Hip Kit Club | Shine Darling

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

I’ve had my eye on the Glimmer Acetate Sheet in the December 2015 Paper Add-On Kit from Hip Kit Club, and I just had to use it on my layout this week!  I still have so many goodies from the December 2015 Hip Kit & Add-On Kits, so I thought it would be fun to layer the acetate sheet over the December cut file, and then add my photo and some embellishments over the acetate sheet.

I cut the Heart Strings cut file from the Divine patterned paper included in the December 2015 Main Kit.  I liked the ombre effect of the wood grain fading into the light melon Pink color.  Once the cut file finished cutting, I placed it over a sheet of White cardstock from the December 2015 Cardstock Kit.  Next I placed the Glimmer acetate sheet over the die cut hearts and stitched around the outside edges to attach it to the back ground cardstock.

 
For the top layer of the layout, I added my photo and the Best Day Ever wood veneer from Main Kit, to the center of the layout.  I wanted to have several different dimensions, so I embellished with Chipboard pieces from the Main Kit and Bits from the December 2015 Embellishment Kit.

I completed my layout by adding a title, using the Beautiful Phrase Thickers from the Main Kit.  I also placed a few of the Gold Thickers around the layout to balance out my design.

If you haven’t had a chance to pick up the December cut files, make sure you visit the Hip Kit Club website!  You can download our Free cut files by signing up for an account on the website!

ETSY STORE

Simple Stories Carpe Diem Planner | January 2016

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

WOW!  Tomorrow is the last day of 2015!  Are you ready for the new year?  If you're hoping to get organized in 2016, then the Carpe Diem Planners from Simple Stories are perfect for just that.  They are functional and fun!  I started setting up the month of January in my Coral Planner and wanted to pop in and give you a quick look at it!

I used all of the fun Carpe Diem goodies that can be purchased to go along with the Planner.  And I even mixed in a bit of the I AM collection.  That's the great thing about planners...you can incorporate your scrapbook stash into the Planner, too!

If you're interested in picking up a Carpe Diem Planner, make sure you visit the Simple Stories website, to see all of the available products! 

 

 ETSY STORE

A Flair for Buttons | This Happened

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

Sometimes an idea for a layout pops in my head, and I just have to get the design down on paper.  That happened with the layout I'm sharing today.  I had mosaics stuck in my head for some reason and kept thinking of ways to incorporate the design into a layout.  Since I love the Flair Buttons from A Flair for Buttons and circle designs...I decided to tie the three things together, and here's what I came up with, using the Epic Flair set.

I started out drawing circles on a White cardstock background with the Silhouette Cameo Sketch Pens.  Then I went to work cutting squares and rectangles from the Amy Tangerine Finder's Keepers collection.  I went section by section and added the cut pieces of paper filling in each circle to create a mosaic look.

Once the entire background was finished, I added the What a Story Flair Button from the Epic Flair set to the center circle.  It went along perfectly with the photo and journaling on my layout (which tells about our son loosing his first tooth).  I love to follow the design lines of a circle, so I added the photo and title outside of the second circle.  I also wanted to add in some embellishing, so I used wood veneers, along with the Epic Flair Button from the set.

This was a really fun technique, and it actually turned out the way I wanted it to...which doesn't always happen!  HA!  And it would be a great idea for using up your paper scraps or 6x6 paper pads!  No matter what design you decide on for your layout, there is always the perfect Flair Set in the A Flair for Buttons shop!  While you're there browsing, make sure you check out the Epic Flair set!

ETSY STORE 

December Daily Part 3

I'm back today, with a few more pages from my December Daily!  I finished up through Day 19, but wanted to wait on Day 20, so I would have a Day 21 photo to complete the page.  It's been so nice to keep up with it this year, and I don't feel so overwhelmed.  So here's a look from Day 14-Day 19!!

Now for the final week!  My goal is to have it all finished up no later than December 31st!!
 

ETSY STORE

 

Simple Stories | The Blink of an Eye

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

It can be difficult to find time for crafting during the busy month of December.  We all have Christmas parties, holiday baking, decorating and so much more, that can cause our crafty time to be put on the back burner.  But I have some tips to share, that can help you get a layout or two, done in the blink of an eye!

I created two layouts using the Claus & Co. collection from Simple Stories, and each layout only took around 45 minutes.  That's definitely fast for me, because each of my layouts normally take about an hour and a half to two hours.  My first tip for quick crafting, is let the paper do the work for you.

On my first layout, I used the "I Believe" patterned paper from the Claus & Co. collection.  This paper has a great circle design.  I started out by punching six 2 inch circles from the 6x6 Paper Pad.  I wanted a fast way to add stitching to my layout, and this was the perfect way to do it.  Once the circles were punched, I used my sewing machine to add messy stitching around the edge of each circle.  Then I just placed them over the printed circles on the background paper.

After the sewn circles were adhered, I printed out my photo and cut it into a circle shape also.  I placed it at the top left hand side of the page, and used letter stickers from the Expressions Cardstock Sticker sheet to create a wrap around title.  Then I used the large wood veneer "Ho Ho Ho" phrase beside the photo, to have a large element that would help draw your eye to the photo and title.

Next came my favorite part...adding embellishments!  I went through all of my packs included with the Claus & Co. collection.  I added a mix of wood veneers, enamel dots, Bradz, Chipboard, Bits & Pieces and stickers to each of the circles to finish my layout.

My second layout started out in the same way as the first.  I chose a paper that would cut down on my design time.  I love the overlapping post card look and large Santa on the "Ho Ho Ho" paper, and knew it would be perfect with the Chipboard Frames from the Claus & Co. collection.

This paper allowed me the opportunity for a larger photo and space for six of the Chipboard Frames.  I placed my photo in the lower center of the page and then placed the frames according to the spacing of the post card design on the background paper.  

Now, I had just the right spots for my embellishments and title.  I used the letter stickers from the Claus & Co. collection to add my title to the top center frame.  I love that there are four different types of alphas on the Expressions Cardstock Sticker sheet, because I like to mix the look of the typography on my layouts.  And that's another one of my tips for quick crafting...make use of those coordinating letter stickers.  They are on hand and already coordinate with your page, so it takes the guess work out of adding a title to your page.

And one last "quick" tip...instead of sitting down to create one layout, go ahead and have your photos ready for a second layout and use the same product from your first page.  That's what I did for these two pages.  I already had all of the product on my desk, but was able to use it in a different way on both layouts.  And if we're already at our craft desk, we might as well go for two layouts instead of just one!!

Products:
#4802 - Fundamentals Cardstock Stickers
#4803 - Expressions Cardstock Stickers
#4804 - I Believe Patterned Paper
#4809 - Ho Ho Ho Patterned Paper
#4822 - 6x6 Paper Pad
#4823 - SN@P Pack
#4827 - Bradz
#4828 - 6x12 Chipboard
#4829 - Bits & Pieces
#4831 - Enamel Dots
#4832 - 4x6 Stickers
#4838 - Chipboard Frames
#4841 - Wood Veneer

 

 ETSY STORE

Hip Kit Club | Seriously Cheeky

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

It's time to share a new layout with the December 2015 Hip Kit & Add-On Kits from Hip Kit Club!  I thought it would be fun to use some of the products in the December Color Add-On Kit for my layout.  I started out, by coloring the Heidi Swapp Watercolor Words with the Shimmerz Golden Wheat paint.  I just dipped the tip of my finger into the Shimmerz paint and added it to the Watercolor Words, then I set them aside to dry, while I worked on the rest of my layout.

I chose the Maggie Holmes frame paper for my background.  I just love all of those cute frames.  Lots of room for adding patterned paper and embellishments!  I used the Maggie Holmes 6x6 Paper Pad included in the December 2015 Embellishment Kit to cut several patterns that I could add to some of the frames.  Then I stitched around 4 of the frames, that had pre-printed phrases, with different colored embroidery floss.

By this time, the Heidi Swapp Watercolor Words were dry, and I used "Seriously" and "Cheeky" for my title.  Then I placed "Shine" and "Beautiful" around the layout to create a visual triangle.  This helps draw the eye around the layout and down to my photo, which I added to one of the bottom frames.  I finished the layout by adding some of the Maggie Holmes Chipboard and Wood Veneer pieces from the December 2015 Main Kit.

I can't wait to work on some more layouts this month, with the December Kit!  There's so much included, I just want to use all of it!  And if the December Kits aren't fabulous enough, now we've got the January 2015 Kits to look forward to!  They were revealed on the Hip Kit Club Website yesterday, so make sure you stop by to check them out!  You won't be disappointed!

 

ETSY STORE

December Daily Part 2

I haven't given up on my December Daily!!  I'm actually finished through Day 13, and wanted to stop in today, to share from Day 4-Day 13.  I had a little delay waiting on photo paper, and then other stuff taking up my time, but I'm all caught up!  YAY!

I have to say I'm pretty proud of myself, because I made it past my stopping date from last year's December Daily!  HA!  I think I might have made it to Day 4!  I'm going to definitely try to stay on top of things and not get very behind in putting my pages together.  The more time that I let go by, the less chance that it's going to actually get finished!

ETSY STORE