A Lori Whitlock Rainbow Doily Layout

Hi there!  I'm so excited to finally be sharing this layout on Lori Whitlock's blog today!  I actually started this one back in May and was just waiting for the perfect moment to share it between Summer and Fall themed holidays.  For this project I turned to my all time favorite collection of hers called Summer Days which she designed for Echo Park, along with a number of her awesome cutting files.

I've had this photo of my daughter in my photo box for nearly 4 years waiting for the perfect rainbow inspired layout to use it on.  As soon as I saw Lori's doily cutting files I knew it would be so much fun to cut each one from a different color for a clean and simple layout.  I love the way they look cut from the different solid colors from the collection!

If these look like a bit of fun to cut out, you would be correct.  They definitely leave their fair share of confetti on your cutting mat so make sure to have a scraper or old gift card handy to get all these little guys off.  These beautiful doilies were more than worth the tiny bit of extra effort though.  ;)

To complete my layout I used the following cutting files available for purchase in Lori's Shop:

• 3 Doilies 2
• 3 Spiral Doilies
• 5 Borders 
• Flower Flourishes
• Life Cards (tab)

Thanks so much for stopping by.  Make sure to check out Lori's Blog and my Lori Whitlock Pinterest Board for amazing inspiration from the rest of the team!  :)

A Fancy Pants "What A Wonderful Day" Layout

Today I have a layout to share which I created for Craft Warehouse's local scrapbook club page challenge using Fancy Pants "What A Wonderful Day" collection.  So these photos don't actually jive with the name of the collection, but I was searching through my box for photos that would compliment the arrow theme and colors and these fit the bill.  ;)

For this challenge we were given a 12x12 sheet of charcoal grey cardstock, a 6x12 sheet of the arrow patterned paper and one cork arrow.  The challenge was to use a bit of everything provided along with anything else we might want to add (I purchased additional sheets of the yellow heart paper and chevron striped/red paper from the collection to complete my layout).

With my title weighing my layout down on the bottom right, I decided to add three little buttons to the top left to balance things out.  It still felt like it was missing pizzazz though so I diecut three felt hearts (using a die and felt from Papertrey Ink) to repeat the heart motif found in the yellow patterned paper.

To add a little detail below my journaling I used a technique recently shared by Laura Craigie on the October Afternoon blog on how to pleat washi tape (found HERE).  I just happened to be working on my journaling block when I opened my email and saw this perfect suggestion.  ;)

For my title I combined some older foam Thickers by American Crafts and some ancient plain chipboard quotes which I painted yellow to tie them in.

This page is simple and came together quickly, but I'm pretty happy with it.  The papers have a visual punch and I was glad to finally document with my journaling my daughter's crazy daring spirit and hard head.  :)

A Lori Whitlock Back-To-School 8x8 Layout

Today I have a school themed layout on Lori's Blog using her amazingly simple Back To School Layout cutting file.  For $.99 this layout has tons of bang for the buck!

I created this as an 8x8 page for my Mother-in-laws mini album so I wanted to keep it simple and this pre-designed layout totally fit the bill!  I kept my design pretty close to Lori's with only a few subtle changes.

Rather than use the bracket shaped frame under my photo, I turned it on it's side and enlarged it to bleed off the page and ground my title.  I then paired some twine with a Button cutting file to accent my photo.  I also cut extra circles to go under my numbers to add an extra splash of color.  I added a second arrow to indicate my second daughter's grade and switched out the apple for another cute Apple of Lori's available in the Silhouette Store HERE. 

This page came together quickly and I thought had a lot of style and impact for a small 8x8 page!  If you haven't given Lori's pre-designed layouts I try before I highly recommended checking them out (You can see all the choices HERE).

A Paris Inspired Teen Girls Birthday Party

This past weekend my oldest daughter turned 13 which instantly made me feel like a middle-aged Mom (which I guess I must face the reality that I am, but it's hitting me hard this week).  ;)

After much debate over her theme she finally settled on a Black, White and Lilac Paris themed slumber party with spa-like gift bags and activities.

These were her Birthday invitations. I made them with various Silhouette cutting files, cardstock, vinyl and my printer.

• Card Kit Elegant (by Lori Whitlock)
• Diamond Border (sm)
• Paris (by Hero Arts)
• Eiffel Tower (by Hero Arts)--Also used this to create the 3D Eiffel Tower Table decoration pictured in the photo above.
• MA Sexy Font

For her cupcakes, I cut liners on my Silhouette from Echo Park Dots & Striped patterned paper and created matching toppers using Doodlebug's new lilac pixies which I cut in half.

• Bracket Edge Cupcake Holder (by Lori Whitlock)
• 5 Scalloped Circles (by Lori Whitlock)
• Dog Swirly Poodle (by Samantha Walker)

I was so excited after creating her invites to discover that Lori Whitlock had created a treat bag topper that matched our invites perfectly!  We filled each bag with a facial mask, eos lip balm and nail polish to use the night of the party.

• Purse Treat Bag Topper (by Lori Whitlock)
• Dog Swirly Poodle (by Samantha Walker)
• CK Puppy Love Font

As a last minute addition I decided to make some matching thank you cards last night.  My daughter was so spoiled with everything she received and the girls were so appreciative of the work I put into everything that I wanted to make them a special card.  I have officially used every square inch I had of this lilac cardstock so I could only afford the small splash of color.  ;)

• Stampin' Up Sizzix Top Note Die
• Papertrey Ink Wonderful Words Thank You Stamp Set & Die
• Papertrey Ink Pinking Shears Border Die
• Silhouette Eiffel Tower (by Snapdragon Snippets)

Well that about wraps it up.  One party down and one more to go... I have started preparations for my youngest daughter's birthday party in October with a Despicable Me minion theme.   :)

Thanks for stopping by.

A Technique Tuesday Fall Leaves Layout

I'm back to share a second Fall layout I made using some of Technique Tuesday's newest Fall releases! 

I created this layout to spotlight their new Falling Leaves stamp set and coordinating Falling Leaves Digital Cut Files.

As soon as I saw these stamps, I knew exactly how I was going to use them!  A couple years ago I had started this layout for a page challenge at my local scrapbook store using some of Bo Bunny's Forever Fall collection, but it had sat half finished all this time.  These stamps were a perfect match!  (they would also match well with this year's fall collection by Bo Bunny called "Autumn Song")

I love to mix stamps with diecutting for my titles so I paired an older (retired) Technique Tuesday Studio AE stamp set by Ali Edwards for the word "adventure".  They recently released a new Studio AE set that would also work called Leaving On A Jet Plane.

Thanks for taking a peek! Hope you have a great week!  :)

 

A Lori Whitlock Custom Chalkboard Print & Cut Tutorial

I'm excited to have another Silhouette video tutorial to share with you today which I created for Lori Whitlock's blog!

Today's card and video show several fun tricks and tips, but it's primary focus is sharing how to take one of Lori's many versatile shapes and personalizing it to create your own customized "print & cut" file.  The creative variations using this basic idea are endless which is really exciting!



I decided for my card it would be fun to make a chalkboard themed speech bubble to match the feel of her "Here & Now" collection using her everyday shapes, sentiments and digital papers.

To create my project I used the following cutting files designed by Lori:
Quote Bubbles Set
Sentiments
7 Labels
Heart Owl
Patriotic Icons (Ice Cream Cone)
Heart Flowers (Pom Pom--Silhouette Store Only)

The chalkboard paper can be purchased at Jessica Sprague:
Here & Now Paper Pack #1

To see more of Lori's fun shapes visit her online store found HERE or tour her vast Silhouette portfolio found HERE.

Please note that I actually created this video back in early August before Lori added new birthday shapes to her store.  She now sells a Birthday Hat available HERE.  Since creating this I have also noticed there has also been an explosion of tutorials on the web that are very close to this very topic so for that I apologize... ;)

Thanks so much for stopping by!   :)

A Technique Tuesday School Days Banner Layout

Happy Monday!  I hope you all had a wonderful weekend!  After sort of a rainy week it was nice to get some sun coming in through my scrapbook room window!  :)

Today I'm finally around to sharing a school themed layout that I shared a peek of back at CHA.  It features several fun stamp sets & some new dies by Technique Tuesday! 

I decided to pair their newest banner stamps and matching dies with some "vintage" October Afternoon papers, label stickers & rub-ons in my stash that still hadn't seen any love.  :)

I cut and stamped my banners on the different patterned papers and then clipped off the ends and folded them over the twine.  To mix it up a bit I thought it would be fun to use their "Just My Type" alphabet set to create my title on the banner which I popped up with foam tape for extra dimension.

I can't tell you how excited I am to finally have some dies to match my favorite Technique Tuesday sets!  It really speeds things up and adds so many creative possiblities!  :)

Just to recap, I used the following sets to create my layout today:

• Today Banners by Ali Edwards
• Banner Months by Ali Edwards
• Just My Type
• Steel Dies- Banners 

You can also find many other great fall themed projects using more of their stamps and dies in a special gallery found HERE.

 

Thanks so much for stopping by.  Make sure to check back Thursday when I will be sharing a Silhouette video tutorial on how to make your own custom print and cuts.  :)

 

Lori Whitlock's Back To School Blog Hop

Welcome to Lori's Back-to-School Blog Hop!  You should be arriving here from Corri's blog.

Today I thought I would share a layout using the Project Life "Honey" cards that Lori designed for Becky Higgins and American Crafts.  I'm not personally drawn to the pocket page scrapbooking trend, but I LOVE this line and I had to find a way to incorporate some of them into a traditional style layout.

I used Lori's Happy Font to create my "before" and "after" subtitles and the super cute chunky arrow found HERE.

I love how these adorable cards are double sided so the design options are plentiful.  You can use them as a photo frame/mat, use them as a journaling card, as a way to ground your title or as just to add a splash of color and pattern to your layout.

As a last minute addition, I decided to also make a digital layout using Lori's latest School Days digital Papers which can be purchased at a discounted price as a SET or individually with the Paper or Embellishments.  I am in love with this collection!!!  It was seriously so much fun to play with!

I have enjoyed making Shutterfly albums off and on over the years as gifts for extended family, but was always unhappy with the limited choices available for their "custom" books.  However, I was super excited to discover they now allow you to upload your digital layouts to create a truly custom book.  Needless to say I am scrambling to catch up on some pages in time for Christmas gifts this year.  ;)

(Sketch designed by Valerie Salmon at Got Sketch?)

In addition to all the inspiration to be found at my fellow teammates blogs, Lori has a couple
giveaways on her blog today!  She has a Silhouette Portrait to give to one lucky winner...

As well as a free cutting file with purchase...

Your next stop on the hop is Traci!  (or if you are just joining the festivities, I have included a full list of all the blogs).

Lori Whitlock
Brigit Mann
Christine Ousley
Corri Garza
Lisa Bell
Mendi Yoshikawa (You Are Here)
Traci Penrod
Chrissy Guido
Haley Ney
Kim Lund

Thanks so much for stopping by.  :)

A Simple Stories Summer Fresh School Years Layout

Happy Labor Day!  With my girls starting back to school tomorrow (hooray!) it has put me in a nostalgic mood so I thought I would share a layout I made earlier this year documenting some of my own grade school photos.

I have been meaning to do this project for so long now and I'm happy I was finally able to document this period of my life for my own kids to enjoy.  When I was a child I loved to write stories and after reading an entertaining autobiography by Beverly Cleary (found HERE) I was inspired to document a few of my own childhood memories (which luckily I kept).  I really treasure having it now because there are many things I had since forgotten.  It wasn't easy condensing it to fit within my columns, but I did my best to incorporate as much as I could with each grade level.

To document my school years I tried to find a collection that would match the overwhelming amounts of red and navy in my clothing and yet match the vintage tint to my photos.  Simple Stories Summer Fresh Collection turned out to be just the ticket!  For my title and subtitles I used the Kerri Bradford's awesome School Years cutting files available for purchase HERE.  The stack of books and crayon shapes were purchased at the Silhouette store found HERE and HERE.

To complete my title I heat embossed the word "memories" with white embossing powder using Technique Tuesday's "Favorite Memories by Ali Edwards".  It was a little too stark for my page though so I distressed it with a bit of Tim Holtz distress ink and a foam applicator to give it a bit of an aged look.

Well that about wraps it up.  I hope I've inspired you to dig out your own school photos to scrapbook.  Next on my list is junior high!  That was smack dab in the middle of the 80's for me so that layout should be a fun one to create.  :)

P.S. Lori's Blog hop was postponed for Wednesday.  Hope to see you then!  :)