Sketch Time!!!

We are almost at the middle of the month & you know what that means . . . a NEW sketch!!!  Here is your November sketch . . .



And here is what I came up with using the November Willow Creek Kit.  Full of rich, warm tones & small "pops" of color here & there, this kit was PERFECT for scrapping these fall pics of my 2 sons :)



If you received the kit, you may have noticed the Tim Holtz distress stain.  The muted yellow color was gorgeous & just the right addition to these white leaves I punched & embossed.  I wanted to color the leaves, but in such a way that the color was darker & lighter in some areas - looking more natural.  It was super easy to just glide over top of the leaf with the distress stain & let it "soak in" to the paper.  Then a quick dusting of chalk ink around the edges & voila - some fun colored & textured leaves!!!



I have recently been trying to use my tool stash - I tend to fall into the trap of just using what's in front of me.  Anyone else out there do the same??  If only I had more room on my desk for all my tools!!!!  For this layout & I broke out my Silhouette and used it to cut this cute title :)  Love the fun script font :)




Alrighty - ready to jump in and try out this month's sketch???  Grab your supplies & get creating :)  Your entry to this challenge is due November 30th.  The sketch thread will be up later this afternoon in the forum.  Once you have completed your entry, be sure to post your entry under the November Sketch Challenge thread.  One lucky participant will be randomly selected to receive a $10 gift certificate to the store - YAY!!!  Can't wait to see what you all come up with - Happy Wednesday!!!

Sparkle & Shine

Hello, hello everyone!

I'm sharing a fun way to use the Distress Stain in the Willow Creek kit. The sponge applicator tip makes it so easy to add a touch of distressing to your projects, like I did on this layout.

I simply rubbed the applicator tip along the edge of my layout, giving it a beautiful antiqued look. I also applied the ink behind my photo and embellishment cluster, creating a beautiful frame for my focal point.

For the finishing touch, I applied the stain on top of the cut-out flowers to age them and topped them off with sequin and pearl brads in coordinating colors.

I hope you will get the Distress Stain out and experiment with it a bit. It is really a lot of fun and so easy to use.

Thank you for visiting and have a fabulous day!

Oh Hay!

 

 

Good Monday morning, everyone!

 

Today I have a little tip to show you using all the goodies from the
November Willow Creek kit. In particular - the FUN distress stain that's in

the kit. I had SO much fun playing with it. 

 

Here's a layout I did using the stain, plus a couple of masks as my background.

The hexagon Mr. Huey mask was in the September Evening Stroll kit.
The arrows is a Crafters Workshop mask I had in my stash.

 

I used the stain on top of the masks and dotted, rubbed & pressed

to get the right effect I wanted. I then took a pen and drew around the

hexagons & arrows to make the stain stand out.
The leaves are the "outside" remnants of a layout I did a couple of weeks

ago here on the blog. I simply covered the cardstock I rubbed the stain on

and trimmed around the patterned paper, letting the arrows & hexagons show through.

I'm very happy with how fun & fallish my leaves look!

Here's a couple of closer shots:

I hope you enjoyed my little tip & that you try something fun with your stain

and your November Willow Creek kit!

thanks so much, have a wonderful day!

~Leslie





 

Halloween Through the Years Album

My kids were looking through a few mini albums I have out at Halloween time, and I realized that we didn't have one good place for all of our Halloween photos... they were scattered throughout mini albums and layouts in family albums. I wanted to make an album to cover each year. 

I had this album I bought from Noel a while back- it's an American Crafts 8 1/2 x 11 album, but any size would work! 

I used odds and ends from my scrap stash- some ribbon, some old Girls' Paperie, and my Something Wicked kit leftover from last year. 

I wanted to make the album reflect my style but also try to remain a classic feel that would be easy to keep up with year after year. I kept all of the pages just simple 8 1/2 x 11 kraft cardstock, and the color scheme classic Halloween colors, but incorporated splashes of mist (Heidi Swapp Shine in Tinsel is perfect for its shimmer!) and decorative tape. 

To make the album more "me, " I threw in my favorite color combination of green and teal, because it looks great with orange and black! 

The pages are super simple, but this album is already being enjoyed by my family. 

I just need to print some pics from this year to add in and we're ready to go for next year!

The great thing about this album is that it only took me one evening to create... not a huge project but something my family will enjoy for years to come. 

If you want to make something like this, the Something Wicked kit is PERFECT for this... and Noel has a couple available in the shop! 

Happy Thursday!!!

It's the time of the week where I'm so excited because tomorrow is Friday which means the weekend is right behind it and there's the promise of finding some time to create.

I absolutely love it!!!

Today's post is all about the fabulous Willow Creek Kit which I know I've mentioned it before but I just can't say enough how much I love this kit.

I decided to do a layout on a subject that is still very much a shock to me....

...the day I went to Target and didn't buy a single thing!

If you knew me in real life you would know that I have been known to "need" to go Target at times a few times a week.  This is beyond ridiculous I know, but I absolutely love the place.

On this particular day, I just must not have been feeling it because I left with nothing.

This needed to be documented stat!

LOL

For this lo, like I mentioned, I used the fabulous Willow Creek.  I cut the famous bullseye shape out of a piece of patterned paper from the kit and backed it with a piece that had a lot of red in it.

I sprayed the feather with Heidi Swapp Color Shine in Sweet Cherry to add more red to the lo.  I inked some cut out stars and added a few of the red stickers to the title to complete the red/cream/white/black theme to go with the colors for Target.

Now I'm left to wonder if leaving Target with nothing will ever happen again :)

xo

Wednesday with Homespun . . .

Hello everyone!!!  I'm popping in today to share a layout I created :)  I actually dove back into my Noel Mignon stash & pulled out one of my favs - the Homespun Kit from March :)  I was so drawn to the gorgeous color scheme & that awesome Hambly Screen Prints camera overlay!!!



There were lots of fun embellishments in this kit, but this My Minds Eye heart clip was especially adorable & I knew it had to find a home on my layout :)



I really like the effect of the tone on tone misting you can see below.  Typically I use mists that coordinate with the page but are contrasting to the background.  The mist included in the kit was a beautiful deep, golden yellow - just perfect splattered about the golden yellow honeycomb pattern.



Thanks so much for stopping by today & allowing me to share :)  Happy Wednesday!!!

Follow Your Dreams

Hello, hello! Happy Tuesday (and Election Day for our U.S friends)!

Something extraordinary happened Sunday that has me really excited about my layout today. While I was editing photos my daughter came downstairs and ASKED if I would take some pictures of her. I glanced up and her hair was curled and she was ready to go. I said yes, of course and grabbed my big boy camera and we headed out the door for an hour of shooting. We had a ton of fun and I got some great shots.

This is one of my favorites...

I'm not going to lie...this layout was all about playing with paper and a pretty photo.  Not a story anywhere to be found, although I did include a great Disney quote. :)

Here are a couple close-ups for you.

All supplies are from the Willow Creek kit, except for the flair. Flair is one of my favorite embellishments and Noel has a great selections in the shop. Make sure to check them out and add a set or two to your next order...you won't regret it!

Thanks for coming by! Have a fabulous week!