A Clean and Simple Layout

Have you tried making your Clean and Simple project yet for our current Beary Sweet Challenge? Wow, this was definitely a challenge for me! I literally had to continually talk myself out of putting different embellishments on this page and I tried hard to stick to Susan's basic sketch. As hard as it was not to stick more stuff on it, I was really pleased with my resulting layout-- it was quick and simple and the lack of embellishments make the photos stand out even more. And so, here it is:

To create a layout design from Susan's awesome sketch, I rotated the whole sketch sideways to the left and the s-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-d it out to fill two 12 x 12 pages. I used the new Bo Bunny Block Party line for my page and I am so in love with these papers! They are bright and summery, with stars and hibiscus flowers, but at the same time have included brown, one of my all time favorite go-to colors for layouts (and clothes, and home decor, ya, I like brown!). I only used a couple of these delicious double sided papers and can't wait to put the rest of them to work!


My only concession to extra embellishment is the machine stitching around the blue paper and around the "Living the Simple Life" tag. I have the entire Block Party line, complete with flowers, stickers and epoxy and glittered brads but I refrained from adding EVERYTHING and just added a couple of stickers where there were already elements in the sketch. The brown ribbon is also from Bo Bunny, check out all the colors of this cute double dot ribbon at The Beary Scrap.

One little tip I wanted to point out-- I really wanted brown letters for my title but couldn't find a set of alphabet stickers that actually had all the right letters ( as I said, I quite like brown so you can imagine I use my brown alphabets quickly!) And so I used white foam letters but inked right over them Colorbox ink in Chestnut Roan. Wallah! Brown letters!



I hope you have liked our Clean and Simple creations so far this week, make sure to check back tomorrow for Patricia's take on the sketch! And be sure to join us in our Beary Sweet Challenge-- you just might win a $20.00 gift certificate from The Beary Scrap (I suggest ordering this super cute Block Party line!)

You Make My Heart Dance

Hello!!!  August is here!  Oh my goodness gracious!  How is this possible?  I mean, by 8pm the sun has gone completely down here, and it's pretty much dark.  I swear this is not supposed to happen until like September!  It's going to be Halloween before you know it .. and that reminds me!  I went to the craft stores the other day, and they not only had Halloween things but CHRISTMAS things out too!  sigh ... time just whooshes .. yes .. whooshes ... is that an actual word?  lol .. well for me it is!  ;)

Anyhow our Beary Scrap Challenge is a "Clean and Simple" sketch by our lovely Susan!  I actually enjoyed this!!! Thank you so much Susan!

The Fun Stuff:

Image:  Magnolia

Papers:  K&Co

Medium:  Prisma Colored Pencils

Other:  Mulberry Roses (the pink ones are from The Beary Scrap store!),  Ranger Blending Tool (I ALWAYS use these since it's easier on my hands), Walnut Stain Distress Ink, Golden Rod Stickles, Martha Stewart Border Punch

Okay, just to give you an idea of what blogger does to me .. you know all those links you've just seen?  I had to do it BACKWARDS!!!  Blogger will NOT let me do it one after the other!  How ridiculous is that?!  And this has been going on for quite some time now .. and I finally figured out i have to do it backwards .. which is not always possible in my head.  lolol!!!

Alright .. hope to see ya at our challenge!  That would make us all so happy to see what you whip up!

Hugs,

Elise

BSC #6 Winners!

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

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

#14: Pat R - a very lucky local shopper and BSC fan!

Congratulations, Pat!

Er, Kimm? Can you tell Pat she can browse the aisles and give you the bill? *grin*

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

#12 - Trisha from "T-Bear's Touch"

#11 - Bonnie, "the Sassy Scrapper"

#2 - Stephanne @ "Stephanne Blogging? Oh Dear"

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

We hope everyone can join our BSC #7 Sketch Challenge going on now!

Cheers,
Susan, Gini, Elise, Jamie, Patricia and Kimm

Keep It Simple?

Hello! I hope everyone had a great weekend. We had beautiful weather which lead to yard work and a day trip to Annapolis, Maryland. It's such a picturesque historic town!

This week at the Beary Scrap we're trying to keep it simple with our CAS (Clean and Simple) Sketch Challenge... Oh my, this was difficult for me! My "simplicity" was only one stamp layer (really!) and no embellishment beyond the sketch. Ok, so I admit I failed in the CAS department... but I did simplify *my* normal self... sort of. *sheesh* I think the design team is going to fire me - lol!

I've used Pink Paislee's Queen Bee papers. I really like the yellow/gray combination! The twill ribbon is also Queen Bee, called "Ribbon Pleats". The package has 2 - 12x12 ribbons, one in this yellow color and one in gray. I measured out the amount of pleat I needed and then pulled the stitching from the remaining ribbon. It too a little water spritz and iron to straighten it out, but I love the end result.

Card Recipe

• Stamp - Magnolia "Flying Tilda"
• Paper - Pink Paislee Queen Bee from the 6x6 paper pad - black and prints; purple from stash
• Medium - Copic Sketch E000 (base skin tone); Prismacolor pencils w/OMS;Stickles Star Dust; Distress Stickles in Old Paper, Antique Linen and Milled Lavender; Glimmer Mist in Diamond
• Embellishments - Pink Paislee's Queen Bee Ribbon Pleats; Mulberry roses; Prima flower
• Tools - MS Scallop Dot Edge Punch and Leaf Punch; sewing machine
• Adhesives - Scor-Tape; Fabri-Tac; silicone

Here's the BSC #7 Sketch - you have until the end of the day August 14th to enter and you could win a $20 gift voucher from The Beary Scrap! Go HERE for all the details. 

Thanks so much for stopping in today. The design team will have fun samples for you all week, so be sure to come back for inspiration. We look forward to your Clean and Simple projects!

Cheers,
Susan

Beary Sweet Challenge #7: Simple Sketch

Welcome to our Beary Sweet Challenge #7

Just a quick note: The design team sends out HUGE thanks to everyone who joined our BSC #6 - we are so thrilled to see each and every one of you! We'll announce winners on Tuesday, August 3rd. Thank you!

CAS (Clean and Simple) Sketch

Ooh, we get to do another sketch challenge - whoo hoo! This time we're keepin' it basic... or as basic as a bunch of flower-lovin', layer makin', ribbon-embelllishin' girls can get! I know we're all going to be challenged, so do your best and don't worry about that flower or three... Any of the elements can be moved, flipped or rotated, as long as they're all there in some form or another. See, we're easy!

(That sound you hear is my right hand slapping my left as it reaches for even more embellies! Hahaha!)

This challenge runs through August 15 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 August 17th.

Once again the random winner will receive a $20 voucher for The Beary Scrap!

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#7;
• Please, only one (1) entry per person. Links to projects/cards posted before August 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 sketch  challenge (cards, scrapbook layouts, etc.);
• International crafters can play, too!

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

Cheers,

Susan

What's on your Christmas List?

Well, with all of the Christmas in July challenges this month, I have certainly made a big dent in my Christmas cards! I hope you have been inspired this week by the Beary Scrappy Gals! I bet if you dropped by the Beary Scrap, you could really get a nice Christmas list going too! See, I think that would be a great Christmas in July! I would love to hear what you would like to see Santa bring you!

For my card, I used this really cute stamp from Stampavie. My papers are Eskimo Kisses by Basic Grey (another line I loooove!)

You have until 11:59 EST tonight to get your sketch entry in! Then, be sure to check back on tomorrow for our new challenge!

It's a Tear Bear Christmas

It's so hard to believe that there is only 149 more shopping days left till Christmas, Sorry had to go there. But the girls at

The Beary Scrap this week have giving you some really good inspiration for some holiday projects and cards.

Have you seen the new Tear Bear Patterns that Kimm has now available at the Store, they are super cute. When I saw Penny the Penguin I new that she would be perfect for my card. When the mail showed up there was my box of goodies in the mail and Penny was in there.  

This card was so much fun to make I hope you like it.

This was so much fun to make. I used a paper bag album and took it apart and makes for a nice card base. I glued in ribbon on the inside of my mats so it made a tie to hold the card together. For my mats I used just plain card stock and sprayed it with Glimmer Mist, I must admit I don't use Glimmer Mist a lot but it added a really nice sparkle to my background that I will be using a lot of it now. To bad the pictures don't really show it but its very pretty. I used a the Martha Stewart snow flake boarder punch for the snow. I also added a little bit of light blue Ink to the snow flakes.

For my Tear Critters I used the Reindeer, Tear Bear and Penny the Penguin. The Beary Scrap just got in a new shipment of Mulberry Paper so go check out all the pretty colors there. I also used some stickers by Jolee's and I also used Tim Holtz Tissue Tape on the background which worked perfect for the holiday theme. I used Spellbinders to cut my little mats added Ink, and Stickles and some snowflake buttons. Hand Stitching and some little star pearls.

Your running out of time to enter our
Beary Sweet Challenge so make sure you get your card posted soon.

Thanks so much for looking.

~Patricia~

Christmas Treats

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! I hope you are enjoying the Holidays here at The Beary Scrap and that you are finding lots of holiday inspiration.

Oh wait, it might be a little early to be wishing you all a Happy Holiday season but it is never too early to start planning your gift list. The earlier I get done planning, buying and wrapping all my gifts the more I can actually enjoy the Christmas season. My sister and I always go shopping for 3 days the first week of November, get it all done and then try to relax! (The key word there is TRY, we don't always get it all accomplished, but we do try.) And I am always looking for a cute little gift to give to friends, neighbors and coworkers-- so here is trio of quick and easy treats you can make for the holidays.




Treat #1: A Mug Card with Hot Chocolate and a candy cane.



Get a free downloadable pattern for this card here. Make a copy of the pattern and cut it out, then trace it on double sided cardstock. Fold in half and use glue dots to stick the card together. I like to cut the handle of the mug off of my pattern and then use a candy cane for the handle instead, I just tape it to the back of the card and then tie some ribbons around it. Decorate the front of the card and add your desired sentiment. Slip a packet of hot cocoa inside and you have an instead gift.

Treat #2: Folded Candy Box



Cut a strip of patterend cardstock that measures 9 inches x 3 inches. Score the paper at 4, 5, and 6 inches. Then use a punch or die cut machine (I used my Sizzix) to cut out a Christmas shape from the front of the box. Fill a small craft bag with Christmas candy and fold up the box around it, stapling it all together at the top with some cute ribbon. Decorate the front as desired and add a holiday sentiment.


Treat #3: Twist Container


Visit this blog to view the original instructions and pictures. I made my twist container by cutting a piece of patterned cardstock that was 6 x 8 inches. I used Glue Lines along one of the 6 inch sides and partway down the 8 inch side to stick the container together.



Fold one of the 6 inch sides up to make a tube, overlapping about 1/2 inch and stick it together, gently creasing the sides.

Then pinch one of the ends together (where there are already glue lines).


Use a paper crimper to seal the ends together, it also looks cute!

Fill the container with a treat-- candy or a small gift or even a gift certificate to somewhere fun-- and then pinch the other ends together the opposite direction and seal it with more glue lines.


Decorate the outside as desired, add a tag and sentiment and you have a super cute gift for someone special!

I used Basic Grey's Eskimo Kisses line for all of my Christmas treats, which are all currently on sale at The Beary Scrap! This is a really fun, non-traditional Christmas color line that has cool patterns and includes pink, purple and turquoise in the color scheme. I love that all the Basic Grey papers are double sided, giving me more to choose from for the same price! I used coordinating cardstock stickers from the same line, Basic Grey buttons, and some Kaiser Craft Rhinestones to decorate my treats.

I wish you all the best of luck in your holiday planning this year (yes, I know it's July but remember I said it's never to early to start!) And remember, you still have a few more days to enter our Beary Sweet Challenge and win an awesome prize pack from The Beary Scrap.

Christmas in July

Hi Friends!  Happy Wednesday to all of you!  Well, as you know, this week we're having Christmas in July!  OMG .. can you believe Christmas is coming up in 5 months?  Whew, unbelievable!!!  But honestly, I can't wait for the cold weather to arrive ... oh it's just waaay to hot here in Vegas!  Yikes!  lol!

Here's my Christmas in July card:

The Fun Stuff:

Image:  Magnolia

Papers: K&Co

Medium:  Prisma Colored Pencils

Other:  Mulberry Rose Buds and other Mulberry Flowers,  Distress Ink,  Stickles Glue,

 Flocking Powder, Kaisercraft Pearls

Don't forget you still have a few more days to join in on our sketch challenge!  Hope to see you there!

Thank you so much for visiting us, and don't forget to stop by and see the rest of my fellow DT's spectacular creations!  Enjoy the rest of your week!

Hugs,

Elise