A Beary, Merry Christmas Card | DT By Tarina Lafollette

Hello Everyone!

I've been working on a new project (coming soon! lol), and I now have many small pieces of kraft paper left over. Instead of throwing away all those pieces, I had an idea. Chevron kept popping up in my mind, so I figured I'd try it out.

 I randomly arranged the kraft pieces on white cardstock; gluing them as I went. Then, once I'd filled the whole piece, I attatched it to the corner of my blue patterned paper. I decided to rotate the piece just to add a little visual interest.

Next up, is trimming the edges off and tying the string around it.

Once the string is in place, I sat it aside and fussy cut the little raccoon and his present from one of the cut-apart sheets in the Beary Christmas paper pack. I popped him up on foam tape and added him to the front. I wanted a sentiment for the front also, so I found the Say It All stampset, some black cardstock, stamped and heat embossed 'Merry Christmas' in white. I trimmed it down, dove-tailed both ends and stuck it down. 

I knew I wanted a color behind the piece that was a good contrast to the glacier paper, so I pulled a red with festive, scripty words from the Beary Christmas paper pack. Once I attached the front to the card base with foam tape, I added a few bitty sparkles and grey enamel gems. And that's it! 

Beary Christmas Card Recipe

Daisy White Cardstock

Beary Christmas paper pack

Black cardstock

Say It All Stampset (retired)

Foam tape

Bitty Sparkles

Grey Enamel Gems

Twine (from my stash)

***

https://janicewilson.closetomyheart.com/

This is a great way to use up the little bits and pieces of your projects instead of letting them go to waste.

I hope you have a great weekend, and I can't wait to share my upcoming project with you guys soon!

~Tarina

@hellotarina 

Rainbow Layout | DT project by Tarina Lafollette

Hello Everyone!

I hope you're all having a great week so far!

This is my very first try using watercolor crayons and I would have to say, I really liked playing with them! For this layout, I used a 6pc., tropical scented, watercolor crayon set from Recollections and a piece of watercolor paper from Close to My Heart. I used Gesso to prep the page before I started and that helped minimize the warping. It also helped the color not soak into the paper, which gave me more vibrant colors. 

After I dried the watercolors with my heat tool, I used my new, CTMH stitch guide to create the patterns for the hearts. I could have drawn them, but I have a hard time making my hearts symmetrical lol and it drives me nuts! lol So, this stitching guide is wonderful for that! I then went through my stash of embroidery thread to match the colors on the background. Thankfully, my grandma gave me her collection. It took about 30 minutes to stitch all of the hearts and swirls.

After that, I worked on the photo mat. I pulled out some bright green and fuchsia/lavender-ish cardstock that I thought might go with the background, and I knew I wanted to add in some black and white to balance out all the color. I generally don't go for green, but it ended up looking great on the layout, and muuuch better than the fuchsia color.

I pulled the striped and polka dotted papers from the Live Beautifully papers I have in my stash. I cut down the watercolored paper so that I could get a good sized border of black and white stripe. And yes, I did distress around the edge of the watercolored paper! lol I just can't help myself!

After I got the photo mat down, I went through my little hoard of embellishments and pulled out the Good Life Compliments. The blue glitter words worked perfect for this layout. Why did she choose purple? you may be asking lol because there was originally purple between the orange and pink watercolors! I just blended it a bit much and forgot to add more on there lol It did end up being the exact purple that I used in the crayon, so even though it got blended, it still fit right in.

Can you believe it?!?!? I didn't add any bitty sparkles to this project! :D

If you'd like to get your hands on the stitching guide, tonight is the last night! It'll be retired tomorrow. The link for the stitching guide is in the layout recipe below.

Layout Recipe

Live Beautifully paper pack

Recollections Watercolor Crayons (from stash)

Good Life Compliments

Clear Gesso (from stash)

Distress tool

Stitch guide

Embroidery thread (from stash)

---

I have a video up on my Youtube channel (hellotarina) if you'd like to watch my process. It's a bit of a long one, but I wanted to show and explain my thought process in real time. If you do watch, I hope you gain a bit of inspiration and/or bravery to try your hand at something new.

I hope you have a lovely week, and thanks for stopping by!

~Tarina

@hellotarina

Nautical Themed Baby Album | DT by Tarina Lafollette

Hello!

Today I'm sharing a mini album I made for my dear sis-in-law.

Her theme was nautical, but she wanted to stick to navy, grey and whites.

I chose a more manageable, 6x8 mini album size, along with pocket pages for quick and easy use.

For the cover, I did a monogram. I just couldn't get anything else to look quite right with the bold blue stripe. lol

These are just a few pics of the inside pages. Just to give you all an idea of what's in this little mini.

I used 6x8, 4-3x4s, and 2-3x4s with1-4x6 inch pocket page protectors. That pretty much filled up the album, but I also created a pocket for the very last insert. I used a page protector to make the envelope as well.

For this page, I wanted to do a highlight mamma while she's pregnant. It's always hard to imagine years later how you felt or looked with each pregnancy.

This is one of the full 6x8 pages with a journaling spot added. There is plenty of room for writing about what went on during each month, including babys' growth. This aslo allows for a 3x5 inch photo to be added above! 

This is a view of month 3. I started each of the months with a 3x4 title card and added in a few DIY filler cards she can move around to any 3x4 spot. I just love the little filler card! I created all of the filler cards by hand, but there are many companies out there now, including Close to My Heart, that sell pre-made ones.

This is one of the 4x6 card spots. I created a filler card that helped designate this little section to pics of the family. This coordinates with journaling cards that have room for mom, dad, and sisters' information on them. There's room for a 4x6 family photo up above also.

I love the way this mini turned out, and my SIL was excited to get to filling it up with photos. One nice thing is, whith the style of the album(pocket pages) if she runs out of room, she can add more page protectors.

If you would like to see my album flip-through, check out my video: 

https://youtu.be/S-MDOO1TqyM

You can also buy all the supplies, including Cricut cartridges from Close to My Heart to create your very own mini album. 

I hope you enjoyed my little mini album!

Have a great weekend!

~Tarina

@hellotarina

Smile | No Worries WYW | DT by Tarina Lafollette

Hello Everyone!

I hope you are having a wonderful week!

Today, I am sharing a layout made from the No Worries, Workshops Your Way, Scrapbooking kit. This layout was inspired by a card I found on Pinterest. More info about the card and its creator will soon be available on my Facebook page (hellotarina).

Taking inspiration from the card, I knew I wanted to have an array shape cut from the main layer of paper.

It took me a bit to choose the papers, because I was drawn to the sapphire blue paper w/palm trees as well as the herringbone patterned paper; which are both vibrant papers. I really loved the two together, but I needed something that wasn't too much like the white, not very eye catching, AND I didn't want it to overpower the photo. So, I decided to go with White Daisy for the base, the two that were calling to me, and the distressed wood plank paper, to start. I tried several different paper combinations to fill the array, but nothing felt right. That's when I remembered the branding strips! AND, there happened to be the exact the color I needed to balance the page! 

I also used the white burlap ribbon that's included in the No Worries WYW kit. I adhered it down right on the outer edge of the sapphire branding strip. I love how it brought a bit of dimension to that corner of the page.

Next up, ink splatters.

I used the CTMH Sapphire and Cashmere ink pads to splatter coordinating colors onto the white daisy paper. This helps tone down the starkness of the white. When adding the splatters, I made sure to turn the paper so that the point of the cut triangle piece was closet to me. This makes the splatters look like they're coming from the direction of the photo cluster.

Onto the photo cluster!

I backed the photo in the sapphire paper, leaving about a quarter inch border on each side. The photo mat still seemed pretty dramatic on the white base, so I used a combination of neutral papers tucked behind the sapphire mat to build some color. I also cut a photo corner for the left, bottom corner of the photo mat to help keep it balanced. I used the Edge Distresser to distress each of these papers just to give some more dimension.

It took me a bit to get each embellishment cluster the way I wanted, but I love how they came out.

The title 'Smile', as well as all the sticker and Kraft embellishments were from the No Worries Compliment pack. Some of them were adhered with my glue pen, some with adhesive dots, and some with foam tape.

Last up are the No Worries Sequins and Bitty Sparkles to give the photo cluster just a bit of sparkle.

Layout Recipe

(*included in No Worries WYW Scrapbooking kit but can be bought separately)

No Worries Workshops Your Way, Scrapbooking kit

*No Worries Paper Pack

*No Worries Compliments

*No Worries Sequins

*White Burlap Ribbon

Bitty Sparkles

Bonding Memories™ Glue Pen

Micro Glue Dots

3-D Foam Tape

Sapphire Ink pad

Cashmere Ink pad

Edge Distresser

I hope you all have a lovely weekend!

~Tarina

@hellotarina

If you have any questions, feel free to ask!

Best Friends Forever Layout | DT by Tarina Lafollette

Hello All!

Today's project was made with an upcoming birthday in mind...

Yes, it's for a girl. lol

Yes, it took longer than I had originally planned. lol

Yes, the time it took was totally worth it!😁

This layout features the Little Dreamer collection, watercolors, and the Flower Market cartridge.

I started with CTMH watercolor paper and watercolored the shape of a heart. I didn't really have a guide, I just kind of guessed. I pulled the colors from the Little Dreamer color pallette and made sure to dry in between colors so they didn't mix and make browns. Also, I tried not to move the colors around much while applying them because I noticed the dry colors liked to soak up the water and mix with the new ones. To get the drippy effect, you just tip up the page after applying each color. I also added a few splatters of each color so that the page didn't seem so bare. *Using watercolor paper helps minimize warping.

After making sure the paint was dry, I trimmed down the page just enough on each side to have the heart in the upper center of the page. I also made sure to cut equal amounts so the page stayed square. I then adhered it onto a full sheet of the (purple/w rainbows) patterened paper from the Little Dreamer collection.

Generally, I distress the edges of the paper before sticking it in place, but I totally forgot to this time. lol So I decided to bring out my peircing tool, white thread and my CTMH ruler (because it has a stitching guide along one side), and a little washi tape (to stick down the ends). I randomly added some zigzag stitching along the edge to help soften the line of the white and purple papers.

After adding the stitching, I took a little time and created veining in the leaves of the wreath with my piercing tool. Then I decided to place down my heart-wreath die on top of the watercolored heart. I lifted the left side of the heart with 3D Foam tape because I knew I wanted to tuck the photo under there and it also adds a little dimention. All of the die cuts are from pg. 42 of the CTMH Flower Market cartridge.💗

Speaking of the photo, I LOVE the Be Funky photo editing app! This is how I got the title 'BEST Friends FOREVER' on the photo. And the print quality after editing is great too! So, I backed the photo in a few different patterns from the Little Dreamer paper pack, making sure to stagger them a bit. As mentioned before, I tucked the photo/paper grouping just under the left side to the heart wreath. I decided to add some more foam adhesive under the right side of the photo mat.

Next up are the flowers. These took quite a while to create, mostly because of their size...the smaller they are, the more difficult they are to manipulate in our fingers lol. Once these were together, I layed them out on the left side of the heart where I thought they looked good and adhered them with Liquid Glass. Why would I add just one purple flower? It helps balance the purple in the photo mat, and also draws your eye to the left side of the photo.

Now, to get the sparkly leaves I used the white Shimmer Trim and covered each leaf. I then trimmed any extras from around the edge of the leaf and Ta-Da! you have a white shimmery leaf! I just randomly placed them around the flower wreath/flower cluster, adhering with Liquid Glass.

Last, comes the bling! I used the Little Dreamer Glitter Gems and Bitty Sparkles, of course to round out the layout.

Here's the Layout recipe:

Little Dreamer Paper Pack

Water color paper

Water colors

Flower Market cartridge

White Daisy CS

Bitty Sparkles

Little Dreamer Glitter Gems

Shimmer Trim- white

Piercing & Embossing tool

3D Foam tape

White Twine

CTMH ruler

Washi tape

Since this is a gift, I created a card to match.
I used some of the rainbow paper from the Little Dreamer paper pack to tie in the colors.
The card pattern I bought from the Silhouette Design store.

I hope you leave this post inspirted and have a lovely weekend!

~Tarina

@hellotarina

Miss You Workshops Your Way Part 2 | DT

Hello Everybody!

Today I'm bringing you project  #2 of the Miss You, Workshops Your Way, cardmaking kit. I love how both projects have a second option, and because the switch is so simple, I decided to show you all what the Project #2 option  looks like too.

As you can see, the second option is simply flipping over the double sided B & T Duos paper. 

Let's say you wanted to create a card using the new Live Beautifully papers. You could simply switch out the patterened papers (and inks), and the Miss You stampset and card layout instructions would still work beautifully.  I may just have to make that my next DT project! lol

If you haven't gotten ahold of the Miss You, Workshops Your Way cardmaking kit yet, head on over to http://janicewilson.closetomyheart.com/Retail/Products.aspx?CatalogID=242. While you're there, you can also find other Workshops Your Way kits offered by Close to My Heart.

I hope you have a lovely and inspired week!

~Tarina

@hellotarina

Delight in Everything card | DT by Tarina Lafollette

Hello Everybody!

Have you ever heard of Christmas in July?

Yes, I know it's April, Lol And it's definitely not July weather where I live, but the style of Christmas is pretty much the direction this card took. 

This card started out with stamping the Rosemary sprig from the Good Thymes stampset (found in the CTMH Annual Inspiration catalog) in Archival Black ink. I chose the Archival Black ink because once it's dry, adding water won't smudge or smear it. I then cut them out and watercolored them. After they were dry, I adhered just part of each sprig to a neutral-colored circle of paper. I didn't plan on them lifting up off the paper like an actual wreath, but they did!

For the center of the wreath, I decided to use the 'Delight in everything' sentiment, also found in the Good Thymes set. I stamped it in the center of a white daisy circle scrap I had laying around...lo and behold, it was the perfect size lol. I water colored Desert Sand ink around the edge which made the piece more of a Colonial white color. After everything was dry, I filled in the word 'Delight' with the Gold Shimmer Pen. It added such beautiful sparkle!

I adhered the sentiment piece with foam adhesive and added some Gold Sequins and Bitty Sparkles to fill in some of the empty space. Next up, a bow made from Blush Shimmer Ribbon. It took me a couple tries, but I finally got the bow tied to my liking lol. I find that using adhesive dots for bows makes my scrappy life soooo much easier! I set the wreath aside while I worked on the card base.

For the 6x6" Kraft card base I used several of the stamps from the Good Thymes stampset, stamped them randomly around the card using VersaMark ink and embossed them using white embossing powder. I also embossed a few sprigs on the coordinating envelope. After both were heated, I added a label to the center of the card front from the Flower Market cartridge(cut from Kraft). Then, it was time to adhere the wreath!

I thought I was all done, and even took photos of them both....but there was this nagging feeling they were missing something! I grabbed a black pen and added foe stitching aroun the sentiment circle edge and also around the edge of the envelope. Just that simple addition made them feel complete.

Here's the Card Recipe:

Good Thymes stampset

Archival Black ink

Watercolors

heat tool

Kraft cardstock

VersaMark ink

white embossing powder

white daisy

Desert Sand ink

Gold Shimmer Pen

foam adhesive

Gold Sequins

Bitty Sparkles

Blush Shimmer Ribbon

adhesive dots

Flower Market cartridge

black pen

Besides garden markers, and seasoning tags/labels, the Good Thymes stampset gives you tons of foliage to make several different types of wreaths that would be perfect for all seasons!

If you wanna see my creative process for this card, head on over to my YouTube, (hellotarina)

Here's the link to my video:

https://youtu.be/bszU5gAoPTY

I hope you enjoyed my Christmas card in April! lol

And I hope you all have a delightful weekend!

~Tarina

@hellotarina

Hello Card featuring Dreamin' Big | DT

Hello Everybody!

With the early spring flowers peeking their heads out of the ground and summer just around the corner, the Dreamin' Big collection from Close to My Heart has inspired me again.

Today's card was pretty quick and easy to make. It starts with a White Daisy card base, as well as the black & gray striped and flower print paper from the Dreamin' Big paper pack.

I trimmed a small piece of the black & gray paper and adhered it about 3/4s of the way down, on the card base.

Next up was the floral paper. 

I measured the smallest heart from the Basic Hearts-Thin Cuts dies, and trimmed the floral paper just bigger than the size of the heart. I then placed my heart die where I wanted the cuts to be(hopefully evenly spaced lol), marked them with my pencil, and ran them through my Big Shot. I set aside the die cut hearts because I wanted to use the negative space(the part the hearts were cut out of). I cut a few more hearts out of the white striped vellum from the Uptown Fundamentals pack from CTMH and stitched them down in between the cut out hearts. Any thread works for this, but for this, I used 3 strands of the Whisper Thick Twine.

Once I was done tying off the twine, I adhered the piece down with 3D Foam Tape.

For the sentiment, I used the 'hello' die from the hello & thanks Thin Cuts from CTMH and black cardstock. I was tempted to cut several hello's and glue them together which would create a thicker type die cut, but ended up emphesizing the word 'hello' with a Spellbinder's label die cut from White Daisy CS. I popped this up on 3D Foam Tape and added some Bitty Sparkles and Grey Enamel Gems to finish off the card.

Here's the card recipe:

White Daisy cardstock

Dreamin' Big paper pack

Basic Hearts-Thin Cuts dies

Uptown Fundamentals pack

Whisper Thick Twine

3D Foam Tape

hello & thanks Thin Cuts

Bitty Sparkles

Grey Enamel Gems

I hope spring inspires you to get creative,

and I hope you have a great weekend!

~Tarina