I'm Cool Like That!

Once again My Mind's Eye is hosting a layout challenge on their blog. I knew I had to play along and try the wonderful Stella & Rose collection. Love the masculine colors and patterns in these papers!

I love these photos of Dylan and his tough guy glasses and pose (at 5 months old no less!) reminded me of LL Cool J's old song "I'm Cool Like That!" so I used it for my title and decided to grungy up these papers.

Lately, I have been playing with actions in Photoshop Elements. I used a combination faded and vintage actions to give these photos just the right amount of antiquity. If you want to give actions a try, download a free set available on the Pionner Woman blog.

The papers were distressed, inked, embossed and even stitched. Since this is a baby layout after all, I didn't want it to look too dark so I framed the photo and background paper with cream cardstock. The cream crochet lace also added a soft touch.

I love this twine rope, it's almost like pearl swirl for boys! LOL! I just tied a knot and burned  the ends to keep from fraying. After that, I laid it on the paper and let it follow it natural form adhering in a few spots with hot glue.

Thanks so much for your visit today! Happy scrapping!

Hugs,

Jolaine

Once Upon a Springtime

The last couple of weeks have been very difficult with both of my children getting sick and my son ending up admitted to the hospital. Everyone is doing well now but I was completely fried. I really needed some 'me' time so my hubby took the kids out and I got to scrappin!

I had so much fun creating this layout! I actually created it with two challenges in mind. The first one, Dusty Attic Sketch Challenge. I was very pleased to find out that my LSS started carrying DA products. I used their monthly sketch on my layout to play along but positioned my embellishment 'wreath' from corner to corner instead of top to bottom.

When it came time to choose the papers, I drew inspiration in the Moxie Fab Tuesday Trigger:

Love these beautiful colors and they happened to be the same ones in the gorgeous Once Upon A Springtime collection by Graphic 45. These papers are lots of fun to work with and just perfect for fussy cutting, so fussy cutting I did!

I added texture and dimenson with pop dots, crochet lace and stickles. My daughter loved the outcome almost as much as she loves fairies so we decided to place in in a shadow box and hang it in her room.

To create a more realistic effect on my DA chipboard pieces, I embossed them and then painted the raised surfaces with black acrylic paint. Once dry, I inked the entire piece with Timber Brown Staz-On ink. The Recollections flowers were misted with Rose Tea and Wheatfields Glimmer Mist. I also inked all of the papers with Tea Dye Distress Ink.

Thanks so much for visiting! I really enjoy having you and reading your sweet comments!

Hugs,

Jolaine

Coordinates Collections Party Time Reveal and Farewell

At Coordinates Collections, each new month brings a new kit and a new reveal. This reveal will be my last. After much thought and consideration, I decided to step down from my DT position at CC. Changes can be scary but can also be the right thing too. This was a really difficult decision.  I have truly loved being a part of the team at Coordinates Collections.

With that said, I was lucky to have the Party Time kit be my last. This kit includes fun Fancy Pants and Jillibean Soup products and were just what I needed to scrap some birthday photos of my little guy's first birthday.

My first layout features a photo we took during Dylan's birthday party last year. That was a pretty hectic day and we weren't able to get great photos but I really liked this particular shot. Because it was such a special ocassion, I made sure to include handwritten journaling, which I rarely do!

To keep things simple, for my second layout, I used the same border punches and supplies. This made my pages come toghether incredibly fast. Here he is on the actual day of his first birthday enjoying a cake and lots of love.

And lastly, I have a card made with some scraps. As you can see I only used the Fancy Pants papers, my favorites. I still have all of the Jillibean Soup papers left to make another layout! The flower you see here was made with the Maya Road pleaded ribbon included in the kit. That ribbon is so fabulous and versatile, I want it in every color now!

To see what the other Design Team members created with this and the other kit of the month, visit the Kit Ideas page at CC. Thanks so much for coming to visit today.  I do hope you enjoy what's left of the weekend and get some time to get crafty!

Hugs,

Jolaine