The Green Frog Studio

INSPIRATION TUESDAY #10

Hi everyone! :)

Here I am, sitting in my confortable room in this amazing hotel in Madrid, writing the new INSPIRATION TUESDAY for you guys! :)

I worked on a new mini album this week, for you my dear readers :)

The theme is quite urban, with pictures I took in Chicago last year.

I wanted to focus on numbers, words, things that we see everyday when we walk around in the streets and it ended up being some of my favorite photos from my trip to Chicago!

And I couldn't resist using most of the products from one of the Studio Calico addon kits I ordered a couple of months ago.

So this is what you'll need...

• 4x6 photos (color or b&w)
• Hambly overlay
  
• Making Memories papers
  
• Hambly rubons and Luxe Designs rubons
• Making Memories tags
  
• American Crafts ribbons
  
• 7gypsies stickers
  

Step #1 : Cut all of your photos in half. No matter if you're cutting most of the design in your picture as you're playing on full photo pages and you're going to add embellishments ON the photos themselves.

And some pictures might look even better cut in half.

Step #2 : Prepare a 3x4" piece of paper for the cover of your mini album and glue it on the back of your first picture.

Step #3 : Glue your pictures back to back and make sure all photos are facing each other.

Then make a hole with a crop-a-dile.

Step #4 : Cut as much 3x4" pieces into the Hambly overlay as possible, use one on the front cover, one on the back cover, and the rest between each page.

Step #5 : Glue ribbon and sticker on the overlay.

Step #6 : Add a rubon.

Step #7 : I like to draw a line with a black pencil all around the edges of my pages.

Step #8 : Staple a paper butterfly onto your cover.

Some photos of the cover...

Step #9 : Decorate each page directly ON THE PHOTO itself, using stickers, rubons, alphas, ribbons and more.

How long did it take to make this mini album? Less than one hour! Since you work directly on the photos themselves, you can work fast and easily on your favorite snapshots!

Think about different themes on this one : portrats of your loved ones, landscapes, architecture, items, your home decor...

Tons of different themes for this kind of mini albums! :)

See you Thursday for a new giveaway & next Tuesday for a new INSPIRATION TUESDAY!

Take care!

Kenner Road kit winner!

Congratulations CELINA! You've been randomly picked and you're going to receive the amazing Kenner Road real soon :)

Email me your name and address at thegreenfrogstudio@mac.com

Thank you all for playing!

Studio Calico October kit :)

Hello to everyone!

I'd like to share with you how amazing the Studio Calico October kit looks like!

I've been a subscriber for over 6 months now and every month, I've just been amazed by the SC girls'talent to come up with a great kit! And this month's kit is no exception : it's STUNNING!

I soooo can't wait to get my hands on it! :D

have a GREAT day!

Kenner Road add on kit giveaway!!! :-)

Hi everyone! While I am at the Paris CdG airport to fly to Madrid this morning, here's this week giveaway, offered to YOU by Kenner Road! You should definitely check their amazing monthly kits (click on their logo on the column on the right). To win this giveaway, simply leave a comment on this post and I'll randomly pick a winner on Sunday! Fresh & Clean the September Add-On kit Clean Slate from Kenner Road features enough embellishments to complete a mini with the 7gypsies autograph album or it can compliment our main kit or create enough layouts all on it's own. Kits features an exclusive Kenner Road today stamp & exclusive Kenner Road ethereal collage print fabric as well as products from Cosmo Cricket, 7gypsies, Jenni Bowlin, American Crafts and Sassafras Lass. Good luck to all!!! Celine

Thursday giveaway

hi everyone!

I forgot to post the sponsor giveaway yesterday evening. I don't have any internet access in my room (have to go downstairs in the lobby for that) and I was too tired to go downstair in my pyjama!

So let's do it tomorrow!

Tomorrow and Saturday, I'll be teaching in Madrid, Spain! I just can't wait!

Talk to you soon!

INSPIRATION TUESDAY #9 : CELEBRATE LIFE

First of all, I would like to THANK YOU ALL for all the comments you've been leaving on this blog, for my INSPIRATION TUESDAYS posts, the giveaways and for the amazing welcome you gave to my first Scrapbooking book "Scrapbooking Inspiration & Techniques".

 

I've been SO touched by your amazing support, your friendship and kindness and believe me, this gives me even more energy to give you more inspiration every tuesday and all the other days of the week.

So, I would like to say THANK YOU.

Today, I made a simple layout (and we'll be doing a new mini album next week), very easy and fast to make, you'll see, you're just going to like it!

 

As you may have noticed, I rarely ever use cardstock for my layouts. I mainly work on patterned paper.

I've always been scared by cardstock, just like when you get stuck in front of a white page and I always end up scrapping on a patterned paper. I really like it, of course, but I feel like I can ONLY do that.

 

So I decided to challenge myself this week : SCRAP a layout with ONLY cardstock!Wahou! What a difficult challenge for me! :)

 

I'm inviting you this week to do the same : no patterned paper (ok, I admit it, I kind of cheated with my Kesi'art polka dot paper but really, with the texture and thickness of it, I kinda considered like cardstock).

But as I am the one that gives you challenges, I am picking the rules! :D

So NO patterned paper, only CARDSTOCKS! :)

 

So here is the supply list for this layout...

 

Papers (American Crafts, Kesi'art, Bazzill cardstock); Alphas (Kesi'art); Celebrate flash card (Elle's Studio); Rubons (American Crafts); Punches (Fiskars); Flair (Zibuline); Ribbons (May Arts); sanding paper; cutter.

 

 

Step #1 : I chose several colors of cardstock, esp. bright colors. Later, while I was building my layout, I added a blue cardstock (the one with the polka dots) in order to have a more colorful color palette.

I worked on a 8,5x11" layout (21,59 cms x 27,94cms).

Step #2 : I cut a piece of cardstock into an orange cardstock, that is as wide as my background, but with about 4-5" length.

Step #3 : With a pencil or a black pen, draw the shape of the sunrays (or it can be clouds, circles, tress, any shapes that you'd like to work with).

Step #4 : Use a sharp cutter to cut out the sunrays.

Step #5 : Once you're done with the cutting, glue it with real strong glue (I used a liquid one for this layout).

Step #6 : You can use sand paper to age every piece of cardstock you're working with. The Kesi'art cardstocks are just PERFECT to sand as their texture will pop out once you sand it.

Step #7 : To bring design to your layout, don't be scared to use PUNCHES.

Whether they are big or small, no matter what shape you'll be using, just punch the cardstock!

Here, I used a scalloped punch to turn a piece of cardstock into a kinda-lookalike ribbon :)

Step #8 : I used a round punch, a round scalloped punch and I handcut an "ugly" cloud into a blue Kesi'art cardstock. I then glue the brown circle onto the yellow one, and then attach both to the blue cloud.

Step #9 : I used my STAR punch to make a small star into my Elle's Studio Flashcard, and added a piece of yellow cardstock on the back of the card to make the star yellow. I then created my title onto the card.

There you go! A 100% cardstock only layout that I really really like! :) I added several other elements to my layout, like ribbons, flair, and more.

And I realized that the photo pops out even better when it is on cardstock.

And here are some close-up pictures...

Next week, a new INSPIRATION TUESDAY rendez-vous, with a new mini album! YAY!

Thank you all for your comments! :)

Take care & have a good day!

TYPEPAD & MY BOOK WINNERS :)

Hi everyone!

The ONE YEAR FREE TYPEPAD ACCOUNT winner is :

CONGRATS MARJO! Email me & I'll get all the informations out to you! :)

and the winner for MY BOOK : 

Congratulations Miss from Brazil! :) Email me your name and address as soon as you can so that I can send you my book :)

Thank you everyone for playing!

Scrapbooking & Techniques by ME & a one-year TYPEPAD account for FREE giveaways!

As you may know, my first Scrapbooking book is out TODAY and I'm proud to give you ONE SIGNED COPY here on my blog!

The lucky winner will get it in the mail and will have to learn french though :)

I'm also giving away a FREE one year subscription to TYPEPAD, which has been my faithful and professional blog host for 5 years now. You never let me down, Typepad. I LOVE YOU :)

To win MY BOOK or the free Typepad subscription, simply leave a comment here : I'll randomly pick TWO WINNERS on Monday morning! :)

I'm getting back to teaching tomorrow. Though I've been enjoying my holidays this summer, I'm looking forward to getting back to teaching Scrapbooking, I missed it! :)

INSPIRATION TUESDAY #8 : PURETE & PAIX

Hi everyone!

Today is a new INSPIRATION TUESDAY! Thank you all so much for your support and comments : it means a lot to me and it's always been a pleasure to come up ideas and projects to inspire you :)

This week, I was inspired by WHITE and all kinds of BEIGE/CREAM colors as my palette. I wanted a layout to be SWEET, PURE.

I've been wanting and needing some change in my life lately, haven't figured out what to do in some parts of it, but I needed those colors as a change for once (I am more a bright color person, if you come visit this blog often!).

You must have recognized the photo on my layout. I've used it a few times now, a perfect place, pure beauty, full of energy, in three words : God was there.

I'm not much of a religious person, I don't go to church, and such but I do believe in something, in a powerful something that guides us. I believe in a universal God and I pray to that God.

I remember this quoite by Francis Bacon : God Almighty first planted a garden. And indeed, it is the purest of human pleasures.

This is exactly what it was like when I saw that garden.

But oh well, I think I'd better get started instead of talking about religion and such! :)

Ok guys! Here's the supply list...

Papers (Bazzill embossed cardstock, Pink Paislee); Overlays (Hambly); Rubons (Hambly, Chatterbox); Magic Mesh; BFlair (American Crafts); Alphas (Kési'art); 1 tag; wooden embellishment (Riff Raff Designs).

 

Step #1 : Cut a first square in a piece of paper (here, the size I used for my first square is 19,5cmxX19x5cms, which would be about 8x8"). Use a punch to round the angles.

Step #2 : Use an edge distresser to age your paper.

Step #3 : Glue your paper onto another paper. This one has to be a little bit darker to contrast on the background.

Step #4 : Use the round punch again.

 

Step #5 : Once you have glued your papers on the white background, put your overlay on top of it all. You can glue it here and there (with special glue, I use the InvisiDots by Gluedots) but you can use your sewing machine to attache your overlay to the background. I would highly recommend that you just do 3 sides of your layout and leave the fourth one undone in case you want to add items under the overlay (I'm saying that because I made up my mind about the tag and had to cut the thread to glue it under the overlay!) :D

 

 

Step #6 : Quickly cut the top of a tag and glue it to your layout (under the overlay, remember?). You will bring another layer to your layout by its color.

 

 

Step #7 : With a round punch, punch into patterned paper and glue it in the middle of the golden Hambly rubon. I used this golden rubon because of its color, I thought it would perfectly contrast with my white palette of colors and gives a little bit of light to it. And Gold is the color of God, isn't it?

Step #8 : Add a Flair to your embellishment.

Step #9 : Here's a Riff Raff Designs wooden embellishments I used a while ago, as a mask for one of the layouts I made for my BOOK. I simply used Glimmer Mist over the embellishment to create a beautiful effect. So that's why you can see some glimmer on the wooden tree, which perfectly suits the golden rubon.

Step #10 : I LOVE those Rubons by Chatterbox. They are easy to use and go with everything. You need to select the words you're gonna use of course but I found the perfect ones for my layout.

Step  #11 : My friend Karine gave me some Magic Mesh lately, which I rarely ever use, but I fell in love with that one! I simply handcut it and put it under my title.It gives so much texture to my layout, without being overwhelming.

TA-DAAAAAAAAAAAAA! Don't forget to finish the sewing by the way...

And some close-up pictures...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had so much fun to get out of my confort zone and I like this layout very much, it gives me peace and happiness.

And it reminds me of this book I just finished a few days ago, that simply opened my eyes on many things :

If you want to read about travelling, life, religion, food, and read about a beautiful woman's life, you should get it now! I LOVED IT!

Well, I hope you enjoyed this new INSPIRATION TUESDAY! See you next Tuesday!

Today I love...

amazing colorful scarf by Happiknits...

 

lovely handstitched typewriter by Moxiedoll...

 

Cute notebook by Chikabird...

 

this stunning fiber bracelet by kjoo...(iwantitiwantitiwantitiwantit...)

 

and other photos of places, houses, appartments, condos, colors, home decor,...

Look at the first two pictures : when I grow up, I wanna have a house like that! Wouldn't it be fun to have such a big place like this, for painting, having friends around and enjoying art? I LOVE IT!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Isn't it simply amazing?

Well, I gotta go back to making my kits for my upcoming classes this week :)

Have a great day!