December Daily in July

December Daily in July, a photo by HikerCynthia on Flickr.

 ETA:  I originally posted this in July, but I'm linking up to Ali Edwards' blog to play along!  =D




I've been playing along with Ali Edwards and her December Daily project for a few years now and one of the biggest lessons I learned that first year was to...

get stuff together EARLY.

So I vowed to make my DD journal in July. That way it would be fresh and new...because by the time December rolls around, I will have forgotten all about making the actual album! LOL!

I've kept that vow pretty well. I think one year I made the album in August, but it's been complete by the time November hit. This way, all I have to do is paste pictures and jot journaling! ;-)

I used Carta Bella's line called Christmas Day. I love the colors! They are very muted--lots of fir tree greens and deep burgundy reds along with distressed whites.

I also used a different album structure. Because the Carta Bella papers are SOOOO thick (love!), I punched holes and used ring binders, instead of an actual album with pockets, like I've done the past few years.

And just a little tiny heads-up here......I used the chipboard stickers that go with the Christmas Day line and as I brought the album inside after the photo shoot, several of the chipboard pieces launched themselves off the pages. And the glue I used to make pockets (Glue Glider Pro) isn't sticking all that well. And that's my fave and go-to glue gun! I realize it's probably because the Carta Bella paper is very textured and therefore things won't stick well, but it's a bit frustrating. I'll have to haul out the red line tape.

**insert terrified facial expression here**


Peace, love, and red line tape happiness!


~Cynthia

CASEing a Glitz Girl

CASEing a Glitz Girl, a photo by HikerCynthia on Flickr.

A few weeks ago over on the Glitz Design blog, Magda posted a super simple, yet really beautiful, scrap page.

Naturally, I scraplifted the heck out of it. ;-)

This shot is of a dragonfly, perched on a branch over my head. I got as close to him as possible and manged to get a few photos before he flew off.

I used a bit of my beloved Fern & Forest by Little Yellow Bicycle, a few wood veneer pieces, lots of mists, and a card from Simple Stories--which, in my humble opinion, was totally perfect for this page! =D

And the teeny strip at the top of the page was that teeny bit of paper you get on the bottom of a 12x12 sheet with the bar code on the back.

I hoard those things like a mad dog with a bone. ;-)


Happy Monday, y'all!! =D


~Cynthia

Hawk Alert!

Hawk Alert!, a photo by HikerCynthia on Flickr.

The other day I was sitting out on the deck and heard a scratching noise above me. I turned to look up at the roof--and there was a Red-shouldered Hawk!! He was just hanging out, disturbing all the little birds in the yard.

I ran inside to grab my camera and only manged one good shot before he looked down at me and flew away!

He--or his brethren--have taken to sitting up there on a regular basis. They do NOT appreciate me staring up at them! LOL!!

When I scrapped this photo, I used another Shimelle Laine sketch. My page turned out NOTHING like hers, of course, but I still like it. :-)

I used lots of snippets and more of my favorite line at the moment--Little Yellow Bicycle's Fern & Forest.

And lots of dots and mists. =D


Happy Friday! Thanks for the visit!!!!


~Cynthia

Triple Happiness!

Triple Happiness!, a photo by HikerCynthia on Flickr.

I've so missed making cards! There are NO June birthdays around here and only TWO in July!

Oh sure, I guess I could be making Christmas cards, but it's been in the 90s this week and that does NOT put me in the mood for Christmas anything!! =D

The July birthdays belong to my sister and her husband--so I just sent them one card for the both! (Heh, heh. Is that cheating??)

I used a Memory Box die cut for this card. I die cut HAPPY from white cardstock, saving the piece to adhere to the front of the card. Then I die cut the word once more and glued both die cuts onto the original piece of cardstock.

I matted it on dark green Graphic 45 patterned paper, then adhered that to a white card blank.

Simple and easy and fun!

Also...photographer's error here...the paper really is white and the words/die cut are really, really straight. ;-)


Carry on paper crafting!!


~Cynthia

Flutter By

Flutter By, a photo by HikerCynthia on Flickr.

Here's my Lesson Number Two in Mixed Media Scrapbook Pages.

Heh.

I think I did much better the second time around. I followed this tutorial on The Crafter's Workshop blog by Sanna Lippert. (She totally makes it look easy!!)

Pretty simple, fun and not at all time-consuming.

I used one sheet of white cardstock for the background and one piece of vellum layered under the photo.

I used Tim Holtz's Distress Inks in Peeled Paint and Bundled Sage. Throw in a few stencils and a leaf stamp, along with some Distress Markers, and I got a pretty cool page! ;-)


Thanks for stopping by today! I'll be back tomorrow with an actual CARD! =D


~Cynthia

Skippering

Skippering, a photo by HikerCynthia on Flickr.

A few days ago, over on Shimelle Laine's blog, a guest artist posted a short tutorial on how to include mixed media on a scrap page.

I have always wanted to try this, so I followed Christin Gronnslett's step-by-step instructions.

SO EASY.

And SO much fun!!

I totally got a bit carried away, but man, did I have a good time slinging ink around!!

I used multiple stencils from The Crafters' Workshop, inks from Tim Holtz's Distress Ink line and Ranger's Archival line, and stamps from various places.

Although you can't see it in the photo, I also used Dreamweaver's embossing paste with the stencils for some super cool texture.

Then I added snippets of paper and slapped a photo of a Silver-spotted Skipper butterfly down and called it a day!

Christin calls this "mixed media light" and it's perfect for those of us who have never tried this kind of creating before.

There are definitely some things I would do differently....so come back tomorrow for my second go at a page of fun mixed media!! =D


Scrap happy!!


~Cynthia

Clearwing Moth

Clearwing Moth, a photo by HikerCynthia on Flickr.

A lovely Hummingbird Clearwing Moth has been visiting our Butterfly Bushes for some time now. He's a quick little thing! I haven't been able to catch a photo of him until just recently.

I guess he got used to me acting all paparazzi-ish around him! ;-)

This page is an homage to layers. And snippets. And anything else that might stick to a page.

And sewing.

SEWING!!

I got sew (haha!) excited about sewing on paper, I did a mini craft room re-do just so I could put my sewing machine where I could reach it quickly and easily.

YAY!!


Snippets are from American Crafts, WeR Memory Keepers and Cosmo Cricket.

I've got Simple Stories letter stickers and some naked chipboard Thickers too.

Oh, and Pop Dots.

LOTS of Pop Dots.


Happy Friday, you wonderful paper crafters! Have a lovely weekend!! =D


~Cynthia