"Take Along" Mini Album

Tis the Season......for REUNIONS!!!  I don't know about y'all, but around here in August, family and class reunions abound!!  This treasured picture was taken this past weekend during festivities surrounding my 36th High School Reunion!!!  These ladies and I have been friends for close to 50 years, starting in first grade, continuing through elementary school, and graduating together in 1974!

AND, for all those years, teachers were frustrated as to how to separate us on seating charts to keep us from talking, giggling, and passing notes in class.  You see, the classic fair way to seat kids was alphabetically, but that simply didn't work with us -- we were Parker, Pickens, Pierce, Pigue, and Benchoff (well Gayle was a row over!).  We were so blessed to be together again (in alphabetical order!) after so many years!!!!

So much for my reminiscing!  Everyone likes to take pictures at these events, but sharing photos is a special part of catching up with friends and family you haven't seen for awhile.  Inspired by Cari F.'s fabulous mini album workshop at CHA, I made a small "take along" album for the reunion to show off my family!  It was fun, quick and easy, and thanks to Cari's fantastic ideas, a really unique way to share photos!

Album Cover

This is the album fanned out from the front

The base of the album is 3 1/2 x 3 inch acrylic sheets that I cut from a 12x12 sheet of acrylic and attached them with a binder ring tied with miscellaneous ribbon and lace.  I used scraps of Prima, Webster's Pages, and Pink Paislee patterned papers and some vintage sheet music for my pages.  The gorgeous double-sided papers made using the acrylic a cinch!   The letters and embellies are Prima -- Symphony Accesso and miscellaneous mulberry flowers, Pastiche glitter stickers, leaves, and, of course, bling including some Maya Road chandelier beads.  Completed, the album is just the right size to fit in your purse or pocket.

And this is the album fanned out from the back

This has got to be my favorite page, not just because it shows my wonderful nieces and nephews, I just LOVE Cari's idea of using flowers as the background for a page!

This is the back cover, which could easily hold another picture!  And if you don't have a reunion in the offing -- these are great share books for parents and grandparents and would make great stocking stuffers!

I think I am going to have to make another so that I can share pictures from the reunion with my family!

Thanks for looking!!

Guest Blogger Tonya Gibbs: Steampunk Debutante Canvas

Tonya Gibbs

I am so excited to have this opportunity to be a guest blogger for my dear friends at Flamingo Scraps.  I met Suzanne and Susan through a mutual friend about three years ago, and instantly fell in love with their style.  I am a true addict of all things shiny and colorful, and their store is full of all of it.  Flamingo Scraps are definitely enablers for my addiction!

I married my high school sweetheart 20 years ago and we have two beautiful teenagers, Brittany and Brighton.  I'm a web designer at the University of Florida Foundation and a photographer.  I attended the University of Florida where I studied Fine Arts (Go Gators)!  I spend a lot of my spare time volunteering for not-for-profit, kid-oriented organizations.  These kids have dubbed me Psycho Mom and I've truly embraced it.  I opened a scrapbook store and named it Psycho Moms, I was very sad when I had to close it due to health problems.

I have been a crafter my entire life, from ceramics to crocheting, I've done it all.  My love for scrapbooking began in high school, and it has been fun to watch the evolution of my pages.  Recently, I've noticed I've been migrating from the traditional scrapbooking to wall canvases and mini albums.  These types of projects allow me to use the techniques I learned in Fine Arts.  I'm all about getting dirty when I craft!

I fell in love with Graphic 45's Steampunk Debutante the minute I saw it.  When Suzanne told me Flamingo Scraps was ordering it, I was so excited!  Trust me, you will not want to cut this paper it is so rich.  The weight of the paper is awesome, the colors vibrant, the theme whimsical and fun.  Inspiration oozes from the pages.

When I think steampunk, my mind goes to the industrial revolution.  Debutante instantly makes me think of a woman.   For me, my family is what makes me tick.  They are who I am and what I live for.  So for me, the Steampunk Debutante is a strong woman whose complex make-up is her family.

Steampunk Debutante Canvas by Tonya

In the above photo, I created my Steampunk Debutante from the G45 paper.  Her dress is made from acrylic to which I added alcohol ink and bead gel.  The dress is decorated with Prima swirls, broken watch parts and metal roses.  The dress is attached to a 6 x 12 inch piece of chipboard with Tim Holtz grungeboard hinges and a button closure.  Inside the glass door you can see the gears and family that make up this Debutante.  The girl was taken from the G45 paper and I wanted to enhance the mechanical flow by adding metal parts.  Prima's Caravan Oasis flowers were made for this collection!  I also used Chocolate Prima Say It In Pearls, metal roses, a stick pin and another G45 tag.

Close up Front of Dress

Close up of Top

As you open the dress/door, the gears are exposed.  The gears were cut from my Cricut with the Accent Essentials and Indie Art Cartridges.  Each gear has a photo of a member of my family.

With the Front Fanned out

The entire piece is mechanical.  Each gear is attached with a brad, has bead gel on the edges for texture and is painted to match the patina aged metal.

Close up of Gear

There are photos on both sides of the gears.

View of Back Fanned out

All Fanned out

For a complete walk through of this project watch this video:


Thanks for looking!

http://www.psychomoms.com/

Recycling Dryer Sheets

Ordinary Dryer Sheet

I don't know about you, but I spend time each day picking up those pesky dryer sheets from the laundry room floor.  How about a way to recycle them and use them in your scrapping?

I saw this technique  on a Tattered Angels blog post and just had to try it!  It's very simple and quick.  Waiting for the Glimmer Mist to dry takes the longest time of this whole project.

I grabbed a couple of my favorite Glimmer Mist colors and started misting my dryer sheets. 

The Misting Tub

 Awhile ago, I found some big metal planters on clearance at Target and bought every one they had. Two of them are on my deck growing basil and mint but the third one is our misting tub!  Stray drops of Glimmer or Maya Mist stay within the confines of the tub and off of the floor and walls.

Dryer Sheet After Misting

I had an old package of some Prima Centers and used one of them for my Dryer Sheet Flower.  This is a great way to use up leftover bling or brads!

So here's my first Dryer Sheet flower - not too bad for a first attempt and the bonus is these flowers smell good too. 

 I just love that I can make something useful out of something that would just get thrown away!  I hope you will share some recycling ideas with us.

4 Generations

Yesterday, I shared my first layout of pics from our family photo shoot last Easter... and today, I'm back to share the second layout I made with these photos and the Fancy Pants Wishful Thinking collection!  This layout shows four generations -- my grandparents, my mom/her siblings, my generation/my cousins and the cute great-grandkids, which includes my nephew!

From Flamingo Scraps: Fancy Pants Wishful Thinking collection patterned papers and element stickers; Prima pink say it in pearls; Prima Cherry Frost Winter Rose collection; and Pink Paislee Cotton Expressions Weathered Wood alphabet (number "4").
Other Supplies: Making Memories Mini alpha glitter stickers; sewing machine+thread; brown fine point sharpie marker.

I love this paper line from Fancy Pants!!   Thanks to everyone for all the love on my layout yesterday -- I appreciate everyone's comments!!
And don't forget.... there are only a few days left to get in your guest design team application!!

A New Branch on the Family Tree

As my family prepares for another little one to enter the picture, I wanted to get started scrapping photos from our family photoshoot back at Easter.  My cousin Jen is a photographer and was volunteered to take photos of my grandparents with their children, grandchildren (my generation) and great-grandchildren (including my nephew).  It was a fun time and we were only missing two people, my brother Tom and our cousin Sara!  Well some of the spouses were MIA, including my own, but the actual relatives were mostly present and accounted for. :)

From Flamingo Scraps: Fancy Pants Wishful Thinking collection patterned papers and element stickers; Maya Road noah chipboard alphabet ("family tree") and butterflies; Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist in coffee shop; Prima pink say it in pearls
Other Supplies: Basic Grey Urban Prairie patterned paper (scraps used on butterflies) and rubon swirl; Martha Stewart butterfly punch and tourmaline glitter; doodlebug design simply sweet rubons in bon bon; sewing machine+thread; brown fine point sharpie marker

Everytime I look at these pictures I laugh because I remember my Aunt Cindy saying at the time "it's like hearding puppies."  Yeah... six of them under the age of 4 and of the six, three of them were less than 4 months old in this photo!  It was amazing to get one picture with no kid crying and the three older ones all looking in the general direction of the camera.  Fun to think that lucky #7 of the new generation, my soon-to-be-here niece Abby, will be in the next family photo!!

Now that I've started scrapping them, I'm sure I'll be back soon with more of these beautiful photos on layouts!  In fact, I'll be back tomorrow with one more layout! :)

Guest Blogger Kia: Cool Challenge # 2

It's Kia again!  I'm back for another week of guest blogging.  If you missed the original post introducing Cool Challenges for a Hot Summer here on Flamingo Scraps, please click here.  Are you ready for Week # 2?  Here we go.....

Cool Challenge #2 ~  Even a Dog Can Shake Hands - Warren Zevon. 
 This week I want you to showcase your, or your pet's wealth of talent. Can you juggle Pirate's Booty? Can you lick your own elbow? Can your ferret play piano? Show the world your fabulously unique abilities in a LO.

Required Item:  This week's required item is chipboard and you must use at least one piece of chipboard on your layout.

And here's a sample layout from Amanda:

A note from Amanda:  This week, I'm sharing an older layout, but hey, it illustrates perfectly the hidden talent of all three of our pets.... :)  Yep, they are all excellent nap takers and experts at snuggling with each other and with us! :)
Supplies: Bazzill Cardstock; KI Memories Pet Shop patterned paper, chip shapes & alphabet chipboard; ribbon from the stash; Signo black pen

All Layouts must be uploaded to the Flamingo Scraps blog (using Mr. Linky) or Facebook page no later than 8pm EST on August 15, 2010 to be eligible.

On sale this week at Flamingo Scraps is selected chipboard from Maya Road.

{{{{Drum Roll}}}} And the winner of last week's challenge random drawing is:

Cindy d! Congratulations!! Please e-mail your shipping info to flamingoscraps@yahoo.com to claim your prize.

See you next week!

Say Cheese!

Now that we have our technical difficulties worked out..... let's get back to the scrappy stuff!!

It seems like it has been forever since I last played with my paper scrappy stash!  I was happy to finally able to spend some time with my stash and get some pictures scrapped last weekend.  I have been looking forward to playing with the Fancy Pants Like Father, Like Son collection since it arrived on my front porch!!

From Flamingo Scraps:  Fancy Pants Like Father Like Son collection patterned papers and element stickers
Other supplies:  sewing maching + thread, black & navy blue fine point sharpie markers, American Crafts thickers 

I've been scrapping this little guy a lot lately.  I miss him!  He's growing up too fast on us.

On a somewhat related note.... regarding my love for Thickers, as shown above..... I'm super excited to tell you that soon Flamingo Scraps will be carrying some of the new Dear Lizzy Enchanted line from American Crafts along with one of my favorite scrappy items ever... THICKERS!!  Keep an eye out, we will let you know when it hits the store!! ;)

Don't forget to swing by the store to check out our Prima flower sale or to enter your layout in Cool Challenge #1 for a chance in our random drawing!!

Hope you are having a great weekend!!

Re-posting Cool Challenge # 1 with Mr. Linky

We are re-posting the requirements for Cool Challenge #1.  The Mr. Linky wasn't working in the original post!

Cool Challenge #1 ~ Read Between the Lines - Carole King
For this challenge, I want you to read between the lines both literally and figuratively.
1. Your journaling needs to be between lines.
2. Somewhere in the content, either the title, photos or journaling, there must be something that you must "read between the lines" to understand or see. You know, saying something or showing something where the meaning is not readily apparent.

Required item:  You must use at least one flower somewhere on your layout.

So use this post to upload your challenge layouts to the blog.  You have until Sunday, August 8th at 8pm EST to upload your entry. (Ignore that it is calling our challenge "Manic Monday"!)  The winner will be announced in Monday's blog along with the new challenge!  Good Luck!

Scrappy Jewelry à la Marion Smith, Maya Road and Amanda!

 If you watched Marion Smith on her August 5th Live With Prima, you are aware of this trend coming out of Summer CHA ~ Scrappy Jewelry!

Marion made a necklace and a brooch using Prima Marketing's gorgeous Cancan flowers.  Marion's Kit is available for pre-order at Flamingo Scraps!

I got to thinking after watching Marion.  There are a lot of gorgeous things available from Flamingo Scraps that could be used to make jewelry or hair barrettes or whatever else your imagination can imagine.  Here's a few suggestions.........

 La Fleur
Boheme

Bluebird

La Fleur 
Boheme 
Sedona















Either one of these would make a gorgeous brooch for that special friend with eclectic tastes!  Just hot glue a jewelry pin to the back and you're done!  What a great Christmas gift (don't forget we're just coming off Christmas in July!).

How about making hair barrettes from these?

Again, just hot glue plain metal hair barrettes to the back of these blooms and you have three cute and useful hair barrettes.  Or use them to make a necklace like Marion did.

Moulin Rouge
Brigette












Did someone say Butterfly?  The Andorra Princess comes with one bloom and one Butterfly!

Layer these Sifah Leaves under the flower for something a little different.......

These Primrose Flowers - Debbie are adorable for a little girl.  Why don't you make that special little girl a Back-to-School Barrette?

Amanda has some great ideas for jewelry using Maya Road Chandelier beads.  I will now turn this blog post over to her!

Image via Jennifer Beason for the Maya Road Design Team.

Hello!  I saw these fabulous necklaces (pictured above) a few weeks ago on the Maya Road blog... and of course, had to make my own!  And I was surprised at how quick and easy it was!!  Just grab your Maya Road Chandelier Trinket Beads, follow Jennifer's instructions.... and you will be done in a few minutes.  I just loosely traced my bead onto my paper, cut it out, punched a few butterflies to add to two of my pendants and glued it all together.

Sorry my photo isn't too great this time!
From Flamingo Scraps:  Maya Road Chandelier Trinket Beads
Other supplies:  glue, scissors, Martha Stewart Butterfly punch and Basic Grey Urban Prairie patterned paper scraps

The best part is that it really doesn't matter how you cut the paper -- the faceted front is forgiving and you don't have to be very accurate.  I'll be keeping one and giving the other three away as Christmas stocking stuffers!!  Up next, I think I may try some glittery paint!!  It's a great way to use these Chandelier Beads.

So we hope you have been inspired to create some fun gifts using scrappy flowers and embellishments.  Just to encourage you, Flamingo Scraps has every item mentioned in this blog post on sale until August 30th.  What are you waiting for?!  Get busy... we wanna see some jewelry!!

and

CHA Sneak Peek: Suzanne's Favorites

Now it is my turn to opine on my fave releases from CHA Summer 2010.  I certainly agree with Susan and Amanda that two of the real standouts are Steampunk Debutante from Graphic 45 and Parisian Anthologie from The House of Three for Pink Paislee.  Not only are these two collections visually stunning,  Debutante taps into the emerging Steampunk trend in scrapping and Anthologie is based on the concept of altering -- EVERYTHING!  Very exciting!  However, I thought I would focus on some of the releases that haven't received quite so much press, but are nonetheless stunning and innovative.

Flamingo Scraps is adding a number of new companies to its repertoire this season and two offer FABULOUS collections I can't wait to get my hands messy with.   The first is Teresa Collins Designs' NOEL.  I just LOVE the color palette of Christmas Red and Sooty black with punches of golden yellow -- tradition with an edge!  The damask patterns, dots and stripes, the to-die-for sheet music pattern and the use of numbers and words as patterns all make for a stunning, and versatile, holiday release!

When I started scrapping, Basic Grey was my biggest vice -- I had to have two of each collection pack because I could barely bring myself to use their gorgeous papers.  As I expanded my scrappy horizons, Basic Grey was still the iconic paper company, and they do not disappoint with their release Curio.  Vintage nature images meet that distinctive BG flair for patterns and color combinations for a truly stunning offering!

As always, Webster's Pages has GORGEOUS releases and two of their collections Hollywood Vogue and Sweet Seasons, make my favorites list.  Though still in the Webster's style we all love, these two collections have bold, bright color palettes and some fabulous imagery!

And well, I won't even get into the embellies and alterable items we have seen at 7 Gypsies, Tim Holtz and Maya Road -- They deserve a separate post all their own!!!

Christmas in July: And the winners are....

After random draw...

Cindy P is the winner of the altered crate!

And Julie Tucker-Wolek is the winner of the stamped dress form!

Congratulations Cindy and Julie!!!

Please e-mail Suzanne at flamingoscraps@yahoo.com with your mailing address to claim your prize!

We are well on our way to achieving our goal of 500 friends on Facebook...but have not quite reached that number yet!  So those of you who participated by inviting your friends were entered  in the above drawings instead!!  When we do hit that 500 mark on Facebook, we will do a random draw from all of our followers on both the blog and Facebook, so keep sending those invitations!!  And yes, you get two entries if you are a follower both here on the blog and on Facebook!!

Thank you so much for all the love and support -- we love our friends, followers and customers here at Flamingo Scraps!!

Guest Design Team Call!

So we have decided it's time to grow our flock a little...  If you love to create altered art, cards or layouts, and enjoy inspiring others, then we are looking for you!!

We are looking for eight people to be our first guest design team members.  Each month we will feature two artists -- one on Tuesdays, the other on Thursdays -- and here are all the details!!

The Requirements:

1. Answer a short Q&A biography we will send our guest DT members, so we can feature you on the blog for your first post. We will also include a picture of you, links to your blog, gallery, facebook and/or twitter, as well as 3-5 of your favorite projects to date that best showcase your style and use products from manufacturers we currently carry in the store (i.e. Prima, Pink Paislee, Maya Road, Websters, Tattered Angels, Fancy Pants, Graphic 45, etcetera).*
2. Provide two blog posts relevant to our readers. Required to use products from manufacturers we currently carry in the store (i.e. Prima, Pink Paislee, Maya Road, Websters, Tattered Angels, Fancy Pants, Graphic 45, etcetera)*... but other than that, the door is wide open! Share your fabulous layout or your favorite mini album... your altered art... the sky is the limit. We look forward to working with you to develop your creative ideas for our readers!
3. Participate in our exciting new feature... Flamingo Five. Flamingo Five is a new feature on our blog starting in September. We will mail our guest design team members for the month a kit with five fabulous products from the store... you will create something with your kit using all five products for us to share on the blog!! Once posted on our blog, you can share it anywhere you want!!  Our first Flamingo Five will be featuring some of the new Graphic 45!!
4. Promote Flamingo Scraps on message boards you frequent and your personal blog (if you have one) – we will give you a special blinkie to add to your blog and/or message board signature!!
5. Commit for a one month term.  Each guest design team member will be assigned a month between September and December, where they will be featured and participate in the Flamingo Five mentioned above.
6. Open to residents of the USA and Canada only.  At this time, due to shipping costs and time deadlines, we will only be able to accomodate residents of the US and Canada.  We apologize to our friends, customers and followers who live outside of that area.  We hope you understand and will reconsider in future calls.

*Please note that we are requiring use of products by manufacturers we carry in the store, not necessarily items we are currently selling in the store. This means you can use Primas from your stash that we no longer have in stock or older lines from Pink Paislee such as Cupid.*

So what will you get in return?

• A fabulous kit of five products from the store to participate in Flamingo Five for the month you are a guest design team member.
• A 25% discount at Flamingo Scraps on your next purchase.
• Exposure here on our blog including special recognition on a new page on our blog!

So if you are interested... Please send us an application!

To apply, please send an e-mail flamingoscraps@gmail.com, subject line "Guest DT Call", with the answers to the following questions and attach 3-5 photos of your favorite altered art, mini albums, cards or layouts that best showcase your current style (these will be used in your introduction post, so please make sure they meet the requirements for posts on our blog above!).

1. Tell us about yourself. Are you a kid at heart? Known for your witty jokes or amazing chocolate chip cookies? Please let us know a few of the basics and let us know why you would like to join our Guest Design Team. 
2. Are you (or have you been) on any other design teams? Please note that no previous design team experience is necessary!
3. If picked, what do you think you would like to share with our readers? Examples would be tutorials, layouts, altered art, cards, sketches... tell us what you got!
4. What message boards do you frequent, if any?
5. Link your blog (if you have one)?
6. Link to an online gallery? Please tell us where we can see more of your fabulous work!

***APPLICATIONS are due Sunday, August 15th at 11:59pm EST ***

Acceptance e-mails will be sent before the announcement of the new guest design team members. 
Our Guest Design Team for September - December 2010 will be announced Friday, August 20th.

Questions?  Please send them to flamingoscraps@gmail.com and we will do our best to answer them as soon as we can.

Now with all that said, we are SO excited and cannot wait to add some amazing guest designers to our team.... so please send us those applications!!!  We can hardly wait to see what ya got!!

Guest Blogger Kia: Cool Challenge # 1

Hello to all you Flamingo Scraps fans!  My name is Kia and I will be your guest blogger every Monday in August.  If you haven't read the post introducing me and Scraptathlon, you can check it out here. I am very excited to bring you some fun challenges from my "Nefarious Notebook".  Shall we get started?

Cool Challenge #1 ~ Read Between the Lines - Carole King
For this challenge, I want you to read between the lines both literally and figuratively.
1. Your journaling needs to be between lines.
2. Somewhere in the content, either the title, photos or journaling, there must be something that you must "read between the lines" to understand or see. You know, saying something or showing something where the meaning is not readily apparent.

Required item:  You must use at least one flower somewhere on your layout.

To kick things off, here's a sample layout from Amanda:

A note from Amanda:  There is definitely some reading between the lines for this layout and this photo.  Did you know that Kia's most favorite color is yellow?! There was an incident with some yellow ribbon, where we learned of Kia's dislike for the color yellow at our first cropulation together.  Needless to say, this layout just cried out for a yellow color scheme to remind me!! ♥ ya Kia!! ;)
From Flamingo Scraps: Pink Paislee Queen Bee patterned papers, die cuts & blackberry weathered wood chipboard alphabet ("Kia"); Prima bling and fairytale roses; white cheep trims
Other supplies used:  black and grey fine point sharpie pens, martha stewart butterfly and heart punches, polka dot ribbon scrap

All layouts must be uploaded to the blog (using Mr. Linky below) or Facebook no later than 8:00 pm EDT on August 8, 2010 to be considered for a random drawing of a fabulous scrappy surprise!

This week's Hot Summer Sale at Flamingo Scraps is for selected Prima Flowers! 

I can't wait to see what you come up with!

Updated August 5th:  We can't get Mister Linky to work!! So please link up your layouts in the comments.  Sorry for any confusion!! :)

Cool Challenges for a Hot Summer!!

We have a special treat for you! Our dear friend Kia, keeper of the "Nefarious Notebook", has cooked up some fun challenges for the dog days of August.  She will be our guest blogger every Monday in August!

The Flamingo Scraps crew met Kia online in 2004. We are all members at Scrapbook.com and became fast friends. Kia has been hosting swaps and challenges on Scrapbook.com for years and has quite a following there. In 2008, Kia decided it was time to meet some of her online friends and hosted the first annual Cropulation in her home state of Colorado. We all met in person in April 2008 and have gotten together every year since then to scrapbook and laugh and get into trouble and laugh and eat and laugh. The participants have changed slightly each year but Kia, Suzanne, Amanda and myself are the charter members.

Our Dear Friend Kia

 Kia hosts an annual challenge on Scrapbook.com called Scraptathlon. For you faithful Flamingo Scraps followers, you know that we just finished up the 8th season of Scraptathlon. Kia has graciously offered to keep the momentum going by challenging our blog and Facebook followers to four weekly challenges during August.

Here is the way Scraptathlon works: Kia names a song title that has inspired her. A challenge may have requirements for number of photos, colors, journaling word count, page orientation, subject matter, embellishment types, techniques, etc. Additionally, the challenges will have a requirement to use a certain item in your layout. So please read the rules for EACH challenge carefully and feel free to ask questions!

And during the challenge week, Flamingo Scraps will have run specials coordinating with your required item.  You do not have to purchase anything to participate in this challenge.

The challenges will be posted by 7:30am EDT on Mondays in August.  Your layout must be posted to our blog (using Mr. Linky) or to our Facebook page no later than Midnight EDT the following Sunday.  On Monday, we will randomly draw a winner from all the participants and they will receive a gift package from Flamingo Scraps!

Doesn't this sound like fun?  Ready for your first challenge?  Tune in tomorrow morning and be prepared to put on your thinking caps!  Kia's challenges definitely make you think.