Try This at Home!

We've all seen that disclaimer, "Don't Try This at Home"...and sometimes I think, "why in the world would anybody want to do that anyway??!!"  Well today, I am here to share something, that you can definitely try at home, using the August Kit from The Paper Bakery!  If you're like me, I'm sure you have a huge stash of scrappy products and it is always fun to find ways to mix those with the awesome Kits that come to your doorstep each month.  

For today's tutorial, I combined the August Kit, with some of my left over Thickers to create a custom background.  This was a great way to get rid of some of those Thickers that have been sitting around and are older than two of our children!!  Plus, it gave me a fun way to jazz up one of the sheets of Cardstock, that come as a new Add-On now, each month!

I used four different colored Mists on the Cardstock, to blend with the papers included in the August Kit.  Here's an easy tutorial, showing the process for creating the background look.

1.  Choose a mix of letter stickers and Thickers and place them randomly on the cardstock.   I used a variety of fonts and sizes.

2.  Select your mist colors.  You can use one or you can mix several together.  I used 4 different colors of Color Shine and sprayed each of the 4 corners to blend the colors together.

3.  Remove all of the letter stickers and Thickers and you will have a fun misted alpha pattern on your cardstock.

I hope this inspires you to find fun ways to incorporate your existing scrap supplies, in with your monthly Kits!

Clear Scraps | Pool Side Cutie

I am back today, to share my final project for the August Guest Designer spot at Clear Scraps.  I created a layout, using the Bo Bunny Key Lime collection that I received in this month's Kit.   I really loved all of the fun colors and patterns in this collection and it works perfectly with all of the Summer photos I've been taking this year!

All three of our kids took swim lessons earlier in July, and I snapped this photo of our oldest, sitting pool side, waiting for instructions from her teacher.  I knew the Bo Bunny papers would look great with this photo, so I started my layout by cutting circles on White Cardstock using my Silhouette Cameo.

Once the circles finished cutting, I layered the White Cardstock over the fun splash patterned paper from the collection and then I placed two other patterned papers behind several of the circles.  I also used some of the flowers included with the Kit and layered the Yellow and Blue pieces and added them to the center of the cut circles.  Since the background was the show piece of the layout, I kept all of the other embellishing to a minimum, by just adding a couple of clusters near my photo.

Next time you are working on a layout, look for different ways to use your patterned paper!  I really love using all patterns on my layouts, but sometimes mixing in a solid like the White Cardstock, can give you new inspiration for creating on your layouts.

I would also like to say a big thanks to Clear Scraps for inviting me to Guest Design this month.  Make sure you stop by their Blog to see the amazing projects created by their Design Team!

Life.Paper.Scrapbook | August Color Challenge

Today is a busy day on the Blog!  And I am excited to share my first layout with you, as one of the new Design Team members at Life.Paper.Scrapbook.  The Team is sharing our layouts/projects based on the August Color Challenge, and it's a really great color scheme this month.

I am an Autumn girl...it's my favorite time of year and I love the Autumnal colors.  But I took a different approach to the color scheme, because I wasn't quite ready to scrap any Fall photos right now.  I adapted the color scheme to everyday photos, by using a mix of patterned papers from Fancy Pants and October Afternoon.  

We would love for you to come play along with us and you can check out all of the details on the Life.Paper.Scrapbook Blog.

The Sponsor for the August Color Challenge, is American Crafts!

 

 American Crafts will be giving away an Amy Tangerine prize pack to our lucky random winner, so make sure you link up on the Life.Paper.Scrapbook Blog!

I hope you will come play along with us this month and I can't wait to see what you create!

Supplies:  Patterned Paper:  Fancy Pants & October Afternoon; Photo Frame:  Fancy Pants; Mini Market Stickers & Buttons:  October Afternoon; Enamel Dots:  My Mind's Eye:  Spray Mist:  Studio Calico & Heidi Swapp; Wood Veneers:  Studio Calico; Thickers:  American Crafts;  Cut File:  Kim Watson for Fancy Pants; Mask & Flair Button:  The Paper Bakery;  

Chic Tags Design Team

****Make sure you check out my earlier post from today, sharing a layout for a Guest Designer spot with ScrapStuffz, HERE.***

I have had this "little" secret for over a month now, and today, I can finally announce that I will be one of the newest Design Team members for Chic Tags!!  This has been such a hard secret to keep, because I am so excited about getting started with Veronica and the Team.  There are three other very talented Designers, who are also joining me as new members to the Team:  Melanie Blackburn, Aimee Maddern, and Jennifer Haggerty.  I hope you will stop by the Chic Tags Blog and find out a little more about each of the Designers.

And did you know, that Chic Tags is growing in other ways?  This Summer at CHA, the new lines were introduced and those new lines include 12x12 papers and acrylic stamps.  Totally brand new products for Chic Tags!  I can't wait to start working with these new lines.  Here's a look at the new collections that will be available soon:  Good Tidings, School House, and Happy Place.

 

Along with the amazing inspiration from the Designers, Chic Tags also offers fun weekly freebies on Freebie Friday.  You can download awesome free Cut Files and Printables each Friday, created by Veronica's husband Albert.  And each Sunday, you can play along with the Challenge Sunday for the chance to win a $10 Gift Certificate to the Chic Tags shop.

And one more exciting thing before I go...I will be creating Sketches for the Chic Tags Blog and sharing a new Sketch every two weeks.  We would love for you to create using the Sketches and link up, so we can see your amazing work, based on the Sketches!

Thanks for stopping in, and you can look for layouts and projects from the  new Team members, starting in September!

ScrapStuffz Guest Designer

My fellow scrappy friend, Stacia, recently launched a new challenge Blog, ScrapStuffz.  She asked me if I would like to Guest Design, using the inspiration image for this month and I had a great time creating my layout, based on the inspiration photo.  The Design Team has also been using the inspiration image to create some amazing reveals, so make sure you stop by the ScrapStuffz Blog, to check them out.

My family recently took a day trip to the Beach, and when I received the inspiration photo for this challenge, I knew exactly which photo I wanted to use.  I decided to use the inspiration photo for an overall look to my layout.  I loved the different colors from the Beach chairs, so even though I didn't use the exact colors, I used the idea of different colors by using the diagonal striped paper around the edge of my layout and by also adding several different colored hexagon shapes.  I created my own beach scene, by adding some wave shapes cut on the Silhouette Cameo.  And I wanted to have something to mimic the sand from the photo, so I cut a piece of wood grain paper from Crate Paper's The Pier collection and then adhered small wood grain and light pink sequins for texture.

I also used some inspiration from Sherri Funk and Malika Kelly, by cutting that Sunshine cut file in the background of my paper.  The cut file is a freebie from Chic Tags and both Sherri and Malika, have used it in such fun ways on their layouts, I knew I had to give it a try too!!

Make sure you visit the ScrapStuffz Blog for more details on playing along with the challenge and to link up your layout!

Supplies:   Patterned Paper:  Crate Paper & Studio Calico; Wood Veneers, Vellum Pieces & Sequins:  Studio Calico; Cut FIle:  Chic Tags; Stamp:  The Paper Bakery; Thickers:  American Crafts:  Mini Market Stickers:  October Afternoon; Stick Pin:  Little Yellow Bicycle

Little Lady

I'm not sure how it is in most regions of the US, but if you live in the South, chances are you have something (or many things) that has a Monogram on it.  Today, the CT at Get It Scrapped! is sharing ideas for using Monograms on your layouts.  For this layout, I used a large Monogram in the design of my page.

 
Our daughter attended a Birthday Tea Party, and we got each of the girls to pose for a photo in a Victorian chair.  I thought this photo would be perfect for the Monogram technique, and it is an element that I haven't tried before on my layouts.  I went with the standard concept of a Monogram, but amped it up a little bit, by adding a subtle patterned paper behind the large "H" that I cut on my Cameo.  I used Vellum covered with Washi Tape for the two smaller Initials and cut those separately on the Cameo and placed them on the left and right sides of the larger initial.

If you are looking for more ways to use Monograms on your layouts or projects, make sure you stop by the Get It Scrapped! Blog to see more inspiration from the Creative Team.

Supplies - Patterned Paper:  American Crafts & Crate Paper; Tags:  Elle's Studio; Washi Tape & Enamel Dots:  My Mind's Eye; Rub Ons:  Dear Lizzy; Wood Veneers: Freckled Fawn; Color Shine:  Heidi Swapp; Font:  Pacifico

Wonderful Life

Today, we have a brand new Sketch up on the Let's Get Sketchy Blog, created by Jenessa Franco.  I dug into my stash for this one and found some papers from the Studio Calico Hey Day collection.  And I thought the papers mixed really well with some tags from the Elle's Studio Serendipity collection.  Great way to merge your old and new stash!

 

This photo was taken on Mother's Day, so I wanted to create a softer, feminine feel on this layout.  I actually can't believe I still had this full 12x12 piece of wood grain in with those Studio Calico papers.  I hate to use my wood grains, but they usually don't end up lasting that long and this one had to have been in the package for at least a year!!  :)

We would love for your to play along with us, so make sure you link up your layout using this week's Sketch on the Let's Get Sketchy Blog.  And don't forget to stop by and see how the DT used the Sketch, also!

Supplies:  Patterned Paper & Butterfly Stickers:  Studio Calico; Tags:  Elle's Studio; Thickers:  American Crafts; Enamel Dots:  My Mind's Eye; Vellum: Fynmark; Acrylic Paint:  Apple Barrel; Font:  Abandi MT Condensed Extra Bold; Flair Button:  Ormolu