Gina A. is Fresh and Easy...

...or at least my new Little Yellow Bicycle Design Team layout is! :-) I just love this new summery line but I really didn't have any summer pictures that inspired me right now so I decided to "FOCUS" (tee!hee!)on the CAMERA THEME papers and embellishments. Not every layout is going to be award winning and this one is definitely a simple, frill-free layout, but I think it turned out cute and the whole thing was done - start to finish! - in 30 minutes! Looking at the LYB camera print paper and the little transparency "polaroid" outlines made me think of the fun of instant cameras before digital cameras. Back then, only a polaroid could capture an instant memory and allow you to see the results within minutes. That gave me the theme for these pages: "Instant Memories" and I quickly gathered a few cute pics of my nieces and nephew and their children. These were all shots I liked for one reason or another but none warranted a full page or spread. So I grouped the pics, put the photos behind the new KaiserCraft Polaroid Frames, added a little cardstock, the polaroid transparencies, and the LYB "Five Favorite Memories" journaling pocket (I LOVE! LOVE! LOVE! that you can change and personalize the banner - something I've done on my own with former LYB pockets but this looks so much more professional) As a final touch I added a couple film strip transparencies to the pocket and wrote my title inside the camera shape from the same transparency packet. (I still have plenty of the travel transparencies leftover from the packet for use on future layouts!) The camera theme is perfect when you want to group some favorite pics that don't otherwise share a theme. Stop in soon to get these papers and put together a layout using some of your own recent favorite pics or maybe even some old polaroids you have laying around. Either way, have fun with this fresh and easy layout! Gina A

Christmas In July class samples

Here are the cards we will be making in my new card class:  Christmas In July (and August too!).  The first session started filling up so quickly that I added another session for those that are ready to get a jump start on their Christmas card making.

Session 1:  Saturday July 21st, 12 - 3 pm

Session 2:  Saturday August 4th, 12 - 3 pm

We will be making a total of 8 cards in this class (2 of each of the 4 designs).  You will need SHARP scissors since we will be doing some cutting for some of these cards.

Please bring the following Copics to class if you own them:
R29
R89

I look forward to creating with you soon!
Cindy

Ocean Getaway

Little Yellow Bicycle's newest release Escape is perfect for any of your summer photos with the bright, fun colors.  The diecut paper served as my base but for the second page I turned the paper twice until the pennants were on the bottom of the page to create balance.  Bo Bunny's Buttercup Double Dot cardstock was used behind the diecut paper and going across the layouts.  From my stash I covered a strip of zigzag chipboard with one of Escape's beautiful papers to run across parts of both pages.  Hand-cut pennants from a variety of the papers plus clouds, sun, and words from the Clear Cuts Acetate Shapes served as embellies.  The FUN-O-METER had to go on my layout because, well, it was just fun!  The Fresh Verse stickers helped create the title on the right page while I used Prima's alphabets for the smaller title on the left side.  *New technique alert!  I stepped out of my comfort zone and actually misted the top photo on each page with Studio Calico's Mister Huey's Opague White.  I couldn't love more how those photos appear to have ocean spray jumping off the picture.  Make your "escape" to Photo Scraps to see another hot summer line!!

NEW: Christmas In July card class

I know it is hard to think Christmas when it is 102 degrees outside, but let's try to do it together.  Join me on Saturday July 21st from 12 - 3 pm for an all new card class:  Christmas In July.  We will be making a total of 8 cards (2 each of 4 designs) help get you started on your Christmas card creating.  Here is a sneak peek of one of the cards.  More samples and a supply list to come soon!

Cindy

My 2nd Demo Day card

Yes, you read my post title correctly!  We will be making 2 different cards at my table for July's Demo Day.  This 2nd card is of the CAS style (clean and simple), using a Memory Box die to form a "window" so that patterned paper can peek out.  Think of all the possibilities with this easy design and dies/punches...an ornament with Christmas paper peeking through, a balloon with birthday paper showing...I could do on and on.

As always, there will be a variety of sentiments on hand for you to choose from.

Cindy

Gina A. got SMASHED in Sweden!

Can't wait for our next SMASH crop - hope you can join me on Saturday, July 21st, 6 p.m. to Midnight for some Smashin' and Scrappin' fun! Looking forward to showing everyone my latest SMASH project... I used the larger purple SMASH book to create a wonderful memory book to commemorate my recent trip to Sweden for my Goddaughter's wedding. Tracy took a few "sneak peek" photos to show you just a tiny bit of this great album. I still have some journaling to add (and might even squeeze in a few more embellies!) before it'll be completely finished but I just LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the look and I especially LOVE that it took one crop here at the store and a few quick sessions at home to complete the whole thing! As you can see from the pics, or will see when you view the real thing at the crop, this book gave me plenty of room for enlarged photos including 8 x 10's and 5 x 7's plus many 4 x 6's and cropped photos. I actually counted and there are 216 photos displayed throughout the book with another 40-plus tucked into the many envelopes and pockets that are part of the book. This also gave me lots of room for ephemera like the wedding invitation, brochures, business cards, etc. (Be sure to check out the pages about our visit to the ICEBAR... 30 degrees c. and FREEZING but lots of fun!!! I even added a Heidi Swapp Memory File so I could add more pictures to the pages about that cold adventure!) Looking forward to sharing this book with all of you on the 21st and can't wait to see what things YOU'VE been SMASHING since we last cropped together. See you soon and Happy Scrapping!!! Gina A.

My July Demo Day card

Join us for Demo Day on Saturday July 14th from 11 - 4 pm.  We will have lots of great projects for you to create.

Words and quotes are some of my favorite stamps to collect and use.  At my table, we will be using a quote chosen from one of 2 fabulous stamp sets by MFT called Vertical Greetings (or Vertical Greetings II) as the focal point of the card.  I like to call the kinds of quotes in these stamp sets "words of wisdom" or "words of inspiration" and find them very versatile in that you can use them for many different situations.  The quote that I chose for my sample card is great for sympathy, someone going through an illness, or someone going through a rough patch in life (divorce, job loss, etc) and needs their spirits lifted a bit.

I will have both of these fantastic MFT sets at my table so that you can choose the words you would prefer to have on your card.  Each of these sets even comes complete with their own die!

I look forward to creating with you soon!

Cindy