An Echo Park For The Record 2 Documented Digital Layout

As promised I'm back today to share another layout using the same photos in a different medium.  I created this layout for the 8x8 digital mini albums I made my family this past year for Christmas using Echo Park's For the Record 2 Documented digital collection designed by the amazing Lori Whitlock.

One of the things I love most about digital scrapbooking is that if something isn't quite right, you can alter it to fit your needs with the touch of a button.  In this case the blues in the collection weren't quite the right shade to compliment our shirts in the photos, but by playing with the tint they became nearly a perfect match!  :)

This was another layout that I created before I had any other brushes in my arsenal so I chose a sketch by Scrapbook Generations that used clean lines and didn't require any fancy shapes outside of the kits I purchased. ;)

When creating my second page I just copied my first page as a new file and flipped it so I could make sure the photo and border elements would line up with the first page.  As I went on I learned it was good to do this step before adding shadows so that they can all be to the same side.  :)

Thanks so much for peeking!  Hope you all have a fabulous weekend!  :)

A Jillibean Cold Avocado Soup Argyle Inspired Layout

Did you all have a nice weekend?  I did my best to avoid the chore of listing my kids outgrown summer clothes on Ebay, but in the end I buckled down and got it nearly done.  All I really wanted to do was play with all the new Doodlebug goodies sitting next to me, but now I have taxes to tackle.  Ugh!

I thought I would pop in today to share a recent layout I created using Jillibean Soup's yummy Cold Avocado Soup collection.  I am a sucker for this color combination every time.  I love it and it was a great match for these snapshots of my hubby and me that were taken just a couple days before our 17th wedding anniversary.  We totally lucked out wearing the same color--That wasn't even planned (after all these years we must be in sync or this scrapbooker has him well trained).  ;)

For my overall layout I turned to a simple sketch by Shimelle Laine and filled the open space with a fun argyle inspired print that I created with a diamond cutting file on my Silhouette Cameo.  After getting all the diamonds in place, I took a ruler and drew light pencil marks to guide my stitching and then erased them away when I was done.  I then added some rhinestones at each intersection for a little bling.

To create my title I layered a Jillibean Wise Words Sticker with some type stickers and some diecut words from their basic staples patterned paper.  I also layered and embellished with some of their pea pod parts cutouts.

I'll be back on Thursday to share a digital layout I made with these same photos for my 8x8 Christmas albums last year.  Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope you have a crafty week!  :)

A Lori Whitlock Silhouette Video Tutorial using Shaped Text

I have a tutorial up today on Lori Whitlock's blog.  I'm super excited to be sharing a Silhouette technique that I've been having a lot of fun using lately on all sorts of cards and layouts:  Creating journaling and sentiments around the edge of a circle using Silhouette's print and cut features!

However when preparing for today, I realized the hard way that this print and cut technique really works best when using circles that fit within the registration marks so for those of you that have a 12x12 printer, that means your circles can be up to 10.5" wide and sadly for me (whose wide format printer recently bit the dust) that meant I was limited to a circle 7.2" wide.  I had planned a layout using a 11.5" circle which meant as hard as I was trying to find a way around it, I needed to set that aside for another day and come up with a new project that would be easier to share with all of you.

As an alternative I settled on a fun spinner style birthday card for my nephew which can double as a rainy day activity spinner (or with the addition of numbers can be a great game piece for any game a child can dream up).  I think this would also be darling for chores too (although I'm not sure children would agree).  ;)

My papers are from Lori's fun new 6x6 "That's My Boy" paper pad which she designed for Echo Park.

Without further ado, here's my video tutorial sharing how I created it:



I layered 3 of the black arrows together to give it extra stiffness and make it easier to flick for spinning.  I also enlarged the center holes a bit and made sure to not tighten my brad too tight so that it can spin freely.

To complete my card I cut a second circle for the card back, sliced off a portion of the bottom (to help it sit up straight) and scored along the top to adhere to the back of the spinner.  Before adhering them together though I decided to run it through my printer to add a quick sentiment to tie everything together.

For today's project I used the following cutting files available in Lori's shop:

• 4x6 and 3x4 Life Template Set C
• Friendly Font

I also used this same print and cut technique for a layout I previously shared HERE.  I tell ya, this could become addicting!!!  Thanks so much for stopping by and taking a look.  :)

A Crate Paper Love Notes I Heart Baby Layout

How was your weekend?  I hope you all enjoyed your Valentine's Day dinners and festivities!  I thought before everyone completely is sick of hearts (although perhaps that ship has sailed) I would share one last layout I made last week for my local scrapbook club using Crate Paper's newest "Love Notes" collection.

For this challenge we were given quite a few fun supplies including a sheet of the pale pink 12x12 cardstock, a 6x12 sheet of the heartthrob patterned paper, 4 punched hearts, a small snippet of pink baker's twine, one Crate Paper flair button and 3 other buttons.

For my layout I used a very popular sketch by Pam Callaghan for GCD Studios which I have pinned HERE. I cut my hearts from some more papers from Crate Paper's 6x6 Love Notes paper pad and a few other tone-on-tone prints that coordinated from various My Mind's Eye 6x6 pads.

I went old school on my hearts and created handmade patterns by folding a piece of paper in half and experimenting with heart shapes.  I did this because several of the papers were already punched into heart shapes, but I'm picky about the shape of my hearts and they were quite honestly driving me crazy so I had to find a way to alter them to my liking.  I had fun attaching them each with slightly different ribbons and accents.  ;)

My favorite pattern in the collection is the adorable "Dearest" aqua doily paper!  I decided the easiest way to incorporate it into this particular layout was to punch the doilies into 2" circles, cut them in half and create a little scalloped border under my photos.

For my title I used THIS Pebbles cutting file on my Silhouette.  I discovered a really old Making Memories pink metal nameplate in my stash to substitute for the word "love".  I also used a subtle Pebbles rub-on to repeat my theme.

Before I leave today I also wanted to announce that the winner from Lori Whitlock's blog hop is Migdalia Rodriguez!  Congratulations!  I have forwarded your email onto Lori.  Thanks to everyone who stopped by and for all the sweet comments left.  :)


Thanks for peeking.  Hope you have a wonderful week!  :)

A Technique Tuesday Puffy Heart Valentine's Day Layout

With Valentine's Day I thought I would share one last layout I created for Technique Tuesday several months back using their ever so adorable Puffy Heart Stamp set and coordinating die (designed by Teri Anderson).

I had a lot of fun on this one!  For a fun tone-on-tone background I heat embossed the hearts in white on white cardstock.  It's a subtle effect, but it really gives it a great textured look.

For my title I paired a couple of Ali Edwards stamps with diecut words for a little bit of interest.  I used her Sentiment Tabs set as well as her Studio AE July 2011 set called Get Outside (which I masked off to take off the "ing" portion of the word.

To pull everything together I used bits and pieces of some older Doodlebug Valentine's Day papers and sugar coated cardstocks I had in my stash.

I hope you all have a fabulous Valentine's Day spent with those you love.  :)

A Sugar Coated Rainbow Gift Bow Tutorial by Mendi

I'm so excited to be sharing a fun and easy technique on Doodlebug's blog for creating your own custom bows for gift giving!



For my bows I used Doodlebug's yummy sugar coated cardstock, along with some of their buttons and twine.  My box was cut using Lori Whitlock's 3D Bookplate Box cutting file on my Silhouette Cameo (with or without the bookplate, I think this is a very versatile cutting file for a basic box).



I can see this looking cute in all sorts of papers and color schemes!  I hope you'll visit Doodlebug's blog and give this fun bow a try!

Lori Whitlock's February 2014 Blog Hop

Welcome to Lori Whitlock's February Blog Hop!  You should be arriving here from Corri's blog or if you're just joining in on the fun you can see the whole hop from the beginning at Lori's blog.  

For today's project I have a wedding layout I created using Lori's beautiful "Love Story" collection which she designed for Echo Park last year (still one of my favorite lines of hers, but then again I have SO many favorites).  ;)

To create my layout I used an old sketch from Scrapbooks, etc. by Valerie Salmon.  I love the border of circles across the page which were perfect for embellishing with so many of Lori's beautiful diecuts!  In fact I think I tied my record by using 9 different cutting files on one layout.  :)

To create today's layout I used the following cutting files available for purchase in Lori's shop:

• 3 Hearts (polka-dot)
• Key Heart
• 2 Doily Hearts
• Damask Hearts
• So In Love With You (heart border)
• Wedding Set by Kolette Hall (title)
• Circle Flower Card Kit (scalloped circle)
• 3 Borders (silhouette store only)
• Tag Mini Album with Frame (silhouette store only) 

In honor of today's hop Lori is offering 30% off in her store as well as a free cutting file at her blog.

Lori has also generously given me a $10 gift card to give away to one lucky visitor.  Leave a comment for a chance to win or become a follower of my blog, pinterest or my YouTube channel to increase your odds.  The winner will be announced on Monday, February 17th.  :)
a Rafflecopter giveaway

One last thing (I promise).  I feel I must shout it from the rooftops that Silhouette is currently offering a wonderful 40% off sale through February 14th on their designer software when you use the code "LORI".  I didn't realize how much I would love the upgrade!!!  My favorite new functions include the ability to use outside SVG files, increased knife and eraser functions and the addition of rulers and guides.  Seriously handy and they all add so much flexibility to your design process!  :)

You're next stop on the hop is Natalie's blog!  :)

Lori Whitlock

Brigit Mann
Christine Ousley 
Corri Garza 
Mendi Yoshikawa  (You are here)
Natalie Graham 
Traci Penrod 

Chrissy Guido
Ashley Cook
Lorrie Nunemaker  
Mary Moseley
Smitha Katti
Stephanie Chavers

Make sure to check out all the wonderful ideas on my fellow teammates blogs and leave them some love.  Thanks so much for stopping by.  :)

A Technique Tuesday Hugs & Smooches Valentine's Day Card

For today's project I have a Valentine's day card using papers from American Crafts XOXO collection and a combination of cute sentiment stamps by Technique Tuesday (Puffy Hearts and Hash Tags & More).

For my card base, I used the Heart Card Silhouette cutting file by Studio Ilustrado and just omitted the interior heart cutouts, instead using those hearts to cut out from different patterned papers.  I had tried something similar by hand on this card HERE (fussy cutting my own edge around the hearts), but this one went together so much quicker.  If you like the look of the other card with larger hearts, I imagine it would be pretty easy to adjust the size accordingly.  ;)

Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope you have an awesome weekend!  :)

Papertrey Ink 7th Anniversary Sketch Challenge Cards

I'm taking a break from Valentine themed projects today to share a couple of cards I made yesterday from some of my Papertrey Ink stash in honor of their 7th Anniversary festivities.  The challenge is to create a card with a sketch and one of their color recipes found HERE.

While I had my inks out I decided to go ahead and make two cards with slight variations using the same color recipe and sketch.  I don't own Papertrey Ink paper or ink colors so I had to do my best to substitute. :)

For my first card I used the Mat Stack 5 die and then stamped a gingham background over the top.  For the subtitle portion of my card, the sentiment ran a little long for the space I had available so I snipped it between words to create three individual lines of text and to better fit the space I had to work with.

This was my first time playing with my Sweet Life multi-layered rose stamps and I am in love.  Such pretty results with so little effort!  To finish off my roses I added a little stickles glitter glue to their petals.

For my second card I wanted to try a bit different look with the woodgrain print and rhinestone details, moving my rose grouping to the right to better fit my change in sentiment.

To create my cards today I used the following Papertrey Ink items:

• Mat Stack 5 Die
• Modern Wood Mats Stamp Set
• Wonderful Words Additions Stamp Set
• Wonderful Words Dies
• Pinking Shears Border Die
• Background Basics: Gingham Stamp Set
• The Sweet Life Stamp Set

Thanks so much for stopping by.  :)

A Pebbles Yours Truly Valentine's Day Card

I have a little last minute card I made this week for my local scrapbook store's "card club".  Each month they provide us with a couple supplies in a baggy and ask us to return with a card sharing how we used the supplies we were given.  For this month's challenge we each received a card base from Pebbles Yours Truly 5.5 x 8.5 Cardmaking Pad (I got the one shown in the bottom, right corner) and a small strip of Doodlebug Heart Pearls.

I had already bought several papers & the matching rub-ons from this super cute collection so I was excited to have a good excuse to play with them!  I decided to cut my card base into a 3.75" square and to cut the heart out with my cutting knife (leaving a small border) to create a little window of sorts.  Afterwards I popped it up with foam tape and added some of their "Sweet Nothings" paper to the negative cutout.  I then cut a banner on my Silhouette and used the "Love" sentiment from Pebbles Watermark Rub-ons.

For my final finishing touches I used my Doodlebug Heart Pearl in the center of the "O" and stamped the word "you" using Technique Tuesday's Simply You by Ali Edwards stamp set. So simple and yet I think the papers make it so sweet!

I'll be back on Friday with another card.  Until then, I hope you have a craft happy day!  :)

An Echo Park Love Story Ombre Heart Valentine's Day Card

Hi there!  Popping in today to share a diecut heart card I made using Echo Park's Love Story collection (designed by Lori Whitlock) and a simple heart shape on my Silhouette software.

For this card I wanted the hearts to get progressively bigger from top to bottom AND I wanted to create an ombre effect by slowly transitioning from pink to red with the various patterned papers.  With this design goal in mind, the Silhouette was the perfect tool!  It was so easy to line them up and size them as needed.  I finished off my card with a little hand-stitched felt heart and a sticker label from the collection kit.

This was another fun and fairly easy card to make!  If you don't happen to own a Silhouette machine, you could also use THIS heart die set by Lawn Fawn for a similar look.

Thanks so much for swinging by!  :)