It Started with One Little Bag

Hey Everyone!  I have a "fast and fabulous" layout to share with you today using the grey chevron bag from the Soda Shoppe kit, which pulled this layout together.

I backed a piece of white cardstock with the polka dot Basic Grey paper.  It added a really great contrast and grounded the layout well.  Then I used this triangle background from the Silhouette store.  No Silhouette?  If you have punches, especially those that punch anywhere, you could re-create a similar look.

The little bag was my focus and start of creating this layout...besides the photo, of course, which is one that I had lying around and just had to be scrapped of Emma when she was 13 mos.  We were only home for about a month and a half from China.  I have plenty documented, so this was a just-for-fun layout.  I used the last die-cut flower from the kit, stapled the folded in petals, and added a button in the center.  Everything clustered around the bag is from the kit, except the letters and numbers.  They are Basic Grey and I thought fit well with a baby-type theme.

 And, of course, the sweet photo.  I like to cut apart stickers to use in different ways.  Like the "remember this...the story of us" was a huge tree...I only wanted the trunk and the saying.  It worked out well with the branch sticker coming out from the right of the photo too...almost like it was part of that sticker, if you didn't know any better.

 Keeping my focus on using the bag, the photo, and the background already done for me, made this layout come together fast, but looks like it took awhile.

Hope everyone is having a great week!  Thanks for stopping by! 

Finding Inspiration in Quilting . . .

Have you noticed our weekly inspiration in the forum & on our Pinterest board??  This week was my chance to share one of my favorite forms of inspiration, quilts & quilted items.  While I rarely sew on fabric, I love to sew on paper :)  I chose this piece as my starting point for my layout using the NEW Lasting Love kit . . .

I loved the lines of this & the idea of a sort of "broken" chevron pattern.  I played around with my paper a bit to get the pattern working on my page & here is what I came up with . . .

As I have stated many times before, I LOVE playing around with title work on a page :)  Here I used a journaling tag from one of the patterned papers in the kit and added some of the AWESOME alphas from the Basic Grey alpha sheet.  I really liked the fonts on these!!  I added a date using the roller stamp from last month's kit, as well as a cute "love spell" sticker . . .



In this close-up you can see how I chose to sew between the strips of patterned paper.  I really like the overall quilted look it gave.  So may fun stickers, tags, and chipboard in tis kit.  So great for layering up!!



Thinking you might be interested in doing some paper quilting of your own???  Head over to our forum and Inspiration Mondays board to get those creative juices flowing!!!

Just an Everyday Kind of Day

Hi everyone! I'm here to share my last layout with the Soda Shoppe kit! The soft colors of the Dear Lizzy 5th and Frolic line are just gorgeous and I REALLY wanted to use those super cute straws too.

I didn't want to compete against the soft colors of the papers so I went with a black and white photo.

For my title, I laid a cut file I created with my Cameo down on my paper and sprayed it with mist. Once it was dry I removed the cut file and outlined the letters with a black pen.

The flair is by {a flair for buttons}. A great selection of flair is available in the shop and can be added in with your next order.

Last, but not least, those straws that I wanted to use. I simply threaded twine through one and tied it off in a bow.

What have you made with the Soda Shoppe kit? Share your beautiful creations over on the message board!

Shine Bright Like A Diamond

 

 

 

Hi! Stopping by this Monday to share a layout I created

using the January Soda Shoppe kit.
I couldn't stop creating with this kit - it's full of so many wonderful

details, I could go on and on for days!

This layout is about my darling daughter in her 22nd birthday outfit

with some seriously SASSY shoes that totally match her personality.

"Shine Bright Like A Diamond"
(which is exactly what she does!) 

 

The Glitz design frame fit perfectly for my iPhone shot of her sassy shes.
Each word describes her & her special day.

The Glitzer clouds...yum.

 

I did add embellishments - buttons from our very own

Shelley Haganman - A Flair For Buttons

 

I hope you have as much fun as I did playing with this fun kit!

Saturday I received my February kit. OH my gosh....I wanted to SWIM in it!
Happy Monday everyone,
Leslie

Makeshift Banner

This week the design team has been inspired by banners & bunting!  I love the way a simple banner adds a stunning element to a page. 

 For this layout I made with the Soda Shoppe kit, I made a faux banner! What's a faux banner? Well, it's not quite a banner but gives the look to one. There's nothing actually connecting these pieces together, but you still get the look of a fun, multi-pieced banner. I love the fun style of this one!

Don't forget that the February kit goes on sale today!

Happy Birthday Cards

Hey, Everyone!  Okay, I hope to inspire you today with some cards.  Before you decide cards aren't for you, keep in mind all of your scrapbooking stash or kits you have and no mojo...cards really are a great way to jump start your creativity.  I know not everyone is a card maker, and it wasn't until the Spring of last year, that I really started doing more cards and now love to make them.  For me, it takes as much effort to put cards together as a layout.  Sad but true.  I'm just not super fast.  I usually try to think of colors, sentiments and/or the focal point.

And speaking of focal point...I needed two birthday cards so the sentiment would be the focus.  I combined that and Diane's banner theme for this week to create both of these cards.

These two cards have similar designs using the punched scalloped borders and a banner on top of pattern paper, but I chose two different color palettes all from using the Soda Shoppe kit. 

I like pattern paper backgrounds on my cards.  I cut it at about a 1/4" inch smaller than the base card.  I assemble everything on the pattern paper background, stitching as well...and then I adhere that to the base card.

I don't have a lot of sentiment stamps, but from my stash, I had these Basic Grey stamps from the Clippings collection.  I cannot cut a pretty circle by hand, especially one this small...so I cut these teeny tiny pinking circles with the Silhouette, and then stamped the letters...stitched them together and adhered.  The pinwheels are the Jenni Bowlin pinwheel punch.

I love the tone on tone of the scallops.  I added a little cluster at the bottom just to ground the design a little more.

And here is the next card...the scallops are at the bottom and in three different colors.  

 I found this "Happy Birthday" sentiment to stamp from my stash and worked perfectly above the scallops.  Added a small cluster to help ground the design more.

 I don't think I will ever tire of butterflies...they helped create movement on the card and bring your eye across the entire card.

So if you are not a card maker, I hope this inspires you to hopefully give cards a try and put those products to good use...and if not, apply these designs to a layout.  

Little Hanging Hearts

Hello everyone!!!  If you haven't heard, this week the design team is showcasing banners on projects.  I  saw this image that Diane had pinned in our Inspiration Mondays Board.


Source

I was inspired to create some heart banners myself on my own layout, featuring the Noel Mignon Soda Shoppe kit . . .



When I saw the heart banners on our Pinterest board, I thought "How neat would it be if they were hanging across a little opening on my layout??".  I got to work and cut out 3 holes on my white cardstock.  I backed the cardstock with kraft & then stitched around the openings.  To create the banners, I simple die-cut some hearts with my Silhouette & then sewed them together :)



I found a funky "love" title in the Silhouette library & cut it using one of the patterned papers from the kit.  Then I did a bit of doodling & added one of those adorable Dear Lizzy wooden buttons . . .



Ready to create some banners of your own??  If you haven't yet, be sure to head over to our Inspiration Mondays board to get your creative juices flowing :)

Ringing in the New Year!

Welcome to banner theme week on the blog! I love banners...I've decorated with them in my home and use them time and time again on my layouts. They are fun, festive, can be easily customized and make me REALLY happy!

I've been busy scouring the web pinning all types of banners to get your creative juices flowing. For my layout today I chose this inspiration piece. I was drawn to the addition of the fringe to the banner and the colors too...so beautiful.

I used the gorgeous Soda Shoppe kit along with the inspiration piece to create a layout of my honey and I out on New Years Eve. The first time in years we actually went out of the house to celebrate, lol!

The combination of the Glitz Bokeh paper and banner was just what I needed to set the mood for the party theme of the layout and the colors matched the inspiration piece but with the addition of blue too.

The bling in the glitz frame and glitter on the American Crafts Thickers helped me keep with the festive party theme.

To dress up my banner and give it a more festive look I rolled up small pieces of the Heidi Swapp fringe to mimic the look of the fringe in the banner of my inspiration piece.  To finish it off, I made a gold paper garland and laid it over the top of the banner.

I hope this has inspired you to make a banner of your own. They are great design additions to your layouts and home decor.

Make sure you check back here everyday this week for more banner ideas and see our Pinterest Inspiration Monday board.

I Call You....

Good morning!

Today I'm dropping by with a layout using the delicious (play on words)

January - Soda Shoppe kit:

Lilly (Pulitzer) is the most photogenic puppy we've ever had. She's so full of personality

it's unreal. She's always a ham for any camera, especially our iPhones.

Sometimes when I sweet talk to her - I call her little "lilly vanilli" -

which to some of you would probably make NO sense other than it rhymes...

but it's a play on the old 80's band - Milli Vanilli. LOL!

We're just lucky her name happened to rhyme. 

I wanted her real name to stand out so I used the American Crafts Thickers that

are in the kit for her name. I added "vanilli" using Studio Calico's letter stickers

stacked - with a cute little Dear Lizzy 5th & Frolic flower to the side.

In this kit, Noel included super cute little chevron paper bags.

They were PERFECT to hold my journaling on each side of my photo's.

I cut the Elle's  Studio 5x7 card that came in my kit in half 

& journaled on each side, tucking into my sacks. I really like how that turned out.

I had some leftover heart thought bubbles from an earlier project that I 

decided to back in the dark (black) woodgrain paper to stand out. 

I made it 3D and added "I call you" to the top.

I also cut out an Elle's Studio flag and added it to my straw 

photo corners I created. The straws were a FUN addition to the kit this month!

There's so many ways you can use them. As a border, stems to flowers, make cute little

lollipops, embellish with them, use as a letter or cut for a word - 

here I used them as photo corners, framing my 2 Instagrammed photo's of 

our Lilly Vanilli...

The MME Dots are addicting, fun and just cute as all get out.

I thought they looked like pieces of candy added here to Lilly's page.

I also decided to use packaging from Glitz Design's Glitzers pack - 

I cut the "hello friend" from there and placed just above our Lilly girl.

and finally - here's a glimpse at my journaling that's tucked into my little bags.

SO cute! 

Thanks for stopping by today - I hope you've enjoyed this post!

Have a great day!

~Leslie

"Extraordinary" Mini Album

When I first saw the straws in the Soda Shoppe kit (still available), I knew that they would be so fun to use as mini album binding! It binds together this little album of moments I want to treasure; little things that remind me of the good in everyday life.

To construct the book, I wanted to make a teeny tiny mini album out of the Soda Shoppe kit, so I started by making a few little booklets out of strips of 6"x3" patterned cardstocks, Glitz decorative tape, and the little "poloroid" paper by Dear Lizzy.

It's all ready to go and is not SO big that I feel like it will take me forever to fill it up. And then when it is, I'll just make a new one! :)