Amy Tangerine: part two!

Like I said in my last post, I am finding this whole line pretty dang irresistible! Today I've got two projects made from the same piece of (really cool) paper. First, another simple layout: the second night of CHA there was this banquet dinner thing with a couple of bands (including a pretty dang good Abba cover band!), and in the corner was a photographer, a backdrop, and a table full of props. You'll get to see all three (!) of the photos we took together someday, but this one, the third, is definitely the best. Ain't we cute??

 Here's the thing about paper with premade stitching accents: usually, they suck for 8.5x11 scrappers...because they usually go around the border and I have to chop them off, making it awfully silly to pay extra for the stitching, don't you think? The cross-stitching here is cleverly placed in comparison :). I broke out my handy circle cutter for (surprise!) the circles, and added the black faux stitching with a pen. Take a closer look for a sec:

The bit between the rows of stitching is stamped with my new favorite camera stamp, and I colored in the hearts using quick 'n dirty gradient coloring -- I inked up a blender pen with some dye ink once, then colored my way down the line. The alphas are some older Basic Grey that happened to match perfectly. Sweet! So, if you're wondering why I scrap 8.5x11 rather than the more common 12x12, the answer is simple:

Leftovers! Trimming paper down for a layout always leaves me with a handy 3.5x12-inch strip, perfect for quick cards made with whatever supplies are already out. Here, it's the same stamp set, a bit of trim that was just sittin' there, givin' me the hairy eyeball, saying "use me already."I also used a fun little trick I learned in my Jen Starr ink class: if you just kinda pound the business end of a Distress Stain onto paper, it makes a near-perfect splat mark! To finish off the inside, I used more stamps from the same set:

(And another splat, too.) The paper on the inside is left over from my layout's journaling strips above. I'm so frugal!

You can see another layout made with the same stitched paper in this post -- you'll just have to scroll down a bit (below all the product pics). I think people sometimes balk at the stitching, but I'm really starting to dig having someone else do all that work for me ;)

Before I go, don't forget to go vote in the last round of Gallery Idol before Thursday at 2 Eastern -- I'd suggest you vote for Meg, of course!  (Congrats [again] on making top 5, lady!!) If you read this post, you'll appreciate just how much awesomeness went into her designs.

Thanks for stopping by -- have a lovely day!

Amy Tangerine: part one...

...of several, probably. I just can't keep my mitts off of this line! I was lucky enough to score just a little taste of what is sure to be a full-blown addiction at the American Crafts booth at CHA. You can see American Crafts' intro to the line on this blog post, and Amy's intro here, among other places.

I decided to start simply, and with the most logical photo possible: one from the Amy Tangerine booth. Here's what I came up with:

Psst: if you're reading, Amy, thanks for being so utterly gracious (and talented, too)! 

Aside from the alpha stickers (ok, and the staples and date stamp), the only materials I used were one sheet of paper, a photo mat and the tear strip from a second sheet of paper, and the Amy Tangerine stamp set (which I loooove...even though it's a bit squishy). No fancy embellishments, no paint/mist/ink (aside from the stamps, duh), nary a punch or die-cut to be found. The narrow blue strips were cut from my leftovers after trimming down to 8.5x11 -- the b-side is a lovely vibrant blue. I trimmed a few of the sun rays to weave the left-hand strip under. Easy!

Now, about that title...

It's a bit of a grad-school lit-nerd joke. I was in this class once where we were discussing a work of metafiction -- aka a work of fiction that is ABOUT a work of fiction. Someone's parting shot in that particular discussion was, "Well, I guess it's good, but it's a little too meta for me." For some reason, it just cracked us all up...because we were lit nerds, I guess. So: this page is about meeting Amy Tan, featuring a photo of the Amy Tangerine booth, made with Amy Tangerine product. Hope it isn't "too meta" for you!

Sidenote: That stamped camera there looks way better in real life, but I think I should've embossed it instead. The ink was way more vibrant white when I stamped it, but it looks like its faded. I may yet fix it!

I hear this line is shipping to stores now -- the minute it shows up at Scrappy Chic, I'll be sure to tell you! Well...I'll tell you right AFTER I go raid the shelves myself!! In the meantime, I have another layout and a card all ready to share, plus a bunch more ideas in the works :)

Have a delightful day -- and stay cool! Whew, it is crazy-hot out there (or out here, anyway)!

Growing in Unity - Day Four

Howdy, folks!

Another day, another Unity project! Today I have a layout...yep, more CHA photos! Well, pre-CHA, technically. Here you go:

{pardon today's photos -- we had a case of the grey rainies around here!}

All the stamps here (flowers, date tag, border, background stamps) are from this month's KOM, ...better together.  Let's take a closer look at one of those flowers:

All four of the flower stamps in this month's kit have buttons in the center. That's just asking for the real thing, don't you think? I did a bit of quick and simple paper piecing with each flower, topping them with buttons from my embarrassingly large stash of buttons. (PS: one bonus of being an 8.5x11" scrapper: leftover paper to piece with!) In this photo, you can also see an additional flower that I stamped a bit in the background.

{Sidenote: the blue panel on the page is also misted with turquoise glimmer mist. Last weekend, I took an all-ink class with Jen Starr, who's a Ranger and Tattered Angels educator. I finally understand my mists! Hooray! Tip of the day: Spray with conviction! Tip two: mist the back of your paper with plain ol' water, and it curls up way less.}

More simple piecing here. Used my Smash date stamp for the date. Handy little bugger. The papers here are all from Pink Paislee's Daily Junque collection, which I luuuurrve -- the colors are so fresh together! I'm pretty sure my good stamping pal and last week's Growing in Unity gal, Meg, is getting this collection for making it into the Top Ten in the current Gallery Idol competition -- and I think you have until about two pm local (Eastern) time today (Thursday) to go vote for Meg! whomever you like (aka Meg!).

Whew! One more day to go! I'll be back tomorrow with a totally simple card set. In the meantime, I have some comments to catch up on! Y'all are so sweet! Be sure to comment today and every day this week for a shot at winning one of the following sets:

Sending My Love

Bitty Backgrounds

Little Me

Bella Fiori

Homegrown

Hugs & Kitties

Handmade Holiday

Bella Trees

Imagine It

Enjoy your day! See you tomorrow.

Growing in Unity - Day Two

Welcome back!

As promised, here's a layout featuring Unity -- in two ways: the stamps (of course) AND the photo!

As I mentioned in this post, meeting Maren was a total treat. This is the first of many CHA photos you'll see scrapped over the next couple months, I'm sure! I stitched on a twine "wire" for my birds, which are embossed -- as is the swirl in the lower-right corner. Note to self: next time, stitch the twine AFTER embossing. That was a "duh" moment, for sure. ;)

Peek closer:

The birds and swirl are available as part of the Donna Downy Unity set Embrace You. Love the large scale -- perfect for pages!  Embossing on textured paper gives a more rustic-looking texture, which I like. The ticket behind the title is from Here's the Ticket.

More embossing here -- I selectively inked a sentiment from May's KOM, think HAPPY thoughts, and added in some tiny type stickers to complete the thought. This was a great chance to  use papers from my July Scrappy Chic goodies -- Pebbles's Floral Lane collection, which is super-cheery. Grunged up the cheer a bit with layers of tape from 7gypsies and American Crafts. Cheerful grunge: I like it!

Hope you do, too! Remember to comment all week for a chance at some Unity goodies!  I'll be back tomorrow with more. Enjoy your day.

CHA, almost!

Hi all!

Blogging from Chicago (hooray for free wifi in the hotel!). Drove in today with Chris (owner of Scrappy Chic) and Katie (faithful and talented employee), checked into the hotel, checked in at the conference:

an official welcome banner!

an official pass, on a lanyard even!

ate some chow at the Taste of Rosemont (who knew Rosemont had a taste?):

food=happy faces.

headed to an event at a nearby hotel:

wait, is that an Oompa-Loompa? Why yes it is!

but stopped first for a quick visit with an old friend, or something like that, kind of:

ran into Susan Opel from Paper Crafts magazine -- she was my student teacher once :)

the event was very colorful:

wait, is that Willy Wonka? Or Wilhelmina Wonka?

but we didn't win anything during the drawings :(

Not even a gumdrop centerpiece -- cute though, no?

Still, a fun night was had by all:

Way to throw a party, Moxxie!

PS: yes, I'll edit the shadows out of these photos eventually...

And tomorrow, the real show begins!! Stay tuned....