AWDML Design Team Blog

Friday Inspiration

Hi, everyone!

We have a fabulous new feature on our message board: Daily Challenges and Sketches!!  Come check them out and see what you can win!  I chose to take on one of Kim's color challenges from earlier in the month.  It's a wonderful fall color scheme:

To me, this color pallette just screamed for me to use my new Apple Cider papers from Imaginisce!  I put these fun papers together with a PageMaps sketch, and I LOVE the layout that I created to remember our trip to the apple orchard this fall.  I even used an overlay!

 
 
I totally loved cutting out the apples from one of the pieces of Apple Cider paper, and the pleating was oh, so easy!  If you haven't been over to check out the message board lately, I invite you to come on over and play with us!  We are having a blast!!

Products Used:  American Crafts Cardstock, Imaginisce "Apple Cider" Patterned Paper, Thickers, Hambly Overlay, Maya Road "Create a Forest" Stamp, Martha Stewart Border punch

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

~~Nicole

Christmas in July Crop...Card & layout challenge

Hey there everyone Stacy here!!!!  Welcome to the Christmas in July Crop.  This week we want to get you thinking about Christmas.  It will be here before you know it. (in 167 days)  The Design Team here at AWDML has some fabulous challenges for you this week.

I have two challenges for you.  The first is to create a layout showing us your Christmas/Holiday family traditions.  On this layout I used some fun, funky Christmas paper.  I love the non-holiday colors in this line.

The products I used on this layout are MME Colorful Christmas paper & die cuts.  I used my gel pen to make the circle on the layout, some fun Kaiser Crafts pearls & rinestones , a little ric rak, and some American Crafts thickers.

Ok ladies now for your card challenge.  I want to see those Holiday cards....the catch is that it can't be in the shape of your usual card.  Let's see those funky shaped cards to go with this funky paper!!!  Here is my card...

On this card I used the die cuts from MME Colorful Christmas line, and to give it a little shimmer I used some Ranger stickles.

Ok ladies....these are my challenges to you.  Can't wait to see what you come up with.  Make sure you upload your creations for us to see in the forum & gallery.

Until next time...Happy Scrappin'

~~Stacy~~

Friday Sketch Inspiration

Hi there everyone!  Happy Friday to you!  I have a cool sketch to bring you for today to help you chill out, relax, and scrap during these hot days lots of us have been having.  The sketch I chose to use is from the fabulous Lucy Chesna. I just adore her sketches and am never disappointed by what I can create with them.  This week I have a card sketch to share.

Here is your inspiration sketch:

My sample for you to peek at using some yummy Jillibean Soup products:

I just love this Chicken Noodle Soup line.....it's perfect for this country girl!  Just think of all those fair, farm, and gardening photos you have.... this line is perfect for them.

Hope you give the sketch a whirl and upload it to the gallery so we can be inspired by you and leave you some lovin'!

Products Used:

Jillibean Soup Chicken Noodle Soup Patterned Papers

Jillibean Soup Chicken Noodle Soup cardstock stickers

Jillibean Soup cardstock alpha stickers

Jillibean Soup 12x12 Kraft cardstock

Jenni Bowlin Tiny Circle cardstock alphas

Cuttlebug Embossing Folder Swiss Dot

Remember that all Jillibean Soup products are 25% off this month in the store.  Be sure you head on over to pick yourself up some goodies!

Happy Scrappin' ~ Scarlett

Tutorial Challenge: Alter Your Stamps!

Hey all, it's Erica!

Today I'm going to show you a fun way to alter your stamps. 

Now, this works best with simpler line art stamps but if you're ambitious (and way more artistic than me) the sky's the limit!  :D

I'm using this stamp from CC Designs, Pumpkin Emma.  I'm going to alter it so that I only have the image of the girl to work with and not the wagon.

First up, I inked up only the portion of the stamp I wanted to use. 

 

Then, using a baby wipe, I carefully wiped the ink off of the handle of the wagon. 

 

Try to keep as much of the girl inked as possible.

Here she is, without her wagon and without a bit of her hand, dress and apron, too!  Don't worry, we'll fix up!

Now, find a pen whose nib width matches your image.  I chose a pen with a .01mm nib for this stamp.  Then, draw in her missing parts. 

Here she is all redrawn!  It actually is a lot easier than it looks.  Trust me!  :)

 
 
   And, here's Emma, in all her wagon-less glory!  So cute!!  :D

Cardstock-Bazzill, American Crafts & DCWV, Patterned Paper-October Afternoon, Stamps-CC Designs & October Afternoon, Punches-Fiskars & Marvy Uchida, Ink-Catseye, Markers-Copic, Pen-American Crafts  
  

Now for your challenge.  Create a project using an altered stamped image.  It can be a card, layout or even a home decor project.  Upload your project in our gallery and link it here by the end of June to be entered to win a prize from the AWDML store.  You can use this technique or one of your own, just make sure that you don't use the stamp image as is.  :D

How about a little challenge everyone!!!!

Ok it's challenge time!!!  I figured that with Father's Day coming up that might be a good subject. So here is the challenge......

I want you to do a layout with Father's Day in mind.  It can be your darling hubby, your dad, or about being a grandfather!  I did mine with the grandfather theme in mind.  Since darling hubby will soon be a grandpa and I had this fabulous picture to use.

Here is my layout for the challenge.

 

So what better paper to use for this theme then Bella Blvd's Man of The House line!!  LOVE IT!!  The colors in this line are manly which sometimes is hard to find.  Added some fabulous letter action for the title...Thickers and My Little Shoebox mini alphas.  Don't foget the embellies ladies...I used a Jenni Bowlin pin and Zva Pearls, and don't forget the decorative brads.

So I challenge you to celebrate the men in your life...let's see those layouts over in the gallery.

Until next time...Happy Scrapping

~~Stacy~~

June Color Challenge

It's summer time and Independence Day is right around the corner.  Before you know it, we will have a camera memory card full of fireworks, BBQ's and parades.  I love the traditional red, white, & blue that those things call to mind for me.  But, this year, I want you to put just a slight spin on that combination!  Your color challenge for the month is:

Red, Cream, Baby Blue & Navy! 

There are so many fun products in the store right now that will work for this challenge!  I used some fun Pink Paislee from their 365 Collection.  In addition, the new collection from Girl's Paperie, On Holiday, is perfect too!

Complete the challenge and post your creation to the gallery for a chance to win a fun RAK from the store!

Friday Sketch Challenge

Hi Everyone!!  Happy Friday to you!  I am here today to bring you an fantastic sketch challenge.  I just adore the sketches Lucy Chesna creates so I asked her if I could use one and share it with you all.  Lucky us, she said said yes!!

Here is your sketch for this week's challenge:

And here is my sample for you:

I used a variety of October Afternoon products for this LO including patterned papers from the Fly A Kite collection and embellishments from Farm Fresh and Cherry Hill.  I also recycled some October Afternoon packaging to use as my journaling block.  A tip for doing this is to use a Sharpie fine point pen to write and your heat gun to dry the ink!  Remember all October Afternoon products are 25% off this month, so hurry on over to the store to pick yourself up a bunch of yummy goodies!  The circle letters and pearl stick pin with bling by the strawberry are from Jenni Bowlin and the leaf stick pins are from Maya Road.  Upload your creations using this sketch to the AWDML gallery and leave a link here as well.  Can't wait to see what you all do with the sketch!

Happy Scrappin' ~ Scarlett

Let's Make it Quick & Easy!

There are so many manufacturers these days that are starting to design sheets of patterned paper created out of strips of different pieces of their collections.  Strip Sheets make creating layouts quick & easy!  The store is full of great examples: Cosmo Cricket has some fabulous sheets:

Fancy Pants too:

But some of my favorites are from Little Yellow Bicycle! Generation Z is a fun one!

This sheet was the inspiration behind by Quick & Easy Challenge for you! I want to see you create a layout using strips of patterned paper - now this can be any patterned paper. You can create your own strips or do it quick & easy like I did with one of these fabulous strip sheets! Upload to the gallery and link it back here in the comments and show us yours!

 Happy Day! Kim :)

Color Challenge for Friday

Happy Friday Everyone!!  I'm here today to bring you a color challenge.  We've been having anything but Spring weather in my neck of the woods, so I thought some Spring colors and inspiration were needed.

Here's your color palette:

 

And here's my LO for your inspiration:

Did you know the store now has the newest lines of Sassafras Lass in collection kits??  I am in love with all the new lines!  I used Cherry Delicious for this one.  The tiny blue letters come with the kit and I also used a mix of American Crafts Thickers.  The little bit of ruler ribbon, yellow & grey rick rack, and flower stick pins are from Little Yellow Bicycle's Clothesline collection, I just adore this collection as well.  Lastly, I snuck in a mini BINGO card from Jenni Bowlin Studios.  Remember you can receive a 25% discount on all her products this month, along with Stampavie stamps!!  Can't wait to see your LOs inspired by these beautiful colors!  Please remember to link up your creations to the gallery, as well as back here.

Have a beautiful Friday and Happy Scrappin'! ~ Scarlett

Friday Sketch Challenge with Erica

Hi guys, I've got a sketch challenge for you today.  I hope you like it!

Here's my take on the sketch.  You may recognize the embellishments I used, yep, it's my alcohol ink Easter Eggs!  You can find the tutorial to make them here.

Alpha Stickers~Basic Grey, Patterned Paper~Basic Grey, Border Punch~Fiskars, Pen~Tombow, Acrylic Embellishments~Tim Holtz, Alcohol Inks~Ranger, Cardstock-Bazzill

I hope you play along with our challenge.  If you do, make sure to post your layout in our gallery and leave a link to your project on this blog post to be entered in this month's drawing for a prize from A Walk Down Memory Lane!

Altered Challenge: Gift card holders

Hey there fellow scrapers.  I know that gift cards are a huge hit with my DD for gifts.  Somtimes I just don't like to put them in her card.  It's sooooo boring.   They need to be a little more fun when they are given.  So this is my challenge to you.  Create a fun way to give a gift card to someone.  I altered this fun tin and the gift card fits perfectly inside.

Here is the tin before I began to play with it.

 
  DD has a birthday party for a friend coming up, so I wanted to make it a little fun and use girl colors.  I used Sassafras Lass pattern paper & chipboard stickers from the Hog Heaven line.  Then I added a couple ofpearls, a little ric rak, and some gell pen action around the outside of the circle.  And this is what I came up with.

 
   Now i'm sure you all know of someone who is having a birthday soon.  So let's see those fabulous gift card holders that you are all going to give out!!

~~Stacy~~

Spring Color Challenge!

What are my favorite things about spring?  Hmmmmm..... the longer days, the sun, the rain, the anticipation of summer --- yep, there is a lot to love about springtime!  I love that spring is a transition from the cold, dreary days of winter to the warm, bright days of summer.  The grass starts growing along with the flowers and trees, the sun shines till early evening, and the sounds of kids playing streams into my house from the park nearby.  But, let's not forget about all that rain --- the rain that nourishes all those wonderful plants but also creates lots of puddles to splash in.  I love a good spring rain shower. 

The color challenge this month is all about the stuff that spring is made of:

At first glance --- that might not seem very much like spring to you. But to me ---- yep that is a Northwest Spring Color pallette all the way. The deep red is for all of the gorgeous Skagit Valley Tulips that are in bloom, the soft yellow for all the cheerful Daffodils of the season, and that brown ----- well, that brown represents all the mud that sticks around until the summer comes and drys us out!  Yep, the Northwest is famous for it's rainfall and the spring is no exception!

My example for you today is created with some yummy Jillibean Soup New England Clam Chowder. It is full of bright yellow & red on some really "muddy" kraft paper! Perfect for our spring color challenge today!

So play along and have some fun with our spring color challenge.  Post your creation here using Mr. Linky or in the gallery for a chance to win the April Prize!

Thanks! 

Kim :)