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 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.  ;)

 

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Happy Valentine's Day!!!  :)

I thought I would share a last minute, quick card I made for a monthly card challenge that I participate in at my local Craft Warehouse store.  For this card we were given a sheet of 6x6 paper from Bo Bunny's new Love Letters collection and the pink bow with self-adhesive. 

As I was pulling things together I realized it matched perfectly with some Bo Bunny Valentine's Day papers I had from years ago and some ancient Scrabble tile stickers that I just knew someday I would need (circa 2003).  LOL!   I paired them with Technique Tuesday's recently re-released stamp set "Adored" by Ali Edwards.

I was in a hurry so to speed up the process I thought it would be fun to scraplift a card from Pinterest.  This card by the amazing Betsy Veldman totally caught my eye!   You can check out some inspiration boards I have put together here.  I have started adding new pins to them daily with ideas I find at various blogs I frequent--Pinterest is such a great way to keep all your inspiration in one spot (and not clog up your hard drive like I was doing).  ;)

I hope you all have a wonderful day surrounded by those you love whether is be a significant other, kids or even your girlfriends.  I'm not sure if we will do something special yet or not...  My husband is Japanese and believes in taking the kids everywhere including anniversary dinners, Valentine's dinners, etc.  Going on romantic vacations as a child-free couple is something we've yet to do, BUT I am determined we will do it for our 25th (which is still a distant 8 years away).  Anyway, maybe it's time we start some sort of new Valentine's Day tradition.  Any suggestions?  I would love to hear how you spend your Valentine's Day.  :)

Quick & Easy Last Minute Valentine's Day Cards

How's it going?  Are you scrambling for last minute Valentine's Day cards?  If so I have a couple quick and easy cards to share today.

I think I created this first one in record time.  I seriously am a slow paper crafter, but I want to say I did this one in a matter of minutes!

Washi tape makes things super quick and easy.  I just cut the white cardstock square, lined up my first red polka-dot tape on the diagonal, lined up the remaining rows, folded over the edges.  The heart was diecut with a large heart punch and then I realized it might be cute to punch it again with a smaller heart and pop it up in the center.  The Love You Forever sentiment is from Papertrey Ink's Think Big Favorites #11 stamp set.  The base is just a simple scalloped rectangle that I cut two of on my Silhouette, scoring a 1/2" from the top and then adhering the two pieces together along that 1/2" section.

This second one uses the exact same sketch (found in the January/February 2013 issue of Paper Crafts magazine), but this time with a little more detail...

For this card I used BoBunny's Double dot papers and diecut multiple hearts arranged on the diagonal.  I then followed that with some machine stitching over the top.  My sentiment is taken from that same Papertrey Ink's Think Big Favorites #11 stamp set.  I had a chipboard heart laying around gather dust so I decided to cover it in matching paper as my focal point with a stitched border to tie it all together.  All in all a very fun sketch to play along with!  :)

Thanks for stopping by!

A Bo Bunny Boo Crew Halloween Layout

Hello Sweet Blog Followers!

How have you been?  I missed you last week!  With the coming of Fall I thought I would share a Halloween layout that I did using Bo Bunny papers from a couple years back.  If you hoard paper like me I'm guessing there's a good chance you have some of these papers in your stash.  ;)

 

The papers are from Bo Bunny's Boo Crew collection.  I love how the purples in these papers worked so well with my daughter's costume.  For the embellishments I turned to my Silhouette (of course) using Lori Whitlock's Bat Flourish shape as my focal point.  With the help of some glossy accents on top of black cardstock, I love how it makes this fun shape have the feel of something out of a Batman movie. 

The glitter ric rac was created by using Papertrey Ink's ric rac die paired with black glittered felt from Joann's.  I also had some fun with the buttons and using different colors of thread to sew them on.

Supplies Used:
Bo Bunny Boo Crew collection patterned paper
Trick or Treat Silhouette File by Loni Harris
Bat Flourish Silhouette File by Lori Whitlock
Scalloped Border Big Silhouette File by Lori Whitlock
3 Pumpkins Silhouette File by Lori Whitlock (used this outline with stem off another pumpkin)
Papertrey Ink Ric Rac die
EK Success circle punch (under buttons)
Making Memories White buttons
Glossy Accents
DMC embroidery floss
Black glitter felt (Joanns)

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Check back tomorrow afternoon when I will be sharing another Halloween layout featuring more fun Silhouette shapes!  :)

Hero Arts Enjoy the Ride Bicycle Card

Hey there!

Are you guys enjoying your Thursday?  There's something so magical about Thursday's knowing that Friday is right around the corner.  :)

My card today is yet another one I created for a past Craft Warehouse stamp club challenge.  For this one they gave us the B&W circle print ribbon and asked us to incorporate a round theme into our card.  Well, I took their request fully to heart and used layers of scallops, a circle frame and a bicycle stamp repeating the circle motif in the wheels.  :)

Supplies Used:

Patterned Paper- Bo Bunny

White Cardstock- Neenah Solar White

Black Cardstock- Craft Supply

Bicycle Stamp- Hero Arts

Sentiment Stamp- Papertrey Ink

Circle Dies- Spellbinders

Scallop Punch- EK Success

Flower- Prima

Brad- Making Memories

Markers- Copic

Ink- Colorbox Frost White



Thanks so much for dropping by! 

A Girly Cherry Themed Layout

Hi there!

Back today to share another oldie, but goodie. This was a runner up layout that I created several years ago to possibly submit for the Craft Warehouse Queen contest (which I talked about yesterday).

It uses an old Bo Bunny collection (called Cherry Pie I think), but the red and green color scheme continues to be a favorite of mine.

The circle and cherry stems were traced onto the layout and then I took a paper piercer to create my stitching holes for some hand stitching. I used some of Tim Holtz crackle paint on the chipboard bookplate and rhinestones were added to the button cherries for a touch of little extra detail .

Thanks for stopping by! :)

Supplies Used:
Cardstock- Bazzill Basics
Patterned Paper- Bo Bunny Cherry Pie Collection
Rub-ons- American Crafts
Chipboard bookplate- Basic Grey
Ribbon- May Arts (gingham), Bo Bunny (cherries)
Rhinestones- Me and My Big Ideas
Buttons-Craft Supply
Embroidery Floss- DMC
Corner Punch- EK Success (for scallop)
Circle Cutter- Fiskars
Colorbox Fluid Chalk Ink

A Late Valentine's Day Share

I have become completely hooked on the idea of these little treat bags. I made a handful of them for the girl's teachers (and one for Yoshi) in just over an hour using up old Paper scraps...


Then I made a couple more to surprise Sydney and Hayley with on Valentine's Morning...

I can totally see myself wanting to make these for all kinds of occasions (Easter, Halloween surprises for the neighbors, etc). I kinda wish I would have thought to make these years ago for co-worker's birthdays. It's like a card and small present all wrapped into one. Would even be cute to put a couple home-made cookies into. Anyway, needless to say I think they are my new favorite, quick and easy project! :)

Knee Deep in Valentine's Day Cards

Well, right around Christmas I was officially overcome with a cardmaking obsession. Honestly I've never really had a passion for making cards, but at the last minute our Church decided to have a craft bazar and I thought it might be fun to make cards to sell. Well, it didn't take long for me to realize I wouldn't have enough made in time so I sat this year out. BUT, for next year I thought if I could make about a dozen each month I would be ready without too much panic come next December. Apparently it turns out I'm not capable of doing anything half way so I have been in a word OBSESSED (so much so that I was overtaken with an idea for Christmas cards so now I have finished my cards for next year--Woo-Hoo!) Anyway, I recently came to the conclusion that I will have way too many cards to sell in a 1-day Bazar so yesterday I sat down and opened a "store" at Etsy and I sold my first card this morning. :D

You can view my store front at http://www.etsy.com/shop/snippetsbymendi

Here are a few of my favorites that I produced assembly line style this week:

Supplies: Hero Arts Stamps (Cupcake/Polka-dots), CK Puppy Love Font, Copic Markers, Stickles & Diamond Glaze.

Supplies: Hero Arts Stamp, Copic Markers, American Crafts Paper, Fiskars Border Punch, Stickles, Diamond Glaze.

Supplies: Hero Arts Stamps (Hugs & Kisses, Birds & Stripes), Versafine Ink, Stickles, BoBunny Paper.

I am completely in love with Hero Arts new stamps! I have a mile long wish list. I bought these birdies on an impulse buy yesterday. They weren't even on my list, but when I saw them this card idea popped into my head. I also treated myself to this striped background which I saw in their catalog can be turned into checks just by stamping it in two directions. So clever!

The Copic Markers were one of my Christmas presents to myself. They're a bit on the expensive side, but I'm head over heals in love (and I'm actually using them vs. collecting them). If you haven't heard of Copic Markers I would highly recommend checking them out. Here are a few of my favorite websites I found on them:

This is just a good general question and answer website: http://debbiedesigns.typepad.com/muse_and_amuse/FAQs_on_Copic_Markers.html

Here's the cheapest place to buy them and they offer free shipping on Sketch Marker purchases over $100: http://www.carpediemstore.com/listCategoriesAndProducts.asp?idCategory=24

Here's a great website who also sells them and her color recommendations are awesome: http://www.ellenhutson.com/servlet/the-971/COPIC-Sketch-Marker-Sets/Detail

I like this site's color recommendations too: http://www.papertreyink.com/acc_copics_sketchmarkers.html

Here's a cool website that did a test using the markers with different inks and papers: http://ilikemarkers.blogspot.com/search/label/paper

Happy Crafting! :)