Friday, January 31, 2014

Selfies & Snapshots

Happy Friday, Friends! Jana Eubank here. Can you believe that January is over? I'm getting excited for Valentine's Day and it's starting to show in my scrapping! I just couldn't resist adding a bunch of hearts to this last page using the January 2014 Fresh Start kit.


I love the little stamp set by Elle's Studio that came with the kit. I used the outline heart stamp and gray ink to add a confetti-sprinkling of hearts down the left and right sides of my page. Next, I used the pink and aqua SEI ink pads (included with the kit )and the solid heart to fill each heart with color. I adore how these colors go with the kraft paper.


The toothpick hearts from the kit top off my photo collage so sweetly! I anchored them to the top of the photo block by placing one of the BasicGrey Fresh Cut die cut frames behind them and then a My Mind's Eye tap sticker over the toothpics. I love the touch of glitter they add to this page along with the Thicker letter stickers! Just perfect for a girly page of selfies and snapshots. :D


I left a few of the spots of my photo grid open for embellishing. I cut solid paper to fit in the squares and then added little bits to each one. The top square gets more stamping with the hearts and a sticker from the My Mind's Eye sticker sheet. On the center square, I used the tag from the decorative brad pack and then layered a punched heart and word (cut from the tear strip of one of the patterned papers) on top. The bottom square is filled with another My Mind's Eye decorative brad.

Thanks for taking a look at my page! I hope it has inspired you to get creating this weekend!

See you again soon!

Thursday, January 30, 2014

Imagination is everything . . .

Hello everyone!!  I'm back with another page featuring that gorgeous Fresh Start kit!  I snapped this pic the other day with my phone.  Just an everyday shot of my two boys playing in their playroom.  They were running a "school of wizardry" & making imaginary potions :)  I LOVE watching these two dream things up & listening to all the things they say when it's just the two of them.

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For the title I was going for "light & airy", so I cut the word "imagination" out of some vellum with my Cameo.  Then I used the Elle's Studio stamp set to accent the title with a few hearts above the "i's".  At the bottom of my page I added strips of patterned papers, stitched down.  It was an easy way to add splashes of color against the white background.

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Above the title I clustered five of the speech bubble chipboard pieces from the kit.  I typed up random things I heard them saying while at play - just wanting to document all the little things they said :)

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Thanks so much for stopping by!!!  Feel free to share your own Fresh Start kit creations in our Facebook group - we love to see our members at work with our kits!!



Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Smooches for Sale

Happy Wednesday everyone! Today I'm sharing a layout using Noel's newest kit, Book of Love!  I love the color scheme in this kit, it's perfect for Valentine's Day and love themed layouts but the addition of the gray means that I can make it a bit more masculine for layouts about my little boy.


Last Valentine's Day I made a kissing booth out of cardboard and we set up this sweet little photo shoot with my son.  I've been waiting for the perfect Noel kit to scrap the photos and obviously the Book of Love kit was just perfect!


I journaled around the edges of the page so I wouldn't use up any of the negative space in the center of the layout and distract from the photos.  My journaling basically says that I wish I could actually pay for kisses and snuggles because my son is so busy I never get them haha :)  I'm sure I'm not the only one, right?

Have a great day everyone! Don't forget about our Book of Love crop next week!

-Cassie

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Lovely Day Together

Hi all!! I have a layout to share with you today using the Fresh Start kit. For this layout, I was inspired by all the fair ribbons that have been part of some of the few past collections that have came out. Here are a few examples:

American Crafts - Dear Lizzy Neapolitan Collection - Fair Ribbons at Scrapbook.com $4.99
These are from the Dear Lizzy Neapolitan and the My Girl collection, both from American Crafts.

I thought a fun way to incorporate these would be not as an embellishment, but as the main focal point. Instead of using a rosette type embellishment on the top, I simple centered everything under my photo. 



I fussy cut the banner element from one of the Elle's Studio papers, and then simply added in more texture and dimension with additional layers and embellishment.


My final layout has all of the embellishment centered right under my photo, which help to draw your eye there. Using the lighter color pallet with the darker tones in my photo helps my photo to really stand out and take center stage!



Monday, January 27, 2014

Sabby - Fresh Start Kit


As part of my intention this year to live more creatively, I took my girls out last week to do a little photo shoot with them. I struck scrapbooker's gold with the results, and the photos have been so fun to play with! 

I was inspired by this image found on pinterest, and it was the jumping off point for my color scheme.

(credit: creature comforts blog)

The lovely colors of the Fresh Start kit (sorry, sold out!) also just happened to fit this, so I pulled out the kit and starting laying down papers.


I love the look of layers peeking through each other, and played that up with this feather cut with my Silhouette machine and layered stickers behind it.

I just had fun... which fits my girly. 


Oh and guess what's coming soon??? :)



Friday, January 24, 2014

Scrapping a Page for a Boy with the Fresh Start Kit

Hello Creative Friends! Jana Eubank here. Today I have another page to share with you using the January 2014 "Fresh Start" kit.

I had a snapshot of my son from a few summers ago that I wanted to get into our scrapbook. I decided to pull out some of the more "boyish" colors from the Fresh Start kit to create the following page featuring my son kicking off his summer vacation by chilling in the hot tub.


I used the Pink Paislee pennant title from the kit to guide my color choices for this page. Even though there is a lot of color, layers, and contrast going on (with the pops of black and white), everything works together because it is anchored on a neutral background.


I pulled the spring off of the clothespin and adhered both pieces to my page using glue dots. This creates a lower profile, than if I had used two separate clothespins, and hey, they match!

I love the little bit of softness the butterfly die cut adds to the title.


I used a white color pencil to write my journaling on the BasicGrey Fresh Cut chalkboard tag from the kit. I also added a little more color to the tag by stamping the "always remember" sentiment with the blue ink from the kit. Just be sure to allow it some time to dry, so that it doesn't get smudged.

I love when I can create my own layered embellishments for a page. The circular embellishments at the bottom of the photo were created by using the Pink Paislee Hey Kid paper in the kit. I used a circle punch to create a base layer, and then handcut the "smile" pennant for the second layer, adhering the pennant with foam squares. On the "You are my sunshine" tag, I used a smaller circle punch to punch out the flowers. I adhered it to the center with foam squares for a bit more dimension.

Thanks for stopping by today! What things have you been creating with your kit this month? Be sure to share your projects with us on the Noel Mignon Facebook page. We would love to see!

Until next time!

Jana Eubank


Thursday, January 23, 2014

Just Like Magic

Learning new things for little ones, that's just what it's like - magic.  My youngest recently received his first science kit for his birthday.  I'm sure he had no clue what it was when he opened the package, but when we broke into it the other day to do our first experiment, he was hooked!!  I used the January Fresh Start kit to document this "magical" moment.

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The layout is fairly neutral in color, with lots of white space, but I chose to simulate the idea of an experiment bubbling over a beaker with these fun sprays of color out to the right of the page.  I punched two different sized stars, as well as some small circles in shades of teal, pink, and yellow.  I also added in some splatters of ink as well.  The colored sections are divided by some hand-stitching in grey.

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For the title work I combined those fun sparkly white Thickers in the kit, with a die-cut word from patterned paper.  Right below that you will see a "True Story" tag peeking out from a glassine bag behind the photo.  The journaling tag is tucked away in the bag, but easily pulls out to read my story :)

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The Fresh Start kit is all sold out, but sign up for one of the few spots left in the special offer March - June subscription period & you'll never miss out :)

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Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Mini Album for your Christmas Cards

Hi everyone! Cassie here with one last Christmas project to share today, hopefully it will help you a bit with your post-Christmas organizing (if you're a procrastinator like me and haven't done it already!).  I hate throwing out Christmas cards, in particular the photo Christmas cards.  I always wind up saving them but never having a place to put them.  So I decided to make a little Christmas card album-- super simple.  I just wrapped some pieces of cardboard in patterned paper, decorated, and threw them on a binder ring as a front and back cover.  I hole punched all of my favorite Christmas cards and put those in between the covers.  I didn't measure anything, just kept it really loose since Christmas cards come in so many weird shapes and sizes. I started putting in Xmas cards from 2012 and will be able to use it for years to come (i put 2012-2015 on the back cover, I think there's plenty of space for 2 more years).

Front Cover:

Back Cover:

If you guys have organization issues like myself give this little album a try!


Tuesday, January 21, 2014

My Little Man

Hi everyone!! Amanda here with you to share another layout made with the Fresh Start kit. I love this kit so much...the colors are fabulous, and I love that I have gotten two very different layout looks out of it, (this layout and my princess layout).

Over the summer we love to spend as much time outdoors as possible. I was able to snatch this picture of our baby boy on his first fishing trip out last year. He, obviously, was too young to participate yet, but he had such fun watching his sisters and just enjoying the environment around us..so of course, it had to have a layout to go with it! :)


I loved that Hey Kid banner piece from Pink Paislee, and knew I wanted to use it for the color scheme on this layout, I also used it for my title. Some very simple layering and I love the finished product.


This corner here was actually done as an after thought, I originally had adhered the wood veneer speech bubble in this spot, but it just wasn't working. I went to remove it, and it tore my photo a bit, along with leaving behind some adhesive. A few simple cuts and the adorable arrow clip, and I was able to cover the spot AND it ended up being one of my favorite details of the layout!


I felt the corners need a little something more, so I just cut a few strips from that fabulous Elle's Studio paper ( I am saving every sngle scrap of that one LOVE it!) and some messy stamping was the perfect finishing touch!
Love how this kit worked absolutely perfect for both a very girly layout and a very boy layout! Noel sure knows how to put them together!! So...if you haven't yet, make sure you scoop up this deal!! Only a very limited number left!! Also, don't forget about the 50% off sale that is going on right now...good on past kits and shop items!!


Hope you all have a great day, and are inspired to create something you love!!


Monday, January 20, 2014

Munchkin


I had some more time this week to play with the Fresh Start kit. I actually worked on this layout over the course of several days. I find that if I can spread out time on a layout and look at it with fresh eyes, sometimes it helps me to have perspective on what to add or take away. 

To begin with, I had this whole thing mounted on a white piece of cardstock painted with gelatos and with a large title. It was soft and pretty, but really seemed to somehow take away from the layout. So I cut it off, and then matted it onto the feather paper. LOVE! The colorfulness added to the "feel" I wanted this page to have.


This picture is so cute of my littlest during a wedding, but there were a lot of distracting elements in the photo. I ended up covering up part of the photo with vellum to really draw the focus to my munchkin. I also added some words cut from one of the papers in the kit to draw the eye to her.


I cut a couple of feathers from the base paper (underneath where the photo is matted so you don't realize there's missing pieces from the base paper!) and tucked them in here. I like how it draws things together.


I love adding texture to my pages, especially with ribbon! It's such a quick and easy element to add.


Friday, January 17, 2014

My Scrapbook Space and Storage Ideas

Happy Friday! Jana Eubank here. I am lucky enough to have a dedicated scrapbook room in my home. It hasn't always been that way over the years, and so I definitely appreciate having a space to call my own.

It feels like I am in a constant state of reorganization in my scrapbook room as I acquire new things, clean out the old, or adjust to the subtle changes in my design process. Today, I thought I would take you on a tour of my room and also show you a few ways I organize specific supplies. Are you ready?



Several years ago when we built our house, we ended up with an odd-shaped, small bedroom on the 2nd floor of our home. It was meant to be a guest room with a walk-in closet and small bathroom, but since we don't entertain many guests, I was happy to claim it for my scrapbooking space with all of its west-facing sunlight.


When you first walk into the room, you walk in front of my main work area. I really like that my computer, sewing machine, and work space are all connected so that I can just swing myself around to each space in my swivel chair and do what I need to do. The drawers and cabinets around this space keep my most-used supplies, tools, and printers neatly tucked away. This is perfect for me since I am easily overwhelmed by a lot of visual clutter.


The drawers behind my desk house my punches, embellishments, twine, journal blocks, etc. These are the items that I reach for most often while adding the finishing touches to the projects I create, so I like keeping them closest to my work space.


Just off the corner of the main work area, you will find a space that was initially intended as a walk-in closet for this room. Here we added floor-to-ceiling cabinets with roll out shelves to house all of my 12 x 12 patterned paper and cardstock. We also added an additional work surface that allows me to pull out my die cutting and embossing machine for use on projects.


Above the roll out shelves are more cabinets. This is where I store my Noel Mignon kits, collections by manufacturer, letter stickers organized by color, and supplies and tools that I reach for on an occasional basis. I put everything in Iris snap-close cases. I loves these things! I can group like items together and then stack them horizontally or vertically without worrying about items falling out.


Across from my desk is the area that was originally intended to be a small bathroom. We omitted the wall and added more cabinetry, another work surface, and a small clean-up sink.


These cabinets house all of my "messy" supplies: stamps, ink pads, acrylic blocks, paint, spray ink, glitter, etc. On the shelves in the glass-front cabinet, I keep idea books, gifts from scrappy/family friends, and framed pieces of my children's artwork.

By glancing at these photos, you have probably guessed that I love containers. I love grouping things together in a bin that I can pull out and bring to my table as I need it. I have tried out several containers over the years, and thought I would share with you a few of my favorite right now.

I use Iris Snap-Close cases quite a bit for my paper collections and kits, but I also like to use them for other things. I really like that they take advantage of the vertical space on my shelves. Here I have used a case for all of my tags.


Recently, I have discovered that they also work well for ink pads. When the case is open I can flip through them to find the color I need ...


And then when the case is closed and on my shelf, the ink pads are stored face down where gravity can do its work and keep the ink settled to the top of the ink pad making them nice and juicy for when I am ready to stamp an image.


I love the Iris 4x6 photo holders, too. They are perfect for separating embroidery thread into different color families.


And for keeping markers and pens on their sides ... which is the best way to store them for optimal ink flow.


I use other types of stacking snap cases to store my mini alphabet stamps. The tiers can be separated and placed side-by-side on my desk while I work allowing me to pick and choose from the different styles.



Stickles and other small paint bottles also work great in these cases.




I store my loose ribbon lengths in jars on a shelf in my office. This work great, but I struggled with how to store spools of ribbon in the least amount of space possible.


More tiered, snap-close cases to the rescue! Since I don't reach for ribbon very often, I like that I can tuck this in the bottom of a closet and stack other items on top of it.


The different tiers makes it easy to find the color I need without having to dig through everything.


Binders and sheet protectors are another favorite storage solution of mine. I keep all of my acrylic stamps in binders on the shelves above my sink. 

Most of the time, I throw away the packaging and then use adhesive to adhere the carrier sheet to a piece of white cardstock. I write the manufacturer and name of the stamp set on the cardstock. I try to keep the stamps in themes to make them easier to find.


This method works especially well for all of the mini stamp sets I can't seem to resist!


If a stamp doesn't have a carrier sheet, I stick them on clear report covers and slide that into the sheet protector along with the white sheet of cardstock.


If I want to sort a particular stamp by manufacturer instead of by theme (for example, stamps I have from design teams), I keep them in their packaging and put them in 5" x 7" photo pages like this.


I also love creating Reference Binders for my supplies. For example, here is a look at my mist binder. I used white cardstock cards to create color samples for all of my spray inks. This makes it so much easier to locate that "perfect" shade for the project I am working on. I can just look at the cards, instead of digging through everything and wasting my creative time trying them out on scraps of paper. (I'll be doing this with my stamp pads someday soon, too!)



I also have a reference binder for my embossing folders. The folders are stored alphabetically in stacking boxes ...



Instead of browsing through the boxes ... I can just flip through my binder with all of the sample cards and find the perfect pattern. The patterns are grouped together in categories like dots, stripes, checks, nature, etc. The baseball card sheet protectors allow me to see both the embossed and debossed versions of each of the folders I own.




I have also used binders to create reference cards for my washi tapes, only this time, the tapes are adhered to a clear report cover card, instead of white cardstock. This allows me to pull the card out and "try out" the tape on the papers I am working with.



Speaking of washi tapes ... I haven't found a "perfect" solution for them yet. I have seen a lot of neat ones around the web, but I don't like storage options that take up too much counter space ... so for now, I just my most used colors in an old 12x12 shipping box. I used a Silhouette washi tape box file to create rows within the box so that they don't roll around as much.


But, I have more washi tapes than this box can hold. For now, the overflow of multi-colored tapes and less-used patterns are kept in jars on my counter. (Pssst ... if you happen to know of a stacking/space-saving idea for LOTS of washi tapes, link me up in the comments ... I would love to see it!)


The last thing I wanted to share with you today, is how I store my papers and scraps that are smaller than 12 x 12. I do a lot of digital die cutting on my pages, and was trying to find a storage solution that would allow me to easily utilize my smaller papers and scraps. I was reading Betsy Veldman's blog awhile back about how she stores all of her 6x6 papers by color, rather than keeping them together in their pads. I decided to take the plunge and give it a try. There are a few pads that I still like to keep intact for my manufacturer design teams, but after awhile, I tear them all apart into colors. It has worked out really well for me so far!


Scraps that are smaller than 6x6 are stored in a drawer with my punches.


And then, finally, the scraps that are larger than 6x6, but smaller than 12x12 are stored under my desk in a rolling paper cart by Anna Griffin (purchased from HSN.com).


The paper cart came with a tray that fits on top, but I removed it so that it would fit under my desk. There is an opening on top which makes it easy to flip through the files and grab what I need.



Okay ... one last thing ... I gotta keep it real. My room hardly EVER looks this clean. Usually the counters are filled with stacks and stacks of projects and supplies that I am working with. Sooooo ... one last behind-the-scenes picture .... this is all the STUFF I had to put into the hallway outside of my scraproom so that I could take decent pictures for you. Haha!



Thank you for letting me share my space with you today. I hope you have found a few inspiring ideas that might work for you in your own space. If you have any questions, feel free to leave them in the comment section below and I would be happy to answer them.

Wishing you a creative weekend!