Vintage Lace Flowers

(This tutorial originally appeared on the Couture Cardstock blog).

Remember last week when I referred to a new flower tutorial I was working on? Well, here it is!

First, assemble your supplies:

White cardstock

Glimmer Mist

Lace (12″)

Flower centers, gems, or pearls

Heat tool

Paintbrush or rub-on tool

Super-High Tack Tape, Fabri-tac or similar adhesive

Scallop ruler or 1″ circle template

2″ flower templete or die-cut

Ready? Ok, here we go. This should only take about 15 minutes and is tested to withstand clingy two-year olds.

1. Use your scallop ruler and flower template to trace a 12″ strip and flower. Other options include die-cutting or free-handing these shapes.

2. Cut them out (or die cut). Here is what you should have:

(The flower can vary a little, but should average 2 inches.)

3. Fold the scalloped strip with diagonal fold so that it starts to curve into a flower. You should have one fold between each scallop.

4. Attach the ends using the tape or your favorite high-tack adhesive. Trim as needed to complete the final scallop.

5. Choose your desired mist color(s) and spray your bottom flower throughly. It should be fairly wet. It is optional to spray the back, depending on the look you want for your petals.

6. Using the end of a paint brush, rub-on tool or any other narrow instrument, curl up the edges of your flower petals.

7. Using your heat tool, dry your flower. This will both “set” the pleating and the curl, and stiffen your flower.

8. Repeat the misting and curling steps with your smaller flower.

9. Before drying your smaller flower, pinch the center a little to add texture and dimension. Then dry and set with your heat tool.

10. Place some high-tack tape or Fabri-tac on the back of your smaller flower. Then apply your lace, gently pleating it to conform to the circular shape.

11. Using more high-tack tape or your favorite adhesive, attach the smaller flower to the larger one.

12. Add flower center or embellish as desired.

Well, there you have it! What do you think?

~Alyssa~

Tag You're It!

So, I had a little fun this week… I went sort of technique-crazy on this tag. And I love the results! So, I thought for today’s post I would give you a step-by-step of how I made it, so you can make one too.

1. Cut a piece of white Canvas cardstock to 6″ x 3-1/2″.

2. Using Heidi’s Trash Bag Misting Tutorial, mist/ink the edges with Glimmer Mist. I used an olive green and a chocolate brown.

3. While the mist is still wet, distress the edges. I have found the distressing wet cardstock makes a bigger impact with less work then distressing from dry, so take advantage of the moment!

4. While you still have mist on your trash bag, use it on your chipboard frame. I used the same mist I used on my edges to color my chipboard. I laid it down and picked it up several times to get the right amount of mist and color on my frame.

5. Stamp tag with brown ink and a text-type stamp. I used Prima’s 4×6 Notary stamp.

6. Emboss the stamp with clear embossing powder. It’s hard to see in the photo, but all that gorgeous brown lettering is raised and has a really awesome texture from the embossing.

7. Apply rub-on to the bottom left corner. The rub-on I used is from Basic Grey’s Origins Olio rub-on book.

8. Apply stickers to Canvas cardstock and cut them out. This allows you to both play around with their placement and gives you a lot more depth with one simple step.

9. Adhere chipboard frame, stickers, and lettering. I used pop dots to pop up some of the letters and added even more dimension.

9. Create hanger for tag. I used Jillibean Soup’s Twine in brown.

10. Attach to the perfect gift for your loved one!

TCR #8

I did The Color Room palette #8 today. This is a rare thing for me, as I rarely use purple. But, here it is! Proof that I can do it!

Because of my lack of fondness for purple, i don't own a purple glimmer mist or paint at all. So I mixed Black Cherry with Silver Sugar and Chocolate and got the silvery purple of the flower on the left. Guess you really can make just about any color. huh? :)

I went grocery shopping tonight for the month ahead. What a huge job! But I love the summer produce, and oh how a fridge full of it makes me happy!! Planning broccoli salad and asparagus on the grill and corn on the cob and strawberry pie for the upcoming week also makes me happy! :) I hope your holiday weekend is wonderful. And for all my international friends, I hope your weekend is spectacular too!

~Alyssa~

I'm on the Cosmo Cricket blog!

I made a journal recently with Cosmo Cricket's Material Girl. I originally made it for YSS and thought Cosmo Cricket might like to see it! How fun that they posted it to their blog today!

You can see the post HERE.

~Alyssa~

Cards!

I made cards last night! This one is for the weekly American Crafts Challenge. It's almost all rub-on's, and all but the pink letters are American Crafts. LOVE those Thickers, some of my favorites ever. And I have been wanting to use that cute little chandelier forever. The card base is from the Blue Skies line. :)

This one is for the BoBunny sketch challenge. I used the Mama-Razzi Collection, and I didn't have any BoBunny letters that would work, so I stuck them on some patterned paper, and cut them out, then peeled the sticker off. Bingo! The perfect letters! The background is Couture Cardstock's Mother of Pearl, with just a little shimmer. :)

Hope your weekend is a blast!

~Alyssa~

A Sketch for Friday!

I created this layout for Your Scrapbook Stash's Friday Sketch. You can see the sketch HERE. :)

Happy scrapping!

~Alyssa~

A heartfelt layout...

This was one of those layouts that just came together. I almost couldn't believe it was done after just 2 hours. It's not loaded with techniques or pizazz, but it is very heartfelt and full of emotion for me. My daughter, for whatever reason, spent the day hugging me and wanted to snuggle. She's almost 5 and rarely does that any more, so I knew I wanted to capture the moment. This photo is from a few weeks ago, but it captures what I wanted to say.

TFL!

~Alyssa~

Whisper A Secret

"I'll whisper a secret, but don't tell a soul..." A line from one of our favorite books, "Time for Bed."

This was a candid shot I got a few weeks ago, and I used all Prima to capture it on a layout. I have another similar shot, I think I am going to have to scrap that one too. SO SWEET!

TFL!

~Alyssa~

And more Crate Paper...

More projects for Your Scrapbook Stash!

All supplies available at Your Scrapbook Stash. See you there!

~Alyssa~

I hate it when...

I hate it when...

• I have created lots of stuff and have to wait to share it!
• I take the time to plan a 2 week menu and lose it
• It's rainy for several days in a row and the kids get antsy and restless

I love it when...

• The kids get to play outside and I can hear their giggles while I am working.
• The sun is shining!
• We cook dinner on the grill.
• My workout is DONE for the day!
• I get all caught up and have lots of layouts to share!

All of that to say... more projects coming soon! We had a garage sale this weekend. It was a success, although I would have preferred to sell much more! Here are a few pics from the sale:

~Alyssa~

Crate Paper!!

I really loved the Crate Paper new releases this year, and this month from YSS they were all in my DT box. Yes, all 3 of them! :) Alyssa = happy girl. :) Here is what I have made so far. Everything is available at Your Scrapbook Stash. Erica always has a sale of some kind going on, so stop at the BLOG to check out what's going on before you shop. Cosmo Cricket DeLovely is already there, too.

You won't be seeing me much this weekend. I am having a garage sale to raise money for Don's trip to Africa, so I will be crazy busy. I might be able to sneak in a post tomorrow, and I'll try to update you on Monday with all the Couture Cardstock happenings (or, you could just go over there and check it out without waiting for me, lol!).

~Alyssa~

Embracing Pink

This month I got a whole lot of pink from Couture Cardstock. I have been working with the Young Love Monochromatic Family. This layout (along with all the info about it) is on the Couture Cardstock Blog today. Check it out. :)

It's a crazy week starting here- I hope it runs smoothly! See you soon.

~Alyssa~

Hambly, Anyone?

I've been creating with Hambly! Anyone wanna see? I really enjoy changing it up sometimes, and these products are lots of fun.

Thanks for taking a peek!

~Alyssa~

NSD Layout (PageMaps sketch!)

Just popping in to share another layout I finished at my NSD crop! This one uses GCD Studios and Couture Cardstock. I also used the sketch from the current Page Maps contest. You can see the sketch and check out the contest HERE.

The two photos were taken about 30 seconds apart, as my son valiantly tried to stay awake while snuggling with Daddy on the couch. The pictures look so strange to me now, since he gave up the paci a while ago. Another great thing to document!

Hope your day rocks!

~Alyssa~

The Color Room Palette 4

Color Palette #4 went up in The Color Room on Friday, while I was packing for my NSD crop... so I packed some things for it. Here is what I came up with. The photos were taken by Heather, a friend who generously took my daughter along with hers to a local orchard for a day last fall.

More projects to share tomorrow! I am editing photos and writing blog posts for as long as I can this morning. Right now the kids are dancing to the music and getting along well, so fingers crossed that it continues. :)

~Alyssa~