September Cards

Cards take me a long time.  I don't know why.  They just do.  I'm so glad that Lesley and Sarah create such beautiful cards.  It takes the pressure off of me ;)
Enjoy!

Sunrise Cove

Hey all!  Both of July's main kits have now sold out, but I still have a few of the bonus mini album kits available.  Lesley worked with this sweet little kit an here is her finished project ...

This kit has more than enough product to complete a mini album and you would still have loads of paper and embellishments left for a bundle of cards. 

The kit contains ...

Maya Road Scroll Edge Binder Album

Echo Park "Happy Together" 6x6 Pad

MME Kraft Funday Happyday Twine

Elle's Studios Lil' Snippits: Hello Summer

Elle's Studios Tiny Labels

Doodlebug Hello Spring Mini Pearls

Studio Calico "Leaf Green" Mister Huey

American Crafts Mistable Thickers "Ali/White"

Visit the website to purchase yours, or if you're local and would prefer to pay at the store, send me an e-mail (upthestreet@isp.ca) and I would be happy to set one aside for you.

April Pages from Lesley and May Peaks!

Where has April gone?  I think they cut a few days out at some point because it just flew by.

I wanted to share some pages from Lesley (made with the sold out "Handsome Fella" kit) ...

I love how Lesley took the throwaway strip from between the border stickers to use as and extra border ...

And a few peaks of May's kits ...

Just a reminder that the April Promotion is still going on ... spend $50.00 (before taxes) on scrapbooking product and receive a 20% off coupon for your next visit!

We R Memory Keepers Travel Light

The Enjoy the Journey kit this month contains a few papers and a sweet little tag from the We R Memory Keepers Travel Light line.  One of the papers is die cut with a postal stamp border.

Lesley left on it as it was and added a few well placed embellishments ...

Heather replaced the center portion with another of the papers from the same line ...

Sarah's background is toned down with some neutral Cosmo Cricket patterned paper ...

And I trimmed off the die cut edge for yet another look ...

I've only got a few of these kits left.  If you think you want one, don't wait!

Same paper, different looks ...

I think that "Junk Drawer" from Cosmo Cricket's Odd's & Ends line is one of my favorite papers in this month's kit.

Heather left hers whole and used it as the background in her layout ...

I chopped and sliced and glued little bits from both sides ...

And Lesley mixed just a few phrases from the paper with the WRMK die cut paper here ...

I love when you can get so many different looks from a single sheet of paper.

Get your "Enjoy the Journey" kit here.  Better hurry ... they're going fast :)

"I Swear" projects from Lesley

Hey Gals!  July is certainly flying by.  Hope everyone is enjoying their holidays and have been able to squeeze in a bit of relaxation between running kids to camp and all of their summer activities.

The August kit is coming along nicely and will be revealed on August 1st.

Until then, here are a few more of Lesley's projects using the "I Swear" kit from June ...

The "Lazy Days" kit is currently sold out, but there are still a few "I Swear" kits to be had :)

"She Calls Me Ginger"

Today I wanted to share one of Lesley's layouts using the "I Swear" kit.  The kit itself has a few wedding elements mixed in, but clearly can be used for much more.

Lesley is also a member of the Spellbinders design team and I am learning so many little tricks from her.  What she has done with this layout is so clever (especially if you're a frugal scrapper and like to get the most out of your paper).  She has folded her background paper in half and run it through her Spellbinders Grand Calibur with one of the Creative Book Pages dies.  Not only does she create a photo matte, with a postage stamp border, that is twice the size you would normally get, but she flipped her photo matte and stuck it right back into the hole it left when it was cut.  That's right ... one sheet of patterned paper creates her entire background.  Pure Genius.  Of course, she then "wastes" copious amounts of paper creating her gorgeous layered flowers, but that's neither here nor there ;)

Her flowers have also been created by using a Spellbinders die and then sprayed with some Shimmerz spritz called Shimmeringz (Heavy Metal) for shimmer.

The "I Swear" kit  also contains some 7 Gypsies rub-ons which are perfect little accents for these papers.  I used to use rub-ons on everything and really haven't even thought about them the last little while.  It was sort of a happy little accident that both sides of this month's kits each include rub-ons.

Visit Lesley's blog and the Up The Street Gallery for more inspiration.

Happy National Scrapbooking Day!

The weather is so beautiful today that I don't know how many scrappers around here will actually be scrapbooking though. I have a feeling that there will be a lot of outside work being done.
I still have to get a few Mother's Day cards done myself yet today. If you're in the same boat as I am, and are feeling "stuck" for ideas, have a look at what Heather and Lesley have created with the May kits.

Lesley's aren't specific to Mother's Day, but you could certainly customize them to fit your purpose.But back to NSD ... it seems like a good excuse to do a giveaway. Leave a comment on this post as to what you're doing for NSD and/or Mother's Day and I'll add your name to the instore drawing for a kit of your choosing from March or May. I'll draw a name on Monday to give everyone a chance to enter :)
Now off to get those cards done ....

Colour Challenge

This week's challenge is brought to us by Lesley. Simply use the colours below as the basis for a layout or card. Upload your finished project to the Flickr Gallery and be sure to mark it "FebruaryContest" by midnight EST February 28th for your chance at the February prize of a $30.00 credit to the Up The Street store. For links to the other challenges this month, visit the website.

Emboss Resist Tutorial by Lesley and this week's challenge

In each side of the February kits, is a sheet of the Pink Paislee House of 3 resist paper. Lesley whipped up the following tutorial to demonstrate the numerous ways you can customize this paper for your projects.

If you don't have any of this fabulous paper handy, but still want to use the techniques Lesley has shown, try making your own resist paper.
Grab a background stamp, clear embossing ink and clear embossing powder. Stamp and heat emboss your image on a lightish coloured background paper (the lighter the paper, the more you'll be able to play with your technique).

From here, you can use any of the techniques Lesley shared in her video. I used Studio Calico Mister Huey's in Sunshine.
You can see the ink beading up on the stamped image.

Give it a good wipe with a paper towel. This also helps to rub the excess ink into the paper to further enhance your stamped image.

And the finished card ...

Had I used a Glimmer Mist, the whole surface would have a bit of a sheen, but by using the Mister Huey's, there is more definition between the stamped image and the background paper.

Fun stuff :)

So this week's challenge is as follows ...

Use a resist paper (or create your own) in a layout.
Be sure to have your layout uploaded to the Flickr group (tag with "FebruaryContest") by midnight EST February 28th to be entered into this month's drawing.