & silver and cuts so fast it'll make your head spin.

Our Fed Ex guy was really great. He pretended to be as excited as we were. We took his picture as he dropped the box off at the front door. He must have thought we were nuts, certainly.

And yep that's me in the icky purple t-shirt giggling like a fool. My mom is standing in the rain taking the picture.

Here is BaZINGa in her box getting ready to go upstairs to the scraproom.

And here is BaZINGa on the cutting table in her new home. I was really thinking it would take a while to get acclimated, but once I played around with the settings in Make The Cut and got used to the new interface, I was cutting in less than 30 minutes. Most of that time was spent trying trying to get the itty, bitty but very sharp blade into the housing;)

I was able to cut out 34 2.5-inch gingerbread men in less than 3 three minutes. It took me longer to put the paper in the machine than it did to cut. I was totally blown away. With my Cricut Expression, I used to start a project like that cutting and work on something else for 30 to 40 minutes until it finished chugging. Not with my BaZINGa. Some other reasons why I chose the Zing over so many others, Make The Cut software for one, it has a 15-inch wide cutting area and 750g of pressure, which means it cuts through chipboard, decorator fabric, felt, thin metal sheeting, stencil material...and the list goes on. There are also some other accessories like embossing and engraving tips too. I can't wait to explore everything this machine can do. I'll have some sample cuts and some projects up soon.

Thanks for stopping by and sharing in my excitement! I doubt I'll sleep tonight!