Monday, February 29, 2016

You / Bella Blvd Guest Designer

Hey there, and Happy Monday!  I'm back today with another layout that I created for my Guest Design spot over at Bella Blvd last week.  I had so much fun playing with a few of their new collections, and I used the Cute Baby Boy line for this page.  If you follow me, then you know I have two little girls.  I challenged myself to create a girly page using all these fun boy goodies!

I hand cut and punched a bunch of hearts from different patterned papers and messily stitched them down the center.  I wanted them to have dimension...like they were lightly laying on the layout in random places.  I added some white gesso and blue spray ink to the background to add some "messy" to the page.  I tucked my three pictures in around the edges of the hearts and then added a few more to the right side.


I added some fun texture and detail with my sewing machine here as well as some green tangled thread.  I adore these fun blues, greens and oranges together!  I used a date stamp from my stash on that cute label and added it to the side of the middle picture.


I love how these hearts turned out!  I know they'll flatten out once I put the layout into an album, but they're not going anywhere since I stitched them down.  Creating dimension and depth is so fun!


I used this fun die cut "you" word as my title...it was too perfect not to!


I had so much fun playing with these boy goodies...they really are versatile, though.  Sometimes it's fun to get out of your comfort zone.  Some of my favorite pages are from moments like this!  So challenge yourself!

Have a great day, and thanks for stopping by!  I'll be back later this week to share my third layout for Bella :)

Saturday, February 27, 2016

Loterie Farms / Simple Stories

Hello again, friends!  I just realized that I never announced here on my blog that I was asked to be a part of the 2016 Simple Stories Creative Team!  I know I posted it on my Instagram, but I just totally spaced and didn't post it here.  I'm very honored and excited to be on this year's team, and I was up on the Simple Stories Blog a few days ago with my first two layouts.

I'm sharing one of them here today, and I used the You Are Here collection.  My husband and I took a little vacation to St. Maarten in between Christmas and New Year's, and one day we went to Loterie Farms.  It's a gorgeous wooded and mountainous area that you can hike and climb and take part in obstacle courses with  high wires and zip lines.  It was so much fun!

I wanted to focus on all the leaves going on in the photo, so I found the perfect leaf cut file from Just Nick.  I used inks and gelatos on the background to add more of that pretty turquoise color in the embellishments.  I adhered the leaf cut file right on top of that and then added my layers and embellishments on top of that.  I used a few flower die cuts and stickers...I wanted to bring out the tropical feel of the photo and memory.  That cute palm tree die cut was perfect, too.



I just love this collection!  It's so perfect for travel photos, and not just tropical vacations.  I added a fun adhesive brad here and some tangled thread.  I used a few pieces of paper from the 6x6 Paper Pad.


More layers and flowers!  I added my title (from the sticker sheet alphas) on top of the leaf die cut and ran it through my sewing machine.


Here's a better look at the title area.  I love that Simple Stories always has a lot of sentiment and phrase stickers...they are perfect for adding touches to small areas on your pages.


One more close-up of the die cut...I really love how it looks cut on this beautiful green patterned paper, and I love that it's so open for the background to show through.  You could also take a different approach with this and back the leaves with other patterned papers...that would look awesome!


Thanks so much for visiting my blog today...see you soon with more projects!

Friday, February 26, 2016

Your Feet Should Be Dirty / The Cut Shoppe

Hey, friends!  It's Friday AND a teacher work day, so hooray for a day of not getting up early!  Woo hoo!!  Today I'm sharing a fun layout for The Cut Shoppe made only with the awesome Write On Alpha Cut File.  I love these letters, and they look amazing all put together to form a quote.


I'm a huge Paige Evans fan, and I've seen her create layouts like this where lots of letters are hand cut to form words or a quote.  I decided to let my Cameo do the cutting, and I found this awesome quote on Pinterest.  It did take a while to choose my papers and get everything cut, but once it was done, the layout pretty much put itself together.

I used a light teal cardstock as my base, and I went over the majority of it with white gesso first.  Once that was dry, I used some of my Shimmerz and Heidi Swapp spray inks to create a watercolor effect.  Then I simply arranged all those letters, glued them down and stitched through them.  I only had one spot for my photo to go, so it was easy to put it together.


Swoon at these colors!  So yummy!  I used a variety of Crate Paper and American Crafts papers for this.  The little heart stickers are from Simple Stories.


I used a Crate Paper chipboard arrow here and a clear one from an Amy Tan sticker sheet.  I didn't want to add to many embellishments since the quote is busy in itself.


I did add a bit of bright pink tangled thread and some cork & wood veneer hearts around the photo and my journaling fit right under it.


One last photo just because of the gorgeous colors and patterns!  I highly recommend this alpha set, especially for a fun and unique page like this.


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



Thanks for stopping by, and have a great day!

Thursday, February 25, 2016

Hey Kitty / Hip Kit Club

Hello again...I'm back!  I have another layout to share for the Hip Kit Club using the 2016 February Hip Kits!  I can't get enough of them...as always, they are stunning.  I used Kim Watson's hexagon cut file as the basis of my design. I shrunk it down and cut a few of them.  I used one of my favorite techniques and backed lots of the open spaces of the cut file with patterned papers and Project Life Cards.  I also used a hexagon punch to create more shapes to go around the larger cut files.

I used white gesso on top of the smaller hexagons and background before adding spray inks and gelato.  I also machine stitched around the cut files and then added stickers and tangled thread around the layout.

I couldn't resist scrapping these cute picture of Paige playing with the cat.  She used to love trying to catch and squeeze his tail...haha. 


So much detail going on here...I stitched through those blue circle Thickers, which I love!  The color is so pretty.  I used some of the Amy Tan and Dear Lizzy stickers here as well as one of the clear Maggie Holmes stickers.  I love how the mixed media looks here...it blended so nicely on top of the gesso.


I need to use my hexagon punch more!  I love how they look with their sides all matched up...like a honeycomb.  I added some pop dots under the yellow & white arrow for dimension and used one of the Shimelle chipboard pieces, a black heart Thicker and two more stickers from Amy and Lizzy :)


Tangled thread...one of my faves!  I wanted a pop of pink in this spot, so the thread did the trick.


Aren't these Thickers beautiful?  That bright pink and gold striped piece is actually the washi tape from one of last month's kit.  I stuck it on some white cardstock and then cut it out just like I would patterned paper.


Here's my process video if you'd like to see how this page came together.


Thanks so much for stopping by! Happy Thursday!

Wednesday, February 24, 2016

Cheers! / My Mind's Eye

It's Wednesday!  I hope you are all doing well in Scrapbook Land.  I have another layout to share today for My Mind's Eye.  This is my first layout using the gorgeous On Trend 2 collection, and it is simply spectacular!  This photo of my friend and me at a bridal shower was perfect for this collection...the colors and embellishments just remind me of something tropical.  In this case, our delicious tropical drinks!

I used a lot of the rub-ons here, and I jazzed up the area around them and the photos with some gold texture paste and a lined stencil. I didn't do a lot of mixed media work...just a bit of green watercolor around the edges of the photos.  I layered in a few of the 6x6 patterned papers, and that adorable flamingo is one of the 3x4 Journal cards.  I pulled a few pieces from the Mixed Bag of die cuts as well.


These colors are so rich!  And they look so beautiful mixed with gold.  I used more of the rub-ons here and combined them with some of the cute alpha stickers and a chipboard scripty word.


Look how smooth these rub-ons are...they went on like butter.  I had to restrain myself from just using up the whole pack...they are addicting!  I used some pop dots under that cute pineapple for some dimension.


One more close-up of the stitching and the top rub-ons...this collection really makes it easy to put a page together!  Everything looks gorgeous together!


I hope this inspires you to create something fun and bright with On Trend 2...it really is an amazing collection.

Thanks for stopping by, and have a great day!

Tuesday, February 23, 2016

Bikini Mowing / Shimmerz Aqua Huez

Hey, friends!  I'm so excited to share my newest Shimmerz layout with you today because it features the brand new Aqua Huez! They are gorgeous watercolor paints without the shimmer.  I decided to create lots of painted circles, so I began with some white cardstock, my Aqua Huez, my water brush and a lined stencil.  I painted through the stencil to create a page full of different colored stripes.  Then I took a few different sized circle punches and punched out several circles.  Once I had them placed where I wanted them, the rest of the layout fell into place pretty easily.


These colors are so pretty!  You can control the intensity of them depending on how much water you add to the containers and how long you let it sit.  I wanted a lighter look, so I just used a drop of water from the water brush to get a little bit of paint on the tip.  I used papers and embellishments from the new Dear Lizzy and Amy Tan collections.  The flowers are rub-ons.


These bright colors remind me of Spring so much!  I fussy cut this yellow piece from patterned paper and added another rub-on and a flair button.  I also machine stitched through all the circles.  This punch technique is a great way to do mixed media if you want to try it but still want a "clean" look on your layout.  Putting it together is messy, but the punched shapes make it "neat" again.


I used some Thickers for my title...Bikini Mowing...haha!  My daughter looked so adorable pushing her little pink mower around the patio in her little swim suit :D


Here's one last close up of the right side of the layout.  Another flair button and some tangled thread.  I also used my water brush to paint some blue color around the layers.


Here's my process video...you can see how this layout was put together from start to finish! I hope you enjoy this technique as much as I did...it's really fun (and easy)!


You can see ALL the new paints HERE.  Thanks so much for stopping by, and have a great day!

Products Used: 
Aqua Huez:  Hottie Pink, Little Lily, Rockin' Robin, Pot 'o Gold, Blue Me Away, Seeing Red, Green with Envy
Vibez:  Jeni B Bleu, Sweetheart, Glorious Day
Coloringz:  Don't Citron Me, Night Moves


Monday, February 22, 2016

Run & Jump / Bella Blvd Guest Designer!

Hey, friends, and Happy Monday!  I'm so excited to share that I am the February Guest Designer over at Bella Blvd!  I was thrilled when Laura asked me, and I got to work with papers and embellishments from three of their new collections. 

Here is one of my layouts...it features the Sweet Sweet Spring collection.  It's so bright and fun, and I love the rainbow colors!  I decided to start with white cardstock and a fun cut file from The Cut Shoppe.  Since the photo is of my daughter running and jumping, I wanted the chevron arrows pointing in the direction that she was going to emphasize action.  I backed many of the open spaces with the papers and also used them to back my photo.


I don't think I could choose a favorite color from these papers...I love them all!  I used some of the star stickers from the sticker sheet were a perfect fit for this, and I just added them right to my photo.  I love the chipboard alphas...the size and font are great for making a statement.


I used several spray inks here to create this gorgeous yellow area.  I used the plastic packaging technique and a water brush to create this watercolor look.  I also added pop dots behind the big cut file to raise it up.  I love how the dimension creates shadows!


Here you can see the shadows...it makes it look 3D.  I added a bit of tangled thread here for and extra area of blue since I had pinks, yellow and green right here.  Thread is a great way to add just that extra bit of color in a certain spot.


I used the same technique with this pink ink as I did with the yellow and other colors.  I tried to create separate color areas to pull the colors from the papers.  I layered some green thread under the alphas here.


One more close up here of the bottom...blue and green watercolor.  I love how it looks like the cut file is floating!


I have two more layouts over on the Bella Blvd Blog for my Guest Spot :)  I'll be sharing them here as well as the week goes on.  You can check out my GDT post HERE.

Thank you so much for stopping by!  

Wednesday, February 17, 2016

Happy Love / Hip Kit Club + MARCH KITS!

Hey, friends!  Have you seen the March Hip Kits yet?  They were just revealed, and they are gorgeous!  They are full of Pinkfresh Studios, Shimmerz, Elle's Studio and even some exclusive papers!  Woo hoo!

Check them out!  You can see full product names and lists HERE on the Hip Kit website.


I wanted to also share my newest layout using the February Hip Kits.  This was my first one, and I couldn't resist cutting into that chevron paper from the Maggie Holmes Bloom collection.  I decided to center my two photos in the middle with the chevron arrows pointing inward.  I used the exclusive stencil in the February Color Kit and the Lemon Drop Shimmerz Dazzlerz to create the "Love You" at the top.


These are probably my favorite pieces this month...the Crate Paper fringe hearts!  Swoon!  I added a "love" sticker here and ruffled up the fringe.  I used the Dazzlerz and some gelatos from my stash for the watercolor look here.  I also added some tangled thread, and I stitched through the "Happy" stickers.


I used two Project Life cards as layers under my photos and then layered in an ampersand from the Pink Paislee ephemera pack.  I also used some Shimmerz and gelatos to color some of the Studio Calico wood veneer hearts.


Here's a closer look at the Dazzlerz Texture Paste...it's so pretty and shiny!


Here's my process video for this layout if you'd like to check it out:


Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Tuesday, February 16, 2016

I Love You to the Moon & Back / The Cut Shoppe + a WINNER!

Happy Tuesday, friends!  I hope you all enjoyed your Valentine's Day Weekend!  I did...it was also my 40th Birthday Weekend, so I was out of town for a few days celebrating!  I'm back today to share another layout for The Cut Shoppe & my WINNER for the Feel The Love Blog Hop. 


******My WINNER for the Blog Hop is MEGAN!  Congratulations!!  You win the Printable Set Truly Madly Deeply!  Shoot me an email at missy@whiddendesign.com and I'll get your information to Ashley.  Woo hoo! ******


And now onto my layout share for today...it features a brand new cut file paired with an older one.  I used the new Love Struck file and dug back into the archives and used the Over the Moon file.  These go very well together, and I used some of the new Shimelle Star Shine collection.


I used a lot of the patterned papers to back the cute constellation heart.  I cut the new cut file on some aqua cardstock and moon with patterned paper.

I used some watercolors and Heidi Swapp Color Shine to add color to the background and built my page from there.  I added in the bottom cluster design at the end.


I just think this is the cutest sentiment!  It's perfect for this Shimelle collection, and this aqua color matches it so well.  I love how it looks next to that cute moon.


I used some clear gesso on my cardstock first, and you can see the texture it creates here.  I added in some tangled thread for more texture and color, and then I added this cute acetate "imagine" piece.


I used some of the clear stickers from the collection here...I adhered them to white cardstock and then fussy cut them out.  That camera has pop dots under it to add a bit of dimension, and I added lots of thread under that layered tag.


I am so loving all of these colors together!  It did take some time to back all those open spots on the heart, but the end result is worth it.  This is one of my favorite techniques!


Here's one final close-up of the bottom.  I used a butterfly sticker here and paired it with a flair button.  I just happened to have a random roll of washi tape in my stash that matched these colors perfectly.  I just had to use some of it here!


You can see how I put this layout together here in my process video.  I hope it gives you some fun ideas!



Thanks so much for stopping by today!