Party Animal / Simple Stories

Hello again, and Happy Tuesday :)  I have another layout for Simple Stories to share with you today.  I combined the Let's Party collection with Sunshine & Happiness.  I never thought to combine these two until I really looked at the colors.  Although Let's Party is themed for actual parties, I decided to create a layout about my Party Animal of a child...haha :D

She's quite the silly kid as you can see from these photos.  These two collections fit her personality just right.  You can see what she does when I pull out the camera!  I used papers from both collections and punched circles from them.  I cut the circles in half and created these fun banners to string across the page.  When I think of parties, I think of banners, so this was perfect.  The Let's Party collection has some cows in it...and I love the "Let's Party 'til the Cows Come Home" phrase!  So I had to work some of them into the layout, and it fits my title very well :)

I fussy cut the spotted cow, and the red one is chipboard.  I staggered them facing the photo so it looks like they're looking at her. I added some thread and a heart die cut and finished the title using some of the S&H alpha stickers.

This is my favorite part of the whole page...the banners and this amazing glittery chipboard piece!  It nestled perfectly inside my circle banners.  And even though the glitter is flat, it looks so real and dimensional!  I stitched through all of the banners to make them look more realistic.  I did a small bit of watercoloring behind everything just to add some interest to the white background.  It's pretty light so it doesn't compete with the bright & bold colors.

More banners!  These are die cuts and chipboard.  They were the perfect size to layer under my photos. And yes, my daughter has chewed up Cheerios in her mouth...haha!  She doesn't care...she's always in the mood for silliness even with a mouth full of food.... :D
 
I layered one photo on top of the banners.  I didn't want to cover it all up...it was just so pretty!  I added a die cut sun from patterned paper, a brad and a cute smiley face sticker.  I added more pink and yellow with the tangled thread.

This page was a blast to make.  It still makes me smile when I see it.  I highly recommend getting creative and trying to mix and match your collections.  You never know what you might come up with!

Here's my process video if you'd like to check it out...

Thanks for stopping by!

Stretch Your Sketch #4 with Ashley Horton / Cat Conversations

 Hello, and Happy Monday!  Today is the fourth and final installment of Stretch Your Sketch, the fun YouTube series I am doing with Ashley Horton.  This week we are altering the sketch, so that pretty much means you can take whatever you want from the sketch and sort of make it your own.

Here's the sketch.  I decided to use one longer photo and I went with big open hearts instead of circles. 

I used the new Crate Paper Cute Girl collection, a few flair buttons from A Flair For Buttons, and some alphas from Prima & October Afternoon.  I used colors from the Cute Girl papers as inspiration to paint my own hearts on white cardstock.  I cut them on my Cameo in different sizes and arranged them on the background.  I used those same Shimmerz colors and created a big watercolor area behind everything.  My favorite part of this is the stitching on the hearts...I love how it turned out!

I couldn't resist using this adorable cat cut file.  I love the contrast of the pink with the teal and yellow.  I painted all the hearts right on my Cameo cutting mat before peeling them off.  I added a clear acetate die cut to the right of the photo and some tangled thread.

More beautiful colors...I never get tired of these colors!  I added a flair button and a CP puffy sticker.  It's fun to add them right onto the photo when there is some white space on the edges.

Although this isn't a "sunny" layout, I just loved how those cute clouds looked!  And naturally it called for a sunny flair button :)  It was tricky sewing around these hearts...especially the smaller pink one.  You can see where I got a little messy...haha :)

I'm happy with how the title area turned out.  I decided to bring in more of the grey tones from the photo, so I mixed and matched some alphas here.  I also used a cute pink cat die cut and I fussy cut the teal one.  I added a strip of grey striped washi tape as well, which gave me a great space to write my journaling.

This has been such a fun series with Ashley!  I hope you guys have had a great time playing around with the sketch & cut files.  You can see both our videos on our YouTube channels.  Here's mine for a quick look:

And you can see Ashley's video HERE.   You can download the sketch and FREE cut files HERE. Than you so much for playing along with us, and thanks for checking out my blog!  See you soon!

Moments / Bella Blvd

It's the weekend...yay!  I hope you are able to get in some crafty time over the next few days.  Today I wanted to share my latest layout for Bella Blvd.  I was up on the blog last week showing a fun idea for getting out of a creative slump.  I have found that creating a grid design (which doesn't require a lot of thinking) makes it easier to get a page started.  I picked out my photo and the papers I wanted to use, and then I used my Shimmerz Paints to create a 4-part grid in different colors.  With this being done, I don't have to figure out where to put everything.  I can easily divide my page into four small sections and embellish each one.

Here's how my layout turned out.  I used each of the four areas as its own "mini layout."  I used circles and layered them.  I was inspired by the Fresh Market collection, which has a lot of fruit and berries and cute "sweet" sayings.  I tried to spread the color around...for instance, on the pink quadrant, I used papers that were red & orange and use embellishments that were blue and yellow.  On the green quadrant, I used all the other colors besides green.  I like to spread the colors around.  I machine stitched around each circle and added stickers and die cuts.

The best place for my title to go was the dead center.  I used a large Ciao Chipboard piece and painted it with blue acrylic paint.  I added a bunch different colored thread under it to make it stand out a little more, and I used a couple of word and phrase stickers above it.
 
This is such a cute collection..so many "sweet" things to use.  Since that berry paper was really busy, I broke it up with more solid colored embellishments.  The blue heart stands out as does the white circles and yellow flower.  If you place something really busy on top of something else really busy, it would probably get lost.

Here's another quadrant up close.  I worked in some enamel dots on each area, and they are perfect for adding small pops of color.  This area needed something blue, so in comes an enamel dot.

I decided to create an orange for this area, so I cut one on my Cameo and painted it orange.  I like the added detail this gives and continues on with the "sweet" idea.  Again, I added opposing colors with the embellishments. 

Here's one more close-up.  For my photo area, I added pop dots and thread, and I also added a cute "my main squeeze" tab.  This wasn't the best quality photo because it was literally taken in the worst lighting, on the floor of my scraproom, with the light coming from the side....but it was just too cute of a moment to not document.  Sometimes the worst photos have the best memories!

I hope this gives you some tips on getting a layout started when the ideas just aren't flowing for you.  This happens to all of us crafters!

Thanks so much for stopping in, and enjoy your weekend!

Adventure Today / Hip Kit Club

It's Friday!  Woo hoo!  Today I'm sharing another layout I created for Hip Kit Club.  I used the 2016 August Hip Kits, and they are just so fun!  My theme assignment for this was to "supersize" it.  I wanted to cut the large letters in various patterned papers on my Cameo, but it got a virus and I couldn't get it to work for a few days.  So I used some large old letters from my MME stash and traced them like stencils.  I ran them off the page and created a big background title for the design.  Since that was so big and took up the entire page, I went with two smaller photos on both sides of the page.

I alternated using patterned papers in some letters and using the Prima Oil Pastels from the Color Kit to create color shading in the other ones. I machine stitched around each painted letter and then embellished all around the layout.

This was a very different color scheme for me, but I love how it looks.  I really loved using those pastels to create the shading in the letters.  It just took a little bit of color and a little bit of water to blend it.  I used one of the Dear Lizzy Thicker words as a smaller part of the title.  I also used a fussy cut scalloped piece that was black, but I lightened it up using the white pastel.

I used a few die cuts & Project Life cards to layer behind my photo here, and I layered some of the Amy Tangerine Oh Happy Life clear stickers and die cuts.  That cute wood veneer arrow is from the Pink Paislee Take Me Away collection. I finished this area off with some grey tangled thread.

I'm obsessed with how this looks!  The grey pastel looks so good blended with water!  Here I added another heart die cut, more clear stickers and a fussy cut doilie.  I think the machine stitching really gave the letters a nice pop and clean edge.

I'm so happy I decided to mix and match with the patterned papers.  Everything coordinates yet each letter is different.

Here's one more close up of the top area.  I added more clear stickers and another Pink Paislee wood veneer.

Here's my process video for this page.  I think it turned out well considering I improvised without being able to use my Cameo.  I hope you enjoy!

Thanks so much for visiting me today....enjoy your Friday!

Captured / Shimmerz Education Team + NEW colors!

Hey friends!  I'm back again, and I have a layout for Shimmerz to share using the four NEW colors!  If you haven't heard, there are two new VIBEZ and two new SHIMMERZ PAINTS in the store.  They are all in the blue family, and they are all gorgeous!  They are Vibez Cold As Ice, Vibez Snow Way Man, Shimmerz Colder Than Ice & Shimmerz Winter's Mist.  All the blue you see in my layout are these four colors.

I began this layout with plain white cardstock and some white cut files.  I used a fun cut file from The Cut Shoppe (the big loops) and colored them using the new sprays and paints before I even pulled them off my cutting mat.  I peeled them off and arranged them on my cardstock in a vertical layered fashion.  I stitched them down with my sewing machine, and I just love the texture and dimension from this!  I used some random bits and pieces for embellishments...a Project Life card, a few flair buttons, some puffy stickers and a shiny gold Studio Calico word sticker for my title.

Here you can see some of the different shades of these new blues.  The Cold As Ice is more of a soft powder blue.  Snow Way Man has more of an aqua tone to it.  Both are very pretty!

To bring out the color in my daughter's shirt, I added some Creameez Berry Hot.  It matches perfectly, and it looks so pretty mixed with the blues and the green in the PL card that I cut.  I used Cold As Ice again here to create some splatters.

To add more interest to my background, I cut a really big open butterfly from white cardstock.  I used Colder Than Ice to paint it, and you can see that it's a very pale light blue.  If you scrap winter photos, these colors are going to be perfect for it!  I live in Florida, so I really don't scrap winter because we hardly have it....haha :D  These two flair buttons matched perfectly, and I layered some shiny gold thread under there.  Those green splatters are from Inklingz Honey Do List.

I love how these loops curled up!  I painted some Honey Do List under there and added more gold thread.  Sometimes you never even think of how pretty a color scheme will be until you start experimenting!  I'm so glad I scrapped this photo in color...it created such a pretty palette of colors.

Here's one more look at the blues.  I promise you they are even prettier in person!  And you can see here how they aren't just for snow layouts.  And they look awesome with pinks, greens and golds!

Here's my process video showing how this layout came together.  I hope you are inspired and fall in love with these beautiful new colors!

Thanks for stopping by today!  Have a wonderful Monday!

Products Used:

Vibez--Cold As Ice, Snow Way Man

Shimmerz Paints--Colder Than Ice, Winter's Mist

Creameez--Berry Hot

Inklingz--Honey Do List, Good As Gold

Hip Hip Hooray! / My Mind's Eye

Hey there!  I'm back today to share my newest project for My Mind's Eye.  Have you had a chance to play with any of the new lines yet?  This is the Hooray! line, and it's so fun and festive.  It's geared towards birthdays, but I think it has possibilities for other types of layouts as well.  When I saw all the balloons in the Mixed Bag of die cuts & on the Chipboard sheet, I knew I had to scrap these cute pictures of Paige with her balloon.  The colors matched perfectly.  I was inspired to use lots of balloons from the collection, and I even made a few of my own using patterned paper and some of the striped Decorative Tape.

I used some of the beautiful teal Canvas Cardstock as my base and used some Shimmerz to create some darker tones behind the photos and the balloons.  I popped up some of the balloons with pop dots to create dimension.  I used a small circle dot punch and a confetti punch to create lots of small and tiny circles, and I also used some of the new Puffy Stickers and the pink mirrored Acrylic Shapes.  When I think of celebrations and balloons, I think of confetti, and this layout just seemed perfect for it!

For my handmade balloons, I added some shiny gold thread for the strings.  I love how all this fun confetti turned out...all these fun colors really showed up so nicely against the teal background.

More balloons and confetti!  The Decorative Tape was so easy to use to make the balloons.  I just used a piece of white packaging from some stickers and stuck a few strips of tape down and then cut the balloon shape out of it.

 I combined some stickers, chipboard and tape here to make this little title area cluster.  Since I had so much going on above the photos, I didn't want to create a huge title.  It's obvious what this page is about, so I didn't feel like I needed a striking title.  These fun little phrases and words say it all.  I machine stitched through the chipboard with gold thread and added more tangled thread in blue and yellow.

I went simple under the photos and just added this fun Hooray banner sticker.  It brought together all the colors from up top and added some fun interest to this part of the page.

I hope this gives you some fun ideas for your next birthday or fun celebration layout!  Balloons and confetti are an easy design element, and they're easy to place down because they can just go anywhere.  Balloons and confetti are wild and carefree, so it's fun to place them on a layout in random places!

Thanks for stopping by, and have a great day!

Stretch Your Sketch #3 with Ashley Horton / Ridiculously Cute

Happy Monday, friends!  It's Week 3 of the Stretch Your Sketch series on YouTube with me and Ashley Horton, and today we are resizing the sketch.  You can find my video down below and Ashley's video HERE.

Here's my layout for this week.  I decided to resize the entire sketch and move it to the lower left corner.  I pulled out some older goodies for this...Echo Park Capture Life.  I used the heart circle from the cut file set and cut them with different papers in different sizes.  I wound up cutting the outer circle off to make them even smaller.  I used the circles I cut off as layers behind the photo as well and as a fun circle cluster in the upper right corner.  I used several Shimmerz paints and sprays to create the watercolor look behind the layers.

Here you can see lots of the details.  I used the hearts from the centers of the cut files as embellishments, and I machine stitched through them using a straight and zig zag stitch.  I added lots of tangled thread as well as some pink sequins.  I used a quote sticker from a Tim Holtz sticker book right above the journaling.

I love all of these teals, pinks and oranges together...such a pretty and soft color combination.  I originally used gold glitter Thickers at the bottom for the word "cute," but I changed them in the end with these orange October Afternoon alphas.  They just coordinated better, I think.

Circles are so fun to layer!  And if you see the sketch, there are lots of places for small embellishments, like hearts, stars & arrows.  I stuck with hearts for this one.  And you don't HAVE to place everything exactly where it is in the sketch.  It's just for inspiration, and you can move things where you think they fit best.

This cluster wasn't included in the sketch, but since I resized it smaller, I felt like the upper right area needed something.  I stuck with the circle theme and added this fun sticker from the Echo Park sticker sheet.  I added foam under it and lots of tangled thread.  I used more open circles here and I punched some smaller hearts from patterned papers.

Here's my process video...I hope you enjoy and get some fun ideas!

Thanks so much for joining me today...have a great week!  And don't forget to tag me and Ashley on social media if you play along with the sketch or cut files.  We'd LOVE to see what you create! You can download the sketch and the FREE cut file HERE.

Simples Stories / 40 is Kind of a Big Deal

Hey there, and Happy Weekend! I'm just popping in today to share one of newest layouts for Simple Stories.  I used the Let’s Party collection for this one, and it was perfect for documenting this photo from my 40th birthday back in February. The colors are so vibrant, and the embellishments made it so easy to create this fun design. I wanted to accentuate the 40 since that’s a milestone birthday. I cut it really large on the HB2U patterned paper and then used a lot of the 6x6 Paper Pad papers to back it. I cut them into strips and adhered them diagonally. I used some white gesso to smudge over a lot of that area so I could add some watercolors. I used the packaging technique to get most of that color on. Once it was all dry, I machine stitched around the numbers for added detail and texture. I fussy cut “Big Deal” from the Hip Hip Hooray paper, and it made the best title. I have to say my favorite thing about this collection is all the fun banners! I used several on this page.

Here’s a close up of the fussy cut letters. I love stitching through titles…mainly to make sure they don’t move, but also for added interest. I used a few papers behind my photo as well as one of the larger chipboard frames. Sometimes it’s fun to use the frames as a layer instead of an actual frame. I love the dimension this created.

Here’s another smaller frame I used as a layering piece. I chose this one because of the bright yellow. I added some tangled thread, a few clear stickers and that amazing HAPPY sticker banner. I love the curve of it, and it makes it so festive! Banners make everything so fun. You can also see where I smudged the gesso. It gives everything a bit of a faded look without completely blending it away.

I used lots of die cuts from the Bits & Pieces pack here. I love these little flags, and I added pop dots under them to create some depth. I did the same with the Birthday die cut. Those faux glitter stars were the perfect embellishment for this part of the layout.

More banners! These are from the Bits & Pieces and Snap Pack. I added cute Enamel Dots to the ends so it looks like they’re attached to something. You can see the machine stitching up close here as well. I added another glitter star die cut and a Brad on top of the photo. This was so fun to put together!

Here's my process video for this page.  I hope you enjoy it and get some fun ideas for your next birthday layout!

Thanks for stopping in and for all your support!  Have a wonderful weekend!