Around the World on Wednesday--My Favorite Month!

I am really excited about the theme for this month’s Around the World on Wednesday Blog Hop! Our theme is our FAVORITE month…and it was a tricky one for me as my birthday is in January so obviously I LOVE BIRTHDAY MONTH but its also cold AF so my love of summer wins out!

July is my FAVORITE month because it is the month that we spend a week at the lake with the entire Nelson family. 19 grandkids and cousins! Isn’t that spectacular?

Deciding on the month of July as my favorite month also coincided perfectly with a new bundle of products that I was recently able to order. This bundle was a perk for Demonstrators attending On Stage this month and it will be available in the upcoming January-July Occasions Catalogue. You will LOVE this catalogue, hands down this publication is in my Top Ten favorites of all time. All I will say is Rainbows, Cactuses and Pineapples oh my!

This is our annual family picture that we take at Greenwater Lake each year. We have been visiting this lake since my oldest son was an infant—17 summers!

I knew I wanted to use this family picture and I wanted to make sure to honor the tones of the water and the trees in my design. I used a base piece of paper from the Hand-Penned Designer Series collection that was Garden Green with a white floral print.

I layered a piece of Basic White 12x12 that I trimmed down to 11 1/2 x 11 1/2 inches. As the main photo mat I used a piece of DSP from the new Heart & Home Designer Series Paper collection. One side of all of the papers is this amazing wood panel design in Basic Grey. There are several patterns of a wood look so I chose the one that looked like a tree to continue with the nature element.

I also added a striped piece of DSP in Mint Macaron from the Hand-Penned Designer Series collection. I made sure the stripes were going horizontal in nature to help elongate the page.

I love to create focal points or vignettes (areas of interest) on my scrapbook page that help tell the story. Sentiments are very important to me and they are honestly the criteria by how I pick most stamp sets. I absolutely love the sentiment “What a Beautiful Day for Love”. Obviously you can use this for a wedding or a baby’s arrival, but should it not be how we approach all of our days? Every day is a beautiful day for love and I never leave those words unsaid to my kids. I tell them all the time and it fills my heart when my teenage son will repeat them back to me on the phone or with his friends!

I stamped this gorgeous floral image, one of two in the stamp set Blessings of Home, in Momento Ink. I then colored it in with a term I have coined “Lazy Watercoloring”. I simply add ink to one of our clear blocks and use my Water Painter (the fine tip) to the ink with a very small amount of water. I then colored in the flowers with Bumblebee, Blushing Bride, Coastal Cabana and Garden Green ink. It barely took me any time at all which is why I love it!

I die cut the shape with the new Flowers of Home Dies and added it to a So Saffron die cut. I cut this using the Seasonal Labels Dies and ran it through the Timber 3D folder. I love how this page is a mix of so many different products from 3 different publications!

Stamping softly in the background added such a beautiful element to this page. I used the smaller floral image in Smoky Slate ink.

The sentiment is stamped in Bumblebee Ink and is also cut with the Seasonal Labels Dies! I added some white twine from the Bakers Twine Essentials Package and some of the Blushing Bride Frayed Grosgrain Ribbon behind my sentiment.

A few sprigs cut in Garden Green cardstock from the new Flowers of Home dies and this little area was complete—-or was it? No it wasn’t, it also need to add an embellishment so I chose some from the Classic Matte Dots (another upcoming new product). You will love these as you get 2 sizes and 4 colors—-white, vanilla/pearl, grey and black.

I created another focal point on the top right of my page. I stamped the smaller flower in Momento ink and colored it with Blushing Bride, Bumblebee and Garden Green ink. What I really love about this area is there is not a stamp in the set that actually says “Perfect Day”. I used my Stampin’ Write Basic Grey marker to combine two individual sentiments into one that better suited my page. I love how we can customize so many of our Stampin’ Up! products!

I added the same twine, ribbon and Matte Dots to this area plus a few sequins from the Subtle Shimmer Sequins. I love these sequins so much and hope they are available after the Holiday Catalogue period ends.

I am so in love with this page and creating it right now was perfect therapy for me. The days are shorter now and the weather has changed but making this page took me right back to the lazy days of summer.

I can’t wait to see what the rest of the Hop creates this month! There are some seriously talented people on this hop and the inspiration is unbelievable!

I am one of your Canadian ‘stop’s on this hop and next up you are going to the United States to see what Tricia Butts has designed for this challenge!

Color Fusers November 2021

Hello friends! Wow, did October ever go by quickly! Its now November 1st and officially Christmas season. Fall and halloween are dead, bring on the holiday! Although that is NOT what I am sharing with you today! Our color combo this month could be viewed as a tricky one as the 4 tones are all quick dark, however I had the best pictures to work with this color theme!

This month our crafty group is creating projects with Merry Merlot, Misty Moonlight, Cinnamon Cider and Early Espresso. Back in July I had a Besties Photo shoot with two of my long time friends and we did a little picnic afterwards. The picnic set up totally reminded me of Misty Moonlight and a pattern from the In Good Taste Designer Series stack so I used that as my inspiration to design this page.

These are two of my besties I met while in University! We hit things off working at a restaurant together. We have actually not all lived in the same city for over 20 years but despite the distance I know they would have my back always and no matter what #friendsforever

I started with a 12x12 in Misty Moonlight and on the top half of the page I stamped the large flowers from the Blossoms in Bloom stamp set. I actually love this stamp set as I love a good image that can fill in space. I stamped it in the same ink color for a tone on tone look.

The bottom of my page features the In Good Taste DSP with a couple of strips of Cinnamon Cider DSP from the retired In Color 6x6 stacks (last years design). Adding this strip felt like a natural way to incorporate this color and create division between the two sections of my page.

Are you an F Bomb kind of mom? Hahaha, we are and my friend had these cups designed especially for us!

I used Early Espresso card stock as my photo mats and I ran them both through the Timber 3D Embossing Folder for a subtle effect.

It was easy to add in Merry Merlot by die cutting some flowers from the Pierced Blooms Dies. This is one of my favorite die sets in the Annual Catalogue!

I added some retired In Color Enamel Dots and the sentiment is from the Blossoms in Bloom stamp set.

You can find the sentiment “Friends Forever” in the Lighthearted Lines stamp set. NOTE: Friends Forever is part of a phrase and l used my Paper Snips to do some Stampin’ surgery on this rubber stamp as I really wanted to use this part of the phrase all on its own.

The label is also a die from the Pierced Blooms Dies and I added a bit of retired Cinnamon Cider ribbon behind and some gold thread.

I am so pleased with how this page turned out using this color combination! I cannot wait to see what the other girls create this month! Please visit everyone’s blogs and share some love and comments! And if you don’t follow me on Instagram you can find me @stampwithbrenda

You can go backwards to see what Melissa has created and forwards to see what Melanie has designed! I know they will both wow you with their creativity!

Have an awesome November and see you next month! If you live in Canada and are looking for some creative inspiration I would love you to stamp with me! Please reach out at any time!

Happy Haunting!

Hello friends! I offer 3 different scrapbook classes each month so of course for October we had to make some spooky layouts! I wanted to share one with you today that is a little more traditional Halloween than my pink and gold pumpkin page!

The base of this page is Pear PIzzazz and when I think of this color I picture the Wicked Witch of the West from the Wizard of Oz! Hahaha! I love how a color can evoke certain memories!

In a few select spots on the background I stamped some bats from the Sparkle of the Season stamp set in Pear Pizzazz ink.

Happy Haunting is from the Banner Year stamp set and is on a label found in the Pretty Pillow Box Dies. When you go through your dies you never know what you might find! Behind the sentiment I layered some Linen Thread and some of the Black & White Gingham ribbon! I just love that ribbon!

The Trick or Treat area is actually my favorite on the page as I incorporated ‘October’ from the Days to Remember stamp set is a really unique and subtle way that I love.

I die cut a label from the Seasonal Labels Dies and I ran it through a retired spiderweb folder, I just can’t part with it! Behind it I added a spooky black wreath from the Seasonal Swirls Dies.

The pumpkin is die cut using the Detailed Pumpkins Dies and I brought the sentiment to life by stamping mini spiderwebs on it (from the Banner Year stamp set) and adding some Black Glittered Organdy Ribbon.

Because I am obsessed with the spider web from the Frightful Tags Dies I had to add it onto this page too with a little “Happy Halloween” found in the Sparkle of the Season stamp set.

I added some Cute Halloween elements too—Trick or Treat and the little strip of DSP! And by having two placed to add photos I can snap two Halloween selfies!

If this page has inspired you at all, please reach out to me to see how you can join in my scrapbook classes! They are my absolute favorite and I am always excited to stamp with new friends!

You can message me at stampsandstretchypants@gmail.com

Pink Pumpkins and Golden Webs!

Here is a Halloween scrapbook page with a twist! Who doesn’t love the sophisticated colors of pink and gold? I decided to use them here for a unique color palette for this scrapbook page!

I started with a base of Petal Pink card stock in 12x12 and added a layer of Basic White over top. There is actually no background stamping on this page, which is a little unusual for me! I let amazing dies do all the work to bring this page to life!

I used the stamp set Cutest Halloween for my pink pumpkins and the sentiments “Hey Boo” and “Have a fab(boo)lous Halloween”. I thought they were the perfect sentiments for this page.

I love this fun little area or vignette on the top right of my page. I used the Brushed Metallic Cardstock and the Frightful Tags Dies to cut out the spider webs and I love that they are incomplete webs—meaning you don’t see a full web.

Hey Boo! is cut using one of the label dies from the Seasonal Labels Dies.

Boo is cut from our Black Glitter Paper, Foam Adhesive Sheets and the Playful Alphabet Dies.

I also added a few of the Cute Stars Adhesive-Backed Sequins as an extra fun embellishment!

The pumpkin outline is stamped with Momento Ink and filled in with the Petal Pink ink. You can punch these out using the coordinating Halloween Punch! One is added flat to the page and the other two are elevated with Dimensionals. I think this whole little area has so much texture and interest to it!

For this bottom left little vignette I wanted the feel of an elegant pumpkin patch. I started with a large circle but from the Expressions in Ink Designer Series Paper and layered pumpkins from the Detailed Pumpkins Dies in Basic Black and Petal Pink. Of course you want to tie in elements on your page together so I used another stamped pumpkin and some of the Cute Stars embellishments again.

The sentiment also has some black twine from the Bakers Twine Essentials Pack behind it as well. Have you noticed I love me some twine?

I hope this page inspires you to create a scrapbook page with colors that you don’t normally associate with Halloween! I absolutely LOVE how it turned out and I can’t wait to add a picture to this page after this years festivities!

If my design has inspired you, please consider shopping with me if you live in Canada! I would love to keep doing what I love!

Around the World on Wednesday --Changing Seasons

The changing of seasons really is my favorite time of year! I love all of the colors that nature blesses us with, not to mention the gorgeous projects we can complete with all of our Stampin’ Up! products! For this month Around the World on Wednesday Hop, our theme is ‘changing seasons’. I created this fabulous scrapbook layout with some of my favorite things!

I hope you enjoy this hop as you visit some amazing talented crafters from around the world. I love how everyone interprets our monthly themes! I know you will be inspired!

I love to scrapbook, especially anything to do with fall. When the leaves start to turn its absolutely gorgeous in Alberta as in many places in the world. These pictures are from 3 years ago already! I can’t believe how much my kids have changed in that time frame! Which is why I am so blessed to be able to capture our memories in a more permanent way.

I started with a base of Rich Razzleberry and added some depth with my Blending Brushes and Blackberry Bliss ink. I also flicked my dark Black Stampin’ Blend marker over the blended area for another bit of texture. This is the easiest way to add interest to your backgrounds!

I focused on two die sets for this layout—Harvest Dies and the Beautiful Leaves Dies. Both of these dies have amazing images or shapes that don’t require any stamping! You can just simply cut them out to add as embellishments to your design.

The Blackberry Beauty DSP was the color inspiration for my page as I used both Rich Razzleberry and Blackberry Bliss, Cinnamon Cider, Kraft paper, Gold Shimmer Vellum and Very Vanilla as my colors, with the sentiments all stamped in Soft Suede.

For the left hand side of my scrapbook page (yes, I actually design left to right!) I added two strips of the amazing Blackberry Beauty DSP—this specialty paper has gold foil inlaid in the design. It is so rich and luscious! My photo matte is Very Vanilla and I love to have the strips and my photo offset. Nothing is square!

I cut the large leaf shape from the Beautiful Leaves Dies out of Blackberry cardstock and then cut it vertically in half. This allowed me to use some on top left and bottom right corner of my photomat. Because our eyes move left to right I tend to have a little vignette at the top of the left and at the bottom of the right on this page of my double spread.

The two thistle shapes are cut from the Kraft 6x6 stack and the wheat is cut from the Gold Shimmer Vellum! I love to layer all of these shapes together to form a bouquet of sorts!

The sentiment “Enjoy the Little Things” Is from a retired stamp set, but its the perfect phrase and size so it is one that I still keep hanging around! The other phrase on this page, “Love is What Makes us Family” is from Lovely You. I love the mix of fonts in this stamp set!

On the right hand side of my scrapbook layout, I wanted to be able to include two 4x6 photos. The photo mats are Soft Suede and once again nothing is square. These pages are actually two pages that my Scrapbook Group members made this month as well. I find be eliminating things being perfect, hence adding things on an angle, it takes away the stress of having to have everything perfectly aligned! Because my eye was just on the bottom right corner of my previous page, it kept the eye moving across to this page by having a vignette in the bottom left and then naturally up at the top right. These are aspects I consider when designing my scrapbook pages. I hope this is a helpful tip!

Many of the same elements are also carried through on this page, however I did add a couple small individual leaves from the Beautiful Leaves Die cut from the Kraft paper. Both pages have some Champagne Rhinestones, they coordinate so beautifully with this suite!

“You make the ordinary extraordinary” is from the Simply Succulents stamp set and “Love You More” is from Measure of Love.

I love how these pages turned out! If you live in Canada and are interested in scrapbooking, please reach out to me!

Now onto the HOP! You can keep hoping to Tricia Butts an amazing crafter from the United States!