it's all in the details

2012 Grad Printable Kit...

Several people have emailed asking if I can revise the Grad kit from last year so I have done just that. 

 

Here are a few of the projects I made last year....again everything that says 2011 will say 2012 now in the new kit.

Enjoy!

Look what I spy...Beach House!

My second release with Bazzill. You can read a little bit about it here. I will be sharing more soon! This is a mid release so you should be able to get your hands on this very very soon!

Getting more from your printable kits....

Although the concept of printables is not brand new, I still think it is a little scary for some people. I hear from so many that they aren't sure exactly what they would or could do with them. In their minds I think they believe it is a one time thing that they can use and that is it. Nothing could be farther from the truth and I want to share just a few things you can do to get more from your printable kits.

I have said this before and will say it again and again...the simplest thing you can do with your printables is double printing to make your own custom combos of paper. How many times have you seen a collection of patterened paper that you love but the one focal paper that you want to use you don't like what is on the other side? With printables you can customize your own combos for whatever project you are working on.

Another tip is changing up the types of paper you print on. You do not have to start with white paper!

Here I grabbed three different cardstocks (some textured some smooth) and printed the same pattern from the Mother's Love kit on each one of them.

Although this is a really basic example you can see how you have three different looks so don't be afraid to try other papers...not just your basic white!

In this photo you can see that I have taken the ledger chevron pattern and printed it on Epson white paper on the left. It is a turquoise color in the original kit. I then took an off white/cream cardstock and printed the same patterned paper and as you can see just the small amount of color in the cardstock gives the paper a totally different look.

This is a card I made with this paper. One of the fun things from the Mother's Love kit are these envelopes which I have cut open at the top and made it a working envelope where I have typed a little note and placed it inside.

What do you think...have you thought of trying out different papers for more variety and to get more from your printable kits? If so I would love to hear what has worked well for you.

More tips coming up later this week!

First up, Mother's Day cards......

I knew I needed to make several Mother's Day cards so that is what I started with when creating projects with the new Mother's Love Project Kit.

Here are a few that I came up with:

I wanted to design a card that had several different sized elements that folded and layered to create the front of the card. It is a really simple card to make though...lets take a look at how it comes together.

First you will need to print your elements pages....remember you can choose any of the pattern papers to print on the back of the elements pages to make them double sided and then you can create many different patterned combinations for your cards. You will also need a 5.25"x5.25" cardstock square to serve as your base.

Trim out the shapes you will use for your front folds, I used the large bracket and the rectangular tag. Then using your scoring board (best tool ever for card making!) score along edges where you want your placement to be.

Now you will want to adhere those two pieces (only on the folds) down to the cardstock base of your card.

Then you will adhere your 5.25"x5.25" square of patterned paper over the top of the cardstock base to hide your folds.

Last but not least, embellish! I used a bit of twine to close the top one and wrote my sentiment inside.

This card has an envelope on the front with a secret note inside. I will show you more about this one tomorrow when I talk about extending the life of your printable kits by getting creative with what you print on! The decorative edge punch I used is here.

This one was so simple. I used three of the large banners, layered on top of one another with the top banner "ruffled". Then I completed it with a little sewing and it was done! The finishing touch was some seam binding ribbon to dangle my charm and I am putting this card in a jewelry box I found that is the same size. And the Mother's Love charm is available here if there are any left. Cardstock color I used for this card, sugar cream by Bazill.

Enjoy!

Hosting a giveaway over at Miss Mustard Seed!

I admit it...I am a Miss Mustard Seed stalker fan! Since the day I stumbled upon her blog I have been an avid reader. Marian's designs are amazing and her style is one of a kind. If you haven't checked out her blog you should. I will warn you though....you might be there a bit so make sure you have time to fully enjoy it!

I am hosting a giveaway for another Mother's Love Charm and chain there today so head over and check it out.

If you were planning on buying the charm now is the time to do so. A little birdie told me that this was the fasting selling charm to date for bcharmed and there are only a few left!

Happy Wednesday!

Mother's Love Project Kit...

I am excited to share this new kit today. It has been a while since I have designed something and then been able to turn around and share it with you right away so this felt good...instant gratification!

This kit has 10 papers that are sized both 8.5x11 and 12x12. Plus three 8.5x11 pages of elements which can be used in cards, mini books, scrapbook pages and more.

 

                                                        

I will be sharing a few tutorials this week on how to get the most use out of these printable project kits so check back tomorrow! 

Mother's Day...

is around the corner and I will be sharing a new kit tomorrow but I have had a few email me (about this kit that I created last year) wanting to know if it is still available and the answer is yes! You can go to the "Printables" tab to the right to find any previous kit I have designed or the direct link to the Mother's Day Project kit can be found here.

And here are a few of the projects I created using it:

Be back tomorrow with a fun new Mother's Day project!

Oragami Paper Bows...

Let me just say Pinterest, as much as I love it, is a double edged sword for me. I can get lost on it for hours and at the end of the time I spend there...I usually feel frustrated that I have wasted that much time and that there aren't enough hours in the day for me to create all the beauty that is there so I don't! OR I become obsessed with something I see and I have to learn how to create it right then!

That happend when I saw these oragami paper bows. They just made me smile and I was intriqued that they were made from just one square of paper so I dove right in and about 45 minutes later had a stack ready for creating with. (The tutorial I used to learn can be found here.)

In experimenting with these I found that thin paper definitely works the best so you can get crisp, clean folds. I had been wanting to try out the Antique papers from Bazzill and  they turned out to be the perfect weight for these bows. For the ones shown above, I started with a 4", 5", 6" and 7" square of patterned paper.

And then I decided I needed to make a quick card with the first bow.

These are just a fun way to dress up a card, package, or use as an embellishment.

Supply List: Bazzill Antique Papers - Micro Dot, Newsprint, Ledger, Letter, Swiss Dot Pepper, My Mind's Eye Twine

And of course a bit of color is always fun too! I pulled out some vintage 7gypsies papers and they turned out super cute as well. That stripe with the yellow dot on the back is one of my all time favorite papers. I think I bought every sheet in every store I saw it in and sadly I am down to my last two sheets....sniff, sniff. It's an oldie but goodie!

I was showing them to the kids when they came home and of course the older two decided to try their hand at it but then the younger two were not going to be left out....I wish I would have taken a picture because we must have been a true site! When my husband walked in and I had four kids, two standing on chairs, around the island all folding paper he said "This whole family is nuts!" and just walked out. Just a normal day at our house. 

Have you been inspired to drop everything and create something you have seen lately?

Introducing my new Project

I am excited to finally be able to share this project that I have worked on with bcharmed. When Jen at bcharmed approached me about working with them again and asked if I would be interested in designing a piece all about Mom I was thrilled and tried to come up with a charm that was versatile and fun and I am thrilled with how it turned out!

I wanted something that was neutral so that it could be worn with anything and dressed up or down. As with all my projects I am a layers kind of gal so instead of a charm that was just a one dimensional print I wanted it to have some depth so I called for a background that was printed and then there is a metal heart mounted on top of the background that has the word "MOM" stamped into it. There is also a swarovski crystal set into the heart to give it some sparkle!

The unique part of this charm is the dangle at the bottom which allows you to add fun elements to the bottom of the charm. You could add your childrens birthstones, initials, word charms, baubles....the possibilities are endless!

This is the back view of the charm...again neutral but a fun unexpected twist!

And I couldn't not show you a few of my other favorite charms that I have been playing around with lately. The sterling silver lockets come in a .75" square and round shape. I call them spectacle charms...but the great thing about them is that you can unscrew them at the top and they fold open and you can insert anything you want inside to change the look of them. Here I have a photo of Blakely but below I have been wearing them with bits and pieces of Wayfarer paper!

And with the spectacle charms the double sided paper is perfect as you can see both sides when you insert the paper into the charm. I am excited to share that I will be designing some custom inserts for these two charms that can be worn and changed out throughout the year. I will be debutting those soon so you should plan to grab those charms now since they are so versatile!  

Here are the details on how you can purchase your own Mother's Love, spectacle charms and accessories. Anything you see here you can go here to purchase. Just click on the shop button and complete your purchases there on the website. I am going to list below the names and sku numbers of everything that is pictured above just so you will know what to look for. These will be sold all year round, not just as a Mother's Day charm, it is just debutting right now in time to show your Mom some love!

Mother's Love Charm - 50500

Bauble's, Silver Locket - Round 63970 (Spectacle Charm)

Bauble's, Silver Locket - Square 64000 (Spectacle Charm)

Rolo Chain - 81100

Stamped Circle Alphas - 44950

Turquoise Oval Bauble - 63920

Here is a combo that bcharmed has posted on their FB page...love the little bird, pearl and initial.

What combinations are you loving?

My how they grow...

you blink and I swear they grow a foot. I had to go out and buy new shoes again for our oldest last night even though I had just done that about six weeks ago. They all four seem to be changing right before our eyes so I thought I would torture you update you with some photos from Easter. And really they are not even good photos since that is not something I can even bribe them into doing for me anymore. 

She will sit still for three photos. That is her limit. She is the only one. I'm sure that will change soon. And this one was after church when she had already taken her hair down.....but you take what you can get. sniff sniff....I'm not bitter at all. 

And these two are so far apart in height that I had to put Jake on a chair and then Jake started teasing Taylor and pressing his buttons about who knows what and it went downhill from there so as you can see.....well this is about the best one of the bunch. 

And then there is princess who refused all photos and would turn around if I came anywhere near her with the camera....so this is the best I could do. An action shot when we were at my sisters for lunch. She was playing with her bubbles. Look how big she is getting!

I am impatiently waiting for a package today that translates into a big giveaway that I will be sharing here on the blog starting...well as soon as it arrives and I can photograph it and get it up on the blog!! It is one of the things that I have designed and I am super excited to finally share it with you guys! Think Mother's Day....so check back!