A Technique Tuesday October Studio AE Layout

This month I have the special privilege of being the October guest designer for Studio AE!   I am a huge fan of Ali Edwards stamps and getting to play with the Christmas themed October set is especially awesome! (I missed last year's set and I am still kicking myself). This is what this month's set looks like...

 

Isn't that cool?!  It is available to purchase here at Technique Tuesday's website today so make sure to get yours before they're gone. With the popularity of December Daily albums this set definitely will sell out quickly.  ;)

Here's a scrapbook page I made using this great set (with Echo Park's Everyone Loves Christmas papers and a sketch by Jana Eubank).

I used the "December Daily" pennant stamp and altered it to fit my needs for this layout using the Christmas bulb with the year stamped on it to cover up the other word  (numbers from December Daily 2011 set and  I used the word "adventure" from a past studio AE set).

Thanks so much for stopping by. Make sure to check out Technique Tuesday's blog for more inspiration using this awesome new stamp set. I'll be back on October 10th with the Studio AE Blog Hop and another holiday layout to share.  :)

A Lawn Fawn Santa Christmas Card

The days are seriously flying by!  Another week has some how managed to come and go and I don't know where it went!  So I suffered another small wave of disappointment with the official Jillibean soup annountment this morning, but...

I was super excited to open my mailbox on Wednesday and find the November/December issue of Paper Crafts Magazine in my mailbox.  Why you may ask?  Well, I couldn't wait to see my first card published on page 29!  It's my first card in this particular magazine and it is so much fun to see my name in print (and spelled correctly I might add).

Here's my card in case you don't happen to have the magazine.  ;)

For this card I had a major light bulb moment when I realized the cute gnome from Lawn Fawn's Gnome Sweet Gnome set could become an adorable Santa with a little masking and the addition of a Santa Hat from Lawn Fawn's Hats Off To You set.  Love when things just fall together like that.  :)

 

Other supplies used:

My Mind's Eye 12 days of Christmas 6x6 pad

Stampendous Merry Messages Sentiment Stamp

Colorbox Chalk Ink

Versafine Onyx Black

Copic Markers

Basic Grey Green Button

American Crafts Red Button

The Twinery Baker's Twine

DMC white floss

Spellbinders circle & scalloped circle dies

We R Memory Keepers corner chomper

Thanks for visiting!  Hope you have a great weekend!  Check back next week for more news and some of my unseen Jillibean projects.  :)

An Echo Park Hello Summer Flip Card

Meet today's Card....It's A flip card using Echo Park's Hello Summer collection and more fun diecutting files designed by Lori Whitlock.

 

In addition to the regular paper pack, I loved this set so much I bought the digital version for my blog header.  I decided in an effort to get more bang for my buck I would experiment with printing the digital paper onto heavy weight cardstock for my card base.  This had the added benefit of working well for the flip card without having to deal with another distracting print showing through from the back side. 

 

I ended up printing out the polka-dot digital paper using my Silhouette Cameo software.  By importing it into my project I was able to "lay" the paper over the card shape and only print the amount I needed with very little waste.  It was my first time trying this, but I was excited with how easy it was!

 

Lori Whitlock's Silhouette Files used:

3d flip swing card circle

echo park bird on branch

5 clouds

 

Other supplies used:

Echo Park's Hello Summer 12x12 paper pack & Stickers (also designed by Lori Whitlock). ;)

"Hello" Summer Dots Everywhere" digital paper (purchased at Jessica Sprague here)

Neenah Solar White Cardstock

Other: Thread, orange vinyl (for bird legs)

 

Thanks so much for visiting!  :)

An Echo Park For the Record Chevron Card

I'm back today to share another card I made for my Lori Whitlock creative team tryouts.  This one used her newly released For the Record 2 collection.  I am so head over heals in love with this color group.  I have always loved blue and yellow together and the addition of the fresh greens and teals make my heart swoon.

 

I also used her new ‘chevron’ card Silhouette file, along with her 3D flower and hello sunshine phrase files.  I decided to cut the phrase out of vinyl due to the small size and thin spots on the cursive font.  I don't know if it's because I am ony recently getting back to papercrafting on a daily basis or what, but I am having a new love affair with my vinyl lately.  I especially love the black and how dark & bold it is and how I can pretty much make my own rub-ons for anything under the sun.

 

Oh, I should note that for the chevron card file, I wanted the chevron to go across the entire front so I dublicated the shape and overlapped them.  Then I used the weld feature to make it continuous and sized them to 4.25" wide to perfectly fit on an A2 card.

 

If you have another brand of digital cutter, Lori's SVG files are also available for purchase directly from her website here.

Other supplies used:
Cardstock: Neenah Solar White
Echo Park Happy Days Brad
Colorbox Chalk Ink

Thanks so much for stopping by!  :)

An Exciting Announcement

Do you see something new at my blog today?!!  Look over there to the right... I have been bubbling over with excitement with news that I'm finally able to share!  Lori Whitlock invited me to be a part of her Creative Team for the next 6 months!!!  I'm beyond thrilled to have this opportunity to work with her and all her products!

If you're not familiar with the name, I am sure you own a few of her products without even realizing it.  She has oodles of talent designing everything from numerous collections for Echo Park, shapes for Silhouette America (over 1800!), ultra inspiring digital kits available at Jessica Sprague, upcoming project life products with Becky Higgins and even beautiful fabrics through Riley Blake Designs.  Phew, that's quite the list...  You can see all her wonderful offerings at her blog here and her full Silhouette shapes portfolio here.  :)

To kick off this amazing adventure I thought I would share a project that I made for her design team call... This project uses a paper collection Lori designed for Echo Park called This and That~ Graceful.  The metal tin was leftover packaging from an old Silhouette gift card from the early days before they offered subscription plans. I made this as a gift album to give to my grandmother as some happy mail. 

For this album I used the following Silhouette shapes designed by Lori:
Echo Park flourish

Echo Park flower (print and cut)

3 Borders

4 Button Set

7 borders, tabs, corners

Library pocket card kit

‘doily’ pennant banner

‘1 great day’ phrase

so happy together phrase

phrase: happy family

2 photo corners

5 layered labels

5 labels

3 bands

 

Other supplies used:

Patterned Paper- Echo Park's This and That Graceful Collection

Rhinestones- Queen & Co.

Ribbon- American Crafts

zig-zag border die- Papertrey Ink

Vinyl- Oracal

font- CK Script

Other- Glossy Accents

Thanks so much for stopping by!  :)

A Jillibean Soup 4th Birthday Card

Today I have a 4th Birthday card to share... I was super excited to have Jillibean Soup feature my card on their blog here on Friday.  Totally made my day!  ;)

 

 

For this card I used their new Silhouette Balloon shape and their print and cut Happy Birthday Soup Labels.  I also used papers from both the 12x12 and 6x6 colorful and happy Watermelon Gazpacho Soup collection.

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Make sure to check back tomorrow for some secret, exciting news and a fun project I have to share!  :)

A Bella Blvd. Birthday Girl Layout

Happy Friday!

I can't believe another week has already come and gone.  On a personal note, I've been trying to get about 7 huge boxes of my girls outgrown Fall and Winter clothes listed on Ebay for about 2 months now.  Unfortunately the project kept getting pushed to the back burner with all the fun projects and tryouts I was working on.  This was going to be my week to finally hunker down and get it done, but I still only managed to get through 1-1/2 of the boxes (it's just so easy to get distracted).  Honestly it's seriously annoying, tedious work, but I am determined to push through and get the remaining up before my personal deadline of October 1st.  I think I can, I think I can.  ;)

Today I have the last of my Bella Blvd layouts to share with you.  This one uses their Birthday Girl collection and 4 of their washi tapes (which I used to make my banner in the top, left-hand corner). 

I've noticed a bit of a scrappy trend in my pages lately.  I've been a bit obsessed with neutral backgrounds and photos matted on white.  I am blowing through my Bazzill cardstocks in Kraft, Browns, Black, Cream and White.  They're just such a nice blank canvas to make the patterned papers and photos pop off the page.

This layout coordinates with another birthday girl page that I shared during a previous post here.  Both these layouts showcase probably my all time favorite birthday photos of my oldest daughter.

Thanks so much for stopping by and letting me vent about my to do list.  ;)

Supplies Used:
Kraft Paper- Bazzill Basics
Patterned Paper- Bella Blvd. Birthday Girl
Cardstock Stickers- Bella Blvd. Birthday Girl
Washi Tapes- Bella Blvd.
Button- Doodlebug
Baker's Twine- The Twinery
Embroidery Floss (Stem)- DMC
Border Punch- EK Success

A Bella Blvd. Baby Girl Layout

Hey there!

I just wanted to say thank you to those who left sweet comments and words of encouragement.  I really appreciate every comment and it really brightened my day.  For today's layout I used Bella Blvd's Sweet "Baby Girl" Collection along with some of their Sophisticates Ciao Chip alphas.


I added some more hand-stitching on this one. It's one of my favorite ways to add a little fun detail when I don't personally own all the matching embellishments in a line.


I'm always looking for fun ways to add as many cute patterned papers to a layout as possible and the idea of lining up rows of pennants was a great way of doing this. These types of pennants always sort of remind me of a Princess's castle anyway so it seemed suiting with my title and photos. Once again I stole the little half inch piece that you cut off & toss from the 12x12 papers with the "baby girl" line name to embellish one of the pennants.  ;)


Thanks so much for stopping by!

Supplies Used:
Patterned Paper- Bella Blvd. Baby Girl collection
Chipboard Alphas- Bella Blvd. Sophisticates Ciao Chip
Cardstock- Bazzill Basics
Pennant Dies- Spellbinders
Heart Dies- Sizzix Tim Holtz Movers & Shapers
Princess Word Diecut- Silhouette
Chalk Ink- Colorbox
Thread- Coats & Clark
Rhinestones- Queen & Company
Buttons- Craft Supply
Embroidery Floss- DMC

A Bella Blvd Thankful Pumpkin Patch Layout

Today's Bella Blvd. layout features their newest collection called "Thankful" (with an extra pumpkin cutout sneaked in from their "Finally Fall" collection from the year before).  I really loved the dark blue (sort of teal, but not really) in this collection...

 

I incorporated lots of fun hand-stitching in this one around the two bottom pumpkins and along the chevron border.  Despite my disappointment in not making the team, I am so happy to finally have these sweet photos in an album so it's a win-win, right?  ;)

 

Thanks for taking a peek!  :)

Supplies Used:
Patterned Paper- Bella Blvd. Finally Fall Collection
Cardstock Stickers- Bella Blvd. Finally Fall Collection
Grey Polka-dot Washi Tape (leaf)- Bella Blvd.
Cardstock- Neenah Solar White
Circle Punches- EK Success
"at the" diecut- CK Script Font cut on Silhouette
Photo Corner Dies- My Favorite Things Die-namics
Blue Buttons- Basic Grey

A Bella Blvd Sunshine & Happiness Layout

Well, I am so sad to officially learn today that I didn't make Bella Blvd's design team, but it looks like a great group of ladies.  The good news (if I'm really searching for a silver lining) is that means I am now able to share the "top secret" layouts I made for them. :)

This was one of my favorites using their ultra cheerful "Sunshine & Happiness" collection...

I used their cloud, sunshine and Tree cutouts to form my scene.  I also used the card from this same sheet for my title.  I mimiced the little swing in the patterned paper border for my big tree swing with twine "ropes". 

Check back tomorrow for another layout I submitted.

Thanks so much for stopping by...

A Backyard Carnival Themed Birthday

Hello there!



 

I am slowly recovering from my daughter's 12th birthday on Saturday.  I swear the minute the party ended my body gave out on me and I immediately came down with a nasty cold... It always feels like it happens that way, but at least it waited until afterwards I guess.  ;)

Today I thought I would share some of the things I made for her party.  She wanted a backyard carnival theme so I immediately thought of the darling Ferris wheel in Echo Park's Summer Days collection designed by Lori Whitlock.  I wanted the invites to be super flat (and therefore cheaper to mail) so I kept my usual use of buttons and ribbons off this year.  I also was super pressed for time since I made these the day before I needed to mail them out so I wanted to keep the design simple for more reasons than one (please note:  I digitally removed our address and phone number so the look a little bit funny now).  The Ferris wheel on the invitations was a print and cut file on the Silhouette which made it sooo much easier than paper-piecing a bunch of these.  :)

With the same paper collection I also made little pennants as cupcake toppers. I cut the pennants out on my Silhouette and then punched the circles and hearts out of coordinating scraps and these went together really quickly. I made sure to grab a couple of the discarded ones to include on her birthday scrapbook page.

Lastly, I made a banner to hang on the fireplace next to where she opened her presents.  For this one I used more of my favorite Echo Park Summer Days Collection and lots of fun Silhouette files designed by the amazing Lori Whitlock.

 

 

We had a blast with a Coke bottle ring toss, a ping pong ball toss with little coca-cola glasses, a bean bag toss and face painting.  I had wanted to also do a three legged race, but it was getting so hot outside and we had an odd number of kids so we ended up ditching that idea.  To keep with the carnival theme my neighbor loaned us big plastic popcorn themed buckets that we filled with kettle corn and white cheddar popcorn.  The menu also included Costco hot dogs and ice cream cones for dessert. 

 

At World Market my sister found me these adorable treat "bags" to give goodies to the guests in...  I added licorice, silly string and punch ball balloons to carry through the theme.

 

It was a great party! 

 

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Supply List

Patterned Paper- Echo Park's Summer Days Collection

Cardstock- Bazzill Basics & Neenah Solar White

Buttons: orange flower (Doodlebug), white (craft supply)

Ribbon: American Crafts

Baker's Twine: My Mind's Eye

Other: Glossy Accents, Chalk Inks, Thread & Embroidery Floss

Lori Whitlock's Silhouette Files:

LW Happy Font

Birthday Girl Phrase

6 Banner Flag Set

6 Banner Set

2 Banner Labels

3 Borders

3 Borders

3 Cupcakes

Echo Park Ice Cream Cone

Summerdays ferris wheel

For the Record: Beloved Grandparents

Happy Friday!

Today I have a layout to share about my adorable grandparents featuring the original Echo Park's For The Record Collection designed by Lori Whitlock.

The border around the red mat are white rub-ons by BoBunny that I had in my stash from years ago, along with the acrylic clock piece from Heidi Swapp (see, sometimes the hoarding pays off).  ;)  For this one I really wanted to incorporate some of my Technique Tuesday stamps by Ali Edwards.  I love her handwriting and she always knows the perfect things to say to fit the moments just right.

The flourish from this same collection was cut out on my Silhouette.  I stamped the word "thank you" twice to get better coverage of the entire phrase.  First on the background and then again over the heart with a piece of scratch paper below it.

Well, it's been a year since I made this page and I thank God that my grandparents are still here with me.  I love them so much and am so thankful for these precious photos of them.  Makes me want to drop a card in the mail telling them so.  :)

Thanks for stopping by! 

Supply List:
Echo Park For the Record Patterned Paper
Bazzil Basics (black) & DCWAV (ivory) Cardstock
Technique Tuesday Loving Words By Ali Stamp Set
Technique Tuesday Studio AE It's In the Details Stamp Set
Silhouette Echo Park Flourish diecut
Sizzlits Doodlebug Heart Die
Pebbles Ribbons
Bo Bunny Rub-ons
Doodlebug Red Rhinestones
My Mind's Eye Brads
Prima Flowers
Copic Markers
Colorbox Chalk Inks
Versafine Onyx Black Ink (for Stamping)
Jute cording (craft supply)

It all started 12 years ago today...

I'm sure it's a common tale, but 12 years ago today I gave birth to my darling baby girl which started it all...  With her arrival came my obsession with scrapbooking which later expanded to include a love for all paper crafts.

 

She's already starting to feel like a teenager to me with her entering middle school this year and getting her braces on.  They really do grow up too quickly... :(

                        



Happy 12th Birthday Sweetie! I love you!

 

I remember celebrating her first birthday like it was yesterday.  Her party landed just days after September 11th... My husband had been traveling in Asia on business during the attacks and had been unable to return home when all the US airports closed. All I wanted was for him to be home safely by my side during that terrible time. It was stressful trying to plan a first birthday by myself, but he was lucky and caught literally one of the first flights allowed back to the US, arriving home 30 minutes before the party was scheduled to start. We have pictures of him with a party hat on and sleeping through the festivities on the living room floor due to jet lag, but I was just so happy to have him home...

 

This weekend we are celebrating her birthday with a backyard carnival theme (and a backyard camp out with her girlfriends).  It's supposed to be 95 degrees here so we'll see how long we want to stay outside.  Next week I will make sure to share photos of the invites and decorations I made.  ;)

 

Thanks so much for stopping by. 

An American Crafts BOO Halloween Layout

Hi there!

I'm back today to share a Halloween layout using American Crafts "Boo" collection (another line from two years ago).  I love how this Halloween line has pink in it which I've realized is actually very rare.  Once again it was the perfect shade to match my youngest daughter's darling cowgirl costume and that made me sooo happy.

I wanted to die cut my own embellishments to match the darling paper, but since the spider web was extra delicate I turned to my vinyl which does so well with extra detailed images and small words.  The scalloped borders were rows on a piece of embossed patterned paper which I cut apart and cut around the curves.  This is one of my favorite ways to add more patterns to a layout without making it feel too busy.

For the cute spider I added a little extra dimension by attaching wiggly eyes and then adding a layer of glossy accents.  The circles framing each accent were punched out and I then used my favorite Uniball white gel pen and traced around them with a smaller circle to mimic the look of the white doodled scallops in the patterned paper.

Supplies Used:
Patterned Paper- American Crafts Boo Collection
Cardstock- Bazzill Basics
Spider & Web by Silhouette 
Bat by Ginni Nilson for Silhouette
Halloween Labels by Lori Whitlock for Silhouette
Circle Punches- EK Success
Uniball Signo white gel pen
Ranger Glossy Accents
Craft Supply- Wiggle eyes

So what's your favorite way to dress up diecuts?   ;)

A Bo Bunny Boo Crew Halloween Layout

Hello Sweet Blog Followers!

How have you been?  I missed you last week!  With the coming of Fall I thought I would share a Halloween layout that I did using Bo Bunny papers from a couple years back.  If you hoard paper like me I'm guessing there's a good chance you have some of these papers in your stash.  ;)

 

The papers are from Bo Bunny's Boo Crew collection.  I love how the purples in these papers worked so well with my daughter's costume.  For the embellishments I turned to my Silhouette (of course) using Lori Whitlock's Bat Flourish shape as my focal point.  With the help of some glossy accents on top of black cardstock, I love how it makes this fun shape have the feel of something out of a Batman movie. 

The glitter ric rac was created by using Papertrey Ink's ric rac die paired with black glittered felt from Joann's.  I also had some fun with the buttons and using different colors of thread to sew them on.

Supplies Used:
Bo Bunny Boo Crew collection patterned paper
Trick or Treat Silhouette File by Loni Harris
Bat Flourish Silhouette File by Lori Whitlock
Scalloped Border Big Silhouette File by Lori Whitlock
3 Pumpkins Silhouette File by Lori Whitlock (used this outline with stem off another pumpkin)
Papertrey Ink Ric Rac die
EK Success circle punch (under buttons)
Making Memories White buttons
Glossy Accents
DMC embroidery floss
Black glitter felt (Joanns)

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Check back tomorrow afternoon when I will be sharing another Halloween layout featuring more fun Silhouette shapes!  :)