Brushed WOTG

I just created the first layout for the Brushed Workshop on the Go.  My exact thoughts after finishing and standing up to take a better look were "did I really just create something this beautiful?"  I'm not trying to sound full of myself at all, but man does it feel good to improve your techniques!  I've stated several times that girly is not my comfort zone at all and I've been working to get my stamped images to come out more crisp.  For this workshop I scoured Pinterest for Inspiration, you can find my board here.  I found a great layout that didn't seem to difficult to recreate and adapt to what I like.

I think this is really important to search for your artistic inspiration and try to imitate that to improve your skill.  You don't have to scraplift the entire layout if you don't want but start with the basics and let it evolve from there.  What I mean by this, is I decided to use all the same papers as the original and keep the majority of the project the same.  As I went along I made some changes to my embossing folder used on the canary paper (yellow).  Also I tend to take more horizontal photos so I changed the orientation of the matts on the right page.  This layout did take me longer because I stamped a lot more. I hope you like it!  If you would like that feeling or to learn how to create something like this contact me and I'd love to have a get together with the girls!

Shimmer Trimmed cards

I'm loving shimmer trim!  These were a project from a meeting that I never got around to creating.  I did take a lot of inspiration from a fellow consultant Sara Batkin.  She's amazing and I have learned a lot from her!  

When Corporate gave us the project they gave us all the small pieces of card stock precut.  All the patterned pieces are from a My Crush book that we took apart!  I love thinking outside the box like that.  I never would have considered taking one apart to create cards or even scrapbook layouts.  I'll have those for you next.  Below are the cards that I created.  

The cards are 5.5"x4.25".  I really enjoyed making these cards.  I'm trying to get into more of a groove creating more often.  I always say our hobby is preserving memories and making heartfelt crafts not buying pretty stuff to sit on a shelf!  

The card below was inspired by a recent baby announcement.  They are having a boy but I thought how perfect because babies are such a wonderful gift!

Every now and then I happen to craft while the kids are awake.  That also happens to be when I make mistakes and have to come up with something to fix it.  For this card I asked  my 6 year old what color combinations he liked best and what ink colors he thought I should use.  I like to see what my kids come up with because sometimes their ideas work out really well!

For this card I used liquid glass on the centers of the flowers.  I really like how it adds something but isn't over the top.

The piece that says love is vellum.  This is one of those cards that had an accident but you would never know.  I had already attached the background paper to the card base.  Then I attached the vellum piece, only I was watching and talking to the kids.  So I attached it to the side that opens, it was upside down. Then I tried to gently pull it off and ripped it!  So that wasn't going to work.  I just decided to cut the card in half and save the work I had done.  I added the navy piece and shimmer trim to hide the tear and the adhesive.

If you have any questions let me know or visit my site for any of the products that you like.

Studio J Flash Sale!

Do you have an account full of Studio J® layouts waiting to be printed? How about a big photo order you keep meaning to make? Well, now is the time to log in to Studio J and order all your layouts and photos! From July 15, 2015, 9:00 am MDT to July 31, 2015, 5:00 pm MDT (16 July 2015, 1:00 am AEST to 1 August 2015, 9:00 am AEST), all layouts in Studio J are only $5 USD/$5.95 CAD/$7.50 AUD/$8.25 NZD each!

As a reminder for Consultants, your discounted amount is commissionable. Plus, the discounted amount also counts toward earning Hostess Rewards and Gathering totals when connected to an EZ Invite™ published Gathering. Remember, this sale applies only to layouts ordered before the cutoff time on July 31 (August 1 for our friends in Australia and New Zealand), so get ‘em while they’re hot and start designing—and ordering—as soon as possible!

*Considerations:

• No grace period for orders; no Consultant preview
• Layout credits are used first before the discounted price takes effect
• Applies to SJ1001 (Hostess Rewards) layouts as well
• Discounted amount is commissionable
• Discounted amount counts toward earning Hostess Rewards and Gathering totals when connected to an EZ Invite™ published Gathering
• Discounted amount does not count toward earning the discounted Stamp of the Month
• Normal shipping/handling rates apply

You can score this deal on my site at justineharris.ctmh.com

Mother's Day mini album

I made my Mother-in-law a cute mini album for Mother's day.  She always wants pictures of the kids but likes good old fashioned hard copies.  Which is something I can appreciate.  I've never made my own before but thought I'd give it a shot.  I kept the colors more neutral with some glacier as an accent color.  I mixed patterns since I kept all the colors similar.  I also used some gold polka dot washi tape.  The paper was cut to 6x12 and attached together by washi tape.  

Here I stamped all the images and then went over them with liquid glass.

This is the inside, I used the washi to create a couple flaps for additional photos.

  I used double sided paper so that helped with coordinating the paper.  This is the backside.  I used liquid glass to secure the ribbon under the back cover.

Just a few of the pictures that I included in the album.

Overall this album wasn't really difficult and would be very easy for a beginner.  *Here's a tip too:  I don't have a score board yet so I did improvise by using the groove of my paper cutter and a boning tool.