Hooray! A Tropical Bird Card featuring new Sizzix Chapter 2 dies!


Hey everyone, I was so excited this week to receive on my doorstep here in Australia Chapter 2 dies, tools and the Making Essentials from the latest releases here at Sizzix Lifestyle. If you haven't yet checked out the Chapter 2 releases or the Making Essentials products be sure to pop over here and see what amazing products are available now. 

I couldn't wait to have a play so I have created a tropical inspired birthday card using the new Tropical Bird Thinlits die (662544). I pulled out the 'Good Vibes' collection by Crate Paper as I thought this bright and fun collection would compliment the tropical theme of the die. 


If using paper and card stock, this die requires you to layer papers on top of each other. This meant that I cut the bird multiple times, making sure that I was cutting out each element in the colours or patterns that I wanted to. 


I then need to piece and adhere is all together. How cute!


Oh course I had to add some layers of papers and embellishments to add more detail to the card. I also added some stitching around the edge of the card stock frame to give it further texture. 


Thanks for stopping by, Raquel xxx


Altenew’s 4th Anniversary Blog Hop Day 4 + Giveaway




Hi everyone,

I'm super excited to be participating in day one of Altenew's 4th Anniversary Blog Hop thanks for inviting me Altenew! After your stop at Yoonsun Hur's post, its now my turn to give you some Altenew inspiration.

To create my layout today I used the Our Family Scrapbook Kit by Altenew.

Here is the layout I created:


I filmed a process video also to show you how this layout came together:


I chose to document these photos of my daughter blowing out a dandelion on a recent family getaway last summer. I love that I was able to capture a moment like this and really wanted to document it. 


In terms of design the main inspiration for this page came from the floral stickers in the scrapbooking collection. They reminded me a little of a laurel wreath in the way that they curved so I decided to use the floral pieces to frame my cluster of three small photos. I printed the photos 4 up (4 small photos to a 4x6" piece) and in colour for this layout. 

I also added some stamping on this layout and used the 3 step floral stamp in the kit to add some further pops of pink to either side of the floral pieces on the page. 


To add further focus to the photo where my daughter is blowing on the dandelion seeds I added a small photo mat using the leftover paper from the background piece. 


The journaling was a nice quote I was able to find online - I thought it was appropriate and a nice 'life's lesson' page for my daughter. 


The wood veneer and enamel dots in the kit added those nice final touches to the layout. 



I hope you have enjoyed my contribution to the hop! Keep reading to see how you can join in and win some amazing prizes.



What's up for grabs?Altenew is giving away a $50 gift certificate to 5 lucky winners and one Altenew Academy class to 5 lucky winners. There are also 13 awesome companies/crafty friends who are celebrating with us, and they are offering the following prizes:

Altenew: 5 $50 Altenew Gift Certificates
Altenew Academy: 5 Class Spots
Jennifer McGuire Ink: 2 $100 Altenew Gift Certificates
Online Card Classes: 3 Class Spots
Simon Says Stamp: $50 Gift Certificate
Scrapbook.com: $50 Gift Certificate
My Sweet Petunia: Mini MISTI Stamping Tool
Tombow USA: 2 Dual Brush Pen Sets(10 Colors) and 2 TwinTone Dual Tip Marker Sets(12 Colors)
WOW! Embossing Powder: $40 Gift Certificate
Create & Craft TV: £25 Gift Certificate
Ellen Hutson LLC: $25 Gift Certificate
Butterfly Reflections Ink: $25 Gift Certificate
Amy Tangerine: 2 Signed Copies of Craft a Life You Love
Chameleon Pens: 1 Pack of 5 Chameleon Pens
Scrapbook & Cards Today: 1 Copy of Scrapbook & Cards Today Spring 2018 Issue



Amazing right!

Blog Hop Order for Day 4 of the Altenew Anniversary Hop: 

Altenew
Jennifer McGuire
Ellen Hutson LLC
Sandra Dietrich
Virginia Lu
Anna Komenda
Lisa Spangler
Galina Filippenko
Reiko Tsuchida
Joni Andaya
Scrapbook & Cards Today
Yoonsun Hur
Raquel Bowman - YOU ARE HERE
Amy Tangerine

Be sure to leave a comment below by April 15th, 2018 at 11:59 PM EDT for a chance to win! 30 WINNERS will be chosen at random from the comments left on any of the blogs listed below and will be announced on the Altenew blog on April 17th, 2018.

****

Your next stop is Amy Tangerine, happy hopping and thanks for stopping by,
Raquel x

True Friends - A Scraplift using the More than Words collection

Hey everyone, it's Raquel here sharing my layout from Scraplift week over on the CVS blog. I spent some time looking back through posts on the CVS blog and could not go past this post and layout by Mandy. I loved the design of the page with that die cut title and the way that the embellishments flow from the top left of the page to the bottom right. It is just so beautiful.

Here is my interpretation of Mandy's page:
 

I thought I would pop Mandy's layout up here so you can see directly how her layout has inspired me, here it is:

   

The subject of my layout is friendship also and I chose to document a friendship I have had for 29 years now (I did some calculations while creating this page). You may recognise the other face in my layout? Yep, thats fellow DT member Michelle. We actually met in Grade Prep and have been friends ever since! I thought More than Words was a gorgeous, soft collection to document this layout.

   

The title was something that I really loved about Mandy's original page. So I used my silhouette cameo to cut the word friends and the word 'true' was from a previous CVS collections alpha stickers. You may also notice the subtle texture I used on the page. I used a light molding paste and a floral stencil to add a soft texture to the page, on a diagonal. I am not one to use a lot of mixed media, unlike the page I am scrap lifting, so I chose the molding paste as my way to incorporate it.

 

The top left of the original layout contained a cluster. I used both the ephemera die cuts and vellum ephemera to create this, as well as the accessory stickers too.

 

I could not leave this page without adding some journaling. Documenting the story of Michelle and I's friendship is important and one that I want to make sure I tell the story of. I love to type my journaling and cut it out in strip form as it allows me to place the journaling wherever I want without committing right away.

  Thanks so much for stopping by the blog today.

Raquel x

Some more Sizzix Inspiration...

Hey everyone, today I am sharing a couple of my latest projects that I have created for Sizzix Lifestyle.

The first one I am sharing is a layout that I created with a gorgeous new Butterfly die that was in the Chapter 1 releases. I teamed it with one of my fave ever collections by Cocoa Vanilla Studio, Bohemian Dream. 



The second project is a simple and cute Easter card I made. Although it is simple to look at, the design actually incorporates 3 different die sets; Sizzix Thinlits Die Set 35PK Dainty Lowercase (662520)Sizzix Bigz Die Spring Animals (662504) and Sizzix Thinlits Die Set 3PK - Sentiments (662668). I love the end result and enjoy mixing and matching the sets to create my projects. I must say though, the sentiments die is one of my favourites, just look at that script!


Thanks for stopping by my blog today, I hope you had a lovely easter!

Raquel