Father's Day Card

This card was made using another sketch from the Sistas Scrap Too message board over at Cricut.com. The ladies over there inspire me so much and they are truly forcing me to get out of my comfort zone and step up my game. I happened to come across this old piece of patterned paper and thought it would be perfect for this card. I used Fun Flock for the sand and Smooch Ink for the golfer's shoes, hat, belt and golf club. I am attempting to use more ribbon in my projects as well as embossing to add texture.

Thinking of You Ladybug Cards

I'm trying to post things in so many places I can hardly keep up sometimes. I thought that I had posted this project, but apparently not. This was my first attempt at square cards and making my own envelopes. I used a sketch from the Sistas Scrap Too message board over at Cricut.com where weekly layout and card sketches are posted. This was also the first time I used the Martha Stewart scoring board to make my own envelopes. I need a little practice on making the inside liners although [note to self] I suppose it would much easier to use double-sided patterned paper.Thanks for looking.

Scrapping Using Monochromatic Colors

I don't know if I mentioned it, but I am taking Scrapbook Design and You. I just finished my third class a couple of days ago. One of the reasons I decided to sign up was because I freeze when it comes to choosing colors and tend to use the same ones over and over again. Choosing paper alone can pretty much squash my motivation to create. So, in my never-ending quest to get better at this craft that I love, I signed up for SDU at my local JoAnn's.

Our first assignment was to choose our favorite color. Once we did, our favorite color was given to someone else. I ended up with the red/pink family and I almost NEVER scrap in those colors. We were to choose three hues in that color family and THEN choose our pictures. The instructor also encouraged me to use two different colors for the background pages, something I NEVER do. Both pages always have to be the same. The other thing I learned was a more conscious way to mat my photos...I have never consciously chosen black and/or white to mat, usually choosing to just use one of the colors I am working with...but after this lesson, I see what an impact black and/or white photo mats make. I'm pretty pleased with the way this turned out and had to stop myself from adding too much. I had already spent a lot of time putting Stickles on all of the flowers and leaves. In the process of cutting the layers for all the hibiscus flowers, I gave the "Hide Contour" feature on my Gypsy a good workout. Thanks for looking.

Sweet Sixteen Card

I made this card for my dear cousin who turned 16 last month. I actually cut and layered the image a couple of months ago, but after looking at it in broad daylight, realized the colors were orange and green, and not pink and green like I had originally intended for the card I made for my soror. (Old eyes...what can I say? But I'm still young and croppin'!). So I abandoned her and put her aside to use for another project. As I was thinking about a card for my cousin, who already has a portfolio from photo shoots, I decided this one would be perfect for her. The font is from Gypsy Wanderings. Thanks for looking!

52 Card Pick-Up

I am taking this wonderful class over at Big Picture Scrapbooking called 52 Card Pick-Up, taught by Tena Sprenger. Five days of the week, we receive instructions by e-mail that allow us to try out a technique that we may never have tried before (For yours truly, that would probably be most of them!). The idea is, that by the time class is over, we will have a nifty little book of cards that we can turn to when we have a creative block or are searching for an idea to add a little 'oomph' to a project. Each card will contain our sample of the tip or technique, and complete instructions on the back (with a supply list) for implementing the technique.

At first I was a little skeptical about signing up and wondered whether it would be worth the money. But I have to say, with only two weeks under my belt and many more to go, I feel like I have gotten my money's worth and then some. So far, most of the techniques have been very simple but they are things that provide enough detail to add all kinds of punch and pizazz to paper crafting projects. Here are some of my favorites so far:

This is what the book looks like. At this point all of the pages are blank. Pay no attention to the meowing guardian of the book.

This technique involved using a molding paste mixed in with acrylic paint, and using the mixture over a template.

For this technique, we used acrylic paint over clear embossing ink and clear embossing powder to form a resist. Is that the correct way to say that?

Clear buttons all dressed up with lots of places to go!

Flowers cut from patterned paper, curled using a bone folder and then layered on top of each other. I added Stickles to mine.

Scanning (or copying) journaling from the backs of photos to use as the actual journaling on a project. This is my grandmother's handwriting from the backs of the pictures of my mother on her wedding day, and my great-uncle who was my grandfather's twin.

Photo printed on a transparency and layered over patterned paper. Embellishments were added on top.

And finally, what a great way to use up leftover scraps of paper!

An Exciting Thing Happened to Me!!

An exciting thing happened to me yesterday. It was a little after twelve noon. I had just finished my breakfast and was sipping my coffee when the phone rang. The special ring tone let me know that the call was from out of the area and so I automatically looked at the Caller ID to see who it was. The caller ID said "Stacy Julian." She's the founder of Big Picture Scrapbooking and Simple Scrapbooks Magazine (oh do I miss this magazine). I'm thinking "nahhhhhhhh" couldn't be and was even hesitant about answering the phone! But I did anyway. The caller asked to speak to me and I said "this is she speaking." The caller said, "this is Stacy Julian." And still unbelieving me said "THE Stacy Julian?" She chuckled and said something to the effect of she didn't know if there were any others. To make a long story short...she thanked me for being a big part of the Big Picture Scrapbooking community and said that she wanted to use a layout I had done when I was a student in Library of Memories last year, as the button/link for getting into the Library of Memories community. I was almost speechless. Me, who never thinks my work is good enough, was being asked to be a part of something so special. Words cannot express how jazzed I am (even though I have one picture on there that I never intended to have it see the light of day!!! One guess which one!

Here is the layout that is being used:

Challenge Times Two!

It has been more than minute since I've posted something new, but school is out now so hopefully my production will increase! Two challenges were posted on the Sisters Scrap Too thread on the Cricut messageboard. The first was to make a layout using blue, brads and buttons. The second challenge came in the form of a sketch for a two-page layout. I was able to make one layout that combined both challenges AND helped me to complete a LO that I had pulled pictures and paper for about two years ago but for some reason never started. So...here's my layout. Thanks for looking!

This layout is of a dear friend and soror of mine who sadly passed away
in July 2008, just after her 47th birthday.

Birthday Card for My Co-worker

My co-worker's birthday was on Mother's Day this year. While I didn't see her that day, I knew that I would see her on Monday and so decided to try my hand at another card. Because she absolutely LOVES purses and sunglasses, I decided to pull out my Forever Young cartridge (the one I had no intentions of buying) and this was the result. What you probably can't see in the picture is that the red paper used for the lettering, the flower, and the bottom mat is quite shiny. I later learned that acetate would have worked perfectly for the lenses of the glasses, and now that I think about it, I could have applied black paint to a transparency too! Either would have worked just as well.
Thanks for looking!

Mocha Mom's Crop and My Latest Layout

On Sunday, I attended a Mocha Mom's crop in Chandler hosted by the chapter that one of my favorite sorors is a member of. Had a wonderful time and won some great goodies.

The layout below is one that I started well over two years ago. I kid you not. The pictures were down, the journaling was done, and all that was left to do was to add the title and some embellishments. The pictures are of my son and goddaughter and were taken during early 2007. With the busyness of life, the layout got put away. I did pull it out once or twice during the last two years, but for some reason it never got completed.

If you've every packed for a crop before, then you know how hard it is to decide what to take so that you're not trying to lug your entire scrap room with you. As I was searching for paper for some other pictures, I came across not only this incomplete layout, but also two others. For most of them, the paper was already there and it was simply a matter of adding some embellies to the folders. So I did the smart thing and said, these are already put together, I'll take these! Glad I did...it took me approximately three hours just to get this one layout completed.

I started cutting flowers for the page with my Cricut, but then messed up and didn't have any more of the matching paper. Thanks to Cara, my soror and CTMH consultant, I was able to add the flowers you see there. She had them in her stash at the crop. They come in white and she suggested that I ink them to match my layout, which I did. When I came home I added some Stickles to the flowers to help them stand out.

Even when you think you've got it exactly the way you want it, you usually find something to be unhappy about. It never fails, as soon as I scan my layouts and view them on my computer I find some whopping mistake or see that there are a lot of things crooked.

This time, I saw a spot where I intended to put a flower but guess I had forgotten to. Will I fix it? I doubt it. I kind of tend to leave things as they are and move on. I consider it all part of learning the design process and paying attention to details. Guess I missed this one, but me and my layout will live happily ever after!

See...I really should have put something on that corner where the lavender paper meets the patterned paper.

Still overall...not too bad for three hours work!

Forever Young Birthday Card

I made the following card for a dear soror friend of mine. Three guesses which sorority! Had a few issues with the glue towards the end, but all in all I'm fairly pleased with the result. I really do need to cut down my cardmaking time though. I think this one took me four hours!!! One of my goals is to really finetune my design process. Ooops....oh yeah...first I have to HAVE a design process. Okay, so THAT'S my goal! Thanks for looking.

More of My Favorite Layouts

Thanks for looking!

Some of My Favorite Layouts

So...still too new to blogging to know what the protocol for posts is...can I do more than one post in a day? Technically though, since it's past midnight...I guess I can post away. Since I'm in the process of building this new blog and moving things from my other page, I just thought I'd share a small collection of some of my favorite layouts that were posted on my old page. I believe that all of the layouts below are based on sketches by Cathy Zielske, one of my favorite BigPictureScrapbooking.com teachers and designers.

Pages From My Sorority Scrapbook

I am on the scrapbook committee for my chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. My job this year was to design all of the section title pages. I had approximately a month to get all of the pages done and these are a few of the layouts that resulted.

Mom's Birthday Card

I made this card for my mom whose 74th birthday was on April Fool's Day. The inside reads "You make being youthful look so easy! I want to be just like you when I'm (fill in an age, any age)! Happy Birthday!