A Perfect Summer Rafting Layout

Hi there!  I'm back to share another project I have that up on Lori Whitlock's blog!  I'm still on a summer kick so for my layout today I used more of the"Perfect Summer" collection she designed for Echo Park along with several of her cutting files!

I ended up using (2) 6x6 papers from the coordinating paper pad for my background.  I love how the prints are reduced in size to work perfectly for what I had in mind.  For my title I paired Lori's "adventure" phrase with some older Cocoa Daisy stamps by Ali Edwards and a fish sticker from the collection.

I also used the smaller prints from the 6x6 pad to cut my flip flops which worked well.  I wanted the water flourish to stand out against the background so I chose to journal on vellum which gave a subtle washed out look to the patterned paper below.  As a finishing touch I added Stardust Stickles (by Ranger) to the water flourish and openings in my diecut border.

To create my layout I used the following cutting files designed by Lori:
Don't Bother Me (flip flops)
4 Seasons Layout: Spring (flower for flip flops)
Cute Umbrella (for splashes- Silhouette Store only)
'Water' Flourish (Silhouette store only)
'Big Adventure' Phrase (Silhouette store only)
3 Borders (Silhouette store only)

Thanks so much for hanging with me today!  I hope you're keeping cool in your neck of the woods!  :)

A Jillibean Soup "Our Happy Home" Mini Album

I'm very excited to finally share a mini album that I made almost exactly one year ago for the Jillibean Soup design team tryouts.  I put a ton of work into this little baby so when I didn't make the team I decide to hold onto it for submissions.  I was thrilled when Creating Keepsake accepted it for their newest All About Albums special issue which just hit newsstands on July 23rd!

This album started out as an wood arrow shaped album by Kaiserkraft which was intended to be used horizontally, but I turned it up on it's end and made it into a little house of sorts.  I had a blast using a mixture of several different collections of Jillibean using their B-side prints, labels and alphabet stickers--I love how so many of their lines mix and match in color!  This album also gave me a good excuse to pull out all of my home themed stamps which I paper-pieced to match.  I won't lie... This album took a bit of time, but it is a great keepsake to set out on the coffee table and it was a lot of fun to create.  :)

To embellish my album, I used the following stamp sets:
Papertrey Ink On My Couch
Papertrey Ink Lighten Up
Hero Arts Wish You Were Here
Gel-a-tins Pet Shop

Make sure to check out more sneak peeks of this awesome special issue HERE.  It's filled with so many great ideas!  :)

A Technique Tuesday Little Fruity Pear Card

Last week Bev over at Technique Tuesday gave a fun video sneak peek HERE of several cool stamp sets coming soon to a store near you.  Part of that peek included a card I made using the new Little Fruity Set!

I love fruit images so when I saw that they were releasing this one, I raised my hand high begging to play with it.  I paired it with some coordinating papers from Doodlebug's Fruit Stand and Petite Prints collections.  I have another card I made with this set that I hope to share with you soon.  ;)

In the meantime I have a couple more sneak peeks of projects to come using other new sets which they shared on their blog.  Make sure to hop over and check out more fun reveals.  ;)

Isn't this a fun time of year?!  I've started a wish list board over at Pinterest featuring all sorts of yummy new releases for Summer CHA--It's turned into a sort of a future shopping list.  ;)  You can check it out HERE.  I also have many more inspirational boards for scrapbooking, cardmaking and other crafts which I add to on a daily basis that you can check out HERE.

Thanks for stopping by.  Until next time...

A Couple of Papertrey Ink Summer Themed Cards

How is everyone doing?  I feel like this summer is just flying by.  It's hard to believe were already nearing the end of another week!  I thought before summer passes me by I would share a couple of summery cards I made awhile back.

My first one uses an epoxy button by Jillibean Soup and lots of scraps of paper from various echo park collections.  My sentiment is from Papertrey Ink's Scattered Showers stamp set and the clouds were cut on my Silhouette.

For my second card I played with a couple more Papertrey Ink sets that I bought and had never seen ink. The sunshine & sentiment are from their Heart-2-Heart #6 Mini Stamp Set and coordinating dies for the clouds and sun.  The adorable flip flops are from their Flipping Out stamp set and the sandy hill is using their In The Meadow die with the water and scalloped border using their Small Scalloped border die.   Phew! That's a whole lot of Papertrey Ink goodness stuffed onto one card.  ;)

Well, that about wraps it up.  I hope you guys enjoy your weekend!

A Shimelle.com Guest Designer Layout

I was delighted to be asked to be a guest blogger on Shimelle's blog today!  I am a huge fan of her sketches and her Glitter Girl Video series at Two Peas In A Bucket so of course I jumped at the chance!  Here is a peek at the great sketch she gave me to work with...

... And here is a little sneak peek at an Spring Easter layout I created with it using many fun tone-on-tone prints from Doodlebug's Petite Prints and Stars & Stripes Collections. 

Make sure to hop over to her blog and check it out.  She has lots of inspiring posts to keep you busy for hours!  :)



A Lori Whitlock Disney Themed layout

Hi there!

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend!  I helped my Mom with yet another big 2-day yard sale which I am thankful to declare will be our last for awhile.  I'm excited to have a Disney Themed layout up on Lori Whitlock's blog today!

For this one I used Maggie Holmes collection by Crate Paper and a handful of complimentary cutting files designed by Lori.

I knew I wanted to do something fun with the 12x12 decorative tape sheet from the collection so I cut it into strips, mixing it with other paper strips and adhered them to printer paper.  I then cut my mouse ears out on my Silhouette by welding 3 basic circles together.

I took Lori's "memories" title from a layout cutting file and paired it with one of her awesome banners which I enlarged to fit over my mouse ears and popped up with foam tape between the layers for some depth.

I also used her scalloped border which I cut twice (once from blue and another without the inside cuts from ivory).  I like to do this to minimize the visual distraction when a patterned paper is layered below my borders.  I finished off my layout with a layered tag to document the basics.  This is part of a larger album that I have kept over the years about several trips to Tokyo Disneyland so some layouts have more journaling than others.  ;)

To Create my layout I used the following cutting files designed by Lori Whitlock:
Banner Labels
Border Set 10
Memories Layout (for title)
5 Layered Labels (Silhouette Store only)

Thanks so much for stopping by and for all the sweet comments that have been left.  :)

An Echo Park All About A Boy Birthday Card

I have a little card to share today using Echo Park's All About A Boy collection.  I have loved these papers for many non-boy layouts as seen HERE and HERE, but then there are the all boy embellishments from the line that I didn't have much use for on a layout about girls so I decided to make a birthday card with it for my nephew who is turning 10 this year.  :)

I paired it with some burlap printed thickers and Papertrey Ink's Big Birthday Wishes Stamp set. I had a lot of fun making this one and I think I will be making some more cards with it in the future.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!  :)

A Lawn Fawn Swimsuit Season Card

Hi there!

Just popping in today to share with you a little card I made using Lawn Fawn's Swimsuit Season stamp set and papers from Echo Park's Summer Days collection (I think I just might have bought enough of this paper to last me until I die).  :)

For this card I employed one of my favorite "cartoon strip" techniques that I discovered playing around one day.  Sometimes when I get done stamping a bunch of images, the card seems to lack the punch to match the images so I pull out my sharpie and a piece of scratch paper and trace everything which results in a thin outline on the diecut pieces and the rest going onto my scrap paper.  It's a fun technique and I like the way it ties everything together.

Thanks so much for stopping by and taking a peek.  :)

A 4th of July Layout and Silhouette Video Tutorial

I hope you guys are all enjoying a wonderful 4th of July!  It's always been one of my favorite holidays so I feel privileged to be able to share a festive layout and video tutorial on Lori Whitlock's blog today using papers from Pebbles Let Freedom Ring collection.

As I state below in my video, I actually created this 8x8 layout for my Mother-in-law as part of her Christmas gift last year and saved it until now to share.  The only trouble is I didn't know then that it would be my turn to share a tutorial so I've tried my best to pull from my project a few of my favorite tips and tricks that I'm hoping will manage to teach a few of you something new.   ;)

I love layering my diecuts, embellishing them with rhinestones and stitching on them to create texture and add interest so I did a little bit of all these on my layout here.

To create my layout I used the following cutting files designed by Lori Whitlock:
Patriotic Icons
Summer Fun Titles
Banner Flag Set
8 Tabs
2 Borders (Silhouette Store only)
Dot Star (Silhouette Store only)

Without further ado, here is my feeble attempt at a tutorial...  ;)



There you have it.  Sorry it cut off there at the end.  I couldn't figure out how to lengthen my goodbyes without doing it over again and I was getting sleepy.  ;)

Thanks so much for stopping by.  I hope you enjoy the rest of your Independence Day or if you're reading this the day after, I hope it was a good one!  :)