Front Porch Kit Sneak Peek #2!!!

Here's another sneak of a project I created with the Just Add Water Front Porch Kit that's available for pre-sale right now!

 Aren't those some awesome colors?? And there are tons of some very fun embellishments to play with too!!

Here's the info on how and where to pre-order:

Stop by or call the Little Blue House
118 W. Olive St.

Keller, TX 76248

(817) 431-7930
or
You can place your order online @
http://www.thelittlebluehouseonline.com/

And don't forget to become a follower over there at the Little Blue House and leave a comment here for a chance to win this kit!!

Front Porch Kits Sneak Peek #1!!!

Here's a tiny snippet of a sneak peek of one of my projects I created with this fun fun Front Porch kit from The Little Blue House. It's filled with lots of fun and unusual goodies (as usual) with some very fun patterned papers - perfect for those summer photos and projects!!

Pre-orders begin today! Here is how you can order:
Stop by or call the Little Blue House
118 W. Olive St.

Keller, TX 76248

(817) 431-7930
or
You can place your order online @
http://www.thelittlebluehouseonline.com/

And don't forget to become a follower over there at the Little Blue House and leave a comment here for a chance to win this kit!!

Stay tuned....More great Sneaks soon to come!!!

Woodgrain cardstock

There's a new(ish) product that Studio Calico has recently started selling (actually they had a piece in one of their previous kits) that I bought several pieces of and that's cardstock that is pressed like woodgrain. Not only do I like the impression, but it's really thick and really white and I like using white as my base page nowadays! It really makes whatever you place on it pop! I used it on both of the layouts above. Most everything else is from the July Studio Calico kit with a little stash thrown in.

The top layout - A Beautiful Mess - has a photo of my scrap desk as I'm working and creating!! Several elements on this layout were ideas for different layouts that didn't work and I put to the side to use for different projects!! I stamped several circle border images on my cardstock and I was actually going to use this piece for the bottom (Wipe-out) layout, but it was too busy for those beach photos!  The chevron cut pieces across the middle were also leftovers from a previous layout that I tried to use it on but didn't look good on so I just saved the pieces and discovered that they went well with my stamped cardstock piece!! That just goes to show you shouldn't be afraid to try new looks or techniques - if they don't work on the original project, you can always find a way to incorporate them into another project!! There were several small embellishments in our kits this month, so I liked the look of filling in some of the stamped circles with them. I did a little layering under the photo, using a scrap from a previous month's kit with the pp from the July kit and some doilies. I added some doilies to the corners and put my journaling in a hidden pocket (the vellum envelope under the photo) and called it done!!

The bottom Layout - Wipe-out - has photos of my son using his skimboard one summer while we were visiting Ship Island off the Mississippi coast. I went with a mainly monochromatic theme on white so my pictures would really stand out! I have several packages of the October Afternoon diecut pieces so I just picked out all the aqua pieces and layered them around my photos. I used a little washi tape to create a type of frame above and below the photos. The layout needed some dimension, so I used some flair buttons and also popped a piece of diecut off the page with a pop dot. I love the chipboard letters that I used - they are the Studio Calico naked chipboard Thickers and I used some of my Prima chalk ink to color them. Lastly, I splotched some black and turquoise Mister Huey across my page.

You should run to the SC shop and get some of that very cool woodgrain paper - you won't be sorry!! :)

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

2 Layouts in 1 day????

It doesn't happen very often - I usually only work on one layout at a time - all day long - but every once in a while, when I'm working with one project I'll get an idea for another and start working on them at the same time! I go back and forth between the two until they are done! I happened to use the diecut from one project for the other on these (the hearts).

I used products from my July Studio Calico kit (with add-ons) to make these!

The top layout is a photo of my lovely vintage cameras that I like to collect. I tried to give my embellishments a vintage feel to them with the wonky squares and the font on the "love" title. I used my Silhouette Cameo to cut the hearts of the title. I used a cute camera flair button by Ormolu from my stash - as well as the strip of camera transparency which was from an earlier SC kit. With some splotches of Mister Huey, a little machine sewing, and typewritten journaling on some vellum it was done!

The bottom layout was the first layout I started working on - on my wedding anniversary (which I had forgotten - it was just a lucky coincidence ;)! ). I started by cutting some background hearts using my Silhouette Cameo. I fussy cut the huge letters and then diecut the ampersand (I cut 2 ampersands - one in a pp and one in vellum. I didn't like either by themselves, but when I layered the vellum on top of the pp it toned down the color and it was perfect!!). I didn't like the font or the size of the letters in my kit for this layout, so I diecut part of the title with my Silhouette. I used the Pacifico font and melded the letters together. All that was left were the embellishments which I used from the kit, but added the words tags from my stash!!

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

July's Take 12 on the 12 th

What a fun layout to make!! I used my July Studio Calico kit for this. Washington DC was full of buildings with buntings all over them, so I made my own layered bunting at the bottom of my layout using punches! I like the way I labeled my photos using vellum strips where I typed the title. It's subtle but still can be seen! I couldn't find a good spot for my journaling, so I tucked a vellum envelope under my photos and put the journaled tag inside!

Check out the other DT ladies takes on this challenge!!

Aliza Deutsch
Amy Prior
Angela Gutshall
Jennie McGarvey
Lisa Ottosson
Stephanie Medley-Rath
Van Nguyen
Margie Scarpignato
Monica Bradford
Lisa Day
Janette Kincaid

Thanks for stopping by!! :)

It's 5 o'clock Somewhere

A fabulous drink from the Margaritaville Casino where we went for my birthday while we were down on the coast of Mississippi - Biloxi to be exact!! It had just recently opened and I knew I'd be down there for my birthday so we went to the restaurant and ate and then did a little gambling. It was fun and we plan on going back next time we're in town down there!!

I used my July Studio Calico kit which I finally broke into today!! I used my Silhouette Cameo to cut out that fabulous title. Not really too much going on here - just some mist flicks and layering!! I did do some stamping in a couple of spots - I'm trying to actually use my stamps instead of just looking at them!! :)

Thanks for stopping by!! :)

Here's what I've been doing to keep me busy and not blogging.....

We were busy visiting memorials, Smithsonian museums, the Capital building, marching in parades, watching the fireworks on the 4th, seeing really really cool artwork, eating tons of fabulous food, and having a great time with 150 band kids in Washington DC!! I'm off to move my ds to Denton, TX this weekend but I will be back to blogging and creating full time on Monday!!

In the mean time, don't forget the Take 12 Challenge!!

I've taken my 12 pictures on the 12th and will be making my layout next week! Don't forget to link your layout here on the Ella Publishing blog - there will be a fabulous giveaway from our sponsor this month - Bella Blvd!!!

I'm so glad to be back!! :)