The Green Frog Studio

Inspiration Tuesday

hey everyone!

I have to admit that I can't even remember how many Inspiratino Tuesday I have been working on and I can't even give a number to this one :) There are too much of them now! :)

Today, we're not going to celebrate Christmas, I would like to celebrate friends, and a great weekend I had end of August with most of them. But, just so you know, I'm working on a cool Christmas project for next week :) You might like it :)

So, this week, a very easy to make mini album, not pretty fast to make though, as the cover takes quite a while to prepare, but fast enough to decorate.

To make this album, you'll need :

• cardboard (I used it to create the mini album structure) and choose the size you want for it
• plumber's tape (metal tape) 
• black indian ink 
• white American Crafts cardstock 
• Cosmo Cricket Cherry Hill paper line 
• American Crafts alphas
• October Afternoon stickers
• Kesiart stamps
• black versafine
• American Crafts ribbons

First of all, you need to cut into the cardboard and decide which size you'd like your album to measure. Then, leave about 1/2inch for the spine and be sure to have both covers of the same size.

Adhere the plumber's tape to the covers , use a stylus to doole on top of it and add the black indian ink.(You can read more about this in my book).

Once the ink is dry (and believe me, it dries pretty fast), decorate the cover with a few embellishments : you don't want to add lots to overwhelm your amazing cover.

For the inner pages, I chose to work with this Cosmo Cricket paper line as it's colorful and so cute.

I like to leave some white space in my designs, it helps your eye to focuse on the most important thing on your layout or page.

Some October Afternoon stickers, Kesiart stamp and Cosmo Cricket chipboards gather to make this first page rather simple but colorful.

As the papers are very colorful, I wanted to make it a little but clearer by using white cardstock and my whole pages are made out of American Crafts white cardstock.

You can use the same stamp and stamp it (without re-inking it every time) to add depth and texture to your white page...

 

Don't be scared to work on pages without any photos : sometimes words and journalling are just perfect to decorate a page.

Use stamps and your own handwriting to make a unique embellishment!

 
 
 

 
 
 
 

there you go :)

See you next week for a new Inspiration Tuesday project and celebrate Christmas :)

Inspiration Tuesday #19

Christmas is getting closer and closer and it's time for you to dig out all of your Christmas stuff to play with!

For this new Inspiration Tuesday, I wanted to make a layout with several photos and make wishes : so I chose THREE photos for THREE WISHES.

I'm not really into scrapping Christmas stuff, even though I really like all the products coming out at this time of the year, but I don't have any kids yet and it feels like scrapping Christmas without kids is kinda boring, but oh well, I guess I'll scrap this moment of the year way more when I am a mama :)

So why don't you make a layout about you or your kids, or husband, or friends, writing what you wish for them?

So this is what you will need to make this layout :

• Making Memories Christmas collection
• 1 embossed Bazzill white cardstock
• 1 Studio Calico paper
• 3 flash cards by Making Memories
• 1 tag by Me & My BIg Ideas
• 1 Maya Road snowflake
• 1 American Crafts alpha 
• Stickers by Kesiart
• Flowers by Sassafras
• Making Memories felt embellishments
• Elle's Studio December tag

So THREE wishes for me. Only THREE. Well, three I can actually talk about ;)

Feel free to add more photos if you have more wishes, and you can easily make a double page layout too.

I fell in love with those Maya Road snowflakes. They're very thick and so transparent, I could use them everywhere now!

I found those small journalling notes (many different ones in one pack) while I was teaching at Made With Love in Singapore : Creative Imaginations made them I think and I wish I had bought more than one pack!

I gathered a whole bunch of embellishments around my photos in order to attract the eyes of the viewer towards the photos : felt Christmas tree, stickers, needle and flowers.

And I HAD to use those amazing American Crafts glitter alphas : yeah! It's Christmas!

Alright everyone, a new Inspiration Tuesday inspired by Christmas!

There's another project I'm working on for you guys about Christmas, I think you're going to like it, I should post it in 2 weeks! Stay tuned!

And see you on Thursday for a new GIVEAWAY!

Inspiration Tuesday #16

Hey everyone!:)

Today is a new Inspiration Tuesday and I have this cute mini album in store for you guys :) I made it out of an old old book I bought at a flea market where I live in the South of France. It's been one of my most favorite mini albums, which I taught at a {entreARTistes} event.

I chose to use some of my favorite photos of Rome, one of the most beautiful cities I have ever seen. Some of the shots are printed on fabric photo paper, which gives texture to my album.

This is what you'll need to make this album...

• an old book
• October Afternoon Cherry Hill papers
• Hero Arts, Florilèges stamps
• American Crafts embossing powders
  
• Jenni Bowlin chipboard buttons
  
• Jenni Bowlin crepe ribbons
  
• American Crafts Flair
  
• Jenni Bowlin stickers
  
• American Crafts ribbons
  
• American Crafts alphas
  

I simply aged the book cover by sanding it on the floor or on a texture wall : it's way easier and faster than sanding paper! ;)

Then you simply make your pages out of cardboard or white Bazzill papers.

Step #1 : The cover is really easy to decorate : I used two different round punches to create the round embellishment in the middle, then used Jenni Bowlin crepe ribbon to create that beautiful crepe flower. Add an American Crafts flair in the middle and voilà!

 

Step #2 : Each paper has been distressed using an edge distresser, which gives that beautiful aged look.

Here, you can see one of the photos that were printed on fabric. Isn't that door beautiful? It is located on the Roman Forum in Rome...

 

Step #3 : I use both 4x6 photos and smaller ones for my design and it's rather easy and fast to decorate each page as we work on a small surface.

 

 

Step #4 : I made the same embellishment that on my cover, by using this crepe ribbon flower on my page. It gives texture and a vintage look in my album.

 

 

Step #5 : Some of my pages are photo-pages, like the one of the left. You can use your most favorite photos as pages, to give them more importance.

 

 

 

 

Step #6 : I used a brown enveloppe to make a page, in which I added photos. I embossed most of the enveloppe, with green and yellow embossing powders (look how rich and colorful are those Zing powders!).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Step #8 : Make two holes in all of the pages and the cover with a Crop-a-Dile, bind it with rings and TA-DA! you're done!

 

I hope you liked this album :D feel free to email me or comment here if you plan on making this project and if you do, I'd be more than happy to see pictures of your album :D

Take care! And see you next week!

Inspiration Tuesday #14 or #15...whatever, this one is a VIDEO!

hey there!

Today is my first Inspiration Tuesday made with my video camera!

So sorry it's in French only but I'm working on a way to add subtitles but I thought you would understand by SEEING what I do :)

 

 

 

 

 

Supply list (Studio Calico november bazaar addon) :

Cloud stickers (American Crafts); Stamps (Studio Calico, Florilèges); ribbons (no idea).

on PAUSE mode...

See you next week for a new INSPIRATION TUESDAY!

I didn't have enough time time this week to prepare my Inspiration Tuesday project as I'm working on the organization of a BIG {entreARTistes} retreat this weekend :) But I still wanted to show you some layouts that I made using Kesi'art products :)

See you next week!

 

 

 

 

 

Have a great day!

Inspiration Tuesday #12

Hi everyone!

Sorry for being a little bit late today, life has been very busy with the magazine lately and I haven't had a chance to write up my entry for this new Inspiration Tuesday! :)

This week, I was working on a layout with quite a tight schedule, but that doesn't mean I didn't try hard to make a very special layout for you guys! ;p I REALLY wanted, needed to scrapbook the other day when I made this layout and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out :)

No particular technique this week but I have to say that it's all about fun and sharing here! :)

I couldn't resist working with my Studio Calico September kit : this kit is very colorful. I have to admit that I wasn't really attracted when I first saw it on the website, but maaaan when I got my package...I just fell in love with it! The richness of the colors, the boldness of the patterns, the designs are just perfect : just LOVE it! :)

So to get started, you'll need...

• Studio Calico September kit or 3 Bazzill cardstock (one black, one kraft, one green)and one or two patterned papers
  
• black and brown Versafine inks
• the Crop-a-Dile corner punch (as seen on picture below)

 

Step #1 : First of all, you will need to cut one of your cardstock smaller than 12x12 (let's say you'll cut it 11x11 or smaller...) and then cut your second cardstock even smaller than that.

Glue a piece of patterned paper onto your kraft cardstock.

Step #2 : I wanted to find something that separates my kraft cardstock from the printed paper and I couldn't resist using the beautiful yellow ribbon that was in the kit, and that also reminds the yellow butterflies...

 

Step #3 : To keep your design relatively clean, I only used two cream tags that I glued parallel from my printed paper.

 

Step #4 : Use a stamp with brown Versafine ink (I only use this ink when I stamp onto paper because the ink is very thin and has lots of pigments, so you really get the print of the stamp you're using).

 

Step #5 : Here's a little tip! To get shadows with your stamps, simply add some ink on your stamp...(here I used Versafine ink)

 

stamp on surface...

 

...then, without cleaing the stamp or re-inking, stamp again on top of your first stamping image, but a little further down : the remaining ink on the stamp looks like a shadow!
 

Step #6 : Use another stamp (Studio Calico stamp here) with brown Versafine then cut out the design.

 

Step #7 : Use a butterfly punch into patterned paper...
 

Step #8 : Staple the butterflies inside the stamped frames (Studio Calico stamp).

 

TA-DAAAAA!!!! :)

Feel free to get inspired by the design, draw a sketch out of it, use the same color combo and pleaaaase : leave a comment here with a nk to what you've created! :D

 

and here are some close-up pictures...

 

Have a great day & see you on Thursday for a new giveaway! :)

 

INSPIRATION TUESDAY #11

Hello to everyone!

Sorry for posting my new Inspiration Tuesday a little bit late today but I've been experiencing computer problems but everything was fixed this morning by Damien so YAY! I can finally post my IT #11 now! :)

So I couldn't resist making a new mini album this week! and I have to admit that I really like it! :) Another quick, easy, textured, colorful mini album this week :)

I used some left over pieces of October Afternoon papers, those that I used for a recent class I taught in France last weekend.

I also used some Studio Calico FabricStrips that I LOVE LOVE LOVE! Those are printed fabric sheets that you can easily cut and punch and they are adhesive! They came up amazing design with those, you should definitely check their website!

Here's the supply list...

Papers (October Afternoon, Collage Press); alphas (Cosmo Cricket, Kesi'art); Stickers (American Crafts, October Afternoon, Kesi'art); Self-adhesive fabric sheet (Studio Calico); Fabric stickers (7gypsies); Flair (American Crafts); Rubons (Cosmo Cricket); Color Wash & masking tape. WOODEN MINI ALBUM : PAUSE CREATIVE.

ok here we go!

Step #1 : Prepare your mini album. What I love with the Pause Creative wooden mini album is that the wood is very thick and tender at the same time but also the pages inside! The paper just soak the ink up and it's faster to dry! which is super important to me as I'm a very impatient girl! :)

I chose the STEAM blue for my cover here and once dry, you can start decorating the cover.

 

Step #2 : Prepare each and every page with spray ink. I tried to choose different colors for each page, to give more color and have a wider palette to match my papers.

Don't be scared to use the fabric stickers, or stickers, or any punch as a mask to spray on top : it will give texture and design to your white pages.

 

 

Step #3 : Once you have all your pages dry, you can start glueing your photos and papers.

I wanted to show you as well that I made a BIG beginner mistake. You know that you're supposed to CUT the design you want to use on a rubon sheet. Well I was too lazy and just wanted to use TWO letters. Well, one letter got stuck to my picture, just right on my eye! So I had to fix this and decided to punch a star into paper and glue it on top of my rubon mistake. See how a mistake turn into something you're supposed to have made on purpose! :D

 

Step #4: I always finish up my pages with one or two lines of black pencil around the edges.

 

Step #5 : Prepare small clouds into fabric.

 

And here are the photos of the whole mini album!

 

A very simple and esay-to-make mini album as you're working with 4x6 photos :)

Feel free to leave a comment with links to your work so that I can admire your Inspiration Tuesday art! :)

See you on Thursday for new giveaways!

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!

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!

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!