Trying to catch up...

I wanted to share this layout with you ...

As soon as I received my Cricut Explore, I wanted to test what it could do to make my life easier for me.  In the past I avoided images that had more than 3 layers,  It was a pain on my Gypsy to figure out all the layers that went with them, the colors they should be, just frustrating all together.  Well with this new Explore machine the guess work is completely eliminated.  I just select which image I want and it knows all the layers to go with it.  Amazing!  Plus the design program is in color!  OK, I know this is all old news to everyone by now and I created the images for this layout back in April and designed the layout in June.  So I'm a bit behind in my sharing...

Here is the layout without the insert.  I used retired CTMH papers that went with the characters really well.

Here is the left side with the insert.  I took a CTMH pocket page protector and created "doors" to put in the 6x4 pockets.

This is the right side with the insert.

I really love the vibrant colors of this layout and how it turned out.  The Explore machine made putting the images together super easy.  I love layers and making my own embellishments!!

Thank you for stopping by!

Fell behind....

Wow - I just found this post that I never published...slacker...

I just realized that it's been a while since I've put a post up.  Been so busy now that the weather has allowed us to go outside more.

Today I wanted to share with you what we made during April's workshop.  I decided to use the Skylark paper pack, compliments & textiles.  We made a 2-page layout with a pocket page insert, 3 over-sized cards & a cute little pocket mini book.

This cute little mini was made from one piece of pattern paper.  Tags and embellishments were added to the cover and a few of the inside  pages.  It measures 4 inches tall and 3" wide.

This is the first card that we made.  The flower was made by wrapping and pleating a strip of fabric

I wrapped a piece of cardstock with fabric and cut up a chipboard element to create the stand for the bird house.

I just added a strip of double-sided tape to my card and then pleated my fabric along the tape.

I love this block style layout

This is one of the pocket-style page protectors that CTMH offers.  I used it as an insert for my two page layout.  Added a few eyelets to make a closure for it.

This cute little flower was made for the leftover fabric that I had.  I used the Tim Holtz tattered flowers die.

March's Workshop....

This month I loved the paper packet that I chose so much, that I wanted to see how many layouts I could make with only adding a few pieces of cardstock.  I used the Balloon Ride paper pack from CTMH, the Balloon Ride Compliments & made my own embellishments using the Martha Stewart silicone molds & hot glue.  The paper pack comes with 6 pattern papers (2 each of 3 designs) and 6 coordinating cardstock (2 Cashmere (lt brown), 2 Saddle (dk brown), 1 Colonial White & 1 Crystal blue).  I ended up adding 1 of each of Colonial White, Crystal Blue & Sorbet (kinda pinky).  I love the results and can't wait to get them in my albums.  

First, I will kind of explain how I made the embellishments:



I put the hot glue in the molds and let them sit for a bit.  Once they were cooled down enough, I removed them to let them cool down the rest of the way.  The glue formed in the molds better if the mold stayed warm.  After the shape cooled off, I had to trim the excess glue from around it using regular scissors.

After I had all the shapes needed for my class, I painted them with CTMH's pearl paint mixed with a few drops of reinker.  I chose to do 2 coats of paint so I didn't get an opaque effect.

Here is the first layout that I had in mind.  It looks a lot like Scrapbook Generation's style of layout so I will definitely give credit to them seeing how I love their style of layouts (which it seems I have adopted without even looking).  I took the printed scallops and cut around them to create the scalloped borders.  Used a whole 12x12 print as my main focal point and created my one little decorated 3x4 piece using a masking technique with stamps.

 

Here is a close up of where I placed my homemade embellishments.  I used hot glue to hold them down because I was unsure if glue dots would stick to them.



This is the second layout that I chose.  I was actually going to use a die-cut on this page that I created using my Gypsy and completely forgot to put it on.  Maybe I will add it when I add the photos...



I thought these particular embellishments would be too thick, but they turned out amazing and I couldn't resist using them.  This is also where I had plans for that die-cut image I was going to use.  Maybe if I used 3-D foamies for the die-cut, then these little guys won't seem so thick... 



This was the third layout that I had planned for.  Very girly, very two-toned.  I still loved how it turned out.  I used the additional Sorbet cardstock as the base for this layout.  Both Colonial White cardstocks were used for the photo mats in all the layouts.

 

For this embellishment I wanted to see if glue dots would hold and sure enough they did.  I haven't had any problems so far.

I only had a few pieces of this paper pack left along with some chipboard coordinates...



I used the remainder of the patterned papers and added a Crystal Blue cardstock to create this layout.  I might add some 3x3 photo mats on the right side of the page once I start adding photos...



For these embellishments I wanted a washed look (not that I'm a painting expert or anything), but I wanted only the raised portions to have color.  So I first painted them in Colonial White and then using my fingers brushed on the Juniper color (kind of a blueish-green).

And that's all the layouts that I was able to create using only one paper pack and 3 additional pieces of cardstock.  As for the scraps, I was only left with a 4x12 piece of the Pink Crackle Print, the trimmings from the Blue Print used on the second layout and a small strip of Colonial White cardstock.  I cut the 4x12 down to 2 4x6 pieces and put them with my project life cards and the strips will be turned into rosettes for another project that I'm currently working on and will hopefully be sharing with you very soon.

Thank you all so much for taking a look.  Please leave a comment or suggestion.  I love all your feedback!

February's Workshop

Happy February Everyone!  I hope you all had a great Heart Day.

This months' workshop features the Sarita paper pack, Sarita Embellishment Assortment and the Pink Glittered Cardstock.  This was a tough workshp for me.  I was trying to do non-traditional, partly masculine Valentine-themed projects.  I'm not sure if I succeeded, but I am happy with the results.  ALL of my inspiration came from the wonderful world wide web.  So the first project I'd like to share with you is the 2-page layout.  I found this layout searching for Valentine-themed layouts which quickly became my inspiration.  I've been calling my layout my"out-of-the-box" layout simply becasue it is so far out of my box.

The layout design comes from CTMH's Frosted WOTG sketch.  I also used the Sarita WOTG exclusive stamp set & All The Details stamp set

All the embellishments were created using CTMH's Artiste Cricut Cartridge except for the wooden ones which came from the Sarita Assortment

What makes this layout so unlike me?  The first thing to note is that there is no distressing what so ever on this layout.  Then there is the color combination.  The Outdoor Denim, Goldrush and Lagoon colors I can work with, but adding Gypsy & Cotton Candy threw me for a loop.  I stared at this layout for days before I put it together because I was completely unsure of how it would look.  In the end, I'm very happy with the results even if I didn't quite get the theme in there.

Ok, next up are the adorable cards.  I'm in love with these cards (not because I made them).  Again, I found these cards on the WWW.  The first card is from Paige Dolecki.  She used a more traditional Valentine theme where I tried to stick with the colors that were provided. 

I used a standard size card base and sized everything accordingly.  The white hearts were all stamped using the Whooo's Your Valentine stamp set along with the "I {HEART} YOU".  The Library pocket was cut from CTMH's Artbooking Cricut Cartridge.

The next two cards both came from the ever-so-talented Melanie Brown.  I loved her card ideas that I pretty much card-lifted them to a "t".  Both cards feature CTMH's Cloud Nine stamp set which coordinates with the Artiste Cricut Cartridge.

I didn't have the exact embossing folder that Melanie had used. This folder is from QuickCuts Lifestyle Crafts.

For this card I used the colors from the Sarita Paper pack.  The sun was stamped with the My Sunshine stamp set (it was a SOTM set - my favorite to date) using Goldrush ink.

And last but not least, our final project was a mini album inspired by CTMH.  They have this video on their website that features the Artbooking Cricut Cartridge.  I fell in love and had to make one for myself.  The technique they share in their video is amazing.  I had so much fun making this mini.

When doing the color effect on this title, the "u" broke so I simply covered it with glitter paper to give it a whole new look.  The arrows and "noteworthy" are from the All The Details stamp set (which is used throughout the mini).

The "splot" effect is my favorite.  Adds so much with verry little effort.

I used CTMH's new journaling pen to add details around the scalloped cut-out, the heart & the letters.

The papers used in this mini were all left overs from making the other projects.  Plus my girls had full 12x12 papers to spare.  There is another album featured in that same video.  It's on my today list as well.  I just love the colors used.  Probably won't be a workshop mini, but will definitely be in my collection of minis.

Thank you all for stopping by and checking out this month's workshop!

January's Workshop...on a roll now, let's see if I can keep going

I love the first of the year!  My gals were having withdrawls not being able to have a workshop in December.  So to start the year off slow, I decided to go easy on them with a few simple projects.  I used the Babycakes paper packet in some non-baby themed projects.  For this workshop we created a 2-page layout, a display card & mini album.

We created our own corrugated embellies cut from CTMH's Artiste cart

This double tri-fold card was inspired by a youTube video that I came across from Red Cardinal Crafts.  Her tutorial was simple to follow and made putting this card together easy.

I used titles and images from CTMH's Art Philosophy & Artbooking carts

This mini came from an idea that I had to showcase some of the pages available (offered) in the Artbooking cart.  I chose a couple designs from each mini set offered and used my Gypsy to adjust the sizes to this cute 6x6 mini.  If you are interested in seeing all the pages, check out my Instagram @mkgunn31.  This mini was literally put together from all the scraps left over.  I also included CTMH's lagoon herringbone washi tape & some scraps of lagoon cardstock. 

We bound these cute minis using twist ties

Thank you for stopping by!

November's Workshop...almost caught up

November is typically my last workshop of the year.  One of the main reasons for that is because usually everyone (including me) is super busy with the hustle and bustle of the Christmas season.  So for this workshop I decided to use the Frosted paper pack (retired in January), Black & Grey Glitter paper & Sparkles small flourishes.  We made a 2-page layout, a set of 3 cards & a cute mini album.

I really enjoyed making this layout....The concept is from my favorite sketch gals of all times - Scrapbook Generation, but I did however alter it so I could have more 4x6 pictures.

the title was created using the Gypsy and welding letters from CTMH's Artbooking cart

the snowflake clusters are from Anna Giffins new cart



the technique we were learning was how to get more out of your embellishments.  we were using the mini flourish sparkles and cutting them apart so we could have more to work with



The cards (oddly enough) happen to be my favorite out of all the projects this month...I scoured the internet for ideas because I'm terrible at making cards.  I had some ideas of how I wanted my cards to look and I really couldn't find what I was looking for on the net....so this is what I came up with...

I really wanted to use this "ho, ho, ho" image...

I loved the idea of making the ornaments 3-D...

and this one I did borrow from someones idea that I found via the internet.  they had used greens and reds and it was the cover of a mini for them.  so I took the idea and used what colors I had and created this card...

The mini album was made easily by using a few buttons on CTMH's Artbooking cart.  I swear I could use that cart for everything....there are 14 pages total within this book - some of the pages are half pages just to make the book more interesting.  Each page was decorated using an image found within the Artbooking cart.  Adding a few sparkles here, and some glitter tape there....

We ended up using the Bind-it-all system to put our books together.

So what do you think?  Can you tell my favorite thing to work with is snowflakes, sparkles & glitter?  Thank you for stopping by!

October's Workshop...just a little behind....

I'm just a little behind posting my latest workshops. So this post will be featuring our October Workshop which features the Huntington paper pack (which retired this month).  We made a 2-page layout, a set of 6 tags (2 each of 3 designs) and a "thankful" banner.

The 2-page layout was inspired by CTMH's Artbooking cartridge.  I had taken the woodgrain 1/2 overlay to each side of the layout.  Then using my Gypsy, stretched one of the photo mats across the bottom of the page for the title.  I also stamped the woodgrain image all over the stretched photo mats.  Using the Gyspy I welded the word "Leaves" for my title.

the woodgrain stamp is exclusive to the Huntington Workshop On the Go (sorry it is retired)



the left page...

the right page....I used Real Dial Size for the twig & leaves...

The tags used the Thank you single stamp that were new this year.  I just love the outlined letters...ended up purchasing the whole alphas so I could stamp any word I wanted like this.  I used the Champagne cardstock for the base which was cut out by the cricut - I used my Gypsy so I could tell it how tall and how wide I wanted the image to be because I wanted to be able to put all six tags on one 12x12 cardstock so I think the final size ended up being 3x5.  I also cut out several leaves (2 different styles) from CTMH's Art Philosophy cartridge and the "tree" is actually using the "vein" layer of one of the leaves.



Stamped the "thank you" in first and second generation all over the base.



used 1", 3/4" & 1/2" circle punches for the "leaves"



used the negative woodgrain from the overlays to create the background

The banner also was created using the Gypsy.  Again, I wanted to only use one 12x12 cardstock, so I sized accordingly to get all my pieces to fit.  I think the final size was 2 1/2"x5 1/2".  The banner, letters & swirls were all cut from CTMH's Art Philosophy cartridge.



the wood elements are from the Huntington Accessory pack



Thanks for stopping by!  These colors are out of my element to work with, but I really liked how the projects turned out.