Why should you attend a crop at the Latham Michael's?

Lots of great reasons but the free double page layout from me is a bonus for sure.  I used to only offer a free kit on the official Scrap In days (first Saturday of the month) but since that class may begin closing out and I'd love to have the same thing happen on the unofficial day (third Sunday of the month), I'm going to offer a free kit at both crops, with only one kit per customer per month.

So for the second November crop and either December crop you will get one of three of these kits from a wonderful Simple Stories paper pack we are carrying this season.  Check it out.

 Kit one page one and two

Kit two page one and two

 

Kit three page one and two

November Scrapbook class

For those that don't know, I still offer a Sketched Out class version on the Scrapbooking 101 night. You can get two double page layout kits to make that night and this month I LOVE the pages.  I'm always a big fan of Bo Bunny papers and last year's Apple Cider papers were gorgeous.  See what the November kits made.

This is a great example of how to build on papers what a full page image.  I cut out the scarecrow and wheelbarrow, put a piece of solid brown behind that corner, and lifted the cut image with foam tape to add some dimension.  For a little shine, I painted some leaves and acorn tops with pearlized Smooch, and added some bling along page where the swirls met on the paper.  Bo Bunny took care of the color and pattern for me.  The paper had plenty of fun pieces to cut and pop up.  Picture don't do these papers justice.  Stop by the Latham Michael's to see them in the book.

Thanks for checking out these layouts.

Card Tricks-Happy Halloween

Great class tonight with a fantastic group of crafty ladies.  The surprise was that a class of three turned into a class of eight and I didn't have eight kits.  But we shifted some things and the ladies were very flexible.  Here are the fun and easy cards.

First up is a super cute stamp from Hampton Arts made by Outlines.  I'm so happy Outlines stamps are still available. Love their designs.  I knew this would be fun to color with some Copic markers.  We added some rock candy distress stickles to the stars on the owl's hat.  The 'trick or treat' is cut from a ribbon.  An easy way to add some texture and shine to a card.  The bat paper is textured with glitter and the purple paper is from DeNami, rich with texture.

Next up is a super simple card because the paper are so fabulous.  This is Graphic 45's Happy Haunting.  The paper comes with five imprints of this image and four of another Halloween post card.  We added a Martha Stewart glittered spider over the spider in the image and a Halloween themed ribbon.

This card used another great image we got at the store and I knew right away I wanted to use this image.  We masked the raven and sprayed Bronze Perfect Pearls spray.  After drying the stain, we reverse masked the raven and used a lighter Perfect Pearls spray.   The image is layered on plain and print papers and another snippet of Halloween ribbon, this time 'Magic'.

Last card, this time using a black Recollections card with a die cut circle and embossed border.  We punched a larger circle of Halloween print paper then layered a punched image of a witch and her cauldron punched from silver glitter paper.  She's on the inside of the card and you can view this piece through the circle.  Then we cut some potion bottles from Martha Stewart papers and added them with a perfect phrase "Bubble, Bubble, Toil and Trouble"

More great classes coming to the Latham Michael's:  three Christmas themed cards, Spellbinders card tricks and November's Card Tricks class which will be Thanksgiving and Fall themed.  Hope to see you there.  I'll be making extra kits for sure.

Kick It!

This was a fun page to make, but there is a glaring mistake.  Can you find it?  This paper was something I got in a packet of misc. stuff from SEI at the Creative Keepsakes Convention last year.  There were pages for every sport.

This is a great example of papers that are so rich and interesting and I don't want to cover it up.  I wanted to limit the amount of materials put on top.  The title, player, and soccer balls are cut from the Cricut Sports Mania cartridge.  The number 10 came from an SEI sticker sheet that came with this packet.  I made corner mats with the white soccer paper and punched a scalloped edge for one photo mat.

So did you find the mistake?  I cut the soccer balls with the white and black papers backwards.    Ready to add the team and individual photos.  Score!

Dinos Roar! A Sketched Out layout

The photo of this layout doesn't do it justice because the paper is shiny and textured and the other papers are more patterned than they appear. The dinosaurs are cut with the Cricut and the Dinosaur Tracks cartridge.

After the pictures were taken I thought it needed more texture and added some burlap.  I wanted texture and more embellishments but I don't like using things like buttons or ribbons on a boy themed page.  I do like eyelets and brads on boy pages and I'm open to any suggestions for ways to add to this page. 

July Scrap In layout

This was a layout that used a bunch of different things.  I love Basic Grey paper and Michael's had a collection on the sale rack that I bought for this purpose.  The chevron cuts were made using Kiwi Lane templates.  The alphabet letters, the 'of, and the 'joy' were cut from a patterned paper and the phrase is cut from a Quick Quotes paper.  Then I added lots of buttons and some brads.

When I saw this layout from Michael's I originally thought I'd have to buy materials but I have so much stuff I was determined to use what I had.  I'm happy the way it came out.  It's a perfect way to enhance some family pictures.

April Scrap In layout

This is the April Scrap In layout which is based a layout from Michael's.  Every month at the Scrap In you get a flyer with a sample page layout.  At the Latham store, you get a double page layout as a gift from me.  This is an older paper line from SEI.

I added some twine, some washi tape, paper flowers, some rhinestones, and some Cricut cut word.  The  circles were all punched from patterned paper.

Easy way to use some scraps of a paper you love, but don't have a lot of.  And we all have LOTS of scraps, right?

Summertime and the living is easy.....

One of my favorite We R Memory Keepers paper lines was 'On the Boardwalk'.  These pages used several of these papers pieced together.  The Summertime title was cut from the papers and the bottlecap was an embellishment from the same paper line. The flip flops and beach umbrella are from Life's a Beach and the sunglasses are from Forever Young.

Can't get enough of summer time.

Amusement Park fun

We spend a lot of time at Six Flags and I was lucky enough to get some fun theme park paper from my friend Carrielynn. Some Cricut cuts from the Summer Vacation cartridge and a pack of Recollections stickers and it's ready to record one of our regular summer outings.

August Scrap In Layout

For the August Scrap In at Michael's I gave this double page spread featuring Creative Imagination with beautiful seashore papers.

The foam stamps are a perfect match.  Then the title is cut from the Cricut Life is a Beach.   Glad my customers enjoyed it.

Back to Blogging

Finally have some time to update my blog.  First I'll post the upcoming classes at Michael's.  Then I'll post some samples from past events.

Back again this year, three holiday card classes.  Classic Holiday Card Tricks, Very Merry Card Tricks, and Vintage Card Tricks.

Another change: with the new Scrapbooking 101 class I'll resume a format from the previous Sketched Out class.  If you sign up for Scrapbooking 101 and indicate you want the Sketched Out option, I'll have two double page spreads available for you to make, self paced.

You can sign up on line now.  However the online price may be higher than we charge at the store.  Let me know if you questions.  Hope to see you at the store for a class.

June DeNami Blog Hop-Patterned Papers

Welcome to the June DeNami Blog Hop.  This month's theme is patterned papers and there is sure to be lots of fabulous ideas throughout the hop.

You should have arrived from the blog of Kanani Kawamura. She's another talented artist on the DeNami Design Team and has posted lots of inspiring cards.  

If you get lost along the way, just hop back to the DeNami blog site and you can jump in wherever you want. 

The details of the hop:

When: The blog hop starts on June 9th at 6 AM, PST. However, you have until June 10th, 2013, 11:59 pm PST, to leave comments on all the blogs (to be eligible for a prize).

Why: To be inspired by fun DeNami Design creations and also the chance to win mini shopping sprees on the DeNami Design website!

Prizes: DeNami will giving away THREE $20 gift certificates to our website! They be giving away one gift certificate to a random participant (DT members not eligible) and TWO gift certificates to TWO people who comment along the hop (one each)!

This week I had to create a wedding card and I went back to an all time favorite, the wedding block design stamp. I really wanted to use the Authentique Remembrance papers. They are so rich and elegant.  The elegant DeNami stamps are my favorites, so it was easy to pair them together. 

I used a solid green base and layered the Remembrance 3 paper (a floral grid pattern) on top. Then a layer of the reverse side of Remembrance 3 (a deep purple), then Remembrance 1 (a large floral with a patterned scalloped bottom).  What can I say:  I wish they chose different names.

Next another layer of the purple layer mounted with foam tape then a cream layer with the block designed embossed in gold.  I stamped another image of the block embossed in gold then cut each block individually and cut away as much white space as possible.  I layered solid green behind the cut away piece and mounted them with more foam tape. 

This side view shows where the dimension is added with the foam tape.

The inside has a cream liner on both sides for lots of good wishes and a message embossed in gold and layered on the green and Remembrance 2 paper.

While you are hopping on Sunday, I'll be finishing up with the Nakamura family at the Syracuse, NY stamp show.  During a quiet moment I snapped this shot of Nami, Bryant and Evan.

And in another quiet moment, Nami created this fabulous folding card with lots of layers of one of the new stamp images.  I won't spoil her idea more but will say Paulina should definitely show this card on the blog in more detail.   

In the meantime, hop over to Jennifer Harris  and continue to get your DeNami fix.  Make sure to leave me a message and enjoy the rest of the hop.  You're half way through!  Enjoy.

Annette

DeNami Blog Hop-Fresh Florals

Welcome to DeNami's monthly Blog Hop.  This month the theme is fresh florals with lots of DeNami images to choose from.  You should have arrived from the blog of Lisa Petrella. Lisa is on the DeNami design team so you can find LOTS of fabulous ideas on her blog. I love her style and she has great instructions for her samples.  Check it out.

Lots of people I've invited are a little confused about what a blog hop is and how it works.  The hop has a theme, in this case DeNami floral stamps, and charges a group of artists to create something within that theme to give us all a little inspiration for these glorious images.  We post our creations on our blogs and the 'hop' links all the postings together so you can move from one blog to another with just a click and see lots of inspiration within the theme.

The DeNami hop always starts on Sunday morning and ends Monday night (see hours below).  Any comments you post to any of the blogs during that time enters you into a drawing for one of two $20 gift certificates from DeNami.  Of course you can alway look at the inspiring work after the deadline, but who doesn't want a DeNami gift certificate.

If you get lost along the way, go back to the DeNami blog and you can find the link to hop back in where you want to be.  

So for this theme, I used a card I just made for kids to create and give to their mothers on Mother's Day.  It had to be super easy because I had kids of all ages (and some dads helping little kids).  The card has a patterned paper background and showcases the heart flower trio stamp.  I had the images stamped and punched on the pink paper and the green background punched.  All they had to do was color the flowers, adhere the pink layer to the green then to the patterned paper, and adhere the greeting.  

The kids loved making their moms cards and the moms were thrilled to get a hand made card.  I don't know about you but I hear crafters say no one wants to give them a card because it can't compare to what they make. But a card from your kid can't compare to anything and a handmade card from a kid is the best.

Next stop for more inspiration is Linda Carpenter.  Remember to leave comments between May 19th at 6 AM, PST and May 20, 2013, 11:59 PM PST.

Thanks to my friend Anne for sending me the pic of the card.  I gave my sample to a handicapped woman to give to her mother and couldn't find my own pic of the card.  Good karma coming to you Anne.

Enjoy all the art you visit today.

Reminder, Card Class this Saturday at Art Smarts

Class this Saturday at Art Smarts including lots of coloring.  We'll use watercolor pencils, direct to paper coloring a la Magenta, Copics of course, and some prismacolor pencils with gamsol.

Beautiful images, samples to be posted so I'm hoping.

If you plan to attend, drop me a quick email.

Also, this will be my last Saturday morning class at Art Smarts.  It's tough to compete with kids birthday parties.  We can talk about other dates or times but I'm hoping to move this class to Michael's if they'll accommodate us using the class instead of kids class time.  Let me know what you think?

Happy Mother's Day.

Salvatore Dominic Caruso