BSC Sketch... Who are you again???

Happy Thursday Friends!  Hey... wait a minute, who are you???  Hello, it's ME!  Kimm.  Do you remember me?  Of course you do, right?  I don't usually get a chance to play along in this little corner of our "beary sweet" world.  I just couldn't resist the opportunity to tango with our next challenge sketch that our fabulous Susan created.   Be sure to check back on Friday for the start of our Sketch Challenge.

My mind is blown away by the beautiful creations the girls have been coming up with. They've all been playing with the new papers and embellishments.  MME is simply to die for!  I can't wait to dig my fingers into all of it.

Tilda With Broom meets My Little Yellow Bicycle

 

For this card I chose to use some of our remaining Frightful papers by My Little Yellow Bicycle.  We still have a few of these left in the store if you want to grab some.  As usual, I roughed up my edges with a distressing tool and then inked them up with some charcoal colorbox fluid chalk.  I had some swirls left on a half used sheet of Smoky Say it in Crystals by Prima so I thought it would add a nice touch.  I layered a Prima flower from  my stash with one of Leslie's beautiful crochet blossoms that we have in the store. (I'm waiting for her to make us some more so I can get them online for you too).  The brad center is actually from Pink Paislee's Bayberry Cottage Collection.  The green was a perfect addition to the color combination.  I came across the fall leaves when I was sorting out my Prima Flowers in my home studio.  I've had these for years - LOL.  It wouldn't be me if I didn't have some sparkling goodness added somewhere.  All of the edges and the flowers got a nice coat of STARDUST STICKLES GLITTER GLUE.  I first used Black Diamond on the image, but I really don't like the way it turned out.  Oh, I almost forgot, I used Snow Kaiser Craft Pearls and colored them with an YR Copic Marker.

As for Tilda, she was colored with my Copics, and I be darned that I didn't right down what colors I used when I colored her.  I'm sorry :(.  I stamped her with tuxedo black on Neenah Cardstock.  I'm pretty sure I shipped our very last Tilda with Broom out earlier this week.  She was actually from the Hoppy Easter Collection, but you would never have known it.

I am very excited that I got to play along with the girls this week, but I'm even happier that you decided to drop by for a visit today.  Hope you have a wonderful day!

♥ Hugs ♥

Patricia's Sketch Card

Hello my Beary Scrap Friends

Today is my day to show you my card from Susan's fun sketch.

When I got my new papers from The Beary Scrap Store I couldn't wait to make something up with the new Haunted line from My Mind's Eye. What you can't tell from the pictures it all the dark black parts of the paper are all covered in fuzzy flock. OOO I love it and is actually why I keep my card kinda simple I really wanted to show off the paper.

 

I used Owen the Owl for my card today he is one the the fun new patterns released this month from Kimm. He was so fun and easy to make. He was made with some of the really thick Mulberry Paper in the store.

I also added some of the matching brads from the My Minds Eye Haunted Collection. I have seen somewhere I'm sure in blogland a zipper on a card because I have really been wanting to try to do something like this and with Susan's sketch it was perfect to give it a try. Owens broom was from my stash actually stolen from another card because I thought he would look so cute on it and I believe it may have come from Jolees. I cut all my mats using Spellbinders.

Thanks for looking.

~Patricia~

Sketch Week

Hi! It's time for another sketch week at the Beary Scrap! Don't you just love this sketch that Susan came up with? It was really fun to work with.

Let me tell you, if you have not gotten any of the MME Lost and Found line - you are going to love it! It is so gorgeous, I almost couldn't cut into it (but then I thought, hey...Kimm's got more in the store!) I used papers from the Portobello Road collection - yummy! Did you notice that tinsel trim? Yep, it's from this line too! I used Glimmer Mist on the edge of my paper to help age and distress it. The stamp is a cutie from Magnolia. I colored her with Copics (which Kimm is running an incredible deal on right now!)

Thanks for looking! Be sure to come back each day to see the other Beary Scrappy Gals creations!

hugs,
Gini

You Hold The Key To My Heart

Hello dear friends! I hope you've had a fabulous weekend! The Husband, Finnegan and I trekked on down to North Carolina to visit with my in-laws. It was a beautiful weekend - Saturday I finally got to experience the "Carolina Blue" skies that my mother-in-law has told me about... stunning! We had a long To-Do list, which is kind of cool (we do like to help them when we can). It was nice to see Matthew and his Dad working on a grill surround thingy. They had oodles of power tools and measuring devices and Gatorade... actually, it was nice to see them working so well together. :)

It's Susan Monday, which really means I get to introduce the design team's weekly theme. This week we all worked with a sketch that we'll use as our next Beary Sweet Challenge on Friday. Be sure to check back for a great sketch!

I love the Basic Grey Capella papers.They're such wonderful prints and warm colors! I complemented the BG with Bazzill Basics in Mud Pie, and actually veered away from my normal white card stock base. (You'll see another here Friday.) I do like the "drama" of an all-dark base!

As embellishments, I sprayed all the crocheted flowers, rose buds and leaves with pearl Glimmer Mist - it's a lovely subtle sheen. The green flower in the bottom right is edged with Frosted Ice Stickles for a little added (but still subtle) bling. Hmm... can bling be subtle?

Anyway... I received a card from the oh-so-lovely and talented Elise of Paper Love Affair the other day and was WOW'd by her perfect Stickles edging. I was so inspired to try it on this card... not perfectly straight, but better than any effort before today. Thanks sweets!

Our sketch has a rough -or torn- edge, and I ran a little bead of water down the edge of the paper with a Brush2O, let it soak in a bit and tore the edges off. Once dry I edged with Cinnamon Stickles and layered with a bit of scrap crocheted lace.

Card Recipe

• Stamp: Magnolia
• Paper: Bazzill Basics Mud Pie; Basic Grey Capella
• Medium: Stickles Star Dust, Cinnamon, Frosted Lace and Diamond; Glimmer Mist Pearl on flowers and leaves; Copic E00 for base skin tone; Color Box Fluid Chalk in Chestnut Roan for all edges
• Embellishments: Mulberry paper roses; My Mind's Eye Laundry Line Crochet Flowers; Kaisercraft pearls; old key, pearl pins, large green flower and pearl brad from stash
• Tools: MS leaf punch; Scor-Pal; Brush20 Water Pen
• Adhesive: Scor-Tape

Thanks for stopping in today! Don't forget you still have a few days to whip up a little creative somethin' somethin' for our Vintage themed Beary Sweet Challenge. You could win a $20 gift voucher to The Beary Scrap!

Cheers,
Susan

BSC #10 Recap - Ends 9/30 - Come Join Us!

Hi there, crafty friends! Just popping in on this beautiful Saturday to let you know there are still 6 days to enter our

Beary Sweet Challenge #10: Vintage

Here is how the design team interpreted the vintage theme - click on the photos to go directly to each post for loads of details!

Susan (Monday)

Gini (Tuesday)

Patricia (Wednesday)

Jamie (Friday)

Remember, this challenge ends Thursday, September 30 at 11:59pm (EDT) *and* we'll have a new sketch challenge up on the 1st. Thanks for visiting, and we hope to see *you* in our challenges, too! You could win a $20 gift voucher (with free shipping!) to The Beary Scrap. How cool is that?

Cheers,
Susan and the whole fabulous team!

A Shape to Treasure

Here's one more shape for you this week-- I hope you have enjoyed seeing all the DT's cool creations that are beyond squares and rectangles. I loved making my shape-- a flower shaped mini album of my daughter's 6 year old portraits-- this is definitely a shape to treasure!

I used a chipboard mini album from Scenic Route for this project and then went crazy with all the fabulous new papers and embellishments from My Mind's Eye Lost & Found that are in stock right now at The Beary Scrap. Now, remember last week when I made my vintage page, I also used the Lost & Found papers; however, my page last week was pale pink and green. This week I have used a different group from the Lost & Found line-- Union Sqaure and my project is black, cream and red. I have been holding onto these pictures since last September trying to find the perfect papers to go with them and let me tell you, this is it! I think they designed Union Square just for me! And there are still two other groups. Lost & Found is absolutely amazing, make sure you check out all four categories and get yourself some of these yummy scrap goodies!

Sorry for the long post, but here are the 6 inside pagesof my mini album:

Supplies used for this project were:

Chipboard Album
My Mind's Eye Lost & Found Union Square papers
My Mind's Eye Lost & Found Union Square brads and die cuts
My Mind's Eye Lost & found Union Square ribbon
Black pearls and silver rhinestones from Kaiser Craft
Various flowers and embellishments by Prima
Tiny letter stickers from Cosmo Cricket and foam alphabet from American Crafts
Black Soot Distress Ink by Tim Holtz

Get creative and challenge your mind to think outside of the "square"-- see what shape you can come up with. And why not make it vintage and enter it in our Beary Sweet challenge, open until Sept. 30th at 11:59 EST, enter your project for a chance to win a $20.00 voucher. Thanks for joining us in shapin' it up this week!

Easel Card Tutorial Fun Shapes

It's a Beary Scrap Tutorial.

Have you ever wondered how some people make fun shaped easel cards? Well I'm going to tell you how I make mine. Here is the card I'm going to show you how to make.

When I want to make a fun shape easel card and I know what I want to make like my pumpkin the first thing I do is go to Google.Com and search for pumpkin clip art. Now when your looking and type in your search make sure you click on Images on Google and this will pull up tons of images to look at. When your looking for your image don't look to much at whats in the image but the overall shape of it, because in most cases your going to add your own stuff to it. All my cards are 6x6 so I only need one 12x12 sheet of card stock. Now this was the shape I found for my pumpkin I liked.

Now as you can see I did use pretty much the whole image to make my card.

The first thing I do is re-size my shape to totally fill a 6x6 square and print it out, now this may take a few resizing to fit.

Once you get the right size the first thing you want to do is cut your paper take one 12x12 sheet of card stock and cut in half so you have two 6x12 sheets put one aside and cut one of them in half so you have two 6x6 squares take one of them and trace your pattern on to your card stock and cut out this will be your top.

Now when your making the bottom your going to want to fold your 6x12 sheet in half, now this follows the same idea when you were little making paper dolls and place your pattern with the top of your pattern over lapping the fold.

Now trace your pattern on to the card stock and cut out. When you open up your bottom it should look like this.

Now your going to fold only one half in half. Place the whole bottom piece on your Scor-Pal and your going to score on the 3" mark.

Now this is how your card should fold.

This is what your two pieces should look like.

Now just clip on the top but don't glue to see if you match up and your fold will line up to the bottom if you don't like where you card will sit you can adjust your fold so your card can sit where you like it.

Now unclasp and decorate the top of your card before you attach it.

After you get the top done and most of the bottom you can attach the top to the bottom.

I usually wait till I get the top on and glued before I attach the bottom center mat so I can place it in the right spot. My bottom center mat will be placed with pop dots the the top has a stopping point so it stands.

My card recipe:

Orange Card Stock

Hand Stitching using Bazzill Piecing Mat with the Beary Creative Tool

Stickers from EK Success

Tear Bear Pattern

Mulberry Paper

Stickles-Crystal

Robin's Next Dew Drops

Spellbinders

Tear Bear Pumpkin outfit from Precious Piecings by Lisa

Distressed Ink-Vintage Photo

Thanks for looking

~Patricia~

Get in Shape!

Hi! This week at the Beary Scrap we decided no squares or rectangles! There are lots of other shapes out there - and we would like to see them. Whether it be a card, layout or altered project - show us some shapes!

I decided to try something new, and made a bottle tag. With the holidays quickly approaching, this makes a perfect little present a hostess gift. I used papers from MME - Laundry Line and found a vintage wine label on line. I used Spellbinders Labels to add some shape to my edges - and finally added an adorable Norma Fickel image - Wee and Drum.

I hope that you enjoy seeing the Beary Scrappy Gals get out of our boxes this week! and we hope we inspire you to do the same.

We're In Great Shape!

Please click HERE to go straight to our current Beary Sweet Challenge!

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Hello friends! Hope everyone had a great weekend. We had bee-you-ti-ful weather once again. Ah, September! I love September for a lot of reasons - one of which is today is my 13th wedding anniversary. Husband and I started dating in 1992, married in '97 and here we are 13 years later, still laughing at with each other. *wink*

As you know, the design team has a new challenge every week to help introduce products available at The Beary Scrap. We do this in addition to our twice-monthly Beary Sweet Challenge - open to everyone on the 1st and 15th of every month. Our current BSC is a Vintage theme - check out our posting for all the info and some easy vintage suggestions in case you need 'em to play along. We hope you can join us before the 30th!

Ok, so this week the DT is experimenting with shapes. We challenged each other to make projects that are anything other than the standard square or rectangle.

I've had bird houses on the brain lately, and wanted to make a bird house card... major failure. HOWEVER, I've also been noodling the idea to update a stocking stuffer calendar I made last year for a craft fair. Since I have my 2011 calendars on hand, now is the perfect time to play around with design, right?

This is both very simple and very fun, especially with Echo Park's whimsical Life is Good. I dusted off my Cricut and used 2 cartridges - "Stretch Your Imagination" for the bird house and "Storybook" for the birdie and leaves. A little FYI to the Cricut folks - I cut the regular-sized bird house and it's layers at 5.5" (I have the original Cricut, hence the dust...), but I made my own template to make it a little longer. Both the birdie and branches are cut at 2".

Here's a rear view. This striped paper is a separate layer that allowed me to sandwich the branch ends. Even though the calendar will hang on someone's cubicle wall or refrigerator, I wanted it to look "finished" on the back (and you can see the bow in this photo, too).

I like how this turned out, although I definitely consider it a "prototype" that needs a few tweaks. Here's a link to the original calendar stocking stuffer, in case you're interested. It's one of a bunch of designs sold at the craft show last year.

Card Recipe

• Paper: Echo Park's Life is Good paper pack
• Medium: Glimmer Mist - Pearl on the birdie; Stickles Diamond on the embossed dots; Distress Stickles Walnut on the roof edges and around the hole; Color Box Fluid Chalk in Chestnut Roan for all the edges
• Embellishments: Bazzill Tulle Ribbon to hang; Kaisercraft Pearl in Latte for the eye; calendar and hook from stash
• Tools: Cuttlebug Embossing folders (bird and bird house)

Thanks for visiting!

Cheers,
Susan

Pretty n' Pink Vintage

I love old stuff, that must go along with loving history, so that should mean that I am totally into vintage scrapbook stuff. However, vintage has never really been my scrapping style so this week was a challenge for me (though I promise I wasn't kicking and screaming, just a little stumped). After changing my mind several times, I finally dug out some old pictures of me when I was a baby (a vintage page should have some older pictures, right?) and some of the fabulous new paper from My Mind's Eye that is IN STOCK NOW at The Beary Scrap.



These gorgeous papers are from the Lost & Found line, Market Street papers. If you haven't checked out these papers, pull up a comfortable chair and spend some time browsing through Kimm's inventory-- it's going to take you awhile because this line is huge and you'll want it all! There are four different sub groups-- Market Street, Union Square, Portobello Road and Madison Avenue. They are amazing! Glitter, vintage, sophisticated and all kinds of beautiful embellishments! The papers are double sided which I love because it gives you more choices-- I even used the tab with the bar code on it-- see that scrolly edge of paper sticking out from behind my photo on the right hand side? Yep, that is the bar code from the die cut glittered flower paper-- instead of throwing it away, I flipped it over and used it too!


The edges of my paper are sewn and distressed with the Zutter Distress-It-All-- did I mention last week how much I love that new tool? I thought I would give you one more side view of what that little tool can do ---


Then lace, lace and more lace, including some awesome hand-crocheted flowers made especially for The Beary Scrap (the green ones)-- these aren't online but email Kimm to see what she has in the store. All the flowers are spritzed with Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist in Pearl. The cream colored flowers are by Prima and all the buttons and centers are My Mind's Eye from the Market Street line.



Well, there is my spin on going vintage and now it's your turn. Please join us in our Beary Sweet Challenge #10 and make your own vintage project. Post it by 11:59 EST on Septmber 30th for your chance to win a Beary Scrap Voucher! Good Luck!

BSC #9 Winners!

Hello friends! We want to extend a heartfelt "Thank You!" to everyone who played along with our last challenge! We really enjoyed visiting your blogs and definitely appreciate your support.

Our winner of the $20 gift voucher to The Beary Scrap is...

# 3: Crafting Cathy!

Congratulations, Cathy! Please email Kimm and she'll set you up with a voucher to go shoppin'!

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

#4 - Theresa P
#11 - Elise
#6 - Lori Leng

Ladies - thank you so much for joining us! Here's a fun badge to display on your blogs:

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Our Beary Sweet Challenge #10 is "Go Vintage" and going on now through September 30th. Not sure about vintage? Pop on over and check out our suggestions - you just might be surprised how easy it is!

Cheers,
Susan, Gini, Patricia, Jamie and Kimm

Beary Sweet Challenge #10: Vintage

Please scroll down for Patricia's vintage twist!

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Welcome to our Beary Sweet Challenge #10

The design team sends out HUGE WHOPPING BIG thanks to everyone who joined our BSC #9 - we are so thrilled to see each and every one of you! We'll announce winners on Friday, September 17th. Thank you!

It's the 15th of the month, which means it's time for a new challenge:

Go Vintage!

What makes a project vintage, you ask? Here are some ideas to get your creative juices flowin': distressing - either with ink or frayed edges... lace, crocheted lace, satin ribbon... faux or real stitching... crumpled up elements or curled edges. Think of that dollar bill you found in your jeans pocket after a washer & dryer "treatment".

It's totally up to you!

This challenge runs through September 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 October 3rd.

The random winner will receive a $20 voucher for The Beary Scrap! Whoo hoo!

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

• Become a follower if you aren't already (don't forget this one - it's disqualified a few folks 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#9;
• Please, only one (1) entry per person. Links to projects/cards posted before September 1st 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 technique challenge (cards, scrapbook layouts, etc.);
• International crafters can play, too!

Thanks for playing along with our challenges - we really appreciate you!

Cheers and smooches,

Susan, Gini, Patricia, Jamie and Kimm

Patricia's Attempt at Vintage

This weeks challenge at The Beary Scrap is Vintage.

Did you hear me scream at this challenge. I have to say my style is not vintage at all and this was a true challenge for me. But I think I pulled this one off. I'm really stuck in the Halloween theme this month, I love it. So I Googled vintage Halloween images and came up this this little cutie.

Now I feel guilty that this wasnt something I colored but I really liked the picture.

My flower on here was orginally solid white and I sprayed it with Glimmer Mist, I have to say I really need to play with the Gilmmer Mist more because the flower came out so pretty.

My card recipe:

Google Image

My Little Yellow Bicycle Frightful Halloween Pumpkin/Motif
Glimmer Mist- Used to color Prima Flower
Prima Flowers - Trellis Roses
Robins Nest Dew Drops
Doilie
BoBunny Buttons
Stickles
Spellbinders
Hand stitching - I used Brazzill in Stitch'z Piercing Mat (on clearance) and the Beary Creative Tool to piece my holes. 
Misc Lace
Black and Orange Card Stock.

Thanks for looking.
~Patricia~

Who loves Vintage?

Hi! Today is my first day of Tuesday postings for the Beary Scrap! And I am getting to share one of my favorite styles of cards - Vintage! For you to understand how much I love vintage, you have to realize that before I was even 10 years old, I had an amazing collection of vintage clothes. I loved all of the gorgeous laces and handiwork - and I was absolutely over the moon for beaded purses and flapper dresses. So now, are you beginning to understand some of the influences in my work?

I used a stamp by Stampavie and papers by MME Laundry Line. (Can't you just see those papers being reminiscent of an old beaded evening gown?). After I colored my stamp with copics, I did the Cracked Glass technique over the top, to give a really aged look. I used Distress Ink over the top to get down into the cracks. Finally, to make it authentically vintage - I added a piece of antique lace and a mother of pearl button.

Thanks for looking!

Gini

Waiting For Santa, Vintage Style

Hello hello! I hope you had a great weekend. the Husband and I took a little road trip on Saturday and hid indoors Sunday for the first rainy day in ages. It was nice to wake up to the sound of soft rain - especially since it was falling straight down and not into any of the windows left open overnight. Temps were in the 50's, so after Finnegan went out for a quick wee, we all snuggled tighter under the covers and slept in. I love the cooler temps paired with cozy blankies and warm snuggly bodies in the bed... have I mentioned that our dog sleeps under the covers? He curls his 95lbs up at our feet every night. It's cute!

It's Monday again, which brings a new project from me. *waves* This week we will also see a new Beary Sweet Challenge starting on Wednesday, so the design team is using that theme to inspire you. This week we decided to go down my favorite path:

Vintage

Ok, so *I* decided to take the design team down this path kicking and screaming. I had to duck from a few well-thrown old shoes... but I'm still excited to see what they come up with when truly challenged!

Here's another in my Vintage Christmas Series. Haha! I just made that up as an excuse for my 2 Christmas cards in a row here at TBS. I'm on a mission to avoid the Great Frenzy of 2009, which had me scrambling and working through the night weeks before a craft show. Oh, it was awful even for this procrastinator.

So, about this card: I used the yummy delicious My Minds Eye Laundry Line/Flirty Collection. The design is called "Pretty Coat" and boy is it fabulous! The tag in the upper left corner is also MME and available at the store. On my vintage postcard image I've added white Flower Soft for snow and as decoration on Santa's coat. Star Dust Stickles found its way on the little girl's coat and the star, and Frosted Ice around the edges.

The MME tag was trimmed and crushed into a ball, then the edges and random creased were inked up before it got a Pearl Glimmer Mist squirt. The flowers were white before being misted with Vanilla Glimmer Mist. I'm really pleased with the subtle color!

Card Recipe

• Image: Vintage postcard printed on Neenah Classic Crest
• Paper: Bazzill Basics Mud Pie and Ruby Slipper; My Mind's Eye: Laundry Line - Flirty
• Medium: Flower Soft in Polar White; Glimmer Mist Pearl and Vanilla; Stickles Frosted Ice and Star Dust; Glossy Accents (avail. at the store)
• Embellishments: Mulberry Paper Roses; pins, pearls and lace from stash
• Adhesive: Scor-Tape; Fabri-Tac; sewing machine (haha!)

Thanks for stopping in today. Gini will be here tomorrow with her vintage-y goodness. Don't forget that the Beary Sweet Challenge #9 is open until Tuesday night - there's still time to whip something up with our sketch!

Cheers,
Susan

Cream and Gold and...Rosy Red

Hi, and happy Saturday! I hope that you have enjoyed our Gold and Cream plus One theme this week at the Beary Scrap. Today is my last day posting on Saturdays - from here on out, I will be sharing some Beary Goodness on Tuesdays.

As you can see, I chose to use rosy-red for my other color. I used papers from My Mind's Eye -Laundry Line. If you don't have any MME papers, now is a great time to stock up. Not only does Kimm have some great sales going on, but a little birdie told me there's going to be a contest soon (but you have to use MME papers). Also, the new lines are coming in - Alphabet Soup,
Holly Jolly, and Lost and Found (my favorite!). The Cherry Blossom stamp is from Flourishes. I added Ivory Flower Soft to the centers, and then added a tiny gold bead in the center. I used Glimmer Mist to help distress the edges and and that glimmer that I love.

You have until the 14th to play along with our sketch challenge. The winner will recieve a $20 gift voucher to the Beary Scrap! I'll see you back on Tuesday!

Colors of Fall

"Autumn truly is what summer pretends to be: the best of all seasons. It is as glorious as summer is tedious; as subtle as summer is obvious; as refreshing as summer is wearying. Autumn seems like paradise."
--Gregg Easterbrook

I love Autumn-- it is by miles my absolute favorite time of the year, from the chill in the air to going back to school, harvest time and football games, to the BEAUTIFUL Autumn colors and enjoying those last precious rays of sunshine, appreciating them ever so much more than the summer sun because you know it won't last. So, when I learned the colors for this week's projects-- Ivory , Gold and __________-- I immediately thought of this time of year and a lovely autumn gold. My layout this week uses the colors Ivory, Gold and Brown (with a tad of blue) and showcases one of those golden Autumn afternoons that makes me want it to just be September forever.


I had so much fun with these colors and so many ideas for what to do, I couldn't pick just one or two things to include and so I have many different things on this one layout! I started with Bo Bunny Double Dot Cardstock-- which is quickly becoming my favorite paper for a layout base, the colors are so awesome! I added just a bit of Cosmo Cricket's Gretel line along the edge to give it a touch of that pretty dark turquoise blue and some fall leaves, then decided it needed even more leaves so I stamped the bottom third of the page. I only used a tiny bit of the Cosmo Cricket paper, but make sure to check out this whole collection, it is gorgeous and perfect for fall creations!

Then I layered some large squares of gold, brown and ivory in the middle to mat my large (8x8) sepia photo on and this is where it really got fun! Have you seen this?
It's the new Zutter Distress-It-All and it is seriously my new favorite scrapbook tool! You push the button, stick in your paper and zippity quick! you have perfect distressed edges. Hopefully the angle of this photo will show you a little of what this cool machine can do:


I LOVE it!!! I really thought about die cutting some leaves and distressing their edges too but I decided I had enough stuff already but I can see using this for all kinds of shapes-- flowers, stars, and yes, leaves! Now, Kimm is currently out of stock (I do believe I got the last one!) but hopefully she'll have some back in the store soon because YOU HAVE TO GET ONE!

Enough about that-- I also included machine stitching around my distressed mat, a hand pieced sun with rickrack rays and some clouds cut out of My Little Shoebox's Sky's the Limit paper. I popped up some of the clouds with foam squares and edged everything with Chestnut Roan Colorbox ink. Here's a side view of my sun and clouds:


And now, the finale! I made Kimm's brand new tear critter, Owen the Owl, as he fits an autumn page just perfectly. He is adorable! I made his beak and feet out of yellow gold Bazzill cardstock to match my ivory and gold theme. Then hand cut a little branch from some more of the Bo Bunny Double Dot for him to perch on and attached some gold Bo Bunny All-Stuck-Up flowers (these are a great deal right now!) I love him! Make sure to check out the other new Tear Critters-- Sidney the Skunk and Salem the Cat.


Wow! That was quite an explanation, I know, as I said, I just love Autumn and this was such a fun page to make. I hope I gave you an idea or two and I hope you get out and enjoy the beautiful Autumn days, colors and activities before they are gone!

Save a little time, though, to enter our current Beary Sweet Sketch Challenge-- you have until Sept. 15th at 11:59 EST to enter your take on the sketch and you just might be the lucky one who wins a $20.00 voucher to The Beary Scrap-- perfect for getting some of those awesome Tear Critter Patterns or other fabulous scrapbook supplies!