Grateful Greetings with a pop of color

I needed a few cards to say thank you to some retiring board members for my music teacher organization of which I am president.  I decided to use a new technique I found on papercrafter's library called blended background.  I used River Rock, Sahara Sand, and Crumb Cake for the background.  I then stamped the medallion and the thank you in Not Quite Navy. 

I stamped the leaves in Poppy Parade on a separate sheet of paper, cut them out, and spritzed them with Gold Smooch Spritz.

I like the pop of color that the poppy parade brings to the card - I found the color combo in my color coach.

And here's the inside of the card - we wouldn't want to leave it naked!!!  Quick and easy, but a nice touch.

Stamps:  Grateful Greetings. En Francais

Ink:  River Rock, Sahara Sand, Crumb Cake, Not Quite Navy, Poppy Parade

Paper:  Bordering Blue, Sahara Sand, Poppy Parade, Whisper White

Accessories:  Gold Smooch Spritz, Paper Piercer, Not Quite Navy & Bordering Blue brads, Decorative label punch, Linen Thread



Letters from Santa Card Class

The beautiful patterns in the Letters From Santa DP speak for themselves! Add to it the greetings from the Merry & Type stamp set and you have a perfect pair. These four standard-sized cards and matching basket will have everyone wanting to create this amazing gift set!   
Date:  Saturday, October 1, 2011
Time:  2:00 p.m.
Cost:  $20  ***Or receive the class planner by email for free with a $50 purchase from my online store!Location:  My home

Please email me to sign up for this class: tvdurham @ newwavecomm . net
Supplies
• Stamp Sets:  Merry & Type
• Ink:   Early Espresso Classic ink
• Paper: Whisper White CS, Riding Hood Red CS, Old olive CS, Early Espresso CS and Letters From Santa DP 
• Accessories: Sticky Strip, SNAIL adhesive, Stampin’ Dimensionals, 2-way glue pen, mini glue dots, paper cutter with scoring blade, grid paper, paper snips, bone folder, Stampin’ Mist and Scrub, Basic Pearls, Old Olive 5/8" Satin ribbon, Antique Brads, Decorative Label punch, Scallop Trim Border punch, Fine Galaxy Stampin' Glitter Paper-piercing tool and Whisper White medium envelopes

September Newsletter

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Love my little sweetheart!

I don't know what it is about this picture and her pose, but I just loved it!  We got several pictures of my daughter posed just like this the day we were at Hollywood Studios, so I couldn't resist enlarging one to a 5X7 and highlighting it on a layout. 
As for the paper, I know this was last year's Valentines paper, but it just seemed to go with her shirt perfectly!  So, I thought, hey, why not?  I added some chipboard pieces and embossed one with Irridescent Ice EP over Real Red craft ink.  The inside of the heart I covered with Crystal Effects and lots and lots of Silver Glass Glitter.  It's so chunky, it really makes the heart pop!   Glitter and bling are definitely some of my FAVORITE embellies!  :)

Ink:  Real Red
Paper:  Retired DSP, Whisper White, Basic Gray
Accessories:  Pink Pirouette Grosgrain Ribbon, Top Note Die Cut, Retired rub-ons, Silver Glass Glitter, Chipboard (retired), Irridescent Ice EP

Strike a Pose

I bought this Big Top Birthday paper because I thought that the colors would be great for pictures from DisneyWorld.  I thought since the paper was a bit busy, I would tone it down some with some solid colors of paper over top of it.  I added a few Big Top Birthday Quick Accents and a few buttons and brads and the page finished very quickly!

Salt & Pepper Challenge

Okay, so I almost dismissed this challenge thinking I'd never be able to make a salt & pepper layout with only black, white, and one other color.  But, then suddenly I had a leftover zebra that I'd colored and poof, I had a vision for this page!

So for the black and white, I used some retired Night & Day DSP (one of my faves!).  I decided to go with Concord Crush as my accent color.  I don't end up using a lot of this color since it's so bold, so this was actually a great opportunity for me to use some of my pieces up!  Halleigh's shirt had some cute little purple flowers, so I thought it would highlight that color as well.

And here is another animal from Zoo Review - the zebra.  I actually made it yesterday to go with my giraffe page, but decided it didn't really fit the color scheme, so it was really perfect for this page about the View from our balcony.

Stamps:  Zoo Review

Ink:  Concord Crush, Memento black ink, Copic

Paper:  Whisper White, Night & Day DSP, Cheerful Treat DSP

Accessories:  Basic Black satin ribbon, 1 3/8" circle punch, retired scalloped journaling cards, Stampin' Write marker.

Zoo Review

While staying at the Animal Kingdom Lodge, we had a wonderful savannah view that allowed us to capture these gorgeous up close pictures of several of the animals.  Mind you, we have a junky little digital camera....so they are great pics for a point and shoot!

When I started thinking about what colors and papers I wanted to use for this page, I got to thinking that Spice Cake DSP would be perfect for this page.   They have these gorgeous, earthy colors - Soft Suede, Pool Party, Pear Pizzazz, and More Mustard. 

 To make that strip across the bottom, I took a scrap of 12X12 paper and created two strips out of it.  I punched several 1 3/8" square pieces of the Spice Cake DSP and glued them to the strip to keep them straight.  
I couldn't resist filling the open space of the wildebeest picture with the title piece (made with My Digital Studio) and pulling all the pictures together with one of those huge Spice Cake buttons.

I originally intended to place the title above the journaling, but after I made it, I didn't really like the way it looked there, so I sponged Pool Party ink all around the edges and added a More Mustard button and two Pool Party brads.

I must admit, when I saw this Zoo Review stamp set, I loved the realistic look of the animals in it so much, I couldn't resist it!  I just thought it would be perfect for these Animal Kingdom photos and pages.  I really love the way this giraffe looks colored with my Copic markers.  It's just gorgeous!

Fairy Gifts

     ScrapFIT is having a paper strip challenge and I'd found this sketch at Sketchy Thursday that I thought would be great for this page, so I thought I'd combine the two challenges.  Scrapping everyday miracles has a challenge to remember a moment, so I thought this was a great moment to rememember.  The fairies kept leaving our daughter little gifts each day that we visited Disney....she still thinks the fairies leave her gifts - even if it is just something we found at a consignment sale.  I just love the magic and wonder that I find in her eyes and her mind. 
       I tried out my oh, so gorgeous Hello, Doily background stamp with some Wisteria Wonder for the background page.  I added a few little Rose Red buttons for accents and took a few scraps of the Flirtatious DSP to make this page.  I really love the colors in this set - they were just right for fairy thoughts!  I finished it off with some journaling around the edges of the picture with my Wisteria Wonder Stampin' Write marker. 

Bee happy

I started this page last night, but I got too tired to finish it, so I decided I would finish it today.  I used the Cheerful Treat hostess paper for this layout plus some Pretty in Pink DSP scraps.  I had these little pieces of a baby girl Simply Scrappin' kit stickers that were just girly, so I thought they would make great little accent on this page.  The title is a rub-on that I've had forever.  I thought it would look cute right there in her hand since she had it out like she was holding something.  I put the little bee right on the big pink flower.

Birthday Boy

This weekend must be the weekend of the birthday boys!  We have a birthday party today and another one Monday, so I figured this little robot set is just about as good as any for boys!  I have learned that you don't get anything too complicated or time consuming, either, since they are likely to tear them up immediately! 
I found this color combo in my color coach - Daffodil Delight, Calypso Coral, and Baja Breeze.  I added a few hints of irridescent Smooch on the balloon and the star.  I'll have another one for Monday...and one for my mom, too!  I'd better get busy!