Friday, September 30, 2011

Quote Book


I have a sweet friend who altered a skirt for me, and I offered to make something for her in trade for her work. She asked that I make her a book for quotes.

At first, I tried to decide if I would construct the book itself or buy one premade. I didn't really want a spiral bound book, so I looked around for a bit for something that would work.

I stumbled across some banana paper notebooks at Target that were perfect. The insides of all three notebooks in the set are different (one graph, one un-lined, and one lined). I want to go back and get more! The designs on the outside are already cute, but I wanted to decorate it with my own style, so I just recovered it with strips of paper and went from there.
 I made one of my masking tape flowers for the front- sturdy but three-dimensional. (You can see how I make them here: http://blackflipflops.blogspot.com/2010/09/accordian-flower-masking-tape-flower.html)


Created with the Study Hall kit! 

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Elementary Memories


At the end of the summer, I visited my old elementary school for one last hurrah. The building will no longer be used to house elementary students and will probably be eventually torn down. It was a little bittersweet to walk the halls where I spent K-6th grade. I have a lot of memories here. Generations of my family went to school here including my grandma when it was at that time, the high school. Safety issues and a lack of funds to update the building made it no longer usable for students. I'm so happy that I went back to visit before I wouldn't have the chance again. 

I captured my visit using the "Study Hall" kit and kept my design very simple so I could fit 6 photos on my layout. 


I created a fun little banner (yes, still obsessed with banners) using patterned paper, the burlap trim, a Fancy Pants sticker and an Elle's Studio tag. A rub-on, button and brad add a little something extra.


Here I layered a Fancy Pants filter, chalkboard sticker, Jenni Bowlin flower and an October Afternoon pin.


I decided to put my journaling on a tag (and wrote on both sides of it) and then tied it off with twine and placed it behind my main photo. 


See you next week!
Jill




Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Bingo Night and Something Wicked (Plus a Limited Edition)

Happy Wednesday Friends! I wanted to check in with you today to invite you over to the MB this Friday evening, at 5pm (Pacific), to join us for a game of "Back to School" Bingo. We will be meeting in the chat space to have our game and have a little "scrap chat" time. If you would like to join us then pick 15 of the words listed below and email (Noel@NoelMignon.com) them to me by Friday afternoon. Then join us in the chat room, where I will be calling the words in random order. The first to yell "BINGO" will win a $5 GC to the shop! I hope you can join us...it is always fun!
Pick Your Words
Cafeteria
Algebra
Backpack
Pee Chee Folder
Trapper Keeper
Lunchbox
Yard Duty
Dodge Ball
Locker Room
Study Hall
Media Center
Ruler
Field Hockey
Band Practice
Class President
Social Studies
Recess
Library Books
Freshman
Senior
Junior
Sophomore
Letterman Sweater
Pep Rally
Homecoming
Principal
Mascot
Yearbook
Pencil
Locker
Home Economics
Auto Shop
Cheerleader
Marching Band
Driver's Ed.
Biology
Geometry
Spelling Test
Composition
Term Paper
Book Report
Semester
School Bus
Field Trip
Permission Slip

I also have some "Something Wicked" kits still available, as well as a new Limited Edition Kit called "Cherry Tree". If you need a kit to get some of your summer memories scrapped then Cherry Tree is perfect.



I hope you all have a great day!

Document Today


Happy Wednesday everyone! School is in full swing and so much has happened in such a short time! My daughter is in first grade this year and her teacher sends the kids home every so often with "sticky news." You are probably wondering what the heck that is. Sticky News are short sentences listing out something special about your child for that day. So far I have taken pictures of each one so I can create layouts to document them all. I used the Study Hall kit for this layout.


What fun things does your teacher do for your child? Don't forget to document them in a layout or mini album!

Happy Creating!
-Diana

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

My Life Blessings

Hi All!
Well, I hope you are enjoying this change of weather! I am in love with Autumn - it's my very favorite season, and I love watching summer slowly fade into it. The days get a little shorter, and a little cooler, and the leaves start falling. I was standing at my kitchen sink last night, looking out the window, and realized it was the very first night that I could really feel Autumn creeping in. THE BEST FEELING EVER! It was like everything just slowed down a little. I instantly wanted to curl up with a book and a cup of apple cider. So nice.

I've been playing a little with the new Something Wicked kit (hurry hurry, before they're all gone!!) and I love that Noel made this kit work for both Halloween and Fall. I made this little page and I just love how far I'm going to be able to stretch this kit!




Everything I used on this page is from the Something Wicked kit, with the exception of the Thickers and the stickyback canvas. I can't wait to dig in more!!

Monday, September 26, 2011

Happy Monday!

Good morning!
I put a tip up over on the Tips & Techniques blog last night about changing up the size of your cards to fit the envelopes you have on hand.
I made this card a little bit taller than I normally do in order to fit in a legal-sized envelope measuring about 4 inches wide x 9 1/2 inches tall.

I made this card using the Study Hall kit.
*****
Don't forget your hands on "Something Wicked".
It's the newest kit and it looks fabulous!!
*****
Have a great week!!
:)

Friday, September 23, 2011

There's a touch of Fabulous Fall in the air!


I received my "Something Wicked" Kit in the mail yesterday (don't hate me!) and immediately set out to create a video of it and then whip up a card. 

I mention in the video  that I think that the spooky looking tree stamp from We R Memory Keepers would look great as a little happy fall tree... well, I tried to make one and I think it turned out pretty cute for this non-stampin' girl! :) 

I just used an eraser head and a plethora of Tim Holtz distress inks to make the "leaves." It was really quite easy!

I'll be sending this card to my Grams & Mom... we have a long standing inside joke about a "touch of fall in the air," and I know that it'll brighten their day. :)

In case you missed it, scroll down or click here to see the full kit contents of "Something Wicked"- and get yours today!

(Oh and one final note- in my video you can hear my girls start to freak out at the end.... no worries, all three girls snuggled down into one bed together and had a sleepover last night to keep each other company in the scary storm! Hee!)

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Something Wicked Kit

Please click album for close up shots
Something Wicked

"Something Wicked" this way comes!
The Something Wicked Kit Includes:
Papers
Authentique "Glowing" (Double Sided)
-Luminous
-Enchanted
-Thrill
-Lustrous
My Minds Eye "Mischievous"(Double Sided)
-Pumpkin Stripe
-Creepy Celebration
-Spooky Plaid
-These Days
Pink Paislee/House of Three "Phantom"(Double Sided)
-Night
-Mystic
-Devious
-Obscure
Fancy Pants "Oct. 31st" (Double Sided)
-Shadows
-Jack-o-lantern
-Journaling Cards
We R memory Keepers "Spookville" (Double Sided)
-Ghoulish Ghosts
-Trick or Treat
American Crafts "Nightfall" (Double Sided)
-Midnight Moon
-Starry Night
-Night Watch
-Night Crawler
American Crafts Cardstock
-1 Kraft
-1 Leaf
-1 Black
-1 Rust
-1 Vanilla

Embellishments
-1 Package Foam Thickers "Elm" Black
-1 Sheet Lily Bee Harvest Moon Stickers
-1 Package Pants "Oct. 31st" Rub Ons
-2 Fancy Pants Filter Paper Embellishments
-1 Sheet Pink Paislee Element Stickers
-4 Lily Bee Memorandum Index Cards
-1/2 sheet We R memory Keepers Chipboard Stickers
-1 Package My Minds Eye Mischievous Brads and Tags
-2 American Crafts Nightfall Tin Pins
-1 Bottle "Black Soot" Distress Stickles
-1 Sheet Authentique "Glowing" Icon Die Cuts
-1 Sheet Authentique "Glowing" Word Stickers
-10 yards "The Twinery" Orange Twine
-10 yards "The Twinery" Purple Twine
-10 yards "The Twinery" Licorice Twine
-1 We R Memory Keepers "Tangled Tree" Acrylic Stamp
-1 Sheet Authentique Petite Type Alphas
-4 American Crafts "Nightfall" Chalkboard Stickers
-1 Artchix Tombstone
-1 10 Fancy Pants "Oct. 31st" buttons
-2 Pink Paislee "Phantom" Frames
-2 American Crafts "Nightfall" Accordion Flowers
-1 American Crafts "Nightfall" Flair Pieces
-2 We R Memory Keepers Embossed Die Cuts (Boo and Trick or Treat)
CLICK HERE to order!

Here is Virginia going through the contents

Lily's Thinking Face


One new trend that I'm seeing everywhere is chevron stripes. I have a really simple tutorial on the Noel Mignon Tips & Techniques blog on how to create this look on your own projects and layouts. The "Study Hall" kit was perfect for utilizing this type of technique and my subject is far from "back to school" but all about being a "scholar." :) Little Miss Lily loves to make her "thinking" face all the time and says "Hmmm...." while bringing her finger to her lips. Another little quirk captured! :) 


A close-up of the title (pretty sure I'm in love with those Fancy Pants chalkboard stickers)...


My journaling on an Elle's Studio pennant. 


Have a great day! :)
Jill

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Something a Little Different

Once I received the Study Hall kit, I immediately started to think of other ways I could use this kit other than the traditional school layouts. I love a good challenge and I came up with a simple yet cute little girly layout. This one is about a recent wedding we attended where my girls where flower girls for their aunt's wedding. They had a blast and did an awesome job walking down the aisle and laying out flower petals.

To create this layout, I cut out the doilies in the October Afternoon paper. I arranged them around the picture of the girls to make them look as if they were flowers. To add to it, I placed a few of the My Mind's Eye buttons in the center of the doilies.




I hope this helps you come up with a few fun ideas on how you can use the Study Hall kit in a non-school themed layout.

Happy Creating!
-Diana

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Create Simply!

Here's a little sneak peek of a class I have coming up here in November! It's going to be mini mania, friends! I'm going to show you all kinds of ideas for mini books - both long-term and event-focused - and all kinds of ways to bind them, make your own, and give you lots of free printables so you can make lots of unique minis for yourself, or for gifting this holiday season!


This is a simple little mini that I made using some Authentique and Cosmo Cricket papers. I added a stamped and inked Maya Road Chipboard piece and some My Mind's Eye brads to the cover. But the most awesome part of this mini is the inside pages.


I used some of Cosmo Cricket's new Tiny Text stickers as journaling prompts in the center of each page. And lemme just tell you, there are a LOT of good ones on those sticker sheets! I was wishing I'd have put more than 12 pages in this book by the time I got to the end!


I like the idea of this being a journal that I pick up every now and then - maybe once a week - and just jot down how I feel about the prompt. It's good to write, just to get things off your chest, and also to look back on to see how you'd respond now. I also like the idea of maybe taking the pages and using them as the journaling on future pages, as I find photos that go with the journaling.

These are some of the things we'll be talking about in the class, so I hope you'll join us! The class is going to be the first week in November - my birthday month - so we'll also be having a fun giveaway to go along with it! It's going to be lots of fun, and I'm going to be using the November kit to make all my projects, so you'll definitely want to check in closer to the date to get your hands on a kit of your own. I'll be posting more info about how you can register for this class very soon! 
I CAN'T WAIT!!

Happy Scrappin'!
xoxo
Britt

Monday, September 19, 2011

A couple of things to share...

Happy Monday folks!
:)
I've got a couple layouts to share today.

This first one I made a while ago using the Mary Ellen kit.
I made it for the layout tag game we (and by "we" I mean members of the message board here) played this summer.
Ever played with us before??
It's fun!
It's like a scrapbooking game of telephone!
Basically you start with an original layout that gets sent to the first person playing.
That person makes a layout inspired by the original layout.
Then the new layout is sent to the second person who creates a new layout inspired by that layout.
And it just continues on from there!
It is cool to see all the layouts created!
{if you want to play along with us, add your name to the list on this thread here}
Anywhoooo, here is the layout I created this time...

{made with the Mary Ellen kit}
*****
This next layout I made with the Study Hall kit.
I know it is designed to be a school-ish kit.
But it doesn't have to be!
:)
For instance, it works for sports layouts too!

That is my brother David.
He came into town to play in a little semi-pro tennis tournament.
He was the oldest guy in the draw by like 9-10 years.
And then he proceeded to beat 3 guys who currently play college tennis to win the tournament.
I love it!
:)
OK I am done rambling!
Happy Monday!

Friday, September 16, 2011

She inspired her friends with her kindness and creativity.


I have this really inspiring friend that I've been wanting to make a gift for, for a while. She's pretty amazing. She started off as just an internet acquaintance and a kit club owner that I worked for, and over the years has become a dear friend. 

I created this canvas for her using some of the new Crate Paper Farmhouse line and the Study Hall kit. 

My friend has checked on me while I've been sick, hung in there with me through computer losses, comforted me in grief, supported me through natural disasters, and surprised me with baby showers.
 Not only that, but she has been a constant source of inspiration every month. I'm not sure what I would do without her at this point!



Thanks for being my friend, Noel. I love ya! (Look for this coming to you in the mail!)

Thursday, September 15, 2011

The Birthday Tree



Good morning! When my girls turned one, their grandparents bought them a maple tree that we had planted in our front yard. The plan is to take a special photo every year on the girls' birthday with grandpa and grandma in front of that tree (and you can bet I'm going to document every one!). For this layout I used the gorgeous "Very Virginia" kit for the color inspiration board we had for the next challenge. 






I layered a Hambly transparency, Pink Paislee tickets (with a BasicGrey rub-on on top), a Basic Grey button and brad and some Pink Paislee trim (from my stash). 


Have a great day! I'll see you next week with a project using the September kit! :)
Jill

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Teals and Yellow


Happy Wednesday everyone! Today I would like to show you my take on the color challenge. I was drawn to the teal, beige, and yellow from the picture. When I created my layout, I was not sure where to put my journaling so I thought it would be fun to put it around the inside of my tag.


Come play along with us! I'd love to see everyone's take on the color challenge and what inspires you. Oh and did you know you could win a cool prize too?

Happy creating!
-Diana

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Now & Always

Hiya! Here's my challenge layout for this week's new color inspiration challenge. Can I just say that I LOVE the palette Noel chose? I can? Okay, good. I LOVE IT!!!


I have been wanting to use this palette for a while, and it is perfect for our wedding photos. Me thinks I may just have to make a whole series of these layouts and put them all in one album for the wedding.

  

I am loving making things all splattery and layery and glittery lately, and this layout is no exception. I used blue and cream spray paint to get the splatters and then spritzed up the tissue to give it an aged look. The chipboard Thickers got a good coat of Glimmer Glam and oh la la do I love that!


To give things a little more umph, I added a few little circle stickers by Sass and a few yellow foam dots and tiny chipboard dots from my packs of Thickers.


That little tabbed piece to the top left of the photo is a journaling tag that I tucked behind with all my super poignant journaling...
If you're curious how to do these splatters on your layouts, just head on over to the Technique Blog and watch the video I made.

Happy Scrappin'!!
xoxo
Britt

Monday, September 12, 2011

New challenge!


There is a new challenge up today!
This challenge is to make something taking your inspiration from this...
I made this card last week that unintentionally works for this challenge.

And then I made this new one.

I made both of these cards using the Salt Water Taffy kit.

Come play along with us!
If you are feeling inspired by this color board too, make something & then link it up here on the challenge blog.
:)
Happy Monday!
gretchen