Scrapping Everyday Miracles Guest Designer & a Silhouette Layout

Several months ago, my friend Roberta Edmisten invited me to guest design for her challenge Blog, Scrapping Everyday Miracles.  Today, I am sharing my layout based on the Scripture inspiration and sketch for March.  Make sure you stop by the Scrapping Everyday Miracles Blog, and you can check out what the Design Team has been doing and also play along this month!  Here's a little sneak of my layout!

I also have a layout to share with you today, that was posted on the Silhouette Blog earlier this week.  I love that you can find any shapes in the Silhouette Store, to perfectly fit the theme of your layouts and projects.  We recently celebrated  Mardi Gras down South, and our family went to one of the parades in New Orleans.  I got some great photos, that I just had to get on layouts asap!!  I knew that I wanted to use a fleur de lis design on my layout, and was excited to see some great choices in the Silhouette Store.  The fleur de lis is a symbol associated with the city of New Orleans and state of Louisisana, Mardi Gras, and the New Orleans Saints football team.  I also cut a negative title on my background paper, “Laissez Les Bon Temps Rouler”, which translated is, “Let the Good Times Roll”.

I love the aspect of the negative cut title and fleur de lis shape, because it gives me an opportunity to include several different patterned papers in my page design.  And my Silhouette Sketch Pens were used to create the journaling for my layout, and I also used them with the New Orleans cut file from the Silhouette Store.  Instead of cutting out the word shape, I drew it right onto my background paper with the Black sketch pen, after I finished cutting my title.

Shapes:
 

Monday Font

New Orleans

Fleur-de-lis

Supplies:  Patterned Paper, Chipboard, Stickers, Rub-Ons, Stamps:  American Crafts; Wood Veneers:  Studio Calico; Flair Button:  The Paper Bakery; Color Shine;  Heidi Swapp; Die Cut Machine, Shapes & Sketch Pens:  Silhouette CAMEO

Hip Kit Club | Capture Smiles, Capture Life

***If you are looking for the Echo Park & Top Dog Dies Blog Hop, please go HERE.***

***Linked up at Paper Issues.*** 

Today, I am sharing my last layout and card, for Hip Kit Club, with the February 2014 Hip Kit & Add-On Kits!  I am on my third month of creating for the Hip Kit Team and I am blown away by how amazing the kits are, that Kimberly puts together.  The papers always coordinate so well and she adds in so many fun embellishments to choose from!  I have no trouble creating 4 layouts and 4 cards per month, and then still having a good bit of product left over, that I can play with later on!  Since this is my last post for the February Kit, be on the lookout soon for projects using the March Kit...which is just as fabulous as the February Kit!!  :)

I like to change up the look of my layouts every now and then, from bright colors and a lot of layers, to a more clean and simple look. I used the White cardstock included in the February 2014 Cardstock Add-On as the base of my page. I cut a 4.5 x12 piece from the Elle's Studio Love This patterned paper and adhered it to the left hand side of my page. I cut some of the words from the October Afternoon Click! patterned paper and added them above and below my photo. I also created a visual triangle on my layout, by placing the October Afternoon Daily Flash chipboard frame to the right of my photo.

I love to use negative die cuts on my layouts, but it's also fun to use negatives from products, that you might normally throw away once you're finished with them.  I've used several of the chipboard pieces from the October Afternoon Daily Flash frames, and I've been left with the negative shapes. I thought it would be a fun addition to my card, to cut out around one of the frames and use the negative piece. Once I cut around the frame shape, I backed it with one of the Elle's Studio patterned papers. Then I added one of the square frames to the center and layered a heart shape and wood veneer over it, for my sentiment. 

 
If you are interested in becoming a Hip Kit subscriber, make sure you visit the website!  The March Kits will be revealed on the Blog in just a few days, so make sure you stop by the Blog to check it out!

Simple Stories Guest Post

***If you are looking for the Echo Park & Top Dog Dies Blog Hop, please go HERE.***

***Linked up at Paper Issues.*** 

Last week, my guest designer post was up on the Simple Stories Blog!  I was sent the new A Charmed Life collection and had so much fun working with it.  The mix of Yellow, Green and Blue is such a great color scheme, and there are so many great embellishments to use with this collection!  I wanted to stop in and share my layouts and card, here on my Blog, today.

A Charmed Life

Most of the time, I like to create a title on my layout as the focal point of my page.  But I couldn't resist using the wood grain paper in the collection, that came pre-printed with the phrase "A Charmed Life".  Having a built in title really makes it quick and easy to put your pages together.  I placed my photos above the title and matted them with two different patterned papers from the collection.  I also thought it would be fun to layer one of the transparent cards included with the collection, over my smaller photo, for added detail.  I finished my page design by adding some of the chipboard pieces, stickers, and brads.

Enjoy Life

The 8 Sn@p! Cuts jumped out at me, when I looked through the collection.  I thought the Navy polka dot cut would make a great large mat, to place behind the photo.  Once I had my mat and photo in place, I layered a piece of paper cut from the heart pattern.  I loved the look of hearts "floating" against the wood grain background.  And the Sn@p! Insta Squares were perfect for completing my design.

Lucky Like a Four Leaf Clover

It's always fun to create a card and add a pocket to the front.  You can tuck in a gift card, note, or just a fun patterned paper design.  I used one of the Sn@p! Pockets for the front of my card, and placed the clover cut from the Sn@p! Cuts package inside the pocket.  I added the star brad to the center of the cut card, to hold it in place.  The mix of the word "Lucky" from the chipboard package and the sticker "like a four leaf clover" paired perfectly, to complete the sentiment for my card.  I also used some of the left over hearts, from my A Charmed Life layout.  Those left overs can always come in handy, when you are a creating a card!

Thanks to everyone that stopped by the Simple Stories Blog last week, to see my projects and leave a little love!  And thanks for stopping in for a visit today!

American Crafts March Gallery | Here We Go

***If you are looking for the Echo Park & Top Dog Dies Blog Hop, please go HERE.***

I have a new layout to share today, for one of my March American Crafts Gallery layouts!!  On the first Saturday in March, we drove over to New Orleans for one of our favorite Mardi Gras parades, Endymion.  Of course, I had to take a "few" photos to document our trip!  :)  The kids were beyond excited, so they were happy to pose for said pictures.  I snapped some along the way, during our 2 hour drive, and this one of our little guy was so cute, I knew it had to go on a page.  The Plus One collection from Amy Tangerine, was perfect for the layout design I had in mind!

   
I wanted to create a grid design on my layout using Polaroid frames.  The Dies included with the Plus One collection were exactly what I needed!  I ran the Polaroid die through my Sizzix Big Shot on several of the patterned papers.  Once I had each of the frames cut, I placed them on the White cardstock background to get my spacing just right.  I added my two photos behind the frames on top and then backed the other frames with different patterns that were left over from the cut Polaroids.  From there, I had fun embellishing each of the frames with different products from the collection.  I also used the Icon Embroidery Stencil Kit to stitch those cute arrows above and below the Polaroid frames, for some added texture.

Supplies:  Counterpart (366807) - Plus One; Match (366819) - Plus One; Buddy (366812) - Plus One; Ensemble (366827) - Plus One; Friend (366825) - Plus One; Dies (366860) - Plus One; Twins (366837) - Thickers; Us (366842) - Remarks; Team (366838) - Sticker Roll; Flair (366906) - Adhesive Badges; Bits (366849) - Cut Cardstock Shapes; Mixtape (366839) - Washi Tape; Fabric Brads (366852) - Elements; Teammate (366848) - Icon Embroidery Stencil Kit

Echo Park & Top Dog Dies Blog Hop

 
The Echo Park Team and Top Dog Dies Team are joining together today, for a fun Blog Hop!  Top Dog Dies sent the EP team members some great dies to use for our projects!  I received the Onesie Card Die and the Onesie Card Finishers Die Set.  I used the adorable Splendid Sunshine collection from Echo Park with the die sets to create my Baby themed card.

 
This was my first time creating a shaped card and I loved the end result.  The Top Dog Die Set cut easily in my Sizzix Big Shot and the finishing Die Set made it so easy to embellish my card.  I added some stitching around the edge of the card for a little bit of texture.

Now, it's time to take a look at what the rest of the Echo Park and Top Dog designers created with their Die Sets and Echo Park collections!  Here is the list of each Team member participating in the Hop:

Echo Park Paper
Ashley Horton <------- You Are Here.
Corri Garza
Holly Gagnon
Tania Willis
Aly Dosdall
Lisa Swift

Amy Wanford
Amy Tsuruta
Giovana Smith
Katie Brooks
Renee Robbins
Karen Letchworth
Wendy Sue Anderson
Stacey Schafer
Nicole Picadura

**GIVEAWAY!!**

And we can't have a Blog Hop, without a giveaway!!  I am giving away a currently shipping collection to one lucky winner!  All you need to do is become a new follower, if you are not already following and leave a comment letting me know you did.  If you are already a follower, leave a comment telling me what you are most looking forward to in Spring!  The giveaway will remain open until Midnight on Sunday, March 16.  I will announce the winner on my Blog on Wednesday, March 19.

  

Thank you for visiting and enjoy hopping today!  The giveaways will continue throughout the Hop!

Supplies:  Echo Park Splendid Sunshine collection: Darling Dots Patterned Paper, Terrific Triangles Patterned Paper, Cheerful Cherries Patterned Paper, Journaling Cards Patterned Paper, Element Stickers, Top Dog Die Sets:  Onesie Card Die & Onesie Card Finishers Die Set 

Get It Scrapped! | Hello Eight

Earlier this week, the Get It Scrapped! Creative Team, shared layouts using a Bokeh print.  There are a lot of great bokeh prints in several different collections right now.  I chose to use a bokeh pattern from the Cut & Paste collection by Amy Tangerine on my layout!

Each year, I love to snap a photo of the kids on their birthday, holding up their fingers to represent their age.   I chose a Bokeh print to go along with my photo, that reminded me of a confetti/party look.  The print had a great mix of colors from the collection I used, so I was able to bring in several other colors to match.  I placed the Bokeh print on the bottom portion of my layout, and arranged my photos and embellishments on the top portion of the page.  This design allowed my Bokeh print to stand out, and not be covered by the elements on my page.

Supplies:  Patterned Paper, Stickers, Rub-Ons, Chipboard, Flair Button, Date Stamp, & Acrylic Bow:  American Crafts; Wood Veneers:  Studio Calico; Color Shine:  Heidi Swapp; Enamel Dots:  My Mind's Eye

Silhouette | True Love

***Linked up at Paper Issues.***

I have a new layout today, for Silhouette, and a tutorial for creating a fun welded outline title!  Right now in the South, we are in that back and forth weather pattern, where it can be in the 70's one day and in the 30's the next.  One thing I love about living in a warm weather climate, is being able to wear flip flops almost year round!  Just slip them on and you are out the door!  So I couldn't resist creating a layout to document my love of flip flops!!

When I first bought my CAMEO in November of 2012, I spent a good bit of time watching YouTube videos and checking out the different things you could do with your machine.  I ran across a layout, that had a title cut with the CAMEO and one of the words was a welded outline.  I thought it was so cool and knew I had to figure out how to do it.  Using your CAMEO to create your titles can be a big money saver, when it comes to buying alphas and letter stickers!

Here is a tutorial for creating the welded outline title:

1.  Select the text tool in Silhouette Studio and then choose the font you would like to use.

2.  Once your word is typed out, click on Object and select Ungroup.

3.  After your word is Ungrouped, click on each letter and space them out just a bit.

4.  Now you can select all of your letters and click on the Offset tool.

5.  Use the Offset Distance slider to resize the width of your offset to a thin outline around your original letters.

6.  Now you will need to group each individual letter with it’s outline.  While the letter is selected, go to Object and select Group and then Make Compound Path.

7.  After each letter is grouped and made into a compound path, you need to move the letters to overlap one another.  I like to select each letter and then use my arrow key, to move it over.  This helps keep it lined up perfectly.

8.  After you have moved all of your letters to overlap one another, select them all together and click on the Welding tool.  Select Weld in the drop down list and all of your letters will weld together into one outlined word.

Supplies:  Shapes, Corrugated Cardboard Paper & Die Cut Machine:  Silhouette CAMEO; Patterned Paper, Stamps & Tags:  Elle's Studio; Color Shine & Ink Pad:  Heidi Swapp; Wood Veneers:  Studio Calico; Flair Button:  October Afternoon; Enamel Dots:  My Mind's Eye