Wednesday, November 29, 2017

Too Cool / Precious Remembrance Shop

Hello again, friends!  I have a fun abstract layout to share today for Precious Remembrance Shop.  Do you have any stamps that you don’t think you’ll ever have a use for?  For me, it’s the coffee cup stamp from the Coffee Love Stamp Set


I don’t drink coffee, so I probably would never use it on a project.  I decided to challenge myself to use it anyway!  I went artsy and abstract with it, and I love how it turned out.  I used watercolor paints again instead of ink pads.  I began by randomly stamping the coffee cup stamp over and over using different colors.  I overlapped them and just made a colorful background.  I used another sheet and stamped the coffee cup using black archival ink.  I used the watercolors and ink sprays to add lots of shading and colors.  Once everything was dry, I used several punches and punched lots of circles.  You would never know what these stamps were in the beginning, so it really doesn’t matter what stamps you use for something like this!



Here you can see how awesome these random circles turned out.  Look at the difference in stamping with an ink pad versus watercolor.  It’s fun to get that wet and artsy look with the paint!  You really can’t mess this up, either.  It’s very easy to do.  I added more watercolors and ink sprays to the background and also machine stitched with black thread through some of the circles.


By punching out the circles, I had instant embellishments.  And each one is unique since I used several stamps.  In addition to the Coffee Love Stamp Set, I also used a few stamps from the Blossom Stamp Set.  I added some gold Color Shine, too, which is really fun.  I used some older American Crafts alpha stickers for my title and added in some sequins from SpiegelMom Scraps.


It would be fun to try this technique with a square or star stamp.  Or create a full page of stamping and watercolor and then cut out a fun shape on the Silhouette or Cricut.  So many ideas!


Here on the right side, I created a little circle cluster.  That “LOVE” piece is a die cut from the Love Coupon Bits & Pieces pack.  They’re perfect for using as embellishments or titles.  I added in some pink tangled thread and a few small Shimelle stickers.


I used a few more die cuts here from the Journey Bits & Pieces pack.  These are great for adding the date and adding fun sentiments to your project.  I love the typewriter font!


Here's one last close-up of all the messy goodness :)


This was a lot of fun to create.  Those circles were really easy to make with all the stamps.  I hope this inspires you to get abstract and random with your stamps and create something unique and colorful!  Be sure to check out my process video to see how I created this page.



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

Tuesday, November 28, 2017

Fa La La / Hip Kit Club

Happy Tuesday, friends :)  I'm sharing my newest layout for Hip Kit Club today.  I used the November Main Kit only for this page.  I decided to start with one of this month’s cut files designed by Lorilei.  I cut it on white cardstock and then cut several more snowflakes from various patterned papers.  I used another sheet of white cardstock as my background, and I pulled out some Shimmerz from my stash as well as some Gold Color Shine.  Since my photos had a nice pop of red and green, I wanted to bring out the soft pinks and golds on the background.  And I couldn’t resist using the adorable animals in the exclusive Ephemera Pack.


I layered the patterned paper snowflakes over the cut file to add some color, and I added an enamel dot in the center of each one.  I love the dimension created here with these layers.  I wrote my journaling with a gold metallic pen.


This kit contains a chipboard pack from Pinkfresh Studio, and I used this really large white snowflake with gold foiling.  I love the tone-on-tone look  here, and it adds some really great depth and texture without being too colorful or busy.  I also tucked in a few of the Pinkfresh Puffy Stickers.


Here are those darling animal die cuts!  They are just precious.  I fussy cut the “Holiday Fun” banner from a Pinkfresh patterned paper and tucked it under the animals.  Here you can also see the gold machine stitching I did, creating lots of messy circles.


Here’s another close-up of the die cut and background.  I’ve been on a gold kick lately and love adding it to my Christmas pages!


I highly recommend layering snowflakes like this...it gives the illusion of many snowflakes and creates some awesome dimension!


I hope this gives you some inspiration for using our November Main Kit.  It’s a lot of fun, and all the products are so pretty!  Be sure to check out my process video down below:



Thanks for stopping by, and have a lovely day :)


Monday, November 27, 2017

Crazy Good Times / Elle's Studio Guest Designer

Hey, friends! I'm back today to share my last Guest Designer layout for Elle's Studio.  I have had such a wonderful time there this month!  I used bits and pieces from the November Kit, as well as the Family Fun Collection. I love this collection because it has a rainbow variety of colors! I decided to use them all here and create a watercolor background to match. I cut triangle strips on my Silhouette Cameo first from the colorful stripes in the #6 paper from the Family Fun 12″ x 12″ Paper Collection and arranged them on white cardstock. I used watercolors and some plastic packaging to create those fun and messy splotches on the background. Once I arranged all the strips, I stitched through them using my sewing machine and coordinating thread colors. I chose to scrap a silly photo of me, my mom and my sister, and the embellishments were perfect for it.


One of my favorite things about Elle’s Studio patterned papers is there are always bright and bold solids mixed with fun prints. These colors are so rich, and were just begging to be designed in rainbow fashion. Here you can see all the texture from the stitching and thread.


I just adore the Stanley Alphabet Stamp, so I used it to stamp part of my title below the photo. I used a lot of die cuts here from the Family Fun Bits and Pieces, as well as the November Kit. I tried to create a rainbow effect with these die cuts as well. How cute are those little Puffy Heart Stickers?


At the top of the layout, I added the word “fun” from the Family Fun Puffy Stickers and a circle “fun stuff” die cut, included in the November Kit. I love that so many of the embellishments in the kit and Family Fun Collection are for everyday photos and not event specific. Everything is so versatile, and I love that!


Here’s one last close-up showing the dimension on the layout. Puffy stickers automatically give you some nice depth. I raised my photo up with some adhesive foam, so even more dimension is created by layering pieces in and around it.


I love these little Puffy Stickers!  It was fun mixing and matching all these stickers and die cuts here.


Here's one more close-up of the beautiful rainbow and stitching :)


I hope this inspires you in some way. It was so much fun to make, and I had a wonderful time here this month!  Thanks to Elle's Studio for having me :)

Thanks for stopping by, and have a great day!

Sunday, November 26, 2017

Always Something / Cocoa Vanilla Studio

Happy Sunday, friends!  Today I have a new layout to share for Cocoa Vanilla Studio using the beautiful Bohemian Dream collection.  Our theme is week is Thankful, and I couldn’t resist scrapping some cute selfies of me and my girl.  I’m forever grateful for her in so many ways!  I found this quote on Pinterest and decided to cut it on some patterned paper using my Cameo.  I made it pretty large so it could be my background design using the Kaleidoscope Paper, and I backed the open letters with the Abstract Paper.  I covered a lot of the background with white gesso first and then used some watercolor pastels and ink sprays to add all that pretty color.


I cut “always” on the back of the Abstract Paper.  Mixing and matching fonts is always a great way to catch the eye.  I backed the open words before adding the watercolor so I could see where all my colors were.  For example, I wanted to add yellow next to other colors and so on.  After everything dried, I did a bit of machine stitching through parts of the quote using blue thread.


I love alllll of these colors!  I can't ever narrow down a color scheme when I'm using this collection because they're all so beautiful together :)


The Vellum Accents in this collection are to die for!  They are seriously beautiful, and I finally used a couple of them.  I tucked in an orange one here over some orange watercolor and added a Chipboard Accent Sticker heart.  I also added in a bit of yellow tangled thread.  You can see my photos are raised up a bit off the page.  I did that by adding some adhesive foam behind them along with some tissue paper.


I even added a Vellum Flower over the photo for a fun look.  I decided to go with black & white photos since I knew I was going to use a ton of colors everywhere.  Everything pops right off the page so nicely!


I used another Vellum Flower over on the left and another chipboard heart.  I used a bit too much glue and it crinkled a bit, but that’s okay:)


Here’s one more close-up of the dimension and beautiful colors.  I did add in a small flower cluster from the Die Cut Ephemera here, and I popped it up with adhesive foam.


I hope this inspires you to create a “Thankful” layout using some of the Bohemian Dream collection.  This was a lot of fun to create!  Be sure to check out my process video here if you’d like to watch this page come together. 


Thanks for stopping by!

Friday, November 24, 2017

Thankful / Paige Evans DT

Hey there, and Happy Thanksgiving!  Today I have a new layout to share for the Paige Evans Design Team focusing on this week’s theme of Thankful. I scrapped a photo of me and my husband because I am forever grateful for him and everything he does for our little family. I combined a few of Paige’s collections to create this and I also used two of her cut files: the Scalloped Heart Background and Thankful. I began with a light mint ombre paper from the Fancy Free 12x12 Paper Pad. I cut the Scalloped Heart Background using it and then I went over the majority of the paper with some white gesso. Once it dried, I peeled it off my cutting mat and backed it with another colorful paper from the same pad. I love adding watercolor to my projects so I used some pink, gold, yellow, and aqua ink sprays to create a colorful and artsy background over the cut file. I cut Thankful on Turn the Page Paper 24 B-side and I added lots of fun embellishments from the Turn the Page and Oh My Heart collections.


I love how this pretty blue paper pops off the page. I went simple with my title and used the cut file. I’ve been on a gold kick lately so I love how the gold ink spray shimmers on the page. To add a bit more shine, I machine stitched around the inside of the heart with gold metallic thread. I pulled a lot of stickers from Paige’s new 30-page #StickerBook and used them as embellishments. The flowers I layered under the photo are stickers and so is the ticket piece above the title. I stuck it to some cardstock first and cut it out.


I used a few pieces from the Turn the Page Journaling Spots as layers. I cut the yellow scalloped circle in half and used the other half on the right side of the photo. To add some interest to the background, I fussy cut some heart outlines I had left over from the #StickerBook. I used the actual hearts on another layout, so all I had left was the outlines. They make really cool embellishments! I tucked in some tangled thread, and also used a few fussy cut flowers from Oh My Heart Paper 06.


I love how this rich aqua color turned out here. To embellish the top of the photo, I added in a piece from a Turn the Page Journaling Spot and a transparent sticker from the #StickerBook. I layered in a floral frame from the Turn the Page Ephemera Die Cuts. I also used a few Turn the Page Wood Veneer Hearts.


 I tucked in the other half of the scalloped Journaling Spot along with some tangled thread and another Wood Veneer heart.  I had already tried to use the hot pink scallop border sticker on another project and changed my mind.  It sort of tore a little bit, but I used it anyway ;)


Here's one more close-up...such pretty flowers and layers!


This was a lot of fun to make, and mixing and matching collections is a great way to create new color schemes. I hope this inspires you to create a layout about something you’re thankful for!  Here's my process video if you'd like to check out:



Thanks so much for stopping by!

Wednesday, November 22, 2017

Joy / Shimmerz Education Team

Hey, friends!  Today I have a layout to share for the Shimmerz Education Team using a stencil and lots of fun Shimmerz Paints.  I love using Shimmerz to create my own embellishments and big statement pieces for my pages.  I used a leaf stencil for this that I found at Michael's.  I combined some Dazzlerz and Texturez to create some dimensional and textured leaves.  I used a palette knife to scrap the texture paste over the stencil.  I combined Dazzlerz Pucker Up Pink, Lemon Drop & Spun Sugar with Texturez Crushed Coral and Mari-Gold Digger.  I also sprayed a bit of Coloringz Pretty in Pink and Vibez Sweetheart.  After everything dried, I fussy cut the leaves out...and these beautiful leaves were brought to life.


They turned out so pretty!  They're shimmery and shiny with lots of fun texture.  I adhered them to the background with a bit of glue and then machine stitched with gold thread down the centers.  I scattered some SpiegelMom Scraps sequins all around the page as well.


Look at this bumpy texture!  I love it!  I pulled out some papers and embellishments from the Illustrated Faith Gratitude Documented collection to add a bit more.  I used some papers for layers behind the photo and a few die cuts.


I just love all this dimension going on here.  The leaves really look life like with all the texture and pretty color.  For my background, I decided to add some blue shades.  I used some plastic packaging with Vibez Jeni B Bleu & Snow Way Man and Coloringz Mama Sings the Blues.  I splattered and added lots of fun dots.  I also added in some beautiful gold using Inklingz Miner Miner 49er & Old Yeller.  I even used a gold pen to write my journaling.


I hadn't even planned on using the Illustrated Faith collection, but I noticed it matched the leaves.  It was the perfect addition, and I think it ties everything together.


Creating these leaves was really easy.  If you can scrape paint over a stencil, then you can totally do this with any shape!  And any color scheme you want.


Here's one more close-up just because :)


I hope this gives you some fun ideas to try with your Shimmerz Paints.  You could also try with with some of the ink sprays.  So many possibilities!

Be sure to check out my process video to see these leaves in action:



Thanks for stopping by, and Happy Thanksgiving!


Supplies Used:
Dazzlerz--Spun Sugar, Lemon Drop, Pucker Up Pink
Texturez--Crushed Coral, Mari-Gold Digger
Vibez--Sweetheart, Snow Way Man, Jeni B Bleu
Coloringz--Pretty in Pink, Mama Sings the Blues
Inklingz--Miner Miner 49er, Old Yeller


Monday, November 20, 2017

Family Together / Elle's Studio Guest Designer

Hello again, friends!  I'm back again to share my second layout as the November guest designer for Elle's Studio. For this page, I used the November Kit and the Family Fun collection. As I was sorting through the papers of the collection, I noticed how beautiful and bright the colors were, and decided to create a rainbow color scheme to scrap this photo of me, my sisters and our grandma. I used my Silhouette Cameo to cut out some open block letters to spell FAMILY and used some of the patterned papers to back them. I used one of the Family Fun Puffy Stickers as a secondary title, and I love how the script looks against the block letters. I centered my photo and embellished around it.


Backing cut files with paper is one of my favorite techniques, and it’s really easy! It’s a great way to get lots of color and patterns on your page without it being overwhelming or too busy. I stitched through the word with my sewing machine for added texture, then added blue tangled thread and adhesive foam under the puffy “together” sticker from the Family Fun Puffy Stickers. I love the dimension this creates!


The Family Fun collection has the best die cut pieces in the Bits and Pieces! I just had to use the two beautiful flowers on both sides of my photo. I used one of the 3″ x 4″ Family Fun Double-Sided Journaling Tags behind my photo to add a pop of orange, and I also added a touch of pink with the little heart die cut. I wanted to add a bit of something more to the background, so I did a little stamping using the open plus sign from the Family Fun Stamp.


I used the dotted paper from the Family Fun 12″ x 12″ Paper Collection as my background, but I wanted to fade out some of the black dots, so I covered a lot of the center with white acrylic paint. Once that dried, I used some aqua and bright blue ink sprays with plastic packaging to create the watercolor look. I wanted to add some pops of red, so I reached for some of the small die cuts from the November 2017 Kit, like the “moments like this” speech bubble I added right on top of the photo. I also added a bit more stamping using the Family Fun Stamp above the picture.


I just adore the cute acrylic shapes in the Family Fun Acrylic! I loved how this yellow heart looked down by the title. The rainbow letters really pop off the page, and the photo pops as well with the black and white. I added some black, pink and yellow splatters around the page to finish things off.


I really love how all of these colors and pieces came together.  The good thing about using all the colors is you can pretty much work in any of the embellishments and they'll match :)


I hope this inspires you in some way! This layout was fun to make, and it shows how versatile the kits and collections are. I’ll take a rainbow color scheme any day!

Thank you so much for stopping by!