Jillibean Soup | Wish...

Hey Friends! Have you gat a stash of wood veneers just lying around begging to be used? Well It is time to break them free and create.  This layout, created for Jillibean Soup shares some fun, yet simple ideas on how to make the best use of wood veneers.

"Wish"

products used: cs - American Crafts; pp - Jillibean Soup Spoonful of Soul; alphas - Jillibean Soup; embellishments - Jillibean Soup wood veneers & shapes, pea pod parts, wood dots, enamel shapes, adhesive sequins; other - embroidery thread; tools - typewriter, metal tag die.

Fussy cutting and hand stitching are all part of the design to draw the eye towards these fun embellishments.

Don't forget to head on over to the Jillibean Soup blog for more ideas. Thanks for visiting..x

Jillibean Soup | Stamping & Diecut Tutorial...

Hello Friends! I just wanted to share a tutorial posted on the Jillibean Soup blog recently. They've released a lot of fun new products including stamps and coordinating metal dies! 

Of course I couldn't resist playing with these goodies!! *grin*

"Memories"

products used: cs - American Crafts; pp - Jillibean Soup Farmhouse Stew; other: JBS Farmhouse Stew: pea pod parts, puffy stickers, clear stamps & dies; embroidery floss, ink; tools - typewriter.

Head on over and check out the full tutorial. Thanks so much for visiting..x

Pebbles | Lullaby...

Hello Friends! I'm sharing a layout today on the Pebbles Inc blog, using the new Lullaby collection..

products used: cs - American Crafts; pp - Pebbles Inc: Lullaby; alpha - Pebbles/American Crafts thickers; other - Pebbles Inc: stickers, die cuts; embroidery thread; tools - typewriter, machine stitching.

I'd love for you to pop on over and check out the details! Thanks for visiting..x

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

Bella Blvd | Pinterest Inspiration...

Hello Friends! Today on the Bella Blvd blog we are sharing a little Pinterest Inspiration...

I immediately fell in love with the gorgeous colours, not to mention the string art!

"Family Love"

products used: cs - American Crafts; pp - Bella Blvd Illustrated Faith; other - Bella Blvd: chipboard, stickers, enamel dots; embroidery thread; tools - typewriter, paper piercer, foam dots.

I wanted to go crazier than my normal hand stitching/string art attempts in the past.  This layout called for a full length effort!

Head on over to Bella Blvd to check out how I put this page together and while there, to a look at the inspiration from the other Bella DT girls Stephanie & Laurie!!

Thanks for visiting..x

Jillibean Soup | Sweet Dreamer...

Hello Friends! It's been another busy week around here and already the weekend is almost upon us! Today I wanted to share my layout that's up on the Jillibean Soup blog. I've been playing with the new Sew Sweet Sunshine Soup collection and might have taken it in a slightly different direction to what it is initially meant to help document! *grin* However, having said that, now that I look at my layout once again, I really haven't lost the craftiness element of its intention, but merely tweaked it! LOL!

 

"Sweet Dreamer"

 

products used: cs - American Crafts; pp - Jillibean Soup (Sew Sweet Sunshine Soup); alpha - Jillibean Soup alphabeans; other - Jillibean Soup: mini placemats, wood sprinkles, stickers, labels, die cut cork, bakers twine, pompom garland, happy hues, enamel stars; other - machine stitching, typewriter.

 

 

My goal was to create a textural dream catcher using the Sew Sweet Sunshine Soup mini placemats.  The heart and embroidery hoop die cuts were the perfect shape and size to be layered against my 4x6 photo.

 

The colour palette of the dream catcher came about by accident. At first if was a solid colour of yellow and I changed my mind and wanted it to be more of an aqua shade, so once the first layer was dry, I painted directly over it again with the second colour. I still wasn't completely happy with the choices I made and after playing with the shapes, moving them about on my page (for what seems like ages!!!) I accidently flipped it to the reverse side and liked what I saw!  Definitely an happy accident! 

 

 

To achieve the dream catcher look, the mini placemats were first adhered to the patterned paper background before I added evenly spaced holes with a paper piercer. It was just a simple matter to then stitch randomly between the holes with the yellow embroidery thread.

 

The rest of the dream catcher threads were created from homemade twine tassels and pompom garlands.

 

I hope you get the chance to visit the Jillibean Soup blog and check out the inspiration from the other design team girls.  It's totally worth your while!  Thanks for visiting..x

 

 



Bella Blvd | Invisibles & Ears...

Hello Lovely Friends!  This poor little blog has been somewhat neglected again. But I am back today to share a layout created for Bella Blvd.  This blog post's title seems a little strange if not down right bizarre. I promise however, once I share, it will all start to make sense! LOL!

 

 

This week on the Bella blog, the creative team are focusing their creative minds on how to use the Invisibles Specialty papers. I love these transparencies; they are a little thicker than normal transparency paper and a lot sturdier than vellum sheets. Here's my project..

 

"Ears"

 

products used: cs - American Crafts; pp - Bella Blvd: Campout; Simply Spring; Bella Blvd Invisibles - Click! Click!, Blessings, Chit Chat, A Day At A Time; other - Bella Blvd: Treasures & Text, Enamel Dots, Crochet Hearts, Ciao Chip chipboard, Bella Bows; embroidery thread; Tools - typewriter, machine stitching, paper piercer.

 

Is the title starting to make sense now? *grin*

 

When putting this layout together, I knew I wanted to create a fun title! I wanted it to be large and I wanted the title to have layers - much like you would see on an illustration of a bunny rabbit.  With the Simply Spring collection and the fabulous Color Chaos Invisibles range I've created a fun look held together with hand stitching!

 

 

The first step was to select my patterned papers and cut large title letters with my silhouette. I followed the same procedure when cutting the letters from the transparent sheets of Invisibles. Before choosing which letter would be layered with which Invisible sheet, I made certain I could see both the patterned paper and Invisibles features. To finish off the title, I pre-pierced holes through both layers and hand stitched with coordinating thread.

 

 

To add to my layout, I've placed a white Bella Bow directly to the photo to make it look a bow tie. And I don't know if you can see in the photo or not, but this boy is pushing his very loose tooth over the top of his lip to get the "toothy" bunny rabbit effect!

 

 

Finally, I've played with the journaling to form a circle on white cardstock. Another subliminal message that I was documenting Easter, referring to not so round Easter Eggs!

 

 

Thanks for visiting today.  I hope you get the chance to visit the Bella blog this week for more fun inspiration using the Invisibles Specialty papers..x

 

 

 



Jillibean Soup | Family...

Hello Friends!  This week I am having a little Jillibean Soup Lovefest! *grin* I have a few layouts to share that have somehow slipped under the radar!  Eeeek!  SO I have decided that I will take it upon myself to correct this error over the next few days.

 

First up I want to share with you these fabulous wire words!

 

I use them regularly and in fact, I've almost gone through all of the ones I have in my stash! They are quite delicate, light weight and I love to attach them directly to my layouts using a strategically placed cross stitch or two.

 

"Family"

 

products used: cs - American Crafts; pp - Jillibean Soup (Birthday Bisque); other - Jillibean Soup: wire words, mini placemat, wood sprinkles, enamel stars, wooden nickles, soup labels, kraft tape; embroidery thread; tools - typewriter.

 

 

I also love using them in lieu of alpha titles.

 

Thanks for visiting me here today!  I hope you will re-join me tomorrow for some more Jillibean Soup love...x

 



Sassy Scrapper | Project Life Week One...

Hello Everyone!  Up on the Sassy Scrapper blog this week I am sharing my first PL spread for the year!  There's plenty of Summery goodness using the gorgeous Amy Tangerine Stitched collection...

 

 

 

Head on over and check out the details!  Thanks for visiting..x

 

 

 

Scraptastic Club | Heartbeats...

Hello Everyone!  It is almost the end of the year and  today I want to share with you a little super fast inspiration, using the gorgeous December Heartbeats kit from Scraptastic Club.

 

 

December is a really busy month in my household, but it doesn't necessarily mean I stop being creative!  To keep myself from going a little nuts during the holiday season, I love to play with pretty paper and shiny things!! And the Heartbeats kit has plenty of both.  But remember that part where I said December is really busy?  To keep myself from stressing even more (by starting something I can't finish!) I often take inspiration from a layout, to also create a card.  It's a two for one deal!

 

 

I've kept my layout simple, highlighting my photo with embellishments and layers.

"Love What You Do"

products used: Scraptastic Club Kit - Heartbeats; Add On - Heartbeats; Stamp Set - Heartbeats; Cut Aparts - Heartbeats; tools - hand stitching, typewriter.

 

The patterned paper guided my placement for the photo with it's vignette.  The darker grey around the outside edges, frames the photo.  Using a black and white photo takes away all the guess work when it comes to selecting a color palette.  I have chosen a complementary teal to work with the grey and then added bright pops of yellow for fun!

 

 

Hand stitching can sometimes be time consuming, but by using the Heartbeats clear stamps as a guide, I can quickly make the stamped image a feature.

 

I've finished my layout by journaling directly onto the Heartbeats cut aparts and mounting it onto foam dots for more dimension.

 

 

The clear stickers have been placed directly onto white cardstock and then embellished with puffy stickers from the kit.

 

 

After creating this layout, I had plenty of leftover supplies already sitting on my desk.  Instead of putting them away with my kit, I quickly used them to my creative advantage.

 

products used: Scraptastic Club Kit - Heartbeats; Add On - Heartbeats.

 

I've stayed true to the layout by using the same color palette and patterned papers.  But I've also adapted similar techniques, such as hand stitching, placing the clear stickers onto white cardstock and adding a triangle to the corner of the card. 

 

To create the hand stitched flourishes, simply draw some elegant swirls with a pencil and then pre-pierce the paper.

 

Thanks for joining me here today.  I hope I have managed to share a few simple ideas to keep you creative during this busy season..x

ps - all this information has just been repeated over at Scraptastic! Ha!  Word. For. Word.  I told you it was a busy, time consuming month and at the moment, I'm all for taking short cuts! *grin*  I hope you don't mind.
 

 



Jillibean Soup | Thankful...

Hello Everyone!  I wanted to share with you today, a layout created for Jillibean Soup.  It's been a busy month during November and I've got an even busier month starting yesterday! So I took a moment to be thankful.  Thankful indeed, that these two boys got to play a glorious season of hockey and in their first season became members of the champion team.

"Thankful" 

products used: cs - American Crafts; pp - Jillibean Soup (Holly Berry Borscht, Cool as a Cucumber); alpha - Mix the Media stencil; other - Jillibean Soup: wood sprinkles, woodgrain stampables, note card, label sticker, wood veneer stars; white thread, yellow embroidery floss; tools - water colour paint, machine stitching.

I played around with watercolours this month.  The title and small die cut leaves were cut from normal cardstock after the water colours were applied. The title was traced from the Jillibean Soup Mix the Media "Thankful" stencil. Before I trimmed around the title, I hand stitched with coordinating embroidery floss.

The bright pops of orange against the wood plank patterned paper background really help highlight the texture on both the patterned paper and the die cut leaves.

The rest of the layout has layers of woodgrain, on woodgrain.  In the baggie I have included hidden journaling and the frame helps draw the eye to the collection of trinkets in the lower corner.

The larger leaves were traced from ones found in my garden and then carefully cut with a sharp knife.  I certainly had fun playing with a few simple techniques and no doubt will be trying them again sometime soon.  Thanks for visiting today...x



 

 



Bella Blvd | November Newsletter...



Hello Friends!  Have you seen the latest Bella Blvd Newsletter? The Bella Buzz is featuring the new Hello Autumn collection this month and I was asked to complete a challenge using Hello Autumn, feathers, designer tape and crochet hearts!  Here's what I came up with..
 

"A Girl & Her Music"

 

Products used: cs - Kaisercraft; pp - Bella Blvd (Hello Autumn, Lucky Starz); alpha - Bella Blvd (High Five Alphas); other - Bella Blvd: Treasures&Text, Crochet Heart (Gulf); Designer Tape (Gulf Dot), Feather (Sand N Surf); enamel dots; tools - machine stitching, typewriter.

 



 

My favourite patterned paper is the navy wood grain!  I just had to use it.  What's your favourite piece from this amazing collection?

 

Thanks for visiting..x

 

PS - Up on the Bella Blvd blog at the moment, Stephanie has an awesome giveaway with free Thankful printables.  Head on over and check them out!