Hello Friend / Hip Kit Club

Hello again!  I'm back today to share another layout for Hip Kit Club, and this is my second project using the 2016 September Hip Kits.  I used a lot of the Maggie Holmes Gather collection for this along with some bits & pieces from Simple Stories Posh & Pinkfresh Studio Indigo Hills.  I also used the two Shimmerz Paints & the Echo Park stencil from the Color Kit to create my background.

This is an unusual color scheme for me, so at first it was a challenge.  I honestly had never thought about combining royal blue, mint and light coral together.  But something about this collection really made it look pretty, so I went with it.  And I have to say I love how it turned out.  These photos helped because of my daughter's outfit.  I wanted to bring out more of the dark blues, so it worked nicely.  I was heavily inspired by the beautiful frame patterned paper, which I cut up to create my background design.

I used modeling paste through the stencil here, and it created such wonderful texture.  I used both the Anchors Away & Great Fruit Shimmerz for my background, and I used the packaging technique as well as a brush.  I used some patterned paper & tissue paper behind my photos for layers & texture and added some light blue tangled thread for some subtle interest.

I machine stitched through a lot of the frames using gold thread.  I mixed the Gather gold scripty alphas with the bold Pinkfresh Studio Indigo Hills dark blue alphas for my title.  This cluster here is a mix of Simple Stories die cuts, Crate Paper & Pinkfresh chipboard, and a Crate paper wood button. 

I added more machine stitching over here on the left side...I just love the close zig zag stitch.  It really adds a nice shine with the pretty gold!  Here you can see the splatters I created with the Shimmerz, and I also added some Heidi Swapp Gold Color Shine...as always, it's gorgeous and sparkly!

That adorable camera is from Simple Stories, and I added pop dots under it.  I have to say, I was worried about these colors, but seeing it all together is really pretty.  Never underestimate Kimberly's ability to put together some gorgeous kits that always seem to work so nicely!

Here's my process video for this page where you can see exactly how this layout came together.  I hope it gives you some inspiration!

Thanks for visiting me, and have a wonderful day!

Using Older Supplies / Hello You Are My Fave

Hey, friends!  I'm back today to share another layout in my Using Older Supplies series I'm doing on my YouTube channel.  For this one, I used some older Elle's Studio collections as well as one of my older EK Success punches.  I wanted to create a Cameo cut look without using it, so the punch did the job.  I used all ES papers with a few Simple Stories & American Crafts goodies thrown in.

I used white gesso, Prima Oil Pastels, gelatos & Shimmerz to create the background.  I did a lot of smudging with my fingers to create that faded look, and I added splatters.  The punch I used is actually a border punch.  I punched several patterned papers and then cut each individual shape out so I could scatter them around the page.  I stitched through some of them and then worked on adding embellishments here and there.

The Elle's Studio collections I used were Serendipity, Cameron & Penelope.  I had so much stored away that I forgot I had so much left!  I love these gorgeous colors, and some of the embellishments from the original Simple Stories Carpe Diem and Dear Lizzy Yes Please matched so well.  I also used a few ES stamps and one from Technique Tuesday.

I did lots of machine stitching in blue around the photo to create a fun textured border.  I also used some of the ES cards and frames as layers here.  I even added a random Dear Lizzy sticker as part of the layers here as well.  I just want to use this stuff up, and I figure if I haven't a frame as an actual frame in a few years, I'm probably not going to....so just use it as a layering piece.  That "inspired" arrow is from Simple Stories.

I combined some ES, SS and DL here along with a flair button from A Flair For Buttons.  Those adorable sequins are new...they are from SpiegelMom Scraps, and they're amazing!  I did some fun zig zag stitching here as well.

Here's one last close-up.  This was the perfect spot for my journaling.  I wound up adding another phrase die cut down here along with some sequins & more stitching.

Here's the process video for this page.  I hope this gives you some fun ideas to try with your punches!

Thanks so much for stopping by, and have a great day!

Your Wings Already Exist / Bella Blvd + NEW Watercolors!

Happy Tuesday, friends!  I hope you had a great weekend.  Today I'm back to share my newest layout & process video for Bella Blvd.  I'm really enjoying being a Video Contributor, and I had the pleasure of playing with the new Illustrated Faith Watercolors for this project.  These are Shanna's Favorites, and I think they're my favorites, too :)

I created a little test sheet of all the watercolor pans in the set.  It also comes with a brush.  You know I love bright colors, and these are all gorgeous!

I used the new Addison collection for this page, and I was immediately inspired by the beautiful feather elements.  There is a whole sheet of gorgeous multi-colored feathers, and I decided to create my own using the pink, blue and yellow color scheme.  I used some feather cut files from the Silhouette Store & The Cut Shoppe and cut them on white cardstock.  I used the new watercolors to paint them while still on my cutting mat.  I left the ones with punched out pieces white and then backed some of them with patterned papers from the 6x8 Paper Pad.  I really love how they all look as a background design.

I love the mix of royal blue with the bright pink and golden yellow.  The watercolors matched up beautifully!  I did a lot of layering with the feathers and did a little machine stitching through some of them.  I used a few die cuts from the Paper Pieces pack, like this awesome banner.  I also used a few of the new Illustrated Faith Icon stamps and some older Enamel Hearts.

Look at all these colors...yum!  I left some of the open spots on the feathers open, and I love how that looks.  That fun blue heart with white dots is a washi sticker.  These new collections have a Washi Sticker booklet that has shapes and strips.

I found this amazing quote on Pinterest.  It fit my photo and the theme of this page so well.  I combined some of the Tiny Text alphas with some of the coordinating Fundamentals Cardstock Stickers from this collection.  I printed the rest on my computer in a typewriter font.  That yellow & white striped piece under my photo is one of the washi sticker strips.  I just adhered it to some white cardstock and cut it out and layered it in.

I love how these feathers curl up at the ends!  They did this when they dried, and it was perfect.  You can see on my background even more of the watercolor.  I used the packaging technique a little bit with all three colors and then added some splatters.  I just wanted some subtle color peeking out from behind everything.  And, of course, I had to add some tangled thread :)

I really love my photo of my daughter.  Her shirt has horses on it, but the colors match this collection perfectly.  And I love this quote because it fits her so well.  I used one of the newest embellishments to the Bella lines, and that is the Tabbies.  This "so cute" one is.....cute (haha) and they fit so well as layers on your photo.  I also added more thread and more Enamel Hearts.

Here's my process video for this....I hope you enjoy!  You can go HERE to view the Bella Blvd YouTube channel and see more from other CT members and more videos about the collections and products.

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Have a wonderful day!

Love Silly Smiles / Hip Kit Club

Happy Thursday, friends!  I'm back today to share my first Hip Kit Club layout using the 2016 September Hip Kits.  I know I sound like a broken record, but the kits just keep getting more and more beautiful every month.  This month is no exception.  They are full of the new Maggie Holmes Gather, Simple Stories Posh, Pinkfresh Studio Indigo Hills, and beautiful Shimmerz. 

My theme for this day and layout was "Clever with Stickers," so I used a ton of the Maggie Holmes chipboard stickers from the Main Kit & Embellishment Kit.  I first began with the soft pink cardstock from the Cardstock Kit.  I combined the Great Fruit Creameez from the Color Kit with some of the Prima Oil Pastels (from last month's Color Kit).  I also added some other pink and gold sprays from my stash.  I used all of the chipboard frames to create my background design.  I machine stitched through them and then created small layered clusters on them using my phtotos, paper and fussy cut flowers.  Those big flowers are so pretty, and I just had to cut a few of them out.

Chipboard creates amazing dimension.  You automatically get some height and texture, especially when there is gold glitter involved :)  I worked my title here in between the framed area and added a few enamel dots and shiny gold phrase stickers.  I tried to be subtle with the mixed media work...I just wanted hints of that coral and pink color here and there.

I can't get over how pretty these pinks are, and they look even prettier mixed with these mint roses.  I added some pink tangled thread for added color and texture.  I added a yellow Project Life card behind my photo just to add a tiny amount of yellow since there is some yellow in the leaves.

More chipboard here...this is all from Maggie Holmes Gather.  The way all of the pieces came together created the perfect little area for my journaling.  I LOVE that gold glitter heart!

Here's another angle looking at all the dimension.  I did wind up adding some foam adhesive under my photos to keep them as level as possible since they were on top of the frames.  I did add glue under all the chipboard to ensure they didn't pop up off the paper.

Here's one more close-up.  I just adore these flowers!  Believe it or not, this layout actually came together pretty fast (well, fast for me) once I had the frames down.  From there, it was just placing things around them or inside them.

Here's my process video for this page...I hope you enjoy!  And I hope you are enjoying your September Hip Kits by now.  They are truly gorgeous!

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Have a wonderful day!

Good Vibes / Shimmerz Education Team

Hey there, friends!  I'm back with a fun and bright layout for the Shimmerz Education Team using LOTS of Shimmerz Paints!  I decided to put to use a few of the techniques I recently featured in Shimmerz Shortz videos HERE and HERE.  The first one I did on this page was using Shimmerz Sprays on transparency film.  I pulled out several colors (all listed below) of Coloringz, Vibez and Spritz and sprayed them a few at a time onto the transparency.  I used my heat gun to lightly blow the liquid around as the colors blended together and ran in different directions.  It created a really pretty "map" effect.  As those colors dried, I came in with even more colors.  I kept going until I had all the colors I wanted.  Once it was really dry, I used a small square punch to create all those little squares.

Here's a close up of how pretty this really is!  Since the liquid can't soak through the transparency like it does with paper, it pools up or runs.  When the heat gun is added, it pushes the liquid around or fans it out.  The sprays create the coolest shapes, and when small pieces are punched apart like this, it just looks gorgeous.  Here, I have Coloringz Pink Stilettos, Pretty in Pink, & No Yoking, Vibez in Jeni B Bleu & Sunset Strip, & Spritz Four Leaf Clover.

The Simple Stories Sunshine & Happiness collection matched well with all of these pretty colors, so I pulled this cute sunshine die cut and these "Good Vibes" stickers for my title.  I used my ATG gun to stick down all those squares (which you can't even see) and then machine stitched through all the rows.

I used the white space to the left of the square grid to write my journaling.  That created just enough space for these awesome chipboard letters.  I also did some splattering with some of the same colors...Vibez Sweetheart, Jeni B Bleu and No Yoking.

I pulled out a flair button from A Flair For Buttons and added some thread under it.  I'm still in awe at how pretty these squares are...so gorgeous!

I added a few scrap pieces of paper & an old Elle's Studio frame under my photo for layers as well as some washi tape from my stash.  I used another recent Shimmerz Shortz technique here...using sprays instead of plain water to smudge gelatos.  I used a blue gelato here and added a bit of Jeni B Bleu to my finger to smudge it.  It just adds a little more depth to the color than just using plain water.  But it depends on if you're going for a specific color.

Another shot of the squares...I can't stop admiring these pretty colors!  I used a few Simple Stories brads on the page here and there as well.

One last photo of the bottom area here...I added more torn washi tape, another brad and a cute sunglass sticker just to reiterate the summer theme :)

Here's my process video for this layout...you have to check out how the transparency works with the Shimmerz products!

I hope you give this a try.  It's super fun, and you can see the result is amazing!  Have a great day, and thanks for stopping by!

Products Used: 

Coloringz--Heidi Ho Blue, Well Blue Me Down, Pretty in Pink, Pink Stilettos, No Yoking

Vibez--Snow Way Man, Sunset Strip, Jeni B Bleu, Glorious Day, Sweetheart

Spritz--4 Leaf Clover

She's Fab / Simple Stories

Happy Monday, friends!  Today is a Teacher Work Day for my girls, so they have a 3-day weekend going on over here.  At least that means things are less rushed for me...yay!  Today I wanted to share my second monthly layout for Simple Stories.  Again, I used the beautiful The Reset Girl collection.  I was immediately inspired by this gorgeous & colorful triangle/square patterned paper.  The whole sheet is like that, and I felt like I needed to cut those squares up and form a shape.  Naturally, I went with a heart :)  Since the squares had a lot of chocolate brown mixed in, I went with a brown patterned paper background.  That's pretty different for me, but I love how those colors pop right off of it.  I used this photo of Reese because she's wearing a brown shirt (and showing off her gums...haha) and the colors just went with it.  I didn't want a black & white photo for this, so I was able to pull the brown out of the photo with these papers.

Since there is a lot of pattern & color going on, I was careful about what else I chose to add to the layout.  I fussy cut these FAB letters from a patterned paper and added some of those circle alphas to create my title.  I did add a few tangled thread spots, a few stickers and a few clear stickers.

I did a minimal amount of mixed media on this page because I felt like it didn't need a whole lot.  Under my photo, I smudged some white gesso and added a bit of blue Shimmerz just to add a bit of messy color under there and to separate the photo from the background a bit more.  I also layered some papers and other bits under the photo as well as that fussy cut flower cluster.

Here you can see the gesso and blue Shimmerz just peeking out from the top of the picture.  I love how the clear stickers look on the squares...and they're brown!  Too perfect.  I flipped up the edges of some of the squares for some dimension, and you can see where I used gold and pink thread to machine stitch around the entire heart.

I decided to punch a few large hearts from patterned papers to form another cluster in the top area.  These papers are more of a solid, so they stood out and didn't make the layout "busier."  I stitched around those as well and added even more thread and clear stickers.

I hope this gives you some ideas on what you can do with some of those awesome yet busy patterned papers.  Cut them up or use them in a fun way like this...I love how this turned out, and it was pretty easy to do.

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Make sure to check out all the new Simple Stories releases if you haven't already.  They're all amazing!

I Thank My Lucky Stars For You / Bella Blvd

It's Friday....YAY!  I hope you have had a great week!  Today I'm sharing my newest layout for Bella Blvd.  I had a blast creating with the new Oh My Stars collection!  It's full of so many fun colors and patterns.  I love bold and brights mixed with black, so this is right up my alley!  I decided to play on the star theme for this, so I created a bunch of fun stars using all the solids & star patterned papers from the 6x8 Paper Pad.  I used some of that awesome black & white stripe down at the bottom with a few border strips above it.  That little colorful scallop is from one of the washi tapes!  I did a little bit of mixed media work behind the photo using white gesso, some Prima Oil Pastels & some Shimmerz Paints.

I scattered all those fun stars in the upper section of my paper.  I love all the mix of sizes and colors and how they overlap.  I did a bit of machine stitching through the solid stars.  I say this a lot, but I love mixing and matching fonts for my titles.  I used some of the Tiny Text alphas, the Homespun alphas, a die cut and a cut from my Cameo.

Layering pieces under the photo is such a great way to create depth.  And if you lift your photo up a little bit, it looks even better.  You can see how the white gesso faded out a bit of the color, but it also made my paints and pastels go on so smoothly.  The "YOU" in my title is from the die cut package.

Here you can see how the mixed media looks up close.  I just can't get enough of this!  I did a bit of black machine stitching as well and added my favorite thing...tangled thread :)

Okay, here's something brand new with these Bella collections...these fun Designer Clips!  They are perfect for sliding right on to your photo.  I layered a few stickers over it.  I also added one of the new Tabbies...I love all these new embellishments!

Here's one more look at the bottom half of the page...you can see how the dimension really brings life to the page.

I hope you check out this awesome Oh My Stars collection...it's perfect for those every day photos!

Have a great weekend!

Happy Hairnet Adventure / Hip Kit Club + Exciting News!!

Hello again!  I'm back today to share my newest layout for Hip Kit Club using the 2016 August Hip Kits, and to share that I will be continuing on with the Design Team for the next term!  Woo Hoo!  Today was the big announcement of the new team, and I'm so excited and honored to stay on!  This is an AMAZING team of ladies right here...seriously!  I can't wait to for them to all start creating in October!

Here's my last project using the August Kits.  I was in the mood to layer and just have some fun, so that's what I did :)  First of all, I chose this photo because of the awesome colors in it.  They matched these papers & embellishments so well.  Also, it's one of my favorite photos because of the memory.  I went on a field trip with my daughter's summer camp last year to Olive Garden.  We got to take a kitchen tour before they opened, so we had to wear hair nets.  Clearly, Reese was not thrilled about that...haha!  The look on her face is priceless :)

I used the Prima Oil Pastels on my background and then layered one of Kim Watson's cut files (yeah yeah yeah) over it.  I cut it on a lined mint patterned paper from the kit and then created a long and big title combining die cuts, wood veneer Thickers and some patterned paper.  The Amy Tangerine Oh Happy Life collection was perfect for this, and I love all the little clear stickers!  There are a lot of fun sarcastic ones that matched this so nicely.

Mixing and matching titles is so fun!  The "happy" is a die cut from the Amy Tan ephemera, the wood veneer alphas are Thickers, and I tore "adventure" from one of the Amy Tan patterned papers and stitched through it.  I love the different fonts and colors!  I added "Not So" at the top using some of the clear stickers.

LOVE this texture here!  I used my finger to smudge the oil pastels.  It's so neat how you can see the awesome texture of the cardstock.  I also added some splatters in matching colors.  I threw in some thread and even more clear stickers, like that cute camera.  I added a red enamel dot to the center.

Gosh, I just love these colors.  Mixing and blending those oil pastels is so fun because you get some really beautiful shades.  I love the contrast of the cut file and the pops of black.  I fussy cut around "loving it" and used it as a modified frame for my photo.

Aren't these stickers the best?  Haha!  They totally fit this photo.  I layered them herein a cluster, and I love that they're each in a different color.

I left a bunch of blank space to the right of the photo so I could tell the story.  I added in more clear stickers and thread and that wrapped it all up.

Here's my process video for this page.  I hope you enjoy it!

Thanks so much for stopping by, and keep an eye out for the new Design Team's work coming up soon!!  Also, the October Hip Kits will be revealed later today....YAY!