'Twas the Day Before Christmas...

And all through Flamingo Scraps, the Flockinstas were working on holiday greetings!

Genie Smith

Erin Reed

Suzanne Pickens

Cheryl Arbo

Special Guest, Cooper Alsabrook

Donna Sullivan

Kathleen Natale

Luann Ostrom

Melissa Williams

Ramona Downing

Tonya Gibbs

Have a safe and happy holiday, from our flock to yours!

Resin me this...

My last box of Flamingo Scraps goodies brought me a new toy, and I was like a kid on Christmas morning when I finally got all moved in to my new studio and ready to scrap! It's been a while since I've actually got to sit down and do something creative, and I have a lot of lost time to make up. First and foremost, I decided to play with my new Mod Podge Mod Mold and Mini Mod Melts. And let me tell you, did I ever play!

First, let me tell you about the molds. They are available via special order. All you have to do is email Suzanne and flamingoscraps@yahoo.com and she can order any of them - they have 4 to choose from: ornamental, flowers, nature, or royal icons. I ordered Ornamental and I really wasn't disappointed with what I received!

There was a slight learning curve to creating your own resins. First, you definitely need a decent high-temperature hot glue gun. Mine was a cheapy, and I struggled with it a bit. Once I figured out what to do, I didn't have any problems from there! I made each of the mold items in each of the two Mod Melts availabe, Milk Glass White and Beach Glass Clear. I had the most trouble with the Beach Glass Clear, but the Milk Glass White came out near perfect! Here are each of them, side-by-side.

The best part is that these are customizable! You can ink them, paint them, mist them to your heart's desire. And, the other part, is that these aren't typical of resins you would buy from the manufacturers that Flamingo Scraps also carries, like Melissa Frances, Wendy Vicchi, or Marion Smith. These are a little more rubbery and flexible like any hot-glued item would be. After about 24 hours of sitting, they do harden a bit more, though, so if you want less flexibility it is best to wait and let them fully cure. My favorite and the easiest to work with was Milk Glass White. I had trouble getting Beach Glass Clear to a high enough temp that it went into the mold well, but my high-temp hot glue gun seemed to struggle to get hot enough, so that could be the problem!

And in case you were wondering what you could do with these itty-bitty-pretties, here is a project to feast your eyes upon!

Products used:

Prima Wood Icons

Mod Podge Mod Melts

Mod Podge Mod Molds

Websters Pages Bloomers

Websters Pges Designer Trim

Prima Chalk Ink

Until next time,
Keep scrappin!
Melissa

4 Products + 4 Designers = The Fantastic Flamingo Four !!!

It's that time again ! Time for the FANTASTIC Flamingo 4! I love to see what everyone comes up with each month. I call this the "bonus blog" post because you get four great new creative takes all at one time. For the October F4 , our designers, Erin, Melissa, Luann, and Cheryl were given these four items to get down and scrappy with.
1)  Prima "Rondelle" Designer Paper
2) Prima Banner Clip
3) two Prima flowers
4) Manila Tag (small)

Enjoy the creative journey, and let us help inspire you on your next crafty endeavor.



Luann’s Project

When I saw all the lovely papers I thought instantly that they would make pretty barrettes. I was right! I got out the barrette supplies and Mod Podge matte finish.  I cut the paper a little larger than the barrette so I could fold under. Slather the Mod Podge front and back.  While it was still tacky to touch I sprayed with Heidi Swapp Color Shine in gold or mustard.  Using a flower punch I made little flowers to go with the F4 flowers and I had to give them a little spray of Heidi.  I used my Prima Edgers for a highlight colors.  .

Originally, I thought about using the tag as flowers.  Then inspiration and I started playing.  I love humming birds and flowers.  Don’t you just the dimensional of the flowers?  Again, I used my flower punch with scraps from the barrettes.  I attached the cute paper clip and I will use it for the sediment.

I hope you like my challenge project with F4 items. Hope you will give making the barrettes a try.

CHERYL'S PROJECT
Hey guys...this is Cheryl. Today on the Flamingo Scraps Designer Team, there are four of us all working hard using the same scrappin goodies and doing our own thing making something pretty! We were given a generous supply of Prima "Rondelle" Designer Paper, a Prima Banner Clip, two Prima flowers, and a small manila tag to create our project. Our challenge was to see how each one of use uses the same materials. At first I debated on making a card, but having all of these nice papers, I wanted to create something where I could show off several of these pretty papers. So, I decided to make a A2 size card portfolio.

I started off with a piece of black 12" x 12" card stock, trimmed it down to 8.50" x 11".  It was scored at 5.25" and 5.75" on the 11" width and 6" and 6.25" on the 8.50" width. I trimmed away the 1/2" middle section from the bottom short end up to the top score line.

Using an assortment of patterns from the Prima Rondelle collection, I cut two at 5" x 5.75", two at 2" x 5", and one at 1/4" x 5.75". After inking all of the edges using Prima's Black Coal Chalk Ink, adhesive was applied to the back of each piece and adhered to the front cover and inside flaps.

Turning it over, I marked a 2.25" line above the top score line along the 11" width. From there I added a strong adhesive along this drawn line and then after folding a 30" piece of ribbon from my stash in half to find the center, I laid the center of a ribbon on the 1/2" area and attached it to the front cover of the portfolio.

At this point I creased my score lines and from the inside I brought both flaps forward and secured the outside edges with a tiny brad as a closure.



I covered the tag with another paper piece of the paper, and then cut two additional tags out from the collection, along with two other papers for two additional mats on the cover, and then tied some ribbon from the Seam Binding Sampler on the tags and used the Prima flowers to embellish the cover and I was done.

This was a fun project to make and a great gift idea to hold four handmade cards. This was a lot of fun and hopefully I have inspired you to make one for your cards.

As always, I appreciate subscribers of my blog, here. Also, like and subscribe to Flamingo Scraps on Facebook here and  be sure to visit the Flamingo Scraps store. Check out all of the latest products from Pink Paislee, Heidi Swapp, Fancy Pants, and Basic Grey.....just to tease you with a few!!

Happy scrappin!.......Cheryl

Erin's Project

I am always in need of cards, for lots of various reasons.  Right now it is a thank you for my son's teacher to show her how thankful we are to her (and the school) about his rough transition since the move.  They are helping him in so many ways, and we are grateful that they are supportive to his needs.

I used 3 different sheets of Prima paper and cut them into 1.5 inch squares.  I then inked and arranged them as seen in the pic.  I matted them onto black, then another Prima patterned paper, then on the card base of kraft paper.    I cut the tag down to make room for the stamp sentiment, which I added the clip and a punched out butterfly from another sheet of the Prima paper.  I added a couple of extra flowers to bulk up the Prima flowers from the kit, then added in the buttons.  I created the leaves and you can see the tutorial I made in a post from last week.

Melissa's Project

This month's Flamingo 4 came so easily for me, and for that I am thankful! I have been scrapping out of a suitcase for about a month now, as my family and I are preparing to sell our house and move to a new one soon. I didn't need much extra to complete this project! All I used in addition to what was sent was a single piece of Kraft cardstock, a couple of stamps from my stash, a Threading Water punch from Fiskars, some Prima black chalk ink, and Tim Holtz distress paint in black soot, available in the Flamingo Scraps store via special order.

I decided to make a non-folding card with a pocket for the tag. The sender could write on the back side of the card, or pull the tag out and write on the back side of it, or tuck a piece of paper in with the greeting to send their own little note! I painted the tag black with the distress paint and then adhered paper to it. I also punched the bottom of the tag with the threading water punch. For the cardstock tag that I added, I stamped it with a flourish stamp at the bottom, and then also punched it. The pocket on the tag is a single piece of patterned paper from the pack, adhered on three sides over another piece of patterned paper I cut to size. I used one flower on the little flourish in the corner of the paper and another on the banner paperclip.

Here's what each piece look like individually:

What awesome projects from four amazing designers! Be sure to follow the Flamingo Scraps blog and "like" our  Facebook page . Don't forget Amazing tutorials from Tonya Gibbs on the first Monday of each month at 8:30 p.m. EDT.You can also follow the link to Tonya if you missed and Ustream shows. They are recorded for those who missed them.  Thanks for visiting, and check out all of the great products in The Store. You'll  be tickled pink!!

Product Review: Pink Paislee Hey Kid kre8v Kit

Melissa, here! I recently received the Pink Paislee Hey Kid kre8v Kit from the Flamingo Scraps Store! Let me say, I was super impressed with everything that came in it! With 12 – 12×12 sheets patterned paper, 334 stickers, and 27 pieces of chipboard, all for $13.99, you are getting a mighty bang for your buck!

The patterns in the kit are super cute, too, and work well for any gender, which makes me happy, since I have two boys and finding stuff that really fits their personalities can be tough! There are lots of fun bits and pieces, to boot, with fun glasses chipboard stickers, mustaches, and great colors to work with, as well! The papers are all single-sided, which I actually prefer for these patterns because I like them all and wouldn't want to choose between an A-side or a B-side!

Everything was the high quality I come to expect from Pink Paislee, and they are one of my favorite paper manufacturers, so my opinion may be a little biased; however, if I was disappointed in any portion of the kre8v Kit, I would definitely say so! There's a great selection of alphabets, a great selection of embellishments, and a great selection of papers, so there's no room left for me to complain! For $13.99, you're getting quite a bargain and will be able to create multiple projects without a problem. 

So, there you have it! Head over to the Flamingo Scraps store and order your own Pink Paislee Hey Kid kre8v Kit so you can experience it for yourself. I'd love to see the projects you've made from it! 

Until next time,
Keep scrappin'!
Melissa

Bringing October in with some Basic Grey fun!

Happy Tuesday and 1st of October! Melissa, here, with your first post of the month to share some Basic Grey Persimmon deliciousness! I saw this collection, and I just fell in love with it. But, I didn't want to ONLY stick to scrapping fall stuff, because it is really a great set of papers that you can use for other seasons, too! 

Take, for instance, a trip to the zoo in April! Anytime I see this picture of my kids at the zoo from spring 2012, I can't help but think of the GEICO commercial with the camel, and the 6x6 Persimmon pad contains all those rustic colors you would associate with nature and the zoo, so that's what I used! 

Title reads: "Guess what day it is? Binder Park Zoo Day! Yeah!"

Here's a detail shot of all of the title work. I threw in some Jillibean alphabets from my stash, but everything else you can find in the store! First, there's the Maya Road Burlap Rose in Lemon that almost perfectly matches the camel in my picture. Then, there's the Prima Wood Icons Sampler that gave me all sorts of goodies to work with. I inked them up with some Prima Chalk Ink and used some bits of Prima Say It In Studs from the Warehouse Box, along with some Heidi Swapp Epoxy Stickers, also from the box. 

You can see, above, the cluster with a combination of the wood icons from Prima and some more Persimmon with the Mixed Brads and the Die Cuts and Transparencies pack, along with a Persimmon border sticker, too. 

I really had fun inking up all of the wood and other pieces to bring more color to the page. It leans toward more autumn colors, for a spring page, but it uses a lot of earth tones, which is what I really wanted to bring out in this photo! 

So, there you have my page as a whole! I hope you enjoyed looking at this as much as I enjoyed creating it!

Until next time,

Keep scrappin'!

Melissa

play ball!

I have TONS of Pink Paislee bits and pieces in my stash - it's probably one of my favorite manufacturers out there, and it really shows because of how often their products are used in my pages!

Today, I have a special weekend edition to share with you the Flamingo Scraps Warehouse Grab Box, because we just can't get enough of it and, if you haven't ordered one already, I'm hoping to convince you today. If you haven't heard it already, there are three different versions of the box to tickle your fancy: the paper, the embellishments, and the combination! Of course, what you get in your box will vary from what I received in mine, but it is chocked full of scrappy goodness, no matter what!

And here's the latest project I came up with that uses the box:

You might recognize this as the Pink Paislee Declaration collection, that I have used on a previous page, way back with my very first Flamingo Scraps post! That time, I used it in its traditional, or themed, sense, with a page about the 4th of July. Today, however, I changed that up and used it on a page about the "Great American Past Time" and scrapped my oldest son's Little League pictures. I really liked the red, white, and blue to convey this "Great American Past Time" feel, and kept the design and layers to a minimum so that the focus was on the pictures. Not only did I use the papers from this line, but also the sticker sheet and alphas that you might see in any of the boxes! Along with the Declaration Line, I used some Fancy Pants Cork Shapes in Heart and Stars to add some dimension to a relatively flat page. I also cut a little baseball with my Silhouette to back his baseball card with his batter facts and positions played that's paper clipped under the team photo. Add a little butcher's twine and small alpha stickers from my stash, and this page was ready to use. You might also notice that I left the background as-is on this page, rather than customizing it like I typically do. This background really didn't need anything else added to it, to be honest! I really tried to find something! 

So there you have it! Have a splendid weekend, and don't forget to order yourself a warehouse box today, before supplies run out!

Keep scrappin'!

Melissa

Perfectly pouty and oh, so sweet!

I am quite the penny pincher and frugal scrapper. I love making my own backgrounds with solid-colored cardstocks, mists, texture mediums, and masks. I love, love, love it. It's my favorite part of the entire creation process. If you see me using actual patterned paper as a background, it's a special occasion, indeed, because the backgrounds I can make are usually far more interesting than the ones I can buy. That said, I do have an overabundance of patterned paper, and it can be altered to meet your needs, as well. I have don't many projects turning a piece of patterned paper into a work of art, as well, but there's nothing quite as fulfilling as taking a blank canvas and making it all my own.

I was going through the contents of the Flamingo Scraps Warehouse Box, and let me tell you. As a frugal scrapper, I was so impressed with not only the quantity of items in it, but also the fact that they are all things that give you your money's worth! You can get one with only the fabulous patterned papers the store has stocked. You can get one with all kinds of fun embellishments, as well. Or, if you want some of each, there's an option for that, as well!

Most of my page, below, uses lots of stuff you could possibly receive in a warehouse box, and I received so much, I piled on the clusters to celebrate! It's not something I often do, but I really love it when I'm inspired to do it.  Take a look!

This set of photos from my dear friend, Genie, of her daughter Ellie, were something I was dying to scrap since she gave them to me. As a mother of two boys, finding something girlie is always a challenge, but Genie will always come through with something for me! Isn't that pout just too cute? 

I used lots of different Prima studs on this page, which you might receive in either the combo warehouse box or the embellishments warehouse box. I also used some Studio Calico veneer cameras and Pink Paislee artisan stars that I colored black with Prima Chalk ink. I also used Black Velvet Color Shine to stamp the journaling box! I'd never tried it before, but it works well if you practice a few times to know the right amount of dab to do it. 

I took some gel medium and masked the Prima 12x12 Turkish stencil and then rubbed it with chalk ink to make it stand out a little more. The matte gel dries clear, so it would also be a good way to add a subtle texture to the page without any additional color. 

I layered up on the trim and borders, just because there were so many in the warehouse box that I couldn't decide which to use first! I have a Prima studs border, a Heidi Swapp fringe trim, and a little banner I made out of some washi tape and baker's twine from my own stash. The alpha is slightly tucked into the Heidi Swapp photo book for interest. 

The Heidi Swapp Serendipity Fotostack Book Heart was just perfect to place the extra photos on the page without making the page too busy! I love how her cute little face can peek out of the front!

On the inside, I did minimal embellishing, just because I wanted the album to be able to lay flat. I used some Studio Calico Polaroid-style frames, something you might also find in the warehouse box, just to give the photo its own little spotlight. 

For one final encore, I used a Triumph Stix from Heidi Swapp to complete a page fit for a princess! The crown really was the perfect touch when tucked into the last page of the photo book. 

Supplies used on this page:

Heidi Swapp Color Shine in Black Velvet and Tropicana Teal.

Prima 12x12 Chevron and 12x12 Turkish masks (available via special order).

Prima Chalk Ink in Farmer Jeans, Turquoise Stone, and Black Coal.

Liquitex Medium Matte Gel (available via special order).  

Pink Paislee Travel Artisan Words

Heidi Swapp Memory File Clear Stamps

Prima Say it in Studs

Heidi Swapp Trimmings: Information

Heidi Swapp Stix: Triumph

Heidi Swapp Serendipity Fotostack Book Heart

Studio Calico Frames

Studio Calico Wood Veneers Sampler

Other: Washi tape, bakers twine, alphabets, cardstock.

It's all about me!

Well, my project is, this week, anyway. I was a little stumped on what to make. I mean, I've done pages and home decor projects and canvases and cards. I've done a December Daily and sketches and everything I can think of. So, I scoured around for inspiration and found this tutorial by Misty Rushlow on the Moxxie blog and decided that would be the way to go. So, I made a file folder mini. It's not exactly a card, and it's not exactly a mini book. It's sort of in between, and I really was excited about how it turned out!

To complete this project, I used a few goodies from the Flamingo Scraps store, and maybe even a few you will find in the Flamingo Scraps warehouse box! I specifically used Pink Paislee Mistables paper (which I am addicted to lately), Websters Pages Coral Chevron Trim, some random Prima flowers, a Melissa Frances Oval Frame, some Maya Road envelopes and alphabets, Heidi Swapp Color Shine in Tropicana Teal, Primrose, Sweet Cherry, Black Velvet, and Georgia Peach, and some other random alphas that I had lying around, plus some Jenni Bowlin pearl flowers. 

I don't know if this is complete, as I find it pretty difficult to scrapbook about myself in a journaling aspect, but I was able to get it most of the way done. I love that this album has pockets on the inside that I can add ephemera and other things that I've collected over the years to. I haven't done that yet, but I just may!

Here's a peek at the inside:

I added photos of myself as a baby, a child, my engagement photo with my then-fiancee-now-husband, and a recent family photo. Each of the envelopes has a bit of journaling on paper that follows prompts, like "My Favorite Things," "My Fears," "When I Grow Up..." and "If I knew then what I knew now..."

When's the last time you scrapbooked yourself? This week, I challenge you to do just that, and make sure you include a recent photo, as well! I know, personally, I don't get out from behind the camera often enough, and I'm sure many of you don't, either! 

Until next time,
Keep scrappin'!

Melissa

All about the feathers!

Well, at least it seems like the scrapbooking industry is, lately. There are all kinds of different feather products out there, and I decided it was time for me to jump on that feather bandwagon, as well, using the Jenni Bowlin Cardstock Feathers available in the Flamingo Scraps store! Here's what I came up with:

I really have a love of Emily Dickenson, so when I saw this quote from one of her poems, I decided it would be a perfect way to showcase the feathers and make a wall hanging for my scrap space. 

That letter treatment is something else! To get this effect, I painted the canvas with various shades of blue acrylic paint, using my brayer. Then, I used some bubble wrap and Tim Holtz Distress Paint in Black Soot, Picket Fence, Broken China, Salty Ocean, Weathered Wood, and Chipped Sapphire (all available via special order) to stamp the bubble wrap in layers. After it all dried, I cut the text out with vinyl letters on my Silhouette (though you could do this with plain old alpha stickers, as well) and painted it all over with gesso. After letting the gesso dry, I sprayed it with Heidi Swapp Color Shine in Primrose and Tropicana Teal. Once that all dried, I peeled the vinyl letters off to reveal the original background. To make them stand out more, I simply outlined them with a black Sharpie marker.  The black border is also done with a chisel tip Sharpie marker. 

The feathers are just glued on with some glossy accents carefully ran along the spine and pressed down onto the canvas. I'm really pleased with how this project turned out!

What have you used feathers on, recently? I'd love to see your projects!

July Flamingo Four

It's time for July's Flamingo Four!  This month, three other designers and I worked with these items:

 

                               1) Pink Paislee Mistables patterned paper
                               2) Pink Paislee Mistables die cut card
                               3) Empty Maya Road spool
                               4) Pink Paislee "Nantucket" wood shapes


Erin's Take

This past April I got both of my boys a scooter and they LOVED them.  In the pictures you can see my boys, Morgan in front in orange and Brandon in the back, scooting down the sidewalk in front of our house as I sit in the front yard grass with Catherine enjoying a beautiful spring day.

I used the resist paper as my background, adding in orange and teal mist to pop out the colors.  Then I layered the cut-off tops of the trim reel (painted with gesso and misted orange) along with some of the wooden parts and the journaling tag under the pictures with a few added flowers.  I used the wooden words and arrow and misted them in the same teal color to match the paper.  I then wrote the journaling on the same teal color in cardstock to bring it all together.  The journaling says "Bruised hands, scraped knees, falling off, running into stuff, the wind in this face, laughter, and endless moments of fun with their first scooters.  They played until the heat of Texas summer set in, then they moved to scooting indoors in our hallways.  What fun these scooters have been in 2013."

Ramona's Take

This month’s supplies really stumped me.  After throwing several ideas around I decided on a old film canister.  First, I applied gesso to the spool and then painted it black.  I cut the filmstrip on the Silhouette.  I added 24 black and white pictures, sized 2 inches.  Over the photos I put pieces of sheet protector (also cut to 2 inches) and applied with score tape before adding the photos so it would actually look like film itself.

Here is a picture of the film canister closed with magnets.   I used the wood pieces from Pink Paislee to close it up.

Here is how the film rolls out of the canister to reveal the photos.  This could easily taken 48 pictures, but I wanted to save the back to add my other nephew Chase’s pictures to it.

This picture shows the fourth item from the Flamingo Four kit, the journaling card.

This shows the canister open from the top.  You just pull the filmstrip out and then have to roll it back up when done looking at the pictures.

Other products I used not included in the kit are: black cardstock, Tim Holtz Distress Paint Honey Mustard, sheet protectors, Dot Magnets and washi tape.


Melissa's Take

I spray painted the spool silver to start, and drilled holes into the saucer part of the spool. From there, I strung beading twine to create the hanging portion of the mobile and then glued the same twine, wrapped up the middle of the spool. I inked the resist tag and paper with Prima chalk inks in beachy colors. Then, I glued the tag over the wrapped twine in the middle and affixed the "explore" portion of the wood embellishment, along with the wooden star and some regular miniature seashells. Next, I colored all of the wood pieces with the same colors of Prima chalk inks and tied them to the twine, at the bottom. They needed more weight, so I took complimentary colored beach glass, wrapped it in twine and glued it above each of the wooden pieces. For the paper, I used my Silhouette Cameo to cut seashells, glued them back-to-back, and tied them to the remaining two twine strings. To space out the twine a bit more, I took heavy gauge beading wire and made a woven circle with it. 

Cindy's Take

When I saw these four items, the old Sesame Street song ran through my head: "One of these things is not like the others...."  Clearly, the tricky items this month would be the empty spool. I set it aside.  I dug through my extra photos looking for something summery and beachy.  I found a picture from 2010 of my husband and our son holding hands at the beach.  Perfect!  

I picked a sea star from the wood shapes and sprayed it with the last of my Clam Bake Glimmer Mist from the November Flamingo Four.  The color and the shimmer were just what I'd hoped for.  While it was drying, I used my hands to smear gesso on the patterned paper, then wiped it with a sandy brown paint and let it dry.  Next, I mixed light blue paint with some glittery paint and dipped the end of the spool in the mixture and stamped it onto the paper repeatedly.  It turned out exactly as I'd envisioned!  I tore the die cut card and layered it with a scrap of dark blue vellum and some grayish handmade (by someone else) paper and put the photo on top.   

After adhering everything, the final step was to add a title and an additional embellishment.  I found a Mrs. Grossman's "love" sticker and inked it to match the sea star, then paired it with a Scenic Route rub-on.  I added a second Scenic Route rub-on, a heart, to the left of the photo.

That wraps up another fun Flamingo Four! We'd love to see your take. If you make something using the same four supplies as our designers, send us a picture and we'll feature it here on the blog. To find the materials we used (and so much more!) visit the Flamingo Scraps store!