Love: A 12 x 12 Scrapbook Layout

How do you scrapbook? Are you inspired by your photos, your supplies or maybe the story?

I'm inspired by all three. For this layout, I had previously fussy cut some of the beautiful florals from the Starshine collection by Shimelle/American Crafts and those inspired me. I also knew I had the perfect picture to go with those flowers! Thus, this layout that I adore was created!!

The background yellow and the navy blue papers are from the 'Gather' collection by Maggie Holmes. The white card stock is from American Crafts. 

I hand stitched around my layout using some white embroidery floss. Although hand stitching takes time, I simply love what it adds to a layout.  I used papers from the 'Starshine' collection as my photo mats as well.

For the cluster on the bottom right, I cut a frame out of one of the Maggie Holmes Gather papers. I layered a heart from the 'Starshine' ephemera pack on top of it along with one of those beautiful flowers that I had previously cut. The flair is also from the' Starshine' collection. The puffy sticker is from the Pink Paislee 'Moonstruck' collection. I added Nuvo Crystal Drops in navy blue and Heidi Swapp Color Shine in navy as well.

The cluster in the top right is simply a white tag inked in some spun sugar distress ink, a few more flowers and another flair button, a cut apart label from the Felicity Jane 'Emeline' kit and another puffy sticker from the 'Moonstruck' collection.

To the right of my photo, I added more flowers, a few more puffy stickers and a globe that was fussy cut from a Starshine paper. I did more hand stitching by giving the butterfly a little flight pathway.

Directly on top of my photo mat, I tucked in another tag and another flower. This one is actually a clear sticker that I placed on white card stock and cut out. The white card stock just helps the flower show up better. You can also see that I stitched around my photo mat.

To the top left of my photo, I added another cut apart label from Felicity Jane as well a puffy heart from the same kit. I added a butterfly that was fussy cut from a piece of patterned paper from the 'Moonstruck' collection.

I created another fairly large cluster in the bottom left corner of my photo. Once again, using goodies from all previous collections mentioned. 

Under my photo mat run two trips of patterned paper. One is just seen sticking out from the top of the photo area, while the other runs almost down to the bottom of the page and is cut into a banner shape. 

Scattered all around the layout are the navy Nuvo Crystal drops and the navy color shine as well as some beautiful yellow enamel dots from Freckled Fawn.

I hope you enjoyed this layout and I hope you scrapbook your memories using whatever inspiration you find.

Headphones On, World Off-A 12 x 12 Scrapbook Layout

If you have a teenager, you probably see them with headphones/ear buds on a lot!! My teenager is no exception!!

 

He loves music and watching YouTube videos on his phone or Ipad. I snapped these pictures back in September of last year and I wanted to document his love of toning the world (and probably his mother) out! ;)

I used a free cut file from the Paper Issues store. The file is called 'Slices of Life' and has several pie chart shapes and a few words as well. Paper Issues has lots of free cut files!! 

I cut the pie charts on my Silhouette Portrait  in different sizes and backed most of the pieces with patterned paper, leaving a few without. I used papers from the Bella Blvd. 'Addison' and 'Alex' collections. 

My background paper is just a white piece of American Crafts textured card stock. Once I had all of the pie charts backed with paper, I placed them in three clusters around my layout. I added some dimension  by placing a few of the pie chart shapes on some craft foam that I buy at Wal-Mart.  I backed my photos on some black card stock and placed them on my layout. 

I knew I wanted a fun and funky kind of font for my title. I went to the fonts in my Silhouette software and found one called 'Ethnocentric' and used that for the words 'headphones' and 'world.' The other words in my title are from a Bella Blvd. sticker sheet. I cut the font in black card stock and then outlined it with my white Signo pen. I outlined the gray letters in black. 

Then the fun part-embellishing!! I knew I wanted to add some music notes because like I said, he's always listening to music and finding new music and wanting me to listen to it. While we do share a love for some of the same music, some of what he listens to is not for me!!

The bigger music notes are die cuts and are from the Bella Blvd. 'Alex' collection. The smaller circular music note stickers are also from Bella Blvd. I added a few stars that I punched from the coordinating papers. I used a few clear stickers from the Simple Stories 'So Rad' collection. The word label stickers are also from Simple Stories. 

The circle with the headphones in it at the bottom right is another die cut from the 'Alex' collection. The music note tab is as well. 

I added in a few enamel dots from my stash, some journaling and some black splatters using some Heidi Swapp color shine.

I hope you will check out the cut files at Paper Issues and use them to document your memories. 

April Guest Designer for Clique Kits

A few months back Clique Kits had a design team call and I was chosen to be a guest designer for the month  of April. I'm so excited to complete some awesome projects for them using their amazing April kit called Jellybean. Stop by the Clique Kits website to see all they have to offer!

This is my first layout for them using the Jellybean kit. It's full of Bella Blvd. Make Your Mark papers and embellishments, some papers from Pink Paislee and a bunch of other fun embellishments from Freckled Fawn and Fancy Pants. 

I used the "Believe" patterned paper from Bella Blvd. for my background. The pictures on this layout are of my adorable but slightly crazy nephew, so I wanted to pull out the more masculine papers and embellishments. The paper I used for the circles on my layout is called "Make Time" and it's the backside of the strip that is above my photos that aptly says, "Make time for the things you love." These photos were taken on a "date night" with my nephew. We share a mutual love of Mexican food, so that is where we went for our date. As you can tell by these photos, he prefers the crazy faces and auntie has to beg for "one good photo!" Gotta love that kid!!

The green strip of paper that my photos are matted on is called "Magnifique" and it's also from Bella Blvd. The scalloped border paper is the backside of the "Daily Details" cut apart sheet from Bella. I made that scalloped border using a Fiskars border punch.  That cut apart sheet is where the blue card is from. I just adore that gold foiling!

My title is a cut file from the Clique Kits store and it will be available for purchase in April. Clique Kits offers exclusive cut files to their subscribers each month and they have files that can be purchased. I cut the file on my Silhouette Portrait using American Crafts white card stock. I backed the word "capture" using the lovely vellum that is in the kit. I outlined the cut file using black ink. 

For all three of my embellishment clusters, I have used a heart from Bella Blvd. Two of them are polka dotted and one is just plain gold. I also used a black foam heart and enamels dots in each cluster and they are both from Freckled Fawn and can be found in the kit. The "XO" strip in the bottom right cluster is cut from one of the cut apart cards from Bella Blvd. 

To add a little more interest to the background, I used a stamp from Sonshine Stamp Co. I stamped the circles using some Ranger Archival ink in Jet Black. 

The kit includes some plastic clips from Bella Blvd. as well. Honestly, I struggle using those clips. I decided to just layer the clip behind one of my photos instead of clipping it directly to the photo. 

I hope you will head over to the Clique Kits website and check them out. They have challenges and all kinds of fun stuff that happens each month. And stay tuned as I will be completing a few more projects for them using this amazing kit!

Cousins and Friends- An 8.5 x 11 Scrapbook Layout

Last weekend Paper Issues had an online crop in their Facebook group. It was such much fun with lots of challenges, games and even some prizes were given away. And two lucky people will win gift cards to the store by just playing along. 

One of the challenges they had was called 'Spring Cleaning' and it was all about using up those older products. This is the layout I created for that challenge. 

I dug through my scrap box and found papers in teal/aqua, green and yellow. I went through all of my boxes of embellishments and pulled out coordinating products as well. I cut the papers into circles using my Creative Memories circle templates and cutting mat. The background wood grain  paper is from a Die Cuts with a View paper pad called 'DIY project stack-mini albums'. It was a full 12x12 sheet that I just trimmed down to 8.5 x 11. Once I had the circles cut out, I just placed them fairly evenly on my background paper, trying to vary the colors. 

I wanted to get my title in place before I started adding the embellishments, so I stamped it out using the 'Jen' stamp set that was created by Jen Schow for Felicity Jane. I used some Heidi Swapp ink in teal and fussy cut it out. Once I  had my title in place, I started embellishing. These embellishments are from many different companies and some of them I've had for so long that I don't even know who made them. 

 

There are a few from the 'Posh' collection from Simple Stories. I believe that ampersand is from the new Paige Evans 'Oh My Heart' collection.

  There are a few things from Elle's Studio and that cute enamel heart in the middle of the camera is from Pink Fresh Studio. 

I used some enamel dots from my stash and that cute puffy heart on the cloud is Recollections brand from Michael's. 

I wrote my journaling on some strips of white paper and cut it out and added it to the bottom of my page. 

I hope this layout will inspire you to use your scraps and maybe next time you will join the crop over at Paper Issues. 

Simply Magical: An 8.5 x 11 Scrapbook Layout

Do you drink coffee? Personally, I LOVE coffee! It's one of my love languages. Buy me coffee and we can be instant best friends! ;)

On this layout, I wanted to document how magical coffee is. Honestly, I don't 'need' coffee to survive the day. I truly enjoy the taste. And if you look closely at my coffee cup, you will see an adorable unicorn poking out, which makes my coffee experience even better. Unicorns RULE!!

I started this layout on a piece of white card stock that I bought at Hobby Lobby.  I used two different washi tapes from my stash. I have so much washi tape (um, like 400+ rolls) that I have no clue where these two came from! I used a piece of scrap paper and an EK Success border punch to make the cute scalloped border. 

I then decided to do a little mixed media around my photo area. I used Tim Holtz Distress inks for this. I used the colors Abandoned Coral and Cracked Pistachio. I rubbed the colors separately onto some clear packaging, added a bit of water and simply 'smooshed' the color onto the paper. I dried the first color before adding the next just so they wouldn't mix together. I did a little splattering of black Heidi Swapp Color Shine as well.

I used a stamp set called Coffee Lovers to stamp the word coffee up and down the center area of the layout. That stamp is made by Joy Clair and I bought it from Simon Says Stamp. I stamped that using some Ranger Archival Ink in black. The two coffee cups on each side above the title were also stamped using this same stamp set and the same ink. I colored the hearts in the center using the distress inks mentioned above. I placed those on some fun foam to give them some dimension and so they would be the same height at the puffy coffee cup in the center. That coffee cup is from Freckled Fawn and I simply adore those stickers!!

For my title I used the Charming Thickers and my Jen Schow hand lettering stamps that I bought from Felicity Jane.   I stamped 'magical' onto some scrap card stock in that same Ranger ink and fussy cut around the word. I love those hand lettering stamps because that is one talent I do not have!! 

For the black hearts on my layout, I used a stencil from Echo Park and some Heidi Swapp Metallic Texture paste in black. After the hearts were dry, I used white embroidery floss to stitch around each one. 

My photo is matted on a piece of white card stock and then onto a black and white stripped paper from Bella Blvd. The green 'this right here' sticker is from Freckled Fawn.  I made a label using an EK Success label punch to add to the side of the photo. I stamped 'I love you lots' on the label using a Dear Lizzy roller stamp. The black puffy heart is from Bella Blvd. as well. 

I hope you enjoyed seeing this layout and maybe it will inspire you to document those 'simply magical' things in your life.

Making Mini Pizzas-Let's Scrap Design Team Sketch

Have you joined us over at Let's Scrap yet?? If not, come on over. Today we have a new sketch and you could win a great prize!!

Here is the new sketch for March 15:

And here is my take on the sketch:

 These are some older pictures of my boys making mini pizzas. I didn't have a lot of pizza themed embellishments so I turned to the Silhouette Design Store. I found this adorable pizza chef and a piece of pizza. I cut them out using my Silhouette Portrait and then colored them using Zig Clean Color Brush Markers. I love how they turned out. 

Just look at that adorable little pizza chef!! :)  The stamps that spell out "YUM" are from Joann's and are made by Ms. Sparkle and Co. Paperie. They were $1.99 and work great for the price. I stamped the words using some Ranger Archival ink in black. 

I used one sheet of patterned paper from the new Amy Tan On A Whim collection. That pizza print paper was perfect. I used a Fiskars scalloped border punch to add some interest to the paper. 

I used some really old Making Memories alphas and some Thickers to make my title. I'm glad to use up some older products that I've had forever. I also used the little pizza puffy sticker from Amy Tan to dot the 'i' in the word pizzas!

I was also excited to be able to use this 'toppings on my pizza' card from Elle's Studio. I received it in a grab bag that I bought during her Black Friday sale. I just listed the ingredients  the boys used on their pizzas. 

With the remaining patterned paper, I fussy cut the pizzas from it and used some embroidery thread to make  a cute border to span across both pages. I gave the pizzas some dimension by using some fun foam under them. I used a few tabs from Bella Blvds. Alex collection as well. They were the perfect fit!

I used some black Nuvo Crystal Drops as a finishing touch. 

I hope you enjoyed my take on the sketch. Now come on over and play along!!

Let's Get Sketchy Design Team Call

Let's Get Sketchy  is having a Design Team Call. Head over to their blog and check it out. Below is the sketch that you have to use to create a layout from for their call.

Applications will be accepted through March 23, so enter now!!

Exciting News!!!

I've got some exciting news to share!!

I am now on the Let's Scrap Sketches Design Team!! Let's Scrap is a great sketch blog. All of their sketches are double pages but you can adapt them to fit your style, which is why I love sketches. Another bonus is that if you link up your layout, you have the chance to win some great prizes. For the March 1st sketch, you could win a $30 gift card to Scrapbook Circle.  Sketches are released on the 1st and 15th of each month. Come on over and play along with us.

Here is the sketch for March 1:

Here is my take on the sketch:

All of the beautiful flowers are from the Shimelle Starshine collection. I fussy cut them out of a piece of patterned paper. I added some dimension to some of them using some fun foam, which you can find  at your local craft store or even at Wal-Mart. The patterned paper that I cut into the banner strips are also from the Starshine collection. The circular patterned paper is from the Pink Paislee Moonstruck collection. 

I used the beautiful Darling Thickers for the bigger words in my title. The small alphas are from the Gather collection by Maggie Holmes   

The globe in the center of the four pictures was also fussy cut. 

I added several embellishments from the Starshine collection including some stickers, acetate pieces and word labels. 

I finished up the embellishing but using some gold Nuvo Crystal Drops, some stamping in a few places and some Heidi Swapp Color Shine in Gold Lame. 

Thanks for stopping by my blog and I hope you will join us over at Let's Scrap!!