Stocking Tag Pocket~Scraps Of Elegance December Kit~Mistletoe Memories

Happy Holidays!!

Today, I have a Stocking shaped tag holder that I created with the Scraps Of Elegance December Kit~Mistletoe Memories to share with you. It would make a wonderful Christmas Gift topper, card or could even be hung in your garlands as decoration. I have included the template I created using a photo from one of my son's old coloring books. You can just resize it to fit your project ;)  The stocking size that I used for my project was 5 1/2 x 7. 

I traced my template onto the kit paper, creating a front an back side. I then glued just the edges, leaving the top side open for my tags. I distressed and inked the edges then stamped with a script stamp. I then pleated some stash lace and added it to the top. I then added flowers from the kit, past kits and a Prima resin piece that I added Inka Gold to the edges on.

I hand stamped some tags with a swirl pattern, then with a script pattern, added some hand dyed seam binding, trim from the kit and little metal bells.

Here is the back side!!

And now for a little treat from my kitchen to yours:

My family loves these yummy Chocolate Coated Cooke Drops. They are actually my son, Draven's favorite,  and I make them every year for him.. They are super easy, and super delicious!! Here is the recipe so that you can share this tradition with your family:

Filling:

1-12 oz Package Of Oreos Cookies ( I prefer organic so I use Newman's Own version)

1-8 oz Package Of Your Favorite Cream Cheese

In a Food Processor Chop The Full Package Of Cookies Into Fine Crumbs.

Blend Cookie Crumbs And Cream Cheese Together.

Place In Refrigerator To Chill (At Least 1 Hour).

Coating:

1-Cup Of Ghiradelli Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

1-TBSP Vegetable Shortening

Microwave Chocolate Chips And Shortening For 1 Minute-Stir

Keep Microwaving At 15 Second Intervals Then Stirring Until Chocolate Is Smooth

Now Roll The Cookie Crumb Mixture Into 1 Inch Balls

Drop Each Ball Into The Chocolate, Coat Evenly, Remove Onto Wax Paper

Refrigerate To Set Chocolate

Store In An Air Tight Container Until Serving

Hope you get to enjoy some of your Holiday traditions with your family and friends!!! Thank you for letting me share one of mine with you! Hugs~Renea

Love This~Scraps Of Darkness November Kit~Water Lilies

I have to admit, I am in love with the 7 Dots 9th Wave papers in this month's Scraps Of Darkness Kit~Water Lilies. I absolutely love all the teals and browns in this kit!!

The following is a layout that I created with a beautiful photo of our family friend's daughter Madeline Bales

.

Maddie's country version of Lorde's "Royals" was played on the radio in the UK! The radio host, Roz P, contacted Maddie's family via Youtube and said she thought Madeline's version was amazing and wanted to play it on her radio show! Of course they said yes! It aired on 105.9 Bishop FM . Thank you Roz and Bishop FM for playing Madeline's version of the song!! - You can check them out athttp://bishopfm.com - Here's the segment for your listening pleasure! See the original Youtube video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r23T9PXK_gM

So proud of you Maddie!!

I did lots of distressing, multi layer inking and crackle painting on the edges. and then fussy cut some of the paper and layered it in with dry wall tape for texture.

I 3 layer misted some stash lace and layered it in the peek a boos and below the photo. The ornate piece was a Heidi Swapp piece from the embellishment add on that I multi layer misted. 

I also misted some of the flowers from the kit, and layered them over misted cheesecloth accented with some of the sequins from the kit, and added more flowers from the Floral Add On.

The butterflies are Secret Garden Glitter Glass Butterflies from my Reneabouquets Etsy Shop.

The love this title was cut from the Pink Pailee Color Wash Tags from the EAO. I inked them and then layered them over some of the misted lace and added the little wooden Dragonflies from the kit accented with rhinestones also from the kit.

I randomly stenciled a Prima pattern underneath the flowers and around the page.

Here you can see some of the distress crackle edging and color work.

And here you can see all the dimension created with the layering.

I am so proud of Maddie, and I hope you enjoyed this layout that I created using that gorgeous November Kit!! After all the Christmas work that I have been doing this season, this kit was a wonderful break into the grungy, inky side of my brain! Hugs ~Renea

Christmas Decorating With Tresors De Luxe~

Hello, and welcome to my first December reveal of the month for the Tresors De Luxe Etsy Shop!! I had made a few small Waterless Snow Globes for my Etsy Shop, but decided that I wanted one for myself, so I used my Tresors De Luxe products to put together a large one that would go with my snowflake white and pink decor in my dining room. 

I decorate as eclectically as I scrap and have different themes and color schemes throughout my house, but my dining room is my Shabby pinkalcious and white room.

I started with a large, clear mason jar, and I added a glue that would dry clear and some pink tinted German Glitter Glass. I then added more glue and added in some ultra fine pink glitter glass and some Teresa Collins Glass Glitter. I then flocked and sugared up a little white, bottle brush Christmas tree, and pressed it into the glue and glitter so that it could dry in place. 

I covered my lid with silver glitter then pleated some of the gorgeous Tresors

Dusty Rose Venice Lace-LA-103and added a Tresors

Rhinestone and Pearl Button-RH-009
to the center for instant elegance.

I then topped the piece with a real little bird's nest that I flocked and sugared up. I added in some feathers, one of my little digitally altered fairies that I colorized, gave wings, accented with crystals and then fussy cut out and painted the tips of her wings with snow tex for a Winterlicious look.

I added another little frosted up, bottle brush tree, a Pink Icicle Butterfly from my Reneabouquets Etsy Shop, and then added in some of a Tresors

Pink Fabric Flower Spray PF-041
and some of a  White Fabric Flower Spray PF-026

Took one of those sweet little Tresors

Pink/Lilac Bird Crafting EmbellishmenAn-009

and frosted up his little feathers, head and beak with the snow tex and popped him onto the flower sprays.

I then added in some of the Tresors

White Fabric Shabby Chic Roses PF-016
to complete my snow globe.

And here it is on my table~a perfect addition to my Winter scene!!

If you would like to add that Tresors Touch to your Christmas Decorating, you can find them at:

Tresors De Luxe Etsy Shop

and if you let Lucy know that I sent you, she will include a gift just for you :)

Tresors made creating that special piece to finish off my dining room decorations a snap!! I just love how they add instant FABulous to any project! 

Thank you for stopping by during this busy time of the season, and I hope you get a chance to sit back, drink a cup of hot chocolate and enjoy all the Christmas decorating you have done! Hugs~Renea

Joining The Inkido Design Team Family In 2014~

I am very excited to announce that I will be joining the Inkido 2014 Design Team!! Such a wonderful way to kick off the New Year, and I get to work with those gorgeous Inkido products and some of the  most talented designers around!!

Agnieszka Bellaidea

Anita Nosova

Anupama Choudary

Bente Fagerberg

Cathrine Sandvik

Elena Smoktunova

Heidi Augustson

Helen Tibury

Hera Sugitani

Irena Kowalczyk

Karin Zander

Karita Vainio

Lindy Gillespie

Nataliya Serova

Petra Petraso Gustavsson

Renea Harrison

Sabrina

Stéphanie Papin

Stina Westbom

Ulrika Blomfelt

Yasmin Tölche

~ Thank you Inkido for this wonderful opportunity~

Inkido Blog Post Announcing the new team:

http://inkido.blogspot.com/2013/12/inkido-2014-dt.html

Dream Today With The Scraps Of Darkness November Kit~Water Lilies

Hello everybody!! Hope you are having a great week. I can tell we are really kicking into the Christmas Season, because I am starting to feel like time is rushing right at me and I don't have enough of it to go around!!

Today, I have a layout to share with you that I created with the Scraps Of Darkness November Kit~Water Lilies. My sister, Tammy has a photography studio and she had taken my son, Draven's Senior photos back at the end of Summer, and she sent me one of his photos printed out on this gorgeous metallic paper and asked me if I would scrap it for her. I told her I would, but would have to wait until I got a kit that was perfect for it. Well, the wait was over when I saw the Scraps Of Darkness November Kit, because the

 7 Dots, 9th Wave papers and some of the elements were perfect for it, so finally I have it done for her!!

I love to do masculine work, but I don't like to use flowers with any of my male photos, once they are past a certain age or unless they are in a photo with a girl. I don't know what my hang up is about that, but I usually tend to use much more technique work when it comes to my masculine layouts than embellishment work.

I started with two layers of the 7 Dots papers and distressed, inked, did some tearing and some distress punching to get a really rugged look.

I then took some corrugated board and misted it with 2 different mist colors to get a grungy look, then did some more tearing, punching and rolling,  puddle painted with some Jacquard dimensional paint and added seed beads. 

On a separate piece of paper, I did some brick stencil work with gel medium and then 2 tone misted it. I then tore out the design from all the stenciling and inked the edges with 2 different ink colors. I then randomly taped with dry wall tape to get the cross hatch look.

I took the bark butterflies from the embellishment add on and alternated them to create a look that was full of yummy texture and did not look like butterflies.  I then took a stash, Prima metal clock and layered it under my photo, and added on one of the Glitz Rhinestones from the EAO. I created a quote from the random word stickers in the kit letting the Glitz piece be a part of it  "Dream  Today and Imagine Tomorrow."

I then took a larger Metal clock and tucked it under the layers at the bottom of the layout, and used a Tim Holtz Faucet for the Centerpiece and some wings that I alcohol inked for the clock "hands". 

Here you can see where I rolled the corrugated board and added brick pieces left over from my tearing of the main piece, more dry wall tape and another one of the Glitz Rhinestones that had a heart on it. 

I really love this layout, the colors are some of my favorite, the brick stenciling is one of my favorite stencils and well the subject matter, "Draven" is one of my favorite as well-lol!! I hope my sis loves it, but if she doesn't~it will be mine!! 

Thanks for stopping by at this busy time of the year! I have some major lovey catching up that I need to do!! I promise as soon as I get two seconds I will be surfing the galleries again ;) Hugs, ~Renea

Scraps Of Elegance Reveals The December Kit~Mistletoe Memories

Oh, it's the most wonderful time of the year!!! Yes, December is here and it is the official reveal of our Scraps Of Elegance December Kit~Mistletoe Memories!! I love all things Christmas, and this kit is definitely a little piece of Christmas magic with all the Bo Bunny, Graphic 45 pieces teamed with all the add ons, it is sure to have you ooooohing and aaaaahing! And if you are a inky, glitzy girl then the Color Add On is so FABulous! I think I have used that Vivi Croco Gold on every project I have touched so far :)

The following is the beautiful sketch that Melinda created for us this month:

And the following layout is my take on it. It features a photo of me and my son, Draven when he was 6 in front of our Christmas tree, and keeping in mind how many of those memories that one would love to journal about, I created a pocket in the right hand corner of my layout and filled it with little tags that can be pulled out to document some of the favorite Christmas details onto.

I started with 3 different layers of papers that I distressed, punched and sewed. I then distress crackled some spots with the Viva Croco Gold that was in the Color Add On. then used a script stencil over that with the Inka Gold to add lots of yummy texture.

I layered in Some of the Bo Bunny Noteworthy pieces, topped them with distressed and inked paper and then added one of my stash Tresors De Luxe crochet doilies and then added my photo. The ornaments are Bo Bunny Noteworthy pieces that I glitter painted and accented with gems, and then applied with foam tape for dimension. I used a flower spray from the Floral Add on and then added one of the Poinsettias from the FAO that I edge inked with some of the Inka Gold from the CAO and tucked in a flower from the kit, a stash bloom and a some sticker foliage from the kit.

To form my pocket I punched and folded down the right hand corner of my page. I added some stash crochet trim that I ran through my sewing machine and ruffled. I tucked in another Inka Gold Poinsettia and bloom.

 The tags are a Noteworthy piece that I added seam binding to, another Bo Bunny piece that I tied some of the EAO trim to and added a stash jingle bell, and  one of the G-45 Stickers from the EAO and turned it into a tag with a Bo Bunny trinket dangle, 

The bottom corner piece was crated with some more of the stash ruffled trim,  sticker pieces and hand crafted butterflies from the kit, and flowers from the FAO.

The hand crafted Ruby Slipper Glitter Glass Butterflies can be found in this month's kit and in my Reneabouquets Etsy Shop.

Her you can see a close up of the detail that rubbing the Inka Gold gives the flowers.

This next project is an altered Nook Book Box.

The front of the box is covered in some of the more Vintage look papers from the kit. I hand stamped the paper layer behind the photo and sewed the edges on the top two pieces. The Vintage Photo is from  http://magicmoonlightfreeimages.blogspot.com/

I then took it into Photoshop and tweaked it and colorized the background, and distressed and inked the edges for a worn look. I added stash lace Flowers from the kit and Floral Add On mixed in with hand stamped leaves and die cut foliage. The sentiment "Joy Of Christmas" is a sticker pieces and it and the Bo Bunny Trinket were from the kit. The Chipboard pieces are from my Scrapmatts DT stash that I touched randomly with the Inka Gold from the CAO. I used a Salted Carmel Glitter Glass Butterfly  from my shop, and added a Vintage look button on top of a metal bobbin to form a closure for the book.

All the sides of the book were painted with gesso, then with the Inka Gold Croco to get that amazing texture. I then wiped finish down with walnut stain to bring out the aged look of the Croco. The handle is an upcycle cabinet handle that I colored with alcohol ink and then added some little metal bells to.

I used some of the trim from the EAO that wraps around the bobbin to close the book.

Here is the back side with all that Croco texture!!

I love all those new Petaloo Faux dried blooms that Melinda put in the kit and Floral Add On, they look so real and the colors are amazing!

Here is the inside of my "nook" book. Little nooks full of Christmas delights :)

On the left I covered the inside with layers of  the papers, and some lace. Then added some of the Bo Bunny Noteworthy pieces accented with crystals and a flower from the FAO.

Inside the nooks are pieces fromt he kit and add ons, as well as lace, an upcycled tea bag that I stamped with the little stamps from the kit, and a sweet little Scrapmatts tea piece that I painted and decorated.

And last, but not least, I have a 

Make It In Minutes project~

We are officially on for the countdown to Christmas!! 

I know one of the most popular gifts to give and to receive are Gift Cards, but who wants to hand one over in one of those card board cards they come in or even more in one of those so un-FAB gift card holders. I have come up with a quick, yet so FABulous way to give one~in a little holder that is shaped like a match book,  and yes you can Make It In Minutes!!

Give me 15 minutes with your Gift Card, the December Scraps Of Elegance Kit and Add Ons , and I can have you out the door with a wonderful present that anyone would love to get!

Come join me in the forums at:

http://scrapsofdarkness.com/Forum/index.php?topic=3707.0

And walk step by step through this project, so that you can

Make It In Minutes!!

If you love Christmas as much as I do, I urge you to check this kit out!! So much Christmas deliciousness that will have you creating Holiday memories, presents, cards and tags that will bring so much Christmas Joy long after the Season has gone.

Here's to peace, joy and happiness throughout this time!! Hugs, ~Renea

Christmas Decorating And Gift Giving With Scrapmatts Australian Chipboard~

Today is my November Scrapmatts Design Team Reveal, and my first project up shows how you can use your Scrapmatts Chipboard to create something that you could use for gift giving. One of the fads this year is dying bottle brush trees and another is creating altered jars that resemble snow globes, so I teamed up both of those trends and created two different altered globes. Who doesn't love getting something as magical as a snow globe!!

I chose a non traditional color palette of teal, bleached out some little bottle brush trees I picked up, and then took some teal dye (left over from when me and the kids tye-died some t-shirts) and dyed them then frosted them with some German Glitter Glass. I added some Glitter Glass and traditional glitter to the bottom and then poured clear glue over it to seal it to the bottom, and also to stick the tree into so that became a permanent 

I then coated the lid with Mod Podge and covered it in silver glitter.

I tied a hand dyed seam binding bow and added a Scrapmatts

CB1215 Scrap Words 17

Merry And Bright Tag  that I glitter edged.

I then added reindeer moss, a Tresors De Luxe pearl and resin  flower spray,  some textured roses, feathers, a Smoky Teal Glitter Glass Butterfly from my Reneabouquets Etsy Shop, and a Scrapmatts

CB5050 Reindeers 07

that I coated in glitter.

I repeated the process on the 2nd bottle.

This time adding a little bird's nest with a glittered up Scrapmatts

CB1188 Birds 06

And a Scrapmatts

CB1215 Scrap Words 17

Tis The Season Tag.

And there you have it a perfect addition to your Holiday Decorating!!

This next project shows how you can use your Scrapmatts Chipboard to create something magical and beautiful to decorate for Christmas. I call it a Bucket Of Wishes!! So Vintage sweet to hang from a stocking holder on your mantle or tree.

I started with a little metal bucket that I had lying around my scrap room waiting for an alter. I painted it with gold spray paint, then covered it in Mod Podge and then covered it with some gorgeous lace that one of my Scrappy friends Christine (Moonmist) had sent me. Thank you Christine!! I just love happy mail from my friends :) 

I then took a Scrapmatts

CB6081 Christmas Stars 02

distress embossed it then added an inked up Scrapmatts

CB1211 Scrap Words 13

"Wishes" sentiment on top of it and attached it to my bucket.

I then added hand dyed seam binding bows to the side and created a handle from it as well, and wrapped the lip of the bucket with ruffled sheer cream ribbon.

I am an avid hiker, and in the Winter after all the nests have been deserted, I love to collect real bird's nests for my art and to decorate with. I tucked one of my little nests into the bucket, added feathers and a large flower, then tucked in some more lace, little hand crafted and painted, paper clay eggs, a little "angel" that I digitally color altered and added wings to, a glittered up star ornament and a Scrapmatts

CB6082 Christmas Trees 04

that I soaked in water, peeled off layers, let it dry then painted and accented it with pearl paints and put it back together for a dimensional piece.

And there you have it a perfect addition to your Holiday Decorating!!

I hope that you have enjoyed some of the pieces that I have created for Christmas.

I wish all of you who celebrate Thanksgiving, a happy one! I am thankful for all of you~my scrappy friends! Hugs ~Renea