playin' with washi

Washi tapes are all the rage right now, and you can find them in all kinds of colors, designs, and styles.  I recently decided to play with some of my washi tapes and created two fun projects with them.

First up is a tag I created:

I started with a basic manilla shipping tag that I covered in pieces of Bella Blvd washi tape in a zig-zag, chevon-esque design.  Then I stamped on the taped background with some Archival Ink in brown.

From there I added a couple of chipboard pieces from Michaels.  I spritzed them with Glimmer Mist and layered on some Pearl Dabber paint, as well as some Mr Huey's ink.  I cut a beaded oval and leaf stem out of scraps from Spellbinders dies.Next I made a bow from seam binding, added in some Petaloo flowers and "love" a metal word from my stash.  I love how it turned out.  

Next up is a little 3"x 3" gift card.  I started with a 6" x 6" paper pad and cut a piece in half.  Yet another use for those cute paper pads!  

I started by die-cutting a scalloped circle on the front side of the card.  I cut a piece of coordinating paper in a square to back the cut-out.  It needed to be coordinating because I knew the washi tapes would be translucent and the paper would show through.  I've made cards using iris folding and this is the idea I started with to create the cut-out panel.  Usually with iris folding you start from the outside and work in, here I started from the inside and worked out.  I simply laid down layers of washi tapes from three different designs, overlapping them to fill in the cut-out.  You can see the layers well in the polka-dotted washi tape.  I then took that same polka-dot washi tape and folded it in on itself and fashioned it into a rose.  I punched the greenery and butterfly from scraps to finish off the card.  "For You" is from a Stamps of Life set.  These washi tapes are all Recollections from Michaels.  

Be Happy, Get Scrappy!

Jenn

delicious

I made this layout last fall when I traveled with my sister-in-law up to MA to meet up with our cousin for a weekend full of scrapping fun.  I decided to play with stencils and mists, layered flowers, distressed edges, and lots of layers and this was my result.

I used a couple of Donna Salazar papers from the Antiquities paper pad and layered on a butterfly stencil, followed with a spray of mist.  I used a Donna Salazar flower die and layered up all the sizes with some brads.  There's a kraft doily behind the flowers and under that lace and the corner is corseted with some bakers twine.  I threw in a rhinestone flourish and a grunge board flourish with some Stickles for shine.  

The photo is actually taken on one of my daily walks with my employer's dog, Charlie.  We take pretty much the same route every day and each day as I walked by I'd not just stop and smell the roses, I'd stop and drink in the scent.  I had to stop and take a photo to remember these delicious roses.

Get happy, get scrappy!

Jenn

date with the hubs

This two page layout features a day out with my husband. I am very thankful for the wonderful man God put into my life. We had a rare Saturday free together, blew off the household chores and went to Pennsbury Manor for a tour. It was the end of the growing season and the gardens weren't in bloom but the grounds were lovely to walk around anyway. I like going to historical sites and John is good enough to humor me.
I made the flowers using lace I dyed with glimmer mist, gathered and made into a circle. I layered on store bought flowers. I hand-sewed the patterned paper and even added a few french knots. The paper reminded me of a colonial pattern which is why I chose it. This layout will go in my SDU album to be used for a sample of colors and the rule of threes.

me

To quote my friend Michele, "Don't ya just love the subject line? ME lol" I don't usually do page layouts about myself but decided to put my photo on this page. It is the same photo you see here on my blog. When creating layouts, it's sometimes harder to come up with the photos than the layout. This particular page is somewhat "artsy-fartsy" or "airy-fairy" which is what they say on BBC's Hotel Inspector to describe something that focuses more on the art than the photo. I like airy-fairy better. Yes, I've been watching way too much tv over these last months. Back to the page. I had fun creating the background layering on pieces that I made.


I made the left side background first, actually a couple of months ago. I started with watercolor paper and added distress inks to it using the Ranger tool with the sponge pad attached. I put on masks and added more Ranger distress inks and the added Tattered Angels glimmer mists. I stamped using Ranger Artistry stamps and Prima Build a Swirl stamps in Stampin' Up inks. Idea'ology journaling tickets were stapled on and an idea'ology metal wheel is attached with a random brad. I took a silver metal word, "imagine" and inked it with alcohol inks and inked a grunge board faceplate to frame it, attached with bronze brads from my stash. I inked some idea'ology fragments with alcohol inks and adhered them to highlight parts of the words.

The right side is made from strips of grunge paper from idea'ology. I cut 1" strips, inked half with distress inks, sprayed them with glimmer mists and then dry embossed them with a Cuttlebug folder. The other half of the strips were inked, stamped and then sprayed with glimmer mists. I then wove them together to create a 3" piece to border my left side.

I put them together on a piece of kraft colored card stock, inked the edges with distress ink and then decided to sew the two pieces on. After searching high and low for my sewing machine, to no avail I thought, why not blanket stitch the piece by hand? I am glad the sewing machine didn't turn up. I used green crewel floss and stitched the piece after piercing the papers. I also added a couple of "x's" to join the two pieces. I really liked the final outcome of the background. I matted a photo of myself and added "me" in Thickers that I toned down with some ink. The whole page has such a tactile look and is much better in real life that this photo shows. So, this is me, trusting, hoping, soaring, imagining, dreaming.