A Lori Whitlock Butterfly Layout with Video Tutorial

Hi there!

It's my turn to share a step-by-step tutorial on Lori Whitlock's blog so today I thought I would share one of my new favorite techniques that I utilized on this fun layout about my daughter from last Halloween (although I think this butterfly would work so well for Spring and Summer projects too).

The focus of my layout (and my tutorial today) is this beautiful butterfly cutting file which I enlarged to take center stage on my layout.

I cut the, title, tabs and journaling block using Lori's cutting files.  After I was done cutting I ran them through my printer on an 8-1/2 x 11 sheet of paper using temporary adhesive.

The borders, flourish and smaller butterflies were also designed by Lori.  For my pink butterfly, I layered the intricate cuts using black vinyl and for the smallest butterflies I omitted the top layer.

I took a screen shot of what my layout looked like with my project all planned out as well as showing how I arranged the butterfly pieces to make the most of my cardstock when cutting them out.

And finally, here's my video (please forgive me in advance for saying "um" a few hundred times).  ;)



To complete my layout I used the following cutting files designed by Lori Whitlock:
Butterfly
You Are Sentiments
Journaling Shapes
Flourish Set 3
3 Borders
Borders (Silhouette Store only)
7 Borders, Tabs & Corners (Silhouette Store only)
Butterfly (Silhouette Store only)

Thanks so much for stopping by for a peek!  I hope my video was helpful and easy to understand.  ;)

 

Another Echo Park Bundle of Joy Baby Layout

Today I have another layout to share using Echo Park's Bundle of Joy Baby Girl collection designed by Alisha Gordon!

One of my favorite images from the collecion is this darling lamb so when I saw the shape pop up in the Silhouette store I knew I needed to have it (you can find it here). 

I thought it would be fun to cut it out from white flocked paper so I switched to an old blade on my Silhouette, clicked the box to cut the image twice (just for extra measure) and cut it out.  It's hard to see the extra fluffiness here, but I love the extra touch it adds.

To finish off my layout I used Loni Stevens' Sweet Dream cutting file for my title and a border sticker along the bottom that came with the collection pack. 

Thanks so much for hanging with me today and for all the sweet comments that have been left.  You guys always know how to brighten my day!  :)

An Echo Park Bundle of Joy Baby Girl Layout

Hi there!

I'm finally getting around to sharing some more layouts from my National Scrapbook weekend crop!  Yay me!  ;)   For this one I used Echo Park's newer Bundle of Joy Baby Girl collection designed by Alisha Gordon. 

My youngest "baby" is 7-1/2 years old so I had to dig way back to find some sweet baby photos that still hadn't been scrapbooked.  I think these ended up not fitting onto some double page layouts I frequently made back then so I was overjoyed to rediscover them.  For this layout I closely followed sketch #77 by Inspired Blueprints. 

I cut and layered my hearts using Lori Whitlock's 11 Hearts cutting file from the Silhouette store which I stamped using Technique Tuesday's Sweet Baby Stamp set by Ali Edwards and machine stitched around the edges before gluing down.

For my last finishing touch I hand-stitched down the center of each row of hearts with pink embroidery floss.  A few buttons and a little bow and I was done.  The sketch seriously took all the guesswork out of it and I was left only trying to figure out which cute papers I was going to put in each little heart.

Also, before I go I wanted to share an awesome giveaway Lori is offering on the Silhouette Portrait and a special coupon code good at the Silhouette Store. Please click on the link below to enter.



a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thanks so much for swinging by.  Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!  :)

A Simple Stories Snap Rainbow & Sunshine Card

How is everyone?  I meant to get this posted earlier today, but I've been running behind.  I made this little card awhile back in response to Paper Crafts Magazine's call for Sunshines and rainbows for their upcoming July/August issue.  It didn't make the cut, but this happy little sunshine still has a special place in my heart. 

I used Simple Stories Snap Studio Mini 6x6 paper pad and a sentiment from Papertrey Ink's Up, Up & Away Sentiments set.  I took my inspiration from this clip art that I found through google and pieced together various shapes from the Silhouette store to acheive the look I was going for which was a fun challenge. 

Hope you're enjoying some sun in your neck of the woods!  :)

 

 

A My Mind's Eye "Collectible" Layout

I am embarrassed to admit I'm still recovering from my 3-days of scrapbooking at the beginning of the month and all the work that led up to it.  I've been feeling a bit sluggish and in a creative slump, but on a happy note my house is benefiting and I am finally getting around to some very big piles of laundry.  Yay for that!  LOL!  :)

To keep my foot in the door during my short break from my craft room I thought I would finally get around to sharing one of my layouts I completed during my marathon weekend.  I made this one for this month's Craft Warehouse's Scrapbook Club.  For this challenge they gave us a 1/2 sheet of the My Mind's Eye Collectible paper (the one with the spiky doilies), a 12x12 sheet of cardstock and a little pearl stick pin (and I purchased two more coordinating papers from the collection as well).  The theme this month was to scrapbook a fortune from a fortune cookie, but I decided to be more broad and scrapbook about how fortunate I am.

I was a bit stumped how to utilize the pin portion of the challenge after I had planned out most of my page, but then I realized I could turn it into a tiny flag and pierce it through a ribbon knot.

For my title I used some American Crafts Thickers paired with some older October Afternoon Mini Market Stickers.  I ended up fussy cutting the doilies from the challenge paper to create flowers of sorts around my photos.  "Fussy" is the key word because I must have played with a million different combinations and I'm still not sure I'm happy with them, but at some point you just have to let go, right?

To tie up my theme in a neat little package, I added some heartfelt journaling from one of the journaling cards cut from one of the two extra pieces of paper I bought from the collection.  I got lucky where it landed as I diecut the turquoise circle from the other side of the sheet.  Love when I can get bang for my buck like that and use up almost every square inch!  :)

Well there ya have it.  Thanks so much for stopping by.  :)

Teacher's Gift Ideas using files by Lori Whitlock

As many of you are wrapping up your school years (my daughters still have another month) I thought I would share on Lori's blog an idea for a quick and easy teacher's gift.

I ran across these bare wood plaques at my local craft store when I was searching for ideas and thought they would be perfect for a personalized gift to sit on each of their teacher's desks (or window ledge, chalkboard tray, etc.).  A simple coat of paint (and perhaps a light spraying of clear Kylon to seal) and they were immediately transformed and ready to cover. 

I have always been attracted to school themes so I had a big stash of school themed papers to turn to, but it's not hard to find something perfect these days with all the school ruled papers, cork, chalkboard and ruler paper out there on the market.  I think Lori's Take Note collection from last year would be super cute for this!

For these projects I used the following cutting files designed by Lori and available in the Silhouette store:

Pencil
Apple
September Art
LW Happy Font

I hope I've inspired you to create a quick personalized gift for a special teacher in your life.  I was serioulsy amazed with how quickly these came together.  :)

Silhouette Weekly Shape Challenge

This week I was inspired by a new challenge feature going on over at Silhouette blog where they are challenging readers to create a project with a new popular shape each Friday!  Fun, right?

It just so happens I was one of the many, many ladies that purchased this banner shape designed by Miss Kate's Cuttables last week (the SVG version is also available for sale at her shop HERE):

Such a fun versatile shape, don't ya think?!  So I was feeling inspired by several of the options, but in the end I narrowed my focus to two of the banners in the set.

For my first card I had some super cute papers sitting at my desk from Doodlebug's new Flower Box collection.  I love how this banner looks like it was made to go with these papers!  I paired the banner with Silhouette's previously free polaroid frame shape, a bit of Doodlebug's baker's twine and a couple stickers.   

After finishing the first one, I decided while I had everything set up it would be super easy to use the same general layout with different papers to create a Mother's Day card.  For this one I turned to some older Basic Grey papers (Sweet Threads Collection) and my Technique Tuesday "Mama=Love" stamp set by Ali Edwards.

All in all a fun little challenge!  Thanks so much for stopping by and for everyone who took the time to vote for my Paper Craft Magazine Reader's Poll card.  You guys are the best and it means so much to me.   Hugs!  :)

Paper Crafts Magazine Reader's Choice Voting

OK, I feel totally shameless asking this of you, but one of my cards was selected for Paper Crafts Magazine's Reader Choice poll this month so the cards with the top two votes will be published in the November/December 2013 issue.  If you have a moment I would love for you to pop over and cast a vote my way.  It looks like they are allowing one vote per computer or IP address.  ;)

Here's the link:
Reader's Choice- Vote Here

Mine's the Ice Skate card at the bottom.  ;)

Thanks so much! 

Moxie Fab World's Tuesday Trigger: Petits Fours

How was your weekend?  I am happy to report I survived my 3 days of cropping (until 10pm on Sunday night I might add).  I'm a night owl and appreciate my time away from home so I stayed until they practically kicked me out.  ;)

I'm popping in today to share a card I made for Moxie Fab World's Tuesday Triggers challenge!  I was so happy that Cath extended the deadline by a couple weeks so that I could play along because her image was really inspiring to me!

Image Credit

I love the soft color scheme with the flowers and the touch of silver and the wood grain texture in the background! I even loved the squares, but as I was working I ended up going a different direction and had to leave those off...

I originally was going to be literal and use a wood grain print embossing folder, but I decided to mix it up with a textured background of a similar feel so that I could use the modern wood mat stamp and coordinating die by Papertrey ink (on a side note the embossing folder I used is by Cuttlebug and the sentiment stamp is by Hero Arts).

I knew I wanted to use some soft pink blossoms, but I didn't have just the right shade of pink and I thought changing the color with chalk inks wouldn't have the softness I was looking for.   All of a sudden a light bulb came on and I realized I could drag out my overpriced Copic airbrush toy that has been collecting dust this past year!  I think I fell in love with it all over again.  It's so fun to be able to use it to customize colors and it's perfect for me since I don't own a big collection of messy spray mists.

I'm happy with how it came out since I had been putting off making this difficult sympathy card for a couple weeks now. I think this design would also work well for a wedding with a little switch-a-roo on the sentiment.  ;)

If you're feeling as inspired by the Tuesday Trigger as I was, why don't you play along?!  (Details found HERE)  The challenge runs through May 12.  Thanks for stopping by.  :)

A Lawn Fawn Baby Card & My Beth Moore Weekend

How are you doing?  Do you have any big plans for National Scrapbook Day?  I have my 3-day crop starting tomorrow and of course I can never resist all the amazing online sales. Luckily this year I managed to get most of my crop prepping done a week early so I have spent the past week organizing my scrapbook room, tying up loose ends and recovering from my amazing past weekend.

I don't know if many of you are familiar with Beth Moore and her amazing series of Bible studies, but I can honestly say no one else has ever inspired me to dig into my Bible more than this gifted woman of God.  I was so excited to join several girls from church in Eugene, Oregon last weekend for a Living Proof Live event, where she was a guest speaker.  It was such an awesome experience worshipping God with 7300 other ladies! 

I just had to spread the word in case you're like me.  I had grown up in a Christian home, but after college I had gotten lazy and stopped going to church.  For years I had a close girlfriend who repeatedly invited me to a Bible study at her church and I was always resistant because I had done stale Bible studies in the past that felt like they went in one ear and out the other.  That all ended with Beth Moore.  I immediately hung on her every word. I finally felt like the Bible applied to my life and she inspired me to want to read more.

While most of her studies are DVD format for larger church groups, you can also purchase individual sessions online HERE. She also has a weekly online radio broadcast HERE which can be listened to for free (or downloaded in MP3 format for a small fee).  Oh course you can find many books by her on Amazon as well.  ;)

OK, are you ready for something a little crafty now?  ;)   

I made this simple little card for my sister-in-law when she was expecting her first baby using Lawn Fawn's "Plus One", "Love And Breakfast" and "Chevron Backdrops" stamp sets. 

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I hope you have an awesome National Scrapbook Day!  :)