Some Pages from Melissa

Being on the other side of the world and hearing how these girls are catching up with one another at crops and things around the country at times made me feel a little removed from the group but it was a great year getting to know them all through the blog, email and then of course there is CHA where twice a year we actually do get a chance to meet face to face. All these girls have a wonderful way of making you feel welcome. All so friendly and warm and extremely talented. It was an honour to be asked to take part and also lots of fun. Scrapping on canvas was a whole new experience for me and i slowly got more confidence to try new things as the year went on. Here are a few of my pages that I did for the girls.

Page for Gloria.
I love happy snaps especially with chidren and i know how much Gloria's children make her happy. I had a little fun playing with one of our new ranges on this page. Even the stamps worked on canvas which was something i hadn't done before.

Page for Cheryl
Glimmer misting seems to be all the current rage at the moment so when i got to Cheryls page as she is sooooo creative i thought i too would try something a little different and outside of my usual comfort zone. I got one of my grandma old doilies (don't worry it wasn't an antique one) and layed it over my canvas and used it as a mask when spraying.

Page for Elena
We all know how special Elena is and well this girl inspires me, how she is always doing something for someone. Even with out the makeup, without the trademake princess crown truly is NATURALLY beautiful inside and out. As her favourite colour is purple that is the colour i based this layout around. I loved doing this page for her.

Page for Jane This is another layout that i had a lot of fun with and overdosed a little with the glimmer mist.
Its hard to see from the sneak peak but i was inspired by the photograph of the gorgeous wreath of leaves so out came the leaf punches, a couple of visits to LSS's to find more and to create a wreath of my own to showcase the photos in.

stay tuned for more later on - but i think the kids and hubby need a feed first.

Cheryl's Page by Angela

Well, really this is Cheryl's beautiful daughter Abby's page. Cheryl treated Abby and her friends to a day at Knott's Berry Farm for Abby's birthday and I got to try my hand at being challenged by the concept of a birthday once again. But again, because I love Cheryl, it was easy PLUS I'm always raving about Cheryl's wonderful work and all the fun little details she adds, so I immediately knew I wanted to make sure I went a little crazy with this page.

First, I am a huge candy fan. Everyone jokes that I should do crafts with candy but this is the furthest I've ever taken the challenge. I painted the whole canvas page with Liquitex Texture Gel with glass beads and then sprinkled real cake sprinkles on top. I was going for a frosted cake look and it worked! The only thing I'd change next time is adding some paint colors to the clear texture gel so you really see the texture of the "frosting." And for all of you who were taught to scrap in the days of "acid free" warnings, I give you permission to branch out. This layout will not last forever and the cake toppings will probably not fair to well in the long haul (I could spray them with a sealant, though) but the most important thing is, I had fun making it. Plus, I have photos of the layout that will last forever.

Donna's page by Angela

This whole Lucky 13 exercise has been so interesting. How do you take photos that you aren't really invested in and create a page around them? That's a challenge. However, it becomes less of a challenge if you know the person in the photo well. Take Donna, for example, I've known her for years now. We worked together on the Scrapbook LifeStyle show but we also had time to know each other outside of work. Turns out we both love thrift stores and divey food places. I also know that Donna has a special affection for all things denim . It wasn't too much of a stretch to think about how to scrap for Donna. I just grabbed a ripped and outgrown pair of my son's jeans and went to town.

The best thing about these Blank Canvas Board books by C & T Publishing (plug!) is that they really inspire me to get out the sewing machine. I revived an old piece of silk embroidery ribbon I had to add some detail to these plastic Heidi Grace flowers I used as well. I also used a home decorating tip on this layout: when in doubt, add a small splash of red here and there. It helps brighten up monochromatic color schemes.

Michelle's May page by Angela

I have an affliction I refer to as FReDs: Facial Recognition Disorder. This means that I have a hard time recognizing people if they change ever so slightly from one meeting to the next or even if they've changed their hair (ponytail v. hair down will render people completely unrecognizable to me) or, even worse, if they're in a new venue. Even if you're my dentist of 10 years, I won't know who you are if you approach me at a soccer game. I'm totally self-diagnosed, of course but this all leads me to this layout I made for Michelle. It looks like she's with Kelly Gorey from BasicGrey. I mean, I THINK it's Kelly...

At any rate, this is a very ME layout- no influencing by the other Luckies. I like bold colors and I really love plastic. I know that's not chic or today but I do. I am using up my last bit of cherished grapefruit bag netting for this layout. I can only hope Costco sells those again because I love the material. I also have a fondness for polyester but I suppose that's beside the point...

Another Easter Page- for Melissa by Angela

Holidays are tough for me to scrap. I look at the photos and all I can think is, "Yep, another cake." or in the case of Easter at our house- it's usually just uninspiring shots of my family, with bedhead and some not so great shots of our kids stumbling around in the backyard on a sugar high. I'm just not inspired by them. I prefer to scrap moments than events. However, I have been SO inspired by the gorgeous pages my fellow Lucky 13ies have made (the cute Easter page Nan made for ME below, for example), I have been determined to continue to scrap outside the parameters of my usual clean graphic look. So when Melissa sent me photos of her girls at Easter, I immediately thought of my favorite part of Easter- the sugared eggs that you can peek through and see a little scene inside. I think they're simply magical so why not make a scrapped version?



This idea took 2 canvas pages instead of the usual 1. It also meant I had to brave the semi-treacherous world of German glitter glass (I'm always afraid I'll forget I have it all over the place and rub my eyes!) but you know, I think I actually pulled off the idea I was going for. I even found a good reason to add one of my favorite embellishments- tulle and even did a bit of sewing. I wish I could show more than a peek because I think it's pretty darned cute but you get the idea. And just in time for THIS Easter! Cheers, Melissa!

A Page for Donna from Melanie

Donna's smile always makes me happy... she's so cheerful all the time! She taught a class at Scrapbook Royalty's Royal Slumber Crop last March, and I still had a flower in my stash from her class! Hey, recycling is in now right? ;) I got inspired and put some small canvas frames on her page... I put the photos she sent me on those canvases!

A Page for Angela by Nan

I really enjoyed making this Easter-themed page for Angela. It was raining cats and dogs here in California, and it made me long for the warmth and color of springtime Easter! Isn't this picture of the egg so cute and green (my fave color!) For this page, I used lots of bright color - it is Easter after all. I sponged paint onto the acrylic alpha, and sprayed the canvas with various inks. I had this paper duckie from Prima for ages - and it got good use here. Nothing compares to Angela's two adorable little angels in the picture - no doubt loving their Easter morning goodies.

Hope you like, Angela!