Everyone needs a little sparkle in their life

Happy Wednesday crafters! I love a little sparkle it just brightens up everything so I recently took some of my favorite Jillibean Soup alphas and added glitter. This was the result ...

 

I stared with a neutral colored Jillibean Soup alpha. I ran the alphas face down though a Xyron Sticker maker. This makes adheing the glitter to the front of the alphas a snap. 

Once the alphas are covered with glitter I sealed them with Crystal Lacquer. Crystal Lacquer is very similar to Diamond Glaze. This step helps hold the glitter in place but isn't necessary.

This is how my glittered alphas look on my layout. 

(Supplies Used: Cardstock Bazzill, Jillibean Soup Alpha Stickers /Patterned Paper/Tag/Glitter/Kraft Accessories/Diecuts/File Cards/Clothespin, Twine and Tiny Attacher)

 

You know that saying there is more than one way to skin a cat. This applies to to glittering alphas as well. While I prefer the Xyron sticker maker method you can achieve this same look from any number of simpler techniques. 

Thanks for stopping by today and happy crafting! 

I love CIRCLES

Hello crafters and happy Thursday. If you have followed me for sometime you might have noticed how much I like to use circles in my designs. Yup I am one of those people who when she finds something she like she over uses it. It's kind of like when you get a new outfit and wear it to death. Yes I am wearing my circles to death and I am okay with that.

This layout was my Colour Suite layout from the fall issue of Scrapbook and Cards Today. While this week seems to be an ode to the circle I also seems I am reminiscing a bit over my son (AKA tech support).

(Supplies Used: Bazzill Cardstock, Patterned Paper Pebbles/Jillibean Soup, Stamps Technique Tuesday, Ink Memento Lux, Wood Embellishments Studio Calico/Ellie's Studio, Alpha Jillibean Soup, Wood Dots My Minds Eye, Hemp Twine, Corner Rounder We R Memory Keepers, Circle Punches and Dies, Silhouette Cutting System and misc fonts)

I love how the circles make perfect homes for my embellishments. I like to play with floating them off the edges of my layouts and adding pop dots for depth. To read more about my fall Colour Suite make sure you check out the fall issue of Scrapbook and Cards Today.

Thanks for stopping by and happy crafting!

December PageMaps

Hello December! It seems like only yesterday it was January can someone please tell me where Christmas came from. That's just a rhetorical question. Sorry for the late start this month the holidays just seem to kind of take over.

Each month I chose my sketch for a specific reason. I chose this sketch because of it's simplicity and use of a 6x4 photo. It really called to my old school scrapbooking roots.

(Supplies Used: Bazzill Cardstock, Patterned Paper Fancy Pants, Corrugated Paper Fancy Pants, Burlap Shapes Simple Stories, Wood Hearts Studio Calico, My Favorite Things Alpha dies, Kraft Embellishments Jillibean Soup, Enamel Dots Doodlebug, Hemp Twine, Maya Road Mini Clothes Pin, Scallop Die Spellbinders, Decorative Brad Basic Grey, Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher and font Kingthings)

 

I pretty much took a literal approach to my version of the sketch. I simplified a few of the accent items from the sketch when I translated my idea to paper. The abstract zig zag pieces on my layout were cut straight from the Fancy Pant patterned paper. 

Thanks for stopping by today and Happy Crafting!

November Colour Suite

Happy Saturday crafters it's time for the November installment of the Colour Suite a monthly colour challenge I put together for my friends at Scrapbook and Cards Today. I am going to start off today with a little announcement this will be my final Colour Suite I am retiring the challenge. I began my colourful journey over 3 years ago and I would like to thank all my guests and followers over the years for joining me on my little adventure.

This month I was once again inspired by an image I found on Pinterest.

This image was such an inspiration for this month's colours. I started by choosing the grey and blue I knew these colours were on trend and would make a great neutral base for any layout or project. I then selected the green (it's one of my favorite colours). By default once I selected the green that meant I would not choose the red. Red and green always say Christmas to me I know I am weird, it's one of my colour hang ups. So instead of picking red I selected the pink and orange. This is how the Colour Suite was created.

(Supplies Used: Bazzill Cardstock, Pattered Paper Doodlebug, Decorative Envelopes Fancy Pants, Rubons Basic Grey, Metal Dies My Favorite Things/Spellbinders, Glitter Heart American Crafts, Decorative Brad Basic Grey, Flair Fancy Pants, Hemp Twine, Bow Studio Calico, Clothes Pin Maya Road, misc paint, Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher and font Kingthings downloaded from the internet)

This month I invited Diane Payne to join me and take the Colour Suite Challenge. I met Diane when she joined the Lily Bee design team and I immediately fell in love with her style. I love how she manages to mix clean lines with a little funk without over powering her photos. She didn't disappoint with her Colour Suite layout when she did exactly this. I was super excited she was able to join me for my very last challenge. Thanks Diane for playing with me this month.

While this might be the end of the Colour Suite you can always find the old challenges on the Scrapbook and Cards Today website. They will continue to be archived there and I hope if you ever find yourself in a colour rut you reach back and find a little colour to jump start your creativiry.

Happy Crafting!

Every photo tells a story

Happy Wednesday crafters! I like to think that every photo tells a story it's why I try to journal something on each and every layout. Journaling can be short and sweet, long and sentimental or somewhere in between. Once upon a time I stressed out about every word on my layouts but some where along the line the words started coming easier.

This layout started with a photo I loved. It was one of those spontaneous shots I'd like to refer to as a happy accident. So when I went to scrapbook this I focused on the story of how I caught this unbelievably wonderful moment.

(Supplies Used: Bazzill Cardstock, Jillibean Soup Patterned Paper/Stickers/Enamel Stars/Stamp/Wooden Sprinkles/Wooden Nickles, Ink, Circle Punch, Tiny Attacher, Hemp Twine, Silhouette Cutting System and misc. fonts)

Please remember every photo tells a story, record your words and happy crafting.

PageMaps November

Happy November crafters it's the first of the month and that means it's time for another PageMaps layout. I have been in a wonderful creative groove with my PageMaps layouts for the past few months. I am thrilled that so many of these projects are now on my favorites list.

If you look at my last few layouts you can see a trend ... it's neutral cardstock bases. I often switch back and forth between patterned paper and cardstock backgrounds. It seems I might be in a style switch from patterned paper to cardstock.

Here is the sketch I chose to work with this month. I picked this sketch because it was kind of a non traditional take on the grid layout. I think the grid design is one of my all time favorites to work with. I love how each grid tells a different part of the story be it through embellishments, patterned papers or photos.

(Supplies Used: Bazzill Cardstock, Fancy Pants Patterned Paper and corrugated paper, Jillibean Soup black tiny alphas, Wood Veneer Stars from Studio Calico, Metal dies from Technique Tuesday/Paper Smooches, Misc Tag and Silver Eyelet, Clear Red Stars from Studio Calico, Jillibean Soup kraft envelope, hemp twine, vellum envelope from Studio Calico and Kingthings font)

I confess I am not sure where the large bow came from. I think it might be Fancy Pants but I couldn't find it online. So if you possibly know who made the cute burlap bow please leave me a comment below. I am a bow addict and I might like to pick up another one.

Thanks for stopping by today and happy crafting!

Halloween Part II | Jillibean Soup

Hello Monday today I am sharing another Jillibean Soup Halloween layout. I resurrected my little obsession for circles on this layout. I really love how the circles create movement and house tons of fun little extras.

(Supplies Used: Cardstock Bazzill, Jillibean Soup 6x6 Paper Pad/DieCuts/Enamel Stars/Wood Sprinkles/Clothes Pins/Alphas/Wood Veneer Shapes/Flash Cards/Wood Flags/Stamps, Hemp Twine, Circle Punches and font Veteran Typewriter downloaded from the internet)

I love to add extra depth and dimension to layouts with foam squares. Dimension adds just the perfect visual break notice the tone on tone look of the green star on the green grid punched circle without the foam squares this look wouldn't translate the diecut would have completely gotten lost.



Thanks for stopping by today. This is not the last of my Halloween love fest I have a few super cute cards to show off this week too so don't miss out.

2014 Planner Layout | Scrapbook & Cards Today

Hello Friday I am so glad to see you. After yesterday's announcement regarding the 2015 Scrapbook & Cards Today calender and planner I thought I would give you a peek at my project from the 2014 calendar.

This layout was super fun to create all the products including the stamps were from Stampin' Up. Not only did the 2014 calendar come with custom sketches it also included free custom digital cut files and techniques with step out instructions and photos. The word bubbles, tag and heart included on my layout were just a few of the free digital cutting files.

 

 (Supplies Used: Bazzill Cardstock, Patterned Paper Stampin' Up, Embossing Powder Stampin Up, Stamps Stampin Up, Hemp Twine, Butterfly Stick Pins Jillibean Soup, Wood Stars Studio Calico, Corner Rounder, White Colorbox Ink, Scallop Border Die Spellbinders, Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher, Silhouette Cutting System/Images, and font Veteran Typewriter)

I can only share the layout I don't have the original sketch anymore. My technique was a shadow stamping to look like chalkboard. To see more fun layouts and great techniques like this don't miss out on the 2015 planner.

Happy Scrapping

October PageMaps

Hello October! It's the beginning of the month and that means it's time for another PageMaps layout. Over the past few months I have had been in a creative rut. The only place where I haven't felt stuck was when I work with Becky's sketches.

I chose today's sketch for a couple of reasons. First I love how this sketch uses a traditional 4x6 photo. Second while I have always been more of a multi-photo scrapbooker as my children have gotten older the way I scrapbook has changed. I scrap fewer multi-photo events and today's layout is the perfect example of this. And third how could I resit the squares. They are such a fantastic way to use my favorite scraps from my stash.

(Supplies Used: Bazzill Cardstock, Patterned Papers AC/Simple Stories/Fancy Pants/Studio Calico/Chickaniddy, Glitter Hearts American Crafts, My Favorite Things Alpha Dies, Spellbinders Scallop Border Die, Kraft die cut Jillibean Soup, Mini Clothes Pin Maya Road, Wood Arrow Studio Calico, Die Cut Tab Pink Paislee, Kraft Washi Tape Jillibean Soup, Love Wood Embellishment American Crafts, Chipboard Embellishment Fancy Pants, Hemp Twine, Gold Stars Studio Calico and font KingThings Typewriter)

 
I admit the My Favorite Things alphas are my current go to favorites. I have an upper case set, a lower case set and a numbers set. They are the a great size for making those longer more verbose titles I seem to favor these days.

Thanks for stopping by today happy crafting!

Advice to my daughter | Scrapbook & Cards Today

Hello friends I thought today was a perfect day to share a layout I did for the summer issue of Scrapbook and Cards Today. I created this layout for the summer Colour Suite to see the article in full you can download it for free at the SCT website.

I know it must look as if I only have 1 child these days but my 17 year old has no interest in me or my camera. I am generally stuck with only a handful of photos of him most are usually blurry and the ones that are not he has his mouth open. The flip side of this is I have a little girl who is coming of age in the time of the "selfie" and loves to take tons of photos. So folks this is why it looks as if I have only one child.

(Supplies Used: Bazzill Cardstock, Patterned Paper American Crafts/Studio Calico/Jillibean Soup, Wood Embellishments Ellie's Studio/Studio Calico, Sequins Doodlebug, Stamps Technique Tuesday, Flair My Minds Eye, Hemp Twine, Clothes Pin Bow from Crate Paper, Enamel Dots Doodlebug, Silhouette Cutting System/Image, Circle Punches, Corner Rounder, Tiny Alpha Stickers Basic Grey, Mist Studio Calico, and font Bohemian Typewriter)

I worked on this layout last spring after my daughter went through a bit of girl drama. I often think she doesn't hear so I like to put words to her on projects with the hope reading them might put things in a new perspective.

I hope you have been inspired today happy crafting.

THS Tech | Jillibean Soup

Well Hello there blog world. I really haven't forgotten about you. I have taken some time away from my craft table. Not a total step back but a serious cut down and I am afraid in the process this little blog got the shaft.

I thought I would start back with a tried and true Jillibean Soup favorite project and I know I have a few  hiding on my hard drive that I have neglected to share.

(Supplies Used: Bazzill Cardstock, Jillibean Soup Kraft Paper/Patterned Paper/Wooden Sprinkles/Alphas/Die Cuts/Stickers/Wooden Nickles, Enamel Dots Doodlebug, Black Pen Circle Die Technique Tuesday, Hemp Twine and font downloaded from the internet)

I couldn't resist pairing the circuit board patterned paper from Jillibean Soup with at least 1 tech photo of Grant. Don't be surprised if you see this pairing again from me it's one of my favorite patterns from Spicy Social Soup Collection.

Thanks for stopping by today and happy crafting!

July PageMaps

Happy July crafters today I am showing off the my July PageMaps layout. This month's sketch might be one of my all time favorites. You know how I love my circles I couldn't resist them.

I kept the overall base design of my layout the same as the sketch. I eliminated 1 photo from my layout and placed the 4 circles in a vertical strip rather than a square block.

(Supplies Used: Cardstock Bazzill, Jillibean Soup Patterned Paper/Wood Veneer Butterfly/Stickers/Die Cuts/Flash Cards/Wood Sprinkles, Spellbinders Scallop border die, Hemp Twine, My Minds Eye Enamel Dots, Technique Tuesday Circle Metal Dies, Silhouette Cutting System and Image, Black Pen, Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher and font Veteran Typewriter)

I couldn't resist pairing Jillibean Soup's Birthday Bisque with this photo of my daughter on her 14th birthday. The colors were a perfect match to her dress. Thanks for stopping by today and happy crafting.