Together Forever / My Mind's Eye

Hey there, friends :)  Happy Wednesday!  I'm catching up today with my latest design for My Mind's Eye.  I was up on the blog a few days ago HERE, hosting the February challenge.  The theme is "Love is all you need" and however you interpret that.

I decided to scrap a somewhat recent photo of me and my husband. When I think of love, I think of him.  March will mark our 14 year anniversary, and May will mark 20 years together!  I've been with this man over half my life.  I really don't know how I'd function without him :)

 I used Cupid's Arrow for this, with a little bit of Lost & Found Record It thrown in.  I started by covering the design on the sunburst paper with gesso.  I wanted to build my photo cluster there, so that's where I began.  I really love the blues, reds and greys mixed together here.  I used so many elements...washi tape (of course!), enamel shapes & dots, chipboard hearts, stickers... I even punched out a few pieces from the 6x6 paper pad.  I recently picked up some drywall tape from Home Depot...you can see it on the left side of my cluster.  That stuff is so cool!

You see the drywall tape a little better here.  It sticks really well and gives the greatest texture.  I also added in my new favorite detail...tangled up thread.

My Cameo cut my title, and I used a Heidi Swapp stencil to trace those arrows.

A few strips of MME decorative tape, layered just underneath the patterned paper...

Pop dots are the greatest, aren't they?  Just raising something up slightly adds so much depth.  And I'm in love with these enamel arrows.

If you'd like to join in for this challenge, go HERE for more details.  If you win, you get to choose an MME collection for your prize!  Definitely worth playing for :)

Thanks for stopping by!

You Make My Heart Sing / My Creative Scrapbook

I hope all of you are doing well today :)  Here's another layout I created using the February Main Kit from My Creative Scrapbook.  It features the Love Notes collection from Crate Paper.  You can't tell in the photo, but Reese is wearing a cute little Valentine shirt.  I make it black and white because there were a lot of colors going on that didn't really match up to my papers. 

I really love the light teal colors in this line, especially matched up with the reddish pink color.  I decided to layer several of the papers behind my photo.  Behind that is a lot of modeling paste over a chevron template, some watercolor paints and some stamping.

I love layering the embellishments.  Paper on top of chipboard on top of paper with some cord smushed in.  Just keep playing with it until it looks right to you.  I don't like for my pages to get too bulky, so I try not to stack things too high.

A close up of some of the paint, stamping and paste.

Here you can see the dimension a little better.  I just love all the texture here!

These pre-made fan pieces are so fun and cute :)

Be sure to check out all the fun kits HERE.  I made four layouts and five cards with my kit, and I still have product left over!  I just never seemed to run out.  So pick one up today if you like what you see :)

Thanks for stopping by, and have a great day!

Cranky & No Pants (whhaaattt?)

Haha!  What a title, right?!  Let me explain.... :) 

This is a (funny) layout that I created for yesterday's Friday Favorite challenge over on the My Scraps & More boards.  We switched things up a bit, so the Saturday Steal is now a Friday challenge.  I lifted a page by the talented Tami (momawhite99), and she scrapped an "oops" moment about her son.  So I decided to lift a not-so-perfect photo of my little Paige. First off, she wasn't wearing any pants (just a diaper), and she was in the middle of throwing a fit.  Why in the world was I taking a picture in the first place?  Because I was trying to get her to smile...she was ticked off for some reason...and being the crazy scrapper I am, I just kept taking pictures...haha.  So I decided to scrap this moment anyway.  Not all moments are those "perfect for scrapbook pages" moments, so why not keep it real, right?

I used the Snippets line from Studio Calico for this one...I purchased it in the My Scraps store a while ago and it's been sitting there waiting for me to open it.  I started with creating the layered border on the left with paper strips and washi tape, and then I started adding in the watercolor.  I always blot it with a paper towel to mute it a little bit.  

Next, I started with my layering.  Once I got all the patterned papers where I wanted them, I adhered them and started tucking in all the tid bits.  

Here's a different angle of the layers, the tape, stamps, and thread I added in.  I'm just a big fan of using lots of different things to make it more interesting.

I used a few circle punched vellum pieces, which I stapled down.  That little thumbs down stamp is from a little set of Heidi Swapp stamps I found at Michael's.

Pop dots are awesome...and I used them to raise up this little piece.  Just adding dimension makes a big difference in the look of your page :)

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  Stay tuned for a fun Valentine Crop coming your way on Friday...it's going to be so much fun!  Lots of challenges and prizes...woo hoo!  AND there are a lot of the new CHA lines headed to the store...so keep a check HERE for them all!

Have a GREAT day!

Silly Bedtime Grins

Friday is here!  Yay!  This has been such an odd week for me.  Coming back from our trip to Vegas (and our delayed flight home) has me still stuck in a time warp.  On top of that, both of my girls have been sick all week...ugh.  It's been a blur, but they have seemed to turn a corner this morning.  They're both eating and drinking and starting to act like themselves.  Nothing worse for a mama than her babies being sick!  And, to top it all off, Wednesday was Paige's 5th birthday...poor baby was too sick to even notice.  We'll be making up for it soon!

On another note, you probably noticed I have a new blog design!  A huge shout out and thank you to the amazing Kristine Davidson!  She did a fabulous job in giving me a new blog makeover.  I loved my little frogs and rainbows, but I felt it was time for a change.  

I'm playing catch up, so today I'm sharing a page I created for My Scraps and More recently.  It was a recipe challenge for Mix it Up Monday.  The rules:  create a layered border on one side of the page, use stamps and tear at least one piece of paper.  I used some lovely Elle's Studio for this...I absolutely love how it turned out!

A mix of things here...three different alphas by three different manufacturers, paper and washi tape layers, and a cute pop-dotted heart :)

I love this effect of stamping...just keep pressing the stamp until all the ink is off.  It creates a fun ombre look.  That pink & white star paper isn't from Elle's...that's a random piece I picked up from Hobby Lobby.  But it matched perfectly, so I added it in.

One thing I love about Elle's is all the little word pieces.  Perfect for tucking in here and there, or adding pop dots.  I also threw in some red thread.

If you haven't, come join our forum!  We have so much fun over there...lots of challenges (daily) and prizes to give away.  We even have a fun Valentine Crop coming next Friday!

Thanks for stopping by!

My Creative Scrapbook February Kits Reveal!

Hello there, friends!  It's the 5th, which means it's time to reveal all the beautiful kits from My Creative Scrapbook.  There are a total of four kits available, and they're all amazing.  I worked with the Main Kit this month, and it's full of the Love Notes collection from Crate Paper, Prima flowers, and Doodlebug alphas.  Be still my heart!  Check it out:

I made four layouts and five cards with this kit, which I'll share throughout the month.  Here is one of my pages...this picture is from 1995.  My husband and I hadn't even been dating for a full year, and this original photo is from a Polaroid camera.  We were so young!  He was 21 and I was 19...omg!  March will be our 14th anniversary, and May will be 20 years total that we've been together.  Where has the time gone?!

Anyway, I just love this heart background paper...all those cute hearts are just adorable!  I added some watercolor around my center design.  I added in several patterned papers and then had fun adding in chipboard hearts, dimensional stickers, frames, tags and stickers.  Lots of little goodies in this kit...

I used a lot of chipboard pieces here...and I layered some and popped up a few.

I couldn't wait to use this old school cassette tape...it was perfect for this older photo of us!  I added a little bit of thread behind it.

Lots of fun stickers in the kit...so perfect for a page about love :)

Another close-up of some of the layers & journaling.

Gorgeous colors...love this aqua mixed in with the reds & pinks...

You can check HERE to see all the available kits,  and you can go HERE to see the beautiful gallery of all the design team's projects.  Tons of inspiring pieces to get you started with your kits :)

Thanks for stopping in today, and have a GREAT Wednesday!

Focus on Brads / My Mind's Eye

Hey there, friends :)  I hope you're hanging in there on this Tuesday...I'm trying to get caught up on life in general.  My husband and I just returned very early yesterday morning from a long weekend trip to Las Vegas!  We had so much fun.  It was our very first trip away together since Reese was born...over 7 years ago.  The timing was never right to get away without our children, but it finally was this time.  I'm still jet lagged...the three-hour time difference has me all messed up.  But it was worth it!

Here's a page that went up on the My Mind's Eye blog while I was away.  It focuses on using up all those decorative brads that you have left over from your collections.  I think this might be one of my favorite pages ever...I just love how it turned out. 

I used papers and embellishments from the Find Your Wings & Fly collection, and all the brads are from several different collections.  I began by creating a circle grid on my Cameo.  I  had planned on using the grid as a square, but I turned it on its tips like a diamond and I loved it so much for.  I then filled in most of the circles with different sized brads.  I also added some watercolor behind the photo and on top of the patterned paper on the right.

So many of the MME collections coordinate so well with each other...I used brads from four different lines.

I love layering...here I have my cardstock base, my Cameo cut, two patterned papers, my photo, chipboard and my title.  Oh, and a piece of washi tape is in there, too.  Layering is such a great technique to create depth and interest.

These are all from the Find Your Wings & Fly Sticker Accessory Sheet and chipboard pieces.  Even the stamps are from this collection.  I pop dotted this big arrow to make it stand out more.

I hope this gives you some ideas on how to use up all those extra brads you have left over!  You don't have to create a grid by any means, but this just shows a neat and fun way to create something different.  I'm hoping it inspires you somehow :)

Thanks for checking in with me today, and have a wonderful Tuesday!

Supplies:Find Your Wings & Fly “Up & Away”: Paper—Rainbow Harlequin, Big Top, Quatrefoil; Decorative Brads; Sticker Accessory Sheet; Chipboard Elements; Decorative Stamps; Decorative Brads from: Chalk Studio, Lost & Found Record It “Heirloom,” Cut & Paste “Flair”; Cut & Paste “Presh” Decorative Tapes; Decorative Tape Sets—Coral & Aqua, Mint & Grey; Other—Silhouette Cameo; cardstock; watercolors, black Sharpie pen, thread.

Creative Scrappers #261

Happy Sunday, friends!  It's time for another sketch reveal at Creative Scrappers...are you as excited as I am?  I'm always so inspired by these sketches, and this one is awesome.  Check it out:

I pulled out the lovely Hello Again collection from Carta Bella.  I challenged myself to use these photos in color instead of black & white.  My goofy goose was digging for lost Cheerios...and I just sat there and took pictures of it...haha.  I was instantly reminded of this specific collection, and I still have most of it left over.  I get so bogged down with buying so many new collections that I barely make time to make multiple layouts from them!

I really love how this turned out.  I like that it's not my typical super bright type of color scheme.  I started with white cardstock and some watercolors.  I just added paint here and there, creating a random splotchy design to match the colors in the papers I wanted to use.  I used a Heidi Swapp template to trace those arrows.  I painted them in and outlined them in black pen.  My circle element in the center is a piece of vellum...it's very lightly inked around the edges.

I just love tearing my washi tape...it just gives a fun and cool effect sometimes.  I love the variations in color from the paints here, too.  I added in some light peachy colored thread.

I cut the title on my Cameo in white cardstock and painted it to match.  I don't have any of the Cameo pens, so I just outline it by hand...kinda messy and wobbly, but I like it that way.

Love these fun flair badges I got from Studio Calico...they matched perfectly.

I hope you join us in the sketch challenge...be sure to upload your projects HERE on the blog.  Can't wait to see what you come up with!

Have a great day!