A Serene, Harmonious Palette {at CCG}

Challenge 203 is up at Color Combos Galore, and what a lovely Inspiration Board we have this week:

And I just happened to have this picture of me looking for seaglass and Farzad patiently indulging me, so this page was born. It's going into my book called "Reasons," where I document all the little reasons I love my husband so much!

I got a little carried away adding stuff to my page. (And believe me, there's a pile of stuff on my scrap desk that I wanted to add but didn't fit). Most of the stuff on my page is pretty old. I was so happy to use some of the probably hundreds of sheets of vellum in my stash.

Here are some details. The vellum clocks came from a sheet of Rebecca Sowers Attic Collection patterned vellum (that shows you how old that is!). That little "Simple Stories" bit was cut form the tear strip of a patterned paper. That brown textured paper is also really old. I bought it at an art store years and years ago. My letter stickers are by BasicGrey and Webster's Pages. The colors matched the palette pretty closely. I did some scribbly pen work on the  BasicGrey letters.

I love those white stem-looking patterns from an old Making Memories paper. I'm going to be sad when I run out of that paper. The seahorse was trimmed from a Webster's Pages paper. The netting tucked in between the layers is from a Webster's Pages bloomers trim. I added that charm to the stamped frame at the last minute, as well as the real starfish and sand dollar. The frame stamp is by Glitz Designs.

Those shell images come from a Creative Imaginations paper. The border stamp is by Kaiser Craft.

The patterned papers I used are from a Die Cuts With a View pad. Here you can see I added some water droplets by using Glossy Accents. I think I might add some more. You can also see that the aqua vellum is patterned--it has a watery pattern on it that was perfect for this challenge.

HEre you can see the silver charm a little better. That "Seaside Avenue" bit is from a Making Memories patterned paper.

Go take a look at the gorgeous work the rest of the team made, and I do hope you'll play along with us! If you've never tried our challenge, you must give it a whirl! It's so fun!

Thank you so much for stopping by my blog and reading about my page!

A Dreamy, Creamy Palette at CCG

Challenge 201 is live at Color Combos Galore and the colors this week are absolutely dreamy! Our Designer's Challenge this week is a new focus--a recipe of sorts. So fun!

As I always do, I pulled the color swatch onto my computer screen and looked for pictures to use, and I came up with these pictures of my gram and sister with Farzad, and immediately, I thought, "Everybody loves Farzad" and I knew I wanted hearts on my page. I instantly thought of the Object of My Affection kit by Noel Mignon, and to my delight, the colors were perfect. The main papers I used were from Pink Paislee's Cupid collection, which had the pink, aqua, and brown. I used an embossed swiss dot paper by Bazill as my backdrop for the white and the polka dot part of the Designer's Challenge. I used Creative Scrappers Sketch 151 as inspiration for my page design.

Here's my page. In case you're wondering why the two blocks of blue hearts are a little different, it's because they came from two different sheets. I had two sheets of this paper, and the first one better matched up with the palette so I used that, and when I went to cut the smaller piece, I accidentally used the different sheet. And then I went and accidentally stitched it on sideways. I wondered why I was having a hard time fitting my title on there when I had planned it all out--and then I realized I had stitched the darn thing on sideways. Oh well, no turning back when you've stitched something down!

This page is going into my book called "Reasons" (reasons I love Farzad so much). I was going to add white journaling strips with pink writing in the white space at the top, but then I decided I didn't want to cover up the pretty embossed Swiss dots, so I went with journaling on the back of the page, which reads: Everybody loves Farzad. It was love at first sight when my family met him, even though they were apprehensive, considering I was 17 and he was 28. But his warm smile, charm, generosity, and sense of humor instantly won them over. Everyone he meets falls in love with him. He just has this way about him that puts people at ease.He's always positive and cheerful, rarely gets mad.  He's outgoing and easy-going and just that all-around nice guy that everyone likes to be around. Yes, everybody loves Farzad. Especially me.

Here are some details. The center of this flower was a greenish-yellow, which didn't go with the palette, so I grabbed some pink paint and brushed over it. Part of the Designer's Challenge was to use fabric, and as luck would have it, there was some pink fabric in the kit I was using. Another ingredient of the Designer's Challenge "recipe" was to use leaves, and again, my luck was running high because one of the papers in the kit had these dark brown leafy shapes.

Here's a closeup of my title. I had to really squeeze it on there because of my dumb mistake of sewing on that piece sideways. I plopped that big pink bling heart over the O and then decided I didn't like it, but the darn thing wouldn't come off, so there it stays! My foam adhesive squares were the perfect size for these tiny letter stickers.

I had used lots of brads for the metal part of the Designer's Challenge, but then I decided that was a cop-out because I always use brads on my layout, so I looked for some "real" metal to use, and I remembered these old Making Memories clips in my stash, and I was delighted to find a pink one with a heart. That striped paper had some bold red stripes in it, and I almost didn't use it because there was no red in the palette, but instead, I trimmed the spots where there was red and pieced the strip back together, overlapping another color on top of the red. Problem solved!

I noticed one of the tear strips said "coordinating pattern on the back" and thought I should use the "on the back" part to indicate my hidden journaling, and this little die-cut tag in the kit was the perfect size to hold that. For the three circle part of the Designer's Challenge, I decided to mount some of the cut-out flowers on a punched brown circle, but I didn't have quite the right size circle to go with the flowers--there was all this extra space, so I added some glitter around the edges. Doesn't show up as pretty in the pictures.

I added some rub-ons to my page. I have TONS of rub-ons, and I always forget to use them, so lately, I've been making a conscious effort to use them more. I love this pink crown that came on a Pink Paislee sheet in the kit. All the rub-ons on this page are from that same sheet.

The reveal this week is especially gorgeous, so you should go check out what the rest of the team made. And I hope you'll play along with us! These challenges are so fun!

Thank you so much for stopping by my blog and reading about my page!

All Caught Up in the Reverie

We have a new challenge up at Color Combos Galore! Here's some music to set the mood.



Here's the Inspiration Board:

And here's the page I made, for my book called "Reasons," which documents all the little reasons I love my husband.

I drew some clouds, cut them out and embossed them with my Cuttlebug and then distressed the edges with my Zutter Distrezz-It-All that I got for Christmas. (I'm still trying to get the hang of it, as you can see at the bottom of my layout!)

I've had these gold Hambly rubs in my stash forever and finally opened the package for this layout.

And of course I had to use my Reason No. stamp from Catslife Press. I used Stampendous Moonstone embossing powder.

I love these blue glittery foam Thickers and combined them with some old Doodlebug letters, which are the perfect size for a longer title.

Come see what the rest of the team, along with our guest designers from Stash to Treasure, our January sponsor, created, and I hope you'll play along!

Thank you for stopping by!

A Soft and Subtle Palette (With a Kick of Color) at Color Combos Galore

Challenge #173 went live last night at Color Combos Galore, and it was by far the most challenging challenge I think. Our motto is to "step outside your box," and that's how I wanted to round out the year! Here's our inspiration board:

And here's the page I made. It's for my book called "Reasons," which documents all the little random reasons I love Farzad. I thought the Hollywood Vogue collection by Webster's Pages was perfect for this palette.

And here are some closeups. I totally forgot about the mesh part of the challenge and had to go back and add that. I was so mad because my original photograph of my layout was PERFECTLY straight, which is a nearly impossible feat for me.

I added some pearls to the chandelier. I contemplated adding some glitter to those globes, but I was afraid to mess them up. I may still go back and add some.

The new glittery green Thickers I just bought were perfect for that evergreen color. I don't have much forest green in my stash.

 

Thank you for looking at my layout. Go check out what the rest of the team did with this palette. I'm always in awe at what everyone creates and how we all interpret the same challenge in so many different ways. I hope you'll play along. This is the last challenge for December--and the last crack at winning the awesome December kit from Work in Progress Kits!



A Delicious Palette at Color Combos Galore {Challenge 168}

We have a brand-new challenge up at Color Combos Galore! This one is warm and delicious and perfect for autumn or Thanksgiving pictures.

I used the new BasicGrey Curio collection to make my page:

Here are some closeups. I hand-cut the flowers from one of the patterned papers. I just love the texture and sparkle of these Thickers:

The Curio collection has some beautiful borders, and I layered one over some strips of patterned paper, along with a punched border and added lots of stitching.

The Curio sticker sheet has so many beautiful images. In addition to the bird, I used this cool stamp sticker. And I used one of my favorite stamps from Catslife Press (which I especially love because they made it from my suggestion!) and heat embossed it.

Thank you for looking at my page. Come see what the rest of the team made, and I hope you will play along!

A New Creative Prompt

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams.

Live the life you have imagined.

--- Henry David Thoreau ---

This quote is our prompt this week at Creative Prompts for You.

As soon as I got this assignment, I knew I would be making a page about my husband for my ever-evolving book called Reasons, which chronicles all the little--and not so little--reasons I love him so.
 
At the age of 55, Farzad decided to go for it and open his own business--a Maaco Franchise (hence the garish blue in the photos). I truly admire his courage to go confidently in the direction of his dreams. I wanted to use primarily neutral colors because of the blue in the picture. I used the Office Party kit by Noel Mignon, which seemed perfect for this picture of Farzad in his office.

Here are a few close-ups. I used a 7 Gypsies brad I've had for ages to top the o. Love those old K&Co labels that look like Dymo tape. Sometimes the words sound kind of cheesy, but I think they work for the message of this page.

I raised up the border at the top on pop dots. Isn't that wooden piece fun? And I used a stamp from one of my favorite stamp companies, Catslife Press. They made the "Reason No." stamps at my suggestion!

And another favorite stamp--the cool coffee stain stamp by Studio Calico from one of their kits last year. I used embossing powder on this.

This corner needed a little something extra, so I added three tiny brass brads to the label. I love how the Core'dinations cardstock looks when you sand it.

I added those strips with the circles at the last minute, when I decided my layout need a little more color.

You must go check out what the rest of the team did. Really cool stuff! I hope you'll play--it's a fun challenge, and there's even a chance at a prize from Paper Poppy kit company.

Time Crunch

I've had a busy week--a fun one, but busy, and I had to make two layouts but didn't have the time to do both, so I decided to combine the challenges, and they worked together perfectly! For Color Combos Galore, we had another fabulous palette to work with, and the Designer's Challenge was to use a grid design:

And for Creative Prompts for You, this was our prompt...

And here is my page that resulted from these two challenges. I used the Studio Calico kit called Continental to make my page, plus a few other odds and ends. This page is for my book called "Reasons," where I list all the random little reasons I love Farzad so much. I chose some unscrapworthy photos from a couple of trips to use for this page because I knew I'd be cropping them pretty small.

I was originally planning to place the blocks on a black background, so I sanded all the edges. Then, I decided the photographs were too dark against the black, so I changed to a white background and inked the edges of the blocks.

I love that little airplane on the Studio Calico paper and decided to have it carry part of the title, like those airplanes you see at the beach trailing signs.

I got these pebble brads really cheap at Target, and it was perfect for the O in my title. I think they're made by Colorbok. I love, love, love the BasicGrey microchip letters, and whenever I see them, I buy them. They're the perfect size for my 8 x 8 pages. I wish they'd make them in more colors. These have a cool stained look to them.

And my favorite stamp company, Catslife Press, who made the "Reason No." stamps at my request.

I hope you'll come and see what the rest of the teams did at Color Combos Galore and Creative Prompts for You and play along!