Pebbles Inc. Viewmaster Photo Collage for Father's Day

Hello there!  A couple weeks back on the Pebbles blog I shared this fun and easy layout focused on an enlarged viewmaster shape which I cut out on my Silhouette using a mix of Pebbles Cottage Living and Happy Day collections.

When Pebbles asked me to create a scrapbook layout for Father's day I was a little stressed.  Our family is notorious about forgetting to pull out the camera and document the day.  I decided that doesn't mean I can't still show my husband how much he means to me by using a photo collage of some of my favorite pictures of him over the years.

I searched online for various titles (I love to hit THIS site and THIS site) and this sweet phrase caught my eye.  It's a bit on the long side, but by some miracle it fit my available space perfectly.  I love that Pebbles offered these great Thickers in both black and ivory because it was just what I needed to break up the two lines and make it easier to read!  I think they are awesome for a masculine project too!  :)

To add a little extra detail and color, I added pennants to the bottom of my page layered with one of the beautiful gold metal labels.  I have always been a huge fan of bookplates so I am excited to see these making a comeback!  To tie in the black & gold Thickers, I printed my journaling using a white font in a black text box.  Sadly printers can't print in white ink so this is a great way to get around it.

To center my title on the curve I used a circle die (a bit larger than my journaling circle) and wrote out my title on a piece of scratch paper.  I then counted to the center of each line.  When I found the center mark, I was able to put down my letters down starting from the top, center part of my page (and again from the bottom, center) and work my way out on each side.  I thought I would have to really play with the letters to get them all to fit, but to my delight they all fell into place with natural spacing and very little fuss.

The circle die was the perfect tool to push my letters against and keep everything looking straight.  When putting down my letters I just tried to imagine the center as a spoke of a wheel and to apply them radiating out from the center.  When I was done and had the letters just the way I wanted them, the die easily lifted right out.

For my journaling I used a circle shape to type my journaling in Microsoft Word so I could figure out how many words would fit on each line.  When I had everything just right, I changed my circle line to transparent (or no line at all) before printing.  I then used the same circle die I had used to cut my patterned paper to trace a circle around my journaling.  Since the die's edge is slightly larger than where it actually cuts, it was a quick way to adhere my die-cut circle and get my spacing perfect.

I then used photo splits to temporarily adhere my die-cut circle to my printer paper and ran it through my printer one more time.  Photo splits are the perfect adhesive for projects like this because they are not too sticky and can easily peel off afterwards.

Here's one last look at the finished layout with a parting tip.  For my little photos I cut them apart leaving small borders around each and then taped them to the back of the viewmaster die-cut before adhering it to my 12x12 background.  If you don't have Photoshop, creating photo collages on a 4x6 photos using Picasa (which also happens to be free) is a great way to shrink and print smaller sized photos.  In case you missed it before I shared a tutorial on this process on Pebbles blog awhile back HERE.

I hope I've inspired you to scrapbook about an amazing man in your life this Father's Day!  Thanks so much for stopping by.  :)

Supplies Used (available at Simon Says Stamp)

• Pebbles Inc. Jen Hadfield METAL LABELS Cottage Living
• Pebbles Inc. Jen Hadfield WHITE Gold Foil Letter Stickers Thickers
• Pebbles Inc. Jen Hadfield BLACK Gold Foil Letter Stickers Thickers
• Pebbles Inc. HAPPY DAY 6 x 6 Paper Pad
• Silhouette CAMEO Digital Cutting Machine

Supplies Used (available at Scrapbook.com):

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Lori Whitlock Pop-Up Work Bench Father's Day Card

Hi there!  Today I have a Father's Day card up on Lori's blog using her adorable Work Bench Pop Up Card cutting file.

Lori's cutting file focuses on the inside of the card so I was a bit stumped on how to decorate the front.  I decided to enlarge a few of the tools found on the inside and pair them with a banner from her Journaling Shapes 2 set and a custom sentiment using her Friendly Font.

While her card is adorable all on it's own, I wanted to find a way to dress it up and make it my own so I decided to stamp the workbench with a woodgrain background stamp and to add a fun checkerboard floor by cutting extra 1/2" black squares on my Silhouette.  I finished off my card with a sentiment stamp from Lawn Fawn's Happy Everything set.

If I'm being honest making cards for men can be tough, but luckily Lori has a number of fun, interactive cards that are perfect for the guys in your life.  You can find this card along with many other great choices in her shop HERE.  I hope I've inspired you to make some fun cards of your own this Father's Day.  :)

Other Supplies Used (available at Scrapbook.com)

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Other Supplies (available at Simon Says Stamp)

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Pebbles Americana Patriotic Window Treat Bags + A Sale

A couple weeks back I had the pleasure of sharing these easy Patriotic treat bags on the Pebbles blog and today I thought I would share them with all of you!  :)   I made them when I was requested to come up with some Memorial Day gift ideas, but in the back of my mind I was thinking I would love to make something that would also work to hand out to my friends and family over the 4th of July.  The Fourth is a special holiday in our home so I was excited to use one of my favorite Pebbles collections from the past year: Americana!

To dress up my bags I cut out a fun handled topper from patterned paper using a cutting file designed by Lori Whitlock (available for purchase in the Silhouette store HERE or as an SVG file HERE) and embellished with some fun pinwheels, ribbon and sentiment stickers from the collection.

I also created a clear window in my bag to show off some patriotic cookies.  In hindsight I may or may not have been regretting that decision.  LOL!  I was really trying to make  THESE  beautiful cookies I found on Pinterest to show through my little window, but I should have remembered how little talent I actually have in the kitchen.  Somehow my white dough got lost in the middle and I ended up settling for more of a marbled look.

To create the window in my glassine bags I centered a scalloped circle die from the Homemade collection approximately one inch from the bottom edge and secured it with washi tape to keep it from shifting while running it through my die-cutting machine.

I then slid a slightly smaller clear plastic party bag down the center to hold my cookie.  It was super easy and yet I think the window adds a special detail to the project (particularly if you are a better baker than me).  ;) 

Here's one last look at the completed treat bags.  I tried to keep them simple to make them easy to mass produce for my party.  I think these would also make great take home treats for a child's birthday!

Before I go I wanted to tell you about a sweet sale that is going on over at Scrapbook.com today through June 14th at midnight PST.  If you use the code EXTRA793 you can get an extra 10% your entire order!  I think I just might need to place another order for a few more items on my wish list.  ;)

Supplies Used (available at Scrapbook.com):

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