Monday, May 30, 2016

My Latest Layouts

I've been having so much fun in my scraproom lately playing with some new and not quite so new files by Cuddly Cute Designs. Here's what I've been up to:

I've had some great photos that I wanted to scrapbook of my grandson that my daughter sent to me during of their trip to New York in 2014 but didn't have just the right embellishments for them.  Then Tami, owner/designer of Cuddly Cute Designs, released this fabulous "New York" file a couple weeks ago and I was thrilled! Here's how I used it:

(click to view larger images)



All of the patterns included in this "New York" collection were easy to assemble, especially the title and Empire State Building. 



I was a little hesitant about using different shades of green for my Statue of Liberty (because the pattern doesn't show her skin color that way), but I have to say that I LOVE how she turned out. She ended up with the beautiful weathered sheen look which I got by using a Prussion Blue colored CatsEye Fluid Chalk for shading which gave my green papers a totally different look.


NYC is known for its taxis, and I'm so glad one is included in this set:


The last piece is the little boy with his "I [Heart] NY" shirt and it was the perfect piece to go next to the photo of my grandson sitting on the red LOVE art piece. My grandson has the bluest eyes, so naturally I gave this little guy blue eyes!


Here is what the "New York" pattern from Cuddly Cute Designs looks like so you can compare how it looks with my 'real' life version:


I also had some fun playing with the "Midnight Kisses" and "Cool Treats" files by CCD.  I used it for my layout that I made showing some highlights from the local Chocolate Festival that I attended with my SIL Susan on May 22nd.  




For this layout I used the clock and the chocolate Kisses from the "Midnight Kisses" pattern.  I grouped 12 of the individual Kisses together to make my border and then made two shadows of that border so that it would stand out. Notice the regular and dark Kisses???  I worked for Hershey Chocolate for 30 years and loved the regular and Special Dark Kisses (and still do!).


For the clock, I reduced some of the Kisses in size and used them for my time numbers.  I also added a couple of shadows to my clock to make it stand out better on my background paper. This clock made a fun accent piece to go with my title, don't you think?


Susan and I really enjoyed the chocolatey treats we got, especially the chocolate frosty ice cream and the chocolate covered strawberries.  The ice cream cone embellishment was made using the pattern included in the "Cool Treats" file by Cuddly Cute Designs and the chocolate covered strawberries were from my stash of things that I made a long time ago but never used.


Lastly, I'd like to share a special request project that I made for someone.  I had previously shared my "Tip Toe Through the Tulips" layout with you, and the request was for this same layout but for a BOY instead. Since this cutting file doesn't include a boy, I put my thinking cap on and used a couple of pieces from other patterns by CCD to make this adorable little tip toeing boy:




I love the "boy" twist on this layout and all the blue color variations.  Piecing together this little guy took pieces from three different patterns but I couldn't be happier with the way he turned out.  And, happily, my customer was THRILLED with the outcome.  It was such a great compliment to hear that she kept showing it off to ladies who were attending a NSD Crop with her - how cool is that???

Thank you for taking the time to check out these projects!  Until next time .. Happy Scrapping!

Debbie

Monday, May 16, 2016

Some Fun New Layouts

Last Friday I went to a fun Table Game Day ladies' event where the theme was "It's Bloomin Time". All the table hostesses had made their own beautiful centerpieces with such an amazing array of flowers and colors. The "Garden Bears" file by Cuddly Cute Designs made the perfect embellishments for my scrapbook pages.

(click to view larger images)



Here's a closer look at the Garden Bear pieces:



This file also has a couple of boy bears included that are completely adorable but I chose to use just the girl bears since this was a ladies party.

For my title I used some Thickers alphabets and also my Cat 'n' Mouse Sizzlits dies. 


All I need to do now is print my pictures and my layout will be good to go!

Another project I made is a single-page layout using the super adorable "Margarita Mice" file that was released recently by Cuddly Cute Designs.


For my margarita glass I used cardstock and vellum and just had to add "salt" (aka Stickles) to the rim.



I created my own title and embellished my project with some fun ribbons and paper brads. The ribbons are adhered to the backs of my photo mats so that pictures can easily slide underneath them. 



If you'd like to see these full pattens, the "Garden Bears" file can be found on the Cuddly Cute Designs website HERE and the "Margarita Mice" patterns can be found HERE.

Thanks for stopping by!  Until next time ... Happy Scrapping!

Sunday, May 1, 2016

Just a little behind ...

Whoa!  I just realized that I haven't been posting as regularly as I should be (yikes!).  I hope you'll take a few minutes to grab a cup of coffee and check out what I've been up to this last month!

Well, Easter came super early this year (to me anyway) and here is a layout I made using the "Easter Picasso" file by Cuddly Cute Designs:

(click to view larger images)









These little Picasso bunnies are just too cute for words and I had so much fun making them!

Next came this simple but adorable (if I say so myself!) Easter Bunny card:


I used the Bunny Peep and eggs from the "Easter Kids" file and my title was made using some foam Thicker alphabet stickers.  Couldn't be any easier!

These next two cards are made from the same file, the "He Is Risen" file.  This cutting file gives you two options; a large and small size.  The larger size fits an A7 card perfectly, but both sizes could also be used as an embellishment or border for a scrapbook layout as well.


Another option offered in this file is the use of either a real ribbon or you can create a "paper ribbon" and bow instead.  Don't you just love options?  I certainly do!

When I saw the new "Pudgie Palz Lamb", I knew exactly what I wanted to use it for.  I just love this sweet Precious Baby Boy layout.  In fact, I loved it so much that I actually made another one just like it but for a Precious Baby Girl. Unfortunately, I don't have a photo of that one (not sure what happened there; hmmm.....).



I used Martha Stewart punches for the loopy borders.

Do YOU have some Crazy Cropper friends???  I sure do and I just love how this layout turned out using the "Crazy Croppers" file by Cuddly Cute Designs.  This layout is going to be perfect to highlight some favorite photos from National Scrapbook Day! In addition to this cutting file, I used some flowers that I had on hand that were punched from scraps from other projects (just can't toss away those paper scraps you know!!!).









Easter projects are so fun, especially when you have some fantastic borders to use!  These "Easter Borders" by CCD are terrific for all kinds of Easter layouts and I'm sure there is one included in this set that is just perfect for you!  I cut the egg one out using glitter paper for the swirly top layer and I think it turned out so pretty!  I love them all, but my fave is the Peep one!


This next two-page layout ranks up there as one of my all-time favorites!  It's made using the "Tip Toe Through the Tulips" file.  I love EVERYTHING about this set from the adorable little girl to the smiley worm and the colorful butterfly! For the second page I made my own circle embellishment using some additional tulips and fence posts that I cut out.  The large white scalloped mat on the first page was made by using a Crazy 8 punch.









Getting tired yet???  Hope not because there's still just a few more to come - hang in there!

Have you seen The Lego Movie?  It is so cute, fun, and AWESOME!  There is a song called "Everything Is Awesome" in it, and this file is designed after it.  I enlarged all the pieces so that they fill a 12x12 page that I'm going to use as a cover page for my grandson's trip to Legoland using (what else) Lego paper as my background!!!


Cuddly Cute Designs' current FREEBIE file is the "Spring Has Sprung" title.  I enlarged it to use as a title on my scrapbook layout along with that adorable butterfly from the "Tip Toe Through the Tulips" set. All these bright and cheerful colors just scream 'Happy' to me!  




I'm seriously in love with the butterfly!  This cute frame with the loopy corners is from the "Fancy Labels" file, also by Cuddly Cute Designs.

And last, but not least, is my "Thinking Of You" card. I wanted something plain and simple for my card and the sun and seagulls from the "Castles in the Sand" file and the banner from the "This & That" set totally fit the bill for me.  I used two tones of ivory/beige paper for the card and embellished it with jute ribbon and some self adhesive gold pearls.  I embossed my background paper and made the larger seagull pop by using some foam tape under it.  The sentiment is a stamp from Stampin' Up.


It is so nice to be able to use just a couple of simple elements from any of the CCD files to create something more on the serious or elegant side. It never ceases to amaze me how versatile these files are! 

Thank you SO MUCH for hanging in there with me while I got you all caught up on my projects.  As you can see, April was a pretty busy month for me and May is starting out that way, but I'm going to make a more concentrated effort to stay on top of my blog posts!

I hope you have a great week -- until next time... Happy Scrapping!

Debbie