Live~Laugh~Love Scraps Of Darkness July Kit~Gypsy Summer

Looking for a kit with the bright, bold shades of Summer? Then look no further than the Scraps Of Darkness July Kit-Gypsy Summer. It features lots of those Graphic 45 Bohemian Bazaar papers and products and is just packed full of Sumer yumminess!!

The following is a layout that I creatied by pulling out those delicious terra cottas that I love!! I took a photo of some of our friends daughter Maideline, and then got to work to create a rustic, desert/Aztec inspired piece.

I layered up lots of layers of paper, grunged up corrugated board, burlap, cheeseclothe, seed beads, stenciling and punching to create depth, texture, and visual interest all over. 

The papers are from the kit and paper add on, and I grunged up the corrugated board pieces with Art Anthology Mists and Dimensional paints from past kits. That is one thing about the Scraps of Darkness kits and add ons, you get so many wonderful items and technique pieces that you will find yourself reaching for time and time again. 

I used some Chipboard pieces from my Scrapmatts DT stash that I hand colored with distress markers, and layered on lots of flowers from the kit, the Flora & Fauna Add On and past kits.

The Desert Beauties Glitter Glass and Seed Bead Butterflies are from my Reneabouquets Etsy Shop.

The wooden letters are in this month's embellishment add on.

Here I created a zipper peek peekaboo, with those wooden letters from the EAO, trim from the kit, and zipper from a past kit.

Here you can see a close up of the stenciling and floral work.

And here you can see a side view that shows off all the dimension created with the layering and techniques.

Thank you so much for the visit and I hope you are finding time to enjoy your Summer. I have been spending lots of time hanging out with Draven, biking, and hiking, and of course finding time here and there to feed my scrappy obsession. Here's to the fun times, laughter, and a little creating that Summer brings! Hugs, ~Renea

Taking It Country Chic With Tresors De Luxe!!

Hello everybody!! Hope you had a great weekend. I finally tackled trying to clean out my scrap room, and I can't believe what a hoarder I am-lol! I think I threw away 4 large garbage bags of just junk and little pieces of stuff~I certainly take after my late Pawpaw with my Magpie Tendencies ;) I think I need an intervention!!

Today, I have a layout that I created as a Design Team Member for the Tresors De Luxe Etsy Shop. It was created for an Etsy Customer of mine named Kelly Ralston. Kelly wanted me to take her mother's, precious little photo, and create something special that she can give her mother this Christmas. Her mother grew up on a wheat and sheep farm, so I wanted something country, and kind of rustic, yet soft and sweet to compliment that darling photo. I came up with this Country Chic layout, and Kelly loved it and she also gave me permission to share it with all of you. I hope that when Kelly gives it to her, it reminds her a bit of her childhood and of home :)

I used lots of Tresors Items:

Light Pink Velvet and Rhinestone Flowers FL-052

Pearl Centered Ivory Organza Flowers FL-006

White Vintage Crochet Lace Doilly 

Ivory Venice Applique Lace LA-007

Rustic Shabby Chic Cream Flower Embellishment FL-029

Ivory Organza Flower FL-038

I used papers from past Scraps Of Elegance Kits, created lots of distressed layers, and then added acrylic paint and seed beads to the edging for lots of texture. I then ran some of the yummy Tresors Lace down one of the folded back edges and started layering in all my details. 

Here you can see close ups of a Chipboard heart that I distress crackled and layer painted. I then added the organza flower spray, large organza flower and pink rhinestone flower onto it. I spray misted some burlap pieces and added them in for that rustic, country texture. The butterflies are Oh So Shabby Chic Butterflies from my Reneabouquets Etsy Shop.

At the top of the hemp rope frame, I added some chicken wire chipboard, and more of those Tresors flowers and burlap.

Here you can see a close up of the gorgeous, Tresors Crochet Doilly. It was originally white, but I misted and inked it to get a multiple tone color.

I love that the Tresors pieces can take on so many different looks, and this Country Chic look is just one of them! Thank you Kelly for letting me create for you, and thanks to all of you who always take the time to leave me lovies, because I read and  love them all !!! Hugs, ~Renea

Getting Trendy & Lifting With Scrapmatts Australian Chipboard

Here we are at the end of July, and it is time for my monthly reveal at Scrapmatts Australian Chipboard. It's almost time for school to start back for us, and I can't believe that my son Draven is going to be a Senior this year!! My sister, Tammy, owns a portrait studio All About Smiles Photography, and she and my son have been going to various places and doing his Senior photos. I have only got to see a sneak of a few that she has done, and most of them have her watermark through them, until she gives me the final copy, but I did manage to sneak one out that didn't have the watermark-lol! 

The Design Team was asked to do a layout using one or some of the "trendy" items in the scrapbook world, so here is my layout, using my son's photo, and some of those trendy chevrons:

I had some Bo Bunny Cambridge papers that I had hoarded up a while back, and they were perfect for Draven's photo, so I petted them, closed my eyes and started cutting and distressing. I did lots of texture work, paper tearing, rolling, and inking on this one. 

I used the following Scrapmatts Chipboard:

CB5106 Chevrons 01

CB1072 Gears 01

Here you can see how I grunged up the Scrapmatts gears, using the colored texture past that I mixed to paint the bricks with.

And here you can see how FAB and trendy those Scrapmatts Chevrons look. I just inked them up with some Ranger Denim Ink, and they were good to go!

I love this layout!! I have decided that I am going to take this one, and some of the others I plan to scrap from the photo shoot, and put them in a keepsake box and give them to him when he graduates. That is, if I can bear to part with them ;)

For my next project, I am "lifting" my sweet, scrappy friend  Cathy McGrath (aka Cathy Mc). I love Cathy's Shabby~Feminine style, and when I saw that one of our DT criteria for the month was to scraplift someone who's work we admire, I  had to go with Cathy, because when it comes to cards, I just love what she does.

This is Cathy's card "We Celebrate You" which I lifted, after asking Cathy's permission.

Isn't it just yummy with all those soft layers??!

And this is my version of her card.  Instead of a Cupcake theme I went with a baby theme, because I will be attending, my Aunt Annie's daughter, Michelle's baby shower this next week and I wanted something sweet to give her with her presents from me. BTW It's A Girl!!! I used paper and flowers from past Scraps Of Elegance Kits, and 

I used the following Scrapmatts Chipboard:

CB1204 Ribbon Banners 01

CB1192 Scrapwords 04

CB6057 Rocking Horses 01

CB1194 Sewing 02

I took a Scrapmatts Banner, painted it and then colored it with Tim Holtz Distress Markers to get a 2 toned look. I then topped it with the "Cherish" Scrapword that I had inked up.

I painted the sweet little Scrapmatts Rocking Horse with White Acrylic Paint, and then hand colored it and accented it using the distress markers.

I then took one of the little Scrapmatts Buttons from the Sewing Set, colored it with distess markers, glittered the edges and then threaded burlap string through the holes and tied them off, then popped it on top of some hand dyed seam binding.

I just love how soft and sweet the card turned out!! Thank you so much Cathy for allowing me to lift you, and a huge thank you to all of you who stop by and leave me such sweet comments~they are music to my soul~ Hugs, Renea

Tresors De Luxe~So Sweet Altered Book Box

Hello everybody!! Hope you are having a great week! Today,  I wanted to share an "off the page" project that I did using lots of yummy flowers and lace from the Tresors De Luxe Etsy Shop, and the Scraps Of Elegance July Kit-Home Sweet Home.

This project is an altered book box that features lots of layering, painting, distress, and stamping. I used the following Tresors De Luxe Items to get the soft,  Shabby~Vintage,  look that I love:

White Venice Lace Item #LA-023

White Applique Pearl Beaded Lace Item#LA-009

Pearl Centered Ivory Organza Flowers Item#FL-006

The Kiss Of Fuschia Butterflies are from my Reneabouquets Etsy Shop.

Here you can see the softness that the background lace lends along with the softness of the organza flowers~don't you just love those little pearl centers~such a wonderful Tresors touch!

To create the little roll back at the corner of the book, I tucked in a small cut off piece of the lace that I used in the background to create a soft little bed for my bird brad.

Here you can see what a gorgeous touch that pearl appliqued lace adds to the distress crackled finish of the spine of the book.

A detail shot of the dimension and distress crackle technique I created on the sides of the box.

To finish out the back of the book, I hand stamped music notes onto it.

All of the gorgeous lace and flowers from the Tresors De Luxe Etsy Shop, makes it so much fun to put together wonderful treasues  like this altered book box. When you are finished, you not only have a  decorative piece, but a functional piece as well. This book box will make a FABulous decorative piece on it's own, and then it can also be used to store momentos, letters and trinkets in. So romantic and so chic!! 

Thank you for dropping by and for all the sweetness that you bring to my day~ Hugs ~Renea

Scraps Of Darkness July Kit~Gypsy Summer

Scraps Of Darkness has revealed it's July Kit~Gypsy Summer, and it is a Summer beauty for sure with all those bold brilliant colors and patterns in the Graphic 45 papers and the so BoHo Chic feel of all the unique embellishments. 

I just love the quote that Melinda put with the reveal this month. It is so inspiring and so wonderful:

“We are all wanderers on this earth. Our hearts are full of wonder, and our souls are deep with dreams.”      ~Gypsy Saying

The following is the FABulous sketch that came with this month's kit, created by our very own Charlotte Jenkins (Suepup):

And the following is my take on the sketch. It features a photo of  one of my all time favorite artists, Madonna. The photo was from a shoot she did for Vogue Magazine, and it was originally in a black & white format seen in the smaller cut out, and I took it into Photoshop and colorized it to fit the mood of my layout.

I took 4 different pieces of paper from the kit and paper add on, and heavily distressed the bottom 3 stacking them for a worn look dimension. I then cut a reverse scallop circle into the center of the paper and rolled the scallops back to reveal the backside of the paper, and then heavily water distressed the sides and bunched them.

I used the yummy Petaloo butterflies from the embellishment add on as tie backs for my pleats, gave them burlap string "tails" and tied some coins from some trim that was in a past kit onto the tails to simulate the belt you see in the photo.

Here you can see the pleating, layering and paper rolling up close.

I took one of the Petaloo flowers from the Flora & Fauna Add On, and then fussy cut out some of the floral designs from the G45 papers and layered them in. I used stickles and crystals to add lots of bling and detail.

At the bottom I layered in some of the beaded trim from the Embellishment Add on, and then fussy cut and accented some more of the G45 flowers. OK I must admit,  I originally intended to use the sentiment piece from the kit just like it was, because it was perfect, but I tried to do some stamping on it, and really messed it up, so I grabbed some of the G45 stickers from the kit, and covered up the mess I had made so that I could still use the piece-lol!! I actually ended up loving it, but I didn't mean for it to work that way.

Here is a side shot so that you can see all the dimension that was created with all the layering, distressing and rolling. 

I just love how Bohemian this layout turned out to be!! So hippie chic, bold and wonderful!! 

Thank you so much for the visit and I hope you have a, oh so FABulous weekend~ Renea

Guest Designer For Berry71Bleu!!

This month I have the honor of working for Berry71Bleu as a Guest Design Team Member. It is always a privelage to get to work for Marivic Clifton. Not only does she create amazingly beautiful tags, but she is just a sweetheart. So thank you Marivic for having me!!

This month the challenge is "Anything Goes", and you can find additional information at the end of my post about that challenge. One of the sponsors is Scrapiniec Chipboard.

All the Chipboard used on this layout was supplied by:

Scrapiniec Die-Cut Chipboard

Blog: http://scrapiniec-inspiracje.blogspot.com/

Scrapiniec is the first Polish manufacturer of laser die-cut chipboard products for use in scrapbooking. They satisfy even the most unusual individual orders and are characterized by reliability, high quality and friendly customer service. 

Marivic sent me this FABulous tag with a birdcage and butterfly and I decided to do a Vintage Tea Themed layout surrounding this wonderful old Vintage photo that I found on Pinterest. 

I did lots of punching, some stamping, and some painting and coloring on the chipboard pieces . The trim I used is from the Tresors De Luxe Etsy Shop, and the Tranquil Garden Butterflies are from my Reneabouquets Etsy Shop.

Here you can see a close up of that yummy tag!

I used some of one the chipboard pieces that I cut apart and misted as a frame for my photo.

Here you can see where I used some of the chipboard flourishes in my floral work.

And here I used one of the chipboard medallions that I painted with micas for a decorative piece that I added a flower to.

Creating something beautiful is a snap when you use one of Marivic's tags~they are instant elegance!!

Thank you so much for stopping by! I hope you get a chance to take part in this month's challenge, because as you can see below, the prizes are incredible!! But, most of all I hope you find time to create. 

Hugs, ~Renea

Hi Berry71Bleu fans! Dana  hosting the July Challenge! The theme this month is "Anything Goes," which means we want to see what YOU feel like creating. Get creative and link up your project here before the end of the month for your chance to win!

Also, Berry71Bleu is sponsoring CSI: Color, Stories, Inspiration this month! The Berry71Bleu Team will be Guest Detectives for CSI for the month of July. We'll be sharing our layouts here after they go live on the CSI site each week. Join us for any one of the weekly CSI Challenges for a chance to win a $35 Gift Certificate to the Zeus and Zoe Etsy Shop!

Heartfelt Creations is the main sponsor for this month!

Heartfelt Creations

Blog: http://www.heartfeltcreations.us/blog.php

Heartfelt Creations® is a leading Rubber Stamp & Scrapbook manufacturer for the craft industry. Heartfelt Creations was established in 1997 as Golden Rule Supply manufacturing Rubber Stamps. In January 2006 Golden Rule Supply became Heartfelt Creations.

Heartfelt Creations provides a unique line of artistic stamps, detailed dies and designer papers. Many of our stamps coordinate with our exclusive Spellbinders™ dies. The innovation of our stamps paired with matching dies offers a whole new dimension of possibilities and quickly adds eye-popping 3D depth to any project. Our designer papers are designed to coordinate with our product collections adding the perfect complement to any Heartfelt Creations stamp or die.

The Inspiration

Linda the founder and CEO of Heartfelt Creations describes it as the 'AHH HA' moment when she picked up her first stamp to show her kids how to use it. At that moment she realized that she had discovered something amazing. With that a dream was born to offer the same creative delight to people around the world that she felt when she picked up a stamp for the first time. 

Main Prize:

Random Prize:

A one-of-a-kind Berry71Bleu Handmade Tag by Marivic Clifton

Scraps Of Elegance July Kit~Home Sweet Home Reveal!!

A worn pair of blue jeans, peeling paint on shutters, butterflies, crochet flowers~oh the things that remind this country girl of home, and here  they are all wrapped up in the gorgeous Scraps Of Elegance July Kit~Home Sweet Home!! 

The following is a layout that I put together surrounding a photo of sweet Maideline Bales that is just full of sunshine and daisies~some of my favorite things!!

I startedwith layers of this month's kit paper and Coordinating paper add on that I punched, stenciled and rolled back to create lots of visual and textural interest. 

I cut a large section of the corner of the top paper off to reveal the papers underneath, and then added cheesecloth from the kit, and crochet trim from my stash. The shutters from the Embellishment add on and some of the Bo Bunny Noteworthy pieces fromt the kit made a perfect matting and framing section for the photo. The stenciling was done with a past kit Prima stencil and cream acrylic paint, and I then added Melissa Francis pearls from a past kit to the design. 

I punched and trim edged some of the paper as a base for all my flower work.  I used the sprays, and burlap flowers from this month's Flora & Fauna Add On, and then added in a large yellow flower and some blue blooms from a past kit and some daisies, and wooden foliage from my stash. I tucked in some of the crochet flowers and stars from the kit. The Shabby Buttercup Butterflies are from my Reneabouquets Etsy Shop, and are perfect for adding  unique and beautiful dimension to any project.

Here is a close up of some of the layering inside the floral piece.

And here is an angled view so that you can see all the dimension of the layering and technique.

This next project is for my Make It In Minutes segment over in the Scraps Of Darkness/ Scraps Of Elegance Forums. I created a beautiful Country Chic card with a Gift Card Holder Inside using the Scraps Of Elegance July Kit and this month's Embellisment Add On. I know how hard it is to find the time to scrap, and wanted to do a segment that would allow busy women to put together projects that are not only beautiful, but can be done in a small amount of  time. 

If you would like to see a step by step tutorial on how I put this card together in around 15 minutes, please visit the forum section at the following link:

http://scrapsofdarkness.com/Forum/index.php?topic=3370.0

I would love to see your version ;) 

I hope you have enjoyed your visit and a look at some of my "close to home" projects. Here is to a FABulous week filled with time to create!! Hugs ~Renea