Crate Paper | Fave 4th Photo

This is a personal blog. All editorial content and projects are intellectual property of ashleyhortondesigns.com. I do receive compensation and material product from Crate Paper to develop my craft posts, but all ideas and opinions are my own.

The 4th of July is right around the corner, and I have some Red, White and Blue inspiration to share with you today!  Every year, I snap a photo of either the kids or the whole family wearing red, white and blue.  Last year, we managed to get, what I consider, the perfect family photo.  Everyone was looking in the general direction of the camera, wearing close to a smile, and not moving around blurring the photo.  Success!  We even included our sixth, furry member of the family, Baxter and we had him looking at the camera with his best doggy smile.

When it comes to scrapbooking holiday themed photos, I don’t always go with the typical holiday color scheme.  For this layout, I was able to create a red, white and blue look using the Bloom and Shine collections by Maggie Holmes.  I brought in a wood grain patterned paper for the background.  I liked the contrast of the wood look with the red, white and blue.  I also brought in a bit of teal, since some of our clothing was more of a teal blue, rather than dark blue.

A large star die cut was perfect for adding interest to the background of my layout and continuing the Fourth of July theme.  I cut it on my Silhouette Cameo from white cardstock, along with a few blue and red patterned paper stars.  I layered the patterned paper stars over the die cut, and I stitched along the outside edge in order to add texture to the layout.

I didn’t want to completely cover the star die cut, so I mixed in a few embellishments to add dimension and texture.  The fringe heart, chipboard pieces and wood veneer were perfect for the layout.  And, I loved that larger size of the fringe heart and wood veneer helped fill up the layout without over-crowding the page.

  
And, you can’t have a Fourth of July layout without a little bit of sparkle! I used gold Thickers, stickers and the gold fringe on the heart for a pop of sparkle.  The Crate Paper collections all mix so well together, so I loved that I could use products from Bloom and Shine to create the perfect holiday layout for my favorite Fourth of July photo!

Make sure you snap some photos this Fourth of July, and I hope you've found some inspiration for documenting them on your next layout!
 

ETSY STORE

 

Crate Paper | Big Fish

This is a personal blog. All editorial content and projects are intellectual property of ashleyhortondesigns.com. I do receive compensation and material product from Crate Paper to develop my craft posts, but all ideas and opinions are my own.

I love using the Crate Paper Bloom 6x6 Paper Pad to create paper pieced backgrounds for my layouts.  I wanted to use a cut file from The Cut Shoppe, that allowed me to add several patterned papers behind the shape, and also hand stitch around the edge of the cut file.

The cut file and patterned papers did most of the work for me on this layout.  It took the most time adding the hand stitching, but I love the definition it gives around each of the shapes.

Since I had a lot going on with the background, I didn't need to add a lot of embellishing to the layout.  I used some of the Bloom Ephemera pieces, Chipboard, Accent Stickers and Delights to embellish the layout.  

I love the end result with the bright pops of color backing the cut file!  This is also a great way to use any of your left over pieces of patterned paper, that you just can't bring yourself to throw away!!
 

ETSY STORE

Crate Paper | Ahoy There

This is a personal blog. All editorial content and projects are intellectual property of ashleyhortondesigns.com. I do receive compensation and material product from Crate Paper to develop my craft posts, but all ideas and opinions are my own.

Are you ready to dive into summer layouts and projects?  The Crate Paper Design Team has been sharing ideas for your summer crafting all this week, and I wanted to stop in today with my layout that was on the Blog earlier this week.  I used the Bloom collection from Maggie Holmes, and started my layout by looking for bright, summery colors.

I love the color Yellow, so I just had to use the Yellow Chevron side of the Garden Party paper for my background. I like having a pattern design in the background that still lets your photos and embellishments stand out. I thought it would be fun to create a large title on the layout, so I used my Silhouette Cameo to cut “Ahoy There”. The open letters of the title, were perfect for incorporating more color and pattern into my layout.

The photo I wanted to use on my layout, had a lot of contrasting colors and didn’t coordinate well with the Bloom collection. Instead of switching to a different photo, I decided to edit my photo and make it black & white. I really like the contrast of the black & white photo with the bright colors on the layout.

When it came to embellishing the layout, I used pieces from the Bloom collection that could be used with any type of layout theme. I always love to use the phrases from the Accent Stickers sheet, and there were several that worked for my layout. The banner piece from the Chipboard sheet, added great dimension, and I liked having it layered over the white space in my photo. The Delights layered embellishment and Teal Tassel, added a nice bit of texture to the layout. And I even managed to squeeze in a few embellishments from the Little You collection!

Take some time to browse through your Crate Paper collections, and see what colors and embellishments would work for your next summer layout!

ETSY STORE

Crate Paper | Everyday Is Mother's Day

This is a personal blog. All editorial content and projects are intellectual property of ashleyhortondesigns.com. I do receive compensation and material product from Crate Paper to develop my craft posts, but all ideas and opinions are my own.

Mother's Day is almost here, and the Crate Paper Design Team is sharing Mother's Day projects this week on the Blog.  I know that all of us appreciate our mothers and celebrate Mother’s Day one way or another. I must admit though, that almost every year, I forget to take a photo with the kids on Mother’s Day. I know…such a horrible confession from a scrapbooker! But that doesn’t mean that I don’t have plenty of photos of me with the kids, or as a family. That led me to use a photo of all of us together, which was miraculously taken last year on Mother’s Day on a trip to Niagara Falls.

Even though there is one day set aside each year as Mother’s Day, I think it’s definitely okay to use a photo from any time throughout the year on a mother themed layout. If you are a mom, then you are a mom all year long…and you have a mom of your own, who is also a mom all year long. So don’t feel like you can’t create a Mother’s Day layout, if you don’t have a photo taken specifically on Mother’s Day.

When I thought about what I wanted to do for the design of this layout, I kept thinking hearts. I wanted to do something interesting in the background, so I decided to browse Pinterest for ideas. I came across a super cute quilt design, which was perfect for including several patterned papers from the Bloom collection. I followed the quilt design and chose neutral patterns from the Bloom 6x6 paper pad that I cut around 1.75x1.75 inches. Then I chose various shades of pink from the 6x6 paper pad for the heart shape.

For the next step, I placed all of the squares onto a White cardstock background, following the pattern of the quilt design. Once I had all of the squares in place, I machine stitched around the heart shape with Black thread. This helped add to the quilt feel of the layout and made the heart shape stand out a bit more.

I layered my photo, title and a few embellishments from the Bloom collection over the heart design. I love the Gold Happy Thickers, so I used those for the title of the layout. Next I added a few wood veneers that I painted with acrylic paint and one of the Fringe Hearts to add more texture to the layout.

I hope I’ve inspired you today to create your own mother themed layout, whether you’re using a photo of you with your kids or a photo of you and your mom. And remember, you don’t have to use a photo specifically taken on Mother’s Day. Look through some of your photos taken over the years, and I’m sure you will find the perfect photo or photos for your layout!

ETSY STORE

Crate Paper | Beach Beauty

This is a personal blog. All editorial content and projects are intellectual property of ashleyhortondesigns.com. I do receive compensation and material product from Crate Paper to develop my craft posts, but all ideas and opinions are my own.

I love to mix embellishments and patterned paper, but it's also fun to mix collections too!  I thought it would be fun to create a layout using products from all of my new Crate Paper collections, so I did!  I used a little something from Bloom, Little You Girl, Little You Boy and Hello Love on the layout I'm sharing today.

I wanted an eye catching design in the background, so I used several patterned papers from the Bloom collection, to create pleated flowers.  These are really easy and they add a little bit of whimsy to your projects.  I cut my strips for the flowers in sizes ranging from .75x12 up to 2.5x12 inches.  The height of your pleated flowers on the page, depend on how you score and fold them.  If you want them to be a bit flatter, make smaller score marks along the 12 inch strip.

Since a lot of my work went into the pleated flowers, I kept the rest of the layout to a minimal design.  This way I didn't cover the flowers or overpower them with a lot of extra embellishing.  The patterned papers I used came from the Bloom collection and my embellishments came from Little You and Hello Love.

I used the cute buttons from the Little You Girl collection and the Little You Boy collection, to add to the center of each of the flowers.  And I used more embellishments from both collections to layer over and around my photo.  The cute alpha stickers from the Little You Girl collection were perfect for the title of my layout.  I wanted to bring in another texture, so I chose the XOXO wood veneer piece from Hello Love, to add under my photo.

This was such a fun layout to put together, and I think I might just have to reuse this design some other time!  It's easy to change the look, using different patterned paper and embellishments!
 

ETSY STORE

Crate Paper | From Here to There

This is a personal blog. All editorial content and projects are intellectual property of ashleyhortondesigns.com. I do receive compensation and material product from Crate Paper to develop my craft posts, but all ideas and opinions are my own.

This week the Crate Paper Design Team is sharing travel themed projects, and I kicked things off on the Blog yesterday!  I got creative, since we are only working with the Bloom and Little You collections right now.  I love it when you can use a collection that doesn't necessarily fit your theme to create a layout outside of the box!

My first big decision in making the Bloom products work for my travel theme was the choice of patterned paper for my background. I decided to go with the Together 12x12 paper. I loved that it had motion with the design of the lines and that it’s a color that I don’t always work with. It’s fun to try new color schemes, and I thought the Green lines would be great for a travel page.

I thought it would be fun to create a large title with a hand-cut letter look.  But I cheated and instead of cutting the letters with scissors, I used my Silhouette Cameo.  I decided to cut the title from the Blossom patterned paper, because I loved the contrast of the bright Pink against the Green lines in the background.  And since there are no travel themed embellishments in the Bloom collection, I used my Cameo once again with the Bloom 6x6 paper pad to create state shapes for my layout.  I embellished both of them with hand stitching, Thickers and stickers.

If you're interested in more travel themed projects, make sure you check out the Crate Paper Blog this week!  You will find lots of ideas!

ETSY STORE

Crate Paper | New York in Bloom

This is a personal blog. All editorial content and projects are intellectual property of ashleyhortondesigns.com. I do receive compensation and material product from Crate Paper to develop my craft posts, but all ideas and opinions are my own.


Last year, we took a trip to Ohio and while we were there, visited Niagara Falls in New York.  The trees were blooming around the park and falls, so I snapped a quick photo.  It was the perfect picture to use on my spring layout for Crate Paper!  I also thought it would be fun to create a coordinating spring card, while I had out all of the pretty Bloom products from Maggie Holmes!

There are so many pretty flowers in the Bloom collection, and I decided to use them to create a wreath on my layout.  I drew a large circle on the background paper using a Silhouette Sketch pen and then used it as a guide for placing my flowers.  Most of the flowers are from the Bloom Ephemera Pack, but some were also fussy cut from patterned paper in the collection.

Once I had the flowers in place, I machine stitched over them, to add more texture to the layout. I placed the photo at the top left of the layout, to leave a large space for my title. I used the Petals Thickers to add the title “New York in Bloom”, and the stripes on the background paper made it very easy to keep the letters straight.

I finished the layout, by incorporating some other embellishments from the Bloom collection around the wreath.  I love the dimension and texture from the Paper Flowers, Fringe Heart and Tassels. 

While I had the Bloom collection on my desk, I thought it would be fun to create a spring card also!  I used the Moments patterned paper from the 6x6 Paper Pad to cover the base of my card. Then I added three tag shapes to the front of the card, from the Ephemera Pack. Next, I added pop dots under one of the Accent Stickers, to add dimension to the card. I finished the card with a couple of fussy cut butterflies and a paper flower. 

This was a quick and easy card, since I already had all of the supplies on hand, after working on the layout!

ETSY STORE

Crate Paper | XOXO U

This is a personal blog. All editorial content and projects are intellectual property of ashleyhortondesigns.com. I do receive compensation and material product from Crate Paper to develop my craft posts, but all ideas and opinions are my own.

This week the Crate Paper Design Team has been sharing lovely layouts!  It is definitely easy to create a lovely layout, using the Bloom collection.  I also added in a few things from the Hello Love collection and the Little You collection.

Since the theme for this page was lovely layout, I wanted to add in the color Pink with hearts and flowers.  I started the layout by cutting a large heart from the Bloom polka dot paper.  Then I cut smaller hearts from the fringe patterned paper and added them inside the large heart shape.

I decided to place the photo at the center of the layout, and then cluster my embellishments and title around the photo.  I used the Petals Thickers and the Happy Thickers to create a long title on the layout.  And I also incorporated the glittery XOXO piece from the Ephemera pack.

I always like to include texture on my layouts, so I added machine and hand stitching to this page.  I love the mix of the two widths of thread.  And the wood veneers from the Hello Love collection also add in another great texture!

If a lovely layout is in your future, make sure you pick up the Bloom collection!  You can't go wrong with it!

ETSY STORE

                                                                                                                                                              

Crate Paper | I Love You This Much

This is a personal blog. All editorial content and projects are intellectual property of ashleyhortondesigns.com. I do receive compensation and material product from Crate Paper to develop my craft posts, but all ideas and opinions are my own.

I am super, super excited to stop in today and share my first layout with you for the Crate Paper Design Team.  I have to admit, when my Design Team box arrived, I took everything out, so I could look at every piece of the collections we received!  And I was definitely excited to find out that my first assignment was creating with the new Bloom collection by Maggie Holmes.  Everything about this collection is amazing, and it was so hard trying to decide what to start with.

I wanted to incorporate my favorite go to patterns, colors and techniques, so I started with the Lizzy patterned paper as the background for my layout.  Wood grain is one of my favorite patterns, and I love that you can use this pattern to create a subtle look in the background.

I love finding ways to incorporate die cuts on my layouts, so I used my Silhouette Cameo to cut various sized circles to create frames on my layout.  I wanted to create a soft look on the layout, and the circles were perfect for creating frames for my photo, title and embellishments.  I alternated the embellishments on my layout, to vary the texture, color and dimension.

The Ephemera Pack with the Bloom collection, gave me lots of options for embellishing my layout.  I love the die cut flowers included in the pack and placed several of them around the layout.  I also incorporated fussy cutting, to add the fun scalloped circle shapes around the die cut circles.  And the plus symbols were fussy cut from the Blossom patterned paper and placed in a few of the open spaces on the layout.

I'm looking forward to sharing more inspiration with you, over the next year!  Keep an eye out on my Blog and the Crate Paper Blog for what's to come!

ETSY STORE