Friday, February 27, 2015

She Makes Me Laugh / My Scraps & More

Happy Friday, friends!  Have you seen the new Up in the Clouds collection from Pinkfresh Studio yet?  Oh my goodness....the moment I saw it I knew I had to have it.  It is definitely my style.  I ordered it as soon as Audrey got it in the My Scraps store!  Go HERE to get yourself some!

Several of the papers in this line already have a watercolor look to them...like this blue paper on the left.  I decided to use half and mix it up with some white cardstock.  I love adding my own mixed media flair to my pages, so I pulled out some stencils, modeling paste and watercolors to create some texture and more color.  I used several pieces from the embellishment pack as layering pieces and added in some machine stitching.


Here you can really see the texture from the paste.  These enamel and puffy heart stickers are SO fun and adorable!


I love these wood strips...and all these other goodies are just so pretty in person.  The watercolor creates a nice base of color for all of these layers here.


I still love creating titles on my Cameo, and the white-on-white looks is really pretty to me.  I had to doctor up the bottom of this "g"....the cardstock on my sticky cutting mat wasn't big enough, so I had to fix that up...haha :)


One last close up of the the cute October Afternoon Mini-Market stickers that matched perfectly with this blue...and the pink tangled thread layered in between the papers.


This line is beyond adorable!  I hope this gives you an idea of what you can create with it.  I highly recommend you get your hands on it if you love these pretty colors and fun and unique patterns.

Thanks for stopping by, and have a great weekend!

Wednesday, February 25, 2015

A Great Idea / The Cut Shoppe

Happy Wednesday, friends!  Today I'm sharing my latest layout for The Cut Shoppe.  Have you seen this adorable new Light It Up Cut File available in the store yet?  Oh my goodness...it's just the cutest "idea" ever!  I knew right away I wanted to use these little light bulbs on a layout.


I started out by cutting the bulbs on white cardstock.  Once I knew how I wanted my design to go, I pulled out some papers from Crate Paper and American Crafts.  These soft colors matched my photos.  My little Paige found the powder one day and you can guess what happened!  She actually did this a few times, and of course I had to take pictures every time!  :D

I wanted each bulb to look different.  The first one I used gelatos to color it pink and grey and then backed it with vellum.  The center one I backed with striped washi tape and colored it with a few blue gelatos.  The third one I heat embossed with silver powder.  I used a striped stamp and made random marks on it so it would look kind of uneven.  I love how they all turned out, and they represent this "great idea" of spreading powder all over the living room...haha!


Here's a closer look.  I added some gesso and watercolor to my background to break up the solid white behind the bulbs.


I used the word "idea" from one of the bulbs to make part of my title.  I simply enlarged the cut file and then cut out the word and colored it with a gelato.  That cute mouth flair button (from A Flair For Buttons) is actually from a Valentine's collection, but it totally reminded me of powder!


Here's a look at the texture and layers at the top of the layout...a heat embossed wooden veneer heart, an inked wood veneer speech bubble, another flair and some tangled thread.


And one more of the simple bottom half...another heart and a cute Freckled Fawn arrow paper clip.


I hope this gives you some inspiration on how to use these cute light bulbs on a page...I just think they're really cute and can go with just about any photo.

Thanks for stopping by, and have a great day!

Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Valentine Girl / Chickaniddy Crafts

Hello there, friends!  I am so excited to share my layout for Chickaniddy Crafts with you today!  This month, a few of us got to search for our own inspiration image on Pinterest.  I came across this really fun image of squares.  I really loved the placement of the squares and the lines going through them.  I knew I wanted to create a Valentine layout about my sweet daughter, so I recreated this design in my own style.
Here is what I came up with.  When I think of Valentines, I think of red and pink and lots of love.  I think is the perfect celebration of my sweet Paige...our year-round Valentine girl.  Both of our birthdays are this month :)  I did minimal mixed media work on this...just a tad bit of gesso on either side of the photo cluster with a little bit of watercolors and gelatos.


Supplies Used: Scrumptious - Hay Ride SC140S05, Check Please SC140S09, Autumn Haze SC140S06, New Harvest SC140S10, Home Sweet Home SC140S02, Sticker Sheet SC14EB02; Jolly Good - Deck the Halls JG140S06, Snow Play JG140S09 Happy New Year JG140S12, Christmas Eve JG140S01, Die Cut Tags JG14EB04, Journal Tags JG14EB03, Mini Sticker Banners JG14EB05, Clear Stamps JG14ST02; Twirly Girly - Birthday Girl TG140S02, Grandma's Quilt TG140S10, Sticker Sheet TG14EB02, Enamel Hearts TG14EB08, Mini Sticker Sentiments TG14EB05, Mini Sticker Banners TG14EB03, Alpha Stickers TG14EB01, Brads TG14EB06; Other - Liquitex Gesso, Artist's Loft Watercolors, Faber Castell Gelatos, Brother Sewing Machine, Coats Thread, cardstock, October Afternoon date roller stamp, Ranger Archival Ink, Heidi Swapp Color Shine, Silhouette die cut, Silhouette Cameo, Uniball Signo Pen.

Here are a few steps I took in creating this page:

1.  I chose one of my all-time favorite papers in all of the Chickaniddy collections...the Hay Ride patterned paper!  This denim is amazing, and it makes a fabulous background.  I knew all the reds and pinks would pop right off of this.


2.  Next, I went through all the collections that contained red and pink elements...Twirly Girly, Scrumptious and Jolly Good.  I selected several patterned papers with different shades of red and pink and used various sized square punches to make the shapes.

Here are few of the papers I used:

Grandma's Quilt from Twirly Girly

Autumn Haze from Scrumptious

Happy New Year from Jolly Good

3.  Once I had all my squares punched, I arranged them in my own version of the grid.  I stitched through them with my sewing machine and added my mixed media.


4.  I chose more patterned papers to layer behind my photo and used pop dots to raise it up.  I also searched all of the stickers, die cuts, brads and enamel dots to add in here and there.


5.  Lastly, I added my title and some tangled thread.  I used some of the Twirly Girly alpha stickers combined with a word cut on my Cameo.


You should definitely do a Pinterest search for design ideas.  I would've probably never gotten the idea for this layout without seeing that inspiration photo first!  And check all of your Chickaniddy stash for reds and pinks to create something LOVEly!

Thanks for stopping by, and have a great day!

Sunday, February 22, 2015

Today is the Day + March Kit Reveal / Hip Kit Club

Hey there!  I hope you all are enjoying your weekend.  Today I wanted to share my third layout using the 2015 February Hip Kits.  My first two layouts were super bright and bold.  Believe it or not, this kit contains so much variety...I went total pastel on this one!  I used a lot of the We R Memory Keepers products mixed with Crate Paper to create this.

What I love about this background paper is that it's perfect if you love the look of watercolor but don't want to actually do it.  All the work is done for you!  I kind of felt like I was cheating since I didn't do much else to it...haha.  I did add a bit more pink behind my title.   I used a ton of chipboard from Crate, and it was so fun layering all those pieces.


I just love this dimension!  I'm not a huge flower person, but these were just too pretty to pass up.  Plus they were a perfect match.  I was able to stitch easily through that arrow.


Another chipboard layered cluster...love these pretty colors.  The "sweet" tag is from the MME Die Cut Bag and those enamel dots are MME as well.


One more close up of the chipboard title and this cute little banner.  I love how the stitching turned out there!


I hope this gives you some more ideas on what you can create with your Hip Kits...they really do contain so many goodies and can work with just about anything!

And while I'm here, check out the GORGEOUS kits coming in March!  I'm SOOO loving the gorgeous aqua colors here!

2015 March Main Kit

Project Life Kit

Embellishment Kit

Color Kit

Patterned Paper Add-On Kit

Cardstock Kit

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Go HERE to check out the kits....they are simply gorgeous!!


Friday, February 20, 2015

Hello Summer with 17 Turtles / My Scraps & More

Happy Friday, friends!  I hope you're staying extra warm today!!  You know it's insane when it gets down to 28 in Florida!  I don't know how you guys who live in the snowy states deal with it...  It will be 82 on Sunday.  If you don't like the Florida weather, just wait 5 minutes and it will change!  Haha! 

This week on the My Scraps & More Blog, the design team has collaborated with 17Turtles to showcase some projects using some awesome cut files! 


17turtles offers a wide range of digital cut files that are perfect for paper crafting, scrapbooking and other craft projects such as cards, home decor, wall art, and more. 

 This week, you can save 25% off your 17Turtles purchase with code MYSCRAPS25 in the 17Turtles store. You could win a $20 gift certificate to the 17Turtles store this week by commenting on Sunday's post (Feb. 15). 

Read all the details HERE. In addition, don't forget that each day when you comment on a My Scraps & More blog post, you are entered to win a $10 gift certificate to the My Scraps & More store. One winner is drawn each Monday, so be sure to leave some love for the Design Team this week on their projects they created with the cut files. You may also want to check out the 17Turtles blog for yet ANOTHER giveaway!!! Another chance to win a gift certificate to the store! 

Here is the cut file I worked with:


I really love this cut file because it reminds me of Summer!  It's FREEZING here (and everywhere else) so this helped me to warm up!  I pulled out the older Vintage Bliss line from Simple Stories and paired it with a little bit of Echo Park.  My background is from the American Crafts Plus One collection.  I just all of these bright colors, and this cut files makes it easy to get a lot of colors & patterns in small bits all over the page.  I love backing die cuts with paper!  Fun and easy :)


I pulled out some really old yellow glitter Thickers...they worked perfectly for this layout.  I also added in a bit of gesso and gelatos here...I feel compelled to add some color smudges on all of my pages...haha!


Here you can see the fun mix of patterns.  I can't even remember how many patterned papers I used to back this die cut...and since the triangles are small, the various patterns don't overwhelm the page.


And one more close up of the layers and pretty colors.


I hope this inspires you to check out the 17Turtles store and see for yourself how many fun cut files are there!  Be sure to check out all of the blog posts this week for your chance to win!

LINKS - 
Website: www.17turtles.com/ 

Thanks for stopping by, and have a great weekend!

Thursday, February 19, 2015

You Are Simply Perfect / Shimmerz

Happy Thursday, friends!  I'm sharing my newest layout for Shimmerz today :)  Have you gotten your hands on any of the gorgeous Creameez yet?  They are so beautiful and leave such a rich color and satin finish...you simply must give them a try!  I created this layout using four of the new Creameez.  I used Piggy Pink, Ride the Tide, Thunderstorm and Luck O' the Irish.  You can find them all in the Shimmerz store.

I used them just like I do Inklingz...they go on very smooth just like watercolor.  I used them on top of the cardstock, patterned paper and stamps and they worked beautifully.  I used some older Echo Park collections for this.  I added in some MME vellum and a few Crate Paper tags.  The Sweetness title sticker is from American Crafts, and my flair buttons are from A Flair For Buttons and Michaels.  I truly chose bits and pieces from all of my stash :)


Here you can see the pretty way they blend.  I used green, silver and blue together.  They really go on very nicely, whether your using a brush to spread the color around or flick splatters and drips.


I used the Piggy Pink color to paint these left over diamond shapes I had lying around from a background I cut on my Cameo for another project.  They have a really pretty satin sheen to them.


Here's one more close up of the pretty green, blue and silver.  I know you'll love these...they are very versatile and so much fun to play with!


Thanks so much for checking out the blog today...have a wonderful Wednesday!

Products Used:
Creameez - Ride the Tide, Luck O' the Irish, Piggy Pink & Thunderstorm


Tuesday, February 17, 2015

You & Me...Fantabulous! / My Scraps & More

Hey there, friends!  The layout I'm sharing today is one I created for a Free For All Friday Challenge at My Scraps and More a few weeks ago. The rules are to use at least five bar code strips at the bottom of patterned papers, use a pre-made title on a cut-apart piece or embellishment and add some thread.  I pulled out some of the Shimelle collection that I've been hoarding :)  

I really love the patterns on the paper strips in this line.  They made for really easy layering behind the photo.  I added a bit of washi tape from my stash...I love that film strip tape.  It's my favorite!  It was perfect for those little letters.


Using the bar code strips is really fun and easy because you don't have to really measure.  You just slice them off and tear them....easy!  Plus you get lots of small bits of color and patterns.

You know me....I had to add some gesso, modeling paste and watercolor.  I didn't go overboard here...just a bit to add some interest down at the bottom.


One more shot of the top...I really LOVE these colors and those little black letter stickers!  And I even got my machine stitching straight...haha!  


If this inspires you to use those bar code strips, be sure to head on over to our forums and play along with the challenge!  Who knows....you just might win a prize!

Thanks for stopping by, and have a great day!

Sunday, February 15, 2015

No More Smiles / Hip Kit Club

Happy Sunday, friends!  I hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day yesterday.  We had a nice relaxing day followed up with dinner at Cracker Barrel.  We are two of the biggest goofballs, so we're really not into the whole roses & romantic dinner thing...haha :D  We opted for some home cookin'....and it was awesome!  My birthday was Friday, and guess what my husband got me....a new video camera!  I'm going to start creating process videos as soon as I can figure out a tripod situation....yay!  I'm excited about it.  I'll keep you posted on my progress.

Here's my latest layout for Hip Kit Club using the 2015 February Kits.  It was up on the blog Tuesday.  I played around with the Dear Lizzy stencil that comes in the Color Kit.  It's so very detailed as you can see!  The Color Kit also contains two bottles of blue and pink Dylusions Spray Inks, which I also used on this.  I mixed the Calypso Teal with some modeling paste to achieve this look....and I think it's just a stunning color.


I used a lime green gelato to add in some greens to match the green papers and embellishments.  I added some machine stitching and some tangled thread as well.  I just love how the gelato looks over that blue paste!


I raised up this cute chipboard camera using pop dots and added a cute enamel dot to the center.  These pink Thickers come in the Embellishment Kit and go perfectly with the Bubblegum Pink Dylusions Spray.  I cut the word "smiles" on my Cameo and just free-hand traced around the edges.


Here's a close up of the paste, layering and stitching.  I colored that "Daily Life" wooden veneer piece with a gelato.


And one more close up of the pink.  I can't tell you enough how I love getting messy on my pages!  I just love the random look it gives amongst all the papers and embellishments!


I hope this gives you some ideas on what you can do with the stencil and the Dylusions.  I'll be back up on the Hip Kit Blog Tuesday evening with my next layout using the 2015 February Kits!

Thanks for stopping by, and have a great day!