Sweet Baby | Scrap the Boys

For June, our challenge at Scrap the Boys is called "Sweet Baby Boy," and I used this beautiful photo of my friend's baby to create my layout.

I was having a major case of missing mojo and decided I'd scraplift myself, which is something I often do when I'm stuck staring at a blank page for way too long. Here's the page I lifted, one I made last year for Scrap the Boys. Different colors and papers and a few tweaks made it into a completely different layout.

Here are some details. I used Crate Paper's Little You collection from a bunch of years ago, mainly a 6x6 paper pad and the chipboard pieces, as that's mostly what I had from this collection. I started by cutting strips of various patterns and laid them out. I didn't feel like they had enough definition since the colors are so pale, so I distressed the edges, and when that still didn't do the trick, I matted the strips on dark gray cardstock. 

I decided to use kraft cardstock because almost all my layouts are on white and I just thought these pale colors would look nice against the kraft. Before adhering the strips, I stenciled some hearts on the background using a Bramble Fox stencil. The acrylic hearts you see on my layout are also from Bramble Fox. 

I arranged various chipboard pieces around the layout, adding phrase stickers, more chipboard, and Bramble Fox Perspextives for added interest. I still have a bazillion of these little Studio Calico wood veneer tweets because I kept buying packages whenever I saw them on sale. They're so versatile and so adorable.

I thought "Baby" was such a dull title but I wanted to use that pretty chipboard banner piece, so I added the word Sweet, made from a metal die in my stash.

For a finishing touch, I added Nuvo drops around my layout.

And because I never call my layout done right away, the next day, before photographing my layout, I decided to add some cross-stitches for another detail and another texture because I think lots of different textures make a layout so interesting to look at and touch (I store my layouts in boxes instead of albums and gift them in decorative boxes too).  And that camera is a Studio Calico wood veneer to form a visual triangle with the two wood birds.

If you haven't played with the Scrap the Boys challenges, they're always very fun and open ended, and the design team always has wonderful inspiration in lots of different styles! I hope you'll come play along!

Mischief and Mayhem | Bramble Fox DT Work

Here's one of my December projects for Bramble Fox. Their Winter Collection is just gorgeous!

I used Crate Paper's Snow & Cocoa to create this. I never get tired of that collection!  How fun is the Bramble Fox Perspextive title? I love the playful font. It's from the Naughty Elf pack.

These Winter Stars are positively magical with their sparkle and translucence. I started out my page with some watercolor in the background to bring in some purple to match the photos. I stamped the whimsical snowflake stars and heat embossed them in white and then stamped the "twinkle all the way." Both of these stamps are in the Fox Stamps #2 set.

The colors and motifs in this collection are so fun and different for winter pages!

The Winter Stars come in 2 color schemes. The pinks and the blues. The blues come with the silver sparkly stars and the snowflakes and white stars. I always add a heart to the pages I give away, and I added a translucent red heart that tied in with the red scarf on the snowman.

If you've never worked with Bramble Fox Perspextives, you're missing out on some really special embellishments. I highly recommend subscribing to the Fox Box, you'll get a beautiful selection of perspextives and 15% discount on any other products in the shop.

Hey, Pumpkin! | CSI Case File No. 334

I've got one more Halloween page that I actually made last month for CSI's Halloween-themed Case File, but I've just been so busy with school. I've been contemplating giving up my blog, but I don't like giving up, so I'll just have to settle for posting some of my projects late. I don't know that anybody reads scrappy blogs anymore, but this is more of a record for my sake, I suppose.

Here are the Case File and Clues:

I used the color scheme, plus a tiny bit of pink that's in the Crate Paper collection. I used lots of the Evidence clues on my page: half solid/half pattern, stripes, stars, Halloween-themed elements, triangles, a cat, banner, ribbon, stitching, and an envelope. For Testimony clues, obviously I documented Halloween, and I put my journaling inside the envelope (it's on the back of the orange tag).

I mainly used Crate Paper's Hey Pumpkin collection, plus some odds and ends from my stash. As gray was one of the colors, I wanted to make sure to add that, and I went with some really old papers from my stash. The bottom one is Core'dinations. 

The leafy bits are a Bramble Fox die. I thought it would be fun to have black foliage for a Halloween page.

I took the story my friend had told on Facebook (where I grabbed her photo) and recorded it on the back of the orange tag. I used some old circular letter stickers to let the viewer know to take the tags out of the envelope. I always love the opportunity to use some of my ribbon. I don't think I'll ever use all of the ribbon in my stash! That cool barbed-wire border is also from the same Bramble Fox die set.

At the end, I added some orange Nuvo drops for a little added detail.

This challenge is over, but we have 3 new challenges for November. Come play with us!

October Bliss Documented | Bramble Fox

Here's another fun Halloween page I made using Bramble Fox products from the October Fox Box.

I used Tim Holtz Distress Ink pads to make the background. I just kind of smushed them a couple of times with each color to create a base for my grid. I was inspire by those cut-apart cards from Crate Paper's Hey Pumpkin  to made this as a grid design. The squares had numbers on them, and I covered them up with little flags made from Bramble Fox's Fox Die's #1 set. The star is an older Bramble Fox Perspextive from my stash. The stamped stars are also by Bramble Fox--they're from a Christmas stamp set Called Fox Stamps #2, but there are several stamps in this set that would work for any theme.

I just love the unique dimension and designs of Perspextives.

My favorite Bamble Fox pieces are the translucent ones. I used the October along with some old Heidi Swapp chipboard letters and a stamped word from the Fox Stamps #2 set for a perfect title.

I highly recommend the Fox Box subscription. You get three packs of Perspextives, which gives you a nice assortment of pieces to work with, as well as an exclusive design only available in the Fox Box. Plus you get a discount on everything in the shop. You are not going to want to miss the December Fox Box! Here's a peek:

I Love My Daddy | ACOT Guest Designer

I was delighted to be invited as a guest designer at A Cherry on Top.

As a part of guesting, they gave me $50 to spend in the shop and asked that I create three layouts and blog posts. Here is my first blog post, which will be published on the ACOT blog soon:



Something Old, Something New
by Debbi Tehrani

I’ve been scrapping since 2000, which means I’ve been collecting supplies for 20 years! The thing about this hobby, is they come out with fantastic supplies faster that I can use them, so I’ve got a range of stash that spans those two decades. I love using the latest and greatest products, but I have a fondness for my older stuff too, so I usually try to include both on my pages.

As a guest designer, I was invited to choose some new supplies from A Cherry on Top. For my first layout, I used Crate Paper’s lovely new collection, Fresh Bouquet.

I scrap 8 x 8, so I like to order the 6 x 8 pads, which I used on this layout. I also got a few sheets of 12 x 12 paper to serve as backgrounds, since the 6 x 8 pages aren’t quite big enough. Once I chose the Fern Paper for my background, I tore the edge of the top and added strips of the floral Heartfelt Paper from the 6 x 8 pad at the top and bottom. I always add hearts to the pages I give away, and I added some hearts from the Fresh Bouquet Sticker Sheet to one of the tags tucked behind the photo.

I think different textures add so much interest to my layouts, and I found a piece of pretty lace to tuck behind the torn paper. That “together” element is made of glass, and it’s an old embellishment from my stash. Believe it or not, the package said it was from 2003! I don’t think it looks too old! The ribbon I tied to the tag is also pretty old. I saved it from a gift I had received a few years ago. I save all kinds of things that I might find useful for my scrapping!

I love to layer elements, and I started off with a Paper Issues free cut file and then layered some tags and other ephemera and stickers from the Fresh Bouquet Ephemera pack and the Fresh Bouquet Sticker Sheet. I layered my photo on top of two papers from the 6 x 8 pad (the patterns called Cherish and Keepsake).

The Fresh Bouquet Puffy Alpha Thickers make such a pretty cursive title! The hummingbird and a sweet little heart and flower, all from the Fresh Bouquet Sticker Sheet were perfect to add to the open space in my title. I needed some flowers for the left side of my page, so I fussy cut some from the Flora Paper in the 6 x 8 pad. This paper has beautiful gold foiling on it which adds a lovely shimmer.

As a finishing touch, I added some Nuvo Vintage Drops in coordinating colors. I love adding enamel dots to my page, and Nuvo Drops, which come in a variety of colors and textures, are a great alternative. I especially love that you can control the size of the dots, which is especially important on my 8 x 8 pages.

I hope I’ve given you some ideas for using this beautiful new collection by Crate Paper, and I hope you’ve inspired you to mix old and new stash on your page!

Creek Magic | Paper Issues 30 Days of Sketches - Day 18

I'm probably not going to finish all 30 sketches by the end of May, but I'm sure gonna try! Here's my layout for sketch 18. I could NOT get a good picture of this layout, even though I tried scads of times. I eventually gave up, knowing that in real life, it's really pretty, and my friend is going to love it.

Here's the sketch. I had a heck of a time with this sketch, and I almost skipped it, but I saw Devra Hunt's awesome page, where she tweaked the sketch, and I loosely used hers as inspiration.

Here are some details shots. I used Crate Paper's Magical Forest, which seemed perfect for these photos. How fun and whimsical are those rainbows in this collection?

I know that tree doesn't fit in with the sketch, but it just seemed right for these photos. For my title, I used some old Heidi Swapp chipboard letters (they're still a classic to me) and some old American Crafts Remarks letter stickers.

 I found some old K&Co. word stickers that matched the palette.

I hope you'll come join our challenge. There's still plenty of pieces from the Magical Forest collection in the shop.  Please use my code Debbi (no e on the end) and you'll get 20% off of everything in the store, every single day!

Well, Hello There. | Paper Issues 30 Days of Sketches - Day 11

I'm sure you've heard by now that Paper Issues is trying to keep up our spirits during this COVID-19 quarantine by giving us 30 sketches for 30 days. I'm on a mission to do them all! Here's my layout for Day 11:

Here is the sketch for this challenge:

Here are some details. I used the rainbow from Paper Issues' Happy Sunny Days FREE cut file to replace the green rectangle in the sketch. That meant I needed to move the other parts over to the right so I wouldn't cover up the rainbow. Hence my page doesn't look very much like the sketch, but I promise it was my starting point. Isn't this the sweetest photo ever? I thought the colors called for Crate Paper's Magical Forest collection.

There wasn't a title on the sketch, so I added one to the top left corner of my page. That large expanse of woodgrain paper was looking mighty plain, so I added some hearts using texture paste and an Echo Park stencil.

I just can't stop saying how darling this picture is of my friend's daughter meeting their newest goat. I had to add that "Oh My Darling" sticker and a cute little girl and a lovely pink bow.

I hope you'll come join our challenge. If you like the Magical Forest collection, there are lots of elements still in the Paper Issues store. Please use my code Debbi (no e on the end) and you'll get 20% off of everything in the store, every single day!