Hybrid Hump Day!

Loved going hybrid with these photos of dear niece.  Hybrid is vacation friendly.  I don't normally scrapbook on vacation, but I had the itch and hybrid made it easy.  I created the layout using a Jen Martakis template and American Crafts digital elements from DaisyTrail.com.  I printed the base of the layout before leaving and printed a sheet of the digital AC flowers in varying sizes on a sheet of cardstock.  Grabbed a 12x12 background sheet, some jeweled brads, glitter buttons, Helmar adhesive, scissors, and a Jenni Bowlin embellished butterfly and I was good to go!  Last night as everyone was chillin' in front of the TV and I had fun putting it all together:

Supplies: American Crafts digital and 3-D; Jen Martakis digi template, Jenni Bowlin embellished butterfly

I feel so guilty being on vacation, knowing that Doris and g are back at school already.  OK . . . maybe not that guilty . . .        ;)

thanks for stopping by! - betsy

By the Pond . . .

For days I've been looking out my bedroom window at one lone gorgeous orange daylilly.  The only flower to survive dh's sudden urge to rid the pond's edge of 'weeds'.  It was so striking against the bright green duckweed that I needed a photo:

and as I took it, I noticed that Mr. Dragonfly got in the shot, so I took another and he had enough:

but then he came back and actually smiled at me . . . 

yep, that's a smile all right . . .

I had made a little jar label the other day that truly had nothing to do with the fact that dh cut down the weeds by the pond that weren't really weeds:

I always loved that quote: "One woman's weeds are another woman's wildflowers."  Everything by American Crafts.

Have you seen the new monthly gallery here.  Jaw droppin' stuff.  Just incredible.

thanks so much for stopping by! - betsy

Total Sweetness!

Oh my dear!  I was so delighted to have my nieces over the other day.  And it was a sleep over to boot!

It was a nice change to be around pink and dolls and dresses and princesses . . . 

And I loved a couple of photos I snapped and created a hybrid layout using American Crafts ScrapHD.

Here's the digital version from ScrapHD:

. . . and I downloaded some of that American Crafts flower paper and cut the flowers out . . . 

. . . and attached with American Crafts Jewel Brads . . . and lifted the edges of the flowers a bit . . . 

What a sweetie pie!

I have a free online class coming up on the 20th where we'll make 6 different crepe paper flowers!  This marks the start of online classes offered through Scrapbook Challenges.  Sign up here: Fabulous Flowers

have a creative day! - betsy

"Integrity is doing the right thing, even when nobody's watching." anon

Making Your Font Even Cuter, Cool News, and (ahhhhh) Roses Again

I've got a little screen tutorial to show you how to make this look with your type:

I love this look . . . where the outline and the 'coloring' don't really match up . . . a "coloring book look" . . . 

Here's the screen tutorial - it's soooo much easier to explain with a screen tutorial than a bunch of screen shots . . . I hope you can follow . . .   (I'm no Jessica Sprague!)

And I made this card using that technique:

Background paper and the pop outs were made using American Crafts digital paper on ScrapHD.com. The 3-D ribbon and red flower embellies are AC.

I love doubling up designs with a pop up on top:

Did you hear the newest?  There will be Paint Daubers and Inks to match Jenni Bowlin patterns?! Yikes! I'm in trouble - I LOVE adding splatters of paint to my pages and I TRY real hard to match colors with different manufacturers, but it's hard!  This will make it easy - look here!  I notice the red tube is named "Cough Syrup", which really makes this pharmacist smile!  :)

And lastly - another shot of roses.  These are from Rhode Island, by the ocean. I don't think there is anything more beautiful than roses by the ocean.

have a great day! - thanks for visiting! - betsy

A Template Deal and a Hybrid Layout

I've been wanting to scrap this photo for the longest time and I finally got it done with a Studio Hillary template. Here's my hybrid layout:

The template I used to make it is a BONUS TEMPLATE available EXCLUSIVELY to Studio Hillary newsletter subscribers when they purchase her upcoming December Grab Bag. The Grab Bag will be up for sale starting this Friday December 11th, but only newsletter subscribers who purchase the bag through the newsletter link will get this extra goodie!!!!!! So go subscribe to Hillary's newsletter now!!! Here's the link: http://tinyurl.com/studiohillarynewsletter .

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Hillary has given me links for my blog readers to be able to purchase the Grab Bags with the bonus template:

Here's the Jumbo sized Grab Bag: http://shop.scrapbookgraphics.com/product.php?productid=26719&cat=283

and here's the regular sized version Grab Bag: http://shop.scrapbookgraphics.com/product.php?productid=26717&cat=283 

Hillary's templates are great and this Grab Bag is full of great stuff! Check it out!

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More about my layout:

I have a wide format printer, but it does not print edge to edge. Soooo, here's what I do if I don't want to lose any edges of the image.  The digi part of this layout are the 2 papers in the middle, the photo and photo mat, and the 3 butterflies on the top.  I didn't want to lose any of this, so before printing, I resized my layout to 11x11 inches. I then printed the layout on 12x12 paper and didn't lose a thing. I wanted a little bit of some paint splatters, so I took the 11x11 layout into the garage and splattered away with grey paint. Then, to make my layout 12x12, I mounted it on a piece of 12x12 background paper (Basic Grey).

I then added the American Craft flower embellies and added the 3D butterflies and sewed a bit around the edge.

I printed off the Rosey Posey Urban Garden butterflies twice. Once on the layout and once on a plain sheet of cardstock. I cut out the second set and layered them on top of the first to get this:

Supplies used for this layout:
digi papers and digi butterflies:  Rosey Posey at Scrapbookgraphics.com  Urban Garden
3-D stuff: American Crafts plastic flower embellies and brads
Background patterned paper: Basic Grey
paint splattered on after printing the template

Isn't hybrid great? Somehow, I 've been using so much more of my 3-D stash since going hybrid!

thanks for stopping by!

betsy

I Don't Love Halloween, but I LOVE the AC Halloween Line!

Halloween is my LEAST favorite holiday - I LOVE autumn, just can't get into Halloween. But this AC Halloween line of paper is sooo cool - it's not just for Halloween!

The stripes are from the AC Halloween line.

The black/white dot is AC Halloween.

The stripes and background blue are AC Halloween.

All the patterned paper here is AC Halloween.

Loving this stuff.  Thanks for stopping by! - betsy

I Love Blurry Pictures

Sometimes, you just can't throw those blurry photos out. Sometimes the blurry-ness tells the story. And sometimes, even if the head is cut off, there's just enough of everything else that you

just.can't.throw.that.photo.out.

Like in this photo - there's just enough of her smile, and her Hawaiian skirt and lei. And the blurriness, well, sometimes that's all I can get of her, and it tells the story of her growing too fast.

(patterned paper, brads are all American Crafts, Scrapworks fabric tag, and Cricut cut flowers)

Great Deals and a Giveaway:

I love a great scrapbooking sale and scrapbook.com is having a clearance on some AC stuff - great prices! Just put "American Crafts clearance" in their search box, or click on the AC clearance banner.

Did you see this giveaway? Product Pizzazz  201 Giveaway .  This class is taught by Doris Sander. Amazing, amazing scrapper.

Have a great week! - betsy

The Potty People!

When my oldest son was 3 years old, he told me how he thought he and his brother were born. I've wanted to scrapbook this for such a long time (he's 16 now), but a layout never materialized in my head . . . until I saw the Potty People by Magistical Memories! Playing around with the Potty People and some frames inspired me to create this layout:




No photo really needed, right? I think my 16 year old will be mortified when he sees this layout!

Supplies: Magistical Memories Potty People, Fancy Frames, Scallop Plate
American Crafts Sixth Avenue Riverside Park patterned paper
Doilies
Fonts: Sierra Print Artist First Grader and 2Peas Stop Sign

That American Crafts paper has got to be one of my favorites.
And here are two supplies I MUST have when working with chipboard:



How 'bout you?

Have a creative week and thanks for reading! - betsy

Drawing Names and a Quick Project

OK! I had ds#2 draw names from a bowl before he went to school. I figured I actually had enough to give to two scrappers, so he picked two names:

The Real-Roxann
and
Claude (yes - i'll send to Canada!)

and after dividing everything out, saving some for me and another scrapping buddy, I realized I had enough for another drawing and I pulled out:

Noell-hyman

So, email me your address (see side bar) and I'll send these out!

And if I ever hit the flea market again - and see some cool stuff - I'll be sure to RAK the others on the list. It stinks to not have enough for everyone!

Here's one of the more colorful pics from the flea market this summer:



Did you ever want to make something with your supplies, but just weren't in the mood for a page layout? A while ago, I decided to just decorate a photo mat and display it on a plate stand:




All American Crafts. Picture was from my first assignment from a photography course at a local community college. DS was great - allowing me to place him among the pumpkins as I played with my f-stop. :)

Have a creative week! - betsy

Exciting Stuff at Express Yourself

I love going to my Express Yourself design team meetings! I get to see all the cool stuff the other DT members created for the store. If you have a chance stop by Express Yourself in Bethel, CT and check out the new products and samples made by the design team! I'm so inspired!

Here is a layout I made using American Crafts products:



Amy has a full supply of those wonderful American Crafts chipboard shapes and frames. I can think of a thousand uses for those! The layout was based on a sketch from this blog:
Simple Inspiration Girls Blog Check it out -- they have sketch challenges every month and you can get a guest design team spot on Scrapbooks.com just for trying!

Here's a layout using My Little Shoebox patterned paper and transparencies:

Sometimes no journaling is needed - especially if you're scrapping such a cutie-pie!
Amy also had me put together a page kit -- stop by and take a look at this kit! So great for boys, beach, or better yet, boys at the beach! The kit was based on a Prima and Basic Grey patterned paper that are just GORGEOUS! Love the beachy browns and blues in this kit!


Also -- mark your calendars!! Lori Pereyra will be teaching a basic photography course on Tuesday, July 22nd! Have you seen Lori's photography? If not, check out her blog; Say Cheez Please How lucky we are to have Lori right here in our area!
I have big creative plans for this week, but nothing will happen if I don't get my sleep! So, I'm off to bed and wishing you a very happy and creative week! -- betsy