Happy Summer!?

Are you ready for summer?  As I type, I am wrapped in flannel jammies sipping hot chocolate.  Sunday was a record breaking 97 degrees.  Today we got stuck at 52.  It was the last day of school and students raced out of the building wearing coats--and great big smiles.  We are all SO ready for summer!

June brings our latest minimag filled with fun ideas to inspire you all month long.  We have sweet treats and summer days covered plus a little something to help you scrap the men in your life.  And, of course, we have a new free digital kit all ready for download.

Take a peek at our cover featuring art from the talented Fay Lyth.  Head on in here.

Our free kit this month comes from the amazing FanFan Rue Des Anges.  Her fanciful designs feel like a fairy tale come to life to me.  Read more about her in our Featured Designer article and see more of her work on her blog or in her Shabby Pickle store.

Download Link:  {one} 
Please respect this generous gift and do not upload/share this kit.  Friends are welcome to download it here for the next month.  Thank you!

We hope you will join in with so many talented scrappers and share your art with us this month.  Take a peek at our calls and send in your creations.

Focus on Journaling

I have been doing digital scrapping for nearly 7 years now - and I still have thousands of photos I haven't scrapped yet!!

As of late, however, I've been trying my hand at pages that focus on journaling ... pages designed without the use of a photo.  

Of course, finding the PERFECT kit helps when creating a photo free page - Here are a few of my photo-free journal pages

 

Created with Count Your Blessings - Jen C Designs

 Created using Clean Up - Pixelily Designs

 Created using I am Beautiful - Pretty In Green

Created using Morning Dew - Daisies & Dimples Collab

Thanks for stopping by today - I hope you've found a little inspiration!

Looking for a Color Palette?

I am so excited about this post. Why? Because I came across this fun FREE tool by Sherwin Williams called Chip It! This tool will take any photo you find and turn it into a color palette. I'm sure you've seen photos with color palettes. Inspirational blogs like Design Seeds post them. Now you can make your own.

Below is a color palette I created from a photo I found on Pinterest. I simply uploaded the photo to the Chip It! tool and let it do its magic. I love this color palette. I would never put this together on my own, but after seeing how well the colors work together on the color palette, I gave it a try. Check out the card I created using similar colors from the palette.

Now it's your turn. Find a photo with colors you like, upload it into Chip It! and create a project with the color palette you generated. Have fun!

Basically Bare mini album~

Hi everyone~Connie here to share with you a mini album done using the fabulous Basically Bare products!!  I won  a pack of goodies at a Basically Bare class, couldn't wait to dig in!

Most of the mini is made with Basically Bare Products, the chipborad shapes take paint, mists, paper and stay strong.

This is a look at the first three pages and some of the shapes I used to complete the album.  The paper is by The Paper Loft (was in my prize pack, too).  The frames are so neat~wish I had had two sets!!I thought of so many uses for them.

This is the last three pages.  The chipboard shapes come in cardboard, corrugated cardboard, canvas and felt.  The felt and canvas really take on the color, when you use inks or paint.  Great  embellishments that you can decorate anyway to match your paper carft projects!!!  Thanks for stopping by today and I'll see ya soon!!!

Lazy Summer on the River

My husband went camping recently to Peace River which is in Florida with a group of our friends (mostly the husbands).  I never go camping ... well that is not true I did go camping once before I got married to my hubby man, but never again.

I purposely faded out the photo because it was too green for the color scheme I was using.  I used the Paper Loft "Huckleberry Pond" collection.  This paper collection worked out perfectly for my photo. 

I also used the Basically Bare Pennants embellishments.  I love this set because you get banners from chipboard, canvas, felt and acrylic.  I love all the different textures.  I covered the chipboard with the paper loft collection, I painted a dot pattern on the felt and I stamped on the canvas.  I was very happy making that banner.

Basically Bare has a really cute set called celestial shapes that have clouds in the set.  Unfortunately for me I didn't have any at the time so I compromised by using the tree top from the Basically Bare Happy Tree embellishment set.  I stamped my felt cloud then I glimmer misted it with Tattered Angels.

That is it for now, happy scrapping, and hope you have a Lazy and Happy Summer.

do it yourself chevrons

10 things about my scrapbooking...

I am a simple scrapbooker.

I tend to use lots of photos on my page.

I like bold, vibrant colors.

I prefer solids and textures over patterns.

I like to mix and match alphabet stickers.

I don't buy a lot of embellshments; I'd rather make them myself.

I like my pages "flat"; 3D and bulky aren't for me.

I scrap in 12x12 size.

I prefer to buy paper in stores rather than online;

I like to touch and see it.

I am inspired by everyday things...

shower curtain patterns, song lyrics, artwork, recipe photos.

I tell you these things, because as much as I love to read about new scrapbook trends, I don't easily jump on the bandwagon.

However, I must say that I have been admiring

all of the designs with chevrons.

So, I wanted to share with you a SIMPLE way to

create your own chevrons.

I started with a 4x12 sheet of paper and scored it at 1 inch increments.

I've found that by pulling the cutting bar off my paper trimmer, I can make great score lines by following the groove with a stylus (a pencil works too if you remember to do it on the backside of your paper).

Fold the paper in half, and then in half again along the score lines.

Place the long twice-folded strip into your paper crimper on a slant.

Squeeze hard as you crank the paper through

(remember you are crimping four layers of paper)

Open up your paper and you've got CHEVRONS!

Add some painted doilies, paint splotches, photos, bright paper (dug out the Paper Edgers to make the edges "fancy"), and

alpha stickers to create one hip and trendy page.

So what is your scrapbook style?

Are you hip and trendy?

~Kelly

Double Page My Little Shoebox layout

Today I wanted to share with you a double page layout that I created for My Little Shoebox using their Up in the Trees collection.

I don't often do double page layouts, but I had a ton of photos from our egg hunt, so I kind of needed to make this one into a double. For the center strip, I wanted to break up the yellow, but then the white cardstock looked too stark, so I used a graph paper background stamp dipped in glimmer mist to create a subtle effect.

Technique with multicolored stamp pads

Have you ever gotten a multi-hued stamp pad, or seen one, and wondered what you do with it? I'm pretty sure that there's a way to use just one color, but to be honest, I never tried. When I wanted to make a rainbow on this card though, I thought there had to be a way to use my rainbow ink pad to do it.
This is the ink pad that I have

So, what I did was carefully position my stamp over the red, orange and yellow portion, then dab as I moved the stamp (which is a lot longer than the ink pad) along the ink pad, careful to keep the colors more or less lined up. Then I stamped those three colors before going back for the next three colors. Since there is no purple here, I took a separate cat eye chalk ink pad and applied that over the red ink that was on my stamp from the previously mentioned process. The result? This fabulous gradient rainbow!! I was pretty happy with how it turned out! I can't wait to think of some more stuff to do with this ink pad!

Dog Day!

Being a huge dog person I have tons of pictures of our 6 wacky dogs and with that said  I decided it was time to do a few dog layouts.  I knew I didn't want to use a dog specific digital kit so I went kit shopping.  This kit yelled out "pick me"!  I found this kit at Flutterbye Faery.

I decided on these 2 dog pictures and got to work.  Such an amazing way to create a page.  Digital makes it so easy to try different looks and play with different papers and embellishments.  I am very happy with how the pages turned out. 

This is Snicker, she loves laying in a laundry basket filled with dirty laundry.

This is Stanley, he got a Twinkie out of the pantry and was very proud of himself.

Did you notice that the kit is themed All Girl?  Since I didn't use it for any girly pictures I think it could be re-named to Dog Day!

Happy Crafting!

MelissaO

Jenni Bowlin Studio's chalk board and easel~

Hi everyone~ I wanted to share with you this re-purposed item {the bicycle frame} , with a new item~the Jenni Bowlin chalk board and easel.  I picked the frame up at a junk store, cleaned it all up and added it to the chalk board as an embellishment, not as a frame.  I used Helmar 450 Quick Dry to adhere it to the chalk board. 

I also added a little photo banner at the top of the chalk, of my sweet "grands"!   A great gift idea or home decor piece.  Have a wonderful day and I'll see ya soon!!!

Cards made with Digital Scrapbook Kits

I have hundreds and hundreds of digital scrapbook kits tucked away on my computer however, I am not very good about re-using them for a scrapbook page.   I have recently started to use them for making hybrid cards.  Thanks to my Silhouette Cameo, nearly any element from a kit can be cut out and background papers can be printed out and used on the cards as well. I have added flowers, "bling" and stamps to the cards ... a fun and unique way to re-use kits ... and when mixing and matching kits, the options are endless!

This card: 

 

was made using Butterflies in Bloom by Kathy Winters

And this card:

was made using Space Explorer by Inspired Designs

I hope these give you some ideas and inspiration ...thanks for stopping by!!

Basically Bare Happy Polly Album

Today I wanted to show you an album I made using the Basically Bare Polly Pockets Mixed Media Album.



I also used Glitz Designs (Pretty In Pink) Collection

and then threw in some Prima ....

I really enjoyed making this album and with the Polly Pockets it took me no time at all to complete it :)

Happy Scrappin

Celebrate the women in your life.

Hello scrappers! Nicole here and today I would like to share with you a quick mini that I created. I wanted to take the time to celebrate the women in my life. Even though I don't have many women in my life right now, the women who are in my life right now matter and they are all that I need! I love them dearly...

Notice the epoxy stickers... "I love you in the morning, I love you in the evening..." I decided to use them throughout my entire album to emphasize how much these women mean to me.
Glitz Design “French Kiss” Papers
Glitz Design “Happy Travels” Papers
Glitz Design “French kiss” Peek-A-Boos
Glitz Design “Happy Travels, Pretty in Pink” Cardstock Stickers
Glitz Design Teeny Alphas
Glitz Design “French Kiss” Whatnots
Glitz Design “French Kiss and Happy Travels" Epoxy Stickers
Glitz Design “French Kiss” Acrylic Stamps
Other:
Zutter Bind-It All
Zutter O Wires (Antique 1 ¾”)
Zutter Chipboard 4”X4”
Flower: Maya Road
Stickpin: Maya Road
Charm: Epiphany Crafts
Bubble Cap: Epiphany Crafts
Epoxy Tool: Epiphany Crafts
Button Tool: Epiphany Crafts
Buttons: Epiphany Crafts
Baker’s Twine: Scrap Pantry (Esty)
Heart punch: Creative Memories
Glue: Beacon’s Zip Dry
Glimmer Mists: Tattered Angels
Chalkboard Mists: Tattered Angels
Paint: Tattered Angels