Quick and simple layout.....

This is just a quick and simple layout I made while I was at a weekend crop. I used some watercolors on my base piece of cardstock, then layered on the photos, patterned paper, and a few embellishments. I love the piece of wood tag - I wish I had a few more! The paint took longer to dry on my paper than it took me to finish the rest of the page! I love how the photo is the spotlight here!

Thanks for stopping by!! Have a wonderful day!! :)

"Pass the Eggnog" Front Porch Kit Full Reveal.....

Warning...this post will be very photo heavy - just like the Front Porch Kits are full to the brim with goodies that I used to make all of my projects!! :)

I made this layout using a vintage photo of my sister, some friends of ours, and me because I feel the kit has a vintage Christmas feel to it! The pattern base of the layout is a piece of printed burlap(!!).

Next is a fun frame that I made into a "Countdown to Christmas". The front is where you the hang the numbers, and the back is where all the numbers are kept! The numbers were cut from black cardstock using my Silhouette Cameo and then I glammed them up using Stickles!

A fun set of tags layered with lots of goodies and some spray mists! I can't wait to use these on my Christmas presents!!

 A (Altoids) tin of tags!! Great as a gift or to use on your own presents!! My Silhouette Cameo got a workout for my projects!!

My last project is a double page layout! I don't make enough of these 2 pagers - I forget how fun they are to make!! :)

Let me just day that all of my projects are full of goodies (like I love them) - and I still have tons left over to make so many more layouts, or mini albums, or whatever I would want to create!! You definitely get a lot of bang for your buck!!

Go right here to the Front Porch Kits on the Little Blue House website to order your "Pass the Eggnog" kit and hurry before they run out!! And you can check out the full reveal of the kit board here on the blog.

Thank you so much for stopping by and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!! :)

"Pass the Eggnog" Sneak Peek #3........

Here is the 3rd and last Sneak Peek of "Pass the Eggnog" from Front Porch Kits. The goodies in this kit are so fun to play with!! You can preorder your kit now right here and you can see more sneaks right here on the Little Blue House blog!

Don't forget to check back tomorrow to see the full reveal!!

Thanks for stopping by!! :)

"Pass the Eggnog" Sneak Peek #2....

Here's the next sneak peek of the "Pass the Eggnog" Front Porch Kit! I'll have one more tomorrow and then there will be the big reveal!! You can preorder the kit now here and check out more sneaks here on the Little Blue house blog!

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a wonderful day!! :)

"Pass the Eggnog" Sneaks #1....

This is the first Sneak Peek I have of the "Pass the Eggnog" kit from Front Porch Kits. It is just chock full of fun and fabulous goodies!! You can pre-order the kit here and the full reveal will be on November 23.

Stop back tomorrow to see another sneak!! Have a great day!! :)

Wicked.....

These aren't the greatest photos of Danielle and I, but they're the only ones I have of us in the theater when we went to see Wicked and I wanted to make sure to capture the memory of that night. We both loved the show!! The journaling is hidden behind the photo in a vellum bag.
I started by misting my base cardstock using one of my favorite Studio Calico masks using some green Mister Huey. I layered a couple of strips of wide washi tape across the center, figured out where I wanted the photos, and then started layering all around. After placing the titles, I added a few gold sequins and stars to give it some glam and I was done!

Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope you have a wonderful day!! :)

"Pass the Eggnog".....

This is an awesome kit - I received my DT box yesterday and it's a great kit this time around full of Christmas, and winter and reds, kraft, and fun fun goodies to create with!! Sneak Peek is coming soon!!

Trying my hand at Letterpress....

I jumped onto the letterpress bandwagon when Studio Calico had a class for it, but there was a mix-up in the tools that I bought for the class, then I got sick, then I was working so many hours right before the store closed, that I never even cracked anything open and I haven't even really looked at any of the class PDF's. Finally, I had a free afternoon last weekend to spread everything out and have a go at making some letterpress cards. It takes a lot of patience and practice to get it "perfect" (at least what I perceive as perfect), but I did make a few letterpress cards that I ended up using on my layout.

I attempted two techniques - the dry letterpressing (with no ink) and the inked letterpress (with very sticky and ooey gooey ink). The dry letterpress card - which was very easy to make - has circles all over it and is layered under the butterfly paper. The inked card has the camera and saying. I used gold ink, but it actually looks like a light brown to me. The ink was so very messy and it took forever to wash up afterwards, but I am going to try and attempt to make Christmas cards this year with my letterpress stuff. Wish me luck!! :) It took several tries to get the ink pressed evenly and not smeared all over, but I do love the look and feel of the letterpress card.

For my layout, I did some watercoloring in the upper left hand corner to help balance out the dark bright colors in the opposite corner. I'm not really a ribbon person, but I love the color of the ribbon that was in my Studio Calico October kit, so I used some of it across the bottom of my photo - sort of like washi tape. Most everything I used is from my October SC kit except for the doilies and few Elle's Studio tags that I layered in spots.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!! :)

Treasures.....

 

My mom and I recently took a roadtrip to visit my daughter in Kansas, but we also went to find some treasures at the Kansas Barn Sale and at lots of flea markets and antique stores. I got a lot of cool goodies  - some to repurpose (which I've already done to a couple of pieces in the photo) and some just to display. We got a lot of great buys and had a fun time!

 

When I got back from our trip, my October Studio Calico kit was waiting for me, so I jumped right in and used products from my kit to make my layout. I was immediately drawn to the base piece of patterned paper and wanted to just use it as is, except for the piece of washi tape across the bottom of the red stripe. I used several PL cards to layer under my photo and type my journaling on, and then layered in a few embellishments. I love the stamp and it's saying, and I thought it was perfect for what I wanted to say about my layout! The red stripe was the perfect spot to line my title up on!! After giving a few splatters of mist in the corner I was done!

 

Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope you have a wonderfully creative day!! :)

Newfound love of gold.....

I have always been a silver girl - love silver, not gold jewelry, love cool, not warm colors - but the recent upsurge of the use of gold in new scrapbook products has had me experimenting and even embracing gold on my layouts! Who know?? Certainly not me! :)

This layout includes several gold accents - Gold Lame Heidi Swapp spray mist, glitter and foil gold diecuts from the Crate Paper Pier diecut pack, a beautiful gold doily that was included in my October Studio Calico kit, and gold American Crafts POW glitter paper that I used to cut the title. I still included my blues - I don't think I can scrap without using blue in some shape or form.  

Since the photo was one of Danielle standing between two trees, I did a play on trees with my patterned papers - the blue trees, layered on top of the dark brown woodgrain paper, all layered on top of the woodgrain embossed white cardstock with the cork frame layered on top of the photo.

The title is a diecut piece from the Silhouette store by Dear Lizzy for American Crafts. I wish I had that font so I could use it all the time!! I think it's Elizabeth Kartchner's handwriting! I actually broke out one of my punches (something I haven't done in a while!!) and used it to make the butterflies - my tried and try Martha Stewart punch! I think that was the very first punch I ever bought!

Thank you so much for stopping by!! Have a great day!! :)               

Guest Designing for Pinkfresh Studio...

I was asked by Kinnari, the owner of Pinkfresh Studio, to create some projects for her blog last week and here are the projects I made! I had a great time using the cool ombre washi and the fab sticker brads and puffy stickers!

For the layout above, I used products from my September Studio Calico kit and added the awesome red puffy arrow stickers from Pinkfresh Studio. Arrows are some of my favorite embellishments to use right now!

For my Zoey Layout, I used the neon pink and lime green ombre washi tape from PF Studio to make the cool frames under the photo. The brads are actually stickers (love this concept) and I used more puffy arrows, a house and a Polaroid frame, also from PF Studio.

I couldn't resist using the blue house puffy stickers on my Little Blue House layout! I met the owner of the Little Blue House (the talented and Sweet Miss Tracy!!) while visiting my son in Texas a few months ago and it was such a treat!

 

My last projects were a couple of cards using those very cool puffy Polaroid frame stickers and the sticker brads.

Thanks so much Kinnari for letting me create with such fun embellishments! Go check out her website and see the all the fabulous goodies she has!! You won't be able to resist them!! ;)

You are here.....

Just a quick and easy layout to get back into the swing of scrapbooking again! I've been busy helping the owner of my lss close up her store for good (and losing my job there in the process), so I haven't been in the mood to scrap - but I have been buying up lots of goodies to tide me over since there are no local stores near me anymore. Sometimes when I'm in "buy" mode, I just get too overwhelmed to create anything. I have to put everything away and let things sit before the creative juices start flowing again. So, I used a bit from my new September Studio Calico kit, with some bits and pieces I bought from my lss, and some bits I had laying on my desk and created this simple layout which took 30 minutes to make! Really a record for me since it usually takes a whole day of deliberation just for one layout! I used several pieces from The Pier Crate Paper line - love the colors and designs so much from this!

I had the diecut anchor piece sitting on my table for over a month and was glad to use it here after spraying it with some gold Heidi Swapp mist. I also used the mist to splatter across my page. I could easily use at least one of those chipboard frames on every layout I make - thank goodness I ended up up with three packs of them!! ;) That little yellow shiny button like piece is a brad sticker from a fabulous website called Pinkfresh Studio - you need to go check out all her cool items she has for sale! I'll be uploading some layouts and cards I designed for Kinnari using her products tomorrow. She is having a great giveaway every day this week on the Pinkfresh blogpot so go try and win some of her goodies!! The giveaway today is a couple of sets of these brad stickers!!

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!! :)

Lots of changes in my life documented.....

I haven't blogged in a while because we've been trying to get our youngest off to college  - leaving me with quite a big hole in my life now. I feel very adrift. There's been quite a few major changes going on in my life at this moment and I'm feeling kind of shaky about them, so I documented my feelings in my scrapbook page!

I used bits and pieces from my August Studio Calico kit. I had several sequins left, so I decided to layer them all under a diecut feather that I cut with my Silhouette machine. The cut is an Amy Tangerine diecut and it's my favorite feather cut I've found. I love the way this looks! And I used up all of my sequins from this kit!! YAY! I do have several thousand leftover sequins from other kits and purchases, so I felt safe in stash busting these!! ;)

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great day!! :)

4 Girls & a Baby Boy....

Love this photo of my daughters, Mom, niece and her baby boy that I took while we were sitting at the Cafe du Monde in New Orleans!! We all had a whirlwind fun 24 hours in New Orleans and crammed lots of stuff into that time!!

I used products from my August Studio Calico kit that I received on Wednesday. I got the idea to have the threads match the color strips of the paper as soon as I saw all the contents of my kit on Wednesday, which included such a fun fun AT sewing template kit, but I didn't have all the colors of threads to match. So, I had to wait until the next day to go buy the threads. Then when I got to the store (Hobby Lobby), I realized that I forgot to bring the paper with me to match the colors. The store was closing in 20 minutes so I couldn't come back and I REALLY wanted to start creating, so I grabbed about 12 different aquas (I already had my cream color - Buttercream from some Sew Easy threads I had) and hoped they would match close enough. And they do match - close enough. Maybe not perfectly, but perfect enough for me!! :)\

After all the stitching, I just layered using things from both the SC scrapbook kit and the SC PL kit too. I love to cut the PL cards apart and layer with them. I filled the vellum envie with some turquoise sequins that I had in my stash and cut my title using my Silhouette Cameo. I thought about stitching the tag too, but I really wanted the stitching down the side to be the star, so I took my Distress marker and colored the & on the tag to bring out the shape more and to match the cut title. After scattering a few sequins and attaching a stray cut that I had on my desk (the scrolly stars) I was done!

Thanks so much for stopping by!! :)

A Ghost Adventure....

While visiting New Orleans last month, we took a walking Haunted History ghost tour one evening. My youngest daughter has always wanted to go on one, so for her senior trip we planned a girls week of fun! We didn't go late at night - too scary - but at dusk - perfect twilight time!! It was fun and very informative. I love learning about the history of old buildings! My daughter new about most of the legends from watching TV, so she was excited to see them in person - and try to catch a glimpse of a ghost. I never saw anything unusual.

I used my Silhouette Cameo to cut a double layer large title - one gray cardstock and one vellum, which I offset layered. I then layered on several photos and my smaller title. For the "ghost" and "N.O." letters, I painted some cork Thickers using some crackle paint in picket fence. I love the effect it gave to the letters! I actually used my borders punch here - I haven't used them in ages!! I'm still into typing my journaling onto vellum. I used products from my July Studio Calico scrapbook and project life kits, plus bits and pieces from my stash.

Thanks so much for looking!! I hope you have a wonderful day!! :)

Working with Watercolors....

It's taken me a while to work up the confidence to use watercolors directly on my layout, but I LOVE the way this turned out!! It was just cardstock, so I knew I could throw it away if it didn't turn out like I liked it - but I like it a lot!! :) I've been watching lots of Wilna Furstenburg videos for pointers - then I just dove right in!

I diecut the pebble shaped background piece with my Silhouette Cameo and white cardstock and then layered the cut piece on top of another piece of white cardstock. I was just going to fill a few of the open spots with different embellies to give it a "collected beach shells" look, but then I thought it might look cool if all the spots were filled to look like sea glass. I worked up my nerve and just started filling in the hole with different shades of aqua and yellow. I even backed my vellum sun (cut on my Silhouette) with watercolor. I then did the unthinkable (at least to me) and smudged some on my patterned paper (under the photo spot). I definitely got the feel that I wanted on this layout with my photo I took on the beach while on vacation a little over a week ago!!

Give watercolors a try - it's easier than you think!! Have a great day!! :)

Guesting for Pinkfresh Studio....

I was recently contacted by Kinnari Zaveri, the owner of Pinkfresh Studio to create some projects using some her gorgeous products and I was thrilled to work with some of her fab and fresh washi tapes, resin shapes, and  Fresh Press cards.

The beautiful title card was my jumping off point for this layout. I wanted a kind of rainbow effect to my layout and the resin hearts were the perfect touch!

You can see some of the washi tape peeking out the left side of the layers - I covered a tag with the grey and yellow ombre tape then layered a piece of the plano circle tape down the center of it.

 Again, the beautiful title pressed card was the starting point for my layout - perfect for my daughter and her roller derby photo! I layered the ombre and plano washi tapes down the center of a piece of white cardstock then layered the rest of my products and photo on the top of it. I just love that ombre tape!!

I used some of the "finger snapping kind of day" washi tape as an accent under all my layering on this layout.

The saying is just precious and the color is stunning, and the perfect pop for my layout!

 I couldn't resist making one more project - a card using one of the Fresh Press cards and the Triangle rows washi down the side. This came together so fast with the ready made sentiment and the matching tape!

I had so much fun using these lovely products!! Make sure you go and check out Pinkfresh Studio Shop.

Thanks for stopping by!! Have a wonderful day!! :)

My first Colorbok/Making Memories blogpost!

I'm so excited to show you a layout that I created using some very fun products that have a bright and summery feel to them.

I love lots of layers on my projects (yes all of my albums are very lumpy!) and there are so many products you can choose from that mix and match so well using Colorbok products!

I used a piece of the pink Primary Pizazz Textured Cardstock as a base piece for my layout and then layered a piece of the neon yellow diagonal Craft Paper Neon Pop on top of that. Whenever I layer one piece of paper on top of the other I always cut out the center piece of the bottom piece (the part that doesn't show) so I haven't wasted a whole piece of paper where you only see around the edge. I used that bottom center cut piece (the pink cardstock) to cut out my title using my Silhouette Cameo and let me just say that the cardstock cuts like butter on my Silhouette!

I continued to layer some pieces from the Heidi Grace Sunshowers Collection. I used a page from the chipboard album (the aqua page) and started layering on top of that. I always seem to have an extra page or two when I make a mini album (too chunky if I use all of them!) but I hate to just waste the one page that I may have leftover, so I try and incorporate them into a layout or card. I threaded a piece of ribbon through the side holes and then started layering some paper from the 6x6 paper pad, a photo mat, a file folder frame which houses a photo of my daughter and some journaling inside which I tied shut with some twine, some layered fabric flowers with a brad center, and some stickers and a button scattered around to complete my project!

I hope you've enjoyed seeing the fun way you can mix and match Colorbok products to create bright summer project! You can find the Textured Cardstock and Neon Pop Craft Paper pads at Walmart and the Heidi Grace products are available at Joann's.

Have fun creating!! :)

Sisters....Friends

 This is a layout I made using a photo of my daughters - one of my faves of them!

First I did some misting over a mask, then I wanted to create a quilted look across the center so I cut several different patterned paper rectangles into triangles and layered down the sides. I then machine sewed along the "seams" of each triangle.

After attaching my photo and doing a little layering down each side using my hoarded Amy Tangerine leaves I used one of my hoarded Jenni Bowlin rub-on butterflies(only 2 red ones left). I stamped my sentiment, used some Thickers for the title and then applied some of my hoarded Pebbles buttons and Jenni Bowlin acrylic hearts. LOL...It felt good to use up some of the stash that's been cluttering up my scrap space for years!!

Thanks so much for looking!! Have a great day!! :)

smile.....

This is a layout featuring my oldest daughter while we were having lunch one afternoon while she was visiting. It was just a quick shot on my Iphone that I had instagrammed. I seem to use and prefer the photos I take using my phone much more than the photos I take using my big camera. The phone photos just seem much less posed and more in the moment.

I used products from one of my Studio Calico kits (I forget which one!!) and several diecuts from my Silhouette that were provided during an online class that I took through Studio Calico.

Thanks for looking!! Have a great day!!

J.....

This is a layout of my son that I made for some design team work at my local scrapbook store - Scrapbook Zone in Cabot.

I used Basic Grey's Hipster line - perfect for anything about my son!! Those glasses - that moustache - totally him! :)

This is just a simple grid-like layout design that makes the photo the star of the layout.

Thanks so much for looking!! Have a fab day!! :)

Wonderful You.....A Sketch Challenge at Studio Calico

I was asked by Studio Calico to participate in their Sunday Sketch this past weekend for their blog and I was thrilled to take part! They offer two sketches each week - one a card and one a layout - and I chose the layout sketch.

I used the new Studio Calico Atlantic line (I purchased the whole entire line when I won the $100 gift card from SC during National Scrapbook Day! Hee!). I just love their new line and thought it would be perfect to use with a photo I took of my dd this past summer down on the coast. We were in the Ocean Springs harbor in front of some beautiful sailboats on a gorgeous sunny day. I used my Silhouette Cameo to cut the title out of some American Crafts POW glitter paper and I made some cute flags using some arrows and banner pieces from the vellum collection. In the original layout, Nicole Samuels had hand sewn across some chevrons. I cut some chevron paper into pieces and then I machine stitched in between the cut pieces instead. I also used the little anchor punch for some accents on the journal labels - I think that is just a darling punch!!

I hope you try out the sketch on the Studio Calico blog - you have a chance to win a gift card if you do! :)

hello Love.....

This is just a fun layout I made using my favorite senior portrait of my youngest and lots of the Maggie Holmes Crate Paper line. I used some modeling paste on top of a Studio Calico mask (the white arrows under the layers and photo). I colored in some of the arrows with a teal Copic marker for some pops of color. I think the pops of blue help to accent the streaks of blue she has in her hair!! I loved layering all the bits and pieces of embellishments (some chipboard pieces and some diecuts) around the photo - this Crate paper line is probably one of my most favorite ever! Such a romantic and soft line - perfect for my girl!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a great day!! :)

Exciting Anouncement....

I've been chosen to be a part of the Making Memories/ Colorbok design team!! Here is the rest of the team if you'd like to check them out!

Julianna McKenna-De Lumen, Australia

 http://julestheblingprincess.blogspot.com.au/

 

Shawna Webster, Hawaii

http://kidsandpaper.blogspot.com/

 

Renata Mondi Bidin, Brazil

http://keepingmymemories.blogspot.com.br/

 

Stacey Schafer, Illinois

http://stampinwithstacey.blogspot.com

 

Celine Régnier, France

http://ptitesmimines.blogspot.fr

 

Cathy Harper, South Dakota

http://www.alteredplayground.blogspot.com

 

Ilene Tell, Delaware

http://whatabunchofscrap.blogspot.com/

 

I'm so excited to be a part of this team with these talented ladies!! It's going to be a fun experience and I can't wait to get started creating with some fabulous MM product!!!!!

 

Thanks for stopping by!!

 

Always be you.....

These are some belated senior portraits I took of Danielle for her graduation invitations. I had taken some the summer before, but she wanted new ones taken with her blue hair and recent weight loss! I took her photos one Sunday afternoon, photoshopped them up a bit, sent them to the printers, and had her invitations by Thursday afternoon. I did pay a little extra for faster shipping, but it was worth it!

For this layout I used products from my April SC kits using one of the PL cards as my title and

 

And a place for my journaling (which is a quote I got from Pinterest). I cut the circle background with My Silhouette Cameo and I took some of the cut circles from the background and covered them with the chevron washi tape. I used some tags and chipboard from my stash for layering and I typed the quote onto a piece of vellum and layered it on top of the journal card. I dotted a few sequins around for some bling!

 

Thanks for stopping by and have a fabulous day!! :)

let's have an Adventure....

Wow!! Two layouts in a row that include a photo of dh and I.....that's highly unusual as I have so few photos of us together!! :)

I usually don't buy these types of photos - too expensive and I really don't know how to use them on a layout - but I really liked this one of us together (I don't know how but we actually color matched!!) and there are so few...so I splurged and spent $20 on the photo - there are 3 of them - 2 this size and one 8x10.

I used products from my Studio Calico kits - a mix of the May and April kits (both PL and scrapbook). I also used the new SC punch (which I bought at my lss) to make the cute little red anchors and an AC roller stamp that I picked up at Target a couple of days ago. I cut the title using my Silhouette Cameo.

Thanks for looking!! Have a wonderful day!! :)