Dry Embossed Scrapbook Pages

Super simple double page layout to showcase four different photos

that were submitted for the Photo Of The Week in our local newspaper.

I used 12x12 Certainly Celery card stock from Stampin' Up!

A brass embossing template, stylus and light box were used to create the leaves;

all supplies were from Stampin' Up! 

The lines around the edge of the card stock were created with a stylus and

a scoring board. I scored the lines after I dry embossed the leaves.

The four photos aren't anything special, but they were sent in

to the newspaper to be considered for publication. 

I'm making a scrapbook of the photos I submitted.

One photo is of a HUGE spiderweb that went from at least 6 feet in the air

down to the ground. I did not want to see the size of the spider that made it!

Just below that photo is one of a grand daddy long legs spider 

on a hollyhock plant. There is also a tiny green bug of some sort that looks

like a leaf .

On the right half of the layout, the top photo is of our dry creek bed.

In 2012 our area was suffering from extreme heat and a drought.

The small creek that runs through our property was dry, 

in the 13 years we lived here we have never seen that happen.

The bottom photo is of the last cherry tomatoes of the season.

I thought it was kind of neat that there were three different tomatoes

all in a different stage (color) of ripening. 

I haven't done any journaling yet, I made do it on tags or

cut out a piece of card stock that is leaf shaped for fun. 

Then again, that would be a better idea for the fall photo

I have yet to scrap...... 

Fresh From The Garden Lunch

It may not look appetizing to many, but I thought it was quite yummy ! The rest of the family refused to even try any of it, saying the tomatoes didn't look right and they didn't like the idea of a "zucchini patty". More for me !

I have two friends that put in gardens this year so the delicious heirloom tomatoes came from one and the monstrous zucchini was from another. I made two loaves of zucchini bread and these patties from it.





Zucchini Patties (my notes in red)
Original recipe makes 12 patties

• 2 cups grated zucchini (I squeezed as much moisture as possible from mine)
• 2 eggs, beaten (I used one egg since that is all I had on hand, it worked fine)
• 1/4 cup chopped onion (I did not have any onions on hand.....)
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour ( I used seasoned bread crumbs instead)
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese (I used prepackaged shredded cheese in a plastic bag, not the powdery type in a canister)
• 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• salt to taste (omitted since I used the seasoned bread crumbs)
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil (I cooked mine in real butter)

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, combine the zucchini, eggs, onion, flour, Parmesan cheese, mozzarella cheese, and salt. Stir well enough to distribute ingredients evenly.
2. Heat a small amount of oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Drop zucchini mixture by heaping tablespoonfuls, and cook for a few minutes on each side until golden.

Zucchini Bread-

Paula Deen Recipe

Total Time:

1 hr 10 min

Prep:

10 min

Cook:

1 hr

---

Yield:

2 loaves

Level:

Easy

---

Total Time:

1 hr 10 min

Prep:

10 min

Cook:

1 hr

---

Yield:

2 loaves

Level:

Easy

---

Ingredients

• 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3 cups sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 1/3 cup water
• 2 cups grated zucchini (squeeze out excess moisture)
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl, combine flour, salt, nutmeg, baking soda, cinnamon and sugar. In a separate bowl, combine oil, eggs, water, zucchini and lemon juice. Mix wet ingredients into dry, add nuts and fold in. Bake in 2 standard loaf pans, sprayed with nonstick spray, for 1 hour, or until a tester comes out clean. Alternately, bake in 5 mini loaf pans for about 45 minutes.

---

Hope Faith Believe Trust - card

I received some bad news yesterday: an uncle of mine was diagnosed with lung cancer. This is the card I made for him last night, a tough one to come up with, to send him our love and support as he begins his fight next week.


The stamp set is an old retired hostess set from Stampin' Up!, Nature's Secret. I believe the card stock is Marigold Morning, Dusty Durango and Soft Suede. The image is stamped on Vanilla card stock with two colors of ink: first the stamp was inked up with Dusty Durango then I rolled the edges in Really Rust.

I stamped it again onto drafting type vellum, trimmed out the butterfly (extending the one wing that was not a complete image, tracing the edge of where I cut with a marker) and adhered it on top along the body section. The wings were gently pulled upwards. I made antennae with really thin craft wire.

The swing portion was hand made. I simply laid the wood mounted rubber stamp down on top of the card stock over the score mark to the left (2 1/4" from the left edge) and lightly traced with pencil around the top, bottom and right edge of the stamp. The wood mount was much larger than the image so it made enough room when traced to allow for extra layers of the stamped image like I wanted. I then used an Xacto knife and straight edge to cut the areas that were to swing (the right half of the square). The second score mark was 4" from the left edge.

Thanks for looking.

Zebra Butterfly Scrapbook Page

Am I crazy for staying indoors working on my scrapbook pages ??????

Weather like this is unheard of in July here !!!!!

 I need get out in the flower beds to do some weeding today....

and wash/vacuum my car, etc, etc, etc. 

That being said, I'll probably not have any new projects to share

the next few days. 

Probably too busy of a page to show off this lovely photo I took of a zebra butterfly in my flower garden.
This was the second photo I submitted to our local newspaper as consideration for photo of the week -
and it was my first of several to be printed in black and white as an "Honorable Mention" photo ! The photo print for the newspaper will be on it's own page that I will include a bit of journaling on. It will be a plain white piece of card stock, nothing fancy - well, maybe a couple of stamped or die cut butterflies ;)


I used a sketch from pagemaps.com.  I actually already scrapped this photo digitally in My Digital Studio using a black card stock base and minimal embellishments , but realized when going through my large print order from May, I never had it printed !

Nearly every item used on this page came from Stampin' Up!, some are now retired though. Once again, in looking at the photo on the computer I see a couple of things I'd like to change.

I hand drew then hand cut the butterfly stencil (should have been larger, not much shows with my larger photo and all the "stuff" on the page!) from some old drafting vellum. I sponged ink through it then pierced around the edges.

Various dies, punches, embossing folders, rubber stamps,shades of purple and orange card stocks.

Ruffled ribbon was created by wrinkling it as I adhered it to a scrap strip of card stock with super sticky double stick tape. You could also use a sewing machine to gather the ribbon first before sticking it down on your project.

Thin craft wire and seed beads for the butterfly bodies/antennae.

Here is the pagemaps.com sketch. I had a "duh" moment while writing this post: why hadn't I copied and pasted the sketches I've used on previous projects in case any of you that may read my post would like to use it yourself ?

Thanks for looking =)

Lighthouse Scrapbook Page

WHOA! The colors are really bright in this photo ! I didn't think it looked so gaudy bright in real life....... 

Still working on pages for my Photo Of The Week submissions scrapbook (there were 42 photos I submitted, so I have many more to do still!). This page features a photo that was published in our local paper as an "honorable mention".

It's difficult to tell in the photo, but the Real Red background paper is textured. I stamped the Old World Map background stamp with Versamark ink on the Brilliant Blue card stock. I am going to doodle a line around the edge of it and the tag when I add my journaling

Photos are mounted on Basic Black card stock.

There is real stitching (look closely and you can see mis stitches!) down the left side.

Black 5/8" grosgrain ribbon below the flecked off white card stock journaling box.

Real Red eyelet on top of a small circle punch of Brilliant blue card stock at the top of the hand cut tag. 1/4" black grosgrain ribbon run through the eyelet.

The layout is based on a sketch I found at pagemaps.com

Thanks for looking =)

Beach Simple Scrapbook Page

Another page for my Photo Of The Week submissions scrapbook album. This photo was taken at sunrise on Daytona Beach, Florida.

Not sure which I like better, if I even really like any of them................ I'm so indecisive!
I think the shell background paper is too busy. I added a layer of drafting vellum on one of them as I do not have real vellum in the right size; I think it's too white. I think the hand stamped/sponged photo mat takes away from the photo (if I had inks closer to the water and sand colors I may like it more if it blended better) ........... Another example as to why I don't scrapbook , I am never truly happy with my pages, always thinking afterwards "What was I thinking?!?? I NEED to redo that page!"

SUPPLIES:
Papers from an old Die Cuts With A View paper stack.

Stamp image of chair from Stampin' Up!, Along The Shore.

Various Stampin' Up! inks, sponges, hand torn paper masks to create the scene on Very Vanilla card stock

Thanks for looking =)

Bigfoot Monster Truck Scrapbook Page & Tutorial

Another page for my Photo Of The Week entries scrapbook. Loosely based on a sketch for an 8 1/2 x 11 page found at pagemaps.com .

I had fun making the wheel and tire ! I've done this technique before, see another sample here.

Here are the steps to making a paper tire card or scrapbook page embellishment:

Decide how big you would like your tire and wheel to be (paper punches and dies work great for small sizes). Larger tires are easy enough to make even if you do not have a large circle cutter or scallop circle die and there are a couple of ways to do it.

The easiest is to trace a circle the size you want for your project. For the tire and wheel combo on this page, I traced the plastic lid to a container of powdered laundry additive. Dinner plates work great for really large circles !

After tracing the circle, carefully cut along the line (inside or outside will work, just be sure to follow the circular line) with a pair of large scallop scissors. You will then trim off the scallops with a pair of regular straight edge scissors, taking care to cut each evenly. You could trace another circle over the scallops if you have one the correct size, then cut along that line as a guide.

If you do not have a pair of large scallop edge scissors, you can still make a tire. Draw a circle to the size your project requires. Once the circle is cut out, carefully make notches with a pair of small scissors or use the corner of a small square paper punch. If you do this and are particular about spacing the notches evenly, you will want to mark along the edge of the circle where you want the notches to be before you start cutting/punching. This technique does not require the trimming off of scallops as you are notching the already "flat" outer edge of the circle/tire.

Now that the tire is cut and notched, cut out a piece of silver for the wheel in the center of the tire and embellish as desired. Get creative and cut the center portion into five spoke rims or of different color card stock, etc !

For finishing touches, use a white gel pen or paint to write on the tire. You could even brush on brown paint to make it look muddy if you want a tire for someone that likes to go four wheeling, play in the mud !

I used a white gel pen (Signo brand) to journal on my tire. At first I was only going to note the date on the tire, to resemble tire sizes, but realized I hadn't left much room to journal so I decided the tire would work well. I'm not too happy with the tag I made for the date though.

The wheel was made with circle Nestabilities dies, a screw image rubber stamp (I know, it isn't the correct item to hold on wheels, but with only a quick glance at the page, I was hoping it would look like lug nuts!!!) from an old stamp set by Stampin' Up! and circle paper punches.

The tire track paper is made by rolling the Tire Track Stampin' Around wheel from Stampin" Up! in Basic Black ink on Basic Gray card stock.

The FORD decorative paper was made by me in My Digital Studio.

The tan paper came from a Die Cuts With A View stack; I lightly rubbed dark gray ink over it.

I should have layered the photos on solid color card stock before adhering them to the page.......

Thanks for looking =)

Wax On, Wax Off Scrapbook Page

Pretty simple page to share the original photo I submitted and the printed in the newspaper
version of my "Honorable Mention" Photo Of The Week. Another one of my favorite photos from years ago.

I should have gotten brave enough to heat emboss the letters silver rather than just stamp them with silver Encore ink. I was afraid of getting stray bits of embossing powder everywhere on the Navy card stock base and making a huge mess.

I created the Ford oval paper in My Digital Studio then printed it out at home.

The long diamond plate silver card stock piece was created by running a piece of silver metallic card stock through the Darice embossing folder twice. I wish it was 12" long..............

The black and white checkered ribbon was the exact length, whew ! I believe it came on a gift set of some sort for one of the guys one Christmas and I have been saving it for the perfect project.   I need to straighten it out a bit , it is crooked in the photo.


Thanks for looking =)

Marigold Girl Scrapbook Page

One of my all time favorite photos ! 

I submitted it for consideration as the

"Photo Of The Week" 

for our local newspaper

even though it was quite old.

It is a photo I will always cherish,

so glad to have snapped it back in the days before digital cameras !

I was thumbing through one of the many stacks of Die Cuts With A View

scrapbook paper pads I have (and have not used!) when this

paper jumped out at me, perfect for this photo.

I die cut the name out of Barely Banana card stock

from Stampin' Up! with my Cricut Create.

I NEED to get another font cartridge now

that I am using it finally! This font from the Don Juan cartridge

is going to get old, fast, ha , ha!

The marigold flowers were made by using a set

of scalloped circle dies from Cuttlebug, 

they are 4 varying sizes.

I cut them from Marigold Morning card stock.

I wrinkled and crinkled them, breaking the fibers

so I was able to tear the two layers apart, creating

a lighter paper than the thick card stock.

I then lightly inked Tangerine Tango on them.

They were stacked and glued together then smooshed 

some more, trying to replicate the look of a marigold.

The leaves were punched out of Lucky Limeade card stock

with a Martha Stewart punch.

The stems and base of the flowers were hand cut and formed.

They are quite bulky, but perfect for this photo.

The ribbon is a scrap from a grab bag I bought a long time ago

from a yard sale, no idea who the manufacturer is. 

Thanks for looking =) 

Ford V. Chevy Scrapbook Page

A work in progress page 

to show off another Photo Of The Week entry.

The checkered flag paper is really heavy and glossy.

It has Lightning McQueen from "Cars" on the back.

It was expensive paper, but the only checkered paper

 I could find. I do not like the way it "waves"

on this page, it isn't oriented correctly for me. 

I really wanted plain black and white checkered paper,

even drove nearly an hour away to check Michael's 

to look for what I wanted with no luck . 

The "ribbon" of speedometers/flames was trimmed from

another piece of racing scrapbook paper. I'll show the simple

page I made with the rest of the paper in tomorrows post.

I'll make a "tag" with the date on it to stick under the paper clip

and hand write (ugh, I dislike my writing....) the journaling

on the "file folder" tag that I made with the 

envelope punch board from Stampin' Up!

I'll  print out the ADRL logo and 

attach it to the page somewhere, too -

just waiting for the ink cartridges

for my printer to arrive at some point today ! 

The layout is loosely based on a sketch from

pagemaps.com 

Cat and Dog Buddies Scrapbook Page

This is the second page in my 

Photo Of The Week 

scrapbook album I 

am slowly working on.

I sort of followed a sketch

from pagemaps.com

The colors and papers are not my favorite, 

would not have been my first choice but they

are all I had on hand. They were bought at our

local Big Lots store years ago, no idea of the manufacturer.

The stripes and paw prints were trimmed from another patterned 

piece of paper in the set.

The ribbon was from my stash and matched perfectly !

The tag is punched with the new tag topper punch

from Stampin' Up!

Bow Wow stamp set from Stampin' Up!,

water colored with classic inks.

Circles die cut with Nestabilities dies.

Meow Meow stamp set from Stampin' Up!,

water colored with classic inks.

Circles die cut with Nestabilities dies.

Letters die cut with my old Cricut Create machine

and the Don Juan cartridge that came with it.

I really ought to invest in additional cartridges and 

use that machine more ! 

This was the first "fancy" page I made for the album. I had already put together a few simple pages on my own (I will be sharing them as well), but thought I needed inspiration to make some of them more special. I don't scrapbook, so I was having a tough time thinking of how to fill the 12 x 12 pages when only using one photo. I also didn't want to overwhelm the photo. A quick search online led me to http://www.pagemaps.com/pdfarchives.htm where I downloaded some of the sketches to help. 

Iris and Barn Wood Scrapbook Page

Simple page for my Photo Of The Week Album.

The barn wood paper is from and old 

Die Cuts With A View stack.

I brayered gray ink over it to tone down the 

yellows in it (it's still too "yellow" for my liking).

 I don't have any light gray barn wood paper.

I guess I could have made my own........... 

The photo is mounted on gray card stock that I distressed

the edges of.

The journaling is done on Naturals card stock, 

has ink direct to paper from an ink pad along

the edges. The iris is an old stamp from Stampin' Up!

and water colored with classic inks. 

Paper Punch Camera Tutorial

It took me nearly three hours (!) to come up with this camera embellishment, lots of trial and error to figure out the dimensions of the pieces. I am pleased enough with the way it turned out to think it wasn't too much of a waste of my time ;)  Since there are no crafty stores nearby, I try to make do with what I already have.

My camera I based the die cut project on.

I should have die cut more rings for inside the lens....

There are tiny photos in the film strip on the completed page

This page will be the first in an album I want to make

to show case the photos I have submitted,

and some of which were printed,

to our local newspaper.

The card stock base has a grooved texture to it.

I have no idea of the brand or style/color since it

was bought at our local Big Lots store as a bulk package

several years ago. I will miss the crafty section at our local

store, I found many good deals there over the years.

I cut the tops off of the newspapers some of my photos

were printed in and adhered them to the base.

Supplies used to make the camera:

black, gray, red card stocks - camera body and lens

textured black card stock - grip on camera body

acetate - lens

rhinestone - AF light 

silver "nail head" embellishment - shutter release button

black grosgrain ribbon- camera strap

fun foam - die cut into a circle to pop up the lens when it was attached to the base

white Signo gel pen - details

assorted circle dies - lens

circle punches - buttons

corner rounder punch - camera body

scissors - to cut red piece

word window punch - dial on top

scoring board - to make grooves on the dial on top

envelope punch board - to make pop up flash portion of base

double stick tape

clear drying liquid glue

Here are a several photos to help show how I made the camera body and lens.

I started with a 3"x 4"piece of card stock for the camera body.

I punched it at the 3" mark and the 1 1/2"mark,

making the pop up flash portion off center on purpose.

There is a handy built in corner rounder on the punch board !

Use your favorite trimmer to cut off each end. 

I used my guillotine cutter, cutting off one end then

flipping the piece over to cut off the other.

 Here is how I make a grooved edge die cut piece.

These are perfect for use as tires if you don't cut out

the center portion and add a silver circle for a 

wheel in the center. 

 Making the inside of the lens

(I should have added extra rings or drawn lines).

 Making the top dial piece.

Various other paper punched and hand cut pieces

as well as writing with a white gel pen to

embellish the camera more. 

Thanks for looking =) 

VCMP at OWH

http://operationwritehome.org/vcmp-master-list/

It's a virtual card making party at

Operation Write Home

this weekend !

6 different challenges each day 

for three days in a row !

I haven't had time to participate 

this holiday weekend, 

but I did take a moment to look

at all of the fun challenges posted so far. 

Under The Sun Tour 2014 Photos

The BIGGEST show to hit our little town - ever ! Despite the four big name (okay, so maybe they aren't as popular as they once were........)  acts playing and the absolutely gorgeous weather, there were only approximately 2500 concert goers last night. The tickets were general admission and $28.50 each, perhaps that had something to do with the small turnout? That was fine with us though, we don't like huge crowds.

All of the bands sounded great and put on a good show. We were enjoying it so much, it seemed to end too soon. 

I took my little point and shoot Fuji camera and managed to get a few decent shots. Yes, I will make a scrapbook page at some point =)

After the show, we met one of the guitarists from Smash Mouth. He shook our hands and chatted for a minute, giving each of us a pick and taking a photo with us. A neat end to our fun and memorable night at the Under The Sun Tour concert !

Sister Hazel

Uncle Kracker

 Sugar Ray

Smash Mouth 

THANK YOU 

for making a stop in this small town and 

for putting on a great show, guys !!!!!