Before I Head to Bed...

I wanted to quickly come on and share another layout from the August kit at C'est Magnifique Kits! This really is one of my favorite kits because these papers are utterly gorgeous!

So this one is completely different from my last one. This is Christian all messy and gooey from eating his first chocolate covered strawberry. I wanted the papers to be just as messy so I dripped and splattered some gesso, red paint and brown mists all over the place.

I added some cheese cloth behind the photo to add some texture and added the Petaloo Berry Picks to go with my 'berry' theme. This is a very simple layout, but sometimes they just need to be, lol.

First Layout from the C'est Magnifique Aug Kit!!

Oh wow - I LOVE this kit! The Maja Designs papers from Sweden are honestly some of the most beautiful papers I have ever touched. Even the quality is superb and you can be sure we will be using them again!

Since I am on vacation - I am going to just upload the layout and I'll catch y'all in a few days with the rest of them! This one is of my daughter, Brianna.

New Glitz!!

I am so in love with the new Glitz Design's collections! As soon as I unpacked them and put them into the store I knew I had to at least start with one of them! I did choose the "Hello Friend" collection because I just love the peach color with some pinks and teals in there.

I also added the brand new GORGEOUS Winter's Song flower from Manor House Creations based in Australia! I can't say enough about the beauty of these flowers - they are probably the most prettiest I have ever seen!!

Anyway, here it is! The photos are of my daughter when she was out playing in the yard with my grandson. They were having a blast and it made me smile to see them having so much fun.

New Art Journal

The other day I got a mass email from Donna Downey (my hero - her blog link is on the right) stating that she was coming to San Antonio for some classes. Man, I was on that phone so damn fast paying my fee because this woman truly rocks my world! I wish so bad I could think like her - be as 'free' with my attitude as she is. I really love her 'f%ck it - it is what it is and it will be what it'll be' attitude! I can't wait until Sept 28 when maybe she'll bump me accidentally and some of it will transfer over, lol. (I so wish she was teaching her Big 40 class though! I wonder if she'd do a private class, lol)

So anyway, I also spent hours that day/night watching a bunch of her inspiration videos. She truly did inspire me to start an art journal so I talked on the phone with Valerie (my DT coordinator at C'est Magnifique Kits) to really get some good info on how to start.

(and I do remember I started one a couple of years ago, but I think that was when Kevin's head plate got MRSA and he was inpatient at Brooke Army Med Center for months again. My how far he has come since being hit by a suicide bomber 4 years ago!)

Man...I get so off track sometimes, lol

So anyway, I ran out and got a journal and I found a beautiful cherry blossoms stencil and came home and got right down to business.

Here's what I came up with. I know it's simple, I expect that with my first, but I am still pleased with it:


Here are the steps taken to create this page:

I cut some foil and crinkled it slightly. I then applied it to the page with gel medium (I saw this done on Donna Downey's blog) and covered it with gesso. Notice how it didn't quite fit the page? It was SO HARD for me to still use it because I am one of those perfectionist types, lol. BUT - I just forced myself thinking that was what Donna would do!!

Next I sprayed it with Patina and Vintage Pink Glimmer Mist and also Dark Chocolate Truffle Lindy's Starburst. I also dripped some of the Patina into the pink giving it a more subtle splattered effect.

After this I used a cherry blossom stencil and sprayed just a small part of it in the top and bottom using Burnt Umber Moon Shadow Mist from Lindy's.

After it dried, I took some of the En Francais Prima alphabet and started my title, enlarging the word LIFE with a really old Scenic Route alphabet.

I also added some tiny little ribbon flowers and then splattered the whole thing with Mr Huey's Opaque White (yep, Valerie - I found it!!).

To finish off I first touched up the Prima Resin Bird with black ink, but it was too dark so I then covered that with some of the brown. I think the brown just toned down the black a bit and I like the more natural effect.

So that's it! How fun this was and I am working on pages 2 and 3 next! I got a start last night, but had my grandson here all day so I didn't get to play any. Hopefully tomorrow.

A huge thank you to Donna! I can't wait to see you create!! (and Beverly from my DT is coming from Florida to go with me - we are planning on staying in the hotel even though I only live like 10 minutes from there!!) Wooohooo!!

That Look

My grandson has this look in his eyes so often that just melts my heart. He is so dang cute and so many of my layouts feature him, lol.

So this one was created using 1891 from the Maja Designs Vintage Summer Basics line. (Click on this sentence to go to my store - but know that the images don't do these papers justice.) I absolutely LOVE this whole line of paper and can guarantee you will be seeing more layouts using them.

Oh - and before I show it to you I must tell you that this layout was inspired by Lene Bjornerud. I stumbled across her blog the other night and was caught there for hours! This woman is soooo talented and I can clearly see why she made the Prima team! Yay, Lene!!



This one was actually a very simple layout. I just splattered some paint, used 2 pop up foam dots on top of each other for height on the photo and used various flowers around the photo. I did use an older vine from Prima (as well as some of the small roses too), the larger red flowers are older Petaloo and just one, one medium sized golden flower is from Manor House Creations. I also used some olive bloomers from Webster's to fill in the space below the photo.

Once I got all of the flowers in place, I just put a chippie frame on top and wrapped some rope around it. I almost went with a red title, but at the last minute chose a golden one to keep your eye on the photo. Voila! That's it. Took maybe 30 minutes tops!

It's Been A While

I know...I know...I am such a slacker, right? LOL.

Honestly, I haven't blogged in months and it really is unacceptable - especially when you own a scrapbooking business! BUT - I'm here today and ready to show my July C'est Magnifique layouts. I really enjoyed this kit!

So this is the kit:



The papers are from Inkido in Sweden. These are really pretty!

Here is my first layout. It's of myself from May of this year when we went to the Grand Canyon. I am planning to try to go back and do a layout of what I looked like every year of my life. Here's hoping I can find all those pics, lol.



This next one is of my beautiful daughter and her guy. It was taken about 2 years ago when she first found out she was pregnant.



My third is of my Kevin. I can't remember how old he is in this picture, but I am guessing around 5? He was just so cute, lol. I have to admit that I really love the green papers - very masculine, even with the flowers on it.



And my last layout is of my friend, Aggie, who came to visit last week. We had so much fun and we decided then and there to do a layout of each other. This photo was taken at the Tea Garden here in San Antonio - such a beautiful place.



I will try so hard to be better at writing. I promise...

March C'est Magnifique Kit Layouts

I am so far behind in posting, but finally have the time to sit down and upload my March layouts. Gosh, I love Pion Designs! I wish I had more time to scrap, but as business grows it gets harder and harder. Not to mention we are still traveling for Kevin and his needs.

So anyway, here they are: This first is my adorable grandson, Christian. I keep joking that he is going to get a complex as all his layouts lately have tons of flowers on them, lol.

This one is my daughter at the Tea Gardens in San Antonio. It was such a beautiful day and my whole family had a great time.

And this last one is my daughter at the Riverwalk in SA. I was so disappointed when I got these photos in the mail and they were all so dark. I used it anyway, but I probably shouldn't have.