Well, it's that time of year again... Core'dinations is holding their design team call. I have been extremely fortunate the past five years to be a part of this amazing team, this amazing product, these amazing opportunities for growth and creativity. My life has changed drastically since first applying to be on the team (two little girls, moving on from my job at Colorful Creations, transitioning to stay-at-home-mom, developing a little sewing and crochet business), but my affection for the quality and versatile cardstock has stayed the same.
Sanding, sanding, sanding... embossing, embossing, embossing! I truly adore the depth and texture that this simple step gives to all of my paper creations.
To create the title, I trimmed a piece of Pink Paislee Core Impressions to 3/4" wide and folded it into a banner shape and adhered alphabet stickers. For the pennant banner, I used a variety of embossing folders to create texture on my color core cardstock before sanding to reveal the lighter color. 1 x 2" strips were cut and adhered using foam tape over a piece of baker's twine before adding alphabet stickers. Easy peasy!
The next layout features one of my very favorite photos of my oldest daughter when she was only about 12 months old...
I scored a border around the perimeter of the page by flipping the "right" side of the paper over and using a stylus scor-pal to create a line 1/4 in from the edge of the page. Flip your paper over and lightly sand... voila! Instant frame! I cut a circular piece of whitewash cardstock and mounted it to the center of the page, followed by a variety of punched hearts that I lightly adhered then machine stitched to the page (adding TONS of detail without too much bulk).
Another neat touch is adding small embossed hearts to the large heart using the same color cardstock. It gives the appearance of a double embossed design... how cool is that??
Adding sanded strips of whitewash as journaling lines were the perfect finishing touches for this fun and colorful page.
My final submissions are two of my favorite layouts from last year:
Creating rolled paper flowers is by far one of my favorite way to add tons of texture and interest to my pages. Rather than spend money on premade embellishments, I can easily create my own using paper that perfectly matches my layout.
And how about stamping?? To create the large flower at the top corner of the photo, I stamped the same image onto plain whitewash, embossed whitewash, and Gemstones cardstock then cut the petal shapes from each piece to layer together and create a gorgeous embellishment for my page. Add a few pearls to the center of the flower, and you couldn't ask for more detail. See those flowers with the button centers? They were made using the reverse side of the whitewash cardstock! Perfectly coordinated and still full of embossed texture!
I have so enjoyed my time as a design team member, and am thankful for the generosity, creativity, and support of the Core'dinations team. I wish my fellow applicants the best of luck, and can't wait to see who will make the team!