Monday, September 17, 2012

Perfectly Pearl

This is my second complete series of 10 mid week mojos for scrapbook steals. Here are my 10 perfect pearls. Hope you like them....

Pearl 1
 
Pearl 2
 
Pearl 3
 
Pearl 4
 
Pearl 5
 
Pearl 6
 
Pearl 7
 
Pearl 8
 
Pearl 9
 
Pearl 10
 
 
 

Popsicles

School had started but the weather here was still warm and gorgeous. Arjun wanted to make Popsicles with grape juice one night so that he can have one as soon as he came back from school the next day. Of course as soon as Arjun took one, Surya the little one wanted one too. So the two of them sat in the yard and enjoyed the Popsicles. The moment was too special not to capture.

Here is my layout for Pearl 10 from scrapbook steals:

Products used:
  • Patterned paper and stickers: 100 days of summer
  • Buttons: Basic grey
  • Plain cardstock: Core'dinations
I have to say again I love the 100 days of summer collection. It is so perfect for summer events.

Here is the sketch from scrapbook steals:
 

Ice cream at Disneyland

We were nearing the end of summer and hadn't really taken off from work and spent time with the kids. So we decided to go Disneyland the weekend before school started for Arjun. Luckily it wasn't crowded at all and we could go on a lot of rides.
As we entered Adventureland, we saw this stall selling pineapple ice-cream that looked so cool. Arjun immediately wanted to buy it so we promised him that we would buy it on our way out. So that's what you see in his hands. A delicious looking cup of pineapple ice-cream.

Here is my layout for pearl 8 from scrapbook steals:

 
Products used:
  • Patterned paper and stickers - 100 days of summer collection
  • Plain cardstock - Core'dinations
  • Buttons - Basic Grey
  • Cricut Cartridge used - Accent essentials
I have to say that I love the 100 days of summer collection. The colors are so gorgeous and it has so many stickers that are as so suitable for a perfect summer page.

Here is the sketch from scrapbook steals which I based my layout on:
 

 

Friday, September 14, 2012

September Blog Hop at Scrapbook Steals - Martha Stewarts glitter

I was soooooo excited when Kristy Lee from Scrapbook Steals - my favorite website for scrapbook supplies asked me to be part of the September blog hop. But when I heard that we were going to be using glitter.... I had a sinking feeling. I had never used glitter on any of my projects before. Even as a kid I would run away from any dress that had anything that was remotely shiny - weird... I know. To top it all I now have two boys and somehow I never associated boys with glitter so I stayed away from it.

But then, I decided to embrace it and start on my projects. By the end of it, I was totally in love with Martha Stewart glitters. Most of all they are so much fun to work with. You can go subtle or over the top and your project will still look great. Also did I just say that I thought glitter is not for boy stuff. I was mistaken .... you can make it work for anything or anyone.
I also loved the three colors that I got to work with.

Project 1 - Decorating a three ring binder

My 7 year old has been learning guitar for two years now. He had so much music all shoved into this folder and it would keep falling out. I took this opportunity to decorate a three ring binder and organize all his music.

I cut card stock to fit into the front of the binder and the side of the binder. I then stuck washi tape to create a grid pattern. I stuck double sided square tape in the grid squares. I poured the glitter on and dusted it off and voila I had neat  little glitter squares. Next, I cut out some rock star shapes using 'Life is a party' cricut cartridge. I then outlined the shapes with glue and accented it with glitter. After I was done with this project, I realized that like washi tape, the glitter has a slightly different shine to it with different backgrounds. So cool. Here is my finished product. My son's teacher was so happy to see all the lessons finally organized.

 
 Project 2 - Scrapbook layouts

 
I used glitter in three different ways on this layout that I made of my family's vacation in Cancun. I used Kristy Lee's sketch from the Mid Week Mojo Opal series. I first misted the background using a stencil with Mister Huey's mists. I then sprinkled WinterMint glitter on the paper. So the background has a very subtle shine. I also used the glitter on the brads. I put dots of Aleene's liquid glaze on the center of each brad and put some glitter on when the glaze was wet and let it dry. It adds so much interest to the flowers. Lastly I added some glue onto hemp and glittered it up and wrapped the hemp along the circular element.

 
 
I made another layout of my son when he was 8 months old. It is such an adorable age. Here I used glitter again on a double sided tape to make borders around the photo that extend out. I then punched little shapes around the edges, stuck the double sided tape behind the punched out shapes and poured the glitter onto it. I then added glitter to some of the punched out shapes and stuck them on panel with the letters.

Project 3 - Decorating Candle votives

 
 
Next I decorated some plain candle votives with glitter. I taped off the center with masking tape and covered the votives with mod podge. I then poured glitter on the votives and let them dry. I then peeled off the masking tape and sprayed with mod podge acrylic sealer. Don't you think they would look great for a baby shower or dinner party?!!
 
Project 4 - Decorating a Photo frame
 

 
Nothing is complete without a decorated photo frame. So that is exactly what I did next. I made this as a gift for my friend for her little princess. I got a plain wood frame and painted it gold. I then sprinkled the glitter on when the paint was still wet randomly and spread it around with a foam brush. For the stars, I covered them aleene's liquid glaze, poured the glitter on them, let them dry and stuck them on to the frame and with aleene's tacky glue.
 
 Project 5 - Cards

 

I made this simple card using shapes cut out with cricut. I cut out the letters with Paper Lace cricut cartridge and the buggy with Baby steps cricut cartridge. I then added glue with a glue pen on parts of the shapes and added glitter to them.

 
 
Lastly I wanted to make a card that showed all the three different colors side by side. I stamped on the banner shapes with grey ink and then poured clear embossing powder on them. I then heat embossed them. I added glue to the non embossed part and then added the glitter to them. I made the happy birthday shape similarly and filled in the letters with glitter.
 
Do leave me a comment and all the other blogs on the list below and you will be eligible for a gift certificate from scrapbook steals.
 
Hope you enjoyed going through my glittery sparkly journey. Now go get yourself some Martha Stewart Glitter to sparkle your creative life.
 
Make sure you hop on to extremely talented Amy Brock Coose's blog next. She has some beautiful projects lined up to show you. 
  1. ScrapbookSteals
  2. Erica Bass     
  3. Julie Ann Cordero
  4. Ren-Yi Lo
  5. Lisa Bankes-Lahiff
  6. Neela Nalam  ( You are here)
  7. Amy Brock Coose (Go here next)
  8. Becki Adams  


Chevrons on layouts

Everyone is using chevrons on scrapbook layouts in one form or the other. The chevron bug has bitten me too..... I had to make a layout with Chevrons. I decided to make a layout with pictures of my little one and myself. I loved making the Chevron background under the title. I got the idea from a tutorial that I saw echo park paper blog. I cut out the three shades of greys into squares and then cut them into triangles and assembled them to make a color gradient with the chevrons.

I also loved this layout that I saw on scrapbooksetc. So I based my layout on that... laying out the photos in an angle gave the layout such a playful and interesting look. I also realized that you can make a chevron if you extended to make a two pager by making a mirror image of this layout. Maybe some other day when I have more time.

Most importantly I made this layout to play along Color Me Scrappy Challenge 11. Here is the color palette that I had to use:



Here is my layout after putting all of these elements together:

 
I used the following materials:

  • Plain cardstock: Recollections and DCWV
  • Title stickers - Thickers from American crafts
Do stop by at the color me scrappy website and check out the amazing creations by the design team.
 

Monday, September 10, 2012

Mid Week Mojo - Pearl 9

OOOh! I missed Pearl 8. I will make it up. I have the photo lined up and everything. I love the sketches and the layouts by Erica Bass for Pearl 9. She is a very talented person. You should definitely check out her blog.

When I developed the photos for the current challenge, I had a completely different look and feel in mind. I was going to make it a playful layout with teddy bears and other cute little things. But then I was staring at the pictures of my son Surya when he was 8 months old, it somehow didn't fit the picture. He has such serious expressions in both the photos. I also recently bought My mind's eye - Follow your heart collection from scrapbook steals and this worked out just perfect for this layout. The circles lacked dimension on left side so I added some buttons to give it a 3D effect. The right side bottom then seemed to lack color, so I added the buttons there too to give the layout a more balanced look.

Here is my layout:

Materials used:
  • Patterned paper, 3D sticker, twine, gems, and pin : My mind's eye - follow your heart collection
  • Cricut Cartridge used: George and basic shapes
  • Buttons: Basic grey
  • Title letters: Nostaligique
Here is the sketch from scrapbook steals by Erica Bass: