See it. Live it. Doc|u|ment it!

Linear Layouts

I like this one for lots of reasons: the people in it, the colors of the paper (BG Granola), and the funky letter stickers (AC Thickers). I cut the large flower from patterned paper and embellished the tiny flowers with some blue brads. The rub-ons are by Hambly Studios. I love all the shades of blue sky in the pics, too!

The layout is basically (3) 4x6 photos portrait style, and (2) 6x4 photos landscape style (trimmed so they are only 6" tall combined). Add in layers of patterned paper and your title with a couple embellishments, and you're done!

 

Here's another with mainly 4x6 photos. I used BoBunny papers, Reuse gift set by QuicKutz, the 4x4 branch die by QK, and a Prima stamp (owl).

 

One last linear layout for you! Here I have two rows of 4" tall pics with space left open for my crackle-painted cars. The title is created with Scenic Route chipboard letters (I will miss SR!). The patterned paper is Little Yellow Bicycle's Traveler and the chipboard shapes are by Maya Road.  So now that you have some inspiration for fast pages...go make some for your own albums!

Delight in Die-cutting!

Ahh...Fridays! It's time for the weekend. Well, that doesn't usually stir emotions of relaxation in me because our weekends are far from relaxing. Between sports, classes, events, and church activities I'm usually ready for Monday to come back! All the same here's a lovely card to "delight" in:

Very simple, yet worthy of giving! I used Basic Grey Lemonade papers and Bazzill dotted swiss cardstock. I love that little bird! I have the 2x2, 4x4, and Silhouette version of that shape. Crazy, huh?! It actually comes with a birdhouse, too, and it's part of the pop-up collection of shapes. Anyway, I cut the bird twice; once with the pattern side up and again with the pattern side down so they could face each other. I put a teeny little foam dot under each bird's wing and I used adhesive pearls for the eyes. Like I said, it's just "delightful!"

It's Spooky Fun!

How can it not be fun when you pair Basic Grey with QuicKutz shapes?? This is the left page of a 2-page layout featuring Eerie and a couple QK shapes (Journal Circle, Scroll border, Halloween border, and the Gothic Frame). How fun is a costume party for a Halloween season birthday party?!

 

I used the Bazzill Bling in sunset for the 5x7 frame and some Doodlebug Sugared paper for the Halloween border. My boys and my cousin's boys have fall birthdays so we tend to lean towards costume parties for their birthdays so their friends can get double-duty out of their costumes! Whether you celebrate Halloween or Fall Harvest, it's still fun just to celebrate the changes in the weather, the turning of the leaves, and the festive spirit that pervades this time of year!

Whatever the Future May Hold

I loved this picture of my niece so much! I shot it at my mom's wedding. She was getting testy about being dressed up and unable to run freely outdoors (until after the ceremony at least!) so she was half pouting. The Basic Grey papers and stickers were a perfect match for these photos. I don't think I used a bit of cardstock on this layout! That's probably a first for me!

 

I did all the "stitching" with a white journal pen. I added a little Glossy Accents to some of the stickers to make them have that epoxy finish. I kept it pretty simple (no sanding, inking, or distressing). The flourish stickers and rubons are by Basic Grey, too! Love that June Bug! More June Bug tomorrow. Next week I'll try to post some Indian Summer or Eerie!

Diva Day Layouts

We had a fun day of cropping early in the year and I finally got around to cropping the pics! I used mostly Basic Grey Bittersweet papers and chipboard stickers. The large scalloped circle diecut is by Accucut.

 

I added some House of 3 digital brushes to some of the pics before printing them out. That's a lot of pink!

Simplicity At Its Best!

Spent some time scrapbooking for myself this weekend! I think this is my second favorite layout (I'll have to tell you about my first fave later!). I like the simplicity of it, I LOVE the June Bug papers, and I'm so proud of myself for thinking of using the Mustard Distress Ink around the edges. When I had everything tacked down it still looked a bit naked, so I used the Ink Blending Tool to edge each page with Mustard Distress Ink and it looked complete.

The floral cardstock stickers also help tie the whole layout together. I like the little journaling trick I used at the top of the left page. I started the text looping within the circle diecut, then had it flow out and off the page along the lower edge of the flower sticker.

What sort of fun projects have you been creating with your Basic Grey June Bug? Leave a comment and let me know!

Silhouette Layout

I've been going back and adding pictures to some of my blank layouts from Page Maps class. This one turned out so well, I just had to share! I used trees and an owl that I cut with my QuicKutz Silhouette, and two QK 4x8 alphabets: Storybook and Dragonfly.

Here's close-ups of the QK shapes. The owl is perched on a branch (4x4 Rev shape). I attached one tree with pop dots to give it more dimension. The owl's eyes are black brads. I roughed up her feathers too.

  

I didn't do a close-up shot, but on the right page you'll notice I used Noell Hyman's "bubbling effect" that she taught on Ali's Tuesday Techniques one week (look here for the tutorial). You can see in between those top two photos how I've made a "floating bridge" to join the two photos since they aren't the same height. I didn't want to mat them on more paper because there is so much color and detail going on already. You might also notice I spread my trees out so there'd be three focal points leading the eyes around the layout (see, I'm trying to remember to incorporate all those good design elements!). All the solid papers are by Bazzill and the patterned papers are from Basic Grey's Marakech collection. Leave a comment if you have questions, feel free to use the sketch on your own layouts! Check out one of my monthly Page Maps layout classes here if you live in OKC area!

BG Lemonade Cards

I had fun playing with my Lemonade papers and creating these 5 cards! I created some accent paper with alcohol ink and glossy paper, then cut butterflies with a punch and the scroll with a QuicKutz border die. Some other techniques and tools I used are Fiskars border punches, QuicKutz dies, sewing, and stamping. I really like the Bazzill Dotted Swiss cardstock, too. It adds extra character to the cards (and any other projects, too!).

One of my favorite dies is the pop-up bird so I used that on the 5x5 square card. The "Loved" card is one I really like in this set. I took a scrap of graph paper and inked it with Mustard Seed Distress Ink and the Blending Tool to make it match the patterned paper better. I sewed around the corners a bit, too. The butterflies are actually shiny because I used Sunshine Yellow and Pearl Mixative alcohol inks. It's a really pretty marbelized pearl color that doesn't really capture well in the photo.

You can see close-ups of each individual card in the Card Gallery (shortcut to the right).

Alcohol Ink on Acrylic

I was playing with my alcohol inks and some transparency scraps and came up with this card idea! I used Wild Plum and Stream with the Alcohol Ink Tool. I punched the butterflies out after the ink dried. I attached the butterflies with Glossy Accents. The colors matched the Basic Grey Wisteria papers perfectly! The sentiment was stamped with Stampin' Up ink in Perfect Plum. The label was cut with QuicKutz' Nesting Label cookie cutter die set. I'm still playing so watch for more examples soon! What are your favorite color combos of alcohol ink? Leave a comment and let me know!

Basic Grey Yumminess Ahead!

So, with CHA almost over we've now seen all the great new lines coming for fall! I had to share some of the Basic Grey previews with you since they are -as always- fabulous! And they are even doing a Halloween themed line this year.

It all looks great and each line has coordinating accessories and Bling-Bling. We'll be able to start making our Christmas gifts very soon...I'll post samples as each line releases! And you local peeps know that SBFTH will have it all in stock as it releases!