... just Laura

Scrapbook & Cards Today: Thinking of You Card

I totally meant to get this post up last night and then I just plain forgot. Typical of me, in all honesty. I can't remember anything these days. I think my problem is that I just have TOO much to remember, so things slip here and there. Anyways. 

I created a few cards for the Cardmaps Today Vol 3 issue, by Scrapbook & Cards Today, which was released earlier this year. I thought today was a good day to share it. We had our first rain in months and months yesterday and this morning, and it's been pretty dark and dreary outside (of course, as I'm typing this up, it's back to being sunny and bright out). This card is so colorful and bright, and it just makes me happy.

There was a sketch to go along with this card, and I was asked to create a card for the "Spring" section of the issue, using the Basics collection from Pebbles. I did mix in a floral paper from another collection, just for some extra color and pattern. I wanted to add a little something to the edges of the "thinking of you" cardstock sticker, and ended up using some slightly dried up paint. I actually like using my paints when they're slightly thick, since it adds such an interesting texture to whatever you're putting the paint on.

In fact, my paints have been slightly dried up for quite a while now. Going on over two years.

I just so happen to have written a little tutorial of sorts about this paint "technique" (I doubt this really qualifies as a "technique", but that's what I'm calling it!) way back in the day. You can check out that post RIGHT HERE, if you're interested.

Scrapbook & Cards Today: 2014 Scrapbook Planner + A Layout Share

Guess I took another break from the blog. Totally unintentional. I promise. I'm back though, with a few Scrapbook & Cards Today shares for you today.

First up, have you had a chance to order your copy of Scrapbook & Cards Today 2014 Scrapbooking Planner and Sketch Calendar?

SCT’s new 2014 Scrapbooking Planner and Sketch Calendar is now portable, ready to go wherever you go! This 14-month, 64-page planner is coil bound, brimming with 30 page sketches, how-to photo techniques and layouts created by your favourite designers. Each month features a full page of journaling prompts, page starters, photo ideas and areas to jot down notes, memories and special moments, perfect for those who are following Project Life.

You can preorder today, RIGHT HERE, for only $12.95 (plus $3.45 shipping in Canada and the USA, and $10.95 shipping for international orders). The planners will begin shipping with the Winter issue of Scrapbook & Cards Today magazine on November 28, 2013.

Speaking of calendars, I thought I would share my layout that I created for the 2013 calendar that Scrapbook & Cards Today put out last year. I was assigned the month of January, given a specific sketch to work with, and was sent some Echo Parks products to work with. And this is the layout I came up with.

I was also asked to incorporate a washi tape technique into my title. I chose a chunky title that I could die cut, and that would give me a good negative cut to work with.

I then backed my title letters with different tapes to coordinate with my papers. I used all Bella Blvd tapes for this, as they matched perfectly. *** Ignore the cursive sub-title in this image. That was something that got switched out during the approval process.

Scrapbook & Cards Today: Friday Night Football

I'm back to share my second layout that was featured in the Fall issue of Scrapbook & Cards Today. If you still haven't downloaded this issue, you can find it RIGHT HERE.

I was asked to create a layout about a family tradition for this assignment. This wasn't actually my first attempt, but unfortunately my first layout was to similiar to a theme that another designer covered. So I started over. And now I'm sort of glad I had to start fresh, because this layout is one of my very favorites in a long time. I talked a bit about that in THIS POST, where I also shared a layout inspired by this layout.

Friday night football games have become a favorite fall family tradition for us. It started when Alyssa was a freshman and playing in the marching band. If I'm being honest, out main reason for going to the games IS to see the marching band. I mean, isn't the football game just the opening act for the half time show ;) Just kidding (to any of you football moms!). While we're definitely there for the band, we do enjoy everything else that happens out on that field as well.

I used a storyboard template from Kerri Bradford's Storyboard #8 kit for my photo collage. I took most of these photos during a Homecoming game two years ago, and I also snuck in a photo of Alyssa and her friends that she took with her iPod.

I pulled out the most perfect patterned paper from Little Yellow Bicycle, as well as some coordinating die cuts. Our school color is green, along with black and white. I added in touches of tan/kraft as well.

I trimmed off the sides of the football field patterned paper, so that the sideline yardage would show on either side of the page. I also used that same green patterned paper to cut the "Football" part of my title. I used Kerri Bradford's Weathered Door Alphabet kit to cut the "Football", and "Friday" was a shape from the Silhouette store. And just a little FYI - I did dot that "i" in Friday before sending in the layout. I'm always losing track of my dots. Lol.

I journaled about how we all spend out time at the games. Alyssa is in the band, so she's out on the field before the game and during half time, and playing in the stands during the game. Sarah ran around with friends the first three years, but now that she's a freshman, she's in the band as well. Most games, you'll find me working the snack bar for the band boosters. And Joe can usually be found sitting in the stands, actually watching the football game.

In the magazine, they mentioned that I included an old ticket stub from one of the games we attended. While that woud be cool, we don't have actual tickets or anything. This fun ticket stub, along with the two pieces on the top half of the page, are all die cuts from Little Yellow Bicycle. I also cut the layered football with my Silhouette, using a shape from the Silhouette store. A few chipboard stars and wood buttons helped embellish the page.

Scrapbook & Cards Today: Today

Hopefully, you've all downloaded your free copy of the Scrapbook & Cards Today fall issue. If you haven't, you can find it RIGHT HERE. I have the first of my two layouts in that issue to share with you today.

This layout was created for the Fall Pagemaps Skech article, by Becky Fleck. I was given the sketch below, and asked to incorporate an interesting background into my page design. I knew I wanted something "fallish" (even though we don't really experience "fall" here in California!), and this photo of the girls and I has a fall feel to it, even though it was taken on Mother's Day :)

I chose a mix of patterned papers from My Mind's Eye to use, including a paper that had a variety of boxed numbers that I thought would work well for the little blocks scattered around the page. I knew right away that I would use a die cut background, and choose one of my favorite circle backgrounds from Kerri Bradford's Background Basics kit.

If you happen to catch my previous post from World Card Making Day HERE, and saw the first card where I mentioned using the circles that were leftover from cutting a die cut background ... those circles all came from this project.

I cut a sheet of white cardstock slightly larger than the die cut background piece. I misted the white cardstock, very lightly, with green and pink mists. To adhere my background piece, I simply stapled it down on the corners. Yep, 4 tiny staples in each corner. I knew once I started to adhere things in the center of the page, there would be plenty of extra adhesive to help hold it down.

For the embellishment "border" going across the photo, I dug out some flowers by Prima that I had recently purchased. The pinks, yellows, and aquas were the perfect match for my papers. I added buttons and decorative brads to the centers of most of the flowers as well.

I mentioned that I had a sheet of patterned paper that had a wide variety of boxed numbers that could be trimmed from the page. I chose random blocks to add to my page, just as the sketch has the blocks scattered around the page. The numbers that I chose have no particular meaning. I picked them all for their colors, their shapes, or just because I liked them.

Make sure and head over to the Scrapbook & Cards Today site and download your free copy of the Fall issue, if you haven't already. It's a fabulous issue, with tons of gorgeous projects. You can find it RIGHT HERE!

Scrapbook & Cards Today: World Card Making Day

Happy World Card Making Day everyone! I'm pretty sure it's almost half over for a lot of you. But I'm an east coast girl and Saturday is my one day to sleep in, which means I'm getting a late start over here. Including this blog post! Over on the Scrapbook & Cards Today blog, they have an all day card celebration going on. Every hour there is a new post featuring one of the design team members, including a new card, a sketch, and some tips and tricks. And there are a TON of amazing giveaways from their sponsors. You don't want to miss the fun! My card goes up later today, but you can get a sneek peek here.

I always try and save my scraps or extra pieces when finishing up my layouts and cards. I do a lot of die cutting with my Silhouette and I almost always end up with extra pieces that I don't end up using. I also use a lot of die cut circle backgrounds on my projects, so I have a pretty big collection of circles from the negative pieces that are left over, since I have a very hard time thowing all of those circles away. I figure I can eventually find a way to use them. I have a drawer in one of my cabinets that I toss all the extras into. I created this card using all scraps from that drawer. 

 

The colorful pieces on this card were originally from two award medal accents that I created close to 3 years ago for a project featured in a magazine, and they have been sitting around in that drawer ever since. I took the "ribbon" tail pieces off of one accent, cut them down in size, and adhered them on either side of the layered circle part of the second accent.

I have about 80 of those woodgrain circles leftover from a die cut circle background piece, and managed to use up 20 of them to create a border around the card. I ran a strip of adhesive around the card, quickly stuck down the circles, and machine stitched around them. Super simple. What I really want to do is take the remaining 124 circles and whip up more of this basic design, then embellish the center of the card to make quick birthday cards. The one kind of card I need the most.

I also made this super simple card with a few more left over circles. I have a ton of those yellow ones too, from another die cut circle background. The "hello" was left over from a batch of cards I made a while back for Kerri Bradford, and just never got used.

Even my card base was a scrap. I guess a card base can't really be called a "scrap", since it's more like an extra that will definitely get used. But I did already have it misted, as I had something in mind for it. Then ran out of time and put the card base aside for another day.

And this card uses scraps from a layout I did for Kerri Bradford a while back. When I shared that layout, I had mentioned that I had a LOT of leftover pieces, as my plans kept changing as I went along. This sunburst background was a 6x6" piece, and was already misted with the aqua (the colors look bad here, but show up better in the detail shot below).

I simply cut the background piece down to fit the front of the card, and added the "home" die cut piece which was already misted in yellow. A little machine stiching around the center of the sunburst, and a few tiny alpha stickers complete the card.

Make sure and visit the Scrapbook & Cards Today blog today. They have 13 posts planned for the day, so you'll want to have a yummy beverage and a snack handy, as you read thru everything! And make sure you leave a comment on each and every post, as there are some amazing giveaways going on! Happy World Card Making Day!

Scrapbook & Cards Today: One Fine Day

Have you had a chance to check out the Summer issue of Scrapbook and Cards Today yet? If you haven't, make sure and check it out, as it's full of inspiration. And the best part is that you can download and view it totally and completely FREE. You can't pass up "free", right :)

I thought I would share one of the two layouts I created for this issue. This layout was for the 3-Designer Challenge, where three designers were given the same exact set of products to work with. We had the Down By The Shore paper collection by Fancy Pants, a fun die-cut placemat from Jillibean Soup, a stamp/die set from Sizzix, small striped accents by Queen & Co, Thickers from American Crafts, and textured cardstock from Bazzill.

This is my take on the challenge. You can check out Emily Pitt's layout and Lisa Dickenson's layout inside the summer issue.

I knew right away that I would likely keep most of the die-cut placemat in one piece on one page of my two page spread, so I figured I would make a photo collage to include lots of photos for the other page. I used a storyboard template from Kerri Bradford to create my collage.

I hand cut some flowers from one of the floral patterned papers and adhered them here and there on the placemat. I'm not a huge fan of fussy cutting, but every now and then you just have to do it. And usually, it's worth it.

I honestly hemmed and hawwed over how I wanted to use the die-cut placemat for days. I was scared to cut it, unless I was completely sure about how I was going to use it, since I only had one of them to work with. I wasn't sure about using it all in one piece. The only thing I knew for sure was that I wanted to leave it white. I finally decided to cut off a few inches from one side to use on the second page, and kept the larger piece for the first page.

I used a lot of the solid sides of the patterned papers for pops of color, along with the cardstock. I cut different sized circles to randomly fill in the holes in the die-cut placemat. Some of them I adhered under the placemat and some of them I added over the holes. I ran some of the circles thru my Cuttlebug, using the bubbles embossing folder, for extra texture. Kind of goes with the pool/water theme of the layout.

Since the white foam Thickers were a smaller font, I used them in some of the larger circles to add a few descriptive words and the year the photos were taken. I added a few of the striped flower accents, and used the stamp and die for my title piece.

Scrapbook & Cards Today: Sharing My School Albums

Hey everyone! I wanted to let you know that I've shared a few blog posts on the Scrapbook & Cards Today blog this week, in case you want to check them out. I'm talking about how I organize my girl's school stuff, set up their school albums, and giving you a peek into what a school year looks like within those albums. Some of you long-time blog readers of mine might recognize a lot of this, as I've blogged about my school albums several times over the year. But these are new posts that I wrote, and they do include a bit of new info along the way.

On Monday's post, seen HERE, I shared how I organize all of the school "stuff" that we collect during a typical school year. I also mentioned some of the supplies I use for my albums, such as the albums themselves and the different types and sizes of page protectors that you'll find within those albums.

And on today's post, seen HERE, I am walking you through a single school year, as seen in one of Alyssa's albums. I find great joy in gathering up all of the school "stuff" at the end of each year, sorting it out, slipping things into the albums, and then tossing everything else (there are exceptions, and things that do get kept and stored elsewhere). It always feels very freeing!

And since my girls go back to school next Thursday (can i get an "eeekkkk" and a "whoohoo" all at the same time?!?!), I guess it's about time I get last years stuff all organized in the albums, before the new school years stuff starts piling in ;)

Scrapbook & Cards Today: Design Team Fun

For the past week or so, over on the Scrapbook & Cards Today blog, they have been having a little design team fun. Each of us on the design team have been sharing one of our current designt tips, along with some new projects, and also sharing a little something about us that you might now know. And today is my day to be featured!

I am talking a bit about re-discovering those tools or products that we buy, collect, and become addicted to using. Only to forget about them somewhere along the way, as they get pushed to the back of drawers, closets, and storage areas. For me, it's my embossing folders.

When I first got my Cuttlebug, the only reason I purchased it was so that I could use all of the great embossing folders that I saw others using. Mainly the Swiss Dot folder, which quickly became my most used and favorite folder of them all. I used to use in everything. And I mean EVERYTHING. This was probably a good 4-5 years ago. Just guessing there, since I honestly have no clue when it was ;)

In the past few months, I have purchased a few new embossing folders. I ordered a chevron folder and a honeycomb folder from Stampin' Up, and I found a another chevron folder, a fun star folder, and a woodgrain folder at a scrapbook convention a while back. I haven't really used them much, and decided to make a point to put them to good use for this layout.

I pulled out some new papers that I had just picked up, by Allison Kreft for Websters Pages. Totally random tidbit. I thought about buying these papers when they first came out, but then I didn't for whatever reason. When I was teaching at CKU last month, they tossed her paper collection at me, along with a trimmer, and asked me to make some banners to help decorate the photobooth area. I'm glad they did that, because I realized how much I liked the collection.

I decided to go with the tone-on-tone patterns, in the green, aqua, yellow, and pink. I love good tone-on-tone papers, and it makes for easier embossing when you don't have an overwhelming pattern going on. I think so, at least. I cut random sized pieces of each paper, and embossed them with one of four different embossing folders. I then lightly rubbed some sandpaper over each paper, to help define the embossed areas. I love the texture it adds to the page.

I embellished the page with some coordinating buttons, crochet hearts, and stickers from the coordinating sticker sheet that came with the paper collection. A title cut on my Cameo finished off the page.

You can read a bit more from me, and also find out if I'm a messy scrapper or a neat scrapper (for those that may not know this about me), on the Scrapbook & Cards Today blog. Also read back over the last week, and check back during the next few days, to learn more about the rest of the design team. They're a fun and talented group of ladies!

Scrapbook & Cards Today: Finally Doing The Crawl

I realized the other day that I had never gotten around to sharing this layout that I created for the spring issue of Scrapbook & Cards Today.

I was asked to create a layout with a "baby's first" theme. I had really wanted to do a layout about one of the girls, and one of their "firsts" moments. But that would have involved digging out negatives, getting reprints made, or peeling photos off of layouts I've already made. I decided to go an easier route and use some photos of little Zachary that I had taken when he first started crawling. I have scrapped these photos before, but this way I can give one of the layouts to his parents and keep the other one.

Since this was a baby layout, I knew Bella Blvd's Baby Boy collection would be the perfect match for these photos. I added in a few things from other manufacturers, like these chipboard banner pieces from Fancy Pants.

I used my Cameo to die cut the circle background piece from the measuring tape patterned paper (from Bella's We're Expecting collection), which added some subtle interest to the page. I used a mix of alpha stickers, chipboard alphas, and corrugated cardboard alphas directly over the die cut paper to create my title.

I remember when I used to be completely addicted to my embossing folders. And then I just sort of forgot about them. Funny how I went right back to my favorite style (dots, dots, and more dots) when I finally pulled them out again for this layout.

With as many babies as I have come through my daycare, you'd think I'd have a good idea of when all the big milestones should happen. And yet, I seem to forget all the time. Reading the journaling here, and seeing that Zachary didn't crawl until he was 9 months old, makes me realize he did get a later start than most. Based off the fact that two of my little ones that I watch rigtht now are 9 months and 10 month, and they've both been crawling for quite a while now. Just a random tidbit that popped into my head as I'm blogging tonight.

 

Scrapbook & Cards Today: National Scrapbook Day

I'm getting a late start to posting a few projects that I created for National Scrapbook Day! Turns out, I never do any scrapping on NSD. I'm too busy blogging about it! First up, there's been a ton of good stuff happening over on the Scrapbook & Cards Today blog.

For my contribution to the NSD activities, I created a layout for the Old & New Challenge.

This is a great opportunity to dig into your stash and pull out some of those older products that you've been hanging onto for years. I think we all have good intentions of using these products, but they sometimes end up forgotten as we collect all the latest and greatest products and enjoy using those items while they're fresh and new.

 

For my "old" product, I decided to pull out some very old Making Memories chipboard alphas that I have always loved. I pulled out one of each letter of the alphabet and arranged them around the outside edges of my page. I had good intentions of painting them all to match my background paper, but when I came across this older sheet of embossed cardstock from Core'dinations, I liked how the raw chipboard alphas created a tone-on-tone effect with the cardstock and decided to leave them plain.

I did want to spiffy up the chipboard alphas a bit, so I used a new-to-me embossing folder, along with my trusty Cuttlebug die cut machine, to emboss each letter with fun polka dots. It gives a nice, subtle effect to the letters.

For my "new" products, I pulled out some of the newest embellishments from Bella Blvd. A few feathers (in white, pink, and navy blue to match), a few crochet hearts (in white and grey to match), and a few fun little stick pin flags. I clustered all of these embellishments together, to go beside the adorable photo of one of my daycare kiddos.

Bella Blvd is the sponsor for my hour, and they are giving away an assortment of feathers, crochet hearts, and maybe even some flags, to one lucky winner. For this particular giveaway, you can leave a comment HERE.

However, you'll want to check out all of the posts from today on the Scrapbook & Cards Today blog (there's a lot of them!), because there some fabulous giveaways on each and every post. All of the giveaways are open until 6:00pm, EST, on Sunday, May 11th, so you have lots of time to get your comments in for a chance to win!

Scrapbook & Cards Today: Happy 7th Birthday Celebration

I'm a little late sharing this, but last week over on the Scrapbook & Cards Today blog, we were having a birthday celebration for their 7th birthday! A handful of the designers created projects to share throughout the week, and here's the cards that I contributed to the celebration.

I am constantly in need of birthday cards and yet they are the one type of card that I never seem to have on hand. I have used this same "award ribbon" style design for many other cards, such as baby cards, thinking of you cards, and even some coach's cards. I thought it would be the perfect design for birthday cards as well. I die cut the award ribbon pieces and "Happy Birthday" sentiment circle using my Silhouette Cameo.

Using a die cutting machine makes it really easy to cut duplicate pieces at once, which then makes it easy to mass produce a whole bunch of birthday cards at once. I added just a touch of machine stitching, and a simple star embellishment to the center of my sentiment. If you were wanting to mail your cards, I would suggest leaving off the star embellishment for easy mailing. 

There have also been some fabulous giveaways going on over on the Scrapbook & Cards Today blog, and you won't want to miss out on getting yourself entered for a chance to win. You have until April 4th to leave a comment on any of the birthday celebration giveaway posts, so you still have time to get entered.

Scrapbook & Cards Today: Spring Issue Has Arrived

Today is the day! The Spring 2013 issue of Scrapbook & Cards Today is available to view and download. You can head over to the Scrapbook & Cards Today website to download it. For FREE! You can't beat that.

I am really loving the look of this cover. It's bright and colorful and spring-ey, with the flowers peeking out from behind the layout and the sidewalk chalk laying next to it. I think we're all about ready for spring right about now, right?

And I also am loving this cover because that happens to be my layout on the cover! I was so excited to be asked to create a layout for the cover of the spring issue, using this gorgeous photo of Vicki Boutin's adorable daughter, Devyn.

Choosing papers for this layout was easy. I happen to have three of these patterned papers from Pebbles sitting on my desk when I received this photo. They were left over from a card I had just made for CardMaps Vol 3 (also launching today), and it was almost as if they were made to go with this photo. I pulled out a few more patterned papers and textured cardstock to mix in, to pick up more of the colors in the floral paper.

The pink chipboard alphas from Bella Blvd were the perfect shade and a great size for the title. It fit on there just right. I pulled out these older crochet flowers from American Crafts and topped each one with a coordinating button (from Fancy Pants and Basic Grey).

Make sure and stop by the Scrapbook & Cards Today website to view and/or download your FREE copy of the Spring issue. It's full of amazing layouts and cards, and has tons of inspiration from so many talented designers.

Bella Blvd: She Is My Entire Heart

Hey everyone! I've got two things to share with you today. First off, I have the second half of my guest blogger post up on the Scrapbook & Cards Today blog today. On Monday, I had shared a layout inspired by a Pinterest image, and that layout included feathers. Today, I am sharing lots of tips and tricks to working with and adhering real feathers to your papercrafting projects. You can read more HERE!

And speaking of feathers, I realized that I never got around to sharing my last Winter CHA layout from Bella Blvd. Which is kind of strange, since it was actually the first layout I made of the bunch. It includes feathers, so it ties in well with what else I've been sharing this week.

I created this layout for the catalog, and I was asked to make a "awesome layout with as much of the new product as possibe". I love a good challenge! I started with these photos that I had taken of Holly, my good friend Deneen's daughter (one of four daughters). I knew they would be neutral enough with the colors to go with any product I picked out.

Then I started picking out patterned papers. I set out to pick at least one patterned paper from each of the four new collections. The green dot paper is from the Sand & Surf collection, the aqua chevron paper is from the Freestyle Sophisticates collection, the pink hearts paper and the black ruled paper are from the Love And Marriage collection, and the striped paper is from the Engaged At Last collection.

I cut strips of varying sizes from each patterned paper and pieced them together on a sheet of white cardstock. I added a strip of the new black chevron designer tape across the top of the page, and also used some torn strips of pink and aqua designer tapes on other areas of the layout. We didn't release any new buttons, but I knew I had to include a few of the fun black text buttons to help embellish the page.

I choose three of the new feathers to include on the page: black, green and aqua. I also picked out some of the new crochet hearts to use. I had only gotten a few color packs for my CHA work, so I decided to stick with all pink hearts, since they matched the best.

I layered the feathers together and stapled them in place. I used my tiny attacher on the ends of the feathers, since I knew I wanted those staples to show. I actually added some staples further up on the feathers to help secure them better, knowing that I was going to add this "I love you. The end" sticker (from the Love & Marriage collection) on top of the staples to cover them up. I adhered the sticker to a scrap of cardstock first and cut around it, which made it much easier to adhere the sticker with pop dots over the feathers.

For my title, I used a mix of the new green Sienna chipboard alphas, the new black alpha stickers from the Engaged At Last collection, and some new aqua High Five alpha stickers.

Oh, and I also snuck on a few of the new flags from the Engaged At Last collection. Almost forgot about those. I think I did a pretty good job at representing each of the new collections as well as each of the new embellishments.

Scrapbook & Cards Today: February Colour Suite

Happy Valentine's Day! I have a new layout to share today. Summer Fullerton puts together a fun colour challenge each month for Scrapbook & Cards Today, and the February installment went up on the blog today.

Summer invited me to play along with her and I couldn't pass it up. I love a good color challenge, and when I saw the colors she picked out, I was excited to dive into my stash and see what I could come up with. 

Purple, two pinks, yellow, and white. Such a lovely color combination that I most likely would have never put together on my own. I started out digging through my patterned papers, putting together a mix of papers in the chosen colors that might work. I ended up with papers from Pebbles, Jillibean Soup, and Bo Bunny. One thing I learned? I don't have a wide selecion of purple patterned papers.

The next thing I did was go searching for photos. I really didn't have any particular ones in mind, so I just browsed through my external hard drives. Nothing was grabbing my attention or calling out to be scrapped. I'm not sure what made me think of this photo of Alyssa. I just suddenly thought about it, which worked well, since it was already printed.

My next step was cutting the circle background piece with my Cameo. I knew from the beginning that I wanted to cut this from a full sheet of patterned paper and adhere it to a sheet of white cardstock. Since I had my Cameo out and plugged in, I went digging for a possible title to use.

I usually just type in key words in the search box, since it's easier than browsing through my entire library. I believe this popped up when I had typed in the word "beautiful". It is a print and cut file, an it just so happened that the colors matched perfectly! Love when stuff like that happens. I printed it on white textured cardstock and trimmed around the edges.

I cut two large pieces of the two pink patterned papers to layer behind my photo, and tucked the title piece on the side. I wanted to add a bit more purple, so I used a large circle border punch along my tone-on-tone purple dot paper and tucked them under the top and bottom of my title piece.

I added some buttons and ribbon pieces to embellish my title piece. I won't lie. It was hard to find some purple buttons. Which is strange, because I own a gigantic amount of buttons.

And this trim from Webster's Pages. Pure yumminess! Such a gorgeous shade of yellow. I helped secure it on the ends with a few pink and purple-ish brads. I used the title piece to help guide my journaling. And a small secret? I have no clue how close that date is to the actual date that this photo was taken. Lol. This photo was take at a modeling session Alyssa attended when she was about 4 years old. I have scrapped other photos from this day, but I apparently never dated any of those layouts. Yes, I do guesstimate dates from time to time ;)

To see this challenge in it's entirety or to see Summer's past challenges, make sure to stop by and visit the Scrapbook and Cards Today site.

Scrapbook & Cards Today: Fall Issue Layouts, Part 2

I'm back to share another layout that I created for the Fall issue (you can download and/or view the issue FREE, right from that link) of Scrapbook & Cards Today. I was asked to work on the Easy, Detailed, Expert column. It focuses on showing three versions of a layout, so that no matter what level of difficulty appeals to you, there's an idea for everyone. Yesterday, I shared the Easy and Detailed layouts, and today I'm sharing my Expert layout.

Here is my take on an "EXPERT" version of my layout. While both of the first two layouts fit my style and are designs that I can see poppping up on lots of my layouts, this layout here is a great representation of my normal style of scrapping. It's got a touch of technique, but not anything that's super involved. It's got lots of texture, but without a ton of bulk.

I started by printing my photos all individually. I went from five photos to four photos, printing the main photo as a 4x6, and the other three photos as 2x3's. I knew that my photos and embellishments would add color to the page, so I wanted the center of the layout to be all white cardstock to built on.

I used the brown burlap patterned paper for my background (all papers and stickers by Bella Blvd), and then trimmed up a piece of embossed white dotted cardstock to add to the center of the page (which I sprayed with some green mist first). I used a scalloped border punch on some aqua patterned paper, and tucked a strip under each side of the white cardstock, so that just a little bit was peeking out.

I wanted to add a bit more texture to my flower sticker on this layout, so I started by roughing up the edges of the petals and then bending them up as well. I added a green punched circle to the center of the flower and machine stitched around it. I added a nice, chunky button to the center, with silver mini brads placed in the button holes.  

I adhered a few of my smaller photos to the page using pop dots. I added silver mini brads to my smaller buttons as well as the large button, which is a little trick I've done for years.

I used my Silhouette for the title on this layout, just as I did for the second layout. I chose a "pumpkin patch" title that had one word in a scripty font. I love having one part of the title in a regular, more basic font, and the second part of the title in a large script font. I also added some tiny alpha stickers to create a longer title.

I had a lot of fun working on this column. If you havn't checked out the Fall issue (you can download and/or view the issue FREE, right from that link) of Scrapbook & Cards Today, definitely give it a looksie. The Winter issue is due out later this week and I can't wait to see it.

Scrapbook & Cards Today: Fall Issue Layouts

I figure since the Winter issue of Scrapbook & Cards Today is set to come out this coming Friday, it's about time I shared a few layouts that I created for the Fall issue (you can download and/or view the issue FREE, right from that link).

I had just finished up my work for Creating Keepsakes a few months back, after being on the Dream Team for three years, and I was thrilled to get the opportunity to jump into doing some work for another publication. I was asked to work on the Easy, Detailed, Expert column. It focuses on showing three versions of a layout, so that no matter what level of difficulty appeals to you, there's an idea for everyone.

This first layout is my take on the "EASY" version of my layout. I started with a storyboard template from Kerri Bradford, and printed out my photos in a collage. This is a great way to make those layout come together faster. Instead of printing out FIVE photos, trimming them individually, and adhereing them all to the page ... I simply printed out one large photo, trimmed around it, and adhered it to the page.

It might take a few extra minutes to get your collage set up, but having one large photo to work around on the page really does simplify the layout process. There are so many different ways to arrange five photos on a page, but there's not that many places to place one large photo (which is really five photos in one).

I adhered the collage to the center of my page, towards the bottom, and then worked on building around it with my chosen products. I added a strip of the colorful leaf patterned paper along either side of the photo collage, and a nice brown burlap patterned paper strip below the collage. A brown scalloped border sticker went along the inside edge of the leaf strips, and a yellow scalloped punched border went on the inside edge of the brown paper strip.

I added a green scalloped border sticker along the top edge of the photo collage. If you look closely, you can see where I must have pieced together two strips of the border sticker. I can't even remember why. Since I was keeping this layout "easy", I resisted the urge to use dimensional adhesive (even though it's still easy, and takes no extra time than regular adhesive. Lol.), and simply stuck my yellow flower stick right to the page, adding the tree circle sticker to the center.

For my title, I used a mix of brown letter stickers and orange chipboard letter stickers. A few photo corner stickers finished off the page. Easy peasy.

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This second layout is my take on the "DETAILED" version of my layout. Once again, I used a photo collage, although this time I took off the rounded corners on the template and kept with the straight edges. I moved my collage over to the right edge of the page, close to the bottom, and started building around the photo collage with my products.

To unify these three takes on one layout, I kept with the same Thankful collection from Bella Blvd. I used a few of the same patterned papers on all three layouts, but also choose a few different patterned papers to mix it up a bit.

I kept the same brown burlap patterned paper along the bottom of the collage, and added this large polka dot patterned paper along the left side of the layout, in addition to the orange strip of patterned paper and the brown ribbon. I added just a touch of machine stitching to this page, along the orange patterned paper and the green scalloped border sticker. I also added threaded buttons along the ribbon, as well as the bottom corner of the page.

To add a bit of interest to the polka dot patterned paper, I punched out some of the circles from another piece of the same paper. I also punched some circles, in the same size, from a scrap piece of chipboard. I adhered the paper to the chipboard, and sanded down the edges, before adhering them directly on top of some of the circles on the layout. It adds a bit of subtle interest, without much bulk.

I pulled out my Silhouette to create my title, cutting it from the brown burlap patterned paper and some orange cardstock. I also added a bit of green misting to the white cardstock background of this page to add a touch more color. I embellished the flower sticker more this time. Added a punched blue circle of patterned paper, did a bit of machine stitched around the center, added a threaded button, curled up the edges a bit, and adhered with pop dots.

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Stop back by tomorrow to see my third layout for this feature, the "EXPERT" layout. 

Scrapbook & Cards Today: Guest Blogger, Part 2

Yesterday the second part of my guest blog feature went up on the Scrapbook & Cards Today blog. I did a simple little tutorial about using a paper crimper to create lots of texture on your projects.

See how I started with this.

And then took these.

And turned it into this super layered, and full of dimension, flower that was perfect for adding to a card for a special someone! You can check it all out HERE.

Scrapbook & Cards Today: Guest Blogger

I'm excited to be guest blogging over on the Srapbook & Cards Today blog this week. I have a post up today, and then I'll be back on Wednesday with a quick tutorial based off today's project share.

I'm talking this week about inspiration, and how we can use inspiration images to spark our creativity when we are in a rut, or just running low on ideas when it comes to our scrapping.

Here's a little peek at the layout I created, based off of that inspiration piece. You can see the entire layout and read more about how I was inspired HERE.