~ Easy Water Distressing Technique ~

I have been doing this technique for quite awhile and I have been asked by a few people how I do it, so I thought I would throw together a quick tutorial that shows how easy it really is. Here is what you need:


1) Distress Ink of Your Choice
2) Q-Tip
3) Paper You Plan to Distress
4) Glass of Water
5) Distressing Tool

This piece of patterned paper I am using is part of a layout I just did which is also featured in the bottom of this post. Use your distressing tool of choice along all sides of your paper. Don't be gentle and if it tears a little that is a good thing in my book.

Ink your edges all over and don't be afraid to get crazy with it. Wipe some of the ink on top of the paper. Perfect isn't a word that fits into distressing.

Now take your Q-tip and saturate it in the water. Run your Q-tip along the edges of your paper and onto the top as well to spread the coloring around. Again no need for perfection, just let the water run here and there and saturate the edges as best you can by dipping the Q-tip in often.

Now start going around the edges of the paper, while it's still wet, and curl up and make small tears. To speed up the process of drying you can take a heat tool to your paper.

Here is my finished piece. The water really helps blend the inked edges in to the paper.
Here is the layout I used that piece of paper on. I call this "Speechless". I used an altered photo of Brooklyn. All of my layers of paper were distressed using my water technique, some more than others. This layout was used with items from the June Swirlydoos kit.

This is a close-up of some of the embellishments. The frame and clock are both Dusty Attic pieces. I inked over the tops of each one. The flowers are my torn apart Primas that I showed in my last post.

Here are my Prima centers and a couple of butterflies I cut out from some of the patterned paper in the kit.

Check out these gorgeous beads!! Also the rub on below came with the kit and I used that to get my title from. I distressed it a bit as well by being a little rough when applying.

Thanks for stopping by and God Bless!!

Multiplying Prima Roses

I love Prima and their newest roses are some of my favorite. They come in a pack of 6 and it seems like I am always wanting one or two more. So for this particular layout I decided to tear the centers out of the Prima roses. As you can see I used three of the Prima Winter Rose Collection flowers in Marble Ice. I tore out the center which is a small rose all by itself and am left with the bottom layers. You can use the centers by themselves and as for the bottom, just pop a pretty button or other pretty little creation to fill it in. So instead of a package of 6 flowers, I have a package of 12. The distressing on this is a combination of Robinzberdz water distressing technique and a water technique that I do. Hers is so amazing and really wonderfully dramatic, which I love. Mine is more subtle. I will be showing that off this month on my blog, show check back for a tutorial on that.

This was made using items from the June Swirlydoos kit and it is based on a sketch by Beggahuna.

Thanks for stopping by and God Bless!!

My Very First Sketch

I have been wanting to make a sketch for a long time now and I've finally gotten around to making one. Here is my very first official sketch!! YAY!! I had a lot of fun making it and I messed up and had to redo a ton and I think I used a little too much gray, but oh well!! Here is my sketch and my layout I created from it!

I created this layout using items from the Swirlydoos June kit!! This is a pic of my son dressed up as Little Jack Horner. If you can remember I did a Little Miss Muffet layout with my daughter Tyler and plan to do Rylee and Brooklyn in a nursery rhyme shoot this summer.

Thanks for stopping by and God Bless!!

~ Sharing Some Published Layouts - SNR ~

Dropping off a couple of previously published layouts from Scrapbook News and Review Magazine. This first one is a layout I did for Mother's Day called Between a Mother and Her Daughter. I used items from the Prima Pastiche line among other wonderful embellishments from Swirlydoos.
I just printed out the words on my computer and inked the edges with Ranger alcohol ink.

I've been wanting to do a layout like this for a long time and I finally got around to it. These two hats belonged to Brooky when she was in the hospital. I am so happy on how this layout turned out and I wish I would have done this with all my kids' hats.

This is a Maya Road chipboard butterfly that I coated with purple Puffy Paint and then put a layer of UTEE over the top of that.
If you are interested in getting your layout published with Scrapbook News and Review Magazine you can go to their website and click on the Calls tab at the top right corner of the page. Don't forget to visit the forums at SNR and introduce yourself!! Get some great tips and join in on some fun threads!!

~ Remember ~

No layouts or tutorials today. Just dropping off a few pictures. We went to the cemetary today, so that my husband could visit the graves of his uncles and grandfather. Watching my husband and my youngest daughter really made me realize how important it is to honor and remember our soldiers. Those who have fought, fallen and who are fighting now. It is so important to pass on their stories and teach our children to honor these men and women. I want to say thank you to each and every one of our soldiers!! God Bless you all!!

Thank you for stopping by and God Bless!!

~Avon Jar Cupcakes~

I had a jar of Avon Anew cream (They come in different shapes and sizes depending on the product) and the shape of it reminded me of a cupcake, so I decided to get creative with it. I didn't do a tuturial because it was my first one and wasn't sure how it would turn out. Also, I struggled a little with the paper on the edges, but the top was pretty simple. I have another jar of Anew that is smaller and even more cupcake shaped. I am hoping to put something together with that one as well and will be doing a tutorial of it. I think that it will fit into a cupcake holder so I am pretty excited to do that one.

Just an idea of what you will need... Molding paste, cupcake shapped container, and embellies.

~ Metal Roses & Crimped Butterflies ~

If you haven't worked with metal from 10 Second Studios, you are missing out. I love this stuff and I want it in every color :)!!! In this layout I used some of their dark blue metal sheets to make the little roses that GabiP does over at My Creative Scrapbook. I also did some cool looking crimped butterflies as well. Below are some close ups and more details on what I did here.
I don't want to forget to mention that this gorgeous scroll is made by Dusty Attic and you can find their products at Stay True to God. I know she was working on her website so if you are having difficulties there, just check back.

As for these adorable little roses. The tutorial that Gabi uses is perfect for paper, but I noticed that when you work with metal you don't need as many layers. So I did the first two layers of her tutorial and then I did the centers. You will have to check out her tutorial to know what I am talking about.

For these cute butterflies you will need an ability to cut out butterflies using a die machine of punch of some sort. You will also need a paper crimper. I used the Fiskars paper crimper. I distressed the edges using a small exacto knife and then I inked the edges with Smooch paint. The wire is easy and I just glue it down underneath the butterfly. To get the ends like these, just use a small paint brush handle and curl it around a few times. The body is made with two little rhinestones, but you can use stickles or liquid pearls.

Thanks for stopping by and God Bless!!