My Loves

Hey there, everyone!!  Here's the layout and post that I shared on the AWDML blog last week!

Happy Scrapy Wednesday, everyone! I hope you're having a fantastic day on this last day of July. Today I have a pretty layout to share with you!

Last week, my friend Patty who is a wonderful photographer took some gorgeous photos of my kids and Duffy. She was sweet enough to give me all of the photos to scrap and I couldn't be more happy! She's the best! So, today I have the first of the series of photos that she took. I really wanted to create a clean, crisp, bright layout that captured the beauty of my kids and the location that is just down the road from my house.

I love the yellows, blues and and greens in Lily Bee's Sweet Shoppe collection and thought they would be perfect for this layout!

I rarely break out the needle and thread to hand stitch, but I really wanted to keep the simple look going on this layout. To make the heart shape, I cut out a large heart with my cricut and then traced around it with my paper piercer to create the pattern for the stitching.

 

The center of the large flower is a wooden button that is part of the Sweet Shoppe Collection. The yellow pearls are actually regular pear accents that I quickly colored with a Copic Marker! I also colored the "MY" in the title with the same marker! Copics make it SO easy to have perfectly matching accents in a matter of seconds! Here's a closeup of one of the flowers so you can see the center.

 

I hope you enjoyed my layout today and some of the tricks that I used to create it! I hope you're inspired to dive right into your scrappy goodies! Thanks for stopping by!  Be sure to check out AWDML for all of the supplies used to create this layout and SO much more!!

Perpetual Birthday Calendar!

Hey, everyone!  Here's a fun post that was shared on the AWDML blog last week!

This week, I have birthdays on the brain! I always feel like I'm going to forget someone (and often do...), so I wanted to have something that would be a quick reference to know when everyone's birthday is. I created a perpetual birthday calendar. You can use it year after year and just add people as you go!

I started with a 5"x7" acrylic free standing frame that you can get from any department or craft store. I batted my big brown eyes and got my husband to drill two holes in it. Each hole is 1" from the outer edge and 1/2" from the top.

Then I created my cover. I wanted it to be festive and fun, but something I could keep out on my desk year round. I found this great cherry paper in the Echo Park Perfect Summer collection and then used up some of my Thicker stash for the letters. I punched the cover 1" from the outer edge and 1/2" from the top to match the acrylic frame.

Next, I created the pages that I fill in the birthdays on. They are simple, yet functional. Just print, punch and go! I created mine using Word and saved it as a PDF file. You are more than welcome to download it HERE.

I connected all of the pages using book rings and I'm ready to start filling in the birthdays of all my friends and family! I'll never miss another birthday! Here it is all put together, ready to sit on your desk or mantle all year!

Now, simply flip the over over to any month you need and see who has a birthday that month!

I hope you enjoyed today's project and that you're inspired to make one of your own! 

Thanks so much for stopping by today and be sure to check out AWDML for all of the latest in scrapping goodies and all of the supplies used to make this project!

Altered Cans Project

I'm working on getting caught up on all of the blog posts that I haven't shared this month.  Even though this is a 4th of July project, this could be made for any party or event-- just change up the paper you use!

Today I’m sharing a fun project that would be perfect for your 4th of July picnic table, but can be changed to suit any occasion!

 

I started with three cans from the recycle bin. I think these are actually two cans of refried beans and some mandarin oranges! Then, I covered them in burlap fabric. These cans measured 4″ tall and 9 1/4″ around. I tried a few different adhesives, but I found that hot glue worked the best for me.

Now, I cut three strips of paper that were 2 1/4″ by 10″ and punched three smaller strips that were also 10″ long.

Next, using my ATG gun, I attached my punch strips to the back of the 2 1/4″ strips, like so:

Now, using the hot glue gun, I adhered these strips to my cans.

Next, I punched three scalloped circles from kraft paper and three circles from white cardstock. I glued each white circle onto a scalloped circle and then adhered them to the cans.

Now, to add some sparkle, I decided to glitter some chipboard pieces. To do this, I ran my chipboard letters through my Xyron FACE DOWN so that the glue is on the FRONT of the letter.

Next, I used my finger to press gently on the glitter to make sure it stuck and then picked up each letter and shook off the excess glitter. I usually tap it gently on the table to get all of the loose glitter off, as well. Then, I glued the letters on the front of the cans.

Finally I added some coordinating tissue paper and put in the plastic silverware that we’ll use at our 4th of July picnic. You could also add decorated pretzel sticks, pinwheels, lolipops, or anything that fits the occasion you are celebrating!

I hope you enjoyed today’s project and that you’ll consider trying this for your next party!

 

 

                         

You & Me: Confessions of a Mat-a-holic

Here's an article I wrote for the latest edition of the A Walk Down Memory Lane newsletter!  You can subscribere HERE to receive weekly newsletters chock full of tutorials, product and manufacturer features, inspiration and of course, the weekly sale!

 

Hello. My name is Nicole and I am a matting addict. I love to mat everything and I'm admitting it! The good news is that this is NOT a problem I need to stop! It's not bad for my health and (in my opinion) it's GREAT for my layouts!

 I have created a rather simple layout today to illustrate my point. First, here's the basic layout where I did not mat the major parts of my layout (the layers of patterned paper, the journaling and my photo). Please excuse that things are a little crooked here... nothing is glued down. I realy feel that the layout looks washed out and that it needs some POP!

 

One of my favorite ways to make the different elements of my page POP is to add mats! Lots of people mat their photos... but I like to mat EVERYTHING! Here's my layout again with the major elements matted.  Everything just feels more focused to me!

See how your attention is drawn to each element, but doesn't take away from the photo? You may notice that i also colored the title-- I love to color the corrugated alphas with my copics! I also ditched the banner pieces from the first draft of my layout and added the little clothesline sticker. I also added some other elements, most of which are popped up with foam tape to add dimension-- another great way to add some POP to your projects!

 

**Note- I achieved the matching color for the alphas by first coloring with the BG45 and then coloring over it with the B93. Combining Copic colors (do the darker color first) is a great way to customize your colors for any project you're working on!

So try catching the matting fever and see were it takes you! Do you like to use journaling strips? Try matting those and see what you think! Nearly any page element can be matted for a little extra pop! Try it-- you'll like it!

Products Used:

Patterned Paper and Stickers: Echo Park Perfect Summer Collection

Cardstock: Bazzil

Alphas: Jillibean Corrugated Alphas

Adhesive: ATG Gun and Scotch Quick Dry

Copic Markers: B93- Light Crockery Blue and BG45 Nile Blue

 

Thanks so much for stopping by my blog today!  I hope you come again soon!

 

BIG FISH!!

Hey there, everyone!!  I hope everyone is having a fantastic summer! We’ve been super busy and on the go for the last few weeks, but this week we are slowing things down and trying to enjoy some of the fun things that can only be done in ths summer… like time at the LAKE! We have some tremendous friends who open their home (and their dock) to us every summer to enjoy any time we want to. We are so grateful and enjoy every minute we are there!

Last week, Colby decided to try fishing from the kayak. He was happily fishing in the “weeds” when he yelled, “I GOT ONE!” Of couse, the fish swallowed his lure, so he couldn’t get it off to release it and had to tow the fish back to the dock for help. When he pulled up to the dock, I saw that he had a great, big bass on his line! He was all smiles, of course!

I was excited to use the Echo Park Perfect Summer collection to scrap these fun photos and this great memory!


One of my favorite things to do while creating my title is to use my Copic Markers to color stickers, chipboard and alphas to match what I’m working on. Here, I used the Jillibean Soup Corrugated Alphas and colored them to perfectly match. Now, I can just get white alphas and then make them match- I never have to worry about not having the right color!

Here’s a close-up of the layout where you can see the fun details added with the fabulous stickers included in the Perfect Summer Collection. I love to pop them up with foam tape to add dimension and used the fishies and the sun sticker to create my visual triangle. I also added some fun Washi tape that looks like a ruler to highlight how “big” the fish is!

I hope you enjoyed my layout today and that you’re inspired to dive right into your scrappy stash!  Thanks so much for stopping by!

It's July...

It's July and that means it's time to share a new sketch from the wonderfully talented Lucy Chesna of My Sketch World!  This month brings a great sketch and I had some fun playing with some brand new Echo Park goodies, too!

Here's my take on it:

Here's a close up of the photo and the title work.  This title incorporates two things I love to do:  mixing my alphas and running the title onto a photo.  I just love the effect!

Here's the sketch that this layout is based on.  You can see that I focused on the four strips and incorporated the journaling strips, the large flower and the title placement.  One of the things I love about using sketches is how you can pick and choose what inspires you and make it your own. Lucy's sketches are particularly perfect for that!

You can go HERE to see what the rest of the team did with the sketch!  There are some fantastic layouts there!  Way to go, ladies!!

Thanks for stopping by today!  I'll be back soon with more good stuff to share!

Beautiful Girl

Hey, there everyone!  Today I'm sharing a project that was featured on the AWDML blog last week!

Today I want to share a fun sketch from our Pinterest board and the layout that I created with it. First of all here’s the sketch by the fabulously talented Pamela Young from Pamela’s World of Scrap.

And, here’s my layout featuring the new Lily Bee collection called Sweet Shoppe. It’s a great collection full of wonderful colors and super cute patterns! It’s going to be one of my go-to summer collections, for sure!

One of the things that I love about sketches is how you can use it exactly, or not. I often start using the sketch pretty exactly, and then make small changes along the way. You can see that I stuck pretty close to the sketch here, but made a few adjustments to make it work for me. I moved the title and the journaling. I chose to use a large pleated flower in place of the butterflies from the sketch. I also added the date into the upper right hand corner. Lastly, you can see that I created a large (yellow) mat for the layout elements to sit on. For me, it helped to pop everything off the page.


Here’s a close-up of the cardstock alpha stickers that are a part of the collection, and the pleated flower that I made. I just love the pop of pink!

And, here’s a peek at the journaling:

Thank you so much for stopping by today! I hope you enjoyed the sketch and my layout!
Have a wonderful day!

Easiest Gift Card Holder EVER!

Hey there, everyone!  Here's a project I shared on the AWDML Blog last week!  Enjoy!

Gift Card season us upon us– Father’s Day, Graduations, Baby Showers, Weddings and Birthdays. Every occasion calls for a gift and in every case Gift Cards are simple and loved. But, there’s always the question of how you present the gift card. Well, I have a super simple and easy gift card holder that is perfect when you have several to make at once and not a lot of time to do it! And, the greatest part, you can make THREE of them from just one piece of 8 1/2″ by 11″ piece of cardstock!

Here’s what we’re making:

First, cut your cardstock into three strips that are 2 3/4″ by 11″. There will be a tiny strip left over. You can just put that in the recycle bin!

Now, using your score board, score each strip at 3 3/4″ and 7 1/2″.


Now, cut corner to corner on the third panel (the furthest right in the photo above), which is slightly smaller than the rest.


Now, apply adhesive along the bottom edge of the now triangular panel where I marked with a pen below.


Now simply fold the triangular panel over and press down to adhere. This makes the pocket for your gift card.


Once you fold your card on the final score line, that’s IT! No kidding! Isn’t that the easiest thing EVER?! Now, you just need to decorate it!

I cut two white pices at 2 1/2″ by 3 1/2″ and two patterned paper pieces at 2 1/4″ by 3 1/4″. I put one white piece and one patterned piece together for the front of the card. I stamped my sentiment on the other white piece and adhered it to the inside left of my card. Finally, I cut the 2nd patterned paper piece from corner to corner to fit on the triangular flap.

Here’s the front of one of the cards:


And, here’s the inside:

I hope you liked today’s project and that you will find it useful when you have gift cards to give this summer!

An Amazing Opportunity!!

I'm beyond excited to share that I was asked to be on the Cycling Team for Little Yellow Bicycle's Poppy Collection.  I can't even begin to tell you how much I love this collection!  The papers, the embellishments-- EVERYTHING!  Today I get to share my layouts on the LYB Blog and I'm super excited to share them here, too!  

My first layout features my sweet Goldendoodle, Duffy.  We’ve had a very rainy spring and since he likes to play in the mud, we don’t usually let him out to “play” when it’s so wet and he gets very, very sad.  One day, he looked especially pathetic staring out the window and my camera just happened to be nearby, so I got out the camera and the kids and I laughed while trying to figure out what he was thinking.  The “5 things” embellishments worked perfectly to remember the moment!

I used some alpha stickers from my stash to put a few words that we thought Duffy might be thinking about:

And, to create the look of a rainy day, I added some raindrops to my layout using some clear, wet glue.  When it dries, it adds some fun dimension and looks just like raindrops!

LYB Products:
PY-103 Springtime Bands/Aqua Chevron
PY-104 Poppy Field Damask/Aqua Script
PY-106 Blooms & Damask/Yellow Pinstripe
PY-308 5 Things Envelopes - with embossing (11 pieces)
PY-135 Cardstock Stickers - Favorite Pieces - with glitter and embossing (29 pieces)
PY-305 Paper Crafting Kit (73 pieces)
PY-220 Fabric Favorites (18 pieces)
AS-110 Burlap Alphas - Esfera

My next layout features my little girl who LOVES to go to the beach!  It doesn’t matter what kind of day it is, she’s always happy to play in the sand and water.  She can just play and play and play and always has fun!

I am absolutely LOVING the Naturals products from LYB—especially the alpha stickers!  The fonts are fabulous and the texture that they ad is fantastic.  Here, I used some of the white stickers and colored them with an alcohol ink marker.  This way, the color options are endless and you can make them match any project!  I love it when I can buy one product over and over and make it look a million different ways!

Poppy Canvas Words

The Poppy Collection also includes some fantastic journaling cards!  They are a perfect size and have such cute shapes and designs on them.  

LYB Products:
PY-106 Blooms & Damask/Yellow Pinstripe
PY-101 Garden Journal/Red Pinstripe
PY-102 Red Floral Fabric/Spring Blooms
PY-104 Poppy Field Damask/Aqua Script
PY-105 Garden Stripe/Flower Power
PY-108 Green Script/Yellow Parchment
PY-134 Journaling Cards - with thermography (10 pieces)
PY-135 Cardstock Stickers - Favorite Pieces - with glitter and embossing (29 pieces)
PY-305 Paper Crafting Kit (73 pieces)
PY-279 Chipboard Shapes - with glitter accents (29 pieces)
PY-202 Canvas Stickers - Words (17 pieces)
AS-211 Canvas Alphas - White, Esfera

Thank you so much for stopping by today!  Thank you, also to Liz Qualman and the rest of the LYB gang for this incredible opportunity!  

Happy June!!

June is happy for SO many reasons!  The biggest one is the start of summer vacation!  Both as a mom and a teacher, June is a very, very happy time! 

June is also great because that means a new sketch from My Sketch World!  Here's my take on the June sketch using the fabulous collection from Little Yellow Bicycle called "Just Because!"

 

You can see the sketch and what the rest of the designers did with it on the MSW Blog!

 

And, I'm just realizing that in my complete slacking in blogging, I never posted the May sketch! Seriously, you'd think I just spent my time working, running kids back and forth, cooking, cleaning... oh wait.  Nevermind.  Here's my take on the May MSW Sketch!  Better late than never, right?!

 

 

I promise to be back soon to post some more of what I've been up to!  I have lots to share!