Washing the Yellow Car

Let's add some yellow to my blog. Here's a layout that I did over, partially anyway. I did not know what to do with it, and now I love it.

Simple Quilt Top

Several years ago I started this simple quilt for my son's twin-sized bed. Fast-forward to today when my son has two children of his own, and these rows of quilt squares have sat in a drawer until recently. I decided to adapt this simple quilt top to fit a double bed for my guest room.

A Splash of Pink

Instead of putting this photo in my black and white album (and embellishing it with neutral colors), I thought a splash of pink would be refreshing. I cut some of the flowers from a beautiful 12 x 12 sheet and added bling to their centers. The other flowers are painted chipboard with rub-on centers.

Butterflies

My grandson took this photo of my granddaughter and me last fall when he was only four years old. Pretty good little photographer, don't you think?

This is My Little Shoebox paper. I cut the butterflies from a second sheet of the same print. I touched up the edges of the cut-out butterflies with chalk to age them. The journaling sheet is computer-generated but embellished with tiny stamps that are colored with gel pens.

Exercise in Skin Tones

I took this photo two years ago, on a summer day that was too hot for clothes or makeup. Just skin against skin. I love both mother's and baby's tones, each a different color of brown. My granddaughter is still so baby-smooth, she looks like a toy. The lattice fence is a perfect background.

This belongs to my back and white group of photos. It doesn't call for an embellished layout. I backed it with white mulberry paper and framed it with a white ribbon, trimmed with black stitches.

Experiments in Black and White

I've been working on a scrapbook album that is solely black and white. The only paper and embellishments I'm using are neutral shades, ie., black, white, grey, beige, etc. Until recently, I was playing with photos of everybody else, BUT me. Then I decided to round up photos of myself. These three photos were originally taken in black and white, and they are not digital. They are about 10 years old.

This is a pretty straight forward L/O (above). I threaded black ribbon through this chipboard that I painted white.



These polka dots give this L/O a retro look. Both the giant flourish and the small frame are painted with white acrylic.



You can find this photo on the back of my book jacket. Here it is framed with chipboard that I painted black and topped with Distressed Stickles. These corner flourishes are rub-ons.

Layout with the Big Eyes

There was a very popular artist in the sixties who was known for the big eyes of all the subjects (mostly women) that she painted. Her name was Margaret Keane, and there is a movie forthcoming about her life. I often think about those paintings when I look at my granddaughter and her amazing, beautiful eyes.

When I saw this photo, I was compelled to find some Keane paintings, and I've included some copies in this layout.

I typed the journaling on the top of the L/O and colored its edges with chalk. I colored the tiny clear stamps of a bird and flowers with gel pens. I painted the large chipboard flower with acrylic paint and topped it with Stickles.

My New Favorite Thing: Liquid Pearls

Here is my grandson, wearing my shoes.

This is a relatively simple layout. The photo is backed with white mulberry paper, which creates a nice effect. I painted the chipboard flourish with blue acrylic paint and covered it with glitter glue. My newest find is the Liquid Pearls that I added to both the flourish and to the butterflies.

Newspaper Print and Sepia

I had to look at this photo of my grandson awhile to figure out exactly where he is and what he is doing. He is rolling backwards on the floor on top of a colorful throw rug. I love the spirit of my grandson that is revealed in so many photos. I think the muted shades of this sepia print somehow make it easier to catch his silly mood.

I made these flowers out of newspaper print by punching out the petal shapes and gluing them to white paper with Mod Podge. I covered the petals with a second coat, and after it dried, I cut the flowers out, leaving a small white border. I love how these newspaper flowers combine with other paper designs, especially vintage prints.

I painted the chipboard frame and the grungeboard key with acrylic paint and added a coat of Distressed Vintage Photo Stickles to both.

Lots of Bling

My favorite embellishments are chipboard, grungeboard, Stickles (glitter glue) and Liquid Pearls. This is a photo of my granddaughter, playing with stickers. I have embellished the whole page with Stickles and Liquid Pearls. I also love the lace and the pink ribbon.