Bella Blvd | So Lucky...

Hi there friends! Today I want to share my inspiration layout that's up on the Bella Blvd blog today! The design team were given an image of a shamrock/four-leaf clover and I literally transferred the patchwork idea & shape, directly to my layout! 

"So Lucky"

products used: cs - American Crafts; pp - Bella Blvd; alpha - Bella Blvd; other - Bella Blvd: enamel hearts, chipboard; paint, embroidery floss; tools - typewriter, silhouette portrait.

This story documents a tiny snippet of friendship between these two rascals! I love them both to pieces, my youngest son and his bestie, but boy... they can get into mischief! LOL! And to look at them, you'd think they were the most innocent creatures on this earth! HA! Don't. be. fooled. *wink*

Anyway, if you'd like to see more on how this layout was created and the more subtle ways this Pinterest photo inspired me, head on over to the Bella Blvd blog.  I'd love to see you there.

Thanks for visiting..x

Jot Magazine | October Mood Board!

Hello Friends!  I am pretty excited about this month's mood board over at Jot Magazine because I had the pleasure of selecting a few Pinterest images to be brought together to try and inspire! I must of had water colour on the mind particularly as the inspiration pieces, that made it to the board, came together.. *grin*

In truth, it really was the water colour world map that started my journey through the myriad of goodness on Pinterest. I just knew that I had to incorporate the same (or similar) process on a page. Here's what I came up with..

"Happy"

products used: cs - American Crafts; pp - October Afternoon; alpha - American Crafts thickers; other - water colour paint, Heidi Swapp colorshine, black sharpie pen, OA stickers and chipboard; tools - silhouette portrait, typewriter, sewing machine.

I started out by searching for a free downloadable image via Google for a "flat world map". After saving the image and converting it to a .jpg file, I was then able to trace the outside image of the map in my silhouette software.

A lot of the detail was too fine for my cutting machine, so I removed any great lakes or small islands from the image before I sent it to be cut out from sturdy cardstock.

This then left the basic outline to use as a water colour stencil directly onto my background layout cardstock.

From my collection of Heidi Swapp colorshine mist and water colour paint palette, I proceeded to lightly brush over the openings in the stencil - allowing drying time between each colour. Add some water to your mist on a separate palette to achieve a washed out look.  Tip: Use washi tape to secure the stencil/mask to the back ground cardstock to prevent movement between each paint layer. To obtain a softness between the colours, brush the cardstock with water before adding the paint.

After my background technique was completed, I started to take other elements from the moodboard. Especially the hand drawn circles with the "focus on happy" theme.

The remainder of the layout came together very easily by adding a touch of florals (fussy cut from the October Afternoon patterned paper) and grounding all the elements with the black die cut heart shapes.

If you would like to play along with this mood board challenge... (and I'd really love for you to try it out!! *grin*) Please, come and visit the Jot Magazine blog to check out the details.  Happy scrapping and thanks for visiting here today.

Jillibean Soup | Life is Good...

Hello Friends! Thanks for staying with me this week as I share some of my Jillibean Soup layouts from the past few months.  The layout I am sharing today was created from the Spicy Social Soup collection.

 

"Life Is Good"

 

products used: cs - American Crafts; pp - Jillibean Soup (Spicy Social Soup); other - Jillibean Soup: pea pod parts, soup labels, clear stamps; tools - typewriter, ink.

 

Some of my favourite products from Jillibean Soup are the Pea Pod Parts.  Otherwise known as die-cuts! The ones from the Spicy Social Soup collections are especially fun and can be applied to so many different situations!

 

 

Here I've used them to enhance the story between my teen & tween! I have built them up in layers both on and around my photo.  I've even included some soup labels (stickers) and fussy cut elements from the patterned papers.

 

 

 

Another fave product that I've used on my page are the clear stamps.  

 

 

The hashtag stamps will win me over every. single. time!

 

 

 

Thanks again for visiting me here today. Please come back tomorrow for my final Jillibean Soup Lovefest instalment - cards!

 

 



Bella Blvd | Pinterest Inspired...

 

Hello Friends! As it is school holidays here at the moment, I've taken a few minutes to sneak away from the kids to post a layout created for Bella Blvd.  This challenge came from a Pinterest Inspired image that Laura found online. Isn't it gorgeous!  And perfect for March.  *ahem*... Yep. I know it's April!  EEEEEK!!  I did mention school holidays.. right? LOL!

 

 

Anyway... Here is what I took and created from the image above.

 

"Mad Skill"

 

products used: cs - American Crafts; pp - Bella Blvd (Color Chaos, Freestyle Sophisticates); alpha - Bella Blvd; other - Bella Blvd: enamel dots, whatnots chipboard, die cuts, stickers; Mr Huey's mist; tools - sewing machine, typewriter.

 

Don't you just want to add a "Z" to the title?  I certainly do. But alas, there wasn't quite the room to do it justice.

 

 

The star trail was just a fun little element I pulled from the reverse side of the Color Chaos patterned paper.  So I ran with it! But what started it all was the ombre shades of green in a block formation behind the photos.

 

 

Don't forget to head on over to Bella Blvd this week to check out the new line up of designers for 2015. Their introductions are currently being made.

 

Thanks for visiting me today..x

 



JOT Magazine | March Mood Board...

Hello Friends!! Up on the Jot Magazine blog today, the Jot Girls are sharing how the March Mood Board inspired us to create some fun projects. Check out the board here:

 

 

Here's what I created..

 

"Play" 

 

products used: cs - American Crafts, Bo Bunny; pp - Pebbles, Jillibean Soup; alpha - MFT alphabet dies; other - Dear Lizzy ephemera, Jillibean Soup soup label, studio calico wood heart veneer, enamel dots, paper clip, vellum sentiment, Heidi Grace sticker, October Afternoon mist, Kaisercraft rub-ons; tools - silhouette portrait, Scaptastic Club clear stamps, small cloud punch.

 

 

I created the 3x4 card using my Silhouette Portrait and a favourite nursery rhyme.  From there I simply layered my colour matched products and shared my story with hidden journaling.

 

 

----quick tutorial-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

To create your own nursery rhyme cut file, open a new file in Silhouette and using the rounded corner rectangle, create a shape at 3" wide x 4" high. This forms your background/base card.

 

Click on the text icon and type in your selected phrase.  I created a different text box for each line of text.  This allowed me to resize and alter the spacing between the words.  I also used the Aharoni font. Once each line of the nursery rhyme is sized to your satisfaction, hold the 'shift' key and select the entire cut file. You can now centre the phrase inside the box. 

 

Hold the 'shift' key and select the entire cut file once again and then group all the elements together by right clicking the mouse.

Now you can send the file to your silhouette to be cut out.
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Thanks for visiting today.  I hope you get to play along over at Jot for your chance to win an awesome prize from 'APOCD'.  Good luck...x

 

 

Bella Blvd | Project Life...

Hi Everyone!  Just wanted to share a PL spread created for Bella Blvd.  Week 27 | June 30 - July 6.  

 

 Week 27 was a very busy week for my family. I had a high volume of photos to include plus several significant events to record! And because of the complexity of all these events, I needed to use colours that would be universal across the spread. Luckily for me, all of the Bella Blvd collections compliment each other!

 

Here's a more detailed look at the spread...

 



 

For more info on the who, what, where & when, please head on over to Bella Blvd.  Thanks for visiting today...x

 



Supplies: Scattered Sprinkles: Oreo Sprinkles, Ice Sprinkles, Just Write Journaling Stickers, Treasures & Text; Summer Squeeze: Pocket Full of Posies, Borders, Daily Details; Max: Trinkets, Paper Pieces; Molly: Candid Cards; Lucky Starz: Pickle Juice Starz, Candid Cards, Trinkets; Family Forever: Trinkets; Snapshots: Captions, Tabs, Everyday Bookplates; Christmas Countdown: Captions; Birthday Boy: Cute Cuts, Alpha+Bits; Mr. Boy: Dinomite; High Five Alpha Stickers: Black-White; Flags: Cat 

Bella Blvd | Pinterest Inspiration...

 

Hello Friends!  Happy Friday!  Today I have a Bella Blvd layout to share with you and it all started with some paperclips!!!

 

 

Every now and then the design team are challenged with an image found on Pinterest.  Laura does a fabulous job at sourcing these images and I always have fun with the ones I am assigned to.  This one however, had me scratching my head a little!  LOL!! But I have to admit, with a some thinking outside the box, I have come to really like the finished product.  *grin*

I think it was the paperclips that had me umming and ah-ing.  But I knew I was drawn to the notebook paper and the green polka dots.  The red?... Yeah, I left that in the Inspiration photo! LOL!

 

 

"Awesome Trouble"

 

products used: pp - Bella Blvd (Max, Lucky Starz, Family Forever); other - Bella Blvd: stickers, arrow stickers, die-cuts; paperclips, date stamp; tools - typewriter, hand stitching.

 

The title was fussy cut from the photo mat paper (Max: That's my Boy) and then hand stitched back on top of it.  I kind of like the camouflage look it creates.

The banner on the paperclip is taken from the Inspiration photo, as are the circles on the page.  These circles are meant to represent the circles on the paperclips from the top part of the Inspiration picture.

I've also created a little pocket under the photo layers to house my journaling.  This photo of my son and his two best mates, is priceless.  Do you know how hard it is to take a photo of just one eleven year old boy, never mind three of them???  *ahem... - I had them pinned up against a wall in the photo!!!*

And of course, no boyish layout created with the Max collection, should ever be without these awesome paper pieces!  That army guy is a fave!!!   LOL!

 

Head on over to the Bella Blvd blog for more takes on the Pinterest Challenge.  Thanks for visiting..x

 

 

 

Sassy Scrapper | Project Life Week 6...

Hi Everyone.  Over on the Sassy Scrapper  blog today I am sharing my PL | Week Six spread.

 

 

 

For more details, close up shots and my tips for using stamps on your spreads, please visit Sassy.  I'd love to see you there..x


 

Bella Blvd | Monday Challenge...

Hi Friends!  I'm back with another Monday Morning Challenge from Bella Blvd.  And this week it is all about long titles!

 

 

 

"Always look on the bright side of Life because Right Now we have Mango to Eat!"

 

 

SORRY

 

OUT FOR PUBLICATION

products used: cs - Kaisercraft; pp - Bella Blvd (Family Forever, Max, Lucky Starz); alphs - Bella Blvd; other - Bella Blvd: crochet hearts, stickers, labels; tools - date stamp.

Long enough title for you? LOL!! This week, I also challenged myself to try and tell the story in the title alone.  Can you tell that my 'happy-go-lucky' four year old loves mango? *grin* 

 

 

If you would love to see more takes on the challenge, head on over to Bella Blvd.  We'd love to see you there.  Thanks for visiting..x