Friday, August 30, 2013

Design Team News!

It's an exciting day here at Scraps of Elegance, we have lots of Design Team news!

Before I let you in on a few design team changes that are happening, I want to introduce you to our September guest designer - she is an SOE kit club member, and her work is so beautiful, we couldn't help but take notice - so we asked her to guest design for us with our September kit!

Cathi O'Neill

I am so excited to be guest designing this month for Scraps of Elegance! I have been a long time subscriber and just love to see what Mel has chosen for us to play with every month!! My name is Cathi O'Neill, and I am an American (Maryland/DC area native) who married an Irishman and have been living here in Ireland since 1997. I live in a beautiful village on the Shannon River with my DH of nearly 18 years (wow, that makes me feel old!) and my two beautiful daughters, Aine (onya) 10 and Aisling (ashling) 8 who are the subject of many of my projects!!
I have always love crafting since I was a little girl. My grandmother taught me to knit and crochet and I remember sewing Barbie doll clothes with her on her front porch! I am a knitter and quilter as well, but have recently in the last two years found cardmaking and scrapbooking, and an obsession was born!! I truly love creating and make vintage cards to sell here in our local village cafe as well as stacks of shabby/vintage style layouts of my girls to keep and share with family! I also love to do tags, ATC and altered projects, barely a day goes by when I haven't done something crafty!!
I am currently on the design teams for several manufacturers: Couture Creations, Molossi Chipboard, Paper Wings Productions, and two retailers. I also design for challenge blogs Frosted Designs and Sugar Creek Hollow, and have guest designed for challenge blogs Keeping the Best and Scrap it with a Song.



And now for the big Design Team News!

We are so excited to welcome two fabulously talented ladies to our design team, and I know they need no introduction, but we're gonna do it anyway!

Lisa Nazario-Gregory

Hi, My name is Lisa and by profession I am a registered nurse. I am married to my high school sweetheart and we have 2 children who are now successful young adults.  I have been a crafter my whole life. I sew, embroider, crochet, paint and have dabbled in many crafty things in my life. Back in 2005, when my son was doing his senior project with his girlfriend (who is now his wife) They were creating a scrapbook of their lives. They elicited my help as I was the crafty one. We took a ride to The Dollar Tree (our local dollar store) who had a section dedicated to scrap booking  papers, albums, embellishments, flowers, and we grabbed everything we could find. I knew about the new way of scrap booking, but never gave it any thought until that trip to The
Dollar Tree. After helping the kids create their albums , which by the way turned out fabulous, I was curious as to where I could get more "scrap booking stuff". So I drove to our local Michaels and Joanns craft stores. That is when I became hooked. Then I sought out the local scrapbook stores and found stuff I didn't even know existed until then. I shopped and shopped and shopped some more. I found Scrapbook.com and saw the kind of scrap booking the artists did. I was amazed at the styles. It just wasn't cut and paste and stickers. It was 3 dimensional, it was gorgeous, and oh so inspiring. So I created a gallery, created my first layout and the rest is history. My style has changed a bit throughout the years, but playing with paper and scissors is still so therapeutic for me.



Sandi Smith

My name is Sandi Smith and I live in beautiful Newfoundland, Canada with my wonderful husband and 2 great kids. I did
my first layout in January 2010 and was immediately hooked! I am obsessed with all things associated with scrapping and I am always in "scrapbook mode", constantly looking at things in our everyday lives for sources of inspiration. I love to tear, wrinkle, sew and to get messy with gesso, mists and paint. Some of my other obsessions... oops... I meant hobbies are refinishing antique furniture and my latest love is painting girls on mixed media backgrounds. I don`t have a definite style... my creations can be vintage, shabby chic or loaded with paints, sprays and gesso... depends on my mood and what inspires me at that time.

I am so excited and honored to be a part of this amazing team and I hope to inspire you just a little with the beautiful kits here at Scraps Of Elegance.



You'll get to see Lisa's work with our kits in just a few days, she'll be designing for us starting with our September kit!  And Sandi's first kit will be November!  We are thrilled they've joined our team, and can't wait to see what kind of gorgeousness they create with the kits!

Sadly, we also have to say goodbye to two amazing ladies on our team.  Both Romy and Helena will be leaving the team after the September kit.  They both have so much going on, and have found they need to reduce the amount of designing they are doing for the time being.  We are thankful to have had them on our team, they are both such talented and wonderful people, and we are happy that we will get to see their gorgeous work for one more kit!

Thank you for stopping by to share in our excitement, and I hope you all have a beautiful weekend!

~ Melinda ~

Thursday, August 29, 2013

Gelatos!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Gelatos are a cool product that a lot of memory crafters are using....but what are they?


According to Faber Castell - 
"Gelatos Colors are creamy sticks infused with brilliant color. The color glides easily 
onto paper and can then be dissolved with water to create watercolor effects 
or left to dry for vibrant bursts of color"

The effects that are created are amazing!  Want to see some proof?

Check out these creations by Nadia Cannizzo!

the backgrounds were created using the Gelato Design Colors in Tropical 
available at the SOD store!



 I LOVE the effect the gelatos have on cardboard!


This set includes our two new tools: The Dot Dabber and The Stipple Brush.  

Dot Dabber - The perfect little tool for making uniform polka dots (also a good blending tool!).

Stipple Brush
- Create cool splatter effects with this brush by loading it with wet Gelatos® and flick or tap it to get speckles.  Set colors include: Aqua Dolce, Squid Ink, Banana and Blood Orange

Check back tomorrow when I will show you more of Nadia's gorgeous creations!

Gelatos!

Gelatos are a cool product that a lot of memory crafters are using....but what are they?


According to Faber Castell - 
"Gelatos Colors are creamy sticks infused with brilliant color. The color glides easily 
onto paper and can then be dissolved with water to create watercolor effects 
or left to dry for vibrant bursts of color"

The effects that are created are amazing!  Want to see some proof?

Check out these creations by Nadia Cannizzo!

the backgrounds were created using the Gelato Design Colors in Tropical 
available at the SOD store!



 I LOVE the effect the gelatos have on cardboard!


This set includes our two new tools: The Dot Dabber and The Stipple Brush.  

Dot Dabber - The perfect little tool for making uniform polka dots (also a good blending tool!).

Stipple Brush
- Create cool splatter effects with this brush by loading it with wet Gelatos® and flick or tap it to get speckles.  Set colors include: Aqua Dolce, Squid Ink, Banana and Blood Orange

Check back tomorrow when I will show you more of Nadia's gorgeous creations!

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

How to Draw A Face tutorial by Drycha!

In our August "Rustic" kit color add on, we featured Faber-Castell Aquarelle Watercolor Pencils, and Drycha has done a fabulous new video tutorial showing you how to draw faces with these wonderful mixed media products... (and just a little note, we also carry the Aquarelle Pencils and many other Faber-Castell products in our store!)




I hope you've enjoyed the tutorial, and that we've inspired to to try something new today!

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Getting to Know Vivian Keh!

I love getting to  know the designers!
Today we are getting to know Vivian!



were you named after anyone
Vivien Leigh in Gone with the Wind. 

do you struggle with any part of scrapbooking
Knowing when my project is done.

do you have a pet? what kind?
When I married my husband I brought into our joined family a black cocker spaniel named Mabu, a 7 lb that I rescued off the street and named Pupusa, a chubby calico cat named Jujube, and a maine coone mix named Nanook.  My husband came with a tuxedo cat whose original name was Panic (not very feng shui) and the name has evolved into P'aniqua.

show us your favorite SOD/SOE layout that you have created

So glad  you stopped by and got to know Vivian!

Renea's Emily Dickinson Album

Renea based the whole gorgeous album on the Emily Dickinson quote "Hope" Is The Thing With Feathers.
Look at all the beautiful textures and techniques that Renea used!
Peeled Wallpaper Effect technique on the cover,
painting, fussy cutting, sewing, texture paste work, seed bead work,
 stamping with puffies, hand crafting butterflies, 
stamping with inks, glitter paint accenting, alcohol ink work,
hand crafting paper clay wings and tags, 
and hand tinting seam binding. 
WOW!


If you would like to try and achieve the beautiful peeled wallpaper effect that Renea did on this cover check out her fabulous how to video!
















This is a stunning album with so many beautiful details I have to keep looking at it 
again and again 

Make sure you check out the gallery for more inspiration! 

Thursday, August 22, 2013

CHA Christmas lines

CHA was full of beautiful paper lines - including Christmas!
I will admit I love Christmas paper!
There were so many beautiful lines debuted!
each one has its own style!
what Christmas lines were your favorite!
(don't worry - I didn't forget Halloween I am going to do a Halloween poll too)




















so leave your vote in the comments section and let me know what your favorite is!

CHA Christmas lines!

CHA was full of beautiful paper lines - including Christmas!
I will admit I love Christmas paper!
There were so many beautiful lines debuted!
each one has its own style!
what Christmas lines were your favorite!
(don't worry - I didn't forget Halloween I am going to do a Halloween poll too)


















so leave your vote in the comments section and let me know what your favorite is!

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Getting to know Marianne Johansson!

I thought it would be fun to get to know our
design team ladies!  
Here are some fun things about Marianne!


do you struggle with any part of scrapbooking
No, or maybe if  I have to make something very soft and straight LOL
do you have kids? grandkids?
Yes, two girls, Karianne (15) and Sarah (12) (so hopefully several years before I have any grandkids)
coffee or tea
Coffee (I'm a coffeeholic)
show us your favorite SOD/SOE layout that you have created
I really loved this one  from a trip to Budapest. Loved the sketch for this one!!


do you have a favorite band?
Yes: Led Zeppelin


what was the last thing you ate
Dinner today: chicken with bacon, rice, vegetables

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Be inspired by Marianne Johansson

How can you not be inspired by this stunning layout!
It is so vibrant and dynamic!
I love the way she used gesso with the stencil that is in the kit 
and the random splatters of paint!



Check out all the imaginative details!



Thanks for stopping by and I hope you were as inspired by this layout as I am!

More from Helena!

This tag is brilliant!  I LOVE the glasses and the dangling heart!
She made it for the tag swap on the forum!




She also made this super sweet card!
love it!


and the she created this glorious layout!


look at all the details!  Simply fantastic!



Monday, August 19, 2013

Rustic Kit designs with Karen!!!!

Hi everyone!  Today we are shining the spotlight on Karen and her creative projects using this months Scraps Of Darkness kit "Rustic"

Her first creation I want to share is a recipe book using the
Kaisercraft Recipe Book included in the Creativity Add-On kit.


She used the layered the Farm House Country Collection papers and
used the mini red clothespins
 
The next project is Karen's interpretation of this months sketch!
Simply wow!
This photo was taken just after their wedding this summer!
 

 
I LOVE how she she used her tags!


 and the photo is of her dashing hubby!



Here is her third creation...I am so enamoured
look at this....


Isn't it imaginative and incredible?

Look at the treatment on the keys and gears?


not to mention all those yummy layers!


thanks for stopping by and make sure you stop by the SOD DT gallery for more inspiration


Helena's August Kit Creations

Hi everyone!
Today we are going to spotlight some of Helena's gorgeous August creations from the 
Sweet Summer Nights kit

Her first creation just floored me!  
This is her take on the August SOE sketch


 Look at all the dimension with the beautiful flower from the flower add on!


 and don't you LOVE the way she treated the gate the gems from the kit?




 On her next project she used the stencil (from the embellishment add on)
texture past and Lindy's Stampgang mists that comes with the color add-on.
and of course the gorgeous butterflies from Renea Harrisson - Reneabouquets



 The beautiful Prima flower from the flower add on and the petaloo velvet hydrangea
are the perfect accent to this fabulous page


I love the peak a boo doily and layers!


Her third page she decided to make a circular page using three of the papers from the beautiful kit.
she used a doily, texture paste and Lindy's Stampgang mist from the color add-on



 Look at all the layers!  and the super sweet butterfly!


 she used flowers from previous kits and this months kit!


another angle of all those fabulous flowers!


Make sure you stop by our gallery and check out all the amazing work by our DT!