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!

 

 

 



Jillibean Soup | Q&A...

Hi everyone!  What a busy time of year this is! It's only November and already my creative schedule is filling up!  I wanted to share the Jillibean Soup blog link today and lead you towards some amazing projects created by the design team.  We've been playing with the new Holly Berry Borscht collection!  It is just divine...

"Q&A December"

 products used: cs - American Crafts; pp - Jillibean Soup (Holly Berry Borscht); alpha - Jillibean Soup (Beanboard Yam Yellow); other - Jillibean Soup: ephemera pack, Mix the Media stencil, vellum stars, wood sprinkles, wise words, coordinating label stickers; tools - machine stitching, typewriter.

 Cam is at an age where the questions coming flying thick and fast every. five. minutes! LOL! And last year leading towards the Christmas season, all he wanted to know was when Christmas was coming? How long til Christmas? How many sleeps til Christmas? What will I get for Christmas?  Well... you get the idea! *grin*  I thought I might as well document his driving. me. up. the. wall. questions... Ummm... I mean cuteness.

As it does get kind of crazy at this time of year, I hope this post inspires you to take the time to note the little details - the sub stories of the overall picture, if you like.  I have so many photos of Christmas and holiday adventures that sometimes they all just blend into one lump.  And that's usually the Christmas 2010, Christmas 2011, Christmas 2012...  This year I am determined to do a little better.  Wish me luck!

Thanks for visiting...x



Scraptastic Club | Shake It Off

 Hello Friends!  Up on the Scraptastic Club blog today I am sharing two quick and easy ways to enhance or create your own embellishments.

I absolutely adore the November Shake It Off kit and it already comes with gorgeous products to embellish your pages.  But sometimes I want to add a little extra something, just to make my layout feel complete.  Especially if it helps to relay the story I am documenting.

"You Had Me At Hello"

 

products used: Scraptastic Club Kit - Shake It Off; Add On - Shake It Off; Stamp Set - Shake It Off; Cut Aparts - Shake It Off; other - mist (Heidi Swapp); tools - typewriter, gold pen.

 



On this first layout, I enhanced the Jillibean Soup mini placemat by misting it and adding gold highlights...

 

 

The mist provided the colour I wanted but after placing the mini placemat onto the patterned paper of my layout, it tended to become lost.  Thank goodness for gold pens and a reasonably steady hand!!  I placed the dried placemat onto a foam mat to help keep the penmanship neat.

 



 

The mini placemat/title card was then added to the cluster near my photos to help highlight the premade embellishment of the typewriter.

 



 

And I love that the Shake It Off Stamp Set provided extra hints to support the typewriter story with both the font and bold "+'s".

 



 

With my second layout, I have created a very simple embellishment using cardstock, patterned paper and the Shake It Off Stamp Set.

"Here's The Story"



products used: Scraptastic Club Kit - Shake It Off; Add On - Shake It Off; Stamp Set - Shake It Off; Flair - Shake It Off; other - twine; tools - typewriter, machine stitching, hole punch.
 

I needed a place to add journaling to my layout "Here's the Story".  My patterned paper choices were already quite busy but the clear stamp brushstroke image sparked an idea and allowed me to add an area of white space without adding more clutter.

 



 

Head on over to the blog for more details.

 

To finish my layout I added the rest of the embellishments on a diagonal line to help lead the eye back to the journaling.

 



 

 Thanks for visiting..x

 



Jillibean Soup | Sydney Dance Tour...

Hi Friends!  Today I am going to jump right in and share my project from Jillibean Soup blog today!

 

 

Recently we, as the design team, have had an opportunity to play with the fabulous new Mix The Media collection.  Jillibean Soup has dedicated an entire collection to all things mixed media!  Go figure right?! Stencils (wow!!), ephemera packs (amazing!!), glitter (swoon!!), sequins (I'm positively giddy!!!) .. and the list goes on! I just could not let this opportunity to play with pretty stuff, slip through my fingers.

 

"Sydney Dance Tour"

products: cs - Kaisercraft; pp - Jillibean Soup: Soup Labels III; alpha - Jillibean Soup; other - Jillibean Soup: sequins, ephemera, dot stencil, buttons, file cards; twine, small white flower, embroidery floss; tools - typewriter, flower punch.

 

I think I tried or used a little bit of everything on this layout! I've teamed the Mixed The Media product with another new Jillibean Soup collection.  Soup Staples III!  OMGosh! I think you guys are going to love it!  Check out the wood floor patterned paper!

 



 

 

Thanks for visiting today.  Please don't forget to check out the Jillibean Soup blog this week for more inspiration.  ..x

 

 

 



Jillibean Soup | designer challenge...

Hello Friends! Just wanted to share with you the latest designer challenge the Jillibean Soup DT were issued for the month of July! Triangles!!

 

"Dashing & Daring"

products used: cs - Kaisercraft; pp - Jillibean Soup (Cool as a Cucumber); alpha - Jillibean Soup; other - Jillibean Soup: peapod parts; tools - machine stitching, typewriter, foam tape.

I chose to create a LO with rather large triangles and add texture to them with machine stitching...

 



 

 The peapod parts, such as this adorable scooter(!!!!), add to the playfulness of the page.

 



 

I am loving Jillibean's new Cool as a Cucumber collection!  Have you been playing with it yet? Thanks for visiting..x

 

 

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

 

 

 

Bella Blvd | Coffee Date...

Hello Friends!!  Happy Valentine's Day!!  I hope this wonderful Friday puts you in the mood to grab someone close to you and give them a great big hug!  Today I have a 'love' inspired layout to share with you.  Over at Bella Blvd we have been challenged with a new Pinterest image to glean inspiration from...

 

 

 

"Coffee Date"

products used: pp - Bella Blvd (Love and Marriage/Freestyle Sophisticates); alphas - Bella Blvd; other - Bella Blvd: crochet hearts, stickers, designer tape; Kaisercraft pearls, Mister Huey's mist, vellum; tools - typewriter, hand stitching, silhouette portrait.

At first glance my layout doesn't really resemble the Pinterest image but I have taken inspiration from a number areas!  *grin*  The colour of the back ground, the heart banners, the hearts(!), the 'love' arrangement and even a little bit of the ombre, have all been used.  :)

I knew, after seeing this Pinterest image for the first time, that I wanted to use the crochet hearts.  They add such a lovely texture to the page.  I've teamed them up with some silhouette cut hearts and hand stitched them to the layout.

 

If you would like to see what the other designers have created with this image, please head on over to the Bella blog.  And while you are there, don't forget to sign up for the Bella Buzz newsletter - due out later today!

 

And as an update for everyone who just. can't. wait. to get their hands on the new CHA collections.....

 

Thanks so much for visiting...x