The Paper Bag Princess

This is for a challenge I am hosting for the month of July over at Pages in Time called "Go Green".  It is all about re-purposing (is that a word LOL), re-using and making your own embellishments.  I will be giving a RAK to the winner and if there are more than 10 people participating, I might throw in a little something more!!!

I'll bet you are wondering why I call this The Paper Bag Princess, or maybe you have figured it out by now.  I was describing what I did to the other Design Team members and Helene (aka 2amscrapper) said that she couldn't wait to see my paper bag princess.  So, thanks Helene!!!  In case you were wondering, I did use a paper bag on the page, not once or twice, but five times!!!!  Can you pick them all out?????

This is a photo of my DD from about 4 years ago.  We went to a local Renaissance Fair and I let her dress up for the affair.  She looked so cute skipping away in front of us.  She is such a free spirit!!  So this was the way I went with the color scheme as well.  The finished page kind of reminds me of an old fairy tale book with its really rich colors and leather binding.  These really rich colors, deep woods tones and worn leather are all around you at a Renaissance Fair.  You can't forget the armor!!!

I made the flourish by using a transparency and Patina Stickles.  All you need to do is photo copy an actual bling or pearl flourish and then place the photo copy underneath your transparency and then follow the dots!!  A thing to note about Stickles is that it doesn't keep a puffed look like Liquid Pearls does.  It tends to flatten out quite a bit, so keep this in mind and try not to make your dots too big or they will blend into one another.  As me how I know!  I even tried to use a toilet paper roll on this.  I cut the strips really thin and then curled them like ribbon.  But, every time I put them on my page it was thrown all off.  Bummed me out because they were really cute.

Along the right side I used, you guessed it, a strip from a brown paper bag.  I did crinkle it and work it over to break down the fibers a bit.  I used Frayed Burlap and Walnut Stain Distress inks to give it that worn leather look and then tore it by hand to give it a slight scalloped look.  I then took two Grunge Board hinges and inked them up with Rusty Hinge Distress ink and then used Walnut Stain Distress Embossing powder to give them a more aged look.  I used brass brads and beat them up pretty good with my cute little Tim Holtz Hammer. 

The page bracket I cut out using an SVG file and my Cricut.  I used a paper distresser along the edges and let it tear where it wanted to.  I then used Vintage Photo distress ink around the edges. I decided to tuck a little crocheted flower I found at Michaels.  The circle in the middle......yup.....I cut it out using my Cricut from the same paper bag.  I used the same distressing technique that I used along the side but in addition to the inks I had previously used, I threw in a little bit of Faded Jeans.  The paper I used does have some blue in it.  I also used one of my favorite stamps.  I've used this same stamp on a few of my recent pages.  It so old and rustic in person. 

For the flowers, I used Prima.  They are the flowers with a punch of color.  The other 3 flowers.....yup....paper bag.  I cut the petals out using an svg file.  I used the same petals to make the green leaves with.  I cut 15 petals for each flower.  I think next time I will add a few more.  I then sprayed them with Glimmer Mist.  I actually sprayed two of the flowers with Blue Frost and I thought it was going to work, but when they dried they ended up looking like a gun metal gray.  This actually worked for me because I could use these for the "armor" element on my Renaissance page.  The top flower I sprayed with Graphite.  I then  used a hole punch and a tapestry brad to hold them together.  I did scrunch up the petals when they were damp and once again when I got all of the petals where I wanted them.  The green leaves I cut out of copy paper from my printer and then used Pine Needle and Peeling Paint Distress Ink.  Here are some close ups:

So, there you have it!  I used a paper bag for 5 elements, copier paper for my green leaves, I made my own flourish and used my Cricut like crazy for 90% of the page.  I'm sure that you can come up with something far more creative than I have!!!  I hope that this will inspire you to re-purpose items you have at home and jump on in to my challenge over at pages in time.  Here is the web addy: http://pagesintimestoresite.ning.com/
Thanks for looking and I hope to see you at the challenge!!!

Capture The Joy

This is for the Thursday Sketch Challenge over at Pages In Time.  It is loosely based on a sketch by Robin Shakoor.  Her sketch called for a rectangular element going up the left, I decided to use a leaf vine and flowers in its place.

This is another photo from our family vacation to the Outer Banks in North Carolina.  This was the first time my daughter had seen the ocean up close and personal.  It was a little chilly and the other people we were with were keeping their kids away from the water.  I gave my daughter her water shoes and told her to go have a blast.  After all, I brought a towel and we were only a few blocks from the beach house.  As you can see she is just living life large and would not stop laughing.  That's the good stuff...isn't it.  I placed a rub on at the top right of the photo and it says Capture the joy ("the joy" part is hard to see).  I couldn't have said it better.


I sanded up the edges of the photo and used a rub on.  The rub on has a distressed look and I thought it went well with the photo.  I also added a Prima Transparency and a small post card made by Glitz.  I made the circle out of little flourishes made by Dusty Attic.  The small white photo frame is made by Pink Paislee.  It is their Artisan line.  The blue flowers I made using svg files and placed Tiffany Treasures jewel in the center.  I got the jewels in my June kit from Pages in Time.  I cut the flowers out on white paper and used Faded Jeans Distress Ink to color them.  I layered them to give them dimension and curled the edges with a stylus. There are a few small pink acrylic flowers and the pink roses I got in my May kit.  I love feathers lately and had to add one of those too!  The dove in the upper corner I cut from my Sentimental Cricut cartridge.  I inked it lightly and then used Diamond Stickles.  The leaves were in my stash.  I made a ton of those using svg files and thought I would use them up.  The lace is by Prima and I got that in my kit as well.  Here are a few close ups:

Thanks so much for looking!!!!!

Pages In Time DT Challenge

Here is my page for the Design Team Challenge at Pages in Time.  We were supposed to use the new logo on a page, a card, or whatever we wanted.  I am also using my June Pages in Time monthly kit.

My Girl Scout Troop went to Encampment last weekend and I snapped a pic of my DD while we were at the bonfire.  I printed the pic in black and white and then used my little Tim Holtz sanding block and sanded the edges to give it a time worn look.  I also used some platinum liquid pearls and placed a few dots on either edge.

The paper is all from my June Kit and is comprised of GCD and Prima. I used my new Martha Stewart double loop punch on the pink paper.  I love this punch and would probably use it on everything if I could.  The dark pink flourish border came in my kit and I added two pieces of Dusty Attic.  They are the dark brown flourishes on either side of the pic.  I used Walnut Stain Distress Ink and some Distress Embossing Powder on these.   For the center I cut 2 circles.  One and inch larger than the other and used a wet distress technique on the larger blue circle.  For the smaller circle I used my paper distresser and some Distress Ink around the edge.  I cut the greenery using an svg file and my cricut.  The white satin flowers I found in the wedding aisle at Michael's.

For the Pages in Time logo I used the round cut out from a Dusty Attic Frame.  These would normally be thrown away, but I can never seem to do that!  I inked it up using Faded Jeans Distress Ink and then I used some white paint from a Ranger Paint Dabber.  I added the paint to a paper towel and then dry-rubbed it onto the circle.  I then used liquid pearls again to place the pearls around the outside.  I added dangle ribbon to the bottom and a few more pearls for good measure!!  I was going pearl crazy with this LOL!  The little leaves were left over from another project so I pulled them out of my stash and added them to the page.  Here is a close up.

I once again used an svg and my Cricut to cut out the butterfly.  It has two layers.  The top lacey part, and a bottom solid piece.  I decided to take some pink-raspberry liquid pearls and just place it in random blobs on the bottom layer.  For the top I used Worn Lipstick and Faded Jeans Distress ink.  I then took some pearls and made the body and the antennas.  When the liquid pearls dried, I glued the two pieces together.  Here is a close up.

Thanks so much for looking!!!  If you have any questions please feel free to leave me a comment and your email address so that I can reply!

Guess who is doing sketches for Pages In Time???!!!!!

Robin Shakoor!!!!!!  We were looking for a sketch artist to help us with sketches for our monthly kit club/group as well as someone to help with the weekly Thursday sketch that we have over at Pages In Time.

I approached Robin and she graciously accepted!!!!  You may have seen some of Robin's page lay-outs and cards and I'll bet that your response was the same as mine...her work just knocks my socks off!!!!!  I could spend hours, uh, ummm.... a really long time just pouring over her work.  Here is a link to her blog http://www.robinshakoor.blogspot.com  You really need to head over and check out how very talented she is.

So, if you haven't hopped over to Pages In Time to check it out, you should!!!!  All of us are so excited to be working with her and her sketches.   Welcome Robin!!!!!!

I have some really exciting news!!!!!!

I have been selected to be a member of the design team for Pages in Time!!!  I'm sooooooo excited and completed humbled and flattered!  The other women on this team are so supremely talented!!!

Check out the links over to the left and please, please stop by and check us out!!  I know that you will love the community.  There are a lot of groups to join too...including the Kit of The Month Club!   Here are the other new members of the design team:


Victoria Warren-Mears, Denise Coulter, Andrea MacDonald, Lacee Broyles, Marie Levite and Wendy Greenaway-International Design Team Member.

Sttaying on as the new DT leader is Barbara Lochridge. Ann Arbogast will be popping in from time to time as a guest DT and she will continue to do the newsletter. After a year of being on the DT she really needed to take a break.

I'm so excited to work with this really talented group of ladies!  Please visit their blogs and congratulate them, I've linked their blogs to their names over on the left.

I'm Bustin' Outta Here

I had the best time with this!!!  It's a little bit different for me in that I didn't make one single flower on here....did I hear a collective gasp?!  While there are some little details tucked here and there, there really isn't a lot going on with the page either.  I've seen this paper technique done a few times and just had to give it a try.  I loved doing this and will try to find different ways to incorporate something similar in future pages.

This is a photo of my DD and her cousin on Christmas Day a few years ago.  We (adults included) had an all out Nerf gun, Nerf machine gun, Nerf crossbow, Nerf everything that will shoot a Nerf bullet war.  We were literally duck and running and jumping over couches shooting at each other.  What fun!!!  We laughed so hard.  Anyway, I thought that the two of them looked like little gangsters.  They made a gangster face (real scary aren't they...crossed eyes and everything) and I snapped this picture.

Ok, where to start.  First the paper; it is Graphic 45 and Blue Awning.  There are 3 pieces of paper all together.  I always buy my paper in 2's.  I had 2 of the Graphic 45 The Communique and that gorgeous cream Blue Awning paper.  First I had to determine what paper I wanted on top.  The Blue Awning won.  So, I glued the wrong sides of the Graphic 45 and Blue Awning together, but only along the bottom and about a quarter of the way up the sides.  Then I used my paper cutter and cut down the center of the papers.  I then glued the two papers to the bottom and a quarter of the way up (again) to the front of the other Graphic 45 paper.  Following me so far....?  Ok, then I had to determine how I wanted to roll back the two top pages.  I've seen people use brads to hold them open, but I wanted to make the paper look old and curled.  So, I glued the very top corners and all down the side and then began curling my two top pages.  I did not glue these two papers together all over, just on the sides which allowed me to curl both papers back individually and expose some the pretty checkered pattern on the back of the Graphic 45 paper.  I then used glue dots to hold down the paper where I wanted it and curled, distressed and inked the rest of it.  I had these great little metal looking bracket sticker things.  Even though they are cream in person they look so good on this paper.  So I used them with black pearls to make it look like they are there to kind of hold the paper down.   This picture shows you a close up of the paper.

I used a pearl strand and tucked it in the paper to make it look like a string of pearls.  All of the flowers are by Prima.  I used Distress Embossing powder on the post card along with a Graphic 45 stamp.  The frame around the photo was made out of manila paper that I tore by hand.  I also used distress ink and distress embossing powder on.

I hope you try this paper technique and find it as much fun as I did!  TFL!!!!!

Sweet Days

OK, let me first say that I am not really happy with this...on so many levels.  Did you ever just have one of those pages that didn't want to come together no matter what?!  Well, this is one of them.  So many problems, so many things gone wrong.  I let this sit for a few days and then came back to it.....ARRGH!  There are elements of the page I like, but when I look at the big picture...not so much.  A friend of mine said to just post it and move on......

First, the photo.  I love this photo.  This is my DD on the swings at a local field days.  She loves the swings and is such a nut when it comes to rides.  The paper is gorgeous.  It is called Butterfly Garden by Harlee Quinz.  I did a wet paper distressing to the green paper in the center and then inked it.  I decided that the green and purple, while gorgeous, are very saturated colors and I needed a bright "neutral" to even it out a bit.  I used this cream/white paper that has a lovely embossed texture and used one of my new favorite punches by Martha Stewart.  I decided to distress the loops and tear some of them off.  I am most happy with my flowers.  I made these Spider Mums from an svg file and cut them out with my cricut. I cut them out on white paper and used purple distress ink to give them some color and definition.  Once I got it all together I decided to dip the very center pieces in white and lilac glitter.  They are really pretty in person.  Here are some close ups.  TFL!