Get out your needles and thread...

...cause we are going to do some stitching today! I love to use my sewing machine or hand stitch on scrapbook pages! So I thought I'd share a layout today with a lot of stitching.
I used my handy dandy paper trimmer to cut squares out of red cardstock. Then I trimmed them into triangles using my pinking sheers. I tacked them to my page to form a banner for my title and then used my sewing machine to stitch a "string" across the top. For the title I punched circles out of cardstock and backed them with a pop dot for dimension.
I also stitched this quilt like paper to my page and added extra stitching to give it even more of a quilted effect.

For a quick and colorful border for the top of my page I added a row of brightly colored buttons.

Be sure to stop by my shop today and see all the new Christmas goodies! There are all kinds of things perfect for giving this time of year!

Sketch and a layout

It's been a while since I posted a sketch on the blog, so I thought today was about time! Here's the sketch...



...and here's the layout I made.

Instead of circles, I cut butterflies out of the Pink Pailsee butterfly paper and stuck them over the cut edge with pop dots for dimension. (I added glitter to them as well. I also used a chipboard strip and gathered some ribbon into ruffles for the border strips. I added some chipboard and sticker word spots and some really cute tree brads I was so excited to use. It was a very fun and girly layout to do!

I'd love to see your take on the sketch, post a link here so we can all check it out! Have a great day!!!

Oh, and stop by my etsy shop, new stuff going in this week!

My Little Glamor Girl

Today I'm sharing a layout I made of my daughter. She is so girly! It cracks us up and we wonder where on earth she got it because I'm not that way. She's a natural little fashionista. I should have known we were in trouble when she was 2 1/2 and her favorite Christmas presents were clothes. She notices everything about clothes, jewelry, and she loves everything pink and fancy. What really cracks me up though is that she also has a rough and tumble side. (I'm very grateful for this because the 110% girly all the time could be a bit much... :)) The other day I looked out in the back yard to check on her and there she is in her fancy pink dress with fake pearls and "shiny shoes" covered head to toe in the pile of dirt she's playing in. I should've grabbed the camera! Anyway... off on a tangent there... here's the layout:

I used the "Life is Sweet Mini Journaling Cards" from my shop. Go here to check them out.
I also used pop dots to add dimension to the butterfly stickers. This is an easy fix to give your layout a little extra pizzazz.

Be sure to take advantage of the June Special in my Etsy Shop. Free shipping on all orders $25.00 or more, and for every $25.00 you spend you will receive a coupon for 15% off your next purchase! Have a great day!

I'm still here...

I have just been living in my flower beds, wrapping up preschool (sigh, my oldest starts kindergarten next year) and soccer, throwing birthday parties, and the rest of the usual transition to summer stuff! :) I just love this crazy, fun, beautiful time of year! We are really trying to get all our landscape projects done before mid June so we can have the rest of the summer to enjoy them. I love gardening, and it is so rewarding to see it all coming together. Oh, and my peonies are about to bloom. They are HUGE this year and one of my very favorite flowers. If only they bloomed all summer long... but I did find a rose variety whose blooms look very similar, so I'm on the look out for some new bushes. Busy busy! Ok enough babbling... I have managed to do a bit of scrapping here and there, so I thought I'd share a layout with you today.
I did this one for the Creative Chaos design team. I used Jenn's fabulous journaling spots. They are so fun to use! I also threw in some sequins and cut some scallop circles in half and added buttons to make a fun border.

I've got a new special coming for the shop this month...stay tuned for details. Go here to see my shop! Well, I'm off to the garden! Have a great day!

I LUV 6-up page protectors...

I don't think I've shared this new scrapbooking love with you yet... the 6-up page protector will become your new best friend.(if it isn't already) I have been using these a lot lately. I really love taking pictures. It's a hobby/obsession of mine. The problem is that I can't scrapbook them all. Now don't get me wrong, I weed out the bad/extra photos, but even then I really don't want 2-3 layouts of each photo session! :) SO... I use these page protectors. That way my favorite photos still make it into our albums, but I don't have to make layouts for all of them.

Here is an example of what I mean: I did 1 2 page layout and added a 6-up protector in between the pages. I kept these layouts simple so the whole thing was really quick.

Page 1:

Page 2:

...and here is the page protector: the front

the back:
Now you can get as simple or fancy as you want with these. You can fill all 12 spots with photos, use some spots for journaling, or scrapbook couple of the spaces. If you want it to be really quick just fill em with your photos and put it in between or following your layout. So simple, cute, and gives you the extra photo space with little effort. You could also use these to make an entire album and simplify the whole process. The possibilities are endless. They come in a variety of layouts and photo sizes too.

I'm adding more new goodies to the shop this week. Go here to check them out! Have a great day!

The last layout...

for my "April" Guest Designer, Jami Rodolph. Jami is such an amazing scrapbooker, and so creative! Thanks so much for sharing your ideas with us Jami!

Look at this adorable layout! I love all the funky colors! She used sand paper to create borders around her photos, you just have to try it as an alternative to traditional photo mats! You could also use paint or ink for the same effect with a different twist.
Jami used the Name Tag Label Journaling Cards from my shop. Go here to see them. I'll be adding some more colors soon.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day. Mine was very nice. My Mom and I went shopping at a few craft stores, without any children :), and out to lunch. Then I took the kids in and went to my son's 1st soccer game. It was so darn cute! Afterward, we went out to dinner with my family. It was a fun day, and my wish for sunshine even came true. The only bummer was my poor hubby came down with the stomach flu and was home in bed all day. :( What men won't do to get out of doing the dishes. hahahah :)

I've got so many new goodies to add to my shop, so keep checking back! ....oh and don't for get to take advantage of the May Special: buy 3 Mini Journaling Cards and get 1 free (see shop for details). Have a great day!

Get Sketching!

So here is a new sketch today and a layout to go with it. I'm trying to keep up with my goal to stay caught up on my scrapbooks for 2009. I love being able to journal when it's fresh in my memory. This is a layout I did of my surprise b-day party my kids and mom threw for me. (...remember I told the whole mushy story back in January... sigh, it still brings a happy tear to my eye :))

Here's the sketch I did...


...and here's the layout.

I used lots of stitching, reds, aquas, and vintagey goodies, some of my favorites.




I wanted to include the handmade birthday cards my children made, but there wasn't a lot of room for them (they were kinda large). So I cut a slit in my layered papers and made a pocket be hind the mat of the large photo. I also made one of the small photos a pocket and slipped a tag with my journaling into it. Great space savers when you have ephemera, souvenirs, cards, etc that you'd like to include on your layouts. Almost anything can become a pocket!



More new goodies going in today. Be sure to stop by my shop and check them out! Have a great day!

Today's Card Idea

So to continue with my plan to make more cards this year (my goal is to have a stash so whenever I need one it's there waiting), here is a new one I made.
I actually plan to add another "title word" to it once I know who I'm going to give it to. (IE: Baby what a wonderful word, Friend what a wonderful word etc) I used one of the Life is Sweet Mini Journaling Cards from my shop. They are one of my favorites.
I love adding dimension to my projects. So for this card I added some thick adhesive foam tabs to the back of the butterfly stickers. I made a layout using these same goodies and I layered the small and large butterflies with the foam tabs. They look like those fun dimensional stickers/chipboard sets for 1/2 the price!

Have a fantastic day everyone! More goodies going in the shop today. I'm off to finish up my projects for Ready Set Create!

Make a Card Today!

I'm really trying to make more cards this year. I love to give handmade cards because I know how much fun it is to receive them! :) I love getting a handmade card in the mail, don't you? So once a week I'm going to get my scraps out and make some cards. That way I'll always have one on hand when I need it!

Today I'm sharing a friendship card I made. I love aqua, so I thought I'd make this one monochromatic and use up some of those lovely scraps I have.

I also used one of the Mini Journaling Cards from the Pretty Words set in my shop. They make wonderful flower centers too. Go here to see the full set.
I love the way big flowers look when you fold them in half and put them along the edge of a page, card, photo mat etc. It's a fun and different way to add flowers. You can also cut them in half and use the other half somewhere else. It will get you more miles out of your flower stash too.

Have a great day! Be sure and stop by my shop to see the new goodies that have been going in!

A new layout with 2 of my FAVORITE techniques...

Hey all! I have a few favorite scrapbooking/crafting techniques that I just love to use, so I thought I'd share 2 of them with you today.

Here is a layout I did using another one of those Valentine photo cards I made, this time of my son Connor.



I love to make little collages on my layouts. They add so much texture and dimension and are super fun to do. I think it works best if you use a combination of paper elements and 3-D elements. For this one I used a bingo card, 2 different journaling spots, an acrylic crown, and a cute clip.



I also love to use gathers and ruffles on my projects. (like the crepe paper ruffles I used on the previous layout...) This is such a simple technique, but it adds so much to your page. I take a spool of ribbon, in this case I used some yummy blue seam binding and some twill, or cut a length of ribbon about double the actual length you want it to be after sewing. Then I machine stitch (but you could hand stitch it too) the ribbon to my page using either a zig-zag stitch or a straight stitch. The trick is to "fold and clump" the ribbon up as you stitch it down to create those fun ruffles. It's really simple and the WONDERFUL thing about it, besides how it looks, is the more imperfect the sewing the better! :) So no fear!!

You can find some of this yummy seam binding in my shop. Just go here to check out all the colors!

Got a favorite technique of your own? Love for you to share it with us! Leave a comment here for inspiration!