Glitz & Glam!

This week it is all about adding some glitz to your scrapbook pages and cards. I use glitter, Stickles, and Diamond Dust on many of my pages. You can add them to just about anything to get a whole new look!
I love altering clear embellishments!

(Why the heck there are green plastic letters in there?)

For this LO, I took a clear flourish and used Crystal Lacquer to adhere the green glitter. (Pixie Stick glitter) And yes.....it is for a boy page!

I used my new favorite, Diamond Dust, for this Martha Stewart felt bird. It gives it a "sugary" coating. LOVE IT!

Used Diamond Dust here again for this clear button.

For the butterfly, I used a powder blue Stickle first, then while it was wet, sprinkled it with Diamond Dust.

......Yep used Diamond Dust for the top of the cupcake......yum!

Think outside of the box.....use it on fabric, plastic, directly to paper........it adds a perfect touch to spruce up those pages!

Have a great week!!!!

Five Minute Loopy Flowers

These flowers are so quick and easy, you'll become addicted to making them!

STEP 1: Cut felt into desired width. This sample is about 2.5" wide.

STEP 2: Fold the strip in half length-wise and baste the two edges together using embroidery floss of strong thread.

STEP 3: On the loopy side cut into the strip like you are making fringe. These will be your flower petals. Below is a side view of the loop flower petals you have created so far.

STEP 4: Cut your thread and pull the two ends together, cinching the flower into a circle. Tie a knot with the two loose ends to close.

STEP 5: Cover the center opening with a large button or embellish with other felt layers/flowers/etc. as desired. Your cute flower is ready to use in a project! :D

Cut your strip wider for larger flowers. You can then layer these together to make a fuller looking flower, as shown below.

Another fun option is to use sharp pinking scissors to cut your "fringe" flower petals.

Here is a sample flower with two layers of zig-zagged petals.

I made the one below using crepe paper birthday streamers. Instead of stitching the two edges together, I glued them, cut the fringe, and then attached the strip of loopy fringe to a punched circle cardstock base.
Here is the back of the birthday streamer flower.
For a shabby flower, I used wide grosgrain ribbon. When you cut the fringe into the ribbon the edges fray a bit, giving you this cute look!
Here's another sample. This ribbon had wire in it which I simply removed after stitching the two edges together.

You can layer your different flowers together to create infinite possibilities!

And here is a card I made using one of my flowers. (Card design inspired by Melissa Phillips)

I hope you have fun with this technique!!!! Link us up to your creations! We'd love to see them!

Photoshop Tip

Ever have a picture that would be perfect if it didn't have such and ugly or distracting background? or ever have a picture that you want to highlight something in it while minimizing the view of the rest of the photo? Well here is how you do it.

Now i am using PSE 5 but the instructions should still be pretty much the same.
Now i know it looks like a lot but trust me...this can be done in a matter of 5 minutes. I just did every step to show you without missing anything. it truly is only about 3 major steps. So don't feel overwhelmed.

here we go: **note** you will probably have to click the pics to enlarge it..this was the best i can do. grrrrr!!!!

This is my original pic


Step 1:

Open your photo. And make sure when you hit the edit button you are on full edit see the top left hand corner?



Go to Layer > New Fill Layer > Solid Color to create your photo overlay.


Click OK to create a new layer titled color Fill 1.


The color picker tool will appear. Select the color you would like your overlay to be and click OK.


Your photo will fill with the foreground color you chose.


Slide the opacity slider at the top of the layers palette (top right hand corner) to about 50% ( i used 70% for this picture) You should see your original image to show up underneath the color overlay. Adjust the opacity to your likings.


Select the Rectangle Marquee tool if you want square or the elliptical if you want oval or round. While holding down the shift key, draw a circle or square (whichever you choose around your photo's focal point. make sure the box in the lower left corner that has a black and a white square that BLACK IS ON TOP..if it is not hit the "d" key to change it.

go to Edit > Fill Selection. in the fill dialog box choose foreground from the dropdown list and click ok. Mine is already done like this so i didn't have to change anything. You should see the overlay within the selection disappear, revealing the photo underneath. DO NOT deactivate this because we will be using it next. Your screen should look like this

now go to Layer > New > Layer

click ok.

Now your forground color should now be White. If it is not white click "X".
Go to Edit > Stroke (outline) selection.

In the Stroke dialog box type 10 pixels for the width.

Click ok and print as you normally would do. You can flatten your image if you want to save a copy of the picture you just created.

This is my final layout i did. What i actual did for this was printed 2 pictures just alike. I cut the box out of one picture and adhered it with pop dots to the other picture for more dimension.


Any questions feel free to shoot me an email (greta(dot)adams@gmail.com and i will try and help you.
have fun and I would love to see what you do using this tip!

Tu- Tu Tulle

I have a new obsession.......tulle! Like I needed another obsession...right? I have found myself grabbing this light airy fabric a lot lately. I have been using it on my LO's as well as my cards. What do you need to attach tulle? Colored floss, fabric glue, or thread. Sometimes a combo of the three. For this first LO, I threaded my button and snowflake with floss, then tied it around the center of my tulle/tinsel combo. Using fabric glue, I glued the snowflake/tulle combo to my page. When it was dry I twisted the tulle a bit and tied buttons threaded with floss to it. Use fabric glue to tack down your ends.

This next LO is quick and easy! Just tie a length of tulle around the page. Cut excess ends off and add a drop of glue to underside of bow. I added some pretty stick pins to center.

For this LO, I tied my flower threaded with floss to center of tulle. (Tulle is a pale yellow here) Again, I twisted tulle and used fabric glue to tack it down. (Just an FYI, the current kit, Nightingale includes this pretty yellow tulle! This LO was created using this awesome kit!)

You can also create "faux" skirts with tulle! For this card I took a rectangular piece of tulle and folded it over several times. (Otherwise tulle it is very transparent). Take a needle and thread, use a straight stitch to go across the "waistband." When done, pull thread to gather the waistband. Knot thread. Again, use fabric glue to position "skirt" where you want it.

I did the same thing for this skirt, but added rhinestones to her waistband.

How about tying a bow with tulle? That's what I did here for this card. I wanted the cherub to look like she was holding it up! Easy right? : ) (Again, used the Nightingale kit for this card!)

Used lot of the black tulle for this one!

I hope I've inspired you to look at tulle a whole new way! It is a fun, light, easily manipulated fabric! : )

Time Saver

I know we all wish we could have plenty of time to scrap -- but usually that is not the case. Here is a tip that can save you a bit of time.

When I started scrapping I picked up this tip and it is one that is super helpful. With cardstock cut the most popular size photos that you tend to use. Cutting more that one of each size is helpful as well. These can help you when you are putting a page together and are not quite sure how big or small you may want the pictures. And even if you don't print at home this can also help you figure out what size photos you may want to order.

I keep these within reach so that if I want to add more photos I can easily decide which size. Hope this was helpful!