How to make a GIGANTIC SCRAPBOOK PAGE, sort of!!

Ok, so this is not really a scrapbook page.  I belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and I had been asked to do the bulletin board in the hall for the women’s group for our church which is called the Relief Society.  Now, the Bulletin Board is quite large and this could be quite a task for some people.  But you know what?  I look at walls and things like bulletin boards like large cards or scrapbook pages and just scale my designs on a somewhat GINORMOUS scale.  So, for this post I thought I’d show you what I did for this particular Bulletin Board, because I tend to get nice comments on them from time to time.

First and foremost I have to give a tremendous shout out to my fabulous friend Therese Travis who is the Artist for all the dolls I have used on this project.  She happens to also be an author of some really fabulous books and you can find her books on Amazon here: THERESE TRAVIS AMAZON PAGE

Her books are very sweet with nothing offensive in them and I have enjoyed getting to read her literary works as well as working with her art.

Without further ado, here is what I have created:

I started out covering the board with craft paper and edged the entire board with large doilies.

Next came the headings.

Then I added a banner or sorts.

Here is a close up of the Banner..

more…

Close up of the dolls together.  The scripture they represent is:

And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.  (1 Corinthians 13:13)

Here is the doll for the Faith portion of the scripture.

Hope..

Charity…

One last look at the Board.

What do you think?  I love the way it turned out…it will of course have flyers and other stuff added later..this is just the basics..but you get the idea.

Anyhow, this is what I did today!  I just thought I’d share it with you.

A long overdue gift…

If a law were to be passed that said we all had to change our names to highlight our hangups or weaknesses, my name would have to be, “I really meant to, had the best intentions, where did the day go, DeGruccio.”

I have a wonderful friend and co-worker.  I have had many plans over the 7 or so years I have known her to MAKE things for her.  Awhile ago I made her some cards and she loved them so much, she said she’d never use them..oops!  So, I knew the next time I made her something it’d have to be a gift that she did not need to give away. My lovely friend is a Krishna Devotee.  Now, before you think back on any movies you have seen with Hollywood’s version of the Hare Krishna’s, that is not Judy. 

 I tend to be somewhat open-minded when it comes to religion.  I mean that I think in this life we are living, there really needs to be more acceptance and love for the religions we have.  We were not put on this earth to judge one another or ones, beliefs, that is not our place.  Maybe I am more open to listen and appreciate other religions because I myself, belong to a church that the mainstream media loves to distort.  Goodness, I think there is even a HBO show that has tried to bring back the whole idea that our church still practices plural marriage!  ****ROLLING MY EYES!!!!*****  Since my church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, tends to be a religion that some love to hate, I am very sympathetic and unwilling to believe stereotypes of others too easily.

Judy, has to be on of the most gracious, kind, peaceful, loving unselfish, (I could go on and on here..) people I know.  I would trust her with my life and would do anything to help her, or make her happy.  She is just GOOD! 

Keeping that in mind, and back to my LONG OVERDUE GIFT, I have had an idea of something to make for her for a while.  This is where one of other favorite people come in.  THERESE TRAVIS, the brilliant artist behind all my fairies and other creations, made an Angel for me, based on Judy.  I emailed her this picture of my friend:)

This is Judy at home in front of the Temple that she and her hubby built on their land.  It is truly beautiful and they welcome, any and all to come and visit. 

 Without further ado, here is the Angel Judy.  This is the DIGI STAMP version.

 

Here is another picture, I always love to try to photgraph the layers and detail.

 

Now, because Therese is just AWESOME, she also did a .svg file for me.  Here is a larger version of Angel Judy, done on my Cricut.  I thought I was done and then I realized I’d forgotten to put her earrings on!  OOPS!

 

Here she is with her earrings, some additional work to her hair and her wings!

 

Another close-up for you.

 

My little ones, seriously could not keep their little hands off the finished product!  My 6yo son looked at Angel Judy and said, “Mommy, you are just so good at making crafts!”  Is that sweet or what?

Lastly, Judy had asked if I knew how to make business cards.  So keeping that in mind while photographing Angel Judy, I was able to turn my creation into a Digital image to use over and over again.  I knew she wanted her name on the front(she thought I was going to use a photograph of her) and on the back she wanted her chant written.  As soon as I got done with her real gift, I whipped this business card up.  I told her we can fine tune it to suit her needs, but she just smiled and said, “I LOVE THEM!”

 

I hope I have kept your attention for this whole post.  I have some around me who do not understand why I make things.  It might seem like a waste of time and yes I have a house that could be much cleaner, if it were not for my hobbies.  But, the look on Judy’s face and the pure joy I knew she felt to look at and hold what I made for her, reminded me why I do this.  Not for freebies, not for money(although that’d be nice…right?)  I do it because, I love creating things and even more, I love creating things FOR others.  Might seem crazy, but that’s me!

Thanks for joining me again.  Remember to stop by THERSE’s PAPERFACES DESIGNS and of course check out RHINESTONE HUES  inventory while you are there.  This project would not have been possible without either one of them!

It’s a Blue Tuesday

Now, that is not meant to be a depressing title.  My projects today are a a combined effort for Cheery Lynn Designs and Paper Faces Designs by Therese Travis.   I figured since they both offer things that are not of the same category, there is no “conflict of interest” going on here.

Christina of CG SAYS SOMETHING LOUDLY, came up with our Challenge theme I have followed. A one word theme: BLUE.

  

 

POLKA CABANA NOTE:  

I am dedicating this post to some friends I have made on a different website called, Theme Worx.  I won’t name them by name, since I have not asked persmission. 

When I was given the BLUE challenge and made my card, I looked at here and wanted to name her INDIGO.  I have learned a whole new world is attached to this color, that I never knew existed.  If you have not heard this color used in reagards to personalities of people, it is a very facsinationg subject.  So my card, which is I now refer to as INDIGO, is dedicated to those 2 special people that have shared some very personal and wonderful information with me.

 

This actually turned into quite a challenge. I used nothing but the one Therese Travis Digi Stamp and then nothing else but Cheery Lynn Designs products.  Challenging, yes, but fun too!

 

The way I made my project interesting, without being boring, is with all the different patterned papers in the BLUE scheme.

 

Here is Angel Meggie, all decked out with the help of Cherry Lynn Designs dies and other fun stuff.

Here is a close up of the banner above Meggie’s head. Can you see those tiny bows, and what, are those glass beads hand sewn to those PRETTY PETAL flowers?

Why yes they are.

I admit, I went a little overboard on this card, and I loved every minute of it!

Here is a close-up of the banner, cut from the PENNANT DIE.

 

 I just kept the inside, fairly simple. The phrase reads, “Friend: One who knows all about you and loves you just the same.” Such a true statement.

 

In the corner are a trio of PRETTY PETAL flowers.

Here’s a close-up so you can see their dimension and detail.

On this last picture, before you navigate away from us, look closely at the background papers. I cut the scalloped rectangle using the dies with the same name, SCALLOPED RECTANGLE. Look even more closely, the paper that in under the SCALLOPED RECTANGLE piece, has been pierced with the new PIERCE PLATE. I am having a blast with those and the stitching plates. They make a fabulous look and texture on plain, hum drum cardstock. Lastly, the base of my card(white), is embossed with the BANDANA embossing plate.

 

 

I could have stopped here, but why?  Christine had mentioned these cards called Waterfall Cards.  I showed one the other day that I made for Tiffany Doodles new flower stamp releases.  You can see that card here, and compare the two cards.

 

 

Bear with me as I share many pictures, I am doing this so you can get an idea of how the WATERFALL CARD works.  With this card, I have again used one of Therese’s stamps.  But it is only the Flowers from here Heart Wreath. 

 

 

The WATERFALL card has 4 different images. 

  

 

As you pull the ribbon, each image is revealed, one at a time. 

 

 

After one image is shown and the ribbon is pulled, the previous images cascades and falls behind the image you just viewed.

 

 

Here is the last of the 4 images, the others are all tucked neatly behind the last image.

 

 

Here is a side view, as the Waterfall begins. 

 

 

With such a complex fron, I just left my inside plain.  I did make a tiny little flower and thought it would be neat to incorporate Thereses store name in the flower.

 

 

One last view of this wondrful card.

 

 

That is has been my BLUE TUESDAY for you. Thanks for visiting The Polka Cabana today.

I know that all of us on the PAPERFACES Design Team are revealing a challenge.  I do not have the specifics, but, as soon as I get them I will add them to this blog post.

The Cheery Lynn Designs products used in my cards today are as follows. All products have the link embedded in their product names.

 

PENNANT DIE, PRETTY PETAL, SCALLOPED RECTANGLE, PIERCE PLATE LARGE RECTANGLE and BANDANA.

Come back again, pretty please???

Is it Tuesday?

Yes, it is Tuesday.  For me a bittersweet Tuesday.  Last week at this time, I had no idea that today I would be telling so many of you goodbye.  Due to life circumstances, I have had to say goodbye to many of the Teams I have been designing for over the last few months.  I am especially sad to say goodbye to my lovely friends at Tuesday Trio and my Groovy Friends at If It’s Groovy.  It seems that this can be a tough job to have when the craft and the passion behind the reason we craft is not fully understood or supported by those around you. 

So, I need to step back, regroup and figure out how to be a mom, a wife and still craft and hope that someday, I can figure how to profit from this love of mine so it does not appear to be such a waste of time:)

So today, I will share first my project I have designed for one of teams I am not saying Goodbye to.  That would be, Cheery Lynn Designs.  Tuesday’s are always my post day with them so here is what I have made.  We had a theme to follow this week, that theme was using the colors, red, black and white only.  This was tough, I kept thinking of certain things and thought, “nope, that has pink, nope that’d require green.”  I wanted to be very careful not to bend the rules, I am weird like that!

Here is my card:

Here is the inside:  (hmmmm, I wonder who I could give this to?)

 

I did not use a lot of dies on this.  Actually I only used one set.  The set is called Little Stackers Scalloped Oval.  My idea to use only one set was purposeful.  I wanted to show that you can still have a core set of dies.  You do not have to have 30 sets(OH BUT THAT’D BE FUN!) to be able to have fun with your dies.  I took 2 larger dies and created this framed window that reveals the beautiful Digi Stamp by Therese Travis.  Inside when you open the card you can see the full beauty that awaits for the lucky recipient on the inside of this card.

Cheery Lynn Designs still has their BLOG CANDY giveaway going. 

 Stop by the BLOG to see the details.  So, at least for Cheery Lynn Designs, I will be back next week.

 

Now onto my sad farewell.  Tuesday Trio.  I have loved being part of this time.  It filled me with such joy to come together with women from different countries as we supported one another and created together.  I will miss the challenges and I will miss the Tuesday sketches and my Tuesday posts for them. 

Tuesday Trio’s new sketch going up today.  We are on sketch #49.  This is the last sketch I am playing along with as a designer.

 

My interpretation of the sketch went something like this:  I turned the sketch upside down…..

….and here is my project.  This is especially dedicated to not only Tuesday Trio, but all the teams I have had to say goodbye to. 

Thank you for allowing me to work with your designs, your products. 

 This is truly what I love doing in life and I will miss you all.

One picture, SO MANY OPTIONS!!

Another of my top 10 people who have inspired me and has had a great impact on me is Therese Travis.  Therese’s Design Team for PAPER FACES DESIGNS, was the very 1st team I wan invited(or allowed) to be on.  I am proud to say I am still with her and she will have a hard time getting rid of me:)

The other day, I shared with you the tutorial of how to create a card with a Digital stamp and Digital Papers.  Todays techniques have some same steps, but are different in many ways.  To view the tutorial on Digital Stamps with Digital Papers you can click here to view the post.

Today, I am using Therse’s Angel Miriam.  You can purchase Miriam for your own personal use here.  I will show you how to use a .svg file and also how to use Miriam as a DIGI STAMP for 3 beautiful cards.

For my.svg card, I am using a version that Therese created for me so that I can cut it out on my Cricut.

You will start with your file opened up in your cutting software.

Please note, I have warped the pattern to hopefully protect Therese’s image. 🙂  The image will open up all grouped together.

My next step is to discard what I won’t use.  Or to be safe HIDE what you do not need and at this point, I group them on my mat how I want them to cut.

I am pretty picky about trying to save paper.  So I go with the minimum of paper I can go with to cut my files.  You can see on the next image, I have divided the pieces up into what color I will cut them out on.

Next I measure my colored paper out to fit the image on my template and adhere the paper to the cutting mat. That is the next image you are seeing.

Next you will see my pieces are cut and ready to go!  Yes, I warped the picture again:)

Jeannie tip here…When working with certain files, such as Therese’s Fairies, angels, or anything with faces or cirles etc, as I am removing them from the cutting mat, I turn them over and put a small dot on the TOP so I know which is the top and the bottom.  Might sound silly, but it has really helped in my assembling process.

I have gathered all the supplies to complete this card.  In one place..it helps the picture taking process tremendously!!

It is always important to add some depth to you pieces by sponging them with a neutral color.

My next step is to emboss my background and assemble my word art on cardstock.  I sponge these with a dark color and edge with a gold stamp pad.

Here is Miriam all assembled and ready for her card.

Time for the bow.  I use an empty cup and tie a knot on the cup.

I then cut the ribbon on the opposite side of where I just tied my nice knot.

At this point I have a for tailed ribbon, take the ends that you cut and adhere them around an attach behind your card with tape.

At this point, I forgot I needed to mat Miriam with white paper, so find a scrap and “bubble cut” around her.

Next, put dimensional adhesive on the back of Miriam and the word art.

Assemble the rest of the items and that is how I use an .svg file.

Here is a comparison with a card that I did with the DIGI stamp and colored cardstock.  I love the way it looks..but with the .svg file, the CRICUT does the cutting, with the DIGI, I do the cutting.

I also tried a different techiique I can show you later if anyone is intrested.  It uses the DIGI stamp also.  Here is the final product.

Here are the TRIO.  Which do you like best?

Your favorite will be my FREEBIE today..that one lucky winner will receive.  To qualify for the freebie..here are my terms:

Please visit THERESE and if you do let her know that Jeannie sent you over!

Leave a comment and on next WEDNESDAY’s post, I will announce the winner!  Send you friend over and they mention your name..you get an EXTRA ENTRY!

• Leave a comment = One Entry
• Send a Friend = One Entry
• Follow my Blog = One Entry
• Visit THERESE and leave a comment = One Entry
• Fiskateer’s post your Fiskateer Number in comment = One Entry
• Co-Design Team Member of mine, on any team = One Entry  Just mention which DESIGN TEAM we are together on!

Be sure to let me know HOW MANY entries you qualify for and what card technique is your favorite.

The others will go on Etsy, and I will take special orders for these, if you need more than one.

Can you believe the art of Therese?

Lastly I leave you with a card and a scrapbook page made from another one of Therese’s lovely drawings.

CARD

SCRAPBOOK PAGE

I hope you liked this tutorial.  Let me know if there you have an intrest to see the other technique I used on the 3rd card.

I want to thank Therese Travis of http://www.etsy.com/shop/paperfacesdesigns for allowing me to use ANGEL MIRIAM  in this project.

Visit http://tuesdaytrio.blogspot.com/ to see what the sketch and challenge are for this weeks challenge.  Here is what I did with Theres’s Angel Cherie.  Let me know how you like her also.

Wow, what a post, right??

This is HOW I DO THIS!!!!

When I first heard of Digital Stamps, I thought, hmm, don’t think I will ever use those.  But, I have seen the light, so to speak and NOW, I REALLY love them.  This is a tutorial I created for my friends over at THE LOLLIPOP PRESS BLOG.  I am using one of the new lines for November called Dapper Man.  You can purchase this fabulous kit, here:   http://www.thelollipoppress.com/

Digi Stamps with Digital Papers – Hybrid Project

Today I will show you the technique I use for making a Hybrid Card.  Hybrid meaning, I have used a DIGITAL stamp, with DIGITAL paper on a NON-DIGITAL card.

To start with, I printed out all the patterns I wanted in the card on 3 ½ x 5 pieces of paper.  The paper I am using is from the new November line called DAPPER MAN.

You can see from the above picture that I also printed my Digi stamp on the papers.  I have 10 copies of the stamp and 1 with no DIGI stamp for BACKGROUND layering.  Here is a closer shot so you can see all the patterns and all the printed images.

Usually when I am doing a card or project this way, I usually print out my DIGI image on WHITE paper and use that one as my BASE.  You can see my BASE in the middle of this image.

Grab all you supplies or have them close at hand.  Here are most of the basics I used.

You will also need some ink and sponges for shading your pieces.

Additionally have your card base and envelope chosen with some nice coordinating ribbon.  I am using some older Stampin’ Up! Ribbon, I have no idea if they still sell this pattern.

Now it is time to decide what paper you want to be what piece.  Here are all my pieces cut out and ready to go.

You can see how small some of the pieces are, I have put a dime in the picture so you can get an idea of their size.

Note to self:  Even though you might be tempted, do not throw your scraps away, not matter how small they are.  You never know when you might have misplaced a small piece.

After all your pieces are cut out..start sponging and shading!

2^nd Note to self..when you are done…sponging…wash the ink off…you are next going to be working with WHITE paper.  (I give you this advice from experience!)

It is time to start assembling.  Look at your image and try to see the image in LAYERS.  What will go on the bottom, some pieces work best on top, some on the bottom, it just depends on your image.  Here, the wings will be my bottom layer.

Do not worry if there is a small gap.  Sometimes your printer can do strange things…you just fill in the white space with a skinny sharpie and these gaps will go away.  My stylus is pointing to the gaps I am talking about, which will not be visible in the final product.

At this point..you just keep adding your layers.  It is like putting a puzzle together.  I love this!

Ok, here is little ELVIE all dressed up in her DAPPER DAN duds!  He is ready for spot on the card!

Here is the card all assembled with some more DIGI paper and some coordinating ribbon and buttons.

Now, add a nice phrase on the inside, and you have got one great looking, one of a kind card.

I hope you liked this technique.  I want to thank Therese Travis of http://www.etsy.com/shop/paperfacesdesigns for allowing me to use Fairy ELVIE in this project.

If you have any questions..just leave a comment!  If you love this card..it will be in my ETSY STORE later today!

Ta ta for now!!

New Cards for PAPER FACES DESIGN TEAM

So, I am a little behind creating for my dear pal THERESE, but I have made a SMILEBOX  for her and you showcasing my latest cards using some of her DIGI STAMPS.  Oh, to be able to DRAW  like her.  I started out not really like DIGI STAMPS, but I think I am getting used to them.  But, they will never be my favorite like Therese’s CUT FILES are!!

Next week I will make a SMILE BOX showcasing everything I have up in my ETSY store.  My current plan is that when I make a project and I am allowed to showcase it, it will be shown here and then go in my ETSY store.  So if there is something you see and really like, well then, you can make it yours!

But, that is next week.  For now, I am off to attend a much-needed GIRLS WEEKEND with my BEEEYOUUUUUUTIIIIFUL mom-in-law and sisters in law.  A couple of days filled with SPIRITUAL uplift and fun at TIME OUT FOR WOMEN!!  Hooray, I went last year and can’t wait for this one that starts TONIGHT!!

So, bye for now and enjoy the SMILEBOX!!

Customize your own free slideshow

A gift from a friend.

While my little one was in the hospital, I tried to send messages to keep in touch, when the hospital computer was behaving.  My design team leader, Therese Travis, was one I need to let know what was going on, because, I had assignments due and was missing the deadlines.  I let her know where I was and I told her that my little one needed and ANGEL to watch over her, thinking Therese would know I was asking her to pray for us.  The next day in my INBOX was an email with an attachment from Therese.  It was an ANGEL/FAIRY of my little one.  We will call it the Boo Angel Fairy.

Therese, a wonderful artist, has the wonderful knowledge of how to take a drawing of hers and turn it into a file that the computer can understand, and then I can cut the pattern on my CRICUT.  So below, I am showing off the Boo Angel Fairy on the cards I made for the wonderful, doctors, friends and family that helped us out through our scary time.

Here she is!!

Different lighting.

Oooh, different angle!

A close up of the Boo Angel Fairy.

All 10 cards that I made, whew!  A lot of love and work went into these!

Thank you Therese, from the bottom of my heart!

It’s the big PK GLITZ REVEAL!!!!

Ok, so I can finally show off my PK GLITZ projects.  Remember, I was their AUGUST GUEST DESIGNER, well I am on the BLOG TODAY!!  Here is the link:

http://pkglitz.com/blog/2010/08/projects-from-our-august-guest-designer-jeannie-degruccio/

I will also post my pics here so you can see them 2 times!!    Head over to PK GLITZ’s blog to see my description and read about my inspirations for my projects!  Hope you like everything!

All supplies used listed on the PK GLITZ blog.

TOO MANY IDEAS Design Team Project #2

I first came across Therese Travis on ETSY.COM.  I loved her FAIRY cut files.  She is a great designer and I loved the Fairy I had purchased from her.  I wrote her and gave her a suggestion for a certain type of Fairy, and do you know she made one based on my idea and her FAIRY, looked just like me, even though we had never met and at that point she had never even seen a picture of me.  She named the Fairy JEANNIE and you can see her in THERES’S ETSY store, HERE!

I felt like a celebrity when she sent me her final product.  So, for this challenge, I have used “JEANNIE” to create my scrapbook page about one small part of me.  I am very COMPLEX, so this is just a SAMPLE!!

Here is the page.

The Text Reads:

“I have often thought of my life and all of the things I need to do with this analogy.

I feel like all the things I need to do and all the things I want to do are bubbles.  You know how when you blow bubbles from a bubble wand and hundreds of bubbles float around?  No two are fully connected and they all float in a different direction.

Well that is how I feel!

I am trapped in one of the bubbles, and all the things I need and want to do are in their own bubbles and I can’t get to any of them.  I am trapped in my own bubble and can only look, but not REACH or CONNECT, at the things that I want or need to get done.

It is a very helpless feeling.”

Upper Half of page:

Lower Half of page:

I am trying to show the details and layers in this picture.  Can you see them?

Best of all, here is “JEANNIE”, or should I say “ME”!!  Such a great file to work with!  Thanks Therese!

As usual, I would love to hear your comments, so let me know what you think!!