Color Fusers--October Blog Hop!

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Hello my lovely friends! Thank you so much for joining us on our ‘color inspiration’ hop—that is what I like to think of our monthly color challenge. And to be frank, this month’s 4 color combo was a challenge for me!

I really wanted to make a scrapbook page of our last family photo—not last as in forever, but for a while as in September we moved my son into Millar College of the Bible— 8 hours away! So this picture of the 5 of us has some special meaning to me.

I also felt like these colors had a bit of a fall vibe and September is the start of fall after all!

This was such an exciting day for my son! He was so happy to be getting settled in to Bible College that his eyes were just sparkling and you could just feel the happiness coming off of him. I am so proud of him for making such a big decision to leave home!

I actually laid my photo out on all 4 of the colors to see which one suited it the best and I landed on Early Espresso. I cut out a photo mat of the same color and then the real hunt began as I wanted to incorporate some current designer series paper into my design. I finally found this fun pattern from the Celebrate Everything DSP stack that you can get as a host reward in the JJ catty! I absolutely LOVE this DSP stack! So I added a nice wide piece of it to my design to brighten up the base of the page!

To add some texture and interest to the base of the page, I decided to stamp one of the splotch images from the Perched in a Tree stamp set in the same color ink, Early Espresso. I stamped this on a diagonal axis as well so that your eye follows a natural path across the page.

I then die cut a bunch of leaves from the Aspen Tree Dies. I love that these dies cut and dry emboss the veining of the leaves! It really makes them feel more realistic!

The sentiment can be found in the Honeybee Home stamp set and I used one of the dies from the Seasonal Labels Dies to cut it out. Then I just trimmed the right edge to be straight instead of decorative. I added some gold and white twine that I had laying around on my desk—I don’t even know where it originated from!

 

Sometimes when you are working on such a dark canvas it can be hard to make it have interest. So I decided to cut some flowers and sprigs out in Early Espresso to play off the tone on tone look.

The little sprigs are from the Christmas Banner Dies and they look great die cut in Early Espresso, Bermuda Bay and Mango Melody.

The sentiment “Best of Luck” is also from Honeybee Home and I thought it was sort of fitting as we left my son behind! I know he will work hard but I do wish him the best of luck trying to learn time management and new responsibilities—hello laundry!! haha!

Truthfully, once I got going this page didn’t take too long to put together. Not every event you want to capture needs to be a massive process to complete. Otherwise, you will never get those memories scrapbooked! I also think that this is a “Go To” layout design of mine. It incorporates everything, card stock, DSP, background stamping, and die cuts. You could easily swap out the elements for any occasion—flowers for summer, snowflakes for winter, greenery for Christmas and so forth. If you do use this page for inspiration, please let me know, I would love to see what you create!

Please make sure you go all the way around the Hop and see what the other creatives in the group have shared this month!

NEXT on the hop is my amazing friend Melanie! We often share texts and stampin’ inspiration with each other and I always look forward to her designs!

If you would like to go in reverse and go BACK you will be taken to my fellow Artisan Tami Hewlett. Tami is an absolute gem and such a kind and giving soul. She is a true master and creating water color backgrounds and elements and I am always in awe of her creations!

Thank you so much for popping by the Blog today and checking out our Hop! I really look forward to this each month as these color combinations do get me thinking outside of the box. I hope they leave you feeling inspired as well.

If you want to shop with me in Canada you can click on the button below or any of the product images to shop my online store. Thank you in advance!

Seven Days of Scrapbooking--Day #4

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Hello friends! Are you enjoying following along? I hope so as I have loved creating these pages and am so happy to share them!

My page today uses Crumb Cake and the awesome Abigail Rose Suite! I love this suite and I am hosting a Summer Stamp Camp with Honeybee Stampers in July featuring this product suite. I will also be offering a ‘Scrapbookers Add On’ class as well post event, so if you are interested please look under my events tab or send me a DM!

What I love about the Abigail Rose DSP is its neutrality and how you can turn it into any color you like by spritzing, blending and coloring. I also love the designs of the flowers and how easy it is to die cut or hand trim them out as well.

This is another picture of my husband and I on the Green Incentive trip. When in Rome, hire a photographer to do a photo shoot!

I think the whole highlight of this page is the DSP—I colored the flowers and leaves in using the ‘lazy watercoloring’ technique. I have coined this term because I honestly don’t always have time to fuss about and color things with Stampin’ Blends. So instead, I smash my ink pad onto one of our acrylic blocks and use my Water Painter to swiftly color things in. You have to be quick and not use a ton of water as this is not water color paper! Keep that in mind!

 

I used Blushing Bride and Old Olive to color in these flowers. I actually hand trimmed them because I wanted to cut a little closer to the line I also layered the flowers by cutting out just a few individual flowers and adding them over top of a larger image.

The sentiment is stamped in Blushing Bride as well and I die cut it with a shape from the All That Dies. I added a little Heart Pearl beside the phrase and some Linen Thread underneath.

I stamped some of the large flowers from Cottage Rose on the base of the page in Crumb Cake ink and added some die cut flowers and leaves in and around my colored DSP flowers. A few of the retired Metallic Dots were a perfect addition.

Everything is concentrated on the right side of this layout and I love how the flowers sort of cascade down much like the greenery in our photo. Tucking die cut shapes in all the layers also helps develop texture as well.

I love this page and hope you are enjoying everything being shared so far! Please feel free to join in by using the tag #sevendaysofscrapbooking and following my Instagram Stories to see what everyone is making! You will be amazing and hopefully inspired to start your own creative journey!

Seven Days of Scrapbooking--Day #2

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Hello friends and welcome back! If you missed the dozen amazing scrapbooking projects shared yesterday on my Instagram Stories just search the hashtag #sevendaysofscrapbooking and you can see all of the amazing projects! I am really excited to share my page today as it focuses on the Textured Chic Memories & More cards. I used these card packages quite frequently to make traditional scrapbook pages and I hope this sparks a creative idea in yourself!

With a few additional supplies I was easily able to make this amazing page to capture this moment in Rome with my husband. This picture was taken on the Greece Incentive trip using a photographer we booked through Flytographer and was one of the best experiences we have ever had on a holiday!

Fun Fact: We were at our photography location at 6 am to take these pictures! It was worth the early hour to not have a soul around in our pictures!

Let me start by saying what I LOVE about our Memories & More cards—the thickness and style of the cards, a little stiffer than our regular card stock and DSP so they immediately add texture. The VALUE of the cards is amazing! You get double of everything which allows you the freedom to cut up a card and layer it if you need to (on the word ‘days’ for example), and finally the variety of phrases and sentiments in the collection of cards. I find there are some really unique sentiments not found in our stamp sets. And the concept designers have been knocking the collections out of the park over the past few catalogues!

And if there are coordinating Cards & Envelopes, make sure to get those too! I often use them as layering pieces—the envelopes are decorative so cut them apart for layering!

For this page I actually did add in a few stamped florals and greenery from the Framed Occasions stamp set so this is actually a hybrid project of sorts. The top left corner of this page truly represents all that I love about M&M cards. For example, I have die cut a circle using Petal Pink card stock and the Stylish Shapes dies and on top have added a sticker (yes! the cards come with stickers too which is brilliant) and then CUT APART one of the 3x4 cards to make a whole new sentiment. I layered some of the new Natural Finish ribbon behind along with some stamped flowers, another sticker and the cute little Flower Trinkets!

On the bottom left of the page I used 2 more stickers (like seriously, how perfect are they?) that I mounted on a piece of Mango Melody card stock and part of the M&M card that was left over after I snipped out those words. Don’t let anything go to waste! A couple more flowers and some greenery tied this area together with the first one—this is a design key. You always want to have repeating elements on your scrapbook page (in my opinion or style of memory keeping at least). :)

 

My favorite thing to do with this style of memory keeping is to cut one of the duplicate cards apart to layer on top of the original. By adding ‘days’ that is hand cut and popped up with a Dimensional we have truly brought this one dimensional card to life. And don’t get rid of the extra left over, if you look along the left side of the photo mat I have tucked it there to bring this color across the page! Its a pro tip for sure!

I also added a few of the Elegant Faceted Gems to this section with more stamped flowers and a Flower Trinket. Its the best way to add this color trio over to this side of the page.

If you haven’t tried Memories & More cards yet on a traditional scrapbook page I really encourage you to give it a try! The investment isn’t steep and its fun to play around with the many card options in your design!

Make sure to check out my stories so you can see what everyone else is creating and sharing! If you are in Canada and would like to order anything, please visit my store with sincere thanks in advance and send me a message if you are interested in joining in any of my classes!

#sevendaysofscrapbooking

Around the World on Wednesday--My Favorite Month!

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I am really excited about the theme for this month’s Around the World on Wednesday Blog Hop! Our theme is our FAVORITE month…and it was a tricky one for me as my birthday is in January so obviously I LOVE BIRTHDAY MONTH but its also cold AF so my love of summer wins out!

July is my FAVORITE month because it is the month that we spend a week at the lake with the entire Nelson family. 19 grandkids and cousins! Isn’t that spectacular?

Deciding on the month of July as my favorite month also coincided perfectly with a new bundle of products that I was recently able to order. This bundle was a perk for Demonstrators attending On Stage this month and it will be available in the upcoming January-July Occasions Catalogue. You will LOVE this catalogue, hands down this publication is in my Top Ten favorites of all time. All I will say is Rainbows, Cactuses and Pineapples oh my!

This is our annual family picture that we take at Greenwater Lake each year. We have been visiting this lake since my oldest son was an infant—17 summers!

I knew I wanted to use this family picture and I wanted to make sure to honor the tones of the water and the trees in my design. I used a base piece of paper from the Hand-Penned Designer Series collection that was Garden Green with a white floral print.

I layered a piece of Basic White 12x12 that I trimmed down to 11 1/2 x 11 1/2 inches. As the main photo mat I used a piece of DSP from the new Heart & Home Designer Series Paper collection. One side of all of the papers is this amazing wood panel design in Basic Grey. There are several patterns of a wood look so I chose the one that looked like a tree to continue with the nature element.

I also added a striped piece of DSP in Mint Macaron from the Hand-Penned Designer Series collection. I made sure the stripes were going horizontal in nature to help elongate the page.

 

I love to create focal points or vignettes (areas of interest) on my scrapbook page that help tell the story. Sentiments are very important to me and they are honestly the criteria by how I pick most stamp sets. I absolutely love the sentiment “What a Beautiful Day for Love”. Obviously you can use this for a wedding or a baby’s arrival, but should it not be how we approach all of our days? Every day is a beautiful day for love and I never leave those words unsaid to my kids. I tell them all the time and it fills my heart when my teenage son will repeat them back to me on the phone or with his friends!

I stamped this gorgeous floral image, one of two in the stamp set Blessings of Home, in Momento Ink. I then colored it in with a term I have coined “Lazy Watercoloring”. I simply add ink to one of our clear blocks and use my Water Painter (the fine tip) to the ink with a very small amount of water. I then colored in the flowers with Bumblebee, Blushing Bride, Coastal Cabana and Garden Green ink. It barely took me any time at all which is why I love it!

I die cut the shape with the new Flowers of Home Dies and added it to a So Saffron die cut. I cut this using the Seasonal Labels Dies and ran it through the Timber 3D folder. I love how this page is a mix of so many different products from 3 different publications!

Stamping softly in the background added such a beautiful element to this page. I used the smaller floral image in Smoky Slate ink.

The sentiment is stamped in Bumblebee Ink and is also cut with the Seasonal Labels Dies! I added some white twine from the Bakers Twine Essentials Package and some of the Blushing Bride Frayed Grosgrain Ribbon behind my sentiment.

A few sprigs cut in Garden Green cardstock from the new Flowers of Home dies and this little area was complete—-or was it? No it wasn’t, it also need to add an embellishment so I chose some from the Classic Matte Dots (another upcoming new product). You will love these as you get 2 sizes and 4 colors—-white, vanilla/pearl, grey and black.

I created another focal point on the top right of my page. I stamped the smaller flower in Momento ink and colored it with Blushing Bride, Bumblebee and Garden Green ink. What I really love about this area is there is not a stamp in the set that actually says “Perfect Day”. I used my Stampin’ Write Basic Grey marker to combine two individual sentiments into one that better suited my page. I love how we can customize so many of our Stampin’ Up! products!

I added the same twine, ribbon and Matte Dots to this area plus a few sequins from the Subtle Shimmer Sequins. I love these sequins so much and hope they are available after the Holiday Catalogue period ends.

I am so in love with this page and creating it right now was perfect therapy for me. The days are shorter now and the weather has changed but making this page took me right back to the lazy days of summer.

I can’t wait to see what the rest of the Hop creates this month! There are some seriously talented people on this hop and the inspiration is unbelievable!

I am one of your Canadian ‘stop’s on this hop and next up you are going to the United States to see what Tricia Butts has designed for this challenge!

 
 

Color Fusers November 2021

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Hello friends! Wow, did October ever go by quickly! Its now November 1st and officially Christmas season. Fall and halloween are dead, bring on the holiday! Although that is NOT what I am sharing with you today! Our color combo this month could be viewed as a tricky one as the 4 tones are all quick dark, however I had the best pictures to work with this color theme!

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This month our crafty group is creating projects with Merry Merlot, Misty Moonlight, Cinnamon Cider and Early Espresso. Back in July I had a Besties Photo shoot with two of my long time friends and we did a little picnic afterwards. The picnic set up totally reminded me of Misty Moonlight and a pattern from the In Good Taste Designer Series stack so I used that as my inspiration to design this page.

These are two of my besties I met while in University! We hit things off working at a restaurant together. We have actually not all lived in the same city for over 20 years but despite the distance I know they would have my back always and no matter what #friendsforever

These are two of my besties I met while in University! We hit things off working at a restaurant together. We have actually not all lived in the same city for over 20 years but despite the distance I know they would have my back always and no matter what #friendsforever

I started with a 12x12 in Misty Moonlight and on the top half of the page I stamped the large flowers from the Blossoms in Bloom stamp set. I actually love this stamp set as I love a good image that can fill in space. I stamped it in the same ink color for a tone on tone look.

The bottom of my page features the In Good Taste DSP with a couple of strips of Cinnamon Cider DSP from the retired In Color 6x6 stacks (last years design). Adding this strip felt like a natural way to incorporate this color and create division between the two sections of my page.

Are you an F Bomb kind of mom? Hahaha, we are and my friend had these cups designed especially for us!

Are you an F Bomb kind of mom? Hahaha, we are and my friend had these cups designed especially for us!

 

I used Early Espresso card stock as my photo mats and I ran them both through the Timber 3D Embossing Folder for a subtle effect.

It was easy to add in Merry Merlot by die cutting some flowers from the Pierced Blooms Dies. This is one of my favorite die sets in the Annual Catalogue!

I added some retired In Color Enamel Dots and the sentiment is from the Blossoms in Bloom stamp set.

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You can find the sentiment “Friends Forever” in the Lighthearted Lines stamp set. NOTE: Friends Forever is part of a phrase and l used my Paper Snips to do some Stampin’ surgery on this rubber stamp as I really wanted to use this part of the phrase all on its own.

The label is also a die from the Pierced Blooms Dies and I added a bit of retired Cinnamon Cider ribbon behind and some gold thread.

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I am so pleased with how this page turned out using this color combination! I cannot wait to see what the other girls create this month! Please visit everyone’s blogs and share some love and comments! And if you don’t follow me on Instagram you can find me @stampwithbrenda

You can go backwards to see what Melissa has created and forwards to see what Melanie has designed! I know they will both wow you with their creativity!

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Have an awesome November and see you next month! If you live in Canada and are looking for some creative inspiration I would love you to stamp with me! Please reach out at any time!