June Beachy Layout Workshop

Sand, sun, surf....I love North Carolina, I really do!  I have tons of photos from the beaches here, and also waterparks, lakes, pools and kids' water play.  I was so thrilled to see the Footloose Paper Pack!  I just love the sunny yellows (creme brulee) and the deep ocean blue (lagoon). 
This month, we'll work on a fun Layout that you can customize.  I really like layouts that use 4x6 photos, since I don't need to crop my photos I can save time.  So, there's only one photo that's been cropped to 3 1/2 by 5.  You can always make the background shape a little taller to accommodate a 4x6 photo, though.

I really LOVE how this layout came out!  I've found 3 sets of photos to use with it, so I'll have to make a few more of these!  Fortunately, the whole thing takes just 4 1/2 sheets of cardstock, some twine and 4 of the Milepost stars.  You could certainly just use Cricut sealife shapes with it, or even use the Footloose Complements for a different look.  You can also turn the right side layout 90 degrees to accommodate 2 horizontal and one vertical photo as well.

I used 2 sheets of White Daisy for the backgrounds, and a single sheet of B&T for the patterned pieces.  I love the sun on the Footloose B&T paper, so I cut it out at 7" across and 8" down.  That left me with a piece for the right-side of the layout, which I trimmed 1/2" off lengthwise.  I then cut 3/4" off the bottom to make the photo mat on the right side.  I used that 3/4" to fill in above the piece on the left side to make a photo mat for the horizontal pic.

I cut one 12x12 piece of Lagoon cardstock to 6 1/2 by 11 1/4 for the other mat piece on the right.

The star and hemp twine embellishment is cut from a piece of Creme Brulee cardstock.  I used only 1/2 sheet of 8 1/2 by 11 Creme Brulee cardstock.  Cut the 8 1/2 by 11 in half, leaving 2 pieces of 4 1/4" by 11.  Cut this into 3 pieces - 1 1/2", 3" and 4".  (You'll have a scrap leftover).

For the Lagoon AP shape on the left, I used the Card shape on p. 58 cut at 6 1/4".  I used my Gypsy to remove the score marks, but you could do this in Cricut Craft Room as well.  You could also just cut it on your Cricut and ignore the marks. 

No Cricut?  Cut this mat at 4 1/4" by 6 1/4". 

There's a few ways to play with this one - here, I've used the Digital photo prints from Snapfish (theyr'e 4" by 5.3").  I changed the embellishment from stars to using a piece of the Zipstrip.  Not perfect, it needs to have the photos cropped, and it needs another piece of Creme Brulee on the right side between the photo and the journaling block.  It shows the versatility of this layout:

The cute girl in this photo is my lovely daughter.  These were taken at Great Wolf Lodge in Charlotte during our end of year Girl Scout trip.  Those girls had a BALL!

The title will be cut at the workshop, and will be done in Lagoon, then arranged over the Sun on the left side.  The Journaling block could also be changed to showcase a small photo.  Lots of possibilities with this layout!

Have fun - and don't forget the sunscreen!!

Have You Seen Florentine?

I love pretty paper.  Well, obviously!  Anyway, I really like this bitty floral paper in the Florentine paper pack (X7153B).  I loved that it brought out the golden tones of the cardboard box in this photo!  This impromtu picture was taken when we went to visit my daughter at her new house.  Her goofy dog crawled into a cardboard box, then the kids crawled into the box with her!  You can see my daughter's sneakers on the corners of the box - she was the one taking the photo.  It's a funny picture, but I love it!

I decided to use the bitty floral Florentine paper it as a mat for the photo, and used my Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge to cut an 11" scalloped circle.  I used 1/4 of the scalloped circle in the corner of a sheet of Twilight cardstock, inked the edges of everything with Cocoa and threw on some lace and buttons from the Bohemian Assortment (Z1687).  I think I added some vintage buttons as well.  I cut the journal tag by hand, then stamped it with Goldenrod Exclusive Ink, using a background stamp from the Florentine WOTG stamp set.  The sentiment/title is from the same set.

This whole layout came about because I wanted to try the flowers from the Pemberley WOTG layout.  These are cut from a sheet of Creme Brulee paper, various sizes from 1 3/4 to 1" using the Art Philosphy cartridge (what else have I used in the past few months??)  After cutting, I used Goldrush Exclusive Ink to stamp a the large flower from the Pemberley WOTG kit directly in the center.  I love to mix and match between the sets, and using the colors from the packet helps everything coordinate beautifully!

I inked the edges of the flowers with Cocoa ink, then added dimension to them by pressing the rounded bottom end of a sharpie marker tube - with the marker closed! - into the center of the flower.  I put a piece of rubber foam from my mousepad (remember those?) underneath the flowers for a cushion while I did this.

The leaves are stamped with Olive ink and are from the Just for You stamp set (B1398).  Mix and match!!

Glue the flower parts together with Liquid Glass, and place on your layout.  I used Liquid Glass as the adhesive for all of the bulky items like lace and buttons on this page as well.  It's become my go-to adhesive, especially since the tip of the bottle is so small, it allows me to be very precise when applying adhesive to small areas.  Love it!!

May Special - Cricut Art Philosphy BONUS for you!

I just LOVE the Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge!  It's become my absolute favorite cartridge, and it's the one that I go to whenever I need something to spice up a layout or a card.  It has so many DIFFERENT shapes - and I love them all!!  Need flowers?  Got it.  Need a shaped card?  Got it.  Scalloped circles?  Yup!   How about BOXES, BAGS and TAGS?  Got those, too!

I wish I could show you everything on this cartridge - it's so VERSATILE!  I really think everyone with a Cricut should have this cartridge in their collection.  If you haven't gotten yours yet, I'm going to sweeten the pot a bit.  For the marvelous month of May, if you order the Cricut Art Philosophy bundle from my consultant site, at a gathering or workshop by me or from me by email or phone, you'll get any B-size My Acrylix stamp set for FREE.

The Art Philosophy cartridge bundle includes 3 exclusive D size stamp sets, designed to perfectly coordinate with the images on the cartridge.  You also get 3 sheets of Dimensional Elements (tags, shapes and banners) which coordinate with the shapes on the cartridge as well.  You can mix and match to your heart's content!  Just cut out your Cricut shape, stamp it, or cover a Dimensional Element shape with a cut shape, or just stamp directly onto the Dimesional Element - you get to choose!  You can create unique and beautiful artwork with incredible ease!

Which stamp set will you choose?*  There are many sets that coordinate with the Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge, and you will get to select one for FREE!!  Look through the catalog and when you see a stamp that has a red border around it, that stamp has a matching Cricut shape on the Art Philosophy cartridge!  What could be easier?!  Just cut the design on your Cricut, then stamp the pre-cut shape!  It takes creating to a new level of faster, simpler and easier!

Click the link below for more info, or if you'd like to place your order to have it shipped DIRECTLY TO YOUR DOOR! 
http://deequarles.ctmh.com/CTMH/Content.aspx?id=%2fen%2fsitecore%2fcontent%2fOBA%2fProducts%2fCricut_Art.aspx

Don't forget - if you order the Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge, you also qualify for BOTH the "Dotty for You" and the Stamp of the Month Specials!  Why not take advantage of that today?
*If you order online, I will send your Free B-size stamp set to you separately.  Let me know which one you'd like!

Meet Lucy!

I simply adore the spring colors in the Lucy collection!  They remind me of the weather we've had lately, and they inspire me to create something beautiful! 

I can't wait to get my hands on this paper collection.  This is one of the first things I'm going to try, it's a sweet little heart-shaped gift pocket.  The pretty blush, creme brulee, sweet leaf and grey wool colors really say "SPRING" to me! 

The pocket comes from the Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge.  The flower shapes are a part of this cartridge set as well.  The flower and sentiment stamps are a set called "A Blossom" (A1121) that's only $6.95 for the set of 5 versatile My Acrylix stamps. 

You can see the set on page 67 of the Spring/Summer Idea Book, just use the link to my online catalog to the right.  You can have any order sent directly to your home.  If you like papercrafts, you'll love looking through the new Idea Book.  The entire book is online in an easy-to use format.  You can browse page by page, and zoom in on any product you'd like to see more closely.  If you still have questions, I'm happy to answer them.