Tammy Tutterow

Sketch Support: Emma, age 4

It is one page week at Sketch Support and I have a page to share!  I really loved this month's one page sketch, it is simple and crisp and just perfect for some new paper that I had and was itching to use!  I created a page to showcase a favorite photo and totally love the way it turned out.

I absolutely love Bazzill's new Worth Remembering paper collection.  I got the 8x8 pack and totally swooned when I opened it up.  I knew I loved the patterned papers from the sampler image on front of the pack.  The contrast of the tuquoise and red with the black and white is so sharp!  What I didn't realize was the deliciousness in specialty papers that was also inside.  There is of course perfectly matched cardstock, but also smooth metalic cardstock and textured vellum.  I love vellum and just totally gasped out loud when I touched the texture of the vellum in this pack!

I also got the matching embellishments for the collection.  I absolutely love the brilliance of the blue crystal buttons in the Pretty Buttons pack.

In the large block of patterned paper on my page, I added adhesive pearls from the collection to the centers of the flowers on the paper.

I matted my photo on silver metalic cardstock from the paper pack.  It is a perfect match to the gray areas of my photo.  I adhered the photo directly to the paper below it with the exception of the upper right corner, which I lifted with adhesive foam squares.  I like the dimension and interest it adds to lift only a portion of the photo up off of the surface.

I used the Fiskars XXXL circle punch to punch out a circle design from one of the pieces of paper.  I layered the circle with a die cut underneath and a sticker to the top.  I used adhesive foam squares to give each layer dimension and adhered the assembled piece to a square of coordinating patterned paper.

I topped the layered pieces with a Bazzill Flower Gem.  This photo really does not do the gem justice.  They are really gorgeous and very faceted looking in person.

I wanted a red four for my title but didn't have any glitter stickers like I wanted in red.  No problem, I used pink and colored it with a red (R89) Copic Marker.  I love that you can change the color of just about anything with an alcohol ink (Copic, Letraset, Kurecolor) marker.

{swoon} Seriously, you have got to see these buttons and textured vellum in person.  They are so classy and divine and add so much to a project.

Awww, look at that sweet girl.  She totally melts my heart.  And could this paper be any more of a perfect match for the patterns in her outfit?  I think they may have designed it just for me!

----------supplies----------

• patterend paper, specialty paper, and cardstock: Bazzill Basics Paper Worth Remembering 8x8 paper collection; 12x12 black cardstock
• stickers: Bazzill Basics Paper Worth Remembering Sticker Sheet
• die cuts: Bazzill Basics Paper Worth Remembering Die Cuts
• embellishments: Bazzill Basics Paper Worth Remembering Pretty Buttons, Adhesive Pearls, Flower Gems; Tim Holtz Idea-ology Mini Paper Clip
• alphabets: American Crafts Thickers Shoebox; Making Memories Silver Glitter Alpha; K&Co Glitter Alpha Coral
• ink: Tim Holtz Distress Ink Black Soot; Copic Marker R89 (used to turn pink "4" to red)
• trim: Maya Road Black Velvet Ric Rac
• tools: Fiskars XXXL 3" Circle Punch
• adhesive: Therm O Web Adhesive Foam Squares, Zots, Super Stick, and Memory Tape Runner XL

Sketch Support: National Scrapbook Day Blog Hop!

Happy National Scrapbook Day!  If you are blog hopping with the Sketch Support team, you should have landed here from Katrina's blog and next you will head to Allison's blog.  There are some awesome prizes up for grabs so be sure to visit all of the blogs!  To be eligible to win a prize from me, leave me a comment on this post before 12 am CST on Monday May 9.

If you have stopped in today because you are a regular reader, I encourage you to jump in on the blog hop and check out all of the great inspiration happening today from the members of the Sketch Support design team.

For the hop today, all of the team members are creating pages from the same sketch.  For my take on the sketch, I converted the two page sketch into a single page.  I stayed fairly true to the left page of the design.  I had to shift several elements to the left a bit but for the most part included all of the elements from the left page on my single page.  Because I wanted to focus on a single photo, I changed the second photo on the sketch into a larger journaling box.  On the sketch there is a second patterned paper along the left edge (under the T in title) that I moved around under my title.  Because my title letters were so muted, they were easily lost on the pattern paper.  Adding the solid blog under them helped them to stand out more.

Today on the hop, all of the team members are answering the question "Why do you scrapbook?".  For me the answer is all about creativity.  I love to create things with my hands from simple materials like paper, inks, and embellishments.  I get a real sense of peace and happiness from making things.  I feel like every stress and worry in life washes away, even if just for a little while, while I am at work with paper and glue.

For this page, I challenged myself to include hand written journaling.  As I continue to push myself outside of my "stuff maker" box more, I find that journaling, especially hand written journaling is very difficult for me.  I am an over thinker and worry way too much about something sounding corny.  I felt like this photo of my daughter Emma, one of my absolute most favorite photos ever, deserved journaling and to make it more personal since it is very personal thoughts, it should be hand written.  I actually like my handwriting, so I think the part about being an over thinker is what causes me to not want to hand write journaling.  Once it is down, it is down.  There is no backspace and re-do.  I don't want to tell you how many times I have re-made journaling blocks because I was too critical of what I had written or couldn't look past small mistakes.

I challenged myself on this page to do the journaling one time.  I made one journaling block and adhered it to my page and just did it.  I used pencil first and inked over it.  My only regret with the finished piece is that the space to write was just a bit smaller than I should have made it.  There was another thing or two that I would have liked to have said, like the fact that Emma's middle name is Grace and why I chose that for her.  The journaling as it is focuses mainly on the feeling of grace I felt when she was born.  There is a lot about why I felt that way that I couldn't fit in.  Perhaps I should write a journal page and include it on the back. . .

For my title, I altered the Hometown Summer alphabet stickers that coordinate with the patterned papers I used.  I sanded the surface of the stickers to remove some of the surface coating and then applied Worn Lipstick Distress Stain over them.  The stain adhered to the letters in the areas where they were sanded and wiped away in the other areas.  I applied Vintage Photo Distress Stain to the edges of the letters once they were dry.  To finish them off, I applied a coat of Glossy Accents to create an epoxy like look.  I used a piece of packaging from the collection for the area behind the title.

For the border along the lower part of my page, I used three border strips from the Pink Paislee Hometown Summer collection.  I sanded and inked each strip and then stacked them together.

For my embellishment cluster, I combined two ribbon flowers by Maya Road (which I brushed with ink to add aging) with stars from Prima, and buttons from Pink Paislee.  I layered two cardstock cut out tags from Pink Paislee next to the flowers, adhering each with adhesive foam squares.

This photo is so special to me so I really fussed over this page for a long time.  I really wanted each element to be just right.  I am pleased with the end result.

----------Supplies----------

• patterned paper: Pink Paislee Hometown Summer Green Acres, Summer Fun, Neighborhood Pool, Heat Wave, and Fruit Stand (area behind the title is packaging from the cardstock elements)
• carstock elements:  Pink Paislee Hometown Summer Punchouts
• buttons: Pink Paislee Hometown Summer Baubles
• cardstock borders: Pink Paislee Hometown Border Stickers
• aphabet stickers: Pink Paislee Hometown Summer Cardstock Alphabet Stickers; Making Memories Glitter Sticker Alphabet and Tiny Alphabet Mixed Ledger
• flowers: Maya Road Medallion Trinket Blossoms
• stars: Prima Galaxy Stars, white
• brads: BasicGrey
• pearls: BasicGrey
• ribbon: unknown
• ink: Tim Holtz Distress Ink Vintage Photo and Distress Stain Worn Lipstick
• other: Glossy Accents
• tools: Tim Holtz Sanding Block, Tiny Attacher, and Ink Blending Tool
• adhesive: Therm O Web 3D Adhesive Foam Squares and Tape Runner XL; Tombo Mono Aqua

Sketch Support: Home Sweet Home

It has been a bit of a creative sharing dry spell around here lately.  I have been so neck deep in creating but not much I can share.  I really love creating for trade shows but I hate that it always leaves me without much to share for a while.  Once the show is underway though I promise, it will look like a sharing bonanza around here!

Okay, so finally today something that I can share!  For this year, one of my creative goals was to make more scrapbook pages.  Being a part of the Sketch Support team has been a big help in that.  The sketches have finally taken away a big part of the the page layout intimidation I have had for so long.  The page I am sharing today is also featured on the Sketch Support site today.  The sketch is for a two page layout.  I tried so hard to make a 2 page layout.  I have always preferred singles.  No matter how much I loved the sketch, I just couldn't jump over that two page hurdle.  Not yet anyway.  But that is okay because that is something I really love about Allison's sketches, they are so easily adaptable.  I used just the left page of the two page design and adjusted it slightly and ended up with a page that I was really pleased with.

On this page I started with a base of kraft cardstock.  All of the patterned paper is from Cosmo Cricket's Early Bird collection.  I really loved this collection when it came out and added it to my stash but never could bring myself to use it.  That is another challenge for myself this year, to use more of the papers that I have been saving for "just the right" project.

I really love lots of layers and textures on a page.  I feel like I sew on every single page but I just can't help myself.  Sewing was my first crafty love so adding stitching to a page is like combining two loves.

One thing on pages that I am really challenged with is titles and journaling.  I didn't manage to add journaling to this page but I think it is okay without it, it is pretty self explanatory.

The piece that says Home Sweet Home is a cardstock sticker from the collection.  I adhered it to a scrap piece of chipboard to give it a little lift from the layers below.  Under it, I covered a Maya Road Ornate Chipboard Frame with pattern paper.

I tucked in a few small roses, crystals, and Galaxy Stars by Prima to add a little sparkle.

Be sure to check out the Sketch Support site to see the sketch that I worked from and to see what the other girls on the team did with it.

Glitz Design: Snow Fun featuring Hoopla

I still have lots more posts to share on the Happiness Project Library Drawer.  They will resume tomorrow.  Today I am taking a quick break to share a blog post I have over on the Glitz Design blog today.

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Every so often I find myself thinking about making a layout.  If you know me, you know that I am a self proclaimed "stuff" maker.  I make things.  It isn't that I don't like pages, I just struggle with them.  I find that when I want to make pages a good sketch helps me get going and makes the process much easier for me.  Recently I found a sketch by Allison Davis that gave me a real spark and inspired me to make a page.

I had a group of winter pictures that I had been wanting to make into a page for a while.  I decided that the Glitz Hoopla collection was the paper to use.  Yes, I know, when you look at Hoopla you probably think birthdays and celebrations, but the beautiful shades of blue in the collection had me thinking about ice and snow.

I used Hoopla "Frames" for the base page, "Zebra" for the white mat and photo mats, "Pipework" for the pattern, and "Polka" for the paper strip under the ribbon.

I used adhesive foam squares under my photos to lift them off of the page and make them stand out.

I found these clear Heidi Swapp snowflakes in my stash.  The back side of them are curved making a trough shape.  I filled the trough with Crystal Stickles.  Once the Stickles was dry I adhered the snowflakes smooth side up.  The finished effect makes it look almost like glass filled with sparkles.

To record the date, I used a Hoopla Journaling Cardstock sticker.  I sanded the sticker a bit on the surface and on the edges so that it would accept Distress Ink.  The blue ribbon is vintage, the sheer white, and blue mini pompom trim are unknowns that I found in my stash.

I used Rock Candy Distress Crackle paint on the "Pipework" pattern to add a frosty and icy effect.  Each element was inked with Vintage Photo Distress Ink.

The glitter letters I used for the title are by American Crafts.

So how about that?  I made a page and it didn't hurt at all!  Thanks Allison for providing a sketch that made it so easy!

Layout: You and Me Always

I have something fun to share!  I have been selected to join the creative team for SG Publishing!  If you aren't familiar, SG Publishing is the name behind the really awesome sketch books by Allison Davis.

I think I know what you are saying. . . sketches are usually for layouts and I am a stuff maker, right?  Well, here is the really fun thing.  I think sketches are great for projects besides pages.  One of the things I plan to do as a team member is share "stuff" projects based on the sketches.  But here is the other thing. . . with the help of a sketch I actually like making pages too.  Lately I have decided to challenge myself to make more pages.  Being a part of this team is going to help me do that.  I am going to actually scrapbook and preserve some memories and use some photos!  I am really excited about it!  I love Allison's sketches and am excited to see what kinds of pages and projects I will create with her help.

To apply, I submitted 2 pages and a frame.  You will see the frame and the other page later this month when my next turn on the Glitz blog comes around. The other layout is below.  I used the "On the Easel" kit from Studio Calico for the papers and embellishments.

I am so excited about being a part of this team and can't wait to get started!

Glitz Design: The Magic of Make Believe

I am sharing this post over on the Glitz Design blog today and wanted to share it here today even though I have shared this project here before.  Today I am taking a look back at a favorite project from the year and talking about an all time favorite paper collection.

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Have you ever come across a  patterned paper collection that you just felt was made specifically for a special photo you had?  That is how I felt the first time I saw the Vintage Love collection.  I knew that it was a perfect compliment that would add to a special photo of mine while not taking attention away from it.

One of the things I really love about this collection is that it is so subtle and beautiful.  When you add embellishments to it and it blends with them seamlessly without falling into the background.  It shines and remains a focus point of the project. 

It's patterns coordinate so well with one another.  It is so easy to add multiple patterns from the collection without overpowering it.  On this page I used the light side of "Damask" as the base, the pattern side of "Floral" as the main pattern, the beige side of "Polka" and the blue side of "Letters" for the photo mat.

For embellishments I added ombre ribbon (salvaged from a bow in a vase of flowers), velvet leaves, paper flowers, and glitter stars by Prima.  The straight pin with the pearl tip is an unknown goody from my scrap stash.

For my title I used an assortment of letter stickers.  The small tab letters are by Making Memories, the glitter letters are K&Co, the black letters are BasicGrey, and the felt letters are by Prima.

Even though this collection is almost a year old I still feel a wave of paper love every time I see it.  No matter what project I use it on it feels perfect.  It is a timeless classic that is going to have a home in my paper stash for a very long time.

Flashback Friday: She Is. . .

I don't do pages very often, but every once in a while I do one and really love it.  This page was one of those.  I loved that not only did I do a page, but I did one and included journaling!  That was a biggie for me!  Sadly, I loaned this page to a store for a sample and never got it back. I can't remake it because I don't have those products any more either.  Someday I will make a new version of it. . . This page was celebrating my oldest daughter's senior year of high school.  The journaling reads: "She is. . . kind, caring, and giving.  She knows what she believes and stands firmly.  She holds firm to her dreams and isn't afraid to go after them.  She is ready to spread her wings and fly. She is my daughter, my first born.  And although she is ready, I am not.  All I can do is trust and believe in the girl she is and the woman she will someday be. {heart} Mom" It still tears me up thinking about those words and those feelings.  Next week she will turn 20.  I am not ready for that.  It is such a milestone.  I need to remind myself to trust and believe.  {sigh} They grow way too fast! Oh, papers and stamps (large She Is and star) were all Pink Paislee.  The journaling is my handwriting.  The photo is by Holly McCaig (who also designed the products).  If you are in St. Louis and need senior photos, you should check her out.

From my studio: It ' s all about the cake!

Here is another page from my Sunday Play Day.  This one features Cosmo Cricket paper, Bazzill cardstock, and letter stickers from Making Memories and American Crafts.  The page is about Emma's love of Ace of Cakes and how she got the Ace of Cakes book and an Easy Bake oven for Christmas.

From my studio: The Magic of Make Believe

I have been itching lately to make scrapbook pages.  It is kind of odd for me to want to do pages, I really lack confidence in my ability to make them.  I think it comes from a time when I got dropped from a design team because they only wanted page people and I wasn't a page maker, or so they decided.  Now mind you, they didn't ask me if I could do pages, I am not sure if they had ever seen any from me.  I was added to their team to make stuff and since I was a stuff maker they no longer wanted me.  It probably sounds silly now, but I think I walked away from that thinking that my pages weren't "good enough".

Lately I have been thinking about the importance of scrapbook pages.  I love that through a scrapbook page I can preserve a memory and some thoughts along with photos.  It really doesn't matter if anyone else loves what I make, it only matters that *I* like them and that my family smiles when they look at them and read what I wrote.  I guess that is part of the problem of being a professional designer.  You get so caught up in creating for others and wanting them to be pleased in what you do, that you sometimes forget to take a break and just create for yourself and for what is in your heart and to not care if it is the greatest page or card or project ever made.

Since I have gone to being a full time artist, designer, and teacher I find that I struggle with what constitutes my work day.  I pretty much work all day every day and pretty much all of it is designing classes or assignments or other things that go along with the development and promotion of them.  I have decided though that I am going to give myself a day off to just do and create whatever I want.  I am going to play and create because I love to.  I am going to use whatever products I want and not worry about how much of one brand or another is used, if it will be picked up for a class, if it is publication worthy, etc.  I am just going to play.

I am happy to report that yesterday on my first Sunday Play Day I created two scrapbook pages and one altered art piece for no reason what-so-ever except that it made me happy.  Those two pages, which featured my wee girl Emma, made her smile and feel like a rock star because mommy made art about her and wrote about her love of Duff.  Her little smile reminded me that I need to make pages and preserve more of the little moments in our lives.  They don't have to be masterpieces, they just need to be little glimpse into our lives created with heart just "because'. So with all of those deep thoughts shared, how about a peek at one of those pages?

Flashback Friday: Miracle of Life Layout

Just before CHA I shared some of the pages to my portfolio that made.  I thought it would be fun to keep sharing these so look for a different every Friday.

I did this page for a sketch challenge on an awesome sketch site by Zarah.  Sadly she isn't posting sketches anymore which is too bad, because hers rocked!  This page features papers from Pink Paislee's Pop Fashion Line.  The photos are of me looking and my wee girl Emma after she was born.  The tag reads, "It is in this moment when the world is still that I am touched by the magic, mystery, and miracle of life".