Tutorial at Just Imagine Blog today....

on how to use their 4 in 1 punches to make borders for your crafty projects - like the card above!! Check it out here !!

Fall days and sibling friendship....

These are a couple of layout I recently made using my September Studio Calico kit! I really LOVE the Amy Tangerine sticker book I also snagged - I've had so much fun using them on (all) my layouts recently!! For the "Built-in Friends" layout I used several Sass Lass journal stickers as a base for the photo (which I handmade into a Polaroid photo) and then layered several AT stickers around it! The only patterned paper I used were the tiny strips made into a frame around everything. For my "Picture Perfect Fall Day" layout I did some misting at the top of the layout using a mask that I got several years ago from a kit club that is no longer in business called Scrapgoods (they were my first kit club!). I used a tree trunk stamp from the SC kit at the bottom. Notice more AT stickers :)?? And that little camera paperclip is so cute!! T so much FL!!

Vintage Photobooth pics.....

Be Back Soon!!

I was looking through my baby book that my Mom recently gave me and the whole book is just falling apart - dry rotting and turning everything yellow so I have been slowly but surely removing all the pics from it. I was pleasantly surprised to find this photobooth picture of my sister and me from 1969. I vaguely remember having this done and my parents telling us to make different faces - I don't think we really understood what was going on!! LOL I know I should, but I don't scan and copy these pictures - I just use them straight on my layouts! I figure the products are acid free enough and they will stay better preserved here than where they were so.....anyway...here's the layout I made! I used my new September Studio Calico kit and the fabulous American Crafts Amy Tangerine sticker book (where the cute silhouette head and several other stickers are from)! I did some stitching with my Sew Easy tool on a tag that I spritzed with some mist. I also heat embossed the green stamped image at the bottom of the tag. This is definitely one of my most favorite layouts ever!! I think I might have to frame and hang this one!! :) TFL!

Woohoo!! Excited to be published in Paper Crafts Mag!!

I just found out that I will be published in the March/April 2012 Paper Crafts Magazine!! My first pub with them!! And that it's made with my GCD Studios stuff makes it even sweeter!! :)!!

Framed Teacher Appreciation Gifts

As my kids go back to school I always think about their teachers and how much I appreciate how much work and dedication it takes to deal with all those kids! I always like to make them an appreciation gift to let them know that they are awesome! When I got my dt box, I just loved the Elementary My Dear line by Heather Tozzi and starting planning the perfect gift to give to the teachers. I found some awesome still in the package wooden frames at my local Salvation Army that were only $2.50 for the pair - I just love looking for great buys to alter for gifts there! They were unfinished and I wanted to give them some color around the edges before I covered them with patterned paper, so I used my spray mists to color them instead of just painting them. I like using spray mists for two reasons - 1. I love the stained look it gives to the wood and 2. it's just so much quicker to spray them because they dry almost instantly and I hate to wait for paint to dry...LOL! All you need to do is spray the mist all ove the wood liberally (making sure that you do it in a box or outside as it's messy!) and then take a paper towel and rub in the mist to make sure it's all covered evenly! After just a few minutes it was dry enough for me to cover with some paper.
I wanted to make a 3-d type accent to go in the corner so I used the apple diecut piece of paper that is in the Elementary My Dear paper pack and just cut out a few of the apples to layer.
I layered one piece on top of the other, then cut a smaller piece of contrasting paper for the center of the apple and then sewed down the center to represent the seeds of the apple

I then bent the top two layers up to give it a 3-d effect and attached the apples to my projects.
I filled the frames with a couple of uplifting quotes for the teacher and then made a matching thank you note! I can't wait for my kids to give these to their teachers!





Don't forget to thank a teacher today!!
Supplies I used:
Patterned Paper - GCD Studios "Elementary My Dear"

Stamps - Studio Calico

Ink - Jenni Bowlin

Spray Mist - Maya Road

Monthly GCD kit - Play to win it!!

This is our September Kit of the Month!! I hope you love this months kit as much as we do! It's packed with school themed papers and happy bright fall embellishments. To enter into this contest, simply create a back to school project. It can be a layout, card or even a gift for a teacher. Please use 50% of GCD Studios product to enter. Then email your project to Heidi at Hsonboul@gcdstudios.com by Sept 26th 2011.
The top 3 projects will be posted at the GCD Studios blog here and then the voting begins. The winner will have the kit of the month sent to her or him and will be featured in our next months news letter. Plus we will bloggity blog about you them.


Good luck everyone!!

Getting Fed at the Shed

I got some October Afternoon Boarding Pass and I'm so excited to use it. For my first project I made a 2-page layout of a recent trip my family and I took down to the coast of Mississippi - my hometown of Ocean Springs!! We learned about an awesome BBQ place on the Food Network and went to check it out! Not only was the food delicious but the restaurant was full of some funky cool stuff!


For the flower embellishments, I decided to make some of my own layered flowers similar to the ones that I've seen for sale. They are so easy to make and you can make them to coordinate with any patterned papers that you are using!

All you need are two scalloped circle punches in various sizes (I used a 1 1/2" and 2 1/2" sized punch), some tape, some buttons and various twines or flosses.

Cut one large scalloped circle from a piece of patterned paper and one smaller scalloped circle from a coordinating piece of patterned paper. I then inked the edges of my punched circles - but that's totally optional.


Using one foot of the twine (or floss), tape one end to the back of the smaller punched circle

Start wrapping the floss around the scalloped edges going back and forth across your circle
When you completely wrapped your flower, tape the end to the back of the punched circle and your top flower is done!


Now, you simply layer the entwined circle on top of the larger punched circle using a glue dot (there will be plenty of dimension with all the twine under it) and then top it with a button! You can also just choose to use the smaller flower without layering on top of the large one - either way looks great!

So simple and fun!! I hope I've inspired you to make your own layered flower embellishments!! Have fun creating!!

Looking back on our summer fun.....

It's the beginning of fall, and I can't help but think of the fun times we had this past summer. We took several mini vacations this summer, and it's so fun to look back through my pictures - oh how I wish I was back on the beach in Florida right now!! The color inspiration that I had this month reminded me of the tranquil colors of the Florida beaches we visited...

I used the lacy diecut paper Little Lovebirds from the Sweet Surrender line
as a photo mat under my picture and the "b" side of the Together Forever piece of patterned paper, also from the Sweet Surrender line sandwiched between the black and teal pieces of cardstock. For my shiny border piece and the gorgeous glitter candy dots, I used embellishments from the Funhouse collection. The journal box is one of the inspiration cards from the Soul food line. I simply used a piece of cardstock to cover the saying that was on the card to use my own journaling!

For some added interest I stamped some border circles on the background cardstock. Hope you had a great summer - and hope the rest of your year is just as great!! Have fun creating!!