Happy Strollin' / Shimmerz Education Team

Hey, friends!  I have another layout for the Shimmerz Education Team to share with you today.  I created this layout as part of Shimmerz Shortz #51.  I showed how you can use all those tiny scraps left over on your Silhouette cutting mat after you've cut a design to create a fun background.

I had a bunch of squares left over from a recent design I cut using my Silhouette Cameo.  I used the design and had all these leftover little squares left on my cutting mat.  I peeled them off and saved them.  I arranged them on white cardstock and then used a few Shimmerz sprays and just simply sprayed right over the squares.  I used Coloringz No Yoking, Vibez Sweetheart and Coloringz Mama Sings the Blues.  I also added a bit of Vibez Jeni B Bleu.  I love the negative space created by the squares.

I roughly outlined each square with black pen just to make them stand out a bit more.  I was mainly just playing around. You could leave them as is if you wanted.

Here's a layout I made using this background.  I used three small photos and arranged them so the background squares were peeking out here and there.  I tried a bit of color blocking using die cuts and pieces from the June 2016 Hip Kit, a few pieces from Amy Tangerine's Rise & Shine, a flair button from A Flair For Buttons and a few sequins.  This really didn't take too long since the background was done and it was just a matter of embellishing.

I love the subtle spray inks coming out from behind the photos, and the black & white really pops. I used a few stickers from Simple Stories Sunshine & Happiness and an acetate heart from Pink Paislee Fancy Free.  That puffy heart is from Amy Tan.  I did add some black splatters with Coloringz Night Moves, which is your basic black spray.

I added in one of those fun acetate die cut words from Pinkfresh Studio for a pop of orange.  I love how those squares create some fun interest behind everything.

Here's the blue side...I love these pretty shades!  This was really not hard to do...just simply spraying over the squares onto the cardstock.

I added in a pop of green with this "laughter" die cut (an exclusive to Hip Kit), and I added pop dots to it to create some dimension.  That pink strip is a piece of ribbon from my stash, and those awesome blue alphas are Hip Kit exclusives from the June Kit.  

Here's a quick look at how I made this background.  You could try this with any little scraps you have saved up.

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

New YouTube Series: Stretch Your Sketch with Ashley Horton / Monkey Business

Hey, friends!  Happy Monday to you :)  I hope you had a great weekend!  I'm so excited to introduce a new YouTube Scrapbooking series called Stretch Your Sketch.  I've teamed up with my awesome scrappy friend Ashley Horton to bring you four fun episodes of working with a sketch in different ways.  I hope you enjoy it!

Ashley designed the sketch, and it's really fun and versatile.  There are a lot of circle elements that can be interpreted in a lot of different ways.  She also designed a really fun cut file set that you can download.  You can find the link to the sketch and the cut file set in the description area of our YouTube videos.

For our first episode, we used the sketch as it is.  I tried to stick with it as much as possible.  I used mostly the Pink Paislee Fancy Free collection, and I traced lots of different sized circles on that beautiful patterned paper inspired by Britt Bass Turner.  I machine stitched around them as well.  I did some watercolor work on the background in coordinating colors using Shimmerz, gelatos and watercolor markers.  These photos make me laugh...Paige was being silly and acting like she was asleep while my husband was tickling her.  She would suck her thumb and close her eyes...and then pop them open and start laughing again.  What a goofball...haha!

I wanted to keep the idea of the stars in the sketch, so I punched some out of vellum and lightly painted the edges with Shimmerz.  My journaling fit perfectly in this circle here, and I jazzed up these fabric Thickers using gelatos and some white paint.  I added in some MAMBI glitter stickers, a wood veneer arrow and some Tim Holtz word stickers.  That "pretend" sticker had to go on this page somewhere!

Here's another vellum star.  I love how the background turned out, and I love that by mixing different mediums together you can get the perfect color to match anything.  I mixed watercolor, marker and gelatos...so much fun!  I used lots of chipboard and buttons here as well. I framed both my photos and added cord to the centers of the buttons.

This is a paper frame from the Fancy Free collections, and I added the wood veneer one with the glitter behind it for added sparkle and dimension.  I added another vellum star and another button.  That cute flair button is from A Flair For Buttons, and the aqua alphas are Elle's Studio.

I also added in lots of tangled thread in various colors as well as another word sticker.  Before I adhered this photo, I machine stitched around the frame to jazz it up a bit.

Here's one more close-up of the frames & title area.  I love how those Thickers turned out!  This layout turned out pretty heavy and chunky from all the chipboard, so I made sure it was all glued down really well.  Those Fancy Free chipboard buttons are so awesome!

Here's the process video.  You'll find a link to Ashley's video, the sketch and the cut files in the description box below the video.  I hope you love it and use the sketch with us!  Click HERE to see Ashley's video.

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

Lovely Paige / Using Older Supplies

Happy Saturday, friends!  I'm back today to share another layout for my Using Older Supplies series I'm doing on my YouTube channel.  This layout took a completely different turn than I imagined.  Those flowers are made from a dark kraft piece of patterned paper from the Amy Tangerine Rise & Shine collection.  I know...that doesn't seem possible.  But it's true!  I challenged myself to use it up, and I tried to use it as it was, but the color just wouldn't work with anything I wanted to do.  So I chose to jazz it up with some paint and gelatos!  I added this beautiful floral cut file over what I created with the paint & gelatos and made it work for what I like.

I used bits and pieces from some older Simple Stories, more American Crafts sticker books (mostly Dear Lizzy) and some sequins from my stash.  The background paper is also from Rise & Shine.

Getting messy was the best part of making this page :)  I used lots of white paint and then came in with a rainbow array of gelatos.  I added lots of water to smudge the color around.  You can see exactly how I did this in my process video down below.  I added pop dots behind all the flowers and added some floral stickers here and there.  I also threw in some tangled thread in various colors.  This "lovely" wood veneer is from Freckled Fawn, and the alpha stickers are from Simple Stories.

I love how the pops dots make the flowers look!  I love the shadow effect here.  All the sequins are from my stash.  I didn't do much mixed media work on my background other than a little bit of white gesso brushed on around the flower edges and then lots of ink splatters.

These Simple Stories butterflies were super bright, so to tone them down to match my background colors, I brush white gesso over them.  An easy fix to soften anything!

Here's one more close-up.  I fussy cut these flowers from stickers from some Dear Lizzy sticker books.  Always try and think outside the box when looking at your embellishments.  You don't HAVE to use them as is.  You can always cut them to make them work for you :)

Here's my process video.  It's interesting to see how this layout was made from start to finish...it was quite a journey!  I hope you like it and get some fun ideas on what you can do with a piece of dark kraft paper :)

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Happy Girls Are The Prettiest Girls / Bella Blvd

It's Friday...woo hoo!  Bring on the weekend!  I wanted to share my newest layout for Bella Blvd today.  When you begin a layout, do you start with your photo and then choose your papers or is it the other way around?  I do both, honestly.  For this one, I started with my photo.  I just love it.  It's of my daughter in a really happy and content moment.  For those of you who don't know, my girls are autistic and nonverbal.  Reese has always put her fingers in her ears when she wants to filter out all the excess noise around her.  It helps her focus and stay calm.  This photo shows how she processes her idea of peace.  She LOVES the pool, and the smile on her face shows that she is definitely in her happy place :)

So I began with the photo.  The blues in it area just gorgeous, and there is a slight pop of pink from her swim suit.  The colors and the meaning behind the photo inspired me to go really bright and happy for my colors.  I started with the Very Squarey cut file from The Cut Shoppe and cut it on this light blue checked paper from Sweet Sweet Spring.  I backed each open square with papers from various collections including She Blooms, Sweet Baby Girl, Cute Baby Boy and Whatever is Lovely.  I wanted all those yellows, pinks and blues...my favorite color combo!

I love backing cut files.  It does take some time, but it's fun for me to do this.  And the result is always worth it!  It's a great way to use up little scraps as well because this only takes small bits of paper.  I added some enamel hearts and phrase stickers and did a little machine stitching.

I mixed and matched my title using some of the Caio Chipboard, Tiny Text alphas, Treasures & Texts alphas and a piece of patterned paper I cut on my Cameo.  I love mixing fonts, colors and different alpha stickers to make titles...it just keeps it fun and interesting!  This is a quote I found on Pinterest.  There are quotes for any and everything there!

I used some gelatos to color the "HAPPY" letters.  They come white, so you can jazz them up any way you like.  I added a few enamel hearts and tangled thread over to the left.

Here's another look at all those gorgeous squares of color.  I added some more pink thread under the photo...such an easy and fast way to add interest, texture and color.

I did do some inking here under the photo and title.  I used Shimmerz to add some blue, pink and yellow "messiness" behind this photo.  I love how the blue looks like water :)  I used a scallop punch to create that green border below the title and then machine stitched through it.

I had a blast making this...I hope you got some ideas for your next project! Thanks so much for visiting me today.  Happy Weekend!

Bright Sunshiny Day / Hip Kit Club

Happy Wednesday, friends!  I have another layout to share today for Hip Kit Club :)  I'm still using the 2016 July Hip Kits, and this one was really fun to make.  I started with my photos and decided on my title.  I wanted to do some hand stitching, so I searched through my fonts and used Alleana to create the word "sunshiny" really large across the center of the cardstock.  I cut it on my Cameo and then backed it with the beautiful ombre paper designed by Kim Watson.  I used four coordinating colors of embroidery thread and hand-stitched around all the letters.  It took some time, but the end result is worth it, I think!

I created two photo clusters at the top and bottom in mostly blues and pinks.  Honestly, I chose my photos because the colors in the matched those adorable little acrylic dots!  I have been wanting to use them, and they looked perfect with these pictures.  I used lots of ephemera, wood veneer, chipboard and die cuts to embellish everywhere.

Here's a closer look at the title.  Hand stitching is such a great way to add texture, interest and detail to your page.  It just takes some time and patience :)  I added some of those gorgeous gold glitter Thickers to finish the title.  I also added a few of the gold Project Life rub-ons from the Embellishment Kit, some chipboard and lots of gold Color Shine splatters.

This little cluster was fun to make!  I combined one of Kim Watson's exclusive die cuts with some chipboard and this really cute glitter wood veneer arrow from Pink Paislee.  I also fussy cut a little camera from one of the PL cards and added it to the photo.  And you can also see those tiny acrylic dots!

I wanted to hoard this flair button forever...it's my favorite!  I love that watercolor camera.  I did a bit of watercolor work here behind the photo using some of the Jeni B Bleu Shimmerz.  I also created a few layers using the exclusive stencil from the Color Kit and more of the Shimmerz sprays.

I fussy cut out this blue area from another PL card.  I love how it looks like I painted it!  The big wood veneer button is another Pink Paislee piece, and I added a cute Amy Tangerine tiny enamel heart.

Squeal at these colors....yes!  A fussy cut flower, a piece of the exclusive washi tape, more Shimmerz, more die cuts, more acrylic dots, more wood veneer with glitter and more chipboard!  Love all of them!

Here's one more look at the title...I wish I had a never-ending supply of this ombre paper.  It's truly beautiful.

Here's my process video showing the making of this page...I hope you enjoy!

Be sure to check out Hip Kit Club and see what's in store with the August Kits!!  Thanks for stopping by, and have a wonderful day!

Mixing Older & Newer Collections / My Mind's Eye

Hey, friends!  I hope you're having a great Tuesday :)  Today I'm sharing my newest layout for My Mind's Eye. I still have quite a lot of older MME lines left over, so I decided to mix in some Jubliee Mint Julep with some of the newer Hello Beautiful.  There are lots of coordinating colors & pieces in both lines, so I loved putting this together.

I began with the beautiful salmon pink-ish colored background paper from Jubilee.  Then I found a paper from Hello Beautiful that is almost the exact same color with fun glittered polka dots on it.  I ran it through my Cameo and cut this fun ampersand to use as a background element.  It's from The Cut Shoppe from a set called And Then.  I used some chunky gold thread to hand-stitch around the outer edge.  I used a lot of chipboard and die cuts from both collections.

I really wanted to use this adorable bicycle from Jubilee...it's just too cute!  I added some pop dots & gold tangled thread as well as a few enamel dots.  Here you can see some of the watercolor work on the background.  I used some gold and blue Shimmerz Paints...a combo of Inklingz & Creameez.

Here is a combo cluster using chipboard & fussy cut patterned paper pieces from both collections.  There is a patterned paper full of shiny gold ampersands in the Jubilee line, so I fussy cut a few of them out.  The flower is from a Hello Beautiful patterned paper.  It's really fun to mix and match collections to see what you can come up with!

Here's the other side of the photo strip...another gold ampersand and clusters.  That fun green scalloped border piece is from Jubilee.

I love layering pieces like this...to where there are just little bits peeking out from behind the photo strip.  I've got a piece of striped paper, a 3x4 Journal Card, more chipboard and enamel dots.

Here's one last close-up.  I fussy cut "lovely" from a fun scripty patterned paper from Jubilee and combined it with this chipboard strip from Hello Beautiful.  I really love how it all came out.

I hope this gives you come ideas on how you can take two different collections and make them look like one.  It's a fun challenge, and you can come up with some really fun looks.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Fun Times & Yummy Drinks / Using Up Older Supplies

Hey there, and Happy Monday!  I have a fun layout to share today.  I decided to start an ongoing series on my YouTube channel focusing on using up older supplies.  If you're like me, then you've probably accumulated quite a bit of paper, embellishments, stickers....the list goes on.  But what good does it do if it just sits on your shelves?  I'm going to start doing some stash busting as much as I can, and this is my first layout with a process video to go along with it.

I have a lot of the Amy Tangerine Rise & Shine collection left, and somehow I wound up with two of the clear sticker sheets.  My goal for this page was to use as many as I could.  I did use a lot of them, but I still have some left.  And that's okay.  I don't want to feel like I HAVE to use every single piece.  I still want to love my layout and not go overboard just because I want to use up the product.

I used clear gesso, modeling paste and Shimmerz on my background.  I love how the color scheme turned out...the pinks, oranges & teals look really nice together.  It felt so good to use up some of this older stuff!

I hadn't used modeling paste in quite a while, so I smudged some through a circle stencil.  I used some plastic packaging to apply the Shimmerz sprays and also did some splatters.  All of these clear stickers are so much fun, and I love how the look against the white cardstock.

I mixed and matched my title using some alpha stickers from Bella Blvd, October Afternoon & Studio Calico.  I love the color combo and different fonts.  The word "times" is from a cut file set from The Cut Shoppe, and the flair buttons are from A Flair For Buttons.  I also used a few bits of the washi tape strips from this Amy collection.

I created a fun little banner over on the left using some of the small clear triangle stickers.  I also fussy cut some circles out of one of the patterned papers and layered them around the page.  And you know me...I had to dress it all up with some tangled thread.  I also did some machine stitching.

How adorable is this emoji flair?!  I love it, and I think it goes perfectly with this page.  I added even more clear stickers here as well as some clear white MAMBI stickers and a few pink sequins.

Here's one last close-up of the modeling paste.  This pretty orange color is Vibez in Sunset Strip.  I love the color!

Here's my process video if you'd like to see how this page came together and why I used certain things.  I hope it inspires you to dig into your stash of older goodies!

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