Decisions, decision, decisions ...

So here I have this Beautifully embossed white piece of paper that I recently bought at Oh Scrap! in Costa Mesa, CA

The little UPC sticker on the back tells me it is handmade paper from Canvas Corp.  I believe it.  The texture of the embossed flowers and linen look background is exquisite.

Now the question is what shall I do with it?  It screams to be something feminine but that is not what I am feeling.  I wonder if my new grandson Gabriel will forgive me 20 years hence if I use this paper as the basis of a layout about him.

I remember holding his not quite 2 year older brother Ezekiel when he was his age and listening to everyone go on about how much he looked his dad, Richard, or how much he looked like his mom, Natashia (my daughter).  All the time I thought, “He doesn’t look like either one of them!  He looks like Ezekiel!”

 However, from the first moment I held him and gazed into Gabriel’s perfect little face all I could see is his mother staring right back me when she was the same age.  I have some expertise on that subject since I was there when she was born!  =D

However, I think I'm going to listen to the beat of my heart on this one.  I'm going to use it as the background on a layout for my new precious grandson Gabriel who so reminds me of his mother when she was tiny enough to hold in my arms like I hold him now.

I’ll post the layout once it is done and you all can tell me what you think…has the MaddScrapper indeed gone off the deep end? 

Mayra the MaddScrapper

White on White Blog Hop

This month Lorby's World of Hops has challenged their talented crafters by asking them to create something that is white on white with a touch of color. I know you will be as pleasantly surprised to see what they have come up with. There is so much talent here that I know they have risen to the occasion and have some wonderful projects to share.

So please begin at Lorby's World since she is our hostess and has a give away going on with this hop. She has all the details on her blog.

Our guest hostess is Tee and she is offering a give away from The Cutting Cafe who is our sponsor this month. Please visit The Cutting Cafe to see all their beautiful printable and cutting files.

Now let's begin this hop. Here is my project to share.

My intentions were great…I had visions of this beautiful 12 x 12 layout, I had the paper, the ephmera AND THE VISION of what exactly it was going to look like…and then LIFE intervened!!! So needless to say I had to tailor down my vision to more realistic proportions!

I settled on making a card along the lines of my original vision, so I broke out a piece of my handy dandy white card stock and cut it to 5-1/2” x 11” and scored and folded it at 5-1/2”.

I then snagged a piece of white velvet paper I bought at a booth at the Scrapbook Expo that was selling paper by the pound. I knew I would eventually find a project for it! I cut that down to 5” x 5” and adhered it to the front of my card.

I next took a piece of white textured card stock and cut it down to 4” x 4” and ran it through my Big Shot using my Birds and Swirls embossing folder by Cuttlebug.

Never being one to leave well enough alone, I felt that the white velvet paper layer needed “something.”  So I pulled up the corners and chomped the corners with my Crop-a-Dile Corner Chomper, I also chomped the corners of the embossed layer with my Scallop Corner Chomper and then I adhered my embossed layer onto the velvet layer, not centered like the previous layer but offset to the left for added interest.

So now I had the base for my card but it needed more!  I already had these little white butterflies by Heidi Swapp for my original project but I decided they were just the needed touch for this card!  I guess I'm going to need to go get more for my other project!  Oh woe is me!

Recalling that this Blog Hop is White on White with a touch of color, I remembered a friend’s suggestion that I use a bold color (Yes Tee, I was listening to you!), so I took a small but very bright orange flower, attached it to a pretty bow, adhered it to the bottom right corner of the card and added a bling swirl because folks, it ain’t finished until it has some bling!   I added two butterflies to complete my card and called it good! 

And here’s my finished card!  I hope you like it!

I'm always saying that genius come slow to me…but I can deliver in a pressure situation!  From start to finish including writing this post it took me just over an hour to complete this project.  Sometimes you just need to let go and let the creativity flow! 

Come back on Monday, I'll be posting a picture of the very cool paper that I originally planned on using for this hop. Then, if all goes well, next week I'll post the my new project using that paper.

Thank you for stopping by today and now your next blog to visit is Camille.

Mayra the MaddScrapper

Blog Hop Line Up

Jearise - http://lorbysworld.blogspot.com
(Co-Hostess) Tee -  http://tee-myspot.blogspot.com/2013/05/white-on-white.html
Jamie - http://craftygirl21.blogspot.com/
Deborah ~ http://www.scrappingmamma.net
Edwina - http://edwinascreations.blogspot.com/
Lynne ~ http://slasewcraftiness.blogspot.com/
Mayra - http://themaddscrapper.blogspot.com/
Camille - http://shortonideasaz.blogspot.com/
Miriam - http://miriamscreations.blogspot.com/
Janet - http://ladyluvbug.blogspot.com/

Cruising on a Friday Afternoon

And today’s blog post is brought to you by the need to take advantage of a sale!  =D

Well THAT and finding a gift for both my mom and my sister.  I'm already late for my sister’s birthday (5/4)  and Mother’s Day (5/12), but I'm hoping that I can redeem myself with a very cool mini album.

Anywho, it just so happens that  I live within reasonable driving distance of Pinecone Press/Paper Arts Warehouse AND I signed up for their email alerts.  And what do I find in my inbox on Monday but their email telling me this kit was 30% off!!!  Oh Yeah!!!

Now I have a best friend who is also an Evil Enabler and she suggested we just head on over there and take a peek!  Yup….THAT’s my story and I'm sticking to it! 

Now, if it just sooooo happens that you are going on a cruise or someone you know is going on a cruise, well I found the perfect mini album to memorialize what could be a once in a lifetime trip.  You might just want to saunter over to Pinecone Press and take a look a their Cruise Ship Album kit.

Of course because I am nothing if not insane I didn’t just buy 1… ..I bought 2 kits.   I see some speed scrapping in my future! 

Check out the Pinecone Press Designs’ YouTube video that shows the entire mini album.  

I'm also linking a quick video I shot of what comes in the kit so you can see the contents of  the kit! 

Well…I’m going to get started on these albums….wait…maybe I should finish the layout pages I'm doing for my grandsons!  Yeah…yeah…finish those and then start on this album.

I have lots of fussy cutting to do since I have 2 albums to do and mom is coming over tonight, so hopefully I can do this stealth while we are watching a movie on TV!

Wish me luck! 

Mayra the MaddScrapper

At the Pool

No time to write today.

But to help cope with the current record HIGH temperatures here in Southern California ... 

Lets spend some time At the Pool:

Mayra the MaddScrapper

Inspired by Purple

This cute little card is brought to you by PURPLE!  =) 

 

This little pretty is an "all purpose" card I made from scraps on hand using a technique I learned at one of the booths at ScrapbookExpo.  

The base paper with the leaves is plain white and I stamped all over it randomly two shades of purple and a few touches of olive green for contrast.  

I then ran a tissue across the paper and the ink came right off the enamel design.  Cool huh?  

A scrap of solid purple and a scrap of lavender polka dot mounted on the white card stock framed it quite nicely I think.  

I tore it on a couple of edges just to give it a touch of distressing and I inked the edges of the lavender polka dot paper to tie it all together.  

I added a little button and a piece of twine just because!  =P  

The inside is blank right now waiting for a sentiment …. that is If I can manage to give the card away!  =P

And as always instead of doing what I should be doing here I am looking at images to add to the blog.  I was looking for something clever to inspire us to declutter and organize!  Gawd only knows I need it!  =D  

However, instead I just found something inspirational so I'm sharing that instead.  I think I may have to add it to my walls once I'm done organizing the scrap room and figure out what color paint I'm going to get on the walls!  =)

Oh and I just happen to have a decorative curtain rod I bought but never used AND the curtain rings.  I knew I would have another use for them!!!  

What I Love is the ability to display our layouts outside of a traditional scrapbook and not sitting stuck on a book shelf or unopened on a coffee table!  THAT is a travesty!  We pour our creativity and hearts and souls into our displays with the goal to share them with others, how better to do that than to display them on our walls! 

  

Mayra the MaddScrapper

National Hug Your Cat Day

My feline best friend and the subject of this blog hop is none other than Squeaker the Cat and trust me she earns her name!  Squeakie is quite the conversationalist and very vocal about her wants/needs particularly at Bedtime!!!  

 I swear she lays in wait…fakes me out and makes me think she is dead asleep, but the second my head hits the pillow its, “meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow meow!!!  “It is now time to pet me and scratch me and Love Me Mom!!!  You’re not tired!”  LOL  

 I mean look at her in the photo….she’s laying on my pillow with that impish look of hers letting me know “I’m waiting for you!”    

You know what is my favorite part of Squeakie?  It’s her “antennas.”  In this picture she was down to 2 only, usually she sports 4!  LOL   They are bright white, tall and just stand out against all her black.  

 She truly is a joy and a ball to have around…I’ll talk to her and she will meow me her replies and we will carry whole conversations! 

As for the layout itself, the paper came from Die Cuts with a View Pet’s Stack and flat flowers from Petaloo if I'm not wrong.  Don’t quote me on the latter, I’ve had them for a while and it is what happens when you shop from your stash!  LOL  

 

I made myself let go on this layout, I tend to be one of those scrappers that over-analyzes her layout to the “nth” degree.  This time I just cut up paper, put it together, called it good and then realized “Gawd this is Busy!”   

 

 But then I like busy!  =D 

I hope you enjoy my stop…leave me some Love if you like my layout!  Oh and don’t forget to Hug Your Cat today!!! 

Next stop is Robin!!!   

Mayra the MaddScrapper

 

Blog Hop Line Up

Jessi – www.Mylifeinartsncrafts.com
Connie – http://conniecancrop.blogspot.com
Robin – http://littletidsandbits.blogspot.com/
Lynne – http://slasewcraftiness.blogspot.com/
Mayra – http://themaddscrapper.blogspot.com/
Robin – http://scrapandchat.blogspot.com

Upcycling Starbucks!

I never cease to be amazed by the cleverness of my fellow scrapper!

I happened to be fiddly-farting on Scrapbook.com. Heaven forbid I should actually scrap or clean my room which is what I SHOULD be doing! LOL

 Having said that though I want to share this image I found posted by Luuuuv2scrap.

So if you happen to buy Starbuck Frappucino four packs you just might want to save those! Just say’n!

Mayra the MaddScrapper

Happy Scrapbooking Month

Greetings All!  Let me start off by wishing everyone a Happy Scrapbooking Month!  So what are you doing this month?  I'm getting a late start but I'm determined to do a project a day for the rest of this month.  Can I do it?  Who knows?  But I'm going to try!!!! 

I'm going to start with one of the projects I made at the National Scrapbook Day Crop I went to at Hearts and Crafts in Covina, California!

Tee, our Instructor started with cutting out the hearts, crown and angel wings using Tim Holtz dies from Sizzix out of chipboard and dictionary paper.  We then used a glue stick and glued the dictionary paper onto the chipboard cut outs.

We then painted a thin coat of Viva Precious Metal EffectPaints and SilksAcrylic Glaze by Luminarte onto the paper.  It paints on very sheer so if you want a deeper color or a more opaque effect just paint additional layers. It dries quickly so this won’t take too long! 

We then glued our chipboard pieces together and then used Inka Gold Metallic Rub and rubbed color onto each of our pieces basically to our taste.  I did add some of the Graphite around the edges to add some shading and dimensionality to my heart and wings.  This was the first time I was using this product so I tended to be a bit light handed but I still like the effect I achieved.  Not too bad for a rank beginner in working with mixed media!  =P 

We then took a shipping tag and rolled it up into a ball, spread it back out and painted it using Silks Acrylic Glaze by Luminarte.  I painted my tag using Sunburst and Ginger Peach.  I then went over the card with various colors from the Inka Gold Metallic Rub line.  I wanted the colors to be deeper and achieved that effect by rubbing additional layers onto my tag. 

Last but not least we were given a snippet of white ribbon and I painted mine with Silks Acrylic Glaze by Luminarte and tied it into a pretty bow.  We then  glued our winged hearts and bow onto our tag! 

Here’s a shot of my finished tag.  It may not be a work of art, but I'm rather pleased!  I see collecting these paints in my future….ah to have infinite amounts of money to buy all that pleases me!  However, I do recommend these paints…they are tooo much fun! 

Mayra the MaddScrapper