Almost 2 - Layout with Little Yellow Bicycle

I love this line by Little Yellow Bicycle. Its called Vita Bella and I went kinda nuts and purchased every sheet and every embellishment for this line. Its all gorgeous!

So when I pulled out this beautiful photo of my daughter wearing blue, and looked through my stash of blue papers to find the perfect one, I just had to go with the Vita Bella line.

I added to this paper a blue ornate sticker and some lace paper from KI Memories, and finished it off with some white prima flowers inked to match. I also inked the blue lace paper to make it match even better.

I love this layout because it has so many customizations and I feel that its one of my more artsy layouts.

Try it yourself. I used the following:

Little Yellow Bicycle - Vita Bella Collection
Prima Innoscence Small Flower Mix 35
Prima Innoscence Large Flower Mix 36

Webster's Pages - Garden Gala and Life's Portrait

I was in pure heaven making this layout, surrounded by all my stash of lace and flowers and mixing and matching until I created the most adorable layout of my little girl. For this layout, i started with Webster's Pages Tea Time paper from their Garden Gala line and then cut a strip of circle patterned paper for the background from the Refreshing paper from that same line. I added a strip of mauve colored cardstock under it with rounded corners and separated with some green Prima lace ribbon. I diecut a pair of flourishes in the same mauve cardstock and added it to each side, layered with miscellaneous matching scraps. Then I topped it all off with the most amazing bouquet of flowers. I started off with a Prima leaf on each side and loaded each one with several e-Line mixed vintage flowers (love the price of those e-Line flowers) and then topped each one with a Flora Doodles Petaloo Jolly Christmas Mini Florettes (each has a cute gem in the middle) Then I made a popped up journaling oval for my title, and added a 3-D mini butterfly on it with tiny gems on it. I used American Crafts mini marks to rub in the word "My Beauty" as the title. I then cut out several elements from the Webster's Pages Pure Grace paper from the Life's Portrait line. That included the flower cluster above the ribbon and the ornate circles that I used behind the photos. I used my Martha Stewart ribbon punch on the strip between the photos, and added Prima packaging as a photo mat. Lastly, I used a tab that reads Memories from Cosmo Cricket and topped it all off with a gorgeous red butterfly from Prima.

Websters Pages - Garden Gala Collection - Refreshing
Websters Pages - Garden Gala Collection - Tea Time
Websters Pages - Lifes Portrait Collection - Pure Grace

Graphic 45 Communique Layout

2009 was the year that I was introduced to Graphic 45 papers by my friend Gine. She told me all about the beautiful papers while we were at a friends house, and as soon as I got home I had to pull up the website and see for myself. She was right, the papers were just breathtaking! So beautiful, a combination of vintage and brights mixed together to create very graphic classy pages. I fell in love immediately.

The last of my favorite layouts from 2009 was this layout made with Graphic 45's Communique line. It showcases a picture of my mother in law with her two daughters and her granddaughter. I thought it went perfectly with the society page's clipping about the world's prettiest girls. At the top corner I created a larger clustering of many of the collection's tags and other embellishments all inked to matched the antique look of this layout. The journaling block was a piece of white cardstock that I aged with different shades of brown ink. And then i finished off the page with a border of Prima ribbon. I feel pretty proud of my first vintage layout.

Supplies used in this layout:

Graphic 45 - Communique Collection - Society Page
Graphic 45 - Communique Collection - Pen in Hand
Graphic 45 - Communique Collection - Die Cuts - Tags

Prima Natural Obsessions Collection Layout - Curly Top

This layout is most amazing to see in person, and its because of the amazing paper line from Prima called the Natural Obsessions Collection. Its a thick texture rich paper that adds so much dimension to the page. Its just amazing. This is my second favorite layout of the ones I did in 2009.

At the bottom I have a strip of Prima Voila to anchor the page.

In this layout I also added some prima flowers and a prima ribbon that I losely curled and looped to add even more dimension. I just love how this layout came out. And the contrasting yellow letters just pop!

Again, I do not like the photos that much, I wish they were not so dark.

Products Used:

Prima - Natural Obsessions Collection
Prima - Prairie Flowers Collection

My Craft Projects were Published!

I was so excited to see my crafts published in a big local magazine called the Parklander. They ran an article about giving crafts as gifts for the holidays and two of my craft projects were photographed for the article. What a thrill!

The first project shown in the article is a rear view mirror ornament I made with pictures of my kids. I gave these to my parents for them to hang in their car and they just love them! They are made with an acrylic flower, stamped swirls, and a flower that I affixed with a rhinestone brad and my crop-a-dile.

The second project is a mobile I made for Tim Holtz using different Idea-ology products and vintage music themed paper.

Here is a link to the whole article:

Basic Grey Urban Prairie Layout - Clustering of Embellishments

Now that a new year is here, I was looking through my 2009 layouts and noticing some special moments when I tried new techniques, and attempted to step things up a notch in terms of layout design. I picked my three favorite layouts out of all the ones I did in 2009 and will be sharing them with you here on my blog this month.

My third favorite layout is one I did using a paper pack from Basic Grey's Urban Prairie line. This line of paper had several butterflies and girly colors which went perfectly for my baby girl's photos. In this layout, I was experimenting with clustering of embellishments to create a point of interest on the page. You can see where my title is that several coordinating embellishments are grouped together to make this cute area with tons of interesting things to look at.

What I learned in this layout was to be patient when cutting out paper butterflies from a 12x12 sheet, because it is so worth it once you pop them up and add that sense of dimension. I also learned how much a not-quite-perfect photo can distract from a pretty layout. The lighting could have been better in the photos.

Overall, I am proud of how it looks and I would not change a thing. I challenged myself to design a layout that is a step above what I was doing at the time, and I feel proud of the outcome.

So I humbly present to you, this layout as one of my favorite works from 2009.

Tim Holtz Idea-ology Beaded Zipper Pulls

I made these awesome beaded zipper pulls using Tim Holtz Idea-ology products. I participated in an online swap where each of us had to make something using any of the products in the idea-ology line. I used the new super fun and versatile Type Charms and the swivel clasps and added some various beads I had laying around, and made these very functional zipper pulls.

On the type charms I use my printer to print the word CREATE very small on matching cardstock and then I used a 1/2 inch punch to make it the same size as the type charm. Then I glued the punched out word to the type charm, covered it with the included epoxy sticker and it made the perfect charm to complete my piece.

Aren't they fun! Try it out!

Supplies:

Tim Holtz Idea-ology Type Charms
Tim Holtz Idea-ology Swivel Clasps
Tim Holtz Idea-ology Jump Rings
Misc Beads of your choice

My Sassafras Christmas tree

This was a fun project that I made for my craft guild's handmade gift exchange. To create this tree, I started with a styrofoam cone and glued it down on a piece of red felt that I cut into the shape of a tree skirt. Then I took a sheet of Sassafras paper and cut it into several 1 inch by 1/4 inch strips. I folded each strip in half and without flattening it, I stuck it into the foam, starting from the bottom and working my way up, and using those pins with the colored balls at the end, to mimic ornaments. It actually did not take too long to piece it all together. Then I finished it off with some ribbon, bling, and a diecut star at the top.

Happy Holidays to You, my friend!

I want to wish a heartfelt Happy Holidays to all the wonderful people I've come to cherish through this amazing hobby of ours! Thank you for all the inspiration, fun conversations, exciting online events, those special little packages in the mail, and especially for all the support and encouragement as I stretch my crafting muscles and try new things. I learn so much from all of you.

This holiday I wish each of you love, peace, happiness, and tons of crafting time! Big hugs to all of you!

This year I made handmade Christmas cards for the first time ever. I always intend to make them, but never get around to doing it. And luckily this year they made it out the door just in time. I made them using a photo of my kids, a holiday sentiment, and this amazing blue flocked paper (Making Memories - Paperie Poolside - 12x12 Flocked Cardstock - Brocade) that added just the right touch of fun and elegance. Plus I got to add just a touch of bling which makes everything just perfect. :) Enjoy!

Girly Girl - Crate Paper Mia Collection

I was so fortunate to be able to play with the whole Mia Collection from Crate Paper. It had so many different papers and embellishments in sage and hot pink. I would have never combined those two colors, but crate paper impressed me with this paper pack.

Such gorgeous papers and embellishments. Just perfect for a layout about my beautiful little girl. I started with two borders that I cut down and layed in the center of the page, just below the main image. Then I cut a vine of leaves and flowers from a 12x12 paper and added it with pop dots. I tucked a jounaling circle below the bottom border and added an oval sticker with the date. At the opposite corner, I added a smaller photo surrounded by a custer of other embellishments layered one on top of each other. Then at the top right I added a tab and decorated it by added a circle and flower embellishement behind it. Then I finished it off with the title around the tab.

I especially love the way I found a dark paper for the background. It made all the photos and embellishments *pop* from the contrast. I am just thrilled with how it came out.