Snow tastes great!

Last week I got my first jar of gesso. I have been waiting a lot to buy it, since I had to combine it with something else to make it worth the purchase, otherwise the shipping would have been more expensive. I've been waiting for it for long, so I had to use it straight away. I saw a new challenge at the Create:blog asking for snow inspired layouts, and I thought it was the perfect chance to play with my  brand new snow-white gesso. I used the right side of this week's sketch at Let's Scrap. 

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To make my snowflakes I looked for some online inspiration on how to use gesso with stencils, and found a great tutorial at Bloom, Bake and Create, but this tutorial was about using gesso to create the background for journal pages, and I wanted just the opposite, not a background but an accent with lots of texture which could stand out from the page. I ended up making a video tutorial for making gesso accents, it is my very first video tutorial, so there are certainly some things to improve!!! 

If you have some time, have a look at it and let me know what you think!!!! Just before I leave, I would like to share with you that this layout has been picked Inspiration Of The Week at Let's Scrap. I'm thrilled!!!

Punched squares

This week's challenge at the Create:Blog is to use punched squares. It was a very easy card to create and it didn't take me long to make it, but boy has it been hard to take a picture of it. I got my new light box yesterday, finished a layout for Practical Scrappers, and the picture looked so great and was so easy to take it was love at first sight. Then, I got this card ready and took a picture, ten pictures, fifty pictures.... none looked right!!!! I tried positioning the lights differently, changing backgrounds, shooting in JPEG and RAW, checking internet sites for tips... nothing worked. This morning I woke up and it was sunny so I decided to just take the card outside and do it the usual way. Not good, either! By then, I started to go &%^%*$)#)# and went back and played with the light box a little longer. This is the best I could do, not totally like the real life version, still not clear enough, the colours still off, but I have spent enough time taking that picture and it is time to move on. Not sure I will make the Create:Blog's deadline, but at least I'll give it a try!

Summer fun on kraft

Yesterday's feature at Practical scrappers was using kraft. That was an easy one for me, I love the look of kraft on my layouts and cards, and how it makes the colours of patterned paper just pop. For this layout, I punched out circles from patterned paper scraps; I picked some of them for their summer or beach motives, others just because I liked their colours. I then stitched to the kraft cardstock, and I had a perfect background. As it was a very busy one, I just added the picture with white matting to make it pop a little, and some buttons and letter stickers. 

It was a very simple layout to make, but it has quickly become a favourite of mine, just love the way the colours in the circles play with the colours in the photo and give the whole layout a summer fun feel. Want some more kraft inspiration? Visit Practical Scrappers and see the beautiful layouts and cards using kraft that the DT and readers have contributed. See you soon with more projects!

Wooohooooo!!!!!!

I love reading DT calls. I open each one, check the site, see what's going on. However, I very rarely apply. I know I find it very hard to create when I am not motivated, so there has to be something very special about the products I will be asked to work with. Most of the times, I just close the page and move on. 

Some time ago I saw a call by Pretty Little Studio, and though I'd heard of the company, I had never worked with any of their products. When I checked their site, however, I knew this call was right for me. Everything in there is so yummy I could already think of projects I wanted to work on. Today, I am very happy to announce I have been selected to be part of Pretty Little Studio's Guest DT.

Woohoooo!!!!!! Let the fun begin!!!!! I really can't wait to start playing with all their yummy stuff. And if you haven't had a chance to see the site yet, I really recommend you got a visit it. Just click here.

Nutcracker flowers - Using my sewing machine

Today's feature at Practical Scrappers is machine sewing. I wanted to use a lot of sewing, making it the main element of my page, so I sewed six garlands of flowers going from one side of the page to the other, and crossing. It looked good on the page itself, but when I tried to put the pictures on it, it didn't work. i tried with different pictures in different sizes, and none did the trick. So, I cut a piece of one of the garlands, used the pieces below the photos, and added some pearls to give the flowers a special touch. The photos show my daughter and her friends in the Nutcracker show they did at school last year. Pre-K kids were flowers.

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I finished a card using this week's Let's Scrap sketch today, but didn't have enough sunlight to take a photo, so I'll post it tomorrow. In the meantime, if you'd like to see some fabulous sewing machine layouts, visit Practical Scrappers.

Love birds - Rolled paper heart

Hi! Today I have a card to share, which I've just made for the Create: blog's challenge for this week: using rolled paper on your cards. I've loved those beautiful rolled paper Christmas tree cards we've seen this year, but I didn't feel like creating a Christmas card right now, so I decided to go for a different shape and made a rolled paper heart. I used all scraps from my "tiny scraps box" so I am VERY happy.

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After I created the heart (and it took me several attempts), I used my Silhouette to cut the beautiful Lori Whitlock birds that I then pieced and embellished, and finally added some very, very old American Crafts ribbon with the word LOVE as a sentiment. 

I have several projects that I have finished these days but cannot be posted yet because of DT reveal deadlines and such, so there will be lots of new projects in the following weeks if you'd like to come and have a look.

Back home

If you've been wondering where I was these days I was here:

Yes, I was lying by the sea on the most fabulous beach, and the only question is: "Why did I return????" The answer is: "To scrap!!!". Even on this paradise island I felt the experience was not complete without a little desk and a kit ready to scrap. I have to admit this has become a serious obsession. Anyway, to make the return easier, I got e-mails from two magazines, one online and one print mag, to say two of my cards will be published in the following months! What a fabulous start to 2012! I have always been very reluctant to submitting work for publication, as it was an unknown area for me, but at the end of last year my friend Christine from Practical Scrappers encouraged me to give it a try and make this my scrappy resolution for 2012. It worked! And so quickly I find it hard to believe, after all the year has barely started. So Christine, and everybody else at Practical Scrappers thanks for your encouragement and for giving me the "push" I needed to do this. And to my fellow bloggers and followers: thanks for visiting my blog and sharing the good news with me!

Christmas ornaments and happy 2012!

The past two features at Practical Scrappers have been a Frugal Finds feature using what was left from our Christmas decorations, and a feature on 2012's trends. For the first one, I used fabric from my pijamas. As most of you know, a couple of months ago I bought a sewing machine, so this year I decided to make Christmas jammies for the whole family. I headed to the fabric shop and it was crowded Plus, not being a local, it is sometimes hard to get shopkeepers to start helping you instead of somebody who came later, as you do not know the way to get the shopkeeper's attention. So, after waiting A LOT, I finally got a shopkeeper to cut the fabric for me, and I had no idea how much I wanted. Since I didn't want to go back to that shop again during Christmas, and the fabric was cheap, I bought extra fabric just in case. But I miscalculated so much I bought enough for 4 or 5 pijamas por me and my husband!!!!!!!! Here are our jammies:

And here is the layout I made for Practical Scrappers, with hearts made from the fabric in my pijamas. I used pieces of the red fabric, and pieces taken from Santa's beard for the brownish hearts. Now, head over to Practical Scrappers, as you don't want to miss the tinsel heart Christine created for this feature here. 

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The paper and the buttons are JBS, I'm trying to think about the stickers but I am not 100% sure right now, will have to check that. The second layout I created is a 2012 layout. We had dinner on Dec 31st as a family, and we had a friend over for dinner who is still waiting for his family to get to Trinidad (moving countries takes time and lots of paperwork!). Our neighbours had a huge party with a fabulous firework display, so fireworks were a highlight of the night. 

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I had to include trends form 2011 for this layout, so I included chevrons, twine and lots of embellies from smashbooks, which were a big hit this year. For the photos, I gave each person (including myself) a patterned paper number, and then took a picture. I used PSE to play with the pics a little and make them black and white while keeping the numbers coloured. Lots of fun! 

Hope you enjoyed looking at these layouts, have you already scrapped in 2012?

Layout contest at Practical Scrappers

Practical Scrappers is having a fabulous layouts contest with over $100 in prizes! Read their info below:

Here's the details: 

1) Each week we will narrow down the field thru audience voting, voting from the Practical Scrappers design team, or voting from the Administrative team.

2) The contest will have 6 rounds:  Those we have chosen for Round 1 will be announced on Saturday, January 14th and each continuing round will be announced on the following Saturday.

3) International entries are welcome, but we reserve the right to modify the prizes according to our sponsors needs should an international participant win.

4) To enter the contest mail us a picture of your favorite layout that you have created in the last two months to practicalscrapperslayouts@gmail.com - you must also include your name, blog address (if applicable), and state or country of residence.  We must receive an email with all three of these by midnight CST on Friday, January 13th.

If you want a chance to win, visit Practical Scrappers here.

Denim ramblings

There were tons of yummy things in this month's kit at Freehand Scraps, Kiss the Cook. But I have to admit my favourite was the denim strip. A denim strip? Yes! I love the fact that it opened up so many possibilities, and ended up using it in four of my DT projects for this month. If you'd like to see these ideas, plus have a look at a denim rolled flower tutorial, have a look here. It would be great if you could visit and leave me a comment there!

Also, we have a party planned at Let's Scrap next month, and you surely don't want to miss it, it will be the biggest hop ever, with tons of chances to win a prize! Put it in your diary, you don't want to miss it!

Brrrrr... winter's here!!!

Well, winter is actually NOT here. It is about 30°C, or 86°F, as every other day!!!! When I moved, I thought I would not like this unchanging weather, but it really makes life oh so easy, I have changed my mind. I do miss a little bit of winter, though, so today's feature at Practical Scrappers was my chance to bring some snow this way! It is an acrylic card, so it was extremely difficult to photograph, something else I need to learn how to do...

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Another project I'd like to share is one I created using the left side of this week's sketch at Let's Scrap. It is another wedding layout, including family pics. The pics were quite grainy and I couldn't make them look the way I wanted, so I finally went for a vintage look using picnik, and I think it was really the right choice, as the photos now look great.

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I love the fact that I could finally use those feathers I had had for ages!!!! Here is a list of supplies for this layout:

Paper: K&Memories

Paper Flowers: they came in a kit, but I think they are Prima

Ribbon flower: Maya Road

Feathers: Little Yellow Bicycle

Doilies: from a kit

Rick Rack: from a haberdashery in Tripoli

Tag: from a kit

Stickers: My Mind's Eye, Amy Tangerine

Clip: Amy Tangerine

Letter stickers: American Crafts for Studio Calico

Glue: Glue Glider Pro

Finally, a little piece of news. Somebody in this house is finally learning to ride without training wheels (and somebody else is getting fit just by running behind to make sure she does not fall!!!). Little big moments of life. Love them all.

Have a happy new year and kiss the cook!!!!

I have been cooking so much lately with this 5 day Christmas holiday and 4 day New Year's holiday we've had that I really deserve to be kissed, and hugged, and, especially, taken to a fabulous restaurant to enjoy somebody else's cooking! I have had lots of hugs and kisses so I cannot complain about that part, and I will be lying on a hotel beach chair pretty soon and I will just have to ask for a waiter to bring me something yummy when I get hungry, so I can't complain about that either. So, instead of complaining, I will share with you the projects I have created using Freehand Scrap's A-B-S-O-L-U-T-E-L-Y S-C-R-U-M-P-T-I-O-U-S January kit: Kiss the cook!

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I got inspired for this one with those yummy Ormolu day swatches, after that it was just a matter of printing the tiny pics and sewing the grid. Easy peasy!

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One of DD's favourite activities at the moment is taking her dolls for a ride in her car. I thought the cute boy, girl and animal figures in the October Afternoon paper were just right for the playful tone I wanted to give this layout.

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Lots of paper strips on this layout, and I love the effect. The kit included a long denim strip that I used in different ways in several projects, and there will be a feature on it at Freehand Scraps' blog coming soon!

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I used part of the denim to create this banner, too. And I also used some more cute little boy and girl figures, I think they make a pretty birthday card.

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These little metal elements are some of the cutest things I've seen in a long time. The funny thing, I would never have bought them myself. First of all, they do not look too good in the online store's picture. And also, I tend to think  lot about whether I am going to use the stuff or not before I buy it, and I'm not sure they would have passed the usefulness test considering the pictures I need to scrap right now. But they are SO BEAUTIFUL once I saw them I knew I had to use them up!!!! And I am seriously thinking of buying a second pack. Don't think I can live without them!!!!Oh, and I forgot to say this card is based on a Let's Scrap sketch.

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This little booklet is meant to hold just a few recipes. Sometimes you have a friend over who likes some of your recipes and will ask you for them, I think it would be so nice to include them in this little booklet instead of just printing them out!!!! The fabulous digi stamp is actually a little tennis player I got for free here and modified a little to turn her into a cook. This is my favourite project from this month, I just love the way it turned out and it was so simple, too! I hope you have enjoyed these projects, check Freehand Scraps if you want a Kiss the Cook kit of your own!

I hope you have a fabulous 2012, full of projects, hugs, and dreams come true.