Technique Tuesday: Make a border with those paper strips!

It's time to share not only my last technique as a Birds Of A Feather ScrapChick but this is my last reveal as well. :(

So this is a simple technique and I'd actually call it more of a tip...so let's call this Tip Tuesday! Anyways, so many manufacturers are including patterns on the backsides of the paper strips at the bottom of your 12x12 sheets of paper - you know, where they put the company name, collection name, UPC barcode, etc. So, I am showing you a fun way to use those patterned strips up! 

First you want to cut those strips off. And this works even if the pattern doesn't extend the full 12x12 length. The Simple Stories I Heart Summer papers found in the August kit and part of the August extra patterned paper only extend 2/3 of the strip but can definitely be used. 

So, if you have paper strips that have a pattern covering the whole 12" length, then you just take four strips and adhere one strip to each edge of your layout. If you're dealing with strips that aren't the full 12", then just piece them together like I did. It creates a cool patchwork effect on your page boarder. 

There you have it. Super easy and a great way to not waste any supplies and use up those strips!

Thanks so much for checking out my post today and I have to say the past six months as a ScrapChick have been amazing! Thank you Amy for giving me the chance to work with these amazing kits!

Color My World With The Birds Of A Feather August Kit!

Hi all! I am truly having so much fun with the glorious Birds Of A Feather August kit. There are still three left in stock and also plenty of fun extras, so head over to the boutique now and snatch them up while you can! This kit is truly perfect for all those happy moments and summer memories!

Here's my first layout for today's reveal. I used this sketch from Shimelle Lane as inspiration. I adapted the sketch to fit my larger photos. (My two sets of six photos are actually just two 6x4 photo collages that I put together in PhotoShop.) I decided on the woodgrain background paper (found in the extra patterned paper) to help tie the layout into all the earthy colors in the photos. I kept the embellishing minimal because of all the photos on the page and decided to focus on the two elephant Glitz Whatnots. I added an eye to my big elephant using an enamel dot leftover from my April Kit. Then, I created lots of small elephants by fussy-cutting them from the elephant-patterned Whatnot. Did you notice my blue elephant matching backwards? :)

And here's a couple closeups...

And my next layout is one of my favorite recent creations! I love, love this Simple Stories breeze paper that came with the extra patterned paper and was inspired when I saw it used on this layout from Susan Weinroth. I was also inspired by the diagonal line on her layout and just rotated the orientation of my layout horizontally. I kept the embellishing pretty minimal because I wanted the bold papers and fun photos to shine. I did jazz up the corrugated Thickers with some of the Smooch red glitter though!

And here are a couple closeups...

Finally, I had some fun creating this card. I wanted to use one of the fun Pebbles library card and when I saw the blank paper, I thought it would be fun to stamp a sentiment over and over on it. But then the pocket already had a sentiment on it. So, I decided to "extend" the sentiment with a Technique Tuesday stamp and also pulled out some of the Lily Bee alphas (yet again) from my May Kit to help with that as well. 

And another view of it...

Thanks for checking out my projects today! I'll be back on Tuesday with a fun technique...and sadly, will be my last reveal as a Birds Of A Feather ScrapChick. 

I have to say, Amy knocked it out of the park once again with the amazing Birds Of A Feather August Kit! If you haven't gotten this super fun kit chock full of Glitz Color Me Happy and Simple Stories I Heart Summer, go get one now because there are only three left in stock. And be sure to check out the cool extras too - I of course got them all...again. And FYI...this kit has a retail value of over $40! So now it's time to share my first August creations with you all!

The first layout was a fun two-pager to put together. I have to say that the Glitz Color Me Happy and Simple Stories I Heart Summer collections were made for each other. Looking at this page, it's hard to tell what came from which collection. I kept the embellishing rather simple on this page because of all the photos but I am really happy how everything just pops off the blue background. 

And here are a couple closeups...

And here is my second reveal layout. When I saw this Peekaboo title block, I knew exactly what photo I wanted to pair with it. I love how this turned out. I love the Glitz Peekaboo paired with the Simple Stories cloud paper and stickers. And that heart paper from Glitz - it's divine! Oh, and the red Smooch glitter paint? Love that stuff! I've never used it before and broke it out to add just a touch of sparkle to the red and orange hearts along the right side. Love how they turned out!

And here are a couple closeups...

Thanks for checking out my layouts today! I'll be back here again with this kit next Tuesday sharing a fun technique for you all!

More sunshine with the Birds Of A Feather July Kit!

I seriously had so much fun creating with this kit. And I am even more excited I still have enough of the kit left to make several more layouts. If you haven't picked up a Birds Of A Feather July Kit for yourself yet, you can still grab one but hurry because there is only ONE left! That's right - a single kit left to be snatched up! There's still a few extras left too!

My first layout to share today was a super fun one to put together. This photo was taken on our trip to Kauai in 2010. First, I recycled a red potato bag and stretched it across my kraft cardstock base. I secured all the edges of the bag to the back of the cardstock with tape and then added some glue underneath my paper layers. Love the way it turned out! I had fun layering lots of different patterns and embellies as well. I also wanted a little sparkle here and there, so I incorporated a few of the sparkly buttons, two of the shimmery Pink Paislee butterflies (which are one of the extras this month) and then I used both the Mr. Huey's mist that came in the kit as well as some gold Heidi Swapp Color Shine to color the Sunshine chipboard sentiment. I also fell back on the Lily Bee alpha stickers (yet again) from the May kit to use as part of my title. Love those alphas!

And a few closeups...

My second layout features photos from last Fourth of July when we took Liam and his cousin Miles for their very first dips in a lake. I used a masking template from my stash and the Mr. Huey's mist to create a fun  background pattern. I used the darker yellow cardstock for the background because I wanted it to mesh well with the Mr. Huey's to give a sort of tone-on-tone look. I also pulled out the Tattered Angels chalkboard mists from the April kit and added some splatters to the background. Then I just layered a bunch over my background. 

And a few closeups...

Thanks so much for checking out my projects today! I hope you all have a fabulous weekend!

Vacation and Every Day Summer Fun with the Birds Of A Feather July Kit!

It's time to share some more Birds Of A Feather July kit layouts with you! So, I am in love with this kit. Period. I think that shows when I spent an hour - yes, an hour - just choosing what photos I felt were worthy enough to go with this kit. I have a ton of photos I'd like to use with this kit...maybe I need to pick up a second kit? ;) No, I'll leave the three left in stock for you all - quick, go grab one! And, as Karen pointed out some of the extras are already out of stock so you better jump on those too! I did!

My first layout is based off one of the April 2013 Page Maps sketches. I totally love how well the We R Memory Keepers and Bo Bunny papers mesh together. I stuck with the blues, greens and yellows for this one since those were the primary colors in my photos. I fussy-cut out parts of the Bo Bunny journaling block so I could overlap it with my photo and the We R Memory Keepers paper. I used the Bo Bunny chipboard pieces and the Favorite Findings buttons to create a visual triangle.

And here are a couple closeups for you...

My second layout is only the second layout I have completed for our Kauai 2010 vacation album. I think I really need to scrap more of these photos because creating this layout totally took me back to Tunnels Beach. Such awesome memories! The colors in my photos are fairly muted for beach pictures because we were there at sunset, so I chose to use the kraft cardstock and Pink Paislee burlap flower to help tie in all the sand in the photos to the overall layout. I colored the sun with the Mr. Huey's mist, outlined it with my Signo white pen, and dotted every other ray with one of the tiny yellow Bo Bunny jewels. I decided the use the "Surf's Up" chipboard piece since I actually captured the silhouette of a couple surfers walking the beach in my focal photo! I also used the curve of the Bo Bunny paper to anchor my four supporting photos.

And a couple closeups...

I hope I've inspired you to dive right into your July kit! Happy creating!

Toothpick embellies made with the summery Birds Of A Feather July kit!

It’s been awhile since I’ve had the chance to share a technique with you all, and I am super pumped that I get debut the Birds Of A Feather July kit today along with my technique.  Seriously, this kit is so fun. It just screams summer! If you haven’t seen it yet, be sure to check it out and the coordinating extras too. Yours truly once again had to snatch them all up!

So today, I am actually going to share with you three different cute embellishments you can make using your kit, some extras and a standard kitchen supply – toothpicks! Let’s get started. First thing is to gather all your supplies – papers, a circle punch, a decorative punch, Liquid Glass or Diamond Glaze, washi tape, twine, self-adhesive jewels, beads (from your stash) and, of course, toothpicks.

The first toothpick embellishment we are going to create is a pinwheel.

1. Punch a circle from the paper of your choice, fold it into fourths to create creases, unfold, then carefully cut a slit along each crease about halfway to the center of the circle.
2. Place a glue dot or similar double-sided adhesive to the center of the circle, then take each alternating corner of the quarter circles and fold in towards the center of the circle. The corners should all meet in the middle and be adhered to the glue dot.
3. Add a jewel to the center of the pinwheel. (NOTE: At the time I created this tutorial, the lovely Bo Bunny jewels from my kit were MIA so I subbed my leftover enamel dots from the April kit. The buttons in the July kit would also work well if you choose to create larger pinwheels.)
4. Adhere a toothpick to the back of the pinwheel using a glue dot (or similar adhesive) and a small piece of Scotch tape.

The next toothpick embellishment we are going to make is a lollipop embellishment.

1. Punch any shape of your choice from your preferred paper.
2. Cover the shape completely with Liquid Glass, Diamond Glaze or similar product. Allow them to dry for several hours.
3. Adhere a toothpick to the back of the pinwheel using a glue dot (or similar adhesive) and a small piece of Scotch tape.
4. If desired, embellish further with a piece of twine. The twine could also be tied in a bow around the toothpick at the base of the shape.

The last toothpick embellishment we are making today is a flag.

1. Grab a toothpick and tear off about 3” of washi tape.
2. Wrap the washi tape around the toothpick adhering the two ends together, leaving a small bit of toothpick above the washi. Be careful to keep the edges of the washi tape in line so you don’t end up with a crooked flag.
3. Cut a pennant shape at the end of the washi.
4. Add a small dab of glue on the tip of the toothpick above the washi and top off with a bead. Allow it to dry.

And when you're finished, you have some cute homemade embellishments – all from your scrappy supplies and plain, old toothpicks.

And I used them and my July kit to stock up on my supply of birthday cards!

Hope you enjoyed today's technique! Let me know if you have any questions and I'm excited to see what you all create with your July kits!

Ending the weekend with the end of the Birds Of A Feather June Kit

Hi all! It's a dreary, rainy Sunday night here in the Pacific Northwest. Luckily, I still have bright, cheery Birds Of A Feather June kit here to help brighten up my scraproom! There's still time to grab a kit for yourself if you haven't already and be sure to check out the extras too! So, it's time to share the last of my June projects with you.

My first layout was such a fun one to put together. I used a couple pieces of the Jillibean Soup placemat on some earlier projects but still had most of it intact. So, I decided I wanted to use that large piece as the focus of a layout. I framed four smaller photos with the placemat but then I had a 6x4 photo to contend with that really couldn't be cropped down to fit in one of the squares. So I decided to mat it with cardstock and then back it with chipboard and place it on top of the placemat. I love how the chipboard behind it helps it pop of the page and really become the focal photo. This time around, I altered the corrugated cardboard shapes with embossing powder - now THAT was fun! I also love that I was able to use up a lot of scraps on this one.

And here are a couple closeups...

My next layout I am so in love with. I have had these photos FOREVER and just didn't know where to start with them. I think it was all the different colors in them and the fact that I wanted to keep them all together on a page. Well, since the June kit has just about every color of the rainbow in it, it was perfect to scrap these photos with! I pulled the Lily Bee alpha sticker sheet out of my May Kit to use for the subtitle and when I saw the phrase on my chosen die-cut title card, I just had to pull a few of my coveted Studio Calico wood veneer stars out.

And a couple closeups...

Finally, I have a card to share with you all. I love how American Crafts prints fun patterns on the backside of all the paper strips at the bottom of all their papers. So I decided to use a few of them, along with a "mistake strip" from the above layout to create this card. I used the Cats Eye ink pad to ink the edges of my sentiment block as well as the edges of my card. I really like the definition it adds. I pulled out a couple buttons from my stash to use as flower centers and also stole a few more Lily Bee alpha stickers from my May Kit. This card is going out in the mail tomorrow - it's my Mom's birthday on Wednesday!

Stay tuned because I'll be back here on Technique Tuesday debuting the beautiful July kit!

More with the Bold and Beautiful Birds Of A Feather June Kit!

Hello all! It's time for another Birds Of A Feather June Kit Reveal. If you haven't gotten a kit yet, go grab one now before they are gone and also be sure to check out the kit extras - they are all so much fun and you will see lots of the extras on my reveal projects since I got, um, all of them!

So here is my favorite (so far) layout created with this kit. I really took liberty with the bold patterns and colors on this one. I figured it was only appropriate to match the bright colors and fun patterns of my photos taken at Islands of Adventure's Seuss Landing in Orlando. I inked the edges of my photos in black StazOn to help them pop a bit off all the bright papers. I knew right away that I wanted to use this particular vellum quote from the Maude Ashbury collection as soon as I saw it because I felt it was most appropriate considering the subject matter of my photos. I adhered it to white cardstock, trimmed it down a bit and inked the edges. Then I used foam adhesive to mount it with all the other elements in the lower left corner. Speaking of which, I also love how the Canvas Corp burlap looks in the Jillibean polaroid frame. And I really had fun with the Maude Ashbury 3D flowers too!

And here are a couple closeups...

My next project is another Project 12 catchup layout. And I figured it would be appropriate to scrap last June's Project 12 page with this June's Kit! I really wanted to use the two sheets of bright pink cardstock, available as part of the extra cardstock add-on, for my background but knew that two sheets of it right next to each other, with a lot of the pink exposed, would be too bright. So I muted it a bit by use the Maude Ashbury Memories paper on the right side. I also pulled some yellow vellum from my stash to use as photo mats to help the photos stand out. I lightly brushed the corrugated shapes with paint and then added the very appropriate "Hello Sunshine" flair to my sun. :)

And here are a couple closeups...

Thanks, as always, for looking! I'll be back later in the month with one more reveal with this awesome kit!

The Birds Of A Feather June Kit Makes My Heart Sing!

Hello all! I hope everyone had a good weekend! 

It's time to share my first reveal using the beautiful Birds Of A Feather June Kit. If you haven't picked yours up in the store yet, do it now because there are only three left in stock! You might want to check out all the beautiful kit extras too; once again, I snagged them all. So now it's time to show you my first creations with this kit. I have to tell you, at first I was a little intimidated by all the bright colors and bold patterns, but once I dove into the kit I had more fun creating than I have in awhile and I can't wait to dig right back into this kit once my out-of-town guests all depart! Oh, and I have to say the Maude Ashbury/Anna Griffin and American Crafts/Dear Lizzy coordinate perfectly together!

For my first layout, I had lots of fun playing with the different patterns in this kit. I fussy-cut out part of some of the chevrons from the Dear Lizzy paper to make them pop and accented them with lines of embroidery floss down the middle. I also added a line of pink floss to the striped paper for added texture and decided to color the corrugated Jillibean embellies with mists. 

And here are a couple closeups...

On my second layout, I went all out with layering and embellie clusters! I knew right away I wanted to use the grid, wood-framed Maude Ashbury paper as the background on a layout. I fussy cut a bit around the arrows in the corners so I could tuck a couple punched circles behind them. And I had a ton of fun adding all sorts of embellies to them to create my clusters. Look at how well the negative pieces from the heart die-cut card work with the heart-patterned Dear Lizzy paper. Also, I used the Cat's Eye espresso ink on my cardboard butterfly and on the edges of my punched circles for added definition.

And here are a couple closeups...

I hope you liked my layouts. I am so excited to show you more later on in the month!

My last reveal with the fun and girly Birds Of A Feather May Kit!

I'm sad to say this is my last reveal with the May kit and its extras, but I'm happy that I still have plenty of leftovers to create at least a couple more projects. That's what's so great about the Birds Of A Feather kits - they are chock full of goodies to create a multitude of projects!

So here is another two-pager I created with this awesome kit. I am still playing catchup with Project 12 and of course the May kit was perfect for scrapping last May's Project 12 layout! For the exposed chevron paper sections, all I did was tear away from the green cardstock background and adhere the chevron paper behind the cardstock. Then I reinforced the back of the chevron paper with some scrap cardstock and Scotch tape. 

And here are a couple closeups...

My final layout features some "oldie but goodie" photos that have just been sitting in my "to scrap" pile, waiting for the perfect supplies to go with them. Well, the May kit made me dust them off and scrap them! I really played with layers and all the different materials - regular paper, stickers, chipboard, washi paper, etc. - in the kit.

And here are a couple closeups...

Thanks for checking out my projects! Enjoy the rest of your May and I'll see you in June with a new kit to share!

More memory-making with the Birds Of A Feather May Kit!

If you haven't picked up your May kit from Birds Of A Feather yet, do it soon because there's only a few left in the store! Don't forget to pick up some (or all) of the extras while you're at it too! Seriously, the kit is fabulous but the extras add so much to it! Anyways, time to share my next batch of May projects...

First up is a layout documenting the first birthday I celebrated here in Portland. My parents came to town for a visit and we had dinner the night of my birthday at Portland City Grill - an upscale restaurant that has amazing views of the city, Mt Hood and all the other Cascade peaks. I thought the fun, girly colors of this kit would be perfect for one of my birthday layouts. I placed a sheet of white cardstock with the polka dot Simple Stories paper behind the vellum paper to achieve this look. Then, I fussy cut the smaller clothesline of polaroids from the Simple Stories paper and decided to use it to hold my supporting photos.

And here are a couple closeups...

This was a very difficult layout to scrap because of the subject matter. These photos were taken the day we found out Chase had cancer. I am really making a point to scrap the rest of the photos I have of him while the memories are still vivid and before I get preoccupied by new puppy photos. I don't want to forget how important Chase was (and still is) to us. I wanted to keep this layout fairly minimal to keep the focus on the photos and the journaling. If you'd like, you can read the journaling here. I chose to keep the colors as primarily the muted gray and aqua blues found throughout the kit to enhance the rain theme. I printed my journaling on a transparency and placed it over the washi paper to make it look like the journaling was directly on the washi paper. 

And here are a couple closeups...

And I needed one last Mother's Day card for tomorrow. I am so lucky to still have a living grandmother and great-grandmother to Liam - an amazing woman I fondly call Nana. So this is a card made especially for my Nana.

Thanks so much for checking out my projects! And I hope all you Mamas have a wonderful Mother's Day tomorrow!