Jillibean Soup | Sweet Dreamer...

Hello Friends! It's been another busy week around here and already the weekend is almost upon us! Today I wanted to share my layout that's up on the Jillibean Soup blog. I've been playing with the new Sew Sweet Sunshine Soup collection and might have taken it in a slightly different direction to what it is initially meant to help document! *grin* However, having said that, now that I look at my layout once again, I really haven't lost the craftiness element of its intention, but merely tweaked it! LOL!

 

"Sweet Dreamer"

 

products used: cs - American Crafts; pp - Jillibean Soup (Sew Sweet Sunshine Soup); alpha - Jillibean Soup alphabeans; other - Jillibean Soup: mini placemats, wood sprinkles, stickers, labels, die cut cork, bakers twine, pompom garland, happy hues, enamel stars; other - machine stitching, typewriter.

 

 

My goal was to create a textural dream catcher using the Sew Sweet Sunshine Soup mini placemats.  The heart and embroidery hoop die cuts were the perfect shape and size to be layered against my 4x6 photo.

 

The colour palette of the dream catcher came about by accident. At first if was a solid colour of yellow and I changed my mind and wanted it to be more of an aqua shade, so once the first layer was dry, I painted directly over it again with the second colour. I still wasn't completely happy with the choices I made and after playing with the shapes, moving them about on my page (for what seems like ages!!!) I accidently flipped it to the reverse side and liked what I saw!  Definitely an happy accident! 

 

 

To achieve the dream catcher look, the mini placemats were first adhered to the patterned paper background before I added evenly spaced holes with a paper piercer. It was just a simple matter to then stitch randomly between the holes with the yellow embroidery thread.

 

The rest of the dream catcher threads were created from homemade twine tassels and pompom garlands.

 

I hope you get the chance to visit the Jillibean Soup blog and check out the inspiration from the other design team girls.  It's totally worth your while!  Thanks for visiting..x

 

 



Jillibean Soup | Art from the Heart...

Hello Friends! This was one of my favourite projects created for Jillibean Soup last month.  It is a simple display board where I can clip my youngest son's endless supply of hand drawn/painted/made artwork! *grin*

The process is simple.  If you know my style by now, you know I don't like to over complicate things! All you need to create this board for yourself is the burlap frame (found over at Jillibean Soup), a bulldog clip, Happy Hues paint and a soft brush. I am using Amiable Aqua paint from the Jillibean Soup Happy Hues collection. Don't forget to have a hot glue gun handy too!

Firstly I started by sourcing the top middle of my burlap pin board. Once I found the correct spot, I hot glued my bulldog clip into place.

Next I removed any stickers and poured the paint directly onto the frame.  Using the soft brush, I followed the grain of the frame to paint the top only.  Feel free to paint your frame entirely.  I liked having the inside and outside edges raw.

After the paint dries, add a wire word to the top of your frame and using Jillibean Soup beanboard alphas, create the phrase "Art from the Heart" along the bottom.



See.  Easy Peasy.  Now all you have to do is hang the frame and add some homemade artwork. Or it could even work for school certificates, notes or a place to jot down reminders!  I love how versatile this project can be!

Thanks for joining me here today.  Don't forget to head on over to the Jillibean Soup blog to check out some other fabulous projects..x

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art work by: Cameron Allinson.

Sassy Scrapper | Project Life Tutorial...

Hey Friends!  Want to play along with me over at Sassy Scrapper? Today I am sharing my ideas and techniques on how to catch up on your creative process.  Even if you are several weeks behind.  As long as you've continued to snap photos each week, catching up with PL2015 shouldn't be a problem with a few, simple organisational tricks!

 

 

"Week 16"

 

 

I hope you are keen to check out these ideas! And I hope to see you over at Sassy.  Thanks for visiting..x

 

 



Sassy Scrappers | Project Life...

Hi Everyone!  Today I am just letting you know that my Project Life | Week 16 is up over at the Sassy Scrapper blog.

I hope you can come on over for a visit and see what I've been up to!

Jillibean Soup & PageMaps..

How lucky am I?  I've just had the opportunity to play along with Becky Fleck's PageMaps sketches, two months in a row as a guest designer! In April, it was for Bella Blvd (see blog post here) and now in May, I get to play along with the talented girls from Jillibean Soup!  I sometimes still have to pinch myself at the wonderful opportunities that have come my way. And I am extremely humbled that people still like to look at what I love creating.  Thank you friends...x

 

Becky kindly provided this sketch for me to work from.

 

 

 

And this is what I created.. It's pretty close to the sketch but as you can see, I've added my own variation in some places!

 

 

"Just Write"

 

products used: cs - Kaisercraft; pp - Jillibean Soup; alpha - Jillibean Soup beanboards; other - JBS: wood sprinkles, pea pod parts, soup labels; other - typewriter.



I've done a little play on words with my title work.  *grin*  My youngest is extremely interested in his letters/alphabet/writing at the moment and he is copying and learning something new each day.

 

I really wanted to have a permanent copy of his handwriting at this learning stage, as most of the time he just grabs sheets of printer paper and goes to town with his letter work!  Adding it to a scrapbook layout just ensures I will have a future reminder of these little details.

I got him to write his name with a pencil, directly onto some white cardstock.  I then carefully went over his handwriting with an acid-free permanent pen/marker.  I've also used this cardstock, trimmed, to replace the second photo from the sketch.

 

To finish off my layout, I've added the gorgeous wood sprinkles (life) in place of the button banner and the large die-cut camera (peapod parts) instead of the circle element.

 

I hope you will come along and find the time to play with this sketch.  Maybe you can also capture some handwriting detail of your own!! Thanks for visiting today...x

 

 



Bella Blvd | Project Life...

Hi Everyone!  Today I am sharing my Project Life spread created for Bella Blvd.  This week I am covering "Week 13" and so far, so good, I am up to date with my album for 2014!! yay!

 

"Week 13"

products used: pp - Bella Blvd (Family Forever, Lucky Starz); alpha - Bella Blvd; other - Bella Blvd: stickers, candid cards, paper pieces, crochet hearts, flags, designer tape; tools - machine stitching, date stamp, typewriter.

My title pocket was created by fussy cutting some of the awesome inspiration words (reverse side of Lucky Starz - Surf N Turf) and then stitched down onto a Family Forever Candid Card.  The Candid Cards are perfect for PL and they certainly make the process of creating much faster!

 

On the second page of my spread I've created a secret journaling folder and an extra place to keep special memories.

 

 The hidden journaling was created using the "you is kind..." card (3"x4") from Lucky Starz, trimmed and then hinged to a larger Candid Card (4"x6") from the same collection with designer tape. The back of the hinged card is then covered with a journaling card, trimmed to the same size. The rest of the pocket card is then embellished as desired.

 

I just adore this self portrait drawn by my youngest!  And he used the perfect colours too! LOL!  I love it when a plan comes together! *grin*

If you would like to see some more details, please head on over to Bella Blvd.  Thanks for visiting...x

ps - Bella Blvd is about to have its 2014 Warehouse Box Sale!!!  If you would LOVE to get your hands on some gorgeous product, visit here!!!

 

 

 

Sassy Scrappers | Project Life Week Four...

Hi Everyone!  I'm up on the Sassy Scrappers blog today with another PL spread.

 

 

This week I'm sharing a few tips on how I archive my children's artwork!  You know the stuff that they create and you just can't throw away?! *grin*

 

 

If you get the chance please come by and visit..x

 

Bella Blvd | Project Life...

I know recently I have shared a Project Life spread here (Week 5), well.. after months of nothing... I have another to share.  And it is quite a leap between weeks! LOL!  Over on the Bella Blvd blog today we are sharing our PL inspired projects.  I jumped at the opportunity to get another spread completed!  This one is a little more recent.  *grin*

 

 

"Project Life: Week 33"

 

products used: Play Date: Daily Details, Chasing Rainbows, Little Birdie, Captions, Alpha+Bits; Freestyle Sophisticates: Freestyle Saltwater; Daily Chevies: Chevy Bell Pepper, We Are Family Bookplates, Everyday Bookplates, Pickle Juice Arrows; Snapshots: Paper Pieces; Trick or Treat: Paper Pieces; Birthday Boy: Alpha+Bits; All American: Ciao Chip Icons; Crochet Hearts: Pickle Juice; Feathers: White; High Five Alpha Stickers: Gulf, Blue, Brown-Cream, Yellow, Green; Chip Essentials: Pickle Juice; Sophisticates: Card Sentiment Miniatures; Designer Tape: Pickle Juice Chevron, Red Chevron;  other: cs - Kaisercraft; sequins, wood veneer arrows, alphas, Greatest View flair & ribbon, staples, post-it notes; tools - typewriter.

left side..

This little minion was one I designed with my silhouette portrait.  I had him originally on a birthday card for my husband, but repurposed him here in my PL. 

 right side..

There was plenty of superhero action during Week 33.  And plenty of costume designing and making in the short hours I had!!  The superhero masks were sourced via Pinterest and I was still sewing them while sitting in the car at school pick up time! 

 

This spread was put together using Bella Blvd's new CHA collection, Play Date.  If you would like to learn a little more about my spread, please head on over and visit the Bella Blvd blog.  Thanks for visiting..x

 

Bella Blvd | Art Instagram...

Hi Everyone!  We are back after a long weekend camping adventure and I can't wait to scrap some of the photos that were taken!  The weather here is finally warming up but let me tell you, the nights are still freezing, especially when you go camping without extra blankets!  *grin*

 

 

Today I wanted to share with you my layout that is up on the Bella Blvd blog.  Bella has some new features planned for the month to help kick start your creativity.  Today is the Monday Morning Challenge - focus on the square. My Inspiration? The humble Instagram square...

 

 

"Art Instagram"

 

products used: Bella Blvd: Spring Flings & Easter Things: Mom's Bouquet; All American: Borders & Cute Cuts, United We Stand, Just Write Journaling, Alpha+Bits; Sand & Surf: Cling Stamps; Freestyle Sophisticates: Freestyle Pickle Juice, Freestyle Banana; High Five Alpha Stickers: Black-White, Pink-Red; Sophisticates: Miniatures Card Sentiments; Ciao Chip Elements: Borders, Clouds, Essentials Asparagus& Pickle Juice; Sienna Chipboard Alphas: Pickle Juice; cs - Kaisercraft; tools - paper clip, Fancy That Dies, black pen, mist, ink.

 

I love Instagram for sharing my photos with family and friends and I especially love that I can share my children's artwork online without having to email each item separately, to each individual grandparent!

 

This layout is inspired by the Instagram process and documents my son's favourite piece of artwork to date. I have included hidden journaling beneath the main photo, but to find the story you need to follow the arrows!

 

 

 

The main photo flips open to reveal the journaling.  The flap works simply, by placing designer tape along the joining edge.  You could also just have an extended piece of patterned paper and fold it in half, but I wanted to use two different paper patterns.  *grin*

 

The "Art Instagram" label/title has been created by trimming down one of the All American: Just Write Journaling Stickers, to fit my size page. I've fussy cut the heart image from the All American: Borders & Cute Cuts patterned paper and added alpha stickers as the finishing touch.

 

 

Finally, since the focus of my story is Ethan's Solar System/Planet Earth artwork, I finished off the page by adding a die cut globe.  Yep.  I know it's not square!  LOL!  But I love that it has Australia on it and it makes the embellishment a little more personal for me.

 

 

I hope you will join us over at the Bella blog to see some more of the design team's challenge entries.  Thanks so much for visiting..x

 

 

 



Hampton Art | Watercolour flower tutorial...

Hi Everyone!  Last week when I shared a link to my Hampton Art stamping tutorial, I also linked you up to my watercolour flower tute as well.  :)  But I didn't share it here.

I just love the watercolour trend at the moment.  It's so alluring and I just wanted to dabble in it.  However, I thought that I just didn't have any watercolour supplies on hand (and I'm not counting the kids' $1 paint in a tray!  LOL!!  Although....) *grin*.  But then I remembered that I actually did have something I could try.  Something I bought a set of, just after high school and never touched because I didn't know where to start.. (umm.. yeah.  I am a bit of a hoarder!)

Enter: my Faber-Castell Watercolour Pencils!  Yay!!

 

 

They were still in good condition thanks to the original tin box they came in.  So I tested them out!

 

 

"Hello Sunshine!"

 

If you would like to see my step by step, please visit the Hampton Art blog here.  I had a lot of fun creating these flowers and they are so simple!  I hope you enjoy. 

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And before I go today I want to share another snippet of the new Bella Blvd CHA collections.  Today it is all about ...

I think this is one of my faves from Snapshots!

 

Head on over to Bella Blvd to win-it-before-you-can-buy-it!!  Good luck..x

And thanks for visiting..x

 

Jillibean Soup | Chalk...

Hello Friends! How is everyone today?  I just wanted to pop in briefly to share my layout that is up on the Jillibean Soup blog today.

 

"Chalk"

 

products used: cs - Kaisercraft; pp - Jillibean Soup; alpha - Jillibean Soup Alphbeans; other - Jillibean Soup: coordinating cardstock stickers, pea pod parts; paper clip, mist; tools - star punch, flower punch.

I really love these new longer and skinnier alphabeans from Jillibean Soup.  They remind me of the long colourful lines that my son drew on our pathway and so I thought they were perfect for this layout!

 

Don't forget to head on over to the Jillibean Soup blog to check out what the other fabulous DT members have created this month!

Thanks for visiting..x