~Scraps of Darkness Spring DT Call~

Hello, all! Just wanted to let everyone know that Scraps of Darkness Kit Club is looking for a couple new Design Team members! Here is the announcement from the Scraps of Darkness Blog:

Scraps of Darkness kit club is looking for designers to add to our talented Design Team! If you love the alternative side of scrapbooking or would like to venture into this realm, then we encourage you to try out!!

Commitment is important, so we want to be straightforward with what we are looking for. We want to see ambitious, outgoing, forum savvy scrappers that share in the same love as we do.
This DT position will start with our May, 2011 kit and end with our October, 2011 kit and we are looking for 2 designers for this term. This is open to everyone. Anyone outside of the US or Canada will have to pay shipping fees.

Here is what we will need from you:

1. You must complete a minimum of 5 layouts/cards/projects per month and have 4 of them ready to upload by reveal day, which is the 15th of every month, and the 5th layout/project should be uploaded about a week after reveal day. These layouts need to be placed in the SOD gallery, blogs, scrapbook.com, and any other public galleries that you participate in.

2. Daily participation on our forum and a daily check in on our Design Team forum, as well as keeping up in the galleries is a must. DT responsibilities, such as posting a Question of The Week, will be rotated amongst our DT and we would also like you to start new threads that encourage posting by our members.

3. You must complete at least 2 tutorials within your 6 month DT term for SOD. These can be either photo or video tutorials.

In return for your commitment, you will receive the entire main kit, as well as TWO additional add-ons free of charge!! You will also have first dibs on any additional add-ons featured throughout the months you are a DT at a 50% discount. In addition, we offer a 30% discount in our store for DT members.

Here is how to apply:

Please send all applications and attachments to dtcall@scrapsofdarkness.com

Please include the following:

1. Name, Address, Phone Number

2. Submit three layouts total - Include two layouts that show us your alternative side or the darker side of your work. For example: Distressed, Grunge, Steampunk, Mixed Media, Dark, etc. Then also include a third layout that you would say is your favorite or best layout, and this can be any style.

3. Tell us why you think you would be a good addition to the SOD team

4. Provide links to blogs and galleries, and any resume you may have

5. List of all current DT commitments, and please note that our designers may not design for or in any way advertise other kit clubs. We have no problem with DT members designing for manufacturers, sketch sites, local stores, etc, but it is counterproductive to have them advertise our competitors.

All submissions must be received by April 15th and we will have an official public announcement by April 20th!!

Good Luck Everyone!!

Whatever Wednesday 3-30-2011

Hello, All! I am taking the opportunity on a Whatever Wednesday to talk about a rather large project I am going to begin working on. Last year, when I first started this blog, I had worked on my own version of Tim Holtz's 12 Tags of Christmas. I called it the 12 Layouts of Alice. I created a layout based on each one of Tim's Tags and used Wonderland as the theme. As I pondered about doing a series of layouts based on this year's 12 Tags, I looked up my old layouts and found that I began them all on April the 22nd. The 22nd happens to be my belated mother's birthday and I thought it fitting to do this project as a celebration for that day. I hope to make it a yearly tradition. So starting on the 22nd and every Tea Time Tuesday after that, I will post a layout or two for this series (12 Layout in all). I really hope you all enjoy them as much as I enjoy creating them! Have a great rest of your day!

Tea Time Tuesday 3-19-2011

Hello, all! What a fabulous morning! I am finally relaxed after finishing up a large amount of homework for my ethics class and I just got some scrappy goodies to play with, so you know what I'll be doing today! But first I must share with you a Wonderland-inspired project that I've been wanting to complete for some time now. It was even on my Unfinished Projects list for Becky's Unfinished Projects Challenge over at Becky's Bits N Pieces from a couple of month's ago! Well I finally got the supplies I needed and I created my very own custom memo board for my scraproom!

Before:

This is the memo board before. I bought it on clearance at Hobby Lobby. I love the whimsical look of the frame so I thought it was perfect for what I wanted to do.

After:

Wonderland-Inspired Memo Board. I added batting, covered it with checkered fabric, ran red ribbon in a crisscross pattern and trim around the edges, then added buttons for a tufted look. Now I can hold pictures, notes, and whatnot in my scraproom. And it has places to hold some photos, too!

Monochromatic Monday 3-28-2011

Hello, all! Today is the last Monochromatic Monday this month! I am usually very excited at the end of the month because of the anticipation of finding out the next month's colors. I can't wait! lol! This month, the Monochrome Challenge at scrapbook.com had 5 colors, one for every week plus a bonus one. The first four were Fuchsia, Bright Yellow, Bluebird Blue, and Kelly Green. The bonus selections was whichever color you that made you think of spring with the twist of Irish Folklore or Tale. For me, the color that screams spring is turquoise! It's so bright and energetic! I used a Creative Scrappers Sketch created by Amarylis. Here is my entry for the bonus selection with the twist:

A Toast layout. I chose turquoise for my bonus color and used the My Mind's Eye Lush 2 Collection, Thickers Glitter Rainboots alphas, and an assortment of Prima flowers. I also used a sketch created by my friend and fellow Deliciously Distressed Diva, Amarylis. She created it for the Creative Scrapper - sketch #147. This is a photo of my husband with his best friend having some fun playing drinking games. The journaling says "There are several good reasons for drinking and one has just entered my head. If a man can't drink when he's living, then how the heck can he drink when he's dead?"  which is an Irish toast.

Saturday Steampunk

Hello, all! And welcome to another Saturday Steampunk! I have a project to share with you that I have been planning to do for a while but haven't had the chance to complete until recently. I had planned to make this around Valentine's Day but here we are more than a month later! Lol! I'm also sharing a layout I did for a couple of challenges below.

Steampunk Heart Ornament. This started off as a paper mache heart; which you can find at most craft stores. I cut slits in the heart where I wanted gears to come out. I covered the entire heart in Bronze UTEE and heated it until I got this hammered metal look. I used hot glue to set the gears in place in the slits (Gears are from Tim Holtz and 7 Gypsies). Then I add some ribbon roses I made and assorted Prima flowers in aquas and oranges, plus some more gears. I cut out a butterfly from some Graphic 45 Steampunk Debutante (which is what inspired the color scheme) paper and glued it onto the flowers.

Friendship layout. This layout was created to enter in the Scrap Your Faves Challenge (Lift of Kaye222's Cute As A Button) and the Cosmo Cricket Challenge at scrapbook.com. The Cosmo Cricket papers I used are all from the Halfway Cafe Collection. I used my Cricut Expression to cute the circles, frame, and background, the title is Thickers Glitter Rainboots and the flowers are Prima. And of course, I added Stickles in Turquoise.

Correction: I was notified that the above layout was not allowed into the Cosmo Cricket Challenge because it was not 90% Cosmo Cricket products. Oh, Well! 

Blue, Green, and Orange!

Hello, all! I cannot believe it but I actually finished all the challenges I signed up for this month over at scrapbook.com! And early, too! So now I am looking for new challenges to take and ideas for some more layouts. Here are a few pages from me with the same color combination. I was really feeling these colors this week! And I actually created more pages in this color combo than I'm sharing since those others are for submissions for a magazine. So here we go!

The More That You Read... layout. This is for the Dr. Seuss, Colour, and Scraplift 101 Challenges over at scrapbook.com. For the Dr. Seuss Challenge, you had to use a Seuss quote or related topic. For the Colour Challenge, you had to use Blue, Lime Green, and Orange as your palette. And for the Scraplift 101, this is a lift of Exploring the Land in Epcot by Godschild94. The photos are of my son (my daughter is in there a bit, too) after school on March 2nd, Dr. Suess' birthday. They had celebrated at school by reading the book Green Eggs and Ham and eating real green eggs and ham! He was so excited when he got home that I took out all the Dr. Seuss books my daughter's had from storage to give to him. He's been reading them non-stop!

The More That You Read (1)...Close-Up. I used some DCWV Animal Crackers papers and photos I took that day, plus added the little announcement all the kids in my son's class got for this day.

The More That You Read (2)...Close-Up. More photos of my son reading his "new" books. I used Thickers in various styles to make up the long title. I colored them with Adirondack Alcohol Inks in Sailboat Blue, Lettuce, and Sunset Orange. I used my Cricut Expression on all the stars.

Sketchy Thursdays Sketch for 3-24-2011.

The Pier layout. This is my take on the Sketchy Thursday sketch for 3-24-2011. The photos are of my son and niece, and of a restaurant called The Pier we stopped at on our mini vacation to visit relatives. The shark is real, just stuffed, and it was caught from the boat pictured at the top. I used my Cricut Expression on the stars and Stickles in Lime Green, Waterfall, and Orange Peel. The paper is from the Where the Heart Is Paper Pack from My Mind's Eye.

Night at the Pier layout. I had so many pictures of this occasion that I decided to make a second page to the sketch layout. I used the same paper pack and Stickles to complete this one as well.

Whatever Wednesday and My 1st Blogiversary!

Hello, all! I can't believe it but it has been an entire year that I've been blogging! Where has the time gone? It doesn't seem like it's been that long but I can say that I have really enjoyed it! I've learned a lot this past year and cannot wait to learn more; about blogging, scrapping, mixed media, and other crafts. Then today the UPS man brought me a nice surprise: I ordered the Vagabond and it was delivered early! I'm so excited to play with it! Well, on to my layout for today. This is based on the Thursday Sketch at the Pages in Time Blog for 3-17-2011.  I am also entering my page in the Military Challenge and Scrap Your Pet Challenge over at scrapbook.com.

Thursday Sketch at Pages in Time for 3-17-2011.

Miss You layout. This is my dog Attila. He loves my husband's Army gear; the dirtier and smellier, the better! Here he is on some of that gear when my husband was gone for training. He has been so sad over my husband's deployment and is slowly adjusting to my husband's absence now. The papers are from Echo Park's A Walk in The Park kit. The letter brads are from The Paper Studio and the alphas are Thickers Rainboots.

 

Tea Time Tuesday 3-22-2011

Hello, all! I think I may be coming down with something! I hope nothing hits me too hard; I hate being sick because it stops me from scrapping and everything I have to do. Well, I don't know about you all but flamingos remind me of Alice in Wonderland where Alice plays croquet with the Queen. I was trying to think about what to do for the Extremely Excessive Exorbitance Challenge at scrapbook.com where one had to use a minimum of 3 feet of fiber and for the twist you would use 7 feet. I was at W-mart recently and passed by the knitting aisle and saw this great roll of fibrous knitting yarn in white that reminded me of feathers. So I dyed the fibers with Worn Lipstick mist that I made and combined that with a Color Room sketch and color palette #11 and a flamingo digital stamp from The Octopode Factory.

The Color Room Palette and Sketch #11.

Flamingo layout. Here is my take on Color Room Sketch and Palette #11. I saw this flamingo at The Octopode Factory and knew I had to use it! So cute, I think. The background paper is stamped using various leaf and flower stamps and The Paper Studio Pink and Lime Green, and Spiced Marmalade Distress Inks. The photos are not mine but are open stock. I also drew white stitches around the page with an opaque pen.

Flamingo Close-Up. This is a close-up of the fibers I dyed with Worn Lipstick mist I made using Worn Lipstick re-inker and Perfect Pearls. I ended up using 12 ft of fiber.

Monochromatic Monday

Hello, all! Just stopping in really quick today to share a monochromatic layout! I am in the middle of helping my eldest daughter move out of one apartment and into another, so my sleeves are rolled up and my ponytail is in full swing! lol! Getting tired but it must be done! So for the Monochrome Challenge over at scrapbook.com the 4th Week was Bright Bluebird Blue with the twist of "Let's All Sing."

Lullabye & Goodnight layout (I realize that Lullaby is misspelled but I wanted it that way! Lol!). This is my son with my BFF while she was pregnant. My son wouldn't leave her side while she was expecting and this day he was so tired that he fell asleep on her. All the papers are from Tim Holtz' Vintage Shabby paper stack. The letters are Thickers and I used some ribbon, Faded Jeans Distress Ink, and Baby Blue Stickles.

Sketch Inspirations and Scraps of Darkness

Hello, all! Today I have a page to share with you that involves a Sketch Inspirations and Scraps of Darkness! Scraps of Darkness is the sponsor this week over at Sketch Inspirations and the SOD DT decided to chip in and each contribute a page as examples. I hope you'll go on over to Sketch Inspirations to check this week's sketch out and play along! The winner this week will get an SOD kit as the prize!

Sketch Inspirations Sketch #212.

Your Ancestors layout. This is the page I created using Sketch Inspirations Sketch #212. The photo is of my FIL's family. I handmade the flower and used my March SOD kit, which was full of Paper Loft For the Record papers.

(Paper) Trailmakers Sketch Challenge

Hello, all! I just wanted to give you a heads up about the challenge going on over at the (Paper) Trailmakers' Blog. There is a prize of a $15 gift certificate. I hope some of you will join in! Here is the description according to Karen:

It's a Sketchy Challenge this time!!

Hello everyone - welcome to Challenge #2 for March here at TrailMakers. I am so excited to share this sketch with you all!! Our very own DT member - Amarilys designed it specifically for YOU so please make use of it!! Remember, even though it shows a bunch of flowers, you can use any type of embellishment in place of it. Also, remember this is all about YOUR interpretation of her beautiful sketch so you can follow it exactly or make your own creation based off of it!

You will have until Saturday April 2nd to link your sketch creation to Mr. Linky. Also - reminder to you that if you participate in both challenges and put in your comment section that you are interested in a GDT spot, you are in the running for Guest Designer for May and also everyone who participates this month in the activities posted here on the blog are eligible for that $15 gift certificate to my store The Paper Trail. Each time you participate you get a chance to win!!!

This is a fabulous sketch and prize! So I hope some of you will give this a try!

Saturday Steampunk 3-19-2011

Hello, all! Here we are on another Steampunk Saturday! I am a huge Nathan Fillion fan. I watch Castle every Monday and I loved Firefly. Wish the networks would bring it back! The Science Network is actually airing reruns of it, so at least that is a start! Lol! Then Nathan Fillion was featured on this week's Entertainment Weekly cover and I was inspired to do a page about that awesome, amazing show. I watched a couple of episodes to get inspired and noticed the connection of steampunk to the show. The aesthetic of the show is a cross between old westerns and space travel. So here is my page dedicated to one of my favorite television shows of all time! Firefly!

Firefly layout. I found this photo on the Internet and I loved the panoramic look to it so I used it for this page. The papers are from the Tim Holtz Lost and Found paper stack. I used my Cricut Expression and the Indie Art cartridge to cut out the gears. I misted the background with Lindy's Stamp Gang Burnt Umber Moon Shadow Mist. The stars are stamped on with a star stamp and Adirondack Heirloom Gold paint dabber. The dots are Heirloom Gold and Pearl paint.

I also made some gears using a mold I made and UTEE in platinum and bronze. Here is a link to my tutorial on how to make your own embellishments with UTEE: http://scrapsofdarkness.com/TutorialUTEEembel.html.

Whatever Wednesday 3-16-2011

Hello, all! For Whatever Wednesday today I wanted to share another Scraps of Darkness project I was working on. This is a Prima Mist-a-bles canvas, although you can't tell any more! Lol! I kind of went overboard with the ink! I just saw Red Riding Hood yesterday and I was greatly inspired to use an image I found on the Internet almost a year ago (I think it was at the Graphics Fairy). I also completed a layout with the Thursday Sketch from the Pages in Time Blog for 3-10-2011, which I will share below.

Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf? layout. I was inspired by the movie Red Riding Hood, which I saw yesterday and remembered that I had this image saved. I used my March Scraps of Darkness kit on this. I used Be Positive and Stiletto Glimmer Glam on the background then stamped and embossed the flourishes with Lindy's Stamp Gang Gold Embossing Powder. I stitched on lace, and added a flower that I made using my own tutorial for Dechire Style Flowers (See link below) and some Prima flowers and Prima metal flowers. The gold rose was white and I misted it with Lindy's Stamp Gang's Gossamer Gold Moon Shadow mist. The wolf eyes are from my Immortal Love paper stack. The vine, Thickers, and black mini roses are from my stash.

Link to Dechire Style Flower Tutorial: http://scrapsofdarkness.com/TutorialDechireFlowers.html 

Thursday Sketch at Pages in Time Blog for 3-10-2011.

Birdies layout. I used the Pages in Time Sketch for 3-10-2011 for this page. The photos are of birds we saw while my family was visiting the Cameron Park Zoo in March 2010. I used Heidi Swapp papers and Thickers.

The Scraps of Darkness March Release post is below.

Tea Time Tuesday and March Scraps of Darkness Kit Release

Hello, all! What a wonderful day for sharing some scrappy projects! Today is also the release of the Scraps of Darkness March kit release! The name of the kit is Vintage Revelry! I want to tell you this month's kit was a lot of fun to work with; full of Paper Loft and Graphic 45 papers, Prima flowers in metal and fabric, and tons of extra goodies to embellish your pages. I actually used my March kit to complete a Wonderland-y project (more on that in a bit). Here is the March Kit - Vintage Revelry!

Scraps of Darkness March Kit - Vintage Revelry.

Scraps of Darkness March Sketch

 by Suepup aka Charlotte.

Chic layout. My take on the March Scraps of Darkness Sketch. The Graphic 45 Curtain Call line really plays up French drama and I wanted to add a little drama to my page. I used Moon Shadow Mist by Lindy's Stamp Gang in Gossamer Gold from my kit on all the flowers and used my UTEE melting pot to melt bronze UTEE and make the mask and roses in molds (A tutorial for how to make your own embellishments and molds is below). I used the gold embossing powder from the kit on the flourished I cut out of cardstock. I also used UTEE to cover the Kaisercraft birdcage. The pin on this page was made exclusively for Scraps of Darkness by Craftysprinkles aka Mandy.

The Pot of Gold at the End of My Rainbow layout. I was in the St. Paddy's Day mood and came up with this page. The pot is an image from the Internet. The papers are Bazzill Fresh Kiwi and Graphic 45 Curtain Call Leading Ladies from my March SOD kit.. The clover is made of hearts cut with my Cricut Expression, the rainbow is made of buttons from my stash, and the title is from my ever growing stash of Thickers.

Family - Etched in Our Memories layout. The Vintage Revelry kit really inspired me to create heritage layouts. These photos are of my father-in-law's parents. I wanted to really focus on the photos and the vintage look so I used lace trim, Paper Loft For The Record Family Tree and Journal papers, and some Paper Loft Words and Titles. I also used my Fiskars Threading Water border punch with some Bazzill Coal cardstock, Rainboots Thickers, and a flower I made (a link for a tutorial for this flower is below).

So Vain layout. When I saw the Graphic 45 Curtain Call Moulin Rouge B side pattern of peacock feathers, I saw the opportunity to scrap some of my peacock photos from the many trips to the zoo my family has taken. The large photo and the feather photo are not mine though, lol! Mine were not very pretty and I wanted to show the true splendor of the bird. The smaller photo at the bottom is mine. The color add-on for the March kit is amazing!!! The color on the peacock paper is Starburst's Tibetan Poppy Teal by Lindy's Stamp Gang. You should see the shimmer on this in real life! I used the Bazzill Fresh Kiwi cardstock, some gorgeous and bright Prima flowers, a Kaisercraft birdcage; all from the kit, some fuchsia cardstock with various border punches, Stickles in Lime Green and Distress Stickles in Worn Lipstick, Fabric Thickers, and some lacey trim I had.

Beauteous layout. Another heritage layout form this month's SOD kit! I loved the vintage feel to all these papers and I just had to scrap another old photo. This is my father-in-laws mother. The journaling reads "This is Grandpa Gil's mother. We don't know much about her, except that she was loved." I used the Moon Shadow's Gossamer Gold Mist on the flowers and for the masking on the cardstock. I also used a Prima fabric flower, a couple of Prima metal flowers, and lace trim from the kit. The brown "pearl" embellishments are drops of UTEE from my melting pot. The crystal flourishes are from my stash and are colored with Adirondack Espresso Alcohol Ink.

Doorway to Wonderland Altered Album Outside. I wanted to create something for the Altered Alice Challenge this month which is about the Hall of Doors and part of the challenge was to create something with a door and an extra of having it open. So with my SOD March kit, I created this altered album. I bought an old scrapbook album at a flea market (Before picture is below the next photo) and decoupaged the entire thing with Modge Podge and the brown paper bags that the kit comes packaged in. I used Paper Loft For the Record Estate paper, a Graphic 45 door knob and plate, and a Prima butterfly from the kit. The forest moss and hinges are from my stash and I stamped and colored the mushrooms. I also added some additional wings to the butterfly, which I cut with my Cricut Expression and covered in Turquoise Stickles.

Doorway to Wonderland Altered Album Inside. This is the inside of my altered scrapbook. The photo is one of my favorite illustrations from the Alice in Wonderland book. There's something about that checkerboard field. I also added a cut out of the White Rabbit. All the flowers on this are from current and past Scraps of Darkness kits. I also added some stained wood flourishes at the corners. Don't know what I'll be using it for yet, but I'm thinking it will do quite nicely as an art journal.

Album Outside Before.

Album Inside Before.

Link to the Dechire Style Flower Tutorial : http://scrapsofdarkness.com/TutorialDechireFlowers.html

Link to the Making Embellishments with UTEE/Molds Tutorial: http://scrapsofdarkness.com/TutorialUTEEembel.html