Mix of Kits

I am going through all my kits from Noel and i like to use up the scraps first before i cut into any new paper...i know crazy right? But that is what i do so with the Treehouse kit she released a while back I found some scraps in the bag ( i keep my kits in tack in the bag they came in and i put a label on the bag with the name)
anyway... so here is a little back ground on Melana...she doesn't like to take pictures...she always refuses especially professional ones....this pic is only 1 of 3professional pics we got from school (day care) the first she was 7 months old the second about 14 months and nothing until 4.....grrrrrr!!!! Stubborn i tell ya...but i could just eat her up...


This one here is really using no one kit per se... i mixed them up
cardstock from one kit, apple lace cardstock from a kit and some hambly rub on's and jenni bowlin chalkboard sticker letters in vintage.
This one is for the current challenge.
My husbands favorite childrens books as a kid was anything by Shel Silverstein but his all time favorite was The Giving Tree. I really didn't have a favorite book as a kid...i didn't discriminate...i loved all books.

See ya next week!

xo

Playing With Tiles!

Sometimes, it is fun to pull out supplies you haven't played with in awhile. Sometimes it gives us that creative push we need! For today's T & T, I am going to show you a couple of different ways to create with "tiles." They are easy and fun to work with. You can make a bunch up ahead of time and incorporate them into scrap pages or cards!

I love the impact these 3 squares make on this otherwise simple page! Sometimes it is the little details that make a page special. Alrighty then, pull up a chair........ : )

To stamp on my tiles, I used Memento Ink and a script stamp. But play around with different stamps to give you different effects!

When adhering to a LO or card use a scrap glue and place a heavy book on it until dry. This will prevent the ends from curling.

A few other things you can try are; place beads, sequins, punched paper pieces, or charms into the tile while it is still warm. Sprinkle glitter, flock, or rub ink on the edges. Have fun playing!!!!

grandmother

As you can see my love affair with my MME stash is still going strong! This week I picked out some pinks and decided to scrap my grandmother over Thanksgiving. One cool thing I tried on this was to take a piece of white felt and spray it with the Red Maya Mist to try and give it a shabby look! If you try this make sure you have a heating tool as that will speed up your drying time a lot! I also used Tim Holtz Distress Ink, some Imaginesce large and small flowers, Thickers, which I distressed like Virginia did on her fun LO a few weeks back, and some Hambly rub ons on the side and over the clock face.
This is my take on IB Jan. bonus sketch. TFL and have a great weekend!!

Where the Wild Things Are

Well here is my take on the Off the Bookshelf challenge. I chose one of the classics. Where the wild things Are. Every shild loves this book. I know I still love reading it to Alyson and my students. I really played on the cover of the book with the title. Remember to head on over and give the challenge a go!

You are my Favorite and my Best

You *may* have heard about our current challenge (hee hee), to use a children's book as inspiration for a layout. You can use the design, the story, the title, or just a memory associated with a particular story as your jumping off point.

Ever since Em was a baby, we would read Charlie and Lola (and Clarice Bean- both by Lauren Child) books to the kids, so I KNEW that I had to use Charlie & Lola as my inspiration for my layout. This is one of our favorite books about them:

I ended up tracing the characters a little and then adding my own interpretations to match my kids. I know this is not a traditional layout (with no pics), but it was really fun to do and my kids immediately recognized themselves being Charlie & Lola-fied. I think I"m going to put it on a canvas or in a frame and hang it in their reading nook.

Come join in on the Off-the-Bookshelf challenge! There's a $15 gc to the Noel Mignon store waiting for the winner of the challenge.... :)

Oh, the Places You'll Go!

I love this challenge that fellow DT member, Virginia came up with! The challenge is to find inspiration from a chilren's book for your LO! How clever is that?! I decided on my son's favorite book, when he was younger, by Dr. Seuss. He and I used to read it all the time......when he was still small enough to snuggle on my lap! (He is almost 12 now).

I decided to incorporate the circles, colors, and of course the title! I cut all of the circles using my MS circle cutter. I had to add a bit of bling to it by adding some buttons and rhinestones to the circles. I actually printed the title off my computer on blue paper and hand cut each letter. It was the most "Dr. Seussish" letters I could find! LOL! The title is meaningful to me. It encompasses my hopes and dreams for my son.......and all the places he will go in his life.....

I hope you can play along in this fun challenge!!! Go HERE to play!

Daily Ritual

There's a new challenge going up on the Noel Mignon Challenge Blog today. Can you tell what we will be using for our inspiration? :D :D :D

This one was a lot of fun! Here's mine!





Supplies: Cardstock: Bazzill; Patterned Paper & Die Cuts: Crate Paper Blue Hill Collection; Chipboard: Scenic Route; Letter Stickers: BoBunny Press; Journal Spot: October Afternoon; Ribbon: American Crafts; Other: Crayon, Black Mini Brads

Come and Play Along!!! :D
Jana

Valentines for the teachers

with valentines day upon us i decided i would make something for Mason's 2 teachers.
I decided to make birthday books like stampin up sells. Only my version is cheaper...hehehe...now personally i don't do v-day. it is not me at all ...and the hubby knows it after the 1st v-day. if you can't shower me with love and small gifts and just becuase cards throughout the year DON'T do it on v-day....it's a pet peeve...lol...i know..something must be wrong with me but hey that is just how i roll!

I broke out various kits from noel and went to town. original inspiration came from the cute cupcake paper from Pink Paislee that was in the Love Song kit (sold out)


using the Love Song Kit (sold out)

using the Sugar Cookie Kit
(only 4 left)

There is a few different kits left in the store that is great for valentines day
Devoted 3 left
passionate
and of course Sugar Cookie 4 left

Are you going to make something for someone for v-day?

Making use of those scraps

This may not be new - but it is a trick that has worked for me for many years. I sometimes like to type out my journaling on a layout and of course want to print it out on some nice cardstock. The problem is that I don't want to cut down an entire piece of paper for some journaling. So...this is what I do.

First, I type up my journaling in a word processing program. I pick my fonts, what size I think it needs to be. (you could be more percise by measuring - but that is so not me - hehe). Anyhow - this is a sample of my printed out journaling. I took this from my blog and is intended only for my sample :)

*umm excuse the mess:)

Now I have the supplies I need -- journaling (after it has been checked to make sure it is the correct size).

So here all I did was flip the strip of cardstock and put 2 strips of glue at the edges -- just enough to hold it in place while it runs through the printer. Here I just placed the cardstock onto the paper directly over my journaling that I had just printed. Make sure it is on there nice and flat so that it doesn't get caught in your printer. I use permanent adhesive but I guess you could try repostional kind? Let me know if that works!
Sorry for the poor picture here -- but here is what it looks like right before I put it in the printer. I simply flip it over and put it in the printer. This is so when it comes out of the printer the writing is on the cardstock side.
Here it is out of the printer. I simply take it to my personal cutter and trim off the excess paper. Usually this takes care of the glued white paper. If not, I carefully tear it off.
and then here you have the end result. All you need to do is adhere it onto your layout.

You can also print on pattern paper as well -- it is kinda nice to use up your stash.

Since this was a sample of what you can do, I am going to share with you some layouts where I have used this technique myself.

In this layout I printed out my writing onto cardstock and then cut the sentences into smaller pieces for a different look.

This one I created in Photoshop but it is the same idea -- I first printed it out onto regular paper -- when I was satisfied I put my cardstock on top and that's it!

Another one where I chopped up the sentences.

This one I just printed it out using the same method that I showed above.

Same method -- but different sizing!

As you can see, there are many ways to do this and it is easy! Hope this was helpful:)

Michelle Lanning

The 3 of you and the little store that could

Happy Friday! I have a couple of LO's to share with you today. First up is a lift I did of a Janine Langer LO I saw, and had really admired. I really liked the felt she had used as a border, but I wanted to try and mimic the border Virginia did on her canvas. So I painted it with brown and white. I wasn't thrilled with it, so I went ahead and added the zigzag stitch...and voila. Now I love it! :)
I am using up my HUGE MME stash. I love the vintage feel of all their papers. Anyway, I also used a JB Chipboard frame, some Hambly Valentines rub ons, MM trim and some Hambly star rub ons.


This one is based on sketch #7 over at Inspired Blueprints. I'll say it again, I LOVE their sketches. There is something different feeling about them to me that makes them very appealing! Anyway...here again I am using up some MME stash. I also used the Velvet Thickers. I know a lot of people complained about the stickiness of them. What I think the issue is, is that the fibers of the velvet compromise the sticker...so easy solution, just add some glue. :) There is also a Hambly rub on, some Jenni Bowlin felt flowers and some MM mini letters. TFL and have a fantastic weekend!

Love is in the Air

Well Valentine's Day is right around the corner -- yay! And I took advatage of those darling dollar bin socks at Target and got a whole bunch of them for my daughter. Well this weekend as we went for a bike ride, I noticed that she had put them on -- photo op of course! And a fun little layout that I completed with Noel's Love Song Kit -- thanks for looking!

Have a Wonderful Thursday :)

Michelle Lanning

Treats, Sweets, and Other Yummy Recipes

I made a basic 4x6 plastic photo album into a little recipe book for my kitchen... I love to bake, so I wanted to put all my favorite sweets recipes in one place.

Of course I had to use that cute cupcake from the Pink Paislee Paper in the Love Story kit for this one!

(Supplies all from Love Story kit.)

I'm going to leave you all with one of my FAVORITE recipes, ever. You must click on this link. You will be sorry if you don't! ;)

The BEST Chocolate Cake

(It's super easy, and sooooo good.)

Love Story........again!

I love Noel's Love Story kit because it is so versatile. (Sold out) It has papers that look super feminine and girly. I chose those papers and embellishments for my girly girl niece, Katie. I did add some vintage lace and a few small Primas from my stash. I clustered some pretty little things around the Melissa Frances frame. I think I went a bit crazy........sometimes I just need to tell myself to STOP! LOL!


This kit also has papers in it that are a bit more earthy and rustic, perfect for a boy page! I love that Noel included this piece of corrugated cardboard in this kit! So cool! It fit perfectly with my Epcot LO! I did add a couple of Disney embellishments that I picked up while I was there. The orange ribbon was from the Picnic Basket Add on kit.

This is my sweet boy taking a rest from the heat and all the walking. I think he plopped himself down in England...........I think!

Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a great week!