Love Letters: Daily Diary Heart of Gold 'A Tutorial'

Hello everyone!

Today I am going to take a different spin on my post this week.

I thought I would show one off one of my favourite tools to use with  you all, considering this week is all about "love letters". 

It was the perfect fit for the story I wanted to tell.

I love how each Daily Diary kit comes with at least 1 12x12 sheet.  It is awesome to have the option to use this in it's entirety, or cut up since most of them can be trimmed on their one side into adorable pocket cards.

So this week, because it is all about "love letters" I wanted to use this double sided paper from this kit and transform it into a super cute envelope to place inside my planner using my favourite tool...the We R Memory Keeper Envelope Punch Board!

This board is SO easy to use...and makes SO many different sizes of envelopes. How awesome right?!? It is the perfect way to create extra storage for your projects or a great way to create super cute envelopes from our overflowing paper stashes...I know we all have em! ;)

Ok...so let's get down to how this little beauty works.

When you purchase your board it comes with a full sheet of easy step by step directions....as well as photo directions so you cannot go wrong!

I will give you a basic low down...and if you are still unsure, you can always check out amazing video demos on you tube showing this fabulous tool in action.

So, to begin. 

Decide on what size of envelope you are wishing to create by reviewing all of the possible sizes listed on the board.  When you choose your size, it will also tell you what dimensions your paper needs to be in order to create that envelope.

So next step, trim your 12x12 sheet of paper down according to the size you require.

Next, when you chose your desired size of envelope...it also stated not only the paper dimensions in correspondence with that, but it also showed the designated "score line".

This is important because the edge of your paper will always have to line up with that number when you are scoring and punching to create your score lines.

So here you can see I am aligning my paper along the designated score line.

Once I have it lined up, I can go ahead and push this blue knob down.  It will punch my paper to begin creating the envelope template.

Then, once I am done punching...take the scoring tool and starting at the scoring edge, create a score line down your paper.

You will repeat these steps 4 times to achieve the envelope template as seen below.

You can see where the "punch" actually creates the little notches that will form our envelope and allow our score lines to fold.

Next apply adhesive to the two side flaps.

Fold up the bottom portion and secure in place.

Fold over the top half and voila!

You have a gorgeous custom DIY envelope ready to go!

So cute, right?!?

Now, to create my letter.

I simply typed it up in a word processor and then printed it onto the back of one of the 4x6 gold foiled cards from the kit.

I added a decorate edge onto the top from one of the 6x6 papers from the kit for a little extra!

I then slipped it inside of my envelope.

Added some holes to my envelope and included it in my planner this month.

I love how cute this paper is....and in envelope form?!? Even better!

Now I will always have my love letter safely tucked away and will carry it with me for the remainder of 2016.  I love having this envelope on board in that I can add even more notes inside or additional photos if I want.

The envelope punch board is such a great tool and I loved incorporating it with this months kit!
See you all next week. Hope you enjoyed the tutorial!

Little Girls, Little Girls- a simple technique to make patterned paper toned down!

Happy Sunday afternoon!

I'm wrapping up our "techniques" week here on the blog... have you checked out all the different awesome ways our designers have shared little tips and tricks this week? So many awesome ones!

I feel a little silly sharing this one, but over the years, I've shared so many techniques on this blog, so I've started to feel like I'm repeating myself! This one is a simple one, but a favorite one of mine:

If I have patterned paper that is a little too "busy" for my layout, I will just swipe some white craft paint on top of the pattern to soften it. It helps with making the layout not quite so busy looking, and gives a little place for your eye to rest. I also love the way it looks peeking out from behind other layers! 

I hope you've enjoyed our tips and tricks! 

My Dog Ate My Homework...

I swear!

Well, no. But I DID have a little accident involving my original page I had planned to post today.

SO my bootay was up bright and early to make you this little page to share a couple of my favorite techniques. Because that's what we're doing here this week - TECHNIQUES! Love these posts!

So here's the page I made at the butt crack of dawn - lol! 

I love using up all my scraps - almost nothing as satisfying for me, where scrapping is concerned. So I grabbed a bunch of leftovers from the Hello Darling and Shine Bright kits, and some of the cute stickers and cut-aparts and just went for it.

I started in the bottom corner, and just applied a little glue runner to the center of each piece of paper to stick them down. Be sure not to get too gluey when you do this, because your sewing machine will revolt! Fill the whole page with scraps of paper, stickers that fit just right, and any ol thing you just love. And don't be afraid to leave a blank spot here or there, if you have a plan for something that might go there later.

 I didn't stitch around every edge, but most of them, and made little leaps with my machine so that I had fewer starts and stops to deal with.

Here's a peek of what I did with one of my pieces - put just enough glue to hold it in place, stitched just one side, and lifted it back up to hide some secret journaling, backed with a few stamps of that Wild Honey Distress Ink Noel included in the kit. And you can see how I added a strip of chipboard in my open space, with a line of dots above it, created by the stamp from the kit. Don't be afraid to ink just part of the stamp to make it fit the area you have to work with.

And of course I couldn't help but add some layers to the page. Love those Thickers, and the Craft Market stickers are my new faves!!

Be sure to check in all week for more techniqes from the rest of the team!

I LOVE Savannah's Smile!

hi and happy Monday, y'all!

I'm stopping by to share a layout I did over the weekend about
my favorite girl - MY girl Savannah!
Contrary to popular belief - I didn't name my girl Savannah after
the movie "Savannah Smiles" - however:  I DID use some of that title
for my layout title :D

I hope you enjoy:
I LOVE Savannah's Smile:

here's a couple of closer shots:

I love this June Beach BLVD Kit. It's GORGEOUS.
Full of summer goodies - yet other goodies..in fact so much you can
create anything! Not just summer...

I took the Distress Paint & dabbed it a few places then took a pen
and drew around the circles. I LOVE that look. I've done that before
- it's a fun and easy technique.


Thanks for stopping by today - I hope you've enjoyed my bit of
Beach BLVD. Inspiration!

have a great day,
~Leslie

*I Got It From My Mama*

good Monday morning!
I'm here today to share with you a layout I made using May's
Country Lane Kit:

"I Got It From My Mama"
(as Will I Am would say....I know you're singing it, ha!)

This yellow chevron is so striking with these little black and white
Iphone shots my niece took of her precious girl (my great niece!) just
being fancy free...

This child is a  total CLONE of her sweet mama.
(hence my title)
Her sweet little voice, her tiny body, her hair, her face, her beauty -
that's her mama.

I used some elements from the Dear Lizzy paper as my embellishments
Totally love the outcome! Feathers are still kinda big in the industry -
but instead of using them in their normal featherly fashion - they became
leaves for my beautiful Pink Paislee flower.

Thanks for taking a peek into my creation today.
I hope I've inspired you to get your May kit out and start having fun!

Have a great week!

This Makes Me Happy

Happy Monday everyone!

Have you been enjoying Julie's amazing sketch from Thursday?
I've LOVED it! I'm here today to share my layout based on it:

I decided to use the circle elements for my entire page.
By doing that, I took a toilet paper roll (haha!) and sprayed the fabulous
October Afternoon mist that's included in the March Daffodil Hill kit
through the tube. I actually cut my tube in half so the mist wouldn't be wasted
on the tube, but more on my cardstock.

I did this all over my cardstock.

I then traced a circle using onto some vellum
(not included in the kit, just some I have in my stash...I LOVE vellum!)
and cut the top part of my circle. I then took my vellum and wadded it up
in my hand for that added depth/dimension you see.

Then I placed one side of my circle to the left side of my layout
and the other to the right side.
I followed the rest of the sketch from there, only moving my title up above
my photo's instead of below.

This was such a fun project!

Thanks for letting me share!
I hope you all are having fun creating with your Daffodil Hill kit.
If you weren't able to get this kit - (it's sold out, bummer!!) Noel
put together a paper only kit & you can have so much fun with it!
Get it here:  Daffodil Hill paper only kit

Thanks so much for letting me share with you today!

I want to share something fun with you!
One of our sweet friends at Noel Mignon - Shannon Stout is the cutest girl.
Let me tell you what she did!
She took a layout I created in February using the Lasting Love kit
and recreated it for herself. I love how it turned out and just had to share!

Here's Shannon's gorgeous layout:

and here's my layout she lifted:

Shannon - you have NO idea how you made me smile by doing this!
Thank you! I love your layout!


Oh one more thing!
Get your creative hands ready...look what's coming next week:

 

 

have a GREAT day friends!!

~Leslie



Lucky, Lucky Me!

Happy Monday friends!

I'm here to share a Daffodil Hill project with you.
I'm the luckiest girl! I have 2 of the cutest, sweetest, most loving, funniest guys
in my life. I had to do a layout to showcase how they are my favorite guys ever:

Isn't the Daffodil Hill kit delicious? If you got yours, I hope you're enjoying
creating with it! If you weren't able to grab one - they are sold out :(
BUT Noel has a paper only kit for you to grab - do it, you'll be thankful you did!
Get it here:  Daffodil Hill Paper Only

I used the mist (October Afternoon) & the mask (Studio Calico) that came
in the kit on the right side of my project. For the top part - I sprayed, then quickly
turned it over and used it as a stamp on the bottom part.
Next I took some black chalkboard paint & painted a few spots of black down the page.
When the mist was still wet on the mask - I picked it up and let it drip all over my
cardstock. That was fun (and therapeutic!)

Thanks for checking out my project today.
I hope you have fun creating!

Leslie