My very first publication!!!!

Scrapbook News and Review has chosen my "Beautiful Bride" layout to be published on May 20th!! I am so thrilled! This layout was my first sketch interpretation from the ScrapsofDarkness.com kit club! The layout was made form their February 2012 Victoriana kit. I had been trying to evolve my style for a while and once I started subscribing to the kit it happened almost as if by Magic! I would like to thank Renea  for turning me onto Scrapbook.com. My very good friend Cheryl for all the questions she answered for me...I didn't know what www.scrapbooknewsandreview.com was until I met her and read her resume...she had it listed as SNR and of course I had to ask her what that was all about and with her constant reassurance and encouragement I felt confident enough to submit the best layout I had done up until that time and a few months later...Viola! I'm published!! All the scrapbook artists, product designers, manufacturers and retailers that have a subscription are  going to see my name and my work! I would also like to thank Mel...the original Vampire Queen...for all her hard work and unbelievable ability to coordinate the amazing kits at scrapsofdarkness.com without your dedication, talent and patience...this would have never been possible!! I would also like to thank...Doesn't this sound like a long winded Oscar acceptance speech? ...The DT members at SOD! I've learned so much from you and you've always gone out of your way to answer all the questions I've asked of you! I am thrilled and grateful beyond words!!!!!!

Steampunk Diva

I created this layout using the gorgeous March kit from Scraps of Darkness titled Needful Things. The patterned papers are all  perfectly coordinated with the embellishments which makes creating stunning layouts like this one a breeze! the kit also includes a sketch by Suepup and a challenge is posted in the forum. Everyone on the talented design team provides us with their amazing interpretations of the sketch each month. This is my interpretation of this months sketch. I used a turquoise pearl mist on the background paper and inked the edges with black and colored the edges and the design on the inside corners by watering down some Royal Blue liquid pearls and brushing it on with a paint brush. The layered scalloped circles were made using the Tattered Doily Lucky 8 punch by We R Memory Keepers.

I cut the outside border of the blue paper I punched to allow the patterned paper underneath to show through. The brown flowers on the right side of the page were included in the kit, the black and orange flower are Prima Autumn Harvest collection.

The picture I used was actually an illustration I found while I was searching for Steampunk girls on Bing.com.
Here are some close up shots showing the details...

Hope you enjoyed the details I shared on this layout and thank you for visiting Scrapbook Nirvana!

Reflections of Mina

This is Mina...a dark, mysterious and enigmatic girl I met on Facebook. She has a plethora of amazing pictures and I asked her if I could scrap her pictures using the wonderful Scraps of Darkness kit for March 2012 ~ Needful Things. I was ready to try several techniques on this page and also use many different types of materials. First, I misted, inked and distressed a white piece of Bazzill white orange peel texture card stock. Once I misted it I crumpled it up and while I was straightening out the paper the lower right hand corner ripped and came off in my hand. So I distressed the torn edges and taped the back. I then intentionally ripped more parts of the paper and used the same technique there but they got lost in the layers.

Once I distressed the edges I used some black soot distress ink and ran that over the entire background paper. Once that dried I used my embossing ink pad and pressed it down on random parts around my page and then sprinkled spiced marmalade distress embossing powder on the entire area. After shaking off the excess and heating with the heat gun it looked like the picture above.

Here you can see the cheese cloth and the vine ribbon I layered behind the photo, the jewelry piece I got from a friend and is old and broken but goes perfect with the layout. The wings and skull are grunge board shapes that I inked with a bottle of broken china distress ink then with a black soot distress pad before covering them in copper embossing powder. I drizzled fabric glue on random places around the page then sprinkled some black and iridescent green seed beads on the finished page to bring out some texture. In this photo you can also see the stamped hot air balloon from Glitz. I used broken china ink on that too and also used clear embossing powder on that to make it stand out a bit more.

In the top left corner I used another Glitz corner stamp, using black embossing powder. The butterfly is clip art I found and printed up on photo paper. I inked the white background around it to make it blend in with the layout a bit better. The eye, the heart and the steam punk Mr. Potato head are all photos that I inked as well and found on the internet. I misted everything with a turquoise mist that I made with acrylic paint and pearl colored powder from perfect pearl's metallic collection. I misted everything on the layout with it except the photos and the grunge shapes. I'm very pleased with how this came out. Thanks for reading my blog! Happy Scrapping!

Featured Layout of the Month at Scraps of Darkness - February 2012

I was pleasantly surprised to see that my "Memories of Having Fun" layout was chosen as Layout of the Month for the Scraps of Darkness February 2012 Victoriana kit! I loved using my old family photos with this kit and all of the papers were versatile and wonderfully coordinated with a multitude of embellishments! This was my first Scraps of Darkness kit and I hold it responsible for my new found creativity and evolved style! I would like to thank all of the design team, moderators and my fellow members over at Scraps of Darkness for a multitude of things; tutorials, praise, advice and for bestowing me with this wonderful honor! You have also given me some bragging rights to add to my resume and aid me in my endeavor of  making it onto a design team! I am forever grateful!

The proof is on the  Scraps of Darkness Blog . Thank you for visiting me and happy scrapping!

Marion and Robert-Seneca Park, Rochester, NY-Scraps of Darkness

This is my maternal grandmother and great uncle Marion and Robert Foster, I know this picture was taken in 1920 or maybe 1921. I used the wonderful Scraps of Darkness Victoriana Kit for this layout. I just adore the colors and embellishments of this kit. It is very versatile!

The photo mat is made from the Martha Steward Around the Page Deco fan punch. The photo measures 5x7 inches and with the border it fits perfectly in the 6.75x8.5 inch punched matte.

I used some plain brown cheap card stock to punch the matte and it was a much lighter brown than the rest of my page so I dyed the edges with vintage photo distress dye, then I used Perfect Pearls medium on it and covered the edges in gold metallic, then used a paper towel to brush some of it off. I also used gold Perfect Pearls on the metal flower that came in the Scraps of Darkness kit that is to the left of the picture. I sanded the raised edges first with an emery board and then added the perfect medium before dusting it with the gold powder.

If you love the look of distressed edges or want to achieve that vintage look, check out Craftysprinkles Easy Water Distressing Technique this is a close up of my water distressed edges. Thank you Mandy!

The big flowers I made in this picture I learned from Reneabouquets Astrid Flower Tutorial! The possibilities are endless with this flower! Thank you so much Renea!

Once my flowers are put together and dried I like to take my extra long tweezers and curl the edges of the flower under...these tweezers are also a great tool when you're using your heat gun on anything, especially something small. I don't know where to get them, I found these when I moved in my house. I choose to mist, crumple, dry and then ink my flowers. You can either follow the tutorial or do what works for you. Instead of the white tulip fabric paint I used liquid applique for the starburst punch you can find that here. Liquid Applique-Scrapbooking Warehouse

I hope you liked my newest layout! Be Sure to check out all of the tutorials I linked to they are super easy and fun! Also, come on over to Scraps of Darkness/Scraps of Elegance  if you're interested in the fabulous papers and embellishments you have seen here today! They also have more tips and tutorials! Thanks for visiting my blog! Sincerely, Amanda

How I made the Beautiful Bride layout

 I got the paper and most of the embellishments from this layout from the Scraps of Darkness Victoriana Kit. This was my interpretation of the February 2012 Victoriana sketch by Suepup, and was included with the kit.

 First I used the Kaisercraft - Madame Boutique Collection - 12 x 12 Double Sided Paper - Lingerie paper as my background.

I made two bottles of homemade shimmer mist that coordinated or matched the colors of the papers in the kit. One is named Patina and is greenish-gold, the other is Antique Bronze has a deep brown metallic shimmer.I used the distress it all to rough up the edges of the photo mattes and then misted the back of the edges with the patina mist and dried them with my heat gun. {you could also let them air dry...which is a good to do if you want your paper to have a crumpled more distressed look} Then I misted a chip board circle from Technique Tuesday's Fundamental Rings...

with both of my mists and dried that with a heat gun and gently and randomly dabbed it with an embossing ink pad. I sprinkled it with gold embossing powder and hit it again with the heat gun until the embossing powder was melted and shinny. The satin chord wrapped around the chipboard circle is held at the ends by a small amount of my ribbon adhesive. It does not wrap all the way around the chipboard ring, but that is ok because it is covered by the photo.
The pearl flourishes also came with the kit and I laid those down on the top and the bottom of the page to balance everything out. The parchment flowers (which are darker brown) are Prima and those also came with the kit. The other flowers are Prima - Innocence 2 Collection - Flower Embellishments - Mix 14 that I also misted with both colors and highlighted with Tim Holtz Vintage Photo Distress Ink Pad.

I made a ribbon flower to put the cameo in at the right side of the page. The butterflies are courtesy of the talented Reneabouquets. The clock was cut from the Prima - Printery Collection - Emperor - 12 x 12 Double Sided Paper, I distressed the edges and misted that with the Patina mist and inked the edges with the vintage photo ink pad.

To bring everything together I used a lot of big thick clear glue dots, 1/2 round 3D pop up adhesive circles under the pictures, flowers and other embellishments so that they would sit above and over the chipboard circle I made. I hope this tutorial helped and inspired you. This is the very first one I have ever done and I would be happy to answer any questions and would be open to any advice or critique that anyone might have for me! Thanks for visiting!

I want to share my talent with the world on a Design Team

Ever since I started subscribing to the Scraps of Darkness kit this month, my scrapbook style and perception has really changed and evolved. From a mom preserving memories of birthday parties and trips to the carnival...using bright primary colors and geometric shapes to layering, distressing, embossing and making my own embellishments. I have learned so much from other design team members and the praise I have garnered from my last 3 layouts using the Scraps of Darkness Victoriana kit has given me the self confidence to try and apply for a spot on a Design Team. I know that there is a commitment involved and I want to make sure that I can deliver what is asked of me. So first I need a blog. Well...I made a blog a few weeks ago but never set it up or made any entries. So my first step to reaching my goal was to set up a blog and upload some of my work and something about myself, give it a name...so I could share it with the world and include it with everything I post to my gallery over at Scrapbook.com. I am very excited about this journey, I know it won't be easy to make it onto a team. I'm sure there is a lot of competition out there for Design Team spots, but I am willing to keep trying until I reach my goal and get what I want.