Declaration of Friendship

Hi Friends!  It's the end of June ... can you believe it?!  I sure can't!  As you know, this week our project is a "Photo Inspiration".  And what came to my mind was the Declaration of Independence.  When I saw this Magnolia Tilda, it looked like she could be writing something pretty important in that journal of hers with that old fashioned feather quill.  :)  So I decided she's writing up a different kind of Declaration of Friendship.  It's going to be for someone that she hasn't kept in touch with for ages.

I think Tilda wants her friend to know that even though they haven't kept in touch as often as she'd like, that she's declaring they will still remain Forever Friends!  But aha .. in her Declaration of Friendship, she's decided that they simply MUST get in touch more often!!!

I also used the colors red, white, blue and brown as they are also the colors in the photo inspiration.  :)

The Fun Stuff:

Image:  Magnolia

Papers:  K&Co

Medium:  Prisma Colored Pencils

Other:  Nestabilities, Distress Ink, Stickles, Kaisercraft Pearls

Don't forget to stop back here tomorrow to see our new challenge!  Have a most wonderful day!!!

Hugs,

Elise

A Patriotic Photo Inspiration Week

Hello hello! Here we are on the cusp of Independence Day celebrations with a photo inspiration for our design team challenge.

Isn't this a yummy one? I'm so tickled with this photo - as inspiration it could be used as a sketch, colors, food... I'm excited to see where the design team girls go with this one!

I have to admit that I was going to do food. I've never done a food-related project and thought this would be a good time to try it. I have a bunch of Basic Grey's Nook & Pantry papers and started planning it out in my noggin... *then* I got a sneak peek at Jamie's project (she's vacationing so did hers early) and had a palm-hitting-the-forehead moment!

"Duh!" I said to myself. "I can make something to put on that red magnetic frame thingy I got at a craft fair months ago!" I intended to use it seasonally anyway, and I've only gotten as far as Halloween and Christmas magnets. Of course, this meant I had to take Santa off... *sigh*

Card Recipe

• Image: vintage postcard from an unknown source
• Papers: Bazzill Basics; Pink Paislee 365 Degrees 6x6 pad - Dream Big (front and back designs) and Daydream (back)
• Medium: Glimmer Mist Diamond on the star; Stickles Icicle on the star; Distress Stickles Red Brick on the postcard edges; Colorbox Fluid Chalk in Chestnut Roan on the edges; Distress Crackle Paint in Clear on the postcard top layer
• Embellishments: Robin's Nest Dew Drops; Bazzill Tulle in French Vanilla; and although the red ribbon is hand done, it was absolutely inspired by Pink Paislee 365 Degrees Ribbon Pleats - believe me... if I had those I would have used them instead! Oh, and the rosette is handmade, too.
• Tools and Adhesive: Martha Stewart border punch; Scor-Pal 1/4" adhesive

Here's a photo of it on the wall. My kitchen is black and white with touches of red - the chair back is an extra barstool that hangs out there until we need it. Thanks for the inspiration, Jamie!

Thank *you* for visiting us today. Don't forget we still have a open challenge to make a project using Navy, Turquoise and Lime. Get all the details HERE, but hurry! It ends on June 30th. See you there!


Cheers,
Susan

Color Challenge Recap - Open 'Til 6/30!

Hello crafty friends - Susan here with a recap of all the fun design team projects made with our current challenge: Navy, Turquoise and Lime. You still have a few days to enter, so if you're staying out of the heat we'd love it if you get crafty with us!

Here is how each of the Beary Scrappy Girls used these great colors. Click on the photo to go directly to each post for all the details!

Elise (Monday)

Susan (Wednesday)

Jamie (Thursday)

Patricia (Friday)

Gini (Saturday)

Remember, this challenge ends Wednesday, June 30 at 11:59pm (EDT) *and* we'll have a new challenge up on the 1st. Thanks for visiting, and we hope to see you in our challenges, too!

Cheers,

Susan

Summer Fun!

Summer is here and so is the fun! I hope you have enjoyed the seasonal inspiration with the Beary Scrap Gals this week. I have one last card to share with you before we move onto a new theme on Monday. I am continuing my love affair with My Mind's Eye papers. I have been using these on everything! They are so me.

Also, you only have until June the 30th to play in our current color challenge - lime, navy and turquoise. You could win some of our new mulberry flowers. Trust me, once you try some of these beauties, you will be hooked!

Card Recipe:
Papers: My Mind's Eye Laundry Line
Stamp: Stampavie
Medium: copics, Flower Soft - Christmas green
Accessories: vintage buttons, ribbon

I Found A Sea Shell At The Beary Scrap

It's Summer Week at The Beary Scrap Design Team Blog and with the first day of summer just a few days ago boy it feels like it here in Connecticut. We have had 90+ weather here and the AC's are kicking it big time.

Well some people go to the beach to cool off and what do some people do when they are there look for sea shells. Well I found one this week.

For this week I made and easel/shaker card. I haven't made a shaker card in a while and this one was fun.

I really like making different shaped easel cards and believe it or not they can be really easy. I used BoBunny Double Dot paper for my card. For my shell all I did was search the net for a sea shell clip art picture and resized it to fit in a 6X6 square. I made two the same size and used thick 3M foam tape to build up the thickness. Inside my card I have used Flower Soft as my sand and added glitter to give it that sparkle and added some really small sea shells.

On the top layer of the shell I used Glimmer Mist you can almost see the sparkle in the picture and my Sco Pal to make the lines in it. Then I used the Spellbinders Classic Scalloped Circles to make my hole. I used Distressed Ink Vintage Photo to ink around the edges and added Stickles to the outside of the shell as well as to my Mulberry flowers. I added some Pearls, charms, lace and a bow to my card. I also hand stitched on the bottom.

Don't forget that there is still time to enter for our

Beary Sweet Color Challenge

we would love you to come play with us. Kimm has some very pretty Mulberry Flowers up for grabs to the winner.
~Patricia~

Catch some Summer Fun

"In summer, the song sings itself."

--William Carlos Williams.

Isn't that the truth? Don't you just love summer, when the days get long and lazy? When you wake up early with the sun to birds singing? (My favorite here in Idaho is a meadowlark.) Or the evenings that are still warm and beckon everyone to come outside to stay. I love sitting out on my deck in the summer evenings, watching the sunset and listening to the sounds of frogs, crickets and sprinklers in the field behind my house. Something about summertime just brings that lighthearted feeling that seems like there is a song playing in the background all the time.

My layout this week shows a fun summer day spent playing on the lake. I had so much fun making this layout--




All the papers in my layout are from the My Mind's Eye Just Dreamy 2 Collection . Remember last week? I told you I would be using them again! However, the papers I chose this week are a bit different-- still bright and cheery but this time with flowers instead of stars. There are just so many patterns to choose from in this line and they are all so versatile! Get some for your paper collection now while they are on sale at The Beary Scrap! The edges of all these papers are inked with Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Spiced Marmalade.


I made my own flip flop pattern by tracing my 3 year old's size 8 flip flop onto a piece of chipboard (then it's pretty sturdy and I can use it for quite awhile.) Then I copied my chipboard pattern in my scanner, decreasing the size just a bit to fit my layout.


I traced my smaller pattern onto the My Mind's Eye paper and cut them out. I inked the flip flops with Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Broken China and then punched 3 holes in each, one at the top and one on each side, using the flip flops I was wearing at the time for a guide. I added ribbon for the straps and a Prima Sprites embossed paper flower with a jewel brad center to finish them off.


For another idea on what to do with a flip flop, I made this invitation using the original chipboard pattern that I made from my son's flip flop.


I folded a piece of the My Mind's Eye paper in half, then laid my chipboard pattern along the fold line make sure that the top part of it overlapped the line. Then I traced it and cut it out, giving me a flip flop card. I added ribbon for the straps, a flower again to embellish itand then my information to the inside:


I hope you are having a WONDERFUL summer and enjoying the summer inspiration this week at The Beary Scrap. Make sure to join us tomorrow and every week all summer as we continue to show you new projects to jump start your creativity! And don't forget to join us in our current challenge-- a color challenge of Navy, Lime & Turquoise! Post your project by June 30th, 11:59 pm EST for a chance to win a goodie pack of flowers, bling and ribbon from The Beary Scrap!

Blowing Lovely Wishes Your Way

Hey Friends!  This week we're having "Summer Fun" all week long!  Yayyy!  Gosh, can you believe it's summer?!  Whew!  I feel like only a month ago it was Christmas!  Time flies too quickly doesn't it?  lol!

Well, for me, when I think of Summer, all kinds of things fill my head.  Heat, beaches, picnics, waterparks, all kinds of FUN things!!  But this image that I've used appealed to me for this weeks theme because my little 3 year old boy has been playing a lot with his bubble gun in the back yard.  :)  Oh it's so much easier with the bubble gun .. you don't hyperventilate from blowing bubbles with the air from your own mouth!  LOL!  With the bubble gun, you just press the button and voila!!!!  Tons of bubbles start swirling all around!  LOL!  But aren't bubbles so pretty?!  It almost seems magical .. sigh! 

Here's my card:

The Fun Stuff:

Image:  Magnolia Tilda

Papers:  Prima, MME, K&Co

Medium:  Prisma Colored Pencils

Other:  a teeny weeny bit of flower soft, MS Border Punch, Distress Ink, Dew Drops

Hope your summer days are being filled with tons of fun also!  Don't forget to join us in our challenge of "Navy, Turquoise & Lime" until June 30th.  So there is a lot of time left to create something and join us for a chance at some really yummy goodies!  :)

Thanks for visiting us and have a most wonderful day!

Elise

A Week Full of Summer Fun

Hello Beary Scrappy friends! I hope you've had a great weekend! Husband and I went to an Antique Boat Show where we saw loads of beautiful wooden boats. While we are die-hard sailors, we fell in love with vintage Chris Craft runabouts from the '30s and '40s. How much fun would those be to cruise around in?

Speaking of fun, the design team is celebrating all kinds of it this week with our Summer Fun theme!

For Husband and I, this time of year means day trips and long weekends. We go to summer festivals and visit out-of-state family. For others, summer means grander vacations taken while the kidlets are out of school. I don't know if any of you go to exotic locales like Paris, but it looks like my little friend Emilia is on her way!

So, this is my first attempt at coloring with Distress inks. It was an interesting experiment, to say the least. Let's just say there's a lot more practice in my future! I tried to do a little correction on her chin and now she looks like she has a 5 o'clock shadow... *grin* When I get an extra hour or so I'll replace her with a clean-shaven version. :)

This card is also my first one made to fit a handful of challenges (besides TBS, of course!), rather than finding challenges to fit a finished card. I didn't do so well with the monochromatic challenge (harder than I thought!) but did manage to use up a bit of old stash *and* CASE a card made by someone I really admire. (See my blog challenge list for details). Oh! and speaking of "firsts" this is the first card I've made without my usual white base. This one is Bazzill Mud Pie, one of my go-to colors. I like it... but I miss my white borders, too. The jury is still out. :)

Card Recipe

• Stamp: Kraftin' Kimmie - Emilia with bonus airplane
• Paper: Bazzill Basics in Mud Pie; Basic Grey Capella - Dolce from the fabby 6x6 pad and the back side of a 12x12 Mezzo; watercolor for Emilia; Neenah for the plane
• Medium: Tim Holtz Distress Inks; Stickles - Diamond on scarf; Distress Stickles - Scattered Straw on belt, Walnut Stain on the corner do-dad; Colorbox Fluid Chalk; Prismacolor pencils on the airplane
• Embellishments from stash
• Adhesive: 1/4" Scor-Tape

That's it for me. I'm off to have some Summer Fun of my own.

Don't forget - you still have time to enter your project in our color challenge! It's all about navy, turquoise and lime - a yummy color combination! Go here for all the fabby details!

Thanks so much for stopping in today. The design team will have loads of great Summer Fun projects for you all week, so check back in with us!

Cheers,

Susan

Navy, lime and turquoise- Yum!

I have been wowed by the great projects from the Beary Scrappy Gals this week. I love the color combination of navy, lime and turquoise - so no problem to come up with a card! And remember, we are challenging you to use these colors as well, and you could win some of the flowers that I used on my card, plus other wonderful goodies! Just be sure to get your entry in by June 30th 11:59 EDT.

I used Magnolia's Bubbling Tilda and some of our new Mulberry roses for this card. Trust me, you are going to love these flowers! They are so gorgeous in person. We can't wait to see what you come up with - we love visiting your blogs and seeing your beautiful creations!

Card Recipe:
Papers: MME - Just Dreamy 2, Kaiser - Lone Ranger, Core'Dinations CS
Stamp: Magnolia Bubbling Tilda
Medium: copics, Stickles (stardust)
Flowers: The Beary Scrap's Mulberry Roses
Other accessories: from my ever growing stash

My Happy Birthday Color Challenge

We have showed you some great projects this week from The Beary Scrap Design Team and for this week I have a birthday card I made for a friend.

The birthday girl is a nurse and I'm going to show you how to change up a stamp so your can use it for more than just one theme.

Now in most cases you would expect to see a get well card with this stamp but I changed it up for a birthday.

My card recipe:

Paper Basic Grey Origins (I think I'm falling in love with the Basic Grey paper lines)

Stamp from Motivet Doraline as a nurse colored with Copics and fuzzy flock  

I used lots of Stickles all over the card.

My circles were cut out with Spellbinders.

Two gift charms.

Hand stitching.

Don't forget to enter our Beary Sweet Challenge and you can win some of the Mulberry Flowers you have seen us on the design team previewing. But if you can't wait to win some please check out the store to order some.  

~Patricia~

BSC #3 Winners!

Please scroll down for Jamie's challenge post - she's gettin' a little fishy!

---

Hello friends! We want to extend a huge Thank You to everyone who got sketchy with us for our Beary Sweet Challenge #3! We had a blast visiting your blogs and appreciate each and every one of you!

Our Random.org winner of the Beary Scrap $20 voucher is none other than

Theresa Pollack

Congratulations, Theresa! Please email Kimm for your voucher

We would also like to congratulate our Beary Sweet Top 3:

Cheryl Walker
Stephanne
Sylvia

Ladies - here's a fun badge to display on your blogs:

We hope everyone can play with our BSC #4 color challenge: Navy, Turquoise & Lime. See you there!

Cheers,
Susan, Gini, Elise, Jamie and Patricia

Go Fish!!

I am in LOVE! Totally in love with this awesome COLOR COMBINATION of Navy, Lime & Turquoise. It's bright and summery, flexible and so much fun to work with. I had so many ideas, I had a hard time picking which pictures to use-- I had out some of my son's baseball pics and some family reunion photos before I finally decided on these from an afternoon we spent fishing at a kids' fishing hole last summer. There were definitely no fish but we had a great time anyway!


My layout starts with Double Dot Cardstock from Bo Bunny, this stuff is awesome. Such deep pretty colors and nice texture, it's almost too pretty to actually use. I love it! Then I used different patterned papers from My Mind's Eye Just Dreamy which is on sale at The Beary Scrap. These papers are all double-sided and such great bright colors and patterns, perfect for any summertime projects you might have-- these will be appearing in my layout next week too, I like them so much. Be sure to scoop some up while they are on special! Along the bottom of the pages, I used a Martha Stewart border punch on one the papers-- I think border punches are my new favorite tool, they add so much in no time at all! This one actually punches and embosses at the same time. Very cool!

I pieced my own little fish by free-hand cutting a football shape and a triangle plus from stripes from lime and turquoise paper. If you are not a big fan of free-hand stuff, print out a football shape and triangle from your computer and then trace around them. I had a hard time deciding what to use for an eye but decided I liked the look of a good old-fashioned googly craft eye but you could also use a small button, a gem, or just dot with a marker. The fish and the rest of my papers are inked with Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Broken China (a perfect turquoise color!)


Along the bottom I added some Bazzill tulle-- this stuff is so fun! I have my sister to thank for giving me the idea of how to attach it, I was working on it and having a hard time coming up with a plan when she came by and gave me the idea of using a bit of embroidery floss and bunching it up a bit. I attached mine with glue dots under each tie, but you could also use a needle and the floss and sew it right to the page. Aren't sisters the best? I don't know what I would do without her. Anyway, I loved the result of my tulle "water" under the fish. Be sure to check out the great colors of this tulle that Kimm has in stock!


I printed my journaling on an Avery clear label sheet-- if you have never tried this type of paper, get some! I printed what I wanted then cut around it and peeled off the back to apply it-- so easy! And you can put your clear sticker anywhere. Besides journaling, you can also print graphics to overlay on your cards or layouts. Fun!


Be sure to check back tomorrow for another Navy, Lime & Turquoise creation and then get started on your own project to enter in our Beary Sweet Challenge-- can't wait to see what you do with those colors! You just might win an awesome prize pack with some gorgeous flowers and some of my favorite BLING! Good Luck!

Pears Soap

Hello hello! Here we are at another wonderful week with your Beary Scrappy Girls. Our DT color challenge is also our Beary Sweet challenge to *you* - have you started on your Navy, Turquoise and Lime project yet? Ok, ok. You have until the end of the day on June 30th.

I send out a huge Thank You to the lovely Elise for stepping in for me on Monday. I needed time to get myself sorted after a whirlwind tour of the Bead and Button show in Milwaukee. I took a few classes and shopped my wallet bare at the marketplace. It was a blast and I left with a bunch of new skills and ideas. Yay!

Now, back to my project for this week. I had a special order birthday card for a 78 year old woman who has experienced a very stressful year. Her friends decided to have a "pamper yourself" theme to her birthday gathering and are showering her with pedicures, manicures, massages and facials. Ooh... ahh... Such a delightful group of ladies!

Here's a view of the full easel card:

I've used a vintage Pear's Soap advertisement and layered and Stickle'd the heck out of it. Ahhh! I love this image! The antennae are homemade with wire, glue, paint and a whole lot of patience. I'm sure there's an easier way, but that goes against my "let's reinvent the wheel!" sensibility. *grin*

While I was browsing the aisles at the Bead and Button show I spied a neat ribbon "necklace". The vendor sewed beads on the top and bottom of a satin ribbon to create a shirred look. You know I had to put my own spin on it!  Lemme tell you it was a handful (but worth it).

Card Recipe

• Image: The Graphics Fairy
• Paper: Basic Grey Nook and Pantry - Bundt Pan and Pear Tart (on sale now!); SEI Oasis Collection - Caspia and Oasis (also on sale - yay!); printed image and signature panel are recycled from the inside cover of a bristol paper pad - great texture!
• Medium: Colorbox Fluid Chalk - creamy brown and chestnut roam; Stickles Star Dust and Frosted Lace; Glimmer Mist - Pearl
• Embellishments: Mulberry Paper Roses; Basic Grey Capella Ribbon Doilies; miscellaneous from my ever-growing stash o' stuff
• Tools and Adhesives: Scor Tape; Scor Pal; sewing machine

Thanks so much for popping in today! Be sure to come back tomorrow for Jamie's fabulous layout and the rest of the week for more great inspiration. You know you want to join our Beary Sweet Challenge! 

Cheers,

Susan

It's A Beary Sweet Color Challenge

Welcome to our Beary Sweet Challenge #4

We have a fun color challenge for you:

Navy, Turquoise and Lime

Show us your *new* project using each of these three colors - your shades can be lighter or darker, as long as all three of these base colors are used. It can be any type of project you wish. Yesterday you saw Elise's beautiful greeting card, and throughout the rest of the week the DT girls will offer up more samples of this theme. Hopefully you'll be inspired to join us, too!

This challenge runs through June 30th at 11:59pm EDT. The prize winner will be chosen by random.org and will be announced along with our "Beary Sweet Top 3" on July 3rd. What's the prize, you ask? It's a surprise pack of lovelies from The Beary Scrap shelves. We'd love to include one of everything so choosing is hard, so we've decided to throw in a whole bunch of our new mulberry paper roses...

and some Stickles Glitter Glue and Bling!

Kimm is even throwing  in 5 yards of various colors of ribbon and some other goodies that will be a surprise!

Here are the "rules" to play - PLEASE READ:

• Become a follower if you aren't already;
• Link your blog post (not your blog "home page") or your online gallery submission with our Inlinkz frog below.
• Link back to this posting on your blog; tag your online gallery post with BSC#3;
• Please, only one (1) entry per person. Links to projects/cards posted before June 15th will not be eligible for the prize draw.

Additional information:

• Feel free to combine with other challenges;
• All NEW project types are welcome as long as they follow this color challenge (cards, scrapbook layouts, etc.);
• International crafters can play, too!

Cheers,

Susan

You Arrrrrr The Best!

Hey Friends!  Hope you had a wonderful weekend and that Monday is treating you kindly!  :) 

Do you notice something out of the ordinary?  Don't worry, stay calm .. Susan will be back on Wednesday to show you her creation!  :)  We've just switched places this week ... so no worries .. you'll get to see her again soon!!

This week at The Beary Scrap blog we have the theme of Navy, Turquoise and Lime!  Yummy!  I know, I know, I threw in a bit of pink ... ooops!  I meant to color her flag blue, but ... the pink automatically landed in my hand.  So pink sail it is!  LOL!

Here's my card:

The Fun Stuff:

Image:  Magnolia Tilda

Papers:  K&Co

Medium:  Prisma Colored Pencils

Other:  Distress Ink, Kaisercraft Pearls

Don't you love Tilda?!  I love her!  Check out The Beary Scrap Store to see more lovely Magnolia stamps!  You've got to hurry though, they move pretty quick!  :)

And please don't forget to come back tomorrow to see the new challenge!  Yayyyy!  Come on and join us why don't 'cha?!!  See you soon and have a WONDERFUL week!  :)

Hugs,

Elise

You still have time to get sketchy!

Hi there, crafty friends! Just popping in on this very hot Sunday to let you know there is still one more day to enter our Beary Sweet Challenge #3: Get Sketchy With Us. It's a perfect day to stay inside and play with paper!

 

Here is how the design team used this fun sketch - click on the photos to go directly to each post for loads of details! 

 Susan (Monday)

Elise (Wednesday)

 Jamie (Thursday)

Patricia (Friday)

 Gini (Saturday)

Remember, this challenge ends Monday, June 14 at 11:59pm (EDT) *and* we'll have a new challenge up on the 15th. Thanks for visiting, and we hope to see you in our challenges, too!

Cheers,

Susan

Happy Father's Day from Gini

It looks like the Beary Scrap Girls have done a fantastic job keeping things masculine this week (and for a bunch of ladies who love our girlie-girl projects, I think that is pretty good!) I'm wrapping this week up with a Father's Day Card. My dad is the absolute hardest person in the world to buy a present for - so I am hoping that he will enjoy the card.

I really love My Mind's Eye Laundry Line paper - and it's on sale. You better hurry and grab some, because I'm feeling like I should hoard some for my stash. It can easily be masculine, although it has the most beautiful sparkle to it!

Remember, you still have time to play with our sketch challenge for a chance at a Beary Scrap shopping spree!

See you next week!

Recipe:
Stamps: Flourishes - A Guiding Light
Papers: MME - Laundry Line- Coastal, Bazzill
Medium: Copics, Distress Inks
Tools: Cuttlebug Die, Dew Drops

Happy Father's Day from The Beary Scrap

Wow what did you think of Jamie's tutorial I loved it and have to give it a try.

Well for this week I used Oliver the Dog one of Kimm's Acrylic Patterns. I thought man's best friend was perfect for a Father's Day card. I also pulled out my inner Gini on this card and even gave distressing the paper edges a try and I think she is rubbing off on me because I actually got it right this time.

My card recipe:

Back ground paper by Basic Grey-Origins Cucumber

Mulberry Paper

Oliver the Dog Acrylic Pattern

BoBunny Button

Pearls

Distressed Ink - Vintage Photo

Spellbinders

Now if your already a follower of our posts you know that Kimm has giving the Tear Bears there very own special blog but if you new and want to give these wonderful patterns a try check out the Tear Bear Blog and get all the tips and hints on how to make these. Kimm has shared all her secrets on how to make them. There is two new members to the Tear Bear family this month

Miko the Monkey and Boston the Kitty

Thanks so much for looking.

~Patricia~

A "Grand"father and a "Grand" technique for Masculine Accents

I hope you have enjoyed our Fathers' Day Week so far and have had a chance to reflect on the dads in your life. My layout this week honors my Grandfather-- he has been gone for almost 20 years but I still think about him often and appreciate the things he taught me. He taught me to work hard (he was an Idaho potato farmer), play hard (he loved to travel, especially abroad) and he taught me to laugh! My grandpa affectionately called my two younger sisters and I the "three squirrels" and spoiled us rotten with treats from his candy drawer and new school clothes every year. I still miss him and especially miss that my kids never got the chance to know him. What a great example and patriarch he was to our family!


My layout starts with some light blue Bazzill cardstock which I spritzed with walnut ink-- you could also use Tattered Angels glimmer mist. I cut strips from different patterned papers, including Basic Grey Kioshi (green), Dream Street Fresh (white grid and blue dot), and My Mind's Eye Just Dreamy (brown dots). I attached my strips with staples, a little stitching and some guy-looking brads that are flat and phillips head screws. My title is pieced from different chipboard alphabets, including one from Bo Bunny-- I love mixing my alphabets, it gives a page title or a card sentiment a really fun look without much effort.

Among my patterend paper is also some strips of "leather" paper-- a cool way to add a masculine touch to any layout or card. To make leather paper you will need the following things:

***Lightweight white or cream (light colored) cardstock
***Walnut Ink Crystals
***1/4 cup measuring cup
***1/2 tsp measuring spoon
***Hot water
***Bowl and stirring utensil (I used a craft stick)
***Wax paper

Sounds kind of like cooking, doesn't it? By the way, an apron is also a good idea! (I realized this half way through, especially because I was wearing a white shirt!) And this is extremely messy for your hands, so if you are opposed to the ink taking two days to wear off, you might wear gloves.

After gathering your supplies, follow these steps to make your leather paper:

1. Measure out 1/2 tsp of the Walnut Ink crystals into your bowl.


2. Then add 1/4 cup hot water and stir until the crystals are completely dissolved.



3. Crumple up a piece of white cardstock (no bigger than 8 1/2 x 11) .

4. Place the crumpled paper into the bowl of ink and press with your hands until it is covered completely. Turn it around, upside down, unfold a bit to get ink into as many of the creases as possible.




5. After moving it around to cover as much as possible, carefully lift it up out of the bowl, continuing to hold the paper over the bowl so it can drip back into it.


6. Gently ring the excess ink from the paper.

7. Carefully, so the paper won't tear, unfold it and lay it out to dry on a sheet of wax paper. As you are unfolding it, if there are any spots that weren't covered, you can dip it again or spread some on with your fingers. Aren't all the lines and creases cool?

8. Repeat with more paper-- I used several different sizes and then also did some shapes, such as ready cut tags and stars that I punched. The 1/2 teaspoon of ink crystals makes quite a bit of ink so you might as well do a lot while you're making a mess! Tags and shapes would be really handy to have ready for quick cards. If you don't use up all the ink in one session, store it in a container with a tight lid and just stir before using again.



9. Let your pieces dry completely-- I left mine overnight. Here they are all laid out wet at 11:30 pm one night--

-- and here they are the next morning at 8:00 am, all dry and ready to go!



After your leather paper is dry, use it as accents on your layouts or cards any way you can imagine! I think "manly" looking accents are hard to find so here's a great way to make your own!

Think about the Fathers in your life this week and plan something to honor them on Fathers' Day. And while you are out there creating, make sure to enter out Sketch Challenge and link up your entry by June 15th for a chance to win a $20.00 to The Beary Scrap Store. I can't wait to see all your fabulous entries!