A Summer Beach Ball Card with Lawn Fawn Sentiment

Today I have a card to share using a much neglected supply in the back of my drawer:  My Fiskars paper crimper!  I literally had to dust it off to create this card, but after challenging myself to play with it for a recent Paper Crafts magazine call, I gotta say I feel in love with it again.

For my beach inspired card I crimped cardstock strips in 6 different colors and then much like popular Sizzlits Rosette Die by Tim Holtz, I just pieced the colors together glued the strip to a cardstock circle and hid my adhesive with a button.

My waves were cut using various circle punches and for my sentiment I turned to Lawn Fawn's adorable Swimsuit Season.  This was a lot of fun to create!

I created a few more cards with my crimper that can be seen in the upcoming issue of Paper crafts Cool Tools: Volume 2 due out soon (the original Cool Tools special issue can be purchased HERE).   ;)

Technique Tuesday Layout with June's Memory Keepers Studio

I have a new layout to share using a couple fun, new products by Technique Tuesday!  If you haven't heard Technique Tuesday introduced 2 new clubs this month with one club for stamps called Memory Keepers Studio and one for dies called Fresh Cut Studio.

They give the option of purchasing them month to month with the stamp sets being $15 and the dies $10 or you can become a member and enjoy even greater benefits! Members enjoy a 25% discount off each month's studio product, a 15% discount on coordinating products, automatic delivery, (low $2 shipping within the USA) plus free shipping on additional products!  That's a sweet deal!

I had the pleasure of playing with this month's stamp and die set and they were really fun!  The June stamps are called Family Flair so I pulled out a recent photo my brother-in-law took of me with my Mother and three sisters.  It's getting more and more rare for all of us to be together in one spot so I adore this photo!

To tie in with my family theme, I used papers from Simple Stories Homespun collection and a Silhouette "Sisters" cutting file by Jamie Koay.  I thought these papers and cutouts complimented the Technique Tuesday stamps and dies perfectly!

I decided these flair stamps would look pretty cool stamped on cork so I used the Fresh Cut Studio Flair Maker circle dies to cut out some thin sheets of cork (by DCWAV) and then stamped them with the flair to create my visual triangle.

I've been hesitating whether I should reveal this, but the dripping of my Mister Huey's got out of control so I ended up having to shift my design to the right and add a few extra elements to cover my mistakes.  It's a bit busier than I originally planned so I'm still trying to decide how I feel about that...  ;)

Thanks for taking a peek.  :)

You can read more details about the Fresh Cuts Studio HERE and
more details about the Memory Keepers Studio HERE  :)

An Echo Park Summer Adventure Down By The Sea layout

I thought I would share a layout I created as a page challenge for my local Craft Warehouse's Scrapbook Club.

For this challenge we were each given the following:

• (1) 12x12 sheet of yellow cardstock
• (1) 6x12 sheet of Echo Park's Beach Icons paper (with waves on the back)
• 4 small summer puffy stickers (I used the sun which I layered with a Doodlebug sprinkle)

The rules of this challenge are that we must use a little bit of everything they give us, we must have at least two photos with a little bit of journaling and we can mix and match it with any other supplies we wish.  

I chose to use the beach icons paper with a circle punch, mounting them on banner using Papertrey Ink's Banner Builder Dies.  I added a little extra detail with some blue pearls and Papertrey Ink's pinking shears border die.  I must say this is one of my most used dies--I seriously love the it!

For my title I used American Crafts Thickers paired with some old American Crafts rub-ons I've been making a point to use more of.

As an extra embellishment I added a tag with a chipboard anchor, button and paper strip from last year's Fancy Pants Down By The Shore collection.  I love how well it matched the wave pattern on the back of the Echo Park paper!

It's definitely not a profound layout with a lot to say, but it feels good to get these super old vacation photos in a scrapbook where we can enjoy them.  :)

Cards using Doodlebug's Chevron Sugar Coated Cardstock

I'm super excited to be sharing some cards on Doodlebug's blog today that came out of recent play date I had with Doodlebug's new chevron sugar coated cardstock!

Up first I have a tone-on-tone silver and lily white wedding card.  I love how Doodlebug products can be elegant as well as cute.  For this card I cut my chevron cardstock into arrow like strips and then lined them up so the chevron carried across the card.  I added a little sprinkles vellum, a Congrats sticker and a Wedding Cake Doodle Pop and this card was done.  Super easy!

Up next I have a card cutting the chevron the other direction.  This might look intimidating, but it was actually quite simple.  I didn't want to to mess with lining up my cuts on both sides so I only cut one edge from each color and left a little extra with a straight edge to go under the row below it.  And my secret to cutting the chevron edge quickly?  I used my trimmer to cut close to the peek of the chevron stripe (careful not to clip off the tip) and then took my scissors and cut all the marks to the left and then again to the right until all the little triangle V's were removed.

Up last is another quick card I created with my leftovers.  I had cut 12" long strips from the chevron cardstock and thought while I had everything out I might as well put them to good use.  ;)

This chevron sugar coated cardstock is even more fun than I realized and I'm so glad I had some time to play with it and give it the full attention it deserves. 

12x12 Peacock Chevron Sugar Coated Cardstock

12x12 Bubble Gum Chevron Sugar Coated Cardstock

12x12 Bumblebee Chevron Sugar Coated Cardstock

12x12 Lilac Chevron Sugar Coated Cardstock

12x12 Tangerine Chevron Sugar Coated Cardstock

12x12 Lily White Chevron Sugar Coated Cardstock

12x12 Gray Chevron Sugar Coated Cardstock

Lily White Happy Birthday Doodles Cardstock Stickers

Lily White Congrats Doodles Cardstock Stickers

Silver Sprinkles Vellum

Doodle Pops - Sweet Cake

Doodle Pops - Sew Pretty

Doodle Pops - Wedding Cake

A Pebbles Garden Party Spring in Japan Layout

Happy Monday!  I hope you all had a great weekend!  :)  Today I thought I would share a layout I created using Pebbles Garden Party collection.

So I have a confession to make... I started with the plan to stamp the word hello in black and then if felt too harsh next to my die-cut flowers which had centers that were more charcoal in color.  I tried to remedy that by taking a marker to the flowers, but then it felt like they both didn't match the feel of my layout.  Sooo... I ended up salvaging them and covering them both.  I covered the hello stamp with Technique Tuesday's matching Say It Hello die (it took two to completely hide it) and covered the die-cut flower centers with some older American Crafts flowers.

Unfortunately that wasn't my only boo-boo to cover up.  After running the darling white scalloped journaling card through my printer, it printed terribly crooked and to fix that I decided to reprint them on some pink cardstock and cover it with strip style journaling.  Things just weren't going my way, but I think it goes to show almost anything can be fixed.  LOL!  :)

I love these sweet and simple birds from the collection!  I finished off my layout by stamping the date on the little die-cut ticket using some more Technique Tuesday date stamps from their Sentiment Tabs set.  :)

Thanks so much for hanging with me today.  :)

A Jillibean Soup Happy Camper Stew S'mores Gift Set

I almost forgot to share a little S'mores gift set I made which was featured in the summer issue of Scrapbook & Cards Today.   :)

I created this set with one of my all time favorite Jillibean Soup collections called Happy Camper Stew!  I found these flat little marshmallows at Walmart that are perfect for microwave smores all year 'round.

...And I decorated an acrylic box from The Container Store to hold the chocolate bars and graham crackers.

I'm thinking this will make a great little summer birthday gift for a certain guy who's hard to shop for.  ;)

Thanks for stopping by!  Hope you have an awesome weekend!  :)

A Lori Whitlock Sweet Sixteen Cupcake Card & Gift Bag

It's Mendi here and I'm so excited to be sharing a fun Birthday card and gift bag set that I made using several of Lori's darling shapes and papers from Echo Park's Splendid Sunshine!

This set came about because I was wanting to create a "Sweet 16" milestone birthday card.  I was thrilled to see that Lori already had the work done for me with her cute phrase (and even more thrilled to realize I had a "happy" stamp that matched perfectly from Avery Elle's Oh Yeah set).  I chose to turn the number 16 into candles with the help of a little embroidery floss and a flame cutting file from another candle by Lori.

For my cupcake I used some Glossy Accents on the sprinkles and flames and a paper piercer with a ruler to form holes so that I could hand-stitch the ribs in my cupcake wrapper (after ungrouping and removing other cutouts).

After I was done I thought it would be super fun to make a matching gift bag, but I didn't have any of Lori's newest cupcake boxes so I tried to get creative.  I took her apple favor box file (keeping the base the same size and discarding the apple portion) and enlarged that same cupcake to create a front and back for my little box.  I was able to sandwich a little ribbon between the layers to form my handles and it worked perfectly.

To create my little Birthday ensemble I used the following cutting files which are available for purchase in Lori's Shop:

• Cupcakes
• Apple Favor Box
• Simple Borders (zig zag)
• Cupcake Birthday Card (for flame)
• Phrase: Sweet 16 (Silhouette Store only)

I hope I've inspired you to play a bit today.  ;)

P.S.  Before I go I wanted to spread the word about an amazing opportunity that is opening up on Lori Whitlock's Creative Team.  She is currently on the search for a couple people to add to her team (both digital and paper crafters).  This is such a fantastic team to work for with sweet people and lots of perks.  If you love Lori's SVG cutting files and her Echo Park paper collections, this might be the perfect fit for you.  You can read all the details HERE.  :)

A Doodlebug Patriotic Parade Thank You Card

Just dropping in to share a quick little card I created for my local card club at Craft Warehouse using Doodlebug's Patriotic Parade collection.  I love how vibrant the colors are this collection and how the floral prints can be used all summer long.  :)

For my sentiment I used a sticker from the Stars & Stripes Quote Stickers, layering it over a flag from the Red, White & Blue Pixies Assortment.  A little Doodle twine and a yummy star sprinkles sticker and I was done.

I'll be back on Monday to share a fun new Birthday ensemble I made for Lori Whitlock.  I hope you have have a lazy and relaxing weekend.  :)

Lori Whitlock's July Blog Hop ~ A Tokyo Disney Layout

Hello and welcome to Lori Whitlock's July blog hop!  You should be arriving here from Corri's blog (or you can start from the beginning of the hop at Lori's blog).  ;)

Today I have a layout to share using Lori's adorable new We Are Family collection along with a number of her ultra cute cutting files!  

I really wanted to find a way to use the darling globe paper and when I came across these photos of my daughter on the train at Tokyo Disneyland I knew I had found the perfect subject to use it with.  To get my creative juices flowing I started off with a fun sketch (No. 160) by Liz Chidester.  

For my title I used some stickers from the collection and paired them with a title cut from red vinyl using the "Billabong" font.  I grounded my title by creating a little scene with Lori's Hot Air Balloon and clouds.

I chose to embellish the rest of my page with a couple of Lori's newest travel images.  I altered her adorable globe shape by un-grouping it and welding it to two basic circles for Mickey's ears before grouping them back together.  I love how it turned out!

To create my layout today I used the following SVG cutting files by Lori:

• 6 Clouds
• Travel Icons (camera)
• Travel Icons 5 (globe)
• 9 Starburst Seal Set
• Hot Air Balloon Card

In honor of today's hop Lori is giving everyone a free SVG download on her blog HERE.

She is also offering 30% off all shapes and fonts in her shop through Monday when you use the code "Summer".  Visit her shop to see all the new goodies she has in store!  :)

Be sure to check out all the other inspiring projects at my fellow teammates blogs and leave them some love.  Traci is your next stop in the hop.  :)

• Lori Whitlock
• Corri Garza 
• Mendi Yoshikawa (you are here) 
• Traci Penrod 
• Lorrie Nunemaker 
• Chrissy Guido 
• Stephanie Chavers 
• Ashley Cook 

Thanks so much for stopping by!   :)

Summer Treats with Doodlebug's Fruit Stand Collection

Today I'm sharing some gift ideas for sweet summer treats over at Doodlebug's blog using their adorable little bags with one of my all time favorite collections, Fruit Stand!

First up is a treat bag using the darling cherries from the collection.  I created my tag using a sticker from the collection which I traced onto printer paper and then cut out slightly smaller and adhered to the back of the sticker to cover up the stickiness.  For my cherry border I used a strip of patterned paper topped with a fancy frills border sticker which I cut in half lengthwise to form a scallop on both sides.  I finished it off my bag with a button added to the center of each cherry.

Next up I have a strawberry themed treat.  For my tag I wanted to use the little strawberry sticker tab but it wasn't quite fitting with my stamped sentiment so I simply took my craft knife with a metal edged ruler and trimmed it down.  A few Ladybug and Bubblegum Mini Jewels were added to the strawberries as a finishing touch.

I rounded out my trio of summer bags with a citrus theme!  The little sticker tag had a green lime on it that didn't quite match the rest of my bag so I covered it up with a darling orange doodle pop.

To carry out each my themes I used a lot of stickers from both the 12x12 This and That stickers and Fruit Stand Icon Stickers, along with coordinating twine and a stamp from Lawn Fawn's Happy Summer set.

These were so much fun to make and I'm hoping they will really brighten each recipients day!  :)

Thanks for stopping by.  :)

Lori Whitlock Little Man Car Shaped Card with Challenge

I’m excited to be hosting another Link Up party on Lori Whitlock's Blog today!  :)

Today's challenge is all about shaped cards!  I'm a sucker for shaped cards and Lori has sooo many good ones to chose from.  This challenge can also include shaped cards you create from 2D cutting files as I shared in a past video tutorial HERE. 

For my project I used Lori's darling Car Shaped Card and then added a doggie driver using her dog shaped card.  It's probably hard to tell, but I thought it would be fun to create a compound path and cut the windows out of both the card base and card front.  This allowed me to sandwich a piece of clear acetate between the layers for my car windows to peek through to the inside.

I embellished my car with some metallic paper, silver brads and some seriously ancient metal rim pieces by ScrapWorks called Hugz (they have metal prongs that pierce through the cardstock and fold over on the backside).  ;)

For the inside of my card, I added a fun sentiment from Technique Tuesday's new Mister Man stamp set.  Black enamel dots were the perfect finishing touch for my puppy dog's eyes.

For this challenge you can use any or Lori’s files from her SVG Shop or the Silhouette Online Store. You have until July 16th to link-up your project.  The winner will receive a gift card to Lori's shop and will be announced on her blog on July 17th!  

Have fun playing and let your creativity guide you.  I can't wait to see what you come up with!  :)