AP April Challenge - Birds

It's time for another Altered Pages Challenge!

{Technically, it doesn't start until Monday, but I couldn't contain myself any longer!! So I'm getting a jump on it today!}

Haven't participated in a challenge yet?

It SUPER easy! Just hop on over to the AP Challenge Blog for the monthly details (2nd Monday every month); create a project using at least ONE image/product from Altered Pages; write about it on your blog & link up to the Challenge Blog!

It's that easy! 

C'mon...join in on the fun!

There's always a great prize package! And sometimes Jean adds more prizes for every day that someone links up their projects! WOW

"She was a nurturing soul"

Ok, so...I decided to approach the challenge a little differently this month & although the theme is Birds, I didn't really "focus" on the birds in my project...I wanted to play at drawing faces & creating a mixed media 11x14 canvas from there. This is my end result & I LOVE it! LOL!! If you want to see more, head on over to my personal blog - My Laughing Magpie! Or if you want to buy it, she's listed in my Etsy shop as well!

Supplies used:

Vintage Bird Cards AP 1790 (collage sheet)

Glitz Papers from Beautiful Dreamer Collection & tiny alphabet (background & title)

Gel Medium (adhesive)

Molding paste (hair)

Acrylic paints (all over)

Stamps (texture, background)

Colored Pencils & Inktense Blocks (face)

Found objects (hair accessories, necklace & broach)

Shredded paper (nest)

Hope you'll vote for me when the voting opens on the Challenge Blog!
Cheers!

Another "Outside the Box" Creation from our Crazy Bird Lady!

(This is a copy of our DT post over at the Die Cut Diva Blog...)

Hi all! Becky here to share another FABULOUS project from my sister, a.k.a. Kim, "The Crazy Bird Lady!" She's still cranking out these amazing pieces inspired by her "slight" obsession with birds (& the book "Delight in the Details")! This time around, she used the Schoolhouse Picture Frame as her base for this gorgeous tag!

She traced the schoolhouse die onto a piece of needlepoint mesh & cut it about 1/4" larger to frame the schoolhouse a little. She covered the die with some papers & inside the little oval frame of the schoolhouse is a stamped bird image (Tim Holtz) surrounded by pearls, butterflies & bird eggs.

At the bottom, she hung a couple of great little charms (7 Gypsies, I think).

Another fabulous creation don't'cha think?? She is so GREAT at thinking outside the box with all the fabulous dies from Creative Cuts & More! Who would have ever thought of using this schoolhouse as a birdhouse but my uber-talented sister!! So, take a look at all the dies that CC&M has to offer & see what amazing things you can do too!

Be sure to keep checking in to see what our other talented designers are up to all week & we'll be back next Friday with another "Outside the Box" creation using the fabulous products from CC&M!!

Here's a little sneak peek:

Designer: Kim Langhorst

It's going to be a "Banner" Spring! (Copy)

Hello there! (This is a copy of the post that's over on the Die Cut Diva Blog...)

Becky here, blogging for my sister Kim (as usual! LOL!)!

She just finished this BEAUTIFUL banner using the Banner Die from Creative Cuts & More in a GORGEOUS Aqua Lagoon Stardream Fuse Metallic paper!

She said that she was inspired by a similar banner in this book: "Delight in the Details" by Lisa Pace. Here's a bunch of close-ups for you to admire...

Don't just love all the little touches! 

Here's a couple more close-ups of one of the banner pieces:

Isn't she just so darn clever!!

It looks absolutely beautiful on her mantle!

And sooooo very easy to work with when the banner pieces are pre-cut for you from CC&M!! There are tons of great colors to choose from & other dies that you can pick-out to embellish your banner too! Hop onto the shop & browse around!!

That's it for today!

See you soon!

designer: Kim Langhorst

For the Birds - a Shabby Chic Mini-Album

Hi all!

Becky here today,  bloggin' Kim's Creative Cuts & More March Hop project! If you've joined us from Kristine Reynolds' blog, then you're on the right track! If not, you'll want to start over at the Die Cut Diva blog & hop back to us so you don't miss out on any of the inspiration we have for you today!!

Let's get started...For those of you who don't know, the MINI-ALBUM is our FORTE'!! (The Scrap-a-Teeny Girls, I mean!) We love to work with all things "TEENY", so this month's ALBUM theme was right up our alley!! And since Kim & I are working as a team these days for CC&M, we decided to split the Mix and Match album in half to show the different things you can do with these albums!

Sure, you could EASILY use all the pages for ONE theme, but why not split it up & make 2 or 3 little books?! OR, you could even include one or two of these pages in another album to add a little fun & interest! OR, I think it would make a really fun & creative banner too! Just think "outside the album" & the possibilities are endless!

For Kim's half of the Mix & Match's 6 pages (if you order the SET, you get 24 pages - paper cut to fit & cover the 12 chipboard pages! It's really awesome!) & began work on a fabulous shabby chic bird album. (She's become known in some circles as the "crazy bird lady" because she's begun collecting everything bird - including scrap supplies!) I knew from the beginning, this album would be gorgeous because my sister is one talented lady, but began to think of it as "doomed"!!! Keep reading to see why...

close ups of the cover

The cover of her Bird album turned out beautifully, don't'cha think? Then on page 2, her design ended upside down when you flip the album page up because she wasn't really thinking of how she was flipping the book as she worked (each page should be right side up when you flip through it!)! LOL! We've all "been there, done that!!"

Page 2 & close ups

It's still another awesome page!

Page 3 & close ups

This page is my favorite!!

I love the little picket fence with the little lady birds!

Then, she had just finished this next page...

Page 4 & close ups

When her son accidentally spilled water all over the completed pages & the one she was working on next! ACK! We scrambled to grab all the pages, & luckily, they were just a little warped & salvageable! So, we wrapped them in paper towels & I took them home to photograph...

Tula when she's not being naughty

Then, something even worse happened! My dog, Tula 

decided that this album MUST be something to eat! She dragged it out of my studio while I was out (before I had photographed it) & proceeded to chew it up! So, this is the last page (only 4 to show you because of all the chaos!) with a little corner missing...

Luckily, you all can't see the water-warpedness, or the teeth marks & thanks to how I photographed it, you wouldn't even have known that my sister attached the 2nd page upside down! God bless her! She's one creative lady & a wonderful sister, but this was not her lucky project! Hope you enjoyed it & found some inspiration for your own mini-albums from Creative Cuts & More!!

Now it's time to hop over to my blog to see what I did with the other half of the Mix & Match album from Creative Cuts & More!